Installation 00: Difference between revisions

==Overview==

The Ark was designed with a number of functions, one of which is to remotely activate the Halo rings from outside the array's blast radius. Installation 00 can be placed on standby mode via a fail-safe system that is activated by an aborted firing such as the one that occurred at the end of the [[Battle of Installation 05]]. In addition to serving as the firing control center for the Halo array, Installation 00 functioned as an automated factory to construct Halo installations, thereby ensuring that the Halo Array was always ready to fire.<ref name="Covenant">'''[[Halo 3]]''', campaign level ''[[The Covenant (level)|The Covenant]]''</ref><ref name="Halo">'''[[Halo 3]]''', campaign level ''[[Halo (Halo 3 level)|Halo]]</ref> While originally designed solely as a construction and control center for the Halos, due to the [[Librarian]]'s influence, the Ark was given a secondary function as a safe haven for life in the galaxy in the case of a galaxy-wide activation of the Halos; this is also the source of the name "the Ark".<ref name="c274">'''[[Halo: Cryptum]]''', ''page 274''</ref> Knowing that the Array would defeat the [[Flood]] through sterilizing the galaxy of any neurologically complex life, the Forerunners planned to preserve all life by storing it on the Arks and other preservation facilities. According to this plan, known as the [[Conservation Measure]], the Librarian was to index every [[Sentience|sentient]] species in the [[ecumene]] and bring specimens of each to the Ark. These sentient species would be stored on the Ark and would later be reseeded on their original homeworlds after the Halo Array had been activated.<ref name="Terminals">'''Halo 3''', [[Terminal (Halo 3)|Terminals]]</ref>

{{Clear}}

==History==

===Forerunner-Flood war===

{{quote|Every vessel we can fill, we send to the Ark. I dare not cease the mission. Not now, not until I've done all I can. Each one of these souls is finite and precious. And I'm close. Close to saving them all.|A message from the [[Librarian]] to the [[IsoDidact]]}}

Like the rest of the newer, more efficient Halo Array, Installation 00 was constructed sometime between [[98,445 BCE]] and [[97,445 BCE]] under orders of [[Master Builder]] [[Faber]], to address problems with the [[greater Ark]] and its larger Halos. While plans for the second Ark had existed for some time, its construction was delayed by the [[Old Council]] to avoid the Builders from gaining too much power.<ref>'''[[Halo: Silentium]]''', ''page 45''</ref> The lesser Ark, as it was known at the time, was designed to produce smaller but much more powerful Halo rings, which could be transported more efficiently and could deal far more widespread damage. Until the very last days of the [[Forerunner-Flood war]], the lesser Ark, its new Halos, and its location were kept a well-guarded secret; only the most top-tier Forerunners knew of its existence, and the only one who knew the exact coordinates of the installation was Faber. Whereas the greater Ark acted as the Forerunners' final line of defense and command center, the lesser Ark would serve the function of a last fallback point where its own array of rings could be swiftly distributed to their designated locations across the galaxy and fired to cleanse the galaxy of all sentient life as a last resort.<ref>'''[[Halo: Silentium]]''', ''String 33''</ref>

In the endgame of the Forerunners' war with the Flood, the Forerunner {{Class|Contender|artificial intelligence}} [[Mendicant Bias]], which had been [[logic plague|corrupted]] by the [[Gravemind]] and defected to the Flood, attacked and destroyed the greater Ark, killing the majority of the remaining Forerunners who had taken refuge there. Using coordinates provided by the Master Builder, a handful of survivors, including the [[IsoDidact]], managed to escape to the lesser Ark where they prepared their weapons of last resort. In order to buy the IsoDidact time, the Librarian traveled to [[Earth]], broadcasting a feint transmission intended to draw the Flood's attention to her. She spent her last days in the plains near [[Mount Kilimanjaro]], near the site of the [[Portal at Voi|slipspace portal]] to Installation 00. Mendicant Bias knew of the secret Ark and how to access it through the [[Keyship]]s, though he did not know of its exact location. In order to devise the best possible defense against Mendicant Bias, the Forerunners deployed [[Offensive Bias]], a military AI formerly in control of the greater Ark and Mendicant's replacement, and sent it to counter Mendicant Bias' fleet in advance before it could reach the Ark. While Offensive Bias [[Battle of the Maginot Sphere|engaged Mendicant's fleet]], the IsoDidact completed preparations for the Halo Array and fired the rings from the Ark, purging the galaxy of all life.

===Battle of Installation 00===

Truth led his fleet through the portal; after defeating a Flood invasion of the town of [[Voi]], a joint [[United Nations Space Command]] - [[Fleet of Retribution|Sangheili]] strike force followed the Prophet's forces.<ref name="Floodgate">'''[[Halo 3]]''', campaign level ''[[Floodgate]]''</ref> Upon their arrival on [[2552#December|December 11]],<ref name="Fortitude"/> the latter force were attacked by the Covenant, which held a 3:1 numerical advantage.<ref name="The Ark"/> Despite this, the [[Sangheili]] [[Fleet of Retribution]] crushed Truth's forces.

===Post-battle===

In [[2553|March 2553]], the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] deployed an automated probe-carrying spacecraft to the damaged Ark using advanced slipspace technology. The ship arrived in November and dispersed its probes, although all communications with the devices were cut off after initial transmissions confirming the Ark's survival. In response, the {{UNSCShip|Rubicon}} was sent from [[Luna]] in December 2553 to conduct a more thorough investigation of the installation's ravaged surface.<ref name="hitd c2">'''[[Halo: Hunters in the Dark]]''', ''Chapter 2''</ref> Due to the damage dealt to the Ark's life support systems and its artificial sun, heavily inclement weather became the norm.<ref name="EH">'''[[Eleventh Hour reports]]''', ''part 4''</ref>

The [[ UNSC Rubicon]] carried several [[remote contact team]]s, who landed on the damaged Ark and attempted to find the source of the mysterious signal. After about eight days, contact with all teams was lost; only one team, [[RCT-06]], returned, having sustained heavy casualties and carrying with them a device of unknown nature. The armature's origin was subjected to debate, but it was believed by the team to be the source of the beacon picked up by the initial investigative group.<ref name="EH"/> The device, actually a broken, barely active [[monitor]], began to relate its past life as a human: [[Chakas]]. Though the ship's ONI attaché initially doubted the veracity of the monitor's account, the science team leader pointed out that it was consistent with the "[[Halo: Cryptum|Bornstellar Relation]]" found on [[Onyx]].

Eventually, the monitor revealed that it was none other than [[343 Guilty Spark]] himself. Claiming that he knew the location of the [[Librarian]], whom he believed to be alive, Spark subsumed the ship's AI, knocked out the crew via the life support systems, and hijacked the ship.<ref>'''[[Halo: Primordium]]''', ''pages 377-379''</ref> Communications with the ''Rubicon'' halted within 48 hours of its last report. Search and rescue teams were then deployed to the site, but reported no findings.<ref name="EH"/>

===Operation: FAR STORM===

{{Main|Operation: FAR STORM}}

===New arrivals===

{{Main|Second Ark Conflict}}

{{Quote|And now the Ark's defenses stir, sensing the [[Banished|shadow of a threat]] that moves in spaces [[Cortana|Her]] eyes cannot see, intent on seizing the great factory of the Forerunners.|[[Curator]] on the Created and the Banished<ref name="Mythos202">'''[[Halo Mythos]]''', ''page 202''</ref>}}

==Design details==

Installation 00 resembles a massive flattened dish with a series of eight curved arms, known as spires, four large and four small, arranged around its rim, similar to the petals of a flower. The entire upper surface is [[Terraforming|terraformed]], with oceans, forests and deserts.<ref name="The Ark"/><ref name="Covenant"/> Installation 00 is {{Convert|127530|km|mi|sigfig=5}} in diameter and thus one of the largest known Forerunner constructs.<ref name="vis"/> Spread throughout the installation are hundreds of refugia, artificial biomes designed to sustain diverse flora and fauna as part of the Conservation Measure. Each of these refugia are separated by massive quarantine walls.<ref name="mythos ark">'''[[Halo Mythos]]''', ''pages 122-123''</ref> Twelve refugia are located on the central hub, while an additional twenty are located on the arms of the structure.<ref name="Refugia">'''[[Halo Wars 2]]''', ''[[Phoenix Logs]]'' - ''Refugia''</ref> The various refugia are intended to mimic common planetary environments - one such refugia known as the Halo Refugia<ref name="HaloRefugia">'''[[Halo Wars 2]]''', ''[[Phoenix Log]]'' - ''Halo Refugia''</ref> bore a notable similarity to Earth's climate, though much more extreme; mountains are higher, chasms are deeper and the sea and sky are a deeper blue.<ref name="HaloRefugia"/>

===Defenses===

Similar to most Forerunner installations, the Ark had its own [[monitor]], [[000 Tragic Solitude]], charged with the facility's defenses. For the most part, Solitude reacted little when humanity and the Covenant arrived at the Ark, though when 343 Guilty Spark attempted to access the Ark's systems during the Battle of Installation 00, Tragic Solitude threatened to add the monitor to the facility's targeting ledger if he persisted.<ref>'''Halo 3''', ''Terminal 3''</ref> After the Ark was severely damaged by the destruction of Installation 08, the latest on a line of destroyed Forerunner relics, Solitude grew bitter and viewed all sentients in the galaxy as incapable of being peaceful.<ref name="Hunters"/> The arrival of the Human-Covenant War to the installation additionally prompted the activation of [[Terminus]]', structures that are designed to perform tireless cataloging, recording of indexing of events in an attempt to prepare countermeasures and defences for future possible scenarios. These records are cross-references with existing records of historical events and battles to perform simulations and predictions of potential outcomes - losing a terminus would result in a massive loss of operational capability for the installation.<ref name="Terminus">'''[[Halo Wars 2]]''', ''[[Phoenix Logs]]'' - ''Terminus''</ref>

File:TerminalArkArray.jpg|The Ark along with the Halo installations prior to their activation.

File:HOSFM Installation 00 forerunner symbol.png|The [[Forerunner symbols|symbol]] representing Installation 00.  

File:Hunters in the Dark full cover.jpg|The partially destroyed installation in 2555 on the cover of ''[[Halo: Hunters in the Dark]]''

File:HM - SOF and Ark.jpg|Installation 00 in ''[[Halo Mythos]]''.