Path of the Necromancer - FACTION WARS

Chapter 3.1 - Mei

A dark figure stood in the dimly lit lobby, illuminated by the sole surviving light fixture that cast her short frame in long shadow. Lin Mei stood in the abandoned hotel in her dark dress and accompanying leggings looking extremely frustrated and forlorn, warm honey features glaring vacantly into the subterranean tunnel. She'd been ordered by the Leader of the Tiandihui - Honourable Master Long - to stop the efforts of the Night Watch and save his precious plan at all costs. The problem in carrying out his orders had been obvious from the start. While they were 'technically' allied with the Vampires, that wouldn't save them if they were caught in an exposed position... which she was bound to find herself in the moment she stepped into the Brood's lair.

Thus, there was no way in hell they were going down in the tunnel systems. Compounding this issue, there was no way they could track the Night Watch upon discovering they had infiltrated the Brood. 'Infiltrated' was her word of choice when reporting back to the conceitedcontrived man about the damage she'd come across at the Night Watch-Kin coalition's last known location. Even with years of working in the system's gritty reality, Mei knew she wasn't going to forget the sight of a Vampire torso - all limbs torn off - twitch when she'd bent to examine it. After her heart rate returned to normal they'd driven all over the district to each of the known Vampire haunts to try and catch them, but all they found were fleeing bloodsuckers.

The intolerable Bastard had also given them the unreasonable task of doing all this without being noticed by the Factions - the Kin being on a high alert made this especially difficult - and adding to his implication to the plot. Eventually they'd noticed that most of the locations had been abandoned and they were shocked by the speed in which those underground were clearing the leeches.

Finally, they'd arrived at this hotel just in time to see hordes of the biters bolting through the lobby to the upper floors. Now she stood with her men, wondering just what the hell she was supposed to do. She wasn't about to leave the biggest congregation of parasites they'd found, but it wasn't like she could stay with them and seek out the Night Watch at the same time. Then she heard a new noise bouncing off the tunnel walls and she realised she didn't have to.

* * * * *

'Finally!' Mei groused. 

The group had taken their sweet time in reaching the top of the stairs. She'd heard the sounds of their gunfire growing, and with it the number of retreating Vampires. Working beautifully into her plans was the fact the Night Watch had been firing almost non stop. By her estimation, most of them had run out of ammunition. Annoyingly, the Vampires had ceased any form of resistance, instead allowing themselves to be shot in the back and suffering even more losses. 

'He' emerged into the lobby from the basement and turned to direct the Kin soldiers to carry the wounded out of the hotel. A blast of compressed sound slammed into his back and threw him head-over-heels into the tightly packed followers. His shield did it's job and saved his life, deflecting the brunt of the blast out and away. The 'softer-than-it-could-have-been' landing saved his shield from winking out entirely. The knock to the back of his head stymied anything beyond reinforcing the shield before trying to untangle himself.

Two dozen gunmen from the Heaven and Earth Society opened fire on the small passageway, pinning them down while the Banshee's attacks destroyed the walls around them. A rock golem tried to help in supporting the structure by going through the onslaught of bullets but was hit by a resonant whine from Mei, pulverising the construct.

Suddenly, Mei glimpsed a black-clad figure streak through the opening and hit the lights overhead. In a shower of sparks the area was cast into darkness. They'd flipped the breaker on their way in, and that had been their only source of illumination. The fire died down as they lost their line of sight.

Then the screaming started. Flashes of gunfire turned the ambush into horror movie snapshots; a hellish tableaus of death. A black-winged monster with a huge wingspan flying above their heads, green flames rose at their feet while a hooded figure seemed to blink from person to person - leaving mangled bodies in its wake. Those bodies, some with both arms on one side of their body, lurched with jawless maw's oozing blood forward to tear at those still living in a fit of possessory rage.

Mei and those closest to her began retreating up the stairs to the upper levels, trying to gain some distance while those left behind continued to fire and scream. The screams died out and then... nothing. Mei felt an icy finger stab her heart as she heard the ominous creak of footsteps coming after them. The body of the man they'd left to cover the stairs flew over their heads and smeared onto the wall in front of them.

That terrified them into a full-on run and they scrambled up the old, crumbling steps. On the next level, one of the gunmen fell through an unseen hole in the floor - exposed pipes laughing his descent into the abyss. One stopped to look back at him. A scrambling, skittering sound that rose the hair at the back of their necks. A muffled scream bespoke yet another man getting snatched away by a passing Vampire.

Mei's chest continued to constrict her painfully while a sense of hopelessness consumed her. Another level, more skittering. To survive without killing the Night Watch's Champion would be considered a failure. She knew what would happen if she returned empty-handed, and she knew it was impossible to run. Her sob of depression became a scream of frustrated anguish which thundered along the hallway, clearing it of any of its hidden crawlers. However, when she turned a corner she found the stairs to the next level were gone, and the Vampires were creeping in.