Infiltration

"What?! They're launching a raid tonight?! But we don't know anything about the defenses passed the middle walls."

"Not anymore." Chris interjected. "Remember the professor that Headmaster Marin sent? He had much more information about the True Order's defenses than expected. At the very least, we have a chance of taking out the Prophets and throw the True Order into chaos."

"Are we sure that the professor isn't lying?"

"Uncle checked the man's story himself." Daren nodded, his eyes sparkling with admiration. "He's really good with that kind of thing.

"There does not appear to be any spells cast on the professor, and the man does not have any intent to lie. The military had some information that they can cross check. Scouts were also sent out immediately to check what they could. They should be back in a couple of hours."

"But still… we haven't even secured the outer ring, let alone the middle or inner rings. Doing a raid right now is too risky."

"Grandfather will personally lead the raid team. There are some inside who can help us, like Headmaster Marin, once they receive a specific signal. The inner rings will go crazy once the raid is discovered, but we could get our own chance."

Aayla had a bad feeling in her heart.

"I'm probably going to regret asking this, but what do you mean by 'our own chance'?"

The trio in front of her broke out into determined yet excited grins.

"To break into the middle city."

Darn it. She was right. She did indeed regret asking that question.

"Are you all crazy?! Why would we do something so stupid?! We're in the middle of a war zone and the entire city is about to blow up with fighting. None of us are soldiers, or mercenaries or anyone who should get wrapped up in this."

"Just give us a moment to hear us out. You said it yourself. The entire city is going to be thrown into chaos. We might as well be proactive about our safety, right? I have a plan, er Jacki and I have a plan that's totally doable."

Chris held his hands up in surrender as Jacki sharply glared at him. She had to remind him to share the credit for the plan.

"Why on Tellus do you want to sneak into the middle ring anyway?! That's just insane."

"Don't you want to find Deputy Heston?"

"That…"

Aayla couldn't say no. After all, Ramona was the entire reason why she decided to leave the safety of Craigmyle Point weeks before. Sensing an opening, Chris continued to persuade her.

"Look, there are hundreds if not thousands of prisoners still locked up by the True Order. Many of them are the original security forces of the city. They are powerful warriors and wizards. If we can free them, then that could tilt the battle in our favor. They could reinforce Sir Stallesso or distract the True Order."

"…Fine. You have a point. This battle needs to end quickly or else the foreign armies will take us out."

"Anyways, my and Jacki's plan is simple. Sir Stallesso's team is going to sneak in through the middle wall. Once they're through, the military is going to launch a sudden attack at the middle wall to distract the True Order. It's going to be an all or nothing battle."

"Won't we need to help with that distraction?"

"Nope. We'll be on the reserve team. However, all of the elite wizards will be managing the front lines. All four of us are supposed to travel through the backline and help where needed. They'll be too busy to manage us. We can sneak into the middle ring and rescue the prisoners."

Aayla sat in silence for several minutes, waiting for Chris to continue. The silence grew unbearable.

"…And?"

"And what?"

"Was that your entire plan? Somehow, we'll magically sneak through the front lines of a major battle then infiltrate a heavily guarded prison?"

"Basically. It's a bit of a work in progress, but security at the prison should be down if the distraction works. Forces will be diverted to the middle wall, after all."

"How do you even intend on doing the first part? That is, getting passed that ginormous wall blocking our way?"

"We've got magic and your artifact. The military is making preparations to blast down some sections of the wall. No firepower will be held back for this mission. Once the wall has enough holes, the magical defenses will be severely disrupted. Daren can get us through then."

Daren thought for a couple of moments.

"Probably. Sarrasak's walls are ancient, and its enchantments are extremely tricky. We might need to get a bit close to the fighting, but Aayla's artifact can help hide us."

Aayla sighed and held her face in her hands. She had no words to describe this. At best, this plan was half baked. Saying that it would 'probably' work is a significant overstatement. Aayla didn't no what was worse. This awful plan or the nonchalant trio deciding to go with it.

"Yeah, no. Just no. This plan is just… No. I can't even… I can't deal with this insanity right now."

"Come on, Aayla. We need to do this! You want to save Deputy Heston, right?"

"If we do something this stupid, then we will be the ones who need saving. You know what, I should probably put a stop to this whole thing and tell Innello."

Aayla got up off of her cot.

"What?! Nonononono! Stop! Not him! Not him!"

"There's no need to tell uncle!! We have orders to act as we see fit, so infiltrating the middle ring should be allowed, right?"

Chris and Daren grabbed her before she could make it to the door. Jacki subtly stood back in front of the tent's front flap.

"Let's just talk about this for a few minutes."

**********

Hours later, Aayla crouched down behind a large piece of rubble. She maintained a small anti-magic barrier around the small team. A large wall towered behind them. Sounds of battle came from the gaping hole nearby as defenders and attackers fought to secure it.

How did things come to this? Chris and Daren had eventually worn down her will. She knew that it was a stupid idea, yet she still agreed very reluctantly. Until the day that she died Aayla would never be sure why exactly she agreed.

Dust and small rocks rained down from above. They could only let them patter to the ground around them. Using magic to deflect the falling debris could attract attention. Several minutes later, the wall in front of Daren began to ripple.

"I've got it open! Let's go!"

Chris cautiously passed through the wall. Daren went next, then Jacki pulled Aayla through after she shut down the barrier. The wall turned completely solid just after Aayla went through. Outside, it was as if the team was never there.

To her surprise, Aayla found herself in a tunnel on the inside of the wall. Dimly lit and cramped, the path seemed to stretch for miles. The team moved quickly through the hallway.

"What is this place?"

"It's an access tunnel for the guards and maintenance workers. Though it can't be directly accessed from the outside, there are several secret entrances on the inner wall. Most of the magical formations can be accessed and manipulated through this passage."

Muffled roars of explosions could be heard on the outer section of the wall. The ground would tremble occasionally when a blast got too close. The path would wind up and down the wall, as if the builders wanted to include as many stairs as possible.

Sometimes, Daren would suddenly stop and place his hand on the wall next to the middle ring. After listening for attacks, Daren would open a small hole to check outside. If there were loud noises or any enemies nearby, the team would move on.

Finally, they found a spot with no enemies nearby. Daren placed his hands on the wall for a few minutes before part of it flickered out of existence. He led the team through the doorway. They found themselves in a dead silent part of the city.

All they needed to do now was find the prison. The team kept to the shadows as they looked for the main prison. A sprawling complex, most of the prison was underground. Only part of it was aboveground. Mostly the administrative offices and the guard's quarters.

The prison was a relic of the past when the cities were separate city states. Some of the worst criminals in all of Chinebar were held there. For security reasons, it had been moved into the middle ring when Sarrasak was declared the capital. One couldn't have criminals where the politicians were, after all.

Just as the team neared the aboveground part of the prison, they saw more shadows moving in the distance. When they got closer, the team discovered that these shadows were people. These were the first people, living or dead, that the team saw since they arrived in the middle ring.

Before they could react, several cloaked figures stepped out of the alleyways around them.