Solus stone aplenty!

     All of us, except AMPHIS, set out towards the erected platform, to mine the glowing stone, collect as much as we could, and return. Once we had all we needed, the platform would remain where it was, we would return to the base within the Nether and plan out the next stage. I had a feeling though that the next stage would be everyone heads back to base, whilst me, UOPETA and THEROS head off to the conducting tower to search for more records. There was bound to be something lying around that could narrow the search down. Meanwhile, OROTHO, Amie and COLUS would prepare the glowing stone for our return to enable us to use it. AMPHIS and THEROS would search the records and add any suspected locations to the map, just in case we're not successful in acquiring any data from the tower. Presumably, THEXIS would go back to monitoring the radio traffic, to give us a glimpse at what HoN Co. had got up to since we had left... Then again, with them existing in a time frame approximately a third as long as we have, probably not much... We're hoping to time it just right as well; being in the Nether a day and a half means only twelve or so hours will have passed in Minecraftia. That would mean it would be getting close to night by the time we left the portal. If we could hurry up with the mining and the planning, we should be back at "home" before nightfall. It was so confusing trying to keep track of everything that was going on, especially when you had to consider the time frame lapse between the two dimensions!

    Cautiously, we all arrived at the rigging without spotting any more of those strange creatures, nor were there any Creepers, and the pig-men didn't give us any issues. Once there, THEXIS and THEROS took up their picks and climbed to the top of the platform, whilst the rest of us remained on the bottom level.

"Right. I want this to be a smooth operation; you two, mine the glowing stone and drop it down to OROTHO and Amie. You two store it safely, whilst we three remain on guard. If anything comes our way, we'll alert you, and I want you two off that platform. Understood? Good. UOPETA, Syeonyx? Good platform! Might have been a little hasty earlier, but it seems you did a good job, despite the apparent danger...""

Nice to see our hard work acknowledged I suppose. Once THEXIS and THEROS were at the top of the platform, UOPETA climbed up to the first level of the platform to get an elevated view, and made use of the telescope. Me and COLUS were mainly there to spot anything UOPETA missed, and to try and keep the overly curious pig-men at bay. If they started to tamper and interfere with the operation, someone could get hurt. The long chipping sound began as the THEROS and THEXIS began hammering away at the stone. I just hoped that it didn't draw the attention of those creatures again.

     After a few minutes of constant hammering, and me cringing at every blow, it stopped, and THEXIS called down to COLUS.

"This is going to take longer than expected; it's really hard and we don't seem to be making much progress..."

"Keep at it. Try to hit with long, powerful strokes, rather than weaker, rapid ones. Try hitting it at the base too, where it joins the roof."

THEXIS nodded, and stepped back a little. Watching him, he did as instructed; the head of the pick struck hard against the top of the cluster, creating a more dull thud of a sound, rather than the previous chinking noise. As he continued, I was able to see a large crack appearing that had made it's way down to the snubbed end pointing down.

"I think we're nearly there. Watch out below!"

THEXIS called down to OROTHO and Amie, and they moved from beneath the platform. With combined efforts from THEXIS and THEROS, the glowing stone split into two huge sections, one of which became detached from the roof and fell. It seemed to fall in slow motion; small chips of stone flew in all directions as one piece grated over the other as it fell, crashing to the floor, still in one piece, and settling on the ground.

"COLUS? Do you reckon that's enough?"

"Real funny tough guy. Good work. Get down here and help us take it back to the base. We don't know how much it weighs, but judging from the dent it just made, it's going to take more than two of us!"

UOPETA moved down to the bottom to let THEXIS and THEROS off the platform. I collected their pickaxes from them, and went with UOPETA to clear the path ahead. The last thing we needed at such a late stage was any unexpected visits from a Creeper or a strange floating creature! THEXIS and THEROS helped OROTHO and COLUS carry the huge chunk of stone back to the base, whilst Amie remained behind them, to guide them carefully along the rough terrain. We made it back to the base in good time, with AMPHIS seemingly pleased to see us!

     We've attempted to cut the stone down to size, but we lack the space and the tools to do so. Plus, the more noise we make, the attention we bring to ourselves. Besides, OROTHO feels it'll be easier when it's back in his lab. However, we have planned out what we're going to be doing next. Luckily, Amie had an excellent idea which is a little late, but just as welcomed! She remembered that the data room we were in back at the tower also held information about some portal locations. With the automated system, it would be incredibly easy to find what we're looking for and mark them on the map. It means though that AMPHIS and THEROS won't need to add suspected locations to the map. Well, not just yet anyway.

"Once we're left the Nether, we shall all return to the base and get some rest; it's likely to be getting dark by the time we get back, and heading out to the tower will be incredibly dangerous. It can wait until tomorrow. All of this equipment will be left here for the time being in case we need to return, and we shall plan out a possible attempt at a tunnel if OROTHO and me get the time. Hopefully by the time you three return from the tower, we'll have a chunk of the stone available for you to use to destroy portals with. We can't really test it unless we use the portal that we'll be heading back through. Ideally, we can just attempt to use it on the first portal you find."

We are going to have a small rest here for the time being, and then move out with the chunk of stone. Hopefully by tomorrow, they can reduce it down to a manageable size so we can utilise it to destroy portals. Let's just hope coming in to retrieve this massive Solus stone was worth it, although the name is kind of redundant now...

Syeonyx signing off