User blog comment:Azecreth/Alternate universe help/@comment--20110211143308/@comment-1634809-20110211173438

They have changed. The UNSC lost the War of Ideologies, leading to a totalitarian state. The Sanghieli-San' Shyuum War had a different ending, with the Sanghieli not surrendering to the San' Shyuum. They then end with a cease fire years later, to keep both civilizations from being wiped out. religious extremism is tempered, and the new union sees their duty as that of protecting the legacy of the Forerunners, mainly the Halo Array. the war is fiercer because of more advanced technology on both sides: the INSC has focused more on military technologyy in the pre-war years than the UNSC did, and the Progeny can use the Forerunner technology to it's fullest power, since they aren't restricted by puritanism.