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Installation 04, also known as Alpha Halo, is one of seven ring worlds and a weapon of mass destruction designed by the Forerunners to eliminate all potential Flood food sources thereby leaving them to starve to death. The Covenant revered halo as the keystone to starting the Great Journey, and they've spent decades faithfully searching for it.
Analysis[]
Installation 04, along with the other installations, were created as a last resort weapon to defeat the Flood. When all other methods of sterilization had failed, the Forerunners were forced to accept that in order to protect life, it must be destroyed because life kept the Flood alive. If there would ever be another Flood outbreak, then the rings would remain spread throughout the galaxy and kept in mint condition by their monitors. The activation of one ring, as designed, would trigger the activation of all seven rings.
The Halo Array was just one piece of the plan. The preservation of life after the firing, known as the Conservation Measure, was put in place by the Librarian. Hundreds of species were indexed and safeguarded either on the Ark or on Shield Worlds designed to be world shelters.
Installation 04 has been described as beautiful and destructive. The ring is made up of bountiful forests, dry deserts, snowy tundras, oceans, mountains and valleys. Forerunner structures are scattered across the surface. Underneath a majestic surface, there's a swarm of Flood festering and waiting for their opportunity to resurface.
History[]
Alpha Halo was constructed alongside its seven brethren at the conclusion of the Forerunner-Flood War. 343 Guilty Spark was designated as the monitor of the ring. With the Flood now focusing their efforts on reaching the Ark, the Didact was forced to disperse the rings and activate them.
100,000 years later, the ring was visited by the UNSC and the Covenant. The UNSC Pillar of Autumn arrived at Alpha Halo after making a seemingly randomized slipspace jump to escape the Fall of Reach. By order of Thel 'Vadam, the Covenant fleet followed the human ship and got to halo first.
The Pillar of Autumn was carefully taken down and crash landed on the surface of the ring. Covenant forces were deployed to the ring's surface to search for any surviving humans and holy relics. In their search, they accidently unleashed the Flood on the ring. Massive battles were fought between the Flood, the UNSC, the Covenant, and the Sentinels that protected the ring.
343 Guilty Spark enlisted the help of the Master Chief to collect the activation index and reunite it with the core which would activate the ring. After learning the true purpose of halo, the Master Chief refused. He even went so far as to destroy the ring's pulse generators.
Ultimately, the Master Chief and Cortana detonated the Autumn's fusion reactors. The blast was enough to destroy the ring and most of the Covenant armada.
The destruction of the ring triggered the Ark's foundry to start constructing a replacement ring. Ironically, the replacement ring would be destroyed by the Master Chief. Its destruction would also badly damage the Ark.