Lusiphur had stated it simple enough: He was tired of being on the defensive, tired of reacting. Fallen had set himself into a race with Michael and Gabriel to see who could destroy the Ancients within the Bloods first, and Daugolozan was starting to play his games again; All this, on top of the current problems with the lawyers of DCH.

Well, the time of reaction was over. Time to be proactive.

Generations ago, before he had died at the hands of a assassin, Lucius had earned gold as a bounty hunter. Plying the back-alleys of the Westend and Old Town, he had established safehouses throughout RhyDin Township, and to this day he still held the property bills for four of them. One, he had gifted to Tara and her Forsaken Blades, the other three were now used by The Acolytes when they had business in this realm. Now, the small brownstone at 43 East Mill St., Old Town, had become a staging ground.

Several gloworbs lit the basement of the brownstone enough for Lucius to see the map spread over the table set in the center of the room. Beside him the silent form of Sir Herzog stood, and arrayed against the wall behind stood the rest of the skeletal warriors under Herzog's command. Each, a paladin in life, had followed Lucius into the damnation of undeath, serving him unwaveringly. Across the table Bailneth, leader of The Acolytes, pointed to a section of Old Town. "We have been watching this building, ever since you first sent word, my lord. I believe it fits your wishes."

"Excellent." Lucius smiled slowly as he thought about the evening to come. Lusiphur would be mad about missing the fun, but with the orbs that Tasha was bringing, he would be able to enjoy the next best thing. He turned, looking at each of the hulking warriors in turn. "Remember, you are to inflict as much damage as possible to the offices. I want nothing left intact." Slowly each in turn nodded, and he could almost swear he felt an aura of anticipation coming from the undead. More likely his own feelings bleeding out.

"As soon as Tasha arrives, we'll be on our way."

"My lord, someone is above." Bailneth glanced to the roof above them, and Lucius nodded, turning toward the door.

"Down here, Tasha." Confident as to the identity of the person above, as no one else was scheduled to be in the safehouse, and the confidence was rewarded when the diminutive Trueblood fairly skipped into the basement.

"Hi ya Luc. You ready to do some B&E?" Coming up beside him, she looked over to Bailneth, who nodded in greeting.

"Aye, my dear." Softly chuckling, Lucius turned to the assembled knights. "Let's go."

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Clouds obscured the half-full moon this night, and the two guards moving down the street had a bit more speed than normal, eager to finish their patrol and return to the guardhouse and the heady mead that awaited. Had they been more alert, one may have spotted the subtle shifting of shadows at the mouth of one of the many alleyways between buildings. "I'll never get used to that!" Tasha hissed, shivering as she pressed close to Lucius, clutching tight to the straps of her pack.

Grunting softly in reply, Lucius glanced down the street, and slowly nodded as he watched the guards round a corner and disappear. "Alright, lets go." He pointed down the alley toward a fire escape the skeletal warriors were already climbing, each moving much more silently than a being in archaic half-plate should have been able to. Tasha was halfway up the ladder when Sir Herzog smashed in a window on the third floor, and the shrill sound of falling glass made all pause. When no one came out of a neighboring building screaming at them Lucius tapped her foot, urging her on.

"Remember, make a record of any papers you find, and then we'll burn it all." Lucius told her as he climbed through the window. Tasha nodded, then winced as the first crash came from the front of the offices.

In the reception area of the offices the furniture was systematically being hacked to pieces. The air briefly was filled with flying fluff from the sofa upholstery, and Lucius couldn't help the soft laughter that came at the sight. "Well, not every battle is in the field." he muttered softly, overseeing the progress of the skeletal warriors as they began to tear apart the offices of Lance DeMeer, site and claims representative of Dewey, Cheatam and Howe.

"We are being watched!"

The words had Lucius turning where he stood watching the knights, and snatching the paper from her he glanced at it, a curse exploding as he looked around. "Forget papers, we need to leave now."

"But what about the recordings?" Tasha's tone carried an edge of panic, and Lucius reached out and drew her close.

"We'll take care of it." Growling, he stretched out with his senses, calling his knights back to the rear office. Tasha, having grabbed her bag, pulled out a small can and started squirting lighter fluid on the papers and filing cabinet. The sharp smell filled the room as the knights filed in, quickly taking up the space left. as the last armored form appeared in the doorway Lucius reached out, drawing the shadows around them, and as she faded from sight Tasha flung out her arm, sending a lit match onto one of the papers she had just soaked down.

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"I know this address." Brushing fine silver hair from before her eyes Tasha squinted in the moonlight at the paper they had taken from the office. Lucius stood beside her, peering down at the paper, while the knights stood around them in a loose circle, watching for any that might come close. Considering that Lucius had taken them to a nearby rooftop it was unlikely, but after the surprise they had just encountered he was taking no chances.

"It's a old storehouse down by the river, on the border of the Trade District and Old Town." Peering up at him she frowned, pushing back her hair as the wind picked up again. "It's gonna be guarded, you know."

"Indeed." Lucius growled softly as he looked out over the nighttime city skyscape. "But we don't have a choice." Moonlight gleamed in crimson eyes as he looked back at Tasha. "We have to destroy those recordings if this is going to work."

"I know, I know!" Definately not happy with the situation, the young Trueblood half-turned and pointed toward the river. "Ok, Kaspie's found the place."

"Excellent." Patting her shoulder gently Lucius turned to the silent undead. "Men, prepare yourselves." A predatory smile bloomed on the Chaos Lord's features, half-hidden under the drawn hood. "Things are about to get interesting."

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The guard standing at the doorway didn't stand a chance. One second he was looking out over the still water, and the next grasping at three feet of tempered steel that had erupted from his chest. He never saw the deaths-head grin of his killer, the skeletal warrior tha had been known as Gauth in life flinging the dying man away as easily as a smoker does a finished cigarrette

Within the building four other shadowy portals opened, undead knights stepping from each to strike out at the nearest living being. Thier orders were again simple, yet slightly changed from earlier: Kill all that stood in thier way. The men and women on the first floor were not slow to respond, and quickly the sound of battle filled the air. O'Bannon Securities prided itself on the security packages and bodyguard services offered for it's affluent clientele, and the mercenaries Sir Herzog and his cadre were ranked among the best.

On the second floor Lucius slowly peered around a corner, taking in the sight of a heavy door and the two heavily armed and armored guards standing guard in front of it. "Are you certain this is the room?" Glancing back, he hissed the question to Tasha, who nodded quickly in reply.

"Yeah, Kaspie says that he saw walls with several different images on the other side. Sounds like imaging orbs to me." She looked up into the chaos lord's face and Lucius culd see the excitemnt that fairly made her eyes glow. "I can tell you this, they're using a frelling lot of magic in there."

"Stay behind me." Lucius growled, his eyes flaring a deep crimson as he turned back and on around the corner. The growled turned into a full-fledged roar as he bore down on the two guards. Already alert because of the fight below, the two split apart and brought up thier swords, waiting for the charging Chaos Lord. As he closed the blades on the ensorcelled battle-gauntlets slipped into place, and sparks flew as his fist came up and deflected the first blow from the guard in front of him. The other guard moved to stab in at waist level, but the move was never completed as a bolt slammed into his neck, dropping him like a stone.

"Just like dusting a vamp!" Tasha snickered, slipping another bolt into the wrist-mounted crossbow. Lucius, slashing in with his right hand to draw the guards sword high, rabbit-punched with his left, driving the razor-edged blades through the toughened leather armor and deep into the man's guts. Ignoring the scream of pain a he brought a hand up and covered the man's face, shoving foward hard enough to send the wounded guard smashign through the door into the room beyond.

Lucius had the briefest flash of the room within, two men coming to thier feet from where they sat in front of a row of imaging orbs. A third hopping to the side to avoid the sliding body coming at him. And a forth pointing at him. Leaping forward, he was swinging at the third man when a heavy blow landed in the small of his back, driving him to his knees...

He meant to thank Tasha for the aid with the back-jumping guard, but another ran in the door before he could. Seeing the flames caused him to pause for a second, which was more than enough time for Lucius to dive at his knees from his kneeling position. The two landed in a tangled heap, each punching at the other the best they could, but when one has blades on his gauntlets and the other doesn't, that kind of brawl will be short indeed. The guards struggles weakened almost immdetaely, allowing Lucius to jab hard into his side, the blades biting deep. A vicious halftwist, and the hand was jerked back, sending a fountain of blood across th floor and nearby wall.

Pushing the rapidly-fading guard to the side he spotted Tasha entering a side door, and when she didn't stop when he called her he scrambled to his feet headed for the doorway. The flames were quickly catching the whole place up, and the last thing he wanted was the roof coming down on thier heads. Already embers were falling, and he held up a hand to guard his face from the growing heat and falling debris.

What he saw in the other room stopped him cold for a second, for the vortex brought back a memory long buried, and it was only the sight of Tasha moving toward it that brought him out of the shocked paralysis. Quickly stepping forward he grabbed the young Trueblood's shoulder and hauled her back. "WHA?! Leggo!"

"No, you musn't risk the powers of the Warp!" THere was an edge in his voice, one that was rarely heard by any outside his family and closest of friends, and it caught Tasha's attention. She was just turning back toward him, perhaps to plead her case, when he caught a sudden widening of her eyes. He half-turned, catching sight of a tall figure standing in the doorway. Two things struck him at the same time: The man was not wearing armor, and he had a wand levelled at Tasha and himself.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl. Eldrich lightning flared around the end of the wand, the initial sign of the lightning bolt that arced outward toward them. He pushed Tasha aside, the young woman raising a hand to shield her eyes as the bolt slammed into his shoulder, then agony flared across all his senses. What he didn't see, but Tasha could through squinted eyes, was the electrical bolt arcing away from Lucius after the brief touch, as it was drawn toward the ley portal. as he dropped to his knees Lucius could feel the magic flare up, and both heard the screams of the mage as power flowed back from the portal into him though the lightening bolt, turning him into a burnt husk.

"Frell, the portal's gonna be history!" Scrambling to her feet Tasha hurried over to Lucius, who was also struggling to his feet. "Those idiots couldn't even anchor it halfway right! Frell!" All around them the magics of the area was being drawn into the rapidly destabilizing portal, and the chamber was starting to rock as though caught in an earthquake. "Luc, we gotta get out of here!"

Lucius couldn't agree more, and with every muscle in his body still screaming from the brief touch of lightning, he enfolded Tasha in his arms, turnign to shield her with his body, and as the portal flared a bright blue-white a cloak of absolute blackness dropped over the two...

A crowd was not a good thing for them at the moment, and that was what was gathering, well away from the remains of the warehouse/office. Many were dock workers unloading a late-arriving barge, others homeless that congregated under the docks and pilings of the riverside, but he had also spotted the flash of light off gleaming metal. A city patrol, drawn by the explosion.

Taking Tasha by the shoulder he started to open another shadowy portal, but just before taking her in he pulled open another pouch and drew out a small feather there. He couldn't hear the hiss he made, due to the ringing in his ears, but he could feel the stinging pain radiating from his fingertips, even covered by the thick leather of his gloves. Hurriedly he dropped the angelic token on the rooftop as he stepped into the shadows. Let the one's investigating the accident make of that what they will!

The two stepped from the Nether in the safehouse, startling Bailneth with thier sudden appearance. "Help her!" The words were much louder than normal, and the priest winced slightly as he hurried to Tasha.

"What's wrong with her, milord?" He asked, giving the young elf a quick look-over, but not seeing any visible wounds. When Lucius didn't reply he looked back to the Chaos Lord, who was rubbing at his ears with a fingertip. "Milord?"

"What?" Lucius snapped, seeing Bailneth had looked back to him. "We were caught too near an explosion, and I'm havign trouble hearing. She may be also."

"Ah." And now he turned back to Tasha, raising his voice to what he hoped was a level she could hear. "Milady, I'm going to cast a healing spell. Tell me if it helps your hearing." A soft word, and he raised his hands next to her ears, a soft glow flowing from the open hands and seeping into her skin.