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EspañolUNITED NATIONS SPACE COMMAND
United Nations Space Command Defense Force Emblem
The 'United Nations Space Command' or 'UNSC' is a fictional human world government in the ''Halo'' universe. In ''Halo'' canon, faster-than-light travel made possible the colonization of hundreds of worlds beyond Earth's solar system. Eventually, humanity made first contact with an alien species, the Covenant, and in the next twenty-seven years have fought a gradually more desperate war to hold back the alien invaders.[1]
In 2552, the UNSC has lost all its outer colonies. Its largest and most defended colony is Reach, which eventually falls to the Covenant. This event sparks the beginning of ''. In novels and subsequent games, the structure and society of the UNSC has been expanded. While still fighting with projectile weaponry, which is seen as pitiful by the Covenant,[2] the UNSC is seen to have made several impressive technological advances, including cloning and the creation of the SPARTAN-II supersoldiers, of which the game's protagonist, Master Chief, is the principle figure.
Government Structure
While little of the workings of the UNSC are explained in the video games, the ''Halo'' novels feature much more exposure of the government and military. 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 is said to have 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,[3] and the recruitment and usage of specialized troops (including a third generation of the Spartan program) on missions against critical Covenant targets. The military appears to have have complete control over the prosecution of the war and has never been seen to be hampered by the civilian government.
Cole Protocol
Following the devastation of many colonies, the UNSC decides to make sure no human ship gives away the location of Earth or any other colony.[3] The "Cole Protocol", named after Admiral Preston Cole, states that no ship can leave a battle or encounter with the Covenant on a course that heads directly towards a human outpost - instead, a random jump must be made before returning to human space. Also, vessels must purge their navigational databases and self-destruct if captured, and shipboard AIs must be deleted rather than given to the Covenant. In '', a human space station ''Fermion'' is destroyed by the commanding officer after discovering a Covenant fleet headed towards Reach.[3] The Cole Protocol also inadvertently leads the ''Pillar of Autumn'' to Halo (and causes the events of '' to unfold), after Cortana selects captured coordinates as the basis for the slipspace jump.[3]
History
Formation and space colonization
Main articles: Early Halo universe history
According to the Bungie backstory, the United Nations Space Command was formed as the result of a series of brutal wars across the Solar System between 2160 and 2164, most prominently among them conflicts called the Jovian Moons Campaign and the Rain Forest Wars, as well as a series of battles on Mars. These conflicts were centered on United Nations clashes with several dissident political movements. Lasting over four years, these destructive wars raged across the Earth and its numerous off-world colonies. The brutal three-way war between the United Nations, Communist and Fascist forces sparked a massive buildup of arms and troops within the member states of the United Nations. Utilizing aggressive space-based Marine drops, the United Nations defeated Communist forces on Mars, which paved the way for the future incorporation of United Nations Marine Corps units as primary ground combat elements. It was at this point that the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) was first created to oversee United Nations deployments across the Solar System. The UNSC proceeded to use its overwhelming military might to crush all remaining enemy holdouts across the system, ending with a single Unified Earth Government under the auspices of the UNSC.
Massive overpopulation and a huge military with no enemy to fight in the decades following the defeat of rebel forces 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 starships to colonize the nearest planets and star systems, giving birth to the Inner Colonies. Vast numbers of citizens and soldiers travelled to these new colonies, stabilizing the overpopulation problem on Earth and giving the UNSC military new tasks to handle. As the first colonists were stringently selected, the Inner Colonies eventually formed 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. These colony worlds ranged from fairly well-tamed planetary strongholds to tiny, sparsely inhabited frontier settlements. Outward human 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 in the Epsilon Eridani System, right on Earth's metaphorical doorstep, became the UNSC's primary naval fleet yard and training academy. Reach was a major producer of warships and interstellar colony vessels, as well as a training ground for covert operatives and UNSC 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 against the UNSC. A series of brushfire wars across UNSC space sprung up, with hundreds more colonies threatening to erupt in rebellion as well. By 2517, UNSC estimates put massive, overwhelming and uncontrollable rebellion across human space at less than twenty years away. This resulted in the impetus for the start of the Spartan-II program, to create a powerful corps of human supersoldiers to quickly and quietly deal with colonial insurrections without incurring massive civilian casualties.
The Human-Covenant War
Main articles: Human-Covenant War
In 2525, the UNSC loses contact with the Outer Colony Harvest. A scout ship sent to the scene never reports back. A UNSC battle group consisting of one destroyer, ''Heracles'', and two frigates, the ''Arabia'' and the ''Vostok'', enter the Harvest System. They discover that everything on the planet Harvest has been completely incinerated with the surface melted down to glass. In orbit around the remains of the colony world is 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 of humanity by the Covenant. A massive UNSC force, lead by Admiral Preston Cole, later returns to Harvest and destroys the ship, at the cost of two-thirds of the human vessels.
Soon other outer colonies fell under attack. The UNSC go from one planet to another, but are woefully mismatched compared to the advanced technology of the alien invaders. The Cole Protocol is enacted in an effort to stave off the discovery of the Inner Colonies, as well as Earth. Despite this measure, by 2552, UNSC estimates for how long they can hold off the Covenant from Earth has dwindled to months. The UNSC plans a bold move; a team of SPARTAN-IIs will board a Covenant ship, find the Covenant homeworld and capture a Prophet, in an effort to barter a truce with the aliens. Before the plan can begin, Reach is attacked. Despite a sizeable effort, Reach's MAC guns are taken offline, and the colony falls. A lone ship, the ''Pillar of Autumn'', escapes with the last known SPARTAN-II alive, the Master Chief. ''Halo: Combat Evolved'' Instruction Manual - The Story So Far, , , , Microsoft Game Studios, 2001,
Surprisingly, the ''Autumn'' discovers a massive ringworld of Forerunner origin, which the Covenant call "Halo". The ring has massive religious significance to the Covenant, who see the ring as some sort of weapon.[7] Desperate for an edge over the Covenant, the surviving UNSC forces race to claim Halo's secrets for themselves. However the AI Cortana makes a horrifying discovery; the Halos' weapons would actually destroy all sentient life in the galaxy in order to prevent the spread of the Flood,[8] a deadly parasite that the Covenant accidentally release on the ring. The Master Chief and Cortana singlehandedly rig the crashed ''Autumn''
Despite the destruction of the armada, a much smaller Covenant fleet accidentally discovers Earth soon after, during the events of ''Halo 2''. Covenant ground forces invade and take control of Mombasa, Kenya. Miranda Keyes and her ship, ''In Amber Clad'', pursue a fleeing Prophet Hierarch from Earth and discover another Halo ring. There UNSC forces and Covenant once again clash in dueling efforts to recover the key to activating Halo. Despite the release of the Flood, with the help of the Covenant Elite Arbiter, Keyes and Sergeant Johnson prevent the firing of Halo, although the unexpected shutdown of the Halo system triggers a fail-safe; all the Halos can now be activated from the "Ark", on Earth; at the moment of this discovery, the Master Chief arrives at a besieged Earth aboard a Forerunner ship, ready to "finish the fight".
Military
United Earth Space Corps
The United Earth Space Corps, more commonly known as the "Marine Corps" is the main ground combat arm of the UNSC. The Marine Corps is adapted to a wide variety of combat operations, and is composed of infantry 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.
Orbital Drop Shock Troopers
The Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODSTs) are an elite special forces group of the UNSCDF Marine Corps, commanded by Naval Special Warfare. They are dropped into their mission areas by an HEV (Human Entry Vehicle) low-orbit drop. It is an all volunteer outfit, and as mentioned in the book , it takes a "special kind of crazy" to join, as their nickname, "Helljumpers," suggests. The ODST often find themselves at odds with the rest of the UNSC Marine Corps and some view themselves as above the Marines. They are analogous to various types of Special Forces personnel such as Marine Force Recon and Navy SEALs.
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 . 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, 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(108000 km/h). 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 .
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 a 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.
Office of Naval Intelligence
The emblem of the Office of Naval Intelligence.
The Office of Naval Intelligence, often shortened 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-II and -III 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 the UNSC is to losing the war with the Covenant.
Section Three is the element of ONI that has established the SPARTAN project, and handles other special weapons projects. It features heavily in the novel , forming the SPARTAN-IIIs, a specialized force of "mass produced" SPARTAN supersoldiers intended to strike critical Covenant targets with little chance of survival.
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. [1]
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.
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.
Magnetic Accelerator Cannon
Cairo Orbital MAC Station docking with the UNSC ship ''In Amber Clad''
The 'Magnetic Accelerator Cannon' are coilguns used extensively by the UNSC. These weapon systems are mounted on most UNSC capital ships - destroyers, cruisers, frigates, and carriers. Larger versions are used on orbital defense platforms.[11] The weapons are among the most effective in the UNSC arsenal against the Covenant, even more so than nukes; while ship-based MAC guns can pierce Covenant shielding in two hits, orbital-based MACs are able to punch a hole through a Covenant capital ship with one round.[12]
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 anti-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 light anti-armor duties.
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.
The ''Pillar of Autumn''.
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. After a year or two they start to degenerate in a process called Metabolic Cascade Failure until they die from various neurological and physiological 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.
However, with an available DNA sample, flash cloning can be used to clone replacement organs (or even limbs) which do not 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 survived the process of copying Dr. Halsey's memories to it, and the only remaining one was destroyed in the process of cognitive impression mapping.
See also
★ Covenant (Halo)
★ SPARTAN-II Project
References
1. ''Halo: Combat Evolved'' Instruction Manual, , , , Microsoft Game Studios, 2001,
2. , , William, Dietz, Ballantine Books, 2003,
3. , , Eric, Nylund, Ballantine Books, 2001,
4. , , Eric, Nylund, Ballantine Books, 2001,
5. , , Eric, Nylund, Ballantine Books, 2001,
6. , , Eric, Nylund, Ballantine Books, 2001,
7. 'Cortana': One moment Sir. Accessing Covenant battlenet. (Pause) According to the data in their networks, the ring has some kind of deep religious significance. If I'm analyzing this correctly...they believe that Halo is some kind of weapon. One with vast, unimaginable power. / 'Keyes': Well...that's true. The Covenant kept saying, "Whoever controls Halo controls the fate of the universe." -
8. 'Cortana': You have no idea how this ring works, do you? Why the forerunners built it? Halo doesn't kill flood, it kills their food. Humans, covenant, whatever. We're all equally edible. The only way to stop the flood is to starve them to death. And that's exactly what Halo is designed to do; wipe the galaxy clean of all sentient life.-
9. 'Cortana': According to my analyses of the available data, I believe the best course of action is somewhat... risky. An explosion of sufficient size will help destabilize the ring, and will cut through a number of primary systems. We need to trigger a detonation on a large scale, however. A starship's fusion reactors going critical would do the job. -
10. ''Halo 2'' Instruction Manual, , , , Microsoft Game Studios, 2004,
11. , , Eric, Nylund, Random House, 2001, ISBN 0-345-45132-5
12. 'Sgt. Johnson': The Cairo is just one of three hundred geosync platforms. That MAC gun can put a round clean through a Covenant capital ship. -
External Links
★ Halopedia - Halo Knowledge center
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