Anton-044

Anton-044 was a Spartan-II supersoldier. He was considered to be one of the Spartans' most skilled scouts. He was one of the few Spartan-IIs to survive the Fall of Reach in summer 2552, though he was killed shortly after escaping the planet.

Conscription and training
Anton was conscripted into the SPARTAN-II Program in 2517, when he was singled out as a physically and intellectually superior child by Dr. Catherine Halsey. He was replaced by a flash clone after being abducted by the Office of Naval Intelligence. He was then taken to Reach where he was trained along with the rest of the Spartan candidates by Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez and the AI Déjà. During one training exercise he and the other Spartans went to Emerald Cove and lived on their own for a few days. Anton found this particularly fun because he enjoyed beaches.

Radiant Arrow
By early 2526, Anton, Malcolm-059, and Solomon-069 had been assigned to Green Team, which was then led by Kurt-051. On March 5 of that year, Anton 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 all deployed from the prowler for an EVA boarding action, with John-117 in charge of the mission. Using a flight of Type-27 Banshees for cover, the Spartans stealthily approached the alien vessel. They boarded the frigate via its underslung hangar and eliminated the Covenant forces within, preparing 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 Anton 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' 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-destruction at the hands of its shipmaster, and ordered them to evacuate. All of the Spartans—including Anton—made it to safety before the Radiant Arrow detonated.

Fall of Reach
Anton was among the 25 Spartan-IIs assembled on Reach for Operation: RED FLAG in August 2552. Like the other Spartans, Anton was deliberately kept uninformed of the Covenant's ongoing invasion of the planet. Anton and the other Spartans were embarked on the cruiser (which was set to leave the system) when the Covenant's Fleet of Particular Justice arrived at Reach. He was assigned to Red Team and given the callsign "Red-Twenty One". Red Team, under the command of Frederic-104, was tasked with traveling to the planet's surface to defend the generators that powered the planet's network of 20 orbital defense platforms.

As the team descended to the surface of Reach, their Pelican, Bravo 001, was shot down. The Spartans were forced to jump from the vessel before it crashed. Anton then rendezvoused with the rest of the Spartans at ODG Facility A-331. There, Anton was given command of Team Gamma, which also included Li-008 and Grace-093. Fred sent the trio to evacuate Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb. Though they were successful in picking up the Admiral, they were unable to meet up with Delta and Alpha teams due to Covenant activity.

Escape from Reach
Anton and Team Gamma then retreated to Camp Independence for three weeks where they broadcast the Spartan's "all clear" signal (Oly Oly Oxen Free) on the UNSC E-Band until it was picked up by John-117 and Cortana aboard the captured Covenant carrier Ascendant Justice. Cortana then sent a return signal. Anton then went out to meet John, being the first Spartan the latter had seen since his escape from Reach. Anton then listened to John's story of the events at Halo Installation 04.

Anton assisted John when they rescued the survivors of Delta and Alpha Teams, in the Forerunner complex beneath the remains of CASTLE Base. Together, they all retreated to the Ascendant Justice (which had been tethered to the UNSC frigate Gettysburg) aboard a captured Spirit dropship. The group tried to initiate a slipspace jump but the Forerunner crystal artifact found by Fred's team created an anomalous slipspace bubble in which the ship was trapped. In the rift a group of Sangheili who had survived Cortana's takeover of Ascendant Justice sabotaged the main power conduit.

Anton (under the callsign Blue Four) took part in the extravehicular mission to repair the ship. He, John, Fred, Li, Grace, and Will, along with PO2 Shiela Polaski, took the dropship out to the site. There they were ambushed by several Sangheili. Anton posted on top of the dropship to provide cover. As the conduit was repaired, a large globule of stray plasma struck the dropship, destroying its cockpit. Anton, Li, and Polaski went missing in this event. While he and the others were most likely flash-vaporized by the extreme heat, Anton was listed as missing in action in accordance with protocol.

List of appearances

 * Halo: First Strike
 * Halo: Silent Storm