Local Troubles
Resembling a European city in earnest. Full of 2-story buildings. Cobblestone road and barely any tall structures beyond the cathedral pulsing with power. The armored train seemingly surpasses the height of the buildings. A city hugging a small mountain with a salty wind coming from the north.
Most of the Neo Templars have unloaded their containers. Drones and multi-legged unloaders are making their way to the rendezvous point in Passion’s Square. Sitting on the unloaders are the Agents and Independents who have been hired to cooperate within this city.
The car delivered is an old fashioned model. It is clearly not sturdy, but is fast and can navigate the cobblestone stone. Didn’t take long to leave the train station. Anyone with sense will try to leave with the vamps lurking around somewhere.
City’s packed. Lots of personnel are moving and the citizens here are staring. The rest are heading to their workplace despite probably knowing something is wrong. Heavily armed personnel and APC’s is a tell-tale sign things are about to go so wrong. And yet they are going there despite their best instincts.
Priests are preaching. Citizens are kneeling as they try to repent for whatever they think they have sinned. The foreigners are easy to spot. They don’t have Changye’s mark on them. They dress flashy and have an air of curiosity around them.
The Passion Square has been taken over by forces from Changye and half of the city’s full of people looking for this anomaly held by a clan.
Was a large conference hall full of people of different appearances, stature, and affiliations. At the center of this gathering is the acting Commander; the guy who pays the money to all the freelancing independents and agents who have come to take on this task of finding.
Commander Alberts. Regional Commander of the landbridge and now the guy in-charge of this situation.
“Glad that you folks got here in one piece. I’m going to be straight with y’all since you had the balls to come here. You’ll be fighting the old monsters. Blood-suckers and possible lycans from sects. I don’t ask much and y’all want your paycheck. Do your job. Fire at the bastards we want dead and I assure you we’ll get along just fine. You'll follow Team Leaders just in case. We are asking you to cooperate. Deal is though you start hounding my people. You ain’t getting paid. You try to start shit. I’ll make sure to put a bounty on your asses as well. I expect all of you to be professionals. Don’t disappoint me and I want you to remember. We’re allies here.”
Appeals to their humanity isn’t going to work on these people. However, appealing to them about how they'll be paid handsomely works.
Everyone got their team leaders except for Kei’s office. The office is already affiliated with the Neo Templars and even our lodgings are in their base camp alongside the offices, companies, and associations they hired to support them while they try to find the anomaly.
The Fireteam leader we’re partnering up with is led by Captain Victor Hawke Templar-actual and his second-in-command Sergeant Elena Rodriguez. Followed by Corporal Marcus Stone, their heavy weapons specialist, and their three privates. Isabella Cruz, the medic. Gavin Knight, the close-quarter specialist, and Sophia Drake, the team’s sharpshooter.
“Victor Hawke. It’s nice meeting you, Ma’am.”
He eyes Eta for a moment. Then gave Marvin a side eye.
“Likewise, Captain Hawke. This is your team?”
“Yes. And these are yours?”
Most of them checked Eta out. How could they not when she’s basically covered in armor and is carrying heavy weapons. It doesn’t help that the suit she’s wearing gave her more inches. She’s standing 7”2 foot tall and her presence is enough to scare down any chrome-addict a mile away.
“And Miss Eta, I take.”
“This is our spellblade, Marvin and my assistant.”
Kei pointed at me. I nod curtly and turn my attention back to Hawke’s team. They are armed to the teeth as well. Exoskeleton-reinforced with silver bullets and the kind of gear you’d expect from fanatics like them. Could tell they have augment procedures since they have no EMP threading and linings on them. Captain Hawke has a prosthetic eye, but most of them aren’t reliant on hardware.
“Nice meeting the team. Sato said your team is an expert on anomalies. That’s what you are after.”
“Indeed. I hope Sato made it clear where we stand.”
“Of course, we’d prefer it this way. You provide information and help and we’ll make sure Sato gets what he wants. For now, how about we exchange data?”
I didn’t remember any exchange of data happening. But Kei pulls the data out of her coat and exchanges it with the data they have. She connects her transmitter to the data drive and uploads most of it on our office’s private channel. Skimming the drive, I got a headache as I try to make sense of the deals behind our backs and what Kei hasn’t been telling us.
The Templars are hoping to find the holy grail that will eradicate the monsters for good and they also think they can make use of the anomaly to create their own anomaly.
Then like sparks lighting up. I came to realize again why many are so eager to come to Vultan despite the threat the supernaturals impose.
They really do think this anomaly might be able to change things. They think it’s something the vamps made artificially despite so little evidence of it.
Don't stop them no matter how much they’re going to lose. If there’s a chance they can find the cure-all to their problems. It’s a worthy prospect. I would risk my life too if I know chasing after this would grant me a wish.
Like an all-mighty wish granter. One good look at all of this and I understand it’s something they seem to be devoted to finding out.
Guess I’m here with people looking for whatever they think would help at all. Too good to be true and yet it’s still tempting to chase after it.
***
Kei’s setting up her station on the base camp of the Neo Templars. Marvin’s performing rites with the Templar Priest to check his spellblood and see if he has been tempted by demons and devils. He has to get the purity seals. I finished my work and Eta’s on sleeping mode.
Got out of the camp unnoticed. Not hard when you have groups of them looking for a drink already. Found a bar not far from the camp. One of those speakeasies hidden from sight and has a quiet atmosphere. Furnished counters and a bartender who seems to haven’t been sleeping. Fingered the talisman on my pocket and seeing it didn’t give any signs. I got myself some mild beer and talked it out with the bartender who’s bored.
Nothing interesting at first. Just the usual curiosity about how we are coming from Changye. Bartender’s first choice was Changye, but settled in Vultan after a better contract. Bar’s good in a way no one really finds it and if you find it. Told me how many bars there are in Changye with the same setup. I kinda approved of the scene here. The way they set the bar up and how solemn the bar is made me genuinely curious. They had their own network too. Sion Network. Thought it was just a membership, but it has a board too. Image and text boards full of members on different topics. It’s underground too.
While drinking I checked the network. The supernatural board has many of them trying to enter Vultan, but are barred. Most of them are low-grade agents, but there are posters who manage to get in as an independent. Sporting hardware you can expect from mercs who managed to make a living.
Got a few pics I could share. Had to delete the metadata and any kind of info that can trace me, cleaned it up and then posted a view of the train and the pictures of Vultan.
[Anon.256869111: Anon got fucking in. HOLY SHIT.]
[Anon.649728674: Please post more.]
[Anon.649762313: Timestamp or GTFO.]
[Anon.649762313: Okay faglord. What’s your read on Vultan?]
[Anon.256862419: >649762313. This. Tell us more. Don’t leave us like this.]
[Anon.256863794: Saw any cute girls, anon?]
I sipped my beer and seriously thought if I should read or not. There are probably censors around and although the Sion Network seems to be secured. I checked their security and saw I can’t get past just the pre-installed crackers. After making sure I’m not getting marked by Censors hoping to keep any information out. I decided to share my thoughts on the board. I didn’t have to make sense. Boards like these are usually hard to find and honestly something about all of this makes me want to leave a post just in case. Maybe if I die here then they can make shit up about it.
[Anon.649770762: Well it’s certainly busy. Got all kinds of Independents here. Mostly Neo Templars and associates hoping to find out what is happening.]
[Anon.256869111: >649770762. Oh shit. What’s your job there, anon?]
[Anon.649770762: Assistant. Not going to say the name since you’d think me as a shill. Anyway, they are gearing up to take down the Vamps. Train ride was a mess. They blew up the tracks and were shelling the train.]
Posted picture of the destroyed rail. Then the dent on the armored train. The thread lit up before I could post anything. Thread went bump limit and I moved to the next thread.
[Anon.256863794: Is anon killed?]
[Anon.256866901: Glowies got to him. RIP.]
[Anon.649770762: Still alive. I’m on my break now. Had to sneak out while they set things up.]
[Anon.256866986: >649770762. Are you trying to be a vamp?]
[Anon.649770762: >256866986. No thank you. I like being under the sun. Besides, flaying procedures hurt as hell.]
[Anon.649749171: >649770762. Got any more pics to share?]
[Anon.649770762: >649749171. Can’t do. Most of them are for the report later.]
[Anon.256852431: Have the same question. What do you think’s going to happen there? Got a friend there. Low-graded, but he’s been saying how tense it is.]
[Anon.649770762: >256852431. Not exactly tense. Everyone’s just finger-happy. Vamps ain’t exactly slow opponents. Don’t think they’ll have the balls to attack now. My bet is the anomaly everyone is after.]
[Anon.649752538: You think it’s going to be a big thing, Anon?]
[Anon.649770762: >649752538. Don’t think so. But if the info is wrong and things go bad. I sincerely think they might just drop the sun on Vultan just to be safe.]
After saying that the thread got lit up. I had a lot of replies, but I didn’t want to somehow keep on yapping. Not to mention it looks like the locals who have been lurking the threads started appearing. Vultan’s large and they’d find the threads. It was quite interesting actually. Reading their insights and the situation they are experiencing. From the recent increase of Syndicate activity and the missing people piling up. One of the local posters even posted a picture of a board full of missing posters and then another an itemized list of patients listed who got exsanguinated. Drained of blood and had their throats ripped out.
The user who posted the patients list forgot to block one of the icons of the hospital he’s working at and before he deleted it. I saved the picture and asked the bartender if he recognized it. He told me it’s one of the private hospitals in Medestro Avenue.
After finishing my second can of beer. I got a can of hot coffee from the vending machine and left the bar. I called Kei and as expected. She wasn’t exactly happy about being interrupted. Nonetheless, I got to the point and told her I was going to follow a lead. Because honestly we’re sorely lacking and I’d rather rely on what I hear from the locals. Someone in this city has to know something. I intend to find out.
Local Troubles
Resembling a European city in earnest. Full of 2-story buildings. Cobblestone road and barely any tall structures beyond the cathedral pulsing with power. The armored train seemingly surpasses the height of the buildings. A city hugging a small mountain with a salty wind coming from the north.
Most of the Neo Templars have unloaded their containers. Drones and multi-legged unloaders are making their way to the rendezvous point in Passion’s Square. Sitting on the unloaders are the Agents and Independents who have been hired to cooperate within this city.
The car delivered is an old fashioned model. It is clearly not sturdy, but is fast and can navigate the cobblestone stone. Didn’t take long to leave the train station. Anyone with sense will try to leave with the vamps lurking around somewhere.
City’s packed. Lots of personnel are moving and the citizens here are staring. The rest are heading to their workplace despite probably knowing something is wrong. Heavily armed personnel and APC’s is a tell-tale sign things are about to go so wrong. And yet they are going there despite their best instincts.
Priests are preaching. Citizens are kneeling as they try to repent for whatever they think they have sinned. The foreigners are easy to spot. They don’t have Changye’s mark on them. They dress flashy and have an air of curiosity around them.
The Passion Square has been taken over by forces from Changye and half of the city’s full of people looking for this anomaly held by a clan.
Was a large conference hall full of people of different appearances, stature, and affiliations. At the center of this gathering is the acting Commander; the guy who pays the money to all the freelancing independents and agents who have come to take on this task of finding.
Commander Alberts. Regional Commander of the landbridge and now the guy in-charge of this situation.
“Glad that you folks got here in one piece. I’m going to be straight with y’all since you had the balls to come here. You’ll be fighting the old monsters. Blood-suckers and possible lycans from sects. I don’t ask much and y’all want your paycheck. Do your job. Fire at the bastards we want dead and I assure you we’ll get along just fine. You'll follow Team Leaders just in case. We are asking you to cooperate. Deal is though you start hounding my people. You ain’t getting paid. You try to start shit. I’ll make sure to put a bounty on your asses as well. I expect all of you to be professionals. Don’t disappoint me and I want you to remember. We’re allies here.”
Appeals to their humanity isn’t going to work on these people. However, appealing to them about how they'll be paid handsomely works.
Everyone got their team leaders except for Kei’s office. The office is already affiliated with the Neo Templars and even our lodgings are in their base camp alongside the offices, companies, and associations they hired to support them while they try to find the anomaly.
The Fireteam leader we’re partnering up with is led by Captain Victor Hawke Templar-actual and his second-in-command Sergeant Elena Rodriguez. Followed by Corporal Marcus Stone, their heavy weapons specialist, and their three privates. Isabella Cruz, the medic. Gavin Knight, the close-quarter specialist, and Sophia Drake, the team’s sharpshooter.
“Victor Hawke. It’s nice meeting you, Ma’am.”
He eyes Eta for a moment. Then gave Marvin a side eye.
“Likewise, Captain Hawke. This is your team?”
“Yes. And these are yours?”
Most of them checked Eta out. How could they not when she’s basically covered in armor and is carrying heavy weapons. It doesn’t help that the suit she’s wearing gave her more inches. She’s standing 7”2 foot tall and her presence is enough to scare down any chrome-addict a mile away.
“And Miss Eta, I take.”
“This is our spellblade, Marvin and my assistant.”
Kei pointed at me. I nod curtly and turn my attention back to Hawke’s team. They are armed to the teeth as well. Exoskeleton-reinforced with silver bullets and the kind of gear you’d expect from fanatics like them. Could tell they have augment procedures since they have no EMP threading and linings on them. Captain Hawke has a prosthetic eye, but most of them aren’t reliant on hardware.
“Nice meeting the team. Sato said your team is an expert on anomalies. That’s what you are after.”
“Indeed. I hope Sato made it clear where we stand.”
“Of course, we’d prefer it this way. You provide information and help and we’ll make sure Sato gets what he wants. For now, how about we exchange data?”
I didn’t remember any exchange of data happening. But Kei pulls the data out of her coat and exchanges it with the data they have. She connects her transmitter to the data drive and uploads most of it on our office’s private channel. Skimming the drive, I got a headache as I try to make sense of the deals behind our backs and what Kei hasn’t been telling us.
The Templars are hoping to find the holy grail that will eradicate the monsters for good and they also think they can make use of the anomaly to create their own anomaly.
Then like sparks lighting up. I came to realize again why many are so eager to come to Vultan despite the threat the supernaturals impose.
They really do think this anomaly might be able to change things. They think it’s something the vamps made artificially despite so little evidence of it.
Don't stop them no matter how much they’re going to lose. If there’s a chance they can find the cure-all to their problems. It’s a worthy prospect. I would risk my life too if I know chasing after this would grant me a wish.
Like an all-mighty wish granter. One good look at all of this and I understand it’s something they seem to be devoted to finding out.
Guess I’m here with people looking for whatever they think would help at all. Too good to be true and yet it’s still tempting to chase after it.
***
Kei’s setting up her station on the base camp of the Neo Templars. Marvin’s performing rites with the Templar Priest to check his spellblood and see if he has been tempted by demons and devils. He has to get the purity seals. I finished my work and Eta’s on sleeping mode.
Got out of the camp unnoticed. Not hard when you have groups of them looking for a drink already. Found a bar not far from the camp. One of those speakeasies hidden from sight and has a quiet atmosphere. Furnished counters and a bartender who seems to haven’t been sleeping. Fingered the talisman on my pocket and seeing it didn’t give any signs. I got myself some mild beer and talked it out with the bartender who’s bored.
Nothing interesting at first. Just the usual curiosity about how we are coming from Changye. Bartender’s first choice was Changye, but settled in Vultan after a better contract. Bar’s good in a way no one really finds it and if you find it. Told me how many bars there are in Changye with the same setup. I kinda approved of the scene here. The way they set the bar up and how solemn the bar is made me genuinely curious. They had their own network too. Sion Network. Thought it was just a membership, but it has a board too. Image and text boards full of members on different topics. It’s underground too.
While drinking I checked the network. The supernatural board has many of them trying to enter Vultan, but are barred. Most of them are low-grade agents, but there are posters who manage to get in as an independent. Sporting hardware you can expect from mercs who managed to make a living.
Got a few pics I could share. Had to delete the metadata and any kind of info that can trace me, cleaned it up and then posted a view of the train and the pictures of Vultan.
[Anon.256869111: Anon got fucking in. HOLY SHIT.]
[Anon.649728674: Please post more.]
[Anon.649762313: Timestamp or GTFO.]
[Anon.649762313: Okay faglord. What’s your read on Vultan?]
[Anon.256862419: >649762313. This. Tell us more. Don’t leave us like this.]
[Anon.256863794: Saw any cute girls, anon?]
I sipped my beer and seriously thought if I should read or not. There are probably censors around and although the Sion Network seems to be secured. I checked their security and saw I can’t get past just the pre-installed crackers. After making sure I’m not getting marked by Censors hoping to keep any information out. I decided to share my thoughts on the board. I didn’t have to make sense. Boards like these are usually hard to find and honestly something about all of this makes me want to leave a post just in case. Maybe if I die here then they can make shit up about it.
[Anon.649770762: Well it’s certainly busy. Got all kinds of Independents here. Mostly Neo Templars and associates hoping to find out what is happening.]
[Anon.256869111: >649770762. Oh shit. What’s your job there, anon?]
[Anon.649770762: Assistant. Not going to say the name since you’d think me as a shill. Anyway, they are gearing up to take down the Vamps. Train ride was a mess. They blew up the tracks and were shelling the train.]
Posted picture of the destroyed rail. Then the dent on the armored train. The thread lit up before I could post anything. Thread went bump limit and I moved to the next thread.
[Anon.256863794: Is anon killed?]
[Anon.256866901: Glowies got to him. RIP.]
[Anon.649770762: Still alive. I’m on my break now. Had to sneak out while they set things up.]
[Anon.256866986: >649770762. Are you trying to be a vamp?]
[Anon.649770762: >256866986. No thank you. I like being under the sun. Besides, flaying procedures hurt as hell.]
[Anon.649749171: >649770762. Got any more pics to share?]
[Anon.649770762: >649749171. Can’t do. Most of them are for the report later.]
[Anon.256852431: Have the same question. What do you think’s going to happen there? Got a friend there. Low-graded, but he’s been saying how tense it is.]
[Anon.649770762: >256852431. Not exactly tense. Everyone’s just finger-happy. Vamps ain’t exactly slow opponents. Don’t think they’ll have the balls to attack now. My bet is the anomaly everyone is after.]
[Anon.649752538: You think it’s going to be a big thing, Anon?]
[Anon.649770762: >649752538. Don’t think so. But if the info is wrong and things go bad. I sincerely think they might just drop the sun on Vultan just to be safe.]
After saying that the thread got lit up. I had a lot of replies, but I didn’t want to somehow keep on yapping. Not to mention it looks like the locals who have been lurking the threads started appearing. Vultan’s large and they’d find the threads. It was quite interesting actually. Reading their insights and the situation they are experiencing. From the recent increase of Syndicate activity and the missing people piling up. One of the local posters even posted a picture of a board full of missing posters and then another an itemized list of patients listed who got exsanguinated. Drained of blood and had their throats ripped out.
The user who posted the patients list forgot to block one of the icons of the hospital he’s working at and before he deleted it. I saved the picture and asked the bartender if he recognized it. He told me it’s one of the private hospitals in Medestro Avenue.
After finishing my second can of beer. I got a can of hot coffee from the vending machine and left the bar. I called Kei and as expected. She wasn’t exactly happy about being interrupted. Nonetheless, I got to the point and told her I was going to follow a lead. Because honestly we’re sorely lacking and I’d rather rely on what I hear from the locals. Someone in this city has to know something. I intend to find out.
