The Halicarnassus, sometimes just known as the Hali, is a specially modified Boeing 747 plane which was once owned by Saddam Hussein and then Jack West Jr, primarily piloted by his friend Sky Monster.
History[]
Early History[]
The Halicarnassus was a Boeing 747 that was acquired by Saddam Hussein prior to 1991 to serve as one of the dictator's many escape planes that were hidden around the country, for in case he ever needed to flee Iraq, with the Halicarnassus being kept in a disused aircraft hanger on the outskirts of Basra.
When Jack West Jr was in Basra and abandoned by the American Delta team that he had been working with, he carried the lone surviving chopper pilot - Sky Monster - and fled to a hanger on the old airfield. Once he had forced his way inside, he was surprised by the sight of the brand new Boeing sitting within. Deducing what the plane was intended for, Jack decided that he would take the escape plane for himself, and when Sky Monster regained consciousness, he had the New Zealander pilot it as they made their escape from the Republican Guards.
Following the escape, Jack decided the keep the Halicarnassus as his own, retaining its name and later having it repainted into a non-standard stealth black. Meanwhile, Hussein was reportedly furious at the theft of one of his escape planes, wanting the Halicarnassus back right up until the time he was captured.
When a mission to find the Golden Capstone and protect the daughter of the Oracle of Siwa was established between seven countries, Jack brought the Halicarnassus to the team's hideout at Victoria Station and kept inside a hidden hanger, with Sky Monster overseeing the plane's upkeep. Some time during the next ten years that the Coalition of Minnows team spent protecting Lily, Max "Wizard" Epper modified the Halicarnassus's engines with a Retrograde Thrust System to make it capable of VTOL.
Seven Ancient Wonders[]
Once the mission began, the Halicarnassus was used to ferry the team to the locations of the Capstone pieces. When the team was fleeing from the Commander-in-Chief's In Extremis Force on their swamprunners, Sky Monster used the Hali to pick them up.
When Jack and the team decided to free Mustapha Zaeed from Guantanamo Bay, they had the Halicarnassus serve as a distraction for the base's forces while Jack and Zoe Kissane broke into the prison. Because the team used rubber bullets in the Hali's turrets, the Marine forces assumed the situation was an exercise, realising the truth far too late as the Halicarnassus turned to take off with their prisoner, and soon escaped to Jamaica.
When Jack decided to engage the CIEF forces at Giza, Sky Monster flew the Halicarnassus in towards the pyramid before engaging the VTOL in order to maintain an optimal altitude, much to the shock of the Americans. While Sky Monster maneuvered around the pyramid, firing missiles at enemy aircraft, Pooh Bear used one of the gun turrets. At the end of the battle, Jack threw Marshall Judah's safety harness into the Hali's engine.
The Six Sacred Stones[]
Jack kept the Halicarnassus at another hidden hanger on his new farm in Australia, which when invaded was used to help Jack and his friends escape to the United Arab Emirates.
The Halicarnassus was damaged during the team's escape from Abu Simbel, having one of its engines destroyed, and Sky Monster remained with the Hali until Solomon Kol and his friends arrived with repair supplies.
After catching up to and rescuing Zoe's team, Sky Monster parked the Halicarnassus on an airfield near the South African border since all air traffic was closed off. When Wolf's forces detected Jack's transmission to the Hali, he had South African F-15s sent to attack, and Sky Monster rushed to get the Halicarnassus ready to take off again.
The Five Greatest Warriors[]
Using the Hali's turrets, Zoe and Epper fended off the pursuing F-15s until the Boeing had flown far enough away that their assailants couldn't follow without running out of fuel.
When the team split up, the Halicarnassus was used by Jack's sub-team to transport themselves to the Mongolian desert to find Genghis Khan's Arsenal, and later was left with Sky Monster on an airfield in eastern Russia while Jack, Lily and Zoe headed to the Third Vertex.
However, while Jack and the others were in the Vertex, the Hali was located by Russian forces, and was flown to a dam belonging to the Russian royal known as Carnivore, where it sat on his private airfield until Carnivore dispatched Jack, Lily and Sky Monster to fly to Diego Garcia to meet Iolanthe Compton-Jones at the Fifth Vertex.
During the scuffle following the retrieval of the Sixth Pillar in the Dead Sea, the Halicarnassus's forward landing gear was damaged by Carnivore's men. Julius and Lachlan Adamson helped Jack prepare the Boeing for takeoff by using a jeep as a crude replacement for the landing gear. Sky Monster was saddened since the Hali was unlikely to have a safe landing and commended it as having been a part of the team, and soon Jack took off on the Halicarnassus for its final flight to the Sixth Vertex Vertex on Easter Island.
Jack, knowing he would not be able to land it safely, intentionally crashed the Hali into the entrance of the Vertex, where it was washed inside by a tsunami. In order to prevent Carnivore from placing the pillar, Jack released the remaining wing, crashing it into the battlement before the Vertex. After Lily used the Sixth Pillar's power to weaken a portion of the battlement, the Halicarnassus' weight soon caused it to crumple, taking the Halicarnassus and Wolf with it into the deep chasm.
Attributes[]
Interior Hold and Cabins[]
The Halicarnassus's main cabin contains a comms room, barracks and Jack's office. The hold is used to store many kinds of terrestrial vehicles, and is capable of using a grappling hook to bring in anything hooked on.
Stealth Features[]
The Halicarnassus features black radar absorbent paint, odd multi-angled edges and has had its location transponder removed, making it impossible to detect through conventional methods. As such, the Hali has been able to avoid detection when fleeing from enemies attempted to track it, and also makes it ideal for launching surprise attacks.
Retrograde Thrust System[]
Wizard modified the Halicarnassus's engines with electromagnetic Retrograde Thrusters, which allow it to hover when facing directly upright. This was used during the battle at the Great Pyramid of Giza, serving as a platform from which Sky Monster and Pooh Bear rained fire on the CIEF forces. Whether or not it was capable of performing this feat again afterwards is unclear. The retrograde thrust system also does not allow for typical vertical take-off or landing.
Trivia[]
- The Halicarnassus was named after an ancient Greek city located in Turkey.
- The city was also the site of the sixth Ancient Wonder, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (however in the novel the Wonder's resting place was changed to the fictional Hamilcar's Refuge).
- The plane's name was etched into the hull when Jack liberated it, and he decided to keep it because he liked the name.
- In real life, a retrograde thrust system would be impossible for an actual 747 to use, as the plane is far too heavy for any VTOL features.
- During the flashback of The One Impossible Labyrinth that reveals how Jack found the Halicarnassus, it was mentioned to have been painted white, suggesting that Jack was the one to have had it painted in radar-absorbent stealth black.