Forum:The Black Fleet: Difference between revisions

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|notable-group= The Shadowkeepers

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{{Quote|We were betrayed. Our [[Forum:The Guardian (Nightmare)|savior]], our messiah, has fallen to ''them''. We have fled our [[The Last City|home]]. We have nothing left to shelter behind. Please, we beg of you, do not cast us out to the dark.|[[Ikora Rey]]}}

At least one major pyramid unit was left behind, heavily damaged, in orbit of [[Forum:Titania (system)|Titania]] for inscrutable purposes.

Many months after the destruction of [[The Almighty]], during which the remnants of the Cabal empire trickled in after the sudden loss of [[Torobatl]] and their core worlds, the Black Fleet arrived ''en mass'' into the system. Multiple pyramidic fleet units entered from all areas surrounding the system, taking up holding positions around the major Jovian worlds, and began converting all local matter into gigantic constructs called "J-brains". [[Uranus]], [[Neptune]], and most of the Kuiper belt bodies were absorbed in this manner. [[Saturn]] was the next to fall, the inert [[Dreadnaught]] becoming a seed for the new J-brain, and [[Jupiter]] soon followed almost simultaneously.

Upon Earth itself blights appeared everywhere except where the Traveler's shield of light was strongest. Hordes of horrors poured forth—Nightmares conjured out of the collective psyches of many species. Cabal and human fought side by side, Eliksni and Awoken defended the walls of the Last City, which had grown to encompass most of South America and parts of Central America, against the armies of the Dark. The Guardians themselves numbered in the hundreds of millions, the greatest concentration since the Twilight Gap; nary a free Ghost remained Unpaired. It seemed it would be an endless stalemate, the Traveler still recovering from wounds both deep and ancient, and fresh and recent, and the Darkness in the fullness of its strength.

The Darkness had a backdoor. Through the power of Stasis it wielded an undue influence over the minds of those Guardians who adopted its usage, and gradually began to sow discord within the ranks of the Alliance. Those Guardians who hadn't fully embraced Stasis were less affected than those who did; and they who were most affected began to forsake using the Light, preferring to fight fire with fire. They started exploring the rifts and portals created by the Darkness, ending up in strange and mysterious places, and some became lost. When they returned, they had become twisted—the first harbingers of the Shadowkeepers.

Instead they encountered the Black Swordsman. They briefly fought him until the Guardian themselves reappeared. Their Ghost was gone, their arms and armor replaced with living Darkness. Before, the Black Swordsman was evenly matched with the Exo and the Hunter; with the Dark Guardian, the battle was turned in their favor, and the two Allies barely escaped with their lives. They were able to make it back to the City in time to relay to the Vanguard and the Consensus the terrible truth before the Descent happened.

At the head of a great army of Nightmares and twisted beings now known as Shadowkeepers—fallen Guardians among them—came marching the Swordsman and Dark Guardian. In the skies above the unified Cabal and Eliksni fleets broke and fell, and a great Pyramid began its descent downwards. The Moon started to disassemble itself into a J-brain. The Traveler pulsated, and blasted forth a wave of power. The Shadowkeeper host was obliterated—save for two. The Dark Guardian had thrown a shield of Darkness over themselves and the Black Swordsman. When it lifted, a third figure had joined them: the White Angel. More portals were opened and a new host of Shadowkeepers poured forth, encompassing the walls of the City, and began their assault. The Last City's end was nigh.

*'''Autowar Scale'''—measuring one hundred meters, named such by the Hierarchy of Hierarchies, they construct new Scales in situ and send them into battle, and are just as deadly as their smaller counterparts.

The name given to entities wholly corrupted by the pyramids in service to the Darkness is simply the "Shadowkeeper". There is no distinction between willing servitude and outright enslavement. Members of all six species present in the solar system are among their ranks—[[Humanity|Human]], [[Awoken]], [[Fallen|Eliksni]], [[Cabal]], [[Hive]], and [[Vex]]. Their physical appearance is that of a rippling shadow, more opaque than the [[Taken]] armies commanded by [[Oryx, the Taken King|Oryx]], with eyes of golden fire. They command powers and abilities that are the antithetical opposite of the Light—Stasis, Entropy, and Fracture.

==Armies of Darkness==

<center>'''[[Forum:The Guardian (Nightmare)|The Guardian]]'''<br>

The former hero of the Last City, now sworn in service to the Black Fleet as a hollow nightmare of their former selves. Personally massacred millions of civilians and Guardians of the City.</center>

|'''Angel'''

|''Baseline soldier of the Black Fleet, armed with Shadow Launchers and utilize Barrier Shields.''

|Angelic Nightmare

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|'''Archangel'''

|''Frontline infantry, comes in light and heavy variants; light variant carries Shadow Launchers and Barrier Shields, heavy variant carries Pitch Javelins and Shade Bulwarks.''

|Archangelic Nightmare

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|'''Ruler'''

|''Morale booster unit, extremely aggressive, armed with Darkness Scepter and uses Darkness Blasts.''

|Ruling Nightmare

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|'''Power'''

|''Long-range rearguard support unit, armed with Chaos Rifles and Fusion Knives.''

|Empowered Nightmare

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|'''Stronghold'''

|''Large defensive unit that flank and provide heavy support, armed with omnidirectional Shade Bulwarks and Soulrenders.''

|Fortified Nightmare

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|'''Lordship'''

|''Support unit, actively heals others, armed with Shade Incantation and Tenebrous Shield.''

|Lord Nightmare

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|'''Throne'''

|''Mobile siege cannon. Shielded by Stasis, a Darkness-based subclass.''

|Enthroned Nightmare

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|'''Cherub'''

|''Lesser command unit, provides various debuffs for enemies, has greater morale boosting range. Shielded by one of three Darkness-based subclasses; armed with twin High Swords.''

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|'''Seraph'''

|''Higher command unit, provides various buffs for allies; makes certain units invulnerable until killed. Shielded by one of three Darkness-based subclasses; armed with a High Sword and Tenebrous Shield.''

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|'''Incarna'''

|''Highest command unit, provides buffs and debuffs for allies and enemies; shielded by all three Darkness-based subclasses; armed with a Soulstealer Sword and Darkness Glyph.''

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|Incarnated Guardian

Curiously enough, some systems and civilizations are "spared" the enshrouding completely, as what happened to the Taishibethi system and the Hierarchy of Hierarchies, instead suffering only the detonation of their star and the unmaking of their whole world. No one has offered a satisfactory answer, and it may well be an utter mystery.

Those who weren't able to escape the enshrouding of Earth fled instead to a Vex-like construct embedded in the twisted and splintered fragments of of the Vault of Glass. This minor dimension is scarcely larger than Phobos in size and is almost completely inaccessible. So far the Fleet has not made any move towards invading it; the survivors who live within have made efforts to find a way back into the material universe without attracting notice, but have not found a way.