Original Story of The Commandos

[Accessing]

This is a repost from Enjin by Glatix. 

The Commandos are an "elite" (as in effective, not Sangheili) fighting force that was founded for the purpose of countering UNSC specialists, most notably Spartan IIs. They are outspoken insurrectionists who utilized espionage and guerrilla warfare similar to their historical namesake to destabilize UNSC clans.

History
The Commandos were founded in early Reach within a clan called BAI. The founders (whose gamertags would later change to Shakey Shots and Shakey Savage) held anti-UNSC sentiments, and passed it on to their trainees. After an altercation with BAI, the Commandos left and joined Exodus, a burgeoning insurrectionist clan. This only further reinforced their prejudices against the UNSC. During their time on Reach, the Commandos grew in number. They recruited many members such as Shakey Oak, Wagner501, Shakey Riddick (different from current Commando "Rising Riddick"), EldestSquire, Shakey Priest, IrishCharlo, Savage Senpal, Shakey Hawkeye, Shakey Sacred, Gyrusa, and numerous others. These Commandos conducted a number of successful operations against smaller UNSC clans, causing several to disband. Operations attempted against larger UNSC clans, most notably NavCom, failed miserably. The Commandos also engaged Covenant forces, but to a lesser degree than their primary enemies, the UNSC community.

Halo 4 acted as a falling point for the Commandos. The clan-killing environment led to Exodus going into hibernation until a new game could be found to host it. As a result, the Commandos became embittered and left Exodus to begin freelance operations against what remained of the UNSC Community on Reach.

When Exodus returned after Halo 5's release, the Commandos rejoined and attempted to resume operations. Having lost a large portion of their membership (due to them either abandoning Halo or quitting gaming entirely), the Commandos began recruiting from the ranks of Exodus. The classes, however, were significantly smaller than those in the glory days of Reach, with the only Commandos graduating on Halo 5 being Rising Riddick, God My Logic, and SPNKr Rocket. Unlike in Reach, where Exodus had a four branch system, Halo 5's Exodus had only the Maxima division. As a result, a rivalry began between the Commandos and the Maxima. This rivalry extended to both the Praetorian sub-division, and the secondary "Arma" division. Commandos continually broke established rules and clashed with High Command over operations. The final straw occurred when the Commandos refused to replace members taken from Maxima for their project, forcing High Command to ban further classes of Commandos until the recruits were replaced. The Commandos saw this condition as unacceptable, as they believed themselves to be above Exodus's control. They soon left, and began conducting anti-Exodus operations, even convincing the clan BAI to declare war on Exodus.

To this day they support anti-Exodus groups, and it is also rumored that they are still targeting UNSC clans. Their prestige has declined significantly, as no clan seems to be willing to host them for extended periods of time. Most Commandos have left the Community entirely, and it is unlikely that the group will ever recover their lost numbers.

Training/Organization
The Commandos training regimen takes place over the course of three months. It is notably similar to the Spartan Programs hosted by many UNSC clans, and features a mixture of parkour courses, matchmaking/skill training, and discussion of simple codes called "weapon swaps." Weapon swaps are an attempt to mimic modern SII "hand signals". The two systems compare as follows:

SII
Crouch moving side to side - nearby enemies
One crouch - yes
Two - no
Three - IDK
Four - nevermind
Circle - split up/flank
Move while swapping - what's the plan?
three sixty (spin) - I have to go
Crouch moving forward and back - go in forward direction
Melee without moving - look in that direction
Walk in a certain direction while crouched and melee - rush and kill target

Commando
One weapon swap - Activity check
Two weapon swaps - "No Comms"
Three weapon swaps - Switch chat channel
Four weapon swaps - Party invite
Five weapon swaps - Attack non-Commandos/"Commandos or die"

The three month regimen is fairly brutal (at least as brutal as parkour and matchmaking can be) and actually sees a fairly high wash out rate. Humiliation is a large factor in the training, and is implemented as an attempt to humble trainees (who, like Spartan trainees, are called Conscripts). Three parkour exams are issued at the end of each months (called "cites"), in which Conscripts are given a time limit to run the course. Conscripts who fail two attempts are dropped from the class. During the training, the Conscripts may never contradict an instructor, lest they be punished with crouch laps. Conscripts also have to begin and end sentences with "Sir". The training schedule tends to alter based on the availability of Conscripts, but typically plays out as follows:

Month 1: Breaking
Conscripts are put through basic parkour and made to do a series of humiliating exercises such as performing crouch laps while screaming "I'm a piece of shit" at the top of their lungs, along with other self-insulting phrases. Commando codes are taught and rehearsed during this phase, and any failure is punished severely. During this phase, loyalty to the Commandos and anti-UNSC beliefs are drilled into the Conscripts.

Month 2: Training
Conscripts that pass the first Cite are told to play significant amounts of matchmaking, and conduct 1v1s with their instructors on a regular basis. Further training bridges into the field of espionage, but primarily focuses on increasing Conscript skill.

Month 3: Finals
After passing the second Cite, Conscripts are taught the ins and outs of spycraft. During this month, they will be sent into smaller clans and told to disrupt them. Whether or not they succeed does not effect their graduation, but will earn them a reputation within the ranks of the Commandos. Most trainees fail this test. This month also sees the most bonding between classmates, as teamwork is encouraged between Conscripts, who are organized into squads.

Graduation:
After passing the third Cite, Conscripts graduate with the status of Junior Commando (the lowest of the three Commando ranks). They are assigned an official service number that is formatted as "C" followed by three numbers (similar to how SII tags are "S" followed by three numbers).

The Commando Project's training is reportedly formatted to counter UNSC specialist training, despite seeming to mimic nearly every aspect of it. Operations have seen the Commandos defeat SIIs belonging to clans like CentCom, but fail to defeat the (formerly) revered SIIs of NavCom. As a result, it is unknown whether or not the training is truly effective.

Mentality

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Commandos is their attitude towards other groups. Despite sharing a lot in common with SIIs, they romanticize insurrectionists. They will often attempt to distance themselves from their UNSC counterparts by utilizing a self-important mentality. They believe (or at least state that they believe) that the UNSC Community is a cancer that must be removed under any circumstance. Their reasoning behind this belief is that the UNSC "is corrupt and has always been corrupt."

Commandos tend to cause conflict with any clan that hosts them, due to their "Commandos first" attitude. They often request special privileges within their clan, and express irritation at any denial of authority or power.

The best real-life comparison to make would be the infamous Janissaries of the Ottoman Empire. The Commandos, like the Janissaries, started fairly modest, but allowed short-term success to lead them into decadence. At any sign of forced change, they will rebel, forcing their host to disavow them. They continue to ride a wave of faded prestige, and attempt to use it to manipulate others into forwarding their zealous agenda of UNSC destruction.

Final Notes

While many Commandos are near religious in their hatred of the UNSC, quite a few are indifferent to this goal. Shakey Shots (now called Cthulu) started the Commandos as a means of creating a skillful faction within BAI. He recently ceased involvement with the Halo Community, and when asked by myself, said, "I don't like all the drama. Not even worth it."

Commandos revere one another based on seniority. When Shakey Savage announced his departure from the Clan Community, Rising Riddick actually mourned his absence. The bond between Commandos is seen as sacred by those within the project. Violations of trust or Commando beliefs are treated with significant amounts of disdain.

The Commandos' rules are not without exception. Several Commandos, like Shakey Oak and IrishCharlo, were awarded the status of Commando simply by being friends with high ranking members of the organization.

The Commandos attempted to target the ONI ship Meriwether Lewis during a training exercise. They became irate when I refused to send them an invite to the game.

Unlike most roleplay groups, the Commandos take their narrative extremely seriously. During training and certain operations, Commandos are forced to prioritize Commando-related events over real life events. In one instance, a Commando recruit named Bamaboy was dropped due to choosing band camp over Commando training.

The Commandos foster some respect for Mandolorian tribes on Reach, even going as far as incorporating "Mandolorian Laps" (a crouch lap requiring the trainee to switch to a different control scheme and look up and down while crouch walking) into their training.

While espionage is one of the tenants of the Commandos, only a few have any notable skill in subversion. The confrontational mentality of the Commandos often leads them to attack clans directly instead of attempt to internally destabilize them.

[Accessing]

Going to tack on Wagner's story as posted from Glatix too. 

- 

Wagner501 is an individual who holds the title of Commando (as given to him by the directors of the Commando project). Being that he is on the ONI Target Profile list, it might be prominent to discuss some relevant details in hopes of aiding the headhunters of ONI.

Wagner's association with the Commando program started around Reach. He is believed to be one of the "original" Commandos (likely attending the first or second official class). During his tenure as a Reach Commando, he conducted numerous anti-UNSC operations alongside Companions like Rising Riddick (who may or may not have been a Commando at the time), Shakey Savage, Shakey Shots, Shakey Oak, and numerous other individuals. Though Wagner's career as an insurrectionist was most prominent during his time with Exodus, he and the other Commandos started operations in a clan called BAI (Blood and Iron) prior to making Exodus their host. Wagner's anti-UNSC crusade was characterized by a series of Campaigns that involved infiltrating UNSC clans and attempting to destabilize them through manipulation, intelligence leaking, and surprise raids. Though many of these campaigns were notably successful with smaller groups, the Commandos failed to do long-term damage to any major community powers (though the Commandos often claim to have "destroyed Reach's UNSC Community").

Wagner's operations on Reach led to him butting heads with many a UNSC clan, and he gained infamy among smaller members of the community. He carried his anti-UNSC sentiments with him to Halo 4, but was unable to continue operations as his base, Exodus, went into "hibernation". Wagner, along with the other Commandos, left in search of an active clan. After Exodus returned following the release of Halo 5, Wagner and the other Commandos rejoined and resumed anti-UNSC operations.
-Note: During my time with him, Wagner attempted to recruit me as a Commando numerous times. Regardless of the fact that I declined, we still had many a private conversation. He carried a certain discrimination against UNSC clans, and tried to press a sense of Exodus nationalism on myself and his other associates.

Wagner501 would later leave Exodus with his fellow Commandos after a confrontation between the Commandos and the Exodus High Command. His current status is not confirmed, but the rumor mill suggests that he is attempting to further undermine terrestrial UNSC operations through surprise assaults similar to what he did on Reach. 

[Recon Ryan]

Basically, Commando's are just "better" insurrectionists that can't be as competitive as larger aspects of the UNSC/ONI community (Sol Insurgency/DefCom). Right?

I see these guys as Clone Troopers most of the time, is it a gag or am I seeing actual Galactic Republic Clones?

I like the idea of these characters and lore. It's interesting how far it got.