Halo Installation 02

Halo Installation 02, also known as Epsilon Halo, is the fifth discovered Halo fortress-world located in the Galar system. It was responsible for the genetic illnesses that would plague the Waquish'Dawn, and by extension, their extreme hatred towards the Forerunners.

History
Installation 02 was constructed in the Foundry of the Ark at some point prior to 97,445 BCE, during the Forerunner-Flood War. It was transported through slipspace following completion to its present location, and it and the rest of the Halo Array were activated by the Didact, killing all sapient life throughout the Milky Way Galaxy. Following this, Epsilon Halo was used as a regional staging ground for the Reseeding of the galaxy. Once this was completed, the Forerunners transferred all control for its core functions related to the firing of its main weapon to Reclaimers, and departed the galaxy.

Epsilon Halo remained undiscovered by the larger galaxy until around 9,360 BCE, when a Waquishi pirate known as Xazz the Impulsive conducted a blind jump into the Galar system. She was rescued by the Monitor 07 Contrite Witness, and two shared information on their respective civilizations before she left. The negative bend of her opinion on the Waquishi government ultimately made the monitor nervous, which would be a contributor towards the hostilities that were to come.

Surface features
Unlike most of the Halos, whose surfaces tends to be dominated by continental landmasses, Installation 02's surface is covered by a vast saline ocean which occupies almost 98% of the ring's total habitable area. Reaching a maximum depth of 9.2 kilometers, the waves are powered by a sophisticated array of deep-ocean currents that run lengthways along the Halo, creating a complex energy funneling network that regulates the temperature of the megastructure. No single current runs for more than a third of the way around its circumference, as hadopelagic trenches and vast subterranean mountains disrupt them and facilitate the creation of newer, short-lived currents that rise up to the surface. It is highly suspected that these obstacles are deliberated placed to encourage the development of unique ecosystems and oceanic biomes, and indeed their presence guarantees that each subsection of ocean is unique in terms of oxygen content, nutrients, and even the chemical salts suspended within the water. While most sea currents are authentic in terms of their natural processes, there are some distinctly-artificial vents that continue to drive its heat and subsurface weather cycles during intense freezing conditions, which direct flow using modular jets made of hardlight.

The next largest portion is composed of immense frozen formations of ice, which expand and retract within two-year cycles. There are three permanent ice sheets on Epsilon Halo, all located in its northern hemisphere. They are grafted on to the walls of the Halo, and the all each exceed four kilometers in thickness - enough to touch the sea floor their sea floor and still be more than five hundred meters higher than the surrounding ocean. In addition, at least 32 seasonal ice sheets will grow and shrink throughout the year, which are centered over the few landmasses on the ring. The rapid melting of these regions creates tens of thousands of glaciers that undergo a mass-calving event that sends vast icebergs across the ring. It is believe that this phenomena is an artificial mechanism used to keep the temperature controlled during the boiling summer months, and to reduce the shock to the creatures that call it home. Although the ice usually only dominates up to 20-35% of the surface during normal winter months, freak ice ages that occur every 24,000 years can see that extend to cover the entire surface. These are caused when Epsilon Halo is drawn into a slowed-down orbit that leaves it behind Galar II, and it can take up to four hundred years before it may see sunlight again.

Archipelagos of small islands, typically the peaks of seamounts, are the final piece of the ring's surface. These regions can be incredibly diverse over a relatively small distance, with volcanic islands, dry scrublands, accumulated sandy banks, and even tropical rainforests can all be found in the span of a few kilometers. Each island exhibits its own special, unique appearance, as flora and fauna evolves independently to the rest of the surface. That said, the terrain is not truly randomized, and there are many regions that are devoted to a specific form of environment. Interestingly, each island is not entirely solid. All have large cave systems that descend into a central area that mimics their ideal environment, to provide shelter during harsh climatic events. Most islands boast some sort of Forerunner structure, with more still freely sitting above the water, held up by vast bases that stretch up from the ocean floor. These give researchers the unique chance to examine completely-excavated structures found on the other rings, and already several new breakthroughs have been discovered. Even these structures, as clean as they are, still boast their own forms of wildlife found no-where else in the galaxy.