The Awoken are said to be born from those who tried to flee the collapse, they remain in the reef and make little contact with the city. The Nine are a unknown jovian force, wether they rule over colonies on Jupiter and Saturn is unknown, they wield incredible power and make contact with the city though Xúr who is willing to sell incredibly powerful weapons to guardians. What ever power the Nine have holds some sway over the Queen of the Reef and the Awoken as a hole, ( The Nine do not approve." -- "Send them one of our prizes. Something to commemorate our mutual victory.") - Grimoire card ghost fragment the queen. following are some theories on the nature of The Nine. (It is possible and likely the the Speaker and or Vanguard know more. "Perhaps beyond the Jovians?"- the speaker) The Nine are survivors of the cis-Jovian colonies who made a compact with an alien force to ensure their own survival. The Nine are deep-orbit warminds who weathered the Collapse in hardened stealth platforms. The Nine are ancient leviathan intelligences from the seas of Europa or the hydrocarbon pits of Titan. The Nine arrived in a mysterious transmission from the direction of the Corona-Borealis supercluster. The Nine are the firstborn Awoken and their minds now race down the field lines of the Jupiter-Io flux tube. The Nine are Ghosts who pierced the Deep Black without a ship and meditated on the hissing silence of the heliopause. The Nine are the aspects of the Darkness, broken by the Traveler's rebuke, working to destroy us from within.