"I mean, I'm no werewolf, but... yeah. I think so," he answered. "Better than ever from what I can tell."

There was another silence, longer than the last. "We need to make some calls," she said. "Jack is gonna stay here, because we're launching the damn book. I'll be coming there to see her, and I won't be the only one. We need to see what she's done at the source. We'll be about an hour."

"An hour until what?" Liam asked. "Until you get here?"

"There's a cordon around the city and the forest is crawling with Tremere tonight. I should know, I killed three of them. Where exactly are you coming?"

"It's better for everyone if you don't ask about logistics," replied the Mage. "We need to see the source, so we'll be at whatever remains of her home. I'm confident we'll be able to handle the Tremere by ourselves, but I have things I want to say to you in person, so I hope we'll see you there."

"Not the first time I was told it'd be better if I didn't ask questions."

"Alright. One hour. I'll wrap things up at the base as fast as I can."

Presuming the conversation was concluded, Liam hung up the phone and shifted his burden to the other shoulder.

"Christ almighty. I don't know who's in more trouble, Kyle, you or me."

It didn't take long for Cal to find him. He emerged from the hangar where Mickey had been working on his secret project, and waved him over.

He glanced at the limp form over Liam's shoulder. "Aw, and I didn't get you anything."

"Don't thank me yet," Liam said, adjusting course. "This shithead is Kyle Anderson of Minnesota, white-supremacist-come-vampire-supremacist. And he's about as clueless as they come. But he's a flier, and he knows the inside of the aerie. I figure it would be best if Mickey bound him before we pulled the stake out of his chest, because I'm not really in the mood for a chase."

"Well shit," said Cal, leading him across the parade grounds. "We're gonna have a good time with this one. Mickey's over in Comms with a couple of your Gangrel pals. They were checking out the Alhambra feeds but I suspect they're going to be more interested in what the fuck just happened. I take it that was your wizard friend's little security upgrade? You said it'd be loud and honestly I don't know what I was expecting."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:03, Tue 14 Nov 2023.

“Well you aren’t the only folks who noticed,” Liam replied, following Cal. “I just got off the phone with a ticked off wizard in Newfoundland demanding to know what the hell just happened. She wants me to meet her in an hour so she can tear a strip off of me.”

"Well, I'm glad she answers to somebody," muttered Cal. "I'm guessing the Americans are shitting down our necks right now."

They made their way to the operations building, and the first people he encountered were Elijah, and another man Liam vaguely recalled from the Gangrel compound. They'd been relegated to the hallway while the airbase was investigating the phenomenon.

"Quite the disturbance," said Elijah. "Let's hope they took the bait." He sniffed at the torpid form over Liam's shoulder. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Oh, they took the bait alright," Liam said. "I bagged three whitecoats tonight, one before the light show started and two after. Kyle here was inside the perimeter when the walls went up. He chose to surrender instead."

"Green as a fresh cut sapling though. They didn't tell him inside the tower what happens when you get stuck through the heart with a stake. Came as a bit of a shock, I expect. He's been staring at the back of his eyelids ever since."

"Hmm, wish I could be there," said Elijah, stepping beside Liam to shift the body onto his own shoulder. "But looks like it's a good thing I stayed."

"There's some kinda electronic lock on the door in from the Aerie's landing pad," said the other Gangrel. "Shouldn't be too hard to get him to tell us what we need to open it. Even easier to get it from him."

"You want him after we're done?" Elijah asked Cal. "We've got enough trash to take out."

"Could you?" Cal replied sweetly. "I'm neck-deep in shit right now and a live prisoner would be a good win."

"I live to serve," Liam said obligingly. "Kyle's had a good bit of time to contemplate his life's choices. I trust he'll be very forthcoming."

"Can I do anything more for you gentlemen tonight? Otherwise I have some aggrieved wizards to placate."

"We've got our own asses to kiss," said Cal. "Better get going."

"Make sure you don't fly close to the crater tonight," said Elijah. "The others might mistake you for one of them."

Lucky for Liam, he had a faster route to the crater. Pockets was retrieving the quadcopter through a portal that opened up right near Robyn's parcel pick-up.

"Cal. Robyn respectfully declines the invitation to Rideau Hall. I want you to know, I really did push for it. I thought I might look good in a suit."

"I expect you'll hear from her before too long. She has - things she wants to say."

Liam headed for Nowhere, but he took his time across the parade grounds. With a sigh he set the messenger stone under his tongue. If he was going to tear off one bandage, he may as well tear the lot of them off at once. At this rate he was going to be hairless before dawn.

"Hey." It was an innocuous start. One that had the potential to go pretty much anywhere. But somehow he felt like that cartoon coyote after it had just stepped out over a ledge.

"Sun's coming up over here," came Hasan's reply. Vienna was six hours ahead, after all. "Better make it quick."

"I won't keep you," Liam said. "Just wanted to give you a heads up. Robyn's putting out a video. Pockets has been busy on a workaround. There's a good chance its up by the time you wake up tomorrow. Should cause a stir at the council, especially without the Nos to suppress it."

"She's not exactly subtle."

"Oh, but she's usually so reserved," Hasan said sarcastically. "Maybe it's for the best. The Camarilla need a kick in the balls."

"Well they're going to get one. I've got to run. I'll try to check in again tomorrow. You get some rest."

Liam waited a moment longer before taking the stone out, then he headed for the portal back to the village.

Liam ran into the other crew gathered around the portal. It appeared they had retrieved the quadcopter without complication, and were congratulating each other over a job well done.

"Honestly I'm kind of disappointed," said Logan. "I was expecting to at least get our boots dirty."

"We'll have plenty of that tomorrow," said Ted. "The mission was to get the drone without being seen, and that's what we did. Yay us."

"I dunno about you two," said Jack. "But I'm going over to the St. John portal to see if I can get bars."

Ted scoffed. "Kid, we're gonna have wifi in a couple of- and he's gone."

"You got out just in time," Liam said. "The pit's about to get some visitors."

Liam glanced down at his watch. He still had a little time.

"I'm going to find Robyn and let her know we may have company soon."

"Someone might want to go with Jack. I don't doubt he can handle himself against anything he might run up against in the woods, but the last time he was in a city that wasn't under the influence of the fugue he was a child. St. John's is going to feel pretty different I imagine."

He headed for the sanctum.

"We didn't even go in," said Logan. "When the clock started up again, we were able to get a signal on the remote on this side of the portal. Flew the little fucker straight through without setting foot on the other side."

"I'm pretty sure he was talking about getting a signal on this side of the portal," said Ted. "Buuut I'm gonna make sure. Moira's the last person I wanna see the bad side of."

Robyn was in the sanctum. She'd set up a beach chair, and was reclined with her gaze skyward. "Moon's coming through," she remarked as she heard him approach. She pointed at a dark patch of the night sky. Even with Liam's supernatural night vision, he couldn't make out a thing. "You can't see it, because there's no sunlight to reflect."

Liam glanced up for a moment before turning his attention back to Robyn.

"Drop off at the base went smoother than I expected, and Hasan is remarkably sanguine all things considered. Maeve is livid though. She's coming apparently, along with an unspecified number of others, to inspect the 'source'. Not Jack though, he's staying back in St. John's."

"They'll be here in under an hour. Says she wants to see you, and she wants a word with me personally. I thought I'd give you the heads up."

"I figured," said Robyn calmly. She sighed. "They're probably gonna try and take the book from me. Can I count on you to have my back?"

Liam sighed. Ever the peace maker, it didn't sit well with him that it had come to this but at some point he supposed it was inevitable. Robyn eschewed subtlety. She put noses out of joint like nobody's business. There was no denying she got results though.

"Yeah."

"What's you play?"