Forum:Stone Breakers

"If this Cabal unit has their way, stone will not be the only thing that breaks but entire worlds."

- Lord Shaxx

The Stone Breakers are a Cabal forward heavy infantry force used as a last resort in an attempt to turn the tide of battle whenever any Cabal detachment is in need of reinforcements. They are the most dangerous Cabal detachment yet, as of the time Primus Tho'urgh came into power.

History
The Stone Breakers Legion is one of the most dangerous units the Cabal have and for that reason the Emperor kept them in reserve as a last-resort. It is said that before becoming a reserve unit, the Stone Breakers crushed more worlds than any other cabal legion but their loyalty was once in question. Under a previous Primus, they nearly usurped the Emperor until Tho'urgh, a Valus at the time, killed the current Primus in front of the Stone Breakers and took command, ordering them to stand down. Though the emperor allowed Tho'urgh to keep the rank, he decreed that the Stone Breakers be kept in reserve to keep them in check. Only during very desperate times will the Stone Breakers be deployed.

A distress signal was sent to the Emperor from the Skyburners about their losses. While The Guardian was able to intercept the signal, they were unable to stop it from reaching its target, as was confirmed two years later when Dominus Ghaul and the Red Legion arrived on the scene and singlehandedly invaded The Last City and succeeded. However, with the Legion's leadership withering in the face of Guardian efforts to liberate the Solar System and Ghaul dead, remaining Cabal soldiers called Tho'urgh for reinforcements from the ranks of the Stone Breakers, which have yet to arrive.

Gameplay
This detachment is mostly made up of Centurions and Colossi, but it offers a few new units to reinforce their purpose of being a last-resort military group. They are aggressive, durable soldiers that often flush the player into cover. In the game they appear in every single area on Mars, including formerly only Vex-control ones, aggressively battling the machines. The Cabal Legion ratio is typically sixty to seventy percent Stone Breakers and forty to thirty percent other Cabal Legions. They act as reinforcers for the weary Cabal, replenishing the numbers Oryx depleted in the Taken War.

They appear in large numbers whenever a special World Event called "Deployment" begins. On patrol a message will appear in the corner of the screen saying, "The Stone Breakers are marshaling an offensive". This event starts off like a Fallen Glimmer Drill event. A Cabal warship appears in the sky and flies low overhead, offing a profile view and size comparison of the warship; Harvesters and Cabal fightercraft flank it, with several breaking away and deploying troops. This event lasts for ten minutes of endless waves of Cabal soldiers, who must be defeated before they secure their objectives, and concludes when a high ranking Ultra Valus (divided between three named variants) comes out to personally challenge the Guardians.

Unique Ground Units
This Cabal Legion features more specialized units often found during Deployment Events and certain Patrol missions, but also appear during the Story missions and Quests of the game. They are as follows:

Ballistarius
A Legionary that is hardly any different than the standard troop but are capable of planting down turrets and landmines. Normally armed with an upgraded Slug Rifle that fires at a much higher rate.

Lancer
A heavy hitting Phalanx variant, the Lancer possesses far more agile jump jets and comes equipped with a potent energy deflecting staff for close quarters engagements. Lancers prefer to slam shield first into enemy units before unleashing a flurry of melee attacks. However, these troops share the same weakness as the Phalanx, as their rear is completely defenseless and a keen-eyed shooter can hit their arms forcing them to drop their shields.

Flamer
A Legionary that has a flamethrower attachment to their Projection Rifle and can throw a napalm grenade. They are often seen in groups with Ballistarius to drive out entrenched enemies. Their main weakness is their napalm reserve on their backs, when damaged it could explode and kill or severely wound anything near it.

Hypaspist
A Centurion equipped with jump jets, a Cabal Shield, Solar shield and Projection Rifle. Replaces the Phalanx entirely. Despite these extra defenses that make them incredibly difficult to defeat, especially when alone, they are slow as a Colossus and are susceptible to all forms of Arc, Void and Solar attacks.

Master Gunnery Sergeant
A Centurion capable of operating heavy artillery, even on Goliath Tanks. They are normally armed with dual Projection Rifles and a miniature built-in slug thrower. They are force to be reckoned with when operating with Goliath Tanks but without, them they can be easily taken down like a regular Colossus.

Pulsar
An elite Psion, the Pulsar supplants the role of a sniper in the Stone Breakers. They utilize Induction Rifles to pick off enemies at long range, before closing the distance with flutter packs. These are often found in Kill the Target Patrol missions, and most Story missions.

Pulsar Subtypes

 * Pulsar Aggressor—used to maintain order amongst more rebellious troops, Aggressors use their psychic abilities to control and coordinate field legionnaires. Should they be killed, the psychic backlash sends all nearby Cabal into a blind rage, even forcing them to attack their fellow troops.
 * Pulsar Defender—employed alongside major Bracci or Vals, a Defender projects a shield of Void energy to its commanding officer, supplementing alongside their Solar defense. Killing them not only removes the Void shield but sends a backlash to their commanders' shields, weakening them.

Gladiator
A Colossus equipped with an arm-mounted Arc blade instead of a Heavy Slug Thrower and have jump jets for rapid movement. These Colossus variants are one of the few who charge at the enemy head-on. Since they have no other weapons, their primary weakness is being attacked from a great distance or from multiple targets at once.

Draconarius
A Colossus armed with a massive fully-automatic rocket launcher that fires a volley of high explosive Solar warheads which initially scatter and then lock on to any targets in their path. Equipped with a standard on its back decorated with Stone Breaker banners; the standard is capable of firing a constant beam of energy called Dragon's Gaze, which deals continuous damage. When faced up close, they will use their jump jets to initiate a rocket jet blast, which will create a shockwave and a circle of fire while knocking its target back a significant distance. The Draconarius may seem to be the most powerful Colossus-variant seen but they do have a few weakness, first that the rockets can only track on enemy at a time and they are one of the slowest Cabal units, making them easy targets for critical hits.

Lightning Psion
A special aerial unit characterized by its large angel-like wings and rapid movement. These are armed with special weapons called Lasrifles, quick-firing, terrifyingly accurate rifles which can harry Guardians. Due to their moving around the field, and sometimes completely flying high beyond weapons' range, they're difficult to contain and destroy. Despite this, the Lightning Psion's wings are fairly weak against heavy fire and when damaged, the Psion will plummet from the sky. This will either kill the Psion and create large physic explosion or it will drive them on a suicide run to kill their enemies with them.

Marauder Lancer
At first glance, a Phalanx unit equipped with wings seemed counter-intuitive. However, these units specialize in flying into enemy targets with their overshields, smashing them apart. They are protected by the overshield, a special variant which protects their entire front from enemy fire, even Guardian Supers. Armed with a missile launcher and arm-mounted blades, they are a devastating foe. However, like all Phalanx variants, their main weak point is being attacked from behind.

Thunderbolt Colossus
The last and most dangerous of the Cabal's aerial forces is the Thunderbolt Colossus. These are nothing short of mobile tanks, equipped with an impressive rocket booster with smaller guiding wings. They armed with twin Ultra-Heavy Slug Throwers, have a propensity to disperse missile swarms like their land-based counterpart, and have a chest-mounted Phaser Cannon capable of melting Guardian shields. Their tactical weakness is they are by far the slowest Cabal unit, more than the Draconarius, this makes them easy to hit with critical attacks. In addition, they are equipped with no shields at all, only armor, which makes them susceptible to Arc, Void and Solar damage.

Breaker Goliath Tank
The Stone Breakers have their own variant of the Cabal standard-issue Goliath Tank: the Breaker Goliath Tank. Armed with modified versions of its standard counterpart's weaponry as well as flamethrowers, poison grenade launchers, and phaser repeaters as well as trapping devices, it can suppress opponents at any range. It even has limited flight capabilities and can mark the position of players to summon all nearby Cabal on them. However, their thrusters are still a weak point, and destroying them will render the tank unable to fly.