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Halos are fictional Megastructure s in the '' Halo '' video game series. ORIGIN The Halos are a set of seven (now six, with the destruction of Installation 04) giant, ring-shaped worlds built by the Forerunners , an ancient alien species about which little is known. They were built to contain the parasitic Flood as well as to study protected samples of them. If the Flood were ever released, it was the responsibility of the Monitor of that Halo to activate the ring's last resort - a superweapon capable of destroying all sentient life in the galaxy, effectively starving the Flood into defeat. The preferred method of activation is through the use of a "Reclaimer" (human) though it is implied that there may be other means of activation. While the range of the weapon is approximately 25,000 light years, the activation would trigger the other six Halo stations, extending the range to the entire Milky Way galaxy (more precisely 3 galactic radii). The actual method of destruction has never been stated. The inner surfaces of the Halos have Earth-normal gravity and atmosphere and include rivers, lakes, mountains, and other normal features of terrestrial geography. Upon close observation one can see various features that vaguely resemble locations on planet Earth, which leaves room for speculation that the seven Halos were modeled after Earth. They contain terrestrial terrain on their inner edge, using Artificial Gravity generated both by the spinning ring's centrifugal force and artificial generators. Halos experience a permanent half-day/half-night situation, and as they are generally depicted as being oriented vertically compared to a system's Ecliptic , it does not appear as if the ring would cast a shadow on itself. As purely rotational "gravity" would require a single "day" to be just under two hours and visual inspection from both Halo and Halo 2 indicates that a "day" lasts somewhat longer than this, the presence of artificial gravity generators is highly likely. The Halos are superficially similar in shape and design to the " Ringworld " from the 1970 Science Fiction novel by Larry Niven . While the Halos are quite substantial, with a radius of approximately 5,000 Kilometre s, the Ringworld surrounds a star and has a radius similar to Earth's orbit (about 95 million Mile s). The Halos are much smaller than Larry Niven 's '' Ringworld '', and in fact are closer in scale and structure to Iain M. Banks ' Culture Orbital s. While the diameter of Niven's Ringworld is close to the diameter of Earth 's orbit of 300 million km, and the standard Banks Orbital is around 14 million kilometers in diameter, the 10,000 km diameter of Halo is much closer to the diameter of Earth itself, which is 12,756 km. Ringworld has a star similar to our Sun in its center, whereas Halo is orbiting a planet but does not encircle it. INSTALLATION 04 Also known as Alpha Halo. This was the first Halo to appear in the Halo series. The entire game of Halo: Combat Evolved is played on the ringworld, with the exception of the first level "The Pillar of Autumn", which takes place on the UNSC Spaceship of the same name and the ''Truth and Reconciliation'', which is a Covenant ship that is played on twice. Installation 04 is in orbit around the gas giant Threshold, at the Lagrange Point between the gas giant and one of its moons, Basis. Installation 04 is confirmed to be, at the minimum, 101,217 local years old, local years meaning the amount of time it takes Threshold to orbit its star. In an interview with Joe Staten of Bungie Studios , Staten also confirmed that the previous firing to which 343 Guilty Spark alludes occurred around 100,000 years previous to the events in 2552 at Installation 04. Threshold and Basis Of additional note is the gas giant Threshold and its moon, Basis. The gas giant has a roughly 214,604 km diameter. The Atmosphere of the gas giant, at least one layer, is breathable by Covenant Elites. At this layer is located a large Forerunner gas mining facility, which is still operational and watched over by 343 Guilty Spark 's Sentinels. The exact purpose of the gas the facility gathers is unknown (speculation has that the facility provides gas to power plasma systems on Installation 04, as the Covenant also utilize gas mined from gas giants for the same purpose in their plasma weapons) During the Forerunners' conflict with the Flood, a portion of the facility hanging below the rest of the structure was refitted into a research facility to study the Flood. 343 Guilty Spark personally oversaw the construction of the facility's outbreak management systems. Shortly after the destruction of Installation 04, the gas mining facility was occupied by Heretics who had recovered 343 Guilty Spark from the space around Halo. Presumably, Spark informed the Heretics about the truth regarding how Halo operates, and this caused them to spilt with the Covenant. Shortly thereafter, the Arbiter was dispatched with a team of special operations Elites and Grunts to quell the heresy. At some point before their arrival, the Flood specimens stored in the labs broke free, and ravaged both Covenant and Heretic forces before the Arbiter cut the lab complex free of the main mining structure. The moon Basis measures at 23,848 km in diameter, and features a breathable atmosphere. Debris from Installation 04's destruction litters the lunar surface, and among the pieces of this debris is a temporary base camp set up by the Heretic forces that later relocated to Threshold's gas mining facility. Aside from this, little is known about Basis. Because the planet and its moon were already previously named at the time of the arrival of the Pillar of Autumn, it is speculated that the Office of Naval Intelligence had already surveyed the system before the Pillar's arrival. Astronomy Besides the very carefully sculpted landscape on Halo's surface, the sky in the video game is also worthy of attention. Depending on the viewpoint, you can see the star, a moon (called Basis, with a diameter of 26,000 km), a Gas Giant (called Threshold), and the band of Halo itself, which looks like a street into the sky. In the game, the apparent sizes of Basis and Threshold are not depicted correctly, nor are they accessible in the game. Halo is positioned on the Lagrange Point L1 of Threshold and Basis, directly between the two celestial bodies, but closer to Basis. At the Lagrange point L1 the gravity of Basis and Threshold partially cancel out, giving Halo the same Orbital Period as Basis despite being in a closer orbit. The rotational axis of Halo is perpendicular to the line between Threshold and Basis, so that, when viewed from Halo, the moon and the Planet are always opposite each other, and both are about 90 degrees left or right of the ring of Halo. All three bodies revolve with the same angular speed around their common center of gravity, which is inside of Threshold, but not exactly at the center of gravity of the planet. Their common center of gravity revolves around the star. In contrast to the Lagrange points L4 and L5, the Lagrange points L1, L2 and L3 are Metastable positions, similar to a marble placed on the center of a saddle. This indicates that Halo would have to stabilize its position actively (if real laws of physics applied to it), so as not to fall onto either Threshold or Basis. One reason why this might be the case is if the Forerunners intended that Halo be destroyed by an impact with one of the planets should its generators malfunction, destroying the Flood along with it. INSTALLATION 05 In '' Halo 2 '', Installation 05, also known as '''Delta Halo''' (see footnotes), is another one of the "Fortress World" installations. It is also one of the rings that The Covenant is searching for - to control and activate them is required to complete their ' Great Journey '. When the High Prophet Of Regret fled New Mombasa, East African Protectorate , he set up a base of operations on Delta Halo (Installation 05) to make the first attempt to activate it. Master Chief followed him there and assassinated him. Delta Halo has submerged structures, ruins, and little-known wildlife. This Halo is the scene of many battles between the UNSC , the Covenant, the Flood, and the Forerunner Sentinels defending it. All three groups seek the Sacred Icon/Index and its Library is the home to the nearly omniscient commander of the Flood, the Gravemind . The blue gas giant Delta Halo orbits is called Substance. This name is not mentioned in-game, and it can only be seen in the file for the game's texture backgrounds. Like Threshold, it was presumably surveyed by the Office of Naval Intelligence beforehand. When the High Prophets and the Brutes betrayed the Elites, the Brutes set up a base of operations in the Control Room of this Halo, in order to activate the Installation, while the High Prophets' Forerunner flagship headed for Earth. A number of UNSC soldiers and betrayed Elites in an alliance of sorts launched an offensive against the Brute encampment, and the Arbiter killed the High Prophets' Brute Chieftain Tartarus . The Index was removed from the core, thus shutting down the activation of Delta Halo. However, this situation sent signals to other Halo installations, and they became ready for remote activation from a core installation known as The Ark as was said by 343 Guilty Spark at the end of the game. Halo 3 will presumably pick up where this storyline leaves off. Name "Delta Halo" is the title of a specific group of levels in the Halo 2 campaign set on the eponymous second Halo installation. Although the Halo installation (installation 05) is known as Delta Halo, it is not certain that this is the official UNSC designation for the installation. It might be a translation of the Covenant name for the installation, or it might be because the Greek letter Delta symbolizes transition or change, as the events on the installation bring about a transition in the Covenant. Contrary to some assertions, the name does not refer to a river delta on the Halo structure. "RECLAIMER" As mentioned, the failsafe protocol of the Halo installations was for the Monitor of that particular installation to locate a "Reclaimer" to activate the firing mechanism. This would be done by retrieval of the Index , a key-like object which would both activate the Halo as well as signal the other Halos to initiate firing sequence. It is not known why the Forerunners did not allow the Monitors themselves to retrieve the Index when it was needed, but one theory offered by fans of the games is for fear of Rampancy . However, it is implied within 343 Guilty Spark's log in Conversations from the Universe and Cortana's commentary regarding the destruction of the phase pulse generators during "Two Betrayals" that it is possible for a Monitor to activate Halo without using a Reclaimer. WILDLIFE The wildlife of the installation is something of a mystery. In the games no wildlife can be seen with the exception of large raptor birds flying high above, and some fish-like creatures on one level of the game. However, ambient animal calls can be heard in various parts of the game. The only thing that is encountered that is alive (apart from the Covenant and humans) is the Flood. On the E3 video released before ''Halo: Combat Evolved'', there are strange dinosaur-like creatures that roam Halo's surface, but they fail to make an appearance in the actual game. This is the same for another strange creature shown in the video that was originally made to be ridden while on the surface of Halo. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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