Greater Ark

The greater Ark, also referred to as the Ark or the Beginning Place, was a Forerunner megastructure, and the first of the two Arks used to manufacture Halo rings. It produced the original Halo Array, comprised of rings 30,000 kilometers in diameter as opposed to the 10,000 kilometers of the final Array, which was produced by the smaller Installation 00 instead. Like Installation 00, the greater Ark was located outside the Milky Way galaxy.

Description
Though it shared Installation 00's flower-like shape, consisting of a series of curved arms extending from a circular central section, the greater Ark differed from the lesser Ark in a number of respects; it possessed only six petals, as opposed to the eight arms of Installation 00. Instead of an artificial sun, the greater Ark was illuminated by six shafts of plasma, each suspended over one of the petals, emanating from a tower structure in the center. These plasma tubes would dim and brighten cyclically, approximating a day-night cycle. Each of the greater Ark's arms possessed at least one petal station, from which Forerunner Lifeworkers operated.

Around 100,000 BCE, strategic command of the ecumene was placed at the greater Ark, as the Capital system was almost completely conquered by the Flood. Shortly after this the Flood attacked the greater Ark and destroyed it, leaving the lesser Ark and its new Array of rings as the Forerunners' last resort.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Cryptum
 * Halo: Primordium
 * Halo: Silentium