Fireteam Scythe



Fireteam Scythe, formerly Team Scythe , was a team of SPARTAN-III's working under both the and  in the 2550s. Initially one of many teams formed within Gamma Company, Scythe were later singled out for their talents and upon the completion of their training in late 2552 took to the field against both the Covenant and rebel groups for the remainder of the war. Though they were folded into the Spartan branch post-war, Scythe still operates under Naval jurisdiction for the most part and takes part in highly-secretive operations as a commando unit.

Training
One of several hundred orphans recruited by the Office of Naval Intelligence for the third generation of the SPARTAN-III Program, Team Scythe was put together in 2544 upon their arrival on the planet. The five children came from wildly different backgrounds and some barely spoke the same language, but they all shared one thing: the loss of their parents to the Covenant. Attending classes and training sessions for the first month, the five members of Scythe barely interacted with each other and as such performed rather poorly during team-building exercises. This was quickly picked up by their trainer,, who had the children punished and locked up for completely failing to succeed at any task during one particularly bad day.

Forced to spend a night without food in brig, the five members of Scythe began to argue amongst themselves. While it did not come to blows for fear of attracting their drill instructor's attention, they ended up conversing for some time not only about their training, but about their personal thoughts and talents. Clayton-G045, whose exasperated attempts at team management had been ignored beforehand, soon won the respect of his peers as he formulated plans to get back at the rival teams who had beaten them. The others - Jiang, Ezra, Clarence and Ianto - soon sorted themselves out into roles and vowed to work together properly in all future training sessions. Sure enough, Team Scythe's performance grades skyrocketed in the weeks following their night of confinement as they began operating as a cohesive unit, adapting to the military mindset their trainers were instilling in them much quicker than many of their peers.

During their next few years of training on Onyx, Team Scythe became rather notorious for their unorthodox methods of attaining victory and absolutely vicious mindset. While their instructors were initially delighted to find them progressing well, the five trainees were not well-liked amongst their peers and rarely interacted with any other teams despite Clayton's attempts to keep the peace. They also became incredibly protective of one another; after Julian-G209 of Team Shashka punched Clarence in the face during an argument, the rest of Scythe threw him off a roof and broke the trainee's arm. Scythe also developed a propensity for subverting the rules of engagement during combat exercises. They were repeatedly pulled up for sabotaging gear, cutting power cables to their instructor's surveillance cameras and other infractions just so they could claim victory. Believing that publicly rewarding Scythe for this would only incite other teams to do the same and thus skew combat scores, they were punished for 'cheating' on multiple occasions.

In 2551 Team Scythe and the rest of Gamma Company underwent a series of that greatly enhanced their physical and mental capabilities. In addition, Gamma had several extra - and illegal - drugs administered to increase their survivability in the field. While effective, this would also mean that they would have to regularly take injections to counteract the neural degradation brought on by their augmentation. A number of months were spent re-training and preparing for actual combat as Scythe got used to their improved bodies, with news spreading of a competition for top honours between the highest-graded three teams to be held in late 2552. Eager to prove themselves, Scythe continued to perform incredibly well and as their 'graduation' approached were outperforming teams that just a few years beforehand had beaten them with ease. In October it was revealed that teams Saber, Gladius and Katana were to compete in the exercise instead. A furious Clayton confronted Lieutenant Commander Ambrose over his decision and was informed that Scythe's constant rulebreaking had disqualified them from competing.

On their final day on Onyx, a dejected Scythe Team was called to Ambrose's office and given a few words before leaving, as he had done with every team. As training was over, he could freely admit that he admired their unorthodoxy and resourcefulness, and to not dwell on their disqualification on something as meaningless as the top honours exercise when they had Covenant to fight. Pointing out that their teamwork was Scythe's strongest attribute, Ambrose dismissed the five young Spartans, who were shipped offworld alongside most of their comrades that day and transported to prepare various deployments. Scythe were taken to Helios Station in the Sol System shortly afterwards, where they received their first suits of and told of an impending mission against a suspected terrorist group on Mars.

Early Deployments
Scythe Team's first combat deployment took place on October 19th, 2552. The five Spartans were taken via shuttle to the Martian city of and given the location of their target building; a disused warehouse complex on the outskirts of the city's industrial area. While such an operation would usually be a job for local police or even regular Special Forces, a report that the terrorists possessed a HAVOK nuclear weapon which they intended to use prompted the involvement of ONI and eventually, the Spartans. Seeing this delicate operation as a challenge for the fresh Spartans, their overseers kept in contact with the group from orbit as they moved into position. Despite their unfamiliarity with urban environments, Scythe were able to avoid detection from several security systems on approach thanks to both their observational skills and the photoreactive panels built into their armour.

With Ezra and Ianto watching the building from vantage points outside, the other Spartans entered through an upstairs window and discovered a number of rebels inside. As they had not been detected, Clayton had Clarence and Jiang use their combat knives to eliminate several guards as they crept downstairs toward the basement; once the presence of a nuclear weapon was confirmed Shrike were to secure it and call in reinforcements immediately. However, one of the interior cameras picked up the corpse of a dead rebel, prompting quick action as the trio swept through the complex, gunning down numerous opponents with suppressed MA5K carbines. The basement itself had been evacuated by the time they arrived, and as the survivors attempted to escape via a warthog they were gunned down at long range by Ianto. Ezra then secured the HAVOK nuke from the vehicle and the mission was declared a complete success. Scythe were returned to Helios Station to await further instructions, where Clarence voiced private concerns about fighting rebels instead of the Covenant, as they had been trained to. Clayton made it clear that they would fight the UNSC's foes regardless of species, and that they would most likely be deployed against the Covenant in the near future.

On the following day, October 20th, the Covenant invaded. The moment Covenant ships were picked up entering the Sol System, Scythe was immediately relocated to Pillar Base on Earth alongside a number of other teams from Gamma Company. Surprisingly, the initial Covenant fleet diverted most of its attention towards Kenya instead of any critical bases on Earth, giving the UNSC time to maneuver before enemy reinforcements arrived. Scythe fought in several skirmishes over the next few weeks, though it was not until mid-November that they were involved in a truly desperate battle. Having received word that the Covenant were attacking the heavily-populated city of Boston on the 's east coast, the Spartans were immediately deployed to defend ONI's nearby headquarters.

With a local Pelican landing all but impossible due to the heavy fighting on Boston's streets, Team Scythe were dropped in from low orbit via SOIEV's alongside a contingent of battle-hardened Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. Landing fairly close to each other, the team soon regrouped and carved a bloody path through Covenant forces in their push towards the ONI building. Though heavily-fortified, its defences would not hold out for long against a prolonged Covenant assault. It was here that they first encountered Jiralhanae warriors, observing a pack of the bestial aliens hunting down fleeing civilians for sport and food for a few moments before taking action. Despite being heavily outnumbered, the supersoldiers had surprise and their SPI suits as a huge tactical advantage that allowed them to easily flank and kill the pack before moving out towards the headquarters. There they found several Wraith tanks bombarding the building's high perimeter walls, and planted detonation charges atop each one while their occupants were distracted.

With the Wraiths destroyed and the immediate threat to ONI's HQ gone, Scythe then moved to eliminate a group of anti-air tanks nearby so reinforcements could land. As they moved along, however, they discovered that a second, much larger pack of Jiralhanae was pursuing the Spartans and nearby Human forces based not on sight, but smell. Ianto and Jiang moved back to ambush and engage the pack while Clayton, Ezra and Clarence completed their mission. Though the plan was partially successful, the SPARTAN-III's underestimated their foe's capabilities as several Phantoms carrying enemy troops arrived to reinforce their location. Though barely visible, Clayton's group were forced to hide from the enemy dropships that swept the nearby area, waiting until they had a tiny window of opportunity to advance and attack the anti-air Wraiths while Ianto and Jiang launched their surprise attack.

In the ensuing melee, the two Spartans easily outmaneuvered their brutish foes and took down half a dozen in close combat before coming face to face with a heavily-armoured Chieftain armed with a Gravity Hammer. What advantage they had in speed and surprise was lost as the alien warrior backed them into a building while his surviving packmates rained down Spiker fire. While the Spartans reloaded, a plasma grenade landed nearby and almost killed Ianto as he dived away, burning a good portion of his right side. Initially believing his friend to be dead, Jiang slaughtered the Jiralhanae in a fit of rage - one induced by his augmentations, no less - until the Chieftain managed to throw him to the ground. He would have died were it not for Ianto's sudden reappearance, stabbing the alien repeatedly in the neck and finishing it off with multiple pistol rounds before collapsing. The rest of Scythe had managed to destroy the enemy Wraiths after a hard fight, during which an explosion had propelled a piece of flying metal through the side of Ezra's helmet and left cheek, missing his throat by inches. The area secure, Scythe called for immediate assistance for their wounded and were airlifted via Pelican shortly after.

While most of their injuries were fairly minor and Ezra would receive some facial surgery, Ianto was near-death when brought in and remained in the medical bay of an orbital facility after falling into a coma. The plasma grenade had not only destroyed most of his armour but burned away much of the flesh and skin on the right side of his head, arms and abdomen. While his internal organs were fine, Ianto would need a great deal of time to recover from the severe plasma burns, leaving Scythe with only four members for the time being. They would continue to operate over the course of several months without Ianto until the war's end. With their comrade still unconscious, the Spartans were forced to move on to new deployments and leave him behind. Another heavy blow came for the Spartans when news arrived of Onyx's complete destruction and the death of Kurt Ambrose during the battle there. While details were scarce and mostly classified, Scythe had lost the closest thing to a home they had. In May of 2553, they and the rest of Gamma Company were introduced to the newly-formed Spartan branch.

Reformation
"What do you mean, 'no ranks'? Who the hell's gonna give orders?"

- Jiang expresses confusion at the Spartan branch's organisation.

Members

 * Clayton-G045 - Fireteam Leader. Clayton is the team's rock and the deciding voice in any internal conflict.
 * Jiang-G007 - The CQC specialist and team scout, Jiang is a bold, playful Spartan with a history of petty theft.
 * Ezra-G323 - Designated Marksman. Not one for unnecessary conversation. Especially violent towards Covenant.
 * Clarence-G022 - Demolitions expert. Easygoing and surprisingly devoid of personal issue for a SPARTAN-III.
 * Ianto-G200 - Irregular teammate; operates as ONI liason/SPARTAN-IV trainer while not on missions.