James Cutter: Difference between revisions

Without a slipspace drive, the ''Spirit of Fire'' found itself years, if not decades, away from human civilization. Cutter charted a course for [[Reach]] and the majority of the crew entered cryostasis. Cutter, however, did not even sleep, likely with the assistance of [[drugs|pharmaceutical stimulants]]. On March 1, Chief Engineer [[Andrew Prescott]] presented his finished assessment to the captain concerning the damage done to the ship. Repairs were being made to its hull, but the the slipspace engine was irreplaceable. There had been a notion that a spare could be manufactured from base reactor units, but this was judged to be impossible. Cutter decided to place even more people in cryo at this point and run the ship with a skeleton crew. On March 3, he made an entry in his log about Anders and her recent captivity. He noted that she had been a [[prisoner of war]] of the Covenant longer than anyone else so far, and yet she had not sought counseling or really talked about the experience much at all. On March 11 he accompanied Ellen to Cryo Room 3. She was protesting his wish for her to enter cryo, but he insisted. He thanked her for helping to get them away from the mysterious planet in one piece, but she solemnly reminded him that not everyone had made it.<ref>'''Halo Wars''', campaign level ''[[Escape]]''</ref> After initiating her freeze, he lingered by the tube next to hers, which bore the name of Sergeant J. Forge. The next day, the captain was walking the ship when he stopped to visit the med bay to check on those recovering from the prior battles. A nurse, [[Lulu Hershey]], was apprehensive about whether she would ever see her fiancé again and Cutter reassured her that she would. He returned to his cabin and wrote five more commendations, fourteen family condolence letters, and a note to [[Mary Cutter|Mary]]. Then, for the first time in two weeks, he finally slept.<ref name="HWTE"/> Eventually nobody was left aboard the ship that was not in cryo, save for Serina. ''Spirit of Fire'' was declared "lost with all hands" on [[2534|February 10, 2534]], the ship having previously been classified as simply [[missing in action]]. A memorial service was held for the vessel's crew, but many family members chose not to attend, holding out hope that their loved ones were still alive.<ref name="HWTE"/> Various theories circulated throughout the UNSC as to the ship's fate, ranging from being lost during a covert mission for ONI, destroyed in orbit over Arcadia, defecting to Insurrectionist forces, or being stranded in space. When Captain Cutter's widow, [[Mary Cutter|Mary]], was asked about the defection theory, she physically assaulted the reporter. On January 1, [[2537]], a small outbreak of the [[Flood|parasite]]s encountered on the artificial world took place on the ''Spirit of Fire''. Serina didn't wish to wake the captain, so she let Anders and [[Jerome-092]] deal with it. After the Human-Covenant War's conclusion, the ''Spirit of Fire'' and her crew were honored at the dedication of the [[Halo Living Monument|Living Monument]], along with numerous other ships that had been lost with all hands during the war.<ref>'''[[Halo Living Monument]]'''</ref>