Michael Gartenb

## Personality

"*I aim to please.*"— Gartenb

Michael was regarded as a skilled assassin and *"... more of a hyper-lethal vector than a soldier,"* evidenced by his heavily redacted personnel file. Michael had a tendency to "go solo" during missions, much to the dismay of his superiors. Despite having an obscure past, highly potent skills, and a reserved, "lone wolf" personality, he showed care and compassion for his fellow humans; he often undertook life-threatening actions to assist soldiers  and civilians.

"Be strong for war. Be bold against enemies and evil, and defend the people of the Novus."

Gartenb is also a brave soldier who consistently displays strong leadership skills and perseverance. He is also adept at de-escalating situations and hyper-focusing a team on a task, especially under great duress. Gartenb models a classical and robust strategy logic but also can think fast on his feet. He exemplifies a strong team ethic that includes a strong emphasis on the value of each member, even at the expense of the whole team. Decisions in the field are informed by the same wide moral framework that affects all aspects of his performance. His commendable success in his early military career led to the acceptance of his application to the  Super Soldier programme. Michael's over two decades of service at the front lines of the established him as an incredibly devoted leader and effective combatant, even among the elite snipers and soldiers he has served with.

## Backstory

"*I do not remember my* name*. I do not remember my . I do not remember my . But I* can *remember the . We played it* every day*. And I* never *lost. The game... It's the only thing I* can *remember about the life I had before I met . Since then, I have experienced a lifetime of combat. Through* thirty years *of against ... I have always known my fate. I knew someday I would die* in battle*. But now that it is* here*... now that it is* time to die*... I find* I am not ready*.*"

Born on the planet of Kaesaria in the mid 25th century , Gartenb was orphaned when the Kaesar machines  his homeworld during the early years of the machine wars, being evacuated from the planet only minutes before its destruction by the Machines. Losing everyone he had known, Michael was placed in a state orphanage with other children who had suffered a similar fate. Upon growing older, many of his compatriots enlisted in the Noverian Military, eager for revenge against the Machines. However, Michael continued to blame the government for their failure to defend his homeworld and came to the conclusion that the Novus was incapable of protecting its citizens. As a result, he became a freelance tracker and assassin. Michael's atypical behavior and questionable allegiances eventually caught the eye of the Novus, who planned to train Locke into a specific role within their organization. Seeking a greater purpose in life, Locke accepted their offer to join the special forces and entered their extensive training program where he honed his skills to perfection and became one of the Vektelarian's top field operatives, serving as an Acquisitions Specialist. At the end of the machine wars, Michael was selected to become Super Soldier and underwent the augmentations, Becoming one of the first SS-2s. Leading dangerous and highly sensitive operations throughout the former outer colonies, Michael was often tasked with missions beyond the reach of Novus support and has garnered an impressive and successful career in the field.

Over the course of Gartenb's career, the sniper gained a high reputation as an efficient lone-wolf assassin, having single-handedly broken organizations and made entire militia groups  disappear. At one point, Michaels's superior allegedly used the sniper as "his own private grim reaper," and because of this, he was reluctant to have the sniper assigned to Task Force 86.

***The Machine Wars:***

During the Machine Wars Gartenb was assigned to Task Force 086, A squad of Noverian Super-Soldiers with additional mutations, to track down and use Kaesar, the creator of the Kaesar Machines, to shut down the machines and end the war.

## Powers

"You, Gartenb, are the single greatest warrior of this age, and any battle we fight will bring me honor."-Julius Augustus Vektelarian

Master Martial Artist: He became a very skilled fighter, mastering more than 13 different martial arts.

Gifted Tactician: He has extreme tactical awareness and battle strategy skills. Said to be like "Alexander The Great mixed with Patton mixed with a pack of wolves".

Skilled Swordsman: He has amazing skills in the use of swords, knifes, and other blades.

### Weaknesses

**Warrior's Madness:** The Warrior's Madness also known as the Sin Unpardonable, is the most forbidden malady in Novus by law of Atriox. Any who fall under it must pay the penalty, only the most bitter sacrifice can atone for it. The Warrior's madness enabling Michael to increase his strength and stamina tenfold. Despite this, it threatens Michael's sanity. The symptoms include berserker rage, massive headaches, mentally erratic, savage, animalistic, uncontrollable behaviour, and unreasoning.

## Equipment

**No*verian*** ***Nanosuit (Recon/Sniper Configuration):***

*"It's a high-tech prosthesis. That is, that is... That's actually the most apt description I can make of it."*

**Nanosuits** (also known as Nano-muscle suits) are powerful and extremely versatile sets of partially subdermal tactical-combat armor originally designed to counter the dormant threat and circumvent the physical margin between Mankind and the Alien species inhabiting the noviverse. Reverse-engineered from captured Alien technology as well as technology from parallel universes, the suits' muscle fibres can be programmed for a variety of purposes (such as hardening, muscle augmentation or camouflage), leading to drastically enhanced combat and physical performance, allowing the operator to execute superhuman feats. The armour's outer shell is composed of a multilayer alloy of remarkable strength and has been augmented with a refractive coating capable of dispersing a limited amount of energy weapon strikes. The suit contains a gel-filled layer underneath a thick black armoured bodysuit. The gel layer regulates temperature and can re-actively change its density. The inner skinsuit is made of a moisture-absorbing synthetic material linked to an environment control computer and the occupant's NOVI-issue neural interface.

Between the external armour and the internal padding is a layer of reactive metal liquid crystal. Woven by molecular tools into a super dense optical computer memory, this revolutionary crystalline layer forms a network, capable of supporting the kinds of artificial intelligence usually reserved for star ships, as a type of piggyback system. An A.I.'s personality and processing matrix can be carried by the armour and delivered to the suit via on-board storage in a crystal data chip no larger than a personal credit card. At the same time it is amorphous, yet amplifies force, doubling lifting capability and improving reaction time by a factor of five. Unfortunately the system is so reactive that normal human beings cannot use the suit without injuring themselves. Only humans who have carbide ceramic ossification, a skeletal augmentation, such as a noverian cyborg, can safely wear the suit. In its final phase the Nanite battlesuit weighs half a ton, or 1000 lbs when in use, and is a fully neural-linked system.

**Helmet**: The Helmet is one of the most vital aspects to the Nanite armour system. It is made of and contains key features like a that links to the brain and hands, and can identify equipment and display information about it when it is picked up by the wearer. Another feature is the direct neural interface system which connects to a user's neural implants. Two core processor chips are implanted into the subjects skull in the rear of the head. This is essentially comparable to an on board computer using parts of the human brain for processing - when the connector at the rear of the subjects head and receptors in the brain link to the helmets on board sensors, it creates the neural link needed to move the nanite suit. The helmet also contains other equipment to protect and aid the user in hostile conditions. This includes: filters to remove toxins from the atmosphere, a supply to provide air to the wearer during EVA, thermal and motion sensors, communications, solar-powered lighting, and imaging and video gear. The helmet also contains the A.I housing, where a ship-borne A.I chip is inserted, located on the back of the helmet.

**Titanium Alloy Outer Shell**: The outer shell of the nanite armour is comprised of a fairly thick titanium alloy. This plating covers the chest, arms, hip, legs, calves, feet, and hands. This alloy is very resilient, can take significant punishment, and is nearly impervious to small arms fire. While enough shots from Armor piercing rounds will breach the outer shell, the suit can take a few glancing blows from them without compromising the armour. The outer shell of all suits is covered with a refractive coating to help disperse the heat experienced from energy weapons. However one or two direct hits from any Plasma weapon will compromise the armour plating.

**Titanium Nanocomposite Bodysuit**: Sandwiched between the external armour and the internal padding is a thick black armoured bodysuit. This suit has numerous functions, small but vital to the safety and survival of the wearer. The bodysuit is made of a titanium-based material, making it very strong and yet very flexible. It also serves as another layer of protection against ballistics attacks and is coated with a heat resistant material to disperse heat from Plasma weapons.

**Hydrostatic Gel:** Underneath the armoured bodysuit is a gel-filled layer. This gel layer regulates the temperature of the suit and can reactively change its density to conform to the wearer's shape - the temperature inside the suit is controlled by the moisture absorbing cloth suit underneath the hydrostatic layer. The hydrostatic gel layer can also be pressurized to various levels to potentially save the wearers life, should the wearer be subjected to high G forces or a high velocity impact; however, over pressurizing this layer can cause nitrogen embolisms.

**Polymerized Lithium Nibocene Layer**: Sandwiched between the external armour and the internal padding, the liquid crystal layer contains the polymerized form of lithium nibocene, a highly piezoelectric polymer. By deforming when an electric current is applied to it, the layer acts as a sheath of artificial muscle, adding to a Noverian's already considerable strength. This layer increases the strength, speed, and all around physical performance of the Noverian occupant.

**Memory Processor Superconductor Layer**: This layer supports suit's Artificial intelligence and is fitted in between the outer plates and the inner padding. This type of computer memory is usually outfitted on a warship, and as such accounts for over eighty percent of the Mjolnir Armor's cost of construction and materials.

**Magnetic Weapon Holder Strips**: The magnetic strips are very small yet powerful magnets place on the legs, waist, and back of the suit, and are used to hold any equipment with a magnetic property. The suit also contains an electromagnetic system on the boots of the suit that allow its wearer to stay attached to a metal surface in Zero G environments, and can be toggled on or off by the wearer.

**Shield**: First used on the Mk. V, and later refined on the Mk. VI, the energy shield device is reverse engineered from Covenant technology. Begun in 2532, forty scientists and technicians would spend the next 20 years attempting to make some use of the technology. For decades, the attempts at cracking their technology had met with failure after failure. Some had given up, and others in the scientific community believed the energy shield technology could never be cracked; however, at some point before 2552, a breakthrough was made, and for the first time, the UNSC had successfully cracked and improved upon the technology.: The Pressure Seal is a vital component to the Mjolnir system. It keeps the system airtight, underwater or in space. The seal is very strong and will only break under extreme pressure, such as in a high velocity impact or when the Hydrostatic Gel has been over pressurized.: Introduced on the Mk. VI models, biofoam injectors are an integral part of the system's ability to keep a SPARTAN-II functioning in battle. Biofoam is a medical gel that is used to fill and seal a wound automatically. It is also used to treat any infection that could occur as a result of the wound. The process of injecting or applying the gel to a wound, however it is extremely painful, and is only a temporary solution; medical attention must be sought soon after to ensure survivability.

**Fusion Reactor**: The fusion reactor is the most essential part of the Mjolnir System, as it provides power to all equipment on the Mjolnir Armor - the reactor is built into the suit and allows for nearly unlimited movement. The fusion reactor in all versions of the Mjolnir Armor are half the size of a normal fusion pack that conventional marines carry around.: Located throughout the armour, these systems boost the force applied by the user. They make hand-to-hand combat easier, but also make the armour difficult to adjust to; a slight motion can be translated into a potentially harmful one if not conducted correctly. For this reason it is only possible for Spartans to use this armor, as their strengthened bodies are able to withstand the increased power and speed of movement, which, in un-augmented human bodies, results in broken bones or death, due to spasms caused by the pain of broken bones.: Reactive Circuits are systems installed that are directly linked to the . They amplify the wearer's reaction time by connecting directly to the thoughts of the wearer, making it much easier to control and allowing for the soldier to be both more efficient and have a higher survival rate in combat.: The Power Supply Control Unit controls and maintains the power supply of the armor.

***Functions***

**Repulsors**: The repulsors on the palms are capable of harnessing John's energy to fire blasts of energy as an offensive measure in addition to providing thrust and stability during flight.**Flares**: The suit also contained a set of flares used for defensive countermeasures. The flares are contained in two cylindrical drums located at the knees.

***Secondary Functions***

The Nanosuit incorporates its own communications equipment, allowing for hands-free voice and/or video communications over a wide range of frequencies.

***Visor***

The visor of the Nanosuit is capable of heightening received light, acting as night-vision goggles. Unfortunately, this is one of the only parts of the Nanosuit that is not extremely developed by Noveria, the visor mode can still be blinded by bright light, and even automatic gunfire can white out the visor. The power allocation for night-vision is small, being able to produce increased light for less than a minute. Despite the small amount of time night-vision is capable of being activated for, the wearer is capable of spotting enemies and obstacles in an environment where normal soldiers or humans would be completely blind, such a darkness and intense smoke or fog.

***HUD***

The suit contains a heads-up display within the helmet that can display various metrics and includes a targeting system used during combat situations.

***Binoculars***

The Nanosuit possesses a Binoculars function integrated into the visor, allowing the operator of the suit to "tag" enemy units, ammunition, and vehicles for future reference and engagement. This information can also be relayed onto allied units. The binoculars also magnify distant sound, enabling the user able to hear the lightest of sounds from far away.

***Processor***

The Nanosuit features an onboard supercomputer which allows it to remotely interface with and hack most electronic devices either military and civilian, even alien.

***Rebreather***

The Nanosuit incorporates a small internal oxygen supply for underwater activity. The Nanosuit can recycle air for one minute before energy is diverted to maintaining the oxygen sub-system. If energy reaches zero, the user will start to take bodily damage from the prolonged deficiency of oxygen. It automatically recharges when the user re-enters a breathable atmosphere.

***Hydro-Thrusters***

The Nanosuit also incorporates an array of "hydro-thrusters" that allow increased speed during Speed mode sprinting, as well as high maneuverability when submerged. This functionality also permits the Nanosuit to move in a zero gravity environment by utilizing atmospheric gasses as reaction mass. However, the "hydro-thrusters" will cease to function in an airless environment such as vacuum space, as there are no fluid particles to accelerate through them.

***Storage Capacity***

The Nanosuit has several magnetic holsters on the suit for weapons storage and management. It also has in-built ammo pouches to carry large amounts of munitions and explosive devices that Nanosuit users may require for use in hostile environments.

***Nanite Spray***

The suit also contained a nanite spray blaster that could be used to numb parts of the body to reduce pain.

***Data Network***

The Nanosuit incorporates data connectivity to a military network, allowing the suit to display critical information on its HUD. This information includes a topographic GPS map of the area, complete with objective pinpoints, descriptions, and radar integration that identifies allied and known enemy units. Computers can interface with the Nanosuit in order to access this network. Additionally, information about the Nanosuit as well as the wearer's vital signs can be accessed from the network by advisers, mission control, and tactical supporters.

***Environmental Controls***

The Nanosuit is capable of recording audiovisual and environmental data, allowing the user to document whatever circumstances they encounter. It will also maintain body temperature if it detects critically suboptimal temperatures in the surrounding environment, and can keep the user alive even at -130°C (-200°F). The Nanosuit has a special defrosting function. If the suit does somehow get frozen, the user of the suit can initiate the defrosting device and the Nanosuit will be fully capable of movement again.

***Symbiosis***

All nanosuits are symbiotic, meaning that they physically bond with the user and become a form of second skin. The suits and the users eventually merge into one being. The process is accelerated if the wearer suffers serious injury as the suit will breakdown non-critical tissues in order to repair critical organs.

Over time, the suit would also directly interface with the wearer's brain. This allows the wearer to use the suit's processors as like a part of their own brain, essentially making most of their thought processes happen outside of their own brain. The wearer's personality and memories would also be copied and stored in the suit's deep layers.

Once fully merged, the wearer no longer appears to wear the suit, but has access to all the suit's functions. They become a "Post-Human Warrior".

***Removal***

Once a suit has bonded to a wearer, it is nearly impossible to remove. Specialized removal procedures are available, but the process is extremely painful and it is likely to kill the wearer. It involves a series of specialized surgical lasers that cut into specific parts of the Nanosuit in order to loosen it from the wearer's body.

A specialized bodysuit could also be worn underneath the Nanosuit, preventing physical bonding and allowing the wearer to (comparatively) easily remove the suit after entering a command into the palm interface.

***Disintegration***

To prevent Nanosuit technology from entering enemy hands should the user die, the Nanosuit is designed to disintegrate or "vaporize" on the command of a remote control, usually in the possession of commanding officers such as . The disintegration of the suit also results in the disintegration of the corpse inside, theoretically providing a way to kill the soldier for whatever reason. However, depending on the suit's design, disintegration may not be possible with a living body inside.

***Weaknesses***

Weapons such as have been specifically created to combat Nanosuits. These grenades were, by all indications, actually deployed by the Koreans first (likely because they developed a Nanosuit countermeasure while also developing their own version of Nanosuit). The grenade drains all power from the suit, disables the ability to toggle suit modes, and disrupts the HUD during the time the wearer is in the EMP field. This field effectively makes enemy Nanosuit soldiers as vulnerable as any other human being.