- "Right, this island can get fucked. Glad to be getting far away from this nightmare."
- —Mac describing the island in a nutshell.
Megafaunas lived and died on Pahanu, some of which grew to sizes beyond that of the Seran mainland.
Pahanu was one of the South Islands. Pahanu was covered in jungles, supersized trees and an active volcano, but it was also notorious for its insular gigantism and quantities of apex predators.
Megafauna, such as the Beast of Pahanu, dwarfed a Brumak in size whilst gargantuan remains of giant carnivorous mammals litter the jungle canopies. Some, like the Wakaatu is dreaded amongst the population for its power, aggression and dangerous venom used to concoct the Venom Bomb. Pahanu was one of the most dangerous regions in Sera, with only the Hollow and the Serano Ocean rivaling it in lethality.
Much like Vectes and Galangi, Pahanu is on the far side of an abyssal trench, making it impossible for the Locust to dig to it.
History[]
A skull of one of the many apex predators on the island.
Silver Era[]
The island was once home to a Weilehan civilization in the Silver Era. Eventually, the civilization abandoned the island for an unknown reason and moved to the nearby island of Weiheli, allowing the buildings on Pahanu to fall into ruin.[1]
The Awakening[]
Despite abandoning their previous homes, the Weilehan continued for generations a rite of passage called the Awakening where young Weilehan would canoe over to Panahu and follow a path through the ruins on the island to face the Wakaatu in its nest. As a sign of their success, the Weilehan would take a feather from the creature back with them. This rite was eventually abandoned for decades and at least some Weilehans came to consider the Wakaatu a myth.
Locust War[]
During the Locust War, the COG built Sanctum, a doomsday bunker, on Panahu as a failsafe in case the Jacinto Plateau and Azura ever fell to the Locust as Pahanu was on the other side of an abyssal trench that the Locust couldn't dig under much like Vectes. The bunker was intended to save the elite and keep them underground for years to come to prepare to fight back against the Locust. However, the bunker was powered by thermal energy from the island's volcano which ultimately proved to be too unstable. Sanctum was eventually abandoned as a result.[1]
Interwar Period[]
At the end of the Lambent Pandemic, the firing of the Imulsion Countermeasure Weapon caused the Locust to become cocooned in impenetrable crystalline shells. Sanctum was chosen as a Locust Burial Site with 6530 metric tons of Locust corpses disposed of inside.[1]
Swarm Invasion[]
In 42 AE, the Locust burial site inside of Sanctum became active, turning into a massive Swarm Hive. The Swarm faced difficulties from the island's creatures however, particularly the Wakaatu whose venom was toxic to all of the Swarm's creatures.[1]
Hivebuster Offensive[]
The Swarm Hive on Pahanu was chosen as the first target of the Hivebuster Offensive by Colonel Victor Hoffman. However, First Minister Mina Jinn insisted upon using DeeBees instead of Gears, resulting in Hoffman's forced retirement. The Vulture carrying some of the first DeeBees crashed on the island and the rest were corrupted after entering Sanctum.
Going rogue, Hoffman recruited Team Scorpio -- Lance Corporal Jeremiah Keegan, Lieutenant Lahni Kaliso and Outsider Leslie "Mac" Macallister -- for the job. However, a Swarm Flock attacked their Condor on the way and Scorpio was forced to parachute out with the Condor crashing in pieces across the section of the island containing the old Weilehan ruins. Making their way to the Condor's cockpit, Scorpio was able to use the still-functional radio to broadcast a distress signal and held off the Swarm until a King Raven Mark 2 piloted by Tak rescued them. As Scorpio flew away to Galangi, they witnessed the Wakaatu, hidden in the trees, decimate the Swarm forces gathered on the beach with its venom.
On Galangi, Hoffman instructed Scorpio to use Venom Bombs created by Doctor Hana Cole using the deadly gas from the New Hope Research Facility to destroy the Hive beneath Sanctum. Finding the old bunker overrun with Swarm and the Hive having spread further than expected through it, an impatient Mac threw the bomb down a deep shaft rather than waiting until they were in the heart of the Hive. However, while the bomb killed many of the lesser Swarm forces, the heavier forces such as Snatchers and Wardens survived. Scorpio fled down a lava river on Sanctum's metal door and were eventually extracted by Tak before they could go over a lava waterfall.
Returning to Galangi, Scorpio reported on the failure of their mission, but Mac's sarcastic suggestion of using the "nightmare acid" from the beach caused Hana to come up with the plan of enhancing the Venom Bombs by combining the gas with the Wakaatu's venom. Needing more information on the creature, Scorpio and Hana traveled to Weilhei, but they found it overrun by Swarm forces. Scorpio discovered that the Swarm was able to reach Weilhei using lava tubes connecting the two islands before a Snatcher captured Hana. Scorpio chased the Snatcher through the lava tubes to the volcano on Panahu where they managed to rescue Hana who was then airlifted out by Tak. Mac came up with the plan to allow themselves to be captured by Snatchers in order to reach the heart of the Hive before Scorpio had to fight off more Swarm. As Scorpio were airlifted out of the volcano by Tak, the Wakaatu attacked the King Raven, forcing Scorpio to cut themselves loose while Tak lost the creature. Scorpio fled to a cliff where the Wakaatu attacked them but was driven off by Hana with the King Raven's chain gun, allowing Scorpio to escape.
In order to get a sample of the Wakaatu's venom, Scorpio returned to the Pahanu ruins and began following the path of Lahni's ancestors in the Awakening in order to reach the Wakaatu Nest. Scorpio fought both Swarm forces, including a Warden and uncorrupted DeeBees from the crashed Vulture who saw them as the enemy due to their mission being a rogue one. Eventually reaching the nest, Scorpio succeeded in taking down the Wakaatu, although Lahni believed that it would survive its injuries. As per Weilehan tradition, Scorpio each took a feather off of the beast as well as a sample of the Wakaatu's venom.
With the Wakaatu's venom, Hana was able to successfully enhance her Venom Bombs and created a way to protect Scorpio so that they could escape their pods once inside the Hive. Scorpio allowed themselves to be captured by Snatchers[1] and successfully destroyed the Pahanu Hive along with most of the Swarm. However, the Hivebust of Bravelle revealed that destroying a Swarm Hive did not kill all of the Swarm connected to it, meaning that the Swarm still on Pahanu's surface survived.[2]
Known Locations[]
Appearances[]
- Gears 5 (Multiplayer only) (Mentioned only)
- Gears: Hivebusters
- Hivebusters (First appearance)