Catherine-B320

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"In recognition of this, her unparalleled brilliance, we honor her as the true genius of Noble."

— The Monument to Noble Team.

Lieutenant Commander Catherine-B320, commonly known as Kat, was a SPARTAN-III commando of the UNSC Naval Special Warfare Command, attached to Special Warfare Group Three. She fought with Noble Team as Noble Two during the Fall of Reach in 2552.

Biography

Childhood and early career

Born on Monastir, New Harmony in 2530, she was conscripted as part of Beta Company. She was taken out of Beta Company by Kurt-051 and Franklin Mendez after Operation: CARTWHEEL, not long before Operation: TORPEDO commenced. She was later assigned to Noble Team when it was formed.

She, along with Carter-A259, is one of the only two survivors from the original Noble Team, and they share a close bond as a result. She is Noble Team's second-in-command, and described as being fiercely loyal to Carter- and the team.

Later career

On April 22nd, 2552, Kat put together an operation to destroy a CCS-class Battlecruiser maintaining position above a city. The operation was successful, but at the cost of Thom-293. The operation also cost Kat her right arm, which has been replaced by a robotic prosthetic. Kat clearly has no problem working with the arm, which she moves just as naturally as her real one, even continuing to hold her M6G pistol in her dominant right hand. Both Carter-A259 and Kat took responsibility over the death of Thom, unable to admit that the death of the SPARTAN was his own fault. Thom was replaced on Noble Team by SPARTAN-B312 a few months later, just prior to the Fall of Reach.

At some point during her career, Kat developed a bypass system for the MJOLNIR armor's safety limiters on their actuators and "muscles", allowing a short burst of superior performance at the expense of the suit's coolant systems, leading to overheating.

Fall of Reach

Main article: Fall of Reach

The SPARTANs of Noble Team participate in an operation to investigate a communications blackout at the Visegrad Relay, a mission that led to the first confrontation with Covenant forces on the planet. In the operation, Kat recovered a data module containing Laszlo Sorvad's "latchkey discovery" from the Relay's console and uncovered an unfortunate discovery; the Covenant has successfully deployed their forces on Reach. The discovery led the team to Sword Base, currently under siege by Covenant forces and their corvette. Kat and Noble Six engaged the Covenant forces on foot and repelled them off the site and the airbase.

Intelligence gathered from Noble Six and Jun-A266's reconnaissance mission lead to a large-scale UNSC assault on a Covenant-occupied site. Kat and Noble Six engaged Covenant forces on the groundside while other members of Noble Team provided aerial support. Noble Six assisted Kat in reconnaissance of the Covenant-occupied site, destroying multiple aerial defenses and unveiling a large Covenant installation code-named Spire One.

The destruction of the UNSC Grafton by a Covenant CSO-class supercarrier, Long Night of Solace, after the Battle at Szurdok Ridge prompted Carter and Kat to reassess the situation. Recognizing the presence of the supercarrier as a large threat, Kat suggested to Noble Team to reconfigure a slipspace engine into a makeshift slipspace bomb, which would destroy the supercarrier immediately. Carter, along with Kat, Jorge-052 and SPARTAN-B312, helped UNSC ground forces repel Covenant invaders from a UNSC base, which housed the Sabre Program Launch/Research Range. Noble Team was separated from this point, with Jorge and Noble Six participating in Operation: UPPER CUT while the rest focused on groundside operations.

At some point during the Fall of Reach, Kat and the remaining members of Noble Team assisted the UNSC in repelling the Covenant from civilian population centers. They reunited with Noble Six during the Siege of New Alexandria and helped in the neutralization of Covenant jammers and the evacuation of ONI personnel. Soon, Noble Team was hailed by its superior, Colonel Urban Holland, and was ordered to destroy Sword Base. The team was forced to enter a radiation bunker to shield them from the Covenant's glassing of New Alexandria. As Noble Team exited the elevator and ran towards the bunker, a Sangheili Field Marshall in a Phantom overhead shot Kat through the head with a needle rifle, killing her instantly. On August 26, Carter carried her body out of the bunker, apparently making her the only member of Noble Team whose body was recovered by the UNSC.

Traits and personality

"This one seems to like me. Someone kill it."

— Catherine-B320

Catherine is described as an inspired tactician and an exemplary combatant, but also a brilliant cryptanalyst and a hacker; allegedly, there has not been a system yet that she has been unable to crack. According to Colonel Urban Holland, she has a habit of occasionally investigating classified Intel more than her superiors would like her to. Her ability to acquire and digest information has been described as "supernatural"; more than once, she has been able to read a situation, working with information many would find overly limited.

Much like Carter, Kat blames herself for Thom-293's death while it was apparent that neither was responsible; according to Colonel Urban Holland, Thom died because he pursued a group of enemies by himself rather than waiting for backup.

Kat's death can be attributed due to a fatal lack of situational awareness. Like the loss of her right arm in a previous operation, Kat underestimated the gravity of her situation and failed to initiate her armor's shielding system. However, another explanation could be that excess radiation from the nearby Covenant glassing shorted out her shields, as she may have been exposed to the radiation longer than the other members of Noble Team.

Equipment

Kat wore MJOLNIR Mark V armor with an Air Assault helmet upgraded with a Command Network Module-Improved, which can only be used by the player with an Up Armor plate as well, incorrectly called FC-I. She wore FJ/PARA shoulders on either arm and had a Tactical/Hard Case utility on her left thigh. Kat also notably sported a robotic prosthetic in place of the right arm she lost during an earlier operation.

Trivia

• Kat was voiced by Alona Tal.
• Kat's voice is available for use in Halo: Reach's Firefight mode.
• As shown in an early production note, Kat was originally intended to have been born in 2529 and to have been a member of Alpha Company. In this version of the story, she and Carter were the last remaining members of a SPARTAN-III team known as "Blue Team", (not be be confused with the SPARTAN-II unit). This is apparent in the similar coloration of their armor in early concept art.
• During gameplay, Kat is the only member in Noble Team other than Noble Six that has a secondary weapon holstered.
• Kat's helmet is available as an avatar award and is obtained by earning an Avenger Medal in Matchmaking. Kat's armor is available for both male and female avatars, but it lacks her cybernetic arm. A prosthetic arm similar to Kat's is available in the Armory for 75000 cR.
• According to the Halo: Reach Legendary Edition developer commentary, due to a glitch early in the game's development, Kat laughed when the player killed moa, as she was programmed to occasionally laugh when the player killed Covenant forces. Later during the commentary, Lee Wilson jokes that Carter was upset by Kat's death because "She was cute." Martin O'Donnell responds, "We know there was some relationship between Carter and Kat at some point."
• During the 2010 Penny Arcade Expo, a hired cosplayer dressed as Kat was escorted by the Bungie staff where she entertained many of the visitors by dancing. During the event, she was depicted by the Charisma model Jordan Konkel.

Gallery

• ReachConcept - Kat.png

  Early concept of Kat.

• Kat concept full.png

  Concept art of Kat-B320.

• Armysoldiers.jpg

  A concept environment showing Kat-B320 commanding UNSC Army soldiers.

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  Kat-B320 in full armor.

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  Catherine-B320 in combat.

• HRKat - Firefight.png

  Kat's Firefight profile image.

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  Kat from A Spartan Will Rise ViDoc.

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  Kat staring at Thom-293 through her cracked visor in the Deliver Hope trailer.

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  Kat telling Carter her plan for Operation: UPPER CUT.

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  Kat gets shot through the head by a round from a Needle Rifle while her shields are down.

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  Kat's lifeless body.

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  Carter carries Kat's body while the others wait for evacuation.

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  Kat's Mjolnir armor from the Making of Deliver Hope

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  Kat as depicted by Jordan Konkel at PAX.

List of appearances

• Halo: Reach
• Deliver Hope (First appearance)