Scene #8157: Operation Winter Hazel-1

Owner	Pose
Lilian Rook	It's one thing to say 'then we must go to the mountains', but it's another entirely to cross all the way from Krasnoyarsk to the foot of the Urals. Look it up on a map. This is one of the few times that anyone can particularly thank the Russian government (albeit, only in as far as it can be called a government, or even still Russian) for anything, as the necessity of moving that gigantic mass of troops and the regular use of the local branch of the G.D.F means that there is a corridor of travel that has a mere five percent chance of coming under fire every twelve hours on the road, but it's just not something that people as valuable as Elites should be doing for days on end, never mind in an unregistered car on a military transport route. Thus once again it is Lilian's problem. The Immunes are extensively trained for this sort of thing, albeit it's not usually done alone, and Lilian especially has the ability to simply skip any sort of random encounter or violent weather problem with trivial ease. Furthermore, that rapid response and surgical strike training does mean that her magic can take her a lot further a lot faster than a car, with fewer issues. But in the interests of not forcing over half a dozen Elites through a gruelling two thousand kilometer drive, she is, apparently, already pretty much exhausted by the time she is finally able to ping Arthur with a specific location for a Gate connection, set up to one of her own Circle of Stones. It's pretty late, and so it is even more frigid than usual-- especially well beyond the nominally cozy walls of an Urban Center (one reason for their sheer height now apparent), but the cover of darkness probably suits this work well. The warping point is not at all close, as Lilian assures that they most certainly have the means to detect it from nearly this far at least. 'They', for the time being, may be understood to not strictly be an enemy, but according to all information gathered thusfar, 'they' don't want outsiders involved, period, to the point of even excluding the Immunes, and 'they' might not be the only ones here. That being the Russian territory G.D.F. You'd heard around town about mass mobilization out west, but you can already tell by the carpet of glittering lights that bathes the foothills in the distance that these stories were a gross understatement. If you didn't know better, you'd say there was a city here. A middling sized one too. Millions of pale white, warm orange, and pulsing cool blue stars make it impossible to see many of the real ones. The sound of traffic, both the distant hum of thousands of engines and the chopping of rotor blades, lends to the atmosphere of being 'about to reach town'. Streams of aviation lights blink in the sky above, matching those of a handful of considerably sized control towers, competing with an entire perimeter of linked radio masts stretching for miles. A modern day Earth would require the country's entire army --all of it-- to be here for similar effect.
Lilian Rook	The stories of 'preparing a forward staging area' are also a fraction of the tale. Not only are there entire complex street systems of permanent barracks, supply yards, munitions and fuel depots, workshops, vehicle bays, mess halls and commons buildings, with vast gardens of resource-conservative solar arrays and wind towers to compartmentalize the low-yield power grid, the 'command complex', as it were, is like an entire skyscraper block disassembled floor by floor and piled up in a heap of threes and fives. Its central feature is the sort of dish --three of them in fact-- that is usually given the name of an explorer and funded by a national space agency. The potential for a cascading sequence of disastrous issues is self-evident here. The equipment signatures being picked up are not old war surplus, but the actual cutting edge of the G.D.F, and no doubt some of the local coalition government's more closely held secrets. The sheer scope and level of organized chaos makes it hard to pick out anything from far off, but you can already see vehicle lights by the dozens streaming in from the intimidating silhouette of the dark mountain beyond, and practically feel the radio waves in your teeth. That, and for whatever reason, the very soft, very faint lights all the way at the top, seemingly randomly distributed between every so many peaks, flickering like barely visible candle flames.
Arthur Lowell	>Arthur: Can you just fast-travel there? First off, blind gates are only wise in occupied areas, otherwise you run the risk of getting sidelined into a monster encounter. Second off, that's probably disrespectful. >Arthur: Fair enough. Can Lilian handle relaying? Yeah, for some reason pretty much all of the academic study on the topic proclaims that there's a kind of special exception where you can be sort of disrespectful to the innate mechanisms and traditions of adventureological structure as long as most of it is expressed through disregarding the feelings of a girl who is outspoken and talented in some way. >Arthur: Gate to Lilian Rook The gate deposits everyone at the circle of stones, Arthur first, with a smaller pop of green light than normal. He's careful to keep this one subtle, and not careful to keep his harassment of Lilian's hand subtle, intent on forcing her into a coolkid handshake that somehow manages to prompt one's urge to perfect-parry certain segments of it. "YEAH GIRL YEAH GIMMIE THAT SKIN. Thanks for not makin' me ROAD TRIP for AGES, my DS BATTERIES are HELLA STALE." He rambles. Then he's headed over to go look out over the mountains and the "FOB"...
Ishirou	Ishirou comes through the gate after Arthur, blinking as he proceeds to try to cause a handshake that requires perfect parry attempts and its own mini-game requirements. Rubbing his helmet, as he's come in already transformed into the base configuration of the R.E.S.C.U.E. unit. Ishirou does bring a thermos for Lilian. It's hot chocolate. Once handed over, he turns towards the setup. "This mobilization is massive...is the area over the Urals that bad..?" he wonders aloud. Ishirou takes the time to run scans over the area, trying to produce as complete of a map as he can, while looking for important points of interest. This scanning is also looking for the magical signals he's detected before, trying to see if he can also locate them. If he does, he focuses on making the map around them, while also trying to get a tactical view of the area. While this is happening, a holoscreen has appeared while Ishirou appears to be taping across it. Another holoprojector is creating the map as he collects the data. Ishirou does whistle lightly once, "They're not bringing in old surplus guys. It appears it's top of the line." "/Are/ the Urals and the lands beyond them that bad?" He asks again because this is a very concentrated effort.
James Bond	Bond steps through Arthur's gate dressed for extreme cold. As before, he's managed to make that winter wear appropriate for a non-commissioned officer of the GDF. Organized chaos is where someone with Bond's skillset truly shines, and he knows it. "Personally," says Bond to Ishirou, "I'd like to find the intended use for that aircraft we found before." And, of course, finding out why there's such an interest in keeping outsiders--even Immunes--away. First order of business is, as Arthur intends to do, get to the FOB. But, given that this is a military operation, and ostensibly quite an extensive one, it'd help to have a means of transportation. With no such means immediately at his disposal, the only thing to do is head for the lights and look for one that's not in use--or hitch a ride with one already in transit. He's convincing, playing the part of a bedraggled NCO just trying to clean his plate of drudgework. The destination isn't so important as what he can glean from it, and he's quite talented at pretending he belongs wherever he ends up.
Tamamo	Tamamo is soon through the gate, taking quick steps in the fluffy coat that is her primary defense against Siberian-adjacent cold. Even so, she'd clearly like to keep moving to maintain her warmth. This might seem a little odd to someone in contact with her, as her immediate presence radiates a subtle warmth. Lilian will soon discover this, as Tamamo doesn't even wait for the coolkid handshake to finish before she takes Lilian's other side, wrapping around her arm and making vague, complaining noises regarding the weather, complete with a single shiver. "Are you quite alright? Was the journey difficult? It was long, certainly, as could even be seen from the ground, without consultation of a map." She hadn't consulted a map, but a vague geographical knowledge remains in her head, at least in regards to where mountains and rivers are -- or where they had been, as some distant memory informs her. "Here, I have something hot for you. Shall we sit a moment? Oh, I do have more than two cups, and so, Mr. Lowell, you might join us. Oh, but I do recall that you do not drink tea, as such. Was this so?" Tamamo retrieves a thermos and picnic blanket from somewhere inside of her coat and, with careful insistence, makes to sit with Lilian and pour the still-hot tea into travel cups unscrewed from its lid. "The city is rather large, no? Ah, is it even right to call it 'a city'? It was to be 'a base,' yes? I had wondered what we might find, and though I know that there was a vast nation here, still had I expected a somewhat smaller motion of soldiers. I wonder if those at the city we had just left -- pardon, the urban center -- have not been made aware of just what an undertaking this has come to be." Once the offering of tea is resolved in one manner or another, she says, "When we have warmed ourselves, shall we see to those lights in the mountain? I find them most curious."
Cantio	"A situation that the locals don't want outsiders involved in... But are they even equipped to handle it themselves?" Cantio asks as she watches Arthur doing the cool kid thing, studying his movements and firmly cementing herself as not one of the cool kids in doing so. Like Bond, she's dressed for the cold, donning a purple beanie and a thick, poofy winter coat that covers up everything from top to bottom in a thick layer of lavender-colored material that would make it easy to mistake her for a sapient sleeping bag with all the light squeaking noises it makes with every step. "They have the numbers, at least, but I can't imagine it going quite that easily." Peering at Ishirou's holoprojector for a few moments, Cantio decidedly doesn't bring any heated drinks or snacks with her, and she's regretting it already when she sees so many people bringing their various things to warm themselves up with. Staying on the move is her best bet. Cantio settles for joining Arthur and James in heading for the FOB, jogging in place beforehand to get the blood (or whatever) pumping ahead of time. She keeps one hand free while the other lugs along her usual attache case packed full of weird stuff. Unlike Bond, though, she doesn't quite have the same knack for blending in, but it's not a pressing concern for her just yet.
Rita Ma	Rita's smart enough to have brought her own, excessively big puffer coat this time. That makes the impact- when she rushes out of Arthur's gate and hugs Lilian- considerably softer. "Ms. Rook!! Thank you so much! You look really tired. I brought you some-" She looks at Ishirou extending a thermos of his own, and Tamamo getting out a whole picnic setup, and sheepishly returns her own thermos to her coat. Her cheeks, reddened by the cold, get a tiny bit redder. Rita makes a tiny throat-clearing noise. "Um, would you like some, Ms. Cantio? You look a little bit chilly already." After the tea has been resolved, she pipes back up with a look of concern. "That's sort of the problem, Ms. Cantio. They're bringing 'anti-insurgency' and 'cyberwarfare' specialists. And this is where Ms. Oreshnika lives, even though nobody's supposed to live here. Doesn't it sound like they're going to end up fighting innocent people, too? Even if most of them don't know it."
Arthur Lowell	>Arthur: Drink the tea! Arthur actually does take a seat and take some! "I mean, I'm MEGA COOL with that. I just SPICE IT UP sometimes, is all." He says, grinning wide. He reaches into his SYLLADEX to retrieve a MOUNTAIN DEW HIP FLASK. >Arthur: Create the GAMER TEA again Lilian Rook is able to see this item combination and is currently enduring the effects of grueling travel. Make sure Arthur has completed all sidequests and is ready to conclude his journey. Really create GAMER TAMAMO TEA in sight of EXHAUSTED LILIAN? >Arthur: Wait no don't do that Arthur decides against blaspheming at this particular moment, gently sliding the hip flask back into his SYLLADEX and sipping the tea as-is. "We got any idea what kind of FIGHT they're gearing for? This looks more like SETTLING than anything else, for real. DIGGIN' IN MAXIMUM. Like, maybe a SEARCH or EXTRACTION type thing? This seems like one hell of a LONG TERM OP."
Ishirou	"That's true too. There is no need for cyberwarfare experts, not with something like this," Ishirou agrees with Rita, who looks at his own Thermos and then Tamamo and decides to instead draw his back embarrassed. He continues his work on the holomonitors and keyboards. "Or they're making lines...like the trenches.." he muses, trying to get a better view of things before making more solid guesses.
Trudy Grimm	Immediately upon exiting the gate, the very first thing Trudy Grimm does is locate Arthur within the group. She gives his shoulder a... well, calling it a punch would be far too generous, more of a bump with her fist, "Great portal as always." Turning, she raises a hand in greeting to Lilian though dares not get too close with Tamamo already fussing over her, "And thank you for your hard work as well." She is, as before, clad in that heavy fur coat of weasel or mink fur, as evidenced by the fact that the weasels are reanimated and shuffle around sometimes amidst voluminous sleeves and body covering. The Grimoire dangles from her arm by its strap, buckled shut. A hand lifts to cradle her chin in thought, one finger tapping her lips as she beholds the entire spread of lights in the valley and hills below. "With specailists like that, it sounds like they're expecting to fight people, not Antegent," the witch hums in thought, "Unless Antegent started doing the guerilla warfare thing and using digital technology, given the coincidences so far, what are the chances they're here for that Bloom themselves?" "If Miss Scathach was any indication," Trudy surmises, "Subduing someone like that would probably take an entire army of regular guys." She lifts her gaze when Bond and Cantio move in, then lifts her gaze to the lights Tamamo mentioned. Reaching into her sleeve, she produces an assemblage of bones and feathers, shaping them into something strongly resembling a large crow. This is cast into the air. While Ishirou maps the surroundings, she'll get a better idea of what lurks so far up the mountain.
Petra Soroka	An unexpected arrival, the bulky, metal, tank-like form of Petra's Kana, steps through Arthur's gate, announcing its arrival with a dull roar of its engine that cuts to a more tolerable hum once its four feet are placed solidly on the ground. It kneels to the ground, and Petra pops out of the cockpit--though it's impossible to tell it's her, without recognizing her mech. She's bundled up head to toe, bomber jacket engulfing her small frame, fur-lined aviator hat pulled tight on her head, face obscured by the goggles and scarf. She hops onto the ground, takes a deep breath to steel herself to the cold, and calls out in a voice muffled by her scarf. "Hey everyone! I've got heaters in the cockpit, if you want a break from this." Then she hangs back, as everyone else makes plans, unsure of how much she should or shouldn't look at Lilian. "This is really a huge force, out here in the middle of nowhere. I'm probably missing details, but they're expecting to fight some kind of human threat? One that warrants this much firepower?"
Cantio	"Rita...? S-sure! Oh, you're a lifesaver." Rita's come to the rescue! Cantio can't help but find her expression softening considerably, and she nods quickly while waiting to get some sippy time with whatever's in that thermos. Perhaps fearing the worst, though, Cantio reaches into her case and... She breathes a sigh of relief. "Not frozen. Good." She spins a plain water bottle around in her hand once to ensure that the contents are still nice and room temperature, then puts it back in before considering THE SPECIALISTS. "That's what I was afraid of... Yeah, what Arthur said. If they were really planning on moving through quickly, setting up so many buildings... I mean, I've heard of temporary staging areas being setup, but I haven't heard of anyone expecting insurgencies if they're only going to be in an area for a short-term basis. Unless..." 'DIGGIN' IN MAXIMUM.' "Do you think they might be planning on actually... Digging? Literally, I mean. Could whatever they're looking for be easier to find by tunneling?"
Lilian Rook	Lilian is currently sat on a rock that is outside her ring of sacred geometry, surrounded by a different ring of melted frost and withered grass, leaned over a small portable burner with spindly aluminium legs and evidently warming herself up. It looks a little odd, given that she typically uses magic for that, but just because she was taught flight magic doesn't mean it's something efficient for long distance. Anyone nosy enough can tell that she's tapped. Lilian accepts the thermos gratefully, removing her gloves to allow her fingers to touch the warm vessel, swigs a little more than is safe, sighs deeply, and says in a slightly dreamy voice "Chocolate . . . My beloved." Arthur's coolkid handshake protocol is simply accepted as a matter of course this time, parried with only the most frame perfect of countersigns. "FOB." she repeats after him, sounding twice as toneless. "Leave it to the Russians to keep secrets, I suppose." she adds. "I have to admit, we spent days of investigation on this, and clearly still know next to nothing. Even if it isn't fancy, their infosec is actually quite robust. They're taking this very seriously." A beat. "This goes without saying, but I'm not helping you if you pick a fight. You'll probably just be crushed." Her mood, predictably, brightens considerably the moment Tamamo shows up. Setting aside hot chocolate for the moment, she repeats in the exact same time (but flirtier) "Tamamo . . . My beloved~" and takes tea upon herself. "About ten hours. With an hour in the middle." she admits. "Pushing it faster, I'd probably have run out before getting here." She glances back over her shoulder at the lights as the bunrei mentions them. "Something like one in four adults get their credit from the G.D.F here, I'm told. I suppose it's worked surprisingly well for them, but that's rather our problem, isn't it?" She gazes, distantly, at the mountaintops. "They're bothering me too. I'd go up there right now if I had it in me. They could very well just be more listening posts, like back at the Urban Center, so it'd be a fool's gambit to openly fly right at them. Lilian tears her eyes away to dignify Cantio with a look too. "They have more than just numbers, Cantio. I encourage you to put whatever action movie schlock you're thinking of out of your mind. They'll have genuine veterans of the Onslaught itself out here in large numbers, called up from reserve if they have to, not to mention experienced strategists and ample computerized aid, to say nothing of as billions of credits of anti-Antegent weaponry and likely hundreds of local Enlightened cooperating with them. Their odds of success are reasonably high, even if the data we retrieved from Krasnoyarsk is too conservative. They might really be able to claim a permanent passage through the range like this." The pause she leaves is enough to tell how poorly this sits with her. "Which makes it all the more odd that they'd even dignify a worry of outside interference. I doubt even I could derail this operation." Her train of thought is interrupted by Arthur. There isn't a literal glowing red kanji flashing above his head right now, but the metaphorical one is palpable in the moment where he considers combining Tamamo's tea and Mountain fucking Dew. She answers Ishirou in the same breath as him.
Lilian Rook	"The Ural Wall is a famous battleground in official history. Statistically speaking, the majority of Antegent are adequately troubled by mountains as severe as these as to make it a defensible location, so it was one of the natural lines used to partition the country and hold the tide for nearly the whole of the Onslaught. It must be absolutely teeming with the remnants of that time. There are Urban Centers to the west beyond it, and so connecting the two is the pretense of Operation Winter Hazel. Rather, it may well be a genuine goal as well." Ishirou is able to compile a map out of enhanced visual data and passive spectrum absorption --the infrared and radio radiation emitting from the area is as massive as it is densely nuanced-- but he is competent enough to immediately realize that active sensors will be far more trouble than they're worth; anything he emits at the area will be detected immediately, with the ridiculous proliferation of monitoring equipment he detects; five times as much as even an FOB of this size would ever need. Further, he confirms not just one or two signs of magic, but extensive signatures all around the area. Lunar wards and minor habitation geomancy, but also regularly spaced loci of significance drawing considerable power from the natural landscape --the flow of wind, primarily. It's too far to pinpoint, but there are indeed probably hundreds of notably magic individuals present, spread evenly throughout, rather than purely concentrated inside the command complex. The lights on the mountains have radiation signatures consistent with old-style flood lamps and mirrors. Lilian sets down her tea and opens up her spare arm for Rita, smiling with rare warmth at the combined gratitude. "I'll be fine in a little while. In terms of stamina, I'm ready to go, but I can't recover magic while doing 'that'." A slightly sarcastic chuckle bubbles up in response to Trudy. "Excruciating diligence is one of my famous virtues. Think of it as showing off. Or, think of it as not wanting to share a vehicle with Lowell for the length of an entire road trip. Whichever makes you feel less grateful." She exhales in the sort of way that breathes tension in rather than letting it out. "Rita is correct, Cantio. A significant contingent of this operation is dedicated to wartime activities. The personnel roster is full of people who were in the military more than forty six years ago, or have recently graduated from training academies covered in black ink. However, to me, that suggests they anticipate facing robust opposition on the same playing field. Even if there is some sort of hidden village up there, it's not likely they'd be running high grade server farms with cyberwarfare programs, don't you think? What would be the point?" Petra's arrival bids, all at once, a steely look of barely tolerable disgust, everything else vanishing from Lilian's face as if she were hurriedly hiding any sign of prior positivity before Petra can see it, though it is far too late to bother. "The nominal purpose of this operation is to reclaim a critical strategic point of no-man's land from the inhuman." says Lilian, her tone lethally neutral and even. "But we have reason to suspect they anticipate a third party, and reason for concern that they may have an objective that is less interested in the future of humanity."
Ishirou	Ishirou smiles that Lilian grabbed the Thermos anyway, actually happy to help! He continues his work and frowns. "I can't get much from here...there is too much warding, scanning, and detection going on. If I do anything more than get a map they'll detect me rather quickly. Not only that there is enough magical warding, people, and things that it's impossible to work on the trace I had before.." "Those towers are definitely as you think they are, Lilian. If they're this spooked about something there has to be actionable intelligence inside. Hmm," He muses, trying to think of ways around the problem. "I'm going to try and fly far outside and try to scan the area around the base and farther out. Hopefully, I can get something we can work on..." he says, and several things fly out of his subspace pocket. A mech-like suit lands, and the R.E.S.C.U.E. unit connects to it. A bird-like robot comes out with it and splits apart. Connecting to pieces on the mech to build a 'flight suit' style armor. "I'll keep low and far away. Tacnet should still be able to run while I do this. If I run into trouble I'll get out," he says, and immediately flies into the air. True to his word he keeps low, barely above the tree line if there is one. He goes for a wide survey, trying to scan for magical sources outside of the city, as well as anything else that might be irregular.
Lilian Rook	Lilian reluctantly replies to Trudy's more salient point. "I sincerely doubt anyone on Master's level is living here. You don't exactly stumble over a practical demigod everywhere you go. None of the surviving dragons are known to live here either. Besides, it'd b suspicious if they funnelled all these people and all these resources here, then didn't actually start the job they said they were doing, wouldn't it?" She watches the crow take flight cautiously. "Take care. You used necromancy to animate that, right? It'll trip any wards in the area quite handily. Take a wide berth around Hazel FOB." she says, letting that factoid slip. "That's what they're calling it." Doing so is easier said than done, given the flight of an undead bird familiar is less than 'supersonic'. It's a miles wide diversion to go around, though it only takes fifteen minutes to start to see that the scattered lights are clustered only in this geographic area, and that the flickering and blinking isn't an artifact of distance, but consistently like a light source turning fully on and off. By the time Bond has gone off on his own, Lilian begrudgingly removes herself from her rock, and simply 'henshins' right in plain sight, replacing winter clothing with slender suit and plate in intricate waves of particles of semi-reality, and looking no colder for it. "Someone should go with him. But it'd be wildly impractical for most of us to go creeping around there. Please remember that these people are human too; they're our ally, not our enemy. We're the rogue element with a secret mission here." Bond's arrival at the outer perimeter, meanwhile, is far from smooth. Normally it isn't that difficult --security here isn't all that different in principle from the security he's used too-- but as soon as he passes the first set of transceiver towers, the sweat is on. First is that the common sight of automatic guns around the outside don't recognize a lack of IFF as a human being, and in the middle of the Russian wilderness, there isn't exactly a lot of stealthy cover. The second is the fact that there are zero other stragglers coming in by any way but the road itself, merely packed dirt out here, and each vehicle is thoroughly examined at checkpoint. The fact that everyone speaks Russian here is easy for him to deal with, but the constant presence of military helicopters above is less so. Worse, the first contact he makes hints at how complicated and arbitrary it'll be. Staring at him for several seconds after everything else should be clear, a petty officer barks at him irritably, as if he'd zoned out on the job, one word: "Teeth." It sounds like a command.
Cantio	"Action movie nothing. It sounds like they're really prepared for the worst, and if that's really the case, there shouldn't be anything to worry about. I mean... If even you couldn't picture being able to derail it, then they should be just fine with or without our involvement.." Cantio pauses afterwards roughly as long as Lilian does, then crosses her arms. "But... Yeah, it's too strange. If they're worried about human opposition on their level, I can't imagine anyone being able to hide a similar operation of this scale from them, from us." She gestures at the base, then at Ishirou as he goes on survey duty. "Or from even the Antegent, if they were paying attention to all that's happening here." Still wracking her brain over the possibilities, Cantio instead puts her mind in another direction. "Have the Antegents ever shown themselves capable of getting into computer systems? Or using swarms of people weaker than themselves to fight? I can imagine at least some of them being able to inject themselves into computer systems, but ... No, that on top of anti-insurgency preparation just sounds like this whole setup is for fighting other people rather than the Antegent. But..." She taps her finger on her chin lightly. "What are the odds they're doing something they know is going to provoke a third party? Something that'd anger someone with enough resources and manpower to make cyberwarfare and insurgency a credible threat? Another country, perhaps, or..." She pauses again, then sighs lightly before stuffing her free/colder hand into a pocket. "Well, it's all speculation anyway. If there really is a third party of humans coming to be a spoiler for all this, who do you think would be worth trusting over the other with this location?"
Rita Ma	In time with Lilian's lethally neutral glare, Rita waves cheerfully at the late arrival. "Hi, Ms. Petra! Thank you for coming! I really do appreciate it." Lilian's explanation is fully adequate, so she gets to content herself with sipping on her tea a little longer, though she does gravitate to Petra's side and offer a clumsy shoulder-pat of encouragement. "It does feel like they're planning to go to war with a whole country. But that doesn't make any sense, does it? It's not like a secret country could hide out here, somehow." "Someone should go with him." "I will, Ms. Rook! I understand these are good people, so don't worry." In due time, she takes off after Bond. Her invisibility will last her long enough to not draw ire from the guns; the hardest part is not kicking up little plumes of snow when she runs. When she shimmers back into visibility, her comfy puffer coat has been shed in exchange for a perfect imitation of a Russian GDF uniform. The fact that she can't pose as a man with that voice of hers is just something she'll have to hope slides by. She catches up with him around the time someone asks to see his teeth. Rita shoots Bond a hapless, pleading glance. "Tee- what do you mean? Why would you need to see our teeth?" Oh no.
Petra Soroka	All the scarves in the world couldn't protect Petra from the frigidity of Lilian's greeting. She shivers, despite herself, and opens her mouth to say something before shutting it with so much force that her teeth audibly clack. After taking a few moments to collect herself, Petra tries to take on that confident operation tone she's heard so often. Her voice is a bit too small for it to be convincing, though, and she refuses to look at Lilian while talking. "Cyber warfare is the part that really sticks out to me. If there's no settlement here in the mountains that could warrant that, and the Antegent don't fight like that, then there's some kind of other threat they're anticipating. Something... below, like Cantio said? Something across the pass, in those other Urban Centers? Would they, or any groups in them, have a reason to sabotage this?" <J-IC-Scene> Lilian Rook says, "They'll notice the battle bus right away." <J-IC-Scene> Lilian Rook says, "I've seen it fly. It's ungodly noisy." <J-IC-Scene> Petra Soroka says, "It can walk?" <J-IC-Scene> Lilian Rook audibly rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Okay. Okay, meet up with us that way. I'll transmit my minimum estimated radius from scouting it out earlier." Despite the abuse that Lilian peppered in there, Petra excitedly bounced on her toes. It's a mission! Something she can do! "I can take one other person, maybe two if we cram in there. If anyone else is headed up that way and needs transportation." It's not subtle, the note of pride in her voice. But first. <J-IC-Scene> Trudy Grimm says, "This will be so much easier if-- in fact, miss Soroka. How good is your targeting system? Long range? Full zoom?" <J-IC-Scene> Petra Soroka says, "The targeting system could totally work as a telescope, sure!" <J-IC-Scene> Trudy Grimm says, "Find me a nice shadow on the mountaintop, if you please, and let me take a look at it-- Petra scurries back into the Kana, beckoning to Trudy. The cockpit is... a bit uncomfortable to enter. It smells like old microwaved food and sweat, and there's some clothes just shoved into a corner. Petra spends a minute aligning the targeting system to a shadowy overhand near the top of the mountain, then gestures to Trudy to look at it. "Is that what you were looking for?"
James Bond	Teeth. This is the part of the job that they don't tell you about; the moments where preparation, intel and training don't form a completely stable footing. Where your blood turns to ice and you're left to either figure out something very quickly or find yourself on the wrong end of a gun. There was no mention in any pre-mission briefings about artifacts involving teeth as protection from Antegents. And so Bond, gently elbowing Rita with casual familiarity, bares his teeth for the officer. All human and accounted for. "Standard security protocol," he answers to Rita, calmly as if by rote. At least, he supposes it's because the Antegent here known for impersonation can't easily replicate. With easily adorned familiarity, he jokes, "New blood, if you're going to question everything we do here you're going to have a very long day, no?" His casual, bored air is betrayed by his inner willingness to go for the knife on his person at a moment's notice. Yes, Lilian was right--someone should have gone with him, and Rita was probably the right someone.
Rita Ma	Rita's blood is thoroughly iced. Bond's seen her with a gun pointed at her; she looked calmer, then. The fear of being 'found out' runs deeper than the fear of death. But she thinks only a little slower than him, and the genuine shame and embarrassment on her face are a good match for the embarrassment of her act. "No- no, you're very right. I'm sorry, sir. It's just, aren't we going to be late?" She gives the interrogating oficer an apologetic smile. She still has not shown him her teeth, of course.
Cantio	When Trudy reminds her, meanwhile, Cantio finally remembers to start heading for Petra's machine! The Kana gets a long stare from Cantio, too, and she has to fight the urge to poke and prod at it, to start taking pictures, to look for her screwdrivers and other tools in her case... She will, however, take a lot of notes. Questions to ask for later, mostly.
Lilian Rook	"It's not unheard of." Lilian says to Cantio. "All information can be compromised. All of it can be used as an attack vector. But Antegent aren't hackers. You don't fight that sort of thing with ewarfare protocols." She considers the question for a good while though. "High. I think. We need to consider the possibility that I was the only child who is still an unknown. The Himorogikage knows about Sakura, and it seems like these people might know about Oreshnika. If that's the case, then it depends. If they're local, I'd trust them more than the administration. If they're foreign, I wouldn't trust them with a flip phone." Lilian grimaces in a begrudgingly acknowledging way at Petra. "Enlightened feuds can go back centuries. International enmities are sometimes even harder to erase. If what's up there is valuable, there could be any number of reasons for wanting the Russian territorial administration to fail to get it." She pauses long enough to be clearly weighing whether or not to say something. "If they want a certain person, then it's probably enough to have two different governments interested." She nods towards to Ishirou. "Good luck, and play it safe." Alarmingly, Ishirou finds that 'FOB Hazel' has clearcut every tree for miles and pulverized rock formations, intentionally flattening the terrain to give them commanding uninterrupted visual out to miles away. This doesn't seem to be for matters of practical stealth, but it's a problem for him either way. He has to barely stay above the ground to remain convincingly under the radar ceiling, and may likely need to quickly handle target acquisition signals from pieces of the defense net concealed in the snow. He doesn't find any major signs of magic in the dark wilderness; lingering traces of days old spells that have degraded to noise, mainly. But he does see the convoy moving in. The entire thing is made up of two models the G.D.F's advanced walking tanks, no doubt owing to the terrain but rare enough to see already; however it is heavily hitched up with trailers for ostensible cargo transport. He can't actually see most of it, but the center pallet already has a couple of spare engineers working on readying it for delivery. Under bombproof glass, he catches a glimpse of a creature he recognizes; the same sort of Antegent that appeared at the Oda incident. Dead, of course, but the method of it is . . . It's like something flattened it into a nearly two-dimensional film. A thin layer of stone has been extracted with it, so that even its finely splattered blood is kept exactly in place. He can't imagine any kind of weapon he knows of doing that. At least Petra has zero trouble sighting a suitably dark spot on the mountains. The Urals were never excited hotly trafficked, and at this time of year, they're absolutely covered in frozen overhangs and recent pileups. Thick boreal forests have adequately regrown around their middle elevation belts in all these years, but if she doesn't mind being on the front-facing slope, she can find a highschool gymnasium-sized ice-slicked level patch beneath a rock shelf already near to the top of the closest.
Tamamo	'Have the Antegents ever shown themselves capable of getting into computer systems?' "Oh, yes, some were able to 'get into' a radio, in some fashion." Tamamo answers Cantio. It's unclear whether she sees a distinction between radios and computers. 'Tamamo . . . My beloved~' Tamamo is settled down with tea (but not snacks, the heat of the beverage being the main point), and reveals that she has additional cups when Ishirou contributes hot cocoa. Both, and the sugar in the latter, should help with what they're doing. She's happy to drink them separately, too. Most of all, she's happy to stay on Lilian's arm throughout, contributing the warmth (both figurative and literal) of her presence. Afterward, everything is put back away... somewhere. It's somewhere within her clothing, but apart from having been dried on the outside, it doesn't look like any sort of sensible packing. And then, it's as if she wasn't carrying anything extra at all, to the extent that one can look unburdened in such a fluffy coat. 'Something like one in four adults get their credit from the G.D.F here, I'm told.' "Oh, was this place not constructed for this operation, but is one often used? I had been unaware." Petra's arrival bids, all at once, a steely look of barely tolerable disgust, everything else vanishing from Lilian's face... Though Tamamo turns to look at Petra as Lilian does, what emotion is held in her golden, not-quite-human eyes, and what it is that they might be searching for in hers, is unreadable to everyone. 'Ah, miss Tamamo, miss Rook, and anyone else who wishes to try hiking the easy way, please gather around miss Soroka's machine.' Her own, smiling offer of carrying Lilian having been refused, Tamamo says, "Shall we, then?" and continues to offer her arm in moving toward Petra's mecha, at Trudy's invitation. To Lilian, "Perhaps you should cover my eyes for me, so as to remove the temptation."
Arthur Lowell	>Arthur: Give the girls a ride on the broomstick We're not doing this bit. >Arthur: Give the girls respectful transit and a fedora-tip There's just no winning with you. Arthur fumbles with some radio difficulties, then promptly gets to work. Arthur's not gonna be any good at stealth, so he breaks off from FOBquest, and instead heads to Trudy. While he may have more all-purpose gates, Trudy's particular brand of travel is more specialized, and furthermore, a little more locally appropriate, so his gut feeling is that it'll be more successful. Even still, he'd rather collaborate than laze about. "Lemme up in that MANA FLOW or whatever, for real." He declares, offering her a surge of geometric magics designed to open her options up and get them where they need to be on that mountainside as quick as possible. This means, also, harassing Petra Soroka, specifically trying to get her to let him plug in what appears to be a Gameboy Advance on a link cable into her machine of war, to use her targeting system with his huge Mage of Space brain for some kind of absurd magic tricks to enhance Trudy's efforts. This seems entirely optional, though.
Lilian Rook	Rita's invisibility gets her past the automatic defenses. Her replica uniform gets her past the personnel screen and down the road. But the checkpoint is that rare kind of security that one typically only hears of in theory: the kind where the people at it are getting paid enough to take the job very seriously. The officer squints at Bond with what looks like suspicious displeasure, until the former Mi6 agent is suddenly struck by the realization that the man is counting. Carefully. So is the rifleman beside him, actually. The field tech behind him is staring a hole in the back of his head. A few seconds later, the petty officer flips his polarized visor back down, and grunts "Could at least fucking smile if you're going to waste my time eh?" But that's not quite good enough. Bond is waved through by the tech, but his hand is held out for Rita. The rifleman mutters "She got a problem?", and the officer motions for Bond's attention, then tilts towards the girl who has not strictly followed procedure. "What role is she here for? First and last name. How long have you been travelling together without breaking contact? Where did you meet?" A brief pause. "What colour are her eyes?" Both of them should be able to tell well enough by now, given their prior investigation. This has something to do with leave-the-bodies protocol.
Ishirou	"What in the goddamn is with this preparation.." he mutters to himself. Keeping low to the ground is something he can do, but it's annoying because he's got to dedicate processing power to traversing rather than searching. As he flies by hidden defenses, he sends out signals to hack them into thinking he was just a sensor echo. Finally, he turns around closer to the convoy. Does the center pallet hold an Antegent of all things? Why..? More than that, the method of it being transported also grabs his interest. It's flattened to nearly two dimensions, and it seems to be smashed into a film of stone...the blood splattered on it. He lowers in, attempting to hack the minds of the two engineers messing with it, trying to see what they're doing with the Antegent, and where it is going. Also, what happened to it to make it like this?
Trudy Grimm	The illustrious Trudy Grimm almost enters Petra's machine. Almost. She stops at the entry hatch, though, simply leaning in to take in the surroundings. After a moment, she fixes a concerned expression on the mecha's pilot, "Girl, you live like this?" Shaking her head, she gestures, "A bit further down. Near the lights. I think that's a listening post of sorts, or a watchtower perhaps." Some minor corrections later, and the witch leans back out of the machine. Her own tiny portion of the kana's shadow deepens, which then spreads to fill in the entire shadow of the kana itself through the geometry provided by Arthur. On screen, the viewed shadow likewise deepens to a void-pitch black. "All aboard who's going aboard~," the witch calls out. And once those who opted to investigate the mountain lights have gathered, the entire mecha drops into the shadow as if it were landing in a pool of water. Seconds later, machine and passengers emerge from the partner shadow. Reaching up, Trudy catches something: An iced over wad of feathers and bones, struggling to ambulate. This is dropped into her shadow quite casually, where it disappears, "Thank you, take some rest~."
Rita Ma	Rita freezes when the hand's held out. You can just see her heart skip a beat. That's got to be a mark in her favor, right? Antegent wouldn't look scared. Or so her brain says, desperately trying to soothe her. None of the questions are directed at her, of course. But after giving Bond another desperately pleading look, she pipes up anyway: "My eyes?? That's- anybody can see them, right?" She catches herself before blathering any further. But that question in particular seems to have hit a sore spot.
Petra Soroka	Tamamo and Lilian's displays of affection draw Petra's attention, her gaze as inscrutable as Tamamo's. Though in her case, it's not because of wise alien mystique, just because her face is totally obscured. Behind that cozy cloth barrier, she's mulling over what Candy told her earlier, the thought coming unbidden and unwelcome to her mind. "Not fair that somebody who talks that much shit, who said the worst thing to me a person could say, doing all the shit I hate the most, could be a person with feelings and loves and regrets and hurts." Petra's doing her best to weather whatever comments Lilian throws her away, but she isn't in the mood to acknowledge that particular thing. Refuses to be in the mood to acknowledge it. "Girl, you live like this?" Petra stops her fiddling and freezes in place. Trudy can't see any of her skin flush red, but she can almost imagine hearing a cartoonish fweee, as if steam was coming out of her ears. "Um. Sorry. I should," She mumbles, and starts directionlessly pushing things around to clear up space. Petra's eyes light up at Arthur's flailing offer of a GBA. With recognition! Hers is gone, worlds away, but she'll let this esoteric little dude do whatever he wants. Petra braces herself for any other comments on the state of her mech as the others climb in, then screws her eyes up tightly, way too early.
Cantio	'High. I think. We need to consider the possibility that I was the only child who is still an unknown. The Himorogikage knows about Sakura, and it seems like these people might know about Oreshnika. If that's the case, then it depends. If they're local, I'd trust them more than the administration. If they're foreign, I wouldn't trust them with a flip phone.' Cantio grimaces slightly. "I was afraid of that. It's too inefficient, spending so much extra time and effort on preparing for a secondary issue rather than..." Trailing off, she lets out an irritated noise before getting into Arthur's ride. "Let's hope it's... Ugh. I don't even know if it'd be easier if the third party turns out to be one or the other. It'd be a mess either way." During the ride towards where Trudy and Petra are operating from, Cantio pores over the data Ishirou's feeding back to the group. "They really don't want anyone sneaking up on them... But if they're clearing this much out around them, then it could even be that they don't want anyone approaching them to have cover." There's a moment where it looks like she might fidget uncomfortably at that, but instead does that little 'huh' headtilt. "It's forward-thinking, at least." Joining those in the Kana to check out THE LIGHTS, she peers at Arthur's funky link cable for a moment before taking some time to just gawk at the interior of the Kana. She doesn't look disgusted, at least, but intrigued by all the new tech just there for her to stare at, discomfort be damned. Sadly, no chance to pick it apart. She might have to remember that for later, though. "I still have to wonder about the radio-infecting Antegent. If they could get into something like that, it's only a matter of time before they can do the same to something more complex." Considering Tamamo's words again, Cantio looks around at the interior of the Kana, then casts a more concerned look at her attache case. And then herself. She might look a little more worried about all this than before.
James Bond	"Easy, new blood," says Bond calmly. Answering the guard, he provides all the information without so much as a downwards twitch of his mouth. "Galina Koslova, Enlightened reserve personnel, category Delusive Intruder, skill level Silver Mirror. We've traveled together for fifty hours without losing contact. Met in the Krasnoyarsk Urban Center. Her eyes are pale brown."
Lilian Rook	Neither of the engineers Ishirou gains access to have any idea what happened to it. They simply found it like this, and returned to base once they had. They had some sort of mission scouting the prospective pass entry for 'anomalies'. An Antegent killed by something other than humans certainly counts. It'll be closely studied somewhere in the command complex. They have no idea why and don't intend to share their theories they've been discussing the whole way back. "I'm fairly certain it at least wasn't this big." Lilian says to Tamamo, reluctantly moving to the kana. "But it says something about the sheer amount of military power this region has to throw around. Dealing with the G.D.F branch of the isles is a completely different matter compared to that of the krais." Approaching the mech closely though, Lilian halts in her tracks at the edge of its shadow, her contempt-disgust now fully replaced with 'actually being kind of genuinely grossed out'. She complies promptly with Tamamo's wish by cozying up to her from behind and mischievously doing just that, while also conveniently turning her away from the cursed den of ramen cups and girl stink. Though the armour seems metal, her hands are warm. The teleport takes them all straight there. It's always sort of a coinflip in this world, with two sides that use teleportation just enough for countermeasures to matter. The cold is, of course, immediately far worse up this high. Though the destination isn't quite the literal tippy top of the rock, one can feel the air escaping from their lungs as the the breath they take in contains half the oxygen they let out. This is something that doesn't seem to impact Lilian at least, as a martial artist by the strict definition of the word, but the same might not be said of the more fragile sorts. Cold black crags and stark white snow is all that there is anywhere for as far as it matters. Taking but one step in the wrong spot is liable to plunge someone waist, or even neck deep into snow that has deceptively filled a drop or crevice-- or worse. A thin wind blows icy mist steadily down the slope, offering nothing in its mournfully whistling ambiance but the promise of immediate frostbite to exposed skin. This close to the top, directly under the light source, it's as if the whole world glows blinding white and plunges into pitch blackness with the constant flickering of a faulty bulb. But it isn't faulty. Exposed up close, the subtle fade of each transition of light and dark is much more visible, as is the semi-uniform length of each strobe. Clambering up just a little higher puts one in direct view of something like a squat and round cobblestone lighthouse, barely as tall as a suburban house, and made of the same stones as the mountain. Within a cage of ice-laminated wood foggy glass, a single enormous flood lamp blazes against a giant swivel mirror from the turn of last century, blasting it with mixed short and long pulses of brilliance interspersed with semi-random periods of darkness. The sheer wattage makes it relatively warmer close to the structure, but the single wooden door is still laminated with ice, and there doesn't seem to be any sign of anyone in it.
Ishirou	That's...weird. So they just found it. Okay, hold on. What could do that? Another Antegent, or...a magic user, a powerful one at that. Ishirou thinks slowly, then attempts to scan the creature, looking for any residual magic. Maybe there is a source he could start following. He also records the entirety of the creature to research later. Releasing a breath, he considers his next move. Despite having a lead on that magic trail before, he doesn't have one now...but... Are they perhaps building these structures and following a trail..?
Cantio	The sudden shock of cold kills Cantio's temptation to ask endless questions about the Kana. Instead, she's feeling rather thankful for her extra bundling now, and for that hit of drink from Rita's thermos so much earlier. It's not of much physical use now, but the warm feeling inside is better than nothing. After fighting the urge to stay inside, she comes out of the machine to get a better look at all the crags and fallen snow surrounding them. More importantly, she sees the lighthouse with ice-coated door. Opening up her attache case, Cantio sends a drone towards the lighthouse first to make sure it doesn't just explode upon going near the structure, and then she approaches the lighthouse itself to inspect the door. "Unless there's another entrance somewhere higher up or on the other side, I don't think anyone's been in or out of this place for a while." Running a hand over the sheet of ice, Cantio pulls her fist back as if preparing to punch the thing, then remembers that she can just go right through it and does exactly that, walking through the ice and door in one go. She does a quick sweep of the immediate area past the door to make sure she didn't just walk into a deathtrap, and then she turns around to try and get the door open for everyone else without having to break it open.
Petra Soroka	Thankfully, inside the Kana, the shift in temperature and pressure is completely negated. Unfortunately, Petra poking her head out along with the others puts her at full vulnerability to the climate, and it knocks the breath out of her. Without thinking, she retreats back inside, taking deep breaths of warm, full air to recover. It's the practical decision. Once Cantio communicates that the lighthouse structure seems to be empty, Petra starts moving the Kana as close as she can to it, positioning it so that there's no risk of light glinting off of its hull. "Is it... sending a signal, maybe? Like morse code?"\|
Tamamo	Tamamo is conveniently saved from looking into the dark void. She really is a curious sort, though whether she's that curious has yet to be proven. There's even more reason to stay close once they're up the mountain. Despite her stock of charms and healing supplies, she doesn't act like someone too well prepared, closing her eyes to the wind and covering her breath to help warm it with her fingers. "Oh, is that... a mirror? I would like to see, perhaps, for what it might be used." As she says that, Tamamo's own mirror, that heavy and ornate artifact, appears floating beside her, materializing a presence that had been there from the start. With one hand held to it, but not quite touching, she turns her attention toward understanding the lighthouse. Her touch is light and careful, with attention to wards and others as might be listening.
Lilian Rook	James picks about the ballsiest possible play to fake his way out of this one, and also, it seems, the only correct one. The petty officer has already brought up some digital readout or another, judging by the faint glow visible on the lower half of his face from the dropped visor but removed mask. The fact that it is probably a personnel roster becomes apparent when he makes a noise of irritation exactly at 'Enlightened'. Just as clear as he was ready to check the whole roster for those exact credentials is the evidence that the rank and file don't get to know anything about their magic-using allies. Whether that's administrative policy, a strategic concern, or a concession that had to be made to earn their cooperation, it's impossible to tell, but the guy doesn't look happy about it. When they're finally waved through, Rita can hear him muttering something about 'the second 'kid' they've brought in already'. The small mercy is that from there the security is dedicated exclusively to esoteric magic checks (which neither of them particularly have any reason to care about), and an airport-esque wave down with instrumentation with the ostensible purpose of detecting abnormalities that might be carried in on the equipment of a soldier without realizing it; Bond checks out, and Rita, as it seems gets to be exempt-- she might imagine for the same reasons Lilian is never checked at any of these times either. The problem is that from there, they're expected to be separated. Nobody seems to have any illusions that a young female Enlightened was travelling alone with a random NCO for so long, and they want Bond assigned to a bunk in the outer barracks and Rita 'the Pillar' somewhere in the close vicinity of the command dish complex.
Arthur Lowell	>Arthur: Sink in the snow like a chump Nah. Arthur's antigravity drifting at least prevents that from being any kind of issue. But the cold does. Such a brutal chill! He has to put a few small deep-red stars in orbit around himself, warming him up immediately. "Holy fuck, I'm gonna freeze my fucking eyeballs out." He mutters, shuddering in his fur-lined god-tier outfit. He pulls two of the suns in closer, then eats the third entirely, trying to bite back the cold. But he drifts to the lighthouse. What is that light pattern? He knows geometry, not cryptography. Is it a code? A ritual? Is there a magical element? An aspect of guidance? It feels impossible to know. So he tries to follow Cantio, and instantly almost walks directly into the door. Okay, no intangibility. He tries to sort of slam through it by shoulder-checking through the ice-film. It's gotta be warmer inside!
James Bond	"It seems we're meant to split up. Unfortunate--but we can still work with it." In the small moment they have to themselves before they'll start to get dirty looks, Bond shares a little with Rita--information she can use to keep her disguise up against social scrutiny as well as visual. "'Delusive Intruder' ought to be pretty self-explanatory. 'Silver Mirror' means you're experienced enough with your 'magic' to call on it reliably, but also still learning about it and yourself. Keep that in mind if someone should ask for a demonstration, hm? Remember, you're 'Galina Koslova.' Good luck." He keeps his voice low, but his expressions are animated, as one might expect of a farewell at the end of a long journey. He claps her on the shoulder amiably, then waves, making his way to the outer barracks. That ought to do nicely, as a place to pick up details, and maybe earn an 'assignment' to glean more about what goes on here.
Rita Ma	Rita's shoulders collapse with entirely genuine relief. She huddles down into her own oversized coat for comfort and safety. "Thank you," she says, ostensibly to the inspecting officer. Aiming it at Bond would make it a bit too obvious. "I really do mean it," she murmurs quietly, when they're a little further from prying ears. "That would've been... well, I couldn't think of what to do. You really are used to this, aren't you?" She doesn't sweat the magic checks at all, of course. The idea of an airport-esque sweep-down unnerves her, but she sighs with soft relief when she gets to be exempt. "Mmmm! 'Galina Koslova'. Don't worry, Mr. Bond," she says on the other side. The clap on the shoulder makes her brighten up, adorably sunny. "They want me near where I'm meaning to go, anyway, so... thank you. It all worked out." She waves him goodbye with the appropriate amount of cameraderie, and then turns and heads where she's directed- 'the Pillar'. It's the path of least resistance, conveniently near the command center, and intuitively feels worth investigating in its own right.
Trudy Grimm	The transition from 'basically sea level' to 'mountain' doesn't hit Trudy as hard as most. She does take a conscious moment to exhale, then inhale normally. Given her proclivity for going long periods without breathing at all, it's not a particularly dire change for her. She had ridden on the outside of Petra's Kana, though. And disembarking is as simple as hopping off once the shadows have returned to normal. Bringing her hands up, she gestures to the mountain scenery, "Isn't it so much more lovely than that dreary forward base? Ah, but they've clearly been up here as well." She regards the lighthouse-like structure for a moment while the weasels that make up her coat rustle about warily. After some thought, she offers, "Perhaps it is as it appears; a lighthouse. Ships would rely on them to avoid dangerous shores. Would this maybe serve a similar purpose for aircraft? It may not be anything particularly nefarious." Arthur starts banging against the door and she sighs, "You can summon stars to warm yourself, but not melt some ice?" Something scrabbles within her shadow, gloved hands gripping the edge as if it were some cavernous pit. A figure hauls itself free, clad in a long military trench coat, gas mask, and hood. Faintly glowing green crystals jut out of his body through tears in the uniform, matching the green glow behind the lenses of his mask. Most notably upon his back are a set of old tanks, marred with patches of rust. The Soldier unclips a nozzle from the side of his backpack, lifting it up and igniting the pre-lighter on the end. If someone doesn't come up with a better solution, Trudy's cute friend is going to solve the ice problem with a flamethrower.
Lilian Rook	Ishirou's continued scanning is quite conclusive. There are no signs of any magic whatsoever on the Antegent remains. There is no doubt its demise was accomplished with purely nonmagical means. Bond continues to attract a stink eye for a short distance, but in a place like this, it takes no time at all before every pair of eyes that even bothers to look his way has never seen him before anyways; most don't, being just another identical helmet in the vetted crowd. Rita isn't exactly clearly guided, but she might get the idea by the time she starts to feel the air growing warm and electric, hear the sounds of animals(?), and see the tip of an extremely tall triangular-prism structure above the brand new buildings, like a three-sided obelisk. The small portion she can see is carved extensively with faces and tree imagery. Up on the mountaintop, Lilian makes a sound of annoyance at Petra's guesst, but begrudgingly answers "By the look of it, probably. It's certainly not pure morse, even if you look at it for only a minute, but it never flashes more than nine times in a row, and it only has a short and long length." Lilian lays her fingers on the ice-slicked stone for a moment. "And it has to be much older than the FOB down below." Tamamo finds no wards on the structure. The most significant item is a simple charm for luck and fair weather stuck into the ground just outside. Indeed, plumbing its mysteries past, she is treated to a whirlwind of countless days and nights swirling all around her, flashes of moon and sun, snow and water, passing by years in but a minute of focus. For the bulk of it, the light isn't even used, though there are many flickering visits from unknown individuals whose presence is worth but a moment of time, appearing on the mountaintop in thick layers of furred clothes without apparent means, entering and leaving again, occasionally exiting with packs lighter than before. The vision history slows down for seconds at a time, here and there, and always to see the mirrors on all the surrounding peaks flickering bright, just before it looks as if a piece of the sky itself falls, somewhere in the range nearby, and shakes even the mountain underfoot. Only at the very beginning does it finally slow all the way, even if for barely any longer. A view of summer. A view with the boreal forests almost wiped free of the mountainside. Blue-green skies and a mist like powdered metal. Coat-clad individuals wear respirator masks of some kind, but seem in high spirits, taking turns carving the charm themselves, ostensibly to christen the site before the light is turned on for the first time. Someone says something about a 'sacred birth'. Cantio phases through the door without issue. It takes her into a small, squat, lukewarm space, with wooden floors that have been weather-sealed the old fashioned way, and a short ladder to the floor above. There is nominally a pair of cots for sleeping on, a drying rack for clothes, and an open and empty longchest for supplies, around a cleared gravel fire pit, but most of the space seems to be for what looks like an enormous battery, slapdash and improvised from what look like manually cast parts, but clearly functional, and, connected to it, fully obsolete, last generation ham radio equipment, currently receiving a crackling signal. She can see a hunting rifle propped against the wall, a heavy duty cable strewn across the floor, and--
Lilian Rook	A dead body. Face down. Wearing a rustic parka with two neat holes torn through the back of the hood. Two more are punched in the opposite wall, where she feels a miniscule draft. Half-dried blood coats the floor, sticky enough to be most of a day old. Some small, polygonal black object is physically attached to the crusty old radio, but besides the empty storage chest, nothing else appears amiss. Wait. No. Something flat and curved and beige-green has been stuck to the underside of the loft floor, behind the ladder. Trudy may help getting in, but it's Arthur in the way of forcing down the door. The subtly menacing click-ping of broken wire follows. There is an ear-piercing explosion, and the doorway is shot through with hundreds of tungsten ball bearings.