Catherine Halsey: Difference between revisions

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"/>

Once NOBLE Team had arrived Halsey revealed Noble's true orders to them: to transport a package containing "mankind's best chance for survival" to the ''Halcyon''-class cruiser ''[[UNSC Pillar of Autumn|Pillar of Autumn]]'', holding position in the [[Aszod ship breaking yards]]. After Noble's successful defense of her lab while she made the final preparations, she entrusted [[SPARTAN-B312]] with the package: a fragment of the AI [[Cortana]] now uploaded with the information from the Forerunner facility, secured in an [[armored matrix]]. Once she made certain that Noble Six would deliver Cortana to the ''Autumn'', she left for CASTLE Base under the escort of [[Jun-A266]] while the remaining NOBLE Team members delivered Cortana's fragment to the ''Autumn''.<ref name="journal"/>