Editing Excession

{{Status|Canon}}
{{References}}
{{Megastructure infobox
|image=[[File:Ark portal open.jpg|300px]]
|description=Disc with seven pairs of rising pylons
|location=[[Kenya]], [[East African Protectorate]], [[Earth]]
|type=[[Slipspace portal]] generator
|function=Generation of a [[portal]] to [[Installation 00]]
|caretaker=
|constructed= Began in [[97,445 BCE]]
|destroyed-title=Status
|destroyed=Non-operational
|diameter={{Convert|72.79|mi|km|disp=flip|sp=us}}{{Ref/Reuse|evg}}
}}
The '''Excession''',{{Ref/Anthology|Id=evo|Evo|From the Office of Dr. William Arthur Iqbal}}{{Ref/Book|Id=evg|EVG|Page=146}} sometimes alternatively named the '''Portal at Voi''',{{Ref/Reuse|evg}}{{Ref/Anthology|Evo|Human Weakness}} is a massive [[Forerunner]] construction in [[Kenya]], [[Africa]] on [[Earth]]. Designed to generate a [[slipspace portal]] to [[Installation 00]], it was built across and eventually buried beneath an area that would come to encompass the town of [[Voi]] and the city of [[Mombasa]], until its excavation by the [[Covenant]] during the [[Battle for Earth]] in late [[2552]]. While it was subsequently deactivated following the [[Battle of Installation 00]] later that year, it has since [[Operation: FAR STORM|been reactivated]] and [[Created uprising|deactivated]] in the years since.

In the years since the Excession's unearthing, other slipspace portal complexes have been unearthed on other [[human colonies]] - notably, the [[Menachite portal complex]] buried underneath [[Reach]].

==Overview==
[[File:Excessionsatellite.png|250px|thumb|Satellite imagery of the portal being uncovered.]]
The Excession is a a [[slipspace portal]] generator intended to link Earth with Installation 00 (or, the Ark), located outside the [[Milky Way]] galaxy. Normally, travelling such a distance (even via [[Slipstream space|slipspace]]) takes months to accomplish - something which the portal is able to reduce to mere weeks. For example, in late [[2552]], a UNSC-Sangheili task force took just under a month (November 17{{Ref/Site|URL=http://halo.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&cid=16989|Site=Bungie.net|Page=Bungie Weekly Update: 01/23/09|D=25|M=09|Y=2014}}-December 11{{Ref/Marketing|Halo Waypoint|Heroes Never Die|Detail=Fortitude}}{{Ref/Site|Id=Jeremy|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/forums/db05ce78845f4120b062c50816008e5d/topics/glasslands-complaints/4e36f9a8-65f0-4d0b-bfbc-3c9d3e4b263c/posts?page=5|Site=Halo Waypoint Forums|Page=Glasslands complaints... - Page 5|Detail=[[Jeremy Patenaude]] clarifies the dates of the Ark transit in ''Halo 3''|D=14|M=10|Y=2011}}) to travel to the Ark using the portal. By contrast, in [[2558]], the [[Banished]] travelled to the Ark without use of the portal - a journey that took around seven months using a Covenant [[slipspace drive]].{{Ref/Novel|HSoR|Chapter=3}} The length of travel time using the portal is something largely dictated by how much power is used to power it: if more power is dedicated to the portal and its astrogation systems, the travel time to the Ark can be reduced to mere days or hours, though not without risk to the structure itself.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HITD15|HiTD|Chapter=15}} In [[2555]], the Ark's [[monitor]] was able to accomplish this by feeding more power into the portal from the Ark, allowing the [[Ceudar-pattern heavy corvette|corvette]] ''[[Mayhem]]'' to [[Operation: FAR STORM|arrive on]] the Ark in hours.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HITD8|HiTD|Chapter=8}} 

The massive structure that opens the portal—at least the portion that has been uncovered—is {{Convert|72.79|mi|km|disp=flip|sp=us}} in diameter.{{Ref/Reuse|evg}} When the portal is inactive, it appears as nothing more than a slightly convex metal disc of a Forerunner alloy. Glyphs can be seen from high above in the metal framework of the construction. At the very center, there is one shaped like a circle pierced by four spokes, which subdivide it into eight sections. The portal is powered by its own internal source, which lies far below what can be seen of it on the surface. There are extensive passageways that stretch down into the earth all throughout it. These passageways link information systems, engines, and control stations. Immediately beneath the domed shape of the structure's exterior, one can view it from a perspective where it appears concave from a sort of observation deck paneled with glass. At the base beneath the hinge of each pylon there are numerous consoles and instrument panels covered with Forerunner runes.{{Ref/Level|Id=Tsavo|H3|H3:Tsavo Highway|Tsavo Highway}}{{Ref/Level|Id=Storm|H3|H3:The Storm|The Storm}}

The portal can only be opened in response to a specific set of data. This data is carried by a kind of [[Forerunner starship]] known as a [[keyship]]. In 2552, a {{Class|Supernal Spiral|keyship}} known as "''[[Anodyne Spirit]]''" was used by the Covenant for this task.{{Ref/Reuse|Storm}} Keyships are capable of [[VTOL|landing vertically]] on the closed portal to interface directly with it. Once in place, they can open the portal; without such a vessel opening the portal is nigh-impossible. The only known exception to this process is via use of a [[Huragok]]; to reopen the portal in 2555, the [[Swords of Sanghelios]] used a Huragok named [[Drifts Randomly]], which had worked aboard and studied the keyship during its time in the Covenant, to replicate the keyship's interactions with the structure.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HITD3|HiTD|Chapter=3}} Before the portal fully opens, there is a not-yet-understood process which builds up to the final opening. During this process, a great [[Portal storm|electrical storm]] is generated above it due to the creation of such a vast, stable slipspace rupture in atmospheric conditions.{{Ref/Reuse|Tsavo}} Gusts of wind inside such a storm can exceed two-hundred miles per hour.{{Ref/Reuse|Storm}} When the time finally comes for the portal to open, the fourteen pylons rise and the center of the disc sinks further into the ground. A giant beam of energy then shoots up from the center of the disc. The portal itself, taking the shape of a sphere, appears, supported by beams emitted from each of the raised pylons.{{Ref/Reuse|Storm}}{{Ref/Level|Id=FG|H3|H3:Floodgate|Floodgate}}

After the firing of [[Installation 08]], the portal was damaged on the Ark end which caused its collapse. Though [[000 Tragic Solitude]] repaired the damage to the portal on the Ark, it also severed his control of the portal, requiring its activation on the Earth end to return to its previous state.{{Ref/Reuse|HITD266}} Tragic Solitude also increased the portal's power and astrogation systems to send and receive objects much faster despite the fact that doing so was an extraordinary exertion of power and information and could well compromise many of his systems.{{Ref/Reuse|HITD15}} [[Luther Mann]] subsequently expressed worry about how long the portal would be sustainable in such a state as the pylons on the Ark end were under tremendous stress, effectively compressing real space into an almost unimaginably small frame of slipspace by way of crystal-mediation, which alongside several astrogation shortcuts, made the effective travel distance between the Ark and Earth unimaginably short. However, it was something that not even the Forerunners were comfortable doing and Luther suspected it was only conceived of being used in extreme circumstances.<ref>'''[[Halo: Hunters in the Dark]]''', ''page 347''</ref>

The portal constructs have unmediated slipspace cores bound to them that generate stable, pre-computed slipspace routes between synchronised endpoints. Due to the fact that these devices have fixed endpoints, destination flexibility is sacrificed for safety, speed, and security.{{Ref/Book|Id=WF11|HWF|Page=11}}

===UNSC additions===
{{Quote|multi=yes|q1=Where exactly are we going?|[[Usze 'Taham]]|q2=The center of the operation.|[[Spartan Operations|Spartan]] [[Frank Kodiak]]|'Taham and Kodiak before descending underground.}}
Since the portal was first uncovered and the war with the Covenant ended, the [[United Nations Space Command]], and specifically the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]], has sought to further understand the structure that had been buried under their feet. Having found a way to access the artifact's many information systems, engines, and control stations,<ref>'''Halo: Hunters in the Dark''', ''page 76''</ref> ONI constructed numerous facilities around and within the artifact in order to research it, staffed by roughly two hundred and twenty-seven engineers, technicians, and security personnel.<ref>'''Halo: Hunters in the Dark''', ''page 109''</ref> One notable facility is termed [[Research Center Alpha]], which lies at the base of one of the portal's pylons and can only be traveled to via an elevator from the surface. Science personnel were stationed at other pylons as well, such as [[Pylon Five]].<ref>'''Halo: Hunters in the Dark''', ''page 113''</ref> Another of these facilities was [[Research Center Oscar]].{{Ref/Novel|ET|Chapter=1}}

Branching out across the undercarriage of the machine was an ONI-fabricated network of scaffolding and gantries, allowing access to deeper and higher sections of the underground.<ref>'''Halo: Hunters in the Dark''', ''page 77''</ref><ref>'''Halo: Hunters in the Dark''', ''page 82''</ref> Before the portal was reactivated, the UNSC had to illuminate any portion of the structure explored with floodlights, but once it came to life again, this was no longer necessary.<ref>'''Halo: Hunters in the Dark''', ''page ??''</ref>

Security and exploration of the site and its surrounding regions is the responsibility of [[Joint Task Force MARIAH]], the assignment of the majority of the Spartans on Earth.{{Ref/Site|Id=cflegendend|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/canon-fodder-legendary-endings|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Canon Fodder - Legendary Endings|D=13|M=12|Y=2021}}{{Ref/Book|Id=OSFM|OSFM|Page=91}}

==History==
===Ancient history===
{{Quote|Who will use this portal? Who will live to return here? And what will they think of this machine that I’ve buried? Those I have fought for, for so long. Those who, it is clear to me now, ultimately will and must inherit the Mantle. I can only hope that they will survive and upon returning, that they will find this portal and use it to travel to the Ark—in order that they might discover their rightful place in this galaxy, and the great responsibility they have finally inherited. They are the last of my children. They must reclaim their birthright.|The [[Librarian]] thinks on the future of the portal and its use by humanity.}}
[[File:ObservingArtifact.png|Ancient humans observe the portal at some point following their species' reintroduction to Earth.|270px|thumb|left]]
Shortly before the firing of the [[Halo Array]], the [[Forerunner]] known as the [[Librarian]] ordered the construction of the portal beneath a savannah in what would later become [[Kenya]]. The Librarian knew that the portal would not be completed before the Halos were fired, and thus construction would continue for at least a century after [[Earth]] was [[Conservation Measure|reseeded]]. She had it built with the hope that humanity would one day use it to reap the benefits of the legacy the Forerunners left on the [[Installation 00|lesser Ark]]. A {{Class|Gargantua|transport}} sent by [[343 Guilty Spark]] at her request, along with the necessary components mined from the Earth, was used to build the portal.{{Ref/Novel|HSil|Chapter=String 37}} At least two varieties of [[sentinel]]s, [[Retriever]]s and [[Assembler Sentinel|Assembler]]s, were deployed from the transport and were also important to its construction. 

When humans and other lifeforms were reintroduced to Earth, they emerged at the planet above the portal in Africa.{{Ref/Novel|Rebirth}} However, work on it would continue for multiple generations. Its continual construction was witnessed by humans, including an African elder named [[N'chala]], who was oblivious to its purpose and considered the Assembler Sentinels working on it to either be gods or to be under their direction.{{Ref/Comic|Id=CoL|H3CoL}} The artifact eventually came to be entirely buried in the earth.

The Librarian also had [[Kilimanjaro Forerunner complex|a Forerunner complex]] constructed beneath the peak of Mawenzi which overlooked the portal.{{Ref/Novel|Id=ren45|Ren|Chapter=45}}
{{clear|right}}

=== Discovery ===
{{Quote|Truth could've landed anywhere, but he committed all his forces here. East Africa. The ruins of New Mombasa. Then, they started digging.|[[Miranda Keyes]] informs [[John-117]] of the Covenant's excavation.}}
[[File:The coming Storm.jpg|250px|thumb|The Portal, viewed during the day, prior to its activation.]]
By at least the nineteenth century, the portal was entirely submerged beneath the land occupied by the city of Mombasa and the town of Voi. Additionally, at least a portion of the portal was covered by a man-made lake at some point between the early 21st and mid-26th centuries. At some point after the dawn of the 24th century, the UNSC's [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] discovered a small section of the portal structure located below the metropolis of [[New Mombasa]], and constructed a major facility known as the [[ONI Alpha Site (location)|ONI Alpha Site]] in the city in order to conduct covert research on the artifact.{{Ref/Book|Id=vis|EVG|Page=132}} In [[2551]], toward the end of the [[Battle of Meridian]], a [[luminary]] was discovered by the Covenant on [[Meridian|the colony]]. This luminary would later be presented to the [[Prophet of Regret]] and reveal to him the location of the portal.{{Ref/Game|H2A|Terminal (Halo 2: Anniversary|Terminal #14}} In [[2552#October|October of 2552]], a [[Great Rift Valley|seismic anomaly]] originating with the portal was discovered in a survey conducted by New Mombasa's urban infrastructure AI, the [[Superintendent]], for [[Daniel Endesha|Dr. Endesha]], revealing the location and full extent of the structure to him.{{Ref/Game|H3ODST|Sadie's Story}}

Following the [[Prophet of Regret]]'s flight from the [[Sol system]] during the [[Battle for Earth]], the remaining forces of Regret's [[Fleet of Sacred Consecration]] were grouped themselves at Mombasa as [[Jiralhanae]] had already swiftly taken control of the leftover of Regret's fleet from the [[Sangheili]].{{Ref/Generic|Id=FTH|Heading=[[Halo Legendary Crate]]|Subheading=[[Halo Legendary Crate/Data Drops|Data Drop #2]]|Detail=[[:File:LC 002 Doc 1.jpg|First Twelve Hours]]}}{{Ref/Marketing|Id=Oct20|Halo Waypoint|Ten Twenty}} They attempted to use the data gathered by the Superintendent to pinpoint the location of the artifact, but were eventually forced to discover its location on their own. Eventually, a [[Truth's fleet|massive Covenant support fleet]] led by [[Jiralhanae]] arrived across East Africa on the next day to ensure the Forerunner artifact complex,{{Ref/Reuse|Id=coastal highway}}{{Ref/Site|Id=waypointvergil|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/canon-fodder-vergil-reality|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Canon Fodder - Vergil Reality|D=15|M=06|Y=2021}} as the Covenant forces so far started the uncovering of the artifact by [[glassing]].{{Ref/Level|Id=coastal highway|Game=Halo 3: ODST|Level=Coastal Highway}} By [[2552#November|November 17, 2552]], the entire lake that lay over where the structure was buried had been vaporized by Covenant ships and the earth overtop of the artifact had been burned away by focused glassing to unveil it.{{Ref/Reuse|Storm}} The Prophet of Truth landed the [[Forerunner Dreadnought]] on the structure, and an unusual [[Portal storm|electric storm]] formed above it. Before its activation, the prophet personally traveled to the Superintendent's data center deep underneath where New Mombasa used to be, now occupied by a number of Covenant [[Huragok]], and observed a section of the artifact visible from the facility.{{Ref/Level|H3ODST|H3ODST:Epilogue|Epilogue|Detail=[[Legendary]] ending cutscene}}

The [[UNSC]] attempted to attack the keyship, falsely presuming the portal to be the Ark itself, but was stopped by Covenant {{Pattern|Skar'wa|Mantis}}' anti-aerospace cannons. A small force in the town of [[Voi]], consisting of [[John-117]], [[Thel 'Vadam]], [[UNSC Marine Corps|Marines]], and factory workers from a [[Traxus Industries]] facility, neutralized an anti-aircraft battery to clear a path for a [[Battle Group Victory|handful]] of [[Charon-class light frigate|frigates]] and numerous [[C712 Longsword|Longswords]]. These then made several attacks on ''Anodyne Spirit'' with [[Magnetic Accelerator Cannon|MACs]] and [[ASGM-10 missile]]s, but to no effect. At that moment, the gateway finally activated, opening a large [[Slipstream space|slipspace]] rift above the Portal which led to the real Ark. Truth and his fleet advanced through the rift and were pursued by the [[Fleet of Retribution]] and the {{UNSCShip|Forward Unto Dawn}}.{{Ref/Reuse|Storm}} The activation of the portal was achieved by Truth using the shards of [[Menachite Forerunner crystal|the crystal]] that had once been used to power the [[Menachite portal complex|portal complex]] on [[Reach]].{{Ref/Novel|Id=Sacrifice|HSoR|Section=Adjunct|Detail=[[Sacrifice]]}}

=== Post-War period ===
{{Quote|There are more secrets locked under our feet than we dare speculate on.|Doctor [[William Iqbal]] in a letter from the Department of Xenoarchaeological Studies at [[Edinburgh University]] to security-cleared faculty and onsite graduate students.{{Ref/Reuse|evo}}}}
[[File:PortalOrbit.png|thumb|left|250px|The portal as seen from orbit immediately after it collapsed following damage done to the Ark.]]
When [[Installation 08]] was prematurely fired on December 11, 2552, it tore itself to pieces, doing an enormous amount of damage to the Ark. This sudden destruction caused the portal to collapse while the ''Forward Unto Dawn'' was still traveling through it back to Earth. The ship was torn in to two large pieces at this time and only the fore half made it back to Earth, crashing into the Indian Ocean. The ''Dawn'' did not exit at the point in Earth's atmosphere where it would have had the portal remained wholly intact, but instead emerged from [[slipspace]] in Earth's orbit, just narrowly allowing [[Thel 'Vadam]] a destination to land. From that point onward, the portal remained inert and inaccessible. In March of [[2553]] following a ceremony honoring the fallen of the [[Human-Covenant War]] held near the site, the Excession was isolated from the rest of the [[East African Protectorate]] and heavily guarded. Civilian [[Xenoarchaeology|xenoarchaeologists]] were hired by the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] to study the artifact. While closed, it was still drawing power from an unknown source and the majority of the passageways below it were still unexplored.{{Ref/Reuse|evo}} It was suspected that the portal had additional as-of-yet undiscovered functions besides simply creating a gateway between Earth and the Ark.{{Ref/Reuse|evo}}

In [[2555]], scientists exploring [[Installation 07]] discovered a countdown sequence and it was determined that it was originating from the Ark. It suddenly became of paramount importance that the portal be reactivated. The UNSC reached out to the [[Swords of Sanghelios]] and a Huragok named [[Drifts Randomly]] that had worked onboard the [[Forerunner Dreadnought]] was brought to Earth. After a few days, it was able to open the portal using data from the keyship it had internalized. A joint UNSC and Swords of Sanghelios team was sent through the portal to [[Operation: FAR STORM|prevent]] the activation of the [[Halo Array]]. The countdown was part of a ploy by the Ark's monitor, [[000 Tragic Solitude]], to make the humans on Earth reactivate the portal so that he could send [[Retriever Sentinel]]s to mine the [[Sol system]] for materials to repair damage done to his installation. Tragic Solitude explained to [[Olympia Vale]] that the firing of [[Installation 08]] damaged the portal and severed his ability to control it from the Ark. Though Tragic Solitude repaired the portal on the Ark end, it required activation on the Earth end to return to its previous state.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HITD266|HitD|Page=266}} He also increased the portal's power and astrogation systems to send and receive objects much faster despite the fact that doing so was an extraordinary exertion of power and information and could well compromise many of his systems.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HITD305|HitD|Page=305}} As a result travel through the portal was far faster than before.{{Ref/Reuse|HITD}}

Many Retrievers poured through the portal and the [[UNSC Home Fleet]] [[Battle of Earth (2555)|engaged them in battle]]. However, the team on the Ark was able to force Tragic Solitude to recall the Retrievers and the rogue monitor was destroyed by [[Bobby Kodiak]]. Around a day later, a UNSC fleet traveled through the portal to the Ark to investigate the aftermath of Operation: FAR STORM and rescued the survivors.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HITD|HitD}} Afterwards, the UNSC used the now-active portal to send researchers to the Ark by [[2557]] where they were able to effect repairs by directing the Retrievers to strip-mine lifeless systems.{{Ref/Game|HW2|Detail=''[[Phoenix Logs]]''}}

Following the [[Created]] [[Subjugation of Earth|takeover of Earth]], Installation 00's failsafe measures seemingly closed the portal once again, keeping the Ark safe from Cortana's iron fist.{{Ref/Book|Id=Mythos202|HM|Page=202}} Since the portal closed without warning, the UNSC science personnel on the Ark were stranded there, with no way to contact the rest of the UNSC. A month later, the Ark was [[Attack on Installation 00|invaded]] by the mercenary group known as the [[Banished]], who massacred the UNSC personnel there. Months later, the long-lost {{UNSCShip|Spirit of Fire}} was pulled to the Ark through unknown means.{{Ref/Level|HW2|HW2:The Signal|The Signal}} Professor [[Ellen Anders]] was unable to reactivate the portal from the Ark end and instead came up with the idea of launching [[Installation 09]] to send a [[distress beacon]] to human space.{{Ref/Level|HW2|HW2:Hold the Line|Hold the Line}} Following the departure of Anders and the Halo ring, Captain [[James Cutter]] felt that the portal should remain closed until the ''Spirit of Fire'' could fully evaluate the Banished threat to it. Cutter ordered [[Isabel]] to start investigating the portal's controls in case they needed to open or close it again.{{Ref/Game|HW2|Detail=''[[Phoenix Logs]]'' - ''Beyond the Edge''}} Nevertheless, the Banished sought out another portal - [[Menachite portal complex|the one]] on [[Reach]] - by retrieving the shards of the [[Menachite Forerunner crystal|crystal]] from the ''[[Anodyne Spirit]]'' that had allowed the [[Prophet of Truth]] to open Earth's portal.{{Ref/Reuse|Sacrifice}}

== Trivia ==
*Before ''[[Halo: The Essential Visual Guide]]'' established a definitive diameter for the portal, there was some confusion regarding its size. This was due to a conflict between the in-game sizes of the Forerunner Dreadnought in ''Halo 2'' and ''Halo 3'', with the latter depicting the ship as being far smaller than its former incarnation. Based on the map geometry in ''Halo 3'', the Portal could be estimated to be approximately 25 kilometers in diameter.<ref>[http://carnage.bungie.org/haloforum/halo.forum.pl?read=845588 '''halo.bungie.org''': ''Artifact Sizing *Minor H3 Spoilers*'']</ref> However, this figure is contradicted by the geography of the Portal's surroundings; since the structure stretches from the edge of where the metropolis of [[New Mombasa]] used to be all the way to the edge of what was formerly Voi, a distance of well over 100 kilometers. The canonical size of the portal can be derived by referencing the in-game measurements of the Forerunner Dreadnought as it appears in ''Halo 2''.{{Ref/Game|H2}}{{Ref/Game|H3}}{{Ref/Game|ODST}} The sizes of the portal and the Dreadnought in ''Halo 3'' were taken as a liberties resulting from game engine limitations; generating map geometry for an area over 117&nbsp;km across would have been extremely taxing, if not impossible, for the game engine.
*In the "Behind the Scenes" section of the ''Halo 2'' Collectors Edition, there is a sketch of the portal.
*The fourteen pylons of the portal structure may be a reference to the number 7, as 7+7=14. The entire structure also appears to be constructed of seven identical parts, those being seven pairs of pylons. The Portal is also 117 kilometers in diameter, which is a direct reference to [[John-117]].
*Originally, the structure that ended up being the portal had been intended to be the Ark itself. Interestingly, the UNSC assumed the portal was the Ark as it neared activation in ''Halo 3''.
*The pylons bear a striking resemblance to the monoliths around the Atmosphere Processor in the film ''[[List of References to Aliens in Halo|Aliens]]''.
*The [[Apex|portal]] encountered in the first chapter of [[Spartan Ops]] [[S1/Invasion|Episode 7]] is nearly identical in design to that of the portal at Voi; with pylons that withdraw downward when the portal is deactivated.
*The term "Excession" may have been inspired by the same term used in the "Culture" series of books by science-fiction author Iain M. Banks; namely the book [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excession Excession]. In the book, the Excession is described as an "Outside Context Problem", a term coined by Banks to describe an unforeseen and incomprehensible challenge, such as a technologically advanced civilization encountering a far superior one, often disrupting the former’s entire way of life.

==Gallery==
{{Linkbox|gallery=yes}}
===Production images===
<gallery>
File:PXH TTS Ark.jpg|A wireframe view of an early portal model (then-known as the ark) from around 1998.
File:HCE_Ark_Concept.jpg|''Halo: Combat Evolved''-era concept art for the structure that would eventually become the Ark portal.<ref>[https://twitter.com/game_fabricator/status/1088274744456159232 Marcus Lehto on Twitter].</ref>
File:H2_Ark_Concept.jpg|Concept sketch for "the Ark", as it was once conceive