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| Details |
| Author: | inkie |
| Summary: | Atley rides straight from Sunday's catastrophe to Paw'don Village to consult with the ranking Alliance officer present, now that the other ranking Alliance officer has dropped a monument on himself. Lena lends her expertise. Admiral Fallon delegates. No one says Admiral Taylor is a bonehead, but the subtext is there. |
| Rating: | T for Teen |
The golden afternoon sunlight that slants across the tiled rooftops and apple blossoms of Paw’don Village is wildly incongruous with the chaos-stained charnel grounds a few miles to the north. It is clear, though, that something of that scene has cast its long shadow all the way down here: A number of the pandaren villagers have emerged to stand in uneasy groups around the edge of the central terrace, murmuring together. The lower terrace, meanwhile, is a field of gleaming blue and gold — and steel — where Alliance sailors and marines have formed up in armed and blank-faced ranks.
Admiral Fallon is standing a little removed from the head of the group, by the stairs that lead up to the next terrace. He and Marine Captain Marcus Bray are in intent, low-voiced — and impatient, to judge from the Admiral’s body language — conference with Paw’don’s Mayor Khang.
Atley rides into Paw’don at full tilt, coming from miles to the north. His Cobalt Company cloak snaps violently in the wind, the winged crests on his helm flashing blue and gold. Hal’vyr’s black coat, what little of it isn’t buried beneath ornate Alliance barding, catches the sun as the steed’s muscles strain underneath.
Atley tugs the reins sharply, and the beast obeys without hesitation, slowing to a measured pace fit for a crowded village. He doesn't appear to be winded in the slightest, merely solemn and attentive to his rider's commands.
The rider's square jaw is set, his features grim. Thunderfury hums and crackles idly on his back, its twin prongs jutting out from behind his back, nestled close to the door-like shield emblazoned with the Royal Seal of Lordaeron, impossibly and magically without scorching it with the blade's restrained electric power. He works his jaw, eyes narrowed as he studies the crowd without truly seeing any one of them.
Lifting his head, he spots the Alliance contingent and guides the towering warhorse through the milling Pandaren. He rides Hal'vyr straight down the steps to the lower terrace and proceeds, either locating a hole through the formations of marines and sailors or expecting one to appear as he advances on them.
After he arrives at the foot of the stairs leading to the next terrace, his gaze locks onto one man in particular — Admiral Siamus Fallon.
“We need to speak. Alone,” he growls, unblinking.
Lena Coit, there among the sailors, turns as Atley rides into their midst. She moves towards him with a grim focus, making her own pathway through the crowd. She pauses near the base of the stairway when he speaks, and then shrinks back a step, watching Dane with a question in her gaze.
The Admiral's attention is already on Atley — hard to miss that entrance — and he holds a hand up curtly to cut off whatever Captain Bray is saying. "Sir Atley," he says, his tone cold and sharp-edged. He looks Dane over, then turns to the two men he's been conferring with. "A moment, gentlemen."
Captain Bray nods and salutes, stepping back. Mayor Khang looks a little lost, but nods too.
"Here," Siamus tells Atley, and gestures at the small side-terrace where a group of shuttered market stalls stand. "Kearnen will hold your horse." One of the sailors steps forward, conjured by that command.
Behind the dutiful sailor, Siamus catches the movement of Lena in the ranks. He pauses, his black gaze resting inscrutably on her a moment. "Mrs. Shine," he snaps. "Wi' me." That is also a command.
The Admiral does not wait for answers or to see whether his directions are complied with — the conclusion is obviously foregone — but strides to the smaller terrace himself. The vacant market stalls form a screen of privacy.
At the command, Lena's hesitation falls away, and she steps quickly to join the two men, reaching the bottom of the stairs as Atley dismounts. She's in uniform, blue and gold, and there's no visible sign that she's anything other than one of the company — no demons, no tell-tale hint of green fel.
As she looks toward Atley, there's a bracing tension in her, like one waiting for a blow to land, but not sure where it will strike and how hard.
Atley marches up the stairs, prying off his helmet, revealing oak-colored hair slick back to his head by sweat, and only makes it halfway up before he side-eyes Lena. "Shine is alive and well," he tells her, his voice at a controlled volume, loud enough to be heard by only the two of them. "As is the rest of the squad. But I warrant he'll be needing you."
At Atley's words, Lena exhales in relief. Maybe it’s just the release of worry, but there's a shine in her eyes that might be a hint of tears. "I'll be here," Lena answers, just as quietly. "Well, unless… no, I'll be there for him somehow, no matter what. I'll find a way."
Couching his helmet under his arm, Atley follows Siamus into the emptied space. "Have we got a map about?"
Siamus has removed his own hat and dragged a hand back through his hair. He arches a sardonic brow. "On me? One moment."
He steps to one side, visible again to those mustered outside. "Lieutenant Baird. A map."
A moment later, a lean young man with clear, gray-blue eyes appears. He hands the Admiral a rolled chart and salutes before melting out of line of sight, back into position with the ranks.
Siamus crosses to one of the shuttered market stalls. He sets his hat on the empty counter and unrolls the map beside it.
Atley grunts and marches over. "Admiral Taylor received word that a large host of hozen under the command of General Nazgrim were moving south. He mobilized the jinyu we've trained and equipped and moved to meet them, along with the SI:7 attache." He taps the Serpent's Heart. "They clashed here. We saw it all. Nazgrim arrived with two hundred of them or so, squarely disciplined for hozen and marching in formation, carrying Horde sigils."
He works his jaw. "It wasn't long after the fighting began that the statue itself crumbled and fell. Both the Admiral and the General got clear of it in time, but then a Sha of great size emerged. Some twenty stories, at the least."
He tongues the inside of his cheek and shakes his head. "By then, both armies had been routed or destroyed. They call it the Sha of Doubt. My squad was able to subdue it and drive it back, but the damage to the land is immense, and the monster is still in power, somewhere. We managed to save Admiral Taylor and two SI:7 agents. Sully McLeary, the dwarf, and Mishka, the draenei. They've been utterly incapacitated, and the rest are missing in action. Those we've saved are in the care of Lorewalker Cho —"
His gaze lifts, and he looks to Siamus. "A neutral party, a local sage, but someone we can trust to heal them."
His teeth suddenly grind. "I cannot speak to how the Horde managed to move their forces so swiftly and secretively from the north, but they've little to show for it now. They've been hit just as hard as we have, though we haven't got a confirmed death of the general."
With a slow, steady exhale. "The statue was not mere ornament. It was part of a sacred process to bring about the rebirth of Yu'lon, the Jade Serpent, venerated in these lands. The locals will not take this well," he warns with a stern tone. "Yu'lon herself was present, afterward, and bids us no ill will, but this is a dark day."
Lena stares at the map while Atley explains the worst of it, her expression carefully neutral. Still, her jaw tenses at the news of the losses, and her gaze holds on the marking of the Serpent's Heart on the map afterward.
Siamus continues to gaze down at the map as Atley speaks, and does not look up for a long moment afterward. His jaw is tight.
Abruptly he smacks the heel of his hand hard against the map and the counter on which it rests; the sharp, angry gesture is the only betrayal of emotion, and when he looks up his gaze is hard and calm and clear. "I cannot fathom," he says, "what Admiral Taylor was thinking."
Atley doesn’t react to the table slam. The unchanging nature of his expression suggests that he might have been expecting it.
"Do we need to comb for more survivors?" Lena asks, not raising her eyes. "Are there likely to be more? I can't always find those I don't know, but if you have names I can try to draw in the lost who may have survived."
Siamus gives Lena a curt nod. "Have a word with Captain Bray. If Taylor took the whole of his forces from Pearlfin, then he had a handful of Bray's marines with him. Have the Captain give ye names, and see if any will answer a summons. Baird!"
This last is evidently itself a summons and not a brusque non-sequitur, because the young officer materializes again seconds later.
Siamus turns half away from the map. "Lieutenant Baird. Pass word to the ship for Brother Eli and Mr. Fox, and then take them and a dozen men — include Kettering as well — over to Pearlfin Village. They've just lost something like a third of their number, whether or not they know it yet. See what needs done there, if we can lend them help or stores, and have Eli meet wi' their Elder waterspeaker about paying respects." He pauses. "No, don't send for 'em. Mrs. Shine can summon Eli and Fox from the ship. Get gone as soon as."
Atley turns partway from the counter, his free hand bracing against his hip with a clenched fist as he watches it all unfold.
Baird's expression does not shift. He salutes. "Aye, sir."
"Aye, sir," Lena echoes, and steps over towards Baird. As she does so, she raises her gaze to Atley and asks, "What of the Jade Serpent? You say she's alive now, but… have we killed her slow-wise? Or can we fix this somehow?"
Atley looks to Lena. “She’s alive, and still powerful, but in an aged, weary state. To pass on properly, she’ll need another statue constructed. That’s the only way this can be fixed. Until then, she’ll live.”
He narrows his eyes in thought. “Amber Kearnen. Rell Nightwind. SI:7 Agents, now MIA. ‘Bold Karasshi,’ and ‘Little Lu.’ Both jinyu that’ve worked heavily alongside us. Prominent among the Pearlfin.” He shakes his head. “The rest of our side is scattered around the Serpent’s Heart, if they’re still alive.”
Siamus folds his arms across his chest. "If there's anything can be salvaged of the statue, I can send men to help. Ye contained the Sha-thing? How securely?"
Atley turns to Siamus. “The land is scorched by Sha flame. We came across fragments of the statue. The largest was a piece of jade the size of a melon. Great portions of the statue itself are still intact. Still, it’s worth seeing the destruction that’s been wrought for yourself.” He inhales sharply. “We’ve yet to see its like. As for the Sha, we drove it back, but not for long. And not securely.” His gaze sharpens as he looks between them. “Almost as if it’s hiding. Waiting. It will need to be killed.
“Lorewalker Cho will be of great aid. He was learning that all of this was foretold, a part of a prophecy, but he was too late to stop it. Sha of this size were once a thing of myth, even to the Pandaren, but they have defeated or tamed these things in the past. It’s said that the ancient Pandaren emperor, Shaohao, defeated and trapped this thing here, ten thousand years ago.”
Siamus nods slowly, his brows knit. "Aye, all right. I'll ride up and see it for myself. And bring a party wi' me —" He glances at Lena again. "Call Mr. Platt from the ship as well." To Atley he says, "Though I expect your own healer did what he could already."
Atley inclines his head in confirmation.
Siamus shakes his head. "I'll have to report to the Admiralty once I've had a look over. And we should send some people north, as well, to see what Horde numbers might remain. I can't say I put much faith in the airbase Rogers left behind her, if we had no word until they were actually on the march."
He studies Atley for a moment. "Your people are the ones established dealings wi' this Jade Serpent and her temple, and the Lorewalker. In the face of the showing Taylor just made for the Alliance military, I'll leave ye to continue managing those relationships yourselves. I'll confine my people to practical aid of the locals for now. Whatever ye find out or your contacts need, though — to kill this thing or trap it again or anything else — if ye require extra hands for it, I've got the hands to lend."
He casts his eyes briefly skyward, exasperated or weary or both. "I'm meant to be gone west in two days' time, to look into dredging a harbor at the cove there. I'll send Captain Foyle or Captain Skylarke instead to get that underway. The situation here seems more pressing."
Atley nods again as Siamus delegates. “As you say. We’ll handle it and I’ll keep you apprised. I’ll join you for the ride to the Serpent’s Heart.”
He lowers an armored finger to tap the Tian Monastery on the map, as well as the northern area just beyond it. “I’ve a second squad active here. They’ve a healer and a spare. They’ll be placed on notice to spot any of ours that’ve routed — or theirs. And maintain relations.”
Siamus nods. "Miss Herald's wi' that squad, isn't she?"
Atley nods slowly. “Aye. And Kuroda, from the Highlands. Telemancer Gwenivene Whittle’s lead, and Azizia, the shaman.”
"Miss Herald's a brilliant lass. She and her man do good work together." Siamus nods approval.
"Aside from combat, Whittle would be good for repairing diplomatic relationships with the pandaren. She's kind," Lena adds. "Herald is good at calming hot tempers as well."
Atley nods. “Aye. They’ve made great strides with the locals in the area. Primarily the Tian Monastery and some of the range beyond it. My squad’s been more centralized.”
"Don't forget I can do more than summon, if you need me," Lena says quietly. "For the sha or the Horde. If they're riling up the locals to war — I expect that'll place the pandaren on our side, to stop it."
Siamus shakes his head at Lena. "I'd never forget it, Mrs. Shine. Ye know you're a prize of the fleet."
Atley looks to Lena. “We’ll call upon you, if Siamus can part with you.” he says with tired, gruff wryness.
"I wouldn't like to," says Siamus dryly. "But I might defer to her husband, if it comes to that."
Lena smiles faintly at that, and glances back down at the map. When she looks back up, her expression is serious again. "Wherever I'm needed, of course." She nods to Atley and Siamus and moves over towards Baird. "You're alright to help with the summoning? We'll need another…"
Baird nods once at Lena, the gray-blue gaze seeming to look through rather than directly at her. "Yes, ma'am. We can get Lieutenant Worthy to help. He'll know the Marines in question, and he spent some time in the jinyu village."
Siamus nods brief approval at his lieutenant.
Atley eyes Lena and Baird from the table’s side, helmet couched between his bicep and his ribs.
Lena seems unbothered by Baird's evasive gaze. Maybe she's used to it.
"Good, that should help to make the connections. I'll go get to that straightaway, in case they're stuck injured somewhere. Depending on the number, I might have to stock up on shards," Lena says, and a touch of ice comes into her tone as she adds, "At least it sounds like there's plenty of hozen about for it.
"Either way, I'll make a list of the recovered and those known to still be missing, soon as possible," Lena says with a quick salute, turning to leave with Baird.
Baird lingers just long enough to cast Siamus an unreadable look — or maybe Siamus can read it — and leaves.
Atley knits his brow at the interaction, but otherwise stays stoic and grim, although he does take note of Baird’s reaction to Lena in particular.
He inclines his head upon her salute of farewell and turns back to the map with such an intensity of focus that he might think he’s alone.
He glares at it, lips parted, teeth slightly clenched. “This is my doing. But we can turn it around.”
Siamus, arms still folded, turns his head to regard Atley levelly for a moment. He tilts an eyebrow. "Explain to me, Sir Atley, how this is your doing."
Atley’s gaze lingers on the Serpent’s Heart before he raises his eyes. “Admiral Taylor did the marching and the fighting, aye. But who gave him an army?” He works his jaw, gaze flicking past Siamus’ shoulder and back again. “Raised one, from the locals. Trained and equipped them.”
He grinds his teeth, shakes his head. “Represented the Alliance — and Cobalt Company — to the pandaren and the jinyu both. They put their faith in us. In me, leading. And now their sacred statue’s a crater.”
He waves a hand. “They needed to fight. To be ready. It was coming either way. The hozen were marching, the Horde behind them. There was no other choice—”
He taps the map square on the Serpent’s Heart without looking. “But this— this is a disgrace.”
Dragging a gauntlet down his face, he exhales. His tone hardens, slamming the door on doubt. “We’re still here. Two sharp squads, fight left in every one of us. We’ll find a way to kill this Sha — I know it. I’ll forfeit when I’m dead. There’s time yet, and it cannot be spent.” A pause. “Wallowing.”
He lowers his hand. “The blame doesn’t rest on Taylor alone. My own people were following orders. Mine.”
Siamus nods slowly, thoughtfully. He turns back toward the map again himself. At last he says, "You're right that the jinyu needed to be able to fight and defend themselves. And we needed — need — allies in this land. Ye did no wrong in that. We both know that the Horde will take whatever they can of this place, and it was going to come inevitably to a fight. Will still, and greater fights yet.
"And you're also right that this is a bloody disgrace, no question. But it was Taylor's command and Taylor's call — even in training the jinyu and preparing them in the ways ye did, ye were doing as he and his people asked of ye, not as the jinyu did. It was Taylor's failure to appreciate the larger situation. If you and your people had been on the march, I assume ye'd have advised diverting the fight, holding a line to engage the Horde elsewhere. Is that so?
"Further, Taylor's been sat in the jinyu village making his preparations strictly for war, while your lot have been out offering exchange. Am I understanding that correctly as well? I hear from Shine and Ralaea and others what your lot have been up to, and I heard reports from Taylor what he'd been up to, and those weren't the same thing. I can't fault Taylor for what he was doing; he and I are here on the military's behalf and he was doing the military's work. But I can say he may have failed to appreciate the larger context of the situation or accept the better counsel of those who did. The moment I landed here, Ralaea and Shine were waiting for me down there on the beach to explain the delicacy of the business here and steer me aright. Taylor… had his improvised and assumed directive, and the help of SI:7, who are many things and none of them diplomatic.
"Ye could even say I'm more at fault than your lot, because Taylor and I are colleagues with the same oaths to the same masters, and I took for granted that he knew what he was doing here — ahead of me as he was — and failed to confer with him as I might have. That is on me and I'll certainly have to answer to the Grand Admiral for it. You had no more to do wi' that than ye did with Taylor's directions and decisions. Either one of us could have pushed back against him, and we both missed our opportunities. But the man is himself a seasoned commander and he made his own calls from his own judgements with incomplete intelligence.
"So I won't say ye had nothing to do with what he did, but nor would I say it's your fault. I had next to nothing to do with what he did, and that actually makes it probably more my failing than yours. But Taylor managed his operation and he'll answer for himself.
"Meanwhile, as I see it, I can be conscientious about the situation and represent the better part of the Alliance while I answer to my own orders, but I do have my orders, and they're military orders. Your people are the ones positioned to continue building relations wi' the locals and offering whatever direct amends they require. I can tell ye I have no intention myself to rope ye into my operations here as Taylor did, because considering what ye've accomplished and where our respective skills lie, that would be a waste of ye. If ye need to rope my people into yours, I'll make them available, because I appreciate the stakes. No matter who's to blame for the wrong here, if there's a way to make this situation right, your lot will unlock it, and I'll trust your calls there. Ye know your business."
Atley narrows his eyes as he listens. Occasionally, he looks to the map, but for the most part, his gaze remains fixed on Siamus.
He allows a quiet moment to settle in and spares a last glance at the map before he looks up at Siamus. "And you know yours." He tugs his winged helmet on and gives it one last yank to secure its position before he extends a gauntlet.
"Seems we've our work cut out for us then, Admiral. I'll be in touch," he declares.
Siamus takes his hand to shake it firmly. "I hope ye will. I mean, by the way, to ride up and have a look at the situation shortly. I'm going to have to send my reports this evening, as soon as I can. If ye want to write up a statement of your own as witness, I'm sure Jes-Tereth would appreciate the perspective, and I'll enclose it."
Atley firmly meets the handshake and nods once. "I can ride now. And I'll put together my own report to add to your own once we've returned."
As Atley speaks, Lena returns to the small terrace. She looks maybe a touch paler than she did before, but she nods to the two men. "I've called in the folk from the ship, and then those as could be saved. I'm a little low on soul shards, but I've not run out fully yet."
Atley turns to Lena, and spotting her disposition, gives a firm nod. "Well done."
Siamus nods as well, curtly. "Lieutenant Baird's on his way wi' them, then? Sir Atley and I are about to ride up to the battlefield so I can have a look for myself. Will ye come along with us? Ye can tell us if there's any fel thing involved, perhaps." He picks up his hat and gestures courteously with it to indicate that Lena should lead the way back onto the main terrace.
"He is, aye," Lena says with a nod, taking a bolstering breath. "I did want to have a look at the sha energy, so I'd like to join you. I wish it wasn't quite under these circumstances, but… if there's anything I can tell about it, maybe it'll help us fix this."
Atley grunts. "T'll be good to have you along. I'll lead us there directly." He looks between them. "We should have a care that we may run into Horde or hozen routers along the way."
Siamus does not look perturbed by this prospect. He nods once, puts his hat back on, and steps onto the terrace where the fleet's assembled people still mass — their ranks somewhat less certain now.
"I've taken care not to call on the fel for violence, since I've been ashore," Lena says mildly, flexing her fingers a little. "Just… for good relations. But against Horde and hozen I'll have no hesitation."
Atley grunts as he descends the steps with them, looking for Hal'vyr and his handler.
The sailor Kearnen is standing off to one side, still holding Hal'vyr's bridle, and conversing in a low, courteous tone with the animal. Hal'vyr is not holding up his end of the conversation.
"Dr. Platt," says Siamus, and points at a bespectacled man with a tonsure of thinning strawberry-blond hair around his bald crown, and an immaculately groomed strawberry-blond beard and moustache. "Wi'me. Captain Bray, I'll have Lieutenant Worthy and yourself as well. Mr. Cammon, ye see the rest of this lot back to the ships. Where's my horse?"
Lena moves out of the room a couple of steps behind the two of them, looking around to see if anyone has already collected her mare, Penny.
The troops begin to file in orderly fashion back down toward the harbor, as instructed. Dr. Platt and the Marine Captain and Lieutenant all approach the trio. Lieutenant Worthy and Captain Bray have had the foresight to collect a pair of horses each: Siroc, Penny, and their own two mounts. Having Siroc in proximity to any of the other three horses is beginning to look like a bad idea, and Siamus moves swiftly to intercept them and lead his horse aside. Lieutenant Worthy offers Lena Penny's reins.
Hal'vyr stands calmly and patiently awaits his rider, the warhose casting a long shadow nearly as dark as his coat. Atley growls out a "Cheers," to Kearnen before he swings himself aboard the steed. He waits for the others to mount and lowers to give Hal'vyr a few firm pats. The horses' dark tail swishes back and forth three times before all other emotion leaves the beast, and he's once again standing resolutely.
Lena smiles, taking Penny's reins, and says aside to Dane, "There's demons in the shape of horses, more or less, but I prefer actual horses, when I can."
Siamus swings up into Siroc's saddle and the smoky dappled Tirasian immediately flings his head in the air and skitters sideways in a high-spirited clatter of hooves. "Asal," Siamus says mildly, and gathers rein to settle the horse.
Bray and Worthy mount their placid animals, and Dr. Platt proves to have a morose-looking long-faced mule.
Lena swings up into the saddle, and Penny hoofs the ground absently, unbothered by being in a mysterious continent shrouded by mists for thousands of years and full of sha. She breathes out heavily in Siroc's direction, which is totally a coincidence.
"Captain Bray, Lieutenant Worthy," Siamus says. "Look sharp for a fight. There may be Horde or hozen yet about. Dr. Platt, when we reach our target, we may have a look about for survivors. Seems unlikely, but worth trying. Everyone ready? Sir Atley will lead the way."
Atley nods to everyone at once now that they're all mounted. "Gentlemen." He looks to Siamus and says, "Let's move."
He spurs Hal'vyr on with a pair of quick jabs, and the horse takes off at a controlled trot, until they reach the bounds of the village. Once they pass through the gates, Atley glances back at Siamus as Hal'vyr gradually builds speed.
"I'd like to be there when you inform the Mayor." he says over the sound of running hooves.
Siamus nods concession. "Aye. Ye were there, ye can lay it out for him best." Siroc surges forward, attempting to race, and Siamus reins him back again patiently to social speed.
Lena urges Penny to follow with a squeeze of her thighs, and the horse obediently builds up speed alongside the others.
Atley nods and turns his gaze back to the front. Keen eyes repeatedly check the perimeter as they follow the path northward. They group passes by a trio of pandaren villagers crowded around a stopped handcart, pulled off to the side of the road.
Atley grants them a second nod, before he side-eyes Siamus. "Spirited beast you've got there," he comments at a conversational level of volume, gaze lowering to take in Siroc.
"Aye," says Siamus fondly. "Can be a handful. He'll settle. Strange place, and he saw the muster, knows there's action about." He glances over. "That's a quality lad ye have there, aye?"
Dr. Platt's mule does not seem to want to move at any pace above a trot, and as a consequence is doing a very fast, jouncing trot. Dr. Platt looks resigned to this. The two Marines, meanwhile, take their cue from Atley and nod politely at the villagers as well, then resume scanning the forest around them.
Atley glances at Dr. Platt's mule from over his pauldron and tugs ever so slightly on Hal'vyr's reins. The stallion slows accordingly. "Aye. Trained since he was a young colt." He shifts his gaze back to the front and squints at the edges of the forest. "I've always liked a horse with a bit of sand to them."
Lena shifts back slightly in the saddle, and Penny slows to match the new pace. She moves easily with the horse, seemingly with long familiarity with the practice in general, and this mare specifically.
Siroc abruptly puts his head up again, ears pricked and nostrils wide. He gives a shrill whinny.
A moment later, the object of this remark comes into sight as the familiar black mare Khamsin emerges from a stand of bamboo not far ahead. Shine reins her to a halt and waits beside the road for the others, watching.
"Shine," Lena says in quiet voice, and it sounds like a complete sentence. A relieved smile lights her face — words are one thing, and seeing is another entirely.
Atley pulls Hal'vyr to a complete stop in the middle of the road. He takes a moment to inspect Shine and Khamsin both.
"We're making for the Heart to have a look. Care to join us?" he growls out, sitting tall in his saddle.
Shine's gaze is fixed on Lena, but he nods wordlessly at Atley's question. He guides Khamsin over toward Lena and Penny. Khamsin is obliged to step wide around Siroc as the stallion attempts (not unexpectedly, it seems) to nip her.
Siroc's rider likewise (but more politely) intercepts Khamsin's: "Where've ye been?" Siamus asks him, looking Shine over.
Shine shrugs a shoulder as he guides his horse into position beside Lena's. "Needed some quiet."
Siamus nods. That's a thing, it seems.
"Sir Atley's told us what happened," Lena says, sidling a little closer to Khamsin. "None of the sha… got in any of you, though? Just… external sha?"
Atley looks to the couple as he listens, jaw set.
"Aye," says Shine. "External. Suspect it might have been worse if we weren't all together. People… took it hard. Squad kept together, though." He nods respectfully at Dane.
"External for now," Atley confirms, before he looks out over the forest. "But there's always a risk of any one of us being taken by the Sha in this land." He spurs Hal'vyr on again. "Let's move."
Siamus casts another look over Shine and then directs Siroc after Atley and Hal'vir.
Shine spares Lena a faint smile before heading after them.
They eventually ride through the now-tranquil setting of Nectarbreeze Orchard, though many of its homes still have visible, fresh fire damage. Fortunately, no fires or mogu actually remain, thanks to White Squad.
Here, several pandaren loiter in small clusters, neighbors speaking among themselves. A number of them grow quiet and curious as they take in the passing riders. Atley ducks low to avoid a branch on a tree and carries on as the bath veers directly north.
"Not far." he growls to no one in particular once they've cleared the village.
Lena peers ahead in the direction of the Serpent's Heart, scanning for damage. "It was just the other day I was helping out up this way, and now…"
The three fleet members, who have not yet been this far inland, are craning around themselves with alert interest. Siamus, however, seems to be growing increasingly tense; he is rigidly upright in the saddle, his gaze directed through the trees in the direction of the isle not yet in sight.
As they progress, they come to a bridge to their immediate right, to the east, and there they see it — the smoldering, Sha-touched ruins of the Serpent’s Heart.
Atley slows Hal’vyr down, and comes to a stop just before the bridge starts, hooves mere inches away. “There ‘tis,” he says, tonguing the inside of his cheek, eyes slowly roaming back and forth over the battlefield.
He raises an armored hand and points at nearby sharp hills with Pandaren homes at their peaks. “We watched it all happen from there. Had a clean vantage point.” The sky overhead swirls with white and black otherworldly energies, looming heavily.
Siamus dismounts, dropping wordlessly to the ground, staring at the ruined island. He turns absently as Atley points, nods at the hilly vantage point, and then turns back toward the sha wreckage.
"Tides a'mighty," says Captain Bray.
"Is it safe to approach?" asks Dr. Platt, half-falling clumsily from his mule's saddle.
Lena stares up at the swirling energies, her gaze intent and focused and without any hint of fear. She slowly shakes her head. "Doesn't look quite like anything I've ever seen. External, but still we ought to minimize our contact as much as we can."
Atley leans back in his saddle and turns to Dr. Platt. “We moved straight through the middle there, gathering jade, battling smaller Sha, and rescuing our people, but I don’t recommend getting comfortable venturing into that shit.”
He looks to Lena and nods before he glances back at the destruction. “By ‘smaller,’ I mean only just. There were buggers in there ten, twelve feet tall. Easily. We used bits of the jade against them. It weakened them.”
"The monument's — ye can hardly tell," says Siamus hoarsely. "I wish I'd seen it."
Shine dismounts as well. "There's a shrine, that edge of the island. Outside the worst of it. If ye want to get… closer, we can from over there. But leave the animals. And be careful. Still creatures about."
Atley’s mouth opens but he shakes his head a few times before anything comes out of it. “Never saw anything like it,” he says, commenting on the once-standing monument.
He swings a leg over Hal’vyr’s saddle and dismounts, dropping to the ground with a muted clatter of layers of steel. Thunderfury hums briefly, but loudly, a reflection of its wielders’ mood, before he approaches Siamus and the others. “We can range closer.”
"It was a wonder, all that jade in massive coils," Lena says, glancing at Atley. "May it one day be again."
She slips down off Penny's back, patting her gently on the shoulder before she turns to join the rest of the group. "Should we expect twelve-foot sha? Or did the squad dispatch them all?"
Atley shakes his head. "We dispatched all that we came across, but nothing is certain when dealing with this," he says, nodding ahead at the entirety of the smokeless ruins. "It was said that Emperoror Shaohao defeated and imprisoned this thing, but I'm not sure it's known where exactly it was imprisoned. S'possible it decided to rise here, to undo as large a cache of jade as possible. Possible t'was to spite the Jade Serpent herself. Make her vulnerable."
Siamus eases a pistol from his belt and cocks it, but holds it casually down at his side as he moves across the bridge. He looks over his shoulder and tilts his head at Bray and Worthy, who follow him with swords drawn.
Shine steps to Lena's side.
Atley shrugs off his shield and takes up the rear, towards Siamus' left flank, but keeps Thunderfury sheathed on his back. He looks over the destruction with a vague expression of disgust, his cheeks slightly sucked in, as if smelling something foul. "Reminds me of Twilight blight. Like the Highlands."
Lena breathes in shallowly and nods. She does not draw any weapon, but then she wouldn't have to. "It's not the same, exactly, but it feels like that. Foul. Came up out of the earth? So maybe that's where Emperor Shaohao buried it."
"Lot of foul things buried in the earth," Shine observes. "Fallon. To the right. Not there."
Siamus turns right as instructed to skirt the wildest of the contamination. "That's Sha?" He lifts his pistol to point it at a little creature of ragged shadow and light writhing its way along a glowing crack in the earth.
Atley glances over and nods, running his tongue along his teeth. "That's Sha." He keeps a periphery on the perimeter and focuses solely on Siamus and his pistol, perhaps eager to see what a firearm can do to Sha.
Lena watches the creature with fascination. "Negative emotions, you said, right Shine? I wonder what feeling made that one in particular."
"The emperor's story said the Sha of Doubt," Shine tells Lena. He's also watching the creature in Siamus' sights. "I don't know why… this brought it out, because this battle seemed to me like a surfeit of certainty, not doubt. But maybe any negative emotion at all can summon 'em. Or maybe it was just breaking the statue that did it. The statue was the seal, somehow."
Siamus, only half-listening to Shine, is also clearly interested in the science of what a firearm does to Sha; he pulls the trigger. The little aberration jerks, driven back a step by the impact, and then it crumples, folds around the bullet wound, and seems to melt lifelessly back into the stained earth.
"Well," says Siamus.
"Admiral," warns Captain Bray sharply. The sound of the gunshot seems to have attracted others; another pair of little Sha, trailed by a much larger one, are lurching and twitching toward them through the curtains of eerie light.
"Killable like mortal creatures, then," Lena says, turning to the new attackers. "At least temporarily." She curls her hand, drawing in dark energy of her own before flicking it toward one of the smaller pair.
Atley produces a thoughtful grunt at Shine’s observations and theories before he turns back to his flank. He frowns with disgust and something akin to boredom as he raises one of his greaves and stomps out a pair of slithering Sha.
With narrowed eyes, he spots a shard of jade the size of a bar of soap, and lowers to collect it in a gauntlet with a small clink of metal of on stone.
Siamus tucks the pistol back into his belt as he draws his sword. He watches the larger Sha-beast approach with the same scientific curiosity he'd evinced in shooting the small one.
At Lena's side, Shine has stepped sideways and out of sight in the shadows. "There," says Dr. Platt suddenly. "One of ours." He hurries toward a prone form on the ground, heedless of both the eerie, shifting contamination and the crawling Sha creatures.
This behavior is apparently not unexpected from the surgeon, because Captain Bray and Lieutenant Worthy move immediately as well, flanking him.
"Platt," says Siamus with sharp exasperation. "Eyes up, man."
Atley slowly draws Thunderfury. A strand of electricity snaps up from Thunderaan's core and moves between the twin prongs of the blade before it leaps off the points and dissipates in the air with a muted crackle.
The sha creature Lena targeted before seems just as vulnerable to the fel as it is a gun shot.
Lena's gaze is drawn to where Shine once stood, and a brief flicker of a smile crosses her face. Then she flings a handful of horror at the sha nearest to Platt and asks, "Alive?"
Dr. Platt has bent over the body to examine it, but he is sitting back and shaking his head even as Lena asks. "Poor devil. Head stove in. By the statue, maybe. I can't tell —" He rummages carefully within the stained tabard, and pulls out a metal tag on a chain. "Ach. Wenham."
Captain Bray grunts, slashing a little Sha beast away.
"There's another," says Lieutenant Worthy. "Jinyu, there."
"Dr. Platt can check who he thinks necessary," Siamus calls from where he stands with the others, "but we're not going to hunt this whole grounds. It's fair clear what we're not going to find, and Sir Atley's team had a go over it already."
Atley shakes his head, but in agreement. "Aye. We'll find nothing living here, Admiral," he confirms, before he starts marching towards the larger Sha entity. He rasps Thunderfury on his shield twice, taunting it, before he drives the blade into the ground and leaves it.
"Have a look," he says, approaching the larger Sha entity, holding the small bit of jade raised toward it.
Siamus glances assessingly toward the two Marines and his ship's surgeon, and then advances a few steps with Atley, watching the Sha and the jade.
Lena watches the jade with an unusual level of focus, waiting to see what will happen.
Suddenly, energy swirls around the extended shard of jade, and a beam of dim light transfers from it into the larger Sha.
Atley stands firm, with a stern frown, and after only a few seconds the Sha seems to shrink. While it doesn't devolve into the size of the first Sha they've encountered, it has been noticeably diminished.
"This is how we fought them," he explains, pocketing the jade shard as he marches over to recollect Thunderfury, ripping it from the ground.
"Maybe the jade has something of the Serpents power," Lena says, staring at the diminished creature. "Some property that makes it a suitable vessel to rebirth in."
"We should gather it up," Siamus says. "Not right now, but — " He is distracted by the Sha's advance on Atley, and draws his pistol again. "Send people to help salvage as much of the flotsam as possible. I gather it was long in the collecting to begin with."
Atley grunts at everything said and marches forward to meet the Sha. He raises Thunderfury and unleashes a narrow shockwave at it before lunging, striking, and slashing to cut it to pieces — at least, proverbial pieces.
Siamus lowers his pistol again. He does not seem particularly surprised by how swiftly Atley shredded the Sha.
"I can help," Shine says, and steps into view from behind the remains of the Sha. "Collect jade."
"I'll want a watch on this place first," Siamus says. "To be sure it isn't spreading, to see if it settles down. When Baird reports back from the jinyu, I'll have him and one of our topmen station here to keep a weather eye on it for a few days. Once we know more about how it's behaving, we can sort out how to go about salvage — or offer to help the locals wi'salvage, at the least."
"This was sacred to them," Lena says. "We'll need to talk to ask what's to be done with the jade, by their customs. I can't imagine what's to be done about the statue. If it took a hundred years… but I suppose the jade's all gathered now, at least. For the most part."
Atley turns back to Lena and nods, marching over to rejoin the group. "There's a mine to the north that's near hollowed out," he confirms. Turning to Siamus, he says, "I can go to the Temple. Ask one of the Elder Sages or Yu'lon herself for permission to salvage it here, or see wot' else they've in mind for it."
Siamus nods. "Aye, I wouldn't be salvaging it for any purpose other than to help gather it up again for them. If they want the help. But helping with it seems like a ready amends we could begin to make for Taylor's… error of judgement." The last words are a little acid, as he turns his gaze across the eerie devastation around them.
Atley nods and follows suit, glancing around with disdain. "Right." He keeps his shield and Thunderfury drawn as they linger. "I'll ride back with you lot, speak to the Mayor, then make for the Temple," he says.
Siamus nods and sheaths his weapons again. "Captain Bray!" he calls sharply. "We're riding back."
As the Marines and the doctor move back toward their mounts, Siamus tells Atley, "And I'll have a word with Baird when he's back to Paw'don. Make arrangements for a watch on this place for a couple of days. Then I've a report to write. Ye'll add to it?"
Atley nods. "I will," he says, sheathing Thunderfury and laying his shield across his back.
Lena moves back with the others towards the mounts and comments, "It's a blessing Cobalt made such connections before anything like this happened. That you can go and consult with Yu'lon and expect she'll receive you, that's a valuable thing in itself. That, and I think we've shown our intentions to the locals by now, such that they'll see a thing as a misstep and not a malice."
Shine falls in beside Lena wordlessly.
"Aye," says Siamus, and looks toward Atley again. "It's well done, you lot."
Atley swings himself aboard Hal'vyr and shifts his gaze to Lena and Siamus as he falls in beside them. He inclines his head to Siamus in thanks and sets his jaw, "I'll pass that along to the Company." With that, he looks to Shine with pride, and knits his brow.
Shine is riding close enough beside Lena that their legs nearly brush from time to time, but he is gazing straight ahead, wrapped deep in his thoughts.
Lena seems similarly lost in thought, but still rides with a seemingly effortless awareness of Shine's presence.
Atley keeps pace and falls back to speak with Dr. Platt atop his mule. "Doctor," he says, offering the fragment of jade held in the palm of his gauntlet.
Dr. Platt adjusts his spectacles and studies the jade for a moment, then glances up at Atley. "May I?"
Atley grunts, and his gauntlet remains extended.
The doctor lifts the piece of jade carefully and holds it up, tipping his chin down so that he can study it over the wire rim of his glasses. "Is the stone supernatural at its source, or only by connection with the statue? Do you know if the pandaren artisans… worked some enchantment on it? Would they tell you, if you asked?"
Atley looks back ahead, scanning the treeline as he listens to the Doctor, before he slowly shakes his head, sitting up straight in his saddle. "I couldn't say, but aye. I can ask it of them. Worth knowing."
"Excellent. Good." Dr. Platt tucks the jade fragment carefully into his jacket pocket. "If I have further questions for you to relay, I'll let you know." He seems to take for granted that Atley is now his secretary.
"Soren," says Siamus patiently.
Atley knits his brow and scoffs with quiet amusement, eyes still on the perimeter.