James Cutter (Earth-4001)

Captain James "Jim" Gregory Cutter (service number 01730-58392-JC) is a senior officer in the UNSC Navy who served during the Insurrection and the early years of the Human-Covenant War. He captains the UNSC Spirit of Fire, a refitted Phoenix-class support vessel that was attached to Vice Admiral Preston Cole's Third Fleet in 2531. Cutter had a wife, Mary, with whom he had a daughter on Reach; he also had a mistress on Tribute, with whom he had a son, Daniel Clayton. Cutter and the Spirit of Fire went missing in 2531 due to circumstances that required the sacrifice of the ship's Shaw-Fujikawa translight engine in order to deny a fleet of Forerunner Sojourner-class dreadnoughts to the Covenant. Cutter and the rest of the crew entered cryostasis and has slept for years.

History
The history of James Cutter is the same as his mainstream counterpart.

Personality & Traits
Captain James Cutter is a leader steeped in military tradition and discipline, but who balances that tradition with a genuine compassion and interest for those who serve underneath him. A true hero of the UNSC, Cutter's military career is long and distinguished and he has sacrificed advancement up the ranks in order to remain with his crew and ship and near to his family on Reach. Cutter has served on seven ships, two of them as captain, and has a record of service and bravery that is well known within the Navy. But it was his lack of political ambition and unwillingness to climb the ladder of the UNSC by stepping over others that kept him from far more. He could easily have been an admiral if he had ever cared to be. Where some would saw his captaincy of the Spirit of Fire as a job lacking in prestige—always having an assignment as the supply boat of a fleet with more missions waiting in the wings was something that made Cutter smile behind his morning coffee. Though he has never personally seen an actual waterborne military vessel, he has a habit of referring to ships and their parts in archaic nautical terms.

The crew on the Spirit of Fire are more than soldiers to the captain, they are his extended family. Cutter's respect is reciprocated by his troops, who place a great deal of faith in the captain and his decisions. Cutter was an officer from the start, but his demeanor was never one of a do-nothing officer like many of his class. Many of the young men had political aspirations far beyond their potential, but Cutter found it more interesting to “talk shop” in the soldier’s club with the non-officers. Cutter liked his fellow officers, but he believed in getting to know and respect his men, believing that in turn they would give him "two-hundred percent" when the time came. He is known for walking the ship at night to check on his crew. He was so well respected and well-known before vanishing in 2531 that coffee houses in the Inner Colonies gave him free coffee beans to take with him on long deployments.

Cutter's stance and his voice immediately identify him as a leader, and an intelligent, unambiguous, and thoughtful one at that. His face is slightly older-looking than his actual age, and he has some gray around the fringes of his hair, but his energy and determination are that of a man half his years. Cutter is almost always at attention, listening to his advisors and crew. He is constantly on the move and has little need for pomp and circumstance. This lack of flourish may be why he is the kind of man who so many rally to, making him the perfect leader for any fight ahead. As far as terrestrial military strategy is concerned, Cutter understands the value of controlling the flow of battle by manipulating the terrain to one's advantage.