[center][img] https://i.vgy.me/1SeQ0w.png[/img]

IN

[b][u][h1]Chapter 1: The Falling Pieces[/h1][/u]

Location:[/b] Unknown building, somewhere in Crown Ridge[/center]

[hr]
Weeks passed since The Hounds of Humanity lost their battle to the superheroes of Lost Haven, and the Eye of Osiris was busy. The sudden influx of recruits from the former organization that were mostly scattered in most of Lost Haven and Crown Ridge were rounded up and were either drafted into the fold or ‘purged’ at the whim of Dullahan. The faithful already in the Eye before the influx were consolidating their positions in the two cities that were left because of both the gang war between the Yakuza and Triads plus the Hounds. In each case, the use of the Penose in Lost Haven and the Haitians in Crown Ridge made keeping the secrecy of the organization easier in the long run.

In Crown Ridge, Dullahan and a few of the key figures in the Eye were in a separate room. Altogether, there was him, his bodyguard Sobek, the spear-wielding man and the axe-wielding man standing around a table with a fifth person lurking near the ominous leader. “Right now,” Sobek spoke, keeping his eyes on the table that had the map of Maine and smaller maps of both the city of Lost Haven and Crown Ridge. “We have the base facilities for the import of our needed equipment set up in the Chinatown edge of Lost Haven, so we can get the specialized gear from our main warehouse across the Atlantic. As for the facilities here, we are mostly using them to keep stock of Eye personnel and military gear. That plus the warehouse on the edge of town allows for the drugs that will be coming in from the Netherlands and Haiti could be supplied throughout North America. Funds from previous endeavours allow for the goods to leave the city easier. The city’s no capes policy, although will be circumvented by local heroes such as Lyger, will make things easier as well.”

“But what about the big heroes like Lyger?” The spear-wielding man spoke up. “Small heroes could be easily deterred by the No Capes policy in the city, but heroes that stopped D-Day and Pax Metahuman will certainly cause problems down the line.”

“But you forget that in the process of setting up shop that some of our high-tech gear used to obtain those facilities will be there,” replied the axe-wielding man. “While the turrets and the gear we used was only specific to target the gangs and Hounds, they will be targeting both human and superhuman invaders when we finally set up everything.”

Sobek looks up at the two men. “Sekhmet’s right, Montu. The gear we have already is getting changed over as we speak in terms of the programming so that it will target heroes like Lyger and with them being high-tech, any of the known instruments used by Lyger himself will have reduced effectiveness against them. Trust me… He won’t be much of an issue and things being low-key will not warrant the attention to Iron Knight and Icon.”

[color=630f0f]” And of the location of our missing item?”[/color] Everyone bar the lurking figure turned towards their leader as he spoke for the first time during the meeting. [color=630f0f]”Is there any progress?”[/color]

Sobek’s face turned sombre as he shook his head. “Anhur reports in that since locating the woman in question weeks ago, she had gone underground and with…”

Dullahan’s fist curled into a fist on the table as the red eyes of his helmet turned bloodier in colour. Both Montu and Sekhmet silently gulped in trepidation. Sobek was the only one unmoved by the sudden threatening posture from the leader. [color=630f0f]”Get Anhur on a line… NOW!”[/color]
[hr]
[center][b][u]Location: An unknown warehouse, Chinatown, Lost Haven[/u][/b][/center]

The Penose were hard at work. Since the warehouse facilities on dockside Chinatown were obtained, shipments from worldwide came in and were running like clockwork. While some of the cargo was for legitimate uses such as imported food and textiles, some of the Penose product was also important and were prepared to be distributed. Overwatching it all, Anhur leaned against the railing on the upper floor of the warehouse. “Everything seems to be going along smoothly,” the man with the skull-face tattoo muttered to himself. “Just wish that Pasadena bitch would be found.” He had spent the past few weeks getting the network of Penose to locate the woman in question, who he knew as Kayla. That was the only information he had, despite the accurate description of her looks and the rough area of where she lived.

The closest he got to get to her was a college student who wanted the money for blow. He had managed to find her. And how did that turn out? An arrest and interrogation from a bow-wielding vigilante that came to be known as Fletch. Since word got out from what happened that night, not only had the woman disappeared, but no one followed up on obtaining the bounty he placed on her. And the fruitless endeavour was the reason why Dirk, the tall-blond Dutchman that led most of the Penose in the reclamation of the warehouses, was by his side with a phone in his hand. Reaching for the offered phone, Anhur pressed it to his ear. “Can I help you?”

“It’s Sobek. How goes preparations in Lost Haven? Any news about the girl?”

Anhur sighed, left hand raised to the bridge of his nose. “Things have been proceeding as scheduled. More of our turrets and ground-based attack drones have arrived and being distributed to the warehouses in Lost Haven as we speak. Once the next shipment arrives, they will be shipped to Crown Ridge. As for the girl…” He sighed. He had an idea that Dullahan was on speaker too to hear everything. “… Still, no signs. She seems to have slipped the…”

[color=630f0f]”Find her.”[/color]

Anhur shivered at the sound of Dullahan’s voice over the phone. “I’m trying, sir. But no one is taking up on the bounty that has been placed. Not while a vigilante with a bow is going after them.”

[color=630f0f]” I don’t care how you do it… Raise the bounty on finding her… Allow people wanting it to use our weapons… I don’t care… Just get it done, Anhur. You know what’ll happen if you disappoint me again…”[/color]

Then, Anhur was left in silence as the phone was hung up, with Dirk behind him wondering on the conversation.
[hr]
[center][b][u]Location: Unknown building, somewhere in Crown Ridge[/u][/b][/center]

With the phone to Anhur hung up, Dullahan sighs. [color=630f0f]” Now that matter has been dealt with, what about our other sources? Have they narrowed the search?”[/color]

Sobek perks up a little. “While we haven’t had much progress with finding the girl, our network has sensed that the search area is on the western side of the US. We’re still narrowing down as we speak, though anything from Anhur will help significantly.”

Dullahan sighs. [color=630f0f]”Very good. Keep your eyes on that. As for what to do, Sekhmet will head to Lost Haven and help with keeping our men in line. He would also help Anhur with his search for this… Kayla. Dismissed.”[/color]
[hr]
[center][b][u]Location: An unknown warehouse, Chinatown, Lost Haven[/u][/b][/center]

With the monotonous tone of the call ending, Anhur paused there in silence. On the one hand, everything was going smoothly with bringing the Eye’s equipment and product through that it would make the upcoming operation smoother to run for Dullahan. On the other, the smooth operation going on now meant jack shit if the girl was not located. The skull-faced man knew that without her, the critical item for the operation would not be found and scupper everything. And the last thought, tied in with the vigilante archer, pissed him off.

The skull-faced man threw the phone onto the floor below, yelling in anger that surprised Dirk. Then, Anhur turned to the Dutchman, his golden eyes swirling with hatred. “Get… the word out to every motherfucker in the city!” he bellowed, the Dutchman cowering with the overwhelming fear he was facing. “I am tripling the bounty on the bitch’s head for her to be brought to me alive. I’m also putting a $2 million bounty on the archer’s head to be brought to me on a fucking platter!”

While he was on a role, he thought about the hotbed of heroes that were present in the city. He thought about the thousands of poor people and criminals in the city that were in desperate need of the cash. [i]If the operation were to run smoother than it already is, might as well remove a few more obstacles out of our way.[/i] The thought made Anhur smirk maniacally. It was for this reason that Dullahan had put him in charge of the operations in Lost Haven. “And while we are at it, send the word out to every poor soul and low-life thug that is out there. I am putting a $500k reward for each hero’s head. If they need the gear to do so, they get it through our suppliers.”

Dirk stood there, still frozen with fear.

“WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? GO!”
[hr]
[center][b][u]Location: Unknown building, somewhere in Crown Ridge[/u][/b][/center]

With the three men gone, only Dullahan and the lone figure remained in the planning room. The Eye leader paused for a moment, pondering on something. [color=630f0f]” For now, keep a close eye on your phone for any new orders from me. In the meantime, you carry on with whatever contracts you have open. Is that understood, Anput?”[/color]

The lurking figure stood up. Moving into the light, [url=https://i.pinimg.com/originals/4c/da/e7/4cdae7aa0d65b112dabff7a0754938f1.jpg]the figure wore a full military gear, hooded and mask covering any features that would identify what gender they were.[/url] Through the purple lenses of the goggles, they looked at Dullahan. [color=733d04]”Understood.”[/color] Then, as if by an unknown ability, the assassin disappears from the room. 

Dullahan remained in his chair. While he sounded menacing to their comrade in Lost Haven, he knew that the words he said were to only fire up Anhur to getting things into motion. After all, a city of heroes is hard to cause chaos from the get-go. Weeks are needed before his plan could finally go into action and the better prepared they were for the operation, the smoother things will run, and the probability of success will increase. Then, much like the moment with the Hound recruitment, Dullahan smirks under his helmet.

[color=630f0f]”Everything is now falling into place.”[/color]