ORIGINS:
In the years following the deactivation of the ORION Project in 2506, the Insurrection became too large for the UNSC to manage with small Special Forces teams. As the Insurrectionist attacks were becoming more effective, and the military's responses heavier; the need for large scale military campaigns were becoming more and more necessary. The SPARTAN-II program was conceived by Doctor Halsey of ONI's Section 3, as the successor to the original ORION project and the best possible solution to end the conflict with the Insurrectionists.
Whereas the former Spartans were chemically-enhanced volunteers from the armed forces, the SPARTAN-IIs were young children, who were kidnapped, indoctrinated, and raised as soldiers from as young as six years old, being surgically, genetically, and cybernetically enhanced once they reached physical maturity. Although it was viewed as wildly unethical and filled with controversy, the secretive program produced results, and more importantly the Spartan-II soldiers proved to be the most effective soldiers ever fielded by a human armed force - and the most powerful weapon in the battle against the Insurrection. However, in 2525 the sudden breakout of the Human-Covenant War proved to be the most challenging and daunting war yet waged by humans, and the SPARTAN-IIs were outfitted with MJOLNIR, the most advanced mechanized armor in human history.
While the war with the Covenant continued to progress and the Insurrection was effectively cut off, the Spartan-IIs continued to engage Insurrectionist factions who remained strong enough to pose a genuine threat to the UNSC. The Spartan-IIs continued to perform their missions near-flawlessly, and ruthlessly killed off rebel leaders while engaging Covenant forces, doing whatever was necessary to protect the interests of the UNSC.

ONI DIRECTIVE 930:
In order to maintain morale among the other forces of the UNSC, the Office of Naval Intelligence created Directive 930 According to it "any Spartan casualties are to be listed as Missing In Action (MIA) or Wounded In Action (WIA), but never Killed In Action (KIA)." The protocol is not applied to members of the SPARTAN IV branch, the UNSC opting to honor their sacrifices accordingly rather than maintaining an aura of invincibility for propaganda purposes.


AUGMENTATIONS:
Occipital Capillary Reversal: Marked a visual perception increase, 11% of candidates were under risk of permanent blindness due to retinal rejection.
Carbide Ceramic Ossification: An advanced  carbide ceramic material is grafted systematically onto each candidate's bones. This resulted in the bones being virtually unbreakable. A 3.8% failure rate was predicted due to mutations and possibility of compromised bone marrow integrity.
Catalytic Thyroid Implant: A platinum pellet is implanted into the left thyroid gland. The pellet itself contained a human growth hormone that accelerated the growth of bones and muscles. Overall effect was growth in muscle mass and strengthening of the bones - 2% of candidates were predicted to acquire elephantiasis and a suppressed sexual drive.
Muscular Enhancement Injections: A protein complex is injected into the muscles that increase their strength, size and endurance. Also increased the density of muscle tissues and fibres. Muscles visibly quivered and contorted over one another resulting in connecting tendons becoming stronger. Around 5% of subjects were predicted to suffer a fatal cardiac volume increase.
Superconducting Fibrification of Neural Dendrites: Alteration of bioleletrical nerve transduction to shielded electronic transduction. Resulted in 300% increase in reflexes and as a side effect, increase in intelligence, memory and creativity. Around 12% of subjects were under threat of contracting Parkinson's Disease or Fletcher's Syndrome.


RESULTS:
The surviving SPARTAN-II candidates performed well beyond their expected capabilities. Combined with their intelligence, seamless teamwork and "aggressive" drive for success, the Spartans became unstoppable against any conventional combatant. 


Only a few months after the procedures, Spartans were recorded running at speeds of 55km/h or 34.2mph at least. One candidate known for her exceptional speed even before the augmentations was seen running at speeds 62km/h or 38.5mph in her MJOLNIR armour. Another Spartan, during a training exercise with the MJOLNIR Mk.5 armour ran at a speed recorded to be at 105km/h or 65.2mph briefly.


Without armour, they were able to lift up to three times their own body weight when they were only 14 years old. Trainers of the SPARTAN-II candidates were required to wear repurposed heavy exoskeletons in order to survive hand-to-hand training exercises with the Spartans. One particular candidate managed to kick one of these two-ton exoskeletons 8 meters.


Without armour, their reaction times were charted at 20milliseconds however with armour this increased and became impossible to chart. This was also further increased during combat situations. In such situations, their reaction times increase to such an extent that everything within their perception seemed to slow down - a feat which was dubbed "Spartan Time". The motion of a Spartan is almost impossible to follow, their movement appearing as a blur to their enemies and allies alike.


When the candidates equipped the MJOLNIR armour, all of these feats increased significantly and became even deadlier on the battlefield.


CURRENT STATUS:
As of 2564, most SPARTAN-II candidates had been rendered KIA (officially MIA due to Directive 930). Only a handful of candidates survive, their whereabouts kept top secret.

Trilogy incoming?

Approved!