Complete Intelligence Report of the Cabal Forces in Our System: Tactics, Ranks, Regiments, Weapons, and Leadership. Destroy After Reading.

Guardian, this is our complete intelligence report on the enemy known as the Cabal Empire. Inside, you'll find information on tactics, ranks, regiments, weapons, vehicles, and as much as we know about their leadership. When facing an opponent as powerful as the Cabal, knowledge can be the difference between life and death, so take this information to heart before charging into battle (I'm looking at you, Titan). Good luck! We'll get more intelligence reports to you as soon as possible.

#The Cabal

Tactically efficient, disciplined, and unrelenting, the Cabal are the greatest known military force in the system. Their origins and ultimate objectives are a mystery, but it seems clear they have conquered more worlds than humanity has ever known.

Cabal soldiers wear pressurized armor that replicates the environment of their high-gravity home-world. Their field tactics depend on ranks of Legionaries supported by air power, elite infantry, and ultra-heavy armor.

Ranks

• Legionary - Propelled by jump packs and wielding powerful slug rifles, Legionaries are the Cabal's line infantry and the backbone of their military power on the ground. Common Legionary tactics center on the bounding advance - some units attack the target while others close the range or find new firing positions.
• Phalanx - Phalanx soldiers carry massive shields, used for both attack and defense. While this protection is nearly impenetrable, clever opponents can bait the Phalanx or sneak shots around the shield.
• Centurion - Centurions are tactically intelligent, highly skilled field commanders. Their armor boasts a formidable array of combat electronics and deployable munitions.
• Colossus - Towering over other Cabal, equipped with rapid-firing heavy weapons and nearly impenetrable armor, the Colossus is the most devastating heavy infantry unit in the Cabal order of battle.
• Psion - Psions are smaller than all other Cabal morphs, and may be an unrelated species. Hyper-intelligent, fast and unpredictable, they possess strong psionic capabilities - including the ability to emit disorienting and deadly psychokinetic Arc blasts.

Regiments

• Sand Eaters - The Cabal formation first and most frequently encountered by Guardians, the Sand Eaters represent the numerical bulk of the Cabal presence on Mars. Their equipment, tactics, and morale all show the weight of a long deployment - but they continue to pursue their objectives with dogged, weary determination.
• Dust Giants - Highly trained and heavily conditioned, Dust Giant soldiers seem to be recruited from veteran Sand Eater infantry. The Cabal order of battle positions them as a mobile reserve and shock force, rolled in to blunt major Vex offensives and reinforce crumbling lines.
• Siege Dancers - The Cabal's elite forward unit, the Siege Dancers are deployed into unsecured areas to take control and set up fortifications. Their tactical doctrine allows more freedom to unit commanders - perhaps because their missions face much greater unknowns. Siege Dancer engineers have been observed to compete in demolition challenges. Whether this represents training or a form of recreation is unknown.
• Blind Legion - The Cabal presence on Mars is locked in an endless war with the Vex - and at the heart of this war is the Blind Legion. Deployed to defend vital artifacts seized from the Vex, the Legion holds its ground with fanatic zeal. Blind Legion soldiers brave one of the most thankless, grueling assignments in the Cabal order of battle: descending into buried ruins and black catacombs to sweep for Vex presence.
• Skyburners - Rumors of a yet-to-be-deployed Cabal Fleet have long haunted the Vanguard Hall. Hidden efforts unveiled the Phobos fleetbases house what is merely the first wave of a full-scale celestial demolition fleet, codenamed Skyburners. Ghost scans of the ships and reports of a large Psion presence have Warlocks anxious to learn of their weaponry. Dead Orbit assures the City that the Skyburner fleet poses no immediate threat to the City.
• Broken Legion - Formed from those Cabal traitors who led a campaign against the Awoken of the Reef, and failed. Now, renounced by Cabal High Command and trapped within the Prison of Elders, they've formed their own hierarchy and leadership. Using battle-tested Cabal field techniques, they crush any who dare accept their challenge.

Weapons

• Slug Rifle - The workhorse of the Cabal field arsenal, this weapon's apparent simplicity belies the technology behind it. Each round is a microrocket capable of efficient operation in varying environmental and gravitational conditions. Standard-issue warheads mount a duplex explosive that combines an armor-piercing penetrator with a flesh-shredding shrapnel bus. Cabal forces on Mars favor rockets with low velocity but high impact, perhaps due to their effectiveness against the Vex. In Guardian parlance, these weapons deal Solar damage.
• Projection Rifle - This weapon fires salvos of explosive rounds designed to incapacitate, disorient, and destroy. The weapon feeds ballistic data to each projectile at the moment of launch, coordinating the salvo for maximum effect. These weapons deal Solar damage.
• Heavy Slug Thrower - This devastating squad support weapon is capable of completely halting enemy advances with a hail of microrockets. It performs so well that it has undergone very little enhancement or modification since its introduction. The Cabal's Colossus heavy infantry units wield Heavy Slug Throwers to devastating effect. In Guardian parlance, these weapons deal Solar damage.
• Cabal Shield - Built to the same spec as Cabal hull plating, this tactical shield is nearly indestructible to conventional weapons. It has integrated sensors that relay information not only to the shield bearer but also the Cabal battle network, allowing nearby units to coordinate more effectively.

Vehicles

• Harvester - The blocky, dull exterior of the Cabal Harvester belies the grace and power with which they maneuver. Guardians have described them dropping in aggressively from low orbit with a deafening boom, kicking up dust storms and swooping through the silent skyscrapers of Mars' dead cities. Harvesters often remain on station after deploying Cabal troops, providing support fire with their turrets. These weapons deal Solar damage.
• Interceptor - Though they lack the speed of a Fallen Pike, and their unwieldy shape cannot match the maneuverability of a Guardian's Sparrow, the Cabal Interceptor more than makes up for both shortcomings with firepower - a pair of low-velocity, high-yield anti-personnel/anti-armor cannons on articulated mounts. These weapons deal Solar damage. Powered by a variant of the same boosters used in infantry jump jets and the massive Goliath tanks, Interceptors skate over the dunes of Mars, keeping close watch on the Cabal Exclusion Zone.
• Goliath Tank - With a few blood-curdling exceptions, the Goliath is the single largest piece of ground-based ordnance the Cabal has deployed in our system. These huge armored vehicles sport an incredible arsenal of weapons, tailor-made for massive area denial. The Goliath's main gun is almost certainly capable of engaging spacecraft. Four massive boosters keep the Goliath mobile. This locomotion system makes the Goliath surprisingly agile, but it is also a weakness. Targeting the boosters should allow a quick mobility kill, rendering the Goliath vulnerable to follow-up attack. Most Goliath weapons deal Solar damage.

Leadership

• Bracus Tho'ourg - Reports of the one they call Bracus Tho'ourg began in the earliest days of contact with the Cabal. The first Guardians who faced him are long lost, but the legends speak of a powerful commander who secured the Buried City with merely a fraction of the Cabal's forces on Mars. If these reports are accurate, they provide clues not only to Tho'ourg's tactical prowess but to the Cabal lifespan.
• Bracus Tha'aurn - Bracus Tha'aurn appears remarkable among Cabal commanders for his interest in the glories of our Golden Age. Having been faced only in the company of Psions, the Vanguard has reason to believe he maintains some sort of command over their deployment.
• Bracus Horu'usk - Captured and Taken by Oryx, Horu'usk fights for his new master in the Court of Oryx, where his shields are powered by the existence of his minions.
• Psion Flayers - Somewhere among their forces, the Cabal hide one of their most powerful weapons, the Psion Flayers. The extent of their ability is still uncharted, but Cryptarch studies and Warlock fears have led the Vanguard to classify them as a serious threat. 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.
• Val Aru'un - Aru'un's ascension to Val will never be considered official by the Cabal High Command proper, but in the Prison of Elders the approval of the outside world is meaningless. To his fellow prisoners, Aru'un is a Val worthy of following.
• Valus Trau'ug - When the Cabal high command ignored his pleas to advance on the Reef, he viewed their inaction as weakness. The most loyal members of his legion pledged their fealty and Trau'ug took to massacring his officers, marking himself and his soldiers as traitors of the Empire. Trau'ug then set course for the Reef. How he and his army became denizens of the Prison of Elders is not public record, and Variks tends to skirt the issue when pressed. What is known, is that Trau'ug's bloodlust and mastery of wartime stratagem is intact within the prison. His custom-rigged shield randomizer keeps attackers off guard as he presses every advantage.
• Valus Ta'aurc - From his armored seat of power, Valus Ta'aurc has claimed more ground on Mars than any known Cabal commander. His name is feared throughout Meridian Bay, and the tread-marks left by his tank have come to signify the expansion of the Cabal's ever-widening Exclusion Zone.
• Valus Tlu'urn - Martian battlefield reports note that Valus Tlu'urn's weapon of choice is a back-mounted Arc cannon. The device delivers a payload so powerful the Vanguard estimates Tlu’urn could face a Goliath Tank himself. The Valus carries recharging Arc cells that feed energy to the cannon, allowing him to siege enemy emplacements indefinitely. Reports suggest he was commanded by Primus Ta'aun and shared battalion duties with Valus Mau’ual. Together, this Cabal triumvirate was responsible for the deaths of countless Guardians on the Martian battlefields.
• Valus Mau'ual - Reports suggest Valus Mau’ual's armor allows him a degree of maneuverability unseen from other Cabal warriors. It features a never-before-seen propulsion system that improves on the Valus’s already considerable striking ability. Tales of his skill in hand-to-hand combat on the Martian frontlines claim he carries no firearm into battle, preferring instead to charge headlong like a nimble boulder.
• Primus Sha'aull - No one knows what fascination the Vex hold for the leader of the Blind Legion, but Primus Sha'aull has put his command at great risk by pushing into lands occupied by the machines.
• Primus Ta'aun - Primus of the Skyburners, veteran of star-shaking campaigns, and bond brother to Tlu’urn and Mau’ual. Once considered the mightiest Cabal soldier in the system, he was ordered by the Cabal Emperor to board and capture the Hive flagship, at any cost. To do so, he crashed a Skyburner command vessel into the Dreadnaught itself, but even his power was not enough. Taken by Oryx, and known now as the Hand, Ta'aun is one of the Taken King's most powerful servants, standing in the way of any who would wish to destroy him.