John-A222

"Spartans don't fight to survive. They survive to fight."

- John-A222

John-A222 was a of the. He served extensively throughout the, becoming a decorated veteran and an advanced tactician. John specialized in marksmanship, reconaissance, and leadership. In addition, he was proficient in close-quarters combat and small-scale capabilities. John was the leader of NOVA Team, an elite squad of that was deployed numerous times since its creation in. John's call sign in the team was Nova One. He served directly with the UNSC Navy but with unspecified collaboration with the.

Childhood and SPARTAN-III training
"Hell, that boy could have been a SPARTAN-II if he had only been born earlier. It's a damn shame. We needed as many of them as we could get."

- referring to John John was born in on the human colony of  to a family of Greek descent. As a child, John was thin with dark brown hair and eyes. From early on, he displayed a superior intelligence to that of his peers which benefited him greatly in his later career as a soldier. John was conscripted into the SPARTAN-III Program in as part of the program's. During training, he exhibited advanced reflexes and natural leadership ability, proving himself to be one of the top candidates. John trained along with the other Spartans of Alpha Company at on  under , a. During augmentations, John successfully underwent all procedures. Uniquely, he was one of the few that seemed to exhibit the full effects of the enhancements. ONI officials overseeing the project later stated that John most likely possessed the genetic makeup of a SPARTAN-II. This allowed him to benefit from the augmentations to the same degree that his predecessors had.

Alpha Company was declared active in November of. Equipped with Mark I, John and the rest of Alpha Company were initially deployed during the. For this counter-insurgency operation, the Spartans were divided into fireteams in order to quell the uprising. John was placed in charge of one such team and led a covert raid on an insurrectionist armory. Shortly thereafter, the Spartans openly engaged insurrectionist forces in a series of intense firefights. At one point, John managed to save one of his teammates by tackling his squadmate out of the way of hostile turretfire. As the fighting continued, UNSC forces gained the upperhand and eventually emerged victorious. It was at this time that John truly distinguished himself as a skilled soldier and leader. Alpha Company also participated in the, fought in the , , and in several other early engagements. John's actions in this series of deployments earned him the rank of. "John is advanced, even among his peers. He has what it takes, and I don't want to see that wasted."

- to SCPO Franklin Mendez He was immediately pulled from his unit, along with an unknown number of other candidates such as, , and , by  and  before  in. John and the other reassigned Spartans received more advanced equipment, including in order to make their combat ability comparable to that of the SPARTAN-IIs.

Early military career
"You know as well as I do that we wind up with some that would have chosen—not just kids unlucky enough to survive a . Orders are still being followed and those Spartans are in the field, but they are armed as SPARTANs—and they are making a difference."

- LCDR Kurt Ambrose to SCPO Franklin Mendez At some time during, John began secondary training as a and received standard medical training, but the extent of this training is unknown. His adequate piloting abilities were rarely used in combat operations given that his superiors felt, as a Spartan, he would be more valuable on the ground. Deployment after deployment, John continued to prove his worth as a Spartan. "...highly deserving of hyper-lethal status,"

- John's personnel file

He was deployed several times from to  for unknown reasons, but received a promotion to  during this period. These and several later deployments are suspected to involve ONI and are listed as classified on John's official service record. John engaged in defensive operations during the, in which was taken hostage and later rescued by a team of SPARTAN-IIs led by. In 2546, when was attacked by the, John-A222 was deployed to aid in its defense. It was at this battle that forces first encountered the. John managed to acquire significant intelligence regarding the vehicle and was subsequently given the rank of Lieutenant Commander of the UNSC Navy. Unfortunately, the UNSC efforts failed as Sargasso was later. During the same year, NOVA Team was created as a special operations squad of SPARTAN-IIIs. John was assigned as its leader and took pride in the team, stating that it was an "effective unit". His battlefield actions and strategic command quickly earned him the respect of his squadmates.

In the next few years, John's team fought in the and the. The Spartans aided in defensive and evacuation efforts on both fronts and John received a promotion to Commander sometime thereafter in for his valiant efforts. During July of 2552, Nova Team was deployed on a high priority mission to with the objective of material retrieval or destruction in the cities of Caracas and Enfield. It is unknown what objects were recovered, although they were likely some of the various artifacts located on the planet. Concurrently, SPARTAN-IIs were on the surface, with John-117 and engaging Covenant forces at the. With the detonation of a, the SPARTAN-IIs destroyed the museum and the Covenant forces in the area. In early August, John-A222 and his team were deployed along with multiple other Spartan fireteams to during the  where they engaged in counter-assault operations. One of the other fireteams remained planetside to hold off Covenant assault forces but were eventually overrun and killed.

Fall of Reach

 * Main article:

After the discovery of a Covenant advance force by in late July 2552, many engagements followed, including the. When this battle ended with the uncloaking of a massive, sixty percent of the was recalled to  to aid in its defense. Nova Team was among the reinforcements scheduled to arrive by August 15 on the UNSC Supernova. Upon arrival, the Spartans were immediatiely deployed to where a Covenant assault was underway. Initially, Nova Team was assigned to slow the Covenant advance while evacuation efforts were organized. This task was left to ODSTs when a local school was attacked by a strike team. One-third of the civilians present had already been killed before Nova Team arrived. John and his team soon found a group of students being terrorized by a, a , and several spec ops units. The situation was resolved as John stabbed the Chieftain in the neck, and the team's primary sniper, Josh-A124, ended the Captain Major with a well-placed bullet. Simultaneously, the rest of the team neutralized the remaining hostiles. The team continued special operations in Quezon but was later withdrawn before the city was glassed. Nova Team also assisted in the evacuation of along with  and  after the Covenant initiated an aggressive raid on the city. As the metropolis was later glassed, John and his men were evacuated to the sublevel bunker of along with Noble Team and other UNSC personnel. During their deployment, Nova Team engaged in numerous defensive and counter-assault operations throughout.

In the final days of the Battle of Reach, John's team was one of the several that defended the shipyard and pipelines in. The Spartans held off Covenant forces as the remnants of Noble Team transported a high priority package to the dry-docked. At this time, Robby-G076 of Nova Team was killed by a. As the UNSC defenses weakened, Nova Team was withdrawn along with some of the remaining UNSC forces. It was shortly after this that and Emile-A239 made their last stand against overwhelming Covenant forces at the shipyard.

Defense of Earth

 * Main article:

John's team was deployed to  in September 2552 where UNSC forces began to fortify for a final stand against the Covenant. The first Covenant force, led by the, arrived at Earth on October 20. Nova Team was divided into pairs in an effort to deploy Spartans on more fronts, John-A222 serving with Josh-A124. Initially, John, Josh, and other UNSC forces engaged in by means of intense urban warfare. The fighting was constant until the, , made a sudden slipspace jump above the city, devastating the ground below. John continued to help resist the Covenant ground forces even as hostile reinforcements arrived. He engaged in defensive and counter-assault operations against the new Jiralhanae-led invasion force. After the loss in, John and Josh were relocated, fighting across a variety of fronts in , Europe, and. From October 25 to November 17, they fought in Athens,, , and Geneva as the 's fleet arrived. During the, John persisted with the rest of the UNSC forces until the fighting relented on Earth.

Post-War
After the end of the Human-Covenant War, most Spartans were given the option to either supplement the newly-formed of the UNSC or to be assigned to a non-combat role. John-A222 chose to continue serving in the field, retaining the rank of Commander. It is believed that he still serves in this manner.

Traits and personality
John is known to be a serious and intelligent Spartan, always thinking tactically on the battlefield. He has grown accustomed to his status and often exhibits his leadership. As a leader, he has a strong contempt for disrespect and mistreatment. John appreciates receiveing due recognition but will sometimes show frustration if he is looked down on or ignored. Regardless, John shows great pride in being a Spartan. During the Human-Covenant War, he came to recognize the as formidable opponents and exhibits great respect of them. This being said, he never hesitated to kill during engagements. John also seems to be compassionate toward the given their passive nature, and shows disgust for Jiralhanae.

John possesses a dry and often sarcastic sense of humor. He is known to remain calm under fire and almost always completes his tasks efficiently. Regarding his fellow Spartans, John holds great respect and sees each of them as one of man's greatest advances. He cares for his squadmates and does everything in his power to help keep them content. Upon hearing of the catastrophe that was Opertaion: PROMETHEUS, John was devastated. While he understood that it was strategically successful, he was mortified at the Spartan casualty reports. It became one of his personal desires to discover who of Alpha Company was still alive. This same impact was felt years later when took place with a similar result and when Robby-076 was lost.

Given his heritage, John seems to be fluent in the Greek language. It is believed that his ancestors lived in the country of Greece on Earth. For this reason, the insignia of a Greek helmet is displayed on John's armor.

Equipment
John's preferred weapons are the /, , , and the although he has shown profficiency with the majority of. John is known to keep an or an  as a sidearm. He is also capable of using when the combat situation demands it. His armor is supplemented with MJOLNIR.

John wears and a  helmet. Typically, his helmet is known to feature a Blast Shield, a gold visor, and a 3rd Generation External Hardened Uplink (HUL) for MILINT acquisition. The rest of his armor consists of a chestpiece,  right shoulder pauldron, Recon left shoulder pauldron, and  knee guards. His armor also features a on the left forearm and a  near the left shoulder. John is known to keep a as part of his utility. John's armor is Sage (Olive) with Steel (Charcoal) as a secondary color. The image of a Greek Spartan helmet is displayed on his chestpiece.

As MJOLNIR armor advanced and new versions were issued, John was also given a set of armor and by 2557,  armor. Both of the additional sets retain his characteristic recon helmet, visor, and colors. Despite the upgrades, John still seemed to prefer his Mark V armor and uses it most frequently.

NOVA Team

 * Main article: NOVA Team

NOVA Team was an elite squad of SPARTAN-IIIs that was formed by the UNSC Navy in the year 2546. Given his prior tactical, leadership, and combat skills, John-A222 was selected to lead the team. Nova Team was deployed on countless fronts throughout the Human-Covenant War such as Tribute and Reach. The squad consisted of six Spartans, comparable to Noble Team. The original members were John-A222, Josh-A124, Tyler-B307, Adam-B226, Nathan-B136, and Robby-G076. The team call signs were Nova One, Nova Two, Nova Three, Nova Four, Nova Five, and Nova Six, respectively. Josh-A124 was an especially promising Spartan who specialized in marksmanship. John became friends with Josh-A124 during training with Alpha Company which, in addition to his skills, eventually prompted the latter's assignment to the team as sniper. When commandeering an or an, the pair has a reputation of being especially deadly with Josh-A124 driving and John-A222 in the gunner position. Tyler-B307 and Nathan-B136 had known each other previously from training. The fact that both eventually were assigned to the same squad was purely coincidence. After Robby-G076 was killed during the Fall of Reach, Drew-G209 was assigned to the team as a replacement. The team was close with all members looking out for each other and is still listed as active. It is suspected that potential members include Owen-G197 and Reece-G324. When not deployed, Nova Team operated out of the heavy prototype frigate, UNSC Supernova.

Trivia

 * John is currently one of the only Spartans to actually be of Greek descent.
 * John-A222 has only met John-117 twice, but he stands in great admiration of the Spartan with whom he shares a name.
 * John was unique among the SPARTAN-IIIs, having the genetic specifications sought in SPARTAN-II candidates.
 * John-A222 actually trained alongside on numerous occasions. Coincidentally, the two would both rise to become notable UNSC Naval Commanders.
 * Although hardly displayed in combat, John has shown great proficiency with a sword.
 * John's Spartan tag is a possible because given that "A" is the first letter of the alphabet, it can take an assumed value of "1". Therefore, 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 7.
 * The emblem located on John's armor bears similarity to the emblem displayed on 's shoulder pauldron. Given John-A222's reasoning for selecting his emblem, there is no correlation.
 * An unusual skill among Spartans, John has shown admirable drawing abilities
 * John has shown great fascination with the and has had to use several in combat.
 * John is suspected to have been involved with ONI to an unknown extent. It is believed that he possesses and  clearance within ONI.