Iota Eta Pi

In May of 2552, Daniel along with two other Spartans under his command, Justin-O193 and Crystal-O161, were deployed to [[Reach]] as part of a defense maneuver, in case of any [[Covenant Empire|Covenant]] attack. By July, the Covenant found Reach and began [[Fall of Reach|their assault]]. Daniel, Justin and Crystal, known as Omega Company Red Team, significantly helped during the Fall of Reach. Red Team single-handedly destroyed the {{Class|CPV|heavy destroyer}} ''Life-giving Virtue'' and two {{Class|CCS|battlecruiser}}s, the ''Fist of Righteousness'' and the ''Never-ending Light''. Red Team could operate with the effectiveness of an entire UNSC fleet, and in half the time. It was not until Operation: GRAND FINALE, the UNSC's first attempt at [[Operation: UPPER CUT]], that Omega Company Red Team had it's first defeat. While attempting to use [[Anchor 9|Anchor 9's]] last [[HORNET Mine]] to destroy the {{Class|CSO|supercarrier}} ''[[Long Night of Solace]]''. Instead of hijacking a smaller ship and board the ''Solace'', like during Operation: UPPER CUT, Red Team directly boarded the supercarrier. The three Spartans, with their immense strength, intelligence and teamwork, thought they would get the job done as cleanly as they had their other missions. While planting the HORNET, fourteen [[Sangheili]] warriors, thirteen [[Sangheili Zealot|Zealots]] led by one [[Sangheili Field Marshal|Field Marshal]], sneaked into the engine room and launched a surprise skirmish on Red Team. Daniel, realizing the overwhelming force of the Sangheili warriors, signaled for maneuver Alpha-12. Justin and Crystal acknowledged. They threw their faux grenades down and they detonated. There was no explosion, just smoke, a booming sound, and shrapnel to simulate an explosion. The three jumped forward, grabbing three of the Sangheili by the neck and dragging them backwards into the smoke. They swiftly killed them, grabbed their [[Type-1 Energy Weapon/Sword|energy swords]] and sprung forward, past the rest of the Covenant warriors. They ran out and Daniel called for an evac. Crystal realized that the mine had been prepared, they hadn't had time to activate it. Without warning the others, she went back to activate it alone. Daniel-O225 and Justin-O193 had ran a mile before noticing she had left. Daniel, after evacuating in a pelican with Justin, notified ONI and she had been declared MIA as per [[Office of Naval Intelligence Directive 930|ONI Directive 930]]. Crystal-O161 was never seen by human eyes again.

Once they were evacuated, the remnants of Red Team were sent to Earth. There, Daniel and Justin were began rigorous training exorcises to make sure that nothing like the incident on the ''Long Night of Solace'' would ever happen again. On September 25, 2552