Jacob Keyes: Difference between revisions

===Human-Covenant War===

Early in the [[Human-Covenant War]], he became a widely known hero when he led a small group of security troops against the Covenant ambush of the frigate {{UNSCShip|Meriwether Lewis}} and held the Covenant off long enough for the ship to escape. He sustained a deep gouging plasma burn to his thigh and had his hand shattered, which was later rebuilt.<ref>'''Halo: The Cole Protocol''', ''page 28''</ref>  

{{Quote|Whoever controls Halo controls the fate of the universe.|Captain Keyes}}

[[File:Keyes Needler.jpg|thumb|right|240px|Captain Keyes arms himself with a [[Type-33 Needler]] and prepares to fight his way out of the ''[[Truth and Reconciliation]]''.]]

Keyes and the command crew of the ''Autumn'' managed to escape in a [[Bumblebee]] life pod, [[Kilo Tango Victor 17]].<ref>'''Halo: Combat Evolved''', campaign level ''[[Halo (Halo: Combat Evolved Level)|Halo]]''</ref> During the descent, the [[Ossoona]], [[Isna 'Nosolee]] was discovered to be lurking aboard by Keyes, and subsequently killed by the Captain. Unfortunately, they were still spotted in the descent by two [[Sangheili]] on [[Type-32 Ghost]]s. Due to the actions of [[Treason|traitor]] [[Ensign]] [[Ellen Dowski]], the Covenant were able to find out where Keyes and the command crew were. When they got there they incapacitated the Captain and killed the rest of the command crew, including Dowski herself. Despite being an inspirational leader to many under his command, the Captain also has a great deal amount of respect for each and everyone of his crew and he dearly cares about them. The death of his crew shocked him, and he had wished to die as well as he was captured by the Covenant.<ref>'''[[Halo: The Flood]]''', ''page 88''</ref>

===Infection and death===

Keyes observed helplessly as the Pod infector took over his body and attacked his mind. Originally, Keyes' body was a [[Flood combat form|combat form]], but the Flood, apparently realizing his importance, merged him and several other combat forms into a [[proto-Gravemind]]. One of the tortures Keyes endured was having his memories ripped away one by one as the Flood tried to learn anything that would help attain new sources of food.<ref>'''Halo: The Flood''', ''pages 225-227''</ref> The Flood hoped that his intelligence would help them to operate a damaged Covenant cruiser and escape the ring, but Keyes was able to fend it off by constantly accessing data that was permanently stored in his [[command neural interface]], while feeding it those of his memories that were not vital to the survival of humanity, such as his name, age, and service number (though definitely not anything that could lead to the thought of the location of Earth).<ref>'''Halo: The Flood''', ''pages 253-254''</ref>

Just as Keyes acquired the determination to defy his infection, he finally submitted to the Flood.<ref>'''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]''', [[Terminal (Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary)#Terminal 9|Terminal 9]]</ref> However, before Keyes succumbed to the overwhelming pressure, the Master Chief boarded the ship once again looking for Keyes and found only the proto-Gravemind form. The Captain was able to contact the Chief three times, warning him to leave him behind, before the proto-Gravemind fully overwhelmed him.<ref>'''Halo: The Flood''', ''pages 290, 303 and 305-306''</ref> Keyes' life officially ended when the Chief punched through his skull to retrieve his command neural interface after his mind had been absorbed by the Flood infection, with Cortana stating that "she knew that this was what he wanted".<ref>'''Halo: The Flood''', ''page 306''</ref> Despite this, Keyes' corpse continued to make faint breathing sounds.<ref>'''Halo: Combat Evolved''', campaign level ''[[Keyes]]''</ref>

===Legacy===

==Personality and traits==

[[File:Keyes Halsey Memory.jpg|thumb|left|250px|One of Keyes' final memories of [[Catherine Halsey]] prior to being assimilated into the Proto-Gravemind.]]

Jacob Keyes was very caring to those under his command and attempted to be a strong fatherly figure to his daughter, [[Miranda Keyes|Miranda]], knowing that she had limited time with both of her parents. Although he did not prefer teaching at the [[Luna OCS Academy]], he was glad that he was able to spend time with Miranda. Upon being offered a position aboard the {{UNSCShip|Midsummer Night}}, he was hard-pressed about leaving his daughter alone on [[Luna]], but believed that he would be protecting her by fighting [[Insurrectionist]]s and the [[Covenant]].<ref>'''Halo: The Cole Protocol''', ''page 36''</ref> Although they were not particularly close, Miranda aspired to be like him, even taking his last name, and joined the [[UNSC Navy]] to serve with him.{{Ref/Reuse|name}}

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