"Gray" Team

Community Halo Universe
1

Containing spoilers for a 12 year old book, The Cole Protocol.

Got only a couple chapters left of “The Cole Protocol” now, and it only just struck me today how poetic it is that this Spartan teams is called “Gray” Team. I’m not just over-thinking this right? Surely this must have been intended by Tobias S. Buckell to give them this specific colour…? Or maybe I’m just way behind on obvious stuff, idk. Either way for those who are interested:

Gray Team were the “rebels” of the Spartan II program, and had a strong dislike toward the people keeping them against their will.
As kids they wanted freedom from ONI and the UNSC, they tried to escape plenty of times, and one of them even blew stuff up… Then they got placed in the same team, relating to each other. This rebelliousness became the root of their friendship, their family.
Never the less they became Spartans…

The Insurrectionists are very central in this book. And poetically enough, they want freedom from ONI and the UNSC.
Gray Team are loyal to the UNSC and all (at least so far lol), but I kinda sense them relating to the the rebels little, I don’t sense any strong super dislike towards the people they were raised to fight, maybe that’s just them being Spartans though.
Another central character is the opposite but the same, Ignacio Delgado, who is a rebel, but relates, and cares for people in the unsc.

This book shows different sides and shades, pros and cons, the goods and the bads, the perfections and imperfections, jins and jangs and what ever is between, of the rebels, UNSC crew, and even the Covies

Either way, getting to the point. I kinda feel like Gray Team are representing the fact that none of these factions are completely black and white. They are a gray area of a kind.
Am I just stating the obvious? Or am I overthinking it?
Did Halsey and Mendez possible even give them this name for a reason to begin with?
Thoughts?
"update bellow"

2

I think you bring up a good point but I have no idea if Halsey did the name on purpose.

3

I gathered that as well. I always viewed Gray Team as operating in a moral “Gray” area, if you will. Then I saw Black Team as a “black” ops unit. I actually had a bit of a head canon where characters like Owen and Hazel were Spartan “White” team: a PR unit who’s primary mission is to educate UEG citizens on the good works of the UNSC and all the great things that have come from the military (kinda like a propaganda wing of the Spartan Program reporting to ONI Section 2).

4

I dont think you are far off with the thought that Dr Hasley named them Grey Team due to their personality traits. They to me were some of the more human spartans in that they all seemed able to still get the nuances of human emotions in ways the others like John only relearned after years on the front.

I hope we get to see the personified in infinite, if not the main campaign in DLC or future launches.

5

Finished the book today, I love how this book makes the decision to later make Thel an Arbiter make total sense from Truths and Regrets perspectives.

> 2535408313671628;2:
> I think you bring up a good point but I have no idea if Halsey did the name on purpose.

Nore do I, but I like the idea of the possibility.

> 2535435902217648;3:
> I gathered that as well. I always viewed Gray Team as operating in a moral “Gray” area, if you will. Then I saw Black Team as a “black” ops unit. I actually had a bit of a head canon where characters like Owen and Hazel were Spartan “White” team: a PR unit who’s primary mission is to educate UEG citizens on the good works of the UNSC and all the great things that have come from the military (kinda like a propaganda wing of the Spartan Program reporting to ONI Section 2).

Happy to hear that you’ve thought about this too.

> 2533274943975523;4:
> I dont think you are far off with the thought that Dr Hasley named them Grey Team due to their personality traits. They to me were some of the more human spartans in that they all seemed able to still get the nuances of human emotions in ways the others like John only relearned after years on the front.
>
> I hope we get to see the personified in infinite, if not the main campaign in DLC or future launches.

I agree with every word.

6

> 2535435902217648;3:
> I gathered that as well. I always viewed Gray Team as operating in a moral “Gray” area, if you will. Then I saw Black Team as a “black” ops unit. I actually had a bit of a head canon where characters like Owen and Hazel were Spartan “White” team: a PR unit who’s primary mission is to educate UEG citizens on the good works of the UNSC and all the great things that have come from the military (kinda like a propaganda wing of the Spartan Program reporting to ONI Section 2).

I couldn’t agree more in regards to your above statement. I felt that mention of Owen and Hazel being such a “PR friendly” face for the new Spartan Branch was an interesting take and one that I would have to agree with. Owen has had to make some tough decisions, but overall he is one of the more outwardly kind Spartans we have come across, on top of him being very Duty driven. So his inclusion in Outpost Discovery makes sense. Had the pleasure of “meeting” Owen and Hazel when I went and it was pretty cool.

7

> 2533274856236902;6:
> > 2535435902217648;3:
> > I gathered that as well. I always viewed Gray Team as operating in a moral “Gray” area, if you will. Then I saw Black Team as a “black” ops unit. I actually had a bit of a head canon where characters like Owen and Hazel were Spartan “White” team: a PR unit who’s primary mission is to educate UEG citizens on the good works of the UNSC and all the great things that have come from the military (kinda like a propaganda wing of the Spartan Program reporting to ONI Section 2).
>
> I couldn’t agree more in regards to your above statement. I felt that mention of Owen and Hazel being such a “PR friendly” face for the new Spartan Branch was an interesting take and one that I would have to agree with. Owen has had to make some tough decisions, but overall he is one of the more outwardly kind Spartans we have come across, on top of him being very Duty driven. So his inclusion in Outpost Discovery makes sense. Had the pleasure of “meeting” Owen and Hazel when I went and it was pretty cool.

Oh yeah I got a photo with the two as well. Idk who they picked to wear the costumes, but they must have been naturally tall to begin with. I’m pretty average height to be fair, but I still felt like they were towering over me. Fingers crossed we get another convention in the next year or two.

8

> 2535435902217648;7:
> > 2533274856236902;6:
> > > 2535435902217648;3:
> > > I gathered that as well. I always viewed Gray Team as operating in a moral “Gray” area, if you will. Then I saw Black Team as a “black” ops unit. I actually had a bit of a head canon where characters like Owen and Hazel were Spartan “White” team: a PR unit who’s primary mission is to educate UEG citizens on the good works of the UNSC and all the great things that have come from the military (kinda like a propaganda wing of the Spartan Program reporting to ONI Section 2).
> >
> > I couldn’t agree more in regards to your above statement. I felt that mention of Owen and Hazel being such a “PR friendly” face for the new Spartan Branch was an interesting take and one that I would have to agree with. Owen has had to make some tough decisions, but overall he is one of the more outwardly kind Spartans we have come across, on top of him being very Duty driven. So his inclusion in Outpost Discovery makes sense. Had the pleasure of “meeting” Owen and Hazel when I went and it was pretty cool.
>
> Oh yeah I got a photo with the two as well. Idk who they picked to wear the costumes, but they must have been naturally tall to begin with. I’m pretty average height to be fair, but I still felt like they were towering over me. Fingers crossed we get another convention in the next year or two.

Jordan Price, a Twitch streamer, portrayed Hazel, and Urbane Bingham, a basketball player for the Harlem Globetrotters, portrayed Owen.

9

I don’t attach any meaning to colors when I think of which one is given to their respective Spartan team

10

Read Halo: Envoy. It explains gray team and there personality and how they operated. It explains there team etc.

11

> 2535457467775396;10:
> Read Halo: Envoy. It explains gray team and there personality and how they operated. It explains there team etc.

I’m getting there, looking forward to it :slight_smile:

12

> 2533274947805189;11:
> > 2535457467775396;10:
> > Read Halo: Envoy. It explains gray team and there personality and how they operated. It explains there team etc.
>
> I’m getting there, looking forward to it :slight_smile:

Good, it’s a great book!

13

Need to go back and read more of the books as it’s been awhile. From what I do remember, the insurrectionists have been given a sympathetic stroke on a few occasions outside of Grey Team’s narratives like with Staffan Sentzke in Kilo-Five. Grey Team definitely lives up to its colour monicker with their behind enemy lines modus operandi and engaging in covert espionage. Just wait until you finish reading Envoy. It’s revealed that Grey Team carried out something that will really cement their enigmatic conduct. Although depending on how you look at it, it may not be so greyish considering what their enemies have done.

14

UPDATE:

I exchanged a couple of emails Tobias Buckell after reading his Halo books and asked him a few questions, one about this topic and a couple other ones that I was curious about.
I thought I’d share the things that others might find interesting too.

  • About this topic.

> “I actually didn’t name them, it was something that was mentioned briefly in a previous book. Bungie asked if I would be okay with taking that mention of the team and running with it, and if I could see a way to do that with the ideas I’d come to present to them about writing in their universe. I liked the idea so I ran with a team that I got to come up with and craft.”
> “I do think about moral gray a lot, yes, it’s a feature of a lot of my work.”

  • How much freedom are you given writing books like this? Do you have to work within frames, controlled by Bungie/343Industries?

> “They give me a ton of freedom. They usually have a few ideas ‘is there a way you could incorporate X, we think the fans would love to see more fleshed out about it’ and most of the time it works out.”

  • How much did you have to know of the previous Halo media before writing your books? (to avoid contradictions etc), since by the time you wrote Envoy the franchise had grown enormously.

> “For Halo: TCP I’d played all the games already, so when they asked me to fly over to Seattle I read the previous 5 books and two comics before the flight so that I was caught up on everything. Everything was pretty new by then so it was easier to catch up. Then they gave me a universe bible that let me read all the things that weren’t even known outside of Bungie. Sometimes I get flack for ‘adding’ things to the canon that I actually didn’t lol.”

Sidenote, Idk about you guys, but I’d like my hands on this 2008 universe bible.

> “For Halo: Envoy, there was so much more canon to know, but they paired me with a team of people who are responsible for tracking canon who read the book as I wrote it to help me out, so that was pretty nice.”

  • Could the Halo community by any chance possibly get another book from you in the future?

> “I’m always open to offers from the publisher or 343, but for right now I don’t think anything is brewing.”

15

> 2533274947805189;14:
> UPDATE:
> I exchanged a couple of emails Tobias Buckell after reading his Halo books and asked him a few questions, one about this topic and a couple other ones that I was curious about.
> I thought I’d share the things that others might find interesting too.
>
>
> - About this topic.
>
> > “I actually didn’t name them, it was something that was mentioned briefly in a previous book. Bungie asked if I would be okay with taking that mention of the team and running with it, and if I could see a way to do that with the ideas I’d come to present to them about writing in their universe. I liked the idea so I ran with a team that I got to come up with and craft.”
> > “I do think about moral gray a lot, yes, it’s a feature of a lot of my work.”
>
> - How much freedom are you given writing books like this? Do you have to work within frames, controlled by Bungie/343Industries?
>
>
> > “They give me a ton of freedom. They usually have a few ideas ‘is there a way you could incorporate X, we think the fans would love to see more fleshed out about it’ and most of the time it works out.”
>
> - How much did you have to know of the previous Halo media before writing your books? (to avoid contradictions etc), since by the time you wrote Envoy the franchise had grown enormously.
>
>
> > “For Halo: TCP I’d played all the games already, so when they asked me to fly over to Seattle I read the previous 5 books and two comics before the flight so that I was caught up on everything. Everything was pretty new by then so it was easier to catch up. Then they gave me a universe bible that let me read all the things that weren’t even known outside of Bungie. Sometimes I get flack for ‘adding’ things to the canon that I actually didn’t lol.”
>
> Sidenote, Idk about you guys, but I’d like my hands on this 2008 universe bible.
>
>
> > “For Halo: Envoy, there was so much more canon to know, but they paired me with a team of people who are responsible for tracking canon who read the book as I wrote it to help me out, so that was pretty nice.”
>
> - Could the Halo community by any chance possibly get another book from you in the future?
>
>
> > “I’m always open to offers from the publisher or 343, but for right now I don’t think anything is brewing.”

That’s so cool that he engaged like that. Mad props to him. I’d love to see more work from him in the universe. After what happened to Cassandra Rose Clarke I was a bit worried that the publisher was starting to burn bridges with some of the authors.

16

> 2533274874872263;15:
> That’s so cool that he engaged like that. Mad props to him. I’d love to see more work from him in the universe. After what happened to Cassandra Rose Clarke I was a bit worried that the publisher was starting to burn bridges with some of the authors.

Yeah I’d like another book from him too.
What happened to her? This is the first I hear about it :open_mouth:

17

It’s the top comment on this page on her website: http://www.cassandraroseclarke.com/news/halo-battle-born-officially-announced

Publisher turned her third book down. Reading between the lines sounded line a commercial decision

18

> 2533274874872263;17:
> It’s the top comment on this page on her website: http://www.cassandraroseclarke.com/news/halo-battle-born-officially-announcedPublisher turned her third book down. Reading between the lines sounded line a commercial decision

That’s a shame, thx for sharing. I though her books were kinda refreshing actually, especially the first one.

19

> 2533274947805189;18:
> > 2533274874872263;17:
> > It’s the top comment on this page on her website: http://www.cassandraroseclarke.com/news/halo-battle-born-officially-announcedPublisher turned her third book down. Reading between the lines sounded line a commercial decision
>
> That’s a shame, thx for sharing. I though her books were kinda refreshing actually, especially the first one.

Yeah there were certain aspects I didn’t like at all (Spartan-II telling kids pretty classified information) but I could understand it was a (probably lazy, but potentially expedient to avoid adding pages) way to try and get any YA audience up to speed.

Definitely a loss to not keep going with it though

1 Like
20

Good point.

1 Like