Summary:Spring debriefs Harel on his recent experiences undercover in the Thousand.
XP:S1
Tags:< A Visit to the Mountains | Sol Invictus Logs | Chocolates and Glory >
Spring considers, as he falls, the disadvantages inherent in not having any investment in self-powered flight.
The rocky and jagged stone surface of the Merciless rises up at a rapidly-increasing rate to meet Spring's feet.
Spring ::Something went wrong.::
Spring turns in the air, allowing the side of his body to approach the ground first, and slaps the mountain with his open hand as he makes contact. A sizeable crack breaks the stone for meters, but Spring is unhurt, rising lightly to his feet and looking around.
The ground is indeed rough and rocky. The tower mentioned in Harel's mental note a few moments ago rises up some distance to the east of his landing spot, a narrow stone pillar nestled between two sheer rock faces, perhaps forty feet tall at its peak.
Spring begins hiking towards the tower.
It's a quick walk, and Spring finds himself next to the location just in time for the explosions to start, over on the other side of the mountain. The exterior is conveniently bumpy and uneven enough to make for a relatively easy exterior climb, and open windows beckon at the topmost floor.
Spring begins climbing.
It takes him not long at all to reach the top floor, where Harel does indeed seem to have gotten a drink.
The man clutching the black mug of tepid water looks a little worse for the wear since last Spring saw him. His eyes are bloodshot and his knuckles are white even on the greyish tone of his skin. His uniform here -- a finely-tailored black suit with a small silver lion device -- fits him better, but befits him worse, than the robes Spring is more used to seeing him in.
Spring "And how are you, Harel?"
Harel leans back against the wall with a bit of a sigh. "How do I look?"
Spring "Half dead."
Harel laughs loudly, though with an awkward wheeze.
Spring "And how are things going in the Thousand?"
Harel looks over the room with a considered eye. "I don't... think you guys really have a clear picture in your mind of how big the Lion's operation really is."
Spring "Is it bigger than the Unconquered Sun's breadbox?"
Harel "Hmmm," he says. "Depends on how much he loves sandwiches."
Harel ducks his head out a nearby door very quickly, looks back and forth, hears another explosion -- louder this time, followed rapidly by the sounds of various types of objects themselves shattering or being destroyed -- and seems satisfied that this obscure corner of the fortress is clear for the time being.
Harel "The Lion has what for all intents and purposes is a completely inexhaustible supply of troops. Tens of thousands of war machines. An entire species of spectral Hundredfold at his beck and call. Hekatons chained down and saddled with howdahs and Essence weaponry."
Harel He takes a big gulp of his flat water. "This all makes it rather easier for me to blend in with the crowd, but rather more difficult to produce anything resembling a useful list of it all or to actually, uh... stop any of it."
Spring "Hm."
Harel "He has accomplished much more than most people do while they are dead."
Spring "And you have no suggestions as to what might be done about it?"
Harel starts to speak, pauses with mouth open, looks side to side, pauses for a moment longer to think (closing his mouth for purposes of politeness), and finally tugs on the portion of his uniform upon which the lion regalia appears while raising a knowing eyebrow.
Spring sighs. "Yes. Thank you."
Spring considers briefly.
Spring "Can you make your way into one of the Lion's medical experimentation rooms?"
Harel swallows his water. "I'm sure I can, although I might not like what it takes to do it." He looks a little nervous.
Spring coughs up an orange and holds it before Harel's eyes. "Can you get this into one of them?"
Harel nods slowly, takes the orange -- very gingerly -- from Spring's hand, and drops it into his now-empty mug.
Spring "Excellent."
Spring "Be careful."
Harel nods. "Back atcha," he says, and turns to slip around the corner and out of sight.
< A Visit to the Mountains | Sol Invictus Logs | Chocolates and Glory >