Last City: Difference between revisions

The Last City's Guardians would later on have to contend with the return of the exiled Calus and his ship The Leviathan, hanging derelict near Luna. All the while, the Leviathan was broadcasting a signal to the Lunar Pyramid, causing the Nightmare phantoms to resurge. Working alongside Caiatl in combating Calus and the Nightmares, the Guardians learned of the former emperor's intention to become the Witness's latest Disciple. Despite working to undo the connections Calus was seeking to forge with the Lunar Pyramid, he nonetheless succeeded in giving himself over to the Witness and therefore becoming the herald of the Second Collapse.

With the Witness drawing near, time was running short for the Guardians as they sought to prepare. The Witness would make preparations of its own in freeing Eramis from her Stasis cocoon, in exchange for finding relics of the Dark Ages who agreed, beginning with rallying the Old Crews, pirates of Fallen legend. The Guardians would learn of Eramis's return after doing the Drifter a favor in retrieving cargo on Europa he had been paid to smuggle into the Last City. Said cargo turned out to be Spider, having sought to escape the Reef after Mara Sov's return and learning of his ill treatment of her brother. Hearing of Eramis's goals, the Guardians work alongside Drifter, Spider (who the Vanguard had granted asylum within the Eliksni Quarter), Mithrax and his daughter Eido in combating the Old Crews. After months of fighting the pirates and gathering the relics, the Guardians learned that said relics were in fact pieces of a dead Disciple of the Witness, [[Nezarec]], which Mithrax had known but out of shame, he kept that knowledge to himself, causing tension to brew between himself and Eido. Regardless, the Guardians thwarted Eramis's efforts as Mithrax used the relics to finally bring Osiris out of his coma, reuniting him with Saint-14. The Guardians would also donate the riches they plundered from the Old Crews to the Eliksni Quarter, increasing the quality of living for the House of Light and strengthening their relations with the Vanguard.

With Nezarec subdued and Osiris returned, the Guardians would later aid Ana Bray in restoring Rasputin, who had remained crippled since its last encounter with the Black Fleet. Unable to repair him on her own, Ana reluctantly heeded Osiris's advice in seeking out one of the Warmind's original creators: Clovis Bray I, her grandfather. As and AI within the Exo Creation Labs, the Guardians headed to Europa where they encountered not only Salvation Fallen but also Wrathborn Hive, leading them to suspect that Xivu Arath is seeking to consolidate her power within the Sol System. Worse they discovered that the Wrathborn had managed to gain partial access to the Warmind's defense systems and were seeking to corrupt Clovis Bray as well. After saving Clovis from the Hive and Fallen, Ana and Osiris inform the Bray patriarch of Rasputin's current state. Out of self-preservation and to ensure his legacy, Clovis agreed to aid his granddaughter in repairing the Warmind, though the scientist's arrogance and patronizing nature would aggravate the Guardians and the Vanguard.

After spending months of collecting submind data to help restore the Warmind, Ana's unorthodox method of using the Ghost of the Iron Lord Felwinter not only restored Rasputin at a quicker pace but it also allowed him to speak directly. This occasion brought joy to Ana, Rasputin would inform her and the Guardians of Clovis Bray's true agenda: The Bray Patriarch never built the Warmind to protect humanity but to help him assume control and have it actually replace the Traveler for in his mind, Clovis couldn't see anyone other than himself as humanity's savior. However, Ana Bray deviated from that original plan by teaching him the things Clovis found no value in such as music, history and art. These convinced Rasputin that humanity deserved protection, leading him to rewrite his protocols and lock Clovis out. Now though, Clovis is digital mind like Rasputin and the Warmind reveals that Clovis's new plan is to use Rasputin to upload himself into the Warsat Network to assume direct control, becoming a machine god and the savior he envisioned himself as. Furious over her grandfather's lies and deception, Ana would cast Clovis out, despite his honeyed words and assurances, by having Rasputin downloaded into the Exo Frame that housed Clovis's personality on the H.E.L.M., though his original AI still existed on Europa but confined.

With Clovis removed from the equation, Rasputin continued to guide the Guardians in gathering submind data for his restoration but a revelation from Mara Sov would leave him questioning on his next move. The Awoken began to suspect that Xivu Arath's true goal was to allow the Guardians to restore Rasputin and use his arsenal to smite the Wrath, in which the following destruction would not only fuel her worm but also that of ritual. A ritual to open a portal large enough to summon her armies to overwhelm Earth. Thus, the Vanguard Coalition's leaders agree that while they can't allow Eramis to hack into the Network, they can't leave the Warmind weakened, as Ana pleaded her case that Rasputin was needed in combating the Witness.

Unfortunately, Eramis would succeed in gaining access to the Warsat Network, seeking to activate Rasputin's ABHORRENT IMPERATIVE protocol where all the Warsats will target the Traveler. With no time and no other option, Rasputin resolves to sacrifice himself with his AURORA SACRIFICE protocol to destroy the entire Warsat Network, denying Eramis her vengeance. As the Guardians battled aboard the Seraph Station to upload Rasputin, the heard reports of activity within the Last City: the Traveler was beginning to leave. Yet as it entered Earth's outer orbit, it ceased to move just as the Warsat Network self-destructed. Confused and angered, Eramis wondered why the Traveler didn't flee like it had with the Eliksni and so many other civilizations. The Witness answered, stating that the Traveler simply has nowhere left to run.

Despite the initial fear that the Traveler was leaving humanity and their allies to fend for themselves, Zavala and Ikora believe that with humanity standing together, they can face and repel the Witness.