Beacon

Beacons are equipment used by the Covenant in the extraction of the helium-3. Fifty stories tall and as wide as five city blocks, it was shaped like aperfectly symetrical beehive floating atop four antigravity "stilts", tended by Yanme'e workers. The term "Beacon" is a UNSC designation - whatever the Covenant know the equipment as is unknown. Helium-3 was trapped in a second mantle formed over the original object during the spallation-gheavy terraforming process of UNSC colonies. During the Human-Covenant War, the Covenant would set up Beacons on conquered UNSC worlds to extract and refine this helium-3, converting it into pure energy for transmission to nearby battlegroups. One such Beacon was located on Verge in 2552, used to power Covenant warships blockading Tribute.