Dead 6

Name: Dead 6*Affiliation:* Global Defence Initiative*Type:* Special forces unit*Original members:* Havoc, Sakura, Deadeye, Gunner, Hotwire and Patch*Former leader:* Nick "Havoc" Parker*Conflict:* Tiberian Dawn*Speciality:* Covert operations, sabotage, infiltration and the elimination of high-priority targets*Status:* Unknown following the First Tiberium War

The Dead 6 are an elite GDI unit specialising in covert operations and particularly dangerous missions against the Brotherhood of Nod. They feature primarily in Command & Conquer: Renegade.

The group’s name derives from the very particular status of its members: the six Commandos are officially dead. The GDI staged a credible disappearance for each of them so that they would legally cease to exist.

According to official accounts, they are said to have died during operations in Chile, Nigeria, the Balkans, Turkey, Australia and Jordan. In reality, these ‘deaths’ allow the GDI to deploy them on covert operations whilst maintaining a plausible deniability.

The original team comprises six specialists: Nick "Havoc" Parker, Sakura Obata, Dariel ‘Deadeye’ MacInnis, Nigel ‘Gunner’ Grant, Shai ‘Hotwire’ Aviv and Erich ‘Patch’ Wulfe.

Havoc is the group’s long-standing leader. A former US Marine, his exceptional effectiveness is offset by his insubordination and particularly brutal methods. He eventually ends up being expelled from the Dead 6 following a lengthy campaign against Nod in northern Egypt.Sakura Obata, a Japanese specialist in close combat, infiltration and stealth, also left the unit. She became a mercenary before working for Nod and serving, notably, under General Gideon Raveshaw.

Despite the departure of two of its founding members, the team paradoxically retains the name Dead 6. It now consists of Deadeye, Gunner, Hotwire and Patch.

Dariel ‘Deadeye’ MacInnis is the team’s sniper, a former member of the British SAS, whilst Nigel ‘Gunner’ Grant specialises in the use of heavy weapons and rocket launchers.Shai ‘Hotwire’ Aviv is the team’s technical expert, specialising in electronics, explosives and sabotage.Erich ‘Patch’ Wulfe, a former member of a German counter-terrorism unit, is a specialist in grenades and infantry combat.

During the events of Renegade, the four remaining active members are sent to support Havoc on his mission against the Black Hand, which is holding several scientists captured by Nod.

However, the Dead 6 are scattered across a Mediterranean village occupied by the Brotherhood of Nod. Havoc must track down Hotwire, Gunner, Deadeye and Patch in turn before the team can continue the operation.

This reunion allows the former comrades to fight together once more, notably alongside Sydney Mobius, against the forces of Nod and the Black Hand.

The unit’s subsequent fate remains largely unknown. Havoc continued his career within the GDI and eventually rose to the rank of Colonel, but he was no longer considered an official member of the Dead 6.

The Dead 6 thus represent the most clandestine facet of the GDI during the First Tiberium War: soldiers so secret that their own organisation officially declared them dead so that they could be sent where no regular forces could operate.