Thal-More Intrigue

Illococoo continues attacking from the air, more to draw the attention from Michael and Saeko than anything else. Most of the Thalmor refused to exit the fortress after the initial slaughter, holing themself up inside while fortifying it as much as physically and magically possible.

Thalmor Justiciar Sarulian stood behind a large mass of his men who were protecting the frost gate, his mages working overtime to ward and create magical barriers around the entrance.

He was already well aware of who had decided to pay him a visit, while the dragon was a surprise, the Sword-Swinger and Battle-Mage were known to most Thalmor, along with possible strategies to use should they need to be eliminated...

Unfortunately, their information seemed keenly underprepared for the devastation Saeko Busujima and Michael Tahlin were able to produce... Half of his men had already perished outside, all in under two minutes or so.

He had no hope for survival, of that he was certain... Perhaps if only one of them came, and without the dragon they might stand a chance... But as it is now? It was now readily apparent why both had such high bounties on their heads.

"That's it! Get back and scatter the entrance with Destruction Runes! Let them take it to the face if they wish to continue!" he commands, only to step back in shock when the entire front portion of the entrance crumbles into itself, revealing Michael with a single raised finger.

"Man, I feel badass." the man in black armoured robes grins as the Sword-Singer takes her place beside him.

"What was that? I've never seen you use it before?" she asks as if a couple hundred Thalmor weren't glaring daggers at them.

He shrugs, "A gift from Tiff actually. Being a Void Mage comes with many benefits..." he trails off as his eyes focus on the large hall, scanning each of the Thalmor until he locks eyes with Sarulian. "Found you... Why don't you surrender? I just might let your men live if you do." he says, and by the uncomfortable shuffling of the other Thalmor, they were seriously considering just handing him over.

Sarulian frowns, sweat beginning to drip down his forehead, "Michael Tahlin. So have you finally decided to make an enemy of the Thalmor? This isn't something to do lightly... Leave now and I might forget the men and women you've butchered today!" he states with forced confidence.

...

"Are you serious?" Michael asks, glancing at Saeko who gives a nod with a shrug.

"You grab him, I'll deal with everyone else." she says, dropping into a stance and slowly approaching the vanguard of the Thalmor forces.

"Alright, I guess." Michael says as he reaches out with Telekinesis and grabs Sarulian, pulling the mage into the air and towards him, only to be stopped as the Justiciar casts a spell that frees him. The elf then proceeds to flee further inside the fortress, abandoning his men. Michael quickly follows, using Blink to bypass the other enemies as Saeko deals with them.

"You can run! And you can't hide either, bitch!" Michael laughs as he follows Sarulian who was stumbling over himself to escape.

"J-Just leave me alone! I'm useless to you, Tahlin!"

"I don't know, I think I still need a punching bag for my home."

The chase continues until Sarulian finds himself trapped in a dead-end, specifically, an area where the Thalmor had been keeping all of their prisoners...

"Wow, a torture room right next to the cells? You might be a bunch of bastards, but at least you're efficient." Michael remarks.

"Thank the Divines! Are you here to save us!?" a grey-haired man asks as he grabs the bars of his cell, all while Sarulian backs up against the wall in fear.

Michael shrugs, "Depends who you are..."

"Thorald Gray-Mane, my family would reward you greatly if you helped me here today."

...

"Hmm... Sure." Michael says, touching the bars and activating [Wynningbaldr] which causes the bars to crumble before them.

The Nord stumbles out of the cell in surprise, clapping Michael on the shoulder both to hold himself up and to show his gratitude. "I thank you... What will you do to him?" he asks, gesturing towards the terrified Justiciar.

Michael shrugs, "I'll leave his burned corpse outside the gates, let everyone know the Thalmor aren't wanted here." he says before telekinetically dragging the struggling elf outside to where Saeko was waiting.

"Finished?" she asks.

"Not yet, we need to check what information they've got here. Just in case they want to pull something as big as the Void Nights.

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Michael transports Thorald home via a Dimension Gate after extracting a promise to not mention their involvement here today. Thankfully, the only other prisoners present were petty criminals, or those who tried to renegade on their debts to the Thalmor... These people were removed, permanently.

This left them with the task of scouring the fortress for any information the Thalmor had. It fairly easy to be honest, as efficient as the Thalmor were, keeping all of their classified information in the same room only made it easier for Michael to find.

The files were numerous, but most held information that was either old, redundant, or simply useless to them. There were, however, a few pieces that caught Michael's eye.

A 'special' guest was being kept in the Thalmor Embassy, this basically translated to someone being imprisoned there, though, there was no mention of who it might be.

Information on people of interest, specifically, him, and the rest of his group. Even Maria was included, since anyone who was close to him could either be a threat to the Thalmor, or a target that could be used against him.

Information on the Dragonborn and how to utilise him, with mentions to push him to solve the Dragon Crisis before they did anything drastic... The Thalmor had information on various prophecies, Alduin's return included, meaning they needed Surtr so the world wouldn't end.