Containment protocol

Containment Protocol is a series of protocols designed to assist a Monitor to enforce the containment of the Flood parasite in the various Flood Containment Facilities.

Containment Protocol involves preventing the Flood's outbreak in any way. Infection vvectors, which are essentially any sentient lifeforms in the vicinity, must be neutralised to prevent the Flood from using them to expand. Sentinel and Enforcer drones must be deployed to engage what Flood forces have managed to escape and keep them contained within the facility. If containment is breached, then emergency measures must be taken to ensure that the situation returns to stability.

Protocol also includes the procedures involved in activating the Halo Array. It requires a Reclaimer to retrieve an Index for activation, that the Monitor store the Index within its own data arrays for transport, and that only the Reclaimer can use the Index to activate the system. A Monitor is not able to activate Halo by itself.

Containment Protocol is normally enforced by Monitors, but there have been cases of Sentinels taking it upon themselves to enforce containment. The Sentinels and Enforcers of Delta Halo continued to enforce containment after their monitor, 2401 Penitent Tangent, was captured by the Gravemind, and the Sentinels of Onyx abided by Containment Protocol by neutralising infection vectors - the UNSC Marines and Spartan-III's inhabiting the planet.