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- “Here comes the Thunder.”
- ― The motto of the GOLIATHs
The GOLIATH Program was the brainchild of then-Brigadier General Gregor Ashfield of the UNSC Army. In order to combat the mounting Insurrection in the colonies, the Army launched it's own initiative to create augmented supersoldiers. Begun in 2518, the GOLIATH Program was an attempt by the UNSC Army Special Warfare Command under Special Warfare Group Thirteen to produce its own equivalent force to the Navy's successful ORION Project.
Several times the idea was passed around by the Special Warfare Command as the Insurrection gathered momentum. As the original idea was examined it was modified, compounded new ideas, and eventually expanded beyond a simple special forces program. Concepts such as powered armor and biological augmentations were eventually incorporated, unaware of the existence of ONI Section III's Spartan-II Program. But it was not until the Eridanus Insurrection that it was taken into serious consideration. In light of the recent capabilities of the Insurrection, SPECWARCOM wanted an experimental test unit to be ready to partake in the ongoing Operation: TREBUCHET.
The results were spectacular, but dangerous. The GOLIATHs proved to be volatile, unstable, and less disciplined. GOLIATH was drawn from consenting—though not entirely aware—adults and the program's developing and admittedly flawed augmentation procedures resulted in side-effects more far reaching then any of their estimates could have predicted. Ultimately, this and other factors contributed to the eventual disbandment of GOLIATH.
History
GOLIATH was initiated on February 2nd 2514 as the needed faculty and equipment were moved to Fort Jorge on Chi Rho under the oversight of Special Warfare Group Thirteen. Scientists and researchers of numerous fields were called in to work under GOLIATH, including some previously affiliated with the ORION Project. However GOLIATH would have a few hurdles to leap that would plague it's early days, as the budget would be tighter than it's overseers had anticipated. Funding that could have gone to GOLIATH was going to other projects instead but the Program's project heads proved resourceful and made due with what they had.
After four years of research, the program moved into its assemblage stage. In 2518 recruits were drawn from consenting adults from Army Airborne and other Army special forces units; young soldiers chosen as some of the best soldiers in the UNSCDF Army. Under the cover of a new special army unit, more than three hundred promising recruits signed up for service. Each candidate was already a veteran of another special forces outfit, Airborne or otherwise, and therefore had already gone through at least two cases of screening and intense special forces training to make it this far.
However there were many aspects of the program that the recruits were not aware of. The next ten months would be the site of some of the most questionable acts of GOLIATH. Under the direction of GOLIATH's head scientist, Doctor Hugo Slovenko, their food was infused with advanced growth hormones and in their sleep they were given regular dosages of psychoactive drugs. These drugs included an experimental neural pathway-altering mutagen designed to alter key parts in the brain involved in emotional responses and behavior. In the dead of night, recruits were taken in their sleep and had neurosurgery preformed on their prefrontal cortex and Deep Limbic Systems, dulling their sense of empathy and increasing their responsiveness to orders. Of course, all this was kept under absolute lock-and-key by the heads of GOLIATH; most of the staff were not aware of what was transpiring.
Fumirole Insurrection
Jericho Incident
The first signs of trouble for GOLIATH began the same year as the Human-Covenant War broke out. In 2525, a rebellion broke out on Jericho VII and Goliath Beta Team was dispatch to help the UNSC suppress the Insurrectionist factions alongside Army personnel. Several missions were successfully carried out, but during combat operations on a urban clearance assignment, Goliath Beta-Two went berserk, killed two other members of Beta Team and injured a third, before turning on the Army troopers that they were supporting.
General Ashfield ordered the Army troopers not to kill the Goliath, only to capture or contain him until they could discern for what reason he had gone rogue. Until now, Beta-Two had never displayed any signs of insanity and Ashfield was unwilling to waste an expensive supersoldier until he knew what was going on. This led to confusion and frustration among the ranks, as the soldiers wondered why they were not authorized to shoot to kill. This order resulted in Beta-Two going on a rampage through the troopers and killing dozens of soldiers and civilians before ODSTs were finally deployed to help contain him. After several hours of fighting, a siege settled in as the UNSC troops confined his movements to a single district and blockaded the area.
With the death toll rising, orders came down from UNICOM to eliminate Beta-Two before the situation got out of hand and caused the UNSC a huge embarrassment. The commanders on the ground wanted to kill him with precision airstrikes or artillery, but they were unable to pinpoint his exact location in the vast urban sprawl and were unwilling to carpet bomb the whole district to kill one soldier. Several ODST kill-teams were sent in to flush him out and eliminate him, but were all wiped out by Beta-Two.
Eventually, a top-secret SPECWARCOM unit, codenamed White Team, was sent in to eliminate the out-of-control Goliath. These previously unheard of supersoldiers were successful in eliminating Beta-Two and did not suffer any casualties in the process. The whole ordeal, now called the "Jericho Incident" by the program's leaders, was covered up by ONI as Insurrection soldiers using rumbledrugs.
This was the first documented time that a GOLIATH went rogue and had far reaching consequences for the program. The massacre on Jericho had caused the program to come under heavy scrutiny and Ashfield was pressured to give answers. The General explained the incident as the result of combat stress and repressed trauma, causing Beta-Two to suffer a mental breakdown. His records showed no signs of instability before the incident or that this had been a reoccurring issue. In truth, this was a lie. Beta-Two, and other Goliaths, had slowly been displaying unusual and steadily increasing amounts of aggression and instability. Before, this was not seen as a cause for alarm and their aggression was actually seen as favorable traits by the project heads; but now this was cause for concern. Doctor Slovenko did an autopsy on Beta-Two's remains and, based on what he described as a "hunch", discovered that Beta-Two's insanity was caused by the massive chemical imbalances in his body as well as the neurological tampering that was part of Project AMBROSIA and that all Goliaths were subject to.
The incident was a also huge embarrassment to Ashfield personally. Not only did one of his pet soldiers go completely berserk and cast a permanent shadow across the entire program, but the Goliaths had been upstaged by Catherine Halsey's new "Spartans", who quickly gained ubiquity among the Brass.
New Caracas Insurrection
In 2526, a surprise rebellion erupted on the Outer Colony of New Caracas. Backed traitors within the CMA, the rebels launched a coup d'état and seized control of the planetary government. UNSC forces on the planet, primarily the Army, rallied around their military bases and the UNSC responded harshly with reinforcements.
Despite being a somewhat rural colony, the rebel forces managed to construct a surprisingly sophisticated series of trenches with which to defend themselves with. To stop the UNSC from being able to approach the capital city, they had the pro-UNSC prisoners and civilians placed near the frontlines in the trenches, using the hostages as living shields to ensure any UNSC attack would be costly. The rebels employed them as living shields at a number of their bases and by their mass drivers to dissuade any attack there as well.
With conventional strategy on momentary pause, Goliath teams Alpha, Delta, and Kappa were sent in to launch a lightning-fast strike against the enemy fortifications and disrupt the rebel's response while the UNSC launched their offensive and rescued the hostages. Under the command of Major Gorgorov, aka Goliath Alpha-One, the Goliaths were high velocity air-dropped into the combat zone at night. Within the narrow confines of the trenches, the Goliaths were able to maximize effective use of their power armor and GAU-144s. They engaged the rebel infantry in brutal close-quarters hand-to-hand combat where they used their superhuman strength and extreme firepower clear out the trenches quickly, thoroughly, and without mercy. The insurrectionist's own defenses now worked against them as they now only served to funnel them right into the guns of the Goliaths.
The suddenness of the assault threw the rebel defenses into disarray as in the darkness the rebels could not positively identify the size and strength of the force attacking and the soldiers who came into contact with them were swiftly killed before they could even report what they were fighting. As the rebel soldiers struggled to counter the bulletproof Goliaths, panic began to spread amongst the ranks which caused rebel morale to collapse. With casualties skyrocketing, the rebel frontline collapsed and their commanders ordered a hasty chaotic retreat.
New Tyre Hostage Crisis
Battle of Razor Bay
Battle of Chi Rho
Battle of Plasma Mountain
Battle of Thunder Canyon
Operation: CURTAIN CALL
Legacy
Equipment
ACHILLES Powered Shock Assault Armor
GAU-144 Machine Gun
The principle personal armament of the Goliaths was the GAU-144 Infantry Suppression Weapon, or simply known as "the Raker". Designed by Weapon Systems Technology, the GAU-144 was a model of machine gun rarely seen outside of the Army Special Forces. The GAU-144 was a powerful automatic weapon designed for infantry suppression, urban warfare, and large-scale combat. Goliaths commonly equipped theirs with Shredder or Explosive rounds. The GAU can fire dozens of rounds per second for extended periods of time thanks to its Mark IV/LBE-A Field Case via an ammo feed flex chute.
The GAU-144 Infantry Suppression Weapon was the principle infantry weapon of the GOLIATHs.
While some may consider it a design flaw, the GAU's bright muzzle flash and loud noise profile were a deliberate choice by its designers to better attract the opponent's attention to the user, keeping them distracted from more discreet flanking maneuvers as well as for the psychological effect.
M95 Automatic Shotgun
The Misriah M95 "Jackhammer" Automatic Shotgun.
M865 AGL
Also knows as the Personal Artillery System, or PAS, 40mm automatic grenade launcher (AGL) is an air-cooled, gas operated fully automatic weapon and is crew transportable. As the Insurrection conflict escalated the UNSC Army needed a weapon that could easily flush insurgents out of their fortified building hideouts, leveling them in seconds. The M865 proved to be as reliable in that as it was lethal. It is especially effective when used against enemy infantry formations.
Its ammunition is belt-fed and can be connected to a portable ammunition backpack that the soldier carries or in the 30-round cartridge drum. The 40mm grenade pierces armor up to 80mm thick and produces shrapnel that kills or wounds enemy personnel standing within 10 meters of the point of impact. Though the M865 has a flash suppressor, it serves only to save the eyesight of the operator, not to conceal the weapon's position. In combat it is noisy. For night operation, thermal and night vision optics can be added.
M99 Stanchion
ICU-109 Sniper Rifle
Augmentations
A GOLIATH soldier in action.
The primary focus of GOLIATH was the the augmentation and modification of human anatomy to boost the GOLIATH's biology to superhuman levels. GOLIATHs were produced as much more individual products as opposed the SPARTAN "batches".
The program's augmentation procedure, codenamed Project AMBROSIA, ventured the twin usage of experimental breakthroughs in biochemical development and surgical modification of human biological capacity. The augmentative chemicals used in Project AMBROSIA were experimental and even more potent than those that would be used in the SPARTAN-IIs; however they were also unstable. Part of their effect was to dramatically increase the mass and density of muscle and bone tissue, but they also super-charged synapse activity in response to adrenal production during combat.
Other parts of the surgery revolved around modifying the body's chemical production, the amount produced and the specific chemicals it produces. In combat the GOLIATH's brain would produce an artificially introduced psychoactive hormone that slowed down the brain's perception of time and allowed superhuman responsiveness. Their adrenal glands were also surgically modified. When activated the glands were over-stimulated and adrenaline production was increased dramatically from that of a normal human, so much so that it would in many cases strain their arterial walls. The second phase of AMBROSIA would be some of the most controversial in medical science and involved the use of an experimental neural pathway-altering mutagen and neurosurgery on the prefrontal cortex and Deep Limbic Systems. The effect was deep-personality modification in which the GOLIATH's brains were surgically tampered to reduce their sense of empathy and increase their responsiveness to orders, resulting in powerful, cold-blooded killing machines.
However despite their combat success, time would prove that GOLIATH augmentations were crude and dangerous. The augmentative drugs and procedures involved were experimental in nature and put enormous strain on the body and Dr. Slovenko's neurosurgery resulted in severe psychological damage that would plague the program till its demise. Over the course of their operational life, most of the GOLIATHs would go insane as the result of the multitudes of chemical readjustments, neural realignment, and the use of 666-XK13 that they were subjected to. Many of them became unstable and extremely violent before they eventually slipped into a vegetative coma from brain damage.
More GOLIATHs would die from catastrophic organ failure, brain hemorrhaging, or neurological burnout than in actual combat as after-effects of AMBROSIA.
| Drug | Description | Effect | Risk(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 46561-HP12 | Cardiovascular Catalyst Injection drug. | Cardiovascular steroids are applied to cardiovascular tissue. Strengthens vascular force of heartbeats and vessel walls to increase blood/oxygen flow. | Fatal hypertension in blood vessels, hyper-tachycardia and cardiac arrest. |
| 06125-DX11 | Artificial psychoactive neuro-hormone | When stimulated by adrenal production, 06125-DX11 is released into the brain and slows down the brain's time perception. | Chemical rejection, chemical dependency, neurological damage. |
| 666-XK13 | Neural pathway-altering Synthetic Mutagen | Alters neural pathways in key sections of subject's brain, namely the Anterior Cingulate Gyrus and the Balsa Ganglia, and alters their usual response and synapse firing patterns. | Neuro-necrosis, artificially-induced sociopathy, severe personality damage, disassociation. |
| Procedure | Description | Effect | Risk(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prefrontal cortex/Deep Limbic Neurosurgery | Surgical modification to portions of the brain's prefrontal cortex and Deep Limbic systems. | Dampen empathetic emotions. Increased responsiveness to commands. | Severe long term psychological damage. Chances of personality disorders and severe instability. |
| Adrenal gland modification and production expansion | Adrenal glands are surgically modified and improved suprarenal artery elasticity. | Production of adrenaline and volume of flow is increased substantially. | Adrenal addiction, artery hypertension, and long-term organ damage. |
| Muscle grafting | Surgically graft additional muscle tissue onto target fixation locations. | Increase muscle-mass and subsequent strength exponentially. | Tissue rejection. |
| Titanium bone implants | Surgically grafts Titanium implants onto skeletal structure. | Hardens subject skeleton to impact and damage. | Implant rejection. |
GOLIATH Personnel
Project Personnel
| GOLIATH Project Personnel | ||||||||
| Image | Name | Rank | Bio | Status | ||||
 GOLIATH Actual |
General |
MIA | ||||||
 CODENAME: SYRINGE |
ROGUE | |||||||
Volunteers
Alpha Team
| Image | Name | Rank | Bio | Status |
 ALPHA-ONE |
Major |
Major Seriozha Grogorov was the commander of the Goliaths as well as its more powerful soldier. He accepted any mission and performed any task that he was ordered to, no matter how gruesome, but also with a macabre streak. He was brutal, ruthless, and incredibly intolerant of insubordination. His unit, Alpha Team, was often tasked with putting down any rogue or out-of-control Goliaths. Gorgorov was seemingly not as affected by the side-effects of AMBROSIA as the other Goliaths. He was finally killed during the Goliaths' last stand on Chi Rho. |
Beta Team
Gamma Team
Delta Team
Epsilon Team
Zeta Team
| Image | Name | Rank | Bio | Status |
First Sergeant |
||||
ZETA-TWO |
Staff Sergeant |
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ZETA-THREE |
Sergeant |
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ZETA-FOUR |
Staff Sergeant |