Haru sneaked up the final flight of stairs and immediately glued himself to the wall which opened into a wider pathway that led down towards the central hall. The other end of the central hall connected to the central command area where a portion of the Kridora commanding officers direct the army. They command the Kridora forces around Tredje Kingdom, one of the three major settlements on planet Qura. Bringing down the Diablo would send the Kridora into disarray for a time, enough for Tredje's force to retake major portions of land which has since been occupied. Haru, however, reminded himself that their primary mission was breaking out Lord Ricard, the leader of their armies here in Tredje. Reclaiming their most important warrior was meaningful not only from a strategic viewpoint, but also of morale. Haru could not afford to fail.
"I'm in position right outside central hall. What's the situation on your side?"
Before Haru heard a reply, alarms along the pathway as well as central hall came to life, blaring in a different tone than before, when he took care of Kridora soldiers using explosions. The intercom, which Haru did not know even existed aboard this ship, came to life,
"Attention all units! Qura intruders have infiltrated sectors ___ through ___! They have made their way to the prison halls! Alexio has been identified as one of the infiltrators. They cannot be allowed to free Ricard. All stationed units to make their way to prison halls. Lord Aizer will link up with you there. Command, out!"
Haru simply smiled and sighed as chaos broke out in the hallway. Using the commotion and darker corners, he managed to avoid being discovered as scores of Kridora ran past him towards the downward sloping pathway that led directly to the lower sectors. Once the pathway that led to the central hall was quiet once again, Haru ran towards the central hall. On the other end of the wide area lay a prominent entrance closed off by double doors. Haru knew that even with the call to defend the prison halls, the Kridora were not foolish enough to leave their commanding officers unguarded. He paused for a moment, thinking of a way to lure them out.
"Hm... This will be tough."
(Inside the prison halls)
An all-out struggle had broken out between the Templar Knights and Qura soldiers and the Kridora that poured in from all entrances into the prison halls. Before the latter arrived, Alexio and the others had managed to free a number of soldiers trapped in the lower priority cells. It was ultimately this action that rang the emergency alarm and alerted Kridora command aboard the Diablo of their presence and send all available personnel to the prison halls. Before the Kridora arrived, the Templar Knights and the freed soldiers had strengthened their position on one side of the hall. Using parts of the ship's hull and shield generators from the small armoury in the corner, they had themselves a setup similar to the trenches. Alexio himself was leaping from debris to debris, soaking up the Kridora fire with his innate shielding and countering.
The group's plan was clear. They had managed to draw the attention of Kridora aboard the Diablo to themselves in hopes that Haru is able to infiltrate the central command area given the reduced surveillance. They had also hoped to free Commander Ricard before the Kridora arrived but weren't able to locate him, which was expected since the Kridora would have Ricard in a higher priority target in the lower cells, the walls of which were thick and not easily penetrated in a short time. For the time being, the group focused on maintaining their position and draw the Kridora leader aboard the Diablo, Alizer, to the prison halls. Alexio was running and leaping across the area, using his innate shielding to soak up fire and counter with his plasma blasts, in hopes to thin the Kridora numbers.
"Kridora on the left! Alexio, I'm providing cover fire. Take them out!"
Sophia leaned out of the trench cover and fired her gauntlet gun while Alexio swung towards the enemy soldiers who retreated a few steps due to Sophia's firing. Alexio drop kicked on the Kridora platoon, using both gravity and acceleration from plasma to his advantage. The impact killed most of the soldiers in an instant while the remaining were impaled by plasma tendrils that shot out from Alexio. Kridora who were further up immediately responded by firing at Alexio, who tanked a few bullets while retreating to nearby cover as his shielding gave out.
"Alright, my shields can take 4 blasts before it breaks. And I need fifteen seconds to recharge them before leaping out. If we can keep this up for a while, Haru should-"
Just then, Alexio felt a familiar energy signature enter the immediate area. He looked up at the main entrance to see a few more Kridora and a familiar face leap down into the prison halls. The man had two sets of horns, a pair on either side of his temples and a pair jutting above like a Bull, with one of the latter horns broken off midway. He also wore a helmet that curved around his horns with slits on the front for this eyes and mouth. His outfit was typical of a Kridora, a simple dark coat with a black belt and trousers and the symbol of their army on the breast. Except, he had also donned a black overcoat with a different symbol on the front, signifying his superior stature. Alexio recognized Alizer before he saw him, for he had felt that energy before in Pandira city when they first faced each other.
"Riku, Sophia; you guys handle it here. I'm taking this guy."
Riku responded while firing at the Kridora, "Remember, the idea is to buy time...Don't try and be a hero again, especially when you don't have your concordant."
Alexio stepped out from his cover as Alizer waved his hand at the Kridora to let them know to target the remaining Qura as he intended to take on Alexio himself. Alexio slowly walked towards Alizer as tendrils elongated from his back, pointing their sharp end at the enemy ahead. A cleaver like blade materialized onto his forearm, extending along the entire arm's length and ending at the wrist with a pointed edge. An aura of plasma flared out from every pore in Alexio's body as he turned his now red-tinted eyes towards Alizer,
"Last we faced, my blade only managed to cut your horns. This time, I'll take your head, silly sheep. Bring it."
(Back in Tredje Kingdom. In a lab on the far end of the capital)
Two soldiers were stationed at the entrance watching a group of researchers working frantically. Discussions were being thrown back and forth with people running from one end of the lab to the other. The lab itself consisted of a central platform around which sensors and other machinery was attached. Control panels, displays and manual switches surrounded the platform but at a height with glass windows looking down at the subject of interest. The central platform in question held a large cylindrical container with walls made of glass and it was filled with a semi-transparent blue liquid. Inside the container floated a woman in stasis with wiring and pads continuously monitoring her condition.
The two soldiers were given simple instructions to monitor the team of researchers who were tasked with working in this facility, given they were fugitives who were promised asylum in exchange for this task. Just then, the voice of one boomed over others,
"You've certainly lost your mind, damn it! You actually want to go through with releasing her on the agreed date?"
Another retorted in a frustrated tone,
"It's part of the deal. At least, we ought to discuss this with Alexio and the others."
"Alexio would agree with me if he knew what condition she's in still. I'm inclined to propose an extension on her stasis time for a few more months at least."
"I'm sure they'll agree. But what do you think she will do once she realises you were the reason the war went on for months without her? How many died while she slept?"
On hearing this, the first researcher fell silent. The second one spoke once more,
"I didn't mean to threaten you. I know you only seek what's best for her, in your own way. Let's discuss this with Ricard and the others once they come back here. But you also understand that she is the greatest asset we have against the Kridora invasion. The sooner we use this element of surprise, the better it is."
The first researcher once again said nothing and simply returned to his station to continue supervising the calibration of sensors. Both of them glanced down at the healing pod, looking at the subject of their work, Ava.