Main-Forerunner.png
HaloArray.png

Menachite Forerunner crystal: Difference between revisions

From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
No edit summary
Line 2: Line 2:
<center>''For the Forerunner [[slipspace drive]] component, see [[Slipspace flake]].''</center>
<center>''For the Forerunner [[slipspace drive]] component, see [[Slipspace flake]].''</center>


The '''Forerunner crystal''', referred to by the [[Covenant Empire|Covenant]] as the '''Fragment of Divinity''', the '''Shard of the Gods''',<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 193''</ref> or the '''Holy Light''',<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 201''</ref> was a [[Forerunner]] artifact that was discovered in the underground [[Menachite Forerunner complex]] on [[Reach]] by Dr. [[Catherine Elizabeth Halsey]] and the surviving [[SPARTAN-II Program|Spartan]] members of [[Red Team]] in [[2552]].<ref name="pedestal">'''Halo: First Strike''', ''pages 145-146''</ref> The artifact was of incredible potential, capable of warping space,<ref name="bubble">'''Halo: First Strike''', ''pages 214-215''</ref> energy,<ref name="bubble"/> gravity,<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 211''</ref> and even time and [[Slipstream space|slipspace]].<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 248''</ref> It was hardly understood by the [[United Nations Space Command|UNSC]] forces who found it, but was a prize that the Covenant were extremely eager to obtain.
The '''Forerunner crystal''', referred to by the [[Covenant]] as the '''Fragment of Divinity''', the '''Shard of the Gods''',<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 193'' (2003)</ref> or the '''Holy Light''',<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 201'' (2003)</ref> was a [[Forerunner]] artifact that was discovered in the underground [[Menachite Forerunner complex]] on [[Reach]] by [[Catherine Halsey|Dr. Catherine Halsey]] and the surviving [[SPARTAN-II program|Spartan]] members of [[Red Team]] in [[2552#September|September 2552]].<ref name="pedestal">'''Halo: First Strike''', ''pages 145-146'' (2003)</ref> The artifact was of incredible potential, capable of warping space,<ref name="bubble">'''Halo: First Strike''', ''pages 214-215'' (2003)</ref> energy,<ref name="bubble"/> gravity,<ref name="slip">'''Halo: First Strike''', ''pages 211-212'' (2003)</ref> and even time and [[Slipstream space|slipspace]].<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 248'' (2003)</ref> It was hardly understood by the [[United Nations Space Command|UNSC]] forces who found it, but was a prize that the Covenant were extremely eager to obtain.


==Bubble effect==
==Description==
When it entered slipspace, the crystal began emitting radiation, producing an effect that caused a ship to move hundreds of times faster than it would during normal slipspace travel. The realm that it opened was not ''normal'' slipspace, in which nothing can be seen, but rather an anomalous bubble region of blue mist.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''pages 211-212''</ref> In contrast to "normal" slipspace, weapons fire is possible, as opposed to regular slipspace. Energy weapons will be horribly misdirected, and their shots will pop in and out of existence seemingly at random, causing them to be just as dangerous to the shooter as they are to the target.<ref name="bubble"/>  
The artifact was a fist-sized crystal with a thousand facets that was tapered at both ends and glowed with a blue light. When originally seen by Dr. Halsey and the SPARTANs in the underground facility, it was floating upright and the area around appeared spatially distorted. The crystal reacted with a burst of an unknown type of neutrino radiation at Halsey's touch.<ref name="pedestal"/><ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 189'' (2003)</ref> When exposed to a Covenant gravity beam, the crystal nullified it, reshaping itself in the process. Its new form was created as the top half split along its facets and opened like a flower blossom. The petals undulated, and the crystal's glow changed from sapphire to a cool green.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 204'' (2003)</ref> When ''[[Ascendant Justice]]'' jumped into slipspace it rearranged itself into a starburst of edges and refracted light, emitting radiation even after it was stored in the [[D77-TC Pelican|Pelican]]'s reactor compartment.


The extreme strength of the crystal's radiation made it impractical for the UNSC to carry it through slipspace for a prolonged period of time; it would kill the crew in under seventy-two hours, even if shielded.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 237''</ref>
==History and effects==
The crystal was recovered from the [[Menachite Forerunner complex|Forerunner complex]] beneath [[Menachite Mountain]] by Dr. Catherine Halsey and a group of SPARTAN-IIs on September 7, 2552. The artifact was surrounded by a region of spatial distortion—seemingly generated by the crystal itself<ref name="fs204">'''Halo: First Strike''', ''pages 204, 214'' (2003)</ref>—that caused Halsey and the Spartans the crystal to become disoriented and lose their sense of direction despite supposedly walking directly toward the pedestal.<ref name="pedestal"/> Some time after evading the Covenant forces that breached the interior of the underground structure the humans holed up in the complex were rescued by [[John-117]] and accompanying UNSC survivors from the battles of [[Battle of Installation 04|Installation 04]] and [[Battle of Reach|Reach]]. While the Covenant had completely occupied the complex, they did not risk firing on the humans who possessed the crystal. This allowed the humans to escape to orbit aboard a captured [[Type-25 Spirit|Spirit dropship]] and they rendezvoused with the hybridized vessel ''[[Ascendant Justice]]''-''[[UNSC Gettysburg|Gettysburg]]'' under [[Cortana]]'s control.


==Description==
When the ''Ascendant Justice-Gettysburg'' jumped into [[slipstream space|slipspace]], the crystal propelled the vessel and several pursuing Covenant ships into an anomalous bubble region of blue mist as opposed to normal slipspace in which nothing can be seen.<ref name="slip"/> In contrast to normal slipspace, weapons fire was possible, as opposed to regular slipspace. Energy weapons were horribly misdirected, and their shots popped in and out of existence seemingly at random, causing them to be just as dangerous to the shooter as they were to the target.<ref name="bubble"/>  
The artifact was a fist-sized crystal with a thousand facets that is tapered at both ends and glows with a blue light. When originally seen by Dr. Halsey and the SPARTANs in the underground facility, it was floating upright and the area around appeared spatially distorted (this may have been caused by a [[Baffler]] or [[Dazzler]] rather than the crystal itself). The crystal reacted with a burst of neutron radiation at Halsey's touch.<ref name="pedestal"/><ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 189''</ref> When exposed to a Covenant gravity beam, the crystal nullified it, reshaping itself in the process. Its new form was created as the top half split along its facets and opened like a flower blossom. The petals undulated, and the crystal's glow changed from sapphire to a cool green.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 204''</ref> When ''[[Ascendant Justice]]'' jumped into slipspace it rearranged itself into a starburst of edges and refracted light, emitting radiation even after it was stored in the [[D77-TC Pelican|Pelican]]'s reactor compartment.
 
The amount of radiation it produced in slipspace was too great to be contained. The Master Chief ordered [[Anton-044]] to place it inside a Pelican's reactor, but the radiation leaked did not noticeably diminish. The crystal occasionally released a large number of neutrinos of a type unknown to the UNSC. The extreme strength of the crystal's radiation made it impractical for the UNSC to carry it through slipspace for a prolonged period of time; it would kill the crew in under seventy-two hours, even if shielded.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 237'' (2003)</ref> The crystal also produced an effect that caused the ''Ascendant Justice''-''Gettysburg'' to move hundreds of times faster than it would during normal slipspace travel. The location of the ship at the end of this jump was somewhere near the [[Eridanus system]], a distance that, from [[Reach]], should have taken several days to traverse instead of a few minutes.


==Appearance==
Perhaps most extraordinarily, however, Dr. Halsey discovered that the crystal had bent both space and time, causing a three-week average time difference. John-117 and the other survivors from Installation 04 had effectively been transported backward in time during their journey to Reach because their relative [[Wikipedia:World line|space-time event path]] intersected the crystal at an earlier point in time as measured by the UNSC's [[Military Calendar]].<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''pages 247-248'' (2003)</ref>
When the ''[[Ascendant Justice]]'' jumped into [[slipstream space|slipspace]], the crystal again rearranged itself, emitting radiation during the entire jump, and caused gravitational distortions. The location of the ship at the end of this jump was somewhere near the [[Eridanus system]], a distance that, from [[Reach]], should have taken several days to traverse instead of a few minutes. By comparing timestamps from several missions [[Catherine Elizabeth Halsey|Dr. Halsey]] discovered a three-week average time difference. Her conclusion was that the crystal bent both space and time. Halsey later gave the crystal to [[Locklear|Corporal Locklear]], who covered it with [[C-7 foaming explosive|C-7 Foaming Explosive]] and destroyed it to avoid another slipspace radiation spike, killing himself in the process.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 284''</ref>


Three shards of the crystal were recovered by the [[Covenant Empire|Covenant]], which were presented to the [[Prophet of Truth]] by [[Tartarus]] in an orb-shaped container. Truth then ordered the [[Jiralhanae|Brute]] to reward the pilots that had recovered the shards, then kill them.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''pages 339-340''</ref> The [[United Nations Space Command|UNSC]] also possesses pieces of the crystal.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 287''</ref> It is unknown what has happened to the shards that were possessed by the two factions, although the three Covenant-recovered shards were likely lost when [[High Charity]] fell to the [[The Flood|Flood]] invasion, or were kept aboard the [[Forerunner Dreadnought|Dreadnought]] with Truth.
Before leaving the group for her own mission to [[Onyx]], Dr. Halsey gave the crystal to [[Locklear|Corporal Locklear]], who covered it with [[C-7 foaming explosive]] and destroyed it to avoid another slipspace radiation spike before ''Ascendant Justice'' jumped into slipspace, inadvertently killing himself in the process.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 284'' (2003)</ref>


The rift that was projected when [[Ascendant Justice|the ship]] went into slipspace may be similar to the [[The Portal|Portal]] found at [[Earth]].
Three shards of the crystal were recovered by the [[Covenant]], which were presented to the [[Prophet of Truth]] by [[Tartarus]] in an orb-shaped container. Truth stated that the fragments "may yet be enough for our purposes", although how he sought to utilize the crystal and its remains remained unclear. The Hierarch then ordered the [[Jiralhanae|Brute]] to reward the pilots that had recovered the shards, then kill them.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''pages 339-340'' (2003)</ref> The [[United Nations Space Command|UNSC]] also possesses pieces of the crystal.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 287'' (2003)</ref> It is unknown what has happened to the shards that were possessed by the two factions, although the three Covenant-recovered shards were likely lost when [[High Charity]] fell to the [[Flood]] invasion, or were kept aboard the [[Forerunner Dreadnought|Dreadnought]] with Truth.


==Trivia==
==Trivia==
*At the end of the novel ''[[Halo: First Strike]]'', [[Prophet of Truth]] is given three chips from the crystal. He then says it "may yet be enough for our purposes". The exact implication is open to speculation; he may simply have hoped to harness its effects as a weapon, or was simply bluffing so as to not seem without knowledge of Forerunner artifacts.
*The crystal may have been a [[slipspace flake]] used in Forerunner slipspace drives, as it generated a "smoothing" effect in slipspace<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 295'' (2003)</ref> and enabled ships to travel much faster in the transdimensional domain—both known properties of Forerunner slipspace flakes. The crystal's acausal behavior—manipulating relative world lines to enable its own recovery to occur—also bears a marked conceptual similarity to the nature of [[reconciliation|space-time reconciliation]] introduced in ''[[The Forerunner Saga]]''. However, the flakes were a normal part of Forerunner slipspace drives and the artifact's placement in the center of an enormous arena appears to suggest this particular crystal had more significance to its creators than an ordinary drive component.
*The amount of radiation it produced in slipspace was too great to be contained. In ''[[Halo: First Strike]]'', the Master Chief ordered [[Anton-044|Anton]] to place it inside a Pelican's reactor, but the radiation leaked didn't noticeably diminish.
*The way the artifact warped space around it when first approached resembles the Forerunner camouflaging systems known as a [[baffler]] introduced in ''[[Halo: Cryptum]]''. However, in ''First Strike'', Dr. Halsey believes it was the crystal itself, not a separate technology, that generated the distortion.<ref name="fs204"/>
*The crystal occasionally releases a large number of neutrinos, an unknown type of them, possibly a 4th generation or higher lepton.
*The crystal may have been a [[slipspace flake]] used in Forerunner slipspace drives, though it possessed time-bending properties beyond simply enabling faster slipspace travel.


==List of appearances==
==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo: First Strike]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo: First Strike]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]'' {{Mo}}


==Sources==
==Sources==

Revision as of 05:57, December 30, 2014

For the Forerunner slipspace drive component, see Slipspace flake.

The Forerunner crystal, referred to by the Covenant as the Fragment of Divinity, the Shard of the Gods,[1] or the Holy Light,[2] was a Forerunner artifact that was discovered in the underground Menachite Forerunner complex on Reach by Dr. Catherine Halsey and the surviving Spartan members of Red Team in September 2552.[3] The artifact was of incredible potential, capable of warping space,[4] energy,[4] gravity,[5] and even time and slipspace.[6] It was hardly understood by the UNSC forces who found it, but was a prize that the Covenant were extremely eager to obtain.

Description

The artifact was a fist-sized crystal with a thousand facets that was tapered at both ends and glowed with a blue light. When originally seen by Dr. Halsey and the SPARTANs in the underground facility, it was floating upright and the area around appeared spatially distorted. The crystal reacted with a burst of an unknown type of neutrino radiation at Halsey's touch.[3][7] When exposed to a Covenant gravity beam, the crystal nullified it, reshaping itself in the process. Its new form was created as the top half split along its facets and opened like a flower blossom. The petals undulated, and the crystal's glow changed from sapphire to a cool green.[8] When Ascendant Justice jumped into slipspace it rearranged itself into a starburst of edges and refracted light, emitting radiation even after it was stored in the Pelican's reactor compartment.

History and effects

The crystal was recovered from the Forerunner complex beneath Menachite Mountain by Dr. Catherine Halsey and a group of SPARTAN-IIs on September 7, 2552. The artifact was surrounded by a region of spatial distortion—seemingly generated by the crystal itself[9]—that caused Halsey and the Spartans the crystal to become disoriented and lose their sense of direction despite supposedly walking directly toward the pedestal.[3] Some time after evading the Covenant forces that breached the interior of the underground structure the humans holed up in the complex were rescued by John-117 and accompanying UNSC survivors from the battles of Installation 04 and Reach. While the Covenant had completely occupied the complex, they did not risk firing on the humans who possessed the crystal. This allowed the humans to escape to orbit aboard a captured Spirit dropship and they rendezvoused with the hybridized vessel Ascendant Justice-Gettysburg under Cortana's control.

When the Ascendant Justice-Gettysburg jumped into slipspace, the crystal propelled the vessel and several pursuing Covenant ships into an anomalous bubble region of blue mist as opposed to normal slipspace in which nothing can be seen.[5] In contrast to normal slipspace, weapons fire was possible, as opposed to regular slipspace. Energy weapons were horribly misdirected, and their shots popped in and out of existence seemingly at random, causing them to be just as dangerous to the shooter as they were to the target.[4]

The amount of radiation it produced in slipspace was too great to be contained. The Master Chief ordered Anton-044 to place it inside a Pelican's reactor, but the radiation leaked did not noticeably diminish. The crystal occasionally released a large number of neutrinos of a type unknown to the UNSC. The extreme strength of the crystal's radiation made it impractical for the UNSC to carry it through slipspace for a prolonged period of time; it would kill the crew in under seventy-two hours, even if shielded.[10] The crystal also produced an effect that caused the Ascendant Justice-Gettysburg to move hundreds of times faster than it would during normal slipspace travel. The location of the ship at the end of this jump was somewhere near the Eridanus system, a distance that, from Reach, should have taken several days to traverse instead of a few minutes.

Perhaps most extraordinarily, however, Dr. Halsey discovered that the crystal had bent both space and time, causing a three-week average time difference. John-117 and the other survivors from Installation 04 had effectively been transported backward in time during their journey to Reach because their relative space-time event path intersected the crystal at an earlier point in time as measured by the UNSC's Military Calendar.[11]

Before leaving the group for her own mission to Onyx, Dr. Halsey gave the crystal to Corporal Locklear, who covered it with C-7 foaming explosive and destroyed it to avoid another slipspace radiation spike before Ascendant Justice jumped into slipspace, inadvertently killing himself in the process.[12]

Three shards of the crystal were recovered by the Covenant, which were presented to the Prophet of Truth by Tartarus in an orb-shaped container. Truth stated that the fragments "may yet be enough for our purposes", although how he sought to utilize the crystal and its remains remained unclear. The Hierarch then ordered the Brute to reward the pilots that had recovered the shards, then kill them.[13] The UNSC also possesses pieces of the crystal.[14] It is unknown what has happened to the shards that were possessed by the two factions, although the three Covenant-recovered shards were likely lost when High Charity fell to the Flood invasion, or were kept aboard the Dreadnought with Truth.

Trivia

  • The crystal may have been a slipspace flake used in Forerunner slipspace drives, as it generated a "smoothing" effect in slipspace[15] and enabled ships to travel much faster in the transdimensional domain—both known properties of Forerunner slipspace flakes. The crystal's acausal behavior—manipulating relative world lines to enable its own recovery to occur—also bears a marked conceptual similarity to the nature of space-time reconciliation introduced in The Forerunner Saga. However, the flakes were a normal part of Forerunner slipspace drives and the artifact's placement in the center of an enormous arena appears to suggest this particular crystal had more significance to its creators than an ordinary drive component.
  • The way the artifact warped space around it when first approached resembles the Forerunner camouflaging systems known as a baffler introduced in Halo: Cryptum. However, in First Strike, Dr. Halsey believes it was the crystal itself, not a separate technology, that generated the distortion.[9]

List of appearances

Sources

  1. ^ Halo: First Strike, page 193 (2003)
  2. ^ Halo: First Strike, page 201 (2003)
  3. ^ a b c Halo: First Strike, pages 145-146 (2003)
  4. ^ a b c Halo: First Strike, pages 214-215 (2003)
  5. ^ a b Halo: First Strike, pages 211-212 (2003)
  6. ^ Halo: First Strike, page 248 (2003)
  7. ^ Halo: First Strike, page 189 (2003)
  8. ^ Halo: First Strike, page 204 (2003)
  9. ^ a b Halo: First Strike, pages 204, 214 (2003)
  10. ^ Halo: First Strike, page 237 (2003)
  11. ^ Halo: First Strike, pages 247-248 (2003)
  12. ^ Halo: First Strike, page 284 (2003)
  13. ^ Halo: First Strike, pages 339-340 (2003)
  14. ^ Halo: First Strike, page 287 (2003)
  15. ^ Halo: First Strike, page 295 (2003)

v • d • e
 
The Forerunners
For a complete list, check out our Forerunner category.
Retrieved from "https://www.halopedia.org/index.php?title=Menachite_Forerunner_crystal&oldid=1109784"