Operation: VERITAS

Operation: VERITAS was a classified UNSC military operation undertaken by operators of the ORION Project during the Insurrection. The operation was a success, but would inadvertently contribute to the ORION Project's demise.

The operation
After the success of Operation: CHARLEMAGNE in 2496, ORION operatives were found to be an effective tool in combating the insurrection. Consequently, during the remainder of that year and in subsequent years ORION operatives were assigned to numerous other classified missions. VERITAS was one such operation. Undertaken against the Secessionist Union in late 2496 or early 2497, specifics of the operation are classified. It is known, however, that during the course of the operation ORION assets managed to secure a list of undercover Secessionist Union NOC operatives who were working in various high-level offices within the CMA.

Repercussions
As a result of the discovery of Insurrectionist agents embedded within the CMA, the United Nations Space Command immediately moved to dissolve the CMA and absorb its functions. Consequently, the UNSC made public this discovery of CMA involvement with insurrectionists in 2497. This signaled the beginning of the demise of the CMA, as due to security concerns its resources were slowly shifted to NAVCOM or UNICOM and its duties were relegated to patrolling the UEG's most distant colonies and providing logistical support to remote stations. The CMA would ulitimately be suspended at the onset of the Human-Covenant War with the UNSC's declaration of emergency powers.

As a result of UNSC efforts to disolve the CMA, funding allocated to the ORION Project was dutifully redistributed elsewhere. Therefore, in an unintended consequence of its own success, VERITAS lead to the eventual dissolution of the ORION Project. Although the Office of Naval Intelligence's Beta-5 Division eventually took control of the project, increasing the number of personnel to a peak of three hundred, prohibitive cost as well as deteriorating physical and mental conditions among ORION operators lead to a gradual winding-down of the program. ORION assets continued to lead operations such as KALEIDOSCOPE and TANGLEWOOD, though with increasing inefficiency, until 2506 when the project was finally deactivated and its surviving 165 personnel distributed to posts through the UNSC. Many, such as Avery Johnson, would go on to enjoy long careers due to the positive effects of their genetic augmentation, although others would suffer severe effects, referred to as Boren's Syndrome, and be forced to retire.

Trivia
The operation's name comes from the Latin word "Veritas, -atis" meaning "truth", "honesty", or "integrity".