Felix-116

{|style="width:100%; font-family:Ebrima" "I still get the nightmares, you know. Every time they, it feels like I'll wake up and the galaxy will be a different place all over again."

- Felix

Lieutenant Commander Felix-116, born Felix Martel, is an operative of the classified, and the first augmentee of the. Following medical complications that arose from ORION's unstable experimental procedures, he was placed into cryonic suspension due to the fatal nature of his illness. He remained in stasis at age 19 until he was awakened in 2525 upon the request of. Offered a fleeting chance at survival, Felix agreed to undergo the risky augmentations as a possible cure to his seemingly untreatable condition. He made a full recovery and was subsequently reassigned to 's covert, as part of the top-secret Spartan  VELOX Unit. Leading a team of SPARTAN-IIs denoted to have been killed during augmentations, Felix has spearheaded over 176 ONI operations throughout the majority of the before the unit vanished on  in 2551.

Early Life (2472—2487)
Born as the eldest of three boys, Felix was raised on his parents' modest-sized farm far from Eridanus II's major cities. The Martels were a hardworking family who never had more than what they had to get by, but it was Abigail Jollenbeck and Caden Martel's yearning that their sons receive the opportunities they never had themselves. The younger brothers, Astor  and  Thomas, respectively wanted to become a space engineer and a scientist, but Felix had his mind set to stay on the farm. Although his parents wished he would do more with his life, they chose to respect his decision; however, Abigail insisted that he attend school given the abundance of learning centres within Eridanus II's rural sprawl. In the meantime, Caden taught Felix how to tend livestock, operate the farm's lone, and fire the hunting rifle used to fend off the local wildlife.

In 2482, the Martel farm was visited by one Lieutenant Colonel  Michael Thornhill, a wealthy  officer who had purchased the nearby estate and bought out many of the farmers in the vicinity. He offered the family a contract with a substantial salary in exchange for entering his employ and allowing him to develop their land. Abigail vehemently declined the offer, something that did not put the Martels on friendly terms with him. At the time, Felix did not understand his mother's dislike for the Colonel but nonetheless heeded her warnings to steer clear of him. He did, however, often observe Michael's teenage son Hector, a newcomer to his school, spending most of his time away from Colonel Thornhill's lavish estate.

By the mid-2480s, tensions were building between the and, and the UNSC's elevated presence on Eridanus II was the cause of much resentment as the possibility of war appeared on the horizon. Felix noticed some of his peers becoming unruly against their -mandated education and even turning their hostility toward Hector outright. As whispers of rebellion began to circulate the colony, its population became one of mistrust and division.

In, Felix's family was amongst several to come under suspicion of evoking insurgency, and Colonel Thornhill, seemingly convinced of the rumours, sent his hired muscle to torch the Martels' farm in the dead of the night. Felix, who attempted to stop the men, was roughed up for his trouble, and witnessed his father getting beaten to death for trying to shield him. Abigail soon found Felix after pulling an injured Astor out of the burning farmhouse, and was about to run back in for Thomas when Hector arrived. Having stolen one of Thornhill's water trucks, the antisocial youth extinguished the flames quickly enough to get the youngest Martel out alive, although he was unable to save the farm or its crops. In the wake of the calamity, Felix had to hold his mother back as she furiously reviled Hector for his father's deed.

With Caden dead and insufficient evidence to prove Thornhill's involvement, Felix's family was in shambles. Their livelihood was gone and the last of their savings were scraped together for Astor's hospital bills. That same year, Abigail was arrested and found guilty of conspiring against the ; Felix initially refused to believe the accusations until she confessed that it was true. His brothers were placed into the state's care, and he was given one option by which he would be allowed to see them again—disavow his mother and her actions, enlist at, and join the UNSC to prove he could be trusted. At a crossroads and filled with uncertainty, the 15-year old accepted the terms.

As the ship was about to leave Eridanus II, Felix was surprised to find Hector on board as well, awaiting deportation from the colony they grew up on. The older boy informed him that he had murdered Colonel Thornhill in an altercation following the arson incident, something which both awed and horrified Felix. In spite of the circumstances that brought them together, the two of them came to a profound realization that day—that the galaxy would be no kinder to them than Eridanus II had been—and an unlikely friendship would arise between them in the coming years.

Studies at OCS and Naval Career (2487—2490)
Although Matthias Gavilán, the CMA's consul on Eridanus II, requested that Felix and Hector be sent to  on , his superiors decided to have them transferred to the  on , given the circumstances of Colonel Thornhill's death as well as the charges placed against Abigail. In addition, both boys were enrolled into Accelerated Education, by which they would graduate in two years instead of the usual four. Despite the excessively advanced curriculum and demanding training regimen, Felix took to his studies with vigour, quickly rising to the top of his highly competitive AE class. His professors would often observe him spending his time outside class with Hector, practicing hand-to-hand combat by day and perusing the academy's libraries late into the night.

Felix became RNOA's youngest graduate in, having completed his education at age 17 with honours. Unbeknownst to him, the had taken note of his stellar academic performance and shortlisted him and Hector for the. With the written permission of the CMA's Head Marshall, Felix was allowed to return to Eridanus II and visit his brothers, both of whom would remain as wards of the state until they became legal adults. He was happy to see Thomas adjusting well to his new life and receiving the finest education funded by the CMA; Astor, however, had become markedly dour in the last two years. The reunion took a drastic downturn when Felix explained that he could not arrange for Abigail's release from prison, and the brothers parted company on less-than-friendly terms. Felix also visited his mother not long after, but their conversation ended with similar mutual disappointment.

Troubled by the state of his family and feeling powerless to change its course, Felix soon left Eridanus II and threw himself into active service. Having been approved to operate under NAVSPECWAR, he received a Lieutenant's commission   and fought to contain the ever-increasing threat of war from the Outer Colonies' growing insurgencies.

Project ORION (2491—2492)
In early, the CMA secretly renewed the long-abandoned , with ONI providing data and resources in support. A week before his birthday, Felix was briefed on and accepted entry into the project along with 64 others. The candidates, listed as volunteers of "phase 1", began training immediately and went through augmentations in April. Following the procedure, Felix was among the few approved for field-testing the project's effectiveness in live combat situations. Although they continued to receive training in the meantime, the selected operatives were placed under the CMA's authority with no official record of their ties to ORION, and worked to suppress dissent by targeting perceived threats to galactic peace.

Throughout 2491, Felix participated in eleven covert operations; on one occasion, he prevented the bombing of a UNSC academy where his brother Thomas was attending. The academy's headmaster, one Commander , was thankful to the ORIONs for their efforts and was later briefed by ONI to keep quiet about what he had witnessed. However, Felix's superiors agreed to recognize his selfless act by awarding him the Silver Star, with the hope of improving public support for colonial oversight in the Outer Colonies. Around this time, Felix developed a romantic attraction toward fellow ORION Jess Morley, who had saved Thomas' life during the terrorist incident at great personal risk.

Late in the year, Felix began exhibiting signs of insomnia and minor loss of memory. Although the program physicians correctly deducted that the symptoms were a side effect of his augmentations, it was not long before he was wracked with depression and loss of coordination, and was promptly removed from active duty. On, he was diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease , a rare degenerative brain disorder that was nearly impossible to treat. Due to the rapidly development of the disease, Jeromi was brought in and attempted to counteract the effects without success. After ten days, Felix's body was deteriorating and he began to experience experience dementia; by the Commander's estimate, he would have two months to live at best. With no other choice available, ONI quietly withdrew Felix from the ORION project and placed him in cryonic stasis, believing their investment could still be of some use in the future. He would remain in their deep storage facilities for nearly three and a half decades, never again to see the life he was leaving behind.

Recovery and Reassignment to VELOX (2525—2530)
"You could make enough of a difference to matter, Felix. My Spartans will undergo augmentations in less than a month, and many of them will not survive. But with your cooperation we could curtail the losses, and every Spartan we can put on the battlefield will save that many more lives."

- Dr. Halsey implores Felix to become the first SPARTAN-II

In, was poring over the notes of the ORION project and came across some records of Felix's participation. Intrigued, she gained access to his file and soon figured out what had become of him. She then contacted Jeromi, now a four-star Admiral, with instructions on an augmentation experiment involving some of his  Bonobo chimpanzees. With ONI's permission, Halsey also had Felix's cryotube discreetly transferred aboard Jeromi's research ship, the, while she oversaw the proceedings in person and filled the Admiral in on as much as she intended him to know; although he was not happy about the arrangement and remained unaware of the fine details regarding the , he agreed to go along with her plan under the guise of a "hypothetical" experiment.

Felix was brought out of cryonic sleep on February 18. He was met by Halsey and Jeromi, who informed him of the circumstances surrounding his "cure"—the series of risky augmentations that had a shot at reversing the effects of his disorder was also part of a test for Halsey's research. Felix was dismayed to hear that he would not be discharged should the experiment be successful, but with some coercing from Halsey, who hinted at the imminent breakout of, he reluctantly agreed to go through with it. The procedure began later that day, and for the second time in his life he endured a series of gruelling augmentations while Halsey patiently awaited the results of her experiments.

After sixteen days of procedure, Felix awakened on March 6. Although his body was still experiencing some residual pain, he was surprised to find himself more clear-headed than he had ever been. He quickly discovered that his physique had surpassed the results from ORION by a wide margin and that his reflexes had become exceptionally fast. Halsey informed him that his illness had been nullified, but also cautioned him that the ORION augmentations lingering in his system could cause medical complications in the future. After completing a thorough evaluation on his results, she departed for Reach.

Needing some time to get used to his restored and enhanced body, Felix spent much of his time on board the Hopeful in solitude. He learned from Jeromi that Astor went on the run after breaking his mother out of prison in and had joined the  with her; conversely, Thomas had become an esteemed UNSC scientist who made significant contributions to its  and  divisions in the last twenty years. Felix's momentary excitement at the news did not last when Jeromi ruefully informed him that he was not to make contact with his brother, as per ONI's orders. Several weeks later, an officer from 's arrived to escort him to his new detail. Learning what had become of ORION and its operatives, Felix quelled his despair at all he had lost and steeled himself to face the enemy lurking on the precipice of humanity's borders.

In December 2525, Felix was promoted to full Lieutenant  and brought aboard the   to meet the SPARTAN-IIs who would make up his new team. Documented as killed during augmentations, ONI had illicitly withdrawn four candidates for their own purposes: Lian-017,  Eldar-128 ,  Nyarai-134 , and  Maddison-140. Felix, who initially thought the SPARTAN-IIs were his age, was shocked to discover that they were all fourteen or fifteen years old. The team's new superior, a two-star admiral  introducing herself as, designated them "VELOX" and told them of their purpose: to strike at  from the shadows while remaining anonymous to the rest of the galaxy.

Despite his initial misgivings about his teammates, Felix was determined to be an attentive and upright leader to them. He found his second-in-command, Nyarai, the most approachable of the lot, and she often acted as a bridge between him and the rest of the Spartans. For the next few years, VELOX would act under Parangosky's instruction, completing their operations efficiently and without fail. As the war gained momentum, Felix would lead them through classified missions against both Covenant and Insurrectionist threats on, , , , and many other colonies. He would rarely see any lasting triumph come of their efforts, as the Covenant was more numerous and technologically advanced than the UNSC was prepared to handle. Still, Felix pushed himself and his team to adapt, and to take any victory they could get no matter how small.

Hunting the Syndicate (2530—2532)
In, Felix received orders from a Beta-5 officer, Captain  Tamar Klausen, to take his team to Eridanus II for an off-the-record operation. Their task was to root out and eliminate the elusive leader of the Syndicate criminal empire,  Tobias Lensky. Uncertain as he was on Klausen's motives, Felix assembled VELOX aboard a privately arranged transport and left without informing Parangosky. They arrived at Eridanus II to find it rampant with disorder and widespread panic, much like the remaining Outer Colonies, and infiltrated the Syndicate's compound without trouble.

Before VELOX could get a shot at their highly protected target, however, the mission was disrupted by the arrival of a Covenant fleet. A code red took effect within the compound, with orders to evacuate all personnel and resources; Felix was able to corner Lensky in the commotion, who quickly deducted that he was one of the rumoured supersoldiers of ONI's creation. The shrewd crime lord disclosed Klausen's illicit dealings with the Syndicate, and coyly invited him to see the escaped UNSC supersoldier in his care. Against his better judgement, Felix's curiosity prompted him to follow Lensky while holding him at gunpoint. They soon encountered a Covenant team, however, and Lensky was able to escape in the ensuing scuffle.

Regardless, Felix pressed on alone. When he finally reached the infirmary, he found it deserted save for a handful of patients; with the compound's power generators failing, the life support systems were offline and most of the abandoned subjects had died or become comatose. Felix was astounded when he came upon the supersoldier Lensky mentioned—an emaciated Jess Morley who was extremely frail even for her aged condition. Barely clinging to life, she told him what she had done followed his incarceration; how she went into hiding after discovering her pregnancy, and that the Syndicate had been keeping her alive once her augmentations began taking their toll on her body. The infirmary was breached by a lone Sangheili just then, and Felix faced the alien one-on-one. After a close physical brawl, the unarmoured Spartan managed to strangle his opponent even with its Energy Sword pressing through his right arm. Dazed and bleeding out, he resolved to stay with Jess though she urged him to call his teammates for help. They were joined at that moment by a Syndicate enforcer named Nadia, who Felix quickly realized was his daughter. He said nothing of this, however, and waited until she brought Jess safely away before broadcasting his location to VELOX.

The Spartans left Eridanus II with all haste and returned to give Parangosky their report; word of the colony's glassing reached ONI several days later. Klausen was detained and quietly erased on the Admiral's orders. She was also displeased with the Spartans for acting without her authority but let them off lightly upon examining the intel they acquired on the Syndicate. Replacements for Felix's lost arm were made via flash cloning, but his body rejected every attempted grafting due to the complicated makeup of his heavily rewritten genome. In the end, he was fitted with a prosthetic and soon returned to active duty.

For all his endeavours to focus on his assigned missions, Felix could not get his mind off what had occurred on Eridanus II. He refrained from telling Parangosky and even his teammates of his brief and unexpected reunion with Jess, but nonetheless the other Spartans began to notice his obsession with the Syndicate. Finally, he approached the Vice Admiral  in  with a plan: to send him after the Syndicate, in order to root out more traitors within ONI while the rest of VELOX carried on as usual to avoid tipping them off. Although Parangosky initially rebuffed the idea, she changed her mind after Colonel   presented her with his proposed. Knowing that Lensky was resourceful enough to eventually catch wind of the recent developments, she green-lit Felix's mission, reminding him that he was to report to only her and only her.

For the next ten months, Felix infiltrated numerous Syndicate facilities across the Outer Colonies and gained access to its data networks via hacking or impersonating members with the clearance to access it. Careful not to draw the attention of those who were on the lookout for moles within the organization, Felix frequently changed aliases after leaving data packets for Parangosky to retrieve, each of them disguised and heavily encrypted with incriminating evidence of officers who were selling ONI secrets. Because of the Syndicate's far-reaching influence in the galactic criminal underworld, he unearthed many of their hidden connections in the process; as Parangosky lengthened her blacklist, Felix continued his personal search.

As he went from colony to colony, Felix could find no trace of Jess or Nadia in any of the Syndicate dwellings he came upon. Even Lensky was nowhere to be found, and the databanks gave away nothing as to his whereabouts. During an incursion on, he caught mention of an ONI project named " BRUTUS " and learned that most of its agents had recently been recalled except for one "Agent 20", who was supposedly on the remote Inner Colony of Iskander. Mystified as to the purpose of the project, Felix's investigation eventually led to the Syndicate's base of operations, hidden from prying eyes. There he was met by none other than his childhood friend Hector Thornhill—now known as David Kahn—who revealed that he was Agent 20.

Kahn divulged that Lensky had become aware of one or more infiltrators in the Syndicate some time ago, and tasked him with luring them out; by putting Felix on the trail for answers about Project BRUTUS, he had done precisely that. When the two former ORIONs came to a standstill with neither willing to back down, Nadia emerged and stood with Kahn. She explained that Jess passed away several months ago, but not before telling her daughter who Felix really was. She added that it was Kahn who had smuggled the pregnant Jess to Iskander in 2492 so that ONI would never find her. Nadia stated her intention to lie to Lensky and say that Kahn had killed the infiltrator, so long as Felix would tell Parangosky a lie of his own. Torn as he was to stray from his duty, Felix realized he could not let ONI find his daughter after everything Jess had gone through to conceal her. He made the deal, telling Nadia she deserved better before walking away.

Personality and Traits
"You're very unusual, you know? Even for a Spartan..."

- Lian-017

"I wasn't always a Spartan. Neither were you."

- Felix-116

Trivia

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