Halo Array: Difference between revisions

{{Quote|Halo doesn't kill Flood, it kills their ''food!'' Humans, Covenant, whatever—we're all equally edible! The only way to stop the Flood is to starve them to death. And that's exactly what Halo is designed to do: wipe the galaxy clean of all sentient life!|[[Cortana]] during the [[Battle of Installation 04]].<ref name="TB">'''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]''', campaign level ''[[Two Betrayals]]''</ref>}}

The first array of twelve Halos was constructed by order of [[Master Builder]] [[Faber]] circa [[98,445 BCE]] with the intent of being an ultimate weapon, one that would secure the preeminence of the [[Builder]] [[rate]] in Forerunner society.<ref name="c274">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 274''</ref> Later, the weapons would be refined further and a new array of six smaller and significantly more lethal installations was constructed; the newer Halos are known as the "neoteric" rings.<ref name="neoteric">[https://www.reddit.com/r/halo/comments/70wbxc/return_to_the_denomination_installation_04_b_c/dn76nzc/ ''Reddit: Return to the denomination. Installation 04 (B), (C). Canonically. 343 PLS'' (comment by GrimBrotherOne)]</ref> Eventually, eleven were destroyed and/or lost while the remaining [[seven]] were used by the Forerunners as a last resort when combating the parasitic [[Flood]].<ref name="lorestream">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYaxRoAf96s '''YouTube:''' ''Halo Lore Stream: The Halo Array'']</ref> All [[sentience|sentient]] beings in the galaxy were killed, robbing the Flood of hosts and starving it to death.

In addition to serving as weapons of last resort, Halo installations are also research facilities dedicated to containing and studying many different kinds of life forms. The life forms that were hand-selected by the [[Librarian]] included marine life, fauna, and land vertebrates. With the Master Builder's permission, the Librarian would research each animal to detect if their bodies reacted to Flood infection. The research on the animals would be more deeply analyzed if they did become infected. The Librarian's studies also helped determine if the rings could be used to repopulate the galaxy as part of the [[Conservation Measure]].<ref name="lorestream">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYaxRoAf96s '''YouTube:''' ''Halo Lore Stream: The Halo Array'']</ref><ref name="c313">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''pages 313, 334''</ref>

The Halos encountered in the modern times are 10,000 kilometers in diameter; this size is roughly similar to that of [[Earth]], which is 12,756&nbsp;km in diameter. While the original twelve Halos had a diameter of 30,000 kilometers,<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 310''</ref> concerns about their structural stability and transport led to the second series of rings being reduced in size.{{Ref/Reuse|maker}} The surface of each ring is 318 kilometers wide,<ref>'''Halo: The Essential Visual Guide''', ''page 6''</ref> with a depth of 22.3 kilometers<ref>'''Halo: The Fall of Reach''', ''page 339'' (2001)</ref><ref>'''Halo: The Flood''', ''page 13'' (2003)</ref> to 47 kilometers.{{Ref/Reuse|lorestream}}{{Ref/Note|The depth laid out in ''Halo: The Fall of Reach'' lists the ring's thickness as 22.3km, while the Lore Stream conducted by 343 Industries lists a depth of 47km. It is possible this disrepancy comes from the inclusion (or lack thereof) of the outer walls keeping the atmosphere in.}} The overall circumference of the ring is 31,415&nbsp;km and the interior surface area is 9,985,200&nbsp;km² - roughly the size of Canada.{{Ref/Reuse|lorestream}} The main structure of the ring is constructed of a superdense foundational material,<ref>'''Halo: The Flood''', ''page 340''</ref> with elaborate scaffolding and cantilever structures laid over it to support the artificial landmasses and the myriad tunnel networks and caverns that riddle the installation's internal structure.{{Ref/Reuse|halo3halo}} Many of these tunnels are transit conduits meant for use by the ring's Sentinels, though some of them can be traversed by humanoid beings.<ref>'''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]''', campaign level ''[[Halo (Halo: Combat Evolved level)|Halo]]''</ref>

The Halo rings achieve their "gravity" through [[artificial gravity]] generators - despite their shape, the ring does not need to spin to create its gravitational pull, though they do spin for other reasons unrelated to gravity generation.{{Ref/Reuse|lorestream}} Due to this, the various [[Refugia]] present on the installation's surface may have different surface gravity, terrain, lighting and atmospheric conditions.{{Ref/Reuse|lorestream}} When the {{UNSCShip|Pillar of Autumn}} was detonated, it blasted a large mass from Installation 04; no longer a full loop, the centripetal force applied in much greater strength on the newly formed weak point, causing the ring to rip apart.<ref>'''Halo: Combat Evolved''' campaign level, ''[[The Maw]]''</ref>