Haylo: Crimson

by Zarius9998

Epilogue AKA It's never Over.

Halsey sat in her chair, staring at the new set of notes she finally got motivated to restart since their...hacking.

"So Artemis is back..." She scoffed, turning her chair in a three-sixty spin, "Well, she technically never left."

Halsey looked at the old bio for Subject-013, which she finished reconstructing from memory, due to it's recent deletion. After receiving the report about Artemis's reawakening and...poly-persona predicament, the scientist decided that maybe the entirety of Crimson Team's bio needed to be reevaluated...

"Let's see here..." Halsey cracked her knuckles then went to the keyboard, her fingers flitting across the tabs like lighting as edits, deletions, and replacements filtered from her mind to the screen. The tacking almost sounded like a musical symphony...except not really.

Once her conducting—so to say—was done, Halsey looked her work over, satisfied, "I really should try to get on their good sides, sometime. I want Zarius or Raven out of her next time, rather than Diana."

-------------

//Initiate Team Bios//

//...recovering info...

...acquired//

Name- Crimson Team.

Members- Four to Eight
~Composed of-
-Commander- Rayna "Widow" Smith. Human Female ODST.
-SIC- Artemis "Wolfie" Crimson. Mare Spartan-IV.

•Sub Personas

~Diana- Antisocial Stealth Ops.

~Zarius- Kindly Scout Ops.

~Laura- Sensual Escape Artist.

~Raven- Mischevious Weapons Specialist.
-Communicationist- Ryan "Ghost" Smith. Human Male ODST.
-Brute Force/Heavy Weapons Specialist- Pipsqueak "Squirt" Crimson. Colt Spartan-IV.

-Team Background~
The name "Crimson" stems from the members' unfortunate run-ins with morbid and bloody situations. While every soldier encounters the harshness of war, the members of this team all have the prerequisite of leaving some of the worst and mind-breaking events with a stable enough mind to still function...more or less. The Team, with their inhuman and inpony-like state of mind towards morbid situations, are usually sent on sweep or post-massacre missions to sift, quite literally, through the remains of battles and attacks for any survivors or salvageable items. They also specialize, and generally volunteer for, being distractions and "bullet sponges" for the primary team to better accomplish their own missions. This is the team that undertakes missions no one else would ever want to...I guess you could call them our "Bad Company."

The raw inspiration for the team's name comes from its's Second in Command, Artemis. This...disturbed pony was found amidst a complete massacre of covenant, human, and pony soldiers and civilians. While it has never been determined if the casualties on all sides were caused by her, it is prominently clear that she was responsible for the barely recognizable remains of each an every Covenant soldier. There were also reports of signs of some of the corpses being partially devoured by what would best be described as a wolf. In the end, the young mare was taken into the Spartan-IV program with immense interest.

Upon being told she would be fighting against the covenant with technological aid from the UNSC, Artemis' response was as follows, "So you mean I'm allowed to kill them all?"

Later, after the supposed death of Artemis on the catastrophic Rainbow Factory Mission, a prolonged encounter with the persona Diana occurred with members of Crimson Team and other upper-class officials. It was later confessed by Artemis herself, who was actually Diana, that she suffers from split personalities, which have the capability to take command of Artemis's body when she herself is mentally weak. So far, only Diana has "escaped," but, supposedly being the worst of the other personas, these personalities appear to not desire any hindrances on the UNSC, ONI, or Artemis...
Still, an eye must always be on Artemis and her...personas.

//Subject Files...searching...

...acquired//

--/Rayna Smith AKA "Widow."

Rayna found herself stuck with the name "Widow" for the sole reason that she could not hold down a lover for more than three days. It's not that they broke up, no, but instead for the reason that each boy friend or fiancé would end up dead. Her first, soon to be husband, in fact, was killed while attempting to salvage Equis. Months later, her new boyfriend went MIA on a routine check-up trip where studies on the highly classified and quarantined artifact, The Marker, WERE taking place. Shortly after that, her third boyfriend committed suicide for unknown reasons. Lastly, she attempted to kindle relations with a Stallion, which ended in disaster as she watched him become crushed underneath the feet of a Scarab. She has become a cold, heartless woman because of this, which, I am sad to say, used to make her a very capable soldier.

Fortunately, times have changed, and the coldhearted woman has become more of a likable lady, when not in combat, that is. Probably thanks to the "lessons" Artemis has brought her through playful interactions, Widow moved back into a more healthy state of mind and appears to again desire to find someone to love. Due to her recent, very well activity in the field, this appears to have made her a stronger person, and better soldier.

She specializes in Vehicle Warfare, mastering the controls of every vehicle under both our own, and Covenant command. She even piloted the very Scarab which killed her last boyfr-er, coltfriend and wreaked havoc upon Covenant forces.

Preferred Weapon Set-up- Standard issue Magnum and Pump action Shotgun. Standard issue Combat Knife.\

--/Artemis Crimson AKA "Wolfie"

Artemis, already supposedly possessing the name Crimson, acquired her name "Wolfie" from the abnormal teeth she possesses. Unlike any other pony, Artemis has teeth of which resemble a wolf more than a pony, thus, the name "Wolfie." Of course, her killer instincts of which she possessed even before entering the Spartan-IV program, along with her signature "Next Meal" stare, added to the fittingess of the nickname. Miss Crimson, unfortunately, shows very clear signs of mental disturbance and outright insanity, especially for her odd craving of raw meat, while most ponies prior to their inclusion in the war had never even tasted meat. On top of this, she has also had multiple outbursts of sheer rage and fury, harming many. Though these "outbursts" are seemingly uncontrollable, she has mastered the ability to "direct" them at enemy forces. I have seen the outcome of one of these flares firsthand...it's completely terrifying...yet very effective and useful...but through all this, she is actually quite a chivalrous mare, being no where near as cold as Widow...that is, when she's not terrorizing the other soldiers or molesting the...well, anyone. Her preferences don't seem to point to one specific gender, or species for that matter, when it comes to her..."games."

Artemis is one hell of a combatant. Specializing in CQC and excelling in flexible and agile movement and thinking, she can, and HAS taken down a pair of Hunters without even picking up a weapon. She is a master of adaption, able to compensate any unfortunate situation into one that will work into her favor using her quick speed and on-her-hooves thinking. Then, when she is not fully in control of her mental processes while in one of her outbursts, she disregards all caution or inhibitions, throwing more than seemingly possible into decimating, mutilating, and just plain tearing to shreds anything, and EVERYTHING she wants. She appears to have completely gained control of her rage and has learned to work with, instead of behind, her outbursts. As a side note, while she is a specialist at close range combat, she is also, like every Spartan, capable of using anything that can be considered a weapon with great mastery. Though she specializes in daggers, Energy Swords, pistols, shotguns, SMGs, BRs (though she prefers the the old type, DMR for some reason), and, unlike the rest, the Sniper. Another oddity of this mare is the fact that she is usually found standing on just her rear legs instead of all fours, unlike most other ponies do when not in a combat situation. Adding upon this is her apparent master of hand to hand combat...even though she possesses no hands.

Newly acquired intel about her mental disorder has discovered that, along with her control of the rage within her, she has apparent dominance over the other personas within her. She claims to be able to allow when and how long the other personas are allowed to take control, but has shown no evidence of this. Still, this could be a very interesting and informative experiment to watch and test.

Preferred Weapons Set-up- Standard Issue Pistol, Standard Issue SMG, her own custom (and admittedly, out-of-regulation) Sniper Rifle, and two Energy Swords. Standard issue combat knife. She also recently came into possession of a prototype Energy Sword of unknown origin (yet) which gathers energy from light, friction, and anything else it can naturally to recharge itself. This weapon is also able to produce an energy burst of similar effect to an EMP blast, though every action costs much of the weapon's energy. Still, the recharge accommodates this fact. The energy produced is also crimson in color. She has nicknamed the device "Thánatos."

**Side note— Let it be noted that research has been cancelled for the finding of ways to officially control her mind.

It has been determined that this is an impossible feat.

--/Ryan Smith AKA "Ghost"

He acquired the nickname "Ghost" for multiple reasons, some, more morbid than others. For one, the previous holder of the title "Ghost" died preventing a Covenant armada from capturing prototype technology...even though he did so by destroying the entire facility...so, the name was, I guess, open for grabs...although it's not really a name one wants. Ryan took the name Ghost because of his apparent lack of the ability to feel. Whether this is a nervous disorder, or he is just very good at hiding feelings of pain, remorse, or fear, I cannot say, as he has never actually been tested for such disorders. While he is not emotionless, much like his sister (see: "Widow"), always showing the signs of a jokester and comedian, he is unfazed by scenes of death and horror...more reasons for his nickname is his "secret" for concealing his comms. stations, as well as scrambling any radar. As the communications controller for his Team, he perfected the act of quick and stealthy communication. None of his signals nor tech has been traced or captured unless he wanted it to...in fact, I think he hacked into the conversation I once had with Twilight...I ignored it, as I had no proof, and I actually admired him for doing so. Lastly, he's made both highly exceptional and very effective camo and hologram tech for his entire Team. Of course, he reserved only the best for himself, making him TRUELY an untraceable Ghost.

While combat isn't his forte, he is still an able soldier, like all ODSTs, yet he prefers to run recon. He will usually be manning a recon drone, or scanning the visuals through his entire team's headsets and vitals. I think he even hacked a nearby satellite to scan the area for his team, WITHOUT regulation, I may add. And as a side note...I remember his mentioning of an underground program he discovered called the "Freelancer" project which used similar tech to the Spartan program...I will have to approach the UNSC board about the matter later, see if this might become a problem.

He also has heavily modified his augmented robotic arm to great extremes since losing his biological arm. No one but him knows what secrets are within that hunk of metal.

Preferred Weapon Set-up- Thermal and Scope Enhanced Sniper Rifle, Standard issue Pistol with optional silencer, Standard issue SMG with optional silencer, and Standard issue combat knife.\

--/ Pipsqueak AKA "Squirt"

The newest recruit obviously received the name "Squirt" for having the name Pipsqueak. He was added to this team after being responsible for the deaths of his ENTIRE SQUAD for revealing their position after speaking up in a stealth situation. Somehow managing to be the single survivor, he has since spoken almost not one single word...funny, most new recruits tend to be this way, according to accounts received from Dare and Buck with their own Rookie.

As his experiences with the Crimson team have went on—mainly his experiences with Artemis in particular—Pip has become somewhat of a protégé to the mare, having become adept in battling with momentum and CQC. Though he lacks in the agility and stability aspects, he accommodates for this by containing an extreme amount of brute force, pushing his limits just as far as Artemis can, if not further. He specializes is the application of his strength and the mastery of heavy and explosive weaponry.

Preferred Weapon Set-up- In heavy skirmishes: Rocket Launcher and as many cases of extra pods as possible, extra grenades, a Grenade Launcher, and mobile Heavy Machine Gun. In squad-based operations, two Magnums and a standard Shotgun as well as a heavy Combat Knife.

This is Crimson Team, and they are currently active and willing to fight.

Comments

[Zarius9998]

Welp! The thing is done. Maybe a few bonus or extra chapters if I think of them, but time to move onto other things! I've got a Slendermare thing in the works, gatta continue the Lunacy story about Artemis that I badly want to do (already got a sequel planned for that, too!), and Daytime Nighttime! Plus, a possible Derpy tribute and the story I was GOING to do foe that big February write-off (I didn't have enough time.) But anyway...once I get to the 100th comment, that comment gets a super special "prize" (as long as it's not a double-post!) and Artemis'll do somethin' special for them...

~ Z and Ari.

[Zarius9998]

422724
Artemis- You double posted...tell you what, though. If moping responds for a while, you'll still get a little...somethin' somethin'.

[Zarius9998]

422722
Artemis- Actually, you were also comment number 13, so...I guess that works.

Zarius- PM us for specifics.

[Silverstein]

1519719

I second that!

(Raises hand)

Anyways, this was an entertaining if scattered read. I saw some grammar issues but the story itself was enjoyable!

Silver out!