Silent Cartographer

For the level, see The Silent Cartographer. The Silent Cartographer, as referred to by the Covenant, was the map room of Halo Installation 04. It could pinpoint and access every room or location on or beneath the installation's surface. Analogous structures are found on other Halos, within the artificial planet Onyx, and on the now-destroyed Installation 00.

Installation 04
On Installation 04, the Cartographer was located in the middle of a large island. The security system was located in a tunnel, atop a large Forerunner structure in about the center of the island. After disabling the security system, the main passageway to the map room was opened. For additional security measures, the Cartographer's chamber and activation panel were located on the other side of the island, and buried at least half a dozen floors below ground. The path down to the Cartographer is a labyrinth of twists and turns, making it easy to get lost. This could also be part of the security system, to make the map room harder to find. It seems that on the map, the Control Room is illustrated as a shrine.

Security system
The Silent Cartographer is protected by an elaborate security system. This system can only be activated and deactivated by manual physical contact. In order to access the Silent Cartographer one must enter a first building to disable the security system, and then enter a separate structure which contains the map room. This gives the map room double protection making access difficult and defense much easier. The weaponry wielded by the crew of the was not powerful enough to penetrate the doors inside the facility where the Silent Cartographer was located, indicating the doors were of extremely durable material.

The Cartographer on the Ark has a similarly powerful security system, though it includes Sentinel patrols to further boost the defensive capabilities in the area. This proved to be most detrimental to the Covenant, who had difficulty penetrating the Cartographer's defenses.

Battle of the Silent Cartographer
On September 20, 2552, Spartan John-117 and two squads of marines were ordered by Captain Jacob Keyes to secure the Cartographer so that they could locate Halo's control room. The soldiers landed on a Covenant-controlled beach, which they quickly captured. The Spartan soon entered the Cartographer facility, though it had been locked from within. After disabling the lock at a nearby security station, the Spartan accessed the Cartographer, learning the location of Installation 04's control room. The AI Cortana then requested that Flight Captain Carol "Foehammer" Rawley fly John-117 below ground to the control room, though they stopped at Alpha Base.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Combat Evolved
 * Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
 * Halo: The Flood