NOBLE Team

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"You know as well as I do that we wind up with some that she would have chosen—not just kids unlucky enough to survive a glassing. Orders are still being followed and those Spartans are in the field, but they are armed as SPARTANs—and they are making a difference."

— LCDR Kurt Ambrose to SCPO Franklin Mendez^[1]

Noble Team,^[2] more formally styled as NOBLE Team^[3] and sometimes referred to as Team Noble or simply NOBLE, was a fireteam-sized unit composed mostly of SPARTAN-III supersoldiers and one SPARTAN-II commando as of 2552. Unlike most Spartan teams which are subordinate to Naval Special Weapons,^[4]^[5] Noble Team was under the operational control of the UNSC Army's Special Warfare Group Three, although as Spartans, its members were still part of the Navy.^[5]

Overview

Noble Team was primarily composed of SPARTAN-IIIs pulled out of their main companies by Lieutenant Commander Kurt Ambrose and Senior Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez before large-scale operations where the companies were mostly wiped out, Operation: PROMETHEUS in the case of Alpha Company and Operation: TORPEDO with Beta Company.^[1]

Prior to the Fall of Reach, Noble Team had managed to survive countless battles, always coming back from suicide assignments, but not without a cost: only two members of the original team, Carter and Kat, remained alive by 2552.^[6]

Noble Team also operated with non-Spartan military personnel more extensively than other Spartan teams. To grant them more operational freedom when interacting with regular military personnel, the members of Noble Team had been given higher ranks than most of the Spartans by their CO.^[7] In 2552, the team was under the command of Colonel Urban Holland of the UNSC Army.^[8]

The SPARTAN-IIIs of Noble Team were issued with equipment on par with the SPARTAN-IIs, such as the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor, which is far more advanced than the cheaper SPI armor worn by the rest of the SPARTAN-IIIs. The team was issued with the Mark V MJOLNIR armor on November 24, 2551. Unlike the mainline SPARTAN-IIs whose armor was fairly uniform in coloration, the members of Noble Team sported a variety of color schemes and field-customized armor variants.

Team composition

Members confirmed killed during the Fall of Reach

Commander Carter-A259 (Noble One) - A no-nonsense soldier, Carter served as the leader of Noble Team.^[8] Listed MIA. Confirmed KIA during the Fall of Reach by crashing his Pelican into a Scarab.^[9]
Lieutenant Commander Catherine-B320 (Noble Two) - Carter's second-in-command, Kat served as the intelligence specialist.^[8] Listed MIA. Confirmed KIA by a Needle Rifle during the Fall of Reach.^[10]
Warrant Officer Emile-A239 (Noble Four) - A bold and aggressive Spartan, Emile was the assault specialist of the team.^[8] Listed MIA. Confirmed KIA by Sangheili warriors during the Fall of Reach.^[9]
Chief Warrant Officer Jorge-052 (Noble Five) - The only Spartan-II on the team, Jorge served as the team's heavy weapons specialist.^[8] Listed MIA. KIA during Operation: UPPER CUT.^[11]
Lieutenant SPARTAN-B312 (Noble Six) - A new addition to the team, this SPARTAN's background is mostly unknown.^[8] Listed MIA. Confirmed KIA by Sangheili warriors during the Fall of Reach.^[12]

Living members

Warrant Officer Jun-A266 (Noble Three) - A thoughtful and taciturn soldier, Jun served as the sniper of Noble Team.^[8] Currently serves in a command position in the Spartan branch as of March 2558.^[13]

Other SPARTANs were constantly kept on rotation for the team, including Rosenda-344, who would take Emile's place in the case of a counterinsurgency operation. When one member fell in the line of duty, a new SPARTAN would be brought in as a replacement.

Known former member

Thom-A293 (Former Noble Six) - Killed on April 22, 2552 and replaced with SPARTAN-B312 immediately prior to the Fall of Reach.^[14]

Potential member

Rosenda-A344 (Potential Noble Four replacement) - Emile-A239's replacement if another anti-insurrectionist operation emerges. Her current status is unknown.

History

Noble Team participated in several missions during the Human-Covenant War, including an operation to destroy a Covenant battlecruiser during the Battle of Fumirole.

During the Fall of Reach on July 24, 2552, Noble Team was among the first human forces to engage the Covenant on the planet after they were sent to investigate a communications disruption at the Visegrad Relay. Two days later, they were sent to defend ONI's Sword Base, and were debriefed by Dr. Halsey afterward. In the following weeks, Noble Team split up several times, forming smaller splinter teams.

Two and a half weeks later, Noble Team conducted a night-time reconnaissance mission in Covenant-occupied territory, assessing the Covenant's deployments on the planet. The next day, they partook in the Battle of Viery along with numerous other UNSC units. After the Covenant supercarrier Long Night of Solace revealed itself, Noble Team came up with an operation to destroy the ship. The mission was a success, at the cost of Jorge-052 who sacrificed himself to destroy the supercarrier.^[11]

On August 23, Noble Team fought in the Siege of New Alexandria and eventually regrouped in the ruins of the Olympic Tower. The Covenant soon began glassing the area, and Kat-B320 was killed by sniper fire before the team could reach a fallout bunker.^[10] On August 29, the team was sent to demolish Sword Base to prevent the sensitive data within from falling into Covenant hands. After fighting their way inside, the team's mission was changed by Halsey, who assigned them to deliver a high priority package to the UNSC Pillar of Autumn to ensured that humanity would have a fighting chance against the Covenant and future enemies.

Jun left to escort Halsey to CASTLE Base, while the rest of the team headed for the ship-breaking yards in Aszod to deliver the package.^[15] Once there, Carter sacrificed his life by ramming his Pelican into a Scarab preparing to fire on Emile and Six. Noble Six eventually managed to deliver the package to Captain Keyes, while Emile was killed by a team of Sangheili Zealots. Noble Six stayed behind, and ensured the Pillar of Autumn's successful escape by using a mass driver to destroy an approaching Covenant cruiser.^[9] Not long after, Six was eventually overwhelmed and killed by Sangheili warriors, leaving Jun as the only surviving member.^[12]

After the war, a memorial for Noble Team was erected in Hősök tere in New Alexandria. A scale model of the statue was sent to the Museum of Humanity on Earth.^[16] The NOBLE-class MJOLNIR armor of the GEN2 MJOLNIR line was created and named in honor of them.^[17]

Trivia

The flag in the Capture The Flag multiplayer mode in Halo: Reach bears the emblem of Noble Team.
The voice of every Noble Team member is usable in Halo: Reach's Firefight mode.
McFarlane Toys created an action figure figure known as Noble Seven for Comic Con 2010. Although no such member canonically exists, McFarlane Toys representatives claim Bungie allowed them to create the unique figure.^[18]
Noble Team was originally supposed to have two more members in Halo: Reach: the "sassy" Rosenda-344 and the "cowboy-like" Thom-293.^[19] Both were later reduced to background characters, with Thom being a former member and Rosenda serving as a potential replacement for Emile in a counter-insurgency operation.
While the player's appearance is customizable, none of the members of Noble Team are able to be fully imitated in terms of appearance, in order to limit confusion. This is done by allowing Noble to have exclusive configurations the player can not have, such Emile's red security shoulder, or Kat's exclusive blue color and ability to have a prosthetic arm with the default Mark V[B] chest.
Though the player must pick up Armor Abilities to utilize them, the rest of Noble Team does not possess visible equipment on their armor to activate them. For example, in Winter Contingency, they are able to sprint for longer periods of time without the armor ability visible on their back. In all the levels, they will also use armor lock to avoid danger, such as grenades or vehicles. They could also use evade, an armor ability exclusive to multiplayer, to avoid heavy projectiles, though it is more common with Tough Luck skull activated. It is also worth noting that Jorge is able to use armor lock with his machine gun turret, despite the player not being able to do so while wielding a detached turret.
During gameplay, every member of Noble Team other than the player is invincible. However, their shields are breakable and they will seek cover if they are popped.
On the cover of Halo: Reach and on the Noble Team statue in the Halo: Reach Legendary Edition, the team is lined up left to right in the order of their deaths. Jun is last, as he does not die in the game. Noble Six is not included on the statue.
Each SPARTAN-III's numeric tag is accompanied by a letter indicating their company of origin. Though the Spartan tags of the SPARTAN-III members of Noble Team were stylized in this fashion,^[20] the letters are not displayed in Halo: Reach and its promotional material; instead, their tags consist of only three numbers without a preceding company tag. The only exception to this is in Birth of a Spartan, where Carter's full tag is shown, though it is rendered as "a-259" rather than "A259". The letters were likely excised for the sake of brevity, both from an in-universe perspective and for the player's convenience.

Gallery

The full team.
Surveillance footage of Noble Team, obtained by Dr. Halsey.
KIuWJ.jpg

Concept art of Noble Team in combat position during the Fall of Reach.
Noble Team in a promotional image for Halo: Reach. The team is standing in the order they died in. (left to right)
Noble Team (excluding Noble Six) in a promotional wallpaper for Halo: Reach.
Noble Team in a promotional image for Halo: Reach.
Noble Team being briefed by Colonel Urban Holland.
Noble Team being deployed into battle by UH-144 Falcons.
Emile, Jun, SPARTAN-B312 and Jorge look on as Kat explains a plan.
Carter contacting Holland.
Nobleteamconcept.jpg

Concept art of Noble Team with final and cut members, including their portraits.
HaloReach-NobleTeam.png

A wallpaper of Noble Team, from left to right: Carter-A259, Kat-B320, Jun-A266, Emile-A239, Jorge-052, and SPARTAN-B312.
Art Noble-Team.jpg

Promotional artwork of Noble Team.