Blue looked between them before rolling her eyes in resignation. "Fine. It’s not like I haven’t always wanted to mastermind a prison break."
Kira glanced at Harlow. "There, you see—I told you they'd be up for it."
The Curs had always been risk takers. No matter how asinine the plan. It was good to see some things hadn't changed.
"When are we doing this?" Blue asked.
No time like the present. Kira threw the covers back, sitting up in the bed. A loud cough from the doorway had her freezing. She looked over to find Quillon glaring daggers at her.
Ah right. Doctor's orders.
She tugged the blankets over her legs and laid back down. "How does tonight sound?"
The storm that had rolled in while Kira was unconscious was still going strong as she and Raider snuck toward the curtain wall guarding the outside of the Inquisitors' Hold. Rain poured down from the heavens, drenching them as they moved as silently as possible.
"The patrol just passed. There's a three minute window until the next one," Blue announced over their comms.
Kira and Raider maintained mission silence as they slid down an embankment before darting across the stretch of open ground and to the wall on the other side. Once there, they went still, listening for signs they'd been discovered.
"Did you refer to these mini drones as Jin's spawn? They're quite amazing I must say. Very useful for surveillance since you said Jin is occupied somewhere else tonight. I'm going to have to ask him how he created them when I next see him."
Kira frowned, having no idea what Blue was talking about for a moment. Realization dawned a second later.
Oh right. The lie she told Blue. That Jin was on another mission of vital importance.
"You should have told her the truth," Raider mouthed silently, kneeling to remove the small pack he was carrying and swinging it in front of him.
Kira shrugged. She would if it became necessary. Until then, she wasn't telling anyone about Jin's little sojourn.
Raider shook his head in resignation as he dug through the pack, pulling out a bundle of metal rods the length of Kira's hand.
"Hold," Blue barked.
Raider went motionless as Kira trained her eyes on the ramparts.
"The timing for their patrol is off. Someone decided to go on walkabout early."
Blue’s warning came at the same time a pair of oshota appeared overhead, the quiet murmur of their voices reaching them a second later.
Raider shifted the rods to one hand as he reached for the modified zuipi Blue had made him.
Kira caught his hand, shaking her head in warning.
"No violence," she mouthed.
That was Harlow's price for helping them. Either they got in and out undiscovered or they surrendered.
Raider glared at her in frustration, his hand tense under hers.
Her shrug was unconcerned. This was the deal they'd made. No one got hurt. Not by so much as a stubbed toe.
Raider yanked his hand out of her grip. To her relief, he didn't reach for his weapon.
"They're gone. Proceed."
Kira bent to help Raider, holding the rods as he unhooked the straps around them before trying to pry one away from the rest.
It didn't budge.
He tugged harder. The rod lifted a millimeter, a wave of sparks cascading off it and feeding into the others.
"What did you do to these things? Why is it so difficult separating them?" Raider gritted out.
"Just a little design of my own creation. It's based on Jin's anti gravs. Only instead of repelling, it attracts. Like it?"
"Not the word I'd use," Raider hissed.
The rod rose another inch, the increased distance making it easier to maneuver. He attached it to the wall, electricity arcing between it and the three Kira still held.
"One down, three to go," Raider muttered.
"You should be happy I made it so difficult for them to come apart by accident. If that happened, the field disruption they'd create would make your insides become your outsides. Cool picture, huh? Your organs falling out of your body."
Blue sounded a little too enthralled with that visual as Raider pried the second rod away, allowing it to attach to the wall. Several more minutes passed until all four were in place.
Electricity danced across the stone, moving from rod to rod. Each pass making the wall grow a little more transparent. There was a harsh buzzing sound as the molecules forming the stone began to vibrate.
"I'll be damned," Raider muttered as he and Kira looked through the small doorway they'd created.
"It worked, didn't it?" Blue asked with excitement.
"Why did you phrase that as a question?" Kira asked.
"Ah. That." Blue laughed awkwardly. "The science isn't exactly field tested."
Raider's inhale was a near growl. "Blue!"
"Sorry. Sorry. But there wasn't much time to plan," Blue said, defending herself. "It was tricky to figure out the frequencies in the beginning, but once I understood the mechanics behind it, it was simple enough."
"You first or me?" Raider signed at Kira, resuming radio silence.
She tapped her chest to show she'd go first. Raider moved aside as Kira stepped up to the threshold of their energy door. Here's hoping her insides stayed where they were supposed to.
Before she could question the wisdom of it, Kira dove forward. It was like trying to move through something thicker than water but less dense than a physical wall. The resistance slowed her progress.
Then she was through to the other side.
Kira checked the inner courtyard. No signs of any oshota that she could see. Then again, they were a notoriously tricky lot.
She waved Raider through anyway. His expression was grumpy after passing through the disrupter field. His displeasure over breaking the laws of physics clear.
"Location," Kira asked in a near soundless voice.
The comm she had embedded in her ear canal would pick up the vibrations in her jaw and transmit her words no matter how softly she spoke.
"Checking," Blue answered.
Kira made a gesture toward the Hold. Lightning cracked, highlighting the gothic-looking monstrosity that could have featured in a holo-vid starring Dracula. No wonder Eurus was in charge. His vibe let him fit right in.
Raider took the lead across the grounds.
Kira didn't worry about the patrol spotting them. Nobody would expect someone to be crazy enough to breach the inquisitors' defenses. Their focus would be on the perimeter. Not what was happening within their walls.
Just in case, though, Kira and Raider stuck to the shadows as they made their way toward a second floor balcony and the window access Blue had scouted hours before.
Raider cracked the door open, waiting a second before slipping inside.
"Got the location," Blue announced.
Kira ignored the feel of rain running down her face and neck as Raider scanned the room. A second later he gave her the all clear.
"Jin's spawn are picking up heat signatures on a floor below ground level," Blue announced as Kira stepped inside. "Given the lack of movement, I'm going to go out on a limb and assume they're guarding something."
Water puddled under Kira's feet, soaking into the carpet.