Vinh-030

"Don’t you realize that lost causes are the only ones worth fighting for?"

- Vinh-030 to Parthius, before parting ways

"I solve practical problems."

- Vinh on her skills as a combat engineer

SPARTAN-030, Vinh, was a Spartan-II Class I commando serving NAVSPECWEP through the Human-Covenant War and the Rebuild Era. Born the daughter of Korean-American colonists on Jericho VII, she was selected for the Spartan-II program by Dr. Catherine E. Halsey in 2511. Her father had been a career Marine for several decades, and instilled a stong sense of discipline in her which would become valuable to her as a Spartan. From him she learned at a young age to use a blade, which she would

Already having a disciplined background, Vinh fell into training Team Green well, often using creative and risky tactics to outwit other teams in competitive excercises.

Early Life
"Weapons are enemies, even to their owners."

- Vinh’s father

Her father a veteran of the early Insurrection, and having lost a leg to it, was a firm pacifist after his retirement. He taught Vinh the values he had learned from violence, and she adhered to them even if she didn’t fully understand. And so it came as a shock to her to one day discover his officer’s sabre, kept from his military service.

Though he was angry she had found it, he agreed to teach Vinh to use it after her persistence got to him. At age six, she could fight with a knife. When she was abducted on her seventh birthday, her only connection to her past was the dagger he had given her as a gift.

Training
On the first day, Vinh was matched up with fellow trainees Grace-093 and Isaac-039. She quickly took a dislike to Isaac’s laid back attitude, believing him to be lazy. Their team finished in the lower half, but thanks to John-117’s abandonment of his teammates, were not last. Outmatched by the larger Sam, Jorge, and Fred in combat, Vinh found other ways of succeeding. This fell well into the inventive strategies of Kurt-051’s Green Team, where she learned to tinker with small electronics and pieces of machinery thanks to Sergeant Moses Wheatley. Recognizing a talent, Mendez allowed her access to more and more complex objects.

In July of 2523, the trainees were matched up against the marines of Tango Company for an exercise. Vinh’s use of vehicles to quickly transport the other trainees would lead to victory after victory against the hardened leathernecks. Eventually, their CO resorted to dirty tactics to gain the upper hand. While transporting several trainees including James in a stolen troop transport ‘hog, a landmine explosion suddenly flipped them over and off the road. She and James resisted and were captured by the marines, but bought the other passengers time to escape into the woods. They were taken to Tango’s one-story jail and beaten for causing them so much trouble. The torture might have gone on for a long time, but Isaac had tailed them with two more trainees, and freed their teammates. After this, Vinh changed her mind about Isaac.

The two began to grow close after this, and it led to trouble. Red Team, Jerome-092, Alice-130, and Douglas-042, had attacked other trainees once for such a relationship, and that event made Vinh and Isaac careful not to be discovered. Unfortunately, Grace let it slip to Alice about them, and she confronted Vinh alone, threatening her with violence. Though Vinh wanted to remain silent about it, Isaac coerced what had happened from her, and during the next training exercise asked if he could take one other and scout ahead. He chose 130, who didn’t suspect that as soon as they were out of earshot, she would be attacked by her own teammate. After a struggle, he left Alice bound and unconscious for the others of Red Team to find.

Human-Covenant War
Ironically, Vinh was assigned to the first active Spartan Red Team, under Jerome-092. There were some bitter feelings among the group, consisting of Jerome, Alice, Douglas, Vinh, Isaac, Grace, and three other Spartans up until the Battle of Arcadia. The first three of these were listed as Missing in Action, and the remainder was integrated into the commands of other teams.

The original Red Team faced challenges unlike most other Spartan commandos. Rather than acting as a strike team, they were deployed to reinforce frontline operations. This was planned, as the weapon choices and fighting styles of each team member made their survival more likely with rocket launchers, machine guns, and prototype Spartan Lasers.

Battle of Arcadia
As the Covenant closed in around Pirth City, Jerome committed his team to its defense. He, Alice, and Douglas fell back to ensure ground forces couldn’t attack their civilian transports, while the other six deployed as Splinter Group Omega and engaged in frontline combat against the main Covenant army. Vinh and Grace made good use of mines against enemy armor, but were forced to plant them and then give ground to make use of the weapons. Eventually, they were called in to reinforce Jerome’s team at a rally point, and headed up the charge to destroy the foundations of an enemy Citadel. After this, Jerome, Alice, and Douglas gave chase to a Covenant ship aboard the Spirit of Fire, leaving Omega to depart Arcadia on the Pillar of Autumn.

Battle of Jericho VII (February 10-12, 2535)
Covenant forces made landfall on the planet, and the Spartan-IIs were deployed in response. Though she could remember little of home, Vinh took the battle personally. John almost skipped over her in favor of Grace being the superior demolitions expert, but after Vinh cornered him and had a talk, she was temporarily assigned as Blue-Four in place of Linda. During the battle, she was responsible for wiring hundreds of pounds of explosives, including Lotus anti-tank mines and fougasse IEDs. Despite the efforts of ground forces, the UNSC abandoned the colony after being outmatched in naval combat. Vinh watched alone from an observation deck as her homeworld was glassed.

Battle of Kholo
In a counter-insurgency mission that went very wrong, Isaac-039 and Vinh-030 were caught in the city underground of Dorado, Kholo as the planet was glassed in the Covenant assault, and a group of Wraiths with excavation guns began trying to dig them out. They broadcasted the Oly-Oly-Oxen-Free signal in hope of rescue, but quickly gave up on it. Believing themselves to be in their final moments, the two long-time teammates and friends had relations which led to the conception of her son, and later Spartan III, Dyne. Later, in an unexpected turn, stealth-coated Pelicans flew in under the Covenant’s sensors and dropped off Scorpions to counterattack Field Master Vract Aeramee’s squadron of Wraith tanks. Lt. Erin Coney, an ONI operator and Spartan-I, had picked up the signal, and with the help of a Prowler, had organized a mission to rescue them with the help of a group of ODSTs of the 11/6 Shock Troops. Ironically, after this Coney swore she wouldn’t make any more attempts to rescue crazy Spartans, which led her to abandon Dyne and Kodiak years later.

A week later, deployed on another counter-insurgency operation, Vinh experienced a sharp pain in her midsection during a high-G turn made by their Pelican. The operation was immediately put on hold as a medic examined her. It was revealed to Isaac and Coney that Vinh was pregnant. After a great deal of confusion, Vinh swore Coney and the medic to secrecy. SPARTAN-030 was discreetly transferred to Reach after refusing to abort the child, and stayed one month after having the boy, whom she named Dyne Peregrin Zaytsev, using the last name of Isaac’s father. Against all odds, Dyne lived through infancy without any complications as a ‘Spartan 2.1’, though he never knew of his parents origins.

Battle of Sigma Octanus IV (July 18-19, 2552)
Upon the Spartans’ arrival on the ground, Vinh was assigned to Red Team under command of Joshua-029, searching the docks of Cote d’Azure. Running ahead, Anton-044 discovered a score of survivors and radioed for the others to find and help him evacuate the workers. However, Joshua made an error by moving in too fast, and being discovered by a Covenant foot patrol. Joshua and Anton were pinned by the Elites, but Vinh eliminated them with grenades before the alarm was raised of the Spartans’ presence. Red Team then regrouped with Linda’s Green Team, and left aboard a Pelican for the UNSC fleet.

Battle of Reach (July 24th – Sept. 7th, 2552)
Vinh found herself back in Red Team, under leadership of Frederic-104. They were assigned as shock infantry to the surface of Reach, to defend the generators for the orbital MAC guns. As they descended, their Pelican, Bravo 1, was hit and the Spartans were forced to jump from the crashing vessel. Vinh was wounded during this jump, suffering from a torn deltoid muscle, three broken fingers, and a herniated disk.

Fred then assigned her to Delta Team with Will-043. Their mission was to secure the fallback position for the Spartans: CASTLE Base. Vinh, Will, and Isaac were separated from three other Spartans and the remaining members of Charlie Company but arrived at CASTLE Base. They were unable to enter the facility until Fred and Kelly met up with them and Kelly whispered Oly Oly Oxen Free into the speaker of the facility. Dr. Catherine Halsey was present, and opened the door for them. She was then checked out by Dr. Halsey and sent to survey perimeter defenses for the facility. This proved unnecessary however, as the Covenant attacked immediately.

Vinh, Isaac, Fred, Kelly, Will, and Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey were then trapped under CASTLE Base for several days after Halsey activated Operation: WHITE GLOVE to destroy the base and keep it from falling into enemy hands. Vinh was able to upgrade her MJOLNIR armor with parts salvaged from the base. These upgrades were being conducted in field-testing and had yet to be certified. She received a new linear accelerator added to her shield system, essentially doubling its shielding output.

After Fred discovered the massive room containing the Forerunner Crystal, it sent a massive radiation spike that allowed the Covenant to triangulate on the group's position. A Covenant Gravity Lift quickly appeared. The group retreated to a nearby tunnel, as Vinh and Isaac dropped Satchel Charges to cover the Spartan's tracks. The Charges detonated, but Vinh and Isaac disappeared. They could not be raised on the COM.

Pinned under tons of rubble, both Spartans remained alive, though barely conscious. Just as Vinh was reawakening and claustrophobia began to set in, Unggoy under the command of Ultra Veral T’ramee dug her out, along with Isaac. Veral inspected the two of them, and decided to bring one to High Charity for execution. Vinh, however, he would kill for personal honor. Just as he was about to slay her with an energy sword, Isaac grabbed T’ramee’s leg and uttered a challenging word. Veral did not hesitate, killing Isaac by running him through. Vinh was taken to a cell aboard T’ramee’s ship, the Devout Believer.

Imprisonment on the Devout Believer (Sept. 7th – Nov. 8th, 2552)
Vinh was placed in a cell alone, the same cell block housing a handful of insane Kig-Yar and the marine Privates Shields and Clark, the latter of which died from severe wounds. Due to the Covenant’s continued excavation of Reach and ongoing war with the UNSC, they did not return to High Charity immediately, and Vinh would live a while longer. Vinh’s only distractions for her two months of confinement were exercising to keep strong, and talking with a Jiralhanae, Parthius, learning a great deal about their history, art, and culture from him.

She finally was able to get free, the very day the Covenant Great Schism began. T’ramee entered the cell block and engaged Parthius in a duel, which the prisoners could only watch while speculating on their fate. Veral’s wild attacks shorted out the containment walls. Just as the Elite would have won, Vinh tackled Veral to the ground and decapitated him by using his own sharp-edged helmet.

With Shields dead, Vinh and Parthius formed a temporary alliance and spent three harrowing days fighting the remaining Elites onboard. The Jiralhanae made use of his energy spear, while the Spartan adopted a pair of Covenant energy swords. Though she at first found them unwieldy, Vinh quickly adapted and observed how sword-wielding Elites attacked. With every duel she became more deadly.

The guerilla strikes culminated with a battle on the cruiser’s bridge, where the Shipmaster was slain. Parthius allowed Vinh to escape in a single slipspace-capable ship, and she was able to return to Earth. Despite that she and Parthius had fought together against superior odds and won, she made sure to follow the Cole Protocol, still aware he was a Covenant soldier. After being recovered by an ONI prowler, she earned her unit the only major military award it had yet to receive, the Prisoner of War Medal.

Second Battle of Earth (October 2552)
Upon her return, Vinh dug through ONI’s files to find out what had happened at Reach and if her son could still be alive. Her exploration found that Dyne was a soldier assigned to ONI Section 3, which worried her greatly about his safety. Finding their next objective was in Japan, Vinh took a Pelican and made for Tokyo.

After landing and ducking Covenant troops, she was almost killed when a Revenant spotted her, but the arrival of Ion Team saved her life. Vinh overheard her son’s name, and was shocked to find that he had become a Spartan. She talked with him and the team leader, Kodiak, neither of the 3s knowing that she was Dyne’s mother. It was cut short when the enemy received reinforcements, and in the firefight Vinh fought alongside Ion Team. She was wounded, and evacuated on a Pelican once Ion had cleared up the area. Vinh’s last thought before meds knocked her out was that she was proud of her son.

After the War
Resilient as any Spartan, she quickly recovered from her injuries. She would not, however, return immediately to active duty. In the few days of celebration between the end of the war and fighting the Covenant Remnant, Vinh made visits to what members of the Spartan-II program remained alive, including Maria-062 and Fhajad-084, grieving and reminiscing with them. But she was not allowed to stay long, as she was still deemed capable of fighting.

Before she was to return to a Spartan commando unit, Vinh was invited to a summit to create diplomatic relations with the Huragok species. The Human faction was led by Lord Terrance Hood, while the Huragok were represented by a small number of their kind, primarily Virgil. The talks did not go well, as the UNSC ambassadors couldn’t understand their lack of want for their own sovereignty. Though little result came from the summit, Vinh understood their nature as puzzle-solvers, and befriended Curious though Young.

For the remaining years of her service, she would work with Huragok engineers in relative silence, forming bonds with them stronger than words could explain. Vinh’s natural abilities refined and tutored by the aliens quickly made her their chief engineer, her skill becoming legend among Navy crews. She did participate in a handful of ground operations, but they were few and far between.

Themistocles (2553-25XX)
Upon request, Vinh was assigned to the crew of the UNSC Themistocles, a light carrier that would carry surveying expeditions to planets with to find new colonies for the UNSC to rebuild on. Far from the Remnant front, she had asked for it specifically because Ion Team was part of its ground complement. From a distance, she was able to watch over her son.

To learn from the Engineers, she volunteered to be the on-duty technician during slipspace jumps. She discovered that Ion’s team leader, Kodiak, had a dislike to cryogenic freezing and avoided it as much as possible. Observing him in a combat simulation, Vinh leant her engineering skill to help him build an answer to the Sangheili wrist blade. After a time, she offered teach him the use of a sword, which the young Spartan eagerly accepted. Building first from meditation and stretching exercises, Kodiak was instructed in the use of both the human Longsword and Sangheili Energy Sword.

Battle of Dosiac
"Mad! Traitor! DEMON!"

- Elite, just before attacking Vinh

After a heavy fight between capital ships, the UNSC and Sangheili were able to land ground forces for their invasion. Vinh was tasked with leading a Marine infantry battalion to take one of the settlements. Out of respect for their kind, she gave them an ultimatum first offering them safety if they laid down their arms. The answer she received was to have their leaders confront each other. Should Vinh emerge the victor, the Jiralhanae would lay down their arms; if the Brute killed her, the humans would leave the region untouched.

Only when they arrived at the agreed location did she realize it was Parthius. He pleaded with her to kill him, to win the duel, as he knew that should he win the UNSC would not honor the agreement between them. She would not, and when the Sangheili General,, stepped forward with a blade, she deflected it and stood between them. Enraged, the Elite attacked her and in the fight, made a shallow slash through her visor and cut her eyes. Parthius leapt to her defense, and the fighting ended when the Sangheili agreed his forces would not attack Parthius’ home, ending it honorably for all. Vinh, however, would be blind for the remainder of her life after refusing THERMOPOLAE Prosthetics. She retired to Dosiac, helping build relations between the Jiralhanae nations and the UNSC.

Strengths and Weaknesses
"An elegant weapon for a more civilized age . . . but I suppose times have changed."

- Vinh to Kodiak G114 aboard the UNSC Themistocles

Early on in her Spartan training, Vinh showed a liking for tinkering with mechanical objects. Given a mongoose to experiment with, she quickly found parts and made modifications to double the ATV’s speed, without reducing maneuverability. After a while, Mendez allowed her to work on Warthogs and Scorpions with supervision of a base mechanic. Quickly, she earned the recognition among the other Spartans of being a master in combat engineering. The ability to quickly fabricate makeshift repairs and get derelict transports running served the unit well in many instances.

Her improvisation applied to more than just mechanics. On the field, she could make use of any weapon, human or alien, that still had ammunition left. She trusted her teammates completely, and followed orders without question, but had no desire or training to lead herself. She also at first had problems operating the Mjolnir armor, being affected by bouts of acute claustrophobia.

Armor
Like most other Spartan-IIs, Vinh used the standard Mark IV, V, and VI armor systems during most missions during the Human-Covenant War. However, her duties as an engineer often called for more precaution, and a suit of Explosive Ordnance Disposal armor was assigned to her. Small utilities included tactical hardcases for carrying tools, demolition equipment, and explosives without risk of them being damaged or blown up by stray fire.

Weapons
As her frontline actions mostly ended up taking positions in heavyweight vehicle engagements, Vinh packed anti-tank and anti-armor weapons. M19 and M41 Rocket Launchers were a staple early on, but when the Spartan Laser went into production, she immediately requested one, and was likely the only Spartan soldier rated to take apart and replace the charge packs on them in the field.

For infantry combat, medium-range weapons like the Designated Marksman’s Rifle and BR55 Battle Rifle were the usual choice, along with a sidearm. She also carried a healthy supply of grenades, both human and alien makes.

Equipment
Besides standard mechanical and electrical toolsets and devices, Vinh had only two personal possessions: the knife given to her by her father, and a letter addressed to Dyne. Inside the envelope was a picture of her and his father, along with a letter explaining his origin and why she had had to leave him. It also listed files from the missions she and Isaac had been in, so that if he wished he could view their records, and get a sense of who his parents were. On every combat mission she was in, she would give the letter to a marine for safekeeping, and ask for its return when it was over.