Plan for Action is the second chapter in the first book of Incendium, and the 2nd one overall.
Synopsis[]
The gems begin searching for Blue Light.
Features[]
Characters[]
- Chosen Twelve
- Axinite
- Lonsdaleite
- Saussurite (chatting cameo)
Objects[]
- Blue Light Pyramid (mentioned)
- Lazer Light Cannons
Locations[]
- Ship #0293229-2
- Planet Quaerere
- South-West Quadrant
- Sector 29
- Sector 28
- South-West Quadrant
Message From the Author[]
I know the parts to the episode were uploaded separately, but only because uploading them simultaneously into one episode would take too long, as writing and inspiration take a bit more time for me to come up with, and i don't want to keep anyone who would like to read it waiting. With that, enjoy the read.
Plot[]
<tabber> |-|Part 1: Opal's Meeting= “Alright, alright, sit down, be quiet, and listen up,” Black Opal ordered the others as the gathered and sat around an oval table.
“Now then,” he continued, the crew giving their full attention to their captain, “We have direct orders from Yellow Diamond concerning the mission at hand.”
Opal brought out a controller, and at the press of a button, activated a three-dimensional hologram showing the planet they were on course to.
“As you should all know, we are en route to Quaerere, a deserted, barren, icy planet. The planet shows a few signs of life, the only ones being immense forests scattered across the planet. Quaerere has a heavily rough and mountainous surface and a snowy region. This will be the grounds for our mission, which is to scour the planet for one of the Seven Lights.”
“Hold it right there,” interrupted Oligoclase, “What are these ‘Seven Lights’ anyway?”
“If I could,” Zircon stood up, preparing to speak. “I’ve been doing quite a bit of research on the topic. It all begins when the universe was born…”
“Excuse me,” said Black Opal, “could we not start so far back? We have a meeting to get through, and at this point a simple explanation about it would suffice.”
“Very well then. The Seven Lights of Legend are encased entities scattered across the universe. They give of a significant amount of energy, and having even one within possession would mean wielding incredible power. I could go into detail about where these Lights came from and what they’re doing in our world, however I am restricted from doing so,” she then casts eyes at Black Opal, then sitting down and letting him take the stage.
“Thank you, Zircon, for the info.”
Opal switches the view of the hologram from an image of a planet to the image of a blue, rectangular pyramid, runes featured on each panel.
“This is what we’re looking for. Blue Light. Our radiation signals have marked its location on Quaerere in Sector 29 of its South-West Quadrant. We are to search and find that Light.”
“And why can’t we send a simple drone to do all this? I could make one before we arrive,” stated Hessonite.
“The high-frequency radiation given off by the object would be enough to ruin the machine’s protocols. It’ll malfunction. Blue Light is the strongest primary Light we are after. There could be others after it. We need to be ready. We have no time to set up camp, so we must create a defensive strategy to counter any possible attack.”
The map flattened and zoomed into Sector 29. Blue Light’s location was identified by a deep blue flashing region. The region was in a valley/forest-like area, mountains to the South west and a frozen ocean to the North east. The mountains were dotted with vegetation, but remained vacant for the most part.
“Luckily,” Black Opal said, looking around the room, “There are twelve of us.”
Only twelve of them. He would have to make do with what he had.
“I’ve made up a plan with Zircon, Jade, and Agate, and we have created our attack layout. First off, I’ll need a recovering team on the ground. Orthoclase, guarded by Sunstone and Moonstone, will be our recovering unit, him being the fastest on the team. They will take the southeastern route between the mountains into the forest. Is that clear?”
“Yessir,” Sunstone and Moonstone said in unison, Orthoclase simply nodding his head.
“Bloodstone, Charoite, Oligoclase, and Hessonite will guard the beach, manning cannons gunning at the frozen sea. I don’t want any surprises over water. Meanwhile Nephrite, Apatite, Agate and I will be fanned out across the valley, patrolling the forest. Zircon, you will stay at the ship and patrol the mountains, alert us at any moment if there is any danger, and I will give you the ‘okay’ to fire at will. I don’t want anything wrong to happen on this trip, so are there any questions?”
Nobody but Nephrite rose her hand. “Can I patrol with Apatite on this trip?”
“Sure, just make sure you don’t get distracted or stay too close. Apatite, are you okay with it?”
Apatite lets out a grudging “Sure”, then thinks, Lord give me strength…
“Well then,” Opal continued, “If that’s it then I would like you all to prepare. We have an hour until arrive, when we will then prepare for landing and preparation. This meeting is now over, you have an hour to prepare.”
With that, all members stood up, and left the room.
Black Opal let out a deep breath, relieved to be alone again. He sat down in his chair, and let loose. He’d rather not go back to the captain’s quarters; the room was on the other side of the ship.
Fifty-five minutes until the mission. Salvation was almost there.
|-|Part 2: Lonsdaleite's Meeting = Planet Quearere, Sector 28 (South-West Quadrant)
Although the twelve gems have made plans to search Quearere, someone had already beat them to it.
S.I.P.H.O.N had set up base long before Yellow Diamond herself had even spotted the planet on the star map. The base was well hidden at the foot of a mountain range close to Sector 29 of SW Quearere. Hidden from radars, sonar, and the eye.
Axinite and Lonsdaleite, age old acquaintances, partners, and co-workers were the lead directors of the mission, preparing to move in on the Blue Light. The two now resided in the very center of the establishment, mapping out their own plan of attack.
"Direct orders from Saussurite to begin construction around Blue Light in no more than ten days," reported Axinite.
"Ten days?!" Lonsdaleite exclaimed, "That's not enough time for my men to finish the analysis on Blue Light."
"Couldn't we take it to Saussarite then analyse it?"
"If I wanted to swoop in and grab it, which mind you I can't, I would have. The power of blue light is too much to transport by hand."
"Can't we wrap it in something then transport it?"
"There is not yet a material that we can use to 'wrap around it'. In fact, that is what we've been developing at the base this whole time."
"And you couldn't have done this beforehand leaving for the planet?"
"Of course not. If we waited to long before departure then our adversaries would have beat us to capturing the light."
"And why do we need to capture the light in the first place?"
Lonsdaleite narrowed his eyes at Axinite.
"You," Lonsdaleite began, "Are asking too many questions. Please return to your post immediately."
"Sure thing," Axinite replied, then leaving the room.
Lonsdaleite left, retreating to his quarters. There he would commune with the other S.I.P.H.O.N leaders. It was a place of collaborations, and his most favored place in which he would forge ideas.
Lonsdaleite sat at his front desk, pulling out a gem communicator, which doubled as an on-hand computing device. He opens the chat window to Lord Saussarite, activating the logs for the fifth planetary rotation of the second solar orbit of the mission.
[12:03] LONSDALEITE: Tell me again why we are not using a live chat? This form of contact is... rudimentary to say the least.
[12:05] SAUSSARITE: We are using this form of contact because the radial signals emiteed by Blue Light would be cause for errors within our chat. There are no room for errors. Tell me Lonsdaleite, are you an error?
[12:08] LONSDALEITE: No, my lord. You have explained yourself fully and clearly.
[12:11] SAUSSARITE: I am glad we have reached an agreement. Have your men secured the location of Blue Light?
[12:15] LONSDALEITE: Yes, my troops have prepared a base near the light's location. We are preparing for analysis on the object as you have demanded.
[12:20] SAUSSARITE: Marvelous. What is the status of the analysing application?
[12:25] LONSDALEITE: The application is almost ready for launching. Tomorrow I will have the troops surround Blue Light's location and analyse it. The results will be sent back to you after the four day testing period. We will then proceed to build around Blue Light, and after further testing, capture it. Don't worry my lord, we will be certain to take care of it on our trek back to base.
[12:28] SAUSSARITE: Then it is settled. Your plan of action has my approval. I will be away for a few hours, as I do have a meeting to attend to. Please wait until then for further instructions. Some previous guildlines may have to be changed, so be alert. And remember, you are not an error. Though if you act as one, you shall be removed, permanently. I hope that is clear between us.
[12:30] LONSDALEITE: Yes, my leader.
[12:31] SAUSSARITE: Then it's settled. Finish up you little project and await my further instruction.
[15:00] SAUSSARITE: As your partner should have informed you, you are to speed up production. You now have ten days to complete the project and retrieve Blue Light.
[15:25] LONSDALEITE: Axinite has informed me. And I do not believe that is enought time. We need at least 30 more days until Blue Light is ready for capture.
[15:27] SAUSSARITE: Lonsdaleite, I'm having trouble remembering; who's the leader here? The high classed mineral who has been put into the highest authority and esteem, or the lowly poser who only believes they have the status of an elite?
[15:29] LONSDALEITE: The obvious leader here is you, my lord. However 10 days is not enough for us is all I'm saying.
[15:32] SAUSSARITE: I want you to read my words very carefully. You are to move in on Blue Light. You are to capture the Light. And in ten days time, I want that Light to be on it's way to me. Otherwise, you will be removed from the program, and either terminated, or corrupted. Is that clear?
[15:32] LONSDALEITE: Yes, it is very clear, my lord.
[15:33] SAUSSARITE: Very well then. Report to me if there is to be a problem. I must go and attend other matters, without having you waste my time. <3
Lonsdaleite looked at the logs with worry. He would have to skip the entire scanning process and start building around it. It might be a risky take, though.
Just then a soldier barged into the room, Lonsdaleite summoning his weapon having been startled by the entrance, only to see that it was his own guard.
"What is this nonsense about?!" he shouted, putting away his arms.
"We've been compromised; a ship his headed in our direction, by it's trajectory, it may land in the same sector Blue Light is in!" the soldier reported.
Lonsdaleite cursed silently, following the soldier into the control room. The monitors showed images of a battleship on their way to the Quearere, featuring and scanning the vessel at different angles.
"Get me Axinite", Lonsdaleite ordered.
As the soldier left, one of the systems operators turned to Lonsdaleite, and asked "What is the plan of action?"
I can't let Saussarite know about this Lonsdaleite thought, "I want the soldiers to fan out throughout both our current sector and Blue Light's sector. Have them hidden in any way possible. I want them armed with gatling guns and destabilizers. No one gets close to Blue Light. I will guard it myself within as close a proximity as possible."
Just then, Axinite entered the room, running faster than the soldier could keep up.
"I heard what happened, this could be bad news," Axinite said.
"Of course it's bad news! Look, I need you to stay at base and protect it, half of our troops will be fanned out across the sector. I will be in Blue Light's sector, leading the siege."
"Understood. But why waste half of the army protecting a well hidden base?"
"Because the base contains all known knowledge on Blue Light. If we lose that, then we might as well have lost the Light itself."
"Okay then. Guess I'm on guarding duty."
"And by the way, please do not treat this like all other tasks I have given you. The entire mission is at stake," Lonsdaleite states, stepping onto the nearest warp pad.
"Don't. Mess. Up."
With that, Lonsdaleite was out, leaving Axinite in the control room.
Don't mess up.