Editing Talitha Macer

{{Status|Canon}}
{{Character infobox
|variant=Human
|name=Talitha Macer
|image=[[File:Waypoint-Macer.jpg|300px]]
|homeworld-title=Homeworld|homeworld=[[Sedra]]<ref name="wp macer">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/characters/talitha-macer '''Halo Waypoint - Universe''': ''Talitha Macer'']</ref>
|birth=[[2537]]{{Ref/Reuse|wp macer}}
|death=
|causeofdeath=
|parents=
|siblings=
|spouses=
|children=
|species=[[Human]]
|gender=Female
|height=
|mass=
|hair=Brown
|eyes=Brown
|affiliation=[[Sedran Colonial Guard]]
|rank=Private first class{{Ref/Reuse|wp macer}}
|sn=
|notable=
}}

'''Private First Class Talitha Macer''' is a member of the [[Sedran Colonial Guard]].{{Ref/Reuse|wp macer}}

==Biography==
===Early life and career===
Talitha Macer was born on the struggling [[Outer Colony]] of [[Sedra]] in [[2537]]. When she was nine years old, Macer's father, who served in the Sedran Colonial Guard, was killed during a sting operation to infiltrate a weapon smuggling ring. After her father's death, Macer was raised in a rough neighborhood and while in secondary school she began to associate with street gangs. After a number of encounters with the local [[law enforcement]] (mostly for petty crimes) she was incarcerated in a youth detention facility for a year. As a result of her time in the correctional facility Macer began to rethink her life; after her sentence ended she enlisted in the Colonial Guard to honor her late father. Macer enrolled in the youth wing of the Sedran Colonial Guard at the age of thirteen and quickly proved her abilities as both a combatant and a [[pilot]]. She was involved in a number of operations against local criminals, in particular smugglers and narcotics dealers, as well as several orbital defense operations against [[pirate]]s over a period of two years. By the age of nineteen, she had risen to the rank of private first class and reported directly to [[Randall Aiken|Colonel Randall Aiken]].{{Ref/Reuse|wp macer}}

===Alpha Shard===
{{Main|Mission to Alpha Shard}}
On [[2556|February 7, 2556]], [[Sedra City]] was [[Terrorist attack on Sedra City|attacked]] by [[terrorism|terrorists]] with a new type of [[biological weapon]]. Macer and the Colonial Guard were forced to work with an [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] [[Locke's team|unit]], led by [[Jameson Locke]], to stop the terrorists. It was discovered that the bioweapon was created from an element native to [[Alpha Shard]], a partially intact segment of [[Installation 04]], which had attempted an emergency [[slipspace]] jump during its [[Battle of Installation 04|destruction]] years prior. Macer was picked to be part of a team that would travel to the shard, capture the smugglers who mined the element, and destroy the deposits with a [[HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon]].<ref name="hnf1">'''Halo: Nightfall''', ''Chapter 1''</ref> During the trip to Alpha Shard on a Sedran [[D81-LRT Condor]] dropship, Macer conversed with Lieutenant Commander Locke, who revealed to her that Colonel Aiken was once a [[Spartan-II]]: Randall-037.<ref name="hnf2">'''Halo: Nightfall''', ''Chapter 2''</ref>

[[File:Nightfall - Treacherous.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Macer and her unit crossing a river on Alpha Shard.]]
Macer initially copiloted the joint team's Condor during their operations on Alpha Shard, which led to some of the ONI agents calling her a "glorified bus driver". While the ground team were returning to the Condor after capturing the two smugglers who were obtaining the exotic element, a [[Lekgolo]] swarm attacked the Condor. The craft was quickly plunged out of control and Macer was thrown out before the Condor was sent crashing into a distant canyon. Although several Sedrans were killed in the attack, Macer managed to escape along with the other survivors.{{Ref/Reuse|hnf2}}

It became apparent that with the Condor out of commission, the smugglers' two-seated {{Class|Bactrian|freighter}} would be their only means of escape, meaning that only two individuals would make it off Alpha Shard. Regardless of this, Aiken maintained that the decision of who would get left behind would be made after the mission was complete. The group then removed their armor to avoid detection by the Lekgolo swarms and moved out toward the Condor's crash site. After they had break to refill on fresh oxygen, the Lekgolo attacked again and Locke's foot became pinned under a rock. Against Colonel Aiken's and Locke's urging to the contrary, Macer rushed to help Locke. She managed to free Locke after sacrificing one of the oxygen packs to distract the Lekgolo and the two successfully reunited with the rest.<ref name="hnf3">'''Halo: Nightfall''', ''Chapter 3''</ref>

The group made it to the Condor's crash site after negotiating a cliff, but the ONI team's [[Michael Horrigan]] and [[Gregory Ramos]] betrayed the others, intending to return to the smugglers' tug and use one of the smugglers, [[Arris Le]], to activate the autopilot's biometric scanner.<ref name="hnf4">'''Halo: Nightfall''', ''Chapter 4''</ref> Still intending to finish the mission, Macer, Aiken and Locke made it to the Condor and discovered the craft was still operational enough to make it to the smugglers' tug. However, this required cannibalizing the fuel cell of the HAVOK nuclear warhead, which meant that one of the three would have to remain behind to detonate the nuke. It was determined that Aiken would be the one to stay behind; while it appeared that this was decided by luck, using red and white beads from [[Natalie Aiken|Aiken's daughter's]] necklace, Aiken cheated as he had intended to sacrifice himself all along.<ref name="hnf5">'''Halo: Nightfall''', ''Chapter 5''</ref>

Piloted by Macer, the barely flight-capable Condor took her and Locke to the smugglers' freighter. Macer was lightly injured in the crash but with help by Locke, the two made it to the tug and successfully escaped just as Aiken detonated the HAVOK, leaving Macer and Locke as the sole survivors of the mission.{{Ref/Reuse|hnf5}}

==Personality and traits==
{{Quote|no=two|q1=So you think if you went through ONI training, you'd be just as good?|Locke|q2=Maybe even better.|Macer|Macer sharing her aspiration with Locke{{Ref/Reuse|hnf2}}}}
Macer is a competent and determined soldier with a strong sense of loyalty. She is particularly intelligent and resourceful, possessing an innate talent as a [[pilot]] as well as an interest in aeronautics and physics, which she studied at a very young age.{{Ref/Reuse|wp macer}} During her service to the Colonial Guard, she became a protégé to the Guard's commander, [[Randall Aiken|Colonel Randall Aiken]]. While loyal to Aiken and her homeworld, she is not as resentful to the [[United Nations Space Command]] as most of the Sedran Colonial Guard. She is also noted for her curiosity and her ambition to advance in her military career, viewing the cooperation with Locke's team as an opportunity to prove herself. Although distrustful of Locke at first, she eventually came to trust him over the course of the group's struggle to survive on the Alpha Halo fragment.<ref name="SDCC">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaZOLp6pYCE '''YouTube''': ''Halo: Nightfall Panel - SDCC 2014'']</ref>

==Trivia==
*Macer is the female lead in ''[[Halo: Nightfall]]''. She is portrayed by English actress [[Wikipedia:Christina Chong|Christina Chong]].<ref>[http://upandcomers.net/2014/07/09/christina-chong-lands-female-lead-halo-nightfall/ '''Up & Comers''': ''Christina Chong Lands Female Lead in Digital Feature ‘Halo: Nightfall’'']</ref>{{Ref/Reuse|waypoint}}
*Her [[blood]] type is AB+, making her a universal blood recipient.<ref name="waypoint">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/halo-nightfall '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Halo: Nightfall description'']</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:HN_Macer_Concept_1.jpg|Concept art of Macer.
File:HN_Macer_Concept_2.jpg|Concept art of Macer.
File:HN LockeMacer Concept.png|Concept art of Macer (right) alongside Locke (left).
File:Nightfall - MacerPromo.jpg|Macer on Alpha Shard.
File:Nightfall - LockeAikenMacerWisner.jpg|Macer with [[Jameson Locke]], [[Randall Aiken]], and [[Samantha Wisner]].
File:Nightfall - Cover.jpg|Macer and Locke taking cover.
</gallery>

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo: Nightfall]]'' {{1st}}

==Sources==
{{Ref/Sources}}

[[Category:Human characters|Macer, Talitha]]
[[Category:Sedran Colonial Guard personnel|Macer, Talitha]]