





The United Nations Space Command, more commonly known as the UNSC, is the military, exploratory, and scientific agency of the Unified Earth Government.[1]

Contents show]

History Edit

Main article: History of the United Nations Space Command





Formation Edit

UN clashes with dissident political movements, the most important of which were the "Koslovics" and the "Frieden," began the crisis that led to the formation of the UNSC. The Frieden movement was a fascist organization based on the Jovian Moons, a group that received backing from some corporations operating in the Federal Republic of Germany on Earth. Their ideological opponents, the Koslovics, formed a Marxist–Leninist group centered around the leadership of Vladimir Koslov around the same time.[3]

The UNSC was commissioned in 2163 as a military force primarily composed of Naval and Marine forces. In July 2164, the UNSC partook in its first battle.[2] From this point, the UNSC was used by the UN in conflicts, including the Interplanetary War.[3]

Colonization Edit

With the conflicts of Sol over, a newly powerful Unified Earth Government and UNSC began to expand into the stars. At about 2490, the planet of Reach would become extremely important to the UNSC. It would become a major naval yard and training center.[3]

The apex of human expansion would come in 2490, when more than 800 worlds were considered part of the UEG's territory,[3] many developing into full-fledged colonies. By this time, a ring of Outer colonies was providing the UEG with the raw materials that made the macro-economy function; with the political power remaining with the Inner colonies. The massive difference in wealth distribution and political power, which became a hallmark of humanity by this period, led to new threats of secession from the outer ring.

Winds of Insurrection Edit

In 2492, the colony of Far Isle was razed by nuclear weapons after a massive uprising,[4] creating a new found reason to rebel.[5] The Callisto Incident in 2494 would begin a bloody struggle against groups of terrorists (or freedom fighters), who wanted independence. The UNSC battled them for nearly three decades. As the situation deteriorated, the UNSC created the SPARTAN-II Program, which was headed by one Catherine Halsey.

The Human-Covenant War Edit

Beginnings Edit

In 2525 a CMA battlegroup had been decimated. Upon investigation from the only surviving ship, the CMA Heracles it had been discovered that humanity was not alone. The planet the battlegroup was at, Harvest, was completely destroyed.[6] The UNSC was placed on high alert.[7] On November 1st, the UNSC stripped away the Colonial Military Administration and gave its forces to NAVCOM and UNICOM.[8]

Decades of War Edit

The beginning phase of the war was marked by disastrous defeats, and even more costly victories. Aside from the Second Battle of Harvest in 2526, where a large force led by Vice Admiral Preston Cole barely defeated a smaller Covenant fleet, the UNSC's influence on their territories quickly dwindled in the course of their struggle. In the span of a few years, the Covenant had managed to capture and destroy the majority, if not all of the Outer Colonies, and a small portion of the Inner colonies.

The dire circumstances of the Covenant conflict allowed the UNSC to override civilian rule and establish itself as humanity's primary government. Although the Unified Earth Government was more open to step down, the CAA, the arm of the UEG ruling over the colonies, resisted the UNSC's rise to power, and was thus stripped of its power.[1] By the middle to late stages of the war, the government of humanity could be more accurately described as an, "emergency military" government.

The Final Year Edit

By 2552, the UNSC, though heavily outnumbered and outgunned, had nonetheless slowed the Covenant's inexorable progress through human space. However, the overall situation remained dire. In desperation, HIGHCOM ordered a high-risk operation. Spartan-II super soldiers were to insert into Covenant space, with a captured Covenant vessel, capture a high-ranking Prophet, and return to UNSC space in an attempt to ransom their own leader for a truce. Before the operation began, the Covenant found and destroyed the fortress world Reach, killing a large portion of the UNSCDF, and rendering most of the Spartans that were to execute the mission KIA or MIA. The Covenant endured heavy losses, both in space and on the planet's surface. However, the largest and most important military world protecting the Sol system had fallen silent. Little hope of continued, successful resistance remained.

A single ship, the UNSC Pillar of Autumn managed to escape the planet, with two Spartans on board, Linda-058, who presumably went MIA in the Fall of Reach, and John-117. The ship followed coordinates derived by the A.I. Cortana led to a ringworld known as Halo. It was there the Spartan encountered a parasitic lifeform known as the Flood, a species so dangerous that weapons of mass destruction were built on a galactic scale to combat them: the Halo Array. The only limit to Flood expansion proved to be their food supply, sentient lifeforms. The ringworld was one of seven such weapons, designed with a single purpose: to kill all sentient life within three radii of the galactic center, scouring the Flood and any biomass capable of supporting them. Having discovered the truth from the Installation's Artificial Intelligence, 343 Guilty Spark, John-117 destroyed the Flood, Halo, and a large Covenant fleet by detonating the reactor of the Pillar of Autumn.[9]

By October 2552, the Covenant had found the position of the human home world, Earth, and sent a preliminary task force there. Believing it to be the location of the Ark, an ancient Forerunner relic, the Covenant brought only a small fleet of warships. They encountered staunch resistance, and were initially fended off.[10] A brief reprieve came from the political and religious crisis that wracked the Covenant in the wake of a UNSC operation to assassinate the Prophet of Regret, and following secession of the Sangheili from the Empire's hegemony. These events, combined with the fortuitous Flood infection of the Covenant homeworld of High Charity, would shatter the Empire's political unity. Nevertheless, by November, the remaining Covenant Loyalists had subjugated large parts of Africa, devastating much of the planet. By this time, the UNSC sent out draft notices.[11] The UNSC Homefleet and Orbital Defense Platforms fought with stunning ferocity, but in the end only a handful of ships survived the Loyalist onslaught. However, the surviving Covenant were obsessed with the completion of the Great Journey, the culmination of their religious beliefs, by activating the Forerunner portal in Africa. The resistance effort led by Lord Hood, Miranda Keyes, John-117 and the allied Fleet of Retribution was able to prevent the utter destruction of Earth, but only by the slimmest of margins.

The UNSC and Covenant Separatist forces launched a joint operation to destroy the Covenant Loyalists once and for all at the Forerunner command and control installation: the Ark.[12] After stopping the planetoid from firing the Halo array, the alliance succeeded in killing the Covenant's last remaining leader, the Prophet of Truth.[13] Despite being outnumbered 3:1 in orbit,[12] and even more so on the ground, the allies destroyed the bulk of the Loyalists' remaining forces.

On March 3, 2553, the Human-Covenant war officially ended in victory for the UNSC and the Covenant Separatists,[14] but at a staggering price. An estimated twenty-three billion human civilians and military personnel were killed between 2525 and 2553.[15] Most of the UNSC's major military outposts were destroyed, with the exception of Earth which sustained heavy damage. With the defeat of the Covenant though, the UNSC now had a second chance to rebuild, and thrive.

Reconstruction Edit

This section requires expansion.

Following the inauguration of Dr. Ruth Charet in January 2553, the UNSC handed back its emergency powers to the UEG on January 8 of that year.[16] The UNSC also maintained its earlier truce with the members of the Covenant Separatists initiated by Lord Hood and the Arbiter. Nevertheless, a black-ops team from the Office of Naval Intelligence that had been supplying arms to a Sangheili faction, one ideologically opposed to the Arbiter, to destabilize their government rendering them incapable of threatening Earth.

The end of the war also returned brought colonial politics back into focus. Many colonies sought to work with the UNSC to help safeguard their homes. However, a number of worlds turned openly hostile to the UNSC and sought to distance themselves from the UNSC and UEG.[17] Despite this, the UNSC didn't actively respond to most of this. Only if these worlds attempted to violently secede did the UNSC get involved.[18]

As of 2558, Jul 'Mdama's Covenant was actively opposed against the UNSC. The threat would be finally be contained after Jul 'Mdama's assassination at Kamchatka[19] and a final battle at Sunaion.[20] Though this would be overshadowed by the sudden onslaught of the Created, near the end of the year.[21]

By 2589, the former human stronghold of Reach had been restored and resettled by the UNSC.[22]

Duties Edit

The UNSC is the navigation and military arm of the Unified Earth Government.[1] Part of the UNSC's duties included managing a merchant fleet.[23]

Branches Edit

Hierarchy Edit

Military Edit

The UNSC's defensive militia force is the UNSC Defense Force (UNSCDF), and consists of the UNSC Air Force, the UNSC Army, the UNSC Marine Corps, and the UNSC Navy.[1][24]

The UNSCDF is run by the UNSC Security Council, with the professional head being UNSC High Command, based on Earth. Control is exercised through regional CENTCOMs, which have responsibility over certain areas of space.[25] The Navy houses the divisions of UNSC Marine Corps (including the special forces branch of the UNSC Marines known as Orbital Drop Shock Troopers), Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), and the Fleet. The UNSC Army and UNSC Air Force maintain garrisons on colony worlds. When certain rebellious factions began to rise in the late 2510s, the UNSC was forced to police its protected colonies tirelessly to keep privateers and pirates from raiding the colonies and any UNSC ships.

Unified Earth Government and Colonial Administration Authority

Organization Edit

This section requires expansion.

Personnel Edit

The UNSC organized itself in multiple ways. Its personnel were organized using Service Numbers and the UNSCMID system.

Military Edit

Main article: UNSC Organizational Units

Starships Edit

Main article: UNSC Starship

Assets Edit

Armament Edit

Main article: UNSC Technology

Unlike the Covenant, UNSC military technology is still based on comparatively primitive, but effective, mechanisms - projectile weaponry, wheeled vehicles, and combustion engines. The UNSC's grasp of scientific concepts is far more advanced than the Covenant, but turning these concepts into functional machinery has proven more problematic. Recently, the UNSC has introduced a variety of Covenant-derived technologies into their arsenal: gravity plating aboard ships, energy shielding to protect Spartan-II soldiers, and limited use of Directed Energy Weapons, usually lasers, such as the Spartan Laser.

By the time the war began, humanity had reached Tier 3 of the Forerunner civilization ranking system. Technological improvements continued to rise due to the capture of advanced Covenant equipment, which was studied and adapted for human needs. The very best and cutting edge of UNSC war assets were supplied to the SPARTAN-II Program. Other enhancements geared towards mass production were distributed to the Spartan-IIIs and IVs. One such example of war time innovation was the energy shielding adapted and improved for use on the Mjolnir Powered Assault Armor.

Starship Edit

Main article: UNSC Starships

The primary weaponry of UNSC starships were missiles, Magnetic Accelerator Cannons and point-defense turrets. These weapons and ships were outclassed in almost every way by Covenant Starships.[26]

UNSC Infinity, built near the end of the conflict, was perhaps the height of UNSC technical achievement during this troubled period. Incorporating every scrap of technical knowledge that had been scavenged and reverse-engineered from Forerunner ruins, the Infinity stood apart as the most formidable warship and exploration vessel in human history.

Seaborne Edit

The UNSC also appears to maintain a seaborne surface navy on planets with large bodies of water, such as Earth. At the very least, they had aircraft carriers available to provide air support in the form of Pelicans and F99 UCAVs.[27]

Subordinates Edit

Personnel Edit

Main article: UNSC Personnel

Units Edit

Main article: List of UNSC Military Units

Facilities Edit

Main article: UNSC Buildings

Relations Edit

Main article: UEG relations

Swords of Sanghelios Edit

After the Sangheili separated from the Covenant, they became allies with the UNSC.[28] The Swords of Sanghelios worked with humanity up until the official end of the Human-Covenant war.[14] After the war, the UNSC's relationship with them has stayed positive, with both forces working together to secure the remaining Halo rings, such as Installation 07.[29] Despite these positive relations, UNSC upper-command did not want to work with them in the Sangheili Civil War.[30]

Technology sharing between the two factions began to be more commonplace by 2558. A new model of Warthog called the Sword Needler Hog was designed using Swords of Sanghelios tech to assist those working with the Arbiter.[31] New Hybrid guns were also being designed, featuring the Type-51 Carbine scope mounted on top. The DMR version was used by the Elites of joint patrols.[32]

Public Edit

The UNSC's pre-Covenant War and wartime policies were viewed with hostility by the civilian populace, especially within rebel movements. Starting with the implementation of the Cole Protocol and martial law, the UNSC's political takeover of the UEG and CMA branches and its generally authoritarian military policies championed over the course of the Human-Covenant war, the UNSC's public image has been stained by rebel and civilian allegations of fascism, totalitarianism and oppression. With ONI's war crimes, and unethical projects, many of these allegations aren't baseless.[34][35]

Most of this perceived UNSC-directed oppression lies with poor administration in the Outer Colonies, which led to the violent Scyllion Warehouse District Riot perpetrated by proto-rebellious groups of dissatisfied colonial workers suffering from hunger and poverty.[36]

Despite returning governing powers back to the UEG after the war, the UNSC still handles many diplomatic elements with the colonies. Thus, many believe that the UEG is just a front for the UNSC.[37]

Laws Edit

Main article: UNSC Laws

Trivia Edit

The UNSC logo was mistakenly used to represent the United Nations Security Council on the British Broadcasting Corporation channel.[38]