History of the High Charity Halo

Physical Description

It was a large mushroom-shaped structure, 348 kilometers in diameter. At the apex of this "mushroom" was an artificial star that simulated natural sunlight within the city. This star doubled as a launch pad for the Forerunner dreadnought, the ship at the center of the city. The stalk tapered to a point, with various branches emanating from it, likely for service as docking bays. The city was mobile, could jump through Slipspace, and was almost completely powered by the engines of the decommissioned Forerunner vessel. The Forerunner dreadnought's engines were powerful enough to run the city on a fraction of their potential output. However, the station also possessed a set of auxiliary reactors that were capable of generating enough power for slipspace travel.

Capital City

In the internal hub of High Charity lay an extremely large capital city. In its center sat the Forerunner dreadnought, embedded within the city after the formation of the Covenant as a symbol of conviction and peace between the Sangheili and the San'Shyuum.

The city itself contained many locations sacred to the Covenant such as the Council Chamber, the Sanctum of the Hierarchs and the Mausoleum of the Arbiter. As a construct, High Charity was very similar to the Unyielding Hierophant, a repair & refit station, though it also served as a mobile command post. Unlike many small Covenant vessels and their UNSC counterparts, High Charity contained many courtyards and other non-essential spaces which gave the station a terrestrial feel. The interior of High Charity was filled with the Covenant's unique architecture, of a lighter tone than their naval vessels. All of the structures within the city floated above a methane-rich field in which the millions of High Charity's Unggoy lived. The massive towers around the dome were gigantic spires of volcanic rock from the city's base, interwoven with metal supports and covered with decorative alloy. They were used by the San'Shyuum as offices and private residences.

Protection

High Charity was so important to the Covenant Empire that it was endowed with its own personal defense fleet, which consists of hundreds of battleships, carriers and cruisers. Some of the biggest fleets in the entire Covenant armada defended the city, such as the Second Fleet of Homogeneous Clarity and the late Fleet of Particular Justice. As it was the Covenant's major religious center and capital, High Charity was enormously sacred to the Covenant. It was thought that true believers should visit it at least once in one's lifetime, though few of the Covenant could afford to do so. It was full of Sangheili and San'Shyuum High Councilor, and the general leadership of the entire alien hegemony. It can be assumed that High Charity had its own set of powerful energy shields and defensive weapons. Despite its considerable defense assets, it was unable to withstand the great Flood assault. The station's shields are most likely why the Flood entered it with UNSC In Amber Clad by a precise Slipspace jump: it allowed them to bypass any and all outer defenses.

Layout

Along the outer wall on the inside of High Charity were several towers, each containing rooms and hallways. Two of these towers were referred to by Cortana as the Mid Tower and the Far Tower. Most of these towers were connected to the two surrounding towers by the Hanging Gardens and the Valleys of Tears, but the towers containing the Council Chamber and the Mausoleum of the Arbiter were both notably only connected to the sections between them. Hanging far above the Mausoleum of the Arbiter was a part of the Sanctum of the Hierarchs, a large chamber decorated with shards of glass from worlds devastated by the Covenant. Below these structures are the lower districts.

History

Construction of High Charity begins in 852 BCE, taking 204 years until its completion in 648 BCE. From the Covenant's earliest recorded history, the San'Shyuum ended their civil war by launching the Forerunner dreadnought from their home planet along with a chunk of rock. This chunk would later be built into High Charity. The city was erected during the Sangheili-San'Shyuum war and completed following the war's conclusion. The Forerunner dreadnought that the San'Shyuum used in the war was stripped of all known weapons and permanently installed inside High Charity. Because the city is mobile, it is extremely difficult for the lesser creatures of the hegemony to make journeys to the capital, yet it manages to establish a network of Slipspace probes to protect its position. Anything larger than a millimeter in diameter that drifted too close was engaged and obliterated, including ships that failed to transmit proper clearance codes within a millisecond of hailing.

Prior to the Human-Covenant war, High Charity was almost destroyed as the Forerunner dreadnought powered up, galvanized by the discovery of "Reclaimers" by the Covenant, and attempted to reach Harvest to transport the occupants to the Ark. It was deactivated by Lekgolo worms as they short-circuited the ship to prevent the launch.

The Sacred Rings and the Great Journey

Upon the discovery of Installation 04 by the Covenant, High Charity was supposed to perform a Slipspace jump to the ring along with its fleet, where the Hierarchs would activate the ring to send the Covenant on the Great Journey.

The Fleet of Particular Justice, led by then Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee, had already made its way to the Ring while chasing the Halcyon-class cruiser UNSC Pillar of Autumn, but they did not know about the Flood, and did not expect interference from the UNSC. When High Charity and its fleet arrived at Threshold, they found that both Installation 04 and the Fleet of Particular Justice had been utterly destroyed.

In the early stages of the Battle of Earth, the High Prophet of Regret sent the coordinates of Installation 05 to High Charity. The planetoid and its fleet arrived just in time to watch John-117 and a group of Marines assassinate the Prophet of Regret. It then held position over Installation 05 until hostilities erupted between the Sangheili and the Jiralhanae, as the Great Schism began in November 2552.