Portal at Voi: Difference between revisions
→Post-War period
Sith Venator (talk | contribs) |
|||
| Line 36: | Line 36: | ||
{{Quote|There are more secrets locked under our feet than we dare speculate on.|Doctor [[William Iqbal]] in a letter from the Department of Xenoarchaeological Studies at [[Edinburgh University]] to security-cleared faculty and onsite graduate students.<ref name="evo"/>}} | {{Quote|There are more secrets locked under our feet than we dare speculate on.|Doctor [[William Iqbal]] in a letter from the Department of Xenoarchaeological Studies at [[Edinburgh University]] to security-cleared faculty and onsite graduate students.<ref name="evo"/>}} | ||
[[File:PortalOrbit.png|thumb|left|250px|The portal as seen from orbit immediately after it collapsed following damage done to the Ark.]] | [[File:PortalOrbit.png|thumb|left|250px|The portal as seen from orbit immediately after it collapsed following damage done to the Ark.]] | ||
When [[Installation | When [[Installation 08]] was prematurely fired on December 11, 2552, it tore itself to pieces, doing an enormous amount of damage to the Ark. This sudden destruction caused the portal to collapse while the ''Forward Unto Dawn'' was still traveling through it back to Earth. The ship was torn in to two large pieces at this time and only the fore half made it back to Earth, crashing into the Indian Ocean. The ''Dawn'' did not exit at the point in Earth's atmosphere where it would have had the portal remained wholly intact, but instead emerged from [[slipspace]] in Earth's orbit, just narrowly allowing [[Thel 'Vadam]] a destination to land. From that point onward, the portal remained inert and inaccessible. In March of [[2553]], following a ceremony honoring the fallen of the [[Covenant War]] held near the site, the Excession was isolated from the rest of the [[East African Protectorate]] and heavily guarded. Civilian [[Xenoarchaeology|xenoarchaeologists]] were hired by the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] to study the artifact. While closed, it was still drawing power from an unknown source and the majority of the passageways below it were still unexplored.<ref name="evo"/> It was suspected that the portal had additional as-of-yet undiscovered functions besides simply creating a gateway between Earth and the Ark.<ref name="evo"/> | ||
In [[2555]], scientists exploring [[Installation 07]] discovered a countdown sequence and it was determined that it was originating from the Ark. It suddenly became of paramount importance that the portal be reactivated. The UNSC reached out to the [[Swords of Sanghelios]] and a Huragok named [[Drifts Randomly]] that had worked onboard the [[Forerunner Dreadnaught]] was brought to Earth. After a few days, it was able to open the portal using data from the keyship it had internalized. A joint UNSC and Swords of Sanghelios team was sent through the portal to [[Operation: FAR STORM|prevent]] the activation of the [[Halo Array]]. The countdown was part of a ploy by the Ark's monitor, [[000 Tragic Solitude]], to make the humans on Earth reactivate the portal so that he could send [[Retriever Sentinel]]s to mine the [[Sol system]] for materials to repair damage done to his installation. Many Retrievers poured through the portal and the [[UNSC Home Fleet]] [[Invasion of Earth|engaged them in battle]]. [[Operation: FAR STORM]] successfully prevented Solitude's plan from coming to fruition, however, and the sentinels were recalled.<ref>'''[[Halo: Hunters in the Dark]]'''</ref> Afterwards, the UNSC used the now-active portal to send researchers to the Ark. | In [[2555]], scientists exploring [[Installation 07]] discovered a countdown sequence and it was determined that it was originating from the Ark. It suddenly became of paramount importance that the portal be reactivated. The UNSC reached out to the [[Swords of Sanghelios]] and a Huragok named [[Drifts Randomly]] that had worked onboard the [[Forerunner Dreadnaught]] was brought to Earth. After a few days, it was able to open the portal using data from the keyship it had internalized. A joint UNSC and Swords of Sanghelios team was sent through the portal to [[Operation: FAR STORM|prevent]] the activation of the [[Halo Array]]. The countdown was part of a ploy by the Ark's monitor, [[000 Tragic Solitude]], to make the humans on Earth reactivate the portal so that he could send [[Retriever Sentinel]]s to mine the [[Sol system]] for materials to repair damage done to his installation. Many Retrievers poured through the portal and the [[UNSC Home Fleet]] [[Invasion of Earth|engaged them in battle]]. [[Operation: FAR STORM]] successfully prevented Solitude's plan from coming to fruition, however, and the sentinels were recalled.<ref>'''[[Halo: Hunters in the Dark]]'''</ref> Afterwards, the UNSC used the now-active portal to send researchers to the Ark. | ||