Omega Halo: Difference between revisions

{{Era|Forerunner}}

{{References}}

|function=Flood containment and research; planetary/system-wide sterilization

|constructed=c. [[101,000 BCE]]-[[100,300 BCE]]

|destroyed=c. [[100,000 BCE]]<ref name="Silentium"/>

'''Omega Halo''' was an installation of the original twelve-strong [[Halo Array]]. It was the last Halo to be built as part of the first array.<ref name="Silentium">'''Halo: Silentium''', ''Strings 27 - 31''</ref>{{Verify source}}

Unlike the six rings of the final Halo Array, (and the reduced [[Installation 07]]), Omega Halo was manufactured at the [[greater Ark]] instead of [[Installation 00]]. Omega Halo was the last 30,000 kilometer Halo to be built. By the last year of the [[Forerunner-Flood war]], all but one of its counterparts had been destroyed either during the [[Battle of the Capital|assault on the Capital world]] or by [[Flood]]/[[Precursor]] forces in the intervening years;<ref name="Silentium"/> Installation 07 had been severely damaged, reduced in size, and repurposed alongside the smaller, final Array.<ref>''[[Halo: Primordium]]''</ref>

As the [[ecumene]]'s territory was driven back toward the heart of [[Forerunner]] civilization, the [[Capital]] world fell to the Flood. As such, the surviving members of the [[Ecumene Council|New Council]] moved the seat of government to the greater Ark, outside the galaxy. The tattered remnants of the Forerunner military gathered at the Ark in preparation for a final stand; Omega Halo was positioned near the Ark in case its use became necessary. Oriented toward the satellite galaxy of [[Path Kethona]], the Halo would fire a directed pulse designed to purge Path Kethona of all life, Precursor artifacts or Flood. Specimens from the [[Lifeworker]]s' [[Conservation Measure]] were moved to the Ark; many humans were soon moved to Omega Halo to prevent excessive crowding on the larger installation.<ref name="Silentium"/>

Shortly after the [[IsoDidact]], the [[Librarian]], and the [[Ur-Didact]] arrived at the staging ground, an enormous Flood fleet emerged from [[Slipstream space|slipspace]] only a few million kilometers away. Led by the rogue ancilla [[05-032 Mendicant Bias|Mendicant Bias]], the Flood-controlled fleet was merely a screen for a swarm of Precursor [[star road]]s, which could physically crush entire planets.<ref name="Silentium"/>

As the battle raged, the Ur-Didact took his [[Mantle's Approach|personal ship]] to the surface of Omega Halo. There, he used a [[Composer]] to convert the relocated human population, (numbering in the hundreds of thousands), into digital forms. He then returned to the [[Promethean]]s' primary [[shield world]], [[Requiem]], where he converted the digital essences into [[Promethean Knight]]s.<ref name="Terminal">'''Halo 4''', [[Terminal/Halo 4|''Terminal Six'']]</ref> The Librarian and [[Chakas]], a monitor and former companion of the Ur-Didact, were unable to stop this quasi-genocide; as however, they managed to recover a relative handful of live specimens and DNA samples, which were immediately transferred to the [[Installation 00|lesser Ark]].<ref name="Silentium"/>

As the Ur-Didact fled to Requiem and the Librarian made for Installation 00, the IsoDidact, [[Bitterness-of-the-Vanquished]], and the [[Examiner]] traveled to Omega Halo's [[control room]]. Knowing that Precursor [[neural physics]] were extremely vulnerable to Halo radiation, they hoped to clear an egress route among the vast tangle of star roads. Soon after the trio's arrival, [[Master Builder]] [[Faber]] entered the control center and vaingloriously insisted that he be the one to fire the installation's weapon. He managed to fire a single pulse toward Path Kethona, disintegrating multiple star roads and opening a path away from the Ark while sterilizing Path Kethona. Unfortunately, the Forerunners' position was quickly overrun and some of the remaining star roads converged on the Halo. Enormous tidal and kinetic stress rent the installation asunder; the vast degree of friction caused parts of the Halo to superheat and melt.<ref name="Silentium"/>

The floor of the control center gave way, causing Bitterness, the Examiner, and the Master Builder to plummet to their deaths. The IsoDidact was unable to grab a salient as he fell, though the monitor Chakas fortuitously arrived and carried him to the lesser Ark to coordinate the final stages of the Halo Array's activation. As the pair escaped, the star roads crushed Omega Halo and the greater Ark. With the loss of Omega Halo, the Forerunners were forced to resort to the smaller, more powerful secondary array of 10,000 kilometer-wide Halos; these rings would, in the coming weeks, destroy all life in the galaxy.<ref name="Silentium"/>

[[File:H4 Terminals - Halo.png|275px|thumb|Omega Halo, as seen in the ''Halo 4'' terminals. The ring's location in this depiction differs considerably from that described in ''Halo: Silentium''.]]

Omega Halo first appeared in the sixth terminal in ''Halo 4''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s campaign. The events depicted in this terminal were later adapted and expanded, (in a highly modified form), in ''Halo: Silentium''. The terminal depicts Omega Halo in orbit around a gas giant with several nearby moons; there are no signs of the battle described in the novel. Another key difference is that the Librarian and a team of Lifeworkers are shown investigating the attack on the human population shortly after its occurrence; the Librarian confronts the Didact via a hologram and rebukes for refusing to speak to her in person.<ref name="Terminal"/> In the book, the Didact leaves as soon as the humans are composed, while the Librarian is focused on getting the remaining humans to the lesser Ark.<ref name="Silentium"/>

Fictionally, ''Halo 4''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s terminals are depicted as transmissions from within the [[Domain]], whereas ''Silentium'' is presented as legal testimony from several individuals who were present during the battle, most importantly the Librarian, contained within the memory banks of a [[Catalog]] and a [[monitor]]. As the Domain is known to alter records with no apparent explanation, it is likely that ''Halo 4''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s interpretation is a condensation or abstraction of the events that actually transpired. Since Omega Halo was the last ring of the first array to be built it possibly could have been Installation 12.

**''[[Terminal/Halo 4|Terminals]]'' {{1st}}

<references/>

[[Category:Halos]]