Naiya Ray

For the UNSC officer, see Ray (UNSC officer).

Spartan Naiya Ray (service number 73993-54580-NR) is a Spartan-IV supersoldier stationed aboard and the only surviving member of Fireteam Jackknife following the Battle of Ealen IV. Sometime after the Ambush at Oth Lodon she was transferred to Fireteam Majestic.

Early career
Born on the human colony of Heavensward, Naiya Ray served the UNSC Air Force for four years as a signals intelligence (SIGINT) officer. Following the Human-Covenant War, Ray joined the SPARTAN-IV program under the nascent Spartan Operations branch. She served a tour of duty as a Headhunter, working directly of the Office of Naval Intelligence's Section Three. Afterwards, she joined Fireteam Jackknife, a fireteam assigned to.

Ealen IV
"I appreciate the assist. But… as it's my job to protect the captain of the Infinity, next time it might be more helpful he didn't get quite so hands-on—sir."

- Naiya Ray to Cpt. Lasky after killing the Elite

In March 2558, Ray and the rest of Fireteam Jackknife, along with Fireteam Bailey and Paul DeMarco of Fireteam Majestic, were assigned to escort and provide security Fleet Admiral Lord Terrence Hood and Arbiter Thel 'Vadam on a diplomatic mission to Ealen IV. While Hood and 'Vadam were negotiating with the Jiralhanae Chieftain Lydus, Covenant mercenaries led by Vata 'Gajat attacked the delegates. Commander Sarah Palmer ordered the Spartans to clear the chamber and help the delegates evacuate. When their evacuation ship was destroyed, they escorted the delegates to a nearby parts depot. Once everyone was inside, DeMarco sealed the depot to halt the oncoming Covenant forces. With communications to their ships having been blocked, they were left without any reinforcements.

Inside the plasma facility, Captain Thomas Lasky ordered Palmer and the protection detail to escort the delegation to a fortified redoubt. Palmer tasked Ray to escort Infinity's captain and utilize her SIGINT background to re-establish communications. As they searched the facility, hoping to find the old Covenant network and utilize the facility's transponders to triangulate the source of a jammer, Lasky and Ray were attacked by a Sangheili Warrior. Upon eliminating the Elite, Ray discovered that the Covenant network itself was responsible for the jamming and knew she could track the source of its power. After securing a pair of Type-26 Banshees, they observed several Covenant aircraft approach the redoubt.

Ray and Lasky attacked a Covenant base where the source of the Covenant jamming signal was originating. Ray threw a plasma battery at the power source and shot it destroying the reactor. With the communications interference cleared, Lasky informed the Infinity of the Covenant's attack. The fleets in orbit were able to drive Vata 'Gajat's forces into retreat. The delegation was saved but at the cost of a handful of Spartans' lives. During the battle, Vladimir Scruggs revealed himself as a turncoat and had killed the other two members of their fireteam. Following his death at the hands of Palmer, Ray was left as the last living member of Fireteam Jackknife.

Unearthing the mole
"Petra Jenecek"

- Naiya Ray

After the incident on Ealen IV, Ray was half informed she would be departing Infinity with Captain Lasky. Once off Infinity, Lasky briefed Ray about his intention to find an investigative journalist, Petra Janecek, to help them flush out the UNSC mole who gave away their location on Ealen IV. On March 10, they arrived in Castiglione, the capital of Escala III. When Ray expressed concern about meeting Lasky's contact in the outer colonies, Lasky reassured her and asked that they call one another by their first names, only to realize he did not know Ray's first name. Ray revealed her name to be Naiya and the two then rendezvoused with Janecek. The trio went to a boardwalk where Lasky and Petra caught up on old times. Lasky asked Naiya if she could give him and Petra a few minutes alone to keep her from hearing anything that could implicate her to their scheme.

Petra, Lasky, and Naiya then traveled to the Sangheili colony of Karava. There, she was about to engage a fight against a local Sangheili called 'Lordan, but Petra killed him. After the altercation, they entered a bar in the port city of Kor Delban where they met with Zef 'Trahl, Petra's contact. Zef informed them about Vata 'Gajat and his human collaborator, Captain Daniel Clayton. When Petra and Naiya asked Lasky why Clayton would betray the UNSC, Lasky informed them that Clayton was the son of the renowned Captain James Cutter.

Three days later, Naiya and Lasky returned to Infinity near Oth Lodon. During their time away, Infinity had been lured into a trap by Captain Clayton and attacked by the New Colonial Alliance. Infinity was saved by the Spartans who captured Clayton and killed Vata 'Gajat. Arriving onboard the ship, Commander Palmer told Ray to head to S-Deck for Roland's debriefings.

Bioweapon
"Captain's only sending two Spartans? I guess we can take it as a compliment."

- Ray to Thorne prior the operation

On May 9, 2558, she and Spartan Gabriel Thorne were assigned a secret mission to capture a Sangheili agent in possession of a mysterious bioweapon. The Spartans went down to the planet Ven III and encountered a small number of Kig-Yar but no organized resistance. As they explored the surface of the planet, they lost communications with Infinity due to a jamming field. Ray and Thorne proceeded to a Covenant structure where they were ambushed by the Sangheili agent and a contingent of Kig-Yar. During the skirmish, the Sangheili incapacitated Thorne and escaped with him. As Ray pursued Thorne's captor inside the planet's tunnels, she discovered a massive Kig-Yar pirate stronghold deep below the surface of the planet with black market arms dealers and slavers. After finding the Sangheili and a Kig-Yar carrying Thorne into a hangar bay, she was ambushed by a Kig-Yar and lost communications with Infinity.

However Ray was able to overpower her foe and re-established communications with the Infinity. After receiving notification from Roland that the Infinity was re-routing to Ven III, Ray found a Spectre and made her way towards the pirates' base. Upon finding Thorne she ambushed the unidentified Sangheili and his Kig-Yar allies. Ray attempted to hold the Sangheili agent till the rescue convey arrived but the agent made a run for it. Despite wanting to stay behind to protect Thorne, he ordered Ray to pursue the agent. Ray contacted Palmer and relayed Thorne's location to her. However Palmer stated that the bioweapon was a higher priority and was going to redirect Fireteam Majestic to her location. Upon hearing this Ray shut off her locator and continued to pursue the Sangheili agent. Ray commandeered a Ghost and a chase ensued between her and the agent. After a short chase Ray managed to disable the agent's Ghost outside the base. Cornering the Sangheili, Ray ordered him to surrender the bioweapon over to her. However before he could a prowler landed and several ONI agents approached Ray, ordering her to stand down. They handed her a report from Admiral Serin Osman instructing them to detain the Sangheili and recover the bioweapon. The agents then lead the Sangheili back to the prowler. Upon returning to Infinity Ray resided over Thorne while he recovered from his wounds. Lasky told Commander Palmer not to be angry towards Ray for her actions during the mission due to the circumstances, as it resulted in Majestic reaching Thorne in time before he was buried alive.

Janus Key
"This was looking like suicide a couple seconds ago. Now we might just pull it off."

- Ray observing the decreasing of enemy forces

When Doctor Catherine Halsey and Jul 'Mdama managed to trap Infinity in the uncharted Aktis system by blocking the ship's engines, Lasky deployed Ray, Palmer, and Majestic to Aktis IV to find the source of interference. Upon landing on the planet, the Spartans discovered a small group of Covenant forces guarding a recently uncovered Forerunner structure. The Spartans quickly eliminated the Covenant forces, with Ray using an M363 sticky detonator to kill two Kig-Yar and destroy a. Doctor Henry Glassman was then brought to the surface of the planet to investigate the structure, escorted by the Spartans. Glassman requested to have the UNSC's half of the Janus Key transported to the planet in order to analyze an artifact in the structure. His request was granted but the UNSC craft carrying the Key were shot out of the sky by Sali 'Nyon's artillery. Shortly after, Covenant forces attacked the UNSC task force, pinning them at the Forerunner structure.

After the Spartans and Dr. Glassman had remained barricaded in the structure for over seven hours, Ray received a transmission from Spartan Hoya, who had gotten separated from the others on the way inside. Hoya informed Ray that he had spotted Dr. Halsey near a Phantom in the jungle; Ray then informed Commander Palmer of Hoya's discovery. Glassman was soon able to open the structure's teleportation grid. However, Palmer took Ray and Thorne with her on her personal mission to hunt down Dr. Halsey in the jungle while the rest of the Spartans teleported to a different destination. After traveling through the portal Ray, Thorne, and Palmer spotted a Sangheili defector from Sali 'Nyon's faction contacting 'Mdama's forces. Ray managed to intercept the defector's transmission, in which he offered the Janus Key half stolen by 'Nyon to 'Mdama. Ray and Thorne prepared to ambush the Sangheili but Palmer ordered them to stop. Both Spartans questioned her order, pointing out that they could easily take the Janus Key from the Sangheili before Halsey arrived with a greater force. However, Palmer intended to wait for Halsey instead in order to ambush her.

A convoy of Phantoms and Wraiths escorting Halsey to the Minor's location soon arrived. The Sangheili Minor gave Halsey his half of the Janus Key, and all vehicles—except for a Phantom and Wraith—were recalled to different parts of the island. As Halsey and the remaining Covenant soldiers prepared to depart for Song of Retribution, the Spartans ambushed them. While the Ray and Thorne battled the Sangheili Zealots guarding the Phantom, Halsey was escorted into the forest by a lone Zealot. Palmer ordered Ray and Thorne to finish off the remaining Zealots, while she pursued Halsey and her guard. Palmer ultimately failed, and Halsey and Jul's Covenant fled the planet with both halves of the Janus Key. After all UNSC forces on Aktis IV returned to Infinity, Ray and Thorne were furious about Palmer's behavior on the planet, a fact that Lasky brought to Palmer's attention.

Personality and traits
Naiya Ray is a determined and efficient soldier. Formerly a member of Fireteam Jackknife, she began to operate on "off-the-book" missions under the command of Captain Thomas Lasky. She enjoys her career as a Spartan and even joked that her investigation mission with Lasky and Petra Janecek was essentially a paid vacation. During the search for the mole within the UNSC, Ray felt uncomfortable visiting remote worlds in civilian clothes with no weapons. She is often relaxed and often makes jokes while in dangerous situations. Ray's combat skills have gained her the respect of Commander Sarah Palmer, who even tasked her with escorting Lasky on Ealen IV. She is specially skilled with communication technologies thanks to her background in signals intelligence.

Ray's missions with Captain Lasky led to the development of a close friendship between the two. Lasky trusted Ray with high priority missions and tasks. Ray has also developed a friendship with Spartan Gabriel Thorne after her transfer to Fireteam Majestic. When Thorne was in danger during the mission to Ven III Ray tried to stay behind to protect him despite her priorities. When Palmer informed Ray that she was redirecting Majestic to her instead of Thorne, Ray shut-off her locator as she felt her comrade's rescue was more important than the bioweapon.

Equipment
Ray wears the Infiltrator variant of the MJOLNIR GEN2 armor with Contoured SHRD forearms, Contoured legs, and a Recruit visor. Her armor is painted blue with a yellow trim. She often carries an MA5D assault rifle, though she armed herself with an M739 SAW during the Battle of Aktis IV.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Escalation
 * Halo: Official Spartan Field Manual