[spoiler]Act II Part 3 Archive: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/242853482/0/0[/spoiler] The team stands ready to hold their position. The Onyx Guard bracing against one side of the breach to lay down suppressing fire as Bee takes up the other, ready to hold off attackers that attempt to enter. Lee stands at the back, rifle scoped in to pick off targets at will and at the digression of the front two. Patterson beside him, still slumped against the support as he struggles to regain his breath. Lee barked to his ghost, "Jackson, we need a back door!" "On it," he ghost replied, phasing into the physical world as it darted around the caved on flight deck before dicing behind some exposed paneling. Vex begin teleporting into the other side of the massive room with no form of order, just a mass of firepower. "[i]Permission to fire?[/i]" The Gear asked, lining his sights toward a cluster goblins led by a minotaur. His sister readied her shotgun, the two googly eyes glued to either side of the barrel shaking furiously as she responded with an order of, "Mow 'em down!" Lee fired his rifle into the center of the minotaur, the round piercing through its shields and dropping the goblin behind it. The Gear followed suit, rounds tearing thorough legs, arms, and torsos as Bee tossed a grenade into the Vex mob advancing on them. A hobgoblin teleports into the room with them, screaming as it raised its weapon up toward Patterson. Lee answered by drawing is left sidearm and hurling rounds through the machine's knees until it collapsed, causing it to fire upward and miss its target. Bee followed up by plunging her shotgun into its chest and cleaving the attacker in half. "Any time now, Jackson!" Lee shouted, loading the few remaining rounds he carried into his rifle as hydra's began to closing in over the heads of their ground-based counterparts. The floor gave out below the team, causing all four to fall and slide down the impacted hull of the ketch until it broke away to a somewhat level breach, caved in slightly further than the puncture above it. Looking up, the team saw not only Lee's ghost, but also their objective: a Vex conduit. "Found something better than a way out," the ghost replied. "A reason to leave!" "Then get us out of here!" Lee shouted back between coughs. "Yes sir," the ghost replied as it teleports the four to a tower dropship entering low orbit. Bee looks up at the ghost from the familiar floor of the dropship, "why didn't you say anything? Did you actually get the information?" "Of course!" Jackson replied on a cheery tone. "They can't really keep me out if they're already shooting at you." Lee grabbed the ghost, squeezing its shell in anger for risking their lives to its own benefit. "That info had better be worth it." "It is," the ghost pleaded, "but you won't like it." "[i]Is the unit still active[/i]?", the Onyx Guard asked as he and Bee helped Patterson into one of the seats. "Yes, but the Exo has been captured by the Cabal." "So she's dead then?" Bee asked, frustrated by the waste of time. "No. The Vex consider her a significant threat, and have been monitoring her movements. The Cabal have been moving her from outpost to outpost, likely to access different interrogation tactics." "So where is she now?" Lee asked, releasing the ghost and turning to check on Patterson. The ghost pulls up a 3D map, highlighting a Cabal fortress. "This outpost serves as the forwarded command center over the Northern hemisphere. It's security has been upgraded with an additional regiment of elite guard and two landtanks." Lee bows his head, unable to grasp a feeling between anger and defeat, "so she's lost." "[i]I wouldn't say that[/i]," the Onyx Guard replied. "[i]We've had smaller teams work their way into bigger fortresses. We just need to figure out what part the unit is in, and figure something out.[/i]" "Figure something out," Lee chuckled back. "What happened to 'No more direct confrontation'?" "[i]We don't have to go in guns blazing[/i]," the Gear replied. "[i]We just have to shuffle the ranks a bit[/i]." "A distraction?" Patterson asked, finally gaining enough breath to get involved. "[i]Something like that...[/i]"