The larger Titan glared down at Fuse who tried fruitlessly to push the larger Exo's foot off of his chest. As the Titans stared at each other the sound of a woman screaming caught both of their attentions causing Fuse to turn his head and see Sarah and Fate shoving their way through the crowd that had amassed around the fight. Fuse shook his head at the two, trying desperately to get them to stop as he heard the pump of the shotgun slide back into place, signifying a round was in the chamber. Fuse turned his head and glared up once again trying to push the large armored foot off of his now heavily dented chest piece.

"Wanna tell your friends goodbye before I scatter your parts across the courtyard, traitor?" The Titan said in a low, bitter, menacing voice that shot a twinge of fear into Fuse.

Fate drew her black and silver hand cannon from its old fashioned leather holster with the ease of muscle memory that she had drilled into her head from her previous years in the Wilds with Marcus. Her blue eyes were locked and focused on the twitching trigger finger of the larger Titan who stood unwavering over Fuse, the barrel of his gun steady, openly displaying his intent to kill his fellow Guardian. The Awokens own trigger finger rested lightly in the curve of her weapons trigger, still and unmoving. Unlike the shotgun wielding Titan who was filled with anger and rage, Fate was calm, her breathing coming in constant intervals of in and out, her chest rising and falling to the steady beating of her heart. The barrel of her weapon was trained on the shotgun aimed at her friend and she would be damned to the Darkness before she let the other Titan kill Fuse.

Despite the fear he felt, his attitude was stronger. "Yeah I got something to say." He cleared his throat as if preparing for a public speech. "Fuck yo-" The sound of a shot being fired caused Fuse to shut his eyes tightly, not wanting to see his imminent death fly out of the barrel of his executioner.

Fate did not hesitate as she saw the Titan's finger begin to squeeze down on the shotguns trigger. Her reaction was faster that his, the gun in her hands firing half a seconds before his did sending a large bullet into the side of the Titans gun causing him to miss his shot. His gun flew out of his hands and put a large hole into the ground beside Fuse's head. Fate kept her gun leveled at the other Titan's head, daring him to make a move he would inevitably regret when he found himself being revived in a prison cell. The other Exo's red eyes were locked with Fate's own blue, a silent exchange of words took place as she shook her head to the right, telling him to step aside and surrender before she put a round into his head.

After a moment of nothing but the sounds of shocked gasps, Fuse opened his eyes to see the shotgun no longer residing in the Titans hands. Looking over to his right he saw Fate with her black and silver hand cannon drawn, it's smoking barrel pointed at the would be killer. The Titan slowly raised his hands and stepped away from Fuse with a worried look. Fuse did not hesitate when the opportunity arose, to stand up onto his feet and deliver a hard and swift punch to the aggressing Titan's face which sent bits and pieces of metal flying through the air as the Exo's jaw unhinged. Before Fuse could throw another punch at the Titan who now took Fuse's former position on the ground, two arms wrapped around Fuse's right arm which was cocked back and ready to deliver a crippling blow to the downed Exo. Letting his rage continue to boil over, Fuse pushed his elbow back, striking the person who had attempted to stop the fight square in her face.

Pain exploded across Sarah's face as loud crunch echoed out of her freckle splashed nose as she stumbled backwards from the armored elbow to the face Fuse had just given her without even looking back. She fell to the ground clutching her face as blood poured out from between her fingers that tried to hold her broken nose in place. As she tried to hold the broken bones and cartilage in place, she could feel the disturbing movements of her own bones under her skin causing her stomach to twist with disgust. Had the pain not been blocking every other sense out, she probably would have hurled at the sickening feeling. Sarah was never one for blood and gore, especially not her own.

Another gunshot thundered out from Fate's hand cannon, this time tearing through Fuse's leg, causing him to collapse onto the ground, gripping his leg tightly. Fuse let out a loud yell of pain, anger, and confusion as his pain sensors in his leg exploded with sensation. Fuse shot an angered look at Fate but her expression was blank and emotionless. A second after the shot sounded and Fuse fell, Luna appeared beside him and began scanning the leg with a blue beam, determining where and what she needed to repair.

"Luna, don't fix that leg!" Fate yelled to Luna as she continued to approach the downed Titans, kicking their weapons away and removing the ones from their belt.

Luna turned her optic to Fate then back to Fuse before she looked down to the ground and let herself fall down slowly until she rested next to Fuse on the ground beside his head. Her optic shut halfway as her Guardian cried out in pain.

"Aspen, take care of Sarah. If you can add her imprint to your data that way if anything should happen to her, you can revive her." Fate ordered her Ghost mentally.

"On it!" Aspen said as he materialized and flew over to Sarah before he scanned her with a blue grid of light. The Ghost then proceeded to repair her severely broken nose with ease, restoring it to its original shape. Sarah could feel the bone moving of its own accord under her skin as the Ghost repaired the bones and cartilage, causing her stomach to twist even more.

"Done!" Aspen called out as he saved her imprint into his data. "Are you alright Sarah?" He asked her as she slowly stood up, touching her nose with slight disbelief before looking up at the Ghost with a thankful smile.

"Yes I'm fine now. Thank you Aspen, I wish I would have had someone like you around when the City was attacked." She chuckled nervously as she saw Fate standing over Fuse and the other Titan with her gun drawn, holding them there until the Tower guards could arrive.

The sound of unison footfalls echoed out of a door next to the Eververse shop as four of the heavily armored and Tower Security guards emerged, each with a Suros Regime, led by the familiar blue bald head of Zavala who wore a heavy disappointed look. Zavala looked around at the crowd with a cold stare, another silent exchange of words that only a few smart Guardians understood as they began to turn and walk away, resuming their original activities. The other who did not catch on stared blankly at the Vanguard commander, waiting for him to speak.

"All those who stay to gawk at this shameful sight may as well walk yourselves to the jail." He said coldly as he turned his gaze back to the two Titans with a glare.

The crowd quickly began to disperse as several Guardians transmatted elsewhere, fearing the wrath of an angry Zavala. Sarah walked over to Fate who was holstering her gun and stepping back as the guards approached and picked up Fuse, slapping electromagnetic cuffs to both guardians. Fate and Sarah watched with sad eyes as the guards took Fuse away to the holding cells where Guardians who became too rowdy or aggressive were kept until they cooled down and their infractions could be judged by the Guardian Council.

Zavala came to a stop a few feet in front of Fate and Sarah and watched for a moment as the guards took the two away, one on each side of the Titans to keep them in check. After they had disappeared behind the doorway the guards had came from, Zavala turned his gaze to Fate and Sarah.

"Thank you both for stopping that before it got out of hand. Do either of you know what started the fight?" Zavala asked, not wanting to interrogate but nonetheless being required to. "I need to know all that you heard or saw if you want to help Fuse get off easy."

Sarah looked to Fate as she began to speak. "We didn't see what started it but we did see some of what happened before we intervened. We were at Banshee's getting weapons ready for today when we saw it." Fate said calmly as she leaned slightly and put most of her weight onto one leg.

"He also called Fuse a traitor, though I do not know why." Sarah added in a low voice, intimidated like she was yesterday from the presence of Zavala.

"I have heard those rumors drifting about several times since the attack. They have never been directed at a specific person before though. I believe your friend is being used as a scapegoat simply because of the fact that he is one of the first Guardians to be revived since the Traveler awoke." Zavala noted before pausing and letting out a heavy sigh then looking at Fate with the same look he wore when she was informed of Marcus' disappearance on the Moon.

Shivers ran down Fate's spine as he locked his eyes with her own. "Why are you giving me that look?" She asked in a worried tone.

Zavala paused and looked away for a moment as he contemplated his next choice of words. "We need you and Sarah for a mission." He said coldly.

"Where?" Fate asked with impatience.

"I will discuss it when we are in the briefing room, Cayde and Ikora are waiting for us." Zavala said, trying to avoid answering her question.

"Where?" Fate demanded as she stood up straight, a frustrated look resting on her face.

"If you'll come with me to-" Zavala was cut off.

"Where!" Fate demanded once more in a harsh tone that made Sarah step back.

"The Moon." Zavala finally gave in, breaking eye contact from Fate and letting his gaze drift to the floor with a guilty look.

Fate opened her mouth to speak but was unable to find the words she wanted to say without disrespecting the Vanguard and it's choice. Instead Fate turned away and walked off, not looking back at Zavala, who refused to look up, or Sarah who watched as she walked away with a look of confusion and worry. Sarah turned to follow after her but Zavala looked up to her and spoke in a soft voice that made Sarah stop and look back with a curious look. A Warlock by nature, Sarah was curious about all things, even what caused both Zavala and Fate so much pain.

"Wait, she will be back but I still need to brief at least one member of your team before the Vanguard is unavailable. Please, come with me to the briefing room." Zavala said before turning and walking the opposite direction Fate had gone.

Sarah looked back to Fate just in time to see her cloak disappear around a corner. Sighing softly, she turned and followed Zavala towards the briefing room on the West wing of the Tower. The silent walk there seemed to take longer than it actually did due to the many questions that were turning over in Sarah's mind. Why did Zavala seem to regret the assignment so much? What bond existed between the two? Why didn't Zavala want to tell her until she was in the briefing room? Was it to keep her from storming off like she just did?

Sarah's thoughts were quickly pushed to the back of her mind as they entered a large door guarded by two of Lord Shaxx's Redjacks. The door was engraved with the symbols of the foundries, the Vanguard, The City, and the Factions. In the center of the large double doors, was an engraving of the Traveler which connected all of the other symbols with wispy lines meant to represent the light. Zavala stepped forward and pushed the two doors open with ease, a task that would have been somewhat daunting on Sarah's smaller and weaker body. As the doors opened Sarah could see the two other Vanguards and Lord Shaxx standing off to the side, listening to the argument that Cayde-6, the Hunter Vanguard, and Ikora Rey, the Warlock Vanguard, were having. Though Shaxx's face was unseen through the helmet he wore, Sarah assumed that he wore a tickled smile as she listened to the last part of their conversation.

"And I'm just saying, I should be allowed to have my tank back. Zavala talked to Amanda and she said she would give it to me. I hardly think it's right that you would take it from me." Cayde protested to Ikora with childlike defiance.

"Cayde you blew a hole into the Hanger subfloor." Ikora said flatly, her dark features showing slight annoyance with the Exo.

"It was an accident! Colonel stepped on the trigger." Cayde said as he gestured to the chicken who was clucking quietly in the far corner of the room.

"Oh i'm sure it was." Ikora replied with a sarcastic tone.

"He said he was sorry, and he was glad no one was in the ship."

"Ahem." Shaxx cleared his throat loudly to get the pair's attention before he gestured with his hand to Zavala and Sarah.

"Oh, hello my big blue buddy. I was just talking to Ikora about how she can't take my tank away, right?" Cayde said as a greeting to the Titan. "Hey wait a minute, where's Fate?" Cayde asked with a confused look on his face, his blue eyes trying to see behind the large Titan as he strode down the few steps to the table, leaving Sarah standing by herself in the doorway.

"She has my full authority to revoke your tank privileges and Fate had other matters to attend to." Zavala said shortly, giving the others a hint as to what happened without having to say it. Unfortunately the hint flew over Cayde's head and he continued to question.

"Well I'll go get her then, this meeting is far more important than noodles." Cayde said as he started to walk up the steps but was stopped by Zavala's hand being put onto his shoulder.

"Let her be Cayde, she wasn't ready for it." He said calmly as he looked up to Sarah and waved her over with the hand he removed from Cayde's shoulder.

Sarah slowly made her way down the steps, feeling four times as intimidated now that she was in a room with the Vanguard and the Crucible Handler, someone she had never seen until now. The red haired human stopped when she reached the table and looked around at the others with a confused look resting on her soft, freckled facial features. She had no clue why Zavala would ask her to accompany him without Fate or what the need for her and Fate to be there was. Here she felt lost in the dark, no, not the dark, the light. All of the greatest living Guardians occupied the room where she stood and she could feel the pressure of their light and their reputations weighing down on her small spark of light. Sarah tried to push the feeling of being small aside in her mind but no matter how hard she tried, the feeling persisted.

Ikora noticed the young Warlock shifting uncomfortably where she stood and waved her over with a smile. "It's okay to feel nervous Sarah. You don't have to feel that way here. Here we are all Guardians, no matter our rank, position, reputation," She paused and looked across the table to Cayde who was preoccupied petting the chicken who pecked at his hands. "Or knowledge." She added as she looked back to Sarah who was smiling slightly as she watched Cayde.

Looking back up to Ikora she nodded her head. "Thank you Ma'am." She said respectfully as she looked across to Zavala. "If you don't mind my asking, what's the point of me being here without Fate?"

Zavala smiled at her question, a sign of her growing comfortability around the Vanguard. "You are here for two reasons. One, you can relay the mission to Fate when you find her, two, because we would like to know your input on our plan. Your test scores are the highest on record and your opinion would be highly valued." he said with a pleased look.

"My test scores? The guy who told us about the test said the scores didn't matter."

"Well they don't, but we do still look at them. Sometimes they can help us determine the class that would best fit a new Guardian. Other times they are used to determine other things. In general they don't matter, I mean look at Cayde. He failed the test and still became the Hunter Vanguard." The reply this time came from Ikora who stated it like a textbook would read.

"Because of a bet." Cayde added.

"So wait, the purpose of the test was to gage a Guardians intellectual capacity, but what does that have to do with my test scores? No one who tested got the scores back." Sarah asked with confusion in her tone.

"No one was supposed to get theirs back. Your scores are different, the last two people to score anywhere near what you did are Osiris, and the tank thief beside you." Cayde said as he set the chicken down onto the table. "Man if Eris was here Colonel, you'd be hit by a rock by now. I miss her." Cayde chuckled fondly to his chicken.

"Did I really score that high?" Sarah asked as she turned her, now wide with disbelief, hazel eyes to Ikora.

"Your scores are higher than mine and Osiris, you almost got a perfect score." Ikora said with a smile. "You are technically the smartest person in this room, according to the tests" She said with slight praise.

Sarah could not contain the feeling of elation she felt swirling around within her mind. The test she had studied for so long to pass then forgotten about as soon as she was approved to be a Guardian was now coming back to haunt her like a benevolent spirit. After a moment of fighting back her smile in vane, it finally split across her lips and she smiled proudly at herself, a lowly City dweller who scored higher than the Warlock Vanguards of legend. Sarah could remember being a kid and hearing stories of the Vanguard Osiris before he was excommunicated from the Tower, the City, and from humanity. After he was replaced by Ikora Rey, new stories spread of her impossible feats in the crucible with her using nothing but the void and her fabled shotgun, The Invective.

"Thank you for that but if you wanted to congratulate me on my test scores you could have called me to talk to you without the need for Fate to be with us. So why am I really here and what does that have to do with the Moon and Fate?" Sarah queeried.

Zavala cleared his throat and spoke in the serious tone he used whenever he had hard news to deliver. "There has been a strange development on the Moon. The Hive have completely destroyed the Fallen that remained on the Moon. At first we thought they were doing us a favor by finishing off the House of Exile," Looking across the table to Cayde, Sarah could see him mouth the word 'but' just before Zavala said it. "But, when we sent an investigation team in to determine the damage the Hive had done, they discovered something then went dark before they could relay much information." Zavala paused and slid a data pad across the table to Sarah for her to inspect.

On the data pad was a picture taken from a helmet camera recording. The picture was of a Fallen Dreg but something was different about the creature. Its eyes were glowing green in dark sunken craters that leaked the familiar black vapor the Hive secret when they perform dark rituals, or when they taint the light. The black vapor made Sarah think back to the story of Eris Morn who barely survived the experience she faced while trapped within the Hellmouths seemingly endless miles of warrens. When Eris finally managed to return, she was changed, touched by the darkness that thrived below the surface of the Earth's satellite. Her eyes had been lost, now replaced by the eyes of the Hive, her wounds from where her eyes were clawed out, forever bleeding the black vapor that was seen in the picture on the data pad. Now she as missing once again, having left the Tower before the Red Legions failed assault on the City.

As she looked closer at the image, Sarah noticed something she had looked over before. On the Dreg's face, directly under its glowing eyes she could see a jagged piece of Hive chiton growing out from underneath the Dreg's skin. Then an idea clicked into Sarah's mind though she figured the Vanguard probably already thought of it, nonetheless she still voiced her thought to them.

"From the records I've read in the Hall of Records, the Hive are like an infection of the Light right?" She asked more so to Ikora than the rest of the table thought she got her reply from Zavala.

"Yes they are. They are an infection created by the agents of the Darkness to extinguish the Traveler's light." He confirmed with a bitter tone that openly showed his distaste for the creatures that inhabited the Moon.

"So maybe they figured out how to corrupt the Light without killing it. If this was Ether corruption then the Fallen would have been driven mad by the time your team arrived. These Fallen are different, here," She pointed to the zoomed in face of the Dreg that showed off the piece of chiton she had spotted. "this is a chiton growth from under the skin." She said as she passed the data pad to Ikora who in turn passed it to the next person.

"So what does that have to do with the Light being corrupted?" Shaxx asked as he handed the pad back to Sarah who set the device on the table.

"Well what if they found out how to corrupt the remaining Light left in the Fallen. The Traveler had bestowed the gift of the Light upon the Fallen once before. Traces of it could still remain and be corrupted." Sarah looked around the room to find the faces of the Vanguards twisted in contemplation. For a moment Sarah began to doubt the idea as silence bagan to take the room.

"That is entirely possible but the Hive would require untainted Light in order to gain a strong enough understanding of its properties. How would they get their claws on that?" Ikora said as she looked around the room for a moment.

"The guardians who were found in the crystals on the Moon years ago, they were drained of Light. We assumed it was because of the soul-fire crystals they were trapped in but without their Ghosts, there was no way to be sure." Zavala said coldly as he remembered the losses they suffered.

"Ghosts are a Guardians strongest and most reliable way to connect with the Light. It would be difficult but not impossible to taint a Ghost with the Darkness." Cayde added before he looked over to Ikora then to Zavala. "Of all the Guardians we lost that day, how many of their Ghosts were found?" He asked.

There was a long pause as Ikora turned her head down to the table. "None, not even a fragment of the Ghosts ." She said bitterly