* * *

Lance and Zimthose had found a faint trail of white fur leading down the staircase, and followed it down to the Holding and Storage floor of the facility. They’d narrowly missed some Gremlins going up the staircase at the same time, but thankfully the Thwackers had been preoccupied discussing designs for new hammers to notice the footsteps moving away from them. As the knights arrived at the bottom of the staircase, they found a doorway that was cracked open.

As they peered in, they found the stairway exited into a small control room, peering out over a large, square room. A mass of buttons, levers, and lights covered the panel sitting under the lookout window. There were no Gremlins in sight, but neither was Bigbsy.

“Dangit! Where’d he go?” Zimthose grumbled, kicking the door open.

“Can you not?” Lance hissed, reprimanding him with a smack on his shoulder. “All because we don’t see anyone doesn’t mean you can go attracting attention like that!”

“We’re running out of time, aren’t we?” Zimthose asked. “That Gremlin sergeant will be here soon, so the more time we spend being cautious the more chance we’ll end up getting caught. Or worse, Bigsby could get found by Gremlins before us!” 

Lance was about to respond when they both heard the cries. Barks, chirps, and various beastlike calls could be heard from the area below. Lance and Zimthose walked up to the window and took in the storage hall below. 

Just under the window was a large, open lift, with rails leading up to the ceiling. The lift held a couple of boxes, but they couldn’t make out what they were from the angle. A similar lift could be seen on the other side of the facility, housing a dozen cages and boxes as well. The boxes were a flat gray, indistinguishable from each other. The cages were a few feet tall with metal bars in both directions, creating square holes only a couple inches wide. Most of them were filled with wolvers, chromalisks, and dust bunnies of varying breeds. There were also Silk Wings and a few Greavers trapped in smaller cages. The butterfly and bat-like creatures were held in much smaller cages than the others, and they lacked the room to freely flutter or float about as they usually did.

“Disgusting,” Zimthose said. The disdain and rage in his voice gave Lance chills.

“I know how you feel Zim, but first we gotta find–”

“Bigsby!” Zimthose cut Lance off, pointing to one of the cages down below them. There was a dust bunny on the outside of one of the cages, moving back and forth in front of it. The Striker moved to climb down another set of stairs, but Lance held him back.

“You wait here. I’ll grab the drive.”

“What makes you think Bigsby will listen to you?”

“It’s not like he’s listening to you right now, is he?”

“You don’t know he won’t!”

“And you don’t know he will. Now stay put! You’re not fully recovered either yet; try focusing on waking up first.”

“And whose fault would that be?” Lance didn’t reply as he walked down the stairs. 

“Bisby!” Lance said sternly, once he was close enough to the dust bunny. “Give it here!” He stomped the ground and held his hand out, hunched over. The dust bunny held the data drive in its mouth, and it grumbled as it was backed up against the bars of the cage. Inside, Lance could see a bunch of other, larger Bigsbys shaking in fear and backing into the corner. He sighed. “Come on buddy, don’t make me take it from you.” Bigsby grumbled and refused. The dust bunnies trapped in the cage behind him made similar cries. Lance drew his sword.

“Lance! Don’t!” Zimthose called from the control station. Lance turned and shook his head.

“He won’t drop it, Zim. Not unless I free these guys from the cages.”

“Then let’s free them!”

“I don’t have my lockpicking gear. I’m gonna take a chance and try to break the lock.”

“You’re not–?” Zimthose started, but let out a sigh. “Hold on, let me try something!”

Lance stood by awkwardly as Bigsby looked up at him. I’m lucky you don’t have puppy-dog eyes, or I don’t think I could resist doting on such adorableness, even in this situation…

Suddenly, a horn blared across the storage hall. A series of latches could be heard unbolting from every cage, and Lance jumped back as the door to the cage in front of him swung open.

“Zim!”

“Sorry!” he called from above, “I opened them all by accident.”

Lance looked down at Bigsby and saw he had dropped the drive in his excitement. The dust bunny had bounced into the cage and was cozying up to his now free pack. Lance watched them for a moment before grabbing the drive and starting back towards the control room. None of the creatures left their cages.

“Got the drive,” Lance radioed as he climbed the stairs. “And let’s just say that was signal one. Get ready for plan B, Squad Lead.” 

“Roger that. Waiting on number two. Don’t go too crazy in there.”

As he reached the top, Lance could see Zimthose looking over every button, switch, and lever on the control panel. “What are you doing now? You already opened every cage down there. And how’d you manage that, anyways?”

“I tried a few of the keys I found earlier until one worked in the large red keyhole here. But nothing on this panel is labeled, so it was kinda a crap shoot…”

“Well, I think it’s a bit late for keeping quiet now,” Lance replied with a facepalm. “And that’s our first signal to Blast, at least. Now hurry up, what else did you have in mind?”

“Now,” Zimthose replied with a smirk, “we get out of here.” He looked around the control panel and pulled on a large lever. The ground shuddered, and an alarm began blaring. They looked out the window and saw the mass of cages on the other side of the room begin moving upwards. The creatures inside began crying louder, but none left their cages. He looked back at the lever, and moved to pull the one next to it. “I said, we get out of here!”

Again the floor shuddered. This time, they could see the cages right below them beginning to move upwards. Zimthose stepped back, put a hand on his Nightblade, and without a sound as he ripped it from its sheath, struck the control room’s window. It shattered, and in one motion, he returned his sword as he hopped through the broken window, Lance right behind him. They landed on the cage Bigsby’s pack had been trapped in, and Zimthose peered down to see a mass of white and yellow fluff chirping and grumbling.

“Hold on guys, we’re almost out.”

“Zim, you know this leads right to the main construction zone, right?”

“What? How do you figure? You already have this place memorized?”

“You don’t? What, did you really think this would just take us right outside?”

“I… may not have been thinking about where this lift would be going at all, actually.”

“You’re hopeless.”

“And you’re stuck with me.” Suddenly, the room shook, and a series of explosions could be heard from above. Zimthose and Lance looked up and saw the ceiling slowly retracting, opening just enough for their lift to fit through. They hopped off the cage and drew their swords.

“We make a break for it as soon as we can,” Lance said.

“Which way?” Zimthose asked. Lance thought for a second. 

“Just follow me. You probably don’t know which way is which, anyways.”

“Hey! All because it’s true doesn’t mean you gotta call me out like that!”

Lance chuckled, and the lift finally reached the facility’s main construction zone.