Lawrence Rhys Holden

Colonel Lawrence Rhys Holden (SN: 51773-11469-LH), also known as Teach, Blackbeard, and Code name: EXALTED KING to Office of Naval Intelligence agents, was an field-grade commissioned officer in the UNSC army and a field officer in ONI Section One before and during the Human-Covenant War. Rhys became highly respected during his military career and volunteered as a candidate for the ORION Project in 2495, four years after its reactivation. Rhys was known to dislike using his first name and preferred to be called by his middle name. In addition to various Warthog variants and the Mongoose ATV, Rhys was trained as a part of the ORION project on the usage of such vehicles as the M808 Scorpion Main Battle Tank, the SP42 Cobra Main Battle Tank, and the AV-14 Hornet Attack VTOL.
Rhys was a respected leader during the Human-Covenant War, and he helped contribute to many UNSC triumphs during the course of the War, distinguishing himself in many conflicts such as the Fall of Reach, the Battle of Earth and the Battle of Installation 05. Holden was also key in providing ONI with intelligence that aided the UNSC's war-time efforts. Holden was awarded with the Colonial Cross, a Prisoner of War Medallion, a Silver Star, four Bronze Stars and three Purple Hearts, and, posthumously, a Legion of Honor.
Early Life (2475-2495)
Lawrence Rhys Holden was born in New Cardiff, Argyre Planitia, Mars to David and Mari Holden. Holden grew up as the middle child in a family of two boys and one girl. Rhys and his brother, Caleb, were quite close in age and were very close to each other for the majority of their early years. Rhys was known to do most things alongside his brother and the two were seldom seen separated. 
Rhys' sister, Sophie, was the eldest of the Holden children, and had begun her post-secondary education before Rhys or his brother were even in kindergarten. She would later join the UNSC Air Force as a Munitions Technician.
Grantchester Academy of Military Science (2490-2494)
In 2488, Holden and his brother were entered into the Grantchester Academy of Military Science as his father, a retired Colonel, had planned on having his sons continue his family's military traditions. Rhys was accepted into the academy's pre-enlistment training at age 16 (as was the usual age for the academy). His brother followed him into the academy a year later.
During his training in the academy, Holden studied various tactics and large scale strategies that were used by famous generals and adapting them to the modern battlefield. Also a part of his studies were common tactics used in current military units. In addition to leadership courses, Holden took part in many separate "elective" training courses including grenadier, mountain warfare and some vehicle piloting courses. These were all taken in addition to basic, combatives and infantry training.
Early Military Career (2495)
Rhys began his career on a an 18A MOS - guaranteeing him a place on a special operations training class. After completing the course, and being selected, Holden became a second lieutenant under Special Warfare Command in the UNSC Army. At some point in his service here, Holden was promoted the First Lieutenant.
During this time, Rhys fell out of contact with his brother, who was stationed on Mars.
ORION Project and the Insurrection (2495-2525)
Read more about the ORION Project and the Insurrection
Holden had learned of the ORION project through ONI talent spies, and was encouraged to volunteer for its third round of augmentations.
After Holden had been cleared for the ORION Project, he was biologically augmented to improve his cognitive, physical and psychological attributes. However, these augmentations had a high risk of causing serious health issues and many soldiers in the later groups were physically and/or mentally unstable afterwards, with many forming illnesses. Holden made it through the augmentations without any major complications and continued with only a "case" of Boren's Syndrome.
Holden was one of the few soldiers in the project; it was mainly populated by Marines and Naval crewmen. Holden and the other candidates seldom received commendations or medals due to ORION missions being deniable operations. After commanding multiple missions within the project, Holden acquired a reputation as a competent leader and made many connections with ONI personnel which would later see him acquire a position within ONI Section One. 
Operation: CHARLEMAGNE (2496)
Read more about Operation: CHARLEMAGNE
Even with the harsh UNSC response, the insurrection had grown quickly to become an open conflict. The Insurrectionists had escalated to kidnapping and assassination operations against the UNSC and, in retaliation, the UNSC deployed ORION operators on a mission over Eridanus II. The operators were tasked with retaking a sub-orbital transit station under the shadow of a naval battle that was being used for rapid transport of soldiers to the surface.
As one of the few officers in the program, Holden was charged with a team of operators during the assault. He and his team made use of their extra-vehicular training and entered the transit station through a maintenance hatch air lock. During their capture of the station, the UNSC navy was occupying any potential reinforcements, thus allowing the operatives to take the station quickly.
The operation was a success, with only one casualty among the operators and a complete takeover of the sub-orbital transit station, however, the navy fared worse, losing four destroyers during the mission. Operation: CHARLEMAGNE showed the effectiveness of the operatives and ensured the continuation of the project for a few more years. Holden was commended by his superiors in the program, however he was not recognized officially due to ORION's nature. While he did not receive any official commendations, Holden came in to contact with ONI agents as a result of the operation.
Operation: VERITAS (2497)
Read more about Operation: VERITAS
With the success of Operation: CHARLEMAGNE still fresh, the Office of Naval Intelligence sought to maintain the momentum of the ORION Project. In the years following Operation: CHARLEMAGNE, multiple classified operations were undertaken by ORION teams against insurrection factions. In one such engagement, Operation: VERITAS, Holden's operational detachment - along with several other detachments - were sent to infiltrate the Secessionist Union and acquire Non-Official Cover information to root out any embedded Secessionist agents in high level positions of the CMA.
The operation itself was a success - the NOC agents were uncovered, allowing the UNSC to absorb the CMA and then undertake a more focused stance on the insurrection, without attenuation from undercover Secessionist spies. This would, however, impact the ORION Project later in the form of reallocation of spending, and would eventually spur the deactivation of the Project.
Operation: MORGARTEN (2500)
Holden's ODA was deployed in a more traditional SF role during the operation codenamed MORGARTEN. The operation consisted of engaging relations with the local populace of Placeholder, inciting homegrown resistance to the Insurrectionists, and to debilitate their operational capabilities through supply raids, surgical strikes and unconventional warfare. Holden's ODA was mostly utilized as direct action operators, though due to their experience they also trained local Recon Teams (RTs) in their specialties of Mountain and Mobility.
Also deployed to the area was the rest of A (ANVIL) Company - ANVIL 1 and ANVIL 2 being lead by First Lieutenant Navarro and Captain Morcant, respectively. While both ODAs were mainly tasked with training locals, a notable frontal assault involving the RTs and the entirety of A Company did occur near the end of the operation.
Operation: KALEIDOSCOPE (2503)
Read more about Operation: KALEIDOSCOPE
Continuing in the campaign against the Insurrection, the UNSC authorized Operation: KALEIDOSCOPE. This operation was carried out by numerous ORION agents who had been deployed on different planets to assassinate notable individuals within the Insurrection's structure, political or military.
Holden's team was sent to outer colonies to gather intelligence on, locate and assassinate Standish Kable, a prominent Insurrection leader. Most of the team's efforts were devoted to the intelligence gathering and planning of the mission alongside ONI agents, totaling almost three months before the assassination was carried out.
The team itself was portioned in to an intelligence/command section that acted as a buffer between the team and the ONI intelligence analysts, as well as a "kill-team," exfiltration team and blocking team. Then-Captain Holden, along with Master Sergeant Eszterházy and Sergeant First Class Hester, performed the command team duties, with Warrant Officer First Class Krause and Staff Sergeant McLeod forming the sniper kill-team.
Although the operation caused a great deal of disruption in the insurrectionist organization, the goal was to scare the insurrectionists into surrender, which KALEIDOSCOPE failed to accomplish.
Operation: TANGLEWOOD (2505)
Read more about Operation: TANGLEWOOD
Deactivation of ORION (2506)
Read more about ORION Project deactivation
After the deactivation of ORION, Holden was recruited in to a Cross-branch Special Forces group mostly comprised of Army Air Assault soldiers and Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. However this group was quickly re-purposed to be under the authority of ODST command.
Operation: TREBUCHET and Retirement (2513-2519)
Read more about Operation: TREBUCHET
In 2496, the UNSC began Operation: TREBUCHET, however it was not until 2513 that Holden was officially participating. The operation was a series of missions designed and executed in response to multiple rebel uprisings throughout the outer colonies, notably the Eridanus Rebellion and in the Epsilon Eridani System (one of such missions was Operation: CHARLEMAGNE). Although initial operations were unsuccessful in locating the rebel bases, in 2513 the operation turned into open conflict. The operation spanned thirty one years, with battles throughout many colonies, and ending with massive casualties on both UNSC and Rebel sides, as well as civilians. The operation intended to put the colonies "back in line" by asserting UNSC authority through aggressive tactics. This was met with understanding by the civilian populace at first, but when the operation was still ongoing by the 2520's, the operation became widely disliked by UNSC citizens.
One of the most notable planets on which TREBUCHET was carried out was Eridanus II of the Eridanus System, on which Holden commanded many joint missions with other branches, usually air force units. Most deployments saw Holden and his command platoon engaging ten to twenty insurrectionists at a time, either in taking over outposts, rescuing hostages or clearing bomb sites. He would also send his other platoons to take care of similar goals or to work conjunction when against more numerous hostile units. Holden and his ODSTs were often sent behind enemy lines to set up camps, from which they would coordinate raids to support marine assaults. 
By 2518 Holden had engaged in some of the bloodiest battles of the operation, having taken part in full scale conflicts with multiple divisions and cross-branch task forces. Around this time, the operation became very unpopular with civilians in the colonies, and were pushing to end the conflict. They would not succeed, however, and the operation continued as planned. Like the civilians, many soldiers became disenchanted by the ever-increasing amount of time that the operation was taking. Holden kept up the image of believing in the mission to set an example for his men, but he began to doubt the effectiveness and goals of the operation. Though his efforts were not wasted by any means, his men were exhausted by the amount of "hot drops", or drops into an active battle that they were performing, sometimes with only hours of rest in between.
Holden was transferred to the Epsilon Eridani IV theatre of Operation: TREBUCHET due to his successes at Eridanus II, and planned to deploy a similar tactic against the rebels on Tribute. However, the rebels he faced on Tribute were less aggressive and would used mainly terror tactics to combat the UNSC, which made finding a drop zone with enough rebel activity to justify dropping a SOEIV pod difficult, thus ending his raid operations. Now mostly tasked with counter-terrorist operations, Holden's big battles were over for the most part during his time in the Epsilon Eridani System. His missions involved assassinations, hostage rescues and recovery of resources, such as ammunition and intelligence. These missions were not unlike the Assault on Tribute. 
Not unlike the civilians of the time, Holden had become disillusioned with the UNSC during the operation. Lawrence repeatedly disagreed with the tactics of his superiors and the way the soldiers were handling civilians and prisoners. After a handful of arguments with higher ups, Holden decided to retire at the end of his tour. In 2519, Holden retired at the rank of Major, though he was on the promotion board at this time.
Gallery
File:LRHcharlemagne2.jpg|Holden using a scavenged Spiker during an operation in the ORION project.
File:LRHSWG1.jpg|Holden (left) and McLeod (right) during Operation: KALEIDOSCOPE.
File:LRHarcadia1.jpg|Holden discussing an operation with a marine sergeant on Eridanus II.
File:LRHarcadia2.jpg|Holden during a firefight on Epsilon Eridani IV.
File:LRHdeltahalo.png|Holden during the Battle of Installation 05.
 
We cheat Death from his rightful victory. No one can defeat us. We are glad to plunge feet first into hell in the knowledge that we will rise.
After he was enhanced by the ORION Project, Rhys was transferred from the Army Special Warfare Command to the Naval Special Weapon's authority, and worked as an officer in the ODSTs. From there, he worked as an ODST in many battles ranging from battles in the outer colonies to the invasion of Earth.
Holden also became an ONI agent and mainly worked alongside Section One by performing recon and pathfinder missions.
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