Control room
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
A control room is a crucial facility featured on many Forerunner installations, most prominently those of the Halo Array. The control room of a Halo contains the installation's Core data center, and is used to manage the entirety of the Halo's systems, including its primary weapon, which can be activated by inserting the Activation Index into the Core or even disabled, given sufficient expertise.[1] Other functions include the management of the installation's safety protocols,[2] and control over the Halo's gravity anchors, enabling the ejection of select environmental sections into space.[1] The Halos' control rooms are typically located within a pyramidal temple-like structure.[3] The control rooms were typically found in pretty much the same place: the largest uniform structure near the ring's phase pulse generators.[4]
Control rooms are featured on other installations as well; shield worlds, for example, possess dedicated control centers for the Forerunner fleets or weapons they may contain.[5]
Installation 00[edit]
- Main articles: Clarion, Installation 00 Citadel
Installation 00 had the Clarion network, a series of control facilities for the Halo Array.[6] The Citadel in particular served as a control room from which the IsoDidact fired the rings at the end of the Forerunner-Flood war[7] and from which the Prophet of Truth attempted to do the same.[8] The Citadel was subsequently badly damaged when Installation 08 fired and exploded over the Ark.[9][10] Due to the damage the Citadel sustained, it was eventually completely destroyed as the Ark repaired itself and changed its surface in countless different ways.[11]
By October 2559, all but one of the other facilities in the Clarion network, Epsilon Clarion, were off-line for repairs. According to the Epsilon submonitor, the other facilities in the network like the Citadel were either inoperable or inaccessible and may remain that way for some time.[6] Epsilon Clarion was later destroyed by the UNSC Spirit of Fire in order to keep the Keepers of the One Freedom, Intrepid Eye and Dhas Bhasvod's Covenant from firing the Halo Array. With the destruction of Epsilon Clarion, the Ark lost its ability to fire the Halo Array until a new Clarion facility could be constructed or one of the existing facilities was repaired and put back in working order.[12][13][14]
Installation 03[edit]
- Main article: Control Room (Installation 03)
The interior of Gamma Halo's control room resembles that of Installation 04 in general layout. It was here that John-117 defeated the Ur-Didact following the New Phoenix Incident. The Master Chief utilized the ring's activation index to manually disable the installation's safety protocols, allowing monitor 859 Static Carillon to eject the fragment of the ring housing the control room into the planet below, seemingly incinerating the Didact in the impact but keeping the control room intact.[2]
Installation 04[edit]
- Main article: Control Room (Installation 04)
Installation 04's Control Room was a ziggurat-like structure located in a snowy chasm. The main console and Core was located within a massive spherical chamber behind a set of doors and connecting corridors. The room features a massive hologram of Installation 04 and the Threshold system in its center. Suspended in the air is a large circular catwalk.[3]
The Master Chief reached the main console and inserted Cortana, who sent him to the installation's Flood containment facility to attempt to stop Captain Keyes from unleashing the Flood.[15] He returned to the Control Room at the start of Two Betrayals to insert the Index as prompted by 343 Guilty Spark, but was stopped by Cortana. 343 Guilty Spark then sent Sentinels to stop the Chief. After the Chief destroyed the Sentinels, he took Cortana and left.[3]
Installation 05[edit]
- Main article: Control Room (Installation 05)
Installation 05's Control Room is located on an offshore island in a large body of water. It bears significant structural differences from Installation 04's room.[16]
Here, the Jiralhanae Chieftain Tartarus brought Miranda Keyes to the Control Room along with 343 Guilty Spark to attempt to activate Delta Halo. He succeeded in initiating the activation sequence of the installation, but was slain by Arbiter Thel 'Vadamee and Sergeant Johnson. The Index was removed by Miranda before the weapon could fire. Upon activation of the firing sequence, the control room's central chamber reconfigured from its inert state into a three-leveled structure with a gravity lift in the middle.[16]
Installation 07[edit]
The Zeta Halo Project was unable to locate Installation 07's Control Room, baffling Doctors Henry Lamb and Luther Mann as the Control Rooms were typically easy to find.[4] However, after the activation of the Halo Array by 000 Tragic Solitude, the two scientists were able to trace a steadily increasing pulse to the Control Room.[17]
Installation 08[edit]
- Main article: Control Room (Installation 04)
