Project MACEDON

Project MACEDON was a codename used by the Office of Naval Intelligence to refer to Class II of the Spartan-II Program. The project was conducted using new techniques and technology developed during and after the initial class of the Spartan-II Program. While initially showing promise, it soon became one of ONI's greatest failures, and as a result was covered up with the creation of Project MACEDON-A.
== History ==
=== Concept ===
Project MACEDON was first conceived by Dr. Catherine Halsey following the conclusion of the training of the first class of Spartan-II supersoldiers as a "Class II" of the Spartan-II Program in 2525. After hitting several roadblocks, including funding problems relating to the high upkeep of the currently active Spartan-II Supersoldiers and their equipment, and a distinct lack of suitably-aged candidates for the program, Halsey's interest in Class II began to wane and her resources slowly began to be diverted away to other clandestine ONI projects.
The Great War began not long after the activation of Class I of the Spartan-II Program, and caused the Office of Naval Intelligence to reconsider the creation of more Spartan-IIs. The United Nations Space Command had almost immediately been put on the backfoot, and Covenant technology was proving difficult to decipher and understand, which put Humanity at a clear disadvantage, no matter how tenaciously they fought. In 2531, the Office of Naval Intelligence secretly greenlit a renewal of the Spartan-II Program alongside the Spartan-III Program. Initially, the primary goal of the new program was to develop a small group of highly specialised Spartan-II supersoldiers, one each for a specific task or line of work that ONI may deem critical in the future, however this concept was deemed both unrealistic and a waste of resources, and plans began to be lain for the training of an entirely new class of Spartan-IIs. 
Already wanting to develop Spartans without Halsey's involvement, she was not involved in, or informed of the commencement of Class II. Rather, it was deemed a top-secret project and was covered up to the full extent of ONI's abilities. With new technology developed in secret over the course of Class I by Section Three and the return of many experienced staff who simultaneously began work on both the Spartan-III and Spartan-II Class II Programs, optimism was high among the leadership of ONI after initial reluctance to begin working on the program. 
=== Development ===
Class II was officially given the codename Project MACEDON in June 2535. Dr. Stephen Grendel was granted oversight and development began at the Reach FLEETCOM Military Complex. Initial development was rather slow, and the situation in the Outer Colonies made the recruitment process rather difficult, forcing ONI to draw reluctantly from much of the Inner Colonies. This resulted in a larger disparity between Class I and Class II in terms of the origin of many of the candidates; far more Class II candidates came from the Inner Colonies than in Class I, among other differences. 
All recruits had been assembled by early 2536, and after extensive training, underwent augmentation at the age of 14 in 2544. A modified set of augmentation procedures had been developed which were supposed to result in a far safer process, however these procedures proved to be a gigantic blunder and actually resulted in the deaths of the strict majority of the candidates.
==== Disaster ====
The augmentation procedures were conducted in 2544 and were regarded as one of ONI's biggest failures. Only seven remained out of a total of 60 candidates, about 11.5%, two of which were crippled. With only five members of original 60 considered 'successfully' augmented, the program was deemed a complete failure and the survivors were put under the direct control of the purpose-created and highly classified HETAIROI division of Section Three, and all evidence of the program being carried out was either destroyed or heavily redacted. 
== MACEDON-A ==
Project MACEDON-A was a diversionary program started in 2544 shortly after the augmentation incident. On paper, it was a program aimed at developing a highly-advanced alternative to traditional military meal supplements through the use of cutting-edge technology with the goal of achieving the ability to fabricate "perfect" rations. In reality, no such program ever existed, and all evidence of it's existence was fabricated by the Office of Naval Intelligence.