Maria-062

Petty Officer Second Class Maria-062 was a SPARTAN-II of the UNSC Naval Special Warfare Group.

Special Warfare Center
Prior to the First Battle of Earth in October 2552, PO2 Maria tested the new MJOLNIR Mark VI Powered Assault Armor in Songnam, Kyonggi Province in Korea.

She fought against a squad of UNSC Marine Shock Troops from the 340th Combat Training Unit in a mock battle near the Special Warfare Center. After the exercise, the Battle armor was approved for battle and was sent up to Orbital Defense Platform ODA-142 Cairo. There, it was issued to Master Chief Petty Officer John-117

Personal and Family Life
After retiring from active duty from the Navy, Maria started a family and had children. She is the only Spartan whos face has been seen in offical imagery.

Theory and Speculation
In the Halo novel "The Fall of Reach" just as the remaining 30 Spartans are informed of their new mission to bring a prophet to Earth for talks on ending the Human-Covenant war, it is said that out of their 33 that there had only been 3 KIA and 1 SPARTAN too wounded to continue active duty. Since the release of the Halo Graphic Novel, it is widely assumed that Maria is the wounded Spartan mentioned in Halo: The Fall of Reach, but other evidence indicates that Cassandra may be that wounded Spartan.

Also possible, is that she is one of the three surviving SPARTANS who weren't present during the briefing at Reach, due to being engaged elsewhere.

She says to the senior officer at Songnam that "Once John gets a hold of this armor, we'll all start sleeping a little better at night."

In the Halo Graphic Novel it is also mentioned that she is in the Reserves which makes it possible that now the Covenant have invaded Earth she may return to the Spartan project and fight in future books.