Julian-G209

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Julian-G209 was a SPARTAN-III Commando of trained as a supersoldier in the final years of the Human-Covenant War. Leaving training as one of the more capable squad leaders in the company, Julian was forced to deal with a number of deaths early on in their deployment before his eventual reassignment to Shrike Team, where he participated in a number of clandestine operations over the next year. 
Following Shrike's dissolution, Julian would join a new group of Spartans under the direct command of ONI known as Thor, which would operate as part of the Spartan Branch instead of the Navy and participate in a number of highly dangerous operations over the next few years. While a reliable Spartan, his loyalty would be tested after the desertion of his best friend May in 2558, and following his failed attempt to abandon Thor he only remained with his fellows due to the 's outbreak.
==Biography==
===Early Life===
Julian Armin was born on the human colony world of in March 2539. His parents worked aboard one of the many freighters that delivered supplies from other planets, and would constantly leave him under the care of older relatives. When he was a few months old, a number of Covenant ships arrived out of nowhere, quickly decimating Kholo's defence fleet. His parents were among those killed in the initial attack. Before more Covenant ships could arrive, the remaining vessels in Kholo's spaceports were packed with refugees trying to escape the planet. Julian was passed aboard the ship by his grandmother before it took off, taken into the care of those guarding the fleeing refugees. A small number of these ships were able to escape the planet and make slipspace jumps away from Kholo just as the main Covenant fleet arrived to burn the human world into glass.
After nearly a month in space, the ship arrived on in the Inner Colonies. While many of the refugees were met with scorn from the locals, Julian and a number of orphaned children were taken into UNSC-run homes where they would be cared for until they came of age. Growing up, he was quite a rambunctious child and was considered something of an attention seeker by those around him. Nonetheless, he was able to make a number of friends at the orphanage, including May, another troublemaker. Though their personalities differed greatly, May and Julian became best friends and accompanied each other everywhere, much to the dismay of their carers.
In late 2543, a number of agents working for the Office of Naval Intelligence arrived at orphanage, being aware that a number of the children there were refugees whose parents were killed by the Covenant. Julian was among those questioned by them during this time, though he knew little of the Covenant aside from what they had been told, and was even unaware of the fact that they were responsible for the deaths of the parents he had never known. After a lengthy discussion, the agents informed Julian that they were giving him the opportunity to fight the 'monsters' to avenge their deaths. The four year-old accepted their offer, but only on the condition that May could accompany him wherever he went. They accepted, and had the new SPARTAN-III volunteers transported to Onyx shortly after for their training.
===Training===
After arriving on Onyx alongside May and hundreds of other children, Julian soon found out what the recruiters had meant by learning to fight, as they were soon given numbers and subjected to an incredibly harsh training regime by Chief Petty Officer , who he came to fear greatly. Their old surnames were erased entirely, replaced by numbers as they joined . Julian soon noticed that rather than just getting on with training to avoid punishment, May was actually competing with the other trainees and striving to come out on top. After discussing the situation with her, May told Julian to see their training sessions as just more games to win. With this outlook, he gradually began to improve as time went by, gaining the respect of many others after a few more months. 
Eventually, Chief Mendez and their other trainer, Lieutenant Commander , placed everyone in Gamma Company into small teams; people they would train and fight alongside for years to come. Much to his own surprise, Julian was placed in command of Team Shashka, leading May-G210, Amos-G028, Cesare-G177 and Flynn-A189. Julian would often take point during exercises, having become a proficient scout and tracker. This skill would often allow Shashka to gain the advantage over others, though they were often upstaged by . Though Julian had a good working relationship with their leader, , there was a heavy rivalry between other team members, something that resulted in several incidents between May and . At one point during training, Julian had an altercation with Clarence-G022 of Team Scythe which resulted in him punching the other trainee in the face. In retaliation, the entirety of Scythe ambushed Julian and threw him from one of Camp Currahee's rooftops, breaking his arm. While they were harshly punished, Julian decided not to associate himself with that team again as rumours of their viciousness spread during training sessions. 
In 2552, Gamma Company finally went through a that would vastly improve their strength, speed and reaction times. Julian recovered quickly compared to his squadmates, though he was annoyed to discover that Team Shashka had narrowly missed out on being picked for top honours training exercises; Teams , and were chosen instead. Nonetheless, every member of the Company lived through their augmentations without any major issues, and were soon ready for battle. Shortly after news came to Onyx of the , Gamma was finally received their deployment orders and were dispatched to a number of battlefields.
===Early Deployments===
Team Shashka were first deployed to , one of the few colony worlds that had escaped the Covenant's notice. Alongside five other teams, the SPARTAN-III's were to infiltrate an Insurrectionist stronghold on the planet that had been causing trouble for the Colonial Militia there. Julian and the others made their attack at night, their armour to make their way past landmines, twipwires and guard dogs, which they silenced, in order to enter the base. No alarms had been raised whatsoever during their infiltration, allowing thirty of the young Spartans to slip in undetected and launch their attack on the unwary rebels.
What followed was more of a massacre than an actual battle. By the time security cameras had picked up the presence of intruders in the base the rebel soldiers had little chance of standing up to their attackers. Team Shashka forced their way into the command centre, where they engaged a number of heavily-armed rebels who were attempting to organise a defence. Though they took a few hits the Spartans easily wiped out the group and captured the rebel leader, who they had been given explicit orders to keep alive. Their first mission was an absolute success, with almost every enemy combatant dead and no casualties for the Spartans. They were airlifted out of the base the next morning via Pelican with their prisoner aboard. 
Immediately after this mission in mid-October, news came to Gamma Company that Earth had come under Covenant attack, and was recalling as many ships as possible to defend it. However, the majority of Gamma was engaged at this time, leaving just over a third of the Company available to go there. As there were many high-value targets located on humanity's homeworld, the Spartans were sent to a number of locations to defend against possible Covenant attack. Team Shashka were to defend the a prime target for Covenant attackers. Julian and the others arrived near the base of the orbital elevator to find an enemy SpecOps team attempting to set up an antimatter bomb, something that would almost certainly cause the tether to fall and cause catastrophic damage. The SPARTAN-III's were able to stop this, driving off a number of enemies before securing the bomb. However, a Covenant Destroyer had arrived near the top of the Quito Tether, and was deploying troops via the elevator in order to lessen their own casualties.
Acting quickly, the SPARTAN-III's rendered three elevator cars inoperable via explosive devices without damaging the tether itself, before ascending in another. Though Covenant forces were in control of the Quito tether's , they did not expect the young Spartans, who cut a bloody swathe through the station as they attempted to reach the Covenant ship. During their assault, Julian was struck in the shoulder by a needler round, though he managed to pull it out before it could do any serious damage. The group were able to successfully clear the station in minutes before contacting local UNSC forces for reinforcements to secure the Quito elevator on the ground. However, they still faced the problem of the Covenant Destroyer that had docked with the station. While they had been given orders to retreat and destroy the station if necessary, Julian and the others were aware of the damage a fallen orbital elevator could do to the land below, and instead chose to board the Covenant ship.
With half a dozen UNSC cruisers moving to intercept the Destroyer, it detached from the Quito tether and attempted to move around Earth to regroup with the bulk of the Covenant Fleet. Team Shashka were able to board just in time, fighting their way through Jiralhanae guards and infiltrating the enemy ship. By this point most of them had suffered superficial injuries while securing the station and were running low on ammunition; they would have to destroy or disable the ship as soon as possible. Julian led his team through the confines of the Destroyer, wiping out a number of patrols before coming across the ship's bridge. Though they had their SPI armour's photoreactive panels working to give them some amount of camouflage, an ambush had been set that had the five Spartans fighting for their lives. Two and a number of Jiralhanae launched an assault on Team Shashka that would have almost certainly killed them, had it not been for a barrage of struck the weakened Destroyer, the subsequent damage destroying nearly half of the bridge and giving Julian's team a split-second advantage, which they used to quickly kill off their remaining foes. However, one of the Mgalekgolo had managed to smash Flynn-G189 into a wall with its shield, causing severe injuries to the young Spartan. Though they attempted to move him, Flynn succumbed to his injuries and died. The others were forced to leave him to escape the doomed ship, fighting their way to the hangar bay and hijacking a Phantom, which took them back to Earth. 
Flynn's death affected Julian greatly; as team leader he felt partially responsible for what had happened on the ship, especially since their assault accomplished very little and nearly got the entire team wiped out. Team Shashka spent the rest of the war stationed on Earth, participating in smaller raids against the Covenant until a ceasefire was finally declared. They were reunited with the rest of Gamma Company in early 2553, discovering that a few other teams had taken losses during this period. It was not long before Gamma was split up again to deal with Covenant remnants and Insurrectionists in various locations. Team Shashka was then merged with the remnants of Team Tanto, gaining Graham-G101 and Alric-G040 to fill out the ranks once more. For the next year the SPARTAN-III's participated in a number of successful operations, Julian becoming a confident leader as a result. In mid-2554, they were each granted a set of MJOLNIR Mark VII armour, which would greatly improve their strength, speed and protection on the battlefield. Julian did not have much time to use it, however, as ONI secretly transferred Team Shashka to Helios Station, an orbital facility over Mars. There, it was announced that Shashka would be formally dissolved to make way for an entirely new SPARTAN-III Team: Shrike.
===Shrike Team===
Shortly after their arrival, they were joined by a pair of older SPARTAN-III's: Grantley-B130 and Leandra-B031, members of the doomed Beta Company. The team leader, however, would turn out to be Master Chief Petty Officer Martin-A136, a former member of Alpha Company and a survivor of Operation: PROMETHEUS, the Fall of Reach and the Battle of Earth. Due to his familiarity with most of the team, Julian was third in command of the nine-Spartan group as they were dispatched to the city of on . Their first goal was to capture Johan Hennerman, a known rebel sympathiser and trafficker.
The operation was to take place as Hennerman crossed a highway bridge in the city, which would be closed off due to the city's Superintendent AI. Julian accompanied Grantley and May in a UH-144 Falcon to provide secondary air support after Martin and two others attacked the convoy containing their target and his bodyguards. This turned out to be a trap as a bomb was set off and a firefight broke out. Julian's group gunned down a number of armed militia on the bridge before pursuing Hennerman's escape vehicle back into the inner city. The man was eventually captured by Alric-G040's trademark brutality and brought in for questioning. As expected, he immediately told ONI everything he knew about his rebel contacts and directed Shrike towards another contact: Rizhan Kama, a young millionaire whose father owned one of the largest shipping companies in human space. The Spartans struck at night as Kama threw a party in his luxury penthouse suite. Armed with guns loaded to fire non-lethal TTR rounds, Julian joined three others in storming the party and was put in charge of crowd control as the others secured their target. Among the guests were a number of prominent figures in Circumstance's criminal underworld who the Spartans quickly detained. 
Before they could take Kama away via Falcon, an unmarked Pelican dropship attacked the penthouse in an attempt to kill everyone inside. In the street below, several vehicles arrived containing groups of armed militiamen, who engaged the rest of Shrike Team below. Before the Pelican could pin them down, Cesare-G177 was able to hit the dropship's thrusters with a missile launcher, a lucky hit downing it instantly. The rest of the operation was fairly simple, Julian and May moving the civilians and prisoners out of the area. However, it was revealed that some of their attackers had taken a slow-release poison before their mission; before he died one of the wounded men revealed the name of his employer: Magnus.
Shrike then spent several months hunting rebels and Covenant remnant groups in the Outer Colonies, though they could never quite track down Magnus in spite of many captured subjects having heard of this mysterious figure. In December the Spartans were deployed to a moon in former Covenant space, where a group of Jiralhanae had occupied a refinery in an attempt to build new ships to attack human worlds. Moving in alongside Martin and May, Julian assisted in clearing out a number of rooms within the refinery before seizing a control room. While the rest of Shrike were successful in their mission, Cesare-G177 and Amos-G028 were attacked by a massive enemy force while planting explosives on the refinery's reactor core. As the rest of the team raced to assist them, Cesare was forced to detonate the C-12 charges prematurely, using his thruster pack as a catalyst. One of Julian's oldest friends was incinerated in the resulting explosion, which Amos barely survived. Though their mission was complete, the loss of a fellow Spartan hit Shrike Team hard, especially since they knew there would be no replacement for their fallen comrade.
===NOVA Incident===
By September of 2555, Shrike Team had achieved great renown even among other Spartans for their impressive combat record and willingness to do whatever it took to accomplish their goals. As the majority of other Spartans were on far-off deployments, Shrike was brought in to provide security on a summit on Earth between some of the UEG's top leaders and those commanding the Sangheili Alliance, and Felo 'Ranak. Julian was stationed in orbit alongside Alric, Leandra, Amos and a platoon of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, prepared to drop in and provide assistance in case of a terrorist attack. Sent in to assist the ground team were the entirety of the UNSC Army's HAYABUSA unit, a special operations group that had recently suffered heavy losses. While protests from xenophobic groups still vengeful against the Sangheili for their actions during the human-Covenant War were expected, the scale of the planned attack was far beyond what Shrike expected.
Julian received news that the summit was attacked not only by terrorists masquerading as UNSC Marines, but by the entirety of the HAYABUSA group as well. Shocked by this sudden betrayal, he and the rest of Shrike were preparing to drop into New York to help when they were informed of a second terrorist attack on ONI's PILLAR base at Mount Everest. Orders came down immediately from HIGHCOM to deploy the rest of Shrike there while Martin and the others fought off the attack elsewhere. However, by the time their ship had maneuvered into position and the Spartan's SOEIV's had landed, it was too late. Julian was able to take down several terrorists after exiting his pod, but was unable to stop them from loading a large container into the back of a Pelican and escaping Earth. Quickly checking the base, he discovered that the attack in New York had partially been a distraction, as a NOVA bomb had been stolen.
Unable to attack the fleeing terrorists, who threatened to detonate the NOVA within Earth's atmosphere, the Home Fleet was forced to stand down and let them transfer and escape aboard a freighter. The rest of Shrike had foiled the attack on the summit, though Martin was wounded, and the UEG President had been saved by the actions of an undercover agent suddenly attacking the other terrorists and nearly dying in the process. In the chaos that followed, Shrike regrouped and met with Elena-071 and Captain Samson aboard Helios Station, where Julian showed them helmet footage that identified those escaping from PILLAR base as John Verensky, Carlos Driscol, Remi Marshall and Amanda Wade. With the single most powerful explosive device in human history now in terrorist hands, the UNSC began its biggest-ever hunt to track down Verensky's group and recover the NOVA bomb, with Shrike leading the charge. 
With few leads, Julian and Shrike continued their hunt for several months until a warning in November informed them that Verensky intended to detonate a bomb at a Gravball game on Circumstance that would kill at least 300,00 people in the packed stadium. Unable to properly contact the stadium as their communications were jammed, Shrike arrived to find a group of rebels sealing off the stadium's exits. Quickly eliminating them, Julian accompanied May and Martin into the tunnels leading below the stadium in search of the device. By the time they got beneath the pitch itself, the Spartans sighted something rising above for the half-time show that turned out to be a biological weapon. The Spartans could do nothing as it activated, releasing a cloud of poisonous gas and triggering over devices across the stadium that massacred everyone within minutes. Though safe within their concealed MJOLNIR armour, the Spartans were helpless as the civilians succumbed all around them. Julian and the others arrived on the pitch itself just in time to witness Amos-G028 committing suicide due to guilt.
Amos' death shocked Julian and the rest of Shrike. As one of his teammates since training, he felt partially responsible for what had happened to his friend and argued with Grantley-B130 over what Shrike could have done to prevent the attack. While they had kept the NOVA bomb's theft fairly quiet, the UNSC could not cover up the deaths of 300,000 civilians and began an immediate counter-attack. By early December the decision was made to finally assault the Caucasus Station, a massive independent settlement built into an asteroid belt. Shrike were deployed among the second wave of boarders, who helped neutralise the rebel-manned defence guns and land within the station's habitats. With news that the civilian population was being evacuated to the lower levels, Shrike was given permission to eliminate any non-UNSC personnel as the swept through the facility. Joining Grantley and Leandra, Julian was to assist in the capture of any surviving Insurrectionist leaders while the rest of the team swept through the station. 
By the time they arrived at the Caucasus Station's fortified conference room, almost the entirety of the Insurrectionist leadership had been murdered. Checking the grisly scene, Julian personally identified Remi Marshall and Mal Roberts among the dead and reported this strange occurrence to Martin. Before they could rejoin him, Alric-G040 made an emergency transmission to the rest of Shrike, having pursued an escaping Sangheili into space to prevent him from detonating an antimatter charge that would likely destroy the Caucasus Station. Unable to assist him, Julian could only listen as his comrade was forced to detonate the Sangheili's belt of plasma grenades, sacrificing himself to save the rest of Shrike.
While the Caucasus Station had been liberated from Insurrectionist rule, the victory was a hollow one for Shrike as they had lost yet another irreplaceable member. A few days later, news arrived that Verensky himself had been discovered on the far-off world of New Albion and a large Battlegroup was dispatched to eliminate him and find the NOVA bomb once and for all. Braving AA fire and outdated enemy fighters, Shrike were the first deployed as Verensky's forces made their final stand, using an old mining facility as their fortress. Julian led Leandra and Graham away from the main group, exiting their Pelican several kilometres above the drop zone and using jump packs to slow their descent while they carried out their mission to eliminate the anti-aircraft guns. Desperation had turned their foes into fanatics, fighting to the death despite being heavily outmatched by the Spartans as they made their advance through the base.
While Martin and the others tried to recover the NOVA bomb, Julian and the others went for Verensky himself. Unwilling to face the automatic turrets surrounding the main entrance to his command building, the Spartans scaled a nearby cliffside, using their jump packs in the ascent until they could make the jump to the roof. Hearing gunfire from within, the trio rappelled down and burst into Verensky's office. There they found the rebel leader dead, and an unknown individual preparing to kill Amanda Wade with his bare hands. Seeing him as the primary threat, the Spartans attempted to take the individual down in close combat. However, the man they faced was able to match and outfight all three of them in spite of their enhanced reflexes and MJOLNIR armour. The stranger managed to shoot Leandra in the head and after a short but furious exchange of blows with Julian, kicked the Spartan out of a nearby window. Julian would have died had he not activated his armour's jump pack at the last moment, changing trajectory but still crashing into the ground at some speed.
When Julian awoke, the operation was over. Leandra, Graham and Grantley had died fighting, John Verensky was dead, the NOVA bomb had been secured, and Captain Samson informed them that Shrike Team was to be disbanded. The Spartan recovered quickly from his injuries, but was severely affected by recent events. After several days, Martin was suddenly reassigned away from Julian and May, and the pair were stuck aboard the UNSC Coldharbour for nearly a month waiting for orders. Elena-071 then visited them with congratulations and informed them that they were both receiving a promotion to Chief Petty Officer for their hard work with Shrike Team. Though he initially accepted this without a word, Julian eventually began to voice his discontent and complained to Elena about how he felt that his comrades had died for nothing. May agreed with him on this, and demanded that they be reassigned to fight Covenant enemies. While he knew he had overstepped his bounds in addressing a senior officer, Julian was surprised when Elena agreed with him, and assured the pair that they would be reassigned together to the little-known Fireteam Thor within the Spartan Branch for the foreseeable future.
===Fireteam Thor===
Upon his transfer to Fireteam Thor's headquarters on , Julian and May met with Commander Abbas Cuaron, the team's handler from ONI's division. Much like Shrike, Thor was a Spartan team who conducted secretive operations, albeit on the fringes of human-controlled space instead of within the Inner Colonies. With only three members before the pair joined them, its missions were usually lengthy sojourns deep into hostile territory with the intention of inflicting as much damage on targets as possible before exfiltrating quietly. Julian was surprised to discover that the team's leader was a SPARTAN-II named Hank-136, who had once been a teammate of Elena. He proved to be fairly friendly to the pair of SPARTAN-III's and warned Julian about the other members of the team, Layla-B101 and Mordecai-G138. He vaguely recalled the latter as one of Gamma Company's lesser members; a good soldier by regular standards but something of a joke compared to the better-performing members during training. While both appeared fairly normal as they met up within the base, it was during his first mission as part of Fireteam Thor that Julian discovered why they were regarded as a particularly infamous Spartan group.
Dispatched against a notorious pirate group that had been harassing lone transport ships in the fringes of colonised space, Thor were able to track them down to a small moon that had been partly terraformed into a habitable base. Eager to prove himself to Hank, Julian scouted ahead after the Spartan fireteam landed undetected on the surface and discovered a way into the settlement through an unmonitored drainage pipe. While he had assumed after his time with Shrike that they would simply capture or kill the pirate leaders and allow the rest to surrender after signalling for reinforcements, Julian was surprised when Mordecai and Layla began to plant large quantities of C-12 on critical life support systems and power supplies, intending to completely wipe out the moon's population.
Though he had cared little for the aliens and terrorists he had fought in the past, Julian complained about the team's tactics to Hank, believing that they could quite easily accomplish their mission with minimal loss of life. Though May too his side, the SPARTAN-II denied their requests to change the mission parameters, citing that destroying the base entirely without ever being discovered was preferable to risking a potential firefight in which their quarry could escape. Though uneasy, Julian did as he was told and stood guard until Layla in Mordecai were finished. Thor then escaped the settlement and retreated to their ship in complete silence before detonating their C12. From aboard their vessel, the Spartans watched as the pirate base went up in flames, and remained on-station for several hours to ensure that no ships escaped. In the end, not a single vessel took off, and every living thing in the settlement was confirmed to have been killed. While this would officially be attributed to a disastrous technological failure that absolved the UNSC of any involvement, Julian soon came to realise that Fireteam Thor had far less scruples than even the heavily-classified Shrike Team, and that he would have to adapt to deal with the moral consequences of their subsequent missions.
Julian's apprehensiveness over working with Thor diminished somewhat after Layla was sent on an assignment away from the others in 2556, which put a stop to most arguments within their group. While he continued to operate well over the next year, Julian grew concerned with May's mental state as she continued to obsess over their lost friends from Shrike. However, he neglected to report her occasionally erratic behaviour, fearing that ONI would separate them. Julian would soon become Thor's unofficial second in command and helped Hank keep May and Mordecai in line as they travelled from battlefield to battlefield over the year, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. Thanks to this, even Layla's return to the unit in September did little to hamper their efficiency in the field. 
In 2557, Thor would embark on what would become one of their longest missions yet after they were suddenly dispatched alongside the Sixth Fleet to the former Outer Colony world of , which had been glassed decades prior. With the planet's few habitable areas held by rebel forces, Thor was to accompany an invasion force to Mamore's surface, though their orders involved the recovery of a case of nuclear weapons that were in danger of falling into enemy hands. Inserting via to a remote stretch of glasslands in the grip of a major storm, Julian and the others ambushed a large contingent of rebels, slaughtering close to fifty foes as they wandered helplessly through the storm. Julian and Hank were able to locate the stash of nukes and returned it to their extraction craft, while Layla claimed to have killed the rebel leader, though she had no way of proving it as his personal yacht had escaped the warzone unscathed. After returning to their temporary base aboard the UNSC Caspian it was discovered that one nuclear device was missing from their case, which prompted an immediate search for the missing ship led by Thor. Though the thought of such a weapon falling into terrorist hands horrified his superiors, Julian was glad to have a long-term goal at last as it seemed to keep May focused on their mission, which would take many, many months to complete.
As Thor's pursuit of the stolen nuclear warhead began to drag out after many months of fruitless searching, Julian began to notice even deeper cracks in May's psyche as she lost focus during missions and grew verbally aggressive towards Layla, whose constant jibes she had previously ignored. Fireteam Thor was eventually diverted away from their chase by late 2557, and spent months being deployed against rebel holdouts and suspected terrorist strongholds in the colonies. Julian worked to cover for May and improve his friend's behaviour during this period, though he became uncomfortable with her insistence on constantly discussing their fallen comrades and little else. Were it not for his fear that ONI would either kill or lock May up for signs of perceived instability as they had done with Layla for a brief period Julian might have sought some kind of psychiatric help, but he instead counted on his lifelong friendship and camaraderie to help May get better. 
Despite Julian's best efforts, May's condition grew worse as the months went on, prompting an intervention from their superiors. The two Spartans were brought aboard the UNSC Good Vibes in September of 2558, ostensibly for a mission, only for May to suddenly attack and slaughter the corvette's crew before disabling the vessel. As the only other survivor, Julian frantically attempted to convince her to stay with him, only for May to steal the ship's sole transport craft and reject his offers of friendship before fleeing outsystem. Julian was devastated by this turn of events and after being rescued begged Commander Cuaron and Hank to spare her life, though his superiors refused to listen to him and sent a different Spartan team after the now-rogue SPARTAN-III. 
Still conflicted, Julian remained with Thor as new intelligence reached the team of the stolen nuke from Mamore appearing in the hands of a known Frieden terrorist. Fearing a possible nuclear attack, the Spartans were instantly mobilised and dispatched after the suspect - a businessman named Wuyi Xiong. Julian focused solely on the mission for the next few days to take his mind off of May's departure, and vented his frustrations as he and the rest of Thor systematically slaughtered most of Xiong's rebel allies, taking down several groups even ONI had been unaware of before pursuing Xiong himself to a mansion on Herschel. Julian was first to assault the manor, and killed several security guards while the rest of Thor moved into eliminate Xiong and reclaim the nuke. By the time he arrived, Xiong was dead and Hank had arrested a businessman named Isaac Kenner on the surprising charge of war crimes. Fireteam Thor finally secured the missing nuclear weapon after over a year of searching, which pleased Julian, though he soon realised that he would have to confront May's disappearance and the suspicions of his teammates before long.
A few weeks after their operation on Herschel, Julian went AWOL, intent on finding May and bringing her back into the fold. Though he meticulously covered his tracks and used every trick he had picked up to evade capture, it was not long before Fireteam Thor was on Julian's trail. In his search for May he travelled incognito to Circumstance, Mars, and even the Caucasus Asteroids - all locations connected to the old Shrike Team - before finally arriving on New Albion in October of 2558. Julian set up camp in an abandoned hydroelectic dam once used by John Verensky's rebel coalition and spent two days fruitlessly searching for May. This trip to the site of Shrike Team's final mission - one in which he had nearly been killed by Magnus - only served to torment Julian about his failures, though he refused to give up and was close to leaving when Fireteam Thor arrived, having finally caught up with the missing Spartan. 
Though he had no intention of killing his old comrades, Julian knew they would never let him go without a fight and refused to surrender when Hank hailed him over the COM. Watching from afar, Julian saw his ship destroyed and fled into the hydroelectic dam with Thor hot on his heels. Before he made it far Julian was attacked by Layla, who held nothing back in her attempts to kill him and came close to succeeding before Julian, already stressed, was launched into a state of berserk fury by his chemical augmentations. In the ensuing melee he brutalised and came very close to killing Layla when Hank arrived. Taking Julian by surprise, the older Spartan choked him into unconsciousness and took not only Julian, but Layla back to their ship in binders.
===Created Conflict===
Julian awoke aboard Thor's transport Condor hours later, and was amused by the sight of Layla in a similar situation. As they made their way back towards Earth, Hank explained that while he could understand Julian's rash behaviour, Layla's unrestrained psychopathy and blatant disregard for orders could not be ignored any longer and she would be sent back to the Midnight Facility. Julian tried to protest and begged Hank to join him in his search for May, but was ignored by the SPARTAN-II. Shortly after emerging from slipspace, their transport picked up a broadcast being sent across the entire galaxy from the rogue AI , proclaiming a new order and threatening retribution against any who resisted her regime. Suddenly cut off from command, Julian and Fireteam Thor were forced to put their tremendous differences aside and made their way towards the nearest UEG-held world: .
While Julian his his reservations about continuing to work with the likes of Layla, he chose to prioritise the fight against the Created as they began their campaign of subjugation against the galaxy. The team's Condor arrived over Concord two days later, and came across the site of a battle in the planet's orbit and the wrecked ships of the UNSC's Sixth Fleet. Realising that the fleet had been soundly defeated by several constructs, the Spartans came close to leaving when Hank picked up an coded signal from the planet's surface, hidden amidst normal civilian communication channels. Discovering that source of the signal was the UNSC Caspian, flagship of the Sixth Fleet and a vessel Thor had stayed on temporarily during their mission to Madrigal, the Spartans journeyed to the surface, where they found the cruiser at a remote dry-dock in the planet's polar regions. Julian and the others were initially treated with suspicion by the crew and greeted with a heavily-armed ODST fireteam, though once it became clear they were not a risk for AI infiltration they were welcomed aboard and greeted by Admiral Lin Zhi.
After a brief rest aboard the Caspian, Thor was dispatched on another mission the next day to Crossbow Station, one of several stations in Concord's northern regions. With a Created Guardian standing guard in Concord's orbit, Admiral Lin Zhi ordered the Spartans to use the station's mass driver to fire on the enemy construct, getting its attention long enough for the UNSC Caspian to take off and escape into slipspace. Another team, Fireteam Horus, had gone missing on their mission to Crossbow, making Julian and Thor wary that they were walking into a trap. As they approached the remote station, the team's Condor came under fire from enemy anti-aircraft turrets, forcing Julian, Layla and Hank to leap from the aircraft and begin their assault. After eliminating the AA guns, Julian was sent to look for traces of Fireteam Horus while the others moved to activate the mass driver, and discovered the wreckage of another Condor. Further exploration revealed that the other Spartans had engaged in a protracted firefight with a group of unknown assailants before fleeing into the mountains after their transport was shot down.
Before Julian could track Horus further, Crossbow Station was suddenly assaulted by a force of Promethean constructs, drawn to the station by a trap laid in its computer systems. Suddenly surrounded by foes as they translocated in around him, Julian fought a hasty retreat back towards the facility, assisted by covering fire from Hank. Realising that the enemy had used a transmitter to both cut off communications and allow their troops to translocate directly to the facility, Julian and Layla stood guard in the control room against a horde of constructs while Hank moved to destroy the device. Despite their animosity towards each other, the pair fought side-by-side in a short but brutal battle, soon expending their ammunition and resorting to scavenged weapons to fend off wave after wave of enemies. As the situation grew more dire, Hank was eventually able to destroy the transmitter, cutting off the flow of Promethean reinforcements just as they were joined by the Spartans of Fireteam Horus, who had hidden themselves in the mountains after burying their pursuers in an avalanche.
The two Spartans teams made short work of the remaining Prometheans, and with the transmitter destroyed Julian contacted Mordecai and requested an immediate pickup. As it would not be long before Created dispatched more troops to Crossbow Station, most of the Spartans boarded the Condor as soon as it landed, waiting just long enough for Hank to prepare and fire the station's mass driver at the orbiting Guardian. Having scored three direct hits, Hank soon fled and joined the rest of the team, who escaped the area shortly before the Guardian opened fire with its pulse lasers, vaporising the station in minutes. Unable to reach the Caspian in time and pursued by numerous fighter craft, the Spartans agreed to reunite with Admiral Zhi at the site of their last mission together. After escaping into slipspace with moments to spare, Hank informed his comrades of their next destination: Madrigal.
==Skills and Abilities==
During his time training with Gamma Company, Julian proved himself to be an effective scout for Team Shashka, always putting himself in the line of fire first so his comrades could advance safely. This would also turn him into an effective leader as he led his fellow Spartans into simulated combat on a number of occasions. Julian was reputed as one of the fastest in Gamma Company, and could reach remarkable speeds for a human, even without his MJOLNIR armour. Coupled with his quick reflexes, this gave him an edge in training that helped push his team out of mediocrity as the years went by. As with all Spartans, Julian was well-trained in the usage of most human-made weaponry, and had some knowledge of Covenant technology by the time he finished his training. In battle, he preferred to make use of simple mid-range weapons to engage enemies, opting to suppress enemies with MA5-series assault rifles while the rest of Team Shashka moved in to flank his foes.
After leaving Onyx and serving as part of Shrike Team, Julian's well-honed skills were sharpened by near-constant conflict and an intense training regime. Of all his team mates, he was the only one to consistently keep up with the methods of extreme self-control Kurt Ambrose had drilled into the SPARTAN-III's. This not only earned him his senior position within Shrike upon its formation, but allowed him to fend off dangerous foes such as Magnus for a short period of time. In the years following the NOVA incident and the dissolution of Shrike Team, Julian would only push himself further in his training and ended up as the demolitions expert within Fireteam Thor. With a great deal of combat experience over a relatively short period, Julian was considered among the finest SPARTAN-III's of his generation in terms of combat prowess and a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.
==Personality==
Like most other SPARTAN-III's, Julian was affected by the trauma of losing both his parents and homeworld at an early age, making him something of a troublemaker even after he was recruited for the program. He would often attempt to make light of serious situations and joke more often than his comrades to raise morale, though his overly-friendly, carefree disposition was a cover for his true self; Julian was in fact a very pessimistic, depressed individual who underwent near-constant therapy even during training. While he resolved to keep fighting no matter the odds and was considered a superb soldier, he treated himself as little more than a weapon and felt he had little reason to exist outside of the battlefield. Julian would eventually become fairly blunt and to the point, occasionally overstepping his rank when addressing senior officers for the sake of speaking his mind.
The deaths of so many close comrades over the course of several years hardened Julian into a cynical, almost nihilistic man despite his very young age. As such, he would often speak his mind even towards superiors, making statements that would put any regular soldier into a great deal of trouble. The only trace of individualism he had was his hair, kept well above regulation length in spite of repeated orders to cut it down. This small defiance on the Spartan's part was noted by ONI, though so long as it did not impede his combat skills it was not a major cause for concern. Julian was above all else loyal towards the UNSC and his fellow Spartans, however, and remained a devoted soldier. This would lead to his attempted desertion after an increasingly unstable May fled to avoid incarceration, which made Julian realise that he needed his oldest friend's support more than anything else.
==List of Appearances==
*Halo: Shrike (2554-5)
*Halo: Salvation (2557)
*Forsaken (2558)
*Halo: SIGMA (2558)
==Notes==
Category:Sigmaverse
Category:Sigmaverse Characters
Category:Gamma Company
Category:Sigmaverse Spartans
Category:Sigmaverse HCW
Category:Sigmaverse PW