Tear it All Down [Stefan]

[Brenner Dornkirk]

"I find that allusion particularly apt in this instance, Stefan..." An easy, warm smile quickly replaced the slight scowl that had been painting Brenner's pallid countenance. "To regard this endeavour as an act of some wrathful deity, because if it is to be successful, Man will be the new God in Ransera as all the others who might claim the mantle are devoured by the tempest at our command." The notion speckled his thoughts with stark imagery and his eyes turned toward a blank spot on the wall to let the fantasy play across it for a moment, before Stefan's words drew him back.

"Of course." He inclined his head, "I shall be expeditious in this, as I know our timeframe is less than ideal. Know that, if my ambitions are set too high, I will be disappointed, but I will abide your advisement. I may have failed to impress upon you the growing problem of Talon, but I've been in touch with concerned citizens in Kalzasi who are as fearful as we about the dread power he wields, which seems to be little more than the tip of the iceberg." An odd, dark smile played across his lips.

"He is to some mages as mages are to us... An unacceptable abuse of power that creates an imbalance in the world. It the widening of that gap between him and the rest of us who inhabit this globe that is most concerning. Will he be able to hear our thoughts and blip us out of existence before we loose the first 'fresser? The longer we wait, the closer he is to such capabilities." This was entirely conjecture on Brenner's part, but he knew little enough of how gods worked. It was that others more familiar with such matters were particularly concerned that put such thoughts into his mind.

"If there is aught you need that would require outside aid, just let me know and I shall see what we can't source through my contacts in the military and at the State Department."

[Stefan Dornkirk]

Glancing up from his notes, Stefan stopped making them for a moment. He had, indeed, been unaware of the issue that the pidge prince was growing into. He did not have the network of informants Brenner had, nor was he prone to be attentive to rumors. The international news he received was limited to what the morning broadsheets printed, and even that he read less now that his breakfast was occupied by the companionship of his lovely young wife.

If the citizens of Kalzasi, as steeped in foul magic as they were, also feared what the heir to their throne was becoming...

Frankly, Stefan did not have the scope to understand what that would mean but it made the hair on the back of his neck rise. Setting the notebook carefully on his desk where the ink would not smudge he adjusted in his chair, then adjusted again. His fidgeting was indicator of the adjustments his mind was trying to make as he said,

"If..." Cleared his throat, "If the prince is as much a problem as you are implying, might it be worth it to release our weapon prematurely? That is to say, our chances of winning the war without it, before we even knew of it, were good. If we use what we have to take out this larger threat and it turns out the mages figure out how to counter it, neutralizing its advantage for us, we could still win a war."

The point of the parasites had been to win a bloodless war, to save the citizens of Kalzasi as well as the soldiers of Zaichaer. No take over was truly bloodless, those who were guilty, the magical elite and nobility, would have to be removed. Some would be required to pay for their willful abomination with their lives but the difference would be that of a courtroom opposed to a slaughterhouse.

"If you believe the threat is great enough to risk what we fought so hard for," Stefan's hand strayed unconsciously to the long, now pale scar that ran through one of his brows and then down his cheek, "I will do all in my power to ready a device to eliminate that threat."

[Brenner Dornkirk]

Brenner nodded grimly and reiterated.

"Even mages, Stefan... Powerful mages are concerned about the power Talon will wield if he is not thwarted before it has metastasised." He paused for emphasis. "I do not want us to have risked our lives and livelihoods on this mission only for it to become obsolete because we waited too long." A knock at the door drew Brenner's attention, as Dienerin admitted entrance to a familiar face.

"Dressler? What are you doing here?" Brenner inquired, with a quizzical grimace.

"Pardon me, Master Brenner..." He inclined his head first to the Air Commander, and then to the face of the Windworks, "Mr. Dornkirk, sir." His attention returned to the former. "A letter arrived shortly after you departed. Her Ladyship insisted I deliver it straight away, given the point of origin..." Dressler handed the envelope over to Brenner, who immediately looked to the return address.

"Ah! How fortuitous." He smiled and scanned the surface of Stefan's desk for a letter opener. Upon finding one, he slid it into the envelope and sliced it open. As he perused the text a wry smile spread, then widened and widened as he read on.

"It would appear I'll have a chance to check in about those specimens we were discussing for your experimentation sooner than later. The First Minister of Zaichaer has invited me..." She had ordered him in truth, but he took a bit of poetic license to paint himself in a better light. "...to attend her later this afternoon. Apparently there's someone she'd like for me to meet, though she is not liberal with the details as usual... Least of all in print." He folded the letter up and returned it to the envelope from whence it came.

"I'll inquire about your mages whilst I'm there." He tucked the letter into his inside pocket and leaned forward to reach for his coffee. "That will be all, Dressler. You may tell Mother I've been granted another audience. I'm certain she'll be pleased." The hand that wasn't grasping the cup waved the servant off dismissively.

[Stefan Dornkirk]

Storm clouds formed in Stefan's eyes and he nodded. The presentation of deadly danger was something he had again grown used to in the Warrens. His time serving as an officer had been as dangerous as any man's, but he had grown used to living a life without it in the years since he'd mostly joined the civilian sector. Now, it was fresh again.

"I see. Yes. I will have something ready by the time it's needed." Sleepless nights were ahead, and more of them away from home than his new wife would be pleased by, but some duties overrode others, however unpleasant.

Taking a moment he drink down the rest of his coffee, as he would be needing it, Stefan said nothing while his brother spoke to his valet. When he was addressed he said,

"Oh?" Then listened with interest until Dressler had departed.

"The sooner the better, now. Their prince is thrice abomination; born to it, chose it, and granted by a deity. I may only make my tests on the first two kinds, unless our great leaders are concealing a great deal more than speculated. But if I could have a creature born of aether, the higher the better, and one who has taken a Cardinal Rune, I could get a much better grasp on what we are looking for."

It was a pity they hadn't found a way to keep the pidge and his pup when they'd visited. Even if it had led to war, Zaichaer was always ready, where Kalzasi was soft from its glut of magic. War would have been better than allowing a creature of such power lose in the world. Pushing the frustration to the back of his mind he returned to the present and asked,

"Have you been to see the First Minister since... Since we got back?" It seemed like the sort of thing Brenner would have told him already, but as busy as both of them were, even that sort of news might slip through forgotten.

[Brenner Dornkirk]

"I think, at a certain point, we must rely upon natural selection." Brenner acknowledged, with a grave nod.

"Artificial selection will give us a leg up in the here and now, but we must remember that these, like all creatures great and small, are designed to devour and procreate. That is really all we need them to do." He let his head loll to the right,

"Now, anything you can do to improve their efficiency in the execution of those evolutionary imperatives is splendid, but at the end of the day what we are asking of the Hexenfresser is to... fressen Hexen." He punned with a slight smirk, which faded as Stefan seemed to touch upon the gravity of the situation.

"Der Zeitgeist has shifted in the brief time since we first devised this plan. The world was more innocent just a few seasons ago, when we dreamt of consummately cleansing Ransera of the magical menace. Perhaps we still will, but in the now there is an existential threat to the Zaichaeri way-of-life looming on the Northern horizon. If that feathered fiend is not dispatched in short order, the Fatherland may not survive- Let alone claim its rightful mantle as capital of an Imperial Karnor." A bit of colour was beginning to return to his pallid cheeks. Perhaps that was the jolt of caffeine or the stirring of righteous rage- Maybe even a combination of the two that seemed to reinvigorate the fading commander.

"I will consult with my sources to glean a better understanding of the state of things, and report back when I have more intel." He promised,

"No. I've not visited Her Excellency since the debrief upon our return, but we have corresponded through her intermediaries."

[Stefan Dornkirk]

The pun made him smile, briefly, fondly. Then he settled back and considered the tasks before him.

"I'll have something written up for you to look at as soon as possible. Tonight, if I can. Just ideas, mind you, but once you look them over and give me feedback on the military viability I'll begin prototypes immediately."

One of the most positive things about having the means of production at your fingertips was that you didn't have to wait to manufacture something once you had the schematics finished.

"This will be my priority right up to the moment we leave."

He didn't want to bog Brenner down with his ideas when he would soon have to depart for his all-important appointment, but some of the ones Stefan had already been toying with began to adjust to meet the new thread. While Kalzasi and similar ilk were the main reason the expedition had been undertaken, the elder Dornkirk brother had thought of ideas for the use of the parasites closer to home as well.

His current thought was an inoculation of sorts, as one used to combat influenza and other contagious illnesses. If the whole population could be inoculated against magic it might work to a triple purpose. Stopping anyone with the ability from using it, stopping anyone from being inflicted with the ability, and (possibly) preventing magic cast upon a person from taking effect.

A similar type of thing, an injection, would be the simplest way to deal with the demi-god demon of Kalzasi, but how to implement it without being detected and starting an international incident that would lead to war?

This was the question that Stefan Dornkirk would have to answer for, quickly, and with great care.

"Well, I won't keep you any longer, I am sure you need to prepare for your meeting. I am glad you came by, it's so hard to find time anymore. I'll come by the Manor tonight, if you'll be there? I'll bring my ideas and listen to yours."

[Brenner Dornkirk]

Brenner smiled as Stefan got right down to business. The younger Dornkirk was so enveloped in his schemes and plots that participation in them was practically prerequisite to any sort of close relationship with the Air Commander. If you were close enough to conspire with, you were near enough to love. He clutched at the armrests on either side of him and grunted as he pushed himself to his feet.

"Very good, brother." He stepped around to lean down and kiss Stefan gently, adoringly upon the forehead. "Let us shift the paradigms that hinder the progress of our race and our eternal Fatherland." Had ever a man been about more rewarding Work than this?

He downed the rest of his coffee, before making his way to the door and pausing in the frame to glance over his shoulder.

"No, no." Brenner smiled warmly, "I shall come to you, this time." Although he'd expressed an aversion in the past, he felt inclined to reward Stefan for his loyalty and sense of duty. The Work made him ever fonder of those who knew and understood the scope of his ambitions. They were passing few in all the world, and none were closer to his heart.

Perhaps they would be heralded in the history books as heroes or villains. Perhaps they would be forgotten by posterity, but the ripples of the Work would never be blithely dismissed. Brenner would have relished fame and glory if that lot was on offer, but he did not expect it. It was for the State to dole out the glory and the State was wont to claim that for its own. But those in power would know who they were and what they'd done for the State, and that was enough.

"Until tonight."

[Rune]

R E V I E W

Lore:

Brenner:
Spycraft:
Holding clandestine briefing sessions
Forming a cabal
Formulating furtive plots
Prioritizing mission focuses
Keeping classified State secrets
Exploiting Stealth tech
Commissioning top secret experiments
Exploiting diplomacy to benefit espionage
Accounting for obstacles
Accounting for security
Exploiting biological weapons
Forming furtive alliances
Tacking personal motives onto joint missions

Stefan:
Leadership:
Know Your Men
Understanding How Information Trickles Down

Engineering:
Putting Together a Fleet
Recreating Results on a Mass Scale
Tinkering

Biology:
Finding an Unknown Species
Testing a Species for Endurance
Curating a Species for a Purpose
Designing a Breeding Program
Studying Infection Spread
Magical Effect on Biology
Biological Agent Deployment
Testing a Variety of Subjects

Points:
10 Each, not for magic

Injuries/Ailments:
Brenner's On-Going Illness

Loot:
None

Notes: