Tess-B312

Tess-B312 was a Spartan-III commando of the UNSC Naval Special Warfare Command, attached to Special Warfare Group 3. She fought as part of during the Fall of Reach, under the callsign "Noble Six." Despite her history as a lone-wolf assassin, she became an essential component of Noble during its last and possibly greatest missions on Reach.

=Biography=

Childhood
Tess was born to a middle-class family on Charybdis IX, in Scyllion's Warehouse District, during the summer of 2531. Four years later, their home was ransacked by an angry mob during the, and young Tess watched from the safety of a hidden cupboard as her parents, who were pro-UNSC, were beaten to death. The home was set ablaze, but an ODST named whose HEV had crash-landed nearby rescued her and took her to safety. She was herded onto a large transport with hundreds of other children after the arrived and ferried off the planet before the glassing began. Years later, she would admit to an ONI psychiatrist that she wasn't angry over the Covenant's destruction of Charybdis IX, because she believed it was punishment for the people who killed her parents.

Now an orphan, Tess spent two years in an orphanage on before ONI added her name to Beta Company's roster. She showed independent and introverted tendencies among her fellow orphans, and the other children quickly learned not to steal her things or rouse her to anger, as she had a penchant for becoming vicious in a scuffle. When an older boy killed a kitten she had smuggled in, she got revenge by somehow pilfering a sharp knife and stabbing him in the thigh, an action that would have had her shipped elsewhere had not ONI come to collect their new Beta Company candidate. She arrived on Onyx still bearing the black eye and busted lip from the fight, and after passing the initial selection test, she limped all the way back to Lieutenant Commander Ambrose without being detected by retrieval teams, proving her worth as a potential Spartan-III.

Spartan-III Beta Company
"We've been lucky with Beta so far- very lucky- to get 312 out directly after training. An opportunity like that is not liable to happen ever again."

- Kurt Ambrose to SCPO Franklin Mendez

Over the next few years, Tess-B312's skills developed and honed through series after series of rigorous training exercises. She fought alongside other Beta Company trainees as part of Fireteam Tango, but would often take on dangerous or difficult mission roles by herself, earning the nickname “lone wolf” and incurring the wrath of her own team on many occasions, as they expected her to work as part of the group. Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Kurt Ambrose and Chief Petty Officer Mendez kept careful notes on B312, believing her to be one of the few they would remove from Beta Company before any “suicide missions” could be executed. While Mendez was skeptical of the young Spartan's ability to fully coordinate with a unit, Ambrose was confidant in her abilities, and one of the first to compare her performance to that of John-117.

After Beta Company underwent augmentations, Tess emerged with all the enhanced speed, strength and senses of a Spartan, plus lightened eye color as a side effect. She was removed from Beta Company as soon as she recovered from the procedures, whisked away on Kurt's orders and relegated to a reserve post where she would temporarily remain until new orders could be passed down. This immediate and unexpected separation from the rest of Beta Company, plus the eventual news that they were virtually wiped out by Operation TORPEDO, profoundly affected Tess, and though she would admit it to no one, she developed a deep-seated dread of losing those closest to her. To counter this, she vowed not to get close to anyone else for the rest of her life.

Lone Wolf
The next decade of B312's life is mostly classified. What little has been revealed indicates that she served as a test pilot for ONI's experimental Sabre program, flying simulations and prototype vehicles as the UNSC sought to develop a more effective space fighter. In between scheduled flight tests, she was dispatched on various black ops, serving as an assassin and saboteur behind Covenant and Insurrectionist lines. These missions earned her the rank of Lieutenant. Her effectiveness in the field against human forces could be attributed simply to her Spartan nature, but psychological examinations suggest B312 held a grudge against Insurrectionists that seemed to fuel her actions, which ranged from the killing of high-priority targets to the eradication of entire militia groups. Her ONI handler knew of the true nature of her parents' deaths, and it is likely that her continual deployments into Innie territory were a result of this. Regardless of motive, she accomplished much during these years, and became notorious in ONI circles as a “grim reaper” and “hyper-lethal vector.” Throughout all this, B312's mental state remained stable, though she privately admitted to regretting a few of her more questionable deeds in the field (the neutralizing of Insurrectionist child soldiers on Scion is one example).

In November 2551, B312 received her first set of Mk. V MJOLNIR powered assault armor, which she modified to suit her needs. She outfitted the suit with Recon accessories designed to reduce her armor's silhouette and aid her in stealth. Rather than choose colors that suited her taste, she chose a complete silver/steel scheme, shades that would enable her to blend in with the shadows with ease. Her effectiveness increased doubly after this, the extra protection and abilities giving her an edge she had never experienced. In May of 2552, she participated in anti-Insurrectionist efforts on Mamore, where she came into close contact with a Lotus mine and received moderate damage to her armor. She also received a long scar that went diagonally from her right cheek to the left side of her forehead due to shrapnel, as well as numerous small scars on both forearms. After recovering from these injuries and engaging in short deployments against small rebel factions, B312 was transferred to Reach by UNSC Army, to act as a replacement for the fallen sixth member of Noble Team.

The Fall of Reach
=Personality=

"I've done things I can't talk about...Things I won't ever be able to talk about. Some... bad things. They took my name away so I'd be able to do those things without question. A weapon doesn't have a name. It only has a number."

- Tess-B312

Throughout her career, B312 maintained a stable and relatively healthy mental state compared to most other Spartan-IIIs, attending mandatory psych evaluations and therapy sessions ordered by the ONI. Like all Spartans, she was trained to put the mission first and her feelings last, and often stayed true to the Spartan stereotype of acting more like a machine than a human being. She rarely spoke much outside of therapy sessions, having possessed an introverted and self-reliant persona since childhood. Because her job often required her to kill without question, she was able to rationalize and accept her own actions, but a few of her more gruesome victories stayed with her. No mental disorders occurred as a result of this.

When engaged in conversation, B312 was often concise and laconic, inserting wit and sarcasm into her statements to make up for her lack of socialization skills. She would often remain silent and observe those around her, taking in details and learning as she watched and listened. As a young child she had a short temper, though Spartan training put an end to that trait. As an adult, she was able to neutralize her emotions when necessary, though she sometimes “experimented” with letting them manifest. All told, her knowledge of emotions such as love and happiness was on par with a child's, due to such feelings being suppressed for much of her Spartan career.

=Characteristics=

=Relationships=

In spite of her long-kept policy of forming no attachments to anyone, she became close to the Spartans of Noble Team, a bond perhaps born of desperation during Reach's last days. She was particularly close to Jorge-052, whose tendency to freely give opinions and encouragement helped establish a friendship between them. She became unusually chatty in his company, and went so far as to tell him the name she had once abandoned. After his death, she showed no signs of significant emotional trauma, but the level of brutality that occurred when she fought against Covenant combatants attested to her true feelings.

=Quotes=

=Gallery=