Oren Kovalenko's Story

So nothing had been seen, was the answer to Montana's question. Interesting. Blood, and ritual killings. Particularly nasty deals cults. Zealots didn't operate in the same way most targets did. The closest thing he could associate them with was a being put through the process of zombification. Hard to threaten. Hard to interrogate for information. Many times intel was based gathered from the fringe supporters, those who still held doubts in their convictions, or even worried about others. A powerful tool, doubt. Very underrated.

The manner of the deaths were interesting to him, but a locked door killing was hardly out of place in the supernatural realm. Even in the realm of special operations. It only meant the method would take some care to look into. Suicide was always a possibility. Forced or otherwise, but all this was speculation. He'd speak more on that with his team members.

Their guises had been taken care of all that was left was their choice of roles. He'd make the suggestion that the newer recruits, who held the bodies of children and the minds of men, be placed in the festival under 'Parental Supervision'. They would prove themselves to be valuable in this op. Children at times had an easier time blending in..

Arc's words drew him from his train of thought. No that wouldn't do. Two SCION assets gone on the eve of an operation was one thing, taking Fel, a close personal friend, and a valuable healer on a side project was out of the question for him. Not that Montana didn't respect Fel's right to choose, and he'd support her choices even if they didn't line up with his own. The fact of the matter was he didn't feel like now was the time, nor the place. Especially with so little information. It made him uncomfortable. He placed his gloved hand very gently on the folds of his dear friends cloak.

"I don't think Fel traveling to Brazil would be very prudent." The sidekick vibe wasn't something he was appreciating either. If need be, he'd have to talk with Arcturus after the meeting. If need be. While Arc numbered among the very few he'd want by his side in a firefight, his methods were questionable. Something that had no doubt brought them both to points of contention in the past.

This aside, he found himself nodding at the basic gist of Issac's words. Concern, good, level headed concern.

Then the new comers spoke up, with words of emboldened controversy. Ego, deserved or otherwise, came with the territory when dealing with the long lived. A lot of it was deserved, as he had only lived a fraction of the life many others had. Ego was also responsible for the demise of many an immortal at the hands of a fraction life. All had its place.

This didn't have its place.

"A carpenter will often counsel an architect, but a carpenter does not tell an architect how to do his job. If an architect is being irresponsible in their designs, a carpenter will tell them, but they won't design the building."

He had been on a carpentry kick for a bit.

"You both are long lived, and perhaps see me as a child in your eyes, but we are all here because we are specialists in our fields. We all have our place in this organization. While some were following the rise of technology, others bled on the battlefield. Through cultural cohesion, we, members of races that have warred for millennia, come together for the mutual benefit of us all."

"That gentlemen there." Montana lifted his finger toward Isaac.

"Asks his questions for the well being of us all. Each part of our teams works together, not as a cog in a greater machine, but in a symbiotic partnership. To keep ourselves, and the innocent alive. Regardless of your personal prowess comrade, you must work with us, without ideas of grandeur, and use that experience to assist in our goals, rather then insinuate supremacy over our ranking members."

"As simple as your words were they carry weight, and we do not need to set the wrong precedent before this operation. I am no ones boss. I am a fellow operative who needs to put the same trust in you all that I put in myself."

Montana wasn't usually this wordy, but it was something for the new recruits.

Caught off guard by the seeming-youths demeanor, Issac's eye brow shot up in surprise, this might as well have been him screaming of surprise in any other man's case. The audacity in which they spoke to those higher on the food chain than them selves made the soldiers stomach knot, but that was only the beginning. The young man turned to him and only fueled his own fire.

As the youth went on about young were wolves ,his pupil's dilated. The voice conveyed less and less meaning as Issac faded from the room and found him self in a dark hut, the smell of burning flesh and carrion filled his nostrils as if he were standing there in Africa all over again. Panic and urgency stabbed at him anew at what he was witnessing for the hundredth time. What the hell is that?! He set his feet, as his finger tips grazed the checkered pattern on the grip of his side arm as he watched the child in front of him bend over backwards, his----it's spine giving way with a sickening crack as it transfo---.

"That gentlemen there."

Issac blinked, a cold bead of sweat slithered down the man's spine, The dark hut had faded back the dull cream colored meeting room, the youth that stood before him and the superiors of SCION were there... He was no longer in Africa. The Panic subsided, but the adrenaline stayed. He was acutely aware of his right-hand finger tips , he causally stretched his arms above his head,adding a yawn for good measure, taking his hand far away from his weapon to mask the fact he had almost drawn his weapon.

He looked calm through out the whole thing, aside from his thousand yard stare, he hopped the others would have taken it for shock rather than the P.T.S.D attack.

" As Mr. Montana said," He stated with a nod of thanks towards Montana," I ask my questions only to ensure our units survival and that we correctly conduct our selves. It's not wise to go gallivanting about Europe armed for battle in this day and age, as you're probably aware of , but it sounds like we might need more firepower than not at some point, so knowing what to pack would be very helpful. " Issac's voice had been matter-of-fact, but he paused before adding " Sir." With as little contempt as he could, which was very , very minor, but the boy would no doubt pick it up since it was aimed at him.

"As for the information on young werewolves, Thank you, I wasn't aware" He lied. So clearly that it could have been sarcasm.

Kora, who had been sat listening to all this, ended up speaking, mostly out of mild irritability about how quickly this was progressing.

"Don't be such a pussy, Schofield. This is investigating, not going to war." Kora remarked from where she was sat, twisting her mjolnir around between her fingers. Her tone suggested perhaps that the fact that it was not going to war was a bit of a disappointment, but by then she had half a mind on the viking festival.

"A bunch of us stand around trying not to get into fight with drunks, another bunch go see what cryptic shit the local vamps have to say, and Dr Death over there goes to spend time with corpses, her favourite kind of people. It's not exactly Thermopylae. If they were powerful enough to fuck us up, they wouldn't need all the roman voodoo."

Oren rolled her eyes, but decided not to comment upon the werewolf's remark, instead addressing Kate.
"No-one else seems to be rushing to join me. If you want to come along, then go ahead, though I'm prepared to do it by myself. Though if people are blowing off this important work for something frivolous then I'm ot exactly going to be pleased. "

And, admittedly, Oren was not above requisitioning people who she was not pleased with for weeks of dull or uncomfortable testing under the banner of the research department. She had that much authority within SCION, and Oren had not qualms about using it to make people's lives difficult.

It was then, soundlessly, that a woman appeared near the wall. She blinked rapidly, raised her hands before her face and turned them back and forth, then grinned widely.
“Yes!” she cheered quietly to herself, before nodding at the superiors. “Hello sirs, madams. Got the message, didn’t want to cause problems with disembodied voices speaking out of nowhere.” She inclined her head, heavy with layered and wrapped braids, in a sheepish manner before she next spoke. “I was testing a new invisibility capsule, and I overpowered the thing. The container exploded but successfully released the magic, turning me invisible. I didn’t want to waste resources when I knew it would wear off eventually…” Christina trailed off, wondering if she should reveal that it had been three days and that several employees where under the impression that a poltergeist had been hired. “But I did come immediately to the briefing, I have been listening intently.” She shot a quick glance around the room at that, as several of the comments made had not impressed her, and only her professionalism had stopped her from taking advantage of the invisibility to play a trick or two on some of the mouthier agents. “I would be pleased to go along with group one, but of course I will apply myself to any other objective if so instructed.” she smiled at Oren then, as she had just missed being able to ward off the complaint about very few people wanting to help the vampire out.
The sorceress stepped back demurely and waited.

(So, I sorta had to do this post in a rush, so sorry if anything is out of whack)

Liam nearly blushed at the replies. "Wait, is that how I just sounded? Sorry, I didn't mean to say that I was better then anyone or anything else that was negative or what not. Its just, this is the first time I can really safely speak my mind about this instead of having to put up with it, because as you can probably understand, its really hard to get people to believe you when you look like this. Its just, what you said sort of sounded insulting, so I was just trying to convince everyone that I can handle my own. Not that I would go all 'I am superior to all of you".

With that said, he then added. "I am sure everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. I was just trying to say I don't plan on being a liability, and that you can count on me. I guess the message kinda got miscontrued I guess, sorry about that. Does that help clear things up?"

LIam then did thing of one thing. He looked back towards the leaders. "Hey wait, is there any time we are all supposed to leave, do we leave immediately, or do we just leave and meet there as soon as any of us are ready individually?"

Fel was completely taken aback by Arc's offer that she join him going to Brazil. She was even more surprised when he left the room without waiting for her response. Was she expected to go to Brazil with him and just wait in a safehouse? The thought of waiting around in a safe location while other people got hurt made Fel feel sick to her stomach.

If she went to Brazil with Arc what if something happened to one of her fellow agents and friends while Fel wasn't aviable. Or what if a normal person saw her during this operation. The thoughts keep coming causing a gaint knot to form in her stomach.
As if understanding the negative thought loop Fel was going through. Montana's touch was a gentle reminder of that he would be there to help her no matter what. Moving her hood in Montana's direction she spoke up. "I agree, I don't think I'd be useful to anyone if I waited in a safe house in Brazil for an hour. I can take care of myself when talking to the werewolf population if need be."
After she spoke Fel looked around the room quietly observing everyone's reactions. Issac was worried about them, it was a sweet sentiment but his wording towards the higher ups came off as more brash than kind.

Jonah and Liam, two men trapped in children's body her, heart went out to the pair. Curses of any kind were never fun. As the duo named off the witch that had cursed them she could not help but wonder if the pair were part of scion out for revenge.
Then there was Stride, sitting there looking like she was about to laugh. The Medusa always had a way with words. Even if Stride was blunt to a fault her words were always the truth. The truth seen by the Medusa that is.

It was at this point her hood tured to look at Issac. She felt the start of his attack, the feeling of pain radating from the solider grew stronger with each passing second. It was at this point Fel stood up starting to approach the man as his hand feel to the gun at his side. Before she could reach Issac the pain faded to the normal background hum that usually accompied the man.
As Fel reclaimed her seat Kate spoke up and a smile appeared on Fel's unseen face. Kate was as sturdy as a the rock she was. Having the lifespan of a rock gave the miss Opal a timeless wisdom. Fel silently agreed with the way Kate chided their new rookies.

Oh Kora, the werewolf viking princess tended to think of battle first and emotions second. While frustrating to Fel at times it made Kora's reactions predicable to a tee.

When Christina appeared Fel was not surprised, after all Christina was known to go overboard with an experiment or two. In the same way Oren tended to go overboard researching. That was perfectly fine with Fel after all Christina's illusion magic was the only way Fel could go out into the world without every mortal around staring at the fallen.
---------

Crystal wanted to sink lower into her seat. Issac's word's echoing in her head, making her want to cry. The painful memories were starting to resurface, the loss of her own family so recently making her want to cry. Now was not the time to morn, now was the time to kick some crazy supernatural's ass.

Then came her fellow rookies, Liam and Jonah's, outburst about their age. Followed by the talk about young werewolves ripping people apart. Yeah the feeling of wanting to disappear and was back again.

Instead she put on a fake grin and replied to her fellow rookies "Nice to meet ya shorty. I'll make you a deal I won't underestimate you if you won't underestimate me."

When Christina appeared about of thin air Crystal couldn't help but jump in her seat. She was not expecting someone to pop out of thin air. On the bright side if this was the reason the mysterious ghost rumors had started occurring then she could clean up the salt circle from around her bed.

Trying to cover up the fact Crystal had been surprised by Christina's appearance she spoke up. "I want to know that too Liam, are we going as groups or individually. Also are we responsible for our own transportation? Cause I can't afford anything but a bus, and buses in my experience take forever and are usual late.

Alexander simply waved leo's comment off as he addressed the werecat " Saffiya my dear..why did you not tell them to let you lead with that... cults practicing magic is worrisome.. Human sacrifice magic even more so... and its linked with the wolves to add the proverbial cherry on top" he said for once addressing one of the leaders by her first name, more so in a sign that his words should not be taken all that seriously, though with the commotion that followed round him they probably wouldn't take much notice.

Along with most of the room his attention was brought to the new recruits, who had in spectacular fashion managed to garner more attention than they intended, however he stayed quite content in simply watching the situation unfold as various people chastised the recruits. Though soon he decided to speak up, towards now visible woman who had just appeared " That explains the wall seeming to give off body heat"

" Speak of team composition's as some have suggested" he motioned to Stride with his hand " I think the limits will be as needed... For example it would be Extremely useful if i could borrow Norrevinter for the first meeting with the wolves but then give her to team two to police the festival" he changed his focus onto Kora " Of course if that's acceptable to you.. it would only be for the wolves.... i will spare you from listening to cryptic shit when i go speak with the vampires"

Issac haddn't seen Fel's movement so he couldn't react to that.

"Don't be such a pussy, Schofield. This is investigation, not going to - " Issac listened to Kora with his moot face, He respected her as a co-worker but questioned her blood-lust since he had met her. He smirked at the Roman bit and Montana again, clarifying what Issac had meant. He'd have to thank the man later.

Issac found him self nodding to Strides comments, tossing those into his considerations as well.

Christina appeared as if from thin air, Issac seemed not to notice, he'd probably ask her about it later tho.

Liam had spoken to the group as a whole, the 10 year old side showed fairly well.
Issac gave an apologetic smile and shrugged his shoulders. " I''ve seen many FNGs with the same spark meet an early grave because of lack of planning, not just in this organization." Several faces skirted the edges of Issac vision, and he felt his stomach slither down through his bones and gather at his boots like sand. He'd rather not lose anymore comrades, egotistical or otherwise. " As for your liability, well we are a bit like the knights of the round table here now arnt we? Would you really be here ;if you were going to be a liability I mean?" he'd talk a bit more to the new recruits if they pressed for conversation but his attention would fade, politely, back to the groups discussion rather quickly.

Issac watched the rest of the group as the conversation went round and round, he'd wait to speak again until it was his time again.

" If the first group would like a little extra security I wouldn't mind going with them" He chimed in while the others requested positions, later when the conversation circled back he added " Assuming we do as Alex suggested and the plan works well, what are we gonna do if we do make contact? Less than lethal, or shall we burn that bridge when we cross it?"

Christina smiled a bit when several other reacted with shock to her reappearance to visibility. The young trainee's, Crystal's reaction, was especially amusing, though the girl played it cool pretty well after the initial shock.
"Yes, good morning everyone!" she greeted, looking around at those that had spoken specifically, then turned to address Montana and Alexander individually. "Technically, I was here from the start," -said cheekily, to Montana- and "So you could sense me but not see me, right?" -asked of Alexander, while she pulled out a small notepad, that was scribbled over with notes already, to record the vampire's information.
The goal had not been complete invisibility, only visual disappearance and Christina was sure she'd succeeded from the tests she'd done during the three days she'd waited for the capsule to wear off. First things, first, it was clear that she'd vastly overpowered the charm, which had been meant for 12 hours, not approximately...68. She jotted that down as well, after checking her watch twice to make sure. And the overpowered nature of the charm also meant that either her calculation had gone completely wrong Unlikely she thought, or she'd made a mistake in the etching More likely, or the two most likely, either that the material or shape had somehow amplified the power, or that it had somehow sucked in excess magic before affecting her. More notes were written down before she again looked up.
"All good questions," she chirped, flipping to a fresh page in her notepad. She fixed her eyes on the mission heads, waiting to hear their answers and then write down the responses.

After heeding a the words of his higher ups ,Issac's heels clicked together when he answered Oren, " As you command." It wasn't a sarcastic answer, just the one he had always used . " I'll go prepare then. " With that he did a well practiced about face and walked out the door to his room.

He felt un-easy walking out of the meeting with very little to go on, odds are this was going to turn into something heavy, he could feel it in the pit of his stomach. Maybe it was just the unease that had vexed him as of late... He'd have to talk to Fel about his worsening Panic attacks. The thought of the Fallen had stirred an odd mixture of emotion in the man, namely embarrassment. Fel had a knack for cutting through his emotional wall, that alone unnerved him. He grumbled slightly at the thought of actually asking to be seen by her.

With a defiant snort he turned into his room and began to pack his belongings for the trip over there. A few pairs of civilian clothes, his covert body armor and his Fantasy book collection. His room had never looked very lived in , but taking what few personal touches he had from the place made it feel empty. frustrated for no determinable reason he huffed, they were to be leaving soon, he'd need to blow off what ever was causing this mood before they left. After making sure everything had been packed he left for the armory, requested his kit to be readied and made a phone call to one of his old friends who now owned a Private jet , after all that he'd be down at the indoor weapons range blowing off some steam with some well placed shots from his little .22 caliber target rifle. He always argued with some of the other boots that there was more to learn from a .22 than a '50cal'.

After a while he went back to the armory and picked up the things he had asked for, then back to his room to finish getting ready , He'd change into his Civilian clothing , tucking away his USP 45 and Sig 320 in their normal places before heading out. The other weapons, one in a suit case and one taken a apart and stuffed into a small backpack were his DTA SRS-A1 , A bullpup bolt action rifle that could be fitted with various parts to fit most military calibers, He brought a 6.5x47 Lapua for urban shooting, it would suppressed quietly enough to be fired and no one would really question a snap or two no louder than a book being dropped, and a .338 Lapua magnum for some heavy hitting ability, Even suppressed this might alert some , but it was better to have it and not need it then need it and not have it. In the other backpack was his 6.8 x 39 Grendel Ar-15, another weapon that suppressed nicely but offered enough knock down power to be suitable for combat with the supernatural.

That with about 15 magazines for each one weights roughly 80 pounds, he signed out one of SCIONS cars and went to the airport where his friend was staying. After flashing some paperwork and a story about a hunting trip in Montana he was safely on his way.

Issac laughed a bit, " Nah just a tourist until I link up with the first team heading to the morgue, after which I'm just going to be a lab lacky, simply there as an intern." He said setting his 'guitar' case and back pack down with a sigh of relief, the 80 pound kit had gotten heavy very quickly. In Europe the contents of both his back pack and case were enough to get his ass locked up for life as a terrorist. He flooped down onto the sofa next to the mound of gear he had been running around with.

"Had anyone asked, I would have been an urban hiker from the US who is making his way across Europe , Had a Bobby asked me, I would have said as much , until they asked to see my bag, then i'd go get locked up , get my phone call, Call Phil ,from the CIA to get that ironed out , then walk out of there , with said bobby kissing my ass, asking me if I was interested in his wife. " He sank into the sofa, his body giving him the normal complains that accompany being in the military for years, knees and back.

" I;m not sure how I feel about this plan. I'm not sure this whole thing is a good idea or not... I mean going up into something we have no idea about.." He sounded different than his normal grumpy self, he almost sounded scared... He had lowered his guard since it was just Stride and Fel about .

Click, the conversation was over. Regardless of how Montana felt about his side ops, Arc knew how to operate, and take care of himself. Their conversation would have to wait a bit, he had more pressing matters to attend to. Taxi!

York was a very historic city, filled with architecture of a more stylistic era, where presentation might have been at its peak, as far as architecture went. He had no doubts that some of this cities inhabitants had watched these buildings go up, piece by carved piece. Some probably sat on council seats to this day, advocating for every old stone on every old street.

An interesting thought, perhaps some of these elders would be a good place to start. Cryptic things aside as Kora said. Montana gave his thank you to the cab driver, and tipped him. His first stop was one of the two cottages he had rented for the duration of their operation here. The keys had been mailed to him with copies made of each key, with the expectation that his fellow members would have access to one, or two of the four spots. S.C.I.O.N had also coped the keycard needed to access the hotel room. Light work for their tech department. 'Available upon request', was the text message he had sent out once he had deposited Christina's trinkets, after arming himself with a few of course, in the cottage.

A second text was sent out, giving Christina the address of the cottage, some of his weapon stash spots, and the obscure hiding place of his extra key. The next taxi he hailed was headed for the four star 'Hotel Du Vin York'. Pleasantries were exchanged and he checked in. He left his clothing here, but naught else. Next and final stop? The morgue.

Text three was sent out to the team, informing them he had arrived the destination, and was en rout to where the body was held. He'd wait nearby for Oren, and busy himself with the occupation of his cover identity. Photography.

confronted on two fronts he now knew what Germany felt like in world war two. With a sigh he conceded his point, he could have augured Murphy's law but it probably wouldn't have done any good. As if by magic, Issac's side arm, a USPC .40 ,was in his hand, he went about unloading it, and methodically clearing the weapon before taking the retaining pin out, dissembling the weapon for cleaning.

" You both know how much of a worry wort I am..." , he said holding up the barrel of the pistol to the light to check the rifling and crown , a little dusty but nothing bad. He frowned a bit as they went on to point out that this was not a combat mission, and the briefing. " I'm fully aware that this is an Intel mission and that's why I'm concerned. ' Go out there and get results' is one of the worst ways to get information. It'd be fine if it was something small, but the nature of the beast, so to speak has me, on edge. How often do you throw, a single rookie into an experienced team who are about to go into unknown territory? I think they are hiding something from us... " He said looking up from his eyebrows at Stride, but his cautious demeanor slipped a bit upon seeing her sprawl out. "Very lady like " he said gesturing with the gun's slide held in his had like a pointer.

He shut up when Stride got a text and carefully read her expressions, looking for any hint of information he could get, there was nothing tho. It wasn't he didn't trust stride or fel for that matter but he liked to know where he stood, and to him, something didn't seem right with this 'intel mission'. He went back to reassembling his side arm before repeating the process with his back up pistol, a Sig 320 sub compact. Fel's question worried him.

" Like wise, I've not seen him since the meeting."

Issac's phone buzzed, He checked it quickly then stood up , moving the backpack with the compact AR-15 closer to him. He did a magazine check and final once over the weapon in the bag before speaking again.

"Welp sounds like Oren and Montana are heading to the morgue here soon, I'll head out here soon."

Christina hadn't realized how much she'd dawdled, if the others that had come by SCION chartered plane had arrived here before she did. She listened in on the conversation as she hung up her jacket and checked her messages, moving Roderic's text to a different file within her phone so that the address would be harder for others to find. She caught Issac's final words just before she entered the room.
"Hello all," she said cheerfully, stepping in so they could see her. "I'll go with you then, if you don't mind?" she then told Issac, having to head to the morgue herself. She was already dressed for it anyway, simple practical clothes and a lab coat of sorts neatly folded inside her bag. Also in the bag were two different sized boxes of now completed glass charms. She put the larger on the table, then dropped a bag that clinked with metal links beside it. "Standard charms sets." she explained, while opening the smaller box and beginning to attach ornaments from it to the bracelet on her left wrist. Her fingers worked nimbly, soon having each link filled, at which point she began searching for earring loops. "I'm hoping everyone except maybe the new recruits remembers how these work?" she paused for a bit, completely focused on her rummaging before emerging victorious with the two matched pieces of jewelry.
"How are we supposed to get results then?" she asked, now referring to the conversation she'd overheard when still in the hall while she tried to guess what pre-prepared magic might be needed today, when no one was expecting them and the point was intel. She finally decided on a brief mind reading spell and by extension, the headache reliever that would need to be applied after the shouting of mental voices (people thought much too loudly, in her opinion) wore off. These she attached to the loops and placed them into her earlobes before snapping the box shut.
"Where's Oren?" she asked, putting it back into her bag.

Issac gave a half assed wave as his guard snapped up upon the woman entering, now that it wasn't just Stride and Fel here Issac's work persona was set back in stone. " That'll be alright with me, Christina." He really didn't mind the women, it was more her magic than anything that bothered him, even after working with SCION for years he didn't 'like' magic.

Issac answered her other questions , " You mean how each object is bound to a particular spell, meaning if you bound a stick to cast a small flame, like a candle, it could not be used to cast a 'fire ball' even tho they are of the same element? " He said with a hint of tongue in cheek humor , referencing any and every roleplaying game. She pulled out a set of earrings and Issac leered at them, he knew what she used those for, he hated mind reading the most of all... It wasn't proper for someone to invade someone's mind. The moment She put them on Issac sought the void, a trick long used in combat that emptied the mind of emotion and thought , at least on the surface and seemed to keep most of what he wanted kept quiet, quiet. He refereed to it as becoming a gray man.

Distantly he wondered what Fel felt when he did this, he knew all to well that she could feel others emotions, but that thought was like a stone skittering across water, and was soon lost in the void.

" I'm not sure where Oren is yet, tho I know where she'll be." He said grabbing the last things for his cover I.D
A name tag and a pair of glasses.

'Blake Outis'

Oren had already been prepared well in advance at that point, and had been preparing a workspace to examine any samples without any risk of contamination.

For that reason the smell of blood hanging in the hallway was met with far more distaste than concern, especially as her vampiric sense of smell told her exactly who the culprit was and gave her cause to speak up as she swept past the room.

"Longbow clean the fuck up after yourself. If I find your DNA tracked into the clean room then whatever you're bleeding of is going to be the least of your problems." the vampress muttered something under her breath in irritable magyar before she appeared in the doorway facing the others.

"Oren's been here the whole time." she remarked, pinning on her photo ID.
"All the pre-preparation is done. We'll be expected there shortly. You should not have to do any of the talking but if asked you are part of the team deployed by the coroner and in interest of the investigation you cannot talk in any detail about the case. I hope everyone is clear on that."

---

Kora was walking along with her, or at least Anja Torresson's supposed luggage in a backpack when she spotted the car, and shortly afterwards, the vampire.
"Of course you got a car." she chuckled wryly and she dropped into the seat, the pack (which in truth had some of her field kit stashed inside) sat across her lap.
"Flash bastard."

The young woman leaned against the side, watching out of the window at the moors speeding past, considering how best to answer the man's question.

"From what I know there's about one major born-wolf family in the general area. Fenns. Not a very old bloodline, but they do alright. Originally lived further south but ended up moving south as the Exsanguis vampires encroached on southern england and targetted wolves. Anyway supposedly, if the talk amoung the old bloods is that some wolf went on a rampage on the moors about twenty years back and attacked a whole bunch of people round here, turned maybe, twenty. Obviously you can't have all those people running around not...managing their condition. The White Rose was all for...taking care of the problem the way that clans do.." she drew her hand across her throat in a fairly decisive indication of this.
"But the born family stepped in and ended up organizing to take these new wolves in an attempt to keep them from causing problems. And from what I've heard, there have been mixed results. From what I know they live out at an old farm out on the yorkshire moors and mostly keep to themselves. The old bloods aren't overly impressed with the idea of borns and turneds mixing together, but whatever makes them happy I suppose."

She shrugged, demonstrating little opinion either way. Kora certainly had, in herself, some sense of superiority, but she also hadn't the inclination to try and get too involved in the businesses of others. Unless work required her to, of course.

In spite of Issac’s obvious worry, Stride hardly seem affected. In fact, she seemed just as relaxed as before, having taken an even more masculine posture in response to the other’s comment. A remark of her own had weaved itself upon her tongue soon enough, and it was only through the presence of Christine that it wasn’t released.

“Took ya long enough,” Stride noted, catching sight of Issac’s shift in character out of the corner of her eye. Why he acted so warily when it came to his co workers, she had little idea; it wasn’t like they were about to stab him through the heart or anything. Shrugging it off, she turned once more towards their new company, observing the charms Christina withdrew with a keen eye. While she didn’t tend to ask for any of them- after all, it was fairly easy to guess that, in her line of work, she would just end up accidentally breaking all of the little bits and pieces on the very same day she got them.

Nevertheless, she nodded, pulling her own bag into her lap to draw out the mask. Seeing that everyone else was leaving soon, there was no point in Stride sticking around any longer. “Surprised you never use rings,” she continued as she dug her way into the recesses of her backpack. “Be easy to carry ‘round, that’s for sure.”

It was around that time that the door had opened yet again, a clearly wounded Arc stumbling in soon after. He limped across the floor, into the hall, and to one of the rooms…
And, almost humorously, Stride gave little reaction. She followed her fellow fighter with her gaze, head turning in the process to watch him as he went, although she said nothing on the subject as it occurred. One might think it was a result of surprise, yes, although it wasn’t until the man had left that Stride finally spoke up in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Call dibs on not havin’ to clean that shit up.”

Stride seemed more focused on the mask she had managed to dig up- a wolf, by the looks of it, something she found rather funny, what with the species of some of her co workers- than the man dragging himself to get dressed. After all, while the fact that he had been wounded so early on an intel mission was bizarre, it was a common enough sight that she wasn’t too concerned. The gash was on his leg was nothing lethal- as long as he didn’t wait around to let it bleed out, of course- and, besides; if he had been attacked, he would have most likely said something about who was lethal or what got him. He didn’t seem like he had been with his comrades, either, which was stupid enough to give a proper explanation of how he got such an injury in the first place in Stride’s eyes.

Probably went and pissed some random vamp off or something.

Upon hearing the familiar voice of one Dr. Kovalenko, Stride seemed to exhibit more surprise than she did Arc’s injuries, blinking from beneath her goggles and peering up at the vamp. “Fuck, you were still hangin’ around? Thought you would’ve been gone by now.” Slumping slightly after the initial shock wore off, Stride began to straighten out her mask, fluffing it up and peeling the straps away from the faux fur. “Nobody here right now’s a rookie, doc,” she commented, rising from her chair to head to one of the spare rooms. Didn’t want to remove her goggles out there, after all. “Anyway, it’s ‘bout time I head out. See you all later.”
It’d probably be a while, Stride mused, given the fact that she was on a completely other offshoot of the mission, and most likely staying in a completely different place from the others.

Issac watched Arc titter into the building and stubbornly head off to the restroom to apply first aid, very macho, the distant thought skittered off the surface and off into the distance.

Issac answered Oren's question "Yes, Ma'am." while tugging his backpack onto his shoulder. He looked well enough like a wanna be lab rat at least in his eyes. Distantly he wondered how much she had been listening to and what it would mean for him in the long run. Nothing I can do about it now. " Ready when you are Dr.---Drake?" He said reading her name tag.

He gave a shallow smile to Stride and a small wave to Fel as he went to the door. "Stay safe." and with that, he was out the door.

“Call dibs on not havin’ to clean that shit up.”

Arc chuckled as he heard stride speak in the distance, and scoffed as Oren finished speaking herself. He didn't respond, rather, he grabbed a towel and some disinfectant, and cleaned up. He hated cleaning, and silently cursed Oren underneath his breath. He walked out of the bathroom with a slight limp, and immediately knew hew as going to have some questions to answer.

"Was just a dog, no big deal." He was clearly lying, but this was also nothing new Nobody bothered really questioning him anymore, they knew he'd just keep his story the same. Lying was not his strong suit, then again, anything that wasn't taught at the academy wasn't his strong suit.

It was time. He nodded to Fel, and made his way to her chair. "You ready?"