UNSC

Read up on their History!!

Prior to the Covenant's attack on Harvest in 2525, humanity was in chaos, fighting in multiple fronts, on planets, against a group known as the Insurrectionists who wanted independence from the United Earth Government. The UNSC, more specifically, the UNSCDF, constantly battled against the Insurrectionists. In an attempt to help end the long running war against the Insurrectionists and rebels, the UEG commissioned the SPARTAN-II Project, which created elite super-soldiers to combat separatists and the insurrections they spawned. When the Covenant-Human War began and the alien invaders began decimating the Outer Colonies, these Spartans became humanity's best hope against the technological superiority of the aliens. When the war began, the UNSC truly became humanity's greatest (and arguably only) defender. This fact allowed the UNSC to override civilian rule and establish itself as humanity's primary government. Although the United Earth Government was more open to step down, the Colonial Administration, the arm of the UEG ruling over the colonies, resisted the UNSC's rise to power, and was thus stripped of its power.

By 2552 A.D., Earth was the last remaining major Human bastion; and fell under attack by Covenant forces. The Human-Covenant War finally came to an end after a UNSC and Covenant Separatists force eliminated the Covenant leadership and destroyed the Flood threat.

By the time the war began, humanity, and thus the UNSC, had reached Tier 3 of the Forerunner civilization achievement rank system. Humanity’s rank continued to rise due to the capture of Covenant technology and equipment, which was studied and adapted for human needs. The very best and cutting edge of UNSC equipment was supplied to the SPARTAN-II Project. One such example of imitative human technology is the energy shielding adapted for use on the MJOLNIR armor.

During the First and Second Battle of Earth, the UNSC fought the Covenant Loyalists on Earth to prevent humanity's extinction, and eventually won their right to survive thanks to an alliance with the Covenant Separatists.

Background

The United Nations Space Command was formed by the United Nations during the Interplanetary War. After the UNSC victory, overpopulation on Earth became a major issue in the early 22nd century. This issue was resolved and disaster averted by colonizing and building vast cities on other planets in the Orion Arm of the galaxy, the Inner Colonies and later the Outer Colonies.

The UNSC's defensive military force is the UNSC Defense Force (UNSCDF), and consists of the UNSC Air Force, the UNSC Army, the UNSC Marine Corps and the UNSC Navy.

The UNSC is run by the UNSC Security Council, under the jurisdiction of the Security Committee. The UNSC was originally created to keep the peace, order, and control, thus serving as an executive governmental branch between neighboring planets and star systems. When certain rebellious factions began to rise in the late 2510s, the UNSC was forced to police its protected colonies tirelessly to keep privateers and pirates from raiding the colonies and any UNSC ships.

The Unified Earth Government and the United Nations still exist and operate the UNSC. It acts as a democratic world government, where all the participant nations share the same legal system as the UNSC and act as smaller parts of the greater whole.

It should be noted that the UEG's specific functions, legal makeup and legal boundaries as they relate to the CAA and UNSC are not yet known in detail.

The United Nations Space Command Flag is described as being "...a blue field with stars and Earth in the corner."

Economy

The UNSC uses the United Nations Credit monetary unit to organize its economical stability by selling or buying military equipment, supplies and costs for shipping etc. The UN Credit was implemented by the United Nations, some time before its dissolution and replacement with the United Earth Government in 2164. For transporting food and raw materials between colonies, the UNSC maintains a merchant navy, run by the Department of Commercial Shipping.

Military

The UNSC's military arm is the United Nations Space Command Defense Force, which is divided into the UNSC Army, the UNSC Air Force, the UNSC Navy, and the UNSC Marine Corps. The Defense Force took control of the UNSC during the Human-Covenant War.

The UNSCDF is run by the UNSC Security Council, with the professional head being UNSC High Command, and is the Human on Earth's main military force, most recently fighting the Covenant. The Navy houses the divisions of UNSC Marines (including the special forces branch of the UNSC Marines known as Orbital Drop Shock Troopers more commonly know as ODSTs or "Helljumpers"), Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), and the Fleet. The UNSC Army and UNSC Air Force maintain garrisons on colony worlds. When certain rebellious factions began to rise in the late 2510s, the UNSC was forced to police its protected colonies tirelessly to keep privateers and pirates from raiding the colonies and any UNSC ships.

Unlike the Covenant, UNSC military technology is still based on comparatively primitive mechanisms - projectile weaponry, wheeled vehicles, and combustion engines. The UNSC's grasp of scientific concepts is far more advanced than the Covenant, but turning these concepts into functional machinery has proven more problematic. Recently, the UNSC has introduced a variety of Covenant-derived technologies into their arsenal: gravity plating aboard ships, energy shields to protect Spartan-II soldiers, and limited use of directed energy weapons, usually lasers, for example, the Spartan Laser, though the Covenant still retain their technological advantage.

UNSC starship weaponry is based around missiles and Magnetic Accelerator Cannons. Their technological inferiority in the face of the Covenant means that it was often necessary for the UNSC to have a three-to-one numerical advantage against them in ship-to-ship combat. The UNSC also possesses weapons of mass destruction in the form of the NOVA Bomb.

Sphere of influence

UNSC territory is known to encompass several dozen worlds in several star systems, in various stages of colonization, from the well developed Inner Colonies to the relatively recent and struggling Outer Colonies. Though there were over 800 Human colonies before the War, only 38 have been referenced

The territory encompassed by the Inner Colonies seems to stretch in at least a 10.5 lightyear radius around Earth, and the Outer Colonies beyond that. By 2525, the outermost colony was Harvest, at 11 lightyears - later, colonies were founded well beyond the Outer Colonies. The furthest known UNSC colony is Beta Centauri, at 525 light years away. Colonies may have been settled after Harvest, or founded during the Human-Covenant War.

Trivia

The UNSC is the navigation and military arm of the Unified Earth Government and the Colonial Administration Authority, thus it does not administrate the colonies without the consensus of the CAA or the UEG.

The United Nations Space Command Marine Corps has an ostensible inspiration from the real world USMC, the United States Marine Corps.

The majority of UNSC vehicles are named after animals that live on the planet Earth, such as the Pelican, the Mongoose, Warthog, Scorpion, Albatross, etc. The exceptions, of course, being the 'Longsword', 'Shortsword', etc.

In real life, UNSC is an acronym for the United Nations Security Council.

Despite being titled as Earth's Defense force, the only accents ever heard from the Marines in-game are American, Mexican, British, and Australian.

The first place that was colonized by the UNSC was probably Luna, Earth's orbiting moon.