Prologue
We retired with the Furores to one of their safe houses, it was too late to return to Milwaukee anyway. We spent the remainder of the night talking, planning. The Furores were going to leave the city, there was no way they could take on Jackson and his court. As for us, we were going to return to Milwaukee, we felt we were in a position to negotiate, or at least find common grounds with as little bloodshed as possible.
Preparations were being made, we would leave at nightfall the next day... no point in hanging around, Chicago was lost to us, for now.
The mood was pretty tense in the truck as we left Chicago, Wrecker & Turk were unusually silent. I could feel the rage bubbling beneath my skin, from my lower neck all the way to my fingertips... I think they felt it too and that's why they kept their mouths shut... they didn't want to risk pissing the beast off. I even had to turn the radio off, it's never a good idea to get the blood pumping when you can cut tension with a knife.
We drove along highway 41 for a time, hoping to reach the 94 and go straight home to begin preparations. We were in the no man's land near North Mill Creek when an armored truck swerved from incoming traffic to ram into us full speed. Our vehicle went crashing into the roadside, the last thing I remember before the beast took over was Turk jumping off the side of the car just in time.
I dug deep into my shoulder to rip out a bullet that had remained lodged into my flesh, the pain was sharp, and my rage was barely contained. We had been betrayed from within; Turk, that fucking turncoat had sold us out to Decker. The Prince had sent out his Anubi in full force... lucky for us, we also had a man on the inside; we had sent one of our Chameleons to infiltrate the Anubi years ago, and it seems that move had finally paid off. Had our mole not sabotaged the attack, we'd all be dead... too bad he didn't survive. Oh well.
I remember looking around and realizing that of the entire Anarch convoy, only few of us had survived. Wrecker, my closest ally, was dead. I had beaten Turk to a bloody pulp, his torpored body laid at my feet. Those of us who remained hijacked the Anubi's armored truck and made the rest of the journey to Milwaukee with vengeance in our cold dead hearts.
I couldn't hide my surprise when we returned to Milwaukee, expecting to find the Prince and his court bracing for our return, only to find the city in complete Chaos. After making a few calls, we met with Viktor Henschke of the now splintered Clan Tremere. According to his report, Decker had been betrayed from within by Sabbat infiltrators who had taken advantage of the fact that the Anubi had been sent out to launch a full scale raid on the city's kindred. Elysium was raided and set ablaze.
The attack left many dead. With both the Anarch and the Camarilla's numbers crippled, and with Decker now gone into hiding, it seemed our plans for revenge would have to remain on hold... for now.
We spent the following months rebuilding what was lost; Finding new safe houses & new havens, covering our tracks, embracing some new blood, and most importantly, finding new allies.
The first to join our ranks were the Tremere of the newly established House Ipsissimus, led locally by Viktor Henschke. The renegade Warlocks were quick to liquidate Carna's former chantry and take its secrets for themselves.
Then came Caliban and his brood of Gargoyles from London, sent here to aid us by our friends the Furores after they were refused entry into the Chicago domain. With their help we claimed the Chinatown district as our own, and established it as our own base of operations right under the Prince's nose.
The most unexpected allies came to us in the form of the Nosferatu twins Raul and Kristian. The twins revealed a great many things to us; their sire, Parovich, had been the Sabbat mole all along, as were they. But many members of the Sabbat had grown displeased with their sect in recent years. Refusing to follow their elders into the middle east, and to fight for a cause they now considered pointless, the twins offered us information, as well as their support, in exchange for admission into our ranks, and protection should we be victorious.
We all had our doubts, but it was an offer we could not refuse.
With our ranks swelling with new allies and new embraces, we prepared for war. Decker drew first blood, and for that, we are going to make Milwaukee an Anarch Free State.
