Thom-A293

Thom-A293
Biographical information
Died:	April 22, 2552
Personal details
Species:	Human
Gender:	Male
Hair color:	Brown
Eye color:	Brown
Political and military information
Affiliation:	UNSC Navy (formerly) Naval Special Weapons SPARTAN-III program UNSC Army Special Warfare Group Three (operationally under NOBLE Team)
Service number:	S-A293

"I'm not gonna lie to you, Lieutenant. You're stepping into some shoes the rest of the squad would rather leave unfilled."

— Commander Carter-A259 to SPARTAN-B312 on replacing Thom on NOBLE Team

Thom-A293 was a SPARTAN-III commando and a member of the UNSC Navy during the Human-Covenant War. He served as a member of Noble Team under the call sign Noble Six until his death on April 22, 2552.

Biography

Childhood and training

Thom was orphaned in the early years of the Human-Covenant War when the Covenant glassed his homeworld. He was identified as a potential candidate for the first class of the SPARTAN-III program at a young age and, after "volunteering" for the program, was taken to the classified world Onyx for training under Lieutenant Kurt Ambrose and SCPO Franklin Mendez in late 2532. Thom was identified by Ambrose and Mendez as one of a handful of exceptional specimens within the SPARTAN-III Alpha Company and was extracted from the group before the disastrous Operation: PROMETHEUS. He and a small number of other Spartans were given MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor and were assigned to smaller special operations units and eventually NOBLE Team.

Operation: OFFSET EYE

Main article: Operation: OFFSET EYE

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Death

During the Battle of Fumirole on April 22, 2552, Thom participated in an operation put together by Lieutenant Commander Catherine-B320 to destroy the Ket-pattern battlecruiser, Sanctity of Purification, maintaining position above a city. However, Kat, who carried the Fury tactical nuclear weapon intended to destroy the Covenant ship, was incapacitated while on her way to the objective by an enemy Banshee.

Thom was the first to arrive to where Kat was laying wounded, picking up the nuke for her and using his jetpack to fly into the battlecruiser's gravity lift. Once inside, he threw the nuke into a crowded hangar and attempted to escape the ship before it went off, without success. The nuke detonated before Thom could safely make it out, destroying the ship and killing him.

Replacement

Both Commander Carter-A259 and Lt. Commander Kat took responsibility for Thom's death, unable to admit that his death was his own decision. The team's commanding officer, Colonel Urban Holland, asserted that Thom died because he chose to attack Covenant forces without waiting for backup. Thom was replaced on Noble Team by SPARTAN-B312 in July 2552, only days prior to the Fall of Reach.

Equipment

During Operation: OFFSET EYE, Thom wore Mark V MJOLNIR armor, with blue-orange colouration and up-armored with the D0-01-CCR Breaching Kit and a Mark V[B] helmet with a UA/Type O5 attachment. He wore a HAZOP shoulder pad for his left shoulder and a UA/Multi-Threat shoulder pad for his right shoulder. Thom also had a SRT UGPS wrist piece on his wrist, the M10 Tactical Soft Case attached to his thigh, and UA/Type KT knees guards.

During the Covenant attack on Fumirole, Thom wore gray Mark V MJOLNIR armor and a Mark V[B] helmet with a UA/Type B1 attachment, and FJ/PARA knee guards. He was also seen with a Series 8 jetpack on his back.

Production notes

• Thom was originally intended to play a larger role in Halo: Reach as a living member of Noble Team, and was described to be "cowboy-like". However, like Rosenda-A344, he was ultimately cut from the game and only mentioned in the Noble Team performance reports as a now-deceased former member.
• The manner of Thom's death, ensuring the detonation of a bomb within a Covenant ship, is remarkably similar to the deaths of Samuel-034 and Jorge-052. However, in Samuel and Jorge's cases, they chose to stay behind due to Samuel having to stay in the Covenant ship due to an armor breach and Jorge having to manually detonate improvised Slipspace drive "bomb", while Thom could not get out of the battlecruiser in time.
• A concept image of Thom's face bears a remarkable resemblance to Jason Jones, one of the co-founders of Bungie.
• Thom's name and service tag are seemingly a reference to Tom-B292, another SPARTAN-III.
• "Thom" is one of the name options for customized loadouts in Halo: Reach, along with the other members of Noble Team and several SPARTAN-IIs.
• In the Deliver Hope trailer, Thom's armor is very similar to SPARTAN-B312's armor before Bungie decided to depict B312 with fully default armor in promotional materials. It is likely that Bungie gave this image to Thom to help associate the image with his successor S-B312.
• Thom-A293's armor configuration during the Defense of Concord is available in Halo Infinite as an armor kit. The appearance of his armor differs from its appearance in Deliver Hope, as the kit is based on his Halo: Reach concept art.

Gallery

• 

  Early concept art of Thom for Halo: Reach.

• 

  Concept art of Thom in his MJOLNIR armor.

• 

  Thom-A293 using a jetpack to plant a Medium Fusion Destructive Device on a Covenant Ket-pattern battlecruiser.

• 

  Thom gazes into the cruiser's hangar bay just as he is about to deploy the MFDD.

• 

  Thom during the Battle of Fumirole in April 2552.

• 

  The Thom-A293 armor kit in Halo Infinite.

List of appearances

• Remember Reach
  • Deliver Hope (First appearance)
• Halo: Reach (Mentioned as a loadout)
• Halo Infinite (Mentioned only)
• Winter Contention