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United Nations Space Command (UNSC)
General
Officially founded in the 22nd century during the Interplanetary War, the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) is the military, exploratory, and scientific agency of the United Earth Government (UEG). Originally overseeing just the Sol System while their sister organization, the Colonial Military Authority (CMA), controlled military forces in the colonies, the UNSC's jurisdiction gradually increased over the centuries, expanding tremendously at the start of the Insurrection to much controversy. But following the Covenant invasion in 2525, the UNSC became humanity's greatest defender and was forced to completely override civilian control of the government, forming an emergency military junta from which they coordinate both the war effort against the Covenant and humanity's survival.
- Badass Normal: UNSC Marines, when compared to Remnant's fighters and the SPARTANs. They don't have any Aura or augmentations to speak of like their Remnantarian counterparts, but make up for it in sheer tenacity, clever tactics and bravery in the face of overwhelming odds, earning the respect of everyone present.
- A particular notice goes to the ODSTs, whose modus operandi is dropping in behind enemy lines from orbit.
- Boring, but Practical:
- How Halsey describes the majority of UNSC small arms. Their mainline round, the 7.62 NATO, may be 600 years old, but it is cheap, effective, and easy to transport to all of their colonies.
- This is also why the UNSC does not have robotic armies despite having the capability to construct and field them. As gene therapy technologies advanced, they found it cheaper to train adaptable human soldiers rather than develop robots that would have to be fieldable across all 800 of their colonies. That being said, the existence of the Atlesian Knights and Remnant’s incredibly advanced robotics technology in general has caused Halsey to begin reconsidering that decision.
- Culture Clash: There's understandably a lot of it going around between Remnant and the UNSC. Generally, the Kingdoms of Remnant are all shown to be visibly uncomfortable with the highly militarized and conformist UNSC (except for Atlas, whose own militarized society leads to them quickly working fairly well with the "aliens" much to some others chagrin like Qrow), who understandably butt heads with Remnant's incredibly individualistic and non-conformist cultures based around personal independence and artistic expression. For example, Johnson is clearly unsettled when Qrow informs him that Huntsmen are ultimately mercenaries in all but name, and is shown to be struggling to wrap his head around the concept when the Grimm attack Amity Colosseum.
- Grey-and-Grey Morality: The conflicts between the UNSC and Insurrection, especially when compared to the Human-Covenant War.
- On the one hand, the Insurrectionists have a point in desiring greater autonomy for individual colonies and fighting against the stark class divides between the wealthier Inner Colonies and poorer Outer Colonies. There are also legitimate arguments to be made that the UNSC is highly authoritarian, prone to heavy-handed responses to perceived threats to their power such as the infamous nuking of the colony Far Isle after a local rebellion spiraled out of control. Not to mention that the Insurrection didn't start off violently, it merely escalated to that point after peaceful protests seemingly weren't going anywhere.
- On the other hand, the Insurrectionists have murdered millions of people over the decades through their terrorist attacks, ranging from assassinations to car bombings and even nuking human colonies themselves. Most infamously, the Insurrection largely attempted to assist the Covenant at the beginning of the Human-Covenant War, an act that led to dozens of colonies being glassed and millions of people dying. Most Insurrectionists saw this, and either went underground or held their nose and signed up with the UNSC. Those who remain are nothing more than die-hard extremists who would rather see their colonies burn than live under UNSC rule, continuing their terrorist activities and actively making it harder for the UNSC to fight the Covenant.
- Hope Bringer: The UNSC is this to Remnant, with many people being excited by their presence since they think that they can help the Remnantians eventually travel beyond their homeworld and set up space colonies, finally getting themselves free from the Grimm. Yet to the UNSC Remnant is very well what some believe might be an invaluable asset in the Covenant War and are pursuing an alliance with Remnant.
- Might Makes Right: Subverted hard. Some of the leaders of the UNSC, namely Colonel Ackerson, believe that if it comes down to it, they can force Remnant under their control by threatening them with orbital bombardment. Cole states how terrible an idea that is and explains the various “reasons why it would royally backfire against them. Ultimately, they decide to continue their peace talks with Remnant in pursuit of a mutually beneficial alliance. Yet even when this compromise is made, Parganosky is still plotting to annex Remnant, albeit peacefully, through making Remnant economically dependent on the UNSC.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Keyes, Johnson, and Halsey repeatedly make remarks (particularly near the end of Chapter 11) that while Remnant is radically different from Earth, it does still have things one can be found on their worlds - like racism, inequality, war and so on which even they still have and haven't entirely dealt with. Keyes admits that most of said problems aren't even behind the UNSC, just temporarily covered up due to the severity of the war with the Covenant.
- Sanity Has Advantages: As lampshaded by the Master Chief himself, the UNSC's primary advantage in the Human-Covenant War is that, unlike the Covenant, they're not blinded by religious dogma and are overall... well, sane. While the UNSC is completely focused on ensuring mankind's survival, the Covenant will occasionally more-or-less "hand" victories to the UNSC through its generals pointlessly wasting resources and troops on idiotic tactics just to settle leadership disputes, or completely refuse to research advanced Forerunner technology due to their screwed-up belief system (which allows humanity the strategic initiative in — however little — slowly closing the vast tech disparity between the UNSC and Covenant through willingly researching Forerunner tech).
- Soldier vs. Warrior: The basic dichotomy between SPARTANs and Huntsmen & Huntresses, and this is best exemplified in the battle between Blue Team and Haki Felt. However, it gets turned on its head in one respect — Remnant can raise their Huntsmen much faster and in greater numbers than it takes for the UNSC to create SPARTANs. Not to mention the incredible battle prowess Huntsman and Huntresses posses combined with their Aura and Semblances make them a powerhouse to fight against. Yet SPARTANs on the other hand have very decent combat experience and skills that allow them to adapt to almost any scenario or battlefield that lets them change the tide of battle; such as when they learn how Haki’s semblence works and immediately turn the tables against her. But only because Haki was arrogant and mentally unstable, and if she wasn’t either, would’ve spelled Blue Teams demise.
UNSC Marine Corps
General
The UNSC's primary expeditionary force, often working in conjunction with the UNSC Navy to deploy from planet to planet against both the Covenant and the Insurrection.
- Badass Army: Despite the severe technological disparity between them and the Covenant, the Marine Corps can hold its own against the Covenant. In fact, they often manage to secure costly victories thanks to clever tactics and training.
- Elites Are More Glamorous: The Orbital Drop Shock Troopers are the Marine Corps' elite special operations and quick reaction forces, deploying behind enemy lines by dropping directly from orbit. The fact that said "elite" status is now being contested by the Spartans has led to no small amount of hostility.
- Redshirt Army: In securing said victories, however, they often suffer a tremendous amount of casualties.
- We Will Wear Armor in the Future: The standard Marine Corp BDU (battle dress uniform) is covered in ballistic armor plating that is fairly resistant to ballistic weaponry. Not so much against Covenant plasma weapons, though, although the UNSC does attempt to mitigate this by covering the armor plates in a layer of optical refractive coating to dissipate heat.
S Sgt. Avery Johnson
Staff Sergeant Avery Junior Johnson (48789-20114-AJ)
Homeworld: Earth (Greater Chicago Industrial Zone, United Republic of North America)
Birthdate: November 23, 2474
One of the UNSC's best soldiers outside the SPARTAN-IIs, and a former member of their precursors, the ORION Project. Johnson is a skilled fighter, a charismatic leader, and a veteran of countless engagements, even being involved in the opening shots of the first major battle of the Human-Covenant War on Harvest. Currently, he serves as the UNSC's primary liaison with the Hunters traveling on board the UNSC Midsummer Night. In the future, he will develop a close relationship with Qrow Branwen and his family.- Badass Normal: While he was part of the ORION Project, most of the implants he received were removed when the project ended due to them causing issues with the test subjects. Despite this, he remains one of the greatest soldiers in the UNSC, only being surpassed by some Spartans.
- Cigar Chomper: Just like in canon. It is actually noted by Qrow, who is surprised to learn that, not only is Johnson not worried about it causing cancer, Johnson doesn't even know what cancer is, due to advancements in UNSC technology rendering most of humanity completely immune to it, and those few who can develop it are easily treated.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: Not under normal circumstances, but the prologue alludes to him having taken over combat training duties at Beacon for a month. The students who experienced it know it as the Month from Hell, and instinctively join the Marines in saying "Sir, Yes Sir" due to this.
- Kicked Upstairs: Is reassigned to Remnant as a Marine liaison following the conclusion of Operation: ODYSSEY because the Huntsmen he was supposed to escort were put into unacceptable levels of risk, resulting in nearly catastrophic death and injury. His reassignment ensures that he won't cause more problems for the UNSC but still be of use to them thanks to his ability to build a rapport with Remnantians.
- Honorary Uncle: Will eventually become this to Yang and Ruby, competing with Qrow over who is the coolest uncle.
- Older Than They Look: Johnson's biological age is significantly younger than his chronological age due to extended time in cryosleep while traveling between planets. He was born in 2474 C.E., meaning he is around 66 years old by the time the story starts in 2540note , and during the prologue, he's in his seventies.
- Old Soldier: Downplayed due to the aforementioned cryosleep, but he was already an experienced soldier before the war, having fought the Insurrection, and is chronologically in his mid-sixties by the time the story starts.
- Sergeant Rock: One of the UNSC's best, equally skilled at kicking ass, leading troops, and raising morale of units that have been pushed to their limit.
Task Force 141
An elite ODST unit with a high mission success rate, Task Force 141 was originally deployed to Peponi to investigate a Covenant covert recovery operation on-planet, which in turn results in their first meeting with the UNSC's newest extraterrestrial allies.
- Elites Are More Glamorous: While not as heavily trained and augmented as the Spartans, TF141 demonstrate why ODST Marines are still considered the UNSC's elite, assisting the Dare and the Remnantian delegation with tracking down the Covenant Zealots.
- Embarrassing Nickname: For John "Soap" MacTavish.
- Expy: They are all Modern Warfare characters, just as ODSTs
- Fire-Forged Friends: Captain Price, Soap, Gaz, Ghost, Farah, and the others quickly form a close working rapport with the Atlesian Ace Operatives, allowing them to successfully pull off an otherwise impossible mission with a madcap plan to destroy the Covenant data cache, the Zealot lance, and the Covenant ship carrying it with an octa bomb.
UNSC Navy
General
The backbone of the entire UNSC military, the Navy is responsible for spaceborne operations. Initially envisioned for offensive operations against pirates and Insurrectionists, they've been forced to become the primary defense against the Covenant's relentless onslaught.
- Badass Navy: Pound for pound, the Covenant Navy outmatches the UNSC Navy in every regard. But that doesn't stop the UNSC from putting up one hell of a fight and even scoring the rare victory through clever use of spacial terrain and tactics.
- Cool Spaceship: Have entire fleets filled with them.
- Glass Cannon: When compared to Covenant starships. A direct hit from a plasma torpedo spells certain doom to most UNSC vessels. Still, their kiloton-range magnetic accelerator cannons (MACs) and megaton-range nuclear bombs could destroy Covenant ships in one to two hits if they get past their shields.
- Magnetic Weapons: Although missiles and bombs are frequently employed against the Covenant, the primary arsenal of a UNSC starship is its magnetic accelerator cannon, or MAC. A single shot can destroy an unshielded Covenant warship, and one to two hits can deplete a full shield. While firing much smaller 50mm HE projectiles, their point-defense guns operate on a similar principle.
- Space Navy: While comprised of what could be considered flying bricks with guns, the UNSC Navy is an incredibly sophisticated fighting force.
ADM. Preston Cole
Admiral Preston Jeremiah Cole (03956-26127-PC)
Homeworld: Earth (Mark Twain, Missouri, United Republic of North America)
Birthdate: November 3, 2470
The head of the entire UNSC Navy and its armed forces since the beginning of the Human-Covenant War, and arguably the greatest admiral in human history. Admiral Cole's career began fighting the Insurrection, but following the revelation that his wife was a prominent Insurrectionist admiral he was forced to retire in disgrace, only to be brought back into the fold when the UNSC needed his services again against the might of the Covenant. Following a Pyrrhic Victory against the Covenant on the colony of Beijing-III, he made a random slipspace jump, only to make a discovery that would bring both the UNSC and Remnant on a collision course with each other.- Badass Bookworm: An incredibly intelligent and well-read man, one of the reasons he performs so well against the Covenant.
- Big Good: As the head of the UNSC Navy and its armed forces, he's been responsible for most of humanity's victories against the Covenant since the Harvest Campaign. He's also significantly more moral than Parangosky.
- Combat Pragmatist: His tactics are highly unorthodox and lethal, to say the least, yet have secured him countless victories against the Covenant. In fact, he never lost a single direct engagement against the Covenant.
- Four-Star Badass: Earned over the course of his career against both the Insurrection and especially the Covenant.
- I Surrender, Suckers: Pulled this trick against an Insurrectionist ship that had crippled his ship and killed or otherwise incapacitated most of his bridge crew. He pretended to offer his surrender, and when the Insurrectionists pulled up to dock, he fired an Archer missile through the boarding tube. The tactic was viewed at the time by UNSC CENTCOM as both a stroke of genius and a severe breach of protocol bordering on a war crime, causing them to neither award Cole the Legion of Honor nor court-martial him to avoid setting a precedent. Ultimately, Cole resolved to never again send a distress signal in enemy territory as no one would believe it. In his own words, "Surrender, quite literally, is no longer an option for me."
- Old Soldier: Was already an old veteran against the Insurrection when he was called back to serve when the Covenant invaded.
- My God, What Have I Done?: This happens when he later learns that because of parking his war torn spaceship in front of Remnant and being completely radio silent had ended up making Remnant’s inhabitants anxiety to skyrocket when fearing an alien invasion was about to happen. Leading to the Grimm who sense and hunt by negative emotions to come in hordes and attack several villages and towns across the kingdoms. Some of which led to the deaths of many people. Ozpin tells Cole he is still quite grateful for most of the ODST teams helping to save the towns from the Grimm; but it doesn’t stop Cole from being utterly ashamed and repulsed by what his decisions had ended up causing for these people.
- Later Halsey verbally rips into him for his decision to park his warship in front of Remnant and not say anything when she arrives. Stating that if Remnant was more primitive as a civilization, would’ve probably assumed it was the wrath of their own gods about to come, and that General Ironwood shouldn’t be blamed for fearing Cole’s ship being the vanguard of an alien invasion. And in particular tells Cole he was just lucky as hell that he didn’t end up screwing up first contact with this alien humanity on Remnant.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Has this mentality towards securing Remnant's resources and its people for the fight against the Covenant, wanting to diplomatically obtain an alliance and treating them as independent equals rather than attempting a costly and time-consuming invasion and occupation. Unlike Paragosky, who ultimately plans to bring Remnant into the fold through economic dependence, he genuinely has Remnant's best intentions at heart.
- The Strategist: The best in the entire UNSC.
VADM. Danforth Whitcomb
Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb (11113-32871-DW)
Homeworld: Earth
Birthdate: July 3, 2489
The Deputy Chief of Naval Operations and a member of the UNSC Security Council, Vice Admiral Whitcomb reports directly to Admiral Cole as his second-in-command. Claims to be a descendant of Russian Cossacks, despite speaking with a heavy Texan accent.- The Chains of Commanding: Although Whitcomb understands that his primary duty is to the UNSC and the survival of humanity as a whole, the morally questionable actions he has to undertake and allow weigh heavily on him, such as implementing the SPARTAN Program.
- Four-Star Badass: His military feats were of such renown that they were studied by the Spartans during their training.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Comes across as this while serving on the Security Council, especially when compared to the likes of Ackerson. He directly backs up Cole's claims that an attempted invasion and occupation of Remnant would be foolish in favor of diplomacy, and when Ackerson suggests using the data secured from the Peponi Cartographer to turn human worlds with Forerunner artifacts on them into so-called "fortress worlds," he points out that doing so runs the risk of investing too much of their military into ambushes that would still inevitably result in the planets' destruction. He instead advocates for evacuating the population of said colonies, reasoning that the Covenant will find them eventually no matter what they do.
CDR. Jacob Keyes
Commander Jacob Keyes (01928-19912-JK)
Homeworld: Earth
Birthdate: February 8, 2495
The commanding officer of the UNSC Midsummer Night, a Stalwart-class light frigate when first contact is made between Remnant and the UNSC. An expert tactician who is no stranger to taking part in classified missions, Commander Keyes was chosen by the UNSC to escort Huntsmen delegates from Atlas, Vale, and the White Fang across UNSC space in order to prove that the UNSC's claims about the threat of the Covenant is legitimate.- A Father to His Men: Cares deeply for the men and women under his command.
- Big Good: Of The Covenant Arc, with everyone reporting to him during the expedition.
- The Captain: One of the best in the entire UNSC fleet. Demonstrated during an ambush against his ship by two Covenant storm cutters over the partially glassed planet Khembalung, where he was able to destroy them both, albeit with significant damage.
- Commanding Coolness: Is the perfect example of a proper UNSC, to the point where even Qrow, who doesn't particularly like the concept of a military to begin with, likes him.
- Distinguished Gentleman's Pipe: Doesn't actually smoke while on the ship, but likes to chew on it to help him think.
- Kicked Upstairs: Is removed from command of the UNSC Midsummer Night following the conclusion of Operation: ODYSSEY and reassigned as a Navy liaison with Remnant. While on the surface this appears to be a legitimate posting, given that he allowed the Huntsmen delegates to put themselves at tremendous risk which led to the death of three and the critical wounding of a fourth, Keyes recognized it for the punishment it actually was. By being removed from active frontline duty and assigned as a liaison, his military career was effectively on hold. Nevertheless, he takes it as the other option would've been a court martial.
- Military Maverick: Tends to come up with unorthodox strategies on the fly, such as when he detonated a nuclear warhead behind an asteroid to use its fragments like shotgun pellets against the Covenant storm cutters pursuing him over Khembalung. This is part of why he is assigned to be the liaison with Remnant after the Battle of Peponi, as Cole realises that most of Remnant will not respond well to a more traditional military officer.
- Race Lift: Is Black like his depiction in the Silver Timeline.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: When confronted by the fact that Robyn Hill and the Happy Huntresses snuck aboard his ship in an effort to represent Mantle in the expedition to verify the threat of the Covenant, Keyes would've been well within his rights to have them thrown out. Instead, he takes in the full stock of the situation, noting that the relationship between Mantle and Atlas was far too similar to the relations between the Inner and Outer Colonies before the outbreak of the Insurrection for his liking. He ultimately allows them to stay, albeit as technical prisoners in name only.
- See the Invisible: Was able to somehow sense the Happy Huntresses using May's semblance, which was to produce an invisibility bubble, through instincts developed through many battles with Elites using stealth fields.
Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI)
General
The primary intelligence service for the UNSC, the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) is, on paper, simply responsible for information gathering and analysis. In actuality, they are one of, if not the, most powerful organizations in human space, willing to cross any moral and legal lines to secure both humanity's survival and the UNSC's grip on power.
- In-Series Nickname: Their agents are often called "spooks."
- Manipulative Editing: Fonding of using this tactic to spread UNSC propaganda and hide the truth of how badly the war against the Covenant is actually going.
- Propaganda Machine: ONI Section II is entirely devoted to developing and spreading pro-UNSC propaganda. One of their appointed tasks is masking just how badly the war against the Covenant is actually going, making it seem that the UNSC either holding them off or outright winning when the exact opposite is happening. They're remarkably efficient at it, too, managing to turn the Skirmish at Khembalung, which was the UNSC Midsummer Night walking into a trap by Jackal Privateers and nearly biting the dust before edging out a victory, into a decisive UNSC operation against the actual Covenant navy to liberate a conquered planet being used as a staging ground against other human colonies. None of the Huntsmen and Huntresses, especially Robyn Hill, are particularly pleased about that. But afterwards begrudgingly accept that this is a necessary evil to keep humanity from falling into despair from learning the true nature of the war.
- State Sec: Originally was just one of many intelligence agencies employed by the UNSC and legally is under the purview of the UNSC Navy, but under Admiral Parangosky's leadership, it has emerged as one of, if not the, most powerful organizations in the UNSC.
- Token Evil Teammate: Serves as this for the UNSC. While firmly committed to ensuring humanity's survival, ONI is willing to cross all kinds of legal, ethical, and moral lines to achieve those ends, including brutal subjugation of Insurrectionist elements, feeding the class divide between the Inner and Outer Colonies, and the use of Child Soldiers and human experimentation involved in the Spartan programs. As a result, nobody in the other branches of the UNSC likes them very much but tolerates them for the incredibly necessary intelligence services they can provide.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: A lot of their most morally questionable actions were done with the ultimate goal of saving human lives and preserving the UEG and UNSC's hold on power, the most notorious of which was the SPARTAN-II program which saw ONI agents kidnap and conscript 75 children into a super-soldier program against their will and subject them to years of brutal training and indoctrination. When the augmentations were finally administered, most of the children were either crippled or died. The SPARTAN-II Program was authorized because the Insurrection was growing out of control and threatening to spill into a full-blown civil war that could've resulted in billions of human deaths and a new dark age for humanity.
- It should be noted, however, that there is a considerable debate that the heavy-handed approach to initially quell the Insurrection favored by ONI and the UNSC upper brass created a self-fulfilling prophecy that caused the risk of civil war to become probable in the first place.
ADM. Margaret O. Parangosky
CINCONI Admiral Margaret Orlenda Parangosky (00230-00923-MP)
Homeworld: Luna
Birthdate: February 2461
The current head of the Office of Naval Intelligence, Margaret Parangosky is one of the most powerful people in the UNSC, serving as the representative of ONI on the Security Council and one of the de facto leaders of humanity as a whole.- Anti-Hero: On a good day. Admiral Parangosky is a ruthless and incredibly pragmatic individual willing to run over everyone in pursuing her goals, first and foremost of which is preserving the human species.
- Benevolent Boss: She surprisingly is one, assuming you do your job, don't lie to or plot against her, avoid screw-ups, and aren't named Catherine Halsey. Otherwise, she's a Bad Boss.
- Berserk Button: Downplayed, but Margaret visibly twitches whenever Catherine Halsey is brought up in conversation, due to her vehement hatred of the doctor.
- The Dreaded: As the head of the Office of Naval Intelligence, she's one of the most feared individuals in the entire UNSC.
- Ice Queen: Is an extremely cold person on the best of days.
- Pragmatic Villainy: While she has firmly vetoed a military campaign to annex Remnant due to the cost of men and materials (see Reasonable Authority Figure below), it has been confirmed by
Word of God that she is beginning work on bringing Remnant under Earth's thumb via gradual economic dependence while working with the Kingdoms as a partner for the immediate future. - Reasonable Authority Figure: Parangosky listens carefully to both Cole and Ackerson's arguments regarding Remnant, and while sharing the latter's discomfort about allowing Remnant to exist as a sovereign political entity (and therefore a symbol of independence from Earth that the Insurrectionists can use to justify their campaigns against the UNSC), she ultimately agrees with the former's assessment that attempting to annex the Kingdoms forcibly would be far too costly and inefficient of an endeavour to justify and that Remnant should be brought in as a partner, not as a vassal. At least, for now.
COL. James Ackerson
Colonel James Ackerson
Homeworld: Earth (Cleveland, Ohio, United Republic of North America)
Birthdate: Unknown
A former UNSC Army officer turned ONI Liaison Officer and member of the UNSC High Command, and the founder of the SPARTAN-III program, James Ackerson is the poster boy for many of ONI's more morally questionable activities. An intense rival to Dr. Halsey, he will do whatever he can to both ensure humanity's survival and his own political ascension.- Adaptational Nice Guy: In keeping his somewhat more sympathetic interpretation from the Silver Timeline, Ackerson realizes he's damned to Hell if it exists for his work on the SPARTAN-III Program, and recognizes the ethical violations of it, considering it a Necessary Evil in order for humanity to survive. He does, however, try to justify it to himself via the fact that he does not use Flash-Clones or abduct the children from loving families, as Dr. Halsey did, instead relying on war orphans who are offered the chance to take revenge on the Covenant for the deaths of their families and no one will miss if they disappear, as well as not pursuing the "Spartans are the evolution of humanity as a species bullshit" that he tells himself Halsey is guilty of. The thought of creating more Spartan-IIIs in order to offer competition to Remnant's capability to produce Huntsmen is something he pursues out of necessity.
- He also recognizes the Cold Equation of using the data recovered from the Peponi Cartographer to turn human colonies into "Fortress Worlds" that would bleed the Covenant as they make their advance, as it would divert ships, resources, and manpower from other colonies and leave them effectively defenseless, justifying it as a necessary sacrifice to ensure humanity's long-term survival, and is open to the idea of at least evacuating the civilian populations of these worlds beforehand, as proposed by Admirals Whitcomb and Cole.
- Adaptational Sympathy: Similarly to his Silver Counterpart, James Ackerson has a much more personal, understandable, and arguably more justifiable reason for his rivalry to Dr. Halsey: his sister, Julia, was a Spartan-II washout who died as a result of augmentation failures.
- Anti-Hero: Is willing to go to any lengths to secure humanity's survival and the UNSC's continued dominance no matter the cost, with no line unable to be crossed in the process. To the point where he openly advocated for an invasion of Remnant lest they inadvertently serve as an inspiration to the surviving Insurrectionists. Luckily, on that front, he is talked down.
- Ambition Is Evil: Every action he takes is done with the simultaneous goals of both stopping the Covenant and the Insurrection as well as securing his own political ambitions.
- At Least I Admit It: Unlike Halsey who insists that Spartans are the next evolution of humanity Ackerson outright admits to himself that the creation of both the Spartan II's and III's is evil, necessary evil but still morally repugnant.
- Evil Counterpart: To his hated rival, Dr. Halsey, to the point where he even created the SPARTAN-III Program in an attempt to upstage her with a superior super-soldier program. Yet as canon showed, that line of SPARTANS proved to be less than ideal compared to the previous generations.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Although his suggestion to invade and occupy Remnant is dismissed as a costly waste of time and resources that would better be served through diplomacy, he is not incorrect in saying that Remnant's continued independence might inspire Insurrectionists to continue waging acts of terror against the UNSC, reasoning that if Remnant could be independent, so could they despite the radically different circumstances between them.
- This also applies to his SPARTAN-III Program; while it was partially motivated by a desire to upstage Dr. Halsey and her SPARTAN-II Program due to his utter hatred for her, he was correct in a number of areas, namely the sheer expense and restrictive recruitment criteria of the S-IIs, which the UNSC could not realistically support, especially in this time of war against the Covenant. The S-IIIs could be produced at relatively cheaper costs and in larger numbers, allowing for a much greater number of them and the option of deploying them en masse for operations that would normally be outside of the capacity of the UNSC's conventional forces to undertake but too risky to deploy the few Spartans they had from Halsey.
- Token Evil Teammate: Is this to much of ONI, which is no easy feat.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Everything he does is to stop the Covenant from destroying humanity, he just has less moral issues over them.
DR. Catherine E. Halsey
Doctor Catherine Elizabeth Halsey (CC-409871, "Charlie Hotel")
Homeworld: Endymion (Port Vernon)
Birthdate: March 19, 2492
Doctor Catherine Elizabeth Halsey is the Office of Naval Intelligence's chief scientist, creator of the Spartan-II super soldiers, and the leader in virtually every field of science and technology known to man. As such, upon Remnant's discovery, she is brought in to examine the unique characteristics of its inhabitants and natural resources.- Break the Scientist: Halsey is visibly frustrated by the concepts of aura and semblance, as she is a devout atheist and firm woman of science, and how these seemingly magical abilities seem to fly in the face of the laws of physics. But Halsey is becoming very determined to prove that there is an actual scientific basis behind these esoteric concepts.
- Can't Kill You, Still Need You: ONI's attitude towards her. She has made several blatant violations of their orders, and Admiral Parangosky has a far more personal vendetta against the doctor. Still, Halsey's scientific achievements and loyalty to humanity are such that she is more or less untouchable at the moment. So while many in the Office of Naval Intelligence would very much like to shoot her or throw her into the Midnight Facility to rot, all they can do is stew in their own envy and anger towards her.
- Deadpan Snarker: Halsey's tongue can best be described as a silver sword, with her words simultaneously charming her friends and cutting down her enemies.
- Insufferable Genius: ONI and Dr. Watts certainly find her to be this. Ironwood feels she avoids this by being far less annoying than Watts, and actually being able to back it up.
- Parental Substitute: Serves as a maternal figure for Master-Chief and the other Spartan-IIs. Which is more than a little ironic considering the fact that she's the one who kidnapped them from their birth parents, though the Spartans themselves
bear her next-to-no ill will for this. - World's Smartest Woman: Easily the most brilliant human in existence, Dr. Halsey has almost single-handedly pioneered brand-new trails in the fields of human augmentation, AI theory, Xenoarcheology, Slipspace technology, and the reverse engineering of alien weaponry and equipment. Her powers of human psychology and deductive reasoning even clue her in (to an extent) on the Benevolent Conspiracy and Secret War going on behind the scenes on Remnant from observing Ozpin and the other headmasters.
LT. Veronica Dare
Lieutenant Veronica Ann Dare (73998-38490-VD)
Homeworld: Actium
Birthdate: December 4, 2515
An up-and-coming ONI Intelligence Officer and veteran of many engagements against both the Covenant and the Insurrection, Lieutenant Veronica Dare serves as the ONI liaison within the crew of the Midsummer Night to ensure mission compliance after one too many close calls.- Action Girl: Fights directly on the frontlines in the thick of combat.
- Badass Normal: Has no powers or augmentations at all, yet is more than able to hold her own against the Covenant and fight alongside Huntsmen and Spartans.
- Kicked Upstairs: Is reassigned as an ONI liaison with Remnant following the conclusion of Operation: ODYSSEY alongside Sergeant Johnson and Commander Keyes. Johnson, however, believes she'll manage to finagle her way out of it before long.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Dare, as an ONI agent, has by default a very abrasive personality and a "mission-first" outlook. But it quickly becomes clear to everyone that Dare genuinely cares about her fellow man and ultimately allows the Huntsmen with her to help finish the assault on the Peponi Cartographer to minimize human casualties as much as possible even though the mission was just to extract Robyn Hill and her team.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: Tries to be this towards the Huntsmen onboard the Midsummer Night after one too many close calls nearly results in total mission failure, to mixed results.
SPARTAN-II Program
General
The Super-Soldier program created by Dr. Halsey to combat human rebellion is now humanity's greatest weapon in the war against the Covenant. Conscripted from an early age, subjected to intensive training, put through a grueling augmentation procedure that left a large number of them dead or crippled, and outfitted with Mjolnir Armor - the finest personal protection system humanity has ever created - the Spartan-IIs are the finest warriors at humanity's disposal. Barring the Huntsmen.
- Angst? What Angst?: At least from John's perspective, and considering how the only Spartan to ever desert the UNSC did so out of anger that his augmentation failures meant he couldn't make the cut rather than out of moral outrage for his circumstances, he's probably not alone. While not ignorant or dismissive of the inherent injustice inflicted upon them, and knowing that hating Dr. Halsey and the UNSC would be a logical response, the Master Chief does not regret the way his life turned out. Instead, he sees it as a purpose bestowed upon him as humanity's sword and shield, especially with the genocidal Covenant bearing down upon them.
- Badass Family: While they're not actually related, they consider each other family. Dr. Halsey and Chief Mendez are also considered a part of it, with each Spartan regarding the others as brothers and sisters.
- Child Soldier: The Spartan Program recruited exclusively from children who met a series of genealogical, physiological, and psychological criteria set by Dr. Halsey, as she determined that children would be more accepting of indoctrination and more adaptable to augmentation than adults, citing the failures of the proceeding Orion program (which used adult volunteers who tended to become physically and mentally unstable, with some exceptions). They were all, with a few exceptions, abducted from their homes and families and replaced with Flash-Clones which died anywhere from a few weeks to a few months later, seemingly from natural causes, to maintain the Program's secrecy.
- Genius Bruiser: Every single Spartan was already a child prodigy in terms of intellect upon recruitment, and the academic portion of their training is the equivalent of several Master's Degrees.
- Power Armor: Every Spartan is equipped with a suit of Mjolnir armor, which provides them with the best personal protection humanity can offer a soldier, and increases their already enhanced strength and speed by a wide margin. However, Spartans are the only ones who can don Mjolnir, due to the highly sensitive enhancement and response systems being simply too intense for an un-augmented human to wear without killing them.
- Super-Soldier: The Spartans are among the most prominent examples of this in fiction due to their training, augmentations, and power armor, rivaled only by the Adeptus Astartes in terms of feats and renown.
- Soldier vs. Warrior: The main difference in mindset between them and Huntsmen/Huntresses, as evidenced by the fight between Haki Felt and Blue Team.
Master Chief
Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 (S-117)
Homeworld: Eridanus II (Elysium City)
Birthdate: March 7, 2511
Better known by his rank in the UNSC, Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 is among the finest of the Spartan-II super-soldiers. He serves as the de facto leader of the Spartans while being regarded as humanity's greatest hero by the rest of the UNSC. Leading his default squad of Blue Team aboard Vice Admiral Cole's flagship, John is among the first UNSC personnel to survey Remnant and encounter Grimm and Huntsmen in combat.- The Ace: Arguably the best soldier in the entire history of humanity, having brought insurgent cells and alien armies to their knees almost singlehandedly on more than one occasion.
- A Father to His Men: John has intense regard for the lives of his fellow soldiers, be they Spartans or ordinary humans, and while he accepts the necessity of sacrificing lives for the sake of a mission, the Master Chief regards it as a personal failure when he fails to bring any of the men and women under his command home.
- The Leader: Serves as this for the Spartans, identified early on in the Program as one of the top four candidates for the overall commander of the Spartans by Dr. Halsey and Chief Mendez.
- Nerd Action Hero: Far from a mindless meathead of a soldier, John is an incredibly intelligent and strategic thinker. When the ODSTs assigned to his command are debating over what the aliens inhabiting Remnant will look like and ask for his input, the Spartan launches into a detailed description of potential evolutionary pathways for sapient life on another planet and the appearances that result therein, leaving his soldiers surprised and nonplussed before he cracks a joke to lighten the tension.
- Not So Stoic: While John is very much a strong and silent type, he is not devoid of a sense of humor, cracking a joke about Star Wars human aliens to lighten the mood after the Techno Babble mentioned above. He also experiences frustration and rage upon seeing soldiers and civilians dying at the hands of the Covenant or the Grimm, but keeps it to himself, controlling his emotions and impulses thanks to his training.
- To Be Lawful or Good: Chief is faced with this dilemma when he and his squad come upon a village of Remnantians being attacked by Grimm, knowing that they will likely die without his and the ODSTs intervention, but having been given orders by Admiral Cole to stay out of sight and conduct recon only. He chooses to be good in this instance, and Cole does not punish him for violating orders, citing the UNSC's duties to protect all of humanity regardless of their origin.
