Domicile Lobby Briefing

Alec was frequently uncomfortable around guns. The most redeeming quality of this evening is that more would be on his side than on the other side, and very, very few would likely be aimed at him. With literally everyone acting as a distraction, he was expecting direction along with the other experienced blenders and assassins to slip in behind the enemy lines to do some pretty ugly damage from behind while the heavy hitters worked the grinder from the front...and he'd outfitted accordingly.

Covered in dull ghost gray from head to toe, he'd still taken Ginnie's advice and applied the kevlar inserts to all of the hidden sleeves, guarding his vital areas. The armoring would protect him against anything that might slow him down - shots that would drop him would likely not notice the kevlar at all, anyway, so he leaned toward mobility over protection. Aside from his fighting knives, throwing knives and the pair of silenced 9mm pistols he usually carried, he'd loaded up a Browning High Power...just in case.

That still left plenty of room for any goodies that might need to be dropped off in specific areas before the real party started, or any swag needing transport from location. From the sounds of things, Alec would have loved to have a straight crack at the compound from an entry standpoint, but that would have been a death warrant before this evening. Only sanctioned ops against this Hillman guy...he must be a big fish. Of course he was a big fish...Ellis wanted him personally. Either a big fish or the dumbest fish, and that didn't seem likely.

Speaking of big fish, Alec seemed to be the first to finish his prepwork. Looking from Carol to Simon and finally to Ellis, he got a bit of a sinking feeling. He was certainly the smallest fish in the room at present. "Ah well, tonight is the time for The Littlest Immortal to shine. You'll find something sneaky and devious to do, no doubt. Or get it assigned to you. Just don't get shot in the face." Maintaining his gaze on Ellis, he did a bit of an internal self-assessment.

Yup. Still terrified of her.

He wondered if the stories around the campfire were true. Of course, if they even had a glimmer of truth to them, she could end him before he'd even realized what had happened. That didn't bother him so much. The stories of her...drawing things out...those were the ones that made him uneasy. Judging from some of the responses at the ball and the responses within house to her, he imagined that more than enough of them were true. Suppressing any feelings of apprehension or overt fear, he entered the room. Completely unsure what the etiquette of the situation called for, he stated the obvious.

Devereaux checking in.

Ginnie watched as Mercs loaded case after case of guns, bombs, light weight kevlar, and other nasty little goodies onto carts and wheel them down to the lobby. Each person on this raid was expected to arm themselves how they saw fit, all she was to do was provide for that armorment. She wasn't entirely certain she was even leaving the Domicile for this shindig, but then again she'd spent the better part of two days fitting a large passenger van to carry more weaponry than was being taken down to the lobby.

She figured they would need a mobil arms unit as well and had made one. That little pretty was also equipped with infrared GPS and she had put tracking devices in all of her vests that would flash a red blip when it's wearer was killed or mortally wounded. She wanted to know their losses in real time. It also gave her the major players weren't wearing her stuff, so she had no way to track them, unless of course she could work up the balls to walk up to Ellis and say "Hey boss-lady, mind wearing my little doo dad so I can watch when you die?"

"Shyeah, right."

The near emptying of her vault had been complete and she did a last minute weapons check. This evening she wore tight black jeans, a black fitted t-shirt that had a kitten on the front and on the back it said "Every time you steal a gun God kills a kitten." Covering that was her custom fit Kevlar vest and shoulder holster with silenced modified Browning High Powers. To her belt was attached four tear gas bombs two incendiary bombs, a knife and a stun gun. Her black boots held a knife and pen gun each. Tucked into the small of her back via an inner pants holster was a tiny 9mm that would do in a pinch. Her mass of curly brown hair was pulled into a slick pony tail and she added the finish touch of her ear piece and molar mic. She's tune in the channel for both of them when it was given her.


A small thrill of anticipation ran down her spine and she exited her lab to head to the Domicile Lobby and the Briefing.

Five minutes later she was following the first of the carts in and noticed Alec standing a bit nervously off to the side. She passed him and went to Ellis. She gave a small bow at the hips and smiled almost warmly at her Elder.

"Reporting in. You have full use of my armory and I have a mobile arms unit waiting to be deployed."

She gave another small bow, nodded at Simon and smiled at Carol. She turned on her heel and went to stand with Alec, hoping to offer some moral support with out actually showing affection in front of Ellis. 'That...could be bad for the both of us.'

Mathias did his best to put thoughts of Shay aside as he prepared for the operation. It was impossible to completely forget about her,but Mathias had to focus on the job at hand. His survival,and the survival of those with him depended on it.

Mathias felt a familiar twinge in his stomach. He had felt it first 1100 years previous when he first went into battle and it was the one constant thoughout a millennia of battle.

Girding himself once again for battle,Mathias pulled on his black fatigues and checked his weapons once again. He was methodical in this - better 5 minutes late than to miss something that could cost them. He was thankful that his specific abilities made kevlar unnecessary,the extra weight could be replaced by ammunition. Tactical holster's for his Walther P99's - thigh mounted with pouches for 2 extra magazines. A knife went into a sheath on his back. Mathias would have preferred to carry his sword,but it was too cumbersome in this case. Finally he rechecked the reflex sight and flash suppressor on his L85. The standard assault rifle for the British,he liked its reliability and compact bullpup design. 4 additional magazines went into a pair of pouches on his belt.

Only one final ritual remained before he went into the lobby and met the others. Kneeling before the statue of The Virgin that adorned his small altar,Mathias lit a candle and bowed his head in prayer.

Domine Iesu Christe, Rex gloriae, libera animas omnium fidelium defunctorum de poenis inferni et de profundo lacu; libera eas de ore leonis, ne absorbeat eas tartarus, ne cadent in obscurum; sed signifer sanctus Michael repraesentet eas in lucem sanctam, quam olim Abrahae promisisti et semini eius. Amen.

A prayer for the dead - both those they would lose and those they would slay. It was only right.

He slung the rifle and made his way down the hall,headed for the lobby. He recognized Alec and Ginnie from the Founder's ball and acknowledged them with a nod of his head. Stopping before the trinity,he bowed before Simon and Carol before kneeling in front of Ellis.

"Ave Caesar, Te Morituri, Te Saluta"

We who are about to die salute you. The traditional pledge of a gladiator before he fought an opponent.

It was only right

Ellis watched her three of her clan members enter the room. As Mathias knelt before her, she gave him a nod and signaled him to rise. The mercs had brought in their armory and she gave it a quick glance. She had all that she needed.

Several key participants were missing, including Gaia, Nova and Jan. She could go ahead without them but she needed to make a few things clear. She would be telling all of them that she would go in alone and Simon would bring the rest of the clan as backup, once she secured Hillman and the beast's whereabouts. She shrugged inwardly, call it recon, call it suicide - but she had things to deal with before the rest of the clan entered.

Ellis leaned back against a wall and waited.

Nova slapped down hard on her alarm clock with a half numb hand, groaning in protest at the intrusion. This effort proved entirely ineffective; the sound of a truck backing up filled her ears and seemed to be vibrating her skull.

She grabbed the clock in one hand and gave a sharp pull, unplugging the most obnoxious device in the world, and chucked it across the room before rolling over to go back to sleep.

Wait. Alarm clock. There was a…thing…

Oh, shit!

Scrambling out of the bed, she looked for the clock, only to remember throwing it across the room in a half awake haze. With no idea what time it was, she decided it would probably be smart to just throw some clothes on and get to the lobby.

Fortunately, she almost never had to think about what to wear. She squirmed into a pair of boxers with bright yellow happy faces and grabbed a pair of black jeans, finding a long sleeved black tee shirt and a ribbed wool sweater to keep from freezing her ass off. Shoving a ski cap over her head, both to cover up her bright hair and to look a little more…killerish…she made it out the door with only slightly more fuss.

She was mostly awake by the time she got to the lobby, though in her mind it was a little early in the night for parsing Latin. Shrugging as Mathias got to his feet, she gave Ellis a nod and stood at something resembling attention, sparing a little grin at the already assembled group.

Well this was certainly one way to meet the locals, still there were orders and one showed up prepared when given orders.

Severely pinning her hair back she dressed in light but sturdy black books, black cargos, black turtleneck and black fingerless gloves. She liked the cargos, gave her plenty of places to store ammo, a knife and anything else she might need. Even with the extra pockets she clipped some extra magazines to her belt. Two shoulder holsters each carried a Glock 31. Val liked straightforward guns, besides they each held 17 in the clip, you had to like that.

Not sure what her roll would be tonight she also strapped a Marine Corps issued M40A3 to her back, a brilliant sniper rifle with a range of about 1000 yards. It had taken some serious effort to get a hold of it. She was damned good with it too, and able to accurate hit her target at the guns maximum range.

Deciding she was as ready as she was going to be Val found her way to the lobby, seven and her, so far. She hadn’t been formally introduced to Ellis or any of the others; still Val didn’t think this was the time for idle chitchat or friendly introductions. She gave the gathered company a polite nod and found a spot off to the side to stand, watch, be seen and get instructions. She was not going to be screwing up tonight.

Simon gave Nova a wink as she appeared. He pushed off the desk and approached the new one, Valentine. Reaching out to shake her hand, he said softly, 'Thank you for coming. New members show promise when they appear promptly for hunts...or maybe you're just anxious?' He gave her a grin and nodded towards Ellis.

'There is your mistress. My only advice is that anything I order you to do, you do without hesistation. Ignore anything Ellis says...well I wouldn't recommend. Any questions?

Val had been watching everyone, but was still a bit surprised to be approached. Of course, it made sense, she was new here and had to be … accounted for. Accepting the offered hand, she returned the smile. She felt a little better about tonight now that she hadn’t been completely ignored or told to bugger off.

“You’re welcome. Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

True statement, she was looking forward to this.

Following his look to Ellis Val nodded. Now she had a face to go with the name.

She almost laughed at the idea of ignoring Ellis. Val did plan on living to see her hundredth birthday and disobeying orders would make that a highly unlikely event. She shook her head slightly.

“No somehow ignoring her doesn’t seem like a good idea.”

Of course, she had other questions, what the plan was, who everyone else was and a dozen or so others. But that was what the briefing was for.

Jan walked down the corridor after strapping several knives and dart gun into place. He was a street kid in the beginning and he was a street kid now. He threw things, he threw them hard and he threw them well.. that's what he did....aside from stealing things that is but then Jan learned that on the street also.

He wore a synthetic black body suit with a light mesh armor sewn into it; synthetics were a blessing to silence and while leather looked bad ass it had the potential to make too much noise for his tastes. Seeing Ellis though, yeah, it looked far cooler than the Mission Impossible breaking and entering attire he and several others had decided to wear.

Gloves, lower face mask and night vision goggles were looped onto his belt for once they were there. Coming to stand next to Nova, he waited silently for everyone else to arrive.

Ellis pushed off the wall and crossed her arms. She wasn't going to wait any longer. Anyone that wanted to follow were more than happy to but those who didn't, she'd have a talk with afterwards.

'Tonight's raid is simple. Hunt, kill, retrieve...and then kill some more.' She grinned, exposing a fang. 'For those of you who don't know, we are retrieving a rather profitable item. Simple in design, it holds the key for financial domination, clan superiority and honestly it just makes me happy and I want it back.' She batted her long eyelashes.

Walking over to the computer panel, she pressed several console buttons and from the ceiling dropped an high definition monitor about four feet long, three feet high. It screamed of gluttony and was again, something that made Ellis happy. It flashed once and then a crisp schematic of the beast appeared.

'This is what we're going after. Nine feet tall and god awful heavy, we either secure this and return it here or we blow it to bits. It is what you think it looks like. Merc team, this is what we're hunting clanless for. New members, you did not join a fucking picnic. We kill and only when it is profitable. Either I have this back or no one does. It's an easy principle. This is where it is hidden.' Using the plans from Lykiaos, whom she has not seen since that meeting in HoP, the diagram of Hillman's state of the art warehouse.

'There's nothing special about the warehouse itself, but below is a mutiple sub level facility. Apparently someone couldn't think of a more original design, so it is similar to the Domicile in structure, but not design. We will hack into their computer systems and use their own security against them. Here's the kicker,' she paused, 'I will go in alone. Simon and the clan will take the compound once I have secured the beast.'

That was the thing, Ellis hadn't quite figured out how she'd do that, but she was arrogant enough to think she'd be able to handle what happened. 'We're getting it back or fucking die trying.'

She looked at them, a handful of her elite and the mercenaries numbered them into the double digits but Tacharan was a small clan and for very good reason. Better control, discipline and she didn't like to babysit.

'Ginnie is in charge of weapons. Carol and Nova, recon support. Simon will choose his team and ready to secure the outside perimeter and then engage. Alec, will scout ahead and de-boobie any traps.' She gave him a wink. 'Again, I go in alone, don't bother objecting. Simon will engage on my signal,' she held up a thin wafer looking device. She placed it in her glove, just inside her palm. With a squeeze, whether bound or not, it activated a beacon. 'One click and you come down on them like the wrath of motherfucking god.'

She paused, looking at them. 'Once the item is retrieved, we will destroy this warehouse. Make it look however you want but I want it nothing but crumbling ashes by the time we are finished. Ginnie, you will make that happen. Structurally I want it all destroyed and everyone in it. Terrance Hillman, is mine. No one walks out alive. I don't give a fuck what the other clans say, this was personal and I don't take kindly to my shit being taken.' There was no smile left on Ellis face. This was it, they either did it or she'd kill the clan herself.

'Any questions?'

That layout...it really was eerily similar, like an earlier prototype of the Domicile itself, missing the later expansion excavations and Duibne. Since he knew where the Domicile's traps, toys and triggers were, it was a pretty good bet the mechanical independent security points would be in a very familiar array. Well...it sounded like he'd be getting a shot at the facility after all. Earlier apprehension evaporated, Alec was in pure gametime.

Nodding, Alec stepped forward.

Will I be ensuring a clear path directly to the floor of the Beast in front of you and doubling back for other floors for Simon's team, spiraling through each sublevel for surprises behind your initial penetration, or clearing to the elevators for you and then waiting for the combatants? Due to the similarity of layout and remarkable familiarity of the security grids, any option is equally facile.

The likelihood of any unfortunate surprises on the main approach is exceedingly low before reaching the Beast's Lair since they would have to transport prisoners to the location. The exception will be the elevator rooms, of course. Any of the electronically triggered or radio triggered traps will be compromised when Carol takes control of the electronics in the facility, so I'll be working solely on mechanical deployments. I just want to make sure I am crystal clear on the expectations you have of me regarding my placement and pathing before we depart.

Inhaling slightly at the end, Alec realized that was the most he'd ever said to Ellis in one go. Forcing himself not to blush, he blinked instead. He was certainly past due, not that anyone in this room would be bothered by it, anyway.

Ginnie pulled a small notebook and pen from a pocket of her vest. She was staring raptly at the screen, making a miniature drawing of it in her book. She listened with half an ear to Alec, as she plotted explosives points that would both kill any survivors and destroy as much brick and concrete as possible. She would need to stop at her car on the way to the van, for the case that carried her bomb making tools, though the van had plenty of the materials she would need.

It would be an easy job, once she got to the sub level to plant the bombs anyway. She made several more notations and then turned her head.

"What channel is our com link on?"

Carol was seated on top of the lobby table. She swung her legs to and fro gently as Ellis spoke. She had seen the diagrams and knew them by heart now, so she waited patiently to be addressed. When Ginnie asked her question, Carol slid off the desk, grabbing with her a small black bag.

Pulling out a small ear piece, she threw one gently at Ginnie.

((OOC - haha catch!))

'These are set to our communication channel. Thank Marthinus, these are state of the art little ear do jabber thingies. Sensitive to your whisper and surroundings, no obnxious feedback to blow your cover and ultimately your head off. Guess where they go?' She smiled, raising her eyebrows. 'I kid, I kid. These mold to the shape of your ear canal so you don't have to worry about them falling out. Everyone knows the drill, radio silence until I get into their systems, then I'll be able to see where you are and call you on the bloody phone in the room!'

She threw the rest at each clan member and hoped they catched them.

((ooc - no butter fingers, now))

You had to be impressed with the equipment, so much better than they’d had when she was still working for the IRA. Hunt, kill, destroy and all while extremely well equipped; oh yes she could be happy.

Focusing on the briefing she absently ran her tongue along the point of one of her fangs, she had a tendency to do that either while concentrating or before a fight, in this case both applied. She missed a blink at Ellis’ pronouncement she was going in alone. Rather than immediately concluding that her clan leader was mad Val decided it was more likely that she had additional information.

Taking a second to sort out who was who and making, a note not to kill Hillman Val gave half a nod. No one could accuse her of being overly talkative, that was for certain. Catching the ear piece that was tossed to her and studied it.

Ginnie reached up with her right hand and caught the ear piece careful not to crush it with her pen. She tucked pen and notebook into her pocket and pulled her personal piece from the snug opening of her ear canal.

She took a moment to fit and adjust the new one, before reaching into her mouth and removing the microphone attached to her molar. A small black bag was pulled from another pocket and the com units went inside. She put the bag away and grinned at Carol, before removing her pen and pad to double check her notes.

Mathias listened to both Ellis' and Carol's briefings,nodding. He didn't like The Beast,to be sure. However he accepted it as a necessary evil, and as it was used on the Clanless who ran wild and oft times threatened the vampire's peace, could deal with it. Not like, but deal with it.

He caught the tossed earpiece and fit it in. So much had changed since the days of armor and sword - and yet the quiet before the battle had not. Folks generally didn't want idle chit chat before shedding blood, odd how that was.

Mathias turned to Ginnie and presented the L85,safety on. If she was in charge of weapons, then an inspection might be wanted.

"Care to check my kit,Ginnie?"

Ellis looked at Alec and nodded towards Simon. 'Check your path with Simon and Carol. I have business to attend to.' She looked at them all and beamed with confidence. For the dedication of her clan? No, not Ellis. They were cannon fodder to her and that was just fine.

She kissed the tips of her gloved fingers and waved. 'Whoever said living on the dark side wasn't fun, clearly wasn't a vampire.' With a wink, she exited the Domicile.

((ooc - Ellis out. Feel free to finish up the thread with conversations or plot details, I'll set up the description to the compound tomorrow (god willing). We can all meet in the compound thread but break off into 1 extra thread to do our separate storylines if have something in mind. There will be an exit thread when it's all over. Enjoy!))

Nodding once as Ellis departed, Alec watched her go. "Amazing how a creature so egotistical has made it down through the centuries. I wonder if she was as much of a hardcase before she was the most dangerous creature alive." Pondering Ellis as a fishwife or a farmer's daughter...he just couldn't. He'd have put good money on hardcase.

Reaching into his mouth, he pulled out his molar mic, stowing it in his belt for later. Fitting the new tech into his ear canal, he twitched a bit as it refit itself. Frowning, he removed it, and pulled out a tiny, hollow needle from his belt. Sliding it through the uppermost layer of the foam, he arranged it so the tip was just barely protruding from the inside. Snipping the tip off with his fang, he refit the earpiece. He could feel the ridge inside, but his ears also could breathe a bit better...and his hearing reduction from that ear would be minimized. Every advantage, after all.

Satisfied, he strode closer to Simon. Bowing slightly from the neck, he asked

So what's the plan, boss?

Ginnie looked up from her notes and did her best not to give Mathias the "You've grown a second head look." She tucked her pad away and put her hands on her hips.

"The way I see it is, if it belongs to you then you know how to use it and care for it. If you don't, then I can only hope the kill you quickly."

She gave him a wink, and pulled a black velvet bag out of her jeans pocket. She pulled what looked like a black desk pen from it and handed it to him.

"This is a high voltage stun gun, tear gas bomb and an incendiary bomb. You can carry it in your pocket and it won't go off." She began to show him how to work the mechanisms and when she was finished she admonished.

"Toss that fucker away if you set off the gas, it's ten times more potent than what the military uses. Do be careful, even the immortal are subject to tear gas."

She walked away from him and gave one of the pen weapons to every one assemble with instruction for use and a warning about staying clear of the gas. She walked to the middle of the room and raised her voice.

"Put it in a pocket of your pants, use it only if you find yourself completely unarmed. It will not detonate in your pocket even if it's hit with a bullet. If you need more ammunition, I will be in a black van just outside the compound with a large array of bullets for the taking. When it comes time for me to go in, a Merc will be there to distribute what you need."

She gave the room a grin and headed to the garage, her car and ultimately the van. She had a tiny hope that Alec would catch her up and ride with her, but she didn't say as much to him, he had his own agenda here.

((Ginnie out))

Winter had been skulking around silently listening to the everyone, he had kept out of sight.. he wasn't feeling social, or entertaining. He knew that none of the people here would understand that, he had gone to great lengths to ensure that they thought him a moron, it was easier that way.. they never watched you carefully after they had dismissed you, all the easier to remove then if the time came.

he made the final adjustments to the Katana and Wakishashi he carried, then ran his inventory. 'throwing knives - check, shuriken - check, straight razors - check, garrotes - check, needles - check, and finally monofilament-wire - check'. darted past Carol to snatch an earplug. It fit snugly into his ear. The matte black and midnight blue light Swat armor was completed when the head stocking came down to cover up his brilliantly white hair and he lowered the tinted goggle / face mask over his face. The black Latex gloves completed the set, he was ready.