After Rydel got adjusted to the usual time of Athena 3 after spending quite a few days in video game times, the crew is all ready to set off for Zel.
The destination planet is one that's located within a cluster of unnamed planets that sits in between the wild space and the settled regions. The alphabetical and numerical designation is given as B1 and it's a plain old cold dusty planet much like Mars of the old solar system.
'Ol? You are coming too?' Rydel came out of the long shower only to see Ol walking towards the garage with a small luggage container following closely behind him.
'Yes, as that would be the most tactically wise decision.' Ol nodded, 'this is the very first time something like this has been done for us, so I would like to be of help.'
'Ol used to be one of the commanders of the Aquarian Navy. He just got bored of the same old things there.' Dolon came out of the shower too wrapped around in a massive green leaf, she then slid on the exoskeleton and followed behind Ol.
'Right.' Rydel wiped his dark hair dry and also followed on. Come to think of it, he haven't really unpacked ever since coming back to Athena 3, so all of them can actually set off as soon as they are ready. Rydel does feel like having an extra long nap though since the week of training really takes it out of him, on a neural level.
'Before you move, kid.' Suddenly, an old grumpy voice came from behind and below.
'Ooooh, Torelamri!' Rydel spun around to see the little Rockie with a metal box his height in one of his arms and his eyes lit up, 'Do you have the mace already?'
'Yes kid, happy...whatever festival is up.' Torelamri shoved the box into Rydel and looked up at him, 'I heard you got stronger.'
'Well, maybe more competent is a better word, haha...' Rydel was a little caught off guard by the comment and answers with a slightly awkward smile.
'Good kid. Help keep them safe, all of them.' Torelamri nodded towards him, 'I made some modification to the standard blueprint, I think you will like it.'
'Exciting...' Rydel held the box tight and watches as Torelamri walks back into the dark cave that is his workshop, 'Thank you! Mr Torelamri!'
After all of them have gathered in the main living area of the Aquarian space craft and packed enough food ingredients for the printer to feed all of them for a month or so, Dolon then piloted the ship and took off from Athena 3 once more.
Seeing the once familiar rainbow mineral planet going further and further away and the darkness replacing the views, Rydel inadvertently yawned, which caused Cellica to do the same.
Once Dolon got the ship through the acceleration gates and set the course for the cluster, all of them have gathered in the living area for a brief meeting just to clear everything up.
'Cellica, will we be able to get backup required from the GBI?' Ol asked as he took out a silver scroll from his pocket and placed it on the table. Rydel opened his mouth wide in surprise once he saw it and leaned in closer to get a better look.
'Sort of.' Cellica brought out a mini projector and enlarges the hologram of the planet, 'it would be easier to explain everything as I go along.'
While Rydel and Dolon were 'having fun' gaming all day, Cellica was finalizing the locations of Zel, or the energy signature given off by his artifact, by comparing the star charts with what she sees. Then once she had that information she contacted her superior to confirm where the gold card would be used.
A fleet of intel collection drones is then sent to the planet to explore the situations and it proves Cellica's observations to be correct, and some unsanctioned manufacturing activities are taking place, regardless of whether the robbbed scientific instruments are involved. However, due to extensive travel required to get to this location as well as the lower threat level of the organization so far, Cellica's superiors are having a bit of a hard time trying to get actual man power to deal with this. That would actually benefit the group.
Though the final verdict eventually came and a group of riot control droids will be sent to be under Cellica's leadership as well as a couple of field agents.
From the look of it, it seems like her superiors treated this more like a training exercise rather than a mission. But despite everything she tried to say, there is unlikely to be any change to what's going to happen.
'Which means if things really goes south, it would be up to us and us alone.' Cellica followed the not so optimistic with the following, 'and just before we get all too excited, let's lay down a few ground rules so everything could be explained, at least on paper.'
'We are expecting some levels of resistance, absolutely. But so far our intel suggests one or more bearers that's at least fluent with the usage of the artifacts. There will most likely be some level of militarized forces that has an unknown capacity too, and we can't really trust the GBI forces to deal with them. The nature of this mission will be a rescue prioritized mission, and the GBI's factory shutdown mission second. We will ideally leave that part to me and them, but if some things really go wrong...'
'We have to do something. Right?' Rydel asked as he looked around, 'personally, I would prefer not to have innocent lives lost over this.'
'Yes. But we need to be subtle, at least try to be, just like before.' Cellica looked at Rydel and Dolon for this especially.
'Well don't look at me, she's the sparkly one.' Rydel jabbed at Dolon who's sitting next to him and she kicked him in the leg, 'I would argue I am quite sneaky.'
'Ok.' Cellica gave Rydel a deadpan look and continued on with the briefing.
'So once we get there, we will split up into two groups. One will be the ones that goes in while the other stay back and provide back up to either the first group or the GBI forces.' Cellica opened up the outline scans of the manufacturing facility and projected it into the air, 'first suggestion is me and Dolon going in, and Ol and Rydel stay back. I will provide short range intel and Dolon would be our key fighting force. Any objections?'
Cellica then made two arrows and have one move inside the mountain that the factory is built into while the other dwells on the outside.
'Um, I know I am probably the least qualified individual here, but I will try to make a case here.' Rydel raised his hand and interjected, 'I think I should go with Cellica to move in. I would say I am more of a sneaky guy , seriously...'
'You had one week of training mate!' Dolon yelled.
'...my artifact is going to leave less of a trace compared to Dolon's, and the most important thing is Zel asked for my help. He wouldn't know who Dolon is, and Cellica is just a scary pretty lady. (No offense, please don't hate me).'
'That's true, according to the information we have.' Ol nodded, 'that would make sense.'
'Plus, if the GBI forces are being wrecked, then Dolon's probably the best out of all of us to beat their asses.' Rydel spread his hands wide as he finishes making his case, 'so, what do you think?'
'I agree.' Ol raised his hand, and Dolon did too, albeit still annoyed at Rydel's previous comments.
'Fine.' Cellica gave up and moved on to the finer details like the handling of weapons, what to do and what not to do etc.. The short briefing is done after that, and everyone just went ahead and did their own thing.
Rydel managed to find Cellica by the food printer unsurprisingly.
'Is everything really ok?' Rydel hesitates at the doorway for a few second before finally decided to bite the bullet and went into the kitchen, 'did you figure it out finally, the thing?'
'What?' Cellica looked up into Rydel's eyes, then she remembers what he's talking about, 'can...can I be honest with you?'
'Always. I like things straight.' Rydel pulled a seat out from the side wall and sat next to Cellica, 'what's up?'
'I was, I was scared that you would see me differently, after how I made the call.' Cellica swallowed her doubts and finally decided to lay it all out, 'seeing how you feel after that incident made me question my judgement, and why I felt so comfortable making it and dealing with it when I really shouldn't.'
'I think I know why you make that call.' Rydel padded her on the back as she looked down at the food printer, 'I don't have all the answers. I don't know what's the best thing to do in that scenario, and I can never perform the cost-benefit analysis when it comes to human life.'
'But that's ok.' Rydel smiled at Cellica, 'what happened in the past is quite unfortunate, but as human beings, we look forward and we move forward, right?'
'So we are just going to forget about it?' Cellica lets out a long held breath, but kept her disappointment towards herself within her.
'No, the exact opposite. We will remember it, and we will use this as motivation to save and help as many as I can with the power my artifact has granted me.' Rydel declared, 'I will go through as many training as I need so I will never feel like that again.'
Cellica nodded.
'Hey, you are the same Cellica I know, let's just save more people together starting with Zel. Ok?' Rydel comforts her as she gradually take in his words and found her resolve.
'Yes, let's do this.' Cellica clenched her fist and vowed in her heart, with all her power, they will get Zel back, and save as many people from whatever the organization is doing as possible. Right after she made up her mind, the food printer dings, and the potato wedges are ready.
Perfection.
'All right.' Dolon stepped in the room immediately after Cellica picked up the plate, 'that was awkward.'
The journey from Athena 3 to B1 will take a few days, and Rydel and Dolon used that time to brush up on some more fighting technique without overly fatiguing either person. Ol's the one performing checks and adjustments to the personal gear that all of them will be wearing as well as using his Scroll of Truth to ensure what they are doing is suitable.
'It is confirmed. Zel is indeed on B1.' Ol walked to Cellica, who's standing and looking out the cockpit window. They have just passed the last acceleration gate and is now travelling at a sub-light speed towards B1. The Sun of the system is now a small red ball of light within the sky and it's roughly twice the solar sun size.
'I trust that, but I cannot actually locate him. We are too far out for anything that needs to be detailed enough. We will know which side of the planet he's on, but anything beyond that is...' Cellica already has her artifact activated at this point as she looked at B1 and tracks it through the sky. The white pulses travelling from her face towards her eyes is only whizzing by once a second, indicating a moderate to low effort level, which is a wise choice.
'Just don't stress yourself out.' Ol looked out through the window at the nearing system, much like what Cellica's doing, 'This will be the toughest things we have faced so far, so pace yourself. I have inquired about the level of resistance we will be facing on the planet.'
'What does it say?' Cellica closed her eyes and calmed her breathing rate back to normal as the artifact begins to settle down and reveal her jade-coloured eyes once again.
'Moderate to high numbers, high level technology, high level training.' Ol answered, 'Dolon should be fine, but I am afraid your GBI friends might have some trouble.'
'I will alert them, for what it's worth.' Cellica looked at Ol, who's age is showing gradually with the wrinkles on the typically smooth Aquarian skin, 'Do you think I will be able to do it? Getting the rescue done?'
'Not fight them all head on, but I trust that you can avoid them completely.' Ol answered honestly, 'but it seems the standard package we have for masking out presence from the monitoring systems will be quite useful, as the base seems to only be a temporary foothold according to the scroll. They are not expecting any visitors also.'
'Is that the truth?'
'As far as the scroll knows.'
Nothing really changed from GBI's end after yet another warning and a direct conversation in between Cellica and and the Senior Agent Mindo that would be spearheading this operation.
Cellica and MIndo do know each other from their training days so he does some what take her advice seriously and applied for a mix of riot control droids and experimental multipurpose droids that will can be turned into war droids in a more aggressive setting should the need arise.
Planet B1 came into view not long after they entered the system and started the adjusting for course towards it. It is as the files and Cellica says. Since they are closer to the planet, Cellica is then able to locate the whereabouts of Absolute Being's temporary base. It was built into the side of one of the higher mountains in the planet and transports come in and out in infrequent batches bringing in and out fresh supplies and wastes.
According to the plan, the two that would be going in will dress as whatever the people in that organization dresses and find a chance to sneak in whenever they can. Cellica will be the one calling the shots.
Prior to moving in, they would reconvene with the GBI agents and for Cellica to give them instructions as to where to move in through the front.
Dolon and Ol would simply be watching on and not be part of any of this in case things go bad.
'Are we all clear?' Cellica looked around the room at everyone.
'This seems to one of those off the books ops, dear.' Mindo jokingly comments, 'you have quite a group gathered here.'
'Cause we mean actual business, agent.' Dolon was not impressed with the GBI showing in particular, and the mockery came out unhinged.
'OK, you guys can move in as soon as you are ready.' Cellica gave the go ahead, and the GBI agents went off line.
'After they have landed, we can move in too.' Cellica turned around to look at Rydel who's wearing a full expedition gear as they lied behind a small boulder a few hundred meters away from what seems like an entrance towards the compound, 'We will go through the back door where they throw out all the garbage. Since the facility isn't built too deep into the mountain, I suspect we shouldn't have too much trouble. There are too much unknowns and too many things in the way, so I can't give you much intel right now.'
'That's fine. This thing is bullet proof, right?' Rydel slapped his jacket underneath a camouflage coat as he puts on his helmet that he has been tinkering for the past few days, 'the visor is...working just fine. Good start.'
'Don't worry too much about dying.' Cellica squeezes Rydel in the arm, 'don't forget, they want our artifact too, that's why Zel was alive and kicking for so long.'
'And we have lost his signal. Reassuring much.' Rydel cracked his knuckles and responded.
'That is his artifact's signal, we don't know what's happening with him.' Cellica reminded Rydel.
'Don't know ENOUGH. We have only a decent amount of information.' Rydel shrugged his shoulders as stopped complaining, 'Anyhow, you will be able to find him once we get in, right?'
'Yes, and we would know even more once we are connected into the system and obtain the layout.' Cellica kept on looking at the exit.
From where they are sitting, the back of the compound is where the organization dump a lot of the rubbish out. The way it was simply through a monorail in which a train comes in and out routinely and empties itself. Cellica activated her eyes as she follows the railway all the way into the end of the tunnel where a door sits and blocks out a majority of her vision.
She can vaguely see some outlines of a factory setting and a lot of heat being given off, but that's as far as it goes. Luckily, there don't seem to be any monitoring systems or pilot for the train in place since this planet is way too remote for anything. After figuring out that the rubbish train only moves in and out once every half an hour, they have finally made their move.
'We are moving in.' Cellica spoke into the communication channel, 'We will limit communication for now, and will let you know about key processes. Have the other group approached?'
'Yes.' Ol spoke into his side of the communication channel, 'Mindo is approaching the compound from the front now. Let the rescue of Zel and shut down of the factory begin now!'
Everything is just as Cellica had seen and the two of them are undetected by the enemy so far, as far as both of them knew.
As the latest train came out of the tunnel to dump off the latest batch of rubbish and debris, Cellica and Rydel took the chance and grabbed onto the edge, bringing them into the surprisingly not stinky but unsurprisingly dusty uncovered wagons.
Both of them tried to hold in a cough and struggled for the mini mask within their pack. The mini face mask is just a sticky stretchy sheet of membrane that attaches to the outer edge of the mouth. These ones are quite similar to the atmospheric adjustment membrane everyone wears to adapt to multiple planets, but targeted towards unfriendly substances and toxins.
Now, as the train rattles on, the pair prepared the entry.