United Nations Space Command

The United Nations Space Command is a human military, exploratory, and scientific organization. Originally the spaceborne military arm of the United Nations formed in response to widespread conflict in the Sol system in the mid-22nd century, the UNSC was incorporated into the United Earth Government upon its formation in 2170 and subsequently acted as its primary space-going arm in the subsequent centuries. Over the course of the 25th century, the UNSC gradually supplanted the Colonial Military Administration as the UEG's main military apparatus in the extrasolar colonies. After insurrectionist sympathies within the CMA were made public in the 2490s, the UNSC absorbed most of the functions of the CMA along with some of those of its parent agency, the Colonial Administration Authority. Shortly after the onset of the Human-Covenant War in 2525, the UNSC was granted unprecedented emergency powers, assuming the UEG's governing functions in order to facilitate the defense of humanity from the existential threat of the Covenant.

In the postbellum years, the UNSC, under the leadership of Fleet Admiral Terrence Hood, attempted to cede its power back to the UEG. However, the civilian government was reluctant to accept the handover before the situation in the colonies had stabilized, particularly as what remained of the CAA was now part of the UNSC. In response, the UNSC launched the Phoenix Initiative, an interim civilian body meant to oversee the reclamation process, albeit with the UNSC retaining considerable operational autonomy.

Strengths

 * 1) Survivor Spirit: the UNSC is generally motivated, and, hardened by the war and aware of the stakes, not afraid to fight dirty. Tenuous as peace may be, the end of the war still marks a resurgence of hope for the future, in contrast to the doom and gloom of the prior years.
 * 2) Well-Oiled Machine: for its size, the UNSC is very established, well-organized, and has relatively few rifts and rivalries that weaken its efficiency compared to many ex-Covenant factions. While many high-ranking officials are dead, its leadership was never decapitated, enabling a relatively smooth continuity of administration and strategic planning since the war.
 * 3) Eyes in the Sky: the UNSC's intelligence gathering, analysis and dissemination capabilities, as well as the integration of said abilities to military operations and coordination, are without parallel in this part of the Orion Arm. While ONI's reach and resources are limited, and while they must take care not to spread themselves too thin, there is a fair bit they can do especially in their home turf and its immediate neighborhood. Equally, human cyberwarfare was always ahead of the Covenant, and post-war doctrine will lean heavily on successes in said area during the war, such as AI-augmented special force infiltration tactics.
 * 4) Artificial Minds: the UNSC's AI and high-end automation represent a unique technological advantage over virtually all ex-Covenant polities, one that should not be underestimated. While as of 2553, the UNSC stands at the verge of losing its capability to build smart AIs due to the loss of key infrastructure, the crucial nature of the technology will ensure that the reconstruction of the relevant industries and materials procurement chains will be prioritized. While the UNSC's use of AIs is a sticking point to many ex-Covenant, it is simply too integral for their civilization to give up. As well, without central regulation, it is likely that many progressive ex-Covenant factions will eventually develop AIs of their own, continuing on a trend of Covenant experiments in the final years of the war.
 * 5) Technical Efficiency: Covenant technology is impressive, but poorly optimized. The UNSC's tech, by and large, is the opposite, thanks to both less dogmatic and exclusive R&D methodologies and widespread utilization of AI computing. As Covenant-derived technologies reverse-engineered during and after the war are gradually implemented, humanity's technological disadvantage will gradually disappear -- not necessarily in the form of direct counterpart technology, but just as often innovations focused on countering Covenant advantages, e.g. refractive coatings, improved reactor designs, and the repurposing of existing coil technology to create precision EM buffers to disperse incoming plasma.
 * 6) Unexpected Patronage: the UNSC has powerful allies among the ex-Covenant in the form of the Concord, whose fleets still police large parts of the human sphere, as well as the loose groups of ex-Covenant volunteers collectively known as the Contrite. The Arbiter's aid, primarily military at first, will help the UNSC focus on rebuilding in the precarious early years of the postbellum era.
 * 7) Reclaimers: humans have a special connection to Forerunner technology, granting them "administrator privileges" to certain Forerunner relics. Notably, this ability only extends to some Forerunner interfaces and does not grant any greater understanding of the inner workings of Forerunner technology; when it comes to reverse-engineering Forerunner machines, humans are on an equal footing with other species, and the Covenant actually have an edge due to their millennia-long history and well-established methodologies for dealing with Forerunner relics.

Weaknesses

 * 1) Modest Extent: compared with many other Orion Arm polities, the UEG's territory and population are on the lower end of the scale, particularly after the loss of most human colonies, and most of their worlds are concentrated on a relatively small region of space. Similarly, their ability to project power is extremely limited, mostly concentrated on peripheral regions of their own sphere of influence as well as some crossing zones between the human and Covenant spheres.
 * 2) Depopulation Crisis: much of the interstellar human population is dead or displaced, and a major issue of the post-war years will be to find the refugees viable homes. Many of these these efforts will be tied with the state-coordinated rebuilding projects, partly or wholly allotted to contractor companies, with settlement rights earned through a period of public or military service.
 * 3) From the Rubble: Many worlds and key industries lie in ruins, necessitating extensive rebuilding efforts. Some industries must be prioritized over others, causing potential issues -- of at least development in unexpected directions -- in the long run.
 * 4) Nowhere to Hide: the UNSC's greatest asset -- secrecy -- is now lost, and the locations of key human worlds and outposts are readily available to those who know where to look. The UNSC must take steps to decentralize and increase both its mobility and the self-sufficiency of individual worlds, or be eventually snuffed out.
 * 5) Outdated Technology: Even with advances made in the later years of the war, much of the UNSC's technology, from slipspace travel to communications, weapons and defenses, remains vastly inferior to the corresponding Covenant technology available even to small factions. While game-changing defense technologies are prioritized in reconstruction, it will be decades before they pan out across the entire UNSC. Particularly in the first decade of reconstruction, the UNSC must lean heavily on the Concord's aid for defense. Equally, with the widespread enactment of the Cole Protocol across human space, much data regarding specialist industries is simply lost, and recovering some of the lost data from backup caches will be another project in its own right.
 * 6) From Earth, For Earth: due to past -- and partly ongoing -- draconian policies and rhetoric, the UNSC is still heavily profiled as an Earth-first polity, and many Outer Colonies in particular remain unconvinced it represents their interests to any meaningful extent. There is much bad blood on both sides, and some of the past wounds will never heal. Even so, there are often more nuances even among said sides than might immediately be obvious to an outsider.
 * 7) Dependent: the UNSC remains afloat largely thanks to the aid of the Concord and their allies within the human sphere, to the extent they could be called an adjunct polity of the Concord. While much work has been done to returning them to self-sufficiency, more will have to be done before they can fully stand on their own legs against larger threats. As well, the UNSC is forced to walk a fine line between appeasing disgruntled survivors of the war, and keeping radical elements from jeopardizing the alliance with the Arbiter's forces. UNSC propaganda regarding aliens takes a virtual U-turn, emphasizing the Sangheili's role in ending the war while underlining the distinction between allied and hostile factions. Unsurprisingly, much of the population remains unconvinced, and it will take years of concrete actions on the Concord's part to begin healing the wounds of the past. This problem is also partly of Section II's own making, as propaganda up until then had downplayed the Covenant threat to prevent panic, and the consequent perception of the ex-Covenant as weak feeds revanchist sentiments among the general population.
 * 8) Cursed Inheritance: humanity's special connection to Forerunner technology -- although mostly known among the general Covenant population on the level of speculation and rumors -- makes them stand out as a potential threat, or at the very least asset to be controlled, to many ex-Covenant.

Formation
On May 1st, 2163, following fourteen months of conflict in South America, the United Nations formally votes to establish a supranational military that will take direct control of all national spacefaring assets for the duration of the crisis. Formally christened the United Nations Space Command, there was initially some resistance from non-complying countries, although thankfully most of these incidents were resolved without bloodshed. Their first formal military action was to pacify Luna of Frieden and Koslovic insurgents, whose possession of mass drivers represented an enormous threat to Earth-based cities and facilities. So complete was their assault that by the end of the year, there would be no more rebellious cells recorded on Luna for the rest of the war.

Although launched simultaneously with the Luna engagement, the UNSC would only begin the Mars Campaign in December of the same year. Later known as the first interplanetary deployment of the UNSC Marines, a series of blitzkrieg-styled attacks at the Argyre Planitia shipyards would, in spite of initial troubles thanks to a developing command structure and doctrine, prove to be an enormous success. This was a catalyst that saw the UNSC expand significantly in a short period of time, as more resources were demanded and justified to assist their efforts. They quickly sent forces all across the Sol system, efficiently destroying the sophisticated military hardware used by the Friedens and undermining the ideological strength of the Koslovics. So complete was their destruction that by the end of 2170, only seven years after the UNSC had been created, all three sides had ceased hostilities by ratifying the Callisto Treaty. This gave the UNSC total control in military matters over the colonies.

The success of the UNSC's performance eventually led to talks for a more direct reform of the United Nations itself, and it eventually blossomed in the formation of the United Earth Government. The UNSC was retained as the organization's military arm.

Post-Covenant War
Following the ceasefire of the Human-Covenant War, the UNSC returned governing powers back to the UEG and began a period of slow demobilization. However, the presence of the various Covenant remnants all throughout the Human Sphere required the UNSC to continue vast military campaigns in order to secure their former holdings. Between careful tactical planning, the introduction in the first wave of post-war spacecraft, and assistance from the Concord of Reconciliation's fleets, the UNSC were able to outmaneuver and force the majority of hostile Covenant factions out of the Human Sphere by 2558.