Joseph-004

"'Save your tears little one, because he will be watching over you every step of the way.' ""-Joseph-004 to Lynette Wolf after Samuel Wolf's death"Joseph-004 is an eccentric SPARTAN-II under the leadership of Antonio-007 in Fireteam Erebus. Nicknamed Ballistic, Joseph is the second in command of Erebus and has a deep rooted respect and loyalty to his team. While seeming a bit crazy at times he has proven to have the biggest heart of the entire team.

Early Life
Joseph was born and raised on the planet Reach. He would live a pretty standard life on the planet with friends and family having fun and messing around as a kid should.

That all would change in 2517 when, due to him having the specified genes needed for the SPARTAN Program. However unlike the vast majority of the SPARTAN-IIs, Joseph was not kidnaped by Halsey; instead ONI operatives under the direction of one Sebastion Hammond, who intern was following orders from a high ranking ONI member, sedated and took him to the orbital space station Serenity. Here he would undergo intense training as all Erebus and Nyx members would (although the latter's training was admittedly a bit more lax) and even partake on some missions against the Insurrectionist threat.

Joseph would be seen as a kind-hearted person albeit a bit crazy at times among his ONI and Military peers, and when it came time for the four members of Erebus to meet he immediately took to them as friends like a moth to a flame.

Recorder Missions
"'All life is imporatnt, we just have to get over the blocks we have with one another.' - Joseph-004's philospohy on life as explained to Zur 'Vulcam"During the earlier years of his training Joseph, much like the other future members of Erebus, were isolated from any and all other SPARTAN interaction. The missions he was assigned were given with a small squad of Marines or ONI personnel. Many of these missions were of no real note or were simple tests, however that does not take away the fact they were dangerous all the same.

Extraction of Assets
Sometime in the early to mid 2520s Joseph took part in many asset recovery missions; these would range from medical supplies, to personnel, to weapons, and even to small ships. he would be viewed as a hero by most everyone who saw him on these missions because he was at his best when protecting people.

Suppression of Potential Insurrectionist Cells
Perhaps his darkest years before Erebus, Joseph would be sent in to suspected Insurrectionist cells with a no-exceptions kill order. Many speculated cells were destroyed over the course of these missions; but the real weight of it was Joseph not knowing if they were actually rebels or just people ONI wanted silenced.

Formation of Erebus
On April 17, 2529 Fireteam Erebus would be officially formed. The team would finally be introduced to one another in the training room of Serenity and be sent on a mission immediately there after. The mission would be successful due to the quick actions of every Spartan and would please Sebastion Hammond who, by that point, was close to breaking and attempting a coup on ONI and the CINCONI Margret Parangosky to put himself in her position. His plans would come to a halt when Joseph, along with the rest of Erebus and even Nyx were pulled from Serenity. The propose of the base had been fulfilled: produce hyper-lethal killing machines with no regard to how they achieve their missions (this last part would prove to be false to the ire of ONI). From here they would do many small missions to large scale battels against the Covenant threat finally crossing paths with other SPARTAN-IIs.

Dao KI5 Initial Recon (Early 2533- Late 2533)
Perhaps one of the greatest failures of Erebus' history, the Dao KI5 Initial Recon would introduce Joseph and his fellow Spartans to Kus 'Munamal: a deadly Sangheili who did anything for technology and advancing his soldiers. Joseph would be assigned with Salove-013 to find any information within a cleared base while Ezekiel-072 and Antonio-007 kept watch. Things would spiral out of control fast when Kus 'Munamal revealed himself and a full assault force holding Ezekiel-072's handler, Akira Hideyoshi, hostage. The former would make their presence known in an uncharacteristic outburst upon seeing Akira be stabbed through the back by 'Munamal's Type-1 Energy Sword, killing the ONI Operative instantly.

Joseph and Salove would be overwhelmed from behind when a pack of Kig-Yar attempted a pincer maneuver on the team; the two Spartans were able to kill them, but a few had managed to knock over Joseph and knock off his helmet with their constant clawing. When his exposed face came to their eyes one took action and clawed Joseph's eye. By this point Salove was able to knock them off Joseph and they went to the front where Ezekiel had tried to fight Kus, but was knocked back by Antonio whom which Kus was more interested in. The two would dual and, in a brief moment when he was going to lose, Kus hit a second wind and grabbed hold of Antonio's right arm. With a swing he severed it and kicked the Spartan away showing off his victory to his soldiers. This however would prove beneficial to Erebus as they were able to use this time to escape.

After bandaging their wounds the team had the two healthiest members take point on a raid that resulted in them nabbing a Phantom and leaving the planet.

From this point to 2550 the Spartans would take place in various small time battels after their prosthetics were installed and eventually go back to bigger combat scenarios. However they were now under the banner of ONI's Section 0, and their new handler: Raptor-5. While with Section 0 Raptor-5 would be in charge of them, their transportation, armaments, ground activity, and any other necessities; their mission commander would be the CINCONI Margret Parangosky herself; she would give and direct missions to the team, approve of specific tasks and sub-objectives, and would make sure the team was used properly while still an asset.

Operation Decay and The Fall of Reach
Erebus would be sent around the systems and planet Reach pushing back Covenant forces. They had an altierior motive: finding and killing Kus. This would go on for two years until the worst defeat of humanity occurred.

Joseph would see the devastation of the Covenant firsthand on many occasions. However nothing came close to seeing his home burn before his eyes under the glassing beams of Covenant ships. Joseph would be a voice of reason for Antonio during Reach's fall, convincing him to aid civilians instead of leaving them behind as Sev had proven to not be afraid to do. It was during this conflict that Joseph's ways truly resonated with the leader and he began experiencing a change in his nature. The team, against orders, would aid soldiers and civilians however they could till they were pulled off planet covertly as to avoid the Covenant Fleet.

Invasion of Earth, New Mombasa, and Voi
After witnessing Reach fall, Joseph was put under a psychiatric evaluation to asses his condition. While saddened at his home's destruction he was driven even more now; he was cleared just before the High Prophet of Regret's fleet appeared above Earth and began their invasion. During the conflict Raptor-5 would be pinned in a safe house at New Mombasa prompting Erebus to be sent in and extract him alive at all costs. Dealing with the enemies on site and successfully extracting Raptor, the team would travel for a few hours by foot before holding up in a sports shop for the next three days till they were extracted.

After this the team was transferred under the command of Lord Hood for a small amount of time, as well as Miranda Keys after Antonio reluctantly relinquished command to her. Joseph would once again lead his team down a better path by convincing them and Miranda to save civilians and assist fellow soldiers. This lasted until the Flood arrived.

For Joseph the Flood was the stuff of nightmare's. he would grow a fear for the parasite especially after a close call with Antonio being captured and saved by Erebus, however with some damage already done. When the team was sent to the Ark, now however more for the interest's of ONI. Joseph would have to enact his Second-in-command position as Antonio's condition seemed to be worsening, and only detreated further upon the Flood's arrival. They would all be pulled off and back to the Tides before Installation-08 was destroyed above the Ark damaging the super-structure.

Operation Hellhound
After quelling a small rebellion in January of 2555 the team would be sent on their most emotionally taxing mission yet. With the evidence gathered by Fireteam Geras, it was brought to light that Sebastion Hammond had gone Insurrectionist like his wife and held up with his own loyalists at Serenity Base. With an executive kill order as their main goal, the team went in and wiped out any opposition. Eventually they reached Hammond's office where he attempted to sway the team; he recalled many thing in their past, for Joseph he brought up Reach and how the UNSC was unable to save his home, stating they did not care for any Spartan be it II to IV. The team would ignore him and, upon Antonio firing the first bullet, gun the man down till their clips were empty.

Earus
Having been years in the making, Joseph and the team would finally track down Kus 'Munamal who was attacking the colony Earus. Along with the newly formed Pantheon Squad they would assist the colony in driving back The Galactic Pact and narrowly miss the window to finally kill Kus. After the mission Erebus would be disbanded by the now CINCONI Serin Osman to protect them from a mole in ONI. Joseph would be stationed aboard the UNSC Infinity and help train SPARTAN-IVs as well as gain an armor upgrade to Mark VI GEN2.

Unity
Having to face his fears once again Joseph would be reunited with the now reformed Erebus to investigate a colony that had gone dark. Upon initial search they found bloodstains but no bodies, evidence of a struggle but no casualties. With the aid of sets of audio logs left by the Governors it would be reveled that the colonist had accidentally opened a Forerunner containment facility that was intended for researching the Flood.

With the parasite active once again Joseph would have a mild onset of PTSD when one almost got to him, only being stopped by his shields powering back up as they fought their way to the colonies generators.

Along the way they found survivors Lamda, Jessie, Hange, Reed, and the just recently sworn in Taylor Cruz. Along the way they lost all but Cruz, and found the body of former human governor Jericho being sued as a host for a proto-gravemind. Once the creature proved too hard to kill and prevented the team from getting to the second generator Joseph called in to ONI for assistance. Their answer was an extraction with Cruz and the UNSC Fleet Scourge; quarantining the system the fleet rained orbital bombardment down upon the planet to ensure no Flood presence remained. From that day forward the system as off-limits and any persons attempting entry would be shot down due to the possibility of other containment facilities being present.

Hunt for Blue Team
While his peers took enjoyment from hunting down fellow SPARTAN-IIs Blue Team, Joseph was apprehensive about it. He knew Fred well due to crossing paths before and didn't want to harm a friend. But he would have been lying if he said he didn't want to know who was better between the teams. Joseph would play an important role in finding Blue Team due to his connections with them; he knew their minds much like Antonio knew Kelly's thanks to multiple training competitions the two had after the end of the Human-Covenant war when together by chance.

Joseph would be the second most disheartened person at the news of Mavericks upcoming death however, so made it a number one priority to help find a way to prolong said life after they found Blue Team. This would not be necessary as they found a solution before the Created rebellion. Now aboard the UNSC Infinity again, Joseph helps run the War Games for Spartans wanting to train as they bounce around avoiding the Guardians.

Accomplishments
Due to his helpful nature many a soldier began addressing him as if he was a priest this was attributed to his helpful acts and religious belief he still holds true to to this day. He has saved the most civilians and garnered the least amount of casualties on all his assignments prior to and when with Erebus.

He would be a heavy helper for the team putting them on a better track rather then being simple mindless weapons. These facts all garnered him the Colonial Cross after the Voi Memorial was erected.

Personality
Joseph is in fact perhaps the most caring and gentle of Erebus and, perhaps, all of the SPARTAN-II's. He enjoys cheering others up when they need it, but his good nature does not mean he is passive. Shown to have almost the same brutality that Antonio has, he is not afraid to get down and dirty when needed; he hates people who try to take advantage of his kindness, and is not below beating someone if it comes to it.

As second in command he is confident but also nervous. He excels in the position when it calls for it.

He is afraid of the Flood thanks to their first encounter. He wishes to never see the parasite again but knows eventually the whole galaxy may very well see its horrors.

Trivia

 * Joseph loves music
 * Whenever he has free time and access to one, Joseph enjoys going for a relaxing joy ride in a Warthog or Mongoose
 * While all his personality is on show for everyone, he still remains clueless to certain situations; sometimes even completely missing the point of things or having explanations fly over his head
 * He is the friendliest toward Nyx, Geras, and Hemera
 * He loves explosions
 * Joseph hates seeing friends hurting and in response will do whatever he can to help them, sometimes even sacrificing his own happiness for them on occasion