Atavistic Idol Suit

The atavistic idol suit is an armor set for all three classes, introduced in the Season of the Haunted. It is acquired by ranking up with Saint-14 and completing matches in the Trials of Osiris.

Helm
"Her jumpship was full of dead Ghosts. Some of them were just pieces. We haven't determined how many dead, yet."

- Vanguard Security Report Excerpt

EARTH // LAST CITY // DETENTION FACILITY //

The Warlock Shayura kneels on a pillow, eyes closed and head bowed, hands folded in her lap. The soundscape of city noise punctuated by the melody of birds and the whistling wind surrounds her. But there is no grass beneath her pillow, only cold concrete. Four holographic screens encircle Shayura, providing a semi-realistic depiction of the gardens at the center of the Last City; a place of calm serenity situated in the shadow of the Traveler.

"I exalt our forebearers," Shayura says softly.

"I exalt my fireteam."

"I exalt my truth."

"I exalt my heart."

"I exalt humanity's capacity for love."

"This above all else, I hold true."

The words feel like thick syrup in her mouth. Guilt makes it taste bitter. Her jaw trembles and throat tightens, her mouth too dry to swallow.

"I exalt our forebearers."

Her voice wavers, just a little.

"I exalt my fireteam."

Her jaw trembles.

"I exalt my truth."

She can feel the warmth of tears on her cheeks.

"I exalt my heart."

Her voice cracks.

"I exalt h-hu-human—" She breaks. Recitations turn into sobs, and Shayura slides from pillow to floor. Her shoulders heave, and she pulls her knees to her chest, crying against her legs. Dead Guardians stare with hollow eye sockets when she closes her eyes.

They beg for their lives.

She trains a gun on them.

And exalts her truth.

Gauntlets
"We believe she's also responsible for the dead Guardian and Eliksni we found on Venus. We haven't yet identified which dead Ghost belongs to the Guardian."

- Vanguard Security Report Excerpt

MOON // OCEAN OF STORMS // ANCHOR OF LIGHT //

"The Vanguard won't hold a military tribunal in the middle of a war."

Reed-7 is a voice of reason. He stands in the doorway of the derelict moonbase, fusion rifle held in a relaxed grip. The still-smoldering bodies of Hive Thrall are scattered around the room.

"That's not comforting," the woman at Reed's back says. Aisha shoulders past him, leading with the barrel of her scout rifle, sweeping the area for any remaining targets. "The last thing I want is Shay languishing in some—some kind of Vanguard prison cell for however long this goes on for, or until we're all…"

"Dead?" Reed-7 finishes. Aisha says nothing. "This isn't the end of the world, Aisha. But we have to reach the bottom before we can climb to the top again."

"This isn't the bottom?" Aisha asks, tilting her head to the side mockingly. She steps over to one of the blown-out windows and gestures to the massive silhouette of the Leviathan hanging over the Moon, a crimson stream of Nightmares spiraling up into its open maw. "Because it sure as hell looks like it is. And, what, the Vanguard has us out here doing… doing New Light patrols?!"

"They can't afford to give us leave, no matter how much we need it," Reed pleads. "We have to stay active, contribute. We lost too many new Guardians already with the Lucent Hive assault on the Cosmodrome. We can't…" He sighs. "We can't afford to lose anyone else. We have to do everything we can."

Aisha leans one arm against the broken window frame, head hung low. "Yeah," she whispers. "Yeah."

Plate
"Jumpship logs indicate she visited Venus, the Moon, the Reef, and several locations on Earth. Her last position before surrendering herself was Mars."

- Vanguard Security Report Excerpt

MOON // OCEAN OF STORMS // K1 COMMUNION //

A Fallen Vandal collapses to the ground, Ether vapor rising from a glowing hole where his face once was. Dark-blue blood sizzles around the wound.

"Clear," Reed-7 calls out from the top of a flight of metal stairs, the barrel of his fusion rifle still crackling with energy from the last bolt it fired. As he descends, Aisha follows and shoulders her scout rifle.

"Looks like they were pulling the wiring out of the walls," she observes, lifting up her hand and alighting her Ghost, Dunya, into the air. "Check the systems here; make sure they weren't doing anything else."

"Affirmative," Dunya chirps, zipping off through the air toward a computer terminal.

Aisha notices that Reed's glowing eyes are fixed on the Ether wafting from the Vandal's body. She spares a glance at Dunya before crossing the floor to Reed's side. "Hey," she says with a hand on his arm, jostling him from his thoughts.

"I'm good," he lies, gingerly pulling away. "Just—thinking."

Aisha looks down at the corpse, then back up to Reed. "This isn't like what Shay did on Venus." She tries to be reassuring, but it comes off as dismissive.

"How's it any different?" He asks with a dagger's sharpness in his voice. "These—they were stripping wires from the walls, Aisha. They weren't trying to hurt anyone!"

"They opened fire on us first."

"We didn't even try to talk to them!" Reed yells.

"Aisha?" Dunya chirps, across the room. Neither Guardian hears the Ghost.

"I'm sorry," Aisha says as she throws her arms up. "Was I supposed to do that before or after they threw a grenade at me?"

"Aisha?" Dunya says again, more alarm in his voice.

"We could have tried something! Anything!" Reed screams, getting in Aisha's face. "We could have—"

"AISHA!"

Greaves
"We're notifying fireteam members and life partners as we identify the Ghost remains. It's going to take a while."

- Vanguard Security Report Except

MOON // OCEAN OF STORMS // K1 COMMUNION //

Red light floods over Dunya's black-and-gold shell. The tiny Ghost's monocular blue eye bobs up and down as he tracks backwards through the air, taking in the presence of an ethereal figure hovering above.

Aisha and Reed turn at Dunya's chirp of alarm, guns drawn. But as they train their sights on the robed Nightmare shimmering in front of them, neither one can fully commit their aim. Aisha is the first to whisper an expletive in shock at the sight.

"Arguing about which of you is as terrible as I am?" The Nightmare of Shayura asks, turning her crimson stare away from Dunya's retreating form. "Heaven forbid you be as awful as your murderous friend."

Aisha is frozen in confusion, hands trembling on the grip of her scout rifle. "Shay." The word comes out of her mouth as little more than a hoarse whisper.

The Nightmare of Shayura floats slowly through the air toward Aisha and Reed, smiling when Dunya hides behind his Guardian and transmats away.

"First comes the guilt," the Nightmare croons, "then the shame, then the denial. I know the patterns well." She wags a finger back and forth, chidingly. "How soon before you forget me? Find a new Warlock to bask in their well? Pretend that I never existed?"

"S-Shay—Shay wh—" Aisha can't even string her words together. Not until she feels Reed's metal hand clamp down on her shoulder. When she looks at him, his expression is one of resolve, not fear. It's then that she remembers the instructions Eris had given, about how to survive on the Moon if ever the Nightmares came for them with familiar faces, familiar voices.

Aisha looks back at the Nightmare of Shayura and whispers: "I'm sorry."

Mark
"With the Consensus disbanded, there's no telling how long this could take to go to trial. Given the current... situation? We might all be dead before that happens."

- Vanguard Security Report Except

EARTH // LAST CITY // DETENTION FACILITY //

"The first steps to healing are learning to forgive yourself. That's a hard one, I know."

Doctor Syeda Uzair sets her datapad aside, then sits forward in her chair. She folds her hands in front of herself. A tiny, beaded chain is wrapped around one hand, and a small bone charm of the Traveler is pressed into her right palm. "Shayura, whether or not a court of law finds you guilty of your actions in any measure, you are still held accountable to the court of your own conscience."

Across from Doctor Uzair, Shayura is slouched in her chair. She stares past her doctor, out the narrow windows, and looks to the looming figure of the Traveler hanging in the sky. It seems so much bigger compared to the projections she chooses to display in her cell.

"Who judges them?" Shayura asks, motioning to the window with her chin. To the Traveler.

Doctor Uzair turns, glancing over her shoulder at the Traveler. Her grip on the charm tightens. "I don't know," is her immediate answer, but the question will burrow its way through her mind, surfacing again when she lies down in bed tonight. "I understand the Human condition far better than a god's."

"Maybe the Traveler abandoned us because it's ashamed of us. Of what we've done in its name." Shayura's voice is small, weary. An alert flickers on Dr. Uzair's datapad, momentarily drawing her attention away. Shayura fills the silence with a sigh.

"Maybe," Doctor Uzair says, though she doesn't believe it. "But, maybe we're all just short on hope these days. I'd like to extend our session a little longer, if you're willing. Would you mind if we did so with some guests?"

Concern flashes across Shayura's face; defensiveness, shame. She sits up slightly in her seat. Doctor Uzair can see the tension.

"When we speak of forgiveness, sometimes it helps to first be forgiven," Doctor Uzair says with a tempered smile. Shayura glances to the datapad, then back to her doctor.

"Reed-7 and Aisha would like to see you."

Tears well in Shayura's eyes. Her voice of dissent evaporates.

Shayura realizes there is one thing she can still have faith in: her family.