Editing Omega Halo

{{Era|Forerunner}}
{{Megastructure infobox
|image=
|description=
|location=Near the [[greater Ark]], [[intergalactic space|extragalactic space]]
|anchor=
|type=[[Halo Array|Halo installation]]
|function=Flood containment and research; directed/localized sterilization
|caretaker=
|constructed=c. [[101,000 BCE]]-[[100,300 BCE]]
|destroyed=c. [[100,000 BCE]]<ref name="s270"/>
|destroyed-title=Destroyed
|diameter= 30,000 kilometers
|surface width=
|gravity=
|surface temperature=
|atmosphere=
|hidec=yes
}}
'''Omega Halo''' was an installation of the original twelve-strong [[Halo Array]]. It was the last Halo to be built as part of the first array.<ref name="last">'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 237''</ref>

==Background==
Unlike the six rings of the final Halo Array, (and the reduced [[Installation 07]]), Omega Halo was manufactured at the [[greater Ark]] instead of [[Installation 00]].<ref name="last"/> Like the other Halos built at the greater Ark, Omega Halo's main weapon was designed to fire directed pulses as opposed to the omnidirectional effects of the newer Halos.<ref name="s314">'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 314''</ref> Omega Halo was the last 30,000 kilometer Halo to be built. By the last year of the [[Forerunner-Flood war]], all but one of its counterparts had been destroyed either during the [[Battle of the Capital|assault on the Capital world]] or by [[Flood]]/[[Precursor]] forces in the intervening years;<ref name="last"/><ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 234''</ref> Installation 07 had been severely damaged, reduced in size, and repurposed alongside the smaller, final Array.<ref>'''[[Halo: Primordium]]''', ''page 374''</ref><ref name="last"/><ref name="s314"/>

===Siege of the greater Ark===
{{Main|Battle of the greater Ark}}
As the [[ecumene]]'s territory was driven back toward the heart of [[Forerunner]] civilization, the [[Capital]] world fell to the Flood. As such, the surviving members of the [[Ecumene Council|New Council]] moved the seat of government to the greater Ark, outside the galaxy.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 214''</ref> The tattered remnants of the Forerunner military gathered at the Ark in preparation for a final stand;<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 223''</ref><ref name="s238">'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 238''</ref> Omega Halo was positioned near the Ark in case its use became necessary. Oriented toward the satellite galaxy of [[Path Kethona]],<ref name="last"/> the Halo would fire a directed pulse designed to purge Path Kethona of all life, Precursor artifacts or Flood. Specimens from the [[Lifeworker]]s' [[Conservation Measure]] were moved to the Ark; many [[human]]s were soon moved to Omega Halo to prevent excessive crowding on the larger installation.<ref name="s238"/>

Shortly after the [[IsoDidact]], the [[Librarian]], and the [[Ur-Didact]] arrived at the staging ground, an enormous Flood fleet emerged from [[Slipstream space|slipspace]] only a few million kilometers away. Led by the rogue ancilla [[Mendicant Bias]], the Flood-controlled fleet was merely a screen for a swarm of Precursor [[star road]]s,<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 261-262''</ref><ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 267-268''</ref> which could physically crush entire planets.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 106''</ref>

====The Ur-Didact's betrayal====
[[File:H4-Terminal-Village-Mantle.jpg|thumb|250px|The Ur-Didact preparing to compose Omega Halo's human population.]]
As the battle raged, the Ur-Didact took his [[Mantle's Approach|personal ship]] to the surface of Omega Halo. There, he used a [[Composer]] to convert the relocated human population, (numbering in the hundreds of thousands), into digital forms.<ref name="s262">'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 262-264''</ref> He then returned to the [[Promethean]]s' primary [[shield world]], [[Requiem]], where he implanted the essences into [[Promethean Knight]]s.<ref name="Terminal">'''Halo 4''', [[Terminal/Halo 4|''Terminal Six'']]</ref><ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 284-285''</ref> The Librarian and [[343 Guilty Spark|Chakas]], a monitor and former companion of the Ur-Didact, were unable to stop this quasi-genocide;<ref name="s262"/> as however, they managed to recover a relative handful of live specimens and DNA samples, which were immediately transferred to the [[Installation 00|lesser Ark]].<ref name="s304">'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 304-305''</ref><ref>'''[[Halo: Rebirth]]'''</ref>

====Activation and destruction====
As the Ur-Didact fled to Requiem and the Librarian made for Installation 00, the IsoDidact, [[Bitterness-of-the-Vanquished]], and the [[Examiner]] traveled to Omega Halo's [[control room]].<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 269''</ref> Knowing that Precursor [[neural physics]] were extremely vulnerable to Halo radiation, they hoped to clear an egress route among the vast tangle of star roads. Soon after the trio's arrival, [[Master Builder]] [[Faber]] entered the control center and vaingloriously insisted that he be the one to fire the installation's weapon. He managed to fire a single pulse toward Path Kethona, disintegrating multiple star roads and opening a path away from the Ark while sterilizing Path Kethona. Unfortunately, the Forerunners' position was quickly overrun and some of the remaining star roads converged on the Halo. Enormous tidal and kinetic stress rent the installation asunder; the vast degree of friction caused parts of the Halo to superheat and melt.<ref name="s270">'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 270-275''</ref>

The floor of the control center gave way, causing Bitterness, the Examiner, and the Master Builder to plummet to their deaths. The IsoDidact was unable to grab a salient as he fell,<ref name="s270"/> though the monitor Chakas fortuitously arrived and carried him to the lesser Ark to coordinate the final stages of the Halo Array's activation. As the pair escaped, the star roads crushed Omega Halo and the greater Ark.<ref name="s304"/> With the loss of Omega Halo, the Forerunners were forced to resort to the smaller, more powerful secondary array of 10,000 kilometer-wide Halos; these rings would, in the coming weeks, destroy all life in the galaxy.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 310''</ref><ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 328-330''</ref>

==Production note==
[[File:H4 Terminals - Halo.png|275px|thumb|Omega Halo, as seen in the ''Halo 4'' terminals. The ring's location in this depiction differs considerably from that described in ''Halo: Silentium''.]]
Omega Halo first appeared in the sixth [[Terminal/Halo 4|terminal]] in ''Halo 4''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s campaign. The events depicted in this terminal were later adapted and expanded (in a highly modified form) in ''Halo: Silentium''. The terminal depicts Omega Halo in orbit around a gas giant with several nearby moons; there are no signs of the battle described in the novel. Another key difference is that the Librarian and a team of Lifeworkers are shown investigating the attack on the human population shortly after its occurrence; the Librarian confronts the Didact via a hologram and rebukes for refusing to speak to her in person.<ref name="Terminal"/> In the book the Didact leaves as soon as the humans are composed, while the Librarian is focused on getting the remaining humans to the lesser Ark.<ref name="s262"/>

Fictionally, ''Halo 4''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s terminals are depicted as transmissions from within the [[Domain]], whereas ''Silentium'' is presented as legal testimony from several individuals who were present during the battle, most importantly the Librarian, contained within the memory banks of a [[Catalog]] and a [[monitor]]. The terminals have since been explained as abstractions of historical events on behalf of the Domain with the narrative of ''Silentium'' being treated as factual. The real-world explanation is that [[343 Industries]] wished to tell the stories presented in the terminals within a short timeframe, leading to the compressed relation of the events in question.<ref>[http://waypointassets.blob.core.windows.net/mobilecontent/legacysupport/content/assets/en-us/podcast/343Sparkast_017.mp3 '''Halo Waypoint''': ''343 Sparkast 017'']</ref>

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo 4]]''
**''[[Terminal/Halo 4|Terminals]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo: Silentium]]''

==Sources==
<references/>

{{Forerunner|array|category=no}}
[[Category:Halos]]