Joshua Erin

"If the enemy travels by the light, I'd rather stick to the shadows."

- Miles-116 Miles is one of the first recruits of the SPARTAN-II program. Codenamed: Shinobi, Miles trained with the original SPARTAN-IIs including John-117. After the training program, he was reassigned to Red Team. While he never learned of his origins, Miles grew up on the streets of New Kyoto until age six when he was recruited to the SPARTAN-II program. He was reknowned for his efforts throughout the Insurrection and Human-Covenant War, and is known as an Arch Demon among the Covenant due to the number of Sangheli he slaughtered on Reach. He was reported MIA for around 6 years after the Fall of Reach, but was recovered on Epsilon Halo in 2557 along with the frigate Chancellor, which had been presumed destroyed. He was integrated into the Spartan-IV program and became part of Fireteam Noble Legacy. =Biography=

Childhood
Miles grew up in the streets of New Kyoto with no prior knowledge of his origins. He was raised by a small, lower class orphanage. The facility had little resources and Miles grew accustomed to stealing food and other resources to stay alive. He had a very rough childhood and was often bullied and beat up by the other children at the orphanage. As he got older, Miles became exceptionally good at remaining hidden and gained a reputation as a talented thief. This skill set, among other attributes, was what caught the attention of the Office of Naval Intelligence. He met Dr. Halsey when he attempted to steal a few credits from her escort. His efforts were successful, but Halsey noticed him pocketing the money as he walked away. She confirmed that he was the subject she was searching for a few hours later at the orphanage. He was taken not long afterwards.

SPARTAN Recruitment
Miles was captured by ONI when he was attempting to take a large stock of credits being held in a storehouse. He had planned to go through the roof as an entry point but was taken by a group of men just a few meters away and was then transported to a ship with a few other children about his age. Miles remained completely silent the entire time and hid his fear exceptionally well. At first, he was infuriated with these people who had taken him from his home, but after a few weeks of training, he realized that he was better off here than where he was before. A flash clone was not necessary for Miles because of his tendency to disappear on wild escapades, the masters of the orphanage merely assumed he had been killed and left well enough alone.

SPARTAN Training
Miles was slightly weaker than the rest of the recruits and had trouble keeping up with them in basic exercises. He made up for his lack of strength with incredible speed and agility which made him an excellent fighter, especially in close quarters. He was a very resentful child and was constantly picking fights with the other children. This led him to be continually punished and worked although it made little difference.

Miles had an incredible grasp of battlefield tactics which allowed him to succeed in many of the training exercises given. His teamwork skills, however, left a lot to be desired. He was placed in a team with other members of the program but preferred to remain aloof and spent little time with them and spoke even less. In combat, he showed exceptional talent for silent movement which allowed him to maintain an element of surprise over his opponents and also got him put in reconnaissance for most missions. He had a natural grasp of hand to hand combat because of his origins and was trained in the art of Ninjutsu which allowed him to excel in close quarters to the point where he could take on practically any other Spartan in the program and come out on top. His marksman skills varied slightly from weapon to weapon but he became very fond of the MA5B which he used as his primary weapon constantly.

Augmentation
Miles was one of the trainees who managed to go through the SPARTAN augmentation practically unscathed. His strength still wasn't equal with the other SPARTANs but he managed to adapt more swiftly to his new body. Miles also was faster and more agile than the other SPARTANs forcing him to slow down in training. After the augmentations, he was transferred to Red Team.

Insurrectionist War
Miles went on a number of missions against rebel forces in his early days as a SPARTAN. Below are the most memorable.

Miles and other members of Red Team were sent to the 111 Tauri system to weaken the Rebel forces there. Red Team went on a mission to intercept an Insurrectionist supply frigate. They went undercover on one of the supply drop locations a week prior to the ship arriving. They entered it under the guise of supply loaders. Once they had entered, they made their way to the storage rooms throughout the lower decks. They dropped their cargo of boxes that were laced with high charge explosives. They activated a remote detonator as they drifted away in the escape pods. They were later picked up by the UNSC prowler Athens. Miles, Jerome-092, and Alice-130 also were sent on a reconnaissance mission to Victoria to survey Camp New Hope. They were however pulled out of the Tauri system before the raid on Camp New Hope could commence and the mission was undertaken by Blue Team.

Red Team was sent to assassinate a high insurrectionist leader by the name of Colonel Mark said to be stationed Eridanus Secundus. Miles was sent in to scout out the base. He made it past the security with ease and climbed along the outer wall of the structure to the center of the encampment. He began setting up cameras at each window he came to. He was on the final story of the structure when he spotted the colonel walking outside the room. He entered the room in a security outfit he obtained from one of the guards and followed Mark as he made his way to a large room that miles assumed was his office. He set up a camera from the large window of his office and retreated to a safer position and camped out for three days observing the Colonels schedule patterns and continually reporting back to Red Team who had been pulled away to aid UNSC forces crush a militia force rising in the country side.

Miles found a window of time where the Colonel left his office unattended and returned in an hour. Security was also at its weakest at this time so he took this as his opportunity. Miles entered the structure in his security disguise this time and made his way up to the top level. He noticed that there was only one security guard. Miles used his silenced M6B to take him out. He hid the body and waited in the Colonel's office. He watched from his hiding spot as Mark walked into the room. He waited until the guards left the room before striking; he then stabbed the Colonel in the back of the head before propping him up in his chair. He then sealed the door and left out the large window. Miles had already joined up with Red Team several miles away before the alarm was raised. Because of this mission, Miles was given the codename Shinobi by his team. Turning it into his codename, he went by that for the rest of his career.

MJOLNIR Upgrade/Battle of Chi Ceti
Shinobi and the rest of the SPARTANS were sent to the Chi Ceti system to observe the MJOLNIR system. He was surprised however to find it was a form of armor. He adapted to the works of the armor faster than his fellow SPARTANS and, with the help of the armor, could move fast enough to sidestep rounds from basic firearms. He had very little time to experiment with the armor however because at that moment, they were called up to the surface to evacuate because an enemy ship had appeared in the planet's orbit. Shinobi was taken onto a pelican and sent into orbit whilst the battle commenced above.

As it turned out, a Covenant ship had appeared above Chi Ceti and had engaged the UNSC ships above which had called the SPARTANS up to be evacuated. Upon John suggesting taking the ship down from the interior, Miles was fitted with a thruster pack and launched out towards the ship with the rest of the SPARTANs. Shinobi received the message that the ship had deployed energy shields and barely managed to swerve away from the vessel. He was recovered by a Pelican and taken back to the Commonwealth.

Hunter Encounter
During a small recon op in a remote planet on the Eridanus system, Shinobi and Jerome stumbled upon a Covenant encampment. They were about to report the finding to the base when a Covenant force engaged them from behind. Since the group was mainly comprised of Grunts and Jackals, they were dispatched quickly enough but alerted something else in the process.

In the debriefing, Miles stated that two large, heavily armored forms that resembled tanks of some sort assaulted the SPARTANs. The creatures later identified as Hunters or Mgalekgolo released a relentless assault on the two of them and charged at them when they tried to retreat. Miles attempted to attack one of them from behind when it was facing Jerome and managed to kill it by inserting his MA5B into the exposed back and opening fire. He was rewarded however, by being thrown from the hunters back by its companion. The remaining monster then released a round from its weapon. The fuel rod barely scratched the outer part of Miles' helmet but it was enough to incinerate most of the left side and scar the tissue under the left side of his chin. He carried these scars for the rest of his life.

Armor Variant
When variants of the original MJOLNIR armor became more popular, Shinobi adopted the scout variant, using armor that was lighter and stealthier to suit his personality.

Miles was part of the force defending the evacuation craft for the battle and performed valiantly.

Miles was with the rest of red team during their skirmish to plant a Havoc Nuke in the landing pad and was the one carrying the bomb.

After taking back Firebase Bravo, Shinobi was placed in Green Team temporarily. The group was tasked with taking down a large force of Covenant carving a path through UNSC forces, Joshua-029 proposed an ambush in the dense jungle ahead of them. The SPARTAN team set up in the trees a half-mile ahead of the force.

They engaged using sniper rifles and eliminated many of the enemy soldiers before they were discovered. During their retreat, Shinobi was cut off from the rest of the team by an Elite armed with an energy sword. Disarmed, Shinobi used the cover of the forest to his advantage and managed to slay his opponent with only his Ninjato. Taking the sword for himself he attempted to return back to his squad but with his communications damaged, he could not locate any of the SPARTAN teams. Miles-116 was labeled MIA for over 72 hours but was recovered when he ran into a marine unit almost by chance.

Fall of Reach
Miles was assigned a special mission during the defense of Reach by ONI. He was placed in a Pelican with his armor locked. The pilot had orders to maneuver his craft into the oncoming fire from the Covenant so as to protect the other ships from fire. As the dropship was shot down, his body was recovered and taken to a large crater in a desolate region of reach. He was classified MIA after his "crash" to all but the highest of ONI personnel. Upon arrival to his destination, he was escorted by some of the ONI scientists to an elevator leading deep into a forerunner structure.

He was tasked with escorting several of the researchers into the heart of the presumed science facility to recover advanced weapons technology. He encountered very little resistance on the first few levels but also found nothing resembling the weapon tech he was after. After three hours of fruitless searching, Shinobi and the scientists encountered a large security force of sentinels. The three scientists were killed almost immediately and Shinobi was taken captive. After this, all communications with the SPARTAN were lost. The following information is based on the debriefing of SPARTAN subject Miles-116 When captured, Shinobi was brought to a large room that was identified to be similar in function to a laboratory. He was then questioned by a forerunner AI by the name of Paradox 566. After refusing to give satisfactory answers, the AI released small samples of the Flood into Miles' containment chamber. The organisms terminated themselves in an attempt to take control of his body. After which Shinobi's genetic structure was analyzed and compared with the corpses of the scientists so as to isolate the enhancements done to his body.

Once studied, the AI moved on to experimentation in the field he was programmed for, the development of an effective cloaking device. During his work, the AI had come up with a method of cloaking that was generated from within a subject's body using nanites. To test his theory, Paradox injected a sample of the nanites into Miles. Activating it manually, Paradox used several tests to study the effectiveness of the camouflage. The effect proved able to bypass most methods of detection including infrared variants. Shinobi was then sent to another smaller room to be dissected for further study.

During the transfer to the dissection room, Miles' sentinel escort was assaulted by a squad of SPARTANs (Later confirmed to be MJOLNIR bearing SPARTAN IIIs). The soldiers managed to successfully rescue Shinobi at the death of two of their number. The leader of the squad, Jason-G265 had his men help the larger SPARTAN out of the facility to a military transport. The SPARTANs then set up charges in the facility with the intent of bringing down the entire tower.

He was then taken to a small base where he was given new equipment and supplies. He made contact with an ONI agent who ordered him to leave the planet for debriefing. He boarded a pelican along with a squad of marines and took off. The Pelican Miles was in was assaulted by three Banshees before leaving the atmosphere. The drop ship took considerable damage, crashing it into the ground. Shinobi managed to jump out of the plane before impact and was the only survivor. When he came to, he was a few feet from the wreckage and very badly bruised. Being the only survivor, he decided to return to the military base that he had been taken to. Upon arrival, he found it in ruins with no surviving personnel. He gathered what supplies were salvageable, and treated his injury before leaving. Miles then set off for the science facility where he was recovered to find some form of vehicle that might have been left behind.

Upon arrival, the AI entity Paradox entered the SPARTAN's system in an attempt to escape its ruined structure. It disguised itself by merging with Shinobi's "dumb AI" Mark and hid inside it. Miles was able to recover a mongoose from the area and set off. It wasn't until he was miles away from the structure when Paradox revealed itself. Although furious, Shinobi understood that this AI could be his only ticket off the planet and asked if it had some means of leaving the planet. The AI managed to direct him towards a picket class cruiser that was docked in one of the structures nearby.

After two days’ worth of traveling and scavenging, the two came upon the location of the ship to find it partially unearthed and guarded by a Covenant squad. Miles managed to defeat the force at the expenditure of most of his ammunition. Armed only with what he scavenged from the battlefield and his melee weapons, he entered the ship with the assistance of Paradox. Since it was mostly unearthed, the cruiser had little problem escaping the atmosphere and the two left space. Being a Forerunner ship, the Covenant did not fire at it but instead attempted to follow. However; Paradox took the cruiser into slipspace almost immediately after leaving the barricade of Covenant ships.

The UNSC attempted to find SPARTAN-116 on Reach but the search parties were unsuccessful and so he was labeled MIA.

Landing
Shinobi was awakened from cryo-sleep to find the ship had crashed. Paradox explained that thousands of years underground had damaged the ship's engines and had caused them to malfunction in slipspace. They had drifted around for over six years with minimal course corrections until landing on what the AI called a "Halo". The Covenant seemed to have located the cruiser a few weeks back and had followed it as it lead them to a Halo. Miles used his new camouflage ability to gain a safe distance from the ship and set up a rudimentary camp with the few supplies he could gather. He planned to return to the ship and send out an emergency frequency in an attempt to escape.

The SPARTAN was alerted that night by the sounds of combat. He discovered a military force engaging the Covenant around the ship. Moving in to investigate, Miles tailed a group of soldier who entered the ship. As he got close, Miles discovered the soldiers were SPARTANs. Before he could reveal himself, the group was surrounded by camouflaged elites. With one of them injured, he killed the one who appeared to be the leader as a distraction and then assisted the SPARTANs in retreating, telling them the ship had nothing of value.

Chancellor
Miles accompanied the SPARTANs to their ship which turned out to be a Frigate named the UNSC Chancellor. Once aboard, he was debriefed by Captain Jesse Albrechtson. Shinobi was informed on the end of the Human-Covenant War and the rise of the SPARTAN-IV program along with other developments he missed in his six year sleep. Miles was then sent to the armory to be reequipped. Unfortunately, the Gen 2 armor was very limited at the time and the only model available was given to SPARTAN Kal-013. Instead, he had his original armor repaired and refitted. After that, he was assigned to the newest SPARTAN team which consisted of SPARTANs Kal-013, Mark-G332, Chris-G110, and the SPARTAN who saved him on Reach, Jason-G265. With the exception of Jason, Miles mostly ignored the SPARTANs in his group and only met up with them when they were called for their next mission.

Operation: Pentecost
A week later, Shinobi and his new team were sent on a mission to recovery intel on the Covenants intentions since this Halo had already been disabled. Armed with camouflage equipment, the SPARTANs infiltrated a large encampment of ground forces held up in one of the Forerunner structures. As hard as they tried, they were not able to completely avoid engagement and were attacked by a few Grunt squads and Sangheli Zealots. After listening in on the conversation of the Elites, they heard them mention the "Pentecost" which seemed to be the religious name of what they intended to do. Unfortunately they were unable to gather more intel as they were discovered when Chris moved a bit too close to one of them. They managed to dispatch the soldiers but not before the alarm was raised and they were forced to make a stealthy retreat. They were pulled out by a Pelican and were transported back to report the information they managed to gather before discovered.

As the SPARTANs neared the Frigate, the Chancellor’s long range scanners registered a massive burst of energy. The Covenant branch had deployed a large scale energy field of the quarter of the Halo ring they were both located in effectively cutting off any communication to the outside. Since the Chancellor had landed on the surface of the ring for long term reconnaissance, it too was trapped inside the energy field.

Spire
After the deployment of the force field, Miles and the other SPARTANS were sent to recon the source of the shield. it seemed to originate from a large spire-like structure. It was heavily defended with armor as well as elite troops. Obviously outgunned, the SPARTANs had to come up with a more indirect tactic. The other SPARTAns used the warthog turrets to harrass the outside forces from range whilst Shinobi infiltrated the inside of the spire implementing his camo tech. Making his way up to the higher levels, he located the main database and managed to gather crucial information such as the location of the munitions bay. After downloading most of the data from the console for decription, he returned to his sqaud outside. With Mark and Chris, Miles stormed the explosives bay whilst Kal and Jason kept the main forces occupied. They planted charges and were retreating to a safe distance when Mark was taken out from a beam rifle round. Forced to leave him behind, the two other SPARTANs made it back to the others and detonated the charges which caused the entire stockpile to detonate bringing the tower down. The destruction of the spire; however did not take down the field but weakened it to the point where a small rift opened above the location where the spire was. After decripting the files Miles recovered, the Chancellor found out that there were three other Spire structures stationed along the span of the field.

Takedown
Unable to get high enough to assist in the destruction of the three remaining spires, the Chancellor was forced to remain landed and supply battlefield information with its radar. The SPARTANs were deployed seperately with divisions of footsoldiers to attack each of the structures simultaneously. Miles was paired with a squadron of ODSTs for an aerial assault on a spire located against a cliffside. To avoid detection from the aircraft circling the clifface and spire, they were positioned half a kilometer from the lip overseeing the spire and glided across and dropped when they were right above the structure. Becuase of its position, the layout of this particular spire was completely different from the previous one and it took some time for the group to locate the mainframe. They were attacked before they could access most of the data and could not repeat the previous feat that took down the first spire.

As the attacks grew stronger, Miles and what was left of his unit were forced to move farther and farther down the spire. As they neared the underground levels, they were attacked by a group of honor gaurd-like elites which inflicted more casualties onto Miles' squadron. Since they seemed to be guarding something significant, Miles went in by himself to recon the area, ordering the ODSTs to cover him from behind. The "room" turned out to be a excavated entrance into a forerunner access tunnel which lead deep into an underground facility. Paradox was able to enter the system to discover why the Covenant branch was so interested in this specific facility. He discovered it was a backup control for the entire Halo ring, with it the Covenant would be able to activate the Halo ring even though the primary console had been destroyed. He made a tactical retreat before more men could be killed.

Arch Demon
Meeting back up at the Chancellor, Shinobi and the other members of the frigate organized a full scale assault on the remaining Spire. Miles and the other SPARTANs led the charge in a warthog. They abondoned their vehicle after they rammed into another light-armored vessel so they could continue into the tower on foot. They moved slowly down the strucutre into the lower levels, engaging the enemy on multiple occasions. The team discovered that the Elites had already began the activation process of the array. The bulk of the squad engaged the enemy protecting the device so that Miles and Jason could slip into the main room.

Low on ammo and options, Miles challenged the four elites in the main chamber to honorable combat. Using his ninjato and an energy sword he had taken, Miles defeated three of the Elites in melee combat allowing Jason to insert Paradox into the primary system console so they could stop the activation of the Halo array. The fourth Elite, being more cowardly than the others fled the battle after witnessing the skill of the black armored demon.

End Game
After the defeat of the forces defending the Underground structure, the remaining Spires were located and cleared with relative ease and the Chancellor was able to make contact with a nearby fleet. The whole proccess took approximately three months. Miles was debriefed seperately from the other members of the frigate by ONI covering the events of Reach as well as Epsilon Halo.

MJOLNIR Upgrade
Shinobi was scheduled to be refitted for Gen2 armor upon returning to Earth. Even though he was planned to be outfitted with a full Wetwork variant, Miles used his prestige as a SPARTAN-II and the abilities of his new ally Paradox to alter his armor to suite his unique style. He was extremely pleased to see the scout variant was still in active duty.

Shadow of Talista
After the events on Epsilon Halo, Miles was assigned to the Delta-6 division by ONI. After being outfitted with Gen2 armor, he was deployed in Talista for three months alone to test his ability in the field. His orders were to cause havoc in the insurrection through any means necessary as well as complete assigned missions. He was left in solitude for the most part except for the occasional mission assignment transmitted to him from a nearby stealth ship. He resided in a small bunker with enough supplies to last him a year.

The results of his exploits are highly classified and the only evidence he was ever on the planet that isn't locked down tight are the completion logs sent to ONI and a strange new rumor called the Shadow of Talista used to scare the children on the planet. It tells of a spirit of death that comes during both night and day to kill those who have transgressed. (It is documented according to Miles' helmet receptors that he never uttered a single word throughout the entirety of the three months.)

Steel Unit
After he was confirmed fit for the field, Miles was deployed in a fireteam named Noble Legacy. He was placed in the lead of his new team, taking the place of its original owner, Juan Arentino. They were placed aboard a ONI stealth frigate by the name of 'Silent Howl' with the objective of assassinating key targets in the new Covenant branch that was forming until June 13 of 2556. During this period, another SPARTAN, Jason G265, was added to the fireteam. After the term in Covenant controlled space was completed, Miles was promoted and given control of a second fireteam creating Steel Unit. This new group went through an incredibly difficult, month long training program specializing in the art of silent movement and remaining hidden. Afterwards, they were given an assignment that would place them in the outer colonies for several years in order to put down the insurrection among other missions.

Project: SNAKEHEAD
Project SNAKEHEAD was an assignment to assassinate several key rebel leaders in the most brutal and public way without being spotted themselves. ONI believed this would effectively demoralize the insurrectionists as well as take out leadership. =Profile=

Personality
At first glance, Shinobi is very cold and unfeeling, possessing very little emotion. He is brutal and fearsome in battle and often uses intimidation and fear as a weapon against his enemies. He has a deep-set resentment for any and all Covenant gained from the events on Reach. Miles tends to be distrusting towards most making him reluctant to work with others. The few that earn his trust though are shown respect and occasionally a rare form of compassion. Despite him being almost antisocial, he has a vibrant wit and sense of humor and will occasionally crack jokes during an engagement. However, most people don’t realize this until a few minutes later due to his cold and serious reputation. He has a morbid habit of taking "Trophies" from fallen enemies which, due to the rules of engagement are normally small and easily hidden from military personnel.

Shinobi has a secret fascination in human art and has several sketches and drawings stored in a hidden compartment of his utility pack as well as pictures from his helmet of the remains of artwork he came across on his various missions. Since he doesn’t come by many supplies, he is forced to make do with the few half burnt pencils and torn pieces of paper he can find. Most of his sketches are based on different scenes he saw that interested him during his SPARTAN career. He uses very interesting ingredients in his artwork like the blood from a fallen enemy to make his work more symbolic and uses art to express his emotional turmoil that he hides so well.

Appearance
Shinobi is a tall SPARTAN with a very lean muscular structure crediting his agility and speed in combat. Unarmored he has dark brown hair with black eyes giving the illusion that he does not have irises. However, the shade of black is lighter in his irises and the pupils can be spotted upon closer inspection. He has a deep, almost raspy voice which gives him a somewhat sinister sound when he speaks. He most commonly wears a medical grade bio mask and very few people have seen his actual face with the exception of his teammates.

Weaponry
Human-Covenant War Post Reach Era Throughout
 * Type-1 Energy Sword
 * Active Camo
 * Type-1 Energy Sword
 * Active Camo
 * Type-2 Energy Sword
 * Assault Rifle
 * Gen-2 Magnum
 * Forerunner Camouflage Nan-droids
 * Ninjato
 * This Japanese short sword was used by Miles alongside his combat knife. The blade was 48 centimeters and had a long hilt so the weapon could be whipped out at rapid speeds.

AI

 * Miles was assigned a "dumb" AI named Mark to accompany him on his mission on Reach. It's purpose was based around the UNSC's limited knowledge of Forerunner technology which made it easier for Paradox to merge with it and remain undetected for so long.
 * The AI monitor Paradox 566 was originally an enemy to SPARTAN-116. However, due to the necessity of survival, Paradox entered his system and assisted him in the escape from reach. Because it had merged with Shinobi's "dumb AI", Mark, to remain undetected, Paradox's personality took on traits of the AI such as its loyalty to Miles as it consumed Mark this lead to it becoming Miles' AI companion for the rest of his known service. When ONI attempted to take him for study in the Requiem period, he promptly escaped and returned to Shinobi every time.

Armor

 * Gen 1
 * Helmet=Scout (Basic)
 * Chestplate=Tactical/Patrol
 * Shoulders(Left/Right)=ODST/ODST
 * Visor Color=Black


 * Gen 2
 * Helmet=Scout
 * Chestplate=Venator
 * Shoulders(Left/Right)=Mk V/Mk V
 * Forearms=MK VI
 * Legs=MK VI
 * Visor=Midnight

=Miscellaneous=

Gallery

 * Warning: Some photos may be outdated and will not match up with Shinobi's current armor list.

Trivia

 * Shinobi is based off of the Author's XBox LIVE profile Shinobi M116 and follows the armor configurations of his Halo characters. (With the exception of Halo 3 and below)
 * The human profile of Miles-116 is modeled after the actor Andrew Garfield who has recently played as the Amazing Spiderman.
 * Miles tends to be very fickle in the selection of certain armor pieces for Gen 1 and 2 of his armor, namely the shoulder pauldrons and continually changes them.