GOLIATH Program

"As Thunder."

- The motto of the GOLIATHs

The GOLIATH Program was the brainchild of then-Brigadier General Gregor Ashfield of the. In order to combat the mounting Insurrection in the colonies the Army launched it's own initiative to create augmented supersoldiers. Begun in 2518, the GOLIATH Program was an attempt by the UNSC Army Special Warfare Command under Special Warfare Group Thirteen to produce its own equivalent to the Navy's successful. Several times the idea was passed around by the Special Warfare Command as the Insurrection gathered momentum. As the original idea was examined it was modified, compounded new ideas, and eventually expanded beyond a simple special forces program. Concepts such as powered armor and biological augmentations were eventually incorporated, unaware of the existence of ONI Section III's Spartan-II Program. But it was not until the Eridanus Insurrection that it was taken into serious consideration. In light of the recent capabilities of the Insurrection, SPECWARCOM wanted an experimental test unit to be ready to partake in the ongoing.

The results were spectacular, but dangerous. The GOLIATHs proved volatile, unstable, and less disciplined. GOLIATH was drawn from consenting -though not entirely aware- adults and the program's developing and admittedly flawed augmentation procedures resulted in side-effects more far reaching then any of their estimates could have predicted. Ultimately this and other factors contributed to the eventual destruction of GOLIATH.

History
GOLIATH was initiated on February 2nd 2514 as the needed faculty and equipment were moved to Fort Jorge on Chi Rho under the oversight of Special Warfare Group Thirteen. Scientists and researchers of numerous fields were called in to work under GOLIATH, including some previously affiliated with the ORION Project. However GOLIATH would have a few hurdles to leap that would plague it's early days as the budget would be tighter than it's overseers had anticipated. Funding that could have gone to GOLIATH was going to other projects instead but the Program's project heads proved resourceful and made due with what they had.

After four years of research the program moved into its assemblage stage. In 2518 recruits were drawn from consenting adults from Army Airborne and other Army special forces units, young soldiers chosen as some of the best soldiers in the UNSCDF Army. Under the cover of a new special army unit, more than three hundred promising recruits signed up for service. Each candidate was already a veteran of another special forces outfit, Airborne or otherwise and therefore had already gone through at least two cases of screening and intense special forces training to make it this far.

However there were many aspects of the program that the recruits were not aware of. The next ten months would be the site of some of the most questionable acts of GOLIATH. Under the direction of GOLIATH's head scientist, Doctor Hugo Slovenko, their food was infused with advanced growth hormones and in their sleep they were given regular dosages of psychoactive drugs. These drugs included an experimental neural pathway altering synthetic mutagen designed to alter key parts in the brain involved in emotional responses and behavior. In the dead of night, recruits were taken in their sleep and had neurosurgery preformed on their prefrontal cortex and Deep Limbic Systems, dulling their sense of empathy and increasing their responsiveness to orders. Of course all this was kept under absolute lock-and-key by the heads of GOLIATH, most of the staff was not aware of what was transpiring.

GAU-144 Machine Gun
The principle personal armament of the Goliaths was the GAU-144 Infantry Suppression Weapon, or simply known as "the Raker". Designed by Weapon Systems Technology, the GAU-144 was a model of machine gun rarely seen outside of the Army Special Forces. The GAU-144 was a powerful automatic weapon designed for infantry suppression, urban warfare, and large-scale combat.

Goliaths commonly equipped their's with or Explosive rounds. The GAU can fire dozens of rounds per second from it's Mark IV/LBE-A Field Case via an ammo feed flex chute

While some may consider it a design flaw, the GAU's bright muzzle flash and loud noise profile were a deliberate choice by its designers to better attract the opponent's attention to the user, keeping them distracted from more discreet flanking maneuvers as well as for the psychological effect.

J460 Automatic Shotgun
The Pandora Armaments' J460 "Jackhammer" Automatic Shotgun.

Augmentations


The primary focus of GOLIATH was the the augmentation and modification of human anatomy to boost the GOLIATH's biology to superhuman levels. GOLIATHs were produced as much more individual products as opposed the SPARTAN "batches"

The program's augmentation procedure, codenamed Project AMBROSIA, ventured the twin usage of experimental breakthroughs in biochemical development and surgical modification of human biological capacity. The augmentative chemicals used in Project AMBROSIA were experimental and even more potent than those that would be used in the SPARTAN-IIs, however they were also unstable. Part of their effect was to dramatically increase the mass and density of muscle and bone tissue but they also super-charged synapse activity in response to adrenal production during combat.

Other parts of the surgery revolved around modifying the body's chemical production, the amount produced and the specific chemicals it produces. In combat the GOLIATH's brain would produce an artificially introduced psychoactive hormone that slowed down the brain's perception of time and allowed superhuman responsiveness. Their adrenal glands were also surgically modified. When activated the glands were over-stimulated and adrenaline production was increased dramatically from that of a normal human, so much so that it would in many cases strain their arterial walls. The second phase of AMBROSIA would be some of the most controversial in medical science and involved the use of an experimental neural pathway altering synthetic mutagen and neurosurgery on the prefrontal cortex and Deep Limbic Systems. The effect was deep-personality modification in which the GOLIATH's brains were surgically tampered to reduce their sense of empathy and increase their responsiveness to orders, resulting in powerful cold-blooded killing machines.

However despite their combat success, time would prove that GOLIATH augmentations were crude and dangerous. The augmentative drugs and procedures involved were experimental in nature and put enormous strain on the body and Dr. Slovenko's neurosurgery resulted in severe psychological damage that would plague the program till its demise. Over the course of their operational life most of the GOLIATHs would go insane as the result of the multitudes of chemical readjustments, neural realignment, and the use of 666-XK13 that they were subjected to. Many of them became unstable and extremely violent before they eventually slipped into a vegetative coma from brain damage.

More GOLIATHs would die from catastrophic organ failure, brain hemorrhaging, or neurological burnout than in actual combat as after-effects of AMBROSIA.

Project Personnel

 * General Gregor Ashfield
 * Doctor Hugo Slovenko

GOLIATH Volunteers

 * First Sergeant Sonja Bátori