Te

Te is a gas giant and the fifth planet orbiting the star Svir. It is the homeworld of the Lekgolo species.

Early history
The Forerunners once had a presence on Te and constructed platforms in orbit around the planet; at this time the Lekgolo had not yet evolved into sapience. The orbital platforms formed a ring around Te and these installations would later be known as the "Rings of Te". At some point, the Forerunners took the Thanolekgolo forms off of Te and used them in a failed plan to defeat the Flood.

After the firing of the Halo Array, the Lekgolo were able to develop Tier 3 technology on their own, although the Lekgolo's development of space travel was severely hampered by Te's high gravity. Despite this impediment, the Lekgolo managed to venture to Te's orbit and colonized several Forerunner installations there a number of millennia before their contact with the Covenant. Many of these Lekgolo fed on the Forerunner alloys and had eventually demolished the constructs almost completely.

The Covenant
In 789 BCE, a Luminary led the Covenant to Te, the gas giant being relatively close to the Sangheili's native Urs system. In 784 BCE Te became the first world home to a sapient species discovered by the Covenant since the empire's formation. The Covenant arrived in the Svir system with the intent to harvest the trove of Forerunner relics orbiting Te, but were appalled to find that the Lekgolo had nearly completely devoured the rings. For the Lekgolo's unauthorized contact with Forerunner relics, the Hierarchs of the Covenant ordered the extermination of the species. This led to the Taming of the Lekgolo, a war where the Sangheili confronted the Lekgolo on the rings and colonies of Te. The Sangheili experienced difficulty battling the Lekgolo, as the latter species fortified themselves in the very structures the Covenant was trying to preserve. The Lekgolo's Mgalekgolo form was first encountered by the Covenant on Te's moon of Rentus, and the form proved to be effective at combating the Sangheili.

Eventually, an Arbiter, whom had studied the Lekgolo and Mgalekgolo on the moon of Rantu, suggested that the Lekgolo could be "tamed" and put to better uses as part of the Covenant hierarchy. Reluctantly, the San'Shyuum agreed and forgave the Lekgolo's "sins". In the end, Te was incorporated into the Covenant Empire and the Lekgolo became the fourth client race to join the Covenant, with the Lekgolo's own interest in this arrangement being largely based on their access to the Covenant's advanced space-faring technology. By 2552, the Lekgolo continued to live on Te and were sent metals to feed on by the Hierarchs of the Covenant.

Characteristics
Te is a high-gravity, massive, blue gas giant with an atmosphere primarily composed of nitrogen, helium, and methane. The gas giant is the fifth planet in orbit in the Svir system. It is orbited by twenty-five natural satellites, only three of which, Uhtua, Rantu, and Rentus, are known to be named. It has a temperature range of -20°C to 95°C (-4°F to 203°F) and is a quite large, planet with a thick, gaseous atmosphere. This planet is known to have very high concentrations of rare metals in orbit, many of which serve as food for the Lekgolo worms. All of the intact Forerunner artifacts were removed from Te by the Covenant. Few non-natives of Te journey to the planet, due to its crushing high gravity and atmosphere.

Rings of Te
"The blasphemous creatures had devoured a Forerunner orbital, shattering its remains into a trillion pieces. What was left became the Rings of Te."

- A San'Shyuum scribe referring to the rings

The Rings of Te are the artificial planetary rings that orbit the gas giant. At some point, the rings were constructed by the Forerunners around the planet as an installation of unknown function. Several of Te's natural satellites, including Rantu, were in close orbit with these rings. The Lekgolo, to some extent, evolved on these planetary rings. The Lekgolo's extremophilic nature allowed the species to comfortably live in the Rings of Te for vast periods of time. Some colonies of Lekgolo feasted upon the rings' metal and slowly destroyed most of the installation after many years of living in the rings.

A Luminary discovered by the Covenant led them to the Rings of Te. The Covenant was horrified when they discovered the damage done to the rings, and declared war on the Lekgolo when they realized that the species was responsible. However, the Covenant realized that they could not win a war against the Lekgolo fortified within the Forerunner structures they wished to preserve. After the Lekgolo's induction into the Covenant, the Covenant utilized the Lekgolo's expertise and resources to mine rare metals and minerals from the rings.

Trivia

 * Te probably has the greatest population of any Covenant world, if each individual Lekgolo worm is considered a separate being.
 * In the Chinese philosophy of Daoism, "Te" is used to represent the concept of virtue or potentiality. In Confucianism it represents the virtue of internal goodness and proper behavior toward others.
 * Though the Bestiarum explicitly describes Te as a terrestrial world with a solid surface, the planet is described as a gas giant in Halo: Contact Harvest and the Halo Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Halo Universe. Strangely, the Halo Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Halo Universe elsewhere contradicts itself by stating that Te is often mistaken for a gas giant but is actually a terrestrial planet. However, recent sources, including Halo: Broken Circle, the Halo 2: Anniversary Terminals, Halo Waypoint's article on the Lekgolo, and 343 Industries' Jeff Easterling consistently refer to Te as a gas giant.

List of appearances

 * Halo 3
 * Bestiarum
 * Halo: Contact Harvest
 * Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
 * Halo: Broken Circle
 * Halo 2: Anniversary
 * Terminals
 * Halo Mythos