Joshua Erin

Joshua Erin is among the second class of Spartan IV's initiated in 2554. He is a member of Steel Unit, headed by Miles-116, and serves with Fireteam Hyena lead by Forge Williams.
= Biography =
== Early Life ==
=== Childhood ===
Joshua Erin was born and grew up on the Inner Colony planet Tribune, in Cabash City. His parents were well respected and decently wealthy, and Joshua had what most would call an amazing childhood growing up. His parents paid for an exceptional education and Joshua was known for being an excellent student. His values of Respect and Honor were instilled in him by his father from a young age, and he was well-liked by his instructors. However, he had a lot of trouble making friends at school, and while he was comfortable with adults, he was extremely anti-social when it came to children in his age group. This would stick with him for most of his early life. 
His parents encouraged him to learn traditional martial arts, but he lacked interest in the cut-and-dry structure that traditional martial arts provided. He preferred classes that taught ancient Broken-Bow theory and street fighting. He found a class that suit him, known as Martial Archery. His instructor, Eli Weathers became a bit of a mentor to him. He taught him much in the field of outdoor survival and knife combat. One of his favorite activities was studying past cultures that survived in the wilderness before the days of modern technology. 
== Military Career ==
=== Military Recruitment ===
Joshua signed up to join the military at the early age of 19 after being cheated on by a long-time girlfriend. He felt he wanted a change and that being part of a group of soldiers would give his life some direction. He was enlisted into the UNSC Marines, and trained for "Shipboard Security" as well as basic ground-combat. His skills in martial arts proved impressive, and came in handy breaking up a few fights aboard the various ships and cruisers he was stationed on. His superiors noted his ability to overpower much larger opponents with unorthodox, yet effective technique.
Eventually he was given a long term station aboard the UNSC Dusk in 2552. He began to break his habits of being somewhat anti-social, and get to know some of the crew, including Bethany Durruno, Xaing Cho, Joe Yang, Julian Waters, and even Commander Richard Lash, whom he looked up to and respected highly. He noted in his reports that his his shifts aboard the Dusk were his easiest yet, as he hadn't needed to break up any fights while aboard. Joshua used much of his time on-board to do whatever manual labor was needed around the ship; things like moving crates, helping the maintenance crews, etc. This did not go unnoticed by Lash. 
=== Battle of Earth ===
Joshua was aboard the Dusk when they were caught up in the Battle of Earth. The Dusk was in Earth's orbit when the battle began, and was forced to engage with only 43 crewmen of the normal 90. Richard eventually had to take the Dusk into Slip-space to follow the UNSC In Amber Clad  and the Prophet of Regret's Assault Carrier. Once they got Installation 05, Richard and the Dusk Team witnessed the Civil War of the Covenant unfolding, as the Second Fleet of Homogeneous Clarity destroyed itself. The In Amber Clad was also destroyed in the battle. Richard and the Dusk crew returned to Earth and gave details of the Covenant Civil War. 
=== Further Military Training ===
In 2553 at the age of 20 he heard about the First Class of the SPARTAN IV Program and became fascinated. He was constantly asking questions about the program and its purpose. His crew mentioned that it was all he would ever talk about. Lash took notice of this, and began to increase his duties both on-board the ship, and sent him on multiple ground missions. He noticed he had a natural skill for stealth and basic survival skills. Julian suggested that Richard recommend him for some more advanced training. 
In June of 2553, Joshua was given a unique opportunity to participate in an inter-service event for UNSC personnel to practice on combat decks that were similar to those used for Spartan training; more simply known as the UNSC War Games. To the surprise of many, Erin received higher scores than most Ground-force Marines, scoring in the top 7% of the competitors. He worked well with his team and proved to be an exceptionally creative thinker. Observers noted that he would use long rifles as staff-style weapons when they ran out of ammunition, an unorthodox but surprisingly useful tactic when applied to hand-to-hand combat. 
== SPARTAN Career ==
=== Spartan Training ===
In 2554, at the young age of 21, Joshua was invited to join the Second Class of the SPARTAN IV Program. After saying his goodbyes to the crew of the Dusk, he quickly accepted. He participated in the Initial spartan training and gained a reputation for being "very enthusiastic for a Spartan." He demonstrated his skills in Stealth early on in his training, but what people seemed to notice the most was his passion and spirit, even in the toughest of situations. Despite having less experience in front line's combat, he kept up with the other trainees and did especially well for his age group. 
=== Insurrectionist War ===
He was placed in Fireteam Avalanche on January 5th, 2555. He went on four major missions to fight off Insurrectionist survivors with the Fireteam, including Leader Shane Evans, Jake Anderson, Blake Hunt, and Brittany Madison, who were all Spartan IVs. They also fought together in some minor firefights. Joshua became a close friend to Jake Anderson, who was not only skilled at stealth like himself, but was also an expert pilot. 
==== Suppression on Terceira ====
Fireteam Avalanche was sent to Terceira to suppress some survivor-insurrectionist activity. Jake landed the pelican on the planet's surface. When they were on the ground they could see smoke on the horizon, so they advanced to the position. Shane signaled them to stop when they came across a colony city called Azore, with vegetation and many buildings up in flames. The Innies were using drums of flammable oil to light up the buildings. Evans and the rest of Avalanche engaged the Insurrectionist soldiers. Joshua was near one of the buildings when he noticed an open drum of oil, and he had an Idea. He wrapped some cloth around his combat knife and soaked it in the oil, then set it ablaze. Many of the insurrectionist soldiers saw that their troops were out-matched, and when they saw what appeared to be a flaming sword in Joshua's hand, they fell back and retreated. Avalanche evacuated all of the surviving civilians. 
After the battle, as Jake flew Avalanche back to base, Brittany asked what Erin called his unorthodox tactic. After a moment of thought, Joshua pronounced his flaming knife "The Thermoblade." And thus, the name Joshua Thermoblade would stick with him for the rest of his career. 
==== Conflict on Andesia ====
Avalanche was requested to help with some scattered skirmishes on Andesia. They landed on the planet outside the Capital City of Noctus. Evans planned to take out a group of innie soldiers near the city border. He sent Joshua, Jake, and Brittany to get a bit higher up and attack on his signal. The three got up to the top of a building on the outskirts of the city. Shane and Blake moved up and sneaked through scattered rubble. When they got close to the soldiers, Shane signaled to Brittany, who sniped three of the soldiers. Joshua and Jake loaded up the rocket launcher and fired on the group. Shane and Blake took out the rest of them on the ground. 
The team moved into the city and took out the Insurrectionist leaders hiding in the city. Many of the soldiers retreated and the city was able to begin repairs shortly there after. Avalanche celebrated with a round of drinks back home.
==== Skirmish on Harvest ====
Avalanche was dispatched to Harvest to stop some insurrectionists attacking one of their Space Elevators. Jake landed the team at a base near the Elevator. They advanced forward. They quickly noticed that there were covenant forces helping the Innie soldiers. They were ordered to take them out, but take a prisoner for questioning if possible. So Avalanche moved in on the elevator, swiftly taking out Innies and covenant left and right. They managed to end the attack on the space elevator and free the civilians. They captured one of the Insurrectionist soldiers and brought him back to the ship. 
Jake flew Avalanche back to base and they turned in the soldier for questioning. ONI was very pleased with their work. 
=== Recruitment to Steel Unit ===
In early 2556, Joshua Erin and Jake Anderson were both reassigned to Steel Unit; a special ops and stealth unit, as part of Fireteam Hyena. 
= Profile =
== Personality ==
Joshua Erin was raised to know respect and honor. He was always very intelligent and known for his character and integrity. From a young age he was socially awkward and struggled to make friends. After joining the UNSC Military and later volunteering for the Spartan IV program, he found that he could form strong bonds among the men and as a result he has a love and pride in being part of the UNSC and his Fireteam. He is enthusiastic and often the most optimistic of his team. He's known to give rallying talks to his men before battles, and loves to participate in the war games on the UNSC Infinity when he gets the chance. 
He has a love for music, and will often be caught dancing in his quarters. His ambition can occasionally get the better of him in battle, and finds himself rushing to the front lines. He often jokes in the heat of battle, and has kill count competitions (despite being discouraged to do so) with his squadmates. 
"Some say he doesn't take this war seriously. But you won't find a more dedicated Spartan than Joshua." -Forge Williams 
== Appearance ==
Joshua is a somewhat smaller body build than most of his squadmates, at an average height of 6' 1in. and lean muscular structure. He has dark brown hair varying in length and blue eyes. He is a younger spartan, and his facial structure makes him appear even younger, and he is often chastised by Spartans from other fireteams. He would often keep his facial hair at a stubble to make himself look a bit older. His voice is calm and mid-tone like that of a male in their early twenties. 
== Gear ==
=== Weaponry ===
*BR85 Battle Rifle
*Gen 2 Magnum
*Type 2 Energy Sword
*Combat Knife
*Steel Unit Camouflage Tech 
=== Armor ===
*Gen 2
*:Helmet = Pathfinder
*:Chestplate = Pathfinder
*:Shoulders(Left/Right) = War Master, War Master
*:Forearms = MK VI
*:Legs = MK VI
*:Visor = Frost
= Miscellaneous =
== Trivia ==
The author's real name is Joshua Holderness. 
Joshua Erin is based off of the author's Xbox Live Halo profile, Gamertag: Thermoblade 3347, namely his armor configuration in Halo 4.
Joshua's Human profile is casted as Logan Lerman, Who Played Percy Jackson in Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief and Charlie Kelmeckies in The Perks of Being a Wallflower. 
"Joshua Thermoblade" is a pseudonym the author has used for a multitude of fictional characters in many franchises such as the Star Wars universe and Destiny. __FORCETOC__
Category:SPARTAN-IV
Category:UNSC Naval Personnel