Miranda Keyes

You may also be looking for her father, Jacob Keyes or the level Keyes.

"Ma'am, squad leaders are requesting a rally point. Where should they go?"

— Communications Technician

"To war."

— Miranda Keyes, Halo 3, "Crow's Nest"

Commander Miranda Keyes was a United Nations Space Command officer, and the former commanding officer of both the UNSC In Amber Clad and the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn. She was the daughter of the late Captain Jacob Keyes. As of 2552, she held the rank of Commander in the UNSC Navy.

Biography

Early Life

Miranda's early life is something of a mystery, as even the most basic yet most important details- such as the identity of her mother- remain unknown at this time. It can be safely assumed that she was born sometime between 2522 and 2532. Miranda Keyes joined the UNSC Navy at a relatively early age and quickly rose through the officer ranks. 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. By the year 2552, Miranda Keyes had risen to the rank of Commander, and commanded the UNSC In Amber Clad, a part of the Home Fleet. She accepted her father's posthumous Colonial Cross on Cairo Station immediately before the First Battle of Earth.

The First Battle of Earth

At the start of the First Battle of Earth, Miranda's vessel was docked at Cairo Station, so that she could receive her father's honors. During the awards ceremony, the station was attacked and boarded. Miranda fought her way to her ship with the help of Sergeant Major Avery Johnson, Marcus Banks, several other marines and SPARTAN-117, the latter of whom also repulsed Covenant boarders along the way. As the Covenant armada began the invasion of Earth, she took the In Amber Clad down to New Mombasa, where she dispatched multiple Pelican dropships with Marines to join the massive battle with the Covenant in progress there.

During the battle, the In Amber Clad was the only vessel close enough to follow the High Prophet of Regret when his Assault Carrier entered Slipspace inside the city. The resulting shockwave of the in-atmosphere slipspace jump caused a massive cataclysm, and a large portion of the city was destroyed.

Miranda Keyes at the controls of the UNSC In Amber Clad during the First Battle of Earth.

Delta Halo

The In Amber Clad piggy-backed the Prophet of Regrets Assault Carrier through Slipspace and ended up at Installation 05. There, she sent a platoon of ODSTs to assist the Master Chief in his pursuit of the Prophet of Regret. Once she learned of the Prophet of Regret's plan to activate Halo, she ordered the Master Chief to eliminate him.

Meanwhile, Commander Keyes and Sergeant Major Johnson went to the Library of Halo, accompanied by most of the standard Marines of the ship. They attempted to retrieve the Index, and, although Keyes was successful, most of the Marines were killed or infected by the Flood. After a brief fight with the Arbiter, Keyes and Johnson were captured by Tartarus and his band of Jiralhanae. The Jiralhanae then took Keyes and Johnson to High Charity, where they met the High Prophets of Truth and Mercy. They were then taken aboard separate Phantom drop ships before the Master Chief could rescue them.

Keyes was taken to the Control Room of Installation 05 because she had been designated as a Reclaimer by 343 Guilty Spark. Tartarus used her to activate the Installation, when the Arbiter and Johnson arrived and killed Tartarus. At that moment, she retrieved the Index and stopped the Halo from firing. When she questioned 343 Guilty Spark about the Halos, 343 Guilty Spark told her about the Ark.

Defending Earth

From Delta Halo, Commander Keyes eventually returned to Earth, where she is first seen in command of the UNSC base Crow's Nest. She, along with most of the other base personnel, were able to evacuate the base after it came under heavy Covenant attack. As the base was overrun with Loyalist forces, the large explosive device that Keyes ordered left behind was detonated by the Master Chief, destroying a large portion of the attacking Covenant. Miranda then took an active role as the commander of the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn, Lord Hood's personal flagship. After the Prophet of Truth succeeded in opening the Portal outside Voi, Miranda was permitted by Fleet Admiral Hood to follow the Covenant Loyalist forces through the portal.

The Ark

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Miranda Keyes moments before her eventual death at the hands of Truth

Keyes, captaining Forward Unto Dawn, then traveled with Rtas 'Vadum and the Separatist fleet to Installation 00. During the events of the Battle of Installation 00, she landed numerous troops and large quantities of weaponry and armor on The Ark, largely to supplement John-117's offensive in search of the Cartographer. When John-117 located Truth at The Ark's control room, she dispatched several Pelican Dropships to deactivate the shield protecting the control room. When Sergeant Major Avery Johnson was captured by Truth's forces in the course of this battle, Keyes, attempting to free Johnson, crashed her Pelican into Truth's position. She exited her Pelican with an M90 Shotgun, killing one and fatally wounded several others, but ultimately found herself outnumbered. Johnson requested 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 several times with a Spiker, fatally severing her spine. Her 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. It is assumed that her body was either buried on the Ark, or laid to rest in either Shadow of Intent or Forward Unto Dawn, in which case it was likely taken back to Earth. Her face is later seen in a photograph on the Memorial to the Fallen on a hillside overlooking The Arks Portal, near the photograph of Avery Johnson and the service number of Master Chief John-117.

Due to her actions during the final months of the Human-Covenant War, she was posthumously awarded with the Medal of Honor, the highest award a UNSC serviceman can receive.

Gameplay

In-game, Keyes appears as a non-playable character and is invulnerable to damage. When meleed, she won't bleed. She'll only bleed when shot at or when a grenade explodes. If you do either of the following for a period of time in Halo 2 Cairo Station she will moan. If you shoot her for some time in Halo 3 she will scream.

Trivia

• Her name could be a 7 Reference: 7 letters in her name.
• In Halo 3, she is portrayed by Justis Bolding, instead of Julie Benz, because Bungie wanted somebody with an accent.
• Miranda's preferred sidearm is a Pistol, which is clipped to her side by magnetic plates woven into her standard-issue UNSC Navy fatigues.
• Miranda Keyes has a 7 engraved on her left cheek.
• Hackers have found a Dialogue Placeholder for Miranda Keyes' quote "Thanks Chief, I owe you one". The Dialogue Placeholder reads "Thanks Chief, I owe you one. Take me now!".
• The number of spikes that killed Miranda were 7. Possibly another 7 reference.
• In Halo 2 Miranda has a Silver Oak leaf (meaning Commander) but in Halo 3 she has a Gold Oak leaf (meaning Lieutenant Commander) she could mean she was demoted or the ranking system has changed
• She was one of the final human casualties in the Human-Covenant War
• Commander Keyes is immortal, unlike Sergeant Johnson and the Arbiter, which will go "unconscious" instead of death before waking up again.
• When you melee Miranda, she occasionally gives out a very high-pitched scream.