Rise

Introduction=

Introduction
"This galaxy is vast; its wonders and beauty are almost unfathomable. But the galaxy also hides dark secrets, some of which have lain dormant since the beginning of time itself. There is a danger in secrets, both in seeking and in knowing. Some things are meant to be hidden from view. Some mysteries defy understanding, and sometimes even the things we think we know are untrue. Some secrets should remain untouched. The Halos were one such secret."

- Cortana

For untold millenia, humanity looked to the night sky, seeing beyond our own petty atmosphere and reaching for what lay beyond. In the stars we saw the gods, the future, the destiny of the human race itself. Those distant stars in their untold multitudes offered us an escape from the dull reality of life and death on our small blue planet, and when it came within our power to actually reach out and touch those stars, we seized it. But there was no ethereal reality to be found beyond Earth. The void was empty, empty and full of potential, and so we brought our own reality up from the dirt. Principles of power and politics, of flags and ideals, of empire and domination; we exported them all to the new theater of space, thrusting our own narrative upon what we thought was an empty galaxy.

We could not have been more wrong.

The Covenant came upon us almost by chance. We barely saw it coming, so involved were we in our own petty squabbles, so married to the delusion that human will was the undisputed master of the galaxy. The Covenant, inheritors of secrets we knew nothing about, set upon us with all the ferocity and precision of a beast devouring its prey. Entire worlds burned beneath the might of their onslaught, untold billions died, and it seemed as if the human race was doomed to extinction. But even then, in this darkest hour, we could not set aside our obsolete grievances. Even as brave souls fought and died to stem the alien tide humankind took up arms against itself, unable to see past its own obsolete conflicts as the jaws of destruction closed upon us. But even still, we persevered. Through unimaginable bravery, through unfathomable sacrifice, and through luck we certainly did not deserve. The Covenant was broken. Humanity stood amidst the rubble, now understanding the true reality of the galaxy we had, all of us, inherited from the Forerunners, those noble souls who sacrificed their own power to save us all and entrusted us with the future of the galaxy.

And we learned nothing.

There was no enlightenment to be found in our victory, no truth to discern from the ashes. Even as we pledged never to forget, even as we rebuilt atop the ashes of the fallen, we desperately scrambled to bring our old preconceptions back into the light. Few understood the magnitude of our good fortune and even they fed the lie that our victory in the Great War was wrought by our own power. We built monuments to our imagined triumphs while stubbornly regrouping and cultivating our old power so that we might thrust our will upon the stars once again.

If we were to be forced to share this galaxy then we were determined that we be the ones dictating the terms.

And from the shadows, hidden eyes saw it all. They let us delude ourselves into believing victory in one war meant supremacy, all the while forging principalities and powers of their own. Seeds born from the last war—from many past wars—have already taken root beneath our very feet. And now, they are beginning to bear their deadly fruit.

Overview
The year is 2561. The galaxy—already rocked to its core by the Great Schism and the dissolution of the Covenant—has been shaken by the discovery of the Forerunner fortress world of Requiem and the new conflicts that sprung from it. Requiem is destroyed, but the legacy of the Forerunners is now at the forefront of galactic awareness. Forerunner artifacts are now cropping up across the galaxy and the forces of the UNSC are not the only ones vying to control them. Sanghelios has emerged from a long and bloody civil war underneath a unified government led by former Arbiter Thel 'Vadam. Thel is determined to see peace between his people and humanity, but faces threats from all sides as he struggles to contend with threats from without and within. Sangheili pre-eminence, once an undisputed fact of the Covenant Empire, is now at risk. Former Covenant client races, eager to face a new dawn after an era of chafing at the Covenant's bit, now look for any opportunity to shift the balance of galactic power. A new military power, the Covenant Remnant, gathers strength under its charismatic leader Jul 'Mdama. The forces of humanity's Insurrection, still vying for independence from Earth's government, now have a new, unregulated galactic underground through which to coordinate and arm themselves. And a shadow power, a criminal empire calling itself the Syndicate, seeks to control this underworld and turn a profit from the bush conflicts and proxy wars that rage on the unsettled frontier.

Humanity stands at a pivotal moment in galactic history. Its military forces have been rebuilt from the Great War, now aided by great advances in science and technology to give them the edge on the battlefield. The augmented super-soldiers of the Spartan-IV program are now the UNSC's elite shock troops, winning battles on the front lines and the adulation of the public back in the colonies. The survivors of the Spartan-IIs and IIIs continue to faithfully serve humanity, but they are remnants of a past the Office of Naval Intelligence would just as soon remain hidden. IIs and IIIs help train this new breed of Spartan, but few actually serve alongside them. Instead, they are given the thankless task of executing black operations far from the public eye. Though some chafe under their new role, they carry out their duties with the same iron efficiency they demonstrated during the Great War. Only a handful have rebelled against the system, and those who survive are forced to live on the fringes, hiding from the might of their former government. Under the formidable Admiral Serin Osman, ONI has evolved into humanity's most potent weapon, laying the framework for the military's continued reclamation efforts in the race to seize and control Forerunner assets.

But humanity is not alone in its quest to control this power. Earth's alliance with Sanghelios is tenuous and there are forces at work that would like nothing better than to shatter the bonds between them. The Covenant Remnant grows in power with each passing day, and every day Jul 'Mdama is let alone the galaxy is at risk of being plunged into another major war. Rules= Participants= Interested participants sign up below. Participants have the right to withdraw from the project at any time. Anyone with questions regarding the project should direct them to Actene's talk page.

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