Frederic Ellsworth (Earth-4001)

Lieutenant, Junior Grade Frederic-104, born Frederic Ellsworth, is a Spartan-II supersoldier of the United Nations Space Command's Naval Special Warfare Command. A skilled close-quarters combatant and marksman, Fred is a natural leader and a brilliant strategist. Having been a regular member of Blue Team almost since the unit's inception, Fred typically held the call sign of "Blue-Three". Since 2552, Fred has served as the commander of Blue Team, though he often defers leadership to close friend Master Chief Petty Officer John-117.

Fred participated in numerous engagements throughout both the Insurrection and the Human-Covenant War. In 2525, Fred participated in Operation: TALON, the first operation of the Spartan-IIs. As the Covenant War began, Fred participated in numerous battles throughout the war, including the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV. Notably, Fred served as the leader of Red Team during the Fall of Reach, which ultimately saw the highest single operation death count of Spartan-IIs. Fred later participated in the Battle of Earth and the Battle of Onyx, commanding several of his fellow Spartans.

History
The history of Fred-104 is the same as his mainstream counterpart up until the end of the Human-Covenant War in 2553.

Personality & Traits
Frederic-104 is a natural leader and a brilliant strategist. Highly intelligent, alert, and objective-focused during operations, Fred often appears solemn and stoic when interacting with other personnel of the United Nations Space Command. However, he had difficulty hiding his emotions at times, a trait that Doctor Catherine Halsey was aware of. A quick thinker, Fred has learned to rely on his instincts while on patrol or in the heat of a battle, noting that it had saved his life from dozens of ambushes. His augmentations and training has crafted Fred into one of the UNSC's greatest military minds. He is very observant; after years of watching soldiers face their fears, Fred is able to identify tell-tale signs of individuals encountering their fears and weaknesses, such as loss of focus and body tension. He did not always agree with or trust the judgement of his commanding officers, though Fred remains respectful to his superiors. However, he refuses to be intimidated by "key-tapper" officers, jesting that the day he is will be the day he turns in his armor and resigns. Despite his stoic and serious demeanor, Fred occasionally makes jokes or sarcastic quips in the midst of a battle or mission, once jesting to Major Ira Halal that it is "an operational bug".

As a Spartan, Fred has a strong sense of duty and commitment towards the UNSC and his closest peers, and is always to accomplish the goals set before him and achieve victory in ever tactical situation. As with many of his fellow Spartan-IIs, Fred preferred to fight on a world's surface rather than in zero-gravity environments that were typically encountered in off-world operations. Regardless, Fred often chose to volunteer for space operations as he sought to participate in missions that presented greater threats and dangers. Fred was always eager to battle the Covenant to defend any world, though he was particularly determined to save Reach, viewing the planet as an invaluable military resource and his home. Fred noted that other personnel of the UNSC looked upon Spartan-IIs with awe, suspicion, and fear. However, Fred, like many of the Spartan-IIs, dislikes the special treatment he and the other Spartans receive from ordinary humans and does not elevate himself above baseline troops, believing they all served the UNSC for the same reasons. Fred is ever pedant in following protocol; during his operation on Gao, Fred was irritated that several of his superiors continued to violate Foxtrot Tango Angel 7012 by revealing classified information on the Forerunners to civilians. Although Fred's service with the UNSC throughout the Insurrection and Human-Covenant War has left him as a highly decorated individual, he refrains from wearing his awards.

Although his conscription into the SPARTAN-II program prevented him from living a normal life, Fred feels no resentment towards Halsey nor Mendez. He believes that had he lived a normal life, he might have been killed by the Covenant and his career as a Spartan has instead enabled him to fulfill his full potential. In an "interview" with Doctor Veronica Clayton, Fred stated that he would never ask to change who he was and was proud to be a Spartan.

Leadership & Responsibilities
Frederic-104 is a tactically proficient and strategically capable leader, having displayed these characteristics throughout the Human-Covenant War. While also serving as an incredibly effective combatant, Fred specializes in strategy, information management, and using his leadership skills to transform disparate combat units into a comprehensive fighting force, even when he only has access to the barest information on troop dispensation. Fred has a stabilizing influence on the morale of those under his command, a trait that is of interest to Office of Naval Intelligence psychologists.

Fred cares greatly for those under his command, regardless of whether they are Spartans, Marines, or other UNSC personnel and he took full responsibility of their lives, bearing a heavy, personal burden with each casualty. He would ensure the safety of his team before even considering his own well-being; Fred once noted that he could only think clearly when the safety of his team was at stake. During the battle at Wendosa, Fred was reluctant to follow orders to evacuate, as he would be leaving behind those under his command. Fred was willing to defer command and leadership to those that he both respected and trusted. During the Battle of Onyx, while Fred was given command of Blue Team, he was quick to respectfully relinquish his command to Lieutenant Commander Kurt-051.

Often serving as a leader of Spartan fireteams, Fred has been noted to take the responsibility of his command with grim seriousness, empathizing too deeply with any wounded member of his team. During the Fall of Reach, Fred's quick-thinking and leadership ensured that the entirety of Red Team escaped their doomed Pelican before it was destroyed, though the resulting landing led to the deaths of four Spartans. Despite Kelly's support and that Fred had prevented the death of the entire team, he blamed himself for the deaths of these Spartans and felt disgusted with himself. After the death of Joshua-029, Fred bitterly thought to himself that Joshua's life was not worth the lives of the ten thousand Covenant soldiers killed in the same explosion. Ultimately, the Fall of Reach saw the highest single death count of Spartan-IIs, which severely affected Fred. In following engagements, he learned to adapt to severe casualties on the battlefield and is by many considered the most capable fireteam leader of all Spartans. Fred has since become confident in his role as leader and in the tactical decisions he made, as are his peers and subordinates.

Relationships
Fred has close relationships with many of his fellow Spartans, particularly with fellow regular members of Blue Team. He is an ally and close friend to John-117, having trained alongside him since the early days of the SPARTAN-II program. Fred often defers to John for tactical direction. After learning that John was believed to be dead following the Battle of Installation 00, Fred was deeply saddened and commented that he never expected John to have died before him.

During the Covenant War, Fred often worried about the statuses of his fellow Spartans who were away on other missions. While the doubt eroded his confidence, Fred never mentioned his worries to his fellow teammates to avoid damaging their morale. Kelly-087 often served as Fred's second-in-command when John was not present. The two are close friends, with Kelly attempting to console Fred after his stress in battle led to him making the mistake of broadcasting orders across FLEETCOM 7 rather than a private channel. Fred was also close with Kurt-051 and was saddened by his supposed death in the Groombridge 34 system in 2531. After encountering Kurt on Onyx in 2552, Fred placed a hand on Kurt's shoulder as a rare emotional gesture among Spartans. After Fred realized Kurt's intent to sacrifice himself to allow the rest of Blue Team to escape through a slipspace portal, Fred was reluctant to leave his friend behind and the two ultimately parted ways by shaking hands before Fred stepped through the portal. Fred also had a close relationship with Will-043, with the two serving particularly closely towards the final months of the Covenant War. When Will was killed during the Onyx Conflict, Fred was quick to avenge his friend's death by killing the Mgalekgolo responsible. Afterwards, Fred grieved the death of Will and had some amount of difficulty with suppressing the rage he felt towards his Covenant attackers.

Like several other Spartan-IIs, Fred was initially wary of the abilities of the Spartan-IIIs. However, after witnessing their skill in combat during the Battle of Onyx, Fred was quick to accept them as fellow Spartans and welcomed Lucy-B091, Tom-B292, Ash-G099, Olivia-G291, and Mark-G313 as members of Blue Team; Fred noted that despite the young age of the Spartan-IIIs, he and the rest of the Spartan-IIs had also participated in combat operations at similar ages. After Ash, Mark, and Olivia were transferred to a different unit, Fred admitted that he and the rest of Blue Team would miss them. Having been largely raised by them throughout his childhood and his career as a Spartan-II, Fred considered Halsey and Mendez as maternal and paternal figures, respectively, and deeply respected them both.

Skills & Abilities
Frederic-104 is an incredibly skilled and experienced close-quarters combatant, and has gained a reputation for preferring combat knives in numerous combat scenarios. A superb soldier even for a Spartan-II and an excellent strategist, Fred's quick thinking has ensured his success in battle on numerous occasions. While Fred's combat prowess is never subject to question, his true specialty lies in strategy and leadership. During training contests, he almost always came in second place, with John-117 usually coming in first. John believed that Fred had the skill to come in first in these competitions, but Fred did not care for the resulting attention. While John assumed that Fred had the ability to rival himself in any set of skills, Fred lacked John's inherent luck. Due to his extensive training from Franklin Mendez, Fred was highly skilled in evasive movement and is able to easily avoid sniper fire in a combat environment.

Although he mostly focuses on and specializes in close-quarters and mid-range combat, Fred is also very proficient in long-range combat. Aside from Linda-058, Fred is the Spartan-IIs' second-best sniper and their best spotter. Fred was able to take on three Sangheili wielding Type-1 energy swords, including the skilled Major Thel 'Lodamee, using only his combat knives during Operation: WARM BLANKET. During the Battle of Havana, Fred was successful in engaging several Jiralhanae in close-quarters, despite the fact that Jiralhanae are capable of overpowering a Spartan. Like his fellow Spartan-IIs, Fred had been trained in tracking as part of his Spartan Military Occupational Specialty.

Physical Description
Frederic-104 stands at 216.3 centimeters (7 feet and 1.2 inches) with his armor and weighs 129.6 kilograms (286 pounds) without his armor. His face is described to be slender and handsome, with rugged features, a narrow nose, and covered in numerous scars. Fred has pensive blue-green eyes and thin eye brows, with high cheekbones. Veta Lopis noted that there was a sensitivity in his expression and that he was unexpectedly attractive for a Spartan. Fred has black hair with streaks of silver that first appeared after he underwent his augmentation procedures; he also has a noticeable scar that runs up the center of his hairline. When Fred was fourteen years of age, John-117 noted that he was "not too short or tall", slightly shorter than John, and neither too muscular, nor too slim. John-117 remarked that if any member of Blue Team could blend into a crowd, it would be Fred. Even prior to his augmentations, in 2523 at the age of twelve, Fred was tall and fit, appearing to be in his late teens or early twenties.

Equipment
Following his augmentation procedures and the beginning of the Human-Covenant War, Fred-104 was equipped with MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Mark IV from Chi Ceti IV's Damascus Materials Testing Facility along with the rest of his fellow Spartans. Fred donned a developmental helmet permutation that shared visual cues with the armor variant that would eventually be known as the CENTURION-class Mjolnir variant. By 2526, Frederic wore the B variant of the MJOLNIR Mark IV armor. Later on, after upgrading to MJOLNIR Mark V armor by 2552, he wore the Commando-class variant of the armor. Upon his return to Earth following the Fall of Reach, Fred and the rest of the active Spartans were moved to the Mark VI generation of Mjolnir armor, with Fred specifically field testing multiple variants of the CENTURION-class Mjolnir, which incorporated many features which would later form the basis for Project: MJOLNIR's GEN2 platform.