Nessus

Nessus
Astrographical
Star, position:	Sol, outer system
Physical
Diameter:	60±16 km, 37 mi (pre-conversion)
Orbital period:	122.30 years (pre-conversion)
Surface temperature:	—217°C (pre-conversion)
Societal
Demonym:	Nessian
Population:	Vex, Fallen, Cabal

There is more information available on this subject at Nessus on the English Wikipedia.

“

A planetoid with an irregular orbit, converted by the Vex for reasons unknown.

”

"Lush with giant twisted trees, deep caverns, waterfalls, and silver swamps, the origin of this planetoid remains unknown. What is clear is that the Vex have nearly transformed the entire planetoid into a Machine World, above and below the surface. For those Guardians willing to brave the dangers and explore the myriad of mysteries, treasures beyond the imagination await."

— Website description ^[2]

7066 Nessus is a Centaur minor planet with an irregular orbit. At perihelion, Nessus is closer to the Sun than Uranus; at aphelion, Nessus moves into the Kuiper belt. It is a place where light is scarce.^[3]

History

Golden Age

During the Golden Age, the Colony ship Exodus Black crashed on Nessus on its way to Kepler-186. They were surprised by Nessus actually being where it is as it shouldn't be there. The ship's crash was due to the result of the Orbiting Centaur's added six dimensions to its four dimensional space. They were all lost in their sense of time; past and future went hand and hand for them.^[4] All of its colonists and crew were subsequently either captured and experimented on (such as stealing the memories of the captain) or killed by the Vex. Unable to contact help, the ship's AI, Failsafe, became dormant until she was awoken by the arrival of Cayde-6.

City Age

Approximately 126 years before the SIVA Crisis, Nessus re-entered the Sol System after an unexpected delay.^[5] The Arcadian Valley patrol space is scattered with the remains of the Exodus Black, picked clean by Fallen scavengers. At some point, the Vex, overseen by the Vex Mind Argos, Planetary Core, converted 92.014% of the Centaur Nessus into a Machine World.

The Axis Minds of Nessus are noted to have higher than average computational power. One such mind imprisoned Failsafe for attempting to access the Vex Network. Sagira sought out another such Mind in order to analyze a map of the Infinite Forest.

Red War

Following the Red Legion's invasion of Earth, they began to mobilize their forces across Nessus in an attempt to uncover any secrets it harbored. During this mobilization they came into conflict with the local Vex population^[6] as well as the Fallen House of Dusk, which was scavenging whatever they could from the remnants of the Exodus Black.^[7]

Following the death of Dominus Ghaul, the former Cabal emperor Calus arrived at the Sol System and began to consume sections of the planetoid with his flagship, the Leviathan. ^[8] Doing so caused Argos to be sucked into the Leviathan's vacuum alongside a squadron of Vex, forcing Calus to call upon the Guardians to be rid of the Vex Mind for good. With the destruction of the Axis Mind, the conversion of the planetoid has been permanently halted, but the Leviathan continued to slowly consume Nessus into Royal Wine.

Post-Red War

When the Kell's Scourge began using the Lost Forges, they were intercepted smuggling Black Armory tech from the planet. Following their trail led the Guardians to the Gofannon Forge in the ruins of the Exodus Black. The Guardians reclaimed the Forge from the Scourge's hands, and kept defending it from their attempts to reclaim it. Following a set of Vex coordinates brought the Guardians to the Izanami Forge, that was being integrated into the Vex structure. The Guardians reclaimed this Forge as well, and defended it from the encroaching Vex.

When the Black Fleet arrived, Nessus was one of the few worlds in the outer system that was left untouched by the Pyramids. However, sometime after their departure, Calus and the Leviathan mysteriously disappeared from Nessus's orbit, leaving the Machine World only partially consumed.

Sometime afterward, Calus's daughter and current leader of the Cabal Empire, Caiatl, arrived in the Sol System with her legions. Nessus was the first world to be invaded, with an Imperial Land Tank being deployed in the Arcadian Valley. It was here where her forces and the Guardians first clashed against one another in a bid for dominance over the system.

Over the ages, many Fallen Pirate Crews hid their treasures on the planet. These would be sought after by The Guardian as they fought against the crews that sided with Eramis, Kell of Darkness in her search for the relics of Nezarec, Final God of Pain. This closeness also made Mithrax, Kell of Light realize that the Vex sought to punish him for his intrusion into their Network during the Endless Night, and made him decide to avoid the planet in the future.

The Echo's Appearance

After the Coalition defeated the Witness within the Traveler's Pale Heart, paracausal artifacts called Echoes were created from a collision of Light and Darkness. The first Echo lands on the planetoid, and there a mysterious entity called the Conductor begins to mobilize the Vex, albeit with some behaviors never seen before on other Vex collective; as a result, Nessus begins to undergo a transformation brought about by the Echo's presence. Ikora tasks the Guardian with investigating the mysterious disturbance on the planetoid with Osiris, Saint-14, and Failsafe running tactical. While tracking down the Echo's impact site into the Chamber of Sky, they fight a new Vex collective distinguishable by a silica structure around their neck. After fighting through the new collective and uploading Failsafe into the H.E.L.M. mainframe, they continue their investigations by collecting Radiolite samples and uncovering an entrance to the Vex Network within the Well of Echoes. As they continue their investigations, they discover that the Echoes arms race has begun when the Eliksni from the House of Salvation were able to enter Failsafe's mainframe within the Exodus Black, led by Pykis, House Salvation, and the Eliksni of the House of Dusk, led by Kalliks, Baron of House Dusk, allied themselves with the Shadow Legion. They are forced to conclude their investigations when Saint falls under the possession of the Conductor. They follow his last known coordinates into the Well of Flame. They were able to find him, but he begins to question where he is the real Saint. Realizing the danger of Saint's situation, they shift their attention to unraveling the Conductor’s motives.

Locations

Arcadian Valley (Destination)
- The Tangle
- The Cistern (Landing Zone)
  - Pools of Luminance
  - Well of Flame
    - Aqueducts
  - The Anchor
    - Excavation Site VII
    - The Inverted Spire
  - The Conflux (Lost Sector)
  - The Shimmering Pools
- Watcher's Grave (Landing Zone)
  - Chamber of Water
  - Infantry Concourse
    - Halphas Electus
      - Proving Ground
- Artifact's Edge (Landing Zone)
  - Lost Fuselage
  - The Orrery (Lost Sector)
- Hallows
  - The Tor
  - Sunken Cavern
    - Well of Giants
- Exodus Black (Landing Zone)
  - Chamber of Sky
  - Prodromus Down
  - Well of Stars
  - The Rift (Lost Sector)
- Glade of Echoes
  - EX-077 Command
  - The Carrion Pit (Lost Sector])
- Endless Vale (Crucible map)
- Firebase Echo (Crucible map)
- Legion's Folly (Gambit map)
Arcadian Strand
- Distant Shore (Crucible map)

Trivia

In early development The Myriad was a working title for Nessus.
- This makes sense, as Nessus could be described as a myriad in many manners. It contains mixtures of Fallen, Vex, and Cabal technologies, and is strongly influenced by all of those species. It is covered in mixtures of Fallen scavenge, Vex ruins and strange constructs, scattered bits of the Exodus Black, Cabal drills and structures, etc.
- It is also one of a "myriad" of smaller barely-notable objects in the vicinity of the outer planets.
The Vex who reside on the planet bear slight technological and physical differences from those across the rest of the Sol System.
Large parts of Failsafe's ship, the Exodus Black, can be found along parts of Nessus. Scannables in the area indicate that Failsafe's crew tried to escape and survive, but died due to a lack of food and supplies.
- Failsafe's crew do refer to the presence of the Vex, suggesting that the cyborgs were present when they arrived. Failsafe referred to the fact that she had been on Nessus long enough to see the Vex take over the entire planet, convert approximately 92% of it into a machine world like Mercury, and kill all life forms.
- Armor and various lore pieces from Nessus have even suggested that the original crew of the Exodus Black was headed for Kepler 186f, a habitable planet very far from the Sol System. Some unknown force (possibly Vex technology) caused the ship to lose control and veer towards Nessus, which was near its path at the time. The engines and some parts of the ship malfunctioned, resulting in a crash landing. That was when the crew of the Exodus Black would face the Vex and meet their ends.
Some birds and small animals can be seen flying over and around areas on Nessus. Plant life also exists there. It is unknown whether Nessus actually held life before the arrival of the Vex. Neither Ghost nor the other Vanguard members suggest that the Traveler terraformed it, however, some scannables give evidence that the life on Nessus is artificial, being created by the Vex for unknown purposes.
Nessus could possibly be the farthest location the Guardians have traveled to in the Destiny series.
Following the death of the Witness, the creation of the Echoes and the appearance of the Conductor, the Vex that inhabit Nessus have separated from the Sol Collective and become a new sect, the Compelled Collective.