Invasion of Neptune

Previous:	Battle of the War Gods
Concurrent:	Invasion of Earth
Next:	Skirmish of Titan
Invasion of Neptune
Fronts:	Neomuna, Neptune; Essence; The Black Garden
Outcome:	Emperor Calus is killed; The Guardian is able to wield the powers of Strand and discovers The Veil; Neomuna becomes an active warzone due to Shadow Legion invasion Typhon Imperator lands on Neomuna, destroying much of the city Radial Mast is destroyed; ; ; Vex of the Sol Collective restart their invasion of Neomuna while they also fight Cabal troops and The Guardian All Neomuni promoted to active defense roles; ; Asher Mir remnants inside the Vex Network are discovered by the Vex, and he is forced to ask for help from a corresponding sectors on Earth Asher Mir is lost during the rescue mission and presumed dead Asher Mir is able to leave behind a a manual simulation of the Veil produced thanks to the Vex Network; ; ; The Witness is able to establish a link with the Veil and subsequently begins the Final Shape by opening the portal over the Traveler The Traveler is left unresponsive and its Light becomes harder to access for Ghosts; The Vanguard's attempts to follow the Witness inside the portal fail with the death of Joxer; ; Nezarec, Final God of Pain is slain within the Witness’s flagship Neomuni inside the CloudArk finally free from his influence; ; A submind of Soteria informs the Guardian that an "enemy of the Witness" is hiding on Titan; Osiris and Nimbus learn more about the Veil and its connection to the Ishtar Collective through various recordings left behind by Dr. Chioma Esi;
Belligerents
Commanders
Strength
Casualties
Civilian casualties
	Unknown amount (if any)

"...three words, nine word bursts over and over..."This article is based on canon information, but the article title is conjectural, as there is currently no official name for the subject. See the talk page for more information.

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"For so long, we saw Dark and Light as antagonists. We believed we were the champions of the good because we wielded the Light. If these are not moral forces, if they are not opposites... what are they? At its root, the Traveler is a terraformer... a—a gardener. It generates natural life, physical transformation at a molecular scale across whole planets. This should have been our first hint. The domain of the Light is the domain of the physical. The Darkness... then is revealed in many facets. Dreams and nightmares. Emotions. Pain. Memory. The nature of Strand confirms this line of thinking. Darkness is something entirely apart from Light."

— Osiris

The Invasion of Neptune, also known as the Siege of Neomuna was a massive conflict that unfolded on Neomuna after the Witness's attack on the Traveler. After communing with it and discovering the location of the Veil, a paracausal object related to the Traveler, the Witness ordered Calus, its newest disciple, and his forces to invade Neptune and secure the Veil. This prompts Osiris to stow away on one of the Shadow Legion’s carriers in order to stop the invasion. The Guardian follows him on orders from Ikora Rey, and after sabotaging their carriers, The Guardian and Osiris make their way to Neomuna via Drop Pods. From there, they would befriend and ally the Cloud Striders Nimbus and Rohan, and along with the Imperial Cabal, would work to stop both Calus and the Witness.

After the defeat of Calus, the conflict would spill over into the flagship of the Witness, Essence, as a team of 6 Guardians would confront Nezarec, Final God of Pain and permanently put an end to both him and his haunting of the CloudArk.

History

Prelude

The Neomuni have known about the Vex for many decades prior to The Witness's arrival into the Sol System and have fought them off on numerous occasions as the Vex attempted to raid the CloudArk for its sensitive data. Additionally, both The Guardian and Osiris boarded a Shadow Legion ship shortly before the fleet jumped to Neptune's orbit. The Guardian would then fight through the ship before they and Osiris used the Drop Pods to land on Neomuna but not before the seige began.

First Contact and Discovery of the Radial Mast

The Neomuni would have their first face-to face encounter with the brunt of The Witness's forces when Emperor Calus landed his ship, the Typhon Imperator, into Ahimsa Park. The sector was quickly overrun by Vex and Cabal alike and the Cloud Striders on duty, Rohan and Nimbus, retreated to Strider's Gate. The Cabal were followed shortly by The Guardian and Osiris, the former landing in Ahimsa Park and the latter landing in Strider's Gate. The Guardian would cut their way though the Cabal forces to Strider's Gate where they would encounter Strand for the very first time. The Guardian would use this new found power to destroy the Cabal that would land in Strider's Gate but would not be able to reach Osiris before they were exhausted.

Luckily, Osiris would be saved by the Cloud Striders after fighting off some Cabal and a Tormentor. The Cloud Striders would then spend the next few hours destroying some of The Witness's forces before regrouping at Strider's Gate. After discussion with Osiris and allowing him to stay within the Hall of Heroes, the Cloud Striders would agree to help The Guardian reach The Veil. The Guardian would fight their way through Zephyr Concourse and into the Esi Terminal where they would encounter more Shadow Legion forces, this time with Light suppressing technology. The Guardian would defeat a Shadow Legion commander Vul'ourn, Shadow Legion Supply Master despite this only to realize that the area surrounding The Veil was firmly within Shadow Legion hands. The Guardian's Ghost would then transmit a conversation between The Witness and Emperor Calus, with The Witness ordering their disciple to destroy The Veil using the Radial Mast which was located deep within the Typhon Imperator. The Guardian would retreat from the area and regroup with their allies to discuss further plans.

Some time during these events, the Vex, lead by Parthenios, Drifting Mind, managed to take control of the CloudArk's power supply, inhibiting the Neomuni's ability to effectively defend their homeland.

The Raid on the Typhon Imperator

With The Veil and the CloudArk in direct jeopardy, the Cloud Striders and The Guardian both agreed to raid the Typhon Imperator. Fighting through Ahimsa Park, the Guardian would board the massive ship and sneak deep into its complex walls and hallways, dispatching groups of Shadow Legion as they went through. They would also sabotage and destroy a small fleet of ships by overloading them with energy. When The Guardian approached the Radial Mast, it was revealed that it was a trap laid out by Emperor Calus. The Guardian fought off seemingly endless waves of Cabal and Taken and it looked like The Guardian was trapped within the Typhon Imperator. However they would be rescued by Empress Caiatl and her band of Imperial Cabal, blowing open a barrier and allowing the Guardian to slip away on their Sparrow.

The Vanguard established contact with Neomuna and an ad hoc alliance was formed between the two. However, the Neomuni were still skeptical of their new allies, unsure if the alliance was simply an excuse to conquer Neomuna without any fighting.

CloudArk Repaired and Destruction of the Radial Mast

The next mission The Guardian and the Cloud Striders would undertake would be a repair of the CloudArk's power supply which was still under the control of the Vex in Límíng Harbor. The Guardian would smash through the Vex defenses surrounding the CloudArk reactor, finding more pockets of Strand along the way to assist them. The Guardian would eventually encounter the leading mind, Calixte, System Ward Finality, and destroy it and breaking the CloudArk free of Vex control. However, the Shadow Legion were closing in on The Guardian's position in order to kill them, lying in wait to both destroy The Guardian and the CloudArk in one fell swoop. The Guardian would eventually escape the ambush with the usage of Strand though the reactor sustained minor damage. This resulted in the Neomuni being able to take control of their defensive measures and assist both The Guardian and the Cloud Striders in the defense of Neomuna.

With the CloudArk secured, The Guardian attempted to further their connection and control over Strand. They departed to Maya's Retreat in order to meditate on their usage of Strand but were ambushed by Vex forces. These Vex were dispatched by The Guardian's new Strand abilities which lead Osiris and Rohan to believe that they were ready to destroy the Radial Mast. With the assistance of the Coaltion, they located the Radial Mast attempting to link to The Veil within the Irkalla Complex and smashed through Shadow Legion Forces to get there, using the Coaltion's Drake Tanks to break through the walls of the complex and sneak their way through. With the Radial Mast activated and the Shadow Legion closing in, Rohan jumped into its construction and attempted to delay its connection with The Veil. Meanwhile, The Guardian destroyed the Shadow Legion forces that had swarmed the area using Strand but was unable to hold onto their control over the energy to destroy the Radial Mast. With no other option, Rohan brought the mast onto him and destroyed it but killing him in the process. From the remains, the Guardian recovered Rohan's core and delivered it to Nimbus.

In the Hall of Heroes, Rohan was laid to rest amongst the other Cloud Striders and Nimbus was named the lead Cloud Strider in his place.

The Beginning of the Final Shape

After the death of Rohan, the Coalition would strengthen its resolve to end The Witness's machinations. A plan was created to crash through the Shadow Legion defenses around The Veil and secure it before Calus could. In order to prepare for this plan, Nimbus and Caiatl rallied their forces as The Guardian and Osiris turned to mastering Strand. The Guardian's training would culminate in the destruction of Ioneion, System Control Flow within the Vex systems, proving their mastery of Strand. Nimbus would also find and attempt to restore an old Ishtar Collective orbital ray for use in the raid.

The assault began with Caiatl's warships entering Neomuni airspace, however the ships were delayed after the discovery of anti-air cannons set up on the rooftops of Neomuni apartment buildings. The Guardian was sent in and destroyed these guns alongside countless Shadow Legion troops and a Tormentor. The Guardian entered the Irkalla Complex and defeated the Shadow Legion and Vex that were fighting with the now operational Neomuni defense systems. Nimbus would also get the orbital ray operational and drop off a target marker for The Guardian to use. This ray would come to use as the Shadow Legion sent numerous troops backed up with Goliath Tanks to assault the complex. The Guardian would manage to hold off the assault with this new weapon but would be luckily bolstered by Empress Caiatl and her Ascendant Guard. The Shadow Legion attempted to assault this defensive position with even more Goliath Tanks but also alongside two Imprints of Nezarec but would falter before the Coalition forces. With his forces decimated and the Final Shape slipping from his grasp, Calus unleashed a massive energy blast directly at The Guardian and Caiatl which blasted open the walls to The Veil's containment and killed many of the Ascendant Guard. The Guardian and Caiatl would both survive with The Guardian moving into the complex and Caiatl staying behind to hold off Calus. Caiatl managed to hold off Calus for several moments but would eventually be beaten back, though still alive. Calus would then use brute force to smash his way through the Irkalla Complex as The Guardian raced him to The Veil. Calus would reach The Veil first however could not begin The Final Shape with The Guardian's interference and thus a fight began. The Emperor would use a darkness-powered gun to blast The Guardian as waves of Shadow Legion and Tormentors began to sward The Veil's containment. When The Guardian was not deterred and managed to heavily damage Calus, he switched to Gladiator Cleavers as The Veil surrounded the battlefield and forced the two in close-quarters combat. However, Calus's newly found Disciple abilities would not be able to prevent his death as The Guardian slew him.

As The Guardian, Caiatl, and Nimbus regrouped beneath The Veil, The Guardian's Ghost became controlled by The Witness which used their connection to The Traveler to connect to The Veil and begin The Final Shape. As the Final Shape was initiated, The Witness disappeared into a portal carved out of The Traveler with the Coalition forces suffering a grave defeat.

Nezarec's Influence

One week after the communion between The Witness and The Veil, Asher Mir attempted to make contact with The Guardian and Mithrax, Kell of Light in the EDZ. The combined group attempted numerous times to extract the Vex data on The Final Shape and The Veil over several weeks. Culminating their attempts, Asher managed to extract this data with a full simulation of The Veil though this effort would cause him to be fully integrated into the Vex network which essentially ended his life and existence as an individual.

The source of the nightmares was eventually traced to Nezarec's existence within The Witness's flagship Essence. A fireteam of six Guardians went there, clashing with Shadow Legion forces onboard. Throughout te fight, they used powers of light and dark to accelerate Nezarec's resurrection. Despite his combined powers and his return from death, he was defeated. Nevertheless, he reminded the Guardians that he would always be present in their memories and nightmares, an inescapable impression upon the universe.

Additionally, the Guardians recovered urn-like containers throughout the Pyramid ship, each of them held memories through the power of Darkness. After recovery, those memories were transformed into a regular data storage medium and happened to have numerous references and retrospectives about the Final Shape, the Witness's beliefs, and the use of Darkness as a force throughout history - including some civilizations that had been previously excised from other historical records thus far.

Post-Root of Nightmares/Studying the Veil

Months after Nezarec's defeat, strange Vex activity in Neomuna was investigated by Osiris, Nimbus, and the Guardian, leading them to the Veil Containment facility. During this investigation, they decrypt the first log of Chioma Esi, an Ishtar Collective researcher and one of the founders of Neomuna. But before they can decrypt more, the Guardian clashed against a Tormentor and Taken forces in the facility, emerging victorious.

For several weeks, those recordings by Chioma Esi were decrypted, revealing a lot of information regarding the Veil's nature and effects, the studies from Ishtar Collective's researchers, and the unethical experiments that were conducted there.