As he idled in his chair, Halketh suffered under the burden of his prophetic gift. Much the same as Borosk, he found himself temporarily seized by a wicked pang torturing his psyche, spurred on by the murmured utterances of The Force and the voices of those adrift within it. A faint twitch of his scarred lips and the raising of a hand to his temple are all that indicated this outwardly as he battled with it.
Red. It flashed across his mind's eye in wracking pain, swelling, and rising with a surge of heat and flare of smoldering earth. Distant wails of strife. The screeching toll of Geiger counters. Distorted, cracking voices uttering words he could not discern. And amidst it all, as buildings were buckled and dust rocketed out in every direction around him, a bloody, all-too-familiar blackened sun symbol stained the colorless earth before his feet. Cries of desolation piqued the hair on the back of his neck, icing the miraluka with dread in an instant. He shivered. Fire erupted from the manhole covering just beside him, tossing him onto the pyre of this world.
There were no guarantees.
As the fading prophecy slipped from his grasp, he drew a shaky breath through his nose and unclenched his jaw, shifting in his chair in some attempt to put himself to ease despite the discomfort what he had just witnessed brought him. A harsh swallow followed, and slowly his grasping hand returned to the armrest it laid upon previously. Now came the delightful wrestle of deciding whether or not he wished to vocalize what it was he had seen. Dread weighed heavily in his veins, dragging his blood to a pounding throb in his ears.
And yet it was with delight that Kezec found this meeting far less arduous than the one he had attended previously, and perhaps as much was obvious to those who had been at that one judging by his much more obvious interest in what was being said. His head swiveled out of courtesy between the speakers, nodding on occasion as he listened to the pitches and ideas cast out into the exclusive air of the room. Even with the curiosity of The Headless Herald in the back of his mind, he found himself able to focus on the tactical nature of the conversation, and his concerns were mirrored much by The Imperator's words, resigning The Vulture to hold his own thoughts back; repetition was elementary, especially in these situations.
"And how confident are you in this blackout, truly? All the same...I want evacuation efforts to begin though...anything resembling these 'Vong' form need be excluded. No matter what, none of our military assets should be anywhere near the zone of the BDZ. What I seek to achieve is a solution to this issue, this isn't anywhere I care to posture but I don't care to risk this infestation spreading elsewhere. Nor do I want un-needed blood on our hands..." Tavlar urges.
'Underground--moving South--interference with equip--wilco primary OBJ--Deader'
With the auditory alert chiming from the earpiece tucked into his left, The Vulture released a soft sigh. For a moment, the electrum suspended off his palm in idle orbit halted, hovering with unnatural stillness at his behest. And despite knowing few others here likely received the same alert, he gave it a voice: "I would imagine those who have ventured underground may be suffering interference from either these 'Vong' forces or simple proximity to the reactors themselves. It may be in our best interests and theirs to withdraw our primary forces-" That wording was very specific as was the rest, "-immediately to minimize the risk of being unable to locate them should they venture deeper."
He took a moment to shake off the lingering dread twisting and slicing at his gut with an icy razor.
"If they are suffering interference, the chances that our instruments will be able to locate them or even establish a reliable communication link with them are low. I am much of the same mind as you are." He nodded in Tavlar's direction specifically, "Until we understand this threat at length, it is better to withdraw and observe. Besides, the prospect of possibly rendering fusion reactors offline with soldiers on the ground is not ideal in my mind either. One must consider the possibilities should something go wrong if that route were to be pursued."
A pause came, and with reluctance, his fingers curled inward to beckon the orbs he busied them with to grasp. The cool metal against his gloved palm brought him some anchored sense of familiarity. "We must consider what it is we are willing to offer this world in exchange for what it is we seek to gain. And yet, I cannot help the vision I was bestowed which may suggest a familiar foe has an investment in our affairs here. The same organization that troubled us with our second venture on Borosk. I know not if these Vong are tied to them, but I was privy to the same bloodied symbol upon scorched earth as I witnessed over Borosk shortly before I ventured to investigate and encountered The Black Paladin. His group are nothing more than fanatical zealots willing to go to extreme end for the accomplishment of his whim. There are no guarantees, but it would be against my nature not to encourage consideration of the idea. We know not what may be lying in wait on the ground or far beneath it, and even more still, what may await those we could send to the reactors." He spoke with gravity, though he maintained his steady tone despite the unease which still held him fast. Such was the burden of bearing witness.
The Warlord pocketed his hands within his furred drape, hiding their forboding tremble from the others- hopefully in time.
