Hard light

Hard light, alternatively spelled hard-light or hardlight, is a Forerunner technology that allows light to be transformed into a solid state, capable of bearing weight and performing a variety of tasks. This involves an as-yet unexplained interplay between coherent, high-energy light and gas particles, such as air.

Background
Hard light was used extensively by the Forerunners for a variety of purposes. The control panels and interfaces found in many Forerunner installations are composed entirely of hard light, and can react to the touch of a Forerunner or human despite their utter lack of mechanical components. Hard light was also commonly used in the composition of Forerunner structures and ships, either for aesthetic purposes or as a covering for mechanical and technological mechanisms, such as on the arms of a war sphinx. Hard light is also used in the locking mechanisms of Forerunner doors. Bridges made of hard light, known as energy bridges, are common throughout Forerunner installations; these bridges are strong enough to bear the load of heavy objects such as a Scorpion tank, yet can be switched on or off as easily as a normal beam of light. Some of the larger conventional bridges constructed by the Forerunners also feature support cables made of hard light.

Forerunner design seeds also made use of hard light. When activated, the rotating pillars of the machine would emit "scaffolding" of hard light that would fabricate a machine or ship using raw materials obtained on-site.

Hard light was also used in the firing mechanisms of the Halo installations, and also as a protective structural reinforcement to stabilize and protect the rings against tidal and gravitational forces from other objects.

Many Forerunner ships use hard light technology to form its internal divisions and compartments. This allows a Forerunner ship to easily reconfigure its layout, furnishings or decoration at will.

Most Forerunner structures project a hard light decorative shell over the structural support elements of the building. Almost all Forerunner buildings seen on the Halo installations or the Ark lack this covering; the Forerunners did not install hard-light generators on the Halos' structures, as they were meant to be purely functional. Additionally, any structures that possessed hard light decor only activated in the presence of Forerunners, although the decoration in the Menachite Forerunner complex activated when a group of Reclaimers entered.

The Forerunners also used hard light technology to create protective personal shields, such as the Z-90 Photonic Coalescence Emitter/Aegis as it is known by the UNSC, more commonly known as the "hardlight shield," which could be deployed in the battlefield by fighting units like Promethean Knights. After encountering such technology in 2557, UNSC forces were able to adapt these shields for use by Spartan supersoldiers.

Promethean units are also known to incorporate hard light technology into their weaponry and even personal design. The Z-250 Lightrifle and Z-130 Suppressor are among the known infantry weapons to utilize hard light projectiles. For offensive purposes, they create solid projectiles that can be fired like conventional bullets or plasma bolts. Some units have presumably decorative hard light architecture, notably the fins on the back of the Knight Battlewagon.

Trivia
Hard light was one of the several Forerunner technologies the Covenant never successfully reverse-engineered.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Combat Evolved
 * Halo 3
 * Halo Wars
 * Halo: The Flood
 * Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
 * Wages of Sin
 * Halo: Cryptum
 * Halo Graphic Novel
 * Breaking Quarantine
 * Halo: Blood Line
 * Halo 4