116th MEU

Pre-UNSC period

The U.N
The United Nations Space Command's history begins with the official establishment of the United
Nations following World War II in 1945, creating for the first time in human history a political and
military entity that could administrate worldwide economic, social and military matters such as
operations and campaigns aimed at providing humanitarian aid and global military intervention
with the objective of preserving peace in unstable regions.

As space exploration progressed in the 21st century, colonization operations required international
cooperation and assistance in order to effectively conduct territorial expansion throughout the Sol
 system. The International Society of Civil Engineers was formed at this time (2021), an organization
 that contributed immensely to furthering the quality of space engineering. National-conservative
 philosophies slowly made way for progressive, international globalization to take effect. An imperative
 change in worldwide government was necessary to accommodate space colonization demands,
which the only global administration organization humanity could rely on - the United Nations - took
initiative to lead. National governments lost their overall authority on a global scale, and it can be
 assumed that national militaries were, as well, absorbed by the international UN military forces.

Solar System colonization
With the radical shift of political power
from divided National governments to the global United Nations, human settlement in the Solar
 System was underway by the mid-21st century. Offering reasonable living conditions and a physical
 composition similar to that of Earth, Mars was the first planet to be colonized, followed by the Jovian
 Moons in 2080, and presumably various satellites and asteroid belts beyond Jupiter afterward.

Formation of the UNSC

Political conflicts (2160-2200)
As the UN's campaign of centralization and globalization progressed and increasingly
 more space settlements were being established, ideological political and economic tensions
 did not disappear with them. With the transition being made from Earth-based capitalism
 to post-industrial space capitalism, elements on the extreme fringe of the political left-wing
saw a rebirth of doctrinal origin, and revolutionary ideas of change once again took the form
 of military organizations.

One of these ideological resurgences centered around Russian-born revolutionary Vladimir Koslov,
 who proceeded to form a Marxist-Leninist guerrilla armed force named after himself; the Koslovics
. With a possibly Maoist or Stalinist undertone, the new group of communists aimed to dismantle
capitalist systems and corporate power on Earth and in newly occupied space territories, putting
 a particularly strong emphasis on liberating orbital installations and orchestrating so-called "workers'
 crusades," or armed campaigns against their foes on the opposite end of the political spectrum.

The Frieden military movement, based in the Jovian Moons and sponsored by corporate powers in
the Unified German Republic, reacted once this upsurge of communism became obvious and Koslovic
 revolutionaries began attacking their infrastructure. Drawing its philosophical origin from twentieth-century
 Fascism and National Socialism, the Frieden's ardent anti-Koslovism and anti-communism convinced them
 to adopt revolutionary ideals as well. Among their primary objectives was gaining corporate independence
 by seceding from UN colonial administration and establishing a self-contained Jovian state. Frieden
propaganda claimed that in order to reach a peaceful (as their German name suggests) and independent
 Jovian nation, the UN, an advocate of internationalism, was to be driven out of the Jovian Moons and
 destroyed around the Solar System, including on home ground.

United Nations militaries soon found themselves pinned from the extreme left-wing and extreme right-wing alike.
These political tensions would soon lead to a final face-down between fascism, communism, and international
representatives of democracy throughout various colonies, space environments, and national territories.

Jovian Moons campaign
Jupiters Moons
Panorama of the Jovian Moons.
Despite Frieden war-mongering propaganda, the Jovian Moons were still held under tight UN control up to 2160,
 having assigned detachments of military advisers to help administrate and possibly train the Jovian inhabitants
 in weapons combat and self-defense in the potential instance an armed conflict would destabilize peace in the area.

In March of 2160, the Frieden's led its first revolutionary assault against UN authority, attacking UN Colonial Advisors on the
 moon Io and giving rise to political reactions on Earth. International UN navies deployed to the Jovian system, engaging the
 fascist rebellion in three months of ship-to-ship, orbital and zero-gravity battle. It is highly likely the UN Navy did not succeed
 in repelling Frieden attacks, as indicated by future rebel mobilizations.

Additional conflicts

The Jovian Moons campaign heated tensions within faltering National governments of Earth, paving the way for wars-by-proxy
 between military corporations, national armies, and political renegades as governments that sponsored colonies in the Solar
System responded to Frieden-UN ballistic exchanges and initiated military campaigns of their own, either for their own benefit,
 or for the benefit or their respective colonies. In a vicious chain reaction, politics on Earth took a downturn to arms mobilization.

Rain Forest Wars
Following a relatively blurry outcome in the Jovian Moons, Koslovic, Frieden and UN forces prepared for an engagement in
South America in the year 2162, one of the most fertile and economically-promising regions of Earth. Presumably in an
 attempt to gain some material goods from industries in South America, the two military juntas assaulted each other
and the UN troops scrambling to defend home territory, culminating in what is now symbolically known as the Rain Forest Wars.

It can be speculated that the conflict in South America resulted in an enormous amount of human casualties, especially in
the lines of infantry on all three sides, due to difficult fighting conditions among the continent's numerous mountain ranges,
rainforests, wildlife and volatile weather. Real consequences of the conflict, however, consisted of severe starvation and
famine on an international scale - which is reason to believe the UN was no longer acting solely as a military defense force
 in the face of political extremists, but also as a primary provider of starvation relief - along with a further tensing of military
 conflicts already raging through the Solar System.

Argyre Planitia Campaign
Argyre
The Argyre Planitia.
In the most spectacular offensive since the start of the bloody tripartite war, UN command adopted a military strategy
 long-forgotten throughout the peace-dominated period prior to the outbreak of the Jovian Moons campaign in 2160 -
 the "Blitzkrieg"-style lightning ground assault. After capturing both Frieden and Koslovic forces on Mars, international
 militaries delivered the first space-deployed contingent of UN Marines in December of 2163 on a mission to crush communist
 infantry encampments in the basin of Argyre Planitia, marking a turning-point in space warfare through dedicated utilizations
 of Marine forces in ground assaults and ship-boarding operations that would follow during the war.

The offensive was an incontestable success for democratic UN militaries. As a result, military theory and strategy implemented
 the use of Marines in high-priority missions as a baseline for successful operations, especially within the context of larger conflicts.

However, the most important consequence of the anti-totalitarian campaign was of both political and military nature. The
United Nations presumably did not control a dedicated space-military prior to the Argyre Planitia Campaign, a lacking
 element which it would replace with a special emergency military force that would come to represent humanity's overall
military might. The United Nations Space Command (or the UN Space Command, as it was initially known) was created.

Final Campaign

Honorfame
As of 2164, psychological results of the campaign on Mars were formidable; civilian trust in the newly formed UNSC
military was boosted by massive televised propaganda, providing the UNSC with large waves of enthusiastic volunteers
from all military services around the world. A sense of urgency, courage and hope helped UN forces scramble extraordinary
divisions of Marines, infantry and fliers for a final campaign to annihilate remaining communist and fascist outposts
and strongholds on Earth as well as throughout the Inner Planets and beyond Jupiter. The final campaign for peace
 lasted from 2164 to 2170 in a series of brutal crackdowns on Frieden and Koslovic hardliners. The result of this war
 gathered strong civilian support for some sort of powerful international military that could repel revolts and uprisings
 wherever they may occur. The UNSC emerged as the leading force to further those goals.

Callisto Treaty

Almost paradoxically, the war formally ended where it had begun: in the Jovian Moons. The Callisto Treaty was
 signed in 2170 by commanders of Koslovic and Frieden forces in the presence of UN colonial authorities,
definitively ending the 10-year-long conflict with a victory of UNSC forces and democratic leadership.

Unified Earth Government

2170 saw the creation of the first multinational and multicolonial representation of democracy in outer space.
 Faced with concerns of overpopulation and starvation on Earth, consequently coupled with a looming
destabilization of capitalist economy, the Unified Earth Government was formed in a time of cultural and military reconstruction.[4]

Interstellar Colonization
Shaw-fujikawa
Massive overpopulation and overmilitarization 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 formed an "elite" society of the best physical and mental human specimens.

By 2490 over eight hundred worlds in the Orion arm of the Milky Way galaxy were colonized. These settlements
ranged 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 human space sprang 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.

Inner Colony Wars
The UNSC participated in the Inner Colony Wars in the 2400s'. Almost nothing to little is known about the wars,
apart that "instant, unformatted news reports caused massive civil unrest" and "almost tore down Earth's culture."
It seems that the war had a major effect upon Earth's cultural development and the UNSC as a whole.

First Special Forces efforts
Before the UNSC expanded its genetic engineering powers to create successful Special Forces programs in the 26th century,
 the Colonial Military Administration experimented with a prototype Special Forces project in the 24th century that tested the
 effects of bio-augmentations on Marine Corps and Navy personnel. The experiments proved ineffective and were formally
canceled as a result, marking the first attempt to create a specialized force of covert-warfare operators in response to
insurgent outbursts within the hierarchical domain of the Unified Earth Government.

Early Insurrection (2494-2525)
Main article: Insurrection
Insurrectionist sci trooper
Halo Wars concept art of Insurrectionist trooper.
Military conflicts continued disrupting UNSC authority in the colonies, particularly in the Outer Colonies where
 several uprisings among working-class agriculturalists and other social classes grew unhappy with the UNSC's
 largely inconsiderate governance. Of major military importance to the UNSC were the rebellions in the Epsilon
 Indi, Epsilon Eridani and 111 Tauri systems.

ORION Project
Main article: ORION Project
Due to increasing risk of insurrectionist activity, the Office of Naval Intelligence conceived a project to train Special Forces
 soldiers in counter-insurgent and counter-revolutionary warfare. The ORION Project sometimes referred to as Spartan I,
 was an Naval Special Warfare program, overseen by the Colonial Military Administration, created to train special advanced
 warfare squads to combat the Insurrection. They became experts in counter-insurgency operations, assassinations, raids
, and eliminating high value targets (all considered black operations).[6] ORION Project personnel utilized SOEIV orbital
drops, Hornets, Armed Assault Boats (which were replaced by the HEV), and Pelican dropships to insert into mission areas.
However, expectations for the new soldiers were not met, and the project was deactivated in 2506, and all members
 reassigned to other Special Operations units.

Harvest
Main article: Operation: KALEIDOSCOPE
Rebel infantry of Harvest and Arcadia.
By 2502, a so-called People’s Occupation Government (or Secessionist Union), rose to challenge Colonial Militia and
 UNSC Marine forces on Harvest, gravitating around an experienced erstwhile police officer and SWAT operator Jerald
 Mulkey Ander. His activity leading up to 2502 determined NAVSPECWAR’s ORION Project to effectively end his rule,
deploying a successful mission involving Corporal Avery J. Johnson to assassinate him and his supreme officers as
 they proceeded with a routine convoy patrol.

Secessionist Union forces were not the sole insurgent powers on Harvest, however. A certain Harvest Rebel Group
with branches reaching as far out as the colony Arcadia [9] maintained a well-organized military presence that relied
on stolen UNSC weaponry and terrorized government forces wherever they crossed their paths.