Forum:The Black Fleet

"We were betrayed. Our savior, our messiah, has fallen to them. We have fled our home. We have nothing left to shelter behind. Please, we beg of you, do not cast us out to the dark."

- Ikora Rey

The Black Fleet is a fleet of tetrahedral megastructures responsible for the enshrouding of the Solar System. They are the eternal nemesis of the Traveler and all servants of the Light, and actively pursue the Traveler wherever it may go.

Pyramid
Overwhelmingly, the dominant representative of the Fleet is the solitary ISO, a regular tetrahedron (in which all four faces are equilateral triangles). These pyramids share a consistent design and size, double the size of Eliksni Ketches, with the exception of the so-called "J-brain" units, pyramids with the mass and size of Jupiter. Running down their edges and converging at the four points are banks of exotic weaponry. They possess acausal shielding in which any object, projectile, or photonic particle is fired at gets caught and held in seemingly eternal stasis; moreover the object is physically shifted onto another plane of reality entirely, trapped, yet still "present" in the main plane. They are made from a black substance that seemingly ripples and flows like water to the naked eye but is dry and smooth upon touch. It is impervious to all known weaponry, including Light-empowered weapons and powers. Any apparent injury will leave a minor scar of glowing material that quickly heals and returns to normal. Light-blessed beings report a chilling sensation upon touch.

Each pyramid contains a fleet of "scales", hexagonal prisms, with daggerlike points orbiting about it. These dagger points are apparently semi-autonomous and will react as either a unit or individually, by either physically swarming the target or attacking from afar. The "scales" are known to the Hierarchy as autowars, and range from a few dozen to a hundred meters. They are made from the same substance as their larger brethren and are equipped with similar weapons.

Inside the larger pyramids are endless halls and chambers intended for human habitation, illuminated by golden lights amid deep shadows. Each pyramidal "side" faces inwards towards the center; gravity consistently maintains a recognizable up and down until one reaches the boundary between sides, at which point the perspective changes, and the inner ear struggles to maintain balance. At the center of each pyramid, where upon an ordinary vessel would be a fusion reactor, is a large spherical chamber with four "entrances" leading into it. Upon a dais is a veiled statue with folded wings of sinuous membrane and feather, and surrounding it are smaller effigies of indistinct creatures. Before The Guardian's corruption these halls remained empty; afterward, they teem with the armies of Darkness.

Shadowkeeper
The name given to entities wholly corrupted by the pyramids in service to the Darkness is simply the "Shadowkeeper". There is no distinction between willing servitude and outright enslavement. Members of all six species present in the solar system are among their ranks—Human, Awoken, Eliksni, Cabal, Hive, and Vex. Their physical appearance is that of a rippling shadow, more opaque than the Taken armies commanded by Oryx, with eyes of golden fire. They command powers and abilities that are unlike the powers of the Light, based upon the physics of paracausality, and bound completely to the Darkness.

According to remnants of Rasputin's analyses from the First Collapse, there is growing evidence that these beings are wholly artificial, drawn out of the collective psyche of entire racial minds. Examples include the Black Swordsman, otherwise known as Kirito, apparently created wholesale out of an artificial program that had formerly been under Rasputin's prerogative, which in turn had been based upon a character from a centuries-old entertainment series.

The most notable of these servants is simply The Guardian, hero of the Last City and killer of their many and varied foes. It is unknown how The Guardian finally fell to the Darkness' service but it is believed exposure to Stasis is what hastened their fall, much in the same manner as what happened to Rezyl Azzir. What is known for certain is that, during the war against the Black Fleet, the Guardian slowly and surely grew more erratic, disappearing for weeks on end in pursuit of the City's enemies—and finally, one day after a very lengthily departure, returned at the head of an army by the side of the Black Swordsman and the Angel, and overran Earth's defenses. They personally slew millions of Guardians and civilians where before they had once staunchly defended.