Human colonies: Difference between revisions

Under the administration of the [[Unified Earth Government]], [[human]]ity has surveyed and colonized a vast number of worlds across the [[Orion Arm]] of the [[Milky Way]] galaxy over 200 years of [[Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine|superluminal travel]] via [[slipstream space]], following nearly three centuries of expansion across the [[Sol system]]. The planets under the jurisdiction of the UEG, together with [[Earth|humanity's homeworld]], are collectively referred to as '''"Earth and Her Colonies"'''.<ref>'''[[Halo 3]]''' level, ''[[Halo (Halo 3 level)#Eulogy|Halo (Eulogy)]]''</ref> As of [[2490]], a total of 800 colonies had been established, many of them firmly under the influence of the UEG with some seeking to secede from humanity's empire.<ref name="xboxhalo">[[Xbox.com/Halo]] - Timeline</ref> The worlds are generally divided among the stable [[Inner Colonies]] and the more numerous and restless [[Outer Colonies]], and are highly diverse in terms of [[Human culture|culture]]; some worlds have their foundations in the cultural heritage of a single [[National government|Earth nation]], while others have more varied population bases.<ref>'''Halo: Contact Harvest''', ''page 61-62''</ref>

 

 

While the Unified Earth Government is technically a confederation of equal, independently-governed worlds, this is not true in practice;<ref name="enc43"/> the interests of Earth and the Inner Colonies weigh far more heavily in the government's decision-making than those of the Outer Colonies. This has led to tensions and even [[Insurrection|civil war]] between the UNSC and the outer settlements,<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rPeMxbvCjYo '''YouTube''': ''Halo: From A to Z with Frank O'Connor'']</ref> which many of the Inner Colonies relied on for their foodstuffs and resources.<ref name="xboxhalo"/>

Over 110,000 years ago, humanity was an advanced, spacefaring race, and had colonized thousands of worlds across the [[Orion Arm]] of the galaxy. However, after [[Human-Flood war|being exhausted]] by the parasitic [[Flood]] and eventually suffering a disastrous defeat against the [[Forerunner]]s in the [[human-Forerunner wars]], the Forerunners forcibly regressed humanity to a [[Technological Achievement Tiers|Tier 7]] [[Erde-Tyrene civilization|species]] and all traces of this advanced civilization were erased.

Despite these successes, the efforts did not solve Earth's overpopulation issue. It eventually led to political unrest, contributing to the formation of political movements promising independence from the national governments on Earth and the perceived oppression by the [[United Nations]].<ref name="xboxhalo"/> Operating across the colonized worlds and orbital platforms of the Sol system, the [[Frieden]] movement and the [[Koslovics]] were the most prominent of these rebel factions. Beginning with a Frieden attack on the [[United Nations Colonial Advisors]] in the Jovian Moons and the [[Jovian Moons Campaign|subsequent UN response]], battles were fought over the colony worlds—as well as [[Rain Forest Wars|Earth itself]]—from 2160 to [[2170]], culminating in a UN victory in the [[Interplanetary War]]. The outcome of the space wars led to the establishment of the [[Unified Earth Government]] as a centralized governing body tasked to ensure Earth's influence over the colony worlds and a powerful, united military force known as the [[United Nations Space Command]].<ref name="xboxhalo"/>

The technological innovation of the [[Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine]] in [[2291]] sprung the human civilization into the [[Technological Achievement Tiers#Tier 3: Space-Faring|space-faring age]], allowing them to travel beyond [[Sol system]]. Half a century later, the UEG constructed its first line of [[colony ship]]s - led by ''[[Odyssey]]'' - to initiate the expansion of human habitation, relieving the growing pressure of overpopulation on Earth and the off-world colonies across the Sol system.<ref name="xboxhalo"/> To manage governance in the extrasolar colonies as well as to ensure their security from [[piracy|pirates]] and other threats, the UEG established the [[Colonial Administration Authority]] and the [[Colonial Military Administration]] in [[2310]].<ref>'''[[Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide]]''', ''page 228''</ref> Two centuries later, both bodies would be marginalized—the latter due to widespread insurgent sympathies in its ranks—and eventually absorbed into the UNSC's [[emergency military]] government in [[2525]].<ref>[http://halostory.bungie.org/oconnor_mclees_080508.html '''Halo Story Page''': ''Frank O'Connor/Robt McLees Interview - August 2008'']</ref>

The Inner Colonies' reliance on the Outer Colonies prompted the Unified Earth Government to maintain its hold over the Outer Colonies, but it inevitably began to lose its ability to do so as the Outer Colonies eventually surrounded the core worlds and far surpassed them in number. The overbearing influence of the Earth government, enforced by the UNSC and, initially, the [[Colonial Military Administration]], led to a growing secessionist sentiment among Outer Colony citizens. The more radical elements of this movement took up arms against the UNSC, sparking a series of brushfire wars—collectively known as the Insurrection—in the late 2490's.<ref name="cole"/>

On April 20, [[2525]], contact with the Outer Colony, [[Harvest]], was lost. After failing to re-establish contact with Harvest, the [[Colonial Military Administration]] sent a scout ship, the ''[[CMA Argo|Argo]]'', to investigate. Contact with the Argo was subsequently lost after the ship arrived in the Harvest system, plunging humanity into a deadly war with an alien hegemony known as the [[Covenant]]. Harvest was [[orbital bombardment|bombarded from orbit]] in a process which would come to be known as [[glassing]], marking the beginning of a 28-year war with the Covenant. During the war, hundreds of human colonies were destroyed and billions of human civilians and military personnel were killed by the Covenant.

 

Following the conclusion of the war, an extensive reconstruction process began in order to rebuild humanity's shattered colonial empire. By 2589, glassed colonies like Reach had been re-terraformed to some degree and open for re-settlement.<ref>'''Halo: Reach''', campaign level ''[[Lone Wolf]]''</ref> However, the absence of the Covenant threat also marked a resurgence in rebel activity, with worlds including [[Venezia]] rejecting Earth's offers of cooperation, accusing the UNSC of abandoning them during the war.<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 70''</ref>