User:Distant Tide/Sandbox

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Ranger One=

Army Recon and Reactionary Combat Teams often assosiated with the title, Rangers, were special mission teams established by the UNSC Army initially to provide high-quality security on the edge of colonial space.



Ranger Two=

The 34th Infantry Battalion, previously a sub unit of the 126th Infantry Division is an attached element to the United Nations Space Command's "Task Force Foxhound," a multi-branch military force formed to hunt high-value targets, usually rogue augmented individuals, that may threaten the security of the Unified Earth Government.

Before its reassignment to purely special operation missions under Task Force Foxhound, the 34th was an established special mission battalion, permanently based on the human fortress world of Reach.

Following the Fall of Reach in 2552, the 34t was transferred to a temporary command under Task Force Lightning involved in the defense of Earth. Fox Company was decidedly stricken from the Army's active unit roster due to the limited number of active personnel remaining following the Human-Covenant War.

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Conception
"Rangers lead the way."

- 75th Ranger Regiment Motto, from WW2 to the Interplanetary War.

During the twenty-second century, the United Republic of North America greatly expanded the designation of "Ranger" among its Army regiments as conflicts on Earth and within the Sol System required a massive restructuring and recruitment phase to prepare for the conflicts that would define that century.

While not yet the actual unit, Fox Company's predecessors were part of the Third Ranger Battalion of the famed 75th Ranger Regiment. F-Company spent most of its time stationed in southern Mexico along the URNA's southern border. They would go on to serve in the Rainforest Wars and the Interplanetary War.

The F-Company of that era spent time-fighting among the jungles of the Amazon Rainforest, best known from the war auto-biography, "A Soldier's Tale: The Rainforest Wars" by Captain Jeremiah Mendez. F-Company would also see limited action on Earth's moon, Luna, just as the Interplanetary War came to an end.

Following the Interplanetary War and the Castillo Treaty that put an end to the conflict, F-Company would be restructured and reorganized into the newly established military faction, the United Nations Space Command. The official unit would be dissolved as Mankind ventured in space, the unit mantle would live on.

15 years after the human colonization of Reach, the UNSC would establish the colony world as a UNSC stronghold - perpetuated by the new rebellions appearing across the Outer Colonies. Among Reach's first permanently based units, the 34th Infantry Brigade was among them and included the reestablishment of F-Company, known as the "Flying Foxes," associated with their limited airborne capabilities.

Later down the line, Fox Company would become a fully-fledged "Pathfinder" Army unit, an UNSC designation for Army Airborne units and further on become one of a select few units in the UNSC to be graced with the name of "Ranger."

Before the Fall or Reach, the official title of Fox Company was "126th Infantry Division, 34th Infantry Brigade, 3rd Battalion, F-Company."

Capabilities


Similar to the use of Rangers by the United Republic of North America, the United Nations Space Command sought to use Ranger units as force multipliers and active responders to low-energy conflicts such as colonial rebellions and special operations.

While not as numerous as Army Airborne or the Marine-based ODSTs, Rangers like Fox Company served as traditional shock troopers - deploying behind enemy lines to create havoc and go after soft targets in a highly rapid manner similar to blitzkrieg tactics, however, at a smaller scale.

The smaller number of deployable Ranger units compared by ratio to the entirety of the URNA military reveals that Rangers are not functionally large enough a force to act like their predecessors, overwhelming their adversaries with speed and firepower. Instead, the modern incarnation calls for specific targets and locale deployments to maximize their use. Modern Rangers of the UNSC favor individual strike missions deployed at most at the company level but preferrably at the squad or platoon level.

During the Human-Covenant War, Rangers were mostly kept away from the frontlines or deployed deep into Covenant-held territory to secure important assets, provide security for critical war assets, and deploying on the rare occasion to shore up and augment a deployed units line as the Great War was one focused on defense rather than attack like the conflicts traditionally fought at the time, the Insurrections.

Occasionally, Rangers were deployed in direct action roles. Often these missions were associated with tactical suicide as most forces involved tended not to return from hostile contact alive.

Following the end of the war, many Ranger units were pressured into service with the new Spartan Branch, greatly dwindling their capabilities and numbers.

Given the recent upsurge in rogue spears involving UNSC Spartans and high-profile personnel to the Insurrection resurgence and the uptick in diluted alien threats, Ranger units including Fox Company have been retrained and retooled to hunt rogue Spartans, participate in highly-sensitive intelligence denial missions, and combating potential alien forces.

Though not commonly used, Fox Company has experience in Direct Action missions, Search and Rescue Operations, Deep Reconnaissance, typical counterterrorism, and anti-augmented threat missions.

Callsign
F-Company spawned its nickname from their use of rocket packs and parachutes, similar to other Army Airborne-capable units, their general designation being that of Pathfinder. Where the Marine Corps has its ODSTs, the Army has its Pathfinders.

Fox Company specifically, who's unit mascot is the Flying Foxes, favor the nickname because of their use of both gliding wing suits and jet-powered wing suits that let Fox Company stealthy glide through the air, sometimes seen as an alternative to Pelican aircraft insertion.



Unlike traditional Pathfinders of the 6th Airborne Division, F-Company was instead a permanent fixture of the traditional 126th Army Infantry Division, serving as shock troopers and the occasional force multiplier.

There exists some amnesty between the airborne-capable units of the 126th Infantry Division and the 6th Airborne Division, probably because the 126th is not a fully-established airborne unit and not an actual Pathfinder unit, rather "Pathfinder-capable." The distinction may partially be why they are more commonly known as Rangers rather than Pathfinders.

While favoring the nickname of Flying Foxes, F-Company prefers the depiction the Red Fox with a jet pack instead of a bat species where the unit gets its name. The difference is trivial but has often drawn pointless criticism from fellow servicemen and nitpicking logistics types.

Pre-Interplanetary Conflicts
The 75th Ranger Regiment continued it service under the United States through the 21st century and continued to under its successor state, the United Republic of North America into the 22nd century.

Born from their impressive actions during the Second World War, the Rangers were involved in just about every subsequent conflict the United States was involved in following the global conflict. In the 21st century, the conflict against terrorist organizations in Southwest Asia expanded and continued into the next century under the name the guise of the greater "Middleeastern Forever War." The Rangers served as shock troops and light infantry forces, providing force multiplication elements against terror cells and against the regional warlords that dominated the historically decentralized region.



At the same time, the United States deployed Rangers as early action assets to combat the North Koreans during the Korean Unification Crisis. The 75th received heavy casualties during their clash with the numerically-superior forces of the ultimately defunct Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

During the later half of the 21st century, the Rangers were heavily involved in low-energy conflicts in South America, often against drug lords and cartels intent on dominating their host nation's local politics.

At some point, a shifting political situation in both the United States and Mexico greatly shook the politics of the globe and the Western hemisphere. Rangers were deployed during the Second Border Conflict involving anti-cartel operations and open conflict with hostile government forces in Mexico. The eventual resolution of the war greatly harmed the standing of the United States and eventually led to a brief bout of chaos among the superpower that ended with the unification with Canada and Mexico. The new nation, the United Republic of North America continued to political and cultural apparatus of its absorbed states, adopting many American, Canadian, and Mexican beliefs as its own.

Even through this greater North American crisis, the URNA remained a heavily influential and involved military and political power in global politics. The Rangers would go on to serve the new union through the Rainforest Wars and the Interplanetary Wars.

Fall of Reach - "Winter Contingency"
" Clear and Present Danger "

Viery Territory - "Our Downfall"
" Operation: Exterminator "What turned out to be a mistake. The operation failed. Fox Company received more than a seventy percent fatality rate.

Task Force Lightning - "Licking Our Wounds"
" Operation: Cement Water "It is by UNICOM decision, F-Company will not go through a restructure and retrofit phase as its force numbers have been depleted to near inoperable. Instead, UNICOM directs Fox Company to be absorbed into TF Lightning as a force multiplier. With the expected losses in the Inner Colonies, there is a good chance - by the war's end, Fox Company will no longer exist.

Defense of Earth - "Utter Chaos"
" Operation: Blood Diamond "

New Deployments - "Run Rebel Red"
" Brawler Doctrine "

Battle of Gilgamesh - "Horrors of the Past"
" Operation: Shadow War "

Battle of Aragon - "Covenant Remnants"
" Operation: Sucker Punch "

Task Force Foxhound - "Navy Lap Dogs"
" Operation: Last Lap "

Hunting Rogues - "Fallen Angel"
" Operation: Fallen Angel "

Equipment
--

Staff Sergeant Quinn Silva "Sunshine"
Team Leader, Fireteam Valor

Position: 2550-2553

KIA: Gilgamesh Intervention, 2553

Sergeant Talbot Stoner "Chew Toy"
Team Leader, Fireteam Valor

Fox Company Sub Units
By the end of the Human-Covenant War, the death rate of Fox Company had reached over seventy percent. It was by the decision of UNSC Army commanders that Fox Company was to be removed from active Army rosters and transferred to a full Special Operations portfolio. This entailed the "permanent shutdown" of Fox Company and its absorbance into Task Force Foxhound.



Because of the lack of remaining active personnel and a lack of fresh inductees, Fox Companies remaining squads were restructured into four-man fireteams. While the unit's overall track record is impressive, not a single remaining member of Fox Company was recruited into the Spartan-IV program, in part, because the Army did not want to lose its existing pool of veterans to the newly minted Spartan-branch.

Given a unit loss capacity of nearly 70%, the restructure of the unit platoons left four fireteams on active rotation and only two fireteams in active reservation, though more often than not, these units are deployed on a regular basis because of the constant short staffing of Fox Company forces and why the unit was transferred to use by Task Force: Foxhound.

The remaining, deployable units include Fireteam Asphalt, Fireteam Lovecraft, Fireteam Skunk, Fireteam Trickster, Fireteam Uranium, and Fireteam Valor.

While it has been considered on multiple occasions, a lack of funds, political influence, and lack of star recognition has prevented the recruitment of new Ranger fireteams for Fox Company. This shortcoming has often sidelined Fox Company as a deployable asset in the field as troop losses in the unit have been deemed to risky and other units part of Task Force Foxhound do not suffer from the manpower shortages that Fox Company does.

Trivia
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Human Media

 * Spartan Time (Docu-Drama)
 * Legendary Halo (Children's Cartoon)
 * Thermopylae Academia (Anime Drama)
 * Skybox (Horror-Parody)
 * Hide The Truth: Jiroud vs. Chief (Documentary)
 * Glasslands (Docu-Drama)
 * ECB Nightly News (Network News)
 * Bloody Valley: RvB (Adult Comedy)
 * Navy Central News (ONI/Military News)
 * ONI: Out of the Shadows (Conspiracy Documentary)
 * Marathon (Military Comedy)
 * Destiny (Sci-Fantasy Drama)
 * SRS-99: Death Bringer (Reality Show)
 * Galactic Fossils (Documentary)

Delta's Path
Chapters=



Settings=

Locations

 * Earth

- Humanity's homeworld. Multiple events take place here, following multiple characters. Daniele-D003 spent a number of years on Earth as part of the refugee population. Team Boson returns to the world temporarily on assignment as security forces, ultimately turning rogue.


 * Argus V

- The birthplace of Delta Company. Spartans were trained here after both Onyx and Reach were lost to Covenant attacks. It was eventually abandoned but has been visited multiple times by other parties, including former Spartans.


 * Reach

- Humanity's fortress among the stars. Lost in 2552 to Covenant attack, the world is among a number being sought to be reclaimed through terraforming techniques. Among the people and groups involved is the fugitive Emma-D107.


 * Jade Rock

- An abandoned world after the colonization corporation that owned it went bankrupt. It was terraformed and planted with wildlife and plants, it has since been a wildlife preserve unknown to most. Merlin-D032 and Andra-D054 operate the world as a hideout and waystation due to its remoteness and small population.


 * Breakwater

- A cold, cloudless world with an endless ocean. The planet is mostly occupied by barges and sea platforms built on sunken continental shelves. Some humans have gone as far as to make a home on the sea floor.


 * Conquer

- A mostly desert world due to desertification and ecological collapse occurring unexpectedly during its colonial history, the world has mostly been abandoned by its original population. When escaping from the UNSC, the rogue Team Boson made a major stop here where several interesting events occurred. One of its continents is solely occupied by the BDS Private Security firm.

Organizations

 * Cortez Cartel

- The largest drug-based Cartel in the United Republic of North America. The Cortez Cartel employs an array of unique individuals to fill their rosters. Everyone from the rich to poor have played a part in the group's efforts. While not ideologically loyal, the Glass Raiders under command of Jeffery Korn and Dainele-D003, remain on the payroll, finding the group's movements across frontier space to be profitable.


 * Glass Raiders

- Piracy group based aboard the MSV From The Ashes and led by Captain Jeffery Korn, the Glass Raiders are an enforcement organization on the Cortez Cartel payroll, though with connections to other groups include LEGION and the Russian Crime Syndicate. Other Spartans involved with this group include Adrian-D111. They mostly raid unguarded colonies, move goods across star systems, and provide security for employers.


 * Delta Company

- The shutdown SPARTAN-III Program had a fourth generation of Spartans that went against the requirement of ONI's highest order. Even though the project was eventually shutdown in 2557, the unit, Delta Company, now serves ONI like their Gamma brethren as Ferret Teams and Headhunters. Even with this employment measure, a majority of Delta Company teams turned rogue, either to be hunted down or to disappear into the frontier fringe.


 * Child Crusaders

- A small operation of war orphans seeking to make a living off the streets in California. Originally led by William Morse and Daniele Veracruz, the group was ultimately destroyed by elements within due to being ratted out. The current version of the group was absorbed into the Cortez Cartel - the organization uses Child Crusaders as spies and intelligence resources.


 * Baal Defense Solutions

- A well-known private military firm; their actions have created controversy over human-rights abuses and war crimes. However, based on the frontier, and large enough that they can't be touched. They have been able to carry on their work without intervention, supporting Insurrectionist groups, the UNSC, and even aliens alike. They're just in it for the dime.


 * LEGION

- A mysterious crime organization with intentions of absorbing its competition, it is currently in the process of absorbing the Cortez Cartel and the Russian Crime Syndicate. Not much is known about the group, however, it has been labeled a domestic terrorism group and is on multiple intelligence agency watchlists. Daiki-D217 is a known member.


 * Russian Criminal Syndicate

- Russian crime organization. Nothing too noteworthy.


 * Office of Naval Intelligence

- The UNSC's primary intelligence department service. They have become so large, that, some believe it has become too powerful. It's influence is far-reaching and corruption is found all the way to the top of the ladder. Though flawed as a group, much of their actions have kept Mankind safe from extinction and maintained the social order of society.


 * Beta-5 Division

- A secret ONI Section III division, mostly operating special projects related to special forces. Beta-5 has had a hand in creating a number of ONI Special Forces units and establishing the Spartan branch. They were responsible for Delta Company which caused a major shakeup in the group, especially with those directly involved.


 * Office of Colonial Security

- A former CMA office serving a similar role as the Office of Naval Intelligence, they were later absorbed into ONI. Now serving as a smaller office with jurisdiction over maintaining security in colonial space. ONI agents will usually use the OCS identification to remain discrete. For those fugitives running from ONI and the UNSC, like Delta Company's rogue Spartans, the Office of Colonial Security is one of their largest adversaries.


 * Task Force Foxhound

- Made up of military units on the brink of collapse due to heavy combat losses, the units were remodeled into an adaptive special forces taskforce. Deployed as an auxillary unit, Foxhound is known for lacking any deployments of Spartans, mostly out of retribution from other military branches not taking well to the existence of the SPARTAN-IVs. Foxhound is mostly deployed to hunt augmented and unorthodox threats to UNSC national security.


 * Spartan Operations Branch

- The modern incarnation of Spartans. They are often sent out to hunt rogue Delta Company Spartans. They are the most dangerous threat to rogue Spartans due to their one-to-one nature. Supersoldier against supersolder.


 * Reach Vitality Project

- Project by private investors seeking to rebuild Reach through terraforming technologies. Groups like SinoViet have pumped millions of dollars into the operations. Emma-D107 has been hiding among their ranks for some time, mostly because she wanted to return to her home where she was born.



Story Arcs=

Characters

 * Daniele Veracruz (Spartan D003)

- Seeks Purpose in his life, Daniele has developed a drifter personality. Daniele wants to find some meaning in his existence, has always been on the lower end of society for his entire life. No matter how hard he tries, he seems to only get so far.


 * Andra Bradford (Spartan D054)

- Seeks to protect what she calls family. Andra is wary of most people and holds those she trust on a pedestal. She wants to be a part of a group of people she can trust unquestionably and to protect it with her life.


 * Merlin Ljang Boyd (Spartan D032)

- Seeks to protect those he cares about and to keep the world he loves together. When he loses everything, he tends to avoid reality and avoid confrontation. He ultimately must confront his fear and either end his dream or save it, but, it must be on his terms.


 * Roxanne Savage (Spartan D107)

- Wants to be a good person and live a complete life. She has long held onto the memories of her family and who they are, and wanted to fight for their memory and later, pay her respects to being a family she loved. She returned to Reach because she could be close to what was left of her past, something she hasn't been able to move past from and move on.


 * Adryn Weaver (Spartan D111)

- Seeks retribution and vengeance on all that have wronged him in the world. He's very single-minded, a dangerous trait. While cunning enough as a fighter, he lacks the mentality of a tactician and has chosen to chase after one of the worst possible enemies, he wants to bring ONI down. He cares little for those he aligns with - terrorists, aliens, rogue AIs, private military firms.



{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" ! Merlin-D032

[HOME ALONE]
"Do you remember the faces of your parents?"

- Andra-D054 asking Merlin-D032 about his parents. 2553.

The Cost of War
Merlin Ljang Boyd was born on the 23rd of October, 2545 during the high tide of the Human-Covenant War. Merlin's parents were Cedric Ljang and Rebecka Boyd but never adopted either surname due to the couple's dangerous work involving the Office of Naval Intelligence and the human military. Cedric Ljang was a Chinese-European native of Ballast where Merlin was also born and raised; Cedric formerly served aboard a UNSC frigate as a Master-at-Arms, however, retired from the Navy and joined ONI's Prowler Corps as a security consultant. Rebecka Boyd, Merlin's mother was a native of Earth who followed her work to Ballast. She was a Russian-American immigrant with a background in military intelligence. She was employed by ONI's Section II, Department of Public Relations and Propaganda. Merlin's parents loved and hated their work about equally. Long duration assignments kept them away from home an family and there was the ever-present risk of death in their line of work.

Growing up on the planet of Ballast, Merlin had to adapt to not having his biological parents around often. He lived in the spacious suburbs belonging to the Crimson Tide District in the city of Vallejo. Merlin's memories of his fundamental years are distant, however, his family's upper-middle-class upbringing at least meant that there was almost always food on the table. Ballast was a prosperous Inner Colony and escaped the many Great War horrors, at least, for a time. Merlin didn't get his first experience with aliens till he was in his teenage years and spent more time hearing about alien attacks on the news. Ballast was strategic in the eyes of Merlin's parents - it kept their son as far away from the Covenant onslaught as possible while still allowing the adults to return to visit home once a year or two.

Merlin's mother was stationed on the planet Paris IV, much closer to the frontlines against the Covenant. Due to this threat, Rebecka decided in agreement with Cedric, that Merlin was to be kept on Ballast so that he was at less risk of being caught up in a Covenant invasion. For Merlin's parents, his safety was more important than their relationship with their son. Like many other families in this period of war, sacrifices like these were abundantly common - especially those in the military.

Tragedy ultimately struck, as Rebecka Boyd had feared in 2549. A Covenant invasion force arrived starting the Siege of Paris IV leading to the murder of millions of humans. Rebecka was caught up during the retreat when she prioritized the safety of her co-workers. A team of Covenant Special Forces raided the ONI Section II facility that Rebecka worked at, leading to a firefight. Rebecka Boyd was killed by a lone plasma bolt from a Plasma Repeater in the middle of the chaos. On the other side of Human space, Merlin's father suffered a similar fate. Aboard his ONI prowler, the UNSC Black Widow, Cedric Ljang was obliterated by a volley of plasma torpedoes from a Covenant corvette after the human prowler's stealth systems were compromised. Cedric's prowler had been ordered to observe the Covenant's second assault on the colony world of Arcadia, however, after a number of unfortunate circumstances and tactical errors - their presence was detected and the Covenant forces converged on the Black Widow and destroyed it. There were no survivors. Merlin would not learn of his parent's murders till February 2550, almost six months after his parents were killed.

Merlin was mostly unaffected by the loss of his parents. He mourned their deaths, however, their rare visits meant that he barely knew them as people - even his memory of their faces were hazy to him. The only things he had left of them were his empty home and the family's personal possessions, however, at the behest of the colonial government of Ballast - the family property was liquidated and sold off due to Merlin being a minor and the State couldn't afford to have excessive drains on the economy when the majority of it was going to fighting the war effort. ONI downloaded whatever media they could from the Boyd family's archives and had it shelved for later inspections - only if Merlin made it to the age of a consenting adult that is. He was made a ward of the State and sent to a respectable military orphanage and boarding school where he would live till 2552. Merlin would mourn the loss of his parents, however, over the course of 2 years - he learned to move on.

Spartan Induction
"Do I remember the faces of my parents? Hardly. They died a long time ago - in a faraway place."

- Merlin-D032 reply to Andra-D054's inquiry into his past moments before she assaulted him. 2553.

On the 21st of June, 2552, Merlin was approached by a parental couple in their mid-thirties for adoption. Their appearance did not seem too eye-catching, however, their mannerism and Merlin's gut told him that there was something wrong with the pair. Their rigidness mixed with a very friendly facade was easily written off as a military couple, however, Merlin felt that there didn't seem to be any emotional weight between the two - almost like they weren't lovers. As Merlin noted, they didn't look genuinely interested in anything besides Merlin. Calling their bluff, especially after the two adults were left in a room alone with Merlin, Merlin pointed out that they didn't seem like the adopting type. In actuality, the couple was ONI Lieutenant Jeffery Korn and Doctor Reyna Zhou-Romero. Employed by ONI Section III's Beta-5 Division, the two approached Merlin with a business proposition.

To begin with, Merlin was uninformed about the circumstances of the arrival of the two ONI officials. They'd been keeping an eye on him since his birth - including a sub-dermal tracker placed under his skin following his birth. Merlin's genetic markers lined up with the requirements of the SPARTAN-III Program and thus, these two recruiters were here to check in on their investment. Merlin was ridiculously calm upon meeting the pair of adults, and his strong intuition was a welcome surprise. Romero led the conversation by giving Merlin her condolences from ONI on the passing of his parents and then asked him if he had ever heard of the Spartan supersoldiers. Their conversation evolved into a number of aptitude and personality examinations as part of an interview. Merlin attempted to keep up with Romero but failed more often than not when she asked him complex comprehension questions. Ultimately, Korn and Romero were satisfied with their interview and asked Merlin if he wanted to become a Spartan and save Mankind. Not certain of what it entailed but interested enough from living in a military environment all his life and still holding a grudge against the Covenant for killing his parents, Merlin agreed after a few moments of thought. The two ONI agents told Merlin they would return for him and took their leave. Their entire conversation for Korn and Romero had been to explore Merlin's life and to confirm whether he was actually Spartan material - they went over his medical history, his mental health, his basic lifestyle, and explored his personality. While Merlin was a prime candidate since birth for the Spartan program, his acquisition almost never occurred. Delta Company, the organization he was being recruited into, technically didn't exist.

On the fourth of July, 2552, Merlin's orphanage was visited by a convoy of Beta-5 Division vehicles with armed guards. The retrieval force was led by Lieutenant Korn who asked for Merlin to be relieved from Ballast's foster care system and be passed to ONI custody. While the staff at the foster home objected at first, the ONI warrants and Merlin's vocal support for the ONI officer's actions, the military orphanage let Merlin go - allowing him to disappear with the Beta-5 Division into the night. As soon as he exited the foster care facility, Merlin Boyd was legally dead.

[THE DELTA INITIATIVE]
"Have you heard of the Spartans?"

- Question used during Delta Company's recruitment phase. 2552.

Spartan Evaluation

 * FULL NAME: BOYD, MERLIN L.
 * SERVICE #: D032
 * UNIT: BETA-5 DIVISION/SPARTAN-III DELTA COMPANY/CABIN 003
 * ENLISTMENT DATE: 07/04/2552
 * ENLISTMENT LOCATION: VALLEJO CITY-BASE FOSTER CARE FACILITY
 * STATUS: ACQUIRED
 * GENDER: MALE
 * BIRTPLACE: VALLEJO, BALLAST
 * BIRTH DATE: 10/23/2545

Spartan Guinea Pig
"I didn't join the beloved Corps to take part in Lord of the Flies."

- UNSC Marine Corps Drill Instructor expressing his discontent with the behavioral problems exhibited by the Delta Company's recruited children. 2553.

Merlin spent a few months being shifted around in a cryogenic stasis pod upon joining the ranks of Delta Company. Like many other recruits - the children were now being inducted into a secretive and illegal ONI project that not even the ONI hierarchy knew of. Merlin and other children were kept on ice till the DELTA Initiative could clear up the funding crisis they were currently under as many of their assets were being transferred over to the newly established Spartan Operations Branch. During the hunt to acquire methods of funding, the Human-Covenant War also came to an end. Instead of just shutting down the project entirely, the DELTA Initiative pushed through - allowing Delta Company to begin development at the turn of March 2553, just days after the war was declared over.

Merlin was unlike some other Spartan recruits that were shifted around from place to place during the period of financial crisis for the project. Upon waking up for the first time from cryogenic hibernation - his first experiences involved intense hypothermia and the dislodging of months-old food. Stark naked and confused on where he was, he later learned - along with the twenty-something other recruits in his cryo bay, that he was aboard the UNSC freighter Give Me More and about to land on the planet or Argus V, a mostly uninhabited colony seventy-five light years from Earth.

Upon landing - Merlin and the other children were set upon by doctors and physicians who administrated a series of medical exams and supplements in preparation for the intense training ahead. Merlin would overcome his fear of needles his first day on Argus V after being stuck multiple times with needles and syringes and requested to digest multiple pills along with an excessively large meal. Merlin also felt infatuated with the stable climate of Argus V ad its temperate environment. Large forests and shallow seas separated by sharp mountain ranges were breath-taking to view from the observation deck of the UNSC Give Me More. As with the previous planets that hosted Spartan Programs, the wilderness environments were consistent between Argus V, Onyx, and Reach who hosted the original SPARTAN-II Program. Landing on Argus V intailed reporting to the ONI base on the planet, Camp Ambrose, and receiving an early crash course on the planet and base's significance to the SPARTAN-III Program.

Before 2552, the previous SPARTAN-III Companies were trained by the legendary SPARTAN-II-turned-trainer, Lieutenant Commander Kurt Ambrose who died in the line of duty fighting against the Covenant after they discovered and attacked the colony world of Onyx where the SPARTAN-IIIs used to be trained and graduated, usually passing through a now obliterated Camp Currahee. With the loss of Onyx, Argus V had become the new home of the SPARTAN-III Program. However, other convenient details were left out due to the security and certain risks pertaining to Delta actually being an illegal project. Argus V was decidedly the perfect place to run Delta Company, it was protected by ONI and wasn't known on most Human star charts, set so far away from the center of Human Space - it was unlikely for any potential parties with ulterior motives to stop by and pay a visit. That included ONI and the UNSC among others.

Merlin spent the next few days taking part in some mundane courses with the rest of the other Spartan recruits. They thought they were to become warriors, however, there was no proof that it was the case. The hundred-and-fifty children that made up the first batch of arrivals for Delta Company were provided living quarters, three-square-meals a day, and a basic education curriculum not unlike what Merlin had experienced as an orphan in a Vallejo foster care home. It was very underwhelming - while some kids bought into, and others became acceptant of it. In these relaxed times, the children adapted quickly - forming their own social groups and caste systems among the kids began to form. Some of it was even encouraged by the Camp Ambrose military staff who chaperoned the children around the base and cared for their needs in a very mundane manner. Merlin avoided much of these activities and stuck to the edge of the first batch of Delta Company recruits - he preferred to observe the other kids before he felt comfortable in participating with the other children. While this would become a disadvantage as time went on, it also created an unexpected confrontation with an individual who would become one of his closest friends in Camp and onward.

Three days into their arrival on Argus V as the First Batch, Merlin had strayed from his cabin mates of Cabin 003, his assigned dorm. While he was okay with his roommates, Oliver-D030, Mika-D036, and Ray-D038 among others - he didn't consider them his close friends. Oliver and Mika were friendly toward Merlin but with only three days together and a notable awkwardness between the children assigned to Cabin 003 - it was unlikely a friendship was going to blossom immediately. Instead, Merlin came across a single girl hidden off to the side of the rest of the First Batch during one of the free-time periods in Camp Ambrose. Hidden under the shade of the security walls of Camp Ambrose that made it look like a giant steel castle among a deep forest, the girl was drawing pictures in the mud with a stray twig. Curious at her exclusive behavior, Merlin attempted to speak with her on his own. Driven by his curiosity, his better judgment did not inform him that it was a bad idea to approach someone that wanted to be left alone. This girl was Andra-D054.

Andra was an expected dropout among the ranks of Delta Company - she refused to socialize with anyone besides adults and when pushed, she spoke softly with few words, and she was still traumatized from two years of parental abuse followed by her father's suicide. Andra got into Delta Company due to her athleticism and a genetic profile on par with the SPARTAN-II Program requirements, however, her self-destructive personality made many doubt her ability to be a part of Delta Company would eventually see her wash out. Merlin's encroachment on her personal space without this much-needed information was a strategic nightmare waiting to happen. Indeed, it was a nightmare as after a few moments of talking - Andra launched herself at Merlin and attempted to beat him to a pulp. The words for her sudden violence was jogged up by Merlin's inquiry about her family life before joining the SPARTAN-III Program.

While the fight was over after a few minutes of trying to tackle and wrestle each other to the ground. Andra ended up losing the fight as Merlin restrained her in the dirt to prevent her from trying to strangle him. Merlin's victory did not come with any sort of victorious feeling - the girl slowly gave up fighting only to allow her emotions to get the better of her. She balled up Merlin's arms as he haphazardly tried to calm her down. He wasn't sure what he did or what he was doing, however, he understood that he had stepped on a conversation he should never have brought up. Merlin would learn to tread carefully around the girl with what he said as her action displayed evidence of her fragile mind. Merlin would learn these factors later on Andra's terms. However, this clash of wills between Andra-D054 and Merlin-D032 would establish their lifelong friendship all the way through training and beyond. Merlin became Andra's anchor in Delta Company, keeping her motivated and eventually allowing her to excel on her own ability, stabilizing her mind once she learned to trust people once again.

Merlin and Andras' fight was one of the first accidents to occur between recruits on Argus V. The fight would also be the culmination of their friendship as they learned later on about each other. Both were war orphans and the children of military parents. Merlin would sometimes get frustrated with the slow progress on developing his friendship with Andra however due to her soft voice and her slowness to open up, however, his patience did manage to keep the girl from retreating back into her shell as time went on. The two would become inseparable as their time at Camp Ambrose dragged on.

At Childhood's End
It took several months for the final recruits to arrive on Argus V and a bit longer for all of them to become adjusted to their new lives at Camp Ambrose. While the first few weeks started off with basic education and a period of assimilation into the operating life of Camp Ambrose - the mental and physical training had yet to begin. Weeks before the actual physical training was to being, the Delta Company recruits were subjected to a number of mentally-taxing exercises designed to harden the minds of the recruits and prepare them for the training regime that would certainly come along later. The Drill Instructors of Camp Ambrose called them "chores" but Merlin and some of his fellow recruits in Cabin 003 referred to it as "Satan's Bucket List," due to the absurdity of some of the menial activities done. Even when done perfectly, they were told to redo it for some asinine reasoning. However, such activities were ingrained in the training of many military organizations and weren't unusual - the other Spartan Programs went through similar phases overall. Merlin was notably described as "slow-to-adjust" to the activities and his inability to excel and accept his new circumstances bred some frustration in his character during the formative training sessions in this early stage of preparation to become a Spartan.

At the arrival of September 2553, the final Delta Company recruits arrived on Argus V and were incorporated into the ranks of Delta Company's now 347 Spartan candidates. As the sky darkened toward sunset, the children were ushered into the Camp Ambrose Mess Hall to begin the initial tests of Delta Company's Boot Camp. The recruits were provided a lengthy introduction to the DELTA Initiative that included a video presentation of Spartans in combat followed by an introduction of key personnel that would be in charge of the children during their tenure on Argus V. Most notable among the key staff was the facility director Captain Andrew Johnson, head psychiatrist, Dr. Reyna Zhou-Romero, and the residential AI counselor, Oracle. There were to be three Spartans present as trainers: a SPARTAN-III of Beta Company, Kyle-B115, a SPARTAN-II from the Program's Second Class: Ren-172, and a third who had yet to arrive on Argus V due to a time conflict.

Following the introduction, the children were rushed out of the mess hall and off the facility grounds back to the awaiting freighter, the UNSC Give Me More for one last eventful flight. The children were ordered aboard and the cargo vessel ascended vertically several kilometers into Argus V's atmosphere - as the children were quickly learning as sunset turned to dusk over the planet, they were about to begin their Spartan Initiation. Every SPARTAN-III company went through the same initiation night since the creation of Alpha Company - a High Altitude High Opening descent in the pitch black night. A Spartan's leap of faith. The children were collectively fearful of such an insane stunt, however, on the orders of the Camp Ambrose staff and with only two choices - give up or jump, most took the latter and pushed through. The children were given a quick, impromptu lesson on how to maneuver and use the Falcon Parafoil to prevent an untimely death by freefall. Merlin-D032, like many recruits, felt an unhindered sense of terror - approaching the darkness as the children formed lines and jumped out of the freighter's cargo hold one at a time. When it got to Merlin's turn, he froze up, however, he didn't get the chance to consider giving up or retreating. The constantly shifting mentality meant that some children acted irrationally and started to cause a ruckus. Flinching at the shrieks and shouting behind him, Merlin fell out of the starship legs slinging as he lost his footing at the edge and descended into the night. He would learn later that Andra-D054 had been among a few who wavered at the bay's exit and caused the distressing waves to wash over the crowd. Merlin would not blame the girl for his slip-up, however, there was no pride to be found when he knew that he wasn't decisive enough to make the decision to leap into the darkness on his own - Fate had to decide it for him.

Out there in the darkness, Merlin screamed at the top of his lungs but found no noise as his voice was lost with the harsh winds flapping around him in the dark. Acting on instinct, Merlin's Parafoil activated on the first try and without fail. While he did pull his chute earlier than recommended, he managed to control his long descent back to the ground below. While many children tried to follow the ground lights of Camp Ambrose to reach safety - Merlin found difficulty combating the winds and drifted three kilometers north of the facility where he crashed into a clearing and received a purple bruises to his left knee upon landing, knees first - going against the directions provided to him by the drill instructors while on the freighter.

Merlin's injuries were minimal compared to some unmentioned candidates that were immediately rushed back to the medical facilities of Camp Ambrose upon being retrieved from the surrounding woods. Merlin and the other recruits would be informed that twenty-or-so of the trainees who jumped were too injured to continue training and were removed from Delta promptly. Merlin, on the other hand, was simply given some time to recover and provided a series of homeostasis boosters to increase his healing factor. By the time that Delta Company's Boot Camp phase was in full swing, Merlin was pounding the dirt with the rest of the Spartan recruits. Merlin was not happy with the results and his mind was already being stressed by the new intensive training regime, however, for him, at least he survived - and for a time, that was all that mattered.

The Spartan Lifestyle
"D032, stay in line or you'll be running back to Camp in the dark!"

- Delta Company Drill Instructor yelling at Merlin-D032 for underperforming during a PT Run. 2554.

The Boot Camp Phase of Delta Company's training was substantially different from the fundamentalist training that took place before the final recruits arrived on the planet of Argus V. Before Boot Camp began - the training focused on mental fortitude and basic education, most fundamental mathematics and English courses. However, as the first year of training began - from August onward, the training introduced physical conditioning and more advanced theory and military-style courses. Military and Human history. Military theory. Multiple physical education courses. Previous activities from the fundamental phase were continued but they became only a part of the bigger curriculum for the children destined to become Spartans. The mental conditioning training decreased in force, however, the verbal and physical hammering by the Camp's staff remained.

Probably the most substantial change came with the introduction of a virtual reality chamber housed on the premises of Camp Ambrose. Built similar to the one housed aboard the UNSC Infinity and the Anvil Initiative on Anvil Station, the system provided Spartans trainees with an acceleration method of training as it became apparent to the DELTA Initiative that their time table was limited - the chance that the ONI hierarchy might discover the illegal Spartan program increased periodically every day. Working with a highly flexible timetable, much of the traditional training of the previous SPARTAN-III Companies had to be supplemented by other means, either unorthodox, unusual, or half-effectively. It would become apparent with time that the Deltas, while perfect in the means of execution and their creation - lacked the time and training compared to the previous generations. It would come to cost them in the long run, however, that case was still far down the line.

In the meantime, Merlin's beginning to training in Delta Company was a mixed bag. He slowly developed a working friendship with a couple individuals in Cabin 003, primarily Mika-D036, an African-American girl with piercing blue eyes and the overtly serious Ray-D038 who Merlin shared in a sense of objective seriousness. Merlin underperformed compared to the rest of his unitary outfit as his physical development in training was slow while he mostly excelled in education classes. His continued friendship with Andra-D054 proved to cost him some of his social standing and her negative demeanor often had a way of sneaking up into Merlin's psyche as well. Andra was considered one of the worst performing Delta Spartans this early in training due to her lack of motivation and her difficulties with putting her parents behind her.

It was around this period, as the training grew more intense that the most difficult aspect of Delta Company began to rear its ugly head - Delta's social structure. Like regular school, Delta Company - under the pressures of intense training began to develop an apparatus for judgment based on physical performance and leadership ability. Those who developed earlier were popular and well-liked, both by their fellow trainees and the instructors. And those who became late bloomers were ridiculed and mocked. Merlin, similarly to Andra, fell into the latter category. Dragged down by his commitment to their friendship and his own poor physical scores - Merlin proved to be one of the late bloomers in Delta Company and gained a status as a lazy trainee. Deep down, however, Merlin was someone who suffered from his surroundings as he was more in tune with his environment and feeling too much, one factor that was dragging his feet. He lacked drive, something he shared with his now close confidant and friend, Andra-D054. These two children were often bunched up together due to their friendship and their lackluster performances early on. Andra's performance was so bad that drill instructors were watching to see when she would break, enough to the point that Merlin's reputation among trainers and fellow Spartans also diminished.

Merlin ran into his fair share of criticism and bullying in the early days of training, however, he did not have it as bad as Andra. At the same time, Merlin mostly came under flak for allowing himself to be associated with the late bloomers, it especially drew the ire of Hector-D105, another trainee. The first week of September, a month into the Boot Camp Phase, Hector-D105 approached Merlin-D032 and Andra-D054 while in the mess hall. One of the more zealous recruits to join Delta Company, Hector-D105 was one those children that adapted and excelled quickly under newfound circumstances. In this case, he quickly integrated himself into Delta Company with little fault. In many ways, he and Merlin were two sides of the same coin - one was more emotionally-ingrained with others while the other was driven to succeed. Besides these two major differences, the two were very much alike. Hector was as good of a critical thinker as Merlin, however, whereas Merlin questioned his place in Delta Company, Hector was already dedicated and acting the part. He wanted to be a Spartan, and those who even showed a sign of doubt, were to be pushed out - he was determined to separate the wheat from the chaff. Merlin's continued friendship and association with the critically-lauded Andra-D054. Hector-D105 was annoyed with Merlin's lack of dedication and found his lack of motivation, tied to Andra's own lack of effort to be a personal insult. He started to go out of his way to try and provoke a fight with Merlin and verbally and borderline physically assault Merlin in what could be considered playful rough-rousing rather than an intimidation technique, but, it was the kind of behavior that drove Merlin nuts. Andra would come under the same scrutiny from Hector, but, even more from other Spartan recruits - Hector found Merlin to be the worse of the two because he wouldn't abandon Andra to save his own reputation. Hector was an ardent believer in the concept of "survival of the fittest," a policy even upheld in some lessons taught to the Spartans in their fundamental and military theory courses.

Of special note, block runs were considered Merlin's worst physical activity. Physically slower than most trainees in the beginning and his lack of motivation meant that Merlin would slowly drift to the back of the running blocks as time went on. It earned his special attention from the drill instructors. For Merlin, the first six months of training were nowhere near enjoyable.

[FIRETEAM BOSON]
"Oracle assures me that this organization structure shall influence the desired results. I can't say everyone agrees, though, Director - Harald doesn't like pitting Spartan teams against each other."

- Andrew Johnson, on Delta Company's unorthodox training methods.

Delta Company during the Boot Camp Phase employed a team-oriented training regime, starting out with the coordination of children in their regular units based on their cabin/dorm number. The ten children team that Merlin was a part of in Cabin 003, while decent in terms of performance, couldn't hold a candle to other teams - particularly the all-star unit from Cabin 001 with outstanding trainees that dominated the social hierarchy of Delta Company like Marcus-D005 and Daniele-D003. Consistent enough that they weren't being utterly destroyed during every room-based competition, Cabin 003 was clearly average compared to other teams - this was quite noticeable upon evaluations of the dorm's cooperation between roommates. Merlin and the rest of his outfit, while amicable toward one another, failed to motivate competition and a drive to overcome challenge and adversity - among Cabin 003, there were no stand out trainees who showed a talent for leadership. Even though it was noted in Merlin's personnel record that he had a potential for leadership, his association with lesser-quality trainees like Andra-D054 put him at a severe disadvantage in terms of social interactions with his fellow Spartans, most were not inclined to follow his lead unless under rare circumstances.

[REMEMBER MY NAME]
"Covenant. Definitely Covenant in my LZ."

- Merlin-D032 reporting on the arrival of a Covenant remnant group arriving in his landing area. 2558.

[DOWN TIME]
"Team Boson exhibits signs of insubordination and declining motivation in the field. Strange coming from one of the rogue DELTA Initiative's primary combat teams. More information is required but the team has been grounded until further tasking."

- ONI Section III Post-Analysis upon Grounding Ferret Team Boson. 2558.

A Small Victory

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{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" ! United Republic of North America

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants. It is its natural manure."

- President reflecting on in.

The United Republic of North America is a regional political union and sizable nation on the continent of on. While described as a "loose association," the United Republic is a consolidation of the former North American republics including the , , and the political remnants of the former. The United Republic on its own occupies the entirety of the North American continent with the exception of, several  republics, and a few sovereign island nations in the.

At the height of its sovereignty, the United Republic had a population approaching 700 million and occupied around 22 million square kilometers. With such substantial geographical factors in addition to substantial economic and environmental resources at its disposal, the United Republic was the predominant of the  and held significant sway over the geopolitical agendas of Earth for some time, so much so that both the  and  take significant influence from the political and economic legacy that the United Republic left behind. Even centuries after, the United Republic of North America remains one of the most economically-stable regions on Earth, even after substantial damages were sustained during and after the.

Historical Significance
The establishment of the United Republic was one constructed out of war and a period of chaotic strife. The previous standing superpower state of the, the United States of America had suffered a totalistic and sudden collapse that caused a shakedown through the entirety of the societal order from Earth to Humanity's fledging startup colonies reaching to the edges of the.

Due to the collapse of the United States of America, the world suffered from a short period of chaos and eventually a balkanization of the political order across the globe as some nations responded to the faltering of the American giant by filling the void, either to protect the status quo or to upturn it, other nations felt similar reverberations - collapsing from the sudden loss in balance. The United States was so ingrained in the world economy at the end of the and continued to have a hand in directly influencing major geopolitical events through the  into the twenty-first that a sudden collapse came unexpectedly and without warning. Like the collapse in  from the extensive  that it was fighting the United States in, the US dissolved into a number of smaller competing republics that retained much of the resources that the former United States had held onto and the United States of America retreated into the pages of history books as a powerful but ultimately flawed nation with some revolutionary ideas that it put into actio during its nearly 300 years of history.

The legacy of the United States of America continued in the form of its successor states, primarily the and the, both equipped with their own subcultures and political agendas - while they were not the only successor sub-nations, they were the most recognizable and prolific. So much so, that the two nations suffered a few minor conflicts between the two during their brief period of life. Eventually, they were absorbed into the rapidly expanding Canadian Federation to their north, either by treaty or conquest. The period of Canadian annexation mixed with the blending of the United States and Canadian values led to the founding of the United Republic of North America where the United Mexican States would also join as an original member. The two nations and their former neighbor together formed one of the largest and most populated republics in Human history, outstripping the size of most land empires in the Earth's history.

For seventy-five years, the United Republic prospered and eventually refilled the hole left by the United States of America previously as a new global superpower, however, tied to the US's collapse, other superpowers and super-states also rose to fill the wake and old-age ideologies surfaced again leading to the. Following the signing of the Castillo Treaty that ended the conflict in 2170, the United Republic was eventually absorbed into the conglomerate that would become the Unified Earth Government and the United Nations Space Command, of which, the United Republic was a founding member of both organizations. While arguments have been made in the that the political and cultural hallmarks of the United States of America and the United Republic of North America do not live up to their age as they once did, their influence is undeniable in how they influenced the military apparatus of the UNSC and the foundations of the UEG's governing body and the laws it upholds.

National Ideology
"A nation birthed from the misgivings and flaws of a formerly robust system unable to tank the threats and issues of the modern era, the states that came before were forced to adapt and thus, a new union was born. We know we've all faced hardship - every generation of Mankind has seen their great battle and now we have seen ours. We may have been three different nations once, but now we are one - a nation where our diversity is a strength, not a weakness. We are not of one body or mind, but from here on out - we share the same heart."

- Anonymous URNA senator addressing the new nation.

The collapse of the United States of America had an ill effect on the national identity of the American people - while previously united as a nation, without the facets of modern society that drew them together, both by casualty and the bureaucratic limits placed on both the government and the society as a whole, people retreated to factionalism. Concepts such as race, gender, sexuality, economic status, political alignment, age, and even cyberization became more prevalent as a socially-sensitive nation like the United States had spent the entirety of its history dealing with such matters as was often seen in very heterogeneous societies, going as far back in recorded history as the Egyptians, Romans, and the Persians.


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