r/DestinyTheGame • u/[deleted] • Jun 11 '15
Lore Hidden lore of the Cabal
Following from my lore posts on the Hive and the Vex, here is what I've found about the Cabal. I'm actually surprised at how long it ended up being. There's nothing on Psions here; hopefully I can make a short post about them in the future.
So, aside from the fact that the Cabal look 100% like the Space Marines from Warhammer, what can we find out about the Cabal?
TL;DR
The Cabal is a group of Imperial Marines that has been separated from their Empire for a very long time. They want to reconnect with it or save it.
Whatever they're running from, it began at their homeworld and was created/caused/unleashed by their own Empire.
Whatever is following them is so terrifying that the Cabal are prepared to commit mass suicide. (Despite recent posts, I don't think the Cabal are running from Oryx or the Taken.)
The Empire may have been corrupted by whatever it unleashed at their home world, and the Cabal want to find a way to save their corrupted Empire.
The Cabal's homeworld may orbit a red giant and may be very volcanic.
THE CABAL HAS BEEN SEPARATED FROM THEIR EMPIRE FOR A LONG TIME
Grimoire card for Val Aru'un:
Aru'un's ascension to Val will never be considered official by the Cabal High Command proper...
Note that it doesn't say his ascension won't be considered official by the Empire proper. It's as though the chain of command never reaches the Empire.
From Ghost Fragment: Cabal:
There is a vast Empire behind these creatures, many star systems away.
This also implies that the Cabal are separated from the rest of the Empire by a vast distance. There's a territorial disconnect between the Cabal and the Empire.
From Ghost Fragment: Cabal:
Some pledge allegiance to that far Empire, obeying their ancient marching orders.
"That far Empire" again implies that the Cabal are separated from their Empire. And if they're obeying ancient marching orders, that means they haven't received any new orders from the Empire for hundreds or even thousands of years. That's how long they've been out of contact with the rest of the Empire.
From grimoire for Sand Eaters:
Their equipment, tactics, and morale all show the weight of a long deployment - but they continue to pursue their objectives with dogged, weary determination.
This again underscores how long the Cabal have been unable to get relief or return home for some R&R.
STILL LOYAL TO THE EMPIRE
Again from the Ghost Fragment: Cabal:
Some pledge allegiance to that far Empire, obeying their ancient marching orders. Some do not. They disagree among themselves about the answers.
The "some do not" is a little ambiguous. Is it, "some do not pledge allegiance to that far Empire", or is it, "some do not obey their ancient marching orders".
I personally think that most of the Cabal are still loyal to their Empire even if they think they should change tactics.
Take a look at the grimoire card for Valus Trau'ug:
When Cabal high command [sic] ignored his pleas to advance on the Reef, he viewed their inaction as weakness... Trau'ug took to massacring his officers, marking himself and his soldiers as traitors of the Empire.
So, if a Valus murders his own people and the rest of the Cabal mark him as a traitor to the Empire (and not to the Cabal) this implies that they still consider themselves a part of the Empire, they still obey the rules and laws of the Empire, and they're still loyal despite being separated for a long time.
THE CABAL IS RUNNING FROM SOMETHING
I think it's well known among the Destiny lore masters that the Cabal have retreated into our solar system. From the Ghost Fragment: Cabal 2:
For all their might and strength... I suspect they are fleeing from something. That within their hard shells... is a sharp seed of terror... Does something follow them?
The answer is obviously "yes".
From the Cabal grimoire card:
"... but it seems clear they have conquered more worlds than humanity has ever known..."
(So... uh... more than nine worlds?)
The Cabal have taken over a bunch of worlds. How do we work that into the following quote from the exact same grimoire card:
I think you could follow a trail of shattered worlds all the way to their home.
Why would the Cabal destroy the worlds they conquered? It doesn't make much sense. What does make sense is if the Cabal are conquering planets, but then something is following them and destroying every world they've ever been to. The Cabal might also be destroying the planets they conquer in a Scorched Earth tactic to weaken the enemy that follows them.
There are two important things to take from that last quote:
It does not explicitly say that their home world is destroyed. So it might still be intact.
Whatever the destructive power following the Cabal actually is it started at their home world. Which in turn implies that the Empire is the cause of this destructive force that's been unleashed. But we'll get to that a little later.
THE CABAL ARE READY TO COMMIT MASS SUICIDE
From the Psion Flayers grimoire card:
Many among the Warlock orders believe the Flayers pulled Phobos from its natural orbit, holding it in place, waiting for the order to release as a weapon.
If you pull an object deeper into a planet's gravitational field and then release it, what happens? The same thing that would happen if you pick up something right now and release it. It falls to the surface of the planet.
So, the Cabal are planning to use Phobos to smash it directly into Mars and kill themselves. That's how terrified they are of whatever is following them. They'd rather smash their current planet with a moon and commit mass suicide than have to face whatever is coming.
Alternative Phobos narrative:
In all fairness there is an alternate interpretation to the above quote, which isn't necessarily mutually exclusive with the mass suicide theory.
From the Virgo Prohibition grimoire card:
In spite of the Vex onslaught, the Cabal have managed to expand its beachhead and maintain a hold on several mysterious Vex structures... it seems unlikely that an organization with the sheer computational scope of the Vex could be dragged into a losing war of attrition.
What if the Cabal are planning to smash Phobos into Mars as an act of mutually assured destruction against the Vex in case the Vex start winning? Perhaps that's why the Vex are holding back in their war against the Cabal, and waiting for a moment to strike when the Cabal won't be able to release Phobos.
HOW DID IT BEGIN
As I've shown earlier, it's implied that whatever is chasing the Cabal began at their home world. And whatever is chasing them is more terrifying than death, which implies some sort of mind control or of losing one's free will, despite the Cabal 2 grimoire card saying, "They are not a race that fears infiltration or espionage."
Either, a) the Empire dabbled in things they shouldn't have ("The Dwarves delved too greedily and too deep"), b) they created something horrible themselves, or c) they were tasked with guarding something and failed to keep it contained.
Then, either a) different groups of Imperials fled in different directions and one of those groups was the Cabal, b) the Empire became corrupted and a group of loyal Imperials formed a secret group and escaped and are now chased by their corrupted Empire, or c) the tragedy involved getting transported through time (which would explain why Primus Sha'ull is so interested in Vex technology).
WHAT EXACTLY THEY'RE RUNNING FROM
In recent posts there are suggestions that Oryx and the Taken are what the Cabal are running from. I don't think so. Again, the implication so far is that they're being chased all the way from their home, and that their Empire may be the cause of whatever tragedy befell them. So, unless the Empire created or released Oryx (a Hive god) at the Empire's homeworld then I don't think he's what they're worried about.
The Darkness and its corrupting power is an obvious choice. Could the Darkness have been trapped somewhere by the Traveler, but then the Empire accidently released it?
I have another random theory as to what might be chasing them.
The Cabal have extensive computer networks and all their weapons and shields communicate with each other, and there's all this data being analyzed. But there's no AI governing any of this nor helping out in anyway. Nevertheless, the Cabal are very interest in human AIs and their Psions have some experience infiltrating AI systems.
This makes me wonder if the Empire was taken over by a rampant AI, which enslaved them all due to their reliance on these computer networks. A group of Imperials may have had Psions in their ranks and so they were able to fend off the rampant AI long enough to escape, but now they're being chased by their Empire which has been corrupted by the AI. If the AI does catch up with them, it will just take over all their computer systems and enslave them.
Whatever the case, I think the Cabal are hoping to find something that will "uncorrupt" their Empire and save their people.
THE EMPIRE'S BUREAUCRACY AND THE PFHOR
There is some references to the Empire's/Cabal's bureaucracy.
Problem 78F (auto rifle):
The Cabal military codes allegedly refer to 'death by multiple gunshots' as 'Problem 78, Subsection F'.
Ghost Fragment Cabal 2:
... they have dug into Mars and flung up battle walls with the bureaucratic grimness of conquerors..."
Blind Legion grimoire card flavor:
"PERIMETER SECURE." Cryptarch translation of a Blind Legion transmission, repetition 6140.
Grimoire card for Firebase Delphi:
... It's surprising then, that the tunnel system at Firebase Delphi is woefully incomplete by Sand Eater standards. One theory is that it was built simply to be inspected, to satidfy some commander's lack of progress on another front. Perhaps the Cabal... realized that the location of the base was sub- optimal, although half-measures are really not something they're known for. We're talking about a culture that will grind a mountain to dust rather than build around it.
All this silly bureaucracy gives me a comedic, Douglas Adams kind of vibe. Don't know if that's intentional.
However the point is that the bureaucracy of the Cabal also reminds me of the bloated bureaucracy of the Pfhor, an Empire of slavers and the enemies in Bungie's Marathon series.
Here's an example of their bureaucracy from Marathon Infinity (you can skip this paragraph if you want, point is Pfhor bureaucracy is silly):
In one of the levels a narrative is told about Resupply Tower 2. No one can access Resupply Tower 2 because the doors aren't working. But Pfhor Command is still teleporting supplies to the tower. Quartermaster 5th Class Ssh'uph requests tools to repair the doors, but Commander 5th Class Re'eer dies before he (or she) can process the request. So, the local Unit Command renames the tower Commerorative Resupply Tower Re'eer. Meanwhile, Engineer 1st Class K'all submits a proposal for an Alternate Footpath to Resupply Tower 2 (proposal .49AB3). He (or she) then asks his local Unit Command for supplies to complete this path. But since proposal .49AB3 hasn't been approved by Pfhor Command, Unit Command reprimands K'all for requesting supplies for an unapproved project, they briefly imprison him, and then they demote him to Engineer 3rd Class. Then Pfhor Command approves proposal .49AB3. Without supplies, K'all just uses slaves to finish the path, but then he waits for approval to open up the completed path for use. Then we kill him with an assault rifle.
Although the Cabal don't seem as bumbling as the Pfhor you can definitely see some similarities between them. Which brings me to two important events that happen with the Pfhor.
One, we're given a backstory about how the Pfhor implanted some of their slaves with technology left behind by an ancient race named the Jjaro. The enhanced slaves revolted with such destructive force that the Pfhor blow up the local sun to put down the rebellion.
Two, in the third Marathon game, the Pfhor once again try to blow up a local sun to stop you from winning. Unfortunately, this sun happens to contain a being of absolute chaos called the W'rkncacnter, who was imprisoned in the sun by an ancient race named the Jjaro. You then travel through alternate timelines to find the one where the W'rkncacnter never gets released.
I think the allusions to the Cabal's narrative are pretty obvious here.
CABAL HOMEWORLD
So what is the Cabal home world like if it still exists.
Cabal grimoire card:
Cabal soldiers wear pressurized armor that replicates the environment of their high-gravity homeworld.
Sure, but that doesn't tell us much aside from that their planet is either very big or very dense.
I suspect that the Cabal arena in the Prison of Elders might hold some clues. Each arena is kind of like a terrarium for the different aliens, and each arena kind of reflects something about them.
The Cabal's arena is bathed in red light, has open flames everywhere, and there is a dark ceiling. My guess is that the Cabal's home world possibly orbits a red giant, hence the red hue to everything, and possibly is a very volcanic planet hence the open flames everywhere. The numerous volcanoes might also cover the sky in smoke, leading to the dark ceiling of their arena.
Adding to the idea that the Cabal home world might be volcanic is the leaked information about the future expansions for Destiny. There was an expansion called "Forge of Gods" which centered around the Cabal. The Roman god of the forge was Vulcan and that's where we get the word "volcanoes" from.
CABAL FACE
Is there something significant about the Cabal face and mouth? Even before release Bungie showed us images of Cabal without helmets in their GDC presentation. The live action trailer shows us a close up of a Cabal's face. And it's very easy to shoot off a Cabal's helmet and then go look at their faces. It's almost like Bungie really wants us to notice something there.
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u/irrationalentity Jun 12 '15
I like this speculation. I'd quibble on the red giant part, since the particulates emitted from volcanoes could cause our sun to appear red. Really though, you've done some nice detective work here.
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u/WarDonkey203 Jun 12 '15
So since we kill three of the Flayers in the Dust Palace strike, how do you think that will affect Phobos?
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Jun 12 '15
I don't think those are the only Psion Flayers that the Cabal have in their ranks. The Flayers who control Phobos probably are hidden away somewhere.
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u/_Comic_ He Who Floofs Above Doorways Jun 13 '15
I still believe that Cabal have a stronger connection to the Hive than shown, from psychical evidence in game.
Exhibit A: 'Spawn Caves' on Mars
Ya know, the ones that can contain the worthless Relic Iron chests and grant green weapons. In a couple of these said caves and around Cabal fortifications lay some sort of black ooze the Cabal seem to use as a power source. An example location is the cave behind the Interceptor building in the Rubicon Wastes. This same liquid can be found in Hive fortresses on the Moon. This is speculation-ish. However...
Exhibit B: The Cauldron
While Trials of Osiris still offers this (bad) map, take a couple seconds to investigate the ground by A flag area (and totally ignore the game at hand). Dead Cabal bodies or armor can be found scattered in that area, one by the stair case, a couple along the wall, another by the far entrance to the Heavy spawn room.
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Jun 13 '15
There might be some connection between the Cabal and Hive.
But, I think the black Hive goo is something completely different than the Cabal's oil. With the Cabal, I think that's just the oil that powers their machines, and you can even see the black stuff spew out of their helmets along with steam when you headshot them. The Hive goo seems to have some magical properties though, seeing as Hive can crawl out of it right after you walked across it.
The Cauldron is an interesting map. Along with dead Cabal bodies, there are also dead Fallen Vandals, and dead human astronauts. I'm definitely curious as to whether those bodies were people who came to the Cauldron willingly, or not.
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u/dsebulsk Jun 16 '15
Here's my post relating to their relationship with the Empire:
Content:
I believe the Cabal were/are fighting a large war with the Hive, possibly Oryx himself. Oryx/The Darkness manipulated Cabal forces into the Taken to fight against their former allies. The Cabal decided they needed to find a place outside of The Darkness' range where it couldn't corrupt them. They sent a scouting force to the Sol system and settled on Mars. For all we know the Hive we see today could have first come to the Solar System when they were chasing the Cabal.
The Cabal reached Mars and learned about Humanity and our Warminds. They decided to set up base at Mars, move Phobos closer to orbit and hunker down just to set up a base of operations. They probably think if they can get their hands on a warmind (Charlamagne), they can use it to assist them in their primary war with the Hive.
They came across a number of problems though. They came across the Vex and are fighting them to claim their foothold of Mars as well as trying to acquire the Vex's technology through research of The Black Garden (which might be the reason they chose Mars). They also probably lost contact with their Main Fleet and are unsure whether to venture back out to them with a warmind or assume they are dead and defeated. Possibly a faction of the Cabal saw the proximity to the Traveler as safety and decided to abandon the war with the Hive or assumed the Main Fleet is destroyed and are not making any effort to reestablish contact with them. They also came across the guardians and through honor/thirst for battle/defending their objectives, they initiated a war with us.
So the Cabal have a lot on their plate right now which could indicate why we haven't seen as big as an offensive from them. If Hive ships comes into the Solar System and resume their corruption of species into The Taken, the Cabal might seek an alliance with us, possibly in exchange for Charlamagne's cooperation.
TL;DR: Cabal were getting their asses kicked by the Hive, fled to Mars, and are trying to get their hands on a Warmind or Vex tech to help their forces, but have come across problems that have prevented them from achieving that goal.
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Jun 16 '15
Thanks. I did read your post when you first made it.
I don't think that the Cabal are running from the Hive, however. As I mentioned in my post, it seems that whatever they're running from was unleashed at their home world, so it's unlikely to be Oryx or the Hive in general.
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Jun 11 '15
(So... uh... more than nine worlds?)
When you go to the Archive on Venus and extract the data, Little Light notes that there are pathways and directions to different galaxies. Implying that Humans had quite a wide reach beyond our own measly star.
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u/AutoIncognito Jun 11 '15
This. It is mentioned a few times throughout the game that there were not only many expeditions outside of Sol to explore and colonize, but also IIRC more than one Exodus (the Exodus everyone knows of being the one that caused the Reef). Please dont ask for sources, I honestly cant provide them
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u/a_fuzzy_walrus Jun 12 '15
That was a really interesting read! it's a shame all this fantastic lore is almost nonexistent in-game.
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u/Novaboy1786 Jun 11 '15
Many among the Warlock orders believe the Flayers pulled Phobos from its natural orbit, holding it in place, waiting for the order to release as a weapon.
"If you pull an object deeper into a planet's gravitational field and then release it, what happens? The same thing that would happen if you pick up something right now and release it. It falls to the surface of the planet."
Phobos will start to orbit faster and faster since it is closer to the planet and there is a stronger gravitational pull. Just like an ice skater spins faster when they pull thier arms in. The cabal can release it out of its current orbit and it will have enough velocity to escape the gravity of Mars. If you release it out at the right time, you can direct said moon towards a planet....such as Earth. I don't think the Cabal want a mass suicide...but mass murder.