Boltwings vision cleared as the transmat finished and she stepped onto the Tower like so many times before. Rather than the usual bustle of noise and hum of conversation she was confronted with a grisly sight; bodies strewn about the platform where she made her arrival, not the usual spot in the plaza but Tower North; just outside the Speakers office. She could hear the distant sounds of conflict in the sky and on the ground hundreds of metres below her. Drawing her pulse rifle she moved past the bodies and the the tunnel leading to the plaza.

"Stitch?" Boltwing yelled. Climbing the stairs she stepped back out into the open to see her friend land on the ground heavily next to the Eververse kiosk. Before she could move a huge sword came down on the hunters back. Stunned, Boltwing could only watch as a figure wreathed in black and white fire stepped out from behind the kiosk and yanked the weapon loose, staring as Stitch's body dissolved and her light scattered.

"Boltwing?" A disembodied voice echoed across the tower. The figure in front of her slowly looked up, its only distinguishing feature a grey light in the centre of its face. "Boltwing?" The voice again. She blinked as the voice became louder. Everything went black and as she opened her eyes she was back in the cockpit of her ship. "Boltwing? Come on dude, wake up."

"M' up." She croaked groggily, replying to Galvanic. She could see his ship alongside hers as well as Venus directly ahead of them.

"Then hurry up and disengage your autopilot so we can land. We came out of FTL like 5 minutes ago." He laughed. Boltwing flicked the flashing orange button on a console to her right and took manual control as the two began their descent. Their ships burst through the clouds and the lush forests and devastated buildings came into view. "Hey look. On our left." Boltwing turned her head to see the familiar city block on the edge of the coast. Broken statues and overgrown fauna had long since reclaimed the landscape on the snatch of land where they had spent so much time. "We used to come here a lot." Galvanic stated flatly.

"Yeah." Boltwing replied solemnly. "Back in the day." They remained quiet over the rest of the flight as they passed over the city and across the overgrown landscape. "There it is." Boltwing said, breaking the silence. The small settlement came into view. The outpost harboured around 20 buildings of varying size within its sturdy walls, and was in the middle of the thick jungle scattered with old vex constructs and a large gorge to the east. "Activating transmat." Boltwings vision flashed white and all of a sudden she was in the open air. Her boots crunched on the leaves that scattered the floor and the rain trickled down her helmet. Galvanic came out of his transmat next to her and took a deep breath, stretching as he did.

"You know we have a hangar." A disgruntled civilian said loudly. Boltwing looked across to see an old man sat on a bench a few meters away from her. "Cause a blummin accident teleporting about the place like that."

"Have you seen any other guardians around here?" Galvanic asked, ignoring his previous remarks.

"They're all over the place, who do you think keeps the peace? Have you seen where we are?" He replied. Boltwing tapped her companion on the shoulder.

"Cayde said its under Vanguard protection. I'd imagine the guardians here are all titans." She said to him. Boltwing turned back to man. "Have you seen anyone with like a hood and a really long cloak?"

"No." He replied bluntly. The two thanked the short tempered civilian before moving on flagging down a nearby local Titan.

"Hey there, how ya'll doing?" He practically beamed, his positivity slightly unnerving in contrast to the last person they spoke to.

"Uhh... Hi." Galvanic spoke up. "Just wondering if you've seen any Hunters lately?" The Titan stowed his rifle on his back and scratched the chin of his helmet.

"There is that one Woman, but I'd be careful if I were you."

"How so?"

"Well whenever she's in town she always crashes over at "Flux" and she's not very understanding of the fact that not many of the townsfolk have never seen an Awoken before. Let's just say she's broken more than a few hands." He shook his head.

"That sounds like her, is her name Stitch?" Boltwing asked.

"Stitch, Stotch, something like that, yeah."

"Thank you, and where is Flux?" Galvanic pressed.

"North side of town. That way." He pointed. "Big sign, you cant miss it."

"Brilliant, and thanks again." Boltwing replied. They set off walking at a brisk pace. "How have they never seen an Awoken before?" She said to Galvanic.

"I have no Venusly idea." The Titan replied.

"Venusly?"

"Well we're not on Earth, are we." He stated seriously.

"That's not funny." A few minutes went by and Galvanic let out a snicker. "You're going to start calling her Stotch, aren't you." Boltwing sighed.

"No." Galvanic said quickly. "Maybe." Boltwing paused for a second.

"Yeah me too." She said, smiling under her helmet. After another few minutes Flux came into view. It was a dingy little place on the outer wall of the settlement, its formerly white walls taking on a dirty grey appearance flickering with red and blue light that emanated from the neon sign that bore the bars name. As the two neared the questionable establishment its red door slammed open and a young man with dirty blonde hair emerged, turning around to yell back inside.

"You're crazy! It was just a question you lunatic!" His face fell as he ducked, and several knives flew from inside, embedding in the wood inches above and around the man. He squealed and ran, almost running into Boltwing. The Warlock and Titan exchanged looks and headed inside. The interior was as dingy as the state of the exterior suggested, dark, crowded and loud except for one corner. People gathered at the bar, and various seats and tables except for the solitary hooded figure in the isolated corner booth. She wore the same style of armour common to The House of Dredgen Yor, a mixture of deep red and black leather, metal and bone. The black hood that obscured her features was laced with black bones as well, sharp and pointed around her hood as if to discourage its removal. Boltwing could see a single lock of obsidian-black hair that fell beneath her hoodline as her head was angled downward towards her table. Her left hand was empty but the right was clutching a glass filled with a pink liquid. The table had several items across it, most were what looked like defunct technology but two objects in particular caught Boltwings eye. The first was a helmet, a dark gunmetal silver across its solid steel like surface, only opening at the front in what could've been a gaping maw filled with vicious metal teeth. Try as she might Boltwing couldn't see the table through the helmet, as if even the air was blanketed in darkness inside the piece of armour. The second item was the Hunters weapon. The barrel was an elegant silver, with ornate patterns leading towards the chamber which was a deep black, following down to the grip.

"Hawkmoon." Galvanic breathed. "That's her alright." As they neared the table, the Hunter motioned them to take a seat without looking up. As they did, she spoke.

"You're late. Or early. One of the two." She leaned back, letting her hood fall back as she downed her drink, setting the glass back down on the table. Her skin was a lightish blue in colour, a shade which made the shimmering energy that coated all awoken that much more apparent, whilst her eyes glowed a bright yellow. This combined with her black hair which came down longer on the left side of her face, just past her jawline, gave her an almost mystical appearance. Stitches eyes flickered past Boltwing and Galvanic, causing them to turn. Several of the patrons had stopped what they were doing to stare at her features, as though she were a rare sight. The Hunter let out a deep sigh as her friends turned back around.

"You know you couldve killed that guy before." Galvanic said.

"Dude, it was only his hand. He shouldn't have tried to touch me. You did warn him."

"What? No, the guy who you threw the knives at."

"You saw that? That was a while ago, what were you doing?" She replied, clearly puzzled.

"Huh." Galvanic paused for a second. "It happened not two minutes ago."

"Same difference." Stitch said, leaning back. "Besides, if I wanted to hit him they'd still be pulling him out of the wall."

"Why are you even in here anyway?" Boltwing asked. "You're clearly uncomfortable."

"It was Laurens idea. She says it's unhealthy to spend all my time alone out in the Vex ruins, isolated from other people. Even if they are really, really, annoying."

"Who's Lauren?" Galvanic inquired. Stitch raised her hand and her Ghost appeared in a fit of light. It's shell was classified as the Frontier model, red with white accents.

"Sir. Madam." The small machine said with an accent.

"You're called Lauren now?"

"Indeed yes, I came across the name in some old world data files in London a few years ago." She said.

"And what is that accent?" Boltwing cut in.

"It's a British accent, I heard some audio in the same cache I thought it sounded bloody sophisticated so I adopted the auditory patterns in place of my old ones."

"It's weird at first but she sounds quite pleasant when you get used to it." Stitch said, and the ghost tilted its body in its own way of nodding.

"So you've been travelling a lot these past few years?." Boltwing continued.

"Oh yeah. Or I will have. Or I'm going to. Something like that." Stitch mused.

"Are you okay?" Galvanic asked. "You seem a little... Off."

"She'll tell you." Stitch pointed her thumb towards Lauren. "I've told you once already."

"It's the Vex ruins. They're all wonky in time essentially and it has messed with Stitches perception of time." The Ghost explained. "Sometimes she experiences events in the wrong order, or at the wrong rate of passage entirety."

"So, what, you get confused?" Galvanic said.

"No." Stitch replied, her head tilted. She looked past him as a voice interrupted their conversation.

"Hey there!" One of the young men from the bar had plucked up the courage to walk over. "You don't normally have company" he said to Stitch. "Mind if I join you?" He sat down right next to her before he got an answer. His confidence seemed to fade a little now he was this close, and his eyes drifted over the contents of the table, including Stitches hand cannon. He cast a quick look back to his friends before looking back at the Hunter.

"I don't think you want to do that." Galvanic advised him, recalling Stitches earlier words.

"Why don't you let the lady talk to me herself, I'm sure her voice is just as gorgeous as her face, especially when she agrees to go out on date with me." He assumed his confident tone again.

"I really think you should stop." Boltwing said.

"What do you say, babe?" He ignored the Warlock, and reached up to brush Stitches hair our of the way of her left eye. Before his hand had even reached halfway between them, Stitch had reached up with her left hand, grasped the top of his wrist and twisted, snapping the joint. It happened in the blink of an eye, so fast it took a few seconds for the man to realise what had happened. He yelped like a wounded animal and jumped back, rushing away from the table, presumably to seek medical aid while his friends at the bar laughed at him.

"So that's what you meant." Boltwing laughed.

"Everything comes together at the end." Stitch nodded with a smile.

"At the end?" Galvanic asked in a puzzled tone.

"You want me to go off planet with you? I have some business to take care of first."

"We need you back on Earth, and we don't have much time. We have to leave now." Boltwing said. Stitch tilted her head in an act of bewilderment.

"Lauren?" She addressed her ghost.

"Right away Ma'am." She replied. Stitches gear flashed off the table as the ghost transmatted it into her inventory. The last thing to go was the helmet, which rematerialized on Stitches head almost immediately. Boltwing half expected to see the Awokens face behind the teeth, but she was greeted by the same infinite blackness that she had noted earlier. The Hunter pulled her hood back over her head and it settled into place as vivid purple flames erupted from the helmets maw, completing Stitches look. She patted her side, checking the hand cannon was in its holster and stood up.

"Bear with me two seconds." Her voice echoed from within the now harrowing visage that was her helmet; The Graviton Forfeit. "Just going to grab something." Lauren burst into a mist like light and floated into Stitch as she slid out of the booth, and made her way outside.

"So she hasn't changed that much." Boltwing said to Galvanic. "Her time keeping was always terrible, at least now she has an excuse!" She laughed.

"Why have I never given my ghost a name?" The Titan asked, disturbed at this revelation.

"You try to call me fluffy and I'll change all your armour shaders to bright pink." Galvanics Ghost transmitted to the fireteam.

"He knows you well." Boltwing chuckled as an engine started outside. "I reckon you'd look good in pink and that's Stitches sparrow, isn't it." Her tone changed as she realised what the noise was. The engine noise revved and sped off as the two burst from the Flux, just in time to see Stitch leaving the city through its main gates on her black vehicle. Boltwing and Galvanic held up their hands as their ghosts transmatted their sparrows in front of them. "Stubborn Woman." She hissed, jumping onto the hovering machine as Galvanic did the same.

"Well, you were right!" He yelled over the engines.

"About what?" Boltwing shouted back as she twisted the throttle.

"She hasn't changed a bit!"