The Icon of Sin's Stronghold

The façade of the stronghold.

"*The composition of the mountain housing the Icon of Sin's Stronghold would be nearly impenetrable to any weapons Earth could develop.*" —William Vanguard

## Description

The Icon of Sin's Stronghold is a fortress located underneath an unnamed island in the Abil-Ilishu Ocean, north of Dis. The island is part of a sporadic chain that stretches far across the vast ocean. The island has a smaller satellite island composed of primarily volcanic rocks. There is a teleportation panel that allows for foot transportation between the two islands.

A line of torch posts stretches along the edge of the mountain, leading to the mouth of a large cavern where the Stronghold itself sits. The only land entrance into the Stronghold is via a thin bridge that crosses over a lake filled with molten hell magma. Inside the stronghold is a series of interconnected chambers and hallways that stretch deep under the mountain itself. Among these chambers includes several storage rooms, a forge used by a Hell Smith, the derelict laboratory of Dr. Serpentarous, the Cardinal's Library, a core of molten hell steel that channels to the forge, a prison, several trapped areas, and the Icon of Sin's reconstruction chamber. On top of the stronghold is a dynamic sandpit, intended to be a training area with controls in the adjacent room, however the Order of Wrath often uses this area for meetings and mission briefings.

## History

The Stronghold was constructed millennia before its discovery by Earth. Shortly after Aperture Science was reformed in 2036, the Slayer found an automap sphere from killing a flesh wizard that was conjured from the Fortress. This automap sphere contained a vague location of the Stronghold, which was translated by the Seraphim.

GLaDOS then assembled a strike time consisting of the Slayer, Inosuke Hashibira, Master Chief, and Soundwave. The strike team fought their way into the fortress and forced Mephisto to flee but were stopped when Inosuke was critically wounded by Vice.

A week later, the Seraphim sent the Slayer, Inosuke, and Master Chief back to the stronghold in an attempt to assassinate Mephisto. In the sandpit, the team encountered a cloaked figure, who revealed himself to be Davoth. Davoth forced the team to retreat back to the Aperture Science Facility via an interdimensional portal. Davoth pursued the team through the portal. Later, Davoth critically wounded the Slayer and brought him back to the Stronghold via a hell gate. Soon after, Inosuke and Master Chief returned to the Stronghold with the space stone in an attempt to rescue the captured Slayer. During the fight, Vice activated his time sphere rune and killed the Slayer. Master Chief and Inosuke conceded defeat and fled from the Stronghold.

Two weeks after the Slayer's death, Ghost used a cultist token to access the fortress. From there, he fought his way past the 4 order members inside the stronghold and faced Vice in the molten steel core chamber. Ghost suffered critical injuries but managed to sever Vice's cybernetic arm and steal it. After dismembering Vice, the United States Space Marine's Iron Company entered the stronghold and fought their way past the weakened defenses, covering Ghost for his extraction. During the next month, the stronghold held no major events and many order members such as Anari, Akamai, and Nero used it to train for the upcoming battle.

After the United States' joint campaign with the Union Aerospace Corporation resulted in the annihilation of Dis, the forces moved for an attack on the stronghold in an effort to revive the Slayer using the Divine Intervenor. This attack, led by Ghost and Valen, ultimately resulted in a high casualty count. During the final hour of the battle, Inosuke had fought his way into the central Gore Nest chamber, where the Slayer's armor was strung up against the wall. He activated the Intervenor, which severed his arm. The Intervenor, which had been designed for use in the mortal realm, failed to locate the Slayer's soul in Hell and created an artificial consciousness based off of the Mayrks who created the artifact, resulting in the creation of the Maykr Slayer. The attacking forces then pulled out of the stronghold and retreated back to Earth, ending the campaign.

Cyrus Walker, who was captured during the campaign, escaped from the stronghold's prison. He stole Anari's weapons from the armory and used three power spheres to fight Vice and outmaneuver him. He later escaped by repairing Aperture Science's portal apparatus on the neighboring satellite island.

Some time later, in an attempt to increase teamworking skills between Aperture Science strike operatives, Inosuke and Bakugo Katsuki led a small strike on the stronghold. However, the outer defense of the stronghold's mountain forced them to retreat.

The Cardinal and Agonor construct a device to block out portal traffic of non-hell origin.

Shortly after the Slayer's resurrection, Ghost joined him on a mission to infiltrate the stronghold and assassinate Vice. Vice defeated the two and pursued them deeper into the stronghold. After Ghost and the Slayer discovered that the Icon of Sin was alive, they retreated by using the Icon of Sin's soul cubes as portals.

After Abaddon's assault on Greenfield in 2037, Peter Parker and Master Chief pursued him back to the stronghold, where they were forced to retreat by the Superior Slayer.

## Trivia

* The Stronghold was originally built on Sixgill's plot on Replay. The current construction of it models the original stone brick structure and its location in a cavern.
* The Stronghold was built with classic Doom design in mind, using colored skull keys and locked doors.