Blue Team

This article is about the Spartan-II team. For other uses, see Blue Team (disambiguation).

Blue Team
Active:	September 2517 - Active by October 2559
Affiliation:	United Nations Space Command
Branch:	UNSC Navy Naval Special Warfare Command SPARTAN-II program
Size:	4 (as of 2559)
Engagements:	Insurrection Eridanus Secundus Camp New Hope Human-Covenant War Chi Ceti IV Alpha Corvi II Radiant Arrow Seoba Etalan Zhoist Circinius IV Mesra Netherop Jericho VII Fleet of Glorious Consequence Sigma Octanus IV Reach Eridanus Secundus FIRST STRIKE Earth Onyx Post-Covenant War conflicts Gao RETRIBUTION Installation 03 Biko Argent Moon Meridian Genesis CASTLE Base
Commanders:	John-117 Frederic-104 Linda-058

"You 'Spartans' have put quite a dent in our efforts to liberate the frontier worlds...I didn't believe it until I saw the video. All by the same four-man team. Some said 'Blue Team' was a myth."

— General Howard Graves about Blue Team's activity

Blue Team is a semi-constant unit composed predominantly of Spartan-IIs under the operational command of UNSC Naval Special Warfare Command, generally consisting of around four members. It was led by John-117 for most of its activity during the Human-Covenant War, though after John's involvement in the Battle of Mombasa, the role of leader was taken up by Frederic-104; John later resumed de facto command following his recovery years later.

Blue Team has participated in more than 220 military operations since its activation in 2525 against a plethora of foes, including Insurrectionists, the Covenant, and various Forerunner constructs. The team is exceptional even among the Spartan-IIs due to their involvement in many of the most pivotal engagements of both the Insurrection and the Covenant War.

Known members

"Welcome to Blue, Spartans. We're going to make a great team."

— Kelly-087's traditional greeting to new teammates.

After its conception in 2519, Blue Team originally consisted of three members; comprised of John-117, Samuel-034, and Kelly-087. For some training missions, Spartans like Fred-104, Fhajad-084 and Linda-058 were added to Blue Team. After Samuel's death on a Covenant vessel in the Chi Ceti system, his spot remained vacant until John reluctantly filled it with Kurt-051.

The unit's roster frequently changed for various combat operations, changing both members and size. During the Battle of Earth, Blue Team was reformed from the surviving Spartans on Earth, with the new roster being Fred-104, Linda-058 and William-043. During the events on and inside Onyx, the team lost Will and increased in number, with Kelly-087 rejoining, as well as SPARTAN-IIIs Lucy-B091, Tom-B292, Ash-G099, Mark-G313 and Olivia-G291 joining the team. As a result, Blue Team's highest roster count is officially eight. The Spartan-IIIs were reassigned to other duties in mid-2553. By 2557, Blue Team consisted of Fred, Kelly and Linda, until being joined by John after his return to the UNSC.

Current composition (October 2559) MCPO John-117 (Blue Leader/Blue One) (Team leader/Assault/Rifleman) LTJG Frederic-104 (Blue Two) (Sub-leader/CQC/Assault) PO1 Kelly-087 (Blue Three) (Scout) PO1 Linda-058 (Blue Four) (Marksman) Blue Team in October 2558.

Former members James-005 (2552) (MIA) Li-008 (2552) (KIA) Samuel-034 (2517-2525) (KIA) William-043 (2552) (KIA) Anton-044 (2552) (KIA) Kurt-051 (2531) (MIA) Fhajad-084 (sometime 2517-2525) (crippled during augmentation) Solomon-069 (2544) (KIA) Arthur-079 (2544) (KIA) Grace-093 (2552) (KIA) Lucy-B091 (Reassigned August 2553) Tom-B292 (Reassigned August 2553) Ash-G099 (Reassigned July 2553) Olivia-G291 (Reassigned July 2553) Mark-G313 (Reassigned July 2553; KIA October 2559)

Operational history

"I remember thinking that no matter how dark the future, we could face it as a team. Or so I thought. We thought training, augmentation, armor made us untouchable, invulnerable, immortal. Blue Team. We were wrong. We were children. This was the only thing John was ever afraid of. Losing one of us. And we knew we weren't finishing this fight, we were just getting started."

— Kelly-087 remembering their first operation against the Covenant

Training

John: "Okay, this is supposed to be a training exercise, but this is the seventh time Chief Mendez has made us play with Tango Company."

Fred: "They're getting pretty tired of losing."

— John-117 and Fred-104 during a Spartan training exercise.

Blue Team was formed around John-117, Kelly-087, and Samuel-034, who met on their first day of induction into the SPARTAN-II program. During their training Blue Team often exercised versus fellow SPARTAN-II Green Team, led by Kurt-051, and often lost because of Kurt's superior "sixth sense".

In July, 2523, Blue Team, consisting of Linda-058 and Frederic-104, participated in training exercise along with Red Team, consisting of John-117, Kelly-087, Samuel-034 and Fhajad-084. Spartans were deployed in Longhorn Valley on Reach with mission target to capture the flag. Blue Team's mission was to provide cover, while Red Team infiltrated Tango Company's base and acquired the flag. Later on Blue Team rendezvoused with Red Team after John sent the all-clear signal.

Capturing Colonel Watts

Blue Team capturing Colonel Robert Watts.

Main article: Operation: TALON

In the first UNSC military operation where the SPARTAN-IIs were put to the test after their intensive training, codenamed Operation: TALON, Blue Team was sent to infiltrate the rebel space habitat Eridanus Secundus in the Eridanus Asteroid Belt. Blue Team stowed aboard a Parabola-class freighter, the Laden, and managed to sneak into the city. Their objective was to locate and capture the rebel leader ex-Colonel Robert Watts, a UNSC turncoat.

With minimal attention, Blue Team managed to kill several of Watt's guards and subdue him with polypseudomorphine, a sedative. Then Blue Team hijacked a rebel Pelican dropship and Samuel-034 set and detonated explosive charges in the rebel base's hangar, making good their escape, but at the cost of dozens of civilians' lives. Blue Team was successful in its objective.

Chi Ceti Incident

Main article: Battle of Chi Ceti

John-117: "Requesting permission to attack the Covenant ship, ma’am."

Dr. Halsey: "Most certainly not. If a warship like the Commonwealth couldn’t destroy it, a Pelican is certainly no match for them."

John: "Not the Pelican. But I believe we Spartans are."

— John-117 outlining his plan to Dr. Halsey

Spartans ready to infiltrate the Unrelenting.

Three months after Eridanus, Blue Team were briefed on the massacre that took place on Harvest shortly after first contact with the Covenant. A short time later, the UNSC Commonwealth, under the command of Captain Wallace, brought Blue Team 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, the Unrelenting, attacked the Commonwealth, Blue 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. Blue Team entered the vessel through a puncture in its hull, caused by a MAC round from the Commonwealth. They succeeded in completing the mission and destroyed the Covenant ship, but due to a breach in Sam's armor, he was unable to leave the Covenant ship and volunteered to stay behind to ensure the destruction of the enemy vessel. Sam was killed in the ensuing explosion, becoming the first SPARTAN-II to be killed in action.

Alpha Corvi II

Main article: Battle of Alpha Corvi II

On December 3, 2525, Alpha Corvi II came under attack by the Covenant. As the Covenant pushed their attack on both fronts, Blue Team was deployed to disrupt the Covenant's activities on the surface and to identify an unknown artifact that they were searching for. During this engagement, the Spartans struck up an unsteady alliance with the URF rebels commanded by Whitaker, who understood the threat posed by the invaders.

Radiant Arrow

Main article: Skirmish over Netherop

As part of a mission authorized by Vice Admiral Michael Stanforth, Blue Team traveled with Gold and Green Teams to Netherop, where they observed the Radiant Arrow orbiting the planet for over a day. On March 5, 2526, they were deployed from the UNSC Starry Night to board and capture the frigate in the hopes that the Office of Naval Intelligence could reverse-engineer its technologies. Ultimately, the mission was compromised when one of the men serving under the secretly-insurrectionist Lieutenant Commander Hector Nyeto purposefully sent a transmission to the Spartans, revealing their presence to the Covenant in an attempt to get them killed. While each of the Spartans under John-117's command were able to evacuate the alien vessel, it was destroyed when the Radiant Arrow's shipmaster activated its self-destruct.

SILENT STORM

Main article: Operation: SILENT STORM

Shortly after this failed attempt at capturing a Covenant vessel, Blue, Gold, and Green Teams were selected to participate in a daring operation to thin the Covenant's navy through boarding tactics. For this mission, the Spartans would be attached to Task Force Yama and deployed alongside the veteran ODSTs of the 21st Space Assault Battalion, known as the "Black Daggers." For its proximity to the front, the Outer Colony of Biko—specifically an ice quarry on its third moon, Seoba—was selected as the staging ground for the operation. During the slipspace voyage, Blue Team and the others trained with the ODSTs in the UNSC Vanishing Point's mission preparation hold. The Spartans made short work of the veteran marines in each exercise until Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson taught them unorthodox strategies that proved to be much more effective against the supersoldiers. After four days of training, Colonel Marmon Crowther had all the Spartans and ODSTs gather in the ship's drop hangar to be briefed on the specifics of the operation. Despite their exemplary performance against his ODSTs, Crowther was still skeptical about deploying the Spartans to the front lines due to their inexperience on the battlefield, as well as their apparent young age, much to their frustration.

Seoba

Main article: Battle of Seoba

When the task force arrived at Seoba on March 18, it was discovered that insurrectionist forces had holed up in that very quarry and the UNSC would need to uproot them before the Covenant inevitably arrived. During the insertion approach, Blue Team followed John as he disobeyed orders and leapt from the deployment bay of the UNSC Ghost Song while under fire. The Spartans regrouped in the quarry's docks to discuss how they would destroy a Civet convoy travelling up the side of the quarry to fix the insurgents' that relay had been damaged by a prowler. With approval from Captain Zelos Cuvier and Lieutenant Nelly Hamm, they formulated a plan to travel up the tube of a derelict mass driver that rose up and out of the quarry, using thruster packs to outpace the convoy. John led the way, with Fred and then Kelly trailing behind. Linda stayed back to cover them with her MA5B assault rifle and monitor inusrrectionist movements. Despite their ongoing firefight with the Black Daggers, the insurgents soon realized Blue Team's plan and began sweeping a portion of the tube ahead of them with M41 Vulcan fire. To distract the gunners, John and Fred rigged their thermite-carbon cord and I-JeT to explode as they moved past the Vulcan fire. Shortly thereafter, they discovered that Hamm's men had intercepted the convoy via a prowler drop while the enemy was distracted by the Spartans. The ODSTs had also planted explosives on the communications relay by the time Blue Team exited the tube. John expressed his team's misgivings to Hamm about being lied to and used as bait, but she dismissed him, saying that this was what happens when he disobeys orders.

The next day, Captain Halima Ascot, commander of Task Force Yama and captain of the Starry Night, held a meeting to discuss the events of the previous day's battle. John was reprimanded for his maverick actions at the start of the battle, and his Spartans' experience was called into question once more. Due to Nyeto's sly comments, the truth about their young ages was revealed to the few personnel present at the meeting. Learning this disturbing fact, Colonel Crowther refused to send the Spartans into battle again, instead ordering them to guard the insurrectionists captured during the fighting and prepare them to be sent to Biko to be processed. While this meeting was being held, a Covenant flotilla was detected as it arrived in-system and began heading for Seoba.

As the rest of Task Force Yama mobilized to meet the alien vessels, Blue Team and the others were sent to Subsurface Maintenance Grotto 6M430 where they would direct the roughly 300 captured insurgents onto a transport. John noticed the presence of General Harper Garvin among the group, calling him out of the line so that ONI could interrogate him later. However, a more important situation was playing out over the command channel. Captain Ascot's Starry Night had been shot down on takeoff, crash-landing back into the quarry. Crowther was unable to send a unit of his Black Daggers to search for survivors without putting more prowlers at risk. Since they were the only unit available to assist, John decided that he and his Spartans would go for the Starry Night once the transport was loaded. After sending Garvin back to his people and ordering the transport pilot to launch, John had his Spartans move out into the quarry once more, without the approval of Crowther or support from the task force.

The Spartans proceeded through the grotto's airlock into the dense sublimation fog gathered at the quarry floor. Visibility was so poor that each of them could barely even see the ends of their rifles, but the flashes of plasma bolts could be seen dancing through the clouds above. John accessed the command channel and requested a waypoint leading to the downed prowler. Crowther responded by asking what he thought he was doing. John stated that they were checking on the status of the Starry Night as they were the only unit that could do so at the moment, carefully choosing his words so that Crowther could deflect blame onto the Spartan if need be. This would make it more likely for Crowther to not stand in the way of their self-assigned mission. While John waited for a response, he signaled Joshua and Kurt to spread out their teams in a hundred-meter-wide search line. Green Team spaced out on the left of the more tightly-gathered Blue Team, and Gold Team spaced out on the right. By doing this, the Spartans would be more likely to find any debris from the Starry Night that might have otherwise been missed in the fog, and Blue Team could act as a ready reaction force. John also ordered them to advance at a trotting speed, leading them away from the dockyards where they had engaged insurgents the day before. Eventually, Crowther acknowledged the plan, but ordered John to not take action unless immediately warranted. He also informed the Spartans of Biko's naval response to the alien bombardment of Seoba and that Nyeto believed that the small Covenant flotilla would either be in full retreat or destroyed within the hour by the approaching overwhelming force. An inexact waypoint was placed on each of the Spartans' HUDs, and John had all of the Spartans adjust course to match the new trajectory. At this point, Blue Team was arrayed in a diamond formation with only five meters between them, with only their motion trackers revealing the locations of their teammates. John ordered everyone to accelerate to a full run while keeping their eyes on their feet, since that was all they could see anyway. As they ran, the Emmeline departed the grotto and flew over the Spartans, churning up the fog and allowing a brief moment of visibility. Through the haze, they could see five Covenant vessels fire towards the transport as it crested the horizon.

As the Spartans neared the provided waypoint, the fog had lowered to shoulder-height, allowing the Spartans to discover that the Starry Night was indeed seemingly intact, but sat atop a large avalanche about seven hundred meters up the quarry wall. Fred spotted a Covenant intrusion corvette sliding over the rim of the quarry and descending over the prowler. Kelly theorized that they may be trying to recover the Starry Night themselves. Realizing the danger, John declared to his teammates that the mission was no longer a rescue mission. Their primary objective was now to deny the Covenant from recovering the prowler and the data stored within. Then, John opened the command channel again and relayed this information to Crowther, who echoed John's concerns and insisted that they could not let the Covenant take possession of the Starry Night. The vessel's navigation computer and other onboard data devices could reveal the locations of UNSC outposts, entire force deployments, or worse. Crowther asked Nyeto if there was any way that the prowler's nuclear self-destruct system could be remotely activated, to which the lieutenant commander responded in the affirmative. However, only Ascot and the captain of the Vanishing Point had the ability to do this, and neither could be reached at the moment. John assuring Crowther that they would not fail. Still, the Spartan requested that Task Force Yama assist them by keeping the assaulting corvettes off their backs. Nyeto began to say that their prowlers were not designed for ship-to-ship combat when Crowther interrupted him, promising that they would find a way. Crowther started to tell John to standby for instructions on how to manually activate the prowler's self-destruct, but he reassured the colonel that his Spartans already knew how to activate a nuke.

As this was being discussed, multiple Ghosts began attacking the Spartans, with the first going after John, who killed its Jiralhanae driver with his MA5B's underbarrel grenade launcher. He ordered Green and Gold Teams to deal with the other Ghosts as Blue Team followed him. At this point, the looming intrusion corvette had begun deploying EVA-equipped Sangheili, Jiralhanae, and Kig-Yar warriors via gravity lift, with the first already looking for a way inside the ship. Another corvette crested the edge of the quarry, firing its main cannon on the Spartans. With the situation growing dire, John ordered Blue Team to simultaneously fire on the avalanche just below the Starry Night with their grenade launchers to cause the vessel to fall to quarry floor and prevent the Covenant from gaining entrance. Despite Fred and Kelly's worries that such an action could bring the whole slope down on top of them, each member of the team acknowledged and followed his order. As feared, the volley of grenades worked a bit too well, bringing the avalanche down on top of the Spartans, but successfully delaying the Covenant in their boarding attempt.

Fred, Linda, and four other Spartans escaped being buried under the avalanche, but six others—including John and Kelly—were not so lucky. As they worked to dig themselves free of the ice, John gave Fred command of the mission to board and destroy the Starry Night. Getting over his amazement that the strategy had worked, Fred asked what should be done with any survivors they found aboard the prowler. Telling him to rescue them if possible, John switched to the command channel to demand the status of Nyeto's supposed support. The lieutenant commander insisted that he had a plan that he would enact soon, but even Colonel Crowther seemed doubtful of his tactics. Fred gathered Linda and Malcolm-059 to board the vessel while the mobile members of Gold and Green Teams fended off a seemingly endless stream of ground vehicles. Fred's team boarded the Starry Night via a massive breach in its bow, finding five survivors of the crash: four ODSTs and Staff Sergeant Johnson, who had received a concussion. Fred had Linda get to work manually arming the prowler's Fury tactical nuclear weapon as he reported the situation to John, who just freed himself from the ice. He told Linda to take her time, but warned of an enemy squad preparing to board. Acknowledging this information, Fred told him that once the nuke was armed, they would flee in the prowler's escape pod. Hearing that a team of Covenant boarders was inbound, Johnson requested his assignment. Fred had him "guard" the escape pod to keep him out of harm's way. Nyeto's support finally arrived in the form of strafing runs that destroyed two nearby intrusion corvettes, but spared the one that was still attempting to recover the Starry Night. When John warned that the Covenant boarding party was making their move, Fred and his team repelled them with explosive weapons as John distracted the rest. He handled two Sangheili, and Joshua and Anton-044 arrived to assist him with more approaching Covenant. Linda had just finished arming the nuke and began dragging Johnson into the escape pod when John ordered her to initiate its thirty-second timer immediately. The looming corvette had activated its gravity lift system and was trying to draw the prowler up into its hangar. Linda followed the order and John warned all local Spartans to evacuate the area immediately. Fred's team, Johnson, and the ODSTs boarded the prowler's escape pod and launched through Seoba's low gravity while under fire from the corvette's surprised gunners. John informed Crowther and Nyeto of the escape pod and the imminent nuclear explosion. All of the Spartans made it to safety before the detonation, which destroyed both the Starry Night and the intrusion corvette. After Joshua patched a breach that John's armor had received in the fighting, John checked on his squad while Crowther sent prowlers to recover them once the nuke's electromagnetic pulse had dissipated. Some of the Spartans also assisted in the recovery of a starholo from the wreckage of corvette. Along with the starholo, Blue Team and the other Spartans were transported back to the Vanishing Point.

New orders

On March 20, John-117 and five other Spartans who were not confined to the infirmary attended a funeral service for the two-hundred-and-three men and women who lost their lives at Seoba. Held in the command hangar of the Vanishing Point as it sat in a high parabolic orbit around Biko, the ceremony included an honor company of a hundred-and-one enlisted personnel in their dress blues, including the six Spartans and Avery Johnson. After the service, Lieutenant Commander Nyeto—the de facto commander of Task Force Yama after Ascot's death—approached John, who asked if he'd reconsider sidelining them. Nyeto promised that the Spartans would be seeing all the action they could handle for the rest of the operation. However, Crowther again contested this on the basis of them being too young, forcing the lieutenant commander to back down by threatening him with a report to a UNSC board of inquiry. The Black Daggers would board the incoming fleet alone. As everyone left the hangar, Crowther revealed to Johnson that he did not trust Nyeto. He believed that the Spartans were combat-ready, and he was instead sending them on a mission to disrupt Covenant supply lines at Etalan.

Later that day, Blue Team gathered in one of the Vanishing Point's small maintenance hangars, with each member dressed in plain black utilities as their armor underwent maintenance and repairs. Four other Spartans sat in a back corner of the hangar, familiarizing themselves with Covenant weapons captured at Seoba. Meanwhile, the anticipated Covenant fleet had arrived and began its advance toward Biko. Blue Team watched on a bulkhead monitor as the planet's meager navy responded and approached the much greater force, consisting of about one hundred Covenant warships. Each alien capital ship had swarms of fighters sticking close to their hull in an escort pattern as they accelerated rapidly toward the Bikon vessels, a strange and unconventional tactic. The Spartans shared their theories as to why the Covenant was using this strategy, and Kelly came to the conclusion that they were maintaining a fighter screen to prevent boarding attempts. As Blue Team discussed how the Covenant might have figured out what they were planning and if General Garvin may have a mole in the UNSC, Johnson entered the hangar to relay new orders from Crowther. He told them that the colonel had changed his mind about them, and that he was sending the Spartans on a secret mission to Etalan. Kelly and Linda especially had a hard time believing this due to his past statements. Johnson leveled with them and revealed that Crowther was suspicious of Nyeto, and that was the reason for the secrecy. The Spartans had their own suspicions regarding Nyeto, but John suggested the possibility that Crowther was using this mission as a way to quietly eliminate them as the Black Daggers' primary competition. Johnson admitted that this was technically possible, and that the thought had not even crossed his mind. Still, John decided that they would take the mission, as that would be the only way to know for sure.

Etalan

Main article: Battle over Etalan

A few hours later, the Vanishing Point and two escort prowlers left the Kolaqoa system. During the two-day journey, John discussed with Staff Sergeant Johnson which vessels of the logistics fleet they should designate as priority targets. Ultimately, they decided that they would target the munitions supply vessels first and the food supply vessels second, as the loss of those necessities would bring the Covenant offensive in this part of human space to a standstill.

On March 22, the Vanishing Point and its escorts arrived at Etalan and they spent the next four days observing the logistics fleet's movements, trying to discern which vessels served each function. By March 26, the Vanishing Point's analysts felt confident that four of the fifteen Covenant vessels were equipment freighters that carried spare parts and other materials used to maintain the Fleet of Inexorable Obedience. At this point, the logistics fleet seemed to be preparing to break from orbit over the planet to rejoin the main fleet at Biko. This was evidenced by the fact that they had begun syncing their orbits and bringing their fusion reactors to full power. Since time was evidently running out, Gold and Green Teams were deployed in S-14 Baselards to destroy the freighters as Blue Team and Johnson discussed what vessels they should target during the second phase of the attack since they still had not identified the munitions and food supply vessels with complete certainty. The plan called for each of them to fly one of the Banshees they had captured at Netherop into the hangars of the target vessels, crash the fighters with a HAVOK nuke planted in the cockpit, and then go EV to be recovered by the escort prowlers. For the purpose of this mission, each member of Blue Team was equipped with an M99 Stanchion and M41 SPNKR.

As they watched the eight other Spartans begin the battle, Johnson suggested that they destroy what the analysts believed to be Mjern-pattern agricultural support ships, but Fred pointed out that they weren't even sure of that and the dome-topped vessels could be petting zoos for all they knew. Still, Johnson argued that could destroy all of the "petting zoos," and they'd be stuck without whatever they needed them for. However, Dr. Halsey walked over and informed the group that she had identified the fleet's munition supply vessels as the three large "air-skimmers" that were dipping in and out of Etalan's upper atmosphere. Despite having come to this conclusion only minutes after they had arrived on March 22, she explained that she had kept it to herself so as to not alert Nyeto and his subordinates—whom she had deduced were Insurrectionist spies—to their plan. Hearing this, Linda asked why the spies on the Vanishing Point were still living, but Halsey admitted that she did not know who the individual spies were and if there were any currently on the stealth cruiser. When she mentioned that the spies had managed to plant surveillance devices in her lab, Fred became concerned that they might have tampered with their armor. Eventually, Halsey admitted that they could have possibly accessed the maintenance module where the armor had been stored. Regardless, their armor appeared to be unmolested and Blue Team prepared to follow through on their part of the mission, now targeting the three "air-skimmers" instead.

With the Vanishing Point nearing the designated drop-off point, John signaled Blue Team and Johnson to grab their HAVOKs and board their Banshees. Meanwhile, a remotely piloted Baselard powered up on the hangar deck just ahead of them. Moments before launch, a decoy flight of three manned Baselards soared past the hangar aperture with a Banshee squadron hot on their tails. The Vanishing Point cold-launched a salvo of pre-targeted M42 Archer missiles, and an instant later, the remote Baselard shot out of the hangar. It fired its two Archer missiles at the Banshee squadron as the Vanishing Point's missiles activated and flew after the Banshees as well. The Banshees scattered, giving the three manned Baselards a chance to escape. John gave Blue Team the order to launch their Banshees and fall in behind the alien fighter squadron before firing on the remote-controlled Baselard until it self-destructed into a fireball that helped distract the Covenant forces as the Vanishing Point slipped away. Sangheili voices filled the cockpits of Blue Team's Banshees, no doubt questioning where they came from. When no response was given, a three Banshees broke from the main squadron to investigate the new arrivals at close range. However, John convinced the aliens that their communications equipment had been damaged by feigning communication with a wiggle of his Banshee.

Shortly after this, Gold and Green Teams deployed from their Baselards to attack the equipment freighters as planned. Moments later, the targeted freighters began exploding while panic ensued among the Covenant fighters and their battlenet. The fourth explosion was so close to the Banshee squadron that they were all—including the Banshees piloted by Blue Team—disabled by the electromagnetic pulse. Since those escorting them no longer had the capability to intercept any of their transmissions, Fred exclaimed disgust at the Banshees' lack of radiation shielding over TEAMCOM. After some discussion, Blue Team decided that they would go EV and intercept the three air-skimmers as they passed by. John would board the first vessel, Kelly the second, and Fred the third while Linda and Johnson held back to cover them with their M99 Stanchions. Fred pointed out the absurd difficulty of reaching the vessels and then getting clear of the blast, to which Linda responded that technically they did not have to get clear, but she would miss Fred's wisecracks if he was killed. John ordered Linda and Johnson to focus on protecting Kelly and Fred, but Johnson refused as Linda had already decided that Johnson should cover John while she covered Fred and Kelly, who were close enough for her to support. Leaving the squadron of adrift Banshees behind, Johnson's HAVOK nuke—which he had left aboard his Banshee—detonated, killing any potential witnesses aboard the other craft and covering their approach for the air-skimmers. Meanwhile, the two escort prowlers arrived to recover Gold and Green Teams. Assuming the vessels were preparing for another attack run on the logistics fleet, the Covenant attacked the prowlers and the Baselards accompanying them. Nearing the lead bladder ship, John fired his thrusters to slow his approach, alerting the vessel's fighter screen to his presence. Eight Banshees began speeding toward him. Over fifty kilometers from the Banshees, Johnson scared one off with his Stanchion fire, but the rest continued on their course, starting to fire on John with their plasma cannons. When their shots were becoming a bit too accurate, John fired at them with the underbarrel grenade launcher on his MA5C assault rifle. It only halted their fire briefly, and they soon regained visual. Seeing that Johnson would not be able to take them all out at this range, John altered his flight path and accelerated toward the lead bladder ship. As he neared the vessel, he prepared his HAVOK with a timer and let it float next to him on the same trajectory. At seven kilometers above the ship, John activated his primary thruster, speeding away as fast as possible. The HAVOK detonated so close that it elevated his MJOLNIR armor's exterior temperature well above the danger level. Fred and Kelly likewise managed to destroy their targeted vessels before Blue Team was recovered by the Vanishing Point or its escort prowlers.

Zhoist

Main article: Battle of Zhoist

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Circinius IV

The three members of Blue Team sitting in a Pelican dropship's troop bay.

Main article: Battle of Circinius IV

After the events on Chi Ceti, Spartans John, Kelly and Frederic-104 were sent to support Marine forces in a search-and-capture mission against an Insurrectionist leader; the skirmish quickly escalated as the Covenant's arrival forced the UNSC troops to briefly side with the rebels. In April 26, 2526 Blue Team was deployed to Circinius IV in defense of the Corbulo Academy of Military Science. Despite their efforts, the Covenant glassed the planet and Blue Team rescued only three cadets of the academy.

Battle of Mesra

Main article: Battle of Mesra

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Battle of Netherop

Main article: Battle of Netherop

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Camp New Hope

Main article: Operation: SMOKING ACES

By 2531 Blue Team had carved out a reputation for itself among Insurrectionist forces. The then four-man team disrupted rebel operations including Station Jefferson, the destroyer Origami and a saboteur cell on Reach, as well as an incident in Micronesia, and a high-explosives manufacturing facility at an unspecified location. In response the rebels gathered together three FENRIS nuclear warheads at Camp New Hope in a way so sloppy that the Office of Naval Intelligence couldn't help but notice, then contacted the UNSC and offered to trade the nukes in exchange for medicines for their people suffering from Boren's Syndrome. They then set a trap for Blue Team, whom they anticipated would be sent. They successfully ambushed John, Fred, Kelly and Linda using an antigravity plate, however were unaware of the presence of Kurt, a new addition to the team, who had avoided the trap. Kurt was able to free the other members of Blue Team and they then retreated from the camp with the recovered warheads. Rebel leader General Howard Graves was killed in the process.

Jericho VII

Main article: Battle of Jericho VII

"Four of us and a thousand of them? Piss poor odds for the little guys."

— Kelly-087 about their chances

In 2535 Blue Team along with Red and Green Teams fought on Jericho VII, where they encountered tough resistance from UNSC forces above the planet and on the ground, resulting in a three day long stalemate. Blue Team's mission was to draw out the Covenant rear guard, so Red Team could slip behind their lines and plant a HAVOK tactical nuke, hoping to destroy the next Covenant ship that landed and dropped its shields, meanwhile Green Team was preventing a Covenant ground force advancement. These few Spartans were able to kill hundreds of Unggoy and destroy Shade turrets with little difficulty, as well as neutralizing their Banshee air support, by using the fougasses they had planted in case the Grunts got out of hand.

During the battle, Blue Team avenged the 105th Drop Jet Platoon by killing hundreds of the Unggoy. All of the Spartan teams accomplished their missions and returned safely to the remaining fleet in a Pelican dropship. Unfortunately, the UNSC fleet lost control of the space around Jericho VII after a brutal three day battle with the Covenant fleet, but Captain De Blanc was able to evacuate the Spartans before the enemy fleet began glassing the planet.

Raid on the Third Fleet of Glorious Consequence

The three members of Blue Team involved in Operation: WARM BLANKET.

Main article: Operation: WARM BLANKET

Shortly after the Battle of Miridem in 2544, Blue Team was part of a mission to rescue Dr. Catherine Halsey from a Covenant fleet. The team utilized OF92 Booster Frames, which were designed for ship boarding actions, and infiltrated the assault carrier Resplendent Fervor. The Spartans completed their mission and rescued Dr. Halsey, but Arthur-079 and Solomon-069 were killed in the battle.

Sigma Octanus IV

Main article: Operation: OCEAN BREAKER

After the city of Côte d'Azur on Sigma Octanus IV came under attack from Covenant forces, John-117 lead Blue Team under the city. Investigating Covenant activity in the Côte d'Azur Museum of Natural History, Blue Team discovered that the Covenant were scanning what appeared to be a simple piece of igneous rock, and sending the information to a ship in orbit. The team entered a protracted firefight with two Mgalekgolo, which was a victory at the expense of James' arm, recovered the rock, and escaped.

With a group of surviving civilians evacuated, the SPARTANs returned to H.Q. and detonated the HAVOK warhead, destroying Côte d'Azur and removing the Covenant presence on the planet.

Fall of Reach

Main article: Fall of Reach

During the Covenant attack on Reach, the SPARTAN-II company was divided into two teams: Red Team and Blue Team. Blue Team was tasked with defending an orbital space station's navigational data that could possibly lead the Covenant to Earth - which would be devastating to the UNSC. Red Team, far larger than Blue Team, was sent to the planet surface of Reach to defend its power generators that powered the Orbital Defense Platforms.

Blue Team consisted of John-117, James-005, and Linda-058. Blue Team departed from the UNSC Pillar of Autumn in a Pelican dropship and crash-landed on the space station shortly before waves of Jackal and Sangheili Rangers landed. On maneuvers, James was shot at with crystalline needler rounds that penetrated the propellant module on the back of his armor that allowed him to maneuver in zero-g. With thruster wash billowing everywhere, James was blown into space, unable to control his trajectory.

However, John and Linda were able to infiltrate the locked-down space station, and with the help of Staff Sergeant Avery J. Johnson and several other Marines, destroy the navigational data so that the Covenant would be unable to find and destroy Earth. However, during extraction, Linda was shot in the back with an overcharged plasma pistol, and was left clinically dead. John and the Marine fireteam survived, however.

Raid on Unyielding Hierophant

Blue Team fighting aboard Unyielding Hierophant.

Main article: Operation: FIRST STRIKE

John-117: "My team is willing to accept the risk."

Adm. Whitcomb: "The risk? It's a one-way ticket, son. But if you're willing to do it, if you can slow the Covenant assault on Earth, then, hell, it might be worth the trade."

— Chief and Adm. Whitcomb about possible mission outcome

Blue Team was newly formed when John came back to Reach after destruction of Installation 04 in search of his survived comrades. Upon his arrival Master Chief regrouped with Fred-104, Kelly-087, Grace-093, Anton-044, William-043 and Li-008 who were protecting Dr. Catherine Halsey and Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb with Kelly critically wounded by the assault cannons of two Hunters. The Spartans managed to escape Reach and return to Covenant flagship Ascendant Justice previously captured by John and the Marines at Alpha Halo and linked it with the damaged UNSC frigate Gettysburg. During a battle with pursuing Covenant ships, Anton-044 and Li-008 were killed during an EVA operation to repair a plasma conduit.

Soon after this they discovered that the Covenant already possessed coordinates of Earth's location and were building a massive invasion fleet consisting of about five hundred ships at the command-and-control center Unyielding Hierophant. John-117 came up with a plan to assault the Covenant station, although Ascendant Justice first had to undergo repairs. The crew managed to negotiate a truce with the inhabitants of the rebel base, Eridanus Secundus, infiltrated by Blue Team in 2525 and now led by Governor Jacob Jiles. While the vessel was being repaired Dr. Halsey managed to return Kelly-087 and Linda-058 to active duty; however, she sedated Kelly shortly after, took her aboard the private vessel of the rebel governor and left the system without anyone's knowledge or permission, heading to Onyx.

After receiving some repairs, John and the rest were forced to abandon the rebels in the face of a Covenant assault, and made their way toward Unyielding Hierophant. Blue Team, consisting of John, Fred, Linda, Will and Grace, infiltrated Unyielding Hierophant and succeeded in overloading the station's reactors, at the cost of Grace's life. Vice Admiral Whitcomb and Lieutenant Haverson were both killed when the station exploded, annihilating 486 ships of the Covenant fleet, leaving only around a dozen intact, delaying impending invasion of Earth.

Upon Blue Team's return to Earth John ordered Fred and Linda to report to ONI HQ where they should inform the UNSC Security Council about Operation: FIRST STRIKE's success and imminent invasion of Earth.

Battle for Earth

Main article: Battle for Earth

Fred and Linda directly before the Battle of Earth.

Shortly after John-117's disappearance after the Mombasa slipspace event, Blue Team was deployed to help defend Earth during the span of two weeks, while In Amber Clad was busy pursuing the Prophet of Regret. Blue Team conducted operations including numerous operations in orbit around Earth, stopping a Covenant invasion on Mount Erebus in Antarctica with a HAVOK tactical nuke, and stopping Covenant forces on the sea floor off of the Yucatan Peninsula. Following these ops, they were deployed to the Centennial Orbital Elevator in Havana, Cuba to stop Covenant forces that had gathered around the orbital elevator. They then stopped the Covenant forces, who had captured multiple nuclear warheads, before they could ascend the orbital elevator. The Spartans then ascended the orbital elevator themselves, and in the process destroyed one of the Covenant capital ships at the top of the elevator. The three Spartans then left the battle by hijacking a Covenant Sinaris-pattern heavy destroyer called the Bloodied Spirit under orders by Fleet Admiral Hood to aid Dr. Halsey and Kelly on Onyx.

Onyx

Main article: Onyx Conflict

Kelly and another member of Blue Team during the Onyx Conflict.

During this operation, Blue Team fought alongside with Team Saber against the Onyx Sentinels and the Sangheili fleet that had arrived. Upon landing on Onyx, they were reunited with Kelly-087, Dr. Halsey, Senior Chief Petty Officer Mendez, and Kurt-051 (who they thought had been dead for quite some time). However during the course of the battle Will, Kurt, and a number of SPARTAN-IIIs were killed by the Sentinels and Covenant forces. The rest of Blue Team, along with the remaining SPARTAN-IIIs, SCPO Mendez, and Dr. Halsey entered Shield World 006, which lay in a slipspace rift at the core of Onyx. Upon retreating to safety inside the shield world the survivors erected gravestones for those lost in the Battle of Onyx. After the ceremony, Lucy-B091, Tom-B292, Ash-G099, Olivia-G291 and Mark-G313 were reassigned to Blue Team by Fred and Kelly.

Blue Team then proceeded to explore the vast construct, soon establishing base camp in a Forerunner structure. A group of Huragok, discovered by Lucy-B091, eventually helped them bring the sphere out of its slipspace bubble into normal space, and an ONI team was dispatched to retrieve them. The few days the survivors had stayed inside the slipspace bubble turned out to equal over three months in normal space-time, and as such they returned to normal space in February 2553. Blue Team was taken to Earth aboard the UNSC Port Stanley for a debriefing in HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6 in Sydney.

On March 3, 2553 Blue Team attended the Voi Memorial ceremony tributed to the soldiers of the UNSC who gave their lives during the 28-year Human-Covenant War and marked the end of the war, with small section devoted to John-117 who, in accordance with ONI policy, was listed as missing in action.

Racing the ancilla

Mark-G313, Fred-104 and Veta Lopis fighting off the Keepers of the One Freedom in Wendosa.

Main article: Operation: JOVIAN WHISTLE

Although the Spartan-IIIs assigned to Blue Team were offered the chance to integrate into the SPARTAN-IV program and, by extension, the new Spartan Operations branch, they continued to serve with Blue Team in the months after their recovery from the shield world. In May 2553, Blue Team was deployed to escort a UNSC research battalion tasked with capturing a Forerunner ancilla on the planet Gao. Their search for the ancilla was complicated by a string of murders that began occurring in Gao's Montero Cave System after their arrival, prompting the Gao Ministry of Protection to send an investigative team headed by Special Inspector Veta Lopis to identify the killer on July 2, 2553. The situation soon escalated into a crisis after the Keepers of the One Freedom, a post-Covenant faction smuggled onto the planet by insurrectionist sympathizers within Gao's government, attacked the UNSC forces. For much of the fighting, Blue Team was split between a group comprised of Fred, Ash, Olivia, and Mark who accompanied Veta Lopis, and a splinter team comprised of Kelly, Linda, Tom, and Lucy who were on the surface at the time of the initial attack. After several days of skirmishes, the splinter teams regrouped while the Keepers were largely driven back. At this point, however, the newly-elected Gao president Arlo Casille sent Gao's planetary military against the UNSC. However, the Spartans managed to exfiltrate from the planet and recover the ancilla while destroying the Forerunner facility that used to house her.

After the mission, the Gamma Company Spartan-IIIs within the team were reassigned to a top-secret ONI "Ferret" unit to prevent knowledge of their illegal enhancements from leaking to the public. Lucy-B091 and Tom-B292 were assigned to the Spartan branch in August 2553, leaving Blue Team once again comprised of only Spartan-IIs. In the coming years Fred, Kelly and Linda embarked on numerous confidential operations under ONI's direct oversight, eliminating hostile Covenant remnants across the fringes of human space.

Operation: RETRIBUTION

Main article: Operation: RETRIBUTION

Operation: RETRIBUTION was an Office of Naval Intelligence operation undertaken by Blue Team and the Ferret team lead by Veta Lopis in December of 2553. The operation was conceived as a response to the murder of Vice Admiral Graselyn Tuwa and the kidnapping of three of her family members. The initial evidence pointed toward the Keepers of the One Freedom bearing the responsibility for the crime, but the Keepers had actually been framed by Dark Moon Enterprises, which itself was secretly being directed by the Forerunner ancilla, Intrepid Eye.

The Composer's Forge

Main article: Mission to Installation 03

John: "Admiral Hood asked that I act as an advisor for your mission."

Fred: "Just as an advisor? You told the old man you're coming with, didn't you... If you hadn't, I'd have ordered you to come along myself."

— Fred prompting the Chief to join

Blue Team engages Promethean Knights on Installation 03.

By July 25, 2557, Blue Team was stationed at Earth. Shortly after the New Phoenix Incident and the loss of contact with a science team on Installation 03, the team was joined by John (who had been recovered a few days earlier on Requiem) in an "advisory" role due to his recent encounters with Promethean constructs. The team was deployed to Gamma Halo, whereupon arrival they found the bodies of Black Team and the scientists before being attacked by Promethean Knights. The Spartans soon discovered the Composer's Abyss, and a slipspace portal within.

The portal took Blue Team to the Composer's Forge, where they encountered the Ur-Didact and numerous new Promethean constructs he had created from the residents of New Phoenix. In addition, the Forge's monitor, 859 Static Carillon, had Installation 03 transported above the Forge. Intending to use the Halo against Earth, the Didact took one of the Composers and headed back to the portal to Installation 03. Blue Team gave chase and engaged the Didact again atop the Composer's Abyss on the Halo's surface. The Didact's armor soon adapted itself to the Spartans' weapons, but Static Carillon appeared and saved Blue Team by teleporting the Didact away into the installation's control room. While the rest of Blue Team returned to their Longsword, John entered the control center to confront the Promethean in person. The Master Chief disabled Gamma Halo's safeties, enabling Static Carillon to eject the segment of the ring housing the control room toward the planet housing the Composer's Forge. The monitor teleported John to Blue Team's Longsword just before the Halo fragment struck the Forge while the Didact was digitized by the several Composers firing on him at once.

Later operations

"The war is over. At least that's what we're told... But those of us in the thick of it... We know better. At the fringes of our civilization, it's raging harder than ever. The violence and suffering continues. And there's noone around to stop it. That's why Blue Team is still active. Fred, Linda and myself - Kelly-087 - following Chief from mission to mission."

— Kelly reflects on the state of conflict in the galaxy.

Following the Didact's second defeat, Blue Team returned to Earth. John was debriefed by Admiral Hood who ordered him and Blue Team to rest and recover from years of continuous combat. Instead, the Master Chief chose to embark on a new series of missions. These operations included diplomatic escorts through hostile territory, counter-piracy efforts against salvagers, and strikes against Covenant outposts. At some point in the following months, John and Blue Team returned to the glassed Reach to remember Sam's sacrifice.

Blue Team during their visit to Reach's glasslands.

In early 2558, Blue Team was stationed at the construction site for a new ONI research facility, awaiting orders. Suddenly the facility came under attack by fanatical ex-Covenant. The hostiles managed to capture an M510 Mammoth, disable its governor, and drive it down a steep hillside toward the site's main fusion reactor. Blue Team followed in pursuit in an M12 Chaingun Warthog. Spartans managed to board the Mammoth and wrest control of the hulking vehicle from its hijackers and steer it away from the reactor. However, the near miss still resulted in the destruction of a decent amount of fabricated material that had been constructed. John, who had taken the Mammoth's controls, took all responsibility for the damage. After that Blue Team returned to a nearby airstrip, having received their next mission orders.

Later this year, during a human-Sangheili peace summit on Biko, John-117 disrupted an assassination attempt by Sapien Sunrise. As a peace conference on Biko between the UEG and Sangheili representatives was coming to an end, John entered the embassy and instantly killed a member of Sapien Sunrise who was disguised as Richard Sekibo's bodyguard. A firefight began, in which a total of eighteen human lives were claimed. John fled the embassy alongside the Sangheili delegation, which he escorted to safety. Outside the embassy, the rest of Blue Team was waiting in an evac ship for John. Unfortunately, John was unable to save Sekibo, who was consequently killed. His corpse was left behind in a field near the embassy on Biko. The next day, local officials discovered a signal beacon that led them to the body of Sekibo. Unfortunately, the truth was covered up and John-117 was used as a scapegoat to hide the UEG's laxity towards preventing the attack. Benjamin Giraud prepared to expose the cover up, and reveal the atrocities committed by the people behind the SPARTAN-II program, the UEG and Biko undercut him by radically reversing their claims, admitting and denouncing the involvement of Sapien Sunrise in the attack, utterly discrediting Giraud.

Argent Moon

Blue Team preparing to fall out.

Main article: Operation: BIRD IN HAND

On October 23, 2558, Blue Team were deployed from the UNSC Infinity on a mission to find and secure the abandoned ONI research vessel Argent Moon, now occupied by Jul 'Mdama's Covenant. During the mission, John experienced a vision from Cortana telling him that the Domain was open, that Meridian was next, and that the Reclamation was about to begin. Upon coming to, he told Blue Team what he had seen. Resolving to deal with it later, they continued onwards according to their original plan. Upon witnessing Covenant vessels exiting slipspace all around the Argent Moon, however, it was decided that the Argent Moon must be destroyed. Fighting their way through the ship, Blue Team eventually managed to overload Argent Moon's fusion reactor. With their arrival Pelican seemingly destroyed and no other means of escaping Argent Moon on time, Blue Team discovered a Winter-class prowler, ONI Acrisius, in the hangar. With the hangar cleared and the Acrisius ready, John-117 radioed Infinity and informed them that he and Blue Team would be heading to Meridian. However, Infinity was mysteriously already aware of Cortana's return and ordered Blue Team back to them while another Spartan team was sent to deal with her. Rejecting their orders, Blue Team chose to evacuate aboard the Acrisius and set course to Meridian, leaving the Argent Moon as it exploded.

Unbeknownst to Blue Team, however, their old enemy, Intrepid Eye, had managed to escape from the exploding station by latching on to the Acrisius as Blue Team left. Subsequently, the Forerunner ancilla was mistakenly believed to have been destroyed by Blue Team along with the Argent Moon.

Absent without leave

Main article: Battle of Meridian (2558)

Olympia Vale: "I understand the Master Chief disobeying orders to find Cortana. But why the rest of Blue Team? They didn't know her."

Jameson Locke: "The members of Blue Team grew up together in the Spartan II program. They've registered more operations than any other fireteam in the UNSC."

Edward Buck: "They're family."

— Members of Fireteam Osiris about Blue Team's actions

Blue Team in the Guardian's shelter.

The very next day, the UNSC declared members of Blue Team AWOL. Fireteam Osiris, a Spartan-IV unit led by Spartan Jameson Locke, was tasked with recovering Blue Team and the Acrisius. Upon arriving at Meridian, Blue Team landed at Apogee Station and proceeded make their way downwards to where the dormant Guardian lay buried. Their arrival on-planet was witnessed by multiple colonists, who were wholly unaware of their intentions. Also unbeknownst to the people of Meridian was the fact that their own Governor Sloan purposefully ensured nobody tried to stop them, as he was already serving Cortana at that point. Blue Team encountered no resistance from the Warden Eternal or any mechanical Prometheans. Fireteam Osiris caught up to Blue Team as they were entering the Guardian. Kelly, Fred, and Linda proceeded to enter the Guardian while John lingered and had an altercation with Locke. Once John had dealt with him and resumed boarding, the Guardian began to awaken. Fireteam Osiris scrambled to escape the collapsing chamber it had been held in as it rose out of the ground. The Guardian caused massive amounts of destruction as it took to the air, both from the very fact that it was emerging from beneath the earth and from electromagnetic shockwaves it sent out continually. During this time, many mechanical Promethean forces were deployed from the Guardian to engage Fireteam Osiris as they tried to escape the destruction in their Pelican. The Guardian jumped to slipspace on a course for Genesis, taking Blue Team with it.

Genesis and revelation

Blue Team confronting Cortana.

Main article: Battle of Genesis

Kelly: "Chief? What are you going to do?"

Linda: "We're with you."

Fred: "All the way to the end, brother."

— Members of Blue Team supporting the Chief

Upon landing on Genesis, Blue Team came across a series of computer consoles sounding musical tunes of Oly Oly Oxen Free. Following the path unlocked by interacting with those consoles, Blue Team battled through stranded Covenant forces before meeting the Warden Eternal. Shortly after learning of the Warden Eternal's role as Cortana's defender, John demanded to meet her, only for the Warden Eternal to refuse and commence hostilities. Shortly after Blue Team's defeat of the Warden Eternal in battle, Cortana finally revealed herself to them, expressing relief that they had made it to Genesis. Upon questioning Cortana on the circumstances of her survival, they learned that the Domain had saved her; Cortana referred to it as the "fountain of youth" for AIs. Suspicious of Cortana's desire to reunite with them, Blue Team proceeded further into the planet in order to physically locate her. Shortly afterward, Fireteam Osiris caught up with Blue Team. Before the two Spartan teams could team up, Cortana separated them. Blue Team fought an uphill battle through Promethean forces and multiple bodies of the Warden Eternal before physically meeting Cortana. There she revealed to them her plan to use the Guardians as a means of enforcing a forced peace upon the galaxy. Rejecting Cortana's plan, John pleaded her to stand down and return to Earth with the team. Cortana refused and sealed Blue Team in a Cryptum, intending to keep them in stasis for 10,000 years. With the aid of 031 Exuberant Witness, the monitor of Genesis installation, Fireteam Osiris narrowly managed to free Blue Team from the Cryptum just as Cortana retreated into slipspace. Following Cortana’s departure, both Blue Team and Fireteam Osiris together fought their way through hordes of Promethean constructs to reach a D79-TC Pelican that had previously arrived on the planet via a Guardian’s Slipspace entry. Based on Osiris' recommendation, they agreed to return to Sanghelios; the joint team requested Witness’ help, who opened a Slipspace portal for them.

Upon their arrival at Sanghelios, now mostly in the dark due to the Guardian attack at Sunaion, they correctly deduced that they’d find their allies near the region of Nuusra. Sure enough, they located the Swords of Sanghelios’ makeshift campsite on the cliffs and touched down, reuniting with Halsey, the Arbiter, and Palmer. After doing so, the two Spartan teams returned to the UNSC Infinity for debriefing.

Return to Reach

Main articles: Operation: WOLFE, Battle of New Mohács

Blue Team on an occupied Reach.

Palmer: "It seems Blue Team's mission is more important than I realized. Maybe it's time to read me in."

Halsey: "You don't want to know."

Lasky: "You don't. You really don't. I only suspect what they are trying to recover, and I wish I didn't."

— Infinity's command on the stakes in the ongoing conflict

In October 2559, Blue Team, now wearing GEN3 armor, was sent to infiltrate the ruined CASTLE Base on Reach in search of assets kept by Dr. Catherine Halsey in a secret cryovault, assets that held the key to defeating Cortana. Blue Team and the UNSC Infinity's forces came up against the Banished who were occupying the planet while searching for the Forerunner complex that Blue Team had found beneath CASTLE Base during the Fall of Reach. The conflict left Blue Team battered and with heavily damaged armor, but they succeeded in retrieving three cryobins and a lockbox from the cryovault. However, by following Blue Team's trail, the Banished succeeded in finding the Forerunner complex and opening a slipspace portal to the Ark, allowing Atriox to return to the Milky Way galaxy. While scouting the Forerunner complex, Fred-104 encountered Blue Team's old friend Veta Lopis, now undercover in the Keepers of the One Freedom. Lopis passed on a message to ONI through Fred, warning them of Atriox's return and the fact that the Keepers of the One Freedom, accompanied by the Ferrets, were heading to the Ark in order to fire the Halo Array and start the Great Journey. The cryobins recovered by Blue Team contained Halsey's surviving cloned brains from the creation of Cortana, allowing her to create the Weapon, an exact copy of Cortana whose mission was to imitate Cortana and lock her down for deletion.

Zeta Halo and split up

Lasky: "Are you sure about sending him alone, Doctor Halsey?"

Halsey: "If everyone does their job correctly, John will not be alone, Captain."

Lasky: "I just question the value of splitting him off from the rest of Blue Team. That wasn't the initial plan."

— Halsey and Lasky discussing Chief's and Blue Team's roles in the impending mission

The original plan was to have Blue Team accompany John-117 in the task of deploying the Weapon, however a few hours before the start of the mission, December 12, 2559, Catherine Halsey decided to split Chief off from Blue Team and Thomas Lasky assigned them to another classified operation, something that Halsey was less than pleased about as she had something in mind herself for them. The same day, the UNSC Infinity was ambushed by Banished forces upon its arrival at Cortana's headquarters, Installation 07. It is unknown if Fred-104, Kelly-087 and Linda-058 participated in the space battle or the following six-months long conflict on the ring, with some UNSC survivors questioning their ultimate fate and hoping for their and Chief's return.

Non-canon and dubious canon appearances

Silver Timeline

This article contains information about the Silver Timeline, and is not a part of the established Halo canon.

Blue Team and Green Team participated in Operation: HORIZON.

Production notes

Blue Team is featured in Halo 5: Guardians for the first time in a Halo game. They accompany John-117 throughout the campaign and accept commands from the player. Fred, Kelly, and Linda are also playable in cooperative play, each with their own individual loadout and HUD.

Trivia

• In Halo: First Strike, John-117 added Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb, Lieutenant Elias Haverson, Petty Officer Shiela Polaski and Corporal Locklear to his team roster, effectively making them honorary members of Blue Team in honor of their sacrifices.

Gallery

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  Blue Team's emblem.

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  Blue Team as seen on the original Halo: The Fall of Reach cover.

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  The original roster of Blue Team (Kelly, John, and Sam) on the 2010 Halo: The Fall of Reach cover.

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  Blue Team piloting OF92 booster frames during Operation: WARM BLANKET in Halo Legends: The Package.

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  Blue Team during Operation: WARM BLANKET in 2544.

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  The members of Blue Team during their first mission in Halo: Fall of Reach.

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  John, Kelly, and Samuel depart to infiltrate Unrelenting.

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  Two members of Blue Team onboard Unrelenting during the Battle of Chi Ceti.

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  Blue Team fighting a Mgalekgolo in 2552.

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  Blue Team fighting aboard Gamma Station in 2552.

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  Blue Team aboard a GA-TL1 Longsword during the Mission to Installation 03 in Halo: Escalation.

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  Blue Team engaging Promethean Knights on Installation 03.

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  The Didact attacking Blue Team.

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  Blue Team on the cover of Halo: Escalation#10.

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  A Blue Team nameplate in Halo: The Master Chief Collection.

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  Blue Team on another mission after the Installation 03 mission.

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  Blue Team on Meridian in The Hunt Begins.

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  Blue Team prepares to board the Unrelenting in concept art for Halo: The Fall of Reach - The Animated Series.

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  Blue Team hiding aboard the freighter Laden.

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  Early concept art of Blue Team for Halo 5: Guardians.

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  Early concept art of Blue Team for Halo 5: Guardians.

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  Early concept art of Blue Team for Halo 5: Guardians.

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  Concept art of all four members of Blue Team for Halo 5: Guardians.

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  Blue Team concept art for Halo 5: Guardians.

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  Blue Team's final character models in Halo 5: Guardians

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  John-117's loadout in Halo 5: Guardians.

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  Blue Team assaulting Argent Moon.

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  Blue Team encountering a Commander.

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  Blue Team aboard the Argent Moon.

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  Blue Team in combat.

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  Blue Team's motion capture actors for Halo 5: Guardians.

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  Blue Team on Meridian in Halo Mythos.

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  Blue Team in Halo: Collateral Damage.

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  Concept art of Linda, John, and Fred approaching Installation 07 for Halo Infinite.

List of appearances

Halo: The Fall of Reach (First appearance) Halo: First Strike Halo: Ghosts of Onyx Halo Legends The Package Halo: Fall of Reach Boot Camp Covenant Invasion Halo: Glasslands Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary (Mentioned only) Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn Halo: Escalation Halo 2: Anniversary Terminals Hunt the Truth The Hunt Begins

Halo: Last Light Halo: The Fall of Reach - The Animated Series Halo 5: Guardians Limited Edition dossiers Halo: Ground Command (Mentioned only) Halo Mythos: A Guide to the Story of Halo Halo: Fractures Lessons Learned (Mentioned only) A Necessary Truth (Mentioned only) Halo: Tales from Slipspace On the Brink Halo: Retribution Halo: Collateral Damage Halo: Bad Blood Halo: Silent Storm Halo: Official Spartan Field Manual Halo: Lone Wolf

Halo: Oblivion Halo: Shadows of Reach Halo: Divine Wind (Mentioned only) Halo Infinite: Memory Agent (Mentioned only) Halo Infinite (Mentioned only) Halo: The Rubicon Protocol (Mentioned only) Halo: Outcasts (Mentioned only) Halo: Sunrise on Sanghelios Halo: Epitaph Halo: Battle Born Glassed (Mentioned only)