Nightfall

[Icaelus]

Five months after, Monday morning.

Icarus and Co.
Ravenwatch HQ, Canteen.

"Gah. Some good coffee would be nice, for a damn change eh, Alv?"
Icarus grumbled as he set down his now-drained mug of coffee, nudging the similarly grumpy-looking man next to him in the ribs with his elbow.
"Urgh. Gerroff. I've been working on that damn UV shield pulse since yesterday morning.."
The man mumbled back, raising a hand to riff through his unkempt blond hair before all but slumping down to the steel table, undisguised snores soon floating off his person. Alviss Dalholm, Ravenwatch's head scientist and weapons developer. Also, a borderline narcoleptic and genius all rolled into one.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Icarus grinned wearily at Alviss' sleeping form, wishing that he had the luxury to just fall asleep like that. He lifted his mug for another swig of that no-good coffee, but it was empty. Despite his complaints about the obviously bad quality of the coffee, he had to admit it was probably the only thing keeping him on his feet awake right now. The past week had been damned busy. Today wasn't going to be any different. He glanced up from his empty coffee mug to the long queue of people waiting for coffee at the several coffee machines, then decided against getting another cup. That was an awfully long queue just for coffee. Sighing, he looked to the other person seated at the table with him and Alviss, a young woman with very pale, almost white blonde hair. Mission Sterling, a weapons developer and field tester for Sterling Industries, the company which Alviss had been sent from as well. Sterling Industries provided most of Ravenwatch's tech and weaponry and they were really coming through on it. The good ol' silver-tipped stake was starting to look a little old compared to that UV blade/lightsaber thing he had seen Mish swinging around on their last mission. Also, if you haven't figured it out yet, Mish was the heir to Sterling Industries. Icarus liked her. She was cute in that odd, annoying throw-hot-chocolate-at-you kind of way. Icarus peered at her mug of hot chocolate, satisfied when he saw that it was empty like his. He didn't feel the need to take a chocolate bath this early in the morning.
"Hey, Princess. Drinking hot chocolate when I invited you down for coffee is kind of missing the point, don't you think?"
Icarus grinned at Mish, tapping a finger against the empty steel mug. They've had this ongoing debate about which beverage helped keep you awake, coffee or hot chocolate. Both hadn't yet budged from their firm stances over which drink was better, Icarus on the side of coffee and Mission obviously with hot chocolate.
A flash of red caught his eye and Icarus glanced down at the reflective steel of his mug, his face staring him right back. He locked eyes with his reflection, a wry smile crossing both his reflection's and his lips as he figured out the source of that red. His left eye. Marshal Van Dan Anderson had apparently gouged it out of the vampire that had downed Icarus six months back, after noting the condition of his left eye. The medical people had then rebuilt his left eye using the vampire's eye, gifting his left eye with highly enhanced vision and leaving his pupil a nice bloody red. Heck, it looked cool, if that was any consolation for having a vampire's left eye.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

"Valentin."
Icarus looked up from his grinning reflection as his name was called. Not that he was checking his teeth or anything, but he did hear that coffee stained quite a bit. The source of the voice was Artemis Arca, a fellow Ravenwatch operative. She was the one who had shot the vampire dead, as Icarus had found out later. She was quite the no-nonsense woman, the type that didn't joke around much. And she didn't particularly like him. Oh, and she was Van Dan's right hand man. Or woman?

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

"Hey, Arty. Nice of you to pop by and see me. Miss me?"
Icarus poked, a cocksure smile edging it's way onto his face. Artemis would have a very good reason for talking to him, probably involving the next mission or something. Artemis' gray eyes narrowed with annoyance at the nickname.
"Don't call me Arty."
The woman growled. She glared at Icarus for a few seconds more before remembering her original objective, signified with a deep sigh as she reached into the shirt pocket of her uniform, pulling out a badge and placing it on the steel table, just beside Icarus' hand.
"The Marshal apparently thought it was a good idea to promote you to Lieutenant. Which now means you have to start leading squads on missions. There's a trio of new recruits about to go out on their first mission. You'll be taking charge. Follow me. Um, Miss Sterling? You can come along, if you wish."
With that, Artemis simply gestured to both Mission and Icarus to follow her before she turned around and began walking for the Canteen's exit.
Icarus picked up the black badge, a look of bewilderment on his face.
"Uh. They promoted me? Me? Seriously?"
He looked to both Mission and Alviss, who had actually roused himself from sleep in order to better hear this.
"Well, damn. God help us, Ica's a Lt. Someone save those poor recruits."
Alviss raised his head from the table, smiling and giving Icarus' shoulder a friendly punch. The newly-promoted Lieutenant grinned widely, then pinned the badge to his lapel.
"Get back to your work, you idler. I shall now..ahem, assume my duties. Coming, Princess?"
Icarus gave the two a rather sly smile before he turned and walked after Artemis.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mia, Citronelle and Greg.
Ravenwatch HQ, Briefing Room.

Having completed the rigorous training course required to even be qualified to join the ranks of Ravenwatch recruits, Mia, Nel and Greg now sat in one of the Ravenwatch HQ's briefing rooms. They had been told to wait by a certain white-haired woman, whose demeanor was unusually serious. She hadn't introduced herself at all, simply having escorted them straight from their barracks on the training camp straight to Ravenwatch HQ, via van transport. And now they were waiting..for something. The door opened and a muscular middle aged man walked in. Having broken the silent tranquility of the room, he was obviously the center of attention in that room.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

"Hey, kids. Arty hasn't brought Ica in yet? Damn, she's slow today."
You could see that he bore no insignia nor rank, dressed instead in a rather odd choice of casual and formal clothing, which he somehow managed to look fashionable with. And who was this Arty and Ica..? Questions aside, it would probably be a good idea to ask who the heck was this guy..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Machdelene, Reaver.
Luminatus City, about a hundred meters away from one of the Ravenwatch Outposts.

"These..handphones are rather useful..the ability of long distance communication is invaluable to us."
Wereking Roman's voice spoke on speaker from Reaver's cell. Reaver stood a good distance away from their target, a Ravenwatch Outpost. These strategically held the cordon in place, sharpshooters perched in the towers. Floodlights aided the dim light of the early morning, lighting up the entire area around the Outpost. Two Ravenwatch soldiers guarded the reinforceed steel doors of the Outpost, the only way to get into the building and kill its personnel. It seemed that mounting an attack on an Outpost was quite a suicidal task..
"But yet, it is what I wish of you, Reaver Lazurus, my loyal subject. You will lead your lycans on a strike against those accursed soldiers of midnight."
Roman's voice had a feral snarl to it as he spoke of the Ravenwatch soldiers. There was a click sound and the line cut off. Well..nothing else to do but to attack now, was that? A dozen lycans, already transformed into their full savagery awaited only your order, eager to visit death upon those infernal Ravenwatch soldiers that had murdered many of their brethren..

"Hey, vamp."
The lycan tapped Machdelene on the shoulder, turning her around to face him.
"We'll be going soon. Listen, I only brought you here cause of all that sex...Anyway, you should get away if you aren't fighting."
The man gave Machdelene a wolfish grin, groping her ass with one hard squeeze before he turned away and doubled over, fur breaking out all over his skin, his previously smooth voice deepening into a feral growl. The change was complete in under thirty seconds, a fully grown werewolf standing in front of Machdelene. The beast winked at her and then began running, sprinting back to join his comrades about to attack the Outpost and leaving her alone in the alley..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jason.
Luminatus City, Luminas Nightclub

Jason sat alone at the bar, his glass of beer virtually untouched. Bars weren't generally lonely places, but it was like six A.M. in the morning. Whiling away the night, simply taking an observer's stance on things was an interesting past time. Especially for a vampire with such a fascination to humans. He'd had his fair share of interest from various human females, but had mostly rejected them. Not really that hungry after all, eh?
It was all a little disappointing, actually. Jason lived on Irae's side of the city, where most of the human population in there were mostly aware of the vampires already. There wasn't much to be interested about with people that already knew what you were..
"Hey. We're closing. Finish your drink and leave."
The bartender tapped the bar's counter, standing just in front of Jason. He looked up..

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

"Done staring? There's the door. Use it."
She gestured to the door, sighing in exasperation. This bartender was quite a familiar face with Jason and he knew her by sight already. To Jason's knowledge, her name was Eva, just Eva. Most people tended to neglect last names with strangers..

[Zender_Solarheart]

Shortly before the middle-aged man walks in, Greg's stretching as much as he can in his seat. That training course really took a lot out of him; he may have done some martial arts classes in the past, but those were about defending oneself from other humans, not vampires and lycans. For that matter, why a silver stake for the latter beasts? From his perspective, it'd be more practical to have silver daggers or something...

Once the casually-dressed man walked in, however, Greg re-focuses his attention. Judging by how he carries himself and all, the man might be a high-ranking official of some sort...though, his division remains unknown. Well, he'll be the bigger man this time, and ask:

"Not to be rude, sir, but...who are you?"

[MiscChaos]

Citronelle works some kinks out of her shoulder. Mostly from waiting than the training they went through, but it was kinda difficult, even as a vampire. The humans might be onto something after all if they can devise a program that would wear out a race stronger than them. She wouldn't know how effective it is though, she's never been on the other side of that conflict. When the man walks in, she just regards him with a level stare, not saying anything since the man next to her asked the question on her mind. High-rank, low-rank, doesn't matter when they could be dead the very next day. Everyone's equal until you know who's stronger or someone dies, then the stronger one and/or the alive one's the higher rank.

[napsii]

Just as Mission's hot chocolate came to an end, so did the girl's nerve. It was liquid patience. A healthier substitute, her father had insisted to the caffeine cocktail that was coffee. She huffed in distaste, her cocoa-tinted breath swirling around her mug with an echo. Next the coffee machine across the way, she eyed the colorfully-engineered hot chocolate dispenser she'd rigged together hours after first seeing the sorry state of the HQ's amenities. It was seldom used... probably because she'd rigged an electroshock driver to the "Dispense" button that exempted only her from its electric wrath. Feeling a little lazy this morning, though, she looked to the dozing Alviss and Icarus, whose cockiness simmered behind his eyes (which she would never admit looked rather cool).

Poor Alviss. she thought, trying not to grin outwardly. She found the narcoleptic's sleepy genius a little concerning at first, but now, he was more amusing than anything, and his insight on machines could easily butt heads with her own. It surprised her, sometimes, how she'd seen so little of him back before she hooked up with Ravenwatch. Her father was always sharp to recognize his employees' talents, and promote them, but she had guessed he wanted to keep Alviss' presence low key, for reasons obvious. Maybe even to hide from her, so she wouldn't have unraveled the thread of truth behind Ravenwatch and whatever other damned eldritch things that apparently stalked the night. And the ballot boxes of most countries today, annoyingly enough.

Just as Icarus' dual-colored look settled on her, though, her insides beetled with anticipation. Here comes another one of his stupid jokes... she thought as his mouth leaked open.

...

Princess.

Her face contorted with a growl, rage bubbling in the back of her mind. Mish didn't like to overreact, but she loathed Icarus' cheap nicknames enough to shower him with a torrent of hot cocoa whenever it was ready at hand; it was the best retort she could fire back given Icarus' own name. It was hard to tear down someone who was named after the son of Daedalus. Unless she wanted to make jokes about shooting him into the sun, which she would have gladly done if the rocket that carried the CIER-III satellite to space a month ago had any space on board to fit Icarus' dumb face in it.

"Shut up!" was all she could lash out in retort. Flustered pink spread across her cheeks, shoving against the deep, natural red of her eyes. The ammunition of her hot chocolate was depleted, to her doubled irritation, so a physical response was... inefficient. Her father would have lambasted her for letting Icarus' childishness strike so hard, but his dumb comments never failed to rouse her annoyance. Icarus Valentin. Her research dictated him as one of the most violent and dangerous people in recent history, but to her, he was more like an arrogant jackass. On her father's advice, she'd avoided him for the first few weeks of her residence, but the amount of arguments and debates they managed to raise each other bound them together like a magnet sooner or later.

Not that she liked him.

She huffed, seeing the dead-serious Artemis' skulk into view behind the older boy.

Not one bit.

At first, Artemis' -- or Arty, as Icarus would say, although Mish tried to confine her use of that nickname to her notes and not conversation -- growls had her pleased (at least someone could dent Icarus' idiocy) but the moment the distinct steel badge hit the table, her jaw nearly flew off her face.

"Nnh... what?" she gawked, just as stunned as Icarus. Her rank may have been inferior, but she'd never before been obligated to listen to Icarus on a mission, despite his claims that he'd saved her butt at least three times in every operation. Not to mention, her deep foothold in Sterling Industries netted her some invisible status above some other operatives. She groaned mentally, can't help but wanting to hover there for a moment to ear Van's dumb excuse for promoting Ica before she slid from her seat, shooting daggers of immature bitterness in the older man's direction before she began to walk... right... toward... the hot chocolate dispenser. She made a note of enunciating every gesture as she placed her mug under the machine to allow more of the steaming cocoa to stream into it, letting him know what was coming.

"Oh, of course I am." she rolled her eyes passive aggressively (not being the type for physical violence, fiery words were her best weapon, if not hot chocolate) taking an experimental sip and then pursuing after with brisk steps. Her interest in new recruits had always been minimal knowing they were always rolling in to replace some other poor soul who'd been butchered in the field, but it was her job to help outfit them. Didn't hurt to see if there were any cute guys in their ranks, either. She walked step by step beside Icarus, the ticking time bomb of hot chocolate in her hand counting down, second by second...

"So, um, Artemis, how many new recruits do we have this time?" she queried, trying to eliminate the memories of Icarus' prior teasing from her head. Artemis' abrasive personality had scared her, but the woman was like a whirlwind of cold chaos during an op. It struck fear in her to see the Hunter at work because of this, naturally, but she was always like a rolled up newspaper to the back of Icarus' head when he acted up which was fine by Mission.

[Lady Foxy]

Mia had felt as if she had been forced to run a marathon hosted in a field with giant bear-traps, wild dogs, giant pits of lava and the occasional elephant on the loose. It sounded incredibly silly and dumb now that she thought of it, shaking her head very slightly before glancing once more at her hands. She was currently in her human form, not that she preferred her other, nor this one. The time wasn't for her to discuss her favorite self though, as a man walked in calling them kids and asking about 'Arty and Ica'.

Her eyes simply widened for a moment before returning to normal, glancing at the other young man sitting next to her, asking who was he. She simply remained quiet, glancing at him before giving more attention to the stray thoughts in her mind. With a relaxed but calm, quiet sigh she decided to instead focus on what would happen around her without having to interact directly with it. Mia crossed her legs and crossed her arms below her chest, already imagining herself hacking another supposedly high-tech security system.

[jayjaycaps]

Jason sighed. Another uneventful night, it would seem. So boring, going to bed alone. No one to entertain, or rather, no one to entertain him. He was prepared to leave on his own accord, until a voice piped up behind him.

The bartender. Jason had never noticed her before. But seeing her now, she became more than another face. A challenge. Jason began pulling up all the information he had on her, but was rather shocked to find he didn't know much, just her first name. All the better, he thought. An even greater challenge.

"Closing time, already? I could have sworn you guys were open longer than this." Jason took a small swig of his drink, stalling. He'd need more time, get her alone, if he truly wanted to thrall her. A few perhaps, would prove if she was truly worthy of being able to satisfy Jason's hunger.

Leaving half of his drink, he turned back to the bartender. Giving her a once over, he put out his hand. "I don't think we've met before. Eva, is it? I'm Jason." Jason gave a quick scan of the rest of the bar as well, trying to gauge how much time he had before he truly had to leave. There would be no fun if he had to come back to complete his goal, so he had to make sure it was doable in one trip.

[Reaver]

Reaver closes the phone with a click and puts it in one of his pockets. He turns around and looks into each of his lycan brothers. He's pleased to find unflinching resolve with a hint of bloodlust. "My clansmen....Tonight we are going to strike a blow against those that stand in our way. Tonight we will feast on their blood and chew on their bones. I'm not going to promise that each of you will survive, but we will make them learn why we are the apex predators. We will teach them FEAR!" Reaver glances back at the outpost, calculating the defenses and the best plan. With the walls being too high and the only point of possible penatration being the front, it would seem this would have to be a head on attack.
Turning back to his lycans, Reaver hunches over starting his transformation to werewolf. "I want the skull of their captain and captives to bring back to the mountain as a tribute for our King. Focus the attack on the front gates and spread throughout the outpost from there. So lets get going and teach them how to fear the night again!" He finishes his transformation with a howl and walks on all fours. He snarls at his men to start attack before running to the front to lead them. "Lets finally see if these Ravenwatch soldiers can stand up to the might of the Lycans." Reaver thinks as he dashes towards the entrance.

[Icaelus]

(Well, it lives.)

LIEUTENANT! Icarus, Artemis, Mission,
Ravenwatch HQ, Briefing Room.

Damn. Mish had her hot chocolate. Icarus had never known a more deadly drink than hot chocolate before he had met Mission Sterling. The girl had ways with liquid chocolate you would never had dreamed of. Granted, it was mostly her just tossing her scalding beverage at his face, but damn, a vampire would probably go down screaming if it ever met Mish with a cup of hot chocolate.
The three strolled through the corridor that led towards the briefing rooms, Icarus keeping his vampire's eye trained on Mish's every movement, keeping Artemis between him and Mission. Mish would not dump hot chocolate over him for absolutely no reason, but he did tend to blurt out some wisecrack that would inevitably end with him having to take a shower.
Hey, it didn't help that she was so damn fun to tease, was she? Hm. Maybe he could order her not to throw hot chocolate over him. After all, he was a lieutenant now! That..did mean that he had to keep some prestige and not show up in front of three new recruits, all covered in chocolate, right..? Yeah..probably.

"There's three recruits that made it this time round, Miss Sterling. They are..quite unusual, given the fact that one of them is a vampire, another a lycan. Last one's human, though."
Artemis raised an eyebrow at Icarus' antics, keeping her between him and Mission. What on Earth was this idiot doing? She still couldn't believe that Van Dan had actually promoted him. Was the man going senile or something? Sighing, she looked back to Mission, shrugging.
They managed to make it to the outside of the briefing room without any hot chocolate mishaps, though Icarus had a moment of reckoning when Mish had sipped from the cup once, deliberately very slowly.. Dangerous girl she was, that one..
Icarus put aside his fear of Mission with a cup of hot chocolate for a moment, walking up to her with a rather silly grin on his face.
"So, Princess. Do I look..lieutenant-y enough to impress the new blood? Heard you were pretty good with fashi- oof!"
Artemis drew her hand back from hitting the back of Icarus' head, which was currently being rubbed gently by the new lieutenant.
"Will you shut up already, Valentin? Let's just go in."
The woman grumbled, stepping forward and pushing the door of the briefing room open..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mia, Citronelle and Greg.
Ravenwatch HQ, Briefing Room.

The man simply blinked, a bewildered look crossing his face as Greg asked his question.
"Hell, what? Am I in the wrong room or something? Arty told me it was this one..how can someone not know who I am?"
He shook his head, looking at Greg.
"Kids, I am Marshal Van Dan. You will damn well address me as Van Dan. No need for formalities."
Van Dan gave the trio a grin, looking to the door as it opened, the same white-haired woman that had escorted them to this room walking in, along with another man and a girl holding a cup.
"Arty! Ya made it! Come 'ere and gimme a hug!"
The Marshal grinned widely, pushing himself out of his chair, striding quickly towards Artemis with his arms spread wide open.
"Marshal.."
Artemis sighed, exasperation crossing her face as she simply stepped forward, grabbing hold of Van Dan by the shirt and simply flipping him to the floor with a loud thump and a "oof".
"Recruits. This is Icarus Valentin, your commanding officer for the next and final part of your training."
She continued on, as if nothing had just happened, like the head of Ravenwatch wasn't currently groaning from the floor.
"I am Artemis. Do not call me Arty, am I clear?"
Artemis straightened, dusting off her hands and smoothing down her uniform. She immediately got down to business, completely ignoring the groaning Van Dan and stepping to the front of the room, where she held her hand up and did a pulling down motion, which triggered the holo-screen display of the briefing room. Details about the target were popping up onto it, pictures of a a medium-sized warehouse, definitely somewhere in Irae's territory.
"A Hemo drug refinery is what you're looking at. This is your first real mission and the factor deciding if you will be a true Ravenwatch operative. I'm sure that all of you know what Hemo is and what it can do.."
Artemis paused, pulling up several pictures of vampires closed up on Hemo, a superstimulant made from human blood and several other addictive chemicals. It made them stronger, faster with more resistance to pain. Artemis pulled up a video clip with a motion of her hand, playing it with a click of her fingers. The video showed a vampire staggering towards several Ravenwatch operatives, gunshot wounds riddling his entire torso. Yet it still stood, almost zombie-like in it's approach towards the soldiers until one of them stepped forward and staked the creature in the heart. The clip ended there on that horrifying note.
"As you saw, gunfire isn't so effective on vampires dosed up on Hemo, even with our UV rounds. The surest way is staking, but it can be dangerous with the extra strength and speed that Hemo provides the vamps.
Artemis turned away from the holo-screen, looking to the recruits.
"Any questions?"
She said, her tone solemn. Two hands were raised.
"Aaagh."
Van Dan groaned again, still incapable of coherent speech.
The other hand belonged to Icarus.
"So..since I'm a lieutenant now, can I get the new meat to fetch me a new cup of coff-"
Icarus never finished his sentence as Artemis stepped up to him and repeated the same flip that had Van Dan currently on the floor half comatose.
"I'm sorry to say that this idiot will be your commanding officer for this mission."
Artemis sighed, shaking her head as she dusted off her hands again for the second time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reaver.
Luminatus City, quickly approaching a Ravenwatch Outpost, nearly in spotlight range.

"Jesus, it's so goddamn boring out here. How do you stand it?"
Guard Jai elbowed his partner, Guard William playfully. It was of course frowned upon to be horsing around during sentry duty like this, but it was about five minutes to the end of their shift and nothing had happened during the past two hours anyway. Just like every other day.
"Huh. Go fishing. That'll teach you patience."
The other guard said, shaking his head. It had seemed oddly quiet for their duration of this shift, though. They did usually at least get a couple of vamps so dosed up on Hemo that they were crazy enough to rush the Outpost. Of course, the sharpshooters always got them before either Jai or Will could raise a rifle, though. They were mostly there just for the clean-up duty.
William checked his watch. Three minutes left on the shift. Then maybe he could go grab a drink back in the HQ. Damn, it was quiet today. He didn't like it one bit.
"Multiple targets coming into spotlight range. Will, Jai, get back in, quickly!"
One of the sharpshooters up in the tower buzzed him, a shot soon after breaking the tranquil of the early dawn as it found its mark, a strangled scream rising from the ranks of lycans surging towards the Outpost.
"Lycans?! Jai, get that damn door open! Quickly, goddamn it!"
The usually calm William snapped, switching out his UV magazine for the single mag of silver rounds that he always carried.. It was uncommon for most Ravenwatch operatives to carry any anti-lycan weapons beside the silver-tipped stake, since encountering a lycan was rare. William was an exception, believing in safety above all else. Unlike Jai, who usually just left everything to reckless abandon, he kept himself in line and never slacked off in any of his duty. Truly a pristine example of the Ravenwatch. Also one that might not survive this attack.
William snapped the magazine into his rifle, dropping to a knee and drizzling the werewolf frontlines with silver death. There were too many of them. Way too many. Shot after shot rang out from the towers above, sinking into the lycans with devastating effect. Already half of the original lycan lines were down, silent on the floor in their human form. But they were making progress towards the Outpost, despite everything it was throwing at them..
The steel door's locking mechanism finally opened and Jai all but threw himself in.
"Will, get in!"
Jai screamed through his helmet, raising his rifle and firing away. It lit the werewolves purple with all the UV rounds, but they were mostly ineffective, more of an annoyance than an actual threat to them. The werewolves were nearly upon the Outpost, and the door was still open..
"..Close the door."
William said slowly, his voice firm. The door AI acknowledged his voice and the mechanisms began working against, slowly moving the heavy steel door shut. Jai screamed in frustration, his voice cutting off from behind the door as it closed. William turned around to stare into the hungry eyes of a lycan, his fur white as snow. He didn't bother wasting his breath, smashing the butt of his gun into Reaver's jaw and going for his stake. But a human in a melee fight with a lycan wasn't exactly fair. Reaver slashed into the guard, his claws shredding the man's windpipe like a hot knife through butter. Blood splattered the visor of the guard's helmet, the man falling limp to the ground. The surviving lycans were pounding with everything they had on the steel door. The heavy door held firm, undented even by the strength of the werewolves hammering away at it. It was futile to break into the Outpost from a door like this..
Time to retreat and report to Wereking Roman..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jason.
Luminatus City, Luminas Nightclub.

Eva looked at Jason's hand and sighed, shaking her head slowly.
"Take a hike, buddy."
The bartender pointed to the door, which suddenly opened to allow two very obvious vampires in, strolling leisurely towards the bar. Eva's expression visibly tightened at the sight of the duo. They looked like your usual street punks that had turned to vampirism for all the obvious benefits of power..but judging by their clothing..definitely not money.
"What are you two doing here? I've already paid this month's protection fee."
The woman walked out from behind the bar to confront the two vampires, one of them sickeningly obese while the other's physique could've been mistaken for a bamboo pole.
"Well, Evy, you see...we need a lil more to buy our month's fix of Hemo..it's getting a little pricey these days, you know?"
Bamboo piped up, his voice an infuriating high-pitch screech. Eva gave a low growl, her hands balling up into fists in anger.
"Awh, c'mon, Eves. We need some snack money."
Fatty chimed in, a greedy smile crossing his disgusting face.
The bartender looked to Jason helplessly, every bit the damsel in distress right now.

Does Jason choose to help her out, leave the bar or join the duo?(Total dick move, btw.)

[MiscChaos]

Nel sighs and facepalms at the news that the man now writhing in pain on the floor is their CO. Couldn't they have a trained monkey or something? Anything would be better than this! And this is a lieutenant!? How easy is it to rise through the ranks around here? Her respect for the men in the room is shot, but she’s impressed with the one called Artemis (and makes a note to avoid calling her Arty no matter what) and how she took control of the briefing and disciplined the idiots.

Raising her hand she asks, “Does it HAVE to be him? Is there someone, you know, competent we can use as our CO?” as she looks down at Icarus with only half-hidden disdain. Then she sighs. “No, no, don’t answer that. We all already know the answer. More usefully, what are we looking at in terms of resistance? I know we can expect Heme’d up Vamps and whatever humans they enslaved, but what about numbers?” Nel tries not to think on her experiences with the highly addictive blood. She may’ve been separate from most of Vampire society, but she still had some Vampire friends and it’d hurt to see them debase themselves over and over again for another fix. To the point where she mercy killed most of them in their sleep. With a life like that, they were already dead anyway.

[napsii]

"Huh. That's... interesting." commented Mission. She considered blowing on her hot chocolate to cool it, but then remembered she needed every degree of its blazing wrath for Icarus.

To be blunt, she'd always been concerned that so many vamps and lycans were being let into the ranks of Ravenwatch, a sentiment she'd picked up from her father. Like him, she didn't trust them because they could never truly rid themselves of their bloodthirst, but recognized they made good tools in battle. Despite all of the firepower her dad's company had donated to the organization, human casualties were still frighteningly high, and had decreased only moderately with the introduction of newer defenses. The vampires and lycans, though... well, they could stand toe to toe with their sinister counterparts easily. She brushed her pale hair from her face, cocking an eyebrow critically at Icarus, who was currently being a prancing idiot trying to shove Artemis in front of him.

Is he seriously trying to use her as a shield? she wondered incredulously, watching Icarus stroll up to her arrogantly and open his mouth to flap his ugly lips.

Her automatic reply would have been to nail the older boy in the dick with her shoe, but Artemis obliged for her, silencing the idiot before he could... spew more of his idiocy. She grinned passive-aggressively at Ica, and then thankfully to Artemis. The steely woman was scary, but she was a nightmare in battle and (even better) kept Icarus in line. There was little Mish didn't like about her, for that reason. With Ica having just been punished fresh in mind, she could stroll into the briefing room in a bright mood, although wary of the new recruits. She'd never quite liked outfitting people, because just about every rookie wanted some retarded weapon like a giant Lightning Hawk or an ancient Japanese sword used by Miyamoto Musashi, but recent policy changes let them gear themselves.

That saved her some trouble, of course, but it probably wasn't wise for--

Mish winced, a loud thwap announcing Marshal VD's trip to the floor. She blinked, stunned for a moment, but then had the impulse to laugh. She bit her lip, making sure not to, and then took a cautious step back from where the Marshal stood sprawled out on the floor. Now this was a scene she wasn't a stranger to. Even not knowing Artemis or the Marshal that well, Mish's womanly intuition pointed out the constant "issues" between the two. Personally, she liked VD. He was generally a nice guy and a reasonable leader (making her a little glad that she had usually answered to him, and not this idiot Icarus), but him and Artemis were like a binary explosive: put the two together, add VD doing something dumb, and boom. Knowing the age difference, it was creepy, but Artemis kept him at bay.

She turned her attention to the briefing after giving the recruits a quick look up and down, not seeing much of interest about them. VD would recover pretty quick, of that she was certain.

The girl shivered. Hemo was among one of the scariest things the Vampire Queen, Irae, had thrust to the front of the war when she dispatched the last leader of the vamps. Besides it being a nearly unlimited source of wealth for their enemies (while Ravenwatch itself survived almost purely on private donations, Sterling Industries being its biggest financier), Mish had... well, she'd seen what vamps on Hemo could do to a whole battalion of Ravenwatch troops. It was horrifying to see them dice soldier after soldier, taking dozens of bullets, knives and stakes and not even wincing. As far as she'd seen, the presence of Hemo was why RW was so selective of their targets. Even a few vamps on Hemo could spell the end for an entire operation.

That was why, despite having RW possessing enough firepower to level an entire city block at any given time, Irae and Roman's private nightclubs and hangouts were usually safe -- a whole building full of Hemo'd up vamps and lycans was too much to handle unless you dropped a thermobaric weapon on the structure itself. And now they were to charge into a refinery. Surprisingly, Mish was not too concerned. Irae ran a tight ship, and the vamps (or even human slaves) employed to work on producing Hemo usually weren't allowed to partake on the job. Besides, this was a small fry refinery; again, Irae always donated the most protection to the biggest and most complex facilities. The ones that supplied tons of properties around Luminatus.

But even a single stray bullet into the holding tanks and... well. The rest was history.

She winced again. And then there were two. On the floor, that is. She rolled her eyes, only becoming more pleased with the sitch by the moment. Ica might have been a taller rank than her now, but he was still just as subject to Artemis' punishments. The girl bit her lip again, trying not to smile and look unprofessional at one of the recruits' comments. She liked her already. At the least, it was gladdening to see another person was about to join the ranks of the Icarus Haters' Club. As much as she wanted to discuss the merits of the refinery's defenses, too, she looked to the floor-bound Ica again and decided she could spare a moment. Holding her mug out in front of her, she strode over to the downed Lieutenant.

"Here, smartass." she huffed, inverting the mug. Like the Angel Falls in Venezuela, a downpour of cocoa-flavored death rained down from the mug to splash down onto Icarus' whole head and torso. Mish held it there for a good 3 seconds, letting every drop trickle out before unceremoniously letting the mug slip from her hand to bonk him on the head. With that, she turned back to the briefing as if nothing had happened. Knowing she would have attracted some wandering eyes, she decided now was the best time to introduce herself. So much for being professional, though. Heh.

"Oh, hi. I'm uh... Mission. Y'know, Sterling? Nice to meet you all." she introduced herself tersely to the recruits, smoothing the sleeve of her jacket.

[jayjaycaps]

Jason the two vampires threatening Eva. Looking back to Eva, Jason caught the look she gave him. She was asking for his help, for him to scare these two off. She was asking for Jason to do work. Jason didn't like to do work. That's what humans were for. But here was a human, asking him for his help.

Jason weighed the options carefully. He could let the vampires get the money out of Eva, probably even turn her into a late night bite. But, helping her could prove even more useful. He'd not only have the gratitude of the human, which would allow him to place his own demands upon her. Jason liked having power over people, and saving Eva would give him an awful lot of power. Plus, judging by the other vampires's shapes, he could take the two, should things get rough. Jason wasn't exactly ripped, but staying indoors all day gave him a lot or free time.

Jason shrugged to Eva, sighing a little. He moved in between her an the vampires, sizing the two up. "Sorry to disappoint gentlemen, but Eva isn't paying anymore. I suggest you find some place else for your 'snack money'." Jason tensed up a little to look more intimidating. He spoke confidently, and tried to use his voice to scare away the thugs. He'd rather things not get physical, as that would be FAAR too much work than he bargained for.

[Zender_Solarheart]

Greg feels a tad embarrassed, having not recognized the head honcho of Ravenwatch...then again, he is rather new here. Thankfully, Arty-...err, Artemis is quick to step in, and in a stunning feat of physical strength, flip the commander-in-chief to the floor by his shirt...yikes...

Note to self: Do NOT forget the "don't call her 'Arty'" rule...

The video of the Hemo-high vampire causes Greg to elicit a gulp of anxiety. The vampire he dealt with back at that one party was tough, sure, but nowhere near that tough. Against something like that, he'd probably want to cripple its arms and/or legs first, then stake it when it has less to fight back with. Good thing his silver bayonet has a longer reach than most stakes, because he's probably going to need it...

After Artemis introduces his new commanding officer, Greg does have a question on his mind for her, and decides to ask it now. He raises his hand to get her attention, and once she allows him to ask it, his question is: "Umm, not to pry...but did you receive any special training? That move you pulled on them...that's not something a normal human can do." A valid question, he thinks, considering the beyond-human performance he pointed out...

[Lady Foxy]

Witnessing the sudden throwing and ninja-take downs performed by the woman named Arty, or rather nicknamed as such, made her gasp really quietly as she stared at the possibly unconscious man on the floor, raising an eyebrow just slightly while wondering if he would be okay, not wanting to be in his position, glancing at the woman when she mentioned to them not to call her 'Arty'. Thinking of that nickname, didn't she have a friend called that way? Or was it Marty? It was highly probable that it would be Marty rather than Arty, because she would have remembered someone launching people onto their backs across the floor.. Yeah, she didn't know who Miss Artemis was truly, but she at least knew who the man from earlier was. Marshal Van Dan, but he prefers to be just called Van Dan.. Sounds like some kind of catchy rock band idol, huh? Or some famous actor?

Mia's eyes widened significantly as a holo-screen revealed a warehouse, shortly afterwards showing pictures and a disturbing video about what the substance or 'drug' known as 'Hemo' did and what effects they gave to any vampire that had taken a good dose of the unholy experimented wretch of a substance. Ouch.

About to raise her hand to ask a rather curious and innocent question, but silenced by yet seeing another demonstration of Miss Arty's Artemis' abilities and rather impressive moves, letting out a noticeable but cute gasp like before, blushing just ever so faintly while looking over to the tough and intriguing woman standing over the passed out Lieutenant. Wait, if Miss Artemis had flipped both the head of the Ravenwatch and some other young man, she got an idea to 'ask' her if she would be coming along in the mission. However, wincing at the sight of hot chocolate -- or coffee pouring down onto Icarus's face made her realize that those two women were serious to the end, taking note of Miss Sterling's coffee-mug maneuvers.

The two other recruits next to her began asking questions themselves and speaking, making her crave to hug her soft and plush teddy bear; which it's head was sticking out of her small backpack while she tried holding back that childish urge as she stretched her right hand upwards, shaking it ever so slightly to get the attention of the Artemis lady.

''M-Miss Arty! W-Will you accompany us on our mission too?'' Mia asked in her smooth, soft and feminine voice without loosing that cute but charming touch which had been noted down within her personal file, holding secret details about how she had the attitude of a relatively very young child sometimes, although it also would describe her prodigy skills for anything related to technology or smarts. Subconsciously, she remembered the 'No calling me Arty' rule..

[Reaver]

"Battle is truly a form of art." Reaver thinks as his claws slice through the man's neck. He watches the guard hit the ground before turning his attention back to the outpost. He eyes the gate in front of him, looking for a weaknessul but finding none. Deciding that the outpost has been tested enough, Reaver roars in the air. "Time to leave, warriors! We've played our part for now." He grabs the guard's body, pulling over his shoulder. It never hurts to have snack and if Reaver can look at his equipment, he'll know what to expect next time. With his trophy secured over his shoulder, Reaver leaves the field just as fast as he had came.

[Icaelus]

Icarus, Artemis, Mission, Greg, Mia, Nel and Van Dan.
Ravenwatch HQ, Briefing Room.

"That's real mature, sweetheart."
Icarus muttered as the blazing downpour of molten chocolate consigned him to his undignified doom, splattering all over his face and then dripping down to the floor. And as a final added insult, Mission's mug descended from the heavens above...
Conk.
"Ow."
Icarus wiped his face, getting rid of most of the chocolate messing his sight up, sitting up slowly and shaking his chocolate-sopping mop of hair very much like a wet dog, spraying chocolate everywhere. Most of the shakes were directed toward Mish, of course. The lieutenant cast a sly grin at the chocolate-splattered uniform of Mission before he got to his feet. Before anything else could happen, however..

"Alright, people, settle down."
Artemis' voice was clear and her tone was more than a bit annoyed. She looked to Icarus, her cold eyes regarding him rather disdainfully before she turned back to the questions the trio of new recruits were posing to her.
"Citronelle, was it? Yes, it will be him, unfortunately. And resistance won't be too heavy. The factory is a minor one and there won't be many guards. Just don't go in guns blazing and we should be fine."
The woman folded her arms as she finished addressing Nel, turning her eyes onto Greg.
"I'm human, if that's what you are asking, Spade."
The woman raised an eyebrow at the question, dismissing it with a small wave of his hand before sharply turning a glare onto Mia, just as she finished the words 'Arty.'
"Do not forget what I say, Miss Skystar. It may be the difference between life and death."
Her cold, gray eyes narrowed, her glare intensifying for just a moment before Artemis sighed wearily, shaking her head in exasperation.
"But to answer your question, yes. I will be coming with you for this mission. Obviously I still can't let a certain someone take charge fully."
She turned her gaze to Icarus, who grinned back sheepishly at her. Sighing for the second time as in many minutes, Artemis raised a hand and activated her comm.
"Mr. Dalholm. Take care of the second part of the briefing, would you?"
Artemis said, crouching down and tapping a small glass panel located on the floor just before the holoscreen. A light projected out of the panel, illuminating the front of the room and changing it's background to what was obviously a laboratory. There was a desk in the midst of the room on which a man with unruly blonde hair was sprawled, sound asleep.
"Ahem. Dalholm. Wake up."
Artemis cleared her throat, which sounded oddly threatening to everyone else in the room. The blonde man immediately shot up straight awake, looking around for about five seconds for the source of the voice before realizing he was a hologram.

"Huh? Oh. Right. Hey."
Alviss ruffled his hair, grinning good-naturedly at the group, his grin freezing when he saw Icarus' chocolate-splattered condition.
"Poor you, buddy."
The scientist sighed, reaching out a digital hand and patting the lieutenant's shoulder before he turned back to the group.
"Well, back to business. I'm Alviss, but Al is fine. I'm the head weapons researcher of Ravenwatch..and today, you lucky devils, you get to test out my new weapon."
Alviss' grin widened at his last words and he clapped his hands together excitedly, looking over to Artemis, who nodded and walked over to the door of the room, opening it. A man in a white lab coat stood there, a metal case in hand. The two exchanged a greeting and the man nodded, handing the case over to Artemis, who then strode over to the group and opened the metal box. Inside, there were five metal cylinders, all seeming perfectly built to fit in a person's hand.
"Hey, hey. Don't get distracted. Over here."
The group turned away from the open case in Artemis' hands, back to Alviss, who was holding a metal cylinder identical to those in the case.
"This here is an UV Blade."
Alviss waved the cylinder in front of their faces, flipping it over and showing them a button on the end of the UV Blade.
"It's simple enough. Hit this to turn it on, again to turn it off. I know many of you like your stakes, but you've obviously felt the disadvantage of range, am I right? Those things are shorter than Van Dan's haircut."
Alviss waved a hand airily at Van Dan's groaned cry of annoyance, handily flipping the cylinder backwards and hitting the button in one fluid motion. A violet blade of light blazed forth from the other end of the metal cylinder, casting a purple glow over the room.
"Ultraviolet Light. Deadly to vampires.."
He reversed the cylinder again so that the blade of light pierced his torso.
"..Harmless to humans."
Alviss finished, a satisfied smirk on his face. The blade of light dimmed, fading away to nothingness.
"Ah, I forgot to mention. Try to limit your use of the Blades. The energy required to generate the light is immense and I haven't been able to find a suitable power source for it. Till then, I can safely say that the UV Blade has about three minutes lifetime. And you can only turn it on and off about three times. The start up energy needed ain't no joke either."
Alviss smiled, tossing the spent UV Blade aside to the floor.
"I believe that concludes my part of the briefing. Good luck and come back alive, people."
The scientist flashed a final grin, giving the group a thumbs up before he cut off the transmission..

"Well, that's a wrap. I know how the next part goes..so..the three of you. I am Icarus. Icarus Valentin. This is your first mission and the final part of your training, as you already know. The most important part is where rookies like you can fuck up easily. I know, since I was one of them. The gear you need will be in the transport. Get yourselves ready and meet back down in the parking lots in ten minutes. Don't be late."
Icarus laid his first orders as a lieutenant out surprisingly well and even Artemis raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in behavior.
"We'll make a Lt. out of you yet, Valentin."
Artemis said as she set the metal case down on one of the chairs and stepped over to the door, a ghost of a smile playing on her lips as she left the room. Icarus grinned at her as she left. He knew when he needed to be serious and when to throw a few jokes about. That had been how he had climbed the ranks back when he had been a mere runner in Noctem. He ushered the trio out of the room, handing them each one of the UV Blades as they left before he turned to Mish, a smirk on his face. And now was the time to throw a bit of teasing about.
"So, Princess..I can call you that now, right? Since I'm reasonably sure you don't have any hot chocolate left."
Icarus teased, picking up one of the UV Blades and tossing it lightly over to Mish. It would've taken a person with absolutely no sense of eye-to-hand coordination to miss the catch and of course Mish wouldn't disappoint, catching it neatly.
"I'll meet you at the parking lots. Gotta get cleaned up. As usual."
He sighed, shaking his head and spraying another drip of chocolate onto the floor. The cleaner lady was going to have a fit. He turned towards the door and left, leaving Mission alone with Van Dan.
"Augh. My back. Anyone gonna help me up?"

Do whatever you have to, get ready and make your way to the meeting place.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jason, Eva, Fatty and Bamboo.
Luminatus City, Luminas Nightclub.

Eva shot Jason a half-grateful, half-suspicious look as he moved in between her and the two douchebag vampires. She had a feeling that this man wasn't content just to play hero..and she would be right, usually. Most men that approached her weren't too hard to read, even a vampire. Still..
"Don't let their..body structure fool you. The fat one is really fast and the thin one is strong."
Eva inched closer to Jason, her voice a whisper, just audible enough to reach Jason's ear with that bit of valuable information.

"Whaaaat? Who's this punk?!"
Bamboo's screechy, irritating voice would grate on anyone's nerves. Indeed, even Fatty had looked a bit annoyed as soon as the thin vampire had started flapping those ugly lips of his.
"Shuddup. Let's just teach this guy a lesson and get our money."
Fatty made a show of cracking his knuckles, making himself out to be some tough bruiser. He stepped forward and his rotund body blurred with movement so fast that even Jason's vampire eyes couldn't keep up with him, only managing to make out Fatty's fist rocketing towards his face..

It's a fight, buddy. Take them down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reaver.
Retreating from Ravenwatch Outpost.

Silver bullets ripped into Reaver's werewolves as they disengaged from their futile attempt of trying to scale the Outpost walls and breaking down the reinforced door, instead turning to retreat from the killing field that they were in midst of. The lycans had suffered immense casualties from their reckless charge to test Ravenwatch's defenses, which were stout indeed. There wouldn't be any getting through the Outpost with just relying on brute strength.
A chance bullet caught Reaver in his free shoulder, shattering the bone within his arm so that it hung limply at his side. The silver burned a clear path through his shoulder, exiting through the other side, dropping to the floor, it's damage done..

The remaining werewolves managed to get clear of the sharpshooters' rifle range, though a mere three remained, including Reaver. Of the initial dozen that had mounted the suicide charge on the outpost, less than a quarter had returned..
Reaver's phone rang, an impatient tune breaking the silence of the alley they had taken refuge in..

[MiscChaos]

Nel snickers as Mission dumps steaming hot... is that cocoa? It doesn't have that overwhelming coffee smell, so she's going to assume so. Either way, it's a hoot when the CO got covered in it. A little less when, like the mutt he seemed to be, he shook it off, but she just backed away and kept the crossfire to a minimum when that happened. She's glad to hear that Artemis will be accompanying them on their trip, happy to hear they'll have someone competent around so that their last training exercise doesn't screw up. Not that it would have anyway with Nel there, but the less chances taken, the better.

Nel looks on with mild curiosity on the new weapon Alviss introduces, but releases a small hiss when it's revealed to be a UV Blade. It's not that she cares overly much about stakes and shit, she really doesn't, nor is she worried about accidentally cutting herself with it, the idea of which is laughable to her, but she just doesn't really like the idea of blade of metaphoric acid to her being in existence. All it takes is one person doing something stupid while she's out in the field with them or a member of Ravenwatch getting overzealous with their mission to kill vampires and suddenly she's facing down a weapon where making the mistake of it touching her funny will end with her disabled or dead. She makes a note to ask if there are safeguards to prevent it from being turned on Ravenwatch vampires as soon as she finds Alviss or Artemis.

Icarus's little speech makes Nel raise an eyebrow, surprised that such an incompetent buffoon could actually make himself sound like leader material if he wanted. Then again, even the dumbest squirrel finds a nut every now and again. Her opinion doesn't change, what with him botching the first impression, but it's a little more likely to now than before. She tenses as she's handed a UV Blade as she's ushered out the room, still wildly uncomfortable with the thing merely existing. Since she has ten minutes, she decides to track down Alviss to ask about those safeguards. She knows she won't feel secure about this weapon until she knows for sure she can't be run through in her sleep by her own people. Since the buffoon said that the gear is in the transport, she assumes that her confiscated silver sword is in there too so she doesn't worry about it.

[napsii]

"That's what I thought." Mission grinned wickedly, folding her arms under her chest triumphantly until a sprinkler of hot chocolate rained back down on her.

"H-hey!" she snapped, amazed at how rapidly Icarus could ruin anything. Of course, her irritation faded in an instant as the smart-fabric woven into her shirt and jacket killed the chocolate stains almost immediately. The wonders of technology.

The girl wasn't a harsh mistress, at least not to anyone who wasn't a cocksure, wisecracking numbnut like Icarus, but any human, lycan or vampire with half a brain could get their kicks out of showing the heterochromatic jerkbag a lesson in respect. She snorted to herself, standing back from the proceedings without debate just as Artemis called them to attention. The fun and games over, she felt a little tense. The few times she'd went into the field, she'd felt somewhat safe behind her vest and her guns, but she was certainly not a soldier like Artemis, VD or even Icarus, whose criminal past had desensitized him. She shifted. That was, of course, the point of issue taken by her father.

He was a billionaire inventor and military contractor who had been knighted by the Queen 15 years ago was an accredited master with several European disciplines of swordsmanship. And his daughter was... an eighteen-year old girl who built fancy gadgets. She wanted to sigh, listening to the briefing drone on. He didn't want her in the field, and indeed always had her scrabbling for justification, but she wanted to go out. She wanted to pick up a rifle and go to town on Irae's minions. She avoided brooding by focusing on the UV Blades. She had a personal interest in the light swords having debated them to no end with Al and field tested one in the last mission on his behalf. There was the inevitable evolution of the ancient stake.

I wish dad could help us with it. He'd know how to improve the power supply. she thought. Al had taken the reins on it, although Mish had provided input here and there, and likewise with her own creations... which felt more like school projects than anything at times.

A voice commanded her attention. The authority was so unfamiliar, but-- no, it was... Icarus, of all people? The girl blinked, turning to the newly-appointed lieutenant with surprise for how well he'd handed out his first orders despite being covered in cocoa. Her cheeks turned red as she flustered.

Maybe he's not that incompetent. she thought in a mumble with a mental "hmph", honestly unsure if she was relieved or annoyed he wasn't living up to her expectations that he was a complete idiot. She growled audibly, hearing his little taunt. She could have bit his head off then and there. She sighed, effortlessly catching the UV Blade as the lieutenant walked off. VD caught her attention, and she looked down with an amused grin. He never failed to get himself in trouble. It was hard to believe he was anywhere close to a badass soldier if you didn't know he was with Ravenwatch. Mish always imagined he would have been high school teacher or a mid-level manager at Sterling if he hadn't been a RW agent.

"Here, I'll help." she said, crouching down to toss his arm over her shoulder. She grit her teeth with effort, slowly raising the CO to his feet. Here was one of those times where she overestimated her strength; she would never admit it was impossible for her to easily lift a muscular, adult man to his feet until times like these. Of course, her frame was as light as a feather. Icarus and most of their lycan and vampire operatives could lift her off the ground with one hand. She dusted off his back in a friendly manner, feeling her smartphone vibrate in her jacket. Incoming text. She silenced it with a tap, already knowing who'd messaged her. Her custom-designed, encrypted Ravenwatch-issue smartphone wasn't like her constantly buzzing normal cellphone.

"You know, uhh, you should really stop doing that to Arty." she smiled, at last looking down to her phone's touchscreen:

I'm pulling up to the building now. Wait for me before you leave.

The blunt wording and unadorned, default-point black font meant it could only have been one person. She sighed, stowing the phone away.

[Zender_Solarheart]

Greg holds a hand up in front of his face when Lt. Icarus shakes the cocoa out of his hair, causing any droplets headed for his face to instead land on his palm. Well, that was...interesting.

Artemis's answer to Greg's question provokes more questions than answers. Questions such as "how can a mere human pull off a move like that?" and "Could there have been some bio-engineering project she was a part of?" That second one is quickly dismissed as highly implausible, though, so he doesn't pay it any mind. The warning directed towards Mia, however, gets a rather morbid sense of attention from him; even from where he's sitting, he could feel the razor-sharp will in that glare. Was Artemis...threatening her? Dear God, I sure hope not...

Their little tutorial walk-through of the UV Blades has Greg's sci-fi fandom side beaming with curiosity and wonder. It's just like the laser-sabers from Astro Wars, though with an IFF geared against vampires...and with a measly battery life of 3 minutes...damn. He wanted to get his Space Monk on, too...oh well.

With the briefing concluded, and ten minutes to spare before lock-and-load time, Greg salutes Lt. Icarus, and responds: "Affirmative, Lieutenant." He then heads off in the general direction of the parking lot, but more to find a vending machine for a drink, and to start familiarizing himself with the base's layout in that section. If each of their missions have them rolling out from that area, then it's better to get used to it sooner than late. Along the way, he pulls out his personal journal, and starts recording an entry:

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Ravenwatch service, Day 1.

As a newcomer to the force, I wasn't expecting anyone too high-up and prestigious to be my CO...but I wasn't expecting a guy like Lt. Icarus, either. I especially wasn't expecting him to have a woman like Artemis as his friend...or girlfriend...or whatever their relationship is. Seriously, that girl's scary. In hindsight, however, I probably should've expected the head of Ravenwatch to at least be present for my first briefing.

So far, I have two squad-mates, not counting the CO, and what little I know about them, I figured out mostly during the training days. There's Mia, a Lycan girl with technical talent, who seemed a bit nervous during the briefing. Perhaps she feels uncomfortable around humans, due to her heritage...but I don't know enough to judge. Then, there's Citronelle, or "Nel" as she prefers...who's a vampire...in Ravenwatch...yeah, no idea how to explain THAT one, but as long as she doesn't turn on us, I'm cool with it. Hell, she'll probably come in handy with the vamps we'll actually be fighting, especially if what I read about her training period is true. How I ended up with two girls as my squad-mates, I may never know...but hey, I'm not complaining.

I just took a drink from their vending machine, and I gotta say...I didn't know Peak Dew came in a "Grapevine Grapple" flavor. It's pretty good, in all fairness, though if they have machines stocked for the friendly vampires stationed here, getting a drink may start getting much more awkward from here on out.

(OOC: in case it wasn't obvious, yes, Greg snagged his soda before typing that last paragraph. )

[Lady Foxy]

Mia let out an inaudible 'Meep!' as Artemis gave a quick, sharp glare at her direction when she spoke the word 'Arty'. Being used to friendly and overall casual friends, she hadn't thought about the woman being actually serious about not calling her by her really cute, adorable nickname. Or at least, that's what she thought of her nickname. Then her eyes opened wide as Artemis mentioned the words life and death, sinking back in her seat as she looked back into those gray eyes of hers, feeling as if her glare could turn her into ice within a brief couple of seconds. Feeling timid and shy of her now, she let out a soft sigh when she mentioned coming with them along the mission.

Paying attention the briefing and all of the explanations had gotten her to feel a bit insecure about everything going on within the Ravenwatch, definitely leaving the room while rushing a bit up ahead than the others. Having her rather small leather backpack on, she pulled out her decently-sized tablet and began to surf the applications before finding her journal. Deciding to make a short entry, she tapped her fingers against the smooth and flawlessly clean screen.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Missy Arty is scary.. I love her name though, it's so cute! I dunno if I should call her Arty though.. Maybe she's just kidding around! But her.. Look is scary, I better not make her mad!

Ravenwatch is okay, most of them are friendly.. The lieutenant looks silly though, why would he let himself be covered in cocoa?

End of Entry.

Having not looked where she had been walking though, she would have closed the application and turned off the tablet, putting it back within the safety of her leather backpack while attaching the magnetic lock that sealed it in case it was threatened to be opened. Mia would have went to the parking lots right away, holding back the urge to pull a certain teddy bear plush out of her backpack.

[jayjaycaps]

Jason noted Eva's advice, giving her a small nod. He grimaced while Bamboo talked, his annoying voice hurting Jason's ears . That skinny one really needs to shut up...

Out of instinct, Jason side stepped the punch. Grabbing the Fatty's wrist, he pulled it around, bringing the vampire around. Pushing him, Jason aimed to shove him into the Skinny one, trying to inconvenience them both. Stepping back, Jason had his fists raised, ready to fight back. He twisted his neck to each side, cracking it. "Last chance, you two. Leave now."