Battle of the Sharquoi Hive

The Battle of the Sharquoi Hive was the final battle between UNSC Gray Team, elements of the Surakan Militia Volunteers, Rojka 'Kasaan and the Jiralhanae Chieftain Hekabe, his clan and the Sharquoi.

Background
In 2552, the Jiralhanae Chieftain Hekabe seized an opportunity during the Battle of Installation 00 to steal the vertex from Installation 00, a device that would allow him to control the beasts known as the Sharquoi. However, it took Hekabe six years to pinpoint the planet Carrow, located in one of the Joint Occupation Zones, as the location where the Sharquoi could be found.

In 2558, Sangheili Thars 'Sarov disagreed with his cousin Rojka 'Kasaan's desire to make peace with the humans of the UEG and particularly on Carrow. Thars ultimately turned this into a full-scale civil war. To help win, Thars made a deal with Hekabe for his help, unaware that Hekabe's true intention was to unearth the Sharquoi hive, located near the human city of Suraka. With Hekabe's help, Thars decimated Rojka's fleet, but after he confronted Hekabe for going to the surface, Hekabe turned on him. The battle between the Jiralhanae and the Sangheili ships left all but Hekabe's flagship, the Foebane, which he was using to excavate the Sharquoi hive destroyed while most of Thars' ships were destroyed. The majority of the ones that weren't were forced to land on Carrow for repairs, leaving only three badly damaged Covenant frigates in orbit.

In an attempt to protect her planet and her people, Governor Ellis Gass began preparing a counterattack which eventually came to be known as Operation: BUZZHAWK. Though all of her slipspace-capable vessels were destroyed at the beginning of the conflict, Ellis still had a dozen merchant ships armed with point-defense guns which were capable of destroying Thars' remaining ships in their damaged state. Combined with her ground assets, Ellis convinced her generals to launch the strike in an effort to end the conflict. However, while the militia succeeded in destroying Foebane, they were too late to keep Hekabe from accessing the hive and taking control of the Sharquoi within.

Shortly after the victory over the cruiser, Hekabe and his forces attacked, but were temporarily driven back after Hekabe was wounded by Adriana-111. Hekabe's forces took over the surviving Surakan ships and assaulted Thars' ships, taking them over at the cost of the human vessels so that Hekabe would have slipspace-capable ships that could carry the Sharquoi off of Carrow. Working with Gray Team, Rojka brought down Thars and ultimately executed him, but Thars refused to listen and have his ships destroy their slipspace drives until it was too late.

Based off of the readings taken from Hekabe while he was using the vertex, Ellis and her engineering team realized that Hekabe's control of the vertex and by extension the Sharquoi could be disrupted by an EMP. Ellis and her team managed to construct a crude EMP cannon out of an M68 Gauss cannon and Suraka's HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon. With Vice Governor Lamar Edwards using all of the militia's resources to evacuate the civilians, Ellis sought out the help of the Spartans to launch a direct attack on Hekabe in the hive. Rojka and UEG envoy Melody Azikiwe also volunteered to help and Ellis managed to convince Lamar to spare an M121 Jackrabbit to carry the EMP cannon as well as a squad of eight soldiers led by Corporal Wyse to aid them. Gray Team secured the cannon in place of the Jackrabbit's usual heavy gun and rigged a parachute to it in order to ensure that the vehicle would land safely.

Battle
With the Jackrabbit attached to one Pelican carrying Gray Team, Melody Azikiwe and Rojka 'Kasaan and a second Pelican carrying Corporal Wyse and her squad, the assault force flew low over the roads of Suraka towards the crater containing the Sharquoi hive, remaining high enough that the Sharquoi couldn't reach them, but low enough that they could get in before Hekabe's forces could formulate a response. As they flew through the streets, the Pelicans came under fire from Jiralhanae gun platforms that had been combing the streets, grazing the craft but failing to stop them. The Pelicans made it through the streets of Suraka and flew out over the crater and Jai-006, jumping in tandem with Governor Ellis Gass, Adriana-111 jumping in tandem with Melody Azikiwe and Rojka 'Kasaan took positions holding onto the Jackrabbit which Mike-120 was already in the cab of. As the Pelican flew over the opening into the hive, it flew straight up into the air and on Jai's mark, the Jackrabbit and its passengers were released. However, the Pelican was hit by anti-aircraft fire from Jiralhanae gunners around the crater's rim and had its tail blown off. The second Pelican pulled the same maneuver and successfully released the militia squad with the humans and one Sangheili proving to be too small of a target for the Jiralhanae gunners to hit.

Once everybody was away from the Pelicans, Jai, Adrianna and Rojka pushed away from the Jackrabbit and flew about it as the bike descended towards the splayed Forerunner petals and the shaft in the middle of it. As the assault force got closer, the Jiralhanae gunners intensified their fire on them and Hekabe began closing the entrance in a desperate attempt to keep them out. However, the attempt failed and the assault force made it through the closing opening and deployed their parachutes. Mike was able to land the Jackrabbit on one of the descending ramps situated around the edge of the shaft, bouncing horribly, but the vehicle survived the landing. Before safely landing themselves, Jai and Adriana cut Ellis and Melody free with Jai noting the lack of Sharquoi due to Hekabe not anticipating the stunt. Although the Surakan militia also managed to make it into the shaft, one landed hard and badly broke his leg. Not able to take the man with them, Wyse dosed him with painkillers and they dragged the man to a shadowed corner at the side of the shaft in order to give the soldier a chance at living.

After checking over the EMP cannon, Ellis determined that it hadn't been damaged in the landing while Rojka, standing upslope and looking out over a large cavern with ambient red light filtering upwards, called out a warning that he had spotted the Sharquoi. Gray Team and Ellis climbed onto the Jackrabbit and began making their way across the cavern towards a bridge accompanied by Rojka and the militia squad. After they left, Sharquoi arrived from the surface and the injured soldier, either unable or unwilling to remain hidden, fired on it with a battle rifle before detonating three explosives as a last stand. As the assault force made their way across the bridge, Mike warned everybody to watch out for synchronized behavior as, due to Hekabe's control over them, the Sharquoi fought as one, not individuals. Two Sharquoi bounded across the bridge directly towards them and Adriana leapt from the Jackrabbit and shot the creature twice in the head, causing it to stumble and fall to its hands and knees, but nevertheless try to drag itself towards them. Rojka attacked the other Sharquoi with his energy sword, slicing the creature's arms off and then kicking it into the back and into the lava when it tried to get its footing and fight him. Rojka then approached the half-dead Sharquoi and roared to Hekabe that they were coming for him before driving his energy sword into the creature's skull, killing it.

Adriana noted that it wasn't as heavily defended underground and guessed that most of the Sharquoi were still outside and above them as Hekabe wouldn't have expected them to just jump right into the hive like they did. Jai and Melody dismounted from the Jackrabbit and began warily walking across the bridge towards a series of large towers that came into view. Taking up position on their left, Rojka noted that Hekabe only knew violence and trickery and not general strategy which they could use to their advantage by attacking in the human way. Reaching the center of the bridge, Mike brought the Jackrabbit to a stop and Jai asked Ellis where they needed to go next. Checking a screen on the cannon, Ellis stated that they needed to go deeper and that if something happened to her, they needed to know to just keep going deeper. Continuing, the group noticed fifty Sharquoi guarding the entrance to the hive itself while far more than that poured in from the surface in order to help stop them.

As Gray Team and Ellis discussed the situation, Rojka questioned their pause and Jai explained that the closer they got to Hekabe and the vertex, the greater the impact the cannon would have and they were not yet close enough. Rojka announced that they had to surround and trap Hekabe, shocking Melody who pointed out that they were the ones surrounded, but Rojka asked her to speak of his bravery if they made it back to the surface and moved down the bridge towards the mass of Sharquoi. Drawing but not yet activating his energy sword, Rojka explained that he would be the spear of their assault and to wait until they saw Rojka scatter the Sharquoi in confusion at which point the time would be right to press their own attack. Rojka sprinted at the Sharquoi, sure that they would be able to see him coming and possibly trap Rojka eventually, but not before his suicidal attack would tie up Hekabe's attention. As Rojka approached the end of the bridge, the Sharquoi retreated toward a dais at the front of the Forerunner structure's entrance behind which Hekabe stood, surrounding himself with Sharquoi like a wall. Apparently taking the lone threat seriously, Hekabe had Sharquoi jump down from one and two levels above Rojka and ten Sharquoi moved directly in front of him with incredible speed. Despite being heavily outnumbered, Rojka fought to be remembered, for his honor and to give his strange team of allies the chance to kill Hekabe and save countless worlds from the threat that he posed. As Rojka clashed with the first creature, the rest of the team raced across the bridge after him with Jai and Adriana joining Rojka in the attack and two of the militia members firing RPGs at the Sharquoi. Rojka guessed that either Hekabe was taken off-guard by the direct attack or he was being defensive and was doing his best to keep a wall between himself and the Spartans that had nearly killed him. Either way, the Sharquoi appeared to be scrambling to deal with the swarm of enemies that were attacking. One of the Spartans engaged a Sharquoi off to Rojka's side dodging its blow, throwing the creature off-kilter before the Spartan threw the Sharquoi off the bridge and into the lava below as they raced for the dais. On the other end of the bridge, the militia soldiers struggled to use their heaviest infantry weapons to hold off the creatures coming down from the surface, but began falling one by one as all they could really do was buy the Spartans time to get the Jackrabbit and the cannon further along the bridge without the Sharquoi destroying it. More and more Sharquoi streamed out of towers and walls that enclosed them while dozens more emerged from the alcoves where they had been kept by the Forerunners for millennia. Rojka drew the creatures into a close-quarters battle where the Sharquoi were forced to fight against their numbers, often damaging each other with their great size and powerful blows, effectively turning their great strength against them in the heart of their mob.

Killing four more Sharquoi, Rojka managed to pierce the wall of the creatures and was left with Hekabe just a few bounds away on the other side of the Forerunner wall. Hekabe turned his attention from Rojka to the approaching humans and then back again before, without warning, a Sharquoi slammed into Rojka before he could get inside, flinging his body towards the lava pit. Rojka instinctively stabbed the blade of his sword into the cavern's floor as he tumbled towards the edge and although it snapped free from his hand, Rojka was able to catch the ledge just as he fell over and pull himself to safety. Assessing the situation, Rojka saw that his gambit had worked: Rojka's suicidal attack had caused Hekabe to pull the Sharquoi to himself in a protective reflex, giving the Spartans and militia more time to get to Hekabe, the creatures concentrated numbers making the smaller and nimbler targets more difficult to kill. However, as Rojka watched, a Sharquoi dropped from above on the front of the Jackrabbit as it moved toward the base of the bridge. As sparks and flames erupted from the front end of the bike, Mike emerged and shot the creature point-blank, sending it over the bridge and into the lava. Ellis ran to check the cannon from the safe position behind the vehicle where she and Melody had hidden during the battle as Jai and Adriana darted back to join her, providing covering fire as the Sharquoi pressed toward their position. As Rojka looked towards Hekabe, still within the Forerunner structure, dozens of new Sharquoi flowed around him, coming from the base of a cylindrical tower at the very heart of the hive and poured out of the front gate while overhead, more of the creatures began to leap from the ramps and bridges connecting the towers high above them. These Sharquoi would fall hundreds of meters and strike the bridge as living bombs, jostling everything on the bridge and leaving Rojka wondering how long the bridge could hold under such duress. With the Jackrabbit irreparably damaged, Rojka declared that it was time to die with honor and charged the wall of Sharquoi and Hekabe behind them.

Aftermath
Two days later, after recovering from the battle, Rojka 'Kasaan was returned to Rak where he discovered that Kaidon Akato 'Dakaj had taken over the city in his and Thars 'Sarov's absence. With Thars' forces dead and having fought alongside Grey Team, Rojka no longer sought vengeance against them for the destruction of Glyke. With the lasting effects of the conflict showing the need for closer relations between the Sangheili and humans on Carrow, Rojka agreed to act as an envoy between the two sides to help bring the two sides closer together.

Gray Team rendezvoused with the UNSC frigate when it arrived in orbit where they accepted a deal to work with a specialized interspecies strike team under the authority of the Office of Naval Intelligence in exchange for a pardon for their war crimes and a list of other demands. When Rear Admiral Serin Osman revealed her presence onboard the vessel, Commander Ivrin Yarick reported that ONI's contacts in the Surakan science agencies and the Welcome to the Snipehunt's scans both indicated that the Sharquoi were all wiped out in the explosion from the HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon. While Yarick believed that they were clean, he promised that they would keep an eye on the desert for any Sharquoi that might've escaped.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Envoy