Skyburners

Skyburners
Overview
Objectives:	Celestial Demolitions Reserve Shock Fleet
Commander(s):	Primus Ta'aun Valus Tlu'urn Valus Mau'ual
Keep(s):	Fleetbase Korus Dantalion Exodus VI
Deployed:	Mercury Phobos Dreadnaught
At war with:	Vanguard Virgo Prohibition Blood of Oryx Taken
Allied with:	Dust Giants Siege Dancers Ice Reapers

"The second fleet will wait no longer. Commencement will begin on their arrival."

— Cryptarch translation of Skyburner chatter

The Skyburners are the "celestial demolitions" fleet of the Cabal legions on Mars. They are mainly based around Phobos, with limited deployment on Mars.

In the base game, they are only encountered during the final phase of the Cerberus Vae III and Dust Palace Strikes. The Skyburners play a larger role in The Taken King expansion.

History

Early campaigns

"The fate of the Cabal is as mysterious as Vertigo itself– the Guardians detected no catastrophic malfunction, no disease, and no bodies aboard any of the fully-supplied ships."

— Vertigo

Initially, the Skyburners were fought sparingly, only found guarding high-value Cabal Commanders, such as the elite Ice Reapers dispatched to the Dust Palace to hunt down Rasputin. Valus Ta'aurc himself even used Skyburner soldiers as his personal guard until his assassination in the attack to the Cerberus Vae III. In both cases, however, the deployed Skyburners suffered total casualties.

As a Scout Legion, the Skyburners once sent an expedition to Mercury on the site of Vertigo, but later went missing due to unknown mysterious circumstances, with only their ships, weaponry, and supplies left intact at the location. Skyburner forces could also be found on the Shining Sands SRL track, although it is unclear if they were survivors of the Vertigo expedition team or a separate force.

Attack on Phobos

A Skyburner getting Taken

"Whatever it was, it turned Cabal against Cabal, wiped out their base in minutes. How long would we last?"

— Commander Zavala

When Oryx began blighting the system, the Skyburners were the first Cabal units to encounter the Taken after noticing strange activity. Shortly after, huge numbers of Skyburners were Taken and made to fight their comrades, forcing Legion commander Primus Ta'aun to order a mass evacuation.

Ta'aun then sent a report written by his intelligence officers on the ineffectiveness of conventional Cabal forces against the Guardians and suggested that the technology aboard Oryx's Dreadnaught might be co-opted by the Cabal to nullify Guardian Ghost regeneration. He also delivered reports of the massive casualties suffered Dust Giants, Blind Legion, and Sand Eaters Legions on Mars. This prompted the Cabal Emperor himself to order Primus Ta'aun and his bond brothers to board the Dreadnaught and kill the Taken King, by any means necessary.

Battle of Mars

""Mutiny," Tlu'urn whispers. "You should mutiny."
"No," Ta'aun says. Duty is victory. Mutiny is worse than death. Even if death seems certain."

— Primus Ta'aun and Valus Tlu'urn

Shortly after receiving those orders, Ta'aun commanded the defense of one of the Cabal frontlines on Mars alongside one of his bond brothers, Valus Tlu'urn. Together they went from bunker to bunker to motivate their soldiers and call artillery fire upon the advancing Vex. As they took cover behind a destroyed Interceptor and fired upon their foes, Tlu'urn questioned if Ta'aun intended to follow through on his orders, arguing it was madness and suicide. As he pulled his bond brother out of the line of fire of several Hobgoblins and back into cover, Ta'aun revealed to him that Ghaul himself had approved the order, shocking Tlu'urn. As a Minotaur breached their lines, Ta'aun unloaded his weapon onto it, screaming a war cry as he poured out his fears and concerns over the upcoming mission. As his legionnaires cheered the machine's destruction, Tlu'urn noted that they were only scouting legions and did not have the numbers for such a mission before suggesting that they mutiny. Although the prospect of doing so appealed to Ta'aun, he felt that ignoring his duty would be worse than death and refused.

Battle of the Dreadnaught

The Skyburners crashing the Dantalion Exodus VI into the Dreadnaught.

"It came from the Emperor Himself. I'm ordered to board and capture the Hive flagship. At any cost."

— Primus Ta'aun

After the calamity of the Battle of Saturn, the Skyburners crashed their warship, Dantalion Exodus VI, into the Dreadnaught's hull and engaged in a protracted war of attrition deep behind enemy lines against the Hive. By establishing a beachhead, the Cabal were able to move deeper into the Dreadnaught and soon learned that Oryx could only be reached through a portal they called a "Rupture". Primus Ta'aun decided to lead a team to the coordinates. As the Primus pushed near the portal entrance, his team was assaulted by Oryx's forces, as well as flanked by a Guardian, and the Primus himself was Taken.

The Darkness spoke to Ta'aun during the Taking process, declaring that he was free now of his duties and noting that his code and valor had not been enough. It offered him a "knife" to cut away his bonds of duty and love to stand on his own. Now transformed into a Hand of Oryx, Ta'aun was paired with another Hand, the Taken Ogre Baxx, and placed by Oryx to guard the Rupture that led to him. Later, Ta'aun was slain by the Guardian, freeing him of the Taken King's control.

The Shield Brothers

The Shield Brothers enter the core of the Dreadnaught.

"So the Centurion's bond brothers are pretty angry they lost their commander. They're leading a team to blow up the Dreadnaught's core. Core goes... most of the system goes with it. You're going to make sure that doesn't happen."

— Cayde-6

The Skyburners Legion continued to fight a hopeless war of survival aboard the Dreadnaught, all in the name of the mission that their Emperor placed upon them. Growing desperate, Ta'aun's chief lieutenants and Bond Brothers, Valus Mau'ual and Valus Tlu'urn, launched an extreme plan to destroy the Hive and Taken by placing explosives on the Dreadnaught's power core. Whether to force the Hive into submission or to retrieve their lost Primus, whose final fate was unknown to them, the Brothers' plan of destruction would be powerful enough to create a blast capable of wiping out half the Solar System. Wishing to avoid this, the Guardians formed a strike team to disable the explosives before they could detonate. Reaching the core, the Guardians faced off against both brothers, who were determined to finish their mission and avenge their Primus. Despite their firepower and formidable tag teamwork, the Guardians prevailed against the Valuses and saved the System.

Legacy

The Guardians also disposed of their champion Valus Tau'ugh, who coordinated the defenses of the legion's wreckage. In desperation, the remaining Skyburners sent a distress call directed to the head of the Cabal Empire, Dominus Ghaul, to inform him of their casualties and findings. Although the Guardians intercepted the signal, the message had already been received by the Cabal Empire.

Thanks to the information in this signal, the Cabal would develop a weapon that could suppress the Traveler's Light. The Dominus himself would lead his Red Legion into the system, starting the Red War with an advantage thanks to the Skyburner's efforts. While severely diminished, the legion survived long enough to see Ghaul and his troops arrive in the system. What became of them is unknown, but they considered their survival "victory enough."

Appearance

Skyburners can be identified by their teal and red armor. The legion's most unique feature is the crest on their helmets. They also possess the unique Psion Burner units, which feature red armor and a curved spike on their helmets.

Notable members

The Skyburners

Leadership

• Primus Ta'aun (formerly)

Valus

• Valus Tlu'urn
• Valus Mau'ual
• Valus Tau'ugh
• Valus Gho'ourn

Bracus

• Bracus Dra'usk
• Bracus Thra'aurg
• Bracus Ma'aulh

Centurion

• Ve'ength

Lost to Taken

• Vro'ourn
• Bracus Horu'usk

Unique forces

• Psion variants
  • Psion Burner

Gallery

• 

  Primus Ta'aun, Lost to Oryx

• 

  Valus Mau'ual, one of the Shield Brothers

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  Valus Tlu'urn, the other Shield Brother

• 

  Valus Tau'ugh, the Skyburner Champion

• 

  Valus Tau'ugh blasting off to space

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  A Skyburner Harvester

• 

  A Skyburner flag

• 

  Another Skyburner logo

• 

  Skyburner signal sent to the Red Legion and Cabal Emperor.

• 

  Primus Ta'aun, Commander of the Skyburners

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  A Skyburners Colossus.

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  A Skyburners Centurion.

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  A Skyburners Legionary.

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  A Skyburners Phalanx.

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  A Skyburners Psion.

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  Concept art of the Skyburner base

• 

  Skyburner Fleetbase under Taken attack

• 

  Vertigo abandoned by the Skyburners

Trivia

• The Skyburners were the Cabal Legion that abandoned the Vertigo Crucible map, as their logos can be seen around the area.
• The killcams spell the Legion's name as "Sky Burners" while the Grimoire cards and dialogue state the proper name as Skyburners. This could be a developer oversight.
• The Skyburners symbol is used for the first tier of The Inverted Spire Nightfall emblem in Destiny 2.
• Before Oryx's arrival, it was rumored the Skyburners were to be part of a "second fleet" meant to attack Earth. However, with the Taken War, this campaign was put on hold as they were redeployed to attack the Dreadnaught.

List of appearances

• Destiny (First appearance)
  • The Taken King
  • Rise of Iron (Mentioned only)
• Destiny 2 (Mentioned only)
  • Forsaken (Mentioned only)
  • Season of the Chosen (Mentioned only)