Here’s another Strike idea of mine. If you have any ideas you’d like to share with me, just let me know. Enjoy. [b][u]The Cerberus: Vex/Taken Strike[/u][/b] [b]Location[/b]: The Rupture, Io [b]Description[/b]: “Investigate reports of a strange Hydra kidnapping Guardians on Io.” [b][u]Part 1: “Following the Trail”[/u][/b] [spoiler]Players land in The Rupture. Cayde:“Hey, Guardian. Listen, um, this is gonna sound really weird, but a ton of other Guardians have been reporting that some 3-headed Hydra just stepped out of a Vex Gate and started causing chaos. Others tried pinning it down but it led them somewhere and then their communications went dark. So now we’re sending you to investigate.” Ikora: “I pray that you will not fall victim like the rest.” Cayde: “Last we heard from ‘em, they were tailing the Hydra to a Lost Sector not far from your position, check it out.” Players follow a marker to a Lost Sector entrance at the far bottom right corner of the in-game map. Once outside the entrance, they are met by Taken Vex. Ghost: “Taken? What are they doing here?” Cayde: “Okay, that is not good. Missing Guardians plus Taken equals big no-no.” Ikora: “If The Taken are capturing Guardians, could that mean...” Asher Mir: “Guardians are impossible to take! Their Light is too strong!” Cayde: “Guess we’ll find out.”[/spoiler] [b][u]Part 2: “Pursuit”[/u][/b] [spoiler]Players fight through the Taken until they enter the Lost Sector, called “Aphix Conduit.” Ghost: “I’m detecting a massive Taken signature up ahead, a portal of some sort.” Ikora: “A portal could only mean that Taken are streaming in from their home world. Cut them off.” Players turn a corner to see both normal and Taken Vex both bowing before a giant Taken Blight encapsulating a Vex gate. A strange-looking Hydra is levitating Guardians around itself as it floats towards the gate. Guardian: “Ahhhh! Someone help us! Please! Anyone!” Players attempt to stop the Hydra, but it disappears. The gate turns off, and the Blight vanishes. Ghost: “That Hydra just dragged Guardians through a Vex gate but it was covered in Taken energy!” Ikora: “What? Worlds meshing together?” Players push through the Lost Sector, fighting through Vex and Taken Vex. At the end of the final room, another Vex Gate opens with a Taken Blight. The strange Hydra steps out, and attacks players. The Hydra is named “Cerberus, Disembodiment Mind.” It is somewhat-Taken, but not completely. The Taken Hydra looks normal except for the top of its body. Instead of a single head being inside the frame, 3 heads are extending from the body with long, skinny necks. As well, it has 3 shields instead of 1. It attacks like a normal Hydra. After damaging it enough, it retreats back into the portal. Ikora: “Don’t let it get away!” Players run through the portal.[/spoiler] [b][u]Part 3/boss fight: “Cerberus, Disembodiment Mind”[/u][/b] [spoiler]Players enter an area that looks similar to the Glass Throne from the Vault of Glass, but it is very dark. The area is called “Chamber of Disembodiment.” A platform the players are standing on begins floating somewhere as a killfeed message reads, “The Cerberus welcomes its next victims...” As the platform floats along, the pained screams of other Guardians can be heard. Ghost: “Those screams...my god. I’m detecting dozens of Guardians trapped in here. Ikora? Cayde? Are you getting this?” No response. Ghost: “Oh no. Guess we’re on our own.” The platform eventually reaches a much larger floating platform. Cerberus is standing there, as if patiently waiting. Around it, dozens of Guardians trapped in stasis (similar to Cayde-6 in the campaign) are screaming in pain as the stasis fields float around Cerberus. Cerberus looks to the players, and another killfeed message reads, “Cerberus traps its prey.” At that moment, players become trapped in stasis themselves (same as the mechanic in Vault of Glass.) They must shoot themselves out before a 4-second timer reaches 0. If it reaches 0, the player inside will die. If all players die, they become part of all the other Guardians trapped around them. Anyways, if players free themselves, then the Cerberus’ 3 heads turn to face each other, and begin spinning rapidly. A killfeed message reads, “The Cerberus embraces the Blight.” Afterwards, a Taken Blight begins forming on top of the Cerberus. Yet another killfeed message says, “The Blight absorbs the Light of a prisoner.” As the Blight does this, the 3 shields surrounding the Cerberus drop, and players must focus fire on the Blight to deal extra damage to Cerberus. After enough damage is dealt, the Blight will explode. Another killfeed message says, “The Cerberus gains Light.” Now the 3 heads on the Cerberus will turn back to face players, and the Cerberus will attack using a distance-based Guardian Super Attack, such as Golden Gun, Nova Bomb, or Shadowshot. Thankfully, the attacks don’t deal as much damage as they do when another Guardian uses it in Crucible. After some time, another killfeed message will read, “Cerberus runs out of Light.” When that message appears, the Cerberus’ 3 heads will face each other and begin rapidly spinning to form the Blight to absorb Light. Each time, the Super Attack used is randomized. After enough damage is dealt to Cerberus, it will die. Since it is Taken, it doesn’t explode, but just gets sucked away to wherever dead Taken go. When the Cerberus dies, the other trapped Guardians unfortunately also explode. Then the room around the players begins crumbling apart as players are teleported back to the Lost Sector on Io. Cayde: “Guardian?! Guardian! Hello?!” Ghost: “We’re back, Cayde. It’s okay.” Cayde: *sigh of relief* “Oh my cotton socks — I thought you were dead!” Ikora: “You should have more faith in your Guardians at this point, Cayde. Guardians, did you find the others?” Ghost: “Well, we did, but as soon as we killed the Hydra, they died too.” Ikora: “A shame. They must have been linked somehow.” Ghost: “Plus, I think we destroyed a Vex world.” Ikora: “A heroic act nonetheless. Well done.” Strike over.[/spoiler] [b][u]STRIKE LOOT[/u][/b] [spoiler]Weapon: The Disembodiment: Legendary Pulse Rifle (Kinetic) “No...no...no more cries!” Perk: When your Super meter is full, holding down the trigger activates full-auto that deals more and more damage until the trigger is released, at the cost of your Super. Armor: Helm of the Cerberus: Legendary Warlock Helmet “I can still feel their Light beyond the void. It’s trapped out there.” Perk: When you are near a Fireteam member with a full Super, gain extra shielding and double attack output.[/spoiler] [b][u]BOSS LORE[/u][/b] [b][u]1. Cerberus, Disembodiment Mind[/u][/b] [spoiler]When this Hydra was being constructed, the process was interrupted by the Taken attacking. While the Hydra itself was mostly complete, it wasn’t Taken. However, a small drop of Taken energy did intermix with the Radiolaria already within it. Thanks to the all-powerful self-replication process, the Radiolaria overpowered the Taken energy, but not entirely. It embedded strange thoughts into the Hydra. By its own free will, it absorbed some of the Taken powers, not enough to be fully mind-controlled into Oryx’s army, but enough to deviate itself from the Vex Collective Mind. It could feel the urge to kill to grow stronger, and so it began taking pleasure in killing, rather than replicating. Somehow, despite deviating from the Collective, the Vex still allowed this unit to exist within their ranks, giving it the title of “Disembodiment Mind.” It then began capturing Guardians, sadistically torturing them to absorb their Light. Witnesses nicknamed it “Cerberus” for its multiple heads. This is the first recorded instance of a Vex enjoying the torture and murder of others.[/spoiler] I’ll link my previous Strike idea to this one. Link: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/232741425/0/0