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Soell system

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Soell system
A screenshot of Soell on the map Parallax.
Stellar overview

Orbiting planets:

9[1]

Asteroids:

1 asteroid belt[1]

Societal overview

Notable events:

Affiliation:

Forerunner ecumene (formerly)

 

The Soell system is the planetary system in which Threshold, Basis, and Installation 04 are located.[2] It is located in relative proximity to the Epsilon Eridani system[3] within the Orion Arm of the Milky Way.[4] Soell is orbited by nine planets: four outer planets and five inner planets separated by an asteroid belt.[1][5]

Overview[edit]

Planetary system[edit]

The five inner planets of the Soell system all appear to be terrestrial. The innermost planet is small with one small natural satellite. The second planet is small and moonless. The third orbiting body is a tiny, cratered planet with two small natural satellites. The fourth planet is orbited by three moons. The fifth planet orbiting Soell is a terrestrial planet with a slight ovoid shape and a single natural satellite.[1]

Beyond the relatively sparse asteroid belt, the sixth orbiting planet is a large, ringed planet. Threshold is the seventh and largest planet in Soell's orbit.[6] Threshold is orbited by 12 satellites, including Basis, its largest satellite, and Installation 04.[2] The eighth planet is a shattered, rocky world. The ninth planet orbiting Soell is a large, cratered terrestrial planet. Soell's outermost orbiting planet has an elliptical orbit, thus occasionally bringing it closer to Soell than the eighth closest planet.[1]

Locations[edit]

Name Image Description Orbiting locations
Soell I Hologram of Soell I from Halo 5: Guardians Truth map. Planet 1 moon
Soell II Hologram of Soell II from Halo 5: Guardians Truth map. Planet N/A
Soell III Hologram of Soell III from Halo 5: Guardians Truth map. Planet 2 moons
Soell IV Hologram of Soell IV from Halo 5: Guardians Truth map. Planet 3 moons
Soell V Hologram of Soell V from Halo 5: Guardians Truth map. Planet 1 moon
Soell asteroid belt N/A Asteroid belt N/A
Soell VI Hologram of Soell VI from Halo 5: Guardians Truth map. Planet with a ring 5 moons
Soell VII "Threshold" A screenshot of Threshold on the map Parallax. Gas Giant planet 12 moons including Basis
Installation 04 (destroyed, remnants remain)
Deep-Space Anomaly 0198
Threshold gas mine
Soell VIII Hologram of Soell VIII from Halo 5: Guardians Truth map. Planet N/A
Soell IX Hologram of Soell IX from Halo 5: Guardians Truth map. Shattered Planet N/A

History[edit]

Ancient history[edit]

During the waning years of the Forerunner Ecumene in the midst of the Forerunner-Flood war, the Soell system was chosen as the location for Installation 04, with the gas giant Threshold serving as its anchor. Facing utter annihilation at the hands of the Flood, the IsoDidact activated the installation, triggering the Halo Array and eradicating the Flood and all sentient life in the galaxy. For nearly a hundred thousand years the Soell system and its strategic significance went unnoticed even as the galaxy steadily repopulated.

Human-Covenant war[edit]

The Fleet of Particular Justice at Installation 04. Screenshot from Halo 2 Anniversary level The Heretic.
The Fleet of Particular Justice over Installation 04.

In 2552, the penultimate year of the Human-Covenant War, the humans of the UNSC Pillar of Autumn made a supposedly blind slipspace jump into the Soell system, having narrowly fled the Covenant who had completely destroyed the colony world of Reach. As the Autumn approached the ring,[7] 343 Guilty Spark sent a signal to the human vessel threatening to activate the ring's defensive countermeasures if they did not retreat from its vicinity. However, upon recognizing the humans, the apparent Reclaimers of the Forerunner race, Guilty Spark disabled the ring's defenses and welcomed the humans to approach.[8] During this, the Covenant Fleet of Particular Justice emerged, having beaten the humans to Soell and initiating an attack on the cruiser, thus triggering the climactic Battle of Installation 04.[7]

In the days that followed, the humans and Covenant battled for control of the installation, both unaware of its true value as a weapon of mass destruction. During the prolonged engagement, the Covenant unknowingly unleashed the Flood, which had laid in stasis as the installation's vast army of Sentinels studied its nature. The parasite spread quickly and soon overtook both sides, threatening to use the Covenant's remaining ships to flee the Soell system and infect all life in the galaxy. 343 Guilty Spark sought the aid of Spartan-II supersoldier John-117 in activating the ring's defenses and with it the entire Halo Array.[9] Instead, with the aid of Cortana the Spartan evaded both Spark and the Covenant invaders and detonated the Pillar of Autumn's fusion reactors, causing a chain reaction that destroyed Installation 04 and prevented the Flood from escaping the system.[10]

In the days that followed, the UNSC Red Horse was sent to investigate the system, encountering the human prison ship Mona Lisa in the v