1:3:10 Blue (Part 3)

“How do we actually get in anyway?” Lore looked at Char’s map. “There isn’t even a door.”
“That’s the problem. We try and Breach in, the chronometric sensors tell them exactly where we’re going to be.” Char focussed her map on deck one.
“How thick do you think those bulkheads are?” Lore marked the wall where the door to the bridge should have been.
“Too thick for me to cut through if that’s what you’re getting at.” Char tapped her pistol. “Looks like we’re going to have to disable the sensors.”
Lore took a moment to think, their heart was racing. They closed their eyes. Just as they had seen Char earlier, three soldiers marched towards them; there were several turns and walls between them but Lore could see them clear as day. Clearer still, Char radiated a golden aura, a lighthouse up close, nearly blinding them. Lore opened their eyes. For the first time in a while, they reached down to their belt for their staff.
“Crait.” They scalded under their breath.
“What?” Char searched her pockets for anything she could give Lore as a weapon but wondered why they needed it. Not being able to find anything, she shrugged before pressing forward. Lore remained apprehensive. The reason why became obvious but raised more questions.
Three soldiers became clear as day, seen with open eyes. They didn’t hesitate, firing on Lore and Char as soon as they saw them. Char forced Lore to the floor before returning fire. Her first shot aged a hole through the armour of the closest soldier before continuing on to reduce his skin, muscle and heart to dust. His fall tripped one of his compatriots putting them out of action, almost; as their rifle hit the floor, its magazine cracked sending bolts of energy careening in every direction. Most were absorbed by the nearest point of contact, the soldier themselves but a smattering travelled further still. Purple needles of light peppered the hallway; Lore found themselves seasoned. In the confusion, the third soldier dropped her guard, opening herself up to an attack. Char fired, hitting her in between the eyes. The decreased power of her shot splattered against the guard’s face rather than penetrating. Blinded, the soldier staggered, tripped on their ally and knocked themselves out.
“Lore.” Char yelled.
They propped themselves up, cradling their shoulder. “I’m fine.” They patted themselves. That was true, for the most part. Their armour had absorbed the majority of the shot but a needle or two had found their way under the plating. “I’m fine.” They reaffirmed, hiding their injury from Char. “Let’s go. Coast should be clear.” Lore lead the way, taking great care while stepping over the soldiers.
They climbed the service duct ladder to deck one. A left, then a right and then another left led them to a long corridor.
“Bridge should be just through there.” Lore poked the wall.
“And how do you propose we get through then?” Char looked at them. “We still don’t have a plan.”
Lore smiled. “Perhaps our plan is the same as the clones’?” Char shook her head. “I go back and steal one of their badges and we use that to fool the system? No alarms gives it a good chance of working.”
“Not the best idea.” Char refreshed her map. A small militia of red dots had congregated around the scene of their fight.
“Then we go up.” Lore manipulated the map to show one last deck. “It looks like it’s all hangars but I’d wager that’s not one of them.” Lore gestured to the piping around the hangar. “That looks like it could be the pool.”
“You fancy a dip? Now?” Char joked. “What’s special about a swimming pool? Why is there a swimming pool on a military ship?”
“Haven’t a clue but look at how thin the bulkhead is between the bridge and the pool.” Lore paused. “You’re pistol’s waterproof isn’t it?”
“Should be fine.” She returned with a worried smile; her side was still spasming around her implant.
They climbed to the final deck and followed the stench of chlorine and the blue line again to its terminus. Lore threw the door open and quickly realised that sudden movements in their injured shoulder were going to be an issue; they felt the wound grow slightly. Char stomped her feet as she entered the pool room. She extended her piping to her pistol and watched as a thin stream of energy poured through it. The energy slowly began to trickle into her magazine.
“This still feels too thick.” Char stomped again.
“I meant in there.” Lore pointed to the deep end of the pool. “Unfortunately, that’s where it’s thinnest.”
“Best get to draining it then.” Char looked around for a console.
“Might be best if you just start cutting. Water’s bound to distract Crait.”
“Fair enough.” Char dove straight into the pool. She magnetised her boots to the pool floor and began burning through the tiles.

It started as a single drip. Crait smiled as soon as they noticed a stream of water develop.
“It’s finally happening.” They whispered.
A pinprick of water became a curtain and, as Char kept cutting, eventually eroded as the ceiling gave way. The remainder of the pool’s contents fell into the bridge but didn’t seem able to settle. Crait’s feet didn’t even get wet as a very soggy Char and a slightly damp Lore fell at Crait’s feet.
“You know I’ve waited so long for one of you to do that. I’ve had five Lores, not including you on this ship and you’re the first to do that. The rest just blundered their way on to the bridge and Breached their way out after stealing whatever they came for. Strange that you’ve created twenty six different versions of yourselves and most of them think exactly the same.” Crait created a gap between them and started pacing. “I’ve watched as you travelled back time and time again, each time giving me the proverbial finger but each time, you miss the obvious.”
“And what’s that?” Lore retorted.
“That you can never win.” Crait smiled a smile that carried both confidence and smugness in understated quantities for how they were feeling. “You see,” they continued pacing, “while you decided to send both mind and body back, creating a remnant of yourself,  I simply elected to send my own memories back. The morning you got back from Quatarr, I received a box with twenty five MemDexes. Not Twenty six, not thirty, twenty five. Not only do I know you don’t win but I also know that you, your life, anomalous as it is, meant so little that I didn’t even bother sending information about it back to myself.”
Lore stood there, silent. Char too had no words.
“I have to admit though, you are the most unique Lore I’ve met by far. Somehow you’re not the same, jaded and one-minded person. You burn with a different light.” Crait reached into their jacket pockets. “I want to see that light for myself.” They removed an old box and an infinitely more ancient cube. “Here.”  Crait handed the cube to Char and the box to Lore.
“Where did you get this?” Char spoke through gritted teeth as she manipulated the cube in her hand. It angered her to know Crait had once had it in their possession.
“It was a gift.” Lore gave Char a guilty look. “Silus gave it to Lore. I don’t remember what it is though.”
The cube slid open allowing a glimmer of golden light escape it. “Lebewyd.” She muttered. It struck like a venomous snake, piercing the vein in her wrist but rather than filling it with venom, it began to climb inside of her. A familiar golden glow passed through her veins and into her heart where it was spread around her body in a fraction of a second; rejuvinative energy rippled through her, illuminating every aspect of her being. Her pistol whirred to life as its magazine filled, even the cannon responded as it began to charge. Char was more than back to her usual self, she’d never been better.
Almost underwhelmingly, the old box only contained Lore’s staff. “Thought you might like that back.” Crait watched intensely as they took the staff out of the box, set the box gently down on the floor and then unfurled the staff. The recoil shocked them as it fired out of Lore’s hands; its weight confused them too. It was ever so slightly too heavy, the walls of the staff felt thicker too. “I may have taken the liberty of upgrading you or more rather downgrading you. I have no idea how you did anything with that children’s toy so I thought I’d return the staff you used back in the day.”
Lore looked down at it, rolling it around in their hands. It had been ornately carved around the point where Lore’s hands wanted to be to provide a surprising amount of grip. At either end, a golden metal cap provided a further heft to the staff. Lore gave it a flourish to feel their new weapon’s weight and balance. It was as if they had never had the other staff; it fit them like a glove. “Thank you.”
“Least I could do.” A slight lump began to form in Crait’s throat. “You deserve a fair fight.” They paused, taking a breath to compose themselves. “Get yourselves ready and everyone else: piss off.” The Inquisitors ‘working’ around the bridge began Breaching away leaving only Lore, Char, Crait and Reid.
“Two versus two?” Reid flashed an expecting look at Crait.
“Not this time. You’re welcome to watch if they agree but otherwise, leave us be.” Crait looked at Lore. Lore gave a slight nod. Crait directed Reid to a corner. “Whatever happens, do not interfere.” Crait then slowly walked towards the middle of the room leaving a two metre gap between them and Lore and Char. “Whenever you are ready.” They then stood there. No sword drawn, nothing.