Maria-062

''"Maria" redirects here. For other uses of the name, see Maria (disambiguation).''

"Once John gets a hold of this armor, we'll all start sleeping a little better at night."

- Maria-062

Maria-062 is a Spartan-II supersoldier. She claimed that at some point during the Human-Covenant War she had retired with the intent of starting a family. She served in the reserves as of October 2552.

Special Warfare Center
Hours before the Covenant's invasion of Earth on October 20, 2552, Maria tested the new Mark VI Mjolnir armor in Songnam, United Korea. She engaged a squad of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers from the 340th ODST Combat Training Unit in a mock battle near the Special Warfare Center. After the exercise, the armor was approved for battle and was delivered to the orbital defense platform Cairo Station. There, it was issued to Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, who would use it to great effect as late as 2557. After the test, Maria declined a request to return to active duty by the captain in charge of the test, stating that she did not regret her decision to retire.

Ambiguous mentions
Maria-062 may have been mentioned in two of the Halo novels, though it cannot be clearly determined if she is the Spartan in question.

In Halo: The Fall of Reach, during Dr. Halsey's briefing to the Spartans assembled for Operation: RED FLAG, she mentions that among those not present is one Spartan who had (within the last decade) been too critically wounded to continue active duty. It is possible that this wounded Spartan was Maria, whose absence allowed her to avoid the Fall of Reach, and that she had healed adequately by October 2552 to test the Mark VI MJOLNIR armor. See here for further analysis.

In Halo: Mortal Dictata, Serin Osman mentions that only one Spartan has ever retired and that they had the excuse of having failed the augmentation procedures. Since Maria is said to have retired, Osman could be referring to her. However, Osman indicates that the other Spartan had likewise failed the augmentation process. While Osman received no physical benefits from the procedures, Maria is capable of using the Mjolnir powered armor, a system dangerous enough to kill an unaugmented user; it is possible that Maria was among the crippled Spartans who were later rehabilitated. If Osman were referring to another Spartan the most likely candidate is Ralph-103: Ralph was discharged due to a combination of psychological problems and the rejection of certain physical enhancements; unlike the other washouts, he was allowed to return to civilian life.

Trivia

 * Maria-062 is the first Spartan-II whose face was visually depicted in official media.
 * Maria would've made a non-canonical appearance in the canceled fanfilm Operation Chastity. In it she would've been back in service following the Covenant's attack on Earth, under orders by ONI Section III to search for a deadly Covenant cargo.

List of confirmed appearances

 * ''Halo Graphic Novel