Cabal
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- "I think you could follow a trail of shattered worlds all the way to their home."
- — Grimoire description[6]
The Cabal, also referred to as the Barant[1] are a hulking, vaguely humanoid species with a vast interstellar empire and a militaristic culture.
Initially arriving in the Sol System sometime after the Collapse, the Cabal established a military presence on several worlds, especially Mars, where they became locked in a war with the local Vex. After the Taken War, the then-leader of the Cabal Empire, Dominus Ghaul, brought his Red Legion to the Sol System, seizing the Last City and the Traveler itself in a surprise attack, leading to a system-wide conflict which became known as the Red War. After Ghaul's demise at the hands of the Guardian, the Red Legion shattered into numerous warring factions. The exiled Cabal Emperor Calus arrived aboard his massive Leviathan, inviting the Guardians to join his elite team of warriors known as Shadows; Calus would later pledge himself to the Witness as one of its Disciples, becoming an enemy of humanity. After the Cabal capital world of Torobatl was razed by Xivu Arath, Caiatl, Calus' daughter and the Princess-Imperial of the Cabal Empire, assumed the Imperial throne and became the new Empress of the Cabal Empire, managing to reach a truce with the Vanguard and going on to develop a coalition with the forces of the Last City.
Overview[edit]
The Cabal are an extremely tough species, willing to defend their territory until every last one of them is dead.[citation needed] Their architecture is very industrial, with an emphasis on burrowing into mountains for defense. They are a very industrious, militaristic species whose social structure and way of life revolve largely around conquest and expansion.[7] Their armor and technology can often be seen leaking a substance similar to oil and even emit smoke when damaged or worn.[8] For centuries, they have devoted their resources to occupying and mining Mars,[9][10] contesting with the native Vex programming as evidenced by the many Cabal ships seen bringing armies to and from the red planet, and recently dealing with the Guardians.[11]
The Cabal Empire is a monarchy with a meritocratic military; the better the soldier the higher the rank. The Cabal army that occupied Mars and held it for some time was but a fraction of their full might.[12]
History[edit]
Origins[edit]
According to Lodi, the Cabal used to be a nomadic species, which is reflected in the Ulurant language, where communal terms are linked in some manner to herd behavior.[13]
Era of Lead[edit]
- "In the Cabal legend, a hero seeks to possess the sun. He succeeds. Then, he becomes Emperor. The Cabal… are not a subtle people."
- — Tyra Karn[14]
The earliest period of the Cabal's history is the Era of Lead; before they had extended their reach beyond their immediate star system.[15] According to Cabal myth, three Cabal warriors sought to claim the sun atop a great mountain that was guarded by a mighty beast. The first two were killed attempting to outwit and evade the beast, but the third died with pride and honor after challenging it to battle. Her sacrifice had left a mark on the creature and inspired her Cabal kin to face the creature despite repeated deaths; with each leaving their scars upon the latter. Finally, the last warrior named Acrius had delivered the killing blow upon the beast which had grown wounded and weary of the constant fighting.[16] Acrius became the first Cabal to succeed in claiming the sun and thus united their race under his reign as the first Emperor.[14]
Era of Conquest[edit]
The Era of Conquest came as a largely unknown period of military expansion and galactic colonization as the Cabal extended beyond their system to incorporate many worlds and client races into their empire; most notable was the Psion race who became assimilated into Cabal society through indentured servitude but were prized for their psychic abilities.[citation needed] Conquered worlds were enriched with ceremonial gold to ease defeat and allow challenging officers for representation within the Cabal's leadership.[17] During the Era of Conquest, warriors nearing death were integrated into the legions and deployed as vanguards and in frontal assaults, to grant them one last glorious charge, a death preferable to slow ossification.[18]
In the earliest days of this new empire, the Cabal emperor ruled alongside the venal military aristocracy known as the Praetorate, which allowed the people to suffer so the Legions who served them could grow.[19] The Praetorate had also popularized the Rite of Proving: an ancient tradition of gladiatorial combat for free Cabal to prove their worth in battle and ascend in status.[20]
Foundation Age[edit]
- "Under Calus, this system will unite. And when the end comes, we'll be ready. All of us."
- — Valus Nohr[21]
Upon Calus's Inauguration, he had the wasteland of Torobatl cleared of any stone or plant to have a desert of pure white. Three days later, a violet pavilion was constructed and Calus's court was recreated in every detail. The first act of his coronation was to send the Consul into the wasteland as a symbol of the revolution he would soon bring.[22] During his reign, Calus decided to purge the corrupt Praetorate and he and his imperial guard marched into the temple where the former Cabal senate convened and assassinated them.[23] He then granted citizenship to the various Legions and set Evocate-General Umun'arath as Primus of All Legions.[19]
During this time, Calus moved the Capital to Torobatl so it could be closer to his people, throwing parades daily as he bought from the local marketplaces. Following his "great purge", Calus spoke to the people at Dau'uss, announcing that he had repossessed the wealth and plunder of the Praetorate elite.[24]
The rise of Calus as Emperor would mark a paradigm shift in Cabal society as he began a campaign to reorganize the empire from its militant roots into one favoring art and philosophy. Much of the empire's history (which was transcribed in the Codex of Lawful Transgressions) was rewritten by his own cult of personality to cast a more favorable light upon Calus during his ascension. He also repressed the Rite of Proving by gradually introducing draconian and byzantine bylaws into the Proving; most notably the role of an arbiter wielding the Hammer of Proving whose role was abused to the point that the Rite fell out of common usage in a century.[25]
Early Exploits[edit]
- "The war is all there is. All this- this is just logistical support."
- — Umun'arath[19]
Calus's reign was not without personal troubles. He was wary of Umun'arath, his Evocate-General, for her paranoia and obsessive fixation on war. His own daughter and heir, Caiatl, grew up similarly despite his efforts.[19]
During his reign, he also removed the practice of leaving Cabal near death in the military. Instead, he surrounded himself with a council of petrified elders. Those who opposed this practice were sent to the fighting pits. Most of the veterans were recalled to Torobatl and rewarded with Imperial citizenship. Yet many still preferred the opportunity to die on the battlefield.[18]
One of Calus's pleasures was the Coliseum, and one day, an albino gladiator named Ghaul made his first appearance there. Ghaul's patient skill and unusual coloration soon made him a favorite of Calus's, and the Emperor eventually made him Primus of the Red Legion, where his talents would be put to better use.[26] Calus grew to love Ghaul like a son and believed they were kindred spirits who both envisioned a newer, more perfect world. Ghaul's association with The Consul and members of the Praetorate worried him, but not enough.[27]
Golden Era[edit]
- "Is this not Calus's new Empire, an empire of achievement? Can't the Psions grow fat in thought, as you grow fat with power?"
- — Freeborn Otzot appealing to Emperor Calus[28]
Calus claims to have overseen a reign of glory. His Empire was an immense military power, but valued willpower, learning, gentility, and subtlety. Debate was as celebrated as warfare. Savage pit fights coexisted with precise marksmanship and refined martial arts. The Empire crafted technological marvels[29] that allowed every need to be met and every life to be lived in comfort.[30][31][32][33]
As the Cabal Empire expanded, it encountered countless alien races and absorbed them into itself: indoctrinating their species, collecting their technology, learning their knowledge, and merging with their culture. The number of species within the Cabal Empire "defied reckoning,"[34] and examples of the things they created, whether texts, tech, or superweapons, were archived in carefully maintained athenaeum worlds for study and potential future use.[35][29]
Centuries after destroying the Psions' clairvoyant OXA Machine, word reached the emperor that it had been rebuilt on the moon of Brand. The Evocate-General then sent her ships to bomb the moon but Calus stopped her ships and instead proposed an alliance with Otzot, the Psion which rebuilt the machine.[28]
It was seemingly during Calus's reign that the Cabal learned of the Traveler and the Light, and gained some knowledge on the Darkness from the "Dreams of worms".[36] His Empire has even defeated a Light-empowered race on at least one occasion.[37]
Midnight Coup[edit]
- "For centuries, I led the revels of my empire, and the stars themselves burnt sweet and clear. But in time the jealous and the tight-fisted rose up and sent me into exile."
- — Emperor Calus[5]
However, having grown disillusioned with Calus's reign and determined to return the Cabal to their warmongering ways, Ghaul conspired with the Consul and several of Calus's closest friends and advisors: Umun'arath, Shayotet, Otzot, Moli Imoli, Iska'al, and Caiatl in a bid to usurp the Emperor. Ghaul and his Red Legion launched his coup in the dead of night, arresting Calus and his Loyalists. With the Emperor too popular to simply execute, Ghaul, his Red Legion, and the Consul sentenced Calus and his supporters to exile aboard the Leviathan, taken far from the Empire along a pre-programmed course.[38][5]
Ghaul swiftly assumed power. Declaring that there would be no more emperors, he instead assumed the title of Dominus and imposed radical reforms on the Empire.[39] Under his leadership, Cabal culture moved from hedonism and pleasure for all to militarism and personal glory. The Empire's member species were diminished in relevance. Its subtlety was replaced by brute, industrial force. It conquered rather than absorbed.[40]
War for the Sol System[edit]
Arrival in the Solar System[edit]
- "Whether we wanted it or not, we've stepped into a war with the Cabal on Mars."
- — Commander Zavala[41]
The Cabal's scouting legions arrived in the Solar System at some point following the Collapse. Encountering no meaningful opposition, they established a beachhead on Phobos, constructing massive facilities such as Fleetbase Korus and Firebase Thuria before invading Mars.[42][43] Their initial intention was to mine Mars for resources, but the scope greatly expanded upon the discovery of Vex ruins. The Virgo Prohibiton, the Vex collective on Mars, didn't take too well to the Cabal's arrival and began a war that wouldn't end until the Red War.[44]
A Ghost that had infiltrated a Cabal base on the planet took note of visible dissent among their ranks: while some remained loyal to the Empire and obeyed their ancient orders without question, others did not, and tensions between the two groups may presage a schism.[12] It may be that some Cabal were aware of Ghaul's coup against the Emperor, which may have been an additional source of tension, but the transmissions for this do not make it clear whether all of the Martian Cabal knew, or if they had taken any sides.[45] One unit, the Broken Legion commanded by Valus Trau'ug, even mutinied, massacring his superiors and attacking the Reef without authorization, resulting in their capture by the Awoken. For Trau'ug's treason and failure, Cabal High Command disavowed the entire legion, leaving them in the Prison of Elders.[46]
During the Guardians' mission to reach the Black Garden, the Guardians had to charge a Gate Lord's eye to unlock the gateway. Traveling to Mars, the Guardians breached into the Conflux to power the eye but encountered regiments of the Blind Legion, a cabal army tasked with capturing and holding Vex artifacts. Despite the Cabal's efforts, the Guardians were able to reach the main site of the Conflux and begin to charge the eye but are then confronted by the Blind Legion's commander, Primus Sha'aull. After a heated battle and despite the Primus' efforts, the Guardians were able to charge the eye and kill Sha'aull. With the eye fully charged, the Guardians were able to reach the Black Garden.[47] With the Primus dead, the Blind Legion was without a commander; a huge blow, and one from which the Blind Legion would never recover.
At a later date, the Vanguard received a message from the Warmind Rasputin, warning them that a trio of Psion Flayers, called the Ice Reapers, were attempting to hack its mainframe on Mars after the Warmind used Warsats to bombard Cabal troops. Wanting to prevent the Cabal from hacking into the Warmind's data and weapon systems, the Guardians formed a strike team and battled with the Cabal through the Dust Palace located in Freehold. Reaching to the Flayers' position, the Guardians made combat with the elite Psions and their guard but despite their power, they succeeded in slaying the Psions, saving Rasputin.[48] A huge blow to another Cabal Legion, and one that seemingly destroyed the Ice Reapers, as they were never seen again.
Wishing to take the fight to the Cabal, the Vanguard saw an opportunity to strike a blow against the Cabal when Valus Ta'aurc, the infamous commander of the Siege Dancers, was seen in his Land Tank, Cerberus Vae III, stationed in the Valley of Kings. Forming a strike team and managing to breach past the Cabal's defenses, the Guardians were able to enter the Land Tank and confront Valus Ta'aurc. After a struggle, the Guardians succeeded in slaying the Valus, dealing a critical blow to the Siege Dancers and Cabal leadership on Mars. Not only did they slay the Valus but they also slew four others; ending the Siege Dancers' chain of command and knocking them out of the war on Mars.[41]
The Taken War[edit]
- "It came from the Emperor Himself. I'm ordered to board and capture the Hive flagship. At any cost."
- — Primus Ta'aun[49]
Before the start of the Taken War, the Vanguard speculated that a new task force, a "second fleet" led by the Skyburners, was being assembled at Phobos to invade Earth.[50] After the arrival of Oryx, the Taken King and his Dreadnaught, however, the Cabal were forced to evacuate their Fleetbase and other sites in the system due to Taken infestations. This was a huge blow. In the ensuing battles, various detachments across Phobos and Mars suffered enormous casualties against the Taken, with the Sand Eaters losing 58% of their troops, the Blind Legion losing 35%, and the Dust Giants losing 39%.[9] In addition, the entire local Cabal fleet was mobilized, and any ship that was not already on the move by the time The Guardian arrived on Phobos was believed to have been destroyed.[51]
With the Skyburners being redeployed to reinforce the other battered Cabal throughout the Taken War, the campaign against Earth was temporarily placed on hold. Following this considerable setback, Primus Ta'aun, commander of the Skyburners and the mightiest Cabal in Sol, sent a report up the Cabal chain of command suggesting that the Hive technology aboard the Dreadnaught could be co-opted for Cabal use. Ta'aun also proposed any technology recovered could be used against Guardians, as the Primus had begun to realize that the Cabal battle strategy was becoming hopelessly mired in a losing attrition war with the City.[4] His report reached Dominus Ghaul, who then ordered Ta'aun to personally board and capture the Hive vessel by any means necessary.[49] In the aftermath of the Battle of Saturn, Ta'aun rammed his warship, the Dantalion Exodus VI, into the Dreadnaught to establish a beachhead. While leading a squad through the Mausoleum in an attempt to reach Oryx's ascendant realm, Ta'aun was Taken and transformed into Ta'aun, Hand of Oryx, forced to guard the entrance to the Taken King's altar where he would be slain by the Guardian..[52] Ta'aun's bond-brothers Valus Mau'ual and Valus Tlu'urn then ventured deep into the Dreadnaught and planted explosives at its power core, either as part of a preconceived plan to force the Hive's surrender, to avenge their lost Primus or both. If allowed to succeed, the blast would have destroyed the majority of the Solar System. Fortunately, the two Shield Brothers were stopped by a Guardian fireteam before the explosives could be detonated.[53] With their leaders vanquished, the surviving Cabal on Dantalion Exodus VI transmitted a distress signal to the rest of the Empire. Though the Guardian disabled this signal, they were unable to prevent it from reaching its intended recipient.[54] The remaining Skyburners on the Dreadnaught continued to fight a desperate struggle to survive as their beachhead was slowly overrun by Hive and Taken,[55] but were whittled down overtime to only one known survivor.[56]
Meanwhile, on Mars, the Cabal clashed with the resurgent House of Wolves, who had gathered on the red planet to heed the call of their new God-Servitor Orbiks Prime. Weakened by the casualties suffered in previous conflicts, the Cabal were unable to evict the scavengers as they took the Cabal's subterranean labyrinths for their own. The Guardians solved the problem by destroying the Servitor, leaving the Wolves broken once more.[57]
Shortly after Oryx's defeat, a New Monarchy agent sent a report to his Executor superior which noted the depletion of Cabal leadership: the Skyburners' Primus and his bond-brothers, Primus Sha'aul, Valus Ta'aurc, Valus Trau'ug, and a large mass of lesser Vals and Bracuses all dead or heavily outnumbered. The New Monarchy believed that in the face of such staggering losses, the Cabal Empire would have no choice but to respond to the Guardians' attacks.[58] In due time, the Cabal's response would arrive.
The Red War[edit]
Seeking the Light[edit]
- "I command Legions. Conquered worlds. Waged war across the galaxy to prove my worth. I alone am worthy of the Traveler's Light."
- — Dominus Ghaul[59]
Two years after the Taken War and one year after the SIVA Crisis, the Cabal Empire's response would finally arrive, beginning the Red War. The Red Legion, under the command of Dominus Ghaul himself, would launch a devastating assault on the Last City which was carried out flawlessly. Taking the City by surprise, the Red Legion rapidly overwhelmed it and destroyed the Tower while his cage device latched onto the Traveler. Ghaul's forces took particular care to capture the Speaker alive, as the Dominus was interested in his connection to the Traveler. In a desperate plan to kill him, The Guardian boarded his flagship, The Immortal, and destroyed its shield generator in advance of a concentrated counterattack. This attack never materialized, and Ghaul personally stepped out to confront the Guardian. As the two faced off, the Cage activated its suppressive shield and stripped all Guardians of their Light. With his victory assured, Ghaul beat and mocked the Guardian before kicking them off of the Immortal. Dominus Ghaul and his Red Legion had succeeded where previous forces had failed to accomplish for centuries: invading the Last City and defeating its Guardians.[60]
Days later, aboard the Immortal, Ghaul implored the Traveler to choose him and join his empire. The Consul, in contrast, only viewed it as an advanced machine and advised Ghaul to simply seize its Light by force. Ghaul disagreed with the Consul's approach and had the Speaker brought to him, seeking to use him to gain the Traveler's approval.[61]
In addition to conquering the Last City, Ghaul sent his prized warship, The Almighty, to the system's sun to destabilize it and cause it to go supernova should the system resist any further.[62] His remaining forces were sent to the European Dead Zone to hunt the remaining Guardians,[citation needed] to Io to mine the remaining Light energy from the Traveler[63] and to Nessus to study the Vex.[citation needed] Ghaul also sent a powerful force to Mars to reinforce the Cabal forces there, finally driving the Vex from Meridian Bay and destroying the portal to the Black Garden, destroying most of the Virgo Prohibition.[64]
For a time, the Red Legion maintained complete control of the Solar System but one Guardian was able to regain control of their Light from interacting with a Shard of the Traveler in the European Dead Zone.[65] In doing so, they began to fight back against the Red Legion, humiliating their forces. At first, the Guardians conducted minor operations such as scouting and analysis. These operations would soon advance into the theft of Legion supplies,[66] and the assassination of their leaders.[67] Soon after, the Legion firebase is disabled, with further operations being carried out.[68] Gathering the Remnants of the Vanguard, the Guardians planned an organized attack to reclaim the Last City preceded by the disabling of the Almighty. Despite the loss of their Light, the Vanguard Leadership launched the attack to reclaim the Last City. As this occurred, the Guardian was tasked with boarding the Almighty and permanently disabling the superweapon. After eliminating the threat of the Almighty, the Guardian heads back to Earth to join the fight.[69] Hearing of both the attack and the loss of the Almighty, the Consul angrily demanded Ghaul take the Light from the Traveler and destroy the Guardians. The Dominus, however, remained adamant that he needed to prove his worth to be chosen by the Traveler. In his rage, the Consul released the weakened Speaker and ranted that Ghaul had already been chosen, not by the Traveler but by the Consul, the day he found him as an orphan and raised him to be the warrior who would deliver their people and promise him vengeance. Convinced by this argument but angered by the Consul's arrogant insubordination, Ghaul killed his old adviser while swearing to take the Light by force.[70]
At the top of his warship near the Traveler's Cage, Ghaul faces off against the Guardian he previously defeated once more, this time infused with some of the Traveler's Light, granting him similar abilities to the Guardians. However, the Light that was bestowed upon him was corrupted as he was not chosen like the Guardians. After a fierce battle between the two, Ghaul was eventually defeated. Upon his defeat, Ghaul attempts to use Radiance and is resurrected as a massive ethereal figure due to his corrupted Light, declaring himself immortal as he speaks to the Traveler directly. In doing so, the Traveler wakes from its slumber, destroying the device that was harvesting its power and then destroys Ghaul himself, sending a mass