Taken War: Difference between revisions

===Battle of Saturn===

{{Quote|The Awoken have played their part. This... was all part of the plan. Guide them, my Hidden friend... It is all up to you now.|Queen Mara Sov<ref>'''Bungie (2015-9-15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]], PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[The Coming War]]''</ref>}}

The [[Awoken]] of the [[Reef]] were the first to respond to the Hive God's invasion. Queen [[Mara Sov]] gathered her fleet to engage the [[Dreadnaught]], Oryx's capital ship, directly in the [[Battle of Saturn]]. When conventional weapons failed, the Queen and her [[Techeun]]s unleashed the [[Harbinger]]s, energy weapons of mysterious power. While they tore through the lesser Hive ships, the Dreadnaught was unscathed. In retaliation, Oryx unleashed his [[Oversoul]], which obliterated the Queen's fleet in a single blast, including her flagship and a few of Oryx's own ships.<ref>'''Bungie (2015-9-15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]], PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[The Coming War]]''</ref> Though no body was recovered, the Queen was assumed dead, and [[Petra Venj]] was named Queen Regent.<ref>'''Bungie (2015-9-15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]], PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire:Inventory/Special_Weapons#Telesto|Telesto]]''</ref> However, the battle succeeded in its primary objective, halting Oryx's fleet and keeping it locked outside of the inner system.<ref>'''Bungie (2015-9-15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]], PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[The Coming War]]''</ref>

===Removing the Blights===

Though Oryx vanished from the material realm, he continued to blight the system. Only by attacking the source of the blights on each planet could the Vanguard direct their attention on ending Oryx himself. Defeating the Taken's Champions helped to narrow down the source of the blights. [[Cayde-6]] tracked down the source of the blight on Earth to an Echo of Oryx hiding in [[King's Watch]], where it was defeated.<ref>'''Bungie (2015-9-15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]], PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Kings of Decay]]''</ref> [[Ikora Rey]] discovered a message from [[Praedyth]] coming from the [[Vault of Glass (location)|Vault of Glass]]; however, this was a [[Vex]] ploy to get the Guardian to remove the Taken that had invaded the Vault, as Praedyth had long since died. The blight on Venus was tracked down to the top of [[The Citadel]], where another Echo of Oryx was encountered and defeated.<ref>'''Bungie (2015-9-15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]], PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Entropy's Pinnacle]]''</ref> [[Commander Zavala]] discovered another Echo of Oryx on Mars, this time using a secret entrance under [[Freehold]] to invade the [[Black Garden]]. The Echo was driven from the Garden and was defeated finally on [[Phobos]], in the very room where the War had begun.<ref>'''Bungie (2015-9-15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]], PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Fear's Embrace]]''</ref>

The House of Wolves, attempting to rebuild their strength after Skolas's humiliating defeat and eventual death during the [[Wolf Rebellion]], rallied under the leadership of the renegade Archon, [[Keldar]], who managed to rebuild the Wolves's previous Prime Servitor, [[Orbiks Prime]]. With their leadership cemented, the Wolves took advantage of the Cabal's crippling losses against Oryx by settling on Mars and taking over strongholds once belonging to the Blind Legion. Variks's took notice of the Wolves's reemergence and sought to prevent them from becoming a threat again. Contacting the Guardians for aid, Variks relayed his findings on the Wolves's plans. The Guardians managed to drive Keldar out of hiding to take him out and eventually discover that Orbiks Prime was using the [[Conflux]] as a disruption against detection. Breaching past Wolf raiders and Cabal squads to the main Conflux site, the Guardians confronted the rebuilt Prime Servitor and its zealous defenders. Despite Orbiks's power and defenders, the Guardians managed to destroy the Prime Servitor for good, completely breaking the House of Wolves, leaving them at the mercy of the Cabal and the harsh martian environment.

On their part, the House of Winter remained relatively quiet following the death of their Kell, Skolas's failed rebellion and their raid on the Prison of Elders that led to the release of [[Aksor]]. However, with the Taken plunging the Fallen into disarray, the leaderless Winter Fallen desperately sought a way to survive. Without any true form of leadership however, they did not know how this could be done. Resolving to break into the Prison of Elders once again and recruit a new leader, the Winter Fallen took advantage of the Reef's distraction with the Taken and successfully raided the prison again. Their success was short-lived however, for while the Winter Fallen managed to gain the cyrocell that housed a capable leader, the Taken led a large attack on the Fallen, leading their candidate to become [[Nixis, Hunger of Oryx]]. As a result, Nixis and the Taken completely scattered the Winter Fallen. Fortunately, the Guardians were informed of the Winter's second theft of the prison and sought to repeat what they had done over a year prior. Traveling to Venus, The Guardians managed to fight past the fleeing Winter Fallen and the assaulting Taken to Nixis's location and before he could cause anymore damage, the Guardians managed to slay him. With their plan to find a new leader ending in failure, the remaining forces of the House of Winter had no choice but to desperately hide for the remainder of the war.

===The King's Fall===

{{Quote|We have confirmed it among our number within the Hidden. I have asked Ikora's Warlocks to reach out, and they sense nothing. The Orb is quiet. On the Moon, his shrine is dark and cold. It is true: the Taken King is dead. The Hive's dark god, and his foul son, have been purged from the universe.|Eris Morn, undisclosed report to Osiris<ref>'''Bungie (2015-9-15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]], PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire:Activities/The_Taken_King#The_Road_to_King's_Fall|The Road to King's Fall]]''</ref>}}

With the blights eliminated and other threats maintained, the Vanguard made preparations to once again enter the Dreadnaught, and defeat Oryx for good. Oryx's Lieutenants still lived, most of them residing in the [[Court of Oryx]]. Eris had the Guardians depose the Court, as well as eliminate [[The Infantine]] before it could be infused with Taken power. Soon, there was none left but Oryx himself, as well as his closest allies, the [[Warpriest]], [[Golgoroth]], and his daughters [[Ir Anûk, Deathsinger|Ir Anûk]] and [[Ir Halak, Deathsinger|Ir Halak]].  

===Pretenders to the Osmium Throne===

{{Quote|The Taken King is dead. Yet his armies writhe and claw at our worlds.|Eris Morn<ref>'''Bungie (2015-9-15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]], PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Blighted Chalice]]''</ref>}}

The Taken War did not end with Oryx's defeat, unfortunately. The Taken continued to persist despite the loss of their master; though without Oryx's will to follow they began to slowly decay, they remained a significant threat that the Guardians had to continue fighting. With the Osmium Throne vacant, some powerful Hive and Taken saw an opportunity to seize it for themselves. One was [[Alak-Hul, the Darkblade]], a Hive Knight who Oryx had considered a foster son. Before Alak-Hul could break free of [[The Sunless Cell]] where Oryx had imprisoned him earlier for his attempted usurpation, and become the King of the Hive, he was defeated by a fireteam of Guardians.<ref>'''Bungie (2015-9-15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]], PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[The Sunless Cell]]''</ref>