The Kridora soldiers on the run from Riku heard the alarm well before their paths crossed with Sia. One of them immediately shouted,
"Hear that? There's an alarm triggered in sector 3-A. There's bound to be soldiers sent there to check! We can meet them there and take this Qura down together!"
Riku was getting desperate in trying to catch these Kridora since their communications could return at any point and eventually, they are bound to encounter another soldier while flying around the corridor. It was known that most of the Kridora soldiers are deployed in the actual war back on the planet and all three motherships including the Diablo, do not require or have many personnel on board for operation. It was largely due to this that the group had not been caught yet, despite the chaos that has ensued since their incursion.
The corridor opened into a wider area that led down three paths. Riku could hear an alarm blaring from the leftmost corridor as the Kridora turned their trajectory towards the alarm as well. Riku, realizing their plan, was about to activate his ability when he heard Sia,
"Just play along."
(In another part of the Diablo ship)
Sia dropped down from the hole she blasted into the corridor below as the alarms began blaring. As expected, she heard a pair of footsteps headed her way from the other side. She adjusted her roughly donned disguise taken from the armoury and positioned herself under the smoke from her blast as the two soldiers stopped a few feet from her.
"Hey you! What happened here? Why is there a hole in the roof...?"
Sia didn't dare answer lest her accent gave her away. When the soldiers did not hear a response, their suspicions rose slightly as they began walking towards her. Just then, all three heard the jettison of plasma as Kridora soldiers being chased by Riku. Before anyone else could react, Sia turned to face the incoming figures and fired a plasma blast straight at Riku. It hit Riku on the shoulder as he spun out of the air and crash landed right before Sia. The two soldiers who were being chased landed right behind Sia and immediately pointed their gauntlets at Riku who lay on the ground, unmoving. Sia put her hand up as the other two soldiers spoke almost immediately,
"Stop. The commander would want this one in the prison cells for later use. Take him in. You! Put him in the cripple handcuffs and come with us. We need a report on what happened before too."
Sia grabbed Riku by the shoulder and stood him up, then bound his hands with handcuffs she grabbed from the armoury. The group began to walk towards the prison cells. Just then, all four Kridora soldiers heard a distress call on their gauntlets,
"Need Reinfor-AAAAA...!"
"There has been an intrusion near the prison cells! The one from Pandira City, Alexio, has been spotted rampaging through sectors ni-WHAT THE...!"
Only static could be heard thereafter. The Diablo central command immediately responded on the open channel,
"Alexio has been spotted near the corridors leading up to the prison cells. All nearby patrolling soldiers converge on the prison area immediately! Cut him off before he can reach Ricard. Capture him alive if possible. Out."
On hearing this, one of the Kridora soldiers immediately pointed towards the corridor that leads down towards the lower sectors.
"You heard the central command! We'll deal with the incidents later. You! Keep an eye on the prisoner as we head towards the prison cells. We may be able to use this one as bait to lure Alexio in. Move out!"
Sia, Riku and the four Kridora soldiers began heading towards the prison cell corridors.
(In the main hall that leads down to the prison cells)
Alexio was leaping around the open hall at incredible speeds. The Kridora soldiers fired their rifles in his direction but failed to hit the target. Jumping off the wall, swinging off the ceiling using tendrils, sliding on the floor; Alexio made use of his agility to avoid the volley of plasma bullets raining in his direction.
"Argh this will tire me out fast! Gotta take them out one at a time...!"
Alexio launched tendrils at a protruding debris and propelled himself towards a battalion, conjuring a shield to protect himself. From his other arm, plasma in the form of bombarding missiles flew towards the Kridora and blew them apart. Alexio rolled on the ground to soften the impact of his lunge and then took cover in their place. Just then, a Kridora soldier leaped out from above his cover, bringing his blade down which Alexio avoided and then extended his tendrils which impaled the Kridora soldier, killing him instantly. He then tossed the body high in the air which momentarily caught the attention of the soldier to the left of his cover. Alexio immediately opened fire at that opportunity, killing him.
"Tch, how much longer will you take, Sia?"
On the opposite side from Alexio, five Kridora soldiers arrived from sector 3 along with a prisoner of their own. The soldiers present informed them of the situation. Alexio had appeared out of nowhere in Sector 7 and begun killing patrolling soldiers and making his way down here to sector 9. Central command had deployed all stationed men towards the main hall that connected sector 9 to the prison cell in anticipation that Alexio had arrived here to free Commander Ricard. The present high-ranking officer grabbed Riku by the neck and walked out of cover.
"Give up, Alexio! We have your accomplice in this little heist of yours, right here with us. Walk out slowly from behind the ledge and drop your gauntlet. Now!"
On hearing this, Alexio peeked out from behind his cover and was shocked to see the officer holding Riku by the nape, right in the middle of their battle zone. Every soldier around the area had their weapon trained on Alexio but the firing seemed to have stopped. Alexio began racking his brain, trying to think of a way out of this situation when a few more soldiers walked out from where the officer came, their weapons trained on Riku as a precaution. Alexio immediately walked out of his cover and took off his right arm gauntlet. He began walking slowly towards Riku and the Kridora soldiers with his arms raised. The Kridora shuddered a bit, feeling the buzz of plasma and heat emanating from Alexio as he closed in on them. Immediately, a female soldier walked forward and bound him in cuffs which cut off his abilities.
"A foolish strategy, I must say, Alexio. What was the plan here exactly? Waltz in, kill everyone, take Ricard and go home? Come, join your Commander in the prison cells. Alizar will be pleased to hear what he meant to find has come knocking on his door."
Alexio's eyes narrowed slightly on hearing that name but he did not respond to the incitement. The soldiers began walking back toward the exit that led to the prison cells. As they approached the opening that led to the prison wards, the female soldier suddenly turned around and hopped to the entrance they had just walked through and hit the control panel switch, which activated the door panels that closed off their path from the main hall. The officer who was walking ahead was taken by surprise. Before he would ask what, she was doing, he realized something more suspicious. This soldier had not spoken a word since he met up with her in sector 3.
"What happened, sir? Lost for words?" Sia took off her helmet to reveal her blue short hair and the officer stumbled a few steps back. Immediately, the three Kridora soldiers muffled roars entered his ears as he turned around to see Alexio and Riku, free of their cuffs, executing his soldiers. Alexio snapped one of the Kridora's neck while Riku arced electricity through two others, killing them instantly.
"What the- How? The cuffs...?"
"Of course I tampered with them you idiot. I told Riku to play along as soon as you showed up as response to the alarm and Alexio knew me the second he saw me step forward with you in the main hall. Hopefully this satisfies your morbid curiosity. Now, we have some work to do."
Before the officer could react, Sia leaped forward and extended her blade, driving it straight through his skull and sliced downwards, cutting the officer in half. She then turned to her allies,
"Well played, you both. I was worried Riku might open his loud mouth and blow my cover but I suppose the best disguise is playing half conscious. I didn't hit you too hard in the air back then, did I?"
Riku simply smiled and shook his head. Alexio pointed at his arm, showing his dropped gauntlet from before and Sia went up to one of the corpses and took off a gauntlet and tossed it to Alexio.
"You two will have to use this for now. Let me fiddle with it a bit to reconfigure it to our communication channels. Regardless, we need to create a bigger ruckus than before if Haru is to succeed on his side of the plan. Feeling up to it, Alexio?"
Alexio just smiled and cracked his knuckles. "I hope Alizar comes to the prison wards. A little man to animal slaughter fest is just what I need feel good after Pandira city."