Fireteam Riptide

“Wash away our enemies.”
Fireteam Riptide was a fireteam of Spartan-IVs in the United Nations Space Command.
==Known members==
* Spartan James Anderes (Riptide One) - Leader
* Spartan Allan Richards (Riptide Two) - Squad Technician
* Spartan William Reese (Riptide Three) - Squad Designated Marksman
* Spartan Quinn Johnson (Riptide Four) - Squad Demolitions Expert
==History==
By Summer of 2557, Fireteam Riptide was formed and assigned to the supercarrier UNSC Infinity.
=== Tours of Requiem ===
==== Battle of Requiem ====
Infinity was tasked with finding the rest of the Halo Array, and the UNSC forces managed to set up bases on Installation 03 as well as Installation 05 for studying and decommissioning the ringworlds. Furthermore, the Infinity was used to transport a massive Forerunner artifact known as the Composer to Ivanoff Station, a research station in orbit of Installation 03. After an ONI team at Ivanoff Station vanished while researching the Composer, the ship's crew learned the location of the shield world Requiem. 
During the approach to Requiem, Infinity picked up a distress call from the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn and her two surviving crew, Spartan John-117 and his smart AI companion Cortana. During the attempted rescue, the ship's control systems were hacked by the Didact, the leader of the Forerunners' Promethean Warrior-Servants, which caused it to crash-land on the shield world's surface. Fireteam Riptide, which was outside the ship following the crash, was forced to fight its way through dozens of enemies to reach the ship again, only to discover the Promethean and Promethean-allied Covenant remnant forces boarded Infinity while the Didact scoured the ship's mainframe; though the ship's crew did not know at the time, he was searching for the location of the Composer. Riptide managed to clear out one of the ship's vehicle bays with the help of Master Chief and several other Spartan-IVs.
Master Chief quickly brought Infinity's point defenses back online, enabling her to destroy two Zanar-pattern light cruisers and to drive off the Didact's Cryptum. Shortly thereafter, Captain Andrew Del Rio ordered that Gypsy Company neutralize a network of particle cannons that were suppressing UNSC aircraft in the area; this would allow an approach to the gravity well generator that was keeping Infinity inside the shield world, which in turn would allow the ship to return to Earth to report their findings. John-117 and Cortana jumped ship in the Pelican as Infinity escaped the shield world with Del Rio ordering a warning beacon dropped and a course set in for Carinae Station.
==== Requiem Campaign ====
On February 7, 2558, Infinity returned to Requiem to clear territory for UNSC research bases. The ship and her sub-vessels quickly dispatched a small Covenant task force stationed at the entrance portal and deployed numerous dropships through the opening. A massive joint effort comprising the Navy, Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Spartans began securing areas on the surface from Covenant garrison forces. 
Some time after an issue regarding a recovered Forerunner artifact, the Infinity was invaded by large numbers of Promethean Knights, followed by Covenant forces. The Covenant created havoc on board the ship, forcing the Infinity to recall all forces on Requiem to defend the ship. Fireteam Riptide was responsible for protecting the vessel's slipspace drive from being destroyed or disabled. Infinity and all forces later escaped the system shortly before Requiem collided with the star it orbited and destroyed the entire system.
=== Created Conflict ===
==== Subjugation of Earth ====
Infinity eventually returned to Earth and stayed in its orbit. There it was caught by surprise when on the next day Infinity received multiple distress signals indicating AIs shutting down everything from Earth to the Outer Colonies. Then suddenly the now-rogue Cortana called a massive Forerunner Guardian construct to near Earth's space, and Thomas Lasky, Infinity's commander, ordered for emergency slipspace jump. Infinity managed to escape right before Guardian's EMP attack knocked out the power of every ship, every starfighter, all the orbital defense platforms, and every city on the surface of Earth. Believing Cortana could track them Lasky ordered them to continue random jumps and steer clear of major settlements until they found a way to fight her.
Unfortunately, Fireteam Riptide was off of Infinity before the blast. After hearing orders recalling them to the ship, Fireteam Riptide, on two separate Pelican dropships, raced towards Infinity to get aboard. The first dropship, carrying Spartans James Anderes and Allan Richards, successfully landed aboard the ship's hangar before it made its slipspace jump. The other, carrying Spartans William Reese and Quinn Johnson, was too late and caught in the EMP blast, causing the disabled Pelican to crash on the surface of Earth, cutting the squad in half and cutting off both sides from each other while the UNSC rapidly collapsed to only a few scattered remnants. The Created, the faction of rogue AIs formed with Cortana as their leader, quickly occupied Earth and began spreading out to the rest of humanity's colonies.
=====Operation: GOING DUTCHMAN=====
William and Quinn's Pelican crashed on Earth in the island nation of Japan, just outside of the city of Tokyo. The two Spartans managed to link up with a confused group of local UNSC marines, though were forced into hiding due the the city quickly falling under Created occupation. Over the next several months, the UNSC forces, though disconnected, managed to form a somewhat-effective underground resistance in Tokyo.
On November 13th, 2559, word reached the resistance of an AI that wished to defect from the Created back to the UNSC. Though concerns were raised of whether or not it was a trap, William and Quinn decided to act on this, initiating Operation: GOING DUTCHMAN to retrieve her. The AI was hiding out in an abandoned UNSC military base, left empty since the start of the occupation. Though the AI truly intended to defect to the UNSC, she was still tracked by the Created, who deployed an Executor, a biomechanical super-soldier, along with several Forerunner Armiger Soldiers to neutralize any that would interfere with the process.
After entering the base, the two Spartans quickly discovered the AI, but Created forces were close behind, and the Executor became the first to them, attacking William before being chased off. Being the Created equivalent of a Spartan, defeating it was a challenge, but still manageable. Luring the Executor into one of the base's aircraft hangars, Quinn took control of one of the base's AV-49 Wasps and destroyed the Executor with two 50mm unguided missiles from the Wasp's M400 missile launchers. The remaining Created forces were dealt with and the Spartans fled the area with the AI before reinforcements arrived. William and Quinn would continue to work in the underground resistance for the remainder of the Created Conflict.
====Battle for Zeta Halo====
Meanwhile, Spartans James and Allan, who had made it onto the Infinity and escaped Earth before the EMP blast, the two remained aboard the UNSC Infinity for the remainder of the conflict. However, the Infinity would see her end in the Battle for Zeta Halo on December 12th, 2559, destroyed by an overwhelming Banished force in only a few minutes. A mass exodus began off the ship as Banished forces boarded the supercarrier during the attack. Though Allan was able to board a lifeboat and escape the ship, when a Banished dreadnought rammed through a section of the Infinity, James was sucked into space. Though he survived, he was discovered by Banished patrols scouring Infinity's debris field after the battle, and he was taken prisoner.
Allan barely survived landfall on the ring, and over the next few weeks, he was forced to hide from Banished patrols prowling Installation 07's forests in search of UNSC survivors. During this time, he armor was extremely damaged, forcing him to completely replace his armor with other parts he found around the battlefield. By 2560, he had managed to link up with a group of UNSC forces. On May 28th, Master Chief, who had been presumed dead on the day Infinity was destroyed, made landfall on the ring, over six months after the battle had begun. During the next several days or weeks, he would begin reuniting the scattered UNSC forces on the ring and prying it slowly from the grip of the Banished.
===== Skirmish on Ghost of Soirapt =====
By July 17th, all of the major Banished bases on the ring had been neutralized by Master Chief, and many of the Banished leaders had been killed, severely crippling their ability to maintain an effective hold on the ring. However, the Banished still retained control of the skies, with the Banished dreadnought Ghost of Soirapt maintaining a great hold over Zeta Halo, regularly deploying troops to the ring's surface and preventing the UNSC from gaining true control of the surface.
Taking inspiration from what Master Chief did to the Banished dreadnought Ghost of Gbraakon weeks earlier, Allan devised a plan to sneak aboard the Ghost of Soirapt and overload its engines before escaping right as the ship detonated. Hijacking a Banished Eklon'Dal Workshop Phantom, he quickly boarded the vessel, fighting his way through Banished forces aboard the ship on the way to the vessel's engines. However, on the way, he made a startling discovery: James Anderes was alive and being held prisoner aboard the ship.
Following James's capture by the Banished, he was stripped out of his armor and held prisoner aboard the Ghost of Soirapt while he was brutally interrogated by Banished commanders, though he refused to speak. After freeing James, Allan instead decided to help James find his Spartan armor. Eventually finding it in a storage room aboard the ship, being studied by Banished warriors, James reequipped his damaged but functional armor and the two, now properly reeunited, fought their way to the engine room, rigging it to explode and escaping the ship in a pair of stolen Kaelum Workshop Banshees. The two would eventually arrive at Outpost Tremonius, the primary UNSC base on Zeta Halo, and would continue working against the Banished on the ring.
===Post-Created Conflict===
In the aftermath of the Created Conflict, James and Allan would eventually return to Earth, where they would be reunited with William and Quinn, marking the first time in years the squad was whole again.
==Gallery==
File:JamesAnderes.webp|James Anderes, leader of Fireteam Riptide.
File:AllanRichards.webp|Allan Richards, Fireteam Riptide's technician.
File:WilliamReese.webp|William Reese, Fireteam Riptide's marksman.
File:QuinnJohnson.webp|Quinn Johnson, Fireteam Riptide's demolitions expert.
Category:Gamestrider1
Category:UNSC Units
Category:SPARTAN Teams
Category:SPARTAN-IV
Category:Fireteams
Category:Fireteam Riptide