Blue Team

Blue Team is a sub-unit within the larger SPARTAN-II division of the UNSC Naval Special Warfare Command, a semi-stable group consisting of four members. It has been led by John-117 for much of its activity during the Human-Covenant War, though after John's disappearance at the Battle of Mombasa the role of leader was taken up by Fred-104, and a number of SPARTAN-IIIs were absorbed into the team during the Battle of Onyx. It has participated in hundreds of combat missions against a plethora of different foes, including, but not limited to: the Insurrectionists, Covenant forces, and Forerunner constructs.

Known members
After its conception in 2519, Blue Team usually consisted of three members. The team was originally 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 Sam's death on a Covenant vessel in the Chi Ceti system, his spot remained vacant until John reluctantly filled it with Kurt-051 in 2531.

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, though later, 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. The SPARTAN-IIIs were assigned to the Spartan branch following the Spartans' recovery from Trevelyan; by 2557, Blue Team consisted of Fred, Kelly and Linda, until being joined by John after his return to the UNSC.

Spartan-IIs
 * James-005 (2552) (KIA marked as MIA)
 * Samuel-034 (2517-2525) (KIA marked as MIA)
 * William-043 (KIA marked as MIA)
 * Kurt-051 (KIA marked as MIA)
 * Linda-058
 * Fhajad-084 (sometime 2517-2525) (Crippled during augmentation)
 * Solomon-069 (KIA marked as MIA)
 * Arthur-079 (KIA marked as MIA)
 * Kelly-087
 * Frederic-104 (2552, leader, formerly Red Team)
 * John-117 (2517-2552, 2557, former leader)

Spartan-IIIs
 * Lucy-B091 (Assigned elsewhere August 2553)
 * Tom-B292 (Assigned elsewhere August 2553)
 * Ash-G099 (KIA September 2553)
 * Olivia-G291 (KIA September 2553)
 * Mark-G313 (KIA September 2553)

Training
Prior to the Human-Covenant War the SPARTAN-IIs were deployed onto the battlefield as shock infantry, Blue Team often exercised versus fellow SPARTAN-II Green Team, led by SPARTAN Kurt-051, and often lost because of Kurt's superior "sixth sense". 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.

Assault on Eridanus Secundus


In the first UNSC military operation where the SPARTAN-II's were put to the test after their intensive training, 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, and managed to sneak aboard Jefferson. Their objective was to 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.

Battle of Chi Ceti


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, under the command of Captain Wallace, brought Blue Team and Dr. Halsey to the Damascus Testing Facility at Chi Ceti, where they were to receive the MJOLNIR Mark IV PAA. 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.

Battle of Circinius IV


After the events on Chi Ceti, Spartans John, Kelly and Fred-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.

Raid on Camp New Hope
By 2531 Blue Team had carved out a reputation for itself amongst 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 could not 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.

Battle of Jericho VII
In 2535 Blue Team fought in 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. 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 the glassing of the planet.

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.

Battle of Sigma Octanus IV
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.

Battle 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 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 fell into a deep coma. John and the Marine fireteam survived, however.

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 in another Covenant capital ship called the Bloodied Spirit under orders by Fleet Admiral Hood to aid Dr. Halsey on Onyx.

Battle of Onyx
During the Battle of Onyx, Blue Team fought alongside with Team Saber against the Onyx Sentinels and the Covenant separatists that had arrived. Upon arriving at the Battle of 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, CPO Mendez, and Dr. Halsey entered the shield world.

Post-war
Upon retreating to safety inside the Sharpened Shield 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 for a debriefing in HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6 in Sydney. The SPARTAN-IIIs were later offered the chance to integrate into the SPARTAN-IV program and, by extension, the new Spartan branch, under the leadership of the surviving SPARTAN-IIs. By September 2553, three members of Saber Team were missing in action. Though their deaths were not confirmed, the UNSC later changed their status to killed in action, with Lucy and Tom being assigned to an unknown location. Blue Team continued to serve in the field, still equipped with the MJOLNIR Mark VI, as late as 2558, though their operations were highly classified, and still under operational command of NAVSPECWAR.

The Composer's Forge
Shortly after the New Phoenix Incident and the loss of contact with a science team on Installation 03 on July 26, 2557, Blue Team, at the time consisting of Kelly, Linda, Fred, was joined by John in an "advisory" role due to his recent encounters with Promethean constructs. The team was deployed to Gamma Halo, whereupon arrival Linda found tracks left by a Crawler. Fred and Linda found the bodies of Black Team while John and Kelly found the scientists. Shortly after they left the camp they were attacked by Promethean Knights, but managed to fend them off. They continued following the Crawlers' tracks and came to the site where the Composer was originally located. Kelly found a tunnel which they followed down, soon finding the Composer's Abyss. At the end of the Abyss, Blue Team discovered a slipspace portal.

Upon exiting the portal, Blue Team found a Forerunner city. While investigating, they discovered a plaza with numerous Composers. Suddenly the Ur-Didact appeared and told them that they were in the Composer's Forge. The Spartans opened fire at the Didact, but he quickly knocked them to the ground. The Didact summoned numerous Promethean Knights, Crawlers, and Watchers and a firefight began. When 859 Static Carillon arrived, the monitor was horrified that the Didact was using the Composer to create Prometheans. However, the Didact ordered the monitor to give him access to a Halo, to which Static Carillon obliged.

As a Halo installation appeared in the sky, the Didact headed for it and left Blue Team, the Prometheans, and the monitor behind. Static Carillon warned the Spartans that the Didact intended to use the Halo on Earth and that the monitor would aid the Spartans, despite its indifference to the fate of humanity. Static Carillon and Blue Team fought their way back to the slipspace portal and the Spartans entered, while the monitor stayed behind to attempt to close the portal. Blue Team returned to the surface of Gamma Halo from the Composer's Abyss and witnessed a Composer rising over the installation. The Didact appeared and attacked the Spartans, but John came from behind and stabbed the Didact in the eye with a combat knife. However, the Didact grabbed John's helmet, seemingly crushing it.

List of appearances

 * Halo: The Fall of Reach
 * Halo: First Strike
 * Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
 * Halo: Fall of Reach
 * Boot Camp
 * Covenant
 * Invasion
 * Halo: Glasslands
 * Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn
 * Halo: Escalation