Welcome to Gaia! ::

Will walked into the armory to find both Ricardo and Marcus waiting for him, several boxes and crates either on the table before them or at their feet. Coming up to the table, the Hunter leader leaned up against it with a big grin on his face. "Alright guys, I'm here. Time to make me giddy as a schoolboy with psychotic glee. Show me my new toys."

Ricardo answered with his own lightly unhinged grin while Marcus just rolled his eyes. "Sure thing boss! Just wait 'til you get a load of the goody bag I've made for you!"

Moving to one of the boxes, the gunsmith flipped open the lid to reveal a pair of nickel-plated CZ-75 semi-automatic pistols, one with the inscription of "Truth" on the barrel and the other with "Mercy" adorning it. "Custom job CZ-75's. Good, reliable handgun with plenty of stopping power, a decent magazine, good accuracy, and not too much recoil. I modified the reciever and the clips, so that they'll hold fourteen bullets easily, fifteen if you're willing to push it and increase the chances of jamming. I also increased the rate of fire, so that you can easily get off three aimed rounds within two to four seconds. The perfect weapon when you need to be shooting during acrobatics and thelike, can't brace properly, or get into a prolonged firefight. Now, take a look at what I whipped up for pure stopping power."

The next two weapons were, simply put, hand cannons. They had to weigh nearly seven pounds each and were painted as black as night. Oddly, what looked like shock absorbers had been added to the grip and ran to a padded cuff that looked like it went around a persons forearm right below the elbow. White lettering proclaimed these two guns to be "Testament" and "Fury". "Now these babies make me proud boss. I took the 13mm Casull pistol, and amped it up. These monsters fire a 15mm round, capable of tearing through SWAT armor like it was wet paper. Now this means that ammo takes up a lot of room so you can only fit five rounds in a clip, and due to the sheer power of the bullet leaving the barrel acurracy is worth s**t past twenty yards. But if you hit something with one of these bad boys, then no way in hell are they getting back up again. These rods are designed to absorb the shock of the recoil and distribute it evenly through your arms; without them you'd probably break your wrist from the recoil as well as making it far too inacurrate. Also since the round is so large, more specialty types of ammunition can be made for this weapon, such as incinderaries. Now, one last present."

Ricardo now rolled a cloth bundle ont the table, unraveling it to reveal a bandolieer of nearly twenty grenades of various types. "We've got everything from your standard frags and flash bangs to Willie Pete and smoke. Even have a couple of the specialized grenades we've had in development, like the Antiochs and the Screamers. With all this plus ammo for your new guns, you'll be like an army unto yourself. Damn boss! I just know that you're going to cause some serious carnage very soon! Wish I could see it."

Laughing internally at Ricardo's put out expression, Will gathered his weapons and turned to Marcus. The smith just shrugged before handing him a new harness for his gear. "You've still got the Hellbringer, Will. Nothing I can make that can top that. You'll be fine. You always are, with or withou shiny new gadjets."

Heartened by the man's faith in him, Will nodded before gathering his new gear and returning to his room.


((exit to Jackson's))

Passing Ricardo and Marcus without a second glance, Will gestured Krii'Ouse ahead of him into the shooting range. As soon as they were both inside, Will shut the bulletproof plexiglass door and activated the passcode lock. As soon as the room was locked down, he then disconnected the firing range intercom and drew blinds down over the control room windows, ensuring their privacy. Finally satisfied with their security, Will turned to Krii'Ouse with a grim frown on his face. "Alright Krii'Ouse, we're alone and secured. What's the situation?"

Will sighed and leaned up against the wall, his shoulders slumped. "I know, brother, I know. Hell, even I'm restless. Hiding here in Haven, our tails tucked between our legs... It's not living. Hell, it's almost like sending an invitation to the other races to come kick our asses."

Standing up fully, the increasingly agitated Hunter began pacing furiously. "But at the same time, we're too few in number to defeat the vamps without a plan. And that's what I've been trying to come up with. But I've got nothing except half thought out ideas and weak strategies."

He paused in his pacing, back turned to his closest friend in the world and his voice incredibly weary. "I feel trapped, Sethe. You know that I never wanted to be a leader, that this job was thrust on me. But still, I've tried to do the best that I could; however it's so hard. I think that Robert E. Lee put it best. 'There is a great trap to soldiering. To be a good soldier, you must love the army. To be a good commander, you must be willing to order the death of the thing you love.' I love the Hunters like each of them were my family, Sethe. But as a commander, I need to willingly send them into danger, send some of them to their deaths. Hell, I've been forced to kill a couple of them myself to keep the others safe. And every time, another little piece of me dies and I grow increasingly fearful that I'll look into the mirror and I'll realize that it's not me looking back anymore. The only thing I have is the knowledge that through my efforts, I can keep them safe."

Another sigh, then Will turned around to face Krii'Ouse again, his eyes hard, cold, and lifeless. "Lord damn it all straight to hell. Damned if I do and damned if I don't, eh? Well, then let us err on the side of determination. Krii'Ouse. Lift the red alert, get our people out there and hunting again before our city is overrun by the bloody leeches. Make sure they stay in groups though and maintain an open line of communications with Haven. The vampires want a war, and God help me but we'll give them one."

Stalking angrily out of the room, Will paused and looked back at his friend and second in command, a slightly twisted grin on his face as he recited a line of Shakephere. "'And now, cry havoc and let loose the dogs of war.'"

And then he was though the door, waiting for the other Hunter to follow.

Will smiled wickedly. No matter how much he wanted some measure of peace for the hunters, no matter how much he'd mellowed out, this was who he was. A fighter, a warrior, a soldier against the encroaching darkness. And Krii'Ouse, more than anyone else even Lydia, knew this and understood it. "Back to the office, Sethe. I'll lift the alert, you start organizing some hunting groups."

James walked in, and asked for a bulletproof vest and ten clips of ammo. He then ask to get his sword and axe sharpened."This should give me some time." He said to himself.

Reggie stepped into the armory walking past the other hunters, they appeared to be leaving probably off to training but he couldn't be bothered with that now.

He wanted to see what kind of weapons they had here in New York. He was sure they would be different than the weapons his father use to make and since he traveled to New York to test out his own weapons looking at what New York had to offer wouldn't be a bad idea.

"Hello? Is there anyone here I can talk to?" he said walking up to the counter.
As he waited he thought to himself how he should get a fire arm, in case fighting close contact is too dangerous. A Jericho pistol caught his eye. He remembers when his father modified one to hold silver bullets that scattered on contact. It brought back memories and he wanted to see if he could modify one himself.

walks in to the weapons room. looks around for a ak47.gets disopointed. walks out with head held down.

"well i'm bored. think i'll go for a walk around the city." GHOST said as he picked up his brief case and left the shooting range. "first i'll put this in a safe place."


[exit to haven-garage]