CHAPTER 1: THE BARGAIN

Cy looked out into space in the rings, and saw the aftermath of the Awoken battle against the Hive. "My god," said Shim, "There's so many of them dead, how could anyone have lived?"

"I know a way," said a voice from behind. Cy turned around to see Paimta, only in a Taken would have been one thing, had the Queen not been in his arms, a gun to her head.

"What do you want for her?" Cy at times seemed to hold the Queen above the Vanguard, as he knew how valuable their alliance with the Reef was.

"You. I want you to become a Taken. Your Ghost goes home with her and you survive. Quite simple indeed."

"No, no no no. There was to be another way!" Cy knew that his being Taken would only cause more Guardians to be lured in.

"There is. It's called me killing her."

Shim began to communicate through the comms in Cy's helmet. "If you allow yourself to be Taken, I can trasmat her out, then you take one shot to the head. So long as I don't fully leave, I can keep you from being fully turned, and can get you both out".

"Deal," said Cy, hoping this would work. "Now let her go." Paimta threw her forward, and Ghost instantly trasnmatted her back to the ship. By some miracle, the incantation worked long enough for Cy to get onboard before being Taken. With the Queen aboard, he set off for the Tower. "I think that's enough for one day, huh Shim?"

"I agree. Milady, apologies, but we must go to the Tower, as we were told that was our first priority, even if you were on board. I suspect that they want a major escort for your return. Tell me, did anyone else survive?"

"Yes, Uldren was teleported home through the Techeuns, and they would have survived as well had they not done so."

"We're here, Ghost, if you would." Cy hated being on his ship with others, it felt so nerve-racking. After leaving the ship, the Aspect of Glass, Cy escorted her to the Vanguard. There stood Petra Venj, waiting for her Queen's return. Though normally Petra was a stone cold fighter, she had grown quite close to the Queen, and was personal friends with her. It was a very rare occurrence that she showed this, and this was one. She ran forward to Mara, and hugged her a tightly as she could.

"I'm sorry my Queen, bu-"

"There's no need for apologies, Ms. Venj," said Mara, then she walked to the table of the Vanguard, and asked what they believed had happened. After trading stories, they agreed on one thing, this Guardian was fully succumbed.

"Cyron, we need you to get back there. Your Ghost marked the coordinates so you can jump straight to there, but you need to confront him and kill him. The incantation only takes effect if someone tries to Take you, but since no one did, there shouldn't be a problem. Once he's dead, Nilix will likely come for you., when he does, asses his strength then leave. It may be best to try to take a larger team in there. If you can kill him too, do so quickly. One casualty is bad enough, we simply cannot take more, do you hear me?" Zavala was angry about this, as he believed that numbers mattered greatly, and this was not only a loss, but a gain for the enemy.

"Yes sir, I'll do what I can," and with that, Cy went to orbit, and prepared for the fight of his life. The first Guardian vs Guardian battle outside of Crucible in a long time…