411
edits
Sloane: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
No edit summary |
|||
| Line 94: | Line 94: | ||
Following the reformation of the Traveler, Zavala began to daydream of those lost on the disappeared planets, Sloane included, while preparing a speech to the people of the City. He imagined requesting that she lead the Vanguard's efforts to combat the [[House of Salvation]] on [[Europa]] while she was visiting his office, which she accepted.<ref>'''Bungie (2020/11/10)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Beyond Light]] - [[Lore]]: [[Phobos_Warden_Armor#Lore_4|Phobos Warden Strides/Greaves/Boots]]''</ref> Half a year later during the [[Endless Night]], Sloane's uninhabited apartment in the City was slated to be emptied by the building's landlord who hoped to capitalize on people moving away from the newly-established [[Botza District|Eliksni Quarter]]. Offended by the disrespect to her memory, one of the moving workers, [[Sonja]], stole the [[Crown-Splitter]] Sloane kept in her home armory with the intent to give it to an active Guardian.<ref>'''Bungie (2021/5/11)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Splicer]] - [[Lore]]: [[Crown-Splitter#Lore|Crown-Splitter]]''</ref> | Following the reformation of the Traveler, Zavala began to daydream of those lost on the disappeared planets, Sloane included, while preparing a speech to the people of the City. He imagined requesting that she lead the Vanguard's efforts to combat the [[House of Salvation]] on [[Europa]] while she was visiting his office, which she accepted.<ref>'''Bungie (2020/11/10)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Beyond Light]] - [[Lore]]: [[Phobos_Warden_Armor#Lore_4|Phobos Warden Strides/Greaves/Boots]]''</ref> Half a year later during the [[Endless Night]], Sloane's uninhabited apartment in the City was slated to be emptied by the building's landlord who hoped to capitalize on people moving away from the newly-established [[Botza District|Eliksni Quarter]]. Offended by the disrespect to her memory, one of the moving workers, [[Sonja]], stole the [[Crown-Splitter]] Sloane kept in her home armory with the intent to give it to an active Guardian.<ref>'''Bungie (2021/5/11)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Splicer]] - [[Lore]]: [[Crown-Splitter#Lore|Crown-Splitter]]''</ref> | ||
Cut off from the | Cut off from the rest of the solar system following Titan's disappearance, Sloane had fallen into the methane ocean, but survived thanks to her scavenged suit of Golden Age power armor. As she sank into the depths, she experienced visions of the past and future, seemingly originating from an entity that wished to make contact.<ref name="WeirWalkerSuit">'''Bungie (2023/05/23)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Deep]] - [[Lore]]: [[NPA "Weir-Walker" Suit]]''</ref> She subsequently awoke on the seabed, and began pursuing the Titan Pyramid as it moved around the moon, making her way through the ruins of the Arcology as she did so. In her travels, she and her Ghost discovered temporal rifts similar to those left by the Witness on Mars, which provided glimpses into the past of Titan. In one of these rifts, Sloane saw a Golden Age marine biologist, [[Gideon Tepin]], who was pacing around while talking about telepathic messages he had received from a creature out in the ocean. Síocháin accessed archival data from the Arcology and determined that the creature was a "psychic space whale" the researchers had termed "TLev-01", which was not native to Titan.<ref name="WeirWalkerSuit"/> | ||
Sloane continued pursuing the Pyramid, but was always too late to catch it during its stops, only being able to find traces of its activities at each of the places it came to rest. At one of these sites, she found a cave contaminated with Taken residue which contained a Hive sigil. After fighting off a group of Taken, she noticed that she could perceive the thoughts of the Taken through the sigil, and also began to hear a voice in her head prodding her to interact with it. She reached out and touched the sigil, causing her to become enveloped in Taken corruption, and heard the voice of [[Xivu Arath]], the Hive God of War, in her mind, saying that the War God had accepted her challenge.<ref name="WeirWalkerSuit"/> | Sloane continued pursuing the Pyramid, but was always too late to catch it during its stops, only being able to find traces of its activities at each of the places it came to rest. At one of these sites, she found a cave contaminated with Taken residue which contained a Hive sigil. After fighting off a group of Taken, she noticed that she could perceive the thoughts of the Taken through the sigil, and also began to hear a voice in her head prodding her to interact with it. She reached out and touched the sigil, causing her to become enveloped in Taken corruption, and heard the voice of [[Xivu Arath]], the Hive God of War, in her mind, saying that the War God had accepted her challenge.<ref name="WeirWalkerSuit"/> | ||
| Line 100: | Line 100: | ||
Sloane's Light held back the Taken corruption, but over the course of the following year her condition steadily worsened. Nonetheless, she continued her mission, pursuing the Pyramid and fighting any Hive and Taken that got in her way. Eventually, however, she ran afoul of Xivu Arath's forces, who surrounded her as Sloane was overcome with a psychic assault from the God of War. Acting through a Taken Knight whose sword anchored the Black Terrace to the physical world, Xivu Arath peeled Sloane's power armor from her flesh and bones, trying to get Síocháin to appear so that she could destroy the Ghost and sever Sloane's connection to the Light. At the last moment, however, she was rescued by a massive serpentine creature, the same one that had been telepathically communicating with her since she had fallen into the ocean.<ref name="WeirWalkerSuit"/> | Sloane's Light held back the Taken corruption, but over the course of the following year her condition steadily worsened. Nonetheless, she continued her mission, pursuing the Pyramid and fighting any Hive and Taken that got in her way. Eventually, however, she ran afoul of Xivu Arath's forces, who surrounded her as Sloane was overcome with a psychic assault from the God of War. Acting through a Taken Knight whose sword anchored the Black Terrace to the physical world, Xivu Arath peeled Sloane's power armor from her flesh and bones, trying to get Síocháin to appear so that she could destroy the Ghost and sever Sloane's connection to the Light. At the last moment, however, she was rescued by a massive serpentine creature, the same one that had been telepathically communicating with her since she had fallen into the ocean.<ref name="WeirWalkerSuit"/> | ||
Sloane let the creature lead her to safety, and learned that her name was [[Ahsa]]. With her condition, Sloane was able to partially communicate with Ahsa but was able to identify her as an old enemy of [[The Witness]], the true enemy of the Traveler and cause of the Collapse, and she | Sloane let the creature lead her to safety, and learned that her name was [[Ahsa]]. With her condition, Sloane was only able to partially communicate with Ahsa, but was able to identify her as an old enemy of [[The Witness]], the true enemy of the Traveler and cause of the Collapse, and she had important intelligence to share regarding The Witness.<ref name="ScubaShell">'''Bungie (2023/05/23)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Deep]] - [[Lore]]: [[Síocháin's Scuba Shell]]''</ref> | ||
===Distress Signal=== | ===Distress Signal=== | ||
{{Quote|You don't understand. That distress call wasn't for me. It was for her.|Sloane}} | {{Quote|You don't understand. That distress call wasn't for me. It was for her.|Sloane}} | ||
[[File:Destiny2seasonofthedeepaquanaut.jpg|thumb|right|340px|Sloane introducing Ahsa.]] | [[File:Destiny2seasonofthedeepaquanaut.jpg|thumb|right|340px|Sloane introducing Ahsa.]] | ||
Realizing she didn't have the means or the manpower to strengthen her connection to Ahsa, Sloane rigs together a distress signal aimed towards the Vanguard on Earth to get the aid she and Ahsa need. The Vanguard Coalition managed to receive her signal following the Guardians combating the Cabal [[Shadow Legion]] on [[Neptune]] and Earth. Zavala, exhilarated at the thought of his friend possibly still alive, assembles a team involving himself, the Guardian, Saint-14 and Lord Saladin to find her. After arriving and combating Hive and Taken serving Xivu Arath, the Guardian and Zavala found her one kilometer down in the methane seas. The Drifter was also present after hearing of Titan's return and provided aid in helping the Guardian reach Sloane's position. The group are shocked to see her condition but more so | Realizing she didn't have the means or the manpower to strengthen her connection to Ahsa, Sloane rigs together a distress signal aimed towards the Vanguard on Earth to get the aid she and Ahsa need. The Vanguard Coalition managed to receive her signal following the Guardians combating the Cabal [[Shadow Legion]] on [[Neptune]] and Earth. Zavala, exhilarated at the thought of his friend possibly still being alive, assembles a team involving himself, the Guardian, Saint-14 and Lord Saladin to find her. After arriving and combating Hive and Taken serving Xivu Arath, the Guardian and Zavala found her one kilometer down in the methane seas. The Drifter was also present after hearing of Titan's return and provided aid in helping the Guardian reach Sloane's position. The group are shocked to see her condition but more so at first meeting Ahsa. Sloane brought them all up to speed that Ahsa could provide invaluable information regarding The Witness, which convinced Zavala to approve of the operation, with Drifter providing his technical knowledge to process the egregore coral to strengthen her physic connection to Ahsa, thereby allowing her to interpret her messages. | ||
As the Guardians worked | As the Guardians worked towards gathering what was needed, Sloane was also brought up to speed on what had transpired while she was away, including how Lord Saladin now serves as a Valus in the Cabal Empire of [[Empress Caiatl]], something she was partially angry with, having not forgotten how the Red Legion under Dominus Ghaul had ransacked the Tower. Lord Saladin however, clarified that things have changed and if he can find a way to trust Ahsa like she asked him, then she can find a way to work with Empress Caiatl. Zavala would later return her old sword [[Crown-Splitter]] to Sloane, which brought a smile to the Deputy Commander. Another old friend of hers, [[Aisha]], would arrive in person and tragically inform her that [[Reed-7]] was killed during The Witness's assault over Earth, which rattled Sloane but ultimately reminded her that she is still human. | ||
After gathering | After gathering the salvage of Titan that Drifter needed, the Guardians worked with Sloane in finding the first sample of egregore coral, 5000 meters down in the methane seas. They found it was protected by a Servitor, corrupted by the Wrathborn, [[J4W-S, Wrath-Hunter Servitor]]. Sloane used herself as bait to lure the corrupted Servitor away from the reef long enough for the Guardians to reach the area, but would be plagued by the voice of Xivu Arath once more. Despite this, the Guardians managed to destroy the Servitor and acquire the coral. With the sample in hand, Sloane was able to strengthen her connection to Ahsa as hoped, allowing her to interpret the first message which spoke of an "oasis in the desert" and "travelers whose journey had come to an end, "the first victims of the Witness". Though the experience left Sloane shaken, having felt Xivu Arath's thirst for battle, the Witness's cold rage and even the Taken's enmity, Sloane remained committed to the mission, determined to see Ahsa's messages delivered. | ||
Zavala ultimately had to come clean with how much things | Zavala ultimately had to come clean with how much things had changed while Sloane was MIA. From Guardians wielding powers tied to the Darkness like [[Stasis]] and [[Strand]], to the formation of an [[The Coalition|alliance]] against the Witness between the Vanguard, Empress Caiatl's Cabal Empire, [[Mithrax, Kell of Light|Mithrax]]'s [[House of Light]], and the [[Awoken]], Savathûn using the body of Osiris to infiltrate the Last City, her [[Lucent Brood]] being granted the Light, the Witness attacking the Traveler, the discovery of a [[Neomuna|city]] on [[Neptune]], and most tragically, Amanda Holliday's death, Sloane was strongly shocked. The news of Amanda's death hit Sloane the hardest, as they were close, but Zavala could tell from the look in her eyes that she nonetheless buried that pain. Disregarding the news, Sloane soldiered on with the mission, with Saint-14 providing tactical support as the Guardians dived into the seas once more to collect egregore coral. During the mission, Saint-14 tried to initiate a conversation with Sloane, trying to get her to open up about her experiences, but the Deputy Commander was not responsive. Instead she wanted to focus on the mission, something which Saint wholeheartedly agreed with. Despite Xivu Arath's continued demands and taunts, Sloane persisted in her role as bait, allowing the Guardians to reach the sea floor, take out [[Kudazad, Binder of Savathûn]] and collect further coral samples. With it, Sloane interprets the second message which involved a "city of light" and a "silent god withholding a deeper truth", but the interpretation takes a toll on her. | ||
Weeks continued to pass, with Sloane and Ahsa recovering between each attempted communication, growing their bond, allowing further information to pass through Sloane to the Vanguard. With enough practice, Ahsa was able to bond completely with Sloane, if only for a moment. Using Sloane, Ahsa relayed the tale of the origins of the Witness. | |||
Soon afterwards, Ahsa's safety became compromised, as Xivu Arath had managed to lure her out and corner her in a ritual to Take her. Sloane, alongside other members of the Coalition, set up a diversion to hold the attention of the Hive away from Ahsa, allowing the Guardian to slip through and free her from becoming Taken. Once safe from Xivu Arath's forces back at the Arcology, Sloane attempted one more joining with Ahsa, but was instead possessed by Xivu Arath. Struggling against the possession, Sloane was forced to speak propaganda in favor of Xivu Arath, as the Hive god attempted to convince her to let go and give in to warmongering in her name. Fueled by the rhetoric, Sloane raised the edge of her Crown Splitter to Zavala's throat, but was talked back from the brink by the words of her mentor. Dispelling Xivu Arath's hold, Ahsa took her place, and through Sloane was able to advise the Vanguard that there was only one being who could possibly assist them with chasing after the Witness; Savathûn. Sloane had completed her mission. | |||
==Personality and traits== | ==Personality and traits== | ||