User:Flameslash/KNIGHT Program

The KNIGHT Program was a 2536 to 2542 attempt to create augmented soldiers to serve as leaders of conventional Marine and Army units. The augmented soldiers were meant to be far better than the average ODST, but still nowhere near as powerful as a SPARTAN supersoldier. The program was successful in that such soldiers were produced, however, of 500 subjects only 263 survived.

Training
The KNIGHTs were made up of teenage orphans, most around fourteen years old. They had to be fit to be accepted. Once they were chosen, they were trained in a secret facility on Reach. Their training involved grueling physical training, weapons training, vehicles training, which consisted 23% of their training each. The other 31% was tactical and strategic training. This went on for 4 and a half years, and was then replaced by training in their specialist area and more tactical and strategic training, in about an even split. This phase lasted a year and a half.

Muscle Enhancements
All of the KNIGHTs were given a chemical injection to increase muscle growth and density, allowing them to be much stronger, capable of breaking human bones with only a few punches or one good punch. It also slightly increased their size, making them several inches taller and bulkier than the average human. To support the extra amount of muscle, their hearts were surgically altered to be stronger and able to pump more blood through their bodies. This process had only a small chance of death due to the UNSC's ability to preform heart transplants if it failed.

Ocular Enhancements
All of the KNIGHTs except the close combat specialists were given enhancements to their eyes, allowing them to see further, clearer and also giving them minor nightvision, although most still chose to use nightvision gear instead of relying on their augmented eyes. The process was highly classified, and has a small (around 12%) chance of failing and leaving the KNIGHT blind in either one eye of both.

Skeletal Enhancements
All of the KNIGHTs except for sniper specialists had advanced material grafting performed on their spine, skull, and ribs. This meant that they were able to take a half dozen bullet hits to the affected parts of their skeletal structures before the bones broke, and that they were virtually immune to having their hearts, lungs or brains damaged in hand to hand combat, and that paralysis due to broken spines would almost never happen. The sniper specialists had a more minor version of this augmentation, having the grafting only on the spine and front of the skull.