Waimarie Paiwei

Waimarie "Lucky" Paiwei was an Earth-born, , and operative who served during the  and the simultaneous. Paiwei would serve in multiple major and minor conflicts throughout the war as Marine Recon and as an ODST, including the and Operation: RAUCOUS SOLITUDE. She would best be known, though, as the ranking NCO of DIAMOND Team, and it's subsequent role in the Battle and Defense of Mendel IV. Paiwei would be embedded as the second half of DIAMOND Team, leading ONI operatives to compliment the first half made of Spartans Annalee and Drew.

Paiwei came from a family of service members. Her father and all five of her siblings served for a military branch of the UNSC. In her juvenile and teen years, her physical training for military service culminated in her becoming a competent Ice Hockey player. At age 16, serving as an Alternate Captain for the New Zealand Ice Blacks during the 2530. Post-Tournament, Paiwei would famously turn down offers from both the Intra-Solar Hockey League in favor of serving in the armed forces. The UNSC utilized her story as propaganda until her entry into service.

Early Life and Family
Paiwei was born in on August 3rd, 2514. As a citizen of the UEG, her home nation state was the Commonwealth of Australia. She was the fifth child born to Nikau Paiwei and Marcella Black Paiwei, and preceded one younger brother. The Paiwei family were a majority, and they carried on Māori traditions. A long standing Paiwei Family tradition to serve in the armed forces was mostly due in part to Maori warrior traditions their ancestors had carried out for many hundreds, if not thousands of years. Paiwei would anecdotally mention from time to time her and Māori ancestors had "fought in every conflict placed before them since the dawn of man".

During her pre-teen years the Insurrection was at it's highest and—before her primary schooling was complete—three of her oldest siblings had seen battle. Both of her elder brothers Luke and Tama had served together on Reach, and Marcy as a embedded with UNSC Marines in several theaters of combat. Luke would be after being injured in a truck bombing of a military barracks on Reach in 2522.

The followings years after her brother Luke's discharge were hectic times for her family. Paiwei helped her parents care for her brother Luke while he rehabilitated. Her brother Tama would end his time in the military not long after Luke's injury and return to Earth to marry his long time fiancée. The following year, her brother Niko would begin his career in the Marines, and in 2524 Marcy would begin her stint as a. Not a year after Niko began his active duty, the attacked  and the Human-Covenant War began.

During her teens, Paiwei actively trained for joining the war against the Covenant. Among other activities, she joined a Jr. ROTC program and also focused heavily on athletics. Her father and brothers also tutored her throughout this time on military expectations and tried to preemptively instill an "esprit de corps" in her thinking. Paiwei was a skilled basketball player, but quickly adopted the predominantly North American sport of ice hockey due to it's physicality. She would ultimately play for the New Zealand women's juniors team as a defenseman.

While playing for the "Ice Blacks" during the 2531, she would be awarded an , and help lead the team to a Gold Medal. Post-Tournament, Paiwei would famously turn down offers from the Intra-Solar Hockey League in favor of serving in the armed forces. She never had seen any reason to choose sport over service, and thus she was popularly portrayed in local media as "Christchurch's Lady Captain", much to her chagrin. The UNSC utilized her story as until her entry into service. It is assumed that this is the first time Paiwei was under an ONI microscope.

Early Military Career
As she reached the age of enlistment, Paiwei's brother Niko been an ODST for a few years. She and Niko were particularly close, and though she hadn't intended to become an ODST like him, she had wanted to eventually go to an officers candidate program like Niko had. Due to his suggestion, Paiwei would enlist in the Marines in 2531 on Niko's suggestion. Her intention while in the Corps, like her brother's, was to be a career soldier. Soon after her 17th birthday, she had enlisted in the Marines and was shipped to the UNSC in San Diego.

Out of Basic Training, Paiwei would be assigned to a Marine Recon unit like Niko. Her original intentions were to serve a few years as an before heading to Marine. However, it was becoming obvious to her—and many other soldiers—that the Human-Covenant War had already turned for the worst. There was a general recognition around this time that Humanity was battling for it's own survival. Paiwei felt taking time away from active duty for OCS wouldn't stop the inevitable, so she resolved to remain an NCO throughout the conflict. This would remain true throughout the War.

Tragically, not long after her first deployment her brother Niko was during the  in 2532.

Initiation into ODST's
With the intention of honoring her brother's sacrifice, Paiwei chose to apply for ODST training a year after his death. She decided to disregard what she had originally thought was her best path and instead decided to mete out as a severe revenge on the Covenant as she could. Her short tenure as a UNSC Marine Recon member gained her entry into the initial training. She would receive plenty of scrutiny and ire from both drill instructors and initiates due to her age and perceived inexperience, but those doubts would constantly be proven wrong. By the end of the training, she would earn the sarcastic nickname "Lucky"; she would keep that nickname throughout her career. When she graduated ODST training in 2533, Paiwei was assigned to the.

and ODST Career
In her first major battle as an ODST, Corporal Paiwei would deploy on in 2535 as part of combat team Charlie-One. Charlie-One and Charlie-Two would launch a counter attack against Covenant ground forces trying to take a strategic position from embattled Marines. After their landing, Paiwei received a to Sergeant. The ODST's would beat back the attack and restructure the Marine lines with the help of some unexpected reinforcements. Ultimately though, she and the rest of the UNSC would be forced to retreat as the planet was glassed. It was in the course of this operation when she would meet Spartans for the first time, and would become a passing acquaintance of Ken-139.

In the following decade Paiwei would fight in dozens of battles, deployments, and operations. During this time she would be promoted to the rank of Master Sergeant.

Operation: RAUCOUS SOLITUDE
In late April of 2545, Paiwei and her combat team were flagged by. They had been slated to be used as an on-board security detail in an upcoming SpecOps mission deep within Covenant controlled space. Paiwei was initially reluctant to run ship security, but when she was told that the mission would be carried out by Spartans she changed her tone. Curious to see the Spartans up close, and willing to help hit the Covenant hard, Paiwei agreed. She and her combat team reported to the UNSC Prowler Boudica in early May, 2545 and the ship was en route to Billar Pavonis 4A shortly after.

When the Operation began on June 12th, it was clear from the Boudica's OpCenter that the Spartans had received massive resistance almost immediately on touchdown. By the following day, Captain Mattias Jones had pulled the Boudica back, fearing that the Covenant had expected the Spartan forces and would search for the ship. By the 17th Paiwei had been briefed by multiple deck officers, including Commander Marco Dorota, that they believed the Captain was acting out of line. Commander Dorota came to Paiwei on the 19th to ask for her to help in relieving the Captain of duty if need be. Paiwei was initially hesitant, but had grown frustrated with the Captain throughout the week. On the 20th, Paiwei assisted the officers in relieving the Captain, and readied for a make-shift rescue of the Spartan survivors.

On the 20th, Paiwei and her combat team landed the Boudica's life-boat craft atop a  structure to clear a landing zone for the Spartan extraction. Paiwei lead a fireteam through the structure to rendezvous with the three Spartan survivors. After a heated battle in which her fireteam and Spartan Spencer-B337 was KIA, Paiwei helped extract Spartans Annalee and Drew to the Boudica.