Sharquoi

The Sharquoi are a species of hulking beasts modified by the Forerunners to serve as shock troops against the Flood.

Overview
Despite being little more than primitive animals, the Sharquoi impressed the Forerunners with their resistance to the Flood infection. In order to control them, the Forerunners fitted the Sharquoi with collars linked to a neural control device known as the Vertex. Despite their usage against the Flood, the Sharquoi were eventually placed in stasis and so survived the activation of the Halos and the mass extinction of all sapient life in the Milky Way Galaxy.

At an unknown point after its founding, the Covenant discovered a number of Sharquoi and inducted them into their ranks. However, the Sharquoi rarely saw combat due to the Covenant having no reliable means of controlling them, resulting in no recorded encounters with them throughout the Human-Covenant War. After the collapse of the Covenant, at least 2 independent Sharquoi nests were discovered but destroyed.

Biology
Sharquoi stand at an average of 5 metres tall and possess enough physical strength to tear a Sangheili apart with their bare hands. Sharquoi have leathery grey skin, purple blood and stump-like limbs. They feature metre-long bone spikes above their hands and can withstand weapons fire capable of utterly destroying most known lifeforms. Above the Sharquoi's mouth and exposed teeth is a light-grey patch of bony tissue which enables them to observe their surroundings via echolocation.

Due to the Forerunner's modifications, the Sharquoi are mentally connected to a synthetic hive mind controlled by the Vertex. Without this connection, they revert to more instinctive, bestial behaviour.