Qinziq

Qinziq
Biographical information
Species:	Psion
Gender:	Female
Political and military information
Affiliation:	Loyalists

“

I did not intend suffering but should have expected Calus's deceit. Ambition to steal away his secrets damned us all.

”

Qinziq was a Psion officer who served Emperor Calus. She helped oversee a project that connected the minds of captured Scorn to the Crown of Sorrow in a bid to help Calus commune with the Darkness.

Biography

Theft of the Glykon Volatus

"She's Red Legion. Calus would see her executed."
"Psions fly many colors, but within the Cabal, we exist in congress, moving toward our own future. She will recognize my contribution, as I hers."

— Katabasis and Qinziq arguing over killing Yirix

After Emperor Calus recruited the rogue Hunter Katabasis and his Ghost Gilgamesh as his agents, Qinziq was assigned to help him and the Centurion Bahr'Toran steal a ship from a Red Legion shipyard on Nessus. She glared at the Hunter as their Thresher flew to the base and sneered at him when he expressed worries about stealing the vessel. Qinziq informed the Human that the Legion remnants were distracted by Empress Caiatl's recent addresses and the Fall of Torobatl, which would enable them to take the ship and escape unnoticed. Upon landing, Qinziq pointed out their target: a Cabal Carrier-class warship called the Glykon Volatus. Harnessing the power of the Void, she lifted herself and Bahr'Toran over the barrier while Katabasis used the Light to carry himself over. Qinziq then adjusted a Transmat device affixed to the Centurion's armor so that he could rejoin them quickly after sabotaging the base's signal retriever to prevent them from being tracked.

Qinziq led Katabasis to their target and used a command code to open a hatch leading onto the command deck, where they discovered another Psion working. She chided the Hunter as ignorant for preparing to shoot the Psion, and he thought back at her that he did not invite her into his head. Dismissing his mind as weak and chaotic, Qinziq explained that the Psion was Yirix and though she may wear Red Legion colors, all Psions worked in concert together. She approached her and revealed her presence. The two linked their minds and Qinziq explained her purpose, which Yirix agreed with as it would benefit the future of all Psions, and allowed them to steal the ship while slipping out to rejoin the crowds listening to an emissary of Caital. Working with Katabasis, Qinziq prepared the Glykon Volatus for departure when Bahr'Toran transmatted onto the bridge and informed them the charges were set. They then took off as the signal retriever disc exploded and covered their escape.

Experimenting on the Scorn

"They subsist off the last thought imposed on them. Kill for Fikrul. For the lost prince. But... with effort, their psyche is a vessel. Through which many expressions can... commune. Too many for this one to inhabit."

— Qinziq describing the empty minds of the Scorn

With the Glykon Volatus added to the Loyalist's fleet, Qinziq transferred her laboratory over the carrier and ordered Katabasis and Bahr'Toran to begin capturing Scorn from the Tangled Shore to experiment on. After one harvesting mission she blocked Katabasis from entering her lab and told him he did not belong in there. He demanded to know what was being done with the Scorn, but she dismissed them as mere animals. She sensed his thoughts of guilt and how they had once been Eliksni before mocking his concern. He countered that it was like defiling the dead and noted that the Cabal honored theirs. Qinziq attempted to close the lab door on him while stating that she did not answer to the Hunter, but he reminded her that Bahr'Toran and the rest of the hunting party did and that she would get no more samples without being straight with him. Scowling at the impertinent Hunter, she questioned where Gilgamesh was and once he assured her the Ghost was in the hanger allowed him into her lab. Qinziq led him to a vat with Scorn inside and explained that she was using the fluid inside to make the Scorn's connection to the Darkness stronger. Their minds were linked like the Psions, but without any of the Barons to direct them they were empty, operating on the last directives from Fikrul, the Fanatic to kill. She then demonstrated how she could briefly control and calm them with her own psychic powers, but the experience left her drained and unable to control many due to the number of linked Scorn vessels. Katabasis was still confused as to the purpose of all this, so Qinziq informed him that Calus would summon the Darkness into the vessels to commune with it once their ship reached the anomaly where the planet Mars had once been.

Trapped in the Void

"I will do this so that others may live."

— Qinziq's vow before beginning her ritual to save the survivors of the Glykon Volatus

The experiments with the Scorn and the Crown of Sorrow eventually led to the Glykon Volatus being transported into another realm where the Scorn on the ship were continuously brought back to life and hunted the surviving crew while the ship itself was continuously bent and twisted by the dark waves that surged through the strange realm. Calus disappeared during the experiment, with all the Psion Councilors helping with the communion being killed. Qinziq worked with the other survivors over several weeks to find a way to return to their reality and ordered Katabasis and Bahr'Toran to recover a command key that would give them access to the viewing room where the Crown of Sorrows was held so she could attempt to sever the link it held to the Scorn. Meeting them on the command deck with fifteen other Loyalists she had discovered, Qinziq prepared herself for the ritual while the others took defensive positions to combat the incoming Scorn assault. As she eyed the scorched handprints of the previous Councilors who had touched the Hive artifact, Qinziq expressed remorse for the lives that had been lost and vowed to save those that remained. Katabasis told her that they would be square if she got them out, and she told him she would as he did not belong there.

As the battle commenced Qinziq began her ritual and screamed with the effort it took to try and sever the connection between the Crown and the Scorn's hive mind. Black fire began to lick at her hands, and eventually she began to scream even louder as her entire body became engulfed in the flames and the cosmos warped around them. In a desperate bid to hold out longer and complete her ritual, Qinziq attempted to spread her pain out to the remaining Loyalist defenders and Katabasis, but her efforts failed and she perished in her attempt to undo the ritual.

List of appearances

• Destiny 2: Season of the Chosen (First mentioned)