(Links to previous chapters in comments). Hausen jumped to his feet, his chair clattering behind him as he slammed his fists on the table. "ENOUGH!" The men and women before him cowed before his sudden temper. The four guards in black body armour behind him jerked their automatic weapons towards him. A tall female, took a step forward. The others moved to cover the door behind them. "Easy", cautioned a slender spectacled man sitting at the table. Hausen jabbed his finger at him. "Don't tell me to be 'easy'!" he shouted. "Tell me where my people are and let us go!" The spectacled man opened his arms. "Hausen, your people are safe and you are not being held here. We just..." "I'm done", Hausen replied and turned to face the armed guards, holding his arms up with hands splayed. "I have no weapons and I don't intend to hurt anyone so you can back off. Im going to find my daughter and figure this from there". "Hausen..." Hausen turned to stare coldly back at the men and women sitting at the long table. "Back off". He swung back to the guards blocking his way. "I'm going through here. Get the hell out of my way". The female guard nearest him looked as though she would stand her ground as Hausen approached, but at the last minute she stepped aside and gestured for the others to do the same. Both Mattaus and Felicia jumped as a door to one side of the room opened and Hausen suddenly appeared. "You both ok?" He asked looking from one to the other and cautiously regarding Gartan and Alfren. Felicia nodded. "More or less", Mattaus said. "I woke up with a tube in my arm". He gestured at Alfren. "I think they looked after me". "Good", Hausen replied. "Have you seen Mirim?" Both shook their heads. "Mirim is being cared for", the slender spectacled man said calmly as he walked into the room followed by the guards and then several other men and women. "She was severely wounded and had lost a lot of blood on top of the dehydration, malnutrition and other conditions you were all suffering from". He gestured to the bald man near Mattaus. "Alfren is the head of our medical team and has been taking care of her". "She is stable", Alfren said carefully. "There is a long way to go, but I think we have her under control" "As I said Hausen, you and your people are safe here". Hausen strode to stand in front of Felicia and Mattaus. "I'll be the judge of that". Miskorix watched the other Fallen as they walked around the buried Ketch. Some traced their hands carefully over its surface, some banged their fists against certain plates and others just wearily glanced over its broken frame. [i]They will be the first to die.[/i] "What are you doing Dreg?" Miskorix turned to find Sken watching him. It lowered it's head deferentially. "I am trying to identify a possible place of entry". "Why are you not with the others?" Miskorix rounded it's shoulders and crouched a little lower. "My apologies, I felt I could see more from further away". Sken continued to stare at it. "You are different to the others". The Dreg felt an icy surge of fear rush through it. "You look at things differently than other Dreg", Sken continued. "Why?" Miskorix was saved from answering by a shout from one of the Dreg hitting their fists against the hull. It had found an entry hatch. Sken's head jerked toward it and then swiftly turned back to regard Miskorix. It stared at the Dreg for a moment and then rushed to the commotion building at the Ketch. Miskorix watched it join the others, watched as it peered intently with the other Vandal at what the Dreg had found. [i]Finally![/i] It swiftly but carefully made its way to a large gauged sheet of metal within the rock surface a good thirty feet from the others. A small indentation marred the surface. It appeared to be a simple dent, a damaged part of the hull. Miskorix knew better. It glanced at the other Fallen and saw that they were all still intently scrutinizing what appeared to be a buckled airlock door. Still watching the others, it placed its claw into the depression and held its breath. Silently, the metal slid silently upward to reveal an upward sloping ramp disappearing into darkness. The other Fallen were still concentrating on the airlock. Miskorix darted inside the Ketch. Cayde-6 walked away from the Vanguard table as the latest report from the Hunter dispatched to Australia was received. He stared out of one of the nearby windows as he listened. Everything was so far away. So far removed. This room was his life now and he live vicariously through the adventures of others. [i]I remember the feel of gravel beneath my boots, enemy fire screaming over me...[/i] Something in the Hunter's report snagged his attention. "A Ketch?" "Or what's left of one", the Hunter's crackled voice said in his ears. "The Fallen are trying to get inside, but can't open the only visible airlock. One Dreg, however, seems to have more knowledge than the others and has entered the vessel through a hidden hatch". The Hunter paused. "Have you ever heard of DNA access systems on a Fallen ship?" Cayde-6 thought for a moment, his mind shifting through recent reports and historical data. "No, never. Is that what your Ghost is saying?" "Probable, it says" the Hunter responded. "Interesting' the Exo mused. "This is new. Keep going, but report back soon". "Affirmative", the Hunter acknowledged and the communication died to silence. "Everything ok?" Cayde-6 turned and found Commander Zavala looking intently at him. "A Hunter has found a buried Ketch in the Fallen-free zone of Australia. I'll know more when he gets inside". Commander Zavala nodded slowly. "Report from Mars" a Hunter announced as she ran into the Vanguard room. Cayde-6 turned to face her. He did not notice the intense lingering look pass between the other Vanguards.