| “ | People like you and me, we don't make that choice.
— Lucas Kellan
|
” |
Lucas Kellan is a Shadow Marshal in service of the VSA, under Sinclair. He witnessed his father's murder by the Helghast during the evacuation of what would become New Helghan, but was saved by Sinclair, who took the boy under his wing. Kellan entered the Shadow Marshal academy at age 13 and graduated in the top 2% of his class, making him one of the youngest Shadow Marshals ever.
Kellan took part in numerous and varied missions behind enemy lines. He was often thrown in solo, with only his OWL for backup. His missions included search-and-rescue, assassination, intel gathering, and other similar activities. He was only captured twice; the first time, he was traded for a Helghast operative known as Echo. The second, that same operative snuck him out to enlist his help in stopping a genocide.
Kellan infiltrated a Helghast research station to stop a weapons researcher - Dr. Massar - from creating a biological weapon to wipe out the Vektan population and to recover her so that Sinclair could pursue a similar course against the Helghast. Kellan had previously infiltrated a different space station to prevent her work on a similar virus targeting the Helghast population from being captured by the Helghast, though the was successful in his mission, Echo had already extracted Massar to work for the Helghast. Kellan recovered Massar, who was then killed by Echo. Deciding to trust Echo over Sinclair, Kellan joined forces with her to stop the attempted genocide of Vekta; for this act, Sinclair cut off all support for Kellan.
Battle vs. Nathan Hale (by Leolab)[]
Nathan Hale: 
. Sentinels: 
.
Lucas Kellan: 
. ISA Soldiers: 
. OWL: 
.
Prologue
Lucas Kellan fires his LS-12, sending three rounds through the helmet of the Helghast commander in front of him. Slicing open the target’s neck to be sure of the kill, he sends out an echo pulse that traversed the stone fort he was in. He sees one last soldier in the next room, but the sound of a machine gun has him crumple. Kellan’s OWL floats through the doorway, scanning for any further foes. “That’s the last one,” he says into his radio, “Form up in the large hall.”
“Sir, I think we have incoming,” one of the VSA soldiers says, “Squad of five, coming from the front.”
“Belay last order, form up on battlements.” Lucas recalls his OWL, the drone strapping to his back as he climbs up the stairs. The other three members of his squad form up behind him, futuristic gear out of place in the medieval fort. They spill out on the battlements, as Kellan runs up to a fourth member looking through a pair of binoculars.
“Down there,” he says, gesturing with the binoculars. Lucas switches his LSR-44 to its sniper rifle mode and looks through the scope, spotting the intruders. “Pale skin,” the ISA spotter says, “unusual eyes, balding, boxy and angular weaponry… You think this is–”
“New Hig infantry?” Kellan says, “Aye.” He switches radio channels, contacting Sinclair. “Pulsar, this is Shadow 1-8. Spotted new Helghast infantry. Permission to engage?”
“Copy, Shadow 1-8. Permission granted.”
“1-8 out.”
“All of you, go down to the front and guard the door. Higs incoming. I’ll try and pick off a couple from here.” As his squad obeys, he starts to charge up a shot from his LSR-44’s sniper mode. Checking the HUD, he notes that he only has 14 shots left – which translates to a single sniper mode shot. Gotta make this count… He spots a foe carrying a sniper rifle and sets him in his sights, directing the OWL to head down in attack mode. He fires, and a flash of blue leaps out of his gun and towards the foe. Seeing the man crumple, he speeds back into the fort, reloading his weapon.
Nathan Hale leads a small squad of Sentinels towards a small stone fort on a hill. They move in a fairly relaxed formation, if tense. Suddenly, a blue projectile strikes the Sentinel carrying a Fareye, killing him. . “Scatter and stay low,” Hale says, and his squad does as ordered. They move up slightly, and Hale then notices a small drone flying towards them. He tags it with his Bullseye and fires, the homing tag making accuracy irrelevant. The barrage slows the drone down and damages it, leaving it vulnerable to a grenade launched by the carbine-wielding Sentinel. .
They move the rest of the way to the door without incident, and Hale calls a halt. “Alpha-Seven, use your Auger scope. See anyone behind the door?” The Sentinel with the Auger complies.
“Looks like five,” he says.
“Alpha-Seven, thin their numbers. Rest of us will unload our magnums at the door and blow it open.”
Lucas waits near the door. In the hallway to the left of him is an ISA member with a VC-30 paired with another using an M55. A similar pair waited on his left, aiming at the door. The sound of gunfire echoes through the large, solid wood door, and the teams glance at each other.
“That door won’t be breached by gunfire,” one of them says, “They’re going to need explosives to get in that way.”
This was followed by a brief yell of pain from the third hallway.
“Get away from the entrance!” the wounded man yells, “they can shoot through walls.”
Kellan and the ISA soldiers start retreating as a beep sounds from the other side of the door, which then explodes inwards. The wounded ISA soldier wasn’t able to move out of the way, and is decapitated by the shrapnel. . The rest of the team moves to the interior of the castle, chased by the attacking Sentinels.
Firefight
Hale takes a quick glance at the fleeing ISA soldiers and barks out an order. “Alpha-Seven, Delta-Three, pursue the two on the right. Beta-Five and I will take the one on the left. Fourth will come to one of us. Go.”
Lucas Kellan, meanwhile, takes a quick loop around and meets up with the pair guarding the right hallway. They gain a spot of high ground, waiting on a small balcony overlooking a corners. They aim down the corridor, spotting the pair of Sentinels advancing down the corridor. Kellan holds up a hand, nonverbally counting down from three. When he hits zero, the group opens fire. The fire from three different guns rains down on the Sentinels, grazing Delta-Three on the arm. His partner, Alpha-Seven, quickly puts up an Auger shield, which spreads through the hallway. He rains Auger fire on the defenders as Delta-Three’s healing factor kicks in, clotting the wound.
One of the ISA soldiers, seeing the futility of attempting to overwhelm the Auger’s shields, instead aims his M55 at the ceiling. He uses its secondary fire, launching a grenade at the stonework.
“Get back!” Delta-Three shouts, diving into a doorway. Alpha-Seven, however, got the warning too late. The ceiling crashes down on him, splattering blood, bone, and gore on the floor. . Delta-Three draws his HE .44 Magnum, his Folsom Carbine crushed in the cave-in, and shoots three times, hitting an ISA soldier in the right lung. The other ISA soldier moves to drag him back behind cover, and as he reaches the dying man Delta-Three triggers the secondary fire on his Magnum. The three bullets explode in succession, killing both of them. , . Kellan uses an echo pulse to scan for the Sentinel, finding him around the corner. He pokes his LSR-44 around the corner and sends a spray down the corridor, hitting Delta-Three in the thigh. He then switches to sniper mode and charges up a shot, shooting the downed Sentinel in the face with a full-powered shot. .
Nathan Hale and Beta-Five move through the other corridors, hunting down the ISA soldier who survived the entry explosion. They walk cautiously, checking behind them and inside each doorway to make sure their foe isn’t hiding close by. Hale sees movement out of the corner of his eye and directs a short burst of fire from his Bullseye at the source. The rounds impact the stone, sending up dust and nothing more.
Beta-Five looks inside the next doorway, and quickly triggers the secondary fire on his Rossmore. He backs up, trying to handle the massive recoil from shooting both barrels. As he does so, the remaining ISA member activates the secondary fire on his VC-30 Sickle and unloads the second barrel at the Sentinel. Chewed through with shot and lit on fire, Beta-Five dies screaming. .
Hale shoots a tag from his Bullseye at the soldier as he ducks back behind the doorway. Hale fires a quick burst, which arcs through the doorway, following the homing tag, and rips through the soldier’s throat. . Noticing that the other team had fallen silent, Hale drags the dead ISA soldier’s body further inside the doorway. He pulls out his Magnum and starts setting traps.
Later
Lucas Kellan prowls through the hallways, searching for the Sentinel that killed his last remaining squad member. He comes upon what appears to be several orange orbs orbiting each other in the air over a red orb on the floor. He approaches cautiously, Spoor raised and ready, not seeing Nathan Hale hiding in the staircase. As he gets closer, Hale presses a trigger on his Bullseye, cancelling the tag. Thirty Bullseye rounds scatter in all directions, flying at lethal velocities. Kellan throws himself in a sideways roll into the doorway next to him, landing next to the body of one of his squadmates. He looks at the body and at the ceiling, noticing several glowing areas. He starts sprinting as Hale activates the secondary fire on his Magnum.
The bullets explode, bringing down the room and sending a large blast through the area. Kellan manages to escape the room in time, leaping out of the doorway and pulling the trigger on his Spoor, spraying a full magazine down the corridor. He tosses it away as he hits the wall and brings his LS-12 to bear, aiming at Hale. Hale, for his part, pulls the trigger on his Magnum as soon as Kellan entered his view, hitting the Shadow Marshal in the neck. As Kellan’s body jerks from the impact, Hale triggers the secondary fire again and the bullet explodes, decapitating him. .
Expert's Opinion[]
While both teams were well-trained with powerful weaponry, the secondary fire modes on Hale's weaponry offered far more tactical options than Kellan's more ordinary fare. This allowed Hale and his team to be more flexible and more versatile, giving them the win.