EDIT: Hey all! Go vote in my poll for the next level you wanna see! https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/259833693/0/0
[b][u]Primeval Unchained[/u]: Taken Strike[/b]
Location: Fleetbase Everest, Rathmore Chaos, Europa
Description: “Some of the Drifter’s Taken have gone AWOL on Europa. Contain them by any means necessary, including termination.”
[b]Part 1[/b]
[spoiler]The Fireteam lands in front of a snowy Cabal Firebase, named “Fleetbase Everest.” The beginning dialogue starts as players make their way into the facility.
Drifter: “Hello Guardians! Man am I glad to see you.”
Ghost: “So is someone going to explain why we’re here? And why there’s a Cabal facility on Europa that we were never told about until now?”
Ikora: “I’m sure the Drifter would be happy to explain.”
Drifter: “Well, it was supposed to be a surprise. I’ve been getting complaints that Gambit was getting a little stale with only, what, 4 arenas? So I’ve been scoping out places that could serve as new ones. Lo and behold, I found this place abandoned. Figured it’d be the perfect spot.”
Ghost: “But, the Cabal aren’t supposed to retreat or abandon their posts. They either fight or die.”
Drifter: “And…that’s where the catch comes in,” he chuckles a bit nervously, “You see, I had THOUGHT it was abandoned because from the outside it looked that way. Turns out it was filled to the brim with Taken, mostly Cabal that I bet used to live there.”
Ikora: *sigh*
Drifter: “Now this wasn’t my first rodeo, I’ve had to do an arena clear plenty of times. But for some reason when I brought my gear down, including the cage I was keeping one of my Primevals in, she started acting all crazy, shaking the cage until she somehow broke out of it. Haven’t seen her since, but my tracking beacon showed her as still being inside the facility until just a little bit ago. Now it’s gone.”
Ghost: “So let me guess, you need us to clean up your mess.”
Drifter:”…I’ll pay off any debts you have?”
Ghost: *sigh* “Whatever, let’s go.”
By this point, players have meandered through several hallways, fighting off Taken Cabal as well as Hive and Vex. Note that throughout the Strike, the occasional Taken Goblin, Phalanx or Knight will have the title, “Unchained Blocker,” and will have more health than usual adds.
Ghost: “I thought you said it was just Taken Cabal here?”
Drifter: “There were. Are there more?”
Ghost: “Yes! Including some of your own Blockers!”
Drifter: “Oh…that’s not good.”
Ikora: “Push forward, Fireteam. Quickly.”
After advancing some more, players approach a door that is locked, with a computer console near it.
Ghost: “Looks like the operating system’s still active. Let me see if I can crack it.”
A player deploys their Ghost to unlock the door. This becomes a wave defense section as hoards of Taken appear.
Ghost: “This facility is old. I’d thought it would be Red Legion, but this actually belonged to the Blind Legion. Most recent data entry was 6 years ago.”
Drifter: “Who were they?”
Ikora: “A sub-group of the Cabal military dedicated to researching the Vex, they were active prior to the Red War. But if their last entry here was 6 years ago…this facility may have fallen to the Taken when Oryx arrived.”
Drifter: “Well hallelujah, this just keeps getting better. A Taken infestation festering for 6 years right under our noses, and now with a Primeval at their disposal.”
Ghost: “That’s not all. This facility was built around a Vex portal discovered underground. Supposedly, it was active as of their recent entries.”
The door opens. Players enter it.
Ikora: “Be careful, Guardians. Who knows what you might face.”[/spoiler]
[b]Part 2[/b]
[spoiler]The Fireteam continues through a dark hallway.
Ghost: “So who is this Primeval we’re after?”
Drifter: “Her name’s Xygotha, she’s a Wizard. I held her in a higher regard than my other ones because of her power. She actually tried repeatedly to wrestle control of my own Taken away from me, got close a couple times. Hence why I kept her sealed away. But recently she seemed to get pretty docile, so I figured I could let her loose in a new arena. Then you know the story; she took off when I landed here and brought a bunch of my Taken with her.”
Ikora: “You are going to owe the Vanguard a hefty reward for this, IF this team survives.”
Drifter: “Yeah…I figured. Sorry, brother.”
After a little bit, players reach some sort of observation deck overlooking a giant Vex portal.
Ghost: “There’s the portal. We got a long ways to go to get there though.”
Players begin descending through various hallways, occasionally having to stop to clear out Taken infestations blocking their path. At one point, they need to find Arc Charges to place into generators to open a hangar door leading to the portal room. However as it begins opening, a massive Taken Blight forms in the center of the hangar that forces the door closed. Besides several adds, there appears a mini-boss; a very tall Taken Knight named “Lozyk, Eye of Savathûn.” He appears to look like a Taken version of Sardok, Eye of Oryx from D1.
Lozyk has no special mechanics, but is a bit of a bullet-sponge. He goes down within a few minutes. When he does, the Blight disappears and the door opens. Players step through.[/spoiler]
[b]Part 3/[u]boss fight[/u]: Xygotha, Primeval Unchained[/b]
[spoiler]Players emerge in the portal room. Several Taken are bowing before the Vex portal. Players shoot and kill them. Once done, the portal activates but is mixed with Taken energy. Another Blight forms inside of it and latches some sort of tentacles or veins onto the portal itself.
Suddenly, a giant Taken Wizard emerges from the Blight/portal hybrid. It is “Xygotha, Primeval Unchained.” She is very tall and has a strange headdress that looks similar to a Vex Hydra head. Behind her are several Taken adds of all species.
Drifter: “Oh, my god…she wasn’t that big…”
Ikora: “Kill her, Guardian! There’s no way to contain her now! Shoot to kill!”
Players begin fighting, but immediately notice that they can’t hurt Xygotha. After clearing adds, a killfeed message says:
“Xygotha summons her Envoys”
At that moment, 2 smaller Taken Wizards called “Unchained Envoy(s)” (same as Envoys in Gambit) appear alongside more adds. Like in Gambit Prime, you must kill the Envoys to earn the “Primeval Slayer” buff which enables a damage phase for the boss. It lasts for several seconds before the process repeats. But be careful: if the Envoys manage to kill players, Xygotha’s health is healed a little bit. When this happens, the same killfeed message from Gambit says “Death heals the Primeval.” Besides all that, throughout the fight Xygotha will summon Shadow Thralls as additional adds, though they are named “Unchained Shadow(s)”. Blockers will also occasionally appear.
Eventually, Xygotha is defeated. The loot chest drops in front of the portal.
Ghost: “Ikora, Drifter, the Primeval is destroyed.”
Ikora: “And the Taken infestation has been dealt with as well?”
Ghost: “Possibly, but it seemed as though the Taken took control of the Vex gate and used it for themselves. Xygotha emerged from it.”
Drifter: “That sly -blam!-. I could tell by her behavior she didn’t like being subservient to others, even to the Hive Gods. She wanted to be one herself. My guess is she wanted to implement the Vex gate network into her plans somehow. Good hunting, brother, and thanks for the help. Stop by Gambit sometime, maybe this place will still become an arena after all.”
Strike over.[/spoiler]
-
Edited by ZoniCat: 10/9/2021 4:55:35 AMThis is quality stuff. I personally think the "taken hoard phase" at the start could be replaced by a mote phase, akin to actual gambit. Defeating enemies drops motes, pick up and deposit motes. 100 motes deposited = progress. Sometimes "unchained blockers" spawn near the bank and start draining it overtime.