Venezia

Venezia, referred to by the Sangheili as Sqala, is a human Outer Colony located in the Qab system, formerly governed by the Unified Earth Government and now under the control of centralized insurrectionist militia. Most of the planet is unexplored; New Tyne is essentially the only settlement on the planet, other than scattered farms and factories located ten to fifteen kilometers away from the city. Many small animals lurk around the edges of these settlements. Venezia experiences long, cold, winters, sometimes lasting as long as six Venzian months.

History
Venezia was squarely on the side of the Insurrection during that conflict that defined the turn of the twenty-sixth century. During the war between humanity and the Covenant, Venezia had gone quiet. Prior to January 2543, the colony cut all ties to the Unified Earth Government. The local Colonial Administration Authority bureau on the world was famously destroyed via explosives by the residents. Even after extinction of the human race was narrowly avoided thanks to the Covenant's undoing, people still remembered what Venezia had done prior to the empire's arrival in human space.

On January 27, 2553, the, a Navy patrol ship, was forced to drop out of slipspace near Venezia secondary to a complication with its fusion drive. The Ariadne's commanding officer requested permission to land nonessential personnel on the planet due to the risk posed to their safety, but was refused by tower control. Peter Moritz, the de facto head of the Venezian militia, ruled that the entire thing could be an elaborate ploy to insert UNSC personnel on the planet. The commanding officer of the patrol ship was told that given the situation, it was too dangerous to allow the ship to land or to have Venezians board it to conduct an evacuation Another ship, the destroyer, responded to the plight of the Ariadne and signaled it would journey to the system to assist. Before it could arrive, however, the Ariadne experienced a reactor meltdown the resultant explosion caused the deaths of everyone aboard. Monte Cassino was hailed by Venezia upon its arrival and warned that it was encroaching on the sovereign colony's territorial limits. Though the destroyer's executive officer tried to assure the colony they had no intentions to land and were simply going to conduct search-and-rescue in the patrol ship's debris field, he was rebuffed and warned that if the ship did not withdraw it would be fired upon. The XO, Commander Cerny, fired back by saying they would respond in kind if it came to that and at this Tower Control simply stated that they would have always done that anyways. Before long, an ultra-heavy bolt of superheated plasma barely missed the Monte Cassino, having been launched at it from a Type-38 Tyrant anti-aircraft cannon on Venezia's surface. The destroyer retailiated immediately and in just eighty-two seconds the emplacement that had fired at that was confirmed destroyed by a missile.

In March of that year the Office of Naval Intelligence black operations unit, Kilo-Five, was contacted by Mike Spenser, an ONI spy who had embedded himself amidst the population in New Tyne. Kilo-Five had been present in a when the Monte Cassino and Venezia exchanged fire in January but had not revealed itself. Now, Spenser was inviting the team to meet him on the colony and promising that they should find what he had to show them very interesting. The emerged from slipspace 100,000 kilometers out from the planet and established communication with Spenser, who directed the prowler to a set of coordinates thirty kilometers outside of New Tyne. The Spartan-II Naomi-010 and Orbital Drop Shock Trooper Vasily Beloi were covertly transported to the surface via pelican where they rendezvoused with Mike and followed him to his new home in the city. On March 2553, ODSTs Malcolm Geffen and Vasily Beloi, along with undercover ONI operative Mike Spenser, infiltrated New Tyne disguised as civilians. Once there, they discovered that one of Venezia's high-ranking Insurrectionist leaders was Staffan Sentzke, Naomi-010's father. After participating in an operation on Sanghelios, Kilo-Five returned to the colony to find Sentzke.

They discovered Sentzke was with a T'vaoan shipmaster named Sav Fel, the pirate who had taken the Pious Inquisitor, the ship the UNSC had been looking for due to it posing a major threat. Kilo-Five prioritized the acquisition of the battlecruiser, believing Sentzke was beginning preparation for an attack on the UEG capital, Earth. Ultimately, the Pious Inquisitor was destroyed and Staffan agreed to stop campaigning against Earth and its colonies. Staffan promised to get Moritz to make "peace" with the UNSC if they left the world alone, but he knew the ceasefire would be fragile and uneasy. After Sav mysteriously disappeared, his mate, Nor Fel, consolidated power and wealth in New Tyne in the form of a a clearing house.

By 2553, Venezia sought to strengthen its ties with nearby colonies, such as Gao. Following the war, the Via Casilina Trade Route was established in the region, connecting the Qab, Cordoba, Shaps, Elduros, and Sverdlovsk systems. Venezia also became home to the Keepers of the One Freedom, a cult composed predominantly of Jiralhanae that maintained a belief in a version of the Covenant religion but which remarkably accepted humans in their ranks. During the UNSC's Operation: JOVIAN WHISTLE in July 2553, the Venezian Militia supported Gao politician Arlo Casille in his efforts to drive the UNSC off Gao in order to secure an alliance between the two colonies. The Venezia-based Keepers of the One Freedom were also involved in the crisis, attempting to prevent the UNSC from recovering an invaluable Forerunner ancilla.

Between 2553 and 2557, the UEG sent a diplomatic team escorted by the Spartan-II Linda-058 to Venezia, eliminating a Kig-Yar raiding party in the process, in an operation codenamed BRONZE COBRA. Before October 2558, the Dianthus VISR was discovered by ONI operatives in the arms markets of the planet, but they were unable to discover who manufactured the VISR sensor elements or how widespread the VISR was.

Locations

 * Grexco tantalum extraction plant
 * New Tyne
 * Jarrow Crossroads
 * Mount Longdon Road
 * New Tyne Airfield
 * Nor Fel's clearing house
 * Stavros's bar
 * Stuttgart armory
 * Trattoria Georgi
 * Tiny Birds
 * Weymouth Island

Government and society
Venezia was formerly governed by the Unified Earth Government until the world cut off communications with the UNSC and became lawless prior to 2543. During the war, some members of the Covenant settled on the planet and made peace with the human colonists. The Venezian Militia was formed to protect the planet's citizens and served as the closest thing Venezia had to a legitimate government. Venezia was lawless, but had basic rules that all of the planet's citizens were expected to follow. As long as an individual followed these rules, they could rely on them for protection from others. Minor disagreements were expected to be settled peacefully between individuals and the rules of the road were still followed. The planet had a small defensive fleet consisting of armored freighters in addition to obsolete frigates and patrol craft. The militia had additionally gathered large amounts of air vehicles of both human and Kig-Yar origin.

The planet is not subject to anarchy, but instead is an organized society of exiles, criminals, insurgents, and pirates. Venezia is considered a desired destination for anyone looking to flee their government's authorities. The majority of the planet is populated by humans and Kig-Yar, with some Unggoy, Jiralhanae, and Sangheili. The four species trade and work together, following the basic "rules of decent society". Although, occasionally some break these rules and try to steal from others. This results in the thief being executed by the Venezian Militia. Some buildings, such as the Grexco tantalum extraction plant, are designed to prevent break-ins. Venezia does not follow the traditional banking system used by other human colonies, instead using old colonial credit bank notes and flex cards, or simply employing bartering for goods.

Venezia is apparently rich in tantalum, as much of the planet's economy was built on mining the element.

Notable residents

 * Gareth
 * Mike Amberley
 * Rion Forge
 * Nairn
 * Saul
 * Peter Moritz
 * Nor Fel
 * Sav Fel
 * Reza Linberk
 * Staffan Sentzke
 * Laura Sentzke
 * Hedda Sentzke
 * Edvin Sentzke
 * Janey Sentzke
 * Kerstin Sentzke

Trivia
Venezia is Italian for Venice.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Glasslands
 * Halo: The Thursday War
 * Halo: Mortal Dictata
 * Halo: Last Light
 * Halo 5: Guardians
 * Limited Edition
 * Halo Mythos
 * Halo: Fractures
 * Into the Fire
 * Halo: Smoke and Shadow
 * Halo Wars 2
 * Halo: Retribution