Number of fucks given in this post: 10
You know, no matter how many of these types of assaults I’m a part of, it never fails to surprise me just how fast they happen. I mean, the main part of this took less than 20 seconds from the point we broke the perimeter. Crash, whoosh, aaaargh!
Carter’s prep went smoothly enough so we approached the buildings in a convoy of stolen hire cars and vans, with me at the front driving a transit with Victor and another in the back. We’ve got the van filled with water tanks, tied down, to give some weight and in case they use fire again. Tius… he is now publicly Tius… has done is ritual to keep the beast chained. Felt a bit odd when he did it but otherwise fine.
There were 6 buildings, and between them was a massive bonfire. Apparently, Sabbat do some kind of rituals with it. Scans just before we went in show the fire and some kindred bodies.
Not being subtle, they spot us pretty quick. I set the van to ramming speed.. and look the female Tremere standing in front of the fire almost in the eye before she aims a fireball that shatters the windscreen of the van and fills the cab with the blast! Oh fuck. Nice opening move. Really glad at that point for that ritual! I spin the van so that the back doors, and the mass of water, end up facing her. Half of our team bring their vehicles up the left hand side of our van and the other half up the right.
Of course, first thing I do next is punch open one of the tanks so that we can douse out the flames flickering over our clothing. Also really glad that we picked up the flame retardant clothing.
Looking out the back of the van, the place is now shrouded in that creepy blackness the Lasombra can make. Can’t see anything but I can hear running from inside it and the crackle of the bonfire in the background. I pick up one of the water tanks and chuck it towards one of the people moving about. It thuds into them but I have no idea how much they got hurt.
Suddenly the van lifts and tips and Victor and I fall out. Doyle has picked the van up and half-throws it in the direction of the bonfire and the people in the shadow. Shit, I mean, I’m probably strong enough to do the same but that would be maximum effort plus a shit tonne of luck and focus!
I get up and get my machete ready as I’m looking at the darkness trying to work out if it’s worth the risk to try to go in. I can see Doyle’s friend off to one side… geez… is that actually a Gangrel? I didn’t think that they could turn into half wolf half man. Either way, he’s huge and looks fucking vicious.
And the blackness drops to reveal a bunch of nasty-looking types. From the exclamation and glee coming from Doyle this is a group that he knows from the past and he’s keen to get into them. Then the whole thing kicks off. The wolf-man starts ripping some seriously vicious claws, gulls pick up Anna Zafira and she flies up, flaming arrows fly in (and one hits the wolf-guy in the back of the head, oops!), Victor and Riley get stuck in with claws and Burning Wrath and Doyle goes full Brujah with his own flaming fists and minces them. Fuck.. he’s fast. Again, I can go that fast but I couldn’t keep it going for any more than maybe 6 seconds without needing to empty someone on the other side… which is what he does. Typically, this is all happening while I’m getting into position around the fire so all I’ve done is watch! By this point, there is one guy left and Primrose is happily roasting him.
Then we hear a cry from help from the other side! Shit! Can’t see too much from here, except that most of our guys over there are down. Sophia is dragging torpored bodies out the way. Arkady and Anton are up but Carter and big bear-form Ruby are down. We had the side-kick gang and they were up against the heavy hitting Ventrue in full-plate, Lasombra with his shadow armour and sword and blasty Tremere lady.
So yeah, max speed and we rush off to go to their aid. I’m just slightly behind Doyle. From behind us, Primrose levitates the Ventrue and smashes him into the bonfire… to which his reaction is to calmly turn his head, look Doyle in the eye and command him to kill his friends…
Fuck and double fuck. Guess who is closest. We’re equally fast, equally strong, but I’m hungry and seriously burned while he managed to find time to take a few sips of enemy combatant. With his Burning Wrath, if he fights me my only way to survive is to kill him first. I can’t faff about with stakes. Maybe I can put him in a hold… but for how long before he breaks out?!
And the hero award goes to Anton! Suddenly, the figures pop out of nowhere… illusions of Primrose, Carter and Pat! Doyle is distracted by them, freeing me to reach the Ventrue resting leisurely in the fire. I smash some epic blows into his body, through his armour… and he doesn’t even flinch. Same when Victor slashes him with claws and Riley with his burning hands. How is he resisting the onslaught?! I mean, he’s lying in fire being held there by Primrose at the same time! Does this need blood to fuel it? I hope so! At least then we have a hope of taking him down with blood loss! The Tremere do their thing and there is sudden relief from all of us in close combat as the Ventrue falls into torpor.
Behind us, the Lasombra has done his shadow-teleport thing and has appeared behind us to attack Doyle, distracting him from his illusionary targets. Doyle and his wolf-pal gives it a good go but the Lasombra’s vicious blade is too much and Doyle falls, also in torpor.
Elsewhere, the Tremere has started fleeing the fight with Arkady following after. Maybe he used Dread Gaze? Or perhaps she saw things were starting to turn against them. Anyway, she reaches the shutter door in one of the buildings and opens it to reveal at least a hundred shovelheads, salivating with manic expressions and ready to run in
I take a moment to trigger Majesty while Victor and Riley make it to the Lasombra and attack it from behind while the wolf-man lays into it with those claws. This guy isn’t as tough as the Ventrue and they take him down!
Tius teleports over to the Tremere and makes her submit with a Dominate command but it doesn’t stop the horde. Arkady, also with Majesty, and I move over there quickly to try to block them in with the sheer force of our personalities…
…and at that point the “cavalry” show up. Stepping out of nowhere is Angus, Amadeus, some fuck-off Assamite and a whole bunch of other guys who look like they could take out both us and the Sabbat single-handedly in one go. Yeah, nice timing! Fuckers. They swoop in, round up the horde and take away the torpored Sabbat. Probably take credit for the whole thing, too.
Few nights later and I’m completely regretting letting Tius do that ritual. This shit is freaking me out. It’s so hard to describe what not having your beast around is like. It’s not like it’s a friend I miss, or anything, it’s more like when you’re used to a particular sound and suddenly it stops and the quiet is… unnatural. Like the sound of a generator or air conditioning going in the background but one day the sound isn’t there. It takes a while to realise what is wrong but then you work it out. And then you can’t help but push at the missing bit. Sort of like it’s a missing tooth. Every time you think of it you fiddle with the gap. For example, I’m driving along and some dick doesn’t see me on the bike and cuts across and I have to swerve. Normally, I’d have to push down on the beast who wants me to go over there and rip his fucking head off… except nothing. I mean great, right? Easy! But later then I’m like, “Hey, is the beast still away? Tius said it’d be maybe up to a week it’d be away.” How do you test it? Maybe cut across some other road user and see if they get pissed off at you? “Accidentally” knock over some drunk’s beer in the pub? But shit, that’s a bad plan. What if it comes back mid-argument and it catches me off guard and I fucking loose it in a crowded pub. Fucking nightmare. Even when I’m not paying attention it’s like always walking into an empty room.
Worse, if I’m not paying attention, my mind starts to wander back to what it used to be like. Before I had a beast at all. Before Peter sired me in the collapsed tunnel at Fryston. Dangerous. Last thing I need is to dwell on everything I lost when he saved me that night.
