masterchief117

As a child, I lived in Elysium City on Eridanus II. I had brown hair and freckles. At the age of six I was identified by Dr. Catherine Halsey as one of 150 preliminary candidates for the SPARTAN-II program. I was an ideal physical candidate, standing a head taller than my schoolmates, having perfect physical proportions, and exhibiting quick reflexes, genetic structure also stood up to Dr. Halsey’s rigorous requirements. When Dr. Halsy and Lieutenant Jacob Keyes visited Eridanus II to study me, they were impressed with my intellect and more importantly, my luck. In a final test of my viability as a candidate, I was asked to determine which side a flipped coin would land on.I watched the coin as it flew in the air and caught it before it could land.Me and 74 other six-year-olds were “conscripted” — covertly kidnapped from our homes without our consent — and we were replaced with Flash Clones which later died of natural causes.

I was renamed John-117 and I began a new life that eliminated all aspects of civilian life. We were codenamed The Spartans and trained under CPO Mendez for seven years, receiving tutelage in history and military strategy as well as weapons and physical fitness training. I became friends early with SPARTAN-087 and Spartan-034, who would be the only close friends I would ever have. Sam’s untimely death in 2525 affected me profoundly.

When the we were eight years old, they went on their first training mission. The we were dropped over a wood and expected to get safely to our extraction Pelican. We also had instructions to leave the last child arriving behind. When the group came upon the Pelican, it was guarded by armed men. I showed early acumen in critical thinking and tactics, not wishing to take it for granted that guards would be friendly toward us. I came up with a plan to take the men down, capture the drop ship, and ensure the safe extraction of every team member, as I made sure I was the last person aboard. This action caused me to be promoted to Squad Leader of the Spartans.

At the age of 14, I underwent the dangerous and painful process of augmentation that caused many of the Spartans to “wash out” through death or debilitation. I was one of 32 Spartans who made it through the process ideally. I’ll update this next moth with more of the spartan-117 experience.