Installation 06

"This one was a real pain to find. Took us 4 months of to get to, and someone had an in the freezer. But once we got past that, we found quite a."

- Olaf Nillson, captain of the UNSC Abagail

Installation 06, code-named as Kappa Halo, is one of the seven massive making up the Halo Array. It is located in the Deorain system orbiting Deorain III in the of the.

It was the last discovered Halo ring, being discovered by the Discovery Group Cupertino in  after it's coordinates were received from  in late 2570.

The Battle of Installation 06 took place in 2571, in May. It was Humanity's first contact with the in nearly two. Installation 06 was long considered a 'faulty' ring, including breakdowns in security systems, which lead to a wide outbreak of Flood over the ring, and frantic security measures taken by it's malfunctioning monitor, 021 Shattered Endeavor.

Overview
Installation 06, like it's, was responsible for the containment and research of the parasitic , and development of weapons to thwart them, including an onboard superweapon which, when fired with the rest of the rings, could Unlike the rest of the Halo rings, however, Installation 06 ran into some issues during it's. This lead to numerous 'defects', notably the theory it would be too light to support the heavier environment scheduled to be constructed on it. These theories proved correct, when  ended up causing severe damage to a section of the ring. Because of this, there is a 'reinforced' outer perimeter, which wraps around some of the surface area of the ring, making it slightly smaller than the other rings, while looking 'thicker' from orbit.

Construction & Early History
Main Article: Halo Array (Construction)

During the Forerunner era, and his guild of  originally started building experimental superweapons. Retreating when began to fall into Forerunner territory, he proposed to build a  of superweapons which could "protect" the galaxy from the Flood.

During their construction, the proposed the "halos" also be used as environmental reserves as an effort for the  to rebuild after & if the array was fired. The council agreed, and realistic ecosystems were created on the "surface" of the rings.

Installation 06's environment consisted of smooth, hard rocks underneath large Jungle-like trees. An initial concern was that it may be too heavy for the ring, as it had a larger mass than most other rings. Despite objections, Faber still created the ecosystem. On a particularly heavy part of the ring, it nearly collapsed open into space. The area underneath was eventually repaired, tho the entire ring was 'reinforced', making it appear thicker from space. This reduced the land area's width from the standard 318 Kilometers to just 300 Kilometers. The area around this eventually became known as the 'Buckle', a thick and large mountain range split by a huge canyon.

At the end of the, the array was to stop the flood. With it's other rings, Installation 06 fired successfully and killed all sentient life in the Milky Way.

Post-Purification
After the array was fired, Installation 06's monitor, 021 Shattered Endeavor, dealt with an unseen issue. As the builders were preoccupied with fixing the installation's structure, many security measures ended up subpar. Due to a complication, a massive flood outbreak occurred around the containment chamber. In an effort to stop the flood from taking control of the entire ring, the Monitor focused the rain gathered from the Jungle ecosystem into areas around the control room, creating an 'ocean' around it and sealing them on their own continent. The stress of containing the flood on their continent would eventually cause Shattered Endeavor to have split personalities, and apparent signs of.

Human-Covenant War

 * "Fail-safe protocol: In the event of unexpected shutdown, the entire system will move to standby status. All remaining platforms are now ready for remote activation."
 * —, after the Halo Array is placed into standby mode

On November 3,, during the ,   of the  activated , though UNSC and  forces managed to deactivate the firing sequence before the Halo could fire. As per fail-safe protocol in the event of an unexpected shutdown, a signal was sent to Installation 06 and the rest of the Halos from Installation 05, placing all Halos of the array on standby mode, ready for remote activation from Installation 00. A readout from Installation 05's control room showed that Installation 06 was fully prepared to fire on demand.

Post-War
Installation 06 had survived the intact, unlike rings such as  &, but still had it's own problems, such as the still rampant Flood outbreak.

In the late-2550s, ships such as the were tasked with locating & decommissioning the remaining Halo rings. While other locations, such as Installations and, were found at least by , Installation 06 remained completely isolated and unmentioned in any known databases or collections monitored by the UNSC.

In part, this was because 021 Shattered Endeavor sealed off all communication to stop suspicion about the rapid Flood outbreak, while also due to it's highly isolated location in the Perseus arm compared to the rest of the array.

Eventually, in November of, it's coordinates were found in a small knowledgebook in the Ark. On December 26th of that year, Discovery Group Cupertino set out into slipspace set for the Perseus arm. They didn't return until April 29th, well over four months since they left. They didn't establish full UNSC Contact until April 31st, in which the captain of the UNSC Abagail, Olaf Nillson, remarked that many of the crew was tired, and one had even suffered severe slipspace burn. Nevertheless, they found the ring and planned to launch an on-foot expedition the next day.

On May 1st, a crew of 14 set foot on the ring at 07:00. Commenting on it's unique ecosystem, they left at just 08:45 instead of the planned 12:00 because of the heat on the ring.

Prelude
On May 2nd, it was announced the crew would search for the installation's in hopes of sealing it off, or researching it's weapon. It was eventually found on May 7th, 2571, where they encountered 021 Shattered Endeavor. Asking why they were here, as he had put the entire ring in 'lockdown'. Upon interrogating this, he revealed the outbreak and told them to leave.

Contacting Indigo Team, a team of s stationed on the UNSC Abagail, they eventually traveled back to the control room and offered their help. Despite doubting whether they could actually help, he let them stay and gave them tactical information of the situation with their continent.

On May 9th, they contacted a UNSC with a Priority One-hail. A large group was assembled, which included over 25 Frigates and 3 Artemis-class battlecruisers, as well as several destroyers, tho it was estimated they would not arrive until at least July. Until then, they were asked to conduct scouting missions primarily with Indigo Team, as there was little military hardware with the discovery group.

Phase II (May-July, 2571)
On May 11th, 2571, Indigo Squad and some scouted the continent full of Flood  in a. Finding the continent unrecognizable and completely covered in Biomass, they saw little signs of any Flood forms on the surface. However, after 10 minutes, they came under attack from Flood 'Fighters'. In reality, they were a pair of Forerunner infested with Flood Biomass. They managed to destroy one of them, but the other retreated when they got too high.

On May 13th, a second attempt was made, tho they scouted out in high orbit. At that point, they saw several but no signs of  or  forms.

On May 14th, they questioned Endeavor about the Sentinels they encountered days earlier. He explained that, in the early days of the outbreak, he used Sentinels to try and thwart them, tho some ended up taken. He then explained how he sealed off the continent by refocusing the rain generated from the rainforests around it.

On May 16th, 3 Pelicans containing Indigo Squad and several Marines, were sent on a bombing run. Damaging much of the biomass, one of them was shot down by the sentinels, and Indigo Squad landed down to fight off the flood. Tho there were many Infection and some Carrier forms, they encountered no combat forms.

However, eventually, they encountered three, which killed most of the marines and maimed one of the spartans. Falling back with some of the marines, they fired on them from above and killed them. A pureform could only be assembled by a, and they informed the UNSC it was highly possible there was a gravemind on the installation. Ordering them to fall back and wait for the battlegroup to arrive, the Discovery Group continued to explore the uninfested parts of the ring.

Phase III (July 2571)
The battlegroup arrived on July 2nd, 2571, armed heavily. There were over 75 SPARTAN-IVs onboard, as well. They investigated the continent and saw thousands of the pureforms mobilizing. One Frigate launched a which destroyed many of them; however, they soon scattered. It was seen as far too dangerous to land on the ground, and eventually they fell back.

Prelude
On July 4th, it was discovered the flood had landed in the mountain range known as the Buckle through unknown means. They later found a crashed G79 Pelican, covered in biomass. The flood forms inside couldn't be found, and it was seen as too devastating to fire upon the entire range. Endeavor, however, had a theory. The reinforced ring was seen as a 'wasted' space, so several hundred hangar bays were built inside the extra space. They were perhaps still fitted with ships, and the Flood could be attempting to access them. One of the entrances to a hangar was located under the 2 Kilometer Ocean which had situated in the ravine down the center of the buckle, and the Flood would have a large presence with those ships.

Battle
On July 7th, several thousand men were stationed around the buckle to look for flood. Eventually, hundreds of pureforms and some combat forms emerged on the Eastern side 2 days later. The men stationed there were quickly outgunned, even some SPARTANs took fatal wounds, and some flood had began swimming. Quickly, one SPARTAN contacted Matthew Blue, the leader of the battlegroup, and requested several orbital strikes on the mountains. The resulting landslide burrowed into the water, causing the flood in the water to be crushed. It also buried the Forerunner ships, which was seen as a loss by the UNSC.

The Battle above Installation 06
The Battle of the Buckle was a success, but one Frigate, which had been in low orbit, eventually lost contact with the rest of the battlegroup. Upon investigation, they found a crashed Frigate off the coast of the Flood continent. They were likely attacked by the Sentinels, caught by surprise, and soon the other Frigate investigating mysteriously lost contact as well. An orbital MAC was sent at both ships, attempting to prevent the Flood from using them and the bodies inside it.

Those attempts were fruitless, as 3 Frigates infested with Flood biomass engaged some of the fleet on July 12th, 2571. The ships were impressively powerful, and several UNSC Ships were destroyed. Retreating, they destroyed one frigate and damaged the other two. Eventually, it was seen the flood was a very powerful threat never seen before, and that there was quite possibly a Gravemind in the ring. Because the Flood biomass was increasing, they needed assistance, and contacted the for assistance. They arrived on July 19th, as they had faster slipspace engines.

The End
"Foolish Humans, Foolish Sangheili, do you not know? The flood is eternal. We are eternal. Our might is only beginning, and you believe that we will fall? You may burn, bruise, and destroy our worlds, but we have risen once again, and again, and believe we will again."

- Beta Gravemind, upon witnessing his continent being. The Swords brought 10 and 7, as well as thousands of  and. They began the Flood continent, and some external areas affected by biomass. At least one battlecruiser was destroyed by an infested destroyer and frigates, and some corvettes were eventually infected aswell. General remarked he wished to fallback, but they had almost finished by July 27th.

When they were glassing, 021 Shattered Endeavor soon realized he didn't support them damaging his installation, even if it was against a common enemy. He deployed his own sentinels to attack the battlecruisers, and some fell. UNSC and Swords of Sanghelios forces fought them in short dogfights, as well as the Flood sentinels. Indigo Team approached Endeavor, who fired on them. Eventually, they convinced him to call off the sentinels. Despite this, he was still seen as a threat.

The Gravemind revealed himself on July 27th, and eventually was bombed by two. They won the conflict, and soon, most forces departed from the ring.

On August 1st, 2571, 5 ONI Personnel found and captured 021 Shattered Endeavor. While apologetic for what he did, he still killed two of them in defense. He was deactivated through electric shock, and is stored in the classified ONI Vault 3 under heavy containment.

Post-Battle (2571+)
After the battle, Installation 06 was researched. A permanent base was settled at some point in the 2580s.

Surface
Installation 06 has a unique surface different from even the other rings. While it does have grass-like flora, it is not directly identical to grass. It's entire surface is actually smooth, round rocks similar to the ones found on Earth's. Unlike the moon, however, grass-like flora grows out of the rocks through unknown means and overgrows, making it appear as if it were solid grass. Tall, thick trees can and do grow out of this 'grass', making it very similar in climate and appearance to a rainforest.

Because there is much rain generated from the rainforest, there are large 'seas' or 'oceans' located, which makes it appear similarly to other installations like Installation 04 or Installation 05. Initially, it was assumed that it had tundra-like terrain. It was also thought there were no major water sources on the ring; tho this was proven false upon it's discovery. There are small areas of shaded swamps on the ring, too.

In the 2580s, small research outposts popped up on the ring. As many as 300 people lived and worked there, and it's fauna worked well with the settlers.

During it's construction, the ring almost collapsed due to the weight of the environment onboard. As such, it was 'reinforced', making it appear "fatter". The extra walls around the ring made it's surface only 300km wide, as opposed to the normal 318. Instead of wasting the space, they were used to store hundreds of Forerunner Hangar bays containing perhaps thousands of ships. Only one of these hangar bays is known.

Climate & Atmosphere
Despite being 90% Nitrogen and Oxygen, Installation 06's atmosphere, which contains amounts of Argon and Xenon above Earths', is not readily breathable by humans. This is solved through masks similar to the ones 'astronauts' used in the 20th and 21st centuries, before humanity's exploration of the stars in the long term.

Flood Island // the Glasslands
"Flood Island" is the name given to the artificial continent overly infested by the Flood. It had an advanced system of caves underneath it, where a Gravemind lived. Thousands of Flood forms, and at least some converted Forerunner Sentinels, existed there. It was sealed off by a thick ocean. It was glassed in 2571 to prevent it's biomass, which gave it the unofficial name of the Glasslands.

The Buckle
During it's construction, it was said the Flora on Installation 06 would be too heavy to support. The builders ignored this, but in a particularly heavy region, the ring almost snapped. It was eventually reinforced, but the area around there ended up being pushed out; creating a very large, very deep canyon surrounded by tall mountains as much as 10 Kilometers high. This area became known as the 'Buckle'. Through the rain generated by the forests, the canyon had at least 2 Kilometers of water in it. Underneath it was also an entracne to a Forerunner Hangar.

The Battle of the Buckle occurred during the Battle of Installation 06 in 2571. There, a landslide changed the appearance; filling in part of the canyon and deforming the mountains around it. The Buckle was a sort of 'attraction' that many people seek to study in at some point.

Flora
There were various species of birds on the ring, including three never seen on any planet inhabited by humans. There was also some Covenant species, such as the Horn Beast, settled on the ring.

The 'Mud Monster' is a type of creature encountered in the small swamps around the ring. They seem carnivorous and attacked people exploring that region; they swim underneath the mud and seem amphibious. They have been eaten by settlers before.

Specifications
Like all the other Halo rings, Installation 06 was readily able to wipe out all life in 25,000 light years from itself. Aside from that superweapon it was equipped with several hangar bays in it's extended areas. These contained hundreds, if not thousands, of Forerunner ships. Installation 06 was equipped with hundreds of Sentinels, in case it needed immediate defense.