Captain Johnathon Overland Strider

Captain Johnathon Overland Strider is portrayed by himself. =Captain Strider's Background= On July 19, 2524, Johnathon Overland Strider was born to Richard Anthony Strider and Shelby Overland Strider in San Antonio, Texas, Earth. He was named Johnathon after his father’s father, Johnathon Cabbot Strider, who fought for the UNSC Marine Corps in the early days of the Insurrection. By the time of Johnathon’s birth, his grandfather had already retired from service and was living on a small farm on Harvest. Overland came from his mother’s maiden name. At the time of his birth, Johnathon only had one other sibling. His six year old brother, Michael Daniel Strider, had been sent to live with their grandfather on Harvest at the time of Johnathon’s birth. When the Human-Covenant War broke out on February 3, 2525, Johnathon’s father, Richard, was sent into active duty as a technician and research developer in the UNSC Marine Corps. However, when the Covenant attacked Harvest, Johnathon Cabbot Strider was killed when the Covenant raided the space port that he and Michael were attempting to escape the planet from, with several other refugees. His death left Michael helpless, but amidst the crowd of frightened civilians, Michael was pushed and shoved aboard the evacuation shuttle and managed to escape Harvest. After the shuttle made it to the colony, New Harmony, Michael was then forced to make a meager living on the streets until he was abducted by an ONI officer and conscripted into the Spartan II program. There he picked up the name “Phoenix” as a reference to his durability in battle and, after almost dying in several long battles, getting up and continuing the fight with an unusually rejuvenated appearance. He and Johnathon would not see each other, eye to eye, for 27 years. Meanwhile, from 2525-2543, Johnathon was raised by his mother, Shelby, in San Antonio. In 2542, Johnathon’s father, Richard, disappeared and was accused of the theft of UNSC property. During this time, Johnathon got into many fights in and around school because of the case of his father. Johnathon was then forced to pick up the ways of martial arts. In 2543, Shelby Overland Strider died from cancer. As soon as Johnathon was old enough, he enlisted in the UNSC Navy in mid 2543. He originally wanted to join the Marine Corps, but was denied due to the case of his father. After completing basic training, Johnathon attempted to join officer candidate school in mid 2544. At first he was denied, but was commended by someone higher up. He was almost finished with OCS as first of his class in early 2545 when news of his father’s death, in late 2544, came. The Office of Naval Intelligence, or ONI, commenced a hearing to decide whether or not Richard Anthony Strider was guilty. Johnathon was brought before the committee since he was the only one left to inherit his father’s belongings that weren’t confiscated by ONI. However, several of Richard’s belongings were missing and the committee began questioning Johnathon’s loyalty to the UNSC. Johnathon was almost sentenced to life in the Lunar City Military Penitentiary on the Earth’s moon and the rest of Richard’s belongings locked away. Fortunately, a letter of voucher was given to the committee before the so called verdict was given. The letter was made by Rear Admiral Upper Half James Bennett who had known Johnathon’s father when they were friends at the Naval Academy many years before. Bennett vouched that he would keep an eye on Johnathon and keep him under his command and complete his OCS training if the committee dropped the so called charges on Johnathon and give him the belongings of which he was entitled to. The alternative was an appearance before the UNSC judiciary counsel. The committee, afraid of such a possibility, did as Bennett asked, but also, as insurance, declared Johnathon’s training as complete and gave him the rank of Lt. Commander since he was already well ahead of the rest of his class. Over the course of the next six years Johnathon would lead a successful career as an efficient officer and quickly made Commander by 2548. After being given command of the new Paris-class frigate, UNSC Peerless, Johnathon participated in multiple battles, such as Paris IV. On December 25, 2551, the Peerless engaged Covenant forces on the planet Ballast. After dodging enemy fire in orbit, the Peerless and two Charon-class light frigates, UNSC Langley and UNSC Halifax, entered the planet’s atmosphere to support UNSC forces at the besieged Fort Miller. Upon arrival, the Peerless was met with fierce Covenant AAA. The two Charons were utterly destroyed, leaving the Peerless as the last supportive defense for Fort Miller. By now, Covenant forces, supported by a corvette, were already overrunning the fort’s southern entrance, one of the four entrances into the base. The Peerless engaged the corvette as the base’s mass driver was offline. The Peerless had just fully charged its MAC when the ship was ravaged by shot from a Covenant AAA battery. As the Peerless lost power, Johnathon ordered the MAC to fire with what was left of its charge. The shot smashed and grazed the topside of the corvette’s hull, shaking it off, away from the fort momentarily. With primary power lost and no way to keep the frigate in the air with what was left of the atmospheric thrusters, Johnathon ordered the frigate to crash into the southern entrance to block it. After this, what remained of the Peerless’ crew met in the mangled starboard hanger pod. When Johnathon and the crew attempted to exit the ship, they were attacked by what was left of the Covenant forces that had already made it into the base. As the Peerless crew began to turn the tide against the Covenant, two Scarab walkers were deployed from the orbit above. With no Scorpions or Warthogs remaining, the walkers immediately turned the tide against Johnathon. However, about five minutes after the landing of the Scarabs, five ODST pods landed behind them. From these, five Spartan II’s emerged and eventually destroyed the two Scarabs. After destroying the Scarabs, the Spartans joined Johnathon’s crew. Their leader, “Phoenix” as he was called, informed Johnathon that the corvette was returning and needed to be destroyed. With Fort Miller’s mass driver offline, it needed to be manually reactivated from the base’s command center. With no way of transportation at hand, Johnathon ordered the remainder of the ship’s crew and marines to form up. Once done, Johnathon ordered a full forward charge across the half-mile long field between the Peerless’ wreckage and the base itself. The charge was met with a heavy onslaught of Covenant infantry. During the fight, Johnathon’s crew was supported by three unmanned aerial assault drones, or UAAD’s, courtesy of Admiral Bennett, aboard the carrier UNSC Lexington. After overrunning the base, “Phoenix” reactivated the mass driver that was then fired by Johnathon. Although firing three shots, the corvette kept coming. Just when all seemed lost, again, the UNSC Saratoga, sister to the Peerless, came overhead and, with the help of two Longsword intercepted squadrons and the mass driver manned by Johnathon, destroyed the Covenant corvette. Shortly after it crashed, the enraged commander of the corvette, Mal J’Mal, attempted to kill Johnathon with an energy sword. The small fight ended with Johnathon being overwhelmed and held off the ground by the neck in J’Mal’s hand. Just as J’Mal was about to plunge his sword into Johnathon’s chest, he was shot through the chest by “Phoenix’s” sniper rifle. J’Mal was knocked unconscious and fell to the ground with Johnathon. When Johnathon got up, he took the Elite’s sword as a souvenir, thinking he was dead. In reality, J’Mal wasn’t and this was a great disgrace to him to be disarmed. Mal J’Mal would continue to haunt Johnathon for the rest of his career. It is unknown how Mal J’Mal escaped. The incursion at the base was named “Strider’s Charge” or was referred to as “The Last Charge” in reference to the American Civil War-like charge across the field. Word of this action instantly spread through the fleet and the colonies. This made Commander Strider famous and he became well known in the UNSC as his “kill count” included that in orbit, over Ballast, the Peerless had shot down 49 Covenant assault craft including fighters and bombers. Along with this, his forces killed over 200 Covenant infantry and vehicles. He was personally responsible for killing 28 enemies, 8 of which were Elites. One of the highest “kill counts” of Elite’s in the UNSC by non-Spartan personnel. Although, it was technically 7, since Mal J’Mal didn’t die and he was shot by “Phoenix”. Some were even calling him the greatest naval officer since Admiral Preston J. Cole. Although, that is a bit overzealous. After the battle, Johnathon and his remaining forces were ordered to defend the base until the next day, when fresh forces could take over the fort’s defense as the Covenant had encircled Fort Miller and the Saratoga was driven off by another Covenant corvette. In the mean time they had to ready the base for an imminent attack. That night, Fort Miller was attacked by Covenant forces that outnumbered Johnathon’s force 3 to 1. During the battle, 2/3’s of Johnathon’s force was annihilated and Johnathon himself was hit in the side by Covenant plasma fire. However, Johnathon was able to repel the Covenant forces until that morning. When dawn broke, the UNSC 302nd Battalion took over the base’s defense. Witnesses say that when Johnathon walked out of the racked base, with the help of “Phoenix”, the Lt. Colonel, and the 1,000 soldiers under his command, saluted the wounded commander, five Spartans, and the 14 other sailors and marines that survived the battle. Johnathon was taken to the fleet’s hospital ship, UNSC Solstice, where he spent a day and a half recuperating. When he was well enough, he was taken aboard the Lexington. Once aboard, he was commended for his actions and received the Medal of Honor, the Colonial Cross, the Gold Star, the Human-Covenant War Service Medal, and the Distinguished Naval Service Medal. These were for going above and beyond the call of duty in defense of Fort Miller and Johnathon became one of the few officers in UNSC history to receive so many commendations for one action. He was also promoted to Captain by Admiral Bennett. He was then shipped to Reach for reassignment. While there he was chosen to be the commanding officer of a top-secret assignment that was to last three months. A mission that was meant to disrupt Covenant operations behind enemy lines and ensure that the Cole-Protocol was enforced. For the mission he was given command of the heavily modified UNSC Hansgraf. The cruiser was the third of the four top-secret Bonhomme-Richard class light cruisers, meant to be replacements for the venerable Halcyon class light cruisers. The ship was armed with the most advanced weapons, including four prototypes of the massively destructive NOVA missiles and eight prototype 14in electromagnetic pulsating plasma rifles (EMPPR) housed in four twin turrets on both sides of the ship. All, a prototype of a shipboard S-MAC. The powerful main gun most commonly found on Orbital Defense Platforms, or ODP’s. Apart from this, Spartan squad Hotel was given to the command of Johnathon. Their leader, Michael-100, or “Phoenix”. Unknown to Johnathon and Michael alike, they were actually brothers. However, to Johnathon, his brother died shortly after his birth and, to Michael, he couldn’t remember his life before becoming a Spartan. In the midst of all this, Johnathon received a mysterious crate from Admiral Bennett. In it were some of his father’s “missing” belongings. Some of it including the massive .63 magnum hand gun with the inscription “Kalishnikov”. Also included was a strange armor set named “Trojan” that didn’t function at all. At least that was until Johnathon encountered the AI, Meridian, in the armor’s helmet. Meridian was meant to protect the armor from intruders, but was trapped in the armor’s helmet when Johnathon’s father intentionally shorted to the helmet’s AI data port to keep Meridian from being forcefully extracted. After having the port repaired, Meridian was extracted and this was when Johnathon discovered that Meridian was a “smart” AI that his father had created to look like Johnathon. “Smart” AI’s generally have a lifespan of 7 to 8 years, but because Meridian was in a “dormant” state for the past 14 years he had not yet entered metastases. However, due to his age, Meridian’s AI data matrix was deteriorating and he calculated that he only had 7 months before he entered metastases. That meant that as soon as the Hansgraf returned to Reach in three months, Meridian would need to be repaired by one of Johnathon’s friend’s who owned a company that researched and developed AI technology.

What We Know So Far
Not a lot is known about the good Captain. However, we do know that he appeared some time several months ago. He is supposedly from the year 2554, the 26th century. He has stated, several times, that he is the Captain of a ship named, UNSC Hansgraf. UNSC standing for, "United Nations Space Command." He arrived here for reasons still unknown. When he arrived here, he arrived with a fleet of 12 vessels.

When he first arrived in our century, the Guardian, Jack Frost, had just been shot by an arrow from the Zorath influenced Void. Of course, Captain Strider didn't know this at the time, and since Pitch Black was he only person at the scene of the attempted murder, put him on as suspect. However Pitch's charges were dropped in order to keep public peace. However, while checking Jack's situation on medical ship, UNSC Good Faith, with Ember and Iron, Void crashed into the infirmary after killing most of the ship's crew and personnel. Johnathon immediately ordered the ship's surviving crew members to abandon the ship to nearby vessels in the fleet. Strider also ordered that Ember and Iron get Jack to the UNSC Hansgraf for further recovery. Soon it was just John and Void in an epic battle against one another. It ended when, after several severe injuries, John was pinned against the wall by Void and was stabbed threw his body by Void's spear. However, Jack, who was on the bridge of the Hansgraf in Ember's arms, woke up momentarily to tell John to get his staff from a storage locker. John did this and fired at Void "point blank" freezing Void long enough for Strider to board a Pelican drop ship and get clear of the ship before the might of the fleet came down upon it. However, Void survived. After this fight, Johnathon, became very popular among the local population of present day Earth for his heroic acts of valor and the successful protection of a Guardian.Several days after his fight with Void, Johnathon was in the infirmary of the Hansgraf, before Dr. Hastings, the ship's surgeon allowed him to go. Soon after he had a strange vision of him dead. Moreover, Jack had a similar vision, but he saw one of John, Ember, Val, Iron, him, and the Guardians fighting Void, but it ended with Iron shooting at Void, but missing and killing someone else. The two visions have never been justified as the half of the other. Soon after this he returned to his own century and several weeks later returned with a bigger fleet for added protection from Void. This bigger fleet has been nicknamed as the "second fleet. However, after he returned he was informed that Zorath had abandoned Void and disappeared. The location of Zorath is currently unknown. He could be anywhere or anyone. He could be in Johnathon, but the likes of that are, uh...slim.

Strider's Weapons of Choice
Built during the Human-Covenant War, Johnathon's father, Ritchard Strider built two of the most powerful handguns ever created. The first was dubbed "Drunascass" and the second "Kilishnikov". The first had more a powerful destructive weapon look to it while the second had a more elegant look to it. These weapons were intended for use by Spartans, advanced super soldiers of the 26th century. Both were built to fire 63 Magnum rounds. They also include an advanced and complex slide-ejecting system to greatly reduce the massive recoil of the gun. Without this Johnathon would be blown off his feet each time he'd try to fire it. Each contains only a 6-round clip due to the size of the enormous slugs. However, when Johnathon's father disappeared and was killed as a supposed traitor, ONI, the Office of Naval Intelligence confiscated "Drunascass" and it was lock away forever. The second one, however, was never found. That was until when, in 2552, a mysterious box, sent from Admiral Bennet, was sent to Johnathon shortly before his famous top-secret assignment. When he opened it, there, in all its glory, was "Kilishnikov" with is red and gold trimming and black finish. Now he wears it where ever he goes in a holster on his upper back just behind and to the right of his neck. This weapon, like the UNSC Hansgraf, has become part of his legacy. The only other real weapons that he favors is a standard issue 8-gauge shotgun and an MA5B Assualt Rifel. However, he doesn't always take it with him.

Note: Both of these weapons were used against Void during the battle aboard the UNSC Good Faith. "Kilishnikov" was especially useful in opening up 1 foot in diameter holes in Void. It also gave enough time for Ember and Iron to evacuate the ship and get Jack Frost to the safety of the UNSC Hansgraf.

Known Relations and Affiliations

 * Michael Daniel Strider- Johnathon's older brother. He was thought to have been killed when the Covenant invaded Harvest. In reallity, Michael survived and was conscripted into the Spartan II program. There he would learn to be a super-soldier and would pick up the codename "Phoenix." Later on, Michael would be under Johnathon's command. But, neither would know until it was too late. In 2552, Michael-100, his Spartan service ID, was killed during the Fall of Reach. It was only after this that Johnathon discovered Michael was his long lost older brother.
 * AI Meridian- An AI Johnathon's father created to help him on his difficult work before he disappeared. He was stuck in the "Trojan" armor's helmet when Richard shorted out the helmet's AI data port. This was to prevent a forced extraction of Meridian as he was the guard of the armor until Johnathon received it. When he was finally extracted from the armor, Johnathon was surprised when he found that Meridian looked exactly like him. The strange part was, that Meridian's avatar was not only created to look like Johnathon, but to look like an Elve. This was out of Richard's sense of humor and fascination with a book series he enjoyed called The Lord of the Rings. Other than the pointed ears, Elven accent in his speech, and the holographic appearance, Meridian and Johnathon are the same person. Meridian is now the shipboard AI on the UNSC Hansgraf.
 * Ritchard Anthony Strider - Johnathon's father and creator of "Kilishnikov". Disappeared in 2537 and was killed for treason in 2544.
 * Shelby Overland Strider - Johnathon's mother. Not much is known about her other than her maiden name was Overland and that she died in 2543.
 * Vice Admiral James Bennet - Admiral of the UNSC 3rd fleet. Long time friend of Johnathon's father until he disappeared and was killed. Best known for saving Johnathon from life in the Luna City Military Penitentiary.
 * Jackson Overland Frost - Met when Johnathon saved him from the Zorath possessed Void and near death. Has kept in close contact with Strider since then.
 * Ember and Blake - Met them on several occasions. Met Ember when Jack was healing aboard the UNSC Good Faith. Met Blake soon after he arrived with his "second fleet."
 * Val - Met soon after the Good Faith incident and shortly just before he left for the 26th century and soon, later, arrived with his "second fleet."
 * Sibuna - Met on occasion during Johnathon's investigation on the attempted murder of Jack Frost.

Known Ships of Strider's Fleet
These are the names of Captain Strider's "second fleet" and some things we know about them. However the names Commanders of these ships (other than UNSC Hansgraf) are unknown.


 * UNSC Hansgraf - Bonhomme Richard class light cruiser. Johnathon's flagship. Given to him in the year, 2552 for a top-secret assignment.
 * UNSC Burgundy - Thantose class destroyer. Arrived with first fleet.
 * UNSC Killing Wind - Thantose class destroyer. Arrived with first fleet.
 * UNSC Look Out - Thantose class destroyer. Arrived with first fleet.
 * UNSC Essex - Lexington class light carrier. Replaced UNSC Grand. Arrived with "second fleet."
 * UNSC Relevance - Paris class heavy frigate. Arrived with first fleet.
 * UNSC Death's Revenge - Paris class heavy frigate. Arrived with first fleet.
 * UNSC Crystal Clear - Paris class heavy frigate. Arrived with first fleet.
 * UNSC Saratoga - Paris class heavy frigate. Arrived with first fleet.
 * UNSC Hell's Gates - Charon class light frigate. Arrived with first fleet.
 * UNSC Callimari - Charon class light frigate. Replaced UNSC Great Divide Arrived with "second fleet."
 * UNSC Okinawa - Charon class light frigate. Arrived with "second fleet."
 * UNSC Good Faith - Hopeful class medical ship. Destroyed in an effort to slow down Void. Replaced by UNSC Greatfull Harvest.
 * UNSC Greatfull Harvest - Hopeful class medical ship. Replacement UNSC Good Faith. Arrived with "second fleet."

Appearance
Johnathon doesn't dress like a normal UNSC officer, but he does keep it in UNSCNDF regulations. Here are a few things of his appearance.


 * He has short blond hair.


 * He has brown eyes, but for some unknown reason they turn blue in certain situations.


 * He is about 6 feet and 2 inches.


 * He almost always wears his dress naval whites with gold trim. Unless, when he knows he's going into a situation where it would get severely ruined. The reason for this can be best simplified in a statement he said, "An officer should always look his best, even when bullets are flying inches from his head."


 * Except for formal occasions, he always wears a brown leather holster that he holds "Kilishnikov" just behind the base of his neck. It is shifted towards the right of his back, because he generally shoots with his right hand.

Interesting Things About The Captain

 * Johnathon doesn't give up, no matter the circumstances.
 * Johnathon and Jack Frost both have the same middle name. No known relationships exist between John and Jack. However, Overland was Johnathon's mother, Shelby's maiden name. So far it's just coincidence.
 * He had a brother that disappeared in 2525 that ended up serving under him as the Spartan II, Michael-100.
 * John favors a massive silver, crimson, and gold pistol named "Kilishnikov". It fires a titanic 63 Magnum round.
 * When on shore leave, Johnathon usually is seen driving a blue 1965 Shelby Cobra 427 S/C sports car with silver racing stripes. When on duty, the car is stored in an impact resistant and magnetized freight container in Cargo Hold 3 aboard the UNSC Hansgraf. It belonged to his father before went AWOL.
 * Johnathon captains the UNSC Hansgraf. She is the third of four Bonhomme Richard class light cruisers ever built in the 26th century.
 * Johnathon is an avid listener to songs and music written by Country Music legend, Johnny Cash. This music can be heard in his Captain's quarters when he plays "Ring of Fire" or "I Walk The Line."