Dante-G188

Were you looking for Dante Kirtley, a Lieutenant of the UNSC Midsummer Night?

"Sir, I think I got nicked."

- Dante's final words.

Dante-G188 was a member of SPARTAN-III Gamma Company. He specialized in explosives and demolitions.

Biography
Dante entered the SPARTAN-III program, developed by Colonel James Ackerson, around 2546 while between the age of 5 and 7 when he, along with other orphans, volunteered to become a SPARTAN-III to avenge his family or home planet after their destruction by the Covenant. Once on Onyx, he and the other Spartan candidates were trained by Senior Chief Petty Officer Mendez; surviving Beta Company SPARTAN-IIIs Lucy-B091 and Tom-B292; and SPARTAN-II, Lieutenant Commander Kurt Ambrose a.k.a. SPARTAN-051. He was in Team Saber, one of the leading squads in the Gamma generation of Spartan III's.

It was said that he had "near magical abilities" when it came to explosives. He always knew when they would explode, and when they would fail, too. Dante was the first casualty of Team Saber due to a combination of plasma fire and Needler rounds to his side while helping Lucy-B091 drag an injured Fred to safety after covering the group's rear as they retreated. Dante fell behind as the group retreated, and caught up just when Kurt-051 noticed his disappearance, limping and holding his side. After stating "Sir, I think I got nicked", Dante collapsed and died.

Trivia

 * When Kurt checked his body he realized that not only had a plasma bolt grazed Dante's left side but also half a dozen Needler shards had lodged and detonated under his arm and across his chest, leaving his ribs clearly visible . They carried him into the Shield World where he was buried alongside SPARTAN-043 "William".
 * If there were only "half a dozen" Needler shards that had lodged and detonated in Dante, then that would not have been possible as it takes at least 7 to cause an explosion.
 * The fact that Dante had not been aware how serious his injuries were was due to his altered frontal lobe, which sustained him even though he should have slipped into shock. Dante had only died once the blood loss had been severe.