Slipspace translocation: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:59, November 24, 2012

John-117 translocating via Installation 04's teleportation grid.

Slipspace translocation,^[1] more commonly known as teleportation, is a method of travel that allows the user to travel nearly instantaneously between locations. This is achieved through the use of slipspace as a travel medium, without the use of a conventional slipspace drive. The Forerunners were the first known civilization to make extensive use of teleportation technology. Later on, this technology was reverse-engineered by the Covenant.

Mechanics

Slipspace translocation technology does not actually "teleport" its users by dematerializing them and re-building them in another location; rather, it encases them in a compressed slipstream field, transporting them from one position to another almost instantaneously. This happens much in the same way that a spaceship uses slipspace to travel between star systems - time passes for the individual, but due to the short distances involved it is negligible.^[1] The uncertainty errors involved in translocation are known to cause sensations of being put back together again "from a million pieces" after a transition.^[2] In addition, the process typically causes feelings of nausea and disorientation on humans.^[3]

In some cases of Forerunner translocation, the individual being teleported is indeed disassembled, transported and reassembled at a different location; a forerunner artifact recovered by the UNSC from Requiem was known to do this.

Applications

One of the most basic forms of translocation system is the teleporter, a device that allows transit between two fixed points. The Forerunners used several types of teleporters as a form of transport on their various installations, including the Halo Array and the shield worlds.^[4] These teleportation devices vary widely in design; the shield world Requiem featured a static array of slipspace portals that would pop out of the ground upon activation, whereas some older Forerunner structures (such as a stone building in the State of Ontom on Sanghelios) included portals that were completely invisible until traveled through.

Many Forerunner facilities are also equipped with teleportation grids, which enable transportation across the installation without the use of teleporters,^[5] instead using a network of "telemetry clusters" placed throughout the installation to keep the grid operational.^[6] Forerunner warriors also employed teleportation systems when deploying to the battlefield.^[7] Promethean Knights are capable of translocating over short distances.^[8]

The Forerunners also built slipspace portals, a large-scale application of translocation technology. Portals allow transporting enormous amounts of mass between two fixed points, across interstellar distances.^[9]

A Forerunner artifact recovered from Requiem was capable of translocating individuals who interacted with it; Dr. Henry Glassman of the UNSC Infinity was teleported from the Infinity to the inside of Requiem after touching the device.

The Covenant also managed to reverse-engineer Forerunner translocation technology to a limited degree, using it in their spire battlefield installations, which contain a teleportation system linked to a nearby capital ship, used to transport dropships or other vehicles to the ground.^[10] The gravity thrones used by the Hierarchs are known to possess short-range teleportation devices as a form of defensive measure.^[11]

Trivia

In most of the Halo games, the effects associated with teleportation involve an intense yellow-orange glow and similarly colored rings that surround the object being teleported. In Halo: Reach, the glow is more subdued and blue-purple in color. It also follows the shape of the object being teleported more closely.

Gallery

A typical teleporter node.
A Phantom teleporting through a Covenant spire.
A Promethean Knight translocating.

List of appearances

Halo: Combat Evolved (First appearance)
Halo 2
Halo 3
Halo Wars
Halo: Reach
Halo 4
Halo: The Flood
Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
Halo Legends
- Origins
Halo: The Thursday War

Sources

^ ^a ^b Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, pages 311-212
^ Halo: The Flood, page 237
^ Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, page 316
^ Halo Wars, campaign level Beachhead
^ Halo: Combat Evolved, campaign level, Two Betrayals
^ Halo Waypoint: The Halo Bulletin: 11/9/11
^ Halo Legends, Origins Part I
^ Halo 4 E3 2012 Stage Demo
^ Halo: Cryptum, page 200
^ Halo: Reach, campaign level, Tip of the Spear
^ Halo 2, campaign level, Regret

[goo-1] Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, pages 311-212

[2] Halo: The Flood, page 237

[3] Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, page 316

[4] Halo Wars, campaign level Beachhead

[5] Halo: Combat Evolved, campaign level, Two Betrayals

[6] Halo Waypoint: The Halo Bulletin: 11/9/11

[7] Halo Legends, Origins Part I

[8] Halo 4 E3 2012 Stage Demo

[9] Halo: Cryptum, page 200

[10] Halo: Reach, campaign level, Tip of the Spear

[11] Halo 2, campaign level, Regret

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 ==Mechanics==
 Slipspace translocation technology does not actually [[Wikipedia:Teleportation|"teleport"]] its users by dematerializing them and re-building them in another location; rather, it encases them in a compressed slipstream field, transporting them from one position to another almost instantaneously. This happens much in the same way that a spaceship uses slipspace to travel between star systems - time passes for the individual, but due to the short distances involved it is negligible.<ref name="goo"/> The uncertainty errors involved in translocation are known to cause sensations of being put back together again "from a million pieces" after a transition.<ref>'''Halo: The Flood''', ''page 237''</ref> In addition, the process typically causes feelings of nausea and disorientation on humans.<ref>'''Halo: Ghosts of Onyx''', ''page 316''</ref>
+In some cases of Forerunner translocation, the individual being teleported is indeed disassembled, transported and reassembled at a different location; a [[Requiem translocation artifact|forerunner artifact]] recovered by the UNSC from Requiem was known to do this.
 ==Applications==