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Halo Alpha
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The Forerunner Crystal, referred to by the Covenant as the Fragment of Divinity, the Shard of the Gods,[1] or the Holy Light,[2] was a Forerunner artifact that was discovered in the underground Menachite Forerunner Complex on Reach by Dr. Catherine Halsey and the surviving Spartan members of Red Team in 2552.[3] The artifact is of incredible power, capable of warping space,[4] energy,[4] gravity,[5] and even time and Slipspace.[6] It is hardly understood by the UNSC forces who found it, but is a prize that the Covenant were extremely eager to obtain.

Appearance[]

When the Ascendant Justice jumped into Slipspace, the crystal again rearranged itself, emitting radiation during the entire jump, and caused gravitational distortions. The location of the ship at the end of this jump was somewhere near the Eridanus system, a distance that, from Reach, should have taken several days to traverse instead of a few minutes. By comparing timestamps from several missions, Dr. Halsey discovered a three-week average time difference. Her conclusion was that the Crystal bent both space and time. Halsey later gave the crystal to Corporal Locklear, who covered it with C-7 Foaming Explosive and destroyed it to avoid another Slipspace radiation spike, killing himself in the process.[7]

Three shards of the crystal were recovered by the Covenant, which were presented to the Prophet of Truth by Tartarus in an orb-shaped container. Truth then ordered the Brute to reward the pilots that had recovered the shards, then kill them.[8] The UNSC also possesses pieces of the crystal.[9] It is unknown what has happened to the shards that were possessed by the two factions, although the three Covenant-recovered shards were likely lost when High Charity fell to the Flood invasion, or were kept aboard the Dreadnought with Truth, and also likely destroyed when the Halo Array was detonated.

The rift that was projected when the ship went into slipspace may be similar to the Portal at Voi, Earth. It is probable that the Forerunners used this crystal, or others like it, to travel throughout the galaxy and past its edge almost instantaneously. Indeed, in the Forerunner Saga, reference is made to a central crystal, which all Forerunner slipspace drives contain slivers of to operate. Spent crystal flakes are used to decorate the high government buildings of the Ecumene.

Trivia[]

  • At the end of the novel Halo: First Strike, The Prophet of Truth is given three chips from the crystal. He then says it "may yet be enough for our purposes." The exact implication is open to speculation; he may simply have hoped to harness its effects as a weapon.
  • The amount of radiation it produces in Slipspace is too great to be contained. In Halo: First Strike, John-117 orders Anton to place it inside a Pelican's reactor, but the radiation leak didn't noticeably diminish.
  • The crystal occasionally releases numerous neutrinos, an unknown type of them, possibly a 4th generation or higher lepton.

List of appearances[]

Sources[]

  1. Halo: First Strike, page 193
  2. Halo: First Strike, page 201
  3. Halo: First Strike, pages 145-146
  4. 4.0 4.1 Halo: First Strike, pages 214-215
  5. Halo: First Strike, page 211
  6. Halo: First Strike, page 248
  7. Halo: First Strike, page 284
  8. Halo: First Strike, pages 339-340
  9. Halo: First Strike, page 287


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