Slipspace portal

Slipspace portals are a method of slipstream space transit developed by the Forerunners. Essentially a large-scale application of slipspace translocation, slipspace portals are designed to transport enormous amounts of mass between two fixed points on a continuing basis. Portals are similar in appearance to a slipspace rupture generated by a slipspace drive, appearing as holes into the pitch-black void of slipspace and surrounded by blue-violet energy and supported by a web of hard light. Some portals, however, allow visibility to the destination on the other side. Portals may be generated by groundside facilities which vary in design but are typically enormous, or generator systems in space.

Large constructs, such as the Halo installations, could be transported across interstellar distances through the use of portals. The transition of such a large object would slow down other slipspace traffic in the entire galaxy. While designed for large-scale transit, portals have a limited transit capacity and can be strained or even destroyed if this capacity is exceeded. Portals also have a system that filters unnecessary objects such as debris, discarding them into the volume of slipspace. While passage through a portal is remarkably faster than an ordinary slipspace jump, portal transit is not instantaneous; for example, the passage from the Earth portal to the Ark took over three weeks.

The Forerunners had a network of portals that allowed fast passage throughout their ecumene. Some systems, including that of the capital, had portal installations that connected to multiple worlds. The Librarian used an array of portals to travel to the worlds where she collected the various species of the galaxy for indexing at the Ark. The same network was used to transport the Halo rings. The generator device for one such portal was buried near the town of Voi on Earth.

Trivia
The Halo: Reach multiplayer map High Noon is set in and around a portal generator.

List of appearances

 * Halo 3
 * Halo: Reach
 * Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
 * Terminals
 * The Forerunner Saga
 * Halo: Cryptum
 * Halo Legends
 * Origins