Josh-A124

"Just keep moving forward. I've got you covered."

- Josh-A124

Josh-A124 is a of the. He served extensively throughout the, becoming a seasoned veteran and a lethal sniper. Josh specializes in sniping and stealth operations. In addition, he is proficient in close-quarters combat and vehicle operation. Josh is the second-in-command of NOVA Team, an elite squad of that was deployed numerous times since its creation in  and led by John-A222. Josh's call sign in the team is Nova Two. He serves directly with the UNSC Navy but with unspecified collaboration with the.

Childhood and SPARTAN-III training
"Give him a rifle and he'll pay you back with Covenant heads."

- referring to Josh Josh was born in on the human colony of  to a family of  and distant Polish origins. As a child, Josh was rather short with a strong, muscular build. From early on, he displayed advanced strength as well as admirable intelligence. By some point in his early childhood, Josh's family had taken residence in. His parents were listed as missing during the Covenant attack on Arcadia in, leaving Josh an orphan. He was conscripted into the SPARTAN-III Program later in 2531 as part of the program's. Josh trained along with the other Spartans of Alpha Company at on  under , a. In training, Josh exhibited a unique talent for picking off distant targets during weapons training. He showed advanced coordination and patience, proving himself to be one of the top candidates. He and were recognized as the two most efficient snipers of Alpha Company. As the years progressed, Josh grew to be a close friend of fellow trainee John-A222, who had started to take on something of a leadership role in Alpha Company. During augmentations, Josh successfully underwent all procedures, exhibiting the superb results from the process. The benefits of the augmentations, which relied heavily on the requirements and developments of the previous program, would turn Josh into one of many Human supersoldiers.

Alpha Company was declared active in November of. Equipped with Mark I, Josh and the rest of Alpha Company were initially deployed during the. For this counter-insurgency operation, the Spartans were divided into fireteams in order to quell the uprising. Josh was assigned to a marksman team which would clear preliminary insurrectionist forces for a raid on the hostile facilities. Shortly thereafter, the Spartans openly engaged the bulk of insurrectionist forces in a series of intense firefights. As the fighting continued, UNSC forces gained the upper hand and eventually emerged victorious. Josh managed to rally an impressive kill count during the operation. It was at this time that Josh truly displayed his value as a sniper and a skilled soldier. Alpha Company also participated in the, fought in the , , and in several other early engagements. "Josh is definitely special. As a, he's an asset we need in the field."

- to SCPO Franklin Mendez He was immediately pulled from his unit, along with an unknown number of other candidates such as, John-A222, Jun-A266, and , by and  before  in. Josh and the other reassigned Spartans received more advanced equipment, including in order to make their combat ability comparable to that of the SPARTAN-IIs.

Early military career
"You know as well as I do that we wind up with some that would have chosen—not just kids unlucky enough to survive a . Orders are still being followed and those Spartans are in the field, but they are armed as SPARTANs—and they are making a difference."

- LCDR Kurt Ambrose to SCPO Franklin Mendez Josh continued to meet the mark. Each deployment, Josh distinguished himself as a Spartan. His impressive service record began to catch the eye of some of the most seasoned officers in the UNSC. Like his former companion, John-A222, Josh would be recommended for hyper-lethal status. "...highly deserving of hyper-lethal status,"

- Josh's personnel file

Up until, Josh was deployed with other SPARTAN-III lone wolves for a variety of objectives. With the reassignment of selected SPARTAN-IIIs from in 2545, NOVA Team was created as a special operations Spartan team. John-A222 was assigned as its leader with Josh being the second assigned to the unit. Josh's role as a sniper flourished under John's command, and a mutual feeling of respect developed among the teammates. In 2546, when was attacked by the, Nova Team was deployed to aid in its defense. It was at this battle that forces first encountered the. Nova Team managed to acquire significant intelligence regarding the vehicle and subsequently received commendations, Josh, at this time, became a Lieutenant in the UNSC Navy. Unfortunately, the UNSC efforts failed as Sargasso was later.

In the next few years, Josh's team fought in the and the. The Spartans aided in defensive and evacuation efforts on both fronts and Josh received a promotion to Lieutenant Commander sometime thereafter in for admirable service. Later in, he and the remaining Spartans were issued the first generation of the improved , known as , for active duty.

During July of 2552, Nova Team was deployed on a high priority mission to with the objective of material retrieval or destruction in the cities of Caracas and Enfield. It is unknown what objects were recovered, although they were likely some of the various artifacts located on the planet. Concurrently, SPARTAN-IIs were on the surface, with John-117 and engaging Covenant forces at the. With the detonation of a, the SPARTAN-IIs destroyed the museum and the Covenant forces in the area. In early August, Josh-A124 was deployed with Nova Team, along with multiple other Spartan fireteams, to during the  where they engaged in counter-assault operations. One of the other fireteams remained planetside to hold off Covenant assault forces but were eventually overrun and killed.

Fall of Reach

 * Main article:

After the discovery of a Covenant advance force by in late July 2552, many engagements followed, including the. When this battle ended with the uncloaking of a massive, sixty percent of the was recalled to  to aid in its defense. Nova Team was among the reinforcements scheduled to arrive by August 15 on the UNSC Supernova. Upon arrival, the Spartans were immediatiely deployed to where a Covenant assault was underway. Initially, Nova Team was assigned to slow the Covenant advance while evacuation efforts were organized. This task was left to ODSTs when a local ONI facility was attacked by a strike team. Most of the security forces, officials, and researchers present had already been killed before Nova Team arrived. John and his team soon found the remaining personnel being terrorized by a, a , and several spec ops units. The Spartans moved quickly with John-A222 giving orders for a coordinated strike. John managed to stab the Chieftain in the neck while Josh ended the Captain Major with a well-placed sniper bullet. Concurrently, the rest of the team neutralized the remaining hostiles. The team continued special operations in Quezon but was later withdrawn before the city was glassed.

Nova Team also assisted in the evacuation of along with  and  after the Covenant initiated an aggressive raid on the city. Here, Nathan-B136, of Nova Team, was injured by. As the metropolis was later glassed, Josh helped his team escort local civilians and military personnel to a public bunker near the city center, where they would wait for hours. In the aftermath of the glassing, the members of Nova Team lit distress flares to signal any nearby search and rescue forces. As the bunker was evacuated, Josh and the other Spartans were picked up by a Pelican and helped responders sweep the city for survivors. At one point, the dropship pilots spotted the blue smoke of a signal flare rising from the ruins of. Here, Josh and the able members of Nova Team helped evacuate the survivors of Noble Team and other stranded personnel. During the remainder of its deployment to Reach, Nova Team engaged in numerous defensive and counter-assault operations throughout.

In the final days of the Battle of Reach, Nova Team was one of the several that defended the shipyard and pipelines in. The Spartans held off Covenant forces as the remnants of Noble Team transported a high priority package to the dry-docked. At this time, Tyler-B037 of Nova Team was killed by a, and Nathan-B136 perished by fire. As the UNSC defenses weakened, the Nova Team survivors were withdrawn along with some of the remaining UNSC forces. It was shortly after this that and Emile-A239 made their last stand against overwhelming Covenant forces at the shipyard.

Defense of Earth

 * Main article:

The remnants of Josh's team were deployed to in September 2552 where UNSC forces began to fortify for a final stand against the Covenant. The first Covenant force, led by the, arrived at Earth on October 20. Nova Team was divided into pairs in an effort to deploy Spartans on more fronts, Josh-A124 serving with John-A222. Initially, Josh, John, and other UNSC forces engaged in by means of intense urban warfare. The fighting was constant until the, , made a sudden slipspace jump above the city, devastating the ground below. John continued to help resist the Covenant ground forces even as hostile reinforcements arrived. He engaged in defensive and counter-assault operations against the new Jiralhanae-led invasion force. After the loss in, Josh and John were relocated, fighting across a variety of fronts in , Europe, and. From October 25 to November 17, they fought in Athens,, , and Geneva as the 's fleet arrived. During the, Josh persisted with the rest of the UNSC forces on Earth until the fighting relented.

Post-War
After the end of the Human-Covenant War, most Spartans were given the option to either supplement the newly-formed of the UNSC or to be assigned to a non-combat role. However, along with Spartan, Nova Team remained unintegrated from the Spartan Branch, serving in special operations for the UNSC Navy and ONI. Retaining the rank of Commander, John continues to lead his Spartan team on high-priority deployments.

In late 2552, Nova Team was provided with several upgrades and incorporations to their Mark V[B] armor to field test many features for the future. One such test involved the backwards compatibility of GEN1 MJOLNIR components on the experimental GEN2 suite. Ultimately, the results partially yielded the ability to use certain Mark V[B]-based variants with GEN2 systems by. Likewise, alternate hardware field tests were used to provide data that would eventually be used in the development of the enhanced sensory features of the newer GEN2 and the structure of remade Mark V[B] variants, such as and  MJOLNIR.

In March of 2553, Nova Team was assigned to, or "," along with several  fireteams. Deployment objectives were to reconnoiter the surface, quarantine areas of potential Flood contamination, and recover any notable Forerunner artifacts. John-A222 led Nova Team skillfully, being assigned the more hazardous objectives. The four SPARTAN-IIIs of Nova Team continued operations on the ring's surface, conducting reconaissance, providing military support, and retrieving artifacts, until late 2554.

By 2558, Josh-A124 was issued MJOLNIR GEN2 along with all other active Spartans.

Traits and personality
Josh-A124 is known to be a focused and intelligent Spartan, always observant in combat. Like his companion, John-A222, Josh seems to show slight disgust for Jiralhanae.

He is typically stoic, but possesses an often sarcastic sense of humor. His ability to remain calm under fire is remarkable, earning the admiration of John himself. His battlefield prowess is considerable, posing a significant threat to any hostile infantry in the field. Josh has grown accustomed to using stealth to neutralize targets. Regarding his fellow supersoldiers, Josh knows their purpose and takes pride in it. He cares for his squadmates and would quickly risk his only life to keep them covered. Josh was fairly disturbed by the deployment that was Opertaion: PROMETHEUS. While tactics were not necessarily his domain, he understood that the loss of 300 SPARTAN-IIIs was devastating. When Nathan-B136 and Tyler-B037 were lost, Josh masked his regret with silence.

Equipment
Josh's preferred weapons are the /,, and the /, although he has shown proficiency with the majority of. Josh is known to keep an / or an / as a sidearm. He is also capable of using when the combat situation demands it. His MJOLNIR GEN1 armor was often supplemented with MJOLNIR.

Along with the rest of Alpha Company, Josh was issued cheap Semi-Powered Infiltration armor. After his removal from the company, he was granted a set of  armor for testing. This was used in service until 2551 when MJOLNIR Mark V[B] was released into active duty. With his new armor, Josh continued utilized pieces of the new variant, such as his helmet, along with chestpiece.

Josh's MJOLNIR Mark V armor is his most notable armor set, featuring his signature SCOUT helmet with a golden visor. The rest of his armor consists of a chestpiece, spare  on his shoulders, and  knee guards. His armor also features a mounted on the left forearm and a  horizontal on his chest. Josh is known to keep a as part of his utility. Josh's armor boasted a Tan (Light Brown) coloration with Steel (Charcoal) as a secondary color. The image of a flying hawk is displayed on his chestpiece. MJOLNIR Mark V[B] was used by Josh and his team through the end of the war.

In late 2552, the remnants of Nova Team and Blue Team were issued experimental MJOLNIR upgrades, such firmware upgrades, operational updates, and hardware improvements. Such incorporations served as field tests for components and systems that would be incorporated into MJOLNIR GEN2. As of 2558, Nova Team, Blue Team, and most other active Spartans are assumed to have transitioned to the MJOLNIR GEN2 platform. At this point, Josh was issued a full set of MJOLNIR, which was very similar to his GEN1 variants. Josh's GEN2 armor displays a similr color scheme of a Tan (Milk Chocolate) primary color with a Coal (Steel) secondary.

NOVA Team

 * Main article: NOVA Team

NOVA Team was an elite squad of SPARTAN-IIIs that was formed by the UNSC Navy in the year 2545. Given his prior tactical experience, leadership, and combat skills, John-A222 was selected to lead the team. Nova Team was deployed on countless fronts throughout the Human-Covenant War such as Tribute and Reach. The squad consisted of six Spartans, comparable to Noble Team. The original members were John-A222, Josh-A124, Tyler-B037, Adam-B226, Timothy-A130, and Nathan-B136. The team call signs were Nova One, Nova Two, Nova Three, Nova Four, Nova Five, and Nova Six, respectively. Josh-A124 was an especially promising Spartan who specialized in marksmanship. John became close with Josh-A124 during training with Alpha Company which, in addition to his skills, eventually prompted the latter's assignment to the team as sniper. When commandeering an or an, the pair has a reputation of being especially deadly with Josh-A124 driving and John-A222 in the gunner position. Tyler-B037 and Nathan-B136 had known each other previously from training. The fact that both eventually were assigned to the same squad was purely coincidence. When not deployed, Nova Team operated out of the heavy cruiser, UNSC Supernova.

Trivia

 * Josh-A124 actually trained alongside on numerous occasions. Coincidentally, the two would both rise to become notable SPARTAN snipers.
 * The emblem located on Josh's armor bears similarity to the emblem displayed on 's shoulder pauldron. There is no correlation as the Spartans never encountered each other.