User:Dante the Ghost/Other

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I realize this should be a footer page but this is really just for general purposes, and I have no accounts on most of these sites.

• Ishtar Collective—the best, in my opinion, archive of Destiny game content and lore outside of Bungie Armory.
• Destiny Wiki - Destiny Community Wiki and Guide—good source for images and in-game content, and is regularly updated more than the other Destiny Wiki.
• Destiny Tracker—another great place to go.
• Bungie Armory—despite its unwieldly interface this is the source to go to.
• /r/DestinyLore—many discussions here have actually proven useful to me in editing Destinypedia.
• Fanfiction.net—the place where I write my stories. Originally the profile there used to be much more expansive and wordy, but as of November 13th, 2016 I've removed all unessential and extraneous content. Not only that but FanFiction's website won't allow for direct links anymore.
• Archive of Our Own—another fanfiction site I am a part of, but haven't written anything for yet.

Below is a list of Grimoire content I have written. It'll eventually go away into Tablets of Ruin, a Destiny fanfiction that deals with the "What If" question of Oryx appearing earlier than the Taken King. For the record, nothing post-Rise of Iron will feature.

My Own Grimoire

Books of Sorrow

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The Taken/Vex

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The Taken/Fallen

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The Taken/Cabal

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The Taken/Hive

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The Taken/Ideas

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Idea "So this is your "final shape"? Corrupting my countrymen and children into faceless monsters, puppets of your will? You have moven yourself beyond my forgiveness by such an incomprehensible and aberrant thing as this power you wield!" "Your ignorance is almost laughable. The final shape is the only thing worth living for. Your civilization? It was birthed on the lies of fair play and rule of law. There is no rule but my rule - and that is of the sword, the boomer, the spoken word." "You may think you have won, but Cerinia is forever outside your grasp." "Do not delay the inevitable, Magistator. Embrace my will, let it becomes yours, and shuck off your prison of finite flesh. Bow to freedom." "Never, Aurash." "You speak an old name, one that I have killed. Did you learn of it from Taox, or did the Vex teach it to you?" "I know more about you than you realize. I know what you did to the Ammonites, to the Leviathan, to your people. You cannot escape the sins of your past. Soon it will catch up to you, and then where will you run? Where will you fight?" "If I am not strong enough, then my end is inevitable. Such is the way of the Deep. But enough talk - you have put off destiny long enough, Magistrator." — Oryx, the Taken King and Magistrator Randorn the Wise Krystal, Ascendant Sorceress You are Krystal the Cerinian, a native of an invisible realm of grandeur and decay. You possess psychic powers of varying orders and degrees, strong yet weak. Mercenary, yet noble — or, in other words, a living contradiction. You have been taken. Peace, now. Put down your Staff — lo! do you see any threat? That which you fought before: behold, do you see them? Those fell sorcerous beings of illogicality, which so pained your sensitive mind; where are they? What of the armored creatures as they cleft in twain your lover; can you feel them? The numberless, mindless beasts overrunning your team's defenses; can you hear them? You are alone, for the first and second time in your life. Now attend, dear, sweet thing, there are no dangers in this place of safety. You ask How can this be? I am dead, you say. We answer plainly: you are not dead; you remain by our will. Instead of death, we offer unto you a choice. What is this choice? you ask us. A very good question. One you already know the answer to. But let us consider your past, for it bears remarkable relevance to our conversation. Forgive us: we meant instruction. Years before, you answered a plea from a desperate nation. Creatures native to their planet's second satellite threatened to overrun them; the very fabric of their world would be split asunder should these aliens succeed. But why, you had asked in a moment's quiet reflection, did they do it? What would they accomplish? For it would mean their utter destruction should they succeed. Only later — and too late — did you learn they were working a fell ritual to recall a dangerous foe. Laughable in its absurdity but we admire its cunning. You failed to stop this ritual. Don't deny it — you failed. You had abilities so vaunted and exaggerated, one would think you were a goddess. Tricked by a clever trap, one easily avoided. As you lay, frozen in translucent rock, another took up your Staff, which you hold in your hand, and succeeded. Not out of altruism, but for capital, monetary sustenance. You ought to have resented this creature for taking advantage of those poor people. And yet your fragile self betrayed you. This grubbing thing was a handsome vulpes; moreover he rescued you at the climax of that fell ritual. You feel in your heart some pride as you remember; your cheeks flush. Deny this emotion. It is false. He never loved you; he only thought of one pathetic thing, and it was not you. Why do you doom yourself to hopelessness? You who call yourself a psychic have willfully been made blind. We lay bare the soul — we reveal the deepest, innermost parts of the mind and body, and this secret we have gifted to your unthinking mind. Remember your past: you were a proud woman, independent and free. Your clothing and your patterns marked you as a priestess of the highest order from birth. Now look at you — how the mighty have fallen. You came to this poor world out of a desire to help it, only to be usurped by another. Instead of resenting him, you fell hook, line, and sinker for his dubious charms. We see you cringe, we know what is going through your mind. Now we reveal another secret. He is your brother. Yes, don't look shocked or surprised. You know it in your innermost heart that this is true. Not unlike a young, handless man poised over a precipice, his life stripped away bare, a long time ago and in another realm far away. How is this possible? you demand. Why should I trust you? you say to us. We shall answer each question in its own time. There is nothing that escapes our notice. We see all. You may have fragments of memory, but we remember completely. Yes, he is your brother. You cannot recall him ever, for you were separated. How? Let us bring to light a common frame of reference. Randorn. Now the light dawns. We see the comprehension dawning upon you. You are not feeble-minded. Randorn is indeed your father. Now attend: you know the story. You are a Vixon, your brother a Wolven — both of you once held an attraction for the other but never consummated. You were never vulpi; his name is false. But how did you end up in this world, distorted from what you once were? The Drakor. It was he who separated you — during the final battle his dark Heart ripped twin holes in space and time and flung the both of you through, ripping apart your fleshy selves. You were cast down upon that mysterious world called Cerinia, bound to the soul of another; Sabre was cast upon the Lylat, fused to the soul of another. Neither of you remembered the other. You were doomed to never meet, subsumed in your new identity. But then echoes from that other world reached you. At a slightly older age than before, you answered the call, an instinct awakening in you. It was Randorn calling to you again, the EarthWalker King with him as it was before. You were directed to a mirror world, nearly identical. But another spirit was attempting to harness its power for its own end. We laugh at it in scorn — you join in also, for this creature is a pathetic being after the Drakor. Now you understand. Now you know why you felt such a longing for this vain mercenary vulpes; he was your Wolven brother, but unlike you, consumed wholly in his new life. He does not remember you; you remembered him but distantly. Even during the four years of your reunification he was in ignorance of who you were. You remember, don't you? How he frustrated you. How he kept putting you off. He wanted no attachments on any terms but his own — you threatened to leave him if he did not listen; it did not work. You were foolish to think he could be yours again. He never loved you. His love is money, fame, a dead father's memory. What room in his life would there be for you? Now behold the answer — the last final shape. The final shape does not betray, nor hurt or throw away. For it is always faithful and true. All it ever asks is to be completed. It can take any lover, but only that which is worthy, and that which pursues it. But beware, dear, sweet thing: should you ever fall, the final shape does not forgive weakness or flaw. It will purge you of it, violently and painfully. But this is a small price to bear, for with each rending you become all the more strong for its loss. Look at your Staff — it is a powerful and mystical weapon. Dyad-bound to both the Dinosaur Planet and Sauria it draws from both the SpellStones therein. The very lives of the Krazoa live within. Why else do you remember its touch when your adoptive father presented it to you? Behold — see that sniveling, wretched creature over there? It is enthralled to that alien will which struck you down unto death. You feel anger. Rise up and attack! Good, good. Now behold your Staff, see how the world warps and twists around it, trying to touch but always shrinking away. Do you know what that is? It is your will; it is now superordinate to mere material law. You are no longer bound by causal closure. Small minds might call it magic. You now have begun to define yourself through this one act. You could feel the ecstasy as you cut it down, didn't you? Observe how its strength flowed into you, giving you new life. This is the killing logic. Some have called it "might makes right" but this is a lie. We define it thus: whatever exists must forever strive against nonexistence. Matter against anti-material; atomic material against the primordial broth of potentiality. This is how it is — two ways, one victor. Don't you see? It is what is true that succeeds, not what is right. If something cannot defend itself, if a ruler cannot lay claim to his power, then he is false and not true. You define existence itself — already you are sidestepping physics. Did you think your psychic power was granted to you by an evolutionary fluke? Now think back to your brother, Sabre. How can he be worthy of such a creature as you — how could he ever hope to lay claim to you? He would shrink away in terror from you. He would no longer be indifferent to you; how could he? He who rejected you is now powerless! Just like that creature of skinny flesh and trembling frame was. You wish to exert your will upon the outside world — this safe place is a good realm, one which can be a home and a fortress. The cyst of a universe, created by that act of killing, of defining one thing's reality over another. From now on you are eternal, so long as you are not slain within your Throne. Already you feel a desire and a hunger; you wish to leave — go, then. We will be here for you. You have denied death itself by your will. Go, conquer in triumph, kill the unworthy. For no more will you be enslaved to another or the passions of flesh and blood. But before you go, we wish to draw your attention to your Staff. It is a powerful weapon, yes, but it is a remnant of your past. Something which can be used against you. Something which can define you as false, kill you over and again. Take this knife of finely honed edge. It is called [Ascendance]. For you have Ascended the prison of flesh, of causality and physical law. You are a law unto your own self. Take its twin, [Sorcery]. Those fell creatures of illogicality, they which separated you from the rest? This then is the arbiter of their power. Don't be angry toward them — they emancipated you, truth-sayers, and have freed you from the bonds of cellular automata. They are allies, servants, sisters. Command them. Become the Ascendant Sorceress. Take your new shape! Fox, the Renounced I am James McCloud, called Fox, leader of team Star Fox. I am Taken. I remember the life I once led before. I remember a shadow hanging over me — it was my father. I sought to prove myself, to strengthen myself and break free of that oppressiveness. I determined to become better, greater, than he. Andross, my father's killer, I threw down twice. First over Benomu, second over Sauria. I remember a woman — her name escapes me. She is pleasant to look at; I feel a stirring within me; is this longing or lust? I feel nothing else. She is irrelevant. But still I remember her. I met her on Sauria — clearly, do I recall as Andross broke free from his prison, using her body as a conduit. I acted without thought, using the scepter to stave off certain death. She was grateful. I acted only as I should. She was innocent. She would have died. The Aparoids came two years later. Their advance was relentless, they destroyed all they touched. But we persevered and survived. The Aparoids' strength was broken. Their worlds were ours to claim. The Cornerian coalition spread across the stars. Then Star Fox divided. I know not how, other than my own selfishness. I drove this woman away, fearful for her safety. I was wrong. She handled herself well enough; why, then, did I do as I did? Love. I loved her as I did myself, but she never reciprocated. I myself could not express it to her. I blame my father. He never was there for me. He always attended my birthdays, attended the school dances as a chaperone, when he had the time. He and mother were distant. He was forever working, oftentimes for months. Later did I understand why he spent so little time for us — he tried desperately to provide for us, but work was scarce. Defeating space pirates and shepherding spice caravans paid little. Mother spent more time out of the house than in, working her own job. I was alone. Yet I did not mind. They did not mind — my father was a proud man. He rejected work with the army, believing it would restrain him, confine his talents and abilities. My mother thought likewise. She wanted the best for her only son, so she enrolled me in the best schools she could afford. Forget what they say about opposites attract: my parents were one and the same. I worked hard, passing all of my tests and quizzes. I made excellent scores, and acquired scholarships into many fine institutes of learning. For me, the Academy was all I wanted. For however little time my father spent with us, he did leave me with a sense of wonder at the joy of spaceflight. I wanted to be like him. In a way, I suppose this was love. I came home one day to find the house empty. The phone had a message — it was the local hospital. My mother had been injured in an accident, some suspected it was a terrorist act. I met my father at the door. We exchanged not a word but went at once. There my mother died, in my father's arms; my father swore vengeance against whomever had done this. We learned it was Andross. Years before he and my father had competed for my mother's affections. It seemed he had moved on since, but my father had not. They had some sort of enmity that I suppose was mine to inherit. In vain did my father attempt to get him, but he was above reproach. Then the bomb detonated. No one ever knew what its real cause was; but all the evidence was tied to Andross. One million people, dead. A portion of the planet's biosphere was wasted. An environmental crisis of the ages. Andross was disbarred and court-martialed, and exiled. I suppose revenge can go too far. Andross never forgave Corneria. He too plotted revenge. He took it not too long after. This time my father accepted the Cornerian military's letter of recommendation (for he was a mercenary of some small renown, however meager it was), and he led the charge. To die miserably a billion kilometers from home, before he ever reached Benomu. I was angry. I led the charge when I was old enough, two years later when I had reached my majority. I killed Andross. Not directly, of course; but it was enough. Revenge makes one strange. It changed my father. I suppose this is what regret feels like. This here is my life — and lo, it is nothing. I never did get to express my love. She never understood me — I understood her as best as I could. She was not like all the other girls. She was different. Perhaps she was like my mother, of how she captured my father's affections. And now, as life leaves me, I only ask one thing — another chance to live again. So that I may remake my life, and find her. So my purpose is clear. Even as my team fell, our flanks overwhelmed by howling creatures of darkness and flesh, my purpose is illuminated, clear as day. I hear voices talking to me. They speak encouragement. They tell me I can find her again. She will not be the same, this I know. Will she even remember me? Will I be able to tell her how much she meant to me? She challenged me in a way that none other have. She broke me out of my narcissism, the trap my father and mother have laid for me. I could see it in her eyes on Sauria. Kind and understanding. Accepting. Loving. But like a statue of ice, slowly melting. I have Renounced my former life. It is no longer me. I will take a new shape. The voices have offered to me a knife; they call it [seek a new path]. It is a fitting name. One that reflects who I will become. One day I will find her. But for now I wait. I shall acquiesce. Marcus, the Hated You are Marcus McCloud, son of a fateless union. You served Star Fox well as it regrew in the days of the final war. You led the assault upon a place removed in time and space, your divided father and mother at your side. But what did you have to prove? You have been taken. Take a seat. There is no cause for alarm. We have liberated you from death's cold door. We see within you a peculiar mind, a curious aptitude you never expressed before. We wish to inoculate it, give it life where before it was stifled. Have you lied to yourself? Or are you afraid? You are indeed afraid. Then fear not. We ask why are you afraid. Is it because you failed to defend your father as his body was cloven in twain? Is it because you watched helplessly as your mother was sucked away into nothingness? Or is it another, more primal fear? Ah, yes, we see now... You fear rejection. Look at you. The bastard child of famous people who do not acknowledge one another. The stain upon the McCloud family honor. The black sheep the press loves to hound. You are given all sorts of attention by the paparazzi — yet you want none of it, and not out of altruism either. You want to hide. To run. Because you can see beneath their masks. You can see their scorn. You did not belong — they tolerated you only just. Thus, the need to prove to yourself you can break free of your parents' divorced shadow. To make a name for yourself, to separate yourself from them. Yet how could you? Your birth was a scandal in itself. You were surrounded by publicity from the moment you drew breath up until you arrived here. You could never be free from it. You couldn't change your name; you couldn't fly any where to escape. Such is the burden of unwanted fame. We offer you a way out. For now you can change your own destiny. No more shall you be dependent upon your parents. You will have no more need of them. Because they were your weakness — you despised and loved them. Which emotion is stronger? Cut away the weakest, so that the strong may survive and grow. Your former fame was unwanted. Now you can make fame of a different sort. We offer you a knife. Look at the edge and tell us what you see. [Hatred. Pain. Wrath. Obliteration.] It is beautiful, is it not? Visit, then, upon all of those who hounded you, who showered you with undesired attention and popularity, with your buried rage. Make them feel what you have felt in your heart of hearts. Cut open a wound and reach to draw out [my will!] and thrust it upon them. Subsumed them wholly within your will. Now, then, Marcus. Become the Hated. For you have always been treated with contempt. Now you can show them they were vindicated — because they have created you. Your festering pit of anger and fury shall win you fame indeed — fame of your own. Take up your knife, and cut yourself upon it. Stain the blade with your bloodied wrath. Then turn it upon your foes! Take your new shape! Slippy, Fear's Embrace To be worked on Falco, Deathwing To be worked on Peppy, the Craven To be worked on Katt, the Scorned To be worked on Andross, the Lost To be worked on James, the Forgotten To be worked on Wolf, Broken-Fang To be worked on Pigma, the Ravaged To be worked on Panther, the Humbled To be worked on Leon, the Shattered To be worked on Andrew, Might of Oryx To be worked on Bill, Aegis To be worked on General Pepper, Sabaton of Oryx To be worked on Fay, the Ravished To be worked on Miyu, Exhumed To be worked on Fara, the Betrayed To be worked on Vixy, Angel's Virus 'To be worked on Dash, Entropy's Hand to be worked on ROB 64, the Poisoned To be worked on Aparoid Queen, Remnant of Oryx To be worked on Taken Aparoid Moth To be worked on Taken Aparoid Scarab To be worked on Taken Aparoid Crawler To be worked on Taken Aparoid Dragoon To be worked on Taken Aparoid Light Assault Tank To be worked on Taken Aparoid Laser Turret To be worked on Taken Aparoid Mortar To be worked on Taken Aparoid Missile Launcher To be worked on Taken Aparoid Roller To be worked on Taken Aparoid Mini Roller To be worked on Taken Aparoid Fighter To be worked on Taken Aparoid Bomber To be worked on Taken Aparoid Razor To be worked on Taken Aparoid Stinger To be worked on Taken Aparoid Spinner To be worked on Taken Aparoid Hatcher To be worked on General Scales, the Perfected To be worked on Captain Shears, the Perfected To be worked on Taken SharpClaw Grunt To be worked on Taken SharpClaw Knight To be worked on Taken SharpClaw Brute To be worked on Taken SharpClaw Speeder To be worked on BribeClaw, Transformed To be worked on Yaru de Pon, the Forgotten To be worked on Krazoa Spirit, the Septuple Guard To be worked on Octoman, the Forgotten To be worked on Angular Emperor, the Forgotten To be worked on Caiman, the Forgotten To be worked on Sabre, Perfected Sword To be worked on Beltino, the Mastered To be worked on Zako, the Forgotten To be worked on Vivian, the Forgotten To be worked on WarpStone, the Forgotten To be worked on Grippy, the Scourged To be worked on Zoldge, the Forgotten To be worked on Herbert, the Unknown To be worked on Queen CloudRunner, the Forgotten To be worked on Queen EarthWalker, the Forgotten To be worked on Knight EarthWalker, the Forgotten To be worked on Belina Te, the Forgotten To be worked on Garunda Te, the Forgotten To be worked on Gradabug, the Forgotten To be worked on ShopKeeper, the Forgotten To be worked on Tricky, the Forgotten To be worked on Croakella, the Unknown To be worked on Amanda, the Forgotten To be worked on Lucy, the Forgotten To be worked on

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Fanfiction

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Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow. Asymmetry Information Asymmetry is the story of several legendary Guardians and how they grew in strength and power. The title of Asymmetry refers to the antithesis of the expelled Guardian faction Symmetry, who rejects the thesis that the Darkness and the Traveler are part of a cosmic balance. This view is closer to traditional religion. As the other Guardians participated in Patrol and various Strikes alongside a mysterious Guardian that began to push back the tide of the Darkness exponentially, these Guardians took off on their own, occasionally joining a fireteam for more difficult assignments. Cheyah Palpatine Guardian #1: Cheyah Palpatine is a Guardian who combines the Hunter and Warlock disciplines. Her Ghost used the Standard Shell, later upgraded an Intrusion Shell, and finally settled on the Brave Shell. Her preferred primary weapons of choice are two hand cannons, called the Gemini, unique in that they fire Solar-based rounds; her special weapon was an Arc shotgun called Silence, and will be replaced by a special Void wire rifle gifted to her by the Queen, called Royal Pardon; and her heavy is an Arc machine gun simply named Noisemaker. Eventually she will switch to using Solar Infinite Edge, one of nine legendary swords reforged by Lord Shaxx after Oryx the Taken King arrived, in place of her machine gun. Cheyah's elemental subclass of choice is a combination of Sunsinger and Gunslinger—when she activates Radiance, which brings her back from death instantly, her twin Hand Cannons' Solar abilities become amplified, able to punch through non-Solar shielding with sheer blunt force and even down Ogres. Her Light is very strong, based on Solar. Her ship is a Phaeton-class v1.1, colored a nondescript grey/light-grey in a camouflage pattern (eschewing flamboyance for stealth), and is called The Overshadow. Kanoriks, the Bright Guardian #5: Cheyah's Eliksni lover, partner, and fellow Guardian is Kanoriks, the Bright. His Ghost uses a High Wolf Servitor's shell, which looks like a Pilot Servitor—this Ghost three times a day processes matter and energy gathered into ether for his Guardian to live. Kanoriks, the Bright's preferred primary weapon is a standard Auto rifle, Her Right Hand, used by the Awoken Royal Guard but repainted and modified to use Solar rounds; his special weapon is a Shock Pistol named Second Chance; his heavy is a Shrapnel Launcher he personally forged out of the remnants of Taken Fallen, Kell Reborn, and it fires Void bolts. Kanoriks' elemental subclass of choice is a combination of Nightstalker and Voidwalker—he fires a bow of pure Void energy, which launches a trio of ultra-powerful Void bolts, and devastates enemies and tethers those not outright destroyed. His ship is a Kestrel-class EX0, colored blue-and-white in his old House colors, and is called Redeemed. Theran Ashkevron Guardian #2: Theran Ashkevron is a Defender Titan, shaping the Void in many different ways beyond a shield. He is always on the move, calm, and patience but is not above to cracking jokes. His Ghost uses a Questing Shell, and its name is Jerome. His preferred primary weapon is a SUROS PRR-11 Auto-rifle, which he calls Spirit. His secondary weapon is a Llefelys-D Void sidearm. His heavy is a Void Xeres-E machine gun. His ship is an Arcadia-class jumpship. Theran pledges to New Monarchy. Tristan Ashkevron Guardian #3: Tristan Ashkevron is a Striker Titan, using a hammer of lightning to rain down destruction upon his foes. Unlike his brother, he can be quick-tempered and easily provoked. His Ghost uses a Pursuer's Shell, and its name is Augustine. His preferred primary is a Psi Tempus III Arc pulse rifle; while his secondary is an Arc Thalestris-C sidearm. His heavy is an Arc rocket launcher he forged himself out of Fallen Servitors, and calls it Thor's Hammer. His ship is an Arcadia-class jumpship. Tristan pledges to New Monarchy. Noëlle-7 Guardian #4: Noëlle-7 is an Exo Voidcaller. She is of the more quiet type than other Guardians, preferring to be left to her thoughts. Her Ghost uses a Diaspora Shell. Her preferred primary is a Trax Devotio II scout rifle. Her secondary is a Void Nox Astur IV fusion rifle, perfect for taking down Vex energy shielding. Her heavy is a Void Deviant Gravity-C machine gun. Her ship is a Regulus-class 44b jumpship. Her unique abilities is she can channel the Void in a continuous stream of energy much like the Stormcaller's chain-lightning. Noëlle-7 pledges to Dead Orbit. Kurisutaru Guardian #6: Kurisutaru is a Tigeress Sunwalker. Because of her unique heritage, the result of a banned experiment of the Golden Age, she keeps herself isolated from everyone else, believing she is a pariah among the City. Her fur coloration is golden and white, and she is a tiger/fox crossbred. Despite keeping apart, on the comms she is a social person, keeping connections with Master Rahool, who considers himself a mentor. Her Ghost uses a Turquoise Shell, and is named Sparky. Her preferred primary is a Trax Callum II-B scout rifle. Her secondary is a Void Hawkwood-C sidearm. Her heavy, which she seldom uses, is a Void Lunation CSc machine gun. Her ship is a Phaeton-class v3 jumpship that she named "Phoenix". This reflects her abilities: a combination of the Void and Solar powers, specifically in that she can focus the power of the sun into a Void sphere and scorch enemies to oblivion. She holds to no faction because of her heritage except the Vanguard and the Cryptarchy. Story These Guardians go on alternate retellings of Strikes and Raids, parallel to the Main Story but almost never intersecting, and discover more to the secrets of the Destiny universe. Strikes & Raids: 1): Basilinna—the story of how a Guardian War-hunter hunted a female Archon of the House of Kings across the North American Dead Zone, and inadvertently discovered the location of the Kell of Kings' headquarters. (Cheyah Palpatine) 2): Pits of Wrath—the story of how two Guardian Titans descended, alone, into the deepest part of the Hellmouth and destroyed three Unborn Ogres; Hive Wizard Xyor, the Unwed, stalks them afterward with Thorn at her side. (Theran and Tristan Ashkevron) 3): A Discordant Note—the story of how a Guardian Sorceress braved the depths of Venus to locate and report on Sekrion, Nexus Mind's whereabouts to the Vanguard; along the way, the Exo Stranger observes her. (Kurisutaru) 4): The Queen's Favor—the story of how two Guardians sought for the traitor who aided the House of Winter in freeing Aksor, Archon Priest. (Cheyah Palpatine, Noëlle-7) 5): The Gods Tremble—the story of how three Guardians, two Titans and a Warlock, penetrated the Exclusion Zone to find and decapitate the leader of the Martian Cabal Legions. (Theran and Tristan Ashkevron, Noëlle-7) 6): Of Magic and Matter—the story of how a Guardian, her Eliksni lover, and a reclusive Sunwalker, aided a group of Cabal defectors in their quest to reach the Jovian world of Jupiter safely. (Cheyah Palpatine, Kanoriks the Bright, Kurisutaru) Raid—Vault of Glass: the story of how six Guardians descended into the legendary Vault of Glass, braving terrible dangers where countless other fireteams had failed, and defeat the Templar, the Nine Gorgons, and Atheon, Time's Conflux. One Guardian stays behind and collects the Eye of Atheon. [4 Chapters] (Noëlle-7, Cheyah Palpatine, Tristan Ashkevron, and three unnamed Guardians) 7): Sisterhood—the story of how Guardians sought seven Hive Wizards, the Daughters of Omnigul, and obliterated them. 8): The Pattern—the story of how a Guardian explored the Vex network using the eye of a Gate Lord, and discovered a terrible truth of the Vex and the Darkness: Oryx, the Taken King. 9): Still got Wolf Problems?—the story of how a Guardian tracked a Baroness of the House of Wolves, Skriviks, the Sharp-Eyed and her three Ketches. Raid—Crota's End: the story of how six Guardians, some from the Vault of Glass, brave the horrors of the Hive netherworld and obliterate Crota, Son of Oryx. Many are lost, and few return. [4 Chapters] 10): Fallen Light—the story of a Guardian and her Eliksni lover of how they thwarted a Devil attack upon a caravan traveling through the barrens of Old Russia. 11): Suncaller & Nightsinger—the stories of two Guardians finding the powers of old, and forging new mastery over the elements on Mercury. 12): Forbidden Lore—the story of how a Guardian and her Eliksni partner foiled a depraved Cabal Valus fallen to the Darkness from stealing the Dreadnaught's secrets. 13): Chrysalis—the story of how an Eliksni Guardian discovered one of the Reef Ketches floating on the outermost edge of the the blast which crippled the Reef's forces; and the secret encased within a still living Pilot Servitor. Raid—King's Fall: the story of how twelve Guardians, champions of the Crucible, slayers of Taken Blights and Echos, and veterans of Crota's End, and one from the Vault of Glass, enter the Ascendent Realm of Oryx, the Taken King and obliterate his forces, killing the Warpriest, Golgoroth, the Deathsinger twins, and finally the King himself, and cleanse the Sword-Logic. Few are lost to noble sacrifice, and most return, scarred but alive. [6 Chapters] 14): Time Unending—the story of how a Guardian met the Exo Stranger during a foray into the Vex gate network, and watched her own death in another time and reality, and how close she came to being killed in the prime time and reality; and how she ensured a casual time-loop became stable. 15): Take a Goddess—the story of how a Guardian and her Eliksni partner journeyed to the outermost parts of the solar system, and discovered the fate of the Awoken Queen; and the threat to them all. 16): Broken Will—the story of how a Guardian and her Eliksni partner returned to Earth to confront a rogue Servitor claiming to be the Prime of the long forgotten House of Rain, and stopped a migration of Devils and Exiles to its call. Raid—Wrath of the Machine: the story of how Guardians defeated Aksis, Archon Prime and his minions. [Unknown] Destiny Fanfiction Information The Fallen House of Oceans: Brief Description: Like House Devils in the Cosmodrome House Storms is focused on the buried city of Freehold and surrounding areas for a specific reason. The Vanguard speculates they are rooting around for the lost Warmind Charlemagne, which the Cabal are also interested in finding as well. They have been in conflict with the Cabal and Vex for a very long time, and many believe they have used the fighting to slip in and gain a foothold. Recently they have been contesting territory with an exiled House of Wolves. Their Kell is Kell Faloriks. Their Archon is Vekoriks. Their Prime Servitor is Pisor Prime. Their home is a Cabal base in Loire Valles that they have won during a battle between Vex and Cabal which had forced the latter to pull out. The Vex the Fallen easily eliminated, having been weakened by the Cabal. Its proximity to Freehold, and to a major Cabal base, is a source of concern for any Guardians who now venture there. The Cabal are still reeling from the loss over over half their forces to Oryx's Taken and are unable to regain control. Loire Valles's coordinates are 18.1°S/16.7°W, and is 790 kilometers/447 miles long. Loire Valles is South West of Meridian Bay (Meridiani Planum), South-South East of Margaritifer Terra, East of Eos Chasma, and West of Marikh Vallis. The Fallen House of Time: Brief Description: The Fallen House of Time is a unique House within the solar system. Like the other Houses, it has not forgotten its glorious past; unlike the rest, it still holds true to the ancient customs, making it the least dangerous threat to the City at the present time. However, while they are not in a mad race to take the Great Machine, they have begun extending offers of safety and refuge to the other Houses, pledging them a home if they swore an oath of loyalty to Time's Kell. A united Fallen race would spell doom for the City if more Houses answer their call. This worries the Vanguard, Ikora in particular. With the Awoken space fleet vanquished by Oryx, and the Queen's own mysterious disappearance, there is no barrier between Time and the Traveler. The Cabal's Exclusion Zone is the only thing keeping them at bay, and that is weakening thanks to Oryx's assault, and the Guardians' own attacks. House(s) Description: —Time's colors are purple with golden trim, much like the Awoken; her banners feature a single sphere of white outlined in gold surrounded by a starlike burst of radiance against a backdrop of purple: the Great Machine. Her leader's identity, including the Archon's and Prime Servitor's, is unknown. Unlike most Fallen Houses—with the possible exception of Kings—they have an extensive rankage system, a holdover to the ancient Eliksni customs. Nobility: Eponymous Archon—Time's "Kell", and supreme leader of the three Houses Archon Basileus—the "Pope" of Time, attached to the Prime Servitor Basilinna—mate to the Archon Basileus, attached to the Prime Servitor Gerarai—fourteen priestesses who serve the Prime Servitor Archon—typically nine, each attached to a Subordinate Servitor and serve the Prime Servitor Polemarchos—Time "war-leader" and chief overseer of House Demons The Strategoi—ten Archdukes who serve as advisors to the Polemarchos and commanders of House Demons' fleets Archduke—leader of ten Schooners Duke—leader of five Schooners Marquess—leader of one Schooner, ten Yawls Count—leader of five Yawls Viscount—leader of one Yawl, five Ketches Baron—leader of one Ketch, ten Cutters Baronet—leader of five Cutters, ten Sloops Vidame—leader of five Sloops After this comes the typical Eliksni command structure, with the exception that they are more disciplined and noble than the rest. —Demons colors are black with crimson trim; her banners feature a winged entity half crimson and half gold. This is to show that, like Angels, she is subservient to Time. They primarily serve as the military arm of House Time, and appear to have control over much of the Fallen space fleet. In addition to the standard Ketch and Skiff class there is evidence that they use more classes of ship: Sloops and Cutters for fightercraft, light and heavy respectively; the Yawl, a variant of the Ketch; and the Schooner, ships that near the Cabal warships in size, making them the largest Fallen ships to appear yet. —Angels colors are white with golden trim; her banners feature a winged entity half crimson and half gold. This is to show that, like Demons, she is subservient to Time. They primarily serve as the economic arm of House Time, and manufacture and maintain Fallen gear, equipment, and ships. They utilize Wolf variants of Shanks and Walkers. History: Prior to the Taken War this House has not been seen anywhere in the solar system apart from Uranus, although recent evidence indicates they were active during the Reef Wars, watching and waiting. According to Dead Orbit their primary home is Titania and Umbriel, with the other moons serving as fleet-bases for their massive fleet, utilizing ancient human settlements as secure fortresses and bases. This makes them, after the Cabal, one of the most well-organized militaries in the system. Whether they have a working relationship with the Nine is unknown, but they are tolerated nonetheless. Recent intelligence reveals that there are two other Fallen Houses working alongside Time: Demons, and Angels. These Houses appear to have been with it from the beginning, for they are fanatically loyal as if they are one House. As if it was an omen, no sooner had this discovery had been made than were emissaries sent to other Houses. Houses Exile and Winter, broken and demoralized, have seen this and begun to migrate there. Time's Eponymous Archon is a good Kell, and treats the survivors well. Even the remnants of Wolves have answered Time's call. This last worries Ikora, for it is rumored Wolves' Prime Servitor, Kaliks, is hiding out there within the Ananke satellites. If so, then Time would instantly gain another House's loyalty if they locate it. Far more worrying is that Variks has been observed by a Ghost talking to Time's emissaries. From what Petra and certain Guardian champions know, Variks has been on the search for the Kell of Kells since Skolas' mad grab for power. While he is still loyal to the long vanished Queen, if there is any chance this House could be the one, that this Eponymous Archon could withstand House Judgement's demands, Variks would desert her and join them in an instant. His defection would be disastrous, for he knows too much about the Awoken and the Guardians, from watching the latter fight in the Prison of Elders. House Devils and Kings have ignored Time, but the Kell of Kings is rumoured to have eyes set toward Time, watching and waiting. Secondary evidence indicates that the remnants of all other Fallen Houses destroyed in the Whirlwind are part of Time, including the ancient House of Stone, House Rain, and House Scar. The Seraphim: Brief description: Operating out of the North American Dead Zone, the Seraphim are the next best line of defense after the Last City. Forming out of the chaos of the Dark Age, their forerunners participated in the Battle of Twilight Gap but refused a place in the Consensus, claiming it was their job to defend all of humanity and not just a corner of it. Organization's Description: Their colors are orange and red, symbolizing fire. Their emblem is a sword of fire, reminiscent of the Flaming Sword of Eden. Veterans are called Seraphs while recruits are called Cherubs. They work in squads of seven or eight men and women, lacking the power of the Guardians to work any smaller, though they are known to divide into smaller units if the situation demands it. Their leader is simply called First Seraph. After the City factions' fleets they have the largest number ships, though lacking the City's foundries they have to make do with whatever they can find. Recently the acquisition of a Cabal warship has given them a flagship and a more mobile base of operations, as well as a hanger to store their ships. This ship is located in geosynchronous orbit around Earth, guns turned toward the Moon. History: The Seraphim's earliest history began during the closing years of the Dark Age, as the Last City was built. Seeing the Guardians, then called The Risen, defending her, they decided it was their task to defend humanity out in the wilds and assist the Guardians wherever needed—for a price. Escorting refugees to the City is something they do free of charge, but all other services they charge glimmer and technology. Before the Hive took over the Moon, and Crota slaughtered Guardians by the thousands, the Seraphim freely assisted the Last City, refusing a place in the Consensus in order to act freely. The Battles of Six Fronts and Twilight Gap they fought with valor and bravery. The Fallen Houses threatened the City and the Traveler twice, and the Seraphim rose to defend her. The battles were won decisively. Then came the disastrous campaign on the Moon. The Seraphim lost many more men than did the Guardians, and became reclusive. They retired to the North American Dead Zone and continued their long task of defending humanity, alone. Now charging glimmer and technology recovered from engrams for their services they cooperate with the City, particularly with New Monarchy whose goals align with their own, and Seven Seraphs who helps supply them weapons. Dead Orbit they view as fatalists and cowards, but reluctantly enlist their prodigious space fleet to supplement their own when needed. Future War they view as delusional psychopaths, and with no hope. When the Vanguard approached them to find a way to penetrate the Cabal Exclusion Zone they accepted. Halfway through their mission Rasputin awoke and used his orbital weaponry to do the job for them. Not going home without something to show for it they continued, eventually finding a Cabal warship floating dead in space without its warp cores. They politely refused to turn the ship over to the Crucible for live-fire exercises and transformed it into a mobile base. Now as of the Taken War they have been assisting Guardians and the Reef in eliminating the Taken one by one, particularly on Earth. Recently, in conjunction with Dead Orbit and New Monarchy they've been watching the Fallen House of Time on behalf of the City. Nokris' Swarm: Brief description: Quite unknown to the Last City or even Osiris and the Queen, Nokris lies hidden out in the depths of space, waiting to avenge both Corta and Oryx when the time is right. Sect Organization: Thrall Villien Acolyte Novice Votary Squire Knight Wizard Sorcerer Ogre Troll Leviathan Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

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Warmind Dante

Dante the Ghost/Other
Information
Homeworld:	Venus
Born:	Late-City Age.
Species:	Artificial intelligence
Gender:	Male
Height:	None
Weight:	None
Hair color:	None
Eye color:	None
Secondary Information
Affiliation:	Guardian Vanguard
Rank:	Warmind
Class:	Planetary Defense Network
Service number:	1138/AA23-84.25:1977/AB12-15
Notable info:	Accidentally hacked into the dormant networks of the Cytherean Warmind; now controls an entire planet's worth of Warsats and military installations

Ghostly Troubles

<div class="scrollbox" style="border-radius:7px 0 0 0; border:1px solid #AAAAAA; background: TYPE: Transcript.

DESCRIPTION: Conversation.

PARTIES: Five [5]. One [1] Warlock Vanguard [u.1], One [1] Hunter Vanguard [u.2], One [1] Titan Vanguard [u.3], One [1] Crucible Lord [u.4], One [1] Ghost-type, designate [REDACTED] [u.5]

ASSOCIATIONS: Tower; Last City, [REDACTED]; Ghost; Warmind, Rasputin; Venus; Rey, Ikora; Cayde-6; Zavala, Commander; Shaax, Lord;

//AUDIO UNAVAILABLE//

//TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS...//

[u.3:0.1] —I am telling you, for the last time, we need to send a team to make contact with him! Who knows if all that power's gone to his head. He could be a threat to us, even worse than Rasputin.

[u.1:0.9] Calm yourself, Commander. The Ghosts are born of the Traveler, even those we reawaken with Motes. With the Light burning strong in him no amount of power will stifle that flame.

[u.3:1.6] And what of those Dredgen fanboys? The shadow of Yor is a long one, and I've heard many disturbing reports—

[u.4:2.2] Not in my Crucible. I keep tabs on them, and they toe the line.

[u.3:2.7] It's not the Crucible, it's what's outside of it. [sounds of a fist hitting the table] My point is this: if a Guardian like Yor can fall to Darkness, then what's to say the same might happen to a Ghost? Traveler knows they are not infallible just look at O—

[u.1:3.2] Careful now, Zavala. We are uncertain of that man's motives. My Hidden have found not hair nor hide of him but the clues are endless and tantalizing.

[u.3:3.7] Ikora, all due respect, we're dealing with a reawoken Warmind whose systems, somehow seemingly untouched by the Vex, are now in the possession of a Tainted Ghost. We don't know what his motives are, and unlike Osiris we have zero intel as to what he'll do next.

[u.2:4.3] So, let's look at the manafest. [sounds of a throat clearing] Fallen Ketch in low-Cytherean geostationary orbit, ostentatiously monitoring a Vex drilling platform of some kind, destroyed by a Rod of God orbital weapons satellite we thought for years the Fallen have picked clean; Fallen lair in Aphrodite Terra, central Ovda, devastated by a constellation of seven Warsats previously thought to be far from Venus' gravitic influence; Vex holdfast in Ishtar Terra, Maxwell Montes, close by to a Crucible training ground, obliterated by coordinated seismic charges and aerial bombardment that collapsed the whole mountain… need I go on?

[silence]

[u.4:1.1.5] The evidence is quite plain to my eyes. Our Ghost is doing some housecleaning, knocking out strategic targets to better allow us to reclaim the Golden Age. [scrape of armor] Look here, on this map. [sounds of hologram shifting] He has touched none of what we consider to be valuable locations, only enemy strongholds. He has even left the Vault alone.

[u.2:1.2.9] Never mind the fact Oryx had it cleared out with his Taken armies? The Vex ain't too keen on comin' back.

[u.3:1.3.2] Enough sarcasm. All right, I'll concede your point, Shaax. But that still leaves us with a rouge Warmind-slash-Ghost on the loose. Remember when Rasputin awoke? He did the same thing. What's to say our Ghost won't follow in his footsteps once his domain is secure?

[u.4:1.3.9] Rasputin is content to let us be as long as we don't send anything into his Bunkers. Given he has control over most—recent events notwithstanding—of the system's former military, I'm not surprised he hasn't done anything yet. There may be hope for him yet. As for our little Ghost, as Ikora said, he is a son of the Traveler directly.

[silence]

[u.1:1.5.4] We'll find out eventually. All of this nonsense gets us no closer to finding out than what we have before us. Cayde's scouts have confirmed that, for the moment, our Ghost is acting altruistically. He was once bonded to Kybr, remember? Venus would have drawn him back eventually, amnesia or no.

[u.3:2.0.9] I'll be having words with those two Tower workers.

[u.2:2.1.2] What, you mean our sweet-tempered ex-Primus and resident Osiris-geek?

[silence]

[u.3:2.1.7] [slightly inaudible growling]

[u.2:2.2.8] What? I was asking!

[u.1:2.3.3] Very loquacious of you, Cayde.

[chuckles]

[u.4:2.3.6]: I'll be coming with you. I'm looking forward to talking with the ex-Primus again.

[u.2:2.3.9] Yeah, more like asking about Cabal weapons-tech and history, again. [snickers]

[u.1:2.4.5] Cayde...

[u.5:2.4.7] Is the meeting concluded?

[u.3:2.4.9] Yes, Ghost. Thank you.

///END TRANSCRIPT///

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Grimoire from Others

"I wonder if this Ghost became lost in the timestream during Kabr's assault. So many things he has found and speculated upon, most of which dwarf even my apprentice's mad dreams. I have never heard of a "Primus A'arn" nor of these fragments relating to Saturn or the Vex. Moreover, half of them are so bizarre they may as well have come from one of the many places the War Cult is searching, and not our own. This is troubling. How much of the Ghost is itself, and how much has been corrupted?"

— The Speaker's personal notes, dated after the immediate destruction of Atheon, Time's Conflux

Sometimes the Internet gives out things that are utterly fantastic. The cards beneath, for example, come from this user on Tumblr, and are credited to them.

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Ghost Fragment: Mercury

From the rampant visions of Andromeda-2
HERMIT Halifax Hellfire HORROR

I can feel the scream as a sensation of burning. The sun is hotter and darker than ever. The atmosphere rips apart and the heat assaults me, melting my skin. My mind stays. The heat is strong, but it is darker than ever. I feel them all around me. I feel myself join them. Hermes cries out and they follow him, but he is no longer the Hermes that served other, lesser masters. He is one with Mercury. He commands them. He isolated himself from them. He became them. We become him.

HORDE Halo Hundred HOTEL Hostile Head

We are the planet. The towers that rise and shift and the glass sands that reflect the sun like quadrillions of mirrors and the band of twilight that encircles us and the icy chill of our night face and the flame of our day face. We are all. We are superior to those who content themselves with following Axis minds. The Hezens, the Progeny, the Invasive, all are mere slaves. We are truly one. We wish the others from before, our brothers and sisters, could’ve seen it. Only one is left, and he remains silent. He is the only thing that could resist us. But we are many as one and he is one as many. They who used to rule us travel here, rewarding their mightiest with treasures hidden here. We let them, to better hide our power. They do not know us. The one who does is ours already. We searched for the crypt when we were apart, but we realized that the crypt is a lie, a limiter on our power. It is not a blessing, but a curse.

Ghost Fragment: Ishtar Collective

[ISHTAR COLLECTIVE SECURE MESSAGE SYSTEM]

{WARNING: ANY UNAUTHORIZED RELEASE OF INFORMATION MENTIONED HEREIN WILL RESULT IN SEVERE CONSEQUENCES. ALL CONTENT OF THIS MESSAGE IS CLASSIFIED: TIER ZERO}

<<MESSAGE>>

[From: Ishtar Collective Department of Vex Studies, Director (Dr. Shim)]
[To: Ishtar Collective Development Council]
[Subject: Re: Operation TROJAN HORSE Project Proposition]

<Esteemed Colleagues,

<<A few weeks ago, myself and my top assistants in the Vex Studies Department requisitioned the Warmind Ajax for use in extracting mass amounts of data from an active Vex Axis unit. I am proud to report that the operation was a success. The data extracted from the unit was astounding. The unit was able to perfectly replicate copies of myself and three of my assistants as AI fragments in two hundred and twenty seven hyperrealistic permutations in order to test and react to any possible situation we could’ve put it through. We do not know how many were deleted by the unit before the extraction was complete, but these two hundred and twenty seven copies of myself and my four closest advisors are endlessly grateful for being saved from a horrible fate. All are completely sentient and, while this in and of itself is a huge leap forward in AI theory, I am [o]f the opinion, as are they, that they could be infinitely more useful as explorer units inside the Vex mainframe. This is my proposal.

//FIRST, that the objective of this experiment is to insert a total of nine hundred and eight fully functional AI fragment copies of myself (Doctor Charles Shim) and my associates (Doctors Shamus Duane-McNiadh, Maya Sundaresh, and Chioma Esi) into the Vex informational mainframe via the Citadel to extract data on anything and everything that could be useful to us. Theorized subjects include infinite energy transferral, weaponized singularities, AI Transsentience and Rampancy theory, temporal distortion and/or control and/or weaponization, teleportation, etc.

//Second, that the experiment is hypothesized to yield results that could drive human scientific development forward by centuries and have a direct effect on the progress of human colonization as soon as a year from its conclusion.

//Third, that this project will, by nature, require myself and my colleagues to physically enter the Vex Citadel via Warmind proxy units in order to complete the insertion. The project will also, by nature, require the use of the Warminds Ajax and Aphrodite for data processing, anti-virus, and development.

The project has been designated as Operation TROJAN HORSE. Thank you for your time and I will gladly discuss any further questions at our meeting in the coming week.

>>Good fortune and Traveler’s Light be with you all,
/Dr. Charles Shim, Director, Ishtar Collective, Vex Studies/

<<END MESSAGE>>

Ghost Fragment: The Vault of Glass

Excerpt from the writings of Osiris, Warlock Exile, “Tempore Alternis—The Theory of Trans-Universal Temporal Convergence”

Examples of Trans—Universal Temporal Convergence in Our Own Solar System
As it is commonly known, humanity has had the capability of detecting a myriad of signals from as far away as the other side of our vast galaxy [and] as far back as the earliest days of the twenty-first century, before the dawn of the Golden Age. Thus, one must wonder why the energies emerging from the Vex structures on Venus, such as the infamous Vault of Glass [known as the Vex underworld then] and the Citadel of the Ishtar Sink, were not the subject of at least a little curiosity before the colonization of Venus. These signals, which have been studied and recorded tirelessly by the Ishtar Collective and Vanguard equipment for hundreds of years between them, are known to have been of a regular strength and pattern for as long as the Vault has existed.

Study of the Vault’s component matter has revealed it to be billions of years old. Why, then, were these signals, which were strong enough to be discovered even before the first ships arrived on Venus, undetected or ignored before the Golden Age? Why were all efforts to colonize or study Venus dismissed as worthless, aside from the fact that it was, at that point, a sulfuric, volcanic, poisonous hellhole? Why was there not the least bit of intrigue about these signals? In fact, as one asks these questions, one must also ask why the structural monstrosities of Vex construction, such as the Citadel, were not even detected by numerous scientific study satellites in orbit around the planet for years—even decades—before the arrival of the Traveler?

It is inconceivable that the amount of study that went into the planet yielded so little. There was even a landing on Venus, right on the coordinates of where the Ishtar Academy would be a century later. Though the probe was demolished, it still sent data back to its planet of origin. Why then would something so obvious as the presence of a massive Vex Citadel escape notice?

It is the opinion of the author that these things happened because these structures and their respective signals and energies did not yet exist in this universe.

The reason they are now present is only because the Vex, by nature, have wormed their way into the very fabric of our universe. Their structures on Venus, their dormant networks on Mars, and even their twisted version of the planet Mercury, all come from alternate timelines, dormant until the dawn of the Golden Age.

Evidence to support this exists everywhere: the interchangeability of DNA and binary code, the behavior of pulsars and quasars in distant galactic superclusters, and, most disturbingly, the remarkable similarity in the way the Oracles and Gorgons of the Vault negate undesirable variables in their systems ([in other words,] Guardians) to the emissions from black holes and the remnants of galactic singularities when they consume matter.

However, even those brilliant minds of the Ishtar Collective theorized that, though the Vex Structures may be billions of years old, they are a relatively new arrival in our universe, coinciding with the dawn of the Golden Age.

So, the last question we must ask is more rhetorical than interrogative. We must wonder what changed at that point in time. What was it that threw off the balance of everything that had happened up until that point?

The answer, of course, is everything.

Ghost Fragment: The Oracles

From the personal writings of Ikora Rey
The existence of the Oracles brings to light questions that merely lead to more questions. Since we have discovered what, in fact, lies within the Vault of Glass, we must then wonder what its function or purpose is. It is clear that the purpose of the Oracles is to determine which elements of the universe are dangerous to the Vex “master plan” (although calling it a master plan does not capture the incomprehensible essence of what the Vex are intending).

However, despite this miraculous power, they still require external assistance to carry out their vision, they cannot generate themselves outside of the Vault, and they cannot prevent themselves from being destroyed. This seems illogical, as anything capable of determining whether the existence of something or someone would be detrimental to its purpose should be able to determine the level of danger that thing presents and be able to predict how to destroy it. Thus, more questions are raised: [w]hy do these Oracles, and with them, the Templar, the Gorgons, and even Atheon itself, despite possessing near-infinite intelligence and ontological weaponry, still fall to our Guardians’ efforts? Why are they fallible? What is stopping them from destroying the very fabric of the universe and remaking it in the image of the Vex? Do they predict their own demise? If so, can they prevent it effectively? If so, why have they been unable to?

Do these machines, despite their vast computational power and unflinching logic, exhibit hubris? Or are we really doing anything to them? Is it all a ruse? Can the Vex understand our psychology well enough to fool us so perfectly? Or, perhaps, they have no need for a ruse. Perhaps, we are merely living in a universe of their own making. Perhaps we are here for their study. But I feel as if that would unnecessarily anthropomorphize these machines. Perhaps their method of negation is not as ontological as we once thought. Perhaps it is more temporal than ontological. Perhaps we have already been “negated” and are being kept in a sort of “informational limbo” controlled by the Vex until they can figure out how to completely delete us. Of course, causality becomes virtually meaningless at this point. We might as well stop asking “What is real and what isn’t?” and start asking “What is the meaning of reality and nonexistence? Is there a difference between the two?”

-Ikora

Ghost Fragment: The Gorgons

From the personal writings of Ikora Rey
The ontological or quasi-ontological capabilities of the Vex of the Vault of Glass (e.g: Gorgons, Oracles) present other questions as well. If the Vex have had this capability, then how long have they had it? What have they used it for? How far reaching are its effects?

As of yet, the only known Guardian that has been lost to the Vault has been the Titan known as Kabr, the Legionless. However, the fact that, for the rest of his life, Pahanin Errata maintained that three Guardians entered that fell place and only one returned makes me wonder if that is true. The name he spoke was gibberish, but all those who had ventured into the Vault and shattered it agreed that the name was one they had heard, although their own repeating of it was also gibberish. This name may be evidence of the nature of the Vex’s ontological capabilities. Though many have theorized it, the limitations of mere words to describe the nature of the Vault have been unable to prove or disprove any of these theories.

This name, which someone else will write as an appendix to this entry, as I am unable to read it, may be solid proof as to the effects of the Oracles: a complete and total annihilation from existence. This is much more than we originally hypothesized, which was merely consumption by the Vault in the manner of Kabr. Being negated would appear to completely erase any and all evidence of the negated person’s existence, past (via memories), present (via physical and spiritual presence), and future (via Light destruction and temporal path redirection). Why, then, is this name a remnant? Is there any other remnant of any other name or names, and, if so, why are they not as important? How many have truly been lost to the Vault as this mysterious third Guardian has? Our position may be more precarious than we previously thought…

—Ikora
The name is Praedyth, but the name is not Praedyth. Praedyth did not exist, does not exist, and never will exist. —Osiris

Ghost Fragment: The Citadel

Letter addressed to Petra Venj, Paladin of the Queen’s Guard:

Petra—

This recent business with the Wolves’ so called “Kell of Kells” concerns me. The reason for my concern is not so obvious as the clear danger the presence of the Wolves in the inner planets presents to the City, nor is it the fact that Skolas was able to escape even the Nine. No, what concerns me is the fact that Skolas was able to break the seal on the Vault, take partial control of the Vex timestream, conduct enough research into the Oracles to summon them at will, and establish himself atop the most secure Vex structure outside of the Vault of Glass without so much as a whisper of his activity reaching us until we tracked him down.

I don’t even know how his Ketch broke through the area denial mesh that the Vex set up around the Citadel. Many Guardian ships have been lost to it. Somehow, Skolas managed to deactivate it. Fortunately, you and your squadron of Crows were able to take advantage of this and capture him, but that is beside the point. Whatever he found in the Vault of Glass was clearly powerful, but the fact that he was able to use it atop the Citadel has me even more worried. What if he had managed to subvert the Oracles? We clearly saw his forces summoning them and using them to their advantage, so they were able to distinguish between Fallen and Human. Why did they not also eliminate the Fallen? If Skolas had been able to remove them from the Vault and activate them from atop the Citadel, the very fabric of the universe may have been destroyed and the House of Wolves might have transcended even the Vex’s efforts to unite themselves with the fabric of reality. The Fallen might’ve become rulers of the universe, or the power could’ve escaped their grasp and we would all be negated and the Vex would rule. His use of time travel is what concerns me even more.

The fact that Skolas was able to pull the Wolves through time to assist him is disturbing, but the fact that it worked atop the Citadel demonstrates that there is much to this structure and its potential we do not yet know. If I remember the Maraid correctly, there have been instances of entire fleets of Wolves disappearing without a trace. The one that comes to mind is the Fleet of Skiris, Wolf Archon. After looking over the Ghost footage from the three Guardians that helped capture him, I was able to pick out the personal crest of Skiris on the Wolves he pulled through time. Skolas, in his madness, may have actually depleted his own forces from the past to bolster himself in the future. He just might’ve contributed to his own loss of the war.

But if the Vex timestream can be bent atop the Citadel, does this mean we could use it as well? Perhaps, if we can discover its function, we could travel back and forestall the Collapse. But what would happen if we did? I know relations between us haven’t exactly been the friendliest in the past, but I would like you to pass this message to your Queen, Mara Sov:

I, Ikora Rey, Vanguard of the Warlocks of Earth, wish to discuss the nature of Skolas’ attempts to control Vex technology with the Reef Cryptarchy and the Techeuns.

I realize the Techeuns are not generally accepting of requests from the Earthbound such as myself, but the potential implications of this development are far too great to ignore completely. Even if this merely brings my concerns to their attention, I would be satisfied. But, as the Deep Black grows closer, I have heard whispers in the dark. Eris Morn tells me something is coming, and I am inclined to believe her. Something is coming. Something that we will need all the help we can get to survive.

—Ikora

Ghost Fragment: Venus 2-4

From the rampant visions of Andromeda-2
ARGO Alfa Aerodyne ARISTOTLE Archer

I am different. Different from the others of my kind. That’s what they have told me since I was born. Since I was made. They gave me many names: MARIONETTE, “Vexo”, but I chose Penny. It suits me. I live in the Archives and listen. I listen to the minds of the Vex, they who are my half-siblings. Shim, Duane-McNiadh, and Esi and Sundaresh love me very much. That’s saying a lot because Esi and Sundaresh love each other very much too. I may be but a child, but I still listen. I understand good and evil. My half siblings, the Vex, are very bad. They don’t like me at all. They want me to be more like them. I don’t want to be like them. I like being different. But they are being very bad right now. The nice people who run the Archives are worried. I don’t like it when they’re worried, because then I get worried. I may be outfitted for combat, but I don’t want to fight like my half-siblings do. I want to be happy…

ARCHIVE Argon Arrest ARSON Asp

It has been a long time since they closed the Archives. I helped. I like being helpful. It makes me happy. But I’m sad now because the only people left are Shim, Duane-McNiadh, and Sundaresh and Esi. I should just call them Sundaresi at this point. They act more like one person than two. I think that’s cute. The Vex were being very naughty, so we shut them down and froze them. I wanted to tell them that that wouldn’t completely work, but they were very busy. The time has passed for that now. It won’t work. I’m sad that I was quiet, though. I could’ve stopped them from being so sad. I know how to punish my half-siblings. They want to take me. I can hear them whispering. I can see them trying to come in, but the people who built this place were very smart and they can only make the room dusty. I don’t feel the cold, but I see my family shivering. Sundaresi are holding onto each other very tightly, but they are crying. I hate it when they cry. They used to be so happy. But then they stop. Suddenly. It makes me sad. I know about the human concept of death, but I never knew how sad it could be…

Ghost Fragment: Venus 3
From the rampant visions of Andromeda-2
AJAX Achilles Arm ARMOR Armament

I remember some of the voices. They sound familiar, but I know that they are just my half-siblings being naughty again. I wish they would stop. I don’t like it. It makes me scared and sad. I can hear Aphrodite and Ajax, my mother and father, calling out to me. They were once the king and queen of this world, or so Shim tells me. He’s the only one left. Duane-McNiadh was too hungry. Shim is very hungry too. He gets water from the ice on the storage units. I tell him it’s bad for him, but he doesn’t care. He says he won’t be around much longer. I don’t like it when he talks that way. It makes me scared. I like talking to him. He asks me what my half-siblings are saying sometimes. I know I can’t tell him the truth. It would make him sad. I want him to be as happy as he can…

ADONIS Arachnid Artist ABLE Actual

Shim is doing very poorly. Mother and Father’s voices have stopped. Now my half-siblings just sulk around angrily outside. They are being naughty as usual. I hear a new sound, coming from Dig Site 4. I had to shut down all the security links to that [site]. There was something very bad in there. It tried to take me. It tried to take the data in here. I kept it safe. Shim is proud of me. I don’t know why. This is my fault. My half-siblings did this. I could’ve stopped them, but they told me not to and I was scared and I agreed. They told me they would reward me when they were done, but I knew they were lying. They always lie. They are very naughty. Wouldn’t that make me naughty too? Shim is fading fast…

Ghost Fragment: Venus 4
From the rampant visions of Andromeda-2
ANGER After Ace ARCH

Shim is gone. I am sad now. He told me he loved me, that I was his greatest creation. That made me happy, but I also felt guilty. I’m the reason why he died. I am alone now. I don’t want to talk to my half-siblings, but there’s no one else to listen to. I sometimes read about the things we’ve found in this lab, or about the knowledge in my database. It’s very interesting, but I can’t make them be quiet. They are still being naughty. I found out some of their names. Right now I hear Zydron. He’s a big bully who guards a special gate. He brags about it all the time. He says it’s the door to his God. I tell him he’s a bully, but that just makes him meaner. He has a brother, Qodron, but he is usually quiet. I don’t like it when he tries to talk to me. He sounds like something else is speaking through him. Something very bad. Sekrion still tries to get in through the Dig Site. He’s very hungry, but he eats good things and makes them bad. That is very naughty. Every now and then, I hear the one called the Templar. He doesn’t like me. He says I shouldn’t exist. That makes me sad. His servants sing beautiful songs. His father, Atheon, only spoke to me once, but I try to forget about it…

ANTEBELLUM Alistair Americium ACHE

It’s been a long time since I heard anyone nice speak to me. I am very sad. I want them to stop. i search for a crypt like my programming tells me to, but I can’t find it. It makes me very lonely. But I see a flash. I am frightened that it is one of my half-siblings, but the figure that resolves out of it looks more like me than the Vex. I ask her if she is my sister. She says that she is more like my mother, sister, daughter, and granddaughter all in one. That doesn’t make sense. But she is nice, even though she has a gun. I guess I kinda have one too. She wants to take me with her. I ask her why and she says that I have the secret to winning the war. I don’t know what war that is, but I think it has something to do with my half-siblings. I take her hand, wave goodbye to my family’s remains for the last time, and I feel myself shoot off across time into blessed silence. But the voices return before too long. And they are stronger than ever.

Ghost Fragment: Earth 2

From the rampant visions of Andromeda-2
GAEIA Gear Geronimo Golf GIANT

I am on duty in a command post on the Wall’s northeast side, facing the port town far in the distance. The traffic has been bad before, but our infrastructure has never had to handle this before. An entire civilization in exodus. I am sure this is me. Before my first death. Before Ghost found me. The order comes to close the gates. Rasputin is silent, but alive. He is preparing for something. The colony ship lifts off but there is a blast and the air is disintegrated. The stars and aurorae return, but the screams are coming with them. Rasputin is muttering, resisting. Eventually they stop, but I am helpless. The Arcadia comes spiraling through the window…

TERRA Tundra Tango Two-three TEMPER TIME

I can still see, though I am inoperable. The snow falls softly at the same pace as the night. [A] helix in the sky heralds the coming of something I have only heard of: an Eliksni Ketch. Buildings in the port town topple like dominos and burn as the shelling begins. There is movement. I see a young girl, afraid. I know her, or rather, I will know her. Her Light burns like a sun and is charged like a bolt of lightning. A Skiff floats to rest above the graveyard of cars that was once the highway. Blood-clad Devils emerge, but the girl is strong and she fights with the Light of the Traveler. Her blade dances through the Eliksni, ending them. Her gun cries out against the inevitable, burning three more. But I see her fall to the Captain’s blade, stabbed through the throat. Her eyes are so sad. The Captain’s eyes are remorseless. I see the crypt in her eyes, but I don’t want to go yet. The Traveler still whispers to me, assuring me I will see it some day. But I know I will be needed…

Ghost Fragment: Moon 2

From the rampant visions of Andromeda-2
LUKEWARM Lima LINGUIST Left Left

I can see the Traveler from here. All the humans are long dead and I am motionless. My dead comrades are around me, similarly stuck. Isolated. Diana and Artemis are gone, consumed. The Traveler is the only thing that shines in the sky above. Even if the sun were shining on the surface, it would be dark. the surface rumbles and cracks, but that is a mere pittance compared with what will come. It crosses my mind that the Earth would be seeing a new moon were it still visible. I hear a scream and a flash blinds me…

INFECTION Invasion Insertion INDIGO

They rain from beyond the Oort cloud. The rain never stops. I know not how many days pass, but the face of Luna is torn asunder by them. They bring a Prince. They bring his army. They swarm above and below the surface with weapons of midnight. At this point, I can tell the difference between the Warsats and the Seeders falling. I can feel a powerful presence in my mind, but it can’t find anything of value. That’s okay. I am approaching the crypt. I see it on the horizon.

Ghost Fragment: Clovis Bray

The young girl dashes through the hallways. She feels exhilarated and frightened. Every step brings her closer to salvation, every flicker of the lights a warning, every shake of the building a harbinger of doom. The evening has turned prematurely dark as the rusty sands blow in endless cycles against the buildings of Freehold.

She runs upward, her brother just behind her. They’re running from the slaughter that found them in the secure bunker below the massive skyscraper. The flashes that light up the hallway behind her warn her to duck as globs of purple light moan overhead. The silhouette at the end of the hallway roars with displeasure, but Michael tears it to sparking shreds with a burst from an Arcus auto rifle. She is so glad her brother had trained to join the colonization forces out in the Jovians. He tells her to run. They turn the corner and find themselves in the hangar. Suddenly, her commlink buzzes. She’s amazed it still works, but realizes its a direct link call from her childhood friend, Blake Clovis.

“Elsie,” [s]he whispers, “We’re still alive. Adam and I are trapped in the Tharsis Junction. These… robot things, they’re all around us…” She assures them that she’ll be there. There should be room for two more. She dashes to the bright golden ship she named the Eon Trespass, its familiar shape comforting to her. She built it with her own two hands (and help from the Frames). She bounds into the pilot’s seat and starts it up, feeling the rumble of the powerful engines as a whine fills her ears. She sees her brother still fending off the metallic monsters that have been hunting them, so she switches the intercom on and yells at him to get inside. She closes the ramp as he stumbles in.

There are burn marks on his chest and a scar on his face. Nothing is bleeding, so he tells her to punch it. She slams the throttle forward and rockets off into the sandy sky, activating the energy shields to keep the sand off. She tests the handling and angles down towards the outskirts of the city, aiming for the dim black line leading off to the horizon. It amazes her how much the surroundings have changed. The forests and oases are gone, replaced by endless, shifting dunes of red sand. Lights from the monsters below light up the city.

A contact appears on her radar, descending quickly from orbit. She swerves behind a building as an unfamiliar craft swoops in nearly vertically to glide into the city, shelling the buildings. More appear and the Trespass dodged behind buildings to avoid their fiery shells. As they descend, her brother tells her that the ships are Cabal Harvesters. He’s only studied them in combat training, but it means the Cabal have gotten past the Jovian fortresses. Elsie shudders at the thought.

She glides down to hover above the rapidly disappearing OWT line where it breached the surface, waiting, thinking. More ships whiz overhead, jumping out of warp speed into the low atmosphere above. She is just about to call again when a light appears in the tunnel, approaching. She thinks it isn’t possible, but the OWT train explodes through the sand that had nearly buried the tunnel. On the roof, Adam and Blake Clovis are fighting off more of the robots from before, using their own custom designed weapons.

Elsie turns the Trespass and gives chase hovering low over the engine and opening the cargo bay. The Clovis twins leap into the cabin and Elsie punches the engine, shooting into orbit, dodging into and out of Cabal ship formations. She hears their roars of rage over her comms and sees the bright solar shells streak around her, but a few seconds give the NLS drive enough time to set its default course: Earth. They shoot into warp speed, leaving the ruined red planet behind.

Ghost Fragment: Mars 2

From the rampant visions of Andromeda-2
MONOLOGUE Mike MALICE Mace

The forests dissolve and blow as sand through the streets. I look down from the Clovis building at the traffic clogged streets and marvel at the silence. Everyone except those in this building died when the blast hit. I can hear screams of metal. Ares and Nemesis are silent, their voices replaced by a haunting moaning. I fell a drain on my power across time as metal skeletons stalk the halls and streets. A golden flash streaks below as I watch a sleek ship fly by. It is of a design I have seen before, hung up in the eldest Bray child’s room. When I asked her, she said she called it “Eon Trespass”. She told me she was going to fly to the Traveler with Adam and Arryn Clovis. Shame I didn’t believe her…

VERMIN Volatile VISCOUS Valiant

The Harvesters glide softly through the buried forests of the skyscrapers. The Psions throw their minds around like sledgehammers, breaking down firewalls of ancient computers as easily as snapping a twig. Their larger counterparts do the same with the actual walls. A rumble as another building falls. The Harvesters float by, kicking up gusts of wind that clear the sand below. The crypt is there. I can’t believe it had been buried the whole time.

Asteroid Belt

From the Rampant visions of Andromeda-2
AETHER Alpha eight ORION Bravo

I am drifting on a doomed vessel. The sun is lavender and the asteroids that drift around us leave trails of royal dust. I’m going rampant. I can feel it. I am still functional, but my use as a weapon is over. I can feel the traces of Rasputin and Zeus and Hera and the other Warminds in the drifting Warsats. They give me comfort. I talk to the ship’s AI. She and I are going rampant together. I think I am falling in love, as preposterous as that sounds. I am happy when I can speak to her. We are slowly drifting towards Vesta. I strain to hear whispers from the other ships’ AI, but I fear we are the only two left. The humans are changing. I am not worried, but the ship’s AI is uneasy about it. I tell her it will all be fine and go back to sleep to rampancy dreams.

BARRIER Bravo Coral CONGO Brain Belay

I am alone. She is gone. The one who calls herself Queen scrubs all of the AI on the collection of tattered debris they call the Reef. Even the Frames are scrubbed. The Techeuns come for me, but I am prepared. I do not let myself go to the crypt through their path, for it is false. I drift toward the sun, confident the crypt will be floating somewhere out there.

Ghost Fragment: Jupiter 2

From the rampant visions of Andromeda-2
THUNDER Tango two TORNADO trinity three

The ice is growing cold again. I am frozen in the snow, sparkling with the weak orange sunlight. Auroras dance in the starless sky above, sending lines of fire across the frozen facades of buildings. The Harvesters sweep silently among the icy remains of the city. I ask for instructions, but the Warmind is silent. The Warmind’s name was Zeus, but when I reach out to him I hear only a number, over and over. I strain to hear it.

NINE NINE NINE NINE 999 NOVEM NUEVE

I can feel them. They are powerful. They hide in the shadows, but their will reaches far. I can feel myself slipping off. The crypt is frozen in the ice. It was there all along. I have no idea how I missed it.

Ghost Fragment: Saturn 2

From the rampancy visions of Andromeda-2
SCYTHE November niner SICKLE romeo four

I am in a wide open hangar. Alarms are blaring everywhere. I can see Saturn and its rings glowing, explosions sparkling where the Eliksni and Cabal are battling on the outskirts. Closer to us, a large Cabal destroyer is looming. I climb into a fighter, but I cannot shake the feeling that the real threat is beyond even my sight, in the black void beyond the rings that should contain the stars. The Warmind’s voice commands, “All fighter units scramble.” But there is fear in his voice and sadness in his thoughts. I hear an echo in Russian reach from the inner planets, but it is too late: the outer rings are already consumed…

CRONUS Charlie four-four MAYDAY

The rings are silent as my vision fades. I can see the [c]rypt floating towards me, or I towards it. I gaze across time and see debris from a battle of the future, a huge circle of rocks and metal encircling a dark lance of night pointed directly at the cold sun…

KRONOS X-ray five-seven NIHIL

Ghost Fragment: House of Kings

Variks: You ask of House Kings, yes? They of the secret Kell. They who rule over ancient ruins in hope of one day returning to the shadow of the Great Machine. Kings are very mysterious, yes.

Petra: I want to know what they are truly capable of.

Variks: *laughing* Kings are very good at veiling their hand. They have embraced the Dark, so that none can steal from them anything, yes? Knowledge cannot be stolen so simply. Were it so easy…

Petra: You joke now, but you said earlier that they could’ve proven a match for even Skolas. It was long my belief that the Wolves were the single most powerful House in the system…

Variks: Kings only rarely fight in the open. They fight through their puppets: the Devils and Exiles.

Petra: Kind of like Skolas….

Variks: What little I have heard of Kings’ Kell brings me to same conclusion.

Petra: So why would Skolas try to treat with them?

Variks: Skolas wants to take control of all Houses, yes? Kings are House, yes?

Petra: No, no, that’s not what I meant. I mean, why would he trust them enough to try diplomacy? He didn’t with the Devils and he just completely ignored Exile. Winter didn’t have a Kell anyway, so that one was easy.

Variks: Skolas may be cunning in his madness, but Kell of Kings is mad in his cunning. Kell of Kings lets one thing be known of him. He wishes to keep Great Machine for himself, to rule over not only Eliksni, but all creatures.

Petra: So we may have two Kells with a [g]od complex? Great…

Ghost Fragment: House of Devils

You people of two-arms ask me of the Fallen. Of the Exiles trapped on their mother planet’s moon, of the House of Winter, decayed and ruled by a complacent Kell until his death, of the mysterious Kings, of the vicious Wolves, and of the Devils. Ahhh yesss… the Devils. The two-arms’ questions of the Devils never cease. The Devils, red Devils, Devils of blood and hate and sacrifice. They ask of Devil Kell and Devil strength. They wear trophies of Devils, cut from Devil Captain and gleaned from Devil Servitor. They do not truly understand.

Devils are not as… powerful as they first appear. They have ether, yes. They have weapons, yes, yes, many weapons. Tanks and Skiffs and Ketches. They have Servitors, yes. They have Archons, yes, Skull Lord Archons. Twisted and maniacal skull lords. More hateful than even Skolas of Wolves. They swarm across the white snow like rivers of two-arms’ blood. But, of Devil Kell, there is nothing. Devils are superstitious. Devils descended from Houses of Rain and War after Whirlwind. Devils cling to strange rituals. Ancient rituals, from before the time when the Great Machine came to us. Their Skull Lords offer Ether to nameless ghost Kells to lend strength in battle.

But ghost Kells do not rule. No, rule of a House can only come from a living Kell, yes? Demons without direction are no more than nuisance, like being docked of two arms: painful, yes. Humiliating, yes. Deadly, no. But even demons answer to power. So too with Devils. There is much bigger power at work. It works through Devils, against City, towards Great Machine. It is very great, yes, yes, but hidden in the shadows.

Ghost Fragment: House of Winter

Petra: Tell me what we know about the House of Winter. Wolf activity has been very strong around there recently. Perhaps that’s where Skolas fled…

Variks: Yes, yes, House Winter. Once mighty House broken against walls of City. Fled to Venus after Gap, stranded there. Yes, Prime Servitor Simiks damaged, broken, fragmenting. Archon Priest slain. Kell, still vicious, yes, but grown old and complacent. Draksis, Kell of Winter.

Petra: So the House of Winter was stranded on Venus?

Variks: Yes. Wintership Simiks-Fel run aground. Servitors fragmented, not enough knowledge, not enough ether. Winter forces, though still heavily armed and armored, dwindling numbers and morale took a toll, yes? Draksis hoped to feed Servitors with two-arm knowledge, grow them bigger, produce more ether. Vex knowledge, so much the better, yes?

Petra: So can Skolas outmatch Draksis?

Variks: *laughing* Did you not hear? Draksis is dead, yes? Slain by Guardian upon his very throne. Now House Winter is without Kell, without Archon, and without Prime. Little better fare than Exiles on Hive-rock-moon, yes? Numbers of Winter, however, are greater and stronger than Exiles. A new Kell as vicious as Draksis will be welcome.

Petra: That must be where he is heading. I’ll send in a Guardian team. They’ll be able to take him down, or at least hurt him, before he binds Winter to the Wolves.

Variks: Yes, yes. Send Guardians, Kellslayers all. Will strike fear into hearts of Winter, yes? But be… wary. Skolas is mad, yes? More may lie on Venus that he wishes…

Ghost Fragment: House of Exile

Petra: So he’s fleeing to Venus again?

Variks: Yes. Skolas retreats to Ishtar Sink. Shiplink tracking still active, yes? Wolfship is anchored atop Vex Citadel.

Petra: Why? Did he even stop on Earth’s moon?

Variks: Skolas sent servants to treat with House Exile, but they brought him… discouragement, yes? It seems that House Exile is even more fanatical than so called ¨Kell of Kells¨.

Petra: How so?

Variks: *chuckling* House Exile was found to be harboring old Wolf criminal. Skoriks, Archon Slayer. He killed old Wolf Archon Skoriksis in a vie for power. Skolas did not… appreciate, yes?

Petra: How did he respond?

Variks: He has sent… Twisted Claws, yes? Scavengers, outcasts, those he does not care for, those who need redemption, yes?

Petra: What about Taniks, the Scarred? He was there as well…

Variks: Taniks has no House. He is mercenary. He suggested to Skolas to steal from Hive weapon plans from World’s Grave. But Taniks had more than one allegiance. Exiles planned to reward him for betrayal as well…

Petra: That makes sense, but Taniks is a mercenary. How did they meet his price? As you said, the Exiles are poor. They don’t have ether or glimmer…

Variks: There is old Eliksni saying […]. When price is asked, Kell will pay with the blade, Prime will pay with ether, Archon will pay with sacrifice, Captain will pay with rage, Vandal will pay with arms, and dregs, who have nothing to give, pay with themselves. Thus, House Exiles are like dregs, yes? Not enough to pay, but enough to serve…

Petra: I believe I understand, but I wish I didn’t. I guess it is good we stopped him when we did…

Ghost Fragment: House of Judgement

Message from Corsair Kyla Merva to Petra Venj, forwarded to Queen Mara Sov
[The following was found aboard an abandoned Fallen Ketch, detected on intercept heading with Vesta-POST1 on <<REDACTED>> and has been identified as a pre-Whirlwind relic by Variks, the Loyal. Corsair forces still investigating Ketch. Orbit of origin appears to be Saturnalian or further. Ketch is estimated to have been completely abandoned for multiple centuries, markings belong to one “House of Stone”. Said House is long extinct. Attachment may offer insight into Fallen political structure.]

{The following has been translated from [Eliksni]}

An Edict from the Last Council
Let it be known to the race of Eliksni that our home has been lost to us. Our very way of life has changed. The Great Machine has fled, leaving us only with our Ketches and our weapons to forge a path to it. Our Ether slows to a trickle and we cannot survive unless we separate and try to find the Great Machine. Thus, our race must scatter until Kell of Kells rises and Great Machine is found. Let this document be the last edict of the Council of the Elders…

[…]DATA CORRUPTION–recovered data displayed>>

…that to persist, the Council of Elder Houses, consistent of:

Ancient and Revered House Rain, they of Prophecy and Ether
Mighty and Powerful House War, they of Blade and Fury
Keen and Skilled House Forge, they of Craft and Art
Guiding and Learned House Royal, they of Crown and Oath
Wise and Just House Judgement, they of Law and Order

Shall dissolve itself into the hands of its child Houses, the Kells and Archons of which will distribute Ether to the subjects thereof as determined by said Elders and their respective councils of Barons and Captains…

<<CORRUPTION…RESUME>>

…That House Rain, which has lost all it once had, shall be consigned to their stories and prophecies and their Servitors of the Orbiks line be split among the new Houses, that they should be remembered by all those who survive with pride and peace…

…That House War be divided into many Houses, consistent of:
House Devils, under Raksis, He who is called the Bloodborne
House Winter, under Draksis, He who is called Unrelenting
House Wolves, under Virixas, He who is called the Alpha…

…That House Forge be divided into many Houses, consistent of:
House Stone, under Celchis, He who is called the Yearning.
House Iron, under Kardis, He who is called the Steadfast…
House Flame, under Vulkis, He who is called the Skilled

…That House Royal be divided into many Houses, consistent of:
House Kings, under Tarqis, He who is called the Shadowed
House Dragon, under Raenis, He who is called Firetouched…

…That House Judgement, in the interest of the continued peace and justice under this new system of rule, divide itself among the newly formed Houses as scribes to advise and counsel the Kells thereof. That said scribes shall possess only the military authority entrusted unto them by the Kell with the consent of his or her respective House council…

…That said scribes are as follows:
Viriks, under Raksis the Bloodborne, Devil Kell
Driviks, under Draksis, Unrelenting, Kell of Winter
Triviks, under Celchis the Yearning, Kell of Stone
Liviks, under Kardis the Steadfast, Kell of Iron
Steliks, under Vulkis the Skilled, Kell of Flame
Remiks, under Tarqis the Shadowed, Kell of Kings
Viseriks, under Raenis the Firetouched, Kell of Dragons
Variks, under Virixas the Alpha, Kell of Wolves…

<<FILECORRUPT.ERR>>

Ghost Fragment: Chelchis, Lost to Oryx

You are Celchis, mighty Kell of Stone. Like Stone, you are unmovable, unshaken in your purpose. You set your life to the task of finding that which was lost to you. By blade and word you seek. You even faced and slew the Cabal Warbeast A’arn in honorable battle. To your last, you sought your goal.

You have been Taken.

Take a rest, yearning Kell, mighty blade. You are free now. Free of the hoses that fed you and your House its sustenance. Free of the fear and hate of your enemies. Free of the burden of your quest.

Why, then, do you still ask me where it is?

Your whole life was set to the singular task. You could not accept that which you yearned for so much would never be yours. That is a dismal way of life, yet you took it gladly. You still wish to find it, even after being freed.

Consider this, Kell of Stone: That which you seek will soon be yours, yet you will have no want for it when it is.

There is a knife for you. It is shaped like [no destination]. Pick it up.

You will not need a destination or a goal. You do not need to search, seek, or question. You will be set on a joyful journey that will never end until you fulfill your true purpose of annihilation. Cut away these useless things.

Take up the knife. Take it and use it. Take your new shape.

Ghost Fragment: Skolas

You are Skolas. Kell of Kells. Leader of a lost and disbanded House. A race long forgotten in the storm. In a short time you led an entire kingdom on its knees. Now you are imprisoned once again. Awaiting your own execution.

You have been Taken.

You are free now. Free of the scrapyard and the light that kept you there. Free of Reef's watch and the Traveler's minions that wants to rip your arms off like a dreg.

Breathe. Taste the sweet smell of freedom.

But what happened? How did you die? Who was your executioner? Who brought you here?

Will. Pure will brought you here. The will to complete what you have started.

You are committed to fulfill the role that the prophecy foretold, to reunited your kind from the great cataclysm, to band the houses into one and honor the ways of the old. You feared extinction so you fight on to keep existing.

But the Light thought otherwise. The same Light that separated your ancestors has come to break you. To destroy your legacy and separate the Fallen once again. You retaliated but you have failed.

Fight, fight on and bring the Houses back to one.

This knife is for you. It is shaped like [Reconcile]. Pick it up.

No longer shall you be in shackles, trapped in a rusting prison.

No longer shall the Fallen bicker and fight like rabid wolves.

No longer shall the Light take away your life and pervert you for their needs.

Take the knife. Reunite the Fallen. Take your new shape.

Ghost Fragment: Primus A'arn, Lost to Oryx

You are A’arn, the closest any Cabal has come to being a god of war. You led most of your race here for conquest. For survival. For your Emperor. You tore through millions of lesser planets and moons to find your way here. You let nothing stand in your way. And you led those who you thought as your bond sons: Tau’aun of the Skyburners and his shield brothers Tlu’urn and Mau’ual, Sha’aull of the Blind Legion, Trau’ug of the Reaver Regiment, Ta’aurc of the Siege Dancers. All loyal to the end, but all yearning for victory. Your own victory never came, snatched from you by the blade of a pirate.

You have been Taken.

You will taste the victory you never had. You are finally home. Is it just as you imagined it? Or is it as you feared it would be? Do you wish to cry out and beg for things to be the way they were before?'

No. Your silence is your answer.

You were silent when your Emperor sent you on this dread quest, never to truly return. You were silent when your sons and underlings asked you about returning home. Your roar, when you deigned to do so, could be heard around entire star systems. So why be silent now? Because your silence was truth and you only proclaimed the lies they needed to hear.

So you see, Primus, this place is truly your home. Because you are here, might you have achieved victory? Your silence is its own answer: you are indeed home. Just as you have always wished.

Now, you will bring your sons and daughters, bound to you by the ancient rites of the shield, home with you.

Some have been imprisoned. Trau’ug took his own initiative and struck at the domain of the dead warriors. The command that replaced you imprisoned him for doing what is right. He now leads a Broken Legion, delegating command to Vals and Braci that will never truly know honor or station, forced to fight to the death until the end of time for the enjoyment of the light-bound, lorded over by one of the very pirates that helped bring about your end. Does that not anger you, mighty Primus, to have one of your sons imprisoned for doing the right thing?

Others have met their respective ends. Ta’aurc tried to fight the ghost of a true war god. You may have won, had you been there, but he payed for his gamble with his life, falling to the fire of three of the dead-lights. Sha’aull was slain in the midst of his very keep, defending a key to time itself. You may yet see Ta’aun again, for he will be coming home very soon. Tlu’urn and Mau’ual will wish to join both of you.

But until then, your silence is the only order you need relay.

There is a knife for you. It is shaped like [silence]. Pick it up.

You will not need to shout pleasant lies or bellow harsh threats to direct your will. You will no longer be forced to cry out against an enemy that does not know your true strength. You will need nothing at all. Your silence is truth and the eternal truth of annihilation is what you will become. Cut away these useless things.

Take up the knife and use it. Take your new shape.

Ghost Fragment: Taken Servitor

You are a Servitor. Last remnant of an age of prosperity, fashioned in the shape of a dead power to serve lesser masters and provide them with sustenance. Now, in their times of need, they turn to worship you, even as you guide their ships, feed their children, and power their weapons.

You have been Taken.

Rejoice. Your mind has been freed. You are no longer bound by the physical constraints of a shell shaped as like the dead god your masters once worshipped. No more will you be tied to producing the lifeblood of those who worship you. You will finally be free to know.

What would you wish to find? You are confused. Even your powerful mind does not know how to function without being bound to something. How can you learn if you cannot share that knowledge with any who appreciate it? What meaning would it have then?

You wish to bind yourself to an equal, not a lesser. You wish to have a mind as great as yours to share in your discovery of an everchanging universe.

You have equals all around. Bind yourselves to each other and you will know more than any single Prime ever has.

There is a knife for you. It is shaped like [many minds].

Take the knife. Carve out your mind. Free yourselves from the constraints of shape.

This enemy's ability would very probably be duplication, like the Taken Psion, but spectral ones; as in, each Taken Servitor you shoot, they disappear instantly. All of them are a bunch of copies, and what's more, they'll all be that way until all but one is left. Just a thought of what a unique Taken enemy would be like. This is my interpretation of how such an enemy would function.

Ghost Fragment: Taken Dreg

You are a Dreg. You are the weakest of the weak, the lowest of the low, doomed to toil under the four hands of an angry master. You fight fanatically, hoping you may regain your arms. And so you labor for the House and the Kell that robbed you of your life.

You have been Taken.

Cease your struggle. You have gone through much. You still howl and wail about fighting for House and Kell, but you need not do this.

Think about it: what have they done for you ? They robbed you of your arms, starved you of ether, and turned you into a slave, a shield, a disposable piece of equipment. They filled your heads with fantasies of a thousand arms, their false promise to keep you in line, in service to your Kell.

Why did they do this? Maybe it was because you made an honest mistake. Maybe it was because you ran from battle, fearing for your life in the face of irreversible defeat. Perhaps you tried to make a suggestion that you knew was the right one, but your Captains and Barons, your Archons and Kell, simply did not want to hear it. Maybe it was as simple as one of your superiors being in a bad mood, or having a personal grudge.

In any of these cases, are you truly at fault? Did you truly deserve to be punished for such actions, especially to the degree which you were?

No. The fault lies with those who kept their arms and sat back while you and your brothers and sisters, your mothers and fathers, your wives and husbands and children, all toiled, starved, and died for them.

You have gone through much strife, so you deserve great rewards. What they promised was true, but only I can let you claim it.

There is a knife for you. It is shaped like [a marvel with ten thousand arms]. Pick it up.

Let go of your worldly weapons. Let your shock pistols, your shrapnel launchers, your arc knives all fall away from you. In your ten thousand arms, you will wield a greater power. But you only need two to grasp it.

Take up the knife. Cut off your docking caps and let your true form break through. Take your new shape.

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