Wolf Rebellion

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"We showed them mercy and offered them a home amongst the Awoken. They met that mercy... with betrayal. Now, they will feel my wrath."

— Mara Sov.

The Wolf Rebellion was a two phaseconflict between the Guardians of the Last City, their new Awoken allies in the Reef and the Fallen House of Wolves who broke free from the Queen. Originally the Wolves were vassals to Mara Sov when she captured their Kell, Skolas, imprisoned their nobility and forced the remainder of their numbers into swearing allegiance in the aftermath of the Reef Wars. However, after the Queen sent Skolas to the Nine as a gift to placate them for sending the Crows into their territory, one of their agents released him and returned him to lead his House. The war can be divided into two phases, Skolas' return and the return of Orbiks Prime.

Skolas' return would mark the high point of warfare during the rebellion. Beginning with an uprising in the Reef to free his House, Skolas revealed he had far greater ambitions than just revenge on the Reef that imprisoned him but to make himself the ruler over all Fallen Houses and claim the Traveler from the Last City. In response, Mara Sov opened her realm to the Guardians to aid her in hunting down the Wolves.

After the death of Skolas it was hoped that the Wolves were broken, never to rise again. This would not be the case as a new army of Wolves regrouped in the dunes of Meridian Bay, intent on making Mars their home. Led by the rebuilt Orbiks Prime, the Wolves were able to seize numerous Cabal strongholds weakened by the Taken War. But these gains were swiftly reversed by Guardian intervention and in the end, ether stained sand was all that was left of the once mighty House of Wolves.

Overview: Phase One

Prelude

"When the Fallen sought to destroy us, I protected the Reef. In the end, they all bowed before me."

— Mara Sov.

The prelude to the Wolf Rebellion began during the Battle of the Twilight Gap. All Fallen Houses banded together to seize control of the Traveler for themselves. The Devils, Winter and King houses met the Guardians in a fierce battle at the Twilight gap. The House of Wolves originally intended to join them and they could've turned the tide to the Fallen's favor but Queen Mara Sov intervened. Whether to save potential allies or for some other unknown reason, Mara Sov launched a surprise attack on the Wolves that claimed the lives of half their numbers and even their Kell, Virixas. Soon began a long and bloody conflict, the Reef Wars.

During the Reef Wars, a brief civil war occurred between the Wolves over the right to rule as Kell. Skolas defeated his rivals with might and cunning and emerged as the new Kell. With the fight between themselves over, Skolas continued to wage war against the Awoken but his brutal tactics drove Variks, the Loyal to betray him at Cybele that led to his capture. With their Kell and remaining nobility captured, Variks named Mara Sov the new Kell of the House of Wolves. She gave the Wolves the choice of either submitting to her rule and live in the Reef or be destroyed. The majority of the Wolves chose the former while some went into hiding.

Without the Wolves' support the Fallen failed to take the Traveler in the Twilight Gap and the Wolves now served as the Queen's enforcers and bodyguards.

Betrayal

"Open the Reef to the Guardians. Offer the riches of our realm as bounty for these traitors. Let the hunt begin."

— Mara Sov.

During the Queen's search for Kaliks Prime, seeing if the Prime Servitor is still alive, she sent her spies the Crows out into the Jovians, angering her allies the Nine. To appease them, she sent Skolas to them as a gift but one of their agents freed him from his cyro cell and gave him a ship to return him to his house. Finding new purpose and learning from his mistakes, Skolas sought to regain control of his house and gather the other houses under his control.

Gathering his followers from the Prison of Elders and leading an attack against the Reef, Skolas nearly assassinated the Queen, led by Saviks and the Queenbreakers, before taking his house away from the Reef to plan their next move. Angered by the Wolves betrayal, the Queen called in her favor to the Guardians, offering the riches of her realm for hunting down the traitorous Wolves.

"Prophesied Savior"

"In your tongue, he said: "The Wolves stand strong. Cower before the Kell of Kells.""

— Variks.

With Petra Venj and Variks as their guides, the Guardians tracked Skolas to Venus where he sought to gain the allegiance of the leaderless House of Winter. The Guardian was able to find Skolas rallying the Winter Fallen after calling himself the prophesied Kell of Kells, a Fallen warrior that would unite all Fallen Houses and claim the Great Machine. Despite encountering Skolas, the Guardians were unable to capture the Kell and he was able to gain a number of the winters allegiance.

Traveling to Earth, Skolas sought to gain the allegiance of the House of Devils and House of Kings. While he set loose the Silent Fang to kill off the Devils remaining leaders, he sent one of his Barons, Yavek to negotiate with the Kell of Kings. However, the Guardians intervened as they killed a large number of Silent Fang assassins and killed Yavek and two King Barons, Paskin and Vekis.

Last Stand

"He just said, "I stole the gift of Freedom. Secrets of time and space. House of Wolves will stand forever.""

— Variks.

Furious at the Reef's and Last City's interventions, Skolas desperately sought a means to defeat his enemies and force the other houses into recognizing him as the prophesied Kell. Skolas then had his splicers breach the Vex Vault of Glass to gain the weapons he desires. Fortunately, the Guardians once again intervened before they could gain any significant Vex technology, such as the Oracles.

With his enemies cornering him, Skolas sets up a final stand at the top of the Vex Citadel. The Guardians battle against the mad Kell who began to use Vex Warp Gates into bringing his house from across time to defeat the Guardians. Despite his efforts, the Guardians defeated Skolas into submission as they received orders from the Queen to capture Skolas alive. The Queen then sent Skolas back to the Prison of Elders, where he would soon meet his end, effectively bringing an end to the Wolf Rebellion.

Aftermath

For their contributions in the Rebellion, the Guardians earned their rewards, strengthened Reef-City relations and the House of Wolves was left leaderless, homeless and broken. The remainder of the Wolves then traveled to Mars to eke out a living, despite the heavy Cabal presence.

The other Fallen Houses also suffered from the rebellion; the Winters was once again leaderless, the Devils remained in hiding (though some of their remaining leaders were ironically saved thanks to the Guardians) and the House of Kings lost some of their Barons but remained a threat to the Last City.

The House of Exile was the only House that didn't participate in the Rebellion because they refused to follow Skolas, since they do not follow a Kell, Archon or a Prime Servitor.

In addition, the Queen ordered her Prison to be cleared of some its most dangerous occupants with the Guardians being offered the task in exchanged for more rewards. Variks oversaw their efforts and the prisoners executions.

Overview: Phase Two

The Taken War

Main article: Taken War

The arrival of Oryx and his Taken sent shock waves throughout the Solar System and every faction was affected, including the Fallen. Most Fallen in the system became Taken, forced into Oryx's service and made to fight their fellow Eliksni, as well as the Guardians. During the course of the war, most Fallen abandoned their holdouts and tried to escape the Taken King.

The other factions too were affected negatively, the Cabal especially, as each of the Legions lost a substantial amount of their troops and most of their leaders were killed. This presented an sense of opportunity for some other factions.

Orbiks Reborn

One Fallen house sought to take advantage of the war, the House of Wolves under the new leadership of Keldar. An Archon Priest, Keldar had escaped both the Reef War and Skolas' Rebellion, refusing to bow to either the Queen or the so called Kell of Kell's. Keldar chose a different path and put his vast knowledge and technical skill to use in rebuilding the Wolves' previous Prime Servitor, Orbiks Prime (the Orbiks line of Servitors had previously been usurped by the Kaliks line). With a newly built God at his side, Keldar's authority over his house was swiftly cemented.

Marshaling what remained of the Wolves, Orbiks and Keldar led raids against the Cabal. Thanks to the disorganization caused by the war, the Cabal were unable to respond accordingly and lost some of their underground bunkers to the Wolves. An especially damaging blow was when the Wolves seized a Vex Conflux being researched by the Blind Legion. The Fallen were able to exploit the Conflux as an effective jamming device, blocking attempts to track their movements by the Cabal or Guardians, and giving Orbiks Prime a new lair to call home. This would not stop several ill fated attempts by the Blind Legion to dislodge the Wolves from the research site, though all were repulsed by Orbiks' fanatical following.

The Wolves reemergence caught the notice of the Reef Awoken and they called in the Guardians to aid them. Under Variks guidance, the Guardians were able to draw Keldar out of hiding and kill him, depriving the Wolves of an Archon. Finally, the Guardians infiltrated the Cabal strongholds the Wolves stole, cutting through resistance and encountered the reconstructed Prime Servitor. Despite its power and its zealous servants, the Guardians destroyed Orbiks, ridding the Wolves of leadership once more. Whatever survivors left were now at the mercy of the Cabal and the blistering Martian environment.

Aftermath

The aftermath of the Wolves reemergence led to another defeat for the House of Wolves. The Guardians destroyed whatever leadership and strength the Wolves might have had left and were now humiliated and broken. Once a great and feared House, the Wolves were brought low for good.

Combatants

House of Wolves

• Skolas, Wolf Kell
• Beltrik, the Veiled
  • Wolf Scavengers
  • Wolves' Guard
• Drevis, Wolf Baroness
  • Silent Fang
• Grayor, Wolf Assassin
• Saviks, Queenbreaker
  • Queenbreaker Captain
  • Queenbreaker Vandal
  • Wolf Enforcers
• Kaliks-12
  • Ether Runner
  • Wolf High Servitor
• Mecher Orbiks-11
  • Repeater Shank
  • Tracer Shank
• Peekis, the Disavowed
• Pirsis, Pallas-Bane
• Veliniks, the Ravenous
• Weksis, the Meek
• Yavek, Wolf Baron
  • Twisted Claw
  • Howling Raiders

House of Kings

• Paskin, King Baron
• Vekis, King Baron

Cabal

• Blind Legion

The Reef

• Queen Mara Sov
• Prince Uldren Sov
• Royal Awoken Guard
  • Petra Venj
• Variks, the Loyal

The Last City

• Guardians