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    Official Forerunner Conflict Lore: Ancient Secrets [Part Four]

    Ancient Secrets
    [Halo 3 Era]


    Lashing Out

    As Imperial intelligence began to paint an accurate picture of the rebel threat, their enemy looked towards Imperial Shipyards along the Outer Colonies. Knowing full well that a continued war with a superior Naval foe to be foolish, the various rebel groups sent their newly trained Spartans on a desperate and risky mission. With their targets acquired, these rebel teams pushed out into space with the hopes of their supporters behind them. Hitting both new and old targets, the rebels managed to secure a means to construct their own fleet. They did this however, with stern opposition by Imperial Spartan units, as the Empire began pumping their super soldiers out at increased rates.

    First of their major targets was the Blackout Imperial Sensor and Communications outpost in the polar regions of Paradise Falls. Making landfall in November 15th of 2566 an elite rebel Spartan team pushed into the arctic climate to capture and disable the station. Quickly attacking and overwhelming the minimally defended remote outpost, the rebel team began to scuttle the station. Imperial Spartans, waiting in orbit to act as a quick reaction force, were notified to the intrusion only when the station had been disabled. Upon arrival at Blackout, the two teams entered into a fierce battle for the station. Suffering almost 100% casualties, the remaining rebel Spartans retreated, their mission complete.

    Having disabled a major component of the Beta Centauri System Communication network, a large rebel task force led by Spartans struck the Zanzibar Power Station and related Shipyard the following morning on Emerald Cove. Having operational knowledge of the station thanks to the first attack in January that year, the rebels quickly captured and held the station for two weeks while the Empire sat blind. Once alerted to the takeover of the station and shipyard, Imperial Spartans were deployed and a battle ensued across Emerald Cove once more. Brief and with low casualties on both sides, the rebels ran from system having achieved their goal of attaining major components vital to the building and maintenance of their own Naval ships. The rebels had found their teeth, and were becoming used to showing them.

    As the various rebel groups began to divide up the soils of their raid, a pair of group leaders put forth a notion. With support growing on the Outer Colonies, the ability to now build both Spartans and Naval ships, and the need for a shared resource line, it was clear that he groups needed to be united. It didn't take long before many group leaders agreed to the notion, and soon pledged their leadership skills into candidacy. Many old UNSC leaders soon took head positions within the rebel faction as they began to erect their own network and chain of command. Using their most powerful ship, a Carrier, as their mobile headquarters, the new rebel leader coined the rebels a new name. The Brotherhood Legion of United Exiles, a play on both their common blue armbands and their exiled status from the Empire. Rallying behind their cause, and calling for more to join them from the Outer Colonies, the B.L.U.E. was born.

    To prove their threat and superiority, the B.L.U.E. took their new Naval ships towards a pair of Imperial Military strong points in a mission to gather weapons and supplies. Bursting with confidence due to their new established persona, the rebels quickly arrived at their targets and engaged Imperial forces. Completing their raid of the Imperial Foundry Storage Warehouse on Dwarka on January 30th 2567 the B.L.U.E. hoarded weapons and other military supplies, bolstering their already formidable arsenal of small arms. Their confidence however, was soon stopped cold as a pair of B.L.U.E. Frigates were lost during the battle for the Imperial marine training center "The Pit" on Circinius IV February 17th 2567. With their honeymoon over, the B.L.U.E. settled in and began to plan out their revenge on the Empire.



    A Threat Identified; A Call Put Forth

    One of the first strikes at Imperial dominance was the declaration of hostilities on March 1st of 2567. In a calculated gamble, the B.L.U.E. leaders, including Joel Ramirez, and Joshua Pavlica, broadcast a message towards every Imperial Planet stating that they, the B.L.U.E. would kill any Imperial on sight until the Emperor, and his staff faced proper justice. As Imperial intelligence scrambled to find the reasons behind this surprise, many citizens of the Empire cried out in confusion, having been lulled into a false security by doctored Imperial propaganda. The Emperor however, was cunning, and was quick to record a public address which was piped through every speaker under Imperial control. Calling the B.L.U.E. "a threat to the peace and structure that humanity deserved" the Emperor continued to declare the B.L.U.E. and all of it's supporters terrorists who would "be hunted down and killed without mercy or question."

    The rebels had given the Empire exactly what they needed, a legitimate, organized threat. Soon, scores of new recruits and finances surged into the Imperial Armed Forces as Imperial Citizens rallied against the new terrorist threat. The B.L.U.E. had just given their enemy the opportunity they had been waiting for, a chance to put their military forefront for all Imperial Citizens and systems.

    As various engagements raged on, and the Empire churning out more war materials, the Spartan programs for both sides accelerated at a rapid pace. As both Imperial and rebel Spartans began to clash more frequently, and casualty rates soaring due to the intense unforgiving nature of the fights, both sides began to deploy more conventional forces. With a proper trained force in their Imperial Marine Corps. and Imperial Army & Militia, the Empire soon discovered that outside of B.L.U.E. Spartans, their forces could not maintain a full frontal war. Knowing this, the B.L.U.E. leadership quickly developed a strategy of deploying Spartans after their regular soldiers, thus catching Imperial Marines off guard. As battles raged on throughout the stars, the game of chess continued to be played by both sides.

    As the B.L.U.E. continued to stab away at Imperial targets, the Emperor selected his top commanders to lead a newly constructed group of soldiers within the Empire. With decorated Imperial Officers such as Zak Meloff, Eric Richter, and Zack Flannagan at the helm, this new unit was designed for the sole purpose of hunting down and eliminating the B.L.U.E. at all costs. Naming this group the Royal Enforcer Deployment Division, the Emperor rallied behind their now normal scarlet trim, and it was not long before the famed R.E.D.D. had taken shape. Now, poised to strike their enemy, the R.E.D.D. launched from Earth under their new commanders to eliminate their B.L.U.E. enemy.

    The first clashes between R.E.D.D. and B.L.U.E. were both violent and short. It wasn't until the Imperial Officer of Naval Intelligence discovered lost Forerunner installations. The Empire began to research and investigate Forerunner technology as an opportunity to swiftly end the war. Creating a ground headquarters for this research in the famed Valhalla Canyon on Hat Yai, Imperial forces were quick to discover that the B.L.U.E. also had begun to look at Forerunner tech as an opportunity to tip the war in their favor as they established an outpost at the Guardian Forerunner facility on Biko. The race for Forerunner technology had begun, but an old enemy all but forgotten lay in wait.



    Ancient Horrors

    As both R.E.D.D. and B.L.U.E. tore through Forerunner installations and facilities without care, an ancient enemy rumbled from the darkest depths of the shadows. A entire unit of Imperial research teams disappeared into thin air and group of B.L.U.E. scouts vanished. As intelligence reports determined that no engagements with the enemy had been made, a young but well known Imperial commander made an unprecedented move that still shocks even most modern historians. Alfred Moore, the Imperial Officer, broadcast an open communication within the 23 Librae System calling for the leader of B.L.U.E. operations to meet with him.

    Although uneasy, an equally young and sharp B.L.U.E. leader, Kevin Foor, stepped forward and answered the call. Meeting on the ISS Longhorn the pair realized that their missing forces had not been due to either eliminating the other. Using the ship as a staging ground, the pair recalled their forces from both Biko and Hat Yai to regroup. For the first time ever, both Imperial and rebel forces deployed together in search of both missing units. During both deployments, the joint units discovered the reason for their missing men.

    After breaching a Forerunner Cold Storage facility in May of 2567 where the Imperial team had last been seen, the pair of Commanders quickly realized the gravity of their situation. Broadcasting back to their ships to stop all outgoing vessels, the pair ordered the shutdown of all communications besides their own in system and the immediate military enforced curfew of all civilians. Although they awaited for final test results on samples taken from the facility, the reason for the vanished units had become evidently clear. The Flood.

    After clearing and cleansing the storage facility using energy and flame based weaponry, the pair tracked the samples to a remote location not far from where the B.L.U.E. scouts had gone missing. Establishing a Containment zone around the Forerunner structure the Flood had taken shelter in, the two sides quickly entered the zone and began cleansing the infection. At the center of the zone, the flood had begun construction of a new Gravemind, which was quickly destroyed by both Imperial and rebel forces. In a campaign that ended June 4th 2567 the two Commanders agreed to leave system and make their reports to their respective commanders, leaving out their allied work for fear of retribution.

    Unannounced to the rest of humanity, a small contingent of solider from opposing factions had saved them all from damnation once more. For the Imperial commander however, a seed had been planted that would come back to haunt the Empire in the coming years of conflict.



    Down The Rabbit Holes

    Even throughout the small bit of peace during the encounter with The Flood, the war raged on though the stars. As B.L.U.E. began to construct Outer Colony bases on a larger scale, many Outer Colonists now began to run alternate business supplying their new partners under the table away from Imperial eyes. In one of the most prominent and daring attacks on an Imperial base in the history of the conflict, the B.L.U.E. sent their best Spartans on a mission with low survival rate and a high chance of failure.

    The Imperial Standoff Communications Station on Beta Gabriel fell under attack from the B.L.U.E. on August 2nd of 2567. Approximately a dozen rebel Spartans landed at the Station in HEVs and quickly began to scuttle Imperial equipment. Unfortunately for them, Imperial Spartans had been amassing at the location for operations in the Outer Colonies and soon, the B.L.U.E. found themselves outnumbered and outgunned by the larger R.E.D.D. Spartans. Lasting only a few short hours, the battle saw for the first time, a B.L.U.E. Spartan captured and tortured by the Imperial Office of Naval Intelligence. Giving up locations of two B.L.U.E. bases, the Empire executed the Spartan.

    Sending a detachment of R.E.D.D. ODST and Spartan units to assault the B.L.U.E. Outpost at High Ground on Sansar, the Empire caught the B.L.U.E. napping. Landing August 30th 2567 the R.E.D.D. force quickly attacked and eliminated the B.L.U.E. stationed at the outpost defended by regular soldiers. A brief fight with rebel Spartans ended quickly, and the Empire quickly controlled the planet. Not long after however, a sizable B.L.U.E. fleet arrived in system and deployed more Spartans to the ground, quickly overwhelming the R.E.D.D.

    Second of the bases given up by the rebel Spartan was the Rat's Nest on Eridanus II where the B.L.U.E. Command was rumored to be holed up. Sending in some of their best, the R.E.D.D. arrived in system the beginning of September of 2567 to find a B.L.U.E. presence non existent. While making preparations to leave the system, a pair of B.L.U.E. Carriers arrived and quickly destroyed the pair of ISS Heavy Frigates over Eridanus.

    The captured Spartan had set a trap for his Command, and when sprung, the B.L.U.E. proved that even the mighty R.E.D.D. could fall before it.



    Upgrades & New Directions

    Furious with the failures of his elite force in the R.E.D.D. the Emperor quickly stressed the need for better soldiers. Demanding explanations for their shortcomings, the Imperial Office of Naval Intelligence surmised that expensive Spartan-II training and a relaxed selection process were to blame. Angered, the Emperor ordered the stoppage of all Spartan production and a revision of R.E.D.D. standards. Pouring funds into Spartan research, IONI quickly discovered that Spartan-III development would cut costs in half, essentially doubling the amount of Spartans that could be deployed. Accepting this, and ensuring the R.E.D.D. was now properly maintained, the Empire began to phase in Spartan-III soldiers to replace the more costly Spartan-II. Taking the surplus finances, the Empire began to push their Naval and standard forces into overdrive, recruiting record high levels of Marines and Army-Militia. The Empire, geared for a renewed war.

    Aware of the grave threat facing the B.L.U.E. a now older and more experienced Alfred Moore met with his rebel counterpart Kevin Foor on the outskirts of the Epsilon Indi System. Defecting to the B.L.U.E. after witnessing first hand the horrors of live human testing for the Spartan-III project, Alfred brought with him the data of Spartan-III production. Rewarding him with a leadership position within the B.L.U.E. Kevin took the data to the rebel Command who quickly adjusted their production to match, saving their own costs in the process.

    Now as both sides began to crank out Spartan-III soldiers, the B.L.U.E. noticed the R.E.D.D. becoming stronger on the battlefield. Stricter selection processes and harsher training forged the R.E.D.D. into a formidable force that countered the B.L.U.E. on every front. Soon, many of the B.L.U.E. questioned their ability to fight a prolonged war. Outer Colony support still in their favor, many realized that the B.L.U.E. were troubled enough by the R.E.D.D. alone, not including the scores of Imperial Military in line behind them. They needed an edge, a crippling blow, and after much deliberation on debate, B.L.U.E. command found their target. Sending in highly trained espionage agents ahead to leak media and cause panic, the B.L.U.E. made one of the biggest strikes at the Empire since it's creation.

    Last edited by GhostHammer; 08-13-2013 at 12:24 AM.

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