James O'Neill

James O'Neill was a UNSC Orbital Shock Drop Trooper during the Human-Covenant War as well as after. He is the current commander of the Valkyrie Company of the 7th Shock Troops Battalion.

Biography
= Early Life = James O'Neill was born on July 7, 2521 in the city of New Dublin on New Ireland, a small, mostly Irish Inner Colony. His father was a sergeant in the UNSC Marine Corps and his mother was a doctor. O'Neill was born just around the time that humanity first came into contact with the Covenant, and his father was among the men who were sent to fight them on Harvest. Fortunately, he survived, but with a missing arm, which he had lost in the fighting. James had a fairly normal life, but was noted by many to be a natural leader, being able to take command of most situations he was in as well as get people to do what he wanted. = Human-Covenant War In 2537, wanting to follow in his father's footsteps, he signed up to join the UNSC Marine Corps, graduating in late 2538. He first saw combat in early 2539, on the small colony of Mortintoj, in which he and another Marine, named Dennis Cook, were the only survivors or their squad. The rest were killed by a team of Elites, and O'Neill and Cook only survived because they played dead. They were later rescued, and both were promoted to lance corporal and sent to another squad.