Halo Reach Defiant Team Back story
Spartan – 182 “Josh”
Defiant One
Home Planet
S182, Josh, was taken from New Paris on Mars by the UNSC for the Spartan III program. Born on September 14th 2523 on Mars, Josh was 5 years old when “signed up” for the Spartan Army.
“We are the kids of war and peace, made into war machines to keep the peace” S-182 Josh
Training
Josh began a new life on Reach along with the other Spartan 3’s, it is there he developed an attachment to a young ODST trooper called Kirstin Rust, during training ops Josh would reject team work in favor of working alone or not at all, in fact during a search and rescue simulation Josh snuck out a prototype active camo attachment to sneak out the training base. The escape attempt was unsuccessful.
At the age of 16, when the augmentation process for Spartan 3’s undergoes, Josh managed to escape detection for a small amount of time to say goodbye to Kirstin knowing that it would probably be the last time he would ever be able to see her. During this heart-felt goodbye Kirstin would tell Josh that she would meet him after he had been “augmented” to say farewell properly.
Armor
Josh’s original armor consisted of the Operator helmet W/ Silver Visor, Commando Shoulder (left), CQC Shoulder (right), Commando Chest plate and FJ Para Knee pads. His armor was originally green with a black accent. He also was given a Tac Pad and a tactical hard case. Josh would go on to change his armor combinations through out his life time, the only parts of his armor that were the same during the fall of Reach was the Chest Plate. This may be down to personal preference or the fact that he is a commander.
After the augmentation process Josh met up with Kirstin, she gave Josh the rose emblem on his chest plate (which was black at the time) and she put one on her armor so that, if they ever met again in the future, they would be able to recognize each other, Josh simply replied to this gesture by saying “I wouldn’t need this to remember you” Kirstin smiled back at the new Spartan and nodded, the couple hugged awkwardly due to the heavy armor that Josh was now wearing and parted ways. Josh was deployed to the outer planets to fight rebels while she would continue her work on Reach with the Spartans.
Josh received 2 armor upgrades during the fall of Reach;
1) Josh had to change his chest plate during the battle of New Alexandria after it became dented by an elite generals gravity hammer (later procured by Jack). Josh’s chest plate was changed to a shotgun chest plate.
2) following a Banshee ambush Josh’s Mark V helmet was destroyed and so he returned to his original operator helmet.
Defiant Team
Josh was placed as the leader of Defiant Team, named for the team’s defiant nature towards the UNSC and Covenant, although he would routinely leave James, Defiant Two, in charge of ops and continue to work as a lone wolf. The Defiant Team was one of only a few Spartan teams that consisted of the same soldiers through out the human covenant war. Josh was trained in a number of extra weaponry usages such as Sniper Rifle, Grenade Launcher, and the M45 Shotgun as well as becoming one of the best Spartan drivers and falcon pilots. However the Spartan favored the use of covenant weaponry, especially the energy sword, during the fall of Reach Josh was seen using an energy sword he had taken from an elite field marshal that he had killed with his bare hands.
Reach
During the fall of Reach Josh was reunited with Kirstin, now an ODST team leader, during the battle of New Alexandria while Josh was on med evac following a banshee ambush while trying to intercept a covenant patrol. Josh’s helmet, which was a newly issued Mark 5 at the time, was completely destroyed and his right arm, from neck to for arm was scared as was his face with a purply black plasma burn down the left hand side of his face from the tip of his nose to the back of his head. The burn also blinded him in his left eye and damaged his arm so it had to be amputated and replaced with a robotic arm.
Following the crippling injury Josh was given a new helmet, the Mark 6, which he rejected straight away and announced he would return to his original Operator helmet. Despite his semi blindness Josh was cleared for combat again within a few hours after being injured. During this time, Defiant Two was at the secret Saber launch site assisting in “Operation Uppercut” by holding off the covenant while Noble Six and Noble Four launched to take out the Covenant supper carrier. Josh and Kirstin were accompanied by Defiant Three Billy and Defiant Five Jack and a “commandeered” pelican.
Josh was on Reach well past August 30th, the listed date for the end of the fall of Reach, up until September 7th. His last known location was on a UNSC frigate overlooking a burning reach during a battle with a corvette. Although the events leading up to this event are unclear at the moment, The UNSC is reviewing the recovered helmet cams of Defiant One, Two, Three and Five (the location of Defiant Fours is unknown), certain viddocs show elites fighting elites aboard the ship as well as the Surviving members of Defiant Team onboard.
The Stupid Stuff
The tag for S – 182 has 2 different meanings.
1) Bungie’s rule of 7 = 1 + 8 – 2 = 7
2) Blink 182 (the band)
Josh’s whole Spartan identity shares traits from RVB,
1) Tex
2) Tuckers use of a sword
3) The Meta ’s constant armor changing
4) Agent York
The name Josh has been used for 3 separate machinima’s for the same voice actor / machinmator
The plasma scar that Josh receives on his face comes from the idea of Zuko’s scar (Avatar the Legend of Aang.)
The “rose emblem” has been a trait of Andriarno’s since Halo Reach’s launch date.
Josh’s active camo does seem to be a continuing story. This was seen when OPMF tried to create a halo 3 machinima created by Duckegg and also in Maidens “all for one” machinima.
The way Josh receives his Robotic arm is the same way that Kat from Noble team gets hers. Although Josh’s crippling must have been worse given the shattering of his helmet and blindness in one eye.
Spartan 340 – James
Defiant Two
Home Planet
Spartan James was taken from Reach in 2522, at the age of 6, and initiated into the Spartan III project along with his twin brother, Spartan Gideon S-341. The Spartan twins were deliberately separated during training ops to avoid a family connection that could jeopardize any combat mission’s effectiveness. The Spartan twins were both trained in different specialty’s, James was trained as a pilot, vehicle mechanic, computer hacking and advance driving while Gideon was trained in heavy weaponry, demolitions and gauss turret operation.
“The 2 Spartan III twins are two halves of a Spartan II” Admiral Lee Ackers
Training
During James’ training he came into contact with Defiant Three, Chris, and quickly became friends. James was extremely talented at training ops such as capture the flag and king of the hill earning him notoriety amongst the Spartan III inspectors. James, during the Spartan 3 escape attempt by grey team, hacked into the Spartan records and realized the fact that he had a twin brother within the base. Although James’ hacking went unnoticed at the time, when he had snuck out of a training op and managed to find his brother in the Spartan camp, both were caught and (with no point hiding them from each other) they were placed in Defiant Team together along with S-182, S-232 and S-362 and S-352.
Armor
Unlike Spartan Josh, the supposed leader of Defiant Team, James kept his armor the same as it was issued. His armor consisted of the Air Assault helmet W/ black visor, JFO soldiers, extra storage chest plate, Tac pad, and FJ Para knee pads. He had Blue Armor with a red accent. During the fall of Reach James received an upgrade to his armor as he was part of Operation Uppercut along with Noble Four and Noble Six, James changed the Air Assault helmet to the Pilot variant. James was absent during the battle of New Alexandria which the rest of Defiant Team were all present for.
Reach
James was sent to the secret Saber launch site to help cover the launch of Noble Four and Six, after the 2nd spire was taken down by Defiant Team. James was assisted in holding off 3 covenant battalions and a wraith allowing time for the launch by Spartan Dante, a fully equipped Recon soldier, who had white armor with a blue accent which matched his armor ability (drop shield).
After Operation Uppercut, and the arrival of the entire Covenant fleet, James managed to find the rest of Defiant Team shortly after the battle of New Alexandria. Josh quickly reverted to the old and made James in charge again. This was also the first time James would meet The ODST, Kirstin Rust, who had joined the Spartan Group following the death of the rest of her ODST team and Defiant Four – Chris (S – 232) in the radiation flare.
After the Battle of New Alexandria, Admiral Lee Akers instructed James, Josh and Gideon to destroy a covenant landing zone near ONI Sword Base in response to the forerunner artifact within the bodbth ice shaft. Josh flew out earlier than the other two to scout ahead using his active camo armor ability, James and Gideon came in a few hours later on falcons. After ambushing a covenant patrol Josh took the wraith into the landing zone and placed a STPL (Space to Planet Laser) (pronounced staple). The UNSC ship Washington, which had been commissioned for use 4 hours before winter contingency had been declared, fired through the covenant landing zone allowing both Noble and Defiant team to finish their objectives.
Josh was injured by a banshee ambush just after escaping the Covenant landing zone and was med evaced from the site with Kirstin and James back to the ruins of New Alexandria where a small group of people had set up a secondary command centre after the loss of Sword Base. From there Defiant one, two and five were sent to destroy sword base (defiant team were “the others” who would handle the demolition as said by Dr Halsey) the falcon that Defiant One and Five were on was shot down before reaching the roof of sword base, Josh ordered James to start setting the charges while him and Defiant Five fought their way to the demo site.
James also survived past august 30th into the 7 day skirmish after the fall, his camera was also found on the ship with Defiant one, three and five his body was not found on the ship. It was thought that after a battle the Spartans had their armor damaged and had to leave the damaged parts behind however that would be unlikely for all four Spartans on the ship. Another theory is that the Spartans went rouge and abandoned the UNSC leaving behind there tracking beacons and cameras behind.
Stupid Stuff
James is the voice actors name; every character that James Maiden has been written for is called James.
James in the machinima is a talented computer hacker, this comes from an inside joke within OPMF in that Maiden keeps hacking his Xbox to make him better at the games he plays.
James’ armor ability is sprint, this was maiden’s preference although it is never explained why, a reason might be that the air assault armor is light weight or that sprint is judged as a boring armor ability and suits maidens personality (:
The idea for the Spartan twins was casted for James (maiden) and Gideon (Billy) because they both come from Birmingham so they have a similar accent, Re-written as the accent for Reach’s city of New Honolulu
James service tag is also under bungie’s rule of 7 – 3 + 4 + 0 = 7
Defiant Three
Home Planet
Gideon, the other Spartan III twin, was taken from the Reach city of New Honolulu
Training
“The 2 Spartan III twins are two halves of a Spartan II” Admiral Lee Ackers
Gideon was a stereotypical jock quarterback during training making him very popular with the other Spartan III’s, a born leader through out the training he was able to take charge during games such as capture the flag even rivaling Sierra 117 during a game of King of the Hill, although 117 managed to win in the end.
Armor
Gideon’s armor consists of the JFO helmet W/ Silver Visor, CQC shoulders, Prototype Shield Chest plate, FJ Para knee pads. His armor was specifically designed to support usage of his rocket launcher, grenade launcher and Spartan laser. Gideon is also the only Spartan in Defiant Team that has a Silver visor, Spartan Chris (Defiant Four) also doesn’t have a black visor, and Chris has a blue visor on his Hazop helmet.
Gideon’s main armor color is yellow with a red accent; this way of standing out is also mirrored in his personality. Gideon is a hot head in battle often jumping into situations that he wouldn’t be able to get himself out of, Gideon is convinced in his own invincibility due to his Spartan armor and ability, armor lock.
During the fall of Reach Gideon managed to alter his armor lock ability so that he was able to utilize the lightning that came out of prolonged armor lock. This was first seen during the battle of New Alexandria when it was used on a Brute Chieftain. After Gideon killed the Chieftain he realized that the armor ability would not work at all after shooting lightning at the Brute, making the armor lock lightning a deadly ability that would only be used as a last resort.
Reach
Gideon, and the rest of Defiant Team, was responsible for the fall of the second covenant spire on Reach. Gideon and Chris managed to set det chords around the base pillars of the spire while Josh, James and Jack went up the spire to deactivate the EMP shield around the spire. Following the destruction of UNSC frigate Grafton Defiant Team defied orders and destroyed the second spire before being split up to fight the covenant around Reach.
Defiant One and Three fly out to Highlands , a Spartan training site to assist in removing of UNSC classified Spartan technology. Defiant Two was taken on a classified mission, which later was revealed to be Operation Uppercut. Defiant Four and Five were flew back to Sword Base to assist in evacuations of critical ONI members. Defiant Four and Five were also the first meet Kirstin Rust at Sword Base.
Defiant Four was used during the covenant ambush as well as the demolition of sword base. Defiant Four’s helmet cam was found within the ruins of the UNSC ship along with the other members of Defiant Team (minus Defiant Four who was killed in New Alexandria)
Stupid Stuff
The idea for the Spartan twins was casted for James (maiden) and Gideon (Billy) because they both come from Birmingham so they have a similar accent, Re-written as the accent for Reach’s city of New Honolulu
Gideon’s tag also follows Bungie’s rule of 7. 3 + 4 ÷ 1 = 7
Gideon’s name comes from another inside joke from OPMF in that Billy’s name is really James but we know 4 James’ so he would be called Gideon.
Gideon’s armor was chosen by the voice actor as a joke at first, hoping that he would be told to change it, but the game started and recording began on Episode 5.
The machinimator that plays Gideon is the second highest ranking Halo Reach player (second to Andriarno who plays Josh)
Gideon was originally going to wear Gunginir however Billy bought some random armor to catch up with Andriarno’s armory completion shortly before production began. Following that moment of weakness, Billy could not afford Gunginir.
Billy (Gideon) and Duckegg (Jack) are currently in a race to reach Colonel rank in multiplayer so that they can buy Gunginir.
Defiant Four
Home Planet
Chris the Spartan II of Defiant Team, making him technically the best Spartan out of the group which is shown through out the story, was identified for the Spartan II project in 2517 through civilian vaccination programs. Chris’ records were lost during the fall of Reach along with all the other Spartan II records. He was often quoted as saying that Reach was his home world however this may be because he was trained there for years rather than being born there.
Armor
Chris’ armor consists of the CQC helmet W/ Blue Visor, ODST shoulders, UA Counter Assault chest plate and FJ Para knee pads. He is the only Spartan on Defiant team that does not have the Tac pad attachment for his wrist. Instead he has the UA Wrist Bracer. His armor was black with a ice accent to match his visor color, Chris was the only Spartan in Defiant team with a blue visor.
Chris’ armor ability was the hologram, which he would use to distract unwary elites and then assassinate them from behind. It is a tactic he used during the 2nd spire skirmish to great affect against the retaliate attack from the covenant. He would also use the hologram to create a weird effect as he ran towards an enemy for close quarters combat; this is first seen during the battle of New Alexandria.
“You can pin all you’re hopes on me sir” Chris 232
Reach
Spartan Chris, Defiant Four, was called away from the rest of defiant team after the fall of the second spire. The mission was classified for only Spartan II’s so it was never revealed to the public or to the rest of defiant team.
Chris returned to Defiant team during day 2 of the Battle of New Alexandria assisting in the evacuations of key UNSC members, unfortunately during a skirmish to disable one of the covenant corvettes over New Alexandria, the exit doorway lock became damaged so that it could only be closed from one side, he opted to stay behind despite the offer of Defiant One who claimed it was his responsibility due to the failure of the mission being his supposed fault. Chris replied that he had a duty to look after the team and Kirstin Rust.
Chris had obviously seen the infatuation between Josh and Kirstin despite the pair’s attempts to hide it, they had been hiding it from the rest of defiant team as well as the UNSC because after years of trying to find each other they were scared that they would be separated again incase the mission was “jeopardized”
Josh and Jack left the corvette and were picked up by James’ falcon which escaped just in time from the blast radius. Chris managed to hold off the covenant at the doorway long enough for the STPL to be activated bringing down a huge barrage of laser shots.
Chris’ camera was not recovered after the explosion.
Stupid Stuff
Chris’ service tag also follows bungie’s rule of 7 – 2 + 3 + 2 = 7
Chris is the only Spartan 2 in Defiant Team and also finds a similar fate to that of Jorge (the only Spartan 2 in Noble Team)
Chris is the real name of the voice actor however this is not on purpose like James Maiden being constantly casted as James.
Chris’ hologram running attack thing was discovered by accident during filming of episode one.
The machinimator that plays Chris is the lowest rank out of the OMPF cast.
Defiant Five
Spartan Jack – 362
Defiant Five
Home Planet
Spartan Jack, Defiant Five, was taken from his family on Arcadia in 2523, from this city of Theed
Armor
Jacks armor consisted of a Grenadier helmet W/ black visor, FJ Para chest plate, Security (Right) and CQC (Left), and FJ Para knee pads. He also has the Tactical soft case on his left leg. His FJ Para chest plate made him ideal for using the jet pack though out missions, so he would often be used as a rifleman so he could fly up to hard to reach places for sniper support or recon. Jacks armor was white with a purple accent.
Reach
During the fall of Reach Jack plaid important parts in all of Team Defiant’s missions, during the 2nd spire skirmish he was responsible for the deactivation of the shields surrounding the land, and during the battle of new Alexandria
Upon the corvette Jack claimed a Gravity hammer, much like Josh and his energy sword, from a elite general. Unfortunately the general managed to damage the doors locking mechanism that eventually brought about the death of Defiant four.
Both Defiant One and Five took the death of Four very harshly, blaming themselves for he missions failure, it lead to more friction in between the group during the last day of the Alexandria battle. Even more so when the infatuation between Josh and Kirstin became more obvious, this lead to Spartan fight between defiant one and five, sword VS hammer.
Stupid stuff
Jack’s service tag complies with bungie’s rule of 7 – 3 + 6 – 2 = 7
The way Jack and Josh meet is the same way that Andriarno (Josh) and Duckegg45 (Jack) met in real life, only it was a slayer game on Sand Trap
Jack was originally planned to also receive a robot arm after the Battle of New Alexandria, however, production started before Duckegg was able to buy it.
Duckegg and Billy (Gideon) are currently in a race to buy Gunginir helmet.
As seen in the Machinima Duckegg (Jack) often confuses Billy (Gideon) into doing stuff he’ll regret a few seconds later ie: buying random armor to keep up with Andriarno’s completion.
Duckegg lives in a part of England
When the space time casual falls to Reach’s surface and is said to be full of stuff that was culturally relevant at the time (2011) Jack seems to enjoy listening to rap music. This comes from an inside “joke” that duckegg’s favorite band is Hollywood Undead. A fact he denies.
Duckegg records and edits the episodes before they come out, Andriarno writes them so there is a lot of arguing between the pair about what camera angles to use or if something is feasible or not, that is where the idea for the Spartan fight scene came from.
Jack was taken from the City of Theed
Jack also shares traits with Bobba and Jango Fett, both from the Star Wars films.
