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Warning! This page contains information regarding Star Trek: Discovery, and thus may contain spoilers.
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Halem'no was an inhabited class M planet and homeworld of the Halem'nites, a pre-industrial humanoid civilization. Most of its surface was inhospitable, covered by massive dust storms and devoid of precipitation.
Environment[]
All of Halem'no was once fertile and temperate, with forests that contained birds, fruit trees, and moss. However, rising aridity and dust storms threatened to extinguish all native life. The planet's atmosphere was composed of 73% molecular nitrogen, 23% molecular oxygen, 2.3% argon, and 0.8% carbon dioxide. (DIS: "Whistlespeak")
Locations[]
- Dry Lands
- Healing Grove
- High Summit
History[]
According to Halem'nite mythology, the coming of Halem'no's dust storms was a punishment from the gods for the wars that their ancestors fought among themselves.
During the 24th century, Halem'no was one of fifteen M-class planets along Denobulan trade routes. The Denobulans empathized with the Halem'nites' struggles, which echoed their own history. They thus installed five weather modification towers, designed by Doctor Hitoroshi Kreel, on the planet that preserved zones of habitability. In deference to the Prime Directive, the towers were concealed within pillars of rock. The Denobulans' actions profoundly affected the culture of the Halem'nites, who identified them with their gods and developed a religion around them.
Kreel secretly returned to Halem'no in the late 24th century and hid a piece of a map, containing the location of Progenitor technology, in the fifth weather tower along with a clue to the fifth and final piece.
Due to lack of maintenance, the weather towers began to fail as their energy distribution matrices fell out of alignment, destroying the Halem'nite settlements that depended on them. By the 32nd century, only the third tower remained functional, though it was in the process of suffering the same fate as the others, reducing the amount of rain it produced. The local Halem'nites had begun offering ritual sacrifices to the tower, which they called the High Summit, in exchange for rain. They believed that the other weather towers had been destroyed by the gods.
In 3191, the USS Discovery arrived at the planet in search of the fourth map piece. Captain Michael Burnham and Lieutenant Sylvia Tilly beamed to the surface, disguised as Halem'nites, to investigate the tower. After determining the state of the third tower, Burnham repaired it with the assistance of Ensign Adira Tal. However, Tilly had unknowingly volunteered herself to be sacrificed; Burnham chose to save her by breaking the Prime Directive and telling the Halem'nites the truth about their history and the tower's provenance. Though the transition would be difficult, Burnham was optimistic that the Halem'nites were ready to evolve into a new belief system, and she further ensured that they were instructed in the future maintenance of the tower. Discovery's crew proceeded to recover the map piece and the clue. (DIS: "Whistlespeak")