Name: Elliott Walker Crawley
DOB: 07/07/1980- Greenbow, Alabama
Unit: 7th special forces group/ Green Berets
Rank: E-8, Master Sergeant (Medically Discharged)
Current age: 43
Significant other: Sanaa "Nomad" El- -Maktoub
Early life: Elliot or Eli, as he's known as, is the fourth child of Hubert and Helena Crawley he has two older brothers named Logan and Christopher, an older sister named Jessica, and a younger brother named Tommy.
Eli's family came from old southern money, which meant that their children never went without, but Eli wasn't impressed by the money or status he was just happy to be apart of a family that loved him.
Eli's grandmother was the matriarch of the family and would tell her grandchildren stories that her husband had written her from the Pacific theater of WW2. Eli wished he had met his grandfather, but he died before Logan was a year old from stomach cancer.
Eli excelled in his studies in high school and earned himself a scholarship to the University of Alabama for his time spent as a wide receiver for his football team. He was always into electronics and would always be working on something, and with the rise of everything becoming digitized, he was determined to make it work.
Realization: Before starting his classes in college, Eli's older brothers decided to treat their little brother with a trip to their families fishing cabin in New Jersey. When they stopped for gas on the morning of September 11th, they were hit by the news on the attack on the world trade center.
Eli could've swore that he felt the impact, but he wasn't sure. He argued with his brothers that they needed to go and help, but they pointed out that there was probably no way to get there, and they spent the weekend in silence at the cabin.
After returning home, he made his way to the nearest recruitment center and applied for the Army.
Military life: After boot camp, Eli was assigned as a Humvee gunner under the 1st calvary, which specialized in convoy and route clearing. He stayed in this position until 2009, when during a building by building sweep, their convoy was rushed by fighters with the intent to capture the humvees.
Eli used his M240B to great effect until a fighter climbed to the back of the humvee and was about to bury a machete into his neck until the man's head exploded in a red mist, later he learned that it was a green beret team who's mission was running parallel with theirs that came to their rescue.
Dreams: Sergeant Eli Crawley joined the Special Operations Preparation Course after getting his Airborne certification, and after completing the grueling sixty-one week training course through the Pineland in North Carolina, he graduated as the Junior weapon Sergeant (Bravo) of his Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA).
His new job earned him the rank of Staff Sergeant, and he worked directly with his counterpart, a surly African American man named David Jordan from Southern Georgia.
Being a part of the twelve man ODA was interesting. He was the low man on the totem pole, but he knew he was just as skilled as the others on his team, with maybe the exception of their team Sergeant.
He served with his ODA through the horn of Africa (HOA), Iraq, Afghanistan, and even in Nigeria. His last and longest deployment was in Afghanistan, where they served directly out of Camp Chapman trying to put the region under control after the attack on the base in late 2009.
Captain Ricardo Peel and Cheif Warrant Officer Balthazar "Big Boss" O'Neal split the ODA to run simultaneous missions to try and track down the cell that bombed Chapman.
Captain Peel's team consisted of himself, Master Sergeant Cliff Davidson, Sergeant First Class Parker Thompson, Eli as the team weapon Sergeant, Sergeant Travis "Trixie" Deltan, Staff Sergeant Kent O'Brian, and Sergeant First Class William Callahan.
During one of his rotations home, he was able to be a part of his sisters wedding and was surprised to be greeted by the bridesmaid he walked down the aisle with standing in the doorway of the cabin he lived in on the property, she pushed the door shut and locked it behind her.
"So, are we going to do this?" The stunning brunette asked, as Eli rose from his sofa, moved to the woman who was still standing in front of the door, reached behind her to unlock the door, and swung it open before turning back to his chair.
"Don't let the door hit you on the way out, and you better hope I don't tell my sister about this." Eli had said but in vain when he found out the next morning that she was sent to him by his siblings to try and find something that would keep him at home.
Eli was furious at their callous use of another living person like that and stormed out with his packed duffel and hitchhike his way towards their base in Florida.
Back in the saddle: Eli was glad to be back with his Tier-1 brothers in their new temporary home in Camp Lemonnier in Africa while awaiting their new tasking.
During a rare evening, when everyone was crammed into their team room, they were all just lounging either playing video games, reading, or playing darts. A question was posed to Eli by Captain Peel.
"So how was your sister's wedding kid?" Peel asked from his spot at the dart board with Cliff, who was spinning the dart in-between his fingers.
Eli felt the eleven pairs of eyes on him as he told the story of the beautiful wedding and how happy he was that his sister had found her forever friend, but when he told the story of what his siblings with the exception of Tommy did with their manipulation of one his sister's closest friend.
When he was done, he was met with a single light chuckle from Sergeant First Class Kevin Boggs, who was the senior Echo (Comms Sergeant) but was cut short by Cheif O'Neal who's steely blue eyes and curly hair conveyed why he had earned his nickname from the popular video game character.
Cliff spun the dart around his fingers again before throwing it like a throwing knife. It missed the dart board that wasn't the target but stuck into the thin wall that was covered with pictures of pinups of models and several pictures drawn by Staff Sergeant Marty Doolen, who was the team senior Charlie (Engineering Sergeant).
"It's women like that who are the reason I have three Ex-wives, don't worry, kid no one is going to make fun of you for being a gentleman, isn't that right three fifty-one?" Cliff asked using their team number.
"Right, Top!" The enlisted members of the ODA called out loud.
New Station: After serving in the 351 for five years, Eli was given an opportunity to be the top sergeant of a new ODA on the recommendations of Captain Peel and Cheif O'Neal. He had earned his first class promotion back in 2013 and was given his E-8 promotion when the new ODA was formed.
ODA 679 was put under the command of a Captain Marcus Bollen and CWO Connor Wright with Eli being their SNCO. Eli had personally met every man who was on the team and was determined to have them running as a well-oiled machine.
It was weird for him not being a weapon Sergeant. He was trained on many weapon systems from man portable small arms to crew served emplacements. He was issued an M4 while with the 1st calvary along with an M9, but when he made it to the Tier-1, he was able to pick his own weapons, and after many combinations he finally settled on the Bushmaster ACR (advanced combat rifle) as his primary but he kept his M9 out of nostalgia for his time in the calvary, but with several upgrades that he funded personally.
Being a weapon Sergeant, he was also the team breacher using a Remington 870 to break hinges and locks before kicking the door in himself.
Loss: August 6th, 2015, a full six months after being in the new ODA, Eli was met with the biggest personal tragedy of his life.
Being sent into the heart of the Hindu Kush to track down a new bomb maker whose weapons had killed six American servicemen ODA 679 was tasked with eliminating the threat and destroying the workshop
During the rare daytime hit, Eli was sent to the front door with the CWO and half the ODA, stepping up on the makeshift porch and taking a firm firing stance with his pistol grip shotgun and was about to fire when the flimsy porch under his right boot broke away and he felt something stab through the bottom of his boot and through his foot.
The next thing he heard and felt was the explosives under the porch detonate and his right foot being blown away by the IED, landing on his back, trying not to scream at the excruciating pain he felt it failed when he felt his right leg start to burn as if someone had set it on fire.
What he learned after was that the IED had a car battery buried beneath it, and the burning was the battery acid being exposed to his stump.
Eli woke up once briefly in the back of one of their Honda gun trucks to the sight of both their senior and junior Deltas (Medical Sergeants) working on his leg and Captain Bollen
"Big Brother, this is Matchstick Actual, we have a critical surgical WIA in need of MEDEVAC, and coordinates are as follows." Eli faded for a second before hearing the medics calling for Bollen's help with the leg.
Eli woke up fully in a white hospital bed with a blanket coming up to his shoulders. He had been evacuated to a hospital in the Green Zone, and looking down, he could see that his left foot was sticking straight up but nothing where his right foot should be.
The next day, Captain Bollen had come to visit him, and when Eli asked whether they had got the bomb maker, he wasn't expecting the awnser he got.
"Did we get him? Brother, we dropped the whole mountain on their heads." Bollen said, and Eli was shocked to find out that the resulting landslide had buried the small village below in rubble, and the resulting injuries were deemed acceptable by SOCOM.
Eli had layed in bed for days, contemplating whether he should get back to one hundred percent and try to get back into the Tier-1 and his ODA. It was when Captain Peel came to visit when he got his awnser.
"Hermano, listen to me. If you have any doubt about the Tier-1, then you need to go home and reevaluate if you think our mission is a worthy one. If you want, I can see about putting you into another ODA." Peel had offered, but Eli wasn't sure he knew his position would be filled in the 679 and was prepared for that.
His physical rehabilitation flew by, and he was waiting for his orders to return stateside while sitting in a narrow hallway that led to the ambulance Bay when the double doors at the end of the hallway flew open revealing half a dozen people with one on a gurney.
One was obviously a nurse working on the man being rolled towards the locked double doors by four people who were geared up like special forces.
Three men of different ethnicities were pushing the cart while the woman with them was holding the man's hand on the gurney.
Eli quickly jumped up and started to push the doors open when his new prosthetic foot slipped, and he fell to his back but managed to get the door open and rolled out of the way when the gurney went rolling past.
The woman holding the man's hand looked back mouthing. "Thank you" to him, her brown eyes were red, and her olive colored skin seemed a shade lighter, but she seemed strong.
Eli made his way to the roof after hearing his ride to the airport, which was delayed for six hours, but he was used to the "hurry up and wait." mentality, so it didn't bother him that much.
He had pulled a crumpled pack of cigarettes out of his duffels' side pocket and wedged one between his lips and lit it from a small Bic lighter.
He didn't hear the elevator open or the person quietly dropping beside him on the bench. He looked over and saw the female soldier he spotted in the hallways that was holding the man's hand on the gurney, from the look on her face and the ghost white shade of her skin, he knew it wasn't good.
She slowly turned her head to face him, and a look of surprise jumped on her face. She hadn't noticed him in her grief, and he wasn't about to say anything about it. He held out the pack to her, and she took one and proceeded to pat her blood-stained Tac vest for a lighter before he offered his to her.
They spoke for a while, and when the conversation turned to the man who was on the gurney, she told him that his name had been Lewis and that he was the closest thing she had to a brother and that he died when he threw himself in front of a shooter who's aim was trained on Sanaa.
They both heard the elevator open this time and saw the tall beret wearing man from earlier and after introducing him as Jalal El Fassi, the Commander of a training facility in the Altas Mountains of Morocco
Jalal informed Sanaa that Lewis's body was ready to transport home, Sanaa said her goodbyes to Eli, and the two men talked about his future. Eli didn't know, and Kaid offered him a spot in the fortress, and Eli told him he'd consider it after getting used to his new prosthetic.
Faith: When Eli returned home, he wasn't surprised to see his younger brother Tommy waiting for him. What surprised him was the fact that he was dressed in a black suit and standing in front of a convoy of three large Chevy Tahoes.
"Welcome home, hero." Tommy said as the two brothers met for an embrace, Tommy was 28 at the time, and Eli knew that he could still pick his brother up off the ground like he did when he was younger but his new prosthetic made him think better of it.
When Eli asked about the security team, Tommy told him that Lieutenant Governor Logan Crawley wanted to make sure that he got home safe. Arriving at the home of their parents, Eli was met with a large, colorful "Welcome home" sign hanging on the marble pillars.
His parents, aunts, and uncles, along with his siblings and their kids, were standing on the front lawn of the southern style mansion. He couldn't help the massive goofy grin on his face when the door was held open for him.
After a wonderful dinner and after everyone went home except for the parents and the siblings, Eli sat at the long dining table eating his third piece of pound cake that his aunt made specifically for him.
"So Eli, what do you plan to do after being home for good?" His father asked from the head of the table with his mother to his left and his ninety-three year old grandmother to his right.
When Eli told everyone his plans, he was met with silence until his father exploded in outrage over the fact that his son had lost a foot and was willing to go back and work with a group that seemed like a mercenary outfit.
Eli placed his fork down and did what he did most of the time his father was disappointed with him. He got up and grabbed his duffel bag before walking out the door and heading for the hard road.
He might have gotten a mile away in the darkness with his flashlight leading the way before one of the three Tahoes pulled up along him and matched his speed.
Eli looked over, expecting to see Tommy or Logan, but saw it was one of the security team that had a buzzed scalp and a scar running down the right side of his face.
"Want a beer?" The driver asked, and after considering it, he climbed in the front seat. The man's name was Junior Dempsey, and he was a fifty year old retired Navy Seal who was diagnosed with lung cancer in his mid thirties and had no choice but to retire for treatment.
He beat his cancer and became a security officer for his own security service. They made their way to a roadside bar and talked for hours.
Junior explained that his company has a training facility in Jacksonville, Florida, and Eli was welcome to use it to get back into shape before he made his decision to go to Morocco.
When Eli asked him why he was helping him, assuming his brother was involved but Dempsey just wanted to help another Tier-1 brother and hoped someone would help him if he needed help.
Eli spent the next four months conditioning himself back into shape, and at the end, he made a phone call to Kaid requesting his place at the fortress.
New life: Eli exited the single prop plane to the dirt runway with his duffel and gear bag that held his new personal defense and tactical clothing.
He spotted a white Jeep with mud covering almost every inch of the lower half and the large man he recognized from the hospital. He introduced himself as Saif AL Hadid or Oryx, which was his callsign in the field, and he is Kaid's second in command.
After introductions were made, Oryx told Eli that their was a map and compass in the glove box, and he was supposed to use his land navigation skills to find the fortress, his only hint was that it was to the north and he had two hours to get there.
Eli raced through the front gate of the fortress with fifteen minutes to spare. He parked in the middle of a dirt courtyard, and the only people he saw were Kaid and Sanaa, who had her arms crossed.
"Welcome, my friend. I am glad you decided to join us." Kaid said, offering a hand to Eli, which he took while he marveled at the beautiful stone work of the fortress.
Eli thanked Kaid for accepting him and noticed Oryx was watching from a window higher up in one of the buildings. Apparently, Oryx knows the mountains better than the locals and was able to beat Eli here on foot ten minutes earlier.
When Eli arrived, it was already becoming night, and he was allowed to get some rest in a temporary room till he proved himself. He was awoken at 0300 when Sanaa came to wake him up by flipping the lights on and off repeatedly, causing Eli to jump up on instinct without realizing he took his prosthetic off when he slept.
Standing abruptly on one leg and losing his balance, he stared up at the ceiling for several seconds while Sanaa stood in the doorway with her hands over her mouth. That's when Eli noticed her missing fingertips.
Sitting up and putting his foot on his stump, he inquired about her missing fingertips, and she told him about her solo expeditions and how she lost them to frostbite in the Artic circle.
They entered the armory to get Eli a weapon for his CQB challenge, and he was met with the last missing man he hadn't met from the hospital. He was a chisled African American former Marine recon sergeant named William Stride.
They made formal introductions before Will slid a long rifle case across the workbench he stood behind.
"Heard you were partial with these." He said as Eli opened the case and was met with an ACR, not the same desert tan rifle he had used in the Green Berets, but this one was olive green with the same collapsible stock, magpul mags, and same ambidextrous lower receiver that he loved, he was back in business.
2017: Sitting in the dining hall one evening with Will and Saif playing cards, Eli was approached by Sanaa, who dropped onto the bench beside him, which caused him to smile and turn to face her. The two had become close over the two years Eli was here, and everyone knew these two cared for each other, except them, of course.
Sanaa asked Eli if he would like to take an endurance training course over the weekend in the Scottish highlands with her. It was the same course that the SAS used for training, but she was able to procure use of the site with a favor she was owed.
Eli accepted and was told to be ready the day after tomorrow, and she rose, squeezing his left bicep as she left. When Eli looked back, he saw Saif had a neutral face, and Will had a huge smile.
He learned that over her many years here, she has never asked anyone to accompany her on a trip, and he better be ready for someone who doesn't get bogged down or slows down.
Waking up after their first day of traversing the beautiful and difficult terrain, Eli awoke to the sound of the worst rain storm he had ever heard. He looked across the tent and saw that Sanaa was already sitting up on her bed roll sketching in her book she always sketched in when not doing anything.
Eli checked his phone and saw that they were in a torrential downpour that would be staying most of the day. He opened the zipper slightly and saw outside the overhang they put their tent under was protecting them from the wind.
Sanaa told him that if it stopped today, they'd move, but she wasn't interested in getting hypothermia and reached over to turn the small space heater on warming the small tent.
The biggest problem with Eli was that he could never sit still, probably the reason why he was so good as a weapon sergeant in the ODA. He sat around reading for a few hours but had the need to exercise like he did every day, so he started doing push-ups in his sweat pants and tank top.
Sanaa kept drawing, but she mainly kept watching Eli out of the corner of her eyes, and when he stood up, she could see the shirt sticking to him from the sweat.
Eli grabbed his shower kit and told Sanaa he was going for a rain shower. The runoff from the overhang had enough pressure to clean someone if they needed to.
Eli stripped to his boxers outside and began to scrub himself clean with the cold water and had just finished his shower when he felt something soft touch him in the center of his back.
Stiffening and turning, he faced Sanaa, who had stripped down to her privates and rested a hand on his defined chest. Eli cupped her face in his hands and pressed his lips against hers. The two spent the next night intertwined with each other. It wasn't long after that Sanaa and Kaid were invited to join team Rainbow, and Oryx followed them two years later, leaving the students to maintain the fortress.
2021: Eli was reunited with Kaid first when his mentor had returned out of the blue to the fortress to inform them that the remnants of the White Masks who Team Rainbow had been hunting for over six years, might have a stronghold near their fortress and it was up to the students of Kaid to find it and alert the highly trained team of special operators of its location.
Eli didn't find the stronghold, but he was with Kaid when two Blackhawks landed outside the fortress, and a large team made their way on foot to them. In that group was Sanaa, and when he saw her, he remembered that she was the most beautiful woman in the world.
Also, in the group was a retired army Ranger named Malcolm Talbert and a MARSOC staff sergeant named Daryll Gibbons. Eli left the planning with the operators, and when Sanaa broke away from the planning, she came to find him to inform him that he was needed as a door gunner on one of the Blackhawks for the main assualt.
After the mission at the stronghold, Eli and Sanaa were getting ready for bed when Kaid knocked on the door and asked Eli to follow him.
"Being back after all this time away has confirmed something that a Kaid's duty is to the people of the fortress. Eli, you are one of my best students, and I would be honored if you would take my spot on team Rainbow." Kaid had offered, and Eli accepted to offer without hesitation.
Team Rainbow: His first day with Rainbow caused all sorts of problems. He was being tested one on one with one of the NightHaven operators named Apha. She was deceived by her boss Kali to attack his prosthetic, and when it broke in her grasp, it broke her, and Eli finished the match by unloading his m9 into her.
This match put fuel on the fire that eventually caused the split in 2022, but before that, Eli was forced to sit out the Paris mission that resulted in everyone excepted for Daryll to be captured by Sergei Grendel.
When word came from the top of the failed mission, Eli grabbed his crutches and gear and made his way to the waiting helicopter but was stopped by Harry and Sanaa, but he forced his way past them before getting tackled by Saif.
While laying on the ground, Apha ran over and placed a new, stronger prosthetic foot over his stump, and Eli was allowed to participate on the mission.
Today: Eli was sent to observe the defection of the five operators to NightHaven, one of which was his friends girlfriend, and he had no choice but to watch for an ambush.
Physical condition and equipment:
Height - 6ft 1in
Weight - 233 pounds
Physique - muscular
Primary weapon - Bushmaster ACR with an EoTech holographic sight and angled foregrip.
Secondary weapon - custom Beretta M9a4
Psychological Report:
Eli told me that he hated his full name and secretly changed it behind his parents' back, his openness to discuss his distain of mainly his father is something you don't see in someone who climbed the ladder of the special forces like he did, many of the operators here needed to take a page from Eli.
The only thing about Eli that I do not know about of the time that he and Sanaa visit his family in Alabama, they chose not to talk about it and I am not about to pry but I concluded that they would not be returning.
Inspiration: Eli's dedication to his mission reminds me a lot of Jake Redding from Arisen. His dedication to his friends Reed Beckham from the extinction cycle and his love of those he truly cares about from Glenn Walsh from the Tide.