Mercury

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“ The planet closest to the Sun, and most consumed by the Vex. ”
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There is more information available on this subject at Mercury on the English Wikipedia.
Mercury
Grimoire Mercury.jpg
Astrographical

Star, position:

Sol, I

Satellites(s):

none

Physical

Diameter:

4,879 kilometers

Gravity:

.38 g

Length of day:

58 days 15 hours 30 minutes

Orbital period:

88 days

Atmosphere:

Retains an atmosphere, as in all post-Traveler records[1]

Societal

Population:

Vex
Cabal
Fallen (simulation)
Hive (simulation)
Black Fleet

Government:

Vex occupation
Cult of Osiris

 

"Legends say that Mercury was once a garden world. Now its surface, baked in the Sun's glare, is honeycombed with forgotten Vex structures. No life stirs here. Not anymore."
— Grimoire description[2]

Mercury is the first planet in the Sol System and the closest to the Sun. It is a Vex Machine World, and also has a living consciousness, as one of the Nine. Mercury was one of four destinations that was Taken by the Witness at the end of Season of Arrivals.

Overview

The Sun itself, as seen on the planet's surface, appears to be massive in size yet not blindingly bright—a possible result of Vex engineering.[1]

Though much of Mercury is dominated by the Vex, others have managed to visit the planet, including the Cult of Osiris who maintains a camp there in the form of The Lighthouse. Flawless champions of the Trials of Osiris are permitted to visit the Lighthouse where they can find stores of Glimmer and other treasures. However, the only rewards available are the ones in the chest at the edge.[1] The Sunbreakers have their Forge here as well and the Cabal built an outpost at Vertigo, but have since mysteriously disappeared.[3][4][5]

It is unknown how Mercury's conversion to a machine world, and partial fragmentation have harmed the consciousness within it. It is also heavily implied in the Dust lore book that it was the one of the Nine who engineered the cut-off of the City's satellites and defenses right before Ghaul's surprise attack to learn how to manipulate Light from him. The Nine also mention how it was "punished" for this act, possibly being its fragmentation at the hands of the Almighty.[6]

History

The Ancient Past

Long before the evolution of humanity, Mercury and the other planets of the Sol System served as gravitational foci for interstellar streams of dark matter particles. When life evolved elsewhere in the System, the movements of lifeforms created perturbations in these looping streams, which caused the dark matter loops to "awaken" into consciousness. These nascent consciousnesses would one day become known to Humanity as the Nine.[7]

Golden Age

Following its transformation into a garden world by the Traveler, Mercury was inhabited by humanity during the Golden Age. [8] At this time, the planet was covered in grasslands and trees with pink leaves. They would also construct Solar Farms, such as Icarus, to harvest the Light from the Sun and convert it into Solar Light.[9]

Collapse

During the Collapse, the Vex undid the Traveler's work and completely changed Mercury into a Machine World within days of their arrival, using "Lighthouses" to flood the planet with Radiolaria to facilitate its transformation.[1][10] Dendron, Root Mind arrived in a massive Vex construct to begin seeding the planet with Vex architecture and poisoning all life with Radiolarian fluid.[11] Eventually, the Infinite Forest was created to serve as the Vex' simulation farm, with Panoptes, Infinite Mind at its heart.[12]

City Age

When Saint-14 tried to track Osiris on Mercury, Osiris's trail caused him to get lost in the virtual expanse of the Infinite Forest. The Titan faced the Vex for several centuries, destroying thousands of them. Eventually, the Vex created a Vex Mind specifically designed to drain his Light. Though he destroyed the Mind, it succeeded in its mission by mortally wounding the legendary Titan and draining his Light.[13] Out of respect, the Vex laid Saint-14's body to rest in a tomb in a Simulant Future guarded by Hagios, Reverent Mind and surrounded by the melted shells of all the Vex he killed as a memorial to the grief he gave them.[14] Years later, his fate was altered by The Guardian, resulting in his eventual return to the City.[15]

The Red War

During the Red War, Mercury was partially fragmented to fuel the Red Legion's now-destroyed superweapon, the Almighty. Seemingly half of its mass now exists independently of the rest of the planet.[16]

After Dominus Ghaul's death, the Vex began to gather on the planet. Osiris discovered that Panoptes had simulated a future where the Vex would achieve total victory in the solar system and wipe out all other life. Vex from the past and future were converging on this timeline to carry out their plan, but were foiled by the Guardian.[17] It is seen during the Vex's campaign, the Cabal had also sent troops by order of Val Ca'uor to the Fields of Glass where they would attempt to secure technology from the Vex but become bogged down in an attrition war.[18][19]

Following their escape from the Prison of Elders, the Combustor Valus and his crew would raid Pariah's Refuge, kicking out the Vex inhabitants before being soon ended by the Guardian.[20]

Arrival of the Pyramids

A month after the Almighty's destruction at the hands of Rasputin, a Pyramid similarly arrived on Mercury to its counterpart on Io. From its position, the Pyramid blotted out the Sun and shrouded the Fields of Glass in its shadow. Several months after the arrival of the Black Fleet, they caused the planet along with Io, Titan, and Mars to mysteriously disappear, just as the Traveler healed itself.[21]

Emperor Calus would later lead the Leviathan in the anomaly left in the place of the planet, where he would manage to commune with The Witness.[22]

As of now, Mercury is still missing and it is unknown if it'll ever be recovered.

Adventures

Locations

Trivia

  • With the release of Curse of Osiris, Mercury possess the smallest public location in Destiny 2, smaller than even Titan.
    • However, it is the most complex of the maps with the Infinite Gate leading to the Infinite Forest that makes it appear larger, much like Titan, and the Moon.
  • In Curse of Osiris, the full width of the Sun appears to subtend an arc of approximately 60 degrees, which would imply an orbital distance comparable to the solar diameter (about 1.4 million km). However, Mercury is 46 million km from the Sun at perihelion to 70 million km at aphelion (its orbit being highly eccentric at 0.21) - about 30 to 45 times more distant.
    • Assuming perihelion, the Sun would appear about 1°45' (1.75 degrees) across - "only" about 3 times larger than from Earth (0.53'). Assuming aphelion, it would be about 1.15 deg (1°10') across, or twice its apparent diameter as seen from Earth.
    • It's possible the Traveler changed the planet's orbit, but at this distance, it would take much more paracausal effort (unless those powers are so nonphysical that it makes no difference) to keep the planet from roasting than it would in its original orbit. (With regular physics, the planet would most likely be doomed.) It's also possible that the effect protecting the surface of Mercury from heat significantly distorts or refracts light at some point between the Sun and the planet, causing the Sun to appear much larger and less intense than it would otherwise.
    • This discrepancy was noted in-universe by a New Monarchy affiliated Guardian in the Grimoire card for the Lighthouse, who theorized it was caused by Vex constructs distorting the image.
  • Io and Mercury are the only two locations The Witness took that have not yet been returned.

Gallery

  • Mercury after the Red War

    Mercury after the Red War

  • Mercury from orbit

    Mercury from orbit

  • Mercury's surface from low orbit

    Mercury's surface from low orbit

  • The surface of Mercury.

    The surface of Mercury.

  • Mercury concept art

    Mercury concept art

List of appearances

References

  1. ^ a b c d Bungie (2015/5/19), Destiny: House of Wolves - Mercury: The Lighthouse
  2. ^ Bungie (2014/9/9), Destiny - Grimoire: Mercury
  3. ^ Bungie (2015/9/15), Destiny: The Taken King - Bound by Fire
  4. ^ Bungie (2015/9/15), Destiny: The Taken King - Crucible Arenas: Vertigo
  5. ^ Gameinformer: We Analyze Destiny: The Taken King's Eight New Crucible Maps
  6. ^ Bungie (2019/3/5), Destiny 2: Season of the Drifter - Dust: The Witch
  7. ^ Bungie (2019/3/5), Destiny 2: Season of the Drifter - Dust: The Nnine
  8. ^ Youtube: Official Destiny E3 Trailer -- New Beginnings
  9. ^ Bungie (2016/20/9), Destiny: Rise of Iron - Crucible Arenas: Icarus - Languid Sea, Mercury
  10. ^ Bungie (2014/9/9), Destiny - Eye of a Gate Lord
  11. ^ Bungie (2017/12/5), Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris - A Garden World
  12. ^ Bungie (2017/12/5), Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris - Beyond Infinity
  13. ^ Bungie (2019/12/10), Destiny 2: Season of Dawn - Item Description: Perfect Paradox
  14. ^ Bungie (2017/12/5), Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris - Not Even the Darkness
  15. ^ Bungie (2019/12/10), Destiny 2: Season of Dawn - Corridors of Time Part 2
  16. ^ Bungie (2017/8/9), Destiny 2 - 1AU
  17. ^ Bungie (2017/12/5), Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris - The Gateway
  18. ^ Bungie (2018/5/8), Destiny 2: Warmind - Item Description: Last of the Legion
  19. ^ Bungie (2017/12/5), Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris - Tree of Probabilities
  20. ^ Bungie (2018/9/4), Destiny 2: Forsaken - WANTED: Combustor Valus
  21. ^ Bungie (2020/6/9), Destiny 2: Season of Arrivals
  22. ^ Bungie (2022/5/24), Destiny 2: Season of the Haunted - Duality (dungeon): Ninth repressed memory

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