Wren slept on the way to Mars and dreamt of dancing in the rain. She was still groggy when Rorick's voice came over her comm system and began to tell them about where they were going. She sat up and rubbed her eyes as the red surface of Mars came into view, a dark city silhouetted in the distance.
"The coordinates Uldren gave us put the gate to the Black Garden as being somewhere near the lost city of Freehold," Rorick explained. "It's been buried in the sands since the Collapse and Cayde's scouts say that the area has been overrun with Cabal. They call it the Exclusion Zone and so far, no one has been able to make it through."
"Until now," Franz said with confidence.
"Don't get too cocky," Rorick said. "The Exclusion Zone is dangerous. A lot of Guardians don't come back from this place."
They flew through the city and landed in a desolate spot farther away from the half-buried buildings before dropping from their ships. Wren unclipped the holster for the Better Devils and twisted the chain from the bird Koro had given her around her finger while she waited for the rest of the fireteam to prepare themselves. She scanned the horizon but couldn't see much for the haze in the air.
"The Cabal have a block on Orbital Communications," Rorick said. "The gate is miles from here. We'll have to disable the system if we want our Sparrows."
"I'm not for walking that far," Franz said, hoisting up his auto rifle and heading off down the road.
Rorick overtook his strides with ease and took the lead. The ground was hard, and rocky, with a layer of fine red dirt or sand on top. They walked through deep tracks from heavy machines big enough to crush the ground under their weight.
"Have any of you seen a Cabal before?" Sisre asked.
"I have," Beorn said. "Once and from far off, thank the Light. They're absolutely massive and highly militarized. They're known for destroying anything in their path, including planets and moons."
Franz's helmet turned toward Beorn who shrugged.
"I just thought I'd let you know what we're going into," Beorn said.
"There's the bunker," Rorick said and the group fell into formation behind him. Wren tried to stand behind Beorn but Flak pushed her hard with his shoulder and she could feel his glare through his faceplate as he passed her, shoving her to the back of the line.
Wren bit her tongue and kept a firm grip on the Better Devils as they descended into a short hallway with a locked door at the end.
"We should avoid them until we understand them better," Brix said over comms as he flashed into view in Rorick's palm and began to unlock the door. "They're inside."
The lights on the door changed to blue and Brix muttered about how easy it was. Wren didn't trust that. They moved through corridors, then room to room, without even a shadow of a Cabal, until they came to a display that Brix was certain was the one they had to disable to use their Sparrows.
It was too easy and it made Wren's skin prickle. Brix hovered over the panel, his light scanning, probing, trying to unlock the system. He mumbled something about not needing an access key in a voice that was mildly condescending an instant before the lights dimmed, then turned red. A siren blared through the corridor and set the team on edge.
"I think I initiated a failsafe," Brix admitted.
Doors at the far end of the corridor opened and a massive ship loomed over the dunes, Cabal dropping to the ground with shields and weapons at the ready. They hardly seemed to aim at all as they fell, firing into the corridor on the Guardians.
Wren ran closer, taking cover behind some crates as bullets ricocheted around her. Franz and Beorn took a place behind crates across the corridor from her and they all ducked when Rorick called out he was shooting a rocket. Wren covered her ears before the rocket whizzed past her, the following explosion sending shards of metal and plumes of smoke back into the corridor.
Franz pushed farther ahead, moving to a place behind a barrier, leaning between it and the wall to shoot. He was too far out, too far away from them, and Wren couldn't help but keep an eye on him. Why did he have to be so reckless? She gritted her teeth and tried to focus on her own side.
"Wren," Kiran said in her ear, "there's a Phalanx!"
A Cabal with a shield was descending on Franz and he didn't even see it from his position. It raised its shield to hit him and Wren sprinted for him, Beorn at her side.
"Franz!" Beorn yelled. Franz turned his head and raised an arm defensively as the Phalanx brought his shield down. Wren threw her blade into the Cabal's thick neck and it cried out in pain and anger, it's shield hitting Beorn who had put himself between the Phalanx and Franz.
Beorn hit his knees, forearms bearing the force of the shield as Wren jumped onto the Cabal's back and ripped the blade from its neck, spraying blood across the corridor. She plunged the knife into its eye and it crumpled to the floor. Wren scrambled back into cover with Beorn and Franz as another rocket and some sniper rounds flew past them.
"Dammit Franz!" Beorn huffed, rubbing his forearms. "Pay attention you idiot."
"Are you alright?" Wren asked, checking Beorn's arms.
"I'm fine but this guy is going to get me killed."
"You didn't have to follow me," Franz grumbled but a new drop ship hovered outside, and more Cabal bombarded the bunker.
They got each other's backs until the last Cabal fell and the sirens stopped, and flashing lights went dark. Cautiously they stood, reloaded, and holstered their weapons. Sisre came up to them first, giving Wren a bump with her hip as if to say 'good work'.
"Sparrows are active," Rorick said, summoning his. "We need to be quick, they'll notice soon that their failsafe was unsuccessful."
Cerulean mounted up and rode across the red dunes, through winding passages, past gnarled trees, and over deep tracks from Cabal vehicles. Excitement welled up in Wren as they rode, the energy of their movements making every muscle tense and she wished the Sparrow was faster.
Rorick put up a hand after a few miles and they came to a halt in a wider area of the gorge and waited his instruction.
"Brix says the Cabal and Vex seem to be at war here," he said. "There are a few outposts nearby. We should see if there's any information there about the entrance to the Black Garden. There's a place called Valley of Kings, I think we should split up and meet there."
"Beorn and I can go to the outpost and see what we can find," Franz said.
"Take Flak with you," Rorick said.
"What?" Franz said. "Why?"
"Because you need a third person and the gate to the Garden is likely crawling with Cabal," Rorick said, an edge to his voice that made Franz back down.
"You got it," Franz replied with a lazy salute. "C'mon then."
The three of them rode off away from them and Wren's stomach knotted for Franz and Beorn. Flak was unhinged. She hoped they'd be alright. Rorick signaled them to ride the other direction, arcing wide past a battleground between Vex and Cabal.
Sisre rode close to Wren and patched in to her comm system.
"Hey," Sisre said. "The twins said they saw you coming back from your den with Cayde."
"Those two," Wren grumbled.
"So it's true?"
"He came to get me when Rorick got the clear to enter the Garden is all."
"And was he really shielding you from the rain?"
"He might have been."
Sisre laughed. "I'm not gonna lie, I'm on the fence about you two. On the one hand, I don't want you to get hurt by him but on the other hand he's being very sweet and I like that for you."
"This is exhausting."
"Aww, you don't have to be like that with me," she said. "Wren, I want you to be open with me and trust me with things. I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable."
"I know, it's just… it's difficult. All of it."
"Why don't we go back to the bath house when all of this is over? Just relax and take a minute to unwind. A little girl time."
Wren grinned. "Sounds good." She didn't want to bring up that they might not make it out but the thought weighed heavily on the back of her mind. The Black Garden. They didn't know what they were up against and yet they'd begged for the chance to be here. She peeked back, knowing she'd not be able to see Beorn and Franz.
"They'll be fine," Sisre said. "We can handle this."
"Of course."
The twins did return, a little more than an hour later Wren stood in a small section of the bunker in the Valley of Kings that was sat atop a rocky outcropping, watching the horizon with bated breath until she saw them again and she let her shoulders drop, a heavy exhale escaping into her helmet.
Now she could worry about the next issue at hand. Across from the Cabal bunker she had taken with Sisre and Rorick was a massive Vex gate, similar in size to the one they had encountered with the Gate Lord. Rorick and Brix had tried to get into a console in the tower that had a hologram of the Vex gate but had been unsuccessful.
Franz was the first one up to the top of the bunker and soon they were in the Cabal systems, the fireteam crowded around the hologram, waiting to see what might happen. Wren half expected the gate across the valley to hum to life and spew forth hoards of Vex, but it remained quiet. Still.
"What the Cabal have accomplished is impressive," Brix mused as he worked away and a sparking behind Wren made her turn and walk toward the open bunker to see the gate was indeed crackling with energy. She gripped the Better Devils but the teleportation field collapsed with a small shockwave that echoed from the valley walls and the floor trembled under her boots. "I don't think they even know what the gate it. But if we want in, we're going to have to go through the Cabal."
"What's our next move?" Rorick asked.
"We have to find a way to charge the Gate Lord's eye. I'm sure there's more information in this terminal but I need more time."
"How long?"
"An hour. Maybe two."
"The other Ghosts can help you. In the meantime, team, get some rest."
Sisre found a place toward the back wall and began to clean her sniper, not taking it apart fully, but cleaning the parts she could get to, tinkering with the bolt, checking her scope. Flak hopped down and disappeared into the rest of the base, likely scavenging off dead Cabal. Beorn and Franz sat in front of the terminal, legs hanging over the drop off while Wren made herself comfortable farther away from them all. She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, feeling oddly sleepy.
"Hey Wren?" Kiran asked, hovering above her.
"Hmm?"
"Something's been bothering me."
"What's wrong?"
"I can't get what Flak did out of my head. I mean, all of the things. Why didn't you tell Cayde when we were in the old den?"
"Because of what Beorn said," Wren admitted quietly. "Asking for Flak to be replaced now would have cost us our chance to be here."
"But Cayde—"
"I know. I know you want me to tell him and maybe someday I will, but not today. Not when my whole team is pushing so hard to achieve something. I can't stand in the way of that."
Kiran sank a little, then gave a resigned nod. "Alright. I just don't like this."
Wren gave him a gentle nudge with her finger. "Go help Brix and the others. I'll be fine."
He drifted off to assist with prodding every nook and cranny of the Cabal infrastructure and Wren closed her eyes again. How would Cayde handle it? She couldn't picture him doing anything too drastic, but she couldn't be sure. And what would the other Hunters think of her if she got Flak kicked off Cerulean? Moreso, how would Flak respond? The petty, dangerous things he was doing now was bad enough, but to add actual insult intentionally?
Wren felt restless. She stood and stretched and walked around some before going to sit with Sisre, the pair of them content to rest in silence.
The Cabal warbase. Wren didn't like the sound of that. And all for a Spire that would hopefully charge the Gate Lord's eye. As they raced across the dusty red landscape of Mars, Wren realized how little she actually knew of the world she'd been thrust into and over the many miles of winding caverns and dunes, she wondered what he life might have been like before. But there was nothing there. No memory or hint or clue. And when she pondered more deeply she had to question if it was even of any consequence. She was who she was now. Remembering wouldn't change anything, her old life was likely long gone.
She was so engrossed in her own thoughts that she almost ran into Franz as the fireteam slowed to dismount before entering the Scablands. Night had descended on Mars, casting deep purple shadows across the landscape but the lights of the Cabal fortress illuminated the walls of their fortress.
"Time to storm the castle," Franz said, checking his ammo.
"We need to find a good vantagepoint," Rorick said. "Stick together and communicate. This is a warbase after all. We can't be too careful. Use your heads and try not to get killed."
"That means you," Sisre said, pointing at Franz.
"What?" Franz asked.
"Let's move," Rorick said, leading the way toward the entrance to the base, which upon getting closer, seemed to only be a sort of gate.
Cabal guarded it from catwalks and low platforms, but it wasn't the base itself. Wren didn't feel the amount of Cabal at the gate was proportional to what they were guarding, and that made her unsettled. Had they fallen back into the base to lure them into a trap?
She stayed on high alert as they cleared the gate and moved into a narrow passage in the rocky terrain. There was a point when the track marks of heavy machinery stopped and Wren hoped that meant that the crevice was too narrow for them to move through and there wouldn't be any tanks waiting for them on the other side.
Overhead stars twinkled in the night sky and rocks crumbled from the tops of the passage, making Wren wonder if Cabal were walking along the top, waiting to attack. To block them into the narrow path and take them out.
They crept into the next open area, a widened part of the passage where a few buildings lay half hidden in sand, large boulders giving their enemies cover. Cerulean barely exited the narrow section before Psions and Phalanx fired upon them.
These Phalanx weren't like the ones they'd encountered earlier, these had thick metal shields with a massive white skull emblazoned across the front. They dug the bottom of the shields into the ground with a single downward strike before firing around them.
Rorick's rocket launcher exploded around one of them, the flames hardly scorching the shields. He gave Sisre a quick nod and she took aim with her sniper rifle, shooting the gun from one of the Phalanx's hands. It lurched back with an angry cry as what remained of its weapon fell to the sand, spattered in blood and bone. Beorn took that opportunity to put three shots in the Phalanx's head and drop it on the spot.
Wren picked off the Psions with her hand cannon and throwing knives while Franz staggered another Phalanx, giving Flak an opening to dodge behind its shield and plunge a dagger into its eye. He ripped the blade free as the Cabal fell, then ran off around a corner where Wren couldn't see him anymore.
A Centurion fired on them from the top of a platform and Wren rolled to take cover behind a barrier. She threw a grenade up toward the creature before reloading the Better Devils and rushing out as the dust settled from the grenade blast. She kept low, feeling the presence of someone running close beside her.
It wasn't until she felt a hard hit to her side and she was sliding across the ground toward the Centurion that she realized it was Flak. She rolled out of the way before its massive foot could crush her head. Flak put his gun to the Centurion's temple and fired, spraying Wren with chunks of blood, skull, and gray matter.
"Clumsy little bitch," Flak growled as he towered over her, kicking sand at her before running away.
Wren fell to her back on the ground, heart pounding in her ears before jumping up to follow him, hand tight around the Better Devils grip. Rage boiled up in her chest and she took aim at the back of Flak's head and pulled the trigger.
Flak hit the ground and rolled from the force of the shot and Wren stopped dead in her tracks. Her blood ran cold, sending chills down her arms and shock killed her anger.
"Wren," Kiran gasped in her ear.
"I'm sorry…I…."
Flak's Ghost revived him and Wren ran, dropping off the platform behind a barrier to catch her breath. Her entire body shook and she expected Flak to come after her but the sounds of the battle and her heart were the only things she heard. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she clutched the Better Devils to her chest.
"Wren, I won't tell anyone but you have to promise me you won't ever do that again," Kiran said and Wren broke down, biting her lip to stop the sobbing as she nodded in agreement.
But she knew Flak knew. He had to. Right?
Wren forced herself to herself to her feet but she didn't dare come out from her hiding spot until the last of her team had passed. She fell in behind Beorn who didn't seem to notice she was there.
Rorick killed the last Centurion with a well-placed punch that shattered the Cabal's temple. The team stood together at a large, round entrance descending into the planet. Wren assumed this was the true entrance to the firebase, but she was wrong. It was only a tunnel leading away from the enclosed spaces of the rock passages. She kept quiet and stayed behind Beorn, eyeing Flak every once in awhile but he didn't make any move toward her or talk to Rorick. Was it possible that he didn't know she'd shot him? The walls were closing on her until at last they were back out in open ground again but there was something massive in the distance. She could barely make out it's shape in the dusty atmosphere, but it appeared to be a wall, with lights scattered about, large enough to be its own horizon. It sat high on a rocky plateau, only adding to its impressive height.
"There's an observation tower," Rorick said, drawing her attention up and to the right. "We should be able to locate the Vex Spire there."
He led them in formation close to the right-hand cliffs until they were in position to pick off the Centurion and Legionaries from a distance before getting any closer. Wren didn't understand why the Cabal weren't on high alert. Where were the sirens and flashing light from when they activated the fail safe? Where were the combined masses going out to defeat the intruders? The whole thing felt off. Unless the Cabal trusted their own forces enough to put down any enemy that got too far… even then it seemed foolish.
Brix scanned the terminal in the bottom of the tower and instructed them to search beyond the defense line. An alarm sounded across the wastes and Wren could hear the distant battle cry of a Cabal as they began to rally.
"Well, they know we're here now," Franz said.
Cerulean ran toward the base before the Cabal could pinpoint where they were and Rorick demanded a few of them take the Interceptors that were unattended in a bunker. Franz happily jumped on one while Beorn and Sisre took the other two. Wren hopped onto the back of Beorns and put her hands on his shoulder before he sped off toward the base.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Yeah," Wren lied but he didn't push the issue.
The Interceptors tore through a rocket wielding Colossus, clearing the way to the door. They dismounted and ran through the stone and steel corridors until they reached a door, locked tight against them. The Darkness felt heavy here, almost palpable.
Wren peered at Flak, still expecting him to react, but he was the same as usual; aloof, detached. Maybe he didn't know it was her. That eased her only slightly but the guilt at what she'd done hadn't stopped crushing her insides.
Before they could reach the door the lights on it flashed blue and it opened. Rorick stared into the darkened tunnel beyond.
"I suppose that's an invitation," he said.
"Be rude to keep them waiting," Franz said.
"It's likely a trap," Sisre said, looking to Rorick for guidance but the Titan was set on going in. She sighed but followed him closely.
It was as she said. They moved through the door and it closed and locked behind them. Whatever was to happen, there was no turning back. In the next room all of the doors had red lights, signaling they were locked and the Guardians stood in the middle of the room, looking for a way out, when Cabal came at them from all sides. The room erupted into chaos as doors opened to allow in more of the heavily armored Phalanx that they'd encountered earlier, as well as Colossus, and Centurions.
The floor shook beneath Wren's feet and she ran to back up Beorn and Franz while Sisre boosted onto a rock to shoot at them from above. Wren, Beorn, and Franz teamed up on a Colossus and took it down with ease, despite its heavy stomping making Wren's knees buckle.
Two more waves of enemies rushed them and were put down just as easily. Too easily. It still felt like a set up. Like they were being tricked into a false sense of security.
"Get ready to open the door," Rorick said, motioning for them to split to the barriers on either side of the center area before he raised the rocket launcher to face the door. Brix floated out and began to unlock it and after a few seconds the locking mechanism began to turn, unbarring the locks one by one as Brix returned to the safety of his Guardian.
A line of Phalanx with their shields side by side in a barricade awaited them and Rorick didn't waste time shooting a rocket into the middle of them. Sisre threw a grenade behind them and a few of the other Guardians followed suit, the explosions confusing the Cabal and allowing the other members of Cerulean take their shots the drop the Cabal on the line.
When they reached the final stretch, the Spire could be seen beyond the last line of defenses.
"Stay back if you can," Rorick said as he took position behind a barricade in heavy fire. "Don't crowd the bride."
Wren, Sisre, and Beorn hung back with snipers and scout rifles, picking off smaller Legionaries and Psions as Rorick, Flak, and Franz charged the bridge. Flak sparked with Arc energy, moving so fast between opponents he was a blue blur among the explosions of rockets and Solar weapons.
The lead team pushed through lines of Phalanx and Psions until at last they reached the Spire. It wasn't what Wren expected. It hardly looked Vex at all. The stone structure was smoothy carved and surrounded by various Cabal fences and barricades, the militaristic brutes seemingly unsure of how to guard it. Thick bundles of wires hung from the Spire, making it clear that the Cabal were at least trying, to figure out what the thing was.
"There's a conduit up there," Rorick said, pointing to a ledge on the left side of the area. "Watch my back."
Wren and Sisre followed him up as the others took positions on the ground. From the higher vantage point Wren could see the sharp, square cut metal protruding from the stone. Perhaps the Spire was meant to be taller and something had broken it off halfway up. Wither way, from this position she could more clearly see the Vex influences on its construction.
Brix hovered near the conduit. "I have no idea what will happen," he warned and Rorick readied his auto rifle, saving his last few rockets. "Put in the Gate Lord's eye," Brix instructed and Rorick complied, taking a step back after he did so.
The conflux began to glow and the eye turned red. A beam of white light connected the conduit to the Spire and the top of the Spire began to break apart, shedding the Cabal cables and wires as it shifted and opened in midair. The pieces that broke off spun more rapidly around a core, encased in white light, then they vanished, leaving only the rectangular metal core. It too glowed more brightly until at last it disappeared as well, but they had no time to discuss what happened before a door on the far side of the area opened and more Cabal flew forth from the darkness of a bunker.
"Uh, that might be a problem," Franz yelled out from below as an enormous Cabal flew from the entrance and landed on the other side of the Spire, beating his chest and crying out to rally his troops.
"Primus Sha'aul," Rorick said, taking a step back and abandoning his auto rifle for his rocket launcher.
Sisre propped atop a rock and took aim at the giant Centurion. Before the three on the ground level could get close enough to the Primus, Rorick fired a rocket at him, staggering him to allow the other to attack at a closer range without being in as much danger.
Beorn got too close, pushed toward the Primus by a Legionary who charged him from behind, and the Primus recovered from the rocket blast enough to back hand Beorn. Franz ran to cover his friend while he regained his bearings, a ball of Void energy erupting from his palm and slamming into the Primus. Psions and Legionaries standing too close were disintegrated, floating off into nothing.
"Finish it!" Rorick demanded as the weakened Primus raised his weapon right at Franz' face. The Warlock stood his ground and Wren leapt from the ledge, boosting as far as she could before allowing the Solar energy of her Golden Gun to fill her. Warmth radiated through her body as the fiery hand cannon materialized in her hand. Three shots into the Primus and it fell with a sickening thud, flesh burning around its armor.
Wren didn't skip a beat when she landed and went straight for Franz and Beorn.
"Is he alright?" she asked as Franz helped Beorn to sit up.
"He'll be fine. Gotta stop getting slapped around," Franz said.
Rorick and Sisre joined them, the Gate Lord's eye in the Titan's palm. "It's charged," he said. "As soon as you're all ready, we enter the Black Garden and finish this."