Roderic Alder Mayburry Montana's Story

"Well it is a study on werewolf transformation. How else would I gather data?" Oren responded to Kate's apparent concern.
"Besides, nordic wolf, bred for war...she's been doing forced shifts since before she could write her name...assuming she's capable of that even at this stage."

Some more crashing from inside the room at the werewolf slmmed down on the table in the small kitchen and crushed the legs inwards, the researcher peered round the door whilst she endeavoured to answer Alexander's question.
-"Can't give an exact answer. Moon-based shifts stay in effect til moonfall. Battle shifts work until the fight is over. Shifts invoked for scientific study and upheld by the werewolf attempting to ruin my morning are a little hard to predict."

What prevented her from intervening directly was mostly that she was aware of the wolf's pathological hatred of her, and the likelihood of it trying to behead her on sight, regardless of whether Kora was deliberately doing this. You were still dealing with an animal, and it was still likely to act on instinct.

This was more a practical concern than one borne of fear. Oren wasn't really easily rattled. She didn't really want to end up damaging a useful asset (particularly not one with an influential family) and she also didn't really want to get mauled in the line of duty. It was hard to get things right when you were covered in werewolf bites. Her previous career had tsught her that.

Still, she wasn't concerned so much as she was irritated by the whole thing, and Rafael's comment provoked an eyeroll from the vampress.
"There are no 'real demons' in SCION, only big scary egos that possess people and cause their head to disappear up their-" Oren switched off into muttered hungarian that was, if one understood it, more than a little obscene. Her only cause to shift was the entrance of Roderic Montana, because, hey, if he wanted to get his hand bitten off, that was his affair.

Inside the rooms, the form of Kora was tearing the cupboards off the walls of the kitchen, biting clear through the tin cans that had been left in for whoever was going to occupy it and messily bolting some corned beef from a freshly ripped-open tin. The beast turned as Montana made his way in, and eyed him levelly, pressing its paw-like hands onto the linoleum.

As he spoke the sides of its mouth pulled back to show the full set of teeth, like a sort of wolfish approximation of a grin, and, as if taking his offer as a challenge, it sprang forwards at the man.

"So, I take this as a sign that this is normal" Liam mentioned to everyone. Meanwhile, Jonah was a little off put by what Oren said, having learned Hungarian and German to learn a strange dialect created by werewolves in the region. The dialect had then been adopted by the Coven of the Silver Spoon, which for the record sounded much better in both Hungarian and German then in English. Jonah had done research into this Coven even more so then normal Covens, because this Coven specialized in charms, illusions, and curses. Of course, none of their curse removal spells panned out, but it did give him insight.

"You know, you didn't have to go that far. Kinda obscene" Jonah told Oren. "Also, whats the deal with wolfy there? I didn't think werewolves liked to shift inside. If I recall correctly, Werewolves prefer to run in open environments, only shifting inside if nessisary. Oh, sorry, have not met yet. My name is Jonah, Jonah Tanner. And for the record, neither me nor Liam over there are actually ten. Its just a stupid curse we cant get rid of".

That was when they saw the wolf charging, and Jonah had a rapid reaction. It reminded him of a time, while he and Liam were in China chasing down some Monks known for curse removals, and a werewolf just happened to decide to hunt down supernatural creatures...for sport. Plus, there was that time near upstate Wyoming, where a pack of werewolves tried to kill them so that a demon would grant them full control and more power. Was not pretty.

Either way, Jonah conjured a barrier around everyone to protect them from the werewolf. It was a Level 3 Barrier spell, but it should be enough. Jonah's father taught him spells of varying difficulties in the form of levels. Each sorcerer family has their own way. The DuMonts use an Animal rating system, their most powerful spells being Dragon level. The Asters used an Alphabetical ranking system. The Tanner's used Levels...most of the time. Magic was unpredictable. While most spells can be rated, some can not. For example, Jonah's ability to transmute anything does not follow any level system because it was fluid. Turning copper into gold was easy, while creating a giant Stone Guardian out of pure stone was much more difficult.

"So, just curious" Liam mentioned. "Is this guy a friend or a foe? Its hard to tell with werewolves who transform like this. We know some werewolves who can actually control and remember their wolf forms though".

As Jonah kept the spell up. he waved his hand and the barrier reinforced itself. He didn't know if he actually needed it, but he figured attacking a possible SCION operative would make for a poor first impression. So he figured staying on defense was the best idea.

Meanwhile, Liam looked over at Alexander and the others. "So, can someone explain to me who everyone is and what is going on? Preferably before the werewolf makes bite marks out of my friend?"

"Hey! I can totally take on a werewolf if I need to! I just don't want to is all. If this wolf really is an SCION operative like I gather, I think killing, attacking, or wounding a SCION operative on the first day is a bad idea. Gives a poor first impression" Jonah remarked.

Alihambra reappeared in the hallway, mostly due to boredom and the group of people. Hearing Jonahs and Liams repeated questions, he leaned up against the wall and spoke. "The lobo there is Kora, Nordic wolf, big family, Dr. Oren here is a vampiro, Montana is our spy master, by the way, shes coming your way." he would get up and move out of the She-wolfs way. "I take it you already met Val, shes a Succubus, so you might want to keep an eye on her; Arcturus is...well Arcturus." he would motion to the bulk of the group. "Theirs my self, Rafael Alihambra aka the resident sorcerer, and last but not least, we have our dear Kate Opal...who if memory serves is the only one here older then my self....Oh, there is Wiseman as well. Kind of a introvert, side affect of being an Elder Vampiro"

He would put his gaze on Jonah, "Trust me Nino, you don't need to worry about using a barrier, as scary as she looks, Kora is in control, she just likes to piss Dr. Oren off." he would turn to Liam, "Sure, you could take her, its obvious you two are not children, not regular ones anyway; but Kora comes from a large and influential clan of Nordic Lycans, you mess with her, and her family eats you alive. "

Arcturus put the last spring back into his Vector, cocked it, and fired. The clip was, of course empty, so nothing came out the business end. He liked this gun, it was compact, accurate, and easy to manoeuvre. However, the M14 was his all time favourite, he'd be putting a request in with Val later, she was usually pretty good to give him what he wanted.

"Arcturus is...well Arcturus"

Arc immediately exited the room, to find that Kora had begun to destroy everything she had seen fit. Ol' Doc was at again. He made his way into the crowd, looking for a sign of why she was transformed in the middle of the fucking morning. Not that anyone really gave a damn, but this was his quiet time, before he'd start training again, preparing for their next mission, whatever it may be.

He made his way to Rafael. "More fucking experiments?" he said in a somewhat disgruntled voice. It did piss him off that they could just lock anyone they pleased in a room and force them into doing as they pleased. God damn bullshit, the one plus was that Arc is human, they didn't give a shit about him.

"What's with the kids, field trip?" he looked down at one of them, covered in some kind of magic, Arc didn't really care what it was, but it did look like some sort of forcefield.

He made his way closer to Kora, before lighting a cigarette, leaning against the wall, and looking her in the eyes with a half cocked smile. He didn't blame her for going on a rampage, he knew if it was him, the doctor wouldn't be breathing. He had to commend her for that, she held more value for others lives than he did, maybe it was just his military background, always taught that the mission comes before yours or anyone elses lives.

All four twisted paw-feet had left the ground as the werewolf pounced, with considerable speed for its size.

It was while it was in the air that the chair impacted with the side of the beast's head.

For the most part, Kora was very hard to repel, and the impact caused the piece of furniture to collapsed into splinters against her skull...but reflexively the creature turned her head and squeezed her eyes shut, avoiding any shards of timber flying into them. In the moment it took her to open again her quarry had disappeared from her line of sight...

And it was at that point that Montana had jammed the device against the muscles of her stomach.

The whole large animal convulsed violently and collapsed onto the floor with a thud that shook the surface a little. Its paws twitched a couple of times, like a sleeping dog, before it came to lie motionless on the floor.

Oren regarded the whole thing with the general look of disapproval, but had little to say on the matter. Honestly it served Kora right if she was going to act up when she was required for research. Research was one of SCION's major responsibilities within the supernatural world, as she felt it was timely to remind Arcturus when he began mouthing off about such things.

"Well unless you feel confident that you can take on creatures without any kind of information on how they tick, then yes, you do need 'more fucking experiments'. And if you do feel confident in that, then it would just make you typical of the arrogant variety of human that kept getting found in about three to five different parts splattered across remote crossroads and woodland clearings all across Europe for years." Oren muttered, taking out her notebook once again and glancing at a watch that she'd pulled from her pocket. Ten seconds. Eleven. Twelve.

"I decide what merits my own swearing, thank you. If I wanted someone auditing my language I'd have already filed a request with dispatches." Oren responded drily, her mind only half on the subject as she was wondering what it was she'd been sent to analyse.

No further info. Yet. She suspected they were going to keep her in the dakr to make sure she didn't find any excuses to avoid the brief. They were assuming what ever she'd been sent was going to leave her too curious not to want to go out and look at this.That was quite a big ask, as she was very averse to field work...but from what she gathered whoever the funder of SCION nowadays was, they tended to prefer carrot to stick in trying to motivate their employees. And they knew that Oren was a control freak.

She realized the kid was still talking.
"There's no database on curses. Curses are the physical manifestation of the will of their caster. That is, they vary. Also, Mr Montana I hope you'be not damaged my subject. I don't know where I'd find another nordic werewolf at short notice."

Back inside the room, the collapsed form of the wolf-beast had begun once again to move, though not to attack but rather in the spasmodic, crunching jerks that came with a transformation. The fur fell out in clumps, the sharp teeth retracting back into the jawline and the limbs snapping ans twisting back to ordinary lengths until it was a tall, red-haired woman lying on the kitchen floor, who gave a very delayed, uncoordinated swipe at where Montana had been when he'd been petting her on the head before wrapping her arm over her eyes.

"Ugh..what the hell..."

Oren glanced round in general disapproval at Montana's request, casting her eyes up from her phone.
"She's got at least a foot of height on me. It probably wouldn't even fit."

"....areyoucallingme...fat.." Kora mumbled, propping herself up on one elbow and rubbing her head with the other.
"...noI'mfine..Iduneedtogo..to thinfirmary..."

Just then, the werewolf woman realized the state of her clothes...or lack of them, and seized hold of the shredded tablecloth that she'd been ripping into and pulled it around her ribs, something that was a little crude, but serviceable enoough in protecting her modesty. Despite the monstrous nature of the wolves, the Norrevinter were rather...old fashioned types, and preferred not to wander around unclothed.

"...shit...I feel like I was hit by a truck.."she muttered, though could guess that was not the reason for her enormous headache. Shaking her head a few times to clear her vision she peered over Montana's shoulder toward the doorway, planning to tell Oren this was all her fault, but the researcher had disappeared.
"....vampires."


-

Oren found a small, insulated pack sat on her worktop when she walked back into the lab room.

SHe had, more or less, expected it.

Opening up the top, the mist of an ice pack rose slowly out from the box, and, shifting the ice revealed a small vial of something thick and green that splashed about inside when she donned her gloves and lifted it up. Biological if she was guessing.Was that supposed to be...blood?

The woman slowly raised an eyebrow.

Well, that was a rather novel scenario. For maybe the first time, she was presented with blood that she had absolutely no wish to put anywhere near her mouth. What an odd and liberating feeling.

A hooded figure walked down the hallways of the mansion giving a small nod (or at least it appeared to be a nod) to anyone who pasted her. She had been messaged just moments ago, with a notification that her abilities were needed in the hallway.

The hooded figure arrived just in time to hear Kora speak about how she did not need to go to the infirmary. Just by looking at Kora it was easy to tell that statement was false.

With a shake of her head Fel spoke up her voice quiet, barely above a whisper. "Excuse me miss, you really look like you need help. If you don't want to go to the infirmary maybe I could take care of it?"

It was then the hooded figure turned, the face of the cloak looking at Montana. Montana would feel as if someone was studying him, appraising him and looking for any weakness that might be there.

In truth Fel was just checking out Montana to make sure the man was not injured. After all what kind of Fallen would she be if she let someone in pain.

--

In another part of the mansion a teenage girl sat at a desk staring at a piece of paper. This whole thing was stupid, why were they making her take a bloody test on the various supernatural creatures. It was bad enough she one of the damned things, but now she had to learn how to identify them and what traits they shared! Yeah SCION sucked big time.

Even as Crystal mentally seethed, she knew that this stuff was import. After all how would she ever be able to kill the animal who put her in this situation. At the thought of the wolf-thing that attacked her, Crystal shivered. The memories of that night weeks ago were fresh in her mind, even now she could clearly remember the screams of her parents as the thing... NO. Test, that's right she had to focus on the test.

Shortly after Crystal finished the test turning it into the female agent over seeing her little exam. After Crystal left the room another agent, this time a male entered.

The male agent walked over his hand extended, reaching out for the test paper. "How did she do?"

With a sigh the female agent handed the paper over. "Well at least she payed attention to what we taught her. Though the side comments and doodles of various creatures being killed worries me, especially the pile of dead wolves. Crystal really isn't ready to go into the field yet."

Male agent chuckled at the drawings, the stick figure artwork amused him. "I think I know the perfect wolf to deal with her, one that has been begging for a pack for a while now." With that the man pulled out his phone and made a quick call.

"God damnit, I missed everything! Why'd the hell all this had to happen all the way over at the other side of the damn base...damnit…”

Lingering in the entryway of the hall, a woman stood, arms crossed over her chest as she stared at the little gathering before her. Her features were hidden, masked, but her scowl was made just as obvious through her tone as if her face had been bare to the world. Though the combination of goggles and mask could have been seen as slightly unnerving by some, the person’s attitude- resembling more of a pouting child than anything- made the effect...less prominent.

Although Stride hadn’t been lying about having to travel from what was nearly the opposite side of the building, her tardiness had, admittedly, been partially her fault. After all, when playing “Eye of the Tiger” while training and pretending that the entire sequence is a movie montage, one has a tendency to have trouble picking up any faint sounds of conflict. It was only until she had finished that she finally noticed, and, cursing her luck, deposited her training gear and started a sprint to the location, shrugging into her usual items on the way there.

Unfortunately for her, however, as things had been wrapped up shortly before she had arrived, Stride was left in her current state. Her chest rose and fell with each pant, hair slightly disheveled as she looked on in annoyance. She had wanted action, after all, and healing up a recovered werewolf after their escape didn’t count for much in her books.

After scuffing her boots upon the tile a few times, the half-breed allowed a hand to fall to her side, using the other to adjust her goggles. “There any chance there’s somethin’ for me to help with?” Stride offered after a moment. “Got nothin’ else to do, and, sides, I kinda wanna find out what happened around here. Looks like it was one hell of...somethin’.” Almost unconsciously, her gaze dropped to Kora, and, at her side, Fel. Whatever had happened, it didn’t take rocket science to figure out that the redhead had been at the center.

Once again, Stride mentally cursed her timing, but did not dwell too long upon it. After all, considering she was there, it would be a waste of time not to offer to help wrap things up…

...even if the process of doing so was incredibly uninteresting.

Arcturus finished blacking out his latest report, leaving only untraceable information on the page, before putting it back in his dossier, locking his drawer, and locking his room on the way out. Fel had made her way down the hall towards Kora, to help heal her he'd assumed. His eyes met Montana's for a moment. Arc was curious as to his abilities with a silenced weapon, and his ability to play into a squad setting, the man was no doubt talented on his own, but sometimes, that wasn't everything. He whispered to the man in passing.

"Meet me in the courtyard, 1200h."

Arc then walked away from the situation, making his way to The Old One's office, to see what was on his plate for the next mission. No doubt it would be another black ops mission, he'd been receiving most of them lately, which didn't surprise him, the others weren't as used to squad work as he was, and he wasn't as used to assassinations as they were. He knocked on the door twice, once, then twice, more softly. No response. He must be with Kate. It was of no great importance, The Old One would simply come to Arc later on.

He made his way down to the shooting range, when his phone rang. His old LT, this should be good.

" You feel like serving your country for one last mission?" He asked as though Arc might've said no. The reality was, that Arc still owed him a favor.

"Where, when, whats the mission?" Arc responded coldly.

"The boys are being briefed now. 1200hrs. We'll have you back in time for supper tomorrow, if all goes as planned. Bz" Brazil,it was clear that the rest was was something to remain secret, He was sensing fear in the mans voice, as though something major was going to happen. Biological warfare was the most likely, especially from the god damn Brazilians.

"I'm in. Meet me 1k south of my current location, I'm bringing along a few faces of my own." Arc was fully aware they would trace the call, it was the military after all, and it wasn't like SCION would really miss him, not for just a few hours.

He made his way inside, and went to find Montana and Rafael. He thought they might enjoy something a little more human, and less like a damn horror movie. Then again, this could very well end up being a horror movie.

He found Montana and Rafael rather quickly, and posed the question.

"Care to join me in dissapearing for a day? Bring a gun, something small and quiet, and shoots fast, this could get ugly, and I'd rather not bring anyone back dead. It's not absolutely necessary, but I thought you two might like to see what a human war's like nowadays." Arc himself would be bringing his Vector, which he loved oh so dearly. The boys would probably be given support weapons, and would more than likely be sticking back. He left his friends to think on the matter, The Old One would need to be informed of his leaving, but the rest of the people here didn't need to know.

He made his way back to The Old Ones office, and knocked, before opening the door. "I'll be gone for about 24hrs. My country needs me, they wouldn't have called if it wasn't something major. Brazil, but that's all they could tell me over the phone. Anyone asking about my whereabouts cannot be informed.

"...Isaid I'm fine..." Kora mumbled, shrugging the support off as she rose to her feet, leaning against the wall. She paused there to clear her head before setting her gaze on Montana.

"Not that I don't appreciate your concern, but I have been training to force changes since I was five or six. I can manage."

She straightened up, made her way over to the sink in the smashed-up kitchen, and poured a glass of water. Well, a plastic cup. They didn't tend to keep too much that was easily broken for...well mostly for that reason entirely.

"...getting freakin' tazed on the other hand is not something I'm quite as adapted to. Not that I hold a grudge or anything. Unless it's Oren. Then it becomes funny."


She downed a glass of water in one gulp, clearing the rather unpleasant taste of blood that tended to follow a transformation. You did not tend to bleed too much, Oren had gone one about how the blood vessels massively constricted during a shift, however, when you had a set of fangs bursting through your gumline, it did tend to leave that nasty taste on your mouth.

"I'm not going to the infirmary. Spent all morning in research. Had enough being poked and prodded by people in white coats to last me a while. I swear every time that leech looks at me she's picturing a dissection session and I don't doubt she'd do it. Vamps. They give me the creeps. Like reptiles." she paused, casting a glance in Stride's direction.
"Uh, no offence intended."


She was about to speak again, when the SCION intercom flared suddenly into life. The speaker system had been set up for remote access...where the 'remote' was was less clear, but the voice, that of a female speaking calmly and clearly, but with a chipper enough tone, broadcast out.

"Good morning agents of SCION, I do hope you're all well. A new case has come to our attention. Please will all field-cleared staff, medical dept, and research convene in the meeting room immediately."


Kora gazed up at the small speaker with narrowed eyes.
"It's like you do this on purpose. Am I really expected to swan into a staff briefing in a table cloth? Is this where my life has led me?"

“You’d like me to mop the floors while I’m at it?” Stride drawled, drumming her fingers lightly upon the top of her arm. “I’m not a damn intern, ya know. I’ll just get the staff over here, but I’m not gonna sit around cleanin’ n’ shit.”

Although the man had been a member of SCION for far longer than she, the silver-head tended to have trouble biting her tongue out of respect for the other, arrogant bastard that he was.

Upon hearing Kora’s explanation of her refusal, and subsequent apology, Stride only snorted and let her hands fall to her side. Her response had been hanging off her lips when the sudden broadcast cut her off, sending her snapping to attention at the voice. Stride’s eyes gazed upwards at the intercom from beneath her goggles, locking onto it as if it the piece of technology was the speaker herself.

It was only when the words had finally cut off that her gaze returned to her company, hand lifting to scratch at the side of her jaw. “Well,” Stride began, “can’t really take much offense now, can I? Since this ‘s just screwin’ ya over and all.” Absentmindedly, the woman once again looked to the speaker, squinting up at it.

“You’d think they’d give us a bit of a heads-up ‘round here...better be somethin’ important.”

After all, although it was fairly clear by now that the mess was caused by a research accident, Stride was still dying to know all the juicy details.

"I wanted to show you-" He was cut off by the rather loud accountant. ""While it would be childishly amusing to skip such a meeting I think we should show our faces, no?" Rafael would shrug his shoulders in agreement and fallow the women down the hall. He was slightly taken back by the woman's burst of speed and found himself instinctively making chase. He only slowed as Arc waved him down and spoke. "Care to join me in disappearing for a day? Bring a gun, something small and quiet, and shoots fast, this could get ugly, and I'd rather not bring anyone back dead. It's not absolutely necessary, but I thought you two might like to see what a human war's like nowadays." Rafael stopped and spoke with a slight smile. "As much as i would like to join you, I believe we have been called in to a meeting, any other time, sure." He would turn and continue up the hall to the meeting room.

Upon entering said room, he found himself looking not only at the small group of SCION agents he already knew, but a few new faces as well. “Well, they get younger every year.” He would nod to the notably younger looking agents in the room and take a seat at the back of the room. He would turn the empty seat in front of him around and rest his loafers on it. Bringing the brim of his hat down over to his face to make it seem like he was going to take a nap.

He was in actuality using his senses to take note of the new auras in the room and took to sending out a mass probe that would reach out and touch each of the three new agents in the room. He counted a Fallen girl he had only seen in the infirmary once before. A newly turned Lycanthrope with a rather…heated aura around her and lastly he felt an aura he hadn’t felt in over 700 years. “A Medusa? Hmm…this should be interesting” he thought internally and brought his head back up. Setting his eyes on the board at the front of the room he let a small chuckle escape his lips.

Liam finished making his call, and went over to Jonah to help get their stuff into the room. He took both their backpacks to get them settled, and then decided to investigate the room. Mainly, wondering if there were any monitoring devices, but he was also wondering how old it was and what everything would originally look like. Jonah had this annoying habit of changing things without saying anything (like turning a closet into a condensed hallway with several rooms without taking up any additional space), and it could get a bit annoying at times.

Jonah had more questions as Liam returned, but the announcement apparently put everything else on hold. Not wanting to miss anything, the two rushed immediately there, Jonah forgetting to put the dufflebag with all of his various collected objects in their room with the rest of their stuff. Jonah had collected a large variety of magical objects during their search for a way to reverse the curse.

Jonah and Liam rushed in to try and take some seats close by. For a moment, they thought they were the most casually dressed, until Val came in. Jonah took the opportunity. "Hey Liam, bring back any memories".

Liam blushed in reference to the old prank, when Jonah locked him outside their hotel room in just a towel. "Jonah, please never bring that up, or else. I have ammo too".

Jonah shot him a glare as they took their seats. Still, he took out his phone, to check for any texts. Nothing yet. He looked around at the others.

This would be their first step on the path to revenge, against the demons, and the witch.

An announcement cut over the intercom, requesting all personnel into a meeting. It wouldn't be the first time Arc had left a meeting early, and certainly wouldn't be his last. He made his way into the room, grabbed his old JTF2 uniform, suited up, grabbed a large backpack, put his Vector, his USP, a few concussion grenades, and made his way to the room. He leaned against the back wall, next to the door, making it clear to the higher ups that he would not be staying for the night.

Several new faces were in the room. Arc didn't like new faces, hard to trust people when you don't even know what they are. His eyes met those of a younger woman, she didn't seem too happy to be here. Although the cloaked figure really caught his eye. He heard all the rumors, but he didn't care for what others said about her, he wanted to know himself. The stats said she was a fallen angel, works in the infirmary. Arc had never really spent much time there, so he'd never really met her.

Arc texted his LT.

" 2h, we've got a meeting, I can't just bail. Should be over sometime soon. "

He walked further into the room, looking for a place to sit. Against his better judgement, he sat next to Fel. She had definetely piqued his interests, and he wanted to know what made her tick. But that was a conversation for later.

Fel watched Kora for a long moment, as if trying to decide if healing the woman against her wishes was the right thing to do. Kora's pain was like a beacon to Fel, the desire to relieve it growing with ever passing second. It was when the booming voice over the loud speaker chimed in Fel made her decision.

She quickly removed her glove revealing a scarred hand with a missing index finger. Reaching out she touched Kora on the shoulder despite the woman's protest after all if a mission was coming then they would need the woman at her full strength.
The process took less than a second as Fel's powers worked to repair any damage that Kora had caused herself during the transformation process. All the while a soothing sensation would pass over the werewolf leaving her momentarily feeling content. The sensation was different for everyone maybe it was the feeling of a favorite blanket on a cold winter's day, the taste of a comforting food, or the smell of a carnival.

As soon as Fel's hand left Kora the woman would full back to normal, well as normal as the angry werewolf was anyways. It was during this moment Fel moved behind Montana least be on the receiving end of one of Kora's famous doctor punches.
Hiding behind Montana always made Fel feel safe, knowing that the man would protect her from just about anything that life tried to throw at her (including an angry werewolf). Once Fel had put her glove back on and she was certain that any danger had passed she tugged on Montana's sleeve.

Her voice was soft but there was a hint of tenderness in it as she address Montana. "Ready to go?"
She would walk with Montana towards the meeting room before deciding on the taking a seat with open spots on either side.
To her surprise a man she knew very little of aside from the name sat next to her. The scars on the side of the man's face made her instantly feel for Arcturus. After all they reminded her a bit of her own.

--------------------------------------
Crystal was confused as agents ushered her into the meeting room, hadn't they said she wasn't ready? The confusion slowly turned into excitement, all the tests, combat training, and preparation over the last month had paid off and they were finally sending her into the field.

Then as all the people starting coming in the panic started setting in, their were so many people, so many supernatural agents. Pushing down her inward panic Crystal decided to focus on her hatred, the hatred for every dam supernatural creature in the room.

/Stupid agency putting me in a room full of killers, I'll show them that I have more culture then these supernatural soldiers of death./

What was even more stupid was that Crystal had to be on the look out for her new trainer. The agents had called the woman her future pack leader, but Crystal refused to think of anyways that way. Thinking of it that way would be to accept what she now was, and that was not something she was ready to do.

Crystal was some animal that needed a pack.

Such a strange proposition. Montana could venture to make a few guesses, educated ones at that having extensively read every employees file with a meticulous eye. He didn't however. He didn't make any reply beyond a questioning look either. Montana's first plunge into violence was war, a bloody conflict in jungles thick with paranoia and crimson rain, but his baptism was spec ops and espionage. He would need more information then that. Much more. He understood members had their side projects, unfinished business and old promises, but these were things he was rarely privy too. If it wasn't in their files, he didn't pry.

Unless he was asked to partake.

Kora's reply drew his gaze away from the other mortals retreating form, he followed her movements, nodding earnestly when she spoke. All fair points to him. All made sense in their context and all could be attributed to her and not many others. Still, he would have taken her to the infirmary regardless if Fel hadn't shown up. Tried to at least. Broken ribs and whatnot.

"Well of course not Stride." His voice didn't miss a beat, or sound even slightly offended, or strained. "I'd never take an employee of your stature as anything less then your stalwarts, I only..took your offer for help at face value I suppose." His mouth stayed in its serious line, but his eyes, they smiled in a decidedly mischievous manner.

Then, the loudspeaker, an announcement. Base wide, briefing. Precisely why he wanted Kora taken care of, thank goodwill for Fel's timely arrival. He imagined she'd find clothes en rout.

"After you." He replied.

Montana excused himself from their presence and escorted Fel to the meeting, he stayed close to her side, matched her stride, and never strayed from his position beside her. When they entered the room, he opted to stand behind Fel rather then sit. His hands wrapped around the alloy, and stayed there. Like everyone else he was interested, and like the veterans he watched the newcomers with a trained eye. He would hold counsel after the meeting, mission depending. Misters Wiseman and Alihambra numbering among the veterans he spoke with, as well as Miss Valentine and Miss Opal. Mission depending.

Speaking of veterans to speak with, the normally stoic Arcturus had taken a seat next to Fel and himself. Interesting. From what he knew about his fellow, Arcturus preferred to stay on the outskirts where he could observe the group.

"Good morning agents of SCION, I do hope you're all well. A new case has come to our attention. Please will all field-cleared staff, medical dept, and research convene in the meeting room immediately."


Issac's eyes opened only after he was a stride out of his room, he had been resting in one of the many rooms in the building far away from all of the action. He was on auto pilot , his mind still lost the haze of sleep, but thankfully his feet knew where to walk. He wasn't exactly dressed for a meeting , let alone a briefing. Fatigues and a OD green tee made the combat veteran look like bum. His relatively short hair stuck up in that tell tale way while the glassed over look on his un-shaved-face completed the look, in fact aside from his pace , the knife riding scout carry and perhaps the dropleg holster his sidearm rested in, he looked out of place.

The field operative found the meeting room in decent time and managed to slide in among the growing crowd, he quickly claimed a corner covering the room as a whole and the door before crossing his arms and letting his chin sink to his chest , eyes falling shut.

' never run when you can walk, never walk when you can stand, never stand when you can sit, never sit when you can lay down, and never be awake when you can sleep....' His units old mantra floated about his mind. Even though his eyes where closed he'd be paying attention for the sounds of authority entering the room, only then would he pay more than half attention, shifting from the lazy guy in the corner to the soldier he was.

Kora was not exactly thrilled to be walking into a staff meeting wearing only a singular piece of fabric that was designed for adorning pieces of furniture, but if nothing else, a life of being known as part of the lycanthrope nobility had led to a sense of confidence in most situations, and the woman walked into the meeting room in a tablecloth with a total lack of concern.

She dropped into a seat and turned it in the direction of the head of the table, where three of the higher ranking officials within SCION were seated. She knew who they were. Pretty much everyone knew who they were, agents of SCION who had proved themselves sufficiently in the field that they were called upon to strategize instead of put their hides on the line in the field. You didn't get into a top spot just by showing up of course. All of them were pretty well-known and talked about, and, from at least Kora's point of view, envied just a bit. Of course, she was not about to admit such a thing because, if nothing else, two were vampires.


A neatly-dressed woman of japanese origin sat at one side, her hair tied back and a laptop sat in front of her. Aiko Wakahisa, also going by 'Yokai', a vampress originating from the Edo period, and one of SCION's most successful spies and intel gatherers. She had contacts, leads, and people to lean on for details almost everywhere, and any shady activity that was known about tended to reach her ears before most anyone else's. So the frown on her pallid face meant that things were going to get interesting.

Leofric Wyndham. What you might call and old fashioned fellow, in that he was in the 21st century still wearing a regimental jacket draped over his shoulders. Of course, he didn't look a day over thirty. Vampirism did that to you. Still, he had been leading armies before half those present had even been born so, you had to assume hat the dark-haired man knew what he was talking about to some degree, and his record as a commander spoke for itself. He cast a glance at Kora and smirked.
"Lovely dress Norrevinter. Very avaunt-garde."

Saffiya Elmessiri, 'Sekhmet'. A lore expert. A magic user, and a werecat. The egyptian woman non-chalantly toyed with one of the talismans that hung round her neck as she looked over a set of a few print-outs and scratched down a few notes, symbols and numbers, onto a notepad. Looking for a pattern, no doubt.

Behind them the blue moon of SCION was projeted up on the wall, along with the silent promise that they were being watched by the organization's enigmatic benefactor, and it was this disembodied voice that spoke up.

"Good morning everyone. Thank you for coming. I hope you're all well. I see we have a few new faces here, and would like to welcome our new trainees, Crystal, Jonah, and Liam. Welcome to SCION, the three of you.

Now, onto business. A matter has arisen that requires the organization's attention. Miss Wakahisa, I believe you've compiled a report?"


The vampress nodded and rose to her feet, pressing a key on her laptop that caused the moon projection to snap to the picture of a map, the twisted lines of roads and streets indicating some kind of built up area.
"A contact in the North Yorkshire constabulary contacted me yesterday about a string of brutal murders that have been taking place around York, England. And by brutal, I mean that half of the victims tend to be missing by the time they're actually found. The press have become aware of one or two, but the force are keeping the whole thing at a low level on account of the large number of visitors arriving for the city's viking festival."

Had Kora been a wolf at the time, her ears would have pricked up, and she sat forward in her seat. Aiko had little concern for that, spoke further.

"This was of little concern to us, until in the early hours of yesterday a body was reported in that our contact describes as an 'unknown creature'. My informant in the police is very familiar with most common cryptid species, but has no idea of the origin."

She cast her dark gaze upwards.
"Dr Kovalenko, have you gotten any data from the sample you received."

Oren had materialized in the doorway, some notes in one hand and what remained of the green vial in the other.
"It's blood." the hungarian biologist responded.
"But unlike any other sample I have examined before."

She walked over the table to roll the sealed vial into the middle.
"The colour is from biliverdin, a bile pigment in the plasma. This is similar to skinks of the genus prasinohaema. The blood cells inside it...the structure has almost entirely broken down...but what I have seen of it is...unusual, to say the least. It bears resemblance to no existing species." she paused a moment.
"Including all cryptid blood samples on record. This is...new."