Sierra and I ran from the hangar, to the Tower commons. The Awoken ships sat hovering above the Tower. Dozens of guardians and vendors had gathered outside, staring in awe. We waded through the crowd as we made our way toward the Speaker, who was standing by the railing, above the entrance to the Hall of Guardians. “What do the Awoken want from us now?” a hunter murmured. “First Toland, now this?” said a warlock. “Is that a Fallen ship?” someone mumbled. I gave Sierra an uneasy look. This wasn’t going to be taken lightly. Eventually, we made our way to the edge of the crowd, and walked up to where the Speaker stood with Ikora. I opened my mouth to speak, but I was cut off immediately. “Why are the Awoken here?” the Speaker questioned, with the slightest hint of anger. “Oryx.” Sierra said, “Oryx is here.” “So Toland was right…” Ikora said quietly. “He may have been right, but he’s not giving us the information we-” I started. “We must be cautious,” Interjected the Speaker, “when dealing with the Awoken. They are allies, not friends.” “I don’t give a damn about the politics with the Reef. They all would have died!” I was starting to get annoyed with the Speaker’s reluctance. He was a politician more than anything, and he certainly didn’t speak all he knew. “Oryx is building an army. He’s taking Cabal and Hive and who knows what else, and he’s corrupting them. He’s going to come here, and kill us all, unless Toland tells us how to stop them. They attacked the Reef. That’s why the Awoken are here, it’s the only safe place left.” The Speaker didn’t say a word. He simply turned and walked away towards his study in the Tower’s north wing. I turned to Ikora, she looked at me and said, “Have them land. They can stay so long as they can aid us. And, be…cautious with Toland.” She too walked off. “Echo,” I said to my Ghost, “Tell Petra they can land in the hangar.” Moments later, the Awoken ships started to move, descending towards the Tower’s hangar bay. “What now?” Sierra asked. “I’ve got a few questions for Toland.” I opened the door to Toland’s room once again, this time I couldn’t feel the cold over the fiery anger simmering inside me. Again, he sat in the center of the room. Before he stood I said, “You said we’d talk. Now talk.” I demanded. “Oh,” he chuckled as he stood, “was what I told you not… Helpful?” He spoke like he was making a threat. “We are going to stop Oryx. We need every piece of information you know, and we need to know about his movements before they happen, not when they do.” I snapped at him. He stepped towards me, that icy cold washed over me. “You wouldn’t even begin to comprehend the things I have seen.” He spoke with frozen rage. “Look,” Sierra said calmy, “We need your help, or Oryx will kill every one of us. You said so yourself.” Toland took a step back and turned away from us. “These Taken… they are bound to Oryx’s will, imbued with his strength, they’re… abominations. Ripped from our dimension, corrupted and thrown back.” He sounded distant, lost in a thought. He drew the broken sword from his side and ran his hand over the blade. “I can’t read Oryx’s thoughts, but I can sense his intentions. I need to know more about him. I need you to face him again.” He sheathed the blade and turned back to us. “Venus, Vaneere mountains, The Chasm.” He said, slipping back into his cold self. “He’s after and the Vex. The more diverse his troops are, the stronger his army is. Lure Oryx into a fight if you can, I need to…study him” He finished in a voice that spoke like he had a sly grin on his face, beneath that mask. We turned to leave, “The Taken,” he added, “have some newly acquired talents, I’m sure they’ll be …eager to show you.” We stepped out of the room and closed the door behind us. “You know,” I started, looking at Sierra as we walked back down the hall, “There were so many things I wanted to ask when I found out he was here. I thought there was so much to be learned from someone who devoted his life to studying the Hive.” I shook my head looking down. “Not anymore. I guess he really does deserve his title.” Sierra put her arm around me as we got into the elevator back to the top of the Tower. We stepped out of the elevator to find Eris waiting for us. “You spoke with Toland?” she asked “Yeah, why?” I replied. “There’s something…off, about him. He’s changed greatly.” “Really?” Sierra mumbled sarcastically. “Being isolated for so long does awful things to people, you would know.” I said with sincerity. Her head sunk, looking down at her feet. Obviously, she cared deeply for Toland. I put a hand on her shoulder, “Keep an eye on him, talk to him.” “I will.” She nodded. “We have to go Eris, see you soon.” I nodded back as we continued walking. Zvalla stopped us as we got to the hangar to leave. “Where’s he sending you this time?” Zvalla asked. “Venus.” I replied, “He says he needs to know more about Oryx. I’m starting to wonder if he’s really trying to help us or not.” “We’re starting to see this from your perspective Zvalla,” Sierra said, “I think Ikora is too.” “Glad to hear it, and vice versa,” he responded genuinely, “I never mean to come off hostile, just looking out for the City’s best interests.” I nodded in acknowledgement, understandable from someone who fought at Twilight Gap. “Anyways,” he continued, “I’ve arranged for another guardian to join your fireteam on this mission. I’ll tell him to meet you on Venus. I raised an eyebrow, “Who?” I asked. I normally didn’t like working with others, but I made exceptions when the Vanguards deemed it necessary. “Ren, from the Operation Spectre strike team.” Damn it. Prologue/directory [url]https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/139146382/0/0[/url]