Zoey-149

Chief Warrant Officer Zoey-149 is a SPARTAN-II Super soldier whose body suffered from complications resulting from a part of the Augmentation procedures which caused permanent optical damage. She was designated as a 'washout' of the program and placed into ONI's ranks - primarily working between the Watershed division and Materials group. Through advancements made in the fields of both medicine and bio-technology regarding the blindness she suffered, Zoey was rehabilitated and put forth for active duty, serving aboard the UNSC Infinity as part of Fireteam Pteranodon whilst testing new technology constructed by both the Watershed Division and Materials group.
== Early life and conscription ==
Born on Tribute in 2511 to a relatively average family, both of Zoey's parents had her best interests at heart. Their careful nurturing meant she was free spirited and imaginative, and whilst she was by no means an art prodigy, Zoey did show signs of great creativity. Along with this, she possessed a high intelligence as well as athletic prowess for children of her age, the latter stemming from her enrolment in ballet classes. These were all key factors for SPARTAN-II candidates and roughly a few months after turning six, Zoey was abducted and replaced with a flash clone by ONI agents and transported to Reach.
Upon arrival, Zoey woke up along with the rest of the abductees, and was then swiftly briefed by Doctor Halsey like her peers before being sent to bed. Once she was awoken by Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez she initially resisted the order to shower, but the influence of an electro-shock baton made her think otherwise. Following this shower, she along with the rest of the trainees were forced through a strict day-long exercise regimen which in her own words she 'barely survived', having to halt the urge to vomit from over-exertion by slipping to the back of the group a few times. She was quick to learn from her lessons with Deja, however she was noted for having trouble remembering some of the details at later points in time.
After her lessons, Zoey along with the other trainees ran two miles to the 'Playground' and was placed into a team of three alongside Martin-137 and Musa-096, who despite initial problems worked together as a team to complete the objective of ringing the bell, finishing in a position towards the middle. It was from this point that the three of them became friends, working well together throughout training. As with all SPARTAN-II's, Zoey was trained in all fields of combat to a degree where they were superior to marines, and in particular she excelled in CQC and Heavy weapons, becoming a specialist in both - primarily the latter. In addition to her combat prowess, Zoey was noted as one of the most creative SPARTAN-IIs as well as possessing a high intelligence, something she had retained and advanced since her earlier childhood.
In 2525 when the augmentation procedures began, Zoey initially had no negative responses to said procedures and was sent to recover, a process which lasted nearly two months in her case. During this time something regarding the augmentations went very wrong. Her body had rejected the Occipital Capillary Reversal process a few days into her recovery, causing sudden and permanent blindness as her retinas detached entirely. Because they had moved to far from their original position, her blindness was deemed irreversible and she was made unfit for combat.  She attended the ceremony for those who were killed during the augmentation process, before entering cryostasis until the condition regarding her eyes could be fixed. 
During this time, Martin-137, after being successfully augmented, would escape the program with 3 other SPARTAN-IIs, his reason for running being that he had to watch his closest friends become crippled and blinded. He returned home and came face to face with his flash clone - and committed suicide by gunshot, which weighed heavily on Zoey when she would later hear this news.
== Rehabilitation ==
Zoey-149 remained in stasis for 13 years, being awoken on December 10th 2537 due to the development of ocular prosthetics that could alleviate her condition. These prototypes built by ONI that were tailored just for her and another washout suffering a similar condition so that they may gain another SPARTAN-II asset, something they desperately required after the massacre of the SPARTAN-III alpha company almost a half year earlier.  She was released from cryostasis for a week to allow her body and mind to adjust before she entered surgery to have the artificial retinas implanted into her eyes, and once she recovered her vision was partially restored.
The process had once again granted her sight, but could only visualise colour in various shades of grey- a result meant that Zoey was unfit for military deployment, much less as a SPARTAN. Instead, like many other washouts, she was assigned to work under ONI. Specifically she worked for the Materials group and Watershed division, making use of her creativity and intelligence both in these fields and as a tactical planner for military operations, in some cases planning strategies for her SPARTAN-II and SPARTAN-III comrades.
== ONI work and Return to active duty ==
Zoey continued to serve ONI for years, helping to engineer MJOLNIR armour models and their variants, such as improving the Mark IV and overseeing design elements of it's variants, doing the latter for the later Mark V and Mark VI platforms. Thanks to her successful augmentations other than the failed Occipital Capillary Reversal procedure, Zoey was often used to test the armours in their prototypical phases as her body could properly wield MJOLNIR armour (due to her aforementioned augmentations and her strict fitness regime which she and other SPARTAN-IIs adhered to), though never allowed to field them in live combat due to her poor eyesight. Along with this her work as part of ONI's reverse engineering group lead to the creation and integration of energy shielding on the Mark V armour, originally tested on the Mark IV/G variant, both suits Zoey had a hand in designing as well as all other suit variants produced by the Materials group.
Later on July 25th 2552, WINTER CONTINGENCY was put into place on Reach, prompting major preparations to defend the planet from the impending Covenant Invasion. One such preparation was the mobilisation of nearly every available SPARTAN-II, and in an attempt to bolster this number, development of improved ocular implants to finally allow Zoey-149 and the other SPARTAN-II washout with the current artificial retinas to be declared fit for active duty. These new implants were completed on July 30th and both Zoey and the other washout entered surgery that same day. Zoey took a full month to recover from the procedures whilst her counterpart only required a week to heal. The new generation of implantations were deemed a success and while both were declared fit for active service, Zoey was yet to recover, sparing her from being deployed to Reach, whilst where he had already healed the other washout was sent to Reach on August 8th and killed some time before August 30th. 
Upon recovering however, Zoey also reported now possessing the superior eyesight she should've have gained from the original augmentations and due to being cleared for duty prior, was made ready for active service. As a reward for her long period of work for the materials group and watershed division, it was decided that Zoey would field test their prototypical equipment. 
-TBW-
== Personality and traits ==
As with most other SPARTAN-IIs Zoey is stoic, gruff, quiet and follows orders, albeit due to her time spent working for ONI she is slightly more talkative and sociable than other SPARTAN-IIs - something noticeable when she is with other SPARTAN-IIs, most notably Musa-096, whom she was close friends with during training, coming out of her incredibly tough exterior to make conversation as best as she can. In addition to the high intelligence which is standard for SPARTAN-IIs, Zoey possesses incredible creativity and artistic skill, both of which are evidenced by the various cosmetics on her equipment.
Despite how little she talks, Zoey isn't afraid to speak her mind when she deems it necessary, often only doing so to inform people of what they could be doing better, input which is often valuable to missions. As a SPARTAN-II she is very much an outsider to the rest of her fireteam, all of whom are SPARTAN-IVs, who are far more chatty. Whilst they often try and include her in conversation, they will barely hear a few words in response.
Due to where she was born on Tribute, Zoey-149 speaks in a slightly British accent and incredibly deep voice, sounding nearly masculine when using her helmet comms. She is one of the tallest SPARTAN-IIs, standing at 7ft 6 inches in her armour.
== Equipment ==
=== MJOLNIR Mk. V ===
Originally Zoey-149 was equipped with MJOLNIR Mk. V powered assault armour, specifically the MJOLNIR/C helmet with UA/HUL modifications, the UA/Base Security chestplate and the MJOLNIR/K pauldrons. The entirety of her armour was painted dark orange and black. This suit is integrated with the first prototype of the SLUAGH-visor, designed to improve her vision, as well as Mark IV/LBE-A Field Case to supply ammunition for her AIE-486H Machine Gun.
=== MJOLNIR Mk. VI ===
After the update to the MJOLNIR Mk. VI, Zoey upgraded her helmet to the new MJONIR/C helmet, minus it's previous modifications. In addition she wore the MJOLNIR/R chestpiece and MJOLNIR/M shoulderplates. Like her Mark V armour, it was coated in orange and black paint and also utilised an early prototype of the SLUAGH-visor in addition to a Mark IV/LBE-A Field Case.
=== MJOLNIR GEN2 ===
=== First Suit ===
After the upgrade to the GEN2 platform, Zoey was initially assigned the PATHFINDER-class torso, as well as the SCOUT-class helmet and left pauldron. She was also equipped with the RICOCHET-class right shoulderplate, using it and the SCOUT-class shoulderpad to increase protection and mobility. In addition she wore the Mark V legplates and tested the PREFECT-class gauntlets for the Watershed Division. Like all of her suits before it, this set of armour had a Mark IV/LBE-A Field Case mounted on the back as well as the SLUAGH-visor integrated into it, which had finally exited the prototype stages.
=== Second Suit ===
Due to her work with ONI and their subordinate engineering/R&D Divisions, Zoey was granted the opportunity to test the only prototype of the GUNNER-Class MJOLNIR. The suit's external appearance is based on that of her Mark VI suit, which she noted as her favourite MJOLNIR set prior to the GUNNER-class armour. Because of it's nature as the only prototype, the suit lacks a helmet as it is yet to exit the design phase, meaning that Zoey is instead equipped with the DYNAST-class helmet (using the SLUAGH visor), due to both it's excellent resilience and specialisation for CQC. This helmet is slightly modified, using an integrated UA plate which mounts a HU/RS device to provide additional sensor readings. A Mark IV/LBE-A Field Case is mounted to the back of the suit as with most of the previous generations, adding the need for an improved Thruster Pack similar to the ones found on SECURITY-class MJOLNIR to cope with the added weight, granting thruster speed identical to that of a normal SPARTAN due to said weight.
What makes the suit special is it's revolutionary integration of hover fields (reverse engineered from Promethean weapons - hence why only one exists) integrated into the techsuit, suspending the armour mere millimetres away from the actual undersuit itself. Because of said integration into the techsuit, the suspension fields move when Zoey moves, causing her armour to move as though it was in contact with the undersuit. The benefit provided by this is that if Zoey is holding something, she is not actually using her own strength to wield it, rather it is being held up by the armour which in turn is being supported by the suspension fields. This means she can carry anything with no negative effect to her speed or being able to hold said item a limited time, as long the fields can support said weight.
=== Weapons ===
During the course of the war, Zoey wielded a modified AIE-486H machine gun as her primary weapon and years after it's end she upgraded to using a M343A2 with similar modifications. The weapon has been completely overhauled, using a SPNKr rocket launcher as a base, but replacing the rocket tubes with the barrels and workings of the Minigun whilst removing the shields for mobility purposes. This design makes the weapon much easier to wield, the added weight of her shoulders meaning that she can move at the same speed as any other weapon when using it. Similarly the ammunition box was moved to the back, feeding an ammunition belt stored in a Mark IV/LBE-A Field Case mounted on her back.
However, after receiving her GUNNER-class MJOLNIR, a M343A2 Machine Gun was modified into a design more like a regular rifle, just for her usage. To achieve this goal, all of the previous handles were removed, with a foregrip being affixed at a 90 degree angle to a preexisting rail along the bottom of the weapon, with the handle containing the trigger being attached to the same rail at no angle at all. Still a long weapon without it's previous handles, the gun was further streamlined, removing non essential parts and the ammunition box. Instead, a stock (which houses the re-designed firing chamber at the back) rests under her armpit and sticks out behind her body somewhat; a feature which allows an ammunition belt to be fed from a Mark IV/LBE-A Field Case into the firing chamber housed at the end of the weapon's stock.
In addition to the aforementioned modifications to the weapon following her acquisition of GUNNER-class MJOLNIR, a similar project running parallel to what granted the suit it's prototype suspension fields (via reverse engineering of Promethean weapons) came to fruition, resulting in the kinetic bolts system. This mechanism was added to her modified M343A2 and was able to be toggled on and off through the use of Smart-scoping (in this case using the Smart-Scope de-activated the system). However, due to the design of the Kinetic bolts firing system, when activated the weapon would lock down the barrels and stop it moving, firing a hard-light projectile from each barrel simaltaneously, creating a shotgun-like firing pattern at the cost of reduced range and firing speed.
Similarly to her varying miniguns through the years, Zoey also wielded a backup M7 SMG for the entirety of the Human-Covenant war, replacing the weapon with it's successor, the M20, after it entered production post cease-fire. Her grenades of choice for the entirety of her serving career are a pair of modified frags which explode on contact rather than a set fuse, earning them the name of 'Contact grenades'. Her armour ability of choice was the Drop Shield, something which she kept despite the upgrade to Mark VI and the introduction of the Bubble shield due to it's lack of healing capability. Upgrading to the GEN2 platform finally stripped her of this ability however, as the addition of SPARTAN abilities completely replaced Armour Abilities and Deployable Equipment altogether.Category:Class I Spartan-IIs