Empress Caiatl

Empress Caiatl
Biographical information
Other name(s):	Princess-Imperial Heir Apparent
Species:	Cabal
Gender:	Female
Political and military information
Affiliation:	The Cabal Empire Red Legion

"Father, I will not be weak."

— Caiatl

Empress Caiatl, formerly known as the Princess-Imperial, is the current leader of the Cabal Empire and daughter of the former, exiled Emperor Calus.

She and a group of others staged a coup to overthrow her father and later succeeded Dominus Ghaul as leader of the Empire following his death at the Red War. She will feature a prominent role in the Season of the Chosen.

Biography

The Midnight Coup

Caiatl grew up liking war games and wearing armor and was close friends with Umun'arath. She was a star pilot in the military, and Calus was proud of her, and hoping that she would lead the Cabal to victory. However, she felt utter contempt and disgust for his lifestyle such as valuing zoos and plays over warfare, During the coup, she told her father that she "would not be weak" before sending him off to exile aboard the Leviathan.

Rise of an Empress

Following the aftermath of the Red War, Caiatl had succeeded Ghaul as leader of the Cabal Empire, becoming Empress in place of the latter's title of Dominus.

While making preparations in war room making to lead her fellow Cabal into a new age, Caiatl contemplated her bitterness towards Calus and Ghaul in lieu of their failings. She blamed her father for delving their people in vice and luxury, and Ghaul for his obsession with the Traveler and its Light. However, she also credited Calus for instilling within her a active imagination due to all the stories and plays he had subjected her to as a child, and now Caiatl planned on utilizing that imagination to save the Cabal and forge a better future for her people. She intended for this new future to be of war and conquest of rival nations under her direction so that the Cabal would rule the galaxy once more.

Caiatl directed her own emissaries to eliminate one of his father's Shadow agents operating in the Human's solar system that was using The Fourth Horseman, an infamous Cabal killer, to eliminate remaining Red Legion personnel.

To aid in her ambitions, Caiatl began attempting to rally the remnants of the Red Legion back to her side and exhorted all loyal Cabal across the Solar System to prove themselves by capturing Calus. Although the remnants of the Red Legion on Earth, Nessus, and the Reef responded to her call and offered tribute, they could not comply with her orders as with the arrival of the Black Fleet to that system, the Leviathan disappeared without a trace. She dispatched emissaries and scouts to the system, however, they began to report abandoned Red Legion camps with signs of internal conflicts. Additionally, a mysterious disease of Hive origin began to spread amongst the fringes of the Cabal empire.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Chosen Alliance Following the defeat of the High Celebrant of Xivu Arath, Caiatl herself came to lead her forces in the Sol System. Wanting to secure an alliance with the Last City against the Hive, Caiatl arranged a meeting with the Guardians where she parlayed with the Vanguard Commander Zavala and Osiris. Her demands for Zavala to submit before her were rebutted by the Titan commander to which she challenged him to an war game, pitting the Guardians against the strongest of her Cabal army.

Gallery

• 

  A sketch of Caiatl from the Cabal Booklet.

List of appearances

• Cabal Booklet (First mentioned)
• Destiny 2
  • Season of Opulence (Mentioned only)
  • Season of the Worthy (Mentioned only)
  • Season of Arrivals (Mentioned only)
  • Season of the Hunt (Mentioned only)
  • Season of the Chosen (First appearance)