Kelguid
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
A kelguid,[1] referred to as a starholo by humans,[2] is a kind of technology employed by the Covenant. Kelguids are interactive holographic star maps used by navigators to plot journeys through slipspace.[1][2] The Covenant developed the kelguid technology through reverse-engineering Forerunner equivalents.[3]
Description
The kelguid consists of a silver disk sitting atop a cylindrical waist-high (by human standards) equipment cabinet. From the silver disk a hologram is projected that Dr. Catherine Halsey described as looking like "a half-eaten dinner of spaghetti and meatballs that had just entered zero-g." The "meatballs" were spherical holograms that represented gravity wells of various sizes and the "spaghetti" consisted of lines representing the curvature of spacetime around the gravity wells. The lines would sometimes bend so tightly that they would intersect, creating connection points that could be as transit nodes for slipspace-capable starships.[2]
Despite the device appearing to employ standard holographic technology, Dr. Halsey reported an unusual "cold tingle" in her arm when she waved her hand inside the kelguid's projected hologram, prompting her to quickly remove her hand.[2]
Kelguids were used to map and navigate common slipspace routes. There were as many names on it as there were stars.[4]
History
During the Human-Covenant War, Covenant ships were known to carry a kelguid on their bridges. Following the Battle of Seoba in 2526, the kelguid of the intrusion corvette Worthy Silence was recovered by the Spartan-IIs attached the UNSC's Task Force Yama, and later used by Dr. Catherine Halsey to find the Covenant supply world of Zhoist.[2] Despite this, Fleetmaster Nizat 'Kvarosee believed that humans were not intelligent enough to operate the device.[1]
When Nizat was called before the Hierarchs after the destruction of the Fleet of Inexorable Obedience, he revealed the theft of the kelguid to them and that the humans had likely used it to find Zhoist. Nizat expressed doubt that the UNSC could find High Charity with the kelguid because they would need to know what they were looking for and the humans couldn't read the names associated with the stars. Because the UNSC had found Zhoist, the Prophet of Mercy expressed concern that it could be used to find High Charity as well and suggested relocating the city which the Prophet of Regret and the Prophet of Truth immediately agreed with.[4]
In 2551, Operation: METEORITE's purpose was to recover the kelguid of the logistics vessel Triumph of Tolerance. As it belonged to a logistics vessel, the kelguid would have data far more current than the one captured at Seoba. The hope was that the kelguid could give the UNSC the location of High Charity for Operation: RED FLAG.[5] Infiltrating the ship, Spartan-II Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 and ORION supersoldier Sergeant Major Avery Johnson were successfully able to download the kelguid's data. Dr. Catherine Halsey later informed Johnson that the kelguid had indeed had information on the location of High Charity as well as an image of the Covenant holy city.[6]
List of appearances
- Halo: Silent Storm (First appearance)
- Halo: Oblivion (Mentioned only)
- Halo: Hungry Buzzards (Mentioned only)
- Halo: Campaign Evolved
Sources
- ^ a b c Halo: Silent Storm, chapter 21
- ^ a b c d e Halo: Silent Storm, chapter 22
- ^ Halo: Silent Storm, chapter 9
- ^ a b Halo: Oblivion, chapter 5
- ^ Halo: Hungry Buzzards
- ^ Halo: Campaign Evolved, campaign level Heavy Burden
