Sarah Palmer

Palmer redirects here. For the Marine from Palace Hotel, see Palmer (Marine).

"They believe this is the home of one of their gods! Way I see it, if those freaks wanna meet God, it's our duty to help them along!"

- Commander Palmer discussing the Covenant presence on Requiem.

Commander Sarah E. Palmer (service number 65287-98303-SP) is a member of the Spartan branch and a veteran of the Human-Covenant War. After the war, Palmer transferred from the UNSC Marine Corps Shock Troopers into the newly independent branch and was augmented as the first SPARTAN-IV supersoldier. Now a commander, she is currently assigned as the commanding officer of the 300-member Spartan contingent aboard.

Early life and military career
Palmer was born on Luna to embittered colonial parents, who in spite of their proximity to Earth possessed a strong dislike of the United Nations Space Command. She did not share their views, however, and even joined the Marine Corps sometime during the 2540s and served in twelve tours on eight different worlds as an ODST.

In October 2552, Lance Corporal Palmer was part of an ODST unit deployed to reinforce a UNSC outpost under attack by the Covenant. Immediately upon touchdown, Palmer was forced to single-handedly defend an escaping Admiral Kovalic, who was carrying an important AI. She fought an attacking Jiralhanae Chieftain and eventually killed the alien by running him over with the admiral's M12 Warthog. During the escape, she was hit by a Type-33 Needler shard, but survived due to her armor.

Becoming a SPARTAN-IV
"We're Spartans, Jun...it's time to start acting like it."

- Palmer to Jun-A266 on her first operation as a Spartan.

In January 2553, Palmer was promoted to the rank of corporal aboard Lockhart medical station and placed in line for rapid promotion to sergeant. She was visited by the former SPARTAN-III Jun-A266. Because of her physical prowess, innate tactical leadership, unquestioning loyalty to the UNSC, and her service record, Jun offered her a place as the first recruit for the Office of Naval Intelligence's new SPARTAN-IV program.

Palmer agreed to join the Spartans. Soon, she and the other candidates underwent a series of biological and chemical augmentations that lasted three weeks. After the augmentation procedures were complete, Palmer and fellow inductees Edward Davis, Yeong-hao Holst, Vladimir Scruggs, and Joel Thomas trained under Jun's supervision. During a simulated engagement with a group of Marines, Palmer rushed to the Spartans' objective at the expense of her teammates' "lives". Jun berated the Spartans' poor performance; former Spartan Musa-096 (who was largely responsible for the program's existence) singled out Palmer for her glory-hounding recklessness.

Before March, Jun and the trainees were soon transferred aboard the UNSC Infinity, which was undergoing the final stages of construction in the Oort cloud. These seven Spartans were the ones aboard the ship at the time, though Infinity would later maintain a complement of up to 300 Spartans after her shakedown cruise.

Rebel incursion on Infinity
"I'll show you what a real Spartan looks like."

- Palmer to Ilsa Zane during their fight.

Around this time, a group of Insurrectionists led by Ilsa Zane—a former participant in the prototype phase of the SPARTAN-IV program—captured Captain Andrew Del Rio and the bridge crew, in addition to disabling the ship's AI, Aine. Commander Thomas Lasky, the ship's executive officer, grudgingly allowed the Spartans to access the armor bay. Choosing function over form, Palmer selected a suit of GEN2 Scout armor, which would be her mainstay from that moment on. Together, the Spartans helped repel the takeover attempt. Palmer distinguished herself during this engagement, as did Davis. She personally battled Ilsa Zane in hand-to-hand combat. Despite Zane's superior physical augmentations, Palmer got the upper hand and knocked the rebel leader out of the ship's airlock.

Battle of Draetheus V
In 2554, Palmer and Davis were stationed on X50, Draetheus V's moon, where they defended against Merg Vol's Covenant forces. Despite the efforts of the UNSC forces, the Covenant managed to surpass them in less than an hour, forcing Palmer to go to Draetheus V to inform the planet of the impending attack.

The Covenant forces soon discovered that the X50 was a former Forerunner installation capable of planetary destruction and used it on the planet. With the planet on the verge of collapse, Palmer, with a handful of UNSC forces, assaulted the Covenant landing zones on the planet and took over the Covenant ships to evacuate the planet. Soon after, Palmer led an operation to eliminate Merg Vol. By appropriating one of his lieutenants' ships, Palmer managed to infiltrate the Covenant base on X50 and remove Merg's lieutenants before facing Merg Vol himself at the activation site. Despite the possibilities, Palmer executed Merg Vol with her M6H magnum and destroyed the artifact. After this, Palmer and the remaining Marines escaped the moon moments before the artifact was sabotaged.

Some time later, Palmer returned to X50 after discovering a Forerruner signal from inside the "moon". After arriving at the source of the signal, she discovered that source were the remains of Edward Davis, who had died during the battle. The installation disintegrated Davis's corpse and encapsulated it in an unknown device, and with the help of a Pelican, Palmer took the remains of his comrade with her.

First tour on Requiem
"I thought you'd be taller."

- Palmer upon meeting John-117

In July 2557, Infinity intercepted a distress beacon from the near the Forerunner shield world Requiem; the remains of the vessel carried MCPO John-117, one of the few remaining SPARTAN-IIs, as well as his AI companion Cortana. Infinity was soon drawn inside the shield world, where its Spartan contingent was deployed to battle both local Promethean constructs under the command of the Didact, as well as Covenant forces. The Master Chief rendezvoused with the Spartans under Palmer's command and eventually made his way aboard Infinity.

Palmer later sent Gypsy Company to aid the Master Chief and Lasky in an attack on the gravity well generator, but did not participate in the battle herself. Later, when the Master Chief refused to hand over Cortana, determined to stop the Didact alone, Palmer and the rest of the bridge crew ignored Captain Del Rio's orders to stop the Master Chief, allowing the SPARTAN-II to leave without attempting to stop him.

First missions
"Your new workplace is a planet called 'Requiem'. Some of the old hands here know what you're in for. The rest of you - you're due for an education."

- Palmer briefing the Infinity's Spartans on their deployment to Requiem.

In February 2558, Infinity was deployed back to Requiem. On February 8, Palmer authorized Operation: ALL-SEEING EYE, which entailed Fireteam Majestic's deployment to the surface to recover a Forerunner artifact. She also deployed Fireteam Crimson with a similar objective in support of Majestic; Crimson eventually recovered the artifact. After the artifact was brought aboard Infinity, it suddenly emitted an energy pulse and started draining power from the ship. When the artificial gravity was disabled, Palmer magnetized her boots to stay on the ground. She then ran at the artifact and kicked it, temporarily deactivating the device. After Dr. Glassman began examining the artifact it reactivated, pulling Dr. Glassman inside it through a portal. Captain Lasky attempted to save Glassman, but Palmer noticed he was being pulled in as well and tackled him, keeping him out of harm's way.

After the incident, Dr. Catherine Halsey was brought in to examine the artifact in Glassman's absence. Palmer expressed particular disdain for Halsey, believing that ONI incarcerated her for a reason. Her suspicions were not entirely wrong, as it was later revealed that Halsey was secretly communicating with someone. After this discovery, Lasky ordered Palmer to arrest Dr. Halsey. She was not heard from for some time, forcing Jared Miller to run Spartan operations with Infinity AI Roland in her absence.

Palmer eventually returned to run operations again, and later held off the Covenant/Promethean forces when the alliance attempted to retake the artifact that Crimson had recovered. However, she failed to realize the true goal of their invasion until it was too late: while arguing with Dr. Halsey, a Promethean Knight translocated behind her and temporarily incapacitated her before taking Dr. Halsey. Angered by this, Palmer slammed down on the holo-table, denting it, and left the bridge.

Further operations
She later returned to running Ops just as Crimson was redeployed to the Apex. She ordered Crimson to shut down three slipspace portals in the area. While that was going on, Miller detected an SOS signal on a Covenant frequency, she responded quickly that the Covenant did not use SOS. After Crimson secured the Apex for Fireteam Lancer, Paul DeMarco radioed in that they were under attack from Covenant artillery and needed assistance. She ordered Crimson to take out the artillery. As they arrived at the artillery's location, Miller told her the Covenant seemed prepared for them, as if they knew they were coming; she told him not to be paranoid. After Crimson destroyed two of them DeMarco radioed in asking how many more, Palmer told him to relax and that there was one more. When Miller noticed the Covenant converged on the third location immediately after he told Crimson where to go, Commander Palmer became suspicious. After Crimson destroyed the final piece of artillery she told Majestic they owed Crimson a round, and told Crimson to secure the LZ for evac.

Terry Ledge of Fireteam Lancer informed her that they had found a Covenant base in the Warrens. After Crimson cleared the area she ordered them to head for the Warrens. When Crimson and Lancer arrived at the Warrens they encountered shields with cloaked generators; Palmer ordered Miller to find out how to de-cloak them. While Crimson and Lancer engaged the Covenant forces in the area, Miller found the SOS again, but Palmer quickly yelled that he should be focused on the generators. Miller located a Covenant soldier with the cloaking device and when Crimson killed him the generators were de-cloaked. Palmer told Crimson to "kindly exercise extreme force" on the generators. When they proceeded to the next area, Palmer informed Lancer that Crimson would have point for the remainder of the mission. After Crimson entered a cave, Miller informed Palmer that the SOS was coming from inside the cave. She told Crimson to take out the Covenant forces in the area and keep their eyes open.

Later, Miller informed Poker Squad had captured a wounded Elite willing to give up a Covenant listening post in exchange for its life. After clearing out the cave and opening another door, Crimson discovered the source of the mysterious SOS signal was from Fireteam Switchback, who were being held prisoner by the Covenant. Palmer asked where Spartan Costabile was; Bradford Gale informed her that Costabile had been killed by the Covenant. After taking out Covenant reinforcements Palmer congratulated Crimson and Lancer on rescuing Switchback. After Crimson arrived at the listening post and secured the area, Miller told her there were jammers possibly present somewhere nearby. Palmer told Crimson to keep a look out for them. After Crimson moved to the listening post, she was surprised to see them using an Army Pelican to listen in on UNSC communications. As Dalton prepared to fire on the Pelican, Palmer told him to wait until Crimson left the area. After Dalton destroyed the Pelican she commented on how it would be "nice to have the element of surprise again".

Later, Dr. Glassman needed help reading the holographic map of Requiem that Spartan Madsen recovered from Gek 'Lhar. Palmer ordered Crimson to check out a location marked by Spartan Thorne. Glassman used the map to help Crimson activate a friendly automated defense turret grid and heavy weapons; Palmer was impressed with this. After Glassman helped Crimson activate four anti-aircraft cannons, Palmer decided to end the mission. Upon eliminating the Covenant in the area, Fireteam Crimson were evacuated.

Assassin for ONI
"Orders are orders, Tom. This isn't my first rodeo."

- Sarah Palmer to Cpt. Lasky before leaving for ONI's mission.

When orders from Admiral Serin Osman came down to kill Dr. Halsey, Palmer decided to carry it out personally. Lasky attempted to stop her, voicing his protests against ONI using the conventional military to carry out their assassinations, particularly when the target was a civilian. When Lasky continued to protest, Palmer said she wouldn't see him court-martialed because of Halsey. Lasky finally ordered her to stand down, but she ignored him, responding that orders were orders.

She eventually made her way to Halsey's position, quietly taking out Elite guards with her combat knife. She made it into the "shrine" shortly after Gabriel Thorne had, killing an Elite about to sneak up on him. She tried to shoot and kill Dr. Halsey but hit her in the shoulder. Promethean Knights started to translocate into the area and she was forced to engage them. The rest of Fireteam Majestic showed up and engaged the knights, Palmer attempted to make her way to Halsey. However, just as she and Thorne were about to reach her a Promethean Knight translocated in behind 'Mdama and escaped with him and Halsey. She yelled in frustration and asked why Majestic was there, DeMarco told her Captain Lasky had ordered them to rescue Dr. Halsey. She questioned why he would do that when she was a traitor. Thorne then told her about how Halsey made sure he got half of the Janus Key. She then redeployed all Spartan fireteams to help in recovering Dr. Halsey.

Escaping Requiem
"Thorne"

- Palmer

After the events in the Librarian's shrine, she and Fireteam Majestic were sent the deactivation codes of one of the Requiem slipspace artifacts in order to free Infinity from Requiem's orbit, while Fireteam Crimson deactivated the third. Suddenly the Covenant fleet flew overhead and left Requiem, entering slipspace just outside the exterior shell. The entire planet then began to move towards the system's sun and Palmer quickly ordered Majestic to move out.

Later, after Crimson retrieved a new power supply for the Harvester, Miller informed Commander Palmer that they were back at the Harvester. She informed Miller that she and Majestic were almost at their objective as well. She asked Dalton about the evacuation of the planet and he informed her that everyone else was onboard and that Crimson and Majestic were the only ones left on the planet. After activating the Harvester and opening a path to the artifact, Miller reported to Commander Palmer that they had a path to the artifact. Palmer told him to just tell her when Crimson had finished and then yelled at DeMarco to check his six. She congratulated Crimson after they deactivated their artifact.

Shortly after this, Captain Lasky asked how things were going she reported that Crimson had accomplished their mission, but Majestic was still working on theirs. She covered Thorne as he deactivated the device, once they cleared the area and deactivated the artifact they evacuated. Palmer and Tedra Grant piloted their Pelican back to Infinity and arrived at the ship at the same time as Crimson. After they had successfully escaped, Palmer and Lasky visited Dr. Glassman's lab, where the doctor was studying the incomplete Janus Key. On the way there, she reproached Lasky for ostensibly sending Majestic to stop her. Lasky responded that he sent Majestic rescue Halsey, but Palmer saw no difference.

Battle of Ealen IV
"Lydus wants to hear my plan. Heh. Who has time to make a plan on a day like this?"

- Sarah Palmer about her strategy.

Upon Infinity's return to Earth, Palmer was requested to appear before the UNSC Security Council at HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6 along with Captain Lasky. There, she and Lasky were debriefed about the Second Battle of Requiem. Admiral Serin Osman berated Lasky over the complete destruction of Requiem and the failed assassination of Dr. Halsey. Osman then asked Commander Palmer if Lasky had deliberately sent Fireteam Majestic to stop her from eliminating Halsey. To protect Lasky from any ramifications, Palmer lied to Osman and claimed that Majestic was there for backup. Shortly after, Palmer, along with Fireteams Jackknife, Bailey, and Paul DeMarco of Fireteam Majestic, was assigned to escort and provide security for Fleet Admiral Terrence Hood and Kaidon Thel 'Vadam on a diplomatic mission to Ealen IV. While Hood and 'Vadam were negotiating with the Jiralhanae Chieftain Lydus, Covenant mercenaries broke into the chamber and attacked the delegates. She ordered Jackknife to clear the chamber and help the delegates evacuate, and ordered Bailey to clear a path to the evac shuttle. When the ship was destroyed by Banshees, the team proceeded to escort the delegates to a nearby parts depot.

Inside the repair depot, 'Vadam notified the rest of a decommissioned redoubt in which they could take refuge in. Lasky then ordered Palmer and the protection detail to escort the delegation to the redoubt, while he would try to re-establish communications with the fleet above the planet. Palmer refused to let him go alone and tasked Spartan Naiya Ray of team Jackknife to escort the captain due to her SIGINT background. As the party escaped the storage depot, they were intercepted by a Covenant Lich. Palmer quickly acted and ordered everyone to give her their grenades. She put all the grenades in her helmet, which she then threw at the Lich, destroying it. As she and the others retreated to a gravity lift, a surviving enemy Sangheili grabbed her. Scruggs killed the Elite just in time.

As Lord Hood halted the party to inspect the fallen Sangheili, Palmer told Scruggs to take Jackknife ahead with the delegation's bodyguards to ensure that the redoubt was safe to use as shelter. Hood discovered the Elite possessed detailed UNSC profiles and informed Palmer that someone within the UNSC was leaking information to the Covenant. After hearing gunfire coming from the redoubt, Palmer asked Jackknife to report in. Through a transmission mired with static, Scruggs informed her that the area was secure. Unbeknownst to her, Scruggs had turned on them and murdered the bodyguards and his fireteam.

Arriving at the redoubt, Palmer ordered DeMarco's team to sweep the courtyard and provide an inventory of supplies. As they proceeded onwards, Scruggs ambushed the delegates and held Lord Hood hostage at gunpoint. Palmer, surprised by his change of loyalty, asked whether he was an Insurrectionist. Scruggs scoffed at her assertion and told her that she was oblivious to the UNSC's secret role in regards to the New Phoenix Incident, ONI's campaign against the Sangheili and John-117's recent disappearance. Palmer then shot Lord Hood in the leg and tackled Scruggs out the mezzanine. After a brief struggle, Palmer killed him by stabbing him in the throat with a combat knife. She was contacted by Lasky who informed her of Covenant ships inbound to their site. She was ordered by Lasky to escape with the ambassadors on a transport craft while DeMarco and Fireteam Bailey remained behind to cover their escape with a Tyrant AA gun. Palmer reluctantly obeyed and asked DeMarco if she could do anything for him. DeMarco asked her to return a book Madsen had loaned to him, and he then parted ways with her. Palmer and the delegation managed to escaped back to Infinity thanks to their sacrifices. Palmer later attended a memorial service held for the fallen Spartans of the battle. Afterwards, Lasky tried to comfort Palmer about the deaths of her comrades but she asked to be left alone.

Pilgrims Pride and Oth Lodon
"Palmer"

- Spartan

On March 11, six days after DeMarco's death, Infinty arrived in the Artesia-702 system having received a distress signal from the damaged freighter Pilgrims Pride. When the freighter was tugged inside Infinity, an ambush was sprung as the freighter set itself to self-destruct and multiple UNSC assault crafts exited its cargo bay. With the help of Spartan-IVs the attack was repelled. Following the attack, Infinity learned that the assault crafts from the freighter belonged to the long-lost. Roland discovered that the freighter was launched near Oth Lodon, a gas giant located deep in Jiralhanae space. With the Spirit's possible location found, Lord Hood authorized Commander Palmer to conduct a search-and-rescue mission. Equipped with OF92 Booster Frames, Palmer and Fireteam Majestic scouted the planet's system. As they entered an asteroid field, Palmer, not wanting to listen to Miller's in-mission chatter, shut down communications with Infinity under the guise of losing the signal in the asteroids. Exploring the asteroid field, the Spartans came across not the Spirit of Fire but instead a Covenant station under control by New Colonial Alliance insurgents. Palmer restored communications to inform Infinity about the discovery.

As Infinity jumped next to the station, Captain Daniel Clayton, son of the renowned Captain James Cutter, revealed himself as a defector and fired the station's glassing cannon at Infinity. With damaged sustained to the ship and communications down, Palmer and Majestic proceeded to take control of the station. After evading oncoming missiles, the Spartans quickly boarded the station and secured the bridge, ordering everyone to freeze. Clayton told his crew not to listen and asked the Spartans if they knew who he was. Madsen responded saying he knew who he was and knocked Clayton down for being responsible for DeMarco's death. The Spartans then turned their attention to Vata 'Gajat, who was preparing to assault the crippled Infinity. With the station's cannon back online, they fired on 'Gajat's flagship, destroying it and saving the Infinity.

Three days later, Lasky returned to Infinity, having been successful in uncovering Clayton as the spy but failing to report it to the UNSC in time to prevent his attack. Palmer welcomed Lasky on board and apologized for her behavior following the events on Ealen IV. Lasky accepted her apology and expressed guilt for not uncovering Clayton's ploy fast enough. Palmer assured him he was not to blame as it was Lord Hood who had taken off without his consent. She told Lasky to just call it a rough day and to move on.

Bioweapon incident
On May 10, 2558, Captain Lasky consulted with Palmer about a situation unfolding on Ven III. Infinity had lost communications with Spartans Ray and Thorne, who had been deployed on the planet on a mission to capture a Sangheili in possession of a new biological agent. While Lasky proposed that they dispatch another two-man team to exfiltrate the Spartans already on the ground, Palmer stated that his initial decision to send in a reduced force was a mistake and insisted that they deploy a full fireteam or do not act at all. While Lasky was at first hesitant, he finally yielded to Palmer's and Roland's suggestions after Spartan Ray was ambushed and her signal terminated.

Personality and traits
"I only did what needed doing. What I was trained to do."

- Palmer to Jun-A266 on rescuing Admiral Kovalic.

Palmer possesses a strong sense of duty, and displays great tenacity and boldness on the battlefield. Possessing an audacious, gung-ho attitude, she is regarded as an experienced and capable leader, and is generally cool in tense situations. At the same time, she does have a tendency to react badly when things go wrong. For instance, when Dr. Catherine Halsey was abducted off the bridge of the Infinity, a frustrated Palmer slammed her fist into the holo-table so hard, she dented the metal.

Palmer takes great pride in being a Spartan, to the point of looking down on the conventional military branches; despite her own ODST roots, she is frequently shown to have rather low expectations of ordinary infantry. In contrast, she has very high expectations for her Spartans, especially those of Fireteams Crimson and Majestic.

Palmer typically performs her job in a no-nonsense manner and doesn't hesitate to dress down her fellow Spartans when they fail to meet her expectations. Several times, she called out Fireteam Majestic's leader Paul DeMarco in front of his own team. Spartan Miller once remarked that it's rare for Palmer to praise anyone under her command. At the same time though, she does have her own dry sense of humor, which she occasionally exhibits on the job. Furthermore, she takes pride in the Spartans under her command and encourages both cooperation and competition between the various Spartan Fireteams. She is also shown to have great respect for John-117; although she initially reacted to the Master Chief's presence with a teasing remark about his height, she later refused to follow Captain Del Rio's order to arrest the Chief for refusing to surrender Cortana.

Palmer regards scientists with a general disdain, which is demonstrated by her frequent irritation when having to deal with science teams and her frequent usage of the derogatory term "eggheads". This is because she views those with an academic education as pretending to be more intelligent than herself, a perceived sense of superiority which in her view is not shared by her fellow military personnel. She reserves particular contempt for Dr. Halsey, though this may be due to Halsey's reputation as well as the doctor's own lack of respect towards Palmer and the other SPARTAN-IVs. At the same time, she does give scientists credit when due. For example, she was genuinely impressed by Dr. Glassman when he enabled Fireteam Crimson to activate a pair of friendly Forerunner anti-aircraft guns to assist them against the Covenant.

When it comes to relationships with others, Palmer is shown to be rather reserved. The only two people she is known to have developed close personal ties to are her partner Edward Davis and Captain Thomas Lasky. When Davis was killed, Palmer mourned him and took it upon herself to recover his remains. She and Captain Lasky often refer to each other on a first-name basis, and Palmer shows a great deal of concern for his well-being. Most notably, Palmer's motivation for following ONI's orders to kill Dr. Halsey (besides genuinely believing that Halsey was a traitor) was to protect Lasky from being court-martialed for refusing to carry out the order, even when this meant outright ignoring Lasky's direct order to stand down. Later, she lied to Admiral Osman in order to protect Lasky, claiming that Majestic was sent as a backup team, not to stop her.

Palmer and Lasky's friendship became strained following the deaths of Paul DeMarco and several other SPARTAN-IVs on Ealen IV. When Lasky tried to talk to Palmer, she angrily lashed out at him and said she didn't want to talk to him. The two eventually reconciled, following the battle at Oth Lodon, with Palmer apologizing to Lasky for her outburst.

Equipment
"I don't need fashionable, just functional."

- Palmer about her MJOLNIR GEN2 armor.

Palmer wears the Scout variant of the MJOLNIR GEN2 armor, in lieu of specialized communications models built specifically for Spartan officers, with Inner-Plated forearms and Outer-plated legs. She favors using a pair of M6H magnum sidearms. Additionally, Palmer often arms herself with a M395 DMR.

Production notes

 * Palmer is voiced by actress Jennifer Hale, who is best known for providing the voice of the female Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect trilogy. Her facial appearance is based on Vedette Lim.
 * Palmer is the protagonist of the Halo: Initiation comic book series, which details her induction into the SPARTAN-IVs.
 * Palmer's in-game model has copper brown hair; she is also shown with this hair color in Halo: Spartan Assault's motion comic-style cutscenes. However, she is depicted with much darker hair in the campaign's prerendered epilogue cutscene, in Spartan Ops ' cinematics, and in the Halo: Initiation comic series. While she presumably dyed her hair after the events of the campaign, her "talking head" vignettes during Spartan Ops missions use her in-game model; as such, she is shown with the reddish hair she sports in the campaign, though the lighting of her video transmissions makes this difficult to notice.

List of appearances

 * Halo 4
 * Spartan Ops
 * Halo: Spartan Assault
 * Halo: Initiation
 * Halo: Escalation