On January 8th, 2553, following the end of nearly three decades of constant war against
the alien Covenant, the Unified Earth Government was formally restored as the chief executive
body of human civilization.
The transfer of power marked an end to the emergency military government that had seen
mankind through its war with the Covenant and the restoration of civilian authority.
The decision to turn the fate of mankind over to a military hunta was not always a popular
one and made only in the gravest of circumstances, yet there is little doubt that humanity would
not have survived its war with the Covenant if not for the United Nations Space Command,
or the UNSC.
First and foremost a military apparatus, the UNSC is administered by High Command or HIGHCOM,
with regional responsibility delegated and exercised through various Central Commands.
The UNSC maintains hundreds of administrative and bureaucratic offices ranging from everything
from UNSC Astrophysics to the UNSC Symphony Orchestra.
The primary branches of service however are the UNSC Army, responsible for sustained planet
based warfare, the UNSC Air Force which provides both atmospheric and orbital support, the
UNSC Navy which conducts spaceborne operations, and the UNSC Marine Corp
which acts as a rapid reaction force.
Each branch of the UNSC Defense Forces is itself comprised of numerous component and
support services.
Of particular note is the Office of Naval Intelligence, which was known to operate its
own fleet of covert warships, the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers - which deployed directly
from orbit in specialized drop pods, and the Spartan Branch - which exclusively utilized
members of the Spartan 3 and Spartan 4 super-soldier programs to conduct high risk special warfare
operations.
The ubiquitous nature of the UNSC within human society, even before the outbreak of war with
the Covenant, made the organization at times deeply unpopular within civilian circles,
leading to allegations of unchecked militarism and warmongering.
Yet it’s role in the founding of modern human civilization cannot be overstated and
is the primary reason for its prominence in human affairs.
The origins of the UNSC can be traced back to the last major conflicts on Earth, during
which resurgent communist and fascist elements attempted to resist the shift of political
power from the various national governments of Earth to a centralized UN authority.
In a series of campaigns fought across the South American Rainforest, Mars, and the Jovian
Moons, UN forces achieved many stunning victories, lending support to the adoption of a unified
command structure.
By the end of the war, the United Nations Space Command had emerged as the principal
military, exploratory and scientific agency of the nascent Unified Earth Government.
With the development of the Shaw-Fujikawa Slipspace Drive, the UNSC began deploying
vast numbers of colony ships to the nearest star systems and planets, giving rise to the
“Inner colonies” of humanity.
By 2490 over eight hundred worlds in the Orion Arm had been colonized, and the inner colonies,
now major political and economic strongholds, began to increasingly rely on the developing
“outer colonies” for raw materials.
The vast economic inequality between the inner and outer colonies became a growing source
of tension and rivalry, and public support for the UNSC began to slowly dwindle across
the edge of frontier space.
During this time, the inner colony world of Reach, strategically located in close proximity
to the Solar System, grew to become the site of the UNSC’s primary fleetyard as well
as various training academies and the headquarters of numerous UNSC branches and organizations.
By 2494, the deteriorating situation across the outer colonies gave rise to an Insurrectionist
movement, with acts of terrorism, piracy and open rebellion occurring across the frontiers
of human space.
Fearing the outbreak of a massive civil war across Earth’s colonies, the UNSC initiated
the Spartan Program, a secret project tasked with creating elite soldiers through mechanical
and biological augmentation.
As the UNSC prepared to deal with the prospect of a devastating civil war, this threat was
pre-empted by the arrival of the alien Covenant, a theocratic hegemony who viewed humanity
as an affront to their religion.
Sweeping through the outer colonies, the Covenant enacted a policy of deliberate and systematic
genocide against the human race, bombarding human occupied worlds with powerful plasma
weaponry, a practise known as “glassing”.
The Covenant’s enormous technological advantage gave them almost total supremacy in space-based
engagements and the UNSC was often only able to achieve victory using overwhelming numbers,
or asymmetrical strategies.
While glassing was the primary doctrine utilized by Covenant, on worlds containing ancient
alien relics critical to their religion, the Covenant were repeatedly forced to deploy
ground forces, neutralizing many of their advantages and giving the UNSC a more level
playing field.
On Harvest, Arcadia, Jericho, and dozens of other human colonies, the UNSC fought a tenacious
defense, delaying the Covenant advance for years until these planets too were finally
glassed.
By 2535 most of the outer colonies had been destroyed.
Food shortages, riots and open rebellions permeated the remainder of human space, forcing
the UNSC to subsume the last remaining civilian authority, transforming the UNSC into an emergency
military government.
For decades the Covenant ravaged through the inner colonies, inflicting devastating losses
and crippling the UNSC’s ability to continue the war.
In desperation, the UNSC began considering a number of high risk operations, including
attempting to capture a member of the Covenant’s leadership caste, ransoming its life in exchange
for a truce.
The arrival of the Covenant over the fortress world of Reach interrupted these plans, and
the loss of the planet was considered by many as a prelude to the eventual total capitulation
of humanity.
With the location of Earth believed to have been compromised and the arrival of the Covenant
in the Solar System likely imminent, evacuation procedures began in preparation for what would
likely be the final battle of the war.
In the wake of these calamitous losses, an unexpected victory occurred on an artificial
ringworld discovered by the sole surviving ship from the Fall of Reach; the light cruiser
“Pillar of Autumn”.
Among the many revelations uncovered on this “Halo” was the existence of a parasitic
organism known as the Flood.
Directed by a near-omniscient intelligence, the Flood managed to spread across High Charity,
an enormous planetoid space station that served as the capital of the Covenant and their most
holy city.
Already caught in the midst of a developing civil war after the death of most of their
upper-leadership, the internal structure of the Covenant was fractured with various secessionist
groups aligning themselves with the UNSC.
In a series of frantic battles across Earth and additional Halo ringworlds, both the Flood
and the Covenant leadership were finally defeated, bringing an end to the most destructive conflict
in galactic history and preventing the activation of the Halo Array, revealed to be a superweapon
of galactic scale.
The UNSC had fought for humanity’s right to exist and its victory brought about a new
era in the galaxy.
It is now a time of restoration as Earth’s shattered colonies are restored and resettled.
The Covenant, while broken, remains a formidable power and the UNSC must contend with several
rival factions in the place of a single united empire.
With new technologies, new ships and new weapons, the UNSC is once more venturing out into the
darkest corners of the Universe, but if there is one indomitable truth that humanity has
learned, it is that the galaxy has no shortage of mysteries, and some are best left undisturbed.
The Templin Institute investigates nations, organizations and factions from alternate worlds and realities.
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