Venezia Halo RPG

Planetary and societal info: System: Orso system (Qab in Sangheili) Moons: Tiro Societal Demonym: Venezian Species: Humans, Kig-Yar, Jiralhanae, Unggoy, Sangheili Population: 10.9 million Colonized: 2450 Government:

• Unified Earth Government/UEG (formerly)
• Independent planetary government
• Venezian Militia

Overview: Venezia, referred to by the Sangheili as Sqala, is a human Outer Colony world located in the Orso system, formerly governed by the Unified Earth Government and now under the control of centralized insurrectionist militia. Most of the planet is unexplored; New Tyne is essentially the only settlement on the planet, other than scattered farms and factories located ten to fifteen kilometers away from the city. Many small animals lurk around the edges of these settlements. Venezia experiences long, cold, winters, sometimes lasting as long as six Venzian months.

History: Venezia was settled by humanity in 2450.

The Human-Covenant war: Venezia was squarely on the side of the Insurrection during that conflict that defined the turn of the twenty-sixth century. During the war between humanity and the Covenant, Venezia had gone quiet. Prior to January 2543, the colony cut all ties to the Unified Earth Government. The local Colonial Administration Authority bureau on the world was famously destroyed via explosives by the residents. Even after extinction of the human race was narrowly avoided thanks to the Covenant's undoing, people still remembered what Venezia had done prior to the empire's arrival in human space.

Government and Society: Venezia was formerly governed by the Unified Earth Government until the world cut off communications with the UNSC and became lawless prior to 2543. During the war, some members of the Covenant settled on the planet and made peace with the human colonists. The Venezian Militia was formed to protect the planet's citizens and served as the closest thing Venezia had to a legitimate government. Venezia was lawless, but had basic rules that all of the planet's citizens were expected to follow. As long as an individual followed these rules, they could rely on them for protection from others. Minor disagreements were expected to be settled peacefully between individuals and the rules of the road were still followed. The planet had a small defensive fleet consisting of armored freighters in addition to obsolete frigates and patrol craft. The militia had additionally gathered large amounts of air vehicles of both human and Kig-Yar origin.

The planet is not subject to anarchy, but instead is an organized society of exiles, criminals, insurgents, and pirates. Venezia is considered a desired destination for anyone looking to flee their government's authorities. The majority of the planet is populated by humans and Kig-Yar (Jackals), with some Unggoy (Grunts), Jiralhanae (Brutes), and Sangheili (Elites). The five species trade and work together, following the basic "rules of decent society". Although, occasionally some break these rules and try to steal from others. This results in the thief being executed by the Venezian Militia. Some buildings, such as the Grexco tantalum extraction plant, are designed to prevent break ins.

Venezia has evolved from an anarchic Outer Colony to a major center of interstellar trade and commerce. Its multi-species population has made it a hub for trade with former Covenant worlds. The Via Casilina Trade Route connects Venezia to other planets in the Cordoba, Shaps, Elduros, and Sverdlovsk systems. The premier export on Venezia and the driver of its economic power is tantalum. The mining of this metal was a significant factor for why many came to the colony in the first place and also serves as a rationale in the minds of some residents for why the UNSC is unlikely to ever leave them alone. Tantulum is primarily traded to Kig-Yar for arms and ships. The Grexco corporation operates a large plant for the extraction of the valuable mineral. Other mining operations on the planet are concerned with slate and sandstone, which was used to build New Tyne.

ONI involvement: On January 27, 2553, the UNSC Ariadne, a Navy patrol ship, was forced to drop out of slipspace near Venezia secondary to a complication with its fusion drive. The Ariadne's commanding officer requested permission to land nonessential personnel on the planet due to the risk posed to their safety, but was refused by tower control. Peter Moritz, the de facto head of the Venezian militia, ruled that the entire thing could be an elaborate ploy to insert UNSC personnel on the planet. The commanding officer of the patrol ship was told that given the situation, it was too dangerous to allow the ship to land or to have Venezians board it to conduct an evacuation. Another ship, the destroyer UNSC Monte Cassino, responded to the plight of the Ariadne and signaled it would journey to the system to assist. Before it could arrive, however, the Ariadne experienced a reactor meltdown and the resultant explosion caused the deaths of everyone aboard. Monte Cassino was hailed by Venezia upon its arrival and warned that it was encroaching on the sovereign colony's territorial limits. Though the destroyer's executive officer tried to assure the colony they had no intentions to land and were simply going to conduct search-and-rescue in the patrol ship's debris field, he was rebuffed and warned that if the ship did not withdraw it would be fired upon.

In March of that year the Office of Naval Intelligence black operations unit, Kilo-Five, was contacted by Mike Spenser, an ONI spy who had embedded himself amidst the population in New Tyne. Kilo-Five had been present in a Sahara-class heavy prowler when the Monte Cassino and Venezia exchanged fire in January but had not revealed itself. Now, Spenser was inviting the team to meet him on the colony and promising that they should find what he had to show them very interesting. The UNSC Port Stanley emerged from slipspace 100,000 kilometers out from the planet and established communication with Spenser, who directed the prowler to a set of coordinates thirty kilometers outside of New Tyne. The Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, Vasily Beloi and Malcolm Geffen, were covertly transported to the surface via Pelican where they rendezvoused with Mike and followed him to his new home in the city. There, they learned that one of the Venezians on Spenser's list of potential terrorists was Staffan Sentzke, the father of the team's Spartan-II, Naomi-010. Upon returning to Port Stanley, the ODSTs shared their revelation and the team left to finish business they had on Sanghelios the Sangheli home world.

Black Market Economy: The black market on the planet is flooded with vessels and hardware of every sort. In the months immediately following the end of the Human-Covenant War, Kig-Yar on Venezia in particular were exchanging arms to Jiralhanae in exchange for ships. Prior to his death on December 12, 2553 at the hands of Spartan Blue Team, under the command of the Legendary "Master Chief". Georgi Baklanov controlled one half of all black market commerce on the planet between his restaurant, the Trattoria Georgi, and an orbital warehouse complex named Uashon Station. Anyone that wanted to engage in unregulated business knew not to cross him, elsewise they would be looking for a new colony to work out of. His death left a vacuum that was filled by the T'vaoan Kig-Yar, Nor Fel, whose clearing house became a preeminent symbol of power and wealth in New Tyne by 2557. Nothing of the sort had existed in 2553. Venezia had always been porous in terms of trade, but Fel's venture was the first time it had an ordnance supermarket.

One of the first thing any visitor to Venezia has to make sure they do is acquire an acceptable form of currency. The colony isn't exactly connected to the UEG-supported clearing banks, so it prints its own bank notes—old colonial credits with a distinctive smell to them. Tokens and flex cards, considered archaic, are also in use. For really big purchases, such as for artillery or ships, is accomplished through bartering. In 2553, the majority of adults on Venezia farmed and took up odd jobs in exchange for food and favors. Daily transactions for most involved a mix of barter and cash.

Multi-species workshops on the planet have refined the Covenant's fuel rod cannon and produced a new variant, known as the Gespu-pattern fuel rod gun to the UNSC. This model is significantly more accurate than those used by the former covenant empire. A similar fuel rod variant of the UNSC's M41 SPNKr rocket launcher was also developed on the world. And most notably Venezia would also be home to the development of Assailer power armor, a prominent Mjolnir offshoot actively utilized by Venezian janissaries (mercenaries) and independent contractors.

At some point, the Dianthus VISR was discovered by ONI operatives in the arms markets of the planet, but they were unable to discover who had manufactured the VISR sensor elements or how widespread its production was. Businesses in New Tyne include a hospital, a dive bar called Tiny Birds, Stavros' Middle East Asian Cuisine and Bar, hot dog stands, a grocery store, and factories. Outside the city, an abundance of farms dot the landscape.

Banished Collaboration: The criminal elements on Venezia partnered with the Banished, combining stolen UNSC Mjolnir blueprints with alien manufacturing techniques. This illicit pipeline resulted in hybrid powered armor components like the Conqueror and Taskmaster lines, which use advanced steel formulations once deemed impossible by human scientists.

Illicit Schematics and "Bootleg" Spartans: The proliferation of Mjolnir technology outside of UNSC control is a massive threat to the Galaxy and UNSC controlled space:

• Stolen Blueprints: High-ranking Keepers of the Freedom (a Jiralhanae-led faction) like Castor managed to secure highly classified, historical Mjolnir blueprints (likely older Mark IV schematics).

• Private Super-Soldiers: According to the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), the knowledge required to create a "Spartan-equivalent enhancement package" and the armor to house them is fully available to any private party with enough wealth and motivation. Factions in the Outer Colonies and mercenary corporations have successfully used these bootleg methods to modify or augment humans to make them capable of wearing these offshoot power suits.

Corporate Proliferation (GEN2 Era): The baseline reason these offshoots became possible is because of the GEN2 Mjolnir program. During the war, Mjolnir was a highly classified project built exclusively in-house by ONI's Materials Group. Post-war, the UNSC outsourced GEN2 manufacturing to dozens of private corporate entities to cut costs and mass-produce armor for the Spartan-IV program. This massive privatization directly loosened the UNSC’s monopoly on the technology, leading to stolen corporate data, cutting-edge corporate espionage, and the eventual black-market manufacturing seen on worlds like Venezia.