Sam-015

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Samantha "Sam"-015 (born Samantha Emily Arendt; July 7, 2511) is one of the last surviving supersoldiers. She was the only SPARTAN of who did not  during the. This allowed her to participate in the, although she could not participate in the because she escaped to the surface of  from the crippled Kano Station and became stranded on Mauritania. forces were able to find her days after the end of the and she subsequently returned to service.

Early Childhood
Samantha Emily "Sam" Arendt was born on July 7th, 2511 at,. When Sam was five or six years old, she was identified as one of the one hundred fifty candidates for the, being physically and mentally superior to almost all children her age. She was abducted and conscripted into the program by, with her official name changed to Samantha-015. Like the rest of the Class-I SPARTAN-IIs, Sam was taken to and trained by   and. Sam-015 was placed into, where she met , Rick-077, and Dom-094. As an optimistic and sociable person, Sam immediately got along with her new teammates, and with the extended time she spent with them, she began to value them as extremely close friends.

As with all of the SPARTAN-II children, Sam-015 underwent the excruciatingly painful. When Sam saw that Dom was losing the will to get through the enhancements, she promised him that they would endure and survive the process together. After Sam recovered, she was grateful that Kurt, Dom, and rick were among those who made it, as several of the SPARTAN-II trainees died horrifically, with their bodies unable to take the rapid changes.

Battle of Liber
In the month of February, 2535, ten years into the, the targeted the colonies of  and Liber. While the majority of the Spartans were sent to Jericho VII, a few were needed at Liber. These few were Dom-094, Rick-077, Sam-015, and also Annie-003 from, and were designated the Platinum Team. Upon the Spartans' arrival at the colony, Darryl Coatney informed them of the situation of the attack. Although the had a slight upper hand on the surface, the space battle did not seem winnable; there was nothing in Liber's orbital defenses that could take out the opposing, the Divine Eradication. Having reviewed what had occurred in the, Coatney urged the Spartans to board the Divine Retribution just as had boarded the. Instead of bringing mere, however, the Spartans would bring a , as the assault carrier was at a safe distance from the UNSC vessels.

Similar to the events of Chi Ceti, Platinum Team traveled to the Divine Eradication by with many of the UNSC Future Untold and several other UNSC vessels drawing the Covenant's attention. While the Spartans were in the Pelican, Annie-003 told Sam-015 to bring an, as she believed they would need all the firepower they could get. Several of the UNSC vessels then fired their at the assault carrier, enough to create an opening in the Covenant carrier's narrow section for the Spartans to board. Platinum Team subsequently left their Pelican and used their to propel themselves into the Divine Eradication.

The members of Platinum Team initially faced and  and were able to take them out with little difficulty. When the Spartans began facing, Annie-003 ordered Sam-015 to make liberal use of her rocket launcher against  enemies. Tougher infantry needed to be eliminated quickly as the Spartans could not afford the possibility of getting shot. Once the Spartans had fought their way deep enough into the Divine Eradication, they armed the nuke, putting it on a timer. However, they prepared for remote detonation should the timer malfunction. With the bomb in place, the Spartans proceeded to fight their way out of the Covenant ship. Commander Bella Caseiro contacted the Spartans, informing them that she was waiting for them outside aboard the UNSC Muted Whisper. Minutes after the Muted Whisper had safely recovered the Spartans, the HAVOK detonated, severing the Divine Eradication at its "neck" and also destroying nearby Covenant.

With the greatest naval threat gone, the Liber fleet proceeded to turn the tide of the naval battle. The Spartans were then deployed on the surface to help the UNSC ground forces finish off the Covenant infantry and also search for survivors. In orbit, the surviving UNSC ships were able to force the last two battlecruisers into retreat, ending the battle in favor of the humans. The synergy between the Spartans played a major role in their success at Liber, prompting the establishment of Platinum Team as a permanent Spartan unit under the leadership of Annie-003.

Battle of Miridem
Platinum Team was sent to in order to help evacuate its civilians. There, Dom-094 discovered three children who were orphaned by and hiding from Covenant forces. Dom-094 took the children to the rest of the Platinum Team, and the SPARTANs escorted them to the nearest transport, successfully keeping the children from enemy fire.

Battle of Flora
Sam-015 and the other Platinum Team members were called to the colony of Flora to defend it from a Covenant invasion. As the first SPARTAN to arrive, Sam-015 was immediately sent to the surface, where she helped fight off Covenant infantry from major cities. After successfully saving a few cities from immediate destruction, she was then sent to the Zion ship breaking yards to prevent the Covenant from capturing a. Alongside a large platoon of, the SPARTAN held off waves of. As the ship breaking yards conveniently possessed a room full of, Sam-015 was able to make full use of her. Despite the SPARTAN having singlehandedly taken down many elites, the sheer number of enemies enabled the Covenant to remove the core from its case. As Sam-015 pursued the elite with the core, three more blocked her path. Although she killed the three elites near-simultaneously, she was no longer close enough to the escaping elite to stop the core. Kyle Bean piloted an abandoned, and fired two at the elite with the core; the first shot missed, but the second stopped the core from being delivered. Unfortunately, Bean died in his efforts, having been too close to his target when he fired the killing shot. Detecting UNSC reinforcements, the that waited to extract the core fled. Sam-015 and the surviving ODSTs then finished off the remaining elites, securing the core.

The rest of the Platinum Team, as well as Ryan-A022 arrived at the system several days later. Rick-077 and Dom-094 landed on Flora to assist Sam, while Annie-003 and Ryan-A022 were sent to the other side of the colony. During the battle, had intercepted a Covenant transmission regarding an artifact called the Contumacy. A map on the location of the artifact was hidden within an underground structure on Flora. Sam-015, Rick-077, and Dom-094 were sent to the structure and fought through special operations elites. Although the SPARTANs could not reach the map before the Covenant forces did, ONI managed to track the map to the Unwavering Conviction, which by chance, was hovering a few hundred meters over Covenant-occupied land to refit. A Pelican deployed the three SPARTANs and a squad just outside the Covenant territory. The SPARTANs boarded the battlecruiser by using its, and immediately faced an attack on all sides. Through teamwork, they cleared the room and moved on, although the majority of the ODSTs were killed in the attack.

Just as the Unwavering Conviction left Flora's atmosphere, it was ambushed by the UNSC Alexandra and a few other. This enabled Annie-003 and Ryan-A022, who had left Flora's surface, to board the battlecruiser with a. The SPARTANs of both sides joined forces aboard the ship, and then killed the shipmaster and took the map. On their way out of the Unwavering Conviction, however, the SPARTANs discovered that their Longsword was destroyed by the Covenant. Fortunately, a Pelican was able to pick up the SPARTANs at the nearest hangar bay, allowing them to make their escape.

Operation: SQUALL
The Contumacy was hidden within a complex cavern on Ogygia. The Covenant ground forces were personally by Dar 'Akamee. The Fleet Master and his got to the artifact first, but the Platinum Team immediately caught up right after. At the end of a brief struggle, all of the zealots lay dead, thanks to the SPARTANs' better teamwork. Dom-094 carried the forerunner device while the SPARTANs were pursued by more Covenant forces. In the middle of the chaos, Dom-094 was separated from the team by a explosion. Due to the overwhelming number of Covenant forces in orbit, the rest of the Platinum Team was forced to leave their comrade behind, devastating Sam-015.

Fall of Reach
"Reach: I called this place home once, long before the Covenant glassed the surface below. It was my first and last battle there."

- Sam-015, to herself as she watches the of

On August 30th, 2552, most of the remaining were deployed to the surface of  by the Pelican,, from the. When Bravo 001 was crippled, the SPARTANs were forced to make high-altitude jumps. Four of the SPARTANs did not survive the landing. Upon regrouping, divided the SPARTANs into four splinter groups:, , , and ; Annie-003, Rick-077, and Sam-015 were in the Beta splinter team. Team Beta was assigned to defend. Annie-003, as the appointed leader of Team Beta, ordered the SPARTANs to engage the oncoming thirty-two and 260 infantry in close quarters. Although the SPARTANs broke the assault wave, another two Covenant armored divisions along with three reinforced the first wave. All SPARTANs but Sam-015 and were eventually killed or severally wounded.

The was ordered by  to bombard the area, but the Pelican  arrived in time to extract the survivors; Rick-077's unconscious body was nearby at the time of the Iron Fist's arrival, allowing Sam-015 and Naomi-010 to help him onto the pelican, moments before the Majestic fired its  rounds onto the battlefield. The Iron Fist then took the SPARTANs to a Paris-class frigate, and Sam-015 froze Rick-077 in a. Unfortunately, the frigate was intercepted by Covenant ships before it could slipspace-jump out of Reach's orbit. Sam-015 and Naomi-010 led survivors of the frigate's crew to the ship's and escaped the dying vessel. A located the lifeboat, retrieving its crew, and then escaped what was left of Reach. The Fall of Reach took a toll on Sam emotionally, as she believed herself to be the only surviving member of the Platinum Team.

Battle of Earth
Sam-015 arrived on after the Fall of Reach. There, she received a prototype of MJOLNIR armor upon upgrading to the  platform. When the began, Sam-015 of was aboard Kano Station, an. Along with the SPARTAN-III Team Dao, Sam-015 defended the station from boarding Covenant infantry. While treating a wounded marine, Seung-ah-G218 was shot thrice in the right side of her back by a. Although she did not flinch from her wounds due to the effects of the drug, Henry-G066 ordered Jim-G067 to escort her to the ship's, knowing that she had little time. When it was clear that Kano Station would not survive, Sam-015, Henry-G066, Jim-G067, and Fred-G068 escorted surviving crew members to the station’s lifeboats, mirroring the SPARTAN-II’s experience at the end of the Fall of Reach. The SPARTANs’ lifeboat landed on Mauritania, Africa, and its occupants were stranded. After the end of the war, the UNSC was able to locate and recover the SPARTANs and the other soldiers.

Personality and Description
Much like, Sam is unusually sociable for a SPARTAN, often finding whatever opportunities she can to make friends. When Sam was assigned to the Platinum Team, she bonded very well to her teammates and formed a particularly strong relationship with Dom-094. Although many believe the relationship to be romantic, both Sam and Dom deny any romantic love they may have for each other. Because Sam's teammates were so close to her, their apparent deaths (one of which was confirmed) towards the end of the took a toll on her emotionally, prompting her to face all future  forces with utter ruthlessness. Sam's state of negative emotion, however, was lifted with the recovery of Dom-094 as well as Rick-077, restoring her to her former friendly self.

As a SPARTAN-II, Sam-015 is no doubt a very skilled soldier. In particular, she is more skilled at using grenades and weapons that possess slower-moving projectiles than her peers. As a result, she is most often tasked with supporting her allies by taking out enemy vehicles or heavier infantry such as higher-ranking, higher-ranking , and.

Equipment
Throughout her career, Sam-015 has worn multiple variants of. Sam-015 first wore the standard from the year 2525 until 2535. From 2535 through 2551, she replaced her standard helmet with that of the variant of MJONIR Mk IV armor. When the was released nearing the end of 2551, Sam-015 customized her armor to have a  helmet,, ,  on both legs, and. When was issued the following year, Sam-015 was given its. Following the end of the, Sam-015 began wearing (MJOLNIR GEN2). Her MJOLNIR GEN2 armor consists of a helmet,  torso armor with the SURGE pattern,  shoulder pauldrons with the DRIFT pattern,  forearm armor with the SHARD pattern, and  leg armor.

Specializing in eliminating heavy targets, Sam-015 often carries an into the battlefield, although starting from October 2558, Sam-015 began using a  for missions involving tight quarters. As her individual weapon, Sam-015 prefers designated marksman rifles over assault rifles. Throughout much of the, Sam-015 had used a heavily customized as her sidearm that was fitted with a  and a , and loaded with M230 HEC rounds. After the war, Sam-015 instead began to use a as her sidearm in order to support her teammates by using its overcharged function to remove the  of or outright kill.