Cabal (Destiny)

Cabal on Mars.

The Cabal are an alien race that features in Destiny.

History

The Cabal were an advanced organized alien species whose origins were largely a mystery except that their homeworld was a high-gravity environment. One period in their history was the Era of Lead that was said to had been before they extended their research beyond their immediate star system. According to their myths, three Cabal warriors once sought to claim the sun atop a great mountain with the site being guarded by a mighty beast. Two of the warriors were killed in the attempt to outwit an evade the creature whilst the third died with pride and honor after accepting the challenge to fight it in battle. Her sacrifice had left a mark upon the creature which came to inspired other Cabal to face the monster despite their deaths where each came to leave a scar on the beast. This was until one warrior named Acrius succeeded in delivering the killing blow on the beast which had grown wounded and weary from the constant fighting. With his victory, Acrius proceeded to claim the sun and became the first emperor of the Cabal empire where he united his race during his reign. Following this point, there came the Era of Conquest that consisted of military expansion and galactic colonization as the Cabal claimed territory beyond their home system. This saw them incorporating many worlds into their empire which began to host a number of client races among which included the Psions who were assimilated into their society and served as indentured servants that were prized for their psychic abilities. Worlds conquered became enriched with ceremonial gold in an attempt to ease their defeat and were also afforded the opportunity to challenge officers for representation within the Cabal's leadership. During the empire's earliest days, it was ruled by the Emperor alongside a military aristocracy that formed the Praetorate that allowed the people to suffer so long as the military Legions were allowed to grow.

As their empire expanded, they came to meet other species possessing technological prowess with the Cabal taking what they had created along with their cultures. They came to establish the capital of their hierarchy on the world of Torobatl.

It was said that the Cabal's mother system had no desire or want that could be given to them. Around this time, it was known that the Cabal had encountered beings empowered by the Light of the Traveler and alo came to learn of the Darkness.

Under Dominus Ghaul's reign, the Cabal were noted to had engaged the Hive in combat.

Their forces arrived in the Solar System at some point following the events of the Collapse which saw the end of the Golden Age of humanity. With little to oppose them, the Cabal forces building a beachhead on the Mars moon of Phobos where they established Fleetbase Korus along with Firebase Thuria. From their position, they moved to launch a ground invasion of Mars where they occupied the planet. The Cabal within the Solar System were divided on their presence as some continued to obey their ancient marching orders whilst others disagreed. Since their control of Mars, the Cabal faced constant attacks from the Vex and the Guardians. Despite their casualties, the Cabal were able to hold their position and called for additional reinforcements.

On Imperial orders, a attack group crashed their warship into the Hive Dreadnaught in order for it to be used as a beachhead to assault Oryx's throne. This strike force managed to determine the location of Oryx who was situated at the centre of the Dreadnaught. They attempted to make their way there but discovered that travel was only by way of a portal rapture that could only be used by the Ascendant. Another operation involved an attempt to blow up the Dreadnaught's core that would destroy everything around the vessel.

Afterwards, the Red Legion led by Dominus Ghaul received the Skyburners distress signal and arrived en masse into the Solar System. Upon arriving, the Cabal fleet launched a sneak attack against Earth where they destroyed early warning satellites and struck at the City itself. The Red Legion managed to defeat the Guardians protecting it and place a machine on the Traveler that severed the Light from it. This was all an attempt by Ghaul to claim its power for his own and use it to establish himself as the Emperor of a new Cabal empire. Thus, the Red War began as the Cabal attempted to lay claim to the system and fought against the numerous factions on those worlds. Ultimately, the Legion decided to deploy the Almighty into the Solar System with the intention of triggering the Sun to go supernova and destroy the worlds within whilst they left with their prize. A lone Light-bearing Guard managed to rally the scattered Vanguard into laying an assault against the Cabal in order to stop Dominus Ghaul. The Cabal leader was ultimately killed and the cage around the Traveler was shattered as the ancient entity had awakened from its long dormancy thus spreading the Light across space as the Guardian's retook the Last City. However, even with Ghaul's death, the conflict with the Cabal did not end and the Red War continued to be fought in the Solar System.

Following the destruction of the Undying Mind, the timeways over Mercury became undone and grow unstable. During this time, a council of Cabal Psion Flayers looked to take advantage of the Vex's disorganization and assume control over time itself. They had intended to use the control over time to undo the Cabal's defeat in the Red War but their meddling with Osiris's time-altering Sundial resulted in Mercury being splintered into three different eras that were each under control over one of the Psion Flayers. These activities drew the attention of Osiris and Guardians who worked to ensure the safety of the timeline.

It was revealed that the forces of Xivu Arath had also been responsible for corrupting Cabal forces and turning them into Wrathborn with the empire mobilising to combating this 'disease'. At some point, it was revealed that the Hive had struck Torobatl and had left it destroyed with this being a serious loss for the Cabal. Under Empress Caiatl, the Cabal Empire sought revenge against their attackers and she took her fleet to the Sol system. In this time, she declare that all Psions of the Cabal Empire were to be released from the bonds of servitude and granted full citizenship with them free to join the Cabal or leave. Aferwards, she met with the Guardian's Vanguard leaders where she offered an alliance to Commander Zavala with their combined resources being used to fight back against the Hive as well as the Darkness. However, she demanded the fealty of the Guardians and them to bend the knee to her but Zavala refused. Though angered, Empress Caiatl did not instigate an attack on the Guardians but rather a challenge for control of the system. She made a call to all Cabal Legionnaire leaders whereby a massive war game was to be waged with the victors joining her War Council. The Guardians themselves began to intervene in these war games to prevent the Cabal from uniting under a single leader.

Afterwards, the red planet of Mars was returned to its orbit in the Solar System though came to be afflicted by a strange temporal distortion. Despite that, Empress Caiatl began to mobilise the Red Legion who travelled to Mars and claim it as Cabal territory before the Vanguard could act on this development. This saw the Cabal setting up a fortification and transporting a large battery to the site when the Witch Queen Savathûn's vessel the Lure revealed itself. Immediately, the Red Legion came to engage the Guardians in battle as both sought a means of entry into the Hive craft. Ultimately, the Guardians prevailed but they came to discover that the Witch Queen had begun to harness the Light with her Lucent Hive able to wild its powers in battle.

Overview

In appearance, the Cabal race were a race of large humanoids with vastly different facial features. Their eyes were noted for being runty and piggish that made it at times difficult to see small targets. Cabal were divided into both male and female genders. It was noted that the Cabal did not breath the same atmosphere as humans.

They were tactically efficient, disciplined and unrelenting species that were ranked as among the greatest known military force in the Sol system. Field tactics saw them rely on ranks of Legionnaires that were supported by air power, elite infantry and ultra-heavy armor. Cabals soldiers were stated to be trained for war and were in fact a warrior people that lay out their fortifications along ancient principles as well as time tested strategies.

In terms of organization, the Cabal were structured into the following ranks:

• Legionary :
• Centurion :
• Incendior :
• Gladiator :
• Colossus :
• Psion : They were noted for being quick and clever with them using their minds to scout out locations.
• Phalanx :
• Primus : high ranking leadership positions held by Cabal champions.
• Val :
• Valus :
• Dominus : the highest rank within their empire and held by leaders of their legions.

Cabal were known to make use of four-legged War Beast hounds that were aggressive and sent to charge enemies or hunt escaping foes.

Custom held within the Cabal was that those born as outcasts and runs were to be cast aside to be left for dead.

A particular cultural relic of their people were war bells that came in a variety of styles. One variety of them was the Bell of Conquests that was a standout example of traditional combat artistry known scal'sangus (blood etching). These objects commemorated martial feats and personal victories achieved by the warrior with them varying widely n appearance. Peasant mercenaries were known to often simply stitch the carved teeth of their defeated enemies onto their leathers whilst those with more resources claimed entire torsos of vanquished opponents that were preserved, lacquered and displayed as busts. War bells continued to be carried into the galactic-colonial period with the decorations becoming more refined. Few Post-Red War Cabal soldiers adhered to tradition as the Bell of Conquests were seen as cumbersome relics. Despite that, these relics were said to still find honor aboard ships by those who wished to respect the combat traditions of their ancestors.

One ancient tradition of their kind was the Rite of Proving whereby free Cabal proved their worth in battle waged in gladiatorial combat and could allow them to ascend in status. The Praetorate were responsible for popularising the Rite of Proving.

Numerous military units were operated by the Cabal that included:

• Sand Eaters :
• Dust Giants :
• Siege Dancers :
• Blind Legion :
• Red Legion :

Disagreements among their kind saw them engaging one another in combat where they slammed their plated bodies into each other. Cabal were said to hold a vast Empire that was many systems away and established Warbases on occupied worlds. The Cabal Empire was noted to had established a number of client races that served in their military with these including the smaller Psion race. It was said that the Cabal destroyed planets and moons for simply being in their way. Cabal military doctrine stated that their crashed vessels were to be destroyed. A noted organization within their forces was the Cabal High Command that had a leadership role in the deployment and coordination of their military. Control of their intergalactic empire was also said to had been centralised on a single figure that held the position of Emperor. They were advised by a military body of advisors that was known as the Praetorate. Under Emperor Calus, the Chronicon was established that was to keep a record of histories of his rule with this being tended to by the Royal Historians consisting of Scribes. An advisory body to its leader was a War Council whereby only the most worthy of champions could join their ranks.

During the empires expansion, it was known that they came to incorporate numerous civilizations as client races. In time, arena culture became the dominant aspect of Cabal culture with it being almost a religion in the Empire. It was known that many Cabal leaders throughout their history had used the legend of Acrius as a rhetorical and political justification for conquest. A practice of the Cabal was the Rite of Proving that was a trial-by-combat gladiatorial system that was intrinsic to their culture. It could be instituted by the deployment of large scale wargames whereby champions fought one another with the victors ascending up the ranks.

It was said that they were fierce hand-to-hand fighters who learnt and shared techniques from countless indoctrinated races. Standard procedure dictated for Cabal to detonate their ships after a crash when they were under attack.

The Cabal Empire maintained a number of planets as athenaeum worlds that served as vast planetary repositories of knowledge and technology. Within them, they kept the archived knowledge of numerous species whether as texts, technology, superweapons or other such items that were created with these carefully maintained on these worlds. Once there, the Cabal studied them for potential use in the future for their empire. A whole network of library worlds was noted to be spread across the Cabal's mother system.

The Cabal language was noted to possess many different dialects though there was no word that approximated 'hubris' in it. Similarly, there were no word for 'evacuation' in the Cabal language. A currency used within the Empire was known as Imperials.

Technology

It was known that the Cabal had achieved incredible heights of technology allowing them to build wonders such as the vitality-gifting Red Eyes, system-spanning mobility of the Ninth Bridge and the far-seeing OXA Machine.

On armaments, the Cabal made use of the following:

• Slug Rifle :
• Projection Rifle :
• Heavy Slug Thrower :
• Cabal Shield :
• Headhunter :
• Magma Launcher :
• Bronto Cannon :

In combat, their soldiers wore pressurized suits of armor that replicated the environment of their high-gravity homeworld.

Their empire made use of a substance called the black oil that was a multi-purpose organogel that was used in all aspects of their technology. It was composed of unidentified chemicals that was potentially toxic to non-Cabal beings. The Cabal Oil was used for a variety of roles including as fuel for ships and ran through their armor as 'pressure gel' that helped insulate them from uninhabitable environments. It could also manipulate the effects of gravity on vehicles and soldiers along with it containing pathways for data transmission.

Cabal utilised a number of vehicles that included:

• Interceptors :
• Goliaths :
• Imperial Land Tank : massive vehicles that were part tank and part mobile command structures.

For quick deployment, the Cabal made use of Ripper Pods that were drop pods holding soldiers that were launched from their ships to the ground. The impact of the pod was enough to kill enemies at the site whereupon the exterior disintegrated and allowed the Cabal warriors inside to deploy to secure a sight or to reinforce their lines.

Harvesters were blocky dull exterior troop carriers that belied the grace and power with which they manoeuvre. They dropped in aggressively from low orbit with a boom in order to swoop through the landscape where they remained on station after deploying troops whilst providing support fire with their turrets. Another type of gunship used by the Cabal Empire were the Threshers that were equipped with missiles and anti-missile flares to protect from counterattacks. From their ships, they could deploy Mining Landers from low orbit onto the surface in order to begin mining operations.

Among the largest weapon in their arsenal was a massive doomsday weapon referred to as the Almighty. This craft was responsible for arriving in a star system where it began to feed on materials within the area as it positioned itself with the local sun. It drained the energy from the star causing it to go supernova whereupon the Cabal departed the system as it was destroyed in the resultant explosion. The unique energy link formed by the Almighty with the sun meant that destroying the craft could trigger the star into exploding.

Members

• Calus : former Emperor of the Cabal Empire who was deposed by Dominus Ghaul whereupon he led his Loyalists as they were exiled to the Leviathan.
• Caiatl : Princess-Imperial and daughter of Emperor Calus who participated in the coup against her father.
• Dominus Ghaul : a former gladiator who had been cast aside to die but was taken in by the Consul where he was groomed to depose the Emperor and become the new leader of the Cabal where he headed the Red Legion.
• The Consul :
• Umun'arath : the Evocate-General who was Primus of All Legions that participated in the betrayal against Calus and sided with Ghaul.
• Tha'uul : a Statesman and minor diplomat who participated in the coup against Calus.
• Bracus Tho'ourg :
• Bracus Tha'aurn :
• Primus Sha'aul :
• Valus Ta'aurc :
• Dracus : a male Commander in the Red Legion where he participated in the Red War and was infamous for having killed many Lightless Guardians leading to him being known as 'the Butcher'. After Ghaul's death, he disappeared but re-appeared when Empress Caiatl's arrival in the system where she made a call for the worthy to join her War Council with him one of many champions participating in the war games but was killed by the Guardians.
• Basilius : a male Cabal known as 'the Golem' was a Colossus of the Red Legion stationed on Mars until he was ordered off-world by his Valus allowing him to escape the Black Fleet along with the loss of contact with Mars. He responded to Caiatl's call for people to join her War Council where he attempted to impress her by journeying to Europa in an effort to pillage it of Exo technology to offer it to the Empress only to be killed by the Guardians.

Notes

• The Cabal appear as one of the four villain antagonist races in Destiny.
• Much of the background was presented in the Grimoire Cards that were accessible from the Bungie website.

Appearances

• Destiny:
• Destiny 2:

External Links

• Destinypedia Entry

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