EXCALIBUR Program

The EXCALIBUR Program was a precursor to the Spartan-IV program organised in late 2549 by ONI. "EXCALIBUR" is used to generically refer to the program and the four man squad that operated under it. They are symbolically named after the sword of Arthurian legend, as they act as the "sword" of ONI's ROUND TABLE division; a ring of elite higher ups behind many major decisions. Despite the link to the Spartan-IV program, the four candidates were never told that they were test subjects for a larger idea, and were in fact told the lie that they were a competing super soldier experiment; any use of the term "spartan" was substituted with "agent". Despite the prototypical nature of the program, it proved augmentation wise to be no different to the final program, only lacking the GEN2 Mjolnir armour (although Aviator and Air Assault armours were tested). The seeming similarity of the program three years before wide adoption was because the technology was there from the start, and they only remained in a "prototype" phase due to patents on Catherine Halsey's research that made the project technically infringing of copyright laws. These restrictions were lifted after her arrest in 2553.
The project was organised by the members of ROUND TABLE and employed four candidates. Codename "Murdock" was an incredible soldier and the son of an esteemed captain who, due to a propaganda related mistake is legally dead. Codename "Tombstone" was a discharged CQB specialist known for violence and overconfidence. Codename "Valkyrie" was a scientist specialising in forerunner and ancient human studies, later trained in aerial combat. Codename "Shadow" has virtually no documented past. These four soldiers operate from the ONI Tornado of Souls, the flagship of the program
During the Battle for Earth, they engaged in a successful attack on Satellite-1 to reclaim it from occupying Covenant forces, but on the way back to the Tornado of Souls their pelican collided with another off course pelican, stranding them in an abandoned industrial zone on Zanzibar Island.
== Gallery ==
File:Excalibur Emblem.png|The emblem of the Excalibur program
File:Excalibur Classified.png|Excerpts from all four agent's psych reports