Hive-Qugu war

"...three words, nine word bursts over and over..."This article is based on canon information, but the article title is conjectural, as there is currently no official name for the subject. See the talk page for more information.

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Hive-Qugu war
Fronts:	Se'Un Se'Otan Seht Ascendant Realm
Outcome:	Total extinction of the Qugu and jaw-beasts "The Mountain" is destroyed by the Qugu Te'Qal's memory is merged within the Witness Savathûn's fleet is destroyed by Auryx
Details Belligerents Qugu Savathûn's Brood and the Black Fleet Auryx's Brood Commanders Te'Qal Je'Gana Pel'Uma Savathûn The Witness (indirectly) Auryx Strength Seht Armada War-pearls Destroyers Murmurations Unknown flagship Rippers Tombships Hive Warships "The Mountain" Unknown flagship Casualties Total extermination of the Qugu and jaw-beasts Savathûn's fleet Thousands of Hive Unknown Civilian casualties All Qugu civilians and jaw-beasts

The Hive-Qugu war was a conflict primarily between the Qugu and Savathûn's Brood, which ultimately led to the Qugu's extinction.

History

Battle of Se'Un

The war between the Hive and Qugu began when Hive forces led by Savathûn attacked the system of Se'Un. After communications with the system was dropped, the Qugu Warden Te'Qal would assemble a fleet of fifty-three War-pearls to investigate. Upon arriving in the Se'Un system using a jump gate, they find a great yawning tear of nothing that dwarfs the size of their fleet. Recognizing it from a vision he had experienced earlier as an omen of doom, Te'Qal orders Captain Pel'Uma to meet with the the Sehta'Un grove elder.

However, they are interrupted when a fleet of Hive ships emerges from the tear and move to the Qugu fleet. In response, the Qugu deployed various weapons, shield and utility drones and began firing fusion batteries, easily taking out the Hive ships while Te'Qal coordinated the fleet into a cloud formation to enhance their efficacy. The Hive, meanwhile, deployed more ships, including Rippers, and launched salvos of axiom volleys.

Despite Te'Qal's attempts to outmaneuver and counter the Hive ships' attacks, they were gradually overwhelmed. They would send Pel'Uma to spool the gate to retreat back home and assemble the entire Qugu fleet to fight the Hive. In the meantime, they changed tactics to direct their firepower into a concentrated beam which successfully took out four Hive warships. While Pel'Uma's ship was destroyed by the Hive, they successfully opened the gate back to the Se'Tar system, allowing Te'Qal's fleet to escape.

Battle above Seht

After destroying every world in the Se'Tar system, Savathûn's forces moved on Seht, deploying Tombships and Rippers. The diminishing united Qugu fleet, under the command of Te'Qal, worked to hold off the Hive outside of Seht's Karman line and the range of the planetary defense rail cannons. Te'Qal would maneuver the fleet to prod at Hive flanks while making sure not to overcommit with risk of being overwhelmed by the Hive, wanting to draw them from the planet to deter and scatter before pulling back to the safety of Seht's defensive installations.

Meanwhile, Seht's population and chunks of grove land, including Jaw-beasts, were moved to the other side of the planet aboard Ark-ships to be evacuated to the star system of Se'Otan using their last gate.

During the battle, Te'Qal was able to utilize the command sleeves of other piloting Qugu in the fleet, including a captain who had been killed in the battle, to fight the Hive. One of their captains, Je'Gana, questioned why the Hive did not commit their entire force to attacking as they had to know that they had the numbers to overwhelm them. Te'Qal answered that they didn't have to as they were laying traps to bleed them out and reminded them that their objective was to defend the groves, explaining that the vision he had experienced was meant to prepare for this event instead of to prevent it, to see that the Quga survived even at the cost of Seht.

A circular Hive flagship then emerged from a tear and moved to high above the Mountain before charging a singularity of soulfire at its center as Seht's rail cannon defenses shredded any Tomb Ship that positioned themself between the ship and the planet. Te'Qal would take the opportunity to attack, getting an advantage with their superior tactics to pry the Hive's defensive line open to allow the Qugu's rail cannons to fire on the Hive flagship in the hopes of taking it down to end the assault. However, the the flagship would successfully detonate its gathered soulfire, taking out ships on both sides in a massive shockwave.

The blast would also unearth a Pyramid that had been buried under the mountain, sending debris to crush defensive installations and any remaining Ark-ships. It then unleashed a pulse of resonance that obliterates the remains of the mountain before rising to meet the Hive flagship. As the Hive celebrate the Pyramid's unearthing and they descend to Seht's surface, Te'Qal orders the Qugu abandon the planet. After weeks of travel, they had managed the jump gate to Se'Otan. Te'Qal had attempted to keep morale up with many speeches, but was exhausted after everything. Using a mist of jaw-beast nectar to speak with one of his accentors, Te'Dura, for guidance, he was shown visions of a test that was intended for Te'Qal to lose where he used maneuvers learned from Te'Dura to defeat a Murin invasion and an uprising of Qugu who had become disconnected from the rest of their people, which led to him attaining the rank of Warden. Te'Dura told him that there was victory in darkness that Te'Qal needed to find.

The Qugu fleet would pass through the jump gate. However, the gate had been tampered with by the Hive, taking them to an ambush of Hive ships and the Pyramid instead of Se'Otan, where the Hive would begin attacking any ship that passed through the gate. Te'Qal ordered the remaining warships to protect the ark-ships, but the Hive outnumbered them and began wearing them down through numbers over the Qugu's weaponry. Suddenly, another large Hive ship, belonging to Auryx, appeared to attack Savathûn's ship. After it had destroyed it with a pulse similar to what had been fired from the Pyramid, Te'Qal took advantage of the distraction ordered the remaining ships on the Pyramid, intending to destroy it if they couldn't defeat the Hive. Combining the power of all the remaining ark-ships and ancient power, the Qugu fire a beam into the Pyramid, successfully destroying it. However, the resulting Resonance wave would destroy the remaining Qugu ships as Te'Qal heard a collection of voices to take their hand and find salvation.

Aftermath

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List of appearances

• Destiny: The Taken King (First mentioned)
• Destiny 2: Episode: Echoes (Mentioned only)