Sarcophagus: Difference between revisions

{{Status|Canon}}

{{Megastructure infobox

|description=[[Dyson sphere|Dyson shell]] with a terrestrial surface

|location=Within sealed [[Slipstream space]] enclosure, [[Zeta Doradus system]] (?-2553, 2558-)<ref name="loo">''Halo: Legacy of Onyx''</ref>

|destroyed=

|diameter=Approx. 2 [[Wikipedia:Astronomical unit|AU]] (300,000,000 km)

|surface width=Approx. 255 quadrillion km²

|surface width-title=Surface area

}}

There are two identified Forerunner facilities on the shield world. The [[Citadel (Shield World 006)|Citadel]] is an urban habitat that served as the base camp for [[Blue Team]] for the majority of their time in the shield world.<ref>'''[[Halo: Glasslands]]''', ''page 280''</ref> [[Garage (Shield World 006)|Another section]] is essentially a garage filled with numerous Forerunner transports and vehicles.<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 190''</ref> The Sarcophagus also contained a control room. It was in this section that [[Lucy-B091]] discovered several Huragok maintenance personnel, and successfully communicated with [[Prone to Drift|one of them]]. Numerous other structures are scattered around the landscape, including towers responsible for environmental maintenance and atmospheric control.<ref>'''[[Halo: The Thursday War]]''', ''pages 273-275''</ref> Some of the structures are home to [[slipspace portal]]s which link not only to locations within the sphere, but also other worlds,<ref>'''[[Halo: The Thursday War]]''', ''page 409''</ref> including [[Hesduros]].<ref>'''Halo: The Thursday War''', ''page 398''</ref> However, since the status of many of the facilities in the portals' receiving ends is unknown, travel through them was advised against by the Huragok.<ref>'''[[Halo: The Thursday War]]''', ''page 278''</ref> One such portal led to the nearby planet [[Mackintosh]] which acted as the home port for a Forerunner warship of unknown class.<ref name="L404">'''[[Halo: Legacy of Onyx]]''', ''page 404''</ref>

While contained in slipspace, access to the shield world could only be obtained through a small portal located inside an [[core room antechamber|antechamber]] in the core of the artificial planet [[Onyx]]. The portal was only active for a limited amount of time after the [[Halo Array]] had been put into standby mode.<ref>'''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]''', ''page 311''</ref><ref>'''[[Halo: Glasslands]]''', ''chapter 10''</ref> Some time after the portal had been deactivated, the Huragok crew transitioned the shield world back into normal space once they had been assured that there were no longer any threats to the shelter. In the process, the shield world enveloped the three inner planets of the Zeta Doradus system, which now orbit inside of it.{{Ref/Reuse|lessons}} The shield world could be returned to slipspace as a measure of protection against invasion.<ref>'''[[Halo: Legacy of Onyx]]'''</ref> When the shield world was returned to its slipspace bubble, it had the side effect of dragging along the orbiting planets.{{Ref/Reuse|L403}}

==History==

The most technologically impressive of all shield worlds encountered in the modern era, Sarcophagus was constructed as part of the [[Ur-Didact|Didact]]'s shield world defensive plan before the [[Forerunner-Flood war]]. This shield installation in particular was designed as a fallout shelter from the [[Halo Array]], a competing strategy advocated by the [[Builder]]s. Several [[slipspace portal]]s on the interior of the structure were linked to major Forerunner worlds, in order to facilitate their evacuation before the Array fired; one such world was [[Kelekos]]. Another led to the planet known as Mackintosh in the same star system which acted as the home port for a Forerunner warship. Sarcophagus is also an installation of Ecumene's [[Overwatch network]].{{Ref/Reuse|warfleet}}

Near the end of the [[Onyx Conflict]] on [[2552#November|November 3, 2552]], Covenant [[Fleet Master]] [[Voro Nar 'Mantakree]] led [[Joyous Exultation Covenant|his forces]] in an attempt to access the Sharpened Shield. However, [[Lieutenant Commander]] [[Kurt Ambrose]] detonated a pair of [[FENRIS nuclear warhead]]s within the core room antechamber after his comrades had passed through the portal, denying the Covenant access.<ref>'''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]''', ''page 372''</ref> The human survivors; Dr. [[Catherine Halsey]], [[Senior Chief Petty Officer]] [[Franklin Mendez]]; [[Spartan-II]]s [[Linda-058]], [[Kelly-087]], and [[Frederic-104]]; and [[Spartan-III]]s [[Lucy-B091]], [[Tom-B292]], [[Ash-G099]], [[Olivia-G291]], and [[Mark-G313]], were then seemingly trapped within the shield world. Shortly thereafter, the installation's [[Onyx Sentinel|Sentinels]] destroyed the artificial surface of Onyx.<ref>'''Halo: Ghosts of Onyx''', ''page 378''</ref> All that remained in realspace was a 23-centimeter orb around Zeta Doradus.<ref>'''[[Halo Mythos]]''', ''page 134''</ref>

When inside the shield world, the human survivors eventually managed to establish contact between the ONI ships outside the sphere, which had already detected the cyclically fluctuating anomaly caused by the slipspace bubble but had no means to access it.{{Ref/Reuse|glass230}} In [[2553#February|February 2553]],<ref name="glass372">'''[[Halo: Glasslands]]''', ''page 372''</ref> the shield world was brought back into normal space by a group of [[Huragok]] that the Forerunners had left behind to maintain the structure. There was a considerable difference in the passage of time between the slipspace bubble and real space; while the survivors inside the sphere had only experienced several days, approximately three months had passed on the outside.

Once the Sharpened Shield had been brought back into normal space, the ONI team [[Kilo-Five]] entered the sphere. A strip of multi-colored lights activated to guide their dropship to the designated coordinates, where they would land on the surface of the shell. After a momentary blackness and a disorienting sensation for the occupants, they found themselves and their ship inside the [[Garage (Shield World 006)|"garage"]] facility.{{Ref/Reuse|glass378}} Halsey, Mendez and the surviving Spartans were then rescued from the shield world, but the doctor was immediately arrested by [[Captain (Navy)|Captain]] [[Serin Osman]] for "committing acts likely to aid the enemy".

By [[2554|March 2554]], the shield world's fledgling research facility had undergone major changes, having become a combined effort between the UNSC and the [[Swords of Sanghelios]]. A settlement known as [[Paxopolis]] had been established in the sphere and was steadily growing, primarily housing researchers and their families. [[Franklin Mendez]], former head instructor for the [[Spartan-II]]s and [[Spartan-III]]s, was appointed as the facility's head of security, alongside [[Sangheili]] [[Kasha 'Hilot]]. A number of [[Spartan Operations|Spartans]] were assigned to the facility's garrison.{{Ref/Reuse|loo}}<ref>'''Halo 4''', [[DEFENDER-class Mjolnir|Defender]] armor description</ref> Shortly after March 30, 2554, Spartan-IIIs [[Lucy-B091]] and [[Tom-B292]] joined the security staff, serving directly under Mendez.{{Ref/Reuse|lessons}} By 2558 the UNSC and the Swords of Sanghelios had a strong military presence on the shield world which included hundreds of soldiers, combat vehicles and even warships. This military strength was necessary to protect Paxopolis from the constant siege from both Forerunner constructs and dangerous animals, as well as from external threats.{{Ref/Reuse|loo}}

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==Trivia==

*The "Sharpened Shield", a name used for the shield world in the ''[[Halo Encyclopedia (2009 edition)]]'', was originally a fan-made name used on Halopedia. The name had never been used in any official ''Halo'' media, though it was seemingly based on the line, ''"And bless the Reclaimers that may take refuge behind the sharpened edge of the Shield,"'' from ''Halo: Ghosts of Onyx''. For more information, see [[Talk:Sarcophagus#Name v2|this discussion]].

==List of appearances==