Cody-B042

"Run."

- Cody to an unknown insurrectionist. He complied.

Cody-B042 also known as Codename:SOLACE was a  who served in the. Acquiring a reputation for survivability among ONI officials after enduring through the botched Operation: CARTWHEEL and the tragedy of Operation: TORPEDO. This reputation would have him pulled into Section III’s Beta-5 division. Fighting throughout the war, Cody would eventually become the ONI liaison to the SpecWarCom SIII team FEUDAL, with whom he would serve with until late 2552. After the war he would be pulled by Section 0 to operate alongside SPARTAN-G144 as a two man strike team for several years. After this, he and G144 would be inducted into Fireteam Anubis, an ONI controlled SPARTAN team, and serve in it for a number of years until the team was disbanded, after which the two would finally enter the Spartan Branch.

Pre-Spartan III
Born in early 2533, Cody was the first of two children born to ONI officer, Commander Jonathan Smith and Nurse Anna Smith on the world of Filo XI. The world was rural with sparse cities and one military facility; ONI Specter Base. A young Cody Smith became close friends with Jay Purcell, and for most of their respective childhoods that they had, they spent causing trouble and evading repercussion.

However in September of 2538, the Covenant struck. In the scramble to evacuate the planet, Cody’s father took charge of the planet’s ground defense while his mother rushed him and his younger brother towards an evacuation site. En route, banshee’s struck the traffic jammed highway they were on, and a stray plasma bolt tore a hole through his mother.

Shocked, devastated, and horrified, a teary eyed Cody managed to pull his infant brother from the vehicle and rushed towards the site. On foot he would’ve never made it, but the timely arrival of the Purcell family got the two boys, along with Jay and his own baby brother to the evac. But they were late, and space was limited. Without a second thought, the Purcells put their adopted sons, and the sons of their family friends aboard. Confused and in tears, Cody and Jay took their younger siblings with them and tried to calm themselves, with Cody reassuring himself his father would survive. When he saw the Covenant begin to glass the world, he cried out in sheer agony, knowing his father would fall.

Eventually, Cody and Jay would end up in an orphanage on New Constantinople. Their younger brothers, being babies were quickly adopted while they were left with only each other. As with most orphanages out in the colonies, the one the two resided in was over crowded, and the two boys were forced to steal on a regular basis. Every night the young Christian boys prayed to be adopted and taken away from the miserable existence they resided in. Their wish would be granted to a degree.

Training
"She was asking for it..."

- Cody defending his action of tripping Lacy as she exited the Pelican onto Onyx

One day a man would come, and would speak to both Cody and Jay individually, and made them both the same offer of revenge, one they both accepted. Taken aboard a ship and placed in cryosleep, when the two awoke they were given clothes with the letter ‘B’ and seemingly random numbers on it, then loaded onto pelicans by shouting men completely unaware of what was going on. Cody sat beside his closest friend in silence, minding his own business when a girl with fiery red hair began to pick on the boy.

Though it was just teasing about the size of his head, Cody took the remarks to heart, remaining completely silent as he awaited their landing. As they landed and began to unload, Jay urged Cody to take action against the girl, and he did. As she walked down the ramp, quick swipe of the leg from Cody tripped the girl and lead to her falling face first. The girl, whose name was Lacy, would arise from the ground fuming with anger and moved to assault Cody, but was stopped in her tracks by a burly man in military gear. This man yanked Cody aside and began screaming at him angrily, only becoming more agitated when Cody informed him that his name was in fact Cody, not “Trainee 042”.

Shoved into formation, Cody stood and looked on in awe at the sight of a titanic man who offered them the chance of a lifetime, a chance to slaughter the Covenant in droves like they’d done them. After the speech he was forced back into the dropships and handed a parachute as all the others were. Cody and some others deduced why they were given the packs, but unlike said others who were horrified, Cody who’d dreamt of being in the ODSTs, was excited. Pushing his way towards the rear of the dropship, the eager boy stumbled into the same girl from before. Unlike before she was not mean, she was too afraid of what was being asked of them. Determined not to let the girl pass up such a chance he did his best to motivate her, but when she was up to jump fear still had her. So he pushed her out, and jumped after her.

When both of them landed, instantly she slugged the laughing Cody in the face. Doing his best Cody tried and somewhat and succeeded in explaining his reasoning, getting the girl to stop hitting him before the DIs arrived to lead them away. From this moment on a rivalry was born. Shuttled off to the mess hall the children were fed, then shown to their dorms. Cody would desperately search for Jay, eventually finding his friend and trying to bunk with him. However big men with batons came in and forced the children into groups, which resulted in Cody being stuck with none other than Lacy, and two other children. Cursing his bad luck, Cody made his best effort to stick with the other boy in the team, Kevin, while Lacy stayed close to Sarah, the other girl.



For years to come the group known as Fireteam Bravo, would eat, sleep, train, and learn together. Though relations were initially rough between Lacy-B121 and Cody-B042, the efforts made by Sarah-B222 and Kevin-B398 would smooth things out to allow for the team to work together smoothly. With a combination of enthusiasm and determination, Cody rose to team leader, securing the position after his actions in one of the “ring the bell” exercises. With his team pinned down by a combination of automated turrets and Alpha Company washout DIs, Cody took control of the situation by voluntarily drawing fire to get his team into position. Despite taking multiple hits, Cody still led his team out of the trap and to the objective before collapsing. B042’s complete willingness to sacrifice himself in order to achieve success won him the respect of his subordinates.

Throughout training Cody showed exceptional talent in close quarters, besting numerous members of the company. Eventually he and the leader of fire team Golf, none other than Jay-B031 would square off in a grueling close quarters duel, fighting to a draw. It was then the two were pitted against one trainee,, and despite putting up a ferocious fight, the two 11 year olds were both beaten. Angered and humiliated, the two friends made it a point to ambush B312 with MA5Ks loaded with TTR. Despite the disciplinary actions taken, both remained in the program, and took their respective teams to the UNSC ‘’Hopeful '' in orbit for augmentations.

In the weeks following, Cody, Bravo, and the rest of Beta Company were given their respective suits of SPI Mark II, and adapted to their recent augmentations. Then when the time came, the newly christened Spartans of Beta Company shipped out.

Operation:CARTWHEEL
"You bastards set this up, all of it…"

- HEADHUNTER Operative Jonah upon discovering the true purpose of the Covenant presence on the moon

In early 2545 eight fire teams out of Beta, including Bravo, were pulled by ONI Section III to assist in the operation simply dubbed, CARTWHEEL. With two teams of the elite HEADHUNTERs were sent in ahead of the team to clear the outlying Covenant camps surrounding a dig site of extreme importance to ONI.

When the HEADHUNTER teams failed to report in, the decision to send in the remaining Spartans was made, and the teams went in. Upon landing the forces of Beta rallied up and began their push into the supposed dig site. Cutting down the oddly light Covenant defenses, Beta found themselves at a dead end, with a detachment of a new kind of Spec-Ops elite at their backs. Backed against the wall, the detachment of Beta did what any good soldiers would do; they fought like rabid dogs. While the HEADHUNTER teams were undoubtedly more skilled, the combined fire of a fully armed SIII platoon managed to hold their own.

Bravo would fight ferociously, reminding the Covenant why they’d set a trap for the rage filled children in the first place. At one point, one of the elites manages to get close enough to injure B121, slicing a gash into her abdominal region before Cody intervened personally. Hitting the elite twice with buckshot from his M45 tactical shotgun to daze it, he proceeded to engage the beast in hand to hand. Despite being scathed by the energy sword, B042 would bury his blade in the elite’s eye, then snap its neck with brutality unseen before.



Rallying under and fire team Foxtrot, the Beta’s pushed their way out of the trap. Finding themselves out of the trap with numerous injured, the able bodied SIIIs formed a perimeter while the more medically inclined SIIIs did their best to stabilize the injured. Cody personally oversaw B121s treatment, and failed to leave her side at any point until they were back on board the All Under Heaven. This behavior was noted by the other members of the company, and became a small joke to a degree. Over the course of training the once bitter rivals had become extremely close, even sparking rumors of a possible romantic relationship. To a degree, they were correct, as B042 and B121 shared a mutual affection for each other. But, besides Cody holding her hand whilst she was injured, there was no solid evidence to prove to presence of such feelings.

Operation:TORPEDO
"They said all of us wouldn’t make it out, truth is none of us did. Even those of us that survived, had a part of ourselves die there, and we all felt the rest of us should have. I still wonder every night if it was worth it. I still see their faces in my sleep, hear their voices in my mind."

- Cody when questioned about TORPEDO

Later on in 2545, Cody and all others of his company were called together and briefed on their next assignment, a daring raid on the Covenant refineries on Pegasi Delta. The mission was to overload the reactors and destroy the shipyards. As the company split off for their individual fire team assignments, Bravo found themselves as one of the several teams tasked with placing the EMP charges on the reactor. B042 knew good and well the assignment was one of the most dangerous ones included in the mission, and that when they were told there would be casualties, it was the cold truth. Aboard the All Under Heaven Cody isolated himself to the firing range, for hours on end he would expend numerous magazines for his MA5K in an attempt to calm his mind. Already he had seen his brothers and sisters come close to death, and now he would seem some meet their end. They were Spartans, they were supposed to be unstoppable, Lieutenant Commander Ambrose had promised them they’d be unstoppable, yet there he stood with death’s shadow looming over.

When deployment time came, Cody met up with Bravo and loaded in to their specialized drop pods alongside them. Then, for six hours he like all the other children would be confined to the pod with nothing but their own thoughts as they neared their target, Operation: TORPEDO had officially begun. As they exited the slipspace rupture and entered the atmosphere the Covenant opened up with anti-aircraft fire. Amidst the fiery inferno of scorching plasma, Cody could only watch in horror as Sarah-B199’s pod was struck by the AA, careening into another pod and bursting into a ball of fire. He hadn’t even hit the ground and he’d already lost one of his own.

Upon landing conflict instantly found B042, who was only able to blow off the door to his pod before coming under fire. Taking cover, Cody would utilize the Semi-Powered Infiltration armor’s camouflage systems to flank the patrol of jackals and grunts and execute them with startling efficiency. Rallying up with Bravo and the rest of Beta Company, Cody charged the facility. With seraph fighters screamed overhead once again Cody watched helplessly as more of his comrades’ fell. As the tide of Spartans slammed into the facility, Bravo took up position alongside team Kilo. With ruthless efficiency Cody mowed down Covenant forces. For a time the battle was in their favor, but when Covenant reinforcements appeared.

Within second the Omega order followed, and retreat was ordered. With the enemy surrounding them, choices were made. Bravo, Foxtrot, and Golf entered the facility to destroy the generators. As the teams rushed in, Whiskey and Bravo would move together. Though initially successful, as they neared their target, the facility’s overseer, a Field Marshall would confront them with two other Zealots. In the ensuing all out brawl the Spartans managed two kill the escorts and beat back the Covenant leader, but at a cost. Jack-B001, Mary-B176, Alexis-B089, and Kevin-B398 were all killed, and Lacy was horridly injured.



Carrying the last surviving member of his team in his arms with his best friend as his side, the Spartans made a mad dash for the sea. But the battle was not over, still alive, the Field Marshal rushed out and engaged the Spartans. Like his parents before him, Jay-B032 sacrificed himself, shoving Cody and Lacy into the sea and charging the elite. In a brief scuffle, the veteran elite beat the Spartan to his knees and wretched the helmet from his head. The warrior would live only long enough to see that it had been children that had decimated his facility and slaughtered his warriors, then he, a smiling Jay, and anyone not underwater were atomized as the refinery exploded.

Swimming to the evacuation point, an exhausted Cody detached most of his and the now unconscious Lacy’s armor and hobbled into the CALYPSO exfiltration craft that awaited them. Once aboard, the battered and traumatized SPARTAN-III initiated the craft’s liftoff and turned to treating B121. Though he’d passed his first aid courses, Cody was by no means a medic. He did his best to stabilize his friend, stopping the bleeding and preforming assisted field surgery, with some help from the medical functions of the CALYPSO, but she would still never fight again. With a portion of her spinal cord severed, B121 would become paralyzed from the waist down. Exhausted and traumatized, Cody would collapse beside his friend and slip into a dreamless sleep.

Rehabilitation, Reassignment, Rearmament
"Train more kids do be sent to their death or work to prevent the need of them? Not much of a question."

- Cody when asked if he wished to return to Onyx to train Gamma Company, or begin working in the field.

Awakening onboard the ONI Cruiser I Am Your Father B042 was almost immediately subjected to a detailed debriefing and a psychological assessment. Throughout the assessment Cody remained silent and void of emotion, fearing that like he was to traumatized to speak, and ONI prepared to take similar action. Only then would Cody speak, first agreeing to work as a field agent, then questioning the whereabouts of B121. The shrink would not answer his question, and merely assured Cody that she was alive and that his superiors would be tremendously pleased with his decision.

Three weeks of physical rehabilitation later, Cody was lead off to Reach and run through an intensive training program over the span of three months. The program would acclimate B042 to life as a lone operator and promoted self-sufficiency over team based tactics. For the better half of the first month B042 was battered bruised, and beaten by instructors, constantly caught off guard as he was used to a teammate having his back. However this all changed when one DI, formerly of the SPARTAN-II program attempted to beat Cody with a shock baton. The man had made the grave error of thinking Cody was still a harmless child, and failed to note that the SIII held rank on him. In the ensuing scuffle, B042 killed the instructor and plead self-defense and cited the man’s crime of assaulting a superior.

After the incident Cody began to improve as what could be speculated as being paranoia set in. For two months his skills grew and grew until ONI deemed him ready for action. At this stage, he and two other Beta Company SIIIs were cast into the forests of Reach and ordered to hunt down and subdue each other. Outfitted with a new set of SPI, the IIIs descended upon each other. For nearly three days B042 wandered alone while unbeknownst to him the two other trainees dueled it out. Eventually he would stumble upon an exhausted and watch as TTR splattered across the SIIIs helmet. Rushing to cover Cody managed to hold out against his assailant long enough for the SPARTAN's ammunition to run out. When he attempted to flank, his attacker, none other than SPARTAN-B312 managed to get the drop on him.

Being quickly disarmed, Cody once again engaged in brutal hand to hand with the operator who'd bested both him and Jay at once. But then they'd both been run down and exhausted, now he was running on full and B312 was running on less than half. Still, B312 had bested two of Beta's top CQC experts at once, and even in the Spartan's current state, would still rise up. After nearly twelve minutes of continuous fighting, B312 managed to snag Cody's fallen MA5K and take him out with the last shot in the magazine. Knocked out by the force behind a point blank shot to the head, Cody would awaken later that day and be assigned to Section III Beta-5 Asymmetrical Warfare Division and would never be truly sure what the final "competition" had been for until 2552.

Operation:LONG WAY GONE
As the Covenant menace pushed further and further into UNSC territory, the colony of New Llanelli came under siege. Of little importance the agricultural world receive little in terms of support aside from a series of almost completely botched evacuation attempts at evacuation. However Section III had a vested interest in the world.

On the planet an officer known simply as Codename: PAULSON had taken up residence with his family. A decorated veteran of Section III who’d put off returning to service due to extremely old age cut a deal with the office that he would return to service if him and his family were safely evacuated. Cody, under the moniker Codename: SOLACE was deployed to rescue them. Coming in aboard a D77, B042 set down several kilometers away from the large farming estate in which PAULSON had made into his family’s home. Making radio contact with the old officer, Cody managed to coordinate the movement of JOTUN drones to largely hide his advance from the Covenant forces which surrounded the estate.

Utilizing his photo-reactive panel camouflage system, B042 covered the distance from the fields to the walls of the estate in silence. Once inside, the SPARTAN met all forty six of his charges, which consisted of not only the officer’s wife children, and relatives, but their families, and their children’s families. Before Cody could do the math to figure out of if he could possibly take them all, more trouble arose.

Being former ONI, PAULSON had taken large steps to ensure the estates security, including installing several auto-turrets which had scratched several small Covenant squads and in doing so had brought attention to the area. As a team of Brutes smashed through the gate Cody directed the family out the rear of the facility where the still operating turrets would provide protection while he engaged the simian hostiles.



Attacking the brutes with a combination of flashbangs, explosives, and assault weapons fire, Cody managed to take down three of the five aggressors. However his luck ran out there. As the last minor engaged Cody, he found himself caught off guard by the unpredictable nature enraged enemy. Living true to their name, the following assault was wildly brutal, with Cody being smashed through several windows and stabbed with a spiker. Falling back on basic instinct, the SIII retaliated in kind. Smashing a concrete slab over the beast’s head, B042 managed to phase it long enough for him to bury his knife in its stomach and dragging it down, savagely tearing out it’s innards.

Now painted in alien blood Cody ferociously engaged the group’s captain, dodging the beast’s strikes with. Rolling under a strike, Cody slashed through the ligaments in the brute’s left leg, dropping it to its knee and slitting his throat.

Battered and bruised Cody rushed out of the estate to rendezvous with the family. Leading them to the Pelican. Once they arrived, brutes were hot on their tail and there was nowhere near enough room in the Pelican for the entire group. Knowing ONI would abandon them all if he remained behind, and knowing the excruciating pain any who stayed behind would suffer, PAULSON swiftly executed his siblings, and upon their urging, his own children, nieces, and nephews so that their children might survive.

Even as a SPARTAN, Cody was taken aback by the action and utterly horrified. Hiding himself away from his family, PAULSON left B042 in the craft’s ‘blood tray’ among the rest of the family. The youngest of the children, unable to comprehend what had happened were fascinated with the blood-covered supersoldier after he removed his helmet.

Besides the children, a traumatized girl named Kate no younger than Cody would take an interest in the mysterious boy-soldier. Trying to assure her he was simply plagued with a bad case of being baby-faced, and dodging questions as best he could, he was unable to shake her suspicion about the Spartan’s true nature.

Once aboard the Prowler which deployed him, he slipped away from the girl hoping he’d never have to face her again. After a debriefing, Cody was returned to Onyx at the request of Ambrose himself in order to assist with a small ‘project’ relating to augmentations.

Testbed
Returning ‘home’ to Onyx, Cody would be greeted by, who told him he had a request. Before telling him the details, Kurt urged Cody to take several days to rest and see Gamma Company train as well as meet several members.

During his time back on the world he’d been trained, he did his best to reconnect with the other members of Beta Company on Onyx. In the end however he spent the majority of his time with Lacy, doing his best to rebuild their bond that had been severed in the two years they’d been apart.

Aside from her, Cody also reconciled with his other fellow TORPEDO survivors, Tom and Lucy. While he and B292 were happy to see each other in one piece and even attempted to engage in a friendly sparring match (it was called off after a strike from Tom hit a rib Cody had broken engaging the brutes, but was unaware of), he found it nearly impossible to reconcile with the now willing-mute B091 who was upset with his perceived abandonment of them to work with ONI. Also, after discovering his injured rib Cody was able to catch up with Aspen-B145, who had opted out of augmentations, while B145 treated Cody’s injury.

After one week’s time, Section III was eager to have their operative returned to them. Knowing they would have Cody back out in the field within days and away from the safety of Onyx, Ambrose finally made his request to B042. Ambrose planned to add compound 009762-OO, which would alter augmentee’s brains in the frontal lobe, increasing their injury tolerance, strength, endurance, and most importantly aggression within the SPARTANs. But the substance was illegal, and Kurt was unsure about using the drug without already having tested it on SPARTANs.

Before the SPARTAN-II could finish explaining Cody volunteered to undergo the procedure, returning once again to the UNSC Hopeful above Onyx. With none other than Aspen-B145 at the head of the procedure Cody was injected with the experimental drugs by a fellow Beta. In the aftermath B042 would run through a series of tests under Aspen’s supervision which all had nominal results and Cody assured both Kurt and B145 that he would routinely have them updated on his condition.

Saying his goodbyes to the only family he had left, Cody departed the birthplace of the SPARTAN-III program and returned to his Section III handlers, ready to once again to join the fray and bring death to the Covenant.

Operation: LYNCH MOB
Short Story Tie-in:Halo: Building Bridges, Burning Boats

Operation: LYNCH MOB marked the beginning of a new chapter in Cody’s life. With the formation of numerous SpecWarCom SPARTAN teams Section III began to take interest in the teams activities. Cody was attached to one such team, FEUDAL, as an ONI liaison.

Joining the team en route to their next mission, the Section III operative did his best to integrate into the team with little luck. With the exception of Hastings-B206, whom Cody had befriended in training, FEUDAL regarded the ONI attaché with disdain, feeling he was present to see if they were up to par and therefore insinuating they were not at present.

The operation they were to undertake was to be Cody’s first counter-insurgency operation, the likes of which the rest of FEUDAL had been carrying out for the entirety of their careers. Frustrated with their unwelcome newcomer’s lack of experience in the field, FEUDAL 1, Dan-A010 would begrudgingly attempt to explain how operations like this required a more delicate approach than the missions he’d been supposedly tasked with prior.

Heading towards the Insurrectionist hub of Mamore the team would finish what Alpha Company had started nearly a decade prior, and finish off the crippled rebel movement on the world. Deployed by a stolen freighter, the SPI clad team would land at shipyard known to be an Insurrectionist base of operations.

The second dock workers opened up the hold of the vessel, Cody moved to incapacitate them only to see them cut down by his new teammates. Angered by the taking of innocent lives, Hastings explained to Cody that if word got out of a UNSC Special Forces presence on the planet during the UNSC’s (admittedly half-assed) relief effort, the outrage could potentially spark more conflict. Though upset by the idea, Cody understood.

Moving through the shipyard the team made quick work of any who crossed their path as they worked their way to the offices of port. In a blur of speed and lethality FEUDAL tore through the building’s armed defenders which included several child soldiers, one of whom was Cody’s first human kill and would have a deep impact on the young SPARTAN.

As they cleared the building’s first floor, one insurrectionist managed to get the drop on the team and made to sound the alarm and potentially doom the team, but an astoundingly quick reaction accomplished thanks to additional augmentation by Cody eliminated the threat. At this point, FEUDAL became open to the idea of Cody not being a completely bad person to have on the team.

Proceeding through the base, the team eliminated the rebel presence entirely after acquiring the location of the surviving leadership elements of the now splintered rebel groups on the world. With Eric-B298 providing a scapegoat in the form of a borderline artistic use of explosives, the team pushed the already high tensions between the surviving rebel groups over the edge.

In the massive infighting that occurred in the wake, ONI marked off the world, considering its rebel presence destroyed and the image of the insurrectionist on world destroyed due to the brutal results of said infighting. ONI was wrong, but this would not be seen until the days and months after the end of the devastating Human-Covenant war.

Cody, though still on the outside looking in with FEUDAL, was no longer actively disliked by the team who began to take what he said with some measure of belief, accepting that he was not with them for any reason regarding their skill. However in the weeks that followed, his skills would become crucial to the team’s success as the Beta Company SPARTANs of the team would finally be granted what they’d longed so deeply for, action against the Covenant, and vengeance.

Paris IV
In 2549 the UNSC fortress world Paris IV was besieged by the Covenant. Numerous SPARTAN assets were deployed to the world, ranging from SpecWarCom SPARTAN teams to legendary SPARTAN-II teams, one such instance of the former was FEUDAL team. Given a quick briefing, the team was assigned to defend one of the planet’s many UNSC bases, Fort Patton. Though the team was supposed to report to an ONI operative to receive information packets to refresh the team on fighting the Covenant after years of counter-insurgent, however the team failed to show, they’d been preparing for this moment for a long time with the exception of Dan, Tanya, and Cody.

Gearing up within the armory of the Athens-Class Carrier Hornet, Cody along with the others prepared for war. Even A010, A116, and B042 had only seen action against the Covenant in a special operations role, this would be the first time any of them had been in a total-war scenario. Cody equipped himself with a notably heavier armament than prior deployments, taking a MA5B assault rifle with an underslung grenade launcher, an M45 tactical shotgun, a pair of M7 SMGs, and for the first time equipped himself with a combat machete that he would make use of for the rest of the war.

Once armed and ready the supersoldiers boarded a pelican and launched alongside the rest of the carriers dropship squadron. Inside the ‘blood tray’ of the dropship Cody and the rest of FEUDAL went over their mission in an attempt to distract themselves from the chaos outside the vessel. As their pelican and the other craft in the unit rushed towards the surface, two squadrons of Covenant fighters moved to intercept them.

In a matter of seconds the Seraphs and Banshees were on the group, tearing through the transports downing five in their first pass. In the wake of the destruction the pilot of their pelican, ensign James Fitzpatrick made a dangerous move; as the hostiles came around for another pass the rookie pilot broke formation.

Rolling out of the flight group and narrowly avoiding a collision with a banshee, the transport sped towards the surface as the remainder of the flight was cut to shreds. Breaking through the atmosphere the pilot’s quick thinking had saved them from death. Landing at Patton the SPARTANs reported to Major Thomas Wright who held command over the Army forces stationed there.

With Dan quickly being filled in on the situation the team leader dived his forces, with himself, Eric, and Tanya taking up positions at the front gate, Hastings guarding Tomas as he got the perimeter defense turrets online, and Cody escorting Abigail as she laid into the Covenant from long range.

With Cody taking point the two SPARTANs moved to high ground roughly half a kilometer from the base and set up a position. While B400 readied the SRS-99AM that she’d taken in addition to her usual loadout, Cody established a perimeter.

For over an hour all was quiet, and command was on the verge of reassigning FEUDAL when a full lance began their assault on Patton. Suddenly swarmed by Covenant forces Abigail did her best to prioritize targets, but the weight of the moment, finally being able to exact revenge, sent the Beta on a killing spree where she began killing the aliens without distinction and in process signaled her location to the Covenant.

The lance’s commander deployed several jackal snipers who would suppress the SIII while the sanghelli ultra personally led a team to eliminate the demon. However, the Covenant warrior was not aware of B042’s presence. As the alien squad rose up towards Abigail’s position an explosive was shot into the center of the formation, blowing apart the weaker members of the contingent. With the help of his armor’s active camouflage systems Cody had successfully flanked the attack group and now laid into them with his MA5B.

Butchering the aliens with a hail of automatic gunfire Cody killed off all but the ultra, who rushed towards Cody with energy sword drawn. With his assault rifle empty B042 tossed aside the rifle momentarily and attempted to cut down the elite with an SMG, but the warrior had already closed the gap.

Forced into hand-to-hand combat Cody and the ultra duked it out for far longer than even the zealots he’d encountered during TORPEDO had. The difference between the crimson armored aliens and the white one he faced now was that the latter had fought a demon before. Exchanging blows the experienced sanghelli and SPARTAN fought relentlessly, however the odds were clearly tipped in the elite’s favor.

A quick jab of an energy dagger to the abdomen gave the alien an advantage to press, and press it he did. Slashing Cody across the torso with his sword the elite forced the boy onto his back and moved in for the kill. However, once again the increased reflexes from his additional augmentations saved Cody, allowing him to draw the M45 from his back and pump a shell into the ultra’s now unshielded abdomen. As the warrior staggered back, Abigail finished it off with a shot to the head, and the two SPARTANs fell into retreat.

Joining up with the rest of FEUDAL who had regrouped at the main entrance (after Cody secured his weaponry), Abigail personally treated Cody’s injuries before she and B042 joined the others in holding the line. For the next four hours, the SPARTAN team held the area alone, as all troopers had either died or been assigned to a flank. At nearly ten o’clock in the evening the assault finally ended and the SPARTAN team was allowed to rest, or in Cody’s case, receive more intensive treatment.



Over the next week FEUDAL would participate in a variety of small skirmishes and large battles, notably spearheading the failed UNSC assault on the Covenant landing site, but inflicting massive casualties on the alien forces. Cody personally would develop an affinity for dual wielding larger weapons, notably his MA5B with a plasma repeater, putting the gifts of each to great use.

Operation: SCREAMING EAGLE
It was only on their seventh day of fighting the team received an official new assignment in the form of Operation: SCREAMING EAGLE, a nighttime drop behind Covenant lines with the goal of cutting the enemy’s supply lines. Paired with Army Airborne units the SIIIs equipped themselves with the already familiar, and deployed under the cover of night.

Landing under fire alongside several paratroopers B042 was directly engaged by a pair of mgalekgolo. Despite his effort B042 was unable to dispatch the hunters before they had killed four of the Army Special Forces operators, all but one of whom had been to busy trying to get out of their parachutes to fight back. After killing the titanic aliens Cody joined up with the nearby Tanya-A116 the two SPARTANs set up a rendezvous point and awaited the arrival of the rest if FEUDAL. While they waited it became evident that unlike the rest of FEUDAL was still not accepting of Cody’s presence, and still saw him as nothing more than an ONI spook.

Despite the hostile attitude from A116 and B042’s response in the form of biting sarcasm, the two worked extremely well together as they mowed down Covenant forces who attempted to storm them as the rest of the team joined them. Once rallied, Daniel took command of the SPARTANs and led them towards the Covenant supply line. Periodically dispatching members of the team to separate from the main group and rally with squads of Army Airborne, then bringing them back, A010 increased his numbers from seven to roughly thirty five.



With the now bolstered force the soldiers launched a guerilla assault on the supply lines. Ambushing convoys and lacing the path with explosives the UNSC troops inflicted massive damage despite the fact that out of the 1000 Army Airborne troops deployed, only twenty eight survived the first night due to poor planning of the drop. Eventually however their dwindling numbers caught up to them as a series of Covenant counter-strikes cut down the Army operators, eventually claiming the lives of all of them without exception. With only themselves remaining, FEUDAL was recalled by command and were evacuated via UH-144 ‘Falcon’ and returned to the UNSC’s staging ground.

Before the SPARTANs could rest they were once again thrown into the fray, tasked with defending the staging area while command elements intermixed with the wounded evacuated (with the exception of some officers who refused to leave until the mainline troops had as well). Engaging in grueling combat the team and all other defenders were forced into close quarters. B042 and B206 cut a bloody swathe through the alien horde, preforming astoundingly well as a pair as they fought until their weapons and those scavenged from the Covenant ran out of ammunition before relying solely on their blades.

Despite the both of them sustaining serious injuries, both Cody and Hastings survived the three hours of continuous combat even as exhausted army troopers began to break down. On Daniel's command FEUDAL made their retreat, covering the defense force's rear as they all boarded evacuation transports and fled the now burning world after a nearly month long siege. At long last the Beta's of FEUDAL who'd craved Covenant blood had gotten it, as well as numerous injuries, as had the rest of the team. Cody personally would suffer four broken ribs, seven first degree burns, a broken ankle, a broken wrist, and innumerable sprains, pulled muscles and lacerations.

Gamma Pavonis VII
In late 2549 the colony of Gamma Pavonis VII became the site of FEUDAL’s next deployment. For the six base members of the team, Pavonis would be a testing ground as all members were outfitted with early MJOLNIR Mark V, however Cody, who was not an exact match of Halsey’s parameters was not given such a suit, and was left in only his SPI. While the battle above the colony raged, with future heroes such as Miranda Keyes coming into the spotlight, below the colony burned in the wake of a rapid Covenant attack.

Deployed via HEV, the NavSpecWar team was tasked with destruction of the data banks of the planet’s capital city in accordance with the Cole Protocol, the only issue was that the Covenant had an iron grip on the area. Tasked with a simple torch and burn op, FEUDAL packed light on weaponry, taking only small sidearms. They would regret this decision mere seconds after deployment.

Upon landing Cody found himself in the middle of an intersection and came under heavy fire. Unwisely, Cody continued to fight conventionally against the Covenant, despite the innumerable injuries he had sustained in the past. Killing several with his MA5K, Cody was heavily injured when a jackal sniper shot him through the abdomen with a beam rifle. Collapsing in the street, B042 fought in vain to hold off Covenant forces, downing several more of the hegemony’s troops before the closed in on him.

However, the timely intervention of an assorted group of UNSC personnel who’d been left behind saved Cody’s life, the soldiers mowing down the aliens while they were distracted by the injured demon. Remaining silent as the other humans crowded around, Cody treated his injury with biofoam to the best of his abilities and made contact with Daniel and provided his location and current condition.

Despite some brief berating, Daniel and the rest of FEUDAL moved to Cody’s position. Recovering their teammate and the miscellaneous troops, Daniel sidelined Cody for the remainder of the mission. Left in a relatively undamaged building along with Abigail and the troops, B042 would sit in silence as he reevaluated his combat strategy.

For an hour he remained in the building as with the others, however the mission clock hit an hour and thirty minutes, Daniel requested back up from Abigail, and despite her insistence to the contrary, Cody too came. Progressing through the Covenant-infested streets, Cody took a different approach. Hiding, striking, and repositioning, the young SPARTAN utilized his knack for guerilla warfare and ambushes.

Twenty minutes after being called, the two Beta Spartans arrived at the rest of the team’s location. Fading into invisibility with the help of the photo-reactive panels of his armor, Cody and Abigail launched their attack on the Covenant forces who were pinning the rest of their team in the data storage facility.

In the ensuing conflict Cody racked up numerous Covenant kills, however in the closing stages, a combination of his additional chemical augments paired with his own blind rage against the Covenant resulted in another injury, this time the form of an energy dagger, several inches into his ribs, and millimeters from his heart.

As his body caught up to him and the adrenaline faded, Cody did what any SPARTAN would do; he pulled the dagger out, filled the wound with foam, and kept going. After destroying the data, FEUDAL was extracted from the city.

Once out of system, Cody and Tomas began to modify B042’s SPI armor, the first order of business being the addition of several systems, seals, oxygen supplies, and an environmental suite to allow for EVA activity.

Phase One
In early 2550 as the Covenant poured into the middle and inner colonies the infamous Prowler Corps discovered choke point in the Covenant supply lines. Within the now destroyed outer colonies lay a gas giant known simply as GB-348 which had been simply passed over in humanity's rapid expansion, however the Covenant found 348 to be the perfect location for a supply junction. Seventy-five percent on the Covenant war machine's supplies passed through this junction, to cripple it would strike a blow against the Covenant the likes of which hadn't been seen since TORPEDO.

As fate would have it, one of the three Spartan teams selected for the operation was FEUDAL. Once again finding himself slated for a suicide mission, B042 was irate. Breaking his usual friendly mold amongst FEUDAL, he lashed out at all those who attempted to calm him, targeting the fact they hadn't been in their companies respective final missions and that they couldn't understand. After an hour of ranting, Cody would calm himself and apologize to his teammates, but the damage was done.

Put on board a Prowler, FEUDAL and the three other teams shipped out to Minab with the objective of commandeering a Covenant vessel.

It was at this point the operation took a turn in the wrong direction. Upon boarding their respective vessels, Covenant 'Demon Hunters', the same unit which Cody had faced during CARTWHEEL, were waiting aboard the vessels. Outnumbered and caught in a trap, each SPARTAN team dug in and prepared for a fight.

Fighting intensely in close quarters, FEUDAL managed to fend off their ambushers. Both Cody and Hastings took full advantage of the tight halls to dispatch their supposed matches in close quarters, working in near perfect sync. With their respective ships taken, and the initial ambush foiled, the SPARTAN teams were met with the second face of the Covenant ambush.

Almost instantly, the ships housing FEUDAL team, and the three man unit under Nathaniel-A143 came under fire, the third ship however was not fired upon. Thanks to a miscommunication between the Covenant forces, the third team was assumed dead and the ship was not fired upon. This presented the team with one, small chance to escape annihilation and continue the mission, a chance they took.

Boarding the corvette housing the now three strong team who identified themselves as "Sage Team", the SPARTANs then made the jump towards Covenant space, the UNSC Pale Horse in tow. Once the jump was made, Cody made an effort to familiarize himself with the battered team, being all too familiar with the feeling of loss. The leader, who identified as Orson-426, appeared drastically younger, even younger than the SIIIs when they'd entered the field, and were in fact clad in ODST garb rather than SPI.

Fascinated and sympathetic, Cody was rebuffed as Orson put up a figurative wall; refusing to shed light on his origin. In fact he found out shockingly little aside from his name. The boy was disturbingly collected in B042's opinion who saw the lack of grief inhuman.

Phase Two
Information redacted, work in progress

Semi-Powered Infiltration Armor Mark II
Utilized by Cody for the near total entirety of the Human-Covenant War, the mass produced armor provided to the mainline equally mass produced SPARTAN-IIIs was extensively modified by Cody throughout its service. Cody’s first set was issued to him days before deployment in Operation: CARTWHEEL, the armor served its purpose until TORPEDO, whereupon the completion of the mission the armor was battered beyond repair. Soon administered a second set, Cody would field the armor in every operation he was dispatched on until Operation: DYNAMO where environmental circumstances dictated that he utilize an armor capable of operating in a vacuum. This second set would undergo numerous upgrades as Cody attempted to keep pace with FEUDAL team’s MJOLNIR Mark V armor, his alterations included upgrades to the electronics suite and HUD curtesy of Tomas-B400, multiple instances of additional plating removed from some areas and being re-installed in other areas to increase protection as well as optimize movement, the addition of vacuum seals and several other components to allow for EVA, as well as the installation of Covenant point-defense gauntlets.

MJOLNIR GEN2
Issued to Cody in early 2554, the set of MJOLNIR incorporated a combination of mainline armor sets including SCOUT and VENATOR. Unlike previous armors put to use by B042, the MJOLNIR was not tailored towards the needs of an independent operator, instead favoring someone who worked with a partner, in Cody's case that was Jamison-G144. The armor had a focus on enhancing Cody's close quarters capabilities as well as his reconnaissance skills, including several tactical packages to boost both. B042 would utilize the set on every operation he embarked on until 2555, including assassination, sabotage, reconnaissance, assaults, and otherwise.

Weapons
In service of the UNSC, and ONI in particular Cody has had access to a wide range of top of the line weaponry. Even when operating alongside a team, B042 was a self-sufficient operator, capable of operating without steady supplies or reliable support. As a result most weaponry he used was renowned for its reliability as well as versatility, namely the MA5K Carbine, an M6G SOCOM, and numerous forms of bladed weaponry.

As a CQC and guerilla warfare expert, Cody made use of largely shotguns, submachine guns, carbines, knives, and explosives. Every aspect of his loadout was focused on guerilla combat rather than direct assault as while he was by no means a poor combatant in direct combat (scoring roughly average among Beta Company), he was far more talented in springing traps. Cody's most prized weapon was the combat knife which had been with him since training, followed closely by his heavily modified MA5K carbine.

Personality
"Rage is a hell of an anesthetic."

- Cody when questioned about how he continued to fight despite taking a volley of spiker rounds to the gut by an ONI evaluator

Prior to the events of Operation: TORPEDO Cody was a remarkably friendly individual being essentially un-hindered socially and fully capable of successful interaction with non-SPARTANs not to mention remarkably intelligent, though lazy when it came to his studies. While he was easily frustrated and quick to snap, he was genuinely kind and cared deeply for those around him, and was known for his generally upbeat attitude, playful sarcasm, wit, and sense of humor. Although, behind all the positives lurked the monster that was his own rage against the Covenant.

However in the aftermath of the tragic operation which wretched his family from him, Cody suddenly snapped into the mold of a SPARTAN. He became withdrawn and depressed, spending long periods alone between missions simply maintaining his knives or reading after action reports in order to gain an edge in his next deployment. His humor turned dark, his wit dried, once teasing sarcasm became harsh and biting, and his hate and anger only grew. The events of LONG WAY GONE proved especially traumatic and resulted in Cody’s abandonment of his faith (Presbyterian Christianity).

It was only after he visited Onyx and successfully integrated into FEDUAL team socially that B042 began to rebound mentally. After his return to Onyx he found himself motivated by the idea that every action he took in the field truly held meaning to the remnants of his family and the future SPARTANs of Gamma Company. After several years with FEUDAL, Cody, who had been relying solely on his rage for motivation, broke down in the aftermath of Tribute’s destruction (where he had been told his younger brother had been taken after adoption) and with help from Hastings-B206, re-accepted his faith as he desperately searched for some kind of comfort and finding it in his God.

As the war drew to a close, the events that transpired once again left Cody broken and dark, however this time he was not a teenager who even as SPARTANs had difficulty concealing their emotions, he was now a young adult and kept his pain under wraps and simply returned to near complete silence. In late 2553 he would take Jamison-G144, another team leader who’d lost all those under him and blamed himself, under his wing, and the big brother-little brother dynamic which formed between them proved beneficial. During his time a Section 0 operators and entry into EPHILATES, Cody remained largely the same merely with less pain inside. However, the rage he’d felt almost all his life remained

Lacy-B121
What started off as a tense rivalry would evolve into a deep friendship and eventually into something more (to the extent there can be between two SPARTANs). Post-TORPEDO the two were separated for prolonged periods of time, but made contact as often as was possible with her reassignment to Onyx, and even after the war his constant deployment made maintaining anything other than a distant friendship impossible.

Kevin-B398
When he was forced into a team alongside a girl who’d just made an effort to kill him, Kevin was who Cody turned to for company. A shy boy too afraid to try and make friends right away in his new environment, Kevin was more than happy to have a friend who he didn’t have to risk embarrassing himself to get. Through training the two maintained a good friendship, Cody coaxing him out of his shell among the members of Beta Company. His death had a harder toll on Cody than most other Betas, as would be expected.

Sarah-B222
As Cody went to Kevin for friendship, Lacy went to Sarah, and like Lacy she too would eventually bond with the boys of the team. Her impulsiveness rivaled Cody’s during the early days of training and the repercussions for said impulsiveness was where she and B042 forged most of their friendship. Her death in TORPEDO, like Kevin had a slightly heavier impact than the already massive one felt by Cody with the deaths of the others, and the fact that her pod was blasted out of the sky without a chance to fight back only further distressed him.

Daniel-A010
At first the elder SIII looked on Cody with disdain like the remainder of the team, however he like the others grew to accept B042. Both of the two bonded over the losses over the losses of the majority of their original teams and the guilt they felt. Eventually the two would grow into trusted friends.

Tanya-A116
Perhaps the most skeptical of Cody’s introduction to FEUDAL, perhaps because of the integration of a third close quarters expert, A116 failed to cease blatantly disliking the Beta until days before the fall of Reach.

Abigail-B400
While angered with his presence at first, the Markswoman grew to trust Cody as much as any other member of the team and perhaps more, preferring him as a spotter even after her upgrade to MJOLNIR Mk V as a result of her deep trust in his ability to provide security for her.

Tomas-B401
Abigail’s brother was just as easy on Cody, and trusted him for the same reasons. With a mediocre combat score (by SPARTAN standards, he still exceeded most normal humans) he too felt Cody was highly capable to provide him security, however the electronics expert preferred Hastings or Eric as a guard after the rest of the team upgrading to Mk V, and was open about it. His somewhat rude manner led to some tension between the two SPARTANs, but both maintained team cohesion.

Eric-B298
Perhaps the only SPARTAN-III in Beta as filled with anger as Cody, he dropped in doubts of B042 instantly after B042’s quick save in LYNCH MOB. Both were constantly under watch by Dan in worry that the two of them would mutually give into their inner demons and recklessly assault Covenant forest. The two had a good friendship and worked well together.

Hastings-B206
Cody’s closest and only friend at first in FEUDAL, Hastings befriended Cody after a skirmish between Bravo and Baker teams, Hastings’s team not being one of the twenty six who used the current military alphabet for their team names, instead moving on to other alphabets and older military letters. In the exercise the teams had become bogged down in a prolonged firefight and teams Mike and Able decided needed to be ended, after the two B’s repulsed both teams by banding together and eliminating them, but in the process Cody became coated in TTR, thus earning him the nickname “Paintball” from B206. The two would duel as they battled for the top CQC ranking in Beta, Cody besting him and leaving him in 5th place, which in turn lead to frequent friendly competition between the two.

Jay-B032
Childhood best friends, rival team leaders, and brothers in arms, Cody and Jay maintained a close friendship until B031’s death in TORPEDO. The two were practical mirrors of each other in terms of their skillsets and often competed for placing higher amongst their comrades in said areas, however B032 had always been slightly more athletic than B042, who in turn had always been slightly more intelligent. However each proved to be wildly deadly combatants, each having killed an elite zealot in single combat during TORPEDO. His death was felt as deeply, if not deeper than those of the members of his own fire team as he and Jay had seen each other as brothers even before their induction into Beta Company.

Jamison-G144
A mentor-learner relationship, the two SPARTANs are remarkably similar in terms of their personality and as such get along quite well. Both trust in the other for combat and moral support and would grow into close friends as well as phenomenal partners.

Quotes
"B042, always thinking with his gun and not his head."

- Franklin Mendez on Cody

"Operator is prone to emotional outburst in the form of blind anger, leads to irrational actions."

- Codename: BYRON

"Oops."

- Cody on a regular basis

"This war is just a game of necessary sacrifice."

- Cody in a darker moment

Literary Appearances

 * Halo: Capti(Non-Canon)
 * Halo: Nos Venatores