The Rubble

A member of Gray Team in the Rubble.

The Rubble was a settlement in the 23 Librae system. It consisted of hundreds of hollowed-out asteroids, moved together and connected by docking tubes, trailing the gas giant Hesiod in the L5 Lagrange point. The Rubble was inhabited by Kig-yar and Insurrectionists in an uneasy peace, with a large portion of its population made up by survivors from the human colony of Madrigal, which was glassed by the Covenant. The Rubble also had its own Insurrectionist-owned, and almost certainly rampant AI Juliana.

History

The asteroids that made up the Rubble were first colonized by several groups of humans, primarily Insurrectionists, sympathizers, or surviving colonists from the UNSC world Madrigal. Connected by flexible docking tubes, each of these asteroids had its own means of propulsion, and they were kept together by the machinations and calculations of the smart AI Juliana. She had been operating far past her normal 7 year life span and was approaching rampancy, but she had to remain in operation because the tasks that she performed were too difficult for humans.

The station was home to several ships that had navigational data that led back to Earth. After the enactment of the Cole Protocol, Spartan Gray Team was sent to The Rubble to eliminate the data. In the end, only one set of NAV data managed to survive this event.

Contact with the Kig-Yar

At some point after the Rubble's initial colonization, a Kig-Yar vessel passed through Hesiod's asteroid field and discovered the Rubble. As the ship scanned the asteroids and the Rubble's inhabitants considered whether to attack or to flee the system, Peter Bonifacio hailed the craft and proposed a trade agreement with the Kig-Yar. He explained that the humans inhabiting the Rubble were not affiliated with the UNSC, and sent them a manifest of the goods within the Rubble's storage centers. One month later, a Kig-Yar named Reth responded favorably to the proposition, offering Covenant weaponry in exchange for human Slipspace engines.

Unknown to the rest of the Covenant, the Kig-Yar were actually secretly permitted to engage in trade by the Prophet of Truth, who hoped to find the location of Earth. Meanwhile, the people of the Rubble considered their relationship with the Kig-Yar to be a first step toward peace with the Covenant - they viewed the Human-Covenant War as being the UNSC's fault, and believed that through negotiation, humanity could actually become a client race of the Covenant.

Discovery by the UNSC and Covenant

After discovering modified Covenant weaponry originating from Rubble's system, the Prophet of Regret declared Reth and his associates to be heretics, and ordered Thel 'Vadamee and his team of Zealots to deal with them. Thel and his crew traveled to the system aboard the vessel Retribution's Thunder, along with the Kig-Yar raider A Psalm Every Day captained by Chur 'R-Mut and the Jiralhanae Chieftain Pellius. After the Covenant force discovered the Rubble, A Psalm Every Day opened fire on the Thunder; Pellius had decided to seize control of the vessel and betray Thel and his crew, so that he would have the sole honor of finding the Rubble. Thel and his team were subsequently captured and imprisoned on the Rubble.

Shortly afterward, the Rubble was discovered by the UNSC, who sent Spartan Gray Team to investigate it. Later, the UNSC light frigate Midsummer Night tracked the freighter Kestrel to the Rubble, where they were subsequently attacked and forced to dock with one of the asteroids.

Destruction

The Kig-yar of the Rubble betrayed the humans and in 2535, planned to attack them. In response, Juliana ordered the citizens to evacuate into the mobile habitat known as the Exodus Project, and worked in concert with the Spartan Gray Team and the crew and ODSTs of the UNSC frigate Midsummer Night then used the empty sections of The Rubble to bombard the enemy before they could get all their transports and warships airborne and attack the humans.

In the Rubble's final moments, part of it was moved by the AI Juliana into a position which would cause the moon Metisette to collide with it. The Exodus Project was transported via slipspace to the 18 Scorpii System, where it disintegrated to form a debris ring around the colony world of Falaknuma.

Government

The Rubble's government was a "technocracy" - an internet democracy - that allowed all of the residents to vote on everything. They would allow anyone to become Rubble citizens, although all UNSC military had to swallow a motion tracker in the form of a pill that would allow the Rubble's AI to track their location. They would also have to report for counseling and would be assigned a case officer that would review their integration process.

Security and defense

The Rubble's security was operated by the Rubble Security Council that was elected by the Rubble citizens. Though most of the security council was corrupted, there were a few to stand with the UNSC.

The Rubble had no official military force but instead had the Rubble Defense Force, which was essentially a glorified militia. The defense force was controlled by the Rubble Security Council and kept its weapons and munitions on Habitat Greenworthy. The asteroids were also protected by a number of Mass Drivers as well as a small space fighter force.

Known residents

• Peter Bonifacio - Security Council member, deceased
• Diego Esquival - Security Council member, deceased
• Karl Simon - Resident, Rubble Defense Force member
• Maria Esquival - Resident
• Melko Hollister - Resident, co-pilot of the Distancia, deceased
• Ignatio Delgado - Resident, pilot of Distancia
• Owen - Resident
• Adriana-111 - Temporary
• Jai-006 - Temporary
• Mike-120 - Temporary

Trivia

Due to the many Spanish names given to the residents, ships, firearms, and habitats of the Rubble, it is likely that most of Madrigal/the Rubble's residents are of Hispanic descent.