Editing Unyielding Hierophant

{{Title|''Unyielding Hierophant''}}
{{Status|Canon}}
{{Center|''Were you looking for [[Unyielding]], a music track from [[Halo 2]]?''}}
{{Individual ship infobox
|name=''Unyielding Hierophant''
|image=[[File:HM-UnyieldingHierophant.jpg|300px]]
|class=
|manufacturer=Covenant Empire
|modifier= :
|sysmods=
|length=30 kilometers (18.6 miles)<ref name="fs301">'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 301'' (2003), ''page 362'' (2010)</ref><ref name="universe">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-gb/universe/vehicles/unyielding-hierophant '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Unyielding Hierophant'']</ref>
|width-title=Circumference
|width=10 kilometers (6.3 miles){{Ref/Reuse|universe}}
|height=3.2 kilometers (2 miles){{Ref/Reuse|universe}}
|max accel=
|max speed space=
|max speed air=
|engine-title=Power source
|engine=Two 512 terawatt pinch fusion reactors<ref name="Halo page 305">'''[[Halo: First Strike]]''', ''page 305''</ref>
|slipspace drive=Yes
|slipspace speed=Unknown
|poweroutput=
|power=
|shield gen=
|hull=[[Nanolaminate hull plating]]
*Equipped with [[energy shields]]
|sensor=
|target=
|navigation=
|avionics=
|countermeasures=
|armament=
|misc4-title=Complement
|misc4=*Hundreds of thousands of personnel 
*Hundreds of smaller spacecraft 
|crew=
|skeleton=
|passengers=
|capacity=
|consumables=
|othersystems=
|role=Mobile battlestation
|commission=
|firstuse-title=First sighted
|firstuse=[[2552|September 2552]] (UNSC)
|destroyed=[[2552|September 2552]]
|retired=
|lastsight=
|battles=*[[Operation: FIRST STRIKE]]
|affiliation=[[Covenant]]
|fleet=
|taskforce=
|owners=
|namedcrew=
|captains=
}}
{{quote|I'm not sure what that thing is. Don't look like any 'uneven elephant' to me-—more like two squids kissing.|[[Avery Johnson]]}}
'''''Unyielding Hierophant''''' was a [[Covenant]] command-and-control center and refit-battle station that was capable of supporting a fleet of over 500<ref>'''[[Halo: First Strike]]''', ''page 297''</ref> capital ships. It was capable of slipspace jumps<ref>'''[[Halo: First Strike]]''', ''page 198'' (2003)</ref> and was over 10 kilometers (6.3 miles) in circumference and 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) long. The ''Unyielding Hierophant'' possessed at least two [[pinch fusion reactor]] cores for power.<ref name="Halo page 305">'''[[Halo: First Strike]]''', ''page 305''</ref>

==Appearance==
''Unyielding Hierophant'' was shaped like a figure-eight, with two tear-drop shaped bulbous sections connected at the center, each 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) long which makes it 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) long total.{{Ref/Reuse|fs301}} A rotating ring was connected to the central hub by many long spokes, and is used by Covenant cruisers and carriers to dock with the space station. Thin, filament-like tubes extended from both bulbous sections and moved over the surface of the ring; these may be tubes used for transporting personnel and cargo between the ring and other parts of the station.

Running the circumference of the station's hub was a repair-and-refit facility, with many slots for Covenant spacecraft to dock and be attended to by [[Huragok]] work teams. This section of the ship was crewed by thousands of Huragok and a small number of Unggoy.

Inside the main sections, it had large "rooms" that contained environments with foliage, water, and animals to simulate the Covenant's worlds and make occupants feel more at home, rather than on a huge station. [[John-117]] compared these to the large atrium that [[UNSC Fleet Command|FLEETCOM]] [[Fleet Command Headquarters|HQ]] has in its lobby. These areas had temples for religious sessions. In these large rooms, the Spartans saw pipe-like tubes that carried passengers from one destination to the other inside capsules. Also, the Covenant seemed to have an almost complete control of [[Artificial gravity|gravity]] in the station, as water was seen flowing up and sideways.

== History ==
[[File:FS cover full.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Spartans fighting in ''Unyielding Hierophant''.]]
At some point before the Covenant assault to Earth, the [[Prophet of Truth]] had managed to discover the location of humanity's homeworld. He secretly begun amassing a [[Truth's fleet|fleet of over five hundred warships]] commanded exclusively by the [[Jiralhanae]] to attack and occupy Earth.<ref name="waypoint">'''[[Halo Waypoint]]''', ''"Ten Twenty" history entry''</ref>

At the time of its destruction it was located in the [[Tau Ceti system]]. The system was used as a rendezvous point for Covenant forces before they prepared to launch their impending attack on [[Earth]]. When the crew of the ''[[Ascendant Justice]]-[[UNSC Gettysburg|Gettysburg]]'' discovered this, they decided to initiate a first strike against the Covenant to postpone an inevitable Covenant assault against Earth. A team of [[SPARTAN-II]]s, among them [[John-117]], [[Grace-093]], [[Frederic-104]], [[Linda-058]] and [[William-043]] commandeered a Covenant dropship and, after they had reinforced the armor of the dropship with [[Titanium-A armor]], lead, and carbon molybdenum steel I-beams so the ship could withstand immense pressures, departed and made the transition from [[Slipspace]] to normal space in one piece.

The [[Spartan-II]]s infiltrated the station, using the Covenant's own tugs to tow them aboard, finding themselves within a hangar capable of docking hundreds of single-ships.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', page 304</ref> Avoiding the Covenant presence, the Spartans proceeded inward, with a copy of [[Cortana]] infiltrating the Station's network to distract and hinder the Covenant's coordination. Managing to cross an open plaza with only the loss of [[Grace-093]], who was killed by a Jiralhanae with a [[Type-25 Grenade Launcher|Brute Shot]], Blue team neutralized the [[Jiralhanae]] guards of a temple and proceeded to the 512 tera-watt reactors, with the copied Cortana setting them to overload, which would destroy the station and nearby fleet.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', pages 316-317</ref>

The Spartans attempted to flee using captured [[Type-26 Ground Support Aircraft|Banshee]]s, now taking heavy fire from the Covenant forces aware of their presence. After destroying one of the plaza's windows, they managed to escape, hijacking a floating Covenant dropship and making their way to the evacuation point for the ''Ascendant Justice-Gettysburg.'' The ''Ascendant Justice'', separated from the ''Gettysburg ''and commandeered by Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb and Lieutenant Elias Haverson, drew the Covenant's attention to the station with a holographic ruse of the [[Menachite Forerunner crystal]], keeping them within the blast radius; the detonation destroyed virtually all of the five-hundred strong fleet, the largest space victory ever accomplished by the UNSC.

In [[2559#November|November 2559]], [[Covenant remnants|remnant Covenant]] forces most likely serving under [[Luro 'Taralumee]] were involved in salvaging the remains of the station and its fleet. On November 13, [[SPARTAN-G059]] was given a briefing in which the UNSC believed a warlord serving the Covenant remnant was conducting salvaging operations at Tau Ceti, leading to the Spartan (and her {{Class|Winter|prowler}}, {{UNSCShip|From The Ashes}}) being deployed to conduct reconnaissance.{{Ref/Site|Id=CFCoA|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/canon-fodder-coming-of-age|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Canon Fodder - Coming of Age|D=14|M=11|Y=2024}}
{{Clear}}

== Trivia ==
*The 512-terawatt energy that is used to power the shield generator of the station is strong enough to repel the collision of a small moon.
*A hierophant, according to Webster's Dictionary is a "priest in ancient Greece; specifically: the chief priest of the Eleusinian mysteries".<ref>[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Hierophant  Hierophant on Merriam-Webster]</ref> This may be a reference to the [[San'Shyuum|Prophets]] and their role in [[Covenant]] society. Also, the Eleusinian mysteries could be seen as referring to the [[Great Journey]] as both promised salvation to believers and an afterlife.<ref>[[wikipedia:Eleusinian Mysteries|'''Eleusinian Mysteries''' on ''Wikipedia'']]</ref>
*It was here that Linda-058 showed her sniping prowess. Sniping one handed, hanging on a steel cable, she was able to provide covering fire for the other Spartans. She took out four pursuing Banshees by shooting through the tiny crack in between the top and bottom segments where the driver enters, which is impossible in all of the games except in ''[[Halo: Reach]]''.
*According to the ''[[Halo Encyclopedia (2009 edition)]]'', the 12 ships that survived the station's explosion are the [[Fleet of Sacred Consecration|ships]] the [[Prophet of Regret]] brought with him to Earth.<ref>'''[[Halo Encyclopedia (2009 edition)]]''', ''page 295''</ref> However, a history entry in ''[[Halo Waypoint]]'' establishes these ships to be a part of the [[Truth's fleet|fleet]] secretly summoned to the station by the [[Prophet of Truth]] and later used to reinforce Regret's forces on Earth to glass [[New Mombasa]] and uncover the [[Portal at Voi]] during the events of ''[[Halo 3: ODST]]'' and after.{{Ref/Reuse|waypoint}}
*The depiction of the station in the ''[[Halo 2 Anniversary]]'' terminals and ''[[Halo Mythos]]'' bears a striking resemblance to a silhouette that Halo fan "d4rkst0rm99" made in 2010 based on the description in ''Halo: First Strike''. As the station never had an official visual depiction prior to 2014, the official depiction may have been based on the fan art.<ref>[https://d4rkst0rm99.deviantart.com/art/HALO-SHIP-SCALE-CHART-LARGE-197235068 '''DeviantArt''' ''- d4rkst0rm99: HALO SHIP SCALE CHART LARGE'']</ref> d4rkst0rm99 was later credited in the ''[[Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition)]]'', as the concept artist behind the design of the {{Class|Point Blank|prowler}}.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:H2A Terminals - Unyielding 2.jpg
File:H2A Terminals - Unyielding.jpg|A hologram of ''Unyielding Hierophant'' displayed in an ONI briefing room.
</gallery>

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo: First Strike]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo 2: Anniversary]]'' 
**''[[Terminal (Halo 2: Anniversary)|Terminals]]'' {{C|Hologram only}}
*''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]''
**''[[Halo 5: Guardians Limited Edition dossiers|Limited Edition dossiers]]'' {{Im}}
*''[[Halo Mythos]]''

== Sources ==
{{Ref/Sources}}

{{Covenant Ships}}
[[Category:Space stations]]