Erebus VII

Erebus VII
Astrographical
System:	Erebus system
Orbital position:	Seventh planet
Physical
Gravity:	1.12 G
Atmosphere:	1.02 (O2, N2)
Societal
Species:	Human
Colonized:	2554
Government:	Unified Earth Government

Erebus VII is the seventh planet in the Erebus system, and a world under the Unified Earth Government's control.

Overview

Topography and ecology

A forest "canopy" on Erebus VII

The planet's equator is covered by a forest of immense, spiny, vine-like "trees" with exotic morphology. These "trees" had a plated, scaly bark, and seemed to be a clonal organism that propagated by sending off stolons. These trees hosted a second species of vine that appeared to function similar to Earth's parasitic strangler figs, with serrated leaves of a purple-pink coloration. Juniper-like bushes grew in the equatorial soil, on rocky outcroppings, and on the trunk structure of Erebus VII's "trees". The planet had many species of aerial cryptogams, such as mosses, lichens, and fungi.

Its native wildlife includes the highly-intelligent Anglers, a species of large, presumably carnivorous, quadrupedal reptilian creatures; several specimens were kept at the UNSC facility located on the planet. The planet was also home to a bat-like creature found on many other worlds in human space, a small bioluminescent flying organism which congregated in and around glowing hive-like structures or galls on the native flora, and small insects which were attracted to the light given off by signal flares.

History

Angler corpses in a UNSC research facility.

The planet's atmospheric composition makes Erebus VII habitable for humans, though extremely hostile indigenous wildlife has prevented the world from becoming a viable candidate for full colonization. Additionally, the interference of the UNSC's Office of Naval Intelligence have also prevented the consideration; ONI has established numerous facilities on the planet, though their research goals have remained unannounced.

In 2557, ONI lost contact with its research teams and the planet's facilities were left abandoned. Several remote contact teams were sent to determine the cause of contact loss, but they only found empty laboratories and were unable to determine the location of its staff. Research on Erebus VII has since been suspended by the Office of Naval Intelligence, and there is no plans to commit new resources. A War Games simulation of the abandoned facility was later used by UNSC Infinity's SPARTAN-IV complement for training. The scientists had been studying the anglers that inhabited the planet and captured a nest of very young juveniles. The anglers proved to be an intelligent species and started hunting them in turn. At that point, the scientists performed horrible experiments on the captured juveniles. In one night, the scientists lost dozens of people to the anglers in a coordinated attack. Using their light and mimicry, the anglers lured the survivors in and killed many of them until they realized that the humans were no longer falling for it and moved on to systematically removing and destroying their satellite uplinks, comms stations and power cores. A few months later, the ONI teams showed up and became the target of the anglers.

In August 2558, Rion Forge was sent to Erebus VII through a slipspace portal from Installation 07. After getting captured by the anglers, Rion was rescued by the survivors on an ONI team that had been investigating the disappearance of the researchers and the two surviving researchers that they had found who explained what had happened to them. After retrieving the third piece of the coordinate key from a Forerunner way station on New Carthage, 343 Guilty Spark was led to Erebus VII where he rescued Rion, the survivors she'd found and four more located elsewhere on the planet. The Ace of Spades then delivered the survivors of Erebus VII to a mining outpost in a nearby star system. Spark later suggested that the anglers may have been seeded on Erebus VII, designed or modified, to dissuade visitors to the planet and to protect the Forerunner site there.

After dropping off the survivors, Spark and Rion returned to Erebus VII and used the completed coordinate key on a terminal in the Forerunner facility. The Precept appeared and tested Rion. Upon being satisfied, he imbued the coordinate key with the coordinates to a portal to Bastion and access permissions for Spark and Rion.

Trivia

In Greek mythology, Erebus is the personification of darkness. The word can also be used to refer specifically to the darkness of the Underworld, the Underworld itself, or a specific region of the Underworld.

Gallery

Development images

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  Initial sketch of the alien trees

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  A "beauty corner" of the map Abandon with the alien flora

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  Early concept of Erebus VII

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  Concept art for a cave environment on Abandon with alien flora

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  Concept art of Erebus VII

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  Concept art of an Angler

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  Concept art of alien flora on Erebus VII

List of appearances

• Halo 4 (First appearance)
• Halo: Point of Light