Sarcophagus
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| Sarcophagus | |
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| General overview | |
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Description: |
Dyson shell with a terrestrial surface |
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Location: |
Within sealed Slipstream space enclosure, Zeta Doradus system (?-2553, 2558-)[1]
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| Operation overview | |
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Type: |
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Function: |
Preservation of lifeforms from the Halo Array's pulse |
| Structural information | |
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Diameter: |
Approx. 2 AU (300,000,000 km)
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Surface area: |
Approx. 255 quadrillion km2 |
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Mass: |
1.37 solar masses[2] |
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Atmospheric composition: |
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Sarcophagus[4][5][6] is a massive Forerunner shield world in the Zeta Doradus system, having been previously located within the artificial planet Onyx.
Overview[edit]
Nomenclature[edit]
The formal designation of Sarcophagus is Shield World 006,[7][8] which is sometimes rendered as Shield World 0006.[9][3] It is also referred to by the Forerunners as the Sharpened Shield,[10] and as Quarantine Safeguard.[9]
As Sarcophagus came to occupy the space of the former planet,[8] the shield world is referred to as Onyx by the UNSC.[11][8] The Office of Naval Intelligence officially designates[8] it as ONI Research Facility Trevelyan (ONIRF Trevelyan) in honor of the late Kurt Trevelyan.[12][8] As the human and Sangheili presence there expanded beyond what research was being conducted by ONI, "ONIRF Trevelyan" became less associated with the shield world at large, now referring more specifically to the ONI installation on its surface. By April 2554, the sphere had come to house the joint UNSC-Swords of Sanghelios Onyx United Research Project and contained a growing settlement with a population in the thousands.[11]
Topography and ecology[edit]
The observed portion of the interior surface of Sarcophagus is rolling hills and verdant forest, with several Forerunner cities in between.[13] As the Forerunners never arrived, the shield world is entirely maintained by Huragok and Sentinels, including cylindrical drones tasked with monitoring for signs of Flood infection.[14] The Dyson sphere's default environmental conditions are suitable for Earth-based life, but the climate settings could be adjusted for other species' requirements.[10][15] The sky inside the shield world appears solid blue; the landscape on the other side of the sphere is not visible as a result of the shield world's enormous scale, unlike on smaller shield installations such as Trove. However, the concave curvature of the horizon can be detected with a telescopic sight.[16] The exterior surface of the sphere is dark brown in color and entirely featureless, at least in the area around the only known entrance.[11][17]
There are two identified Forerunner facilities on the shield world. The Citadel is an urban habitat that served as the base camp for Blue Team for the majority of their time in the shield world.[18] Another section is essentially a garage filled with numerous Forerunner transports and vehicles.[19] The Sarcophagus also contained a control room. It was in this section that Lucy-B091 discovered several Huragok maintenance personnel, and successfully communicated with one of them. Numerous other structures are scattered around the landscape, including towers responsible for environmental maintenance and atmospheric control.[20] Some of the structures are home to slipspace portals which link not only to locations within the sphere, but also other worlds,[21] including Hesduros.[22] However, since the status of many of the facilities in the portals' receiving ends is unknown, travel through them was advised against by the Huragok.[23] One such portal led to the nearby planet Mackintosh which acted as the home port for a Forerunner warship of unknown class.[24]
While contained in slipspace, access to the shield world could only be obtained through a small portal located inside an antechamber in the core of the artificial planet Onyx. The portal was only active for a limited amount of time after the Halo Array had been put into standby mode.[25][26] Some time after the portal had been deactivated, the Huragok crew transitioned the shield world back into normal space once they had been assured that there were no longer any threats to the shelter. In the process, the shield world enveloped the three inner planets of the Zeta Doradus system, which now orbit inside of it.[11] The shield world could be returned to slipspace as a measure of protection against invasion.[1] When the shield world was returned to its slipspace bubble, it had the side effect of dragging along the orbiting planets.[27]
Locations[edit]
Structure[edit]
Sarcophagus is a Dyson shell, a massive artificial structure encircling a star. At approximately two astronomical units or 300 million kilometers in diameter (corresponding roughly to the diameter of Earth's orbit), and weighing approximately 1.37 solar masses,[2] the sphere is by far the largest known megastructure created by the Forerunners. According to Dr. Catherine Halsey's calc