SPARTAN-A294

SPARTAN-A294, also known by his first name of Shephard, was a member of the Alpha Company of the SPARTAN-III program. Born on the politically unstable world of Mamore, he experienced tragedy at an extremely young age when his entire family was killed in a crossfire between two of the warring factions. Recruited for the Alpha Batch of the SPARTAN-III program, he would be the only member of his unit to survive the infamous Operation: PROMETHEUS.

Early Life
Shephard was born on July 23, 2526 to a farming family on the world of Mamore. His parents owned a small farm and made their living growing and harvesting wheat and corn, something that they attempted to do while staying independent of any large corporations and avoiding the use of genetic modifiers on their crops. Naturally, this puritan approach to farming failed to bring in as much business as other, less choosy, farms, and Shephard's early years were spent in relative poverty. During this time, the most profound influence on him was his older sister Ashley, who cared for him while their parents were out working in the fields. Shephard developed a close bond with Ashley and spent most of his time with her. His father, a lifelong conservative and an Evangelical Christian, disliked the local public schooling system and took what time he could off from farm work to teach Ashley and Shephard himself. At an extremely young age, Shephard demonstrated a high level of intelligence, learning to read and write by the age of three in spite of the obvious handicap of being schooled by a man with no college education and very little time on his hands.

When he was old enough to venture out on his own, Shephard enjoyed playing in the wheat and corn fields around the farm, even though this annoyed his father to no end. At the time, Mamore was witnessing the beginnings of severe political and social turmoil, as many political and religious fringe groups began to seek ways to assert their will over the planetary government. When several of these groups began arming themselves and forming private militia groups, the Mamore's colonial governor reacted by raising several battalions of Colonial Militia. Although his father did not respond to the call for volunteers (he was needed to work the farm and, as a former UNSC Army officer, disliked the idea of "amateur civilian soldiers"), Shephard saw several militia convoys pass by the farm and became obsessed with the idea of becoming a soldier. His time spent playing in the fields began to take on a much more militant tone as Shephard used sticks as makeshift guns in solitary games that disturbed both his mother and Ashley.

Tragedy
In 2531, the tensions that had been mounting on Mamore came to a head when the organization known as Kurban began launching militant raids against rival groups, touching off a chain reaction that resulted in dozens of private militias beginning campaigns of their own. When the Colonial Militia stepped in to oppose them, Kurban's militia forces began small-scale assaults on UNSC outposts as well. Since the largest portions of the fighting occurred between private militia groups and did not directly involve UNSC forces, only a small detachment from the UNSC Army was sent in to assist the militia. Although UNSC officials vowed to end the fighting as quickly as possible, the ongoing war against the Covenant meant that little could be done to make good on this promise.

Aside from the official UNSC forces, Kurban's biggest opposer was the paramilitary group Sons of the Silent Blade, and it was to this force that Shephard's father became unwittingly affiliated. When an old family friend, now a member of the Sons, sought refuge for his squad at the farm, Shephard's father reluctantly agreed to shelter them. Unfortunately, a large Kurban defeat at the hands of the UNSC left thousands of militant fighters scattered around the region. Upon hearing of the approach of a particularly large force, Shephard's father instructed his friend and his men to flee the farm. Tipped off by a neighboring farmer, the Kurban troops arrived at the farm hoping to capture some of the hated Sons. Upon finding none, they rounded up Shephard's family in the farmhouse's living room and proceeded to torture his father for information on the Sons' whereabouts. When they were given no answer, the Kurban militia took Shephard's mother outside and proceeded to beat, rape, and kill her. Although he did not witness this horrendous act, Shephard was unable to block out his mother's screams. When his father tried to fight back, the Kurbans shot him dead.

"No, please! I don't wanna die!"

- Shephard as he flees his family's farm

Before the angry Kurbans could kill Shephard and Ashley, the Sons of the Silent Blade returned in larger numbers. As a large firefight broke out in and around the farmhouse, the children were instructed by a Sons soldier to run. As they fled through the wheatfields, sparks from the discharging weapons caused the wheat to catch fire. Panicked by the oncoming flames, Ashley tripped and sprained her ankle. Rather than helping his sister, a terrified and sobbing Shephard continued to run. Her screams were the last things he heard before being overcome by the expanding smoke and losing consciousness. This abandonment of the person he had loved most in the world would haunt Shephard for years to come.

Upon waking, Shepherd found himself amongst the charred ruins of the cornfield. Confused and afraid, he remained where was for several hours before becoming hungry and attempting to make his way back to the farmhouse. On the way, he finally remembered what had happened when he encountered the body of a Kurban soldier. After breaking down into tears, Shephard became possessed with a survival instinct that would serve him well throughout his entire life. Taking the dead man's sidearm and eating a ration bar he found on the corpse, Shephard again set out towards the farm. Before he could arrive, he ran into a member of a squad of Colonial Militia who were investigating the site of the firefight. After shooting at the militia soldier and nearly being killed in response, the now-orphaned Shephard was taken into UNSC custody and sent to an orphanage in one of Mamore's more peaceful cities.

Recruitment and Initial Failure
Living in a government-run orphanage, Shephard isolated himself from the other children as he tried to come to terms with the loss of everything he had ever known (although he still clung to the faint hope that Ashley had somehow survived). Although several older boys saw the grieving and friendless Shephard as an easy target, the young boy fought back and surprised his would-be tormentors with his tenacity and natural fighting skills. Despite his success in driving off bullies, Shephard still despised life in the orphanage and was prepared to give anything in the world for a better life. The chance to do this would ultimately be given to him, springing from a mere coincidence rather than anyone's plans or desires.

"I know that Colonel Ackerson specifically requested orphans from Covenant attacks, but this kid fits the program's requirements to a 'T'. With your permission, I'd like to forego the standard procedure for this operation and recruit him anyway. After all, if he isn't the material Lieutenant Ambrose is expecting, he'll just wash out like the other failures, right?"

- ONI Lieutenant Richard Collins requesting permission from his superiors to recruit Shephard for the SPARTAN-III program

Ironically, Shephard was never intended to even be considered for the SPARTAN-III program. Three months after the death of his family, an ONI lieutenant who had been assigned to be one of the program's recruitment officers arrived on Mamore for a stint of shore leave on "the worst colony in UNSC space" before beginning his mission. Disappointed by the poor quality of his shore leave's location, the lieutenant decided to visit a few orphanages so as to get an idea of what the ones he'd be visiting during his mission would look like. During his tour of one particular orphanage, he witnessed Shephard fight off a chid nearly twice his size. Impressed by the orphan's skill and resilience, the lieutenant investigated Shephard's background and learned of his tragic origins. Remembering the descriptions he'd been given regarding the orphans he would be recruiting, the lieutenant also managed to obtain a sample of Shephard's blood, which showed that his genes were well within the required parameters for the SPARTAN-III augmentations. Desperate for an excuse to return to active duty, the lieutenant contacted his superiors in ONI's Section-III and received permission to begin his assignment early. The man arranged for an interview with Shephard in which he offered him a chance at "the opportunity of a lifetime" and told him that he could help the UNSC defeat the invading Covenant armadas. Faced with the chance to both leave the orphanage and to fulfill his dream of becoming a soldier, Shephard immediately agreed and radically altered the course of his life.

"No! No way!"

- Shephard failing to jump from a flying Pelican during the entrance examination for the SPARTAN-III program

Shephard and 496 other children were covertly withdrawn from their respective orphanages and transported to the classified world of Onyx for training. Upon their arrival, they were greeted by the lead trainer for the SPARTAN-III program: Lieutenant Commander Kurt Ambrose (who was actually Kurt-051, a SPARTAN-II supersoldier). Clad in impressive MJOLNIR armor that awed Shephard and all of the other children, Kurt announced that he would be training them to be SPARTANs like him, but also told them that he could only accept three hundred candidates for the program. In an effort to thin the group's numbers, Kurt arranged for the candidates to perform a sky dive out of a flying Pelican dropship at night. Those who could manage to do this would be allowed to continue in the program; those that could not would "wash out". It was during this unorthodox entrance examination that Shephard, faced by his longtime fear of heights, panicked and refused to jump, failing the test. However, he was desperate not to be sent back to the orphanage and so managed to sneak away from the group of failures before they could be transported off of Onyx.

"I know that as a CO I'm not supposed to go back on my word, but I just can't let go of a kid like this. He just fought four grown men with military training after he'd already managed to remain outside of our notice for over three weeks. I say we give him another chance and see how he does."

- Kurt-051 to Franklin Mendez

For the next few weeks, Shepherd managed to pass unnoticed amongst Onyx's living quarters and training facilities. When not hiding or gathering what scraps he could to eat, he spent his time secretly viewing the candidates who had passed the initial test as they trained. Although he wasn't able to learn much from his hidden vantage points, Shephard remained determined not to be caught and sent away. He was eventually discovered by Michael, a candidate who had managed to catch a glimpse of him during an early field exercise. Rather than betraying Shephard's existence to his drill instructors, Michael instead managed to earn Shephard's trust by smuggling him small amounts of food he had taken out of his own rations. This made life considerably easier for Shephard, who no longer had to look for food and instead was able to devote more time to watching the training sessions. However, he was eventually discovered by a DI after breaking in to an equipment shed in an effort to instruct himself in the basics of rifle handling. The DI attempted to restrain him, but Shephard kicked him in the groin stole the man's sidearm, holding him at gunpoint. Hearing the commotion, Senior Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez, the SPARTAN-IIIs' chief drill instructor, arrived with two other DIs. Although Shephard was able to get off a single shot with the pistol, he was hindered by panicked reactions and malnutrition and did not hit any of the men, who managed to knock the gun from his hands. In the ensuing struggle, Shephard broke one DI's nose and even managed to give Mendez himself a black eye. Regardless of his spirited defense, he was forcibly subdued and restrained by his opponents, who hauled him before Lieutenant Ambrose. The lieutenant, impressed by Shephard's resourcefulness, allowed him another chance at becoming a SPARTAN, noting that they were still attempting to whittle the number of candidates down to three hundred.

Trivia

 * Shephard was partially inspired by Adrian Shephard, the protagonist of Half Life: Opposing Force who is noted for having the ability to "adapt and survive against all odds" and by the Sole Survivor background for Commander Shepard in Mass Effect.