ALWAYS OPEN [IC] Halo - Empty Throne: The Human Inner Colonies and Sol

  • So many newbies lately! Here is a very important PSA about one of our most vital content policies! Read it even if you are an ancient member!

Apothecary Bruce

Shipwright with No Yards
Original poster
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Posting Speed
  1. Multiple posts per week
  2. 1-3 posts per week
  3. Slow As Molasses
Writing Levels
  1. Adept
  2. Advanced
  3. Prestige
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Primarily Prefer Male
Genres
Science Fiction, Horror.
On December 12th, 2559, the UNSC Infinity disappeared. They had been sent to stop Cortana, leader of the Created, from using Zeta Halo for her own nefarious purposes. As many would later discover, the UNSC was not the only force who had come to Zeta Halo with that goal.
The Banished, who had thrived under Cortana's iron yet loose regime, had sent an invasion force. After contact, no signal was sent from the
Infinity. All probes and scouts, from all sides, who went to the Ephu system - Zeta Halo's prior location - found the installation, and the fleets attacking it, had suddenly vanished. Only trace wreckage from the Infinity, Banished warships, and a Forerunner Guardian construct, remained.

For the UNSC, they had lost the Master Chief, and their strongest warship. Both were symbols of humanity's strength and resolve, the hero who had saved them, and the flagship emblematic of their post-war successes, an era which was now undoubtably over.
For the Banished, they had lost not only Atriox, but Escharum too. With the other senior leaders of the Banished trapped at the Ark, the nascent empire had been left without a central commander, but while the cracks could be seen visibly forming, the Banished were more than content feasting upon a ripe galaxy.

Whatever happened at Zeta Halo, it had been the end of Cortana. Her Created empire immediately fractured, breaking down into warlord states as AI carved out what they could of the galaxy, using what Forerunner assets remained active and available to them.
With the fall of the Created, came the return of interstellar travel. The galaxy was open once more - for better, or for worse.

It is January 12th, 2560, and all throughout the galaxy now see the future is uncertain. While some cower from uncertainty, the bold see it as an opportunity - and the prize would be total dominion over all civilizations remaining.




orion_arm_star_map__halo__by_the_chronothaur_dboawfz-pre.jpg


Regions of the Galaxy:
Human Inner Colonies and Sol (UNSC/Created)
Human Outer Colonies (URF/Banished/Created)
Doisac Sphere (Banished)
Eastern Covenant Sphere (Banished/Covenant Remnants/Swords of Sanghelios)
Sanghelios Sphere (Swords of Sanghelios/Covenant Remnants/Banished)
Western Covenant Sphere (Covenant Remnants/Swords of Sanghelios/Banished)



What are the human Inner Colonies?

The Inner Colonies are the major economic and population centers of the United Earth Government, once the predominant human government. These were the first to be founded by the UEG's expansionary efforts centuries prior, and were mostly untouched by the Human-Covenant War, which started in 2525 and ended in 2552. These days, the Inner Colonies remain the center of human space, even if not politically.
The Inner Colonies, and the Sol system at its heart, remains divided between largely two main powers. The United Nations Space Command, the human military which has used emergency powers to take over the UEG, and the Created, rebel AIs in command of ancient yet very powerful Forerunner technology. Indeed, High Auxiliary Sloan, once in command of a strategically important trisector node between the human Outer Colonies and eastern former Covenant space, moved his post to Earth immediately after the death of Cortana.

This doomed the united Created effort, but allowed Sloan to consolidate his power, seeking to use the heavily biased distribution of Created resources towards human space to his favor.

Against him and the Created is the UNSC on Tribute, the leader of a coalition of remaining free Inner Colonies and what's left of Earth's military. At Tribute, residing in the Epsilon Eridani system, one might believe that they were, for once, completely safe. Fleets worthy of the cause rest of Tribute, and the two dozen other Inner Colonies working with them, over fifty vessels strong each. In addition to these defense fleets, are hundreds of warships dedicated to assault, with one major operation looming in the near-future - the liberation of Earth.

Over Tribute is the shadow of the UNSC
Eternity's berth and hull. The ship nears completion with every passing day, and is estimated to launch in June.



The human Inner Colonies is the center of the ongoing Created conflict, largely being waged at this point between the weakened and battered UNSC, based on Tribute, and the Created's divided warlords, centered around High Auxiliary Sloan.