Miranda Keyes: Difference between revisions

|birth=[[2525|February 28, 2525]]<ref name="news"/>

|height={{Convert|177.8|cm|ftin|sp=us}}<ref name="WaypointMirandaKeyes"/>

|mass={{Convert|68.5|kg|lb}}<ref name="WaypointMirandaKeyes"/>

|hair=Brown<ref name="WaypointMirandaKeyes"/>

|eyes=Green<ref name="WaypointMirandaKeyes"/>

|sn=15972-19891-MK<ref name="evg"/>

'''Commander Miranda Keyes''',<ref name="evg"/> born '''Miranda Halsey'''<ref name="name">'''Dr. Halsey's personal journal''', ''April 6, 2550'' ("''Initially, she likely joined the military to impress her father; after all, she had her name legally changed.''")</ref> ([[service number]] '''15972-19891-MK'''),<ref name="evg"/> was the daughter of the late [[Captain (Navy)|Captain]] [[Jacob Keyes]] and Doctor [[Catherine Halsey]].<ref name="evg"/> Miranda quickly ascended through the ranks of the [[UNSC Navy]] and served as the [[commanding officer]] of both the {{UNSCShip|In Amber Clad}} as well as the {{UNSCShip|Forward Unto Dawn}} during the final months of the [[Human-Covenant War]].  

She lived with her mother on [[Reach]] until [[2531]] at the age of six, when she was sent to live with her father because her mother felt that she could not provide the care her daughter deserved. In the following years she changed her last name to Keyes.<ref name="name"/> She would live in an apartment at [[Mare Insularum]] on [[Luna]], where her father taught at the [[Academy at Mare Nubium]], or Luna Officer Candidate School.<ref name="journal">'''[[Halo: Reach]]''', ''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]''</ref><ref>'''[[Halo: The Cole Protocol]]''', ''page 36''</ref> Dr. Halsey attempted to dissuade Miranda from joining the UNSC military, to no avail.<ref name="apr 6">'''Dr. Halsey's personal journal''', ''April 6, 2550''</ref> Miranda was accepted to the Academy's pre-enlistment training at age 16, being the second-youngest to ever have attended the school. After graduating with honors, she immediately requested assignment to active duty.<ref name="news">'''[[Halo: Reach Limited Edition]]''', ''[[Intersystem News]], LCDR Miranda Keyes Awarded Silver Star''</ref>

She was assigned to the {{UNSCShip|Hilbert}}, an older, unarmed science vessel patrolling the outer reaches of UNSC-controlled space. This was due to her mother's influence, who wanted to keep Miranda out of harm's way.<ref name="apr 6"/> Despite this, the ship was used by Keyes to play a critical role in the [[Battle of Gamma Pavonis VII]], ramming the ''Hilbert'' into a [[Covenant destroyer]]. Keyes was one of two of the ship’s crew to make it to the escape pods. In the following years, Keyes spent most of her time in the front lines, playing a crucial advisory role in the coordination of several major offensive strikes against Covenant targets. This proved invaluable to her as she quickly rose through the ranks of the UNSC. Throughout her career, she was forced to confront accusations of nepotism from those who ascribed her rapid rise in rank to the position and influence of her father, Jacob Keyes.<ref name="news"/>

Throughout her life, Miranda harbored a resentment for her estranged mother, and she stopped answering Halsey's letters at one point after having her name changed.<ref name="news"/> At some point while she was a Midshipman, she sent her mother a message, stating that she was somewhat aware of what Dr. Halsey [[SPARTAN-II program|had done]]. She promised to keep who her mother was a secret, simply because she didn't want her father associated with what she had done. She ended the message promising to make sure she would take after him.<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 186''</ref> A rare exception to her silence was when she invited her mother to her promotion ceremony, although Halsey did not come.<ref name="apr 6"/> According to AI [[Black-Box]], Miranda kept a journal [[Dr. Halsey's personal journal|like Halsey did]], and wondered how Dr. Halsey would feel if she read it.<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 148''</ref>

In [[2550#April|April 2550]], Miranda was promoted to the rank of [[Lieutenant Commander]] in a promotion ceremony at downtown [[Quezon]] on [[Reach]]. [[Fleet Admiral]] [[Terrence Hood]] also personally awarded her the [[Silver Star]], and it was announced that she would assume command of the {{Class|Stalwart|light frigate}} {{UNSCShip|In Amber Clad}}. Immediately following the ceremony, Keyes was deployed back to active duty, having been able to postpone a mandatory leave required for those receiving high-ranking promotions.<ref name="news"/>

In [[2552]], she accepted her father's posthumous [[Colonial Cross]] on ''[[Cairo Station (station)|Cairo Station]]'' immediately before the [[Battle of Earth]]. At this time, she was assigned to the Medii Battle Group of the [[UNSC Home Fleet]].<ref name="evg"/> By this point she had achieved the rank of [[Commander]] at a young age.  

Keyes and the rest of the expedition force arrived at the real Ark--[[Installation 00]]--on [[2552#December|December 11]].<ref name="Fortitude"/> Although the ''Dawn'' was unable to best [[Truth's fleet]] in direct combat, Miranda was able to fend them off long enough to reach the Ark. During the [[Battle of Installation 00]], she landed troops and large quantities of weaponry and armor on the Ark, largely to supplement John-117's search for the [[Cartographer]] facility. Throughout the battle, she worked with Guilty Spark and 'Vadum to fight off the Covenant forces. Although Guilty Spark wished to find terminals near the core of the installation to aid in the repair of Cortana's storage unit to find the solution to the Flood, Keyes and 'Vadam agreed to focus on eliminating the Prophet of Truth to prevent the firing of the [[Halo Array]].<ref>'''Halo 3''', campaign level ''[[The Ark (level)|The Ark]]''</ref>

Realizing that John and Thel 'Vadam would never get there in time to stop Truth, Keyes decided to stall Truth herself. She crashed her Pelican into Truth's position, intending to stop the Array's firing and rescue Sergeant Johnson, who had been captured by Truth's forces. She exited her Pelican with an [[M90 shotgun|M90A shotgun]] and an [[M6G magnum]]. She was able to kill two Jiralhanae, and wounded (some fatally) several others but ultimately found herself outnumbered. Johnson demanded that she kill them both in order to halt Truth's plans. Keyes, unwilling to harm Johnson, hesitated. As she paused, the Prophet of Truth shot her in the back with a [[Type-25 Spiker]], killing her.<ref name="covenant"/>

Her death greatly disheartened and demoralized Johnson and he didn't resist when Truth used him to activate the Ark. Truth viewed Miranda's unwillingness to kill Johnson as proof that humans were weak and unable to set aside their compassion, which was why the Forerunners had left them behind. After the Master Chief and the Arbiter stopped Truth, Keyes' body was subsequently rescued from Flood infection by Johnson, who carried her into the Pelican which he used to escape the Ark's control room.<ref name="covenant"/> It is likely that her body was taken back to Earth, and buried there.  

Due to her unexpected move to follow Regret's ship into slipspace, she was described by [[Commander (UNSC)|Commander]] [[Richard Lash]] as "the ballsiest officer in the Fleet". He further suggested that she may have been trying to live up to the reputation of her father or that she was simply "nuts".<ref name="follow"/>

*In ''Halo 2'', Keyes' uniform collar bears the silver oak leaf of a commander and she is addressed as "Commander" in a formal setting. In ''Halo 3'', her uniform's collar has the golden oak leaf of a lieutenant commander, though its shoulder boards and sleeve ends bear the three full bars of a commander rather than the two full bars and one thinner bar of a lieutenant commander. ''[[Halo: The Essential Visual Guide]]'' confirms that she held the rank of commander at the time of her death.<ref name="evg"/>