Human Civil War

"History looks upon this time as an unfortunate (and perhaps inevitable?) misunderstanding between Earth and her colonies, but those fighting for the last decade also realize that it was the most amazing piece of blind fortune the human race has ever stumbled upon. Had we not been armed and learning how to fight in space... what would have happened in the years that followed, when we faced an enemy a hundred times worse? Oblivion, no doubt."

- Codename: SURGEON

The Human Civil War, more commonly known as the Insurrection was a war fought between the United Nations Space Command under the orders of the Unified Earth Government against numerous organizations who wished to secede from its control. The conflict would produce traitors and heroes, and would be the final step in the United Nations Space Command's goal of ruling the colonies. The decades long conflict would lead to numerous technological and military advances for the UNSC, and some believe that if it were not for this bloody war, Humanity would have faced utter oblivion in the light of the Covenant threat.

Background
As the Unified Earth Government (UEG) began to spread its reach throughout the Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy, they had expanded their influence too thin; eight-hundred worlds had been colonized by the UEG by the late 2490s, and seventeen were major population centers. In response, the UEG had given the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) control of the inner colonies, and the Colonial Administration Authority (CAA) control of the outer colonies.

The inner colonies, which included Reach, were ver stable politically, economically, and socially. However, those in the outer colonies saw themselves as frontiersmen, exploring what had not been explored before. The governments of those colonies were weak, and had little control over the groups of colonists who demanded better treatment and pensions, and were powerless to suppress any brush wars that broke out, which they did at an alarming frequency.

Although these rebellions were at first a minor nuisance, they became a serious problem in 2492, when the colony of Far Isle was completely toppled by a major rebellion. When the government was completely decapitated by the rebels, the United Nations Space Command was dispatched to put it down. There was a series of bloody ground battles, and several special operators would find evidence of Colonial Military Administration soldiers aiding the rebels. However, all evidence was lost as the UNSC forces evacuated, and the planet was destroyed by bombardment with thermonuclear weapons and Magnetic Accelerator Cannon slugs. However, this would not be the end of the rebellion; it was only the beginning.

Many people, especially those behind the brush wars themselves and even those within the UNSC saw the bombardment of Far Isle as an illegal and inhumane action. It showed the UNSC's weakness - if they could not take back one of their own planets, how could they govern any colony at all? It was a question that plauged the minds of government officials, and sparked a more intensive revolutionary fervor in the colonists. The brush wars began to grow even more intense, and several personnel within the UNSCDF either deserted from their units or were covertly backing the rebels.