Halo: Elysian Fields/Chapter 1

OCTOBER, 2507 ELYSIUM CITY ERIDANUS II, 82 ERIDANUS SYSTEM

After he put the chatter down, he looked up at the sky. It was brilliant; it looked as if someone had ignited a second star above the planet, but that’s not what happened. His men were successful, if only. Two tortured and killed by those Office of Naval Intelligence fucks who had turned one of his lieutenants. That lieutenant didn't live very long.

Current estimates for casualties during the bombing included six Naval Special Warfare operators and fifty civilians who couldn't evacuate in time. The nuclear explosion's EMP took down eight of the evacuating craft, forcing them to crash into the surface of the planet. That added another three-hundred casualties to the list. Hell, even the newspapers were calling it a major psychological and propaganda victory for the United Rebel Front.

Meh, he thought. They'll never get it right.

He was the former Marine Corps Colonel named Robert Watts, formerly assigned to M-EDF 4/13/3. They had gained their place in Marine Corps history for brutally suppressing the Far Isle rebellion; despite the fact that the rebellion was ended with the nuclear and kinetic armaments of over two-hundred fifty naval ships.

He was there when they did it.

He had looked out of the main view screen on the bridge of the UNSC ''Trafalgar' as they fired their nuclear payload at the planet.

That beautiful planet, with all its life, was destroyed within two hours.

He also watched as the cocky Longsword pilots indiscriminately targeted the evacuating freighters. All of those had been packed with fleeing refugees, mainly those who had nothing to do with the rebellion, and yet, they had been destroyed in cold blood.

What pissed him off the most wasn't that they had destroyed the fleeing ships; what pissed him off the most was that they joked about it. The ship’s crew joked for weeks about how the colony’s atmosphere and water boiled away, the pilots always bragged about how many undefended ships they shot down that day, and even the Marines under his command bragged about torturing the rebels they had caught.

After that, he made up his mind. When the fleet came back to Reach for rest and relaxation, he had packed a small duffel bag with only his most valuable belongings. He destroyed anything that would let ONI track him down, and boarded a ship for Tribute. From there, he went off the grid, and was classified as MIA by the UNSC until he resurfaced in 2503, this time as the leader of the UNSC's most feared enemy: the Secessionist Union.

The Secessionist Union had always been a thorn in the side of the UNSC; even since 2494. They had made several attempted coups against the colonial government of Eridanus II, but those were always put down by Naval Special Warfare. It was even rumored that they had been put down by what they called the "Special Special Forces" – super soldiers. Those were just rumors though, night-time fairytales to strike fear into the hearts of the naughty children so they could repent.

He had taken the reigns of the organization in 2502, after the targeted killing of his superior. Whoever had pulled off that shot was an amazing sniper; he had killed the former-Major Ander and his body guards with a single bullet from quite a distance away, while Ander and his goons were in a fast-moving vehicle.

It was after the resulting change of command that Watts stepped up to the plate and began to reform the Union's assets. He pulled their Harvest branch; at the time it was the more centralized the better. He rooted out and personally executed every traitor who had sold out to ONI, and cut off the useless ties to terrorist groups that were going nowhere, the ones that were all talk but no action. He had set up a series of secret meetings with The Generals, the three men and peculiarly woman who led the United Rebel Front. The Union milked the URF for all they were worth, using its intelligence gathering department for information on targets of opportunity, as well as funneling arms and funds through the URF’s many corporate fronts.

By 2505, the Union became the most powerful faction within the URF, even more so than the Mamore Independence and Liberation Front and the Unified Rebel Front, a collection of smaller terrorist groups that constantly pestered the UNSC and UEG with bank robberies and the kidnapping of the random low-level dignitary. Even though they offered a much needed service – they were another problem for the UNSC to get caught up with – they were hugely unprofessional and seriously inept. However, as long as they kept up the steady stream of attacks, the pressure was off the Union, and it was needed.

He had something big in the works. There was no way this would fail, and it could not… no, it would not go the way of the Union’s past attempts at control. Watts was smart; he had turned politicians to his cause. Not just any politicians either; he had turned the big ones. Their protective details were not law enforcement or private contractor; they were under the protection of his soldiers. The policies they made were gradually leading up to the planet splitting from the control of the UNSC, and public opinion was on their side.

It was only a matter of time.

***