Divine Hand

The Divine Hand (also nicknamed the Trikala) is a superweapon built by the Precursors. It was built by Precursor fugitives fleeing their genocide at the hands of the Forerunners during the Forerunner-Precursor war, intended to defend their new home of Netherop from pursuing Forerunner ships, including the Guardian Custodes. It lay dormant on Netherop for tens of thousands of years eventually coming to be discovered by the Defenders of the Sanctum, a group of Sangheili who had been marooned on the world. Throughout the Human-Covenant War, the Defenders used the Divine Hand to prevent any vessels from landing on Netherop, culminating in 2559 when it was the objective of missions by both the United Nations Space Command-Swords of Sanghelios alliance and the Banished. The Banished ultimately took control of the weapon at the battle's conclusion.

Etymology

The Divine Hand, alongside other aspects of its operation like the Wave of Wrath and Rift of Eternity, were named by the Defenders of the Sanctum led by Worldmaster Nizat 'Kvarosee after finding it. At the time of their discovery, the Defenders still believed in the Covenant religion, and thus percieved them as artefacts of the Forerunners.

The Banished xenotechnology expert Eto 'Saljhoo alternatively codenamed the weapon the Trikala, after the ancient spear of Sangheili mythology. Amalea Petrov nicknamed it the claw, due to the shape of the energy beams fired when the weapon is activated.

Overview

The Divine Hand is composed of Precursor nanotechnology, originally located inside the Sanctum of the Ancients on Netherop. When activated, it can fire a "flare event", releasing huge quantities of photons alongside quantum energy and oscillation forces, the latter two only observable if the observer is positioned directly above the flare.

As-constructed by the Precursors, the Divine Hand was situated inside a focusing chamber, termed the Inner Sanctum by Nizat and his followers. The Inner Sanctum was located inside a temple known as the Sanctum of the Ancients, which had been constructed of Precursor nanotechnology. The temple's construction was such that the nanodust interfaced with residents inside the temple, allowing them to control various aspects of it via the Expectation Effect. This was used by the Defenders to create Sanctum's Hide armour and manipulate the Sanctum's walls, alongside allowing them to use the Divine Hand.

Inside the Inner Sanctum, below the platform which the user stands on, was located a vacuum energy condenser - the power source for the Divine Hand. The condenser is a "shimmering bead", around 0.5 meters (1.6 ft) in diameter and 0.25 meters (0.82 ft) in height. The bead is brightly coloured, flashing through various shades at random. When the bead was disassembled by Keely Iyuska, all of the nanotechnology inside the Sanctum ceased to work, including the core structure of the temple itself. Iyuska theorised that even if the condenser had been removed, as long as a suitable amount of nanodust were available, a new focusing chamber could be rebuilt elsewhere which would in theory, allow the Divine Hand to be used at other locations. Afer firing, the Divine Hand must have time to recharge, with the self-replicating nanodust (described as the "seeds" of the weapon) having to reconstitute itself. It was speculated by Keely Iyuska that a shorter recharge time may result in a less-powerful firing.

Operation

"The Divine Hand does not care who your enemies are, only that they are enemies."

— Tam 'Lakosee, regarding the Divine Hand.

Operating the Divine Hand works in much the same way as the other properties of the Sanctum of the Ancients. The nanodust filling the compound, once settled on the user's body, has the ability to interface with their thoughts and act according to them. When one enters the Inner Sanctum, they are presented with a visual representation of the objects in Netherop's orbital space, and with concentration could direct the Divine Hand's energies onto targets of their choosing. The visual of Netherop is itself constructed of the same nanotechnological dust as everything else in the chamber; when one steps onto the focusing platform inside the Inner Sanctum, the dust collects on their form as the weapon gathers its energy.

As the weapon's energy is collected and the operator focuses the attack on their target(s), the operator sinks through the floor and onto a small platform surrounded by intense light. Once at its peak, the weapon fires, releasing the energy guided by the operator in a process described by Thel 'Vadam as searing hot, being presented with visions of stars and galaxies around them. As the firing finishes, the user feels like they are falling and surrounded by the debris of their destruction before the visions end and they return to normal.

Throughout the Defenders' time on Netherop, only Nizat 'Kvarosee and Tam 'Lakosee had ever been permitted to enter the Inner Sanctum; they believed that stronger faith in the Forerunners would allow them to control the weapon easier, though Thel 'Vadam had no issue in using the weapon during his brief time in the Sanctum.

Effects

When fired, the Divine Hand opens up a slipspace portal, named the "Rift of Eternity" by the Defenders of the Sanctum. When observed from outside, the effect was described by Amalea Petrov as looking like the mountain housing the Divine Hand had opened up with a fissure. Firing the hand generates an electromagnetic radiation storm that disrupts communications equipment and temporarily disables vehicles that haven't been targeted and destroyed by the weapon. The slipspace portal fires a lance of energy (termed the "Wave of Wrath" by the Defenders) into the sky which arcs to target the entities designated by the operator, ripping them apart entirely. The mountain housing the temple was noted by Thel 'Vadam to act as a "focusing lens" of sorts for the beam.

For people and vehicles situated on the ground around the Divine Hand when it is fired, they are similarly-ripped apart, with the weapon able to reduce a dropship into a corkscrew-shaped mass of twisted metal. Similar effects can be observed for living creatures unfortunate enough to be caught outside of cover, with remnant shards of bone and gore covering the ground. Taking cover, such as hiding in a cave, can shield one from the effects of the Divine Hand.

Once the slipspace portal closes, a reconciliation wave is generated which disrupts the region around the mountain with effects similar to an earthquake. The ground's undulation was noted by Olympia Vale to resemble that of the surface of the ocean.

On a macro scale, the firing of the Divine Hand also has the effect of destroying the planet that it is used on. In the case of Netherop, the world of formerly-lush jungles was turned into a barren, desertified and barely-survivable world thanks to the Divine Hand's usage.

History

Origins

During the Forerunner-Precursor war, some Precursors settled on Netherop with the Tier 6 civilization that was already on the planet. These Precursor fugitives used a weapon later called the Divine Hand to destroy a Guardian Custode that was sent after them by the Forerunners. However, the effects of their weapon devastated Netherop, turning a once lush planet into a barely inhabitable wasteland. The indigenous population was wiped out, but the Precursor fugitives remained in hiding on Netherop for over a hundred thousand years.

Footage of the incident, captured from a Phaeton fightercraft, was recovered by the Forerunners and indexed on the Ark. In 2559, this footage was recovered by the Banished and convinced Atriox of the weapon's existence. This knowledge was also shared by the Created in their uprising in the same year; as such, they assigned three harriers to watch over the planet and defend it against any attempt at recovery.

The Guardian-killing incident also resulted in Netherop being recorded in Forerunner records under the name "Neska", roughly translating to "Planet of the Ghost Makers". When studying xenoarchaelogy, Keely Iyuska came to the conclusion that something powerful like the Divine Hand must be sheltered on Netherop based on the name - as the Forerunner Ecumene had once held such a power over the galaxy that they would not assign such a title to something if it were not incredibly powerful - even more puzzling given the preindustrial ruins that had been observed on the planet. While Iyuska had convinced Admiral Serin Osman to grant her Office of Naval Intelligence funds to investigate the site, the initiative was put on hold when the Created Uprising began.

Modern usage

The Divine Hand was first discovered by Nizat 'Kvarosee and his followers following their marooning on Netherop. After several years of surviving on the surface, the group stumbled upon the Sanctum of the Ancients and proceeded to set themselves up there, coming to name themselves the Defenders of the Sanctum in the process. When the corvette UNSC Alpina attempted to descend into Netherop's atmosphere to conduct a rescue operation of Petrov and her crew (also stranded on the planet), the Divine Hand was fired and destroyed the corvette. After this event, Petrov made it her mission to capture the Sanctum and take control of the weapon, something she had yet to achieve by 2559.

Around ten years after its first firing, the weapon was used again against another rescue mission attempting to clear the orbital mine shell surrounding the planet. During the firing, Petrov and most of her force had been attempting to dig into the Sanctum below before retreating to a cave for cover. A small handful of soldiers volunteered to stay behind and use the weapon's firing as a chance to jump into the Sanctum - these soldiers were never heard from again, having been turned into the ghostly Lurkers.

The weapon was used for the third time during the 2559 engagement on Netherop, again by 'Kvarosee. When the Swords of Sanghelios' Mikpramu-pattern Phantom dropships inserted onto Netherop, they were allowed to pass due to 'Kvarosee's belief in them being allied Covenant dropships. However, when the United Nations Space Command attempted a follow-on insertion of forty Pelicans, the Divine Hand was activated, resulting in all forty being destroyed alongside the Phantoms parked on the surface, and anyone stood outside during the firing. The D102 Owl stealth dropship carrying Olympia Vale and a few high-value team members deployed ahead of the main force and, alongside the Point Blank-class prowler UNSC Hidden Point, were not destroyed due to 'Kvarosee being unable to see them.

Over the course of the engagement on Netherop, the Divine Hand was the objective for all sides involved in the conflict, with the UNSC, Swords, and Banished aiming to each retrieve the weapon to put to use against the Created. The UNSC and Swords, having managed to get small parties onto the ground, engaged in combat with the Defenders of the Sanctum before eventually pushing into the Sanctum and finding the Divine Hand, having convinced Tam 'Lakosee that he still believed in the Covenant religion. By this time, Created harriers in orbit had begun to attack the Swords of Sanghelios flotilla alongside the Banished drekar Hammer of Fate. Thel 'Vadam used the Divine Hand to destroy the enemy ships in orbit, though was interrupted by 'Lakosee upon realising that 'Vadam intended to destroy Forerunner ships - something he considered heretical. As such, Tam's interference caused the Divine Hand to also fire upon all of the Swords of Sanghelios and UNSC ships in orbit, leaving only the thus-far undetected Banished karves to survive the cataclysm. This firing caused alarm for the Created, resulting in the AI Kathara authorising the deployment of Long Reverence, a Fortress-class vessel, to Netherop, though it arrived too late to prevent the weapon from being seized.

After firing the Divine Hand, the UNSC and Swords of Sanghelios agreed to split its component parts up between the two to ensure that neither side would be able to control such a devastating weapon, and to ensure that neither Earth or Sanghelios (or any other colony world) would be rendered uninhabitable due to either side's hubris. Keely Iyuska was given charge of the nanodust samples she collected from the Sanctum, while Olabisi Varo'dai was given charge of the vacuum condenser critical for powering the weapon. When the Banished landed on-world to take control of the weapon, the allied forces attempted a deception tactic, ultimately reasoning that the Banished stood a greater chance of defeating the Created, and that if they used the weapon to destroy their own worlds, it would still be a preferable outcome. However, they could not simply hand over the Divine Hand to avoid raising suspicions, and instead pretended to hide the weapon from Atriox, only for Rosa Fuertes to interrupt the negotiation and throw the nanodust bags at Atriox. This action initially appeased Atriox, which worried the Arbiter in case he actually fell for the bait. Then - as had been expected - the Oath Warden Crei 'Ayomuu stole the vacuum energy condenser and handed it over to Eto 'Saljhoo, who had been his employer. While the Oath Warden believed he had fulfilled his contract and decieved the allies, they had hoped for him to do that very action. As a result, Atriox left with the entirety of the Divine Hand, save for three sample jars of the dust that had been hidden by Keely Iyuska. After the Banished departed Netherop, Iyuska handed them over to Olympia Vale, under the promise that Vale would put in a good word for Iyuska with the Office of Naval Intelligence whenever they returned to the Sanctum site.

It is unclear whether the Banished have used the Divine Hand since their acquisition of it, though they may have done to kill the Guardian present, and destroyed, on Installation 07 during the battle over the megastructure in the following weeks.

List of appearances

• Halo: Outcasts (First appearance)
• Halo: Empty Throne (Mentioned only)