Time passed in the blink of an eye. Prompto held his breath as Crowe, Pelna and Libertus warped up the wall and disappeared from sight. He sighed and relaxed as the gate opened within minutes and Pelna motioned for them to hurry over.
The base within was quiet but for the sound of machinery in the region. It made for an eerie contrast to the sight of sprawled guards on the ground where they had collapsed from the poison.
Crowe and Libertus were waiting for them, Crowe talking softly on the phone as Libertus was searching the guard captain for anything useful. She raised a finger towards the group as they entered and spoke some more before hanging up.
"Nyx and Aranea are about to start clearing the remaining guards around the Sublimis." Crowe told them as she approached. "Aranea is planning on heading off to look for whatever it is she's looking for once the way is clear. Let's hurry up before she leaves Nyx by his lonesome."
Noctis nodded and started walking towards the landing strip without looking at any of the fallen guards. Ignis, Gladio, Luna, Iris and Prompto were quick to go after him but as Libertus rose, several card keys in hand, he noticed that Lance wasn't moving from his position.
"Lance? Is everything alright?" Libertus asked, frowning as he took a few steps towards the older man. He noticed the rest of the group stopping and turning to look to the person concerned.
Lance wasn't looking towards any of them at all. Rather his sight was set towards the manor whose roof was seen slightly above the rest of the town. When Libertus called out to him, Lance turned towards the glaive and shook his head slightly. "There is something I need to check here. I will meet up to you as quickly as I can."
Prompto stared at his dad and demanded, "What? Why?" He took a step forward but Gladio reached out and grasped his arm gently, holding him back.
Lance gave a sad smile, "I need to check something I noticed earlier. I'll be careful so you'd better take care of yourselves!" With that, Lance gave a small wave and walked away quickly, taking a small path between the wall and the guards' outpost.
Prompto stood shocked at his dad's sudden departure for several seconds before being able to shake the surprise away. He turned away and forced his thoughts away from worrying about his dad to what they had to do to save Uncle and Ravus.
"Are you alright, Prom?" Ignis whispered, a warm hand coming to rest against the small of his back. Prompto relaxed into the touch and nodded. His boyfriends shared a concerned glance before Noct simply shrugged and started walking again.
They didn't encounter any trouble as the group walked through the near-empty streets. The glaives had gone a bit ahead to ensure their route was safe; leaving the four boys, Luna and Iris to walk at a slower pace.
Luna looked with great sadness at the changes, shocking machinery and Niflheim flags, that tainted the town. She turned away from what once had been a lovely Altissian-style restaurant. It had been turned into a food storage unit, the once-colorful displayed painted door now ruined by years of nailed lists.
She was thankful as Iris slipped to her side and started talking about what she was going to do once they were back to somewhere safe, wherever that might end up being. Luna smiled and nodded, answering Iris' dreams with her own hopes of a future.
With the glaives clearing the way and because of Iris' masterful idea, it took only a quarter of an hour to make their way to the Sublimis Fuga. The large airship loomed large above their heads as they met up with Nyx and Aranea.
The dragoon grinned as they entered the landing strip. The empty husks of MTs littered the sides of the ramp and the area around it. "About time you got here. I leave the Hero with you." Aranea jerked her thumb over her shoulder, pointing it at Nyx, as she turned to leave.
Noctis chuckled and answered, "Thanks for the help. We'll see you at your ship later." She didn't acknowledge the words beyond a casual wave. He shifted his attention back towards the Sublimis and considered how to proceed from there.
They had no idea how many soldiers had been left behind to guard the ship and anything on board. Nyx and Aranea had dealt with the MTs and guards outside of the airship, but they hadn't risked entering or triggering an alarm.
Ignis approached Noctis and came to a stop beside him. "Our best option is to find where they are holding Ravus and the Marshall before deciding what to do." There were several nods of agreement from the glaives and Gladio at Ignis' suggestion.
Noctis sighed and nodded, "Alright then. We sneak into the Sublimis and find a computer Pelna can use. We'll guard him until he finds where Ravus and Cor are, or until we find where to go to get that information." He gazed around and smiled as he saw how determined they all were, even Iris.
Libertus sighed and muttered, "Guess I'd better clear the way," as he summoned his weapon and used it to cast his invisible barrier over him. The hidden glaive walked up the ramp, careful not to make any noise, and passed through the two MTs keeping guard on either side of the entrance.
The hangar was enormous. Libertus bit back a hiss as he took in just how much military power was currently resting in front of him. The entire power plant of Lestallum could be easily put inside of the hangar! There were neat rows of carrier airships filling it and what space was left had been filled with crates and wires.
He looked around the area carefully. The walkways were out in the open above the smaller ships and in plain sight making them unusable. There! There was a small path off to the side between the wall and some crates.
Libertus looked around once more but that small passage created by the crates seemed like their best bet. He moved silently through the open area, his body tense and his senses on edge as he did so.
It took quite a bit of finagling through the wires before Libertus managed to emerge on the other side. The path had lead him to a empty area about the size of a small room. There was a few boxes laying around and… Bingo! There was a lonely-looking computer panel set against the wall.
Libertus quickly checked to see if it was functional and sighed in relief when it turned on easily. The screen was cracked in three places and it responded sluggishly to Libertus' touch, but it was functional; and more importantly, connected to the rest of the Sublimis' network.
Now he simply had to return and find a way to distract the guards without triggering any alarms.
Libertus returned to the waiting group with ease and quickly made his report. He described the hangar, its guards and the small passage he had found with the prize at the end. Thoughtful silence followed his words.
Noctis crossed his arms and considered the problem. While Libertus' invisible barrier allowed him to move unseen, it was limited in range and thus couldn't be used for the rest of them. They didn't know what orders had been given to the MTs and clone soldiers left behind. A distraction, no matter what, might cause an alarm and that would put Ravus and Cor's lives in danger.
Crowe proposed, "We could electrify the hull. It should disrupt the MTs' electrical systems and let us go through unnoticed."
Ignis shook his head, "That would also disrupt any electrical system in the area. It would be easily noticeable and would raise the alarm instantly."
Crowe countered, "It would likely affect the alarms too and shut them down."
Prompto scooted closer to Iris, listening as Crowe and Ignis started to debate how to infiltrate the ship with the occasional suggestion from others. "Is it just me or does that sound like they're over-complicating things?" He whispered conspiratorially to her.
Iris hid her chuckle behind a hand and nodded. They both turned to look at the numerous uniforms left behind by the destroyed MTs and the immobile bodies of human officers nearby. With a shared nod, the two youngest members of the group walked over and started picking the most appropriate uniform for their use.
Once dressed, Prompto sent his clothes away and quickly scrounged up another uniform before walking back. He thrust the grey and white clothing towards Ignis and said, "Why not just use the uniforms?" The reaction he got, particularly from the glaives and Luna, made him flinch as the color drained from their faces.
"P...Prompto?" Crowe stammered as she stared at him. When Prompto had gained their attention, she had been so surprised by his similarity to the clones used by Niflheim, that she had summoned a lightning spell to fight. She wasn't the only one.
Nyx had his kukris out and even Pelna had his short sword in hand before they had realized it wasn't a clone, but rather Prompto in a stolen uniform. Libertus hadn't pulled his daggers out but he had taken a step in front of Noctis, his hand half-raised to summon a barrier before the realisation had hit.
Nyx allowed his kukris to fade as he stomped over to Prompto and hissed, "What were you thinking? We could have killed you!" He wanted to yell at Prompto but it was impossible for now, so he settled for glaring at the young man while trying to slow his heart rate down.
Prompto took a step back, head ducking down in guilt. "Sorry. I just…. Never mind." He sighed guiltily and handed Nyx the uniform without another words.
The guilt ridden expression sent daggers into Nyx's heart and made him feel guilty for being so harsh. Prompto had just wanted to help after all. The glaive sighed and reached out to ruffle Prompto's hair gently. "Sorry for losing my temper. You scared me."
They shuffled awkwardly for a bit before Ignis stepped forward, took the uniform from Nyx's hand and measured it against the glaive for a minute. "This one will be a bit too small but I am certain we can find a uniform that will fit." He looked around and hummed thoughtfully, "I shall be able to make any modification necessary to ensure a perfect fit."
Ignis' words released the tension left over from the incident and sent the others looking for a uniform that fit them. It took about 15 minutes for each to have found a uniform, whether that of a previous MT or of a human soldier. Ignis was able to quickly modify the uniforms to fit.
Concealed as Niflheim soldiers, entering the Sublimis became child's play. Noctis led the way, carefully ignoring the guards, and followed Libertus' direction to find the small passage that led to the unused computer panel.
They didn't enter all at once but within a few minutes, they had all managed to make their way to the empty space. Pelna didn't waste any time getting to work, bypassing the login security feature to access the information files directly.
Time ticked by in long, agonizing moments until Pelna relaxed and declared, "I think I found them." The declaration led to everyone rushing to crowd around him, their expectations clearly written on their faces.
Pelna chuckled and activated the printing function, the click of machine as it printed two maps a backdrop to his words. "I can't confirm who is where but I was able to find the location of their prisoners." He waited for the first map to finish printing before continuing, using the map to show the locations.
"Niflheim seems to have created some kind of anti-magic field and are using it in two specific areas. One is here-" He circled an area of 15 rectangular shaped rooms on the 8th floor. "- and the other is here." He shifted his grip and circled a smaller area of 5 rooms connected to each other on the 19th floor.
Ignis suddenly had a pen in hand and he circled the areas Pelna had shown them, leaving two bright red circles against the black and white map. Pelna nodded and handed it to the advisor, grabbing the second one and leaving it on his knees.
He continued, "From the reports and notes I could access, I found that a prisoner was brought up to the 19th floor location several hours ago and never returned to the 8th floor. The other is still in his cell on the 8th floor." He looked around and finished. "They only have the two prisoners so one must be the Marshall and the other the Commander. I just have no way of finding which is which."
Luna took a deep breath, her eyes locked on the map in Ignis' hands. She let it go slowly and said, "I'm going to the 8th floor. Ravus should be unconscious and somewhat safe if what Carbuncle and Ardyn are truthful. So that should be him."
Prompto nodded to himself; her reasoning made sense. "Then I'm heading to the 19th floor." Noctis moved to closer to his boyfriend and grabbed his hand gently. His message was clear, he was going with Prompto.
Ignis cleared his throat and said, "Very well, we should decide who will go where, and how long do we give each other before regrouping." He looked around uneasily.
Iris spoke up, taking a step forward as she did. "Why don't we let luck decide? Or rather the Astrals?" She quickly grabbed a blank piece of Pelna's map and ripped it into smaller pieces. She also grabbed the pen Ignis had and quickly jotted down several things before turning back to the group.
"Here. Pick one! If you have a piece with a dot on it then you're with Luna! Completely blank and you're with Prompto!" Iris chirped as she went around, pushing her paper filled hands towards each until they had taken a piece.
Luna smiled as Gladio, Pelna and Libertus found themselves with a dotted paper. Iris finished the rounds and ended up with one as well, smiling happily as she came to stop beside her brother.
Prompto watched as Crowe, Nyx and Ignis looked over to him; Noctis by his side. "So we have the groups. Now how long do we have before the others start freaking out and come after us?" Prompto teased nervously.
Pelna looked back at the broken screen and said, "It's 5:03 am. Dawn is about an hour away and the poison won't last more than two." He turned back, grabbed the pen Iris had left on the edge and marked the 8th floor location then made an X on the 3rd floor. "This should be a secondary command center. It's unused unless the primary one is damaged so we should be able to meet up there once we're done."
Ignis plucked the pen from Pelna's hand and quickly copied the mark."Then let's say an hour. No matter what, in an hour we meet up at this location with or without our friends." There was the unspoken determination that they wouldn't fail but it was very like Ignis to prepare for the possibility.
There was no goodbyes or see-you-laters as Prompto stood and walked away. The four men gave one last glance to the others before following after Prompto, their shoulders set and ready to fight.
They would see each other in an hour. They would save Cor and Ravus. They would.