Halo 2 File Size

[Cecile Lilien]

The Halo Array, Halos,[1] alternatively known as the Sacred Rings[2][3] by the Covenant, Fortress Worlds[4] by their creators, Installations by the A.I. Monitors that run them, and the Great Wheels by prehistoric humans, are seven (of an original twelve) massive ring-shaped installations constructed by the Forerunners throughout the galaxy over one hundred thousand years ago as a last resort when combating the parasite known as the Flood. When nothing else could be done, they activated the rings which killed all sentient life forms within three radii of the galactic center. Not only are they weapons of last resort, but the Halo installations are also research facilities, mainly for the study of the Flood.

The Halo Array is a network of seven ring-shaped artificial worlds created by the Forerunners in order to kill all sentient life within range of the array, virtually the entire galaxy.[5] Rather than a weapon of war, these were used as a last resort against the Flood, a parasitic extra-galactic species that threatened to infest every sentient lifeform in the galaxy. By activating the rings, the Forerunners denied the Flood access to these lifeforms, effectively starving the species to virtual extinction, though it clung to life in a number of Forerunner facilities, including some Halo installations.[6] Two of the three known Halo installations, Installation 04 and Installation 05 respectively, orbit the gas giants Threshold and Substance. Threshold maintained an atmospheric mining facility until it was destroyed by the Covenant.[7] The third ring, Installation 03, orbits a rocky terrestrial planet. Though separated by thousands of light-years, the seven installations are networked together and capable of remote activation at Installation 00, an installation outside the galaxy. Each Halo installation has a maximum effective range of 25,000 light-years.[8] The exact means the array uses to conduct this "mass sterilization protocol"[9] utilizes specifically tuned pulses of energy that destroy any biological structure that can form even a rudimentary neural system, instantly killing any sentient biological life.

The Halo Array in its entirety has been fired once in known history, approximately 100,000 years ago, by the Didact[10] in order to stop the Flood from overwhelming the galaxy. Despite being the network's builders, the Forerunners were killed in this last suicidal attempt to save the rest of the universe from a worse fate.[5] However, four activations of a single halo on a limited power setting have also been recorded. Once at Faun Hakkor, Charum Hakkor, the San'Shyuum quarantine system, and a possible activation at the Ecumene Capital (Which resulted in the destruction of 10 of the original 12 Halos, the two surviving being Omega Halo and Installation 07). The array has nearly been activated three times since; Alpha Halo was almost activated by John-117 before being deactivated by Cortana, while Delta Halo was activated by Commander Miranda Keyes, forced by the Chieftain of the Jiralhanae Tartarus, and Sergeant Johnson was forced by the Prophet of Truth to activate the Ark. None of these attempts were successful. A replacement Halo for the destroyed Alpha Halo was activated outside of the array's range, eliminating the freed Flood without activating the rest of the array.[11]

Looking back to a mere 300 years after the Flood had entered the galaxy, the Forerunner Council granted the Master Builder, Faber, permission to begin constructing the Halo Array. Meanwhile, a Lifeworker called The Librarian, began collecting samples from every species across the galaxy; ensuring that if all means of stopping the Flood failed and the Halos were forced into activation, that the galaxy could still be reseeded with life. The Lifeworker's husband, the Didact, a Promethean warrior, created Shield Worlds such as the planet Onyx, to further ensure their survival. At the Array's completion, twelve Halos had been constructed. However, in a sudden cataclysmic event that was mysteriously undertaken by a Metarchy ancilla (a monitor) named Mendicant Bias, only 2 of the original Halo rings remained intact and operable; while six other more efficient ones had been constructed in secret at the Lesser Ark by Faber.

The Halos were constructed by the Forerunners a few hundred years after the Flood were discovered by the Array's makers because their builders saw that their current isolation and containment procedures were not adequate to stop the spread of the Flood.[citation needed] At least one was functional for 101,217 local years.[12] In 97445 BCE,[13] after exhausting every other tactical option, their creators had no choice but to activate the Halos' main weapon, and terminate all sentient life in the galaxy.[5]

The seven Halos then remained relatively dormant for one hundred thousand years (though at least one of them experienced a major Flood outbreak; and reference given to brief visits by other species by 343 Guilty Spark in "Conversations from the Universe") until one of them, Installation 04 (Alpha Halo), was discovered by the theocratic alien superpower, the Covenant. The Covenant, who revered the Forerunner as gods, believed that the Halo's main weapon was actually a source of "Divine Wind" meant to propel them on a path they called the "Great Journey." During their investigations on Installation 04, the Covenant encountered the Flood, however they quickly, but only partially contained the outbreak. After the arrival of the Human vessel UNSC Pillar of Autumn, Captain Jacob Keyes accidentally broke the containment, thinking to find a large Covenant weapons cache. A massive four way melee ensued between the Covenant, Sentinels led by 343 Guilty Spark, the Flood, and the Humans. This finally culminated when the Human supersoldier known as John-117 detonated the fusion engines of the Pillar of Autumn on the surface of the installation, which compromised the structural integrity of the ring, and, due to the gravitational momentum and inertia still perpetuating the ring in orbit around Threshold, broke the ring into pieces. The remains of Installation 04 were scattered as debris in space, both large and small. The explosion sent massive chunks of the ring careening into the moon Basis due to the constant bombardment of small objects from the ring as seen in the sky.[14] Other large sections of the ring are seen in the opening scene of Halo 2, drifting in space around Threshold. It is also highly likely that large portions of Alpha Halo debris were drawn into Threshold, and were crushed by the planet's immense gravity.[15]

Later, a second Halo, Installation 05 (Delta Halo), was discovered. On this Halo, the Flood had already been released and much of the Installation had been compromised, including the Installation's monitor, 2401 Penitent Tangent. Due to this, a similar conflict erupted. This conflict ended in the Flood manifesting a Gravemind and successfully escaping the ring aboard infected Covenant ships. The ring was nearly activated by Tartarus, a Jiralhanae Chieftain, but Commander Miranda Keyes pulled the Index out of the Core at the last moment, causing all six functional Installations to go into "standby mode," ready for remote activation from the Ark.

The Humans returned to Earth and resumed their fight against the Covenant, who had uncovered a large structure on Earth, which they assumed to be the Ark. The Prophet of Truth landed the Forerunner dreadnought down in the center of the structure, activating it. To everyone's surprise, the structure was not the Ark, but a generator of a portal to the Installation 00, a massive artificial world located outside the galaxy. Human and Covenant Separatist forces proceeded through the portal to the newly discovered installation to prevent the Covenant Loyalists from activating the remaining Halo rings remotely. It was then that the Flood leader, the Gravemind, appeared, having turned the Covenant planetoid city High Charity into a Flood hive. The hive crashed onto the installation, releasing the Flood.

At this point, it was revealed that the Ark had been constructing a new Installation 04, to replace the one which was destroyed by John-117. This new Installation was only days from being complete. The Humans eventually decided to activate the new ring to stop the Flood, which in turn destroyed itself and damaged the Ark. It is unclear how the system was affected by this, but if the Ark was rendered inoperable, the Halo system will have been irreparably damaged by the destruction of Installation 04 and 343 Guilty Spark.

The Installations are designed to be run by advanced Artificial Intelligence constructs specially purposed by the Forerunners. The highest Intelligence on each Installation is a single Monitor.[17] The Monitor's task is to ensure that the Installation's Constructors, Sentinels and Enforcers repair, maintain and defend the ring from damage, contain the Flood specimens, and ensure that their own Installation is ready to fire on demand, including running activation simulations.[3]

In addition, each Installation contains less intelligent constructs, known as Sentinels. The Sentinels serve virtually any purpose necessary to ensure that the Halo functions properly; they are also capable of combating small Flood outbreaks. Should a major Flood outbreak occur, heavier automatons, such as the Enforcers and Sentinel Majors will be created to assist the Sentinels. In the meantime, Constructors are also created to ensure that the Forerunner structures on the Installation are kept in optimal shape, and that they are not damaged by conflict or weather.[18]

Save for the Monitor, all automatons can be constructed at specialized Sentinel Production Facilities that float high in the Halo's atmosphere. These Facilities have never been seen (except briefly in the sky above the level Sacred Icon, one can be seen crashing as the player exits near the end of the level, the player then fights through the remains of it in Quarantine Zone), but they seem to contain limitless materials for constructing any number of automatons.

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