John Von Bach Sterling

"When it comes to fighting behind enemy lines, there's three things you can rely on: Good food, close allies... And a whole lotta dakka. Sure, we may be running on empty now, and our weapons may not be enough against the hatred of The Banished, but so long as we're breathing and continuing the fight... I'm sure the Chief would be proud of us Spartans." 
- John Sterling
John Von Bach Sterling, otherwise known as 'Lugnut' to his peers, is a decorated Spartan-IV for Fireteam Spades, serving as the team’s dedicated engineer. Born to former ODST Maria Sterling and Governor Jacob Sterling, Spartan-KV6D's history during the twilight years of the Human-Covenant War was one defined by injury, perseverance in spite of it, and coming out of the meatgrinder mostly unharmed mentally... Aside from losing his legs and right hand, and getting Plasma Grenade-induced PTSD he has yet to fully address.
First deployed on Tribute as a mere Private after completing his training at the UCMBC, he earned a rank-up on the military ladder to First Class, at the expense of losing his legs and hand on his first mission with boots on the ground. He would later be seen aboard the UNSC First Star To The Right around 2553, later being augmented and present for the Requiem Campaign’s Spartan Ops in Fireteam Crimson, along with receiving the GEN 3 Armor during the Created Crisis and joining Fireteam Spades.  Most notably, the Spartan-IV survived Zeta Halo’s initial six months of occupation by The Banished, alongside the fall of the UNSC Mortal Reverie, mostly through hit-and-run tactics on enemy bases, up until the Master Chief reappeared on the field circa 2560.
== Biography ==
===Childhood===
Born on the 25th of April, 2534, the future Spartan’s first home was a Storm World dubbed Guabacanex, where the wildlife is deadly, the weather treacherous, and the main industries include trawling of the bountiful oceans, shipbreaking, and conversion of aging vessels into seaworthy vehicles at the poles, and hydroponics and aquaponics on the sheltered coastlines of the small continents... Along with an astronomical amount of bureaucracy to keep its home system afloat. Of course, as the son of the planet’s governor, he never truly got involved in the gritty details of his father’s work, growing up relatively sheltered, at least until his parents decided to move away from the stress of managing the hurricane world in 2545, and take up governorship over Zipacna, one of two Penal Colonies of the Bachab System. While the move to an entirely new planet was a tumultuous time, he never truly mingled with the native populace, up until being enlisted for the UNSC as a Private for the local bootcamp… And the most tumultuous battle of his early tour of duty. 
===Tribute ===
For his service on Tribute, John Sterling was promoted to Private First-Class...
===Mars Campaign===
==== UNSC First Star to The Right ====
==== Ground Campaign ====
==== Aftermath ====
=== Requiem Spartan Ops ===
=== Created Crisis ===
=== Installation 07 ===
==Personality and traits==
===Mental and Physical Overview===
Positive in outlook and coming across as someone with a strong moral compass, John Von Bach Sterling's attitude on life is influenced mostly by his sheltered upbringing as the sole 'legitimate' male heir of his father's governatory legacy. He also has a noticeable amount of wanderlust, as evidenced by joining the UNSC in spite of the dangers involved during the Human-Covenant War's final days.
John Sterling's time in the military has, of course, left him frazzled, especially after his tramatic Tribute-derived battlefield injuries, which left him with a bit of a temper and short-fuse, a hefty dosage of PTSD, and a tendency to vent his frustations through 'dakka' on a firing range, although this has done little to actually afffect his overall outlook on the civilian and allied individuals of the former Covenant Empire. Nonetheless, he still shares the fearless resolve of his fellow Spartans in dire straits, along with Fireteam Spades' view on the only 'worthy' death being in a live combat zone. 
"When you lose a couple limbs and a hand, you either wallow in despair and become dead-weight... Or, you get up on your new feet of iron, push your prostheses to the limit, and just treat 'em like actual body parts and not tools. Besides, when's the last time you ever saw a flash-cloned pair of legs and replacement hands?" ―Sterling's view on the topic of his prosthetics. 
=== Skills and Abilities ===
* Augmented Physique: Simply put, Spartan Sterling's characteristic strength is typical of his peers in the Spartan-IV program, being neither above average or below standard due to the homogenous technological upgrades and biological augments of his body, which turned him into the scientific equivalent of a 'Demigod' when compared to the Titans of the Spartan-II Program and the Olympian S-IIIs. On the other hand, his artificial prostheses and hand are twice as strong as anything organic, though the organic half of his legs from the thighs up can still be affected by lactic acid build-up.
* Designated Engineer: Of the five S-IVs that form Fireteam Spades, Spartan Sterling's skill with electronics and mechanical work is nothing to be sniffed at. While he's not the expert in the field as the famed Noble-2, John Von Bach Sterling is nonetheless skilled with jerryrigging and repairing UNSC tech, along with breaking into the relatively unencrypted transmissions of The Banished. 
* Reconnaissance Specialist: 
* Survivalist: 
*CQC Specialist: Given his already heightened strength and short fuse, it comes as no surprise that Sterling's good in CQC, though his style of fisticuffs is based on pragmatism in battle, aiming for the back, belly or crotch when under duress in a combat situation, though he does keep things 'above the belt' during small-time sparring.
== Equipment ==
As of 2560, Spartan Sterling is equipped with MJOLNIR Mark V [B] armor adapted for GEN3 standards, with the typical helmet of the 'armor core' equipped with a 'TAC/RS/Willow' Command Module. He wears SAP/EVA shoulder-plating on both arms, while his supplemental leg-armor is UA/Type HAZ. He also has a few seemingly outdated TAC-communicators on his person, including a chest-mounted MAT-2519C for tactical communications and tech analysis over his left ammo pack, alongside a wrist-mounted MC5 Individual Data/Net Terminal. Most notable are the aforementioned prosthetics, all of which were lost at once during his first battle on Tribute, which he adapted to at a greater pace than his peers, who he believes would buckle under the 'soul-sucking' nature of cybernetics, instead of embracing transhumanism.
Category:SPARTAN-IV