Hard light
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
Hard light or hard-light is a Forerunner technology that allows light to be transformed into a solid state, capable of bearing weight and performing a variety of tasks. This involves an as-yet unexplained interplay between coherent, high-energy light and gas particles, such as air.
Background
Hard light was used extensively by the Forerunners for a variety of purposes. The control panels and interfaces found in many Forerunner installations are composed entirely of hard light, and can react to the touch of a Forerunner or human despite their utter lack of mechanical components. Hard light was also commonly used in the composition of Forerunner structures and ships, either for aesthetic purposes or as a covering for mechanical and technological mechanisms, such as on the arms of a war sphinx.[1] Hard light is also used in the locking mechanisms of Forerunner doors.[2] Bridges made of hard light, known as energy bridges, are common throughout Forerunner installations; these bridges are strong enough to bear the load of heavy objects such as a Scorpion tank, yet can be switched on or off as easily as a normal beam of light. Some of the larger conventional bridges constructed by the Forerunners also feature support cables made of hard light.[3]
Forerunner design seeds also made use of hard light. When activated, the rotating pillars of the machine would emit "scaffolding" of hard light that would fabricate a machine or ship using raw materials obtained on-site.
Hard light was also used in the firing mechanisms of the Halo installations,[4] and also as a protective structural reinforcement to stabilize and protect the rings against tidal and gravitational forces from other objects.[5]
Many Forerunner ships use hard light technology to form its internal divisions and compartments. This allows a Forerunner ship to easily reconfigure its layout, furnishings or decoration at will.[6]
Most Forerunner structures project a hard light decorative shell over the structural support elements of the building. Almost all Forerunner buildings seen on the Halo installations or the Ark lack this covering; the Forerunners did not install hard-light generators on the Halos' structures, as they were meant to be purely functional.[7] Additionally, any structures that possessed hard light decor only activated in the presence of Forerunners,[8] although the decoration in the Menachite Forerunner complex activated when a group of Reclaimers entered.[9]
List of appearances
- Halo: Combat Evolved (First appearance)
- Halo 3
- Halo Wars
- Halo: The Flood
- Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
- Halo: Cryptum
- Halo Graphic Novel
- Halo: Blood Line
- "Halo 4"
Sources
- ^ Halo: Cryptum, pages 93, and 194
- ^ Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe, "Wages of Sin"
- ^ Halo: Combat Evolved, campaign level Assault on the Control Room
- ^ Halo: Cryptum, pages 307, 310
- ^ Halo: Cryptum, page 311
- ^ Halo: Cryptum, page 124
- ^ Halo: Cryptum, page 319
- ^ Halo: Cryptum, page 242
- ^ Halo: First Strike, page 143
