Gold Team

Gold Team was a group of Spartan-IIs under the operational command of Naval Special Warfare Command. They actively participated in several battles, including the Battle of Chi Ceti, the Battle of Biko, Operation: SILENT STORM, the Battle of Eirene, the Battle of Bastion and the Battle of Miridem.
The team generally consisting of around four to five members, though the number could fluctuate depending on available Spartan's and the mission parameters. It was lead for most of the early Human-Covenant War by Joshua-029, until the disappearance of Red Team along with the UNSC Spirit of Fire in 2531. After which several Spartan's were shuffled between teams, resulting in command being passed to Sheila-065, who remained in command until her death in 2544 during the Battle of Miridem at the hands of elite swordsman Thel 'Lodamee.
After the battle, Gold's Two and Three, Solomon-069 and Arthur-079, were temporarily attached to Blue Team, perishing during the following Operation: WARM BLANKET. After which the team was be disbanded due to the team being reduced to a single member. After it's disbandment, the only surviving member of Gold Team, Gold-Four, Joseph-122 was reassigned to Blue Team, having been injured during the Battle of Miridem, preventing his participation in WARM Blanket.
Due to its losses, Gold Team was known as having the highest attrition rate amongst the Spartan-II Teams until the Fall of Reach, where the Red Team eclipsed it in 2552. As of 2558, only three known members of Gold Team are still alive, these being Naomi-010, Maria-062 and Joseph-122.
== History ==
=== Training ===
Gold Team was first formed on the first day of candidate induction into the SPARTAN-II program around Joshua-029, Naomi-010, and Grace-093. Gold Team, would often exercise against another SPARTAN-II Team, led by Jerome-092.
In 2525, following the loss of 30 Spartan candidate's due to the augmentation procedures, Gold Team would be reinforced by the additions of Daisy-023, Vihn-030 and Arthur-073. Due to all three having lost the other members of their respective teams, with Keiichi's and Arthur's being due to their teammates either washing out or perishing during their augmentation procedures. Whereas Daisy, on the other hand, had lost her team as a result of the escape attempt that took place following the augmentation procedures, which had resulted in one of her teammates, Oscar-129 taking his own life after discovering the truth of their abduction by ONI in 2517. Whilst the other, Ralph-103 had suffered a mental breakdown as a result of the escape, forcing him to have been labelled as perishing as a result of his their augmentations, in order to facilitate his retirement from the program.
=== Human-Covenant War ===
==== Battle of Chi Ceti ====
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====Battle of Biko ====
====Operation: SILENT STORM====
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====Battle of Eirene====
In 2535 Gold Team would be dispatched along with Blue Team and Green Team to the planet of Eirene, with Gold Team being tasked with engaging the enemy in order to delay their advance. However, due to the multiple avenues of advance, Sheila would be forced to separate the team in order to cover more ground, a decision which would prove costly as the battle developed.
Daisy would be assigned to assist Gamma Company of the 92nd Marine Regiment at the far end of the UNSC line, who held the line under repeated enemy lines until the last day of the battle just as the retreat order was given. At this time the covenant launched an all-out assault on the UNSC positions, which under the strain collapsed in several key sectors, separated most of Gamma company and Daisy from the rest of the UNSC ground forces. Daisy would spend the next few hours trying to regroup the few squads that remained in the area, however, only the badly mauled squad Gamma 2, would be able to hold until she arrived and together they would beat off the enemy assault, granting them a momentary respite. After this, she then assisted the Marines in getting to the evac point, where she met up with the former spartan, Ralph-103, now Sergeant Ralph Parish in the UNSC Marines. 
As their evac Pelican landed, however, Daisy was impaled by Needler rounds, fatally wounding her. Ralph and the other Marines attempted to help her, but she ordered them to leave and attempted to cover them with her pistol, but the Pelican was destroyed by Fuel Rod gunfire, killing all aboard. Daisy, her weapon spent, and her helmet having been knocked off when she had been hit, would be killed by the blast wave, sparing her the agony of bleeding to death. Hours later, her body was later found by John-117, who had been making his way to her position in an effort to aid her, who retrieved her body, before evacuating with the last UNSC forces on the ground, just as the Covenant began to glass the planet.
After the battle, Gold Team required a new transfer from Green Team to replace the position left by Daisy's demise. Unexpectedly, Joseph would be the one who volunteered for the transfer, taking the vacant position of Gold-Five. Having 'admitted', (after a talk with Carris-137) that he and Daisy had been in a secret relationship during training, which had ended badly and as a result had led to the pair falling out.
Gold Team was at-first, not pleased with the replacement for Daisy, as whilst the rest of the Spartan's had accepted Joseph's reason for his change of heart. The members of Gold Team weren't as forgiving due to their close relationship to Daisy and had formed a disliking of Joseph as a result. Only his former teammate Solomon-069 would give him a warm reception, abet lukewarm. Though with time, effort and convincing, Gold Team began to warm to Joseph, valuing his skills as a sniper and pathfinder, helped by his genuineness to apologise for his falling out with Daisy.
====Battle of Bastion====
In 2542, Gold Team was deployed to the besieged colony of Bastion, a major inner colony transit hub. Due to Covenant air cover, Gold Team was forced to reach the planet in SOEIV Drop pods, from orbiting UNSC Carrier, UNSC Randolph. Unfortunately, the drop pod carrying Gold-Three, Maria-062, malfunctioned with only half of its drag-chute deploying which jammed the reserve chutes deployment, whilst barely slowing the pod's descent and causing it to spin violently out of control. At the last second, the pod's rockets fired, slowing the pod slightly before it ploughed into a building, preventing Maria's death, but leaving her badly injured.
The rest of Gold landed roughly 2 kilometres from Maria rushed to her aid, having to fight through stiff Covenant resistance before reaching her. Upon arrival, Arthur and Solomon sought out her pod, whilst Sheila and Joseph engaged pursuing Covenant forces. Scaling the building, the pair found her pod smashed open like an eggshell, with her body having been ripped clear from the impact lying on the floor above where the wreckage of the pod was found. Upon reaching her he found that due to the forces of the crash to her helmet having been cracked open, leaving her with a major wound to her head, requiring urgent medical treatment.
Under fire from Banshee fighters, the four active members of Gold carried their wounded comrade to a nearby triage centre, where she was given urgent medical care by UNSC combat surgeons. The surgeons diagnosed her as having several fractured bones, including her skull, with potential brain damage in addition to heavy internal bleeding. One surgeon remarked that it was only due to her augmentations that she had survived the impact, which would have killed even the most hardened ODST. After her treatment, Maria was evacuated to the orbiting UNSC Hopeful aboard the first medical transport after air superiority was won back from the Covenant, with the assistance of Gold Team and longswords from the Randolph. After Maria was evacuated, Gold Team continued with their original mission, assisting UNSC forces with the evacuation of civilians from the planet, and engaging Covenant forces before the planet was evacuated.
After the battle, Maria was diagnosed with trauma to the frontal lobe, radically affecting her personality, turning the once boisterous Spartan, into a quieter person with a fondness for children. Worse, the damage had left her with an inability to cause harm to another living being, nearly costing her, her life when a Marine suffering from PTSD attacked her, only being saved when orderlies intervened and restrained her assailant. As a result, the UNSC deemed her no longer fit for combat service and withdrew her from combat deployments indefinitely, with Arthur taking her callsign of Gold-Three, whilst Joseph took his old position of Gold-Four.
====Battle of Miridem====
In 2544, Miridem became the next human world to come Covenant's path of destruction, being attacked by the Third Fleet of Glorious Consequence, beginning a protracted battle that would last for over two weeks, prompting the deployment of Gold Team and Blue Team in response. Upon arrival the teams were split between two separate objectives, Gold Team being tasked with the evacuation of civilians from the planet, whilst Blue Team would be tasked with the destruction of the planets central datastores, buried under the capital city.
During the battle the Spartan's were made aware that Doctor Catherine Halsey was present on the planet, and required immediate assistance, Resulting in Sheila and Joseph detaching from the rest of Gold to assist. However as they were evacuating Halsey, Joseph was shot through his left knee by a jackal sniper, the blamite needle projectile penetrating between the joints in the MJOLNIR's armour plates, incapacitating him, but fortunately did not detonate, allowing him to keep his leg. Sheila (with Halsey providing some medical assistance) would then move the incapacitated Joseph into a safe position before continuing with the mission alone until she was killed by the Sangheili Major Thel 'Lodamee whilst covering Halsey's evacuation crafts takeoff. Unfortunately, having seen Sheila's sacrifice, 'Lodamee, correctly determined the Doctors importance and would pursue the ship, leading to her capture.
After the capture of Doctor Halsey was discovered, the UNSC would launch Operation: WARM BLANKET, led by John-117, with Solomon and Arthur being attached to the mission as members of Blue Team along with Kelly-87 and Fred-104. Joseph would attempt to partake in the operation, despite being unable to walk without help, as he blamed himself for the death of Sheila as he had not been there to support her in her fight with 'Lodamee. John, however, would not permit Joseph to participate in the mission, as his injuries made him unable to fight.
===Disbandment===
Following Operation: WARM BLANKET and the deaths of Solomon and Arthur, Joseph would be the sole surviving member of Gold Team, abet requiring a lengthy hospital stay so that his wound could heal properly. As a result of the loss of 3 of the Spartan's of Gold Team, Naval Special Warfare Command made the decision not to reform Gold Team with a new squad of Spartan's. Choosing instead to attach Joseph to another Spartan team and elected to retire the name Gold Team from the list of Spartan-II Teams, as it had suffered the heaviest casualties among the Spartan-II Teams. A grim record, which would only be surpassed with the loss of at least 7 Spartan-II's under the callsign of Red Team, during the Fall of Reach in 2552.
==Members==
Original members
* - (Gold One) - KIA   (2517-2531) - Operation: SILENT STORM.
* - (Gold Two) - Active   (2517-2531) - Operation: SILENT STORM.
* - (Gold Three) - KIA   (2517-2531) - Operation: SILENT STORM.
*Daisy-023 - (Gold Four) - KIA   (2525-2535) - Operation: SILENT STORM, Declared MIA during the Battle of Eirene.
* - (Gold Five/Four/Three) - KIA   (2525-2544) - Declared MIA during .
* - (Gold Six) - KIA   (2525-2531) - 
* - (Gold One) - KIA   (2525-2544) - Replaced Joshua-029.
* - (Gold Two) - KIA   (2531-2544) - Replaced Naomi-010, Declared MIA during .
* - (Gold Three) - Retired   (2531-2542) - Replaced Grace-093, Discharged due wounds.
*Joseph-122 - (Gold Five/Four) - Active   (2535-2547) - Replaced Daisy-023, Wounded during the Battle of Miridem.
Former personnel
								
								
								
								
== Appearances ==
* Halo Legends - Homecoming (First appearance)
* Halo: Silent Storm
Category:SPARTAN Teams