Jayla Rin woke up to her ghost, Orrin, beeping loudly next to her head.

"Come on, Jay, time to get up. L.J and Darren are waiting for us!" He said.

Jayla rolled over and pulled the blanket over her head. "MmmHHMMMM!" She moaned at him.

"Come on now; we've got stuff to do...The vanguard wants to talk to us as soon as possible, Lord Saladin's in the tower this week-"

Jayla shot up. "Why didn't you say so! Iron Banner baby; lets goooo!"

She quickly began getting ready and Orrin shook his shell back and forth. "Nothing like bribing you with competition to wake you up in the morning…"

"What was that other thing you said?" Jayla pulled her shirt on.

"Ummm…" Orrin tried to remember. "The Vanguard? They want to talk to you...and the guys actually; the whole team."

Jayla raised her eyebrows. "...Really. Huh. Wonder what they want."

"Only one way to find out. What are we wearing today?" Orrin displayed her inventory and she selected armor pieces and weapons. "Hurry up now!"

Jayla quickly rushed into the Courtyard of the tower, looking for her fireteam. Darren Vol was patiently waiting in the staircase, and L.J had just come running up from the direction of the ramen shop, coffee cup still in hand.

The three met eachother in front of the cryptarch and almost all started talking at the same time.

"Iron Banner is-"

"The Vanguard wants-"

"I got you coffee."

The last one was L.J, and he handed Jayla his half-finished cup.

"First thing's first." Darren reminded them. "Iron Banner is not going anywhere."

Jayla sighed, but nodded in agreement.

She sucked down the rest of the coffee as they walked to the point of the tower where Commander Zavala and Ikora Rey were standing.

The fireteam stood, with Jayla in the middle and her Hunter and Warlock on either side of her, patiently waiting for the Vanguard to notice they were there.

Jayla looked at her hands and realized she was still holding the coffee cup. "Uhh…." Panicked, she threw it over her shoulder. "Here, hold this…!" She hissed urgently. Orrin quickly dematerialized the cup out of the air and added it to her inventory, just as the Vanguard turned around.

"Fireteam," Ikora started. "Thankyou for being here. This mission is of some...personal importance, as well as the best interest of the city and protecting our own."

Jayla nodded. "Yes ma'am; how can we help?"

Ikora looked at Zavala for a minute, as if waiting for him to start, and finally said. "It appears we've lost contact with Asher Mir outside the Pyramidian, on Io. For someone with his-" She smiled a bit. "Meticulous personality, it's abnormal for him to miss checking in. We assumed he was distracted the first time and tried again, repeatedly, to no avail. We need you to make the journey to Io, and reassure us of his safety. His health isn't the best, and..." She paused. "This is very...abnormal behavior for him."

Jayla looked at her fireteam members and nodded. "Yes, ma'am, certainly! We'll leave at once."

"Excellent." Ikora nodded. "Also, don't forget to return the coffee cup to the cafe, please."

Jayla's face flushed and L.J snorted with laughter. "Yes ma'am. Let's ride, boys."

Ikora nodded politely to dismiss them but Jayla thought she almost saw a smile at the corner of her lips.

The fireteam turned and walked out of the Courtyard.

Orrin quickly zoomed into the cafe, and Jayla heard the rush of an item materializing onto a table, and he zoomed back out.

"Preliminary mission accomplished!" He said, bumping against her shoulder enthusiastically.

The three entered the hanger and their ghosts prepared the ships for them to transmat aboard.

"SO…" Jayla started, looking at her friends. "Missing fragmented researcher, dense Vex/Taken territory, and just the strength of our Light and eachother to rely on."

L.J clapped Darren's shoulder and smiled broadly. "What are we waiting for?!"