The Dark Edge Chronicles - Clan War

Salzburg

A few phone calls later to stir up a hornets' nest of local human law enforcement, they were heading into the city to the hotel Narcist had booked Bronwyn into. A quick sweep of the hotel to make sure it was free of any enemy agents, then the werewolf elder was left with a sidearm and her own skills as a warrior to take care of herself. The SUV went into a parking stall at the airport and then the four vampires went to find the local transit hub that would take them as close as they could get to the square deep in the heart of Old Town.

Almost immediately after they boarded a streetcar bound for the Old Town, they surprisingly ran into m'tada. Wearing the same lightweight daycloak garments Fiadh's m'tada had worn on the train, complete with veils and polarized glasses, four of them were seated at the back of the second car, heads lowered as they quietly discussed something in vampiric.

Spotting them without the m'tada returning the favor, they quickly moved to the front of the first car.

"I saw your m'tada wearing the same kind of protective clothing that those ones are, Mistress," Truk said in a low voice. "That's definitely not standard issue."

"No, it's not," the Irish lilith confirmed with a slight nod. "A number of my older sisters were concerned about our general lack of mobility. With only half of a twenty four hour period to travel, and needing to do so with a significant M'tada presence and limited access to resources, they wanted to develop something that would extend our traveling flexibility. So they called in some favors and had UV resistant fabric crafted by research and development units that they trusted. That fabric is then used to make clothing that allowed us to travel during daylight hours without the need for the heavy, lead-lined daycloaks."

A slight smile touched her lips.

"They aren't bullet-proof and won't render you invisible, but they are much easier to take off, should the need arise." Then she looked at Lash, hesitating for a moment to drink in the vision of his appearance before: "Just in case you were wondering, my wolf, my pheromone cloud is completely suppressed. Those m'tada would have to be close enough to touch me, to detect that I was a lilith."

Lash nodded in acknowledgment.

"A wise precaution, Fiadh. I appreciate your willingness to take such measures for our safety." He hazarded another look back at the four Blood Guard. Good; they still hadn't taken notice of them. Or, if they had, they were very skilled at hiding it!

"I'm guessing daycloth is a lilith exclusive then, Mistress, as I don't see many common vampires wearing such useful garments," the Ventru nestari went on to point out.

"You would be correct about that, Truk," Fiadh said with a smile. "Just as much of the military tech you've been using since I met you, is either Qos Viran exclusive, or available only through our mutual friend here."

As Truk bowed his head to concede the point, Fiadh looked back over at Lash.

"These m'tada are obviously scouts for a larger company," she said, leaning in close to him. "A four man unit sent ahead to determine the lay of the land. It also means a significantly larger force is en route."

Lash nodded before letting his eyes swing out onto the road they were traveling. It made sense; with the world in flux, the queens were retreating to their most fortified holding in Europe. Great and small would come as none were safe regardless of their power. How many M'tada did Emma have under her command? A thousand? Two thousand? And still the Hand attacked.

As they did Jerisa and Meredith. While Meredith's strength was unknown, with her m'tada mostly dead by the time they reached her, Jerisa commanded a significant force. She also had the resources to either own or have access to a private jet. Wealth wasn't always a measure of a lilith's power, but he knew from experience that power helped accumulate wealth. And she had resources to burn.