Keely Iyuska

Keely Iyuska is a human xenoarchaeologist and a junior professor at the University of Edinburgh on Earth.

Researching Netherop
While working as a junior professor in the field of xenoarchaeology at the University of Edinburgh, Keely Iyuska made us of the UNSC's Military Survey of Uninhabited Planets to investigate protogenic civilizations. Record of the Battle of Netherop in 2526 and remnants of an ancient non-Forerunner civilization on the world drew Keely's attention to Netherop in particular. She had planned to embark on an exploratory expedition to Netherop, but the rise of the Created in late 2558 put a stop to these plans.

Despite the ongoing subjugation of the galaxy by Cortana, Keely decided to go forward with the mission and in 2559 found a benefactor who would fund the expedition. Purportedly having an interest in ancient civilizations himself, the benefactor supplied Keely with the funds, only asking that she meet with him prior to the expedition and that upon her return she give him first pick of any artifacts she recovers. However, after agreeing the benefactor's terms, Keely discovered additional data pertaining to Netherop's history. Records indicated that a Guardian Custode had long ago been sent to subdue Netherop, and that the planet's civilization had managed to defeat the construct.

Recruiting consultants
In late 2559, when Keely Iyuska was supposed to rendezvous with her benefactor, she instead travelled to the state of Vadam, Sanghelios to meet with Spartan-IV Olympia Vale, with whom she was friends. When she failed to make the rendezvous, the benefactor hired the Sangheili Oath Warden Crei 'Ayomuu to hunt Keely down and hold her to her promise. Using a flight of Eyes, Crei tracked Keely to a tenement island in Vadam Valley where she attempted to hide among the kreche warrens. When a band of angry Sangheili males fired on the Eyes, Created armigers arrived at the tenement island to investigate, also discovering Keely's presence. Already aware of her research, the armigers razed the tenement island to the ground. Keely escaped unharmed and successfully met with Spartan Vale.

At some point after meeting up with Vale, the two of them travelled to the Outer Colony of Gao. Here, they hired a pipistrelle piloted by Arturo Ramus to take them to the village of Paraiso deep in the jungle. Under the guise of medical researchers studying a newly-encountered prion disease, Keely and Vale wished to speak with and recruit Rosa Fuertes, a member of the Castoffs that Blue Team had rescued from Netherop decades earlier. The armed men protecting the village suspected that the two women were agents of the Office of Naval Intelligence, but with some monetary incentive and a show of force from Vale, they got to speak with Rosa Fuertes, who agreed to come with them to Netherop, despite being afflicted the prion disease.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Outcasts