High Charity is a mobile planetoid station and known as the Holy City of the Covenant, and specifically the Prophets. It is a large mushroom-shaped structure estimated to be 348 kilometers (216.108 miles) in diameter. At the apex of this "mushroom" is an artificial star that simulates night and day within the city, it doubles as an opening for the launch of the Forerunner Dreadnought. The stalk peters out to a point, with various branches leading off from it. The City is mobile, can jump through slipspace, and was powered by the Forerunner Dreadnought. It was then taken over by the Flood at the end of Halo 2 when a a flood infested Pelican crash landed. High Charity is the "Home Planet" of the Covenant, in the sense that it is the planet where the High Council, Mausoleum of the Arbiter, residence of the ruling Prophet Hierarchs, and other fixtures of Covenant government are located. It is believed that all battle (or otherwise purpose oriented) Covenant members reside within. However, every race in the Covenant has its own homeworld, and it is to be emphasized that High Charity is only an administrative homeworld. High Charity is at all times protected by a fleet of hundreds of Covenant capital ships (each carrying an unknown amount of fighter craft, not to mention the ships that may be docked within High Charity itself). Any vessel entering High Charity's "zones" must broadcast a security code (changed every so often, specifically at an unknown time between one hour and one week) without hesitation when prompted or the vessel will be immediately destroyed. This fleet surrounding the city is noted to be larger than even the fleet surrounding the Unyielding Hierophant, well over five hundred ships.
The interior of High Charity is effectively a massive city. At its center sits the Forerunner Dreadnought, entombed within the city after the formation of the Covenant as a symbol of peace between Sangheili and San 'Shyuum. The Dreadnoughts engines are the primary power source for much of city, though back-up generators were rigged by the Gravemind once the vessel departed. The city itself contains many sacred locations to the Covenant, such as the Council Chamber, the Sanctum of the Hierarchs, and the Mausoleum of the Arbiter. As a construct, High Charity is very similar to the Unyielding Hierophant, the Repair & Refit station, containing many courtyards and other spaces throughout which attempt to seem natural. The interior of High Charity is, of course, laced with the Covenant's unique architecture, of a lighter tone than their naval vessels. All of the structures within the city float above a methane rich field in which the grunts dwell. The towers at the center are large volcanic spires and are used by the San 'Shyuum as offices and private residences.
High Charity is important enough to the Covenant to wield its own personal fleets, consisting of dozens of battleships, carriers, and cruisers, making up some of the largest fleets in the entire Covenant, such as the Second Fleet of Homogeneous Clarity, and the Fleet of Particular Justice.
High Charity is enormously sacred to the Covenant, being their major religious center. It is full of High Prophets, and Elite Councilors, and generally the leadership of the entire alien hegemony. Identity-wise, it can be likened to the Human view on the UNSC Hopeful, albeit hundredfold.
History
Early History
High Charity was constructed during and finished after the Sangheili-San 'Shyuum war. Also since the City is mobile it is extremely difficult for the lesser creatures of the hegemony to make journeys to the capital, yet it manages to establish a network of Slipspace probes to protect its position. Anything larger than a centimeter in diameter that drifted too close was obliterated, including ships that failed to transmit proper clearance codes within a millisecond of hailing.
After the Destruction of Halo Installation 04
Upon the discovery of Installation 04 by the Covenant, High Charity was supposed to perform a Slipspace jump to the Halo along with its fleet, where the High Prophets would activate the ring to send the Covenant on the Great Journey. They sent the Fleet of Particular Justice to secure the ring in preparation for High Charity's arrival, but they did not know about the Flood, and did not expect interference from the UNSC. When High Charity and its fleet arrived at Threshold, they found that both the Halo and the Fleet of Particular Justice had been utterly destroyed.
After The First Battle of Earth, the High Prophet of Regret sent the coordinates of Installation 05 to High Charity. The planetoid and its fleet arrived just in time to watch the Master Chief kill Regret. It then held position over Installation 05 until hostilities erupted between the Brutes and Elites, as a new Covenant Civil War broke out.
- Main article: First Battle of High Charity
During the chaos of the war, the Master Chief infiltrated High Charity, teleported directly inside by the Gravemind using Delta Halo's teleportation grid. At the same time, the Flood made their own entrance, using the In Amber Clad to ferry legions of Combat Forms to the station, and Pelican dropships to spread Carrier Forms. Within the city a vicious melee ensued among Brute forces, Elite forces, and the Flood, all bent on destroying one another. The unfortunate Master Chief was caught in the middle of this, but managed to escape.
Eventually, the Forerunner ship at High Charity's core took off, with both the Prophet of Truth and the Chief inside, leaving Cortana behind. It appears that the Covenant forces on both sides completely abandoned High Charity afterwards, and it was completely infested by the Flood, as the Gravemind took complete control of the Sanctum of the Hierarchs, using the Council Chamber itself as his "throne room."Template:Fact
As High Charity and Delta Halo were rapidly falling to the Flood, a massive battle between Elite and Brute held ships continued in the space around the city. The Elites eventually succeeded in driving away the Brutes (or they possibly retreated on orders from Truth to assist in the conquest of Earth). The Elites formed a large fleet and quarantined High Charity, attempting to prevent the Flood from infesting any other systems.
After the Flood Invasion
After the Second Battle of Earth, a message from Cortana warned that the Gravemind was speeding the infested High Charity toward Earth, and the portal to Installation 00. During the Battle of Installation 00, High Charity appeared through the portal and narrowly missed the Elite carrier, Shadow of Intent. It disgorged Flood dispersal pods (several of which damaged the carrier) and crashed on the Installation, completely unrecognizable from what it originally was apart from the exterior shape.
- Main article: Second Battle of High Charity
After stopping Truth from activating the rings, the Master Chief single-handedly waded through the Flood-infested High Charity and retrieved Cortana. At her recommendation, he overloaded the engine core, and escaped. High Charity was completely destroyed in the resulting explosions, with only the outer structure remaining when the second Installation 04 was fired.