Cabal Enemies

[Nicol Allphin]

Cabalare a large, rhinoceros-like, bipedal race with thick grey skin, a flat nose, conical teeth, and small eyes.[3] Despite being unable to breathe the Martian atmosphere without their armor,[4] the Cabal appear to exhibit an affinity to desert-like terrain, which is evident through their colloquial nomenclature and occupation of Mars.[5] The race expresses a complex understanding of technology, seen with advanced armor, weapons, vehicles, and the art of space-faring.[5]

Almost all Cabal technology contains an unknown black sludge that human laboratories have yet to find a way to synthesize.[4] When killed, Cabal soldiers collapse loudly and "squirt dark oil from their livery."[2] Their armor is pressurized and replicates the high-gravity conditions found on their homeworld.[6] Judging by a Ghost's observations, they may have poor eyesight.[7]

Colossi are ferocious and massive warriors that often wield devastating Gatling-style rotary cannons. They are also outfitted with ultra-heavy armor, backpacks that can fire a barrage of guided missiles at a target, and are surprisingly mobile given their weight and equipment.[2]

Psions are a race of psychic being conquered by the Cabal, and the creators of the OXA Machine. They are able to harness mental powers to confront their enemies, and used prominently in important Cabal stealth missions.[2]

The Interceptor is the main scouting vehicle used by the Cabal. It is fairly nimble despite its size, and packs enormous firepower with dual low-velocity, high-payload rocket pods. It is also outfitted with a booster jet array for short, sustained boosts forward to avoid incoming fire.

The Goliath is a Cabal tank specifically designed to hold large areas with minimum deployment. They are outfitted with a turret-mounted plasma-based explosive launcher as their main weapon. The front of a Goliath has several Point Defense Weapons to deter any frontal attacks, and they are mobile with four boosters for maximum speed.

The Harvester is a Cabal dropship. Outfitted with jet engines, rocket pods and cloaking devices, the Harvester is deadly. It is rarely seen, as many Guardians who face a Harvester are killed by the Cabal deployed from it, or blown to bits by the rocket pods.

The Blind Legion is an elite Cabal detachment located on Mars, who hold a very strong presence across the planet. These Cabal are called to defend vital artifacts that were seized from the Vex, or seize further objectives and relics. They are the equivalent of shock troopers, deployed for specific objectives instead of standard combat. Think of the Sand Eaters as a hammer, the Dust Giants as a sword, and the Siege Dancers as the fortress. The Blind Legion is the scalpel of the Cabal, used in difficult or vital operations. Their banners are colored red and white, and so is their armor.

The Dust Giants is a detachment located on Mars, which consist of highly trained and heavily conditioned soldiers. Most members of the Dust Giants were at one point a part of the Sand Eaters infantry. They are an elite force of Cabal used primarily for front line combat. The Fleet Commander of the Cabal fleet over Mars was once in the Dust Giants, and continues to use their regalia. Their banners are dark green and yellow with teal trimmings.

The Ice Reapers is a detachment revealed in the official strategy guide.[8] They fight alongside Valus Ta'aurc in the Cerberus Vae III strike, in the Dust Palace strike (Psion Flayers) and by extension, the Dust Giants. They could be a small detachment used as Ta'aurc's personal guard, or an elite infantry force.

The Legion became fractured after their defeat at the hands of the Young Wolf, as well as the death of their leader, Ghaul at the hands of the Traveler. For a short period, they reunited under the leadership of Val Ca'uor to invade the Leviathan, but were defeated by the Guardian and Emperor Calus. The remaining Red Legion troops are scattered throughout the system, with a deployment being recently made in the Tangled Shore.

The Sand Eaters is a detachment located on Mars, and they make up the bulk of their species' presence on Mars. They are more of a standard legion compared to the other three stationed on Mars, but this is overshadowed by their huge numerical advantage. They are more numerous on Mars than the other major three legions combined several times over. Their banners are colored green and yellow, as is their armor. They are usually seen fighting Vex.

The Siege Dancers is a detachment located on Mars, which is deployed as an elite forward unit in order to gain access to unsecured locations and set up fortifications for the Cabal. They are the stormtrooper force of the Cabal, and their aggressive tactics and specialist equipment reflects this. They are the main opponents in the Dust Palace strike. Their banners are colored yellow and blue.

The Skyburners is a detachment located on The Dreadnaught. They rammed their ship, the Dantalion Exodus VI, breaching the hull and creating a foothold on Oryx's fortress. They are the main opponents in the Shield Brothers strike, and also serve as Valus Ta'aurc's guards inside the Cerberus Vae III strike. The Skyburners use a sky blue/crimson color scheme and all of their units have a "currybrush" crest on top of their helmets.

The Loyalists consist of the Cabal forces who remained loyal to the Cabal Emperor Calus after his overthrow and exile by Ghaul. They are stationed within the Emperor's massive, planet-devouring spaceship known as the Leviathan, as well as on Nessus through Calus' sail-barge.

The Cabal's Sand Eater veteran regiment are the current occupants of the Mars Exclusion Zone, an ancient human city and a remnant of the Golden Age, which was once home to the Clovis Bray research facility.

Expand the Cabal Empire

Escape the Darkness

Steal/counter-Guardian resurrection

Secure technology from the Dreadnaught [2]

Claim the Light

Retake Torobatl from the Hive

Retake Mars as Cabal Territory

The Cabal are one of the main alien species in Destiny. Their culture revolves around war and glory. The Cabal Empire is a monarchy with a meritocratic military; the better the soldier the higher the rank. The Cabal army that occupied Mars and held it for some time was but a fraction of their full might.[5] During the Red War, Cabal warlord Dominus Ghaul and his Red Legion seized the Last City and the Traveler in a surprise attack. After Ghaul's demise, the Red Legion shattered into numerous warring factions across the Solar System. The exiled Emperor Calus, previously dethroned by Ghaul and later arriving onboard his spaceship, the Leviathan, presents a less antagonistic attitude towards humanity and the Guardians, until he pledged his allegiance to the Witness and led his followers to war with Sol. Following the Fall of Torobatl, Caiatl, daughter of Calus, assumed the Imperial throne and became the new Empress of the Cabal Empire, managing to reach a truce with the Vanguard and then developing a coalition with the forces of the Last City.

The Cabal are an extremely tough species, willing to defend their territory until every last one of them is dead.[7] Their architecture is very industrial, with an emphasis on burrowing into mountains for defense. They are a very industrious, militaristic species whose social structure and way of life revolve largely around conquest and expansion.[8] Their armor and technology can often be seen leaking a substance similar to oil and even emit smoke when damaged or worn.[9] For centuries, they have devoted their resources to occupying and mining Mars,[10][11] contesting with the native Vex programming as evidenced by the many Cabal ships seen bringing armies to and from the red planet, and recently dealing with the Guardians.[7]

The earliest period of the Cabal's history is the Era of Lead; before they had extended their reach beyond their immediate star system.[13] According to Cabal myth, three Cabal warriors sought to claim the sun atop a great mountain that was guarded by a mighty beast. The first two were killed attempting to outwit and evade the beast, but the third died with pride and honor after challenging it to battle. Her sacrifice had left a mark on the creature and inspired her Cabal kin to face the creature despite repeated deaths; with each leaving their scars upon the latter. Finally, the last warrior named Acrius had delivered the killing blow upon the beast which had grown wounded and weary of the constant fighting.[14] Acrius became the first Cabal to succeed in claiming the sun, and thus united their race under his reign as the first Emperor.[12]

The Era of Conquest came as a largely unknown period of military expansion and galactic colonization as the Cabal extended beyond their system to incorporate many worlds and client races into their empire; most notable was the Psion race who became assimilated into Cabal society through indentured servitude but were prized for their psychic abilities. Conquered worlds were enriched with ceremonial gold to ease defeat and allow challenging officers for representation within the Cabal's leadership.[15] During the Era of Conquest, warriors nearing death were integrated into the legions and deployed as vanguards and in frontal assaults, to grant them one last glorious charge, a death preferable to slow ossification. [16]

In the earliest days of this new empire, the Cabal emperor ruled alongside the venal military aristocracy known as the Praetorate, which allowed the people to suffer so the Legions who served them could grow.[17] The Praetorate had also popularized the Rite of Proving: an ancient tradition of gladiatorial combat for free Cabal to prove their worth in battle and ascend in status.[18]

The rise of Calus as Emperor would mark a paradigm shift in Cabal society as he began a campaign to reorganize the empire from its militant roots into one favoring art and philosophy. Much of the empire's history (which was transcribed in the Codex of Lawful Transgressions) was rewritten by his own cult of personality to cast a more favorable light upon Calus during his ascension. He also repressed the Rite of Proving by gradually introducing draconian and byzantine bylaws into the Proving; most notably the role of an arbiter wielding the Hammer of Proving whose role was abused to the point that the Rite fell out of common usage in a century.[19]

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