Andrew Del Rio

This article may not meet Halo Alpha's standards. You can help by cleaning this article.

“You know, I'd think you, of all people, would appreciate the benefit of living to fight another day.”

— Andrew Del Rio to John-117

Andrew Del Rio was a Captain (Service Number 90302-75627-AD) in United Nations Space Command who was given command of the largest ship in the UNSC fleet, UNSC Infinity.

History

“With more than 30 years of naval experience under his belt and a reputation for bringing his ships home in one piece, Andrew Del Rio was a relatively easy choice for the UNSC’s captain seat on Infinity. Like many of the Navy’s finest, Del Rio’s career grew out of the protracted conflict with the Covenant. Infinity, however, presented a new opportunity for his leadership. Although it was secretly battle tested prior to its recommissioning as a peaceful exploration vessel, the ship now finds itself at the doorstep of a mysterious Forerunner world that poses a danger unparalleled in Del Rio’s decades-long career.”

— Halo Waypoint description

Captain Andrew Del Rio was given command of UNSC Infinity in 2553, on Admiral Margaret Orlenda Parangosky's orders that he should keep Infinity a secret. It is noted that Del Rio was not Paragonsky's prime choice, as she saw him as more of a manager than a leader.

In 2553, at the same time five recruits of SPARTAN-IV Program were brought on board Infinity, a group of Insurrectionists led by Ilsa Zane infiltrated the ship and captured Del Rio. After taking the bridge and shutting down the construction AI Aine, locking Del Rio and his officers in an adjourning room, Ilsa addressed the entire crew, threatening to vent three miles of the ship into space if anyone interfered. However, that did not deter Spartan Sarah Palmer. Del Rio attempted to undo the ship-wide lockdown caused by Aine's deactivation with his override codes, but they were ineffective because XO Commander Thomas Lasky hadn't entered his half of the codes. Thankfully, Lasky was able to enter his codes from a terminal on S-Deck, and they were able to establish intra-ship communications with each other. Then suddenly, Palmer and Edward Davis stormed the bridge and engaged the Insurrectionists. As the fighting went on, Lasky remotely unlocked Del Rio's door, enabling him to re-enter the bridge and reactivate Aine, who opened the blast doors, flushing Zane into space, where she is retrieved by an ONI Prowler.

In 2557, UNSC Infinity was tasked with locating the remaining Halo rings to set up research bases for decommissioning. On Installation 03, the UNSC recovered coordinates leading to a Forerunner Shield World. Infinity set a course for the coordinates, being escorted by several Frigates when the ship was scanned and disabled by the Micro Dyson Sphere on Requiem. Captain Andrew Del Rio requested all UNSC Forces to aid Infinity once it crash landed on Requiem. The ship soon came under attack, composed of Prometheans and Covenant Remnant, who are repelled by Master Chief John-117. As Infinity experienced a moment of relief, Del Rio focused all resources on freeing Infinity from Requiem's gravity well. John-117 insisted they pursue the Ur-Didact but Del Rio dismissed his advice.

Del Rio dispatched John to destroy the gravity well, but when the Spartan returned to inform the captain of his encounter with The Librarian who had revealed that the Didact's objective was to escape Requiem and obtain the Composer to subjugate humanity, Del Rio dismissed his testimony as a hallucination. As Cortana suffered an episode of rampancy, Del Rio ordered her forcible decommissioning only to be challenged by John, who confiscated her AI chip before anyone could. Ordering him to hand it over the Spartan refused, declaring that if Del Rio won't oppose the Didact, he would. Enraged at this display of insubordination, Del Rio turned to Commander Sarah Palmer of the SPARTAN-IV Corps and ordered her to arrest John, only for her to hesitate as John left the bridge. Sending Lasky to stop John from leaving the ship, Del Rio later brings Infinity back to Earth only for FLEETCOM to relieve him of command due to refusing to aid John, with Lasky replacing him.^[2]

It has also been noted by Frank O'Connor that Commander Thomas Lasky, the main character from the series Forward Unto Dawn, later serves under Captain Andrew Del Rio. According to Lasky, FLEETCOM wasn't pleased when he arrived back at Earth without John-117 so he was forced to step down as Captain and was replaced by Lasky. The attack on New Phoenix could only have served to aggravate the poor standing with FLEETCOM in which Del Rio found himself, since it could have been prevented if he had listened to the Master Chief.^[3]