Beacon tower
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
- "Those beacons are part of a ring-wide communications network. They can adapt to any frequency, any purpose."
- — The Weapon to John-117.[1]
The beacon tower (sometimes shortened as beacon),[1] also known as an energy beacon,[2] is a Forerunner structure found on shield worlds,[3] Halo rings,[4] and Installation 00.[5]
Overview[edit]
Architecture[edit]
Beacon towers are large delta-shaped structures typically with a cleave down the approximate center where a beam is emitted upwards to the sky and into space.[6][7] This emits a loud sound that can be heard by those in the surrounding area.[8][9] The towers typically feature an open-air elevated platform.[7] The beacons display a variety of minor differences in layout, likely reflecting the multiple purposes they serve: while some hold a small room in its center,[8][9] others host underground chambers that display a continuous data stream,[1] which contain data such as logs from the installation's monitor.[10] Furthermore, certain underground chambers have a cathedral-type ceiling cut through with supports and spokes that rose in the center.[11] The interior may feature an interface—either on a wall or on a plinth in the center of the chamber—for users to access the beacon's functions or retrieve the data being held in the data stream.[1][3][11]
Beacon towers are commonly positioned within deep canyons to protect the facility from off-world debris, and allow them to leverage the steep environment's natural harmonics to amplify their signals when firing deep into space.[5]
Function[edit]
The beacon towers are built to channel, convert, and refine energy streams of almost any types.[4] Each beacon tower is equipped with a supraluminal communications array;[12] as such, at their base function, the beacon towers act as communication channels to send specific commands to other remote locations.[5] This is done via a pulse of energy being fired from the tower towards the sky. The pulse of energy is known to carry at least navigation data and communications protocols.[3] On Halo rings, the beacon towers serve a multitude of purposes, including ring-wide communication and aiding in the activation process of the ring's primary firing mechanism. On Requiem, beacon towers also functioned as part of the shield world's teleportation grid, featuring teleportation portals that could transport objects to various other parts of the installation.[13]
Entry to the beacon's interior can be restricted either with a locked door or an energy shield.[1][3] Access to its function can also be locked down, though it could be overridden: during the Battle for Zeta Halo, the installation's monitor 117649 Despondent Pyre generated a data key that could override the lockout Cortana had placed on a beacon tower. Furthermore, the data key contained adaptation protocols that instructed the tower to send a superluminal message,[2] allowing Spartan-IV Nina Kovan to transmit the ring's current galactic coordinates as well as pertinent data into human-occupied space during a battle at a beacon tower.[11]
History[edit]
In September 2552, while landing on Installation 04, a number of survivors clustered around some of the ring's beacon towers until they were rescued by Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 and Echo 419.[7]
In February 2558, during the Requiem Campaign, the beacon towers in the region on Requiem known as "Two Giants" were under the control of Jul 'Mdama's Covenant. Fireteam Crimson investigated the southern beacon tower under the direction of Dr. Catherine Halsey, causing it to fire a pulse into the sky.[3] During Fireteam Crimson's pursuit of him, 'Mdama used one of the towers to escape to "Fortress" via the shield world's teleportation grid, followed closely by Fireteam Crimson.[13]
During their occupation of Installation 07, because of the towers' elevated position over their surrounding areas, the Banished used the towers as makeshift garrisons or lookout towers.[11]
On May 14, 2560, the boat crew fought the Banished at a beacon tower near the Conservatory so that Spartan-IV Nina Kovan could transmit the ring's current galactic coordinates as well as pertinent data into human-occupied space. The battle resulted in the deaths of TJ Murphy,[11] Isaiah Cameron and Gorian,[14] but the surviving members of the boat crew escaped with the help of submonitor 091 Adjutant Veridity.[15] The transmission would be received a month later by the Swords of Sanghelios.[16]
Later during the conflict, John-117 and the Weapon accessed four beacon towers and their data streams to construct the security sequence needed to enter the Command Spire.[1]