By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.
Posted by: HaloFreakMan
Ive just been reading Onyx over and over again and found something very Interesting Dr Halsey states that they are In a slip-space bubble Inside of Onyx so Onyx Isn't completely destroyed so My theory Is that when the Chief and Cortana destroyed the halo ring and the ark the forerunner artifacts sent them through forerunner slip-space and the Chief was sent to Onyx
You need to read more thoroughly.
That's not Onyx, the planet shell is called Onyx, the thing inside slipspace is a Micro Dyson Sphere - the actual shield itself.
John and Cortana are not in slipspace, the ending quite clearly shows stars and nebula clouds. Also, the Dyson Sphere is said to be about as big as a grape bowl in real space, but in slipspace it's 300 million kilometers in diameter.
And I quote from pages 381 and 382.
"Entirely true," Dr. Halsey said, "but we have not left Onyx."
"This is the part I don't get," Kelly muttered.
"The Forerunners' grasp of Slipspace technology was far more advanced than ours or the Covenant's," Dr. Halsey explained. "I believe this sphere resides in the center of the planet, encapsulated and protected by a Slipspace bubble of compressed dimensionality."
*
Dr. Halsey stared at them and then pushed her glasses farther up the bridge of her nose. "I see. You do understand that while externally, this space may only be a few meters in diameter within the center of Onyx, internally, it's compressed dimensionality gives it a surface area"she cocked her head, calculating "many times the surface of the Earth."
[Edited on 08.02.2010 3:53 AM PDT]