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- Red Team: "Need a hand?"
- Forge: "Showoffs!"
- — Members of Red Team and Sgt. John Forge during the Battle of Shield World 0459.[1]
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. They 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. 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.[2][3]
One specific Red Team unit, consisting of rehabilitated augmentation "washouts" Douglas-042, Alice-130, and Jerome-092 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.[4]
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Fall of Reach splinter arrangement
After their D77-TC Pelican, Bravo 001, was shot down during the Fall of Reach and four team members were killed, the surviving members of Red Team were split into four groups: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta.[note 1]
- Fred-104
- Kelly-087
- Joshua-029
- Beta Red Actual
- Red-Fifteen
- Four unknown Spartans
- Li-008
- Anton-044
- Grace-093
- 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.[5]
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 relationship with Otto-031, they tracked Margaret down as team leader and attacked her, claiming they were not taking their training seriously enough. She lost her left eye resisting them. Soon, Black Team gave Red Team a beating in return and were given a ten-day stint in the brig as a result.[6][7][8]
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. Spartans were deployed in Longhorn Valley on Reach with mission target to capture the flag. While Blue Team provided cover with SRS99C-S2 AM sniper rifles, acquired earlier from Tango Company's Marines, which had been looking for them for past two days, and repurposed for non-lethal usage, Red Team infiltrated Tango Company's base hiding in undercarriage of passing by trucks. Using battery acid and stun grenades Spartans created a diversion beneath Tango company's barracks buildings, inflicting many casualties. Then, neutralizing the guards around the flag pole with 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. But, not fooled, the young supersoldiers once again outsmarted and overcame the hapless Marines. Then, after John sent the all-clear signal, both Spartan teams rendezvoused at the LZ.[3]
Early Human-Covenant War
- "We'll clean up this mess."
- — Member of Team Omega during the Battle of Arcadia.[9]
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 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.[10] When a Covenant ship, the Unrelenting, attacked the Commonwealth, Red Team, as well as any other active Spartan-II, 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.[11] 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 the Commonwealth. They succeeded in completing the mission and destroyed the Covenant ship.
In February 2531, Red Team, comprised of Jerome, Douglas, and Alice, was part of a nine-person unit, Team Omega, which was deployed on Arcadia;[12] 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 twenty years later.[13]
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 civilians of the planet.[12] Afterward, Red Team linked up with the rest of Team Omega and marines from the UNSC Spirit of Fire and assisted in a counterattack on a Covenant outpost. [9] After a majority of the Covenant forces were eliminated around Pirth City, Team Omega departed, however Red Team remained with the crew of Spirit of Fire to assist with Captain James Cutter's plan to infiltrate a large Covenant shield dome. Spartans helped prevent the destruction of several prototypical M145D Rhinos while the tanks ensured that the shield was destroyed.[14] After Sergeant John Forge's forces triumphed over a Scarab, Jerome, Douglas, and Alice searched for Covenant survivors in the jungles on an M12 Warthog.[15] 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.[16][13]
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.[17]
Upon arriving at a Forerunner Shield World on February 23rd, Red Team assisted the Spirit of Fire's crew in neutralizing Covenant and Flood forces.[16] After the Spartans assisted in destroying a proto-Gravemind,[17] Red Team became stranded on the planet. With the Spirit of Fire being dragged inside the megastructure, Red Team was assisted by Sergeant Forge and his forces and successfully withdrew to the ship.[18] Red Team then assisted the crew in scouring the Flood forces from the hull of the Spirit of Fire.[19] Soon, the crew repelled Covenant boarders and successfully repaired the ship's power core when after it was damaged by Covenant forces.[20]
Once Anders was rescued, Red Team were tasked with ensuring that the 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 sun, denying the Covenant access to a fleet of Forerunner warships.[21] 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 the Spirit of Fire's crew were then charged with opening the gate which allowed the Spirit of Fire to exit the Shield World.[22][13] After that they have been evacuated back to the Spirit of Fire before slipspace drive detonated.
The members of Red Team, as with the rest of the crew, entered cryo sleep after the Spirit of Fire escaped the destruction of the Shield World. After the loss of contact the UNSC tried to locate the Spirit of Fire for the next three years and eventually, in 2534, the Spirit of Fire and all its 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 Etran Harborage, a Flood infection form which had been nesting out of sight since the escape from the shield world, initiated an outbreak of the parasite aboard the Spirit of Fire. As the Flood threatened to breach quarantine, Serina awoke Jerome, who, with the aid of Professor Ellen Anders, was forced to exterminate all infected crew members, ensuring the survival of the Spirit and its remaining crew. After all traces of the Flood parasite aboard the Spirit of Fire were erased, Jerome returned to cryo-sleep.[23]
Further operations in various compositions
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 nuke, hoping to destroy the next Covenant ship that landed and dropped its shields, while Blue Team were drawing out the Covenant rear guard.[24] Meanwhile, Green Team was preventing a Covenant ground force advance on the planet.[25] All of the Spartan teams accomplished their missions and returned safely to the remaining fleet in a Pelican dropship.[26]
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 tactical nuclear weapon in the sewers beneath the city. In the meantime, they rescued numerous civilians, the only ones the Covenant had not massacred.
Fall of Reach
- Main article: Fall of Reach
By August 30 Red Team had been assigned to the Template:UNSCship to participate in Operation: RED FLAG. However, before the Autumn could exit the system and initiate the mission, all UNSC ships were recalled to defend Reach. Red Team, consisting of twenty-two members under the command of Fred-104,[27][28][29][30][31][32] was deployed to the surface of Reach to defend the generators that powered the planet's twenty orbital defense platforms. Unfortunately, their Pelican transport, Bravo 001, was shot down, resulting in the deaths of four Spartans (including Malcolm-059), and some others were wounded as well. 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. Frederic-104, commander of the Spartans, split the remains of 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 Whitcomb, and Team Delta (the Charlie Company Marines and six wounded Spartans), ordered to secure the Spartans' fallback point at CASTLE Base.
Team Alpha hijacked three Banshees and approached the Covenant encampment and used Fury Tactical Nuclear Weapons within the shields of the Covenant ship, destroying the encampment. Joshua was killed in the process. The remaining Spartans of Team Alpha then fell back to CASTLE Base, blasting their way through the remaining Covenant in the area with two commandeered Wraiths. 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 Charlie Company marines and every Spartan save for Vinh, Isaac, and William. When the remnants of Team Alpha and Team Delta arrived at CASTLE Base, they found Catherine Halsey 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 the glassing of 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 Danforth 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 Ascendant Justice, a Covenant Flagship captured by John. Every surviving member of Red Team joined John's Blue Team.
Back in action
- Main article: Battle of Installation 00 (2559)
- "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"
- — Cpt. Cutter on the importance of Red Team's mission on Installation 04C.[33]
On March 28, 2559, after 28 years of drifting in space the UNSC Spirit of Fire found its way to the orbit of the Forerunner Installation 00, known as the Ark.[34] Awakened from cryo-sleep, Red Team was tasked with investigating the UNSC distress signal coming from the surface of the Ark. There, inside the abandoned UNSC outpost they encountered Isabel, a logistics AI, who warned the Spartans about danger concealed on the Ark.[35] 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.[36] While maintaining comms silence, Alice managed to locate and free some of the captured UNSC troops. After establishing contact with the Spirit of Fire, Cpt. Cutter ordered Alice to take command of the rescued Marines and perform hit-and-run operations against the Banished until further orders.[37] Meanwhile, after Isabel's briefing on the Banished, Jerome was sent to disrupt Decimus' salvage operations, while Douglas had been undergoing medical treatment.[38] After discovering the location of the Ark's Cartographer, Jerome was ordered to beat the Banished to it.[39] 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 Prof. Anders to determine their next target - the Ark's portal network which the Banished were using to move around the Ark.[40] 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 the Spirit of Fire was under attack, they had to return to the ship immediately.[41]
Soon after that, 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 units cleared out a Banished base around the lift.[42] 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 the Enduring Conviction's shields, and the Banished ordnance were destroyed, Jerome boarded the carrier.[43] 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.[43]
As soon as the 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.[44] 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 massive sentinel and use its main weapon to gain access to the control room.[33]As the professor descended to the control room, the Spartans and Marines stayed behind to defend the structure. With support from the 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 the Spirit of Fire immediately before the Halo entered slipspace and departed for the Soell system.[45]
Gameplay
Halo Wars
Red Team plays a significant role in Halo Wars' campaign. In gameplay, the Spartans have prototypical energy shields[13] 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. Spartans cannot be harmed by Flood infection forms 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.
Halo Wars 2
In Halo Wars 2, the members of Red Team are Hero Units that act nearly identical to their Halo Wars counterparts. When Red Team 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. In campaign, Red Team can be revived when they are downed. In multiplayer each Spartan is given to a UNSC leader as a hero unit. Jerome-092 is assigned to Captain Cutter, Douglas-042 is assigned to Professor Anders, and Alice-130 is assigned to Isabel. These multiplayer versions cannot be revived, and must be purchased at the UNSC Armory.
Changes from Halo Wars to Halo Wars 2
- Spartan now possess the Spartan Slam ability and can traverse heights with it.
- Spartan Slam can stun nearby infantry if used to hijack a vehicle.
- Shields take more time to begin recharging and recharge slower.
- Overall base damage decreased.
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Browse more images in this article's gallery page. |
Gallery
Concept art of Red Team for Halo Wars.
Red Team arrives by a Warthog.
Cpt. Cutter, Sgt. Forge and Jerome-092 discuss how to proceed after Prof. Anders's abduction
Red Team at the Apex.
Red Team in combat.
Red Team during Fall of Reach in Halo: Fall of Reach - Invasion.
Jerome in Something Has Happened.
- HW2-Red&Atriox-art.jpg
Concept art of Red Team and Atriox for Halo Wars 2.
Red Team in Know Your Enemy.
Red Team in Halo Wars 2.
Alice and Jerome inside the Henry Lamb Research Outpost.
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
- 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
- Halo: Smoke and Shadow (Mentioned only)
- Halo Wars 2
Note
- ^ Several sources, (see above), explicitly state that Red Team consisted of twenty-two members during the mission to secure the orbital defense generators. Four members, including Malcolm-059, were killed on impact after jumping from Bravo 001, which would leave eighteen survivors. According to Halo: First Strike, Alpha and Gamma teams each consisted of three members, Delta had six, and Beta had eleven, (the latter count being reiterated in Halo: Reach), paradoxically resulting in twenty-three survivors. However, the 2011 definitive edition of the novel states that Team Beta had six members, leaving eighteen survivors, which is consistent with twenty-two total Spartans, four of whom died upon impact.
Sources
- ^ Halo Wars, campaign levels Beachhead
- ^ Halo: First Strike, page 4 (2003)
- ^ a b Halo: First Strike, pages 157-166 (2010)
- ^ Halo Wars 2, Phoenix Logs — Alice-130
- ^ Halo: First Strike, page 158 (2010)
- ^ Halo: Blood Line Issue 3
- ^ Halo: Blood Line Issue 4
- ^ Halo: Blood Line Issue 5
- ^ a b Halo Wars, campaign level, Arcadia Outskirts
- ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, page 141 (2010)
- ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, pages 147-150 (2010)
- ^ a b Halo Wars, campaign level, Arcadia City
- ^ a b c d Halo: The Essential Visual Guide, page 119: "Energy shielding was a key feature of Mark V, although other Spartan squads had field-tested prototypes of this technology as early as 2531."
- ^ Halo Wars, campaign level, Dome of Light
- ^ Halo Wars, campaign level, Scarab
- ^ a b Halo Wars, campaign level, Anders' Signal
- ^ a b Halo Wars, campaign level, The Flood
- ^ Halo Wars, campaign level, Shield World
- ^ Halo Wars, campaign level, Cleansing
- ^ Halo Wars, campaign level, Repairs
- ^ Halo Wars, campaign level, Reactor
- ^ Halo Wars, campaign level, Escape
- ^ Halo: Tales from Slipspace, Something Has Happened
- ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, page 2
- ^ Halo Encyclopedia, page 113 (2011 edition)
- ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, page 20 (2010 edition)
- ^ Data Drops
- ^ Halo Wars timeline
- ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach Definitive Edition
- ^ Halo: First Strike (2010 edition)
- ^ Halo Waypoint: Defiant to the End
- ^ Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Library - Pelican
- ^ a b Halo Wars 2, campaign level, The Halo
- ^ GameSpot: Halo Wars 2 New Story Details and Images Revealed
- ^ Gamestop: Halo Wars 2: New Character Images and Details Revealed
- ^ Halo Wars 2, campaign level, The Signal
- ^ Halo Wars 2, campaign level, One Three Zero
- ^ Halo Wars 2, campaign level, A New Enemy
- ^ Halo Wars 2, campaign level, Ascension
- ^ Halo Wars 2, campaign level, The Cartographer
- ^ Halo Wars 2, campaign level, Lights Out
- ^ Halo Wars 2, campaign level, Hold the Line
- ^ a b Halo Wars 2, campaign level, Under The Dark
- ^ Halo Wars 2, campaign level, The Foundry
- ^ Halo Wars 2, campaign level, Last Stand
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