Vampire the Masquerade - V5 - Session Ninety Three - 'Resistance' (Part Four)

I'm currently running a Vampire the Masquerade chronicle using the 5th Edition rule-set for a small group of fellow role-players. These are the chronicles of their adventures.

Our chronicle is set in Los Angeles and features a small group of Camarilla agents sent into the 'Free States' to bring them back under Camarilla control. Over a year of plotting allowed the coterie to gain control of two North-Eastern Baronies and a large part of a third. Now they are moving on to the final stage of their campaign and have their eyes on taking over the entire city, either directly or by proxy.

--------------------
The now obligatory warning bit - Unlike my other RPG write-ups this one will contain swearing, sexual references and other references that might offend. If you can't tell the difference between real             peoples opinions and grown-ups role-playing predators who crave blood then this probably won't be for you. There are however a list of potential triggers listed before the introduction. I've also used actual photographs to represent some characters which I'll give acknowledgements to at the end if I've any idea who they are.
---------------------
The introduction to this campaign, the first story and all the other parts can be found at the following links and are in chronological order. If you'd prefer a summary of each session rather than read everything then there's a more detailed link page HERE as well as links to the first episode of each story in the blog sidebar.
---------------------
Chronicle One - 'Infiltrate L.A.' 

Welcome to L.A. - Introductory Session
Story One - 'Three Murders' - Part One, Two, Three, Four and Five
Interlude Session - One
Story Two - 'The Pasadena Problem' - Part One, Two, Three, and Four
Solo Session - 'The Neillson Library'
Story Two Continued- 'The Pasadena Problem' - Part Five, Six, Seven and Eight
Story Three - 'Becoming Baron' - Part One, Two, Three, Four and Five
Solo Session - 'The Gather'
Story Three Continued - 'Becoming Baron' - Part Six, Seven and Eight

---------------------
Chronicle Two - 'Foothold L.A.' 

Solo Session - 'Hostile Takeover'
Story Four - 'Countdown' - Part One, Two and Three
Story Five - 'The Missing Chantry' - Part One, Two, Three, Four and Five
Solo Session - 'The Anaheim Assassination'
Story Six - 'A Meeting of Barons' - Part One, Two and Three
Story Seven - 'The Carmelita Situation' - Part One, Two and Three
Story Eight - 'The Blount Sisters' - Part One and Two
Story Nine - 'Blood Money' - Part One, Two, Three, Four, Five and Six
Story Ten - 'Anathema' - Part One and Two
Story Eleven - 'Predators and Prey' aka 'The Blount Sisters' - Part Three
Story Twelve - 'Aftermath' - Part One and Two
Story Thirteen - 'The Messiah Complex' - Part One, Two, Three and Four

---------------------
Chronicle Three - 'Incursion L.A.'

Story Fourteen - 'The Rant'
Story Fifteen - 'Ties of Blood' - Part One and Two

Solo Session - 'A Gathering of Roses'

Story Sixteen - 'The Southern Solution' - Part One, Two and Three
Story Seventeen - 'The Baker Disappearance' - Part One, Two and Three

Story Eighteen - 'Inevitable Betrayals' - Part One, Two, Three, Four and Five

Story Nineteen - 'The Marius Contracts' - Part One and Two

Story Twenty - 'The MacNeil Protocols' - Part One, Two, Three, Four, Five, 

Story Twenty - 'The MacNeil Protocols' - Part Six, Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten

--------------------

Interlude Session One - After Griffith Park

Interlude Session Two - Divide and Conquer

Interlude Session Three - On the Brink of War

--------------------

Chronicle Four - 'Conquest L.A.'

Story Twenty One - 'Veni, Vidi, Victor' - Part One, Two, Three, Four, Five

Story Twenty One - 'Veni, Vidi, Victor' - Part Six, and Epilogue

Story Twenty Two - 'The Unbound' - Part One, Two, Three and Four

Story Twenty Three - 'The War Council' - Part One, Two, Three and Four

Interlude Session - Recon

Story Twenty Four - 'Resistance' - Part One, Two and Three

--------------------

The PC's

Michael Tomassio - Toreador, 'Baron of the North East'
Vincent 'Vin' Ghast - Brujah, 'Constable'
Dr Daniel Matthews - Banu Haqim, 'Fixer'
Hope Romero - Gangrel, 'Census Taker'
Mr Hertz - Nosferatu, 'Seneschal'

The Storyteller

Garreth - Everyone else...

The player characters stats and backgrounds can be found HERE should any-one be interested, but be warned that the page is usually several stories ahead of the most recent write-up and may contain some spoilers. 

There's also some minor 'house-rules' HERE that have occurred as we went along.

If I think something needs a bit of out of character explanation then those will get a storytellers note that will helpfully be in red. Where particular NPC's have a mention in a faction profile you will be able to reach it by clicking on their name or faction beneath their picture.

Trigger Warnings for This Session: Blood (Obviously), Immolation, Murder, Torture.

Storytellers Note - This session involved two characters, with some initial support from a third and the next will involve a different two. This enabled me to focus completely upon each 'mission' and minimise the amount of downtime that would occur, bouncing between the two very different tasks.

Introduction

Armando 'Nines' Rodriguez - Brujah
Noted Anarch

Last night a small force of Brujah under the command of Nines Rodriguez headed North in order to harry Vannevar's forces. They were accompanied by Marius, and a number of his more brutal followers.

Nines and Marius apparently had a meeting with Baron's Fortier and Abrams informing them that the Anarchs lack of a response was going to look suspicious, and that reinforcements needed to be prevented from heading from San Jose to Los Angeles when the Anarchs struck against the forces in the city. Marius had also apparently stated to several prominent kindred that Nines "Needed something productive to do before he did something fucking stupid instead." Some suspect that this applied equally to some of his own people, hence the joint operation.

Nines and Marius had a somewhat erratic history having saved each others unlives on at least three occasions yet having radically different philosophies and moral standards. As such they respected each other greatly, but didn't particularly like each other.

As Fortier has apparently given his approval for this action, and Abrams allowed the forces to pass through his territory no other Baron has raised any public objections. Nines popularity amongst the Anarchs makes any opposition to his actions from within the Free States to be highly unlikely.

Several overconfident Camarilla kindred who ventured far from their bases have also been destroyed. This was inevitable but unfortunately provocative and no Baron has claimed responsibility. Given the locations of the missing though it's likely that both the Crypts Sons and El Hermandad were involved.

Priss: Lasombra, Baron of 'The Border' - Hank: Brujah, Baron of The Crypts Sons

The other possibility is Priss, as she has been seen operating further into the territory previously controlled by the now diminished Crypts Sons, though this is seemingly with Hank's approval. His vastly reduced resources have made the patrolling of such a vast domain untenable for him at the moment and so Priss has been allowed to temporarily move her borders. Whether she can be convinced to move them back in the future is the real question.

It's fortunate that your action is planned for this evening as it is now only a matter of time before an impetuous Anarch brings the situation to a premature head or internal strife splits the Anarch Barons focus.

Scene Eighteen - Gearing Up

Peter Kwan - Ventrue
Childe of Jochen Van Nuys

Though Daniel wanted to be part of both operations, their simultaneous implementation meant that he had to select one. Therefore he decided that he, along with 'Chick' would infiltrate the South Coast construction site to plant the explosives.

This left the job of assassinating Peter Kwan to Hope and Vin. Though neither were particularly subtle, they were ideally suited to the assault of what was effectively now a well defended fortress.

The hotel that was their target was within the Barony of Downtown in the area formally covered by what was once known as The Barony of the Angels. Though this was Marius's domain, Michael Tomassio had long ago negotiated terms to allow him to cross the Barony of the Angels.

Even though that domain no longer existed, Marius had kept to the spirit of the agreement and still allowed Michael and his people free access. Michael did however tend to give Marius a 'heads-up' so as to avoid any mistakes occurring between his own people and Marius's sweepers.

Vin had his trusty two-handed machete strapped to his back, barely concealed by his leather jacket, as well as a Smith & Wesson Model 460 in a shoulder holster. In a canvass bag he also carried a fully automatic combat shotgun, equipped with thirty round drum magazines filled with solid slugs for dealing with kindred and shells for less resilient foes. He also carried a large folding knife for utility purposes though he rarely used it accept to facilitate the bloodletting required for blood sorcery.

Hope had trouble with firearms as the claws on her hands could no longer be summoned at will and were permanent fixtures, the result of one frenzy too many. Normally the animal features inflicted upon Gangrel after frenzying were temporary, though the potent vitae of elder kindred often meant that theirs became permanent. Hope had theorized that consuming Marius's vitae in order to learn disciplines not normally associated with her clan may be responsible. Marius was some six centuries old and had vitae made even more the potent by his consistent diablarising of foes, and the occasional irritating childe. The fact that his childer were generally atypical of their clan added credence to this theory

Hope therefore limited herself to a shotgun with a conveniently wide trigger guard and a fire-axe. This latter item was something that she could easily replace when needed and was freely available in many buildings.

Mr Hertz had provided them with one of his gangs vehicles, that was both disposable and untraceable to him or them. He had also provided a group of fairly expendable gang members should a distraction be needed. As an additional precaution he had some of his people stationed at a nearby sub-station ready to cut the power to the hotel and a small group ready to follow Vin and Hope into the structure to disable any back-up generators that might have been installed.

Reuben Hart, Ghoul of Mr Hertz, Leader of the Apostles

Daniel had left this entirely in Mr Hertz's hands as he was an extremely competent organiser where his gang 'The Apostles' were concerned. Under his guidance they were now the largest organised criminal network in Pasadena and it's neighbouring Barony of Glendale.

All the separate elements of this operation checked in with one another using communications gear provided by 'Zipper', then they began.

Scene Nineteen - Getting In

Koreatown, Los Angeles - Night View

The team was aware that Peter Kwan had rented the entire top floor of the mid-sized, five story hotel building near Koreatown. 

They had noted the guards on the roof, and protecting both the lift and stairs to his floor and the fact that they were quite obviously packing concealed weaponry. Daniel had also warned Hope and Vin that they would almost certainly have a stockpile of more lethal weaponry somewhere. 

One of Peter Kwan's security personnel was permanently based in the hotel lobby monitoring comings and goings and would need to be dealt with quickly if they entered via this somewhat obvious avenue.

Vin's street person 'eyes and ears' were continuing to keep an eye on the area and still, judged the guards numbers to be at least eighteen.. Two were in the lobby, two stationed by the lift, two by the stairs, two more were on the roof and at least one was guarding Peter's own room at all times. 

These changed shift approximately every twelve hours though changeover times aren't consistent, presumably as a counter to anyone attempting to take advantage of a shift change. They did however report in every hour, on the hour. The hooded figure sometimes seen nearby hadn't been observed at all this evening so they had no more information on who or what this might be.

Peter Kwan's Location

As they approached the building it was evident that the only activity was in the downstairs lobby and the fifth floor. There wasn't a single light, open window or sign of life anywhere else.

Hope took a drive around the building's perimeter before parking in the carpark of an adjacent building. There were very few vehicles in the carpark of their target location. That, and the lack activity, led them to believe that Kwan had somehow had the building evacuated of all but his own people.

A quiet entry to the building via the lobby was rejected as their were now two guards rather than one. Eliminating them was a simple matter, doing it quietly was not. A side entrance had bene covered by a metal grill. This would be a simple matter for one of Vin's strength to remove but as with the lobby, would not be a quiet operation.

"How well can you climb?" asked Hope, pointing to a large window on the second floor.

"Well enough for that..." replied Vin.

Hope's claws and athleticism made the climb a simple matter. Vin used his brute strength, though had to be a bit more careful with footholds as he was considerably heavier than his Gangrel ally by a factor of nearly three times.

The window they had selected was unfortunately locked. Vin resolved this problem by slicing open his palm with his pocket knife and dripping corrosive vitae upon the lock. After allowing the mixture to corrode the lock for a few minutes, Vin snapped it one-handed, the other clinging to the building, and they slipped inside relatively quietly. Hope followed a moment later.

Scene Twenty - The Watcher Within

Hope had some very basic ability with the kindred discipline known as Auspex. Specifically she could sense presences otherwise hidden from the naked eye by supernatural means. This could be anything from another vampire using obfuscating abilities, a ghost in the middle of the room or even dormant Blood Sorcery spells and rituals. On this occasion she could feel eyes watching them, seemingly from the very walls.

"Someone knows we're here." said Hope. "I know you can't feel it, but I can."

"And there was me thinking we were being quiet..." quipped Vin. "I don't think it would have mattered." replied Hope. "This is weird shit..."

Storytellers Note - Hope has Auspex 1, and Vin has some very specific Blood Sorcery rituals, but neither are particularly occult focussed. Therefore their general plan in these circumstances is to say "Fuck It..." and just hope for the best.

"Didn't the briefing mention a 'creepy bodyguard'?" queried Vin. "Some cloaked bastard who kept disappearing?"

'Creepy Bodyguard' - Identity Unknown

Hope just shrugged. It's not like they could do anything about it, so they'd just have to wait until it made an appearance, and then kick the shit out of it.

Storytellers Note - Called it...

Taking the time to observe their surroundings they found themselves in a fairly basic, but clean and tidy, hotel room. "No cockroaches." observed Hope. The door to the room had a key-card activated lock but it was designed to keep unwanted visitors out, not guests in, so they opened it and entered the corridor. The area was in darkness but both kindred had abilities that allowed them to see in the dark so this was no impediment.

As they made their way through the building with surprising stealth, they could hear activity ahead. Two guards, maybe more, were having a discussion in quiet tones. Hope moved closer in an attempt to hear what they had to say, in the hopes that some tactical insights could be gained. The conversation was somewhat surprising, but not particularly useful.  The two guards, apparently stationed by a stairway entrance, had been joined by a third. The newcomer had a coffee in his hand, so was almost certainly mortal, perhaps on a break of some kind. One of the other two had relaxed somewhat, though the third still scanned the corridor diligently.

"So why the fuck so we have to keep this one safe?" asked the relaxed guard. "Twenty guards is overkill to look after some glorified errand boy..."

Baron Voerman - Malkavian
Baron of Santa Monica

"The main man's worried that Kwan may have pissed off the Voerman chick when he spoke to her, not to mention that there's apparently some vigilante psycho kindred living over the road from here." interrupted the newcomer. "It doesn't exactly look good for your rep if you let some lunatic fucker kill your vamp kid when your in charge of a city-wide operation..."

The one member of the security team still paying attention spoke over the newcomer. "Shut the fuck up. I think I heard something..."

Storytellers Note - Both players made a complete mess of their stealth rolls. Between the two of them they only got one success out of a dice pool of five, and another of six.

Both Vin and Hope realised they had been discovered. Two of the now alerted guards, had dropped into defensive stances and had their weapons at the ready. The third had reached for his radio. They had only moments to act.

Vin closed the distance with supernatural speed, drawing his weapon as he moved, he removed the head of the first enemy before grabbing the second and hurling them into a wall. The third had barely began to call for reinforcements as Hope reached him and reduced him to a pile of dismembered body parts in a flurry of claws. as blood splattered up the walls, Vin drove his fangs deep into the man he had restrained and drained him dry. Blood vessels burst and organs bruised and ruptured internally with the brutal speed with which Vin emptied them of blood.

Hope picked up the comms earpiece of one of the men but could hear only static. She noted that all three were wearing night-vision gear, which explained how they could see so clearly within the darkness. Just as she began to search the two relatively intact bodies, she saw Vin turn towards the wall. "What the..." was as far as he got as something began to emerge...

A pair of large arms, mottled grey like stone grabbed Vin and hurled him down the corridor into a solid wall. Though his dead flesh absorbed much of the damage, he nonetheless felt bones crack from the impact. As he staggered to his feet he saw Hope take a back-handed blow to her side which cracked ribs and tore flesh. She leapt at the limbs which had emerged from behind her but they had blended into the wall before she had a chance to retaliate. Her attack merely tearing into what was now a perfectly ordinary wall.

"What the fuck was that." asked Hope as she drew upon the power of her vitae to repair the wound in her side.

"I think it's a gargoyle." replied Vin, before elaborating. "I fought one before at the Chantry in Downtown. They're strong and have a hide like stone. That one could fly, I didn't know they could walk through walls, but it certainly explains why you thought we were being watched..."

"How did you kill it?" asked Hope.

"Well, I chopped that ones fucking head off." replied Vin. "But if it's arms are anything to go by it was nowhere near as big as this bastard."

"Well, as you've dealt with one before, you can take point." suggested Hope. Vin merely nodded before making an observation of his own. "I don't think this is a stealth job anymore..."

Blocked Elevator Shaft

Reasonably sure that their would be guards waiting for them at the top of the stairway, they investigated the elevator. The power was off, but Vin's strength was easily sufficient to prise open the doors.

"The elevator itself is blocking access to the top floor so we're going to have to brave one set of stairs." he observed. "But at least we can skip the next floor." Hope had some reservations about the plan. Specifically, about what might happen if they were ambushed while climbing up the elevator shaft to the next floor. 

"It's that or get shot to fuck, twice more, instead of just the once." reasoned Vin who presumed that there would now be guards at the stairs on every floor.

Deciding to take the risk they ascended the elevator shaft passed the next floor, thankfully the climb was incident free. Unfortunately the same could not be said of the buildings next level.

Scene Twenty One - Just Because You're Paranoid...

Ambush

As Vin prised open the doors to the next level, Gunfire filled the corridor. Shots ricocheted off the door, and into the shaft from which they had emerged. Vin was a difficult target to miss and therefore a number of rounds struck his chest and arm. The damage was fortunately superficial and with the torrent of fire concentrated on Vin, Hope emerged unharmed.

Vin once more utilised his preternatural speed and covered fifty metres in barely a moment, his machete dug deep into the chest of the first gunman. Ripping it free he struck a second. This blow was slowed by a plate of metal in the front of the attackers body armour and they were spared the sucking chest wound inflicted upon the first. Despite teir armour, the impact still knocked them to the ground.

Hope leapt the last few metres to their attackers and her claws penetrated deep into her target killing them instantly. Tearing her claws free she lashed out at another target but they stumbled back out of range, frantically attempting to reload their suppressed sub-machine gun. Vin accounted for two more targets as his two-handed weapon blade tore through flesh and bone. as the previously felled foe attempted to get to their feet, Vin pushed them back to the ground with one booted foot. As they struggled under Vin's considerable weight, Hope casually bent down and snapped their neck like the most brittle of twigs.

"Taking Careful Aim..."

Abandoning the attempt to load their weapon, the final panicked ambusher made a break for the stairs. A single round from Vin's powerful revolver tore through their back. They staggered a few metres more, their body not yet realising that they were dead before they collapsed to the floor.

Vin used his vampiric abilities to heal the few minor wounds he'd received, though he was less than happy that once again he was going to need to buy a new jacket.

They advanced cautiously towards the final stairway, past the mangled bodies and empty shell casings strewn along the corridor and risked a glance through the window. Even a brief look confirmed that there was a considerable force of guards awaiting their arrival.

"I think we need a better plan." said Hope. "That's a lot of focussed firepower even for us to withstand."

Vin nodded towards a room whose door was open. One of the ambush team had evidently been using the doorway for cover. Not that it had saved them. "Let's duck in there while we think this through." suggested Vin. "It's narrow enough to defend if they get bored and come looking for us." he concluded.

"The Gargoyle Emerges for Battle..."

Somewhat more wary than before, Hope noticed the tell-tale ripple as the wall began to flow and change and took a step back, subsequently the rocky limb and it's obsidian claws failed to cut as deeply as it had done previously. Hope struck back with all her strength and this time her claws sliced through armoured skin and into the undead flesh beneath.

Unfortunately she had little time to enjoy her victory as the creature fully emerged and barrelled into her with it's full force. Hit with the force of a battering ram she was hurled across the small room, leaving a dent in the opposite wall.

Vin put himself between the briefly stunned Hope and the eight foot tall monstrosity before him. The creature's skin had the appearance and texture of solid rock, each limb ended in claws like jagged shards of obsidian and wings emerged from it's back. How such fledgling wings could lift a creature of such mass seemed incomprehensible to Vin, despite the fact that he had seen the feat in action on a previous occasion.

He had briefly considered readying his shotgun, but seeing the monster in all it's glory he was reasonably sure that it wouldn't have even made a dent. Instead he gripped the handle of his machete, two-handed and advanced.

It moved with surprising speed for it's size but Vin was a fraction faster. He ducked under the arm that reached for him, dodged to one side and swung at the creatures outstretched limb. Even with Vin's vast strength the blow failed to sever it and he struggled to pull the blade free as a fist like a sledgehammer bludgeoned him to the ground. Fortunately the force did the job for him and the weapon came free as he fell back.

Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, Hope leapt forward, driving her claws deep into it's side and back. It turned it's attention to her once more as Hope began to get frustrated that wounds that would have killed another kindred twice over seemed to not even slow the gargoyle they were fighting. Marius had once told her that the Tremere had used Gangrel, Nosferatu and Tzimisce vitae to create the first such creatures. Apparently the Tremere had put quite a lot of Gangrel into this particular creation if it's resilience was anything to go by.

Vin had regained his footing and moved to his allies side, then both attacked simultaneously. The battle continued...

Scene Twenty Two - ...Doesn't Mean They Aren't After You.

Both he and Hope were running low on the vitae necessary to fuel their supernatural disciplines and their enemy seemed to be ignoring even the most grievous of the wounds they inflicted upon it. Hope no longer had the reserves necessary to heal her wounds and was becoming weaker with every blow received. Vin wasn't fairing much better.

Suddenly their foe stopped it's relentless attack and stepped backwards towards the nearest wall. The anger in it's eyes seemed to fade, replaced with confusion and then anger once more but apparently they were no longer it's focus. Unsure about what was happening but not one to waste an opportunity, Vin hit it once more in the chest as it blended with the buildings structure. The cut in the wall dripped dark vitae. It seemed that Vin had damaged it as it withdrew. The question was now, Why it had left them on the brink of it's victory?

Shouts of alarm and screams of pain and fear, interspersed with gunfire echoed their way down the stairway. Curiosity got the better of them and they cautiously made their way back to the heavily guarded stairs.

The ambush awaiting them was no more. Blood was smeared across stairs, walls and ceiling. Dismembered and shattered bodies had been scattered across the area like broken and discarded ragdolls. Bullet holes from panic weapons fire, riddled the walls though a large area at the base of the stairwell was strangely devoid of damage, as if something large and unyielding had been between it and the source of the gunfire.

"I think our friend found something else to play with." quipped Hope. "Well something's obviously changed it's mind." muttered Vin. "It was playing for their team five fucking minutes ago..."

"I need to feed..." said Hope, suddenly serious. "...and unfortunately human blood doesn't do much for me anymore..." It was something she didn't like to confess, but this situation was serious and she was running virtually on empty.

"Fine..." said Vin, pointing at the trail of corpses scattered at their feet. "I'll feed from them, you feed from me." Hope could detect no judgement in Vin's tone, it was simply the most pragmatic solution they had. Vin could gain sustenance from pretty much anything. Cold blood, rancid blood, and fractionated plasma were all just the same to him so feeding from a pile of freshly eviscerated corpses was no issue. He fed, Let Hope take what she needed from his own veins, then fed again. It was messy, but necessary.

"Let's go see if we can find Mr Kwan." said Hope. "I'd hate to have gone through all this shit just to fail at the actual job we were sent to do." Vin nodded his agreement and they moved through the door to the hotel's upper level.

The scene here was similar to that in the final stairway. Security guards bodies had been torn asunder or had been struck with such force that bones had been powdered and flesh destroyed. However not all had died in this fashion. 

Here and there a body had been destroyed by entirely different means. One had a gaping and blackened hole in it's chest as if struck by lightening, another had been severely burnt yet none of the surrounding area showed no signs that a fire had occurred, a third seemed to have limbs withered as if aged catastrophically with shrunken and shortened muscles, snapped tendons, and brittle bones, in another corner was an explosion of blood centred on a single spot as if a body had spontaneously exploded..

Yet another had been drained of blood, arteries burst for unknown reasons, their bodies now completely devoid of any blood. Most alarmingly, they had dies with a look of ecstatic glee upon their faces.

A door at the other end of the passageway, led to what their reconnaissance had revealed to be Peter Kwan's personal quarters within the hotel. The door was open. As they approached an almost chillingly calm voice greeted them.

"No need to wait outside. I'll speak to you as soon as my business with Mr Kwan here has been completed."

Scene Twenty Three - The Enemy of My Enemy.

Luna Demian - House Tremere
Tremere Primogen of San Francisco

Luna Demian, Tremere Primogen of San Francisco and regent of it's chantry stood in the centre of the room. The Gargoyle that had nearly destroyed them and made a bloody mess of Kwan's guards stood in one corner. It's wounds had healed significantly and though it's head turned to observe them, it showed no hostility.

Peter Kwan was held about two feet off the ground by tendrils of pure blackness that emerged from shadows within the room where no shadow should have been. Where they touched Peter, his flesh had atrophied and withered. Luna was speaking to him with the exact matter of fact tone with which she had addressed Hope and Vin.

"You have taken something of ours which was never meant to leave one of our Chantries, let alone be allowed to roam another city. The individual who facilitated this crime and hid this valuable and important resource from us has been suitably punished, yet you in addition to your misuse of our property, lied to my face about your involvement with it, not once, but twice."

Peter began to protest, but Luna cut him dead before he could finish a single word. "Silence!"

Peter attempted to speak but no words emerged. Luna then continued. "The fracturing of my clan has led some to believe that we are no longer powerful enough to be respected. This could not be further from the truth."

As she spoke, flickers of flame formed between her fingers, gradually expanding until a white hot flame filled her palm. Vin and Hope felt their beasts begin to react to the presence of so intense a fire but well fed as they now were they easily pushed back the fear that fire could inspire in kindred. Flames then began to form around the unfortunate Mr Kwan. Apparently Luna Demian was here to make a point.

Peter screamed silently, robbed of the power of speech by Luna's command as the flames began to engulf his body. She observed his suffering without a single sign of emotion. A moment before the flames finished their destructive work, electricity crackled around Luna's other hand before arcing outwards to Peter's chest, effortlessly blasting a blackened hole through it. Seemingly satisfied with the experiment, the dark tendrils disappeared and the burnt and obliterated body of Peter Kwan, childe of Jochen Van Nuys, dropped the few feet to the ground and began to turn to ash.

She then addressed Hope and Vin.

"Your mission is accomplished. You have enacted the Anarch Council's will and assassinated Peter Kwan. I was, never here, and neither was this creature. Do we understand one another?"

"Sure..." replied Vin in measured tones. "...but there's a lot of mess to clean-up and a lot of it will be difficult to find a mundane explanation for..."

Luna had apparently considered this.

"Mr Kwan's sire purchased this building so he could evacuate the other residents. Considering your colleagues are currently planting explosives around the aforementioned Mr Van Nuys's current base, I doubt it will make much difference if this particular hotel burns to the ground."

"We didn't plan to do that." said Hope. "We'd need to fetch the necessary gear to get that done and I imagine time is an issue given that there was a lot of gunfire earlier."

Luna Demian began to show signs of impatience, which given what they had just witnessed wasn't a good sign. "Fine, I'll do it if it will speed things along, especially as you're leaving immediately..."

The tone indicated that this wasn't really a question and so they left the hotel as fast as they could. By the time they had left the building, the upper floors were already ablaze.

Scene Twenty Four - The Nameless One

The Nameless One - Clan Unknown
De-facto Baron of Koreatown

Standing on the opposite side of the road from them was a figure in what might once have been an expensive business suit but was now dirty and stained. His face was a network of scars, many of which were seeping blood. Droplets also flowed from beneath his round glasses as if his eyes are also bleeding. 

He was standing perfectly still and despite his eyes being obscured Hope and Vin got the uncomfortable impression that he was staring not just at them, but into them too. It seemed that the activity so near to his domain had gained the attention of the so-called 'Nameless One'. 

Behind him they could see a number of hunched figures dressed in the tattered remnants of gang clothing. Each had been mutilated to match their master, their erratic movements indicating that the experience had driven most to the edge of insanity if not beyond. 

Several were armed with mundane close combat weapons and the occasional handgun and SMG were also evident. Standing to one side were three female kindred. Patches of skin had been cut from their faces and bodies and they stood impassively.

One of the gang scurried forward and dropped a sports bag in front of their master, he then nodded towards those who had emerged from the now burning hotel before casually gesturing in the bags direction. Then he and his ragtag band of followers turned and left, blending quickly into the depths of Koreatown.

Kindred Followers of 'The Nameless One' - Clans Unknown

The bag contained the decaying heads of four kindred. Their origin was unknown making the Nameless One's 'message' somewhat unclear.

"Well this has been a weird fucking night." stated Hope. Vin just nodded as they headed back to their car.

To Be Continued in 'Resistance' (Part Five)

In Conclusion

I like to do a round-up of how the session went in these features but if you couldn't give a shit what I think then feel free to skip this bit...

When you have two very effective combat characters going on a mission that works to their strengths it can be difficult to give them a sufficient challenge. Fortunately with the World of Darkness you can always find something scarier than them to throw at the players...

Acknowledgements
“Portions of the materials are the copyrights and trademarks of White Wolf Entertainment AB, and are used with permission. All rights reserved.”

I've used pictures of real people to represent some of the characters and art for others so in no particular order Michael Tomassio is represented by Matt Bomer, 'Vin' is Scott Adkins, Dr Matthews is Mads Mikkelsen, Hope is Deborah Ann Woll, Mr Hertz is Charles Dance, Nines Rodriguez isLuis Carazo, Priss is Sofia Boutella, Hank Boyd is Michael Duncan Clarke, Peter Kwan is Steven Yeun, Reuben Hart is Ray Liotta, Therese Voerman is Whitney Moore, Luna Demian is Andie MacDowell, The Nameless One is Gary J. Tunnicliffe and The Nameless Ones kindred followers are Andi Leah Powers, Mary Kathryn Bryant and Valerie Sharp.

Everything else is from vampire related folders and searches and is as far as I know is all of the 'fair use' variety. If there's something that you feel should be attributed to some-one then feel free to let me know and I'll happily add an acknowledgement.