User:Spartan-D042/Experimental Weapons Group 15

Experimental Weapons Group 15 was a splinter group of the original Spartan-II program, it used the top ten conscripts (all of which were made impossible for Dr. Halsey to collect), genetically speaking, and multiple Spartan IIIs (some years later) and preformed a variety of projects to further enhance Spartans.

Project Leonidas
All great armies need a great leader, this is not an opinionated statement, it is fact. Without an ideal to live up to, something to strive towards, how are soldiers to better themselves? LEONIDAS was Experimental Weapons Group 15s first assigned project.

While no doubt the harsh training endured by the Spartan IIs would yield a multiple great leaders for the unit, the goal of LEONIDAS was to build the ultimate leader and warrior for ONI's secret weapons.

After acquiring the ten most genetically qualified Spartan II candidates, EWG15 began the harshest training regime known to man. The conscripts were constantly in danger, it was more common for a drill to be live fire than not.

Through the twelve year training program all but one of the children died. Six were lost to the training, two to augmentations, and one to enhancement. Unlike the other SIIs who received minor cybernetic enhancement (minor compared to the conscripts of LEONIDAS that is), LEONIDAS candidates were enhanced to the point where they were no longer human, instead they were a hybrid of man, machine, and science. A cyborg.

The one candidate to survive the training, a young boy once known as Jason Daniels, was designated Leonidas-001. Leonidas was not deployed until after The Covenant threat emerged. He was equipped with MJOLNIR MKIV and deployed on Harvest where he quickly demonstrated just how great of a warrior he truly was, defeating hundreds of Covenant forces with relative ease.

In addition to demolishing Covenant troops, he also captured numerous pieces of alien technology. This tech was soon incorporated by EWG15 into his armor, making him the first Spartan to possess energy shielding.

Several years into the war, Leonidas had yet to encounter another Spartan. Instead of using him as the leader he was designed to be, ONI decided it was satisfied with the regular Spartan IIs that had emerged as leaders, and would now use Leonidas as their own personal grim reaper.

ONI Section 0 did so until 2540, when Leonidas mysteriously dropped off the grid, he was declared MIA, and is one of the few Spartans who truly is.

Project LAZRUS
Experimental Weapons Group 15's next venture delved into a much darker field of work, resurrection. They attempted to accomplish this feat using massive amounts of cybernetics, essentially creating robots that possessed the memory and skills of the individual it once had been.

The process failed, while they succeeded in getting the bodily functions such as heartbeat and other things to work, the cybernetics simply could not tap into the memories and skills of the individual or much of anything. All subjects were essentially robotic vegetables, and were terminated.

ATHENIAN Program
Around the time Spartan III Alpha Company began training, a group of twenty orphaned teenage volunteers were sent to ONI Venator base. The group were going to become something different than Spartans, better than them some would argue. They would become Athenians.

This program focused on strategy, advanced thinking, and naval warfare. While the program did have some combat focus, it was minor compared to the other subjects.

The result was twenty borderline genius officers. The Athenians were dispersed throughout the UNSCDF as ship captains, infantry commanders, and various command roles in ONI.

EWG15 had one of its prodigies return to it after some field work with ONI. This prodigy, was Captain Cole White who would eventually become the acting CO of EWG15, the only person over him was Margret Pargnosky herself.

Project THIRD DAY
THIRD DAY was the successor to LAZURUS, this time using clones with the source materials memories implanted. The project was a success and led to the creation of Codename AZRAEL. The amount of Forerunner technology available at this time allowed for it succeed where LAZURUS failed.

Codename AZRAEL
After the success of Project LEONIDAS, ONI commissioned EWG15 to create another cyborg warrior. The result was Codename AZRAEL. A clone based off the genetic template of John-117, it aged naturally and was 'born' on November 4th, 2545.

From birth it was raised in a controlled environment, erasing the need for indoctrination. At age 4 it began training. It was trained to the point where it was essentially hyperspecialized in every area of combat, aside from sniping, which was its top field.

It was finally deployed at age 13 in 2558, after finishing a two year rehabilitation from the cybernetic enhancement process. When it was finally deployed, it was equipped with a unique suit of MJOLNIR (GEN2), the suit had the ability to shift coloration in order to camouflage itself and the users weapon to match the surrounding environment. This is possible though the use of experimental nanotechnology. The suit was a combination of SCOUT and HAZOP armor components.

The subject was also issued a heavily upgraded M99 SASR, which had its range, magazine size, and overall force nearly tripled. The weapon also had an onboard targeting system which is integrated into the subjects HUD. In addition to the other modifications, the rifle could be linked to the suit in a way that allowed the weapon to be fired standing up or even moving. It was also issued a MA5D.

Azrael was first deployed during the Requiem conflict to recover high value Forerunner artifacts for ONI HIGHCOM. It proved more than a match for Promethean and Covenant warriors, slaughtering both in droves. At the end of the conflict the subject was still active and living up to its name, as an angel of death, as ONI's personal Grim Reaper.