Editing High Charity

{{Status|Canon|Featured}}
{{disambig header|the Covenant capital city|other uses of "High Charity"|High Charity (disambiguation)}}
{{Individual ship infobox
|name=High Charity
|image={{Pageimage|H2D MenuBackground HighCharity.jpg}}[[File:H2A - High Charity.jpg|300px]]
|naval architect=*[[Laka Mowai|Minister of the Hearth Laka Mowai]]{{Ref/Reuse|Warfleet}}
*[[First Assembled Choir of Builders]]{{Ref/Reuse|Warfleet}}
|manufacturer=The [[Supernal Chorus]]{{Ref/Book|Id=Warfleet|HWF|Page=56-57}}
|model=Mobile planetoid station
|role=
*Holy City of the Covenant {{C|formerly}}
*[[Flood hive]] {{C|later}}
|power=*''[[Anodyne Spirit]]'' {{c|primary}}
*The Founts {{c|auxiliary}}{{Ref/Reuse|Warfleet}}
|engine=[[Wings of Malygus]]{{Ref/Reuse|Warfleet}}
|slipspace drive=[[Sefom Invictus]]{{Ref/Reuse|Warfleet}}
|hull=*Solid rock from [[Janjur Qom]]<br>
*Skin of the First Worlds{{Ref/Reuse|Warfleet}}
**Later corrupted by [[Flood]] biomass
*[[Spine of the Gods]]{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc22|Enc22|Page=227}}
|shielding=*Pavise of Urs{{Ref/Reuse|Warfleet}}
*Plaon's Gaze{{Ref/Reuse|Mythos112}}
|armament=*32 [[Energy projector|superheavy plasma lances]] or equivalent{{Ref/Reuse|Warfleet}}
*1,900 plasma beam emitters or equivalent{{Ref/Reuse|Warfleet}}
|complement=Numbers beyond counting{{Ref/Reuse|Warfleet}}
*15,000 [[Obedientaries]]{{Ref/Reuse|Warfleet}}
*290,000 Warriors{{Ref/Reuse|Warfleet}}
*2 million Thralls{{Ref/Reuse|Warfleet}}
|crew=*3 [[Hierarchs]]
*23.8 million citizens
*7.7 billion Menials
|length-title=Diameter
|length={{Convert|348|km|mi|sigfig=4}}{{Ref/Book|Id=VIS93|EVG|Page=93}}
|height={{Convert|505|km|mi|sigfig=4}}{{Ref/Reuse|Warfleet}}
|mass=100 trillion metric tons {{C|estimated}}{{Ref/Reuse|Warfleet}}
|firstuse-title=First sighted
|firstuse=[[2524|January 18, 2524]] {{C|UNSC}}
|commission=[[648 BCE]];{{Ref/Reuse|VIS93}} built c. [[791 BCE]]{{Ref/Reuse|Warfleet}}
|lastsight=
|destroyed=[[2552#December|December 11, 2552]]{{Ref/Site|URL=http://halo.xbox.com/en-us/intel/featured/video/herofortitude/bfe5038b-314a-4f17-a6be-f7613e0e3788|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Hero-Fortitude|D=14|M=7|Y=2011}}
|battles=
;[[Human-Covenant War]]
*[[Battle of Installation 05]]
*[[Fall of High Charity]]
*[[Battle of Installation 00]]
*[[Raid on High Charity]]
;[[Post-Covenant War conflicts]]
*[[Second Ark Conflict]]
|fleet=[[High Charity defense fleet]]
|namedcrew=
|captains=
|affiliation=
*The [[Covenant]] {{C|formerly}}
*The [[Flood]]{{Ref/Note|The Flood repurposed High Charity as their main [[Flood hive|hive]] after successfully occupying and taking control of the city from the Covenant forces.}}
}}
{{Quote|Shall we let the Flood consume our holy city? Turn High Charity into another of their wretched [[Flood hive|hives]]? No enemy has ever withstood our might. The Flood too shall fail.|The [[Prophet of Truth|High Prophet of Truth]]}}{{Ref/Level|Id=highcharity|H2|H2:High Charity|High Charity}}

'''High Charity''', often referred to as the '''Holy City''', was the [[Covenant]]'s mobile capital city and center of government, effectively serving as the collective's united homeworld.{{Ref/Level|Id=floodgate|H3|H3:Floodgate|Floodgate}} It was a massive space station, home to billions of individuals from each of the Covenant's member species. Home to the [[Hierarchs]] and the [[High Council]], the city was full of [[San'Shyuum Councilor|San'Shyuum]] and [[Sangheili Councilor|Sangheili]] [[Councilor|High Councilors]], who functioned as the centralized government of the entire alien hegemony.{{Ref/Site|Id=Universe|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/locations/high-charity|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=High Charity|D=27|M=10|Y=2015}} High Charity also housed the Covenant's many [[ministries]] in its [[Tower Districts]],{{Ref/Novel|Id=CH18|CH|Chapter=18}} as well as their [[minister (title)|minister]]s.{{Ref/Anthology|Evo|Story=Wages of Sin}} Because it served as the Covenant's most significant [[Covenant religion|religious]] center and capital, High Charity was considered to be of utmost sanctity and importance to the Covenant, thus guarded by their central fleet: the [[High Charity defense fleet]]. 

Throughout the history of the empire, High Charity "gorged on the wealth of hundreds of worlds."{{Ref/Reuse|Warfleet}}  It was widely believed that true adherents to the Covenant religion should visit it at least once in one's lifetime, although few of the Covenant could afford to do so.{{Ref/Reuse|CH18}}

== Overview==
=== Design and construction ===
[[File:HM-HighCharityBC.png|thumb|250px|left|High Charity under construction.]]
High Charity was a massive mushroom-shaped structure, roughly 348 kilometers in diameter. It was partially constructed from an enormous chunk of rock{{Ref/Novel|Id=CH9|CH|Chapter=9}} that had been blasted away from [[Janjur Qom]] by the [[Forerunner Dreadnought]].{{Ref/Novel|Id=CH16|CH|Chapter=16}} The rest of the superstructure was built around it. Inside the hollow dome of the station was a massive multi-leveled city, and within the foundation rock, which served as a structural support, was a honeycomb structural pattern of [[hangar bay]]s and weapons platforms.{{Ref/Reuse|CH9}} The dome itself was overlaid with a strident energy shield known as "Plaon's Gaze". This shield was powered by minerals extracted from the titular moon [[Plaon]] that orbited Janjur Qom. Surrounding the open nave at the dome's crest was the high seat of the Prophets known as the "[[Fount of Light]]".{{Ref/Book|Id=Mythos112|Mythos|Page=112}} The dome itself was called the Skin of the First Worlds and was made of dirt from the homeworld of every member species in the Covenant as a symbolic statement of unity and common purpose among the various Covenant members.{{Ref/Reuse|Warfleet}}

An "artificial star" at the peak of the dome simulated natural sunlight within the city, and its glow would periodically dim and intensify to simulate day and night cycles. A typical day on High Charity was roughly comparable to 265 [[unit]]s, or one [[cycle]] (equivalent to 265 Earth hours).{{Ref/Book|Enc09|Page=31}} The interior artificial environment on the station was Earth-like, with a generated gravity of 0.95 G, a [[Wikipedia:Nitrogen|nitrogen]]-[[oxygen]]-[[argon]] atmosphere of 1.03 atmospheres and a temperature range of 10&nbsp;°C to 24&nbsp;°C (50&nbsp;°F to 75&nbsp;°F). The "stalk" beneath the dome was a mass of some 8,930{{Ref/Reuse|VIS93}} semi-rigid umbilical docking tethers.{{Ref/Reuse|CH9}}

The station received the majority of its power from the [[Forerunner Dreadnought]], the ship at the center of the city. The city was completely powered by the engines of the decommissioned Forerunner vessel. The Dreadnought's engines were powerful enough to run the city on a fraction of their potential output.{{Ref/Level|Id=gravemind|H2|H2:Gravemind|Gravemind}} However, the station also possessed a set of backup auxiliary reactors that were capable of generating enough power for slipspace travel.{{Ref/Level|Id=cortana|H3|H3:Cortana|Cortana}} Known as the Founts, the massive network of clustered pinch-fusion reactors were intended to supplement the energy siphoned from the inert Dreadnought. But since these paled in comparison from power from the Dreadnought's engines, centuries of expansion and complacency left them wholly inadequate to keep the capital powered.{{Ref/Book|Id=HE220|Enc22|Page=220-221}} For propulsion, the station was pushed along by the [[Wings of Malygus]], while the [[Sefom Invictus]] allowed it to enter and exit slipspace. Both of these systems are Forerunner artifacts of some form.{{Ref/Reuse|Warfleet}}

=== Environmental features ===
{{stub|section=yes}}

=== Ecology ===
As the capital city of the Covenant Empire, the ecology of High Charity was an artificial conglomerate of plants and animals sourced from and traded across various worlds within Covenant space. Although High Charity was largely urban, it featured cultivated areas where nature complemented the architecture of the city, such as the [[Hanging Gardens]], the [[Valleys of Tears]], or the [[Garden of Reverent Contemplation]].{{Ref/Reuse|gravemind}} Simulated breezes were often employed in some of these areas to enhance the natural beauty.{{Ref/Reuse|CH9}}

[[File:HTMCC-H2A Mid Tower.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Covenant flora built into the architecture of [[Mid Tower]].]]
Its landscapes included many types of tree, some with diamond-shaped leaves,{{Ref/Reuse|CH9}} [[swamp tree|some]] that were [[Interplanetary species|also found]] on [[CE:343 Guilty Spark|Forerunner installations]], some cultivated to grow in aesthetically-pleasing patterns,{{Ref/Map|Id=Gemini|H2|Gemini}} and others with massive trunks and no foliage, employed as organic sculptural complements to certain areas' artificial structures. Its gardens featured water lillies, grasses, and cryptogams like moss and lichen.{{Ref/Reuse|gravemind}}

Many animal species lived unconfined within High Charity, moving freely within the domed Golden City. [[Covenant koi]] could be found in many gardens, [[Covenant pest|pests]] scrambled across the walls and floors of darker areas such as the  [[holding chamber]]s, and [[High Charity bird|birds]] flew between the towers of the Tower Districts.{{Ref/Reuse|gravemind}} Animals could be heard within some of its trees.{{Ref/Reuse|Gemini}}

After the arrival of the [[Flood|Flood-infected]] {{UNSCShip|In Amber Clad}}, the city was turned into a [[Flood hive]].{{Ref/Reuse|cortana}} Most of its biomass was converted into [[Flood Super Cell|Flood growths]], before the city crashed into the [[Ark]], where it was contained by Forerunner quarantine measures.{{Ref/Reuse|cortana}}{{Ref/Level|Id=WCGW?|HW2|Section=Halo Wars 2: Awakening the Nightmare|SectionLinkText=Awakening the Nightmare|HW2:What Could Go Wrong?|What Could Go Wrong?}}

== Layout ==
=== The Golden City ===
[[File:Enc22 LowerDistricts.png|thumb|left|250px|The capital city with the [[Forerunner Dreadnought]] in the center.]]
[[File:HWF HighCharity CrossSection.jpg|thumb|250px|A cross-section of High Charity.]]
In the internal hub of High Charity lay an extremely large capital city with a population of just over 23,800,000 [[San'Shyuum]] citizens and 7.7 billion Covenant Menials, known as the Golden City. Many of these were permanent residents, with billions of individuals who were born here dying without setting foot on other worlds.{{Ref/Reuse|Warfleet}} At the center sat the Forerunner Dreadnought, embedded within the city after the formation of the Covenant as a symbol of conviction and peace between the [[Sangheili]] and the San'Shyuum.{{Ref/Reuse|CH9}}

The city itself contained many locations sacred to the Covenant such as the [[High Council Chamber]], the [[Sanctum of the Hierarchs]] and the [[Mausoleum of the Arbiter]]. As a construct, High Charity shared some similarities with ''[[Unyielding Hierophant]]'', a repair and refit station, though it also served as a mobile command post.{{Ref/Book|Id=ENC306|Enc09|Page=306}} Unlike many small Covenant vessels and their UNSC counterparts, High Charity contained many courtyards and other non-essential spaces which gave the station a terrestrial feel. The interior of High Charity was filled with the Covenant's unique architecture, of a lighter tone than their naval vessels. All of the structures within the city floated above a [[methane]]-rich field in which the millions of High Charity's [[Unggoy]] dwelled. The massive towers around the dome were gigantic spires of volcanic rock from the city's base, interwoven with metal supports and covered with decorative alloy. They were used by the San'Shyuum as offices and private residences.{{Ref/Reuse|CH9}} Further in the bedrock of the planetoid were subterranean warrens, which served as living quarters for the Sangheili and were nearly airtight and self-sufficient.{{Ref/Novel|BC|Chapter=5}}

=== Districts ===
Along the outer wall on the inside of High Charity were several towers, each containing their own rooms and hallways. Two of these towers were referred to by [[Cortana]] as the [[Mid Tower]] and the [[Far Tower]].{{Ref/Reuse|gravemind}} Most of these towers were connected to the two surrounding towers by the [[Hanging Gardens]] and the [[Valleys of Tears]], but the towers containing the [[High Council Chamber]] and the [[Mausoleum of the Arbiter]] were both notably only connected to the sections between them.{{Ref/Level|Id=h2arbiter|H2|H2:The Arbiter|The Arbiter}} Hanging far above the Mausoleum of the Arbiter was a part of the [[Sanctum of the Hierarchs]], a large chamber decorated with shards of glass from worlds [[Glassing|glassed]] by the Covenant.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HFSE|FS|Chapter=Epilogue}} The districts located within the towers were collectively known as the [[Tower Districts]], while the regions below them were referred to as the [[lower districts]].{{Ref/Reuse|VIS93}} The lower districts were home to most of High Charity's vast Unggoy population,{{Ref/Reuse|CH16}} as well the vast [[Assembly Forges]] where Covenant war matériel was produced.{{Ref/Book|EVG|Page=??}} Populations of [[Kig-Yar]] and San'Shyuum were also native to the lower districts.{{Ref/Reuse|CH9}}{{Ref/Game|Id=h2a terminal6|H2A|H2A:Terminals|Terminal 6}}

=== Provinces ===
[[Province]]s were areas of the city that may have been related to the districts. One such province was called [[Third Cloister]].{{Ref/Generic|Heading=[[Halo Legendary Crate]]|Subheading=[[Halo Legendary Crate/Data Drops|Data Drop #8]]|Detail=[[:File:LC 08 doc4.jpg|Subject Denver]]}}

===Grand Estates and Hive Vaults===
Beyond High Charity's outer districts were floating city-stations that housed tens of millions of Covenant citizens according to their place in the rigid caste system.{{Ref/Reuse|Warfleet}}

===Spine of the gods===
The [[Spine of the Gods]]{{Ref/Reuse|Mythos112}}{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22}} was the long boom that trailed behind the holy city, where the Lances of the Faithful were mounted.{{Ref/Reuse|Warfleet}} It is the nigh unbreakable skeleton of a derelict [[Fortress-class vessel|Fortress-class warship]] found in orbit around [[Tuluk'katho]], the original site of High Charity's creation.{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22}}

===Spires of Gifting===
The Spires of Gifting is the collective name for hundreds of docking platforms and spires that received merchants, tithe-fleets, and emissaries from a thousand Covenant worlds. Essentials for the city-station, such as food, water, and workers were imported from outside sources from here, while manufactured goods, warships, and bureaucrats flowed away from the construct. There were at least two distinct ports that make up the Spires. The first is the bustling and ornately decorated Window of Valen, which serviced ships that had come from [[Sanghelios]]. The second are the dreaded Shadowport umbilicals that were used by [[infusion]] smugglers and heretical cultists.{{Ref/Reuse|Warfleet}}

===Assembly Forges===
{{main|Assembly Forges}}
Considered to be the largest and most capable manufacturing plants in all the Covenant,{{Ref/Book|Id=WarfleetGS|HWF|Page=90}} High Charity's Assembly Forges were a series of Forges and refineries that laboured to meet the demands of the Covenant's citizens, fleets, and armies.{{Ref/Reuse|Warfleet}}

{{High Charity Locations}}

== Defenses ==
[[File:H2A - High Charity defense fleet.jpg|thumb|250px|High Charity surrounded by the hundreds of vessels that made up its defensive fleet.]]
High Charity was surrounded at all times by [[High Charity defense fleet|its own defense fleet]], which consisted of hundreds of battleships, carriers and cruisers. Some of the biggest [[Covenant fleet|fleets]] in the entire Covenant armada defended the city, such as the [[Second Fleet of Homogeneous Clarity]]. It was also capable of refitting and housing thousands of vessels ranging in size from personal fliers to cruisers on its umbilical docks and within its internal hangar bays.{{Ref/Book|Id=ENC294|Enc09|Page=294}} Hidden within the station's founding bedrock were carefully shielded weapons platforms{{Ref/Reuse|CH9}} which boasted firepower unrivaled by even the largest Covenant battleships.{{Ref/Reuse|ENC294}} High Charity itself was equipped with 32 superheavy plasma lances or equivalent, as well as 1900 plasma beam emitters or their equivalent. In addition, hundreds of weapon cores known as the Lances of the Faithful, salvaged from salvaged Forerunner god-machines over the centuries, were attached to the long boom which trailed the holy city. Energy shielding was provided by an as-yet uncategorized Sangheili artifact known as the Pavise of Urs.{{Ref/Reuse|Warfleet}}

In addition to its enormous defense fleet and impressive firepower, it was also guarded by a rapid detection network of [[Slipstream space|slipspace]] probes. Anything larger than a millimeter in diameter that drifted too close was engaged and obliterated, including ships that failed to transmit the proper clearance codes within a millisecond of being hailed. The clearance codes that granted access to High Charity's space were also updated on an hourly basis.{{Ref/Reuse|HFSE}}

Despite its considerable defenses, High Charity was unable to prevent the [[Flood]] from infiltrating its interior due to the [[Great Schism|Covenant civil war]]. The Flood-captured {{UNSCShip|In Amber Clad}} made a precise slipspace jump into the interior of the station, bypassing the station's defenses.{{Ref/Reuse|gravemind}}

==History==
=== Early history ===
[[File:H2A Terminals - High Charity construction.jpg|thumb|250px|High Charity under construction.]]
Long before the formation of the Covenant, the [[San'Shyuum Schism]] between the [[Reformists]] and the [[Stoics]] ended when the [[Forerunner Dreadnought]] launched from the San'Shyuum homeworld, [[Janjur Qom]]. The ship's launch ripped a huge chunk of rock from the planet in the process, which was carried with the Dreadnought during its escape. This chunk would later form the foundation of High Charity.{{Ref/Reuse|CH16}} 

The construction of High Charity began shortly after the alliance of the San'Shyuum and Sangheili with the ratification of the [[Writ of Union]] following the [[War of Beginnings]]. High Charity became the capital of the newborn [[Covenant]]; a physical representation of the alliance between the two species.{{Ref/Reuse|ENC306}} While the holy city's construction was underway by [[850 BCE]] in the [[Ages of Reconciliation|First Age of Reconciliation]],{{Ref/Novel|Id=BC1|BC|Chapter=1}} some sources date its construction to around [[791 BCE]] in the [[Military Calendar|human calendar]].{{Ref/Reuse|Warfleet}} Led by [[Laka Mowai|Minister of the Hearth Laka Mowai]] and the [[First Assembled Choir of Builders]], the builders of the city-station were collectively known as the [[Supernal Chorus]].{{Ref/Reuse|Warfleet}} The Forerunner Dreadnought was stripped of all known weapons and permanently installed inside the center of High Charity, its engines providing power to the entire station.{{Ref/Reuse|CH9}} The station's construction lasted for over two centuries; the dome was not yet fully erected by the time of the [[Taming of the Lekgolo]] in [[784 BCE]].{{Ref/Game|H2A|H2A:Terminals|Terminal 8}} While the dome was under construction by both organic and robotic labor, the city was gradually settled, its atmosphere held in by forcefields.{{Ref/Reuse|BC1}} High Charity was formally commissioned in [[648 BCE]],{{Ref/Reuse|VIS93}} coinciding with the San'Shyuum leadership's announcement to the Covenant that their original homeworld had been devastated by its star going [[supernova]]; thus the city-station also became the surrogate homeworld of the San'Shyuum.{{Ref/Reuse|VIS93}}{{Ref/Book|Enc09|Page=30}}

[[File:H2A Terminals - Damaged lower districts.jpg|250px|thumb|left|The Unggoy Rebellion caused minor damages to the city.]]
Due to many years of peace for the Covenant, the growing Unggoy population on High Charity forced many of the Kig-Yar to relocate their homes and nests. The relocation caused stress for female Kig-Yar that were going through their incubation cycles, and Kig-Yar infant mortality rose on High Charity and the birth rate declined. In response, radical Kig-Yar [[shipmaster]]s poisoned the Unggoy [[infusion]] supply, leading to the sterilization of many male Unggoy. After the [[Ministry of Concert]] failed to act accordingly, the Unggoy [[Unggoy Rebellion|revolted]] on High Charity. Eventually, the rebellion was put down when [[Arbiter]] [[Heki 'Gibadee]] partially glassed [[Balaho]].{{Ref/Reuse|CH9}}{{Ref/Game|Id=h2a terminal10|H2A|H2A:Terminals|Terminal 10}} Prior to the [[Human-Covenant War]] in [[2525]], High Charity was almost destroyed when the Forerunner Dreadnought was powered up by [[Mendicant Bias]], who was galvanized by the discovery of "[[Reclaimer]]s" by the Covenant. Bias attempted to reach [[Harvest]] to transport the occupants to the [[Installation 00|Ark]]. It was inadvertently deactivated by a [[Lekgolo]] who were used by the Covenant to probe the Dreadnought's machinery; a worm short-circuited the ship during the launch sequence.{{Ref/Novel|CH|Chapter=16}} It was later discovered that the [[UNSC]] had recovered a ''[[kelguid]]'' from a wreckage of [[Worthy Silence|an]] [[intrusion corvette]], leading the [[Minor Minister of Artifact Survey]] to fear that they would use it to deduce the location of High Charity and mount an attack. However, [[Fleetmaster]] [[Nizat 'Kvarosee]] disregarded the Minor Minister's concerns, instead bringing [[Fleet of Inexorable Obedience|his fleet]] to [[Zhoist]], the humans' most logical target.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS21|HSS|Chapter=21}} In the aftermath of [[Operation: SILENT STORM]], Fleetmaster 'Kvarosee was summoned to High Charity to explain himself where he noticed a massive fleet gathering to strike at humanity. During the discussion, the Hierarchs decide to relocate High Charity due to the possible danger of [[ONI]] finding it.{{Ref/Novel|Oblv|Chapter=5}}

In [[2551]], [[Operation: METEORITE]] was planned with the hopes of finding the location of High Charity from the ''[[Triumph of Tolerance]]''{{'}}s ''kelguid''.{{Ref/Novel|Halo: Hungry Buzzards}} [[Spartan-II]] [[Master Chief Petty Officer]] [[John-117]] and [[ORION Project|ORION supersoldier]] Sergeant Major [[Avery Johnson]] were successfully able to board the vessel and download data from the ''kelguid'' which allowed Dr. [[Catherine Halsey]] to determine the current location of High Charity as well as uncover an image of the city.{{Ref/Level|Id=Burden|CEV|CEV:Heavy Burden|Heavy Burden}}

=== The Sacred Rings and the Great Journey ===
[[File:H2A Terminals - Ship in lower districts.jpg|250px|thumb|High Charity was a sprawling city in its prime.]]
Upon the discovery of [[Installation 04]] by the Covenant, High Charity was supposed to perform a [[Slipstream space|slipspace]] jump to the ring along with its fleet, where the [[Hierarchs]] would activate the ring to send the Covenant on the [[Covenant religion|Great Journey]]. The [[Fleet of Particular Justice]], led by then [[Supreme Commander]] [[Thel 'Vadam]]ee, had already made its way to the ring while chasing the {{Class|Halcyon|light cruiser}} {{UNSCShip|Pillar of Autumn}}, but they were unaware of the Flood's presence on the installation, and did not expect interference from the UNSC. When High Charity and its fleet arrived at [[Threshold]], they found that both Installation 04 and most of the Fleet of Particular Justice had been [[Battle of Installation 04|utterly destroyed]].{{Ref/Level|H2|H2:The Heretic|The Heretic}}{{Ref/Game|H2A|H2A:Terminals|Terminal 13}}

After fleeing from [[Earth]] to [[Installation 05]], the [[Prophet of Regret|High Prophet of Regret]] sent the coordinates of the Halo ring to High Charity. The planetoid and its fleet arrived just in time to watch [[John-117]] and a group of [[UNSC Marine Corps|Marines]] [[Assassination of the Prophet of Regret|assassinate]] Regret. It then held position over Installation 05 until hostilities erupted between the [[Sangheili]] and the [[Jiralhanae]], as the [[Great Schism]] began in [[2552|November 2552]].{{Ref/Level|H2|H2:Regret|Regret}}

=== Fall of High Charity ===
{{Main|Fall of High Charity}}
[[File:H2A Great Schism.png|250px|thumb|Sangheili and Jiralhanae-controlled ships engage around High Charity.]]
During the chaos of the battle, John-117 infiltrated High Charity, by way of teleportation from [[Gravemind]] directly into the Council Chambers using [[Installation 05]]'s [[teleportation grid]].{{Ref/Reuse|gravemind}}

At the same time, the Flood made their own entrance, using the captured {{UNSCShip|In Amber Clad}} to perform a slipspace jump into the interior of High Charity, bypassing its exterior defenses.{{Ref/Reuse|gravemind}} Once inside, the Flood used [[D77 Pelican|Pelican]] [[dropship]]s to spread both [[Flood combat form|combat]] and [[Flood carrier form|carrier forms]] throughout the city, using the inhabitants as new hosts. The Flood ravaged the Jiralhanae and Sangheili forces, who were already embroiled in conflict. John-117 was unfortunately caught in the middle of the battle, but managed to escape.{{Ref/Reuse|highcharity}}

Eventually, High Charity's Dreadnought took off, with both the [[Prophet of Truth]] and John-117 inside, leaving [[Cortana]] behind to detonate the crashed ''In Amber Clad''{{'}}s reactors to destroy the city which in turn would destroy [[Installation 05]] if Tartarus activated it.{{Ref/Reuse|highcharity}} Remaining loyalist and separatist forces either evacuated from the city—likely to be destroyed by the Sangheili quarantine fleet—or were consumed by the Flood, as they overwhelmed all remaining opposition in the city. The Gravemind took complete control of the Sanctum of the Hierarchs, using the [[High Council Chamber]] itself as his "throne room".{{Ref/Level|H2|H2:The Great Journey|The Great Journey|Epilogue}} The Gravemind made drastic modifications to the former holy city in order to enable it to function without the Keyship that used to power it and to more effectively act as a carrier of the Fl