Cabal

"Suddenly, a Cabal dropship swoops in over the skyscrapers, unloads over our position with rockets, and drops a whole squad of Legionnaires, backed up by a Centurion."

- Joe Staten

Cabal, sometimes informally called "War Rhinos" or "Space Turtles," are a race of giant bipedal humanoids located on Mars and one of the primary antagonist species in Destiny. The Cabal empire is a military-industrial complex determined to expand and conquer, and is characterized by size, with everything about the Cabal being massive, from soldiers to equipment and vehicles.

Biography and Morphology
Cabal are a large, rhinoceros-like, bipedal race with thick grey skin, a flat nose, conical teeth, small eyes, and black blood. Despite being unable to breathe the Martian atmosphere without their armor, the Cabal appear to exhibit an affinity to desert-like terrain, which is evident through their colloquial nomenclature and occupation of Mars. The race expresses a complex understanding of technology, seen with advanced armor, weapons, vehicles, and the art of space-faring.

Almost all Cabal technology contains an unknown black sludge which human laboratories have yet to find a way to synthesize. When killed, Cabal soldiers collapse loudly and "squirt dark oil from their livery."

Legionary
Legionaries are Cabal line soldiers; hulking rhinos that charge straight into battle.

Centurion
Centurions are tougher than Legionnaires and sport shields, and can stay mobile on the battlefield thanks to portable jump jets. They also have small missle launchers implanted on their armor.

Phalanx
Phalanges carry large solid shields that protect them from most damage.

Colossus
Colossi are ferocious and massive warriors that often wield devastating Gatling-style rotary cannons. They are also outfitted with ultra-heavy armor, backpacks that can fire a barrage of guided missiles at a target, and are surprisingly mobile given their weight and equipment.

Psion
Psions are smaller than other Cabal, and usually serve as pilots and drivers for Cabal vehicles. They are able to harness mental powers to confront their enemies. They are also used prominently in important Cabal stealth missions.

Interceptor
The Interceptor is the main scouting vehicle used by the Cabal. It is fairly nimble despite it's size, and packs enormous firepower with dual low-velocity, high-payload rocket pods. It is also outfitted with a booster jet array for short, sustained boosts forward to avoid incoming fire.

Goliath
The Goliath is a Cabal tank specifically designed to hold large areas with minimum deployment. They are outfitted with a turret-mounted plasma-based explosive launcher as their main weapon. The front of a Goliath has several Point Defense Weapons to deter any frontal attacks, and they are mobile with four boosters for maximum speed.

Harvester
The Harvester is a Cabal dropship. Outfitted with jet engines, rocket pods and cloaking devices, the Harvester is deadly. It is rarely seen, as many Guardians who face a Harvester are killed by the Cabal deployed from it, or blown to bits by the rocket pods.

Cabal Detachments
Currently, seven detachments within the Cabal army exist. These include:

Blind Legion
The Blind Legion is an elite Cabal detachment located on Mars, who hold a very strong presence across the planet. These Cabal are called to defend vital artifacts that were seized from the Vex, or seize further objectives and relics. They are the equivalent of shock troopers, deployed for specific objectives instead of standard combat. Think of the Sand Eaters as a hammer, the Dust Giants as a sword, and the Siege Dancers as the fortress. The Blind Legion is the scalpel of the Cabal, used in difficult or vital operations. Their banners are colored red and white, and so is their armor.

Bone Crushers
The Bone Crushers is a detachment revealed in the official strategy guide.

Dust Giants
The Dust Giants is a detachment located on Mars, which consist of highly trained and heavily conditioned soldiers. Most members of the Dust Giants were at one point a part of the Sand Eaters infantry. They are an elite force of Cabal used primarily for front line combat. The Fleet Commander of the Cabal fleet over Mars was once in the Dust Giants, and continues to use their regalia. Their banners are dark green and yellow with teal trimmings.

Ice Reapers
The Ice Reapers is a detachment revealed in the official strategy guide. They fight alongside Valus Ta'aurc in the Cerberus Vae III strike, and by extension, the Dust Giants. They could be a small detachment used as Ta'aurc's personal guard, or an elite infantry force.

Sand Eaters
The Sand Eaters is a detachment located on Mars, and they make up the bulk of their species' presence on Mars. They are more of a standard legion compared to the other three stationed on Mars, but this is overshadowed by their huge numerical advantage. They are more numerous on Mars than the other major three legions combined several times over. Their banners are colored green and yellow, as is their armor.

Siege Dancers
The Siege Dancers is a detachment located on Mars, which is deployed as an elite forward unit in order to gain access to unsecured locations and set up fortifications for the Cabal. They are the stormtrooper force of the Cabal, and their aggressive tactics and specialist equipment reflects this. Their banners are colored yellow and blue.

Sky Burners
The Sky Burners is a detachment revealed in the official strategy guide.

Cabal Bosses
Sand Eaters: Dust Giants: Blind Legion:
 * Bracus Tho'ourg
 * Bracus Tha'aurn
 * Psion Flayers
 * Kolar, Psion Flayer
 * Numoc, Psion Flayer
 * Vatch, Psion Flayer
 * Valus Ta'aurc, Fleet Commander
 * Primus Sha'aull

Mars Exclusion Zone
The Cabal's Sand Eater veteran regiment are the current occupants of the Mars Exclusion Zone, an ancient human city and a remnant of the Golden Age, which holds quantities of gold beneath the Dust Palace, an important area of the city.

Although the Cabal's presence is centered on Mars, humans first encountered them at the Twilight Gap on Earth.

Trivia

 * The Vanir armor set was created specifically to help Titans survive encounters with Cabal troops.