Spencer Mahad
Major General of the SCAF Tau Volantis Expedition
Spencer Mahad was a Major General of the Sovereign Colonies Armed Forces who commanded the military forces of the Tau Volantis Expedition. When the Necromorph outbreak spiraled out of control, he carried out the Scenario Five kill order and took his own life.
Spencer Mahad was a Major General of the Sovereign Colonies Armed Forces who commanded the military forces of the expedition sent to Tau Volantis in search of the source of the Marker signal. When the Necromorph outbreak there spun beyond all control, Mahad enforced the Scenario Five kill order across the colony and the orbiting fleet, and ended his own life once the purge was complete.
The Tau Volantis Expedition#
Mahad was sent by the Sovereign Colonies to lead the SCAF Legionary forces during the Tau Volantis Expedition, an undertaking aimed at locating the source of the Marker signal in the hope that its limitless energy could finally be harnessed by humanity. He was unconvinced of its importance at the outset. In a meeting he pressed Admiral Marjorie Graves to abort the mission and turn for home, so that he could use his forces in the Secession War then underway, and when told the mission concerned Markers he remained unmoved until Dr. Earl Serrano briefed him on its purpose.
Graves resented the strain his presence placed on her ship, having to double bunk half her officers to house Mahad's 163rd Reaper Unit, whom she found rude and idle. When she asked why resources were being spent on the addition, Mahad replied that her bunk-space worries would not last long, as he intended to take half the unit down to the planet once they were dug in, calling them his insurance that nothing would go wrong. It was only when the science teams began unearthing the Alien Machine and the strange, cryogenically frozen lifeforms that his military outfit suddenly became one of great importance.
Taking command#
During the expedition, Graves was exposed to the artifacts brought up from the planet and stored aboard the ships. Her mind gradually succumbed to the effects of the Markers, and she was confined to her quarters under quarantine, leaving Mahad in command of the entire expedition. Now in charge, he made plain his contempt for Dr. Serrano, warning the scientist that he was playing a dangerous game.
Scenario Five#
On June 17, 2314, with the Necromorph outbreak out of control and Serrano closing in on the truth about the Tau Volantis Moon, the Sovereign Colonies Council issued a Scenario Five kill order for all personnel on Tau Volantis. Mahad broadcast the order to his remaining soldiers, directing a colony-wide quarantine: disabling every vehicle and ship in the colony and in orbit, destroying all communications equipment, erasing all data and research the science teams had uncovered, and finally killing any surviving personnel before taking their own lives. When he came to the armory to requisition its ammunition for the order and was told the armory key was missing, he threatened Private Tim Caufman with a permanent posting peeling potatoes unless it was found.
On June 18, 2314, having overseen the final stage of the purge, Mahad encountered Caufman again at Facility Two's Silo. Caufman was returning from a mission entrusted to him by Serrano to retrieve the Codex, which the doctor believed could stop the outbreak. Mahad brushed off Caufman's attempts to explain Serrano's plan, calling the doctor a misguided optimist and declaring that they had lost all control of the situation. Convinced that the entire mission was a failure and that the only way to preserve Earth and the Sovereign Colonies was to terminate everyone with knowledge of the Markers, he took the Codex. After confirming that Caufman loved Earth and his parents, Mahad shot the Private in the head, erased the Codex's data, and then killed himself with a single gunshot after saluting the flag of the Sovereign Colonies.
Frequently asked questions
- Who was Spencer Mahad?
- Spencer Mahad was a Major General of the Sovereign Colonies Armed Forces, sent to lead the SCAF Legionary forces during the Tau Volantis Expedition. He commanded the 163rd Reaper Unit and took overall command of the expedition after Admiral Marjorie Graves succumbed to the Marker signal.
- What was the Scenario Five kill order?
- Scenario Five was the contingency the Sovereign Colonies Council issued on June 17, 2314 to contain the Tau Volantis outbreak. It ordered all personnel killed, all vehicles and ships disabled, all communications destroyed, and all research data erased, followed by the suicide of those who carried it out.
- What did Mahad do with the Codex?
- Mahad intercepted Private Tim Caufman returning with the Codex, which Dr. Earl Serrano believed could stop the outbreak. Dismissing Serrano as a misguided optimist, Mahad shot Caufman, erased the Codex's data, and then killed himself after saluting the flag of the Sovereign Colonies.
Sources
- WikiSpencer Mahad — Dead Space Wiki entry
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
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