- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
lol sorry to ruin ur happy days but there was a reference in the fall of reach that states... that all but 3 of the spartans were there....the three were off to far to be recalled....also this is taking place at the exact same time reach is falling sooooo........
figure it out urself...lol
The reference in the Fall of Reach is true, but then chew on this:
Both before and after their final union with the MJOLNIR armour, the SPARTAN II's, with their overwhelming physical abilities, improvisational skills, and keenness for adversity, handled their operations with a profound efficiency: as of August 27, 2552 they had suffered only 3 KIA's and 1 too wounded to continue active duty, giving them the best record of any UNSC unit. Of course, they were officially listed as MIA, part of ONI Section 2's successful propaganda campaign to boost morale; a program spearheaded by the SPARTAN II's and their glorious triumphs in battle, though strangely silent concerning Humanity's slow and imminent loss of the war against the Covenant.
Now, the wounded Spartan would've been accountable. As for the 3 "missing" Spartans, read this.
Section 2 of ONI is involved primarily in propaganda and data manipulation, both in the name of security and keeping the hopes of Humanity set high.
Who is to say that ONI doesn't lie to their own team, or to the Spartans, as to what has happened to their comrades? For all we know, ONI could be lying to the Spartans as well, in order to keep their own morale high (though I don't think it would be as big a problem with the Spartans, ONI is paranoid enough to not take any chances, LOL).
Looking at the last terminal, the date is Septermber 09, 2552 (09.09.2552, upper right hand corner). So, by this time, there are three Spartan KIAs, but whether or not the rest of the Spartans on reach know this is questionable. I doubt, with the Covenant fleet massing, that ONI would reveal that three of the "supersoldiers" were KIA.
As for the secret decoder rings - well, while the jury is still out on if JD is a Spartan or not (I say nay), we do know that he has access to decoding stuff - in other words, he has some level of security clearance that others don't.
This means that he is either an ONI spook, a mid-ranking officer that has some security clearance (he was put in charge of a landing team and talks directly with the Captain of the Lebanon), or someone the Captain knows personally. I think JD is a mid-ranking officer, personally.