Halo Array: Difference between revisions
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{{Quote|Halo doesn't kill Flood, it kills their ''food''! Humans, Covenant, whatever - we're all equally edible! The only way to stop the Flood is to starve them to death. And that's exactly what Halo is designed to do: wipe the galaxy clean of all sentient life!|[[Cortana]]}} | {{Quote|Halo doesn't kill Flood, it kills their ''food''! Humans, Covenant, whatever - we're all equally edible! The only way to stop the Flood is to starve them to death. And that's exactly what Halo is designed to do: wipe the galaxy clean of all sentient life!|[[Cortana]]}} | ||
The '''Halo Array''', known individually as '''Halos''' or '''Halo | The '''Halo Array''', known individually as '''Halos''' or '''Halo rings''',<ref>'''Halo: Combat Evolved''', level ''[[The Truth and Reconciliation]]''</ref> referred to by the [[Covenant]] as the '''Sacred Rings'''<ref>'''Halo: The Flood''', page 38</ref><ref name="gravemind">'''Halo 2''', level ''[[Gravemind (level)|Gravemind]]''</ref>, and labeled '''Fortress Worlds'''<ref>'''Halo: The Flood''', page 193</ref> and '''Installations''' by the [[Forerunners]] and [[Monitor]]s, is a system of colossal ring-shaped superweapons. | ||
The first Halos | The first array of twelve Halos was constructed by order of [[Master Builder]] [[Faber]] circa [[101,000 BCE]] with the intent of being an ultimate weapon, one that would secure the pre-eminence of the [[Builder]] rate in Forerunner society.<ref name="c274">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 274''</ref> Later, the weapons would be refined further and a new array of six smaller and significantly more lethal rings was constructed. Eventually, eleven were destroyed and/or lost while the remaining [[List of "seven" references in Halo|seven]] were used by the Forerunners as a last resort when combating the parasitic [[Flood]]. All [[sentience|sentient]] beings in the galaxy were killed, robbing the Flood of hosts and starving it to death. | ||
In addition to serving as weapons of last resort, Halo installations are also research facilities dedicated to containing and studying many different kinds of life forms. The life forms that were hand-selected by the [[Librarian]] included marine life, fauna, and land vertebrates. With the Master Builder's permission, the Librarian would research each animal to detect if their bodies reacted to Flood infection. The research on the animals would be more deeply analyzed if they did become infected. The Librarian's studies also helped determine if the rings could be used to repopulate the galaxy. | In addition to serving as weapons of last resort, Halo installations are also research facilities dedicated to containing and studying many different kinds of life forms. The life forms that were hand-selected by the [[Librarian]] included marine life, fauna, and land vertebrates. With the Master Builder's permission, the Librarian would research each animal to detect if their bodies reacted to Flood infection. The research on the animals would be more deeply analyzed if they did become infected. The Librarian's studies also helped determine if the rings could be used to repopulate the galaxy. | ||
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[[File:H2_halo_surfaceland.jpg|thumb|right|175px|A section of an Installation's surface.]] | [[File:H2_halo_surfaceland.jpg|thumb|right|175px|A section of an Installation's surface.]] | ||
As it is known in modern times, the Halo Array is a network of seven ring-shaped megastructures created by the Forerunners, designed to exterminate all sentient life within the Milky Way galaxy.<ref name="great journey">'''[[Halo 2]]''', level ''[[The Great Journey]]'', '''343 Guilty Spark:''' ''"After exhausting every other strategic option, my creators activated the rings. They, and all additional sentient life in three radii of the galactic center, died, as planned."''</ref> Built following the [[Human-Forerunner War]], these ringworlds were used thousands of years later as a last resort against the Flood, a parasitic extra-galactic species that threatened to consume every sentient life-form in the galaxy. By activating the rings, the Forerunners wiped out every sentient being in the galaxy, effectively starving the Flood to virtual extinction, though specimens were kept in a number of Forerunner containment facilities, including the Halo installations themselves.<ref name="library">'''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]''', level ''[[The Library]]''</ref> | As it is known in modern times, the Halo Array is a network of seven ring-shaped megastructures created by the Forerunners, designed to exterminate all sentient life within the Milky Way galaxy.<ref name="great journey">'''[[Halo 2]]''', level ''[[The Great Journey]]'', '''343 Guilty Spark:''' ''"After exhausting every other strategic option, my creators activated the rings. They, and all additional sentient life in three radii of the galactic center, died, as planned."''</ref> Built following the [[Human-Forerunner War]], these ringworlds were used thousands of years later as a last resort against the Flood, a parasitic extra-galactic species that threatened to consume every sentient life-form in the galaxy. By activating the rings, the Forerunners wiped out every sentient being in the galaxy, effectively starving the Flood to virtual extinction, though specimens were kept in a number of Forerunner [[Flood containment facility|containment facilities]], including the Halo installations themselves.<ref name="library">'''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]''', level ''[[The Library]]''</ref> | ||
A total of eighteen Halo rings existed during the reign of the Forerunners | A total of eighteen Halo rings existed during the reign of the Forerunners; an older array of twelve 30,000km rings produced by the [[greater Ark]] and six 10,000km rings constructed at the newer [[Installation 00|lesser Ark]]. Of these, only seven survived to be included in the final Array. The two most well-known Halo installations, [[Installation 04]] and [[Installation 05]], both orbit gas giants, though this is not the case with all Halos; [[Installation 03]] orbits a rocky planet.<ref name="h4composer">'''Halo 4''', campaign level ''[[Composer (level)|Composer]]''</ref> Installation 04 maintained an atmospheric [[Threshold gas mine|mining facility]] in [[Threshold]]'s atmosphere until [[Battle of the Threshold gas mine|it was destroyed]] by the [[Covenant]].<ref>'''[[Halo 2]]''', level ''[[The Oracle]]''</ref> | ||
Though separated by thousands of light-years, the installations are networked together and capable of remote activation at [[Installation 00|the Ark]], an [[intergalactic space|extragalactic]] megastructure. Each Halo installation has a maximum effective range of 25,000 light-years in every direction.<ref>'''Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary''', ''[[Terminal/Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary#Terminal 8|Terminal 8]]'' (''"25,000 light years. That is the effective range of this installation."'')</ref><ref name="radius">'''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]''', level ''[[Two Betrayals]]'', 343 Guilty Spark: ''"Technically, this installation's pulse has a maximum effective radius of twenty-five thousand light years."''</ref> The method utilized by the array to conduct this "mass sterilization protocol"<ref>'''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]''', level ''[[The Library]]'', 343 Guilty Spark: ''"Why the Flood is, naturally, simply too dangerous to release, and mass sterilization protocols may again need to be enacted."''</ref> involves the superluminal conveyance of a burst of cross-phased super-massive neutrinos, tuned to emit a harmonic frequency that destroys the nervous system of any life form within range. Simpler organisms lacking a neural system are unaffected, along with inanimate structures. [[Precursor]] technology, however, is extremely susceptible to damage from the Halo effect.<ref> '''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 132''</ref><ref name="c274"/> | Though separated by thousands of light-years, the installations are networked together and capable of remote activation at [[Installation 00|the Ark]], an [[intergalactic space|extragalactic]] megastructure. Each Halo installation has a maximum effective range of 25,000 light-years in every direction.<ref>'''Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary''', ''[[Terminal/Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary#Terminal 8|Terminal 8]]'' (''"25,000 light years. That is the effective range of this installation."'')</ref><ref name="radius">'''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]''', level ''[[Two Betrayals]]'', 343 Guilty Spark: ''"Technically, this installation's pulse has a maximum effective radius of twenty-five thousand light years."''</ref> The method utilized by the array to conduct this "mass sterilization protocol"<ref>'''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]''', level ''[[The Library]]'', 343 Guilty Spark: ''"Why the Flood is, naturally, simply too dangerous to release, and mass sterilization protocols may again need to be enacted."''</ref> involves the superluminal conveyance of a burst of cross-phased super-massive neutrinos, tuned to emit a harmonic frequency that destroys the nervous system of any life form within range. Simpler organisms lacking a neural system are unaffected, along with inanimate structures. [[Precursor]] technology, however, is extremely susceptible to damage from the Halo effect.<ref> '''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 132''</ref><ref name="c274"/> | ||
The Halo Array in its entirety has been fired only once in known history, approximately 100,000 years ago, by the [[ | The Halo Array in its entirety has been fired only once in known history, approximately 100,000 years ago, by the [[IsoDidact]] in order to stop the Flood from overwhelming the galaxy. All beings in the Array's effective range, including Forerunners themselves, were wiped out by the Array's pulse,<ref name="great journey"/> with the exception of the [[Ur-Didact]], who had been imprisoned within [[Requiem]].<ref>'''Halo 4''', ''[[Terminal/Halo 4|Terminal 7]]'' (''"Until then, I leave you here, my love. The only living thing in this galaxy, sealed safely away."'')</ref> Some Forerunners survived at the lesser Ark but evidently chose to exile themselves from the galaxy.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''Rebirth Narrative''</ref> The array has come close to activation three times since; Installation 04 was almost activated by the [[John-117|Master Chief]], Installation 05 was activated by Commander [[Miranda Keyes]] at the behest of the [[Brute]] [[Chieftain of the Jiralhanae|Chieftain]] [[Tartarus]], and [[Avery Junior Johnson|Sergeant Johnson]] was forced by the [[Prophet of Truth]] to activate the Array from the Ark. None of these attempts were successful; the first was stopped by Cortana, while the second and third were halted by UNSC and Covenant separatist intervention. A [[Installation 04B|replacement]] Halo for the destroyed Installation 04 was successfully activated outside of the galaxy, eliminating the Flood massed at [[Installation 00]], but it was incomplete and thus not networked to the rest of the Array.<ref name="halo3halo">'''[[Halo 3]]''', campaign level ''[[Halo (Halo 3 level)|Halo]]''</ref> | ||
Each of the Halo installations in the final Array is given a designation number, from 01 to 07, and is overseen by a single [[monitor]]. The monitors are given control of the Installations' [[Sentinel]] automatons, from [[Sentinel Aggressor|Aggressors]] to [[Constructor]]s and [[Enforcer]]s, and are responsible for containing the Flood test subjects in their [[Flood research facility|research facilities]] and protecting the Halo from intruders. | Each of the Halo installations in the final Array is given a designation number, from 01 to 07, and is overseen by a single [[monitor]]. The monitors are given control of the Installations' [[Sentinel]] automatons, from [[Sentinel Aggressor|Aggressors]] to [[Constructor]]s and [[Enforcer]]s, and are responsible for containing the Flood test subjects in their [[Flood research facility|research facilities]] and protecting the Halo from intruders. | ||
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However, at this point, the [[Librarian]] went to the Council and invoked the Mantle, stating the the Halos should be used as biological preserves in the [[Conservation Measure]], a plan to repopulate the galaxy should the Array ever be activated. The Council approved her request, and ordered that the Halo installations be constructed to have a range of natural environments for the Lifeworkers to preserve their biological specimens in. However, the Master Builder later altered the initial plan, and his researchers began to use these specimens for a series of brutal experiments involving Flood infection.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 188-190''</ref> | However, at this point, the [[Librarian]] went to the Council and invoked the Mantle, stating the the Halos should be used as biological preserves in the [[Conservation Measure]], a plan to repopulate the galaxy should the Array ever be activated. The Council approved her request, and ordered that the Halo installations be constructed to have a range of natural environments for the Lifeworkers to preserve their biological specimens in. However, the Master Builder later altered the initial plan, and his researchers began to use these specimens for a series of brutal experiments involving Flood infection.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 188-190''</ref> | ||
Twelve Halos, each 30,000 kilometers in diameter, were originally commissioned by Master Builder Faber and constructed by the [[guild]] of [[Bornstellar's father]] at the [[greater Ark]], | Twelve Halos, each 30,000 kilometers in diameter, were originally commissioned by Master Builder Faber and constructed by the [[guild]] of [[Bornstellar's father]] at the [[greater Ark]], the first Ark installation to be constructed. Only one of these original rings ultimately survived to be used in the Forerunners' final plan; this ring was designated [[Installation 07]]. Later on, an improved, separate array of six installations was constructed at the [[Installation 00|lesser Ark]].<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 329'' (''"Slowly it dawned on me that I was looking upon another array of installations: six rings, each rising from one of the petals of an enormous flower."'')</ref> The final array, activated at the conclusion of the Forerunners' conflict with the Flood, was comprised of seven rings, each 10,000 kilometers in diameter. | ||
===Forerunner-Flood war=== | ===Forerunner-Flood war=== | ||
[[File:HaloFiring.png|thumb|right|300px|The Halo Array fires, ending the conflict.]] | [[File:HaloFiring.png|thumb|right|300px|The Halo Array fires, ending the conflict.]] | ||
The first test of a Halo installation was conducted by [[05-032 Mendicant Bias]], who fired [[Installation 07]] in [[ | The first test of a Halo installation was conducted by [[05-032 Mendicant Bias]], who fired [[Installation 07]] in [[Charum Hakkor system|the system]] of [[Charum Hakkor]] and [[Faun Hakkor]] on a low power setting, destroying all of the sentient life on the latter planet and inadvertently releasing [[The Primordial|a Precursor]] from captivity on the former planet. Mendicant Bias then brought the released Precursor to the Halo for study and began a 43-year-long interrogation of it. | ||
Following the use of Installation 07 by Master Builder Faber to suppress [[Battle of Janjur Qom|a rebellion]] on the [[San 'Shyuum]] homeworld of [[Janjur Qom]], the other eleven Halo installations were taken to the Forerunner [[capital]] during the tribunal against Faber, where it was to be decided whether to decommission them. However, in the midst of the trial, Mendicant Bias, turned rampant by the Primordial, appeared with Installation 07, which had gone missing since the San 'Shyuum rebellion, and assaulted the capital. He attempted to seize control of the remaining Halos and fire them, but was only able to control five out of the twelve. One of those five was destroyed by the combined tidal forces of the capital, the firepower of local Forerunner fleets, and the stress of a recent [[slipspace]] transition. The seven Halos that Mendicant Bias was unable to control were recalled to Installation 00 via slipspace jumps, yet only one escaped before the portal collapsed, with the other six breaking up in-slipspace. | Following the use of Installation 07 by Master Builder Faber to suppress [[Battle of Janjur Qom|a rebellion]] on the [[San 'Shyuum]] homeworld of [[Janjur Qom]], the other eleven Halo installations were taken to the Forerunner [[capital]] during the tribunal against Faber, where it was to be decided whether to decommission them. However, in the midst of the trial, Mendicant Bias, turned rampant by the Primordial, appeared with Installation 07, which had gone missing since the San 'Shyuum rebellion, and assaulted the capital. He attempted to seize control of the remaining Halos and fire them, but was only able to control five out of the twelve. One of those five was destroyed by the combined tidal forces of the capital, the firepower of local Forerunner fleets, and the stress of a recent [[slipspace]] transition. The seven Halos that Mendicant Bias was unable to control were recalled to Installation 00 via slipspace jumps, yet only [[Omega Halo|one]] escaped before the portal collapsed, with the other six breaking up in-slipspace. | ||
Installation 07 then jumped into a distant system on a pre-designated destructive collision course with [[Unidentified failsafe planet|a planet]] - a security measure put in place in the event that it fell out of Forerunner control. The installation was eventually reclaimed by the | Installation 07 then jumped into a distant system on a pre-designated destructive collision course with [[Unidentified failsafe planet|a planet]] - a security measure put in place in the event that it fell out of Forerunner control. The installation was eventually reclaimed by the IsoDidact's forces, and it survived the passage of the planet despite taking heavy damage. A significant amount of the ring's superstructure was discarded, reducing its size to 10,000 kilometers, in order to allow it to perform a successful slipspace jump to the [[greater Ark]]. | ||
Later, as Mendicant Bias prepared his final assault on the [[Maginot Sphere]], the | Later, as Mendicant Bias prepared his final assault on the [[Maginot Sphere]], the IsoDidact finally accepted that the Halo Array was the only solution to counter the Flood, and activated the Array. [[Installation 04]] was first in the Array to fire, with the others following sequentially as their fields intersected.<ref name="sil326">'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 326-327''</ref> The effect left all Flood-controlled ships adrift, allowing [[Offensive Bias]] to defeat and capture the rampant AI. | ||
===Post-activation=== | ===Post-activation=== | ||
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The battle finally culminated when [[SPARTAN-II Program|Spartan]] [[John-117]] detonated the fusion engines of the ''Pillar of Autumn'' on the surface of the Installation, which compromised the structural integrity of the ring. The gravitational momentum and inertia still perpetuating the ring in orbit around [[Threshold]] then tore the ring apart. The remains of Installation 04 were scattered as debris in space. The explosion sent massive chunks of the ring careening into [[Basis]]; the moon suffered a constant bombardment of debris from the ring after its destruction.<ref>'''Halo 2''', multiplayer level ''[[Burial Mounds]]''</ref> | The battle finally culminated when [[SPARTAN-II Program|Spartan]] [[John-117]] detonated the fusion engines of the ''Pillar of Autumn'' on the surface of the Installation, which compromised the structural integrity of the ring. The gravitational momentum and inertia still perpetuating the ring in orbit around [[Threshold]] then tore the ring apart. The remains of Installation 04 were scattered as debris in space. The explosion sent massive chunks of the ring careening into [[Basis]]; the moon suffered a constant bombardment of debris from the ring after its destruction.<ref>'''Halo 2''', multiplayer level ''[[Burial Mounds]]''</ref> | ||
Later, the Covenant discovered a second Halo, [[Installation 05]]. On this Halo, the Flood had already been released and much of the ring had been compromised, including its monitor, [[2401 Penitent Tangent]]. Soon, [[Battle of Installation 05|another four-way conflict]] began. The battle ended in the Flood manifesting a [[Gravemind]] and successfully escaping the ring aboard infected Covenant ships. The ring was nearly activated by [[Tartarus]], the [[Chieftain of the Jiralhanae|Chieftain of the | Later, the Covenant discovered a second Halo, [[Installation 05]]. On this Halo, the Flood had already been released and much of the ring had been compromised, including its monitor, [[2401 Penitent Tangent]]. Soon, [[Battle of Installation 05|another four-way conflict]] began. The battle ended in the Flood manifesting a [[Gravemind]] and successfully escaping the ring aboard infected Covenant ships. The ring was nearly activated by [[Tartarus]], the [[Chieftain of the Jiralhanae|Chieftain]] of the [[Jiralhanae]], but [[Commander]] [[Miranda Keyes]] pulled the [[Activation Index]] out of the installation's core at the last moment, causing all six functional installations to go into "standby mode", ready for remote activation from the Ark. | ||
[[File:Halo Firing.png|225px|right|thumb|The partially constructed Installation 04B, hovering over the Ark.]] | [[File:Halo Firing.png|225px|right|thumb|The partially constructed Installation 04B, hovering over the Ark.]] | ||
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The original twelve Halos were designed to fire laterally, cleansing specific planets or systems within a relatively small area of effect;<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''String 27''</ref> the six smaller Halos (and the reduced Installation 07) were designed to fire spherically, (in all directions), killing all sentient life within three radii of the Milky Way's center. When activated, the Halo rings release a burst of cross-phased supermassive neutrinos.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 274''</ref> This burst of neutrinos is carefully tuned to possess a harmonic frequency, which destroys the nervous system of any macroscopic organism that possesses one, even one as rudimentary as a notochord, as shown in the aftermath of a low-powered test firing of a Halo performed by [[Mendicant Bias]] in the system of Charum Hakkor.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''pages 131-133''</ref> | The original twelve Halos were designed to fire laterally, cleansing specific planets or systems within a relatively small area of effect;<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''String 27''</ref> the six smaller Halos (and the reduced Installation 07) were designed to fire spherically, (in all directions), killing all sentient life within three radii of the Milky Way's center. When activated, the Halo rings release a burst of cross-phased supermassive neutrinos.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 274''</ref> This burst of neutrinos is carefully tuned to possess a harmonic frequency, which destroys the nervous system of any macroscopic organism that possesses one, even one as rudimentary as a notochord, as shown in the aftermath of a low-powered test firing of a Halo performed by [[Mendicant Bias]] in the system of Charum Hakkor.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''pages 131-133''</ref> | ||
This pulse is propelled across the Halo Array's full radius at superluminal speeds, | This pulse is propelled across the Halo Array's full radius at superluminal speeds and will eventually propagate at a near-infinite velocity; this was known to generate paradoxes with causality when the rings first fired, with two of the Halos reporting pre-echoes of the combined activation ''before'' the rings had been fired.<ref name="sil326"/> The energy discharge covers the Array's effective radius and cleanses it of all affected life, though simpler life forms that do not possess a neural system, such as microbes, fungi, algae, mosses, and traditional plants are unaffected.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 131''</ref> | ||
Due to the Forerunners' use of corpse-disintegrating [[solute]], 21st century paleo-archeological studies gave no indication of the mass extinction caused by the Array's firing. However, in [[2332]] the [[Ross-Ziegler Blip]] revealed a tiny aberration in Earth's fossil records.<ref>'''Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe''', ''From the Office of Dr. William Arthur Iqbal'', page 519</ref> | Due to the Forerunners' use of corpse-disintegrating [[solute]], 21st century paleo-archeological studies gave no indication of the mass extinction caused by the Array's firing. However, in [[2332]] the [[Ross-Ziegler Blip]] revealed a tiny aberration in Earth's fossil records.<ref>'''Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe''', ''From the Office of Dr. William Arthur Iqbal'', page 519</ref> | ||
