Zeta Halo Project

This article is about the UEG initiative. For other articles of the same name, see Zeta.

Installation 07 is the last remaining ring of the originally twelve-strong Senescent Array.

"Isolate and contain."

— Henry Lamb reiterates one of the project's goals, specifically with regard to Zeta Halo's activation index.

The Zeta Halo Project was an initiative undertaken by the Unified Earth Government and the Swords of Sanghelios to study, decommission, and occupy Zeta Halo, the fourth Halo ring to be discovered by modern humanity. Overseen by Doctor Bob Casper, it involved both a scientific outpost and a large United Nations Space Command (UNSC) military presence. The project was first launched in early 2555 and operated on the ring for the next three years, before ultimately being destroyed when the ring was taken over by the Created in October 2558.

History

Background and early establishment

An OQ-45 Honeybee drone, used to explore the ring.

Henry Lamb: "Every Halo has a monitor, right? Like 343 Guilty Spark on Alpha Halo, for instance. So why can't we find one here? As much as we've searched this place, we've consistently come up empty. And it hasn't found us, which is even more surprising, given the time we've spent here. It leaves me wondering whether there simply isn't one here, or if it's hiding for some reason."

Luther Mann: "For some reason? I would think the reason would be obvious, at least one of them. Human and Covenant interactions on these installations have not always been the best. If the monitor of this Halo is aware of that, it might be inclined to steer clear of us. I know I would."

— Two researchers speculate regarding the apparent absence of Zeta Halo's monitor.

Zeta Halo's location was first made known to the United Nations Space Command in the early days of 2555 thanks to ongoing research at the shield world of Sarcophagus/Onyx. In late 2553 or early 2554, a series of Forerunner records were uncovered inside the shield world by Doctor Luther Mann (a respected scientist and expert on the Forerunners), who then proceeded to spend the next year labouring over them to uncover their secrets. His work was published in very early 2555, leading to a massive acceleration in his academic career and newfound attention from the UNSC and ONI, who were in the process of finding and deactivating the remaining Halo rings across the galaxy. Doctor Mann presented his work at the UNSC's HQ on Earth, providing a detailed report of the methods he used to locate the ring. ONI launched an initiative to investigate and explore the ring almost immediately, arriving at the installation and landing on it by March 2555. Doctor Mann was one of the personnel selected for the expedition, alongside other notable experts such as Henry Lamb.

For the initial deployment to Zeta Halo, no expense was spared: ONI were primarily interested in locating and securing the ring's activation index, library, monitor, and control room, as to prevent the ring's activation. Hundreds of automated drones (presumably OQ-45 Honeybees) were used to scour the surface, though ultimately the ringworld's unique architecture (a facet of its unique history, unbeknownst to the researchers) meant that locating these structures proved difficult. On previous rings, the control room had been the largest structure close to the ring's phase pulse generators and was a useful trove of information about the ring's operation in general. By mid-March 2555, these elements had yet to be discovered, and the ring's monitor 117649 Despondent Pyre remained elusive unlike previously-discovered monitors. Henry Lamb speculated that the monitor may be in hiding, aware of the destruction brought upon Alpha and Delta Halos by the arrival of humanity to them years earlier, though neither he nor Doctor Mann could square this theory with their present (and incomplete) understanding of ancillas. Ultimately, the UNSC personnel on the ring were able to quickly discern that Zeta Halo had a very unique history compared to the other rings, boasting unique physical infrastructure, visual architecture, material composition, and even the machine-language of its computer networks, and theorised that the ring may have been constructed first in the array, or built as a prototype of some sort. It was not until much later that year that a data drop recovered from deep space revealed the real reasons for Installation 07's marked differences.

At around 0900 hours on March 8, 2555, Doctor Mann discovered a countdown sequence in a corridor connected to one of the ring's atmosphere and climate control centers. He immediately reported this find to the project's manager, Bob Casper, who in turn passed the news along to ONI. Casper also contacted his research counterparts on the other Halo rings being monitored and they discovered identical synchronized countdowns on each. Henry Lamb was thereafter able to trace a steady pulse which ran straight to the control room. While this newfound numerical reverse progression finally achieved one of the project's aims, it also spelled doom for the galaxy, as it indicated the entire Halo Array would fire in just a matter of weeks. Lamb informed Casper that there was no way to intercept and shut down the activation circuits which would trigger the firings. Luther tried a number of things, but any attempt to shut down a single pulse caused it to reroute. At the behest of Admiral Serin Osman the Commander-in-Chief of the Office of Naval Intelligence (CINCONI), Doctor Casper recalled Mann and Lamb to Earth to assist with the investigation of the then-inert Excession portal in East Africa, as it was determined a team needed to be sent to Installation 00 as soon as possible. Even so, various teams on Zeta Halo remained to work on stopping the countdown. In the end, both men from the project joined a joint team of humans and Sangheili that traveled to the Ark and managed to avert catastrophe. It was on Zeta Halo that individuals in the Milky Way first learned that the countdown had ceased on March 20, which caused out-and-out rejoicing.

ONI's Ilex Facility was created to study findings from the Zeta Halo project.

Further research

A Lifeworker station on Installation 07.

With the Zeta Halo crisis narrowly averted on the Ark, the Zeta Halo Project's research continued and the UNSC presence gradually expanded on the ring, expanding to include both scientific and military elements. By 2558, this presence had initially grown to include allied Swords of Sanghelios researchers, also involved in exploration and remediation of the ring. In 2558, a second exploratory effort was launched to Zeta Halo, consisting of an ONI asset recovery team assigned to hunt down high-value Forerunner artefacts. One of the personnel involved, Kate Stalling, was able to uncover the conspectus network hubs. ONI also established a new base, the Ilex Facility, a black site dedicated to the analysis of findings brought back from Installation 07; a project known as Operation: ECDYSIS.

At the Ilex facility, a particular effort was invested in attempting to reverse engineer the ring's architectural structures, as well as its notable construction and remediation techniques. However, in order to replicate these systems, it was found that it would require immense amounts of power and therefore creative solutions on a grand scale. Ultimately, the base's staff were unable to progress as rapidly in their research as the scientists on Sarcophagus were, though they remained hopeful that future discoveries may be able to assist humanity in restoring the multitude of colony worlds glassed by the Covenant during the Human-Covenant War.

Since the project's initiation in early 2555, researchers have discovered multiple Lifeworker stations scattered across Installation 07's surface that date back to the Halo's time as Gyre 11. After reporting the discovery of these stations or unknowingly wandering into them, several teams of researchers—and follow-up search parties—have been listed as missing. None of these personnel have been reported as having returned. It is speculated that the disappearances are due—at least in part—to advanced dazzler and baffler technologies that may be found within these station.

By October 2558, Zeta Halo's caretaker protocols were still impossible to predict or control and both its monitor and library remained elusive. These oddities left many questions yet unanswered as to the function and role of the ring within the larger array. By then, the large contingent occupying Zeta Site had taken on a military character in addition to a scientific one and had constructed facilities on the ring's surface.

Destruction

The Zeta Halo project and its staff were effectively destroyed on October 29, 2558, at the onset of the Created uprising. At the same time as the subjugation of the various worlds of the galaxy, Cortana (the newly self-crowned Archon of the Created) chose to make Zeta Halo her seat of power in the galaxy. At around 0815 that morning, a Guardian Custode under Created control arrived at the ring, and the Created quickly took control. One of the on-site researchers, Professor Montgomery Marie, was able to send out a signal at around 0900 to warn the UNSC of the takeover of the ring. The alert also warned the UNSC of a relatively new discovery, a network of Domain access nodes across the galaxy they referred to as the Lithos. Whether the researchers uncovered this information themselves from Zeta Halo, or whether it came with Cortana's arrival, remains unknown. Contact with the researchers was lost fairly quickly after this, and the survivors ultimately went into hiding on the ring. Ultimately, the information provided about the Lithos was verified by ONI cells on other worlds, and ultimately led to the UNSC operation at Boundary in December 2559.

For some of the Zeta Halo Project's personnel, such as Kate Stalling, October 29 began a gruelling year-long survival operation, first against the Created and later against the Banished after the Battle over Installation 07 on December 12, 2559. During the battle, the UNSC's flagship UNSC Infinity would be destroyed by the Banished, and the ringworld occupied by them, leading whatever survivors of the Zeta Halo Project to switch to fighting the Banished and linking up with survivors from Infinity's destruction.

Protocols

In addition to the standard protocols employed at all Halo installations, ONI handed down an additional mandate for the Zeta Halo project against doing anything that could activate or manipulate any Forerunner technology at the site. This mandate was created due to Installation 07's peculiarity and as of early March 2555, nobody had been inclined to disregard it.

Personnel

Luther Mann: "Do you have any idea how confidential the material that we are working on is?"

Henry Lamb: "Luther, there are at least three hundred people here."

Luther Mann: "People who have received security clearances at the highest levels."

— Doctor Mann berates his engineering associate upon first hearing he had discussed the project with someone outside of it.

The Zeta Halo project was headed by Doctor Bob Casper, its manager. Naturally, Doctor Luther Mann's participation was not only welcomed, but insisted upon by top individuals within ONI. By March of 2555 he had joined an expedition on the ring that also included Henry Lamb of ONI's Xeno-Materials Exploitation Group. There was no human more conversant with or qualified to study and if possible, fix, Forerunner technology at the time than Lamb. By this point at least three hundred individuals were exploring different areas of the ring, each looking for something else. All had received security clearances at the highest levels. Specialists in planetary engineering studied biomes which had been seeded there from other worlds long ago. Others explored flora; others fauna. Some, such as Doctor Mann, had a particular interest in Forerunner language, an understanding of which was indispensable for the effort to unlock Zeta Halo's secrets. The ring was divided into sectors which could be assigned to specific explorers, teams, or archaeological parties. At least some teams at this early date were working out of tents.

By October 2558, the Zeta Halo operation had vastly expanded, including a larger contingent of several thousand scientists and military personnel alongside more established infrastructure. Some of the personnel stationed at Zeta Halo by this point included Professor Montgomery Marie, Private Rene Gordon, and an ONI asset recovery operative Kate Stalling.

List of appearances

• Halo: Hunters in the Dark (First appearance)
• Halo Mythos (Indirect mention)
• Halo: Official Spartan Field Manual (Mentioned only)
• Halo: Outpost Discovery
  • The Ring Experience
• Halo: Point of Light (Mentioned only)
• Halo Infinite
  • Season 03: Echoes Within
  • Season 05: Reckoning
• Halo: The Rubicon Protocol (Indirect mention)
• Halo: Empty Throne (Mentioned only)
• Halo: Fifth Canticle