"We stand against the fatal lie that a world built on laws of conduct may ever resist the action of the truly free. This is the slavery of the Traveler, the crime of creation, in which labor is wasted on the construction of false shapes. If you choose to fight us, fight us with everything you have, with all your laws and games. We will prove our argument thus." - XLVII: Apocalypse Refrains

Harley's eyes flew open only for him to instantly squeeze them shut against the harsh glow of his room's lights. He blinked a few times, letting his eyes adjust, and stared up at the ceiling. A drop of cold sweat crawled down his neck and he suddenly felt the strong urge to get up. He wanted so desperately to move, to run, to get into his ship and fly somewhere, anywhere to escape the dreams that had plagued him for now three nights in a row.

It seemed he'd been in a kind of grace period during his stay in the med bay, but now the nightmares showed no signs of letting up. He was careful to keep them hidden from Prism. She didn't need to know the reason why he'd begun to stay up later and later each night, putting off sleep with excuses of research or cleaning his weapons. It's stupid anyway, he thought, It's been more than a month since I was brought back. I should be over it by now. He knew it was beyond pathetic, being woken up by dreams of an encounter he had long since left behind. I bet no one else has nightmares like this... Why me?

The contents of the dream shifted, but it was always the same at its core. It was always on the Dreadnaught. Oryx was always there. Often it was just the two of them, the Hive God and Harley, but sometimes there were others. The Hive. Various champions of the Dark. Sometimes his friends were there and that was the worst. They were almost never left alone. There was always some form of torture: beaten with spiky chains, forced to stand on glowing coals, ripped to shreds at the hands of the Hive. But there was one version that Harley hated above the rest: he was forced to watch as Oryx Took them and the Darkness corrupted their bodies. Once the transformation was complete they would stand there, staring at him with their unblinking, empty eyes as Oryx came for him. And Harley would wake up shivering in his room, unable to sleep until exhaustion wore him down and he went through the whole thing again. It wasn't uncommon for him to have two or three dreams a night. Each time, he would try in vain to change what happened and each time he would fail miserably.

He turned to look at the clock. 3:17. Close enough to a normal hour for him to get up. What else could he do? He sure as hell wasn't going back to sleep. He eased himself out of bed and padded into the bathroom, shutting the door carefully so as not to alert Prism. Then he turned on the shower, purposefully setting it a few degrees higher than usual and disrobed, stepping into the spray. The hot water did wonders for waking him up and he was incredibly reluctant to turn it off. He got out, steam swirling off his skin and dried off, wrapping the towel around his waist.

Making his way back out into the main room, he dressed in his armor as quietly as he could before leaving for the mess hall. While no food was out due to the early hour, the coffee counter was as well-stocked as ever and Harley wasted no time in making himself a cup. He sat down at the usual table and sipped the hot drink as he waited for the rest of the Tower to awaken. He passed the time by scrolling through Cliq on his interface. The social media site had been introduced to him by Fyr. The majority of users simply posted updates from their daily lives, but if you knew where to look, you could find posts made purely for entertainment. It took Harley's mind off the upcoming mission and did wonders for making the time fly by.

A couple hours later, around six, other people began making themselves known as various Tower staff flowed through the mess hall to eat breakfast. The latest group was on their way out just as a small shape zoomed into the room, eye whizzing about frantically. "Harley?!"

"Prism!" called Harley, "Over here."

His Ghost was immediately at his side. "Harley Hayden, you're in so much trouble! I woke up and you were gone! No sign of you anywhere! Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

"Relax Prism... I'm not stupid enough to leave the Tower without you or anything."

"That doesn't make it any better! Light's sake, I just got you back! Could you please try not to give me a panic attack?"

"Sorry, Prism."

"I hope so..."

Just then, Kaedro walked in. "Morning Ace... Prism."

"Morning, Kay."

"Hello Kaedro," said Prism, "Would you be so kind as to give my idiot Guardian a smack for me?"

Kaedro looked between them. "...Uh, sure?" He smacked Harley on the arm. "Idiot."

"Ow!" Harley hissed.

Kaedro laughed and made for the coffee machine. "I didn't hit you that hard, did I?"

Harley rubbed the spot where Kaedro hit him. "Don't know if you noticed, but your hand's made of metal."

Kaedro shrugged and sat down with his coffee. "Shouldn't've done whatever you did... By the way, what'd you do?"

"I left the room before Prism was up. She was freaking out."

"Ok, then. Good to know it was a deserved smack."

"Thank you, Kaedro," said Prism.

"Anytime," said Kaedro with a chuckle, "By the way, I messaged the others. They should be here in a few minutes."

Harley nodded. "Good."

Kaedro squinted at him. "You look tired." The "again" went unspoken.

Uh oh. Harley had to tread lightly here. A slip up could alert Kaedro to his sleeping situation - or lack thereof - and then the Exo would likely postpone the mission or even kick him off it. Of course, he himself didn't have the authority but one word to the Vanguard and Harley wouldn't be getting out of the Tower anytime soon. "Late nights," he said, "...You know how it is."

The other Hunter didn't seem to fully accept that answer. "Ace, we all walked back together last night. It wasn't that late."

"I know. Just… couldn't stop thinking about the mission, you know?"

Kaedro nodded. "Right. 'Course... How late were you up, exactly?"

Crap. Harley knew it was time to change the subject. "Oh, um, nothing unmanageable." He mentally crossed his fingers. "Scrolled through Cliq for a bit."

It worked. Kaedro latched onto the new topic. "Fyr showed you?"

Harley nodded. "Yeah. Did he show you too?"

Kaedro shook his head. "You kidding? Know how long I've been around? I showed him."

"Ah."

"Yeah. What about Spectre? Did he show you that?"

"No. What is it?"

"It's like a Guardian video site. Your Ghosts record footage and then you can upload it. Some people do missions. Most use it for funny stuff."

"Hmm. I'll have to check it out."

"Ace! Kay! What's up?"

Harley turned and saw the rest of the group walking toward them. "Morning, guys."

"Good morning," greeted Jade.

The other Guardians joined them at the table. "So this is it," said Liv, "The big day."

"Yep," affirmed Kaedro, "You guys ready?"

"I hope so," Tristan muttered.

"We're traveling to another dimension to fight an all-powerful being," sighed Kai, "Forgive me if I don't have a 'sunny' outlook."

"Does any of us?" asked Harley.

"Good point."

"Aren't you going to eat anything?" asked Jade.

Harley shrugged. "Don't have much of an appetite."

"Makes sense," said Kai, "Had coffee already, so I'm pretty much done myself."

"Same here," said Liv, "We should just get going, honestly... The sooner we leave, the sooner we get back."

"So we're going now?" asked Kaedro.

"Sounds like it," said Kai.

"Alright, then." The Exo stood up. "Everyone have the gear they want?" The others nodded.

Harley got up. "Let's get to the Hangar."

Everyone else rose as well and headed for the exit. Harley spent most of the walk fiddling with his armor. "Think we'll get out of this alive, Prism?"

"I think that 'alive' is the bare minimum we should shoot for," his Ghost replied.

"Yeah…"

"Howdy," came the cheerful voice of Amanda Holliday, "Ace! It's been awhile. Glad to hear you're doin' better."

"Thanks, Amanda."

The Shipwright nodded. "So what can I do for you folks?"

"Could you have our ships prepped for launch, please?" asked Jade.

"Certainly. Though I'd better warn ya, Ace... The Vanguard have you on the 'no fly' list."

Harley sighed. "I know. Ikora told me."

"Could you clear him anyway?" asked Kaedro, "This mission is important. We're taking down Oryx."

Amanda whistled. "Damn. You aren't kiddin' around… Sure I can clear him. What're friends for?" She entered something into her datapad. "I just hope the Vanguard don't make note of how many 'exceptions' I make for ya, kiddo."

"Thanks again."

"No problem. Head on down. And good luck."

The Guardians made their way down to the Hangar floor where the Frames were prepping their ships. "Alright," said Kaedro, "I'll see you guys on the Dreadnaught."

The others nodded. Then everyone made their way to his or her ship. Harley spent a moment just taking in the sight of his Wandering Star. Flying had been one of the many things he'd missed over the past few weeks? Months? He wasn't quite sure. Not that it really mattered at the moment. "Ok, Prism. Ready for transmat."

"Transmatting now."

With a flash of light, Harley was sitting in the pilot's seat, eyeing the familiar surroundings of his ship's cockpit. He put on his helmet and hood. "Starting her up." Initializing the takeoff sequence was a comforting action and soon, the Star was speeding out of the Hangar, pointed toward the crisp blue sky.

The passage through warp space was uneventful, though Harley was glad of the familiar sight. He felt the familiar lurch of his ship exiting warp space and instantly the image of Saturn was looming large in his viewscreen. He followed the sweep of the planet's rings until he found the place where a circular hole had been punched out, the Dreadnaught sitting right in the middle. His stomach twisted as the horrible visage of Oryx's ship drew nearer. Oh Light, we're really doing this.

"Transmatting in 3, 2, 1."

There was a flash of light and Harley found himself standing just inside a gaping hole in the side of the ship. Further in, he saw a crashed Cabal ship with the Cabal and Hive engaged in battle on all sides. Barely a minute later, there were a series of faint zaps as the others transmatted in.

"Well… here we are," said Jade.

"Why is there a Cabal ship inside the Dreadnaught?" asked Harley.

"Skyburners," said Liv, "They breached the hull to create a beachhead. Not sure how well that's working out."

"Delta, do you remember where we found the portal when we were here the first time?" asked Jade.

"Yes! I stored the file just in case it became useful later. And it did!"

"Great. Could you direct us, please?"

"Absolutely!"

The Guardians followed Delta's directions deeper into the Dreadnaught. They passed through the Mausoleum and took a few winding paths and bridges until they came into the Court of Oryx area. A short hallway let out onto a platform upon which they saw the portal frame. Six statues lined the hallway, three on each side.

"Ok, we found the portal," said Kaedro, "Any ideas on how we open it?"

"We learned when we stole information from the Cabal that the statues control the ruptures," answered Jade, "We just have to figure out how to activate them."

"Look down there," said Harley. He pointed off to the right, where a glowing black orb hovered. "What is that?"

"A Hive Tomb Husk," said Jade immediately, "According to Toland's journal, they can be used to open doors. Kaedro and I used them before to escape the Temple of Crota."

"There's one on this side too!" blurted Liv, pointing down to the left.

"Maybe that's how we open the portal," said Tristan.

"It's worth a shot," said Kaedro, "They're about all we have to go on." He jogged over to the one on the right, picking it up. Liv grabbed the left one, then the two Hunters brought the Tomb Husks to the first two statues. The Tomb Husks disappeared, but nothing happened. "Huh. Maybe we had the wrong idea."

A few moments later, the Husks reappeared. "Let's try the same side this time," suggested Liv. They picked up the Tomb Husks and tried again, with the same results.

"Maybe we're barking up the wrong tree," said Kai.

"Or maybe the combination isn't right," reasoned Tristan, "They probably have to be put in in a certain way."

"We'll keep trying…" said Kaedro doubtfully. And they did. They tried back to front, middle first, diagonally across. Nothing worked. Then Liv got the idea to try both on the same statue. The Tomb Husks disappeared and the statue glowed with a pale green light.

"Ok. So both have to go to the same one," said Harley, "That must mean there're more. Let's split up. Me, Kai, and Tristan will go right. Kaedro, Liv, and Jade can go left."

Kai shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

The others nodded their agreement, then split up to venture off. That's when it became clear that other factors would be coming into play. Every time one of them grabbed a Tomb Husk, barriers would appear to bar them from the statues. The barriers could be taken down by shooting at them, but they were also under attack by the Taken, who constantly warped in. And then they found out the hard way that both Tomb Husks would have to be at the statue at the same time, or they'd be forced to try again.

Overall, the whole exercise was more annoying than they'd first thought, but it also wasn't too challenging. Soon enough, all of the statues were charged and the rupture opened. They ran down the hallway and jumped up to the portal, now swirling with a starry blackness. Liv, Jade, Tristan, and Kaedro ran through with no problem, but Harley stopped right before he could pass through, causing Kai to nearly knock him over.

"What's your problem, Hayden?" she demanded.

"I… um…"

"Oh for the love of Light."

Harley felt a hard shove and the next thing he knew, he was falling through the portal. He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the Darkness to take hold of him. When nothing happened, he opened his eyes to find himself standing in a different section of the Dreadnaught. He let out a sigh of relief that he hoped wasn't audible to the others.

"Alright, let's keep going," said Kai.

They headed down the hallway at the other end of the room, following the passage out into a huge space with platforms that swung like pendulums. Crossing them was fairly straightforward, but the next room was a bit harder. Tombships moved slowly through the space, crisscrossing the room. To get across, they had to stand on top of them, jumping from one to the next before it disappeared. Once they made it through, they entered another chamber. At the front was a host of Knights and Acolytes kneeling in front of a shadowy portal. A large circular plate sat in the center.

Kai raised her gun to shoot the Hive, but Harley grabbed her wrist. "Hold on."

"Why?"

"They haven't noticed us yet and something's telling me there's more to this than meets the eye."

The group moved slowly into the middle. "You're right," said Jade, "Look."

On either side was a misty room in the middle of which was a very familiar sight. "Totems," said Kaedro. The members of Fireteam Calypso turned to look at him. "When we were in Crota's Throneworld, we found these totems like the ones in those rooms. They do something bad if someone's not standing on them at all times."

"Great," said Kai, "So one person will have to stand there on each side while the rest of us… do what, exactly?"

"I think we can assume that more enemies will be spawning in," said Jade, "It's probably smarter to have two people on each side."

"Then what do the other two do?" asked Liv.

"I'm guessing something with that middle plate," said Harley, "It looks like the plate we used to summon the bridge in Crota's Throneworld."

"Maybe we have to keep the Hive away from it," suggested Tristan.

"Let's try it out," said Kaedro, "Who's going where?"

"Tristan and I can go to the right," said Harley.

"Kaedro and I will go to the left," said Jade.

"Then Kai and I will watch the middle," said Liv.

"Sounds good," said Kaedro, "Let's go."

They split off to go to their various locations. "I'm seeing a weird orb in front of this room," said Harley.

"Same here," said Kaedro, "Do we grab it?"

"We probably have to," said Jade.

"Alright," said Harley, "Grabbing it." As soon as he touched the orb, it vanished, spawning a radius of light around him, kind of like when he used the Aegis in the Vault of Glass. "What the hell?!"

"It doesn't matter!" said Prism, "Just get to the totem!"

"Right!" He ran down into the room, coming to a stop on the totem plate. Hive started shooting from both the ground and the walkways above. Harley and Tristan were hard pressed to keep them at bay. He used his sniper rifle to take down a Knight and right after it was killed, the strange aura flashed and stopped moving with him. "What happened?!"

"I think it passed to me!" said Tristan. Harley turned and saw the Warlock was right. The circular aura was now moving with him.

"Harley there's something else!" said Prism, "There's a strange form of energy surrounding you. I'm not sure what it is, but it seems to match the energy on the central plate. You have to get over there!"

"Ok," said Harley, "Guys, I'm coming to the center! Someone should switch with me to keep the Hive off Tristan!"

"Coming!" said Liv. Harley ran toward the middle room, passing the other Hunter on the way. When he reached the center platform, he saw that Kai and Kaedro had switched. He stepped onto the plate and saw it light up underneath him.

"Looks like we're doing something right!" said Kaedro.

"You are! The runes next to the doorway are decrypting!" said Jyn.

"Right," said Harley, shooting down the Hive that appeared on the high ledges "Guys, if you see the aura move to someone else, you gotta switch with us in the center to decrypt the doorway!" Sounds of agreement echoed back through the comms.

"I'm coming to the center," said Tristan.

"Same here!" called Jade.

"Leaving!" said Kaedro.

The process continued on a loop. Each time someone lost the aura, they ran to the center to decrypt the doorway before switching again with the next person. The Hive never stopped coming, with Thrall streaming from the doorway and Knights and Wizards spawning on the upper levels. But Harley was glad to say their team didn't break down, never once losing their communication or level heads. Soon, all of the runes along the doorway were lit and the Guardians watched as the doorway cleared.

"Nice job, everyone," said Kaedro, "I'd like to say the worst is behind us, but I'm pretty sure it's just started."

A/N: Writing the raids is always exhausting. Still, I'm excited because we're really close to the end of this story. Also, for those of you who are interested, you can find artwork of some of the Chasing Fate characters on my twitter and instagram :)

Keep your eyes up, Guardians!

- TheWolfParadox