Sol-D973

Sol-D973 is a variant of the standard Solar System, designated as D973 in the Terminus identification system. Sol-D973 previously hosted an extremely advanced, but small metahuman civilization, uplifted to incredibly large tech levels by a large, white, spherical entity called the Traveler. Evidence of this civilization can be found all over the system. The civilization there was destroyed by a force termed the Darkness in an event referred to as the Collapse; little is known of what occured, as the Collapse killed the vast majority of metahumanity in the system and destroyed most of their information storage infrastructure. At roughly the same time or shortly thereafter, multiple hostile nonhuman species arrived in-system.

The Collapse was only stopped from becoming an extinction event by the sacrifice of the Traveler, which forced it away from the system; this "sacrifice" seemed to only cause minor damage to the Traveler, damage that has been significantly exacerbated in light of its reawakening in the Red War. The remnants of human civilization were eventually able to re-cluster underneath the Traveler, forming the Last Safe City. The Last City is protected by Guardians, supersoldiers reanimated by the magical force of the Light by Ghosts, drones created by the Traveler as its last act before falling into its past coma.

Sol-D973 is an extremely unstable system; as the Red War has proven, not even the Last Safe City is truly safe. Constant strife fills the system as its alien forces squabble with metahumanity as well as each other. Its technological level tends to be high, but somewhat inconsistent; while the City approaches post-scarcity, most other settlements are at least of an Industrial technological level. The primary currency of the City is glimmer, a form of programmable matter found in abundance throughout the system. All known standard-Earth-set language are spoken here, though the primary ones are English, Russian, and Chinese.

The Traveler
The Traveler is a large, white, and fractured megasphere. It is ostensibly a self-aware deity that hovers over the Last City. The Traveler is also stated to be the source of the Light that Guardians use. Surviving historical evidence from the Golden Age notes the Traveler, when fully capable, can terraform celestial bodies simply by existing near them; it terraformed many celestial bodies in the system, but was not able to terraform all of them before the Collapse, with Io being the last place it touched.

The Traveler arrived in Sol-D973 sometime around 2020; its presence proceeded to bring forth metahumanity's Golden Age, a period of such blinding advancement the people of the City still do not know the full extent of metahuman prowess during that time. Similarly, it was the Traveller's as-yet undefined last action that stopped the Collapse and the complete destruction of metahumanity. This action coincided with the release of the Ghosts that reanimate and travel with Guardians.

The Last City was constructed underneath the inert Traveler over several centuries; its presence is believed to deter most hostile action, though events like the Battle of Six Fronts and the Red War prove that its protective influence is likely overstated. The Traveler awoke after the Red War, its first direct action of the City Age being to smite Dominus Ghaul, de facto leader of the Cabal Empire, dead on the spot; however, beyond occasionally emitting waves of energy aligned with different elements of Light, it has otherwise remained silent, presumably self-repairing.

Guardians
Guardians are the Last City's first line of defense; metahuman warriors resurrected by Ghosts and imbued with the Light, a magical power that is referred to in the system as "paracausal". Guardians in general are raised to defend the remnants of humanity from the marauding nonhumans in the system, utilizing firearms, magical powers, and the ability to, under most circumstances, return from the dead.

The first Guardians, referred to as Risen, were not always friendly; many of them became cruel Warlords that abused their immortality and powers to subjugate the survivors of the Collapse in their name. These Warlords were eventually broken by the Iron Lords, a group of Risen who formed together in order to depose Warlords and free their struggling subjects. Those that made their way to the settlement that became the City served primarily as bodyguards for the refugees there, and eventually organized themselves into what would become modern Guardians after a series of civil and external conflicts.

Modern Guardians are split into three types for logistical purposes, though there is no strict typing system in the Light, and many Risen (like the Drifter) eschew "classes" entirely. Titans are those Guardians who show an aptitude for direct combat and fighting tactics, and are the most enthusiastic participants in the defense of the City and prosecution of enemy targets. Hunters display excellent skill in reconnaissance and exploration, and can be relied upon to be the first to discover new facets of the system. Warlocks are analytical wunderkinds, who can often be found trying to discover and process information about the various things in the system.

Guardians participate in the common defense of Sol-D973 in multiple ways. The most common action is to be out on patrol; simply moving throughout an environment, making note of discoveries and dealing with enemies as they show up. Many Guardians will undertake solo missions, either for personal reasons or at the behest of local, friendly figures. Inexperienced or competitive Guardians abuse their resurrective immortality to gain combat experience in Crucible zones - training areas set up for live fire tactical exercises. Guardian "fireteams" of three Guardians each will occasionally participate in strike operations against critical targets in the system. Exceptionally dangerous targets warrant a "raid team" - six Guardians who dedicate themselves to navigating the lairs of their targets to assassinate them before they become too dangerous to contain. Despite the tactical effectiveness of large, massed formations of soldiers, the hideous casualties incurred during the Great Disaster result in Guardians rarely forming into squads greater than six unless absolutely necessary.

Ghosts
Ghosts are synthetic intelligences, contained inside a drone body that is generally the size of an "American" football, though the shells that Ghosts wear can vary in size, so that is only a general rule. Ghosts are responsible for the initial resurrection of Guardians, and for imbuing them with their Light. They are also capable of resurrecting Guardians should they ever die; the mechanism of operation is something not even they are aware of, but the end result is that Guardians are functionally immortal so long as their Ghost remains alive.

Ghosts serve as traveling companions and assistants to Guardians; they are equipped to perform scans of objects, as well as decrypting encoded communications and files and hacking computer systems, along with other types of behind-the-scenes work that is beyond a Guardian's capability or attention. They tend to be extremely maneuverable; if a Ghost does not want to die, the only theorized effective means of terminating one is saturation fire from high explosive weapons or area of effect spells.

While a Ghost offers a Guardian many strengths, their Ghost is also their primary weakness; Ghosts are easy to damage, and this damage tends to be extremely hard to repair. Ghosts also cannot resurrect themselves; if a Ghost dies, a Guardian becomes mortal, and their next death will be their last.

The Consensus
The Consensus is the governing body of the Last Safe City. The Consensus, in addition to being a city-state by default, is also defined as a particracy - a form of government where political parties, termed "factions" in the City, dominate the political process. There are four official member parties of the Consensus - the New Monarchy, the Future War Cult, Dead Orbit, and the Vanguard. These member parties govern the City, uphold the interests of its metahuman populace, and advance their agendas through civil channels. It should be noted that factions are not traditional political parties - they are primarily wedge issue parties, though various political leanings can be ascribed to them.

The populace of the City - metahumanity - consists of three distinct subspecies. The first is standard humanity, homo sapiens, which DNA samples note to be a match for humans elsewhere. The second are Awoken, homo secreta. Awoken differ from basic humans in that they have slightly improved reaction time, incredibly long natural lifespans, abnormal skin colors (blue, purple, green, and gray), and faint acausality - the Awoken are said to be balanced in both Light and Dark. The third are the Exo. Exo do not have a species name, as they are (with seemingly few exceptions) human beings whose minds have been uploaded into robotic bodies.

The New Monarchy is a centrist political faction, dedicated to the Last City and its people, who wish to reclaim the Golden Age. A central tenet of New Monarchy is that they believe the City is best served by the Consensus voting to abolish itself, and transferring power to a single sovereign of "unimpeachable character". Members of the New Monarchy claim that they want the best for the people of the City, and that they want to ensure it remains a safe place to be for a long time to come; detractors write New Monarchy off as monarchist fascists who want to place the City's peoples under the yoke of a tyrant.

The Future War Cult is a paramilitary spiritualist faction, whose core tenet, perhaps shaped by recent history in-system, is that war is an inevitability no matter what anyone does, and that the City must be prepared to ensure its safety by asserting it when it must. Members of the Future War Cult differ on whether or not humanity should stay in-system or evacuate, but all agree that the City should be prepared for war at a moment's notice; detractors dismiss the ramblings of the Future War Cult as insane warmongering that distracts from the growth of civilization.

Dead Orbit is a democratic survivalist faction, which holds as its central belief that the Earth is doomed and the Last City indefensible; thus, evacuation of Sol-D973 is necessary for the survival of the human race. Dead Orbit's practitioners point towards the damage wrought in the Red War as evidence of their correct way of thinking, though their rivals are quick to call them cowards willing to abandon most of the people in the City just to ensure they can live another day.

The Vanguard
The Vanguard, while one of the factions in the Consensus, is not a political party. It is a pseudo-authority structure for Guardians interested in a more cohesive means of protecting the City. While most Guardians function anarchically - forming spot hierarchies during situations when necessary - others appreciate the formality and concreteness of a command structure, and the Vanguard provides that. While ostensibly optional, however, the Vanguard does hold a lot of sway over Guardians, and is generally considered to be their official representative.

The Vanguard serve multiple functions. They operate in an advisory role, giving information to Guardians about missions they may be undertaking. The Vanguard operates its own armory of high-quality equipment, which they allow Guardians with excellent performance access to in order to assist with their operations. They also occasionally direct three-Guardian fireteams on strike missions against important targets.

The Vanguard itself consists of three members, well-respected figures in the communities of the Guardian classes. The Titan Vanguard is Zavala, a stern and taciturn awoken who prioritizes the defense of the City above all else. The Warlock Vanguard is Ikora Rey, a human whose wiseness, patience, and grace belies her capacity for fury and destruction, and her love of combat. The Hunter Vanguard position is currently unoccupied; its previous occupant was Cayde-6, a jovial exo who, while surprisingly competent in the field and behind a desk, spent a large amount of time goofing off out of boredom. Cayde was permanently killed during a mission to stem the most recent jailbreak at the Prison of Elders that marked the beginning of the Young Wolves' campaign against the Scorn.