Catherine-B320

"In recognition of this, her unparalleled brilliance, we honor her as the true genius of Noble."

- The Monument to Noble Team.

Lieutenant Commander Catherine-B320, otherwise known by members of her team as Kat, was a SPARTAN-III commando of the UNSC Naval Special Warfare Command, attached to Special Warfare Group Three of the UNSC Army. She fought alongside other members of NOBLE Team under the designation Noble Two during the Fall of Reach in 2552.

Childhood and early career
Kat was born in Monastir, New Harmony in 2530. Her father was killed in action on Harvest and her mother died of cancer in 2536, so she was raised by her grandmother, a retired Army General; this fact made her conscription into the SPARTAN-III program politically inconvenient However, when Kat's grandmother was killed during the fall of New Harmony, ONI seized the chance to induct Kat as part of Beta Company. Along with the rest of the company, she was initiated and began training circa 2539. Because of her skill and potential, she was marked for a special assignment shortly after her augmentations, and was eventually taken out of the general population of Beta Company by Kurt Ambrose and Franklin Mendez after Operation: CARTWHEEL, not long before the disastrous Operation: TORPEDO commenced. When NOBLE Team was formed sometime later, Kat, Carter-A259, and several other Spartans were assigned to the unit. On NOBLE, Kat soon found her calling in the skillsets of battlenet management, tactical planning, and intelligence synthesis. She retained a position as NOBLE's second-in-command all the way through until the end of the war.

At some point during her career, Kat developed a bypass system for the MJOLNIR armor's safety limiters on their actuators and "muscles", allowing a short burst of superior performance at the expense of the suit's coolant systems, leading to overheating.

Concord
In late 2551, NOBLE Team were deployed to the colony world of Concord to assist in the planet's defence against the Covenant threat, working alongside the UNSC Army Rangers and Concordian militia forces across the planet. By 1405 MST on December 12, the Pelican dropship ferrying the team had been downed in the Hinterlands region of Concord following a snowstorm, resulting in NOBLE making their way to the remote township of Skathi on foot. While in Skathi, Kat was tasked with running a supply inventory for the town to figure out what assets were on hand to prepare a defence until evacuation could reach the town. Upon receiving word that a large Covenant warhost was assembling to attack Skathi with a, Kat was quick to put together a plan even despite the team's limited munitions pool and lack of reinforcements - requiring only a single M862 Arctic Warthog and two additional members of NOBLE - Rosenda-A344 and Thom-A293.

Kat's plan of attack, termed Operation: OFFSET EYE, was to involve Kat driving the Warthog with Rosenda and Thom close enough to the inbound enemy force for Thom to hijack an enemy Ghost and use it to distract the Draugr's focus cannon fire, while Kat drove the Warthog off a rocky outcropping into the troop carrier's cargo bay. Once inside the Draugr, Kat and Rosenda proceeded to make short work of the vehicle's crew and security detail before reaching the bridge and extending the boarding ramp to allow Thom to board. With all three Spartans inside, they formulated their next plan; use the captured Draugr to finish off the remains of the Covenant armoured column and then the remaining infantry. By 2100 MST, the three Spartans - and their captured Draugr - had successfully returned to Skathi unharmed in time for a new set of orders from Colonel Urban Holland. With intelligence reports of Covenant forces massing in the Volanus system, NOBLE was retasked to the colony of Fumirole in the hopes of intercepting a potentially inbound enemy attack there. While Rosenda was reassigned away from NOBLE, Kat was one of the team members kept on the team for the upcoming engagement at Fumirole.

Fumirole
The Battle of Fumirole took place four months after Concord, in April 2552. On April 22, Kat led an operation she had devised to destroy Sanctity of Purification, a which had took position above the capital city on Fumirole. During the operation, Kat took the responsibility of carrying a FURY-class Medium Fusion Destructive Device across the battlefield to Sanctity of Purification's landing site, wherein it would be detonated. However, during the attack, Kat was attacked by a, with the resulting fuel rod cannon bombardment incapacitating Kat and costing her her right arm. As a result, Thom-A293 instead took charge of the FURY nuke and was able to successfully deliver it into the hangar bay of the battlecruiser - though the time lost by the Banshee attack resulted in the detonation costing Thom's life.

The operation was successful, but at the cost of Thom-A293. The operation also cost Kat her right arm, which was 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 Kat and Carter 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 Visegrád Relay, a mission that led to the first confrontation with Covenant forces on the planet. During the operation, Kat recovered a data module containing Professor Laszlo Sorvad's "latchkey discovery" from the Relay's console and uncovered an unfortunate discovery; the Covenant had 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. The team was debriefed by Dr. Catherine Halsey following the attack, and Kat returned the module containing Sorvad's data.

Kat later commanded a reconnisance mission, directing her teammates around Szurdok Ridge. Intelligence gathered from Noble Six and Jun-A266's reconnaissance mission led 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 codenamed Spire One.

The destruction of the by a Covenant, Long Night of Solace, after the battle prompted Carter and Kat to reassess the situation. Recognizing 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, Jorge-052 and SPARTAN-B312, helped UNSC ground forces repel Covenant invaders from a UNSC base, which housed the Sabre Program Launch/Research Range. Noble Team was separated from this point, with Jorge and Noble Six participating in Operation: UPPER CUT while the rest focused on groundside operations.

At some point during the Fall of Reach, Kat and the remaining members of Noble Team assisted the UNSC in repelling the Covenant from civilian population centers. They reunited with Noble Six during the Siege of New Alexandria and helped in the neutralization of Covenant jammers and the evacuation of ONI personnel. Soon, Noble Team was hailed by its superior, Colonel Urban Holland, and was ordered to destroy Sword Base. The team was forced to enter a radiation bunker to shield them from the Covenant's glassing of New Alexandria. As Noble Team exited the elevator and ran towards the bunker, a Sangheili Field Marshal of the Devoted Sentries in a Phantom overhead shot Kat through the head with a needle rifle, killing her instantly. When the surviving members of Noble Team were extracted on August 26, Carter carried her body out of the bunker.

Kat, alongside Jorge-052, was later listed as missing in action as per ONI Directive 930.

Personality and traits
"This one seems to like me. Someone kill it."

- Catherine-B320

Kat generally exhibited a sardonic attitude and had a dry sense of humor. She was described as brilliant, athletic, an inspired tactician and exemplary combatant. She was also noted for her skills as a cryptanalyst and a hacker; allegedly, there had not been a system yet that she has been unable to crack. According to Colonel Urban Holland, she had 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 was able to read a situation, working with information many would find overly limited.

Kat shared a close bond with Noble Team's leader, Carter-A259 due to the two being the only survivors of the original roster of Noble Team. She acted as Carter's second-in-command and was fiercely loyal to him and the team. Carter greatly valued her tactical input and planning ability and was particularly upset about her death. Much like Carter, Kat blamed herself for Thom-A293'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.

Equipment
Kat wore MJOLNIR Mark V armor with an Air Assault helmet upgraded with an AN/PZY-990T STARLIGHT module. She wore SAP/FJ shoulders on either arm and used a M45 Hardcase utility on her left thigh.

Following the loss of her right arm in the Battle of Fumirole, Kat instead made use of an robotic prosthetic replacement arm. Accordingly, she used an "up-sized" variant of the M6G magnum specially designed for use by Spartans, with further custom modifications made tailored for use with her prosthetic arm.

Gears 5
At some time following the Battle of Fumirole, Kat, alongside Emile-A239, were retasked away from NOBLE Team to the asteroid TC-858 to investigate a xenoarchaeological find not of Forerunner origin. This find was believed to be a portal to another location entirely, and reconnaissance efforts had encountered alien life forms not of Covenant origin. Due to the nature of the find, the two were encouraged to maintain discretion in their mission.

Halo: Reach
Kat can be unlocked as a custom voice for use in the Firefight component of Halo: Reach multiplayer. In Halo: The Master Chief Collection, she can be unlocked as part of the Series 1: Noble progression track. Kat's helmet was additionally made available as an avatar award on the Xbox 360, unlocked by obtaining an Avenger medal in matchmaking.

Gears 5
Kat-B320 is one of two Halo-themed crossover characters available to play as in the Gears 5 Horde mode. She takes on the role of an engineer and is able to build and repair fortifications, alongside deploying a holographic decoy to confuse and distract enemies.

Halo Infinite
A Kat-themed armour kit is available for unlock as part of Season 01: Heroes of Reach, in Halo Infinite multiplayer.

Production notes
As shown in an early production note at PAX 2010, Kat was originally intended to have been born in 2529 and to have been a member of Alpha Company. In this version of the story, she and Carter were the last remaining members of a SPARTAN-III team known as "Blue Team", (not to be confused with the SPARTAN-II unit). This is apparent in the similar coloration of their armor in early concept art. During the event, model and Halo fan Jordan Konkel was hired by 343 Industries to attend suited in a cosplay recreation of Kat's armour.

According to the Halo: Reach Legendary Edition developer commentary, due to a glitch early in the game's development, Kat laughed when the player killed moa, as she was programmed to occasionally laugh when the player killed Covenant forces. Later during the commentary, Lee Wilson jokes that Carter was upset by Kat's death because "She was cute." Martin O'Donnell responds, "We know there was some relationship between Carter and Kat at some point."

In the final release of Halo: Reach, Kat was voiced by Alona Tal.

List of appearances

 * Remember Reach
 * Deliver Hope
 * Halo: Reach
 * Halo 5: Guardians
 * Halo: Ground Command
 * Halo Mythos
 * Halo: Official Spartan Field Manual
 * Halo Infinite
 * Winter Contention