Could be! I do recall Frankie saying in 2011 at Halo Fest that the "Reclaimer Trilogy" allowed them to map out the story for Halo 4, 5, and 6 ahead of time, instead of flying by the seat of their pants as they did with CE, 2, and 3. But it could be that Blue Team's inclusion was something that they didn't come up with until 2013 or later.

If that was the case, they could have written the opening of Halo 5 to be about Chief being reintroduced to his old squad (so the player could meet them for the first time), instead of the in medias res opening we seem to be getting.

But I hope I'm wrong. I hope there is some kind of meaty introduction to these new Spartans who are supposedly Chief's family.