Linda-058

Linda
Biographical information
Date of birth:	2511
Gender:	Female
Hair color:	Red
Eye color:	Green
Political and military information
Spartan tag:	SPARTAN-058
Rank:	Petty Officer Second Class

File:Fallofreach.jpg

Linda (standing on John's right with a sniper rifle) in action on the cover of Fall of Reach.

File:Linda.jpg

Fan-art of what Linda may look like.

Linda-058 is a Spartan-II supersoldier. She is one of the closest friends to John-117 and one of the few known surviving Spartans. She is well known for her skill with the Sniper Rifle, and on one occasion, she has fired so fast and well that John-117 didn't even know who she had targeted first.

Personality and Description

Linda is best known for her remarkable abilities with the Sniper Rifle. John and Fred have both noted that she makes sniping seem almost like an "art." She is the quietest member of the group and the "lone wolf" Spartan. Linda is patient, and persistent. Linda has demonstrated time and again that her abilities with a sniper rifle are far greater than any other Spartan. She is very pale, with blood red hair and bright green eyes. She is also a practitioner of Zen.

Biography

Childhood

Linda-058 was conscripted into the SPARTAN-II program in 2517, at age six, when she was singled out as a physically and intellectually superior child by Dr. Catherine Halsey. She was then abducted and replaced with a Flash Clone, as she was sent to Reach. Linda then trained there with the rest of the Spartans under the guidance of Chief Petty Officer Mendez and Deja. She was part of the Spartan missions at Military Reservation 01478-B, Military Wilderness Training Preserve, and several in the Highland Mountains.

Early Career

After her Spartan augmentations in 2525, Linda recovered quickly enough that she was chosen for the Spartan's first mission, to Eridanus II, a mission were spartans had no armour. She, along with John, Fred, Sam-034, and Kelly-087 boarded the Laden and traveled to Eridanus Secundus, where they infiltrated the facility and captured Colonel Robert Watts, the leader of the Eridanus Rebels.

She was present at Jericho VII in 2535 though never specifically mentioned by name. It is thought that she was designated Blue-Two and was by John's side during the mission. In actuality, Kelly was designated Blue-Two.

She was then at Sigma Octanus IV during The Battle of Sigma Octanus IV. She was designated as Green-One, leading a team of Spartans into the suburbs around Côte d'Azur. In the suburbs her team found approximately 20 civilian survivors. She was able to successfully evacuate them before Blue Team detonated a HAVOK Nuclear Warhead in the heart of the city, destroying tens of thousands of Covenant forces stationed there. Linda and her team then dusted off in a Pelican which docked with the UNSC Leviathan and returned to Reach for debriefing.

Reach

Linda was then aboard the UNSC Pillar of Autumn for a short time until The Battle of Reach began. She was designated as Blue-Two, part of John's team to Reach Station Gamma to destroy the unsecured NAV databse of the ONI Prowler Circumference. During that mission, James was critically wounded and she and John were forced to enter the station which was filled with Elite and Jackal Rangers. She found the bay and assisted Staff Sergeant Johnson's squad in holding off the Covenant forces long enough to escape. However, as they jumped out of their Pelican to open the bay doors, she was hit by several overcharged bolts from Plasma Pistols and Plasma Rifles, which penetrated her armor and flesh all the way to the carbonized bone. One of the globules of plasma hit her in the back of the skull, and with that, Linda was presumed dead.

Alpha Halo

John, disheartened over the death of his close teammate, took her to the cryo facilities where they immediately froze Linda's body in a Cryo-chamber. The Pillar of Autumn then jumped to Installation 04. As the ship was shot down by Covenant forces, most of the Cryo-chambers, including Linda's, were ejected as per standard UNSC procedure. She floated above the Halo for several days until after the destruction of the Installation. She was then detected by Cortana and John, who were in a Longsword fighter. They picked her and two other cryo pods up, but both of the other occupants had died when their chambers failed. Linda was the only other Spartan who was present at Installation 04 during Halo: Combat Evolved.

When John, Sergeant Johnson, Corporal Locklear, Lieutenant Haverson, and Petty Officer Polaski captured the Covenant Assault Carrier Ascendant Justice, Linda, still in her Cryo-chamber, was brought aboard. She could not be touched by any of them without proper medical staff and facilities. She then stayed on the Ascendant Justice until Dr. Halsey was rescued from Reach along with Fred's team. Dr. Halsey revived Linda aboard the UNSC Gettysburg, effectively resuscitating her.

OPERATION: FIRST STRIKE

Linda was then up and ready for battle, but she did not see any action until Operation: FIRST STRIKE. Linda was one of the Spartans who infiltrated the Unyielding Hierophant, providing cover for John, Fred, William-043 and Grace-093 with a Sniper Rifle. She made sure they made it to the vessel's fusion reactors and allowed them to overload the reactors.

As John, Will, and Fred evacuated, Linda, with some of her best shooting ever, managed to shoot 5 Elite pilots right out of their airborne Banshee fliers while hanging upside-down from a bridge. She refused to give up her position to make sure her three comrades got out alive even at the expense of her own life until John ordered her to let him rescue her over the COM. She then sent Oly Oly Oxen Free over the COM and uploaded a NAV marker with her location to John's Heads-Up Display.

She then retreated in John's Banshee to the Gettysburg, upon which she returned to Earth.

Second Battle of Earth

Following her return to Earth, Linda, as well as Fred and Will, were called upon to perform a number of operations during the Second Battle of Earth, up until November 3rd, 2552. These operations included numerous operations in orbit around Earth, stopping a Covenant invasion on Mount Erebus in Antarctica with a HAVOK tactical nuke, and stopping Covenant forces on the sea floor off of the Yucatan peninsula. Following these ops, they were deployed to the Centennial Orbital Elevator (also known as Tallo Negro del Maiz) in Havana, Cuba to stop Covenant forces that had gathered there. Linda, along with the other Spartans, stopped the Covenant forces, who had captured multiple nuclear warheads. The Spartans ascended the orbital elevator, destroyed one of the Covenant capital ships at the top, and captured another one, the Bloodied Spirit.

Onyx

Using the Bloodied Spirit, Linda and the other Spartans traveled to the planet Onyx at the request of Dr. Catherine Halsey. Linda arrived with Fred and Will in a crash landing on the surface. There, she met Kelly, Dr. Halsey, Lieutenant Commander Kurt Ambrose, a Spartan she had thought dead for almost 30 years, and many Spartan-III's, most notably Holly, Ash, and Dante. There, they were assaulted by multiple Onyx Sentinels. The sentinels attacked in groups of three, one watching and reporting Spartan tactics to the other sentinels at 3000 meters in the air, and the other two attacking at close range. Linda was able to shoot the overwatching sentinel out of the sky with aid from two SPNKr rocket launchers. The Spartans then used the Bloodied Spirit to reach a massive city of Onyx underground. Upon arrival, they were teleported to a Sentinel Factory, which they sabotaged. Returning to the city, they found Spartan-III group Team Katana. Katana was trapped in what Dr. Halsey called an "unshielded Slipspace field", which rendered them immune to all damage. As such, the Spartans were unable to rescucitate them, and fled to a control room, taking Katana with them. At this time, a Covenant Army arrived on Onyx, under command of Fleet Master Voro Nar 'Mantakree. They assaulted the small group of Spartan-II's and Spartan-III's. Linda was able to kill many Elites and Grunts, but they were overwhelmed. Holly was vaporized by a group of Hunters (Lekgolo), Will was killed by a Fuel Rod Blast from another Hunter, and Dante was already dead, from a plasma bolt to his left side and half a dozen needler shards under his arm and across his chest. Kurt-051 was almost cut in half by a Hunter's shield, and he ordered a retreat into the compressed space rift. Linda's final act during that battle was to shoot two elites out of their Banshees, before retreating through. Kurt stayed behind and destroyed the entire Covenant army and most of the world with two Fenris nuclear warheads. Linda is now shielded in a Micro Dyson Sphere in the heart of Onyx. She is one of the last surviving Spartan-II's, along with Fred, John, and Kelly.