| Mgalekgolo | |
|---|---|
| H2A-SOSMgalekgolo.png | |
| (Ophis congregatio) | |
Vital statistics
| |
| Universe | Earth-5875 |
| Base of Operations | |
| Body Type | Annelidian |
| Eyes | None |
| Hair | None |
| Skin | Orange Brown |
| Number of Limbs | None |
| Special Adaptations | A single entity created by a unified colony of small worm-like sapients called lekgolo |
| Notable Individuals | "Colony" Igido Nosa Hurru Magsanggalang Magtanggol Makipagtunggali Nakagagalit Ogada Nosa Fasu Paruto Xida Konna Waruna Xida Yotno |
| Home Planet | Te |
Origins
| |
| Origin | Unknown |
| Created by | Draft227 |
They're all scary and angry and they like to smash things.. 
- - Anonymous UNSC Marine
The mgalekgolo (Latin Ophis congregatio, meaning "myriad of serpents"), are a a gestalt of the sapient species lekgolo, from the planet Te. The third species to join the fractured Covenant, the mgalekgolo are in fact, the least common lekgolo collective, but the most well known to the other Covenant species and humans, who know them as Hunters. The mgalekgolo differ from other forms as it assumes a bipedal stance to combat, becoming the most formidable of all Covenant ground warriors. Mgalekgolo can also operate within vehicles, such as Type-47 Scarabs and Skitterers.
History[]
The Ark and reseeding[]
During the Forerunner-Xenomorph War, the Librarian visited Te as a part of the Conservation Measure to save lekgolo specimens for the Ecumene, and index them in the Ark so they could survive the activation of the Halo Array. After the rings were lighted and all life extinct, the lekgolo, alongside all remaining living species in the galaxy, were returned to their homeworld via Keyships, where they started rebuilding their culture.
Taming of the Lekgolo[]
An Arbiter facing three mgalekgolo during the Taming of the Lekgolo.
After the founding of Covenant, the hegemony's expansion through the galaxy led them to Te, the lekgolo homeworld. Despite the best wishes of the sangheili and the san'shyuum to find forerunner artifacts, they stumbled upon lekgolo hives inside the rings that surrounded the planet, which were in fact destroyed remnants of an ancient forerunner station that orbited the gas giant, being the lekgolo's source of food for millennia.
The Covenant saw such thing as heretical and started a genocidal military campaign against the species which would be pejoratively known as the Taming of the Lekgolo. After the initial massacre proved more difficult than expected, the Covenant sent an Arbiter to Rantu in order to study the lekgolo for one year. There, the Arbiter discovered the lekgolo combining into one mgalekgolo, forming around a series of rock to support their bipedal forms. Seeing the potential of the lekgolo, the Arbiter returned to High Charity, where he suggested the Hierarchs to consider inducting the lekgolo into the Covenant, and while this was accepted, the lekgolo resisted. Despite winning most ground battles because of their immense gestalt sizes and sheer combined power, they faced extinction, and were thus forced to join the alien invaders' hegemony duo to superior technology.
Service in the Covenant[]
The mgalekgolo were then armed with thick armor planets, made out of the same material of Covenant starships, and assault cannons, becoming shock troopers for the hegemony. They participated in multiple conflicts through Covenant history, such as the conquering of the the kig-yar, the unggoy, the yanme'e, and the jiralhanae, as well as the First Contact War. During the Great Schism, most mgalekgolo sided with the sangheili and subsequently the Swords of Sanghelios, although many still remained at the side of the Prophets of Truth and Mercy.
Biology[]
Anatomy and physiology[]
Lekgolo that form a mgalekgolo.
Mgalekgolo height between 12' 1" (368 cms) to 12' 3" (373 cms), while they average their weight between 10,000 lbs (4,500 cms) to 11,000 lbs (5,000 kgs), making them the tallest species of the Covenant, towering over their fellow sangheili and jiralhanae warriors. In battle, they typically hunch themselves in order to protect their vulnerable armor sections that reveal their lekgolo, where they are reduced to 10' 1" (307 cms). Mgalekgolo are not single organisms, but in fact a collective of lekgolo, who assemble themselves together to form a physical and neurological "hive-minded" bomb. Together, they think and work as an eusocial unit without using verbal communication, combining their neural nets to develop tools, weapons, and communication. While the mgalekgolo was the most commonly seen lekgolo form by both the Covenant and humanity, they are actually one of the rarer and smaller forms present in lekgolo society, solely used for combat and interaction with the Covenant's species. The species' main mean of combat is the approximation of a hunter-killer formation between two mgalekgolo, who share a neurological connection, known as bond-brothers.
Mgalekgolo do not have vocal cords, and so they communicate by vibrating their bodies to produce low rumbles that resemble speech, which makes them somewhat capable of speaking Digom in a process that is described as being "felt", and not heard. Office of Naval Intelligence scientists suggested that the mgalekgolo's quiet nature towards the other species of the Covenant is a direct result of their inability to speak Digom, much like the huragok and the yanme'e. As evidenced by their names, mgalekgolo speech only use simple vowels and few consonants.
They are equipped with massive assault cannons that are directly integrated to their body armor, alongside a two-ton pavise shield made of nanolaminate, the same material used in the Covenant's starships, which make their armor and shield almost impervious to both plasma weapons and infantry weapons, giving them a great advantage and strength in battle.
Culture[]
Mgalekgolo do not associate or care to communicate with the other species of the Covenant, aside from the sangheili, who they view as "honorable". Mgalekgolo are scornful, xenophobic, and dismissive of other species, being extremely aggressive to their foes.
Bond-brothers[]
If a mgalekgolo grows too big in size, the lekgolo divide itself in half to form a new mgalekgolo, who shares a deep, close and mysterious bond with one another, which are known as "bond-brothers". These mgalekgolo are characterized by the spiked appendages that rise from their shoulders, indicating a sensory connection with their brothers. The Covenant used this cultural trait to have mgalekgolo pairs in battle, leading the UNSC Marines and the SPARTANs to learn that "whenever you kill a Hunter, there's another, close by and angry": when one of the bond-brothers is killed, the other becomes bloodlusted and berserk much like an angered jiralhanae and a suicidal unggoy, bent on eliminating the one who killed their pair. Some mgalekgolo that lose their bond-brothers may have suicidal thoughts and even attack allies.
Goliath[]
A Goliath attacking a UNSC Marine during the Second Battle of Installation 00.
Differently from typical bond-brothers, "Goliaths", as they are known to humans, are lekgolo that opt to not disassemble and go for a brutish and violent combat tactics, even abandoning conventional weaponry. Unlike their "Hunter" brethren configuration, Goliaths walk quadrupedally, and its lekgolo try to adapt to work as corded pseudo-muscles with thick-skinned protection, which lowers their sensory functions but severely increases their strength. Because of this, they are rarely seen, and are only formed if a particular lekgolo colony is in danger among feral lekgolo. The mgalekgolo warrior "Colony" was able to stop such a drawback, employing multiple Goliaths during the Second Battle of Installation 00.