Kurt Ambrose

"Die? Didn't you know? Spartans never die."

- Kurt's final words, to Voro Nar 'Mantakree as he detonates Onyx

Kurt Ambrose (UNSCMID: 045888947) was a Spartan-II supersoldier. One of the leaders of the Spartan team, he was close to many of the other Spartans, before he went missing in 2531. He was actually abducted by Colonel James Ackerson to spearhead the Spartan-III program.

Personality and Description
Kurt was unusually sociable for a Spartan. Where the rest of his teammates were closely guarded and private, Kurt spent a considerable amount of time making friends. This made some of his fellow Spartans uneasy; they were not comfortable with a leader who was so distracted. Still, Kurt was an extremely proficient leader. After his indoctrination into the Spartan-III program, his leadership qualities became even more pronounced.

Kurt had an uncanny ability to "feel" traps before walking into them. When something was wrong, Kurt would often get a bad feeling. When John and Kurt were originally on separate teams, John often lost as a result of Kurt's 6th sense. His teammates grew to view this as an asset, trusting Kurt's instincts and common sense.

Kurt was among the best of the SPARTAN-IIs, right next to Spartan 117 in skill and superiority. Kurt is also the only SPARTAN to make the rank of an Officer, Lieutenant (Jr Grade) by "courtesy" of Col. Ackerson.

Early Childhood
When he was marked as physically and mentally superior by Dr. Catherine Halsey in 2517 she had him abducted and sent to Reach to begin Spartan training. As with the other candidates to become Spartans, he was replaced with a flash clone that died of natural causes, just like all the other future Spartans.

Early Career
During training, he often was selected to lead Green Team in field exercises, in which he won almost every course. He graduated with the rest of the Spartans in 2525 after augmentation. After the death of Sam-034 during the Battle of Chi Ceti, Kurt replaced Sam on Blue Team under John-117's leadership and command. At first, his fellow teammates were uneasy and apprehensive with the transition, but after a mission to Camp New Hope where Kurt saved the rest of the Spartans from being captured by the URF General Howard Graves, they quickly bonded.

Disappearance
Soon after, Kurt disappeared during an extravehicular mission to Station Delphi to investigate a ruptured Shaw-Fujikawa translight engine when his T-PACK failed and malfunctioned. He was listed as MIA and presumed dead. However he had actually been abducted by Colonel James Ackerson and sent to Onyx to train the Spartan-IIIs. To do this, he was given a new second name and an officer's commission, as Lieutenant (Jr Grade) Kurt Ambrose. Over time, he was promoted for his successful efforts in training the new Spartans, eventually reaching the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

Onyx
At the outbreak of hostilities in Zone-67 in Onyx, Kurt regroups with Tom-B292 and Lucy-B091, the last remaining Spartans of Beta Company, and selects the SPI armor used by the Spartan-IIIs instead of his near-invincible Mark IV (which he has upgraded) armor as he tells Lucy that he is one of them now, a Spartan III teammate. He died in the Core-room Antechamber of the Forerunner construct of Onyx, saving the lives of the rest of Blue Team by opting to stay outside the rift and fight off the Covenant by detonating two FENRIS nuclear warheads. However, he commissions Fred as an officer before sending them to the shield world in order to give the remaining Spartans a leader.



Death
Before detonating the two FENRIS nuclear warheads, Kurt marks the Spartan casualties as MIA - keeping with the policy of never declaring any Spartan KIA - and then does likewise for himself, adding Lieutenant Commander Kurt Ambrose to the list next to SPARTAN-051, Kurt. During this time, he sees all of his former Spartan-III's that were under his command give him the Spartan "Okay" signal, as well as Sam, Li, Grace, Will, and the rest of his fallen friends. Finally, right before detonating the warheads, he tells the Elite Fleet Master who confronted him: "Die? Didn't you know?...Spartans never die." The detonation of the two warheads causes a chain reaction, that destroys the crust of the planet, which had been covering a giant sphere made up of Sentinels, who fire their lasers into space destroying the Covenant ships but without hitting the UNSC Dusk. Meanwhile the surviving Spartans are shielded in the rift. It is believed that this rift is actually "condensed" slip space, within the small inner chamber of the planet, created by the Forerunners as a part of the Forerunners plan to fight the Flood.

Legacy
Kurt, according to John, originally made him uneasy. He did this by taking a lot of time to know his teammates on a more personal level. He died in the end a brilliant commander, and noble hero who continued to know his Spartan-IIIs and train them hard.

Trivia

 * The name Ambrose comes from the late Latin name Ambrosius, which was derived from the Greek name Αμβροσιος (Αmbrosios) meaning "immortal" which could reference the fact that Spartans are never marked as KIA, or an indirect allusion in his last words, "Spartans never die." Ambrosius was also said to be the food of the archaic Greek gods, another reference to the idea that Spartans are superhuman, immortal, and therefore incapable of dying.
 * Ambrose may also be a reference to author Stephen Ambrose, who wrote the book Band of Brothers.
 * He kept a self-winding antique mechanical watch.
 * Kurt was the only SPARTAN-II to wear S.P.I armor.
 * Next to John and Fred, Kurt is probably one of the more known leaders of the SPARTAN-II program.
 * He is seen to the highest-ranking Spartan-II in the history of the Halo universe, surpassing even Chief Mendez and Master Chief
 * Kurt, Fred, and John are said to be the "Commanders of the Spartans" leading them, always, into battle some way, shape, or form.