SPARTAN-A451

SPARTAN0A451, or Desmond, was a candidate for the SPARTAN-III program, but he never graduated from the program. While he helped train future generations of SPARTAN-IIIs, he never became a full SPARTAN himself.

Early Life
Desmond was born on the world of Biko in 2526. His parents were both in the CA, and he loved them dearly. He had a younger brother, who was born a year after he was, in 2525. Desmond was unusually smart for his age, and excelled in school. He was very social and made lots of friends, always looking out for them. However, his happiness wouldn't last long. In 2530, when he was four, Biko came under Covenant attack. In the rush to evacuate, Desmond was separated from his parents, and he and his younger brother had to board an escape shift without them. Despite the Fleet's intervention, the Covenant glassed the planet only a few minutes after entering the system, and only a dozen ships escaped. Desmond's parents did not survive.

Desmond was taken to an orphanage in the Delta Origami system, where he and his brother lived for a few weeks. Tragically, his brother, in critical condition from injuries sustained from the evacuation of Biko (both mental and physical) had to be evacuated to the Hopeful, the nearest hospital, and Desmond never saw his brother again. A year passed, and Desmond’s life was miserable. A lonely orphan, he was on the verge of despair, when Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez approached him and offered him a way to pay back the Covenant. Desmond, consumed by rage to kill the Covenant, gladly accepted.

SPARTAN-III...almost
Desmond was tested for Mendez in a variety of ways--blood tests, physical tests, written tests--and did very well on the testing. After the testing was complete, Desmond accompanied Mendez as he gathered more and more recruits for the SPARTAN-III program. All the while, Desmond was carefully watching Mendez, to find out more about him. Finally, after months of turoring around space, Mendez brought the collected group, almost two hundred candidates, to Onyx.

When Desmond arrived via a Pelican dropship, he found himself in a group of hundreds of candidates, and was surprised and confused when he was forced back onto the dropships, so he could be trained. Desmond, like many of the candidates, Para dropped into Camp Curahee, but mid descent, he freaked out, and was hurt badly on landing. After the drop, there were 357 candidates for the program, which meant 57 would have to go. So, knowing he would have to compete to become a SPARTAN, Desmond set out to be the best of the best.

He was not, however, the best of the best.

Desmond immediately struggled in training. He worked hard always, but struggled to keep up; indeed, he seemed to always be on the cusp between not graduating and graduating. Finally, after four years of training, all but 305 candidates had been eliminated. Desmond was the 302nd. The training of Alpha Company continued on, without respite, and Desmond continued to struggle to keep up. After six years of training, Alpha Company was augmented and graduated. Desmond did not make the cut. He had as much training as any of the others, but was simply not as skilled as they were. Desmond, and five others, did not graduate, but instead became part of the Camp Curahee staff, and DIs, or Drill Instructors. Soon, Lieutenant Commander Ambrose would make use of them to train the next generations of SPARTAN-IIIs.

Beta Company
After Alpha Company’s success at OPERATION: PROMETHUS, Beta Company was certified to be created. Desmond and the other Alpha Company members who didn't graduate joined the ranks of the DIs, to help train these new SPARTANs. Many of the new SPARTAN-III DIs went out of their way to make the lives of Beta Company trainees miserable, and Desmond was not an exception. After failing to pass, he gained a slight cynicism, and became what the recruits christened "a total ass". Desmond became one of the firing range instructor, leaning on his skill with a rifle and with sharp shooting. He was unorthodox in his methods, thinking outside the box for ideas that the other instructors lacked, but he was very strict and quite mean. During the years of Gamma companies training, he also re-training himself extensivelly, honing his combat abilities. During training, he had failed to pass largely because of a lack of close range fighting ability, explosives skill, and vehicle usage, and he improved upon these areas, though not quite to the level of a full fledged SPARTAN. He was however, close. The years of Beta company came and went, and Desmond did his best to train them in proficient use of arms and aiming. He worked hard for the SPARTAN-III program, putting his heart and soul into it.

After Beta Company graduated, Desmond, under orders from Chief Petty Officer Mendez, was transferred to an active marine battalion unit. More Beta company washouts had joined the ranks of the DIs, and as one of the better qualified ones, ready for combat, he wasn’t being put to good use. After only two years in his marine unit however, he joined the ODSTs, becoming one of the members of the elite Helljumpers. Desmond immediately flourished in this unit, becoming well respected for his skill and combat expertise. He made friends quickly, and within a few months, had assembled an elite group of ODST companions that, in addition to being capable fighters, were also partial to SPARTANs for the most part, unlike most ODSTs.

DI no more…
During the next five years, Desmond and his battalion saw more combat than most UNSC frontline troops experienced in a lifetime. They fought in 173 major and minor ground battles, and sustained tremendous casualties. By the end of their five year tour, their ODST battalion had been almost completely decimated. Only a few troops remained, including the majority of Desmond’s close circle of friends. On December 19th, 2550, the remaining bits of Desmond’s unit were absorbed into another ODST battalion. Desmond’s close circle of friends became his new squadron, and the combined force was given a short tour of combat, lasting only a year and a half.

In mid 2552, Desmond’s unit, after sustaining heavy casualties yet again, was deployed to Reach, where the remaining troops (only a few hundred) participated in testing experimental weaponry and equipment. Desmond’s squad personally tested advanced ODST body armor with integrated photo reactive panels, and Desmond had to carefully mask his experience with the system to shade his past. During testing, he came within close proximity to Dr. Catherine Halsey, and even once struck up a brief conversation with her. On August 28th, 2552, Desmond’s battalion, now augmented by new recruits and rechristened as the 145th ODST Battalion, departed Reach and headed to Earth to prepare for another full tour of combat. At this point, Desmond’s unit had participated in almost 200 individual battles, and only three of the original battalion remained, Desmond and two of his closest friends.

Only scant days after they left, Reach fell to the Covenant, and by the time they arrived at Earth, preparations for it’s defense had begun. Desmond’s battalion was posted on the Hawaiian island of Maui, in the area atop the volcano Haleakala. A space elevator was located there, which connected to the orbital station Milennial Rein, which was surrouned by a MAC cluster, the guns Oahu, Hawai’Ii and Molokai. The batallion was unattacked during the first battle of earth, having no combat on or near their island. During the second battle of Earth however, on October 23rd, the Covenant assaulted the island, which housed two of the three fusion generators powering the three above orbital guns.

The initial battle went poorly. The covenant landed all along the Kihei, Makena, and Wailea areas, landing significant forces along beachheads in the Makena area, particularlly the beach known as big beach. Fighting then spread inward, as Covenant pushed forward. One of the fusion generators, placed relatively close to the coastline, fell almost immediately. However, while the Covenant took control of the lowlands, the 145th were able to retreat onto Haleakala, and defend the high ground. The generator was protected for eight days, but on day nine, supplies began to dwindle, and the Covenant pushed forward. However, the generator and marines were saved when a UNSC cruiser moved to low orbit and used the space elevator to transfer marines and equipment rapidly to the ground. With such rapid reinforcement, the 145th was able to push the Covenant off of the island completely.

Then, with Maui secured, the marines of the 145th were transported by dropship to the main island, Hawai’i. The marines stayed behind to keep the generator secure. The 145th landed on the island, and began a campaign, moving inward at a steady pace. The remaining defenders, trapped at the top, held their ground, and the 145th, using rapid infantry and motorized units, pushed the Covenant inbetween them. Then, the two groups attack from both sides. Only and estimated 300 covenant troops escaped, such was the ferocity and effectiveness of the attack.

By this time, the majority of the fighting was over, and the master chief had already ventured through the portal to the Ark. A few Covenant raids were attempted, but these were all stopped cold, many being stopped before the Covenant could even unload all of it’s forces. In one particular skirmish, UNSC troops ambushed Covenant infantry who were offloading from seaborne transports. The covenant never got armor onto the beach (big beach, a 2/3rds of a mile strip of golden sand), and one ODST remarked it was like a modern battle of marathon. As a result, the 145th earned the nickname of Marathon Battalion, which stuck.

Aftermath
After the win was cemented, the 145th was redeployed. The 145th partook in the inner colony liberations (including the liberation of the remains of Reach) and finally the battle of Dosiac. During the battle, the 145th was launched from orbit along with another ODST battalion in order to spearhead the invasion. Their forces were augmented by 3 battalions of elites dropped in the covenant drop pods. During the battle, Desmond’s group landed and fought their way to key points, destroying Covenant assets, then securing landing areas for the rest of the invasion force.

After the battle, the 145th was rotated around space, beating back small rebel groups and helping with OPERATIN: Rejuvenation. During this time, Desmond gained ranks, being promoted eventually to Sergeant Major. In addition, Desmond hardly aged; he spent extended periods in cryo, shaving years off of him. Desmond served with distinction, and finally retired, with honors, in 2578. However, he would not forsake combat entirely.

Police Work
While Desmond no longer wished to be a part of the military, he joined the next best thing: the CA police corps STPMF, or Special Tactics Para Military Force, the 26th century equivalent of SWAT. Desmond began attempting to lead a somewhat normal life, living on the fringe of UNSC space, helping keep the innocent safe. For almost forty years, he served on the police force, though he never advanced into higher ranks; at his own wishes, he stayed in active combat.

During this time, Desmond worked extensively with other police officers, many of whom were also retired great war vets. He started several war vet clubs, and even eventually married, having spent considerable time by now living a normal life.

Personality
Desmond is jokative and kind when not in combat, but when under pressure he gains and icy disposition. Desmond can be relentless in combat, and can also be almost completely without mercy, but again, when he leaves the battlefield, he transforms into an almost completely different person.

Preferred Equipment and Favored Fighting Style
Desmond is a crack shot with a rifle, and prefers range to up close and personal, which means he favors battle rifles and sniper weaponry. This was actually one of the things that kept him out of the SPARTAN-III graduation—his lack of close quarters ability. Desmond has improved his CQB with intensive training, and is moderately comfortable in it, preferring SMGs to shotguns in tight spaces, due to their potential as a possible mid-ranged weapon. Desmond enjoys using tactical equipment such as fiber optic probes, radar and motion tracking HUD additions, and shielding to gain a drop on foes, though the latter was only available to him later in life.