Battle of the Maginot Sphere: Difference between revisions

*[[Emergency Circumstance Fleet]]

*[[Security Fleet]]

*[[Suppression Fleet]]

The '''Battle of the Maginot Sphere''' was the final naval engagement during the [[Forerunner-Flood war]]. Following the revival of [[Mendicant Bias]] by the Flood [[Gravemind]]s, the Flood were gathered together and ceased feeding and expanding. The sole direction of Flood efforts was dedicated to piercing the [[Maginot Line]] and reaching the [[Installation 00|lesser Ark]] in order to stop the [[IsoDidact]] from firing the [[Halo Array]] and thus shattering the Forerunners' last hope of defense. To delay Mendicant Bias long enough to allow the Halos to fire, the IsoDidact deployed the AI's replacement, [[Offensive Bias]], to meet the latter AI at the Line.<ref name="terminal6">'''Halo 3''', ''[[Terminal|Terminal 6]]''</ref>

Recognizing that it was no longer possible to win a conventional victory, the [[IsoDidact]] ordered the Halo Array to be primed and fired. However, Mendicant Bias had located the portal that led to the [[Installation 00|lesser Ark]]. Fortunately, Offensive Bias arrived with what little it had managed to salvage from the fall of the greater Ark.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 315''</ref>

The IsoDidact was able to marshal the [[Suppression Fleet|Suppression]], [[Security Fleet|Security]], and [[Emergency Circumstance Fleet|Emergency Circumstance]] fleets and placed them under the command of Offensive Bias. As the IsoDidact and Offensive Bias primed the Array, the Flood began to arrive. Mendicant Bias immediately sent a coded message to Offensive Bias stating that it would give no quarter and would destroy the Ark. Mendicant then offered Offensive a chance to join it and survive; Offensive informed the IsoDidact that it had rejected the offer.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''String 36''</ref> Once the Ark was armed, Offensive Bias moved its fleet to the Maginot Line to block and delay Mendicant Bias, who was approaching the portal to the Ark: with a total of over eleven thousand vessels, Flood outnumbered the Forerunners 436.6:1. However, Mendicant Bias's forces did not include the near-indestructible star roads or any other Precursor artifacts which had allowed the Flood to dominate the Forerunners in earlier engagements.<ref group="note">The lack of star roads in the battle is ultimately for metafictional reasons; the concept of the Flood using Precursor structures had not yet been conceived at the time of the creation of the ''Halo 3'' terminals, in which the battle was documented. From a fictional standpoint, Mendicant Bias's forgoing of star roads in the battle may be attributed to arrogance, impatience or a willingness to prove its superiority to its rival even without the use of weapons which would otherwise guarantee victory. Alternatively, it is possible that the Flood omitted the star roads from Mendicant Bias's fleet to ''ensure'' that Mendicant would fail and the Halos would be fired; in the final hours of the war, the Gravemind revealed to the [[Librarian]] that it effectively allowed the Forerunners to activate the Halos in order to destroy the [[Domain]] as the final stage of the Precursors' long-term plan to crush the Forerunners, culminating in the destruction of the very soul of their culture by their own hands.</ref>