Leon Sikowsky

Spartan Leon Sikowsky (callsign Valiant One) was a UNSC Army trooper who fought in the final days of the. After the war's conclusion, Sikowsky was selected to become a SPARTAN-IV supersoldier, and was transferred to a new branch of the UNSC military known as Spartan Operations. Sikowsky was placed in command of Fireteam Valiant shortly after.

Early Life
From his birth, Leon was strange. He sometimes disliked being held as an infant. As a toddler, he would not play with his toys when others were around, and he preferred to organize his toys rather than to truly play with them as well. In school, he associated little with other children, and performed badly in his academics despite showing exceptional intelligence for his age.

Concerned, Leon's school had him tested for Asperger Syndrome, a form of high-functioning autism, and the results were positive.

After his diagnosis, Leon was placed in a special education program, which gave him access to adaptions in his academics, and also taught him how to better socialize with children his age. Thanks to the help of this program, Leon was able to do well in school and make plenty of friends. However, Leon never managed to have much luck in dating during his adolescence, despite plenty of interest.

After graduating from high school, Leon decided to join the UNSC Army with his good friend Jacob Steinworth, whom was determined to help keep the looming threat from reaching.

After about one uneventful year following the completion of Leon's training, the Covenant finally arrived on Reach. an enormous Covenant invasion force secretly massing in, and Leon and Jacob found themselves being deployed as part of a massive offensive aimed at dismantling the Covenant invasion before it even began.

Early in the battle, Leon's broke off from the main assault force to aid in the destruction of several Covenant  that were preventing the  from providing vital air support. Leon's platoon was deployed at a Covenant-occupied mining facility between the AA guns, and attempted to clear the building to allow ground forces to pass through it. However, the platoon quickly sustained heavy casualties, and were forced to evacuate the premises of the facility via. After dropping off their wounded at base camp, the remainder of Leon's platoon was redeployed to secure the ruins of one of the anti-aircraft guns, which had been destroyed by.

However, after the destroyed  and revealed  in geosynchronous orbit above Ütközet, the UNSC began to hastily withdraw their forces from the region. Leon and Jacob were sent to their hometown of New Alexandria, which, being a major population center, would be a prime target for the Covenant invaders.

Sure enough, New Alexandria fell under attack by four soon after the supercarrier over Ütközet was  and  arrived in orbit. The Corvettes began to deploy throughout the city, who quickly took control of key locations and making civilian evacuation difficult.

A few days into the battle, on August 20, multiple higher-ranking members of Sikowsky's platoon were killed by the Brutes as they attempted to aid in the evacuation of civilians from the. Despite not being the highest ranking member of the platoon who remained alive, Sikowsky ignored the chain of command and took charge of the unit, acting quickly and decisively to prevent further casualties and keep his platoon in the fight.

Jacob grew irritated with Leon's leadership however, feeling that Leon was trying to overshadow him. This tension came to a head shortly after midnight on the morning of August 22, when Steinworth finally confronted Leon over his concerns. Unfortunately, Jacob's situational awareness faltered during the heated argument that followed, resulting in him being fatally shot when he accidentally walked out into the line of sight of a  that the troopers had been attempting not to draw the attention of.

The Jackal's shot alerted a group of Brutes, including a, to the presence of Leon and his unit. Leon and his comrades were able to kill a couple of the Brutes, but ultimately took heavy casualties at the hands of the Chieftain. They attempted to use to bring down a building on top of the Brutes, but the plan backfired and the structure came down on not only the Brutes but Leon and the remainder of his platoon as well.

Leon regained consciousness to find himself trapped beneath rubble. While luckily he was not injured beyond a few minor cuts and bruises, he found himself unable to dig his way out. Leon was forced to wait, either until he died there, or until someone, friend or foe, found him and dug him out.

Hours passed, and Leon was eventually rescued by an enormous figure clad in yellow armor, whom identified himself as SPARTAN-132. Only a handful of his comrades remained alive, but after explaining what had happened, the, while disappointed that Leon chose to have an argument on the battlefield, commended Leon for his quick thinking in his decision to bring down the building, as although the plan backfired, the Chieftain would've likely slaughtered every last one of them otherwise.

Leon and the other surviving members of his platoon would tag along with the Spartans of Sapphire Team for the remainder of the conflict in New Alexandria. But as night fell on August 23, orders were finally given for UNSC forces to begin evacuating from the city, though Sapphire Team was to remain behind for the time being. However, Sikowsky, having already lost his best friend, was not about to give up his home as well, and told his comrades that as long as there was a city left to defend, he would defend it, and that he would not allow the Covenant to take his home from his without a fight. Inspired by Sikowsky's resolve, his fellow platoon mates agreed to stay and keep fighting, and Sapphire Team, also impressed with Sikowsky, agreed to allow the troopers to keep tagging along.

Until August 26, Sapphire Team and Sikowsky's platoon fought defiantly in the burning rubble of New Alexandria, doing whatever they could to cripple the Covenant's efforts to destroy the city. While ultimately the city would fall, Bailey-132 was impressed with Sikowsky's resolve and leadership, remarking that the trooper would make "one helluva Spartan". But yet, as Sikowsky watched his home being burnt to molten slag by the Covenant, he still could not help but feel that he hadn't done enough.

Personality & Traits
"I met some real Spartans back during the war, you know. Man, when I think about them, sometimes I wonder if us IVs are just Spartans in name only."

- Sikowsky, on the differences between the SPARTAN-IIs and the SPARTAN-IVs.

Leon Sikowsky was a dedicated soldier, fighting not for glory, money, or prestige, but to protect others and serve the ideals of the UEG and UNSC. Unlike many SPARTAN-IVs, Sikowsky did not let becoming a Spartan go to his head, and he remained humble and down to earth, and looked down upon those Spartans whose egos swelled from their newfound abilities. Sikowsky tried to model himself after the Spartans of Sapphire Team whom he'd fought alongside during the war, and he encouraged his comrades to behave similarly.

Due to his Aspergers, Sikowsky often struggled with being patient and maintaining his focus. Though this would improve over time, it would remain an area of weakness for him throughout his military career. However, when he did allow himself to stop, think, and analyze a situation, Sikowsky was an excellent tactician. Unlike many autistics, Sikowsky was very skilled at reading both people and situations, something which helped him greatly as a soldier and a leader.

Socially, Sikowsky fared well, appearing mostly normal. However, he did exhibit a few quirks, such as a tendency towards overenthusiasm, and some minor obsessive-compulsive habits. While his friends and teammates became accustomed to these things, and a few, such as Annette Darvinshire, even found these traits endearing, others like found these habits annoying and would lose patience with Sikowsky very quickly.

Trivia

 * After transferring to the UNSC Orphellion, Sikowsky repainted his MJOLNIR armor. This explains the difference between his armor's paint scheme in Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians. This is also when his and the rest of Fireteam Valiant's armor is retrofitted with integrated thruster packs.

List of Appearances

 * Halo: Terra Ignis
 * Just Different
 * Halo: Ad Infinitum
 * Network Updates
 * Halo: Vae Victis (non-canon)
 * Survival of the Fittest (non-canon)
 * Season 5 (non-canon)
 * Season 6 (non-canon)