Randall Aiken

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Randall Aiken: "You shouldn't fear me. I'm just one man. The "glorified bus driver's" backup."

Jameson Locke: "One man that was a SPARTAN."

— Randall Aiken and Jameson Locke meeting on Sedra

Colonel Randall Aiken, formerly Randall-037, was a commissioned officer of the Colonial Guard on the Outer Colony planet of Sedra and a former SPARTAN-II commando of the UNSC Naval Special Warfare Command.

Biography

Childhood and Spartan training

Born in Hull, England on Earth in 2511, Randall Aiken was abducted by the Office of Naval Intelligence for the classified SPARTAN-II program at the age of six in 2517. Randall was brought to Reach and trained by drill instructors and Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez and the AI Déjà.

Around 2527 Randall caught a fellow Spartan, Soren-066, and an Insurrectionist named Partch breaking into a lab within the Reach FLEETCOM Military Complex. Being suspicious of their activities, he escorted them outside to verify why they were there. Soren attacked Randall as they were leaving, and, after a brief struggle, Partch shot him with a tranquilizer dart, knocking him out and allowing them to escape. Afterward, Mendez reported to Dr. Catherine Halsey that Randall was doing fine but was angered with himself for letting his guard down. Mendez said that he had not let it down much, that he had done what he could, and it was good for him to go through something like that because it would make him a better soldier in the long run.

Battle of Vodin and life as a colonist

During the Human-Covenant War, Randall-037 participated in fifty-nine battles and military operations. His last official service as a SPARTAN-II was in 2532 in the Battle of Vodin where he was listed as missing in action. During the planet's orbital space engagement with the Covenant, he fell from the planet's skyhooks into Vodin's atmosphere and plunged to the surface, only to survive the impact by landing in an ocean on the planet. He was rescued days later by local survivors and lived with them following the battle.

Stranded and isolated from UNSC contact, Randall lived with the survivors for a full decade and was married to one of the colonists. When contact with the UNSC was established, Randall, now going by the name Aiken, maintained a low profile and preferred to stay with his wife and strong societal ties on Vodin than returning to service with the UNSC. In 2545, Aiken and his wife had a daughter named Natalie. Unfortunately, Aiken's wife died during childbirth. In 2546, ONI managed to locate Randall and made plans to reintegrate him into service, as they viewed him as a huge investment of the SPARTAN-II program. When Aiken refused, ONI deemed him compromised and no longer viable as a Spartan and so made plans to "decommission" him. Aiken forcefully (and successfully) refused this effort, but eventually negotiated a deal in which ONI "reversed" many of his Spartan augmentations through an excruciating process in return for his release from service to the UNSC. This compromise was personally approved by CINCONI, Admiral Margaret Parangosky.

After concluding his dealings with ONI, Aiken and his daughter left Vodin and headed to the Outer Colony of Sedra where he enrolled as part of the Colonial Guard. Thanks in large part to his extensive training and history, by 2556 he advanced to leader of the local wing of the Guard as a Colonel.

Attack on Sedra

Main article: Terrorist attack on Sedra City

On February 7, 2556, the City of Sedra was attacked by a Sangheili terrorist with a biological weapon. Many of the civilians infected by the bioweapon were brought to the Sedran Colonial Guard Hospital, including Aiken's own daughter. Jordan Gaines and Mason Hundley, two Office of Naval Intelligence operatives also affected by the weapon, were initially denied treatment by Aiken, due to his dislike of ONI. However, Lieutenant Commander Jameson Locke eventually convinced Aiken to allow their injuries to be treated.

After discovering a colonial tug used by the terrorist smuggle the weapon to the planet, Aiken agreed to work with Locke and his unit to track down the source of the element. Aiken violently interrogated the captured Yonhet supplier of the terrorist, named Axl, about the identity of the tug's pilots. However, Locke was able to communicate with the alien and persuaded Axl to reveal what information he knew. It was soon discovered that the element used in the bioweapon was from a partially functioning section of Installation 04, which had attempted an emergency slipspace jump during its destruction years earlier. Locke and his unit planned to destroy the source of the element with a HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon to prevent it from being used against humanity. After Aiken's daughter died of the infection, he and a Sedran Colonial Guard team joined Locke's ONI unit and left together for the Halo shard on a D81-LRT Condor dropship.

Alpha Shard

Main article: Mission to Alpha Shard

Randall ultimately sacrificed himself to detonate the HAVOK warhead, destroying the source of the bioweapon, while Lieutenant Commander Locke and Private Macer escaped Alpha Shard.

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Personality and traits

"We are simple things, soldiers. We are taught honor, honor means sacrifice, sacrifice means death; either our own, or our enemies'. In some ways, beneath it all, that's all a soldier's really trained for. To undo all of God's work. To take life where only God can give it. Were it that we were not soldiers, but gods?"

— Randall Aiken

Randall was known for his remarkable history and had a deep-rooted mistrust for the Office of Naval Intelligence. During his SPARTAN-II training, Randall showed a particular proficiency for combat leadership. However, he was also less sociable than his Spartan compatriots off the field.

Production notes

• Randall Aiken is portrayed in Halo: Nightfall by English actor Steven Waddington.
• Randall's Spartan tag was originally inferred by fans from from the "KMA 037R" license plate Easter egg in Halo 3: ODST ("(K) Missing in Action, 037, Randall"). Most of the license plates coincide with the initial and tag of a canonical Spartan, and as such, they are regarded as a reliable source of information. Randall's and Rosenda-A344's service tags, both of which were derived from the license plates, were later officially canonized by 343 Industries.
• Aiken's entry on the Halo Waypoint Universe section erroneously lists him as part of the Spartan branch.
• Aiken's blood type is AB-, according to a file on Jameson Locke's data pad. However, Aiken's uniform's identification patch states that his blood type is O+.

Gallery

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  Aiken with Agent Locke, Macer, and Wisner

• 

  Randall's career service viewed by Agent Locke and Macer.

List of appearances

• Halo: Ghosts of Onyx (First mentioned)
• Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
  • Pariah (First appearance)
• Halo: Nightfall