Lekgolo
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| Lekgolo | |
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| Physical information | |
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Avg. length: |
134–155 cm (52.8–61 in)[1] |
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Avg. weight: |
5.6-30.7 kg (12.4-67.7 lbs)[1] |
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Distinctions: |
Small worm-like creatures that unify into single entities called "subsistence gestalts" |
| Sociocultural information | |
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Homeworld: |
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Native Tier 3/Adopted Tier 2[2] | |
The Lekgolo[3] are a species of small colonial worm-like creatures that can join together to form purpose specific assemblages, known as subsistence gestalts. Each Lekgolo is an individual organism, about 1.4 meters long, with its own central nervous system. Lekgolo are also able to arrange themselves within machinery and use their combined intelligence to pilot or control it.[4]
One of the most successful and culturally enigmatic gestalt intelligences in the Orion Arm of the Milky Way galaxy,[2] the Lekgolo became the first species to be annexed into the Covenant in 784 BCE.[5]
History[edit]
The Lekgolo first evolved on one of the moons of the gas giant, Te, and thrived by feeding off the rich metal deposits in its crust. The Forerunners cataloged the Lekgolo in their time, albeit in considerably different assemblages than the ones that would be encountered later on.[2] Lekgolo specimens of the Thanolekgolo configuration were to be used in a failed plan undertaken by the Forerunners to defeat the Flood.[6] A number of these specimens were ultimately buried under the surface of Installation 04 by the Forerunners for unknown reasons.[7] They survived the firing of the Array and continued to reproduce and exist as a population for many thousands of years.
Since their combined forms could potentially be highly intelligent, the Lekgolo were able to develop Tier 3 technology on their own, though their space travel capabilities remained highly limited due to the high gravity of their homeworld.[2] At some point following the firing of the Halo Array and their reintroduction to the moons of Te, a number of Lekgolo colonies settled in Forerunner installations orbiting the gas giant. These colonies developed distinct appetites; while many consumed the Forerunner structures themselves for food, others ate anything except Forerunner materials. After several millennia, the Forerunner constructs were almost completely broken down, with the debris forming rings in the planet's orbit.[8]
Contact with the Covenant[edit]
- Main article: Taming of the Lekgolo
- "Our first encounter with the Lekgolo was an effort in futility. The blasphemous creatures had devoured a Forerunner orbital, shattering its remains into a trillion pieces."
- — A San'Shyuum Covenant scribe recalls the Taming of the Lekgolo.
The Lekgolo first came into contact with the Covenant when the alien order arrived at Te in search of Forerunner artifacts in 789 BCE.[1] It discovered that the rings of Te were in fact the remains of a Forerunner orbital construct and soon realized the Lekgolo were responsible for destroying it. The San'Shyuum viewed this as heresy, and declared war on the Lekgolo in what would later be called the Taming of the Lekgolo. Covenant fleet commanders soon found that indiscriminate destruction would have unacceptable consequences: since the Lekgolo largely lived in and among sacred relics that the Sangheili were trying to preserve, simply annihilating the Lekgolo would have resulted in the destruction of those relics.[8]
Likewise, carrying out a ground campaign against the Lekgolo proved difficult, as the Lekgolo were able to combine into powerful collectives, most notably the Mgalekgolo;[1] consequently, the Lekgolo won most, if not all, ground engagements.[2] The Covenant's forces were completely overwhelmed by the sheer size, ferocity and teamwork of their foes.[8] As a result, Jeht 'Lcmutee, the Arbiter who was created during this crisis, suggested that they could be "tamed" and put to better uses as part of the Covenant. The San'Shyuum eventually agreed and decided to forge a pact with the Lekgolo, allowing them to join the Covenant despite their offenses against "sacred" Forerunner artifacts.[2][8]
Service in the Covenant[edit]
Despite initial difficulties at contact due to the Lekgolo's alien methods of communication,[2] the Covenant incorporated the Lekgolo into their ranks in 784 BCE.[5] The Mgalekgolo gestalts, armed with thick armor plates and assault cannons, would come to serve the Covenant as shock troops. Even larger Lekgolo colony assemblages were weaponized as Covenant assault platforms, Scarab and the Harvester, the latter of which is operated by a meta-colony referred to as a Sbaolekgolo.[9] Individual Lekgolo worms, specifically conditioned not to ingest Forerunner alloys, were employed by the ascetic priests studying the Forerunner Dreadnought in High Charity. A number of these Lekgolo stopped Mendicant Bias from taking off in the Forerunner Dreadnought by short circuiting the ship's systems, themselves dying in the process.[8]
Post-Covenant[edit]
During the Great Schism, the species was divided between those that remained loyal to the Covenant, led by the High Prophet of Truth, and those that supported and sided with the Sangheili at the time. During the further conflicts in the wake of the Human-Covenant War, the Lekgolo largely stayed with the Sangheili they had served prior to the Great Schism. A number of these colonies would side with the Swords of Sanghelios, and many would end up fighting alongside the UNSC on occasion.[10] However, many would fight on behalf of other Covenant remnants, including Jul 'Mdama's new Covenant, Vata 'Gajat's mercenary group, and the Banished.
After the destruction of Installation 04, feral Thanolekgolo swarms that had been sealed beneath the ring's surface by the Forerunners were able to break free in certain sections of the ring, namely Alpha Shard, a fragment propelled through slipspace into a close orbit around a red giant. Because of their extremophilic nature and ability to burrow underground, the Lekgolo were able to survive on the fragment for years despite the extreme daytime temperatures.[7] These Lekgolo were highly aggressive, and significantly faster and more agile than their more commonly-encountered brethren.[11] During a joint ONI-Sedran Colonial Guard expedition to Alpha Shard, these Lekgolo swarms hunted and consumed almost the entire group, leaving only two survivors. They were killed when Colonel Randall Aiken detonated a HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon to destroy the shard's deposits of a new element fatal to humans.[11]