SPARTAN-III Project

Formally introduced in the novel "Halo: Ghosts of Onyx," but first mentioned in the novel "Halo: First Strike;" the Spartan-IIIs are the next generation in the Spartan series, this time led by Colonel Ackerson and other members of ONI Section III. It is believed that the S-III project is unknown to others within the UNSC, possibly even those within ONI. At this point, it is unclear as to if these new soldiers will make an appearance in Halo 3 or any other subsequent games that take place within the Halo universe. They will most likely appear in Halo Wars.

Background
Beginning in October of 2531, the Spartan-III project was spearheaded by Colonel James Ackerson as a way to try and introduce more Spartan super-soldiers into the battlefield in order to try and mimic the astounding success of the Spartan-IIs without the costs and time required to produce them and their MJOLNIR battle armor. Operating completely in the dark, Colonel Ackerson set up Camp Curahee on Onyx after picking up Spartan-051, a member of the legendary blue team, during a mission in which his backpack was purposely sabotaged in order to send him off into space. Along with Chief Petty Officer Mendez, they trained the first three hundred of the Spartan-IIIs, also known as Alpha Company. All of Alpha Company died on a mission to shut down a Covenant shipyard to slow down the Covenant's conquest of Earth space. The second wave of Spartan-III's trained, also known as Beta company, fared little better. Most of these soldiers died except for two who continue to train the next company of Spartan-IIIs, Gamma Company. Only three companies were ever trained, all hovering around three hundred recruits each.

Techincal Information
Similar in many ways to the Spartan-IIs, receiving the same chemicals to enhance their body as well as similar training. Listed below are five chemicals administered to the Spartan-IIIs on the UNSC medical ship, Hopeful.


 * 1) 8942-LQ99-Carbide Ceramic Ossification: Chemical used to strengthen the bones. Once infused into the body, the subject's bones became virtually unbreakable and allowed for the Spartan to support the weight of their MJOLNIR armor (in the case of the Spartan-IIs). Use on pubescent children would typically result in bone pulverization if a growth spurt occurred.
 * 2) 88005-MX77 Fibrofoid Muscular Protein: Muscle protein that was injected directly into the muscles of the subject. Once administered, the muscles would experience a large increase in muscular density as well as prolonged endurance and shortened recovery time.
 * 3) 88947-OP24 Retina Inversion Stabilizer: This chemical increases blood flow to the eyes as well as the nerves to the brain. With these improvements, the subject would experience a boost in their color vision as well as nighttime vision.
 * 4) 87556-UD61 Improving colloidal neural disunification, the Spartan-IIIs would experience a marked improvement in their reaction times.

As well as these five chemicals and proteins, three more were administered are presumably administered exclusively to Gamma Company.


 * 1) 009927-DG, 009127-PX, and 009782-OO Consisting of miso-olanzapine, cyclodexione-4, and a mutagen that alters the frontal lobe, these three chemicals were administered to Gamma Company during Project CHRYSANTHEMUM in secret. The mutagen, when applied, changed the subject's frontal lobe in such a way that a person would have reserves of strength that no normal human could call upon, as well as being able to continue to operate even when they are in systemic shock. The side effects are very risky though, repressing the higher reasoning sections of the brain. Therefore, the two chemicals are administered in order to prevent psychopathy and and bi-polar tendencies.

While it assumed the Spartan-IIIs received the a same cocktail as the Spartan-IIs, it is not known if the Platinum pellet was implanted into the Thyroid gland of the Spartan-IIIs. Without it there would be a decrease in muscle mass between the Spartan-IIs and the Spartan-IIIs. Another effect that would be missing is the suppressed sexual drive. It can be reasoned that it was implanted or administered through a chemical, but it was not mentioned in The Ghosts of Onyx.

A notable change between the two programs is the type of armor the Spartans wore. Instead of using Mark V or Mark VI MJOLNIR armor, the Spartan-IIIs were given Semi-Powered Infiltrator Armor (abbreviated as SPI Armor). Not many specifics are known about the SPI armor suit but it's most notable feature is it's ability to allow the user to blend in with their surroundings with optical transducers that covered the entire suit of armor. Another major difference is it's lack of a shield and marked decrease in overall armor protection.

The Spartan-IIIs also used a new variant of the MA5B Assault Rifle, the MA5K. Very little is known about the difference in models; other than the MA5K is slightly shorter than the MA5B in length. They also use a homing SPNKr anti-air missle launcher.

List of Spartan-III's
SPARTAN-G122 "Holly" [KIA]