January 12, 2538
ONI Platform 7B, above Reach, Epsilon Eridani
Lieutenant Thomas stared through the one way glass at the boy. Kidnapping children was not what he signed up for when he joined the Office of Naval Intelligence, but here he was. The boy was an orphan, no older than nine, living at a now overflowing orphanage on Reach. Even then though, it was not possible to simply waltz in and demand the boy without raising a few red flags. Instead Thomas had waited for him to leave to panhandle for food money and taken him there.
"I trust you were unseen Lieutenant?"
Captain Haldane spoke with her usual cold demeanor as she stepped into the room with another lady in a coat and an abnormally tall man in SPI armor. His superior officer was ruthless when it came to results and this operation was no different.
"No ma'am. OPSEC is total, security cameras in the whole block were wiped"
"Good, and the boy?"
"Came willingly after I offered him a new home"
"Very well"
Captain Haldane turned to the lab coat.
"All yours, ma'am"
-—-
Child psychology was a tricky and niche field. That said, Regan never imagined she would be interviewing a kidnapped child at a government black site. She sat down across from him, the sterile white lights reflecting off the table to illuminate the boy's whole face. She stared at him and inspected him. His eyes darted between her and the wall that hid a whole room of intelligence agents and recording equipment watching him.
Perceptive
His black hair was cropped incredibly short, a standard of Reach orphanages to prevent lice and keep disease down. His skin was pale from the misty and gray days of Reach, but his skin color hinted at something other than pure Caucasian. A long scar ran from just under his right cheekbone to the left corner of his forehead. She decided where would ask as part of his interview how he received it. He was pressed against his chair, ready to jump forward given a threat. Regan cracked a doctor's smile and opened her notebook.
"Hi my name is Regan, can you tell me your name"
The boy stared, his eyes narrowing as he decided whether to respond or not.
"Jordan"
She scribbled it down as she looked up at him.
"Jordan, it is nice to finally meet you. I have been watching you for a very long time and we think you're very special. I wish we could meet under different circumstances. Do you remember where you were born?
"Cherubdus"
Even with above average intelligence, he still could not pronounce Charybdis quite right. She scribbled it down.
"Do you remember any part of your life on Charybdis?"
He paused, staring at her for a moment before speaking again.
"I remember the men in black carrying me after all the loud banging and shouting"
She again scribbled his answer downs with some notes. Unbeknownst to him, she paused for a moment at the small photo clipped onto her journal's page. It showed a team of ODST holding a 4-year old Jordan. After an insurrectionist cell was eliminated, the team found the boy by himself. Unwilling to leave him, the team commander took him back to Reach. Luckily, he avoided the glassing of his planet later that year.
"And they brought you here?"
He nodded quickly
"When did you get that scar"
He paused and brought his hand up. He ran his index finger along the length of it as he stared at the table.
"When I got here"
"What happened"
Regan pressed with her pen ready.
"Some boys found out I had come from the far planets, they wanted my food and shoes. They came for them, so I fought them off. Later one took a piece of glass and slashed me while I slept."
"So what did you do?"
"I broke his fingers and went back to bed"
"Did they ever bother you again?"
"No, but they tried to hurt anybody who I helped"
Regan was furiously scribbling and comparing the dozens of hours of observational data she had notes on.
"Helped?"
"I'd steal food, bring extra credits, anything I could do to help the younger kids"
"And they went after them instead?"
"They tried, did not work"
Regan scribbled down one last thing before she turned and nodded at the wall. His suspicions confirmed, Jordan stared at the wall intently waiting for something to happen. Regan paused for a moment to watch the boy before she spoke.
"Jordan, we know you like to help people. Would you like to help a lot of people who are being hurt?"
The boy stared at her for a while before slowly nodding.
"It will be a very hard path, so I need you to say yes out loud for me"
The boy paused and tensed his jaw for a moment.
"Yes"
Unseen to Jordan, Lt. Commander Ambrose cracked a smile as he stared at his newest Spartan.
—-
_
ACCESS LEVEL: YANKEE WHITE
AUTH: 1845A#F
ARCHIVE: AI "DEEP WINTER" ARCHIVES
SUBJECT: NSW SPART B-COMPANY
FILE: SPARTAN Jordan-B247
ACCESS DATE:
Birthdate: [REDACTED], 2530
Birthplace: Scyllion, Charybdis IX, Charybdis System
Rank: E-8/Senior Chief Petty Officer
Training Notes:
Inducted into Beta-Company, SPARTAN-III program circa 2539
Showed early aptitude for both commanding operations as well as solo operations
Close friendship with Spartan-B312
Completed all basic and advanced skills trainings in top third of company
Classified as "category 2" shortly before BETA graduation
Commanders Note (LTCMDR. KURT AMBROSE):
Jordan-B247 shows aptitude as a commander and as an operator, a jack of all trades that will see his best use as an ONI operator. He has either close friends or simple colleagues. No in between. The closest relationship is between him and his bunkmate B312. They share an affinity for precision marksmanship and piloting. Most of the rest of Beta company see him as a cold but dependable comrade. He shows a high degree of personal initiative and drive for lethality. However, his inability to form deep relationships may harm his ability to operate in a large team environment. His insurrectionist familial history will likely not be an issue however, we have monitored him for anti-UNSC sympathy and found no substantial deviations. I am going to recommend he go CAT-2. - KA
SERVICE HISTORY:
-REASSIGNED FROM BETA CO → TO ONI DEEP RECON AND ASSET RECOVERY TEAM
-DEPLOYED TO ACTIUM
-REDEPLOYED TO SARGASSO
-REDEPLOYED TO NEW LLANELLI
-REASSIGNED FROM ONI DEEP RECON AND ASSET RECOVERY TEAM → ONI SECTION ZERO SPECIAL DETAIL [REDACTED]
-[REDACTED]