Catherine-B320

"Kat; Noble Two. She is brilliant. There are no technical hurdles she can't overcome, but her curiosity borders on insubordination."

- Catherine Halsey Lieutenant Commander Catherine-B320, commonly known as Kat, was a SPARTAN-III commando of the UNSC Naval Special Warfare Command, attached to Special Warfare Group Three. She fought with Noble Team as Noble Two during the Fall of Reach in 2552.

Childhood and early career
Born on Monastir, New Harmony in 2530, she was conscripted as part of Beta Company. She was taken out of Beta Company by Kurt-051 and Franklin Mendez after Operation: CARTWHEEL, not long before Operation: TORPEDO commenced. She was later assigned to Noble Team when it was formed.

She, along with Carter-A259, is one of the only two survivors from the original Noble Team, and they share a close bond as a result. She is Noble Team's second-in-command, and described as being fiercely loyal to Carter- and the team.

Later career
On April 22nd, 2552, Kat put together an operation to destroy a CCS-class Battlecruiser maintaining position above a city. The operation was successful, but at the cost of Thom-293. The operation also cost Kat her right arm, which has been replaced by a robotic prosthetic. Kat clearly has no problem working with the arm, which she moves just as naturally as her real one, even continuing to hold her M6G pistol in her dominant right hand.

Both Carter-A259 and Kat took responsibility over the death of Thom, unable to admit that the death of the SPARTAN was his own fault. Thom was replaced on Noble Team by SPARTAN-B312 a few months later, just prior to the Fall of Reach.

Fall of Reach
The SPARTANs of Noble Team participate in an operation to investigate a communications blackout at the Visegrad Relay, a mission which led to the first confrontation with Covenant forces on the planet. In the operation, Kat recovered a data module containing Laszlo's "latchkey discovery" from the Relay's console and uncovered an unfortunate discovery; the Covenant has successfully deployed their forces on Reach. The discovery led the team to Sword Base, currently under siege by Covenant forces and their corvette. Kat and Noble Six engaged the Covenant forces on foot and repelled them off the site and the airbase.

Intelligence gathered from Noble Six and Jun-A266's reconnaissance mission lead to a large-scale UNSC assault on a Covenant-occupied site. Kat and Noble Six engaged Covenant forces on the groundside while other members of Noble Team provided aerial support. Noble Six assisted Kat in reconnaissance of the Covenant-occupied site, destroying multiple aerial defenses and unveiling a large Covenant installation code-named Spire One.

The destruction of the by a Covenant supercarrier after the Battle of Viery prompted Carter and Kat to reassess the situation. Recognising the presence of the supercarrier as a large threat, Kat suggested to Noble Team to reconfigure a slipspace engine into a makeshift slipspace bomb, which would destroy the supercarrier immediately. Carter, along with Kat-B320, Jorge-052 and Noble Six, helped UNSC ground forces repel Covenant invaders from a UNSC base, which housed the Sabre launch facility. Noble Team was separated from this point, with Jorge and Six participating in Operation: UPPERCUT while the rest focusing on the groundside.

At some point in the Fall, Kat and the remaining members of Noble Team assisted the UNSC in repelling the Covenant from civilian population centres. They reunited with Noble Six in New Alexandria and helped in the neutralisation of Covenant jammers and evacuation of ONI personnel. Not too long after, Noble Team was hailed by its supervisor and was ordered to destroy Sword Base. The team was forced to enter a radiation bunker to shield themselves from the Covenant's glassing of New Alexandria. As Noble Team exited the elevator and ran towards the bunker, a sniper in a Phantom overhead shot Kat in the head with a Needle Rifle, killing her instantly.

Traits and personality
Catherine is described as an inspired tactician and an exemplary combatant, but also a brilliant cryptanalyst and a hacker; allegedly, there has not been a system yet that she has been unable to crack. According to Colonel Urban Holland, she has a habit of occasionally investigating classified intel more than her superiors would like her to. Her ability to acquire and digest information has been described as "supernatural"; more than once, she has been able to read a situation, working with information many would find overly limited.

Much like Carter, Kat blames herself for Thom-293's death while it was apparent that neither was responsible; according to Colonel Urban Holland, Thom died because he pursued a group of enemies by himself rather than waiting for backup.

Kat's death was attributed due to her fatal lack of situational awareness. Like the loss of her right arm in a previous operation, Kat underestimated the gravity of her situation and failed to initiate her armor's shielding system.

Trivia

 * Kat's voice is available for use in Halo: Reach 's Firefight mode. She, Cortana, Auntie Dot, and female Noble Six are the only available female voices.
 * Kat shares her homeworld with Jun-A266.
 * Kat wears Mark V armor with an AA helmet with an unknown attachment, and MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/FJ/PARA variant shoulders.
 * As shown in an early production note, Kat was originally intended to have been born in 2529, and was supposed to have been conscripted as a part of Alpha Company. In this version, she and Carter were the last remaining members of a Spartan-III team known as "Blue Team" (not be be confused with the SPARTAN-II unit). This is also apparent by the similar coloration of their armors in early concept art.
 * The armour of all six members of Noble Team are available for purchase on the Xbox Live Avatar Marketplace. Kat's is not only available for male Avatars as well as females, it inaccurately lacks her cybernetic arm.
 * Kat's helmet is available as an Avatar Award and is obtained by earning an Avenger Medal in Matchmaking.
 * Kat has never seen a planet glassed before Reach.

List of Appearances

 * Halo: Reach