1:2:6 Deeper (Part 2)

Magpie had been standing guard for nearly fifteen minutes and was beginning to get impatient. While the area wasn’t one frequented by many, he was beginning to think he had outstayed his welcome; since Lore and Char’s departure he had been scowled at for frightening a first time customer of a prominent dealer, targeted by two different sets of pickpockets but more importantly to the mission, he had been seen by a couple of Alex’s runners. He knew he couldn’t stay there much longer but that time came sooner than expected. He heard a disturbance in the distance, something was happening in the bazaar. He couldn’t help himself. Running towards the bazaar, the commotion grew eerily quiet. Magpie peered his head around the last corner and closed his human eye.
“Pissing hel.” Magpie whispered to himself.
The bazaar was swarming with Undulia’s troops. “Spot check.” White armoured units stormed through the stalls sending tat and knickknacks flying everywhere.
Magpie ensured he wasn’t in any of their eyelines before moving into the square and grabbing the first sheet both large enough and opaque enough to hide his armour. He removed his helmet, packed it away and stowed it on his belt, retrieving an eye patch to replace it. Confident he would more effectively blend in now, he ventured into the market properly.
“Hey, you. Big guy. Drop the robe and give me your ID.” A white armoured glove tugged at Magpie’s shoulder.
“Ah, hello! I’m willing to co-operate in any way I can officer.” His voice was mockingly polite. He padded his amour. “Well. I seem to have misplaced my ID.” The soldiers arm moved from Magpie’s shoulder to a drop leg holster. “But I suppose I could fulfil your other request. Here you go.” Magpie whipped his makeshift robe off and threw it over the guards head before sprinting towards the bazaar’s entrance. Two more of the soldiers ran over to try and stop him but they were both too late. Magpie made it to the central spiral. He swapped his eye patch and helmet back over as he sprinted up two levels. One soldier remained in pursuit as Magpie dodged and wove his way up. He turned down one of the side roads. He fumbled at his side, nearly dislodging his pistol from its holster as he retrieved his key card. He scanned it and slid into the clinic. He locked the door behind him before plunging his hand into the fish tank and opening the door to his quarters. Magpie fell down the stairs and clamoured to his bunk. He threw his footlocker open and began to rifle through his collection, digging for his sniper. Rifle folded into its smallest form and wired up, he crammed his kleptomania into the box and began the next part of his plan.
“Magpie, is that you?” Tolan’s voice came from the back room.
“Yeah Doc. Got in trouble with Undulia’s people. I’m going to meet up with the others.” He replied.
“Make sure Lore knows.” Destiny chimed in.
“Messaging them now.” Magpie removed his communicator and typed out a short note. He hit the send button, returned it to his armour then began to leave to the spare bikes at the hunting exit to meet up with the others.
“Oh, could you take these with you. I need you to download these files and hold on to this for Lore.” Destiny ran over and handed him a folded sheet of paper and a disk.
“Alright then.” He stashed them away in his breastplate. “In a bit.” And with a clunk of the closing door, he was gone.

Meanwhile, the tunnel reached its terminus. A wall of compressed stone and dirt stood before them.
“That’s strange.” Char took a step back and examined the distance between the supports. “There should be wood in this wall but there isn’t.” She pointed to the nearest support beam and the one behind it. “If there had been a cave in, the support would have been the first thing to fall. Plus, what did it fall against to make such a perfect wall.”
Lore gave the wall a rap with their knuckles. It rang hollow. “It’s not a real wall.” They tapped it again. “It’s not even real rock.”
Char joined them in tapping. “That’s graphene fibre.”
“So we can’t break through it then.” Lore pressed their ear against the wall and struck it once more. “It doesn’t sound that thick. I think I can hear the echo from the other side.” They tapped at their Breacher and then at the wall. “It can’t be wider than a metre.” They mumbled. Lore vanished in a flash of white.
“You ok?” Char spoke into the wall. Silence. “Lore?” She looked to her feet to see if they had materialised within the wall but, thankfully, they hadn’t left anything behind. The silence still worried her. She removed her pistol from its holster and fiddled with the lens at the end of the barrel. She squeezed the trigger. A golden beam no thicker than a hair shot from the gun and began its journey through the wall. It took its time as it burned through the paint and then the reinforced resin.
“I’m fine.” Lore’s voice was unexpectedly clear. “Careful with that thing!” They exclaimed as they dodged Char’s beam. She all but tossed her pistol immediately.
“Sorry. Where are you?” She poked at the wound she had made in the wall causing a small section to fall inwards.
“The shell was wider than I thought it was. I allowed for a metre, it’s nearly five metres wide.” They shook their head. “I’ve been waiting for my Breacher to recharge.”
“In silence…” Char sighed.
“I was hoping I could get through before you did so you wouldn’t know.”
“And why did you think it was a good idea to get in the way of my cutting beam?” Her tone grew evermore condescending.
“I wanted to see how effective Quatarrian weaponry was first hand, not through memories.” Lore nodded their head in approval. “They aren’t half bad. Extremely versatile.” Their wrist began to beep. “Right then, take two.”
Although Char couldn’t really see them, she could see the white flash as they vanished from within the faux rock slide. “We sorted now?” She spoke into the hole once more.
“Sending the co-ordinates now!” Lore shouted back.
Char appeared beside them. “There you go.” Char flicked a convenient lever on the cave wall and the blockage raised into the roof. “Shall we?”
There wasn’t much further to go as a familiar looking door blocked their path once more. It was identical to the one from Alex’s storeroom. Without Magpie, their options were limited.
“Breach?” Char waggled her wrist.
“Could be trapped.” Lore shrugged. “If I was going to go to the lengths of building a fake boulder to protect something, I’d definitely put a tripwire or two in just in case.”
“Fair enough. So how do you suggest we get in?”
“Carefully.” Lore smiled as they posted their finger through the lock. They let out a deep sigh. “It’s not a real lock.” They withdrew their rust covered digit. “Or perhaps it was but now, it’s too old.”
Slowly, they pushed the door ajar. The room ahead was surprisingly plain and contained only one item of note: The chieftain’s shield. The thick metal shield did indeed look more like a sword with the exception that it was nearly thirty centimetres wide and taller than Lore. Lore poked their head into the room and scanned it from left to right, right to left. Convinced there was nothing to be afraid of, they poked their toe in. They braced and winced, expecting something, but nothing came. So they poked their other foot in. Still nothing. Apprehensively, they made their way towards the shield. Standing at its feet, they examined the work of generations of Sat’Mach chieftains and blacksmiths; it was an awe inspiring look into how they had developed as a species. The backside of the shield was comprised of petrified hides that had been treated and retreated over the years to preserve the past. The present shone through in the riveting and main body of the shield which was a hand pounded and finished sheet of the Illian native steel blend. Lore tried to lift it but found it too heavy, making it only so far as to lift the shield a couple of centimetres off of the ground before it came slamming down. Such an action revealed the future. Harkening to a time where the Humans and Sat’Mach of Illia held an uneasy alliance, the shield was outfitted with two collapsible sections of polymer/metal hybrid plating which tripled its protective surface. As it balanced precariously on Lore, the shield was a marvel they wished they could enjoy but with every passing second, it came closer to hitting the floor.
“Char!” Lore grunted. “A hand please?”
Char, who had been taking cover behind the opened door leapt into action. She tip toed over the threshold and remained agile on her feet until she made it to Lore. “How’ve you managed this then?”
“I picked it up, dropped it, and now it’s really awkward to move.” Lore sounded defeated.
“Here we go.” Char rubbed her hands together before lifting the shield with ease. “How did you make it bigger?”
“It happened when I dropped it.” Lore pointed at the base of the shield. “I think that’s the trigger.”
Char confirmed their hunch as she raised the shield slightly higher before bumping it against the floor once more. The polymer/metal plating retreated into the main body making the whole device much easier for Char to manoeuvre out of the room. “We’ve got the shield. Now what?”
“I’ve got a plan.” Lore smirked. “I think we can solve this once and for all.”
“Mind filling me in?”
Lore contemplated their response. “The best outcome here is peace between the Sat’Mach and the Humans right. We need to give the shield to Rhu’Anui. But not just yet.”
“Okay…” Char didn’t seem too convinced.
“You’ll see. Trust me?” Lore held out their hand.
“Ok.” Char extended her hand to shake Lore’s, narrowly avoiding dropping the shield, catching it just before it began to fall.
“Back to Tolan’s to drop this off, plus we should probably check in on Destiny.” Lore checked if the coast was clear. Char nodded.
Lore gently closed the doors behind them to maintain the illusion that they hadn’t been there. The faux boulder had been an unfortunate casualty but they lowered it nonetheless. The journey back through the ancient tunnels took no time as all they needed to do was access their Breacher’s history and Breach back. Two white flashes saw them back before the crack in the wall in Alex’s first store room. They checked that nothing was disturbed by their sudden reappearance and began back on their way to the central spiral.
“Where’s Magpie? Was it?” Char shuffled the shield about, trying to find a position that was slightly more comfortable.
“I’m not sure. We did say we’d meet him back here though didn’t we?” Lore called his name twice.
“Maybe he got bored. Could be waiting in  the market? Eye like his could see anyone sketchy coming this way.” Char shrugged.
The storeroom doors closed again, they made their way back to the bazaar. What was most bizarre was that in the relatively short time since their departure, it had not only been completely emptied of people but also of merchandise and any other decoration that would have differentiated the square cavern from any other; it was completely empty save for Lore and Char. Lore’s Breacher beeped thrice.
Had to dash. Undulia’s people swept the market. Gone to meet up with the others. See you soon. – Magpie.
“Found Magpie.” Lore showed Char the message. They both took another look. “If Undulia’s people were down here, what the hel happened to our twenty six hours.”
The shield grew heavy on Char’s left shoulder. “We should really think of getting this to Tolan or wherever it needs to be.” She swapped arms as Lore lead the way back to his clinic, wondering what had happened in the hour since their departure. Indexing.