Installation 08
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
| Installation 08 | |
|---|---|
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| General overview | |
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Location: |
Over the Ark |
| Operation overview | |
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Type: |
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Function: |
Galactic sterilization/Flood containment and research |
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Attached AI(s): |
343 Guilty Spark (de facto) |
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Date of construction: |
Between September 2552 and December 2552 |
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Date of destruction: |
December 11, 2552[1]; destroyed due to premature firing |
| Structural information | |
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Diameter: |
10,000 kilometres (6,200 mi)[2] |
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Surface width: |
318 kilometres (198 mi)[2] |
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Gravity: |
.992G (approx)[2] |
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Surface temperature: |
-23°C to 40°C (-9°F to 104°F) (controlled)[2] |
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Atmospheric composition: |
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- "A replacement. For the ring you destroyed."
- — Thel 'Vadam observing the second Installation 04's construction alongside John-117.[3]
Installation 04B[4] was a partially completed (incomplete to the point where firing would result in its destruction) Halo installation which was under construction at the Ark since the destruction of the original Installation 04.[5] This replacement was destroyed again by Spartan-II Master Chief John-117, only to receive yet another replacement constructed.
Background
This Installation was designed as a very similar replacement to the original Installation 04 in order to ensure that the Forerunners' Halo network was intact, and therefore able to encompass the entire Milky Way galaxy.
History
Construction
Following the Battle of Installation 04 and its subsequent destruction, Installation 00 was notified, and an automated function began building a new replacement for the missing installation's position. The main weapon was built first with the surrounding circular metal structure after it using materials that came from the strip mining moon located at the center of Installation 00.
Before it was released into space, the installation had a number of primary features available even though it was still not complete. These included the environment, atmosphere and main structures, and the main weapon, though the ring structure was not yet stable enough to survive this weapon's discharge. The new installation was also not networked to the other installations, allowing a tactical pulse to be fired without triggering the other six installations. It is never revealed if this is an option available to completed installations as well, although it is likely that Installation 04B merely had not been set up with this network yet, as it was incomplete; a logical precaution considering the effects of a misfire.
At some point prior to the Battle of Installation 00, Cortana became aware of Installation 04B's existence. While being held prisoner by the Gravemind on High Charity, she sent a covert message to John-117 on Earth informing him of a "solution to the Flood" that did not require activating the Halo Array.[6]
Discovery
The new installation was released into space just above the Ark, but it was still incomplete then. John-117 first discovered its existence shortly after he and Thel 'Vadam killed the Prophet of Truth. He decided that the only way to stop the local Flood infestation (which included the Gravemind from Installation 05) was to fire the incomplete Installation, which was out of range of the other rings.[3]
John-117 headed to the Flood-controlled High Charity to retrieve Cortana, as she held the Activation Index from the first Installation 04. Aided in his escape by Thel, John found a crashed Pelican near the exterior of High Charity and piloted it to the incomplete ring.[7] The Pelican crashed in a snowy valley near the ring's Control Room, which was situated atop a high tower. As John and Thel made their way towards the tower, Flood dispersal pods descended from the sky to prevent them from activating the new Halo. The two, aided by Sergeant Major Avery Johnson, fended off the Flood and reunited with 343 Guilty Spark, who let them into the Control Room.
Inside the Control Room, Guilty Spark informed the trio that the installation would be completed in a few more days. However, with Flood reinforcements banging on the Control Room doors, Johnson declared they didn't have time and decided to activate the installation immediately. Guilty Spark, realizing that a premature activation would destroy the new ring, turned against the trio and fatally wounded Sergeant Johnson. The Chief used Johnson's M6 Spartan Laser to seemingly destroy the rampant Monitor. John-117 then proceeded to activate the new Halo with the Index kept by Cortana.[5]
Destruction
- Main article: Raid on Installation 04B
- "When Halo fired, it shook itself to pieces. Did a number on the Ark"
- — Cortana briefing John-117 of the aftermath of their escape.[5]
As Spark predicted, the new installation was not ready to fire, and it began to shake itself apart and disintegrate. John-117 and Thel 'Vadam escaped through the second phase pulse generator chamber and proceed towards the Dawn using Johnson's Warthog. The shockwave of the activation began to tear the installation apart, causing explosive reactions all across incomplete sections of the installation. John-117 and Thel 'Vadam barely managed to reach the Dawn before the Installation fired and subsequently exploded. Most of the Flood were destroyed in the explosion or perished from the ring's sterilization pulse, while the Ark itself suffered severe damage.[5]
By March 2555, a large chunk of the Halo was impaled on the Ark's central hub, like a dead, arcing tree climbing thousands of kilometers into space. There was also debris from the ring in space, some of it still raining down through the atmosphere and blooming into flame before crashing on the Ark's surface.[8] By May 2559, the Ark had completed another replacement.[9]
Despite the ring's activation, a number of Flood forms survived on the Ark as late as October 2559.[10] This may have been due to the variable harmonics of the Halo's pulse[11] and/or because the ring was fired in the midst of its own destruction.[12] The Banished were drawn into a fierce conflict against the Flood on the surface of the Ark.[10]
Replacement of a replacement
- Main article: Installation 04C
During the UNSC Spirit of Fire's battle with the Banished at the Ark in March 2559, Captain James Cutter, Professor Ellen Anders, and logistics AI Isabel formed a plan to deploy the second replacement for Alpha Halo, Installation 04C, to the Soell system in an attempt to send a distress signal to human space.[13] On the way to the original site of Installation 04 however, a Forerunner Guardian construct controlled by Cortana's Created intercepted the ring.[14]
Trivia
The multiplayer map Avalanche is located on Installation 04B, but Installation 00 and the Milky Way galaxy are missing from the skybox.
Gallery
- H3 - Halo fly through.jpg
Concept art of Installation 04B's interior for Halo 3.
- H3 - Halo reveal.jpg
Concept art of Installation 04B's reveal.
- H3 - Halo matte.jpg
Closeup of the Halo.
- H3 - To the Halo.jpg
Concept art of the Halo over the Ark.
- Ih Halo ziggurat 02.jpg
Early concept art of the control room, with the Ark in the background.
- Ih Halo ziggurat 01.jpg
Finalized concept art of the structure, now bearing clear similarities to the original ring's control room.
- Installation 04b wall.jpg
Concept art of the Installation's incomplete environment.
- H3 - Warthog run concept art.jpg
Concept art for the Warthog run at the end of Halo 3.
- 04B Citadel hologram.jpg
A hologram showing the status of Installation 04B before its destruction.
The Forerunner symbol that represents Installation 04B.
The incomplete Installation 04B rises from the Ark's center.
- HighCharityView.jpg
The partially constructed Installation 04B visible from the Ark's Citadel.
Installation 04B in the skies of the Ark.
The scaffolding on the new Halo.
Installation 04B's Control Room.
The surface of Installation 04B.
- 37121689-Medium.jpg
The Master Chief and the Arbiter driving at full speed in Johnson's Warthog to reach the Dawn before the new Halo is destroyed.
- HM-John&friends.png
Thel 'Vadam, John-117, 343 Guilty Spark, and Avery Johnson on Installation 04B in Halo Mythos.
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Browse more images in this article's gallery page. |
List of appearances
- Halo 3 (First appearance)
- Halo Legends
- Halo: Hunters in the Dark
- Halo Mythos
Sources
- ^ Halo Waypoint, Hero-Fortitude
- ^ a b c d e Halo: The Essential Visual Guide
- ^ a b Halo 3, campaign level The Covenant
- ^ Halo Encyclopedia, page 176
- ^ a b c d Halo 3, campaign level Halo
- ^ Halo 3, campaign mission Floodgate
- ^ Halo 3, campaign level Cortana
- ^ Halo: Hunters in the Dark, page 141
- ^ Halo Wars 2, campaign level From the Deep
- ^ a b Halo Wars 2, Awakening The Nightmare
- ^ Twitter - Jeff Easterling: "There is quite a bit we still don't know about the rings. Even Spark spoke of how variable the tuning could be."
- ^ Twitter - Jeff Easterling: "Guns that are blowing up while firing might not be quite as effective..."
- ^ Halo Wars 2, campaign level Hold the Line
- ^ Halo Wars 2, campaign level Last Stand
