Lash let the wind of passage whip in through the open cabin door to snarl around his armored body, his thoughts a million kilometers away even as he stared off into the darkness. Not so much about the coming battle; he had seen plenty of action during his time as Qos Viran. One more fight, even against such odds, was nothing.
No, his thoughts were occupied with some of the questions he now had about Lord Liam Magnar. Questions he didn't want to have. For good reason: the Irish vampire was not only Lash's commanding officer but was his friend and mentor as well, guiding the much younger vampire through the pitfalls and dangers of being Qos Viran. Dangers that, ironically enough, came as frequently from the very council they swore to serve as they did from actual enemies.
As often as humans in power jockey for position and additional power, so did their vampiric cousins, if not more so. Backstabbing and slander were everyday tools for hardened politicos that were just as liable to have you assassinated for accidentally making them lose face in front of their peers as they were to target each other. By virtue of him surviving for two decades on the council as Ventru's seat, much could be said of Korliss's ability to negotiate those dangerous waters. So his death was more than a little surprising, even in the face of vendetta. Korliss shouldn't have been caught unawares like that. Unless somebody he knew had drawn him out.
Which, of course, only brought Lash back to Magnar. Not only had Magnar kept himself above council politics and squabbles, he physically avoided contact with the council itself unless directly summoned to stand in front of it. It was an arm's length arrangement that served both well enough and kept Magnar out of harm's way for the most part. Which, along with the fact that House Magnar had for centuries been a valuable friend and ally to Clan Ventru, had lent credence to the thought that the venerable Irish Lord wouldn't be involved in promoting the vendetta.
Yet here was anecdotal evidence that Lady Korliss was shielded from her husband and children's fate the night Lord Korliss was slaughtered. Who else would do that but a member of the family? Or, at least, somebody with close ties to the family? And since he hadn't heard from Magnar since the Hand's abortive attack at the airport, he had to assume the Lord Commander was somehow involved.
Then a forearm against his side pulled the big vampire out of his thoughts.
"Look sharp," Ingrid directed into his earpiece, his sister crouched just behind him. "We're coming up on the compound now!"
Nodding, Lash looked down and towards the cluster of buildings that, from the angle of their approach, were backlit by the lights of Brussels, throwing them into even deeper shadow. Shadow that was being broken up by tracer fire and the occasional flare of a heavy artillery piece.
Pulling out a pair of binoculars, the veteran warrior scanned back along the path made by that tracer fire and quickly found its source: a full company of soldiers accompanied by at least four tanks and a mobile mortar, advancing from the southwest. A quick scan along the compound's perimeter found the other enemy units that had them surrounded, each accompanied with heavy armor. While it was difficult to make out any insignia or flag on the aggressors, it was an easy step to assume they were either Hand operatives, or nestari belonging to Houses loyal to the council member that had launched the vendetta. And they seemed to be advancing with little to no resistance.
"Is your mistress confident that Lady Van Tallert is actually here?" Lash asked, pulling the binoculars away from his face to look over his shoulder at his sister. "Her nestari don't seem to be fighting back. Which they wouldn't do if ..."
"She's not there," Ingrid finished for him, a thoughtful frown on her face. "I see what you're saying. But Emma wouldn't have sent you here if she didn't have concrete evidence that van Tallert was actually on site. Or put her M'tada at risk to do so, especially with the Hand knocking on her own door. She's not that kind of lilith."
Hearing her speak with such confidence only deepened Lash's own frown. It was obvious that this Emma had his sister's unwavering loyalty. So Ingrid's confidence could be a manifestation of that loyalty.
Lash looked back down at the nearest unit as their stealthed helicopters slipped past them just in time to see anti-tank rounds dart in from the darkened compound and take all four out with pinpoint precision, the tanks exploding with a roar that they could easily hear over the winds of their flight. Explosions coming from the other units that were threatening the perimeter told him that they had just lost their armor as well in the devastating counterattack.
"Or van Tallert was just luring the tanks into the kill zone," he grimly finished his thought out loud before looking back at Ingrid. "Have your pilot bring us in just behind the wall."
Nodding, Ingrid lifted a hand to her mouthpiece.
"Aim for the compound's courtyard. And watch that tracer fire; the mistress wants to avoid a direct confrontation."
"Copy that, captain," the pilot replied and the helicopters, which had been on a slow orbit outside of the fight, abruptly angled in to head towards the compound itself, their stealthed blades hissing as they cut through the cold night air.
They were almost on top of the wall when the radio crackled to life.
"Watch yourself, unknown helo," a hard voice warned. "This is Van Tallert Control. You've flown into an active combat zone. Identify yourselves or you'll be shot down."
"M'tada serving the Lilith Emma out of Antwerp," Ingrid answered. "Captain Ingrid Lash in command. Authorization code: LMT45 stroke 98, verify."
"Your code is verified, captain. What is your business with Lady Van Tallert? And be brief; we're currently under attack."
"Copy that, Control. We're looking to deliver Commander Ingamon Lash to your mistress to assist in the defense of her compound."
"Ingamon Lash?" the voice repeated a significant note of disbelief flavoring it. "The Wolf of Frankfurt? We heard your brother was still in North America."
"Not anymore," Lash said onto the open channel. "I was alerted to the attack on Lady Van Tallert. I am here to render assistance."
"Does that offer include your sister's M'tada, commander? We could use the additional firepower."
"Negative." Lash cocked his assault rifle, compliments of the lilith's armory, in readiness to jump into battle. His Shiva he kept out of sight for now. No use showing all the tricks he had at once.
"They're just giving me a ride out of courtesy."
"Understood. Have your pilot drop you in the outer courtyard. It is currently clear. Lady Van Tallert will meet you then and brief you on the situation."
"Acknowledged," Lash replied before looking over at Ingrid, who signaled the pilot to descend.
With the second helicopter staying in orbit to give them cover with its door-mounted mini-guns, the first swung down into the darkened courtyard, coming to a hover a couple feet off the ground.
"Keep your head down, big brother," Ingrid said in his ear before giving him a slap on the shoulder. "Signal when you're done here."
Lash flashed her a thumbs up then jumped out. As soon as his boots were on the ground the helicopter was pulling up and away with a growl of her muffled turbines, splashing downwash all over him before they were finally clear. By the time he was able to stand erect, he found several squads of well-armed nestari standing in front of him. And two slender vampire females, their figures somewhat muffled by heavy, advanced body armor.
"So," the one on the right said in a smooth, mellow contralto. "It's true. The Wolf of Frankfurt has come to Brussels. I had to see it with my own eyes before I would believe it."
Lash bowed with as much grace as he could muster with the sounds of small arms and rocket fire going off all around them. Considering the strength and confidence in the female's voice, she had to be Van Tallert.
"Your Ladyship. I am here to serve Ventru."
"As do we all," the second woman said, her voice younger yet smoldering with barely restrained emotions. "The cowards thought to catch us unprepared. We will demonstrate to them just how foolish they are."
"My daughter, Anna," the older vampiress said with a graceful gesture. "This vendetta against our clan has fired her blood."
"As it should any vampire that stands with Ventru," Anna quickly retorted before Lash could feel her eyes boring into him. "How many enemy throats have you ripped out since this insulting vendetta was launched against us, commander? Two? Three?"
"Including the Hands that tried to kill me at the airport in Frankfurt? Three, perhaps four ..."
"See, mother? This so-called 'wolf' is barely ..."
"Dozen," Lash firmly interrupted Anna to say. "Four dozen by my own hand in direct combat, since my return less than 24 hours ago." A slight exaggeration, but hopefully enough to silence the brash younger Van Tallert.
Anna stammered into stunned silence even as the nestari muttered in wonder behind her. Lady Van Tallert, on the other hand, chuckled drily.
"Your nickname is well-earned, commander," she said with a look over at her daughter. "Shall we put that combat prowess and bloodthirst to good use? The captain of my personal guard is preparing to mount a counterattack before the rest of the enemy armor comes into range. I'd like you to join them."
Again Lash bowed.
"It would be an honor, my lady," he said. "Just show me to him!"
A grim nestari also in advanced body armor was pouring over infrared images of the battlefield when Lash was ushered into the small guard post just inside the south gate. Looking over at the arrival, the soldier flipped up the visor protecting his face to give the bigger vampire a quick, appraising look before returning to the scans.
"Qos Viran, eh?" he asked without taking his eyes off the images. "I imagine you've done a few of these stealth strikes."
"One or two," Lash replied, leaning slightly closer to get a look at the images. With a fairly accurate view of the enemy's positions from the flyby on the way in, he quickly identified which unit the nestari officer was considering as a target.
"That's one or two more than any of my assets," the guard captain admitted quite candidly before handing the images to him. "Truk Vandergren, at your service."
Lash looked down at the gauntleted hand extended toward him, obviously meant as both greeting and introduction. It was also a very human gesture, something he learned during his time in North America. Odd that this vampire would be using it. Then he was pushing his suspicion aside to firmly take it.
"Ingamon Lash."
Truk gave his hand a good squeeze before letting it go.
"A pleasure to meet the Wolf of Frankfurt in the flesh. You're a legend amongst the Ventru nestari."
"Just doing what I can for clan and ..."
Lash hesitated there before finishing the formulaic saying. Mostly because it was 'For council', a very Qos Viran phrase. In consideration of the fact that someone on the Council of the Night had betrayed them and triggered the vendetta, it now felt ... disingenuous.
Truk must've picked up on the reason he hesitated because he just reached out and put an understanding hand on the big vampire's shoulder. Then he was turning away without making a comment.
"The Hand units coming from the south present the greatest risk," the nestari officer said instead, pulling out a hard copy map of the compound. "While we are hardened against even a tactical nuke, our primary power and water are controlled by a station close to the south wall." He paused to tap a cluster of buildings on the map before tapping the nearby wall.
"Here. An analysis of the Hand's attack pattern indicates that they are aware of this vulnerability. Over 75% of their on-site armor is rolling in from the south. With a concerted assault, they could bring this wall down. Then our generators and control systems are out in the open."
Lash frowned. The enemy was aware of a vulnerability in such a key system as power and water?
"I know what you're thinking," Truk didn't take long to acknowledge. "And we thought the same thing: we have a spy in our ranks. Unfortunately, we didn't have time enough to search for the leak; the Hand and their allies were already on top of us and all assets were needed on the walls by the time we realized we had been betrayed."
"It seems to be going around," Lash grimly noted.
"Agreed. Old allies have suddenly turned their backs, and Houses that have been aligned with our clan for centuries now turn a blind eye to the unprovoked attacks against Ventru assets across vampire-held territory. Or, even worse, work with the Hand to destroy us in the most bitter of treacheries."
Truk folded the map in quick, economical motions.
"Which is why you're the only one that will be knowing the complete counterattack plan. As a respected Ventru warrior who has himself suffered for our clan multiple times, your loyalty is without question. Sadly I cannot say the same for every one of my soldiers. Some took the oath as recently as two moons ago."
Lash found himself slowly nodding. While a part of him found it repulsive to keep details of an operation from the nestari who would be carrying it out, his Qos Viran training told him Truk's logic was solid. Compartmentalization may just keep them alive long enough to see the task done.
"Alright, let's keep this to you and me," the big vampire indicated. "What's the plan?"
As it turned out, Truk was a more than capable tactician. His plan, a simple circle around to the rear of the enemy company and set explosives to take out the tanks, was straightforward with no extracurricular nonsense. Exactly the kind of plan that Lash liked. As long as they executed the explosive placement without being caught, there was a high probability of successfully completing the operation.
Of course, the next question was: what about the humans? With the compound fairly close to Brussels, a fair-sized human city, the sound of the tanks firing alone should've brought local law enforcement out to take a look.
As he had with many of things he had witnessed or experienced since landing back in Europe, Truk's answer surprised the big vampire and left a vague feeling of uneasiness. For good reason: half expecting the humans to quickly marshal their own forces and storm into the hills overlooking the city to investigate once the first piece of Hand armor began firing, Van Tallert's forces quickly discovered that the humans weren't coming. Mostly due to the fact that somebody had filed a notification with their authorities over two weeks ago that a local construction company would be blasting in the hills as part of their work on a big project they had.
So, whoever had ordered the Hand to attack Van Tallert's compound knew they were going to do so almost a full week prior to the vendetta being announced. Which would've been a couple of days before Lash and his team had assisted Mordecai and the psionic nation of Avalon in defending the economic conference in Calgary, the site of the Brotherhood's Armageddon Project's endgame.
"They were going to declare vendetta anyway, and without cause," he growled after Truk confirmed the timeline. "A blind ambush against a venerated clan. It would've turned dozens of Houses against the council."
Truk threw him a querulous look. It was an odd response to him telling the veteran vampiric warrior about what the humans were doing.
"Not sure I follow," he said. "What does the vendetta against Ventru have to do with the humans?"
"Nothing," Lash immediately replied then hesitated. "I hope. The humans I worked with in North America seemed fairly unaware of Humanity's mutant children. Which is hard to believe, considering the level of technology they possess, even though less than our own, and in the distant past for the psionics, is more than sufficient to uncover our existence a thousand times over in the past few decades."
He waved his hand dismissively.
"Never mind them. They're prey. I was pondering the timeline you gave me and came to the realization that whoever launched the clan war, was intending to do so all along, even making preparations to strike against high profile Ventru targets before the council made the declaration official."
"Like the blasting permits for construction in the mountains covering for this attack on the Van Tallert family!" Truk said, his eyes flying wide in realization. "By the Dark Father!"
"Just so," Lash agreed, his voice filled with anger. "And I gave them the excuse they were looking for with my forced alliance with the psylord Mordecai in an effort to stop the Brotherhood in North America."
"An alliance with a ... psylord?" Truk repeated, stumbling over the unfamiliar word. Lash nodded before giving the stunned guard captain a quick explanation of what happened in North America and at the airport in Frankfurt to give the captain perspective on the situation. And, just as Lash had when he learned of the vendetta's launch, the grim officer seethed with righteous anger in the explanation's wake.
"Dark Father strike me down, you're right!" he declared, his expression grim. "Just enough material for the expert liars on the council to twist into a reason for the majority of the great Houses to strike at the Ventru, which somebody on the council hated, and the liliths, whom the council has feared for centuries. Ignoring, of course, that you and the liliths worked together to save all of vampire kind from the Brotherhood!"
"And in doing so, our enemy has upset the order that has kept the clans together for almost three thousand years," Lash darkly added. "If we survive this, I swear their blood will pool cold on the ground for all to see."
"And the master of this travesty I will personally stake to the ground for sunrise," Truk added his grim promise to Lash's. "You have my word as Ventru, I will."
"I believe you, captain," Lash said with a fierce nod. "Let's start here by destroying those tanks!"