Colin-142

Senior Chief Petty Officer Colin-142 was a SPARTAN-II commando who served during the. Unlike most SPARTAN-IIs, Colin was not assigned to a specific SPARTAN team, instead carrying out secret missions for ONI by himself or operating alongside various SPARTAN units for various reasons. As such, much of his operational history is classified, and he is also trained to fulfill a wide variety of tasks and roles, and to use a diverse assortment of weapons and ordnance.

Although usually sent on solo missions, he would occasionally be attached to ONI teams or other SPARTAN teams if the situation demanded it. He was not very fond of this, with his personal opinion being that Spartans would be utilized much better if they all acted in a solo capacity.

Colin was very lively for a SPARTAN, and was known for having a good sense of humor about almost everything, using it to lighten the heavy mood of others in combat. However, he also knew when to be serious.

Due to his position in ONI, Colin was informed very early on about the SPARTAN-III Program and of the destruction of Alpha Company during Operation: PROMETHEUS. This led him to take on the mindset that ONI had planned on replacing him and his fellow Spartans with cheap, expendable knockoffs.

This way of thinking caused him to be very rude towards his SPARTAN-III allies, being hostile towards them, off and on the battlefield, but not to a point where it would affect the mission. This would change however, after the New Zaječar conflict, where he witnessed many acts of valiance and bravery by Centurion Team.

Early Life
Colin was born on the colony world of Paris IV to a middle class family. He was a competitive and aggressive child, as well as fiercely independent, and was always getting into trouble. Colin attracted the attention of ONI Section III, and at the age of six he was abducted and replaced with a after it was confirmed that he met the genetic requirements for SPARTAN-II candidacy.

Training
Colin went through the standard training regime that all SPARTAN-IIs went through. He was always at odds with his ONI handlers, due to his stubborn tendencies to retain his independence, and often advocated the other candidates to show who they really were. ONI tried many unethical procedures in an attempt to break him of this.

Eventually they resorted to sending him on training exercises that would sometimes last up to two weeks at a time. They hoped the solitary conditions, with little food and no weapons to hunt, would reinforce the idea of needing to use teamwork to survive, but Colin managed to maintain his independence, although he learned to hide it from ONI personnel. This eventually led him to believe this is what led to his proficiency in solo missions during the Insurrection and the Covenant War.

The other candidates thought nothing more of Colin other than a minor annoyance, due to the fact he was very talkative and social. Many of the other candidates disliked how he always tried to get to know them, disrupting their training and feared he could possibly get them into trouble with the ONI handlers. Colin nonetheless managed to excel in his training, occasionally reaching the top fifteenth percentile.

He eventually managed to "soften up" some of the other candidates, and formed relations with them. The ones he considered himself the closest to were, , , and Doug-103. Colin made it through the augmentations without incident, and unlike most of the other candidates, whose sex drives were reduced, his remained the same. He later sank into depression after seeing the effects of the bone ossification on René, who it was theorized that he had taken a romantic interest in. He later regained his old personality after the Covenant attacked in 2525, realizing there were more things to be depressed about, and that being depressed would probably just get him killed.

Insurrection
During the Insurrection, the majority of the missions he was sent on were solo. He disliked killing other humans, thinking it was a waste of time, resources, and most importantly lives. Colin nonetheless served the UNSC in quelling the rebellions on worlds like, , New Baltimore, and Beta Taurius II. This was all cut short though, when in February, 2525, humanity was attacked by a genocidal group of aliens known as the Covenant. Colin along with the rest of the SPARTANs were taken to to recieve the new MJOLNIR PAA.

Human-Covenant War
"Hm, it's too boring. It needs some life in it. Aqua maybe?"

- Colin after seeing his suit's original color scheme.

With the onset of the war with the Covenant, the UNSC used the SPARTANS effectively on the ground, but when it came to ship-to-ship combat, the Covenant's superior technology and firepower was too strong for the UNSC fleets. Colin's first deployment against the Covenant, immediately after receiving his MJOLNIR armor, was on the colony of New Baltimore.

New Baltimore Campaign
On December 9, 2525, a Covenant scout stumbled upon the colony of New Baltimore, and while the planet's defense fleet quickly overwhelmed the single, unshielded missionary ship, their victory would be short lived, as the scout had transmitted the planet's location before it was destroyed, and the Covenant had prepared a battle group. On December 12, 2525, they sent a battle group of three SDV-class corvettes and a single CCS-class battlecruiser to attack the colony.

As soon as the ships jumped in system, the planet asked for UNSC naval reinforcements, as their tiny defense fleet couldn't hold them off. By the time the UNSC reinforcements arrived, they found the remains of the planet's defensive fleet. Soon after, they began to deploy ODSTs on the planets surface, with Colin assigned to assist. He was deployed to the surface via HEV, along with several of the troopers, with the orders to destroy several AA guns that were preventing the main force from landing.

Almost all the pods made it safely to their designated landing zones, except for two, which were late to drop and were then intercepted by Banshees. As soon as the strike team hit the ground, they were immediately engaged by Covenant forces, causing them to scatter with plans to meet up at the AA guns. When Colin and the ODSTs got to the guns a half-hour later, they were greeted with a Hunter pair, which quickly eliminated several of the ODSTs.

After figuring out very quickly that small arms fire was ineffective against the Hunter's thick armor, Colin lured the Hunter pair underneath one of the AA guns, destroying the exposed core, and crushing the hulking aliens underneath. After dealing with the Hunters, he began planting explosive charges on the AA gun's power supplies, remotely detonating them, leading to the full-scale UNSC counter-attack. He would go on several more low-profile missions for the duration of his time there. After UNSC naval reinforcements arrived, Colin was redeployed to the nearby colony of Altair III, which had also recently fallen under Covenant attack.

Altair III Campaign
Arriving onboard the Phoenix-class vessel, the UNSC Takanis Bay, he was shocked to see the damage inflicted on the UNSC fleet in orbit. Colin, along with the ship's entire contingent of Marines, were deployed to the surface, mainly to help retake the capital, which had fallen to the invaders several days prior. Upon arriving to the surface, he was commandeered by the Office of Naval Intelligence to secure a facility located in the southern hemisphere, containing objects of significant value.

After being redirected to the facility, he found it already under heavy attack. Initial reports suggested that the Covenant were looking for something. The head of the base suspected it was the mysterious objects held inside the facility, and ordered the Spartan to secure them at all cost. Taking a marine squad along with him, the traveled inside the depths of the facility, fighting numerous Covenant patrols. When they reached their objective, they ran into two pairs of the same armored behemoths that he had encountered on New Baltimore, with similar results. The marine squad was completely wiped out by the Hunters, and their silver-armored Elite handler, leaving only the young Spartan to deal with them.

As they were in a one-way corridor, with limited maneuvering room, using the same technique he had on New Baltimore was not an option. Instead, he made a gamble to charge one of the Hunters. Leaping upon the hulking beast, he jammed a primed grenade in it's "head," killing it instantly. He attempted to repeat this on the second Hunter, only to be slammed into a wall by it's armored shield. The creature, now furious at the death of his partner, charged the Spartan with a blind rage. Colin only nearly avoided being trampled to death by sliding between the raging alien's legs, and stopped right by the corpse of the Elite from earlier, killed by the second grenade, which had been tossed away when he was smacked into the wall.

Having dropped his weapons in avoiding the Hunter, he utilized a attached to the Elite's waist. Activating it, he was astounded by the large blue blades, before quickly testing it on the Hunters. He was amazed at the speed and ease it sliced through the Hunter's think armor and soft internals. After dealing with the Hunters, he recovered his weapons and made to the objects and began preparing them for extraction.

After he had turned over the artifacts to an ONI agent, he was placed under the command of UNSC Army General Rasheed Qoli, commanding officer of all UNSC Army forces on Altair III. Qoli planned on using the Spartan as the game-changer he had been described as. At first he was sent to help UNSC Army forces push Covenant infantry away from the capital city, then he was deployed to remove Covenant forces from Army and Air Force installations. Afterwards he assisted UNSC forces in removing enemy forces from nearby towns and villages, as well as helping with civilian evacuations. One particular instance had him defending a small space port with a platoon of UNSC Army personnel against a Covenant infantry column, and although he was successful, it came at the cost of most of the Army platoon.

It was at this point, on January 12, 2526, that the Army prepared to attack the city of Ismaros, which had been heavily fortified by the Covenant weeks before. While the Army began setting up traditional stationary artillery, Colin was ordered to place targeting beacons at several strategic locations around the city, including a building being used as a storage area, a vehicle depot, and a landing pad used to ferry troops and supplies from their ships to the ground. Leading a team of Army Special Forces, Colin strategically captured or destroyed the points, freeing up men and supplies for use elsewhere.

After securing the capital, the situation began to deteriorate elsewhere, with city after city falling. Within two weeks, the Covenant had once again pushed the UNSC forces back to the capital, and soon after began swarming inside the city. As news of this reached Regional Command, General Qoli ordered a general retreat for all UNSC survivors. Qoli's own escort to one of several evacuation sites consisted of Colin-142, a team from the 48th Special Forces Group, and two teams of Military Police. Colin successfully escorted the General to an evacuation craft, but at the cost of all the MPs, and a little more than half of the special forces team. Soon after, Colin was evacuated by a Prowler of the Office of Naval Intelligence.

New Zaječar conflict
In 2543, the industrial gem of the Inner Colonies, New Zaječar, was in danger of falling under attack as Covenant forces had destroyed several nearby colonies in the past three months. In response to this, ONI deployed SPARTAN-III Centurion Team, along with attached SPARTAN-IIs Colin-142 and Doug-103, a long time friend of Colin and another solo operator assigned to ONI. Stationed aboard the Marathon-class heavy cruiser, the UNSC Kasaan Bay, they witnessed the Covenant fleet exit slipspace just outside the planet's orbital defense grid. The ship was quickly boarded, with many marines dying to keep them away from the bridge. Alongside this, the Covenant also began sending forces ground side, forcing the Spartans to leave the ship via Pelican and head to the capital.

Personality & Traits
"Pessimistic, cynical, sarcastic, humorous, kind, respectful. These have been used to describe me. Probably just a little exaggerated, if not just a little contradictin'. I can be a cold, hateful sonofabitch one minute, and be yer best friend the next. If the world's gonna end, I ain't gonna be smiling while it is, but that ain't to say I wouldn't crack a joke or two."

- Colin on how others have described his rather contradicting personality.

Colin was rather talkative for a Spartan, and enjoyed telling jokes or making up humorous comments, even during combat. Described as a rather contradicting blend of pessimism, cynicism, sarcasm, humor, and lightheartedness, he would often be very blunt when predicting the outcome of a battle, but was not above making a off-key comments.

While he enjoyed the company of others in his off time, during missions he wished to be totally secluded from most other forces, viewing others as a distraction, both physically and emotionally, from his objectives. It was because of this that he disliked being assigned to assist other Spartan teams, as he felt he would only form emotional bonds that could interfere with the mission at hand. This did not stop him from forming attachment however, as he was friends with many of his fellow Spartans, as well as regular UNSC servicemen and women.

During his brief actions against Insurrectionist forces right before his involvement in the Human-Covenant War, Colin developed mixed emotions on the conflict, feeling both for the colonists that were fighting for independence, and for the UNSC servicemen and women who were fighting and dying. He saw this as a massive waste of lives and resources. This view was strengthened during the war with the Covenant, with him believing that humanity would only survive if all were united against the alien threat. These feelings did not deter him from carrying out objectives against rebel targets, as he viewed those who took up arms against the UNSC and UEG, instead of peacefully resolving conflicts in government, as nothing but terrorists, doing more harm than good.

Trivia

 * Colin would commonly refer to Spartans, specifically the SPARTAN-IVs, based on the armor variant they wear.