| Category | Structures |
| Continent | Karterus |
| Region | Hive |
| Location | Cha-ka |
| Built | 28 Kindle 935 LE |
In one section of the Cha-ka ruin stands a massive structure that appears to be a vault intended to contain something. Designated as Alcha-pok, this vault-like edifice served as a research facility for studying bug colonies. Within the biospheres, Auhtai researchers investigated insect biology, communication, and control. As insectoids themselves, they could communicate with the insects on a basic level, but not through a hive-mind where the collective is directed rather than the individual parts of the swarming masses numbering in the hundreds of millions.
The initial so-called Hive Swarm consisted of flying desert beetles. The early Auhtai-make swarms were diminutive and ephemeral. Those that endured diverse trials were utilized to reconstruct the subsequent colony. This was enacted for a specific batch of insects designated Lot 396. This colony traversed approximately a hundred generations, undergoing numerous experiments involving alchemy and psionics along the way. In the early morning hours of 12 Bloom 1512 HE, Lot 396 attained a heightened awareness.
In the biospheres of Alcha-pok, we never permit the swarms to reach critical mass. We cull the insects with fire and smoke to maintain manageability. We apprehend that splitting after reaching critical mass would culminate in two swarms that would contend for dominance of such confined containment areas.
We misplaced Lot 396. Trackers were dispatched to eliminate the batch. Only one returned from this excursion, the others slain after observing the division. The survivor reported the two swarms did not engage in combat, but rather, with strategic and pack-like maneuvers, pursued and eliminated the fellow rangers.
excerpt from an Auhtai journal
In the year 1540 HE, Cha-ka succumbed to a Hive Swarm descendant of Lot 396. Within the confines of the Alcha-pok vault, they managed to endure for a month beyond the rest of the populace.