Insurrection

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The Insurrection^[1] is the proper name given to a civil war fought between Earth's primary fighting, scientific, and exploratory agency, the United Nations Space Command and various loosely organised groups of rebels over control of the Outer Colonies, between the 2490's and the 2530's. Originally confined to Epsilon Eridani and the Eridanus System, by 2530 it had spread to several other systems.^[2]

Originally, the breakaway movements started as disquiet against the Colonial Administration's oversight of the Outer Colonies, with the colonists tired of the organisation's bureaucracy. Starting as peaceful protests, after years of frustrating negotiations some groups began to use more forceful methods, eventually abandoning diplomacy in favor of terrorist tactics. What had once been widespread support for the Insurrectionists quickly dried up at the outbreak of violence. Though they started out targeting only military and Colonial Administration targets, as the UNSC counterinsurgency operations began more and more innocent people were caught in the crossfire.^[3]

The supporters of the Insurrection were known in slang as "Innies", which was ironic if one considered how much the "Innies" wanted 'out'.

By 2524, the Insurrection had claimed a million lives. The various rebel groups had become extremely adept at creating improvised explosive devices difficult for the UNSC to detect, and therefore stop, and had struck many high profile targets, even in orbit above Reach itself. Opponents of the war believed the simplist solution was to simply give the rebels their autonomy - for the UNSC to pull out, and let the rebels have their independence. However, the value of the colonies made them simply too important to abandon.

Different groups used different tactics. The Insurrectionists of Epsilon Eridani preferred to use terrorist tactics, striking targets with explosives to sow fear and chaos in the region. The United Rebel Front of 111 Tauri, however, seemed to have an extensive paramilitary operation, including commandos, armored personnel carriers, and automated security drones. It is likely that there were other groups scattered throughout UNSC territory.

It is interesting to note that both the Spartan-I and Spartan-II Programs have links to the Insurrection. The first generations of supersoldiers were created right near the beginning of the unrest, while the latter were specifically created to deal with the projected results of the Insurrection - full-scale war within twenty years. After the attack of the Covenant, both assets were re-prioritized to deal with the new alien enemy.

As seen in the book The Cole Protocol, most of the Insurrectionists believe that the Covenant would welcome them into their ranks, and also that the UNSC was somehow responsible for starting the war.