Team Boson/Sandbox

Team Boson, also known as Ferret Team Boson and Training Unit Bravo-Three, was a team formed from graduates of Spartan-III Delta Company led by Lieutenant Commander Jefferson Korn and Major Kyser Duceppe before their formal dissolution at the end of . Rear Admiral Jazmine Utah also considered Team Boson among several teams for her personal security detail before her arrest for a coup plot against the . Team Boson was also a former element of the Internal Investigations Unit 419 and special VIOLET-III.
Team Boson formed per the doctrine with five-member units of colonial orphans from the . The original roster included team leader Daniele-D003 and teammates Merlin-D032, Andra-D054, Roxanne-D107, and Zach-D111. Shizuko-D081 briefly replaced the team leader during the Imperial War following desertions from Team Boson. Despite some early complications with unit cohesion, Team Boson settled near the top of Delta Company in performance with members considered on several occasions for transfer to Headhunters. Team Boson began as a conventional Spartan attack unit but retrained for internal security affairs upon becoming a .
Team Boson fostered a unit culture of cohesive, independent action which received particular note from military leadership and psychiatric review as a critical strength and weakness. This particular individualism later manifested with the desertion of Daniele-D003 and Roxanne-D107 to the Far Harvest Legion followed by the eventual transference of Zach-D111 to Project BRUTUS, and reassignment of Merlin-D032 and Andra-D054 to Fireteam Stallion. Two participated briefly in support of Team Boson operations, ALT 5032-4 "Althea" and KTY 4385-5 "Kathy."
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==History==
===Recruitment===
By late 2552, the Human-Covenant War still raged and the Covenant military was pushing into the human core worlds. With Spartan-III Gamma Company's formal graduation in mid-year and the final teams partaking in the unit's ceremonial competitions in November, Camp Currahee on Onyx prepared for new supplies and trainees for the fourth iteration of the SPARTAN-III program. However, the Onyx Conflict erupted pitting Forerunner Sentinels, UNSC forces, and a Covenant splinter group against one another ending in the colony's destruction.
Without a homebase for the SPARTAN-III program, lost resources and staff, and the subsequent end of the Human-Covenant War, the outgoing ONI Parangosky administration and the incoming Osman-led administration canceled the SPARTAN-III program in favor the less-morally-dubious SPARTAN-IV program using adult volunteers. Despite stand down orders in January 2553, Rear Admiral Jazmine Utah ignored them and continued the project in secret. Delta Company's recruitment wing before the stand down date reported acquiring 475 children. ONI profiled and acquired most recruits before the destruction of Onyx but heavy fighting in the Epsilon Eridani and Sol systems bolstered recruitment numbers beyond initially lower recruitment expectations. Eventually, the secret SPARTAN-III program staff returned 175 children to the foster care system and scrambled government records to hide their project's continuation. The program would continue with an even 300 recruits, including the future Team Boson.
The future Team Boson was made up of mostly survivors from the increased fighting in Epsilon Eridani and Sol systems despite coming from the UEG Inner Colonies. Most teammates also averaged five years old (born in/around 2545) with outliers the elder Daniele-D003 born in February 26th, 2554 and Zach-D111 born a few months after the average in January 21st, 2546.
The future team leader Daniele-D003 came from the inner colony of Skopje, witnessing the Covenant attack on his home colony and the death of his mother in 2547. He and his father evacuated to Earth but his father died in a terrorism-related police confrontation in 2550 leaving Daniele at the whims of the overburdened refugee and foster care systems.
===Training===
During extreme weather training near Camp Ambrose, Andra and Merlin's Mothergoose ATV tumbled in a sudden erosion incident caused by riverbank flash flooding. Andra managed to pull Merlin from shallow waters, however, they both suffered from hypothermia and Merlin received a concussion from hitting his head on riverstones. While he recovered in the intensive care after three days, the incident awoke Merlin's fear of drowning as he never learned to swim. Andra, hearing his vulnerability, promised to teach him. While largely meaningless, the riverbank incident marked a possible beginning to the series of near-fraternization incidents that Andra and Merlin would be infamous for in Delta Company and afterward.
==Spartans==
===Daniele-D003===
Daniele-D003, born Daniele Veracruz and nicknamed "Danny," was a former UNSC Navy petty officer, first class and the team leader of Team Boson. Originally from the inner colony of Skopje, Daniele and his father escaped the Covenant attack on their home to Earth. After his father died in a police standoff in relation to San Diego-Tijuana terrorist attacks, Daniele disappeared into the foster care system only later emerging as a juvenile delinquent with the Child Crusaders street urchins. ONI recruiter Jefferson Korn brought Daniele into the SPARTAN-III program in exchange for the erasure of Daniele's criminal record.
While reputably quiet, Daniele was a standout, older-than-average trainee in Delta Company with the respect of both trainers and fellow trainees. Daniele associated especially with the eldest Delta Company recruit, Marcellus-D070, who became something of his leadership mentor. Daniele was also a consummate professional with only occasional misbehavior; his good character and skill in all areas awarded him team leader of Team Boson under Korn's counsel. On several occasions, Headhunters considered recruiting Daniele but chose not to over concerns of brain/skill drain from Team Boson.
Described as personally loyal to a fault, Daniele revealed his weakness by deserting from the UNSC to join Jefferson Korn's Far Harvest Legion. Because Daniele was the heart of Team Boson, his desertion convinced Roxanne-D107 to follow and led to the Spartan team's fracturing and eventual dissolution. Daniele's abilities as a lone operator against unfair odds was noteworthy as with his dispatching of Marcellus-D070's Team Emergence in early 2558 after deserting.
===Merlin-D032===
Merlin-D032, born Merlin Ljang-Boyd, is a Spartan operative and ensign in the UNSC Navy. He was the deputy leader for Team Boson with a talent for pathfinding, later retraining as a general specialist to make up for his team's dissolution. His parents were ONI civilian contractors and often absent in exchange for a uneventful childhood. Merlin missed many horrors of the Human-Covenant War while sheltering during the failed Covenant invasion of Ballast.
The ONI recruiter Dr. Reyna Zhou-Romero was a coworker of Merlin's mother and recruiting Merlin into the Spartan-III program believing Merlin as a supersoldier would increase his survival chances in the final months of the Human-Covenant War and honor the mother's dying protection wish. Merlin was an average performer in Spartan training with a reputation of earnest loyalty and yet clumsiness, or worse carelessness. Incapable of standing out, Merlin instead received indifference or amicable reception from trainers and fellow Spartan trainees. Merlin became the unifying glue of Team Boson and defined the team's laidback, effective culture to the point his assignment as deputy leader was an eventuality.
Merlin came under increased scrutiny after graduating Delta Company for perceived fraternization with teammate Andra-D054, even though incidents were ongoing through training. Merlin struggled with belonging among the UNSC and his fellow Spartans from lacking self-assurance and elitism in Spartan ranks over his inconsistent field performance. With his technical and personable background, he became the AI handler for Althea.
===Andra-D054===
Andra-D054 was born Andra Bradford but changed her name to Andra Kearsarge out of respect for her Army Ranger mother she looked up to. She is a Spartan operative and ensign in the UNSC Navy. Despite her turbulent character, Andra was one of the most gifted Spartans from Delta Company and Team Boson, serving as the latter's designated marksman and bomb technician. She was also the most loyal Spartan to the UNSC's mission on Team Boson. Her late mentor, Spartan-III Headhunter Joshua-G024, hoped to recruit Andra into the Headhunters and VIOLET-III but received denials for administrative reasons and fraternization concerns with Merlin-D032.
Raised by her at-home, ONI SIGINT father on the inner colony Sigma Octanus IV, Andra received a fuller suburban childhood till the age of five. She lost her mother in the Battle of Minab followed by her father's short decline into alcoholism and suicide. Emboldened by the visiting ONI recruiter Dr. Reyna Zhou-Romero, Andra joined the SPARTAN-III program weeks before the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV. Despite starting with a physical edge over other Spartan trainees, Andra's struggled with depression spells and selective mutism. Spartan training was especially hard for her, picking fights and othering herself from Delta Company. Trainees and trainers alike viewed her with disdain but found stability in a tight circle of allies, particularly Merlin-D032 and Roxanne-D107.
While few looked past Andra's traumatized personality, those who could like Dr. Romero and Joshua-G024 found great ability in Andra as possibly Team Boson's most underappreciated and deadliest member. Even after moving past her trauma, Andra remained a very defensive, aggressive individual with exception for very few who earned her extreme loyalty. She later became the indirect progenitor of the Smart AI Althea through Project LOKIBORN.
===Shizuko-D081===
Shizuko-D081 (Japanese Katakana/Kanji: シズ子), born Matsui Shizuko, is a UNSC Navy chief petty officer, the older sister of fellow Delta Company Spartan-III Daiki-D217, and the UNSC's youngest LONEWOLF-type Spartan Headhunter. Despite her prodigious skill, she lost her entire Team Entropy in their first deployment and carries the subsequent burdens of survivor's guilt. During the Imperial War, she was assigned to Team Boson as replacement team leader over concerns of the unit's loyalty to the UNSC.
Shizuko grew up on the inner colony of Minister carrying for her siblings while their refugee mother made ends meet. In 2550, anti-refugee mobs killed Shizuko's youngest sister Kazuko and Minister's colonial government separated the siblings from their surviving family on criminal charges. Daiki and Shizuko fell through gaps in the foster care system and joined the SPARTAN-III program upon discovery by ONI recruiters. Driven to persevere by an unfair universe, Shizuko stood out among Delta Company trainees as Daiki slipped into the background. For her success, Jefferson Korn awarded Shizuko with command of Team Entropy who shared their quarters with Team Boson making the units fast friends through the hardships of training.
Team Entropy participated in the doomed Operation: DARK DESCENT, a large-scale raid on human rebels and aliens exchanging Covenant warships. While the mission was a success, many Spartan-IIIs and members of Team Entropy became casualties crushed by falling starship debris and nuclear detonations. With the deaths of her team and her brother too, Shizuko developed a colder rapport towards her world. Taking favor in cryosleep, Shizuko avoided any activities outside necessity of being a Spartan. Yet in regard to Team Boson, she remained close friends.
===Roxanne-D107===
Roxanne-D107, born Roxanne Sauvageau and nicknamed "Rox/Roxxy" was a former UNSC Navy petty officer, third class, the designated pilot, and field medic for Team Boson. She was with Daniele-D003 during his defection to the Far Harvest Legion and chose to follow him to protect her close friend at any cost. Despite helping in Jefferson Korn's jailbreak and their escapade from Earth, Roxanne chose to exile herself and prepare for the coming Created threat by hiding on her birth colony of Reach among glassing miners.
Born in the town of Visegrad, Roxanne survived a close encounter with Kig-Yar scouting parties in the early hours of Reach's defeat. Severely injured and orphaned by the conflict, the UNSC Navy moved Roxanne to Earth for better medical attention where she recovered, joining the SPARTAN-III program. Roxanne unnerved or impressed trainers and her fellow cadets with her smiling persistence. By embracing the difficulties of Spartan training, she was an early standout in Delta Company and helped underperforming trainees like Andra-D054 who became best friends despite their opposing personalities.
Roxanne was a noteworthy free spirit among Spartan-IIIs and got along well with her Team Boson teammates after Jefferson Korn personally requested her assignment there. Due to her childhood background in agricultural automation, Roxanne continued her Spartan career working around exoatmospheric vehicles and compassionately caring for others with her medical training and in spirit as a glass miner.
===Zachariah-D111===
Zach-D111, born Zachariah Weaver is a UNSC Navy lieutenant and the former all-around weapon specialist for Team Boson before his current transfer into the black operations Project BRUTUS where he supports ONI deep-cover spies and assassins as an fast extraction specialist. During the Created crisis, he supported ONI recon teams for information sanitization operations with his whereabouts remaining largely unknown with exception to his seeming attachment to rejected Delta Company candidate Nicoline Folasade.
The Covenant attack on his inner colony home of Tribute killed his Zach's father, leaving him homeless and their family interstellar trade business without a leader. ONI purchased Weaver Interstellar Interests (WII) as a shell corporation and kidnapped the orphaned heir into the SPARTAN-III program to cover up the potential public discrepancy. After seeing firsthand the wartime horrors perpetuated by the Covenant on Tribute, Zach was one of the most vindictive recruits in Delta Company, and the most determined in Team Boson. He masked his internal rage well, maintaining appearances as Team Boson's "little brother" upon joining the group as their youngest member.
Training and Earth-side operations offered him some adventures he expected as a Spartan but felt his skills went to waste on petty assignments. The fragmentation of Team Boson allowed him to decouple himself from the familial-turned-toxic unit culture, joining Project BRUTUS upon offer by the Department of Colonial Security (DCS) during his period of surveyed house arrest. In exchange for his new assignment, he helped fast track Nicoline from a Patuxent River military cadet into the SPARTAN-IV program.
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