Chronique:Canon Fodder - Leggo my Lekgolo
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BY GRIMBROTHER ONE - 4/13/2017
ISSUE 98.1
Earlier this week, we released the latest installment of Canon Fodder, focusing primarily on the impending arrival of Tobias Buckell’s new novel, Halo: Envoy, which hits store shelves and digital displays on April 25 (Paperback preorder here, Audiobook preorder here). In fact, if you’re looking for a little extra whistle-wetting, check out an awesome audiobook preview of Halo: Envoy right here…
HALO: ENVOY Audiobook Excerpt by Simon & Schuster Audio
That being said, it turns out that there was just a bit of extra lore left loitering about with the announce of Halo Wars 2’s new DLC leader, and your proactive penman couldn’t bear to hold off until a later date to expand a bit on Colony’s presence in the bigger picture. So, with that in mind, we’ve got some director’s cut-style bonus-feature Fodder worming its way into this week’s Community Update – and I mean, really, that’s what you get for letting me write it again; you brought this on yourselves.
Anyway, let’s take a look at some bonus Lekgolo lore!
Colony
The Untamed.
- Strange and inscrutable, the Hunter pair who identifies as "Colony" is believed to be either a representative for Lekgolo allied to the Banished or a specialized command form of the alien eel-worms. Colony defers only to Atriox and is charged with directing all Banished Lekgolo activities on the Ark, including creation and expansion of Lekgolo clusters for use in vehicles and other specialized applications. Though it cooperates with the Banished, Colony appears to have its own plans for the Ark. Most of its attention is currently focused on the activities near the resting place of the Forerunner keyships; missions undertaken outside the knowledge of other Banished leaders.
When called upon to direct Banished military operations, Colony’s strategy is to control the battlefield with large numbers of Lekgolo-driven constructs that it can heal and augment, buying time with Engineer Swarm and Living Barriers until it can call in reinforcements with Colony Drop and Devastating Host. It can also temporarily enhance friendly vehicles by infiltrating them with gestalts, using Vehicle Symbiotes. But time is the main ally of Colony, as its Everlasting passive ability slowly heals all friendly units and structures.
Hunter Captain
Impervious Lekgolo commander.
- Colony deploys Hunter Captains to locations where some element of its plan or Banished operations requires direct intervention and monitoring. One can be sure that all Banished Lekgolo colonies and gestalts will be operating at full efficiency if these “officers” are present in the battle. Each Captain is linked directly to Colony and its distant bond-brother over a specially modified battlenet relay. The Captains themselves exhibit individual peculiarities and attitudes, though none could be said to be personable.
The Hunter Captain is a superheavy hero employed by Colony. Their thick armor and massive shield makes them extremely durable, at the expense of mobility. Each Captain is armed with a modified siphon beam that drains health from those it attacks, and it can protect nearby allies by using a Taunt ability to temporarily redirect enemy attacks to itself.
Goliath
Prime Hunter.
- Unlike a typical Mgalekgolo pair, which splits a colony into two independent bodies, the Goliath is a Hunter-style body containing a single colony that optimizes brute strength over all other considerations. Inside the Goliath’s armored shell most of the Lekgolo eel-worms in the gestalt adapt to function as corded pseudo-muscle and thick-skinned protective bands, with a minimum of sensory and cognitive function. Goliaths are not easily self-sustained due to their ravenous hunger for nutrients, and are typically only seen in times of extreme danger among feral Lekgolo, but Colony can coerce or direct subsidiary Hunter gestalts into this form seemingly at will.
The Goliath is a superheavy infantry unit deployed by Colony to protect areas it finds of particular importance. It is walking tank that bulldozes foes with its powerful melee smash attacks, crushing anything that gets in its way. What it can’t immediately destroy with its smashing blows can be dealt with using the Goliath’s ram ability, which does massive damage and stuns the target temporarily.
Skitterer
Fast scout walker and escort.
- The harsh restrictions on AI research in the Covenant limited the development of autonomous weapon systems, though clever San’Shyuum technicians did find that carefully selected and pruned Lekgolo colonies could substitute for artificial minds in some applications. Though never widely used, combat machines such as the Skitterer proved this approach had merit, though the risk of aberrant gestalts in small colonies meant it never saw widespread use. Colony has adapted and perfected this technique, which allows for the integration of Lekgolo with the Banished Locust and mass production of Skitterers without the behavioral issues that plagued earlier work.
Skitterer units are mechanized scouts piloted by Lekgolo. They are cheap, expendable vehicles, and their twin-linked beam cannons are surprisingly lethal for a vehicle of this size. Their most notable feature is that they can use a defend ability to set up a protective overwatch on other friendly units and act as a weapon turret and defense shield, increasing the health of the attached unit as well as providing additional firepower. Most units can have at least one Skitterer attached, including infantry and aircraft. The defensive link cannot be undone during a mission.
Living Barrier
Dragon’s teeth.
- Colony has a surprising rapport with the Huragok technicians, though the specifics of their communication are indecipherable to others. Among the results of their collaboration are a unique form of vehicle barricade containing a Lekgolo cluster and communicator, which can be drop deployed directly on the battlefield to both impede enemy mobility and extend the awareness of Colony and its field commanders. Unfortunately, the lifespan of the Lekgolo is drastically shortened when abused in this way.