Sharquoi hive

A Sharquoi Hive is a Forerunner facility in which the Sharquoi were housed.

Description

The Sharquoi Hive on the planet of Carrow was a vast structure that had been buried approximately a hundred meters underground. The entrance of the facility was a blue and green spire that originally stood at around fifteen meters tall. When the facility was activated by the vertex, this spire opened and spread out into four enormous "petals", revealing the entrance. Immediately inside of the Hive was a vast chasm that dropped directly down to the planet's mantle. This pit was lined a great number of ramps carved into the walls, granting access to the lower levels of the facility. At the bottom of the pit stood three Forerunner towers that dwarfed human skyscrapers. The bases of these towers were connected into a citadel with a fortified outer wall that slipped away when interacting with the vertex. This citadel was connected to the ramp by a large bridge. Within the citadel were hundreds of thousands of stasis field devices that each contained a Sharquoi.

History

Forerunner-Flood War

At the peak of the Forerunner-Flood war the Forerunners began utilizing the Sharquoi in a desperate bid to combat the Flood. These creatures were stored en masse in stasis fields within the Sharquoi Hives.

Human-Covenant War

At some point, the Covenant happened across a Sharquoi Hive on a remote world. They were immediately hidden by the Covenant Hierarchs, the facility's existence known only to them and some Sangheili and San'Shyuum who were close to them. These Sharquoi were rarely released from the facility as the Covenant lacked the means to control them.

Operation: POLECAT

Main article: Operation: POLECAT

After the conclusion of the Human-Covenant War and the establishment of the Joint Occupation Zone, the Office of Naval Intelligence learned of the existence of the Sharquoi and the location of the Hierarch's Sharquoi Hive through interviews with Sangheili defectors and contacts. Thus Operation: POLECAT was put into motion. ONI dispatched an expedition to investigate the site alongside a destroyer crewed by trusted Sangheili. Upon reaching the planet and entering the Hive, ONI personnel attempted to extract the facility's terminal data, inadvertently releasing a single Sharquoi from its stasis field. This creature went on to kill fifty Orbital Drop Shock Troopers before being taken down. After the task force left the hive, they nuked and glassed the facility from orbit to prevent the creatures from ever escaping.

Pre-Carrow Conflict

Sometime after Operation: POLECAT, ONI became aware of the presence of another Sharquoi hive that was buried underneath the human city of Suraka on the planet of Carrow. Unable to remove the human settlers or keep a military force on standby, they opted to construct a Forward Operating Base called Gila Station in the Uldt Desert in order to monitor the hive. Commander Greg van Eekhout was assigned to this post.

Carrow Conflict

After recovering the vertex and decerning the location of the Sharquoi Hive on Carrow, the Jiralhanae Chieftain Hekabe led the Voice of Maardoth in an invasion of Suraka. He captured the area directly above the hive, destroying all buildings in the area and clearing the debris with several thousand Unggoy. Hekabe then ordered that the Varric-pattern heavy cruiser Foebane begin excavating the area with its Energy projector. They eventually uncovered the facility's entrance spire, with Hekabe and Anexus being the first Jiralhanae to reach the site. Hekabe then used the vertex to open the hive and led three war packs down to the base of the facility. Once he reached the citadel situated among the three towers, Hekabe wore the vertex for the first time, lowering the citadel's outer wall and revealing the Sharquoi stasis fields. He began releasing them and using them to attack the Surakan Militia Volunteers forces on the surface that had gathered around the entrance of the facility.

After Gray Team's failed assassination attempt on Hekabe and the detonation of a dozen Surakan thermobaric around the ring of the crater that held the facility, Hekabe retreated back into the hive with a portion of the Sharquoi. Later, a group of humans and Sangheili returned to the facility in an attempt to wrest control of the Sharquoi from Hekabe. This team consisted of Gray Team, Diplomatic Corps envoy Melody Azikiwe, Surakan Governor Ellis Gass, Sangheili Kaidon Rojka 'Kasaan, and a squad of Surakan militia commanded by Corporal Wyse. They entered the facility via ariel insertion alongside a M121 Jackrabbit that was mounted with a M68 Gauss cannon that was powered by a reconfigured HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon. This device would disrupt Hekabe's connection with the Sharquoi. After making it through the entrance, the team parachuted to the base of the hive. They then battled their way across the bridge to Hekabe's position within the citadel, successfully using the device to sever his connection with the Sharquoi. Ellis then took control of the vertex, killing Hekabe and recalling the Sharquoi back to the hive. After killing all the Sharquoi that were not within the hive and allowing the surviving members of her team to flee the facility via Pelican, Ellis detonated the HAVOK nuke, destroying herself, the Sharquoi hive, and the remaining Sharquoi forces of Carrow.

List of appearances

• Halo: Envoy (First appearance)