Editing Mercury

{{Article quote|The planet closest to the Sun, and most consumed by the Vex.}}
{{Wikipedia}}
{{Planet infobox
|image=[[File:Grimoire Mercury.jpg|300px]]
|name= Mercury
|star, position= [[Sol]], I 
|moon(s)= none
|gravity= .38 g
|diameter= 4,879 kilometers
|daylength= 58 days 15 hours 30 minutes
|yearlength= 88 days
|atmosphere= Retains an atmosphere, as in all post-Traveler records<ref name="Lighthouse">'''Bungie (2015/5/19)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[House of Wolves (expansion)|House of Wolves]] - [[Grimoire:Places/Mercury|Mercury]]: [[Grimoire:Places/Mercury#The Lighthouse|The Lighthouse]]''</ref>
|temperature= 
|population=[[Vex]] <br> [[Cabal]] <br> [[Fallen]] (simulation) <br> [[Hive]] (simulation) <br> [[Black Fleet]]
|societal approximation= Humans, then Vex terraformed, deserted.
|government= [[Vex]] occupation <br> [[Cult of Osiris]]
}}
{{quote|Legends say that Mercury was once a garden world. Now its surface, baked in the Sun's glare, is honeycombed with forgotten Vex structures. No life stirs here. Not anymore.|[[Grimoire]] description<ref>'''Bungie (2014/9/9)''', ''[[Destiny]] - [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire:Places/Mercury#Mercury|Mercury]]''</ref>}}
'''Mercury''' is the first planet in the [[Sol System]] and the closest to the Sun. It is a [[Vex]] [[Machine World]],  and also has a living consciousness, as one of the [[Nine]]. Mercury was one of four destinations that was [[Taken]] by [[the Witness]] at the end of [[Season of Arrivals]].

==Overview==
The Sun itself, as seen on the planet's surface, appears to be massive in size yet not blindingly bright—a possible result of Vex engineering.<ref name="Lighthouse"/>

Though much of Mercury is dominated by the Vex, others have managed to visit the planet, including the [[Cult of Osiris]] who maintains a camp there in the form of [[The Lighthouse]]. Flawless champions of the [[Trials of Osiris]] are permitted to visit the Lighthouse where they can find stores of [[Glimmer]] and other treasures. However, the only rewards available are the ones in the chest at the edge.<ref name="Lighthouse"/> [[The Sunbreakers]] have their Forge here as well and the [[Cabal]] built an outpost at [[Vertigo]], but have since mysteriously disappeared.<ref>'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]] - [[Bound by Fire]]''</ref><ref>'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]] -  [[Grimoire:Activities/Crucible Arenas|Crucible Arenas]]: [[Grimoire:Activities/Crucible Arenas#Vertigo|Vertigo]]''</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150814014233/http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2015/08/13/we-analyze-destiny-the-taken-king-s-eight-new-crucible-maps.aspx '''Gameinformer''': We Analyze Destiny: The Taken King's Eight New Crucible Maps]</ref>

It is unknown how Mercury's conversion to a machine world, and partial fragmentation have harmed the consciousness within it. It is also heavily implied in the [[Lore:Dust|Dust]] [[lore]] book that it was the one of [[the Nine]] who engineered the cut-off of the [[The Last City|City]]'s satellites and defenses right before [[Ghaul]]'s surprise attack to learn how to manipulate [[Light]] from him. The Nine also mention how it was "punished" for this act, possibly being its fragmentation at the hands of the [[The Almighty|Almighty]].<ref>'''Bungie (2019/3/5)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Drifter]] - [[Lore:Dust|Dust]]: [[Lore:Dust#The_Witch|The Witch]]''</ref>

==History==
===The Ancient Past===
Long before the evolution of [[Human|humanity]], Mercury and the other planets of the [[Sol System]] served as gravitational foci for interstellar streams of dark matter particles. When life evolved elsewhere in the System, the movements of lifeforms created perturbations in these looping streams, which caused the dark matter loops to "awaken" into consciousness. These nascent consciousnesses would one day become known to Humanity as the Nine.<ref>'''Bungie (2019/3/5)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Drifter]] - [[Lore:Dust|Dust]]: [[Lore:Dust#The_Nine|The Nnine]]''</ref>

===Golden Age===
Following its transformation into a garden world by the [[Traveler]], Mercury was inhabited by humanity during the [[Golden Age]]. <ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clRpcIHpmoY '''Youtube''': ''Official Destiny E3 Trailer -- New Beginnings'']</ref> At this time, the planet was covered in grasslands and trees with pink leaves. They would also construct Solar Farms, such as [[Icarus]], to harvest the Light from the Sun and convert it into Solar Light.<ref>'''Bungie (2016/20/9)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[Rise of Iron]] - [[Grimoire:Activities/Crucible Arenas|Crucible Arenas]]: [[Grimoire:Activities/Crucible Arenas#Icarus - Languid Sea, Mercury|Icarus - Languid Sea, Mercury]]''</ref>

===Collapse===
During [[the Collapse]], the Vex undid the Traveler's work and completely changed Mercury into a Machine World within days of their arrival, using "Lighthouses" to flood the planet with [[Radiolaria]] to facilitate its transformation.<ref name="Lighthouse"/><ref>'''Bungie (2014/9/9)''', ''[[Destiny]] - [[Eye of a Gate Lord]]''</ref> [[Dendron, Root Mind]] arrived in a massive Vex construct to begin seeding the planet with Vex architecture and poisoning all life with Radiolarian fluid.<ref>'''Bungie (2017/12/5)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Curse of Osiris]] - [[A Garden World]]''</ref> Eventually, the [[Infinite Forest]] was created to serve as the Vex' simulation farm, with [[Panoptes, Infinite Mind]] at its heart.<ref>'''Bungie (2017/12/5)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Curse of Osiris]] - [[Beyond Infinity]]''</ref>

===City Age===
When [[Saint-14]] tried to track [[Osiris]] on Mercury, Osiris's trail caused him to get lost in the virtual expanse of the Infinite Forest. The [[Titan (class)|Titan]] faced the Vex for several centuries, destroying thousands of them. Eventually, the Vex created a [[Vex Mind]] specifically designed to drain his Light. Though he destroyed the Mind, it succeeded in its mission by mortally wounding the legendary Titan and draining his Light.<ref>'''Bungie (2019/12/10)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of Dawn]] - Item Description: [[Perfect Paradox#Lore|Perfect Paradox]]''</ref> Out of respect, the Vex laid Saint-14's body to rest in a tomb in a Simulant Future guarded by [[Hagios, Reverent Mind]] and surrounded by the melted shells of all the Vex he killed as a memorial to the grief he gave them.<ref>'''Bungie (2017/12/5)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Curse of Osiris]] - [[Not Even the Darkness]]''</ref> Years later, his fate was altered by [[The Guardian]], resulting in his eventual return to the City.<ref>'''Bungie (2019/12/10)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of Dawn]] - [[Corridors of Time Part 2]]''</ref>

===The Red War===
During the [[Red War]], Mercury was partially fragmented to fuel the [[Red Legion]]'s now-destroyed superweapon, the Almighty. Seemingly half of its mass now exists independently of the rest of the planet.<ref>'''Bungie (2017/8/9)''', ''[[Destiny 2]] - [[1AU]]''</ref>

After [[Dominus Ghaul]]'s death, the Vex began to gather on the planet. Osiris discovered that Panoptes had simulated a future where the Vex would achieve total victory in the solar system and wipe out all other life. Vex from the past and future were converging on this timeline to carry out their plan, but were foiled by the Guardian.<ref>'''Bungie (2017/12/5)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Curse of Osiris]] - [[The Gateway]]''</ref> It is seen during the Vex's campaign, the Cabal had also sent troops by order of [[Val Ca'uor]] to the [[Fields of Glass]] where they would attempt to secure technology from the Vex but become bogged down in an attrition war.<ref>'''Bungie (2018/5/8)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Warmind (expansion)|Warmind]] - Item Description: [[Last of the Legion#Lore|Last of the Legion]]''</ref><ref>'''Bungie (2017/12/5)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Curse of Osiris]] - [[Tree of Probabilities]]''</ref>

Following their escape from the [[Prison of Elders]], the [[Combustor Valus]] and his crew would raid [[Pariah's Refuge]], kicking out the Vex inhabitants before being soon ended by the Guardian.<ref>'''Bungie (2018/9/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Forsaken]] - [[WANTED: Combustor Valus]]''</ref>

===Arrival of the Pyramids===
A month after the Almighty's destruction at the hands of [[Rasputin]], a [[The Mercurian Pyramid|Pyramid]] similarly arrived on Mercury to its [[The Ionian Pyramid|counterpart]] on [[Io]]. From its position, the Pyramid blotted out the Sun and shrouded the Fields of Glass in its shadow. Several months after the arrival of the [[Black Fleet]], they caused the planet along with [[Io]], [[Titan (moon)|Titan]], and [[Mars]] to mysteriously disappear, just as the Traveler healed itself.<ref>'''Bungie (2020/6/9)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of Arrivals]]''</ref>

[[Emperor Calus]] would later lead the [[Leviathan (ship)|Leviathan]] in the anomaly left in the place of the planet, where he would manage to commune with [[The Witness]].<ref>'''Bungie (2022/5/24)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Haunted]] - [[Duality (dungeon)]]: [[Duality (dungeon)#Ninth repressed memory|Ninth repressed memory]]''</ref>

As of now, Mercury is still missing and it is unknown if it'll ever be recovered.

==Adventures==
*[[The Runner]]
*[[The Up and Up]]
*[[Bug in the System]]

==Locations==
*[[Wikipedia:Calories Planitia|Caloris Basin]]
**[[Altar of Flame]] {{C|[[Crucible]] map}}
**[[Fields of Glass]]
***[[The Burning Shrine]] {{C|Crucible map}}
***[[The Lighthouse]]
***[[Pariah's Refuge]] {{c|[[Lost Sector]]}}
***[[Infinite Forest]]
****[[Vestibule]]
****[[Simulant Past]]
*****[[Gardener's Spire]]
****[[Simulant Present]]
*****[[Atlas Grove]]
****[[Simulant Future]]
****[[Infinity's Crown]]
****[[Radiant Cliffs]] {{C|Crucible map}}
****[[The Burnout]] {{C|Crucible map}}
****[[Convergence]] {{C|Crucible map}}
****[[Fragment]] {{C|Crucible map}}
***[[Sundial Spire]]
****[[Corridors of Time]]
*****[[Timelost Vault]]
*****[[Zephyr Station Perimeter]]
*****[[Infinity's Siphon]]
**[[Vertigo]] {{C|Crucible map}}
*Languid Sea
**[[Icarus]] {{C|Crucible map}}
**[[Shining Sands]] {{C|[[Sparrow Racing League]] map}}

==Trivia==
*With the release of ''[[Curse of Osiris]]'', Mercury possess the smallest public location in ''[[Destiny 2]]'', smaller than even Titan.
**However, it is the most complex of the maps with the Infinite Gate leading to the Infinite Forest that makes it appear larger, much like Titan, and the [[Moon]].
*In ''Curse of Osiris'', the full width of the Sun appears to subtend an arc of approximately 60 degrees, which would imply an orbital distance comparable to the solar diameter (about 1.4 million km). However, Mercury is 46 million km from the Sun at perihelion to 70 million km at aphelion (its orbit being highly eccentric at 0.21) - about 30 to 45 times more distant.
**Assuming perihelion, the Sun would appear about 1°45' (1.75 degrees) across - "only" about 3 times larger than from [[Earth]] (0.53'). Assuming aphelion, it would be about 1.15 deg (1°10') across, or twice its apparent diameter as seen from Earth.
**It's possible the Traveler changed the planet's orbit, but at this distance, it would take much more paracausal effort (unless those powers are so nonphysical that it makes no difference) to keep the planet from roasting than it would in its original orbit. (With regular physics, the planet would most likely be doomed.)  It's also possible that the effect protecting the surface of Mercury from heat significantly distorts or refracts light at some point between the Sun and the planet, causing the Sun to appear much larger and less intense than it would otherwise.
**This discrepancy was noted in-universe by a [[New Monarchy]] affiliated Guardian in the [[Grimoire:Places/Mercury#The Lighthouse|Grimoire card for the Lighthouse]], who theorized it was caused by Vex constructs distorting the image.
*[[Io]] and Mercury are the only two locations [[The Witness]] took that have not yet been returned.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Mercury 3.png|Mercury after the [[Red War]]
File:Mercury from Orbit 1.png|Mercury from orbit
File:Mercury Surface 2.png|Mercury's surface from low orbit
File:Mercury.png|The surface of Mercury.
File:MercuryTL.jpeg|Mercury concept art
</gallery>

==List of appearances==
*''[[Destiny]]'' {{Fm}}
**''[[House of Wolves (expansion)|House of Wolves]]'' {{1st}}
**''[[The Taken King]]''
**''[[Rise of Iron]]''
*''[[Destiny 2]]''
**''[[Curse of Osiris]]''
**''[[Warmind (expansion)|Warmind]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Forsaken]]''
**''[[Season of the Forge]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Season of the Drifter]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Season of Opulence]]''
**''[[Shadowkeep]]''
**''[[Season of the Undying]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Season of Dawn]]''
**''[[Season of the Worthy]]''
**''[[Season of Arrivals]]''
**''[[Beyond Light]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Season of the Hunt]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Season of the Splicer]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Season of the Haunted]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Lightfall]]''
**''[[Episode: Echoes]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Mysterious Logbook]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[The Hidden Dossier]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Entelechy]]'' {{Mo}}

==References==
<references/>

{{Sol System}}
{{Vex}}
[[Category:Mercury|*]]
[[Category:Planets]]
[[Category:Vex]]
[[Category:Locations]]