Amanda Holliday

"The shipwrights of the Tower repair and recommission the ships of the City's Guardians."

- In-game description

Amanda Holliday is a human shipwright found in the Tower's hangar. She repairs Guardians' personal spaceships, as well as sells new ships and Sparrows.

Journey to the City
"We were some of the last refugees to make it to the City. Yeah, yeah, I've heard all the jokes. Know what? We did get lost. Many times. It wasn't all that funny at the time. My mama's shotgun, The Chaperone, was the only reason I made it here."

- Amanda

Amanda was born on the road, once a refugee before coming to the Last City. Her people were scavengers, and her childhood was spent fixing up vechicles that helped her family survive. Her mother carried a weapon named The Chaperone, a finely decorated double barreled shotgun that helped she used to protect the refugee group. Amanda's mother died on the road and her shotgun was buried with her, leaving Amanda as the only member of her family to make it to the safety of the Last City. A young Amanda stood in the Tower with Commander Zavala, watching a ship flying in the sky with wonder. Her love of flight, and a knack for working with Golden Age tech, allowed her to become the Tower's Shipwright when she grew up.

Tower Shipwright
"Interesting tech, Cayde. Isn't this Eris Morn's ship?"

- Amanda, questioning Cayde-6 about the stealth drive

When a newly risen Guardian from the Cosmodrome in Old Russia arrived at the Tower, Amanda inspected the Arcadia-class Jumpship they had used to escape the Fallen. After finishing her repairs to the ship she informed the Guardian that the warp drive was missing and that they were lucky to not have exploded upon takeoff.

Amanda was responsible for outfitting Eris Morn's ship with stealth technology, at the behest of Cayde-6. As she oversaw the maintenance Frames installation of the last stealth drive, she told Cayde that it was interesting technology and questioned why they were modifying Eris' ship, but he dodged the question. She then noted that Zavala had sign-off on all launches and that she needed to know what was going on. She did not believe his lie that it was for a stargazing tour, he told her the truth about his plan to use in for an unsanctioned mission to board the Dreadnaught. Amanda chose to log it as a "test flight" and that it would be ready for him, but he protested that he would not be the one flying it.

Amanda worked with Tex Mechanica to recreate her mother's shotgun, the Chaperone, and award a copy of it to the winner of a Crucible contest. She created an exact replica of the weapon her mother used, down to it tracery, although it was far more powerful due to Tex Mechanica's engineering. Amanda hoped that whichever Guardian won the shotgun would live up to her mother's heroism. She also helped bring the Sparrow Racing League to the mainstream, acting as host for the races, and assisting Guardians in obtaining Licenses.

Fall of the Last City
"Come on, big guy. Do something."

- Amanda, wishing for the Traveler to awaken

When the Red Legion invaded The Last City, Amanda was ordered by Commander Zavala to pick up The Guardian from the Tower in her Hawk and aid them in reaching Dominus Ghaul's flagship, the Immortal. As she dodged through the aerial battle above the city, destroying several Cabal ships along the way, Amanda looked at the Traveler as the Cabal attached a cage to it. Amanda quietly whispered a plea to the Traveler to help them before executing a risky maneuver to deposit the Guardian aboard the Immortal so they could disable it. She told the Guardian to contact her when they were ready for extraction, but Amanda soon lost contact with them as the Cabal's cage on the Traveler activated and stripped the Guardians of the Light.

Amanda was contacted again by Zavala, who asked her to retrieve him from the battle and begin the Vanguard's retreat from the Last City. She angrily told him that she had no time to be his chauffeur and that thousands of people like her were trapped and dying in the City below her. The Vanguard Commander countered that the City was lost and that they were all the same now without the Light. Amanda refused to believe running was there only option and told Zavala that he could fly his own ship out of the City, but he noted she was the best pilot in the system and that they would need her to keep their ships repaired. She tried protesting one last time that they could not just abandon everyone trapped in the City, and only agreed to retreat when Zavala stated he believed that this was their only chance to ensure humanity's survival.

Retreat to Titan
Amanda evacuated Earth alongside Commander Zavala, Deputy Commander Sloane, and many other Guardians and refugees. They traveled to Titan, a moon of Saturn, to secure the New Pacific Arcology as a base to plan their counterattack against the Red Legion. However, they found the Hive had already infested the Arcology, and dozens of Lightless Guardians fell attempting to secure a landing zone for the fleet. Their efforts were only saved when the Young Wolf, who had recovered their Light, arrived and pushed back the Hive.

Although the control center in Siren's Watch was secured, they needed to restore power to it. Amanda and Sloane provided instructions to the Young Wolf on how the power could be activated in the Tidal Anchor, but were informed that the Hive had infected everything. When Sloane told Amanda that they needed her in the air to observe the Hive, she protested that her Hawk had taken a beating during the evacuation from Earth. The Deputy Commander reassured her that they would put her ship at the top of the repair queue, which unnerved Amanda, as she had been traumatized by the fall of the Last City. Amanda guided the Young Wolf through reactivating the pistons that powered the New Pacific Arcology and directed them towards the ones that Hive growth had jammed. Once the pistons were clear, Amanda noted they still did not have power, and suggested the Young Wolf reset the circuit breakers on the central control platform, which finally restored power and caused Amanda to celebrate.

With their foothold secured, Amanda and the resistance turned their focus towards decrypting intercepted Red Legion transmissions in the hopes that they could provide an advantage over their foe. Amanda detected a large amount of power being directed towards the heart of the Arcology and believed that it indicated the location of a network of CPUs that would be powerful enough to decrypt the transmissions. When the Young Wolf entered the Arcology, they discovered that its operating system still worked. Amanda suggested they find an access terminal that would allow them to pinpoint the location of the CPU network. When they located it, an alarm was triggered that alerted the entire Hive nest. Amanda worriedly noted that the Guardian would not make it out of there, and Zavala ordered her to fly to the Arcology and pick them up. She reluctantly prepared her Hawk for the rescue, but as she left, Zavala asked to fly fast and safe, which helped calm her nerves. Amanda soon arrived at the Arcology, flying in through a massive hole in the buildings roof, and successfully extracted the Young Wolf and the recovered CPU network core. Zavala praised both of them for completing the mission, which Amanda hoped would finally start turning the Red War in their favor. However, the transmission revealed that the Red Legion had a superweapon known as The Almighty pointed at the sun, which would wipe out the solar system once the Cabal were finished with it.

Retaking the City
Following the reformation of the Vanguard and their plan to strike at the Red Legion, Holliday provided The Guardian with aerial fire support and a tank so the Guardian could board a Cabal transport ship. During the final battle for the City, Amanda presumably fights alongside the Vanguard forces and upon Ghaul's defeat, resumes her duties in the new Vangaurd hangar, selling jumpships and Sparrows to all Guardians.

A New Golden Age
As the Vanguard set up their operations in the new Tower, Amanda worked with Commander Zavala to monitor shady individuals who passed through the hanger bay.

During the first Dawning after the liberation of the Last City, Amanda was scheduled to take part in the celebratory air show. However, it was canceled to foggy conditions making it unsafe to fly. Determined not to disappoint the people of the Last City, Amanda took the Cerulean Flash and flew over the city streets one-thousand feet below the recommended safe airspace, delighting the citizens. As she returned to the Tower, Amanda knew whatever reprimand she received would be worth it.

Personality and Traits
Amanda is typically very jovial and sarcastic. She gets along well with Cayde-6, as both are willing to bend or break the Vanguard's rules to get tasks done. While on Titan, Amanda's personality seems to undergo a slight change as she appears somewhat subdued and even reluctant to take part in missions. This may be due to shock at having lost the City, and having seen so many Lightless Guardians fall. She recovers following the reclamation of the Last City from the Red Legion.

Trivia

 * Amanda Holliday is voiced by Courtenay Taylor.
 * Prior to patch 2.0.0, she appeared cross-eyed in her vendor menu.
 * Amanda's appearance changed following patch 2.0.0. Her face was updated with greater detail, and she received a new outfit and a mechanical right leg. Her personality changed from serious to jokey, matching well with Cayde-6 as seen in multiple conversations between the two.

List of appearances

 * Destiny
 * The Taken King
 * Destiny 2