castlenim | I saw rise in the heat settle soft and as pure as snow

I saw rise in the heat settle soft and as pure as snow

[This, honestly, took a lot of work. More work than some of the battleplans, but admittedly the machinations of the Victorian nobles are predictable. The only thing Talulah knows about the northern territories is what she's gleaned from her father's journals.

Edward Artorius apparently had a decent enough relationship with the ruler when he'd been alive, and since the wendigo race of Sarkaz live for a very, very long time, perhaps any goodwill towards her parent might be extended to her.

She has also gleaned the northerners are not unreasonable; they've crossed paths during various skirmishes at the border, and they ignore all rebel forces once their own task is complete. Talulah has made it very clear no one from her side is to engage with any other party that isn't either obviously Victorian, or strikes first, and it seems the courtesy is returned.

That said, isolationist policy is hard to overcome, and what she's asking isn't a mere favor. To be embroiled in civil war in another country is an idea most people would scoff at, but...the north has undoubtedly seen the writing on the wall for what will transpire after the dust settles. Victoria's appetite is ever unsatiable.

The Gaulish castle she walks through is a testament to that. It's nothing but ruins now, good for little else besides neutral territory. She's brought two members of the rebels with her, two with a calm rationality suited to negotiations. She'd be fine going in alone, but, well...if Talulah saw another group's leader sitting all alone during a meeting that was meant to be a peaceful talk, she'd think there was an ambush waiting.

Still, no matter how rational one is, curiosity tends to win out, and she can hear her escort party gossiping even behind their masks. They're wondering if the northern princess is as beautiful and strong as the rumors say. If she's half as strong as that Cautus she'd seen once during a border skirmish, then her alliance would be more than a boon.

By her estimation, the meeting time is near, so she supposes she'll find out soon enough.]

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[ FrostNova follows Talulah back the way they came without missing a beat, having a much smoother exit now that she's tailored her skirt to her preferred length. ]

If we stick close to the main road, we won't have trouble seeing which one it is.

[ with their target firmly picked, the pair move faster through the city. once they reach the outskirts and the military base looms in the near distance, it becomes clear Dublinn gained the upper-hand there.

the paved road is littered with destroyed trucks, blasted onto their sides or into several pieces by a combination of mines and spikes. most have been dragged out of the way to make a clear path for the outgoing soldiers, but the oil, burning metal, and charred flesh is thick in the air. ]

[Talulah observes the wreckage briefly, before lifting her hand. There's a brief spark, followed by a burst of heat, like the rush that comes when someone opens an oven.]

If there are any of those mines left, they won't detonate now.

[Which doesn't mean there aren't any other traps or soliders, so Talulah makes her way down the path to the base at a more careful pace. In a stroke of good luck, one of the side doors appeared to have been either blasted or rammed open, making it easy to slip inside.

Except for the sound of distant battle and the crackle of remaining fires, it's eerily quiet. It makes her hair stand on end, and she squints down the hallway, trying to track any movement in the dimness.]

A service corridor?

[ FrostNova squints down the corridor, ears swiveling around as they stand at the threshold. ]

This is really suspicious.

[ she says bluntly, unable to come up with a better word to describe an entrance left conveniently unguarded during an extensive enemy attack.

leaning back, she looks toward the direction of the main gate the road leads into. if there's anyone still holding down the fort, at least one of them will have eyes on it, and they'd probably have to circle around the perimeter to find another way in. ]

But it seems like our fastest option.

On the bright side, the trap probably isn't for us.

[Which means maybe they could take those who set it off guard.

Not that Talulah wants to waste their time dealing with that if she doesn't have to, so she's quick but cautious as she makes her way down the hallways. There are noises the deeper they get in, so it might be that the entire base's attention is occupied by something else.

She doesn't stop until she sees what is obviously a commander's office, a plaque on the wall and everything. It also seems to be the only thing that's locked. They don't have a lot of time, but if there's any place with intel...it's in there.]

...can you hear anyone inside?

[ she steps towards the door lightly after Talulah's prompting, careful with her steps to minimize any noise she might make. the door is thick, likely for the same reason it's locked, but if she leans in close enough to the press her ear to the wood—

she looks back to Talulah and holds up a single finger. her other hand hoves over the door handle, watching Talulah expectantly. it could be a trap set for Dublinn, but she's confident they can take out whoever's in there before they have a chance to spring it. by her judgment, the trade off of information is more than worth it. ]

[Talulah answers by melting the lock with a burst of arts that whoever's inside probably can't sense or notice.

Fire remains on her fingertips even afterwards. She knows she has to be careful--subduing someone at the cost of burning intel to a crisp isn't a good tradeoff. So whenever Yelena opens the door after she gives a signaling nod, it's a blast of heat, not flame, that she shoots at whoever's on the other side.]

[ the trick with a powerful funnel of hot air isn't one Yelena's observed at close range before, more used to the match-strike crackle of noise that proceeds Talulah's usual flames, and her eyes widen slightly as she watches the carefully controlled blast ram into its target hard enough to send him crashing back against the wall.

after the tell-tale crack of broken ribs and the sound of a weapon falling to the floor, FrostNova stands and cranes her head in to get a better look at their target, chill gathering at her fingers in case he needs to be subdued further. ]

I never got a physical description of the colonel running things here, but based on how this one's dressed, I'm guessing it's him.

Holed up in his office instead of giving instructions to his soldiers on how to restore so-called order? Maybe that promotion happened too soon. Unless it's a decoy. Either way, can you keep him still for me? I won't be long.

[Some of the papers had been scattered in the blast of heat, but none of them had been damaged, and Talulah goes to work right away sorting through all of it. She's well aware they don't have a lot of time, but if she could just get the last piece of the puzzle--

It's a hunch, but after checking the most likely places, she moves over to the fireplace set in the wall. It's unlit, but there is a small folio of papers set onto the mantle above it. Like someone had been interrupted before they could burn them. She flips through them, and if Yelena had been watching her as she searched, she'll notice Talulah goes pale as she reads.]

[ Yelena lets Talulah take care of riffling through the office while she deals with the whoever's wearing the officer's uniform. kicking the man's hand-operated crossbow to the other side of the room, she pats him down to extract any keys, cards, or other weapons he might be hiding. when his grunts of unintelligible protest starting getting too loud, she flips him onto his stomach, her knee sinking into his back while she retrains his hands with a pair of cuffs that were lying out on his desk.

Talulah's behavior while she pulls the room apart for clues isn't FrostNova's highest concern, but she notices when she spends an extended amount of time reading one particular document, and directs her attention to her accordingly. ]

What's up?

I'll tell you while we're moving. Let's go.

[Talulah shakes herself out of her stupor, takes one paper out of the folio, and folds it into a square small enough to be stuffed in the inner part of her jacket.

She waits until they're both outside the room, and the officer inside has enough obstacles between him and the door that he won't be raising the alarm anytime soon, before she speaks up again.]

I was right to think that Victoria was up to something when they were being so bold. But the scale of what they were doing was beyond my imagination. They have, or are close to having, a long-range weapon that could wipe out huge swathes of a city.

[ she stills as Talulah details what she's found. Ursus has suspected for some time that Victoria was working toward a trump card, acquiring and studying weaponry from other countries to use in their project. it makes sense that this base would've been chosen as a location for that research a few years ago, when the threat of a Taran uprising would be preposterous factor to consider.

it's just their luck. if they linger around any longer than necessary, their chances of getting caught grow exponentially. on the other hand, even if they manage to get out, just knowing that a new weapon exists doesn't help them much in the long run.

to Yelena, there's really only one course of action they have here. ]

Did the documents tell you where the research being done? We're going to go take a look at it, right?

I took everything that had location data on it. They've been doing research on the energy core here. We can sabotage that, but it's on the other side of the base.

[Which means they are just asking to be captured while running around looking for it, but Talulah doesn't want to let this opportunity slip away. Who knows what kind of security they'll implement after this whole business with Dublinn? It's now or never.

Although it does sound like Yelena's on the same page.]

If we're going after it, let's not waste time. The research wing should be towards the east.

Let's go then.

[ moving through an unfamiliar military base is a different beast than navigating a city she's spent a few weeks in. their chances of getting caught here are much higher, but somehow, their route is relatively clear. Yelena can't chalk it up entirely to luck— as they go, she notes telltale signs of several altercations that broke out on the base. whether it's double agents, deserters, or something else, she can't spare much time puzzling out the cause.

the research building looms large when they begin to close in on it, built to an obviously higher standard than a lot of the structures they've passed by leading up to it. there are no guards positioned outside that FrostNova can see, but if there's any will to maintain order left in the men here, it's likely some will be inside.

fishing the keycard she took from her jacket, she slots it into door lock, grimacing when the light flashes green with shrill, audible beep. ]

Ready?

Ready.

[They really can't leave the lack of guards up to luck, since Talulah didn't see all that many bodies, either. Which means they must have gone somewhere, and that might have been to guard the very important bit of research.

So when she enters the wing, it's quick, careful, and quiet. Ideally, they should get in and out without anyone noticing, but that's a pipe dream. As evidenced by the guards waiting just around the corner of the first corridor.

Talulah immediately kicks one in the stomach before kicking him to the floor, wanting to minimize noise and prevent him from raising the alarm to others. She trusts that Yelena can take care of the other one, which is an instinct she'll probably have to remedy when they get out of here. For now, though, it's fine to still work in tandem like they have been.]

[ black ice forms with a flick of FrostNova's wrist, a handful of dagger-sharp shards ripping through the air to sink into the guard's vital points like a shower of arrows. they collapse to the ground silently, and Yelena's already moving past them to get a peak through the windowed door at the end of the hall.

the building was already big on the outside, but the above ground structure isn't even half of it. her eyes widen as she takes stock of the hulking piece of machinery, only one part of a greater weapon and still needs an underground silo to hold it.

there's a few people, probably researchers, milling about anxiously, hauling equipment onto carts as they make to evacuate. they're aided by several armed guards, but relative to the kind of security this place should have, it's a skeleton crew. ]

Do you want to try and do this quietly? It's going to be quicker if you can just torch the place.

[Talulah takes stock of the interior briefly. There certainly aren't more guards than they can handle, and she's fairly certain she can take care of everyone inside and the weapon before an alarm is raised.

That doesn't mean no one will take notice, but she is very aware of the timeline they're on.]

I think we do need to be efficient.

[She takes a breath, and the air around her warms as she prepares to use her arts in as wide an area as possible.]

Watch for any stragglers or a trap springing. You can open the door.

[ Yelena takes count of the exits one last time before putting her hand on the door handle. the warmth in the air makes her pause for a moment, inhaling softly as she feels Talulah's arts begin to take shape, not just physically, but through the connection she'd loosely strung between them a few days prior. it's different from the Yeti's drawing from her to boost their own arts, a lick of heat where cold usually usually dominates. there's something almost ... comforting about it. proof that Talulah's alive, even if they get separated somehow later.

but she doesn't have time to dwell on it. with a swift push she shoves the door open, the sound of the heavy latch echoing through the cavernous research facility like a cannon. ]

[The first swathe of flame is just to make the researchers and guards scatter, so when she darts in to head towards the weapon piece, the route is clear.

There is a power source that she knows the general location of, thanks to the rudimentary blueprints in the folio. It's on the opposite side of the door, and Talulah jumps over the other machinery and monitors to get behind it. The two guards who try to follow run into a wall of fire from her arts, and after that, her attention is on destroying the part.

Its composition is strong enough that normal arts probably wouldn't be able to damage it at all, but all of Talulah's focused on one point does manage to warp and melt the metal.]

[ Talulah's flames draw screams of panic and dismay from the people inside, many of the researches making to flee, dropping any materials they might've been trying to salvage. after the initial burst, the soldiers take aim at Talulah, but their bolts drop like stones in the air, turned to chunks of heavy ice before they can get anywhere near Talulah.

FrostNova vaults herself over the railings to drop to the lower platforms, the metal flooring turning to a sheet of ice the moment she lands. spikes shoot up to puncture equipment like tin foil while Victorian soldiers are trapped in place like pests in fly paper, leaving them helpless as Yelena picks them off.

she goes as fast as she can, but it's obvious the staff have emergency training. a cart comes flying at her from overhead, shoved off a higher landing by one person, while another emerges from beneath a control panel to slam their hand over a conspicuous button. an alarm rips through the air, the sound so overwhelming its clear that the alert must be for the entire base. ]

[Talulah's fire has weakened the base of the structure enough that the whole thing is creaking and groaning by the time the alarm goes off. She curses under her breath, but it takes just a moment more of focus and intensity for the weapon part to finally collapse, molten metal sloughing off the sides to drip into the crater that had formed in the middle, ensuring all the internal components are unusable.

She can sense that Yelena is fine. The connection wouldn't be so steady if that hadn't been the case, but she still dashes over the railing to lean over it and peer down at the lower floors to see for herself.]

The part's destroyed, do you see a way out down there?

They were heading toward that tunnel—

[ she thrusts an arm out to point to the left, where a truck-sized opening sits recessed into the wall, likely made to transport large materials in and out of the research complex. ]

I don't know where it leads, but if they were planning to evacuate with equipment, there might be a vehicle we can use on the other end.

[ which could be guarded, but it seems like a better bet to Yelena than going back the way they came. ]

[Talulah jumps over the railing to join Yelena on the bottom floors, and observes the tunnel. As she expected, there's no way to tell what's further down there, or if there's another trap waiting, but it is their best chance for getting transportation out.]

Okay. Let's see where it goes, at least.

[She keeps barely enough of her arts lit on her hand in order to see where they're stepping through the darkness. The less time anyone at the other end has to see them coming, the better.

There's no visible trap waiting for them on the other side, but there are several researchers and a few guards still frantically trying to get supplies out. Onto perfectly serviceable trucks. When Talulah sees that, she doesn't hesitate to put a wall of fire up between everyone she sees in the room, the mere proximity of the heat a threat.]

Toss us the keys to these. Now.

[ FrostNova falls into step silently besides Talulah, letting her lead the way through the darkened roadway. she's more immediately concerned with what lies behind them, moving at a quick clip in case someone responding to the alarm sees the same path and follows their trail.

her contingency on finding more Victorians waiting for them at the end had been to simply kill them all and take what they needed, but she lets Talulah try her intimidation tactics without protest. she watches closely as she notes the panicked glances between the people wearing lab coats and the clenched jaws of the soldiers, spotting the movement of a researcher lifting their hand and the grunt that immediately goes for their weapon. ]

Don't be stupid.

[ the man takes a stake of ice to the shoulder for the attempt, and the gaunt-faced scientist tosses the keys over a moment later. ]

[Talulah scoops up the keys, effortlessly keeping up the wall of flame between them and the Victorians. There's an identification symbol on the ring, which makes it simple to find the right vehicle.]

I'll drive. You can--

[Keep the soldiers and researchers at bay, is what she's about to say to Yelena, before there's a rattling explosion somewhere nearby. It's strong enough that she has to purposefully keep her balance, and close enough that they'll likely run into whoever caused it if they drive out.]

[ the explosion rattles her teeth, making her shift her stance to keep from stumbling like several of the people around them. even at a distance, the noise rings in her ears, indicating weaponry that poses a real threat to anyone at the receiving end.

by the looks on the Victorian's faces, it's making the group rethink their exit strategy. FrostNova, for her part, doesn't budge. once you pass a certain point, the only way out way out is through. ]

Okay. You can drive.

[ she heads for the vehicle, waiting for Talulah to drop the fire and follow her. as soon as the flames recede, a wall of ice springs forth in its wake, creating a very physical barrier between the base staff and the two of them. it drops the temperature of the air several degrees in the blink of an eye, but Yelena barely seems winded by the act. ]

You don't need to floor it. We want the engine warmed up. Stop when you see something coming toward us, or the exit— whatever comes first.

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