Battle of Hive 33

One of the final fights of the Rachni Wars, the **Battle of Hive 33** was a conflict on the Rachni homeworld of Suen. Pushed to defend the one planet they remained in control of, the rachni faced extinction as Council-backed Krogan forces decimated their world. Hive 33, a smaller insectoid colony near the planet's south pole, provided one of the fiercest fights of the invasion, decimating their attackers before being wiped off the face of the planet by a thermonuclear charge.

## History

### Invasion of Suen

After nearly 300 years of constant fighting between the forces of the Citadel Council and the Rachni, by 298 CE only one planet remained under control of the insects, their homeworld of Suen. Having almost faced societal collapse, Council forces moved towards the planet with one goal in mind: extermination. On the 15th of February 298, the first bombardment of Suen took place, ushering in two straight weeks of orbital decimation.

By March it was determined that any target of value remaining on Suen's surface was long-since eradicated, nearly every target even not valuable had been destroyed as well. The tidally-locked planet was now only populated by densely-packed communities of Rachni buried in hives deep beneath the toxic surface. The krogan, naturally resistant to the harsh environment of Suen, were dropped en masse to usher in the extinction of the Rachni. Thus, the invasion began in earnest.

### Hive 33

Landing Force Caeti, krogan forces composed of warriors from Clan Jair, were selected by Council Central Command to strike at Hive 33, a minor population pocket near the planet's south pole, just on the border of the world's sunlit side. Led by warlord Jair Chall, the plan was for 1,500 soldiers to be dropped in a hit-and-run mission. Come in hot, with the majority of the troopers pushing forward defending a small entourage that carried with them a thermonuclear device. Find the densest pocket of Rachni resistance, set up the bomb, punch the timer and get back out. Unfortunately for the warriors of Jair, the rachni were not so eager to let their extinguishers win the day.

Dropped from the *CCV Gotarag* the fighting force swarmed upon a large sinkhole indicating where the bombardment of Hive 33's surface facilities had occurred. Immediately the battalion was forced to split up, as the sinkhole had multiple entrances with no clear major thoroughfare to the population center. Remaining on the surface, the bomb team held tight until a path forward could be determined.

Splitting the party played right into the hands of the desperate defenders, as smaller pockets of krogan troopers were picked off in the darkness with ease. After nearly four hours of time on Suen, almost half the initial landing force had gone radio silent in the rocky caverns beneath the surface. Jair Chall was never heard from again. Leading troop of 24 soldiers, Jair Horzha made contact with the surface, indicating that his squad had found a large, densely packed center of rachni population. Better yet, they had discovered a quiet, emptier cavern underneath that, if the bomb was placed there, would remove the insects with fewer casualties to the war-weary krogan. Immediately the bomb team led by Jair Toraal followed the path of Horzha's men.

In the three hours it took for Toraal's men to reach Horzha's location, the two teams lost contact. Exploring the quiet, optimal detonation site further, Horzha and his men discovered the damp, dark cavern to be the home of the hive's queen, attempting to hide her most recent batch of offspring. When the bomb team arrived, Toraal and his 12 troopers were met with the signs of battle. Eggs and krogan alike had been torn apart, with none of Horzha's force left standing. The queen herself remained, her wailing cries signaling the massive force of rachni above to come and defend their mother.

Desperate for victory and unwilling to retreat, Toraal ordered the bomb to be detonated. While one soldier got to work on the explosive, four were sent back up the cave to protect against flanking rachni. Jair Toraal and the remaining six held firm against wave after wave of rachni until the thermonuclear device went off. In a cacophony of low, earthly groans, the sinkhole collapsed even further, removing Hive 33 from existence. Miraculously, two of Toraal's own team that had been sent back up the cavern survived, along with 288 other krogan invaders. Jair Tash and Nazem were commended by Central Command for their service.

## Veterans

### Council Forces

#### Landing Force Caeti

* Jair Horzha
* Jair Nazem
* Jair Tash
* Jair Toraal