Asymmetrical Action Group

This article, Asymmetrical Action Group, written by Delta Pistol and ThePeteFiles, was voted as the Best Canon Expansion of 2019 in the Twelfth Annual Halo Fanon Wikia Awards.

This fanfiction article, Asymmetrical Action Group, was written by Delta Pistol and ThePeteFiles. Please do not edit this fiction without the writers' permission.

This article, Asymmetrical Action Group, is currently under active construction.

This is a fanon expansion of a canon element. To see the original canon article, follow the link to Halopedia: Asymmetrical Action Group.

Asymmetrical Action Group
Chronological information
Active	2545 - Present
Command information
Affiliation	Unified Earth Government United Nations Space Command
Branch	UNSC Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Section Three Beta-5 Division
Type	Joint Special Operations Activity Group
Role	Asymmetrical Action Clandestine Operations Covert Operations High Value Target Action Targeted Killing Direct Action Sabotage Special Reconnaissance Deep Reconnaissance Intelligence Assessment Shock Tactics
Component units	Ground Branch Space Branch Armor Branch Special Programs Branch
Garrison	HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6 UNSC Infinity
Other information
Nickname	AAG, The Group, J-SOAG
Motto	Tertia Optio (Third Option)
Era	Human-Covenant War Post-Covenant War conflicts Created conflict
[Source]

"The ghosts that hunt from the shadows, they are considered humanity's top assassins. They do not sleep until all enemies of the UNSC no longer exist. They are a powerful weapon."

―A former Asymmetrical Action Group officer discussing the nature of her previous colleagues work.

The Asymmetrical Action Group (AAG), also better known as The Group, was a covert unconventional warfare unit that operates within the ranks of the Office of Naval Intelligence's Beta-5 Division.

During the latter years of the Human-Covenant War, the Office of Naval Intelligence formed the Asymmetrical Action Group as a cross-branch effort that was designed to disarm, disrupt, and dissolve Covenant activities in areas of operation. The Group was formed around unconventional warfare veterans, though it eventually began to incorporate Spartans into its ranks. Acting as a special operations unit that deploys assets across UNSC-controlled and hostile space, the Group became widely known as a successful paramilitary group within Naval Intelligence.

Role and Operations

On paper, the Asymmetrical Action Group does not exist; it is merely a myth within the walls of ONI, as well as the UNSC Armed Forces. Each AAG mission conducted is considered covert and black; the officers and operators do not exist for the time they are operating in the field, thus, allowing for ONI to disavow any of their AAG operatives that may have been comprised.

The AAG core operations are direct action and specialized reconnaissance missions against the enemies of the UEG and UNSC. The Group's operations have also included targeted assassinations and sabotage. The Group have also embarked on intelligence-gathering operations that include deep reconnaissance and surveillance ops. The AAG have been dispatched on various counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations during the war and in the Post-War years.

Performing a variety of operations and tasks, the Group was notoriously known for their deep operations against the Covenant during the Human-Covenant War. The AAG is also known for their abilities to sabotage and diverted Covenant forces away from Humanity's frontlines. While they've mostly focused on targeting Covenant activities and individuals, the AAG has also deployed operators against Insurrectionists when necessary.

Working alongside augmented and non-augmented personnel, the Group can launch a variety of strike teams into various conflicts across the Orion Arm. Often, the Group launches units into areas where they may prop up as an area of conflict and prevent that specific location from growing any further.

History

Creation

Building Up

"I want the Covenant stopped. I want them to go back to where they came from and die. I need you to figure out a solution to this problem before we all die. You will produce an effective unit that will make them fail, or you will be gone."

―Admiral Margaret Parangosky addressing the future officers of the Asymmetrical Action Group for her desire to stop the Covenant.

In 2543, Humanity was on the losing end the Human-Covenant War. The Office of Naval Intelligence put together a nerve team to figure out how to slow down then stop the Covenant. The idea that came out of the team was the idea of an Asymmetrical Action Group, an elite covert operations unit that conducted deep-strike assassinations against the Covenant leadership. Commander Julia Danvers at the time was determined to bring the idea of such a unit to the table for ONI to use. Gathering a small number of officers and personnel, she began to build up the Group.

Initially, The Group was going to consist of strictly ONI officers and personnel who were going to conduct the missions. But the cost of training and equipping rose too many issues and forced the nerve team to think about a different subject. Quickly after, the nerve team took what Naval Special Weapons was doing and began to apply it to the Group. Also, Commander Danvers wanted The Group able to reach into all branches of the UNSC and not only the Navy and Marine Corps.

By 2544, the nerve team was working with ONI JAG lawyers to find a way they were able to recruit teams for deployment against the Covenant. Creating the Danvers-Gronseth Act it allowed ONI to sheep dip teams into The Group for one rotation then take them out with no issues. Running a sample test on a variety of black operation capable teams, The Group was able to conclude that their act and language of sheep dipping teams was going to work. Not long after, the Group began to work on recruiting a variety of non-augmented personnel to do the heavy lifting.

While non-augmented personnel units were recruited, the Group built up their field leaders that were going to coordinate the operators in battle. Known as Specialized Skills Officers or Operators (SSO), the Group trained a variety of officers from Section Zero, One, and Two to lead non-augmented units to provide and coordinate with deep-strike missions against the Covenant. Operating with only two people, Specialized Skills Officer or Operator teams were called Special Tactics Teams. Lieutenant Stephan Ferguson prepared mission handlers that were capable of handling teams on their own deep behind enemy lines.

Full-time ONI personnel who were bound to conduct operations in support of the Group were trained to become Paramilitary Operations Officers or Operators (PMOO). Lieutenant Commander Niklas Gronseth built up the direct action personnel that was going to deploy by themselves or in small teams rather than alongside a military branch team. Paramilitary Operation Officers or Operators led Critical Action Teams which conducted operations that preserved the safety of the UNSC.

Early in 2545, the Group was slowly turning into reality for the nerve team that had been building them for two years. But, the Group wanted to sink their hands into assets that were bound to cause controversies. The SPARTANs were considered to be the best fighters that the UNSC had to offer, and no one was willing to hand them to the Group. However, the Group was able to showcase its ability only to use SPARTANs for specific missions rather than general campaigns.

Structuring the Group came about by splitting up assets into various branches. Ground, Armor, Space, and Special Programs became the four branches for the Group. Along with a Command element that worked to oversee all the efforts within the unit. Due to Section Three's inability to produce actionable intelligence, the Mission Support Activity began to work with the Group. Known as the Activity, it was a premier Section One unit that specialized in collecting actionable intelligence against the Covenant and the leadership for covert operations.

The following non-augmented units:

• UNSC Air Force
  • Air Force Special Operations Command
    • 24th Special Tactics Squadron
• UNSC Army
  • Army Special Operations Command
    • SABRE Personnel
    • Army Ranger
    • Army Pathfinders
• UNSC Marine Corps
  • Marine Corps Force Special Operation Command
    • Force Reconnaissance
• UNSC Navy
  • NAVSPECWAR
    • Orbital Drop Shock Troopers
  • Office of Naval Intelligence
    • Prowler Corps
    • Mission Support Activity

The following augmented units:

• SPARTAN-I Program (ORION)
  • Delta Team
• SPARTAN-II Program
  • Class I
    • Black Team
    • Gray Team
  • Class II
    • Cyan Team
• SPARTAN-III Program
  • Select Headhunter Teams
  • Select Non-Company Teams
  • Alpha Company
  • Beta Company

Human-Covenant War

2545 to 2548

Launching in 2545, the Group became an instant hit across Inner and Outer Colony space. Target strikes, assassinations, demolitions, and direct action raids were flowing throughout the Group as the initial success against the Covenant. Covenant leadership was forced to rethink how they were doing things due to the staggering deaths of their leaders on the ground. Despite the success that the Group had, they lost quite many officers and operators. Marking it the most confirmed killed for the Group had during the Human-Covenant War. Which forced the Group to rework and rethink how they were going to keep people alive, yet execute the desired targets.

Adjusting their doctrine and role, the Group began to work on implementing its new operational flow slowly. CATs were increased by sizes with more experienced operators and officers; Specialized Skills Officers worked on developing better actionable intelligence while the other branches worked on creating means to protect their assets better. Beta Projects began to rise within the Special Program that revolutionized the way the Group was able to battle against the Covenant while other non-augmented personnel began to get used to the safer operational flow than before. Deployments were cut down, the intensity was rounded out, and the operators were able to dictate the mission on the ground.

By 2547, the Group had begun to turn the wheels on their battles against the Covenant. Mission success began to go up as did survival rates. Augmented assets were deployed on more missions due to the Group's ability to reach more while non-augmented personnel continued their rotation through. With the ability to have more people survive, recruitment for filling spots became easy and resulted in growth since the creation of the Group. Growing in strength, the Group was able to spread their assets across many colonies where they were ready to launch and strike against the Covenant.

The Ground Branch became notorious in 2548 for their ability to reach anybody. Both augmented and non-augmented were capable of striking the Covenant deep in their own space Diverting forces from the frontlines, the Ground Branch was capable of stalling the Covenant. The Space Branch also made a name for themselves by distracting carriers as well as the RL-54 Incident in 2547. As of 2548, the Group was able to showcase its combat ability to deploy assets that were capable of diverting forces away.

MJOLNIR Armor

The Group began to outsource their MJOLNIR Armor idea to Chalybs Defense Solution in 2547, hoping to build an armor suit that gave augmented personnel an edge in the field. Called the OPERATOR-class, the Group was approved to push their armor out to CDS but were forced to move it in-house to the Watershed Division due to the Covenant's invasion on Meridian in 2548. CDS remained working on the project under a secure warehouse in the Watershed Division despite nearly losing their base of operations in 2548.

In 2550, the OPERATOR-class was produced and tested out on a variety of augmented personnel. Command attachments, as well as other needs for the armor, were added onto the GENERATION-1 variant. After passing initial testing, CDS continued to produce and improve the equipment for the upcoming operations it was about to be put into in the coming years. By the later years of 2550, the OPERATOR-class began to see field action against the Covenant and Insurrection. SPARTAN-III non-company teams along with SPARTAN-II program augmented personnel quickly adapting to the new armor that the Group was allowing their operators to wear.

Post-Covenant War conflicts

Reorganization

In 2553, the Group began to reorganize their efforts and focus on the galaxy. With the Delta-6 Division emerging as a new division that was going to assist with Spartan Operations, the Group and Beta-5 Division began to focus on Covenant remnants along with any foreign fighters. The Group became good friends with the Xeno-Material Exploitation Group, which became another unit that the Group was able to work alongside to accomplish missions. Keeping the Activity's relationship in good health, the Group began to focus on gathering rough estimates of what they needed to do to ensure the success of future operations.

With the recent addition of Gamma Company, the Group was able to gather a variety of teams that were capable of conducting missions for them. With the massive influx of augmented personnel, the Group still found it extremely important to keep their non-augmented staff with better specialties than the augmented personnel. CATs began to grow more due to increased recruitment alongside STUs. The ability for the Group to deploy teams into various theaters made them the premier group to suppressing rebellions across UNSC controlled space.

Also, the Group and Activity worked closely together throughout early 2550 to create a Section One team called Remote Contact Teams (RCTs). Launching the teams in early 2552, the RCTs began to see much more rapid deployments in 2553 for the need of actionable intelligence on the ground. CATs and RCTs began to work much more closely with one another to conduct targeted killings and demolitions deep behind enemy lines. With the RCTs and CATs working together, the UNSC was able to figure out where to position their already weak fleet to prevent another attack against Humanity and the colonies they were obliged to protect.

Organization

Command Structure

A Captain (O-6) holds command of the Asymmetrical Action Group for six years. The Captain oversees all operations within the Group and reports his updates to the Beta-5 Division as well as the Section Chief of Section Three. Due to the Group being apart of Core 4, the Captain may often report to the Commander-in-Chief of the Office of Naval Intelligence. A Command Master Chief Petty Officer (E-9) coordinates directly to the Group's Captain and informed on the various operations conducted throughout UNSC Controlled Space.

Directly below the Captain, is a Commander (O-5) that accepts updates from Lieutenant Commanders and informs the Captain of the day-to-day operations within the Group. The Commander serves a six-year term alongside the Captain, which are both promoted at the same time. The Commander will often sit in on the debriefings that the Captain holds to ensure the correct information is being sent to the higher ranking officers they are reporting to within the Group. A Master Chief Petty Officer answers directly to the Commander, who has oversight of the enlisted personnel that the Command Master Chief Petty Officer wishes to be informed about during day-to-day operations.

Branch Structure

Throughout the five branches of the Asymmetrical Action Group, the head of the branch is known to hold the rank of Lieutenant Commander (O-4), which see the complete operations within their assigned branch. Serving below each O-4 is a Lieutenant (O-3) that reports directly to their commanding officer on their field of expertise. Depending on where each officer sits, their field may be specified by species or area of location. Many Lieutenants serve as field officers and mission controllers for a variety of teams that the Group has their hands on for the time being. Lieutenant, Junior Grades (O-2) are trained by O-3s and O-4s to rise into the position they are bound to take.

Enlisted personnel makes up the remainder of the Group's ability to employ and conduct successful operations. A Master Chief Petty Officer (E-9) reports directly to the Lieutenant Commander and keeps the day for all enlisted personnel throughout the Branch. The Senior Chief Petty Officers (E-8) work closely with the Lieutenants on their specific area of the field and inform the officer of any updates down the road. The remaining ranks are filled out with Chief Petty Officers (E-7), Petty Officer First Class (E-6), Petty Officer Second Class (E-5), Petty Officer Third Class (E-4) and, Seaman (E-3).

Team Structure

Critical Action Teams, also known as CATs, are the Ground Branch's covert action teams that can conduct operations in support of the Group's objectives. Each unit is led by a Paramilitary Operations Officer who is either a Lieutenant or Lieutenant Commander, depending on the mission. The officer-in-command is to lead, conduct, and organize the operation to ensure the success of the task. Often, the leader of a Critical Action Team can be the most senior enlisted operator, which is either a Master Chief Petty Officer or Senior Chief Petty Officer.

The enlisted personnel consists of a Master Chief Petty Officer or a Senior Chief Petty Officer as the Senior Troop Chief. Each enlisted personnel holds the MOS Paramilitary Operations Operator after completing their training. The Chief Petty Officer serves as the Junior Troop Chief for the second half of the team deployed. Petty Officer First Class down to Petty Officer Third Class make up the remainder of the team with specialties to assist with the success of each mission.

Special Tactics Teams, also known as STTs, are two personnel teams that make up a Specialized Skills Officer and a Specialized Skills Operator. The Special Tactics Teams are the teams that assist wit mission handling for the Group's sheep-dipped assets. They are the field officers who oversee the operations being conducted by the UNSC Armed Forces to ensure the success of each task with their specific team. The officer is often a Lieutenant or Lieutenant Commander while the enlisted is a Chief Petty Officer, Senior Chief Petty Officer, or a Master Chief Petty Officer.

Augmented personnel report to either a Staff Operations Officer, Operations Officer, Paramilitary Operations Officer or, a Specialized Skills Officer and their senior enlisted rank. Although augmented personnel is considered to be CATs, the Group wants to make them available to each officer to ensure that the augmented operators do not wait around too long while they are sheep-dipped.

MOS Structure

Officer MOS Structure

• Staff Operations Officer: O-4 to O-6
  • Operations Officer: O-2 to O-4
• Paramilitary Operations Officer: O-2 to O-4
• Specialized Skills Officers: O-2 to O-4

Enlisted MOS Structure

• Staff Operations Senior Enlisted Advisor: E-9
  • Staff Operations Advisor: E-7 to E-8
  • Operations Advisor: E-3 to E-6
• Paramilitary Operations Operator: E-4 to E-9
• Specialized Skills Operator: E-4 to E-9