Sigma Team

"'We're Spartans, sir. If we couldn't do our job, then I wouldn't be standing here discussing it.' ""- Austin to Colonel Gene Stratford prior to Operation: BRASS KNUCKLE"

Introduction
Sigma Team, lead by Sierra-B045, is a Fireteam sized unit consisting of Cat-2 Spartan-III Commandos. Similar to Noble Team, Sigma is subordinate to UNICOM, furthermore Special Warfare Command (SPECWARCOM). However, the teams members are still considered to be part of the Navy.

Founding, January 2545
In the year 2545, at some point prior to Operation: TORPEDO, the necessity for quality over quantity became clear to several high-ranking Officers within SPECWARCOM, Alpha and Beta Company had produced several Spartans that displayed traits that would indicate they would operate more effectively in a team rather than individually or within the Company.

Despite objections from a few low-ranking ONI Officials that oversaw the operation of the remaining Alpha Spartan and Beta Company, the proposal was brought before and approved by Colonel James Ackerson, the inspection, evaluation and reassignment of the teams initial members began and was completed within the following month. Each member of the squad would be outfitted with MJOLIR Mk.V and trained to properly maintain set equipment while out in the field, spending a brief period of time undergoing additional team-bonding and tactical exercises in order ensure maximum efficiency in the field.

Battle of Actium, May 2545
The team first saw conflict together when deployed in the Battle of Actium, being temporarily placed under the command of Colonel Akono Menteith and assisting in the battle, serving alongside the UNSC Army’s 53rd Armoured Division, moving deep into Covenant-controlled territory with the objective of destroying three of the largest and most heavily populated staging areas.

Sigma Teams training and squad cohesion would truly be tested in the battles, protecting, arming and eventually detonating a pair of HAVOK Tactical Nuclear Weapons to accomplish their objective and earning a temporary victory but at an extreme cost, both for the Armoured Company and Sigma Team.

During the conflict, Phil-A122 was critically injured when defending one of the nuclear devices, although functional the arming mechanism for the weapon was damaged, forcing the Spartan to stay behind and manually detonate the nuke. Within the month the team was ordered to evacuate, fearing that the team would not survive the predicted counter attack, within the following days the 53rd Armoured Division was completely annihilated.

Battle of Sargasso, September 2546
After spending a year performing smaller, more recon and espionage oriented operations, Sigma Team was deployed to assist UNSC forces after the Covenant invaded the planet, having learnt of its significance to humanities military. The Spartans were initially tasked with launching a counter-attack against the enemy force, disrupting their operations and holding their attention away from the local town and more importantly, buying Gamma-Six time to mount a sustainable defence. Unbeknownst to them, they were also providing a distraction while Alpha-Nine infiltrated the local Lethbridge Industrial Production Facility. Upon completing their objective, the team pulled back to the local town and assisted Sergeant Pham in their defence, engaging in another gruelling firefight where they were among the first soldiers to encounter the Type-46 Spectre.

The sudden appearance of this unexpected variable forced the defenders to adjust their defensive strategy drastically, losing several ODSTs in the process and moving back into their secondary position, sustaining injuries in the process. As the battle reached its boiling point, the remaining defenders were reinforced by Alpha-Nine and waged one last ditch attempt at repelling the enemy force, in which they were successfully despite facing casualties. All but one member of Gamma-Six had been killed in the firefight, while Sigma had a casualty of their own, Micheal-A170 having been injured by a Spectre blast and over the course of the battle slowly succumbed to their wounds. The team joined Alpha-Nine and the Gamma-Six survivor in traveling to a nearby base, bringing their fallen brother with them before being transferred off-world.

Battle of Meridian, 2548-2551
Shortly after the Covenant located and besieged Meridian, the Spartan Team was quickly deployed to assist in it’s defence, although their reason for transferred there was two-fold, the reason for being there to counter the invading forces as well as carry out the Cole Protocol should the planet be lost. While the rest of Sigma fought on the ground, cooperating with Marine and Army elements to evacuate as as many non-combatants as possible, William-B345 coordinated with the Air-Force, leading a squadron of GA-TL1 Longsword-Class Interceptors in the defence of the planet, these actions earning his distinct rank of Warrant Officer.

Sigma Team took part in the fighting for three gruelling years, during which they’d become an unofficial Commanders and strategic advisors, their experience and ability to communicate making cooperation between the Marines, Army, Air-Force and Navy seamless, spearheading the defence of Meridian without the mili-political background issues that held the branches back from effectively working together beforehand. One of the Spartans, Samson-A003 was present when the first Prototype of the HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL Mark IX "Mantis" ADS saw real combat, engaging in what would become known as the “Cherbourg Run”, despite this achievement, he would sacrifice his life to destroying an Anti-Infantry Emplacement that had been deployed within range of the Mantis.

Eventually they would repel the invasion fully, all but one of the members of Sigma leaving the planet, Brian-B198 having requested to oversee the rebuilding process, believing that they’d invested enough into this planet to deserve to see it prosper again. Although originally intending to return to Sigma Team, the Spartan was present on the planet as it was beset upon by three CAS-Class Assault Carriers and began evacuation procedures, he did not survive the glassing and was listed as MIA.

Fall of Reach, July - August 2552
After sustaining heavy losses during some of the most extreme conflicts in UNSC history, Sigma Team was reassigned to Reach with the official reason being to combat lawless and potential Insurrection activity, unofficially they had been transferred there to replenish their numbers, Austin-B045 being given the responsibility of carrying the squads AI Support Unit.

While being rearmed and allowed relative peace, Spartans Elise-B030, Angel-B087, Joshua-B299 and Jack-B029 would officially be reassigned to Sigma Team. On July 23rd, the planet would be besieged by the Fleet of Valiant Prudence, the Spartan Team assisting with civilian evacuations before being engaging in anti-invasion operations, cooperating with Marine and Army elements until the FOB was destroyed by an orbital bombardment.

During this time, Austin was unable to escape the blast radius and despite surviving the explosion and was buried by rubble, leaving him in a critical condition for several hours before Sigma Team arrived on site to retrieve him. The Spartans would then relocate to the Olympic Tower in New Alexandria alongside a contingent of UNSC forces.