SPARTAN-II program

"You have been called upon to serve, you will be trained...and you will become the best we can make of you. You will be the Protectors of Earth and all her Colonies"

- Dr. Halsey to SPARTAN recruits

The SPARTAN-II Program was part of the SPARTAN Program, an effort to produce elite soldiers through mechanical and biological augmentation. The SPARTAN-II program would be the first in the series to meld advanced exoskeleton technology with the soldiers' superior physiques.

Origins
In the years following the deactivation of the ORION Project in 2506 the effectiveness of small special forces combating the insurrectionists became too large for the UNSC to manage. As the Insurrectionist attacks were becoming more effective and the military's responses heavier; the need for large scale military campaigns were becoming more and more necessary. By 2517 the Office of Naval Intelligence concluded that the instability of the outer colonies would continue to escalate and unless drastic military measures were taken, it would result in a massive war between the inner colonies and the outer colonies. The SPARTAN-II project, was conceived by Dr. Catherine Halsey of ONI's Section 3, as the successor to the original ORION project and the best possible solution to end the conflict with the Insurrectionists. The project was created with several goals in mind: First to create a group of elite soldiers meant to subdue insurrections in their infancy, without substantial military casualties. Second to minimize civilian casualties, and advert civil war. And third, to substantially reduce the cost of conventional means of pacification.

Halsey's proposal of the project detailed radical changes in many different fields. The first and most controversial; is the subjects themselves, who are selected by a gene-candidate pool, and must fit into a certain age restriction protocol. They must also possess superior physical and mental attributes. The trainees must be instilled with military value, and the understanding of war; something that cannot be taught to enlisted soldiers. This narrowed the candidates down to children who would be raised, and taught in the art of warfare and military values, from a young age. A military project using such controversial means of creating a soldier, meant the project would have to be carried out in the highest form of secrecy.

Though conventional body armor has protected soldiers for centuries, the SPARTAN-II project's second radical change involved integrating the subject with a new powered exoskeleton device, designed to help keep its user safe and provide a powerful means of combating enemy forces. The drawback of this new armor is its requirement of augmenting the subject, effectively turning the Spartans into human guinea pigs.

Despite the tremendous risk, and the unethical means of creating new soldiers, the SPARTAN-II project was approved by the top brass within ONI - who concluded that the lives that could be saved far outweighed the risks involved. By 2517, 150 suitable candidates, had been identified, but for budgetary reasons only half that number could be "conscripted". Seventy-Five children, all six years old of both sexes were kidnapped, and in order to preserve the program's secrecy, the children are replaced by flash clones which would die soon thereafter due to numerous medical complications associated with flash-cloning an entire human being.

Training
The SPARTAN-II candidates after being sedated were taken to the colony world Reach, and began their training under Chief Petty Officer Mendez. To marginalize the civilian lives they had once led, their names became a combination of their given names and a number, with family names being discarded. The Spartans endured a great deal of hardship during their first years of training, the Spartans were placed into situation and drills that pushed their abilities to their very limit and beyond. Their hard training was complemented with a good education, from math and science, reading and writing, to military tactics. His training methodology was tough, even brutal in some regards; Chief Petty Officer Mendez always instilled discipline, honor, respect to the Spartans. He taught the Spartans how to kill, but at the same time he taught them the difference between right and wrong. Mendez trained the Spartans until 2525 when at the age of fourteen, the Spartans would go through the toughest part of their training; the Augmentation Procedures, a process that would kill 30 of the 75 children conscripted, and cripple 12 others who would "wash out" of the SPARTAN-II program, going on to join the Office of Naval Intelligence or otherwise; Only 33 survived the procedures to move on.

The Human-Covenant War
The Human-Covenant War marked a change in objectives for the program; originally intended to quell rebellions, the Spartans were now forced into battle against a superior opponent to the UNSC, this new threat accelerated their training to its final phase: Project MJOLNIR. With the MJOLNIR armor, the Spartans would be the first major UNSC response to the Covenant threat. During the course of the war though, the Spartans frequently demonstrated their superiority over human insurrectionists who despite the Covenant threat, continued to erode the economic base in the outer colonies. Countless times throughout the war the Spartans proved highly effective against all threats they went up against, heroic rearguard and delaying actions saved countless human lives from the genocidal Covenant onslaught. In 2547, The SPARTAN-II program goes public, in an effort to boost morale among the UNSC.

Inevitably the small number of SPARTAN-IIs dwindled as casualties were sustained. As the exploits of the Spartans was a major propaganda boom to the UNSC, ONI Section 2 issued Directive 930 stating that Spartans killed or wounded would be listed as "Missing in Action" (MIA) or "Wounded in Action" (WIA), thus maintaining the illusion of Spartan invincibility. In late 2552, all except three of the remaining active Spartans rendezvoused at Reach to receive new orders for an operation that HIGHCOM hoped would end the war. They would commandeer a Covenant vessel, locate the Covenant home planet, and return with captured Covenant leadership to force a ceasefire. To this end the Spartans were slated to be re-equipped with MJOLNIR Mark V armor. The A.I. Cortana, carried within John-117's armor, would serve as the strike force's hacker and technology specialist.

However, all preparations were interrupted and subsequently canceled by the Covenant Assault on Reach. In the ensuing disaster most of the SPARTAN-IIs were killed. Only two escaped, aboard the, one was left in cryostasis aboard the ship after sustaining life threatening injuries from the battle, while the rest remained fighting for their lives on Reach. Following the events at Alpha Halo, The survivors returned to Reach and were able to link up with the remaining Spartans. They then carried out a strike that resulted in the destruction of a Covenant fleet anchorage which contributed to the UNSC tatical victory early in the Battle of Earth. SPARTAN-IIs would go on to play pivotal roles at the Battle of Onyx and the later operations in the Battle of Earth.

Personnel
"Die? Don't you know? Spartans never die..."

- Kurt-051 upon his death.

The identities of the Spartans' full names have been deleted from all military records. Only Dr. Halsey has secret files that contains the full names of all the Spartans on Reach; unfortunately, the records were destroyed after the the planet was Glassed. Publicly only their first names and service tags are known with their current status.

Class I
The following is the list of all currently known SPARTAN-II subjects conscripted in 2517.


 * SPARTAN-006: Jai - MIA with the rest of Gray Team.
 * SPARTAN-008: Li - MIA during Slipspace anomaly battle, though assumed KIA due to close plasma torpedo detonation.
 * SPARTAN-029: Joshua - Listed as MIA, though assumed KIA during The Battle of Reach due to a direct hit from a Covenant cruiser's plasma weaponry.
 * SPARTAN-030: Vinh - Listed as MIA, though assumed KIA after Battle of Reach.
 * SPARTAN-034: Samuel - Listed as MIA, though confirmed KIA due to a breach in his MJOLNIR armor, first to destroy a Covenant ship in a non-ship to ship (MIA/KIA) battle.
 * SPARTAN-039: Isaac - Listed as MIA, though assumed KIA after the Battle of Reach.
 * SPARTAN-042: Douglas - Last seen aboard Spirit of Fire in 2531. Listed as MIA.
 * SPARTAN-043: William - Listed as MIA, though confirmed KIA by Hunter pair during Battle of Onyx
 * SPARTAN-044: Anton - MIA during Slipspace anomaly battle, though assumed KIA due to close plasma torpedo detonation.
 * SPARTAN-047: Keiichi - Listed as MIA. Last seen during the First Battle of Arcadia.
 * SPARTAN-051: Kurt - Listed as MIA, though confirmed KIA after the detonation of 2 FENRIS nukes in Onyx.
 * SPARTAN-058: Linda - Active in Shield World, although she was briefly KIA from the Battle of Reach until after the destruction of Installation-04, due to SPARTAN-117's quick action to put -058 into a cryo tube. Listed as MIA by the UNSC.
 * SPARTAN-059: Malcolm - Listed as MIA, though confirmed KIA during Battle of Reach.
 * SPARTAN-062: Maria - Retired.
 * SPARTAN-066: Soren - Unknown, part of Halo: Evolutions.
 * SPARTAN-087: Kelly - Active in Shield World. Listed as MIA by the UNSC.
 * SPARTAN-092: Jerome - Last seen aboard Spirit of Fire in 2531. Listed as MIA
 * SPARTAN-093: Grace - Listed as MIA, though confirmed KIA During Operation: First Strike on Unyielding Hierophant.
 * SPARTAN-104: Frederic - Active in Shield World. Listed as MIA by the UNSC.
 * SPARTAN-111: Adriana - MIA with the rest of Gray Team.
 * SPARTAN-117: John - MIA though presumed (by the UNSC) KIA. Last seen drifting toward an unknown planet.
 * SPARTAN-130: Alice - Last seen aboard Spirit of Fire in 2531. Listed as MIA.
 * SPARTAN-141: Cal - Listed as MIA, though confirmed KIA during an assassination operation.
 * James - MIA, most likely KIA during the Battle of Reach.
 * Mike - MIA with the rest of Gray Team.
 * Randall - MIA.
 * Sheila - Listed as MIA, though confirmed KIA during Battle of Miridem.
 * Unnamed Spartan (Homecoming) - Active.

Discharged
These were Spartans who became too wounded to continue active service after failed augmentation procedures. They have been permanently reassigned within the Office of Naval Intelligence.


 * SPARTAN-005: René- Discharged.
 * SPARTAN-018: Kirk- Discharged.
 * SPARTAN-075: Cassandra - Discharged due to failures in augmentation procedures, currently residing in the M25L Recovery Station.
 * SPARTAN-084: Fhajad - Discharged, sent to work for ONI. Suffered uncontrollable muscle spasms due to failures in augmentation, current status unknown.

Class II
After the graduation of the first class of SPARTAN-IIs in 2525, Dr. Halsey began planning for the next wave of Spartans; her efforts, however, ran into problems. There were too few candidates that were in sync with her age restriction protocol and a majority of her funding was going towards MJOLNIR maintenance and construction; leaving little room for continued training efforts. By 2531, the majority of her funds had been diverted and she was forced to postpone the effort indefinitely.

SPARTAN-IIs Conscripted
There is some confusion concerning the number of SPARTAN-IIs throughout the series. For example, in Halo: The Fall of Reach, it is cited on page 46 that there are 75 children on board a pelican for a training mission; however, on page 47, it states that there were 67 children on the training mission out of 75 that were originally on board. No mention is made of the whereabouts of the missing 8. After the augmentation process all 75 reappear, with 33 surviving, 12 surviving but crippled, and 30 being killed as a result of the procedures.

The status of SPARTAN-IIs is muddied further in the later novels. For example, Kurt-051 is listed as missing in action presumed dead in 2531 when in reality, he was drafted into the SPARTAN-III Program until his real death in 2552 on Onyx. Three Spartans designated Gray Team were said to have been on "fields of battle too distant to be easily recalled" prior to the Battle of Reach. In Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, these three were said not to have been heard from for a year. The book, "Halo: The Cole Protocol" features Gray Team as major characters, but did not explain why they had not been heard from. It is also stated in Fall of Reach that there are 25 Spartans present during the Battle of Reach ; however, later it states that there are 30 Spartans present. This number is maintained in Halo: First Strike.

The most current count of Spartans comes from the Halo Wars time line that states that 25 of the 28 remaining Spartans were present at Reach. The remaining three Spartans are generally presumed to be Grey Team, whose status at that time is still unknown. This information also confirms that since the Augmentation of the Spartans five had since gone missing or had died. Samuel, Kurt, Randall, and Sheila are part of this count with the final Spartan likely the one "too wounded to continue active duty".

Bungie, along with Eric S. Trautmann, have said that these discrepancies only seem to be errors and that everything will be made clear in time.

Project MJOLNIR
The MJOLNIR Armor was created in parallel to the SPARTAN-II project and is the most advanced piece of hardware in human hands; it can provide the SPARTAN-II with an incredible amount of protection and strength. The on-board computer system relays basic tactical information including IFF tags, a Motion Tracker, weapons information and health readouts. The MJOLNIR system is capable of carrying a starship grade A.I which can provide tactical data on the fly.

Specialized Neural Interface
A specialized version of the Neural Interface is implanted into the skull of a SPARTAN-II. This allows a ship grade A.I to be carried on board the MJOLNIR armor. The standard Neural Interface along with the newer specialized version also provide the neural link between the SPARTAN-II and the MJOLNIR armor.

Spartan Augmentation Procedures
One of the essential and most dangerous aspects of the SPARTAN-II Program is the augmentation procedure that a Spartan must endure. The process consists of many injections and surgeries. Only a small percentage of subjects survive the process and fully recover.

Trivia

 * The Halo Encyclopedia, on page 83, puts forth that Yasmine Zaman was one of the original 150 candidates for the program, and was also one of the 30 to die from the augmentation process. This has muddled whether a Class II of SPARTAN-IIs, actually existed, their existence is still up for debate, but no solid evidence has been presented in its favor.
 * The Marines refer to all Navy personnel as Swabbie, including Spartans though it has only been observed with John-117.
 * The Spartans are based on the ancient Greeks from Sparta, known for their military might and extreme training regiments and were, at the time, the greatest infantry fighting force in the world. Similarly, it is also reminiscent of the Turkish Jannisary Corps, where sons of Christian families were taken and trained under strict discipline and in practically monastic conditions, to become the elite fighting force of the Ottoman Empire.
 * In Sparta, to become a warrior the child had to have no mental disability and could not be crippled. Training also began at an early age, usually at the age of 7. This is much like the SPARTAN-II's augmentations and training.
 * The SPARTAN-II Program was incorrectly referred to as the first group of super soldiers ever made by humanity on the back cover of Halo: The Fall of Reach. The SPARTAN-I Program was an element of Project: Orion, which occurred years earlier. However, this may be the first successful group of Spartan's to officially see combat, whereas Avery J. Johnson was the only confirmed member of the ORION Project to participate in the war.
 * Despite ranking higher than some of the other UNSC Marine forces, most Spartan IIs have no official command authority over friendly troops assisting them in action.
 * In campaign gameplay, John-117 is the only Spartan that you can control and you can see. The games refer to him as the last surviving or, in Halo 3, active Spartan, contradicting other sources.
 * The Halo 3 Achievements "UNSC Spartan" and "Spartan Officer" both show the official Spartan-II seal.
 * In Halo Wars, if a Spartan on the opposing team is killed in front of other units, one may say "They can die!?" showing that those units were told the Spartans were invincible.
 * In Halo Wars, some Spartans will say "Yippe-ki-yay" after killing an enemy, a reference to Bruce Willis in his popular Die Hard series after killing the main boss in each film.
 * Sometimes, Spartans will shout, "For Samuel!", during battles in Halo Wars, as a reference to Samuel-034's death on the Covenant Ship in Fall of Reach.
 * The Spartan-II seal resembles the Presidential Seal of Modern Day United States. It also has the Marathon symbol above the Eagle.

Internal

 * The SPARTAN-III Program.
 * Semi Powered Infiltration Armor
 * Nicole-458
 * SPARTAN-1337
 * Unnamed (Red Team)

SPARTAN-II