HALO: The Insurrection (TheAussie)

== Manassas, Mutiny & Madrigal: A History of The Insurrection ==
As catalogued by Rear Admiral James Stockfield, CC, DSO, KCB – 2nd July, 2556
Commissioned by the Office of Naval Intelligence, using declassified data and documents now available under ONI Section Five Serial 08436 Data Classification Regulations.
=== Introduction ===
The Insurrection was the most devastating conflict to be fought by humans against other humans in the entire history of not only the United Nations Space Command, but of Earth. The war, as summarised by James Hewitt, was “the most outrageously expansive civil war in humanity’s history. Not even the Rainforest Wars, nor the Jovian Moons campaign could compare to such base brutality on both sides. The level of destruction it wrought to such bustling metropolitan colonies like Reach, to the backwater rural planets like Eridanus II, caused all levels of the UNSC and CMA command to be disrupted, leading to a lack of care and an overabundance of arrogant retaliation from not only the military leaders directing Trebuchet’s operations, but also the guerrilla commanders fighting in suburbs and planting car bombs in cities.”  Hewitt’s analysis cannot be understated. The Insurrection cost humanity valuable time and resources that could’ve been used against the Covenant, and killed 105 million people, most of whom were civilians.
The Insurrection had its beginnings in the Interplanetary Conflict of the 22nd Century. The conflict between the budding UNSC, the left-wing communist Koslovic group, and the neo-corporatist fascist Friedens lasted for ten years, causing the deaths of 9 million civilians on Earth, Mars, Luna, and the Jovian Moons. It permanently scarred the United Earth Government, and helped to mould the shape of the UNSC. The foundations laid down in the Interplanetary Conflict of rebellion against the Earth-centric government would become a call back to many groups involved in the Insurrection. Indeed, many Insurrectionists came from families that had fought for either the Koslovics or Friedens, and journeyed to the Outer Colonies to escape the stigma surrounding their name, and the huge oversight of the UEG.
The number of Outer Colonies planets continued to grow from the moment of colonisation of the planet Jericho VII in 2449. From there, it was onto other planets like Biko, Madrigal, Chi Ceti IV, New Jerusalem, and of course, Harvest. By 2481, the Outer Colonies contained 314 colonies, with a combined population of 1.23 billion people, spread disproportionately across the planets. Jericho VII alone had over 280 million citizens, compared to the embarrassingly small population of 190,000 of Second Base. Due to the small populations on many of the planets, the authority of the planet’s parliaments and governors were left unchecked, as the Colonial Military Authority was overstretched, and in many cases corrupt.
The corruption would positively affect corporate interests, as officials would take bribes to turn several colony worlds into what amounted to planet-sized factories. So too would CMA officials misfile reports of weapons caches being captured and looted, fake the destruction of equipment considered to be obsolete, and embezzle funds meant for the development of the colonies to fund separatist movements across the Outer Colonies. These conditions, whilst often favourable to the rebellious groups, still didn’t give them the desired effect of leaving the UNSC, and gaining more autonomy.
As such, many parliaments of the Outer Colonies called for a conference regarding the freedoms given to them by the UNSC, and 149 planets sent delegations to Concord in 2481 for the Conference on Colonial Autonomy in the UNSC. The CMA and UEG both sent observers, however any official participation in the debates was banned by the Chairman of the Colonial Council, Michael Flint. After three weeks of debate and discussion, the Letters to the UEG Regarding the Outer Colonies’ Liberty was published, and sent to Earth along with the UEG observers. The 10,000 word declaration highlighted the often-abusive treatment by the UEG of the Outer Colonies, and the lack of funds going to fund the growth and expansion of the planets that weren’t, “behind the imaginary line drawn by the UEG, to distinguish between the well-regarded, rich and respected Inner Colonies, and those that had the unfortunate displeasure of being colonised at a date later than the 24th Century.”
Notably, however, many Outer Colonies did not send delegations to the conference. Most significant was the absence of Jericho VII and Meridian, two successful colonies that made up for approximately 32% of the Outer Colonies’ population. They led the newly formed United Earth Loyalist League, a loose collection of planets whose interests aligned with the continuation of the UNSC. Whilst smaller than those that had attended the CCAU, the 81 planets were mostly made up of either the larger, more developed colonies, or smaller, rural planets that relied on UNSC subsidies and equipment sent from the Inner Colonies to survive. One notable exception to this was New Jerusalem, which was populated by many families who descended from the Koslovics that fought at Europa and Ceres.
When the declaration arrived at Earth, it was met with ridicule by the UEG and UNSC. The Prime Minister of the UEG, Terrence Waters, declared that any attempts to usurp colonial authority and remove the UNSC by any means from a planet was, “a traitorous action that will cause harm to many innocent civilians affected by these troublesome upstarts.”  This declaration certainly didn’t make any friends in the Outer Colonies, and there was huge outrage from the planets that had attended the CCAU, and several that hadn’t. This started a back-and-forth discussion between Flint and Waters, that would come to a head when the Ericsson Delegation arrived at Earth.
The Ericsson Delegation was a group of twelve governors from the Outer Colonies, who had made it their mission to secure independence or autonomy for their colonies, because of what they felt was ‘massive UNSC overreach into their domestic politics’. Led by the Governor of Biko, Alexa Huang, they would unsuccessfully lobby the UEG for a year, demanding reforms to the entire CMA to turn it from a branch of the UEG, into a defence force for the Outer Colonies against pirates and potential threats. Their mission was short-lived, however, as Waters declared the delegation illegitimate in January 2484, and ordered them to return to their colonies. Huang would stay, however, along with her family, as they attempted to secure at least some concessions for not only Biko, but other worlds like it.
Alexa Huang was killed on the 1st of February 2485, when an explosion occurred in her apartment, killing her five year-old son in the process, and injuring five of her neighbours. Declared an accidental burst of a gas leak by the UEG, an investigation conducted by her husband and several of Biko’s special constabulary assigned to escort them on Earth found that the detonation had been deliberate, and the Office of Naval Intelligence had been behind it. He published these findings in a broadcast to the Outer Colonies that would become known as the Huang Testimony. The twenty minute expose of his findings was ended, when UNSC military police broke down the door to his apartment, and arrested him live on camera, using a ‘Humbler’ subduing device.
The anger that had been simmering below the surface since the rejection of the CCAU’s proposal then turned into open outrage, as Huang’s death was exposed. Also adding fuel to the fire was that her son was also killed in the bombing, and the revelation that came several days later as the Chief of Staff of the UNSC, Fleet Admiral Alfred Francois, revealed that the UNSC had not been contacted about the bombing, nor were they consulted. An inquiry sponsored by members of the UEG’s Representative Council found that PM Waters had directly contacted the Head of ONI, Admiral Wilhelm Trendler, to murder Huang. The controversy forced both Trendler and Waters to resign, with both being charged with murder. However, Trendler mysteriously went missing before UNSC military police could arrest him, and Waters was found dead via a cyanide capsule in his residence. Foul play was not ruled out by the successive investigation.
In the Outer Colonies, the Huang Testimony affected public opinion significantly. Many colonists now felt it was their duty to secure independence from the UNSC lest something terrible occur to them as it had to Huang. Flint, who had returned home to Green Hills, began calling for the immediate secession of not only his colony, but dozens of others from the UNSC. His cause had support from many in the Inner Colonies too, most notably the Premier of Tribute, Lily Trboejan. The newly-founded Movement for the Secession of the Outer Colonies (MSOC) began to gather steam, as a new delegation, led by Flint himself, began to travel through UEG-space, delivering speeches and calling for independence.
The new Prime Minister of the UEG, Elizabeth Doorman, invited the delegation to Earth for a conference on the matter. Upon arriving in July 2487, the two faces of government and independence almost immediately engaged in discussion. Doorman, who had sympathy for the Outer Colonies and Huang, but wanted the UEG to remain intact, offered several concessions, most notably the devolution of the CMA to a regional defence force, and the right to assemble the Outer Colonies into different federal districts, that would determine domestic, trade, and economic policy within the UNSC. The conference was going well, and it was said that Doorman already had a draft of the final agreement ready. However, as this was occurring, more extreme elements of the independence movement were done taking a backseat to the more peaceable elements of their faction.
The first violent act conducted by the pro-independence forces of the Outer Colonies was the bombing of the Sahaptra Hotel, on the planet of Reach. Sitting on a busy junction in the city of Manassas, the bomb levelled the building, killing 541 people in the hotel and on the street outside. This action brought about a swift UNSC response. Martial law was declared in Manassas, a curfew was implemented, and a battalion of UNSC Army personnel based at Camp Independence was airlifted in – the attack was not taken lightly. Investigations into the bombing first pointed to a local neo-fascist terror group based on Tribute known as the Galactic Alliance of Human Patriots, however it was found from the bomb residue that the explosive materials came from the shipbuilding world of Camber, a planet with a very substantial pro-independence movement.
Not a moment after the discovery finding the origin of the explosives, five more terror bombings rocked Reach. A checkpoint leading to Camp Hathcock was blown up by a suicide bomber, two hotels in New Alexandria were hit with kamikaze drones, and two large trucks were driven into the electrical power station supplying electricity to the city of Mira, on Circumstance. These attacks killed 5,900 people, and were followed up by a message sent to UNSC FLEETCOM on Reach, where a group simply known as “The Insurrection” claimed responsibility for the attacks. The members said they represented most of the Outer Colonies in their goal to, “rid our homelands from the dictatorial UEG, and their vicious, arrogant lapdogs in the UNSC.”  Upon this video being shown to Prime Minister Doorman, talks ground to a halt as Flint refused to offer an apology for the attacks, as he believed the group responsible was not a part of his, and so he had no need to apologise. The more radical of his delegation openly supported the attacks, and in short time the delegates were kicked off Earth, and the UEG’s Representative Council was summoned to an emergency session on the 19th of July, 2487.
This emergency session, however, wouldn’t occur as planned. Prime Minister Doorman, as well as Deputy Prime Minister Gene Morris and Head of the UNSC Defence Force, General Erika Horrocks, were killed by a car bomb as they were on their way to the emergency meeting. The acting prime Minister in the wake of Doorman’s death, retired Admiral Charles Woodstock, would declare that the United Earth Government was “under attack by enemies who had no regard for the laws of war, the sanctity of civilian lives, and the restraint shown by us having dealt with these freeloaders for years.” Admiral Woodstock would ask for, and receive, a mandate to summon 150,000 soldiers, sailors and marines for the express purpose of wiping out the Insurrection on Reach, and neighbouring worlds. Furthermore, he approved an executive order allowing the UNSCDF to expand its manpower by up to 20%, and increased the overall budget by 10%.
This played right into the Insurrectionist’s hands. Over the next three months on Reach, they continued a campaign of terror bombing and drone attacks, killing 389 civilians and over 700 UNSC personnel, including the Commandant of Camp Neptune, Brigadier General Richard Quake. These bombings were followed by UNSC reprisals, who did manage to root out and capture several Insurrectionist cells with the use of ONI NAVSPECWAR counter-insurgency teams. Nevertheless, the bombings continued, with occasional attacks expanded to Tribute, Circumstance and even worlds as far afield as Biko.
And thus, began, The Insurrection.
=== Chapter One – REACH ===
Reach was the crown jewel in the UNSC’s colonies. The first planet to be colonised, Reach, became the jump-off point for dozens of colonial expeditions, and had since developed from a small titanium mining outpost, into a bustling metropolis, with a population of 650 million, and a permanent UNSC Navy garrison. New Alexandria was the largest city not on Earth, with the regional cities of Manassas, Quezon and Korriban also holding a substantial amount of citizens. It was also the most heavily militarised colony within the UNSC, with the exception of Mars. Three corps worth of UNSC Army personnel, a UNSC Marine Corps Mobile Expeditionary Unit, and three UNSC Navy battlegroups. The headquarters of the Colonial Military Authority was also there, which at the time had in service a far greater number of vessels in commission than the UNSC.
However, loyalties of the CMA were questionable at best. Whilst many individual ships and officers were loyal to the UNSC, the institution as a whole was not considered reliable by the UNSC. Since the focus was placed onto the Outer Colonies by the CMA in the 2470s, most recruits that joined the organisation were from the Outer Colonies. This meant that most of the enlisted men held allegiances to their home planets rather than the UEG. In addition, several key shipyards, such as SinoViet’s Camber subsidiary Albright Shipyards, were often collaborating with Insurrectionist groups, and in some cases, even supply them with high-grade weaponry.
The commander of the CMA, Field Marshal Walter Holden, knew of the problems endemic within his organisation. His attempts to modernise the ground arms branch and ensure loyalty within the entire force ended poorly, with billions of credits going to an unsuccessful project known simply as ENFORCER (Project: ENFORCER is still classified, despite the declassification of many other UNSC and UEG projects from the time period having been released to the public). A report published by the CMA’s Bureau of Logistics and Ordnances found that 1 in 3 CMA enlisted personnel harboured rebel sympathies, and 1 in 5 were likely to desert if given the chance.
These reports would be proven correct, as a colonial detachment (the CMA’s equivalent of a company) would be declared AWOL after disappearing for five days. Several members would be found later setting up an IED at the base of the FLEETCOM Tower in New Alexandria. Reach’s key military installations’ defences would all be supplemented by heavy security forces, with an estimated 30,000 UNSC Army soldiers assigned to base defence operations on the Eposz Continent alone. In addition, a battalion of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers were on standby at ONI SWORD Base as a rapid reaction force. In total, over 140,000 UNSC personnel were assigned to fighting the Insurrection on Reach, a number that would expand quickly as more and more forces were deployed to the Epsilon Eridani System.
On the 5th of January 2488, the 126th anniversary of Reach’s colonisation, security across the planet was tense. A team of cyberanalysts working from SWORD Base had discovered that the Insurrectionists were planning an attack on an unspecified location in the Epsilon Eridani System, to be carried out on Reach Day. As such, twelve battalions of UNSCDF military police were deployed across Reach, and garrisons on Tribute and Circumstance were placed on high alert. However, the attack did not occur at any of these locations. In fact, the target was the tourist hotspot of Tantalus.
In the evening of the 5th, several explosions rocked Tantalus’ capital city, Hades. The bombs were placed at several military and federal buildings, including the Central Business District’s police station, and the UNSC Air Force’s training airfield at Nairobi. Casualties among civilians were light, however the UNSC paid dearly for its lack of preparation on Tantalus, with a total casualty count of 3,500 soldiers, airmen and police officers. In response, an emergency deployment of military police was dispatched to the colony, as riots broke out across the city demanding action. The campaign of terror bombings was following the Insurrection’s plan to the letter.
Across the Outer Colonies, dissent was beginning to become more pronounced. Scattered, random protests among a colony’s citizens were becoming more and more organised, as a movement known as Outer Colonies Out! was formed. The non-militant movement was not affiliated with the Insurrection, as it advocated for peaceful change. However, many of its members were far more radical than the organisation’s leaders, and as such several protests became violent. CMA garrison troops were deployed to ensure the protests remained mostly calm, however on several occasions members of the CMA discarded their weapons and joined the protests, causing further distress in CMA high command. Protests turned into riots on many occasions on worlds that sponsored a heavy corporate presence, such as Chi Ceti IV and Dorian.
Among the more shadowy aspects of Outer Colonies Out! was the funding that they received. Whilst it was championed as a crowd-funded movement only, investigations conducted by the UNSC revealed that several companies, including Albright Shipyards, had plied the organisation with lots of financial resources, many of which were used to create ‘safehouses’ across the Outer Colonies. It’s estimated that corporations with a vested interest in a deregulated, independent trading sector beyond the UNSC’s oversight invested over 3.5 billion credits into independence movements across the Orion Arm of the galaxy,
Back on Reach, the situation had not improved for the UNSC. Public demand was split evenly between caving to the Insurrectionists, and demanding greater retaliation and more resources to be used against the terrorists. The bombings were continuing at an average of one every week, with the targets being UNSC installations and personnel. To that point, most bombings had not killed many civilians, aside from the Sahaptra Hotel bombing. That was to change, however, on the 19th of April, when a rogue Insurrectionist cell destroyed any chance of the UNSC conceding the rebels on Reach.
At 8:30AM Manassas Local Time, a car bomb was detonated in front of the UNSC’s postal distribution centre in the Manassas suburb of Shiloh. Though killing 12 postal workers and two UNSC marines, the bomb also killed 75 children between the ages of 7 and 10 on their way to school. The children’s bus, stuck in traffic on their way to the school, was disintegrated, with the only identifiable feature of its existence being a scorched teddy bear left behind by one of the students. The image of the burned teddy bear came as a shock to the galaxy, and the UNSC was galvanised to action. The commander of all UNSC forces on Reach, Admiral Sarah Petronius, was personally affected, as her 9 year old son was killed in the blast. Retribution came swiftly.
After a two-month long search, eighteen Insurrectionists were found hiding in a small house complex in the Eposz wilderness. A specialised team of counter-insurgency marines were dispatched, and in a brief firefight, three of the rebels were killed and the rest captured. The marines made a shocking discovery when they found Michael Flint’s son, George, among the dead. This revelation made waves across the UNSC, with Governor Flint being accused of sponsoring the terror attacks committed in the Epsilon Eridani System. Flint vehemently denied these accusations, yet defended the actions of his son, which were “honourable in that he did his best to fight for justice and freedom for his planet, and all others like it.” George’s death caused several memorial services to be held on Green Hills, and the parliamentarians there began plotting, along with Flint, for the colony’s secession from the UNSC.
The prisoners were shipped off to Circumstance, the judicial capital of the UNSC, for trial. In a brief, two week trial, the 15 Insurrectionists were charged with the murder of the 87 dead in the Shiloh Massacre, and treason against the UEG. They were all sentenced to death by firing squad, which was secretly recorded by a UNSC soldier, and spread to Insurrectionist cells across the Outer Colonies. Whilst at this point, the fighting had been restricted to sporadic bombings made by several terror cells on Reach and Tribute, organised political resistance began to become increasingly more noticeable among the Outer Colonies.
Local Colonial Militia forces, recruited directly by the colony’s government, were determined to be untrustworthy by the UNSC, and an executive order put forward by Prime Minister Woodstock on the 24th of July ordered that all Colonial Militia units be placed under local CMA command. However, this change in leadership did not cause the individual soldiers in the Colonial Militias to have a change of heart. In fact, many CM forces, nicknamed ‘weekend warriors’ by the UNSC, began to convert CMA soldiers to their ideology. Over the next eight months, the CMA would be infiltrated by many Insurrectionist agents, compromising regional communications, locations of weapons caches, and security measures on UNSC military bases.
The most extreme breach of security clearance the Insurrection managed was the Premier of Tribute herself, Lily Trboejan. She had been secretly passing off information to the Insurrection since the death of Governor Huang in 2485. By 2589, she had severely compromised all UNSC troop deployments and protocols on Tribute to the point where Insurrectionist cells could simply climb over a chain-link fence into a UNSC base, because they knew the exact timings of the guard down to the minute. Troboejan’s operations would continue until 2498, when her activities were discovered by ONI. She would never be seen again, with the official UNSC report claiming she had died to a saddle-box incident involving her government yacht.
The next three months on Reach were quiet, after the execution of the ‘Shiloh 15’. Most analysts suspected that group to be the main perpetrator of what had become known as the Bloody Reach Period. The bombings had occurred from September 2487 until July 2488, and killed over 14,400 people. However, exactly three months after their execution, a vigil was held on the Outer Colony world of Warden II, where 12,000 people turned up to honour the rebels. This ceremony hadn’t received an official permit from the colony’s parliament, that was very pro-UNSC, and so CMA troops were dispatched to break up the memorial service. However, most refused, and joined the citizens in the vigil. The governor, James Danilov, panicked, and requested that regular UNSC reinforcements be dispatched to Warden II, to reinforce the still-loyal CMA troops.
Admiral Petronius would dispatch a regular UNSC Army battalion to the planet, along with the frigate UNSC Centaur. Upon arrival at Warden II’s capital, New Hobart, the restless civilians and ex-CMA personnel surrounded the spaceport, trapping the battalion inside along with several loyalist CMA units. In a risky operation proposed by the captain of the Centaur, the frigate was brought into-atmosphere, whereupon it broadcast a message ordering the populace to disperse, and allow the UNSC ground forces to continue on their mission. Facing certain death if they refused, the population retreated, however the CMA soldiers that disobeyed their orders vanished from New Hobart, and began to set up a base camp in the Waiapolo Mountains, south of the capital.
The next year was a stressful one for the UNSC. Local riots across the Outer Colonies often sprouted up, as more and more colonists became sick of the UEG’s presence. The continual build-up of UNSC and CMA forces on said planets did little to alleviate the tension, as a new wave of bombings began to be carried out across dozens of planets. This effort was not the work of a single cell, like the Bloody Reach Period. Rather, it was all radical members of the Outer Colonies Out! movement, who had begun to splinter off and name themselves The Insurrection, in recognition of the Shiloh 15. They targeted UNSC and UEG installations, with the largest and most deadly bombing being the attack on the large Misriah Armoury complex on Jericho VII, which killed 500 people and set back arms production by four months.
It’s important to mention that all of these colonies are still all part of the UNSC. They are all still technically colonies, however many planets have been ignoring any new laws and regulations passed by the UEGRC. On Green Hills, Governor Flint had been increasingly styling himself as the President, and had created an official ‘Presidential Guard’ some 2,000 strong. This was in fact a guise for the creation of a military for Green Hills, as more and more military equipment was squirreled away in secret caches. This process was also occurring on planets such as Concord, Biko, Eridanus II and Madrigal. Other colonies that had signed the United Earth Loyalist League, despite their mostly anti-independence stance, were still having issues with rebel cells.
From 2488-2491, over 7,000 people were killed in demonstrations, riots, protests and bombings across the Outer Colonies, as the UNSC began to increasingly militarise their presence on colony worlds. The worlds of Reach, Jericho VII, Second Base and Cygnus II became dispersal points for UNSC reinforcements and CMA battlegroups, which were being observed constantly by ONI field agents to ensure loyalties lay with the UEG. These operatives, collectively known as ‘Sparrows’, were responsible for 50% of all arrests carried out on members of the CMA, whether it be directly or indirectly.
The economics of the quasi-war were beginning to take effect, too. Despite the huge amount of worlds and their varied purpose, the UNSC were starting to experience a materials shortage. The key producer of deuterium, Madrigal, had slowed down its shipments to the Inner Colonies considerably, claiming they didn’t have the required equipment to deliver the expected amounts. These shortages also applied to titanium (used in the production of the brand-new Titanium-A1 armour plating used by UNSC and CMA vessels), silicon (a key ingredient in computer chips and semiconductors), diamonds (used in mining equipment) and hydrogen (shipments of hydrogen from Chi Ceti IV supplied 40% of all cars in the UNSC with fuel).
The financial capital of the UEG, Reach, found itself almost strapped of cash. The bonds and loans the Bank of Reach had given out in the past ten years that had begun to reach maturity simply weren’t being paid back by the Outer Colonies, leading to the UEG having to step in, resulting in the largest bailout in human history of 945 billion credits. The Inner Colonies and the UEG hit back at the loan shirkers, by halting almost all subsidies outgoing to planets that were considered aiding and abetting rebel activity: some 60 planets were affected by this. This caused these planets to band together, in what was named the Interplanetary Trade Guild. The mutually-supporting organisation, whilst not as effective as UEG loans and subsidies, did soften the blow of the removal of finance from their colonies.
Due to the effects of the economic conflict between the two factions, trade within the UEG was stunted in its growth for the next thirty years. Whilst it didn’t decline, the total amount of revenue said to have been lost due to the slump is over 200 trillion credits. Former Chief Economist of Tantalus, Kel Indina, made the assertion that, “Had the revenue lost in the Insurrection been available to the UNSC when the Covenant first appeared, humanity’s response could have been much more organised and effective. The credits could have funded a hundred Punic supercarriers, a thousand Super MAC platforms, and millions of MJOLNIR armour sets and ‘smart’ AIs. Combined with the military fatigue from fighting the rebels, and the UNSC was in a much worse-off state to fight the alien onslaught, economically and doctrinally.” 
The UEG now found itself in a war of capital. Loans had to be dispatched to colonial worlds still loyal, as many began to expand their local Colonial Militia forces. The forces on Jericho VII were some of the most impressive to be organised by a colony. Nine regiments of CM infantry, two battalions of mechanised armour, an air wing of Pelican dropships and a special counter-insurgency squadron comprised the Colonial Militia on the colony, in addition to the regular CMA and UNSC units. Some quieter, backwater colonial planets also had an increase in size of the colonial forces there. As previously mentioned, some manner of these reinforcements was to establish a post-independence army, Yet others were a genuine effort to protect the citizens of the planet, regardless of political loyalties. This had the effect of creating a tense environment, however, as clashes began to occur between pro-independence and pro-UEG groups.
The period from 2488 to 2491 was a violent period in the history of the UNSC. Whilst not an official conflict by that stage, the Insurrection had claimed thousands of lives in bombings and low-level conflicts. However, it would all escalate heavily after the Far Isle Incident, in 2491.
=== Chapter Two – FAR ISLE ===
The UNSC colony world of Far Isle had been colonised in 2470, by the crew of the colony ship UNSC Niflheim, carrying 12,000 colonists of American descent. The governor of the planet, Colonel Benedict Trelavyn, immediately began the work setting up the colony’s Colonial Militia force, recruiting 360 men and women and equipping them with uniforms and equipment paid out of his own pocket. The money soon began to roll into Far Isle, however, as deuterium was discovered under the surface. Huge rigs were popping up left and right on Far Isle’s main continent of Alfheim, as super-seams of deuterium were found extending over 30 kilometres down in several cases. Far Isle became an extremely rich colony, however its population didn’t grow extremely quickly in comparison to other wealthy planets. The only viable slipspace route came through the Cygnus System, itself in a quiet area of the Outer Colonies.
By 2488, Far Isle had a total of 3 million residents, 800,000 of which worked in the deuterium mining industry. Governor Trelavyn was an extremely well-respected figure. The UEG presence on the planet was limited, with a single company of UNSC Army personnel stationed there to train CMA and CM recruits. However, Far Isle had strong ties to Governor Flint of Green Hills, who had been there several times during his Outer Colony campaign trail. As such, the planet was very pro-rebellion, and demonstrations would often take place demanding the removal of the UNSC forces. On the 6th of October 2488, a platoon of UNSC soldiers came under verbal attack from a loud, angry group of civilians whilst escorting a UEG trade official through the capital city of Onden. After thirty minutes the situation hadn’t escalated, until several teenagers began to throw rocks at the soldiers. Others in the crowd joined in, throwing anything they could find at the platoon.
Retreating into an office block, the platoon commander called for reinforcements to escort his men safely out of the building. A CMA military police detachment was deployed, who arrived after two hours. However, the situation worsened as the CMA troops refused to assist the trapped UNSC Army personnel, and joined the protestors in attempting to force their way into the building. After another twenty minutes, the crowd broke through. It is unknown who fired the first shot, though it is believed to be a CMA private who tripped, and pulled the trigger of his weapon by mistake. Nevertheless, a brief firefight erupted in the building’s foyer. Ten minutes later, and the rioters had retreated. 64 people had been killed, including 18 UNSC soldiers. The platoon had almost 100% casualties, with only one unwounded soldier after the skirmish. The UNSC forces and UEG officials retreated from Onden, and established a FOB in the Yggdrasil Valley. Upon hearing of the battle, reinforcements were sent to the planet, and martial law was enforced. Governor Trelavyn attempted to fight the new laws; this course of action led to his relief as governor, and replacement with a UEG Superintendent.
The situation on Far Isle didn’t intensify, due to the fear of UNSC reprisal and the large amount of troops that were on the planet. However, quiet preparations were made as more and more people flocked to join what became known as the Far Isle Independence Corps. Led by the disgruntled Trelavyn, its primary goal was to gain a material and manpower superiority over the UNSC forces on the planet, and forcing them to leave. In December 2491, however, after over three years of preparation, their plans were thrown into a mess with the arrival of the CMA frigates Rubicon and The Trebia. These ships, along with the extra 1,600 CMA troops they carried, caused much worry within the FIIC. They now had 7,500 armed militia, compared to the 9,000 UNSC and CMA forces. The carefully-moderated balance of power on Far Isle had tipped into the UNSC’s favour.
In February 2492, the UNSC established a military barracks inside Onden’s city limits. Whilst they had mostly avoided the capital city since the firefight in 2488, Superintendent Nathan Gosh made the decision to re-establish a UEG presence, to bridge the gap between the two factions. 1,800 CMA troops were sent into the city, which caused a wave of protest among the civilian population. The action was seen as an unnecessary step, and certainly did much to upset the populace. One prominent Far Isle parliamentarian, Yvonne Drausenne, denounced the UNSC’s actions as ‘fascistic’ and ‘totalitarian’, which was mimicked by many pro-independence speakers. This decision encouraged many more citizens to join the FIIC, in Onden and planetwide. Demonstrations were held across the planet protesting the action, yet did little to dissuade the UNSC of its actions. The next four months saw Far Isle on the precipice of open rebellion, as UNSC and CMA troops enforced a curfew and martial law upon the colony after the bombing of a ship repair yard on Cygnus II.
On the 15th of June, 2492, a protest was organised in front of the UNSC’s barracks in Onden. Some 30,000 people turned up, and began a march from the base to Far Isle’s parliament building. There, speeches were give by Drausenne and Trelavyn, and the crowd began to get agitated. The charismatic, violent oration of Drausenne, followed by the stern, formidable voice of Trelavyn, got the protestors into a pseudo-frenzy. This attitude was not helped by the arrival of 900 CMA riot control soldiers, which formed a cordon around the parliament building. Several hundred protestors were already inside the building, and began attempting to push past the CMA troops to join the rest of the crowd. The commander of the soldiers there, Colonel Hermann Young, ordered the troops to disperse and instead form up off to the side of the citizens, to be ready to provide support to the crowd.
However, two companies of the CMA’s force refused the order. Young and the rest of the soldiers simply left them, and declared their loyalty to the people of Far Isle, to the ecstatic cheers of the populace. By this point, the crowd had swollen to 50,000 people, all crammed into the huge area in front of Onden’s parliament building. The 300 remaining CMA loyalists quickly withdrew to the side of the building, and formed a small perimeter to best protect themselves. The demonstrators had begun to throw rocks and trash at the soldiers, and the commander feared that it could quickly escalate into a skirmish, much like it did in 2488. As such, they let the rioters begin to swarm into the senatorial building. A few of the more radical protestors made it to the rooftop, and installed an impromptu speaker system. There, a troop leader in the FIIC, Francis Tarov, made an impassioned speech imploring the UNSC to withdraw from the city, and open negotiations to give Far Isle its well-deserved independence.
Of course, the UNSC’s commanders had no authority to give such an order, and Tarov knew it. He was merely delaying any UNSC action, until the plan he and several other FIIC officers had created could be implemented. At 1455 local time, a company of Colonial Militia arrived at the square, and informed the CMA loyalists that they were added security for the government officials inside. The CMA commander, accepting their story, gave them permission to enter the building, where several squads were already guarding politicians and UEG officials. The CM made their way inside, and then promptly opened fire on the squads, killing them all. They then went office-to-office, locating any UEG or UNSC representative, murdering them. Tarov was informed of the actions, and looked over the ledge of the roof of the building, to see the CMA loyalists outside preparing to move into the building.
Tarov then made history. Using the speaker system, he played the song ‘Far Isle, My Beloved’, a nationalist anthem made for the FIIC. The stirring song caught the attention of the crowd, and many FIIC members, who began to realise what was occurring. As the song ended, Tarov came out onto the edge of the parliament roof. He then declared that as of the 15th of June, 2492, the colony of Far Isle was no longer part of the UNSC, and was instead the new Independent Republic of Far Isle. This shocking announcement stunned the crowd into several moments of silence before rapturous cheers and applause broke out. The crowd and the CMA traitors went wild, as the stunned loyalists simply stood and stared at Tarov.
It’s not known who it was exactly that fired upon Tarov, but according to survivors it was a young, nervous CMA private, whose anxiety got the better of him. The recruit’s weapon discharged, and fired several bullets at Tarov, killing him. The instantaneous result was the entire crowd collectively turning towards the CMA troopers. They then roared, and rushed the outnumbered soldiers. No matter how much firepower the soldiers had, 300 against 50,000 was not a fight they would win. They were butchered, plain and simple, as holoprojectors streamed live to the UNSC base in Yggdrasil Valley, and the CMA frigates in orbit.
Over the next few hours, any person caught wearing a UNSC or CMA uniform was killed immediately, as the populace swept Onden, out for blood. The UNSC barracks was burnt down, and the spouses and children of UNSC personnel were killed. Of the 500 CMA troops that did not switch sides to the FIIC, only 23 would make it out of the city alive. The commander of UNSC forces on Far Isle, Superintendent Gosh, reacted quickly to the declaration of independence. Several battalions of CMA and UNSC soldiers were dispatched to neighbouring cities, to secure their supplies and equipment. Reinforcements were requested at Priority Level One, requiring an immediate force of one UNSC Marine Division, and a battalion of ODSTs to be sent to the planet in need. These forces would take two weeks to reach Far Isle, however, so the main challenge for the loyalist forces on the planet was to simply stay alive for that long.
The troops dispatched to capture cities on Far Isle were not overly successful in their goals. Roughly half of all CMA forces on the planet deserted or openly fought against the UNSC and CMA loyalists, reducing their overall strength from 7,200 personnel to 4,000. A QRF of 500 UNSC marines was dispatched from the CMA Rubicon and The Trebia, and the frigates’ complement of GA-TL1 Longswords were provided to assist in ground support missions. The FIIC, now reformed into the Far Isle Defence Force, rapidly gained ground across the colony. Of the 17 major settlements on the planet, only two were controlled by UNSC forces. On the 29th of June, a major FIDF offensive managed to capture both towns, forcing the UNSC into a precarious position. They now only had control of the Yggdrasil Valley, and they had received word that their UNSC reinforcements were delayed due to an Insurrectionist attack on Cygnus II.
On the 3rd of August, Superintendent Gosh met with UNSC and CMA commanders to evaluate the situation. All agreed that if they couldn’t receive reinforcements, they should withdraw from the colony. However, Gosh refused to simply retreat, as he believed that if Far Isle was simply given to the Insurrectionists, more planets would be inspired and rise up against the UEG. It was at this point where ONI Lieutenant j.g. Margaret Parangosky made her appearance. The future head of ONI and convicted war criminal, made the suggestion to use nuclear weapons on the planet. Many CMA and UNSC commanders were mortified by the idea, yet Gosh was intrigued, if indecisive. The CMA Rubicon carried twenty three SHIVA-Class nuclear warheads (for a purpose Parangosky refused to elaborate on), and if ordered could fire them at the planet’s surface.
Gosh delayed his verdict for another five days. He was swayed to Parangosky’s side, along with many others, when reports came in that an outpost at the edge of Yggdrasil Valley had been captured. The 103 Army personnel, along with 230 UNSC loyalists, had been ordered to dig a mass grave. Once complete, they were ordered into the pit, where they were murdered and buried. A FIDF officer had recorded the event, and deserted to the UNSC due to the massacre. This incident, along with many others that had been eluded to by Far Isle propaganda, finally pushed Gosh over the edge.
Over the next week, all loyalist forces would be evacuated to the orbiting CMA frigates and the UNSC reinforcement ships that had finally arrived (without the complement of marines and ODSTs), and the SHIVA nukes were moved to the Rubicon, where they were jury-rigged onto the fuselage of Ares anti-ship missiles. Finally, on the 16th of August, at 22:09, the order was given to launch the warheads. 22 missiles were launched towards Far Isle’s settlements and military bases, with two targeting the capital of Onden.
Many civilians were out celebrating the withdrawal of the UNSC from their planet, including Drausenne and Trelavyn, who had been inaugurated as the first President of Far Isle. The warheads would impact and detonate between 23:14 and 23:59, destroying all targets. Scans of what had once been Onden after the detonation showed that the city had been completely decimated, with only an estimated 5% of buildings left standing. Of Far Isle’s population of 3.07 million inhabitants, 2,980,398 were killed when the nuclear weapons detonated. Trelavyn, Drausenne, and all of Far Isle’s political leaders were killed, as was most of the population. The approximately 70,000 survivors were mostly farmers and soldiers, who were either deployed away from the cities or lived in the countryside.
Much of the terrain of the planet was destroyed, too. The nuclear weapons detonated several deuterium deposits under the surface, creating huge chasms and turning much of the surrounding area into a volcanic-like surface. The planet’s biggest deuterium mine, some 4 0 kilometres away from Onden, turned the suburbs of the city into a molten lake of magma and melted deuterium, which regularly erupted, spreading large amounts of lava and explosive substances across the continent.
The immediate aftermath of the attack for the UNSC was disastrous. The Office of Naval Intelligence immediately moved to cover up the event, with the official story being that the colony was destroyed due to an unpredicted solar storm, that destroyed the colony before it could be evacuated. Superintendent Gosh was quietly shuffled away to a backwater post on a CMA relay monitoring station, the UNSC forces involved were dispersed throughout the galaxy, and Parangosky herself was brought before a tribunal of ONI staffers, and mysteriously disappeared for several years, before appearing again in 2499. Despite the UNSC’s best attempts to half the flow of information surrounding Far Isle, refuges made their way to Cygnus II, where they contacted Insurrectionist cells and recorded their story.
The result was a huge inflammation of anger. Many colonies believed that what happened on Far Isle could happen to their planet, and “Remember Far Isle!” became a rallying cry for the Insurrection. The Interplanetary Trade Guild, which had grown to include 75 planets, called for a meeting on the colony world of Madrigal. There, after much deliberation, they made an announcement on the 6th of October, 2492, that would officially mark the beginning of the Insurrection. Now known to the UNSC as the Madrigal Address, Governor Flint announced that the Interplanetary Trade Guild had been dissolved, and replaced with the Independent Federation of Systems, or the IFS. Furthermore, he declared that the members of the IFS, specifically his world of Green Hills, was no longer a part of the UNSC, and as such the UNSC forces on planets part of the IFS would need to evacuate within four rotations, or be forcibly removed.
Prime Minister Woodstock was shocked. No one in the UEGRC had foreseen such a drastic measure. Many believed the incident on Far Isle could be hidden, or at least played as a irrational mistake made by the commander on the ground. However, it was not to be. Immediately, the UNSC called up all of its reservist forces, some 14 million men, for retraining and deployment. The UNSC Navy came off of its state of limited readiness, and gave all members two months to report to UNSC installations for assignment. The UNSC Marine Corps began martialling its Mobile Expeditionary Units for rapid deployment, and ONI dispatched operatives and stealth ‘Prowler’ ships to begin a secret war of sabotage.
The address had two very different consequences. For the citizens in the Outer Colonies that were a part of the IFS, this was a huge victory. Many believed that the UNSC would simply back off, and allow the IFS to remain independent. Citizens of other planets that remained loyal to the UNSC were divided. Many supported the Insurrection, but many believed humanity was stronger together, and were UNSC loyalists. Immediately, large-scale civil unrest broke out across UNSC colonies, as CMA forces were stretched to their limit as they attempted to enforce colonial rule. However, for the residents  of the Inner Colonies and the Sol System, this action infuriated many. The sense of patriotic fervour for the UNSC reached an all-time high, as millions of people flocked to join the UNSC and uphold what they saw as a righteous cause. The total number of personnel in the UNSCDF at the beginning of 2492 was 350 million active and reserve personnel. By 2493, this had expanded to 480 million.
Far Isle motivated both factions to expand and escalate. The UNSC didn’t recognise the secession of the IFS, and declared martial law on all planets attempting to break free. All forces that weren’t large enough to maintain control over the planets that had declared independence were ordered to evacuate immediately, and reassemble at Jericho VII. Early reports of the UNSC beginning preparations for withdrawal on several planets, including Green Hills, gave Flint hope that secession could be resolved peacefully. These hopes were allayed, however, as he was informed the 14th MEU, and a CMA battlegroup had arrived in the Biko System to reinforce the current garrison. By the 1st of December, 63 planets of the IFS were in open revolt, with another 14 occupied by the UNSC. Prime Minister Woodstock sent a personal message to Flint, just before he gave the order to declare martial law. Due to ONI censors and classified documents, the contents of the message were unknown, until several hundred thousand declassified files on the Insurrection were released in 2553.
The contents of the letter was brutally simple, and no summary can adequately describe the level of severity that lay under the surface. As such, here is the letter.
David,
Good luck. You’ll need it. The only kind words I can find to write, is that I hope you don’t have to bury your children.
- Charles
=== Chapter Three – ORION ===
The first phase of the war was brutal and simply put, chaotic. For three weeks, the occupying forces that had not withdrawn had to maintain control over an entire planet that simply did not wish for them to be there, and would fight tooth and nail to achieve their goal. Casualty reports flooded back to the Inner Colonies, with the estimated KIA for the first week of the conflict put at 9,000 UNSCDF personnel, and at least 15,000 Insurrectionists. The rules of engagement for both sides were very flexible, as both UNSC and IFS forces would use civilians as human shields to protect ammunition dumps and airfields. Time and time again, civilians would be killed when one side ignored their presence to bomb the other faction’s important facilities.
The most grievous example was on Biko, where an entire city block was levelled by Insurrectionists to stop the UNSC from capturing the important communications equipment inside. This action also killed the 900 civilians still living in the apartment complex, as well as several of their own soldiers, who were attempting to evacuate the building when the explosives went off. However, both sides, to their credit, did often call ceasefires to allow civilians to escape the warzone. Most notably on Cygnus II, UNSC marines and IFS rebels called a two day truce over Christmas, which allowed over 10,000 of the planet’s citizens to escape the war-torn planet.
This was not a common theme, however. The war was violent and bloody, with rare instances of humanity scraping through every so often. The UNSC’s policy for rebellious Outer Colony worlds was, in the words of the UNSC’s Chief of Naval Operations Fleet Admiral Linda Saren, “Conquer, Collaborate, and Create.” To conquer the planet, collaborate with the locals, and create a UNSC stronghold. It was never as simple as that, though, and the estimates put forward by many UNSC analysts on a two week campaign to secure the occupied worlds were quickly proven wrong, as the fighting over the Insurrectionist colonies stretched into two months. February 5th saw the capitulation of Cygnus II, in a campaign that had cost 50,000 dead marines, civilians, and rebels. Biko and Saracen would follow in the next two weeks, but eleven more planets were still in need of subjugation.
The UNSC’s main advantage against the IFS was their absolute naval supremacy. The revolting IFS worlds weren’t naval shipbuilding worlds, and the one world that could have proven it wrong, Camber, was split evenly between UNSC loyalists and IFS sympathisers, with the heavy UNSC presence stopping it from declaring independence. Any frigate the IFS could muster could and would be countered by an entire CMA or UNSC battlegroup, and the squadrons of fighter-bombers each frigate and cruiser carried in their hangars would be more than enough for a flotilla of rebel corvettes and sloops. In an attempt to counter this, the IFS would reach out to numerous groups of pirate bands operating in the Outer Colonies. In exchange for a hefty cash sum, they would fight for the IFS.
Most said yes, spurred on by the declaration of loyalty to the IFS that Captain Jock Handscomb had made. Handscomb, the leader of the Terran Privateer Association, was the most notable of all pirates, and his support swayed many fence-sitting buccaneers to the rebel side. The promise of payment didn’t seem too bad for them, either. Handscomb began his campaign against the UNSC, by capturing and looting a UNSC supply convoy on its way to Cygnus II. Due to their perceived space superiority, the escorting forces consisted of five Cutlass Class corvettes, which were easily overpowered by Handscomb’s small but well-trained fleet of frigates, led by his flagship, the destroyer Blackbeard. The 400 Mongooses, 150 Warthogs, 24 Scorpion tanks and thousands of small arms would certainly help the cause of the Insurrection, which had officially declared Green Hills its capital.
Several more raids would encourage the UNSC to beef up convoy protection, with light carriers and destroyers being added as convoy escorts. In addition, the UNSC shipyards on Reach, Luna and Mars had begun assembly-line production of Magnetic Accelerator Cannons, a technological marvel that was essentially the most advanced version of throwing a rock. Magnetic coils propelled a large tungsten slug that weighed several tons towards a target. The field tests conducted by the UNSC Gorgon revealed its impressive capability, destroying sixteen Insurrectionist vessels for no damage taken in a single wartime patrol. By 2509, 50% of all vessels in the UNSC Navy would contain a MAC gun, with the larger cruisers and carriers often carrying two.
Back on Earth, Mars and Reach, more technological advances were being made, albeit at a slower pace. The rugged, reliable MA37 ICWS, made by Misriah Armoury, was the standard small arms used by the UNSCDF in every aspect of service. However, the system was beginning to show its age. First brought into service in 2437, it had been with the UNSC longer than the Outer Colonies. As such, development of two replacement programs were begun side-by-side within Misriah. The two programs, named MA5 and the MA4, were tested against each other in a series of trials on Reach. The MA5, carrying on the MA37’s bullpup design, won handily although several reliability issues and financial strain caused the final production model to be delayed until 2495.
Technology simply didn’t stop at weapons. The UNSC Navy, despite the huge boost to capability the MAC gun provided, felt that against smaller targets, such as corvettes, the MAC was overkill. The Ares anti-ship missiles in use currently were too slow, unmanoeuvrable and packed too little a punch for their overall size. After a year in development, Traxus Heavy Industries unveiled the RSM-148 Archer anti-ship missile. The weapon system was faster, more agile and harder-hitting than the preceding Ares missiles, with tests showing that a single Archer could destroy a frigate, essentially ignoring the Titanium-A1 armour plate. The addition of a pod system for the missiles, and the capability to simply refit existing ships with Archer pods meant that it was soon seeing frontline service against the IFS, with terrific results.
Pirate raids became more sporadic and disorganised after the introduction of the MAC and Archers. A raid by 15 pirate vessels, containing several frigates was stopped single-handedly by the destroyer UNSC Arion, which destroyed 12 vessels and forced the remaining three to surrender. The pirates, now organised into a loose federation led by Handscomb, became more cautious and very selective when it came to attacking UNSC convoys. The preferred tactic was to engage immediately after the UNSC ships exited slipspace, to give them as little time as possible to react. This doctrine achieved some success, but more often than not the buccaneers would be forced to retreat, in a tit-for-tat engagement.
A major help to the Insurrection was Albright Shipyards on Camber, which had established a subsidiary company on Concord. This shipyard operated day-and-night, employing over 20% of the workforce on Concord. The facilities churned out a frigate every three weeks, with smaller naval yards launching corvettes, freighters and cutters. This shipyard, named Quantico Assembly, received substantial amounts of funds from Albright Shipyards, which had managed to keep its involvement with the IFS a secret. Over the course of ten years, Albright Shipyards would fund the construction of over 200 ships built for the IFS.
The main cause of concern for the UNSC in the first period of the conflict wasn’t actually the conventional battles. The UNSC had a huge manpower and industrial advantage, which could be put to great use in subjugating rebel worlds. What was more concerning was the terror cells that could sprout up all across UNSC space. IFS sympathisers existed on every UNSC world, and whilst not all of them were willing to put their life on the line for the Insurrection, some were. Bombings became a constant part of life on UEG planets, as did hit-and-run tactics, the raiding of supply depots, and even assassinations of high-ranking UNSC figures.
The UNSC didn’t have an extremely effective way of countering these cells. ONI special warfare teams, whilst effective, were few and far between, and also weren’t as effective in taking prisoners as regular UNSC soldiers were. On the other side of the spectrum, the UNSC Army and Marines weren’t trained in counter-insurgency operations, and thus weren’t nearly as effective as UNSC HIGHCOM wanted them to be. As such, secret funding and resources were allocated to Project: ORION, which began development in 2491. 65 handpicked candidates from the marines, army, ODSTs and navy were brought to Camp Independence, on Reach, for training.
Project: ORION was a continuation of an earlier UNSC program in the 24th Century, that sought to develop a group of soldiers that could perform all manner of counter-insurgency and ONI black operations. A main part of the program was the development of biochemical augmentations that could be injected into the soldiers, making them stronger, physically and mentally. The program had been cancelled in 2327, due to cost overruns and a lack of progress in developing augmentations. However, due to the nature of the Insurrection, ONI revived the program, under the command of Vice Admiral Ira Hawke.
Throughout 2491 and 2492, the candidates trained in all manner of operations, undergoing harsh physical stress. Three candidates were killed in training accidents, and another seven were injured so severely they couldn’t continue with the project. Their trainers and observers of the program, however, commented this ruthless training developed the already experienced soldiers into “unstoppable forces of nature,”, as Admiral Hawke put it. Before undergoing augmentations, they were considered to be among the top tier of the UNSC’s special operations units, having undertaken several covert ops missions on the planet Saracen.
In April 2493, five months into the conventional conflict, the soldiers were given the augmentations. Whilst primitive compared to our current standards, they enhanced reflexes, gave them more physical strength, and heightened awareness. The 55 remaining trainees all survived the process, and formed the nucleus of ONI’s new 7th Operations Group. As soon as their training was complete, 110 new candidates were inducted into training in July, and would be followed in October by another 130. There were plans to incorporate another 300 trainees, but the financial strain of the Insurrection halted any potential plans to expand the program. The total personnel of 300, who would all finish training and augmentations by October 2495, would be split into five companies of 60 ‘sappers’ each, as they were nicknamed after a certain cadet cleared a minefield by throwing a grenade into it.