Dan-G076

"After my family was killed, I was alone and angry, right up until some fella with an ONI pin told me that I could be the hero that wasn't there for my family."

- Dan-G076, Dan Steele

Spartan Dan-G076, born Daniel Steele, is a Spartan-III Commando of the UNSC Naval Special Warfare Command, Spartan Operations, and the Office of Naval Intelligence. He leads the Spartan-III team, Team Bayonet and briefly fought at the end of the Human-Covenant War, fighting in the Battle of Mombasa, Attack on Sydney, Battle of Cleveland, and also fought in the Requiem Campaign. He was a Senior Chief Petty Officer prior to joining the Spartan Branch.

Early Life
Daniel Steele was born on December 11th, 2537, on Tribute to parents Connor and Catherine Steele. Both his parents were members of the UNSC with his father being an ODST in the 23rd Shock Trooper Battalion, and his mother a nurse on a UNSC hospital ship. In October of 2541, his father was killed during the defense of one of the outer colonies. Two years later in April, whilst Dan was in the care of family friends, his mother's hospital ship was attacked and destroyed by a Covenant Task Force, leading to the death of both his mother and 3 year old sister, Sarah.

New Beginnings
"Look, right now you are just a lonely boy who is angry with the world. You have the chance to change the lives of others. Your entire family was taken at the hands of the Covenant. You could help to prevent that from happening to anyone else. I offer you the opportunity to become the hero your family never had."

- ONI Spartan-III recruiter to Dan Following the death of his family, Dan became more reclusive, spending less time with children his own age and rarely speaking to anyone besides his best friend Nick. He would become a common site at UNSC shipbuilding yards, where he was first noticed by ONI agents inspecting the facility. In July of 2544, he was interviewed by what he claimed was "a man with jet black hair, a sharp gray suit, and a shiny ONI pin on his lapel". Following the man's pitch, Dan, without hesitation, said yes. A few weeks later he was picked up by ONI Agents and shipped off to training.

Training
In 2544, along with the rest of Gamma Company, Trainee-G076 was taken to Camp Curahee, on Onyx where he was assigned to Team Bayonet, where he quickly established himself as a leader. There, he was trained until 2551, becoming the Spartan-III he is today. Becoming one of the top 20 performers of Gamma Company, he excelled at urban warfare, reconnaissance, as well as general assault. While in training, he developed a love for history, specifically the Second World War and the United States of America. Despite being fairly reserved, he was well liked in the company, often being the person who the others came to for advice. Following his augmentations in February of 2551, he became not only one of the largest Spartans of Gamma Company, but also one of the tallest and biggest of the Spartan-III's, weighing in at 273.6 lbs. and standing at 6'9" without any armor. At the end of his Spartan training, his team, Team Bayonet, scored 4th out of all the teams on Onyx, and just barely losing out to Team Gladius to compete for top honors. This wound up being beneficial for him and his team, as they were not kept on Onyx to fight in the Battle of Onyx.

Team Bayonet
Main Article: Team Bayonet

Dan would work with Team Bayonet until his requisition by ONI in 2554. Team Bayonet was made up of the follow Spartans.
 * Dan-G076
 * Tom-G012
 * Anya-G271
 * Theo-G026
 * Jess-G141

Human-Covenant War
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Like the rest of Gamma Company, Dan did not receive his deployment orders until a few weeks after the fall of his home planet of Reach. Team Bayonet was one of the few Spartan-III's teams who were deployed to Earth, as the Battle of Earth was just beginning.

Battle of Mombasa
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Initially deployed to Kenya, Team Bayonet saw limited combat in the Battle of Mombasa, as they were prioritized with evacuation and aiding civilians, but despite only seeing a little combat in Mombasa, Dan was shot multiple times by Brutes while evacuating civilians from a Covenant occupied building. After the battle ended, he was contacted by ONI, and he and his team were flown to Sydney as they were needed in a suspected upcoming attack on the city.

Attack on Sydney
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Upon arrival in Sydney, Dan and his team received orders to report to the, in preparation for the Battle of Sydney. Within two hours of their arrival, Covenant ships began to attack the city of Sydney, Team Bayonet quickly gathered SPNKR Launchers, Turrets, and whatever they could find to repel the Covenant attack and headed to the roof of the building. Among their weapons was a prototype railgun, codenamed the ARC Carbine. Team Bayonet successfully repelled seven repeated attacks on the HIGHCOM building, earning Team Bayonet the Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation. The team was then rushed to the, as a Covenant force began an attack on the facility. The Covenant attack, while small in numbers, pushed hard, eventually collapsing after Anya-G271 killed the who lead the attack. Each member of Team Bayonet would earn a Bronze Star and Purple Heart from this battle, as a nod to the amount of lives saved that day. Following this battle, the majority of Team Bayonet's SPI Armor was severely damaged or melted from extensive plasma damage, prompting UNSC High Command to authorize the use of Mjolnir-Powered Assault Armor with Team Bayonet, as a way to test new experimental Mjolnir variants and shielding, and get rid of surplus variants. It was considered a "reward" by Team Bayonet for their actions in Sydney. This would also cement Team Bayonet as a Spartan-III team who could be sent on more important and higher risk missions.

Battle of Cleveland
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A little over a month later, armed with a new custom knife, Dan and Team Bayonet were deployed to Cleveland in their new Mjolnir Armor in order to participate in the Battle of Cleveland. During this battle is where Dan truly showed his colors as one of the best Spartans of Gamma Company. He led Team Bayonet into a building the Covenant were using as a makeshift command post, clearing it of a Jiralhanae Chieftain, two Jiralhanae Captain Majors, four Jiralhanae Majors, twelve Jiralhanae Minors, two Lekgolo, and a large collection of Unggoy and Kig-Yar, all without a single injury to his Spartans. For his actions in this battle, Dan won the Red Legion of Honor, after he led Team Bayonet in safely evacuating and defending 47 civilians across a bridge, against a much larger force of what he estimates was around 60-80 Covenant soldiers. Also during this battle is where his new armor came in handy, after a Banshee shot down by UNSC forces came crashing down on top of him, only to have the dust clear to find that he was in armor lock, surviving the crash. Team Bayonet would not be deployed again during the Battle for Earth, instead kept on stand-by in the case of a Covenant attempt to attack another city, which never happened.

Post Human-Covenant War
In the years following the Human-Covenant War, Dan would run small scale operations, usually with Team Bayonet. Now with Mjolnir armor, Team Bayonet would be sent on more high risk missions, as the Mjolnir allowed for greater odds of survival. This sometimes had them dealing with Insurgents, sometimes dealing with former Covenant.

ONI
In 2554, he was requisitioned by ONI as reconnaissance and intelligence personal. On some missions he would operate with other Spartans, specifically the only other ONI Spartan operative from Team Bayonet, Anya-G271. During his time with ONI, he was required to operate on colonies and former Covenant planets, monitoring situations, specifically the Blooding Years on Sanghelios. While on Sanghelios he gathered intelligence on resistance efforts against Thel 'Vadam's Swords of Sanghelios. A large percentage of his missions, would be location identification and general reconnaissance, with most of the data being used by ONI, for their Spartan-III covert operation group, the. For thirteen months, Dan and Anya-G217 were considered to be the best Spartan Operative Team ONI had available, completing two hundred and forty-three successful missions in that time. Their streak was only ended due to Anya's selection for classified missions and resignation in 2556.

New Phoenix Incident
Main Article: "I was mortified, beyond belief, I mean, there was just, just, nothing. Piles of nothing. No life, no voices. Nothing. All there were, were piles and piles of black dust. Millions of people just, reverted to dust. Even plasma doesn't do that. Just dust."

- Dan-G076 talking to Anya-G271 about the New Phoenix Incident At the start of the New Phoenix Incident, G-076 was on Earth, training with ONI operatives at HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6, when the facility was put on high alert. He was rapidly deployed to the New Phoenix area, beginning his work right after the attack ended. Upon entering the city Dan was horrified to find "thousands of piles of dust". Stating in his report that there were "No people alive. Multiple piles of ash. Buildings intact".

Spartan Operations
"The way I see it, you have three options. One, return to ONI as a full time Spartan operator, running the same missions you've been running for years; two, you retire as of now, ending your military career as a 20 year old Spartan with a nothing but black ink to your name; or three, you join the Spartan Operations and continue doing what we were trained to do, fight until there is no more fight left."

- Jun-A266 to Dan-G076 on joining the Spartan Branch Following his release from ONI in December of 2557, G-076 was approached by fellow Spartan-III and the sole survivor of NOBLE Team,. Jun wished for G-076 to become one of the IIIs to join the newly formed Spartan Branch. Initially, Dan rejected, wishing to remain with the Navy and NAVSPECWAR, but after hearing he would be forced into retirement by the Navy, Dan chose to join with the Spartans. Following this, he received orders to report to Spartan Commander aboard the.

Requiem Campaign
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Once on-board the Infinity he was reunited with Team Bayonet, and was almost immediately outfitted with Mjolnir Powered Assault Armor (GEN 2) and given all new uniforms. He was requested to help lead the Spartan-IVs on Requiem. Team Bayonet, along with the Spartan-IVs would fight both Prometheans and Jul 'Mdama's Covenant on Requiem, winning decisively in most engagements. At some point during the third day of the campaign, G-076 would be seen saving a squad of Marines from being pummeled by two Lekgolo and a commanding Sangheili. This would lead to him receiving the Distinguished Service Cross and Purple Heart, as he broke three fingers in the fight. In the final days of the campaign, a Marine would report seeing G-076 tear the jaw of a Kig-Yar from the rest of it's head after the Kig-Yar attempted to shoot him from behind with a Carbine Rifle. Team Bayonet would kill more Covenant/Prometheans than any other fireteam deployed to Requiem, killing a total of 682 Covenant and Promethans, 168 belonging to Dan alone.

Post-Requiem
As of October 2558, Dan-G076 is still aboard the UNSC Infinity, primarily tasked with helping new Spartan-IV's adjust to their augmentations and overall mission readiness, and when not running missions, can be found in the War Games simulations, training, or playing his six-string acoustic. He along with Team Bayonet are often sent on high-risk operators which most Spartan-IVs would not be able to complete.

Traits and Personality
"While being one of the most calm and collected Gammas outside of combat, he is one of the deadliest and most efficient Spartan-III's I have ever seen."

- Lieutenant Commander Kurt Ambrose on Dan-G076 Dan is regarded as one of the calmest Gammas, both by his peers and trainers, despite the use of the mutagen in his augmentation. Early in his training he was recognized for his ability to lead under stress and the fact he was able to gain the trust of his teammates quickly. He also tended to have a morbid and dark sense of humor, which quickly led to and he becoming friends. Dan has a high level of care and empathy for civilians, which is uncommon among Spartans, and usually works his hardest to ensure they are safe before himself. He is generally well liked by those around him, as he is relatively social, and tends to be the person who most will come to in need of advice. He and Anya-G271 share a close relationship, as she is the one he confides in, and he is the one she confides in. This is most likely due to the fact they were often together for their ONI missions, and have been together since childhood. In the early training years during childhood, Dan was best friends with Theo-G026 and Mark-G313, but as they got older Theo and Dan maintained their friendship, while Mark became himself. Dan harbors slight animosity toward Spartan-IVs, whom he doesn't consider "real Spartans" as they weren't put through the same lifetime of training he was, considering them "over-hyped Marines in Mjolnir", this dislike is a contributing factor in his initial resentment toward joining the "Spartan" Branch.

Armors:

 * (2551-2552)
 * (2552-2558)
 * Dan utilized a ODST UA/CNM variant helmet, GRENADIER left shoulder armor, COMMANDO right shoulder armor, ASSAULT/SAPPER chest rig, a TACTICAL/TACPAD wrist mount, a TACTICAL/TRAUMA utility kit, a Black Visor, and FJ/PARA kneeguards, in the colors of Steel and Maroon.


 * Dan utilizes the helmet, along with the  armor, with an Autumn Visor, in the colors of Pepper and Brick.
 * Dan utilizes the helmet, along with the  armor, with an Autumn Visor, in the colors of Pepper and Brick.

Attack on Sydney:

 * MA5K Carbine
 * M6G Personal Defense Weapon System
 * Combat Knife
 * M6G Personal Defense Weapon System
 * Combat Knife

Battle of Cleveland:

 * M392 Designated Marksman Rifle
 * M6G Personal Defense Weapon System
 * Custom Bowie Knife
 * Custom Bowie Knife

Requiem Campaign:

 * Custom Bowie Knife
 * Custom Bowie Knife
 * Custom Bowie Knife
 * Custom Bowie Knife

Main Weapons:

 * MA5D Individual Combat Weapon System
 * BR85 Service Rifle
 * M6H2 Personal Defense Weapon
 * Custom Bowie Knife

Decorations
The following is an incomplete list of the medals which Dan-G076 has won throughout his career.

Trivia

 * Dan is mostly of Anglo-Saxon and Germanic descent.
 * Following his father's death in 2541, he was gifted his father's ODST helmet from his father's best friend and second-in-command of his father’s squad. He was allowed to keep this helmet through Spartan-III training and eventually had it modified to work with his new Mjolnir armor in 2552, becoming his primary helmet until 2558.
 * On the last day of the Human-Covenant War, December 11th, 2552, Dan-G076 celebrated his 15th birthday.
 * Dan went under the codename, TEMPLAR, while working with ONI.