Editing War against the Witness

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*The Witch Queen's curse weakens its hold on Rhulk's sunken Pyramid and threatens to free the First Disciple from within

*The Witness sends in its forces to attack the Last City as its final attempt to keep the Vanguard out of the Pale Heart.

*The Sol Divisive recreated the [[Black Heart]] with guidance from the Witness, which threatens to undermine the Veil's connection to the Traveler.

**The Guardian destroys the Black Heart yet again, which allows Crow to fully cross into the Pale Heart, and meets Cayde-6 on the other side.  

*'''Ongoing'''

*[[Xivu Arath, God of War]]

|casual1=*The Traveler {{c|responding to the Witness's invasion inside it}}

|casual2=*Rhulk, Calus, and Nezarec  

*Dozens of Tormentors

|casual3=*Savathûn

*Dozens of [[Axis Mind]]s  

The '''War against the Witness''' is an ongoing conflict being fought all across [[Sol System|Sol]] between the forces of [[The Coalition|the Coalition]] and the forces of [[The Witness|the Witness]], with [[Lucent Brood|other]] [[Vex|parties]] being involved as well. After dealing with the threat Savathûn and her brood posed on Sol, the [[Vanguard]] began to shift their attention to prepare for the Witness's arrival. The Vanguard and its allies would stop the influence of Rhulk and the Psions on their future, take on the threat imposed by Calus's connection to the Lunar Pyramid as he ascends into a [[Disciples of the Witness|Disciple of the Witness]], task the Guardian with securing the relics of Nezarec before Eramis can use it, and assist Ana Bray and Osiris with rebuilding Rasputin in order to both have a means of defense against the Witness and also help Osiris confirm his visions of Neptune were true.

Shortly after [[ABHORRENT IMPERATIVE (mission)|the final assault on Seraph Station]] the Witness would arrive with its fleet, along with its newest Disciple, Calus. Despite their best efforts, the Witness managed to establish a link with [[The Veil]] after hijacking the Guardian's [[The Ghost|Ghost]] and thus begun the [[Final Shape]] by creating a portal into the Traveler's Pale Heart. While the Guardian aided in prison break operations across Earth, the Vanguard would repeatedly try to find a way through the portal, all attempts ending in failure. After the reemergence of Titan, the Vanguard would discover that Sloane had survived the disappearance, although she was no partially infused with Taken energy. The Vanguard also discovered that Sloane had befriended Ahsa, a proto-worm that had fled to Titan after the Witness caused her species to slaughter itself in the name of the Sword Logic. After strengthening their psychic connection, Ahsa would reveal to Sloane, and the rest of the Vanguard, about the origins of the Witness and the Final Shape, and that the key to getting through the portal was held by none other than Savathûn herself. After some reluctance, The Vanguard reached an agreement with Immaru, Savathûn's Ghost, in which he would help them bring back Savathûn, under one condition: they deal with her sister, Xivu Arath, first.

Being the first civilization uplifted by the Traveler's [[Light]] in recorded history, the species that would eventually become the Witness lived in a Golden Age and would prosper under its influence. However, their people demanded purpose, so they discovered the Traveler shared a connection with the Veil, an enigma associated with [[Darkness]]. The species could not agree on how the Final Shape could be carried out, as it was recorded in a conversation between HNW047622 and RS6243199. HNW047622 followed the befilefs of the [[Nihilist]]s: a faction who believed that the Final Shape is the result of the species' self-destruction and that they should leave the universe alone while RS6243199 followed the beliefs of the [[Penitent]]s: a faction who believed that the Final Shape is the result of perfection through the intervention of the universe. Both of these individuals oppose the views of the [[Solipsist]]s: a faction who believed that the Final Shape can be achieved by the will of the species that believe them. These factions were ruled by the Consensus. They eventually learn that the Light affects the physical world and the Darkness affects the mental world. After recovering the Veil from the cosmos, they would link it to the Traveler to enact the Final Shape, but the Traveler refuses the connection and leaves their home planet. The species finally found purpose when the Consensus ruled in favor of the Penitent majority, who were undeterred in its pursuit of the Final Shape, so they waged war with the Nihilists and thd Solipsists. Onve the civil war of their species were over, the Consensus would use the power of the Darkness from the Veil to become one singular, unfathomable being. Thus, the Witness was born.

Over time, the Witness would use its philosophy of the Final Shape to recruit other species into its fold, cause suffering to various species that were uplififted by the Traveler, and spare any that weren't. It caused the extinction of the [[Noesis]], a friendly alien species that met its form first. It then uplifted the last [[Lubraean]] named [[Rhulk, Disciple of the Witness|Rhulk]], who became the first of its Disciples upon destroying his home planet of [[Lubrae]]. The next species to be influenced by the Witness were the proto-[[Worm|Worm God]]s living on [[Fundament]]. The proto-Worm Gods would become seduced by the power it offered and accepted it through their invention of the [[Sword Logic]], but one of their [[Ahsa|kin]] escaped Fundament through unknown means.

As the Traveler was busy terraforming [[Io]]'s surface, a period of great calamity known as the [[Collapse]] would begin. It would first be seen on [[Titan (moon)|Titan]], when the Black Fleet used its weapons to alter Titan's gravity and destroy the structures supporting the [[New Pacific Arcology]] domes. Ahsa, the same proto-Worm that escaped Fundament long ago and sought refuge on Titan's methane seas, was injured by an unknown entity. The Traveler would flee to Earth and defend humanity as a result. It would also affect the people aboard the [[Yang Liwei]], where the clash between the Traveler and its ancient enemy resulted in the existence of the [[Distributary]] and subsequently the birth of the [[Awoken]]. It would affect the people on Earth and the colonists aboard the [[Exodus Yellow]] as well.

On the eve of the Darkness's return to the Sol System, a lone [[The Ghost|Ghost]] discovers his Guardian's corpse in the outskirts of the [[Cosmodrome]] whilst avoiding the Fallen House of Devils. They soon acquire their first jumpship after dealing with the Fallen and make their way to the Last City to meet the various individuals there: the [[Titan]] Vanguard Commander [[Zavala]], the [[Warlock]] Vanguard [[Ikora Rey]], the [[Hunter]] Vanguard [[Cayde-6]], the [[Crucible]] handler [[Lord Shaxx]], the Gunsmith [[Banshee-44]], and [[The Speaker|the Speaker]], a disciple who speaks for the Traveler. After meeting the people of the Last City, they return to the Cosmodrome to acquire a warp drive, eliminating a Devil [[Archon]] named [[Riksis, Devil Archon|Riksis]] in the process. They soon discover their purpose as a Guardian from the Speaker and he tasks them with investigating what is stopping the Traveler from healing after its conflict with the Darkness during the Collapse. They begin solving the mystery upon discovering the Hive's presence in the Cosmodrome. They travel to the Moon to stop the Hive from commencing an invasion on Earth.

The Red War begins as the Cabal [[Red Legion]] under the command of [[Dominus Ghaul]] would activate the [[Traveler Cage]], strip all Guardians of their Light, and invade the Last City. The Dominus aspired to claim the Light for his own, under the mad belief the he is more worthy of it. The Guardian leaves the Last City and reclaims their Light powers from the [[Shard of the Traveler]] after dealing with the Fallen from the [[House of Dusk]], a conglomerate of the Fallen as their continued losses against the Guardians forced the Houses to unite in desperation. After reclaiming their Light, they help the civilians of the [[Farm]] and [[European Dead Zone|EDZ]] before they discover a message from Zavala instructing them to travel to Titan. They do so and and discover a Hive presence as they work along with Zavala, Deputy Commander [[Sloane]], and [[Amanda Holliday]] to restore power to the New Pacific Arcology rig. They do and retrieve the Arcology CPU to decrypt Red Legion transmissions. The decryption reveals that the Red Legion has placed [[The Almighty|the Almighty]], Ghaul's prized warship, near Sol's to destabilize it and destroy the entire system, using [[Mercury]] as its fuel, leading Zavala to task the Guardian with reassembling the Vanguard since they are the only one with the Light. They retrieve Cayde-6 from the planetoid [[Nessus]] and Ikora Rey from Io, disrupting Vex and Red Legion operations in the former and encountering a Taken resurgence in the latter. The Vanguard and [[Suraya Hawthorne]] would formulate a plan to take back the Last City: the Guardian would board the Almighty and disable its star-killing weapon, but first they must break into the Red Legion base and defeat [[Thumos, the Unbroken|Thumos]]. After the Almighty is disabled, the counterattack begins, but the Vanguard are unable to continue the assault, forcing the Guardian to confront Ghaul themselves inside his flagship, [[The Immortal|the Immortal]]. They are able to defeat him despite his forced acquisition of the Light and reawaken the Traveler from its long-dormant slumber as it sends out a wave of Light across the Milky Way Galaxy. The wave would cause the Black Fleet to mobilize and begin making its way back to the Sol System.

Despite the death of Dominus Ghaul, the Red War would still carry on until the death of [[Val Ca'uor]]. Before they can confront Val Ca'uor, they first had to help an exiled Warlock named [[Osiris]] and his Ghost [[Sagira]] stop the Vex from taking advantage of the Traveler's reawakening, then confront Xol and his herald [[Nokris, Herald of Xol|Nokris]] near [[Hellas Basin]]. The death of Val Ca'uor would mark the end of the Red War, but another tragedy soon strikes. While containing the prison break in the [[Prison of Elders]], the Guardian discovers that Cayde-6 has been murdered by [[Uldren Sov]] and the [[Scorn]], a race of Fallen brought back to life through Dark Ether. The Guardian would seek vengeance for the death of Cayde-6 by traveling to the most lawless frontier within the Reef: the [[Tangled Shore]]. They would accept a deal with a shady Fallen mob boss named [[The Spider|the Spider]] to remove the Scorn's influence on the Tangled Shore and isolate Uldren. After defeating the Scorn [[Baron]]s, they would confront Uldren Sov at the Watchtower, a gateway into the [[Dreaming City]]. It is soon revealed that Uldren was corrupted by [[Riven]], the last living [[Ahamkara]] who was Taken by Oryx shortly before his defeat and now serves Savathûn, but the Guardian would kill him anyways. Petra eventually opens the Dreaming City to them and made contact with Mara, who orders them to slay Riven. Unbeknownst to the Guardian, Riven would grant one last wish before her death: the curse on the Dreaming City. They soon enter the throne world of Mara Sov, [[Eleusinia]] and confront [[Dûl Incaru, the Eternal Return|Dûl Incaru]], the daughter of Savathûn, but they discover that Dûl Incaru's death caused the curse to reset itself every 3 weeks. The Guardian would face more threats in the Sol System. They would first help a mysterious Exo named [[Ada-1]] recovery [[Black Armory]] technology stolen by the [[Kell's Scourge]] and its leader [[Siviks, Lost to None|Siviks]], then investigate [[Drifter]], the [[Gambit]] handler with a mysterious connection to the [[The Nine|IX]], and finally accept an invitation sent by former Cabal [[Emperor Calus]] to participate for glory through the Menagerie. They soon learn from an apparition of [[Toland, the Shattered|Toland]] that a dark secret is hiding under the Lunar surface and the Vanguard would soon return to the Moon.

After the Vanguard signed an armistice with Empress Caiatl, they discovered a Vex simulation threatening the Last City where Sol wouldn't rise. The people dubbed this Vex simulation the [[Endless Night]]. With no way to dispel the Endless Night on their own, Ikora asks the Guardian to seek out [[Mithrax, Kell of Light|Mithrax]], Kell of the Fallen [[House of Light]] and the last Sacred Splicer who was last seen helping Variks evacuate defectors of the House of Salvation on Europa. They clear the Skiff's crash site of the Vex and finally meet him in [[Asterion Abyss]]. He teaches the Guardian how to explore the [[Vex Network|Vex Domain]] through splicing and instructs them to slay the [[Subjugated Curator|curator]] of the domain and claim the the [[Paradrome Cube|living code]] from its corpse. They do so and return to him. Ikora propose the integration of the House of Light into the Last City, with Mithrax agreeing to the proposal. After settling the House of Light into the Last City, the Guardian begins their mastery of splicing after retrieving a [[Splicer Gauntlet]] from the [[Splicer Servitor (House Light)|Splicer Servitor]]. As they continue their mastery of splicing, [[Lakshmi-2]] of the [[Future War Cult]] would begin spreading anti-Eliksni propaganda throughout the Last City, and they gain the ability to penetrate the deeper enclaves of the Vex Domain and defeat the Oppressive Minds occupying them. Mithrax discovers that [[Quria, Blade Transform]] is the Vex Mind responsible for the Endless Night, so they work together to pinpoint its location within the Vex Domain. After the Guardian finishes their mastery of splicing, they infiltrate Quria's lair within the domain and destroy it, finally dispelling the Endless Night. The House of Light celebrate their first [[Solstice]] as a reward for dispelling the Endless Night and enter an official alliance with the Vanguard. Despite the Endless Night ending, Lakshmi-2 continues spreading her propaganda and would attempt a coup, but the coup backfires on her as Vex gunfire kills her, forcing the people to defend the Last City. As the skirmish ends, Savathûn, who used the body of Osiris to divide the Vanguard from within and learn the secrets of the Light, flees to the Dreaming City.

The Guardian, along with Crow and Saint-14, pursues Savathûn throughout the Dreaming City, battling the forces of Xivu Arath along the way. They ambush her as she is conversing with Mara Sov, who has returned to the Dreaming City. Savathûn finally reveals her true form, but Mara contains her in a crystalline prison. After the Guardian acquires the [[Wayfinder's Compass]], Mara and Petra explain the plan: in order to conduct a ritual to remove Savathûn's worm, they must use the Wayfinder's Compass to navigate the [[Ley Line]]s, which are bridges between the material plane and the Ascendant Plane, and rescue the [[Techeun]]s lost within the Ley Lines from Xivu Arath's forces. The Guardian would also help Mara foil [[Kelgorath, Risen from Bones|Kelgorath]]'s plan to steal [[Ager's Scepter]]. Once enough Techeuns are rescued from the Ley Lines, Mara forbids all access to Savathûn until the ritual is ready for alignment. Months later, the ritual is ready, but it is under assault from Xivu Arath's forces who are desperate to stop the ritual separating Savathûn from her worm, so Mara requests the Guardian's assistance. They arrive to the ritual site along with Saint-14 and defend Mara, [[Ylaia]], [[Austyn]], and [[Sjari]] as they perform the exorcism ritual from Xivu Arath's forces led by Kelgorath. The ritual succeeds; however, Savathûn transports herself near the Traveler and eventually becomes the first Hive resurrected in the Traveler's Light. Meanwhile, [[The Coalition|the Coalition]] forms as result of signing an armistice with Empress Caiatl, integrating the House of Light into the Last City, and helping the Awoken rescue their lost Techeuns.

After Mars suddenly reappears in the Sol System, [[The Hidden|the Hidden]] immediately investigates the presence of the [[Relic (Mars)|Relic]], a structure of Pyramid origin and witness Catatl's Cabal set up a cannon to use to aim at Savathûn's ship, [[The Lure|the Lure]], as it lands above the Cradle on Mars. The Guardian arrives to the scene and comes under fire from Cabal troops loyal to the Empress despite the armistice. They would use themselves to launch into the Lure. Upon landing on the Lure, they follow traces of Void Light on the ship and manage to recover an artifact of the Black Fleet. Before they can follow Savathûn into [[Court of Savathûn|her throne world]], they are forced to defeat a [[Lightbearer Knight]] and crush its Ghost. They follow her and defeat her illusion before she ejects them from the throne world. They land at [[The Enclave|the Enclave]], a camp used by Hidden agents to investigate the Relic. With the artifact they recovered earlier used to interact with the Relic, they discover [[Deepsight]], an aspect of Darkness used to reveal echoes of past events and enables weapon crafting, by using the Relic to create their first weapon: [[The Enigma|the Enigma]]. After creating their first weapon, Ikora instructs them to return to the throne world to gain more clues on how Savathûn was able to acquire the Light. While exploring the throne world, they discover a Scorn presence and a mysterious Ghost named [[Fynch]] contacts them. After dealing with the Scorn and a [[Lightbearer Wizard]], they finally meet him, but they would first need to attend a meeting with Empress Caiatl. She arranges a meeting with Saladin Forge, Zavala, Crow, and the same Guardian responsible for killing her people on Mars in the Tower Hangar. As the argument continues, Zavala defuses the situation and asks for Caiatl's help in stopping the Lucent Hive on Earth. She agrees and in return, she supplies Light-suppressing tech in the form of a [[Synaptic Spear]].

While the Guardian was deployed on Luna, Crow attempts to shut down the Psisorium out of concern that the experiments on the Lucent Hive were unethical, but he inadvertently kills the [[Psisorium Optus|Psion]] running it. The Guardian and Saladin discover the destruction upon the Guardian returning from Luna. Saladin would inform Caiatl of Crow's actions there and they, along with Zavala, would meet back in the Tower Hangar to discuss Crow's life debt per Cabal tradition of a life for a life. Saladin repays the life debt on Crow's behalf by becoming a member on her War Council. Caiatl would name him "Bracus Forge" and they both depart from the Tower, although she would allow him permission to continue to run the Iron Banner in the Tower albeit with some new ideas of her own. Three days after this meeting, Caiatl gives Saladin a promotion to "Valus Forge" after he defeats another member of her War Council: Valus [[Guhrn Or'ohk]].

After finishing the operations across Earth and Luna, the Guardian return to Savathûn's throne world to work alongside the Hidden and Fynch. He points them to the first object of interest: Sagira's Ghost shell, located inside the [[Temple of the Wrathful]], a temple dedicated to Xivu Arath. Fynch explains the Scorn are sent in by a powerful wielder of Darkness as counter to Savathûn's Light. They recover Sagira's shell and it plays a memory of Savathûn revealing the identity of the Voice in the Darkness, which is now known as the Witness, but they are unable to decipher the memory further, so Eris and Ikora asks them to return to the Europan Pyramid to enhance their Deepsight abilities. They deal with the Cabal forces invading the Pyramid and commune with the statue. They then return to the throne world to find the [[Altar of Reflection]], a location of overwhelming psychic energy. They take Sagira's shell there and it replays the memory they heard earlier, but also plays the the memory of Savathûn planning to use Osiris's body to learn the secrets of the Light. They return to Fynch, who points them to the next object of interest: the Tablets of Ruin, located in the [[Temple of the Navigator]], a temple dedicated to Oryx. They recover and then take it to the Altar of Reflection, where it plays the memory of Savathûn's plans to conduct a ritual to place the Traveler into her throne world using the powers she borrowed from the Witness.

They warn Ikora of Savathûn's plan before they report to Fynch, who instructs to recover the next object of interest: a calcified Worm familiar, located in the [[Temple of the Cunning]], a temple dedicated to Savathûn's younger self Sathona. After they get past the security measures set by Savathûn and the Scorn invading the temple, they are forced to fight the illusion of an Ahamkara and escape upon recovering the Worm familiar. They are unable to take the Worm familiar into the Altar of Reflection, forcing Ikora to take a temporary leave before Eris reveals the final object of interest the Guardian must recover: a shard of the crystalline prison used to trap Savathûn, located in the [[Apothecary]], the site of Savathûn's experiments with the Light. They take the shard to the Altar of Reflection, where it plays the memory of Savathûn's final moments before her resurrection in the Traveler's Light. They inform the Vanguard of the terrifying revelation, questoining Zavala's faith in the Traveler, before Ikora rallies them. She and the Guardian leaves the Last City to stop Savathûn's plans from coming to pass, but first she uses the Relic to unlock the memory of the Worm familiar. The memory records the Witness's plan to trick the Krill into accepting the Darkness and stop them from being uplifted by the Traveler. She relays the memory recorded in the Worm familiar to the Guardian before they arrive at the throne world. The ritual to move the Traveler into Savathûn's throne world begins upon their arrival. To stop the ritual, they are forced to confront the Witch Queen by showing her the memory recorded in the Worm familiar. They defeat her, but she gives them one last warning before she faints: the Witness is coming.

After Savathûn's death at the hands of the Guardian, the Witness finally reveals itself and informs the Traveler that it has run out of pieces left to place and nowhere left to escape, beginning the first phase of the war. It reveals that the key to the Final Shape lies within the Traveler's Pale Heart. The Guardian convinces the Coalition to begin making preparations for the Witness's arrival in the Sol System. They meet Mara Sov at the Enclave. She forms a plan to gain information regarding the end of the Collapse from Savathûn's Worm she obtained after performing the exorcism ritual on Savathûn. They infiltrate [[Harvest]], a Worm distribution facility, to recover an incubator. Mara reveals that the Witness tried to recruit her as one of its Disciples, but she refused and allied with the Coalition forces instead. They finally get the information from Savathûn's Worm after Mara binds the Worm to a grenade launcher through a ritual. She instructs the Guardian to keep [[Parasite]] handy in the future as she parts ways with the Worm.

As the Guardian works to recover more of Riven's eggs, the Sol Divisive would respond by creating an Axis Mind to match the capabilities of the Techeuns and also deploy the [[Oracle]]s into the Dreaming City that mimics resonance used by the Witness and its Disciples. The Guardian arrivrs too late to recover the egg as the Sol Divisive was able to steal the egg and place it in the Black Garden, near [[Taranis]]'s corpse. The Guardian explores a new section of the Black Garden that once used as an Ahamkara lair. Riven and Crow assist the Guardian as tactical support. Using the sparks inside a field of green flowers, the Guardian was able to dispel paracausal locks. They would also use the sparks inside a field of red flowers to cross a mist that would otherwise be hazardous to them. Riven reveals that her and another Ahamkara left behind the sparks scattered throughout the Black Garden. They are able to combine the sparks to defeat [[Akardon, Pitiless Mind]]. After its defeat, Riven would discover that her mate, Taranis, has died as a result of granting his own wish to scatter the clutch. Riven would reflect on his death, then instructs the Guardian to use [[Wish-Keeper]] to honor Taranis. She would discover that the Taken are attempting to corrupt one of her eggs and instructs the Guardian to stop them. They defeat a Taken Knight once loyal to Xivu Arath and learn that the Taken have succeeded in corrupting the egg. Mara proposes a solution to cleanse the egg, but first they must acquire Taken essentia from completing an [[Ascendant Challenge]], then defeating foes within Riven's lair. After cleansing the egg, Osiris updates Mara on how the Pale Heart can be entered, and Riven would reveal that only 1 individual can enter the Pale Heart through the Ley Lines, per her previous bargains with Savathûn. Mara would threaten Riven for her deception before Osiris stops her using Strand. Mara and Osiris both leave, with thr latter informing the Guardian that his investigations on the Veil's ability to replicate the Witness's actions has concluded.

The Witness responds to Crow and Osiris's attempts to forge the bridge necessary to pass through the portal to the Pale Heart by sending in its forces to attack the Last City and other Coalition areas of interest. To combat the coming threat of the Final Shape as the Witness perceives it, the Vanguard gives Lord Shaxx permission to create weapons once deemed heretical to wield: the [[BRAVE Arsenal]]. He also opens up his personal Hall of Champions as a base of operations to coordinate the Last City's defenses against the forces of the Witness.

{{expand-section}}

===Forces of the Coalition===

*[[Iron War Beast]]s

*[[Corsair]]s

*[[Techeun]]s

*[[Harbinger (Reef superweapon)|Harbinger]]s

*[[Disciples of the Witness]]

*[[The Dread]]

*[[Taken]]

*[[Hidden Swarm]]

*[[Wrathborn]]

*[[Shadow Legion]]

*[[Psion Conclave]]

**''[[Into the Light (update)|Into the Light]]''