Red Team

This article is about the Spartan-II unit. For the Spartan-III unit, see Red Team (SPARTAN-III).

Red Team
Red Team's logo Red Team circa 2531
Active:	September 2517 - Active by October 2559
Affiliation:	United Nations Space Command
Branch:	UNSC Navy Naval Special Warfare Command SPARTAN-II program
Size:	Three operators (as of 2559)
Engagements:	Human-Covenant War Battle of Chi Ceti Battle of Arcadia Battle of Trove Battle of Jericho VII Operation: OCEAN BREAKER Fall of Reach Post-Covenant War conflicts Second Ark Conflict
Commanders:	Jerome-092 John-117 Joshua-029 Frederic-104

Douglas-042: "Always got to show off, eh, Alice?"

Alice-130: "Who gets to take this one?"

Jerome-092: "I figured you two have had enough fun."

— Red Team reunites on Installation 09.

Red Team is a name given to a number of mission-specific formations of Spartan-II supersoldiers subordinate to the UNSC Naval Special Warfare Command. Although Red Team generally operated at a size of around six members, more Spartans could be selected for missions that called for a larger force. Various iterations of Red Team actively participated in numerous battles against the Covenant, including the Battle of Arcadia, the Battle of Jericho VII, the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV, and the Fall of Reach. One incarnation of Red Team was also among the first members of the UNSC who engaged Forerunner Sentinels and various Flood forces.

Known members

Various groups of Spartan-IIs have received the designation "Red Team" throughout the program's history. These are often temporary teams assembled for specific operations, and have ranged from as few as three members to almost two dozen depending on the needs of a given mission. During training exercises as well as in combat operations, Red Team was often designated as a counterpart to Blue Team.

One specific Red Team unit, consisting of rehabilitated augmentation "washouts" Douglas-042, Alice-130, and Jerome-092 (the latter as fireteam leader), became more established in its roster than the aforementioned ad hoc teams, in part due to the Spartans' unusual circumstances compared to their mainline peers.

Current composition (October 2559) CDR Jerome-092 (Leader) SCPO Douglas-042 SCPO Alice-130 Red Team in February 2531.

Former members Li-008 (2552) (Rejoined Blue Team after the Fall of Reach) (KIA) Joshua-029 (2552) (Leader during Operation: OCEAN BREAKER) (KIA) Vinh-030 (2552) (KIA) Samuel-034 (2523) (KIA) Isaac-039 (2552) (KIA) William-043 (2552) (Rejoined Blue Team after the Fall of Reach) (KIA) Anton-044 (2552) (Rejoined Blue Team after the Fall of Reach) (KIA) Malcolm-059 (2552) (KIA) Fhajad-084 (2523) (Crippled during augmentation) Kelly-087 (2523; 2552) (Second in command during the Fall of Reach. Rejoined Blue Team after the Fall of Reach) (Active) Grace-093 (2552) (Rejoined Blue Team after the Fall of Reach) (KIA) Frederic-104 (2552) (Leader during the Fall of Reach. Rejoined Blue Team after the Fall of Reach) (Active) John-117 (2523) (Leader during Spartan training exercise. Took command of Blue Team) (Active) Beta-Romeo Actual (2552) (Leader of Team Beta during the Fall of Reach) (Assumed KIA) Red-Fifteen (2552) (Assumed KIA)

Fall of Reach splinter arrangement

After their Pelican dropship, Bravo 001, was shot down during the Fall of Reach and four team members were killed, the 18 surviving members of Red Team were split into four groups: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta.

Alpha Fred-104 Kelly-087 Joshua-029

Beta Beta-Romeo Actual Red-Fifteen Four unknown Spartans

Gamma Li-008 Anton-044 Grace-093

Delta Will-043 Isaac-039 Vinh-030 Three unknown Spartans

Operational history

Training

Main article: SPARTAN-II training

Linda: "They're not going to play fair. You heard the sniper we captured. He said that this time their Captain told them to win no matter what—even if they had to bloody a few of us to do it."

John: "So we'll return the favor and do whatever it takes to win, too."

— John-117 and Linda-058 during Spartan training exercise.

Red Team competing with Black Team during a training exercise.

During their training Red Team often competed with other Spartan teams, such as Black Team led by Margaret-053. At some point when Red Team discovered that Margaret was in a secret romantic relationship with Otto-031, they tracked Margaret down and attacked her, claiming she and Otto were not taking their training seriously enough. Margaret lost her left eye resisting them. Soon, Black Team attacked Red Team in return; the latter were sentenced to ten days in the brig as a result.

In July 2523, Red Team, consisting of John-117, Kelly-087, Samuel-034, and Fhajad-084, participated in training exercise along with Blue Team, consisting of Linda-058 and Frederic-104. The Spartans were deployed in Longhorn Valley on Reach with mission target to capture a flag located somewhere in the region. While Blue Team provided cover with sniper rifles (acquired earlier from Tango Company's Marines, who had been looking for them for past two days) which had been repurposed for non-lethal usage), Red Team infiltrated Tango Company's base by hiding in the undercarriages of passing trucks. Using battery acid and stun grenades, the Spartans created a diversion beneath Tango company's barracks, inflicting many casualties. Then, neutralizing the guards around the flag pole with a narq-dart pistol, John snatched the flag and Red Team exfiltrated the base. Tango Company sent a Pelican transport in an effort to trick the Spartans into thinking their extraction craft had arrived. Not fooled, the young supersoldiers again outsmarted and overcame the Marines. Then, after John sent the all-clear signal, both Spartan teams rendezvoused at the LZ.

Early Human-Covenant War

Jerome's incarnation of Red Team in 2531.

In November 2525 members of Red Team were briefed on the massacre that took place on Harvest shortly after first contact with the Covenant. A short time later the frigate UNSC Commonwealth, under the command of Captain Wallace, brought Spartans and Dr. Halsey to the Damascus Testing Facility at Chi Ceti IV, where they were to receive the Mjolnir powered armor for the first time. When a Covenant ship, Unrelenting, attacked Commonwealth, the active Spartans, including Red Team, took part in their first engagement with the Covenant. The Spartans used thruster packs to launch themselves from a Pelican dropship. Each Spartan carried an ANVIL-II warhead to be used against the Covenant ship. However, they missed the ship and only Blue Team managed to board the vessel through a puncture in its hull, caused by a MAC round from Commonwealth. They completed the mission and destroyed the Covenant ship, in spite of sustaining their first combat fatality.

In February 2531, Red Team, composed of Jerome-092, Douglas-042, and Alice-130, was deployed on Arcadia along with the six-member Team Omega; these Spartans' MJOLNIR Mark IV armor was equipped with a prototypical energy shield system which would not become standard until the release of the Mark V 20 years later.

On February 9, 2531, Red Team participated in the Battle of Arcadia. Spartans were tasked with defending the capital, Pirth City, long enough to evacuate the civilian residents. Afterward, Red Team linked up with Marines from the support vessel UNSC Spirit of Fire as well as Team Omega; together they launched a counterattack on a nearby Covenant outpost. After the majority of the Covenant forces in and around the city were eliminated, Team Omega departed; however, Red Team remained with Spirit of Fire's forces to assist with Captain James Cutter's plan to infiltrate a large Covenant shield dome. The Spartans helped prevent the destruction of several prototypical M145D Rhino tanks while the tanks ensured that the shield was destroyed. After Sergeant John Forge's forces triumphed over a Scarab, Jerome, Douglas, and Alice searched for Covenant survivors in the jungle on an M12 Warthog. Upon hearing that Professor Ellen Anders had been abducted by Arbiter Ripa 'Moramee, Forge and Red Team boarded Spirit of Fire, which jumped into slipspace in pursuit of the Covenant destroyer carrying Anders.

Etran Harborage

Main article: Battle of the Etran Harborage

"Spirit of Fire, this is Red Team. We are 100 meters from Ander's transponder signal. Meeting strong resistance. Seein' some pretty crazy stuff out here, over."

— Jerome-092 encountering the Flood.

Sergeant John Forge with Red Team.

Upon arriving at a Forerunner shield world known as Trove on February 23, Red Team assisted Spirit of Fire in neutralizing Covenant and Flood forces. After the Spartans assisted in destroying a proto-Gravemind, Red Team became stranded on the planet. With Spirit of Fire being dragged inside the megastructure, Red Team was assisted by Sergeant Forge and his Marines and successfully withdrew to the ship. Red Team then assisted the crew in scouring the Flood forces from the ship's dorsal hull. Soon the crew repelled Covenant boarders and repaired the ship's power core when after it was damaged by Covenant forces.

Once Anders was rescued, Red Team were tasked with ensuring that Spirit of Fire's slipspace drive arrived at the teleporter that would take it to the Apex Site in an attempt to destroy the shield world's artificial sun, denying the Covenant access to a fleet of Forerunner warships. Atop the Apex Site, Jerome, Alice, and Douglas engaged a large force of Sangheili while Forge engaged 'Moramee. Once the area was clear, Jerome volunteered to take the damaged drive in and ensure its detonation. Forge, believing that the Spartans would play a bigger part in the war than he ever could, took his place. Jerome, Douglas, Alice, and Spirit of Fire's crew were then charged with opening the gate which allowed Spirit of Fire to exit the shield world. The survivors then escaped the shield world aboard the vessel.

The members of Red Team, as with the rest of the crew, entered cryo-sleep after Spirit of Fire escaped the destruction of the shield world. After the loss of contact the UNSC tried to locate Spirit of Fire for the next three years. In 2534, Spirit of Fire and her entire crew were declared "lost with all hands". Thus the members of Red Team had been declared MIA.

On January 1, 2537, six years after the events on the shield world, a Pod infector which had been nesting out of sight all along initiated an outbreak of the parasite aboard Spirit of Fire. As the Flood threatened to breach quarantine, the ship's AI, Serina, awoke Jerome who, with the aid of Professor Ellen Anders, was forced to kill all infected crew members to protect the remaining crew. After all traces of the Flood parasite aboard Spirit of Fire were erased, Jerome returned to cryo-sleep.

Further operations in various compositions

Spartan Blue, Red, and Green teams deployed on Sigma Octanus IV.

In 2535, another group of Spartan-IIs designated Red Team participated in the Battle of Jericho VII. The team's mission was to slip behind Covenant lines and plant a HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon, hoping to destroy the next Covenant ship that landed and dropped its shields, while Blue Team drew out the Covenant rear guard. Meanwhile, Green Team prevented a Covenant ground force from advancing on the planet. All three Spartan teams accomplished their missions and returned safely to the remaining UNSC fleet in a Pelican dropship.

During Operation: OCEAN BREAKER on Sigma Octanus IV in July 2552, Red Team was led by Joshua-029. They were tasked with scouting the city of Côte d'Azur's wharves while Blue Team planted a HAVOK nuke in the sewers beneath the city. In the meantime, they rescued numerous civilians, the only ones the Covenant had not massacred.

Fall of Reach

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Main article: Fall of Reach

By August 30, Red Team had been assigned to the cruiser UNSC Pillar of Autumn to participate in Operation: RED FLAG, a plan to force a ceasefire by kidnapping one of the Covenant's highest leaders. However, before the Autumn could exit the system and initiate the mission, all UNSC ships in the Epsilon Eridani system were recalled to defend Reach. Red Team, consisting of 22 members under the command of Fred-104, was deployed to the surface of Reach to defend the generators that powered the planet's 20 orbital defense platforms. Unfortunately, their Pelican transport, Bravo 001, was shot down, resulting in the deaths of four Spartans (including Malcolm-059), and significant injuries to most of the survivors. Near their crash site, the surviving Spartans discovered the shell-shocked remnants of Charlie Company.

The Spartans, after being briefed on the situation by Charlie Company, responded to a distress call from Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb, who requested immediate evacuation. Fred then split Red Team into four groups: Team Alpha, which was tasked with eliminating an encampment of 10,000 Covenant and their hovering cruiser, Team Beta, tasked with defense of the orbital defense generators, Team Gamma, ordered to retrieve Vice Admiral Whitcomb, and Team Delta (the Charlie Company Marines and six wounded Spartans), ordered to secure the Spartans' fallback point at the Office of Naval Intelligence's CASTLE Base.

Red Team defending the generators from a Covenant horde.

Team Alpha hijacked three Banshees and approached the Covenant encampment, where they deployed Fury tactical nuclear weapons inside the cruiser's shields. Although this destroyed both the ship and the encampment, Joshua was killed in the process. The remaining Spartans of Team Alpha then fell back to CASTLE Base, fighting their way through the remaining Covenant in the area with two commandeered Wraith tanks. Team Gamma accomplished its mission and fell back to Camp Independence with Whitcomb, where they survived the partial glassing of the planet. Team Delta fell back to CASTLE Base, but in the process lost the remaining Marines and every Spartan save for Vinh-030, Isaac-039, and William-043. When the remnants of Team Alpha and Team Delta arrived at CASTLE Base, they found Dr. Catherine Halsey (the creator of the SPARTAN-II program) there.

Team Beta was unable to stop the Covenant, who attacked in swarms of thousands. The orbital defense generators were compromised, and the Covenant, after eliminating the powerless, immobile ODPs in geosynchronous orbit around the planet, began glassing Reach.

As the Covenant began glassing Reach, the surviving Spartans continued their fight. Team Gamma had managed to survive and complete their mission to rescue Vice Admiral Whitcomb from HIGHCOM. Too late to reach CASTLE base, they hid in the mountains attacking Covenant units with the use of guerrilla tactics as opposed to a conventional assault. They programmed their Mjolnir suits to transmit the "Oly Oly Oxen Free" secret code on E-band radio, hoping that any surviving Spartans would discover it and help them.

Meanwhile underneath the ruins of CASTLE base, Dr. Halsey and five Spartans (Fred, Kelly, Will, Vinh, and Issac) had spent five days combing the remains of a Forerunner structure and an additional five days trapped in a hallway inside the ruins by Covenant forces. They managed to retrieve a Forerunner crystal that the Covenant were seeking, but it emitted a burst of radiation which alerted the Covenant to their presence. Vinh and Issac fell at the hands of overwhelming Covenant forces, and the others escaped by blowing the hallway down behind them.

Later the survivors were recovered by John-117, who returned to Reach after the destruction of Installation 04 and were evacuated to the captured Covenant carrier Ascendant Justice. The surviving members of Red Team joined John's Blue Team.

Back in action

Red Team encounters Isabel.

Main article: Second Ark Conflict

"If Atriox gets control of this Halo, he'll be holding a gun to the head of all life across hundreds of light years. We have to clear the Banished off this ring. It's up to you, Red Team."

— Captain Cutter on the importance of Red Team's mission on Installation 09.

On March 28, 2559, after 28 years of drifting in space, UNSC Spirit of Fire was mysteriously transported into orbit of the Forerunner Installation 00, also known as the Ark. Awakened from cryo-sleep, Red Team was tasked with investigating the UNSC distress signal coming from the surface of the Ark. There, inside an abandoned UNSC outpost they encountered Isabel, a logistics AI, who warned the Spartans about danger concealed on the Ark. They extracted Isabel and continued investigating the outpost. However, they were soon ambushed by the Jiralhanae warlord Atriox, the leader of a mercenary organization known as the Banished: Atriox defeated the Spartans, severely wounding Douglas by crushing his left shoulder. With the arrival of the enemy reinforcements, Red Team was forced to retreat. It was not long before the Spartans were in a Warthog and being pursued by Ghosts. In order to escape the pursuers, Jerome requested an orbital bombardment on their location. Reaching the landing zone, Alice decided to stay back and provide cover for Jerome and Douglas' safe evacuation to the Spirit.

While maintaining comms silence, Alice managed to locate and free captured UNSC personnel. After the Spartan established contact with Spirit of Fire, Captain Cutter ordered Alice to take command of the rescued Marines and perform hit-and-run operations against the Banished until further orders. Meanwhile, after Isabel's briefing on the Banished, Jerome was sent to disrupt Decimus' salvage operations, while Douglas had been undergoing medical treatment. After discovering the location of the Ark's Cartographer, Jerome was ordered to beat the Banished to it. On their way, the UNSC encountered strong resistance from the Ark's sentinels. Successfully neutralizing them with EMP, Jerome and his troops accessed the Cartographer, that allowed Proffessor Anders to determine their next target - the Ark's portal network which the Banished were using to move around the Ark. In order to cripple the Banished's portal network and strand most of their forces, Jerome was deployed with a handful of the Marines near the network's control hub with orders to destroy it. On this mission Jerome was joined by Douglas, who had just recovered from his injuries, and together they successfully terminated Decimus, who had been guarding the control hub, and destroyed the device. Once the unit was informed that Spirit of Fire was under attack they returned to the ship immediately.

Jerome infiltrating Enduring Conviction.

Soon Red Team participated in a mission developed by Isabel to destroy the enemy's flagship, Enduring Conviction. According to the plan, Douglas and his team had to capture a Forerunner particle cannon, which the UNSC would use against the carrier, immobilizing it and disabling its shields, allowing Jerome and Isabel to infiltrate the carrier through its gravity lift while Alice and her artillery unit cleared out a Banished base around the lift. Reaching the Banished base below the carrier, Jerome requested Alice's assistance in dealing with anti-air turrets guarding the grav-lift. As soon as the particle cannon finally managed to break through Enduring Conviction's shields, and the Banished ordnance were destroyed, Jerome boarded the carrier. Arriving inside, Jerome made short work of the Sangheili in the area before inserting Isabel into a nearby holotank, allowing her to access the vessel's firing systems. Once Isabel managed to fire its ventral beam on the surface of the Ark, the installation's sentinels, in a desperate attempt to stop the destruction, launched themselves at the weakest part of the carrier. As the sentinels cut away at the vessel, Jerome held off Jiralhanae reinforcements, protecting Isabel. With the sentinels having done enough destruction to the carrier, the energy projector shut down and the front section of the vessel began to separate. Retrieving Isabel from the holotank, Jerome proceeded to jump out of the newly formed opening, dodging debris as he descended toward the Ark's surface.

UNSC forces leaving the Halo.

As soon as Enduring Conviction was destroyed and a new Halo ring emerged from the Ark's Foundry, Douglas and Alice were deployed to cut off the Banished reinforcements Atriox was sending to the Halo via the Ark's access points. After all enemy bases around access points were destroyed, Douglas and Alice were ordered to proceed through the portal and destroy it behind them, then move on to regroup with Jerome and assist with fighting the Banished forces on the ring in order to reach the control room. A reunited Red Team led Marine forces to Alpha Base and defeated the Banished forces there. As the battle proceeded, a Retriever Sentinel suddenly appeared, wreaking havoc on the UNSC forces before the Marines could send it into retreat. After Red Team secured three control towers, Prof. Anders managed to take control of the gigantic Sentinel and use its main weapon to gain access to the control room. As the professor descended to the control room, the Spartans and Marines stayed behind to defend the structure. With support from Spirit of Fire, Red Team and Marines held back heavy Banished reinforcements long enough for Anders to disable the Halo's weapons systems and plant a distress beacon to the UNSC. After the Banished forces on the ring had been dealt with, Red Team evacuated to Spirit of Fire immediately before the Halo entered slipspace and departed for the Soell system.

In October, Red Team performed a search and rescue for the Ferrets following the Battle of Epsilon Clarion. The Spartans and their Pelican were able to rescue Veta Lopis, Ash-G099 and Olivia-G291 while also recovering the body of Mark-G313. They attend Mark's funeral ten days later.

Gameplay

Halo Wars

Red Team plays a significant role in Halo Wars' campaign. In gameplay, the Spartans have energy shields in addition to health. All three Spartans (as well as the six-member Team Omega in the level "Arcadia Outskirts") count as hero units; if their health is depleted, instead of dying, they are "downed", at which point their health bar begins to regenerate. Once the health bar is at least half full the downed Spartan can be revived by touching them with any other unit under the player's or co-op ally's control. The Spartans are capable of hijacking enemy vehicles and commandeering friendly vehicles, similar to the FPS games, but at a much slower rate. Any vehicle driven by a Spartan receives a stat boost and the ability to earn more veterancy points. When a Spartan controlled vehicle is destroyed the Spartan will emerge unharmed. Spartans cannot be harmed by Pod infectors while their shields are intact, and as hero units they are immune to being infected. When hijacking enemy vehicles, they often make a loud punching sound on the vehicle being hijacked, and the vehicle remains immobile until Spartan takes control of it.

Halo Wars 2

Red Team on Installation 09.

In Halo Wars 2, the members of Red Team are hero units that act almost identically to their Halo Wars counterparts. When a Spartan hijacks a vehicle, they immobilize the target with an EMP. The Spartans can also traverse higher or lower ground impassable to normal ground units with their "Spartan Slam" ability; this ability can also be used to kill or damage enemy units and if it is used to hijack the vehicle, it will stun enemy units nearby. When hijacking, the enemy vehicle will be immobilized until the hijacking process has been completed. However, it can be canceled should your hero was killed in the middle of hijacking. In the campaign, Red Team can be revived when they are downed. In multiplayer, each Spartan is given to a UNSC leader as a hero unit. The standard version of Jerome-092 is assigned to Captain Cutter, Douglas-042 is assigned to Professor Anders, Alice-130 is assigned to Isabel, and a special version of Jerome known as "Commander Jerome" is available to Jerome himself. The multiplayer units cannot be revived; rather than being granted automatically, they must be purchased at the UNSC Armory. In the campaign, the Spartans are fully upgraded to level 3 upgrades. On Multiplayer, each Spartan starts without upgrades with a Magnum as their weapon, except for Commander Jerome, who uses Hydra MLRS.

Changes from Halo Wars to Halo Wars 2

• The Hijack ability has been retooled as the Spartan Slam ability, which can be used to traverse heights, deal damage to nearby infantry, and hijack vehicles.
• Shields take more time to begin recharging and recharge more slowly.
• Overall base damage decreased.
• Defeating a certain unit at point blank range can start an assassination animation.
• Spartans now can only be deployed one at a time during Skirmish, with each Spartan assigned to each leader respectively.
  • Upgrades are also included, but the only difference is in the level 2 upgrades (Jerome with a Spartan Laser, Douglas with a rocket launcher and Alice a machine gun).
• Spartan production and upgrades moved from Barracks to Armory.

Browse more images in this article's gallery page.

Non-canon and dubious canon appearances

Silver Timeline

Main article: Silver Timeline

Red Team participated in Operation: FALLEN WALLS.

Gallery

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  Concept art of Red Team for Halo Wars.

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  Halo Wars concept art of Red Team on a Halo ring.

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  Promotional artwork of Red Team for Halo Wars.

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  Red Team arrives by a Warthog in Halo Wars.

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  Red Team at the Apex in Halo Wars.

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  Red Team in combat in Halo Wars.

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  Red Team as they appear iin Halo Wars gameplay.

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  Red Team during Fall of Reach in Halo: Fall of Reach - Invasion.

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  Jerome in Something Has Happened.

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  Concept art of Red Team and Atriox for Halo Wars 2.

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  Concept art of Red Team in the Henry Lamb Research Outpost for Halo Wars 2.

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  Concept art of Red Team's armour in Halo Wars 2.

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  Red Team in Know Your Enemy.

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  Red Team in Halo Wars 2.

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  Alice and Jerome inside the Henry Lamb Research Outpost in Halo Wars 2.

List of appearances

• Halo: The Fall of Reach (First appearance)
• Halo: First Strike
  • Adjunct (Mentioned only)
• Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
• Halo Wars
• Halo: Blood Line
• Halo: Reach (Radio Easter egg)
• Halo: Fall of Reach
  • Covenant
  • Invasion
• Halo: The Fall of Reach - The Animated Series (Mentioned only)
• Know Your Enemy
• Halo: Ground Command (Mentioned only)
• Halo Mythos (Mentioned only)
• Halo: Tales from Slipspace
  • Something Has Happened
• Halo: Smoke and Shadow (Mentioned only)
• Halo Wars 2
• Halo: Retribution (Mentioned only)
• Halo: Divine Wind