John-A222

"Spartans don't fight to survive. They survive to fight."

- John-A222

John-A222 is a of the. He served extensively throughout the, becoming a decorated veteran and an advanced tactician. John specializes in mid-range and leadership. In addition, he is proficient in close-quarters combat and reconnaissance. John is the leader of NOVA Team, an elite squad of that was deployed numerous times since its creation in. John's call sign in the team is Nova One. He serves directly with the UNSC Navy but with unspecified collaboration with the.

Childhood and SPARTAN-III training
"There were only a handful of my Threes that I felt could even come close to the incredible standards of their predecessors...                and A222 was one of them."

- referring to John John was born in on the human colony of  to a family of Greek descent. As a child, John was thin with dark brown hair and eyes. From early on, he displayed a superior intelligence to that of his peers which benefited him greatly in his later career as a soldier. John was conscripted into the SPARTAN-III Program in as part of the program's. He trained along with the other Spartans of Alpha Company at on  under  and. In training, John exhibited advanced reflexes and natural leadership ability, proving himself to be one of the top candidates. He was recognized as one of the emerging leaders of Alpha Company by his instructors. John successfully underwent all of the augmentations and emerged a supersoldier.

"John is advanced, even among his peers. He's a and I don't want to see that wasted."

- to SCPO Franklin Mendez Recognizing his exceptional skill, Kurt Ambrose and Franklin Mendez deemed John too valuable to be wasted on suicide missions. While Alpha Company was declared active in, an unknown number of Spartans, including John-A222, , , Josh-A124, and were extracted from the company. John and the other reassigned Spartans received more advanced equipment, including in order to make their combat ability comparable to that of the SPARTAN-IIs. John was assigned to lead a special fireteam composed of Spartans similarly extracted from Alpha Company and was given the rank of.

The Spartans still part of Alpha Company would go on to perish during in.

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 Deployment after deployment, John continued to prove his worth as a Spartan. His impressive service record began to gain the attention of some of the most senior officials involved in the Spartan programs. "...highly deserving of hyper-lethal status,"

- John's personnel file

His fireteam was deployed several times from to  for unknown reasons, but John received a promotion to  during this period. These and several later deployments are suspected to involve ONI and are listed as classified on John's official service record. With the extraction of selected SPARTAN-IIIs from in 2545, NOVA Team was created as a special operations Spartan team. John was assigned as its leader and quickly took pride in the team, stating that it was an effective unit. His battlefield actions and strategic command quickly earned him the respect of his squadmates. In 2546, when

was attacked by the, John-A222 and his team were 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, John being given the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the UNSC Navy. Unfortunately, the UNSC efforts failed as Sargasso was later.

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

In July of, the Covenant finally arrived in the , attacking the colonies of and. John-A222 and his team were first deployed on Tribute, where they aided in the defense of. In one of the final engagements of the city, multiple SPARTAN-III fireteams engaged the Covenant assault force in the capital. One SPARTAN-III team stayed behind, holding off Covenant forces so a group of remaining civilians could escape the colony. Although successful, these Spartans would ultimately be killed. The larger would last for several months, ending with the  in November.

Fall of Reach

 * Main article:

After the discovery of a Covenant advance force by on Reach, many engagements soon followed, such as the. When this battle ended with the uncloaking of a massive, sixty percent of the was recalled to  to aid in its defense. Having been withdrawn from Tribute, Nova Team was among the reinforcements scheduled to arrive by August 15. Upon arrival, the Spartans were immediately 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 the pack of the Brutes. The situation was resolved as John stabbed the pack Chieftain in the neck, and the team's primary sniper, Josh-A124, ended a Captain Major with a well-placed 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 then 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, John and his men escorted 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, John's team was 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, John 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, John's 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 John's team were deployed to in September of 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. Initially, Nova Team and other UNSC forces engaged in by means of intense urban warfare. John and his team engaged in defensive and counter-assault operations against the new Jiralhanae-led invasion force. The fighting was constant until the, , made a sudden slipspace jump above the city, devastating the ground below. In the aftermath, John was informed that UNSC contact had been lost with a team of ODSTs on a classified deployment. Nova Team was ordered to locate the team and recover their objective, a Forerunner artifact known as the. Arriving at the team's last known location, Nova Team found the ODSTs dead and the artifact missing. The Spartans reported their findings. With scant information regarding the artifact's whereabouts, the UNSC presumed the Conduit destroyed. The Spartans continued to help resist the Covenant ground forces even as hostile reinforcements arrived. After the loss in, Nova Team was divided into pairs in an effort to deploy Spartans on more fronts, John-A222 serving with Josh-A124. The pair was 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, John and Nova Team 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 continued 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 the GEN2 platform. Field tests carried out by John-A222 would specifically aid in the development of the hybridized RECON [GEN1] helmet, which he would later wear. 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 reconnaissance, providing military support, and retrieving artifacts, until late 2554.

As postwar conflicts with remaining heightened, Nova Team received increasing deployments against Covenant forces. John and the rest of his team found themselves pitted against several rogue groups, including the forces of. Once humanity encountered mechanical in 2557, Nova Team would soon see combat against the Forerunner constructs as well.

By 2558, John-A222 was issued MJOLNIR GEN2 along with all other active Spartans. He and his fellow SPARTAN-IIIs saw routine deployments on various planets, including former Outer Colonies. Objectives during the first half of 2558 included eliminating pockets of Covenant control, countering Promethean assaults, and eliminating high-value targets. As efforts to recolonize former human worlds expanded, Nova Team also saw deployments defending important settlements against aggressive Promethean raids.

Emergence of the Guardians
In October of 2558, John's team was tasked with eliminating Rysa 'Vestam, the leader of a growing Covenant faction, in a covert raid on. However, this operation would be aborted when devastating anomalies were reported on five human colonies in the following days. Nova Team was immediately deployed to investigate two such catastrophes, first on and then. After Blue Team was declared AWOL a few days later, Nova Team was considered for reassignment to track the missing Spartans. would instead be issued the objective, leaving Nova Team to continue operations on Ursa IV.

Once a emerged on, the constructs would be more widely known as the source of the anomalies. The UNSC came to recognize the true threat of the as a Guardian stationed itself over Earth and other human worlds. Scrambling to avoid the attacks, UNSC forces were left scattered, with racing away from Earth. Blue Team and Fireteam Osiris would arrive on while Nova Team would remain on Ursa IV.

Traits and personality
John is known to be a serious and intelligent Spartan, always thinking tactically on the battlefield. As with most Spartans, he holds a firm sense of duty and responsibility. He is known to remain calm under fire and completes his tasks efficiently. John's battlefield prowess is considerable, significantly outweighing some Spartans. Although he tends to engage in mid-range combat, he has exhibited an advanced proficiency with a combat knife, often using stealth or reflexes to neutralize targets.

John-A222 holds great respect for his predecessors, the SPARTAN-IIs, having studied their tactics in training and serving alongside them. Regarding the other members of Nova Team, the Spartans have forged a bond similar to that exhibited by other close fireteams. In many ways, John views the other members of Nova Team as brothers. Although rarely exhibited, he is known to have a rather dry sense of humor.

Given his heritage, John seems to be fluent in the Greek language. It is believed that his ancestors lived in the country of Greece on Earth. For this reason, the insignia of a Greek helmet is displayed on John's armor.

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

Along with the rest of Alpha Company, John was issued cheap Mark I Semi-Powered Infiltration armor. After his removal from the company, John was granted a base set of advanced hardware armor. This was used in service until 2551 when MJOLNIR Mark V[B] was released into active duty. With his new armor, John was granted use of the prototype variant, as seen with his helmet and shoulder pauldrons. However, he also used several additions. He admired several pieces of the recently-developed technology.

John's MJOLNIR Mark V[B] armor set is his most recognizable armor set and would go on to influence his later appearance as an armored Spartan. His RECON helmet was known to feature a Blast Shield, a golden visor (B5D-R/Optics Suite) and a 3rd Generation External Hardened Uplink (HUL) for MILINT acquisition. The rest of his armor consists of a chestpiece, RECON shoulder pauldrons, and  knee guards. His armor also features a on the left forearm and a  near the left shoulder. John is known to keep a as part of his utility. John's armor boasted a Sage coloration with Steel as a secondary color. The image of a Greek Spartan helmet is displayed on his chestpiece. MJOLNIR Mark V[B] was used by John 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, including firmware upgrades, operational updates, and hardware improvements. These additions served as field tests for components and systems that would later be incorporated into MJOLNIR GEN2 armor. As of 2558, Nova Team, Blue Team, and most other active Spartans are assumed to have transitioned to the MJOLNIR GEN2 platform. As a result, John was issued MJOLNIR. However, rather than the variant standard helmet, he was issued a hybridized RECON [GEN1] helmet featuring the  system, heavily resembling his Mark V[B] armor. John's GEN2 armor also displays his traditional color scheme of a Sage primary color with a 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. After the end of the Human-Covenant War, the four remaining Spartans would continue special operations for the UNSC Navy under revised callsigns. 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.

Trivia

 * John is currently one of the only Spartans to actually be of Greek descent.
 * John was unique among the SPARTAN-IIIs, having the genetic specifications sought in SPARTAN-II candidates.
 * John-A222 actually trained alongside on numerous occasions. Coincidentally, the two would both rise to become notable UNSC Naval Commanders.
 * John's Spartan tag is a possible because given that "A" is the first letter of the alphabet, it can take an assumed value of "1". Therefore, 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 7.
 * The emblem located on John's armor bears similarity to the emblem displayed on 's shoulder pauldron. Given the reasoning for selecting this emblem, there is no correlation.
 * John would later be issued the MJOLNIR GEN2 helmet that his field testing in 2552 would help produce.