Bonita Stone

Bonita Stone
Biographical information
Homeworld:	Komoya
Born:	December 25, 2535
Died:	April 26, 2560
Cause of death:	Killed by Jega 'Rdomnai
Personal details
Species:	Human
Gender:	Female
Height:	208 centimeters (6 ft 10 in)
Weight:	110 kilograms (240 lb)
Hair color:	Dark
Eye color:	Dark
Political and military information
Affiliation:	Spartan Operations SPARTAN-IV program
Service number:	12493-83921-BS

Bonita Stone, callsign Shadow Three, was a SPARTAN-IV reconnaissance specialist of Fireteam Shadow in the United Nations Space Command.

Biography

Stone (left) and the rest of Fireteam Shadow onboard UNSC Infinity circa 2558.

Early life and UNSC service

Bonita Stone was born on the human Outer Colony of Komoya on December 25, 2535. She would eventually enlist in the UNSC, serving with distinction on the stealth cruiser UNSC Relentless Watch in 2550, where she met Nina Kovan; the two would later go on to serve in Fireteam Shadow together. Here, Stone coordinated the efforts of several reconnaissance strike teams deployed to key areas of interest and unrest following the Human-Covenant War. This experience led directly to her assignment to Fireteam Shadow after her induction into the SPARTAN-IV program. After joining the program, Stone and Kovan ran trials and tested HIVEMIND-class Mjolnir at ANVIL Station. During an operation on Talitsa, she notably monitored the activities of a Sangheili Zealot for six days.

Battle of Requiem

Main article: Battle of Requiem

On July 21, 2557, Fireteam Shadow was attached to the UNSC Infinity when the ship was pulled into the shield world Requiem. Following the ship's crash inside the shield world, Fireteam Shadow, including Stone, was deployed to the flight deck to investigate movements detected outside the ship. The Spartans could not see what was causing the reports of movement outside the ship, but reported that they were experiencing technical difficulties. Shortly after, the Infinity was attacked by the combined forces of Jul 'Mdama's Covenant and the Didact's Prometheans.

Requiem Campaign

Main article: Operation: VERTICAL UMBRAGE

On February 14, 2558, Stone and the rest of Fireteam Shadow were dispatched to the Requiem shield world to neutralize a Covenant base established two days earlier. After Stone eliminated patrols around the site, Jason Kidman's TQ-8 seeker drones were to create a breach allowing Stone and Horatio Fry to break into the base to shut down production. However, in the midst of the operation, Jared Miller reassigned the team on a priority operation to destroy the Covenant Zanar-pattern light cruiser Panom's Canticle, which was deploying forces to "The Refuge". Being too far from their Pelican, Shadow stole a Phantom from the Summit to get there.

While Fireteam Crimson protected the science team from the Covenant ground forces at "The Refuge", Shadow took advantage of the stolen Phantom to rush into the Panom's Canticle hangar before the crew activated the shields. Shadow made rapid progress through the ship, but encountered heavy resistance as they approached the core. As Fry, Kovan, and Kidman cleared out the last Covenant soldiers in the hallway leading to the main reactor room, Stone had already infiltrated there, armed with her active camouflage. While Stone fought the shipmaster and his Sangheili, Kovan fired her Selene's Lance at the ship's power core. With the power core overloaded, the cruiser was destroyed, bringing an end to the Covenant's attack. Stone and the rest of Shadow escaped onboard a Gloto'kef-pattern assault carapace.

Installation 07

Main article: Battle for Zeta Halo

On December 12, 2559, Spartan Bonita Stone was onboard UNSC Infinity when it was ambushed by Banished forces upon arrival at Installation 07. As the Infinity fell to the Banished assault, Captain Thomas Lasky was evacuated from the ship, and Spartan Hudson Griffin ordered all Spartans to evacuate. Spartans Bonita Stone and Nina Kovan were ordered to evacuate while the other two members of Fireteam Shadow remained with Fireteam Taurus to repel Banished boarders from a hangar bay.

While on her way to the lifeboats, Stone held a collapsing beam so Lucas Browning could reach TJ Murphy's Bumblebee Papa Tango Delta 09, the companion lifeboat to Stone's Echo India Bravo 08. Stone then piloted her Bumblebee, leading Murphy's Bumblebee, through the raging battle. Both lifeboats managed to fly through a destroyed Banished dreadnought, though only Stone's lifeboat came out unscathed. Murphy's lifeboat was hit, losing its back section.

Stone's lifeboat landed on an unoccupied area of the ring. The next day, as Stone and her marines conducted a recon sweep of the area, an explosion on the ring caused a fracture on its surface. Stone ordered the marines to take cover in the lifeboat, but the ground beneath the lifeboat began to crumble. With the support of her armor's thrusters, Stone pulled the lifeboat out of the breach, saving the lives of the marines. The five marines remained with Stone, saving more soldiers along the way, before she tracked down the distress call from Murphy's lifeboat. It had been lodged inside a crevice, leaving its occupants trapped. Stone tore open the lifeboat's hull to pull out each survivor.

Over the next six days, Stone led the survivors across the region; the five marines from her lifeboat were killed during a skirmish with the Banished, leaving only Murphy's crew with Stone, who felt responsible for the deaths of the marines. They eventually rendezvoused with another group of survivors led by Spartan Kovan. The combined group of non-combatants became the "boat crew". On the evening of December 18, while Kovan scouted ahead, the group was resting in the middle of a forest when they were ambushed by two Jiralhanae and eight Kig-Yar. While Spartan Stone traded blows with a Jiralhanae, marines from Kovan's group—Mosley, Deleke, Thompson, Kim, and Foutty—were killed by the second Jiralhanae. The Jiralhanae left a dent in the titanium composite plating over Stone's right shoulder blade, which then caused it to press against her bodysuit; it became an annoyance that would persist over the next few months. After Kovan returned and intervened, saving the boat crew from the second Jiralhanae, Murphy realized that Stone's motion tracker and targeting sensors were offline, and, despite Murphy's reassurance, Stone blamed herself for the deaths of the marines.

Bonita Stone and Nina Kovan on the surface of Installation 07.

Led by Stone and Kovan, the boat crew travelled to the UNSC stronghold at the wreckage of the UNSC Mortal Reverie; they arrived on December 19. Upon her arrival, Stone reported to Spartan Griffin, the de facto leader for the Spartans at the crash site.

On January 20, 2560, Stone and Kovan conducted a recon sweep deep inside Banished-occupied territory. They observed that Banished forces were only unified under Escharum, with internal competition among its members. Kovan reported their findings to Griffin, and suggested that an attempt on Banished War Chief Escharum's life may fragment the Banished leadership. On January 23, Spartan Griffin led Spartans Panago, Henri Malik, and Sarkar in an assassination mission on the Banished War Chief Escharum. However, the assassination on Escharum failed. Griffin sent an encrypted message to the Reverie on January 31 before he was captured and handed over to Chak 'Lok for torture. In his message, Griffin warned the Reverie of an impending Banished assault. Under the combined leadership of Bertold Vettel and counsel of Makovich, the UNSC forces at the Reverie braced for the Banished's attack. Stone conducted a reconnaissance mission with Boulder Squad, reporting that a massive Banished force led by Chieftain Tremonius was gathered at Riven Gate in Sector 63. Despite the UNSC defenses, the Banished assault forced the UNSC forces to retreat from the Reverie on February 2. As the Banished forces overwhelmed the secondary barricade, Stone arrived at the Reverie and reunited with the boat crew, saving Browning from the Banished. While the UNSC forces scattered into the valley, Stone and Kovan split off from the boat crew repeatedly to fight off pursuit parties, and eventually Stone did not return after leaving the group.

Although she was separated from Kovan and the boat crew, Stone managed to locate more UNSC survivors while maintaining communications with Makovich and Vettel; the scattered UNSC forces continued to run guerilla ops against the Banished in order to keep the ring out of their control, as per the Rubicon Protocol. On approximately April 20, Stone and Kovan spotted each other in their sniper scopes; Stone made her way to Kovan, and reunited with the rest of the boat crew. They noticed the increased air traffic from Escharum's personal fleet towards the Reverie—now a Banished outpost named after the Chieftain who led the assault on the wreckage—and decided to investigate. Arriving at the area on 22 April, while the rest of the boat crew made a supply run to scavenge from a ledge that caught some of the supplies the Banished had thrown into the chasm below the outpost, Stone and Kovan investigated the newly-constructed outpost.

On April 23, when Spartan Stone was scouting out the Banished outpost, she recognized Browning in the outpost from afar, then returned to Kovan to share her findings. That evening, while Stone provided overwatch, Kovan snuck into Outpost Tremonius and into the Phantom that held Browning. He couldn't be rescued, however, as the Harbinger and the Banished had put a pair of shackles on Browning's wrists, with a node on the Phantom's hull that would detect the sensors and detonate explosives within the shackles if Browning leaves the Phantom. Browning informed Kovan of the Harbinger, and opted to stay under captivity. Kovan gave him several recording transmitters, instructing Browning to learn whatever he could about the Harbinger or the Banished, and left a tracking beacon to Browning's neck. The Spartan made a promise to find Browning, then left as a pair of Jiralhanae patrol approached. Seeing two Jiralhanae patrols approaching Kovan, Stone created a distraction to allow Kovan to escape, but was unable to regroup with Kovan, because the Banished was tracking her closely; instead, she decided to investigate the Banished excavation. She found that the Banished has unearthed artifacts she has never seen before, and reported to Makovich and Sorel that the Banished were moving focus to an excavation site south of the Reverie.

By April 26, Stone had infiltrated the underground Forerunner structures near Outpost Tremonius, having seen the artifacts up close and determined them to be stasis pods. She made one final transmission to Makovich and Sorel, reporting her findings, including picking a UNSC signal coming from inside the facility, but stopped short when she realized that she was not alone. Shortly after, Stone discovered the Banished using a human prisoner to access the Conspectus network; they took a data node with information on the ring's defensive systems and location. Stone attacked the Banished and Skimmer forces, including Blademaster Jega 'Rdomnai and the Bloodstar Gorian. After she fought off multiple Banished, Stone fought 'Rdomnai directly, hampered by his active camouflage, shields and the damage that her armor had taken over the past several months. However, Stone managed to steal the data node and had Ouco copy the data and then corrupt the node. Ouco was successful before Gorian slammed into Stone with a Ghost and dragged her back towards the lift before Stone managed to break free and jerk the Bloodstar from the Ghost. Fighting through more Banished forces, including Hectarius, Stone attempted to reach the surface, but she was ambushed and killed by 'Rdomnai. As Stone's last act, she removed the corrupted data node which was taken by Gorian and 'Rdomnai to Escharum, unaware of Stone's sabotage. Stone died pleased that she had succeeded in throwing a wrench into Escharum's grand scheme.

The next day, the boat crew found Stone's body and a grieving Kovan retrieved Stone's data chip from her VISR which proved to contain the data that she had stolen from the Banished. Submonitor 091 Adjutant Veridity later revealed that Stone had stolen from the Banished information on the ring's defensive systems and its current coordinates, giving the team the chance to broadcast a message to the UNSC for reinforcements. However, with Banished forces closing in, the boat crew reluctantly left Stone's body behind. Her body remained underground, and was found on May 28 by Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, who collected her enhanced energy shielding module.

Personality and traits

TJ Murphy: "We're all doing the best we can, including you."

Bonita Stone: "Yeah, well, my best sure as hell isn't losing people to the Banished."

— Stone's response to Murphy's attempt to console her after they lost lives to an ambush.

Despite her name, Stone was a personable and affable Spartan with a slight sense of humor. Stone often bantered with her squadmates in Fireteam Shadow; she especially held a camaraderie with longtime friend and squad mate Nina Kovan, notably being the only one who could make Kovan laugh. This amicability extended to non-Spartan personnel; while rescuing the survivors from Murphy's Bumblebee, she recognized Browning as the medic that she escorted to Murphy's lifeboat on the Infinity, and joked, "We need to stop meeting like this." She also playfully got back at Murphy—by pulling him by the back of his uniform and quickly hauling him out of the lifeboat before he was ready—for insisting that Spartans often "swoop in" to save lives. Stone's warm-hearted nature also gave her a strong sense of responsibility for those under her command; she gave instructions to the marines on her Bumblebee once she boarded the lifeboat, then rallied the marines when she sensed their morale was low. When a marine expressed wonderment at the beauty of a Halo ring's surface, Stone held back a sarcastic response so he could "have a moment". Stone's sense of responsibility has extended to being protective of those around her; she convinced Kovan to keep Browning's survival a secret from the rest of the boat crew, citing the Banished defenses at Outpost Tremonius would overwhelm the boat crew if they knew of Browning's survival and launched a rescue attempt.

As Murphy observed, like many Spartans, Stone held herself to an impossibly high standard; Stone particularly felt guilty when the marines perished under her command; once when the marines from her lifeboat died to a unit of Ghosts, then again when marines from Kovan's group were killed in an ambush. She held a deep grudge against Ghosts after losing her lifeboat's marines to a unit of Ghosts.

According to Kovan, Stone had a natural talent for reconnaissance. Stone's Spartan augmentations granted her impressive physical prowess; while armored, she held a metric ton of titanium support beam by her shoulders, though her stance slowly fell and the feat left her with tissue damage in both shoulders, thighs, and one knee. Despite her weakened condition, Stone made another notable endeavor: using her armor's thrusters, she pulled an occupied Bumblebee up from a breach, thereby saving the lives of the five marines inside. Stone had dark hair; later during the conflict on Installation 07, her hair had grown into her eyes, long enough to tuck it behind her ears. Kovan thought it made Stone look softer—a comment Kovan kept to herself knowing Stone would give her a "swift ass-kicking" if Kovan shared.

Equipment

During the Requiem Campaign, Stone used the GEN2 RECON-class Mjolnir, and equipped an M395B DMR.

During the Battle for Zeta Halo, Stone wore Mjolnir GEN3 Mark VII armor, employing the Trailblazer helmet, the UA/Agathius shoulder pads, and UA/Type SA knee pads. The armor was colored faded-blue, with digital camouflage; it allowed Stone to blend in with nighttime environments.

Stone's personal AI was Ouco, who had a steady personality and calming baritone that set Stone at ease in any situation. She also carried an active camouflage module. Early on during the conflict on Installation 07, her armor's motion tracker and targeting sensors went offline; the former was never replaced as Makovich took the last motion tracker from Reverie's storage, although one of the ship's engineers attempted to make another one for her, to no avail. After the battle of the Mortal Reverie, Stone acquired an enhanced energy shielding module, which was inherited by John-117 when he found Stone's body.

Production notes

• Bonita Stone was portrayed by voice actress Krizia Bajos.
• Stone's Mark VII armor coating, Obelisk Stone, is available in Halo Infinite multiplayer. The coating can be unlocked by accessing the Mjolnir Armory locker at Outpost Tremonius, near the landing pad.

Gallery

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  Bonita Stone in her GEN2 Recon armor, during Operation: VERTICAL UMBRAGE.

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  Portrait of Stone in her GEN3 Trailblazer armor.

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  Spartan Stone's body in the depths of Zeta Halo.

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  Close up of Stone's helmet.

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  Stone's appearance and armor coating, Obelisk Stone, available in Halo Infinite's multiplayer.

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  Bonita Stone, Nina Kovan, and Tomas Horvath on the surface of Installation 07 in Halo: The Rubicon Protocol.

List of appearances

• Halo Infinite (First appearance)
• Halo: The Rubicon Protocol
• Halo: Vertical Umbrage