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{{Status|Canon}} {{disambig header|the Halo installation|the campaign level|H3:The Ark}} {{Megastructure infobox |image=[[File:TheArkHW2.png|300px]] |description=Disk with a hollow core and eight curved arms |location=[[Intergalactic space]], over the galactic plane, 262,144 light years from galactic center |anchor= |type=[[Ark|Ark installation]] |function=Conservation installation, Lifeworker research station, Halo construction foundry and remote activation facility |caretaker= [[000 Tragic Solitude]] {{c|destroyed}} |constructed=c. [[98,445 BCE]]-[[97,445 BCE]]{{Ref/Note|The original Halo Array was created after the extreme faction of Builders won their political battle with the Prometheans and the Didact was forced into exile, in approximately 98,445 BCE. Installation 00 and its newer array of six rings was created some time after the first Ark, placing its time of construction sometime in the millennium before the firing of the Halos.}} |destroyed-title=Heavily damaged |destroyed=[[2552#December|December 11, 2552]]{{Ref/Site|Id=Fortitude|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}}{{Ref/Site|Id=Array|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/tech/halo-array|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Halo Array|D=9|M=4|Y=2015}}{{Ref/Site|Id=Brutes|URL=http://halo.xbox.com/en-us/intel/theuniverse/characters/video/the-brutes/60f8041d-9d28-47bc-9447-65ba3d133abd?page=1|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=The Brutes|D=9|M=5|Y=2012}}{{Ref/Book|Id=vis|EVG|Page=14}}{{c|Fully repaired by [[2559#March|March 2559]]}}{{Ref/Reuse|HW2}} |diameter={{Convert|127530|km|mi|sigfig=5}}{{Ref/Reuse|vis}} |surface width=35.3 hours {{c|adjustable}}{{Ref/Reuse|mythos ark}} |surface width-title=Day length |gravity=1G{{Ref/Reuse|vis}} |surface temperature=-30°C to 50°C (-22°F to 122F°){{Ref/Reuse|vis}} |atmosphere=1.0 ([[Wikipedia:Nitrogen|N<sub>2</sub>]], [[Oxygen|O<sub>2</sub>]], [[Argon|Ar]]){{Ref/Reuse|vis}} }} {{quote|multi=yes|Miranda Keyes|343 Guilty Spark|q1=Where would someone go to activate the other rings?|q2=...Why, the Ark, of course.|[[343 Guilty Spark]] to [[Commander]] [[Miranda Keyes]].{{Ref/Reuse|Journey}}}} '''Installation 00''', also known as '''the Ark''', the '''neoteric Ark''',{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc22P343|Enc22|Page=343}}{{Ref/Site|Id=CFEklund|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/canon-fodder-eklunds-ensemble|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Canon Fodder: Eklund's Ensemble|D=24|M=08|Y=2022}} '''the Great Foundry''' by the Covenant,{{Ref/Game|HI|HINF:Audio log#Outpost Intel 9|Banished Audio log|Detail=Outpost Intel #09 - Unnatrual Defenses}} '''Oth Liqattu''' by the [[Banished]],{{Ref/Book|Enc22|Page=444}} and sometimes translated as '''Waypoint''',<ref name="CatalogWaypoint">[https://web.archive.org/web/20141014090727/https://forums.halowaypoint.com/yaf_postst248110_Query--Catalog-old.aspx '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Query: Catalog (old)''], [https://web.archive.org/web/20141013192621/https://forums.halowaypoint.com/yaf_postsm2963929_Catalog-Interaction.aspx#post2963929 '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Catalog Interaction'']</ref> is a [[Forerunner]] installation from which the entirety of the [[Halo Array]] can be activated.{{Ref/Level|Id=Journey|H2|H2:The Great Journey|The Great Journey}} Installation 00 also functions as a potential safe haven from the Halo Array's strategic pulse, and as a facility to construct replacement Halos if necessary. The Ark is situated [[Intergalactic space|outside]] the [[Milky Way|galaxy]], about 2<sup>18</sup> (262,144) light years from the galactic center.{{Ref/Level|Id=The Ark|H3|H3:The Ark|The Ark}} Although later universally known as "the Ark", Installation 00 was originally one of two installations identified as [[Ark]]s, the other being the older [[greater Ark]]. Due to this, Installation 00 was also referred to as the '''lesser Ark''' to differentiate it from the much larger greater Ark, whose foundry produced the original array of rings 30,000 kilometers in diameter, as opposed to the 10,000 kilometer-wide foundry of Installation 00.<ref>'''[[Halo: Primordium]]''', ''pages 343-344''</ref> ==Overview== [[File:HW2 Ark1.png|250px|thumb|left|The Ark.]] The Ark was designed with a number of functions, one of which is to remotely activate the Halo rings from outside the array's blast radius. Installation 00 can be placed on standby mode via a fail-safe system that is activated by an aborted firing such as the one that occurred at the end of the [[Battle of Installation 05]]. In addition to serving as the firing control center for the Halo array, Installation 00 functioned as an automated factory to construct Halo installations, thereby ensuring that the Halo Array was always ready to fire.{{Ref/Level|Id=Covenant|H3|H3:The Covenant|The Covenant}}{{Ref/Level|Id=Halo|H3|H3:Halo|Halo}} While originally designed solely as a construction and control center for the Halos, due to the [[Librarian]]'s influence, the Ark was given a secondary function as a safe haven for life in the galaxy in the case of a galaxy-wide activation of the Halos; this is also the source of the name "the Ark".<ref name="c274">'''[[Halo: Cryptum]]''', ''page 274''</ref> Knowing that the Array would defeat the [[Flood]] through sterilizing the galaxy of any neurologically complex life, the Forerunners planned to preserve all life by storing it on the Arks and other preservation facilities. According to this plan, known as the [[Conservation Measure]], the Librarian was to index every [[Sentience|sentient]] species in the [[ecumene]] and bring specimens of each to the Ark. These sentient species would be stored on the Ark and would later be reseeded on their original homeworlds after the Halo Array had been activated.{{Ref/Game|Id=Terminals|H3|H3:Terminals|Terminals}} ===Topography=== [[File:Ark surface 3.jpg|thumb|250px|A surface view of Installation 00's arms. The installation's artificial star can be seen in the sky.]] ====Ecology==== The Ark has a habitable surface on each of its spokes and on the majority of the inner circle, apart from the foundry. This terrain was intended to support cataloged life forms prior to being reseeded throughout the galaxy.<ref>'''[[Halo: Cryptum]]''', ''page 334-336''</ref> These landscapes and biomes are as diverse as those of Earth and of the Halos, including deserts,{{Ref/Reuse|The Ark}} taiga,{{Ref/Reuse|Covenant}} and deciduous forests.{{Ref/Map|H3|Isolation}} Several bodies of water occur across the installation. As such, the Ark can sustain its own ecosystem, providing a variety of habitation for many kinds of life. Like most Forerunner constructs, the Ark's atmosphere is similar to that of Earth, being mostly comprised of [[oxygen]] and [[Wikipedia:Nitrogen|nitrogen]]. This means that all known sentient species, with the exception of the [[Unggoy]], can survive on the surface without any form of protection. As with the Halos, Installation 00 features a widely varying range of climates. The activation of [[Installation 08]] inflicted substantial damage to the Ark. While some life support units remain intermittently active, they were in severe disrepair. Combined with the artificial sun's weakened output, weather conditions on the surface have became highly volatile. Most indigenous fauna have perished, either from the Halo pulse itself or the extreme weather that came afterwards.{{Ref/Reuse|EH}} However, some wildlife survived and were seen during [[Operation: FAR STORM]].{{Ref/Reuse|Hunters}} After the destruction of [[000 Tragic Solitude]], [[Luther Mann]] stated a belief that it was in fact the rogue [[Monitor]] who was behind the weather conditions as part of his plan for revenge. Once Tragic Solitude was destroyed, the weather returned to temperate conditions.<ref>'''[[Halo: Hunters in the Dark]]''', ''pages 345-346''</ref> While under repair by [[Retriever Sentinel]]s, there would be a new shift in the Ark's surroundings as the Sentinels repaired and rebuilt the Ark. Dense forests sprang up from pitch-black, barren terrain over the course of a week and a particularly virulent strain of weed was checked by the reintroduction of voracious, insectoid parasites before it could strangle the budding plants nearby.{{Ref/Reuse|Healing of Old Wounds II}} The Ark showed itself to be remarkably adaptable to change, with giant tectonic plates rearranging, shifting and unfolding to form a new pathway across a chasm.{{Ref/Reuse|Healing of Old Wounds III}} Having begun in [[2557]], the process was completed by the arrival of the ''Spirit of Fire'' in [[2559]], leaving the Ark fully repaired and habitable again, though wreckage from the [[Battle of Installation 00]] persisted across the Ark's surface.{{Ref/Game|Id=HW2|HW2|campaign}} ====Locations==== *[[Mahsko]] *[[Foundry (location)|Foundry]] *[[Fort Jordan (location)|Fort Jordan]] *[[Central Hub]] **[[Installation 00 Citadel]] *[[North Spire]] *[[South Spire]] **[[Henry Lamb Research Outpost]] **[[Ship Graveyard]] **[[Forerunner Treatment Installation]] *[[Epsilon Spire]] **[[Refugia Epsilon 001]] ***[[Reef of Thieves]] ****[[Ridge Nineteen]] ***[[Drifting Lands]] ****[[White Dune]] ***[[Chasm Lands Biome]] **[[Refugia Epsilon 026]] ***[[Epsilon Cartographer]] **[[Refugia Epsilon 050]] ***[[Broken Plain]] *[[Epsilon Wedge]] **[[Refugia Core 000]] ***[[Epsilon Clarion]] ****[[Outer Gallerium]] **[[Refugia Core 001]] **[[Refugia Core 010]] ***[[Maze Rift]] **[[Refugia Core 101]] **[[Refugia 500]] *[[Site Ricochet]] *[[Translocation portal Epsilon]] **[[Long Valley Moor]] ***[[West Ridge Observation Point]] **[[Terminus Basin]] ===Astronomy=== ==History== ===Forerunner-Flood war=== [[File:Array.png|thumb|left|250px|Installation 00 sending the Halo Array through a [[slipspace portal]] during the [[Forerunner-Flood war]].]] {{quote|Every vessel we can fill, we send to the Ark. I dare not cease the mission. Not now, not until I've done all I can. Each one of these souls is finite and precious. And I'm close. Close to saving them all.|A message from the [[Librarian]] to the [[IsoDidact]].{{Ref/Game|H3|H3:Terminals/One|Terminal One}}}} Like the rest of the newer, more efficient Halo installations, Installation 00 was constructed sometime between [[98,445 BCE]] and [[97,445 BCE]] under orders of [[Master Builder]] [[Faber]], to address problems with the [[greater Ark]] and its larger Halos. While plans for the second Ark had existed for some time, its construction was delayed by the [[Old Council]] to avoid the Builders from gaining too much power.<ref>'''[[Halo: Silentium]]''', ''page 45''</ref> The lesser Ark, as it was known at the time, was designed to produce smaller but much more powerful Halo rings, which could be transported more efficiently and could deal far more widespread damage. Until the very last days of the [[Forerunner-Flood war]], the lesser Ark, its new Halos, and its location were kept a well-guarded secret; only the most top-tier Forerunners knew of its existence, and the only one who knew the exact coordinates of the installation was Faber. Whereas the greater Ark acted as the Forerunners' final line of defense and command center, the lesser Ark would serve the function of a last fallback point where its own array of rings could be swiftly distributed to their designated locations across the galaxy and fired to cleanse the galaxy of all sentient life as a last resort.{{Ref/Novel|Sil|Chapter=String 33}} [[File:HM LastTimeYouAskedMe.jpg|thumb|250px|The IsoDidact activates the Halo Array from Installation 00's citadel.]] In the endgame of the Forerunners' war with the Flood, the Forerunner {{Class|Contender|artificial intelligence}} [[Mendicant Bias]], which had been [[logic plague|corrupted]] by the [[Gravemind]] and defected to the Flood, attacked and destroyed the greater Ark, killing the majority of the remaining Forerunners who had taken refuge there. Using coordinates provided by the Master Builder, a handful of survivors, including the [[IsoDidact]], managed to escape to the lesser Ark where they prepared their weapons of last resort. In order to buy the IsoDidact time, the Librarian traveled to [[Earth]], broadcasting a feint transmission intended to draw the Flood's attention to her. She spent her last days in the plains near [[Mount Kilimanjaro]], near the site of the [[Excession|slipspace portal]] to Installation 00. Mendicant Bias knew of the secret Ark and how to access it through the [[Keyship]]s, though he did not know of its exact location. In order to devise the best possible defense against Mendicant Bias, the Forerunners deployed [[Offensive Bias]], a military AI formerly in control of the greater Ark and Mendicant's replacement, and sent it to counter Mendicant Bias' fleet in advance before it could reach the Ark. While Offensive Bias [[Battle of the Maginot Sphere|engaged Mendicant's fleet]], the IsoDidact completed preparations for the Halo Array and fired the rings from the Ark, purging the galaxy of all life. Following the Array's firing, Offensive Bias defeated Mendicant Bias within minutes. Offensive decided to spare the last portion of its opponent and delivered it to Installation 00 for study. There, the remaining Forerunners, led by the IsoDidact, held a trial for the AI for betraying the ecumene. The Didact decided to keep Mendicant alive as it had intimate knowledge of the Flood and could be called upon in case of their return. Bias was entombed in the installation with only one thought allowed to him: atonement.{{Ref/YouTube|a3YLl2NLVFA|TheGamerRefinery|Halo 4 - Trial of Mendicant Bias - Rebirth (FULL)|D=31|M=3|Y=2013}} {{clear}} ===Battle of Installation 00=== [[File:H3 ArkBattle.png|thumb|left|300px|The Fleet of Retribution and Truth's fleet meet above the Ark.]] {{Main|Battle of Installation 00}} Following the [[Prophet of Regret]]'s botched [[Battle for Earth|invasion of Earth]] on [[2552#October|October 20, 2552]], the [[Prophet of Truth]] dispatched a [[Jiralhanae]]-led [[Truth's fleet|support fleet]] to pick up what is left of the Regret's [[Fleet of Sacred Consecration|forces]] at [[Kenya]] and to uncover what he believed to be the Ark.{{Ref/Film|Id=Oct20|Film=Halo Waypoint|Story=Ten Twenty|StoryLinkText=Ten Twenty}} By [[2552#November|November 17]], the [[Covenant]] had uncovered the structure they had spent the last month unearthing. Truth, through his [[Forerunner Dreadnought]], activated the device, which was actually just a [[Excession|portal-generating structure]] which led to Installation 00.{{Ref/Level|Id=TheStorm|H3|H3:The Storm|The Storm}} Truth led his fleet through the portal; after defeating a Flood invasion of the town of [[Voi]], a joint [[United Nations Space Command]] - [[Fleet of Retribution|Sangheili]] strike force followed the Prophet's forces.{{Ref/Level|Id=Floodgate|H3|H3:Floodgate|Floodgate}} Upon their arrival on [[2552#December|December 11]],{{Ref/Reuse|Fortitude}} the latter force were attacked by the Covenant, which held a 3:1 numerical advantage.{{Ref/Reuse|The Ark}} Despite this, the [[Sangheili]] [[Fleet of Retribution]] and the UNSC [[Battle Group Victory]] crushed Truth's forces.{{Ref/Reuse|The Ark}} After engaging the Covenant across the installation, [[SPARTAN-II program|Spartan]] [[John-117]] and [[Arbiter]] [[Thel 'Vadam]] entered [[Installation 00 Citadel|the citadel]], where they found Truth, who had become infected by the Flood and deactivated the array. Soon after 'Vadam killed the Prophet, effectively destroying the Covenant and ending the war, he, the Master Chief, and [[343 Guilty Spark]], the former [[monitor]] of [[Installation 04]], discovered that a [[Installation 08|replacement Installation 04]] was being constructed by the Ark's [[Foundry (location)|Foundry]].{{Ref/Reuse|Covenant}} The Spartan and the Arbiter soon rescued the AI [[Cortana]], who held Installation 04's [[Activation Index]], from the Flood-infested Covenant capital city, [[High Charity]].{{Ref/Level|H3|H3:Cortana|Cortana}} They, with [[Sergeant Major]] [[Avery Johnson]], assaulted the Halo's [[Control Room]] to activate the ring, destroying both the Flood and the remaining Covenant forces. They succeeded, though Johnson was killed by the monitor. While Guilty Spark refused to allow ''his'' new Halo to be destroyed, he also implied that he was protecting the Ark. The partially constructed installation's activation tore the ring apart and severely damaged the Ark.{{Ref/Reuse|Array}}{{Ref/Reuse|Brutes}}{{Ref/Reuse|Halo}} {{clear|left}} ===Post-battle=== [[File:HaloLegends-Origins-ArkHalo.png|250px|thumb|Installation 08 fires over the Ark, severely damaging it.]] In [[2553|March 2553]], the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] deployed an automated probe-carrying spacecraft to the damaged Ark using advanced slipspace technology. The ship arrived in November and dispersed its probes, although all communications with the devices were cut off after initial transmissions confirming the Ark's survival. In response, the {{UNSCShip|Rubicon}} was sent from [[Luna]] in December 2553 to conduct a more thorough investigation of the installation's ravaged surface.{{Ref/Novel|Id=hitd c2|HitD|Chapter=2}} Due to the damage dealt to the Ark's life support systems and its artificial sun, heavily inclement weather became the norm.{{Ref/Generic|Id=EH|Heading=[[Eleventh Hour reports]]|Detail=Report 4}} The {{UNSCShip|Rubicon}} carried several [[remote contact team]]s, who landed on the damaged Ark and attempted to find the source of the mysterious signal. After about eight days, contact with all teams was lost; only one team, [[RCT-06]], returned, having sustained heavy casualties and carrying with them a device of unknown nature. The armature's origin was subjected to debate, but it was believed by the team to be the source of the beacon picked up by the initial investigative group.{{Ref/Reuse|EH}} The device, actually a broken, barely active [[monitor]], began to relate its past life as a human: [[Chakas]]. Though the ship's ONI attaché initially doubted the veracity of the monitor's account, the science team leader pointed out that it was consistent with the "[[Halo: Cryptum|Bornstellar Relation]]" found on [[Onyx]]. [[File:TSPL.png|250px|thumb|left|000 Tragic Solitude observes the heavily damaged Ark.]] Eventually, the monitor revealed that it was none other than [[343 Guilty Spark]] himself. Claiming that he knew the location of the [[Librarian]], whom he believed to be alive, Spark subsumed the ship's AI, knocked out the crew via the life support systems, and hijacked the ship.{{Ref/Novel|Prim|Chapter=42}} Communications with the ''Rubicon'' halted within 48 hours of its last report. Search and rescue teams were then deployed to the site, but reported no findings.{{Ref/Reuse|EH}} The last of its ground team, [[Bobby Kodiak]], was left stranded when the ''Rubicon'' left, and mortally wounded by attacking [[chaefka]]. It was then that he was contacted by the Ark's monitor, [[000 Tragic Solitude]], who had survived the Ark's devastation and sought to repair the station and get revenge. Offering him a chance to live, Tragic Solitude rescued Kodiak and mended his body with cybernetics, turning him into a cyborg and putting him under the monitor's control. For the following two years, Tragic Solitude partially repaired the Ark and prepared for an attack on the galaxy. Tragic Solitude was able to repair the Ark end of the [[Excession]] and increase its power so that the portal would transport objects near-instantaneously between Earth and the Ark, but he could not activate the portal as the firing of Installation 08 had severed the monitor's control over it.{{Ref/Novel|Id=Hunters|HitD}}{{clear}} ===Operation: FAR STORM=== [[File:Hunters in the Dark full cover.jpg|thumb|300px|[[N'tho 'Sraom]] and [[Frank Kodiak]] engage [[morolaath]] during Operation: FAR STORM.]] {{Main|Operation: FAR STORM}} In [[2555]], the Ark was partially restored and Tragic Solitude enacted its plan. Using Kodiak to activate the process, Tragic Solitude initiated a countdown to the rings' firing in several weeks. This was so that someone within the Milky Way galaxy would open a portal to the Ark in an attempt to stop the countdown, allowing the monitor to dispatch its [[Retriever Sentinel]]s to kill all sentient species and mine their planets to repair the Ark. The countdown was discovered on the intact Halo rings soon after and a human-Sangheili joint task force departed to the Ark through the [[Excession]]. The expedition's ship was intercepted and brought down above the Ark by Tragic Solitude's Retrievers, but the crew survived and managed to reach the Array's control center and stop the countdown. However, the portal was still open and Tragic Solitude deployed a fleet of Retrievers to Earth in an attempt to mine the [[Sol system]]'s worlds, causing heavy damage to the region surrounding the portal as well as the [[UNSC Home Fleet]]. However, the UNSC-Sangheili crew managed to thwart the monitor's plan and the Retrievers were recalled, with the monitor ending up destroyed. UNSC reinforcements were deployed through the portal to the Ark soon after and rescued the expeditionary crew. With Solitude destroyed and the Retrievers now dormant, the UNSC began to establish research facilities on the Ark and study the Sentinels in hopes that they could be commanded to continue repairing the installation by strip-mining lifeless systems so that no one would be harmed in the process.{{Ref/Reuse|Hunters}} ===Repairing the Ark and research=== In [[2557]], a human research team traveled to the Ark aboard ''[[Eden Rising]]'' to establish a permanent base on the Ark, the [[Henry Lamb Research Outpost]]. The scientists reactivated the dormant [[Retriever Sentinel]]s which were dispatched to lifeless systems to strip-mine them for the needed resources and under the guidance of the [[Smart AI]] [[Isabel]], began nudging along repair efforts.{{Ref/Game|HW2|Phoenix Logs|Detail=Isabel}} However, over time, the process became fully automated and the scientists could simply sit back and watch the wonder of a world being reborn.{{Ref/Game|HW2|Phoenix Logs|Detail=The Healing of Old Wounds I}} Within three months of the establishment of the [[Henry Lamb Research Outpost]], there would be a new shift in the outpost's surroundings as the Sentinels repaired and rebuilt the Ark. Dense forests sprang up from pit-black, barren terrain over the course of a week and archeologist [[Nathaniel Palmer]] monitored a particularly virulent strain of weed that was checked by the reintroduction of voracious, insectoid parasites before it could strangle the budding plants nearby.{{Ref/Game|Id=Healing of Old Wounds II|HW2|Phoenix Logs|Detail=The Healing of Old Wounds II}} The Ark showed itself to be remarkably adaptable to change, with Palmer witnessing as giant tectonic plates rearranged, shifted and unfolded to form a new pathway across a chasm.{{Ref/Game|Id=Healing of Old Wounds III|HW2|Phoenix Logs|Detail=The Healing of Old Wounds III}} {{Clear}} ===New arrivals=== [[File:SOFaboveArk.png|thumb|left|300px|Captain James Cutter and Dr. [[Ellen Anders]] survey the Ark from high above it.]] {{Main|Second Ark Conflict}} {{Quote|And now the Ark's defenses stir, sensing the [[Banished|shadow of a threat]] that moves in spaces [[Cortana|Her]] eyes cannot see, intent on seizing the great factory of the Forerunners.|[[Curator]] on the Created and the Banished.{{Ref/Book|Id=Mythos202|HM|Page=202}}}} Following the [[Created conflict|Created takeover]] of human space on October 28, [[2558]] the Ark's failsafe measures prevented Cortana and her allies from being able to access the installation.{{Ref/Reuse|Mythos202}} A month later, the [[Banished]], led by the Jiralhanae warlord, [[Atriox]], [[Attack on Installation 00|laid siege]] on the UNSC bases on Installation 00, among them the [[Henry Lamb Research Outpost]].<ref>[http://www.gamespot.com/articles/halo-wars-2-new-story-details-and-images-revealed/1100-6440811/ '''GameSpot''': ''Halo Wars 2 New Story Details and Images Revealed'']</ref> Shortly after the Banished's attack, the {{UNSCShip|Spirit of Fire}}, drifting in space for 28 years, was abruptly transported to the Ark by a mysterious entity. Those on board the ''Spirit of Fire'' came into conflict with the forces of the Banished on the surface soon after. During the battle, it was discovered that the Ark had constructed a [[Installation 09|new replacement Halo]], which was launched by Professor [[Ellen Anders]] in an effort to deploy it to the [[Soell system]] and raise a [[distress beacon]] to the UNSC. However, the Halo was intercepted on the way to Soell by a [[Created]] [[Guardian]], while the forces of the ''Spirit of Fire'' and the Banished remained in conflict on Installation 00.{{Ref/Reuse|HW2}} During this time, the [[Flood]], who had survived aboard the ruins of [[High Charity]], were inadvertently released by [[Voridus]] and [[Pavium]] when they breached the [[containment shield]] around the structure with a Scarab and deactivated the Ark's Sentinel defense network in the process. The Flood began a second rampage on the Ark, forming a [[Proto-Gravemind]] that quickly began turning into a [[Gravemind]]. Voridus and Pavium managed to reactivate the Sentinel defense network and with the help of a [[Retriever Sentinel]], killed the Proto-Gravemind before it could finish its transformation into a Gravemind. With the Proto-Gravemind dead, the Banished and the Ark's Sentinels were able to contain the Flood once again and seal off High Charity.{{Ref/Game|Id=Awakening The Nightmare|HW2|Halo Wars 2: Awakening the Nightmare|Awakening the Nightmare|Detail=campaign}} In [[2559#October|October 2559]], Banished forces [[Raid on Anodyne Spirit|raided]] the ''[[Anodyne Spirit]]'' for the shards of the [[Menachite Forerunner crystal]] recovered from [[Reach]] before Atriox managed to send a message to [[War Chief]] [[Escharum]] in the Milky Way ordering him to locate the [[Menachite portal complex|Portal Under the Mountain]] on Reach.{{Ref/Novel|Id=Sacrifice|HSoR|Section=Adjunct|Detail=[[Sacrifice]]}} Atriox's stated intention was to open a slipspace portal between the Ark and Reach in order to bring more Banished reinforcements to the Ark. At the same time, [[Blue Team]] visits Reach on [[Operation: WOLFE|a mission]] of their own an