While watching a ChrisFrancisK vid on faction specific gear I came to a realisation. Dead Orbit is aligned to the Awoken. Specifically the Awoken that dwell in the 'Reef'. [b]Evidence:[/b] [b]Faction Representative is Awoken.[/b] Obvious, I know but it should be said. [b]The description of the faction says that they only grudgingly have a presence in the Tower.[/b] This suggests that the politics behind Dead Orbit are not aligned with the Tower and, as they are the only other major population center in the Sol System, the Reef is likely the seat of their power. [b]Item specific flavour text alludes to an exodus, just like that undertaken by the people that would become the Awoken.[/b] Eg: Oblivion Greaves (10:15) have a quote that says [b]"It will be cold and harrowing and we will not all survive. But it must be done."[/b] The Awoken are supposedly the descendants of people that fled to the edges of the Sol System and were changed by the Darkness (I can't remember the source, maybe a grimoire card? Leave one in the thread and I'll add it) http://i.imgur.com/k4QWsMl.png (Thanks to ghost59). As such it is likely that this quote refers to this event and thus to the origins of the Awoken. The quote is about hardships and doesn't have any of the hopefulness that one would expect to find in a quote about the initial diaspora of people during the Golden Age. This is just one of several quotes that mentions these sorts of event. Eg: [b]"We must make our own safety without the City."[/b] This quote is from Dead Orbit gauntlets and while they may reference the independence of the Hunter Class, it is equally possible that it references independence from the City/Tower. As these sorts of quotes are only found among Dead Orbit faction gear it seems likely that the faction itself would have strong ties to this exodus and it's survivors/descendants. Please add any other sources/evidence that you find that are related to the origins of Dead Orbit. Perhaps we can even try to puzzle out the other factions as well. Thanks to ChrisFrancisK for providing the source material. TL/DR: Dead Orbit are aligned with the Awoken and the Reef because the flavour text for their gear alludes to the origin of the Awoken/Reef.