Taming of the Lekgolo: Difference between revisions

{{Era|Covenant}}

|date=[[789 BCE|789]]–[[784 BCE]]<ref name="universe">[[Halo Waypoint]]: [https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/species/lekgolo-mgalekgolo-hunter ''Lekgolo/Mgalekgolo'']</ref> ([[Age of Conversion]])<ref name="enc120">''[[Halo Encyclopedia]]'', p. 120 (2011)</ref>

|commanders1=[[Unidentified Arbiter (Taming of the Lekgolo)|Unidentified Arbiter]]{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}

In the nascent years of the [[Covenant]], during one of the first [[Ages of Conversion]],{{Ref/Reuse|enc120}} early [[San'Shyuum]] experiments with primitive, reverse-engineered copies of the [[Forerunner Dreadnought]]'s [[luminary]] led them to [[Te]] in the [[Svir system]], located relatively close to the [[Sangheili]]'s native [[Urs system]].<ref name="ch16">''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]'', Chapter 16</ref> Arriving in orbit around Te in [[789 BCE]],{{Ref/Reuse|universe}} the San'Shyuum had hoped to find a treasure trove of [[Forerunner]] relics, but instead only found the [[Lekgolo]] worms, settled around the rings and [[moon]]s of Te.{{Ref/Reuse|ch16}} At the time of the Covenant's arrival, the Lekgolo were a Tier 3 race on the [[Technological Achievement Tiers]], indicating space-faring capabilities.{{Ref/Reuse|bestiarum}}

However, the Covenant soon discovered that Te's rings of icy rocks were fragments of a destroyed Forerunner installation.{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}{{Ref/Reuse|ch16}} The Lekgolo had consumed the installation over millennia, ingesting metal and rock and spitting it out as they made their tight and twisting burrows. The Lekgolo colonies had very differing diets, with some colonies only digesting Forerunner alloys, while others would only consume rock rich in crushed circuits. Only a rare handful of colonies would avoid such foreign objects altogether, carefully cutting around the battered remains of the Forerunner installation.{{Ref/Reuse|ch16}}

Sangheili warriors were ordered to eradicate the Lekgolo,{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}{{Ref/Reuse|ch16}} as well as take control of Te for its resources. However, the Covenant was met with a protracted and difficult resistance, as the Lekgolo's physiology gave them a tremendous fighting advantage on their own world.{{Ref/Reuse|bestiarum}} The Sangheili proved to be ill-equipped to combat the Lekgolo, who ostensibly lacked ships and soldiers. Additionally, the Lekgolo sought shelter from the Covenant's wrath within fortifications built throughout the rings, hidden within the very structures the Covenant wished to preserve.{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}{{Ref/Reuse|ch16}}

The Covenant was soon handed its first defeat in battle<ref name="enc311">''Halo Encyclopedia'', p. 311 (2011)</ref> as conventional measures failed to wipe out the Lekgolo around the Rings of Te.<ref name="h2a terminal">''[[Halo 2: Anniversary]]'', [[Terminal (Halo 2: Anniversary)|Terminal 8: "Taming the Hunters"]]</ref> The Covenant soon learned that waging a war of extermination against trillions of Lekgolo eels was a battle they could not win.{{Ref/Reuse|universe}} The tide of battle turned even worse for the Covenant in [[784 BCE]] on the moon of [[Rentus]],<ref>Halo Waypoint: [https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/forums/db05ce78845f4120b062c50816008e5d/topics/catalog-interaction/4c3e1c6f-6519-4ee0-83a4-4bac13bf07a3/posts?page=37#post732 ''Catalog Interaction'']</ref> when first contact was made with the [[Mgalekgolo]], a [[subsistence gestalt]] of the Lekgolo that forms extremely powerful warriors.{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}{{Ref/Reuse|enc120}} This newly discovered gestalt made the Lekgolo an even greater challenge for the Sangheili warriors to defeat in combat.{{Ref/Reuse|enc120}}

The [[Hierarchs]] eventually decided to dispatch [[Unidentified Arbiter (Taming of the Lekgolo)|an Arbiter]], who traveled alone to the Svir system and ventured across the surface of the moon [[Rantu]], where the [[Arbiter]] learned both the Lekgolo's strengths and weaknesses as he battled the Mgalekgolo. While on Rantu, the Arbiter discovered that while some Lekgolo were responsible for the destruction of the Forerunner installation, others were not and instead worked around the Forerunner materials.{{Ref/Reuse|h2a terminal}} With this insight, the Arbiter proposed "taming" the Lekgolo and assimilating them into the Covenant,{{Ref/Reuse|ch16}}{{Ref/Reuse|universe}} allowing the empire to put the habits of these Lekgolo to good use,{{Ref/Reuse|ch16}} capitalizing on the Lekgolo's excavation, transportation, and combat abilities.{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}

While the San'Shyuum were eager to assert their moral authority, they reluctantly agreed that the Lekgolo, if properly trained, could be very useful when interacting with Forerunner technology and absolved the Lekgolo of their sins.{{Ref/Reuse|ch16}} The Covenant turned to negotiating with the Lekgolo, slowed by communication difficulty,{{Ref/Reuse|bestiarum}} where the Sangheili eventually threatened to destroy the Lekgolo with [[nuclear weapon]]s.{{Ref/Reuse|enc311}} Faced with extinction,<ref name="bc">''[[Halo: Broken Circle]]'', Chapter 15</ref> the Lekgolo surrendered and were welcomed into the Covenant.{{Ref/Reuse|enc120}}{{Ref/Reuse|enc311}}