//------------------------------// // Meet the SPARTANS // Story: Halo: X Team in Equestria // by The Good Dark Lord //------------------------------// Meet X Team, the strangest team of SPARTAN-II super soldiers in existance. Due to various miscalculations in ONI's selecting process, the training of these specific SPARTANs, and their genetic aguementations, the SPARTANS who would eventually become X Team came out more like civilians with super powers than soldiers with super powers. ONI originally planned to simply discard them and write them off as failures, but Dr. Catherine Halsey saved their lives by asserting that they should prove their worth before a final decision was made. These misfit SPARTANS were present during the Battle of Chi Ceti, but their official first engagement against Covenant forces was when they were sent to destroy a Covenant base on a small garden world in the Outer Colonies in 2526. The mission was a success and all six SPARTANS survivied. Over the course of the war they were sent on many operations, and eventually ONI gave them the official title of "X Team", as a sign of their legitimancy, and often sent them on black ops missions. Ironically, despite their role as ONI black ops, X Team is quite skilled at mingling with civilians, and immerse themselves in culture more so than other SPARTANS. But enough about the team's history, it's time you met the individuals themselves. Colonel Braden-007 is X Team's leader. Braden is unusually observant of whatever situation he is in, even for a SPARTAN. He could spot almost any flaw in any battle stategy, point out any weak point in any arguement, and he was damn good at taking advantage of any chance for victory. This is a part of why he is the highest ranking SPARTAN in the UNSC. Another reason for his high rank is that he competes with John-117 and SPARTAN-B312 for position of "Most hyper- lethal SPARTAN". But there is one more reason. Throughout his career, Braden has shown exceptional care for his fellow soldiers, whether they be marine, ODST, or SPARTAN. He firmly believes in the no- man- left- behind saying and will go to almost any lengths to make sure everyone makes it out alive.This mindset has gained him high respect from the higher ups and those he fights alongside with. Braden prefers precision weapons such as sniper rifles, battle rifles, and magnums. Instead of the standard combat knife, Braden managed to pull a few strings and carries a katana on his back as his melee weapon, which makes him really stand out. Speaking of said katana, Braden wears all white Hayabusa armor, which reenforces the image of a "samurai SPARTAN". It should be noted that Braden is initially hostile to Margaret Parangosky, the most dangerous human in the UNSC, despite Parangosky being his superior. Their rivalry is legendary not because of their difference in rank, but because Braden deliberately pissed her off several times, and got away with it every time. Major Richard-046 is X Team's second in command. Richard is a stickler for rules and protocal, and in general takes everything super seriously. His attitude is dry, sarcastic, to the point, and sometimes hostile. This no nonsense attitude has been the annoyance of many military personal, and the savior of countless human lives. Like Braden he prefers precision weapons, but his real skill is the combat knife. Richard wears dark blue Recon armor. He also has a small swearing problem, and tends to accidentally fall from great heights. Warrant Officer Ashley-090 is the scary one. No, seriously, she's the SPARTAN other SPARTANS are wary of when she enters the room. She is not feared because she's a bitch or anything, oh no. She's just like every other SPARTAN: quiet, heroic, dangerous. Emphasis on the dangerous. During the Human/Covenant War, a series of very unfortunate events occured during a battle that drove Ashley nearly insane. She didn't just kill the covies, oh no. She tore them apart ORGAN BY ORGAN. Ever since then, Ashley was an anti- Covenant killing machine to the umpteenth degree. Ashely has no specific preferences for weapons. So long as you give her at least a knife and a magnum, the job will be done. She wears grey Rouge armor. It should be noted that despite being described as a cold blooded lone wolf, Ashley prefers team missions over solo missions, and exibits a noticeable decrease in efficiancy and increase in anxiety when alone. Seargeant James-149 is X Team's heavy weapons expert. A bit of a jerk, especially for a SPARTAN, James just flat out loves action and the thrill of fighting. When you first meet him you may get the first impression that James is a bully douchebag who happens to be a SPARTAN. That couldn't be further from the truth. James is just a loyal sodier who has a somewhat immature sense of humor. James is a crack shot with the shotgun, extremely accurate with rockets and SPARTAN Lasers, and is an artist when it comes to explosives. He wears black EOD armor. Corporal Rose-064 is X Team's engineer. And tech expert. And pilot. And driver. Yeah, she's really good with technology in case you didn't notice. Rose can fly almost any vehicle in the UNSC, short of the SABRE starfighter and any UNSC ship frigate size or larger. Rose is curious and adventurous at heart, and often stumbles upon things that she shouldn't. Fortunately for her the number of times this turns out to be a good thing far exceeds the number of times it is a bad thing. Her skills as a technician and a spy often lands her in missions where sabotage is involved. Rose prefers small arms such as magnums, but will occasionally use the assault rifle or shotgun. She wears green EVA armor. Private Kenny-013 is the "rookie". Being the youngest of the SPARTANS, Kenny naturally tries to prove himself to the others, and is a little naive. Kenny prefers automatics such as the assault rifle or SMG. He wears red Mark 5 armor. It should be noted that Kenny has an unusual interest in media from the 21st century, especially children's media from the years 2010 onwards. Hopefully Kenny will one day move on from this strange behaviour for a SPARTAN and forget about his interests, as there is absolutely no way that anything he learned from those years will be relevent in ANY mission he will ever partake in.