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 and pilot found in the Tower's hangar. She repairs Guardians' personal spaceships, as well as sells new ships and Sparrows. Amanda is also involved in organizing the Sparrow Racing League and works closely with the SRL pilots to upgrade their Sparrows and experiment with new designs. During times of war Amanda also provides air support for Vanguard operations by bombing enemy positions and dropping off Guardians and supplies to the front lines.

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 to a refugee family travelling towards the Last City. Her people were scavengers, and her childhood was spent fixing up vehicles that helped her family survive. Her mother Nora carried a weapon named The Chaperone, a finely decorated shotgun that she used to protect the refugee group.

While travelling with another family who had a young daughter named Lucia, the refugee band was forced to take shelter within a crashed dropship in a forest due to bad weather. While the adults scavenged food, water, and supplies nearby, Amanda and Lucia were bored and began making decorations to brighten their refuge at Nora's suggestion. Amanda was shown by Lucia how to work with the electronic components they scavenged form the dropship which they used to create small lights all around the ship. Once they finished decorating, the families made up songs to sing together to celebrate and pass the time. Not long after this Amanda and her family became separated from Lucia's family, and she never learned the fate of her friend.

Amanda's mother died while defending her family on the road as they were crossing the Panama Ravine. She and her father buried Nora with the Chaperone before carrying on their journey towards the Last City. Sadly, when they were only a half-day's walk away from the gates of the City, Amanda's father also perished, leaving her the only survivor of her family and refugee group to reach the last safe haven for humanity under the Traveler. 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 gained from her time on the road enabled Amanda to become a leader of the Tower's Shipwrights when she grew up. Amanda also began to celebrate The Dawning and would decorate her workspace in the Tower hanger with lights, just as she had done with Lucia when she was younger.

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 NLS 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 stated that it would be ready for him to depart soon, 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 their 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
After the evacuation fleet escaped Earth, Amanda worked with Zavala and Deputy Commander Sloane to determine their next course of action. They decided upon using the New Pacific Arcology on Saturn's moon of Titan as a base to plan their counterattack against the Red Legion. As the fleet traveled to the moon, Amanda and Sloane helped Zavala craft a message to send through the solar system to rally Guardians there. Amanda told Zavala that his message made it sound like they had already lost the war, but he did not listen to either her or Sloane's critiques and sent the message out. When the fleet arrived at Titan, 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
"Haha! You better run! Don't leave the door open if you don't want me coming in!"

- Amanda as she bombed the Echion Vae's hanger

After the Vanguard was reunited and gathered on Earth with the rest of the resistance, Amanda provided aerial support for their operations against the Red Legion in the European Dead Zone. She began working with Devrim Kay to steal supplies from the Cabal to support their war efforts and civilians at The Farm. The two asked for the Young Wolf's aid in stealing a supply cache by transmatting it to her, but found the Fallen attempting to steal the same supplies and were only able to recover a single crate. However, Amanda and Devrim located another Fallen cache nearby in Maevic Square. Doing a quick flyover, Amanda warned the Young Wolf that the Cabal had Scorpius turrets defending the cache as they fought to take it from the Fallen. The Young Wolf emerged victorious and sent her the crates, but Amanda was outraged to discover that there were stolen supplies from the Farm in another nearby Fallen supply depot. Amanda was unable to provide air support due to the heavy resistance there, but the Young Wolf secured the area and allowed Amanda to pick up the supplies. She thanked the Guardian and their Ghost for the aid and noted the supplies would help a lot of people at the Farm.

When the Young Wolf was selected to lead an assault a Cabal carrier, the Echion Vae, outside of Firebase Hades in the EDZ. The goal of the mission was to eliminate Thumos, the Unbroken and steal his ship codes so that they could infiltrate the Almighty and sabotage its weapon. Amanda used her Hawk to drop off a Drake Tank for the Young Wolf to utilize, prompting Cayde-6 to question why he never got a tank. She joked that the Hunter would just break it and told the Young Wolf that if they needed another Drake to just contact her. As she flew away, Amanda did a pass by on the Echion Vae and noticed that its engines were beginning to start up and informed the Guardian.

The Young Wolf successfully infiltrated the Echion Vae, but Amanda had caught the attention of several Cabal Threshers. As she fought them off, Zavala asked if she could provide assistance to the Young Wolf as they assaulted the carrier's hanger, and Amanda informed him she just needed to finish off two more of the Cabal fighters. After doing so, she flew to the open hangers of the carrier and opened fire on the Cabal security forces inside as the Young Wolf entered. Using her Hawk's loudspeakers, Amanda taunted the Cabal for leaving their hanger bay doors open and allowing her to assault them. After the last of the Cabal in the hanger were killed, Amanda informed the Young Wolf she could not offer any more help and wished them luck in eliminating Thumos.

The Vanguard and resistance's campaign against the Red Legion succeeded, with the Almighty being sabotaged and Ghaul being killed by the Young Wolf and a reawakened Traveler. The Vanguard established their operations in a section of the City wall next to the ruined Tower. Amanda took over the hanger bay of the new Tower and was visited by the Young Wolf in the aftermath of the battle. She asked what they thought of her new setup and wistfully noted that she kept expecting to look around and see the old Tower's hanger. However, she noted it was not the first time she had to start over and commented that forward momentum was a beautiful thing. Amanda also provided a new Sparrow to the Young Wolf in thanks for their efforts against the Red Legion and encouraged them to go take it for a spin.

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. She also resumed working with the Guardians involved in the Sparrow Racing League, assisting Cron-8 in working on a new Sparrow engine that could manipulate space-time, although she warned him that she had only previously seen such engines work with NLS Drives on jumpships and operated in space. Despite that, Amanda had a few ideas on how to get around such issues and invited Cron to come down to her workshop in the hanger to test her ideas out. She and Marcus Ren also began workshopping the idea of Sparrow jousting. After the Young Wolf killed Bracus Zahn, Amanda examined a bomb strapped Sparrow the Cabal arms dealer had been developing. She was relieved that the Guardians had eliminated Zahn, commenting that he had been close to creating the fastest bomb she had ever seen that could approach and detonate before a Guardian even noticed it.

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 after all they has suffered in the past year, 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 thought to herself that whatever reprimand she received would be worth it.

Death in the Vanguard
"Took me a long time to feel safe here. I guess that's why I like working in the Tower with y'all. Guardians don't die. 'Least, that's what I thought. But... Forward momentum, buddy. That's what Cayde would want. And, uh... what else can we do?"

- Amanda grieving Cayde with the Young Wolf

Nearly a year after the Red War, the Last City suffered another tragedy when Cayde-6 was murdered by Prince Uldren Sov of the Reef and the Barons of the Scorn. Amanda mourned her fallen friend, and talked with the Young Wolf before they departed the Tower to hunt Cayde's killers in the Tangled Shore. She discussed some of her past of being born outside the walls of the Last City and how her mother had died during the crossing of the Panama Ravine and her father just a half-day away from the gates of the Last City. Amanda admitted it had taken her time to feel safe in the Last City and that working with Guardians had comforted her since they usually never died, at least until recent events. Despite her grief, Amanda resolved to push forward because she knew Cayde would not want her dwelling on his death and the past.

After the Young Wolf and Petra Venj hunted down the Scorn Barons and killed Uldren at The Watchtower, they visited Amanda. She asked if they or Petra were the ones who had pulled the trigger on the corrupted Awoken Prince, but then changed her mind and declared that she did not want to know. After dejectedly noting that no matter who did finish off Uldren it would still not bring Cayde back, Amanda asked if she could help the Guardian somehow and if they needed a refit for their jumpship.

Festival of the Lost
Several weeks after the murder of Cayde-6, Amanda Holliday hosts the first Festival of the Lost in the Tower since the SIVA Crisis. She met with the Young Wolf and reflected on the past year, noting most people were just getting over the Red War when Cayde died. Amanda decided to keep the Tower's spirits up rather than continue mourning, as that would not be what Cayde would have wanted. She then had the Guardian investigate the Haunted Forest.

Near the end of the Festival, Amanda learned from Petra Venj that Reef Cryptarch Master Ives had been murdered. As Petra was busy dealing with the time loop in the Dreaming City, she requested that Amanda investigate Ives' death and sent the deceased Cryptarch's possessions to her. Amanda met with the Young Wolf in the Tower hanger and explained the situation to them and requested they locate the missing pages from Ives' journal to find clues to who his killer was before the trail went cold. Once the Guardian found the missing pages, Amanda used the information within to contact a few of her sources and discovered that the Fallen were likely responsible. She requested the Young Wolf follow up on this lead by investigating the Fallen's bases in Trostland. The Young Wolf discovered several clues, including Ives desecrated robes within Whispered Falls that had been taken as a trophy. Outraged, Amanda used all her sources to try to track the murderers, but was eventually forced to turn to Master Rahool for help. Rahool was devastated by Ives death, and aided Amanda in locating a teleporter in Whispered Falls that they could use to follow the murderers.

When the Young Wolf utilized the teleporter, Amanda tracked their location and was shocked when they ended up in the Cosmodrome, which had been placed under quarantine by Commander Zavala. She quickly masked their signal and advised them to stick close to the wall, as Zavala would be extremely displeased if he learned that the quarantine had been broken. Amanda promised to cover for the Guardian while they hunted down the Fallen and wished them luck. The Young Wolf eliminated Kikliss and avenged Ives murder, although Amanda felt there was something wrong about the whole situation. She advised the Young Wolf that this would likely be the last time they ever visited the Cosmodrome and suggested they look around some before reporting back to her at the Tower. Amanda reminisced that Cayde had once taken her to the Cosmodrome and looked upon the devastation with her, and advised that she should not worry about death since it had been changed by the Traveler, and that if she ever missed her family she should just wait for them to return as Guardians, although she sadly noted she was still waiting. When the Guardian visited the spot their Ghost had resurrected them at, Amanda wondered if they had been part of the exodus during the Collapse or if they had died there sometime later. Meeting again with the Young Wolf, Amanda wondered why exactly the Fallen had murdered Ives and then gone to the Cosmodrome, stating that she felt like they were missing a key part of this mystery. She wearily decided it was above her paygrade and provided the Young Wolf with an exotic engram that she had found amongst Ives' belongings, believing they should have it for avenging the Cryptarch.

The Arrival
"The Tower's seen a lot of changes. Some new faces." "Old ones, as well." "Hard pill to swallow. That some people can come back…" "And others can't."

- Amanda and Zavala discussing the passing of Cayde and return of Saint-14

Two years after Cayde's death, the Last City was under threat once more when the remnants of the Red Legion set The Almighty on a collision course with the city. During the crisis Amanda was visited in the hanger by Commander Zavala as she worked on a jumpship. She asked how the effort with the Warmind Rasputin was going to destroy The Almighty, and as he reassured her that they would make it through as they always did Amanda believed he sounded tired, but also thought that he had sounded like that since the Red War. Despite that, Amanda commented that he sounded like Cayde in his confidence, and when the Commander did not answer she rolled out from under the jumpship to look at him. She noted that a lot had changed since Cayde's death, including the arrival of several new important figures in the Tower and the return of Saint-14. As they glanced over to where the Titan made his home in the hanger, Amanda and Zavala agreed that it was hard when some people were able to come back and others were not. Wiping away a tear as she thought of Cayde, Zavala suddenly informed her that she was due for a break and suggested they go out to eat. Amanda immediately decided upon ramen, a choice which Zavala agreed with.

Zavala approached Amanda to help him set up the Guardian Games, a competition between each of the three Guardian classes, which she was happy to provide. She helped to set up decorations around the Tower. When the Young Wolf visited her during the games, Amanda discussed the event with them and suspected that they would be someone good to bet on in the Crucible when she watched matches with Lord Shaxx.

Following the Arrival of the Black Fleet in the system, Amanda was contacted by Sloane for advice on stabilizing the rigs after most of her work crews had evacuated due to the presence of a Pyramid on Titan. She advised putting together a box girder to reinforce the struts, but Sloane reminded her that she did not have the expertise for that. Slurping down a bowl of ramen, Amanda questioned how long Sloane needed the reinforcement to last. The Deputy-Commander only needed it for a little while but noted that she had not even been able to worry about the Pyramids since the shaking started. Amanda thought that was a positive and pointed out that there had to be something useful in a Engram somewhere on Titan that could be used to reinforce the rigs. Seeing her friend's look, she switched suggestions and recommended making a wavebreaker to stop the waves before they hit and shook the rig. She attempted to demonstrate with her hands but spilled her ramen onto her desk. As she laughed at herself Sloane declared she was hanging up, causing Amanda to put on a melodramatic pout, but Sloane waved cheerfully before leaving.

Amanda was later asked by the Young Wolf to inspect the Radiant Accipiter, a paracausal jumpship created by the Traveler and granted to them. She was fascinated by the vessel and how it functioned, as it had no controls, screens, or navigation systems as it respond directly to the pilots thoughts. However, she was saddened by the fact that she could not tinker with the ship as it had no technology for her to modify and did not even have a hood for her to open and inspect a engine.

Clash of the Chosen
After Empress Caiatl arrived in the Sol System to reclaim the Red Legion and sought to bring humanity into the Cabal Empire, Amanda was assigned to provide aerial support to a task force led by Lord Saladin Forge that was dedicated to eliminating Cabal officers seeking to join her War Council. Among the other members of the task force was a new Hunter called The Crow whom Amanda began working with on several missions. Following one mission on Nessus, Crow questioned why the Cabal had deployed the Imperial Land Tank Halphas Electus on the rogue planetoid. Amanda told him that the Cabal only ever solved problems with brute force and further explained her experience against the Cabal during the Red War, recalling the burning of the City and the civilians slaughtered by the Red Legion. Crow was unaware of those events, surprising Amanda, and she told him how the Traveler defeated Dominus Ghaul but that they still were fighting them because it was all the Cabal knew how to do.

When the Cabal sent a force to assault the Hive in the ruins of the Cosmodrome, Amanda was dispatched on a mission to scout their positions. She spotted a Cabal base being set up on the bluffs in the Mothyards and saw the Hive assaulting their position hard, although they remained dug in. The nearby Cabal frigates did not fire on her, as the Cabal remained entirely focused on the Hive. Returning to the Last City, Amanda filed a report on what she saw and also noted that she had not seen any Cabal civilians, speculating that they were being kept safe on carriers in deep space. She also stated her belief that the Cabal had little interest in conflict with humanity and were instead focused on gaining revenge against the Hive for the fall of their homeworld, a sentiment she understood well from the Red War. During a subsequent engagement between Vanguard forces led by Shaw Han and the Cabal in the Cosmodrome, Amanda was sent to drop the Praxic Titan Siegfried from her jumpship straight onto an entrenched Cabal position.

Amanda was infuriated when a lone Cabal Psion attempted to assassinate Zavala within the walls of the Last City. Crow noted her agitation and increased aggression against the Cabal after another operation on Nessus and attempted to calm her down. Amanda remained angry, declaring that Zavala was the glue holding the City and Vanguard together and that losing him would be the end of their struggle. Crow asked if she was close to the Commander, and Amanda told him that Zavala and Ikora were like family to her, and that Cayde had been as well and that she still missed him. The new Hunter wished he could have met Cayde, and Amanda reassured him that his killer had got what was coming to them. She asked Crow if he wanted to get drinks when they returned to the City and was surprised to learn that he had never done so before. Amanda became excited about taking Crow out drinking for the first time and warned him to buckle up for a wild time.

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, although she maintains a grudge against the Cabal. The trauma from her childhood journey to the Last City and loss of her mother and father gives her frequent nightmares.

Amanda had a close working relationship with all three members of the Vanguard and considers them family. The loss of Cayde-6 deeply affected her and she supported the Young Wolf's execution of Uldren, believing that he got what was coming to him.

Trivia

 * Amanda Holliday is voiced by Courtenay Taylor.
 * Prior to Destiny patch 2.0.0, she appeared cross-eyed in her vendor menu.
 * Amanda's appearance changed following Destiny 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.
 * She also gave the possibility to get and replay former campaigns. The Red War campaign, as well as the Curse of Osiris and Warmind expansion. They were later put into the Destiny Content Vault after Season of Arrivals.

List of appearances

 * Destiny
 * The Taken King
 * Rise of Iron
 * Destiny 2
 * Curse of Osiris
 * Solstice of Heroes
 * Forsaken
 * Black Armory
 * Joker's Wild
 * Season of Opulence
 * Shadowkeep
 * Season of the Undying
 * Season of the Worthy
 * Season of Arrivals
 * Beyond Light
 * Season of the Hunt
 * Season of the Chosen