Lieutenant Commander Jilan al-Cygni was an officer and operative of 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 Sergeants of the planet's fledgling colonial militia (including Avery J. Johnson and Nolan Byrne).