Rise of the Imperium

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Previous:	Skirmish on Kepler
Rise of the Imperium
Conflict:	Prophecy Crisis
Fronts:	Mars Europa Venus
Outcome:	The Barant Imperium is weakened Destruction of Nightfall Station The Pikers, the Totality Division, and Tharsis Reformation struggle for supremacy Eido and Aunor reveal the truth about the crisis Earth is facing as a result of III's death to the denizens of the Last City Lodi discovers a potential solution to the crisis from IV He discovers that the coordinates IV provided him is in a subterranean network beneath Chicago The Praxic Order temple on Venus is secured from the Barant Imperium forces The identity of the Taken's new leader is revealed
Belligerents Humanity Vanguard Praxic Order House of Spider Cabal Barant Imperium Totality Division Others Piker Gang Tharsis Reformation Commanders Vanguard Drifter Eris Morn Allies Eido Spider Aunor Mahal Lodi Barant Imperium Dredgen Bael Premier Lume Dredgen Sere Totality Division Enforcer Rao Armorer Aghol Piker Gang Boss Riliks Mechanic Deoriks Tharsis Reformation Zephyrus, Autonomous Mind Reformancer Guzheng Strength Guardians Countless Cabal Countless Eliksni Countless Vex Casualties Dozens of Guardians and Ghosts stationed at Tharsis Outpost Dredgen Sere Harrow Thousands of Cabal Thousands of Eliksni Thousands of Vex

The Rise of the Imperium is a conflict that occurred between the forces allied with the Vanguard, the syndicates congregating within the Tharsis Outpost, and the Barant Imperium.

Prelude

Rise of Dredgen Bael

Dredgen Bael, who was known as Nazaire Bizet prior to his ascent as a Dredgen, was born to a father who was a Tex Mechanica magnate named Cesar Bizet. After his mother's death, Nazaire was raised by his father, but he was always busy with work at Tex Mechanica and became cold as a result. After seeing his mother raised as a Guardian and subsequently learning that his mother didn't remember him, Nazaire began to condemn the Light, and delved into texts forbidden by the denizens of the Last City, including those from the Binary Star Cult, the Shadows of Yor's Understandings of the 7th Book of Sorrow, and Twin Bird, the latter of which Nazaire briefly idolized as his master. He would also strike up a friendship with Bracus Lume, who was still serving within the Imperial Cabal. Lume was deployed to the Derelict Leviathan to assist Empress Caiatl in her struggle to overcome the Nightmare of Dominus Ghaul prior to his later deployment to deal with the Hive within Savathûn's Throne World, where he would suffer a grievous wound that left Hive shrapnel lodged in his chest. When Lume was dishonorably discharged from his military service, he began to believe that Caiatl was putting her allegiance to the Coalition above her interest in retaking Torobatl.

Lume would defect from the Imperial Cabal prior to the Invasion of Neptune and took some of the prototype technologies with him. Meanwhile, Nazaire began to wield the Darkness and took on the mantle of Dredgen Bael. Together, Bael and Lume would build their forces in secret with Bael recruiting more Dredgens to his cause; Bracus Lume becoming Premier Lume; and them commanding a military that would one day be known as the Barant Imperium.

The Kepler Incident

Main article: Skirmish on Kepler

Following the Dire Emergence, in which the Taken began to be commanded by a new will they had seemingly willed into existence, the Guardian, Ikora Rey and the Drifter would receive an invitation from the Nine that lead them to a planetoid in the Oort Cloud, Kepler. There, they would find Orin, the former Emissary of the Nine who had quit her position, and Lodi, an linguist of the DEO who had been pulled forward in time to become the new Emissary. As they worked to collect enough Strangelet Capsules to stabilize the singularity at Kepler's center which threatened to consume the entire Sol System, they would learn that the Nine had manipulated events to ensure they would be on Kepler, including orchestrating both the death of Ikora's former self, Dr. Nella Davis, and the resurrection of the Guardian. After the Nine held a council meeting where the Guardian was chosen as the Nine's fated Weapon and a stalemate was reached to select Lodi as the new Emissary, the Guardian would be sent to collect the final vote from III, the member of the Nine for Earth. By the time they had reached the heart of the singularity, they learned that III had been killed by Maya Sundaresh, who used the Echo of Command to pull them into the third dimension. After temporarily resurrecting them using the Drifter's Haul, III revealed a prophecy: "Death ensures extinction. To survive, you must bind the Nine." The events that occurred on Kepler would be redacted by the Vanguard and the Praxic Order.

With III's death, Earth began experiencing ecological anomalies as a consequence, which included portions of the Andes Mountains being converted into copper, the mangroves of Georgia becoming polluted with argon, unusual rain falling from the sky, underground mineral formations moving on their own, denizens of the Last City being afflicted with the "Caiatl cough", metals other than iron spontaneously magnetizing, etc. Meanwhile, VI began reaching out to Bael during his expedition into a Praxic Order temple on Europa. Bael accepts the voice and through the alliance, the prototype technologies Lume brought with him were completed through VI's time dilation ability. VI would anoint Bael as its Weapon and he was later gifted the core which powered a superweapon with Eclipse energy called Nightfall Station.

Meanwhile, after killing III, Maya's Echo would be weakened and she began to lose control of her Vex. As such, she began pulling Red Legion from another timeline to assist her in stealing Warmind tech with the aim of creating a new Warsat network to replace the Echo. This would be stopped by the Guardian, Ikora and Lodi, who also managed to meet the AI who managed to retrieve his message from the Anomaly on Vesper Station; Astraea, who told them that she is making her way to Neptune to reunite with Soteria, who is now roaming Neomuna's CloudArk network.

The Barant Imperium would make their first documented move by mugging Xûr for information on the Nine, which was documented by Aunor Mahal. Lodi would work on finding a solution to the prophecy alongside Ikora. Eris Morn would discover the Barant Imperium threat from a secret communication between Kyung and Dr. Em Simoni-Lee. They, along with the Guardian and Eido, were selected by the Difter as his crew to pursue a vision he was shown by the Nine which ends in Eris's death and the Imperium spreading across the system.

History

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The crew had managed to steal the Encrypted Data Disk from the Imperium, which contained data on Nightfall Station. Unfortunately, the Zagan Gloriosus had managed to catch the the Derelict, allowing Bael and Lume to board the ship and capture the Drifter. The Guardian would board the Cabal Carrier to rescue the Drifter. In the process, the crew discover the advanced technology used by the Imperium forces, including Ablative Armor and Imperium Behemoths. Aunor was able to disable the tractor beam holding the Derelict in place, allowing the crew to escape. They regroup at the Tharsis Outpost and reunite with Spider, who suggests that the Guardian gain the trust of the syndicates in order to weaken the Imperium's influence throughout Mars, Europa, and Venus. They briefly ally with the Piker Gang, an atheist Eliksni community led by Boss Riliks. They were able to repair Blue and retrieve the Splicer Shank before the Barant Imperium blows up Spider's barge. Drifter decides to go AWOL, but afterwards, the power of Eclipse energy was used on Tharsis Outpost, killing Guardians and Ghosts.

The Guardian gains the trust of Tharsis Reformation, a newly-formed Vex collective who defected from the Nessian Schism and led by Zephyrus, Autonomous Mind, while Eris would attempt to open a line of communication to VI to get answers. She was forced to consult with Lodi after over 35 failed attempts and finally was able to open a line. They shared what they had learned to the Guardian: Bael was chosen by VI to be their foil in response to the Inner Orbits of the Nine, VII, and VIII anointing them as the Weapon and that the Outer Orbits had gifted Bael the Nightfall Station core which had anti-paracausal capabilities through the Eclipse energy. The Guardian makes their to the temple on Europa to recover the Praxic Blade before they gain the trust of the Totality Division, a syndicate formed by Enforcer Rao to act as a safe haven for the Psions and a platoon of Barant Imperium forces. They were able to secure a shuttle to Nightfall Station before regrouping with Drifter on Venus. While he was there, him and Bael were speaking and then the latter began expressing doubts of his loyalty to VI. However, Bael set them up and attacked the Drifter when the Guardian came to them once they had disabled the defenses protecting Nightfall Station. The Guardian pursued the Barant Imperium to the carrier, fought Premier Lume, and destroyed Nightfall Station. Bael and Lume fled afterwards, and the syndicates began to struggle for supremacy.

Aunor would later tell the Guardian to make their way to a Praxic Order temple on Venus. After managing to disable the Imperium's antennas through the shadow ability, the Guardian boards a Harvester that was heading for the Malphas Contemptus. They would encounter a Barant Dredgen in training: Harrow, Dredgen-Apprentice. This Dredgen was able to convert a pair of Praxic Blades into Weapons of Sorrow and trained under his master, Dredgen Sere. The Guardian defeats the Dredgen apprentice and continues to explore the carrier. They would face off against Dredgen Sere and defeat him with their mastery of the shadow ability. Aunor reveals that Dredgen Sere has created a throne world and instructs the Guardian to recover the artifacts that have been stolen by the Dredgens. Once they have recovered all of the artifacts, they were able to light the Praxic fire and report their success to Aunor.

Aftermath

The denizen of the Last City finally learned of the crisis Earth is now facing through a speech made by Eido and Aunor. Eris Morn reveals to the Drifter that the "Lord of Every Nothing" is the mysterious entity that the Taken has created to lead them. Lodi learns that the subterranean network beneath Chicago is the location that is key to the potential solution to bind the Nine once IV gave him the coordinates to the solution. Meanwhile, Astraea has arrived on Neptune to reunite with Soteria. Bael is also pursuing rumors pertaining a "king of Chicago" and the location of the Guardian's tomb.

List of appearances

• Destiny 2: Renegades (First appearance)