The 3-man fireteam walked through the barren halls of the Dreadnaught. They had been tasked by the Vanguard to recover any Hive lore pertaining to Savathun or anything remotely related to her. Ikora made it very clear that the retrieval of any information would be crucial in understanding the Witch Queen's motives now that she no longer has her worm. Of course, this was easier said than done as the starship was massive.
"Ugh. How long is this going to take?!" A tomboyish voice shouted, "We've been walking for hours!"
"It's only been 20 minutes since we started." A distinctly male Japanese voice stated.
"I…shut up Jun!"
"Sierra, talking is fine but please keep it down." A smooth voice said. "We're walking through a ship that houses an interdimensional realm once owned by an eldritch deity. I would prefer not to wake anything that might still be lingering."
"Easy for you to say, Indra." She said, "This type of mission is right up your alley."
The awoken warlock waved his hand dismissively. "Whether or not this is my type of mission is irrelevant. Ikora clearly stated this is a search and recovery mission and an important one at that. You knew well in advance that it would take some time."
Sierra pouted behind her helmet, "Well yeah but I didn't know how big this place would be."
"Is it exactly how you remember it? Back when you were a member of Flux's raid team?" Jun asked.
The warlock's pace slowed a bit, "This place hasn't changed in the slightest, though it is nice that the Hive aren't pouring out of every crevice."
"Must've been fun," Sierra mumbled.
They continued for quite some time, encountering nothing much to their surprise. They eventually came across a doorway that jutted out from the black, chitinous walls; glowing green runes sat above the frame.
"Ooo, what are those?" Sierra asked, pointing to the runes.
"Have you seriously never seen Hive runes before? Jun asked. "Where has the Vanguard been sending you for patrol?"
"I'm more of a Crucible gal, don't really do anything else aside from that."
"How are you able to get away with that-?"
"What Sierra does as a guardian is unimportant, we need to focus." Indra said. "And to answer your question Sierra, the runes roughly translate to 'The Sanctum of Tales'."
Passing through the doorway they were greeted with multi-story high shelves made of the same black chitin as the rest of the ship, packed to the brim with black leather-bound books. The atmosphere permeated with dust, as if it hadn't been opened for ages.
"Now why would the Taken King need a library this big," Indra muttered to himself, the two hunters in tow.
"This is going to take awhile" Indra said as he turned to his companions. Unless you want a crash course in interpreting Hive runes and lore, let me scour this place for what we need. You two just stand guard." With that he disappeared deep into the library
"Might as well get comfortable." Sierra said, plopping down near a shelf.
Jun said nothing as he leaned against another shelf, arms crossed.
…some time later…
"Did you hear that?" Jun said, quickly getting up from the floor.
"Hm? No." Sierra said, too immersed in the Crucible feed from her helmet.
"Sierra, focus! I think something's in here with us!"
She jumped up at the sudden increase in his voice and quickly closed the feed.
"I still don't hear anything," she said, straining her ears.
"It's coming from above-"
Before he could finish, a lone figure dropped from the rafters. Tooth-like daggers barely missing Jun's head as he moved out of the way. While they couldn't distinguish what it looked like in the dim light, they knew it was a Hive acolyte due to its three glowing eyes and relative stature. Immediately, they drew their weapons and fired upon the figure.
Adrenaline was coursing through their veins at the sudden ambush, so they didn't think twice about the way the acolyte dodged out of the way to avoid the line of fire.
Rolling toward Sierra, the acolyte slipped under the fire of her pulse rifle, and jabbed a pair of flaming knives into her chest before kicking her into a nearby bookshelf.
With her out of the fight, it turned its attention to Jun who swapped his bow in favor of his Quickfang, engaging it in blade-to-blade combat.
Surprised at the apparent skill of his opponent, Jun was forced on the defensive, deflecting the storm of flaming knives hurled in his direction. The acolyte suddenly dodged to the side, avoiding a diagonal slash and swung another pair of knives at Jun's exposed back. Spinning his body to compensate, he was able to bring his sword up just in time to block the knives, locking their blades together. With his free hand, Jun quickly drew his own knife and stabbed it into the creature's shoulder, causing it to stagger backward, ending the blade lock. Before it could recover, Jun flipped forward and cut it in half with a downward slice, its body disintegrating, leaving behind a pile of chitin.
Hands shaky, he picked up his knife and walked toward Sierra who was just healed by her ghost.
"Are you alri-"
"Look out!" She shouted.
Behind them, the acolyte somehow came back to life. It vaulted into the air, its body coated in flames, a fan of burning knives forming in each clawed hand.
Pushing Jun out of the way, Sierra activated Arc Staff just in time to reflect the hail of burning knives back at the acolyte, vaporizing it with it's own attack. This time she was able to see a little ball of glowing green energy pop into existence, it's eye scanning the pile of chitin. Seeing her chance, she ran up, and threw it onto the floor, jabbing her electrified staff through it. Just like the acolyte, it disintegrated, leaving behind chitin that looked eerily similar to a ghost shell.
"I didn't know the Hive could use the Light." She said, deactivating the Arc Staff.
"They don't. It shouldn't even be possible."
"Well apparently not. I've been on the receiving end of blade barrage too many times in the Crucible and what that thing did felt exactly like it. Also, I'm pretty sure that was a ghost I just killed."
"What is going on here?" Jun whispered.
Suddenly, they heard familiar bursts of Sol and Arc energy from the depths of the library. Remembering they had a third member of their fireteam, they raced toward the sounds. After a few minutes of running, they rounded the corner of a bookshelf to find their warlock companion hunched over the twitching form of what appeared to be a Hive wizard, streaks of Arc energy danced around its form. Its ghost a few feet away, the same streaks of Arc energy dancing around the shell.
"What happened?" Jun asked, out of breath.
Indra calmly stood up to face them, a large black tome under his arm. "I finally found a book pertaining to the Hive pantheon," he said evenly. "I was on my way back to you two when this wizard attacked me. It was…fascinating. It had flaming wings from its back and wielded a firesword, just like-"
"Just like a Dawnblade." Sierra finished.
"Exactly. I'm guessing you two had a similar experience?"
The two hunters explained their own encounter while the warlock listened intently.
"That's what I was afraid of," he said once they finished.
The three guardians stood in silent contemplation, pained grunts coming from the wizard behind them.
"So…what now?" Sierra asked.
"Well, the mission technically ended once I found this book. But we are now presented with a rather interesting predicament." He said as he walked up to the two hunters, placing a small stack of silver coins into their palms. Their eyes widened in shock.
"How in the Traveler's name do you know about this!?" Sierra demanded, gesturing to the coins.
"It doesn't matter." He said dismissively. "From this point forward, all I ask is that you do not include what I'm about to do in the official mission report, alright?"
Recognizing the favor, the two hunters nodded in agreement.
"Excellent. Now please cut the feed to your helmets. I'm going to need more books," he said, turning towards a near-by shelf. "And get them prepped for transport." He said, pointing to the wizard and ghost.
. . .
"This is troubling Ikora; this is the second report of this new brood wielding powers similar to the Light." Said Eris Morn.
The fireteam stood in Ikora's private study and had just finished giving their report.
Ikora stared out the window, a million thoughts whirling around in her mind.
"Jun. Sierra." She said finally. "You're dismissed for now. Please send your official report to Zavala and remain on standby with Flux's fireteam. I'll have a new assignment arranged for you in a few days. I have a few things I need to ask Indra."
The two hunters bowed and left without another word.
"What did you find?" Ikora asked once they transmatted out.
"Whatever do you mean?" Indra asked innocently.
A small smirk formed on Ikora's face at the eccentric warlock.
"Knowing you, you must've done a little field research. I'm not ordering you as your superior. I'm merely asking to keep me updated about your findings."
"What did you discover, Indra?" Eris Asked.
After a moment of silence, he held out his hand as his ghost popped into existence. "I'm only going to play the audio." He said, his earlier mood evaporating.
. . .
"Begin research log one."
"Ugh. Where am I?"
"Interesting. You can speak English. Looks like I don't have to use that guttural language of yours."
"Who are you?"
"I'll answer your questions if you answer mine first."
"Release me!"
"Unfortunately, I cannot do that. You see, your mere existence puts us in a very interesting position. How you answer will determine whether or not I will release you.
"Fine."
"Tell me your name and any possible title."
"Ezo'tah, the Seventh Sister."
"Do you remember anything prior to your resurrection?"
"No."
"Care to elaborate?"
"..."
"I see…"
*ZAP*
"Ugh…it…it's the truth! I don't remember anything!"
"That's all you needed to say. Now, this next question is very important, Ezo'tah. What exactly did SHE tell you?"