Onyx: Difference between revisions

Onyx, named by the [[Unified Earth Government]] due to the unusually large [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onyx onyx] quarries found in the planet's crust, had an Oxygen-Nitrogen gas atmosphere, of suitable pressure for [[Human]] life with a temperate weather cycle. It also had an unusually large number of indigenous species of flora and fauna, some of which were edible by Humans and posed no threatening danger. The transplanting of [[Earth]] species was immediately possible.

Some notable anomalies were that it had no detectable tectonic activity, an unusually strong planetary magnetic field, and slightly higher than normal background radiation. All of this was possibly explained when it was revealed that the planet's crust was composed of large numbers of dormant Sentinels.

Onyx's surface, as mentioned before, was composed of seemingly infinite amounts of Sentinels, with a massive Forerunner city hidden under the terraformed ground layer. Under the surface, there was a vast network of underground tunnels and installations, including a map room and an immense [[Sentinel Constructor Factory #Onyx|Sentinel production facility]] under the northern polar region.

In the core of Onyx, there was a large room, the [[Core Room Antechamber]]. It contained a [[slipspace]] rift that would be open for a short time after the [[Halo Array]] was put into standby mode, allowing evacuation to the [[Micro Dyson Sphere]] within, acting as an escape from the Array's destructive firing.

The Dyson Sphere habitat located wholly within a maintained slipspace bubble, which in normal space, is only some meters in diameter, has a diameter of approximately 300 million kilometers. The megastructure has a habitable, terraformed surface and in the center, a G2-type star to provide terrestial lighting.<ref>'''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]'''</ref>

In [[2511]], when archaeological expeditions uncovered massive subterranean Forerunner constructions in what would after be called [[Zone 67]], [[ONI]] immediately took control of the world, going so far as to remove Onyx from UNSC navigational databases and suspending any prospective colonization and [[terraforming]] attempts. However, further attempts to determine the purpose of the structures, or even to extract any usable technology, yielded no results. In [[2525]], with the coming of the [[Human-Covenant War]], the operation was scaled down and only a minimum ONI garrison and a single [[Endless Summer|AI]] remained. The planet's location remained secret. Regular scans continued to yield little of value.

With the course of the Human-Covenant War, [[Vice Admiral]] [[Margaret O. Parangosky]] authorized the construction of the [[SPARTAN-III]] training base on Onyx in [[2531]] (there were three companies trained, Alpha, Beta, and Gamma) because of the planet's obscurity. This base, designated [[Camp Currahee]], was constructed perilously close to Zone 67, which had been declared strictly off limits. However, during a routine exercise north of Currahee, [[Beta Company]] [[Team X-ray]] trespassed into Zone 67, entered a Forerunner structure, and disappeared without trace. An ONI investigation into the matter was inconclusive, although X-Ray was rumored to have encountered a "glowing eye", which detonated upon discovery.

In [[2552]], Onyx's Sentinels were roused to action by the standby signal from [[Installation 05]], instigating the Battle of Onyx and revealing Onyx's true nature. The AI Endless Summer took command of all military personnel on Onyx to immediately defend Zone 67 per [[General Order 98.93.120]], after Onyx's Sentinels first started to attack the SPARTAN-III's. Endless Summer sent [[Kurt]] a flash transmission sending attached files directly into Kurt's retina. An explosion stopped Endless Summer's transmission before Kurt could finish scanning the new threat.

*The [[Terminals]] mention that there were indeed Forerunners on Onyx. However, the Terminals were probably referring to the Onyx Sentinels being on Onyx or the construction of it to become a Shield World to be protected from any of the the Halos.

*The Sentinels on Onyx were much stronger than the ones on Installation 04 and Installation 05, being able to combine forms, and were capable of space flight.

*Onyx on the Mohs hardness scale is [[seven]] (a possible reference to the number seven).