Editing Glassing

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{{Quote|You are...all of you...vermin. Cowering in the dirt thinking... what, I wonder? That you might escape the coming fire? No. [[Human|Your]] [[Earth|world]] will burn until its surface is but glass!|[[Prophet of Truth]]}}
[[Image:Reach glassed.png|thumb|right|210px|[[Reach]], in process of being glassed by the Covenant.]]

The term '''Glassing''', also known as '''Plasma Bombardment''' or '''Orbital Bombardment''', is used to refer to the act by which a [[Covenant]] ship or ships bombard a planet from orbit using their [[Plasma#Weapons|Plasma Weaponry]]. 

==Doctrine==
Glassing, a destructive process which signifies an end to a planetary body, begins with the discovery of an enemy controlled world - in most cases the Covenant will immediately begin glassing a planet, however there are engagements where the Covenant have deployed ground forces for various reasons. A Minor Prophet is assigned to most Covenant fleets to oversee the destruction of a human world, before the fleet is permitted to destroy a planet the prophet performs a religious ritual - this process lasts an hour, and when completed the prophet declares of which religious significance, marked by a glyph, will the world be destroyed by. The Covenant will then begin glassing the planet by moving their large warships close and blanket the world with a series of crisscrossing orbits to ensure that every square millimeter of the surface is destroyed. Throughout the war, the Covenant have been known to utilize two methods of glassing.

====Orbital Bombardment====
The first and the most common method used, is when the Covenant's large warships aim their weaponry towards the surface and build up plasma along their lateral lines, the plasma is then discharged as lances from the warship as it continues to orbit the planet - contained within a magnetic bubble, the lances are guided towards the surface by the ships automation, striking an area and converting the top soil and other surface geology into a mineral called lechatelierite that is similar to glass, hence its name. The process also vaporizes any bodies of water the planet may possess, or at least reduces the remaining water to pools choked with ash<ref>[http://www.halowars.com Halowars.com]</ref>. The ecosystem of a planet is also disposed of through this process. This is repeated until every square centimeter of the planet is destroyed; depending on the planet, the technology and the amount of ships in the Covenant fleet, it can take the Covenant a minimum of some hours, or up to two days to glass a planet.<ref>Eric Nylund, Halo: Legends Bonus Features, Halo: The Story So Far</ref>

The impact of the plasma bolt is similar to that of a nuclear detonation on a much different scale. When the plasma bolt impacts the surface, the magnetic field sustaining and guiding the plasma collapses, and, depending on how powerful the release of energy is, the initial zone of impact is obliterated instantly. The areas outside of the initial impact zone are affected by the heat wave generated by the blast; depending on the range, those closest outside of the blast zone are instantly killed by the intense heat. As thermal expansion takes over, the resulting flames fan out and create a pyroclastic surge,<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyroclastic_surge Wikipedia's article on '''Pyroclastic Surge''']</ref> which will continue to burn the areas it comes into contact with until it has cooled enough that it cannot harm the surface. 

Subsequently, the atmosphere is covered with soot and ash thrown up from the initial impact, subjecting the planet to a nuclear winter. As the initial impact area cools, the surface is covered by extensive areas of molten soil, and is comparable to active volcanic sites in some parts of the world, on a larger scale depending on the extent. The destructive process leaves the planet unable to recover to its former state. As a result of the destruction, the atmosphere of most planets have been known to boil away from the process<ref>''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'', page 8</ref>, though not all planets suffered this, the most notable example being Reach.

====Low Range Bombardment====
The second method is used when a ship must effectively destroy a ground target from low range. This method involves focusing plasma though a magnetic envelope from the underside of the ship, most notably the area where a ships grav-lift is located, and then discharged as a narrow beam; this method of low-range glassing has only been witnessed a few times, most notably during the [[Operation: TORPEDO|Battle]] of [[Pegasi Delta]]<ref>''[[Halo:Ghosts of Onyx]]'' Prologue, page 25</ref>, the glassing of [[New Mombasa]] and [[Voi]] during the [[Battle of Earth]]. This method and use, is not to be confused with the Covenant Excavation Beam<ref>[[Halo 3: ODST]] [[Coastal Highway (Level)]]</ref> a type of weapon on Covenant [[CCS-class Battlecruiser|Cruisers]] and [[Assault Carrier|Carriers]] used to excavate areas of interest to the Covenant. This powerful beam serves a dual purpose while primarily used to excavate an area using plasma to "burn" area an area it also serves as a tool to destroy larges structures and if any living thing is in the path of the beam, it is disintegrated instantly. 

==History==
Since the formation of the Covenant in 852 B.C the Covenant have used their ship-borne plasma weapons to threaten the lesser species of the Covenant into a truce and their eventual induction into the Covenant. The [[Lekgolo]] were the first to be threatened which such destruction because of their transgressions against Forerunner technology before becoming the first outside species to join the Covenant in 784 B.C.<ref>[[Halo: Contact Harvest]] chapter 16,  page 270 </ref><ref>[[Halo Encyclopedia]] chapter 4, page 114</ref> The [[Unggoy]] almost faced orbital bombardment for their [[Unggoy Rebellion|Rebellion]] in 2462 C.E Human calendar, or the 39th [[Age of Conflict]] by Covenant records.<ref>[[Halo: Contact Harvest]] chapter 9, page 151</ref> <ref>[[Halo Encyclopedia]] chapter 4, page 142</ref> Although the [[Kig-Yar]] were not threatened with orbital bombardment, they were quick to realize the Covenant had such a capacity to destroy them and thus chose to join the Covenant for greater wealth that the Covenant would provide. 

====Human-Covenant War====
After the discovery of the Humans and the Prophets call for humanity's destruction, the Covenant would put all of their destructive methods to use, and throughout the [[Human-Covenant War]], the Covenant aggressors glassed a significant majority of the [[UNSC]]'s colony worlds from orbit. And although ground forces were invariably deployed first, as UNSC forces were routed in space, the bombardment would commence.<ref>''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]''</ref> The first planet to suffer this fate was [[Harvest]], glassed from the [[Jiralhanae]]-operated [[Covenant Cruiser|cruiser]] ''[[Rapid Conversion]]''.<ref>''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]''</ref> 

The destruction of a Human controlled world varies upon many different factors, from the world itself and its defenses, to the requirements of the Covenant fleet and its ship or fleet master. Undeveloped human colonies, ones that are atmospheric contained habitats or stations, are typically destroyed while the rest of the world is left unharmed - however, planets that have been terraformed may be destroyed by many different methods.

It has been noted that areas of interest to the Covenant are left intact for reasons of study or retrieval; however, this is not common, as only three planets have been partially glassed and only when a Forerunner Artifact was discovered.<ref>''[[Halo: First Strike]]''</ref> After the Covenant glasses a planet, a shard of glass is removed and placed in the ''[[Step of Silence]]'' within ''[[High Charity]]'', where it hangs with hundreds of other shards from worlds glassed by the Covenant.<ref>''[[Halo: First Strike]] Epilogue, page 338''</ref>

The [[Battle of Earth]] culminated in the glassing of the city of [[Voi]] in [[Africa]] by [[Covenant Separatists]], in an effort to contain a [[Flood]] infestation which had come to [[Earth]] only hours earlier. <ref>''[[Halo 3]]'', ''[[Floodgate (Level)]]''</ref> Lord Hood accuses the Sangheili lead fleet of glassing half of the continent, but given his distaste for his former enemies, he might have exaggerated about the actual extent of the glassing. This is supported by the fact that the area around Kilimanjaro seems relatively intact during the ceremony at the end of the game. It is currently unknown exactly what other areas of Earth was glassed by the Covenant prior to, and during the events of Halo 3.

==Halo Wars==
In ''[[Halo Wars]]'', the Prophet of Regret faction of the Covenant are able to use the Prophet to call down a [[Cleansing Beam]] from an orbiting Covenant ship. Rather than a leader power, this is treated as the unit's secondary ability, using the Y button to guide the beam at the cost of resources every second. It lacks the power of typical glassing maneuvers seen in past canon to balance gameplay. However, the power may be lowered to avoid Covenant casualties.

==List Of Known Glassed Worlds==
{{scroll box
|
'''2525'''
[[Harvest]],
[[Chi Ceti IV]]

'''5226'''
[[Hat Yai]],
[[Origami Asteroid Field]]

'''2528'''
[[Madrigal]]

'''2530'''
[[Eridanus II]],
[[Groombridge-1830]]

'''2535'''
[[Jericho VII]]

'''2536'''
[[New Constantinople]],
[[New Harmony]]

'''2537'''
[[Leonis Minoris]]
(Note: Leonis Minoris is a star system, the colony worlds in this system are not named, but were glassed.)

'''2539'''
[[Kholo]]

'''2541'''
[[Emerald Cove]]

'''2544'''
[[Miridem]]

'''2547'''
[[Skopje]]

'''2549'''
[[Arcadia]],
[[Paris IV]]

'''2552'''
[[Ariel]],
[[Reach]],
[[Earth]]: Partially
}}
<!--Please be aware that this list is incomplete and some worlds are left out because of their unknown status due to lack of information, there are also worlds that have not yet been mentioned in canonical sources and until they are please do not attempt to fill in any blanks.-->

==Trivia==
*By the end of [[Halo: First Strike]] and ''Halo 2'', it is believed that the Covenant had glassed 76 planets which were represented by 19 shards in 4 rows in the ''[[Step of Silence]]''.<ref>''[[Halo: First Strike]]'', page 338</ref><ref>''[[Halo 2]]'': ''[[High Charity]]''</ref>
*It has been noted that the [[UNSC]] had over 800 planets colonized or under its control at the beginning of the Human-Covenant War, a large portion of which presumably fell to the Covenant during the war. However, the Step of Silence, an area where a piece of glass from every glassed planet is placed, only has 76 shards of glass. This is explained however, in [[Halo: Evolutions]]. It states that the majority of the time, the Covenant only glass major population centers and military bases on conquered planets, so it is likely that shards of glass are only taken from fully glassed planets.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Halo3 E3 TRAILER 2007 720p30 ST 6300Kbps 002 0001.jpg|Two {{Class|CCS|Battlecruiser}}s perform a low range glassing of the Voi district in [[Africa]] during the [[Battle of Earth]].
Image:Mombasa Glassing.jpg|New Mombasa being glassed.
Image:Portal odst.png|The [[Prophet of Truth]]’s Fleet uncovers the [[Ark Portal]].
Image:Harvest Plasma Glassed.jpg|[[Harvest]], partially glassed by the Covenant.
Image:Glassinglaz0r.jpg|The Prophet of Regret's Cleansing beam in ''[[Halo Wars]]''.
File:Covenant Destroyers Glass Harvest.jpg|Two Covenant destroyers glassing Harvest.
</gallery>

==Sources==
<references/>

[[ja:ガラス化]]
[[Category:Military Terminology]]
[[Category:The Covenant]]
[[Category:Terms and Phrases]]