Editing Malcolm-059

{{Status|Canon}}

Malcolm-059 was a genetically, intellectually, and physically gifted child chosen for the [[SPARTAN-II]] project. He was abducted by the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] and replaced with a [[flash clone]] when he was around six years old. He and seventy-four other children were taken to [[Reach]] in the Epsilon Eridani system. There, he was trained by the [[dumb AI|"dumb"AI]], [[Déjà]] and [[Chief Petty Officer]] [[Franklin Mendez]], with the two serving as the Spartans' teacher and drill instructor, respectively. In [[2519]], he was taken alongside his fellow trainees to a [[Military Wilderness Training Preserve]] for a mission that required each trainee to be left alone in the woods with a only a single piece of a map. It was up to them to find one another so that they could piece the map together and locate the designated extraction point. The mission was ultimately a success. At another point during training, Malcolm and the others traveled to [[Emerald Cove]] for an underwater mission. There, they abandoned Mendez and lived on their own on an island for a few days. By July 14, [[2523]], Malcolm and his fellow Spartan-IIs had begun facing the formidable and ruthless UNSC Marine Corps' [[Tango Company]] in simulated war games. On March 9, 2525, Malcolm and the rest of the Spartan-II candidates underwent their [[augmentation]] procedures at [[Medical Facility Endurance]] orbiting Reach. After successfully enduring the procedures, Malcolm later attended a military funeral aboard the carrier, the [[UNSC Atlas]], in the [[Lambda Serpentis]] system for the Spartans who died during the process. Afterwards, they all returned to Reach for their final training phase in the [[Highland Mountains]].{{Ref/Novel|Id=FoR|TFoR|Chapter=??}}

By early [[2526]], Malcolm, [[Anton-044]], and [[Solomon-069]] had been assigned to [[Green Team]], which was then led by [[Kurt-051]]. On [[2526#March|March 5]] of that year, Malcolm and eleven other Spartans were organized into an assault squad with orders to board and capture a [[Covenant frigate]], ''[[Radiant Arrow]]'', orbiting the planet [[Netherop]]. To accomplish this, they were deployed from the [[prowler]] {{UNSCShip|Starry Night}} for an [[Extra-vehicular activity|EVA]] [[Naval boarding|boarding action]].{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS1|HSS|Chapter=1}} Using a flight of [[Elsedda-pattern Banshee|Banshee]]s for cover, the twelve Spartans stealthily approached the alien vessel.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS2|HSS|Chapter=2}} Once they [[Skirmish over Netherop|boarded]] the frigate via its underslung hangar, they eliminated the Covenant forces within and prepared to move deeper into the frigate, without the rest of crew realizing they had been boarded. [[Blue Team]] spearheaded the assault, clearing rooms along the ship's main corridor as Malcolm and the rest of Green Team secured these chambers and any intersections they encountered. As the two teams continued on, a sensor operator aboard one of the prowlers "accidentally" broadcast a transmission on the Spartans' [[COM|SQUADCOM]], revealing their presence to the frigate's crew. Unbeknownst to them, the crewman's apparent mistake was part of an [[insurrectionist]] plot designed by [[Hector Nyeto]], who intended to get the Spartans killed. With their presence known, Blue and Green Teams split up, with John leading his team to the bridge. Green Team would make their way to the [[engineering]] section until John informed them of the ship's imminent [[self-destruct]]ion at the hands of its [[shipmaster]], and ordered them to evacuate. All of the Spartans—including Malcolm—made it to safety before the ''Radiant Arrow'' detonated.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS3|HSS|Chapter=3}}

As the Spartans neared the provided waypoint, the fog had lowered to shoulder-height, allowing the Spartans to discover that the ''Starry Night'' was indeed seemingly intact, but sat atop a large avalanche about seven hundred meters up the quarry wall. [[Frederic-104]] spotted a Covenant intrusion corvette sliding over the rim of the quarry and descending over the prowler. Kelly-087 theorized that they may be trying to recover the ''Starry Night'' themselves. Realizing the danger, John declared to his teammates that the mission was no longer a rescue mission. Their primary objective was now to deny the Covenant from recovering the prowler and the data stored within. Opening the command channel again, John relayed this information to Crowther, who echoed his concerns and insisted that they could not let the Covenant take possession of the ''Starry Night''. The vessel's [[navigation computer]] and other onboard data devices could reveal the locations of UNSC outposts, entire force deployments, or worse. Crowther asked Nyeto if there was any way to remotely activate the prowler's [[Nuclear weapon|nuclear]] self-destruct system, to which the lieutenant commander responded in the affirmative. However, there were only three positions that had access to that ability. The first two were the flight commander and wing commander, both of which were roles held by Captain Ascot, who was either dead or unable to be reached aboard the ''Starry Night''. The final person with the ability to remotely detonate the prowler was the captain of the ''Vanishing Point'', which was holding station two planetary orbits out from Seoba. At that distance, it would take nearly an hour for the request to be sent to the cruiser and for the return signal to arrive. By then, the Covenant might already have retrieved sensitive data from the wrecked prowler. Crowther began to reluctantly order the Spartans to prevent the ''Starry Night''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s capture, but John cut him off, assuring him that they would not fail. The Spartan requested that Task Force Yama assist them by keeping the assaulting corvettes off their backs. Nyeto began to say that their prowlers were not designed for ship-to-ship combat when Crowther interrupted him, promising that they would find a way. Crowther started to tell John to standby for instructions on how to manually activate the prowler's self-destruct, but he reassured the colonel that his Spartans already knew how to activate a [[Fury tactical nuclear weapon|Fury nuke]].{{Ref/Reuse|HSS14}}

Before this discussion came to an end, a Covenant [[Karo'etba-pattern Ghost|Ghost]] appeared out of the fog and began firing at John, who managed to kill its [[Jiralhanae]] driver with his [[MA5B assault rifle|MA5B]]'s [[M301 grenade launcher|underbarrel grenade launcher]]. Shortly after that was handled, he noticed more Ghosts entering the quarry, so John ordered Green and Gold Teams to deal with them as Blue Team went to handle the prowler. At this point, the looming intrusion corvette had begun deploying EVA-equipped [[Sangheili]], Jiralhanae, and [[Kig-Yar]] warriors via its gravity lift, with the first already looking for a way inside the ship. Another corvette crested the edge of the quarry, firing its main cannon on the Spartans. With the situation quickly deteriorating and Nyeto's support still setting up, John realized that immediate action was necessary. While Malcolm and the others were still dealing with the Ghosts, John ordered Blue Team to simultaneously fire on the avalanche just below the ''Starry Night'' with their grenade launchers to cause the vessel to fall to quarry floor and prevent the Covenant from gaining entrance. Despite Fred and Kelly's warnings that such an action could bring the whole slope down on top of them, each member of the team acknowledged and followed his order. As they has feared, the volley of [[grenade]]s worked a bit too well, bringing the avalanche down on top of all twelve Spartans, but successfully delaying the Covenant in their boarding attempt.{{Ref/Reuse|HSS14}}

Malcolm and five others managed to escape being swept up by the avalanche, but the remaining six Spartans were not so lucky. They became buried under the ice, with Malcolm's teammate, Solomon-069, becoming completely incapacitated. John-117 was among those buried, but not totally immobilized. While he worked on freeing himself, John gave Fred command of the mission to board and destroy the ''Starry Night''. Fred gathered Malcolm and [[Linda-058]] to board the prowler as members of Green and Gold Teams coordinated attacks on the seemingly endless stream of enemy ground vehicles, supported by at least three Covenant corvettes. Malcolm, Fred, and Linda boarded the ''Starry Night'' via a massive breach in its bow, finding five survivors of the crash: four ODSTs and Staff Sergeant Johnson, who had received a bad concussion. Linda got to work manually arming the prowler's Fury tactical nuclear weapon as Fred reported the situation to John, who told Linda to take her time, but warned of an enemy squad preparing to board. Acknowledging this information, Fred told him that once the nuke was armed, they would flee in the prowler's escape pod. Hearing that a team of Covenant boarders was inbound, Johnson requested his assignment. Fred had him "guard" the escape pod to keep him out of harm's way. In his disoriented state, Johnson eagerly accepted the mission, but required some help from Malcolm to find the pod. Meanwhile, Nyeto's support finally arrived the form of strafing runs that destroyed two of the intrusion corvettes assaulting Green and Gold Teams. Just as the nuke was finished arming, the looming Covenant corvette finally made its move and began lifting the ''Starry Night'' up into its hold using its [[gravity lift]]. John ordered Fred's team to activate the nuke and flee from the prowler with the survivors, relaying the situation to the rest of the Spartans. Malcolm and the others boarded the prowler's escape pod and launched through Seoba's low gravity while under fire from the corvette's surprised gunners. Upon detonation, the nuke destroyed both the prowler and the Covenant vessel above. All of the Spartans made it to safety and Colonel Crowther had them extracted after the nuke's [[electromagnetic pulse]] had dissipated.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS15|HSS|Chapter=15}} Some of them also assisted in the recovery of a Covenant [[Kelguid|starholo]] from the wreckage of the intrusion corvette. The Spartans were transported back to the ''Vanishing Point'' along with the starholo.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS16|HSS|Chapter=16}}

On [[2526#March|March 20]], John-117 and five other Spartans who were not confined to the infirmary attended a funeral service for the two-hundred-and-three men and women who lost their lives at Seoba. Held in the command hangar of the ''Vanishing Point'' as it sat in a high parabolic orbit around Biko, the ceremony included an honor company of a hundred-and-one enlisted personnel in their dress blues, including the six Spartans and Avery Johnson. After the service, Lieutenant Commander Nyeto—the de facto commander of Task Force Yama after Ascot's death—approached John, who asked if he'd reconsider sidelining them. Nyeto promised that the Spartans would be seeing all the action they could handle for the rest of the operation. However, Crowther again contested this on the basis of them being too young, forcing the lieutenant commander to back down by threatening him with a report to a UNSC board of inquiry. The Black Daggers would board the [[Fleet of Inexorable Obedience|incoming fleet]] alone. As everyone left the hangar, Crowther revealed to Johnson that he did not trust Nyeto. He believed that the Spartans were combat-ready, and he was instead sending them on a mission to disrupt Covenant supply lines at [[Etalan]].{{Ref/Reuse|HSS16}}  

Later that day, Malcolm-059, the other Spartans, Staff Sergeant Johnson, and Dr. Halsey left the [[Kolaqoa system]] aboard the ''Vanishing Point'', with two prowlers serving as escort. On [[2526#March|March 22]], the three ships dropped out of [[slipspace]] near Etalan and the ''Vanishing Point''{{'}}s analysts spent the next four days observing the logistics fleet's movements, trying to discern which vessels should be their primary targets. By [[2526#March|March 26]], they felt confident that four of the fleet's fifteen vessels were equipment [[freighter]]s that carried spare parts and other materials used to keep the Fleet of Inexorable Obedience operational. At this point, the logistics fleet was seemingly preparing to break from orbit, evidenced by the fact that they had begun syncing their orbits and bringing their [[fusion reactor]]s to full power. As time was running out, Malcolm, the rest of Green Team, and Gold Team were deployed in four [[S-14 Baselard]]s with orders to destroy the equipment freighters while Blue Team stayed on the ''Vanishing Point'' and prepared for their phase of the attack. The Spartans' Baselards flew at the center of a formation of twenty total Baselards, and the plan was for the squadron to pierce through the logistics vessels' fighter screen of Banshees and [[Seraph]]s. Then, the eight Spartans would go [[Extra-vehicular activity|EV]] after faking the destruction of their Baselards. To camouflage their approach, their fighters were equipped with pods of chain-linked debris that would deploy upon the crafts' destruction. The Spartans would then board the target vessels and plant HAVOK nukes before fleeing. Due to the high risk involved with performing such maneuvers, both teams were given strict orders to abort the mission if it became apparent that they would not reach their targets safely.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS19|HSS|Chapter=19}}

 

Shortly after Blue Team joined the fray in their captured Banshees and managed to infiltrate a formation of Covenant fighters, Green Team ejected from their Baselards and Gold Team did likewise. In pairs, the eight Spartans successfully boarded the four equipment freighters, planted their nukes, and fled before they detonated. The fourth freighter detonation [[Electromagnetic pulse|disabled]] the formation that Blue Team had infiltrated, forcing them to go abandon their Banshees. Afterwards, when the prowler escorts moved in to extract Green and Gold Teams from orbit over Etalan, their retrieval created an unintentional diversion that drew attention away from Blue Team as they destroyed the logistics fleet’s "[[Bladder ship|air-skimmers]]".{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS20|HSS|Chapter=20}}

{{Main|Battle of Zhoist}}