Black Armory

The Black Armory is a clandestine weapons foundry founded during the late Golden Age. Its sole surviving member, Ada-1, operated in secrecy within the walls of the Last City, before eventually revealing herself to the Guardians to seek their aid in reclaiming the Armory's lost forges and protecting her wares from the Fallen anarchist faction known as the Kell's Scourge.

History

Golden Age and Collapse

The family crests of Rasmussen Clan, Satou Tribe and House of Meyrin

The Black Armory was founded at the end of the Golden Age by three families: the French House of Meyrin, the Norse Rasmussen Clan, and the Japanese Satou Tribe. Each family brought elements of their native heritage to the Armory's designs. The families' matriarchs, Henriette Meyrin, Helga Rasmussen and Yuki Satou, came to believe that the Earth was under imminent threat from an extraterrestrial enemy, and agreed to manufacture and stockpile advanced firearms to ensure survival of their families.^[1] They built several Forges and sold some of their weapons to compensate for their expenses; Helga Rasmussen, previously of Clovis Bray, ran the business side of things.^[2]

The Armory's precautions failed when the actual Collapse arrived; their superior firearms provided little protection against the Black Fleet's onslaught. After an attack by monstrous minions of the Darkness, the group had to abandon their hideout and leave their Forges behind. Henriette's daughter Adelaide was severely injured in the attack, and Henriette reluctantly agreed to Yuki Satou's proposal to upload Adelaide's consciousness into an experimental Exo frame, thus creating Ada-1.^[3]

Ada-1 served as a mobile forge, being able to create and upgrade Black Armory weapons with her bare hands. Unfortunately, the unique weapons produced by Ada-1 turned out to be the group's bane in the Dark Age, as they attracted multiple bandits and robbers, including some Risen proto-Warlords. Eventually, every other member of the group perished with only Ada-1 remaining.^[4] She ended up hiding in the Last City remaining secretive and distrustful of any Lightbearers, even the Guardians.

Three of the Armory's forges were lost during the Collapse, while a fourth, the Volundr Forge, remained in operation within the European Dead Zone.

Season of the Forge

Following the end of the Red War, the Fallen anarchist faction known as the Kell's Scourge sought out the Black Armory's technology for themselves. This led Ada-1 to reveal herself to the Guardians and request their aid in reclaiming the Black Armory's lost Forges and repelling the Scourge.

Throughout the conflict, Guardians managed to recover all four forges, stopping Kell's Scourge from stealing wares at Vault Ebisu in the Last City, then put an end to Siviks, Lost to None, leader of the faction. In addition, they managed to recover the torn pages of the Black Armory Pages, allowing Ada-1 to learn more about herself and the history behind the Black Armory. Eventually, they managed to recover the Obsidian Accelerator, which allowed the Exo to enhance Black Armory Weapons through Obsidian Radiance.

Season of the Splicer

Not long after the Vanguard ordered the evacuations due to the Arrival of the Black Fleet, the Black Armory fell in hard times. During an inspection of Niobe Labs, Ada-1 found Bergusia Forge missing. Without any leads to the current whereabouts of the other Forges, the exo was forced to cut her losses.

Ada would have trouble trying to find a new path for a while, as she felt that her purpose lay with the Black Armory's forges. It was through the encouraging words of Suraya Hawthorne and Eido from House of Light, as well as a solid lead from Rahool that she'd find a new path for herself and the Black Armory.

Thus, Ada began her endeavor in creating the Loom. And with the help of the Guardian recovering centuries-old matter programming from Bray Exoscience on Europa, the Loom would become a success. Ada-1 would serve as an armorer, allowing Guardians to use the Loom so they can adorn their armor with different looks.

Despite the initial trouble at first and some of her own doubts, Ada-1 found satisfaction in forging a new path for herself and trying to continue the Armory's legacy.

Notable Individuals

Helga Rasmussen – Co-Founder of the Black Armory
Yuki Satou – Co-Founder of the Black Armory
Henriette Meyrin – Co-Founder of the Black Armory
Adelaide Meyrin – Current Leader of the Black Armory

List of Forges

The Black Armory has forges located in various parts of the Solar System, with the intention of creating legendary weaponry by its founders.

Volundr Forge – Located in the EDZ on Earth and was claimed by the Red Legion following the Red War.
Izanami Forge – Located on Nessus and was secured by the Vex. It was aboard the Exodus Black during its voyage.
Gofannon Forge – Located on Nessus and was under the control of the Kell's Scourge. It was also aboard the Exodus Black.
Bergusia Forge – Located deep within the restricted Niobe Labs within the EDZ. It is the only forge to create the Obsidian Accelerator and was held by the Kell's Scourge.

Black Armory Forges

Volundr Forge
Bergusia Forge
Gofannon Forge
Izanami Forge

Vault Ebisu

Vault Ebuisu, a Black Armory Vault

In addition, the Black Armory possessed a large Vault which contained a large number of their weapons. To prevent their weapons from being misused, they went to great lengths to ensure their secrecy. However, when weapons and technology belonging to the Black Armory were reported stolen by the Kell's Scourge, Ada-1 reluctantly forms a partnership with the Guardians to ensure the safety of her foundry's forges and prevent the Fallen from finding the Vault. Ironically, the Vault is located in the Last City and it is where the Guardians face off against the Kell's Scourge and Insurrection Prime to prevent them from breaching the Vault.

After succeeding in bringing down Insurrection Prime, the Guardians managed to confront Siviks at the Niobe Labs, protecting its technology and secrets from Siviks's thievery. After a struggle, the Guardians finally killed the Kell's Scourge's leader and retrieve the requirements to finish the Izanagi's Burden Sniper Rifle. Grateful in their efforts on the Black Armory's behalf and breaking the Kell's Scourge, Ada-1 grants the weapon to the Guardian.

Project Niobe

Ada-1 with the Obsidian Drive

Project Niobe was a secret Black Armory experiment with the intention to aid Humanity by combining the Armory's weapon-enhancing phase technology with an artificial frame and digitized consciousness of the Exo developed from Clovis Bray. This in other words would have given an Exo the ability to become a mobilised forge.^[5]^[6]

During the Collapse, Henriette Meyrin in an effort to save her fatally injured daughter uploaded her daughters consciousness into an experimental Exo frame to become Ada-1.^[7] At some point, Siviks would scour through the Black Armory Papers to seek for secrets of Project Niobe, an initiative to develop and produce enhanced Black Armory prototypes.^[8]^[9] Later Ada-1 expressed her gratitude towards the Guardian for recovering the Obsidian Accelerator, a missing Exo upgrade which enabled her weapon-upgrading abilities using Obsidian Radiance.^[10]