Waimarie Paiwei

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Waimarie Ataahua Paiwei
Unarmored Armored 2546 2546 (ONI)
Biographical Information
ALIAS	Lucky
DATE OF BIRTH	August 3rd, 2514
HOMEWORLD	Earth, Christchurch, New Zealand
Physical Information
GENDER	Female
HEIGHT	6' 4"
HAIR COLOR	Black
EYE COLOR	Dark Brown
Political/Military Information
RANK	Master Gunnery Sergeant (E-9)
BRANCH	Marines
AFFILIATION	UNSC
[Source]

Waimarie "Lucky" Paiwei was an Earth-born UNSC Marine, Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, and ONI operative who served during the Human-Covenant War and the simultaneous Insurrection. Paiwei would serve in multiple major and minor conflicts throughout the war as Marine Recon and as an ODST, including the Battle of Jericho VII 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 becoming a competent Ice Hockey player. At age 16, she was as an Alternate Captain for the New Zealand Ice Blacks during their 2530 IIHF Under-18 Women's World Championship run. Post-Tournament, Paiwei would famously turn down offers from multiple teams in 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.

Biography

Early Life and Family

Paiwei was born in Christchurch, New Zealand 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 ethnic Māori, and they carried on Māori traditions. A long standing Paiwei Family tradition to serve in the armed forces was mostly due in part to Māori warrior traditions their ancestors had carried out for many hundreds, if not thousands of years. Paiwei would anecdotally mention from time to time her Kiwi 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 Navy Corpsman embedded with UNSC Marines in several theaters of combat. Luke would be honorably discharged after being injured in a truck bombing of a military barracks on Reach in 2522.

The years after her brother Luke's honorable 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 Navy drill instructor. Not a year after Niko began his active duty, the Covenant attacked Harvest 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 IIHF Under-18 Women's World Championship, she would be awarded an Alternate Captaincy, 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 propaganda 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. 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 MCRD in San Diego.

Out of Basic Training, Paiwei would be assigned to a Marine Recon unit. Her original intentions were to serve a few years as an NCO before heading to Marine OCS. 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.

She was first deployed on Tribute in 2532 for a six month stint to help cull a small Insurrectionist uprising. It was during this deployment where she first garnered the nicknamed "Lucky" by fellow Marine Walter Ellis, who often mispronounced her name.

Tragically, not long after her first deployment, her brother Niko was KIA during the Battle of Vodin and she would take leave to return home before her deployment was over.

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 earned the nickname "Lucky", by beating the odds more than once. After she graduated from ODST training in 2533 with honors, Paiwei was assigned to the 103rd Shock Troops Battalion.

Battle of Jericho VII and ODST Career

In her first major battle as an ODST, Corporal Paiwei would deploy on Jericho VII 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 Battlefield promotion 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 acquainted with Kenneth-139.

In the following decade Paiwei would fight in dozens of battles, deployments, and operations. Over the course of 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 ONI. They had been slated to be used as an on-board security detail and backup team in an upcoming SpecOps mission 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 work with 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 Biller 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 Covenant 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 entire team, as well as Spartan Spencer-B337 were KIA, Paiwei helped extract Spartans Annalee and Drew to the Boudica.

Appearances:

• Centroid - A Halo Story
• Index Alpha