Delta Company

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"It's imperative that we maintain the secrecy that surrounds the project. Even though the DELTA Initiative has been greenlit by both ONI and the, we must be reluctant to mention the program except in the most important reports. If the rest of ONI finds out we're using Spartans to train Spartans for ourselves, then we will pay the highest penalties for treason."

- Director Jazmine Utah, on the risks involved.

The ORION Generation-III, Class IV, more commonly known as the SPARTAN-III Delta Company, was a secret class of Spartan super-soldiers created by the to serve as their own elite force, unbeknownst to the rest of. Formed from the consenting candidates in late-, the trainees were raised in an isolated facility on for five years of training. Due to the odd circumstances that influenced the program, Delta Company's training regime and candidate requirements were unrecognisable from previous generations; they were intended to be used as much as against human forces as well as soldiers, and many genetic requirements previously used were relaxed to maximize the number of possible recruits.

Origins and Selection
Though the selection process for the future members of Delta Company was in a process of rushing in 2551 to 2552, the origins of the selection could be found four years before. With Gamma Company's training well underway, agents from Section-II began analysing data from the recent 2545 Human Citizen Census and the on-going vaccination programs to find possible candidates who may fulfil the age range that was sort after in earlier companies. Those who met the genetic profile sought were then organised by the likelihood their planet would be invaded by the Covenant, then the risk of how likely their home cities or towns would be chosen as targets for the Covenant. As time went on, measures were put in place to ensure what as many potential candidates survived, including creating child-only evacuation craft. To avoid losing track of the candidates in other orphanages across the remaining worlds, as what happened to previous companies in the past, they were injected with a newly-developed organic tracking solution into their bloodstream. This was all completed by 2549, when enough possible candidates had been surveyed that made the fourth company viable.

When 2551 came around, however, enough problems arose that required another validation of the remaining candidates on the list. This was caused by two main problems. Firstly, while ONI was successful at guaranteeing the safety of most of the candidates, a small portion were located on worlds that had not been attacked, but bypassed entirely by the Covenant's invasion fleets. This made those candidates harder to interview and retrieve, much less want to leave in the first place, resulting in them being cut from the list. Secondly and most significantly was Ambrose's research into augmentation failures. He released a new set of required genetic markers based on incompatible gene sequences which led to their bodies rejecting the drugs, resulting in a complete re-evaluation of the candidates. When all this was finished, the amount of children compatible dropped from just over three hundred to half that number. With the future of his brainchild now in risk, it didn't take long for Ackerson to find out.

With pressure from even higher-ranking ONI officers such as Admiral, Ackerson authorised the creation of at least four hundred and seventy-five soldiers. To gain such vast amounts of soldiers, he made a number of changes to the selection criteria; many of which were based on those used by the older Gamma Company. Predictably, Ackerson's orders to downgrade the genetic code requirements to "recommended" infuriated Ambrose, who immediately and stubbornly demanded for those to be reinstated as mandatory. However, as Ambrose had no alternate ideas for how to get so many candidates, it stood for the rest of the selection process.

Lucky for Ambrose, these measures proved to be unnecessary when in 2552 a new wave of orphans resulted from the destruction of the colonies; a horrible price to allow the continuation of the SPARTAN-III program. Even while Section-II was still cataloguing the possible candidates present in the refugee camps, both Ackerson and Ambrose reluctantly allowed them to begin evaluating and if possible recovering them. Because of this, by the right at the end of the war, four hundred and ninety-seven candidates had been surveyed for possible proposal and at least three hundred and forty had already been recovered. However, at this time the candidate collection stopped; the deaths of both the administrators and many of the employees of the SPARTAN-III program left almost nobody to run it. Coupled with ONI's public support for the, there was also little interest in re-establishing it.

Reestablishment and Recruitment
There were some who still showed interest in Delta Company, though. ONI Beta-5's Director, Jazmine Utah, was particularly interested in it. Utah wanted loyal Spartans for different purposes, like personal bodyguards for high-ranking ONI operatives like herself, assassins employed by ONI to take out targets quickly and quietly and other similar purposes. She convinced Andrew Johnson, an important ONI operative and former BRUTUS agent and together with him re-established the almost forgotten project. When they submitted their proposal to the ONI brass, they were disappointed when the admirals revealed that there were already plans for a similar training program for the SPARTAN-IVs.

It's fair to say that neither Utah nor Johnson were used to not getting their way. In secret, the two tried to collected as many of the recruited children as possible, either by falsifying records, or by manufactured accidents within ONI to distract them. Once this was done, they were moved to a refitted facility on Chi Ceti IV, and any files which mentioned the recruits were corrupted or deleted to remove ONI's knowledge that the recruits had been recovered. Understandably, not all of these operations were successful; for example, the children who were stationed in FUSION Base on Luna had to be abandoned due to the unexpectedly-high level of security there. In the meantime, Johnson pushed for the acquisition of several Spartans by claiming to test their ability to train soldiers. After some negotiations, he was granted the services of two Spartans, their disappearance masked by the fictional OPERATION: INCOGNITO; Ren-072 and Kyle-B115. Though they did train some of the Beta-5 security personnel before the Company officially started, they were quickly informed they would be training Spartans-to-be.

Conditioning
The recruits arrived at Chi Ceti IV throughout the rest of the year, being immediately moved to their training base, now designated Camp Ambrose, almost as soon as they had been recovered. During this time, they were frequently moved quarters, due to the fact that the base was still under heavy renovation. By the time the final candidates arrived on the 4th December 2552, it was only just nearing completion; despite this, the trainers and administrative personnel couldn't find a reason not to postpone the training any longer. The recruits were called into the compound's mess hall, where the staff introduced them to the program and informed them about the program. The appearance of the enlisted AIs and a short film, as well as the appearance of Kyle and Ren in full armour, were there to further interest and encourage the recruits. After the meeting was over, the trainees were then shoved into a large freighter which took them several kilometres into the sky. Before they were asked to jump, they were given and taught how to operate the. Impressively, almost everyone made the jump, with an exception of some twenty recruits who either refused to jump, or were badly injured when they crashed into the ground. Without a way to smuggle them back into society without arousing suspicion, the children were taken to another base on the planet where they were trained to become researchers or simply normal people. The other three hundred, meanwhile, were congratulated by their head trainers in qualifying for the program, before being sent to bed.

Starting the next day, the young trainees endured a gruelling exercise designed to push their mental and physical abilities to the limit. These were mainly composed of lengthy aerobic exercises which developed the trainees' fitness, strength and endurance, though nerve-numbing techniques were also included daily. These were further supplemented by the occasional challenge which specifically tested their intelligence, determination and, in the case of, their cohesion. These were broken up only by five periods, of which three were for a time to eat their high-nutrition and drug-infused foods and the last two for academic study or teach English to those who did not have English as their first language. The only escape from this harsh reality was the seven-hour break at night reserved exclusively for sleeping, and their forced awakening in the morning would begin the cycle again.

Outdated, inefficient and largely unwanted, the second model of official MJOLNIR line was nevertheless a potent piece of hardware which led to it being designated as the default armour of the company. It was, for its time, a revolutionary piece of hardware for Spartans, including a significant number of innovations changed the way Spartans can fight. The most important of which was its system, allowing them to fight in hotly-contested zones without risking direct damage to their suits for a brief period. It also came with the ability to load to increase certain performance aspects, the most commonly-used for the Deltas is an easily-disturbed  field emitter. Other smaller additions include improved motion trackers and the larger fusion reactor to power the new equipment.

The Mark V was widely produced between 2550 up until mid-2552 to improve the capabilities of the surviving SPARTAN-II and Cat-2 SPARTAN-III super-soldiers. However, the rapid redeployment or casualties these soldiers undertook from the desperate battles in the last year of the war and the sudden upgrade to GEN2 armour soon after has left several unused suits. That, and the relative cheapness of its parts and construction, meant that the Mark V quickly impressed the budget oversight officers enough to allow mass-production of the suit. Due to concerns over its viability in quiet stealth operations meant it was modified with RADAR-resistant materials and design, and had an enhanced emission-capture tank which needed. The Mark V is used by most of the Delta Company Spartans, except the ones who are at the peak in training, instead they were given the more advanced iterations of the MJOLNIR armor.

The legendary MJOLNIR Mark VI was, despite its age, was still a very capable and well-rounded weapon in the UNSC's arsenal; however, its design places an emphasis on combat viability. This literation included or improved all features added in its predecessors, such as stronger energy shielding, the ability to carry an AI and of course able to boost the strength, speed and reaction time of the user. The Mark VI made a number of new introductions as well; as well as improved software which made it easier to utilise dual-welding in certain weapons, the suit also contained an automated biofoam injection system, allowing the user to fight for longer before medical attention is required. However, one thing it did not include was the ability to install reusable modules, though individual, single-use packs could still be used.

Used by the higher-scoring recruits in competitions, the Mark VI's was originally considered as the standard-issue power armour for the company, as it easily exceeded the stealth requirements desired by the administration. However, concerns with the armor's availability and excessive production costs led to it being replaced by its more economical predecessor. Meanwhile, the odd-two dozen suits already acquired were given over to the teams who were assigned to more destructive missions than their other peers were intended for. These were quickly retired in 2558, when they were replaced by a stripped-down version of their unofficial successor, the MJOLNIR Mark VII.

While the Mark VI was given to the recruits who performed the best in the competitions, it's only use was to function as a temporary armor before the real armor arrived; the MJOLNIR Mark VII. Over-budgeted and later deemed unnecessary due to the introduction of the, the Mark VII prototypes were scrapped by the high-ranking officials at ONI, specifically by. However, a secret cut-down variant was under development, unknown to many high-ranking people at ONI and UNSC. This variant featured many new stealth and other upgrades, as well as removing some other new ones that were deemed not-of-use for Delta Company Spartans. All the funding to this secret armor was done by Jazmine Utah herself.

First entering service in within the first half of 2558, the Mark VII proved to be a deadly combination when paired with the best in the company. There is no information about the replaced Mark VI armors, though it is suspected they have been upgraded with new technology and features to be compatible with the GEN2 armor and to be used by the SPARTAN-IVs. One such Mark VI suit was stolen by the bounty hunter Grayson Dent, who gave it to the renegade Spartan Nick-A077 as part of a bigger plan.

GHOST-class Mjolnir Prototype
While the mainline Mark V was designated the mainline suit for the Deltas, its focus on combat meant that even with the stealth upgrades, there were concerns it would fall short in missions which demanded stealth over all else. For this reason, Utah persuaded the engineers at Damascus Materials to loan them their new GHOST-class power armor for testing. More of a technology demonstrator than a variant, the GHOST was built around both Covenant active camouflage technology and stealth systems, giving it unparalleled stealth qualities. To further increase its effectiveness at infiltrating, the suit has a stripped-down design which sacrifices protection for a improved flexibility and a lighter frame, and an experimental shaping system gives it's energy shields a curious insulating characteristic to cut down thermal radiation by up to 35%. An emission-capture system is installed to trap additional heat. Finally, the helmet is outfitted with a VISR 6.0 which could highlight security systems detected by the operator or the armor's sensors, improving the situational awareness of the user and thus their ability to succeed in the mission.

While all these technological leaps gave the GHOST significant advantages over older systems, the suit was not without issues. Firstly, the suit is notoriously inefficient, meaning that deuterium-booster packs are essentially if the user needs to remain for an extended period of time. More minor but still dangerous risks relate to the fact most of the suits aren't in production yet; as such, the chance of a certain system at best unresponsive or at worst exploding is higher than in other systems.

Organisation and Personnel
 Recruits=Much like the SPARTAN-IIs, the trainees of Delta Company were allowed to keep their original numerical designations. For this reason, it's possible to have a SPARTAN-D397, the highest numbered Delta, even though there were only about three hundred Spartans who were recruited. Teams=
 * Justin-D009
 * Ray-D038
 * Deryck-D096
 * Liv-D124
 * Jardon-D156
 * Tor-D191
 * Daiki-D217
 * Oliver-D227
 * Isabelle-D231
 * Joyce-D264
 * Dayna-D299
 * Rachel-D329
 * Michelle-D354
 * Morris-D385
 * Amanda-D396

Staff & Trainers= While almost all of the trainers were experienced veterans of the Human-Covenant War, two of them were rather unlikely Spartans. With several fictional operations created as part of the DELTA Initiative, a number of Spartans served as trainers at least sometime during the Delta's training; Kyle-B115 and Ren-072 however both served as trainers during the entire training process. 
 * Team Hadron
 * Justin-D009
 * Ray-D038
 * Liv-D124
 * Oliver-D227
 * Rachel-D329
 * Team Neutron
 * Deryck-D096
 * Tor-D191
 * Joyce-D264
 * Amanda-D396
 * Michelle-D354
 * Team Singularity
 * Jardon-D156
 * Daiki-D217
 * Isabelle-D231
 * Dayna-D299
 * Morris-D385
 * Commissioned Officers
 * Rear Admiral Jazmine Utah
 * Commander Andrew Johnson
 * Commander Kyle-B115
 * Major Ren-072
 * Master Gunnery Sergeant Bryant Wilmer
 * Non-Commissioned Officers
 * Civilians and AIs
 * Oracle