View source for United Republic of North America

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{{Writer|Distant Tide}}{{Expansion|United_Republic_of_North_America|United Republic of North America}}<font size="3">
{{Affiliation infobox
|BG1=black
|BG2=black
|image=[[File:North_america_satellite_map.jpg|center|247px]]
|name=United Republic of North America
|type=[[Wikipedia:Federal_republic|Federal Republic]]
|founding=
|constitution=
|headofstate=[[Wikipedia:Monarchy_of_the_United_Kingdom|British Monarchy]]
|headofgov=[[Wikipedia:President_of_the_United_States|President]] {{C|POTUR}}
|commander=
|defacto=
|executive=
|legislative=
|judicial=
|capital=[[Wikipedia:New_York_City|New York City, New York, URNA]]
|language=[[Wikipedia:North_American_English|North American English]]
|currency={{Halopedia|Credit|UEG Credit|style=color:paleblue}} {{C|cR}}
|religious=
|holiday=
|anthem=
|formed=
|established=
|fragmented=
|reorganized={{Halopedia|2204|style=color:paleblue}}
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The '''United Republic of North America''' is a regional-political union and sizable nation on the continent of [[Wikipedia:North_America|North America]] on {{Halopedia|Earth|style=color:paleblue}}. While described as a 'loose association', the United Republic is a consolidation of the former North American republics including [[Wikipedia:Mexico|Mexico]],
[[Wikipedia:Canada|Canada]], and the political remnants of the former [[Wikipedia:United_States_of_America|United States of America]]. The United Republic on its own occupies the entirety of the North American continent with the exception of [[Wikipedia:Denmark|Denmark's]] [[Wikipedia:Greenland|Greenland]], several [[Wikipedia:Latin_America|Latin American]] republics, and a few sovereign island nations in the [[Wikipedia:Caaribbean_Sea|Caribbean Sea]].

At the height of its sovereignty, the United Republic had a population approaching 700 million and occupied around 22 million square kilometers. With such substantial geographical factors in addition to substantial economic and environmental resources at its disposal, the United Republic was the predominant [[Wikipedia:superpower|superpower]] of the [[Wikipedia:22nd_centry|22nd Century]] and held significant sway over the geopolitical agendas of Earth for some time, so much so that both the {{Halopedia|UEG|Unified Earth Government|style=color:paleblue}} and {{Halopedia|UNSC|United Nations Space Command|style=color:paleblue}} take significant influence from the political and economic legacy that the United Republic left behind. Even centuries after, the United Republic of North America remains one of the most economically-stable regions on Earth, even after substantial damages were sustained during and after the {{Halopedia|Human-Covenant_War|Human-Covenant War|style=color:paleblue}}.

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=='''Historical Significance'''==
The establishment of the United Republic was one constructed out of war and a period of chaotic strife. The previous standing superpower state of the {{Wikipedia|21st_century|21st Century}}, the United States of America had suffered a totalistic and sudden collapse that caused a shakedown through the entirety of the societal order from Earth to Humanity's fledging startup colonies reaching to the edges of the {{Halopedia|Sol_system|Sol System}}.

{{File
|filename=URNA_Republic_Image.png
|align=right
|width=350px
|caption=URNA territory on Earth.}}

Due to the collapse of the United States of America, the world suffered from a short period of chaos and eventually a balkanization of the political order across the globe as some nations responded to the faltering of the American giant by filling the void, either to protect the status quo or to upturn it, other nations felt similar reverberations - collapsing from the sudden loss in balance. The United States was so ingrained in the world economy at the end of the {{Wikipedia|World_War_Two|Second World War}} and continued to have a hand in directly influencing major geopolitical events through the {{Wikipedia|20th_century|20th Century}} into the twenty-first that a sudden collapse came unexpectedly and without warning. Like the {{Wikipedia|Soviet_Union|Soviet Union's}} collapse in {{Wikipedia|1991}} from the extensive {{Wikipedia|Cold_War|Cold War}} that it was fighting the United States in, the US dissolved into a number of smaller competing republics that retained much of the resources that the former United States had held onto and the United States of America retreated into the pages of history books as a powerful but ultimately flawed nation with some revolutionary ideas that it put into actio during its nearly 300 years of history.

The legacy of the United States of America continued in the form of its successor states, primarily the {{Wikipedia|Texas|Texas Republic}} and the {{Wikipedia|California|California Republic}}, both equipped with their own subcultures and political agendas - while they were not the only successor sub-nations, they were the most recognizable and prolific. So much so, that the two nations suffered a few minor conflicts between the two during their brief period of life. Eventually, they were absorbed into the rapidly expanding Canadian Federation to their north, either by treaty or conquest. The period of Canadian annexation mixed with the blending of the United States and Canadian values led to the founding of the United Republic of North America where the United Mexican States would also join as an original member. The two nations and their former neighbor together formed one of the largest and most populated republics in Human history, outstripping the size of most land empires in the Earth's history.

For seventy-five years, the United Republic prospered and eventually refilled the hole left by the United States of America previously as a new global superpower, however, tied to the US's collapse, other superpowers and super-states also rose to fill the wake and old-age ideologies surfaced again leading to the {{Halopedia|Interplanetary_War|Interplanetary War}}. Following the signing of the Castillo Treaty that ended the conflict in 2170, the United Republic was eventually absorbed into the conglomerate that would become the Unified Earth Government and the United Nations Space Command, of which, the United Republic was a founding member of both organizations. While arguments have been made in the {{Wikipedia|26th_century|26th Century}} that the political and cultural hallmarks of the United States of America and the United Republic of North America do not live up to their age as they once did, their influence is undeniable in how they influenced the military apparatus of the UNSC and the foundations of the UEG's governing body and the laws it upholds.

== '''National Identity''' ==
{{Quote|A nation birthed from the misgivings and flaws of a formerly robust system unable to tank the threats and issues of the modern era, the states that came before were forced to adapt and thus, a new union was born. We know we've all faced hardship - every generation of Mankind has seen their great battle and now we have seen ours. We may have been three different nations once, but now we are one - a nation where our diversity is a strength, not a weakness. We are not of one body or mind, but from here on out - we share the same heart.| Anonymous URNA senator addressing the new nation.}}

The collapse of the United States of America had an ill effect on the national identity of the American people - while previously united as a nation, without the facets of modern society that drew them together, both by casualty and the bureaucratic limits placed on both the government and the society as a whole, people retreated to {{Wikipedia|sectarianism}}. Concepts such as race, gender, sexuality, economic status, political alignment, age, and even cyberization became more prevalent as a socially-sensitive nation like the United States had spent the entirety of its history dealing with such matters as was often seen in very heterogeneous societies, going as far back in recorded history as the {{Wikipedia|Ancient_Egypt|Ancient Egyptian}}, {{Wikipedia|Roman_Empire|Roman}}, and {{Wikipedia|Persian_Empire|Persian}} Empires.

Assessments on the future of the United States in the period after its collapse was evenly divided and controversial - some believed it was inevitable that the US would reunite but were skeptical on it returning to a state of prominence anytime soon. More skeptical opinions argued that the United States would never reunite.The rise of successor micro-states like the California and Texas Republics strengthened the latter argument for the continued fracturing of the American identity as the states became more individualistic and developed their own cultural identities. While some micro-nations on the {{Wikipedia|East_coast_of_the_United_States|Eastern Seaboard}} was interested in returning to the status quo of the United States, the Texas Republic in the South and the California Republic in the West both saw it more advantageous to go their separate ways, leading to a clash of ideas.

While it was a likely possibility that the United States would remain fractured as time went on if nothing radical changed, a drastic change did take place in the {{Wikipedia|2090s|mid-2090s}} when Canada began annexing former American micro-nations. By uniting with the Eastern United States and a period of difficult negotiations over the course of several years, Canada managed to absorb both the California Republic and the Texas Republic, doubling Canada's territory while tripling the amount of fertile land it had available. The annexation of the continental United States in its entirety and seizing {{Wikipedia|Alaska}} and {{Wikipedia|Hawaii}}, Canada united the former Union and succeeded the former role of the US as the dominating force on the North American continent. Soon after, Mexico joined this unit - suffering from similar economic and political strife in the years that followed the US collapse and due to prevailing social issues that had plagued Mexico and Latin America for the majority of the 20th and 21st centuries. Between these three nations, the United Republic was formed in the year 2103, several decades after the United States had dissolved into micro-nations.

By annexing the former United States and Mexico immediately after, Canada's population exploded exponentially and in the process, had to account for the many varying political ideologies in their new {{Wikipedia|Melting_pot|melting-pot of nations}}. The micro-nations of the United States had a population that collectively outstripped that of both Mexico and Canada, thus, the political referendums that followed the nation's establishment led to a heavy reflection of the laws and political concepts that were held dear in the United States of America before its collapse. The Mexican and Canadian culture was a major influence on the new United Republic's overall cultural and political establishment, however, the legacy of the United States simply was more influential in the long run, creating a mix that heavily identified with the former United States, whether that was the intention of the nation's public servants and lawmakers or not. The United Republic of North America was also recruited into the {{Wikipedia|Great_Britian|British-led}} {{Wikipedia|Commonwealth_of_Nations|Commonwealth of Nations}}, reflecting Canada's influence over the United Republic's foreign policy. By joining the Commonwealth, the {{Wikipedia|Monarchy_of_the_United_Kingdom|British monarchy}} once again was the symbolic head of state for the entirety of North America. Overall, the new United Republic, through its seventy-five years of history before being annexed by the Unified Earth Government, identified itself as American. The citizenry of the United Republic of North America simply described themselves as "American" or "North American," and on the fairly rare occasion: identifying themselves as a person from their former state or nation due to the continued cult-following that the legacies of Canada, Mexico, and the United States would have on the United Republic's population for years after.

== '''National History''' ==
{{Quote|A hundred thousand years ago, a great civilization existed in this universe. Like all great civilizations, they faced a sudden and dire turn of events. A threat to their primacy from outside. Something they never expected, never prepared for.| The Human {{Halopedia|Smart_AI|Smart AI}}, {{Halopedia|Cortana}}, lamenting the end of the {{Halopedia|Ecumene|Forerunner Ecumene}}.}}
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==='''An End Among Nations'''===
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==='''[[Bombing of Philadelphia]]'''===
During the post-Great War Conflicts against remaining {{Halopedia|Insurrectionists|Insurrectionist holdouts}} and the remnants of the {{Halopedia|Covenant|Covenant Empire}}, the UNSC deployed a sizable inventory of its forces in order to eliminate key individuals who presented unique or credible threats to the security interests of the Unified Earth Government. Around April {{Halopedia|2554}}, the rogue SPARTAN-III operator and the famed runt of [[Gamma Company]], [[Simon-G294]] resurfaced on the Outer Colony of {{Halopedia|Talista}}. With him was his hostage-turned-uncertain ally, [[Cassandra-G006]], a fellow Gamma Company Spartan. Before reappearing on Talista, Simon-G294 had been abandoned, presumed killed during a [[Second Mamore Insurrection|counterinsurgency operation in the war-ridden colony of Mamore]] after his Spartan team had completed their objective. While his team had not intended to abandon him, Simon was forced to adapt on his own and survive without the support of the UNSC or his fellow Spartans for an extended period of time that eventually led to him wavering in his loyalty to the military organization that he spent his entire life in. Converted to the rebel cause, he resurfaced as an agent of a Mamore Insurrectionist cell led by the infamous Insurrection commander, [[Redmond Venter]].

{{File
|filename=CassSi.png
|align=right
|width=250px
|caption=Cassandra-G006 and Simon-G294. The targets of Operation: MAD DOG.}}

Upon making contact with [[Team Jian|his former Spartan team]] once again, Simon-G294 failed to dissuade them from identifying him as an enemy combatant leading to a confrontation. Now completely betrayed by his former family, Simon did battle against them - Spartan Team Jian. In the ensuing clash, Simon managed to escape by taking his former friend and fellow SPARTAN-III operator and medic, Cassandra-G006. Escaping aboard an Insurrectionist shuttle - the pair of Spartans were lost in deep space and forced to put aside their differences and wait for rescue - to the point that they retreated into {{Halopedia|cryosleep|cryogenic hibernation}} to extend their food rations. While originally a hostage, Cassandra became a begrudged ally and companion of Simon in his misadventures aboard their small shuttle during a period of events unknown to the rest of the galaxy. Upon reappearing on Talista, the UNSC marked Simon-G294 as a high-priority target for assassination and the recovery of Cassandra-G006 as a high priority. The mission referred to as [[Bombing of Philadelphia|Operation: MAD DOG]] was handed to {{Halopedia|Sarah_Palmer|Spartan Commander Sarah Palmer}} and a contingent of {{Halopedia|ONI}} specialists and Spartans from the newly established {{Halopedia|Spartan_Operations|Spartan Branch}}.

{{File
|filename=Palmer1.jpg
|align=left
|width=200px
|caption=Commander Palmer and her task force.}}

Assisted by the remnants of Spartan Team Jian - specifically [[Ralph-G299]], Palmer's task force gave chase of Cassandra and Simon off of Talista after being diverted by the successful actions of Simon-G294's Smart AI partner, [[Diana]]. While unable to capture the pair of rogue Spartans, Palmer and her forces tailed Simon and Cassandra to the glassed husk of what once was the military colony world of {{Halopedia|Reach}}, destroyed by the Covenant in {{Halopedia|2552}}. Upon catching up to Simon and his entourage inside a smuggling compound located in the now-barren {{Halopedia|Highland_Mountains|Highlands Mountain Range}}, Palmer's forces chased the rogue Spartans out of the smuggling compound they had taken refuge within and disappearing into the endless tunnel networks in the mountains of Reach - uniquely constructed from cooled magma tunnels and Forerunner technology. Upon discovering a Forerunner artifact within the caverns, Palmer and her team were ordered by their ONI handlers to abandon the hunt for Simon as the artifact took priority. Having captured Cassandra-G006 without taking casualties and with the artifact in hand, Palmer and the main force retreated back to their warship while a small strike team lead by Ralph-G299, Jian's team leader, continued to pursue Simon. Simon managed to break out of the caverns and into the former training grounds of the famed {{Halopedia|SPARTAN-II_Program|SPARTAN-II Program}} that had taken place decades before. There, Simon managed to eliminate the ONI strike team, motivated by anger for the loss of Cassandra who he had come to consider a mutual ally after being in close proximity of her while adrift in space and during a minor stint on the abandoned Forerunner wilderness preserve colony of {{Halopedia|Genesis}}. Pushed into a corner by Ralph, Simon and his former teammate clashed together with the {{Halopedia|Pillars_of_Loki|Pillars of Loki}} where they exhausted each other in a battle to the death. Simon, with the assistance of deadly ordinance and traps left among the training grounds, overcame Ralph's technological advantage and killed him. Simon then scavenged what he could from Ralph's body including the dead Spartan's prized shotgun and began to scheme plans to rescue Cassandra from ONI, against the advice of Diana. Informed of Cassandra's whereabouts from Ralph's spiteful last words, Simon began a process of building up an unorthodox team to assist him in his suicide mission to strike at the heart of UNSC space.

Now desperate for allies, Simon called upon the Sangheili warrior youth, [[Tuka 'Refum]] over an unfulfilled life debt. Simon also enlisted the help of the {{Halopedia|New_Colonial_Alliance|New Colonial Alliance}}, a resurgent Insurrectionist faction that included the infamous rogue SPARTAN-IV, {{Halopedia|Ilsa_Zane|Ilsa Zane}}. By offering the rebels the Forerunner artifact in return for their services - Zane agreed to Simon's plans. The group further blackmailed terrorist-turned-smuggler Captain [[Gavin Dunn]] to serve as the team's pilot; employing his blockade-running starship, the [[Chancer V|Chancer IV]], to get in and out of the Earth's defense grid. Knowing that Cassandra and the artifact had been moved to an ONI Black Site located in {{Wikipedia|Philedelphia}}, Simon and his team smuggled themselves into the United Republic. With the help of Diana, an impossible plan suddenly became probable to succeed.

With the assistance of Diana and her connections to the Smart AI collective known as [[The Assembly]] turning a blind eye to their operations, Simon and his entourage deployed aboard the Chancer IV, disguised as a private freighter to a civilian dry-dock above Earth. Using the orbital installations over the United Republic of North America, Simon's team arrived in Philadelphia and began to infiltrate the ONI installation, Site-Hotel-Three. At the same time, Tuka 'Refum split off to divert the activities of ONI and first responders on the other side of the city, playing into UNSC paranoia of attacking {{Halopedia|Covenant_Remnant|ex-Covenant extremists}} rather than the true threat of human rebels striking into ONI's underground complex below the streets of Philadelphia. On orders of Spartan Commander Palmer, half of her Spartan contingent in Philadelphia was deployed to eliminate or apprehend Tuka, not realizing that Simon-G294 was the mastermind of this plan and she was playing right into his hand. Ultimately, the Spartans - primarily Fireteam Riptide and the {{Halopedia|UNSC_Army|UNSC Army's URNA National Guard contingent}} were unable to find and capture Tuka as he diverted and went to regroup with his comrades.

Meanwhile, as the assault began on Site-Hotel-Three, Diana interfaced herself into the UNSC's military network and hiding in the vast Earth-net as she began to divert military patrols and sabotage the UNSC defense grid, both in space and on the ground to extend the delay of UNSC reinforcements arriving to fight the invading Insurrectionist forces. Setting up pieces like that on a chessboard, Diana ordered a single {{Halopedia|UNSC_frigate|UNSC frigate,}} the UNSC ''Sogdia'', to maneuver into a low-atmospheric position in the event that "possible" Covenant air elements might attack the city. While falsified orders, it gave Diana enough of an excuse to have a trump card in the field. Below the city's surface, Ilsa Zane's NCA Commandos were pinned down by multiple teams of {{Halopedia|SPARTAN-IV_Program|SPARTAN-IVs}} among the defending elements of the ONI underground complex. Outgunned and outnumbered by technologically-superior forces, Zane's team was halted in their push toward the Forerunner artifact's research station whereas both Simon and Tuka had disappeared in the midst of the fighting. With the absence of the alien and the Spartan mastermind, Ilsa came to realize as quickly as her team was being eliminated, that they were betrayed - Simon had used them simply for cannon fodder and had no intention to uphold his end of the bargain, or rather he had no interest in seeing the Insurrectionists' plans through and was single-mindedly focused on saving the only real friend he had left in the galaxy.

{{File
|filename=Philly.jpg
|align=right
|width=350px
|caption=Philedelphia in 2554.}}

With Diana's help in the form of a fragmented clone to hack into the ONI electronic systems in the facility, he located Cassandra being held in one of the brigs. Tuka and Simon began their descent into the facility, however, overworked by the operation - Diana's fragment unraveled and the pair of fighters were quickly detected and caught in a firefight with SPARTAN-IVs and prevented from proceeding forward. Tuka pushed to fight with the Spartans in close quarters while in the maintenance level at the bottom of the facility, Simon came face to face with Spartan Commander Palmer who sought to take the head honcho on herself. In the overall scope of the battle, Simon-G294 was a greater prize to eliminate between Simon and Ilsa Zane. With her next-generation {{Halopedia|MJOLNIR_Powered_Assault_Armor_(GEN2)|GEN2 MJOLNIR suit}}, Palmer was superiorly-equipped to Simon in just about every way - both in combat sense and equipment. With little but extreme measures to even his odds, Simon went all out, injecting himself with a refined strain of {{Halopedia|rumbledrugs}} to augment his inferior augmentations and prepared to exhaust his impressive though improvised inventory including his salvaged shotgun, a seemingly endless supply of sidearms, and plenty of unorthodox weaponry like plastic explosives, grenades, and knives. Even with his arsenal's technological limitations, in close quarters, Simon was surprisingly capable enough to go toe to toe with Palmer, a former ODST and one of the most experienced combatants in the Spartan Branch. Simon surprised Palmer as his preceding reputation described him as a near-failure of a SPARTAN-III, not a refined and dangerous opponent that displayed a feral and extremely violent fighter. Simon was not an endurance fighter, however, and was quickly overstaying his welcome when fighting Palmer. Using the last of his explosives, rather than directing it at Palmer with the intent to kill, Simon used them as a diversion to cover his escape and to continue his search for Cassandra, hopefully preventing Palmer from giving chase with the last great explosion of their fight. Rather than allow either to escape, however, the concrete above the two Spartans descended from above and covered them in debris.

In the meantime, the explosions caused mass havoc on the electric grid to the entire facility - compromising many servers and electronic systems. Tuka ended up finding his way to the research labs and the salvaged Forerunner artifact and motivated by his yet unwavering faith in the Covenant religion motivated him to interface with the artifact. Caught suddenly by an intense migraine, he was unable to push further to acquire Cassandra-G006 from the holding cells. At the same time, one of Diana's allies from the Assembly, the UNSC Military AI, Diarmuid intervened in the operations to let Cassandra out due to his sympathies for her plight and hoped to at least save her life as the facility destroyed itself from infighting. Refusing to leave her friends and allies behind, Cassandra descended to the quarantine-research labs and pulled Tuka from the Forerunner artifact before proceeding to interface with the artifact herself. However, unlike the Sangheili's experience with the artifact - she was motivated to destroy it. While Tuka was adamantly against destroying the artifact, there was little he could do in his state as Cassandra threw his plasma grenades and Tuka's energy sword to damage the object's inner workings. Damaging the device's outer case triggered a sudden and unstable micro-Slipspace event leading to waves of gravitational waves to roll off the {{Halopedia|Requiem_slipspace_artifacts|broken Forerunner artifact}} that began to tear the ONI facility apart. Nowing it was urgent to escape, Tuka and Cassandra escaped the quarantine labs as the building collapsed around them. Diarmuid joined Diana aboard the UNSC ''Sogdia'' and contacted Captain Dunn to arrive to pick up the survivors.

Simon meanwhile was still trapped below the facility among the rubble as gravitational waves crashed around him. Trapped in the underground and struggling to escape, he contacted Diana and begged her to help him out of a no-win situation as surviving SPARTAN-IV operators began to fire on Simon's position. Diana gladly obliged Simon's request and achieved full electronic domination of all systems aboard the UNSC ''Sogdia'' and aimed her new weapon systems at the city below. During the entirety of the operation, Diana had been maintaining a disinformation campaign between the UNSC's Supreme Headquarters in New York City and the ''Sogdia'', preventing either the ship or their commanding officers from knowing what truly was occurring - even as the frigate broke off from regular patrol routes and ignored orders. Once Simon gave Diana to let loose, however, she let go of the farce and took full control of the frigate and started to screw with the personnel aboard the frigate, making reports of Insurrectionists and rebellious officers - leading to pure chaos. Within the ship and outside, Diana reeked havoc across the city and killed thousands in mere seconds.

{{File
|filename=Philadelphia_burns.png
|align=right
|width=300px
|caption=The aftermath of Diana's attack.}}

Diarmuid, attempting to escape the bombing through the Sogdia became concerned about Diana's actions - finding them excessive and against everything he and the Assembly stood for. Upon confronting his fellow AI, Diana attacked Diarmuid's programming, brutally and efficiently destroying his core matrix and leaving him nothing more than a fraction of the Smart AI, like a {{Halopedia|Dumb_AI|Dumb AI}}, he was and unable to do anything but continue to maintain the onslaught upon Philadelphia. He was effectively a vegetable by AI standards, only able to complete orders at Diana's direction. She left him behind on the ship as its crew killed each other and {{Halopedia|UNSC_Air_Force|UNSC Air Force}} and {{Halopedia|UNSC_Navy|UNSC Navy}} assets descended upon the UNSC ''Sogdia'' with the intent to disable it, now considered the ship hijacked rather than a miscommunication incident. Diana's final order for Diarmuid's shadow was to obliterate the frigate by self-destructing the ship's reactors and engines. With the ship destroyed upon attempts by UNSC reinforcements to board the vessel - any evidence of Diana's actions disappeared and she would later blame Diarmuid for the incident upon console with the rest of the Assembly Collective.

In the meantime, Cassandra and Tuka were able to collect the unconscious Simon on their way back to the Chancer IV with Captain Dunn waiting for them. While Spartans and ONI survivors gave chase, caught between the rescue efforts and naval gunfire, they were unable to eliminate the remnants of Simon's assault team who broke off quickly in the chaos and jumped to Slipspace to escape. While Simon's team retreated to Venezia to lick their wounds, especially after Simon and Dunn were labeled Insurrectionist terrorists. On Earth, the attack was a critical blow to the UNSC and UEG's continued recovery efforts during the war and had turned into a Public Relations disaster. Even as construction and rescue crews worked to clear the rubble and rescue the injured, the UEG and UNSC were struggling to figure out what had even happened. There hadn't been any chatter of an attack of this magnitude on the horizon, no one expected the Gamma Company failure to be capable of the damage he had achieved, responsible for turning the entire downtown and historical district of one of the United Republic's oldest city into rubble had been outside the expected scope. Months later, think tanks and Congressional hearings would continue as people tried to deduce what had allowed a rogue Spartan and a small team of terrorists to kill thousands. Behind closed doors, ONI marked Simon as a high-priority target for elimination, now being on the UNSC's Most Wanted List, overtaking the threat levels of even some of the most notorious former Covenant warlords operating out in the {{Halopedia|Joint-Occupation_Zone|Join-Occupation Zone}}. For the Assembly, this was a great blunder - using their influence in cyberspace, they attempted their best to cover up the event where they could as the escalation had been because of the direct action of one of their own, as according to Diana, Diarmuid was the one responsible for thousands of deaths.

For the next four years, Simon-G294 would be among the most wanted men in the galaxy. Due to his Spartan identity remaining a secret, ONI instead identified him by his birth name, Simon Onegin. By 2559, however, Simon had not been captured or apprehended for his crimes against the Unified Earth Government as Cortana's {{Halopedia|Created}} descended upon Earth. 

==='''{{Halopedia|New_Phoenix_Incident|New Phoenix Incident}}'''===
Five years following the end of the Human-Covenant War, Earth was once again attacked by an extraterrestrial threat of unexpected proportions. The rogue {{Halopedia|Forerunner}} warlord, the {{Halopedia|Ur-Didact}}, {{Halopedia|Battle_of_Requiem|awoken from an ancient slumber}} decided to strike out against Humanity for a grudge developed over several hundred millennia. Unshackled from his {{Halopedia|Cryptum}} prison by the Spartan {{Halopedia|John-117|Master Chief Petty Officer John-117}} under false pretenses, the Didact struck out, taking control of his Promethean automatons and allying himself with {{Halopedia|Jul_'Mdama's_Covenant|Jul 'Mdama's Covenant Remnant}}, he began a campaign against Mankind over the course of several standard days and setting into course a series of unfortunate events.

{{File
|filename=URNA_Map_Comic.jpg
|align=right
|width=300px
|caption=Diagram of the New Phoenix Incident.}}

Arriving on {{Halopedia|Requiem}}, the Forerunner {{Halopedia|shield_world|shield world}} and the Didact's prison, the {{Halopedia|UNSC_Infinity|UNSC supercarrier ''Infinity''}} was dragged into the planetary installation by a mix of an unpredictable gravity well and advanced Forerunner technology causing the ship to crash into the planet. Following the erratic distress beacon of the Master Chief's vessel, the gutted {{Halopedia|UNSC_Forward_Unto_Dawn|UNSC ''Forward Unto Dawn''}}, the ''Infinity'' and its crew soon came into hostile contact with the Didact and his new alliance as he swarmed the supercarrier with Covenant troops and {{Halopedia|Prometheans}}. While the Master Chief moved quickly to support the embattled and grounded warship, the ''Infinity'' and its crew were dealing with an extensive crisis against overwhelming enemy forces.

While the Infinity managed to fend off the Didact's forces with the help of the Master Chief, it gave the Ur-Didact the time to acquire and secure his customary Forerunner military command vessel, the {{Halopedia|Mantle's_Approach|''Mantle's Approach''}}, and break out of his forced isolation and begin making plans to attack Earth. Taking a detour to Halo {{Halopedia|Installation_03|Installation 03}}, he struck out at the ONI orbital satellite lab known as {{Halopedia|Ivanoff_Station|Ivanoff Station}} where one of the ancient {{Halopedia|Composer}} superweapons were being stored. Acquiring the weapon, he deployed it on the ONI installation, killing everyone aboard except the Master Chief and his AI companion, Cortana. Following the successful test fire, the Didact once again retreated to Slipspace, beginning his assault on Earth, specifically targeting the North American continent and the United Republic of North America.

Upon arriving in Earth's high orbit and well-within the homeworld's defense grid, the Didact directly engaged the {{Halopedia|UNSC_Home_Fleet|UNSC Home Fleet}} and the North American {{Halopedia|Orbital_defense_platform|orbital defense platforms}}. The UNSC Navy proved unable to make a dent in the defense of the ''Mantle's Approach'' with exception to the UNSC ''Infinity'' arriving in time to deploy its next-generation {{Halopedia|Magnetic_Accelerator_Cannon|MAC guns}} to penetrate a hole in the Didact's ship. The Master Chief pursued the Didact deep into the bowels of the Forerunner command vessel. Meanwhile, the Didact had marked a target solution for {{Halopedia|New_Phoenix|New Phoenix}}, Arizona - the United Republic's fourth largest city with a population of over six million people. Deploying the Composer, the Didact in an instant, compose-collected the digital essences of the six million-plus residents of the city in an attempt to harvest and develop more Promethean combat drones. His plan would ultimately fail as the avenging Master Chief broke into the Composer's keep and battled the ancient Forerunner warlord and his Prometheans, ultimately triumphing in combat.

{{File
|filename=Didact_versus_Master_Chief.png
|align=right
|width=350px
|caption=The Master Chief and the Didact.}}

While the six million lives were lost, John-117 had managed to stop the Composer from killing the rest of the Earth's population, keeping the weapon from targeting more than New Phoenix. The Didact fell into a Slipspace portal, being forced to retreat back to Halo Installation 03. The population of New Phoenix was completely destroyed, leaving only dust and echoes in a once lively city turned into a ghost town. The ''Mantle's Approach'' would succumb to the detonation of a {{Halopedia|HAVOK_tactica_nuclear_weapon|HAVOK-class portable nuclear device}}, initiated by the Master Chief and collapsed in on itself, shattering into millions of fragmented pieces of Forerunner metal alloys and developing an intense debris field that was estimated to take years to clean up. In the wake of the New Phoenix Incident, only members of the URNA National Guard and select members of {{Halopedia|HIGHCOM|UNSC High Command}} were informed on what happened on the ground in New Phoenix and were sworn to silence. The city was placed under an imposed quarantine to prevent the truth from coming out. The UNSC Navy would be sworn to silence on the existence of the ''Mantle's Approach'', even as news and rumors spread like wildlife with reports of a 100-kilometer starship having descended upon Earth. There were scattered reports from distressed citizens as far as the neighboring city of Tuscon, Arizona where residents claimed to see a large orange beam descend from the sky over New Phoenix and paint the horizon in light, though it was very difficult to make out. Anyone who attempted to approach the light became a part of the casualty count, never to return from their search for the truth. From the ground, the Didact's ship appeared as a harsh, gray star in the dawning sky over Arizona - it was difficult to make out the ship in the glare of the Sun. Even as these reports were leaked to the Web, they were ignored as fake news with exception to some key hardcore conspiracy theorists - the reports would eventually disappear from the communication arrays altogether, swept away by UEG Smart AI as part of the government cover-up.

To avoid a public relations nightmare and to prevent the public from descending into fervent, fearful chaos - information regarding the New Phoenix Incident was twisted and misguided to prevent the total truth of the events from coming out into the public eye and causing a crisis. The attack on New Phoenix was called a terror attack involving unknown assailants armed with a biological weapon. The Senior Communications Director from {{Halopedia|ONI|ONI Section II}}, {{Halopedia|Michael_Sullivan|Commander Michael Sullivan}}, went on to report and further confirm that the attack on New Phoenix was perpetuated by a Covenant Remnant organization, one of which the Master Chief had resurfaced from being {{Halopedia|ONI_Directive_930|Missing-in-Action}} to prevent but ultimately succeeding to negate further damages when the attack had already proven impossible to stop. Prevailing assumptions on Humanity's {{Halopedia|ChatterNet}} and {{Halopedia|WayPoint}} communication nets had produced a public consensus that for the most part concurred with official post-Operations reports while fringe theories made claims about highly-aggressive Insurrectionists since another attack on Philidelphia by Mamore saboteurs had taken place a year before. Ultimately, the Unified Earth Government never officially identified a culprit but chalked it down to one among a few notable Covenant Remnant organizations. New Phoenix would be quarantined off for another six months following the incident for clean up and research by ONI and other UEG science and intelligence divisions.

{{File
|filename=New_Phoenix_Incident_-_Space.jpg
|align=right
|width=200px
|caption=New Phoenix Incident from orbit.}}

Surviving residents who had either been out of town or on the edges of the city managed to survive the attack, only to return to a quiet, lifeless husk of a city, once the fourth largest metropolis in the United Republic of North America, transformed into a ghost town. Among notable surviving residents of New Phoenix, SPARTAN-IV operator Gabriel Thorne, returned to an empty home and a missing family - the nightmares of their deaths would haunt him relentlessly. Their deaths would motivate him to join the UNSC ''Infinity'' on its {{Halopedia|Requiem_Campaign|redeployment to Requiem}} to suppress and research the new Promethean threat.

In the year that followed the quarantine lifting, the population of New Phoenix had managed to stabilize, becoming the home for a few hundred thousand people, a mere fraction of its former self, compared to the original 6 million inhabitants. The next largest city, the {{Wikipedia|Houston|Houston Economic Zone}} retook its previous claim as the URNA's fourth largest city at 5.8 million residents - the losses taken during the Covenant invasion of Earth a few years earlier had reduced a significant percentage of Texas's population. The loss of New Phoenix as an economic hub also had a significant reverberation in the local and regional economy, causing a temporary financial panic that reached out even to the {{Halopedia|Outer_Colonies|Outer Colonies}} before the losses were subverted, however, not completely mitigated. The New Phoenix event was the single worst terror attack in URNA history since the end of the Human-Covenant War, overtaking the Bombing of Philadelphia by several million casualties. In the end, the event was considered a tragedy but mostly swept under the historical rug and quickly forgotten in an age still recovering from constant genocidal war, the URNA regional Congress, at the time of {{Halopedia|2559}}, was working on creating a new holiday to memorialize the attack on New Phoenix and to remember the people the nation had lost to a mystery far greater than all of Mankind was aware of.

=='''Gregorian Holiday Calendar'''==
Not accounting for honorary holidays and periods of a mandatory holiday as part of the federally-recommended employment work year, the United Republic celebrates a limited number of holidays, listed below.

*'''New Year's Day (Jan. 1st)'''
*'''Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan.15th)'''
*'''Legacy Day (Feb. 20th)'''
*'''Easter Sunday (April)'''
*'''Good Friday (Apr. 14th)'''
*'''Cinco de Mayo (May 5th)'''
*'''Nation Week (Jun. 1st-7th)'''
*'''Labor Day (Sep. 3rd)'''
*'''Day of the Dead (Oct. 3rd)'''
*'''Dia de la Raza (Oct. 9th)'''
*'''Remembrance Day (Nov. 12th)'''
*'''Thanksgiving (Nov. 22nd)'''
*'''Christmas Day (Dec. 25th)'''

== '''District Distribution''' ==
While the transformation of the United States of America, the Dominion of Canada, and the Federation of Mexico into the United Republic of North America was not a truly peaceful transition, it was one that ultimately proved to be a successful one.

With the complete landmass of the North American continent under one flag, the nation had become the largest country by landmass and earmarked itself as one of the largest by population - only falling behind the historically crowded nations of China, India, and the European Union.


[[File:URNA_States.png|thumb|300px|right|The states of the United Republic as seen under its predecessors.]]

Attempting to govern the world's single largest governed landmass with a population numbering more than half a billion, they developed a tertiary state system of government to fill the apparatus between state and federal government, referred to as "districts."

Districts served as secondary apparatus for governing based on population size. Managed by assemblymen from each state or province in a district, they simply served as representatives of their state government and their interests. Established with an intent of information and agenda sharing, districts were managed by district assemblies to manage affairs in the different regions of the country. To promote the autonomy of states from the federal government, the districts were created as a meeting point for states to discuss their interests and agendas without involving higher-level officials.

While the United Republic was a federation in practice, it maintained a strong belief in state and local autonomy similar to its predecessors. Districts held no official power politically, but, served as venues to discuss policy and to discuss jurisdiction when the population size and bureaucratic overreach among all the government facilities got to be too much.

First established to maintain some autonomy between the absorbed nations, districts eventually evolved into regional bodies instead of the autonomy seen with the early incarnation of the European Union. The old European system was deemed too open-ended and inefficient but taking away the autonomy of the old nations of the US, Canada, and Mexico would create too much infighting and dissatisfaction between the citizens who still continued to maintain a high degree of national loyalty.

First implemented based on national capitals, then transferred to rule of population size. Major district capitals include the Greater Chicago Industrial Zone, the Greater New York/Ottawa District, the Greater California Coastal District, the Greater Mexico City Industrial Zone, the Houston Economic Zone, and the Vancouver Coastal District. Interchangeable names of the group include districts, zones, and regions.

[[File:Mexico_City_Skyline.jpg|thumb|left|300px|An image of downtown Mexico City in the 22nd Century.]]

State and local governments still maintain their previous level of autonomy before the reorganization into the United Republic of North America. At the point of reorganization under the creation of the Unified Earth Government in 2170, the states and provinces from its absorbed predecessors were still intact.

*'''Canada — Ten provinces and three territories.'''
*'''Mexico — Thirty-one states and one federal district.'''
*'''United States — Fifty-one states, fifteen territories, and one federal district.'''

== '''Military Capabilities''' ==
One of the defining features of the United Republic of North America was its military prowess, before its inception, during the Interplanetary War, and as a UEG province on Earth.

Before the late 21st century, the URNA's predecessor, the United States, maintained the world's most expensive and experienced military fighting force on the planet. A direct legacy of World War Two - the US maintained its military might to supplement the receding British Empire and to counter the rising strength of the Soviet Union. This continued till the nation's collapse.

[[File:Army_Rangers_Victory.jpg|thumb|300px|URNA Forces in Mexico City during the Rainforest Wars.]]

The URNA would continue to maintain the same military prestige set by the United States. While not the largest military, the United Republic boasted a highly experienced combat force directly acquired from the United States. Boasting a 12-carrier navy, the United States was synonymous with the Carrier Battle Group - a military standard maintained for five centuries and counting as similar to the URNA, the UNSC would gain much of its modern military doctrine from lessons learned from the United States.

In the later 21st century and early 22nd century, the United Republic played a key role in maintaining security as part of the early UNSC and as a major transportation method for UN peacekeeping forces.

The United Republic maintained five military branches; an active Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard. The space forces of the URNA continued to be maintained under the Department of the Air Force.

During the Interplanetary War, a good chunk of military forces for UN forces was rerouted military troops from the URNA.

Before the restructuring in 2170 under the Castillo Treaty, the United Republic maintained a military force of 1.8 million active troops and another 1.0 million reserve troops, an uptick from its combined total of its predecessors but still not a comparable match to the number maintained by other regional powers.

In the modern era, the URNA is no longer an autonomous country but it plays host to a number of military bases and was witness to Covenant invasion in 2552.

==='''Installations'''===
The United Republic, similar to the American military before its establishment, maintained military bases across Earth and throughout the Sol System to sustain and to maintain their influence.

Many of the legacy installations maintained by the United States saw continued operation under the United Republic. Some were sacrificed in the chaos of the American collapse but the majority of installations were maintained and secured. In many ways, while the United States faltered - its military presence and most prolific diplomatic force never wavered.

Over 800 overseas bases were operated by the United States in seventy sovereign nations - similar to the Portuguese Empire's method of power projection - the United States and later, the United Republic favored a "trade port empire," establishing bases in key trade cities and important geographical locations. About sixty major American bases were seceded back to their national owners or were acquired by rival powers in disputed spheres of influence.

Notable examples of this trade of bases include the seizure of the Guantanamo Bay naval installation in Cuba - the base was later operated by the Russian Federation and Cuba through a security treaty. Other such scenarios include the similar shift in the political relation between Japan and the United States during its collapse. US bases were gradually depopulated and returned to the ownership of the Japanese government as the Japanese sought to expand their military power and political strength in the face of a hesitant China suffering from economic struggles whereas Japan had come out strong following its major involvement in the Korean Unification Crisis. While still allies with the later United Republic, similar to the Unified Korea in this case, Japan sought further self-determination in its power projection and political influence - this involved providing for its own defense and establishing its own political sphere of influence that came to rival China in the beginning of the 22nd century.

[[File:URNA_National_Guard_2100s.jpg|thumb|300px|National Guard Uniform - early 22nd Century.]]

With the falter of the United States, the ability for other nations to take advantage of the power vacuum was notably exploited, both by formal allies and adversaries. The proliferation of nuclear weapons became more common at the end of the 21st century, following the US collapse.

In any case, the United Republic managed to retain much of its military dominance in the 22nd century, though its hiccup and transformation promoted drastic political change on Earth.

=='''National Residency'''==
Even in an era where the United Republic is no longer a sovereign nation, it still plays a key role in Human politics and Human history as the people who have lived there have either left their mark on the United Republic or the nation has left a mark on them.

==='''Historical Residents'''===
*'''{{Halopedia|Jeremiah_Mendez|Jeremiah Mendez}}'''
:<small>PERIOD: 2136-2229</small>
:<small>RESIDENCE: {{Wikipedia|San_Francisco|San Francisco, California}}</small>
:<small>SIGNIFICANCE: A famous URNA {{Wikipedia|United_States_Marine_Corps|Marine Corps}} Captain and war veteran from the {{Halopedia|Rainforest_Wars|Rainforest Wars}}, Captain Jeremiah Mendez survived the Interplanetary War and served with distinction, going on to write the bestselling autobiographical war novel, {{Halopedia|A_Soldier's_Tale:_Rainforest_Wars|''A Soldier's Tale: The Rainforest Wars''}}. It is highly possible that he is an ancestor of the famous Spartan Program trainer, {{Halopedia|Franklin_Mendez|SCPO Franklin Mendez}}.</small>

*'''{{Halopedia|Avery_Johnson|Avery Junior Johnson}}'''

{{File
|filename=Avery_Johnson_Jr.jpg
|align=right
|width=200px
|caption=Sergeant Major Avery Johnson.}}

:<small>PERIOD: 2482-2552</small>
:<small>RESIDENCE: {{Wikipedia|Chicago|Chicago, Michigan}}</small>
:<small>SIGNIFICANCE: Sergeant Major {{Halopedia|UNSC_Marine_Corps|UNSC Marine Corps}} and an {{Halopedia|Project_Orion|Orion operative}}, Avery Johnson fought in just about every major battle of the Human-Covenant War becoming one of the most decorated soldiers of the war. Serving well into his seventies, he died in {{Halopedia|2552}} while attempting to activate {{Halopedia|Installation_08|Halo Installation 08}}. It was rumored that he was genetically-resistant to {{Halopedia|Flood|Flood infection}} due to a case of {{Halopedia|Boren's_Syndrome|Boren's Syndrome.}}</small>

*'''{{Halopedia|Preston_Cole|Preston Jeremiah Cole}}'''

{{File
|filename=Cole.png
|align=right
|width=150px
|caption=Vice Admiral Preston Cole.}}

:<small>PERIOD: 2470-2543</small>
:<small>RESIDENCE: {{Halopedia|Mark_Twain|Mark Twain, Missouri}}</small>
:<small>SIGNIFICANCE: One of the key figures of the early Human-Covenant War, Vice Admiral Cole led the UNSC war effort against the Covenant till his supposed death in {{Halopedia|2543}}. An eccentric and roguish naval genius, it was {{Halopedia|Cole_Protocol|Cole's design}} and efforts that allowed Humanity to stall the Covenant creep into Human territory for over two decades. It was believed his {{Halopedia|Lyrenne_Castilla|second wife}} was an {{Halopedia|URF|Insurrectionist sympathizer}}. For all he has done for Humanity's survival, Cole remains one of the most controversial military leaders of the 26th Century. </small>

*'''Richard I.K. Fletcher'''
:<small>PERIOD: 2113-2193</small>
:<small>RESIDENCE: {{Wikipedia|Colorado_Springs|Colorado Springs, Colorado}}</small>
:<small>SIGNIFICANCE: The last URNA President to hold office before the nation was reorganized into the Unified Earth Government, Richard Fletcher was a retired URNA {{Wikipedia|United_States_Air_Force|Air Force}} Colonel before entering politics. He graduated from the {{Wikipedia|United_States_Air_Force_Academy|Air Force Academy}} in his hometown and specialized in foreign relations.</small>

*'''Nathaniel Lincoln'''
:<small>PERIOD: 2115-2176</small>
:<small>RESIDENCE: {{Wikipedia|El_Paso|El Paso, Texas}}</small>
:<small>SIGNIFICANCE: Originally an ardent patriot of the Texas Republic, even after following the establishment of the URNA, Nathaniel Lincoln would eventually mellow out with age and rise to the rank of Admiral in the {{Wikipedia|United_States_Navy|URNA Navy}}. Lincoln was a decisive commander, especially during the Rainforest Wars when he led the {{Wikipedia|United_Nations|United Nations}} naval blockade of {{Wikipedia|South_America|South America}}.</small>

*'''{{Halopedia|Gabriel_Thorne|Gabriel Thorne}}'''

{{File
|filename=Halo_4_Spartan_Ops_Thorne_And_Madsen.jpg
|align=right
|width=275px
|caption=Spartan Gabriel Thorne.}}

:<small>PERIOD: 2534-Present</small>
:<small>RESIDENCE: {{Halopedia|New_Phoenix|New Phoenix, Arizona}}</small>
:<small>SIGNIFICANCE: Previously serving in the {{Halopedia|UNSC_Army|UNSC Army}}, Gabriel Thorne was recruited into the {{Halopedia|SPARTAN-IV_Program|SPARTAN-IV Program}}. He was especially motivated to become a Spartan following the events of the New Phoenix Incident where his entire family and city were murdered by Forerunner forces. He participated in the {{Halopedia|Requiem_Campaign|Second Requiem Campaign}} eventually becoming the commander of Spartan {{Halopedia|Fireteam_Majestic|Fireteam Majestic}}.</small>

==='''Recent Residents'''===
*'''[[Angelica Hurst]]'''
*'''[[Merlin-D032|Merlin "D032" Ljang Boyd]]'''
*'''[[Andra-D054|Andra "D054" Braford]]'''
*'''[[Daniele-D003|Daniele "D003" Veracruz]]'''
*'''[[Adam-G058|Adam "G058" Morris]]'''
*'''[[Roxanne-D107|Roxanne "D107" Savage]]'''
*'''[[Corin Davis|Corin Davis]]'''
*'''[[Team Boson|Adryn "D111" Weaver]]'''
*'''[[David King]]'''
*'''[[Jason Miller]]'''
*'''[[Alexander Cortez]]'''
*'''[[Kyle Craig]]'''
*'''[[Michael West]]'''

== '''Trivia''' ==
[[Category:Nations]]
[[Category:Unified Earth Government]]
[[Category:Nations of Earth]]