Zavala's pale blue skin was noticeably turning purple by the end of Bill's re-telling of their mission. His brow was furrowed, his fists balled up. Ikora remained silent, sifting through the data recovered from La Voix's bunker. Cayde had his head in his palm, muttering to himself that it was "nice knowing these three."

Zavala let out a long sigh, and rose from his chair. "Bill... I have no idea what to say. Not only did you and your team show a flagrant disregard for the Vanguard's orders, but that nearly got you all killed. You came close to waking a being that could destroy all life in this system-"

"But I didn't, sir! My team survived, and we managed to slip past th-"

"Allow me to finish, Guardian!" Zavala barked. "Technicalities will not absolve you this time! You and yours acted recklessly! Not to mention that after encountering a construct that had the potential to protect the City and this solar system from any threat we could face, you chose to destroy it! What were you thinking?"

Bill straightened up, adjusting the sling his left arm sat in. "I was thinking that anything that could possess that much power posed as much a risk to us as she did to our enemies, Commander."

"Any risk is one I am willing to take, Bill!" Zavala stopped, sighed again, and set both of his hands on the large table in front of him. "Do you realize just how vulnerable this City is?"

"Sir?" Bill raised an eyebrow.

"Did you even look at the data you recovered from that base?"

"No, sir. I didn't quite have the time."

Zavala motioned to his colleague. "Ikora, show them."

"Zavala? Are you sure?" Ikora began to rise from her seat.

"There's no point in keeping this information a secret any longer. It is time our Guardians know the truth. All of them will receive this information in time, but we will start with these three."

Dak stood. "What truth? What's going on here, sir?"

Kahlee leaned back in her seat. "They're talking about the Hive."

Bill, Dak and the Vanguard all turned to look at her. Cayde unfolded his arms. "Now how did you figure that out?"

Kahlee shrugged. "I read through some of what we recovered during the flight back. Val and I sifted through the info on the Exiles pretty quickly, nothing out of the ordinary there, but we came across La Voix's logs on the Hellmouth, and-"

"Wait a minute, who?" Cayde held up a hand to stop her.

"La Voix. That was the name Bill gave to the AI. But as I was saying, she collected massive amounts of data about a race of creatures known as the Hive."

The Titan Vanguard breathed out through his nose. "Ikora."

As she stood, Ikora activated the holo-projector, once again displaying the Moon. "Most of what this construct recovered is indeed new intel for us, but the Hive are not unbeknownst to the Vanguard. Many years ago, before any of you came to the Light, the Hive threatened every corner of our galaxy. Many Guardians fell trying to keep them at bay. In the end, the Moon was sacrificed in hopes that they would stay there. All offensive and defensive actions by Fireteams was ceased on Luna, and we abandoned all outposts. We have not heard anything from the Hive since."

"That is," began Zavala, "until you barged into the Hellmouth and got caught in the middle of a shootout with two Fallen Houses."

"Are they… active again, sir?" Asked Bill.

"Not exactly, but the fact that this AI felt the need to commit suicide to protect herself from the Hive is not at all a comfort to me. However..." the Awoken's eyes softened. "In the end, I have to admit I may have reacted a bit… harshly. While the alternative was more preferable, you made the right call to destroy her."

"Thank you, sir." Bill nodded to his mentor.

"Well, I for one feel so much better now that we've had this talk." Dak said with a sarcastic tone.

"It isn't over yet." Cayde cocked his head. "Better get comfy, kiddos..."

Cayde hit a button on the table, and a three-eyed, grotesque creature appeared in the holo-projection.

"We've got a LOT to talk about."