[i]Artist representation of Neptune as seen from the surface of Triton. Credit to Richard Bizley[/i] [quote][i]“Only by acceptance of the past, can you alter it." [/i] -T.S. Eliot[/quote] Reality bursts into perspective as you abruptly awake from a long sleep aboard your ship. The dream had faded into nothing but a blur, except for one word that resonated profoundly in your light: Triton. [b]The Dimension Within[/b] This raid will take place on Triton, Neptune's largest moon. It is extremely cold and exhibits a retrograde orbit. Triton is doomed to be consumed by Neptune as it loses orbital energy. [u]Encounter 1: A Chilling Welcome[/u] You and your fireteam drop into the icy moon of Triton. The planet Neptune loomed menacingly over Triton like a famished lion awaiting its prey. After inching closer to Neptune year after year, the moon was very close to approaching the Roche limit to where it would be consumed by Neptune or disintegrated into planetary rings. The moon seemed to breathe and exhale as geysers spurt out liquid nitrogen that fogged up your visor with a misty vapor. The land is open and your fireteam is free to explore, although there is hardly a reason to on this empty wasteland. No sign that anyone had been here before. The Traveler neglected to make anything out of this frozen hell. None of the Guardians had ever ventured out further than Saturn, as the forces of Darkness have taken great hold of the outer solar system, but the light of your will and curiosity was enough to keep your fireteam sane. The forgotten dream had to mean something. You couldn't resist that calling until you found answers and you were certain that Triton, for some reason, had those answers. After some time, the ground near the middle bursts. This was no geyser. The ground there crumbled and through the mist emerged a beast. [i]Serberus, the Hell Keeper. [/i] A large humanoid beast, sharing no resemblance to any enemy race. A demon-like monster with blue armor that seemed to be crafted from the ice itself. It was jagged yet intricate armor with detailed but abstract patterns on his gauntlets, legs and helmet. His eyes glowed red through the spiked ice helmet, piercing and narrow. There was a strange insignia of what looked like an eye on his chest that glowed light red as well. Between each piece of armor, Serberus beamed off a blue light, further highlighting his cold demeanor. Firing at Serberus will be of no use. It is immune to every attack. All you can do is try to survive as it fires beams of arc ice from its fingertips at your team. After a certain time, Serberus will mark your fireteam, disabling your weapons and depleting all your ammo. Not long after, Serberus will perform a [i]Rite of Time[/i]. Your visor goes black and there is silence. You reopen your eyes and find that Serberus had disappeared. [u]Encounter 2: The Forgotten Temple [/u] Along with Serberus, the wasteland of ice where you first landed was also gone. You found yourself in a large room now. It was shaped like a triangular container; a triangle shaped floor, ceiling, and rectangular walls. A circular plate lay in the middle of the room. There were three small doors, one on each wall and each of them closed shut. In front of each door was a small plate. An enormous door at the corner of the room was also shut. The exit. Your objective is to work your way out the temple and figure out why you're here. To begin the encounter your fireteam must enter the large center plate. At which point the plate will be enclosed by a clear dome force field and rise to the top of the room, giving your team orbs to charge your super. Below, a small army of Fallen climbs out from under the plate and awaits your team thirstily for your demise. Shortly after, the force field disappears and your team is dropped into the fray in a glory of supers that helps decimate the enemy below. Shortly after the Fallen are destroyed, a cylindrical pillar surfaces from the hole in the center of the room where the plate used to be. On it, are nine circular indentations, three indentations every five meters. You must fill each of these indentations with the [i]Nine Astral Stones[/i] found in the rooms. To open a room, a guardian must stand on the small plate outside the corresponding door. That guardian must hold the door open while another guardian goes into the room. The room itself is a small traditional maze with dead ends and one correct route that contains an Astral Stone. The correct route will change randomly each time the door is opened. The guardian that goes in will face Hive Acolytes and Thralls as they solve the maze. All the while, the guardian outside must stand on the plate holding the door open while fighting off the Fallen in the main room. This will be happening with the three doors at the same time, each time retrieving three stones with three separate guardians. The first time the doors are opened, the guardians must retrieve the [i]Mercury Stone[/i], the [i]Venus Stone,[/i] and the[i] Earth Stone[/i]. These stones will be placed on the center pillar, and the pillar will descend five meters after every three stones. The doors will then close and your team must face another wave of Fallen as the pillar descends. After each wave, three team members go into the small maze retrieving the[i] Mars Stone[/i], the [i]Jupiter Stone[/i], and the[i] Saturn Stone[/i], followed by another wave of Fallen. Finally, your team will retrieve the [i]Uranus Stone[/i], the [i]Neptune Stone[/i] and the [i]Stone of the Unknown[/i]. After all stones are attached to the pillar, the pillar will descend leaving the center plate as it was at the very beginning, and opening the enormous door at the corner. [u]Encounter 3: The Halls of Legends [/u] The door opens into a hallway. On the walls are glyphs not unlike the glyphs found on Egyptian or Greek tombs before the Golden Era. They were stone glyphs but had highlights in gold. They appeared to tell the story of the Traveler and his arrival to our solar system. The story seemed to repeat throughout the hall. They were very well preserved, almost immaculate in appearance. The glossy floors had intricate patterns that reflected the lit crystals that illuminated the halls. The hall eventually branches into two different paths. One to the right, and one to the left. At this point, your fireteam must split up into two groups. Half of the fireteam will go to the left path, while the other half will take the right path. As you go down each hall, you’ll be greeted with Vex Goblins. They’d trickle down at first, but come in waves as each trio works their way down the hall until they reach a large circular room. The walls are adorned with more glyphs telling stories of legends’ past. They reach to the ceiling where an elegant chandelier floated. When both halves arrive at their own rooms, the encounter will start. In this encounter, you must destroy the Vex Augurs. They look like Oracles, but they will spawn in different colors and many at once. They could possibly spawn as red, green or blue. Your team must shoot the correct Augur otherwise, your team will be wiped. To determine the correct Augur, the chandelier in the room where the Augurs don’t spawn in will be lit to the correct Augur. At the same time, the room where the chandelier is lit will have to fight a wave that corresponds to that color. When the chandelier is red that group will face a wave of Cabal. Blue brings on a wave of Fallen and green spawns a wave of Hive. The team who is tasked to kill the Augurs will also be facing a wave of Vex since, like Oracles, Augurs are of the Vex race. The roles between shooting Augurs and communicating the correct color will switch every wave. The amount of Augurs that spawn will increase progressively after every wave, making it harder to find the right Augurs while worrying about the Vex. There are eight rounds of Augurs or four rounds per room. When the Augurs are all destroyed, the circular walls will turn, like a cryptex, solving itself, and rows of glyphs turn, some clockwise, others counterclockwise, then stop. After a few seconds, the walls open and rush of cold air rushes in as you enter the next room. (Continued below)