Introduction
Antarctica has become the location of a makeshift HQ for the Spartan-IIs. It is invisible to all types of scanners with radiation, thermal, and invisibility shielding technology developed from dead Sword Elite retrieved on one of the combat missions from which SPARTANs returned. The technology center was created in response to the increased Covenant threat to earth and the decreasing number of SPARTAN-IIs available after attempts at commandeering a Covenant ship to find the location of their home world. In the year 2553, several months after the departure and disappearance of The Pillar of Autumn and the final SPARTAN-II remaining, Reach fell. One thousand children at age 15 who showed the most qualification (improvisational skills, and keenness for adversity, and leadership) were kidnapped by the UNSC, being replaced by flash-clones, for the purpose of training and equipping in SPARTAN-II battle armor and biotechnology and MJOLNIR combat shield technology. For two years they studied military tactics and simulated ground, air, and space combat scenarios. In 2555, when the headquarters was completed, the students were brought in to, in addition to studying strategy, get physically trained.
In 2559, when the UNSC believed it could wait no longer for the students to finish growing, combat suits were measured out and created to specifically fit each student. Biological technology that increased stamina and strength without significantly increasing muscle size was infused into each student, giving them a significant physical edge. All one hundred students survived the process. The year 2563 marked the completion of all the battle suits, and research funding went into SPARTAN-III development.
No messages had been received from the last master Chief, nor The Pillar of Autumn. No Covenant forces had been seen nor heard of since the Pillar of Autumn led away forces, but there was a deep unspoken suspicion among many that the Covenant was preparing a devastating attack upon Earth itself, learning the location of it through guidance systems from Reach. The fear among those who knew about the project was that the UNSC wasn't preparing a team to attack the Covenant in greater numbers on their own territory, but to defend Earth, on Earth.
Antarctica has become the location of a makeshift HQ for the Spartan-IIs. It is invisible to all types of scanners with radiation, thermal, and invisibility shielding technology developed from dead Sword Elite retrieved on one of the combat missions from which SPARTANs returned. The technology center was created in response to the increased Covenant threat to earth and the decreasing number of SPARTAN-IIs available after attempts at commandeering a Covenant ship to find the location of their home world. In the year 2553, several months after the departure and disappearance of The Pillar of Autumn and the final SPARTAN-II remaining, Reach fell. One thousand children at age 15 who showed the most qualification (improvisational skills, and keenness for adversity, and leadership) were kidnapped by the UNSC, being replaced by flash-clones, for the purpose of training and equipping in SPARTAN-II battle armor and biotechnology and MJOLNIR combat shield technology. For two years they studied military tactics and simulated ground, air, and space combat scenarios. In 2555, when the headquarters was completed, the students were brought in to, in addition to studying strategy, get physically trained.
In 2559, when the UNSC believed it could wait no longer for the students to finish growing, combat suits were measured out and created to specifically fit each student. Biological technology that increased stamina and strength without significantly increasing muscle size was infused into each student, giving them a significant physical edge. All one hundred students survived the process. The year 2563 marked the completion of all the battle suits, and research funding went into SPARTAN-III development.
No messages had been received from the last master Chief, nor The Pillar of Autumn. No Covenant forces had been seen nor heard of since the Pillar of Autumn led away forces, but there was a deep unspoken suspicion among many that the Covenant was preparing a devastating attack upon Earth itself, learning the location of it through guidance systems from Reach. The fear among those who knew about the project was that the UNSC wasn't preparing a team to attack the Covenant in greater numbers on their own territory, but to defend Earth, on Earth.