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(='.'=) This is Bunny. Copy and paste bunny
(")_(") to help him gain world domination.
Spartan 1's were originally ODST's that went through specialized training and piloted a mech-type exosuit that was tied in to a direct power source (usually a generator) S-1's could bring more firepower to bear as the load handling abilities of the exosuits was quite large - however the need for a mobile derivative caused the Spartan II program to be initiated.
From Halo Nation: "In 2491 the Colonial Military Administration relaunches ORION in secrecy, the new goal of ORION is to learn from the mistakes of the previous attempt, and create a soldier unlike anything before it - and to deploy these soldiers behind enemy lines and quell insurgences in their infancy, or destroy established insurgences by destroying their chain of command and expand outward. The Project is headquartered in one of the many orbital docks on Reach, the candidates are, once again, selected volunteers from all Special Force branches of the military. This iteration of the project used more advanced indoctrination and biological augmentation techniques - after a grueling series of physical and mental tests the first batch of soldiers, 165 in total successfully passed and moved on to the next phase. In 2496 the UNSC launched Operation: CHARLEMAGNE in response to the Secessionist Union who executed a series of attacks on Eridanus II, which resulted in numerous deaths and kidnappings of civilian and government officials in 2494 - this marked the first operational deployment of the ORION soldiers, now codenamed SPARTAN-Is, they scored a decisive victory and emerged from the battle with only a single casualty. The Spartans were able to complete the mission without even being seen, thereby fueling a range of conspiracy theories and media speculation, this proved to be very helpful to ONI's propaganda efforts in the coming decades. Though the Spartans were effective; their abilities fell short of the scientists' hopes, and they cost far too much to develop and field - in 2506 the project was deactivated and the soldiers were reassigned to various special operation units.[4]"