The Siege of Powtanville

Chapter 2

Back at the bar, the Magnificent Seven were recovering from their briefing. Simon, the oack priest, was ecstatic. "CAINE! Caine HIMSELF is in this town! Fuck, you guys, I been dreaming about meeting Caine since the second I was Embraced back at the hospital! There's all kindsa stuff I wanna ask Him, like what did Malkav DO to get cursed, or Nosferat? Or what's God actually sound like? Was Eve as hot as I always figured? Where in the hell did his brother Seth get a wife? Or…"

Veronique cut him off "… or have your Clan always been as annoying as they are? Can it, preacher, we aren't gonna find Caine. If Big Daddy don't want to be found then He ain't gonna be found"

Simon responded angrily "Yeah? And how do you know He doesn't want us to find Him, bitch? We're just as good as any Kindred alive today, so we have as much chance at seeing Him as any. Plus, he's already BEEN found, remember? Someone saw Him"

"No" the LaSombra woman corrected "they THINK they saw him. They say they saw someone using Disciplines they'd never heard of, and doing shit they didn't know was possible. Could be Him, I admit. Could also be a mage, or a halucination, or one of those Asian vampires, the Koo-ee-gin"

"Kuei-Jin" Tariq corrected quietly. He had had experience with those strange beings, experience he had been reluctant to discuss with the others. He had eventually told the pack how his Assamite superiors had sent him to kill a powerful Kuei-Jin leader. He had barely escaped Asia alive, and it was this more than anything else which led to his joining the Sabbat. "and the Kuei-Jin could not be mistaken for one of us, not even Caine. For one thing they are Asians, and for another, their powers are radically different from ours."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Point is, we don't know if its Him or not. What we DO know is that there are two other things we gotta take care of in Powtanville, and they're a lot more pressing. I ain't eager to tangle with furballs, not at seven-to-four odds. Well, five to four, really, since the preacher and the Creep aren't all that useful in fights"

"Not to mention the Camarilla" Bubba added "They's pussies, but I ain't happy turning my back on 'em while we deal with the other shit. Hey! Maybe Simon and Jessy can handle 'em, they should be tough enough for that" Sad thing was, Bubba wasn't trying to be mean. He just thought killing Camarilla spies to be more in line with his packmates abilities.

Jessy wasn't particularly displeased. She hated the Camarilla with a passion, because she felt they drove the Nosferatu into the sewers. Plus, she knew she wasn't up to a Wolf Hunt. Tariq had been teaching her comabat, but she was a long way from ready to deal with six-hundred plus pounds of pissed off werewolf.

"Fuck you both" Simon replied "I get the job done. Anyway, we can't just give this up or put it aside. We've got a chance here that's been given to maybe fifty Kindred since the Flood, a chance to meet Our Father! Who knows if He'll still be in town when we finally get around to looking for Him. If we can make contact…" he let himself trail off, to give the others a chance to fill in the blanks. They did. Power, prestige, never-ending renown, the answers to questions which plagued all Kindred, establishing contact with Caine would bring them all those things and more.

Janus finally intervened, more to shut Simon and Veronique up than anything else. They were giving him a headache, which as a vampire should have been impossible. "We can do both. People, we can't just focus on one problem at a time here, as useful as that would be. If we take out one enemy first, the other will catch wind of it, making our jobs that much harder"

Jeff, in a tone that sounded more Brujah than Ventrue, interjected "Yeah, so? If they're warned its more fun. Not much challenge killing someone by surprise" Yep. Definitely need to have a little chat with him Janus thought. Later

"Perhaps. But there are two problems with barging in without thinking. First, it would greatly increase the chances of failure. The Magificent Seven have never failed, and while its true there's a first time for everything, this isn't it. Second" he decided to lighten the mood a bit "I've spent a lot of time getting used to your ugly faces, and I don't want to have to go through that again with new bloods." Some laughter, and a generally lighter mood.

"Okay, boss-man" Veronique said once the room quieted down "so what's your brilliant plan?" Again her voice held a hint of challenge. Once again Janus wondered how much he could count on the LaSombra.

"As a matter of fact I do. Jessy, Tariq, Bubba and Simon will go into town first. There job will be to find the targets, and to keep an eye on the Camarilla agent or agents. Me, you, and Jeff will come in 2 or 3 nights later, after we pick up some silver bullets to supplement our stock of normal and phosphorous rounds. Then, once the Kindred've been pegged, we go after the Lupines. All the while, though, we keep our eyes and ears open for signs of Caine. If you're not fighting or working I want you looking for Him. BUT" here he looked directly at Simon "if you ARE fighting or working you keep your mind on the job. Clear?"

"Crystal"

"Yeah, yeah"

"Okay"

"An acceptable plan"
"Still think Caine should be priority 1…"

grunt

Janus was about to move to the next order of business, when one of the ghouls timidly interrupted him.

It was Tim McNarthy, an ex-cop ghouled to Jessy. "Excuse me, lord, but what are we to do? The War Ghouls don't like to be kept waiting for long periods, that's why I ask."

"A few points to remember, ghoul . First, I know more about my War Ghouls than you ever will, so do not presume to lecture me about their care. Second, you will wait for your instructions as you wait for your blood. Third, the ghouls will be split in two. Six of you will work in the daytime, guarding us. The others will spend their nights looking for Caine, unless otherwise instructed.. Fourth, McNarthy…"

He grabbed the unfortunate ghoul and lifted him up int the air. Calling on his mastery of Viscitude, he used a technique called Skin Trap. A layer of skin shot off his left arm, and encased McNarthy's face like a plastic bag. McNarthy kicked and struggled for a while and then became still. When Janus returned his skin to his arm, McNArthy's face was a mottled blue.

"…never interrupt me again" Janus finished, dropping the corpse before turning to his fellows. "Get rid of that. I don't want to see it again". He returned his gaze tp the Seven "Any more questions?"

Tariq spole up "You mentioned the ghouls looking for Caine. How will they know Him? And where will we be sleeping?"

"I will give the ghouls a description of Caine. They probably won't find him, but they can search for rumors or signs of Him. As for the second question, that I leave to you and Bubba. Intelligence work not being your forte, I want you to scout the city. Find us a Lair, hunting grounds, and get a general feel for the city. All right, lets move"

The preparations for the journey went smoothly, largely because Simon was willing to be chained up. Normally getting him set to travel was a long, tiring procedure. First he had to be caught, then subdued, then chained, all the while holding him to prevent his getting away and ignoring the murderous threats and scathing insults he screamed at them. But not this time. This time when they went to look for him they found him in Bubba's side car, the chains already wrapped around him.

On seeing their amazed looks, Simon said "What? We all know you were going to do it, just like we all know I can't avoid it. I don't want to waste time on this when we could be looking for Caine, so I figured I'd just go along with it this time."

Bubba smiled. He hated having to do that to Simon every time they went somewhere. "Great idea, Simon. Now why can't you be this reasonable every time?"

"Shove it, PERCIVAL. I ain't forgotten the way you totally DIDN'T back me up on looking for Caine. Now, I left the stuff for the Rites back near te bar. Go get it wouldya, PERCY!" Simon invested Bubba's real name with an amazing amount of scorn and derision, so much so that the big man actually flinched each time he heard it. He went for the items, but was heard to mutter

"Dammit, I thought I left that name behind in Arkansas"

Everyone repressed smiles, except for Simon who laughed outright. Then they got on with chaining Simon, and getting ready to go.

They went about 50 miles before stopping. Janus turned to his pack.

"Okay, you all know what to do. Jeff, Veronique come with me, and bring the ghouls with you. The rest of you, good luck, and remember: I like my lair to have a good view."

Laughing, the Maginificent Seven split up. One group went to Los Angeles, there to resupply through that city's immense black market. The other entered Powtanville, a bit nervously. This was a big challenge, a pack of Lupines and the Camarilla. The addition of Caine only made things harder

AN: The next chapter will be done from Jessy's POV. Should be pretty amorous, though not physical (not a huge fan of love scenes). I will not be doing any chapters from Simon's POV, just because writing in the tone of a paranoiac is difficult. I've been trying but none of my attempts have been good enough for me.