UNSC Marine Expeditionary Reconnaissance

Myrmidon is codename for the umbrella of the "second epoch" of SPARTANs, and encompasses the new paradigm behind their creation, the aspects of their creation and function, their accessory equipment and support, and their warfighting philosophy and particulars. It draws from all three previous SPARTAN battalions — from decades of experience with SPARTANs in the SPARTAN-I, SPARTAN-II, and SPARTAN-III programs, integrating detailed post-War analysis on their successes and failures, and combinatorial chemical genetics, chemical biology, and developmental biology to generate the next revolution in SPARTAN warfighting, modeled on the enormous success of combinatorial teratogenesis and postnatal augmentations.

Myrmidon operators are listed under "Detachment Four" of UNSC Special Warfare Group SPARTAN, although many in the UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence often label Myrmidons separate from the SPARTANs because of their numerous differences. However, the UNSC Special Operations Command Order of Battle (OB) integrates the Myrmidons into the former SPARTAN command organizational hierarchy.

Myrmidons are some of the protagonists and central characters featured in RP:Beyond Veil's Azure.

Organization
One of Myrmidon's major design philosophies was counterterrorism; the usage of a small number of highly-trained elite light infantry for highly-intensive counterterror and counterinsurgency operations. Thus, the Myrmidon Program as of 2590 maintains only one company of infantry, numbering approximately one hundred strong — an extremely small number of operators, but in accordance with the UNSC's need for a specialized counterterror / counterinsurgency force. The Myrmidon command structure mimics that of UNSC Naval Special Warfare, another special forces division associated with the UNSC Navy.

The Myrmidon Program is overseen by Vice Admiral Kawika Son of the UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence / UNSC Special Operation Command, who is a good friend to Kimberly Ivy Blackburn, who was indeed the proof of principle for the Myrmidons and their genesis. The Myrmidon company is commanded by a Captain (CAPT, O-6), and is advised by the Senior Enlisted NCO, a Master Chief Petty Officer (MCPO, E-9) and the company is divided into four operational squadrons, with each squadron consisting of between twenty to thirty operators. The squadron is the strategic deployment of the Myrmidons; typically, Myrmidons are deployed to each theater of operations in the squadron-size formation. Each operation involving Myrmidon operators may include individual Myrmidons solo, fire teams of two Myrmidons, squads of four to six Myrmidons, or only for the largest operations, up to troops comprising of ten Myrmidons. The squadron almost never operates together in a single operation as a whole, although regular squadron-integration exercises are scheduled to ensure that this is a possibility, should open warfare arise.

The four Myrmidon squadrons are: Squadron "A" (Alpha), Squadron "B" (Bravo), Squadron "C" (Charlie), and Squadron "D" (Delta). Each is under the leadership of a Commander (CMDR, O-5) and the squadron's senior enlisted, typically a Chief Petty Officer (CPO, E-7). The two are augmented by an XO, a full Lieutenant (LT, O-3), and a Lieutenant Jr. Grade (LTJG, O-2) serves as the operations officer. The remaining operators are all enlisted, typically ranging from E-4 to E-6 (PO1 to PO3), although there are exceptions.

The Myrmidons are extensively supported on all levels; the individual level, the team level, the squadron level, and the company level. There are several hundred support staffers in the Command and Support elements of the Myrmidon organization, and these include commanding officers (CO), communications operators, battlefield intelligence operators, pilots, aviators, engineers, technicians, security personnel, etc... across the entire broad spectrum of battlefield warfighting prerequisites. The Myrmidons receive extensive intelligence support on most operations, and are invariably integrally incorporated with the UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence and field intelligence units such as UNSC Marine Reconnaissance.

All squadrons are "direct action" capable, that is, they fulfill elite counterterrorism and counterinsurgency roles, and even after six years of continual sustained deployment by 2594, there have been no Myrmidon casualties on the field despite extensive engagement with rebel insurgent forces and also terrorists. The Myrmidons are UNSC Special Operations Command's devastating weapon of choice to cauterize insurgent threats, and the deployment of a Myrmidon squadron to an embattled colony world usually results in the immediate suppression of rebel activity by a torrent of withering commando strikes on all flanks by the highly-capable Myrmidons.

Augmentations
The Myrmidon augmentation philosophy is highly nestled with an advanced understanding at the molecular level of developmental biology and chemical genetics. Chemical biology has been employed extensively as a platform to efficaciously augment the Myrmidons in the womb and postnatally with strict temporal control and defined effects of chemical probes interacting with highly specific biological targets. The usage of small-molecule chemical compounds opposed to biological agents has maximized the safety of Myrmidon augmentation as well as its reproducibility from human to human; chemical systems are fundamentally easy to manipulate and quantify in comparison to biological perturbations, which invariably turn into multiplex systems with undefined variables.

Chemical Biology
The Myrmidon philosophy advocates the use of small molecule compounds as chemical perturbers of biological activity at the embryonic, postnatal, and continual adult stages of life. Chemical agonists and inhibitors are used to provide precise, quantifiable, dose-responsive control over human physiology, with known biological targets and controllable side effects.

Inhibition of embryonic stem cell (ESC) differentiation

 * A-83-01 ( 3-(6-Methylpyridin-2-yl)-1-phenylthiocarbamoyl-4-quinolin-4-ylpyrazole ): Small-molecule chemical inhibitor of the ALK5 family of type I TGFβ Receptors (ALK4 / ALK5 / ALK7), synthesized from 4-(quinolin-4-yl)-substituted pyrazole templates through retrograde organic chemical synthesis . Specific inhibitor of Activin A, TGFβ, and Nodal cytokine signals transduced through TGFβ receptors of the ALK5 family through luciferase reporter and cell-based phenotypic assay . In the human and mouse embryo, Nodal signals direct differentiation of pluripotent embryonic stem cells (ESC) to the definitive endoderm lineage, inducing SOX17 and Claudin-6 expression and causing progressive differentiation and loss of pluripotential plasticity    . A-83-01 application through the first several days of pregnancy after artificial insemination was used to specifically inhibit endodermal differentiation and to maintain the intrinsic pluripotent ES transcriptional program.
 * CHIR99021 ( 6-(2-(4-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-5-(4-methyl-1H-imidazol-2-yl)pyrimidin-2-ylamino)ethylamino)nicotinonitrile ): Small-molecule chemical inhibitor of GSK3α/β, demonstrating >500-fold selectivity for biological target over a panel of over thirty protein kinases and non-kinase enzymes . GSK3β is a biological inhibitor of Wnt signaling, and Wnt signaling is an active intracellular signaling pathway in both human and mouse embryonic stem cells, where Wnt signaling is implicated in stem cell self-renewal, and Wnt signals control ESC cell cycle and expression of ES transcription factors and transcriptional regulators, such as Oct4, Nanog, and Rex1, thus implicating Wnt signaling in ES self-renewal and proliferation. . CHIR99021 application through the first several days of pregnancy after artificial insemination was used to specifically promote the intrinsic ESC pluripotency program through coupled signaling and transcriptional mechanisms.
 * SU5402 ( 3-[(3-(2-carboxyethyl)-4-methylpyrrol-2-yl)methylene]-2-indolinone ): Small-molecule chemical inhibitor of fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) protein tyrosine kinase (PTK), showing specificy for FGFR1 without inhibition of the insulin receptor (INSR) nor the platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR). Small molecule compound of the indolinone classification, with organic-templated synthesis to generate a library for high-throughput screening, inhibiting FGFR1K auto-phosphorylation and FGF2-induced MEK/ERK signaling and DNA replication in molecular assays of fibroblasts. SU5402's molecular mechanism of action is well-documented; it binds to the ATP-binding site on FGFR1, actively competing with ATP instead of the FGF substrate, and it interacts with FGFR1 on a molecular scale by three separate intermolecular interactions with the kinase domain, being sheltered by its hydrophobic haven, and it demonstrates even electron distribution. FGF2 and FGF4 are two extrinsic cytokines responsible for ES differentiation through activation of the protein kinase B (PKB) and MEK/ERK signaling pathways to induce mesodermal germ specification and neuronal fating of neuroectoderm differentiation, and FGFR1 blockade by SU5402 inhibits ES differentiation.
 * Dorsomorphin / Compound C ( 6-(4-(2-(piperidin-1-yl)ethoxy)phenyl)-3-(pyridin-4-yl)pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine ): Specific inhibitor of ALK2, ALK3, and ALK6, protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) inhibitors of members of the ALK1 and ALK3 families of type I TGFβ Receptors, inhibiting the transmission of BMP2, BMP4, BMP6, and BMP7 cytokine signals and BMP signaling and subsequent SMAD phosphorylation. BMP signals in the embryo are responsible for gastrulation, mesodermal specification, and chrondrogenesis and also dorsal-ventral patterning and dorsalization, thus the blockade of type I TGFβ receptors leads to neutralization of mesodermal differentiation and enhances the pluripotent ES state.
 * Pluripotin / SC1 ( N-(3-(7-(1,3-dimethyl-1H-pyrazol-5-ylamino)-1-methyl-2-oxo-1,2-dihydropyrimido[4,5-d]pyrimidin-3(4H)-yl)-4-methylphenyl)-3-(trifluoromethyl)benzamide ): Specific polypharmacological small-molecule compound that is a dual specific inhibitor of RasGAP and ERK1/2, dually promoting ES self-renewal and inhibiting FGF-induced differentiation, capable of sustaining mouse embryonic stem cells (mES) in chemically-defined feeder free in vitro cell culture conditions. Thus, in utero application of pluripotin to the developing embryo antagonizes differentiation and promotes self-renewal and proliferation.

Order of Battle

 * Command Element
 * Senior Commander: VADM Kawika Son (Vice Admiral, O-9)
 * Field Element
 * Detachment Commander: CAPT SPARTAN-MYR064 (Captain, O-6)
 * Detachment Senior Enlisted: MCPO (Master Chief Petty Officer, E-9)
 * Alpha Squadron (Direct Action / Assault)
 * Alpha Squadron Commander: CMDR (Commander, O-5)
 * Squadron Senior Enlisted: CPO (Chief Petty Officer, E-7)
 * Alpha Squadron XO: LT (Lieutenant, O-3)
 * Squadron Operations Officer: LTJG (Lieutenant Jr. Grade, O-2)
 * Bravo Squadron (Direct Action / Assault)
 * Bravo Squadron Commander: CMDR (Commander, O-5)
 * Squadron Senior Enlisted: CPO (Chief Petty Officer, E-7)
 * Bravo Squadron XO: LT (Lieutenant, O-3)
 * Squadron Operations Officer: LTJG (Lieutenant Jr. Grade, O-2)
 * Charlie Squadron (Direct Action / Reconnaissance)
 * Charlie Squadron Commander: CMDR (Commander, O-5)
 * Squadron Senior Enlisted: CPO (Chief Petty Officer, E-7)
 * Charlie Squadron XO: LT (Lieutenant, O-3)
 * Squadron Operations Officer: LTJG (Lieutenant Jr. Grade, O-2)
 * Delta Squadron: (Direct Action / Covert Action)
 * Delta Squadron Commander: CMDR (Commander, O-5)
 * Squadron Senior Enlisted: CPO SPARTAN-MYR005 (Chief Petty Officer, E-7)
 * Delta Squadron XO: LT (Lieutenant, O-3)
 * Squadron Operations Officer: LTJG (Lieutenant Jr. Grade, O-2)

Behind the Scenes

 * The Myrmidons are named after the Myrmidons of Greek mythology, another Greek warfighting tribe similar to the Spartans in ancient times.