United Nations Space Command
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In the fictional Halo universe, the United Nations Space Command (more commonly known by its abbreviation, UNSC) is a fictional world government ruling over a large interstellar empire of planets. This should not be confused with the real-world UNSC, the United Nations Security Council.
The United Nations Space Command is currently engaged in an interstellar war with the technologically-superior Covenant. Thus far, the war has lasted twenty-seven years, starting in 2525 with the destruction of the human colony world Harvest.
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[edit] History
[edit] Formation
The United Nations Space Command was formed as the result of a series of brutal wars across the Sol system between 2160 and 2164, most prominently among them the Jovian Moons Campaign, the Rain Forest Wars, and a series of battles on Mars. These conflicts were centered on UN clashes with dissident political movements, the most important of which were the "Koslovics" and the "Friedens." The Koslovics—supporters of neo-Communist hardliner Vladimir Koslov—sought a return to the glory days of Communism and the elimination of corporate and capitalist influence, particularly in orbital facilities and offworld colonies. The Frieden movement was a resurgence of fascism, springing from anti-Koslovic sentiment that had taken root in the Jovian colonies. "Frieden" literally means "peace" in German - in this case, they believed that peace could be achieved only once the "oppressors on Terra Firma" were eliminated.
Lasting over four years, the massive wars raged across Earth and in numerous off-planet colonies. The brutal three-way war between UN, Koslovic, and Frieden forces sparked a massive buildup of arms and troops within the United Nations. Utilizing aggressive space-based Marine drops, the UN defeated Koslovic forces on Mars, which would pave the way for the future incorporation of Marine units as primary ground combat elements. It was at this point that the United Nations Space Command was first created to oversee UN deployments across the solar system. The UNSC proceeded to use its overwhelming military might to crush all remaining Koslovic and Frieden holdouts across the system, ending with a single Unified Earth Government under the control of the UNSC.
[edit] Interstellar Colonization
Massive overpopulation and a huge military with no enemy to fight presented immediate problems for the postwar United Nations Space Command. Utilizing the newly developed Shaw-Fujikawa Slipspace Drive, in 2310 the UNSC deployed a vast line of colony ships to colonize the nearest planets and systems, giving birth to the "Inner Colonies." Vast numbers of citizens and soldiers travel to these new colonies, stabilizing the overpopulation problem on Earth and giving the military new tasks to handle. As the first colonists are stringently selected, the Inner Colonies eventually form an "elite" society of the best physical and mental human specimens.
By 2490 the UNSC had colonized over eight hundred worlds in the Orion arm of the galaxy. (ranging from fairly well-tamed planetary strongholds to tiny hinterland settlements). Outward expansion continued, and the Inner Colonies become a political and economic stronghold, though they relied heavily on raw materials supplied by the "Outer Colonies."
During this period, the planet Reach (orbiting Epsilon Eridani, right on Earth's metaphorical doorstep) became the UNSC's primary Naval yard and training academy. Reach was a major producer of warships and colony vessels, as well as a training ground for covert operatives and Special Forces.
However, this expansion did not come without cost, as ideological and political causes resulted in many of the Outer Colonies engaging in open rebellion. A series of brushfire wars across UNSC space sprung up, with hundreds more threatening to erupt as well. By 2517, UNSC estimates put massive, overwhelming and uncontrollable rebellion at less than twenty years away. This resulted in the start of the Spartan-II program, to quickly and quietly deal with insurrections without incurring massive civilian casualties.
[edit] Human-Covenant War
On April 21, 2525, a UNSC battle group consisting of one Destroyer (Heracles, Captain Veredi) and two Frigates (Arabia and Vostok) entered the Harvest system in response to losing contact with the colony. They discovered that everything on the planet had been completely incinerated and the surface melted down to glass. In orbit around the remains of the colony world was a single alien ship, which proceeded to attack the battle group, destroying both frigates and badly damaging the Heracles. Intercepted communications identified the enemy as The Covenant. The message "Your destruction is the will of the Gods... and we are their instrument" was broadcast in English, a result of much study by the Covenant. Shortly after the capture of Colonel Robert Watts, and being issued the MJOLNIR Mark IV power armor suits, the SPARTANS are integrated into the UNSC military forces in the final two months of the year 2525.
Vice Admiral Preston Cole mobilized the largest fleet in human history to retake Harvest. Cole's war fleet engaged the alien warships responsible for the decimation of the colony and succeeded in retaking the system, though the battle cost Cole two-thirds of his battle group. After returning to Earth, Cole learned that a number of outlying colonies had been destroyed, leaving behind no survivors. Cole began to move his fleet around, trying to intercept the invaders. Ground and ship-to-ship battles began in earnest, raging throughout the Outer Colonies.
By 2535, Cole's forces were hammered, despite his excellent leadership and tactical brilliance. It was simply a matter of being outgunned; Covenant kill ratios tended to top four to one in ship-to-ship combat. By 2535, virtually all of the Outer Colony worlds had been destroyed by the Covenant. The Cole Protocol was established by military order: all human vessels must ensure that Covenant forces do not find Earth. To do this they must jump out of a battle to a randomised vector that points away from any human worlds.
After 2535, Covenant forces began to move into the Inner Colonies. For several years the war fell into a pattern: humans won isolated battles, typically during ground operations, but at a horrible cost. In space combat, the humans were losing at a precipitous rate, and one by one, the colonies fell. [1]
By 2552, human forces were reduced to handful of colonies near Earth, with Reach as their last military stronghold. Covenant forces followed a UNSC destroyer with a sophisticated tracking device to Reach, and deployed a three-hundred ship fleet against the planet. Despite the heroic efforts of the human defenders and their massive orbital Magnetic Accelerator Cannon stations, they were unable to prevent Covenant forces from landing on the planet, disabling planetary power generators, and leaving Reach helpless. The majority of the planet was glassed, and the fleet defending it was nearly totally wiped out.
Shortly after this battle, the Master Chief, on board the Pillar of Autumn, participated in the events of Halo: Combat Evolved. In the aftermath, he, Cortana and a small squad of human and SPARTAN survivors captured a Covenant flagship, the 'Ascendant Justice' and pillaged the technologies within. In the process, they discovered a massive fleet of Covenant ships heading toward the Sol system, and proceeded to sabotage and destroy the fleet in a daring and costly assault which resulted in the death of Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb, one of Reach's few survivors.
On October 20, 2552, UNSC defense forces over Earth engaged the Prophet of Regret's fleet and destroyed most of it, discovering in the process that the Covenant had not intentionally located Earth, but that they had actually come to the coordinates believing it was the location of a Forerunner artifact. During the ground battle in New Mombasa, Regret made an in-atmosphere slipspace jump, and was followed by the Master Chief and the frigate In Amber Clad to a second Halo. During In Amber Clad's disappearance, SPARTANs Fred-104, Linda-058, and Will-043 help defend Earth until being called to Onyx by request of Dr. Halsey on November 2, 2552.
After the events on Delta Halo, the Master Chief returns to Earth on board a Forerunner ship to find it overwhelmed by Covenant forces.
The announcement trailer to Halo 3 showed Earth thoroughly conquered at least in Africa and UNSC forces apparently overwhelmed by the Covenant onslaught there. It is unknown what or how many UNSC forces remain on Earth or how many colonies and ships remain intact at this point.
[edit] Government Structure
The exact nature of the UNSC's governmental structure is unclear, as available Halo canon primarily focuses on the military conflicts with the Covenant.
The UNSC is borne out of the present-day United Nations, created specifically to govern the planets within the human space empire, though unlike the present-day UN it is an interstellar government (although where the distinction between government and military remains unknown) that governs exclusively and without a host of leagued nation-states. The military headquarters for the UNSC was, until the events of Halo: The Fall of Reach, located on the planet Reach (within the Epsilon Eridani system). Following its destruction by the Covenant, the leadership of the UNSC military is relocated to Sydney, Australia. That secondary headquarters' status remains unknown in the wake of the "thoroughly conquered" Earth of Halo 3.
The UNSC is tasked with enforcing law and order, including suppressing rebellious insurrections, as well as protecting the Inner and Outer Colonies of the human space empire through the Colonial Military Administration. The government of the UNSC has taken extraordinary steps in the wake of the war with the Covenant in order to defend humanity from the external threat. These include, but are not limited to, the aggressive suppression of armed revolts with overwhelming military support, extensive propaganda operations carried out by the Office of Naval Intelligence in order to prevent a general uprising or panic, and the recruitment and usage of specialized troops on "suicide" missions against critical Covenant targets.
It is implied that the UNSC citizenry enjoys a right to bear arms and has some degree of control over their government, as well as some forms of rights to privacy - the registration of genetic codes, for example, is not allowed and strongly opposed. The extent of these rights are not yet indicated within Halo canon thus far, and whether the UNSC is in fact a democracy, authoritarian state, or anything in between is unknown, due to the lack of information available in regards to its civil government.
[edit] United Nations Space Command Defense Force
The United Nations Space Command Defense Force is a division of the UNSC tasked with military matters. It operates under the umbrella of the United Earth Government (or UEG), though where the distinction is made between the three organisations (UN, UNSC and UNSCDF) is unclear. The UNSCDF operates in two distinct, general divisions, Navy and Marines, with several subdivisions existing throughout the two.
[edit] United Earth Space Corps
The United Earth Space Corps, more commonly known as the "Marine Corps" is the main ground combat arm of the fictional UNSC organization of the Halo universe. The Marine Corps serves as a versatile combat element, and is adapted to a wide variety of combat operations. The Marine Corps is composed of infantry combat forces serving aboard naval vessels, responsible for security of the ship, its officers and crew, offensive and defensive combat during boarding actions, and carrying out amphibious and planetary assaults. The Marines are the main ground force component of the UNSC, and are extensively trained in the usage of all UNSC and Covenant firearms, as well as the operations of ground vehicles used by both sides.
The standard rifle of a UNSC Marine prior to October 2552 was either the MA5B assault rifle or the a BR55 battle rifle. Marines typically carry an M6C magnum or M6D pistol as a sidearm. In close-quarters battle Marine fireteams will also make use of the M90 shotgun and M7 submachine gun. Marines from both games are also armed with the venerable M9 HE-DP fragmentation grenade. Marine sniper weaponry includes the S2 AM heavy sniper rifle firing APFSDS rounds. Anti-armor duties are handled by the M19 SSM (SPNKr) rocket launcher or the M41 SSR MAV/AW rocket launcher.
Marines have been seen wearing Jungle, Desert, Arctic and Urban Battle Fatigues and ballistic plate armour made of an unknown metallic substance (tentatively indicated in the books as Titanium-A), but it will not hold against a direct shot from the plasma weapons of the Covenant. In Halo: CE, this armour visibly resembled bronze, but in Halo 2, the armour is now green and notably more advanced. Halo 2 Marine armor is lighter than its Halo CE counterpart, and features an array of pouches, with fewer heavy plates for improved mobility, as well as a sidearm holster.
In Halo, Marines are seen with a green tactical display over one eye, attached to the helmet. Text can be seen scrolling across it, highlighting the use of the screen as an instant tactical/recording display. In Halo 2, the screen is gone, but it is likely that the text is now on the helmet's visor. In addition, the helmet links up with the Marine's standard issue neural implant to provide real-time tactical and health data to officers and fellow Marines.
Marine armor support consists of Warthog light reconnaissance vehicles and Scorpion tanks. Marines, their equipment, and their vehicles are typically deployed via Pelican transports, which act as light landing craft and assault vehicles. The troops are deployed behind the craft, which thus provides them some cover with its armour, chain guns and rocket pods.
The UNSC Marine Corps is modelled after the United States Marine Corps and shares many similarities and traits with the modern Corps. A common similarity is the usage of the marine battlecry of "Hoo-rah!". Interestingly, the UNSC Marines also use the United States Army battlecry of "Huah!", and individual Marines are alternately called "marine" and "soldier." They also use the Marines' insignia. Combined with the apparent lack of a UNSC Army branch, this indicates that various international army units have been incorporated into the United Earth Space Corps. It is also insinuated, but not confirmed, that the UNSC Marines share a similar unit structure to the modern Marine Corps.
Notable Marines include Sergeant Avery Johnson, Private Chips Dubbo, Sergeant Banks and Corporal Perez.
[edit] Orbital Drop Shock Troopers
The O.D.S.T. is an elite special forces group of the UNSCDF Marine Corps, commanded by Naval Special Warfare and Marine Special Operations Command. They are dropped into their mission areas by an HEV (Human Entry Vehicle)'s low-orbit drop. They are also known as Helljumpers. It is an all volunteer outfit, and as mentioned in the book Halo: The Flood, it takes a "special kind of crazy" to join. They are analogous to various types of Special Forces personnel such as Marine Force Recon, Army Rangers, and Delta Force, and are based heavily on the US Navy SEALs, according to the Joyride Studios action figures.
[edit] Known UESC Marine Units:
- 405th Marine Division
- A Company, presently stationed at Diego Garcia.
- 105th Shock Division
- 3rd ODST Battalion
- NSWG2-Team 5 "Helljumpers"
- 1st Platoon, In Amber Clad detachment
- NSWG2-Team 5 "Helljumpers"
- 3rd ODST Battalion
- Marine detachment on CFV-88 Spirit of Fire
[edit] UNSC Navy
The Navy is the space combat element of the United Nations Space Command Defense Force. Its roles include ship-to-ship combat, orbital bombardment, the deployment of Longsword atmospheric and space fighters, and the method of delivery for Marine and Special Operations (ODST) forces through use of Human Entry Vehicles (HEVs). The UNSC currently has a significant fleet force, along with Longsword fighters, though much of the UNSC Navy was destroyed during the Fall of Reach. Currently, UNSC ship production is handled by the Reyes-McLees Martian Shipyards.
The primary offensive armament of UNSC spacecraft are Magnetic Accelerator Cannons (MACs). These are high velocity coilguns that are used to accelerate projectiles ranging in mass from 600 metric tons in the case of smaller warships, and 3,000 tons in the case of Super MAC platforms. These projectiles are composed of Titanium-A, depleted Uranium, and/or Tungsten with a ferrous (iron) core. In Super MAC platforms, they are accelerated to over 40% of the speed of light by twenty-three linear accelerator coils. Ship-based MACs have a lower velocity. The UNSC Frigate Gettysburg is quoted as firing a 600 ton shell at 30 kilometers per second. Before Reach fell, the Pillar of Autumn was equipped with a modified MAC that could fire three lighter projectiles instead of just one heavier projectile. It was originally intended to allow the Pillar of Autumn a better chance of disabling a Covenant ship, which was a feature required for a mission that was later scrubbed in Halo: The Fall of Reach.
UNSC warships also carry Archer missile pods for ship-to-ship engagements, which prove themselves most effective against unshielded targets. A common tactic among groups of UNSC ships is to hammer the target's shields with MAC weapons and then pummel it with Archer missiles.
UNSC ships also carry "Shiva" nuclear warheads, an advanced form of nuclear missile that is able to overcome the limitations of nuclear missiles in space, capable of generating EMP bursts even in vacuum.
As well as these, the UNSC mounts 50mm MLA CIWS for defense against enemy fighters and boarding craft, controlled by shipboard AIs.
UNSC warships are also equipped with significant Marine detachments for security, boarding actions, and planetary assault, and carry all the armor and firearms that could be needed by ground forces. It is implied that a significant portion of the interior of UNSC warships is devoted to this purpose.
UNSC ships also carry a number of C-709 Longsword Interceptors. These are armed with 110mm gatling Cannons and Anvil-10 ASMs. Alternatively they can be radio controlled and used to carry a Shiva that will detonate on impact, effectively destroying both the Longsword and its target.
Despite all of this firepower, however, UNSC warships can seldom defeat Covenant ships in an even engagement. It typically takes multiple hits from a ship-based MAC weapon to disable a Covenant ship's shields, although it was quoted in the game that an orbital MAC weapon can "put a round clean through a Covenant capital ship", and Archer missiles must be used in tremendous amounts to breach Covenant shield systems. Even with their shields down, Covenant ships have been noted to withstand direct hits from normal MAC rounds, and even their light ships can survive direct hits from Shiva nuclear missiles. This advantage in firepower and shielding gives the Covenant an effective 1:3 ratio or better against UNSC ships.
[edit] Known UNSC Naval Units
- 6th Battle Group
[edit] Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI)
The ONI is responsible for gathering, interpreting, and disseminating information gathered by UNSC forces. In addition, it maintains many top secret projects, such as the SPARTAN-I and -II projects, and is known for its dubious secrecy to the public. The acronym may be a reference to an earlier Bungie game, Oni, or the actual Office of Naval Intelligence.
As of this point, four sections of ONI have been identified.
Section One serves as the primary intelligence gathering agency in the UNSC. It is primarily tasked with tracking Covenant military deployments to protect human space.
Section Two is tasked with military propaganda and has the unenviable task of ensuring the that majority of the human populace does not realize how perilously close humanity is to losing the war with the Covenant.
Section Three is an element of ONI that has established the SPARTAN project, and handles other special weapons projects. It will feature heavily in the novel, Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, as it attempts to buy the UNSC vital time. Section III presumably conducts other projects of its own that are at least equal with the Spartan IIs.
Section Zero serves as ONI's Internal Affairs division, and monitors all other divisions. Of the four known sections, Zero is the most secretive, and some question its very existence. [2]
[edit] NavSpecWar
Shortened version of "Naval Special Warfare," this agency conducts top secret black operations, and deploys the SPARTAN-II supersoldiers. NavSpecWar was behind the SPARTAN-IIs' original mission to capture a Covenant Prophet, among other missions. NavSpecWar has overriding command in ground situations, as evidenced in Halo: The Fall of Reach when the Master Chief and his Spartans overrode standing orders for Marines on Sigma Octanus, and in Halo: First Strike when the Chief used his position and mission to override Lieutenant Haverson's orders. Among others, Colonel James Ackerson is a high-level official in NavSpecWar, and his special projects are of utmost importance.
[edit] Technology
Despite the fact that the Halo universe is in the 26th century, human technology for day-to-day living is largely unchanged. However, mankind has reached the stars and created a large interstellar empire of over eight hundred worlds, made only possible with spacecraft and Shaw-Fujikawa slipspace drives, which allow quick travel over extremely long distances, although the accuracy of the system is still rough.
A jump in technology was made once the Covenant became a major threat to the survival of humanity. Like the Covenant have with the Forerunners, the UNSC has managed to procure Covenant technology and apply it to their weapons systems and ships. Unlike the Covenant, human scientists are willing to innovate from this advanced technology and do more than merely copy it. Much of the SPARTAN-II Project's technological area, which includes the development of the MJOLNIR Mark V battle armor's shielding system, is largely derived from Covenant technology. Other tech, such as artificial gravity, was being tested on UNSC ships at the time Reach fell.
[edit] Weapons
UNSC small arms use conventional technology in their working mechanism --- projectiles and chemical propellants. An exception to this is the Warthog-mounted Gauss Cannon, which uses similar technology to the ship-based MACs, albeit on a much smaller scale. However in designing the structural layout of their small arms, the UNSC will often use, by modern standards, unconventional layouts such as bullpups. In addition, they employ a variety of high tech electronic accessories for their small arms. These increase the soldiers' ability to effectively use the weapon and include Heads-Up-Displays (HUDs), smart-linked scopes, digital ammunition readouts, and other helpful widgets.
Most UNSC small arms are developed by WST manufacturing.
- M6D Automatic Pistol: An automatic side arm. Fires a 12.7mm semi-armor-piercing high-explosive bullet. The M6D has a 12 round magazine and the ability to link up to suit or helmet optics to create a 2x optical smart-link scope. It also appears to be a powerful weapon when fired at weaker enemies such as Grunts, Jackals, and Flood infection forms.
- M6C Magnum: A standard semi-automatic side arm for UNSC Marines and Naval personnel. Fires 12.7mm semi-armor-piercing ammunition from a 12-round magazine.
- M7 Caseless Sub-Machine Gun: A short-range submachine gun that fires 5 x 28 mm caseless rounds from a 60-round magazine at a cyclic rate of 1500 rpm.
- MA5B Assault Rifle: A short range assault rifle designed with a small LCD screen to display remaining rounds and relative "north." The MA5B has a 60 round magazine of 7.62 x 51 mm ammunition.
- MA5C Assault Rifle: A newer version of the venerable MA5B with a reduced clip of 32 rounds but with longer range and more accuracy than its forebearer.
- MA5K Assault Rifle: A cut down version of the MA5B, used by Spartan-IIIs.
- MA2B Carbine: A carbine version of the MA5B assault rifle that could be adapted to use a silencer. Fires 7.62 x 51 mm ammunition.
- BR55 Battle Rifle: A battle rifle with a 3-round-burst setting and a 36 round magazine. Fires 9.5mm rounds. Normally fitted with a 2x optical scope with smart-link feature.
- M90 Pump-action Shotgun: A standard issue, pump action shotgun, firing 8-gauge magnum buckshot shells. It can carry up to 12 rounds of ammunition. The M90 is a very effective weapon against Flood combat forms.
- S2 AM Sniper Rifle: A semiautomatic magazine-fed sniper rifle. The rounds can travel up to 500 meters and the optic connection through the hand can give the visor a 2x (replaced by 5x in Halo 2) or 10x zoom. Carries four 14.5 x 114 mm APFSDS (Armour piercing fin stabilized discarding sabot) rounds per magazine.The S2 is not effective against the Flood combat or carrier forms as the heavy round passes straight through their soft tissue.
- M19 SSM Rocket Launcher: A two-shot, double-barreled rocket launcher that fires high explosive projectiles. Nicknamed the 'Spanker' due to the SPNKr stamp on the body of the launcher. Upgraded with a tracking system in Halo 2.
- M41 Jackhammer Rocket Launcher: Used repeatedly in the Halo novels instead of the SPNKr, possibly a nickname for the M19 though it could be its own weapon.
- M9 HE-DP Fragmentation Grenade: Standard issue UNSC fragmentation grenade.
[edit] Vehicles
UNSC vehicles, like the small arms employed by infantry, utilize generally conventional, modern technology, such as wheels and treads, as opposed to Covenant vehicles which utilize gravity technology. However, while they are limited by standard tires and treads, UNSC ground vehicles do feature notably more advanced technology than modern vehicles. Warthog LRVs (often shortened as "hogs" by fans), for example, feature hydrogen fuel engines and compact nanotube wheels. Their armament is also generally of the same basic design as modern weapons systems, utilizing chainguns, HEAT rounds, and guided missile weapons. New Warthog models, however, feature heavy gauss cannons for anti-vehicle and anti-armor duties.
Most UNSC ground combat vehicles are manufactured by AMG Transport Dynamics.
[edit] Space Vessels
The UNSC fleet has been massively reduced by nearly 3 decades of war with the Covenant, but the remaining shipyards continue to produce warships to defend the remnants of human space. UNSC production facilities have begun to be moved away from Earth and Mars following the destruction of Reach, in an effort to decentralize war production with the apparent Covenant discovery of Earth's location.
UNSC ship types that have been encountered thus far:
- Corvette: The smallest designation for UNSC ships, primarily used for patrol and interdiction and not major engagements.
- Frigate: Smallest class of capital ship with one MAC cannon, three nuclear missiles, and 26 Archer missile pods armed with 30 Archer missiles each. Can carry Longsword and Pelican spacecraft and deploy significant Marine detachments. Speculation indicates that frigates may have different loadouts for different missions; the Commonwealth carried an entire Longsword squadron and no apparent large Marine detachment, while In Amber Clad featured a significant amount of armor and troop support capability, including at least four Scorpion tanks and numerous Warthogs, with room for Pelicans and a large number of Marines. It also seemed to use Archer missles as its primary weapon.
- Heavy Frigate: A more robust version of the standard frigate with heavier armor and firepower plus a squadron of longswords and pelicans, fills the gap between frigate and destroyer. Halcyon class cruisers such as the Pillar of Autumn looks like a larger version of this type of ship. Unlike the standard frigate, heavy frigates were not modular.
- Destroyer: A warship massing nearly twice as much but only seven meters longer then a frigate, due to the two meters of armor covering it from bow to aft. Destroyers are armed with two MAC systems and 25 oversized Archer missile pods, presumed to carry 40 missiles, though these ships have no single ships
- Carrier: Used for launching airstrikes and carrying Marines. Do not appear to be as effective as modern carriers, perhaps due to Covenant superiority in space combat. How Supercarriers such as the Trafalgar differ is unexplained, though it is presumed that they carry more fighters for space combat.
- Cruiser: Most powerful class of ship, is usually undescribed. Two known variants have been encountered thus far: Halcyon-class, such as the Pillar of Autumn and Marathon-class, like the Leviathan.
- Prowler: Small, lighweight, and fast, A prowler class ship is among the smallest UNSC ships equipped with a Shaw-Fujikawa slipspace capacitator drive. Used exclusively by ONI for stealth and recon purposes. It's smooth exterior, painted jet black with reflective materials make it an ideal ship for recon for larger ships that normaly would be detected.
- Repair stations: Kilometer-long and wide repair and refit stations that can service up to six UNSC ships at a time. A novel tactic was developed during the battle at Sigma Octanus in which a repair station (The Cradle) in the battle would be used as a sacrificial shield to catch and stop Covenant plasma bombardments, allowing UNSC ships the time they needed to fire an additional unanswered salvo of MAC rounds.
Below is a list of known UNSC ships, intact and destroyed.
- Trafalgar, a supercarrier, was destroyed during the Battle of Reach.
- Pillar of Autumn, a Halcyon-class cruiser. Was refitted with extra-armor plating, a modified MAC gun and a cone like interior for its' 'special mission' for the Spartans, destroyed at Halo Installation 04.
- Dawn Under Heaven, another Halcyon-class cruiser, sister ship to the Pillar of Autumn.
- Leviathan, a Marathon-class cruiser, the most powerful ship "built by human hands," damaged at Sigma Octanus IV.
- Iroquois, a destroyer. After the battle of Sigma Octanus IV, an unseen Covenant tracking device was planted on the Iroquois, leading to the subsequent fall of Reach.
- In Amber Clad (FFG-142), a frigate commanded by Miranda Keyes and involved in the Battle of New Mombasa. Abandoned at Delta Halo and subsequently captured by The Flood and crashed into High Charity.
- Circumference, an ONI stealth-ship; prowler. Destroyed during the Battle of Reach.
- Lark, an ONI stealth-ship last marked as aboard Reach Space Dock Gamma-Bay 9.
- Applebee, an ONI stealth-ship last marked as aboard Reach Space Dock Gamma-Bay 9.
- Apocalypso, another ONI stealth-ship. Recovered a mysterious Forerunner artifact which a crewmember later activated, leading to the events detailed in the ilovebees storyline.
- Commonwealth, a frigate. Status unknown, damaged at Chi Ceti, while the SPARTAN-II project was retrieving the MJOLNIR armor.
- Gettysburg, a frigate. Abandoned during the Battle of Reach. Later recovered by Cortana aboard a captured Covenant flagship Ascendant Justice.
- Cairo, Athens, Malta, and Nassau, Super MAC Orbital Platform; 300 orbital platforms defended Earth during the Covenant attack, some were destroyed, including the Athens and Malta. Nassau "has only been seen in Dead or Alive 4, a non-Bungie game."[3] It has been speculated that the Nassau is another station orbiting Earth, on the other side of the planet that the Covenant attacked at the beginning of Halo 2.
- Atlas, a carrier, carried the SPARTAN-II super soldiers to their first official mission, in the Eridanus system.
- Resolute, a destroyer.
- Lancelot, a destroyer.
- Meriwether Lewis, a frigate; Lieutenant Jacob Keyes served on this ship shortly before he was transferred to the Magellan.
- Midsummer Night, a frigate (a possible reference to the William Shakespeare play, A Midsummer Night's Dream).
- Dusk, an ONI prowler.
- Alliance, a frigate.
- Allegiance, a frigate.
- Minotaur, a destroyer, destroyed during the Battle of Reach.
- Musashi, a carrier, destroyed during the Battle of Reach.
- Fair Weather, a frigate, destroyed in Battle for Sigma Octanus IV.
- Tharsis, a destroyer, disabled during the Battle of Reach.
- Republic, a destroyer, damaged and abandoned during the Battle of Reach.
- Heracles, involved in the Battle of Harvest and First Contact with the Covenant. Commanded by Captain Veredi and sustained heavy damage in battle. Returned to Reach several weeks later to report on the Covenant attack.
- Vostok, a frigate, destroyed in the Battle of Harvest.
- Arabia, a frigate, destroyed in the Battle of Harvest.
- Gorgon, a frigate manned by Ensign Michael Lovell before he was reassigned to Archemedes Sensor Outpost.
- Cradle, a repair station used as a shield in the Battle of Sigma Octanus, destroyed in that battle.
- Spirit of Fire, a Phoenix class vessel (type unknown) that engaged the Covenant in the first years of the war, some time after 2525. Has a compliment of several Marine teams and Spartans, and many vehicles, Longsword fighters, etc. Features in the game, Halo Wars.
- Point of No Return, a Prowler specially constructed for extreme stealth. Serves as the deep-space command center for the Office of Naval Intelligence's Section Three.
[edit] Flash clones
A flash clone is a quick, incomplete clone. An embryo is taken and developed a hundred times faster than it would have naturally, becoming something different from what it would have been. Many anomalies appear because flash clones are forced to develop too quickly. Flash clones don't have any muscle memory, no training like natural humans get observing people while growing up. They can be trained with intensive therapy, but after a year or two they start to degenerate in a process called Metabolic Cascade Failure until they die from various neurological diseases.
After the future SPARTAN-IIs were kidnapped from their homes, they were replaced by flash clones. Their purpose was to keep parents from looking for their children, as this would be most troublesome for the SPARTAN-II project and the UNSC.
Also, if a DNA sample is available, flash cloning can be used to clone replacement organs (or even limbs) that don't suffer from the same problems as complete clones. This was seen when the SPARTAN Kelly received a new lung during the Battle of Reach. The AI Cortana is also a product of one of Dr. Halsey's flash-cloned brains. Out of the twenty that were originally cloned, only one was successful. The other nineteen failed and "died".
[edit] SPARTAN Projects
The SPARTAN projects were conceived as a series of projects to create a new generation of "super-soldiers" for the purpose of quickly and efficiently preventing any possible insurrection(s) at the poorly-regulated fringes of UNSC space. In the first SPARTAN project, volunteers with military backgrounds were accepted but the results left much to be desired, mostly in psychological conditioning and performance. With the SPARTAN-II project, children throughout the colonies were genetically tested, and the children who tested positive for all the genetic markers (strength, agility, intelligence, etc) were visited by the UNSC to narrow down the number, as there were only enough resources for about half as many children as were genetically suitable. The children who made it into the project were literally chosen by a coin-flip. The first subject identified, a boy named John (later to be known only by his rank, 'Master Chief'), caught the "eagle" side of the quarter. As he became the leader of the Spartans, their official symbol became a golden eagle clutching three arrows in one talon and lightning bolts in the other.
After the children were selected, they were kidnapped by UNSC soldiers. Genetic material was taken from them and this material was used to make flash clones. These clones were then immediately returned to "their" families, and after a few months, the imperfect clones died of a condition known as a "Metabolic Cascade Failure", effectively erasing any suspicions their families may have held. The actual children were then taken to a secret military facility on Reach where they would be trained to be the ultimate soldiers. When they were old enough, they were surgically modified to be stronger, faster, smarter, have faster reflexes and superior eyesight. Those that survived the procedures went on to become SPARTAN-II soldiers. While the feature most associated with the SPARTAN-IIs is the MJOLNIR combat armor, their first several missions were done without the use of any form of it, and later missions done only with an older, inferior Mark IV model. It wasn't until just before the Covenant assaulted Reach that they were given the full MJOLNIR Mark V, which until that point was still in research.
The MJOLNIR battle armor now has been upgraded to the MJOLNIR Mark VI Armor. This newer version of the MJOLNIR has better shielding capabilities and is more resilient and stronger. It also appears that the crystal layer included in the suit can allow AI to pass from any part of the armor to a computer system, and back again, providing a part of the suit is touching it. This is a step up from the previous model, where an upload/download port on the suits' helmet was required for an AI to inhabit the armor.
Spartan-III's are introduced in Halo:Ghost of Onyx, but were mentioned by code-name in Halo: First Strike as Doctor Catherine Halsey read classified ONI files. The Spartan-III program was designed to effectivly mass produce Spartan soldiers. Three generations of Spartan-III's were trained and two were deployed in actual combat in a period of around twenty years roughly the same time it took to fully train the single Spartan-II generation. Unlike the SPARTAN-IIs, the SPARTAN-IIIs were composed of vengeful orphans from fallen colonies like Jericho VII, Biko, and Harvest.
The Spartan-III project was initiated in order to have an elite force of disposable soldiers. From it's inception the Spartan-III soldiers were to be put on suicidal missions. Unlike the Spartan-II project Spartan-III's were never revealed to the general public to avoid a loss in morale.
Spartan-III's are given a cost-effective cut down version of the MJOLNIR battle armor, named SPI or Semi-Powered Infiltration armor. SPI armor utilizes harded plates and photo receptive panels in order to bend light around the armor and create a near invisible soldier. However due to a lack of an energy shield and the experimental nature of the armor, the photo receptive panels can only take a few shots before failing.
[edit] References
- Eric Nylund, Halo: The Fall of Reach, Del Rey, New York City, 2001.
- William C. Dietz, Halo: The Flood, Del Rey, New York City, 2003.
- Eric Nylund, Halo: First Strike, Del Rey, New York City, 2003.
- Halopedia - Halo Knowledge center
