Preview: Fireteam Indigo

Character art for the Halo story which and I had originally created back in high school. I've recently been working to bring the story up-to-date, taking place contemporary to the events of Halo 4 and Infinity.

While I'm working in Halo 4's beautiful style, I've tried to remain a bit more true to the Bungie aesthetic than 343i. Reconciling the visual stylings of the two developers will be a common thread in my Halo works.

Spartan Wulfgang "Wolf" a359, like most of Noble Team's members, was culled from Spartan-III Alpha Company and cross-trained with Mjolnir Armor, to act in a capacity similar to a Spartan-II. It's clear that Wulfgang would have been a large and powerfully built man regardless of Spartan augmentation, evidenced by the fact that despite being a Spartan-III, he stands easily as tall as a Spartan-II, and is quite capable of filling out a full-sized suit of MJOLNIR Gen-1 armor. His armor is a pragmatic mix of the Mk-V and Mk-VI armor. It's based on the Mark Six, but with help from some technicians, he's integrated a few of the Mark Five's legendarily rugged elements to the newer system. The result is a unique, hybridized suit of MJOLNIR armor which combines the strength and speed of the Mk-VI with the survivability of the Mk-V. As the selection process for the Spartan-IIIs was considerably less restrictive than that of the Spartan-IIs, the threes are more susceptible to behavioral issues. Wolf bears some resentment toward his new Spartan-IV squadmates, for one because they were truly given the choice to become Spartans. And two, because he doesn't think of them as "true" Spartans to begin with. He was in service at a time when the Spartans came to represent Humanity's last, best hope against extinction at the hands of the Covenant. While he respects everyone he fights alongside, Wolf see's the Spartan-IVs as playing at being something they're not. Of course, his opinions may change after working with a couple of Spartan-IVs in the field.

Spartan Reina McCloud began as a refugee from Miridem, the colony having been glassed by the Covenant when she was ten. She lived on Reach for several years, having been placed there by a refugee relocation program. Itching for payback against the Covenant, she signed on with the UNSC Marines on her eighteenth birthday. She graduated Marine Basic just days before the Covenant offensive on Reach, and her squad was deployed throughout the southern territories evacuating civilians. She fought alongside several ODST squads during this time, and developed a wanting to join their ranks (assuming of course, that she survived the current predicament). Having far too many empty drop pods to fill following the loss of Reach, Reina's transfer to the ODSTs was approved. She fought briefly on Earth, and spent the next year on mop-up assignments with her squad. When the Spartan-IV program was announced, She was quick to volunteer, having grown up with the news reporting on the legendary Spartans as the ultimate instruments of justice against the Covenant. While many of her ODST squadmates were less than enthused by this decision, they did let her keep the helmet, and she's still got the ODST's emblem- a flaming skull superimposed on the silhouette of a SOEIV drop pod- tattooed on her right shoulder.

(She's obviously a variation of my OC, Reina Cloude, but a few years older and almost a foot taller.)

Her MJOLNIR Gen-2 armor:
Helmet: ODST
Chestplate: Recruit (modified)
Shoulders: Air Assault
Gauntlets: XV-27 Shifting (modified)
Greaves: An original variant, which I haven't yet named.
Color scheme is based on my Spartan from Halo Reach.

The final member of the team is still in development. Prior to joining the Spartan-IV program, he was a supremely skilled Marine sniper. During the Battle of Reach, he scored 136 confirmed kills; 28 of those kills were scored while shooting out the side hatch of an airborne Falcon. He acts as Fireteam Indigo's dedicated sniper, always keeping the team covered from the shadows. Suggestions for his armor are welcome.

Halo (c) Microsoft, 343i
Characters, original armor components, artwork (c)

EDIT 12/6/2012 I've drafted a more refined study of Spartan McCloud, which can be found here: [link]