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"Highly intelligent and possesses a keen eyesight, exhibits acute hand-eye coordination and dexterity (May make a good sniper)" - Doctor Catherine Halsey's notes on Joseph-122, prior to his conscription.

Chief Warrant Officer Joseph-122, born Joseph William Stuart, is a Spartan-II supersoldier of the United Nations Space Command's Naval Special Warfare Command. Joseph spent much of his early combat service as a part of Green Team, followed by a nearly 10-year period in Gold Team, after which he would move between multiple teams until the Battle of Reach where he would be attached to Fred-104's Red Team, before being separated into Beta-Red Team under August-099.

A skilled marksman, Joseph wasn't known as a leader until after the Fall of Reach when he was forced to take command of Carris-137, James-005, the only known active Spartan's immediately after the battle (until the reappearance of Blue Team after Operation: FIRST STRIKE), in a reformed Green Team, later being joined by the long believed dead Toni-014 during the Battle of Earth, remaining in command into the postwar UNSC as a part of Special Warfare Group 3.

Biography

Early life and conscription

Joseph Stuart was born on the human Inner Colony of Camber on January 19th, 2511 to Jonathan and Elise Stuart, becoming their eldest child of three and their only son. Joseph was described as a caring older sibling to his twin sisters, Amanda and Lauren (born 2514) by his parents, often being trusted to care for the pair when their parents were at work. When he was only 5, Joseph would rescue Lauren when she fell through thin ice whilst the three siblings were playing. Joseph, without thinking for his own safety, immediately dived into the icy water as Amanda summoned their parents for assistance, who arrived just as Joseph broke the surface carrying an unconscious Lauren. Both were quickly hauled from the water and rushed to a hospital for treatment, where Joseph was both commended for his bravery and criticized for leaping into the icy water. Joseph responded to this by explaining that as the older brother, it was his 'job' to protect his younger siblings, however, he did acknowledge the brashness of his actions, and promised to be more careful in future. Joseph would be quickly discharged due to suffering no effects from his actions, with Lauren remaining in hospital, suffering from hypothermia, but made a full recovery and was discharged a week later.

Early in 2517, Joseph, due to the ice incident and the following extensive examination and lab tests, was identified as fitting the criteria for Doctor Catherine Halsey's SPARTAN-II program. His supporting school results which included a basic intelligence test identified him as an extremely talented child, which resulted in him being marked as a potential candidate for the program. Later, during a personal visit to Camber to observe him, Halsey noted how Joseph seemed to pay close attention to herself and Lt. Jacob Keyes, despite the pair not interacting with him directly, something which she later noted as possibly requiring further observation after his conscription.

Joseph-122 (Conscrpition) — Joseph-122 after his conscription in 2517.

On September 17, 2517, Joseph was abducted by the United Nations Space Command's Office of Naval Intelligence at the age of six to be conscripted into the SPARTAN-II program. He was then replaced with a flash clone and sent to Reach with the other Spartans. The flash clone who had replaced Joseph would live for a further nine-years after his abduction, succumbing to a debilitating lung disease in late 2526, which triggered a period of deep depression for his two siblings as a result, and caused his parents, blaming the air quality of Camber for the death of their son, to relocate to Gannick 22.

Training

Like the other Spartan-II candidates, Joseph was trained on Reach by "dumb" AI Déjà and Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez, in addition to numerous training exercises. In training Joseph immediately showed promise as a marksman, at one point briefly competing with Linda-058 for the position of the best sniper. Joseph was also found to be an adept pathfinder, due to his keen eyesight allowing him to spot distant or concealed targets that others might have missed. During one training exercise, Joseph and the other Spartans travelled to Emerald Cove for an underwater mission, where along with Fred-104 and Anton-044 stole Mendez's tanks and substitute them for the ones he had sabotaged, forcing Mendez to separate from the Spartan-II candidates, allowing them to live on their own for a few days before the latter returned with a small contingent of Tango company to 'recover them'. During this time, he would form a close friendship, with Daisy-023, Alec-073, Ralph-103, Oscar-129, and Daniel-138, all of whom fostered a desire to escape and return to their families. Also during this time, he would develop a grudge against, Jai-006, Adriana-111, and Mike-120, who's multiple failed escape attempts he saw as a threat to his plans for escape, as despite his military indoctrination, he still subconsciously sought to 'protect' his sisters.

In 2525, he and the other candidates underwent a series of augmentations to improve their abilities, later describing the experience as 'hellish' due to the invasive and painful nature of the procedures. Joseph was among the ones that survived and were not crippled or killed by the procedure, but upon learning of the death of Alec-073 and the crippling or death of countless more. He and his remaining close friends decided to make an escape attempt in response.

Escape

"Of the five escapees from the facility, only subject Joseph-122 has been captured." - UNSC radio transmission after Joseph's capture.

Following their augmentations procedures, Joseph along with Daisy, Ralph, Oscar, and Daniel moved to put their plan into action. After they had been released from the medical wing, but before the rest of the surviving Spartan-II's had been reassembled, Joseph and the other four Spartans rebelled against their trainers, holding them at gunpoint in front of Dr Halsey, in order to escape. Halsey granted them freedom, which allowed them to escape into the woods around the facility, and after resting during the night, the five split up and headed towards the nearest starports. Unknown to Joseph, one of the other escapee's had planted a tracking chip on Joseph as he slept, using him as sacrificial bait. Joseph would be pursued by most of Tango Company along with air support under Chief Mendez, who hoped to quickly recapture the errant Spartan, before redeploying to recapture the Spartan's before they escaped the planet.

Joseph, however, refused to go quietly, outrunning even the Warthog's that were pursuing him and using the terrain to force them to proceed on foot, which left them with no hope of capturing him, much to Tango Company's fury. Unable to catch him, Halsey authorized the use of high-power stun rounds to bring him in, which Tango company put to good effect, critically injuring Joseph with a shot to the leg, which forced him to a slow limp. Crippled, unable to fight further and having come to the conclusion he was somehow being tracked, he limped into a cave to shelter himself from Tango company. Seeing no more ammunition, he tossed his pistol aside and prepared for the inevitable capture, yet continued to fight as the company tried to pull him out of the cave.

Unfortunately for Joseph, the first of his pursuers to reach him decided that revenge was in order, instead shooting him in the head with a stun round, which knocked him unconscious, before brutally beating his defenceless body. Fortunately, Mendez arrived soon after and stopped the attack, before disciplining the men for their attack on a clearly beaten adversary. Upon assessing Joseph's condition Mendez ordered a Hornet take him back to the training complex and given urgent medical care for his injuries. Arriving at the medical wing, further analysis showed far more severe injuries which put him in a coma for the next four days. After he woke up, Joseph was informed of the nature of his punishment for his escape but remained in the medical facility for another week and to be prepared for his upcoming punishment.

Joseph was punished the harshest out of the three surviving escapees, being confined to solitary for two months on reduced rations, under the guise of being under observation for augmentation side-effects. After he was released from his punishment. He then spent a week recovering before he moved to locate evidence which would tell him who had betrayed him, having learned from idle gossip during his confinement that Daisy had been recaptured, in addition to learning of the deaths of Oscar, Ralph and Daniel. His plan was brutally simple, first, he would plant a small improvised device in one of the less used areas of the complex to start a fire, then he would then disable the complex's fire suppression system. This would force the guards to come and manually fight the fire, and for Déjà to focus on diagnosing why the fire suppression system was disabled, which would provide him with a window of time to enter the medical wing unnoticed and find what he was looking for.

However, upon entering the medical wing, he found Oscar and Daniel's corpse's in the morgue, with the accompanying autopsy reports, reporting that they had committed suicide, rather than being killed, which cast doubt of the validity of the information that he had 'overheard'. After he then found a very much alive Ralph, confined to a medical suite undergoing a psych evaluation, Joseph then demanded that Ralph tell him exactly what had happened and who had betrayed him, threatening Ralph with a scalpel in the process. Ralph, under-duress, eventually revealed to him that he had seen Daisy with a headset, which she had claimed to have removed the tracker from, likely meaning that she had planted the tracker as they had slept. Following this, Ralph, upon being further pressured by Joseph as to why Oscar and Daniel had killed themselves, rather than being recaptured, confided in him of the existence of the flash-clones, and the true nature of their 'conscription'.

Soon after Mendez entered with armed guards, due to Joseph having been spotted on a camera concealed in Ralph's room, whereupon Joseph was escorted to Dr Halsey's office, where she confirmed everything that Ralph had told him, appealing to him to maintain the secret of the flash clones. Joseph would only agree to do so on condition that no punishment was to be given for starting the fire, and that he be allowed to speak with Daisy, who was being also being kept in solitary on reduced rations, but only for a few days compared to Joseph.

Upon being let into Daisy's cell, Joseph, at first, acted calm, lulling Daisy into a false sense of security, before revealing he had spoken to Ralph. After this, he proceeded to verbally bombard his 'former' friend for her betrayal, before attacking her when she attempted to defend her reasoning and motivations. Due to Joseph being in a superior physical condition compared to Daisy, he was able to gain the upper hand quickly and landed several powerful strikes on Daisy, before Mendez and several guards restrained him, but not before he had turned Daisy's face black and blue. Mendez then gave Joseph a verbal warning for his actions, before being released. The reason for this leniency was that Mendez had overheard how Daisy had betrayed Joseph and had come to the conclusion that she had 'deserved' the beating that she had received.

After Daisy was released from solitary, Joseph refused to interact or speak with her in any way, despite Daisy's attempts to do so. This resulted in much speculation by the other Spartan-II's, with the most likely theory being that the pair (like Margret-053 and Otto-031) had been engaged in a secret relationship, though this could not be proved.

Spartan Service

Following his return to the surviving Spartan-II's, Joseph after some discussions with John-117 was assigned to a restructured Green Team under Kurt-051 by John, with his new teammates being Solomon-069, Malcolm-059, Anton-044 and Carris-137, due to Kurt being the most charismatic of all the Spartan-II's, which influenced John's decision as he saw Joseph as being in a 'bad way'.

At first, Joseph had a hard time adjusting to his new team, having never been personally close to any of his new teammates. As a result, he kept to himself and felt alone. As time passed, Joseph formed a budding friendship with Carris, who had genuinely lost her friends as a result of her augmentations. The two kept each other company in the early days of the reformated Green Team. The new friendship helped both Spartans integrate better with their new team-mates, and drew Joseph out of the 'slump' he fell into after the failed escape.

Operation: CERBERUS

Main article: Operation: CERBERUS

In late September of 2525, Joseph would participate in Operation: CERBERUS, a strike mission to kill or capture a second high ranking member of the United Rebel Front, Major Leonard Klein, Watts' designated second-in-command and his natural successor, who's location had been gathered during Operation: TALON a few weeks prior. The operation would be on the planet Eridanus II, in the Luxor Spaceport, where Klein and a small but well-equipped team of infiltrators had made plans to leave the planet, having waited out the search teams following the Bombing of Elysium City a few months prior. Due to the public nature of the operation, Green Team were assigned ODST armour for the mission, instead of their normal stealth suits. As the team marksman, Joseph, under the callsign of Green Five, was located on top of the spaceports control tower, the highest position on hand. Primarily being tasked with providing observation and, if necessary, overwatch fire to the other members of Green Team, who were waiting in ambush within the terminal complex, ready to intercept Klein and his team as they made their way to their private ship.

Unfortunately, things would go awry from the start, Klein and his men had been tipped off regarding the Spartan's presence at the spaceport, but due to the information identifying the Spartans as an 'unknown commando force', Klein chose to instead attack the Spartans preemptively, attempting to avenge Watts' capture or secure bargaining chips he could use for his superiors freedom. To this effort, he had endeavoured to position members of an unknown local insurrectionist cell at the spaceport and would use himself and his team as bait to draw the Spartans into a trap, planning to strike and capture the Spartans before they could react.

Joseph would at first find himself pinned down by insurrectionist counter-snipers, which he dealt with as quickly and efficiently as he could. However, Joseph would then find himself under direct attack from the team of insurrectionist soldiers who had been sent to capture him. Outnumbered, with more insurrectionists on the way and lacking a suitable weapon for a CQC fight, Joseph instead leapt off the control tower onto the adjoining terminal's roof, a jump of around 30 meters, a feat which would have injured most men, but thanks to his augmentations and training, Joseph avoided serious injury as a result of this action.

Joseph would then provide supporting fire for Green Team who had been pinned down when they attempted to capture Klein. Klein meanwhile had realised the situation as hopeless and aware that local UNSC Forces had sealed off a perimeter around the spaceport, was attempting to escape in another shuttle located on the far side of the complex. However, Kurt would instead order Joseph to instead pursue Klein, citing he was the only member of the team who was free to do so. Within a span of a few minutes, Joseph would catch Klein and his bodyguards before they reached the waiting shuttle. With the element of surprise, Joseph eliminated Klein's bodyguards, before he incapacitated Klein by shooting him in the leg with his sidearm, allowing him to be apprehended with ease. Once Klein was secure, Green Team disengaged from the enemy and retreated to a waiting ONI Owl dropship for evacuation. Leaving moments before local UNSC forces moved into the spaceport to neutralise the remaining hostiles.

The mission would be considered a success as the information Klein possessed would lead to the successful aversion of multiple URF terrorist attacks. It would also earn Joseph some praise for his quick thinking in disengaging from an unfavourable fight in an 'unconventional manner' and for his skilful shooting which had protected the members of his team, and led to the capture of Klein. However, as a result of jumping off of the roof and the chase that followed, Joseph would be restricted to light duties for the next few weeks due to the damage he incurred to his knees as a result of his actions.

Human-Covenant War

On November 2nd, the Spartan-IIs were briefed on the existence of the Covenant and the nature of this new and highly dangerous threat. Joseph would at first be sceptical of the validity of the reports, however, as Admiral Stanforth briefed them, he would begin to understand how dangerous a threat the Covenant actually posed, and that the war that he and the other Spartans had been conscripted to fight, was now but a distant memory.

Battle of Chi Ceti

In Late November, Joseph would be aboard the frigate, UNSC Commonwealth when the ship encountered the Covenant warship, Unrelenting which would begin the opening stages of the Battle of Chi Ceti. During the battle, Joseph along with a handful of the other Spartans would assist the ships damage control teams, battling several electrical fires which had broken out inside the ship, and helping to rescue several crewmembers who had been injured during the opening engagement.

After the Unrelenting disengaged from the Commonwealth, Joseph and the other Spartan's would land at the Damascus Materials Testing Facility to collect their brand new MJOLNIR Mark IV Powered Assault Armour and after some time to acclimatise to the enhanced capabilities of the new armour, he along with the other Spartan's would move to commence their EVA assault of the Unrelenting. Joseph along with the rest of Green Team would assault from the ship's starboard side in conjunction with Gold Team, whilst Red Team and Blue Team assaulted the ship from the port side. This decision annoyed Joseph as it meant sharing the same pelican dropship as Daisy, but in an effort to be co-operative under the circumstances of the mission, he tolerated her presence but refused to interact with her in any way.

Unfortunately, Joseph and all the other Spartan's bar John-117, Kelly-087 and Samual-034, would fail to board the Unrelenting and so would be left to drift in space until they could be recovered following the destruction of the target ship. Joseph was at first calm with this situation, being confident in the abilities of John, Kelly and Samual to carry out the objective, and so was content to wait, even joking with Carris that he would 'try and get some sleep'. This had been his plan until he collided with an also drifting Daisy, who decided to take the opportunity to attempt to heal their relationship by communicating with Joseph through the MJOLNIR's Private Com channel function so that no one else could hear them. Joseph was forced to stew in silence as Daisy attempted to converse with him, before he angrily told her that he didn't want to speak with her again, unless it was mission-critical, in which case he would only communicate with her in a professional manner and nothing more. This brought an end to Daisy's attempts to converse with him, just as the recovery pelican arrived to pick up the floating Spartan's.

After the battle, Joseph and the other Spartan's held a private funeral service for Sam aboard the UNSC Persian Gate a few days after the battle, after which Joseph along with Kurt would help John and Kelly come to terms with Sam's death, explaining that he was simply returning the favour that John had done for him after the augmentations.

Battle of Albion

In 2530, Green Team would be dispatched along with Blue Team to the outer colony of Albion, being tasked with helping repulse the Covenant assault on the planet, and to assist in the evacuation efforts. Green Team would fight several defensive operations centred around the planet's capital city, New Dover, preventing the Covenant from overrunning the primary evacuation site. However, civilian casualties were still high, due to the presence of a CCS-class battlecruiser above the city (denying orbiting UNSC warships a clear shot to shoot the ship down) which would continuously bombard the city, whilst its compliment Type-26 Banshee fighters harassed the evacuation transports, shooting down the majority. Eventually, the UNSC was able to deal with this threat, using six Paris-class Frigates to drive the ship out over the bay that New Dover was situated on, allowing a pair of Marathon-class cruisers to shoot down the ship with a combined MAC barrage from orbit.

During the battle, Joseph would encounter a pair of children, a boy and a girl, whose parents had been killed by the Covenant earlier in the battle. Joseph, with no support available, personally escorted the two children to an evacuation point, having to engage in a firefight with a covenant patrol in the process. During which, he was surprisingly aided by the children who, despite either being no more than 8-years old, had picked up pistols from fallen police officers and in a stroke of good fortune, had been both trained by the girl's father in how to shoot them. Joseph succeeded in escorting the children to the evacuation point, and after relieving them of the pistols and genuinely wishing them good luck, placed the pair aboard a waiting transport, which thanks to the CCS having been destroyed the day prior, was able to escape the planet successfully.

Battle of Vodin

Following the Battle of Albion, Joseph would be sent to the colony of Vodin along with a reshuffled Green Team, now led by Joshua-029. Joseph spent much of the battle rotating between blunting Covenant attack, evacuating colonists and assisting in the destruction of key Covenant equipment and encampments. However, towards the end of the battle, Joseph was tasked to ascend Vodin's only orbital elevator to enforce the Cole protocol on an unmanned freighter docked there, which due to damage to the elevator, could not be remotely wiped.

Joseph-122 (Young) — Joseph-122 after the Battle of Vodin.

Joseph, under the command of Randall-037, and along with James-005 would at first attempt to ascend the structure using one of the lift cars, due to a nearby Corvette making an insertion by Pelican unfeasible. However, the damage to the elevator had rendered the lifts unserviceable, forcing the 3 Spartan's to ascend the structure by hand, which, even with an experimental parafoil that each of them was carrying, was a dangerous endeavour. Fortunately, all of the Spartan's successfully reached where the freighter was docked without incident, however, soon after a Covenant strike team would arrive, having been tasked with recovering the data the Spartans had been sent to destroy.

A vicious firefight broke out, with Joseph and Randall holding off the larger Covenant force, whilst James boarded the freighter to wipe the data from its systems. However, the use of explosives by the covenant provided a far greater danger, causing the already damage elevator to begin to break apart, throwing Randall and several Elites from the structure when the skyhook they were fighting on collapsed suddenly. Alone and badly outnumbered, Joseph made a fighting retreat to the freighter, where he and James made a plan to escape the now collapsing elevator by using one of the ship's lifeboats to blast themselves clear of the structure. The pair would narrowly succeed in their plan, with Joseph narrowly avoiding a strike from an energy sword by the lifeboats door sealing behind him, moments before the craft launched, triggering a full collapse of the structure.

Battle of Jericho VII

In 2535, Joseph was deployed to Jericho VII in the Lambda Serpentis system for Operation: FALLEN WALLS. Operating under the callsign, Green-Five, he and Green Team were assigned the task preventing the advance of Covenant ground forces on the planet, and to attempt to force the enemy to commit their reserves. So as to reduce the opposition to Red Teams attack on their staging area, once Blue Team had attacked and drawn away their rearguard, which consisted of their remaining units.

Joseph would primarily focus his efforts on removing high ranking targets, primarily Elite Majors and officers, in order to sow chaos in the Covenant ranks, allowing the rest of Green Team and their allied Marine forces to engage the enemy more easily. However, his greatest achievement during the battle was scored when he assassinated the Elite General commanding the army, using an M99 Stanchion at a range of 9,714 meters (9.7km), which resulted in a total breakdown of the enemy command structure, forcing the Covenant to halt their advance until this could be restored.

Despite this critical blow, the UNSC Navy was unable to maintain control of the space around Jericho VII, forcing the UNSC to withdraw all remaining ground forces before abandoning the colony. However, due to the Covenant Army's lack of leadership, the Marines and Spartans were able to withdraw in good order with little harassment from the enemy.

Battle of Eirene

Later in 2535, Joseph was sent to the planet Eirene, as a part of a multi-team deployment to repel a Covenant attack on the planet's surface. He, along with Green Team, was assigned to defend evacuation points from Covenant attacks and to assist in the evacuation of civilians and wounded personnel. During this period, Joseph was surprised to find his former friend Ralph-103, now known as Ralph Parish. Ralph, now using his adopted parent's surname after his discharge, was serving as a Sergeant in the UNSC Marine Corps. Due to the amicable manner the two had parted ways on, they quickly struck up a rapport, though due to the deals they made, neither could reveal Ralph's presence to the other members of Green Team.

During the final day of the battle, Covenant forces broke through the overstretched UNSC defensive line, forcing Joshua to commit Green Team to plug the gaps in the line. In order for the final evacuations to be conducted safely, Jospeh joined engineers to delay and slow down the Covenant advances by collapsing buildings to block their routes to the remaining evacuation points. This action forced them into the heavily defended chokepoints, defended by the remainder of Green Team, in addition to detachments of Marines, ODST's and a limited number of Scorpion Tanks. Towards the climax of the battle, he received word from Ralph that he had gained contact with Daisy and the remnants of Gamma company and was attempting to evacuate them from behind Covenant lines. Despite Joseph's warnings of the extreme danger he was entering, Ralph reaffirmed his decision, before cutting any further contact with Joseph. Hours later, the UNSC issued a total withdrawal, with the Spartans being the final unit to leave the surface, having waited for John to rejoin them, who had been sent to locate the still missing Daisy. Upon the return of John's evac Pelican into an ONI secured hanger, only he disembarked, leaving Daisy's lifeless body lying peacefully in the blood tray, confirming her death, and by extension Ralph's.

Following the battle, Joseph would keep away from his fellow Spartans as they processed Daisy's death, himself having no sympathy for his dead comrade. In truth being more affected by Ralph's loss, as he was the last of his original friends, and the only other survivor of the escape attempt, who had not betrayed him. Whilst sorting through Daisy's few possessions, Sheila-065 found a data file addressed to Joseph in the event of her death. At first, he disregarded this news, drawing the ire of most of his teammates, who saw his actions as disrespectful to Daisy's memory, prompting them to pressure Joseph to watch the file in an effort to 'clear the air'. After some arguing, Joseph relented and agreed to look at the file, retreating to a quiet part of the ship so that no one could observe. Predictably the file contained an apology from Daisy for her betrayal of him years earlier and a request that he 'forgive her', frustrating him, prompting several expletives aimed at her.

However, this drew the attention of the nearby Carris, who overheard his shouting and came to investigate. Upon finding Joseph, Carris asked him to explain what had transpired that had soured their friendship. Joseph remained silent at first until Carris brought up the theory of them having a secret relationship, hypothesizing reasons for their 'break-up', which had assumed that Daisy had been at fault. Ranging from her dumping him and then trying to get him back, to her cheating on him with one of their mutual friends who had perished during augmentations.

Eventually, Joseph's patience ran out, angrily stating that there had never been in a secret relationship, before, at some prompting, Joseph accidentally stated, that Daisy had 'betrayed him'. Carris, now curious pressed for further details, despite Joseph's attempts at dissuasion, including mentioning that ONI forbade him from speaking about the subject. Carris, however, promised to remain silent if he told her the truth and cited that the subject clearly was affecting him and that talking about it would be healthy for him. Eventually, after some resistance, and a final warning, Joseph did so, revealing the truth. Informing her of the escape attempt, Daisy's betrayal, their abduction and conscriptions, the flash-clones, Oscar and Daniel's suicides, the coverup of Ralphs discharge, in addition to revealing that he had been responsible for the fire he had used to cover his 'investigation'.

Carris, at first, was surprised at the true reason behind their falling out, though due to the indoctrination she had undergone, the weight of their conscription and the use of illegal flash-clones was lost on her. However, after processed this news, she then pointed out to him that, Daisy's betrayal, despite her selfish intentions, had arguably saved his life. Noting Oscar and Daniel's suicides, Ralph killing his clone, followed nearly by himself and how Daisy had nearly killed her own. Joseph would at first brush off this train of thought, unwilling to let go of his festering grudge until Carris asked him what he would have done had he have found his clone. Having never thought about this question, he, after some pondering, admitted that it was likely he would have shot himself as Oscar and Daniel had done. Using this, Carris showed him how his own short-sighted he had been and by extension, how he had let one of his last friends die, thinking he hated her. Upon this realization, Joseph nearly broke down in tears, angrily berating himself for his own stubbornness and refusal to forgive Daisy. Carris, however, comforted him, stating that although Daisy was dead, he could still redeem himself if not through words, then through actions.

In order to answer any questions that would be asked by Joseph's change of heart, the pair agreed that the best option was to 'admit' that he and Daisy had been in a secret relationship, which had ended badly. Though at Joseph's insistence, he would say that she had dumped him, and he had taken it badly, as this would least affect Daisy's reputation and standing. Shortly before informing the other Spartan's of the 'truth', Joseph, without Carris, visited the cryotube Daisy's corpse had been placed into by ONI personnel, and apologised for his actions, finally burying the hatchet between the pair.

With the death of Daisy, Gold Team was considered undermanned by the other team leaders, due to its larger size it was decided that a member of Green Team would be transferred to Gold Team to reinforce its numbers. Unexpectedly, Joseph volunteered to take transfer, but due to his recent 'admittance', it was allowed, though with some concern, specifically from Carris, taking the vacant position of Gold-Five.

Gold Team was at-first, not pleased with the replacement for Daisy, as whilst the rest of the Spartan's had accepted Joseph's reason for his change of heart. The members of Gold Team weren't as forgiving due to their close relationship to Daisy and had formed a disliking of Joseph as a result. Only his former teammate Solomon-069 would give him a warm reception, abet lukewarm. Though with time, effort and convincing, Gold Team began to warm to Joseph, valuing his skills as a sniper and pathfinder, helped by his genuineness to apologise for his falling out with Daisy.

Battle of Bastion

Personality and traits

Joseph speaks with a dialect which hints at him having a Northern British ancestry, although this is unconfirmed. He prefers to be called by his full name, "Joseph" refusing to be called by shortened versions such as "Joe" or "Joey" perceiving them to be childish.

Relationships

During his early life as a Spartan, Joseph tended to interact with only those within his close circle of friends, which consisted, of Daisy-023, Alec-073, Ralph-103, Oscar-129 and Daniel-138. However, after the deaths of Alec, Oscar and Daniel, Ralph's discharge, and Daisy's betrayal, Joseph would become a loner for the following few months, until he was assigned to Green Team by John-117, who was concerned for Joseph's mental well being, having assumed his change in personality to be a result of him losing 4 of his friends due to augmentations, with his 'falling out' with Daisy to be a symptom of this.

This move would prove fruitful as, overtime, Joseph would begin to pull himself out of the slump he had fallen into, forming new friendships with the other Spartan-IIs, specifically in Carris-137, who like him had lost all of her friends due to the augmentation procedures.

Spartan-II

Daisy-023

"You stabbed me in the back! and for what? I know about the clones, Ralph told me everything!" - Joseph berating Daisy after her betrayal.

Joseph and Daisy had a positive relationship during training, this was due to a mutual desire to escape and return to their homes and families. However, their relationship soured after the escape attempt, where Daisy used Joseph as bait, by placing a chip on him so that the ONI recovery teams could find him, in order to give herself and the other escapees a better chance at successfully escaping Reach. After learning of her betrayal, Joseph would confront her in her cell, angrily berating her what she had done to him. However, when Daisy tried to defend herself and justify her actions, Joseph attacked her and beat her severely, before being restrained by Chief Mendez and several guards.

After this point, Joseph would refuse to interact with Daisy except in a professional manner and would ignore any attempts by Daisy to heal their relationship, and would refuse to comment on 'what had happened' when asked by any other Spartan's. However, after Daisy's death in 2535, Joseph found that she had left him a data file, and after some persuasion by John-117 and Kelly-087, he eventually watched the file, finding it to be an apology by Daisy, where she admitted that she had been wrong to do what she had done and asked for his forgiveness. This only served to annoy him further, as he still refused to forgive her and caused him to verbally abuse his dead ex-friend. However, his teammate Carris-137 would overhear his ranting, and after making Joseph reveal the real reason behind their falling out (in the process confiding in her the secret of the flash clones, the real causes Oscar and Daniel's deaths and Ralph's removal from the program). She would point out that Daisy's actions had likely saved his life, and advised him to finally bury the hatchet, which with his newfound clarity, he was able to do. Afterwards, Joseph would try to carry on her legacy by volunteering to transfer to a now understaffed Gold Team, the team Daisy had been attached to for her entire Spartan service.

Alec-073

Joseph and Alec were close during training, often sharing jokes when in their free time, his death during augmentations would hit Joseph hard and would serve as a contributing factor in the breakout a few weeks later.

Kelly-087

Ralph-103

Joseph and Ralph had a positive relationship during training, this was due to a mutual desire to escape and return to their homes and families. Following the breakout, Joseph would be told that Ralph had been killed after a fight with agents sent to 'reacquire' him. However, when Joseph was looking for evidence to tell him who had betrayed him, he found Ralph in the medical wing undergoing a psychological evaluation, this would cause their relationship to become briefly stressed due to Joseph, at the time, not knowing who had betrayed him. However, after learning that it had been Daisy who had been responsible, they would eventually part on good terms when Ralph was discharged on psychological grounds. Joseph was one of only two Spartan's that knew Ralph was alive after Doctor Halsey had him marked as having died from augmentation complications in order to cover his removal from the program.

In 2535, the two would meet once again during the Battle of Eirene, where Ralph was serving as a Marine Sergeant under the name Ralph Parish, and upon learning of Ralph's death near the end of the battle (under his new identity), Joseph would become saddened at the news of the last of his few 'original' friends from training.

Fred-104

John-117

Oscar-129

Joseph and Oscar had a positive relationship during training, this was due to a mutual desire to escape and return to their homes and families. Following the breakout, Joseph would be told that Oscar had been killed in a firefight with agents sent to 'reacquire' him. However, when Joseph was looking for evidence to tell him who had betrayed him, he found Oscar's corpse in the morgue, and after reading the autopsy report, found that death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Carris-137

Daniel-138

Joseph and Daniel had a positive relationship during training, this was due to a mutual desire to escape and return to their homes and families. Following the breakout, Joseph would be told that Daniel had been killed in a firefight with agents sent to 'reacquire' him. However, when Joseph was looking for evidence to tell him who had betrayed him, he found Daniel's corpse in the morgue, and after reading the autopsy report, found that death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Spartan-III

Skills and abilities

Joseph is regarded as one of the top Spartan-II markmen, although not as skilled as Linda-058, many trusted his shooting prowess and deadly aim when the situation required it. Joseph is also known as an adept pathfinder, with a keen eye for identifying enemy ambushes and high-value units. The combination of skills led to him being primarily responsible for stalling the Covenant advance during the Battle of Jericho VII when he identified and subsequently eliminated the Elite General commanding the army, forcing them to halt until a replacement could be found.

Joseph has also shown to possess leadership skills which until after the Fall of Reach had remained undiscovered until Joseph was assigned command of the reformed Green Team by Jake-A384. Despite his lack of experience as a Team Leader, he is considered by many to be SpecWarfare Group 3's third-in-command, often serving as the voice of logic.

Physical description

Joseph has green eyes and blonde hair and stands at 207 centimetres (6 feet 9.5 inches) and weighs 129.4 kilograms (285.3 pounds) out of armour. Joseph is described as having a rugged face with watchful eyes and keeps his hair in a long crew cut, paired with a well-trimmed full beard, both of which drew some ire from more 'by the book' Spartan's.

Like many of his fellow Spartan-IIs, Josephs skin is covered in surgical scars from the augmentation procedures and from combat wounds, but unlike most, his skin is noticeably less pale due to having to spend significant periods out of his MJOLNIR armour. Originally this was due to having serious knee surgery as a result of his injuries from the Battle of Miradem in 2544, which kept him out of action until months after the battle and would require him to have additional physical fitness exams, which would also require him to be out of his armour.

Equipment

Like most Spartan-II's Joseph wore a standard olive green set of MJOLNIR armour, wearing the Mark IV model for the majority of his service career. During this time, he wore a variety of Mjolnir armour variants, with him taking a preference to the Commando helmet variant, adding the UA/FC-I[2] package to better suit his needs as a sniper and pathfinder. This was worn with a standard set of MJOLNIR, with the only other addition being a Tactical/Patrol chest rig.

In 2552 his worn-out Mark IV was replaced with a set of Mark V armour in preparation for Operation: Red Flag. He retained this set of armour for the rest of the Human-Covenant War, fighting with it during the Battle of Reach, which caused severe but repairable damage, and later the Sol Campaign. Following the battle of Reach, Joseph along with the other surviving Spartan-II's was meant to have been reissued with brand-new Mark VI armour, but when the Battle of Earth commenced ONI Materials group had not manufactured him a set. Instead of taking a set meant for one of his deceased comrades, he chose to retain his battered but operational Mark V armour, which was repaired and retrofitted into Mark VI by Jake-A384 and ONI technicians.

Postwar Joseph as one of the few operational Spartans at that time was reassigned to SPECWAR Group 3 as the team leader of Green Team, with his armour becoming more 'personalised' in a reflection of the more diverse sets of Armour that the surviving Spartan-III Cat-II's operated.

Joseph would primarily operate either an SRS99-AM sniper rifle, modified with an expanded 8-round magazine or an M392 DMR with an extended barrel, both of which were threaded to mount an optional silencer. As a backup, he would operate an M6G Magnum pistol, which was also able to mount a silencer and a standard-issue combat knife which he carried on the left side of his torso.

Battle Honours

Operation: CERBERUS (2525) - Green Team
Battle of Chi Ceti (2525) - Green Team
Battle of Albion (2530) - Green Team
Battle of Vodin (2532) - Green Team
Battle of Jericho VII (2535) - Green Team
Battle of Eirene (2535) - Green Team
Battle of Bastion (2542) - Gold Team
Battle of Miridem (2544) - Gold Team
Battle of Skopje (2547) - Blue Team
Battle of Reach (2552) - Red Team/Beta-Red Team
Battle of Sol (2552) - Green Team

Gallery

Appearances

Halo Legends - Homecoming (First appearance)
Halo: Fall of Reach - Boot Camp
Halo: Remnants (Pending)
A Merry Spartan Christmas (Non-Canon)