Canon

Colonial Administration Authority

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Colonial Administration Authority
The Colonial Administration Authority logo from the CAA Factbook on Bungie.net. This PNG crop is extracted from a recreation by User:ScaleMaster117, linked below.
Body overview

Head of body:

Unified Earth Government[1]

Government branches:

Societal overview

Official language(s):

English, and many others

Official religion(s):

Multi-religious

Currency:

UN credit

Historical overview

Formation:

2310[1][3][4]

Reorganized:

By 2525 until 2552, absorbed by the United Nations Space Command

 

The Colonial Administration Authority (CAA), also known as the Colonial Administration[5] is a human governmental body subordinate to the central Unified Earth Government (UEG). The CAA was formed in 2310 alongside its military arm, the Colonial Military Authority (CMA),[1][3] with both collectively semi-officially known as the Colonial Authority (CA).[4] Together, the Colonial Authority acts as the collective governance and representation for humanity's colony worlds under the UEG, while the United Nations continues to similarly-represent the constituent nations of Earth itself.[6] The role and scope of the Colonial Authority greatly diminished during the back-to-back Insurrection and Human-Covenant War, resulting in the CAA retaining only a marginal role in the post-war world.[1]

The seal of the Colonial Authority is described as a looming profile of an iconic eagle in a circle of seventeen bright stars. The eagle's wing shelters a group of colonists, their hopeful eyes watching a fleet of sleek colony ships flying along the eagle's upturned beak—an image that suggested expansion through unity.[7]

History[edit]

A banner of the Colonial Authority.

The Colonial Administration Authority was established by the Unified Earth Government in 2310, alongside the Colonial Military Authority.[3] Formed two decades after the invention of the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine, the CAA was tasked with planning for humanity's extra-solar settlement and colonization, spending the following decades preparing for the inevitable exodus from the Sol system that would occur. The Domus Diaspora began as colony ships left Sol to settle worlds in other systems, beginning with Reach and Tribute in the Epsilon Eridani system.[8][9]

Prior to the onset of the Insurrection, many individuals felt sympathy for the rebels, blaming the Colonial Authority's heavy-handed bureaucrats for their increasingly poor understanding of the unique challenges among the Outer Colonies. However, as more radical insurgent factions abandoned politics, negotiations, and protesting for violence, targeting military infrastructure and key CAA supporters, support for the rebels soon died out as their actions grew more extreme.[10] However, during the conflict, insurrectionists (such as Jonas Sladwal) were able to infiltrate the CAA and act as spies for the rebels, feeding information on CAA colonial convoys and schedules to their allies. This contributed to the arming of insurrectionist factions early in the conflict,[11] with the insurrectionists later turning their weapons back on CAA buildings and personnel. Both were heavily targeted by rebels late in the war.[5]

In 2496, ORION operatives were able to obtain a non-official cover list of Secessionist Union operatives implanted within the CMA. This began the VERITAS scandal, which ultimately saw the beginning of the CMA's decline and subsumation into the UNSC,[12] culminating in their final absorption at the beginning of the Human-Covenant War in 2525.[4][13] The CAA did not suffer quite the same loss of prestige as their military arm, though toward the later years of the Insurrection found its activities much more heavily restricted by the UEG and scrutinised by the UNSC's intelligence arm, the Office of Naval Intelligence. UNSC commanders deployed on worlds with insurrectionist activity frequently disregarded CAA directives, effectively suspending civilian governance on the affected worlds in the name of military expediency.[4]

The trend of continued Colonial Authority decline continued well into the Human-Covenant War. Over the course of the conflict, the Unified Earth Government granted substantial authority to the UNSC as a result of emergency powers and breakdown of interstellar governance.[14] The CAA was more resistant to the takeover than the UEG proper, and thus it was stripped of most of its power.[6] Despite this, the CAA Factbook was still being updated as late as 2550.[15]

Following the Covenant War, power was restored to the UEG[14] and the CAA returned to its administrative duties as a division of the UEG, although the CAA's influence has become marginal.[1] During the Created conflict in 2558, Jiang, the Colonial Authority AI of Erdenet, defected to the Created.[16]

Organization and powers[edit]

The Colonial Administration Authority serves as the administrative body for the colonies of the Unified Earth Government.[1] In this capacity, the CAA governed the colonies in the UEG's name,[17] its bureaucrats aiding in the management of population and employment,[10] providing power for newly-established colonies, and ensuring the quality of colonial infrastructure - with major systems requiring annual checks.[18] However, colonies maintained sovereignty to some degree, as mandated by the Colonial Authority's own charter.[19] Worlds under the CAA are bound by the CAA Laws of Deep Space,[20] which set out acceptable conduct for colony worlds and colonial governments. The laws prohibit the act of marooning, preventing its inclusion in any colony's Planetary Penal Code.[21]

The CAA kept extensive files on every colony, world, and city under its care. The document containing these files was referred to as the CAA Factbook.[15] These files contained everything from topographic maps to the information on the materials the city sewer system was built from. The CAA provided this information to UNSC military forces upon request, and it could be very helpful when defending colonies from Covenant attack.[22] In addition, the CAA oversaw the Outer Colony vaccination program which held the largest DNA database of the human population.[23]

The Colonial Military Authority served as the military arm of the CAA, until it was folded into the United Nations Space Command in 2497.[1] While the CMA maintained its own fleet, its strength eventually shrunk as the UNSC encroached on the CMA's power and influence before absorbing the organization entirely.[17] The CAA formerly housed its own intelligence agency, the Department of Colonial Security. When the CAA lost its power, the DCS was incorporated into the Office of Naval Intelligence.[2] Policing and law enforcement for the CAA is handled by the CAA Marshals, who have authority on every UEG world save for Earth, and often serve as a sort of frontier sheriff in the Outer Colonies.[4] The CAA operates its own prisons, such as Detention Center 3063-OM-Y.[24][25]

The CAA is also responsible for the operation of various starships, with such vessels bearing the hull prefix CAA. Vessels operated are predominantly civilian in nature, including colony ships and freighters. The CAA's military vessels are operated by the CMA Navy.

Gallery[edit]

List of appearances[edit]

Sources[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Halo: Warfleet, page 90
  2. ^ a b Halo: Mortal Dictata, chapter 2
  3. ^ a b c Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide, page 228
  4. ^ a b c d e Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition), page 54-55
  5. ^ a b Halo: Evolutions - Dirt
  6. ^ a b halo.bungie.org, Frank O'Connor/Robt McLees Interview - August 2008 (Retrieved on Sep 22, 2025) [archive]
  7. ^ Halo: Contact Harvest, chapter 5
  8. ^ Halo Mythos, chapter 54-55
  9. ^ Halo Waypoint, Tribute (Retrieved on Sep 19, 2015) [archive]
  10. ^ a b Halo: Contact Harvest, chapter 4
  11. ^ Halo: Retribution, chapter 19
  12. ^ Halo Waypoint, Spartans (Retrieved on Oct 27, 2015) [archive]
  13. ^ Halo Wars, Timeline Events: 1 November 2525
  14. ^ a b Halo Waypoint, UEG (Retrieved on Oct 27, 2015) [archive]
  15. ^ a b Bungie.net, CAA Factbook (Retrieved on Mar 7, 2013) [archive]
  16. ^ Halo 5: Guardians, campaign level Guardians
  17. ^ a b Halo Encyclopedia (2011 edition), page 43
  18. ^ Halo: Contact Harvest, chapter 11
  19. ^ Halo: Contact Harvest, chapter 15
  20. ^ Halo: Oblivion, chapter 20
  21. ^ Halo: Oblivion, chapter 10
  22. ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, chapter 20
  23. ^ Dr. Halsey's personal journal, page February 15, 2511
  24. ^ Halo: Retribution, chapter 5
  25. ^ Halo: Moonrise Over Mombasa

v • d • e
 
Colonial Authority
Military forces

v • d • e
 
Polities, organizations, and civilizations
Contemporary
Interstellar/Interplanetary organizations Banished • Covenant • Swords of Sanghelios • Created • Children of Oth Sonin • Concert of Worlds • Frieden • Insurrectionists (Arcadia/Harvest • New Colonial Alliance • People's Occupation • People's Occupation Government • Secessionist Union (Eridanus secessionists) • United Rebel Front) Koslovics • San'Shyuum flotilla (Dhas Bhasvod's Covenant • Tem'Bhetek's faction) • Unified Earth Government (Colonial Authority • United Nations Space Command)
Planetary/Local organizations Castoffs • Defenders of the Sanctum • Eridanus Government • Gao Republic • Insurrectionists (Bandusa • Freedom and Liberation Party • Galodew Emancipation • Gao Liberation Force • Sundered Legion) • Joyous Exultation Covenant • Khabnathwa • Neo-Frieden • Prospector Party • Sedran government • Stewards • United Nations (Nations) • Unggoy government • Ussans • Venezian Militia
Private organizations 'Gajat mercenaries • Shields of Requiem
Religious organizations Covenant remnants ('Mdama's Covenant • 'Nyon's Covenant • Keepers of the One Freedom • Vol's Covenant) • 'Refumee's heretics • Servants of the Abiding Truth
Planetary/Local organizations Council of City States • Reformists (Keepers of the Dawn) • Stoics
Ancient
Interstellar organizations Ecumene • Human-San'Shyuum alliance • Ancestors
Planetary/Local organizations Erde-Tyrene civilization • Sedaaro • Tudejsa
Protogenic
Italics denote entities that are confirmed or assumed to be defunct given currently available information.
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