04-07-2015, 05:33 PM
Nikolai was not unreasonable. He didn't expect an immediate transition from Sarkovo to Aginskoye; however, his immense displeasure at the lack of smooth logistics greatly darkened his already dour mood. Patience sustained him, and he eventually found himself in route to the former location of Aginsky datsan.
He hated helicopters. Cutting across the sky should be left to the birds in his mind. Airplanes he tolerated better, his own in particular, when work and living spaces distracted him from the truth of being airborne. In a helicopter there was no mistaking exactly where he was. A thin sheet of metal, held together with mere rivets, held aloft by rotors churning thin blades was all keeping them from plummeting to the ground. At least a plane had the potential to glide.
Helicopter was the only option, he was told by their captain. Even then the likelihood of finding a safe place to land was narrow. Thus when offered a meal to eat in route, Nikolai declined. He kept a protein bar in one pocket in case his time at the datsan was extended, but the way his stomach churned now, he doubted he'd be able to eat for a while.
Gripping the power of the universe did not help either. The enhancement of sight, sound and smell was not worth the benefits. There was nothing to see, besides blankets of white angleing up and down mountainsides.
"There's some strange obstruction ahead, Ascendancy."
The captain's voice spoke through the headset he wore. "Command can't tell what it is. It's organic. Maybe a dense flock of fowl or birds."
Nikolai reflexively looked out the window, immediately regretting it. "Is it a problem?"
"No sir, we'll divert course and come toward the target location from the other direction. There will be a few minutes' delay."
Great. Nikolai nodded, "Do what we need."
The aircraft plunged closer to the earth, sweeping across the tops of densely packed forest. Nikolai imagined they were otherwise a rather small dark dot moving against the top of a dark horizon.
The remainder of the flight swept their trajectory far and around whatever organic image had shown up in satellite views. True to the captain's plan, they approached from the opposite side of the old datsan, opposite from the village associated with it. That was fine in his mind. The villagers may have trouble spotting their helicopter on a day with the weather as it was today, but Nikolai preferred not taking a chance flying too close to the village. He thought then of the time that he folded the air in front of a mirror, rendering himself invisible, but the illusion broke when he moved. He hadn't worked with it since, but the reminder waited in the back of his mind to advance that power. Invisiblity, whether of a man or a helicopter, would be quite useful. No matter, nobody of importance would be there anyway, but occasionally reporters liked to try and dig up old bones from his past. Today he would be the one to dig up the graves of decades hence.... literally.
It seemed a satellite had finally come into range just minutes before their final approach. The countour of the area was not conducive to a safe landing, despite the small size of the aircraft. A suitable spot was located some distance away. He would need traverse treed areas then climb a hill through the snow no less. First, they had to land.
"You can land in the snow, right Captain?"
Nikolai asked. They seemed to be hovering a while.
"Yes sir. I am well trained in such maneuvers. We are trying to estimate the snow depth. It could be half a meter or it could be three."
Nikolai peered out the window. The loose layer of powder sprayed all around them on the winds of the turbine blades. The powder caught in the rays of sun, sparkling like glassy dust.
The need was a good question. "Let's find out,"
he responded. So close to the ground, yet so far.
He seized his powers and crafted wide blankets of Flame. When they pressed into the snow, steam and sizzle erupted like water thrown on hot rocks. The square of Flame pressed farther, pooling the snow into a lake of water that eventually evaporated away into nothingness. Less than half a meter of snow, then. Solid earth waited beneath.
"Land now,"
he ordered into the headset as he zipped up his coat, tugged on high-tech gloves, and checked both water and sunglasses were present. The glare of the sun on the snow would be blinding. He'd rather not deal with a headache for the return trip.
In short order, he was on dry earth, surrounded by the quickly refreezing walls of snow around their impromptu landing pad. The Captain held his emotions in check well, but the co-pilot was looking around them with some sense of awe. There was only room in the small helicopter for one member of the barrier preator to accompany him. That individual was well used to such spectacles. As he would be when Nikolai adapted the hot press of Flame to generate a walking trail some meters ahead of him as they hiked toward the dead datsan. He had little interest in tredging, exhaustingly, through the snow. He well recalled, despite forty years, the ache in his legs from such long walks across the snow pack. The monks were unaware of the benefits of snow shoes it seemed, but neither were they impressed with Nikolai's dry trails criss-crossing the grounds wherever he tred. It ruined the solemnity of the snow surface, they said. Nikolai agreed at first, but the charm of the snow did not last his first winter. By his last, he did as he wished.
It would be difficult to find the gravesites of forty years of dead men. They'd be scattered on the hill leading down and away from the ruins of the datsan. In his mind those ruins were fresh. Wood still smouldering and paint still dripping. But they would be nothing but stone, charred and blackened, by now. The foundations of the monastery were all he expected to see.
His smooth path crested the hill a few paces in front of himself, but when he topped it, the site itself was laid out before him. He stood still for a few moments, contemplating the view. Remembering the scene as it once existed.
In the summer, a flowering tree stood over a stone path leading to the open grassy space. Sitting in which he learned how to pick up butterflies with his index finger without harming their delicate legs. Straight ahead had once been a wide square with carvings of seats hewn from the fallen logs of dead trees. He sat with his Dharma teacher, reciting the principles of the Vinaya statues.
But here, beneath the ground on which he stood, he would find the scattered remains of his attackers. The people responsible for the decimation of such a holy place. Truly, the blame was to be laid at their bones of their feet, not the will of Nikolai Brandon. Responding to the cold emotion, the power threatened to crush him, but by will of mind, he denied it the opportunity.
He built his fortune on the means by which to delve beneath the surface of the earth, seeking inconsistences in the composition of the sediment, locating the crude basis of oil and shale. Likely, he assumed, he could use similar methods to find lumps of bone or perhaps, more specifically, the tiny metal necklace he sought. Thus, back turned to the major areas of the datsan foundation, he sent dozens of complex delves of such sensitivity into the ground and from the epicenter of his location, they exploded into the subterranean world.
The Barrier preator agent took up residence some distance away, watching the hills for signs of life. They did not expect to encounter anything more than wild beast out here. Nikolai was rarely alone, such was the sacrifice to keep his dominion secure.
<small>((ooc: At this point, we are unaware you guys are around. Figured you're out of sight. Makes it more fun.))</small>
He hated helicopters. Cutting across the sky should be left to the birds in his mind. Airplanes he tolerated better, his own in particular, when work and living spaces distracted him from the truth of being airborne. In a helicopter there was no mistaking exactly where he was. A thin sheet of metal, held together with mere rivets, held aloft by rotors churning thin blades was all keeping them from plummeting to the ground. At least a plane had the potential to glide.
Helicopter was the only option, he was told by their captain. Even then the likelihood of finding a safe place to land was narrow. Thus when offered a meal to eat in route, Nikolai declined. He kept a protein bar in one pocket in case his time at the datsan was extended, but the way his stomach churned now, he doubted he'd be able to eat for a while.
Gripping the power of the universe did not help either. The enhancement of sight, sound and smell was not worth the benefits. There was nothing to see, besides blankets of white angleing up and down mountainsides.
"There's some strange obstruction ahead, Ascendancy."
The captain's voice spoke through the headset he wore. "Command can't tell what it is. It's organic. Maybe a dense flock of fowl or birds."
Nikolai reflexively looked out the window, immediately regretting it. "Is it a problem?"
"No sir, we'll divert course and come toward the target location from the other direction. There will be a few minutes' delay."
Great. Nikolai nodded, "Do what we need."
The aircraft plunged closer to the earth, sweeping across the tops of densely packed forest. Nikolai imagined they were otherwise a rather small dark dot moving against the top of a dark horizon.
The remainder of the flight swept their trajectory far and around whatever organic image had shown up in satellite views. True to the captain's plan, they approached from the opposite side of the old datsan, opposite from the village associated with it. That was fine in his mind. The villagers may have trouble spotting their helicopter on a day with the weather as it was today, but Nikolai preferred not taking a chance flying too close to the village. He thought then of the time that he folded the air in front of a mirror, rendering himself invisible, but the illusion broke when he moved. He hadn't worked with it since, but the reminder waited in the back of his mind to advance that power. Invisiblity, whether of a man or a helicopter, would be quite useful. No matter, nobody of importance would be there anyway, but occasionally reporters liked to try and dig up old bones from his past. Today he would be the one to dig up the graves of decades hence.... literally.
It seemed a satellite had finally come into range just minutes before their final approach. The countour of the area was not conducive to a safe landing, despite the small size of the aircraft. A suitable spot was located some distance away. He would need traverse treed areas then climb a hill through the snow no less. First, they had to land.
"You can land in the snow, right Captain?"
Nikolai asked. They seemed to be hovering a while.
"Yes sir. I am well trained in such maneuvers. We are trying to estimate the snow depth. It could be half a meter or it could be three."
Nikolai peered out the window. The loose layer of powder sprayed all around them on the winds of the turbine blades. The powder caught in the rays of sun, sparkling like glassy dust.
The need was a good question. "Let's find out,"
he responded. So close to the ground, yet so far.
He seized his powers and crafted wide blankets of Flame. When they pressed into the snow, steam and sizzle erupted like water thrown on hot rocks. The square of Flame pressed farther, pooling the snow into a lake of water that eventually evaporated away into nothingness. Less than half a meter of snow, then. Solid earth waited beneath.
"Land now,"
he ordered into the headset as he zipped up his coat, tugged on high-tech gloves, and checked both water and sunglasses were present. The glare of the sun on the snow would be blinding. He'd rather not deal with a headache for the return trip.
In short order, he was on dry earth, surrounded by the quickly refreezing walls of snow around their impromptu landing pad. The Captain held his emotions in check well, but the co-pilot was looking around them with some sense of awe. There was only room in the small helicopter for one member of the barrier preator to accompany him. That individual was well used to such spectacles. As he would be when Nikolai adapted the hot press of Flame to generate a walking trail some meters ahead of him as they hiked toward the dead datsan. He had little interest in tredging, exhaustingly, through the snow. He well recalled, despite forty years, the ache in his legs from such long walks across the snow pack. The monks were unaware of the benefits of snow shoes it seemed, but neither were they impressed with Nikolai's dry trails criss-crossing the grounds wherever he tred. It ruined the solemnity of the snow surface, they said. Nikolai agreed at first, but the charm of the snow did not last his first winter. By his last, he did as he wished.
It would be difficult to find the gravesites of forty years of dead men. They'd be scattered on the hill leading down and away from the ruins of the datsan. In his mind those ruins were fresh. Wood still smouldering and paint still dripping. But they would be nothing but stone, charred and blackened, by now. The foundations of the monastery were all he expected to see.
His smooth path crested the hill a few paces in front of himself, but when he topped it, the site itself was laid out before him. He stood still for a few moments, contemplating the view. Remembering the scene as it once existed.
In the summer, a flowering tree stood over a stone path leading to the open grassy space. Sitting in which he learned how to pick up butterflies with his index finger without harming their delicate legs. Straight ahead had once been a wide square with carvings of seats hewn from the fallen logs of dead trees. He sat with his Dharma teacher, reciting the principles of the Vinaya statues.
But here, beneath the ground on which he stood, he would find the scattered remains of his attackers. The people responsible for the decimation of such a holy place. Truly, the blame was to be laid at their bones of their feet, not the will of Nikolai Brandon. Responding to the cold emotion, the power threatened to crush him, but by will of mind, he denied it the opportunity.
He built his fortune on the means by which to delve beneath the surface of the earth, seeking inconsistences in the composition of the sediment, locating the crude basis of oil and shale. Likely, he assumed, he could use similar methods to find lumps of bone or perhaps, more specifically, the tiny metal necklace he sought. Thus, back turned to the major areas of the datsan foundation, he sent dozens of complex delves of such sensitivity into the ground and from the epicenter of his location, they exploded into the subterranean world.
The Barrier preator agent took up residence some distance away, watching the hills for signs of life. They did not expect to encounter anything more than wild beast out here. Nikolai was rarely alone, such was the sacrifice to keep his dominion secure.
<small>((ooc: At this point, we are unaware you guys are around. Figured you're out of sight. Makes it more fun.))</small>