Dreams often haunted Guardians resurrected by Ghosts. Thought to be visions from the subconscious reverting back to when the chosen took their last breath by many Warlocks. The last memory they experienced before waking up again. Some dream of the Golden Age and others go even further back to a millennium long lost to time. Frea dreams of running. Three years as a Guardian and nearly every night she would wake up from a nightmare in a cold sweat, her pistol at the ready. Even so, she had yet to see where she was running to or from what. She preferred the infrequent evenings when only visions of emptiness interrupted her sleep.
The huntress shuddered awake, her breathing raspy and her nerves on high alert. She sighed with relief when only the view of her ceiling greeted her. It was just another dream. Groggy, she swung her legs over the bed and stretched, her joints creaking from the effort.
"Ghost," she called.
"Yes?" The little bot appeared from thin air, its hollow voice a bit too loud for the small room.
"What time is it?" Frea asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
The Ghost twisted in its shell. "It is an hour before dawn, Lord Shaxx will be leaving soon."
"Contact Dex, make sure he's up to join us today." She waved off the Ghost and it vanished again, leaving her alone to gear up. The huntress walked to her single window and brushed aside the curtain, the sun was just starting to touch the horizon. Her room was modest in size, built for Guardians who spent more time in the field rather than in the Tower. Frea liked the view it offered, from here she could see the Cosmodrome beyond the Last City. The rays of light spreading across the starry sky danced over the snow-capped mountaintops. It was often relaxing to stare at after a long day of shooting Fallen.
She left the window with a yawn. Having a dream like that before a mission was a bad omen, last time it happened her raid fireteam got stuck in the Vault for days and barely escaped unscathed. Frea shook the thoughts from her head. Focus. She won't let a few nightmares distract her, duty calls after all.
"Move that crate! Where's my wrench!?"
Frea walked into the Tower hanger bay as she did final adjustments to the straps on her armor. As usual, it was busy and hectic, with Amanda Holliday yelling at everything. Not even the frames were safe from her.
"Get that ship on the rails!" Holliday hollered at two Exos attempting to chain up a beaten junker jumpship well past its glory days.
"Good morning, Amanda," the huntress said.
The engineer whipped around so quick, Frea wondered how she didn't fall over. "Frea! Mornin'! Looking for Lord Shaxx?" Holliday grinned.
Frea raised a brow. "Yeah, I am. How'd you know?"
"Oh, he just told me to keep an eye out. That clanmate you're always with is here as well."
A lump formed in the huntress's throat. She doubted things would be awkward between her and Dex after what happened yesterday, but she still worried. He was like family to her, not once has she ever thought of him romantically despite knowing he's had a thing for her for awhile now. And she couldn't just not invite him to the mission, he was a powerful Warlock and her most trusted friend. Frea loudly sighed with frustration.
"That was a mighty big sigh," Holliday remarked, making the huntress snap back to reality. "You alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." She looked up, putting on her best smile. "Just a bit sleepy still."
Holliday laughed. "Gotcha! Mornings are the worst!"
Frea joined in on the laugh, already feeling a bit better. It was hard not to with Holliday's cheery demeanor. "I'll see you later, yeah?"
"'Course!" With a short wave, Holliday was off to her work.
The huntress finally made it to the front of the hanger where Shaxx's ship sat ready for liftoff. It was an LRv1 Javelin painted a bright blue and orange, flashy but somehow fitting for the Crucible handler. Shaxx himself was rummaging through crates of supplies on the off ramp. Frea's mouth hung open when she noticed his helmet was off, a rare sight to see. The Titan took pride in his armor and heritage to the point of never taking his helmet off. New rumors circled the Tower every year from Guardians theorizing on what he actually looked like, their ideas often went to the utterly ridiculous. This was the second time Frea had the pleasure of seeing him without his visor, the first being an accident over a year ago. She soon found herself staring, engraving all the little details from his combed back hair to his stern eyes into her memory.
"Yo."
A close voice from behind caught her off guard. Instinctively, she jumped and grabbed the knife off her belt to face her assailant. Her blade was nearly at his throat before she realized it was Dex.
"Dex!" She hissed through clenched teeth. "You know better than to sneak up on me!"
The Warlock threw up his hands in mock surrender, an unapologetic grin played across his face. "Sorry, sorry, you're normally not so easy to spook." He chuckled.
"Yeah, well I was distracted," the huntress mumbled as she sheathed her knife.
Dex's gaze darted to Shaxx and then back to her, a strange look flashed across his features, but then suddenly it was covered by another grin.
"Come on, Lord Shaxx and I have been waiting for you." He walked by her, just brushing her shoulder as he passed. Frea stayed in place for a second longer, that expression he gave her was peculiar and for once she didn't know what he was thinking.
She quickly followed Dex and ducked under the bow of the jumpship. Shaxx looked up upon their approach.
"I see someone slept in," he said.
Frea's face flushed hot. "No-uh-Holliday stopped me..." A bump on her side from Dex's elbow made her adjust the manner of speaking, she was being too casual again. "Sorry, Sir. Won't happen again."
Shaxx's eyes flicked to the Warlock for a brief moment. Frea thought he looked annoyed but his expression was soon hidden beneath his visor as he replaced his horned helmet.
"Time is short, let's get moving."
The Hive nest was located only two hours away from the Cosmodrome patrol routes, outside of Guardian territory. Frea sat behind the cockpit as she cleaned her hand cannon and knives. Dex was set up at the back of the ship, studying the reports they had about the nest. And Shaxx was piloting at the helm. The huntress's gaze wondered around the interior as she went about her maintenance. The interior was surprisingly clean and well kept, especially compared to how messy he keeps his office desk. Instead of the living quarters normally installed in these ships, he had a small armory filled to the brim with gear. That wasn't as surprising.
Frea's attention drifted back to the pilot, Shaxx probably hadn't flown a ship in years, but it didn't show as he expertly maneuvered the stick. The Titan seemed to notice her stare as he shifted, his head turning just a bit to glance at her.
"How long have you two been together?" He suddenly asked, his voice strained. Frea thought she was just imagining it.
Her hands stopped moving on her gun. "We ran into each other shortly after waking up the first time, been together since. He was part of my fireteam that took down Crota and Oryx." She smiled slightly, reminiscing about the raid days with her clan. "Dex is one of the most powerful Voidwalkers I've ever fought alongside of, he's almost comparable with Ikora Rey...almost."
Shaxx chuckled. "I remember training you two in the Crucible years ago. He definitely had the potential. Ikora is a beast though, I have the scars to prove it."
"So I've heard. Dex is a good friend, and I know he always has my back."
The Titan didn't reply as a silence settled over them. The second glance he shot her didn't go unnoticed by Frea, she cursed that helmet of his.
"The armory here is small but open to you, feel free to take whatever you see fit." He finally said, effectively cutting the conversation short.
The huntress placed her gun down and roamed to the shelves stacked with ammo and armor. He had everything, rifles, snipers, and shotguns, it was by no means 'small'. Her eyes landed on something strange tucked away behind the piping in a corner. Her curiosity getting the best of her, she reached in and grasped a handle. Yanking hard, she pulled out a dusty Raze-lighter from its prison. It was much like the ones that recently appeared among the Guardians in the Tower, though it seemed to be far older. Frea wiped away the dust with her gloves fingers and found unfamiliar words etched into the blade, she couldn't make out much in the weak ship lighting.
"We'll be there in five minutes." Shaxx spoke up, snapping Frea out of her thoughts.
"I'm ready," she replied and holstered the sword.