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Post by Circe on Oct 13, 2019 17:17:40 GMT -6
A new Ra had ascended to the throne of the Dragon Court, and with his assumption of the throne each additional court had come to pay their respects to their newest ruler. This new and august court had decreed that others in the unseen were no better than human chattel. With this edict free reign was given to hunt for blood once more, for the court believed a vampire could no more control its very nature any more than one could control a god. The Unseen watched in horror as the body count grew by the day, and as an insatiable court was given over to its whims. Vampires were required to feed in order to survive, but the previous court had created a system of consent and donations, a thing of the past now in the new court. The new Dragon Court now governed itself by a older and archaic set of rules from its parent court in Florence. They now wholly believed themselves to be untouchable at the top of the food chain in a manner like they had once been centuries ago. However they did not remain uncontested in this as MCU and the Unseen Council had taken notice of the increase in cases related to vampires. Ever aware of the shifting politics with long lived populations, checks and balances were generally in place to prevent situations like the current one. Each population received the right to have a representative on the Council, and therefore equal representation of their issues or interests. Help would be necessary to combat the problems created by the now out of control courts. In normal periods, that would be the job of the Specialists; individuals pulled from MCU's own ranks to receive additional training based on their expertise in certain areas of magic or populations. But there was a problem, Dallas only had two specialists on payroll and worked with a revolving door of civilian consultants.
"We need more fire power and you need answers... or rather likely back up such as we are." Lt. Xiaolian Boyuan remarked looking across the table at two others, her partner Sgt. Molly Bronson and Tyrus, one of the last living sons of the previous Dragon Court's rulers.
Xiaolian was a petite woman of presumably Asian descent and with a give no fucks no nonsense type attitude. Trained by the Eastern branch of the Unseen Council in black arts that were best not discussed, she had been placed in Dallas following a case that saw her striking deals with the enemy in effort to protect a larger population. Accused of being crooked in addition to her own family's disowning, she had been left between a rock and a hard place that could potentially end her career then and there. "I'm going to have to deputize you Tyrus, there's no other choice."
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Post by demikara on Oct 13, 2019 18:01:50 GMT -6
Tyrus raised an eyebrow, then nodded. "It wouldn't be the first time. I'm usually called on for fire power." His other expertise's were called upon less often. For now, he wanted answers, and they could be found at the court he had grown up in. It would be wildly different though, and he knew it. "I suppose in this case, my expertise on vampire politics is also called on." He may not know the new power, but he had seen the lay of the land. The attacks, the hunting, it had grown drastically. He could handle those politics.
He was no longer untouchable though, and that was a new sensation. He didn't like it. The mage pinned his hair up with some magic, playing it safer than usual. Keeping everything pinned up meant he was more ready for battle. "If they've got Catherine, they aren't going to want to give her back."
Molly nodded. "So we take her back." She said and stretched out. "Are we going in guns blazing, or are we going in quietly to start with?" Fighting an entire court of vampires did not sound ideal. It didn't particularly sound very doable. She was good, but the only functional Ratatoskr right now was Xiaolian. That meant she was their only exit in case things really went to hell and back.
They needed some form of a plan to prevent that from happening.
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Post by Circe on Oct 14, 2019 15:35:28 GMT -6
"Eh, more or less." Xiaolian shrugged. "Your expertise with the courts will undoubtedly be useful, and you know a bit more about Catherine than most of us do." That was the sane and logical reason for choosing Tyrus to work with them instead of anyone else. He had connections or at least could give them a rough idea of what to expect in the coming days, weeks, or even months as this latest incident played out.
The real reason was he was potentially one of the heaviest hitters MCU currently had access to, other resources and assets were either unavailable or non-existent. It wasn't often that individuals like Tyrus readily agreed to work with MCU or even the Council. They had their work cut out for them and then some. "But yes, you're right. They're not going to give her back readily, not without a fight." As much as Xiaolian loved the idea of putting one of their biggest problems to date to bed, she didn't love the idea of going in blind. That had cost her in the past, and it was possibly going to cost her again.
"As your question Molly... that depends on how badly you're wanting to hit something, or some one for that matter."
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Post by demikara on Oct 14, 2019 16:24:16 GMT -6
"I'm thinking guns blazing is a terrible strategy under the circumstances." Molly admitted. "And that it doesn't matter how good the three of us are. A court of vampires would still outnumber us enough that it could be easy pickings for them if we handle this wrong." They could get overwhelmed by numbers easily. It didn't matter how good your training was. Throw enough enemies at you and you'd either be overwhelmed or weathered down. With her escape clause shut off from her, she wasn't exactly looking forward to a battle she couldn't exit when it got overwhelming.
Sniping from the shadows was a perfectly valid way of handling conflict as far as she was concerned. The problem was the shadows were what needed sniping in this case.
Tyrus considered their options. "If they haven't moved the court entirely, there are some side exits we could us. They probably aren't as heavily guarded. Alternatively, we could try for an audience with the new Ra." That option...it had potential but he wasn't certain if he liked it. It also had insane potential to go wrong, after all.
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Post by Circe on Oct 14, 2019 16:45:07 GMT -6
"It's usually a bad strategy altogether." Xiaolian affirmed. To her it seemed like Molly was finally getting her head together, and not treating this like some child's make believe game. That alone bolstered Xiaolian's confidence in her partner, which lately had been lacking thanks to the constant effort required to not only keep herself afloat but her partner as well with reports and documents.
"Moved? Do you think the new Ra would actually go that far to usher in a new court?" She asked Tyrus. Vampires weren't exactly something she had a lot of experience with. In Hong Kong, it had been illegal trades, hiding in districts like rabbit warrens and murder. The body count had been obscenely high, and she still had nightmares from it. But it wouldn't surprise her if the court had been moved. That would only add to the difficulties they faced in their operations.
"Never mind.. I think we should try diplomacy first. An audience with the new Ra might tell us more than we could get from Brandon."
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Post by demikara on Oct 14, 2019 16:51:14 GMT -6
"Vampires are slow to change." Tyrus explained and considered the circumstances. "And a vampire court has unique needs that most architecture doesn't meet. I don't think they've moved yet. It would take time and cash. Given everything in the court was digitized and the abruptness of the changeover, they won't have liquid assets enough to move this quickly and meet their needs." Buildings had to be built certain ways, or have sub levels or any number of things, but they had to be adapted if they already existed and extensively so.
"An audience will be tricky, but its likely they don't know I'm alive yet. We could manage one by leveraging that."
Molly frowned, and tugged at her hair. "So how do we get an audience? The court has changed enough and become hostile enough that our usual tactics or going through the bureaucracy won't work." It had been a dance of politics to get an audience with the Ra. It was more common to get an audience with someone below him, but with the change in leadership and feeding tactics, she didn't know if those avenues even existed any more.
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Post by Circe on Oct 14, 2019 17:19:45 GMT -6
"Hm... that poses a challenge to them but not to us." Xiaolian mused. The liquidation of assets could be tracked within reason, she could put a team on scouring social media and auction sites. No doubt there would be quite a few unusual items coming up for sale as well if they were planning to do things quick and dirty. But then again, she also knew that that depended on how threatened the new court, like any criminal, felt when pressure was applied. "I'll get a team on tracking their digital foot print, and make a few calls later for some favors. Hopefully they're not as bright as the rest of the world when it comes to computers." She added.
Xiaolian ardently hoped that this new court was about as savvy as her Amah had been when she'd been introduced to new technology; utterly inept.
But he was right, an audience would be difficult unless they had something to offer the new court. "Do you have a death wish Tyrus? Because you going to broker for an audience is just as much as us popping in uninvited."
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Post by demikara on Oct 14, 2019 17:37:25 GMT -6
"No, not me. I'm not brokering for an audience. I'm good, but I'm not win against league of vampires good." Even he had his limits. "I meant using me as bait for an audience. Send someone to sat I was a meeting." He hesitated a moment and considered how to handle it. "I know a guy with some golems. They can't take offense to me using those for this audience, given the circumstances." Well, they could, but it wouldn't make much sense to do so. Though everyone knew how touchy vampires could be. Tyrus had scars to remind him, if he ever forgot.
Molly snorted. "That sounds like an equally terrible plan. Unless we send Officer Johnson. I'm fine with that one." The man was inept. But he could die a noble death for MCU and no one would say a thing. They may play bag pipes for him at his funeral but he wouldn't be too missed by the specialists at least.
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Post by Circe on Oct 14, 2019 19:01:01 GMT -6
Xiaolian grinned at Molly's suggestion, if only because Johnson had been a pain in everyone's ass for some time. "That does sound like a terrible plan, I'm in." She was only partially joking, if only because she knew there would be hell to pay from the Council if she did it. No one really liked Johnson, the man was insufferable and had been in more trouble for than any of the current Specialists could count.
"We could.. give him a chance to redeem himself, there's nothing in the rules that say I can't use another officer to do this. It keeps Tyrus here out of danger, and we can always wire the guy up."
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Post by demikara on Oct 15, 2019 15:48:50 GMT -6
"Woah, woah woah. I was joking. We can't send him there, even to redeem himself. He'd die. He'd offend someone and die. He's an absolute idiot and he shouldn't be on the force, but...that seems cruel." Well deserved admittedly, but cruel. "If we did this, he'd have to be coached through everything. He's a mess." The idea of actually sending him there was laughable. That was why she had joked about it. Officer Chihuahua had a big bark, yeah, but there was a reason they called him Chihuahua.
"We also can't send Tyrus in. He's a contractor and the amount of trouble we'd be in..." Tyrus could handle himself.
Tyrus considered this. "I don't mind danger, but...he may be fine. It depends on the new Ra's stance on messengers. Unfortunately, I can't actually predict what that stance would be." The new Ra was a wild card. Strong, dangerous, and old fashioned, Tyrus didn't know enough about him to predict whether he'd eat the messenger or not.
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Post by Circe on Oct 15, 2019 16:32:57 GMT -6
"So we're stuck then." Xiaolian sighed. This seemed like a no win situation and she wasn't sure there was any way to get around it.
"We send Tyrus, then they finish the job. We send Chihuahua and he gets killed or worse. So which one is it?" She asked bluntly. Johnson was her choice, not because he needed to redeem himself, but because he was an unknown to the court.
Unfortunately, she suspected that Tyrus was going to go wether they wanted him to or not.
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Post by demikara on Oct 15, 2019 17:04:07 GMT -6
There wasn't enough time to contact another branch, even if they could find one that could spare a specialist. And Tyrus would be dead on arrival regardless. They already had a hit out for him and the entire team knew it. Molly hesitated. "Offer Chihuahua the option. Make sure he knows the stakes, but offer him the option." That was a decent compromise. It was also the best compromise they were going to get and she knew it.
"And if he says no?" Tyrus said simply.
Molly thought it over. "I don't know. I'd suggest I do it, since I can usually escape, but this binding..." She couldn't run if needed and she had a feeling it would be needed.
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Post by Circe on Oct 15, 2019 18:19:46 GMT -6
"Glad to see you understanding logic and reason for once Bronson." Xiaolian remarked. Usually Molly wasn't the voice of reason in their partnership, it was more often than not the other way around. Though it did seem that the binding was at least teaching the other that not everything could be cured by throwing magic and pranks at it.
But she was right, they did need to reach a compromise instead of just telling another officer what they were doing. It in some ways would cover their hides when the Council came calling should he perish in the line of duty.
"I'll speak with Johnson today, and if he refuses I'll do it. Null status has to be good for something right?"
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Post by demikara on Oct 15, 2019 19:12:23 GMT -6
Molly frowned. "Alright. You'll be able to escape quickly if things go wrong too." That was reassuring. "That's my concern. You should be able to come straight to medical. I've done it before." The wards didn't cover there. The wards essentially only covered Catherine's office when it came down to it. Getting anti-Ratatoskr wards was expensive and finding someone to make them was difficult. It was something Molly took full advantage of when she wasn't bound.
Tyrus frowned. "I don't know how far in he would get, or anyone would. They aren't going to be very human friendly right now." That was an understatement given the body count. He had no doubt that they were snacking on mundanes as well, and who knew how long that would happen without serious trouble visiting the Unseen. He considered their options. "But I'm not seeing a better option. Someone has to go talk to them and the only vampire I know of who might is Brandon. And he'd not do it willingly." Contractor or not, he'd turn that job down. His baby brother hated the court with a passion and that wasn't likely to change.
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Post by Circe on Oct 17, 2019 16:15:22 GMT -6
"No, you're right. It's best we leave Brandon out of this, if only due to the potential for added complications." Xiaolian agreed. There was something about this whole situation that made her stomach churn, not with the unknown, but with the fact that everything could go so terribly wrong. Worse than it already was.
"If they're not human friendly then who else do we know with ties to the Court aside from Tyrus here and Brandon?" She asked looking between the two. They had to be missing something that would give them an idea of what they were up against. It wasn't often than a vampire court totally restructured itself and appointed a new leader. The creatures were long lived and usually more interested in their own selfish needs when it boiled down to the politics.
"We're going to need someone on our side."
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