Riker-012

"It is better not to speak, and let men consider you a fool, than to speak and confirm their suspicions"

- Riker-012, quoting President Abraham Lincoln

SPARTAN-012, or Riker, is a SPARTAN-II. He specializes in orbital and airborne drops, as well as commando missions.

"Lucky" Few
Taken as one of the 150 candidates for the SPARTAN-II Program, Riker became one of the 75 to be accepted. The training was hard, but despite his young age, Riker was surprisingly not one to give up, only having to be "prompted" to continue by trainers a few times. Riker managed to survive the augmentations, and it is thought that this is what brought on Riker's strange mental state of silence, the ever serious and silent appearance that he kept, only to be broken by extreme emotion at odd times; of course, this was never proven. However, Riker himself once stated that he was silent for those that would never again speak, meaning those that had died in augmentations. The irony in this statement, however, is that Riker himself was thought to be among those dead by all other Spartans. Riker was one of a few Spartans that were officially killed in the augmentations, but were in fact kidnapped by ONI to serve their own purposes.



Insurrectionists
"If we were augmented to be better, someone did the reverse on the Innie's brains"

- Riker-012

As with all the other Spartan-II's, Riker's original purpose was to take out the growing rebellions on border territories. However, while most were reassigned quickly to combat the Covenant, Riker was one that was kept on his original mission, if but briefly. After being given his MJOLNIR Mk. IV armor, he initiated a serious of lightning quick commando missions, Riker was able to eliminate a growing rebellion in the border territories, while they then moved on to destroy a stockpile of illegally made nuclear weapons that were in the hands of another group of rebels.

Battle of Jericho VII


Riker operated on Jericho VII as an elite commando, completely secret to most UNSC forces on the planet, save for a few ONI spooks he was assigned with. Their mission was to eliminate an Elite that appeared to be commanding the ground operations, and had gathered along with a large amount of forces to excavate a Forerunner artifact (the UNSC did not at the time have knowledge of the Forerunners nor their connection with the Covenant; the artifact itself was never seen by Riker or the others during the mission). The mission ended in failure, however, with the several missed shots in the assassination attempt killing his aids, not the commander himself. Shortly thereafter, Riker and all other forces were recalled to the UNSC fleet in space as the Covenant glassed the planet.

Battle of New Constantinople
Riker was present in the Battle of New Constantinople. He operated as a solo operative, managing to eliminate several key Covenant figures in the battle, but still ultimately had to be pulled out as the Covenant glassed the planet.

Battle of Midway
Midway was a large planet, populated by a number of people equal almost to that of Earth. Set behind a seemingly impenetrable line of defense planets, it was thought protected; however, a large Covenant stealth fleet managed to sneak through the line, and unleashed an invasion force upon it. Part of the emergency forces diverted from the defensive line, Riker led several air raids on the major Covenant encampment, and even managed to destroy one of the Covenant ships. In the end, the Battle of Midway was a surprisingly easy victory; the reason soon became evident, as the Covenant swiftly captured three of the under-manned fortress world that had been holding the line.



Siege of New Istanbul
Arriving with the reinforcements that were attempting to break the siege of New Istanbul, Riker first moved in to assist with the freeing city of Terusto, before moving on to destroy two Covenant supply lines before moving on to free up the Neo-Ural Mountain range complex, within which hid most of the residence on the planet. Once the complex was freed, Riker, along with assistance from Team Alpha, moved on to attempt to eliminate the large Covenant forward command base and the leadership there. However, before they could complete their objective, the Covenant began glassing the planet, and they had to be evacuated immediately.

Second Battle of Tejas IV
Tejas IV long served as a fortress-command world on one front of the Human-Covenant War. It had withstood multiple assaults from Insurrectionists in earlier times, and had even withstood one assault from the Covenant already, as well as having launched multiple assaults back into Covenant territory. However, all good things must come to an end. Sent with a large force to rearm and resupply at the outpost before moving on to attack a nearby Covenant world that was reported to be relatively unprotected, the fleet arrived to find Tejas IV under attack from a huge assault force, only to be outmatched by later attacks such as seen at the Battles of Reach, Earth, and the Forerunner Installations. Though outnumbered, outmatched, and out of all form of supplies, the fleet joined up with the defending UNSC forces and attempted to drive back the Covenant forces. Unfortunately, half the UNSC fleet forces were soon destroyed, while ground troops fared only slightly better against their innumerable foes. With all commanding officers tied up in the space battle or the defense of major cities, Riker took forward command into his own hands: giving orders, the UNSC got the better of numerous Covenant forces, managing to pull off explosive ambushes, a few air-supported assaults and countless strike missions, many spear-headed by Team Alpha. Still, it was not enough: with the space battle going badly, the ground troops evacuate; as they pulled out, the last of the UNSC ships exploded into a flower of fire, signaling Covenant victory.

Battle of Reach
Riker was operating with the rest of Red Team when Reach was invaded. He, like all the others, were forced to make an atmospheric drop as the Pelican went down; however, he was separated from the main group, and his armor was damaged, disabling radar and long-range communication. He attempted to find his way to the objective, but failed. However, later on, he managed to make contact with a UNSC sub-prowler, which picked him up and jumped system as the battle turned sour.

First Battle of Earth
Carried to Earth aboard the sub-prowler from Reach, Riker was present when the news was given to HIGHCOM that Reach had been glassed. Riker would never forget the terrible looks upon the faces of those present. When the Covenant arrived, Riker immediately led a strike force from Rome Station to a Cvoeannt cruiser serving as a command vessel, both to acquire intel from the ship's computer systems and to blow the cruiser itself. While the cruise was successfully destroyed, the intelligence data could only be partially transferred, revealing very little in new, or understandable, Covenant intel.

Second Battle of the Sol System
"Only guard yourself and guard your soul carefully, lest you forget the things your eyes saw, and lest these things depart from your heart all the days of your life. And you shall make them known to your children and your children's children"

On Earth's surface at the start of the invasion, Riker held out against Covenant invaders in London, barely escaping death when London Station was destroyed and plummetted into the Thames River. Moving to Paris, invasion forces were successfully repelled through lightning strikes and ambushes, after which Riker moved on to former Germany. Here he stayed till the end of the battle, pushing towards Berlin, which was won back shortly before Covenant Loyalist surrender. After the battle, he was present for the mass memorial that was held to honor those that had died fighting in the war. After Lord Hood finished his speech, Riker did not follow him to the hillside memorial outside New Mombasa's wreckage, but instead stayed at the Fallen Heroes Memorial and mourned.

Reclamation Missions
Riker and the rest of the Spartan II's were heavily involved in freeing the Covenant Loyalist held worlds. He was deployed onto dozens of missions, but he was, in fact, not present for the final attack on Doisac.

Operation: SAVIOR
Riker was one of the first of the Spartans to suggest a rescue mission for John-117, beginning to avidly propose it almost immediately after the capture of Doisac, planning to go by himself if no one else came. Once Lord Hood officially requested it and was allowed to carry out Operation: SAVIOR, Riker quickly came on board, being the third Spartan-II to do so.

Kilo Commander
"No man is an island, entire of it self; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend or thy own were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in makind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee"

- The poem For Whom The Bell Tolls by John Donne

Though most of the Spartan-II's pulled out of Operation: SAVIOR at the first call of the UNSC for them to come and serve as commanders and instructors of the Spartan-IV's, Riker held out, being the last Spartan-II besides Ajax-013 to withdraw from the operation. When he at last did, reluctantly, he took command of Kilo Company, was given the Seventh-Gen AI Susano, and began instructing the new Spartans according to the specifications of the program; occasionally, he would break from the program's rules to teach something that he had been taught in the S-II Program and deemed important, but the IV's were not being taught. In the end, Kilo Company graduated alongside the rest of the companies, their specialty being orbital and airborne insertions, just like Riker.

Operation: DEVIANT
Riker was merely a spectator of Operation: DEVIANT, just as all the other commanders, watching and reviewing Kilo Company's work and giving out orders to what should be done next.

Third Battle of Linna
"Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that is the inheritor of our fear. Let him not love the earth too deeply. Let him not laugh too gladly when the water runs through his fingers, nor stand too silent when the setting sun makes red the veld with fire. Let him not be too moved when the birds of his land are singing, not give too much of his heart to a mountain or a valley. For fear will rob him of all if he gives too much"

- Excerpt from Cry, The Beloved County

Appearance
Riker had brown-black hair, usually kept near bald though, and his eyes were a deep gold-brown. His skin was the base white of a Caucasian, but he had a good tan as well. Riker usually had a small bit of short beard on his chin, and (although almost never seen) there was a large scar across his chest where he'd been cut during melee practice in his youth.

Mental Report
Riker is strong, silent and loyal, and while a natural leader, he never presses for command, taking on the role as needed. Though he'd never say it verbally, Riker has extreme loyalty and respect for his Spartan-II brothers and sisters, both Class I's and Class II's; oddly, however, while other military officers are respected as well (if not quite as much), Riker disrespects the Spartan-III's, once calling them “pathetic excuses” left from a “failed attempt to recreate the II's” as “cannon fodder”. While Riker is usually unemotional, even for a Spartan, he does at times have brief moments of extreme emotion; he was once recorded as having told 23 jokes in a row, and when he heard that John-117 was MIA after the Battle of the Ark, he was said to have mourned his fallen brother.

Relationships
On the surface, Riker appears to be extremely distanced from all lifeforms, especially Humans. However, despite the appearances due to his silent and serious nature, he does connect well with Humans when necessary, though he does not do so often. As for the general ideas and misconceptions about Spartans, Riker hates the ideas and lies, such as those that "Spartans never die", and that the Spartans aren't entirely Human. With regular Humans, he is uneasy, as they don't regularly view life the same as him, and even with his fellow Spartan-II's he's not entirely at home, with the more friendly Spartans making him uncomfortable with their constant attempts at friendship and humor, while loners such as Ajax making him feel less unique. The Spartan-III's, once he became aware of them, became the subject of his contempt, as he saw they as attempts to make cheap clones of the Spartans, beings that were seen as symbols for the UNSC's freedom.

Riker's relations to the various species of the Covenant varied: he never learned to trust a Jiralhanae, viewing them as mindless living weapons just wanting to kill, and the San'Shyuum he also distrusted, due to how they were the ones that ordered the war in the first place. The Unggoy, the Kig-Yar, and the Yanme'e were usually ignored by Riker, though he always kept a careful eye on the Kig-Yar, knowing of their treacherous nature. The Sangheili and Lekgolo, however, Riker looked up to due to their sense of honor, and their powerful combat natures, and liked to fight by their sides. The Huragok Riker admired simply for the technical prowess, but he never truly interacted with them.

AI's were a mixed bag for Riker, as he would like them or hate them judging on their actions and personalities. After joining the S-IV Program, Susano and Dante were immediate friends, while Baphomet, Nemesis and Themis are the subject of his spite and retribution.

With the SPARTAN-IV's, Riker instructed Kilo Company personally, many times contradicting the teachings of their Spartan-III teachers. While he would at times speak with the members of the other companies, his main focus was on his own company, and teaching them to the best of his abilities.

The Vorenus and their disciplined natures impressed Riker, but at times this nature went too far and made him find them annoying as well. The Vanguards and their intentions, however, he found admirable.

The Plainsfierians, while usually possessing a similar sense of honor as the Sangheili, were not always the best of Riker's allies, as despite their sense of honor and stealth capabilities, their shape-shifting abilities and at times arrogant natures unnerved and annoyed Riker.

The Machina Riker regarded with respect and awe, their massive, weapon-mounted forms being a source of inspiration and, in a reinforcement situation, joy to the Spartan.

Preferred Weapons

 * MA6A Individual Combat Weapon System
 * M73D Carbine
 * Battle Rifle 09 Scoped Rifle
 * Sniper Rifle System 99G-S3 Anti-Material
 * Sniper Rifle System 40A-O Anti Material/Anti Vehicle
 * M98 Compact

Strengths
Riker's specialty is orbital drop combat; his primary skill is to drop in with a battalion of ODST's, clear a landing zone for reinforcements, then go out on commando strike missions. Riker is also a good leader, and is quite capable of making and carrying out detailed plans. Preferring to use medium to long range weapons, he works best outdoors in non-enclosed spaces (i.e. plains, etc). Riker also has a near unwavering sense of loyalty for his comrades.

Weaknesses
Riker's gifts are also his curses. While his attention to detail is superb, it can at times go too far, leading to over-planning and micro management. In addition, Riker's long range ballisitc skill is offset by his lack of skill in close combat, and while he can remain concealed at range, stealth in close quarters is one of his shortcomings. Finally, his sense of loyalty has nearly gotten himself killed multiple times, heading back into combat zones to save a fallen soldier.