Portal at Voi: Difference between revisions

In [[2553]], after the battle, civilian [[Xenoarchaeology|xenoarchaeologists]] were hired by the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] to study the artifact. While closed, it was still drawing power from an unknown source and the majority of the passageways below it were still unexplored.<ref name="evo"/>

The storm was first seen in the ''[[Halo 3]]'' [[Halo 3 Announcement Trailer|Announcement Trailer]], when the camera shows the artifact being uncovered and activated. The storm lies directly over it, lightning bolts are seen flashing out of the clouds, and the formation seems to have an eye, like a hurricane would. When the portal is activated, the beam travels up through this eye and disappears.  

The artifact is also seen in the ending cinematic of ''[[Halo 3: ODST]]'', where a fleet of Covenant ships are excavating the object.

[[File:DJC-Portal.jpg|thumb|The Artifact, viewed from directly above.]]

Interpretations of the size of the Artifact vary. In-game, the diameter of the structure is estimated to be 25.515 kilometers using the size of a Covenant [[CCS-class Battlecruiser|Battlecruiser]] above the portal and an overhead image or [[Pan Cam]] coordinates.<ref>[http://carnage.bungie.org/haloforum/halo.forum.pl?read=845588 '''halo.bungie.org''': ''Artifact Sizing *Minor H3 Spoilers*'']</ref> However, several geographical facts seem to imply otherwise. As evidenced by ''Halo 3'' and ''Halo 3: ODST'', the Portal stretches from the edge of the metropolis of [[New Mombasa]] all the way to the edge of  [[Voi]]. The distance between these cities is well over 100 kilometers. In this light, a diameter of mere 25.5 kilometers is an impossibility. This is further evidenced by the ending cutscene of ''Halo 3'', where the Portal is seen from low orbit. It is clearly close to the African coastline instead of being deep into the mainland, which would inevitably be the case if the portal was only 25 kilometers in diameter.