STGOD - Maelstrom, Vol. I

[Ra]

Mark quickly felled the other psion, who was too stunned from the fate of his comrade to react in time. Moving on, the group got steadily closer to the exit.

Selene went down the flight of stairs, moving quickly with Vincent following closely. Her senses then suddenly picked up a soldier hiding in a corner. Turning swiftly, the Death Dealer fired a burst right into his chest, killing the soldier before he could get off more than a few errant rounds.

Just that quickly, the fall of another hammer could be heard, as a second soldier broke over, and attacked, taking aim at Vincent. He fired, but just that quickly, so did the Vampyre, who put three rounds into his face. The soldier was killed instantly, but not before putting a round in Vincent's shoulder. The Vampyre yelled in pain, and flinched, but continued on nonetheless, the bullet having little effect on him. The entire affair had taken an instant.

[Comrade Tortoise]

The necromancer's spells of protection would not last much longer. They would need to get out of this place quickly.

Another soldier popped out from behidn the final corner, the hallway leading outside and fired several rounds into Alvarius. But the rounds passed straight through, courtesy of an Ironguard spell.

With a whispered word and a gesture, the enormous amounts of pain wracked his frail body. Every synaps in his brain fired in horrific agony as he writhed in pain upon the floor

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

Rome, Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport....


Kreshna was sipping a cup of macchiato while waiting for the Emirates flight that would take him back to New York. The previous flight from Venice was quite tiring, but he managed to take some sleep.

While he was taking another sip, someone rushed past him and bumped at his elbow, spilling the coffee to the floor. "Oops, sorry," the guy sincerely apologized.

The assassin merely frowned. No big loss, the macchiato tasted horrible after all. The stranger, however, insisted, "look, I'm really sorry. How about I buy you another cup of coffee?"

Kreshna replied, pleased by the guy's politeness, "it's alright, thank you.

"Are you sure? I spilled most of your coffee and....."

"Well, it tastes bad anyway. Besides, I believe you're in hurry.

Eventually the guy shrugged and continued his pace, rushing his way to the immigration check. As he left, Kreshna suddenly noticed something peculiar about the stranger.

During his service at the Watchmen, he had been trained to recognize mystical beings in disguise. Vampires, for instance, can be seamlessly mingling with normal people, but each and every Watchmen agent had been intensively trained to recognize them at first glance.

The stranger was a vampire.

At noon?

Without sunblock at all?


He then remembered about Project Nosferatu, where the Watchmen recruited best genecitists from all over the world to create a a new breed of vampires; genetically-engineered and enhanced to serve as super-soldiers for the organization. They were also supposed to have more UV resistance than normal vampires.

But Project Nosferatu had been cancelled more than five years ago due to technological constraints at that time.

So who were behind this new phenomenon now?

Who created all these genetically engineered vampires?


Kreshna was thinking; ersisting UV radiation was nothing but the start. He knew the genetically engineered vampire he just encountered was nothing more than the early stage. When developed into later stages, these vampires would evolve further, becoming more powerful and resilient in each stage of development.

He was an ex-Watchmen; he knew the horrible consequences would happen if the experiment was revived. And the horror would be unleashed upon humanity.

Kreshna was not a racist, but he believed that humans -normal humans- should never succumb to supernatural beings; it was the same reason why he joined the Watchmen on the first place. Even after resigning, he still believed in their ideals.

He needed to investigate who behind this newly revived experiment.

[Ra]

Demi was a magically adept, and knew that their friend had been exhausing much of his spellcasting ability at that point. In fact, she was tiring herself. They were now on the third story, still far away from the car, and their escape.

Two more soldiers ran up, only to be met by Selene's fire. She dropped them, and then slammed up against the wall, releasing her now empty magazines. Reloading, she moved around the wall at incredible speed. The Vampyre was joined by Mark, and they both tore into a squad of soldiers covering the position. Within seconds, the squad had been reduced to a scene of carnage and chaos, as most of the men had either been killed or fled down the hall.

Mark saw another group heading to intercept them, and dropped to a knee.

"Go on!" he shouted.

Levelling his rifle, Mark lightly went back on the trigger, felling a soldier with a shot to the head. He quickly acquired another attacker, and then another, before the terrified men took cover. Smirking in satisfaction, Mark then rose to his feet, and popped off several more covering shots as he spun, and ran after the others.

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

"Beluga or Servuga, Sir?"

"Beluga, please."

Aboard the Emirates flight, Kreshna was thinking. Genetically engineered vampires that can resist ultraviolet was not a good news for him.

For now, he should rely on heavy firepower for self-defense. Original, non-bioengineered vampires could still be hurt by a large amount of normal bullets. Immunity to UV doesn't translate to immunity to bullets.

He still could handle this early stage, but he knew that later incarnations would be a horror to deal with. Not only it would make his job -assassinating supernatural beings- be more difficult, but it would spell doom upon the humanity. The normal humans like himself, the Watchmen, and the rest of world population.

He had made the decision; upon his arrival in New York, he should investigate the new party behind this. He hated to suspend any future contracts, but he knew he was a normal human being. Survival was always the highest priority. Survival of humanity.



OOC: alright, I changed Willie Pete to more bullets, since I just knew that Arcanum Vampires (which is used in this STGOD) can be hurt by KE attacks, but not fire.

[Comrade Tortoise]

"I will probably be exhausted by the time we make it downstairs. We should probably end this." Alvarius said.

"If we can find a window, I can get us down safely" he said, before directing his wand at another small group of soldiers, small magical orbs butchering them like farm animals.

[Ra]

Ironically, Selene was thinking the very same thing; she'd been wanting to leap down and retrieve the car so they could escape. But how were the mercenaries going to pull off such a jump? It was childs' play for a Vampyre, but not for a mortal.

"Give me your car keys," she ordered Mark.

"What?" he remarked, raising an eyebrow.

"Do it!" Selene insisted.

Mark reluctantly tossed the Vampyre his car keys, and continued providing cover. Selene glanced at a window, and motioned for Vincent to follow her. She unloaded several more rounds into a nearby soldier, before firing two more at a window. She and Vincent jumped right down, landing on the street below. Both ran on toward the car. The enemy, alerted to the chaos going on inside, had let its guard down. She met no resistance.

Selene rushed to Mark's car, and got in, starting it up. She pulled the car to the side of the building, and waited.

As the mage loomed nearby, Mark looked at his car below, and looked to Demi, who was clasping his hand.

"Here goes nothing, my sweet," he sighed.

"We have to," she said hesitantly.

And with that, the mercenary husband and wife dropped out the window, to whatever injuries awaited them three stories below.

[Comrade Tortoise]

"pheatherfall" said the mage as he too lept from the building and touched the two mercenaries. Their descent slowed down to a comparative crawl and they would suffer no injuries upon reaching the ground.

[Ra]

The mercenaries slowly touched the ground, much to Mark's surprise. Running to the passenger door, the mercenaries got in. Once Alvarius got in as well, Mark tapped the seat.

"Go, go!" Demi shouted.

Selene grabbed the shifter, and put the car into gear. Tires squeeled, and the car sped away, leaving the factory far behind. Mark then clasped his wound, and pulled back the burnt part of his shirt. He was indeed burned under the skin.

"Shit," he muttered.

Demi put a hand over his, and did her best to comfort him. Noticing something, she then reached in his pocket, pulling out the CD. What secrets did it contain?

[Comrade Tortoise]

" I am skilled in analysis of such things. I can help you uravel it's mysteries...in order to study and manipulate death, I must also study life"

Besides, only he was allowed to use vampires for experiments

[Ra]

"Where are we going to? I doubt your friend Kraven will let us all have a slumber party," Mark quipped.

"I have to drop Vincent off at the Mansion," Selene answered. "But I'll drop the three of you off at your hotel."

"Good. It's the Hotel Keblovszki, just south of here," Demi explained.

"I want that disk," Selene stated.

"I'll burn you a copy," Mark replied. "I'd like to go over the contents myself."

Selene glanced back, and said, "And what concern is it to you, mercenary? This is our business, not yours."

"It's in the contract," Mark defended.

Selene grimaced, and shifted into a higher gear.

Mark sat back, as Demi tended to his wounds with the medical kit she got from under the seat. Selene was correct, but he had seen some of that information, and he had seen the strange device being built behind the factory. Whatever these people were up to, it was big. At the very least, it would lead to possibly more jobs for Kraven and his group.

[Narsil]

With a flash of blue light, something which strongly resembled a small tin shed appeared in a cavernous hangar bay. A single man strolled arrogantly towards it, flanked by a pair of armed bodyguards. As they walked, the tin shed took the immediate form of a large personal helicopter, its windows entirely blackened. The door to the helicopter opened, revealing an immensely, and quite impossibly, large room inside, and a tall dark-haired man with an arrogant-looking sneer upon his features. At his side was a blonde-haired young woman, who was being held firmly by the arm.

"Welcome back, Master," the word seemed alien to Khan, despite it being used as a name rather than a title, "I see that you didn't manage to capture any alien 'Doctor' for me to experiment on, nothing but a teenage girl."

"No, Khan," the Master replied, "but I managed to capture a companion of his," he grinned, "this girl, Rose Tyler, is a close personal friend of the Doctor, and he will most certainly be here to rescue her."

"Very well," Khan replied, "I shall await his 'arrival', and when he gets here, I'll defeat him myself."

"That won't be possible," the Master said arrogantly, "the Doctor is far superior to yourself," he snorted, "merely killing him doesn't seem to be enough."

"Oh?" Khan replied, "I think you'll find that I am a superior intelligence, Master, contrary to your opinions of me."

"I do not deny that you are smarter than your human brethren," the Master replied, "but that isn't saying much..."

"Silence!" Khan snapped before turning to his bodyguards, "Take the girl to the holding cells..." he turned back to the Master, "We'll talk later, Master, and perhaps we'll deal with your insolence." The warlord turned and walked away methodically.

As soon as he was out of earshot, the Master chuckled, "Not likely, Khan."

***

"Well," the Doctor grimaced as he checked the TARDIS' controls, "the only other TARDIS I can detect travelled through time just a few moments ago," he worked the controls slightly, "I've tracked its trajectory to the year 2007, on Earth."

"Then let's get going, eh Doctor?"

"Certainly," the Doctor grimaced, "I just hope it isn't who I think it is."

[Comrade Tortoise]

"Where are we going to? I doubt your friend Kraven will let us all have a slumber party," Mark quipped.

"I have to drop Vincent off at the Mansion," Selene answered. "But I'll drop the three of you off at your hotel."

"Good. It's the Hotel Keblovszki, just south of here," Demi explained.

"I want that disk," Selene stated.

"I'll burn you a copy," Mark replied. "I'd like to go over the contents myself."

Selene glanced back, and said, "And what concern is it to you, mercenary? This is our business, not yours."

"It's in the contract," Mark defended.

Selene grimaced, and shifted into a higher gear.

Mark sat back, as Demi tended to his wounds with the medical kit she got from under the seat. Selene was correct, but he had seen some of that information, and he had seen the strange device being built behind the factory. Whatever these people were up to, it was big. At the very least, it would lead to possibly more jobs for Kraven and his group.

"Are you a biologist mark?" The mage said

"If not, I can help you analyze the data, it is probably not going to be in a form you can easily understand"

[Ra]

"Sounds fair enough to me," replied the mercenary.

* * *
Later

Back at the hotel, Selene returned with Mark's car, and went back to their hotel room. She pounded on the door, waiting for Mark to answer.

The door opened, revealing Demi's face. She smiled, and said, "Hi, come in."

The Vampyre walked up to the desk, where Mark was looking nonchalantly over the information he'd gotten.

"So, what did you find out?" he asked.

"The organization we're dealing with answers to a man called 'Yuri'," Selene explained. "I searched for whatever data about them I could find on that disk."

"Yes, it's mostly files on this Yuri's genetic experiments," Mark sighed. "I've also done some searching around for news and other things relating to him, no luck sofar. Have you figured anything out from the files?"

"A little," the Death Dealer answered. Combat and investigation were her expertise, not genetics.

Mark then glanced over to Alvarius, and said, "Well, we had a little more luck. You'd better listen to this."

[Comrade Tortoise]

"As you know, natural vampirism is caused, by a genetic anomaly which allows your bodies to be powered by negative energy, rather than positive. I will spare you the metaphysical explanation of that, sometimes it seems that my home-world of Faerun, which exists at a medieval technology level has a more advanced knowledge of theoretical physics.. at any rate, lycanthropy is also caused by a genetic anomaly.

Transmitted lycanthropy and vampirism are caused by a sort of... natural genetic recombination. In other words, when you bite someone and drink their blood, you transmit a primitive retrovirus which your body manufactures which splices in the vampirism gene.

Now, what they first did is analyzed the Y chromosome mutations of a natural lycahthrope and a natural vampire. Many of them match. More importantly, certain very specific ones. It seems to me at least that you share a common ancestor. In fact, considering the number of generations of natural vampires, your sire shares a common 4th generation great grandfather, with the lowest generation of natural lycanthropes.

The differences might seem to large for there to be crossbreeding. But under the correct circumstances, it is possible. What they would have to do, is find a human who is descended from the same common ancestor, which is possible, and use him as a template to splice in both genetic anomalies. In other words, they are trying to make hybrids"

[Ra]

"The question of course," Mark said, "Is why this Yuri wants a hybrid. What makes you Vampyres tick, so to speak?"

"We're faster, and have better senses than a mortal," Selene said. "We can also do many things a mortal can't."

"Like falling down from buildings and just walking on as if nothing happened?" Demi noted.

"Yes," she answered. "And as you also know, we're immortal. Many things that will kill one of you won't kill us."

Mark scratched his face, and said, "So, Yuri is trying to improve his soldiers with these traits..."

"While keeping them Human enough to control," Selene finished. "Most Vampyres will join a House. They'll either be found by us, or they'll come to us themselves."

Selene then took off her leather overcoat, and said, "But it's easy enough to make a Dhampyr."

"They're wanting to overcome the need to consume blood as well, trying to take the positive traits of Vampyrism without the negatives," Mark added, "according to what Alvarius found. And as he said, their efforts to combine your bloodline with that of the Lycans was showing much... promise."

Selene didn't like the sound of that at all.

[Comrade Tortoise]

"Your consumption of human blood has dual purposes. The first is that it serves as a magical conduit for your supernatural abilities. You use blood to keep you immortal, ad you use blood to survive falls and bullet wounds. The second, is that you do not naturally synthesize hemoglobin. So you require blood in order to extract it and use it in the manufacturing of your red blood cells. There are some who dont require the use of blood for such mundane purposes, only for the supernatural stuff, but they still crave it due to the, no offense, evil energy that courses through them. Getting around that craving without the use of magic is their goal. me, I could probably do it with some effort, I would have to use spells though"

[Ra]

Demi crossed her arms. "So are you saying this Yuri probably has a mage on his side?"

"Or they've found out a way to do this technologically," Mark added.

"That too," Demi nodded, "but we can't rule out the possibility."

"Obviously," Mark smiled. "The problem here is if they can somehow incorporate the Lycan DNA."

"I don't see how they could, baring some magical feat," Selene said.

"Whatever the case," Mark said, "We've uncovered something big tonight, far bigger than what any of us had expected. What's our next move?"

Selene grabbed her coat.

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

Like most other arms dealer, Daniel Hilderbrand never knew who his costumers actually are; nor does he cared, as long as they were paying in cash. The 'Mr Smith' that made appointment with him was no exception.

Eventually Mr Smith arrived. On time. This guy can't be some street thugs, Daniel thought. In fact, with his cardigan sweater and thick glasses, Smith did not look like someone who can use firearms at all.

"Is it here?" Smith asked.

"Of course," Daniel waves his hand proudly, "Mac-10 Minigun. 1100 rounds per minute. Guaranteed to solve any problem you have."

"Can I test it?"

"Of course. The bullets are for free. Bonus, y'know!" The arms dealer grinned.

The shooting range was just a legitimate cover for Daniel's illegitimate business. It also served as facility for the costumers to test their merchandise. Daniel watched with awe as the thick-glasses nerd fired the gun with much better handling than most gang members who comprised the majority of his costumers.

Mr Smith then handed out the cash and left. Daniel grinned with satisfaction; Smith did not haggle at all. If only all customer is like this... he thought.


Back on his car, Kreshna took off his thick glasses and drove. He loved a Micro-Uzi, but now he need more punch. He didn't know the exact capabilities of these new genetically-engineered vampires, so it's better to be cautious.

The next thing to do is investigating their weakness. He already heard about the firefight happened in the abandoned factory, and while the authority dismissed it as yet another gang warfare, there's something really had him interested.

One of the victims were now treated in the hospital; a geneticist named Keith Dibben. One of the scientist recruited in the Watchmen's failed project to create genetic-engineered vampire.

Maybe it's time to dig up some more information.

[Comrade Tortoise]

"Our next move should probably be to investigate this Yuri character. We know he employs psionicists who use phyrokinesis as a weapon.. Wemay be able to capture one of his minions and subject him to interrogation"

[Ra]

"Sounds like a plan," Mark replied.

Selene nodded. "Yes, we'll go back tomorrow, and try to capture one of these psionics."

"I expect you need to be heading back to the Mansion," Mark indicated.

"Dawn's in a few hours," the Vampyre answered. "We'll rendezvous back here at midnight tomorrow."

Mark then grabbed his keys.

[Comrade Tortoise]

"I'll See you then"

With a few words, the necromancer vanished.

[Ra]

It was nearly dawn when Mark returned to the hotel. He walked in, to see Demi resting peacefully. He tried not to wake her as he sat on the bed, but nonetheless she opened her gray eyes, and smiled at him.

"Thank the gods we're finally alone," she laughed.

"Yeah, I'm exhausted," Mark sighed. "One hell of a night. Hopefully this'll all be over soon, and we can get our payment."

"I think this isn't going to be just any job, Mark, you know that too," Demi said.

"I know. But just think, after this we'll probably have enough payment to settle down for the rest of our lives," Mark said, trying to break a laugh. He then wrapped his arms around Demi, and kissed her.

Demi then pulled away, and said, "Wait."

She then opened Mark's shirt, and checked his wound.

"I'll be fine," he droned.

"Bullshit," Demi answered. She then got a bottle of green cream from off the nearby table, and started rubbing it on her husband's wound. She added, "Here, some nice Elvish medicine to get your wound healed faster."

Mark clenched his fists in pain, and then said, "What do you think this man's up to?"

Demi put up the cream, and sighed. At that point, it was too early to tell. She then said, "Are you sure about this? You've already been hurt, and-"

Mark touched her face, and said, "I'll be fine."

Demi clasped his hand, and answered, "Just please don't let this go too far, Mark. Don't let it take you. Promise me... promise me that if I ask you to quit this, you will."

"I promise," the mercenary reassured her. He then looked down. Mark knew that even though it was his livelihood, his wife was more important than his job. The injury had scared her; he saw it in her eyes. But if it was possible, he had to press on, and complete this one last job.

"How many times have I said that?" Mark then asked himself.

[B4UTRUST]

A knock came at his door. He looked up from his computer monitor.
"Come in," he said tiredly.

The door opened and a young man entered, his uniform crisp and pressed, hair little more then stubble.
"Sir, the report you asked for. From earlier. It was one of Yuri's operations that was hit. A team of unknowns entered and escaped with another member, a vampyre we believe as was one of the others in the group. And at least one magic user, possibly two. Unknown ability levels."
"And our operative at the factory?"
"Dead. He was taken out in the assault. His codes are already deactivated and removed from the systems."
"Good. A shame. See that his family gets the money from his policy."
"Of course sir. The details are in the folder."
"Just toss it on my desk, I'll review it in a bit."

The man laid a plain folder onto the mahogany desk and did an about-face, exiting as quickly as he entered, pulling the door shut behind him.

The man behind the desk slid the folder to him and opened it with a finger. Several photos were paperclipped to the inside of a car and the occupants as well as several of the battle itself. Various reports of casualty levels, recovered equipment and dossiers on several of Yuri's men at the site were also included. He scanned through them briefly. Nothing had been gained that was worth the life of an agent. The photos might help them at some point maybe. One of Yuri's labs had been taken out, one that the Watchmen had been monitoring for a few months now. The research Yuri was doing was impressive, something that the Watchmen themselves had worked on before to a lesser degree and with varying levels of success. To bad the data had been destroyed before his agent could get a copy of it to them for review. A waste. He reached for his phone and dialed a number. The line picked up on the first ring.
"Yuri's lab at the factory was hit today. We've already gone through it for retrieval. Clean the site, don't let civilians be exposed."
"Of course, sir. We'll have it done shortly."
"Let me know when. And if you find anything of use..."
"Of course, sir. I'll notify you immediatly."

He hung up the phone and closed the folder, sliding it back across his desk. He turned again to the monitor and scrolled down on the report he was reading before he was interupted. Research into their new retrovirus was going well it seemed...

[Comrade Tortoise]

Little did anyone know, his lair was deep in the last American Frontier. It was a tower built on a tiny island in Cook Inlet along the Alaskan coast. Only a few miles away from Mount Augustine. It was remote, and the ocean protected him well. Still, he would need other defenses in order to stave off what he knew in his tainted heart would come.

His wards were in place, still, there was a chance that they could be breached. He would need arial and aquatic defenses... He There were things he would need to be summon and bind to his will... but he would need...sacrifices. He smirked. Anchorage was not far away. Still, this he would do later