The Hivebust of Pahanu was a mission undertaken by Team Scorpio during the Hivebuster Offensive to destroy the Swarm Hive on the island of Pahanu using Venom Bombs created from the deadly gas at the New Hope Research Facility and the venom of the Wakaatu native to Pahanu itself.
Prelude[]
In 42 A.E., Colonel Victor Hoffman came up with the plan of using specialized Hivebuster Gear squads in order to destroy Swarm Hives from the inside using Venom Bombs created from the deadly gas recovered from the New Hope Research Facility. However, First Minister Mina Jinn insisted upon using DeeBees instead and the disagreement between the two forced Hoffman into retirement. Nevertheless, Hoffman put together a rogue operation with the help of Doctor Hana Cole and Major Donneld Mathieson. Mathieson helped Hoffman to select Team Scorpio for the mission: Lance Corporal Jeremiah Keegan of the Onyx Guard, Lieutenant Lahni Kaliso of the 81st "Brash" Brigade and Outsider Leslie "Mac" Macallister who had lost his family to the Swarm.
Flown to Galangi in a Condor, Scorpio were crashed on Pahanu by a Swarm Flock but were rescued by Tak in a King Raven Mark 2, witnessing an unseen creature taking down the Swarm with an acidic venom. Hoffman sent Scorpio after the Swarm Hive on Pahanu which was located beneath the old Sanctum doomsday bunker. The Hivebust of Sanctum was ultimately a failure when Mac tossed their Venom Bomb down a deep shaft after the team had little success in reaching the heart of the Hive. The detonation proved successful upon the lesser Swarm forces such as Drones and Juvies. However, the heavier forces such as the Wardens and Snatchers survived.
After returning to Galangi, Scorpio and Hana redeployed to Weilehi in order to find out more about the creature that they had witnessed taking down the Swarm, seeing its "nightmare acid" as a potential solution for enhancing their bombs. However, the Swarm had reached the island and taken the people. From a shrine in the village, the team learned about the Wakaatu, a massive bird-like creature used by the Weilehan in a rite of passage. During the mission, Hana was kidnapped by a Snatcher and taken towards the Pahanu Hive, but Scorpio managed to rescue her. Inspired by Hana's ordeal, Mac suggested that Scorpio purposefully allow themselves to be captured by Snatchers in order to be smuggled right into the heart of the Hive in order to destroy it.
With the information they needed on the Wakaatu, Scorpio embarked upon a mission to the Wakaatu Nest in order to get a sample of its venom to enhance their bombs. Scorpio succeeded and by combining the Wakaatu venom and the New Hope gas, Hana was able to synthesize a new, more deadly Venom Bomb as well as create the Adrenaline Injectors so that Scorpio could be awakened once they reached the inside of the Hive.[1]
Order of Battle[]
Infiltrating the Hive[]
Armed with their new Venom Bombs and Adrenaline Injectors, Scorpio returned to Pahanu and found a group of Snatchers. Keegan questioned if they were ready and Lahni stated that if it failed, Confident in their she didn't make it, it was Keegan's fault and she would haunt him. Keegan asked about Mac's anxiety, but Mac was pleased that this time, he would be the surprise. Donning their injectors, Scorpio allowed the Snatchers to capture them, Mac flipping the Swarm off as he was taken.[1]
Scorpio were taken into the heart of the Swarm Hive on Pahanu and podded. While the injectors revived Jeremiah Keegan and Lahni Kaliso, it failed on Leslie "Mac" Macallister who remained trapped in a nightmare of the death of his family during the Ambush on Bravelle. Lahni was able to locate Mac, however, and rescued him from his pod. As Mac recovered, Keegan warned the other two that they had no radio signal in the Hive and that they had to hope that Tak was waiting for them on the surface.[2]
Planting the Bombs[]
Comparing notes as Scorpio planted their Venom Bombs in the Hive's floor, the three realized that they had shared the same dream while connected to the Swarm Hivemind and joked about their experience. Mac set the bombs with a timer of two minutes and the team began making their way out of the Hive.[2]
Escaping from the Hive[]
As Scorpio left the Hive, Keegan and Lahni questioned if what they saw in the dream was a real Swarm attack which Mac confirmed. Mac explained how his village was built at a decommissioned COG outpost built near the end of the Locust War which had turned out to be a Locust burial site.
As Scorpio climbed down a broken staircase and made their way through a tunnel, Lahni pointed out how they had to be captured and podded because going in the front door was suicide, but that even though they were in the heart of the Hive, there was no sign of the Swarm as if they had left. Mac stated that they had ten seconds to go and felt that if Hoffman was right about the Swarm dying without their Hive, he'd call it a win. Unnoticed to Scorpio, the sounds they made as they walked through the Hive awakened the sleeping Swarm forces.
As Scorpio emerged from the heart of the Hive, their Venom Bombs detonated and Scorpio came under heavy attack by thousands of Drones, Juvies, Pouncers, Snatchers and Scions from all sides. With the gas from the Venom Bombs rapidly spreading towards them, Lahni covered Keegan and Mac as they moved further up. Scorpio realized that they had no choice but to fight their way straight through the Swarm to the extraction point. Lahni narrowly avoided being captured by a Snatcher and managed to injure it with a Talon Autopistol before the Snatcher was killed by the gas cloud.
Grabbing Hammerburst IIs, Scorpio managed to fight their way through the Swarm to the extraction point on top of a rocky outcropping and called Tak to pick them up. As the venomous gas spread throughout the area, Scorpio held the Swarm off and Tak arrived in his King Raven Mark 2 and lowered rappelling lines for Scorpio through the hole in the top of the cavern. Scorpio was lifted out of the Hive as the gas destroyed it and all of the Swarm forces on Pahanu, emerging through the hole to be visible from the air.[2]
Aftermath[]
As Team Scorpio recovered at the Mataki Farm, Doctor Hana Cole reported that the data from the Hivebust strongly suggested that detonating the Venom Bombs in the heart of a Swarm Hive would wipe it out. With the mission completed, it was now a matter of time to wait and see. Lahni Kaliso asked about the Swarm still on the surface and Hana stated that if her theory that the heart of the Hive itself acted as a quasi-central nervous system then the rest should die off. However, Hoffman told Scorpio that it was no longer their concern as he and Hana would monitor the situation from there and Tak was going to return them to the mainland.
Hoffman informed Lahni that for her work on the mission, his friends in COG Command had been able to see to it that her sentence had been overturned and her rank as Lieutenant reinstated. Hoffman joked with Jeremiah Keegan about retirement and reassured the man that he had only been following orders years before and did the Onyx Guard proud and to Keegan's surprise, Hoffman had set up a meeting with Captain Paul Dury for him.
Before Mac could leave, Hoffman stated that he had something to say to him and the rest of Scorpio decided to hear it too as they were still a team as long as they were together. With all of the data suggesting that the Hivebuster plan worked, Hoffman offered Mac a new mission: destroy the Swarm Hive in Bravelle that had killed Mac's family and friends. Although Hoffman offered to find replacements for Keegan and Lahni, both volunteered to join Mac and Team Scorpio accepted their new mission.[2]
It was later revealed that destroying a Swarm Hive did not kill all of the Swarm connected to it, suggesting that the Swarm on Pahanu's surface survived the outcome of the Hivebust.[3]
Appearances[]
- Gears: Hivebusters
- Hivebusters (First appearance)
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Gears: Hivebusters
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Gears of War: Hivebusters Part One
- ↑ Gears of War: Hivebusters Part Five
| Battles of the Swarm Invasion | ||
|---|---|---|
| 42 A.E. | Rescue of Fort Umson (Ambush of Fort Umson · Assault on the Stroud Estate · Mission to Fort Reval · Battle of Osmium Mine Bravo · Mission to the Tollen Dam · Skirmish in Speyer · Assault on the Tollen Dam) · Skirmish in the Wilds · Ambush on South Village · Mission to Fort Umson · Mission to Orzabal Crater · Mission to South Village · Mission to Azura Research Facility · Evacuation of Settlement 2 · Ambush of Bravelle · Ambush of Croya · Ambush of Holdstead Croft · Ambush of Five Pines · Ambush of Pasco's Village · Mission to Great Seran Rend · Skirmish on the Jacinto Plateau · Ambush of Riftworm Village · Second Mission to New Hope · Incursions in Kadar Valley · Mission to Mount Kadar Laboratory · Mission to OZP-11 · Battle of Old Ephyra · Skirmish in Pahanu · Hivebuster Offensive (Hivebust of Sanctum · Mission to Weilehi · Mission to the Wakaatu Nest · Hivebust of Pahanu · Mission to Croya · Hivebust of Bravelle) | |