NationStates Jolt Archive

He was almost at the border. He knew not the name of the country he fled to, but he knew he was not running alone. Over the sound of his own pounding footsteps he could hear some more footsteps, behind him. The only problem was, his pursuer was running faster than he was.

Just a few more metres... so close...

He looked down at his chest as a sword sliced right out from behind him, lifting him from the air and ripping his innards to shreds. His attacker stopped and shoved him to the ground, sliding him off the sword. He cried out as he clutched his chest, hoping someone would hear, but the sword came down onto his neck. His head didn't finish rolling away as his body erupted into a smouldering morass of cinders, disintegrating into a pile of ash which started to blow away in the gentle midnight breeze.

His attacker, dressed completely in black, sheathed his sword and bent down to pick up a file full of papers. He put it underneath his jacket, cautiously looked around, and took off into the night. Several children had seen the scene from behind a bush, hiding in the dark as the bizarre slaughter took place.

All across the world similar events took place in the dead of night. Some corpses didn't disintegrate, and they were dragged away to be hidden. Each time a person was slain, the attacker found some documents and disappeared into the night.



Miles away from any of the events, in an unidentified city of an unidentified nation, Molyneux stood watching over the skyline from the top of his enormous skyscraper. He looked at all the twinkling lights of the night curiously, as though he could see people going about their nightly lives.

"Sir, I have one," a gruff voice came from behind him. Molyneux tugged his expensive, stylish suit straight and turned around, clasping his hands together. His sheriff, Montalban, stood just in front of the elegant wooden doors, holding a man firmly by the neck, on his knees.

"Ah, yes," Molyneux nodded, walking briskly around his desk and stopping just in front of them. "You must be Johan, yes?"

The man simply spat on Molyneux's expensive leather shoes, regretting it almost immediately as Montalban cracked his fist against his ribs.

"I expected such a response," Molyneux said. "Tell me, Johan, why did you and your associates desire to betray your kind? You know as well as I that to release those... documents to human nations could have brought Final Death to all of us. Suicide is one thing, but genocide of your own species?"

"You're sick," Johan growled. "I'm sick. We're all sick! We're a plague; we need to be wiped out like animals! The Society of L... I mean, we thought that was the only way!"

"Leopold? The Society of Leopold?" Molyneux laughed. "This is certainly one of their more 'daring' ventures. Well, you shall be pleased to know that Mr. Montalban's deputies intercepted every last one of your agents, Kindred and Kine. And it gives me great pleasure to determine your sentence -- death. That is what you desire, is it not?"

"I'll see you in hell, you stuck-up fucker!" Johan roared as Montalban roughly pulled him to his feet.

"Mr. Montalban," Molyneux looked up at his sheriff. "Remove this... man's limbs, and then let him see a sunrise."

"Yes sire," Montalban smiled, reaching for the sword slung over his back. His Prince grabbed his arm to stop him though.

"Not here," Molyneux snapped. "You'll ruin the furniture. Take him outside."

"Yes, sire," Montalban bowed his head. "Come on you little shit, let's hope the sun has his hat on..."

Montalban dragged Johan by his neck as he exited the room. Molyneux looked down at his shoe and sighed. He'd need a new pair now. He sat down at his desk, and switched the television on, hoping not to see anything of these recent escapades.



"... while in other news, a series of murders have taken place all at the same time, all in a similar fashion, in various parts of the world, all near national borders," the news reporter said. "Some national authorities have made statements suggesting that this bizarre series of international murders were the work of a large-scale organised crime syndicate. Some witnesses to these murders, however, claim that 'the bodies disintegrated into fire and vanished into ash, like something out of a bad horror movie'. In each witnessed case the murderer removed a series of documents from the 'bodies' of their victims before leaving the scene of the crime with no trace. Some national authorities have refused to comment on these issues. We'll have more on this story as it develops."



"Damn," Molyneux sighed quietly, switching off the television and leaning back in his chair thoughtfully.

Marcus 'Bloodhunter' was not surprised by a series of murders across the globe; more vexed. Sometihng was at work, whether darkest cult or strange and sinister supernatural being, he could not know. The zealous hands of hunters might even touch such things.

He was leader of his pack, Alpha, of the Blood Ravens, and he knew that something lurked, dark and mysterious at work. He smirked softly, concentrating as he forced his body across the gauntlet, through the power of the Locus, to materialise in the shifting Spirit World. He opened his eyes softly as he glanced about. He could hear the whispers of spirits, here in this place where only he, as Flesh, could tread. This world denied to mankind by the tragedy that split Pangea...The Murder of Father Wolf.

His forsaken duty, in these murders, had returned to haunt him.

OOC: Clan Toreador, hm? Nice to see a fellow White Wolf fan. I have a small group of W:TF Werewolfs in my MT nation. I know your playing as Masquerade (Hence Clan instead of Bloodline ;)) But mind if I join in?

OOC: Yeah, sure you can. I will post in a bit.
I have trouble getting involved in the game itself due to a lack of any other players, but the background story is good enough for me. Just a quick question; aren't 'Blood Ravens' a gang of Space Marines?

OOC: Yeah, but its also the name of my Pack :P
Their totems a great big ol' Crow

A mysterious green haze was cast over the city. Anything which wasn't green was dark. The city appeared to be moving backwards and forwards, as though it was getting closer, then further away.

Elizabeth lowered her night vision binoculars and sighed. She sat perched on the top of a small skyscraper, looking down on her 'patrol area'. Prince Molyneux had decided that for such a daring plan, the Society of Leopold would almost certainly have a back-up plan to try and achieve their objective via alternative means. He didn't know what it could be, of course, so all of the Sheriff's deputies were called to duty and posted all across Molyneux's domain.

As much as she liked to believe that only Montalban's deputies had been put on such dismal assignments, she knew she was wrong. Molyneux was a very powerful and influential Prince, in control of one of the largest domains on the planet. Other Princes listened to his warnings and mobilised their own lawmen in a similar fashion. So there was no escaping this boredom.

She sighed, and held up her night vision binoculars again, scouting the local area from her perch.

"Hello..." she said to herself quietly. Two blocks away, a sewer cover flew into the air and clanged to the ground so loudly that even she could hear it. Several dark figures clambered out. Screaming commenced.

She slipped the binoculars under her jacket and performed an odd manoeuvre; lifting herself up on one hand, she slowly toppled head-first off the side of the building, and began to plunge down at a phenomenal speed towards the ground. Half-way down she span herself upright and used her long, flowing dark-red jacket as a parachute of sorts. She slammed into the ground quite hard, but landed on her feet and dropped to her knees, touching the now-cracked concrete to steady herself.

She stood up and saw, to her relief, that passers-by seemed more concerned with the various monstrous figures that tore through them further down the street to notice her miracle survival, though. Together the renegade Kindred tipped over cars, threw people through windows, fed, and generally wreaked havoc. Kine screamed and fled in a disorganised panic, making themselves easy targets for these Kindred who seemed to have no other goal than killing and smashing as much as they could.

She called upon one of her long-practiced disciplines to speed down the road, decapitating one of the renegades as she zoomed by and came to a stop. The disfigured creatures span around and growled at her. They almost looked like Nosferatu at first, only... different. Twisted and contorted, as though their flesh had been ripped to shreds and then glued back together again in the wrong places. Plus they didn't act with the dignified smugness that a Nosferatu would usually act with. Instead they just lunged for her, growling like animals.

She swooped her sword through several of the more foolish ones, blasting them to cinders. One caught her on the shoulder and dug into her flesh. She didn't like that much, and dealt her attacker an elbow to the face. She then jammed her sword straight into the middle of his chest and yanked it upwards, slicing him in half.

The remaining two Kindred... 'things' turned tail and ran. They obviously hadn't anticipated a welcoming party. Nor a 'farewell' party either. She pulled out two Colt pistols and gunned them both down. It took a lot of lead to the head to kill a Kindred, but these things seemed somewhat weaker than most Kindred. It was almost as if they had been 'built' just to frighten Kine. They fell swiftly, without much resistance.

She pulled out her mobile phone, flipped it open and dialled a number.

"We could have another problem," she said simply.



Several similar scenes once again played out in various places not just in Molyneux's domain, but in several others as well. While most were put down with similar efficiency, a few 'outbreaks' overwhelmed less-experienced deputies, and caused significant damage.

"What is the damage?" Molyneux asked his 'Seneschal', or second-in-command, Lucina. The woman sat on the edge of his desk in a manner that would normally have been considered disrespectful, though Molyneux rarely confronted her about anything. She was not like most Toreador, in that she dressed rather gloomily in black leather and didn't pay much attention to her hair. She was either too busy or too miserable to make an effort, it seemed. Few seemed to know where she had come from, nor how old she really was, but she was an attractive 'young' woman even if she took things a little too seriously. Even Molyneux had never gotten any personal information out of her, though he believed her to be old enough to be an Elder.

"Nobody seems to have noticed any of the Kindred attacks," she shrugged. "Nobody has officially recognised them, anyway. The Nosferatu believe that most governments are simply labelling them as either wild animal attacks or homeless rebellions. Either way, the Masquerade seems to be intact for the time being."

"Excellent," Molyneux nodded. "I need Montalban to put a stop to these surprisingly belligerent schemes of the Society before they actually succeed. Have the Nosferatu managed to locate their primary base of operations? Generally the old adage 'cut off the head of the snake and the body will wither' has proven true when dealing with the Society in the past."

"Yes, sire, but neither you nor the Sheriff will like it I fear," she said, pulling a map from a draw and flattening it on the desk. "They are based quite far down underground, past a series of ancient Christian catacombs and deep in a natural network of caves. Nosferatu data suggests they 'may' be employing some form of skilled necromancers of the less-than-natural variety, which could make these ancient catacombs a challenge for Montalban even if he takes his entire company of deputies. Unfortunately they are the only way in."

"Damn," Molyneux clenched his fist, but contained his anger. "Leave me to think on this for a while..."

A few hours later, Molyneux snapped his fingers.

"I have an idea," he said. "Arrange a press conference for this company, would you Lucina? I'm going to play Kine against Kine..."

OOC: Tagged, and request to join in?

The City of Balmora, Wynford Colony (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v207/JC_Denton/NationStates/Cities/df0547d1.jpg)3:37 AM, Local Time

Balmora was a city renowned the world over for its nightlife. Clubs, bars and pubs were full and lively at all hours of the night, casinos were constantly filled by those awaiting thier throw at the dice, and those with more basic desires had ample grounds to act upon them in the city's more exotic destinations. Passionate jazz music could flow out the windows of one club while frantic techo might burst forth from another, mingling together in the festive streets of the city. Celebration always seemed to be occuring, while love always seemed around the next corner. A lonely soul could meet the love of thier life in Balmora, or simply enjoy a midnight rendezvous with another seeking thier company. Balmora was Las Vegas, Miami, Bali and more, all thrown together into the form of a metropolis with skyscrapers 120 stories tall and superhighways that ran beneath the surface of the ground. Balmora was a city where one could satiate any desire, fulfill any fantasy.

Tonight though, downtown Balmora was practically deserted as a large swath of the downtown was closed off to the public. Some four hours ago, the downtown of Balmora had been the site of a most unusual encounter. Monsterous creatures had emerged from the sewers, shrieking like demons and killing anyone that they could chase down.

The flashing red and blue lights of police cruisers played across the delicate features of Allison DeWitt's face as she studied the scene around her. There were streaks and puddles of blood seemingly everywhere, one of the most disturbing signs of the carnage that had passed. Bodies covered by white tarps or ambulance blankets layed in mass indifference to the proceedings around them, while a few cars had been overturned and destroyed. Scattered 10mm shell casings, evidence of the initial police response, were concentrated at certain points where the police had opened mass fire on the beasts that had emerged from below.

The crunch of combat boots on broken glass reached DeWitt as a man approached.

"Special Agent DeWitt?" asked a man's voice, deep and full of confidence.

"That would be me," came DeWitt's reply as she turned around to face the man. Although it was hard to make out too much detail in the night, the first thing apparent about him was his height. She guessed that he had to be atleast six foot four - he was simply massive. His skin was perfectly black, the shade of a strong coffee, while his hair was cut close in an old military style. She found herself approving of the man, clad as he was in a suit and coat with a Balmora Police badge hanging on a chain from his neck.

"Detective James Atwood," said the man as he offered a hand. DeWitt took it, giving him as a firm shake. "I've just been informed that the Democratic Colonies Security Service been designated the lead agency here," Atwood explained. "As such, I'd like to offer the Security Service the assistance of the Balmora Police."

DeWitt nodded. "The DCSS appriciates your assistance," she began, "as it's going to be needed right away."

"What do you need?" asked Atwood.

DeWitt gestured at the sewer entrance where the creatures had emerged.

"By all accounts, the creatures came out of that hole," she said. "We're pulling together all the resources we can on a short notice, but we'd appriciate Balmora PD officers to back us up on this one. We're going into the sewers to find out where these creatures came from, and if we can, what they are."

"Isn't that..." Atwood paused as he noticed DeWitt's judging look at him as he showed his hesitation.

"Maybe it would be best if you could call in some military personel to conduct the sewer searches," said Atwood. "There are miles, literally of miles worth of sewers under Balmora, most of them quite old. It would take more than a hundred police officers and federal agents to search all of that, and if we're split up into teams, the danger is - "

"We'll find the manpower somehow, Detective," said DeWitt, cutting Atwood off. "This is going to remain under the DCSS - we're going to search the sewers ourselves, and we're going to do it right. Besides," she indicated the shell casings scattered along a nearby sidewalk, "10mm Automatic Express seems to be effective enough against these... creatures. We should be able to handle any that we encounter - it's much more important that we don't let them escape, if any are still down there, and move to another part of the city. I'd like to begin searching the sewers right away."

"I think we can manage that if you insist," said Atwood. "I can call in our SWAT Team to assist, and as many officers as we can spare. I think we should all act with caution while we're down there, but we can start searching right away."

"Good," said DeWitt. "We need to get down there as soon as possible - what ever these things were, if there are more down there, I doubt they'd stay still for too long. We need to move fast if we're going to find them."

[OOC: Hey. Sorry I forgot all about this place, I had... things going on. If you're interested in picking this up until whatever conclusion this was going to reach, give me a shout. Totally understand if not.]