Editing Jilan al-Cygni

{{Status|Canon}}
{{Character infobox
|variant=Human
|name=Jilan al-Cygni
|image=
|homeworld=[[Cygnus system]], presumably [[New Jerusalem]]
|birth=
|death=
|causeofdeath=
|parents=
|siblings=
|spouses=
|children=
|species=[[Human]]
|gender=Female
|height=
|mass=
|hair=Black
|eyes=Green
|affiliation=[[United Nations Space Command|UNSC]] [[UNSC Navy|Navy]]
|rank=[[Admiral]]
|sn=
|notable=Relationship with [[Avery Junior Johnson]]
}}
{{quote|Kissing is for politicians, and I'm certainly not that.|Jilan al-Cygni}}

'''[[Admiral]] Jilan al-Cygni''' was an officer and operative of [[Office of Naval Intelligence#Section Three|ONI Section Three]] at the time of humanity's first contact with the [[Covenant]] on planet [[Harvest]]. She assumed the role of ranking military officer on Harvest during the initial Covenant invasion of the planet and subsequent evacuation of the human population. She served as commanding officer of the [[Staff Sergeant|Staff Sergeants]] of the planet's fledgling colonial militia (including [[Avery J. Johnson]] and [[Nolan Byrne]]).{{Ref/Novel|CH}} Al-Cygni continued operating into the post-war years under the codename '''[[Codename: COALMINER|COALMINER]]'''.{{Ref/Reuse|ET48}}

==Biography==
Nothing is known about Jilan al-Cygni's career prior to her actions on Harvest, although it was once observed by the AI [[Sif]] that, judging from al-Cygni's subtle accent, she was likely raised on the planet [[New Jerusalem]] in the [[Cygnus system]].

In response to reports of attacks on [[DCS]] [[DCS light freighter|freighters]] in space nearby Harvest, ONI deployed al-Cygni undercover to the colony world to investigate and neutralize suspected Insurrectionist activity. Al-Cygni posed as a DCS middle-manager and arrived with the pretense of conducting an audit with the AI Sif for negligent maintenance of shipping vessels. After making contact with Governor [[Nils Thune]], she inducted Staff Sergeants Avery J. Johnson and Nolan Byrne into a space operation to lure Insurrectionists to a decoy freighter where they would be neutralized. To their immense shock, the fire-team (comprised of Johnson and Byrne) encountered not Insurrectionists, but hostile [[Kig-yar|alien creatures]]. Al-Cygni authorized Johnson and Byrne to eliminate them before destroying the alien vessel with an [[M58 Archer missile|Archer missile]] from her [[UNSC Walk of Shame|sloop]].

Later, after making contact with the [[Brute]] investigation team arriving with a formerly decommissioned [[Rapid Conversion|cruiser]], she was among the first humans to meet an official Covenant delegation. The negotiations soured, however, and the group was forced to escape. In the week following, she coordinated a pending mass evacuation maneuver. She removed a visibly upset Governor [[Nils Thune]] from office by paralyzing him with [[tactical training round]]s, and assumed command of the UNSC presence on Harvest, consisting of a mere three [[UNSC Marine|Marines]] and a platoon of [[Harvest militia|Colonial Militiamen]].

After many risky and difficult plans, in one of which her [[Ponder|second in command]] volunteered to create a diversion at the cost of his own life, al-Cygni successfully escaped with Johnson, Byrne, and a handful of to-be-Marines and civilians. During the escape, she and [[Avery Johnson]] had sexual intercourse. t is unknown if the two remained together for any period of time or on whether they had even seen each other in the years since.

===Post-war===
On [[2560#January|January 1, 2560]], now-[[Admiral]] Jilan al-Cygni spoke with [[Codename: FIXER|FIXER]] about how close [[Project BOOKWORM]] had come to succeeding while observing [[Ghabo|Boundary]] and the remains of the [[Lithos]] from the ''[[Akkadian]]''. Al-Cygni admitted that she was looking for any progress and what made this site different from the ones found on [[Kamchatka]], [[Juvedai]], [[Amasa]] and [[Genesis]]. FIXER suggested that al-Cygni look into the reports that FIXER had sent over as ONI had been seeing a strong uptick in activity gleaned from the [[Domain]] terminals they had tabs on. However, FIXER couldn't explain what the activity was exactly, cracking a joke about how they'd have a much better retirement plan if they could. ONI wasn't sure if the fluctuations were related to [[Battle for Zeta Halo|the events]] at [[Installation 07|Zeta Halo]] or not, but it was worth noting nonetheless. The two discussed what to do with the girl if there were any other entry points to the Domain that their enemies could use before al-Cygni received an interesting message from [[Ayit 'Sevi]] suggesting that they weren't done with [[Dovo Nesto]] yet and that his new fascination might well be worth their time to look into.

Al-Cygni sent a message to [[Codename: SURGEON]] at the ONI facility buried beneath East Africa that they had just recieved a message from SNAKE IN THE GRASS that might necessitate a slight adjustment in their current focus. Al-Cygni sent the details and prepared the ''Akkadian'' for departure when they were aligned on a confirmed rendezvous point with 'Sevi. She also asked to be kept updated on the situation on Zeta Halo, having a feeling that they were going to want to be keenly aware of every card they have in the deck before this was all said and done.{{Ref/Novel|Id=ET48|ET|48}}
==Trivia==
It may be possible that Johnson and Jilan al-Cygni were married, as Johnson will occasionally make remarks about his supposed "mother-in-law" during ''Halo 2''.  Whether it was just Johnson's typical sense of humor, or actually meaningful in any way is unknown.

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo: Empty Throne]]''

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

[[Category:Human characters|al-Cygni, Jilan]]
[[Category:UNSC Navy officers|al-Cygni, Jilan]]
[[Category:Office of Naval Intelligence personnel|al-Cygni, Jilan]]