Shiro: Something's got the Hive more riled than usual down in the Plaguelands, and we can't afford another front in this fight. The Fallen Splicers are trouble enough.

So get down there, Guardian. If the Splicers are stirring up the Hive, we need to know how and why. And you need to put a stop to it.

Lord's Watch, Plaguelands, Earth

Shiro: The Hive are hitting the Splicers near the beached Tanker, head that way and find out why they're at each other's throats.

Guardian makes way to Giant's Husk

Ghost: It's possible we're walking into a territorial dispute, but something's telling me there's more to it than that.

Shiro: Agreed. The Hive can be defensive, but what I'm tracking seems like a full-on assault. The chatter's aggressive, angry. This isn't just a show of force. The Hive are after something.

Guardian arrives in Giant's Husk, Fallen and Hive battling

Ghost: I was expecting hostilities, but this is... They're at war.

Shiro: Take out as many as you want, but my advice? Find the Splicer leading this fight, and put him down.

Ghost: There! A Splicer Captain. Up high. Near the overpass.

Guardian climbs adjacent rocks, upwards to overpass

Guardian kills Splicer Captain

Ghost: It's a coded relay from the Splicer's High Priest. There's references to the Hive here.

The Splicer's High Priest is either keeping something from the Hive or has taken something from them.

Shiro: Search the overpass. See what else you find.

Ghost: Whatever the Splicers have locked up here, the Hive are hungry for it. Let's crack open some crates, see what their High Priest is hiding.

Guardian is ambushed by Fallen

Guardian eliminates Fallen

Guardian checks first crate

Ghost: No luck, but we should keep looking.

Guardian checks second crate

Ghost: No luck, but we should keep looking

Guardian checks third crate

Ghost: Nothing. Let's keep looking. We're not done. Keep checking crates.

Guardian checks fourth crate

Ghost: Something's wrong here.

Hive pour out from crate, Guardian attacks

Ghost: This isn't good.

Guardian collects Hive Husk

Ghost: The Splicer's High Priest is... He's corralling Thrall. Collecting them.

Guardian clears remaining Hive

Shiro: No wonder the Hive are on the warpath. Any chance this isn't related to the Splicers' experiments with SIVA?

Ghost: Slim to none. There were heavy SIVA readings all over the Hive they had crated, along with an odd heat signature.

Guardian proceeds to Archon's Keep

Ghost: I don't think the Splicers are simply displacing the Thrall.

Shiro: The Splicers' role within a Fallen House is equivalent to a mad scientist.

Ghost: Or Warlock.

Shiro: Sure. Just didn't want to be the one who said it. Point is, they're the Fallen's big brains. We've seen what they can do with limited knowledge of SIVA. They've basically force-fed their own evolution. So...

Ghost: What if they're attempting the same with the Hive?

Shiro: They can control them... or worse.

Ghost: There are SIVA readings pinging all over this region. I'll try to match them against the specific heat signature we found.

There.

Guardian attacks Fallen

Ghost: This is definitely the place.

Ghost: We need a closer look at what's in that cave.

Guardian enters cave

Guardian destroys SIVA node

Guardian is ambushed by spawning Hive

Guardian scans Hive Knight

Ghost: This is worst-case scenario. The Splicers aren't in a territorial war with the Hive; they're experimenting on them.

Shiro: And if the Splicer's High Priest is going to these lengths, he's either gone crazy with power or he's taking orders from someone who has.

Ghost: Like an Archon?

Shiro: Or a Prime. Either's bad news. But for now, we've got a clear-cut problem. We need to find this High Priest and put an end to his atrocities.