Edward Buck

"Troopers! We are green, and very, very mean!"

- GySgt. Buck as they prepare to drop into New Mombasa.

Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck (Service Number 92458-37017-EB) is a Staff Non-Commissioned Officer in the UNSC Marine Corps, and is an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper.

Summary
Counting time spent in cryo-sleep, Buck is a 25 year veteran of the war. He served in numerous battles throughout the Human-Covenant War. Watching so many of his fellow marines die has left Buck thick-skinned and short-fused, but this wasn't always so. He was regarded as an extremely skilled Marine and by the Battle of Earth, was the commander of "The Squad" until Capt. Dare took responsibility before the drop on New Mombasa, Kenya in October 20, 2552.

Early Life and Military Career
Edward Buck was born in 2510 in New Albany in Lombard on Draco III. In 2528, when he was eighteen, he enlisted in the UNSC Marine Corps and followed it through as a career. He served in many battles, including the Third Battle of Harvest and the Battle of Reach. At some point, Buck was in a romantic relationship with Dare.

Battle of Earth
During the Battle of Earth in 2552, his squad was a part of a larger ODST unit that was to be inserted onto the Prophet of Regret's Flagship stationed over the city of New Mombasa. His mission changed however, when Capt. Dare took control of the squad at the last moment before the drop, in order to use them for her own, classified mission.

In mid-drop, Dare ordered the squad to steer their drop pods away from the carrier. Right after this, the carrier jumped into Slipspace above the city, generating a massive EMP shockwave which disabled the pods' electronic systems. As a result, the pods were scattered around the city.

After the EMP, his pod bounced off one building, then deflecting off a second, making his pod crash upside down. He immediately made contact with Dare, who's hatch malfunctioned and thus wouldn't open. After a brief discussion he realized Covenant forces were heading for Dare's crash site. On his way to the crash site, he went through a building finding various dead Elites, and later encountered more near a Security door, he asked Veronica what was all the dead Elites, saying it was like a family feud, being killed by Brutes. Veronica responded by saying this information was classified, he said "some things never change". After Buck moved through to the next sector, some Marines were under fire, he entered a building to flank the Covenant troops, where Veronica contacted him, telling him the Covenant had found her and were moving in on her location, Buck assured her he was on his way. After fighting off the rest of the Covenant troops including a pair of Hunters, he made it to Tayari Plaza, Dare's crash site, where her pod was under fire by a trio of Grunts. After dispatching the Grunts he opened up her pod to find that she wasn't in the pod. An Engineer approached him holding Dare's damaged helmet, he was then saved by Romeo, who, still following the order of "shutting his mouth", wouldn't respond to Buck who finally gave him permission to speak. Buck asked Romeo if he had made contact with the rest of the squad, he said "Negative".

Buck abandoned Dare's original mission, and focused on reuniting his squad and evacuating the city. He and Romeo made their way to the NMPD Headquarters building, where he made contact with Dutch and Mickey via an NMPD Officer, who were at the ONI Alpha Site, who said they would pick them up with a Pelican. On the way to the landing pads, they side stepped a group of Covenant troops and quietly made their way to the pads. At this point, Buck tried to contact The Rookie, but received no response. Dutch and Mickey had acquired an NMPD Pelican dropship, and were ready to pick up Romeo and Buck from a landing platform at the NMPD HQ, but they were shot down by two Banshees. Romeo and Buck then proceeded through the NMPD Headquarters, to find and rescue their squadmates on top of a landing on a neighboring skyscraper, where after waves of Covenant troops, including Banshees, a Brute Chieftain landed and attacked Romeo, before the Chieftain could finish him off, Buck jumped on the Brute's back and stabbed it in the neck with his Combat Knife. After the Chieftain fell Mickey and Dutch were celebrating when they realized Buck was stuck underneath the dead Brute. Buck then lead the other ODST's to Kikowani Station, intending to take the train out of the city, only to find out the tunnels have been flooded. He decided to steal a Phantom and escape the station. On the way out they encountered a Scarab, which Buck personally destroyed. Some of the doors wouldn't open so Buck had to open them manually himself. One of these doors, had lost power, and he had to find a backup switch, after battling through a Brute pack, including another Chieftain, he found the switch and opened the door. After finally making it out of the city, he realized where Dare might be and had Mickey go back.

He headed into the Data Center alone, going right through the Drone hive, getting covered in Drone blood and gore. When he got near the Data Center of the Superintendent he was reunited with Dare and the Rookie and where he met Vergil. He had a short conversation with Dare about why Vergil was so important, that and he upset Veronica by telling her he had killed "one or two" Engineers. After finally making it to the elevator he received a punch from Dare for "abandoning the mission"; he complained that she was missing and his squad was scattered only to be cut off by Dare, who gave him a passionate kiss from her for "coming back", remembering the Rookie was there and watching, congratulated him on doing a good job. After battling through a Covenant outpost, and boarding another elevator for the highway, he and Veronica had another argument over Vergil and the arriving Covenant fleet.

Taking the gunner position on various Warthogs and a Scorpion tank, he and the Rookie covered Dare and Vergil down the highway, witnessing the arrival of more Covenant ship, including two Assault Carriers, marveling at their size. When the first Carrier started to glass the city he was reminded of Reach, Dare reminded him he survived that and that he will survive this. They encountered several Ghosts, Wraiths, and Banshees, and two Scarabs, the second one firing on Dare and Vergil. The Garbage truck was severely damaged and the Covenant had glassed the highway further down. He ordered Mickey to meet them at a new location, to move in on his beacon.

Buck and the others took the next exit, to hold position, while he and the Rookie secured a building to hold and wait for Mickey to arrive. After fighting off waves of Covenant troops, Mickey arrived with the Phantom, as the squad was evacuating ,an Assault Carrier arrived close to their position, Vergil now refused to get on the Phantom, was shoved in by Buck while Dare pulled it in the gravity beam. He then boarded the Phantom with the squad, and finally evacuated the city. He was later seen, a month later, at an ONI Orbital facility with the rest of the squad, guarding Vergil and watched as Sgt. Johnson "interrogated" the Engineer.

Trivia

 * Buck is voiced by Nathan Fillion, who also starred in Halo 3 as Gunnery Sergeant Reynolds. He is described by Nathan Fillion himself as "a bit hardened and a bit cranky." Fillion's likeness was also used to model Buck. Also, Reynolds quotes are shared by Buck in the game.
 * Buck is unlocked for play in Firefight by getting the Tayari Plaza Achievement.
 * In an interview with Worthplaying, Brian Jarrard hinted that Buck might be featured as one of the characters in Halo: Reach.
 * It is unknown how he made it back to Earth when he survived the Fall of Reach. There is a possibility that this will be explained in Halo: Reach.
 * Some of his lines, such as "Bam, said the lady" and "GORRAM!" come from the show, Firefly, which Nathan Fillion also starred in.
 * He is the only known non-Spartan to destroy a Scarab solo, if the player chooses to destroy the Scarab on Kikowani Station.
 * In an Easter Egg in the Epilogue cutscene after the credits, if you look to the left near the end of Johnson's talk with the Engineer, the camera will pan over to Buck standing next to a monkey (Cavemen), he attempts to groom and eat off it.


 * Rarely, if you jump with Buck somewhere in the vehicle, he will sing the horn tune from the General Lee in Dukes of Hazard.