The Great Disaster

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Previous:	Battle of Burning Lake
Next:	Battle of the Twilight Gap
The Great Disaster
Fronts:	Mare Imbrium, The Moon
Outcome:	Decisive Hive victory Crota returns to the Ascendant Realm to recover his strength The Vanguard declares the Moon an off-limits zone for Guardians operations The possibility of a centralized and organized military and civilian structure composed of Guardians disappears Vanguard role and prestige weakened The culture of the Guardians is oriented towards the pursuit of glory and loot rather than defending the interests of Humanity
Belligerents The Last City Spawn of Crota Commanders Eriana-3 Wei Ning Gunnvor Cayde-6 Lord Shaxx Crota, Son of Oryx Sardon, Fist of Crota Swarm Princes Banuk, Ur Prince Dakoor, Yul Prince Garok, Xol Prince Merok, Eir Prince Strength Thousands of Guardians Countless Hive One thousand of Crota's Knights Casualties Hundreds of Guardians Wei Ning Gunnvor Thousands of Hive Civilian casualties Unknown

"My name is Eriana-3, disciple of the Praxic Warlocks, marked by the Cormorant Seal. Survivor of the great disaster: the day we set out to retake our Moon, united in a host of thousands, and found ourselves outmatched by one Hive champion of unspeakable power."

— Eriana-3

The Great Disaster was a battle fought between thousands of Guardians and the Hive to take control of the Moon.

Overview

Prelude

""What madness is this!
"Lord Shaxx! The Consensus did not—"
"We barely eked out victory at Burning Lake. And now you think we're ready to attack the Moon?"
[...]
"Zavala! You can't think this is wise. We need to examine these swords, train against them—"
"This is a matter for the Consensus to decide, old friend.""

— Grimoire: Raze-Lighter

Shortly after discovering the Hive during the Battle of Burning Lake, the Vanguard and the Consensus ordered a full-scale assault on the Moon to establish a beachhead for future plans of reclamation. Lord Shaxx, however, warned the Consensus that the Ascendant Swords carried by the Hive Knights were unlike any weapon he'd seen before, and that they should delay the attack. However, the Consensus and Vanguard went ahead with the battle plans anyways, confident in the Guardian's abilities to reclaim Luna.

The Battle

"I vividly remember the stories from that night. The sky burning green, the roar of thunder ripping through the darkness, and the Eater of Hope tearing through our ranks. Crota, the merciless Hive prince whose dark campaign to pursue the Traveler led to the slaughter of countless worlds—all in the name of his father, Oryx, the Taken King."

— Eris Morn.

The Guardians who arrived fell by the hundreds, as leading the Hive army was the God-Prince Crota, Son of Oryx, an invincible Knight who devoured the Light of the Guardians. Mare Imbrium was one of the battlefields, as Crota led one thousand Knights against over five hundred Guardians, easily cutting through them. The legendary Titan Wei Ning was personally killed by Crota here. It was claimed the sky above the region "turned into green fire" and that the battle cracked open the surface of Luna itself.

During this campaign, an unknown Titan created the first Thunderlord, along with two other machine guns that came to renown: Nova Mortis and Abbadon. Though the Thunderlord survived, its counterparts were lost.

Aftermath

In the aftermath, the Vanguard scrambled to salvage the remaining resources of the battle as losses were nearly incalculable. They then classified the Moon as forbidden, and not to be visited unless absolutely necessary. Many Guardians were left behind on the Moon, left to fend for themselves as they were slowly picked off by the Hive or died of other causes.

On the Hive's side, the massacre was only halted by the coincidental death of one of Crota's foremost generals in the Ascendant Realm to a dispute with one of his aunt's sergeants, which deprived the Hope Eater of a quarter of his tribute. Having suffered a major loss of his temples and tributaries to feed his Worm, Crota judged it best to sleep upon his throne world and recover his debts while his soul remained tethered to an Ascendant crystal, giving him a quick means of return to the real universe once his strength was restored.

One of the survivors of the battle, Eriana-3, swore revenge against Crota and assembled a team of Guardians to enter the Hellmouth alone. Only Eris Morn survived that venture..

Consequences

The Vanguard

After the Great Disaster, the Vanguard and Consensus as a military structure essentially vaporized as trust in their leadership was called into question. Both the Vanguard and the Consensus dissolved into symbolic command as neither of them could get a grip on the remaining Guardians. As Aarach Jalaal put it, “Everyone is a rogue now. It is fashionable to be a rogue.” The idea of the Vanguard as a commanding presence over all Guardians became completely defunct as the Vanguard struggled to even manage the practices done in the Crucible.

The Guardians and Culture

After the Great Disaster, Guardian culture took a sharp turn towards selling themselves to the highest bidder. Many people from the Drifter, to Calus, to Petra, and even Vance have noted that Guardians are unusually willing to do anything for a shiny new toy. The Drifter has had many Guardians join him on his escapades and even butted heads with Emperor Calus as the two fought over Guardian loyalty. In a discussion with Petra, Variks says, "Guardians desire many things. Glory. Honor. Treasure." Brother Vance has also said that "They're so eager to tear each other apart for guns and cloth." Many Guardians have fallen for these schemes and plots, ranging from Katabasis who died for Calus to Sola Scath who fell to Darkness.

It also did not help that due to the loss of so many figurehead Guardians like Wei Ning, there were very few elders left to teach the younger generation how to fight. This then resulted in the extremely close Battle of the Twilight Gap, after which Shaxx left the battlefield in order to watch over the Crucible so that he could train the next generation of battle-hardened Guardians himself.

Many civilians also feel distrustful of Guardians due to their lack of command. Many of them wonder if Guardians are even partial to their survival. During the return of the Pyramids, citizens have even been noted to attack Guardians.

List of appearances

• Destiny (First mentioned)
  • The Dark Below (Mentioned only)
• Destiny 2: Warmind
  • Forsaken (Mentioned only)
    • Season of the Forge (Mentioned only)
    • Season of the Drifter (Mentioned only)
  • Shadowkeep (Mentioned only)
  • Beyond Light (Mentioned only)
  • The Witch Queen (Mentioned only)
  • Lightfall (Mentioned only)
  • Into the Light (Mentioned only)
  • The Final Shape (Mentioned only)
• Hidden Dossier (Mentioned only)