Anton-044

Anton-044
Biographical information
Born:	c. 2511
Died:	September 7, 2552 (presumed)
Personal details
Species:	Human
Gender:	Male
Height:	7 feet (210 cm)
Political and military information
Affiliation:	UNSC Navy Naval Special Warfare Command SPARTAN-II program
Rank:	At least Petty Officer, Second Class
Service number:	S-044

Anton-044 was a Spartan-II supersoldier. He was considered to be one of the Spartans' most skilled scouts. He was one of the few Spartan-IIs to survive the Fall of Reach in summer 2552, though he was killed shortly after escaping the planet.

Biography

Conscription and training

Anton was conscripted into the SPARTAN-II Program in 2517, when he was singled out as a physically and intellectually superior child by Dr. Catherine Halsey. He was replaced by a flash clone after being abducted by the Office of Naval Intelligence. He was then taken to Reach where he was trained along with the rest of the Spartan candidates by Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez and the AI Déjà. During one training exercise on the tropical colony of Emerald Cove, he and the other Spartans were able to live on their own for a few days. As he was fond of beaches, Anton found this experience to be particularly enjoyable. When the Spartans were augmented in 2525, Anton was among those who made it through with no long-term ill effects.

The war begins

Main article: Human-Covenant War

Months after the Human-Covenant War began with the attack on Harvest in early 2525, Anton-044 and the other Spartan-IIs were brought to the Reach FLEETCOM Military Complex, where Rear Admiral Michael Stanforth briefed them on the emerging Covenant threat. In response, the training of the Spartan-IIs was accelerated, and in November 2525 they were sent to Chi Ceti IV to receive their new MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor from the Damascus Materials Testing Facility. While en route to Chi Ceti IV aboard the UNSC Commonwealth, they were attacked by the Unrelenting, a Covenant warship. The Commonwealth was able to ward off the Unrelenting and the Spartans were deployed to Chi Ceti IV with Halsey, where they each received a set of armor. While the Spartans were returning to the Commonwealth via Pelican dropship, the Unrelenting re-engaged the frigate. To save the Commonwealth, John had Anton and the other Spartan-IIs use thruster packs in an attempt to board the alien vessel, and destroy it with Anvil-II AS missiles. However, only John-117, Kelly-087, and Samuel-034 made it aboard. Anton and the others missed the Unrelenting, but were picked up after the battle.

Radiant Arrow

Main article: Skirmish over Netherop

By early 2526, Anton, Malcolm-059, and Solomon-069 had been assigned to Green Team, which was then led by Kurt-051. On March 5 of that year, Anton and eleven other Spartans were organized into an assault squad with orders to board and capture a Covenant frigate, Radiant Arrow, orbiting the planet Netherop. To accomplish this, they were all deployed from the prowler UNSC Starry Night for an EVA boarding action, with John-117 in charge of the mission. Using a flight of Type-27 Banshees for cover, the Spartans stealthily approached the alien vessel. They boarded the frigate via its underslung hangar and eliminated the Covenant forces within, preparing to move deeper into the frigate without the rest of crew realizing they had been boarded. Blue Team spearheaded the assault, clearing rooms along the ship's main corridor as Anton and the rest of Green Team secured these chambers and any intersections they encountered. As the two teams continued on, a sensor operator aboard one of the prowlers "accidentally" broadcast a transmission on the Spartans' SQUADCOM, revealing their presence to the frigate's crew. Unbeknownst to them, the crewman's apparent mistake was part of an insurrectionist plot designed by Hector Nyeto, who intended to get the Spartans killed. With their presence known, Blue and Green Teams split up, with John leading his team to the bridge. Green Team would make their way to the engineering section until John informed them of the ship's imminent self-destruction at the hands of its shipmaster, and ordered them to evacuate. All of the Spartans—including Anton—made it to safety before the Radiant Arrow detonated.

SILENT STORM

Main article: Operation: SILENT STORM

On March 8, 2526, Anton, Green Team, and the others that had participated in the pervious mission were given a new assignment as part of Operation: SILENT STORM. They and the UNSC Marine Corps' 21st Space Assault Battalion would board and destroy Covenant vessels and stations in an attempt to slow their destructive advance through humanity's Outer Colonies. For the duration of this mission, the Spartans would be assigned to Task Force Yama, a small fleet of prowlers that would serve as both transport and support. As a Covenant fleet was currently glassing the colony of Etalan, the nearby world of Biko was chosen as the theater for the task force to launch its first attack. Specifically, an abandoned ice quarry on its third moon of Seoba was selected to house the prowlers until the moment presented itself.

During the voyage through slipspace, Anton and the others trained with the ODSTs in the UNSC Vanishing Point's mission preparation hold. The Spartans made short work of the veteran marines in each exercise until Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson taught them some unorthodox strategies that proved to be much more effective against the supersoldiers. After four days of training, Colonel Marmon Crowther had them all gather in the ship's drop hangar to be briefed on the specifics of the operation. Despite their exemplary performance against his ODSTs, Crowther was still skeptical about deploying the Spartans to the front lines due to their inexperience on the battlefield, as well as their apparent young age, much to their frustration.

Seoba

Main article: Battle of Seoba

Upon the task force's arrival at Seoba on March 18, 2526, Colonel Crowther planned to practice the mass deployment of the Spartans and ODSTs into the ice quarry, in an exercise dubbed Operation: ICE DANCE. However, insurrectionist forces were detected in the quarry, preparing to stage a coup against Biko's chancellor. Crowther decided that ICE DANCE would proceed as planned, but now with the objective of taking the quarry from the rebels. An intense battle ensued, with the Spartans leading the way. Blue Team focused on destroying a convoy of Civets moving to repair the rebels' damaged communications relay as the other Spartans—including Anton and Green Team—were engaged elsewhere in the quarry. Ultimately, the insurgents were soon defeated and the quarry fell under UNSC control.

The next day, Captain Halima Ascot, commander of Task Force Yama and captain of the Starry Night, held a meeting to discuss the events of the previous day's battle. John was reprimanded for his maverick actions at the start of the battle, and his Spartans' experience was called into question once more. Due to some of Nyeto's sly comments, the truth about their young ages was revealed to the few personnel present at the meeting. Learning this disturbing fact, Colonel Crowther refused to send the Spartans into battle again, instead ordering them to guard the insurrectionists captured during the fighting and prepare them to be sent to Biko to be processed. While this meeting was being held, a Covenant flotilla was detected as it arrived in-system and began heading for Seoba. As the rest of Task Force Yama mobilized to meet the alien vessels, Anton and the other Spartans were sent to Subsurface Maintenance Grotto 6M430 where they would direct the captured insurgents onto a transport. While the line of roughly 300 prisoners marched onto the vessel, John noticed that a group of them were hiding the presence of an officer, General Harper Garvin of the United Rebel Front. He ordered the officer to step forward, but another rebel presented herself instead, clearly trying to stall for Garvin. To show that he meant business, John grabbed the woman by her tunic lapels and threatened her with summary execution for interfering with a guard while on the field of combat, as per the UNSC Military Code of Conduct. John's plan worked and General Garvin presented himself. He began trying to pry information out of John, but this effort was interrupted when a situation with Captain Ascot's flagship was relayed over the task force's command channel. The Starry Night had been shot down on takeoff, crash-landing back into the quarry. Crowther was unable to send a unit of his Black Daggers to search for survivors without putting more prowlers at risk. Since they were the only unit available to assist, John decided that he and his Spartans would go for the Starry Night once the transport was loaded. After sending Garvin back to his people and ordering the transport pilot to launch, John had his Spartans move out, much to the concern of Kurt-051 and Joshua-029. Not only would they be disobeying a direct order from Crowther, operating without the support of the task force in such a situation would be very risky.

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Fall of Reach

Main article: Fall of Reach

Anton was among the 25 Spartan-IIs assembled on Reach for Operation: RED FLAG in August 2552. Like the other Spartans, Anton was deliberately kept uninformed of the Covenant's ongoing invasion of the planet. Anton and the other Spartans were embarked on the cruiser UNSC Pillar of Autumn (which was set to leave the system) when the Covenant's Fleet of Particular Justice arrived at Reach. He was assigned to Red Team and given the callsign "Red-Twenty One". Red Team, under the command of Frederic-104, was tasked with traveling to the planet's surface to defend the generators that powered the planet's network of 20 orbital defense platforms.

As the team descended to the surface of Reach, their Pelican, Bravo 001, was shot down. The Spartans were forced to jump from the vessel before it crashed. Anton then rendezvoused with the rest of the Spartans at ODG Facility A-331. There, Anton was given command of Team Gamma, which also included Li-008 and Grace-093. Fred sent the trio to evacuate Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb. Though they were successful in picking up the Admiral, they were unable to meet up with Delta and Alpha teams due to Covenant activity.

Escape from Reach

Main article: Raid on Reach

Anton and Team Gamma then retreated to Camp Independence for three weeks where they broadcast the Spartan's "all clear" signal (Oly Oly Oxen Free) on the UNSC E-Band until it was picked up by John-117 and Cortana aboard the captured Covenant carrier Ascendant Justice. Cortana then sent a return signal. Anton then went out to meet John, being the first Spartan the latter had seen since his escape from Reach. Anton then listened to John's story of the events at Halo Installation 04.

Anton assisted John when they rescued the survivors of Delta and Alpha Teams, in the Forerunner complex beneath the remains of CASTLE Base. Together, they all retreated to the Ascendant Justice (which had been tethered to the UNSC frigate Gettysburg) aboard a captured Spirit dropship. The group tried to initiate a slipspace jump but the Forerunner crystal artifact found by Fred's team created an anomalous slipspace bubble in which the ship was trapped. In the rift a group of Sangheili who had survived Cortana's takeover of Ascendant Justice sabotaged the main power conduit.

Anton (under the callsign Blue Four) took part in the extravehicular mission to repair the ship. He, John, Fred, Li, Grace, and Will, along with PO2 Shiela Polaski, took the dropship out to the site. There they were ambushed by several Sangheili. Anton posted on top of the dropship to provide cover. As the conduit was repaired, a large globule of stray plasma struck the dropship, destroying its cockpit. Anton, Li, and Polaski went missing in this event. While he and the others were most likely flash-vaporized by the extreme heat, Anton was listed as missing in action in accordance with protocol.

List of appearances

• Halo: First Strike (First appearance)
• Halo: Silent Storm