Randall Aiken

Colonel Randall Aiken, formerly Randall-037, is a commissioned officer of the Colonial Guard on the Outer Colony planet of Sedra and a former SPARTAN-II commando of the UNSC Naval Special Warfare Command.

Childhood and Spartan training
Some time around 2527 he caught a fellow Spartan, Soren-066, and an Insurrectionist named Partch breaking into a lab on Reach. Being suspicious of their activities, he escorted them outside to verify why they were there. Soren attacked Randall as they were leaving, and, after a brief struggle, Partch shot him with a tranquilizer dart, knocking him out and allowing them to escape. Afterward, Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez reported to Dr. Halsey that Randall was doing fine but was angered with himself for letting his guard down. Mendez said that he hadn't let it down much, that he had done what he could, and it was good for him to go through something like that because it would make him a better soldier in the long run.

Vodin
In 2532, during the Battle of Vodin, Randall-037 was thought lost during an orbital space engagement with the Covenant. ONI deemed him an "unrecoverable asset", officially being listed as MIA. In reality, Randall had fallen from the planet's skyhooks into Vodin's atmosphere and plunged to the surface, surviving impact by landing in one of the colony's oceans. He was rescued days later by locals who had also survived the Covenant assault. Though severely damaged in the attack, the colony was still habitable and Randall integrated with the local survivors as he recovered from his injuries.

With all outbound communication and transport equipment destroyed in the Covenant attack, Randall-037 lived with the survivors of Vodin for a full decade, even marrying one of the colonists, before they finally regained contact with the UNSC. By that time, however, his ties to the people of Vodin and his wife were too strong for him to return to service, and so Randall-037 – now going by the name Aiken – decided instead to keep a low profile and remain on Vodin. In 2545, Aiken and his wife had a daughter named Natalie. Tragically, Aiken's wife died during childbirth. In 2546, ONI finally located him and made plans to reintegrate him into service, as they viewed him as a huge investment of the SPARTAN-II program. When Aiken refused, ONI deemed him compromised and no longer viable as a Spartan and so made plans to “decommission” him. Aiken forcefully (and successfully) refused this effort, but eventually negotiated a deal where ONI reversed many of his augmentations (in what would be an excruciating process) in return for his release from service to the UNSC.

After his dealings with ONI were complete, Aiken and his daughter left Vodin and headed to the remote colony of Sedra where he enrolled as part of the Colonial Guard. Thanks in large part to his extensive training and history, by 2556 he advanced to leader of the local wing of the Guard as a Colonel.

Sedra
Sometime after July 2557, Sedra was attacked by terrorists with biological weapons. Aiken was forced to work with an Office of Naval Intelligence unit, led by Jameson Locke, to stop the terrorists. Aiken's and his unit's search for the origins of the bioweapon led them to an ancient alien artifact: a partially functioning section of Installation 04, which had attempted an emergency slipspace jump during its destruction years earlier.

Personality and traits
He is known for his remarkable history and has a deep-rooted mistrust for the Office of Naval Intelligence.

Dr. Halsey noted that Randall was not as sociable as Kurt-051.

Production notes
Randall Aiken is portrayed in Halo: Nightfall by English actor Steven Waddington.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
 * Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
 * Pariah
 * Halo: Nightfall