Blue zipped along the sulfur-rich rocks of IO on her speeder as Ghost chatted in her head through their bond. He was talking about the planet's atmosphere and how the Traveler made it semi-habitable. Blue was already feeling better from putting so much distance between herself and the commotion back at the City. As she focused on the tracker on her HUD her comm pinged and crack to life.

::"I'm translating Asher's current tantrum and it seems his equipment has been going haywire or stopped working altogether. It's because of the Taken interference. They've been teleporting all over IO wreaking havoc. If our scans are finally accurate they seem to have focused on a nearby cave. We have no idea what you'll be walking into so be careful. Radio for backup if something is off.":: Ikora said over the comm.

::"And obliterate every last one of those wretched creatures until there's nothing left! I can't work with these constant interruptions!":: Asher interrupted.

"Don't worry, we're on it," Ghost answered, "We'll be careful, won't we, Guardian?"

Blue could feel his glare through their link. She rolled her eyes but nodded.

:"Good. Stay in touch as much as possible.": With that Ikora's comm pinged out.

When they were close enough to the cave Blue stopped the speeder behind some Vex structures. Ghost transmat her speeder away and she checked her ammo. She had her scout rifle, a hand cannon with explosive rounds, and a new submachine gun. It was expensive equipment that she didn't use often but very effective against Taken. Peeking around the corner she saw the entranceway. The Vex had been terraforming the area and the cave looked more like a Vex doorway without a door. There were no Vex or Taken outside of the cave but small Taken rifts had formed along the walls, floor, and ceiling. Rocks and debris floated around the rifts before drifting into them and vanishing.

"Are you sure about this?" Ghost whispered through their mental link. Blue nodded.

Ghost groaned, "I have a bad feeling. What if they throw us in one of their voids and we're left floating in dead space forever? Or worse, IN DARKNESS?! Oh, oh no, what if they swarm us and try to perform some weird ritual like what the Hive did at the Caliban strike! I mean I know they're Taken and not Hive but they're close right? Do Taken even have rituals? Maybe we should ask Ikora first. OH! What if they try to Take us?! But wait, Taken can't Take the Light right? So do you think we're ok? Oh no, but what if-"

Blue sighed, ducked out from cover, and ran to the cavern entrance. Ghost was always such a worry wart and he would continue chattering regardless of what she was doing. She kept her rifle level as she investigated the rifts. They looked the same as she'd seen before: voids of darkness with a white aura surrounding them. But they felt off. She stuck her hand out towards one. Her previous observations of encountering Taken rifts resulted in confusion and disorientation. This was different. It was like it was sucking her very being into it. She drew her hand back.

"Stay phased. Something isn't right," She told her Ghost through their bond. Thankfully, he hated anything to do with Taken or Hive so he was quick to agree.

Unfortunately, this meant he wouldn't be able to take pictures or record her notes like usual. It was too risky for her to pause to write in a journal so she'd have to update them later. Blue descended into the tunnels and the further she went the more the rocks became Vex structures. Some of which looked newer. They were too clean and shiny compared some of the other structures which were dull and dusty.

"I'd say watch out for Vex but we haven't seen any evidence that the Vex are even still here. But you'd think that they should be, right? So what happened to them?"

Blue pointed at the rifts, "I think those are what happened. When I was close to that one before it felt like it was sucking me in. Any of the Vex that were here are probably Taken now."

"But...I thought the Taken couldn't Take without Oryx."

"The Books of Sorrow talks about his sisters."

"Sisters?! Like other Hive Gods? Hold on, you don't think-"

"That's exactly what I think. Which is why we're here. The Guardian's report from the Stormcoat strike mentioned the same theory but no one's had the opportunity to look into it and we both know how stuffy Zavala has been about deploying Guardians lately."

"That's why you were so eager to take this mission when Ikora contacted you," he said bitterly, "You've been waiting for a spike in Taken activity to prove your hypothesis. Why you didn't tell me?!"

"You wouldn't have approved and might have told someone. No offense, sweetheart, but you have a tendency to chatter."

Ghost whined in irritation, "Because it's dangerous and scary! I'm always dragging you away from Darkness when we face the Hive and Taken! You wouldn't have said anything to anyone about this, you never say anything! We need to contact Ikora-"

"No."

"Why not?!"

"What do you expect to say? That we have an untested theory about the Taken here? We have no evidence and we haven't even encountered the Taken yet. We keep moving until we find something worth reporting."

Ghost whined and huffed some more, rattling on and on. When The Guardian came up in conversation again Blue sighed and continued on in the tunnels, ignoring him. He was still talking for a while until he suddenly went silent in the middle of a rant. This was odd for him. She would have questioned this but a light shining through an opening ahead distracted her.

Blue stopped outside the entrance of the chamber and crouched low behind a Vex wall. She peeked in the room which was dimly lit with hovering Vex constructs. No Vex, no Taken, just many rifts, rocks floating into those dark voids, and some Vex tech along the walls. But there was something else too, something small on the floor in the corner which was reflecting the light. Holding her rifle level she slowly walked in, aware that Taken could 'ninja' in at any moment.

She walked to the far corner and knelt down. It was a dead Ghost, fresh by the looks of it. The light had been reflecting off of the glass plating on its blank eye. She stared for a long time, images of death and destruction from the Red War replaying in her mind. Of a Ghost getting shot...her Ghost. A blue beam sweeping over it broke her from her thoughts. Ghost had phased next to her and was scanning it. She waited patiently.

"Nothing," he answered her silent question, "Normally I can use some of our Light to resurrect it long enough to merge with the Great Consciousness but there's nothing left! No spark but it's like the Ghost hasn't been here that long so it should still be there! I can't even read it's last log entries, they're all gone. All I can tell from its ID tag was that it was still an unattached Ghost-it didn't have a Guardian yet. Poor thing..."

Blue looked around at the rifts around them. Sucking things in just like it tried to suck her in. She looked back at the Ghost, theories forming in her mind until her Ghost floated in front of her.

"I don't like this. Something is very wrong here. Even I can feel the Light getting further and further away from us. If we keep going I don't know if I'll be able to keep resurrecting you. Can we turn back and contact the Vanguard now?"

Blue frowned at him. He had a point, something was very wrong here. But they didn't have the evidence she wanted and Asher would throw a tantrum if they didn't at least clear out the Taken. That and she wanted to erase any doubts she had about her own capabilities as a Guardian after seeing the Young Wolf today. She stood up and shook her head. He groaned.

Then something screamed an unholy scream, something familiar. Blue froze where she stood and she could feel Ghost starting to panic. He quickly phased back into her.

"That wasn't a Taken scream," he said.

Blue shook her head. No, it wasn't Taken, it was Hive. A Witch.


Ghost was vibrating with anxiety, "I knew this was a bad idea! Taken AND Hive? As if the Taken weren't bad enough but now the Hive too? If the Taken haven't 'taken' the Hive then are they working together? Maybe if we're lucky they're fighting. Oh but that doesn't make sense, does it? Since the Taken come from the Hive and-and-UHG! Guardian, what are we going to do?!"

Chattering had turned into something like a defense mechanism for him. Whenever he felt scared or nervous it helped filter his thoughts. Or when he was excited and very happy. Or sad. Or...anytime really. I mean after all his Guardian rarely talked so he talked a lot. Although she talked a bit more to him through their bond. He secretly felt satisfaction at the knowledge that he was the only one she confided in. But he also worried for her.

She was a Warlock and Warlocks had a tendency to get a little too curious about things that would be best left alone. All the same, he looked after her and loved her no less. She was curious, kind, cute, but most of all she was his. He was the only one who was able to read her subtle changes in expression and her body language like no one else could. He took great pride in that. But then of all things she didn't tell him her ulterior motives for being here. That stung. He wouldn't have disobeyed her but he could have prepared better.

Now they really were in trouble. Taken and Hive in one spot was bad, very bad, and his little Warlock had a fascination with them. He was usually so good about guiding her back to the Light but he was starting to doubt himself. He watched with increasing despair from his phased state as she descended beyond the chamber into the tunnels.

"The Travelers Light is too far away down here, the Taken must be blocking it. If we go further I won't be able to resurrect you. Comms are fading too…"

At this, she paused, "Try sending a message to Momo."

Ghost nodded. It was a small achievement at least. He tried sending messages to their Fire-Teammate, but he had no way of knowing if it went through.

"I sent them but Spector hasn't responded. Guess we'll have to wait and see," still he was unnerved. Momo's Ghost was usually good about responding almost immediately despite his grumpy demeanor.

Blue stopped outside another chamber, hiding behind more Vex structures. This time it was obvious that things were inside the chamber. Eerie noises and disembodied voices drifted around them. Ghost stayed phased but even his Spark was trembling with anxiety. He felt Blue's curiosity and could feel her drifting as she looked into the chamber. He kept his spark close to hers. The last thing he needed was to risk losing her to Darkness.

Inside the chamber about half a dozen Taken Vex knelt in a circle around a green, glowing Hive rune circle. In the center of the circle hovered an odd crystal, or more like a stone kind of like what Eris used to hold. An aura glowed around it and drifted in tendrils to Taken rifts all around the chamber. But the most frightening thing, at least in Ghosts' opinion, was a Hive witch and a Taken witch floating across from one another. The crystal hovered between them and they were intently focused on it as they chanted in their creepy language.

"They're conducting some kind of experiment," Blue muttered through their bond.

"That crystal kind of looks like a soul stone. But it also reminds me of the crystals on record from the Caliban strike that Fireteam Dawn did, doesn't it? That aura reminds me of Light but it's like it's attached to something else..." Ghost commented and instantly regretted it as Blue's interest peaked. This time she did set down her gun, took out her journal, and paged through it to the notes she copied from the strike logs.

Ghost groaned and phased into material form behind her shoulder. He started recording the ritual, hoping they were still hidden well enough to avoid detection. He sent out a light scan into the chamber. Not strong enough for the Taken to detect him but enough to gather some information. There was Light in that crystal but it was small. Not enough to be a Guardian's Light but-he gasped.

"That Ghost!"

Blue looked over at him and realization dawned on her face behind the helmet visor. She looked back at the ritual as the last of the Light was sucked into the rifts.

"I think they're experimenting to see if they can Take Light using those crystals fused with other Hive ones and a ritual," Blue said.

"But that's impossible…"

"Doesn't mean they won't try. At the very least it looks like they're managing to absorb it and scatter it to the void or an Ascendant Realm."

"So no returning to the Light after death. But the Taken and Hive need a leader to pull off something this big so I guess your theory was right. It's a God, isn't it?"

"Could be or it could be one of their envoys or offspring"

Ghost finished the recording and logged it, desperately trying to send it to Spector despite the lack of signal, "We have our evidence, can we leave now?"

Blue put away her journal and picked up the rifle. Ghost phased into her as she turned to leave but then she stopped. She looked at her gun and then back at the ritual.

"What? What is it?" Ghost asked through the bond.

"We have to clear them out, now. If we leave they might get away."

Ghost panicked, "No! You can't! Look, we got all the evidence we need so we can go to the Vanguard now. At the very least get back up from our Fireteam! You can't fight them alone!"

That was the wrong thing to say as a spike of jealous anger surged from her through the bond. It threw him off so much he went speechless for a moment which was just long enough for her to make a decision. Steadfast in her resolve she switched to her submachine gun and stepped into the chamber.