War against the Witness

Previous:	Operation Elbrus
War against the Witness
Fronts:	Sol System
Outcome:	1ST PHASE Savathûn's defeat at the hands of the Guardian begins the war against the Witness; Rhulk is slain inside The Sunken Pyramid; Yirix's propaganda operation is halted and Psionic revelations about the future of Sol are uncovered; Psychic connection between The Lunar Pyramid and the Leviathan is severed Despite this, the Vanguard fails to prevent Calus from ascending to a Disciple of the Witness and the harbinger of the Second Collapse; ; The relics of Nezarec are safely secured by The Guardian, with assistance from House of Light and House of Spider The Witness punishes Eramis for her failure to secure the relics, and begins transforming fallen members of House Salvation into Scorn, including some of her dead council members Additionally, House Salvation is now forced to work under Xivu Arath; ; Osiris is awoken from a coma after Mithrax distilled the relics into a cure, and discovers a secret Savathûn hid on the planet Neptune; ; Rasputin is temporarily rebuilt Seraph Bunkers and Seraph Station are secured from the assault of Xivu Arath's forces.; The Traveler departs the Last City as it attempts to confront the Witness and its fleet head on. House Salvation assaults Seraph Station in one last bid to stop the Vanguard, with Eramis attempting to use Rasputin's Warsat network to destroy the Traveler.; Rasputin initates AURORA SACRIFICE in order to prevent Eramis from activating ABHORRENT IMPERATIVE. He succeeds in this, self destructing the entire Warsat network, but at the cost of deleting all his coding.; ; Existence of a civilization on Neptune along with a paracasual artifact linked to the Traveler known as The Veil is confirmed; ; The Coalition and the allies of humanity prepare themselves to face the Witness and its incoming fleet.; 2ND PHASE The Witness and its fleet finally reach Earth's orbit and begin their assault. The Traveler is subdued by the Witness, and soon it discovers the location of the Veil. Calus, the Witness's latest Disciple, is sent to invade Neomuna with his Shadow Legion to secure the Veil.; Neomuna turned into active warzone due to the invasion, as all Neomuni are promoted to active defense roles. The Vex of the Sol Collective restart their invasion of city, taking advantage of the turmoil and chaos caused by the Shadow Legion.; ; ; The Guardian, along with Osiris, reach Neomuna as it becomes under siege from the Shadow Legion's invasion, and ally themselves with the city's Cloud Striders: Nimbus and Rohan.; Strand is discovered, and over time The Guardian is able to wield it, along with discovering what The Veil is.; The Shadow Legion suffer major losses, first with the Radial Mast being destroyed, and with Calus being slain by The Guardian.; The Witness manages to establish a link with The Veil, and it begins the Final Shape by opening a portal over the Traveler The Traveler is left unresponsive, its light becoming harder for Ghosts to find; Several attempts are made to enter the portal, all of which end in failure.; ; Nezarec is slain shortly afterwards in the Witness's flagship.; ; Captives taken during the Shadow Legion's invasion of Earth are rescued from Shadow Legion outposts. Amanda Holliday is rescued and later killed in a trap after saving captives from a secret Shadow Legion prison in the EDZ. Shadow Legion Flagship is destroyed as an act of retribution.; ; ; Titan is returned to the Sol System Sloane is rescued, albeit she is now infused partially with Taken energy.; Ahsa is discovered and rescued as the Vanguard aids Sloane in strengthening her connection to Ahsa. Ahsa manages to provide vital information to the Vanguard on the Witness and the Final Shape, but also reveals that they must resurrect Savathûn, the Witch Queen in order to find a way through the portal inside the Traveler.; ; Xivu Arath's forces are pushed back from Titan. Their attempt to Take Ahsa is thwarted.; ; Lucent Brood's attempts to resurrect Oryx, the Taken King are stopped.; ; The Vanguard reaches an agreement with Immaru as he decides to help them resurrect Savathûn, but only if the deal with Xivu Arath first. Eris Morn transforms herself into a Hive God of Vengeance, and begins manipulating the Sword Logic to have the Guardian bring her enough tithes to challenge Xivu Arath.; ; Ongoing;
Belligerents
Commanders
Strength
Casualties
Civilian casualties
	Unknown amount of civilian deaths and captives

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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The War against the Witness is an ongoing conflict being fought all across Sol between Humanity and its allies and the forces of the Witness, with other parties being involved as well. After dealing with the threat Savathûn, the Witch Queen and her brood posed on Sol, the Vanguard began to shift their attention to prepare for the Witness's arrival. The Vanguard and its allies would take on the threat imposed by Calus's return and plans to become a disciple, would task The Guardian with securing the relics of Nezarec, and they would aid Ana Bray and Osiris with rebuilding Rasputin in order to both have a means of defense against the Witness and also help Osiris confirm his visions were true.

Shortly after the final assault on Seraph Station the Witness would arrive with its fleet, along with its newest disciple: Calus. Despite their best efforts, the Witness managed to establish a link with The Veil after hijacking The Guardian's Ghost and thus begun the Final Shape. While The Guardian aided in prison break operations across Earth, the Vanguard would repeatedly try to find a way through the portal, all attempts ending in failure. After the reemergence of Titan, the Vanguard would discover that Sloane had survived the disappearance, although she was no partially infused with Taken energy. The Vanguard also discovered that Sloane had befriended Ahsa, a proto-worm that had fled to Titan after the Witness caused her species to slaughter itself in the name of the Sword Logic. After strengthening their psychic connection, Ahsa would reveal to Sloane, and the rest of the Vanguard, about the origins of the Witness and the Final Shape, and that the key to getting through the portal was held by none other than Savathûn herself. After some reluctance, The Vanguard reached an agreement with Immaru, Savathûn's Ghost, in which he would help them bring back Savathûn, under one condition: they deal with her sister, Xivu Arath, first.

Prelude

Birth of the Witness

Being the first civilization uplifted by the Traveler's Light in recorded history, the species that would eventually become the Witness lived in a Golden Age and would prosper under its influence. However, their people demanded purpose, so they discovered the Traveler shared a connection with the Veil, an enigma associated with Darkness. They eventually learn that the Light affects the physical world and the Darkness affects the mental world. After recovering the Veil from the cosmos, they would link it to the Traveler to enact the Final Shape, but the Traveler refuses the connection and leaves their home planet. The species was undeterred in its pursuit of the Final Shape and would use the power of the Darkness to become one being. Thus, the Witness is born.

Over time, the Witness would use its philosophy of the Final Shape to recruit other species into its fold. It would do this first with the last Lubraean named Rhulk, who became the first of its Disciples upon destroying his home planet of Lubrae. The next species to be influenced by the Witness were the proto-Worm Gods living on Fundament. The proto-Worm Gods would become seduced by the power it offered and accepted it through their invention of the Sword Logic, but one of their kin escaped Fundament through unknown means.

It would trick the Krill into accepting the Darkness once it saw the Traveler's intention to uplift them, so it used the Worm familiar to drift into the Osmium Court and warn the Osmium King of an incoming syzygy on the planet. The King then warned his daughter Aurash of the event. Aurash fled with her sisters Sathona and Xi Ro as the Osmium Court is overthrown by Taox and the neighboring Helium Court. Sathona recovered the same worm familiar that warned the Osmium King and now her of the God-Wave forming as a result of the syzygy, but it also told her salvation lies within the depths of Fundament's oceans. The sister would discover the Needle upon landing at Kaharn Atoll and commandeer the vessel after making the necessary repairs to navigate Fundament's depths. The sister encounter a creature called The Leviathan, who was injured as a result of Rhulk's subjugation of the Worm God Xita and warns them to turn way, lest they get lost in the Deep. The sisters ignore the Leviathan's warning and discover their salvation in the Worm Gods Akka, Yul, Xol, Eir, and Ur. The sisters accept the bargain with the Worm Gods and transform the Krill into the Hive. Aurash took on the King morph and transformed into Auryx, who would become Oryx after discovering the secrets of Taking; Sathona took on the Wizard morph and transformed into Savathûn; and finally, Xi Ro took on the Knight morph and transformed into Xivu Arath. The Worm Gods would provide the technology needed to escape Fundament and the Hive's crusades begin after defeating the Ammonites and causing the Traveler to flee from Fundament's orbit.

The Collapse

Before the Traveler's arrival in the Sol System, it would uplift more civilizations to use its Light. They would range from the Harmony living on the Gift Mast to the Eliksni native to planet Riis, but each time it would flee and the forces of the Witness and the Hive would arrive soon after. The Eliksni survived their cataclysmic event known to them as the Whirlwind. After it fled from Riis, the Traveler would uplift Humanity in the Sol System. The Traveler's arrival in the Sol System began the Golden Age, caused human lifespan to expand threefold, and enabled the humans to colonize other planets in the Sol System. However, the Golden Age would not last long.

As the Traveler was busy terraforming Io's surface, a period of great calamity known as the Collapse would begin. It would first be seen on Titan, when the Black Fleet used its weapons to alter Titan's gravity and destroy the structures supporting the New Pacific Arcology domes. Ahsa, the same proto-Worm that escaped Fundament long ago and sought refuge on Titan's methane seas, was injured by Nezarec, another Disciple of the Witness and the instigator of the Collapse who piloted The Lunar Pyramid. The Traveler would flee to Earth and defend humanity as a result. It would also affect the people aboard the Exodus Green, where the clash between the Traveler and its ancient enemy resulted in the existence of the Distributary and subsequently the birth of the Awoken. It would affect the people on Earth as well.

At the final moments of the Collapse, Savathûn would kill Nezarec and hide the Veil on Neptune, and then the Traveler would sacrifice itself to create the Ghosts and push back the Black Fleet, temporarily stopping the Witness from enacting the Final Shape. Humanity would soon enter the Dark Age with the arrival of the Cabal, the Eliksni who are now known to the humans as the Fallen, and the existence of tyrannical Lightbearers called Warlords in the Sol System.

The Dark Age would soon end with the formation of the Last City and the fall of the Warlords, The Lightbearers defending the Last City became the Guardians led by different members of the Vanguard. The Last City faced many challenges before the arrival of The Guardian, from the clash with the Fallen united under the banners of the House of Devils, House of Kings, and House of Winter to the attempted reclamation of the Moon ending in a Great Disaster. The people of the Last City soon discover that the Traveler's ancient enemy is coming back to finish what it started during the Collapse and that they are unable to survive it this time.

Ascension of the Young Wolf

On the eve of the Darkness's return to the Sol System, a lone Ghost discovers his Guardian's corpse in the outskirts of the Cosmodrome whilst avoiding the Fallen House of Devils. They soon acquire their first jumpship after dealing with the Fallen and make their way to the Last City to meet the various individuals there: the Titan Vanguard Commander Zavala, the Warlock Vanguard Ikora Rey, the Hunter Vanguard Cayde-6, the Crucible handler Lord Shaxx, the Gunsmith Banshee-44, and The Speaker, a disciple who speaks for the Traveler. After meeting the people of the Last City, they return to the Cosmodrome to acquire a warp drive, eliminating a Devil Archon named Riksis in the process. They soon discover their purpose as a Guardian from the Speaker and he tasks them with investigating what is stopping the Traveler from healing after its conflict with the Darkness during the Collapse. They begin begin solving the mystery upon discovering the Hive's presence in the Cosmodrome. They travel to the Moon to stop the Hive from commencing an invasion on Earth.

They first investigate leads from another Guardian who went missing and eventually died near the entrance to the Temple of Crota, then enter a Hive fortress called the Hellmouth to seek out The World's Grave, a compendium of Hive knowledge and their plans to invade Earth. They learn of the Hive's plans to conduct a ritual to drain the Traveler's Light and warn the Speaker about the revelation. He organizes the forces of the Last City to stop the ritual. As the Guardian lands near the ritual site, the Exo Stranger issues a challenge to them: if they stop the Hive ritual and return alive, she can meet them face to face and discuss a threat more troubling. Ghost tracks the coordinates of the message to Venus. They discover the ritual in the Chamber of Night and stop it. They then meet the Stranger in the ruins of Ishtar Academy, who informs them of the Black Heart, a failed replica of the Veil created by the Vex of the Sol Divisive. She instructs them to find a way into the Black Garden and destroy its heart in order for the Traveler to heal. They would seek counsel from the Awoken of the Reef. They reveal that in order to gain the coordinates to the Black Garden gate, they must first confront a Gate Lord and retrieve its eye. They return to Venus to lure out and defeat Zydron, Gate Lord. They present the eye and learn the coordinates to the Black Garden gate lies on Meridian Bay, but they must get past the Exclusion Zone set up by the Cabal scout legions including the Sand Eaters, Dust Giants, Siege Dancers, and Blind Legion. They enter the Black Garden after charging the Gate Lord's eye and destroy the Black Heart by defeating 3 frames comprising the Sol Progeny: the Primeval Mind, the Imminent Mind, and the Eschaton Mind.

After destroying the Black Heart, the Guardian continues their mission to push the minions of the Darkness. They infiltrate the Vault of Glass to prevent the Vex from using time-altering powers to destroy them, then assist Eris Morn with delaying the return of an Ascendant Hive warrior named Crota, who had his brood build the Hellmouth close to Nezarec's dormant Pyramid and slayed thousands of Guardians during their attempt to reclaim the Moon, then work alongside Mara Sov and Petra Venj to stop the House of Wolves led by Skolas from uniting other Fallen houses. Finally, they would participate in the Taken War by infiltrating the Dreadnaught and stopping Oryx, who has the ability to create armies of Taken and arrived in the Sol System to seek vengeance for the death of his son. The Guardian would challenge and defeat Oryx in the Ascendant Plane. They then had to return to the Cosmodrome to stop the spread of SIVA, nanotechnology produced by Clovis Bray, and the House of Devil Splicers who worship it with assistance from Shiro-4 and Lord Saladin, the last surviving Iron Lords along with Lady Efrideet. They confront the Devil Splicers within the Plaguelands and defeat Aksis, Archon Prime. With Aksis's defeat, the Last City begins to celebrate the Age of Triumph. However, the Age of Triumph did not last, for it was the calm before the storm and the storm would become the Red War.

The Red War begins as the Cabal Red Legion under the command of Dominus Ghaul would activate the Traveler Cage, strip all Guardians of their Light, and invade the Last City. The Guardian leaves the Last City and reclaims their Light powers from the Shard of the Traveler after dealing with the Fallen from the House of Dusk. After reclaiming their Light, they help the civilians of the Farm and EDZ before they discover a message from Zavala instructing them to travel to Titan. They do so and and discover a Hive presence as they work along with Zavala, Deputy Commander Sloane, and Amanda Holliday to restore power to the New Pacific Arcology rig. They do and retrieve the Arcology CPU to decrypt Red Legion transmissions. The decryption reveals that the Red Legion has placed The Almighty around Sol using Mercury as its fuel, leading Zavala to task the Guardian with reassembling the Vanguard since they are the only one with the Light. They retrieve Cayde-6 from the planetoid Nessus and Ikora Rey from Io. The Vanguard and Suraya Hawthorne would formulate a plan to take back the Last City: the Guardian would board the Almighty and disable its star-killing weapon, but first they must break into the Red Legion base and defeat Thumos, the Unbroken. After the Almighty is disabled, the counterattack begins, but the Vanguard are unable to continue the assault, forcing the Guardian to confront Ghaul themselves inside his flagship, The Immortal. They are able to defeat him despite his forced acquisition of the Light and reawaken the Traveler from its long-dormant slumber as it sends out a wave of Light across the Milky Way Galaxy. The wave would cause the Black Fleet to mobilize and begin making its back to the Sol System.