The emergency meeting was held in Penguin Logistics safehouse. Wei's office was damaged by the scuffle, and Snikch's plunge drew the attention of Lungmen's news reporters. Cameras flashed, microphones prodded, and questions assaulted Wei as he emerged from the tower, Ch'en leaning heavily on his shoulder.
"Chief Wei! How did Reunion bypass the L.G.D. blockades?"
"Chief Wei! Who jumped from your office?"
"Any comment on the outbreak of green Originium in the slums?"
"Bah! Get away!" Wei pushed through the throng of reporters, dismissing their inquiries with a wave of his hand. "I do not have the time for the press! I need an ambulance for my daughter!"
The crowd of reporters dispersed, making way for a pair of EMCs. They rolled up a stretcher for Ch'en, but she remained defiant, disregarding her injuries.
"I know Lin isn't holed up in some hospital. If she's at the safehouse, I will be there too."
"Ch'en..."
"Would you please stop pushing me away!?"
Ch'en's outburst sent shockwaves through the crowd, feeding the scandalous tales spun by the press.
Both Ch'en and Wei realized it was time to cut and run to preserve their public image. Wei ordered the EMCs to to treat Ch'en's wounds with bandages. After which, he was through with their presence.
"Get out of my sight." He barked. It flew in the face of their training, but Chief Wei's authority was still absolute, even in chaos.
Wordlessly, the EMCs left, along with the press. Without the public eye, Ch'en and Wei slipped off into the shadows. Wei appeared to have intimate knowledge of the city's alleyways and backstreets, oddly, but Ch'en didn't push on this. The two trekked silently together until they found an abandoned office building guarded by two Penguin Logistics operators.
"They're inside." Texas remarked, leaning on the cinder block walls with a piece of chocolate candy between her lips.
"You must be dealing with something big if the boss won't let us in," Exusiai lamented in disappointment. "It's not in our line of work to question stuff like that, so hey! Make yourselves welcome!"
The logistics runners opened up the doors, allowing Ch'en and Wei to proceed into a dimly lit clubhouse, bar included. Rhodes Island's leadership, Amiya, Kal'tsit, and the Doctor, shared with the Reunion Yetis. Their ringleader, the one one who lacked a hood, was a pale Cautus in tattered robes. She appeared to be having a friendly conversation with the Doctor, but cast an icy glare at Wei and Ch'en.
"The blood of the Infected is still on your hands." Frostnova spat bitterly, her expression reflecting both sorrow and accusation. "You only have my cooperation because we were setup, not unlike how you used Rhodes, Mr Wei. Reunion's master, Talulah, betrayed us all."
The mention of her sister perks up Ch'en. She left her father's side to confront the Reunion Ringleader. "Talulah? You know her? She's behind this? Where in the hell is she?"
"Come take a seat, Ch'en."
Lin Gray offered a table to the Lung. His daughter was also present, with a scar that nearly missed her eyes. Swire sat across Yuhsia, sharing Ch'en's disdain for the Zalak.
"You knew about the Weeping Fists before the attacks." She crossed her arms.
"What? You want to arrest me with HIM in the room?" Yuhsia gestured to her father.
"Enough, girls. I cannot tell my story with you two yapping." Gray intervened.
A Penguin with shades popped out from the counter. "Yeah! I need the lowdown of those crackheads asap. Can't run my shop here if Lungmen's the next Chernobog, if you know what I mean."
Lin Gray shuffled to the center of the room, and took a deep breath. "During the New Years celebration of 1060, the Cathayans sent an assassin to take the True Lung's life. He only feared the gods, but after the Great Hunt led by the original emperor concluded, the only ones left were the ones who Cathay worship. The True Lung was far less privy against the god's minions, as a heavily armed blade snuck into the palace that night. A cloak of invisibility, a gift from those gods, made him near impossible to detect. When Yenwu and I received the alarm, I had thought everything was lost. To our shock, one of the True Lung's servants had stopped the threat, by caving in his armor with only a fist. This unlikely hero was Mao, founder of the Weeping Fists and the Shadow Guard."
"The Zalak who was calling himself the Deathmaster? How could such a monster even work for the Emperor?" Ch'en thought as Lin continued his tale.
"His style grew immensely popular with the jianghu, gaining enough followers to establish his own community. He had it all, but the signs were there. I regret not saying anything about it back then, espiecally when the two would share drinks. The sheer spite in his eyes would make you believe he poisoned the drinks. Mao would always make a show out of every target the emperor sent him to kill. He was desperate for his approval, and killing his only method. As Yan moved on to an era of peace, there was less of a need for Mao. Less jobs, less opportunities for the Emperor's praise... it was only a matter of time before he turned his back against Yan. He ordered his followers to set their daggers for Yanese officials. Wei and I chosen to lead an army to their hideout. But... something struck them first. A Catastrophe sent a green meteorite into their hideout and mutated them into horrific beasts. The True Lung had to become involved and lock the site deep underground with his Earth casters. Since then, the Weeping Fists who had evaded the Catastrophe formed the Shadow Guard, who are to be nothing more than the Emperor's bodyguards."
Lin Grey threw shade at his partner. "Right, Yenwu?"
Wee hung his head in shame. "You have my apologies. It would have never down come to this if I trusted my allies. I should have played the cards I had, rather than discard them. Now, Lungmen suffers."
While Wei brooded, the Doctor brought up an important point. "Chief Wei, if those assassins infiltrated your guard, how did they escape from their tomb?"
"They are slippery bastards, I can tell you that much." Wei laughed cruelly, shaking his head. "Perhaps my brother missed a few back then. I do not know, and I do not care. The Censors are likely here to revoke Lungmen's independence as we speak. My life's work is null and void."
"I think the ratmen released them."
Swire's words dew the attention of everyone in the room. Kal'tsit was noticeably upset, and the Emperor fiddled with his sunglasses.
"Ratmen?" Wei asked rhetorically, throwing up his hands. "Swire, this is no time for those silly tales the Empire of Man tells its children."
"He fit the bill perfectly, Chief! Red eyes, huge fangs... Mr Lin is still sharp as ever..."
"Nothing more than tea and morning stretches." Gray quickly added.
"But the place the Tue Lung banished Mao twisted him into another one of those rat monsters. It's obvious that the others broke him and his pals out."
When Kal'tsit looked at Swire with further suspicion, she continued. "Oh come on, those thumpers talk about them all the time if you look south. Been expanding my clothing brand in their territories. Marienburg is really rocking it!" The Feline noticed that no one was buying. She cleared her throat. "Word has it that the ratmen built a subterranean highway that reaches everywhere. They can go from Sargon to Sami and remain completely undetected! he ones up in Yan must've sensed the Fists when the True Lung sealed them away. Also, there is something that is always brought up along with the rats. Warpstone. The green originium that was growing all over the Infected bodies was likely it."
"The Yeti's and I refused to spread the Originium." Frostnova begun her testimony. "I cannot speak for the rest of Reunion, but before we infiltrated the slums, Talulah said that the Infected communities would welcome us with open arms. I merely thought she was trying to boost morale, as Lungmen's Infected would not nearly be as accepting of us Ursans. We shortly ran into men in black coats, but they wore the Reunion colors. They were already inside Lungmen, infecting others on purpose. Talulah had changed from the day I first met her, and even more after she returned from an incinerated village. Today, the Talulah I know does not exist."
"Talulah... Why..." Ch'en cursed her lost siblings name. She slammed her fist into the table with rage.
Swire and Frostnova's information caused Kal'tsit to worry. Her poker face begun to waver. She had never given the ratmen a second thought, as Kazdel occupied most of her attention. Is was either deals with the Sarkez, or behind-the-scenes work to keep the Empire of Man's more overzealous rulers in check. They were the biggest threats to her world, becides the fiends in the North. If it meant turning a blind eye to Greenskin Waughs and Druchi raids, so be it. The ratmen were prone to infighting on a scake worse than the lawless days of Kazdel, and they lacked a figurehead to unite them. Green originium, warpstone, was what drove their madness. They were one of the few parts of Terra that Dr Kal'tsit did not understand, and terrified her.
"Amiya." She demanded, not asked. At this stage, her abilities should have manifested. They were vital to Kal'tsit's conjecture. "What did you see?"
Amiya could not lie to her mentor. "A horned rat."
The Emperor mouthed Lungmen obscenities. He was around back then, so the threat was understood.
The Skaven were using the Infected as vehicles for doomsday. If Amiya could sense the horned rat through one of them, that meant he was close.
The End Times are near. And Reunion has unwittingly played a part in the Doombringers' games. The same ones who destroyed Kal'tsits parent civilization.
"Talking behind my back? After I poured everything out for you, Rhodes?" Wei accused, deeply offended. When Kal'tsit and Amiya kept their lips shut, his anger only increased. "Dr Kal'tsit, we had another agreement regarding your cooperation. Satisfy your end of the defense contract, and you get the key. Lungmen will never be safe until I understand the true threat at hand. If you don't speak up, the deal is off."
"There he goes again." Lin Gray groaned.
"Father, why can't you accept their help?" Ch'en asked. "Rhodes Island has already proved their mettle."
"I don't want to lose you Ch'en!" Wei outbursted in a fit of frustration. "It was bad enough that Talulah ended up in Kaschey's hands, but something else got to her. It's the same entity that corrupted Mao and ruined my precious city. You are the only one left Ch'en, my last prized jewel, and I need to know what the hell I'm fighting against!"
Making her timely entrance, Lady Fumizuki, Chief Wei' wife, entered the safehouse with several Shadow Guardsmen.
"Have you heard the news?" She spoke, hands on her hips. "Chernobog is on a direct course for Great Lungmen and is broadcasting Ursine military codes. War is inevitable at this point."
Dr Kal'tsit lowered her ears. Fear. A war would spell doom for Terra. It was Their favorite game, afterall.
Chernobog Command Tower.
"The seeds have been set." An unnaturally large bat, perched on the command terminal, hissed its report to Talulah. "Nagash's revival is coming along nicely. Your plans will keep the rest of Terra occupied while my followers finish the rituals. Was the Yanese Emperor's hier slain, as requested."
"Whenever the Skaven failed or succeeded does not matter. The chaos they sowed within Lungmen will be more than enough to tie Wei's hands."
"I see you are not naive enough to fully trust them. They are further treacherous than the Sarkaz mercenaries you hired. The ones who occupied Londinium would have made great minions for our cause, but are fanatically loyal to their king. He may be a century old, but he's still mortal. Oh well. Those fools will succumb to the Dark Ones soon enough when things proceed."
A certain someone who had snuck into the room prior begun to clap. "Well well well! It was ballsy move, hiring us Sarkaz. Hiring us with the rats was just asking for trouble. Now, what do I see? Just you having a conversion a vampire, the from the Imperial bloodlines."
"You did not give me notice, W." Talulah, turning to face the threat, spoke sharply. The bat creature bared its fangs at the Sarkaz.
"Do not lump me in with your Kazdel! I do not bow down to no mortal king, as the Von Carsteins have mastered life and death! If I was here in person, the flesh would have rotted off your flesh in an instant. But, I have other matters to tend to."
"Yeah. Dark lords and conspiracies. I get it. We all have hustles." She revealed a detonator hidden within her body armor. "Been real busy too, rigging this place to blow. Bats will probably survive, but not you, 'Talulah'. I busted my ass for the city's key to make all this work out, and now you are double dealing with factions who don't give a shit about Reunion. The real Talulah would have been more subtle about this. Ciao!"
W lept off the building backwards to capture her foe's last looks. While 'Talulah' had a dimly amused face, the bat creature suddenly became more anaimalistic, as if its leash were cut. It made a new hole in the buildings window and flew off into the distance, right before the explosives incinerating the command center.
"Heh... I hope Mr Bat isn't thirsty." W laughed as she plummeted to the ground.
