Biko

Biko, referred to by the Covenant as Borodan, is a human Outer Colony planet and agriculture world located roughly 24 light-years from the Cygnus system and 58 light-years from the Epsilon Eridani system. One of its major population centers (at least before the Covenant attack) was Durban. The planet was glassed in 2526, becoming one of the first human worlds to fall to the Covenant, though it had been at least partially recolonized by 2558.

Topography and climate
Prior to its colonization by humanity, Biko's climate was too dry to be habitable. However, once the planet's terraforming efforts were completed, its atmosphere could produce life-supporting rain. By the time the Human-Covenant War had begun, the planet's climate had allowed it to become an agriculture world, providing food for other colonies. Biko is notable for its pink hue, which reflects strongly enough to illuminate the near side of Seoba, one of its moons. All three of its moons are rich in valuable resources, which were used to supply Biko's handful of shipyards. While Seoba had been largely abandoned by 2526, Biko's other two moons had large deposits of metal ores that were mined and transported to the orbital manufacturing stations via cargo drones to be processed.

Locations

 * Durban
 * Mandelam

Known residents

 * McKaskill
 * Erland Booth
 * Laurel Adams

Rise of humanity
Humanity's effort to terraform Biko began prior to 2424. During the initial stages of the planet's colonization, humans inhabited the ice moon of Seoba. To assist with the terraforming efforts, the colonists built an ice quarry and mass driver on the moon, using it to launch payloads of steel-encapsulated ice towards the planet, where they were captured by a purchasing party. The ice capsules were then guided to a rendezvous in Biko's stratosphere, attached to a dirigible and guided to their destination. By 2424, Biko had developed a climate humid enough to supply its own rain, and the Seoba quarry was put out of service and abandoned. Biko itself would become habitable by 2440, with humanity beginning colonization of the world in this year.

Following the emergence of the Insurrection, Biko became a hotbed for rebel activity, calling itself home to the Biko Independence Army. The BIA was continually a thorn in the UNSC's side, attempting to overthrow Biko's chancellor seven times, eventually managing to hold Mandelam for two months before failing.

Human-Covenant War
In early 2526, General Harper Garvin of the United Rebel Front informed other insurrectionist groups, such as the Biko Independence Army, of the Covenant threat. It was decided that they would attempt to trade United Nations Space Command secrets with the alien empire in exchange for their worlds' safety. A courier was sent to intercept a Silent Shadow squad and pass on a message requesting a meeting on Biko's moon of Seoba. The aliens tentatively decided to play along, sending a small flotilla to Seoba on March 19, 2526 to meet with the insurrectionist delegation. However, the day before, the UNSC's Task Force Yama had arrived, planning to ambush the very same Covenant fleet that had sent the flotilla. The UNSC forces defeated the insurgents and unwittingly set up camp in the ice quarry where the meeting was intended to be held. When the flotilla arrived, the task force was able to drive them back after destroying three of their five intrusion corvettes.

On March 20, 2526, the Fleet of Inexorable Obedience arrived at Biko, with the planet's meager navy, Task Force Yama, and a few other UNSC vessels moving to intercept. However, the fleet of over one hundred Covenant ships had been warned by the insurgents to watch for boarding parties, which prompted them to keep a tight fighter screen around their capital ships. This prevented Task Force Yama from inflicting the desired damage on the fleet. Despite the planet's small navy, the battle lasted five days before Biko fell to the Covenant. During the battle, the human defense forces managed to destroy five Covenant cruisers and all of the planets orbital shipyards, denying the Covenant fleet the ability to use them to service their own vessels. Once the human navy had been obliterated, Fleetmaster Nizat 'Kvarosee ordered the planet to be glassed, even though the fleet's carrier gas was beginning to run low following the recent loss of much of their logistics train. Following their fleetmaster's orders, the Fleet of Inexorable Obedience pushed the resulting debris field over the northern pole to allow their ships to glass the planet unobstructed. With the obstacles removed, the combined plasma bombardment caused Biko's atmosphere to combust, though the fleet continued their glassing operations as simply igniting the atmosphere would not be sufficient to fuse the ground and make the planet uninhabitable. However, the Fleet of Inexorable Obedience would soon leave Biko to defend the Covenant world of Zhoist from an impending counterattack.

Many survivors of Biko's fall joined a refugee program to help them find new homes. Some members of SPARTAN-III Alpha Company, including Carter-A259, were recruited into the program after being orphaned on Biko.

Post-war
After the Human-Covenant War, the fetcher Oliver Birch visited the debris field over Biko. There he retrieved an experimental saddle box drive from the, one of the cruisers that had partaken in the battle years prior.

Biko was recolonized after the war's end. In 2558, delegates from the Unified Earth Government and Sangheili convened at a regional embassy in a densely populated city on Biko to engage in peace talks. Both sides were coming to an agreement when Spartan John-117 entered the hall, attempting to stop a terrorist plot by Sapien Sunrise. John-117 abducted Outer Colonies ambassador Richard Sekibo and escorted the alien delegation to safety, fleeing the planet with the aliens aboard his personal spacecraft. During the firefight, Sekibo was mortally wounded and his corpse was left in a nearby field where it was discovered the next day.

Government and society
Biko's inhabitants were referred to as "Bikons". Biko's government was overseen by a Chancellor, who had a small planetary militia known as the Chancellor's Guards to assist in the defense of the planet from pirates and rebels. The Chancellor's Guards' naval fleet consisted of a few patrol frigates designed to disable smuggling vessels, as opposed to capital ship warfare. By the time of the Battle of Biko, roughly 50 ships were present at Biko, though the percentage of these ships belonging to the Chancellor's Guards and those belonging to the UNSC is unknown.

Trivia
The colony was likely named after Steve Biko, a twentieth-century South African civil rights activist.

List of appearances

 * Halo: First Strike
 * Tug o' War
 * i love bees
 * Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
 * Halo: Reach
 * Data pads
 * Hunt the Truth
 * Halo: Silent Storm
 * Halo: Outpost Discovery
 * Halo: Oblivion