Project ASTER

As part of the SPARTAN program, the SPARTAN-IIs underwent augmentation procedures at the age of fourteen or fifteen.

Procedures
Admiral Ysionris Jeromi documented the following experimental procedures on Bonobo Chimpanzees. These operations were later performed on the SPARTAN-IIs.

Carbide Ceramic Ossification

 * Description: Advanced material grafting onto skeletal structures to make bones virtually unbreakable. Recommended coverage not to exceed 3% total bone mass because of significant white blood cell necrosis.
 * Risk(s): Specific risk for pre-and near-postpubescent adolescents: skeletal growth spurts may cause irreparable bone pulverization.

Muscular Enhancement Injections

 * Description: Protein complex is injected intramuscularly to increase tissue density and decrease lactase recovery time.
 * Risk(s): 5% of test subjects experience a fatal cardiac volume increase.

Catalytic Thyroid Implant

 * Description: Platinum pellet containing human growth hormone catalyst is implanted in the thyroid to boost growth of skeletal and muscle tissues.
 * Risk(s): Rare instances of elephantitis. Suppressed sexual drive.

Occipital Capillary Reversal

 * Description: Submergence and boosted blood vessel flow beneath the rods and cones of the subject's retina. Produces a marked visual perception increase.
 * Risk(s): Retinal rejection and detatchment. Permanent blindness.

Superconducting Fibrification of Neural Dendrites

 * Description: Alteration of bioeletrical nerve transduction to shielded electronic transduction. 300% increase in subject reflexes. Anecdotal evidence of marked increase in intelligence, memory, and creativity.
 * Risk(s): Significant instances of Parkinson's Disease and Fletcher's Syndrome.

Experience
The carbide ceramic ossification bone grafts felt like glass breaking inside their marrow. Kurt-051 explained that it felt like napalm being poured into his veins. The superconducting fabrication of neural dendrites felt like fire burning along their nerves on their spines. John-117 experienced bleeding eyes, incredible pain, and tripping over himself a lot due to the retinal, reflex enhancements, and bone strength increases.

It should be noted that two of the procedures appear to contradict each other. It is mentioned that carbide ceramic ossification is not recommended for anyone who is or will be experiencing skeletal growth spurts. But the catalytic thyroid implant appears to stimulate and encourage "growth of skeletal and muscle tissues". However it is logical that the catalytic thyroid implant would have been used before the carbide ceramic ossification to prevent the bones of all the Spartans being pulverized.

Results
The combined modifications produced unexpected and unexplained synergistic effects, later recorded as follows:


 * Capable of running at speeds exceeding 55 km/h (34.155 MPH). Kelly-087 was capable of running even faster than the rest. In her Mark V MJOLNIR Armor Kelly's top speed was 62 km/h (Note: John-117 briefly ran at around 105 km/h (65.205 MPH) during a MJOLNIR MARK V training exercise, however his Achilles tendon was torn because the strain put on his body was unsustainable. )
 * Capable of lifting three times their body weight, about 400 kg, which is double the normal weight of an average human due to the ceramic augmentations, ceramic which is a very dense material, and increased muscle density. Spartan's are capable of taking out a Sangheili's energy shields, as well as a Jackal's shield guantlet in a single punch, and then killing their enemies with another blow. Fred-104 used his enhanced strength combined with his skills to kill a Brute with his bare hands during Operation: First Strike. Cal-141 was capable of blocking a Jiralhanae Chieftain's Gravity Hammer swing with a single hand, dodging multiple swings from the Chieftain, use her enhanced muscle strength to jump to great heights, and wound the Chieftain with a few punches and kicks, showing that Spartan's combined with MJOLNIR Armor are as strong as both Jiralhanae, and Sangheili.
 * Virtual night vision.
 * Reaction times of estimated twenty milliseconds. Significantly faster in combat situations or with A.I. assistance. After augmentations, John-117's reaction times were so fast, that he was able to see things happen in slow motion - "Spartan Time". John-117's reflexes allowed him to dodge blows from Elites in hand to hand combat, and follow up with bone breaking punches of his own. Douglas-042's enhanced reflexes allowed him to grab a pike being thrust at him by a Sangheili Honor Guard, pull the pike from the Elite's hands, and strike him down with his own weapon. Red Team was able to take on large numbers of Sangheili Honor Guard's despite being outnumbered over 20 to 3. Kelly-087 was able to break an Energy Sword wielding Elite's wrist, elbow the Elite in the face, take the sword, and cut three Elites in half with a single swing. William-043 was able to engage a Hunter in hand to hand combat, and win due to his enhanced strength that allow him to punch through the Hunter's worms and rip them out, combined with his enhanced reflexes which allowed him to dodge blows from the Hunter's shield.
 * Capable of unprecedented teamwork that resembled "telepathy".
 * No physiological or mental instabilities.

These current results were only a few months after augmentation, Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez himself said that the SPARTANs will only get better as they adjust to the augmentation. Therefore many of the SPARTANs attributes may have increased through time. These abilities were completely independent of the MJOLNIR armor, which only further augmented the SPARTANs' unprecedented capabilities. However, the augmentations were deadly or paralyzing, and many of the fourteen year-old SPARTAN candidates "washed out" during these procedures. Further research and improvements in technology lead to future classes of SPARTANs to have a wider gene pool and smaller risk of fatality. This research is what led to the "disposable" Spartan-III's.