"Wren?"

The voice barely came through before someone collapsed onto her, pulling her into a tight hug. Her heart raced as the arms forced the air out of her and for a split second, she was in panic mode. It wasn't until she saw Rorick and Koro smiling down at her that she realized Sisre was the one crushing her.

Immediately tears formed and she threw her arms around Sisre's neck. She closed her eyes and held her as tightly as possible.

"We were worried sick," Sisre said, pulling away to get a better look at Wren.

"I was worried about you too. Is Franz okay?"

Sisre's smile became forced. "He's fine. He stayed behind at the Farm."

"Oh…"

"We came to aid Commander Zavala. Word's already getting around that a Guardian has their Light back, but I wasn't expecting it to be you."

"Rumors are causing issues at the Farm," Koro said.

"I imagine so…" Wren stood, with Sisre's help, and was hugged by Rorick and Koro in turn. "Have you talked to Zavala yet?"

"We have. We sent us to collect you," Rorick said. "Apparently we have some work to do but he would prefer you to take point since you're the one who has their Light."

"And Koro?"

"I'm with you this time. Don't worry, I'm pretty good with a pulse rifle." Koro smiled broadly, rifle over his shoulder.

It was still strange to see him armed, much less out of the City. Not that he had a choice, but still. It was different than anything he'd ever showed interest in and frankly, she felt he was flourishing. Thriving even.

The three of them headed toward the area where Sloane had set up command. Wren was surprised to see Holliday there, but not as surprised as Holliday was to see her. The blonde woman nearly spit out her drink and for a moment, it looked like she'd seen a ghost.

"Wren? I thought you were dead! I—I saw you fall off Ghaul's ship. How did you survive that?"

"No idea. I woke up a couple days later and found Kiran before fleeing the City."

"I uh, I think I should tell you that I saw Cayde. At the Farm. Said he was lookin' for you but I told him what I saw."

"He thinks I'm dead?"

"Yeah. Twice over. Heard some rumors that you'd survived the initial attack. Ya know, right after he thought you died the first time. I'm real sorry. I honestly thought you were a goner after takin' a swan dive off that command ship."

"It's fine. I would have thought the same. Where is he now?"

"No clue. Took off the next mornin' without a word. Now, if I were takin' bets, I'd say he's tryin' to find a way to get to Ghaul and get his revenge."

"Sorry to break this up," Sloane interrupted. "But we have some pressing matters right here right now."

"Of course," Rorick said. "What are we doing?"

"First we need to power this place up. Zavala said you volunteered, so I'll run tactical on this one and Holliday will be tech support. It's a straightforward op. Get in, flip a switch, get out."

Holliday chuckled and crossed her arms. "Got a way of makin' it sound easy doesn't she?"

"Head to the Tidal Anchor area. I sent coordinates to your Ghosts," Sloane said. "Now get outta here. And keep those little guys tucked away. Got a lot of trouble lurking out there."

"Understood. Cerulean, out," Rorick said, motioning toward the door.

Wren trotted to keep up with him, but he gave her a nod and fell back. He was still their leader, but for now, she had to protect them.

Wren led them through the Hive barnacle crusted halls, beyond rooms where the power was failing and the lights flashed, past corpses of Hive and Fallen alike. It seemed the two had been fighting it out but it was unclear of who was winning.

When they entered the area Sloane had directed them to, it was obvious that neither side had claimed victory. They were battling it out and Koro made a move to go toward them when Rorick blocked him by putting the side of his auto rifle against Koro's chest.

"This isn't our fight," Rorick said. "Let them tear each other apart. Save your ammo."

"Commander Sloane?" Wren said. "Did we lead the Fallen here?"

"No. Those vultures followed us after the evacuation," Sloane replied. "Probably thought it'd be easy enough to scavenge supplies from us."

"Good. We have Hive and Fallen fighting out here. We're going to sneak around to the first control room and see if we can get power up from there."

"Keep me posted."

"Of course. Also, I think the Hive have infested more than we thought."

"Holliday, we gotta get you back in the air," Sloane said. "We'll need ongoing aerial threat assessments to make sure our perimeter is secure."

"Oh, uh… see, my ship took a lot of damage during the evacuation. I was able to get some of it fixed in order to get here, but she needs a lot more in the way of repairs," Holliday said.

"I'll bump you up to front in the repairs as soon as the lights are on," Sloane assured.

"Alright, we're headed in," Wren said.

Cerulean crouched behind Wren and single file they made their way around the skirmish. A familiar noise froze them in their tracks, but Sisre had to catch the back of Koro's armor to stop him from moving any farther forward.

"What?" he hissed.

"Exploder Shanks," Rorick whispered.

"Where the hell are they?" Sisre asked.

Close by a whole group of them floated toward the Hive. Cerulean dropped, keeping out of sight until they exploded, sending pieces of their enemies and allies alike along with shrapnel. Didn't seem like the Fallen cared much who their little flying bombs took out.

Wren decided to take the chaos as an opportunity to pass unnoticed, and into the room marked by Sloane. It wasn't anything unusual. A wall of windows overlooked the smaller platforms surrounding them and below those windows was a row of monitors that made up the control panel.

Kiran went into the system and began to hack.

"How are your Ghosts doing?" Wren asked.

"Sambo's feeling weak but other than that, he's okay." Sisre opened a pouch on her pants that was lined with hard material and Sambo peeked out. "We do our best to keep them protected, but they refuse to stay behind in safe places."

"Brix is the same. He says they can heal us, but not resurrect us," Rorick said.

"Seems pretty handy to me," Koro shrugged.

"Can be," Wren said. "But you have to understand that there's a lot of fear that comes with them being weakened."

The screens turned red and Kiran jumped back. Alarms began to sound.

Kiran floated up to her. "I didn't do anything!"

"What's going on?" Sloane asked.

Wren read over the information flashing across the screen. "I'm not sure but I think only some of the systems are still down."

"Yeah, seems like some of the pistons aren't firing. They must be jammed."

"Looks like you're gonna have to get out there and rig a work around," Holliday said. "Be careful, and watch your ass."

"You heard her," Rorick said. "Time to move out."

Wren gave a curt nod and took her place at the head of the fireteam. Felt strange, being first in line, and frankly, she wasn't a huge fan of it. The circular door slid open and they ran through, but she immediately regretted her haste.

Just on the other side she tripped a web mine and in doing so, she jumped, her boots sliding from under her and she hit her back so fast it took a moment for her to register what happened. A ball of crackling metal spun overhead, getting more and more rapid. The others backed up quickly. Rorick grabbed her ankle and dragged her out just before the thing exploded into a dome of white Arc energy.

"What the hell was that?" Koro gasped.

"Web mine," Rorick grumbled. "I was taken off guard. Next time, just shoot the ball before it explodes and it won't go off."

"I hate those things," Wren muttered, taking Sisre's arm to stand. "I'm sorry, Rorick, I shouldn't have charged in like that."

"You're a Hunter," he said, gently tapping her helmet with the butt of his gun. "Nothin' behind those eyes."

Wren laughed and punched his exposed side but she was taken aback at how easy it was to laugh at all. Hidden by her helmet her smile dropped. Beorn couldn't laugh anymore. And Franz… he likely wasn't either. All they've lost. The Tower, the City… countless civilians and Guardians were dead. Word even was that the Speaker had been taken, but she hadn't wanted to believe the rumor. Everything was fractured and falling apart and she was laughing.

"Well?" Rorick said. "You planning on standing there all day or are we going to get the power back on for these people?"

"Right," Wren mumbled, pushing past him and into the hallway. She had to be more careful with them or they'd end up like… she shook her head, trying to dislodge the thought.

She was more careful from there, triggering and shooting down web mines before they had the time to blow. Being without them for so long, she realized she'd taken for granted her own Light and by extension, their lack of it.

"Well, that's gross," Koro said as they approached their first Hive egg sac.

"Destroy it," Wren said. "The less Hive eggs we have hanging around, the better."

Koro did as he was told and kept back as he shot at the sac.

"Let me go first. I think I hear more Exploder Shanks."

"Allow me," Rorick said, throwing a grenade right outside the door. They took cover and waited for the grenade to destroy the Shanks, as well as a Dreg that had gotten too close.

Wren peered out the doorway, watching for movement when Rorick walked past her and out into the walkway between the building and some storage crates.

"Don't worry about us," he said. "We're still capable and you're being plenty careful enough. We'll be fine."

"I know I just—"

Rorick grabbed her shoulder and leaned in close. "Wren, what happened to Beorn was not your fault. We may not have our Light, but this is not SIVA. These are Fallen and Hive. Who we've fought countless times before without a scratch. We're careful too. Lead the way. As you would if we had our Light."

"And uh… me," Koro waved awkwardly. "No Light here. Ya know… ever."

Sisre chuckled and shoved him playfully.

"Where to now?" Rorick asked.

Wren turned her head to the doorway nearby with red trip mine lasers across the entrance.

"That way."

"Of course it is," Sisre sighed. "Well, step aside. I can trigger one with my scout and it should take care of them just fine."

They continued forward, past drops that Wren had to tease them about taking the stairs for, across catwalks and a bridge that Wren didn't quite trust.

Hive forces grew thinner, but the Fallen were more prevalent. It was obvious here that their forces far outfought those of the Hive. Ash and remnants of papery skin floated in the breeze, carried down to disappear on the surface of the false sea. Barnacles were crushed to bits and groups of egg sacs had been decimated, their contents spilled out to the catwalks where much of the goo dripped between the grating while thicker pieces remained on top.

Their forces were diminished, but they weren't done. Once Cerulean cleared the first station, killing the Fallen that held it, they realized that the Hive had fallen back to the second one and were holding their positions. A large group of Cursed Thrall were just inside the shadows of the next station.

"Sisre, think you can take out the whole group?" Wren asked, but Sisre was already taking aim with her scout. She shot the center Thrall and the explosion took out most of the others. The next shot killed the rest but a Wizard wasn't terribly happy about it.

She flew out into the light and charged at them from across the bridge. Wren jumped up front and her Golden Gun blazed in her hands. The Wizard dodged the first shot and Koro yelled but Wren didn't let him distract her. The second shot clipped the Wizard's shoulder and threw her off course. The third put her down for good.

"Have a little more faith in me," Wren said to Koro who had turned white as a sheet.

"Sorry, I'm not used to all this yet."

"Well you'll be less thrilled about what's to come."

"What do you mean?"

Wren led them through station 2 and out the other side to what used to be a walkway that was now broken and sparking with exposed wires.

"I saw it from around the corner. We have to get down to that platform but—"

"We can't make that," Rorick said. "You'll have to do this part alone."

"Yeah, I know. Stay here and keep an eye out for enemies but be careful."

"We'll be fine. You go."

Wren ran across the broken platform and jumped as far as she could, several stories down and across the sea to a catwalk that had seen better days. As soon as she hit she ran toward a more stable section as the place she landed on broke away and fell. She could hear Koro yell something from above but she only have him a little thumbs up before ascending the massive column by way of catwalks that circled it.

"We've made it to the first of the converter platforms," Wren said. She went through the open door and saw the piston completely jammed. "And I definitely see the problem."

"What is it?" Sloane asked.

"Not sure but I think it has something to do with the Hive." She opened fire on the strange, blackened mass and it began to crumble. Once she had done enough damage, the force of the piston trying to move helped it to break free. "That seemed to help."

"Good. One more to go. We're still dark down here," Holliday said.

"Wren?"

"Go head Rorick."

"Do you see a way around for us to help you with the next piston?"

She walked to the upper doorway and looked down. "Sorry, but no. All I see are a bunch of broken platforms held together by… well, it doesn't look sturdy. Might help if you find some place with a good view and take out enemies from afar if you can."

"Good luck out there."

The next piston was close enough and she had no issue working her way to clearing the piston.

"Second one is clear," she said.

"Sorry, but control is still dark," Holliday said. "Standby while we figure out where to go from here."

Wren paced and cursed. What the hell was it going to take to get this over with and get her onto Cayde's track? She knew that he'd thought she was dead, at least that first time, but finding out that she fell from Ghaul's ship… hearing it from Holliday no less? He had to believe it. But where could he have gone in his search for Ghaul? Instead of figuring any of that out, she was stuck here unclogging stupid Hive gunk from pistons and—

"Wren? You and your team are gonna have to go fuzz with the circuit breakers."

"Got it. Hey, could you get with Rorick and figure out how to get them to where I'm headed?"

"Sure. I'll get him to get things started incase they get there first."

"Send them to the central platform," Sloane said. "Everything routes through there."

Wren ran from one rickety platform to another, her heart in her throat every time one groaned or popped under her weight. Didn't help that they were barely held in place by old, frayed cables that added no stability. Some of the smaller sections shifted and swayed under her until at last she made it to the top of a nearby platform.

"Have I said how much I hate this place?" she asked.

"Not today." Kiran chirped.

She turned a corner just as the rest of Cerulean did and she gladly joined up with them again. They destroyed the Hive secretion that had hardened over the panel and Rorick yanked the switch down, pieces of corrosion cracking off at his boots. Energy hummed under them and in the distance the buildings began to light up.

"Yeah! Power's back!" Holliday said.

"Exemplary work everyone," Slone said. "The power may be on, but we still have the issue of some enemy transmissions we intercepted. What do you say Cerulean? Up for a little more adventure?"

Wren looked around to the others who gave a nod. "We're ready when you are."

"You doing okay?" Sisre asked as they walked toward the next coordinates. Koro and Rorick had fallen behind, discussing weapons as Koro was still learning.

"Yeah."

"Really? Cuz, you seem a little… distracted."

Wren sighed. "I'm restless."

"I figured that was the case. You want to find Cayde I bet."

"I do but I also can't leave everyone else without something to move forward from. Being the only one with Light makes things difficult."

"I can imagine. It's a lot of responsibility."

"I try not to think about it too much. I've never had so many people rely on me before."

Sisre shook her head and chuckled. "That's not true. Not even a little. We may have moved as a team, but every mission we took on was us standing between the Darkness and the last of humanity. We're not doing anything different here."

"Except that humanity is worse off than it has been in a long time."

"But we're already fighting back."

Wren let her gaze drift to the horizon. Fighting back. Right…and yet she felt her fight was on pause. She knew what she wanted wasn't beyond that point on the horizon she set her stare upon. Cayde wasn't on Titan. He was out there, somewhere, and she knew he was doing his own fighting back. The question was, would he still be around for her to find? She had to help Zavala before she could break away and find out but patience wasn't on her side.

"Holliday has detected an unusual amount of electricity being re-directed into the Arcology," Zavala said.

"We're already headed there, right?" Sisre asked.

"Yep," Holliday confirmed. "Juice like that can only mean one thing: a network of CPU's - powerful ones. Maybe powerful enough to decrypt that Cabal signal we intercepted."

"Unfortunately, we don't know where the network might be located," Zavala said.

"So you're gonna have to snoop around, not draw too much attention."

"Cerulean, securing this asset could turn the tide of this "war" with the Red Legion. Without it... I don't know what comes next."

"We'll take care of it Commander," Rorick assured. "We're crossing what's left of the bridge, headed toward the area marked the Solarium."

"Stay safe," Zavala replied, and the comms went quiet.

They cut through was Wren figured was the outer wall of the Arcology, into some sort of maintenance area. It all seemed pretty much intact, which was a nice change from the crumbling exterior where every platform threatened to fall away. Here the stairs and catwalks were in good shape and even held a few Fallen who were patrolling the area.

Cerulean turned toward what looked like the back of some sort of light up sign with a split through it. Some of the colorful lights had gone out around the gap and others sparked here and there. A Servitor guarded it and it took all of them firing on it to blow it to pieces. Rorick pushed Koro out of the way of getting hit by a large section of its shell that whizzed by.

Wren helped Koro to his feet and when he grabbed her forearm she could feel him shaking. She couldn't see his face through his visor but she'd guess he looked like he'd seen a ghost. He absently wiped his hands on his pants.

"You okay?"

"Hm? Yeah… yeah I'm fine."

"Good, then let's get moving," Rorick said. "We have a long way to go and will likely come across worse than a Servitor."

"Never thought I'd say that I miss your rocket launcher," Sisre teased.

Wren led the way through the gap in the wall but just on the other side she paused in awe. The Solarium was impressive. High glass ceilings soared overhead, partially covered in vegetation. Or debris? She couldn't tell from so far down but the top floors of the strangely curved buildings within were covered in trees and hanging vines. Perhaps they'd extended to the ceiling.

The outer shell of the Arcology arched high overhead, extending so far that there appeared to be fog obstructing her view of the other side. The bottom floors of the buildings surrounding what she assumed was a courtyard type area, glowed with large signs that somehow survived the years.

The others pushed past Wren, each of them taking a moment to survey the space as she had. Foliage spilled over planters and into the sunken courtyard which was now overgrown with grass and ferns.

"Welcome to New Pacific Arcology, the bright future of space colonization in the shadow of Saturn." An automated message echoed through the space, putting the team on edge for a moment.

"Damn that thing nearly gave me a heart attack," Sisre hissed.

Kiran chuckled. "Sound's like the Arcology's operating is back online."

"I knew it!" Holliday said. "Keep an eye out for an OS access terminal. You can use it to pinpoint the CPU network."

"Will do."

"The New Pacific Academy is proud to offer degrees in Methane-Oceanography and Tidal Engineering."

"Attention science lovers! The Collective's lecture on the terraforming of Io begins in five minutes in the Cassini Library," the message continued.

"I'm surprised it still works," Koro said. "I wonder if we could use this place as a refuge instead of the Farm. There's plants up top. We could use that for farming."

"Maybe," Wren said. "We can offer it to Hawthorne, but I can't say she'd accept."

"It's a bad location," Rorick said.

"What?" Koro questioned. "Why?"

"It's huge. Too much for the people we have left to secure and keep secured."

"You don't know that. People of the City are learning to defend themselves. It's not just Guardians anymore it's—"

"Guys, that's enough," Sisre cut in.

"Thirty four percent of Titan's citizen's hope that the Traveler will terraform the ocean-moon soon," the message said.

Rorick and Koro hesitated, then gave one another a short nod. At the end of the day, it wasn't up to either of them what would happen to the people at the Farm. Hawthorne or Cerulean walked toward the right wall, arching around toward a door.

"They built this place with high hopes of what the Traveler might do," Rorick said.

"The Traveler's sudden departure from Io was a surprise to many. But experts insist should trust in the Traveler's choices," the message continued.

Cerulean exchanged glances.

The messages gave Wren chills. These people had no idea what was coming. Did they find these messages to be of comfort before the Collapse? She rubbed her arms. These words could have been the last some people ever heard…

"Local officials will neither confirm nor deny the existence of any so-called deep-space-anomaly." After this the messages stopped but the strange weight it brought lingered.

They were all thinking about it. What those messages meant to people who hundreds of years later, knew better.

Wren led Cerulean through the Arcology, through corridors where innovation and sleek design faced overgrowth of vegetation. In some areas the floor was completely gone, overtaken. Puddles of water reflected the glow of neon lights that lit along the curved walls.

The farther they went, the more the place felt like a terminal of some kind. There were gates where people walked through but those gates were disabled now and the team walked through without issue.

"Is it just me, or is it getting darker?" Koro asked.

"It is," Wren replied.

"Get to that door," Kiran instructed. "I can get in there and see what's up."

Wren put him out at a monitor by the door that read Welcome to New Pacific Arcology in several different languages.

"This is definitely the access terminals we're looking for," Kiran said. "The CPU network is deep within the maintenance levels. Amanda, is this what we're looking for?"

"Bingo! That's the place."

"Okay, I've got the location."

"Cerulean is heading down now," Wren replied.

The doors slid open to almost complete darkness. Curved walls lit with emergency lights waved in the distance. Below was almost entirely dark but Wren could sort of make out grass. The bend in the room held a round planter with a tree, its green leaves shimmering as a light from around the corner flickered and blinked.

As they neared it, the Darkness grew heavy. She could feel it but she knew the others likely couldn't, so she threw up a hand to stop them.

"What's wrong?" Rorick asked.

"Darkness. I think you guys should hang back and let me check it out."

"We'll go to the corner and cover you."

Around the bend were wide stairs ascending a few flights to what might have been another door but she couldn't tell. The flickering lights didn't help. She took a few steps and paused when her boots splashed in shallow water. An instant later it began to ripple and churn as Thrall pulled themselves out of the depths of… well, who knew?

Hive had a strange way of doing that. Rising from water, no matter the depth. It was disturbing and she wondered if it was some sort of Hive magic that allowed them to do so, but there wouldn't be much time to sit and dwell on it.

They rushed her and were met with grenades. Two to be exact. One Solar, which she anticipated, and the other which threw her to the ground. Her ears rang and her head swam as she tried to regain her bearings. Gunfire was the first thing that broke through the ringing, along with angry shouts.

When Sisre finally helped her to sit up Koro's helmet was hung low in shame.

"I-I'm sorry," he said.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Rorick yelled, looming over him. "What if she didn't have her Light? You could have gotten her killed."

"I said I was sorry!"

"This is why civilians have no place fighting—"

"You're no different than me! Neither of us have the Light!"

"But I have combat experience where as you—"

"That's enough, Rorick," Sisre said. "I admit what he did was stupid, but I haven't known you to act like this."

Rorick took a deep breath, standing taller and for a moment I thought he was going to snap at Sisre but instead he let out a long exhale and his shoulders dropped.

"Apologies, Koro," he said. "Just be careful next time and don't throw grenades until instructed."

"Sure," Koro muttered.

Despite Wren running point, Rorick and Sisre walked ahead, making their way up the steps. Koro came to Wren's side.

"I really am sorry."

"I know. But Koro, panicking can get you killed. Or kill a member of your own team. You need to be fully aware of everyone else's positions at the same time."

"I'm just not used to this yet."

"If Hawthorne didn't think you could help, she wouldn't have sent you. But I need you to keep calm and if you start to panic, fall back and don't shoot at all. None of you can heal like I can and… and this place is a Darkness Zone. I can feel it. If I die here, it'll be very hard to come back, especially without help from another Guardian."

"I understand."

"Good. Now let's move."

They joined Rorick and Sisre who were standing at a massive hole in the floor that was crusted with hive barnacles. They crunched under their boots as they neared the dark pit.

"Damn," Koro whispered.

"Safe to say the Hive made us a shortcut," Sisre replied.

"I'll go first," Wren said, dropping into the hole. It was darker here than before and for a split second on the way down she could almost feel bubbles around her and dark water. Her boots hit the floor and she inhaled sharply.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Just landed wrong," she lied.

Kiran's light flashed along the corridor which were coated in barnacles so thick that the walls were just uneven masses like hills that spread overhead to the ceiling as well.

"Safe to say we're deep in Hive territory now," Kiran said.

"Indeed," Zavala replied. "Keep comm chatter to a minimum. We don't want to attract any… unnecessary attention."

"Understood," Rorick said, landing a few feet behind Wren. "This corridor alone is a good enough reason for me not to put this place up as a replacement for the Farm."

Koro turned his faceplate away and his shoulders stiffened but he let the matter go and the four of them pushed deeper into the lower levels of the Arcology.

They took out a Knight, a Shrieker, and a handful of Thrall, with Wren taking the brunt of the damage to keep her teammates safe. By the time they cleared a larger room with frosted windows, caked in grime so thick that light from outside could never fully penetrate, Wren was exhausted.

The weight of the Darkness was bad enough without trying to make sure the others were still in one piece and unharmed. Rorick was growing increasingly antsy about letting her take point but he hadn't said much about it. She didn't have to hear him speak to know. His shoulders were tensed and his attacks were more aggressive, as if he was trying to end the encounter as quickly as possible, only to hover over her when it was done.

Here she had to sit down, sliding to the floor by a pillar to take a breather as Kiran healed a Void burn that had seared through her armor. It was nothing like the set she'd gotten from Cerulean. What the Guardians and civilians had at their disposal these days could barely constitute as armor in the first place. She'd taken her old set for granted.

"What's that sound?" Koro said after a moment. He eased across the platform toward the frosted glass wall and looked down. "Huh… it drops off here to a lower level. And I can hear something moving."

Wren went to get up but Rorick put a hand on her helmet to keep her down.

"I'll check it out," he said, going over to join Koro.

Not that it was necessary. Wren could hear it too. A low rumbling sound, like something big walking around very slowly. She could barely feel it through the soles of her boots but she knew what it was.

"Ogre," she stated.

"Yeah," Rorick confirmed.

"Wait, a what?" Koro asked, clutching his rifle to his chest.

"Just stay in the back and keep your head down."

"I can do that."

Wren got up and joined them. "I'm starting to miss that rocket launcher too."

"We'll see if we can find one for you, Rorick," Holliday said, a smile on her voice.

A roar from below shook the ground and Wren decided to drop down ahead of the others, to check the exact location of the Ogre before putting the others at risk. The Ogre hadn't noticed her yet, which was just the way she wanted it. Instead the creature seemed to be roaring at Thrall that ran around its legs as if it wasn't there, impeding its movements. Good enough for her.

"It's far enough away," she said. "I'm going to Golden Gun it."

She heard them jump down behind her an instant before her body blazed with Solar energy. The Ogre didn't know what hit him. The first shot staggered him and the others opened fire to assist her to kill the Thrall, but the Golden Gun was enough to take out the Ogre itself. When it was dead, she helped with the Thrall, then with the egg sacs that hung in glowing orbs on the ceiling.

"That thing was terrifying," Koro said.

"You never heard of an Ogre?" Wren asked.

"I mean, I have but no one really knows what they looked like."

"Changing your mind about wanting to fight?"

Koro thought a moment, then shook his head. "No. I mean, I don't want to do missions like this. I'd rather stick close to the Farm and defend the people there who can't defend themselves."

"Right."

Finding the way to the CPU room took some time. Navigating through air vents, empty elevator shafts, and through Hive made tunnels was more challenging than Wren thought it would be and at one point, she remembered how it felt to do this on the Moon. Delve deeper and deeper, away from the surface.

"There were a lot of bones in the shafts," Koro said quietly. "Human bones."

Rorick paused, then gave a short nod. "It's part of dealing with the Hive. But I doubt all of those bones were from anything recent. They've likely been here since the Arcology fell."

"But in the vents?"

"Panic makes people do strange things."

Spaces became tighter, more cramped. There were times where Rorick could hardly fit, even on his hands and knees as they had no choice but to wind through ventilation systems. Between sharp metal and sparking wires they all came out with a few more scrapes and bruises by the time they finally dropped from the vents, into the CPU room. There was a ramp leading down to round platform with a glowing orb.

Wren was taken aback at the vastness of the area. She couldn't even fully make out what the hell they were in. A room? More like a cavern… but why was it so huge?

"We can't make that jump," Rorick said.

"You mean we came all this way for nothing?" Sisre said.

"We couldn't have known."

"I'll keep moving. You guys stay here, just in case," Wren replied.

"Will do."

She jumped down and across to the platform and grabbed the CPU. An alarm sounded, making her jump. She turned tail and ran to the door that was now opening for her as the Arcology Operating System gave a warning about the CPU's network disruption.

"There's no way the Hive didn't hear that," Kiran said.

"Move it, Wren!" Zavala demanded. "The rest of Cerulean, fall back the way you came!"

"Wren is under heavy fire from the Hive, Commander. We're going to take out some of these—"

"Rorick, I understand your desire to protect your team, but the Arcology is going to be swarming with Hive. Wren can only go one way from here. I'm sending in back up to make sure the rest of you can come out the way you went in. Move, Rorick!."

"Yes Commander," Rorick muttered but Wren was more concerned with what was ahead. A room full of Drakes.

"There's no way Wren's gonna make it out of there," Holliday said. "Not having to walk the CPU out."

"I see some Drakes, but I'm not sure how to drive one."

"Get in anyway," Zavala said. "If you can make it to the center of the Arcology, I can send someone to get you."

"I'm on it," Holliday volunteered.

"Kiran should be able to help me figure this thing out," Wren said, climbing into the Drake and latching the door behind her.

"It's pretty simple," Kiran said, freely flying around in the Drake. "These make it go forward… this is to rotate the—" he made an odd sound as the Drake lurched forward, the top half swiveling around sharply. "You're gonna make me throw up."

"Oh please, you can't throw up."

"Wren… I say this out of love but… your driving sucks."

"Do you wanna try?"

"Uh, I don't have thumbs so…"

"Okay then relax and let me work. Just tell me where to go."

"I think this road should lead to the center of the Arcology."

The farther she went, the more she realized that there was no option on where to go at all. The Hive seemed to have taken over the space and treated it like a hive with a center area with their own halls carved out through the ones of the Arcology. She had only one way she could go and it was through Hive infested areas where she had little choice but to plough over many of them that stood in the way and yet, she hadn't felt this safe in enemy territory in a very long time.

"I want one of these," she said.

"Request denied," Zavala replied.

"Yessir," Wren grumbled.

"I'm strapping in now and preparing for takeoff," Holliday said. "I'll be there ASAP."

"Amanda?"

"Yes Commander?"

"Fly fast. Fly safe."

"Yes, sir!"

"How are you hold up, Wren?"

"Not too bad. There's a group of Cursed Thrall ahead and a Shrieker but the Drake should be able to handle that right?"

Silence.

"Commander?"

"Yes, the Drake should be able to handle it but don't linger. Push through."

Wren and Kiran exchanged glances.

"There are some massive egg sacs down here," she said. "I've never seen any this size before."

"There's nothing we can do about it now. Especially with as heavy as the Hive presence is there. We'll devise something later. For right now, just focus on escape."

The group of Cursed Thrall sprinted toward the Drake, then slowed, wrapping their arms around themselves just before their explosions. Wren gritted her teeth as the shockwaves coursed through the Drake, tilting it up to one side. If it flipped now, she was screwed. So much for feeling safe.

Void energy from the Shrieker caused internal functions to have a sort of charge to them and Wren thought the computers might fail.

She turned a corner, into an onslaught of Hive, to see a bridge in the distance. Free and clear. That must be where she was headed.

"I think I made it," she said.

She crested the bridge into one of the Arcologies domes, a vast forest sprawling out all around on the floors below. It gave more scope to the size of the place and more of an understanding on her part as to why Rorick thought this place would be impossible to take control of and hold. But damn, if they could? This place could be very close to perfect for the residents of the Last City.

"I've got eyes on ya," Holliday said.

Wren looked up as much as possible with the scope to see Holliday's ship headed inbound.

"Meet me at the end of the road," she said.

"Got it."

"Good work," Zavala praised. "Let's get that CPU back to Control and see if we can decrypt these messages."

"Things might finally be looking up for us," Holliday said.

Wren parked the Drake to block shots from incoming Hive and got out so that Kiran could transmat her into Holliday's ship. The CPU sat in her lap and a sour feeling settled into her belly. This part was over but would Zavala clear her to go after Cayde? Not that it mattered… since she was the only one with the Light, she almost felt above listening to his commands. Afterall… who was left to follow orders?

The atmosphere at Command was heavy when Wren the rest of Cerulean were called in after the Cabal transmission had been translated. Zavala and Sloane stood before a projection of what might have been a ship, but Wren couldn't be sure. It was like two long, parallel wings joined in the center by a sphere but the size of it as it was projected in scale with the solar system was incredible.

"We have a problem," Zavala said.

"As opposed to all the other ones?" Koro chuckled nervously.

Sloane huffed a sigh and turned to face the hologram once more. "They call it the Almighty. The crown jewel of the Red Legion and the life's work of their leader, Dominus Ghaul."

"You got all this from the Cabal message?" Rorick asked.

"They underestimated us," Zavala said, but he didn't sound prideful of this fact, only tired.

"Ghaul has subjugated hundreds of worlds," Sloane continued. "Those that resisted, no longer exist. You see, the Almighty annihilates stars. Nothing and no one survives Ghaul's ambition."

"Why did he come here? Wait… I mean… to Earth…" Koro asked.

"The Traveler," Wren replied.

"Right. He's after the Traveler's Light," Sloane said.

"So what do we do now?"

Sloane closed her eyes and bowed her head. "The Almighty is aimed at our Sun. The war is over… we've lost."

"We built our home under the protection of the Traveler," Zavala said. "When our enemies attacked, we built a wall that stood for centuries. But walls mean nothing now. This enemy has taken our home and our Light. And now they threaten our very existence?"

Zavala's anger grew as he spoke and the others dared not interrupt.

"We're going all out on this… "Almighty". How long before the fleet is combat ready?"

"Zavala wait—"

"No Sloane. If we wait, then we die. But if we attack together, we can take back our home, our Light, our hope… or die trying. I need Ikora and Cayde. I need my fireteam."

"Zavala— Commander," Wren stepped forward. "Let me find them. Keep fireteams here to prepare. With my Light, I can go alone. It'd be better than sending a whole group."

He pondered a moment. "Permission granted."