The Hand Of Shadow

"Look, they aren't considered a breakaway faction anymore. They are a full on organization that is dangerous, maybe even more than the URF. It's why they get along with the so well."

- Anonymous, 2624, a year before the fall of Beta Hydri VI The Hand of Shadow was a breakaway Insurrectionist Faction that split away from the United Rebel Front after ONI revealed the URF's biggest secret: Experiment Gladiator. A quarter of the URF broke away, and the Rebel Civil War began.

Rebel Civil War
Despite fighting the URF, the Hand of Shadow refused any support from ONI or the UNSC, due to still distrusting both the former and the latter. The Hand of Shadow would steal from URF and UNSC strongholds, where they would steal weapons and vehicles, or resort to the Black Market. Much of the fighting was on separate worlds, mostly unorganized, with the exception of a few cases.

Agreement
The Hand of Shadow would make an agreement with the Banished and would work together, having all of their nearby fighters come together and attack Beta Hydri VI. While the alliance was short-lived, due to the Banished abandoning them during the space battle over Beta Hydri VI, it showed that the Hand of Shadow wasn't afraid to get their hands dirty.

Beta Hydri VI
Beta Hydri VI was the first target for the Hand of Shadow and Banished's show of force, as the planet was where a wave of Spartan-IVs trained, and was going to be trained until the attack. The battle lasted for three days, with Human and Banished troops managing to raid hundreds of colonist homes, and leaving many children parentless. During the battle, New Compton, the planets' capital, was taken under occupation by the Hand of Shadow. Civilians who survived the conflict were killed during the glassing of the world. Unfortunately for both the Banished and the Hand of Shadow, UNSC and Sword of Sanghelios warships exited slipspace near the planet after not being able to contact UNSC personnel on the world, and pushed back HOS forces and scattered them across the galaxy, while the Banished made a quick escape during the battle.

After the battle, ONI officially changed the groups official status from a "breakaway faction", to a full-on "galactic threat".

Regrouping
After the battle, the Hand Of Shadow established a strong presence on the planet of Desparius. They managed to recruit much of the planet's human population and even manage to steal from it's shipyards, establishing the fleet it has now.

Weapons
The following are common weapons that the Hand of Shadow currently use. Almost all of them are bought from the black market, in separate loads, or, stolen.
 * Colt Blaster HDW Mk.15
 * (Sidearm only)
 * (Sidearm only)
 * MA5I Assault Rifle
 * (Rarely)
 * (Rarely)
 * (Rarely)
 * (Rarely)
 * (Rarely)
 * (Sidearm only)
 * (Sidearm only)
 * MA5I Assault Rifle
 * (Rarely)
 * (Rarely)
 * (Rarely)
 * (Rarely)
 * (Rarely)
 * (Rarely)
 * (Rarely)
 * (Rarely)
 * (Rarely)
 * (Rarely)

Vehicles
The following vehicles are currently utilized by the Hand of Shadow, with these vehicles either being stolen or illegally bought or made through unknown means.
 * Scorpion Tank
 * Scorpion Tank

Ships
The Hand of Shadow became so powerful that it managed to get ahold of a few UNSC ships, having around 20-30 ships, these ships being the following classes known to be used:

Flagship
The Hand Of Shadow's flagship was a stolen Sword Of Sanghelios, which was first obtained in 2600. It was destroyed in 2625 by a UNSC Magnetic Accelerator Cannon nearby Beta Hydri Vi, where it would crash into the world.

Known Personnel

 * Johnathen Packard

Strategies
Many of the fighters in the Hand of Shadow would mainly perform assasinations on wealthy or important individuals, but would also resort to more deadly measures and perform full-on invasions and occupation of areas, the most notable being the occupation of New Compton on Beta Hydri VI in 2625 until they pulled out during the Banished's glassing of the world. However, some fighters would take desperate measures and perform suicide bombings.

Motivations
The motivations of the Hand of Shadow would vary between cells, some being religious, but it was originally because of their disgust of Experiment Gladiator. However, further on, it became clear that their motivation was the complete and utter destruction of the Unified Earth Government, where they would become allies with the Banished to do so.

Much of the motivations were similar to the URF, as they wanted to get out from UNSC control.

Trivia

 * The name was inspired by an old real-life underground group known as the Black Hand.