Ta'aun, Hand of Oryx

"You will not need these things any more: duty, camaraderie, pride. You will not need an Emperor or a Bond Brother or any other code. You will not need anything at all. You will be your own whole purpose, a beautiful final purpose, everlasting. Cut away these useless things."

- Grimoire description

Ta'aun, Hand of Oryx, formerly known as Primus Ta'aun, was the commander of the Cabal Skyburners. He was taken in front of the Guardian. He was bonded with the Shield Brothers Valus Tlu'urn and Valus Mau'ual. Later he was killed along with Baxx, Hand of Oryx while defending Oryx, the Taken King.

Primus of the Skyburners
"I have my orders. Our report went all the way up, and the decision came all the way back."

- Primus Ta'aun

When the Hive fleet commanded by Oryx, the Taken King was detected entering the Sol System, Ta'aun suspended all mining and recon operations on Phobos to focus on investigating the approaching threat. When the Taken assaulted Fleetbase Korus he quickly ordered his forces to evacuate from the onslaught. His intelligence officers filed a report on the ineffectiveness of conventional Cabal forces against the Guardians, and suggested that the technology aboard Oryx's Dreadnaught might be co-opted by the Cabal to nullify Guardian Ghost regeneration. This report was sent up the chain of command to the Emperor himself, Dominus Ghaul, who ordered Ta'aun to personally board and capture the Dreadnaught by any means necessary.

Shortly after receiving those orders, Ta'aun commanded the defense of one of the Cabal's frontlines on Mars alongside one of his bond brothers, Valus Tlu'urn. Together they went from bunker to bunker to encourage and bolster their soldiers and call artillery fire upon the advancing Vex. As they took cover behind a destroyed Interceptor and fired upon their foes, Tlu'urn questioned if Ta'aun intended to follow through on his orders, arguing it was madness and suicide. As he pulled his bond brother out of the line of fire of several Hobgoblins and back into cover, Ta'aun revealed to him that Ghaul himself had approved the order, shocking Tlu'urn. As a Minotaur breached their lines, Ta'aun unload his weapon into it, screaming a war cry as he poured out his fears and concerns over the upcoming mission. As his legionaries cheered the machine's destruction, Tlu'urn noted that they were only scouting legions and did not have the numbers for such a mission before suggesting that they mutiny. Although the prospect of doing so appealed to Ta'aun, he felt that refusing his duty would be worse than death and refused.

The Awoken armada was destroyed by the Dreadnaught's main weapon in the Battle of Saturn, but it halted the fleet's advance due to the heavy casualties inflicted. Ta'aun took this opportunity to ram his warship, the Dantalion Exodus VI, into the Hive vessel to land his troops. Tlu'urn and Mau'ual both offered to join him in the battle, but out of love for them Ta'aun refused to bring them to their deaths. Pushing out from their crash site, Ta'aun led a unit of Skyburners into the Mausoleum, seeking to secure and enter the rupture that led to the realm of Oryx. However, they were overwhelmed by the Hive and Taken before also being assaulted by a Guardian who had also infiltrated the Dreadnaught. As his Legionaries perished around him, Ta'aun himself was Taken by Oryx.

Hand of Oryx
"You are Ta'aun. Primus of the Skyburners. Veteran of star-shaking campaigns. Bond brother to Tlu'urn and Mau'ual: your beloved comrades. Your faithful friends. For a while you were the mightiest Cabal soldier in the system."

- The Darkness to Ta'aun as he is Taken

The Darkness spoke to Ta'aun during the Taking process, declaring that he was free now of his duties and would no longer be confined by his armor on hostile planets while also noting that his code and valor had not been enough. It offered him a "knife" in the shape of loneliness to cut away his bonds of duty and love to stand on his own and take a new shape.

Now transformed into a Hand of Oryx, Ta'aun was paired with another Hand, the Taken Ogre Baxx, and placed by Oryx to guard the Rupture that led to him. The two Taken champions were confronted by the Guardian and despite his new shape and strength, Ta'aun was defeated and killed, freeing him of the Taken King's control and allowing them to reach and slay Oryx's physical form. However, Ta'aun's fate was unknown to his Bond Brothers. Mau'ual and Tlu'urn eventually followed his path to the Dreadnaught and threatened to detonate the Dreadnaught's power core to either avenge Ta'aun or force the Hive to surrender. This plan would fail as the Guardians who killed Ta'uan would defeat the Bond Brothers as well, bringing and end to the triumvirate of Skyburner commanders responsible for many Guardian deaths.

Personality and Traits
Although a dutiful soldier, Ta'aun was secretly tired of the war of attrition against the Vex and despaired in the orders to attack Oryx's flagship. When it was suggested that he might mutiny against his orders, Ta'aun thought positively of Valus Trau'ug and the Broken Legion's rebellion before remembering their utter failure against the Reef.

Gameplay
Primus Ta'aun is first seen in the story mission Enemy of My Enemy, where he is seen leading his attack force in a battle against the Hive to get to the rupture. He tries to mow down incoming foes with his heavy weapons, but becomes Taken and turns into Ta'aun, Hand of Oryx.

In Last Rites he appears with Baxx to avenge Crota before Eris Morn teleports the Guardian away. He can be damaged but has the durability of a Gorgon.

Returning in Regicide, he fights alongside Baxx to keep the Guardian out of the portal that leads to Oryx's altar. In battle, his Heavy Slug Thrower retains the deadly power and accuracy of those of regular Colossi, and although he cannot fire missile swarms, he can still hammer the player with long range suppressive fire. If Baxx is killed first, Ta'aun will go "berserk" and chase the Guardian until he can either land a hit with his ground smash or is killed himself.

Trivia

 * Ghost and Cayde-6 refer to Primus Ta'aun as a "Centurion" during Enemy of My Enemy, but Ta'aun is clearly a Colossus as he wields a Heavy Slug Thrower, a Cabal weapon used exclusively by Colossi. As Ta'aun, Hand of Oryx in Regicide, his weapon still functions identically to a Heavy Slug Thrower despite its visibly different Hive design. "Centurion" may simply be the catch-all term for a Cabal commander, with Colossi simply being larger, more heavily-armed Centurions.
 * Ta'aun's Taken Heavy Slug Thrower looks like the Dreadnaught weaponized even including the core in the middle. This may be because Ta'aun along with Baxx are the last line of defense before Oryx's throne in the mission Regicide.
 * His gauntlets are very similar in appearance to the Thagomizers exotic.
 * Ta'aun is the only Taken/Cabal to use another enemy's abilities besides Malok.
 * Before being Taken, Ta'aun has the same roar and grunts that a Taken Cabal boss, would have.
 * Ta'aun is the first and only Taken Colossus Guardians encountered so far in the series.

List of appearances

 * Destiny: The Taken King
 * Rise of Iron