Soren-066: Difference between revisions

{{Character infobox

|variant=Human

==Biography==

===Early childhood===

{{Quote|no=three|q1=I'm a scientist.|Catherine Halsey|q2=Not a psy—, not a psy—|Soren|q3=No, I'm not a psychiatrist. You've been seeing a lot of psychiatrists, haven‘t you? Because of your parents' deaths?|Catherine Halsey|Doctor Halsey identifies a source of anxiety for Soren.}}{{Ref/Reuse|HEPP}}

The first night spent on his own was difficult for Soren.{{Ref/Reuse|HEP1}} The cold air and sounds of the forest kept waking him up or kept him awake, but he still managed to get up at dawn to creep back to the clearing where his family's prefabricated house was. He might have tried to sneak back in to get some food, but the sight of his stepfather waiting for him through a window kept him from doing so. Turning back to the woods, his efforts next turned to catching his breakfast. He tried to snag one of the toothless [[Wikipedia:Squirrel|squirrel]]-like [[Dwarkan squirrel|creature]]s that inhabited the surrounding trees but they were much too fast for him. Neither sitting in wait for them to come to him or throwing rocks at them gave him any success. Soren eventually settled for eating [[Wikipedia::Larva|larvae]] and [[Wikipedia:Worm|worm]]s discovered on the underside of a dry, rotten branch he stepped on. After a few hours had passed and he didn't feel sick, he elected to turn over more logs to eat his fill. Before night fell he started to experiment, moving a little farther away from the house and making several beds out of the leaves and needles of different trees. He found that one type of leaf raised a row of angry, itchy red bumps along his wrist after he touched it so he made sure to avoid it thereafter. He had to try out several of the beds he'd made before finding one soft and warm enough to let him sleep. After a few days like this, he had determined where exactly in his little patch of forest to search for grubs and when to leave a log alone to return to days later. Certain berries and plants he knew to avoid from watching the [[ghost squirrel]]s, but others he only wrote off after they made him sick or just produced a bitter taste. Every morning and evening Soren continued to watch his stepfather from the bushes, and though he tried to break back into the house a few times, the windows were too strong.{{Ref/Reuse|HEP1}}

===SPARTAN-II===

{{Quote|no=five|q1=I'm trying to decide if you're right for something I'm working on. An experiment. I can't tell you what it is, I'm afraid. But if it works in the way we hope it will you'll be stronger and faster and smarter than you could ever imagine.|Catherine Halsey|q2=Why would you want to do something like that for me? You don't even know me.|Soren|q3=It's not for you, exactly. I can't tell you much more. It won't be easy; it'll be the hardest thing you've ever done—even harder than what happened with your parents.|Catherine Halsey|q4=And what have you decided?|Soren|q5=I've decided to let you be the one to decide.|Catherine Halsey|Doctor Halsey reveals enough about the Spartan-II program to make him consider joining voluntarily.}}{{Ref/Reuse|HEPP}}

Soren and the other children were awoken by drill instructors at 0530 hours the next morning.<ref name="HTFOR4">''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'', ''Chapter 4''</ref> Chief Mendez addressed them all, saying they were to shower at the barracks aft and then return to their cots to dress. Soren stripped down and joined the other children on a conveyor to be washed in lukewarm soapy water and then rinsed in an icy cold spray. A trunk at the foot of his cot held underwear, thick socks, combat boots, and a matching set of gray sweats with "SOREN-066" stenciled on the chest. Once everyone was clothed, Mendez marched them outside and had them form five rows of fifteen children each. From there, they were ordered through a series of calisthenics which included one-hundred each of jumping jacks, sit-ups, deep squats, knee bends, and leg lifts. After the leg lifts the kids were finally given a respite in the form of water. Next, Mendez ordered them to join him on a run. They jogged through the military compound, past more barracks, along a river, and over a bridge, finally coming to a stop in the courtyard of a naval officers' academy. There Soren and the others met [[Déjà]], a [[Dumb AI|so-called "dumb" A.I.]] who had been given the job of continuing the trainees' formal education. Within the building, Soren and the others were served crackers and milk and treated to a history lesson concerning the [[Wikipedia:Battle of Thermopylae|Battle of Thermopylae]]. After the lesson the trainees were told they were heading for the playground, but this turned into a two-mile run to a forest of twenty-meter-tall wooden poles, rope cargo nets and bridges, knotted climbing ropes, pulleys, and baskets. Mendez had them form three lines and declared that each row of three would be a team. Chief Mendez explained that they would be playing a game called "[[Ring the Bell]]" in which the objective was for every member of each team to ring a brass bell that hung from a slide pole next to the tallest wooden pole and then make it back to the start. The last team to make it back would go hungry that evening. This punishment ultimately fell on [[Blue Team|Team Three]], of which Soren was not a part.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR4}}  

===Training===

{{Quote|Don't get distracted by irrelevant data. And above all don‘t let yourself get left behind.|Catherine Halsey gives Soren advice that will stick with him for years.}}{{Ref/Reuse|HEP2}}

With the lived experience of surviving on his own on Dwarka, life on Reach in the Spartan camp seemed less of a challenge to Soren than it did to many of the other recruits.{{Ref/Reuse|HEP2}} Camouflage became a way of life for him; he faded into the background when in groups, wanting neither to come to attention as one of the leaders nor to be seen as an outsider. He stuck to the anonymous middle. During the first year or so he spent as a trainee he found it exceptionally difficult to sleep since the sounds made by his bunkmates reminded him of his stepfather. He would sometimes wait until everyone else had fallen asleep and then slip slowly out of his bed to hide under it; sleeping in the damp, musty space near a wall where he felt safer. On one morning when he had failed to return to his bed before the others woke, the way they looked at him made him feel even less safe.{{Ref/Reuse|HEP2}} As time passed Déjà taught he and the others [[Wikipedia:Algebra|algebra]], [[Wikipedia:Trigonometry|trigonometry]], and the history of numerous battles and the rulers they happened at the direction of.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR5}} Human history classes included a module devoted to [[Earth]] in which they were shown images of [[Wikipedia:Whale|whale]]s.<ref name="HSS27">''[[Halo: Silent Storm]]'', ''Chapter 27''</ref> Through simulations the trainees learned to pilot various crafts, including the predecessors and variants of the [[GA-TL1 Longsword]].<ref name="HEP9">''[[Halo: Evolutions]]'', ''[[Pariah]]'', ''Chapter 9''</ref> These simulations even included what to do in the event of a crash landing.{{Ref/Reuse|HEP9}} By mid-[[2519]], Soren had been taught how to string a trip line, fire a rifle, and treat a chest wound.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR5}} Much of the Spartans' early training took place at [[Military Reservation 01478-B]], known as "Painland" to the soldiers made to endure exercises there.<ref name="HTFOR27">''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'', ''Chapter 27''</ref> Training often involved obstacle courses and mock patrols, and Soren was quick to figure out the best ways through the former and could fade quickly into bushes and undergrowth while on the latter.<ref name="HEP2">''[[Halo: Evolutions]]'', ''[[Pariah]]'', ''Chapter 2''</ref> Mendez tricked, trapped, and tortured the children to the point where they hated, but then eventually, admired him.<ref name="HGOO6">''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]'', ''Chapter 6''</ref> Soren and the others regularly made covert treks to [[Camp Hathcock]] in the [[Highland Mountains]] to pilfer food and supplies.<ref name="HTFOR24">''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'', ''Chapter 24''</ref> Training in the Highland Mountains was split between Painland, facilities within [[CASTLE Base]], and [[Highlands|another location]].<ref name="FS19">''[[Halo: First Strike]]'', ''Chapter 19''</ref><ref name="HRH">''[[Halo: Reach]]'', ''[[Highlands]]''</ref> At these locations, Soren and the others began to be tested against a company of [[Orbital Drop Shock Trooper|orbital drop shock trooper]]s in jungle maneuvers.{{Ref/Reuse|HSS7}} Amazingly, the children, who averaged around eight years old, often won.<ref name="HSS7">''[[Halo: Silent Storm]]'', ''Chapter 7''</ref> By the time Soren and the rest had all reached that age they had already earned every combat rating.<ref name="HSS4">''[[Halo: Silent Storm]]'', ''Chapter 4''</ref> At some point during their training, Soren and the others accompanied Mendez to the colony of [[Emerald Cove]], where they were given a mission that involved spending time underwater.{{Ref/Reuse|HFS24}} Mendez sabotaged half the air tanks provided to the trainees, and in response they ended up stealing his. Afterwards, they all ditched the Chief for a whole week while they camped on an island with nothing to do but light bonfires, eat [[Wikipedia:Clam|clam]]s and [[Wikipedia:Calamari|calamari]], and surf.<ref name="HFS24">''[[Halo: First Strike]], ''Chapter 24''</ref>  

On [[2525#March|March 9]] of that year Soren and the other Spartan-II candidates were transported to [[Medical Facility Endurance]] in orbit over [[Reach]] in order to undergo the series of invasive procedures designed to physically, chemically, and genetically augment their bodies.<ref name="HTFORTAS">''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach - The Animated Series]]''</ref><ref name="HTFOR6">''[[The Fall of Reach]]'', ''Chapter 6''</ref><ref name="H5GL">''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]'', John-117's loadout</ref> They had their heads shaved, intravenous lines inserted to deliver a [[Drugs|sedative]], and incision vectors lasered onto their bodies.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR6}} Other medications administered beginning on this date included [[Wikipedia:Dopamine|dopamine]] for hemodynamic support and a [[Wikipedia:Tacrolimus|tacrolimus]]/[[Wikipedia:Mycophenolate|mycophenolate mofetil]] combination for immunosuppression.<ref name="Scanned">''[[Scanned]]''</ref> The various augmentations, under the purview of [[Project ASTER|Project: ASTER]], were carried out the following day, though some preliminary work had begun by 1552 hours on the ninth.{{Ref/Reuse|HFORBC}}<ref name="DHPJA1">''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'', ''April 1, 2525''</ref>{{Ref/Reuse|HOSFM83}} With the assistance of surgeons, biotechnicians, and automated robotic machinery, the surgical procedures the recruits endured included occipital capillary reversals, the carbide ceramic ossification of their bones, the insertion of catalytic platinum [[Wikipedia:thyroid gland|thyroid implant]]s, injections to enhance muscle strength and endurance, and the fibrification of their neural dendrites to make them superconductive.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR6}} They also were treated with [[Wikipedia:Gene therapy|gene therapy]] and underwent [[Wikipedia:Transgene|transgenic hybridization]].<ref name="HOSFM83">''[[Halo: Official Spartan Field Manual]]'', ''page 83''</ref> During the myriad surgeries Soren dreamed that he was back in the forest again but in addition to contending with the cold and hunger, he was being stalked by a strange, hulking, almost-human, deformed creature.{{Ref/Reuse|HEP4}} Even in the dream he felt half-asleep—walking to keep away from the creature whilst grabbing what he could from the ground to eat. He eventually took a wrong turn and found his path forward blocked, which allowed his pursuer to pluck him off the ground and hurl him through tree limbs and branches. As he seemingly died in the dream, he awoke to find himself looking up at surgeons. One of them waved fingers over his eyes but he had trouble following them instantaneously. The surgeon questioned whether he was supposed to be as he presently was before there was a flurry of movement and shouting and he slipped back into another nightmare. Before he woke again Soren was returned to the Spartan compound on Reach.<ref name="HEP4">''[[Halo: Evolutions]]'', ''[[Pariah]]'', ''Chapter 4''</ref>{{Ref/Reuse|HTFORTAS}} Still dreaming, he imagined he was seated in a chair and unable to move anything but his eyes. He then realized the chair was actually a bed he way lying in and that it was his mother's. His stepfather entered the bedroom.

During this dream another figure, his dead and rotting mother, was in the same bed, when a sudden wash of pain, like broken glass being worked into his veins, woke him up again. When he awoke, he was restrained to the bed. Soren tore himself from his restraints and attempted to run. A doctor attempted to give Soren a hypodermic injection, but he broke the man's wrist, stabbed another doctor in the neck with the needle and punched a third as he fled, sending him flying into a wall. During his escape, he was stopped by [[Chief Petty Officer]] [[Franklin Mendez]] and a squad of UNSC marines armed with tranquilizer darts.

When Mendez and his Marines found the wreckage, relatively little was left, the only thing of note being Partch's burned body. Dr. Halsey told Mendez that she believed Soren had survived the crash, but due to his upbringing in the woods, Soren would not be found unless he wanted to be. Halsey had Mendez give up the search, arguing that Soren was no threat to them: he was not a [[Treason|traitor]], just a lost soul. Without a body, Soren was officially declared [[missing in action]].

Soren is reminiscent of [[Wikipedia:Ephialtes of Trachis|Ephialtes of Trachis]] as he is portrayed in the graphic novel and film ''[[Wikipedia:300 (film)|300]].'' Both are deformed and unfit for battle, and betray the Spartans after they refuse to let them serve. In ''Pariah'', he is referred to as '''Soren-66'''; however, SPARTAN naming conventions would mean he was actually known as '''Soren-066'''.

==List of appearances==