Noble Team

"You know as well as I do that we wind up with some that she would have chosen - not just kids unlucky enough to survive a glassing. Orders are still being followed and those Spartans are in the field, but they are armed as SPARTANs - and they are making a difference."

- LCDR Kurt Ambrose to SCPO Franklin Mendez.

Noble Team (occasionally stylized as NOBLE Team), sometimes referred to as Team Noble or simply Noble, was a special fireteam sized unit of the UNSC Special Warfare Command Group Three, composed mostly of SPARTAN-III supersoldiers and one SPARTAN-II commando as of 2552.

Overview
Noble Team was primarily composed of SPARTAN-IIIs pulled out of their main companies by Kurt-051 and Franklin Mendez before large-scale operations where the companies were mostly wiped out, Operation: PROMETHEUS in the case of Alpha Company and Operation: TORPEDO with Beta Company.

Prior to the Fall of Reach, Noble Team had managed to survive countless battles, always coming back from suicide assignments, but not without a cost: only two members of the original team, Carter and Kat, remained alive by 2552.

Noble Team also operated with non-Spartan military personnel more extensively than other Spartan teams. To grant them more operational freedom when interacting with military personnel, the members of Noble Team had been given higher ranks than most Spartans by their CO. In 2552, the team was under the command of Colonel Urban Holland of the UNSC Army.

The SPARTAN-IIIs of Noble Team utilized equipment on par with the SPARTAN-IIs, such as the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor, which is far more advanced than the cheaper SPI armor worn by the rest of the SPARTAN-IIIs. The team was issued with the Mark V MJOLNIR armor on November 24, 2551. Unlike the mainline SPARTAN-IIs, whose armor was fairly uniform in coloration, the members of Noble Team sported a variety of color schemes and field-customized armor variants.

When Reach was deemed lost, and there was no hope of saving it, Noble Team ensured that humanity would have a fighting chance against the Covenant and future enemies by delivering a high priority package to Captain Keyes and making sure the Pillar of Autumn escaped intact with it. Three members of the team gave their lives for the mission, leaving only one member of the team still alive as the other two died during the Fall of Reach.

Team Composition
Deceased members from the Fall of Reach
 * Commander Carter-A259 (Noble One) - A no-nonsense soldier, Carter served as the leader of Noble Team. Listed MIA. Confirmed KIA in an intentional Pelican crash during the Fall of Reach.
 * Lieutenant Commander Catherine-B320 (Noble Two) - Carter's second-in-command, Kat served as the intelligence specialist. Listed MIA. Confirmed KIA by a Needle Rifle during the Fall of Reach.
 * Warrant Officer Emile-A239 (Noble Four) - A bold and aggressive Spartan, Emile was the assault specialist of the team. Listed MIA. Confirmed KIA by Energy Sword of Sangheili Zealots during the Fall of Reach.
 * Chief Warrant Officer Jorge-052 (Noble Five) - The only Spartan-II on the team, Jorge served as the team's heavy weapons specialist. Listed MIA/KIA destroying a Covenant cruiser during Operation: UPPER CUT.
 * Lieutenant SPARTAN-B312 (Noble Six) - The protagonist of Halo: Reach. A new addition to the team, this Spartan's background is mostly unknown. He/She has no specified role, known only as the team's 'Hyper-Lethal Vector' Listed MIA. Confirmed KIA by Sangheili warriors sometime towards the end of the Fall of Reach.

Other Spartans were constantly kept on rotation for the team, including SPARTAN-344, who would take Emile's place in the case of a counterinsurgency operation. When one member fell in the line of duty, a new SPARTAN would be brought in as a replacement.

Known former members
 * Thom-293 (Former Noble Six) - Killed destroying a Covenant CCS-class battlecruiser on April 22, 2552 during the Battle of Fumirole and replaced with SPARTAN-B312 immediately prior to the Fall of Reach.

Temporary members
 * Rosenda-344 (Noble Four replacement) - Emile-A239's replacement if another Insurrectionist operation comes up. Her current status is unknown.

Living members
 * Warrant Officer Jun-A266 (Noble Three) - A thoughtful and taciturn soldier, Jun served as the sniper of Noble Team. Jun is confirmed to be alive and help handpick the very first SPARTAN-IV.

Trivia

 * The flag in the Capture the Flag mode in Halo: Reach bears the emblem of Noble Team.
 * Some gameplay footage for HALO 4 at PAX Prime (August 31-September 2, 2012) shown a skin for the DMR that shows the Noble Team logo (shortened as NBL). It can be earned by achieving the Wetwork specialization.
 * The voices of each Noble Team member can be purchased for use in Halo Reach's Firefight mode.
 * McFarlane Toys created an action figure figure known as Noble Seven for Comic Con 2010. Although no such member exists, according to McFarlane, they were allowed by Bungie to create the unique action figure.
 * Noble Team was originally supposed to have two more members in Halo: Reach: the "sassy" Rosenda-344 and the "cowboy-like" Thom-293. Both were later reduced to background characters, with Thom being a former deceased member and Rosenda serving as a potential replacement for Emile in a counter-insurgency operation.
 * Including Colonel Urban Holland, aka "Noble Actual", Noble Team is comprised of seven known members which is another reference to 7.
 * Though the player requires picking up of armor abilities to activate them, the rest of Noble Team does not possess visible equipment on their armor to activate them. For example, in Winter Contingency, all of Noble Team, except the player and Jorge, is able to use Sprint for longer periods of time without the armor ability visible on their back. Throughout the campaign, all NPC members of Noble Team can also use Armor Lock without the armor ability visible on their back.
 * It is also worth noting that Jorge is able to use Armor Lock while still wielding his turret, despite the player not being able to do so while wielding said turret.
 * During gameplay, every member of Noble Team, other than the player (Noble Six), is invincible.
 * On the Noble Team statue in the Legendary Edition, the team is lined up left to right in the order of their deaths. Jun is last, as he does not die in the game.
 * There are six naturally occurring Noble Gases, just like there are six members of Noble Team. Also, their armor colors are the same as the six Noble Gasses when in discharge tubes. Kat and Carter's armors are blue, similar to Xenon and Krypton. Jorge's armor is orange, similar to Neon. Emile's armor is red, similar to Helium, and Jun's armor is green, similar to Radon. Noble Six's armor color can be changed to be (though is not automatically set to) purple, similar to Argon
 * Noble Six is the only member that watches the whole squad die except for Jun.
 * Emile and Noble Six are the only members of the team who do not show their faces. It is possible, however, to see Emile's face on a computer in the Tribute Room on The Package, however it may be just concept.
 * It should be noted that during the course of the game, no one from Noble team died until they became separated. This subject has been thoroughly discussed at halo.bungie.org in relation to its relevance.
 * Each member of Noble Team has their own preferred weapon that they use, or are seen wielding, most often. Carter has the DMR, Kat has the Magnum, Jun has the Sniper Rifle, Emile has the Shotgun, Jorge has the Stripped Turret, and Six (most commonly, the preferred weapon being up to player choice) the assault rifle.
 * Never are all of the members of Noble Team ever seen on the ground fighting at the same time, in Winter Contingency, Jun is in a Falcon, thus not on the ground, and on Sword Base, Carter is at an unknown location at the time of the attack in the atrium. This is likely for gameplay balance to avoid making the game too easy for the player. Due to the fact that all of them are invincible, having all of them together would result in the levels being extremely easy even on higher difficulties.
 * Winter Contingency is the only level where Six gets to see all the Noble members in person during gameplay, though not at the same time
 * Every deceased member of Noble Team except Emile has their helmet off immediately or shortly before their deaths.
 * All of the Spartans in Noble Team have considerably more shielding than Noble Six.
 * Every Spartan seen inside of the building in Noble Actual dies.
 * In Noble Actual, the first 2 Spartans who leave the building exit in the order they die in, first Jorge, then Kat.
 * The fates of everyone in the Noble Team are very, very ironic. Jorge, being the heavy weapons specialist, died in a slipspace time bomb explosion. Kat, being the intelligence specialist, dies when she is shot in the head with a Needle Rifle round. Kat was also known to be curious, and died while asking a question. Jun, never seen taking part in close combat due to being a sniper and stealthy, managed to escape Reach, Carter, being the leader of the team and one paygrade below Captain, dies with his "ship," or his Pelican. Emile, being the assault/CQC specialist and having a profound fondness for his kurki, dies when a Zealot Elite impales him with an Energy Sword. Noble Six, having been known to go solo and be a "lone wolf", truly dies alone with no one to help him/her.
 * Noble Team is briefly mentioned in Halo: Glasslands, when Dr. Halsey explains her discovery of the SPARTAN-III Program began when she met "complete strangers on Reach daring to wear the Spartans' Mjolnir armor."