Jilan al-Cygni

"Kissing is for politicians, and I'm certainly not that."

- LCDR Jilan al-Cygni upon meeting Johnson.

Lieutenant Commander Jilan al-Cygni was the commanding officer of Staff Sergeant Avery J. Johnson and Staff Sergeant Nolan Byrne during the operation to stop suspected Insurrection attacks against UNSC freighters. She is affiliated with ONI Section Three.

History
Posing as an official from the Department of Commercial Shipping, Jilan al-Cygni arrived at Harvest to investigate the disappearance of various DCS freighters in the Harvest space locale, assumed to be lost at the hands of Insurrectionists.

Jilan al-Cygni thought of a plan to trick the Insurrectionists with a decoy Freighter that both Avery Johnson and Nolan Byrne were secretly aboard. The plan was successful, however all three were quickly surprised to find the real cause of the disappearances, Jackal pirates. She authorized Johnson and Byrne to eliminate them before destroying the alien vessel with an Archer Missile from her sloop. Later, after making contact with the Brute investigation team arriving with a formerly decommissioned Cruiser, she was one of the first humans to meet an official Covenant delegation. The negotiations soured, however, and the group was forced to escape. She removed a visibly upset Governor Nils Thune from office by paralyzing him with Tactical Training Rounds, and assumed command of the UNSC presence on Harvest, consisting of a mere three Marines and a platoon of Colonial Militiamen.

After successfully escaping, Jilan becomes intimate with Avery Johnson. It is unknown what happened to her after the Battle of Harvest and whether her relationship with Johnson enhanced in any way in the coming years.