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Writer share This article, Project BRUTUS, was written by Brodie-001, but may be used freely by other users even without the author's explicit permission.
"Say what you like about the Spartans, but BRUTUS is the real reason why people fear ONI."
―Admiral Margaret Parangosky
The logo used by BRUTUS operatives.

Project BRUTUS was the name given to a group of assassins recruited and trained by the Office of Naval Intelligence to help quash any signs of rebellion within the Human colonies in the 26th Century. The group was originally set up in 2505 as a potential successor to the ailing ORION Project, though it did not become fully active until at least 2509 once its support network had been properly established. As it does not exist in official records, most BRUTUS agents operate under the Department of Colonial Security, a former CAA organisation placed under ONI's control in the early 2500s. Frederick King, a former ORION operative, was chosen as BRUTUS' commanding officer shortly after outlining the plan to his superiors. These individuals were scattered across colony worlds and spent a great deal of time spying on the general populace. BRUTUS agents would rarely meet one another, operating alone or in small cells for the most part. When an assassination mission is approved up to half a dozen agents would take part to ensure no chance of failure, and had permission to kill members of the local law enforcement if they interfered with an operation. Due to the intense training and selection progress for BRUTUS, recruitment was slow and it was not uncommon for several years to pass without any new agents joining the rather small unit.

BRUTUS operatives were each assigned a number upon joining the project, and would never be referred to by their actual name during operations. If an agent fell in the line of duty his or her number could not be reused; lower numbers often denoted seniority over newer BRUTUS agents in the field. The Human-Covenant War did take a toll on BRUTUS, as many deep-cover agents died in Covenant attacks or were killed by Insurrectionists. In spite of the fact that most BRUTUS agents did not possess the same degree of training or the augmentations that benefited those of the SPARTAN and ORION projects[1], their ruthless efficiency and organisation still made them an effective counter-terrorism force even if their methods were unorthodox and often illegal. Claims of high-ranking BRUTUS agents wielding disproportionate amounts of power for their position within ONI did bring the organisation under close scrutiny several times over the years, though these were largely seen as unsubstantiated rumours.

Following the Human-Covenant War the surviving BRUTUS agents were often deployed as deep cover agents within Insurrectionist organisations, though the project was regarded as obsolete by some following ONI's post-war reforms and the formation of newer groups that became much more prominent in counter-terrorism operations. Nonetheless, BRUTUS remained as one of ONI's more secretive organisations and continued to be a reliable service for years after the war's end. By 2557, Alexander Redford had been made BRUTUS' commanding officer and began a series of experiments in partnering undercover agents up with SPARTAN supersoldiers for extraction missions based on his own field experiences in what would be known as the 'Defender Initiative'. This proved to be a great success, though BRUTUS was only able to acquire a limited number of Spartans to pair up with their best operatives.

BRUTUS Recruitment Dates

Please note that this covers only the numbered BRUTUS undercover field agents, and not support staff working for the organisation.

  • February 2505: Agents 1-15
  • December 2525 Agents 16-40
  • June 2540: Agents 40-85
  • December 2544: Agents 85-120
  • March 2553: Agents 120-200

Known BRUTUS Operatives

This list is accurate as of 2558.

Known individuals targeted by BRUTUS

Behind the Scenes

The author came up with BRUTUS in order to provide a group of ONI assassins for any user to make use of across multiple universes, rather than having the creation of various different organisations that focused on the elimination of Insurrectionists and other targets.

Notes

<references>

  1. A few BRUTUS agents were in fact former ORION operatives, Spartan 1.1's or JAVELIN augmentees.
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