Onyx

Unlike most planets encountered by the UNSC, Onyx never had to be terraformed. So named for its huge quarries of Onyx rock, the planet is covered in dense swamp and has many indigenous forms of plant and insect life. It is located in the Zeta Doradus System.

The planet was discovered and first investigated in 2491 with high marks of approval for colonization, however excavations uncovered Forerunner artifacts in 2511 in Zone 67. ONI immediately took control of the planet, shutting it off to outsiders and essentially making it classified. They hoped to mine the planet for any technology they could find. However, in 2525, the funds of the project were diverted elsewhere, as not a single technological find could be used. The planet was left with a skeleton crew of ONI excavators and a single AI to run operations. In 2531 however, Vice Admiral Margaret O. Parangosky allowed for a UNSC base to be constructed there to be the training ground for the Spartan-IIIs. That base was called Camp Currahee.

In 2552, the Battle of Onyx was fought here. The planet was declared a Code Bloody Arrow and subsequently was destroyed, revealing Shield World.

Shield World
Unknown to the humans until the battle, Onyx is actually a world constructed entirely by the Forerunners, the entire planet was a large ruin, and was literally comprised of trillions of Sentinels. At the core of Onyx lay the enterance to the Forerunner's place of retreat prior to the activation of The Halos, a full Dyson Sphere known only as "Shield World."

The issue about why the forerunners were not in the planet onyx, which was made to withstand the attack of the Halo instalations at the moment to be activated, and protect the reclaimers from them, is still unknown, and may be revealed in one of the two future Halo books. Also, there was no commentary about what happend to team Blue, team Saber, team Katana, Dr. Halsey, and CPO. Mendez after entering inside the core.

Places around Onyx

 * Camp Currahee
 * Zone 67
 * Core Room Antechamber
 * Shield World