ORION Project: Difference between revisions

{{Era|UNSC|HCW}}

|size=300 at height of program<ref name="encyc">'''[[Halo Encyclopedia]]''' ''page 81''</ref>

The '''ORION Project''' was the [[UNSC Navy]]'s first effort to create a special forces unit of [[Human augmentation|biochemically augmented]] supersoldiers. Under the operational control of [[UNSC Special Forces|Naval Special Warfare Group One]], the project was created to combat the growing [[Insurrection]] throughout the [[human]] [[Outer Colonies]]. The project enjoyed limited success but was ultimately disbanded after several years; however, its legacy lived on in the form of the subsequent [[SPARTAN programs]]. After the establishment of the [[SPARTAN-II program]] years later, the ORION Project was retroactively dubbed '''SPARTAN-I program'''.<ref>'''[[Halo: The Flood]]''' ''page 16''</ref>{{Ref/Reuse|encyc}}<ref name="journal">''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]''</ref><ref>'''[[Halo: New Blood]]''', ''page 130'' (Google Play edition)</ref>

Administratively, the ORION project was under the control of [[Office of Naval Intelligence#Section Three|ONI Section III]], particularly the [[Beta-5 Division]]'s Special Projects section. However, the ORION soldiers themselves were under the operational authority of [[UNSC Special Forces|Naval Special Warfare Command/Naval Special Weapons]].<ref>'''[[Halo Encyclopedia]]''' ''page 80''</ref> ORION was an all-volunteer force composed of the best troops from the [[UNSC Marine Corps]]{{Ref/Reuse|encyc}} and the Special Forces from other branches of the military;<ref name="encyc44">'''[[Halo Encyclopedia]]''' ''pages 44 - 45''</ref> operators performed specialized, high-risk operations including counter-insurgency operations, unconventional warfare, direct action, and black operations. The ORION program was headquartered on one of the many orbital docks on [[Reach]],{{Ref/Reuse|encyc44}} and at its height the program had 300 active-duty personnel.{{Ref/Reuse|encyc}}

The members of the ORION program were biologically augmented soldiers, using new training methods and the latest breakthroughs in biochemical developments. Augmentations to the ORION soldiers included muscular enhancement injections, pulmonary respiratory enhancements, retina-inversion injections and cochlea enhancement tuning.<ref>'''[[Media:ILB_Cochlear_tuning.ogg|cochlear_tuning Axon]]'''</ref> In addition, mental augmentations were performed to enhance brain functions{{Ref/Reuse|encyc}} including enhanced learning capabilities to allow a subject to learn at a faster and higher rate and enhanced motor skills to improve body movements. The ORION training regime was very difficult and included many tests both mental and physical, including laboratory work. All 65 initial volunteers{{Ref/Reuse|encyc}} made it through the training and augmentation procedures and were placed on active duty some time after completing their training. After their initial deployment and success, funding for training the next group of personnel was approved. By the time it was shut down, the ORION program had 165 surviving participants.{{Ref/Reuse|encyc44}}{{Ref/Reuse|wp spartans}}

The beginning of the ORION program (named for the [[Orion Arm]] of the [[Milky Way]]{{Ref/Reuse|encyc44}}) dates back to the 23rd century, when the newly formed [[United Nations Space Command]] began developing bioengineering protocols and experimenting with biochemically altering human soldiers. Led by Doctor [[Ritsa Shephard]], the ORION Project began as an extension of the "blue sky" projects commissioned by the UEG before the [[Domus Diaspora]].<ref name="HOSFMOP1">'''[[Halo: Official Spartan Field Manual]]''' ''- Page 79''</ref> Although these performance-enhancing substances were very primitive and nowhere near as effective as the chemicals used to augment the soldiers of the SPARTAN programs, they did show promise and gave results and serve as the catalyst for future endeavors. Since then, human soldiers have used performance-enhancing equipment for centuries, including adrenaline injections.<ref>''[[Halo Wars]]''</ref>

The initial version of the ORION Project was activated by the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] on [[2321|April 13, 2321]] to significantly increase the combat effectiveness of the [[Colonial Military Administration|Colonial Military Administration's]] elite troops. The end goal was to improve the security of future colonies outside the [[Sol system]]. At least five operators were selected as test-subjects for the experimental augmentations, although the project would be shut down due to poor early results, funding issues, poor personnel retention, and low reliability.{{Ref/Reuse|HOSFMOP1}} The troopers were reintegrated back into the active service; however, for reasons undisclosed by ONI, all five would die within the year, while key personnel on the ORION Project were transferred to colonization missions or terraforming research.<ref name="wp spartans">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/factions/spartans '''Halo Waypoint''' - ''Spartans'']</ref>{{Ref/Reuse|HOSFMOP1}} By [[2558]], major aspects of the original ORION Project remained undocumented, as several encrypted UEG digital archives from 24th century have degraded or gone missing.{{Ref/Reuse|HOSFMOP1}}

As the war against the [[Insurrectionist]]s continued to escalate, the UNSC escalated their counter-insurgent activities under [[Operation: TREBUCHET]], created in response to the defector UNSC Marine [[Colonel]] [[Robert Watts]].<ref name="enyc45">'''[[Halo Encyclopedia]]''', ''page 45''</ref> The ORIONs proved key in the fight against the rebel attacks across the colonies, taking down insurgents as soon as they cropped up. However, as time went on the insurgent attacks became more effective and insurgent personnel more difficult to root out; and over the ensuing decades they became more organized and more difficult to combat. Bombings continued despite the best efforts of both regular military personnel and the ORION soldiers — civilians became caught in the crossfire of these conflicts and casualties began to mount exponentially, adding fuel to the simmering hatred harbored against the UNSC by many colonists. This prompted the UNSC to recruit more soldiers to the ORION program, culminating in a peak roster of 300 active personnel.{{Ref/Reuse|encyc}}

The augmentation techniques used in ORION were later improved in the subsequent [[SPARTAN-II program]] and its successors. Many of ORION's failures were attributed to the age of the candidates: as adults, the applicants' bodies rejected many of the augmentations, producing less than expected results. Because of this, it was decided that the enhancements must be applied at a prepubescent age to individuals possessing very specific genetic markers.{{Ref/Reuse|halsey}} Due to improvements in biomedical technology over the intervening half-century, this impediment was later overcome in the [[SPARTAN-IV program]], which allows the augmentation of adult subjects without the major risks presented by the earlier SPARTAN enhancements.<ref>'''[[Halo: New Blood]]''', ''page 52'' (Google Play edition)</ref>