Phoenix Logs/The Ark/Refugia

The following is a verbatim transcription of an official document for archival reasons. As the original content is transcribed word-for-word, any possible discrepancies and/or errors are included.

The Ark was originally created to build Halos, gigantic weapons that wipe out all

organic life in order to starve the parasitic Flood of life to infect. This desperate

measure conflicted with the Forerunners roles as custodians of the galaxy, and

so it was decided that the Ark would also preserve examples of doomed species

destroyed by the Halo so they could be reseeded once the Flood had been

eradicated.

The surface of the Ark was divided up into vast Refugia sections, twelve on the

Central Hub and twenty across the large, petal-like Spires that extend out from

the center. Each Refugia recreates the environments of common life-supporting

worlds and separated by huge walls monitored by Sentinels to protect one

ecosystem from polluting another. The Ark monitors and controls weather,

temperature and even natural food chains in order to maintain the habitat.