Boston: foggy, humid, cute. It’s only day one of the conference but I’m already exhausted... at least my poster session is over. Very meh. But I had a nice (if very drippy) run around the gardens at lunchtime 😊
Orders in place Itrius sent half the team to clear a path. Searing their way through the maze the slow trepidation approach was long gone. The other half was left to prepare the bombs.
The plan was to push the tree to fall into the north. This wasn’t like a normal tree they could chop down for fuel. The towering monstrosity would probably dwarf some of the spires back in the Dawnspire. Eclipse told him they had a plan of attack, and as they marched along ashen path it was starting to come into focus.
As his task force gouged their way through the plants Eclipse’s chosen followed. Stringing along the gunpowder to form the noose for the execution. Just a bit longer and they would knock down the tree and light the entire city a blaze. With his helm gone there was nothing to hide the smile growing on his face.
There were still many questions though that addled his thoughts. Despite killing several of the citizens as they slept the group was still surrounded in enemies in all directions. Moving over to the first of their kills Itrius found Eclipse dissecting the flower.
The Crimson Commander had hacked off one of the petals and was already butchering the rest of it. They must have noticed the him watching as they paused for a moment before. A sense of silence wafted between the two commanders. Nothing was shared. With the barest hint of a shrug Eclipse continued their harvest, taking samples and examining the structure of it.
Lifting up the repulsive sponge of the butchered petal they checked to see the base. Entwined into the wood of the branch below the sprout must have gathered many of its nutrients, or whatever it fed on from there. Gripping the stem of this flower Eclipse gave it a hard shake. The liquid in the bowl sloshed about as the plant was waved, but it did not come free.
Itrius nodded at the examination. His mind transfixed on this mystery, the rest of the city seemed to have melted away. Watching the flower move violently he caught the outline of something else beneath the petals. “Stop. what’s that?” Eclipse halted from trying to uproot the plant.
Kneeling down the blood red knight tugged the remains of the already hacked up petal away. Sliding his gloved hand along the bottom of the surface. Being that close to the vile thing should have been nauseating. Eclipse didn’t shrink away from being brought face to face with the bowl of foul liquid. Finally reaching the base of the flower he clenched his hand and with a small grunt they tugged away… something.
Standing back up they turned to Itrius and revealed a fleshy ball. Examining the object they kept their voice calm “It bares fruit.”
Tugging a knife free from his belt Eclipse dragged it along the skin of the ball. Cutting deep into the meat the blade sunk quickly inside. With a stomach turning pop the fruit exploded with a slick oil.
Quirking an eyebrow Itrius pushed his breakfast back and turned away. He thought the flower smelled bad.
Golden eyes trailing the path they had cut he noticed the crew of Crimsons had almost disappeared on the far side. Gaze following the trunk upwards he couldn’t help but to look for the same fruit again. Giant petals blocked out the sun above, but in the shadows there was no mistaking the structures.
Narrowing his eyes to try and count the number of fruit. Pausing on each in turn he guessed there were maybe 4 visible. Bringing a hand to his eyes he tried to strain them even more. One..two...three, maybe there were just three.
“Sunshatter.” The voice broke his attention from the ghastly fruit. Eclipse merely tapped his wrist.
Right… he had to focus on the task at hand.
The Phoenix Guard and the Crimson Sun had worked well on this operation. Clearing a path to the tree and a ring around its base there was a swathe of singed petals and charred wood. They may have been people once, this was the only mercy they could afford.
Reaching the north flank the three Knights saluted Eclipse. In unison they announced the plan was ready. Itrius waved over his own soldiers. Time for a briefing. “So this is going to be an operation of dominos. One charge will set off another, and then another, and then this whole mess gets brought down.”
Pivoting to look at the primary charges Itrius nodded. There were four large bombs spread along this half of the tree. Flanking them all was a pair of large metal weights “Lets begin then. Eclipse I believe this was a plan of your making? I don’t have the details.”
Shaking their head Eclipse brought their hand to point at one of their Knights. “This is Goldschmidt’s field of expertise.”
The smallest of the three knights practically leapt forward the faceless mask seemed to light up in joy as their time had finally come. “So, this is a Drillbot original straight out of the mad goblin’s play book. I am not going to explain taking down a tree, but these babies are going to make the lead cut.” Blowing out his fingers to simulate the event. The crowd seemed less than amused by the theatrics
“Fine, fine, moving on. The first explosion will knock a big chunk out, and toss the balls out.” Whistling as he finger gunned into the north field. “And then the magic starts, following them will be the ‘Slicer’. What is that you may ask? Well the ‘Slicer’ is a chain wrapped in thermite that's what it is. Like a hot wire through butter this thing can melt titansteel, so this tree is going down, in flames, and because of the lead it will fall on its ass. All according to plan.” Cocking a thumb at his face he arced it from one side of his mask to the other. Ending by pointing behind him. “And we get the hell out of here.”
Tilting an eyebrow at the presentation Itrius had to admit the plan sounded insane. He had come to trust the Crimsons though, this was their home. They had shown they knew what they were doing. “Alright, then. I trust everyone got that right?”
“I can explain it again if you’d like?” Goldschmidt seemed far too excited at the idea.
"That will be enough." Eclipse's words were hard with finality-- but came with a haste unusual to him. Perhaps he had heard such 'explanations' one too many times to allow for another.
Itrius rose his hand. Eclipse made more than clear that giving him more time would have been a mistake. “What I want to know is where we will hide from the blast.”
Goldschmidt tilted his head. “Hide? If we hide we can’t see it?” Turning to Eclipse he shrugged at his leader. “I didn’t think of that part.” quickly looking from side to side he scanned the surrounds. “THERE!” pointing out to a nearby building. “Should be clear of the blast there, and able to see the show.”
Looking over to Eclipse Itrius’ question was written on his face. Are you serious? His returned nod was all the answer the Captain needed. Suppressing his sigh he closed his eyes and mouthed a prayer to the Sun. “Is everything ready then?”
Goldschmidt snapped a salute. Hand hitting his mask with a bit to much enthusiasm. “Just give me the word!”
~~~~
4 of the 5 chapters done in this tale and my @stormandozone is keeping me strong. Thank you love. Stay tuned tomorrow for the finale of Flares.
kitty snuggles help the poster-making process. fresh veggies from the garden. very slow bloaty bleh run but I did it. Off to Boston tomorrow! Who else is going to goldschmidt?
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