Lance Corps

"We're Lance's because Barrow needs Lance's, a group of soldiers who can take down the biologically superior aliens, and stand up to the Spartans. It's an important step in becoming recognized as a force to be reckoned, to guarantee our security in a violent galaxy." -Captain Volkov

The BDA Lance Corps is a branch of the Barrow Defense Authority (BDA) which focusses on special operations within land, air, sea, and space performed by members known as Units. Lance Units are paired with Lance Armor suits which complete the Unit and allow these elite super-soldiers to perform missions usually pertaining to unconventional warfare and as a measure of producing soldiers capable of comparison to biologically superior alien entities along with other human super-soldier programs.

History
Originally started in 2550 the program was inspired by the aftermath of the Battle of Barrow in 2549 following the daring actions of Calvin Volkov who executed a daring mission to buy time for the BDA fleet to counter the attacking Covenant forces through the use of extravehicular activity in orbit, commandeering an enemy ship, and using it to great effect against the enemy fleet. It was proven that a single agent with enough daring, intelligence, and a little bit of luck can turn the tide of a battle, and even save a planet.

While unknown at the time but later adding to support for the program was the revelation of the Spartan-II program which, while drastically better funded, had achieved similar goals as the Lance Corps. The revelation of the existing UNSC Spartan-II program, and the recently formed Spartan Operations branch of the UNSC funding and focus on Lance's increased due to the tense rivalry between the two. In hopes of maintaining autonomy, and in the event of an attack by the UEG, Lance Units were designed to meet Spartans on a more level playing field.

By 2558 the Lance Corps had nearly 3,000 members, most of which were directly recruited from active duty members of various branches of the Barrow Defense Authority.

Organization
The Lance Corps was organized into regiments of 1,000 Units each headed by a Captain. Within each regiment were ten companies of 100 Units each lead by a Lieutenant. Under the company Lieutenants were Unit Leaders who could be either short-lived assignments or permanent positions for leaders of teams of 10. Above the Regiment captains leadership transfers to the Barrow Defense Authority Guard Corps and is typically managed by a General.

Ranks

 * Captain: Commanding officer of a Lance Regiment.
 * Lieutenants: Commanding officer of a Lance Company.
 * Unit Leaders: Lance Team Leaders.

Known Regiments

 * 1) 1st Regiment, lead by Captain Calvin Volkov
 * 2) 2nd Regiment
 * 3) 3rd Regiment

Augmentation
Lance augmentation is primarily based around nano-augmentation and other cybernetic enhancements to the body.
 * Nano-augmented skeletal coating: Through the use of nanobot injections the skeleton system of the Unit is coated in nanobots which structure themselves within and over the bones of the unit drastically improving strength, bone healing an regrowth, along with improving shock absorption and bone toughness.
 * Cybernetic nervous system upgrades: The nervous system of the unit is improved up through cybernetic implants and replacements improving reaction speed, improved sight for distance and night, decreasing irritation caused by hazardous environments, and greater effectiveness of suit pairing.
 * Cardiovascular nano-aided cybernetic improvement: Lance Units receive heart transplants with a synthetic heart. The synthetic heart produces synthetic blood cells which are paired with nanobots. Circulatory and cardiovascular systems are drastically improved over time as the new blood permeates throughout the body upgrading tissues, lungs, helping the body better filter toxins, and general muscle growth. Retroactively, this process also assists in healing wounds. Notably turns the blood of the Unit dark maroon/black.

Training
Lance training took place throughout the Eta 7 Sigma System as much for functionality as for symbolism to drive home to the Units what they would be fighting to protect.

Phase 1
Following full admission into the program, after a physical and psychological testing phase, volunteers would be transported to Barrow's moon Rye where augmentation and suit pairing would occur. Training in the low gravity helped acclimate the Units to their new bodies and their suits. This phase of training saw fine and gross motor familiarity re-training.

Phase 2
The second phase of training would take place on Barrow along the Neo-Rodinian Super Mountain Range which covers a large portion of the continent. Basic objective based war games of retrieval and capture the flag were carried out here and included a focus on team-work along with Suit-to-Unit-Synergy.

Phase 3
One of the primary goals for the Lance Armor was to be able to withstand atmospheric insertion and hard combat drops. Unlike ODST's Lance Units would not be utilizing an SOEIV and would be relying on their Lance armor alone. While already tested, Lance Units had to trust their armor for the potential of orbital insertion, and long term survival thereafter on hostile worlds. Sanzer, the systems desert world would act as the staging ground for the three-month survival and insertion portion of the training. Lance Units were dropped during the storm season of the planet where they would barrel through sandstorms, relying on their suits sensors to navigate safely to the ground. After locating and conquering a set of objectives the Units would need to find a means to contact command and await ex-fil.

Phase 4
Appenon, the planets ice-covered ocean world would see the deployment of Lance Units in underwater conditions. This phase of training would expose Units to the suits operational capabilities underwater, along with the disclosure of the knowledge of Forerunner artifacts under the surface. Using a sunken Forerunner cityscape as the training grounds Units would learn how to interact and access forerunner technologies all while under the pressure of a slow churning ocean above them.

Phase 5
As the final phase of training Lance Units would practice combat and objective based operations within the asteroid belt and moon system of the Eta 7 Sigma systems gas giants.