Wren and Kiran left the cathedral in the EDZ on a mission. She pulled on her helmet and Kiran spun happily around her before disappearing in a small spark of light. After their Light was restored he requested they spend the night in the Fallen encampment beside the Shard and Wren had agreed, though reluctantly. It'd given Kiran a new sort of energy, however, and she had to admit it was nice to see him so happy.

She wrapped her fingers around the pendants at her throat, feeling lucky that she hadn't lost them in the attack. She made sure they were safely tucked away before she entered the arched stone tunnel in the building behind the cathedral.

Hawthorne was thrilled to hear that she'd gotten her Light back and seeing as now she was pretty much immortal again, the woman had plenty of dangerous jobs lined up for Wren. Not that she minded. Keeping busy would aid in keeping her away from the Farm and therefor away from the alcohol that called to her.

Wren made her way closer to the destination Hawthorne had marked for her, now that she'd gotten what she needed from Devrim Kay.

"Hey Dev?" Hawthorne's voice came in over the short-range comms. "I'm sittin' on a salt mine up here with a busted comm relay. Where's that signal booster?"

"Our new Guardian friend is on the way with it. I'm getting too old to clean up after you, Suraya."

"Finally he admits he's old," Hawthorne laughed. "You bail me out on one assault charge and you never let me live it down."

"Don't you mean one a week? You're the reason why my hair is gray."

"Yeah, yeah. Keep talkin' old man."

"I think it makes you look distinguished," Wren smirked.

"I knew I liked you," Devrim chuckled.

"Damn. We have some Fallen out here." Wren moved toward the small group which had formed in what may have been a small courtyard at one time. It was open to the sunlight overhead and had a few different levels of space with grass, trees, and rubble. She killed the few Dregs that skulked about the place and made her way up to an area that she assumed was part of the mines.

The ground was sandy under her boots. Old trucks and storage containers littered the interior, giving herself and the Fallen places to take cover. Dregs. Just a bunch of Dregs. She wondered if the Cabal invasion had pushed the Fallen back some in their foothold on Earth. Without the comm system running properly it was hard to say.

Wren threw a grenade between a crate and truck, below the catwalk that led to what might have been an office at one point. The Dregs that were hiding there tried to run but the blast caught them from behind. Only one survived and Wren quickly put it down with a shot from the Better Devils.

"Area secured," she said once the enemy was defeated. She toed a body with her boot, just to be sure.

"There's an elevator there that should take you to the top of the mines," Hawthorne said.

Wren tilted her head at the structure. "I don't trust that thing."

"Just push the button and call the elevator down. You'll be fine."

"Look, just because I can be revived doesn't mean dying is any more enjoyable."

She pushed the button and watched the shaft. The rumble from above steadily became a roar and instinct told her to step back. She took several back and the elevator came crashing down in a rain of dirt, salt, and rubble.

"Yeah. That did exactly what I thought it'd do," Wren said.

"We'll have to find another way up," Kiran suggested. "Maybe I can hack that gate."

Wren held out a hand and Kiran drifted toward the console.

"Be careful," Devrim said. "The Fallen are scavengers of the highest order. As you go into the mines, they might be rather defensive of anything they've managed to get their grubby hands on."

"I've dealt with plenty of Fallen," Wren said. "I'm not too worried about them."

She took cover from a small group of them that defended a door on the far side of the next room. Rounds pinged off the old shipping container she hid behind. Carefully she peered out, enough to see that they were close to metal barrels.

"Hey Devrim? Any idea what's in the barrels down here?" she asked.

"No idea but if I had to guess, I'd say fuel of some sort."

"Right." She jumped on top of the container and quickly shot at the barrels. When one exploded it set off a chain reaction that killed the Fallen on the spot and flung her onto her back several feet away.

She groaned and tried to catch her breath as stars floated in her field of view.

"What in the Traveler's name were you thinking?" Kiran scolded.

"They're dead, aren't they?" she coughed and sat up. "Probably should have taken cover better."

"Ya think?"

"You alright down there?" Hawthorne asked. "I felt an explosion."

"It's just me. Everything's fine."

"Good. Then hurry up. We have a job to do."

Wren stood and swiped the dust from her shoulders. She hopped up to what was left of the catwalk where the barrels and Fallen had been to step over what was once a Captain's head.

Bone and muscle stuck out at grotesque angles as its dull eyes stared past her. She blinked away thoughts of Beorn and pushed past what was left of the bodies.

A few more Fallen attempted to block her path but the largest force she'd seen of them was in the main shaft. It was wide enough across that they could have dropped a Walker clean through the middle and it not touch the sides. She blinked up at the sunlight that poured through the opening above but a group of Shanks was enough to keep her preoccupied for a short time.

She fell back enough that Fallen on lower levels couldn't shoot her, but that didn't mean they didn't try. Their rounds whizzed past the edge of the ledge, sending rocks and debris falling down into the shaft. She kept to the outer edge and worked her way down, following Kiran's directions.

"I thought we were going up," she said as she continued down, into dark tunnels where she required his light to see.

"I'm working on it, promise. A lot of the mine has collapsed. Finding a way up won't be easy."

"That's a lot of Shanks," she said, leaning over the edge of a steep drop where she could see glowing lights far below. The Fallen machines drifted lazily about, somehow unaware of Wren and Kiran.

"Try your Arc Staff again. That cleared out the area by the Shard pretty fast."

"I can't control it very well."

"Practice makes perfect."

"I'd rather use Golden Gun."

"I know, but it's not as good against stuff like this. C'mon. It's charged and ready to go. Not like it'll kill you."

"Well, getting shocked on back swings isn't much fun either."

"Just be more aware."

"Right," she grumbled, hesitating before calling forth the Arc Staff on her way down the drop.

She hit the floor in a shower of Arc energy. The Staff wasn't very well formed but it did its job, dropping Shanks like flies. Until she heard a familiar sound that made her blood run cold.

"Wren look out!"

Before she could turn an Exploder Shank caught her in the back, launching her forward to tumble down, farther into the depths of the drop. Pain shot through her ribs from the blast, then through her gut as she landed on top of a pile of what might have been Fallen bombs, hung in nets from the ceiling. She tried to cling to one but slid off anyway. Her right ankle got caught in the net and she swung freely from the side, out of breath and wracked with pain.

"Are you alright?" Kiran asked.

Wren took a few pained breaths, then took in her surroundings. Blood rushed to her head and she knew if she were to cut the rope she'd land head first on the rocks below. She began to swing herself until at last she caught ahold of the netting and pulled herself part way up. She pulled her ankle free and stopped a moment, shaking to hold herself in place.

"It looks clear below. Rest down there," Kiran suggested.

Wren nodded a little but she was tired now. It took a moment before she felt she could let go and be able to land without injuring herself. At the bottom of the shaft she lay flat on her back and tried to catch her breath. Kiran did what he could to heal her and after a time Hawthorne came over comms again.

"C'mon Guardian, we have work to do."

"She's worse than the Vanguard," Wren muttered to Kiran as she stood.

Devrim chuckled. "Well, it'll please you to know that I can see Fallen fleeing the mine. Seems you've really kicked the hornet's nest, haven't you?"

"Something like that," Wren replied. "I got a hallway full of trip mines to take care of. Hopefully the shaft doesn't collapse. It doesn't look too stable down here."

"Might have been their plan. Stay far back when you detonate them and if it does collapse, you should be clear."

"Got it."

Wren did as Devrim suggested and the old hallways and shafts shuddered at the explosions. She stood still after they were done, waiting for the dust to settle and to listen for any sign that the whole damn complex wasn't going to come down around her ears. When she felt it was safe she proceeded, into a room with a low sloping floor, almost like a drain in design, with an elevator on the far side. She didn't like the darkness here. Kiran's light barely cut through to the other side and even then, the dark corners were numerous. Fallen could be anywhere.

"We found another elevator," Kiran said.

"You're good," Hawthorne praised. "Almost as good as Louis."

"Don't get your hopes up yet," Wren said, slowly making her way through the center of the room and up the other side to the elevator. She pressed the button but nothing happened. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Maybe the power's out," Kiran mused.

"It can't ever be easy."

The Fallen came skittering down the walls on all sides, Shanks floating in from holes in the walls, and a Servitor swooping in toward the lowest point of the room.

"Seems we've upset the Fallen," Kiran said.

"Ya think?" Wren growled, opening fire with her auto rifle. As she did, she tried to sidestep and take cover behind a crumbling cement wall.

The Fallen continued to advance, even as she killed all that got too close. She used barrels around the room to her advantage, but was far more careful this time. Debris fell from the ceiling above, a large dislodges boulder crashing down on a Dreg that was near the Servitor. While the mechanical orb was distracted Wren took advantage of its temporary cease fire.

Bullets cracked the metal casing protecting the Servitor, causing thin lines of orange to spiderweb across its surface, a sign it was overheating inside. Electricity arced out here and there but Wren wouldn't be happy until it finally gave in to the damage. It tried to float closer to her, to charge up its weapon, but a rain of bullets cracked the orb at the center and she could tell an explosion was imminent. Knowing that the force of a Servitor being destroyed could cast out shrapnel that was deadly, Wren took her last shot and ducked just before a shard of the Servitor flew overhead and lodged into the sheet metal wall behind where she stood.

As soon as it was dead the power flickered back on overhead.

"That did it," Kiran said. "Killing the Servitor got the power back on."

"Good job," Hawthorne said. "Maybe I'll get my booster one of these days."

"You could have gotten it yourself," Wren snapped. "No one stopping you."

"We have bigger problems then worrying about her," Kiran said. "Get on that elevator! Sensors are picking up a lot of something coming in fast."

Wren ran for the elevator and no sooner did the doors start to close than the room was overrun with Shanks. They floated high as she ascended, forcing her to take a corner away from the bars that separated her from them. She shot them cleanly with the Better Devils when they got too close and by the time they reached topside, the ceiling cut the Shanks off entirely.

She could still see them floating around through the grated floor of the elevator, but there was no way for them to come out here so she moved on.

Out in daylight once more, Wren had to stop a minute to let her eyes adjust. She found herself on a high cliff that was once a road leading from the mines, down to… well, somewhere.

"We're out of the mines," Kiran said. "Headed your way, Hawthorne."

"Then hurry up with that booster," she said, then paused, her tone softer when she spoke again. "Oh and uh… thanks. For your help. You're not so bad, Wren. For a fancy-pants Guardian."

Wren trudged down the hill, unwilling to speak to Hawthorne. Maybe she was just being salty but being rushed rubbed her the wrong way. Luckily Devrim spoke up before she had to.

"That's about the nicest thing I've ever heard Saraya say. You're in rarefied air, my friend."

Hawthorne came into view standing beside a console farther down the slope so Wren made her way down to her.

"You made it," she said as Wren handed over the booster. "Louis owes me money. Okay, let's see if this works."

Wren and Kiran exchanged glances. Hawthorne connected the booster and began to type something into the console.

"Weird," Hawthorne muttered.

"What is it?"

"Well, if I read the manual right… seems we have an incoming beacon."

"From who?"

"I dunno. Let's find out." She pushed a button and Zavala's voice came through.

"Guardians," he said, "the City has fallen. If there is any Light left in the system, we rally on Titan. Be brave."

Before Wren could speak the message began to replay.

"Zavala is alive!" Kiran said. "If we leave now we can—"

"You are not going to Titan," Hawthorne interrupted. "We have refugees coming in. Red Legion on one side, Fallen on the other."

"But we have our powers back," Kiran said. "If we get to Titan then we can work toward retaking the City and—"

"Your City is gone."

"It isn't just that," Wren said. "If Zavala is alive, then maybe Cayde is too. I have to find him and not you, or anyone else is going to stop me."

"So you'd put the lives of all those people down there at risk so you can go chase some guy?"

"It's not like that. If I can find them, I can bring them back."

"We will come back," Kiran said. "And when we do, we won't be alone."

Hawthorn snatched up her sniper and glared at Wren and Kiran. She passed them without looking back. "You know where to find me."

Wren's ship circled the landing area on Titan. Massive waves swelled and raged as far as the eye could see. Ships bobbed along the surface, some threatening to disappear beneath the waves but they didn't seem to be manned so Wren didn't bother with them. In the middle of the group was a sort of tower structure high above the waves.

"Is that water?" she asked.

"No. It's methane," Kiran said.

"You've been pretty quiet since we left the Farm."

"I'm not sure how I feel about this. I mean, on the one hand if we would have stayed behind, we could have helped protect those people. But being here, helping Zavala? We can do more good here than in the Farm. Still, I hate that Hawthorne was upset with us."

"She tried to tell me I couldn't leave. I don't feel bad in the least that she's upset."

"Cayde?" he asked, glancing up at her.

"I just want to find him."

Before he could speak again, a comm relay came in from Zavala. She swung her ship around to the landing zone, looking for a safe place to transmat to.

"Inbound ship, state your purpose."

"Commander, it's Wren. I heard your relay on earth and I'm here to help."

"I'm afraid it's too late. I was wrong to bring us here. The Hive have overrun Titan."

Wren and Kiran exchanged glances. Despite what he said, Wren transmatted from her ship. The platform was unsteady under her boots, swaying with the waves. She peered over the edge, down into the brilliant blue false ocean that spread out below. Something dark moved under the surface.

"Did you see that?" she asked.

"I don't want to think about what that was. Just be careful and don't fall off."

"You don't have to tell me twice. Kiran, could you send out a message to Cerulean again? I know it didn't work from the Farm, but maybe they're here."

"I'll try."

He reached out but moments later Zavala reached out instead.

"Wren? You need to leave this place. I've already lost too many lightless Guardians to the Hive. We cannot take this moon."

"I have my Light back, Commander. I can help."

"What? Impossible."

"Commander, if I may?" A woman's voice came over the comms, but Wren didn't recognize it. "Guardian? This is Deputy Commander Sloane. We have a counter-offensive to plan. To do that, we need to get this station up and running. There's a fleet to prep, Guardians to arm, and a trove of intercepted Red Legion transmissions to decrypt. It's critical that we gain control of the station's Control Center. That's where you come in."

"Of course," Wren said. "I'll do what I can to help. Commander Zavala?"

"Yes Wren?"

"Is Cayde here?"

Hesitation broke the conversation for a moment. "No. I'm sorry."

"Hey Guardian," Sloane said. "If you really do have the Light, send those Hive back to hell."

"And please be careful," Zavala said.

Wren made her way across the complex, struggling to keep balance on the tossing waves. Cargo crates slid across the decks and into the methane sea. Anything that wasn't tied down slid and clattered about, making traversing the complex more complicated than Wren anticipated.

"This is going to be a lot of fun," Kiran said flatly as they neared the edge of the platform and looked down toward the catwalk that hugged tight to a huge red pillar that held up a building far overhead.

"Across that? You're joking."

"I wish I was. Just be careful."

"I hate water," Wren grumbled, then leapt across to the catwalk. At least this one wasn't moving like the other platforms. Not that it helped much. She eased across a pipe that connected the catwalk to the next column. Her heart pounded in her ears but she did her best to not look down.

There was an entrance in the second column but Wren had to destroy a Hive barrier to enter. Her blade dragged down the center of it, splitting the flesh like barrier in half. On the other side there was a circular room, full of Hive barnacles lit by artificial lights. They cast a sickly yellow glow across everything but one floor up was a broken catwalk that seemed to lead back outside.

Wren continued up and around, easing over pipes and rusted grating. She could see words in a language she couldn't read printed on several surfaces. The few that she could decipher didn't give any clue as to what this place actually was. Kiran must have sensed her curiosity because he openly asked.

"What was this place?"

"The Golden Age cities of Titan were once the pride of humanity. We though they were abandoned. But I was a fool to think the Hive would not spread this far," Zavala replied.

"This was a city?" Wren asked, but she got no reply.

She leapt across to what seemed to be an abandoned ship. The doors were cracked enough for her to squeeze through, into the dark bowels of the ship that were coated in barnacles that crunched under her boots. The Hive were here. She knew it. Auto rifle in hand, she eased forward.

"The Darkness," Kiran whispered. "It's really strong here."

"I can feel it."

Weight pulled down at her, as if her boots had turned to lead.

Thrall swarmed her at every turn but the auto rifle fended them off well enough.

"Why haven't I picked one of these up sooner?" she asked.

"Because you never had to. Beorn had…"

Hearing his name stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Wren I'm sorry I—"

"Don't be." Tears pricked her eyes. She'd not had much time to think about him and the guilt of that ate at her. "I um…"

"I know. I feel your guilt, you know. But I don't understand why."

"We don't have time for this." Wren pressed onward.

"Don't hide from me, please."

"I'm not. I just can't talk about right now. We have too much else to do."

She could feel that he wanted to speak again but withheld from doing so. He may not get direct thoughts, but he did understand what she was feeling and there would be no running from the conversation later. The thing was, she had no good reason for him. Not beside feeling she should still be grieving. Still be mourning him. He died for her…

"Wren?"

"I'm fine."

"Let's get out of this place."

"Working on it."

The auto rifle killed Thrall with ease and soon she found herself on the other side of the abandoned ship and looking out over the methane sea. A spine crested the waters below and she shuddered. The depth of it was one thing, but the thought of something able to survive those conditions was worse.

Along her right side was what appeared to be the wall of a building up on columns with a catwalk attached. In the distance was a similar structure with a tower on top.

"Okay Sloane, we can see the Control Center," Kiran said.

"Copy that. Keep moving forward. Commander, at this rate we can start planning our counteroffensive. We'll be outside the City gates in no time."

Wren could understand Sloane's need for hope in a time like this, but seeing the City as she had, crumbling, on fire, in ruins… she had to admit she didn't have hope beyond finding Cayde. If they were able to retake the City, then that would be great, but if she was the only one with the Light, then that meant everyone was looking to her for salvation. She bit her lip. That wasn't comforting.

"If only it was that simple," Zavala said.

That helped some. Maybe he didn't have the kind of faith in her to put all his hope in her alone to restore the City. Truth was, she hadn't done much on her own. Nothing that would warrant that kind of faith in her abilities.

The complex was full of Hive. Nothing too big yet, Acolytes and Thrall, but the ease in which she was able to move through their masses, leaving piles of papery skin and ash in her wake. The remains rustled as she passed over them without second thought. It was easy. Too easy. There had to be something bigger here.

She tossed a grenade into the next corridor, then put her back to the wall, shielding from the blast as she reloaded. At a point she found a space in the floor that was opened, a circular place where fan blades now stood still. Perhaps at one point they'd been used as a way to cool functions of the facility but even that seemed redundant with the surface temperatures of the moon. No time to think about it. Below she could hear Thrall but they were keeping clear of the opening. Chances were, they didn't know she was there.

Thought that might have been the case, they took notice the moment she landed on the upper deck. They screamed and rushed her from the lower deck, their feet clattering across the grating. There were more than she anticipated and even the auto rifle couldn't keep up. She fell back several paces and even took the chance at throwing a grenade too close.

The blast flung several Thrall forward and one tumbled over the edge, falling to the ocean. Claws ripped at her cloak and one of them tore Kiran's pouch from her hip. She plunged a dagger into its head and it collapsed in ash. When they were dead, she collapsed onto her butt.

"Good thing you didn't need that anymore," Wren said, kicking the pouch with the side of her boot.

"Wren, status report," Zavala said.

"I'm alright, Commander. I think I was able to clear this deck down here. I don't see any more Hive."

"Let me know when you get to the Control Center."

"Yessir."

Wren pulled herself to her feet. A screaming Thrall in a section to her left pointed her in the right direction. The only thing to give her any trouble was a Knight which wasn't too bad by comparison to the hoard of Thrall she'd dropped into. The only thing that caught her off guard was that the Hive who accompanies the Knight were performing some sort of ritual.

"I shudder to think what spell the Hive were performing back there. Maybe we should ask Eris about it. She would know what god they were communing with."

"No one has heard from Eris since the City fell," Zavala said. "Or Ikora. Or Cayde."

"Look, as much as I hope Eris survived the attack, I'm not itching to chat with her about… well, anything honestly."

"She's not so bad."

Wren tilted her helmet and Kiran laughed nervously.

"I can't decide if I think this place is entertaining or not," she said flatly as she turned a corner to a new ledge she had to jump on.

"Man, Cayde really didn't help with your sense of humor, did he?"

"This place is falling apart. Sorry if I'm not too pleased about that."

She took a running leap to the next catwalk and it groaned under her weight before collapsing entirely. She scrambled to grab the rail for the section that remained, barely catching herself as the section she landed on tumbled end over end into the ocean.

"Wren!"

She gritted her teeth and pulled herself up, tripping over her own feet as she fell through the door and onto more stable ground.

"That's it, I hate this place," she huffed, laying on her back to catch her breath. Her heartbeat so hard in her chest she thought she might pass out.

"I don't like it much either."

Wren stared up at the ceiling through her helmet visor. Damn she was tired. Thoughts of Cayde and what might have happened to him crept forward but before she could linger on them she hopped to her feet, stumbling into a wall. She wasn't going to let them get her. She had to push forward.

"Are you okay?" Kiran asked.

"Later."

She found her way out onto the main platform of one of the tower like structures that emerged high above the ocean on columns. There were several levels of platforms here and buildings. Crates, stairwells, and catwalks allowed plenty of places to hide for enemy forces and the moment Wren stepped outside she was alert.

"I've reached the Siren's Watch," Wren said.

"The Control Center is near," Kiran said.

"Perfect. Recon the area before you go to the Control Center," Sloane said.

Wren did as she was asked, moving through the area and clearing out what Fallen and Hive she could find. However, in her attack she nearly ran past a doorway where the Hive had obviously set up some sort of… well, she wasn't sure. She slowly neared a large, glowing orange sac.

"What is this?" she asked.

"Looks like Hive egg sacs," Kiran said. "I think they must have set up a breeding ground here."

"So we should destroy these."

"I'd say yes."

The sacs was easy enough to destroy. It burst into thick orange goo that splattered the floor. Chunks and pieces of something mixed with the slime but Wren didn't have the stomach to look as she passed over and into the next room. The mixture stuck to the bottom of her boots and she sneered as it clung to the floor in strands.

"Disgusting," she complained.

"Uh, Wren?"

When she looked up she saw that the whole room was covered in the orange sacs. Thrall screamed and charged her but the auto rifle took care of them, along with sacs that were clipped in the fray. They leaked and oozed from within but still Wren took extra precaution and fully burst them, just to be sure.

The Hive weren't pleased with this. They continued to swarm in and attack, though the Thrall weren't much of a deterrent.

"I wonder why it's only Thrall protecting this place," Wren said.

"I don't know. Maybe they don't think their breeding ground is under threat from anyone. Fallen don't have much need to attack them here… given they stay out in the light and the Hive keep to the shadows. But that's purely speculation."

It took a long time to clear the area. By the time Wren was done she was sticky and splattered with goo from the sacs and incredibly low on auto rifle ammo.

"Might have an issue Commander."

"What's the problem?" Zavala asked.

"Running low on ammo, mostly."

"You're close to a few caches that Guardians had brought here before the Hive attack. I'll send the coordinates to your Ghost."

"Thanks."

"We'll do what we can, Wren."

"Wren, we have a problem," Kiran said.

She turned on her heels to see a Wizard soaring into the breeding ground. One look at the carnage and her scream of rage shook the walls. Energy coursed around her but Wren didn't wait on her to attack. She opened fire on the Wizard, causing her to erupt in thick, black fog. Wren fired blindly, weighed down by the darkness of the bubble.

Claws tore at her cloak and helmet, disorienting her. She let the heat of her Golden Gun blaze from her hands and within seconds the Wizard was dead. Wren stumbled back out of the fog, the last shot of the super still blazing. She gasped to catch her breath as the weight lifted and soon the flame was gone.

Fingertips grazed the side of her helmet where deep gashes had been cut by the Wizard's claws.

"We've cleared the breeding ground," Kiran said.

"Very good," Sloane said. "Sweep the perimeter and we'll head in on your command."

This was taking too long. Wren felt the itching sensation that came with restlessness, growing between her shoulder blades and she realized that despite knowing this was a steppingstone to possibly finding Cayde, she wanted to skip it. Be done with it and able to head out on her own and find him. If he was still out there for her to find. And yet, another side of her called for something else altogether. The one thing she'd hardly been able to do since the attack on the City… sleep. Through all of it. Let it sort itself out.

She checked a nearby cache before pushing through the building, deeper into more Hive infested areas of the compound. Barnacles, fleshy membranes, and the occasional Thrall were like a breadcrumb trail to where she needed to go.

Some twenty minutes later she'd cleared the Hive on the way to the Control Center and was headed up to the landing platform. Just one little issue on her way up…

A Hive Prince.

"Great," Wren muttered.

"He's got a Splinter," Kiran said.

"Yeah, I can see that." Three of the weapon's Solar bolts flared past Wren just after she ducked behind cover. The very end of her cloak caught fire and she stomped it out with the side of her boot. "I'm so ready to be done with this."

"Then let's kill that thing."

"He says after I've used my Golden Gun."

"This one isn't like the ones you faced before. Auto rifle should get him, it'll just take a bit."

She ran for cover farther forward, dodging the bolts that burned past. She could hear the Prince roar, his stomping footsteps growing closer. He wasn't as intent on getting too close, unlike the Princes that had guarded the Sword of Crota. Then again, he wasn't wielding a sword either.

A grenade at his feet distracted him well enough that Wren could run around and find a better position. It did more damage than she was expecting. When she leaned around the corner to open fire, he was already on one knee, his left foot and shin shredded by Solar energy. The Prince leaned heavily on his weapon but Wren didn't wait for him to force himself to stand.

Bullets tore into the papery flesh of the Hive. He shrieked in pain before he drifted away in the wind. Wren peered out, making sure he was indeed gone before coming out.

"Commander?" she said. "The area is clear."

"Copy that," Sloane said. "Zavala and I are inbound. Why don't you come on up here and take a bow?"

Wren didn't particularly like that idea but she headed up to meet them anyway. Sloane and Zavala were already waiting for her when she got to the top of the area, their ship taking off. Behind them an enormous building filled the horizon, long pieces of fabric whipping in the wind. She thought they might have been banners but they were far too thin, looking more like the ribbons children in the City played with on holidays.

Zavala approached her as the woman Wren assumed was Sloane ran past with barely a nod of her head.

"I didn't dare believe," he began, standing before her. "If the Light can find its way back to you, then perhaps there is hope for us all. Our numbers will continue to dwindle. We can no longer protect ourselves, or the survivors."

"I don't believe that," Wren said. Zavala raised a brow at her. "Commander, there is a group of refugees, normal every day people, who have taken up in a place on Earth called the Farm. It was close to there that I got my Light back. Might not be a bad idea to get whatever Guardians you have here and get them to the Farm to assist."

"Guardians… without our Light, are we even Guardians anymore?"

"Yes."

Zavala stared at her a moment and she thought she saw the hint of a smile. "We won't last long with dead generators. Wave Energy Converters power this station but thanks to the Hive, they're in need of attention."

"We can take care of it," Kiran said.

"Yes… I believe you can. But for now, you should rest. I'll show you where you can bed down for a few hours."

"Thank you, Commander."

Sleep came easily enough. Dreams filtered in of vast plains covered in flowers, just like the field where she and Kiran had found the bunker that held secrets of Cayde's past. The Queen. She walked down from the ridge to walk through hip deep flowers and grass, blowing gently in the wind.

The skies were bright and mostly clear with only a few puffy clouds floating along the breeze. Flowers of every color turned to face her as she passed and here, she found peace.

Until a low rumble shook the ground under her boots. A dark shadow crossed over her and she looked up to the underbelly of a massive Cabal ship. The red paint dripped like blood onto the field and the flowers shriveled and died on contact. She ran.

Sprinting with everything she was worth to outrun the blood that now poured onto the field, leaving a blackened path through the plains. Suddenly she wasn't alone. Cayde was beside her. Running. Looking over his shoulder. Shooting at the ship.

Then Rorick ahead of them, shouting orders but she couldn't hear him. His voice was drowned out by the increasingly loud ships that now stretched across the sky as far at the eye could see, wiping out the fields with blood. Sisre was close behind Rorick. Franz and Beorn to her left.

Seeing Beorn she nearly tripped. She reached out to him, tried to grab his arm but when she did the metal of his elbow shot out into her hand and she withdrew, crying out in pain. She kept running, blood splashing on her heels. She looked at her palm, shards of metal protruding at odd angles, blood seeping through her gloves.

"Beorn!" she looked up and he was gone entirely. Franz lunged at her, shoving her back into the shadow of the Cabal ships.

The blood poured heavy on her and she immediately dropped to her knees. The pressure of it was unbearable. She reached for the others but when she tried to open her mouth to call out to them, the metallic taste coated her tongue. Thick, clotted blood rushed in and she coughed and sputtered, vomiting it back onto the ground.

It was so thick, so sticky, she couldn't stand. She couldn't see or hear anymore and it crushed her to the earth.

A gasping breath had her sitting upright on the floor of the station in a sleeping bag Zavala had found for her. She panted and shook all over, then braced her head in her hands, fingers tangling in her hair.

"Wren?" Kiran hovered.

"I… nightmare."

"Do you want to talk about it."

Tears welled up in her eyes. "Yes. And no. I just want things to be the way they were. Before SIVA. Before Beorn… I'm so tired and I can't even sleep."

"I know." He flew in and lightly bumped against her hands until she held him. "Let's try again. To get some sleep. Just think… we'll find Cayde and Sundance soon."

Wren was no longer as hopeful about that as she had been. No matter how badly she wanted to find him, she couldn't help but ask herself… if he was still alive, why wouldn't he be here with Zavala? He was still Vanguard. If he was out there, then what the hell was he doing?

She laid back down and Kiran cuddled close. One day at a time. That's all she could manage.

Just one day.