SPARTAN-B312

SPARTAN-B312
Biographical information
Date of death:	August 30, 2552
Gender:	(Player choice)
Political and military information
Spartan tag:	B312
Rank:	Lieutenant

Template:Ratings

"Noble Six. The team's most recent addition...my, my. So much black ink..."

— Catherine Halsey^[3]

Lieutenant SPARTAN-B312^[4] was a SPARTAN-III commando of the UNSC Naval Special Warfare Command, attached to Special Warfare Group Three. This Spartan served during the Fall of Reach as a member of Noble Team under the call sign "Noble Six".^[5]

Biography

Early career

Because the SPARTAN's file was heavily redacted by the Office of Naval Intelligence, much of SPARTAN-B312's early life is unknown. What is known is that SPARTAN-B312 was taken out of Beta Company immediately after training, according to a communiqué from Kurt Ambrose to Franklin Mendez that was sent in May 2545, two months before Operation: TORPEDO.^[6]

Later career

"Six has made entire militia groups disappear. Curious..."hyper lethal". There's only one other Spartan with that rating."

— Dr. Catherine Halsey^[7]

Over the course of B312's career, the SPARTAN gained a reputation as an efficient lone-wolf assassin, having single-handedly broken organizations and made entire militia groups disappear.^[4] B312 was also a test pilot in a top-secret UNSC project, the Sabre Program, which resulted in the development of the YSS-1000 "Sabre"-class starfighter.^[8]^[9] B312 used these skills to great effect in a counter-insurgency operation on Mamore on May 10, 2552.^[10]

At one point, B312's superior allegedly used the SPARTAN as "his own private grim reaper", and because of this, he was reluctant to have the Spartan assigned to Noble Team. On July 24, 2552, SPARTAN-B312 was assigned to Noble Team as a replacement for its previous sixth member, Thom-293.^[4] Six, having recently arrived on Reach, joined the team just in time to participate in an operation to investigate a communications blackout at the Visegrad Relay, a mission which led to the first confrontation with Covenant forces on the planet.^[11]

Fall of Reach

Main article: Fall of Reach

During the final weeks before Reach's eventual glassing, Noble Six partook in multiple operations against Covenant forces on Reach along with the rest of Noble Team, including a counter-offensive operation to retake an ONI base, near the Babd Catha Ice Shelf. Noble Six, along with Catherine-B320 cleared the main courtyard of enemies, and were then sent on a mission to re-activate Farragut Station, a communications station they could use to get into contact with command, and Airview Base, where they needed to activate an anti-air battery to clear the skies. The Spartans moved into Sword Base and Noble Six assisted Emile in driving off several Phantoms and Banshees. After the skies have been cleared, the attack Covenant corvette was destroyed by an orbital strike. After the mission, Noble Team was debriefed by Dr. Catherine Halsey, who questioned them about what had happened at the Visegrad Relay two days previously.^[12]

Over two weeks later, Noble Six and Jun were sent to perform a night reconnaissance mission to reconnoiter the Covenant "dark zone" in the Viery Territory. After stealthily eliminating guards at multiple outposts, the two Spartans met up with a group of civilian militiamen, who led them to a hydro-plant further into the dark zone, where the team discovered a Covenant stealth pylon. After planting an explosive charge on the pylon, the team moved deeper into the dark zone, where they discovered a massive Covenant invasion force. Kat then ordered them back so they can prepare for the attack on the next day.^[13]

On the morning of August 12, 2552, Noble Six joined a massive UNSC joint assault force put together with the objective of mounting a counterattack on the Covenant-occupied Viery Territory. Auntie Dot explained to Noble Team that the Covenant had infiltrated to the region in force, deploying ground forces and installations, including several massive Covenant Spires. Noble Team's objective was to destroy one of these spires, designated Spire One. After pushing through Covenant forces and destroying several Covenant anti-air batteries, Jorge-052 and Noble Six were deployed to the spire in a Falcon. However, the aircraft crashed after being disabled by the electromagnetic field created by the spire's shield. After the crash, the pair proceed into the spire, where it was revealed that the spires actually contained teleporters used to transport Covenant forces to the surface, linked to an unknown source. After proceeding to the Spire, Noble Six utilized a gravity lift to reach the top, and disabled the shield. Noble Six was flown away from the tower by a Falcon containing Carter and Jorge. The UNSC Grafton, a Heavy Frigate, used a MAC round to demolish the spire. Just after, a Covenant Supercarrier uncloaked and fired on the Grafton, completely destroying it.^[14]

On August 14th, Noble Team helped UNSC ground forces repel Covenant invaders from a UNSC base, which housed a Sabre launch facility.^[15] SPARTAN-B312 and Jorge-052 were then launched into orbit in a Sabre to assist the Epsilon Eridani Defense Fleet in a space battle against the Covenant fleet, in a UNSC counter-offensive codenamed Operation: UPPER CUT.^[8] During the course of the operation, the makeshift slipspace bomb was damaged and unable to activate automatically.^[15] Jorge, volunteering to activate the bomb manually and as such sacrificing his life, forced B312 off the Covenant corvette. UPPER CUT was successful, with the Covenant fleet eliminated but at the cost of Jorge-052. However, a far larger Covenant fleet arrived mere moments after the successful operation.^[15]

Six, after reentering Reach from space, headed to New Alexandria, where the Spartan assisted the UNSC infantrymen in repelling the Covenant forces and evacuating the civilian population.^[16] The Spartan managed to establish radio communication with Noble Team and participated in the removal of Covenant communication jammers to allow the evacuation of ONI personnel. Six finally reunited with Noble Team and reported the details of UPPER CUT. Not too long after, Noble Team was hailed by its commanding officer and was ordered to destroy Sword Base. The team was forced to enter a radiation bunker to shield themselves from the Covenant's glassing of New Alexandria. However, Kat was killed en route to the bunker.^[16]

Noble Six delivers Cortana's fragment to Captain Keyes.

Noble Six, along with the remaining members of Noble Team, proceeded to Sword Base and fought their way into the facility, only to have their directives revised by an unknown UNSC AI.^[17] In the facility, they encounter Dr. Halsey once more. Six was urged by the scientist to become the courier of a package and to deliver it safely to the UNSC Pillar of Autumn. Using Pelicans as their mode of transportation, Noble Team was split into two; Jun-A266 escorted Dr. Halsey to CASTLE Base while the others headed for the Autumn.^[17]

Six and Emile-A239 departed from Carter-A259's Pelican and, with Carter sacrificing his life to protect Six and Emile from a Scarab. Later, on foot, they successfully delivered the package to the captain of the Autumn, Captain Jacob Keyes.^[18] However, Covenant forces assaulted the area and killed Emile. Six manned the mass driver cannon and stalled the Covenant forces from overwhelming the Autumn. The Spartan prevented the approaching Covenant cruiser's from firing at the Autumn, allowing the Autumn to safely depart into space.^[18]

With the Covenant successfully disabling Reach's defenses, Six was among the few surviving UNSC soldiers left fighting the Covenant forces on the ground. Stranded on the Covenant-occupied planet, the Spartan accepted that death was inevitable, and made a final stand against approaching Covenant forces. Despite fighting valiantly, Six was eventually overwhelmed by the Covenant, and killed by Sangheili warriors.^[1]

Personality and background

"I've seen your file. Even the parts the ONI censors didn't want me to. I'm glad to have your skill set, but we're a team. That lone wolf stuff stays behind."

— Carter-A259 to Noble Six.^[19]

SPARTAN-B312 is remarked to be a skilled assassin and "...more of a hyper-lethal vector than a soldier," as evident by the SPARTAN's heavily redacted personnel file. Noble Six has a tendency to "go solo" during missions, much to the dismay of the SPARTAN's superiors.^[4]

Despite having an obscure past, hyper-lethal skills, and a "lone wolf" personality, Noble Six is portrayed as having a human personality in the campaign, frequently assisting and befriending soldiers, civilians and the other members of Noble Team in need. This leads to a friendship between Six and Jorge-052.

SPARTAN-B312 ultimately sacrificed his/her life in order to secure safe passage for the Pillar of Autumn to escape Reach. Were it not for Noble Six's final actions, Captain Keyes, Cortana, and John-117 may never have escaped Reach. Therefore, SPARTAN-B312 is partially responsible for humanity's victories over both the Covenant and the Flood after the Fall of Reach.

SPARTAN-B312 is the main protagonist in Halo: Reach. To integrate player relation with B312, players can pick what gender they wish Noble Six to be, with separately recorded voices for each gender.^[2] Six is not the "strong, silent type", as Noble Six openly engages in conversations with other characters.^[20]^[11] Players' multiplayer and Firefight character models are also the same as in the campaign, adding further customization to SPARTAN-B312's character.

Trivia

The male Noble Six was voiced by Philip Anthony-Rodriguez, while Amanda Philipson provided the character's female voice.^[21]
Noble Six's voice is available by default as a Firefight voice, however, SPARTAN-B312 has little dialogue to say. Only the occasional laugh and chuckle is heard as the player performs various feats, such as acquiring multi-kills and getting headshots.
SPARTAN-B312 is not shown on the box art of Halo: Reach, nor featured in any promotional image of Noble Team. This is most likely done to avoid portraying Noble Six as outside the player's control, preventing them from building a definitive mental image for the character, as Noble Six's armor and even gender will vary depending on the player's choice.
When displayed in most recent promotional material, SPARTAN-B312 is portrayed as having the default MJOLNIR Mark V armor with the Mark V[B] helmet and gray coloration. This is done to avoid portraying Noble Six as a character outside the player's control, as Noble Six's appearance depends on the player's armor customization and gender choice. The only exception to this was when a screenshot was released to prove that cutscenes would display player customization.
Bungie originally portrayed Noble Six as male, with the Beta version HUL attachment on his helmet and FJ/PARA knees. This can be seen in the Halo: Reach Video Games Awards Trailer, and many early screenshots released by Bungie depicting Noble Six in the campaign. As it became apparent that Noble Six's appearance and gender would be entirely customizable, the SPARTAN's armor was reverted to the default Mark V[B] armor in most promotional material afterwards. His action figure, however, was not redesigned with full default armor and even comes with a Tactical/UGPS wrist attachment and silver secondary coloring.
In the Video Game Awards Trailer, Jorge-052 remarks "Didn't think anyone survived Pegasi, sir" upon seeing Noble Six for the first time, in reference to Operation: TORPEDO, a mission on Pegasi Delta which led to Beta Company's near-total annihilation. This line is not present in the final game, as it was established that SPARTAN-B312 never took part in the operation, having been taken out of Beta Company directly after training.
SPARTAN-B312 is the only member of Noble Team whose helmet is not available as an Avatar Award. Instead, the SPARTAN's helmet was only obtainable from Comic-Con 2010 and for a limited time through a special Xbox Live Gold offer.
Noble Six is one of three playable characters whose face is not shown, the others being John-117 and the Rookie. While briefly helmetless at the beginning and end of the game, the SPARTAN's face is outside the frame of the screen.
The Lieutenant's Spartan tag, like the rest of Noble Team's, is a reference to the number 7, as 3(2) + 1 = 7.
SPARTAN-B312, like Catherine-B320, has never experienced a glassing prior to the Fall of Reach.
Noble Six's "lone wolf" background may be a reference to the fact that Halo: Reach is the first Halo game to feature extensive squad gameplay; Halo 3: ODST also features a squad, though the player character is alone for much of the game.

Gallery

Noble Six sprinting, equipped with the FJ/PARA knees.
Default Noble 6.png

A render of Noble Six.
A preview of Noble Six, along with the other members of Noble team.
Noble Six engaging a group of Unggoy.
REACHglassing.PNG

Noble Six and Jun-A266 overlook a Covenant encampment.
Noble Six jumps off Spire One into Jorge's hand.
Jorge-052, Jun-A266, Emile-A239 and SPARTAN-B312 watch as Kat-B320 formulates a plan.
Noble Six and Jorge-052 operating a Sabre.
Noble Six Reach.jpg

Noble Six looks on at a Covenant supercarrier crashed into the ground.
Noble Six watches the city of New Alexandria as it is invaded by Covenant forces.
REACHn6phantom.PNG

Noble Six shooting at a sniper using Kat's M6G.
Bungie's original portrayal of Noble Six, with the Beta version HUL helmet upgrade.
A preview of the female model of Noble Six, in default armor.
A McFarlane Series 1 action figure of Noble Six.
An Xbox 360 avatar with default Noble Six gear.
ReachConcept SpartanPerm.jpg

Concept art for Noble Six.