I've been seeing a lot of strike and raid ideas being posted recently, and I myself had some decent response to some Strike ideas I posted a while back. Long story short, enough people asked me if I was writing a Raid idea that I went and sketched one up. It's a long one, sorry if it's tl;dr. Anyway, this raid idea was motivated by [url=http://conceptartworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Destiny_Game_Concept_Art_11b.jpg]the very first concept art released[/url], wherein we see the Fallen marching through a winter storm. Since seeing this two-ish years ago, I've been waiting for weather effects to appear in the game, and still nothing! This raid aims to fix that. Raid Idea – The Ice Bridge East Location: Northeast Russia, Earth Enemies: Fallen Chapters: 1. Forward Base Approach 2. Opening the Bridge 3. The Barren Flats 4. 60 below 5. The Hold 6. Forge 7. The New City Chapters 1-3 (here) Chapters 4-6 ([url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/202910830]jump[/url]) Chapter 7 and the end ([url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/202911739]jump[/url]) Intro: Executor Hideo: [quote]Many, many years ago, the first humans likely found their way into new lands by way of an ice bridge that connected two continents. And many, many years later, the time has come again, Guardian. If we wish to move forward again we must start by reclaiming what was once ours during the Golden Age. In the words of the Speaker, "Take the path, spread your light."[/quote] [u]Chapter 1: Forward Base Approach[/u] [b]Secure a forward base.[/b] Players start immediately from orbit, flying low over Earth’s surface. As the loading screen shows the ships descending, player cameras shift to third person as a Ketch appears above. All controls are similar to Halo: Reach in that full 3D flight is permitted (within flight space). [spoiler]C'mon Bungie, there's no way you don't still have these files somewhere, right? You spent too much time making the controls and sound effects to have it only appear in one-third of one level in one Halo game.[/spoiler] Soft kill zones are enforced, and ships handle and have different offensive and defensive capabilities based on the ship being flown. Neither rarity nor light level affect ship capabilities. White text appears bottom left: [i]“The Fallen protect their territory.”[/i] Lock-on sounds are heard for a random three of the players, before air-air missiles are fired from the Ketch. The three randomized players (who will be notified by flashing red text center screen) must dodge and outrun the missiles by any means. Moreso than staying alive, the objective of these three is to keep the Ketch busy. If all three missile are shot down or completely outrun, the process will repeat with a new random three players. During this time, the other players may attack the Ketch’s systems. Four of the five systems must be shut down in order to continue: Thrusters, Comms, Weapons, Defense and Main Cabin. Each has its own yellow “Boss” health bar, and all five are additionally laid out in the HUD so that comparisons can be made on the fly. Once attacked, the Ketch can “lock down” one of these five stations at a time, making it invincible at the cost of not using that system. The system locked down is based on which target was fired upon last, with a timed cooldown before that specific system may be locked down again. Each of the five targets affects the ship differently, and once one system is destroyed the rest become stronger/more effective. The 5 Ketch systems are: Thrusters: Allows the ship to (slowly) evade and make (occasional) jumps. Comms: Allows the ship to call in Skiff and (unnamed smaller ship) reinforcements. Weapons: Affects the frequency of the 3 lock-on missiles. Defense: Affects the frequency of the other systems’ occurrences. Main Cabin: The ship’s other offensive mechanism. Attacks the 3 ships not locked-on with less damaging means. After two systems are destroyed, white text appears: [i]“The winter storm intensifies.”[/i] Players now have more difficulty controlling ships, as gusts of wind occasionally shunt the ship as it flies. Visibility reduced. After four systems are destroyed, white text will appear: [i]“The Fallen Ketch retreats.”[/i] Players then fly to a specific marker to activate an in-game landing cutscene when white text appears: [i]“The winter storm forces a landing.”[/i] Downed Guardians revive without their ship on the ground at the landing site. [spoiler]HARD MODE: Lock-on missiles travel more quickly, require more frequent dodging maneuvers. Storm intensifies after each destroyed Ketch system. Players will become snowblind (10% visibility) after set amount of time passes if players are taking too long to defeat the Ketch.[/spoiler] [u]Chapter 2: Opening the Bridge [/u] [b]Take out the Fallen barrier preventing entry to the Ice Bridge. Don’t be seen. [/b] After landing, Guardians navigate through snowdrifts and the occasional crevasse step-traps to reach a number of small Fallen outposts. There are three in total, each on a cliffside higher than the last. There are alarm systems, trip mines (similar to those found in The Breach), and small packs of Fallen along various paths to the outposts, similar to the Vault of Glass’s Gorgon’s Maze but with the added difficulty of height. There is no quick up or quick down, all traversing must be done by Hunter jumps, Titan lifts, and Warlock glides. Players must jam the 3 comm towers to continue past a barrier leading to the Barren Flats. This is done by locating one outpost’s comm tower and taking it offline via a Control capture point. Upon jamming an outpost’s comm tower, that outpost’s signal light will turn from red to green. Turning all three signals green deconstructs the barrier necessary to continue. Alerting Fallen or tripping an alarm will summon more Fallen to appear from behind sealed doors at that specific outpost, and every last Fallen must be eliminated before continuing. [spoiler]HARD MODE: Winds gust, pushing airborne Guardians around, possibly off ledges. Additionally, the comm towers will not permanently stay off, resetting after a set amount of time. Once all three tower are green at the same time, reset will not occur. Fallen patrols are stronger.[/spoiler] [u]Chapter 3: The Barren Flats [/u] [b]Start the ice bridge on Sparrows, watch for Vandal marksmen. [/b] Once past the outpost barrier, a large, open ice field lays ahead. This is the start of the Ice Bridge that connects (formerly) Asia to (what was) North America. The mission objective here is simply traversing and exploring, with the only requirement being getting to the far end of the Barren Flats. Outside of the occasional jagged ice providing a Sparrow jump or cragged rock formations hiding a materials(/exotic?) chest, the area is completely flat, with liquid water on both side of the wide ice bridge providing hard kill zones. The width of the bridge may be comparable to a Sparrow Racing league map, occasionally getting thicker or thinner depending on the terrain. There are a number of Vandal snipers, but otherwise no Fallen activity. Players will continue along the ice bridge for a few minutes until night falls. [spoiler]HARD MODE: Fallen Pikes now roam the Barren Flats as well. Players driving too close near an edge may be gusted off by winds.[/spoiler] (End of part 1, part 2 can be found[url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/202910830] here[/url]. Part 3 will be [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/202911739]here[/url].) Keep the comments coming. It was fun to write, but I ought to try to keep it within canon. If there are any edits or holes in the story let me know. Edits are free. Also, the last page details raid rewards, but distinctly lacks legendary guns. I could use ideas for that too if you're bored! Keep it clean, -a Kitty XD EDIT 1: Changed speaking voice from the Speaker to Executor Hideo.