(IC III) San Francisco by Night: A Requiem in Fog

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

“I need to do some research, and did you have any luck reaching out to our biker acquaintances?” Anna asked.

[Daishain]

"Not yet, I could try to arrange for a meeting in the next few days. I think we'll want all hands on deck for that one, they're a rowdy bunch. We also have body disposal sketched in for tomorrow, don't want to let that slide too long, and Fred is getting back into the country then as well."

[Bennosuke]

As Karl and Anna are discussing, the two receive the same message via The Pulse, their phones buzzing at practically the same time. The message is from Nova, and it appears that Aisling is included in the chat. It reads, "Yo, the boss wants us to look into the Bruja problem; like we discussed. Let's deal tomorrow?"

Of course, tomorrow was when Fred was arriving on his "trip" from England, and would need some time with Karl.

[Daishain]

Karl frowns, saying aloud, "Tomorrow's going to be pretty busy for a couple of reasons. Meeting with her tonight might be better. Anna, can that research wait for the moment?"

If Anna responds in the affirmative, he texts back, //Tomorrow's fairly busy, but we have time now. Might it be possible to meet tonight?//

[Thundercracker]

“Yeah, I guess it can wait..” Anna replied.

[Bennosuke]

At Karl's question, Gabe's eyes narrow. "Why, what's going on?" he asks with sudden concern.

It takes a moment for Nova's reply to come, pinging on both vampires' phones. It reads, 'Fine. Meet me outside Tommy's in thirty? Bring weapons..."

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"We're hounds, the Sheriff wants to meet with us," Anna replied.

"How heavy?" Anna replied to Nova.

[Bennosuke]

Anna's reply causes a quizzical expression to cross Gabe's face. Rather than ask for explanation though he just says, "Okay then. What should I do?"

Nova's reply to the chat reads, 'Big enough to show you mean big enough, but discreet enough for the street.'

[Thundercracker]

Anna

“You could make a list of what you need to get set up at the haven,” Anna replied, “how are you with computers?”

[Daishain]

"Anna's suggestion is a good one. It would also be a help if you put together a plan to more permanently deal with that gang banger's remains tomorrow. You won't be able to take a boat out to dump in the daytime anymore, and at night is too risky." Karl nods.

"I would take you with us, you are likely to end up working with Nova sooner rather than later anyways and it sounds like more hands would be of help. But not tonight, not yet. Tonight you are a fledgling who has not even tested all of his most basic abilities, let alone learned to reliably use them. You need to relearn familiarity and control before I'll introduce you to other kindred, especially those significantly more powerful than Anna and I."

Turning to Anna he states, "Sounds like she wants us to have concealable weapons on hand, but more than a derringer... err I think they're more often called purse poppers these days. My pistol should do just fine, do you have a sidearm? I know you prefer the sword but it sounds like Nova wants an intimidation factor. Hmm, I might take the rifle as well and simply conceal it from view with obfuscate..."

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

“I always carry a glock,” Anna replied, “I’ll leave the rifle and the sword in the car until we find out what’s going on.”

[Bennosuke]

“You could make a list of what you need to get set up at the haven,” Anna replied, “how are you with computers?”

"Anna's suggestion is a good one. It would also be a help if you put together a plan to more permanently deal with that gang banger's remains tomorrow. You won't be able to take a boat out to dump in the daytime anymore, and at night is too risky." Karl nods.

Gabe grins a little and replies, "I'm just fine with them." He pauses for a moment and then says, "I guess I should go back to your place in Seacliff? You're probably gonna have to lend me a key." His voice trails off, and then as if struck by another thought adds, "And would it be okay if I stay there tonight... I mean during the day? I'm not exactly sure my apartment is exactly sun-proofed, or whatever."

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

“That’s the idea Gabe,” Anna said.

“Okay, I’ve been thinking about getting some state of the art hardware but we didn’t have anyone who could use it,” Anna said, “so we’ll work on that once you’re settled.”

[Daishain]

Karl rubs his chin, muttering to himself "It sounds like we're going to be doing more wetwork than I'd normally be comfortable with. Nova definitely seems to prefer a direct approach to things. We'll need to improve our arsenal in the long run. Some more long arms, and a few heavier weapons I think. Its been a while since I fired a Maschinengewehr. I bet I could get my hands on a 42 that can be restored to full functionality if I poke around and pretend to be a collector, even the tougher kindred would get cut in half by the buzzsaw..."

He blinks as he realized Gabe had asked a question, "Hmm? Oh, yes, take mine for now." He fishes around in a pocket and hands it over. "If you find time with everything else going on, go ahead and make a copy for yourself."

[Bennosuke]

"Great," Gabe replies, though there is a hint of discomfort in his voice, "I uh, I guess I'll just try to grab an Uber or something. And I'll see if Bernardo can find the time in the morning to make a few copies. I doubt there's gonna be many hardware stores open after sundown." He pauses for a second and then exclaims, "****! After sundown! I guess things really are gonna be pretty friggin' different from now on." He grins sheepishly before pulling out his phone and taking a few steps away from Anna and Karl to hale a cab.

(OOC: Do Anna and Karl want to continue discussing, or should we assume with the conversation with Gabe complete they head straight to Tommy's Joynt?)

[Daishain]

"I did try to warn you." Karl states dryly. "But you'll get used to it."

Karl will stick around until Gabe at least gets confirmation that an uber has accepted the pickup, rather than just leaving him.

[Bennosuke]

Despite the late hour, it was not long till Gabe's rideshare arrived.

Following this, Anna and Karl took off for Tommy's Joynt. They were welcomed by the garishly painted brick building, all blue and red and purple, with "Tommy's Joynt" written in a font that could have been called "Circus Lettering". Parked right outside of the entrance was a beat up sedan in peeling forest green paint, and leaning against the car was Nova. Her dark brown locks, normally allowed to flow out wildly were pulled back into tight colorful cornrows tied with red and orange streamers, and she was wearing a heavy denim jacket.

Standing next to her was Aisling, dressed in the same dirty billowing dress she had worn at the beginning of the night. The two watched as Anna and Karl approached; Aisling waving with a grin as the two got close. "We're finally all together," Nova remarks flatly, eyeing the new arrivals, "Let's go inside and chat quickly." She indicates the entrance to the pub/Elysium, but her dark animal eyes remain fixated on Anna and Karl, regarding them as a predator might with possible prey.

[Daishain]

Karl nods, following the others within without saying a word.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna waved to Aisling but otherwise stayed quiet as she followed Karl into the building.

[Bennosuke]

Nova leads the Coterie into Tommy's Joynte, walking into the warmly decorated pub. But instead of heading for the back door that leads to the stairwell for Elysium, she pushes through the crowd of warm mortal bodies to find a booth in the back of the first floor. A pair of awkward looking teenagers in goth attire are seated at the booth, sipping on steins of frothy beer that they are clearly too young to have. Without saying a word, Nova gives the two a scowl, pushing out with her Beast, and the two boys shuffle out of the booth, whimpering like beaten puppies.

She invites Karl, Anna and Aisling to sit down, shuffling in after the others. "Let's get down to business," the gangrel says flatly, "I want to deal with the Bruja tonight!"

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna sat back in her seat. D'Agnostino had left it up to them whether to include Nova or not! Either he'd done it as a test to see if they would inform her on their own or he'd grown tired with the lack of results and informed her anyway. Or she'd found out on her own. Either way, they now had to deal with the Sheriff pushing them faster than she would have liked.

"Okay, what's the plan once we find them?" Anna asked, "you've been around a lot longer than us; have you ever spoken with or fought them?"

[Daishain]

Karl frowns, "That seems like an unnecessary risk. Should we not at the very least try to ascertain their relative strength first? If we go out there with less than what is needed to forcibly overpower them, chances are we will not be able to make them back down in negotiations."

[Bennosuke]

Nova raises an eyebrow at Anna and Karl's remarks. "Well," she says haughtily, "I see you know the Bruja have... returned to San Francisco. As you know, they've set up in Daly City. However, last night they were in the city proper and apparently dusted John Merino, a Carthian neonate." She speaks as if she expects her companions are aware of this news, but the last part is said with a venom that says she knew Merino and has a taste for revenge. "So anyways, with the Traditions broken it's time for The Prince's Wrath to fall on these troublesome Bruja. I haven't had the chance to do any... surveillance yet, but we can't afford waiting around till they've left."

[Daishain]

Karl resists the urge to rub his face in frustration, this new sheriff wouldn't be much less difficult to work with than the last one, though at least she didn't bear a grudge, "Okay, in that case, how much confirmation do we have that the Brujah are actually responsible? Kindred have used their presence as convenient scapegoats before."

"If we are not almost entirely certain, it will not do the Prince any favors if we make the wrong call in haste, not to mention the problems with possibly letting whoever actually was responsible for Merino's final death slip off unscathed. What do we know about the incident?"

[Thundercracker]

Anna watched quietly as Karl made his thoughts known.

[Bennosuke]

Flatly and with a hint of anger Nova replies, "Three witnesses; three survivors, one with a pretty nasty axe wound to show for it." She shakes her head and adds, "You really hadn't heard about this yet? ****." She throws her hands up for a moment and shakes her head. "I had the pleasure of... gathering the evidence, from my fellow Rabble already, about what your old friends did." Her lips curl back and Karl and Anna can see Nova's fangs bared, her original attitude of cold indifference now kindling into rage.

[Daishain]

"Very well, sorry, I had to ask. And no, we had not heard. We had something of an emergency situation to tamp down over the past 16 hours or so. What is the plan?"

[Bennosuke]

Karl's mention of an emergency situation seems to pique Nova's interest and cool some of her rising anger. A grin returns to the Gangrel's face and she replies, "Well, you are familiar with their hideout, right? The Devil's Hole?" Nova almost rolls her eyes at the name, but continues, "Well I say we ambush them and raise enough hell to remind them of whose territory they are in and send them packing. My truck is loaded up with a few cans of gasoline and we could even just light the joint up if we want. I've got a few Ghouls who are willing to meet us in Daly City if we want the extra hands." She pauses for a moment and the next words that come out of her mouth seem to pain her. "That said, my understanding is that you have had a working relationship with The Bruja before, so if you have any better ideas, I suppose I'm all ears."

[Daishain]

"I wouldn't call it a working relationship. They had information we badly needed, and they demanded something from us in return. We might be able to use that prior contact to deliver them a verbal message before things get started without getting attacked out of hand, but they're not going to take it seriously unless it is immediately backed up with forceful action."

Karl pauses a moment to think, "Forcing them out and off balance with fire is a good start, but they are not going to be intimidated by sight of the three of us and a few ghouls. They'll just get angry and attack, and if they're there in as many numbers as the last time we encountered that bunch, they just might win the fight. If the objective is to send them packing with their tail between the legs from a simple confrontation, we need to display overwhelming force, starting with enough full kindred to tear them to shreds on a whim."

"Assuming that we can't get another dozen kindred to intimidate them with, we'll need to be careful. I see two possibilities. If we want to chase them, then we should never give them anything to attack in return. Their hidey-hole gets set on fire and they rush out. We have our people set up on the rooftops with rifles shooting to wound. They stop moving, they get shot, they group up, they get shot even more. They try to go into a building, they get saturated with lead. We keep up the pressure and force them to scatter into the night like rats."

"The safer and easier option for us, though it would be more problematic politically, would be to destroy them, or at least most of them. Set up the only exit from the burning bar as a kill box, annihilate everything that moves, give our message to the survivors."

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

“We can’t take any half measures,” Anna said, “if we’re going to kill one of them, we need to make sure none of them walk away.”