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The underground training area at Camp Constantine is rather empty, what with most everyone being somehow deployed in responding to the Rat Hosts. Yoshitsune remains here, however. Holding down the proverbial fort and waiting for the precautions and measures taken to bear fruit or corpses, as fortune dictates. While he is not in the field himself, he is wearing his ceremonial armor and helmet, though his mask is hanging open, its intimidating oni visage exchanged for the aging face of the one behind it. He is kneeling back on his haunches, palms resting on his grasped thighs, calmly receiving mental broadcasts from the fighting still underway. There's no Go board present, just a table with a map, a now cold tea service, and a similar sake service. With the proper mage sight, the map can be seen to flicker with Prime phantasms representing units in the field around Centralia.
This is the hardest part of command. Watching it all unravel and fall to the hands of those in the fighting to improvise.
Dandelion had been teleported from Centralia to safety, and her first request from whoever met her on the other end was for her to be brought to Camp Constantine. Before a shower, before a meal. She wanted to go to report.
While she's physically hale and healthy, she's covered in grime, her hair loose, lank and greasy, bleeding from a single claw attack that managed to get through the protection of the flak jacket. Ichor and blood stain the armor and Dandelion's face, and she smells like one might expect, after having been kept in Centralia for around a week without changing clothes or showering.
But she's here, and holding the swords Master Yoshitsune had sent her, and there's an unmistakeable look of triumph on her face.
"My spy returns to me," Yoshitsune declares in his usual bold and explosive manner of speech. "I see you received my letter. Come. Sit." Yoshitsune lifts his left hand from his thigh and gestures across the low table from himself, then returns his hand to his thigh smartly.
"In the future I would prefer you to ask if you might infiltrate the enemy's fortifications." No talk of allowing herself to be captured. "What have you learned."
She moves to kneel across from him, setting the swords down beside herself.
"The goal of the Beshilu was not merely to derive power from the act of sacrifice. They had jars prepared to contain the souls of their victims, which are now all shattered. An ephemeral entity had a conditional Ban set on those jars as an alarm system, an attempt to ensure that whoever broke them would not escape. It was possible to abjure the effect, and in doing so become the ban of that entity."
A pause, a moment of thought. "In addition to the slaves in chains, forced to do work for the Beshilu--carrying jars and the like--there is a man in a very fine suit who appears to be a willing collaborator."
"You have done well. They were foolish to allow a Talon to penetrate their defenses so brazenly. How many are now dead by your hand and the hands of those who reinforced your position?" As he asks the question, Yoshitsune draws back his sleeves and reaches for the sake bottle. It is black with gold leaf inlays showing a crane beinding its bill over a still pond. He lifts it and gently pours two cups of sake, then sets the bottle back down. He lifts one of the cups in both hands and bows as he presents it before Dandelion. "Tell me of this collaborator. And then it will be time for the sake." He moves his own cup before himself, and does not drink.
She accepts the cup with both hands and an echoing bow.
"Together, we destroyed four of them, but were unable to contain the rats. I dealt the final blow to one, with your blade. Another infiltrator, a young person with a talent for summoning and manipulating fire, assisted with the battle, as did Little Fox and a vampire named Finley. Little Fox worked herself to the point of pain and exhaustion, using magic to ensure the Beshilu fell. As for the infiltrator, if I worked alongside an artist, I could get you a good sketch of him. At no point did I see signs of him being other than human--he had no nimbus and I did not see displays of other power from him."
"Then find an artist. We will distribute his likeness. There were statements to this effect prior. Our intelligence gathering team uncovered a great deal of his work. His involvement with the air ducts, with the cells. But we lacked a first hand account and a likeness. Hopefully this will prove useful if he escapes the events of this night." Yoshitsune looks briefly distracted, then gestures a hand over the map to adjust some of the phantasms on the board. The noose is slowly drawing tighter.
"Will you permit me to heal your injuries and cleanse your sickness?" He asks the question as he reaches for his cup of sake and lifts it up to his lips, tilting it back with a slurp.
"Little Fox cleansed me of my sickness before our battle, but I would appreciate you healing the injuries. I wouldn't be able to drink sake, if someone weren't managing that aspect for me. It interacts poorly with my medications." She smiles. "Your foresight in sending good armor was vital. I didn't think to have any on me, when I managed to discover the exact location of the lair."
"Little Fox and myself have fought the Abyss together before. In Maine. She was very eager to act as messenger in that regard. I thought you might appreciate the opportunity to do some damage before reporting back to me. I am pleased to discover I was correct." Yoshitsune then lifts his hand, gesturing sharply at Dandelion. After a few moments, and a flare of a Chrysanthemum scented nimbus that sharpens the senses, the wound is healed. Good as new, more or less. His hand returns to his thigh. "You have the medications necessary to continue to treat your conditions, yes? Or do you require assistance in that regard. Master Juno can fabricate whatever medications you may require, and my life magics can stand in for them in the interim, if necessary."
"Once I return to my cadre's home, I will have everything I need on hand." She licks her lips--it's a fairly common quirk from her, when people are casting--and then she drinks her sake, to taste how it mingles with the flavor of magic in her mouth.
"Allow me to return your swords and armor to you. They served me very well, on my mission. I felt like I was young again, getting up close in a fight. I think I may have managed to impress my fellow infiltrator--not only was I right about us having backup, but I wasn't lying when I said I know what I'm doing with a blade."
"Then I will not detain you further. You have upheld your duties well, Talon. You are a credit to your order and to your banner. Perhaps one day I will take you to the Chrysanthemum Throne so you can meet the one who gifted those blades to me. I hope to see it again before my end." Yoshitsune sets down his cup and holds his hands out to receive back the daisho. "You may keep the armor. For the next time you entertain the idea of infiltrating the enemy." He means getting ambushed, of course. At least so the twinkle in his eye suggests. "We fossils must stick together. Eh?" He barks a single sharp laugh. "You are dismissed, Talon. Rest, reflect, celebrate with your cadre. We will die another day."
She nods and levers her way to her feet. "Thank you, Adamant Sage. For everything." And there's a respectful bow, before she leaves, a smile lingering on her face.
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