James Ackerson: Difference between revisions

{{Character Infobox|variant=Human

|image = [[File:Invasion; Ackerson.jpg|260px]]

|name = James Ackerson

|death = [[2552#November|November 2552]]

|gender = Male

|hair = Brown

|notable = *Rival of Dr. Catherine Halsey

*Secretly initiated the SPARTAN-III program

*Member of the UNSC Security Council

|affiliation = *[[Special Warfare Command]]

*[[UNSC Army]]

}}

{{Quote|I do get the feeling that Ackerson would gladly assign members of his own family to a suicide mission if he could find an appropriately high value target to send them against.|[[Kurt Ambrose]] in a communique to [[Chief Petty Officer|CPO]] [[Franklin Mendez]].<ref>[http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?cid=24530 '''Bungie.net''': ''NOBLE TEAM PERFORMANCE REPORTS'']</ref>}}

'''James Ackerson''' was a [[colonel]] in the [[UNSC Army]] employed by the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] during the [[Human-Covenant War]]. His [[Career Service Vitae]] was impressive, as he had survived at least three battles against the [[Covenant]]. Early in the war, he received a promotion and volunteered for a dozen black operations. Known for his ruthless and ambitious persona, he was the mastermind of the [[SPARTAN-III program]] and the most formidable rival of [[Catherine Halsey|Dr. Catherine Halsey]]. Ackerson was employed by ONI as a liaison officer, likely maintaining the relationship between ONI and the Army.<ref>'''Halo: Ghosts of Onyx''', ''page 59''</ref>

As children, Ackerson and his brother [[Ruwan Ackerson|Ruwan]] were avid fans of classic fantasy literature, particularly the works of [[Wikipedia: J. R. R. Tolkien|J. R. R. Tolkien]]. They often imagined that they were fighting a dragon. Together, they created the imaginary [[Key of Osanalan]], which they pretended to quest for when fighting the dragon.<ref>'''Halo: Uprising''', ''[[Halo: Uprising Issue 3|Issue 3]]''</ref>

During his time at [[Unified Combined Military Boot Camp|boot camp]], Ackerson trained on [[Cyrus VII]] alongside [[Twyker]]. Twyker would later maintain that Ackerson owed him money.<ref> '''Halo: Uprising''' ''[[Halo: Uprising Issue 4|Issue 4]]''</ref>

Before he was confirmed dead, Admiral Parangosky was planning to assign Ackerson to direct the [[SPARTAN-IV Program]] and make Dr. Halsey work for him.<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 147''</ref> His name was put on the [[Voi Memorial]] in [[2553#March|March 2553]]. Out of both sincerity and spite, Admiral Parangosky later noted to Halsey that Ackerson had died a hero.<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 435''</ref>

Ackerson was cunning but shortsighted and often mixed personal glory with more humanitarian goals. For example, his creation of the SPARTAN-III Program was an effort to "trade lives for time", but it was also an attempt to out-do his rival, Catherine Halsey. He was rather savage at times, eager to put his own petty revenge before the betterment of mankind. During a field test of the [[MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Mark V|Mark V MJOLNIR armor]] with [[Cortana]] and [[John-117]], Ackerson exceeded the testing parameters, nearly causing the deaths of the SPARTAN and the AI through use of automated turrets, ODST squads, anti-tank mines, and even an airstrike.