Robyn was waiting in the living room when Liam arose. She wore the police uniform, and her enchanted Tommy gun was resting across her lap. A small canvas tote sat on the table in front of her. As Liam drew close enough to see through the top, he noted a bound booklet and a large sports bottle of the concentrated serum. Robyn's knee was jittery.

"Car's all ready to go," she said, quickly rising to her feet in the middle of Liam's Good Evenings. She hesitated for a moment, and then added. "You better drive."

[Roll Fate]

Liam smiled reassuringly. "Its going to be alright," he said, taking the keys from Robyn's hands. "Breathe."

He headed for the door.

Well I cant have two back to back scenes with good luck.

09:35, Today: Liam O'Farrell rolled 16 using 1d100.  Fate.

The drive over to Nex's hideout was quiet and tense. Robyn's nervousness was infectious, and Liam didn't think too much of the greatly reduced traffic. But in truth, they were the only thing on the road. The mooks were all shuttered inside, and even the police seemed to have deserted the streets.

Perhaps it was for this reason that no warnings or interrogation was forthcoming. The road to the dilapidated theatre which Nex was currently calling home brought them dangerously close to the Alhambra. Liam glanced up at the building towering over them as he drove. He caught a glimpse of a small bright flash, and then the front of the vehicle burst open. The engine let out a quick death rattle as it ground immediately to a halt. The rifle report sounded a moment later.

The impact was enough to set off the airbags. Robyn reeled in the passenger seat, momentarily stunned.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Liam muttered as he hastily tore off his seat belt and moved to unsecure Robyn. "We have to get out of here!"

Liam had the forethought to pop the trunk even as he ushered the pair of them out through whichever side of the vehicle was facing away from the tower hoping to keep the car itself between them until they could break for harder cover.

"Are you okay?" He risked a peek into the trunk. They couldn't leave anything behind.

No sooner did Liam remove Robyn's belt and pull her towards him than her seat exploded in a burst of glass and stuffing. Another rifle report soon followed. It took her another moment for the adrenaline to kick in. She lurched out of Liam's arms and spilled out of the driver's side door.

"I need a minute," Robyn said. They'd be lucky to get it. Headlights appeared at the foot of the Alhambra, and tore down the street towards them.

The vehicle offered very little in the way of protection. The high-calibre rounds tore through the squad car's hull like it was paper. The only refuge that provided enough solid material to have a hope of stopping a round was the engine block itself. And that had begun to smoke.

Liam spotted the butt of some sort of long gun in the trunk before he was forced to duck away. The sniper wasn't about to let him go fishing in the trunk.

Liam could see the narrow street that led to their destination. They were a scant two blocks from it. But the Redwatch were approaching so quickly that they would surely wind up between Liam and his goal.

Then, all of a sudden, the view was blotted out by a wall of darkness. With a gesture of Robyn's arms, the shadows between the buildings knitted them a blind. The sniper responded by increasing their rate of fire. The shots went wide.

Liam took advantage of the veil of shadows to avail himself of the long gun in the trunk along with whatever other material aid could be found therein. "We're going to have to break out sideways and work our way forwards," he said, casting his gaze towards the high-rise buildings lining the avenues of the downtown core. He'd take an alley or a door to a building they could push through and exit out the back if there was one.

Spending 2 BP on Abombwe 3 for body empowerment, +2 all physical attributes for the remainder of the scene.

Liam is at 12/15 BP and 3/8 WP. Full health.

The weapon in question was a police-issue Mossberg pump. A square box of 25 rounds was secured beneath it in the rack. Liam knew by the weight that it was unloaded.

There was a convenient narrow alleyway to his right, nestled between two storefront apartments, but this would take him further from his destination. There was a large mid-rise office building to his left. The lobby was darkened, but encased in glass. The doors, if locked, would pose no obstacle to him, but there was little cover beyond the bay of elevators. This building, too, had an alley behind it - though much further away from Liam's current position. This one was much larger and able to accommodate a truck.

There were heavy storm drains on both sides of the street, but this close to the Alhambra the cavernous system would be rife with traps. This was not the section he had familiarized himself with earlier that week.

Robyn, who could see clearly through the shadows, levelled her Tommy gun on the hood of the car and began firing. Evidently, the Redwatch were already in range.

[Roll wits + investigation, DC 7, no autos]

Fortunately realizing that Robyn had neglected to grab the tote Liam ducked back in through the driver's side of the car and grabbed the satchel from across the center console. "Come on!" he said, heading towards the mouth of the alley closet to them. On the way he grabbed hold of the storm grate and heaved at aside. If they were going to have to resort to a game of cat and mouse to get free of their tail - and particularly if they had to start down the path heading the wrong way before doubling back - he was more than happy to confuse their trail and give the cats plenty of choices to explore.

"Can you get Nex on that bracelet thingy?" he asked as soon as Robyn joined him in the alley.

Robyn ducked into the alley, crouching close to Liam. She leaned the Tommy gun in the alley, and made another gesture. Liam's vision went dark as the shadows wrapped around them. A moment later, he felt her fingertips on his temples. And suddenly the dark cloak became a thin veil to his eyes.

The first Redwatch vehicle drove straight through the blind, and impacted the cruiser at full velocity. The two behind it screeched to a halt, and a fourth and fifth pulled up more cautiously. All the vehicles save the first were fully loaded.  The two occupants therein were not quick to pile out.

Robyn tugged at the chain on her wrist, straining for a moment before it snapped.

Sixteen Redwatch, mostly shovelheads by Liam's estimation, fanned out in search. One of them shouted through a bullhorn. "Olly Olly Oxen Free," he chanted in a sadistic singsong.

Liam gripped Robyn's shoulder and nodded further down the alley. Nex wasn't going to appreciate it if they lead a Redwatch search party right to It's door. They were going to have to lose them one way or another and either double back on their own or more than likely wait for Nex to find them and pull them into the Shadowlands. The first order of business was to simply get clear. Once they were a ways down the alley he racked the Mossberg and filled the magazine.

Robyn nodded, and kept moving. When they were far enough down the alley, she whispered. "Only got a couple more spells left in me." Not surprising. It hadn't been long since her last trip through the Tome.

Liam slipped through the alleyway like oiled smoke. Robyn was a fair sight less stealthy. Her foot tipped over a beer bottle, and the clattering drew the attention of the Redwatch. They were forced to duck into cover as a pair of agents made their way down the alley.

Liam began to understand that the call over the loudspeaker was not meant for them. In the street at the other end of the alley, he could see people beginning to emerge. A plump middle-aged couple made their way into the alley, looking carefully in the dark nooks and crannies. They were boxed in.

Liam nodded, eyeing the brick walls from the poor concealment of their little nook. He could hear the footsteps drawing closer from both directions. The last thing he wanted was a firefight in the narrow alley though. There was nothing to do but go up.

"Cloak us," he whispered. "And hang on tight. We're going up."

Even as he spoke four slender articulating limbs pierced outward from his back and found purchase on the old masonry. With Robyn concentrating it was going to come down to a photo finish. He just hoped the photo looked black when he pulled her up and out of the path of the opposing search parties.

Robyn gestured again, and the shadows in the nook knitted closed. She clung to Liam with one arm and gripped her gun tight with the other.

The middle-aged woman reached the shadows first. She squinted, drew closer, and reached an arm into the blackness. Her fingertip brushed the tip of Liam's boot as he ascended.

"Here," she blurted out. The Redwatch agent shoved her aside, and felt around in the blackness.

"The drain's a false alarm," he shouted down the alley. "They went this way." He pushed past the couple, and cast a glance to the skyline.

The rooftop afforded them momentary concealment from the agents below. But without further shadowcrafting, they were well exposed from above.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:10, Thu 16 Sept 2021.

Liam looked down into the agent's unseeing gaze. Up above them they were in full view of the bristling sniper emplacements on the tower. Below, they had to deal with the multitude of mooks. But here - although not for very much longer presumably - they were unseen and unknown. It might just be possible to wait out Nex's arrival.... Hopefully the Nagarajah didn't have far to travel tonight.

Liam pressed further back into the blackness and adjusted his grip on Robyn. He-of-the-many-limbs could hold her easily. The last thing he needed was for her to slip. It was a good thing he was in no need of a breath to hold.

More Redwatch moved through the alley, a few of them pausing to inspect the nook, and the niche further up where Robyn had concealed them. One shone a flashlight up the length of the nook to the roof, at one point resting it directly at the pair.

"This one goes all the way up," he said. "Radio HQ, tell them to check the rooftops."

They clung there for several minutes, as the alleyway filled with Redwatch. Some had made their way inside the storefront in search of the rooftop access.

Then, a thick black smoke belched forth from the darkness. The cloud rolled silently down the alleyway, but the effect was anything but quiet. A chorus of screams rang out as the smoke touched them. The vampires quickly rotted away. The ghouls and the unfortunate mooks were subjected to a far more agonizing demise as the ravages of age rippled over them in a horrible instant. Their knees gave way, then their legs,and soon they all fell under the cloudline. Moments later, their cries ran silent. But the cacophony spread like a round as the clouds washed out of the alley and into the streets. The Redwatch fled in terror. The mooks merely stood and stared like cattle as death overtook them.

Liam felt a hand around his ankle. His limbs lost purchase in the nook as the material world melted away. They fell into the bottom of the alley in the Shadowlands. The forms of the newly-dead corpses making their way across the veil glowed around them.

A mask of comedy beamed at the pair, but no hint of life gleamed from the eye-holes. The hooded figure loomed over them, not even offering a hand to help them to their feet. Breaker towered beside Nex, somehow managing the expressionless ram's skull that served for his face to convey a look of disapproval. Neither one spoke.

Liam hauled himself to his feet and offered the hand down to Robyn that neither of their saviours had given. His gaze fell upon one of the glowing spirits briefly before he turned away in shame. Far more death would be visited upon Verdant Falls before this was over he knew, but he was responsible for these ones even if it had been Nex that had ushered them across the fold.

"Thank you," he said, turning to address Nex and Breaker both. He looked sidelong at Robyn and handed her the tote. It wasn't his to give away.

"You see how we came right to your aid when it was needed?" Nex said, stepping uncomfortably close to Robyn. "How we didn't traipse merrily around for months, sewing discord on a whim while our obligations went unfulfilled? Whatever did we do to earn such disrespect?"

It snatched the tote, and passed it to Breaker, never breaking its stare on Robyn. The wizard examined the sports bottle, and then rifled through the booklet, completely uninterested in anything else.

Liam looked back and forth between Robyn and Nex, even briefly turning his attention to Breaker before looking back to the pair. He wasn't sure if Robyn intended for him to be their spokesman but she wasn't saying anything and Nex was not only a threat in and of itself but their only way home so it seemed wise to say something.

"She has been refining the process," Liam offered. "Testing it. Wizards are never satisfied. A larger-scale test was required. Now that it's done, the serum is ready."

He looked at Robyn and then back towards those vacant, lifeless eyes.

"I apologize for the delay, and thank you again for coming to our aid."

The advocacy seemed enough of a rhetorical foothold for Robyn to get her bearings back. "W-what he said," she stammered. "Don't - didn't want to give you a faulty product."

Nex cocked its head at her, and then turned its attention to Liam for a moment. It sized him up much in the way a predator might size up its prey's mother. It was terrifyingly still. It seemed to decide that eating her wasn't worth the trouble.

"Breaker," Nex said after a moment. "Are we happy?"

"The methodology is credible," Breaker replied. "We will not know for sure until we try for ourselves."

"Pending verification," Nex replied. "You may consider your payment rendered and our business to be concluded. I trust you find this satisfactory."

Robyn nodded quietly. It turned its attention to Liam. "And you?"

Liam glanced at Robyn and then turned his attention back to Nex. "Should there be any issues, of which I can't imagine," he said. "Miss Rowe is the only one who will be able to rectify them to your satisfaction. All I ask for is safe passage back to the Skinlands - somewhere far enough away from the Alhambra that we can make our own way back. And until the results are verified to your satisfaction I will ensure we respond to any further queries promptly."

Breaker did not seem interested in this conversation. He stepped into the shadows without so much as a glance, and was gone.

Nex pondered Liam's request. "What direction?" it asked.

North would take them closer to the base. West would take them closer to Robyn's. As the Alhambra was to the east, those were the only directions that made sense.

“North,” Liam said, turning to look at Robyn.

Robyn didn't give much away with her body language. Mostly, she just seemed eager to be away from here.

Nex turned, and made its was down the alley, gesturing for them to follow.

The clouds had dissipated. Shadowy blurs moved in to inspect the carnage. Nex walked between them, paying no mind. "Are you hungry after your ordeal?" it asked Liam.

"I can feel it," Liam admitted. His four arachnid limbs - manifest of his own vitae - clicked along to either side of him as they made their way out of the alley. "Not so much that it concerns me yet, but its there."

He tried not to look too hard at the shadows for fear of what he might find.

Liam had little to fear from the Shadowlands. In Nex's company, it was the Shadowlands that showed fear. A city with so much death was assuredly quite occupied with ghosts, but all he would ever see was a flicker of something moving very quickly away. He could see the living - dark-rimmed Ghouls and pale, shimmering Kindred - through the veil milling about in the street, and the glowing souls of the newly-fallen.

Nex didn't even break stride. Its left hand reached out at a flickering shade beside him, disappearing momentarily at the elbow. It quickly rematerialized, clutched around the throat of a screaming ghoul. Nex let his prey wriggle and cry out as he dragged the poor wretch through the veil. Liam knew enough about choke holds to know that he was only able to make a sound because the creature allowed him to.

The screaming intensified as Nex used its free hand to pull off the mask. From this vantage, mercifully, Liam couldn't see past the cowl of its white hooded cloak.

"Rejoice," it whispered to its captive prey, barely audible over his incoherent cries for mercy. "For you will know Oblivion." As it spoke, its right hand grasped the man's thigh, and hoisted him up sideways. And with a horrible visceral crunch, some manner of jaws tore into his ribcage. Robyn had to stop and cover her ears.

A tortuously long moment later, mask back in place, it finally broke its stride. It paused in the middle of the intersection, in the dead veil of the city, and offered Liam the masticated remains, dangling him from his neck like a rag doll. Nex had completely removed its heart and most of the lungs. Most of the blood was on the floor, but there was enough left to take the edge off. All it would cost was his dignity. Something told him it would be rude to refuse.

Liam couldn't help but notice that the ghoul before him was not glowing like the other wretched souls who had fallen this evening. Perhaps when one dies in the Shadowlands, one's soul goes elsewhere. Or perhaps Nex had eaten that, too.

[+3 BP and a humanity check if you drink.]

Liam stared into the wide lifeless eyes of the ghoul and immediately regretted his answer. "I... thank you..." he said, trying not to sound ungrateful. Reaching out to lift the remains from Nex's grasp he closed his eyes and sunk his teeth into its almost emptied veins.

What had he said to Cal the night before? You give up too much of yourself in this life until eventually there was nothing left at all.

Failed. I presume I lose a level of humanity.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:08, Fri 17 Sept 2021.

That drink would haunt him. Though not quite as much as the part of him deep inside that enjoyed it. The Beast would remember this moment fondly. And it would trot it out whenever it wanted Liam to feel guilt or shame. A little piece of his soul disappeared along with it.

Robyn didn't exactly approve, either. She said nothing, but she was looking at him very differently now.

If Nex was aware of the awkwardness, it didn't let on. It continued to usher them up the street.

"The city seems... fraught, at the moment," it said, casually. "I do believe the Masquerade has come to an end."

Liam strung another rosary of regret onto the chain of his life. After a century and a quarter the chain had grown long indeed. There was nothing to be done about it but wear it now.

"A death long overdue," he said solemnly. He glanced about at the fluttering souls trying to get his bearings.

They were about a block from the crash site, and still well downtown. Through the haze, he could see the imposing figure of the Alhambra looming overhead. It was strange, seeing it superimposed against the old art deco hotel that had once towered over the city. Its impression was still strong in the Shadowlands.

"I'm surprised to hear one of your kind say that," Nex mused. "I was under the impression that you viewed it as sacrosanct. How refreshing."

“The old shibboleths are falling,” Liam replied. “The world turns and so must we. What comes next, I honestly don’t know. But not this,” he said, gesturing to the city as representative of the state of things that were - or perhaps were once. The dead in this land didn’t care one way or another.

"Should you ever require asylum, the Sunless City will always be open to you," Nex replied. "Others are welcome, for a price. And you," it said, turning its attention to Robyn. "Would be a pampered pet in our courts."

"Not my bag, really," Robyn said. "But if you're looking for names, I know folks with exactly that kink."

Nex chuckled. "Not a privilege I would extend to just anyone," it said. "But gifts like yours must be nurtured."

"I get plenty of nurturing out here," Robyn replied. "In the sun."

"I hope it doesn't come to that," Liam said. He had struggled to preserve his humanity in the world of the living. If tonight was any indication, he could only imagine how long it would take for the Beast to break all of its shackles if he resided here for any length of time. "But I will remember the offer."

"May I ask you something?" he inquired after a moment. "Have you been to the Bluetree Caern? What lies there on this side of the veil?"

Nex shook its head. "I have not," it replied. "Though knowing what I know about what happened there, I would presume that the dogs who died protecting it are continuing to do so in the Shadowlands. A site of such significance is bound to have left a strong memory in this place - and equally likely to have formed an extremely powerful fetter. Places like that are like flytraps for generations upon generations of wraiths, much like any other place of worship."

"Are the wraiths of werewolves like any other?" Liam asked, genuinely curious.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:51, Wed 22 Sept 2021.

"Oh heavens no," Nex replied, absolutely thrilled to be discussing its favourite topic: the dead. "They remain remarkably cohesive after death, especially the older, more powerful ones. We've researched them extensively, but I'm afraid our best theory as to the cause is that their souls don't reside exclusively in the Skinlands. This would also explain the ease with which they travel through the Umbral planes."

After a moment, it added "I've heard stories of their youths making pilgrimages to learn the secrets of their forebears. Some even make it back."

Liam nodded. "I intend to make the trip myself," Liam said, seeing no reason to conceal this information. "One of them is willing to take me, though apprehensive of what we might find for obvious reasons."

"Your guide would be right to be so," Nex said as they made their way uptown. "The souls of those who meet such violent ends tend to leave violent impressions. They may not be capable of telling friend from foe. Or they may simply not care. What could a Kindred possibly want there that would warrant such a risk?"

"They were... friends," Liam said. "Some of them, at any rate." Melissa. Others cared less for him admittedly. And some cared more. Unconsciously he found himself reaching for the blue kerchief.

"I wasn't here when the caern fell. I feel as though I owe them something."

Nex laughed heartily. At least, that was what Liam assumed the wheezy, rasping sound was intended to approximate. It had a similar effect on Liam's spine as a set of nails running across a chalkboard.

"Oh, you are still a soft-hearted soul, aren't you?" it merrily cried. "Let me tell you what I told the last person who hired me to seek out comfort and 'closure' from the dead. You will not find what you are looking for, and you will stir nothing but unrest in them."

It made a long, baleful glance at Robyn. She shifted uncomfortably, and looked away. "Nex is right," she muttered quietly.

Ah. The penny dropped at long last and Robyn's arrangement with Nex fell into place. He looked at Robyn. "Sunshine." It was a statement rather than a question. He was here in this sunless place because Robyn had felt the need to say goodbye. And despite what it had cost him of himself, he couldn't even fault her.

He looked down at the kerchief in his hand. "Perhaps some memories are better left as just that," he said with a sigh.

"Sunshine," Robyn concurred grimly. "When she died, her spirit ripped in two. The halves fought with each other, and tore each other mostly to pieces. All I was able to do when I found her was start them up fighting again." She held herself tightly.

"Trust me on this. Unless you've got a mind to bring them back over, you should let the dead lie. Whatever that place was to you, it's the site of a massacre now. You're not gonna like what you find there. Gordon sure as hell won't."

No. Moira would not like what she found, he was certain of that. It pained him to think what might have become of Melissa. And as fearsome as Mountain Gale had been in the living world, his spirit was almost assuredly a force to be reckoned with on this side of the veil. But surely Liza was not similarly broken. Then again she was an old spirit by now. There might not have been much left of her at all.

"I trust you," he said. He felt as though a book had been closed before he'd barely got to read beyond the first page, but the last thing he wished to do was visit more misery upon the dead. Their's had been an emotional passing to begin with.

Robyn paused for a moment, gripping Liam's shoulder sympathetically. "We can talk more about this later if you like," she said.

Nex, buoyed by the awkwardness and grief hanging in the air, chimed in merrily. "Now look, there you go," it said to Robyn. "Your experience wasn't a total loss. You got to save someone from making the same mistake you did. Aren't you glad we're all sharing?"

They were several blocks uptown from the Alhambra now. Though it was not impossible that the sniper could spot them from here - let alone make a passable shot - it would be a very difficult proposition.

Liam exchanged a glance with Robyn, saying nothing immediately in reply to Nex. At some point they would have to take their chances in the skinlands and with all eyes on the chaos they had left in their wake they were likely 'safe enough'. "We can probably cross back over soon," he offered.

"Then I suppose this is where we part ways, for now," Nex replied. "I will remain in the city to witness the fall of the Tremere, and the beginning of the next Insquisition." With all the death and despair promising to visit itself upon the city in the coming weeks, Liam didn't doubt the creature would pass up such a feast.

It held up the small broken chain, and looked at Liam. "If you think you'll reconsider my offer, or simply wish to hire my services, I can leave this with you."

Liam reached out and accepted the iron chain. He had made a point of not offending Nex, and though he hoped to never need its services he recognised that without its aid he and Robyn would have surely been lost this evening. The future was no more certain. "Thank you."

He looked to Robyn next. "Are you ready?"

Nex grasped Liam's hand and an icy chill ran up his arm to the shoulder. It dangled the chain over Liam's arm, and it snaked its way around his wrist, linking itself closed in the process. Liam had barely gotten the "Thank you" out when Nex pulled his hand roughly, and Liam was once more in the Skinlands. Robyn came stumbling out of the shadows a moment later.

Almost immediately, his satphone chimed. It was a message from Jacob:
We are across the border. Our guide wants to speak with you. Call me ASAP.

Liam stared at the iron circlet about his wrist and was caught by surprise when he phone chimed. Before answering it though he reached out to steady Robyn as she pitched forward out of the darkness. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

Robyn shied away from his touch, and smoothed out the lines of her uniform. She tossed the cap aside; the disguise was blown anyway.

"Yeah," she said curtly. "I just coulda done without... any of that."

"Me too," he said. "We have to get out of here. We're going to have to boost a car."

"Shouldn't be too hard," Robyn said, looking up the street. There were many parked cars, and not a single witness. "You don't think a car is gonna be too conspicuous?"

They settled on an ugly, 20-year-old orange Volvo. It stuck out from the other vehicles on the street but it was the least likely to have an alarm or anti-theft lojack. A lot of these modern cars also had automatic headlights that couldn't be extinguished in a pinch.

[Auto DC on the security roll, if you take it]

Liam shook his head. "We can move a little further out on foot," he said. "But we aren't making it all the way home that way. Lets put some more distance between us and the tower first," he said, beckoning.

"No arguments here," Robyn said. They made their way northward, sticking close to the sides of the buildings. On their present course, they'd reach the iron graveyard in about twenty minutes. The roads leading west led to less populated mixed residential areas, and eventually gave way to townhomes and the suburbs.

"Break for Hasan's just in case we need an escort?" he said, gesturing towards the Iron Graveyard.

"Never thought I'd prefer his company to anyone," Robyn said. "But given where we've been..." She trailed off.

Movement became easier as soon as they were out of the core. With the towering fortress reduced to a mere eyesore on the skyline, they picked up the pace. But it was still quite a distance on foot.

After a few minutes of travelling in silence, Liam's personal satphone rang. The government-issue handset was still safely shielded. The caller ID was from Jacob.

"He's not so bad," Liam said in Hasan's defence.

When the phone rang, Liam signalled Robyn to hold up finding a sheltered cove to guard them from the air.

"I think I need to take this," he said.

He picked up the call. "Jacob?"

"Liam," Jacob said on the other end of the line. He sounded a little frustrated. His voice was flat and faded; a good sign he was on speaker. "We're across the border, but our handler seems reluctant to part ways before speaking with you."

"Howdy, Liam," Jin said. "We missed you at the base tonight. What's up?"

"We ran into trouble in the city," Liam replied. He was sure he sounded tired too, and he desperately yearned for a smoke but it would have to wait. "Quite a lot of it actually. Sniper put a round through our engine block. We're away safe but we're on foot. Car's toast so its taking a bit longer than planned to get back home."

"How'd it go at the base today? All good?"

"Without a hitch," Jin said. "So, uh, why didn't you tell anyone that you were going to start a fight downtown? That was quite the bloodbath, but we only have footage from after the fact."

"Tonight was meant to be a dead-drop," Liam replied. "I told Cal last night. Had to make a stopover before heading to the base. Never expected for the world this would happen."

"After the car got junked we got pinned down in an alley. I wish I could say I got us out but I didn't. We got pulled out through the shadowlands. Jacob will know what that means. It wasn't pretty."

"I'll say it wasn't," Jin said. "That many dead civvies make my bosses very nervous. If they weren't cleaning up their own mess, I'd be more worried. But let's not let that happen again, hm?"

Liam nodded, though Jin couldn't see it. He had no intention of repeating that particular sequence of events. "Agreed." There was really nothing more to say about it. He'd got Robyn safely away. He'd do it again if he had to, regardless of the cost but he wasn't about to bring her anywhere near the Alhambra again so it was a moot point.

"We have to keep moving. We're a ways from home yet. Do you still want me to come by the base after?"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:16, Tue 28 Sept 2021.

"I insist upon it," Jin replied. "Unless you want Cal to come to you. Extraction is one of his specialties, so I understand. Maybe call him first next time. Looks like I have more to discuss with Mr. Holloway, here."

"I'll see you soon," Liam said. He hung up the phone and rubbed his face. "Fuck me. As if this was the goal tonight. As if we didn't just escape by the skin of our fucking teeth through a literal window to hell. I'm doing my God damned best here."

Liam clenched his jaw and his fist in turn. "I need a smoke," he said tersely. His hands shook as he tried to spark the tip.

"Hey," Robyn said, stepping over to Liam. She snapped open her Zippo and sparked it with a flick of one practiced hand. "Fuck them." Once his cigarette was lit, she pulled a cone-shaped joint out of her shirt pocket and lit it, muttering "Buncha Johnny-Come-Lately know nothin' bitches" through pursed lips as she did so. She leaned on the wall and took a thoughtful drag.

"There's no way to resolve all of this that'll satisfy them, because what they want is for none of you... hell, of us, to have ever existed. They knew this was gonna get messy, and all they want is for none of that mess to get on their hands. But lemme ask you this, who escalated things? Who pushed the Camarilla into turtling up with their goddamn boat show out there?"

"They did," Liam replied. He closed his eyes and let the nicotine settle his frayed nerves. "I've been playing at this game for a century and I can't say it gets any easier."

He let out a sigh and managed a thin smile.

"Thank you."

"This has been one hell of a night."

A wry thought struck him and he gave a small chuckle. "I think I preferred being blown up at my apartment with you more."

This got a snicker out of Robyn. She coughed, mid-toke, and exhaled a wreath around her as she laughed. "Shit, simpler times, man," she said. "I never thought it'd shake down this way. I knew we'd be blowing a lid off things, but I figured it'd happen when we took down the Fugue. And I thought it'd be more dramatic than this. Instead, all we got is a bunch of meatheads breathing down our necks and clucking their tongues in disapproval while we put off important shit in favour of running errands to try and please Special Agent Dad."

"Agreed," Liam replied. "Though maybe its for the best. Like letting the steam out of a pressure cooker rather than just popping the lid off."

"I don't know." Liam took another drag on his cigarette. "All I know for sure is its going to get a lot worse before it gets better."

"When they called those people out over the megaphone and we got boxed in - I didn't want to hurt them. And look what good it did." He took another ragged pull and looked up at Robyn.

"You're safe. That's all that matters right now. I can perseverate over this mess on my own good time."

"You want to blame someone," Robyn said. "Blame the assholes using them as human shields. Tearing yourself down won't bring anyone back."

She took another drag, and held it in for a moment. "And for the record, I was gonna call Nex whether you suggested it or not."

"I know," Liam replied. "Its not really like we had a choice. There was no other way out."

"And Nex knew it."

"That's not really an enemy we can afford to make right now. Nex scares the bejesus out of me and I don't shrink lightly."

"Hard same," Robyn said with a shudder. "I don't doubt that if I'd shown up alone I wouldn't be coming back. I never shoulda put off delivery this long, but fuck I don't like that thing."

"Lets just be prompt with any follow up questions it might have so we can put this business well and truly behind us. That was thoroughly unpleasant. I don't want to be in a position again where I have to worry about causing it offence. Most kindred are already sticklers for propriety and I rather suspect the Tal'Mahe'Ra handle personal affront even less well."

"Lord knows I could never seek asylum there. I'd go raving mad. I'd rather take my chances with the inquisitors."

Liam took one last pull on his cigarette and tossed it to the ground, grinding it beneath his toe. He looked up at Robyn.

"Are we okay?" he asked earnestly.

"I mean, shit," Robyn said, finishing off her joint in a hurry. She shoved her hands in her pockets and kept moving, staying as much out of the streetlight as possible. "I'm not too pleased about you blabbing to the cops, but I know why you had to do what you had to do. And as for that display in the Shadowlands, well, sometimes I forget you're a vampire and tonight was a hell of a reminder. But it's not gonna fuck me up worse than nearly getting my head blown off its shoulders."

"I understand," Liam replied. "That was uncomfortable to say the least." Liam left unsaid whether he was more shaken by the act though, or the ease with which he'd managed it in the end. He picked up his pace to match Robyn. "I should let Hasan know we're headed his way," he continued, digging in his pocket.

The skyline grew shorter the further north they went. The hard line that marked the border to the city's dead industrial zone was visible now.

Hasan answered the messenger stone promptly. "Liam, I'm glad you called," he said. "Jacob's been looking for you."

"I just got off the phone with him. I think Jin's holding him hostage until I get there," he remarked. "We got held up downtown. Long story. Nex had to bail us out so we're running behind. And quite literally on foot. The car got junked."

"We're coming up on your neck of the woods though."

"Well, I'm fully together again," Hasan said. "I'll need someone else to drive but I can hide our whole car. We'll get you where you need to go."

"Thanks. We'll see you soon."

Liam spat out the pebble to bring Robyn up to date. "Hasan can cloak us back to the village. After that I'll peel off so that Jacob and company can get moving."

"We can split up once we make it to his place," Robyn said. "I'll be okay travelling alone with him, and you're already late to the party. I've held you up enough."

"As long as you're okay with that," Liam said. She would be safe with Hasan with or without him along for the ride, that much was true.

"Yeah, I can handle him," she said. "Besides, I got my own cops to please tonight. Gotta deliver that barrel I promised. If they managed to get everything off that list, it should solve a lot of our problems."

With an agreed upon plan in mind and hopefully no further interruptions now that they were well away from the city core Liam led the way to Hasan's. If the Old Man didn't have a vehicle to use for their purposes, it wouldn't be too difficult to nick one on the way.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:37, Mon 04 Oct 2021.

There was no need to secure a vehicle, for as best Liam knew they still had Jacob's armoured town car safely under wraps.

Hasan met up with them not long after they crossed into the industrial zone. The world around them shimmered as they fell under his cloak, and it was finally safe to step into the open.

"Well don't you two look chipper," he said. "Rough night, huh?"

"I'll tell you all about it in the car," Robyn said wearily. "You're driving me home, bee tee dubs."

"Hm, lucky me," Hasan said with an exaggerated sniff. "I was just saying that the upholstery was missing an old weed stank." Robyn laughed sarcastically and rolled her eyes.

Hasan looked Liam over, reading Liam's newly-injured psyche like a book. "You doing okay?"

"No." Liam shook his head.

Ever since the binding curse had been lifted Liam had become aware of the Beast's whisperings once more in the fringes of his awareness. To his mind though it had seemed somehow fainter - distant even. A part of him had hoped, and perhaps even foolishly believed that something fundamental to his composition had changed. But it hadn't. The Beast was still there, just as it had always been, a hair's breadth below the surface biding its time. And tonight it had howled.

"Its going to have to wait for another night, though. They're waiting for me."

"Why don't you stay over tonight," Hasan said. "We'll talk into the wee hours."

"That's fine by me," Robyn said. "I can coordinate with those dipshits through Holloway."

“Yeah, I think I might,” Liam said. He rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times. “How bad do I look?” He inquired. “I can ditch the spider legs but I should probably be somewhat presentable when I touch down. I’ve raised enough questions already.”

Once he’d attended to any last minute touches, Liam bid the pair farewell and took to the sky.

"Depends on how well they know you I guess," Hasan said with a shrug. "You look like you've been through the wringer. Which might be a good thing if you're running late. Have a good flight."

The airbase still smelled of gunpowder and ozone, but any trace of the fight between the Witch-Hunters and the JTF had been cleaned up long before Liam arrived. The base looked much as it should from the air. But when Liam touched down at the front gate, the guards looked too fresh and pressed to have been victims of the long ordeal. Likely all those troops had been rotated out.

He introduced himself, and the guards directed him to the CO's office. The commander was nowhere to be seen, but Mickey had taken the liberty of helping himself to the man's chair. Cal was seated on the couch.

"There you are, bud," said Cal. "You missed all the fun."

Liam sat down on the chair he'd taken the night before and immediately reached for his cigarettes. "Wish I'd been here instead," Liam said as he lit up. "You have no idea."

"Mickey," he said, with a nod towards the base's sole surviving Witchhunter.

"Where's Jin? I thought he'd be here."

Mickey poured Liam a tall glass of Jack's own from a bottle on the desk. He stood and offered it to Liam before topping his own. He remained silent.

"Oh, the boss man is too busy wrangling your buddies," Cal said. "They're some, uh, rough customers, huh?"

Liam raised his glass in thanks and took a sip.

"They're survivors," he said in reply to Cal. "Although admittedly rough around the edges. Its probably a good thing Jacob is here to speak for them." Quietly he admitted that Jacob was looking a little less polished of late as well.

"They're not used to having to deal with government and restrictions and regulations. At least not mortal ones. None of us are, really. We're going to have to learn."

"I get it," Cal said. "I'm not too big on government regs myself. Fortunately, not a lot of what I do is official. So I get leeway." He leaned back and put his feet on the coffee table. "Y'know, you could, too."

"Maybe. I'm not looking for exceptions. That's no foundation for moving forwards. But we have a war to win first and we won't win it fighting by Queensberry rules."

"The furthest ahead I'm looking right now is taking back the city."

"Hey, that's our goal, too," Cal said. "So come sign up with us. It'll make the brass rest a lot easier. And considering how much kaboom-boom they've got pointed at this city, I think lowering their stress levels benefits all of us. Pay isn't bad, either. Plus pension."

"Can't do that just yet," Liam said, shaking his head. "I promised to keep a certain someone safe, and I can't do that following orders that take me away from where I need to be. Once we take the city though, she's kept her word and I've kept mine. We can reassess."

"Maybe by then the government will make good on my ask and furnish me with some proper documents. A pension doesn't take me far without a social security number," Liam added with a wink.

"I've already signed up," Mickey said. "Mind you, I have a lot more sins to forgive. And after two lifetimes of service to the Tremere, I can do a twenty-year hitch standing on my head."

"That's if you make it through training," Cal said. "Not that I think you won't kick its ass, what with the superpowers and all. You're working off a field commission right now."

"Look at you, pretending not to be desperate," Mickey quipped. "You know you want us."

"It's fine by me if you don't wanna join up," Cal added to Liam casually. "But just so's you know, the boss man might ask a little harder."

"Just as long as he doesn't expect me to renege on the deal they cut with Robyn. The lady likes her privacy." Liam took another drink. "Are the brass coming down for a closer look? Or is Jin running the show here still?"

Cal arched his eyebrow at the mention of Robyn's name, but made no other acknowledgement of the slip. He leapt on the opportunity to change the topic, and chortled at Liam's next question. "The brass? Come down here? Nah, they'll watch the whole thing over screens from the comfort of their offices, as usual. Jin tells us what needs doing, and I tell the brass how it's gonna get done. The brass assigns the resources, and pass on the stupid ideas of whatever politicians happen to be involved."

"So the boss man is still Jin then," Liam said. He paused for a drag on his cigarette. "Works for me."

"As much as I'm enjoying the drink, I should probably go and see what he wants. For Jacob's sake as much as my own. It didn't sound like he was planning on letting my friend go without seeing my face tonight."

"Nah, it's me that needed to see ya," Cal said. "He's waiting on the barrel y'all promised. Now that we've seen it work, and that grisly display by the pier this afternoon, they're soaking through their pants to get their hands on it. And apparently, regular-ass people can learn to make it?"

"You needed to see me?" Liam asked. "I mean, I guess. I don't know how to make it. But yeah, I think anyone could learn."

"Yeah, man, I needed to see ya," Cal said casually. "Y'know, I've been in the forces for eleven years? It's a point of personal pride for me that in all those years of service, I've never left a CO disappointed. Until tonight. It was my job to keep tabs on you, and you were off in the city stirring up trouble. I'm not disappointed you didn't tell me where you were going last night. I'm disappointed in myself for not asking for details. Mostly, I'm upset that I had to find out about it from that smug little CSIS agent. Professionally, that stings."

He chuckled mirthlessly. "If this is the deal I made with ya, we gotta rework the fine print."

"What do you want to know?" Liam asked.

"For starters, I'd like to know when you're going to be interacting with civvies, or even when you're going to be civvie-adjacent," he said. "If you're thinking of even farting in the direction of the city, I wanna know where you're gonna point your cheeks. Can you guys even fart?"

"We've burned all our bridges in the city," Liam said, pausing for a drink. "Can't resupply there any more, can't move around safely, and there's maybe two people left there who wouldn't attack me on sight and I can't think of a reason to visit either one of them."

"I do have business left in the sewers. There's a section there that got sealed off ten years ago that has a footing at the base of the Alhambra. It used to be the home of one of the Camarilla's more - distasteful clans. I say 'used to' because once the Camarilla sealed the doors the lot of them went feral and turned on each other."

"A little while back I found my way inside and did some digging. I found a couple of things. The first is a live line into the Alhambra itself. I don't know computers at all, but I know someone who does and she's pretty sure she can get us tapped into their system if I can get her to the feed."

"The second thing I found is a survivor. I haven't woken her up because I didn't have a way to extract her at the time but I'm pretty sure she's one of their's - and assuming there's anything left of her up there after her ordeal she'll be looking to get even," he said, tapping his skull.

"Granted, her knowledge of the inside is ten years out of date and Mickey can do us better but the bigger deal is her testimony. Her clan has always been at arm's length with the Camarilla. If the rest of them get wind of what the Cam's did to their kin in Verdant Falls there's a good chance they cut loose and leave them hanging. Or better still, work to actively sabotage them."

"I can get myself in and out on my own, no problem, but if I'm going to sneak in anything bigger than a rat I need someone to disable the wards the Tremere have set in the sewers - someone like Mickey, for instance. And I need someone to deal with the hard wiring. I don't do that."

"I know a thing or two about navigating through sewers," Cal said. "And I'm no slouch when it comes to countersurveillance. Plus, if you get caught they're liable to send suicidal mooks through "

"I put up some of those wards personally," Mickey said. "And I know they've beefed up security down there since the blockade. They're turtling up until they can find a way to make a break for it."

"Most importantly," Cal said. "In the event we get nabbed, what are the odds of the Tremere are gonna start killing hostages?"

"Pretty good," Mickey said. "If they know someone was there, they're going to assume it's you guys - us guys... and issue reprisals. Not the whole town, of course. But expect another display like the one at the docks. They've got ways of communicating with people that don't require cell phones. They may very well just cry Jericho somewhere and kill whoever hears it."

"So lets not get caught," Liam replied. "I'm not looking for a fire fight beneath the city. I want to get in, get what we came for and get out before they ever figure out we were there."

"I gotta say eyes into the Alhambra alone would make a lot of people less tense," Cal said. "The first thing they did when we arrived was fill it with civvies. Guess they figured out we were planning to blow it up. I'm pretty sure I can convince the brass to go along with it.

"If there's a Nosferatu left alove down there, they're going to be hungry," said Mickey. "I think we can meet their needs between the two of us, but we better bring top-ups."

"Plenty of fresh blood in the base infirmary," Cal said. "So when are we doing this?"

"Probably too late to get cracking tonight, even if their eyes are all turned elsewhere. We could do it as soon as tomorrow if you can get sign off."

"I wouldn't mind calling in help on this if you're not opposed. I'd been making my own plans already, and a couple of extra bodies might make this go more smoothly. The assamite and the malkavian. I'd have the former join us in person in case we run into trouble. The other one can patch in remotely. I've already got her a foothold in the system."

"Presuming they're willing, what do you say?"

[Pockets had said she can't patch in remotely. She needs to hook up the camera herself, unless you're entrusting Cal to do it.]

"Don't worry, man, I already took an airbase today," Cal said, holding up his hands in mock surrender. "I'm done stompin' around for the evening. Tomorrow's soon, but I'll be ready. I'll get Mickey to bring me up to speed on what to expect down there. Provided, of course, we get access to the camera feed, too."

"Give me a second," Liam said. He dug out the pebble and stuck it beneath his tongue. "You still at the village?" he inquired.

"Just about to leave," Hasan said. "I'm about ready to take this barrel over to the government goons for Tart 'n' Tiny. What's up?"

"I'm at the base," Liam replied. "What do you say to doing the warren job tomorrow with Mickey and one of the special ops boys? I can either patch Pockets through on my phone again and she can watch remotely, or she can come if she insists on it. Cal here thinks he can manage the hardline."

"Gimme a sec," Hasan said. There was a long pause. And a longer pause. "She says that if I'm in she's in. She's pretty insistent on installing that hardware herself. But she wants you to tell the 'fascist murderbot' to bring a rope and harness."

"I'm assuming I'm going in quiet, and I'll kit myself accordingly. Anything else?"

"Give me a moment and I'll tell him," Liam replied. He looked over at Cal. "She wants you to bring a rope and harness. I presume that's no big deal?"

"We're going in quiet as church mice," Lam concurred. "I think we can safely leave Magilla Gorilla out of this one."

Cal waved his hand, indicating it was no big deal.

"Just as well," Hasan said. "He's still gone. Got tired of us waiting to go follow Trent on his little tantrum and went after him. Bout as subtle as a dump truck full of dogs, that one. Where should we meet?"

"I accessed the tunnels from the Iron Graveyard last time. Its the route I know best. We'll start there. Bring Pockets back with you tonight. I still intend to stay at your place."

"We'll get Mickey and Cal to meet us in the Graveyard tomorrow."

"I guess I can manage that," Hasan said glibly. "I need to run back with Robyn's goods at any rate." There was another pause. "D'you know what she's doing with all of this?"

"Fuck if I know," Liam replied. "She's a witch. She could be doing anything."

"Just be thankful she's on our side and easily appeased by poutine and netflix."

"Kids today don't want much," Hasan said with a chuckle. "Just, uh, keep an eye on what she's up to, yeah? We've got the same goals for the near future, but I'm not sure she's taking our long-term health into consideration. And I don't know much about her shopping list, but whatever she's planning is... Big.

"I can do that," Liam replied.

"Last thing before I let you go. How are you doing for blood? I don't know about you but I plan on going in full to the gills tomorrow, just in case. I think I heard someone here say something about a fully stocked infirmary," he said, looking at Cal.

"Uh, yeah, we're gonna bring some along," Cal said. "Not a problem."

"I try and stay topped up at all times these days," Hasan said. "Just in case I need to fight for my life. But if I'm obfuscating a group, I not gonna say no if they wanna chip in for gas. Take care, I'll see you later."

"See you later," Liam said. He popped out the stone. "Alright then. We've got the whole team."

"Can the two of you make it into the Iron Graveyard on your own tomorrow?"

"Won't be an issue," Mickey said. "As long as we don't linger. I can't imagine Corr's men are going to be too happy to see me."

Cal wrinkled his brow, making a mental note to quiz Mickey later. But he had more pressing questions, and turned his attention to Liam.

"So your witch friend... Robyn, is it? Any idea what she wants with all the stuff she asked for? There's some pretty weird items on that list."

"If I have to rhetorically dance around a hidden persona for the next few weeks or months without referring to something I'm going to have an aneurysm. So yes, we'll call her Robyn. No, I can't give you more than that without her permission. And no, I haven't a clue. I don't do magic."

"Funny you should ask though," Liam added, stopping for a puff on his cigarette. "Hasan - the chap I was just talking to - asked me the same question."

"Can't say I blame him," Cal said. "Frankly, I'm surprised you haven't asked the same thing. Before I procure something strange and exotic for someone I barely know, I like to know that they're not gonna turn around and use that thing to kill me. What scares me more is that Mickey there don't have a fucking clue either."

"I know gemstones can focus and channel magical power, so my guess is she's trying to amplify a spell, or tap a tremendous amount of power from some kind of source," Mickey said, scratching his chin. "But ritual magic was never my strong suit."

"We don't like surprises," Cal explained. "If she's planning something big, we wanna know."

"I'll inquire," Liam replied. "If all goes to plan tomorrow I'll head back to camp after, and between the base and the sewers I should have bought myself a couple of nights reprieve. I can talk to her then."

"Hey, that's all I ask," Cal said. He glanced at his watch. "Our boys should be arriving at the rendezvous with the payment. Them supplies you asked for - how many people're you feeding, exactly?"

[Lore check: My current headcount sits at 20 if you count the Gordons and Robyn.]

"About twenty," Liam answered honestly. "Mix of ages. We have a few kids in the camp. We just grabbed everyone we could find when we hit Teasdale Hall. Mickey can fill you in on that. Some people were too far gone and didn't make it. Others chose to leave the city altogether. We helped them get away. A few decided to stay. Some had families, so we freed them too. Others we picked up by accident."

"After that first night we kept it small because we couldn't afford getting noticed."

"Kids?" Cal exclaimed. He let out a long breath. "Look, I can respect wanting to stay and defend your home, but if they want a safer place to move their families, we can provide that. We've got a hotel already set up to receive them well outside the perimeter. Won't be fancy digs, but they're safe digs, dig?"

"Now that the military's involved, the value of their overall contribution to the resistance effort has depreciated somewhat," Mickey added. "Some may be reevaluating their choice to stay."

"I trust you to extend the invitation," Cal said. "Those that wanna stay, that's their business."

"I will," Liam assured. "I promise. To be honest I'd be just as happy. Its not easy living."

"We'll hang around the area and prepare for an exfil," Cal noted, mostly to himself. "How 'bout you? You've had quite a night; is there anything you need?"

Liam rubbed his brow and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was exhausted. Dead to the core, and quite literally one step closer to the grave. "The drink has been nice," he said, managing a weary smile. "I'll take another pack of smokes if you've got them. I promised to quit these things but somehow I seem to just be going through more and I can't exactly stop in at the corner store any longer."

"I should also see Jacob before I go."

"I don't smoke," Cal said. "But tell the guards at the gate that Cal said to give you theirs. They shouldn't be smoking so much on duty anyway. Your boy's going to be at the handoff over at the old bunker." Liam knew the spot intimately. "If you leave promptly you should be able to fly there before they all go home."

"Thanks."

Liam set his glass down and stood up. "I'll see you gentlemen tomorrow."

"Congratulations on taking back the base."

Opting for the most direct route he made his way to the window and took off.

It was a short flight from the airbase to the bunker. There was quite a crowd collected outside. Jin's agents were busy securing the barrel to the back of a quad bike. The Gangrel were busy loading crates into Robyn's pickup truck. Robyn had taken the precaution of removing her plates.

Jin, Hasan and Jacob were huddled together, watching something on a cell phone.

Ever alert, the Gangrel had eyes on Liam long before he touched down. They made no aggressive actions, but were on their guard until Liam revealed himself.

Liam touched down and regained his usual guise at once making his way towards the small huddle.

"Glad to have you back again," he said to Jacob. "Sorry for the delay. Its been a hell of a night."

"So I've heard," Jacob said, patting him on the shoulder. "But you're still here and your charge is uninjured. These days, that in itself is worth celebrating. It could have been much worse."

Liam accepted the familiar pat and pulled Jacob into a hug briefly. "What are we looking at?" he said, stepped back after a moment to peer at the cellphone.

"Here, I'll start it over," Jin said. "This happened this morning on the docks. There's no truck traffic into the city so we were dropping off crates of provisions for the town, as we'd arranged with the Camarilla envoy."

The video appeared to be body camera footage. The fisheye lens took a moment to get used to, but Liam was able to make out the sleeves of a uniform in the periphery. A marine, most likely. He was moving between two tall shipping crates, when suddenly a half-dozen people appeared, blocking his path. The man startled visibly, and held his ground. The camera swiveled around behind him briefly, revealing another half-dozen mooks blocking him in from the rear.

As they shuffled slowly towards him, he drew a pistol, but kept it lowered. "Don't come any closer!" he shouted. The mooks did not heed his words. A man in a Redwatch coat stepped into view behind them. His armband designated him a ghoul.

"The lords and masters of this city thank you for this tribute," the ghoul grandly proclaimed. "And as your keepers are no doubt planning how to take it from them, they have arranged this demonstration."

"Demonstration," the marine replied. "Look, we've delivered everyth-"

"Jericho," the ghoul said.

In an instant, the mooks all pulled small revolvers from their pockets, levelled them at the marine, and pulled the triggers. A chorus of dry clicks followed. The marine cried out in shock. His weapon whirled around, and he managed to sputter out a futile demand for them to drop their weapons, but it was scarcely heard over the increasingly discordant series of dry clicks.

Every mook fired on five empty chambers, and then raised the gun up to their own temples.

"N-no, don't-" the marine began, but the rest of his plea was drowned out by the reports of multiple gunshots. The sixth and final chamber - the one they saved for themselves - had been loaded. The mooks all crumpled in a pile around the soldier, with the plumes of their gunshot wounds hanging in the air like a cloud.

"Go report this to your superiors that interference will be met with larger reprisals," the ghoul said. The marine, his hand shaking, levelled his pistol at the ghoul. The ghoul scoffed, and turned his back, walking away with a complete lack of urgency. The marine shot him twice in the back of the head, and the video cut out shortly after.

Liam knew what was going to happen as the barrels revolved after the second click and turned away until the full rapport of the loaded chambers fell silent. There was no amount of pain he could ever hope to inflict on Noonian or his subordinates that would ever come close to paying for his crimes.

"They're not bluffing,"he said at last. "Not that we ever thought that they were."

"They'll stack up bodies like poker chips until we blink or they go bust. Its the only leverage they have."

"First thing they did was move most of the townsfolk into the Alhambra," Jin said. "I guess they figured we'd try to blow up the building. They figured right. But as it stands they've got a city full of human shields ready to kill and die for them."

"They're looking for a way out," Hasan said. "And call me cynical but I don't think they're above sacrificing them to do it."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:59, Thu 18 Nov 2021.

"You know, we wouldn't even have to hit the waterworks," Liam mused. "We'd just have to get this stuff into the mainline to the Alhambra and activate the fire sprinklers. They'd lose control of the whole damn building in moments."

"Do you have any idea what the collateral damage would be on a move like that?" Jin said. "That place would turn into a meat grinder."

"I'm afraid I have to concur," Jacob said. "If Ambrose believes he's beaten, he'll scorch the earth. He's done it before."

"During the day, when the tower is under the supervision of ghouls?" Liam asked.

"He just threatened to burn the whole thing down," Liam said, gesturing at the phone. "That's what Jericho is. A promise."

"Look, maybe this isn't the answer, but we all know there's no negotiated solution here. Ambrose doesn't get to step off onto a red-eye to Argentina with a suitcase full of cash and I can't just pull another bloodless takeover out of my ass for a whole god damn city the way I managed with a self contained air base. Things are going to get bad no matter what we do."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:08, Fri 19 Nov 2021.

"Hey, that's not a no," Jin said, raising his hands. "I know this is gonna end bloody. But when every solution comes with a civilian death projection, you're gonna have to forgive me if I come at every suggestion from a place of scrutiny. It's my call, and every one of these deaths is on me. You're right, though, whatever move we make is gonna be in the day."

"The big part of that job is gonna be getting the pump truck to the sprinkler mains," Hasan said. "Even if you get me out during the day, they've got some sorta warding that can fry my illusions. Down at the waterworks, too."

"Unless there's, y'know, an actual fire," Jin said with a shrug. "As long as we're spitballing ideas that might end in a massacre."

"I think our first course of action is to get eyes in the building," Jacob interjected. "Maybe there's something we can use."

"Wouldn't take much of a fire," Liam said. "Just enough to trip the alarms. Jim could start it. I imagine they're keeping him close."

"Eyes in the Alhambra is tomorrow's job," Liam replied. "We're taking Pockets spelunking and hopefully coming back with a camera feed and the last remaining survivor of the warrens. Or at least the only one I could find."

"Good," Jacob said. "I don't know where the recent troubles leave our plans with the Alhambra Gangrel. I'm not even sure Noonian will meet with the delegation. This debacle has cost him face."

"If we manage to pull away the Nosferatu support for the Camarilla I'll consider it a win," Liam said. "By the way, how did you leave things with Augusto? I don't know what he ended up delivering in the end apart from yourselves, but my phone hasn't been blowing up for payment."

"He's spooked," Jacob said, casting a sidelong glance at Jin. "He delivered his end, but you're probably going to have to go out of your way to pay him. Give him a call from your secure line if you want to know where he went."

Liam nodded. “It can keep. Tomorrow’s job is more important, and maybe after that I can take a proper break and catch up everything else I’ve let slide.”

“It’s going to take some time to figure out our next move anyway. Even with a camera hopefully in the Alhambra by then it’s not like we’re remotely ready to push.”

"They're gonna hold this stalemate as long as they can," Jacob said.

"It won't take much convincing to get the military to hang back," Jin said. "Not after the display today."

With little else keeping him there, Liam said his goodbyes and took to the skies again. The Chantry was close enough to the Alhambra to make Liam nervous, but not so close that he ran afoul of any patrols. The Redwatch was still on high alert. The two remaining helicopters circled steadily in the distance.

The Chantry itself now looked old and disused. The windows were hollow, and the door hung slightly ajar on its hinges. Liam wondered what illusions would greet him if he stepped through the front door, but that curiosity went unsatisfied, as the secret entrance still led to Miss' proper office.

Miss was at her window, watching the helicopters circle around the Camarilla's gaudy eyesore. "My my, someone put a bee in their bonnet tonight," she mused. "Your handiwork?"

"Yes," Liam said, sinking down into one of the chairs by the fireplace. "Although they don't know the half of it yet."

"I put on something of a show a few blocks from the base of the Alhambra. Or more correctly, Nex did. It wasn't my intention, but fate had other things in mind."

"The bigger show though happened at the airbase. We took it back. Pretty cleanly from what I hear. And I don't think Ambrose knows yet."

"That's actually why I wanted to talk to you."

"We," Miss mused, nodding to herself. "Once a soldier, always a soldier, eh Liam? I suppose I should be grateful. Noonian's finished, he just doesn't know it yet. And so is the Clan Tremere. Centuries of planning and effort, only to be outdone by the kine." She stared out into the night absently.

"I had help," Liam replied. "From an unexpected place."

"Noonian had put Flynn in charge and he proved surprisingly open minded. He's defected. He's with us now. With the kine. It was a remarkable stroke of good fortune, but it also means I no longer have control over the narrative. Everything Flynn knows the kine will know too if they don't already."

"I can't conceal the existence of the Chantry. But I can tell them that you're not under the sway of the pyramid. I promised not to breath a word of it before, but I think under the circumstances you should reconsider."

Miss was silent for a moment, and considered her options. "I suppose this arrangement was never made to last," she said, looking around her office. "Do you suppose he's told them about the First Tribe yet?"

"I don't know," Liam replied. "It hardly seems like a military priority with the city under siege as it is."

"We're heading into the sewers tomorrow, but I'll have Flynn instead of Kieran. After that I expect I'll have the chance to cool off. Ambrose is content to force a stalemate for now and I don't see another move in the city yet."

"If Robyn is ready, I think that will be our opportunity. Everyone's eyes will be cast across no man's land. No one will be watching an old graveyard."

"You're right," Miss said. "Seavers is gone, Noonian is distracted, your friend holds the Tome, and I control access to the catacombs. We will never have a better opportunity. I guess all we need to figure out is who's coming with us."

"Who would you propose?" Liam asked.

"If it were up to me, I'd choose the three of us," Miss said. "This opportunity has practically been giftwrapped, and I can't see us needing much in the way of backup. But we've been working toward this for a long time, and if you have any co-conspirators left alive, they're probably not going to take kindly to being cut out of the payoff. I don't have that problem; Jacob saw to that."

"Just Kat and Wolf," Liam replied. "They're at the camp with Robyn."

"Truthfully the only other person I'd consider is Pockets. This curse has been transformative on her. She doesn't want to go back to what she was. And yet I'm not quite certain she's happy with what she is. Maybe she'd like the opportunity to go back to being mortal."

"I'm just not sure how she'd react. Perhaps that's a question for Robyn. The two have become far closer than either is to me of late. I suppose that happens when I keep finding reasons to go out night after night and their activities keep them confined on the home front."

"I had no qualms with their presence before," Miss said. "So I see no reason to deny them their due. As for your Malkavian friend, I have no issues giving her an invitation. As long as you're prepared to do what needs to be done to prevent her from talking should she oppose the plan. And if that's something you don't think you can undertake yourself, I can handle that part for you."

"I'll talk to Robyn. I have a host of things to discuss with her anyway."

"Anyway, that's all I wanted to tell you tonight. Presuming the kine want to meet with you at some point, what should I tell them?"

"Is there much to discuss?" Miss asked without a moment's hesitation. "I will not work for them, or with them. I am through being ruled, and I plan to be gone from this city with my new Chantry as soon as my business is done here. Like I said, Noonian is finished. But there's a whole world of Tremere still out there who still need killing."

"Then that is what I'll tell them," Liam said, rising to leave. "It will be a brave new world when we are through here. Goodnight, Annie. I'll see you soon."

Miss chuckled mirthlessly. "Fly away home," she said. "I guess I better start packing."

Liam banked across the city and headed for the Iron Graveyard. It has been a long night - one of the longest of his unlife, but mercifully it would soon be over. It was anyone's guess what the next night would hold.

The flight to the hideout was short enough that Liam beat the Boys back home. They arrived several minutes later, Hasan carrying a substantial ingot of metal with him. After depositing it in his forge, the two were eager to retire to their shared chambers. There was little conversation beyond the shared exchange of pleasantries. It seemed they everyone was as impatient for the night to end as Liam was.

[4 exp for the scene. +1 wp]