Locus

"Unfortunate"

- Locus in Long Live the King

Locus is a dangerous mercenary who first appears in S.O.S. and is seen listening in on Washington's distress call for help. His intentions were originally unknown, but it's revealed by Felix that he intends to kidnap the Reds and Blues for the Federal Army of Chorus and prevent anyone to help them escape the planet Chorus. Locus serves as a primary antagonist in Season 11 and Season 12.

Overview
Locus' overall concept could be considered to be a combination of several antagonists from the past. He's shown to speak little and is threatening like the Meta, is intellectual like the Director, has a cruel sense of humor like Omega, and is a sociopath like Sigma. However, he has great respect to those he believes deserve it. Locus is comparable to a popular mercenary, Deathstroke from DC Comics, as they are skilled mercenaries with respect for their targets.

When the planet Chorus went into a civil war between the New Republic and the Federal Army of Chorus, Locus joined the Federal Army and became a well known threat to those siding with the New Republic, such as Felix, another mercenary he has known since the Great War. Upon learning that the Blood Gulch Crew, which many believed to be some of the greatest military soldiers in the galaxy, crash landed on Chorus, Locus was ordered to capture them and have them use their skills for his superiors. Locus intends to complete his missions by any means necessary, including killing innocent bystanders or sacrificing his own men.

Origins
Before becoming involved in the Chorus Civil War, Locus was enlisted into the UNSC, where he met and developed a rivalry with Felix. While fighting in the Great War, Locus and his squad became involved in one of the worst battles in UNSC history. In order to survive, Locus and Felix were forced to band together and fight side by side. After the war ended, however, the two were unable to return to civilian life and were later hired by an unknown superior to eradicate the people of the planet Chorus. With the help of other mercenaries, Locus and Felix joined the Federal Army of Chorus and the New Republic respectively, and together, the mercs escalated the events of the war in order to complete their mission.

Capturing the Reds and Blues
In his first appearance, Locus discovers Washington's call for help after the Reds and Blues are left stranded on Chorus, but doesn't respond. Locus later arrives at the teams' location and begins spying on them, remarking the situation they're in as unfortunate before cloaking himself. Later on, Locus kills the pilot that dropped off Doc, Donut, and Lopez and reports in to 'Control', stating that his objective is complete and that he's returning to Crash Site Bravo.

Back at the crash site, Locus once again spies on the teams, but soon turns his sights on Felix. When the latter notices him, Locus activates his cloaking and returns to F.A.C. Outpost 22. He gathers four of his men back to Crash Site Bravo, where they proceed to attack the Blues. But when his men are killed by Tucker and Freckles, Locus attempts to shoot Wash in the head, but Felix intercepts and blocks the blow with a Hardlight Shield. Locus then injures Felix and orders the Blood Gulch Crew to come with him, but they refuse. After Locus threatens them, Wash orders Freckles to fire upon him, but Locus disappears before being hit.

Afterwards, Locus returns to the crash site, accompanied by many more Federal soldiers, and engages the group. During the battle, Locus uses a Sticky Detonator to destroy the Blue Team's tank, and later fires at a plasma grenade behind Donut, knocking the latter unconscious. As the Reds and Blues retaliate, Locus fires several blasts from his Railgun towards Wash and Sarge, incapacitating them. As New Republic reinforcements arrive, Locus attempts to stop Felix, Simmons, Grif, Tucker, and Caboose from escaping into the caves, but fails when Wash has Freckles seal off the entrance by collapsing the tunnel's roof.

Despite this, Locus manages to incapacitate Wash afterwards and the Feds take the four back to F.A.C. Outpost 37. After the battle, Locus communicates with a superior (soon revealed to be Carolina), whose voice is distorted, and informs her about a crate he recovered. He then asks if keeping Sarge, Donut, and Washington alive was the best course of action, but Carolina challenges him, asking if he feels threatened by them. When he responds negatively, Carolina reaffirms for him to obey orders before stating that she would see him soon.

True Intentions
When General Doyle convinces Wash, Sarge, Donut, and Lopez to join the Federal Army, Locus reveals to them that his raid on their base was fully calculated and choreographed, and his orders were to merely apprehand them. He then gives Wash a storage unit containing Freckles' "heart and mind," before leaving. Several weeks later, Locus returns to F.A.C. Outpost 22, where he kills a disguised Cunningham. Locus then discovers Felix, Tucker, and Palomo at the facility, but they escape after detonating the last C-4 charges. Afterwards, Locus radios Jackson and his team to act as escorts to the Reds and Blues, but the group reunite with their friends and learn the truth about the war.

As a result, Locus and his mercenaries kill numerous Federal soldiers at F.A.C. Outpost 37 and surround the Blood Gulch Crew. When Felix arrives, he reveals his true loyalties and, despite Locus' protests, explains to the Reds and Blues that he and Locus were hired to clear Chorus of its residents, and used them to help fan the fire. Once Carolina reveals herself, Locus attempts to kill the Reds and Blues, but the former uses a Teleportation Cube to escape with her friends. With them gone, Locus orders Felix to call Control.

Personality
Locus is portrayed as a quiet and cold individual who is shown to be serious about his objectives. According to Felix, "[Locus] is so far off the deep end he prefers to go by the name of his armor instead of the name he was born with." Locus also seems to enjoy his occupation and is quite sadistic, as he treats his attack on the Reds and Blues with amusement and makes a morbid joke when he kills the pilot. He also remorselessly sent a team of four soldiers to their deaths just to test the Reds and Blues.

Despite this, he's shown to have respect to those he considers the "real deal," like the Reds and Blues. Locus is also cunning, as he's shown to outsmart several characters. Along with this, Locus is quite perceptive, such as in Lost But Not Forgotten, he clearly becomes suspicious of his "superior" when the latter orders him to not execute the captured Reds and Blues. However, his cruelty, dark tone, and skills show that he should be considered a deadly threat to everyone.

In The Federal Army of Chorus much more of his personality traits are seen. He seemingly displays a cynical/realist perspective on life, bearing the viewpoint that soldiers aren't meant to care for anyone or anything other then completing the objective to how they see fit. He also appears to have a certain curiosity on Washington's development as a soldier, in that Wash still values his friends and yet, like Locus, is a professional soldier. He also denies claims of "insanity" simply stating that he is a soldier and is merely doing what is expected of him.

Weaponry
Locus has been shown to have skills with several weapons. His skills with the sniper rifle are superb, as he would have killed Washington if Felix didn't interfere and snipes a plasma grenade near Donut to injure him. In Fire, Locus is shown to use the Railgun very effectively, as he quickly incapacitates Washington and Sarge with it. Along with this, Locus has been seen to use a shotgun, a pistol, a SAW, and Sticky Detonators in battle.

Combat
Locus appears to be a deadly combatant. He's responsible for incapacitating most members of the Reds and Blues during the battle at the crash site and is shown to be skilled in close range combat, as he executes three rebel soldiers as he approaches the remaining members of the Blood Gulch teams. Along with this, he uses cloaking effectively, as he was not only able to spy on the Reds and Blues, but also escape the teams without a trace using the enhancement in several instances. It also seems many within the New Republic fear him, as when Felix mentions Locus to 'Headquarters', the operator is clearly scared.

Intelligence
Locus is shown to be very calculative, allowing him to make the best choices that specifically benefit himself. For example, Locus stops a pilot to prevent others of learning the location of the crash site and instead of immediately attacking the Reds and Blues, he observes them from a distance and wisely sends in a team of soldiers as cannon fodder in Neighborhood Watch in order for him to know about the Reds' and Blues' skills. Locus is also in command of a large group of Federal Army soldiers and leads a successful attack at the crash site, resulting with the remaining Blood Gulch soldiers to retreat. It was also revealed later on that Locus is bilinguistic, knowing both English and Spanish.

Kills
With no remorse, Locus has killed the Dropship Pilot using a shotgun and pistol. It's also implied he killed other individuals prior to Worst Laid Plans, as an unknown corpse is seen near the Fueling Station. In Fire, he kills several New Republic soldiers when the teams attempt to escape. In Hit and Run, he manages to kill a distracted Cunningham via a point-blank shotgun blast and in Cloak and Dagger, he kills several Federal soldiers with a Binary Rifle. It is also implied that he killed the first two leaders of the New Republic.

Trivia

 * Locus' armor in Halo 4 consists of a Locus helmet, Infiltrator torso, Engineer left and right shoulders, and Outer-Plated arms and legs.
 * Locus appears at Crash Site Bravo (and speaks for the first time) in the tenth episode of Season 11, similar to the tradition where Tex makes a bold appearance in the tenth episode of several seasons. Along with this, he is shown to have Active Camouflage, an armor enhancement that Tex also possessed.
 * Before his name was revealed, many fans of the series called Locus 3G, which stood for Green Gray Guy. This relates with his armor color, as sage is a shade of green and steel is a shade of gray.
 * It is revealed in Ready…Aim… that Locus doesn't use his real name, but rather a name based on his armor (specifically his helmet). This is similar to Freelancers using their assigned state name rather than their real names.
 * As revealed in the episode The Federal Army of Chorus, Locus is bilingual in both English and Spanish, as he is able to understand Lopez.
 * Locus might be a reference to Darth Vader from the Star Wars franchise as both characters have dark voices, dark colored armor, forsook their birth name, are incredibly skilled fighters, were formerly allied with one of the protagonists (Obi-Wan for Vader, Felix for Locus), serve as the primary villains of their stories although they are not in charge of the antagonistic faction and command numerous white armored soldiers. Additionally, Locus can be compared to Boba Fett given both are skilled mercenaries fighting for the antagonists of their respective franchises.
 * Locus' voice helmet filter is noticeably different from other characters, as it is less compressed and more deep and acoustic sounding, adding to his menacing persona.
 * As stated before, Locus draws comparisons from other main antagonists, such as Omega and Meta. Like Omega, Locus' voice has a deep bass and he finds pleasure in violence. Like the Meta, Locus is very calm, stoic and often uses the cloaking armor enhancement.