Roland-B210

"We got apes or alligators running the show?"

- Roland, referring to Jiralhanae and Sangheili

Roland-B210 was a SPARTAN-III supersoldier of Beta Company, serving within the UNSC Naval Intelligence Beta-5 Division. He was a part of the elite Special Operations squad of Headhunters, along with Jonah-B283. Together, they led a semi-successful mission on an unidentified moon.

Spartan-III training
Roland-B210 was one of the 418 candidates recruited by ONI for training as part of SPARTAN-III Beta Company circa 2539. During his training under Lieutenant Commander Kurt Ambrose, Roland was noted to be particularly proficient in combat and assigned to separate special force units outside the general population of Beta Company. Thus, he did not participate in Operation: TORPEDO, the mission that resulted in the deaths of almost all of Beta Company.

Induction into Headhunters
Sometime later, Roland was inducted into a two-man fireteam as part of the special operations program known as Headhunters. He was paired with Jonah-B283, a fellow member of Beta Company, after they were profiled to meet 97.36 percent of the desired matchmaking criteria. Only one other team scored higher. Roland maintained an easy-going friendship with Jonah, frequently teasing his teammate over his violent tendencies.

The infiltration
At some point during the Human-Covenant War, Jonah and Roland were transported to an unknown remote moon where the Covenant were searching for Forerunner relics. He, along with Jonah, had the mission to destroy six of the total ten Covenant encampments to make way for a larger UNSC force.

In the beginning of the mission, Roland infiltrated the base under cover from his active camouflage to place explosives on four reactors while Jonah engaged the troops in the camp barracks. Roland placed the explosives successfully and without being spotted. Later on, he helped Jonah in eliminating the remaining targets, all of whom were still confused by Jonah's EMP and flashbang grenades.

Death
Right after Jonah had executed what they thought was the last enemy in the base, Roland was impaled with an red energy sword by a cloaked warrior of the Silent Shadow who donned a custom Sangheili armor. With his last breath, Roland managed to utter "...clear" to Jonah, which meant that the explosives were armed. Jonah detonated them shortly after, vaporizing himself, the cloaked Sangheili, and Roland's corpse.

Equipment
Roland wore a burgundy set of Semi-Powered Infiltration armor with accents of white. Both his and Jonah's SPI armor featured energy shielding, and they were both equipped with a prototype active camouflage unit for their mission to the unidentified moon. During this mission, Roland wielded an M7S SMG, as well as procuring a Type-50 particle beam rifle from an enemy Kig-Yar Sniper. He has also been observed fielding a suppressed M6C magnum.

Trivia

 * Roland's name is likely taken from the Song of Roland, a medieval epic that tells the tragic tale of a courageous Frankish knight of the same name, slain in battle while valiantly facing a vastly-superior force.
 * Roland's helmet bore a noticeable resemblance to the MJOLNIR Air Assault helmet.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
 * Headhunters