Catherine Halsey: Difference between revisions

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On [[2550#November|November 23]] the [[Official Secrets Act of 2550]] was handed down, regulating the confidentiality and nondisclosure of any official [[messenger satchel]].<ref name="HJ112350"/> This additional measure struck Halsey as onerous and when she made inquiries regarding it to [[Michael Stanforth|Stanforth]] he uncharacteristicallt deflected them. Catherine speculated in her journal that the new regulation might relate to [[Visegrád]] or some of the other rumored [[Forerunner|sites]] she'd been collecting data on, and while she did appreciate the need for secrecy she did not appreciate relevant data being kept from her. If indeed Visegrád was [[Forerunner|what]] she and others all thought it might be, she reasoned—and if there were other such sites, she wondered who could be positioning themselves to assay the larger picture.<ref name="HJ112350">''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'', ''November 23, 2550''</ref> By [[2551#February|February 20, 2551]] the {{UNSCShip|Hopeful}}, the UNSC's largest medical facility, had departed Reach with a minimal escort.<ref name="HJ22051">''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'', ''February 20, 2551''</ref> According to Halsey's own sources, it was accompanied by one ONI prowler in addition to a single destroyer. The ''Hopeful'''s A.I. was unusually tight-lipped when [[Kalmiya]] asked about its destination. This, plus the late addition of carcinogenic, mutagenic, and experimental chemicals to its manifest among other oddities, piqued the doctor's curiosity. She questioned in her journal why Stanforth would keep any clandestine [[ONI Section Three|Section Three]] medical experiments from her. To her irritation, inquiries she made on the matter were met with dead ends.<ref name="HJ22051"/> The facility returned by February 27 and Vice Admiral [[Ysionris Jeromi|Jeromi]] even invited Halsey to come aboard for a look at its new [[Flash cloning|flash-clone organ]] facility.<ref name="HJ22751">''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'', ''February 27, 2551''</ref> Once they were together he abruptly steered their conversation to tell her he knew she was "fishing" before she could even ask him anything related to the ship's short absence. He also claimed that he knew very little himself and couldn't tell her what he did know, under threat of death.<ref name="HJ22751"/>

[[File:Babd catha forerunner complex.jpg|thumb|350px|right|[[Cortana]] spent the first few years of her existence assisting Doctor Halsey within the confines of [[CASTLE Base]], but after the doctor began studying the mysterious ship buried in the ice shelf at Babd Catha she eventually began to use Cortana to retrieve navigation data from the ancient vessel.<ref name="WaypointCortana"/><ref name="HM89">''[[Halo Mythos]]'', ''page 89''</ref>]]

By [[2551#May|May of 2551]] Catherine had begun to lead the excavation of an ancient [[Forerunner]] [[Babd Catha Forerunner vessel|vessel]] that lay [[Babd Catha Forerunner complex|buried]] beneath ONI's [[SWORD Base]] within the [[Babd Catha Ice Shelf]] in northern [[Eposz]].<ref name="DD3"/><ref name="DD2">[[Data Drop]] [[Data Drop/Two|#2]]</ref><ref name="HRTP">''[[Halo: Reach]]'', ''[[The Package (level)|The Package]]''</ref> Even so, her residence remained in [[Csongrád]] where she also continued to work with Doctor Sorvad on the Visegrád findings.<ref name="DD3"/> On May 8 she was interviewed by analyst [[B.M. Parkes]] so that they might conduct a [[Hemley and Aubourn Behavior Analysis|Hemley and Aubourn behavior analysis]] of her.<ref name="DD3"/> Following the encounter Parkes recorded that she had not been terribly forthcoming and ultimately recommended assigning two to three handlers to her at both sites where she was working. Parkes also was confident she needed to be surveilled were she to be called off-planet, though her leaving Reach was something they and their colleagues strongly discouraged at that time.<ref name="DD3"/> Two days later Halsey noted in her journal that a security issue which she blamed Sorvad for had caused her to begin keeping an eye on the inhabitants of [[Visegrád]] to ensure they didn't disappear thanks to Section Three.<ref name="HJ51051"/> As an insurance policy, she told Stanforth that the people there for valuable for being the only ones with extended exposure to the site under study and as such may need to be studied. She met with Sorvad and he assured her that only certain members of the dig team and a few other "necessary parties" on her side had seen the items recovered from the site. He insisted on continuing the work with only a skeleton crew of his most trusted people and promised he would not tolerate "another [[Farragut Station]]", referring to the communications outpost. Halsey simply nodded but was displeased, wondering if Sorvad might actually know what had happened at Farragut Station in the past and the reason for its relocation.<ref name="HJ51051"/> On [[2551#May|May 15]] Kalmiya caught a glimpse of several documents in Vice Admiral Stanforth's [[Beta-5 Division|Beta-5]] server which ranged from service order transfers of existing Spartan-IIs to highly-classified non-Spartan-II detachments.<ref name="HJ51551">''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'', ''May 15, 2551''</ref> This had evidently been going on for years, and Halsey was incensed at having been kept in the dark about it. She resolved to not let this go, and as she had a list of names with [[James Ackerson|one man]] she considered particularly obscene at the top, she planned to send Kalmiya back in as soon as she got a handle on the affairs with Sorvad.<ref name="HJ51551"/>

By [[2551#May|May of 2551]] Catherine had begun to lead the excavation of an ancient [[Forerunner]] [[Babd Catha Forerunner vessel|vessel]] that lay [[Babd Catha Forerunner complex|buried]] beneath the area occupied by ONI's [[SWORD Base]] within the [[Babd Catha Ice Shelf]] in northern [[Eposz]].<ref name="DD3"/><ref name="DD2">[[Data Drop]] [[Data Drop/Two|#2]]</ref><ref name="HRTP">''[[Halo: Reach]]'', ''[[The Package (level)|The Package]]''</ref> Even so, her residence remained in [[Csongrád]] where she also continued to work with Doctor Sorvad on the Visegrád findings.<ref name="DD3"/> On May 8 she was interviewed by analyst [[B.M. Parkes]] so that they might conduct a [[Hemley and Aubourn Behavior Analysis|Hemley and Aubourn behavior analysis]] of her.<ref name="DD3"/> Following the encounter Parkes recorded that she had not been terribly forthcoming and ultimately recommended assigning two to three handlers to her at both sites where she was working. Parkes also was confident she needed to be surveilled were she to be called off-planet, though her leaving Reach was something they and their colleagues strongly discouraged at that time.<ref name="DD3"/> Two days later Halsey noted in her journal that a security issue which she blamed Sorvad for had caused her to begin keeping an eye on the inhabitants of [[Visegrád]] to ensure they didn't disappear thanks to Section Three.<ref name="HJ51051"/> As an insurance policy, she told Stanforth that the people there for valuable for being the only ones with extended exposure to the site under study and as such may need to be studied. She met with Sorvad and he assured her that only certain members of the dig team and a few other "necessary parties" on her side had seen the items recovered from the site. He insisted on continuing the work with only a skeleton crew of his most trusted people and promised he would not tolerate "another [[Farragut Station]]", referring to the communications outpost. Halsey simply nodded but was displeased, wondering if Sorvad might actually know what had happened at Farragut Station in the past and the reason for its relocation.<ref name="HJ51051"/> On [[2551#May|May 15]] Kalmiya caught a glimpse of several documents in Vice Admiral Stanforth's [[Beta-5 Division|Beta-5]] server which ranged from service order transfers of existing Spartan-IIs to highly-classified non-Spartan-II detachments.<ref name="HJ51551">''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'', ''May 15, 2551''</ref> This had evidently been going on for years, and Halsey was incensed at having been kept in the dark about it. She resolved to not let this go, and as she had a list of names with [[James Ackerson|one man]] she considered particularly obscene at the top, she planned to send Kalmiya back in as soon as she got a handle on the affairs with Sorvad.<ref name="HJ51551"/>

On the morning of [[2552#July|July 18, 2552]] Catherine got to have a brief talk with Admiral Stanforth concerning the [[Battle of Sigma Octanus IV|protracted battle]] that had just concluded at [[Sigma Octanus IV]].<ref name="HJ71852">''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'', ''July 18, 2552''</ref> This followed the normal reporting on it and by the end of the day she had also read through both the admiral's after-action report on the battle (given to her by him) and the press releases put out by [[ONI Section Two|Section Two]].<ref name="HJ71852"/><ref name="HJ72052"/> Halsey's interest was piqued when she saw [[Jacob Keyes]]' name and that of his ship, the {{UNSCShip|Iroquois}}, featured prominently in the reporting, so she found herself skipping ahead to confirm he had survived.<ref name="HJ71852"/> In her journal she surmised that the maneuver being dubbed "the [[Keyes Loop]]" had been inspired by one of Admiral [[Preston Cole|Cole]]'s. A heavily redacted section of the after-action report that detailed, as far as Halsey could tell, a groundside mission involving [[Blue Team]], was of the most pressing concern to her. She was unsure why Spartans would have been committed there, seeing as the planet was in all probability about to be glassed at the time, but even [[Kalmiya]] was unable to break the section's encryption. The Covenant's return to the planet following its first repulsion led her to conclude it must have wanted something on it, so she resolved to follow up on this line of inquiry.<ref name="HJ71852"/> Two days later Stanforth pretended to have never given Halsey access to the files he had, which made her think others must have been listening in on their conversation.<ref name="HJ72052">''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'', ''July 20, 2552''</ref> She had noticed a recent intensification of paranoia and security around her, after all. She was certain she was missing something in the reporting which he wanted her to see that should be glaringly obvious.<ref name="HJ72052"/> The next day, [[2552#July|July 21]], [[Laszlo Sorvad|Sorvad]] sent her a brief, cryptic message on his Theta channel.<ref name="HJ72152">''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'', ''July 21, 2552''</ref> He claimed to have made a latchkey discovery that was too important to send through the data link he had with him, and since he could neither leave the field to deliver the information in person, he said he would send it through the [[Visegrád]] [[Visegrád Relay|communication relay hub]]. After more than six hours since his message Halsey had still received nothing, but she decided against second-guessing him and elected to simply continue waiting.<ref name="HJ72152"/>

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[[Battle Group Leviathan]] arrived at [[Reach]] from [[Sigma Octanus IV]] by [[2552#August|August 12]] so Halsey went on that date to see what had been done to her [[Mjolnir]] units.<ref name="HJ81252">''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'', ''August 12, 2552''</ref> Replacement parts and possible upgrades were available, though she noted later that day that [[John-117]] would need to be laser scanned for the new cybernetic implants she planned to give him. Once she was aboard his {{Class|Halberd|destroyer}}, the {{UNSCShip|Iriquois}}, [[Jacob Keyes]] came to see her as she had been both hoping and dreading.<ref name="HJ81252"/> They were able to talk about Miranda, his recent "[[Keyes Loop]]", the Spartans (including their operational records, which she showed him), and what little she could prematurely disclose about [[Operation: RED FLAG]].<ref name="HJ81252"/><ref name="HTFOR29">''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'', ''Chapter 29''</ref> When they parted they wished one another the best on their respective missions and Keyes even kissed her on the cheek when she offered her hand to shake.<ref name="HJ81252"/> Shortly after 1110 hours later that day Doctor Halsey met John at a military complex of [[Camp Hathcock]] where he had just finished debriefing on the [[Battle of Sigma Octanus IV|battle]] at [[Sigma Octanus IV]].<ref name="HTFOR24">''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'', ''Chapter 24''</ref> She was sittting in an overstuffed chair when he returned to the debriefing lounge and her surprise presence caught him off guard.<ref name="HTFOR24"/> She asked how he was doing, making sure to not give any suggestion that [[Battle at Szurdok Ridge|all was not well]] on Reach at that moment, as it had been decided the Spartans should be kept in the dark for the time being so that RED FLAG might not be compromised.<ref name="HTFOR24"/><ref name="DD5">[[Data Drop]] [[Data Drop/Five|#5]]</ref> In the few minutes they had Halsey told him about the upcoming procedures planned for him and gave his head a cursory [[Wikipedia:Magnetic Resonance Imaging|MRI]].<ref name="HJ81252"/> John asked after [[Franklin Mendez|Mendez]] and all the others the two of them had called family and Halsey shared what little she knew without giving heed to protocols or security clearances. They then sat together quietly for a time.<ref name="HJ81252"/> John was enthusiastic about the victory at [[Sigma Octanus system|Sigma Octanus]], so she asked whether he would like another victory and perhaps the biggest they'd ever had at that.<ref name="HTFOR24"/> She left things with him there, however, and just offered that they'd be speaking soon. Turning to the [[military police]] attendant waiting at the lounge's entrance, she instructed him to open the doors so she could take her turn speaking to the committee of twelve naval officers, ONI and otherwise.<ref name="HTFOR24"/> Two days later Halsey was within [[SWORD Base]] again when it saw further bombardment from the [[Covenant]].<ref>''[[Halo: Reach]]'', ''[[Long Night of Solace (level)|Long Night of Solace]]''</ref>

By [[2552#August|August 24]] Doctor Halsey had been shown a [[hologram]] of a piece of [[Sigma Octanus IV artifact|an object]] [[Blue Team]] had recovered from Sigma Octanus IV—though she was not made aware of its point of origin or even what branch or group within ONI had seen fit to share it with her. This, of course, hindered her from performing a complete analysis. Even so, it was plain to her that the artifact shared many iconic language and code forms with the [[Forerunner]] [[Babd Catha Forerunner vessel|ship]] buried beneath SWORD Base. In her journal she puzzled over a possible connection between what she judged to be the more "standard" stylized [[Forerunner symbols|glyphs]] and took note of potential similarities between other glyphs and hypothesized navigational code found in Covenant transmissions. She ultimately could not draw a conclusion and even wondered if perhaps [[Illegal Entry Protocols|illegal entry protocol]] deconvolution was to blame. Halsey hypothesized at this time that the Forerunners might represent predecessors of the Covenant, if not a culture far more ancient and removed. She was unable to copy the data the hologram displayed and instead had to commit it to memory. Deciphering the message on the object would require actually having it and all relevant etiological data, so she shared this with her undisclosed ONI counterparts knowing it would get back to [[Colonel]] [[James Ackerson]]. She suspected it was in his possession and was sure she could get everything he had on it once he realized her help would be needed to decipher it.<ref name="HJ82452">''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'', ''August 24, 2552''</ref> At 0915 hours the next morning Halsey was fourteen minutes and eighteen seconds late to her private office within the Omega Wing of [[CASTLE Base]], as [[Déjà]] pointed out as soon as she entered.

By [[2552#August|August 24]] Doctor Halsey had been shown a [[hologram]] of a piece of [[Sigma Octanus IV artifact|an object]] [[Blue Team]] had recovered from Sigma Octanus IV—though she was not made aware of its point of origin or even what branch or group within ONI had seen fit to share it with her. This, of course, hindered her from performing a complete analysis. Even so, it was plain to her that the artifact shared many iconic language and code forms with the [[Forerunner]] [[Babd Catha Forerunner vessel|ship]] buried beneath the area around SWORD Base. In her journal she puzzled over a possible connection between what she judged to be the more "standard" stylized [[Forerunner symbols|glyphs]] and took note of potential similarities between other glyphs and hypothesized navigational code found in Covenant transmissions. She ultimately could not draw a conclusion and even wondered if perhaps [[Illegal Entry Protocols|illegal entry protocol]] deconvolution was to blame. Halsey hypothesized at this time that the Forerunners might represent predecessors of the Covenant, if not a culture far more ancient and removed. She was unable to copy the data the hologram displayed and instead had to commit it to memory. Deciphering the message on the object would require actually having it and all relevant etiological data, so she shared this with her undisclosed ONI counterparts knowing it would get back to [[Colonel]] [[James Ackerson]]. She suspected it was in his possession and was sure she could get everything he had on it once he realized her help would be needed to decipher it.<ref name="HJ82452">''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'', ''August 24, 2552''</ref> At 0915 hours the next morning Halsey was fourteen minutes and eighteen seconds late to her private office within the Omega Wing of [[CASTLE Base]], as [[Déjà]] pointed out as soon as she entered.

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Doctor Halsey entered her ~~office beneath~~ [[SWORD Base]] shortly after 0400 hours on August 30.<ref name="HTFOR28>''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'', ''Chapter 28''</ref> At checkpoint three she was briefly [[Cortana|delayed]] by a reset of the verification system, which required her to speak that day's code phrase and undergo a retina scan twice in order to proceed.<ref name="HTFOR28"/> The doctor had sent an official protest against Ackerson to the {{UNSCShip|Burden of Proof}}, backed by Admiral Stanforth, but was still tracking his possible involvement with the missile incident from the previous day.<ref name="HJ83052">''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'', ''August 30, 2552''</ref> She had also suggested he may have suffered a mental breakdown and advised he be taken into custody, pending evaluation. She had received reports of either he or his agents investigating the area around [[CASTLE Base]]'s [[Xenoarchaeology|xenoarcheological]] site in addition to scattered ones which alleged increased [[Covenant]] activity in the vicinity as well. In her journal, she surmised that Ackerson was unlikely to find anything of interest there and cynically expressed hope that he might cross paths with the enemy. Before NOBLE Team's arrival Catherine had a number of tasks which she was determined to make sure were accomplished. She prepared [[Kalmiya]], finalized and compiled a firmware update for the part of [[Cortana]] which remained with her and upgraded that [[Armored matrix|package]] for transfer, sent a note to Miranda by way of the {{UNSCShip|Hopeful}}, enabled a network purge, and prepared all backups for an Umbra slipspace shot to Earth. The reports Halsey had seen made her confident Reach was surely lost, but having completed what she'd needed to she felt prepared in her lab as she waited for the Spartans.<ref name="HJ83052"/> [[NOBLE Team]] had arrived outside SWORD Base by 2616 hours on August 29 (local time).<ref name="HRTP">''[[Halo: Reach]]'', ''[[The Package (level)|The Package]]''</ref> Shortly before the team reached Doctor Halsey [[Jerrod]] let her know SWORD Base's perimeter had been compromised, despite assertions to the contrary being made by the base's own A.I.<ref name="HJ83052"/>

Doctor Halsey entered her [[SWORD Base]] office shortly after 0400 hours on August 30.<ref name="HTFOR28>''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'', ''Chapter 28''</ref> At checkpoint three she was briefly [[Cortana|delayed]] by a reset of the verification system, which required her to speak that day's code phrase and undergo a retina scan twice in order to proceed.<ref name="HTFOR28"/> The doctor had sent an official protest against Ackerson to the {{UNSCShip|Burden of Proof}}, backed by Admiral Stanforth, but was still tracking his possible involvement with the missile incident from the previous day.<ref name="HJ83052">''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'', ''August 30, 2552''</ref> She had also suggested he may have suffered a mental breakdown and advised he be taken into custody, pending evaluation. She had received reports of either he or his agents investigating the area around [[CASTLE Base]]'s [[Xenoarchaeology|xenoarcheological]] site in addition to scattered ones which alleged increased [[Covenant]] activity in the vicinity as well. In her journal, she surmised that Ackerson was unlikely to find anything of interest there and cynically expressed hope that he might cross paths with the enemy. Before NOBLE Team's arrival Catherine had a number of tasks which she was determined to make sure were accomplished. She prepared [[Kalmiya]], finalized and compiled a firmware update for the part of [[Cortana]] which remained with her and upgraded that [[Armored matrix|package]] for transfer, sent a note to Miranda by way of the {{UNSCShip|Hopeful}}, enabled a network purge, and prepared all backups for an Umbra slipspace shot to Earth. The reports Halsey had seen made her confident Reach was surely lost, but having completed what she'd needed to she felt prepared in her lab as she waited for the Spartans.<ref name="HJ83052"/> [[NOBLE Team]] had arrived outside SWORD Base by 2616 hours on August 29 (local time).<ref name="HRTP">''[[Halo: Reach]]'', ''[[The Package (level)|The Package]]''</ref> Shortly before the team reached Doctor Halsey [[Jerrod]] let her know SWORD Base's perimeter had been compromised, despite assertions to the contrary being made by the base's own A.I. In case something were to happen to her, Halsey recorded a purge code and its override failsafe password in her journal.<ref name="HJ83052"/>

Upon entering SWORD Base the surviving members of NOBLE were led at [[Cortana]]'s direction to a tram which would carry them one-and-a-half kilometers east and around two thousand feet underground, where Halsey was.<ref name="HRTP"/> Once the four of them had climbed aboard she appeared on a monitor and apologized to [[Carter-A259]] for the unusual security measures which had kept them from fully knowing what to expect at the base. He started to remark on the fact that she'd been listed as having died, but the doctor dismissed the casualty reports relating to her as false before he could finish and said she only wished the same could be said for the rest of his team, both [[Jorge-052]] and [[Kat-B320]] having been killed within the last few weeks. She offered what might have been a small comfort in sharing that the [[data module]] delivered by Kat had unlocked the secrets of her nearby [[Babd Catha Forerunner vessel|excavation]]. She then explained that their orders to destroy all sensitive material at the base had been overridden, as they had always been nothing more than a pretext to bring them to her so that they could take possession of this vital data and deliver it elsewhere. Carter argued that he would need to confirm this change with Colonel [[Urban Holland|Holland]], but Halsey assured him he would be briefed and said that they belonged to [[ONI]] now.

Catherine Halsey: Difference between revisions

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 On [[2550#November|November 23]] the [[Official Secrets Act of 2550]] was handed down, regulating the confidentiality and nondisclosure of any official [[messenger satchel]].<ref name="HJ112350"/> This additional measure struck Halsey as onerous and when she made inquiries regarding it to [[Michael Stanforth|Stanforth]] he uncharacteristicallt deflected them. Catherine speculated in her journal that the new regulation might relate to [[Visegrád]] or some of the other rumored [[Forerunner|sites]] she'd been collecting data on, and while she did appreciate the need for secrecy she did not appreciate relevant data being kept from her. If indeed Visegrád was [[Forerunner|what]] she and others all thought it might be, she reasoned—and if there were other such sites, she wondered who could be positioning themselves to assay the larger picture.<ref name="HJ112350">''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'', ''November 23, 2550''</ref> By [[2551#February|February 20, 2551]] the {{UNSCShip|Hopeful}}, the UNSC's largest medical facility, had departed Reach with a minimal escort.<ref name="HJ22051">''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'', ''February 20, 2551''</ref> According to Halsey's own sources, it was accompanied by one ONI prowler in addition to a single destroyer. The ''Hopeful'''s A.I. was unusually tight-lipped when [[Kalmiya]] asked about its destination. This, plus the late addition of carcinogenic, mutagenic, and experimental chemicals to its manifest among other oddities, piqued the doctor's curiosity. She questioned in her journal why Stanforth would keep any clandestine [[ONI Section Three|Section Three]] medical experiments from her. To her irritation, inquiries she made on the matter were met with dead ends.<ref name="HJ22051"/> The facility returned by February 27 and Vice Admiral [[Ysionris Jeromi|Jeromi]] even invited Halsey to come aboard for a look at its new [[Flash cloning|flash-clone organ]] facility.<ref name="HJ22751">''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'', ''February 27, 2551''</ref> Once they were together he abruptly steered their conversation to tell her he knew she was "fishing" before she could even ask him anything related to the ship's short absence. He also claimed that he knew very little himself and couldn't tell her what he did know, under threat of death.<ref name="HJ22751"/>
 [[File:Babd catha forerunner complex.jpg|thumb|350px|right|[[Cortana]] spent the first few years of her existence assisting Doctor Halsey within the confines of [[CASTLE Base]], but after the doctor began studying the mysterious ship buried in the ice shelf at Babd Catha she eventually began to use Cortana to retrieve navigation data from the ancient vessel.<ref name="WaypointCortana"/><ref name="HM89">''[[Halo Mythos]]'', ''page 89''</ref>]]
-By [[2551#May|May of 2551]] Catherine had begun to lead the excavation of an ancient [[Forerunner]] [[Babd Catha Forerunner vessel|vessel]] that lay [[Babd Catha Forerunner complex|buried]] beneath ONI's [[SWORD Base]] within the [[Babd Catha Ice Shelf]] in northern [[Eposz]].<ref name="DD3"/><ref name="DD2">[[Data Drop]] [[Data Drop/Two|#2]]</ref><ref name="HRTP">''[[Halo: Reach]]'', ''[[The Package (level)|The Package]]''</ref> Even so, her residence remained in [[Csongrád]] where she also continued to work with Doctor Sorvad on the Visegrád findings.<ref name="DD3"/> On May 8 she was interviewed by analyst [[B.M. Parkes]] so that they might conduct a [[Hemley and Aubourn Behavior Analysis|Hemley and Aubourn behavior analysis]] of her.<ref name="DD3"/> Following the encounter Parkes recorded that she had not been terribly forthcoming and ultimately recommended assigning two to three handlers to her at both sites where she was working. Parkes also was confident she needed to be surveilled were she to be called off-planet, though her leaving Reach was something they and their colleagues strongly discouraged at that time.<ref name="DD3"/> Two days later Halsey noted in her journal that a security issue which she blamed Sorvad for had caused her to begin keeping an eye on the inhabitants of [[Visegrád]] to ensure they didn't disappear thanks to Section Three.<ref name="HJ51051"/> As an insurance policy, she told Stanforth that the people there for valuable for being the only ones with extended exposure to the site under study and as such may need to be studied. She met with Sorvad and he assured her that only certain members of the dig team and a few other "necessary parties" on her side had seen the items recovered from the site. He insisted on continuing the work with only a skeleton crew of his most trusted people and promised he would not tolerate "another [[Farragut Station]]", referring to the communications outpost. Halsey simply nodded but was displeased, wondering if Sorvad might actually know what had happened at Farragut Station in the past and the reason for its relocation.<ref name="HJ51051"/> On [[2551#May|May 15]] Kalmiya caught a glimpse of several documents in Vice Admiral Stanforth's [[Beta-5 Division|Beta-5]] server which ranged from service order transfers of existing Spartan-IIs to highly-classified non-Spartan-II detachments.<ref name="HJ51551">''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'', ''May 15, 2551''</ref> This had evidently been going on for years, and Halsey was incensed at having been kept in the dark about it. She resolved to not let this go, and as she had a list of names with [[James Ackerson|one man]] she considered particularly obscene at the top, she planned to send Kalmiya back in as soon as she got a handle on the affairs with Sorvad.<ref name="HJ51551"/>
+By [[2551#May|May of 2551]] Catherine had begun to lead the excavation of an ancient [[Forerunner]] [[Babd Catha Forerunner vessel|vessel]] that lay [[Babd Catha Forerunner complex|buried]] beneath the area occupied by ONI's [[SWORD Base]] within the [[Babd Catha Ice Shelf]] in northern [[Eposz]].<ref name="DD3"/><ref name="DD2">[[Data Drop]] [[Data Drop/Two|#2]]</ref><ref name="HRTP">''[[Halo: Reach]]'', ''[[The Package (level)|The Package]]''</ref> Even so, her residence remained in [[Csongrád]] where she also continued to work with Doctor Sorvad on the Visegrád findings.<ref name="DD3"/> On May 8 she was interviewed by analyst [[B.M. Parkes]] so that they might conduct a [[Hemley and Aubourn Behavior Analysis|Hemley and Aubourn behavior analysis]] of her.<ref name="DD3"/> Following the encounter Parkes recorded that she had not been terribly forthcoming and ultimately recommended assigning two to three handlers to her at both sites where she was working. Parkes also was confident she needed to be surveilled were she to be called off-planet, though her leaving Reach was something they and their colleagues strongly discouraged at that time.<ref name="DD3"/> Two days later Halsey noted in her journal that a security issue which she blamed Sorvad for had caused her to begin keeping an eye on the inhabitants of [[Visegrád]] to ensure they didn't disappear thanks to Section Three.<ref name="HJ51051"/> As an insurance policy, she told Stanforth that the people there for valuable for being the only ones with extended exposure to the site under study and as such may need to be studied. She met with Sorvad and he assured her that only certain members of the dig team and a few other "necessary parties" on her side had seen the items recovered from the site. He insisted on continuing the work with only a skeleton crew of his most trusted people and promised he would not tolerate "another [[Farragut Station]]", referring to the communications outpost. Halsey simply nodded but was displeased, wondering if Sorvad might actually know what had happened at Farragut Station in the past and the reason for its relocation.<ref name="HJ51051"/> On [[2551#May|May 15]] Kalmiya caught a glimpse of several documents in Vice Admiral Stanforth's [[Beta-5 Division|Beta-5]] server which ranged from service order transfers of existing Spartan-IIs to highly-classified non-Spartan-II detachments.<ref name="HJ51551">''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'', ''May 15, 2551''</ref> This had evidently been going on for years, and Halsey was incensed at having been kept in the dark about it. She resolved to not let this go, and as she had a list of names with [[James Ackerson|one man]] she considered particularly obscene at the top, she planned to send Kalmiya back in as soon as she got a handle on the affairs with Sorvad.<ref name="HJ51551"/>
 On the morning of [[2552#July|July 18, 2552]] Catherine got to have a brief talk with Admiral Stanforth concerning the [[Battle of Sigma Octanus IV|protracted battle]] that had just concluded at [[Sigma Octanus IV]].<ref name="HJ71852">''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'', ''July 18, 2552''</ref>  This followed the normal reporting on it and by the end of the day she had also read through both the admiral's after-action report on the battle (given to her by him) and the press releases put out by [[ONI Section Two|Section Two]].<ref name="HJ71852"/><ref name="HJ72052"/> Halsey's interest was piqued when she saw [[Jacob Keyes]]' name and that of his ship, the {{UNSCShip|Iroquois}}, featured prominently in the reporting, so she found herself skipping ahead to confirm he had survived.<ref name="HJ71852"/> In her journal she surmised that the maneuver being dubbed "the [[Keyes Loop]]" had been inspired by one of Admiral [[Preston Cole|Cole]]'s. A heavily redacted section of the after-action report that detailed, as far as Halsey could tell, a groundside mission involving [[Blue Team]], was of the most pressing concern to her. She was unsure why Spartans would have been committed there, seeing as the planet was in all probability about to be glassed at the time, but even [[Kalmiya]] was unable to break the section's encryption. The Covenant's return to the planet following its first repulsion led her to conclude it must have wanted something on it, so she resolved to follow up on this line of inquiry.<ref name="HJ71852"/> Two days later Stanforth pretended to have never given Halsey access to the files he had, which made her think others must have been listening in on their conversation.<ref name="HJ72052">''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'', ''July 20, 2552''</ref> She had noticed a recent intensification of paranoia and security around her, after all. She was certain she was missing something in the reporting which he wanted her to see that should be glaringly obvious.<ref name="HJ72052"/> The next day, [[2552#July|July 21]], [[Laszlo Sorvad|Sorvad]] sent her a brief, cryptic message on his Theta channel.<ref name="HJ72152">''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'', ''July 21, 2552''</ref> He claimed to have made a latchkey discovery that was too important to send through the data link he had with him, and since he could neither leave the field to deliver the information in person, he said he would send it through the [[Visegrád]] [[Visegrád Relay|communication relay hub]]. After more than six hours since his message Halsey had still received nothing, but she decided against second-guessing him and elected to simply continue waiting.<ref name="HJ72152"/>
@@ Line 198: / Line 198: @@
 [[Battle Group Leviathan]] arrived at [[Reach]] from [[Sigma Octanus IV]] by [[2552#August|August 12]] so Halsey went on that date to see what had been done to her [[Mjolnir]] units.<ref name="HJ81252">''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'', ''August 12, 2552''</ref> Replacement parts and possible upgrades were available, though she noted later that day that [[John-117]] would need to be laser scanned for the new cybernetic implants she planned to give him. Once she was aboard his {{Class|Halberd|destroyer}}, the {{UNSCShip|Iriquois}}, [[Jacob Keyes]] came to see her as she had been both hoping and dreading.<ref name="HJ81252"/> They were able to talk about Miranda, his recent "[[Keyes Loop]]", the Spartans (including their operational records, which she showed him), and what little she could prematurely disclose about [[Operation: RED FLAG]].<ref name="HJ81252"/><ref name="HTFOR29">''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'', ''Chapter 29''</ref> When they parted they wished one another the best on their respective missions and Keyes even kissed her on the cheek when she offered her hand to shake.<ref name="HJ81252"/> Shortly after 1110 hours later that day Doctor Halsey met John at a military complex of [[Camp Hathcock]] where he had just finished debriefing on the [[Battle of Sigma Octanus IV|battle]] at [[Sigma Octanus IV]].<ref name="HTFOR24">''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'', ''Chapter 24''</ref> She was sittting in an overstuffed chair when he returned to the debriefing lounge and her surprise presence caught him off guard.<ref name="HTFOR24"/> She asked how he was doing, making sure to not give any suggestion that [[Battle at Szurdok Ridge|all was not well]] on Reach at that moment, as it had been decided the Spartans should be kept in the dark for the time being so that RED FLAG might not be compromised.<ref name="HTFOR24"/><ref name="DD5">[[Data Drop]] [[Data Drop/Five|#5]]</ref> In the few minutes they had Halsey told him about the upcoming procedures planned for him and gave his head a cursory [[Wikipedia:Magnetic Resonance Imaging|MRI]].<ref name="HJ81252"/> John asked after [[Franklin Mendez|Mendez]] and all the others the two of them had called family and Halsey shared what little she knew without giving heed to protocols or security clearances. They then sat together quietly for a time.<ref name="HJ81252"/> John was enthusiastic about the victory at [[Sigma Octanus system|Sigma Octanus]], so she asked whether he would like another victory and perhaps the biggest they'd ever had at that.<ref name="HTFOR24"/> She left things with him there, however, and just offered that they'd be speaking soon. Turning to the [[military police]] attendant waiting at the lounge's entrance, she instructed him to open the doors so she could take her turn speaking to the committee of twelve naval officers, ONI and otherwise.<ref name="HTFOR24"/> Two days later Halsey was within [[SWORD Base]] again when it saw further bombardment from the [[Covenant]].<ref>''[[Halo: Reach]]'', ''[[Long Night of Solace (level)|Long Night of Solace]]''</ref>
-By [[2552#August|August 24]] Doctor Halsey had been shown a [[hologram]] of a piece of [[Sigma Octanus IV artifact|an object]] [[Blue Team]] had recovered from Sigma Octanus IV—though she was not made aware of its point of origin or even what branch or group within ONI had seen fit to share it with her. This, of course, hindered her from performing a complete analysis. Even so, it was plain to her that the artifact shared many iconic language and code forms with the [[Forerunner]] [[Babd Catha Forerunner vessel|ship]] buried beneath SWORD Base. In her journal she puzzled over a possible connection between what she judged to be the more "standard" stylized [[Forerunner symbols|glyphs]] and took note of potential similarities between other glyphs and hypothesized navigational code found in Covenant transmissions. She ultimately could not draw a conclusion and even wondered if perhaps [[Illegal Entry Protocols|illegal entry protocol]] deconvolution was to blame. Halsey hypothesized at this time that the Forerunners might represent predecessors of the Covenant, if not a culture far more ancient and removed. She was unable to copy the data the hologram displayed and instead had to commit it to memory. Deciphering the message on the object would require actually having it and all relevant etiological data, so she shared this with her undisclosed ONI counterparts knowing it would get back to [[Colonel]] [[James Ackerson]]. She suspected it was in his possession and was sure she could get everything he had on it once he realized her help would be needed to decipher it.<ref name="HJ82452">''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'', ''August 24, 2552''</ref> At 0915 hours the next morning Halsey was fourteen minutes and eighteen seconds late to her private office within the Omega Wing of [[CASTLE Base]], as [[Déjà]] pointed out as soon as she entered.
+By [[2552#August|August 24]] Doctor Halsey had been shown a [[hologram]] of a piece of [[Sigma Octanus IV artifact|an object]] [[Blue Team]] had recovered from Sigma Octanus IV—though she was not made aware of its point of origin or even what branch or group within ONI had seen fit to share it with her. This, of course, hindered her from performing a complete analysis. Even so, it was plain to her that the artifact shared many iconic language and code forms with the [[Forerunner]] [[Babd Catha Forerunner vessel|ship]] buried beneath the area around SWORD Base. In her journal she puzzled over a possible connection between what she judged to be the more "standard" stylized [[Forerunner symbols|glyphs]] and took note of potential similarities between other glyphs and hypothesized navigational code found in Covenant transmissions. She ultimately could not draw a conclusion and even wondered if perhaps [[Illegal Entry Protocols|illegal entry protocol]] deconvolution was to blame. Halsey hypothesized at this time that the Forerunners might represent predecessors of the Covenant, if not a culture far more ancient and removed. She was unable to copy the data the hologram displayed and instead had to commit it to memory. Deciphering the message on the object would require actually having it and all relevant etiological data, so she shared this with her undisclosed ONI counterparts knowing it would get back to [[Colonel]] [[James Ackerson]]. She suspected it was in his possession and was sure she could get everything he had on it once he realized her help would be needed to decipher it.<ref name="HJ82452">''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'', ''August 24, 2552''</ref> At 0915 hours the next morning Halsey was fourteen minutes and eighteen seconds late to her private office within the Omega Wing of [[CASTLE Base]], as [[Déjà]] pointed out as soon as she entered.
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-Doctor Halsey entered her office beneath [[SWORD Base]] shortly after 0400 hours on August 30.<ref name="HTFOR28>''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'', ''Chapter 28''</ref> At checkpoint three she was briefly [[Cortana|delayed]] by a reset of the verification system, which required her to speak that day's code phrase and undergo a retina scan twice in order to proceed.<ref name="HTFOR28"/> The doctor had sent an official protest against Ackerson to the {{UNSCShip|Burden of Proof}}, backed by Admiral Stanforth, but was still tracking his possible involvement with the missile incident from the previous day.<ref name="HJ83052">''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'', ''August 30, 2552''</ref> She had also suggested he may have suffered a mental breakdown and advised he be taken into custody, pending evaluation. She had received reports of either he or his agents investigating the area around [[CASTLE Base]]'s [[Xenoarchaeology|xenoarcheological]] site in addition to scattered ones which alleged increased [[Covenant]] activity in the vicinity as well. In her journal, she surmised that Ackerson was unlikely to find anything of interest there and cynically expressed hope that he might cross paths with the enemy. Before NOBLE Team's arrival Catherine had a number of tasks which she was determined to make sure were accomplished. She prepared [[Kalmiya]], finalized and compiled a firmware update for the part of [[Cortana]] which remained with her and upgraded that [[Armored matrix|package]] for transfer, sent a note to Miranda by way of the {{UNSCShip|Hopeful}}, enabled a network purge, and prepared all backups for an Umbra slipspace shot to Earth. The reports Halsey had seen made her confident Reach was surely lost, but having completed what she'd needed to she felt prepared in her lab as she waited for the Spartans.<ref name="HJ83052"/> [[NOBLE Team]] had arrived outside SWORD Base by 2616 hours on August 29 (local time).<ref name="HRTP">''[[Halo: Reach]]'', ''[[The Package (level)|The Package]]''</ref> Shortly before the team reached Doctor Halsey [[Jerrod]] let her know SWORD Base's perimeter had been compromised, despite assertions to the contrary being made by the base's own A.I.<ref name="HJ83052"/>
+Doctor Halsey entered her [[SWORD Base]] office shortly after 0400 hours on August 30.<ref name="HTFOR28>''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'', ''Chapter 28''</ref> At checkpoint three she was briefly [[Cortana|delayed]] by a reset of the verification system, which required her to speak that day's code phrase and undergo a retina scan twice in order to proceed.<ref name="HTFOR28"/> The doctor had sent an official protest against Ackerson to the {{UNSCShip|Burden of Proof}}, backed by Admiral Stanforth, but was still tracking his possible involvement with the missile incident from the previous day.<ref name="HJ83052">''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'', ''August 30, 2552''</ref> She had also suggested he may have suffered a mental breakdown and advised he be taken into custody, pending evaluation. She had received reports of either he or his agents investigating the area around [[CASTLE Base]]'s [[Xenoarchaeology|xenoarcheological]] site in addition to scattered ones which alleged increased [[Covenant]] activity in the vicinity as well. In her journal, she surmised that Ackerson was unlikely to find anything of interest there and cynically expressed hope that he might cross paths with the enemy. Before NOBLE Team's arrival Catherine had a number of tasks which she was determined to make sure were accomplished. She prepared [[Kalmiya]], finalized and compiled a firmware update for the part of [[Cortana]] which remained with her and upgraded that [[Armored matrix|package]] for transfer, sent a note to Miranda by way of the {{UNSCShip|Hopeful}}, enabled a network purge, and prepared all backups for an Umbra slipspace shot to Earth. The reports Halsey had seen made her confident Reach was surely lost, but having completed what she'd needed to she felt prepared in her lab as she waited for the Spartans.<ref name="HJ83052"/> [[NOBLE Team]] had arrived outside SWORD Base by 2616 hours on August 29 (local time).<ref name="HRTP">''[[Halo: Reach]]'', ''[[The Package (level)|The Package]]''</ref> Shortly before the team reached Doctor Halsey [[Jerrod]] let her know SWORD Base's perimeter had been compromised, despite assertions to the contrary being made by the base's own A.I. In case something were to happen to her, Halsey recorded a purge code and its override failsafe password in her journal.<ref name="HJ83052"/>
+Upon entering SWORD Base the surviving members of NOBLE were led at [[Cortana]]'s direction to a tram which would carry them one-and-a-half kilometers east and around two thousand feet underground, where Halsey was.<ref name="HRTP"/> Once the four of them had climbed aboard she appeared on a monitor and apologized to [[Carter-A259]] for the unusual security measures which had kept them from fully knowing what to expect at the base. He started to remark on the fact that she'd been listed as having died, but the doctor dismissed the casualty reports relating to her as false before he could finish and said she only wished the same could be said for the rest of his team, both [[Jorge-052]] and [[Kat-B320]] having been killed within the last few weeks. She offered what might have been a small comfort in sharing that the [[data module]] delivered by Kat had unlocked the secrets of her nearby [[Babd Catha Forerunner vessel|excavation]]. She then explained that their orders to destroy all sensitive material at the base had been overridden, as they had always been nothing more than a pretext to bring them to her so that they could take possession of this vital data and deliver it elsewhere. Carter argued that he would need to confirm this change with Colonel [[Urban Holland|Holland]], but Halsey assured him he would be briefed and said that they belonged to [[ONI]] now.
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