Nick-113

Nicholas-113, also known by his nickname Spartan Commander, was a renowned Spartan II who fought during the Human-Covenant War, UNSC-Brute War and The Third Battle Of Harvest. He fought in the tail end years of the Human-Covenant war, having been badly wounded in the Battle of Harvest in 2530. By 2549, he had fully recovered and requested to be put on the front lines. He later served in the UNSC-Brute War, as one of the last surviving Spartan IIs. He served as a commander of ground forces and was present at the Battle of the Brute Homeworld. Not only this, but Nick was also present at the Harvest Rebellion in 2567. This was the pinnacle of what he was trained for: A dangerous rebel group that threatened the UNSC. Since he fought for humanity, he had a bit of sympathy towards these men who had been thrown away by the UNSC.

After serving through three wars, Nick retired from the service and settled down on Earth. However, he had himself frozen in a cyro pod in order to expand his lifespan.

He was eventually murdered by S.E.M. while he was still in cryo stassis. He was the first victim of S.E.M. and was buried at the Catherine Halsey Memorial Cemetery.

Early Life
Born Nicholas Benincasa, Nick was born to a wealthy family in one of the largest cities on Arcadia. During his early life, he excelled at sports and academics. This, aloing with his genetic makeup, made him a prime candidate for the Spartan II Program. When he was 5, he was abducted by ONI and forced into the Spartan II Program.

Spartan Life
Like all of the other Spartan IIs, he was taken at a young age and underwent the augmentation procedures. He survived the augmentations, but was left with a large scar on his right cheek. He became close friends with Kurt-051 and was a saddened when he learned that Kurt had gone missing on one of his missions. During Nick's training, he was selected to be trained as a sniper. He was very gifted at it and was assigned as Grey Team's original sniper. He later as appointed as commander of Alpha Squad following the death of Victoria-008.



Human-Covenant War
When the war broke out in 2525, Nick and the other Spartans were put into active deployment. He was present at the Battle of Harvest and the Battle of Arcadia. In 2540, he was caputed by the Covenant and held in the prison station Elegent Harmony. He was rescued by a team led by Jill-001. In 2552, he was recalled to Reach ,along with the other surviving Spartans, to be briefed on the mission to capture a Covenant prophet. When the Covenant attacked Reach, Nick was assigned to protect all civilians evacuating New Alexandria. It is unknown how he was able to escape Reach but he was not present aboard the UNSC Pillar of Autumn when it made a slip-space jump to Installation 04. He returned to Earth and fought against the Covenant and Flood. He was present at the Hillside Memorial.

UNSC-Brute War
When the UNSC-Brute War broke out in 2554, Nick was promoted to commander and was one of the ground commanders during the war. He was present at the Battle of Gorris II and the Battle of Thadus IV, at which he witnessed the death of his old Spartan trainer, Robert Fazio. He was also present at the Battle of the Brute Homeworld. Throughout most of the war, he served as a rifleman instead of a sniper, as he had done during the Human-Covenant War. As one of the commanders during the war, he signed the peace treaty between the UNSC and Brutes on behalf of the UNSC.



Spartan IV Program
As one of the last surviving Spartan IIs, he became a prime candidate to be a trainer in the new Spartan IV Program. He accepted the offer and became head instructor for the project. He trained over 300 candidates, many of whom he thought were better Spartans than he was. After their augmentations, Nick resigned from the program, feeling that he had done everything he could to train them already. Many of his students were sad to see him go because he had been a very kind teacher and they viewed him as an icon. However, a certain few viewed him as a relic from a past age and not fit to train Spartans due to his past record. These students had been very mean towards Nick and often ignored his teachings on being a Spartan. Ironically, these students were the first Spartan IVs to be killed in battle.

The Third Battle Of Harvest
Nick was assigned as the commander of the 14,000 soldiers sent to Harvest to put down the rebellion. The battle, however, resulted in a terrible defeat for Nick and tarnished his reputation. The battle lasted for over 13 years and took a heavy toll on the old Spartan. Under his command, over 2,000 soldiers had lost their lives and over 5,000 were missing in action. The great loss of life in this battle weighed heavily on Nick, which caused him to question the purpose of him being there and why he had been selected as their commander. He also questioned why he had lived, while so many others had died. After the war ended, many blamed Nick since he was the commander of the ground forces. Sometime during the battle, Nick was severely wounded and lost his left arm, removing him from command of his forces temporarily.

Retirement
In 2600, Nick honorably discharged from the service and began living on Earth. However, he was never able to live in peace, often thinking of the many wars that he had fought in and how many lives had been lost under his command. However, during this time, he dedicated what time he could to raising money for a memorial for the men and women who had been killed during the Harvest Rebellions.

Frozen
2 years into his retirement, Nick requested that he be put into cyro stasis in order to expand his lifespan. As a gift for all of his service, he was granted this request. As of 2610, he was still in cryo-stassis and waiting to awoken. At his request, he as to be taken out of cryo-stassis when the UNSC would need him most. He wanted to make amends for his past failures. Some viewed this as him running away, while others viewed it as his way of protecting the UNSC.

Death
In 2615, Nick's cryo-pod was sabotaged by insurgents within the UNSC who wished to get rid of all surviving Spartan IIs. Nick was the first of the surviving Spartan IIs to suffer their wrath. On April 13, 2615, several rogue UNSC officers sabotaged Nick's cryo pod by taking down life support and then launching him into space. He died due to lack of oxygen and suffocated. His body was retrieved and buried in the Catherine Halsey Memorial Cemetery. The organization that murdered him later became known as the "Spartan Extermination Movement".

Decorations

 * Purple Heart (3)
 * Bronze Star (2)
 * Silver Star
 * Medal of Valor
 * Colonial Cross
 * Human-Covenant War Service Medal
 * Human-Covenant War Victory Medal
 * UNSC-Brute War Service Medal
 * UNSC-Brute War Victory Medal
 * Harvest Rebellion Service Medal
 * Good Conduct Medal
 * Spartan II Medal
 * Spartan IV Medal
 * Prisoner Of War Medal



Trivia

 * His nickname is a play on what the Geth VI from the game Mass Effect 3 calls Commander Shepard, the playable character in the Mass Effect series.
 * The picture to the right is Nick in his armor that he wore when he was a trainer in the Spartan IV Program and the Harvest Rebellion.
 * He is the only known Spartan II to have been appointed an overall command position.
 * He is one of the most decorated members of the UNSC and the second-highest decorated Spartan II. John-117 is the most decorated Spartan II and most decorated member of the UNSC.