NationStates Jolt Archive

Whiptail nods...

"I bid you a good hunt..."

Whiptail motions for Arakesh to follow, then makes his way off of the rooftop...

Daniel carefully eased his head back, to take the pressure of the knife off of his throat.

"I... am DEO... and... I... work with Alexander because... I have no choice..."

As Garm looked on, Kurt pressed the knife even deeper.

"No choice. Everyone has choices. Everyone makes their own decisions."

All of a sudden. Daniel twisted his body sideways, while at the same time, throwing his legs between Kurts and sweeping.

Kurt fell, but took a red slice out of Daniel's neck.

Before Garm could react, Daniel threw himself off of the rooftop. Both he and Kurt rushed forward and peered over the edge, but saw nothing but the shadows of the darkness...

And a thin trickle of blood.

****************************8

As Hondur crept through the hallways of his mansion, a familiar voice spoke out to him, ringing through all of the halls.

"You have a very nice place here, Hondur. I could get used to this..."

Hondur didn't show his anger, but it was bubbling deep within him, waiting to escape.

"You shall have no chance to. You ruined any chance of an alliance between our covens with your arrogance. You are a creature with no honour, not worthy of being one of our kind. What do you have to say for your actions?"
_________

Skadi could sense Hondur's anger not too far away. He had been good at hiding it, but she always knew when he was angry. There was another with him, one not from this land. Most likely the cause of such anger.

Taking to the air once again, Sakdi moved just above the rooftops, heading for Hondur's mansion.
__________

Garm swore as the place where he expected Daniel to be was empty. He wasn't sure how he had done it, but he knew Daniel couldn't be far. Withdrawing his radio, Garm gave a description of Daniel to his remaining men and told them to begin a search.

Looking around he noticed any surviving humans and vampires were long gone.

"Damnit! That one you can kill. I guess I better get down there and check out what's left of my men."

"With pleasure, that prick won't last long. Best contact the Valient goverment and say they got a rougue agent and ask what the hell the DEO is." He'll suffer. "There is one thing Garm you should know, the Wolf never gives up the hunt."

Kurt climbed down the rooftop and began to scan the ground for blood traces. He wouldn't give up the hunt till Daniel was 1. Dead 2. in his custody 3. He died. He would make sure Daniel suffered a slow horrible death, then if Daniel had any family, he would make then suffer for Daniel's idocy. Kurt noticed some barely visable footprints in the dirty alley. Sliding the Wolf Knife back into it's sheath he check the assault rifle, a full mag. The hunt is on.

Garm smiled as Kurt took his leave.

"Good hunting."

Armed and ready himself, Garm returned to his men to gather what was left of them. Half were engaged in the search for Daniel, others were salvaging what they could from the chopper crash.

"Alright men. Once we're all patched up and good to go, we'll go on a patrol and check out a few locations. Then it's back to base."

The men grunted in acknowledgement as they wiped the blood and sweat out of their eyes.

Alexander stepped out of the shadows for a brief moment behind Hondur, and then immediately withdrew. Hondur swirled around, but faced a spot on the wall, ornamented and illustrious, but devoid of vampire.

"Arrogance? My dear Hondur, arrogance is a birthright of vampires. Look around you: this palatial estate, the Monet's on the walls, the Reimerstein curtains. What arrogance do you speak of, do you dare question, in the presence of such... garishness?

"I never said that I was a creature of honour, Hondur, but what does a spurned fledgling like you know about honour anyways.?"

****************

Daniel ran down the street, blindly and clutching a torn peice of his suit jacket against his throat. The dark black of leather did little really, but thankfully, the cut seemed to be stopping bleeding on it's own.

"I've got to get to Alexander... then we can leave Assington, and head back to Valient, and everything will be alright. Yes, everything will be alright."

Daniel, whether by instinct or sheer luck, turned the corner and headed for Hondur's mansion.

Maximus groaned as he lay unconscious.

Skadi...

Time was running short. The poison slowly worked it's way through Maximus's body, paralyzing, inhibiting his body of life.

Hurry...

OOC: Hey y'all! Great to see y'all having fun RPing and all...I'm bored here, at work (3 jobs and 5 hours of sleep every night...blah!!) Anyway, I'm just posting this to say "Hey" lol. Ignore it for the most part... :wink:

Kurt kept moving at a hard run. His chest rose and fell quickly, but he wasn't tiring very quickly. He heard heavy, rapid footfalls down the next street. He spotted Daniel running down the middle of the street. Calmly he brought the rifle to his shoulder and looked down the SUSAT sight on the gun. He took careful aim Daniel's back. You should have corporated, now your going to die a slow and painful death. The report of the L85A2 was clearly heard in the streets.

Hondur was about to speak when he was interrupted by a strong female voice. Skadi stepped out, behind Alexander.

"He may not know much of honour, but I do young one. You cause trouble within my land. Perhaps you would care to explain, then maybe I will let you leave this place."

Hondur smiled as he realised his sire had appeared to aid him. He knew several of his men were nearby, returning to the mansion after the recent bloodbath. Skadi alone would be too much for Alexander in the first place.
___________

Garm sat within the passenger seat of a large armoured vehicle as the remaining VP officers made a quick patrol. The captain picked up the gunshot immeadiately and directed the vehicle to the source. Kurt stood with a rifle drawn, aiming down a side street.

"Call base and ask for backup, also tell them to contact Valient about this situation."

Alexander turned and tilted his head gently to the side, keeping his hand, for now, away from his Upir.

"My dear Skadi. This... this dispute is about so much more than your... precious land. It is about the inevitable amalgamation of the vampires of Assington into the Hyraphore."

Alexander backed up slowly, putting a fair bit of distance between himself and his opponants.

"But Skadi... Hondur... people like me, we are the future..."

Alexander withdrew his Upir with his right hand, and pulled out his Desert Eagle with his right.

"And people like you two... just need to fade away..."

Alexander aimed at the overhead chandalier, and fired, sending the light fixture crashing down and plunging the room into darkness...

******************

Daniel was running...

And then he was falling...

And was running no more...

Daniel, Agent of the DEO, struggled in the pale light cast by the moon and a nearby streetlight, to turn over. For some reason, he could not feel the left side of his torso.

And he felt cold...

With his right hand, Daniel reached into his jacket and pulled out his desert eagle.

He fired it indescriminately into the night, roiling over to his right side to keep the pressure off of his left side.

He felt... cold...

Skadi remained perfectly calm as the lights went out and Daniel moved away. Darkness was no hindrance to her, and Alexander was nothing but a pest in her land.

"That will not happen. We are of a different breed to you. These vampires originated in this very nation, by means beyond your comprehension. We shall not be dragged into one of your covens, we are our own creatures and there is nothing you can do about it."

Skadi withdrew her blade seconds before Hondur and the pair advanced towards Alexander. Several other armed vampires began to emerge from the shadows, a look of lust for the kill in their eyes.

Kurt moved low, away from the menacing barrel of Daniel's automatic. Kurt materialized out of the gloom and knocked the pistol from his hand. A smile born in the deepest holes of hell crossed Kurt's face. The Wolf Knife slide out of it's sheath.
"Hello again. Feel numb on the left?" Kurt slammed his right foot into Daniel's left and was rewarded by a yell in pain, Kurt slammed his foot into the injured man several more times. "Do you know why your going to die? I'll tell you. For betraying the human race to a bunch of murderous SOBs who drink our blood to stay alive. What they offer you? Money? A chance to be turned? Protection? It doesn't matter." Kurt saw the littles man shivering. "Ohh, you must be cold, let me get you warm."

Kurt pulled out a canteen and emtied it onto the man so when a wind would blow he would get colder.
"Isn't that nice of me to help?" Kurt gripped Daniel's neck and pulled the man's face to his. "You little sh*tbag, your going to die. Slowly, painfully. I'll make the process quicker and promise not to go after any family you might have, if you answer my question." Kurt saw and smiled at the horror across Daniel's face. "Oh, yes. I'll go after your wife, girlfriend, if they would marry or date a traitor like you. So where is Alexander? Don't tell me you don't know. It was he you were running to correct? Tell me." He pressed the Wolf knife into Daniel's left side seeing the pain distorting the man's face.

Watching as Daniel fell to the ground, Garm couldn't help but think the foreigner got what he had deserved. He'll think twice about messing with Kurt and the VP, if he got a chance.

Garm casually made his way toward the pair, taking heed of Daniel's wounds.

"Looks like you made another mistake. Is there anything you may wish to tell us that could perhaps result in giving you a little medical aid?"

Medical what!? Kurt removed his knife from Daniel and grabbed Garm by the arm and lead him just of of earshot. Kurt kept one eye on the cop, the other on Daniel while his hand rested on the butt of his revolver.
"Am I to understand you are going to give this.....THING medical attention?"

Garm smiled, looking over the wounds over Daniel.

"Sure. If he tells us what we want to know, I'll give him a bandade and some detol. You got a problem with that?"

The sarcasm was evident within Garm's eyes as he looked at Kurt.

Kurt face broke into a wide grin as he started to chuckle.
"No problem there. I got no problem."

Garm smiled in return.

"Good, let's go see what we can find out then."

The VP captain moved back toward the fallen foreigner, looking over his wounds once again. By the looks of things, he would die eventually if he didn't recieve some help.

"So Daniel. Would you care to inform us of anything we would like to know?"
__________

President Calis sat calmly behind his desk as the Intelligence Minister briefed him on a proposal reguarding Assington's vampiric situation.

"Mr President. As you know, the vampiric population within the nation is always increasing, despite the VP and other various programs in operation to regulate such. I believe this proposal will resolve this situation and benefit the nation in many ways."

"Go on."

"First we must speak to a certain vampire, one by the name of Hondur..."

Lee Natarin, Director of the DEO sighed, stared at his computer screen and sighed again.

With another sigh, he waved over an assistant, one of the nameless faces he had grown accustomed to not recognizing.

"You, read this. It's from the Assington Police something or other."

Natarin waited as the aide finished reading.

"OH MY!"

Natarin only nodded.

"Tell me: do we still have that group of men in assington still on that exchange mission..."

***************

Even in the darkness, Alexander could sense the arrival of several other figures, armed with a variety of weapons, from scythes to flails to morningstars.

Alexander resisted the urge to lash out. He was not prepared to take on so many, in so close a quarters.

"So much for your honour now, Hondur..."

With another leap, Alexander jumped straight out the large picture window, shattering it into a 1000 points of glass.

"Skadi, Hondur, meet me at the old church. Alone, lest you want war between our nations..."

And then he was gone.

******************

Garm leaned in, and asked again.

"So Daniel. Would you care to inform us of anything we would like to know?"

Daniel shivered, and coughed. He could not even move.

He closed his eyes, and started breathing in shallow gulps.

Garm looked to Kurt and shook his head.

"I don't like the look of this..."

All of a sudden, 4 unmarked police cars and two tactical vans swerved to a halt all around the small group. Lights flashed onto Garm, Kurt and Daniel, who looked to be near the end of his ardeous journey.

"FREEZE. STEP AWAY FROM THAT MAN. THIS IS THE DEO..."

Kurt looked at Garm.
"I think that they're out of thier jurisdiction, wouldn't you agree? This is your city right?"

Garm looked back at Kurt and nodded.

"Agreed."

The VP captain made a quick hand signal and the sounds of several automatic weapons being cocked filled the air. Even with his depleted forces, they still outnumbered the DEO. The truck sat at the end of the street, manned turrets aimed at the newcomers whilst several other men emerged from alleys and rooftops.

"I am captain Garm of the VP. You are in my jurisdiction and have no power here. This man is wanted for assault and hindrance of illegal vampire apprehension."
_____________

Skadi smiled to herself as she watched Alexander disappear. She silently moved toward Hondur, whom merely stood in silence, watching the window.

"Let us meet this one and resolve the issue fledgling."

"Indeed sire. It is.... good to see you again."

Skadi merely nodded as Hondur began ordering his men to guard the building whilst the pair began the journey toward the old church. Since churhces were rare in Assington, there was no room for mistaking the location.

Kurt kept his right hand resting on the tiny cannon he called a revoler. The VP seemed to have the advantage, but Kurt looked at the heavy machine guns on the truck and the assault weapn's Garm's blokes were carring. Hope thier a damn good shots. Kurt felt slightly vunerable, he disliked it. His breathing was slow, calm, no sense of fear came from him. A sense of confidence and a lust for blood came instead. His eyes calmly went over each DEO agent's face. He smiled as several averted his cold, Artic gaze.

The DEO agents, resplendant in the shades of black and grey, put there backs to their squad cars, some kneeling to allow others a better line of fire.

They knew that they were out-gunned, but they did not want to leave without their fellow agent.

One man walked out into the street with his hands up, looking straight at Garm.

"My name is Garret Anderson. I appeal to you, as a fellow law-enforcement agent, let me get my agent out of there.

"Don't make this harder than it needs to be..."

**************

Alexander sat, kneeling by the fountain of holy water that he recognized as being the place where he came upon the officer, Santeria.

OOC: See AV I http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=105573&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=320

IC:

He flicked his hand into the water, sending small droplets of the holy-infused water out of the porcelien and onto the cracked tile floor.

Looking into the fountain, Alexander wondered at his own facade. He still looked fairly young, not any older than other vampires he supposed.

Not like Santeria, who must have been long dead.

He heard a noise from behind him, and he sighed.

"I'm glad you two made it. Shall we begin?..."

Garm moved forward a little, hands still upon his weapon. He looked over the DEO men before directing his gaze to Anderson. Garm didn't want a shoot up, but he didn't like foreign agencies walking onto his turf either.

"I see. Perhaps you can be of help to us then. We are in pursuit of a vampire from your nation known as Alexander. Could you provide any useful information on him?"
_________

Skadi and Hondur moved into the church quietly, the crucifixes and other holy objects having no effect upon them, although some humans thought otherwise. Skadi spoke with a stern tone, yet it displayed no emotion.

"You bring defeat upon yourself young one. Didn't your sire teach you of wisdom?"

Hondur remained silent, save for the drawing of his sharpened blade, almost indentical to Skadi's.

"Also Mr. Anderson, what is the DEO and why is one of your agents helping this vampire? It seems to me that we humans should fight together against these things, not against each other." Kurt's right thumb gently pulled the hammer back to half-cock just in case Garret tried anthing stupid.

The intelligence minister stood tall, looking over a group of personally selected AIA Special Ops men. These men were known for their ability and willingness to do what it takes to complete the mission. The minister smiled as the men all confirmed their acceptance of the mission.

"Good, you are all aware of the abilities of these creatures, that is why you have been equipped with such advanced technology. Report to briefing in 15 minutes, then you will be on your way. Dismissed."

One of the DEO agents pulled up his assault rifle and leveled it at Kurt. With his right hand, Garret ordered him to stand down.

"Alright, captain, we will give you all we have, but you have to allow us to get Daniel some help. I promise you, all of our resources will be at your hands."

**************

Alexander swung his Upir around in an arch, and moved to approach Skadi and Hondur when a voice boomed from somewhere above them all, somewhere in the old cathedral.

"Actually, dear Skadi, his sire did teach him wisdom. Unfortunately, he has now learned how to ignore it."

A figure, dressed similarily to Alexander leapt from an above balcony and stood up.

Alexander recognized the figure and smiled.

"Driretlen, it is good to see you up and about. How about we finish this once and for all with the covens of Assington. Then it all can be ours."

Garm looked between Daniel and the DEO agents a few times, attempting to make up his mind. He indicated that Kurt should lower his weapon before the situation got out of hand.

"That does seem a fair deal to me. The closest medical facility is probably the VP HQ, shall we go there?"
___________

Skadi and Hondur moved easily out of the way as the Upir came racing towards them. Before they could strike back, the voice boomed around the building and Driretlen appeared. Hondur had never met the vampire before, but he had heard of the one that aided in the battle against the AVO. Skadi was the first to speak after Alexander.

"Ah Driretlen, it is good to see you again after so many years. I trust you have been well?"

Hondur was still on edge as he didn't like the sound of Alexander taking his coven."
__________

Briefing finished, the 50 AIA SO troops geared up and packed into several unmarked vans. Their destination, one of the few churches within Assington, where vampires had been spotted.

Kurt's thumb held the hammer as he placed the hammer back in it's place. Out of cigars Kurt pulled a small pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and lit one up. He took a quick look at Daniel disgusted. You lucky bastard.

Garret took one look at Kurt and shook his head.

"No...no, we can take care of him.We just need to get him out of here."

Garm nodded and Garret waved in two of his men, who picked up the still form of Daniel and hustled him into the back of one of the vans.

Garret turned around to leave when Garm shouted out.

"Hey. When do we get our information?"

Garret replied as he climbed into the back of the squad car.

"As soon as we're clear of the area. Don't worry. You'll get the information you need to know..."

The DEO agents left before any of the VP changed their minds.

****************

Driretlen bowed to Skadi.

"I have been... better."

Alexander swirled and faced Driretlen.

"What are we waiting for? Let's get them!"

"No!"

"What?"

"There will be no more fighting today, Alexander. You have shamed the Hyraphore with your actions in Assington. You will accompany me home, and we will talk."

All of a sudden, the sounds of vehicles pulling up to the outside of the church could be heard by the four occupants.

"Alexander. We are leaving now..."

With a shot glance to Hondur, Alexander followed Driretlen up to the upper levels of the Cathedral, but not before delivering one final message.

"This is not over, Hondur. One day, when your precious Skadi isn't there to protect you, you're mine."

Kurt's small cannon lept from the holster as he prepared to pursue, but he knew it was pointless.
"SON OF A F***ING B*TCH!" Kurt started to heavly cussing and ranting in several different languages and continued for several minutes. Though it seemed strange this strong man would do such a thing, Kurt had done it since he had started life as a merc. His mentor always told him it was good to vent. He snarled more to himself than to anyone.
"Should have killed that little sh*t while I had the chance. Scheisse, f***ing sh*t!" Kurt looked at Garm. He had calmed down. "Sorry, lost it there a bit. I don't think they are coming back."

Garm nodded.

"Most likely, but I think they will be good for their word. We will get some information on Alexander."

Before Garm had a chance to say anything else, he noticed several unmarked black vans race passed the street, obviously in a hurry. The captain raised an eyebrow as he looked back at Kurt.

"You want to go see what that's all about?"
_______

Skadi bowed again in respect for her peer as they began to depart.

"Farewell good sir. May we meet again under... better conditions."

Hondur held the glare of Alexander, returning the spite when he too noticed the sounds outside. Drawing a pistol in his other hand, Hondur prepared for a battle against an unknown foe. Before the eager creature could move, Skadi placed a hand upon his shoulder.

"This is not a battle we should be part of."

If Skadi thought it not wise, then it probably wasn't. But Hondur was his own vampire, he hadn't been with his sire for over 100 years and was not about to take orders from her now.

"I think not. I shall remain and defeat these petty humans."

The two vampires gazed into eachother's eyes, accessing eachother's stance.

"Fine. It remains your choice, but you shall suffer the consequences."

Kurt nodded and picked up his assualt rifle.
"Yeah, lets mount up."

Garm and Kurt arrived at the a church swarming with black clad men. None had any idea what was going on and so Garm cautiously approached a man standing near one of the vans as others seemed to be either scaling the church or entering it.

"Excuse me, but may I ask what is going on here?"

The masked man merely looked at Garm then drew a pistol.

"Get out of here, this is government business."

Garm froze as he suddenly found himself looking down the barrel of a pistol, unable to draw his own in time. Gathering his wits, he finally spoke.

"This city is under my jurisdiction as a VP Captain. I am part of the government and have a right to know."

The man nodded as if now he understood. Holstering the pistol, his voice took on a slightly calmer tone.

"This is confidential ASA business. Perhaps you can be of service though. Do you think your men could help wath the perimeter of this area, to make sure nothing gets passed?"

The captain twitched at the mention of the ASA. By the looks of things these guys were special ops and were very serious about their mission. Serious enough to shoot anyone that got in their way.

"I'll... I'll see what I can do."

"Good."

Without another word, Garm wandered back towards Kurt and his men, a little shaken from what he learned was going on.
_________

Skadi finally broke her gaze with Hondur as she floated towards the roof, looking for an escape. Finally she noticed a stain glass dome off to the side, hidden behind some rafters. Without a second thought, Skadi unleashed a small mental push that shattered the glass and allowed her to burst through the gap and into the night air.

Not stopping once she was free, Skadi shot into the air for a few hundred metres until she was sure nothing could shoot at her from such a distance. There were many black clad men standing around the broken dome and others near other entrances. Hondur had chosen his own fate.

Kurt pulled out a flask full of Wildfire whiskey. He took a heavy pull satisfied at the brew that the brewery in Flint made. He thought to the pub that his mentor owned at that he promised him to take over shortly before he was killed. After this, I'll own the pub and live out the rest of my days in peace. Kurt looked up at the shaken Garm.
"What is it Capt? Need some drink."He said offering the flask. Kurt quickly saw to his horror that he was in a sea of feds. Sh*tLowering his voice so only Garm could hear, "DON'T mention my name under ANY curcumstances. GSIP has a bounty of just over 3 mil and every agency has my name but not my face, so just call me merc okay?"

Garm nodded a he took a look back at the ASA agents.

"Agreed. Your name hasn't been mentioned and as far as they know you are one of my men. That is the ASA, probably one of the most ruthless secret agencies of Assington. I don't know why they are here, but we are supposed to be keeping watch for anything that gets away from that church."

Garm indicated to his men to fan out and guard the area through a quick combination of hand signals and nods.
_________

Hondur stood patiently, waiting for the humans to confront him. It wasn't long before severl dropped down from the broken dome whilst others burst through windows. At least ten stood around ground level entrances whilst others watched him from rafters.

Looking up, the vampire noticed strange looking rifles within the hands of all humans. He snarled slightly at them as he was about to ask of their nature. He never got the chance. Arcs of electricity flowed out of each gun, passing directly into the unsuspecting Hondur. Pain flowed through every nerve in his body as the current sizzled his insides, burning his flesh. Finally the pain was just too much and the vampire collapsed into the abyss of unconsciousness.

The ASA agents didn't heasitate to place large metallic restraints around Hondur that immeadiately began giving off smoke. Silver.

Kurt smiled.
"Good, I'll be up on that rooftop." Kurt picked up his rifle and moved up the fire escape of the five story building across from the church. His eyes piearced the darkness as he looked listened and smelled. His eyes moved across the sky to check for any heilos. None. Kurt hid in the shadows, his grey and black fatiuges blended him in perfectly, unless they stood next to him or had nightvision or thermal goggles the merc was invisable. A light brezze blew past him, his nose, trained after years in the bush, picked up te faint smell of burnt flesh.

The stench of sizzled flesh filled the air as the ASA agents brought Hondur out of the church. It was obvious the vampire was out cold and we fortunate to be so juding on the burns the silver restraints were inflicting. Garm watched in stark amazement as the vampire was brought out of the church and quickly shoved into a van, sealed behind heavy metal doors with several large locks.

The VP captain approached the ASA officer once again.

"Was that it? A single vampire?"

The officer merely returned a blank stare before replying in a montone.

"There were others here, but they left. Oh, and one more thing."

The officer withdrew a small pistol that looked similar to the rifles and unleashed an arc of electricity into Garm. The VP captain collapsed in an instant and was quickly shoved into another van.

As most of the VP officers weren't watching the vans, none noticed the situation until several ASA marksmen punctured the tires of the VP vehicles. As a few bold VP officers unleashed a barrage of bullets, the vans all sped off, leaving nothing behind.

Kurt watched as Hondur was brought out. You poor bastard. Kurt was surpirsed when the ASA stunned Garm. He watched as his employer was shoved into the van. The mercenary moved as fast as he could and jumped over the spaces sperating the buildings following the van as fast as he could. He jumped and fell into a dumpster. Without missing a beat Kurt climbed out and broke into a black Subaru WRX. He quickly resumed the chase, keeping the lights off and moving far enough behind he was sure he was safe from a wary eye but not far enough he couldn't see the back of the van.

As the ASA were too involved with getting back to HQ and completing the mission, none were posted to follow behind to check for any tags. Hence, Kurt went unnoticed.

The vans followed a seemingly random path of side streets through the city fo at least 30 minutes before finally coming across an empty lot of land. No signs, no construction, just an empty lot of land. The men poured out of the vans, handling the unconscious Garm and Hondur as they moved into the centre of the empty lot.

The leading officer moved over to a side fence and kicked a random paling. The other officers began to look down at a large cirlcle marked into the dirt. Suddenly the first two disappeared. Then another, then Garm. The ASA officers continued to look down as they seemingly walked directly through the dirt and disappeared completely. Within minutes the entire group was gone.

Kurt watched as the group headed down into the ground. Underground complex, these guys are good. Kurt parked the WRX and carefully climbed out. Moving across the lot he looked at the garbled footprints but couldn't figre out which one was the group leader's. Kurt was at last feeling the pull of sleep, food, and a Havana cigar. He climbed back into his vehicle picked up some Chinese and went back to his apartment for some food and rest. I'm gonna need some help. As he ate one of his eggrolls he thought of going to the VP, but that meant revealing himself, and then GSIP would be contacted then the ASA EVERYBODY. He would be arrested and spend the rest of his life in prison. Looks like I'm going alone. He set a timer for three hours and fell asleep. He only slept for an hour before he got up. Sh*t. Grabbing his knife, G36, revolver, silenced Uzi, both .45s, and putting on fresh grey and black fatigues he went to the WRX which he parked in an alley. Sitting he thought of what he needed. Need some C4, maybe some Claymores too, night and thermal vision, body armor is to cumbersome. Where to get it? Garm did say help yourself to our armory. I don't think he'll mind if I borrow a few things. Kurt lay back into the seat and began to think of a plan on how to rescue Garm.

Garm and Hondur awoke hours later. The first thing that met both their eyes was the blank steel wall. A completely bare cubic steel room surrounded the pair, completely sterile.

At the realisation of being in a room with a vampire, Garm reached to his belt to discover he was without any weapons. The vampire was already awake and watching him quietly, a look of thirst evident in his eyes. Garm began to sweat as he considered his options. Nothing.

Just as Garm thought the vampire would pounce on him, a door appeared out of nowhere and admitted two heavily armed men and another wearing a casual suit.

Kurt sat in the car watching the lot. He was armed and now he had his plan. When he had walked into VP HQ an hour before, it was controled chaos. Everyone was throwing maps around looking for any place Garm could have been taken. Kurt slipped in grabbed his C4, Claymores, and Night/Thermal googles and left, noone seemed to notice him or follow him. Kurt moved the the palings and started kicking them. On his third try it worked. Wasting no time he pulled out the Uzi and dove into the gap in the ground.

Not much to his surprise it was dark, he put on the googles and the world became a light green. The walls were concrete and he was in some sort of access tunnel. As he moved forward he heard voices. Two men came running up the hall bearing automatic rifles talking quietly with each other, both had flashlights. The light didn't bother Kurt, he took aim at the pair. There was a soft series of thumps as the 9mm slugs cut through the air. Both men were quickly riddled with shells before they crumpled to the ground. Kurt reloaded and carefully made his way down the tunnel.

Garm watched patiently as the suited man pulled a chair from behind the door and sat himseld down, looking over the vampire and human. Hondur merely glared at all the humans with spite, letting them know he would rip their throats out given the chance. Finally the man spoke.

"Gentlemen. I'm sorry you were aquired in such an ill manner, but we don't have time for niceties. I assume you both have some questions and I will be happy to inform you of what is going on. First of all, some introductions. My name is Carl, and as you may have guessed I'm an agent for the ASA. I don't know if you too are aquainted, although it is quite likely. Captain Garm, meet Hondur, leader of the largest vampiric coven in Assington."

Garm gave a quick glane to Hondur before returning his attention to Carl. He knew of Hondur and had indeed attempted to hunt him and his coven, but was never successful in capturing anyone of importance.

"You have both been brought here for the same reason. The Intelligence Minister and the President have been discussing certain problems and have come to a solution that should hopefully make things a lot easier."

Carl paused to gather his thoughts whilst Hondur feigned disinterest and Garm sat quietly.

"As we all know, the is an increasing rate of vampire growth in this nation. Fledglings are spawning fledglings without responsible sires to stop them. What you may not know is that in this world of advanced technologies and creatures beyond humans, we find it quite hard to keep up with the rest of the world. Even with the great psychic potential of our people, humans still have limits. That is why we have decided that a new branch of the ASA is to be formed."

Garm was now completely engulfed in Carl's words, anxious to find out what this had to do with him. Even Hondur was now obviously paying attention.

"This new agency will be composed of humans that possess very special skills and talents, and vampires alike. For now we shall call it ASHVO. This agency will speacialise in field work mainly, usually international stuff but we also have a role within the nation. Due to the extraordinary abilities of vampires, they will make up most of the field agents, but that doesn't mean they can't take other roles. Same goes for the humans. You two have been selected to help be the founding agents of this organisation."

Garm stared at Carl in mute amazement. He couldn't believe this was happening. Although he liked his postion with the VP, this was too rare an offer to pass up. Carl watched the two men for a few seconds before speaking.

"Gentlemen, I hope you understand that your decision reflects on where your life will go."

The meaning was quite obvious to both Hondur and Garm.

Kurt finished with the last connection. He had been crawling and moving to avoid numerous security cameras which suddenly appeared, the only thing he had to worry about were conceled motion sensors, but so far the mercenary had gone undected. The amount of agents made Kurt chose stealth over action.
Now the halls were lit and he didn't need the googles. He stood up and smiled at his handywork. The C4 and Claymores weren't for blasting through walls, they were his trick up his sleeve. They all sat tightly packed around the generator and gas mains of the complex. He set up several Claymores concecled in the hall with tripwires just in case anyone tried to come down and disarm. He made sure the detonator was in his cigarette pack before he carefully made his way of of the small power station. There was enough explosives to destroy the power and tear out some of the concrete but not destroy the complex, but the ASA didn't know that.
In his mind he was wondering what the hell the ASA was up to. Taking a VP officer AND a vampire? What have they got up thier sleeves?

Tag: Still here. I will post AT THE VERY END OF This thread.

Thank you :D

After several minutes, Carl's gaze landed upon Garm.

"Well sir, what say you?"

Garm flashed him a quick grin before he spoke, the uncertainty completely gone from him.

"Sounds good to me?."

"Good, I thought you'd like our offer."

Carl silently turned toward Hondur, keeping on eye on the mysterious figure as he awaited a response. The vampire was quiet for severl more minutes before he spoke.

"Your proposition does interest me, yet how can I trust you?"

Garm was surprised to hear such. He knew the vampire was smart, yet this was completely unexpected. Carl merely smiled.

"I could say the same about you. How do we know you won't defect and ruin our plans? I don't. In this case we are just going to have to trust eachother."

"I see. And how does me working for you end up better than death?"

Carl nodded, acknowledging Hondur's reference to vampiric hatred of being slaves to humans.

"Hondur. You would be an employee, not a slave. You would be subject to all emlpoyee rights within agency standards and would also be entitled to employee boons, some catered specifically for your needs."

"And what boons are these?"

Suspiscion was obvious in the vampire's questioning, which Garm considered only normal for a vampire.

"You will keep your freedom to feed. Although in some cases we may ask you to feed on certain people and on the condition you don't take this as an advantage to have a feast every night. You will be entitled to a residence, bank account, access to the agency armoury and other details."

Garm thought he caught a slight smile on Hondur's face.

"Interesting. I can speak for myself when I accept your offer, but I cannot vouch for all of my coven, especially the strong headed young ones."

"Good, we can worry about that later."

Kurt moved down the hall and stopped. He waited till the camera was pointed the other direction before moving into it's blind spot and when it turned back he moved down the hall till he reached a dead end. He paused outside a room and opend the door, nothing more than a closet with large brick blocks.
"HEY YOU!" Kurt heard the man's voice spun and sent a stream of 9mm slugs tearing into his body. The man cried out as the shells tore into his shoulder, chest, and stomach. His crumpled just inside the camera's range. It was only a few seconds before Kurt heard more shouts then agents began to appear, moving in military fashion. To hell with stealth Kurt quickly lay the blocks in a ro that only gave him proection to his ankles. He pulled out the G36 and lay prone in the shadows of the somewhat poorly lit hall. The blocks provided the perfect protection from incoming bullets. He brought the first agent into his sights and opened fire.

Carl cursed as alarms began ring and his earpiece flared to life with chatter.

"Gentlemen, it seems we have a small situation to take care of. I shall be back soon."

Without another word Carl was through the door and rushing down the hall. It wasn't long before he burst into the main security operations room, and located the problem.

"Damnit! Take care of this, but don't kill him. Then bring him to me, I'll be with our guests."

Carl recieved a nod of acknowledgement as a guard hit several switches under a map of the complex.
_______________

To the surprise of Kurt but not the ASA agents, all exits to that portion of the base were sealed shut with thick steel doors. The thumo echoed around the hall until it was replaced by the sound of flowing gas. Sleeping gas was pouring in through vents and any other way possible. The ASA agents didn't have masks, but they knew what it was. The gas had been engineered by the ASA to knock out the strongest of creatures, entering through skin pores or inhaling.

Within seconds the area was becoming foggy with the white cloud, progressively moving closer toward Kurt.

OOC: I've got things worked out ;)

Kurt saw the gas move towards him. DAMN! Kurt took his cap off and put it on his face to try and keep as much of it out. Kurt soon felt the gas taken affect. How the. Kurt stumbled before collapsing. The cigarette pack with the detonator slide across the floor. Kurt crawled towards it and reached. His hand stopped a mere militmeter from the detonator button before he fell asleep.

The cameras continued to observe the area until it was assured that all were unconscious. Upon verification, the gas ceased pouring out of the vents as the fans were reversed, drawing the white mist out of the enclosed space.

Within minutes, heavily armed guards were draggin Kurt's disarmed body whilst others took his gear to a holding chamber. The ASA agents knocked out by the gas were quickly revived by a strong antidote.
________

The door swung open once again and Carl moved inside. This time he dind't close the door, as if expecting something.

"Gentlemen, we shall be recieving another guest and a few moments."

Several minutes of silence passed until the two guards barged in and dumped the unconscious form of Kurt on the ground between Garm and Hondur. Carl pulled out a small capsule and broke it, releasing a clear liquid onto the captive's face.

"He shall be with us soon."

Kurt sneezed as some of the liquid went into his nose. He pulled out a small rag and blew his nose before he took notice of everyone around him. He moved and lay against the back wall and smiled at Garm. He paddded his clothes looking for smoke. Unable to find one he turned to Carl.
"Ya got a smoke?"

Carl didn't move as he eyed Kurt, the same blank look upon his face as before.

"First of all you are going to answer some questions. Starting off with what are you doing here and where is the explosive charge you placed?"

Carl looked to Garm, picking up a slight look of recognition on the captain's face.

"Perhaps you would like to inform me of who your friend is captain?"

Garm merely looked at Kurt and remained silent for the time being.

Kurt smiled and reached for his boot. He looked up when he heard the sound of weapons being cocked. He looked up facing the barrels of the rifles.
"Ohh please lads, do you think I'll attack ya with my bare hands?" He pulled the boot off and pulled a card out. He handed it to Carl. It was the stolen GSIP ID card.
"To answer you first question, I'm Alvin Young with the GSIP investigating several murders of my fellow country men here. Being we have no vampires in the Golden Simatar, and we are not the persons who belive in monsters outside of movies and novels, it was most strange series of murders. So I went to the Captain here for aid and he has been a great help to us. When I saw your chaps nick the Captian I was most interested on where you took him and came to investigate."

Carl casually grabbed the ID card and examined it. By all appearances it appeared to be authentic, yet there was something he didn't trust about the guy. Turning to Garm, he displayed an unsure expression.

"What do you say captain?"

Garm nodded as he began speaking, quickly confirming Kurt's story.

"He speaks the truth. We have been cooperating of the last few days and he has been quite helpful in fighting off certain vampire factions."

"I see. Well that's all well and fine, but what about the explosives in here?"

Carl held up Kurt's remote detonator, a slight look of anger now on his face.

"Sorry about that. I just didn't know what your intentions were and needed some leverage just incase I got into a bad situation. You can find them in the generator room." As Carl turned to one of the guards Kurt stopped him.
"I almost forgot. I set up several Claymores in the hall leading to it with trip wires in case anyone tried to disarm the C4. So be sure to tell your men to be careful and disarm each Claymore in turn."

The guards looked at Carl and he nodded, sending them off to take care of the situation.

"Thankyou sir."

Garm finally sighed in relief and displayed a slight grin.

"You just had to cause trouble didn't you?"

Hondur remained silent as he eyed the humans. Although he was now part of their new organisation, he still couldn't completely trust them, especially one that used to work hunting his kind.

"Well gentlemen, I suppose the restraints are not necessary. Although there are a few things that should be kept in mind. Captain, although you may trust this man, he is not to know of anything that has transpired within this room, understood?"

Garm nodded, as did Hondur.

"Now Mr. Young. I hope you understand that we are being very soft in allowing you to leave alive. You are not to say anything about this place to anyone or you will regret it."

Carl calmly awaited an answer.

"I swear on my honor I will not. This is your country, do what you please with it." Kurt said. "When I make my report I will leave this entie incident out of it. Also, can you give me back my gear?"

Carl stared at Kurt, watching him very closely until he completed his oath.

"You seem a smart man Mr Young, therefore your word shall suffice."

Carl looked back at one of the guards.

"Cut them lose and return all their gear."

One guard pulled out his 6' knife and began hacking at the bindings whilst the other went to fetch Kurt's, Garm's and Hondur's gear.

"Well gentlemen, we shall be releasing you quite soon. I believe the sun will be rising soon and you may wish to seek shelter Hondur. If you wish we shall provide transport."

Kurt rubbed his wrist where the binds once were. He stood up and streached and when the guards came back with the gear Kurt looked through his making sure nothing was missing. Thankfully all was here. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it up.
"Transport won't be needed for me. I have my car parked a couple blocks away."

Garm also stood and began re-equipping himself with his standard VP gear. He trusted everything was there as he saw no reason why the people he was now working for would steal for him.

Carl indicated for all to leave the room and head down a hallway to the left.

"Mr Young. I trust you will not be interfering in any of our affairs again?"

The group slowly made their way back toward the entrance/exit of the complex, leading back into the empty lot.

"After all this, I think I need a vacation. I'm going to go home make my report and do my best to stay out of your hair." Kurt said.

Carl smiled at Kurt's comment, happy to be over with the tense situation. Finally the group reached what appeared to be a dead end, painted dirt brown. Carl hit a swith on his watch and the roof began to slide away, releasing a flight of stairs that led back to the surface.

"Gentlemen, you shall be hearing from us again. Until that day, you may continue with your work."

Garm nodded in acknowledgement, as did Hondur. When all three were outside, Hondur took one glance at the human pair before leaping onto a building across the street and disappearing. Garm sighed.

"This will be interesting indeed. You've got some balls on you, trying to get into the ASA like that."

Kurt chuckled as he finished his smoke.
"Thats how I've lived so long. I'm getting old, my age is uncommon for professional mercs. Many are now upstarts looking for a quick buck, the old breed is dying off. I'm going to retire, go home, and live out the rest of my days in peace. Of course I'll be under a fasle name.
"You got some balls too, lying to that one guy. You still owe me another 75 grand, but because of your help, lets make it 60 grand. I also want you to delete any files or destroy anything to help cover my trail. I think that about covers it. Need a lift to VP HQ? The whole place was in chaos when I was there."

Garm chuckled also as Kurt led him toward his car.

"That sounds ideal. Although I've still got many more years in my line of work. Yeh, a ride would be appreciated. There are a lot of things to be cleaned up before this is over."

OOC: Drawing close to end

OOC: I'll wrap up Kurt's end of the thread in my next post.

Kurt drove the VP officer to the VP HQ. He stuck out his hand.
"Been a pleasure working with you captian. Hope whatever that guy offered you works out."

Garm stood outside the chaotic VP HQ, marvelling at what his disappearance could cause. Upon Kurt speaking, he spun around.

"It has been fun Kurt. I'm sure I will have an interesting near future, but for the moment it's the cleaning up the mess of the past 24 hours. Hopefully things will work out for you, rest assured there won't be a record of you here. I'll have your cash transfered today as well. Farewell, friend."

Garm extended an arm and realised just how tired he was, but still managed to keep it steady for the time being.

OOC: This wraps it up for Kurt, hope you don't mind Assington.

"Thank you Captain, and good luck." Kurt shook Garm's hand. "Ohh, something to keep you awake." He tossed the VP officer a brown bottle of Flint Firebrand whiskey. With a smile he said "Finest kind. Goodbye."
With that he headed back to his apartment to collect his things. Kurt placed his photos, Wolf knife, and other small personal affects into an oak box as he collected his gear from his apartment and headed home.


Several Hours later
Golden Simatar International Airport

Neil Warren sat in the Burger King slowly finishing his soda. He had been chasing Kurt for over five years and had seen the merc. The trail had now gone cold as the Artic and the case had so engulfed his life that he had been called insane. He was taken off the case and retired from the GSIP. He turned and watched the bustle of passengers through the terminal until he saw him....
Neil pulled out his old Sig-Sauer P220 and bolted through the crowd.
"FREEZE MALONE! He shouted. Before the man turned and Bill fired. The first shell catching the man in the shoulder, the next four were caught in the chest.
Detective Catharine “Cat” Lee of the G.S.B.I was also there, looking for Neil. An old classmate of Kurt’s she knew the obsession of Neil to catch the elusive man. She had been leading up the investigation with Neil. Her short auburn hair hung over her black overcoat as she scanned, hoping she could find him before he shot a civilian. She pulled out her own P220 as she spotted Neil gun down the man. Then everyone in the terminal seemed to stop and look.
“NEIL WARREN! HANDS ON YOUR HEAD!” She shouted. “HANDS ON YOUR HEAD!”
“I got him. I…I…I got him.” Neil chuckled. The madness had finally taken him over. He brought the gun level with Cat’s chest, but she fired first. Neil’s chest sent large arcs of blood across the area as the 9mm slugs ripped into him. It was then everyone started screaming and running to the exits. Cat ran up to Neil, who was quite dead, and kicked the gun out of his hand before turning the man he gunned down. It wasn’t Kurt. What?
“Hello Cat, long time no see.” Cat heard the chillingly cold voice that she knew so well. Standing several feet in front of her was Kurt. All she saw of him was his eyes, a grey hat kept his face in darkness, but his light blue eyes shone through. They looked at each other for several minutes before Cat blinked, Kurt wasn’t there. Jumping onto a bench she looked around, no Kurt. Damn!

Three Days Later
Griffin Pub - Flint

“It is confirmed the man killed in the international airport was not the mercenary Kurt Malone. It is unclear of where the mercenary is but it is believed that he has been killed in combat due to that his family received a box containing his personal affects. The Malone family refuses to release what is contained in the box. Detective Catharine Lee who was at the shoot out three days ago and leading the search for Malone states that the GSBI and GSIP have decided to call off the search for the mercenary stating that it has cost too much time and lives. No photos exist of the mercenary, which has also complicated the investigation. I’m Erin Bronson for the seven o’clock news.”

Cat watched the report on the TV. She sat in the pub with many of the other residents of Flint. The bartender placed a beer in front of her. Only 90 minutes out of the capital of Clarence she lived there and came to the pub to relax. Now she was assigned to a different case, a series of military style bank robberies has occurred over the last 3 weeks. She looked over the papers and photos of the nine take over robberies. But she couldn’t get over having Kurt there in front of her.
“Problem ma’am?” The bartender asked.
“I chased Malone for several years and now….”
“Well ya can’t have everything miss.”
“That report is bull, he was there….he was there and I could have nailed him, but….”
“Well I say again miss, ya can’t have everything.”
“Please call me Cat. What’s your name? You’re a new face.”
The almost bearded bartender smiled. “John Callan. I took this place over for a friend who died a few years back.”
“You rather be called John, Johnny, or what?”
“John is fine.” The bartender thought to himself:

I’d rather be called Kurt Malone

OOC: Nice finish. I'm just about to finish the whole thread in the next few posts.

Garm watched as Kurt drived away, likely to never see him again. Moving into the building, the captain was greeted with smiles by all the officers as he dragged his weary body into the his office and collapsed on a couch. He would worry about the other issues later, for now the only thing that concerned him was sleep.
_____________

Skadi and Hondur sat upon the roof of Hondur's mansion. Hondur didn't need to tell Skadi what had happened, she could pluck it out of her fledgling's mind as if she were reading a book. The pair sat in silence for the remainder of the night, finally burrowing into the mansion when the first hints of sunrise began to plague the sky.

OOC: Thanks. I knew I wanted "I'd rather be called Kurt Malone" or something like as the last sentence in my last IC post.

Garm sat within his office the next night. The paperwork had finally been completed and Garm has worked extra carefully to exclude any mention of Kurt. The money was transfered and there had been very little vampire activity tonight.

Flicking on the TV, Garm came across the international news channel and almost gagged on the bottle of Flint Firebrand that Kurt had given him when he came across a report from The Golden Simatar. Kurt had indeed put on a show, but had still made a clean getaway. Garm could only grin.
___________

Hondur looked over the hundreds of vampires within his mansion, most had already fed and were merely entertaining themselves indoors for tonight, upon his orders. His sire Skadi stood beside him, watching over the many fledglings.

"Many will not follow you to your government."

"I know, and they shall have to fend for themselves. There are still many that are loyal to me and would follow me into the abyss of death."

"You realise I shall have no part of it. I have other matters to attend to."

Hondur almost spat his next few words.

"Him, your other son."

"Yes, he lies ill from the sting of a water beast. I must heal him. Promise me you will not hunt him down whilst he lays ill."

Hondur turned to face his sire and looked directly into her emotionless eyes.

"He remains safe for the time being. I am not without honour my sire."

"That is good to know young one. We shall meet again I am sure."

"I look forward to it."

Skadi placed a slender arm upon the shoulder of her fledgling before ascending into the night sky through an open skylight. Within seconds she was gone, off into the mountains to check upon her beloved Maximus.

Hondur could do naught but wait and think. The ASA would come soon and his coven would be faced with an ultimatum that could change the world of the vampire in Assington for some time.

As Garm sat watching the t.v. half-heartedly, finishing his drink of Flint Firebrand, a ping sounded on his computer, signalling that an email had come through.

With a sigh, he reached over and clicked on the appropriate links. Witha start, he saw that it was from a particular Agent Anderson.


(To: Captain Garm II)

(From: Agent Garret Anderson)

(IC: Alexander/Hyraphore)


**There is only one thing you need to know about Alexander, and in fact, Vampires in general: they will take care of each other. Trust is a trait not found in vampires.**


Garm scrolled down, but found no other information that would be pertinant.

With a scowl, Garm turned back to the t.v. He poured himself another glass of Firebrand, and downed it without wincing.

OOC: Last post for me.

***************************


Driretlen sat down on the plush leather chair, watching Alexander pace around the Hyraphore lounge as if he meant to wear a groove into the floor.

"...and still, all I can think about is the fact that I could have taken them."

"No, you could not have."

Alexander turned on Driretlen, and for a moment, the Elder thought that perhaps his younger brethren would do something rash.

Luckily, for the both of them, he did not.

"Perhaps not, but your interference ensured that there would be no such chance to see the outcome."

Alexander stared at Driretlen, as if challenging him.

"Perhaps this is what you wanted."

Driretlen got up out of seat, and deliberately turned his back on Alexander. He approaced a wall cabinet, and lifted up a bottle of unlabled red substance.

Noticing Alexander's askance look, Driretlen replied.

"It is red wine..."

All of a sudden, one, two... dozens of howls shook the black night, rattling the windows slightly and Alexander more so.

"...And that would be my guests. They have arrived in time."

Alexander looked around for a weapon, or perhaps an escape route.

"You... I know you want full control of the Hyraphore, but..."

Driretlen poured himself a drink, and shook his head in wonder.

"But nothing. What I want is to help you get what YOU want. Now come: I understand that it is impolite to keep guests waiting in your house."

As the Elder was followed by his skittish fellow vampire, a long, single mournful howl cried out to the clear full moon, barely visible in the Valient night sky.

OOC: AV2 is officially closed. Be on the lookout for AV3.