Crimson Team

"Underhanded, cunning, sly, and mischievous bastards who also happen to be some of the best damn soldiers I’ve ever met."

- Colonel Griffin Standoff

Crimson Team was a group of SPARTAN-II Class IIIs under the Office of Naval Intelligence Covert Operations Group, a subordinate branch of Section III of the Office of Naval Intelligence. The group was formed in 2548 during the training period of the ARES Program, and continued operation until the final battle of the Human Covenant War, finally disbanding in 2553 after the loss of the vast majority of it’s members.

History
Crimson Team’s origins lie in the early days of the ARES Project. Laszlo Katona, the personal Leonidan operative for Rear Admiral Ned Rich, was selected to lead the training of 50 new aspiring SPARTAN candidates, and made the decision to split the trainees into ten five man squads at the beginning of training. Crimson Team was one of these teams, and participated in eight years of intensive training alongside the other teams of the program.

After completing the training program, the five aspiring candidates were augmented, losing two members to the procedures. Consolidated into a three man team, the small squad was deployed, heading straight into the field to fight against the Covenant Horde. After operating for a year in six different colonial theatres, Crimson Team was deployed to the remote testing planet of Algolis and recovered several suits of prototype MJOLNIR Mark V/CQC and Mark V/MP Armor, pilfering several for their own personal use.

Crimson Team continued to conduct missions, serving with distinction in prominent theatres such as SParis IV, Sigma Octanus IV, Cyrus VII, Sargasso, Verent, Coral, Hellas, Reach, Tribute, Circumstance, Tantalus, Earth, Luna, and Mars, occasionally alongside other SPARTANs such as Scarlet and Brown Team.

In the aftermath of the Battle of Earth, Crimson Team was redeployed alongside a group of crack Elite commandos led by the former Honor Guardsman Sunef ‘Mhackphistho to aid in the liberation of the Inner Colonies. Again participating in a variety of theatres, including the liberations of New Jerusalem and Chi Rho, as well as the pacifications of Te, Eayn, Palamok, and Balaho, they were deployed as an advance for the for the Invasion of Doisac, where all of their members, save for Roger-341, lost their lives in a Covenant ambush. After the pacification of Doisac, the team was disbanded, with it’s lone surviving member resigning his commission in the UNSC and leaving the military for a career as a private military contractor.

Roster
The team comprised exclusively ofSPARTAN-II Supersoldiers trained as part of the ARES Program. Originally made up of five members during training, two of their number were lost during augmentation while a third was injured for much of the latter half of 2552.


 * Crimson Team (Training Period)


 * Petty Officer First Class Roger-341
 * Petty Officer Second Class Mica-311
 * Petty Officer Second Class James-319
 * Petty Officer Second Class Maggie-237
 * Petty Officer Second Class Jacob-303
 * Crimson Team (Post Augmentation)


 * Petty Officer First Class Roger-341
 * Petty Officer Second Class Mica-311
 * Petty Officer Second Class James-319

Equipment
Deployed originally in Mark II SPI Armor, Crimson Team would gain notoriety within the ARES program for their use of MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor. Unlike most of their brethren, Crimson Team operated in full MJOLNIR suits, after discovering a cache of experimental armor units during the Battle of Algolis. These suits would set them apart from the other members of their detachment, putting them on par with the other SPARTAN operators in the Covert Operations Group and being largely responsible for their success. Because of their less than conventional method of appropriating their armor, their individual variants would vary greatly, with Roger-341 using a set of the Mark V(CQC) variant and Mica-311 and James-319 using the Mark V(MP) and the Mark V(B) variants. In addition to their standard armor systems, Crimson Team was granted access to and outfitted with several experimental pieces of technology just before the Battle of Reach. They would continue to use these enhancements throughout the remainder of their service, providing valuable intelligence and data to Naval Intelligence.

Remarks
"Crimson is good, without a doubt, perhaps one of the best among the ARES Detachment. One has to wonder, though, how much of it is because they were lucky enough to stumble onto a few MJOLNIR suits and how much is actual talent."

- Timmothy-322

"I was part of a Ex-Ped landing group during the drop to Paris IV, and was one of the few guys to make it out alive. We got hit hard at our HQ, and all I can say is that if it hadn’t been for that crazy fool with the plasma grenades or that weirdly sarcastic Spartan I probably wouldn’t be here today."

- Anonymous Marine Serviceman

"You wouldn’t know they were SPARTANs by the way they act; they lie, manipulate, and screw over whoever they need to get ahead. A lot of it is the influence of their leader, but none of them ever object to his actions. The problem is that they’ve got an exemplary combat record and are some of the smartest SPARTANs of the bunch.  Apparently, all of their bullshit is working."

- Colonel Griffin Standoff.

"The problem with Crimson is that their defining characteristics seems to be that they were lucky enough to snag some MJOLNIR"

- Ned Rich

"Posers who think their pretty armor substitutes for real skill."

- Jennifer-347

"During the mop-up on Cygnus, we got caught in a Covie ambush and half our company went down in about five minutes. It was all going to rat-shit in a big fat hurry, with tanks and revenants popping up on our flanks, when all of a sudden a few green blurs dropped out of the sky with invisible HALO chutes and busted the hatches open with their bare hands. Next thing we know, three of the damned tanks started dropping plasma mortars on the enemy and the bastards were running for their lives.  By the time we all got our shit together and popped out of our trenches, the tanks were empty, idling with their hatches open.  Weirdest shit I’ve ever seen."

- Anonymous Marine Serviceman

Quotes
"Just point us at the enemy, and stay out of our way."

- Crimson Team’s motto, first coined by Roger-341

"Fighting Covenant is real simple; hold onto your guts while you rip out theirs"

- Roger-341

"Anyone up for getting acquainted with the locals?"

- Mica-311 during an operation behind enemy lines.

"Maybe we should remember to leave the ship before we destroy it next time, sir."

- James-319 after escaping a self-destructing enemy cruiser.

"Crimson Team doesn’t retreat. We aggressively escape. With extreme prejudice."

- Mica-311

"Come on you ugly ape faced fuckers. Come and get me."

- Mica-311’s final words.

"The bastard is still kicking. I think we need to hit the damn thing again!"

- Mica-311, regarding a severely injured Mgalekgolo.

"The way these grunts are swarming, one might think we’re not welcome."

- James-319

"I love this chick. She’ll make such great target practice."

- Mica-311, referring to Jennifer-347

"James, do me a favor and call command and ask when we get to kill something."

- Roger-341 during downtime.

"Hey Mica, think we should call in some backup?"

- James-319 during combat

"They’re just lining up to die!"

- Roger-341

"We ain’t got time to bleed, Scarlet"

- Roger-341

Trivia

 * Crimson Team was one of the few SPARTAN-II Class III groups to make use of MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor.
 * Although they survived until the final battle of Human Covenant War, one of their members, James-319, saw no combat from July 18th, 2552 until almost six months later on November 26th, 2552 due to major injuries during the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV.
 * The style for the Crimson Team article was based in large part off of the layout of several other articles the author likes, including Herald Team, Gentry Team, and Indigo Team, instead of the author’s usual method.
 * Many of the quotes attributed to members of Crimson Team are heavily inspired by similar Quotes from Republic Commandos in Star Wars: Republic Commando

Internal

 * Spartan II Class III
 * Laszlo-108
 * Executive Operations Security Company
 * Mark V/CQC and Mark V/MP MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor
 * Roger-341
 * Scarlet Team
 * Brown Team (Leonidans)
 * Covert Operations Group
 * Dean Jackson

External

 * SPARTAN-II Program on Halopedia
 * Office of Naval Intelligence on Halopedia
 * Fall of Reach on Halopedia,
 * MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Mark V on Halopedia
 * Battle of Sigma Octanus IV on Halopedia
 * Human-Covenant War on Halopedia
 * Covenant Special Operations on Halopedia
 * Battle of Algolis on Halopedia
 * Pivate Mlitary Company on Wikipedia