David-B312 (Earth-5875)

"Because of you, we found Halo, unlocked its secrets, shattered our enemy'sA resolve. Our victory — your victory — was so close ... I wish you could have lived to see it. But you belong to Reach. Your body, your armor — all burned and turned to glass. Everything ... except your courage. That, you gave to us. And with it, we can rebuild."

- - Dr. Catherine Halsey

Lieutenant David-B312 was a SPARTAN-III attached to the UNSC Marine Corps through Noble Team, where she was known under the callsign Noble Six, having replaced the former Six, Thom-A293 during the Fall of Reach in summer 2552. Despite his unknown status to humanity and even the UNSC in general, Dr. Catherine Halsey noted that her abilities were only on par with another SPARTAN, playing a pivotal role in ensuring the survival of humanity during the First Contact War.

Early life
"We've been very lucky with β so far — very lucky — to get 312 out directly after training. An opportunity like that is not liable to happen ever again."

- - Lieutenant Commander Kurt Ambrose

David became one of the 418 candidates captured by the Office of Naval Intelligence in August 30th, 2537 to train as a part of the SPARTAN-III Program's Beta Company. Like all others, David had been orphaned by the Covenant and kidnapped by ONI, which inducted him into a path of vengeance against the alien hegemony. During their training, he and a select group of other SPARTAN-IIIs easily outshoned their teammates that they were handpicked by Lieutenant Commander Kurt Ambrose to be serve separately from them, outside of Beta Company. As such, he did not participate of Operation TORPEDO, a covert operation against the Covenant that led to the death of 99% of the SPARTAN-IIIs assigned to the mission. His existence was kept a secret even from high-ranking UNSC, and the nature of his operations as a secret assassin for ONI, left unknown.

Black ops soldier
"David-B312. The team's most recent addition ... my, my. So much black ink ... Chloe has made entire Insurrectionist groups disappear. Curious ... "hyper-lethal". There's only one other SPARTAN I would call that."

- - Dr. Catherine Halsey

For the next years in David's career, she gained the reputation of the ultimate lone-wolf and deadly assassin, after having, alone, broken entire Insurrectionist organizations that virtually disappeared from the map. She also became a test pilot for the top-secret Sabre Program, to huge success. He was eventually deployed on Mamore, on May 10th, 2752, squashing the terrorist organizations operating on numerous cities. Colonel Urban Holland of the UNSC Marine Corps took notes, and approved her to join Noble Team. Despite his hardened combat record of 312 engagements, he never worked in teams or witnessed a glassing.

Covertly, David was being used by Colonel James Ackerson, the founder of the SPARTAN-III Program, as "his own personal grim reaper", and he was reluctant to allow him assigned to Noble Team. However, not only he shared this sentiment, as most members of the team were resistant to a new teammate following the tragic death of Thom-A293 during the Battle of Fumirole two months earlier. Despite the immense resistance from both sides, her reassignment occurred, and, on July 24th, 2552, David became a member of Noble Team under the callsign Noble Six.

Fall of Reach
"I'm not going to lie to you, Lieutenant. You're stepping into some shoes the rest of the squad would rather leave unfilled. Me, I'm just happy to have Noble back up to full strength. Just one thing — 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 David-B312

Arriving on Reach, David rendezvous with Noble Team, just in time to participate into a new operation to investigate a sudden communications blackout at the Visegrád Relay, a mission that marked the first confrontation of the UNSC against the Covenant on the colony. As they arrived in the relay, David discovered a data crystal chip belonging to the deceased scientist, Laszlo Sorvad, before she and the rest of the team was almost killed by three sangheili Zealots and one Field Marshal, who were sent to retrieve the chip. Carter then ordered both David and Jorge-052 to track the Zealots down and kill them.

As the Fall of Reach lingered on, David and the rest of Noble Team participated into numerous operations of the UNSC Marine Corps on Reach, such as a counter-offensive operation to secure Sword Base and the Babd Catha Ice Shelf from the Covenant on July 26th. During the operation, David and Kat-B320 eliminated all enemies in Farragut Station to establish contact with Airview Base, so they could activate a series of M71 Anti-Aircraft guns to destroy Covenant ships. The two then returned to Sword Base, with David assisting Emile-A239 into killing three Special Operations sangheili and a huragok who shielded them. After clearing the skies of Covenant ships, the SDV-class heavy corvette that attacked the area was destroyed after being torn in half with the shot of one of Reach's ODPs. After the mission, Noble Team was debriefed with Dr. Catherine Halsey, who questioned the mission at Visegrád, where David confirmed that the Elites they battled were Zealots. After the debriefing ended, the team handled the data chip to Halsey.

On August 11th, David and Jun-A266, operating under the name Recon Team Bravo, performed a reconnaissance mission during the night at an occupied Covenant territory in Viery. After killing many sangheili guards and both ruuhtian and ibie'shan kig-yar snipers, as well as fending off and killing two feral gúta, the two SPARTANs met a group of members of the Reach Colonial Militia fighting against the Covenant, leading the two to a hydroelectric power plant, farther into the Covenant occupied area. There, the two became the only survivors among the militiamen, and discovered a hidden stealth pylon that had been cloaking a large Covenant armada. The two were ordered back by Kat so the UNSC could launch an attack later.

Battle of Szurdok Ridge
Early on August 12th, David and Kat joined together with a massive UNSC assault force to attack the Covenant armada on Viery. Noble Team's coordinating artificial intelligence Dot revealed that the Covenant had covertly been sending troops and resources to Viery without being detected thanks to the stealth pylons and spires small forces were moving to Reach. Noble's mission was to destroy the main spire, codenamed Spire One. Together, Kat and David pushed through the Covenant's forces and destroyed two Type-38 Tyrants guarded by mgalekgolo and yanme'e warriors, which they eliminated. David eventually rendezvous with Jorge at a valley in the Szurdok Ridge and flew to Spire One in a UH-144 Falcon. When they arrived, the ship crashed duo to the electromagnetic field created by the spire, killing all the passengers, with the exception of David and Jorge, duo to their MJOLNIR armor.

The two continued their way towards the spire, killing many unggoy and t'vaoan kig-yar along the way. They discovered the station had been supplying Covenant forces to the surface from an unknown source. As soon as David infiltrated the spite, she disabled its shields, and her, alongside Jorge, flew away with a Hornet piloted by Carter, while the Paris-class heavy frigate UNSC Grafton destroyed the structure with a MAC round, before it was destroyed by a cloaked CSO-class supercarrier, the Long Night of Solace, seconds later, forcing all remaining UNSC forces to escape.

Operation UPPERCUT
"A good place to look might be ... I don't know, the nearest non-existent launch site in the non-existent Sabre Program, dismissed by three administrations as preposterous rumor ... And in which our newest member was certainly never a pilot. You're scary, you know that?"

- - Kat-B320 and Emile-A239

With the UNSC fleet not due following the appearance of the Long Night of Solace, Noble Team devised their own plan to destroy the ship: to use an improvised bomb using element zero and a Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine, escorted by Sabre fighters, which would be piloted by David. The plan, codenamed Operation UPPERCUT, was accepted by Colonel Urban Holland, and began on August 14th, with Noble Team supporting UNSC Marines to repel Covenant forces near the Sabre Program Launch/Research Range. After entering the base, Chloe and Jorge embarked on a Sabre and were launched to Reach's orbit. There, the pair helped UNSC forces into defending the Anchor 9 station from incoming Type-27 Banshees and Type-31 Seraphs. When the Anchor 9's defenses were fully repaired, David, Jorge and other UNSC Navy fighters followed the UNSC Savannah, who had committed their own slipspace drive to jumpstart to the operation, toward the SDV-class heavy corvette Ardent Prayer. The two SPARTANs and Marine boarders infiltrated the ship, and went to its bridge.

However, during the ensuing firefight within the corvette, the slipspace bomb was damaged, and thus it was impossible to automatically activate it. Removing his helmet and giving a last glimpse of his own face through the visor, Jorge volunteered to stay behind and manually activate the bomb, dying in the process. Giving one last speech to David, and recalling the few, but good moments they had together, Jorge threw him out of the Ardent Prayer before it docked with the Long Night of Solace. While David fell from space back to the atmosphere, he witnessed the destruction of both ships, and thus the operation was apparently a success, with the Long Night of Solace being split into hundreds of parts that crash-landed on a mountain range on Reach. However, on a last instant, a much larger Covenant fleet emerged from slipspace moments after the destruction of the supercarrier, continuing the Fall of Reach.

Siege of New Alexandria
"Civilian transports away. You saved a lot of lives today, SPARTAN."

- - UNSC Navy trooper to Chloe-B312

Having landed on Reach from space, David headed towards the nearest city she could find, New Alexandria, which took her nine days. Arriving at the city on August 23rd, she assisted UNSC Marines in repelling Covenant forces led by many jiralhanae warriors to evacuate civilians. After destroying the local Covenant forces, David was finally able to establish radio communication between herself and the rest of Noble Team. Hours later, the team worked together to destroy Covenant communication jammers scattered through the city in order to allow ONI operatives to evacuate the city. The same day, David lamented having returned alone, alluding to Jorge's death, to which Carter replied to "[he] make him proud". After destroying all jammers, the team was ordered by Colonel Holland to self-destruct Sword Base to stop the Covenant from acquiring ONI classified information. Before they could do anything, New Alexandria started being glassed by Covenant ships, and Noble Team ran to escape from the Olympic Tower to a radiation bunker. However, on their way, Kat was killed by a sangheili Field Marshal, with David catching her body. He, Carter, Jun and Emile attempted to gun down her killer, but they ran out of ammunition and were forced to hide in a bunker. There, the team remained trapped for three days before departing from it, watching the entire city burned down by the glassing beams.

Carrier
On August 29th, David and the surviving Noble Team members returned to Sword Base, under the mission to destroy it and stop ONI files from being taken by the aliens. David led a team of ODSTs, and together they were able to destroy multiple Tyrants with a M808 Scorpion, while the rest of NOBLE Team flew in a Falcon and shot down the enemies. When they finally reached the base, which was being attacked, their demolition mission was canceled and they were directed by an unknown UNSC synthetic. As Noble descended to deep down the base, they were encountered by Dr. Halsey, who revealed she was able to interpret the data in Sorvad's chip and the forerunner vessel it was leading to. During this time, her secret laboratory came under attack by Covenant forces, who were seeking the sacred relic, forcing Noble Team to defeat the hordes, only being allowed inside the laboratory once all Covenant were killed.

After they entered, Dr. Halsey asked David to be the handler of the synthetic Cortana, who was able to translate the ancient information within the forerunner vessel, which could potentially end the war. After the two agreed, Noble Team was tasked to deliver Cortana safely to the UNSC Pillar of Autumn before it left Reach, leading to the team being split. Jun escorted Halsey to Castle Base while Carter, Emile and David took Cortana and boarded a Pelican.

Last stand
"Lieutenant, get aboard! We gotta get the hell out of here! Negative, sir. I have the gun. Good luck, ma'am. Good luck to you too, SPARTAN."

- - Captain Jacob Keyes, David-B312 and Cortana Once the four arrived few kilometers away from the Pillar of Autumn's station at Asźod, their Pelican became under attack by Banshees. David and Emile evacuated the ship with Cortana, while Carter kept the attackers distracted so they could continue escorting her. During their walk, Carter sacrificed his life to save the trio from a Scarab. With the aid of Autumn's Marine complement, the trio fought their way through the shipyards. At the launch platform, David battled many jiralhanae and Emile destroyed Phantoms with an Onager mass driver. Captain Jacob Keyes, the commanding officer of the Pillar of Autumn, personally arrived at the launch platform in a Pelican to take Cortana. When David was supposed to enter the Pelican and Emile cover his escape, the latter was attacked by a legion of sangheili zealots, who were able to kill, while a CCS-class battlecruiser arrived to destroy the Autumn and stop its escape. Instead of leaving the ship to face the cruiser, David chose to stay behind and take control of the Onager, being able to shoot down the cruiser before it could glass the area, leading to the escape of the Pillar of Autumn with Cortana. Three weeks later, the ship arrived at Installation 04, which could lead to a series of events that would change the war.

After virtually all of Reach's defenses and remaining soldiers were killed, David became the only surviving UNSC soldier on the planet, facing multiple Covenant forces by himself. Escaping to Aszod's drydocks on foot, he was surrounded by Covenant warriors. Despite being able to take down dozens of unggoy and sangheili by himself, he became outnumbered and was mortally by plasma, but even then, continued fighting back, even after being disarmed. He was finally pinned down by a sangheili Ultra and slain. His helmet, having dropped previously, was left in Reach's glassed wastelands, where it remained for the next decades.

Legacy
"David was a good SPARTAN..."

- - Jun-A266 to Edward Buck On February 19th, 2754, Jun-A266 mentioned David-B312 to Edward Buck in an attempt to have him join the SPARTAN-IV Program.

Following the war, Dr. Catherine Halsey recited an eulogy to David, where she commanded his courage, determination, and sacrifice, remembering him as someone who helped humanity survive the First Contact War in the end.

David was included in a statue erected in honor of Noble Team in Hősök tere, in 2551, and later in a replica at the Museum of Humanity.

Personality
"I aim to please."

- - David-B312 to Carter-A259

David-B312 was mostly regarded as a skilled and efficient assassin rather than an open person and "... more of a hyper-lethal vector than a soldier," which can be evidenced by the small profile amassed around him by both Dr. Catherine Halsey and Colonel Urban Holland. He tended to "go solo" during missions, which became one of Carter-A259's main sources of criticism during his tenure on Noble Team, which became increasingly hard for her to adapt to. These factors led to David being nicknamed the "Lone Wolf", however, despite his obscure past, highly effective role as an assassin, and quiet, reserved status, he came to show compassion and care towards her fellow SPARTANs at other humans, often taking extremely dangerous actions to ensure the safety of Noble, as well, soldiers, and civilians.

Even though David eventually became relatively close to each member of Noble Team, he became the closest to Jorge-052, the second youngest member of the team after him, and the only SPARTAN-II. This eventually led Jorge to sacrifice his own life in the place of David, which, among the many other sacrifices of Noble's SPARTANs, inspired Chloe to show humanity in the end and end his own chance of escaping from Reach to allow the UNSC Pillar of Autumn to escape with Cortana. David's close bond with Jorge was even more pronounced when Jorge gave him his dog tags before his death, with Emile-A239 later refusing to take it, stating that Jorge had chosen him. Both Dr. Halsey and Cortana considered David's abilities and personality to match that of John-117, despite Halsey's initial disdain towards SPARTAN-IIIs.

Equipment
David-B312 wore the standard B-class MJOLNIR armor and helmet. On July 26th, 2552, he requested a RECON-class MJOLNIR, but, despite the request being granted, he was unable to receive it before his death.