SPARTAN-II Class II Program

The SPARTAN-II Class II was part of the SPARTAN-II Program, an effort to produce elite soldiers through mechanical and biological augmentation. It was proposed by Dr. Elizabeth Halsey in August 3rd, 2527 after the initial successes of the Class-Is. The Class II Program was initiated in 2537 when it received approval from ONI Section II.

Formation
The SPARTAN-II Class II was originally proposed in 2527 by Dr. Elizabeth Halsey after the graduation of the SPARTAN-IIs with CPO Mendez planned to train them. However, the program was put on hold by the UNSC's Brass, as they wished to "evaluate" the effectiveness of the first class of SPARTAN-II, and the next class was postponed for an indefinite amount of time.

The SPARTAN-II Class II program experienced its revival in late October 2536 where esteemed colleagues of Halsey's (One of leading colleagues was Dr. Emily Ford) combined their energy and exchanged knowledge of the original SPARTAN-II program. Selected to train the Class IIs was Sergeant Major Nolan Byrne, a former NAVSPECWAR operator.

Recruitment
The project was led by Dr Catherine Halsey of ONI's Section 3 and Chief Petty Officer Mendez of the UNSC armed forces. Candidates for the program were selected from children deemed to possess superior physical and mental attributes. By 2517, 150 suitable candidates had been identified, but for budgetary reasons only half that number were "conscripted"; most candidates were between five and seven years old. To preserve the program's secrecy, the children were replaced by flash clones which would die soon thereafter due to numerous medical complications associated with flash-cloning an entire human being.

Unlike the Class Is, the biological and physical restrictions had been opened slightly where candidates for the program would only be selected if deemed to possess superior physical, biological and mental attributes. By mid-2537, over 300 candidates were identified. Due to the budget limit, only a small fraction of the candidate pool would be selected after intensive researches and experimentation. Similar to the Class Is, to preserve the program's secrecy, the children were replaced by flash clones which would die soon thereafter due to numerous medical complications associated with flash-cloning an entire human being.

Biological Augmentations

 * 1) Carbide ceramic ossification: Advanced material: special metal and ceramic layers, grafting onto skeletal structure to make bones virtually unbreakable. Recommended coverage not to exceed 3 percent total bone mass because of significant white blood cell necrosis. Specific risk for pre- and near-post pubescent adolescents: skeletal growth spurts may cause irreparable bone pulverization.
 * 2) Muscular enhancement injections: Protein complex is injected intramuscular, to increase tissue density and decrease lactate recovery time. Risk: 5 percent of test subjects experience a fatal cardiac volume increase.
 * 3) Catalytic thyroid implant: Platinum pellet containing human growth hormone catalyst is implanted in the thyroid to boost growth of skeletal and muscle tissues. Risk: rare instances of elephantiasis. Suppressed sexual drive.
 * 4) Occipital capillary reversal: Submergence and boosted blood vessel flow beneath the rods and cones of subject’s retina. Produces a marked visual perception increase. Risk: retinal rejection and detachment. Permanent blindness.
 * 5) Superconducting fabrication of neural dendrites: Alteration of bio-electrical nerve transduction to shielded electronic transduction. Three hundred percent increase in subject’s reflexes. Anecdotal evidence of marked increase in intelligence, memory, and creativity. Risk: significant instances of Parkinson’s disease and Fletcher’s syndrome.

Known SPARTAN-II Class IIs
Beginning of SPARTAN-II Class II, there were originally 300 potential candidates, however, there was only funding for roughly a quarter of that, so the Spartan candidates were further scrutinized, producing 56 "test subjects". After the augmentation process in 2545, only 28 SPARTAN-II Class-IIs remained.