Empty Shells - Empty Threats?

Sometimes I volunteer, sometimes I am volunteered - it's ever the slightest distinction. After wrapping up the destruction of the first Education Camp, all I want to do is curl up in bed and have a good cry. The deaths of children are horrific, even to someone who deals with the recurring nightmares that I have. I want to call my nieces, Isabella and Maude, and tell them how much I love them and miss them. Instead, I am volunteered for one more mission because the Shadow Queen has the ability to go out of phase with the physical world. The team is relying on me to ensure we have a way to “interact” with her should the need arise.
 
Shamrock and The Shadow Queen are with us because they gave us a tip about a Destroid Manufacturing Plant we cannot simply ignore. On the best day of the week, it almost feels as if we're gaining ground against Destroyer. Even if it's only a millimeter at a time, it adds up. Of course, things are subject to change and the whims of fate. Those whims of fate are especially kind to some, and it appears Shamrock is blessed in this regard. Who could have predicted the luck of this Irishman? When we arrive at the facility, his restraints had malfunctioned and he's wide awake and has freed the Shadow Queen. I missed all the interaction with them at the camp, so I'm not sure what spell she's put him under to make him her loyal lap dog, but I simply don't see it. She's just a bitch; and even so, she's just a mediocre one at best. There are some tense moments when we arrive - I’m not sure why someone would treat others the way the Shadow Queen does, but while I can hold restraint of the Spirits, I can’t help but verbally attack her when she starts taunting Max. She ignores me, and focuses only on Max while I am silently hoping she crosses the line and I get to take her down a peg or twelve. The standoff is broken only by a commitment from all to oppose Destroyer and unite against our common enemy in the end. I may not have my eyes on them, but at the same time I won't be turning my back on them either.
 
We've got eyes on the facility thanks to Ghost, and Shamrock seems like he's going to honor our agreement while The Shadow Queen seems intent on playing games and being about as useful as a chocolate teapot. It's a little concerning with just how few guards are here - either Destroyer has gotten overconfident, is stretched too thin, or we're walking into a trap. I suppose it might be suicidal to go up against thirty or more Destroids, but if they don't get activated, they're just bodies of metal that haven't been destroyed by Ghost... yet. The fight could have gone very differently if we had to worry about activated Destroids and our two detainees, but it's wrapped up less than ten seconds after the first shots are fired.
 
Max questions the last guard and I hear him talking about the Cyberplane. I've heard that term before. The team fills me in on what we know about it being a battery or sorts. It’s revealed that these Destroids are being sent to the Cyberplane and Destroyer is storing up energy for another mass Vanishing. I truly hope I heard that wrong; it was hard to hear over the immense noise of Ghost smashing every last Destroid.