* * *

It didn’t take long for us to finish our scouting and regroup on the north side of the facility, but by the time we did, it was already dark. The forest prevented much of the blue light from the false moon from illuminating our path, but after navigating for a few minutes, we finally found Zimthose and Lance waiting for us. With Bigsby, of course.

“You’re late,” Zimthose said. Bigsby chirped.

“Oh yeah, like we had a set meetup time,” I replied, ignoring how quickly the knight and beast seemed to have gotten on the same wavelength.

“We radioed that we were done half an hour ago!”

“Did you guys find anything?” Lance asked, interrupting my brother.

“Several ports for a ventilation system,” Balldrick answered. “Not quite big enough to walk through, but plenty of clearance for you to sneak in at least.”

“A ventilation system? Classic!” Zimthose said with a fistpump.

“We saw one too, but that feels… too cliched,” Lance said, shaking his head.

“What? We did? Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because I don’t wanna go that route.”

“Nobody said you both had to enter the same way,” I pointed out.

Lance and Zimthose turned to glare at each other, their eyes narrowing.

“No, wouldn’t be much of a competition if we introduced variables right off the bat like that. But I’m still against the ventilation system.”

“What’s wrong with it being cliche? Who cares?” Zimthose asked, peeved.

“The Gremlins might! I’m not walking into a trap just for your theatrics.”

“That’s… damn, you got a point.”

I looked at Balldrick and whispered, “Does he, though? I mean, what are the odds the Gremlins booby trap their own ventilation system?” Balldrick just shrugged.

“The roof hasn’t changed at all, right?” Lance asked.

“Not from what we can tell,” I replied.  “I could still see that white skeletal box thing while we were on the west side, and there’s been no noise from the facility so I imagine it’s still there. The blue lights were gone after a while, though, so maybe it’s powered down?”

“We’ll use that, then,” Lance said. “It obviously had to come from somewhere in the facility, so if we can use that opening, we should be able to get in without issue. That’s gotta be part of Project R, so there’s no way it’d be trapped, or they might damage it.”

“Are you sure you’re not just being paranoid?” I asked.

“You’re the one who said to be cautious until we find out what happened to Magma Squad,” he replied. “So I’m not taking any chances.”

“Fair enough. How do you plan on getting to the top, though?”

“We’ve got enough rope and then some to reach the roof. Won’t be an issue.”

“And where will you scale it from?”

“Hmm…” Lance paused.

“Does it matter? We haven’t seen any guards or security whatsoever, right?” Zimthose asked.

“That’s why I’m asking,” I told him. “It worries me that, despite the contents within this facility, we’ve seen little to no guards since the mortar fire from earlier. Even the gun puppies haven’t returned to their position. The only thing that’s changed since night fell is the security floodlights went on and are routinely covering the area.”

“Maybe…” Lance started, glancing at Zimthose, or maybe Bigsby. He gulped, but continued. “I’m wondering if they’re planning on doing more target practice. If that’s the case, then that’s our best moment to move in.”

Zimthose gasped, hugging Bigsby tight to his chest.

“You would use these innocent creatures to our advantage?” The dust bunny let out a low pitched grumble.

“You would use us to your advantage! You did today at Vise’s!”

“Oh please, that was different!”

“Why? Because we’re not small, cute, or innocent?”

“Hah, so you admit Bigsby is all those things!”

“I didn’t say he wasn’t–”

DrrDrrDrrDrrDrrDrr…DrrDrrDrrDrrDrrDrr…

The facility’s alarms were blaring again.

“Speak of the Devilite,” Balldrick muttered.

“Alright you two, time to move!” I ordered. “Zim, I get how you feel, but we can’t save the beasts without ruining everything, or dying in the process. But if you move fast enough, you might be able to stop any more from having to be target practice.”

“I’m not seeing any doors or gates opening from this side,” Lance said, using his binoculars. “They must be performing the test on the south side like before.”

“Then Balldrick and I will keep an eye out for any other changes from here, and prepare an emergency exit. Just try not to make us use it though, got it?” I instructed.

Balldrick and Lance nodded.

“I doubt we’ll need the help,” my brother said. “But just in case, don’t wait for a signal, wait for two. Just to be sure.”

“...We’ll see,” I replied, hesitantly.

“That everything? Then what else are we waiting for? Let’s go!” With that, Zimthose immediately sprinted off in the direction of the facility, with Lance not far behind.

* * *

The Striker, Technician Knight, and Dust Bunny had no trouble dancing around the spotlights covering the clearing leading up to the facility. They quickly arrived at the base of the structure, just as they heard the mortar cannons fire. Their backs to the wall, they turned to whisper to each other.

“Okay, how do we scale it?” Zimthose asked.

“I said before, we got the rope to get up there.”

“And how do you propose we use the rope from down here?”

Neither one said anything. After a moment, explosions sounded in the distance.

“Screw it, give me the rope,” Zimthose said.

“For what?”

“Just give it to me!”

“Not until–”

“Damnit Lance, we don’t have time!” Zimthose shouted in a whisper. “Why can’t you just trust me?”

“When do you ever give me a reason to trust you?” Lance retorted. “I’m sorry, but your actions are usually too costly or too selfish. Or too stupid! Like, what are you gonna do with Bigsby, huh? You plan to bring him along for this heist, for the prison break we have to do right after, and then make it home hunkydory?” Zimthose was quiet, not meeting Lance’s gaze. With a sigh, Lance handed him the rope. “Fine, but only because I’m still thinking of something.”

Zimthose reached out, pausing before taking the rope, and wrapping it around the hilt of his Striker. He tightened the knot and stepped away from the wall, swinging the sword and rope around in a circle. When he built up enough momentum, he let it loose, the blade soaring through the air. Its large, serrated teeth found purchase on the edge of the roof, and Zimthose made sure it wouldn’t pull loose no matter how he tugged.

“Huh…not bad,” Lance muttered. Zimthose glared at him, annoyance in his eyes as he handed over the rope.

“Ladies first,” he said.

“I believe you mean age before beauty?”

“...”

“...”

“Umm–”

“Okay, yeah no, that… didn’t quite hit the mark.”

“Not in the slightest.”

“Just…forget it and let’s go,” Lance said in defeat as he began to rappel up the wall. When he was far enough up the wall, Zimthose tucked Bigsby into a pocket in his coat and started up the wall as well.

* * *

“I see them scaling the wall.”

“They’re in the clear?”

“Affirmative. No sign of anyone or anything catching or stopping them.”

Balldrick and I had found a small clearing in the forest. Not naturally made, but what looked to be the day old remnants of a mortar strike, similar to what we had witnessed only an hour ago. Some felled trees rested among the area’s edges, and Balldrick was perched on one such trunk as it leaned against an upright one with burn marks.

I stood at the base of the trunk, keeping an eye on our surroundings. We’d heard the echoes of distant explosions, but it seemed to be only the one series of mortars. Just like before.

“Alright, they’re on the roof. Seems like they’re heading away from the edge on this side, so I won’t be able to keep a visual. We should begin preparations for departure.”

“Yeah, sounds good. Did you have something in mind, Balldrick?” The gunslinging knight paused a moment, looking through his binoculars again.

“They left the rope dangling.”

“They what?! Are they trying to leave a trail?”

“That works though,” he said, leaping from his perch. “If they’re too deep in trouble, we can follow them that way.”

“Chances are that rope will be why they wind up in trouble. Ugh, Lance, I thought you were better than that!”

“Wasn’t him,” Balldrick corrected me. “Zimthose got the rope up there using his sword.”

“Zim did? Huh… clever.”

“Indeed. But he probably left it behind in a rush.” Balldrick sighed, shaking his head. “He’s too hot headed, and we’re gonna be in it deep one day because of it.”

“I know, I know. But how do you reel in a loose cannon like that?”

“That’s for you to figure out. Whether as the Squad Lead, or as his older brother.”

I couldn’t reply to that. Zimthose obviously didn’t see me as a proper Squad leader, and the tension between us as brothers seemed to only grow as we spent more time on Cradle. It’s almost miraculous we haven’t gone our separate ways entirely.

“We can help, of course,” Balldrick continued. “But I know things have been more tense as of recently. So it’ll be up to you and him to straighten things out.”

“Balldrick, are you sure you’re not a telepath?”

“You just need to learn to not express your thoughts on your face so blatantly.”