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| {{Status|Canon}} | | {{Era|Forerunner}} |
| [[File:HM Ark destruction.png|thumb|300px|Weaponized star roads destroying the Greater Ark.]]
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| '''Star roads''', also known as '''unbending filaments''',<ref name="c114">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 114''</ref> were [[neural physics]]-based [[astroengineering|megastructures]] created by the [[Precursor]]s.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium'''</ref>
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| ==Overview and history==
| | '''Star roads''', also known as '''unbending filaments''',<ref name="c114">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 114''</ref> were a form of [[Precursor]] technology.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium'''</ref> |
| One of the more common types of artifacts left behind by the Precursors, star roads were seemingly inert, several-kilometers-thick,<ref name="s95">'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 95-96''</ref> virtually unbreakable cables on an immense scale that lay across the galaxy for millions of years. On some worlds, star roads formed orbital and suborbital structures like [[orbital arch]]es. On a larger scale, they were used to connect and link planets and even entire star systems to one another.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 212''</ref> Like other Precursor technology, star roads were not made of ordinary matter. Described as being "anchored in the deepest layers of unreality", the star roads visible in real space were mere shadows of their exotic [[neural physics]] construction woven between dimensions.<ref name="wf">''Halo: Warfleet'', p. 92</ref> In some star systems, significant portions of locally available mass had been converted into these structures,<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 119''</ref> and when active, they were capable of changing their mass at will.{{Ref/Reuse|s95}}
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| In their dormant state, star roads and the larger structures some of them comprised automatically adjusted to changes in planetary and stellar orbits, even occasionally removing portions of themselves to avoid collisions with planets. A particularly complex web of star roads in a system in [[Path Kethona]] had not survived the eons completely intact, having crumbled in several sections; not even the Precursors could predict the sum of the system's orbital movements for many millions or billions of years in advance. Despite their self-adjusting capabilities, [[Forerunner]] [[Builder]]s insisted that star roads and other Precursor constructs were completely inert and lacking any form of internal process or activity. The [[Lifeworker]]s were highly skeptical of these assertions, believing the artifacts were alive in some way.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 114''</ref>
| | ==Overview== |
| | One of the more common types of artifacts left behind by the Precursors, star roads were seemingly inert, virtually unbreakable cables on an immense scale that lay across the galaxy for millions of years, connecting planets and even linking entire star systems to one another.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 212''</ref> [[Charum Hakkor]] and [[Charum Hakkor system|its system]] was once home to many star roads, which were used by [[Prehistoric human civilization|prehistoric humans]] to link their orbital defenses surrounding the planet.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 118''</ref> |
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| [[Charum Hakkor]] and [[Charum Hakkor system|its system]] was once home to many star roads, which were used by [[Prehistoric human civilization|prehistoric humans]] to link their orbital defenses surrounding the planet.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 118''</ref> | | However, during the last decade of the [[Forerunner-Flood war]], it was revealed that the star roads were not completely inert. The [[Flood]], having amassed enough processing power via advanced [[Key Mind]] forms, began to take control of the [[neural physics]]-based star roads along with other once-inactive Precursor constructs. The Flood was able to wield the star roads as weapons, configuring them to various shapes and moving them across the galaxy using neural physics-based transit. The star roads, in their weaponized form, were incredibly powerful, being capable of crushing entire planets by the tidal forces they generated as well as blocking or interfering with Forerunner [[Slipstream space|slipspace]] travel as well as disabling their weapons and other systems. During the Forerunner-Flood war, multiple star roads were used to trap Forerunner forces that were soon overwhelmed by the Flood. |
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| ===Weaponized star roads===
| | Due to star roads being based upon the fundamental principle of [[neural physics]], they were vulnerable to the effects of the [[Halo Array]]. The first evidence of this was when the Precursor structures on [[Charum Hakkor]] were destroyed by [[Installation 07]]'s test-firing.<ref name="c114"/> When the Array was fired, star roads within the rings' effective range were destroyed. It was theorized that star roads and other Precursor constructs in slipspace transit may have been able to survive the pulse, although this was not known for certain; to inflict as much damage as possible, the Forerunners would time the firing to a point when the maximum number of star roads would occupy normal space.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 312''</ref> |
| During the last decade of the [[Forerunner-Flood war]], it was revealed that the star roads were not completely inert. Having amassed a sufficient level of sheer intellect to elevate itself to a state of [[transsentience]], the [[Flood]]'s newly-developed [[Key Mind]] intelligences began to take control of star roads, along with other once-inactive neural physics constructs, and wield them as weapons as well as a means of transport.{{Ref/Reuse|wf}} The star roads, in their weaponized form, were incredibly powerful, being capable of either physically tearing apart astronomical bodies and [[Forerunner fleet]]s, interfering with Forerunner [[Slipstream space|slipspace]] travel, as well as generating suppression fields to disable Forerunner weapons, [[ancilla]]s and [[energy shielding|shields]]. The Flood moved star roads across interstellar distances by using the Precursors' neural physics-based method of superluminal travel, which they also utilized to transport their converted vessels.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 213''</ref> The Flood-controlled star roads warped reality around them which not only enabled organic beings to feel when they were nearby,<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 253''</ref> but also mutated space-time and converted slipspace to be unsuitable for Forerunner transit.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 236''</ref>
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| The Flood configured star roads to various formations when using them as weapons. One common star road configuration was shaped like two parallel double-arcs, over 50,000 kilometers in diameter, and contained thousands of interwoven star roads.{{Ref/Reuse|s95}} In the center of each double-bow was a point of inky darkness surrounded by a glowing ring.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 127''</ref> These structures had a constantly fluctuating apparent mass, and were seemingly nonsolid.{{Ref/Reuse|s95}} These double-bow configurations were capable of destroying planets by wrapping around them and causing the planet to crack and shrink; [[Uthera Midgeerrd]] was destroyed in this manner. It was theorized by [[Maker-of-Moons]] that the Precursors moved stars the same way, by forcing changes on their orbits with star road formations.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 106''</ref>
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| In many engagements near the end of the Forerunner-Flood war, star roads were used to trap Forerunner forces that were soon overwhelmed by the Flood. One example of this is the [[Battle of Kan Pakko]], in which the Forerunners were defeated by the Flood due to the star roads' influence.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 188-189''</ref> The Flood used star roads to destroy entire systems, leaving only dust and rubble in their wake, and cleanse entire star clusters of life.{{Ref/Reuse|wf}} The [[IsoDidact]] witnessed nine systems destroyed in this manner.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 202''</ref> The star roads were also used by [[Mendicant Bias]] to trap most of the surviving Forerunners during the [[Battle of the greater Ark]], using the filaments to form a large "wall" around the Ark before slicing the structure apart along with [[Omega Halo]].<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 261, 274''</ref>
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| ===Destruction===
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| Since star roads were based upon the fundamental principle of [[neural physics]], they were vulnerable to the effects of the [[Halo Array]]. The first evidence of this was when the Precursor structures on [[Charum Hakkor]] were destroyed by [[Installation 07]]'s test-firing.{{Ref/Reuse|c114}} To all available knowledge, the Forerunners succeeded in destroying all remaining star roads in the [[Milky Way]] when the Halo Array was fired. It was theorized that star roads and other Precursor constructs in slipspace transit may have been able to survive the pulse, although this was not known for certain; to inflict as much damage as possible, the Forerunners would time the firing to a point when the maximum number of star roads would occupy normal space.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 312''</ref>
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| In [[2558]], [[Catalog]] noted that the Boomerang Nebula was home to numerous star roads and was designated as a [[Burn]] as of its most recent knowledge. Given that much of Catalog's information stores are damaged or confused and lacking updates since the loss of the [[Domain]], it is apparent that the information regarding the star roads originates from the time of the [[Forerunner-Flood war]], before the firing of the Halos.{{Ref/Site|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/forums/db05ce78845f4120b062c50816008e5d/topics/query-catalog-old/7fbf60e8-92f7-4826-ac2a-ab1b5e4e3603/posts?page=5|Site=Halo Waypoint Forums|Page=Query: Catalog(old)|D=29|M=12|Y=2019|LocalArchive=Catalog/Archive/2014#Query: Catalog(old)}}
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| ==List of appearances== | | ==List of appearances== |
| *''[[Halo: Cryptum]]'' {{1st}} | | *''[[Halo: Cryptum]]'' {{1st}} |
| *''[[Halo: Silentium]]'' {{C|First identified as star roads}} | | *''[[Halo: Silentium]]'' {{C|First identified as "star roads"}} |
| *''[[Halo Mythos]]''
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| *''[[Halo: Warfleet]]''
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| *''[[Halo: Renegades]]'' {{Mo}}
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| *''[[Halo: Epitaph]]''
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| ==Sources== | | ==Sources== |
| {{Ref/Sources}}
| | <references/> |
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| {{Forerunner-Flood War}}
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| [[Category:Precursor]] | | [[Category:Precursor]] |
