Beacon

Beacons are equipment used by the Covenant in the extraction of the helium-3. Fifty stories tall and as wide as five city blocks, a Beacon is shaped like a perfectly symmetrical beehive floating atop four antigravity "stilts", tended by Yanme'e workers. The term "Beacon" is a UNSC designation - whatever the Covenant know the equipment as is unknown. Helium-3 was trapped in a second mantle formed over the original object during the spallation-heavy terraforming process of UNSC colonies. During the Human-Covenant War, the Covenant would set up Beacons on conquered UNSC worlds to extract and refine this helium-3, converting it into pure energy for transmission to nearby battlegroups. One such Beacon was located on Verge in 2552, used to power Covenant warships blockading Tribute, destroyed soon after by Team Black.