Editing Melissa McKay

{{era|HCW}}
{{Character Infobox|variant=Human
|name        = Melissa McKay
|death       = [[2552#September 22|September 22, 2552]]
|rank        = [[First Lieutenant]]
|gender      = Female
|hair        = Black
|eyes        = Green
|affiliation = [[United Nations Space Command|UNSC]]
}}

{{Center|''Were you looking for [[Melissa (AI)|Melissa]] the [[Artificial Intelligence|AI]]?''}}

First Lieutenant '''Melissa McKay''' was a [[First Lieutenant|Company Grade officer]] in the [[United Nations Space Command|UNSC]] [[UNSC Marine Corps|Marine Corps]]. She served as  the Executive Officer of [[Major (UNSC)|Major]] [[Antonio Silva]]'s [[Orbital Drop Shock Troopers|Orbital Drop Shock Trooper]] battalion.<ref name ="Flood58">'''Halo: The Flood''', ''page 58''</ref>

She was stationed on the then-newly refit {{UNSCShip|Pillar of Autumn}} during the [[Battle of Installation 04]].<ref name="Flood33">'''Halo: The Flood''', ''page 33''</ref>

==Biography==
===Retreating from Reach===
{{Main|Fall of Reach|Operation: RED FLAG}}
By August of 2552, McKay had reached the rank of First Lieutenant in the [[UNSC Marine Corps]], commanding [[B Company (Pillar of Autumn)|B Company]] of the ODST [[battalion]] assigned to the ''Pillar of Autumn'' - as per [[Operation: RED FLAG]]. Following the vessel's arrival at the mysterious [[Installation 04]], McKay took part in the [[Battle over Installation 04|defense against the boarding actions]] taken by the [[Covenant]] against the ship, helping defend the ship's experimental power plant along with the other ODSTs. During the fighting she took a wound to her bicep, damaging the ODST tattoo she had there. The ODSTs were then ordered by Major Silva to abandon ship, and McKay led her [[platoon]] to their [[Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicle|drop pods]].<ref name="flood1">''[[Halo: The Flood]]'', Chapter 1</ref>

===Landing on Installation 04===
{{Main|Landing on Installation 04}}
McKay and the majority of her 130-person company successfully made landfall on the ring, with the Lieutenant making landfall half a kilometre from the designated landfall beacon. She was able to rendezvous with Major Silva by the time a temporary base of operations was set up, and was briefed on the plan established by him and [[Wellsley]]; McKay was ordered to take her company of ODSTs to the butte now designated [[Alpha Base (Installation 04)|Alpha Base]] and ascend the cliffs to attack the Covenant occupiers from below, while Silva's forces inserted from above via [[D77-TC Pelican|Pelican]] dropship. McKay spent the entire night marching her troops across the plains to the foot of the base, before beginning her attack. B Company ascended the butte via a narrow winding path while taking grenade and plasma fire from above.<ref name="flood2">''Halo: The Flood'', Chapter 2</ref> The resistance began to slack as the Pelicans began their air attack, and eventually the company found themselves at an entrance to the structure. McKay fired an [[M41 SPNKR]] rocket launcher into the breach to clear out any resistance, before entering the base unchallenged. Her company met Major Silva on the landing pads with the confirmation that Alpha Base now belonged to the UNSC.<ref name="flood3">''Halo: The Flood'', Chapter 3</ref>

===Raiding the ''Autumn''===
{{Main|Raid on the Pillar of Autumn}}
With the Master Chief deployed to ''[[Truth and Reconciliation]]'' to rescue Captain [[Jacob Keyes]], McKay was ordered to the downed ''Pillar of Autumn'' to raid the cruiser for supplies. They deployed in the night of September 19, with the darkness and the rain masking the movements of the Pelicans and troops from the Covenant occupiers of the crash site.<ref name="flood3"/> In the dawn hours of September 20, the company attacked the Covenant defenders - now-weary from their night shifts - and began to eliminate the defenders. The battle took several hours, though eventually McKay's forces were able to push the Covenant out of the ship or lock them in non-essential sections. For several hours, the ODSTs loaded up [[Warthog]]s and [[Scorpion]] tanks before preparing to make their way back to Alpha Base. Due to the limited amount of personnel, McKay and her platoon leaders were to join the action as drivers or gunners.<ref>''Halo: The Flood'', Chapter 4</ref><ref>''Halo: The Flood'', Chapter 5</ref> The Lieutenant split the force up into three temporary platoons, with McKay leading Third Platoon - tasked with defending the other Warthogs and tanks from [[Ghost]]s and infantry. The convoy was attacked by [[Noga 'Putumee]], who had concealed three [[Wraith]]s and several [[Banshee]]s in the hills ahead, and began to fire down on the UNSC ground force. The convoy attack ultimately succeeded however, with McKay's forces bringing much-needed supplies back to Alpha Base.<ref name="flood6">''Halo: The Flood'', Chapter 6</ref><ref name="CFRaven">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/thats-so-raven ''Halo Waypoint'': Canon Fodder - That's So Raven]</ref>

===Assault on Alpha Base===
{{Main|Battle of Alpha Base}}
With Alpha Base reinforced, McKay took charge of the defensive perimeter around the base, with McKay preferring a "two plus two" configuration for the patrols seeing two Warthogs paired with two captured Ghosts, to maximize firepower and fast-reaction capabilities. She, along with other ODSTs, saw and took prisoner the "wounded" [[Grunt]] [[Yayap]]; little did she know that Yayap would trigger an [[Battle of Alpha Base|attack]] later on.

Later she was at Alpha Base when [[Special Operations Officer|Spec Ops Officer]] [[Zuka 'Zamamee]] and other [[Elites]] attempted to infiltrate the base to find the veteran SPARTAN. She then organized several rifle squads to help fend the attack off from Alpha Base. After the attack, she took the remains of [[Charlie 217]], the [[D77-TC Pelican|D77-TC Pelican Dropship]] used by the Sangheili to infiltrate, and set them up as though the ship had crashed so that the Covenant would come and the Humans could ambush them.

The Covenant came, but the plan went wrong when the [[Flood]] attacked them. Lieutenant McKay was horrified at the first sight of the Flood. Nevertheless, she managed to capture one [[Combat Form]] alive, the form of the former [[Private First Class|PFC]] [[Wallace A. Jenkins]]. She, along with Silva, interrogated him and compiled the first tactical information on the Flood.

Later, using Jenkins' information, she helped to prevent an attack on the base by the Flood long enough to evacuate it.

===Raid on the Truth and Reconciliation===
She then assisted in the attack on the Covenant-held ''[[Truth and Reconciliation]]'', having guards drag Private Jenkins along for the ride.

After the vessel's capture, McKay realized that Silva was planning on taking the vessel directly to Earth so that he could become a hero. She realized that this was not only in violation of the [[Cole Protocol]], but that if a single Flood Form made it to Earth, all of humanity could fall to the Flood. Most of the vessel had not yet been sterilized from the Flood when Silva ordered it to take off.

===Death===
McKay destroyed the ''Truth and Reconciliation'' by priming a grenade and setting it off, instantly killing herself and everyone else on board, including the infected [[Private First Class]] [[Wallace A. Jenkins]], severing the cruiser's fiber-optics connection to the reactor's bridge in order to keep the Flood from escaping the Halo. Though her actions killed everyone on board, she stopped the Flood from potentially killing millions, if not billions, of sentient lifeforms throughout the Milky Way galaxy.<ref>'''Halo: The Flood''', ''page 332''</ref>

==Physical appearance and description==
===Appearance===
Lieutenant McKay had her hair worn short on the sides and flat on the top, as per Marine Corps regulations (so the tattoos on her scalp could be seen), accompanied by a slightly flattened nose, full lips, and green eyes.<ref name="flood3"/> She had a tattoo of a skull and the letters ODST on her bicep, but it was damaged during the skirmish aboard the ''[[UNSC Pillar of Autumn|Pillar of Autumn]]''.<ref name="flood1"/> She was considered one of Silva's favourites<ref name="flood2"/>, with the Major wishing he had twenty more officers just like her.

===Commands===
In addition to being the Battalion's Executive Officer, she personally commanded a company of some 130 [[Orbital Drop Shock Troopers]] aboard the ''Autumn''.<ref name ="Flood58"/> Her [[platoon]] Commanders were [[Second Lieutenant]]s [[Dalu]] and [[Oros]]. However, Dalu was later reassigned as the Company Supply Officer and his billet was taken by [[Master Sergeant]] [[Lister (Marine)|Lister]].

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

==Sources==
<references/>
[[Category:Orbital Drop Shock Troopers|McKay, Melissa]]