Epimetheus Programme

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The Epimetheus programme was a collection of projects aimed at furthering the goals of the Office of Naval Intelligence, often in such a way that would be deemed as immoral or otherwise outlandish by the Office at large. Notable projects include;
*An effort to reverse-engineering Covenant technology to make it compatible with Human technology, rather than to uncover its secrets wholesale. 
*An effort to produce cheaper suits of modified MJOLNIR armour for use by ███████████ █████████.
*An effort to develop █████████ that only targeted specific ████████ █████████.
*An effort to cheaply produce and administer safe ███████-class ██████████ to active combat personnel without [REDACTED] from overuse.
*An effort to produce weaponry specifically designed to circumvent Covenant personal shielding devices.
*An industrial-scale black-market █████-█████ █████ trade.
*A black-market '████████-████' trade.
*A black-market ███████ programme designed to produce ██████ ████████.
*An industrial-scale network of 'Wildcat' mining operations designed to deliver valuable necessary materials to the programme as needed.
ONI Section III Admiral Abigail Daltona spearheaded the project, with much funding and political capital coming from her own coffers. She was responsible for the procurement of an Orion-Class Assault Carrier, a previously-defunct ONI installation on Reach, and several classified information packets on the blueprints and production costs of 
She would be instrumental in the continuation of the Programme's existence following the tragedy at Icarus in 2558, the loss of the Artemis-Class cruiser UNSC Selene's Lance in 2531, and disastrous security breaches at Clairmont in 2536.
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EPIGENESIS
The EPIGENESIS Project was an undertaking initiated by the Epimetheus Programme to manufacture and sell industrial quantities of medical supplies. But rather than limiting itself to the sale of machinery, medication, or paraphernalia, the EPIGENESIS Project instead turned its attention to the mass-production of clone organs, regenerative stem cells, skin grafts, and other such assorted tissues and organelles for use in the medical industry of Epsilon Eridani.
Headed by Doctor Charles Monroe, one of the original founders of the Epimetheus Programme, lead surgeon, medical practitioner, and primary psychiatric consultant for the Epimetheus Spartans' various cognitive/behavioural conditions.
The EPIGENESIS Project is also the main project responsible for the Epimetheus Spartans' various physical medical needs. These include post-op medical treatments (if necessary), regenerative therapies for organ damage (where applicable), and assorted treatments for pre-existing or newly-developed medical conditions.
Investigations into ties between this project and The JANUS Initiative are ongoing, and have yet to reach a conclusion.
EPICENTRE
The EPICENTRE Project is an attempt by the Epimetheus project to catalogue and study the Covenant’s technology, weapons, combat harnesses, and biology. Their findings would be passed on and compared to ONI's own investigations, and would be instrumental in the attempt to develop biological or chemical weaponry, more effective training techniques for sharpshooters, methods of bypassing or disabling Covenant technology while in the field, or interrogating captured specimens of Covenant aliens.
The EPICENTRE Project employed many field agent teams for this purpose, typically lifted from Epimetheus's own ranks of MPs, washout candidates, security agents, or loaned by ONI for a share of the salvage or research. Spartans in the field were also heavily encouraged to make use of—and return—as many intact samples of Covenant weaponry or armour technology as they could.
Headed by Major Juliet Stawe, this Project was instrumental in the 2537 implementation of small, single-use dome-like shielding systems—utilised by the Epimetheus Spartans to great effect in the latter-half of the Human-Covenant War—as well as modified Covenant camouflage modules, reactor overcharge systems, and the development of that could disable Covenant technology for a time in a small radius.
While EPICENTRE did not personally contribute to the physical production or implementation of these advances, their research spurred the engineers and scientists under Epimetheus' banner to hone their focus, and achieve their own advancements. These advancements would be shared with ONI throughout the War.
EPIDERMIS
An industrial-scale expansion of the EPIMETHEUS Programme to incorporate armour research, sister to Halsey’s MJOLNIR project. This Project aimed at the compartmentalised production of unique, modified MJOLNIR variants for use by EPIMETHEUS augmentees, accounting for their unique injuries, difficulties, and operational specialties. This Project would be credited with the creation of nearly three dozen unique suits of MJOLNIR armour, unrecognised and unacknowledged by ONI Proper.
MJOLNIR suits created by the EPIDERMIS Project were supervised directly by project lead Matheus M. Lieche, who was responsible for several cost-cutting measures and substitutions within the suits themselves—the replacement of the piezoelectric crystalline layer, held within the undersuit, accounted for a majority of the cost-saving measures.
Helmets were fitted with significantly less-advanced combat computers to avoid the Spartans growing over-reliant on them, standard marine command interfaces were used in their place, while the Spartans' own neural implants allowed them a higher degree of functionality than standard marines.
Force-reactive circuitry was omitted in favour of attenuated exoskeletal joints to distribute the bulk of the armour's weight, while leaving subject strength largely unchanged, as less effort would need to be expended on moving the armour and supporting it.
EPITHELIUM
A sister project to EPIDERMIS that works on the incorporation of modified MJOLNIR Bodysuit functionality. The removal of the piezoelectric crystalline layer is accredited to EPITHELIUM, as is the replacement of it with much less effective, but ultimately cheaper, Magnetic Ferrofluid. The removal of the superconductive memory layer is also attributed to EPITHELIUM, making the bodysuit much cheaper and quicker to produce for EPIMETHEUS Operatives.
Initially the EPITHELIUM Project was a subproject of EPIDERMIS, however the two Projects diverged, allowing two separate teams to keep their focus honed on one specific element of the armour itself. Over the course of the War, EPITHELIUM would go on to further improve the various bodysuits in use by the subjects, improving the efficiency of the Ferrofluid substitution.
Doctor Sabine Sade, a famous and infamous civilian doctor specialising in cybernetic prosthetics headed much of the project, implementing quality-of-life improvements to the bodysuit to allow greater combat synergies with Spartan personnel. The ability to interface with a suit's onboard monitoring programs just by touch was her major breakthrough, with many smaller improvements coming through much later in the war.
EPINEPHRINE
The EPINEPHRINE Project is an attempt by researchers to create safe and ultimately-effective Augmentator-class Chemicals for use by general purpose UNSC personnel. Doctor Alfonso Grane created this project as a way to further research into augmentations without the need for subjects to test them on. These were already in use by various for temporary strength boosts when engaging UNSC personnel or law enforcement, however they came with immediate detrimental effects; severe organ damage, indiscriminate rage, and inevitable user death. Long-term usage of these chemicals would invariably shorten the lifespan of users by an order of magnitude per repeat usage, even if the user survived the initial dosage.
EPINEPHRINE focused on making these chemicals ultimately longer-lasting, and safer, with the hope that they could be used by servicemembers, SOF units, and MPs, in the event that any of them should need to subdue Spartan Subjects for any reason.
These Augmentor chemicals would also be useful for salvage teams, or secondary units deployed alongside EPIMETHEUS subjects, and potentially even training personnel. Several breakthroughs in the creation of these chemicals would ultimately lead to EPIMETHEUS as a whole attracting the attention of one , which would eventually lead to EPIMETHEUS testing augmentations for SIII candidates.
When tensions between SIIs and SIIIs began ramping up in response to a competitive training session, Doctor Grane requested greater funding for his research to apply the augmentors to MPs and security forces onboard the UNSC Cassiopeia.
EPITHET
EPITHET is the training and armament project of the EPIMETHEUS programme, handling all housing needs for subjects, training regimes, exercise routines, rehabilitation, and educational seminars for all Spartan personnel, including those not deployed in active combat.
The Project also serves as the main focal point of the Office of Naval Intelligence, as well as the main communications link between EPIMETHEUS and the Office. One of the only said links to exist. EPITHET serves as the de-facto military arm of the EPIMETHEUS Programme.
Headed by Major Romero Briggenshaw himself, EPITHET is by far the largest Project within the EPIMETHEUS Programme. It boasts a complement of over fifty (50) Spartans, one hundred and fifty six (156) ODSTs, five (5) ONI Salvage teams, seven (7) Military Police squads, and one (1) Orion-Class Assault Carrier.
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=Background=
The Epimetheus Programme was a clandestine Section III programme initiated by Admiral Abigail Daltona of Section III, Major Romero Briggenshaw of Section 0, and Doctor Charles Monroe of Section I. The Programme's goals were to covertly pursue research and practical experimentations into discovering the risks associated with genetically—and surgically—augmenting individuals in an attempt to create super soldiers. The Programme would attempt to discover and create ways to mitigate these risks, utilising live 'volunteers' as test subjects. 
To that end the three individuals came together, pooled their resources, connections, and funds to create the Epimetheus Programme; a sister project to Orion Project Generation II, though not officially recognised in any capacity. The Programme would locate experimental subjects from the destitute masses of Reach, and the Epsilon Eridani colonies, and perform experiments on them involving samples of the genetic and surgical augmentations planned for use by the mainline ORION-II Programme. 
Their hope in doing so was that they may be able to garner some useful information from the way candidates without the predetermined genetic markers would react to the procedures, in an attempt to better understand both the processes by which the body reacted to the augmentations, and to divine some way of preventing such fates from befalling the candidates under the tutelage of Doctor C. E. Halsey and CPO F. Mendez.
For the sake of cataloging a diverse range of data, subjects and candidates were selected from ages older and younger than those of the SII Candidates, as well as chosen based on an absence—rather than the presence—of the genetic markers deemed necessary by Doctor Halsey. It bears mentioning that the programme never intended to field actual surviving candidates. The failure rates, and risks associated with performing the procedure on unsuitable candidates were deemed too high to successfully produce viable survivors, however the procedure was deemed necessary, as the knowledge would've been invaluable to the UNSC and to the Office.
The programme was never meant to operate beyond three years at most, and was never meant to perform surgical and genetic augmentations on more than one batch of candidates. The three Programme heads never suspected that their actions would have consequences beyond mere data collection, and they considered any potential survivors to be rare fringe cases, and severely physically handicapped cases at that.
Such considerations proved to be false following the augmentation of one hundred initial experimental candidates. Twenty five of them would survive, albeit with great difficulty on the parts of medical personnel to keep them that way. These twenty five Spartans would go on the be the foundations for one of the most polarising Programmes in the Office of Naval Intelligence's history.
=Inception=
At the turn of the twenty sixth century, the effectiveness of small-scale operations—and elite special forces units—at combating the insurrectionists had already begun to diminish, with the Insurrectionist movement quickly becoming far too large for the UNSC to contain with mere peacekeeping operations. As Insurrectionists became more numerous, more brutal, and more effective, the military's responses consequently become more forceful; the need for large scale military campaigns became more obvious. Civil strife became normalised, and radicalisation of civilian elements at the hand of an increasingly-draconian parent state reached a tipping point. 
The Office began re-examining, and cross-referencing studies such as the Carver Findings, published in 2491 by Dr. Elias Carver, and came to much the same conclusion as was presented in said studies; if severe force was not used to mitigate the snowballing unrest in the Outer Colonies, then the planets would secede, and human society would be torn apart by widespread ideological conflict and civil war. The Office vowed to prevent this from happening, by any means necessary. 
A host of programmes were greenlit by ONI admiralty board in an effort to combat the increasingly hostile attitudes of the Outer Colonies. While the UNSC engaged hostile forces with brute strength, ONI saw the need for more effective surgical strikes performed by elite, highly-trained units. However, the effectiveness of standard Special Operations Forces, and subsequent small-scale combat units, were noticeably failing to achieve desired results. This new generation of teams would need to be something else—something new. The Orion Project Generation II, under Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey was approved, and by 2517 one hundred and fifty (150) suitable candidates were identified for genetic and surgical augmentations.
While the long-term goals of the programme were known to various ONI officials, the extent of the genetic augmentations and surgical procedures these candidates would undergo was known only to a few. Admiral Abigail Daltona of Section III was one such individual, and correctly assumed that many of the candidates would perish during the procedures. Her belief was that many more unnecessary deaths would occur among the augmented candidates, unless drastic steps were taken to study the effects of the process on human subjects before the augmentation procedures were undertaken.
Admiral Daltona approached Dr. Charles Monroe, of ONI's bioscience research division, and presented the idea of working alongside him to experiment with newly-created augmentations, never-before seen or used on human subjects. The Doctor agreed, on the condition that every available measure be taken to increase the chances of survival, and if the opportunity arose, that he and his team would be given a chance to save the life of the subject. The Admiral agreed to these terms, and the two began compiling a report on their proposed project to submit to the same ONI brass that reviewed and accepted the proposal for Orion Generation II.
=Necessity=
While the initial draft of the proposal for Project Epimetheus was outright rejected, and lambasted by ONI Officials as both a waste of time and lives, the Admiral and the Doctor continued to gather support in the form of colleagues within similar divisions. Dr. Monroe recruited surgeons and technicians trained in the use of automatic surgery units, while the Admiral approached a Major Briggenshaw of Section III for security purposes, as well as for the potential selection of candidates.
With newfound support, and a plan of action that would be compartmentalised in the event of information leak, the trio of head staff attempted once more to present their findings to a sub-section of the Admiralty Board. Again, they were refused, until Dr. Monroe drew their attention to an enclosed simulation of critical augmentation failure; a worst-case scenario in which the bodies of the candidates rejected each and every planned surgical or genetic augmentation, and entered into a state of catastrophic cascade failure, resulting in the violent and painful deaths of the candidates. Dr. Monroe warned those gathered that unless they proceeded to experiment with human trials so as to better understand the procedure, this fate could very well have befallen each and every one of the 150 planned Orion Generation II Candidates. 
The question was immediately raised by brass of whether or not this very same fate would befall Epimetheus's experimentation subjects themselves, to which no answer was given—aside from a statement on the cost of doing nothing, instead of doing what they could.
Three days later in October of 2517, the plan for the Epimetheus Project was accepted by ONI officials, and the vetting process for selection of candidates could begin. 
=Turmoil=
Recovered Terminal Log A
While the board may have approved the use of a certain number of civilian subjects for trial purposes, they did not authorise the use of Prowlers, transports, nor access to the same records as used by personnel on the SPARTAN-II programme. This effectively severed the project's access to a majority of the colony worlds outside of the Epsilon-Eridani system, and made the programme unable to select candidates from beyond the Epsilon-Eridani system. 
While the Orion II project numbers were cut to half of their goal of three hundred subjects, then cut down to half again when the time came to gather the subjects, the candidates left over were not available for testing, as they were deemed too valuable. When a request was made by Admiral Daltona to have access to the rejected candidates, the request was denied, and a subpoena put in place, summoning the three heads of Epimetheus to a hearing with the heads of the ONI review boards. During the hearing, it was ruled that the project would not have access to, nor information regarding, the rejected candidates. This decision could not be appealed, and prevented future requests in perpetuity. 
Despite the difficulties faced during the selection and vetting process, the project still had access to Reach, and the surrounding Epsilon-Eridani system, including Tribute, Epsilon Eridani IV, Circumstance, Beta Gabriel, Tantalus, and of course Reach. While Beta Gabriel had limited supplies of suitable candidates, due in part to it being a resort world rather than a full-fledged colony world, the rest of the colonies did not. 
The decision was made to select candidates from impoverished areas of the planets, typically orphans, or destitute children living with carers on the streets, or living on the edges of society. Acceptable candidates would be those who were already stealing to survive, or turning to a life of petty crime at a young age. Ages of the candidates would be between six to fifteen, so as to form a solid base of reference when stacked against the Orion II candidates, who were all of similar ages to the younger variables. Older candidates were used purely as a reference point, and were not expected to survive the process unharmed.
With the political situation of the project already turning grim, the choice was made to deploy Agents, in secret, among civilian transports and cargo freighters. These Agents would embed themselves in areas of high crime, high poverty, and high rates of homelessness when compared to the surrounding areas. They would seek out candidates of an acceptable age bracket, and of appropriate potential as assets to the project.
Major R. Briggenshaw took it upon himself to personally search for candidates in the Viery territory of Reach, namely, in and around the coastal city of Zvolic, while maintaining a network of Agents and operatives on the surrounding mainland continent of Eposz. 
Within seven weeks, thirty two candidates were identified, and a further fifty were vetted and approved up until the end of the following February of 2518. By the time of collection, a full one hundred twenty five candidates were screened and processed by the medical staff working under Dr. Monroe. The collection process, and subsequent experiments were ready to begin.
=Codename:BONOBO=
While would later apply the augmentative procedure to Bonobo chimps—in a similar effort to gather data on the process, and the many ways it could fail—Epimetheus initiated Codename: BONOBO, named so after the early twentieth century genetic experiments on relatives of mankind in the ape family. 
Codename: BONOBO was the name given to the augmentative process itself. A highly-intensive and invasive surgical procedure would be needed in order to fully ensure the augmentations would take. Dr. Monroe matched that intensity to that of the training his medical staff received. Technicians kept their automatic surgical units in top condition, while the surgeons themselves practiced on precision with flash-cloned organs and dummies. Nothing could prepare them for the real thing, but Dr. Monroe trained them nonetheless, in order to give them the maximum possible chance of succeeding.
As the surgical and genetic procedures had only ever been tested on close relatives of the human genome, more research was needed in order to properly safeguard the candidates to potential dangers, many of which were still a relative unknown. 
Dr. Monroe, in lieu of not being able to directly perform the procedure himself, began experimenting and researching heavily into the emergency removal of bio-augmentations, and surgical implants, so as to better prepare for the potential necessity of halting and abandoning the procedures if necessary. While the hours he dedicated to this end were impressive, and grueling, he was no less than totally committed to the upholding of his medical tenets, and personal code of ethics. 
Category:SilverLastname
Category:Biological augmentation programs
Category:Epimetheus