1:5:7 Descent (Part 1)

Loud. Every council member seemed to want to talk at once. Lore just sat there, at the end of the table, listening; it was all noise to them but they tried to battle through to decipher the mess.
“You can’t be serious.” Tree shouted.
“We thought you were joking.” Charraig added. “How have they gone and done all that?”
The First stood. They held up their hand to speak. The room fell silent. “The work of our youngest members has been impressive to say the least. I hope this solidifies my decision to put the final operation in their hands.”
Reluctantly, most of the Lores nodded.
“So, I ask our youngsters, what’s our next step?” The First’s and every other head in the room turned to Lore.
They knew exactly what they wanted to say but the eyes and the sudden silence caught them off guard. Deep breath. “We’ve spoken to the Quatarrian leadership who are on board with our plans. Hopefully they’ll also provide some kind of assistance to our landing crews but we didn’t speak to them about that.”
“Yeah…” Char sucked through gritted teeth. “Did not want to push our luck there.”
“Either way, we’re ready.” Lore nodded to The First who created a holographic model of both past and present Quatarr. “We are going to divide our forces between the past and present. The Protectorate… Sorry, The Guild have a stronghold around Quatarr in the present so the majority of our space force should be left behind to occupy them however they will mostly be acting as a distraction for the thirteen Lore-Char ships to land across the planet’s northern hemisphere to plant the anchors.”
“What about the people going to the past? Won’t they need backup?” Ant spoke up.
“We don’t really anticipate any resistance. Crait knows that they only need to defend one planet so we’re hedging our bets that they won’t stretch their forces when they’re already in position.” Char’s answer seemed to be sufficient so Lore could continue.
“The teams going to the past will have their clones with them anyway so they’re not going alone. Once we’ve set the beacons, Char and I will form The Paragon and charge The First and Charrlene. This will, in turn, charge the rest of you and allow you to activate the beacons.” Lore started. “Once charged, it’s all about defence. The beacons will open the Breach automatically but obviously, a Breach of that size will take time. We’re going to have to defend the beacons until they connect and Quatarr is pulled into the Breach Space.” Lore took a breath. “After that, everyone on the present Quatarr will need to make their way over to the past… I’m not sure how we’ll do that but if anyone’s got ideas…”
“Breachers will operate differently in the Breach but they’ll do the job.” Emm stood. “Rather than opening a Breach between the two points in space, they’ll act more like grappling guns. Because there’s no time or definitive co-ordinates for them to lock onto, just point and activate. It’ll release a Breach line as usual which will connect with the first solid thing it comes into contact with before drawing you in. Just aim for the planet and you’ll be alright.” They retook their seat.
“Fantastic.” Lore smiled. “Thank you Emm. So, once we’re in the Breach, if you’re on the present Quatarr, you’ll need to join us on the past. Pilots will be instructed to keep out of the Breach where possible, their ships shouldn’t enter the planet’s atmosphere if possible.”
Sam raised their hand. “I suppose the only important question left is: Who’s going when?”
“To ensure the integrity of Quatarr in the past and to make things easier, Char and I will be heading to the past with The First and Charrlene. Everyone else will be distributed as evenly as possible to ensure both teams are able to complete their mission.” Lore brought up a list. “As of right now, we have only set two pairs in stone.” They moved their own and The First’s name to a separate list. “Everyone else is up to you.”
“Why’s The First coming with you?” A murmur came from lower down the table. “Surely if we wanted to divide and conquer fairly and effectively, The First would be the leader of the present mission.”
“We can’t power every harness without The First being present. The only reason it works is that you’re all remnants of The First. We charge The First, you all get the charge by virtue of being their future selves.” Lore responded.
“Basically, none of this works if we aren’t paired with The First.” Char shook her head. “Sort yourselves out and we’ll be back in five. We’ve got to talk to the fleet.” She stood then helped Lore to their feet. Together, they left the room and started to the hangar. “What’s the betting when we go back, they’ve not done anything but argue?”
“Fifty fifty.” Lore giggled. “Still, what really matters is making sure the Rexians know what we’re going to be doing.”

The lift door opened; the hangar behind it was the last to be filled and only had a few ships but the presence of The Vengeance marked it as a rallying point for the pilots. Tables and chairs had been set up around the flagship with portable fabricators installed to feed the army’s worth of new recruits. Lore stepped over the webs of conduits and fuel pipes on their way to The Vengeance and the crowd around it. Their journey to the centre of the hangar went mostly undetected but as the crowd thinned, they felt the eyes around them turn; slowly, the room fell silent.
“Don’t stop on our account!” Char shouted. There were a few laughs but they soon died down. The chatter didn’t return.
“Well, might as well capitalise.” Lore shrugged. They found an empty chair and climbed aboard. “Okay… Pilots of Rexel!” They started, they looked out to the crowd and tried not to think about their numbers. “We’re in the endgame now so before I begin, I’m going to make it clear that you’ve all done more than enough. If any of you, at any time… Obviously before we begin the mission but regardless, if any of you wish to leave, you are free to.” There was no movement in the hangar. “Okay then… The plan. Our target is Quatarr; it’s currently under the watchful eye of Crait’s Guild. The plan is to send thirteen Lore-Char pairs down to what remains of the planet’s surface. Your job will be to make sure they get there. They’ll need support breaking the Guild’s line and then keeping The Guild from picking them off from orbit. Once the teams are ready, they’ll give the signal. You see that signal, you retreat; no matter what’s going on, who you’re fighting, retreat. We’ll provide a minimum safe distance but you make sure you’re outside of it.”
“What happens if we don’t?” One of the pilots sat around the table at Lore’s feet asked.
“We will be opening up a Breach. Quatarr will be attracted to the Breach as will anything in its gravitational field. There’s no guarantee that your ships will be able to make it out of the other side in one piece so we will be issuing a warning to both your ships and The Guild’s to minimise the loss of life.” Lore’s response was met with more raised hands. Lore nodded to the closest person with their hand raised.
“Why warn the enemy?” Almost everyone with their hand up lowered it.
Lore gave a soft smile. “Because we don’t want them dead. We just don’t want them attacking our ground team. If distraction were possible without bloodshed, we’d prefer it. No-one deserves to die for their leader’s stupidity and no-one deserves to die by having the husk of a planet crash into their ship.”
“We’re just a distraction unit?” Another pilot shouted.
Char got up onto the table. “Yes but your mission is by no means any less important than the Lore-Char team’s.”
“If you’re happy to join our mission, register your interest by listing your ship’s registry and crew compliment at any terminal.” Lore tapped at their Breacher, creating the list for them to add their names to. They then broadcast it to the nearby fabricators. “You’ve got an hour to register.” They gave a little nod. “Thank you.” Char jumped from the table before helping Lore down.