Shrike Team

"Welcome to ONI's own team of professional, sanctioned psychopaths."

- Martin-A136, greeting his teammates for the first time

Shrike Team, also nicknamed The Butchers for their violent and unorthodox methods, was a squad-sized group of SPARTAN-III Commandos, serving in the years following the Human-Covenant War, a time of instability preceding the Civil War that would rage across the galaxy until the turn of the century. The Team was formed from several surviving SPARTAN-III supersoldiers of Alpha and Beta Companies, augmented with six members of Gamma Company, who had been reassigned after various squad losses.

The decision to form a new team was taken by ONI as many other SPARTAN teams were either dead, missing in action, or in the case of some, disbanded. The few surviving SPARTAN-II's were assigned directly to ONI, so SPARTAN-III Candidates were chosen to form the new group, it's purpose to hunt out pockets of Covenant or Insurrectionist resistance.

Shrike Team was activated in the Autumn of 2556, under the guidance of several ONI Agents and Commander Elena-071, a SPARTAN-II who had taken temporary leave from field duties following Operation: ASHES the previous year. Martin, SPARTAN Alpha One-Thirty-Six, one of the handful of still-living members of the ill-fated company, and the sole survivor of Upsilon Team following the Fall of Reach, was chosen to lead the squad, having been marked as having a knack for leadership in addition to his usual marksman role in previous postings.

The Team was equipped and outfitted with MJOLNIR Mark VI Armour, being the first SPARTAN-III's to receive the suits. Each individual suit was customised, painted and upgraded to the user's request, and outfitted with several upgrades to assist the Commandos on the field. Also granted to the team was a single 'Smart' AI, given to Martin-A136, giving tactical advice and support in the field.

Shrike Team would primarily be deployed against the few remaining Insurrectionist strongholds following the Human-Covenant War, sabotaging, assassinating and interrogating where necessary. The Spartans were given a great deal of freedom in their operations, and so employed unethical and sometimes illegal methods to achieve their missions. However, as the years went on, they were deployed against former Covenant loyalists, Sangheili rebels, and even other Spartans as sparks were ignited that would plunge the galaxy into war once more.