User:Five Dog

Welcome aboard the SSV Kilimanjaro of the Systems Alliance! My name is Captain Henry Leyland and I am in command of this fine vessel. My friends call me "Five Dog", but I'll explain that later. I'm certain you won't find anything wrong with our ship during your surprise inspection. We're currently headed for Terra Nova in the Asgard System to recruit and resupply. Take a short look around, everything is up to code.

Oh, one more thing. You may wish to visit my nephew, also with the nickname "Five Dog". He lives on Earth in The Vault. You may also want to check out this guy, who claims to be some sort of God. He also claims to watch over me, so, it works for me. He can be found on the Left 4 Dead Wiki on the extranet.

When your inspection is over, feel free to stop by and chat. You'll more than likely be finished before we arrive. I'll gladly inform you of anything you want to know. -- Five Dog ( Talk ){ Updates } 20:11, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Personal History
Ah, welcome! Your inspection is finished, I see. Remarkable vessel, isn't she? Yes, a fine starship, indeed. But I digress, you asked about my personal history, did you not? Let's move on to that.

I was born on Earth in Ireland on April 4th, 2135 CE, to my parents Thomas and Sandra Leyland.

My father had been an Alliance Marine since he was 19. So, to carry on the tradition, I signed up when I was 19 as well. My military life did not start out exciting, it was very dull. I was serving aboard the SSV London as a simple Service Chief. I found no way to entertain myself other than talking to the other soldiers. In 2157, I spoke freely about my feelings of boredom and was quickly punished for disruptive behaviour. As my punishment, I was released from the SSV London garrison and sent to Shanxi, a dull and pointless place to guard. At least it was pointless.

The First Contact War - 2157
Humanity makes first contact with another space-faring culture: the turians. Unfortunately, the encounter is far from peaceful. The turians find the human fleet attempting to activate a Mass Relay, something forbidden in galactic law after the Rachni Wars, and attack. They attacked and traced them back to Shanxi. I was not prepared. None of us were. To sum up the war, we got the crap bombed out of us. As I'm sure you're aware, it ended with my commanding officer - General Williams - being forced to surrender. I do not blame his decision. Without it, we would all have been killed. Besides, it was not long before Admiral Kastanie Drescher lead the Second Fleet against Shanxi, catching the turians by surprise and evicting them from the planet.

The turians geared for an all-out war against humanity, but this drew the attention of the Citadel Council. The Council intervened before hostilities could escalate further, revealing the existence of the greater galactic community and brokering a peace between us and the turians.

For my service on Shanxi, I was promoted to 1st Lieutenant. I was also awarded the Medal of Honour and sent to work aboard this very ship; the SSV Kilimanjaro.

My Nickname
Oh, yes, I was going to tell you about my nickname: "Five Dog". Well, I received it during the First Contact War. When we were trying to wait out the turian bombardments, we had to constantly slip into areas undetected by their ships to gather vital supplies. As part of the small scavenger team, I headed with my comrades to silently gather whatever we could salvage. Whilst scurrying around, I sensed a stash of meat. Dead Varren. But, when you're trying to out-live a war, you'll take what you can get. No-one else could smell it but me. I led us closer and closer to it. Soon, I could hear the flies buzzing around it, yet no-one else could. I uncovered it fairly quickly. There was a man in our group called Nikolai Ford. He was not English by default and had very minor trouble speaking it - our translator technology was experimental at the time. He said to me:
 * "You must have the blessed senses of Five Dog!"

I, and the rest of the unit, assumed he meant "five dogs". Nikolai Ford is still alive, you know. And curiously, to this day, he claims to have meant to say "Five Dog". I don't know what that's supposed to mean. Anyway, after he said it, everyone began jokingly calling me it and somehow it just stuck.

Recent Military History
After the many years of service as Captain Brevich's XO aboard the SSV Kilimanjaro, I was finally promoted. The old man retired as Captain and I took his position. Captain Henry Leyland: it suited me well. My friends still called me Five Dog, though. I chose my close friend Hannah Shepard to take my place as XO soon afterwards. Not much happened from there. Not with this ship, at least.

By 2183, I was growing fond of simply cruising around on the ship, the life of war was behind me. Boy, was I wrong. Commander Shepard of the SSV Normandy - the first human Spectre - had just uncovered the darkest secret in the Universe - The Reapers. Responding to a distress call from the Citadel, the Alliance was recruiting fast for a mission to rescue it from a real Reaper called Sovereign. I volunteered, but instead of my ship being taken into battle, they put me in charge of a cruiser; the SSV Goliath. I joined the Fifth Fleet, otherwise known as the Arcturus Fleet. Ordered by Spectre Shepard to save the Council on board the Destiny Ascension, we suffered heavy losses. Luckily, the SSV Goliath was not among the countless many destroyed by Sovereign.

After Sovereign was finally slain, I returned swiftly here; to the SSV Kilimanjaro. And here we are, not too long after. I fear we are heading for a much darker time.

Arrived
Ah, it seems we're arriving at Terra Nova. Excuse me, I'm going to have a word with my XO before we touchdown. Listen, it was great chatting with you, maybe when you and I are not on duty we can do it more in depth some time, OK? If you wish to discuss further, you can contact me via my Extranet page. Goodbye my friend, and good luck in the future!