Monstrous Mayhem (closed/Mokastana)

[Patrick OConner]

Abandoned District
Port city of Savannah
Timocratic Republic of Patrick O'Conner

The Port City of Savannah was an old city. It had been around for as long as anyone can remember and for a good reason. The main harbor was more of a lagoon that lead to the ocean via a deep channel. On both sides of the channel rise steep cliffs and high bluffs at the entrance of the channel. Along the cliffs of the channel huge holes can be seen blasted into the rock and on the tops of cliffs more pieces are missing, again blasted away. The lagoon was huge over 3 miles across and hundreds of feet deep. Around the shore of the lagoon sprawled the city. Along the backside hills and swamps covered the land but the city had made in roads into the swamps draining them. It was a huge city with all of the docks on the lagoon and then the warehouses and industry. and behind all of that sprawled the city, proper. It was like a vast living entity that seem the breathe and live. The lights were always on it seemed as the city would never sleep, ships always coming and going The city was made almost completely of new buildings less than 15 years old. This was because of the Rebellion, when the city had been almost completely destroyed in the fighting, but the people of the nation were strong and had quickly rebuilt most of the city. All expect one dark area.
To the west was what was called the Abandoned District. Broken building dominated it, rising into the air only to end in jagged and broken points. Debris and refuse littered the area. Something hangs in the air, and almost palpable feeling of unease and anger that drives most people and animals away. This was the place were the fighting had been the heaviest and bloodiest. The place is like a blight on the land.

Dusk
The sun dips below the horizon plunging the place into darkness. While the city lights ups and continues about its business with a purposeful and deliberate air. But the Abandoned District is far different. As the darkness falls, the place takes on a truly malevolent air. The shadows encompass everything and it feels like something is always lurking in them. Waiting, watching, ready to strike the unwary. Through this a team of 15 men move through. They are all dressed in black, wearing body armor and are heavily armed. Special night vision goggles cover there eyes as they use to pear into the blackness They move through the rubble and debris swiftly and carefully. The group is clearly well trained, with each man covering the other and watching for threats with their weapons at the ready. But they are tense, all of them on a hair trigger as they move quietly through the area, but something is watching them from the shadows.
The men arrive at their destination, and an abandoned apartment building. It is prime it would have risen over 40 stories into the air and house hundreds of people but now it was a mess. The top floors reduced to rubble and the building shot full of wholes. Gang signs and other graffiti have been painted all over it. The building looks like it might fall down at any moment.
The men enter through a side doorway after breaking in. They search the building carefully, making sure to check each room. Then they head down into its basement. The door is locked so they force it open. The old battered rusted door makes a horrible squealing niose ad it is slowly forced open, revealing a set of stairs that lead down into a dark deep dank pit. A wind blows out smelling of rot and decay and a malevolent air comes along with it. They are definitely not wanted One of the men gulp audibly, but they gather there nerve and enter. The men move down, everything is cast into a hellish green because of their Night vision googles.
The men move down careful not the fall and trip over any of the debris. The men reach the bottom of the stairs and search the basement but find nothing. Only garbage and more debris from the crumbling building. One of them find another door. He picks up his radio and says
"Mike 3 4 find another door going down"
"Roger"
The man heads down the stairs into the blackness. He disappears into it. The other men gather around the door and wait for him. A scream comes up from the blackness and the men freeze. The radio crackles
"HELP HELP MORE OF THEM MONSTERS GHGHGHGHGHGHGHHghh...."
The remaining, men head down and guns up. They enter the gloom, and if it is even possible, darker than before. They hit the stairs at jog and move swiftly down and through the sub basement. They head toward the back of it and the lead man stops dead. Through his NVGs he sees two bodies. One that is clearly dead on the ground and clearly his team mate and the other is kneeling over...his neck. A loud sucking sound can be heard. On instinct, he snaps his gun on target and pulls the trigger. The suppressed weapon issues 3 puffs and the bullets strike the kneeling body in the right shoulder and track up to the head. The kneeling person snaps forward under the impact and spray of something can be seen in the goggles. It lays over the other man and does not move. The team advances and one kneels down to check both bodies. The one that was shot jumps up and attacks the men. It screeches loudly as it claws at one of them and the man back peddles and fires from the hip. The team dives for cover from the wild uncontrolled spray of suppressed weapon. The attacking person is revealed to be a young girl no older that 11. She batters at the man and he fights back but she is strong, way to strong for a little child to be. Then her screeching is answered and the darkness moves. More bodies emerge from the shadows and attack the men and suddenly it is an all out brawl. The men are ripped apart and blood sprays everywhere. It is a massacre.
The night soon returns to its ominous quiet.

2 Days Later
Director's Office
Office of Strategic Service Building
Statesboro
Timocratic Republic Of Patrick O'Conner


Director Carter was the head of the OSS, the Timocratic Republic's chief intelligence gathering apparatus, or at least it was supposed to be. The OSS was known to dabble in things outside of intelligence, see spying. It was known to have its own secret projects and other things as well.
Director Carter had the look of a man that was once strong but had gone to seed. He had a beer gut that protruded way over his belt and made his shirt strain to stay tucked in. He wore the traditional business suit with a red tie. He was also sweating bad right now despite the temperature being turned down. His office itself is large with him sitting behind a large desk. The wall behind him was devoted to him. It was covered in his various awards and accolades. Various pictures of himself with important people were mixed in as well.
Director Carter is an ambiguous man. He had started out as an analyst, which he had been good at, and worked his way up. He was a bureaucrat at heart and had worked the system like a pro to land this job under the current administration. He hoped to climb higher but now it did not look good.
His phone ranged and he gulped. It was the call he was expecting, He reached over and picked it up and listen. It was the President General, herself, calling to discuss an issue him.
"Director Carter" President General Overhill began, her tone cold enough to freeze water "It has come to my attention again that you have failed, yet again, to fix you rather large mistake and in the process have gotten even more men killed. Tell me, are you this stupid naturally or does it take practice? Are you thick in more than just your waistline? Anyway, I have decided to step in. Well not myself but someone I have chosen. You should have already prepared instruction and direction for him. You are to give these to him and to help him. This arrangement is highly unusual but then so is the situation we are now facing. If it is not resolved quickly...well it will not bode well for you."
The last statement made Carter shiver in fear.
Carter gulped and President General Overhill continued "Am I understood?"
"Y-Yes ma'am" Carter stammers out.
"Good them. I have other things to attend too." and President General Overhill hangs up.
Carter hangs up the phone sagged in his chair rather nice and very comfy chair. He stayed that way for a few minutes until someone opens the door to his office. Carter's head snaps up ready to chew someone out himself of just walking into his office, but the words die in his throat as he see the man.
The man is 6 feet tall and broad shouldered and well muscled. His face was clean shaven and rather plain in appearance. He would blend in with a crowd of other people easily, but his eyes were the most interesting. They were blue green and seemed to pierce everything they looked at. His hair was brown almost black peaking out from under his hat. He was wearing a camouflage jacket over a green shirt. He wore blue jeans and a worn pair of old combat boots. His hat had the words Force Recon on it in bold tan letters. His eyes roamed the office taking in everything quickly. The hand inside his jacket reappear but it is empty, but it was no doubt it had been holding a weapon.
Director Carter gulped again.
"Hello Colonel O'Conner, May I ask why you are here?"
"Cut the crap, Carter you know damn well why I am here."
"Excuse me?? It is Director Carter to you and I will-"
"Will what?" O'Conner snorts "Like I said cut the crap. I got call yesterday from the Pres Gen herself in the middle of my much needed leave time. I was spending the day with my wife and daughter neither of whom were pleased that I had to go suddenly. And neither am I." O'Conner's eye's narrow slightly and he eyes Carter like a wolf might a fat sheep. Carter breaks out in a fresh sweat. "So like I said cut the crap and get to the point. The President General would not tell me much, only that I was needed and blah blah blah. The usual stuff you tell when you need help badly, but do not want to tell the person anything. Well actually you need my help, since you are the one in really deep trouble. So again cut the crap and get down to business before I walk out. There are many other things I would rather be doing."
Carter bites back his retort. O'Conner has a reputation for doing what he says and not taking crap from no one, no matter who it is. He also has a reputation for being very very good at what he does which is why he is here. Carter picks up the envelops and thrusts it at O'Conner. O'Conner takes it and opens it. Inside are a few sheets of paper and he quickly reads the contents of it. He looks up at Carter and shrugs.
"I can do it but I will need a team, which I will pick and lead. Also I will need all the intel you have."
"What that is it? No questions or anything?"
"No. I already knew monsters were real."
"WHAT?!? How? That is classified at the highest of levels, even the President General is barely kept in the loop and...and..."
O'Conner smirks at Carter and begins speaking
"One, I am way smarter that I look. Two, I have eyes and ears. I look and listen. Three, I have spent a lot of time in the dark underbelly of the world. And fourth, you seem to not have read my file to closely as it mentions my hobbies and other organizations I am apart of. And number 5, as leader of Force Recon you forget I have access to a lot of highly classified materiel. So, no I do not have any questions beyond were is my intel?"
Director Carter looks amazed with his jaw hanging open slightly before he snaps it close and hands over a jump drive.
"It is all on here."
O'Conner nods and takes it and pockets it and the stuff from the envelope.
"I will be going them. You know, I think will call in some outside help. Under the table of course, nothing official. Mokastana has got a whole department that specializes in this stuff I will give them a call. I also got contacts among the Hunt...and I think I will take a few of your more special agents. Yeah I know about them too."
Director Carter jumps to his feet about to object but he stops. O'Conner stares at him and he raises a single eyebrow in question at the director's action. Carter just nods and slowly sits back down. Like anything I will say will stop or affect his actions at all.
"Good then I head to Savannah and assemble the men."
O'Conner turns and leaves the office.
Director Carter sags in his chair again relieved that it was over with and O'Conner was out of his office then he sits back up
He just took it and left...he took me on my word...he never does that. He must be up to something.

2 Days Later
Firebrand Shipping Warehouse
Warehouse District
Port city of Savannah
Timocratic Republic of Patrick O'Conner

O'Conner sits on his motorcycle and waits for the rest of the people to arrive. The bike is a custom built chopper painted in red and blues, the offcail Marine Assault Corp colors. There emblem is even clear on the tank, the globe anchor and eagle. He is wearing the same clothes from earlier only he swapped the red shirt for a green one. around his wast a set of special holsters hang down to mid thigh. In each one is a large caliber semi automatic pistol. A lit cigar dangles from his lips. There are bags under his eyes from lack of sleep but they are still bright and piercing as ever. Behind him a shipping container sits alone in the massive empty warehouse. On either side of the container are cloth covered tables and other green plastic crates. He had put in a call to the people in Mokastana. He was not sure if they were coming or not. He also had more men coming. His Force Recon Team Thanatos, some people from the Brethren of the Hunt, and some other very special people on loan from the OSS as well. O'Conner looked down and checked his watch. They should be arriving soon.

[Mokastana]

“Pride of Tezcatlipoca”
Religious Retreat camp
Somewhere in southern Mejico, Mokastana
One year ago

Flash!

The cameraman in front of the aging director took a photo as requested, for future reference. A single agent of the Departmento de Investigaciòn Nacional, laid on the floor, was the focal point. Underneath the blood, the bright white, now red, letters of DIN were still legible on the black body armor. This body would later be identified as Special Agent Leon Takamoto, a five year vet of the Department of National Investigation. It would have been easier to identify the body but the head had been viciously removed. Something had cut straight through the agent's helmet and removed most of the skull and face. Live and up close, Director Null could see how it could be considered an animal bite.

Around the Director, the evidence of last night's fire fight was still being processed and collected for study. Bodies and blood remained scattered and splattered across the village compound. Drag marks and spent shell casings told a story of battle that should have been over far sooner than it had been. About 70 meters to the East, craters and burned grass informed him that the final blow occurred there. Whatever it had been, it finally met it's end due to a rocket barrage. The fact that armed helicopters still circled overhead, meant that the DIN commander wasn't taking any chances, especially since early reports included two of the beasts.

Of the seven agents killed in this raid, Special Agent Leon Takamoto had only been the first, killed outside the Village's Temple to Tezcatlipoca, an old God from an old Religion. But old religions became items of interest, and interests sparked exploring. Natul Naztoc-Lec Polytheism was on the rise again, with many Natuls and their mixed breed descendents diving into their ancestor’s religion. The few who never gave it up resented the new and mixed blood, forcing them to find spiritual guidance elsewhere. In that environment, it wasn't long before one charismatic Priest made a doomsday cult out of it.

Cults lead to power, power to corruption, and corruption to a Government Raid on your survivalist compound for money laundering. The cultists fought well, but many had run from conscription, while the DIN sent in its elite forces. It was a short battle. The reason why the Bureau of Secret Affairs - Special Situations Division, was here, was because what happened after.

According to post action reports, the agents converged on the Temple, where the Cult leader stayed with his ‘female aides’. When he was ordered out, the doors opened and two large jaguars jumped onto the agents. The first one down was the poor Special Agent Takamoto. The report claimed the jaguar bit into his skull through the helmet, and Director Null could see how that was a possibility after examining the corpse.

Gunshots did nothing against the attacking Jaguars. It was only when a DIN helicopter armed with rocket pods intervened did one finally go down. Among the craters and burning grass, the body parts remaining were identified as the remains of the DIN agent being mauled during the attack, and parts belonging to a young woman. The other Jaguar fled into the surrounding jungle. The Priest was found inside the temple, alive but unconscious, breathing shallow, the body of young woman cut open with an obsidian dagger in front of him. It would be a open and close trial, but with this many dead government agents, other agencies needed to investigate what happened. Which is why Director Null was here.

The Masquerade was already broken, the Marshites saw to that with their magic bomb released into the world. The Shift, as it was called, revealed a world of magic and alien technology to the world, and life went on with that knowledge. It helped that the technology revealed was benefiting humanity, with a minor misunderstanding affecting those of the only faith capable of surviving such trauma. What it didn't reveal, was how dangerous these things could be, which is why Director Null was investigating a doomsday cult in the Mejican territory of Azteca. He would have to interrogate this Priest when he awoke from his coma, but for now, the Special Situations Divisions looked for a woman who could change into a bullet proof Jaguar.


PUF Government Flight
Arriving at The Port city of Savannah
Timocratic Republic of Patrick O'Conner
Present Day


Director Alejandro Null took a long drag on his cigarette, his dark brown hair and golden eyes hidden under an officer’s cap with only the letters ‘SS’ imprinted in the center. From his officer's cap to his boots, everything he wore was black, minus a blood red pressed collared shirt, as was standard attire for the Mokastana Bureau of Secret Affairs. The leather long coat hid his Hellhammer pistol and utility belt, as well as other devices he might need in a pinch. He was an older gentleman, and although he had done well to stay in shape, age was getting to him. Perhaps converting to Marshism would have it's perks, but the Director chose to stay away from any faith. With magic in the world, how could you know which was real? It was better to study them from afar.

Not to say occultists didn't have their uses. After their discovery a year ago, their magic had been put to good use, but their efforts required faith, something Null would not give. Instead he employed them, if you could call a Priest a cultist.

Father Oxaca, a member of the Order of the Guards of the Mokan Orthopraxis Church. Pushing 40, the man looked older than he was, white hair and lines made his dark olive skin look worn, but he was a nimble fighter. As sparring matches between him and Null had demonstrated. Ever since the Orthopraxis Church broke off from the Catholic Church, they needed their own spiritual answer to the cries for exorcisms from the superstitious villagers in the jungles. Little did they know some of them were more real than it they thought. Knowing what they were facing, he brought Holy Items, and silver bullets in his own .45 caliber pistol.

Next to him sat Agatha Gomez, an MBSA operative who proved valuable in the Jaguar hunt last year, when cultist magic was discovered. Her skills with an anti material rifle made her valuable to any team, regardless of the hunt. She may not have been conventionally attractive, with short Amber hair and tough jaw line, but she was built like a tank, and the weight of the rifle wouldn't slow her down.

Lastly, was Null's second in command, Special Agent in Chief Helen Fontaine. Unlike the others, she was not human. Barely coming up to barely 5’6" she was a Neko: human by all visual clues minus the cat ears and tail. Unlike Agatha, Helen was often considered “cute” due to her petite frame, small nose and big brown eyes. Of course, everyone who called her such learned quickly how dangerous such a "cute" creatures could be. She may not have had claws, but she did prefer knives.

She would be leading the rest of the Agents into battle. Two additional agents had been hand selected for this mission, their gear customized for this particular “type” of combat: .50 caliber submachine guns with silver rounds blessed by a Priest, shotguns with wooden slugs, and frag grenades with silver pellets. The weapons might or might not work, but it was up to the MBSA squad to test them out. If all else failed, they still had their machetes and single use flamethrowers. No matter the demon, it seemed fire purified them all.

It would be this team of five agents and a Priest that would meet with Patrick O'Conner and learn more about what to expect on this particularly interesting case.

******

An hour after landing, Director Null and his team had finally made it the meeting place. Their dark Chevy Suburbans with PUF plates might have stood out, but a "leaked source" would later tell a story about a Federal Senator on a personal vacation in the area. When they arrived, Null began with a mild, but friendly, greeting, before getting to work.

“Greetings, I am Special Situations Director Alejandro Null, this is my second in command, Special Agent in Chief Helen Fontaine.”

Helen’s resting bitch face nodded to the local.

“Father Oxaca, a member of the Order of the Guards, Mokan Orthopraxis Church.”

The Father looked like stone under his Priest robes, which were practically Catholic minus the Dark Grey collar in place of the Traditional White. “At your service for the Kingdom of God.” was all he said.

“Special Agent Agatha Gomez, sharpshooter.”

She smiled with a simple greeting of “Pleasure”, before Null move into the next

“and Special Agents Gilbert Torres and Jim Ando. Assault Troops.”

Both agents nodded in silence.

“Where do we go from here?” Null asked lastly.

[Patrick OConner]

Firebrand Shipping Warehouse
Warehouse District
Port city of Savannah
Timocratic Republic of Patrick O'Conner


O'Conner lifted his head and turned it in the direction of the sound of arriving vehicles. A vehicle pull in through the open door of the abandoned warehouse. A total of five people exit the vehicle lead by a leather clad man with golden eyes and brown hair leads them. O'Conner spies the cat eared person She must be the Nekos I heard about. Looks cute and harmless enough but if she is running with this crowd I doubt she is harmless. And then the lead man, Director Null starts to introduce his team. Patrick nods to each of them in turn when finished he speaks
"I am Colonel O'Conner and I have been placed in charge of walking cluster fuck of an operation that I got dropped in the middle of. I am the only one here right now but the rest should be-"

The sound of engines intrude on the conversation. Five SUVs pull in and stop in front of the table and container and two people exit from two of them.
"Seems the rest are here, come and meet them. Be warned though a few of them might notice your subordinate's condition, but I will see to it that they will not take any hostile action, a few of them are trigger happy and quick to identify anything strange as a threat."
O'Conner turns and walks back over to the table and two men. One is tall and rather handsome, his only detracting feature is his nose. It was broken some time in the past and clearly not reset right thus giving it a slight crook that gives him a swash-bulking air. The other one is much shorter and stocky with a barrel chest and full beard. Both are dressed casually and both are armed with heavy caliber pistols, but the bearded one has a knife on his side as well.
As O'Conner walks up to the bearded man
"Present your knife." He says
The man nods and draws the knife. It is interesting one. The blade is two toned with one part bone white and the other part blued steel. It is curved inward and marks that form some kind of glyphs decorate the blade. A ray of light strikes the blade and the metal portion seems to resemble fog in the morning. A simple cross piece and green pommel stone. O'Conner examines it and nods. O'Conner and draws an knife from inside his jacket. It is almost exactly the same expect for the markings on the blade and the pommel stone is red, instead of green. The man examines it and nods. Both men put away their knives.
"Master of the Hunt, it is good to be here."
"Please Chief Hunter, it is O'Conner, Colonel O'Conner since I am here in that capacity, well unofficially at least."
"Then call me Joe Buckley then, Sir. You are to tell me why we are here?"
"In am minute Buckley. I will tell you and everyone else at the same time. Also do not attack the woman with the cat ears. She is on our side."
"For now."
"I mean it. I called them in."
Buckley just stares at O'Conner who stares back harder with his piercing gaze then Buckley nods slowly. O'Conner turns and walks over to the other man. The other man smiles and O'Connner and him shake hands.
"It is good to see you, Pat. Nice to be back in saddle again eh? Who is the cutie with the cat ears?"
O'Conner chuckles "Good to see you too Jesse. That cutie is with the support I called in. I would not mess with here if I were you. She gives off that dangerous vibe." Jesse looks at O'Conner then back over to other group from Mokastana. He stares at them for a minute then nods slowly.
"Yeah I see. I get that bad vibe off of all of them as well...Oh and Director Carter sends you a message."
Jesse pulls an envelope out of a open and hands it to O'Conner who opens it and reads it. Then he curses crumples it up and tosses it.
"That fat sack of turds pulled out on me." Patrick snarls and Jesse shrugs in response.
"Get the rest of you men out I need to give them a briefing and they need to meet the newcomers."
Both men nod and return to their respective vehicles and speak for a few minutes and men start to exit from them. From Buckley's 9 more men exit all dressed like him and very similar to him. While out of Jesse vehicles 4 more guys come out of varies types but the most obvious is the huge mountain of a black man. He towers over the rest of them and seems to be made of nothing but muscle. There are two more short ones, shorter than O'Conner, and a third who is the same height. All of them are fairly average, maybe slightly above. One of them is weasel faced and has a bad case of the thousand yard stare. But they all give off an air of lethality that is impossible to ignore. The men gather around O'Conner.
"Okay people thanks for coming, I want you to meet he the team from Mokastana. There will be no problems with them. Am I understood?"
The men nod.
"Good. I will cut to the chase. I have gathered you all here for a simple reason. We got a problem. A pack of vampires escaped from a federal institute and set up shop here is the city. Our job, is to hunt them down and eliminate them."
The gathered men grunt and many of them start to smile rather nasty smiles at that.

"Mr. Null since you so kindly introduced your people I will respond in kind. I already said my name but my cal sign is Indy. I do command and control, infiltration, and in this case general knowledge. I am somewhat of an expert on the supernatural at least here in the Timocratic Republic. Now, let me introduce this bunch of reprobates and sociopaths that I call my teammates. The big goof oogling Chief Fontaine is Major Jesse "Overkill" Overhill. Demolitions and explosives."
"If it goes boom I know about" Jesse chimes in while staring at Helen "I can build it and disarm it and do all kinds of other things with them."
"To bad you still like to detonate prematurely" O'Conner says with out missing a beat he then points to one the short nerdy looking man. "The nerdy looking one is Staff Sergeant John "Wired" Llyod. Coms and tech specialist." He then points to the smallest one of the group " Captain Travis "Doc" O'Malley. Medic." O'Conner's finger travels to the weasel faced man who is hanging back from the rest of the group.
"The shy on in the back is Chief Petty Officer Aaron "Longshot" Smith, sniper and other assorted skills." Smith nods but still hangs back looking fairly bored at all of the proceeding." And finally, the big mountain of a man is Sergeant Major Brandon "Heavy Metal" Freeman. Heavy weapons, CQC and other general skills. Don't worry they are all good shooters and can handle themselves really well in a fight. As for the Hunters-"
"All of whom would rather remain unknown." Buckley interjects.
O'Conner shrugs
"Suit yourselves. Back on topic. We are hunting a bunch of escaped vampires and before i get any questions " O'Conner glares at John " Forget everything you have seen on TV. They do not sparkle, they do not fall in love with regular people. They are blood sucking parasites that will kills you and turn you into one of them" John smiles and shrugs but then Jesse interjects in a quit whisper that is uncharacteristic of him
"Pat..is this going to be like Bogota?"
"Nothing like Bogota. Trust me." Jesse nods but still looks little bit nervous but the other men look a bit curious but do not ask any questions about what is clearly an incident of some important. No doubt they would be told, you are not cleared for that.
"So the skinny is that about 8 blood suckers escaped from a federal institute about a month ago. Two OSS tac teams have tried to take these vampires out...both of the 15 man teams were wiped out, at least we assume so. No bodies have been found and both teams missed there scheduled check in times. And we do not know how many people the vampires have fed on but based on some lore and information I was given ...we could be looking at up to 100 vampires...and 30 of them have military training."
Assorted curses go up from the hunters but the members of the Force Recon just smile, expect for Smith but he still manages to some how look excited. The Force Recon guys are a bit on the crazy side.
"Now there are several ways to kill a vampire, stake through the heart, cut off its head, and blow it up. Things that hurt them badly are silver, stakes, holy water, and fire can do a number on them. And to that end I have modified our weapons" O'Conner turns around and pulls the sheets off the table to reveal automatic rifles, sniper rifles, small portable flame throwers, wooden stakes, holy water hand grenades, and thermite grenades.
"Vampires are also supernaturally tough, strong, and have super senses for lack of a better term so to help combat these I got us some new toys that hopefully the owners will not miss from there toyboxes."
O'Conner opens a container to reveal exoskeleton power suits.
"Mobile Assault Suits Exoskeletons, Advanced Combat Suits, and Advanced Combat Helmets, Spyder gear and wrist mounted grappling hooks. We will also be using special bullets with sliver cores and FR rounds. Hunters this means you need to use guns we checked out okay? We use a special powder that is 50% stronger that normal cordite. Use this stuff in a regular gun it will blow up on you after a few shots. Any questions?"
Freeman points at a large gun shaped thing with a weird triangle barrel.
"Sir is that what I think it is?"
"If you think that it is a prototype high energy beam weapon tuned for UV rays that I liberated then yes"
"I call dibs on it" Freeman barks quickly and Overhill looks crestfallen "What about the big black box sir?"
"That is if things get real real bad."

[Mokastana]

Firebrand Shipping Warehouse
Warehouse District
Port city of Savannah
Timocratic Republic of Patrick O'Conner

"I am Colonel O'Conner and I have been placed in charge of walking cluster fuck of an operation that I got dropped in the middle of. I am the only one here right now but the rest should be-"

The sound of engines intrude on the conversation. Null looked to the other end where five SUBs pulled in.

"Seems the rest are here, come and meet them. Be warned though a few of them might notice your subordinate's condition, but I will see to it that they will not take any hostile action, a few of them are trigger happy and quick to identify anything strange as a threat."

Helen's ears perked up involuntarily at the word ‘condition’. She was used to the discrimination that came with being a “non-human” but when threats were on the table, she instinctively switched her mentality to be prepared for combat. A mental check of her weapons, body armor, and exits ran through her mind as the Mokan Team followed O'Conner to meet the others.

Both Helen and Director Null observed the two rugged soldiers participate in some local knife ritual. Helen casually moves her hand down to her weapon while Father Oxaca recognized the behaviors of a hunter society. While not a member of this particular group, the Holy Order of the Guards had their own such rituals and behaviors. He only wondered what kind of group this was.

Helen on the other hand, listened intently. One of the group clearly only decided against killing her due to a superior officer’s direct order, and other called her a cutie. Had she been in the PUF, or younger, she would have put a pistol round in both men's leg where they stood. One was a little farther away, so she might have aimed higher to make her point. Her companion’s sub machine could make short work of the rest, but it was too risky of a move here. Her sense of duty to the MBSA overrode any semblance of personal interests or pride, but mentally, she marked those two as expendable. Nine additional men exited the vehicles, before O’Connor began his speech.

Null and his team listened to the briefing.
Helen recognized the look Mr. “Overkill” gave her. It was going to be long, obnoxious, mission if these 'soldiers' were the local support. This wasn't her first time dealing with a meat head, and it wouldn't be the last. She just returned a bored look as the locals finished their dick measuring contests before the MBSA team was finally introduced to the members.

Director Null also caught the comment, and decided that Helen could handle herself. Instead he worried about the numbers. Eight vampires escaped, and they could be up to 100 or so by now. This was clearly cluster fuck of an operation and Null was grateful it wasn't in his backyard, and that he was close enough to get solid information before any chance of this going viral. A month of wild freedom, and the locals were only now breaking out the big guns. Eight could be up to 100 in one month. Worst case scenario of 100% conversion, and the thirty soldiers converted. Assuming each feeding cycle doubling the population, that's three feeding cycles in one month. So about 10 days for a feeding cycle. Assuming the tac teams were recent deployments.

“Questions and request.” Director Null interjected, “ First the request, my team needs all the research and lore you speak of to ensure proper containment and elimination. How will we be obtaining this information? As for my questions, is there any evidence that UV light actually hurts these creatures? And do we have a plan of attack?”

[Patrick OConner]

Firebrand Shipping Warehouse
Warehouse District
Port city of Savannah
Timocratic Republic of Patrick O'Conner

"These thing is that they appear human but it is just a flesh mask. Under it is an ugly bat like form but be aware. These flash mask are very attractive and good looking. So be on guard at all times. Killing them is interesting. Silver hurts them and blessed sliver does a number on them and so does fire. A stake through the heart will paralyze them but you need to take off there head for a kill. Sunlight hurts them badly, burns them and concentrated bursts of UV hurt them but only if it lands on exposed skin. They need blood from a live person so you can actually poison them with a dead mans blood, weakens them a lot right Buckley?" Buckley nods "Great now again I can not reiterate how well they will blend in and look human right up until they right your throat out."
"Great" Overhill says "so just be out usual paranoid selves then?"
"Pretty much. Now, here is the other kicker. They moved or at least I would have by now. We have no clue were they are at."
John pipes up "So we going to do a standard trap or we going snatch and string?"
"Right now a trap seems like our best bet. We will split up into teams. One person will be the bait and the others will subdue the vampire. Remember we need it alive or in one piece or whatever. We need to be able to get intel out of it."
"Two questions sir," Freeman says " One, are we going to have to lurk in alleys and look weak and such and such?"
"Yeah that is the idea."
"Want that attract other unsavory types?"
"Yeah deal with them as necessary and then move on to some other area."
"Got it and two, how we going to get intel out of the monster?"
"Modify the usual methods to suit the new package."
"Understood"
"Sir, what is the plan once we have found them?" asks Travis
"If they are still in the Abandon District, we blow whatever structure they are in and burn whatever is left."
"Good I have compiled a list of possible areas based on police missing person reports and other information. Wired I want you to go through it as well. You are a numbers guy. I want you to assign areas as well." O'Conner tosses a flash drive to John.
"Roger dodger, sir"
"On that drive is all the intel I got from Director Carter and all the lore I got as well. Plus acces and passwords to all the local departments and such. I want to to be tapped into everything that goes on here."
"As usual I will work my magic."
"Yes sir" Llyod unloads his stuff and starts to rapidly set up his computer stuff.
"Sergeant Major Freeman, I want you to go over and do a final check of weapons, Smith help him. Doc, set up you stuff as well. I have a feeling we will be needing it. Anyway, like I said earlier it need to check out one other avenue. Null? Cheif Fontaine? Wanna come with me and Overhill? We are going to check out that last source of information. It should be fun and nothing much is going to be happening here. Null and co, Wired has the intel talk to him."

O'Conner and Overhill turn and walk over to the SUV that Llyod just unloaded and climb in. Overhill climbs in on the drivers side and O'Conner, the passenger. Overhill crank it up and they head off. In the car O'Conner talks
"We are heading to see a local crime boss by the name of Gentleman Johnny Mark. He basically owns the Savannah underworld lock stock and barrel. He anything goes on he knows about, because he either brokered the deal or is getting a cut from it. FBI, SPD, basically every law enforcement agency around here wants him in jail but he is too good. Him, and his lawyers of course. Now, the information I got from the OSS " Overhill who is driving snorts says nothing" suggests contact between the supernatural and the underworld and if anyone knows about it will be Gentleman Johnny. I managed to get his attention and some of his time. He heads up his operations out of a local 'health club'-"
"Read fancy whore house." Overhill interjects.
"Called the Red Room. It is in Downtown District of the city. "
"I know where it is at, Pat. Sorry, Colonel."
"You do?"
"Yeah, do not ask."
"Anyway, security is going to be heavy to say the least. So, leave most of your obvious and not easily concealed weapons in the car. But,still bring in what you can. I do not trust him or any of his lackeys. Follow my lead. If it drops into the crapper it will do so fast so be ready for quick action and a quicker exit. Questions?"

[Mokastana]

PUF Government Flight
Entering air space of The Timocratic Republic of Patrick O'Conner
Six Hours Ago

Director Null had assembled his team in the small briefing room attached to the main empty cargo bay of the plane. It was relatively quieter compared to the rest of the plane, but not by much.

“Listen up, from now on we are to consider ourselves behind enemy lines with no support. I want everyone combat ready at all times. Body armor under your uniforms, collars up, civilian attire ready in case we need to blend in. Weapons on you at all times. We know almost nothing about these… so called… vampires, locals or what to expect, but someone wants to know, so here we are. We are to stick together at all times, unless tactical situation requires a different approach, but that will be either myself or Chief Fontaine making that call.

As for our weapons, standard rounds for this operation are UV L.E.D. with silver dust vents. Something fancy the boys in the lab cooked up based on what we know. The UV L.E.D.s will be activated when fired, by the kinetic energy. The rounds will also start to leak silver dust. The idea is that the bullet will release trace amounts of silver dust into the targets bloodstream, but make sure you clean your weapon after firing, dust gets everywhere in my experience. We don't know what works on Vampires, so we'll be experimenting in the field.

These rounds will also ruin a normal human's day, as would any .50 caliber round. If UV fails, we have shotguns loaded with Flechettes and slugs made from Mokan Redwood, with either a steel backing or lead core respectfully. If local wood works best we have a reloading bench on board the plane. Salt shot is also available. Single use flame throwers are also available, firing up to ten meters away for half a second, then throw away. The mixture will stick to anything it touches.

Standard phosphorus and Hell's breath hand grenades and 40mm are also available. In addition we have a few silver dust bombs, small explosion, but creates a cloud of Silver and Garlic, with a two meter radius.

This is the extent of our firearms and grenades, in addition….”


Firebrand Shipping Warehouse
Warehouse District
Port city of Savannah
Timocratic Republic of Patrick O'Conner
Now


“....Null? Cheif Fontaine? Wanna come with me and Overhill? We are going to check out that last source of information. It should be fun and nothing much is going to be happening here. Null and co, Wired has the intel talk to him."

“Director….. It's Special Situations Director Null, but Director Null is fine.”

Null listened to the short briefing of what Mr. O'Conner was sharing, and decided that while this would be an important avenue, he didn't like the way O'Conner was suggesting to go at it.

“Of course, lead the way Mr. O'Conner, but my team will be tailing us in an SUV. As you've said, anyone can be a vampire, and you don't trust our host. I'd prefer to have back up within shouting distance if the situation calls for it.”

Turning to Fontaine, Director Null began with his orders.

“Leave SUV one here, have the team take SUV two. Verify they are ready to move.”

“Sir.”

Fontaine left to get the group prepped and ready while Director Null turned back to Mr. O'Conner with a passive smile.

“She'll be back in a second, we'll ride with you, the rest will follow. As for concealable weapons, we have plenty.”

[Patrick OConner]

Downtown District
Savannah
Timocratic Republic of Patrick O'Conner


The SUVs takes several twist and turns through the city as the sun starts to set lighting the sky up in bright colors. The scenery changes from warehouses to older buildings and eventually to building clearly meant for pleasures of the flesh.
"No. There is no magic users as far I can tell and I used some pretty extensive and varied test. Magic is not native to this land. So most the detection methods they will use will be mortal? Scientific? non-magical?"
"How extensive is the security?" Overhill asks.
"What you would expect. Metal detectors, sniffers, pat downs, ID checks, and of course regular muscle. Our usual methods will defeat their security. Now -" O'Conner turns around and looks at Null and Fontiane and keeps speaking " -the building is an old hotel and about 19 floors tall. The bottom floors are a night club. The next few floors are high end stores and boutiques. Above that is the fancy health club and above that is where his office is on the 15th floor. The rest of them are under renovation."
"You visited and snooped around?" Jesse asks
"Yes of course. I always scout ahead when I can." O'Conner shoots back "They never saw me. No one ever sees me unless I let'em"
"We're here." Jesse responds
The SUV pulls into a parking lot next to a building.
"Park there" O'Conner says pointing to a spot particular spot. Overhill nods and pull into it. The building is small compared to other buildings in the city around it but it rises with the stately elegance of a lady. The buildings outside is adorned with trim and decorations. Atop the roof statues of people in various positions look down upon the people. A massive set solid double wooden doors stand open on ground level, guarded by two bouncers who are checking IDs. Bright lights and the sound of what could charitable called music pores from the inside. A velvet rope blocks the open doors In front of the building, a line has already started to form. It stretches from the front doors, down the side walk to the end of the building. Young attractive men and women stand in line. They are dressed in the hottest trends of the time. The ladies in small skin tight dresses that leave little to the imaginations and the men in the skin tight jeans and brand name t-shirts and jackets with backwards base ball caps.
O'Conner undoes the holsters with the pistols and then stashes them in the glove box. He then takes out a set of gloves and puts them on and a pair of unusual looking wrap around sunglasses. O'Conner also sticks an earpiece in each of his ears for radio communication and hear protection. Overhill copies him with an identical pair of gloves, shades and earpieces and he too sheds his obvious firearm. They both turn and look at each other and nod.
"Let's rock." Overhill says
"For we are few that can" O'Conner replies
"And the even fewer willing" Overhill shoots back
"But despite being few"
"We are mighty"
"And we will rock all night long" Both of them smile and both exit the vehicle. O'Conner stops and fishes another cigar out of his pocket and lights it up then the group walks toward the front doors. Overhill and O'Conner walk together in lock step with a cocky smile on each of their faces and a slight confident swagger in thier step. The group approaches the front door and the bouncers turn and hold up there arms to stop them, but the bouncer ogle Fointaine. She is the prettiest things here tonight.
"We are expected." O'Conner says. The bouncer, who looks like a slab of muscled, looks at O'Conner and Overhill warily. Both O'Conner and Overhill scream danger in a causal sort of way. The head bouncer reaches up and touch his ear, probably activates a hidden radio. He listens to a distant voice for several seconds then nods.
"You four can go on in. Follow me." The bouncer unclips the velvet rope and the five of them walk inside. The music is loud and the place is filling up with people. The booze is flowing freely with the bar tenders kept busy by the people's constant thirst. The bar is off to the left and it extends down the full length of the room. The Dance floor is some kind of large white tiles that constantly change colors. The DJ sits on some raised dais at the back of the room. Around the dance floor small table are scattered about and a set of stairs lead up to a balcony with booths. From the ceiling hangs several metal structures on which are mounted flashing and rotating lights that light up the place. O'Conner and Overhill casually look around the place , but they are observing everything. O'Conner notes a girl that looks a bit too closely at them. She tall and pretty but not overly so. She looked barely old enough to have gotten in to the club, but something is off about her. It is the way she is eyeing the other people, almost like they are prey. O'Conner puffs a bit harder than normal on his cigar and Overhill takes note of it and quickly finds the girl as well.
The bouncer leads them through the crowd behind the DJ and through a door marked Employees Only. The group enters a white hallway and they proceeds down it and then takes a left through another door. The bouncer opens it and the group enters. Inside is another group of muscle. One is holding a metal detector and a small sniffer, a machine designed to detect trace particles of substances in the air such as explosives or chemicals.
"We need to check you 4" Says the bouncer that lead them. O'Conner nods and the man runs the metal detector over each of them in turn followed by the sniffer. Neither one of them beep.
"That all?" asks Overhill skeptically and the man nods. He turns and then opens another door to reveal an elevator and presses a button. The doors open and the group enters. A short elevator ride and walk later the group finally enters an office.
In it are a couple of potted plants and some chairs. Tasteful pictures hang on the walls. A set of windows lets light in from the city. In front of the windows is another group of muscle. A large desk dominates the room and behind it sits a man. He is older with a white frosting in his dark black hair. His face is tanned and lightly lined from age. His eyes are the color of old dollar bills. He is wearing a suit that costs more than some peoples homes. He is Gentleman Johnny Mark, crime boss of Savannah.
"I am glad you are on time." Mark's voice comes out oily and smooth "So few people nowadays seem to understand or appreciate punctuality. It is nice to see someone who does even if he uses brutish methods to get my attention."
O'Conner shrugs "I wanted to make sure I had it and didn't want to waste time trying to get it or keep it."
"Well your method was effective then. Now I suppose you want to get down to business then Colonel O'Conner and Major Overhill. Yes I know who you are. It wasn't that hard to figure out with you being famous and all."
O'Conner raises a single eyebrow but he seems unconcerned.
"Yes I would very much like to get down to business. Mark, I am a busy man... and I suspect that you know why I am here."
"I, myself, can only guess, but I think that you are here to talk to me about the supernatural elements that plague the nation." Mark smiles and reveals that his teeth are pealy white and straight.

Overhill causally walks over and plops down in one of the chairs clearly lounging and ignoring everyone in the room. He leans his head back and just seems to relax. O'Conner, however remains standing, his hands at his side and his whole body coiled light like a spring as he stares at Mark, the sunglasses concealing his eyes.
O'Conner nods
"Of course, Mark. You are well informed as always"
Mark, still smiling, nods as he looks at Fontaine.
"Who is this lovely lady you failed to introduce?"
"Her name is unimportant to you." O'Conner says pointing to them respectively.
"Well ladies if your current job does not work out, I will gladly offer you gainful employment. Your choice of course. I, myself, would never force a woman to do something she did not want to do."
Overhill snorts audibly at Mark but says nothing. One of the Mark's bodyguards glares at Overhill, but it slides off of him like water on a duck.

"Enough Mark. I told you I am a busy man. Believe it or not there are other things I would like to be doing right now. So I am asking again, politely can we get to the point before I get...annoyed."
The smile disappears from Mark's face and he grows serious. Behind him, his bodyguards tense up. Overhill looks at the bodyguards, seemingly vaguely interested now in them now. One of the guards starts to sweat. The tension rackets up in the room to the point one could cut with the knife. A smile crosses O'Conner's face. The smile turns O'Conner's face into something out of a night mare.
Mark nods and appears to remain completely calm.
"That sounds fair. I myself am a busy man and have things I would rather be doing, as well. So what is your question?"
"I was wondering if you have any information about vampires, more specifically any new groups that have arrived in the city with in the last month. They may or may not be exhibiting new powers for such creatures and are probably stronger than normal."
"Now why would I know such a thing?" A look of annoyance crosses O'Conner's face and he opens his mouth to retort but Mark holds up his hand to stop him "I am merely joshing you. Let me see."
Mark opens a desk draw and removes a black book from the draw and opens it. Mark removes a pair of glasses from the same draw and puts them on as he flips through it for a minute before coming to a stopping on a page.
"Yes it seems I do have some information you might want. Tell me what is in it for me if I do give it to you?" Mark smiles and O'Conner smiles back, the same nightmarish one from before.
"Only funning you. I know exactly what will happen if I do not."
"I would burn you entire empire to the ground, of course." O'Conner says causally "It would take me say...about 72 hours, not counting prep time, of course."
"Naturally, I would expect nothing less from the legendary Colonel O'Conner."
"Good, now that we are done with the posturing and threats, tell me what you have."
"What is the magic word?"
"...please..."
"Okay it seems that a group of unknown number recently set up shop in the Abandoned District close to that time frame you mentioned. It seems they moved recently. A messenger of mine was set to meet them 3 days ago at there last residents but they were gone. The only thing he and his guards found was clearly the remains of some kind of struggle. Lots of torn gear, and trash freshly broken walls and fresh debris. Some gear and bullet casings. No bodies and little blood strangely for what was clearly a large struggle. I can not tell you any more right now of course. Maybe you should contact Dimtri."
The room goes silent for second then O'Conner speaks again
"Dimtri? That Russian gangster from Macon?"
"Yes him. He has been nosing in on my territory recently and has pretty much claimed the Abandoned District as his own, his men patrol it heavily and they keep a tight watch on anything that moves in that District. His lead man is named Smirnoff."
Mark opens another drawer and removes from it a pen and pad and scrawls an address, email, and phone number on it, tear the paper off an then holds it out to O'Conner. O'Conner reaches for it slowly and deliberately and the bodyguards tense up even more. Overhill just smiles at the whole situation. O'Conner takes the paper and stows it in his pocket.
"Thank you Mark for your-"
Suddenly the lights flicker and go off plunging the room into blackness. A scream is heard followed by gun fire. An unearthly shriek echoes through the building.
"They're here" Overhill says in a sing song voice with a smile, his white teeth gleam in the darkness.Flash lights suddenly cut on cutting a swathe through the gloom. Mark's bodyguards move to surround him. One of them is on a walkie talkie trying to contact the the other guards in the building. All of them have produced a handgun of some kind and are aiming them generally at the door. O'Conner steps to the side for a second and looks around room seemingly doing some kind calculations. He steps to the left a bit and behind some of the chairs and potted plants. Then he smiles that cold predatory smile of his.
"Fontaine and Null if you will join me over here and Overhill-"
"Yeah I know the drill." Overhill gets up and moves and stands next to him. O'Conner is still grinning, like a skull, as he flexes his fingers and hands.
"Ladies, please focus on the door we came through, Overhill the windows if you will. I will take the far wall. Now hold on cause thinks are about to happen fast."

Suddenly the right wall explodes inward in a shower of timber and drywall as 3 vampires come through it, side by side. Three males, each one looks like a regular teenager more or less, expect for the red eyes, and fangs. They are dressed like the people waiting in line outside the club.
They have come in perfectly, to catch the bodyguards from the side. And they gleefully attempt to attack the guards from the side, But their heads and necks suddenly explode in a shower of gore and hlack sludge and there bodies crumple into a lifeless heaps. The boom of a large caliber hand gun echoes through the room, deafening those without ear protection, as gun smoke clouds the air slightly.

A split second later, the door broke apart in a shower of splinters and 3 more vampires come in through it. The guards, still trying to respond to the surprise attack from the left, are even slower to respond to this new threat. Simultaneously, 3 more vampires try to come in from the windows. They swing down and try to smash in the windows only only to meet, a hail of bullets, that shatter the windows, and a small explosive charge that exited through the windows. The very small very carefully constructed sealed airtight shaped charge detonates and throws the vampires away from the building in large pieces of gore and black goo. Unfortunately, it also blows out the rest windows, damages the room badly, tosses the people and furniture about and stirs up a large dust cloud as well.
O'Conner recovers, fast pushing some debris off of himself and standing up. He even still has his cigar, somehow.
"Statues report!!! Who's alive? "
"I am" groans Overhill as he raises himself up from under a pile of drywall, semi automatic pistol still clutched firmly in his right hand "That was not a good idea"
And another set of collective groans comes from Mark's body guards. They heave themselves up and start to check on their boss.
"Null? Fointaine? You still with us?" O'Conner calls out as he flips open cylinder on the massive revolver, that he grew from a hidden compartment in his jacket, ejects the spemt rounds in it and reloads the revolver, in a sequence of actions that he has drilled so many times it is automatic.

[Mokastana]

The ride was mostly uneventful. Null and Fontaine had worked with odd characters before, and this operation was no different. Rather than participating in the banter they sat quietly, listening and taking in the information around them. From the duos pre event chant, to the stereotypes in the dance hall, it was all just data to be mined for anything of value. One particular woman stood out, but alone that didn't mean much. It was already assumed that their enemies would be able to track them, especially given the Intel of how easily the enemy could blend in. Null would get into counterIntel once he had an idea of what he was facing.

Despite the situation, they both left their Hellhammers in the SUV, while the backup parked down the street. The vehicle was loaded with a team carrying .50 caliber submachine guns and a sniper, some of Null's best guns. To be safe, Null and Fontaine already had plenty of other tools of the trade on them. Besides, the prevailing theory was that wood paralyzed vampires, but it would be just as good at stopping people.

The walk in the background of the club and security screening were also uneventful. It was almost typical, nothing like the screenings back home. In a world with Marshites and multi billion dollar Cartels, this fish was small time, enjoying his puddle while oceans ravaged elsewhere. More banter in the meeting room, a back and forth and the “Gentleman Johnny Mark” backs down to a simple threat in his own office by a man effectively unarmed. He wouldn't last. Fontaine clearly thought similarly, for she smiled back at Johnny Mark regarding his offer. He was dead already, just didn't know it, especially with the way he sucked off this government agent. Maybe criminals in this part of the world were just naturally weaker.

The lights going out changed things, while O’Conner and Overhill begin giggling like school girls. A few quick orders that Null and Fontaine followed out of curiosity. It would be a chance to see this “legendary” O’Conner in action. The wall explodes and creatures ran through, only to be torn apart in a hail of gunfire.

Main door explodes, the guards barely get off shots in time. Null and Fontaine slide derringers down their sleeves and take aim. The UV/silver rounds would be put to the test as they aim for center mass and fire.

A crash from the Windows. Immediately followed by an explosion. Fontaine ducks, Null shields himself. The roar of shots and explosions made them glad they brought ear protection.

As the action slows, Null looks around, seeing the body guards lying down. All in all not a bad firefight. It was a good chance to observe and learn. Fontaine on the other hand, gets up from her crouched position, post explosion, and walks over towards the local thug’s guards, now focusing on their boss. She casually swipes two pistols and looks to Null. He shakes his head. She tosses one to Null and pulls out a few wooden stakes, delivering them to the chests of any vamps still alive, while Null keeps her covered with his second Derringer.

"Null? Fointaine? You still with us?"

“Aye.”

“Yes Sir.”

Military training kicked in as they responded. Using his earpiece, Null checked in with his team outside.

“On route to secure your location.” was all the voice said back, it was all that was needed. Null spoke aloud, intending the comment for the locals.

“Calvary is on route.”

[Patrick OConner]

The Red Room
Downtown District
Savannah
Timocratic Republic of Patrick O'Conner

"Fontaine" O'Conner says "Please do not kill him. He is needed for certain things I am not at liberty to say."

More inhuman shrieks echo through the building and scream and cries of panicked people follow them.
"It seems that there are more vamps that just these." says O'Conner
"Agreed, but how many is the question." replies Mark.
"Hopefully enough to make it interesting. I am fairly bored." pipes up Overhill, still wiping powdered drywall of himself.
O'Conner ignores Overhill and walks over to the door and leans against the frame. O'Conner peers around the corner checking, both directions.
"It seems this location is now compromised. We need to move now." O'Conner says " Glad you called in back up. Looks like we are in for a crapper drop."
"Agreed. Would this be the right time to say 'Come with me if you want to live'?" Overhill interjects.
"Probably." says O'Conner cracking a small smile "Alright you want to live Mark come with us."
"Yes I do want to live, though I could deal with out the cliched lines. Boys, please do as the good colonel suggests."
"I make no promises, Overhill likes to spout them fairly often. But we can help get you and you cronies out alive. Null, Fontiane on me. Mark and company in the middle. Overhill bring up the rear."
"Do you even know your way around?" asks Mark.
"Course I do. I snuck in a few nights ago. Explored the place. Not bad but some of your employees are stealing from you. Now lets go." O'Conner swing around the corner and advances down the hall in a low crouch and gun held out in front of him, peering down the sights.

O'Conner advances down the hall, followed by the group, as he heads for the stairs. He stops and takes a knee, looking at the stair door way and the two doors on either side.
"Ambush. Wait here." he whispers and smiles. From inside his jacket O'Conner draws the knife that he showed Buckely earlier. The two toned blade seem the glow faintly with anticipation in the darkness.
He advances slowly one step at a time. The hallway is eerily quite. O'Conner reaches the doors and,using two fingers from his knife hand, yanks open the door on the left. It is an empty broom closet. O'Conner turns around the repeats the process for the one on the right. It is a half empty room in the process of being turned into office space. O'Conner quickly sweeps the room, but finds nothing. He returns to the hallway and goes to open the stair way. He looks around puffing on his cigar then a drop spit hits his shoulder and he looks up and sees three people crawling across the ceiling.
"Well shit..."
O'Conner snaps his gun up and opens fire.

The weapon he is using is an Eastwood & Wayne .510 Magnum Revolver with a 7.25 inch barrel and muzzle brake. The thumb width cartridges are as long as a man's middle finger. It has a muzzle velocity over 3,000 feet per second and holds 5 shots. It is a fairly nice and expensive revolver, made from the latest in alloys and material and using the most advanced propellants, but it was designed to hunt the toughest beasts in the nation, the drakon and wild wargs. It has a lot power, a lot of recoil and makes a lot of niose. It defines the term hand cannon and has a reputation for braking and spraining wrists, but for always putting down the target with extreme prejudice, especially when loaded with special hollow point rounds.

The hand cannon roars loudly and the vampires drop from the ceiling. One of them takes two rounds, one to the chest and one to the head. The head explodes and the chest erupts in a violent spray of gore, a huge chunk of flesh missing from its back. The other two drop on top of O'Conner. He jams the muzzle of the gun under the chin of one of them and pulls the trigger. The gun roars and another vampire's head explodes again, covering O'Conner in pieces of meat and black sludge. The third one tackles O'Conner and knocks the gun away from him. It tries to pin him down but O'Conner sweeps upward with the knife and it slashes the vampire badly from hip to shoulder, and the wound starts to smoke badly and small blue white flames lick the edges of it. The vampire recoils and hisses in pain, but O'Conner will not let it get away. He jumps after the beast and slams it into the other wall, then takes the knife and slashes it across the vampires neck. A stunned look crosses the vampires face for a second and then its head slides off the stump with a wet slick. The body in consumed by blue white flames and dissolves. O'Conner returns the knife to is hidden sheathe. He wipes some of the gore off his face and sunglasses with his sleeve. O'Conner takes a second and few deep breathes to calm down. Amazingly, O'Conner's cigar is still clutched between his teeth and still lit as he puffs on it.
For a second I thought it was coming back. But I guess it is gone forever.
"Clear." O'Conner calls as he picks up his gun. He swing out the cylinder and reloads it "Advance."
O'Conner heads toward the door and slowly opens the door.
"Clear."
O'Conner and the group head down the stairs moving quietly and rapidly. The group descends fifteen flights of stairs. O'Conner and Overhill expect an ambush the whole way but nothing happens. Both grow more and more tense. The group exits the the stair way on the ground floor and in a long hallway.

Overhill brings up the rear. He is constantly scanning the area, looking for threats. The group proceeds down the hallway on the ground floor, again, moving rapidly and quietly.
Where is the niose? The screams? The howls and shrieks? This shit is bad. So bad. And so wrong. His palms start to sweat and he readjusts his grip on his gun. Overhill hears low soft creaking sound and he looks up. He hears the creaky sound again and then a third time. He snaps his gun up and fire off several rounds into the ceiling.

The gun Overhill is using is a MacManus Ordnance Five-Seven, specially modified for Force Recon. It fires a small projectile, 5.7mm bullet, very fast, over 2,800 feet per second with a 20 round magazine through a 7 inch barrel. It is usually more than adequate to deal with normal threats, like body armor and people wearing said armor, and it is favored by the members of POAF Special Operations Command for its small size and high power. But in this situation, it lacks the power needed to put down the vampires. Instead, it just pisses them off.

Three vampires come crashing through the ceiling right at Overhill.
"SHIIITTTTT CONTACT UP!!!" He screams. Overhill keeps firing with the gun one handed and with the other draws out a ceramic hatchet from inside his jacket. He riddles one of them with bullets and it splats wetly on the floor, wheezing from punctured lungs, leaking black fluids on the tile floor. Overhill rolls to the right and dodges the second one. He comes up kneeling, spins around, and fires his side arm at the other one as it rushes him.
"Shit shit SHIT!!!!" The second vampire tackles Overhill into the wall. It tries to bite Overhill the neck but he blocks it with his right arm but the creature is supernaturally strong and slowly forces its way closer and closer.
Overhill swings the hatchet and strikes the vampire in the upper back. The creature howls and rears back. Overhill strikes again this time hitting the neck and the creature goes limp. Overhill lets go of the hatchet and pushes the vampire off on himself. Only to have the third one come at him.
Overhill jumped to his feet and thrust his hand inside his jacket. The vampire reared up, hissed, and opened its mouth...only to have Overhill shove a grenade in it.
"Chew on this fucker"
Overhill yanked the pin and kicked the vampire in chest. The vampire went flying back and Overhill dove to the ground.
"GRENADE!!!" he bellowed.
Everyone else dove and the grenade exploded. Gore splattered everywhere. The vampire ended from the chest up. Overhill shook himself and scrambled up, while trying to brush some of the gore and other offal off himself. He retrieves the hatchet from the downed vampire. It comes out with a wet squelch and the vampire stirred, until Overhill finishes removing the head of the creature. But the first one has finally recovered somewhat and tries to attack Overhill. It lunges halfheartedly, only to have Overhill side step and bring the hatchet with thunk and its head rolls away. Overhill is covered in sweat and offal.
"Fucking Cleared" Overhill calls out then fishes a pack of cigerattes and lighter from his jacket and lights one up "Fuck you I need this"
O'Conner looks up and nods and motions for the rest of the group to get up and move on.

The group finally reaches the end of the hallway and opens the door into the man area of the club. The scene inside is from hell. Blood is splashed every like a Jackson Polic painting. Bodies are everywhere, some torn to pieces and scattered around, some whole, some still alive but gasping weakly as they slowly die. The smell is horrendous but the most terrifying sight is the vampires. At least twenty of them roam the room, sucking the blood from the people, picking it off the floor or other vampires. More than a few of them engaging in carnal activities admit this atrocity. In the center of it all is the woman from before. Her dress is torn and blood soaked, and her visage is truly frightening as she holds up a young adolescent boy by his head and shoulder. Her face is buried in his neck as she slowly drains the life blood from him. The young teenager looks up and sees O'Conner and his group and cries out weakly
"P-please help me...Save me."
"No one can help you sweet much less save you, blood bag."
The woman's voice is husky and sexy, like that of a sex phone operator. She drops the kid and he crumples the floor like deflated balloon. She turns and sees O'Conner and his little group.
"Well well well, it seems you manage to survive and make it this far. I am impressed. To bad you will not make it any further." She snap her fingers and every other vampire is now looking to her "kill them."
Mark's men flinch and cower, Overhill smiles and O'Conner just raises his pistol.
"Bring it." O'Conner says
Is all he says then all hell brakes loose and the shit hits the fan.

[Mokastana]

The Red Room
Downtown District
Savannah
Timocratic Republic of Patrick O'Conner


Null had seen the carnage, and the combat skills, of Vampires. He had also seen how they died. O’Connor and Overkill had been quite effective at dispatching the monsters and Null silently suspected O’Conner had been modified in some way. Either bionic or otherwise, it wouldn't be a surprise. Luckily the duo enjoyed their blood lust, leaving Fontaine and Null to their own devices. The UV/Silver rounds had worked, Fontaine had double checked by quickly cutting one open and looking at the internal burning. Of course, the UV round was still burning parts of the vampire as she extracted it, but that was a good sign. A quick pinprick in the arm, and a blood sample was acquired. When she was done, she left the bullet in the wound, just in case.

Down the stairs, Null was coordinating with his team outside, who was now in breech position. Since UV worked, they would test the “UV Bomb”, a throw able device that had dozens of UV lasers that spun in quite the light show. It was a relatively simple device to make, given the Bureau’s resources, and could easily be rearmed by charging the batteries. Once in the club, Null opened his communication channel while O’Connor taunted..


"kill them."

"Bring it."


…”Breech” was the order Null gave, and through the window the UV bomb flew, activating mid flight, creating a blinding light in almost every direction. The doors exploded open, and Special Agents Gilbert Torres and Jim Ando came with their Lyran .50 caliber caseless submachine guns. Their 30 round magazines had been stacked in sets of three, based on experimental rounds: Round one was the UV Silver mix, Round two, a wooden hollow point with lead core, and three, a silver round with a tungsten AP tip. Since they weren't sure what would work, it only made sense to ensure all options were covered. As the gunfire and chaos began, Null stood by the stairs, watching, while Fontaine took position next to him, ready to pounce on any threats.

[Patrick OConner]

The Red Room
Downtown District
Savannah
Timocratic Republic of Patrick O'Conner

No fancy tactics will save us, no tech either. Looks like an all out brawl. Both O'Conner and Overhill thought then both of them charged in only to have the "UV Bomb" come in through the window at the same time. The device flew threw the window and bounced until it came to rest amid a group of vampires. The device activated and shot bright beams of pure ultra violent radiation all across the room...and all over the vampires.
The UV rays danced across the room washing over the vampires. The beams cut through the vampires that were close to the device, the UV rays carving through the vampires flesh, legs mostly were cut off and the vampires fell into the UV beams and the vampires were sliced again as they howled in pain, there shrieks sounding like the souls of the damned in the fires of hell. And finally they burst into flames and there shrieks grew even louder until they crumpled into ashes.
Further out from the device the beams had dispersed some and washed over the other vampires, more shrieks as the UV rays caused massive damage in the for of burns then igniting the vampires into brilliant pillars of flame that rapidly consumed them until nothing but ash was left. The room rapidly filled with the smell of burnt pork and The beams washed over O'Conner and Overhill with no effect thanks to them being human and clothed and the sunglasses protecting there eyes.
A few vampires managed to escape the beams by hiding behind damaged furniture only to be gunned down by the two Mokastana agents with there over sized sub-machine guns as they followed the UV bomb device through the window. The vampires went down screaming as black goo sprayed all over the walls and the burst into flame for there special bullets.
A couple wounded vampires staggered out of the slaughter toward O'Conner and Overhill. O'Conner shot each of them in the head, which exploded like melons adding more black goop the already massive mess in the shattered remains of the night club. O'Conner reloads out of habit.
The entire chain of events took only a few seconds and all but one of the vampires were dead.
"Ow" said the lead female who had moments before been draining some poor sap of his blood "That hurt."
She stood up with the remains of her human skin suit falling away to reveal a black leathery body emerged. It was tall and thin with long gangly limbs and a bat like face. A pig like nose sprouts for its face, and it has long pointed ears. A set of long fangs hang from its wide mouth. Skin connected the arms to the body to form wings. The hands are broad and flat and the fingers are long and pointed and ended in claws. The eyes were huge and black.
"Time to repay the favor blood bags" The creatures hisses and then leaps across the room at the two Mokastana agents with superhuman speed. The two agents attempt to fire on the creature but the bullets seem to not affect it at all. It bats them aside with ease and both agents fly across the room and crash into the bar with the wet sickening thud.
The creature approach them to finish the job as they struggle to rise. The creatures left shoulder explode in a spray of meat and black goo spinning the creature around so it faces O'Conner. He pulls the trigger and the hand cannon roars and the horrendous creature's head snaps back and it crumples to the ground.
"Disappointing" O'Conner remarks as he and Overhill walk over to the downed agents "I was expecting more of a challenge--OOOOO"
The vampire swept its long arm side ways and hit O'Conner in the legs knocking him them out from under him.
"That one really stung" hissed the vampire "You will pay for that meat bag"
"Been paying for it for years now missy" O'Conner retorts slightly winded.
The vampire tries to strike again and O'Conner rolls over on his back and lashes out with his knife. The long curved two colored blade slashes the vampires arm and it starts to smoke badly. The creature recoils and screeches, sounds like thousand nails on a chalk board.
"Damn Hunter's Knives and those metals." The creature tries to scuttle after the rapidly retreating O'Conner.
"HEY FUGLY" screams Overhill and the creature turns and snarls

Overhill watched the creature go down and was disappointed as well. Until it came back alive and tried to kill his long time friend.
Shit used my only frag grenade. To close for any sort of explosives I got on hand. Overhill hand dart inside his jacket searching for something. OH that might work.
Overhill yanked it out pulled the pin and let the spoon flip off Gotta time this just right. Overhill waited a fraction of a second then yelled
"HEY FUGLY" and tossed it.

The flash bang flew through the air, hit the vampire in the nose and then detonated right the vampire face.
"AAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" She screamed shattering what little un broken glass remained and making everyone flinch away. The vampire staggered around a bit and shook itself trying to throw off the effects but the vampires hieghted senses only made the effects of the flashbang even worse.
O"Conner bounced back from the effects of the deafening screech quickly. He leveled hie revolver at the creature and pulled the trigger. The hand cannon roared again and again. Both of the vampires weird backward knees exploded and the creature crumpled to the ground.
"AAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" It screamed again and writhe on the floor.
O'Conner aimed for the creatures chest and pulled the trigger, the only sound was a clack.
"Shit Misfire." O'Conner cursed and he fumbles for another speed laoder.
"MY EYES. YOU BASTARD" She screeches as she clutches her eyes

[Mokastana]

“It's wounded, contain it!” Null yelled to his men as they got to their feet. “Oxaca, Gomez, bring in the testing kit.” he barked into the radio. It wasn't very often you got a wounded monster available for testing, and if he played his cards right, he could have one here. Already, he could see her previous wounds, such as her shoulder, beginning to heal. Extremely high regeneration rate, check. The mental note added to his list while the creature screamed and thrashed.

“Torres, Ando, aim for her arms and unload those mags into her. See which bullets cause damage.”

The two assault troops, finally back on their feet began firing into the creature, testing the experimental rounds and seeing how much damage they caused. While they worked, Null approached the Priest and Sniper who brought in a duffel bag of goodies in case this event happened. First things first, Hell hammer pistol marked with silver rounds in his holster, then the double barrel shotgun with eight inch Redwood spikes, it was a double barrel, and a set of glasses with a small camera on its side. Grabbing the weapons and Tech with urgency, he marched back to the creature, still under fire from his team, and unloaded both barrels into her chest, hoping to hit the heart with one of the spikes. Throwing the gun back to the priest, he only shouted “Reload” before turning to Fontaine.

While Null had been gathering his guns, Fontaine was getting things ready for his next step. Small Glass bottles of Holy Water and Garlic juice, Silver Spike, Obsidian Tools, and a medical grade cooler. He was going to see what tools he had could hurt her kind while she was wounded enough to allow him to try it all.

“O’Connor, your blade cut her, would you kindly help Fontaine remove the monsters arms? Fontaine, get a flesh sample.”

While the team carved on her, and cut away limbs, Null poured the liquids onto her, recording it's effects on the creature. No doubt the pain the creature was under caused her to scream more, but Time was off the essence. The bullet wounds from rounds that did damage were healing, and the limbs cut off actually appeared to be growing back. He drew his pistol, loaded with the silver coated Tungsten tipped rounds, and fired a few rounds into her face, hoping to slow the regeneration of her eyes and sensory organs. Once the limbs were cut off or disabled, Null motioned to Fontaine to back away as he did so.

“Torres, three round burst into her side, then cook it with the flamethrower, see if burning her slows the regeneration.”

By this time the Priest had reloaded the shotgun and brought it back to Null. Everyone backed off as Torres smiled, putting the burst into her torso before switching to the small disposable flamethrower(he had landed on previously when thrown across the room, luckily it was quite durable). The container shot barely ten meters, and had only had a half of second worth of fuel, but that's all Null needed to test its effect. He didn't care that parts of the club had also caught the napalm mix and were now burning as well. They would be going soon, but he still needed to kill the creature. Hopefully decapitation was the trick.

“Oxaca, use the combat shotgun on her neck, cut off her head. Maintain distance.”

As she burned Null turned to O’Connor and Overhill:

“She's tough. Any idea how you want to finish the job?”

[Patrick OConner]

The Red Room
Downtown District
Savannah
Timocratic Republic

At Nulls request Patrick stood up, finished reloading, and walked over. He raised his knife and with two blows severed the vampires arms and two severed the legs just in case.
"There not going anywhere now."
Patrick stepped back and watched as Null and his crew experimented quickly on the downed creature. Holy water hurt is a little but the rest did not seem to do much expect for the flamethrowers that did a number on it but it still seemed to be recovering from most of it.
During all of this Overhill wandered away and seemed to be working on something on the bar.
Null came over and asked about killing it.
O'Conner was about to answer but them Overhill walked by carrying an improvised stake covered in duct tape and explosives.
"I got an idea" Overhill commented with a wicked gleam in his eye.
"Oh Shit" Murmured O'Conner "EVERYONE OUT" He then yelled and Mark and his men dashed out.
Overhill drove the stake into the creatures heart then used the back of his hatchet to drive it in even further. The creature screamed in agony and then lay still. With three stakes in its heart, it was not going anywhere. Overhill then slapped a final charge, on the creatures neck. And activated all of them.
"Now I would stay very still" Overhill causally tells the creature "these babies have internal motion senors. Move to much and they go bang."
And then Overhill turns and leave followed by everyone else. Once outside Overhill pulls back his sleeve to reveal a tablet like device strapped there. He taps the screen on the device a times. There is a loud WHOOMP from the building. The remaining glass on the first few floors breaks and the building seems to sag slightly slightly in the middle. Yellow orange flames can be seem in the windows now.
"Done." Says Overhill smiling
"Great then we are out of here. See you Mark" Says O'Conner and the group gets in the vehicles and leaves.
Patrick rotates and rubs his wrist.
"Fucking sprained."

Firebrand Shipping Warehouse
Warehouse District
Port city of Savannah
Timocratic Republic

The SUV Pull into the warehouse and O'Conner and Overhill exit.
"Wow" rumbles Freeman "You guys look like 10 miles of bad road."
"We got hit, fugly." Overhill retorts
"What? Injured?"
"Just minor wounds, where is Doc? All injured on Doc now."
"Right here" Captain O'Malley appears carrying a first aid bag. He immediately begins to examine Overhill and clean and bandage him up. Overhill fidgets as he does so.
"WIRED!!! GET YOUR LAZY ASS OVER HERE NOW!!!" O'Conner bellows. This is followed by a thump some cursing and Staff Sergeant Llyod appears from under a table covered in high tech gear, rubbing his head.
"Dammit Colonel. I can hear you. No need to yell."
"Whatever. I need to get whatever you can on Dimitri and Smirnoff. The Russian Gangsters. Hack whatever you need to FBI, OSS, ATF, PD, personal computers. Whatever you need. I want all info on them."
"We hitting them?"
"That is a possibility, that is why I need intel."
"Roger... so how was it? I mean fighting vampires and all? Did you get any footage with the glasses?"
"They die or redie or whatever like anything else. Some are just a bit harder than others. And yes I was recording. I need more info on these guys. Also I got footage on the one that lead the attack. I want you to ID here better if you can. Compare to the info OSS gave us." O'Conner takes of his glasses and tosses them to Llyod who catches them.
"Roger."Llyod turns and scampers off to do the voodoo he do so well.
O'Malley comes over and examines O'Conner shaking his head at the wrist and muttering about compensating.
O'Conner leans over and whispers to him
"Did you bring the booster?"
"Yeah I did, but-"
"Can it. I know."

Overhill snorts at the compensating comment.
"Yeah harder to kill. Like I used enough C8 on it to drop a large house. And that was after three stakes were driven through its heart. And had all its limps cut off and was torched and riddled with bullets."
"So how do we proceed them?" Asks Buckley who had walked over.
"Same as before, Buckley. Yeah." O'Conner says as O'Malley wraps his wrist "This mission is shaping up nicely...like a case of hemorrhoids."

[Mokastana]

Firebrand Shipping Warehouse
Warehouse District
Port city of Savannah
Timocratic Republic


While O’Connor and his team did their research and got patched up, Null and his team did something similar. Torres and Ando were checked by the Priest for wounds and any blood transfer. Especially when dealing with unknown species it was possible for unknown pathogens to be possible. Given that the Vampire issue was to be treated like a virus, it was a good thing the two suited up in proper gear before launching their attack. Still, everyone was checked for cuts, fluid transfers or strange symptoms. So far everyone checked out. Not bad given the ambush, but not something that Null was happy with.


Null wanted to get to studying the flesh sample, but he had to talk with O’Connor first.


“O’Connor! Would you kindly explain what happened back there? From what I was informed, we were simply going to meet an informant. And yet all evidence seems to point out that these… creatures… were there ahead of us, waiting to set up an ambush. Now my concern at the time was how to kill them, which testing gave less than ideal results, but more importantly, somehow, they found out where we would be, and planned ahead in anticipation. Intelligence of the monsters is not my concern, what is, seems to be that they have better Intel than you do. Do you have an idea how those creatures knew where we would be?”


Behind Null, Fontaine watched the her boss verbally berate their host, and judged the reaction. If there was one thing her boss hated, it was engaging the opponent on their terms, not his. She didn't expect a fight to break out from it, but the tension was raising in the air. The older man with grey hair might not have been intimating per se, but he didn't make it to that age in this line of work by being less than effective. She waited for the conservation to simmer before getting back to her work.

[Patrick OConner]

Firebrand Shipping Warehouse
Warehouse District
Port city of Savannah
Timocratic Republic

Null strode over and began yelling at O'Conner like he was a brand new grunt out of basic training. A subtle change ran through O'Conner's men.
John Llyod aka Wired looked up from his computer his hand moving to his side arm, Freeman, and Smith with him, looked up from inspecting a gun, both of them reached over for a magazine and loaded a gun each respectfully. Everyone elses hands move toward side arms and other weapons and they eyeballed Null's team. The tension in the room skyrocketed.
All of which O'Conner did not seem to notice or care. He just looked mildy annoyed at Director Null.
"Well Mr. Null we were a victim of circumstance. Caught in the trap of coincidences. We got screwed by Murphy. Shit happened got it?"
With that last word O'Conner poked Null in the chest hard.
"Now I would guess, and my guess are usually right, that we got caught in up in a hit on Johnny Mark's life. Because I know things re secure from my end. I can vouch for every man on my team and Buckley and he can vouch for everyone on his team. Right?"
"Yes." Buckley says "I trust all of them with my life."
O'Conner steps back and walks over to SUV and rummages round a bit before finding the harness he wore earlier and putting it back on. He then rummanges some more before finding a tablet and puling it out and turning it on and returning to the group.
"Good now the only question is why were the vampires trying to take out a crime lord?" O'Conner asks as he flips through the files on the tablet many of them appear to be e-books of some kind, mostly about mythology.
"Ummm....." Llyod says behind his bank of computers "I think I know Pat. Come here."
Patrick and Joe walk over and look at Llyods computer screen. On it are various technical read out and information but in the center are too images. One if taken from a camera that was recording the fight, it shows the image of the recently slain vampire chick before she transformed and next to it is another image of the same woman but accompanyed by blond brutish looking thug of a man.
"I ...accessed the FBIs database and searched for the name Smirnoff, That's him" Llyod adds tapping the brutish man "The FBI has been watching him closely, he is suspected of selling drugs, guns, people, and a laundry list of other things and he is Dmitri's right hand man. Now it seems that he was in contact with our draculina even met with her."
"That I interesting" remarks O'Conner
"It gets better, I managed to hack his phone. Dumb ass thinks his encryption and security protocols are good enough not use a burner. Anyway he has been talking regularly to someone calling himself Vlad."
"You are kidding? Melodramatic much?"
Llyod shrugs and continues
"Yeah but we have a problem. Vlad has been using burner phones. I can not get a fix on him."
"What about Smirnoff?"
"I can tell you where for sure."
"Hmmmmm maybe he is working with the escaped targets."
"You sure about that?" Asks Overhill "And that they just did not split up after escaping?"
"I doubt it. The files we were given indicate they were kept together during capture and may have formed a tight group. If anything I bet they are still together. I think we need to pay Smirnoff a visit. But only after a bit more prep work. John get me everything on Smirnoff you can. Send Longshot and Doc out to do some recon if necessary. Jesse make some special suprices for these guys. Our regular stuff did not scratch them but explosives liquefied them."
"On it" Both of them said and Patrick walked away
"Null follow me we need to talk."

After the two of them we a distance way from the group Patrick turned around looked at Null with an angry expression that transformed his face into a fearsome visage of hell. He furiously whispered to Null in a low voice
"Do not ever do that again. You are here at my invite and yes I did invite you because I needed help. I am used to people staying down when I shoot them. Now this group is a ragtag bunch of people from various other groups and it is holding together barely as is. We have little cohesion and trust in each other and doing things like what you just did will destroy it. I am in charge here got it? You have a question ask me in private. I would never lead you or your people in a trap knowingly and risk getting them killed, nor would I ever use them as bait."
O'Conner calm down and his face returned to its normal bored expression
"Now then as for those vampires we faced, your teams gear worked well on the regulars but the other one...well she displayed powers like those of a master vampire. Now there are a few things that can kill it. Stake through the heart will paralyze one and then you take off its head , or you hit it with enough fire power. There are few things from legends swords, axes, knives, a gun. But I have no clue were to get them or if they are real. He look for yourself."
O'Conner handed Null the tablet. It was currently opened to a page of a e-book on how to kill vampires and there weakness. At the top of the page was listed The Avatar of Death as the number 1 way to disptch them followed by various swords and axes and even a gun named Order. Under all that was the usual methods for killing them.
"I got no clue what to do Null. You got one?"

[Mokastana]

Firebrand Shipping Warehouse
Warehouse District
Port city of Savannah
Timocratic Republic

The tension increased, Fontaine’s ears perked. While O’Connor’s men were loading and reaching for pistols, she was slowly marking them with as targets in the HUD of her glasses. Traditional Battle Net didn't work on this low of a level, but their custom software hooked up her targeting to the drones in the SUV. The enemy was focused on the Team, the wild card could, and would flank them if they tried something. The rest of the Team found weapons of their own.

"Well Mr. Null we were a victim of circumstance. Caught in the trap of coincidences. We got screwed by Murphy. Shit happened got it?"

The poke did little to upset, or even move, Null. He only looked down at the finger with a disgusted look, the feel of hard metal just under the clothes made Null seem more solid than a man his age should.

"Now I would guess, and my guess are usually right, that we got caught in up in a hit on Johnny Mark's life. Because I know things re secure from my end. I can vouch for every man on my team and Buckley and he can vouch for everyone on his team. Right?"
"Yes." Buckley says "I trust all of them with my life."

“If you insist.”

Was Null’s only public response. This team was impulsive, emotional, and yet some of the best in this nation. A dangerous combination. One that would make many enemies, even of allies. They had their blood sample, but Null knew he had to play along if they wanted more. It paid to appear weaker than you were.

He listened as the other team worked, tension was still high, and he was aware via his glasses which systems Fontaine had activated. Keeping his cool he only slightly bowed when O’Connor spoke:

"Null follow me we need to talk."

“As you insist.”

Patrick turned around looked at Null with an angry expression, one that might remind Null of Hell had he not already seen a literal version of it before.

"Do not ever do that again. You are here at my invite and yes I did invite you because I needed help. I am used to people staying down when I shoot them. Now this group is a ragtag bunch of people from various other groups and it is holding together barely as is. We have little cohesion and trust in each other and doing things like what you just did will destroy it. I am in charge here got it? You have a question ask me in private. I would never lead you or your people in a trap knowingly and risk getting them killed, nor would I ever use them as bait."

A slight smirk flirted it's way across Null's lips for a fraction of a second before he returned to his neutral look.

“I was originally less worried about your team, and more worried about your informant. Here is a man that you can intimidate, casually stroll into his office, make a threat and he'll back down. Ruling criminal enterprises requires looking strong. Or else what's stopping a young up and comer from simply killing you and taking your spot.

Now that man is weak, and he knows it, but if he made contact with the beasts, why would he sell them out to you, when he could just as easily sell you out to them? They are powerful enough to shake off .50 caliber rounds, excellent ambushers, and multiplying. While you are, pardon the term, just a man. Honestly, if I was him, I would have bet on the beasts. Criminals are useful, but I don't trust them.

As for your team, if the cohesion is really that low, then my words might have been the hidden thoughts of another. I'm a foreigner, I can get away with questioning you. Prove me wrong, answer my questions with evidence, and your group cohesion will get stronger.

“I was not… enthusiastic about my initial findings testing that Vampire. Maybe High Explosive rounds or something can hit harder, but we can't be changing mags for every enemy.

Null looked through the tablet. It was currently opened to a page of a e-book on how to kill vampires and there weakness. At the top of the page was listed The Avatar of Death as the number 1 way to disptch them followed by various swords and axes and even a gun named Order. Under all that was the usual methods for killing them.

"I got no clue what to do Null. You got one?"

“Do we have any leads on any of these weapons? What materials they were made of? If magical or industrial, can we recreate one? I have a few more tricks up my sleeves, but technology vs. Magic never ends as pretty as we would like.”

[Patrick OConner]

Firebrand Shipping Warehouse
Warehouse District
Port city of Savannah
Timocratic Republic

O'Conner did in fact listen to Null. The man had clearly been around the block a few times and them been through it as well. He clearly made good calls based on the information provided but it was not all provided to him.
"You underestimate Mark. He is not in fact a man to intimdate easily...rather he knows who is dealing with. A few years ago he had a competitor then his competitor decided it would be a good idea to hell some terrorist kill Mericans. Nothing officaily could ever be proven, but someone somewhere was handed a job to deal with someone permanently, to make an example of him....guess who it was?"
O'Conner smiles as he fishes a cigar out of his jacket and lights it.
"They never really found all the pieces of him and his inner circle...just lots of blood and various body parts...but the torture video made news. Criminals have never dared do such a thing since. No he won't sell us out less he fear some Old Testimant style wrath. Besides he stands to gain a lot. If Dmitri and Smirnoff are really working with these assholes, then there asses just hit the target list and worse they will be made... examples of. This kinda of collusion is very much illegal. With Dmitri gone, Mark gets to expand into a new market. No, he stands to gain to much. Criminals are indeed useful but I only trust them as far as I can shoot them from.
As for the vampires, the regular ones went down fine under your people bullets but the special ones...we are back to hit it until it breaks."
Patrick sits and puffs on his cigar thinking hard about the list
"The weapons on it are all myths and legends as far as I know but they do all have one thing in common." Patrick draws out his long curved dagger "The materials they are they made out of. A particularity mineral in fact. It is called Mistite and it is not rare but not common. Big problem is working with it. This knife at least the metal part is composed of an alloy of Mistite, iron, chrome, sliver and few other bits. These are about the only things we can make consistently. Everything else does not work or it explodes in the process of forging the metal. I thought the rumors and legends of it other worldly properties were just that...but...well after slicing up a few vamps and watching them burn from this baby...and those weird blue flames...well I far more inclicined to beleive. And as for the Avatar of Death HA that is about as far into legends as you can get. Bottom line, we don't have any magic bullets."

[Mokastana]

Firebrand Shipping Warehouse
Warehouse District
Port city of Savannah
Timocratic Republic

Null listened to the history between Patrick and the local crime boss, it was a small comfort that his local guide wasn't entirely trusting of the thug as well. Carrot and stick methods worked best when dealing with undesirables like these, but the hard part was always ensuring your carrots and sticks were bigger than the other guy's. And vampires had a strong argument for both. At least the local was aware of that.

“Mistite? I'll have to find a way to get my hands on that, it sounds like a very useful material. Especially that alloy if that's the only stable form. Shall I assume that this metal has paranormal properties that make it hard to work with?”

Null disliked the paranormal, it never followed logical rules, but it was his job to understand it. Alien Tech made sense, but magic? What universal constant did magic follow? There were theories, from ‘Mana drain’ and energy conservation, to the ‘muscle theory’ suggesting it's like a muscle that gets stronger the more it's used/practiced, but all were just guesses at the moment. Either way, it didn't matter with the situation at hand.


“How difficult would it be to track some of these weapons down, or more importantly, do we even have time to do so? As you've said, you assume they're growing in population, if every new vampire can raise new ones, then their population could be increasing exponentially.

I wish I had a live one to study, would give us so many options for hunting them down.

What do we need to do to get this, Smirnoff character?”

---

Back at the SUVs, Fontaine kept an eye on O’Connors men, and ensured her team was taken care of. In the corner, the priest was saying some prayers over water and silver rounds, blessing the weapons to make them more effective, or so she hoped. Her attack squad was hurt but would recover, and the flesh samples secured for transportation back to home labs. The last job was botched to hell, but luckily they had the team on standby. Next time, they'll set up a sniper, get the drones airborne, and establish perimeters.

Next time it will be planning, not luck that saved them.

[Patrick OConner]

Firebrand Shipping Warehouse
Warehouse District
Port city of Savannah
Timocratic Republic

O'Conner shrugged
"Possibly. Many theories have been but forward about Mistite's unusaul properties. That is as good as any. The Brethern of Hunt are the ones to see about making the alloys. Also this knife is not entirely metal see this white bit?"
Patrick taps the inner part of the knife that is bone white
"This is the fore claw from a drakon and I am pretty sure it also plays apart."
O'Conner sits and puffs on h is cigar rapidly forming a haze of blue smoke
"In short, no. Gettting our hands on any of these is impossible in the time frame we have. But our next move is clear. We are going after Smirnoff."
Patrick gets up and walks over to Llyod
"Well Llyod you got something on Smirnoff for me?"
"I got everything on him"
"Great then lets see it all"

One Briefing and Planing Session Later

"So everyone got it? For everyone, the plan is simple. Smirnoff is hold up in the Abandoned District with about 10 guards or so. We will do a standard snatch and grab. Me and Overhill with infiltrate the place, in full kit by the way, not getting caught with out pants down again. Anyway we infil, neutralize guards with knife and suppressed weapons, snatch Smirnoff and bring him back here for some one on one chat time."
"Which he probably wont survive" O'Malley adds
"Probably, the rest of the team will be on standby expect for Longshot on overwatch. And your people will be waiting too Null. And I want them waiting with there very biggest guns. I doubt that the vamps will be there, Smirrnoff will not trust them enough to keep them close but Murphy aint get me twice. We clear now?"

[Mokastana]

Firebrand Shipping Warehouse
Warehouse District
Port city of Savannah
Timocratic Republic

“As long as these monsters roam free, any tools we can get our hands on is a good start, would your friends in the Brethern of the Hunt be willing to share a few of those knives? And Smirnoff sounds as good a place as any to start.”

With the ‘private‘ conservation of of the way, Null returned to his team, winked to Fontaine and got the notification the drones were powered down. Fontaine approached him to ask what the hell that was all about, but only got the words: “We understand each other now”. It was all she would get for the moment, and knowing that she went back to her duties. She didn't like being kept in the dark, but trusted Null to tell her more when the time was right. For the moment, Null’s objective was to keep the teams from killing each other, both leaders going back to work as if nothing happened would be a good start.

As for Null, he took a mental inventory of his tools before getting everyone together before the next briefing.

“Listen up, no matter what, we and the locals are here to eliminate the Vampire threat, and learn as much as we can about them. It is up to us to maintain level heads. Let's get to the briefing.”

The briefing was short, and to the point. Despite his temper, or maybe due to it, Mr. O’Connor knew how to lead a meeting effectively. With his approval, Null responded: “Will do, Gomez would be useful on Overwatch as well, two snipers are better than one.”

Null debated mentally how big should he claim to be “biggest”. The. 50 Cal submachine guns were powerful, but when with their caseless ammo, not quite enough punch. This time, he would break out his best option. Among the shotguns brought with him, he had two fully automatic AA-12, with a few drums of HE shells. It wasn't silver, nor UV, or wood, but High Explosives Shells could still wreck anyone's day. It may not kill a purebred vampire, but it had a chance to take off a limb or two. At the very least, it would be knocked on it's ass. The fact that 300 High Explosive shells a minute could not ensure target destruction might have worried Null, but that was why people like him existed in the first place. Technically, he had one weapon even more powerful, but given its origin and weight, he was hesitant to take it out until it was absolutely necessity.

[Patrick OConner]

Firebrand Shipping Warehouse
Warehouse District
Port city of Savannah
Timocratic Republic

"Two snipers are better than one. Alright we move out at midnight and hit the place 0030. So check you gear and get ready. I Llyod will be handing out maps with your locations, info and routes soon. Overhill on me."
"Coming" says Overhill as the group breaks up.
O'Conner strides over to the weapons cache and rummages around until he comes up with two cases. He hands one to Overhill.
"Here we are using these."
"Jesse opens the case and removes a hand gun with attached suppressor. Overhill quickly inspects the weapon.
"Nice. 10mm STI frame custom built for quit work."
"Yep. Padding and everything. As long as you use sub sonic ammo. It is the quiet thing in the room. Loudest niose is the action. Familiarize yourself with it."
"Roger. We taking regular just in case?"
"No. This is replacing the side arm but the long gun with the new special ammo. Just in case."
"Alright."
About that time Llyod came around handing out info needed.
The facility was an empty lot with 3 or 4 of trailers parked on it. Trucks and other construction equipment were parked haphazardly as well. Around it most of the building damaged or destroyed and reduces to a single or two story. expect for one building across the street that was 6 stories tall and in reasonable good condition, meaning it was not about to collapse under it own weight. It overlooked the whole area and was thus marked for the snipers. The facility was surrounded by a tall chain link fence. Two entrance were marked on the map as well as a the location of the guards barracks. On one side was another lot filled with piles of debris. Various locations away from the compound were marked with the best places for the back up to wait.
O'Conner and Overhill put there heads together and began to talk about the best route in.

The time came and the men suited up. The preferred suit for Force Recon was the Mark 3 Advanced Combat Suit, a full body suit black as night and about the size of med weight winter clothing. It incorporated a combat harness and body armor and various pouches and hard points.
Attached to the right arm was a small touch screen computer that could be detached. Next came the Advanced Combat Helmet Mark 3 which resembled a bike helmet, but was crammed full of electronics,like radio and a heads up display or HUD. Gloves and boots went on both of which were the special Spydre gear. The surface of each, when activated, could cling to just about any surface. Finally a special wrist mounted grappling hook with 50 feet of line.
Then the came the weapons and ammo. The SCAR battle rifle for everyone but Freeman and Smith, who each grabs an M240 and M14 EBR respectively. Smith outfitted his with a suppressor and some special sub sonic ammo for the quit kills. Five-seveN all round expect for O'Conner and Overhill who grabbed the special handguns. Each person loaded various other bits onto there suits per there own tastes and mission specific roles.
Once everyone was loaded they pilled into the SUVs and left.


Smirnoff's Compound
Abondaded District
Port city of Savannah
Timocratic Republic

O'Conner and Overhill stalked through the debris filled lot, moving swiftly and silently. The sun had gone down hours ago and the area was dark, not pitch black with the near by city providing some illumination but still pretty dark and O'Conner and Overhill blended in with the night perfectly. Overhill and O'Conner approached the fence and stopped behind a pile of debris.
O'Conner activates his radio
"Indy and Overhill in postion. Thanatos check in"
"Heavy Metal on stand by with Wired, doc, and visitors"
"Longshot in position with ....help" The last word came out with a hint of disgust.
"Good copy. Longshot sitrep"
"Two roving patrol and two guarding a door to a trailer and another two outside one smoking hold one."

Across the street on the fourth floor of the building CPO Aaron "Longshot" Smith was laid out with one of his prized rifles observing everything that went on in the compound. The scope was cutting edge, with multiple modes, and zoom optics, but right now it was set to regular viewing mode and 10x zoom.
Smith was stretched out on the floor the rifle resting on its mounted bipod. Smith was set back from a large whole in the wall through which he was observing the through the scope, with his helmet off and eye glued to the scope.
Smith peered through he scope lining up the shot on the first man. He breathe in let half of it out then gently squeezed the trigger. The rifle made a muffle pffftt then Smith moved on to the next guy and repeated the process, another pfffftt. Then he looked back and checked the other guy. Head shot dead center between the eyes and same for the other guy.
A small smile creeped across his face and he key his radio.
"Rovers down clear to advanced."

"Roger, advancing" replied O'Conner and both he and Overhill swung around the pile crouching low as suppressed pistols in there hangs. Both of them reached the fence. Overhill took position and helped O'Conner over the fence who them returned the favor from the top of the fence.
Both of them climbed down quietly and stealthy made there way over a tailor. They snuck around the trailer slowly until they came around the side and saw the two men standing outside. One was smoking and the other one was trying to light a cigarette with a busted lighter.
O'Conner keys his radio and says "Long way to the top."
Then he and Overhill swing around the corner and open fire. O'Conner took the left one and Overhill the right one. Both of them fire twice, a rapid pfft pfft. And both men drop down.
O'Conner and Overhill move rapidly and drag the bodies out of sight, then enter the silently enter the trailer they were standing in front of.
Inside 4 more men were quietly sleeping. Off to one side was a stack of various weapons. O'Conner and Overhill rapidly dispatch the men, quietly and efficiently then they both reloaded and exited the trailer. Both men crossed compound in the shadows of the various bits of construction equipment. Until they came up on the final trailer guarded by two men. Then they both swung out from behind a truck and fired. Doing the same routine as before. Both of them dropped with a small thud.
O'Conner silently opens the doors to reveal a vary plain interior with a desk chair and bed and some filling cabinets. The bed was currently occupied with a sleeping figure, Smirnoff.
O'Conner holsters his pistol and withdraws a syringe from a pocket and uncaps it. O'Conner and Overhill silently walk over. Smirnoff stirs and they both leap. Overhill grabs his arms while O'Conner covers his mouth and sticks the needle in his neck then injects him with the stuff.
Smirnoff struggles for a minute then gradually stops and then is still, out cold.
Overhill lets him go and quickly goes through the trailer looking for anything that might provide intel. He grabs and bags a few phones and a laptop while O'Conner use tapes Smirnoff's hands and feet together.
He keys his radio
"Package is secure need extract."
"Roger Heavy Metal and co inbound. ETA 2 mikes"
"Roger."
O'Conner grabs Smirnoff and throws him over his shoulder. Then both he and Overhill head outside. An SUV pulls up and Overhill opens the trunk and tosses his bag in and O'Conner tosses in Smirnoff and closes the door. Both of them jump in and the SUV pulls off

2 hours later
Firebrand Shipping Warehouse
Warehouse District
Port city of Savannah
Timocratic Republic

The team had unloaded and were back in regular clothes, but still armed. Llyod was working on the phones and laptop while Smirnoff was securely tapped to a chair in an attached office and currently gaurded by Freeman. O'Conner was smoking another cigar while the rest of his team and the hunters gathered around
"So we gonna do this our usual way. Me and Doc are gonna interrogate Smirnoff. It will get bloody anyone with a conseince or weak stomache cover your ears and eyes and think happy thoughts. Null you want in on this? I am willing to share my toys and maybe so is-" Patrick glances sideways at him and he nods with a nasty grin "so is doc."

[Mokastana]

Firebrand Shipping Warehouse
Warehouse District
Port city of Savannah
Timocratic Republic

While the team got ready for the attack, Null and Fontaine quietly observed O'Conners tech from afar. Most seemed pretty standard, but the specialized gloves and recon uniforms looked like they had a few bells and whistles not normally seen in the public eye. Perhaps they would be something the two could observe in the field as well. As they quietly watched between their own prep work, Special Agent Agatha Gomez seemed less than enthusiastic about her assignment with a local sniper, but duty called. Unpacking her Mosin Nagant, it was clear the rifle was classic in name only. The stock was made of a black polymer unlike the traditional wood furniture. A modern scope With IR and heat tracking mounted on the top of a carbon fiber barrel. The new removable magazine made reloading quicker, and is specialized ammo was labeled with colored rings to denote AP or expanding. Only the bolt remained the same, although slightly bent to stay out of the way of the scope and coated to make it less reflective. In short, it was a beauty. Loaded up and dressed to kill, Agatha was ready.


Smirnoff's Compound
Abondaded District
Port city of Savannah
Timocratic Republic

"Indy and Overhill in postion. Thanatos check in"

"Heavy Metal on stand by with Wired, doc, and visitors"

"Longshot in position with ....help"

Null and Fontaine listened to the chatter, AA-12s in their laps and radios in their ears. Under their black leather coats, instead of the traditional dark red and black uniforms of the MBSA, they were replaced with tactical gear, grenades, and extra mags. The rest of the team sat similarly dressed in the back of the SUV, while one member rotated on outside patrol. If anything in the mood for a Bloody Mary showed up, they would get a proper surprise party.

"Good copy. Longshot sitrep"

"Two roving patrol and two guarding a door to a trailer and another two outside one smoking hold one."

Across the street on the fourth floor of the building Special Agent Agatha Gomez was not happy playing spotter, but she drew the short stick. Somehow she suspected that Aaron had cheated, but the mission came first. Her hi definition digital camera was propped up in a window, giving her a wide view of the target area with the ability to zoom. She was hidden behind something solid, the cable leading back to her to prevent any electronic interception or interference. She would be keeping an eye out as Smith took care of the targets.

"Rovers down clear to advanced."

"Roger, advancing"

"Long way to the top."

The comms went silent for a bit, no doubt that Patrick and friend had entered and began their work. A small recon drone had been released and was observing the SUV, just to make sure no one tried to sneak up on it. To not give away its position, it flew up and landed on a building, killing its motor for the time being. Time ticked by as they waited for confirmation. Fontaine was about to suggest another drone but Null told her to wait. The last thing they needed to do was make more noise. Finally, a crackle on the radio:

"Package is secure need extract."

"Roger Heavy Metal and co inbound. ETA 2 mikes"

"Roger."

That was the word. The SUV started up, it's drone reactivated and recalled, and they moved to the rally point.


Firebrand Shipping Warehouse
Warehouse District
Port city of Savannah
Timocratic Republic

The team had unloaded and were back in their proper uniforms. Null was going over an equipment check from the last mission when Patrick came by:

"So we gonna do this our usual way. Me and Doc are gonna interrogate Smirnoff. It will get bloody anyone with a conscience or weak stomache cover your ears and eyes and think happy thoughts. Null you want in on this? I am willing to share my toys and maybe so is-" Patrick glances sideways at him and he nods with a nasty grin "so is doc."

“Sure, it would be a good thing to see a fellow professional work.”

Null stripped off his leather coat, revealing the shoulder holster housing a Hellhammer. 50 caliber LCL semi automatic pistol. He began to roll up his sleeves, and a slight smile worked its way across his face. Looking him over and seeing the black tie, blood red button up shirt, black slacks and leather boots, it would soon become clear what kind of practicality had been built into the standard MBSA outfit. One might even say that Null was excited to finally get to see some up close work.

[Patrick OConner]

Firebrand Shipping Warehouse
Warehouse District
Port City of Savannah
Timocratic Republic

"Alrighty then glad you are dressed for it." Patrick says then turns and heads for the office. He snatches up a leather bundle off of one of the tables around the container and then enters the office followed by Travis "doc" O'Malley and Null. Freeman is leaning in the corner watching Smirnoff and after the three enter he leaves.
Smirnoff is securely bound to a metal chair in with plastic cuffs. Smirnoff is a brutish looking thug of a man shock of blonde hair. His clothes were expensive designer t shirt and pants but are torn and a bit crinkled now. He glares at O'Conner' O'Malley and Null as they enter. O'Malley takes Freeman's place and he puts a med bag down in front of him.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!?!" Smirnoff bellows in a loud rasping guttural voice " I GOT RI-" O'Conner smacks him across the face with the bundle. Smirnoff stops and works his jaw as a bruise rapidly develops.
Patrick drops the bundle on the table and unwraps it. The wrapping is actually a leather apron that O'Conner puts on and the other contents are a wet stone and a large knife.
O'Conner picks up the stone and spits on it then lays it on the table and picks up the knife and starts running over the stone sharpening it. It makes a loud SHHHHHHHHHHTT sound. O'Conner just sits there sharpening the knife for minute, then two.
"Well well well" O'Conner says "Smiry you are in some deep deep shit this time."
"What do you mean? You guys aren't cops?" he ask "Cause if you are I will be out of here in no time and sue your asses."
"Nope we ain't cops. Fertherest thing from it." O'Conner says with smile and an evil chuckle as he continues to sharpen the knife and it makes a loud SHHHHHTT SHHHHHT of each stroke fills the silence with ominous intent.
"Of all the things you have done...drug, human and weapons trafficking, murder, racketeering...is like a record of all the classic mob hits."
"Wait a minute...Something about this is familiar...several years ago a bunch of guys just disappeared...and then those videos showed up." Smirnoff says slowly thinking hard.
"Look at that. He is smarter than he looks but that is not hard.... you set the bar kinda low." O'Conner says smiling evilly as he continues to sharpen the knife "What did you think of them? I thought the music was a bit ostentatious and did not quite fit the mood."
"Listen I will pay your guys whatever you want just name your price." A small note of panic enters his voice but O'Conner just continues to smile and sharpen his knife.
"We do not want money." O'Conner replies
"Then what?" Smirnoff
O'Conner stops sharpening the knife then eyeballs the edge. He frowns at it then moves lighting fast. He reaches out seizes one of Smirnoffs fingers then skins it with a few flicks of the blade. The flesh is red and the tendons and bone white. Blood drips from it as the skin hangs off in tatters. Smirnoff bellows in pain. O'Malley does not even flinch of move.
"There It is sharp enough now." O'Conner says still smiling "Oh what we want is some information Smiry."
"WHAT THE FUCK?!?! WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS?"
"Cause I can dick bag now you recently tried to take out Mark with some help of the other worldy kind"
"MY FUCKING FINGER!!! YOU SICK FUCK!!!" Smirnoff bellows and O'Malley snorts
"Now Smiry you aren't focusing on what is important here. We want to know about your...vamperic associates."
"Fuck you"
"I was hoping you were going to say that." O'Conner practically purrs and then seizes Smirnoff's hand again and proceeds to skin it. A minute later Smirnoff whole left hand is skinned and bleeding the flesh red and pulsing and the tendons stark white but uncut. O'Conner lays the skin out on the table in front of Smirnoff
"I wonder if I could makes some gloves his hands are big enough." Patrick mumbles "Anyway. Do I have you attention now?" Smrinoff nods "Good you sent some people to assassinate Mark recently we are after them tell us where they are and... I promise that I won't kill you."
Smirnoff thinks hard for a minute
"How do I know that you won't kill me anyway you are not the good guys."
"Rich coming from you. But do you know who I am?"
"You are vaguely familar...wait a minute you are him aren't you? Patrick O'Conner!!!"
"He finally figures it out. Yes I am him you know my rep. I am man of my word. So cough up the information and I promise not to kill you."
Smirnoff looks hesitant. O'Conner leans forward with his knife
"Okay Okay. They are on an old oil rig in the swamps." He rattles of some coordinates. Patrick looks over at O'Malley who quietly leaves. He returns a minute later and nods at O'Conner.
"Great we are done then."
Smirnoff seems to relax a little bit until O'Malley pulls out one of the pistols O'Conner and Overhill were using earlier. A confused look passes over Smirnoff faces followed by realization
"YOU SON OF A BI-"
O'Malley fires twice into Smirnoff's head.
"I never said a thing about my friends there. Thanks for using a suppressed weapon."
"Your welcome"
"Now get rid of this body."
Patrick removes his apron and wraps the stone and knife in it and then leaves.
"Joe come over here" O'Conner says and Joe Buckley wonders over "We know where they are out so what now Joe? Null?"

[Mokastana]

Firebrand Shipping Warehouse
Warehouse District
Port City of Savannah
Timocratic Republic


Null followed the two men into the room to watch, leaving his Officer's cap back at the SUV. As the O'Conner began roughing up the suspect, Null just stood behind them, silently observing and rolling up his sleeves. Keeping a slight smirk on his face he let's O'Conner and the Doc work, crossing his arms in an intimidating manner. He was not here to act, but he could give off the appearance of being back up muscle, even if he was far older than the other two men in the room.

The bundle was a nice touch, as was the knife. It really took Null back to his former life. Back when the world was rational and made sense. Those days when a simple knife and tin shack in the jungle was all you needed to collect information. These days things were… more complicated.

A simple interrogation was just what he needed to collect his thoughts. It was a simple formula to follow: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and finally, Acceptance. Normally the five steps of grief, they also worked well to understand the mentality of your subject during torture.
The subject would go through each step, and it helped to follow them, to ensure you could trust what they said.

The subject was in denial, despite being tied down and surrounded, he still believed he was untouchable, followed quickly by anger. His threats against his captures. The same score Null had heard so many times before.

"Listen I will pay your guys whatever you want just name your price."

Bargaining. It didn't take him long. Unfortunately, it seemed that O’Connor symphony didn't care for build up as he began cutting, taking the skin off the subject’s hand. It pushed the subject back a few steps, having to process a new pain and new realization. A few more cuts and Null began to lose his smirk. Sadist certainly had their uses, but this was not quite the performance he had hoped for. Sure, the subject eventually gave up their info, but the interrogation lacked a certain… artistic quality. Of course, O’Conner wasn't quite an artist, but perhaps, over time, his skill could improve.

The clichéd ending was the final crescendo for an… alright performance. But they did have a lead, even if:

“If he was lying, we don't have the opportunity to take his other hand. You did you can trust that info? As for what's next, let's see if we can find that oil rig, and pay it a visit.”

[Patrick OConner]

Firebrand Shipping Warehouse
Warehouse District
Port City of Savannah
Timocratic Republic

"Llyod already found it RIGHT?" O'Conner call out
"Yes sir got it on live sat feed now." he responds from his computer "Vectoring in a drone soon for a closer look. Eta 30 minutes and we will have better intel though I am seeing signs of recent habitation."
"Great. Besides he was an operational security risk and generally very bad man."
Joe Buckley finally wonder over.
"I hear we have located the nest." he says
"Yes we have." O'Conner replies "And we are going to kill it."
"How?" Joe asks
"We call in an arclite strike."
"And that is?" asks Buckley
"A flight of heavy bombers fly in drop about 90 tons or so of ordnance on one target." O'Conner responds with a smile
"Is that really necessary?" Buckley asks
"Did you watch the footage from the fight in the club?" O'Conner asks cocking an eyebrow.
"Yes I have been reviewing it..."
"And?"
"I would not like to fight these vampires head on."
"There you go. We call in an arclite strike and shift through the wreckage afterwards. Now excuse me I have some calls to make. Llyod keep and eye on the place." O'Conner turns and walks away pulling out a satellite phone.
"Roger" Llyod responds absently as he stares at his computer screens that display the sight in various EM spectrums
"Hang on a minute." Llyod cycles through various imagers and lenses. He zooms in on a window and sees people tied up switching to infrared reveals them to be alive
"Oh shit...this is not going to go over well... BOSS!!!! we got issues."
"What is it?" O'Conner says annoyed as he hangs up on his phone "I just arranged the strike. ETA is 45 minutes."
"Yeah you might wanna stop it. They have hostages."
"Let me see." O'Conner walks over and leans down looking at the screens and various read outs.
"This changes nothing."
"Are you sure?" asks Buckley who had wondered over.
"Yes they were probably taken for food and have been bitten. They will become vampire themselves in time. Better to kill them now and obliterate the bodies so they do not rise later."
"That is cold..." Buckley responds "I am here to hunt vampires and-"
"Exactly. We are here to hunt and kill them. That is our mission. Sometimes we have collateral damage, like the club and Smirnoff. It happens. There will be no further objections. Suit up we need to get ready to sort through the rubble."
"And dispose of the bodies." mumbles Llyod