[CB] Ala Rubra (Zamoreus)

Trust is something that is earned, but even then it's not something to be easily given. Who can say what evil lurks in the hearts of men? To what ends people would go to get what they want. Trusting anyone or anything can be a liability. The greater the man the greater the peril. And for someone like Zamoreus Nebulous such a thing was a problem. For a man on top of the world to trust no one is the same as being a man on edge. For everyone is beneath when you are at a pentacle of power and influence. But isn't that what being on top is all about? The most precarious perch one may take; to stand above all others and then look down. There are two things wrong with being on top; the first is that there you can only go down. And the second? Having to constantly prove yourself worthy of your place. It's a never ending battle, and not trusting anyone goes a long way. Still there are ways around that.

Mr Nebulous had began a long business flight on his private jet. Minutes after the plane took off it was filled with a potent sleep agent. In moments all but the pilots were rendered unconscious. Those controlling the plane had been bought and replaced. The jet diverted it's course and the air control wasn't the slightest bit concerned. This too had been taken care of. Rules and laws broken and not a soul blinked an eye. The redirected and landed in private Chinese airfield. One the jet stopped several men in black suits ran onto the plane. The prone body of Nebulous was ferried off the plane and loaded into a limousine. It was a quiet trip to a large building. Into the city they drove navigating the streets easily in the midday traffic. Finally the vehicle slowed and drew into a parking garage of a large office building. All the men in the black suits filed out car carrying the still sleeping Nebulous. The parking garage had no windows it was well, but with cameras, but it was doubtful that the security would be called on the strange procession of men and their burden. They entered the express elevator that connected into the building and ascended to the top floors.

30th floor

The group of burly men stopped before two large double doors. Softly one of the men knocked on the large doors as if they were made of glass and he was afraid of breaking them. Despite the gentle tapping a voice rang out from the other side.
"Yes?" came the obviously female voice.
"We have arrived with the package." the man spoke giving a slight bow even though the person inside couldn't see the gesture. There was a hiss as the doors parted and swung inwards.

Spoiler:

The men all bowed as the doors opened completely. The man behind the long desk smiled and nodded. The large men raised their heads and entered the office.
"Please sit him down on the couch." the man said gesturing at the long leather couch at the other side of the room. With a grunt the men lay the precious cargo down as gently as possible. The set the body in a sitting position leaning him back so that his head hung barely forward. "Please wake him." One of the men reached into his vest and pulled out a thin 6in needle. He jabbed thin object into the side of Nebulous' neck. A spark of light came from his hand and darted into the sleeping man's body. Removing the needle he placed it back into the pocket of his suit.

It was an awkward experience for him to wake up after such a long slumber as he had now been forced to endure, his entire body protesting against whatever means were used to make him conscious once more as it desperately wanted to sleep longer, having not been allowed such a rest for years. As usual however the pleas of his tired body were ignored by Zamoreus as his mind was more focused on just what the hell had happened, the sudden black out he had experienced on his plane followed by waking up in an unfamiliar office certainly not being an experience he was accustomed to and he was at a point of weakness that he was even less so prepared for.

During the unexpected slumber his hair had lost some of its usual stability and the style it was normally kept in had been partly lost, strands of hair falling over to cover parts of his face leaving him with a significantly less professional appearance then he would have under regular circumstances. Looking from side to side, eying his likely kidnappers, Zamoreus spotted the dressed up thugs that were the likely cronies of the man right in front of him behind the large desk. Finally having had enough of looking over his surroundings Zamoreus faced the one likely to be in charge, his bloodshot eyes glaring at him before getting his composure back. "I prefer being informed of meetings in advance."

The older man smiled in the face of Zamoreus' death stare. Any lesser man would no doubt be quivering in his boots. Even with the knowledge of what this guest was capable of there wasn't the slightest bit of worry.
"I know it's pointless to say, but; I mean you no harm. If that had been my wish you wouldn't have woken from your slumber at all. Unfortunatley I could not ask for this meeting openly. Truly I would have done so, but it was necessary that this meeting be of utmost secrecy." he said rather flatly the smile never fading from his face. He raised his hand and waved it limply and the men around the couch backed away from Zamoreus. "If I had tried to contact you through normal means it's quite likely you would have never gotten here alive." He closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. After a moment or two had passed he opened them again. "Let us start from the beginning, shall we?"

The man nodded to the woman and she raised a remote and pressed the button. The lighting in the room changed as the window that made up the third wall of the office showed now a picture of Zamoreus' building. The whole wall was in fact a large screen. The view of the outside was no doubt just a picture. Being such a cautious man the windows on the outside were probably just as fake.
"My name is Takayanagi, but who I am is of little consequence. What matters is what I know." as he spoke the image flickered to show a strange craft and several shadows dropping from it onto the building. "You'll recall the incident not too long ago. I too have suffered such a visit, luckily it was not there at the time." The pictured changed to a office structure on fire. There were several emergency vehicles trying to battle the blaze and carting bodies into ambulances. "Many lives were lost that day."

Much of the intense anger was dulled from Zamoreus' eyes after the quick explanation from the smiling man, it made sense that if he actually wanted him dead he'd have no doubt just killed him. He remained suspicious however as he knew more then well that there were far more things one could do to harm a person besides simply killing him, but this 'necessary secrecy' was something that also intrigued him and so despite the unknown nature of his hosts motives Zamoreus would still take the time to hear him out. Not that there was necessarily that much choice involved considering how little he knew of where he actually was or what kind of things might be used to keep him put.

There was another hint of anger flashing in the pale man's eyes as he was shown the imagery of his very private domain and the intruders that had dared to trespass in it, obviously showing that despite his attempts at displaying unmoving mental fortitude he was still outraged that anyone would dare hit him so close to home. Something that was not shown to anyone outside of his own mind however was how very close Zamoreus had been right there to reaching out and crushing his host and all of his employees right then and there as his first thought when seeing the images was that this was the man responsible for it, fortunately the rage was contained long enough for his host to explain that he too was a victim of these unknown assailants. A quick reply was given as the other man finished talking, although it seemed rather uncaring of the mention of casualties. "I assume you've learned something about who these people are, or is there some other reason you would demand this come to my attention?"

"What I learned came at great cost." The man sighed as if he'd just finished a mountainous task. His face looked drained and weary. "I lost my son......" his voice trialed off as if remembering something that he had long since forgotten. The woman at the desk coughed delicately to bring him back to the matter at hand. "But I gained focus, I used all the powers and connections that I had to dig into the shadow they had draped about them." The color came back into his cheeks as he spoke and stood and slammed his fist into the desk. The whole room shook from the strike and the wood splintered around his hand. A vase fell from a stand in the corner and a painting dropped from it's hook. "I will root them all out, I will have my vengeance, and I will see them all burn!" His lips curled into a snarl as he spat the last words out and the fire in his eyes was unmistakable. Surely whoever was the target of this man's fury would die screaming and experience a pain legendary, even in hell. The woman coughed again this time less delicately.

"Those I seek, or I shall I say, we seek?" he said eying his guest. "Are in fact closer than you think." He nodded to the woman and she pressed another button on the remote. The picture on the glass changed. Text and numbers flew across the large display rapidly. It was nearly impossible to follow all the characters as they danced into view and then ran away.
"Despite how hard anyone tries, there is always a trail to follow." He pointed at the screen's scrolling text. "Goods for money, it is the basis of all business. And you've been doing business with the men that made these horrible attacks." The text slowed to show shipping invoices, flight plans, stock trades with Nebulous on many of the pages. "Shell companies and fronts to work their way into any system like a virus. It would seem your corporation has been infected." The figures on the screen continued spinning like a slot machine. "Once they found out about your talents they saw you as more than just a patsy, but as a threat."

It was oddly comforting to see such zeal for the cause that the man before him simply shone with, the anger at the loss of someone so close proving to be a motivator that could certainly benefit their hunt, although it also meant that he might have to act more empathetic towards his host that he might have wanted in order to ensure that the rage was directed towards only their enemies and not anyone else. Noted also was the impact caused by the hand slamming into the table, it seemed very unlikely at this point that this was a mere man, but one more like himself. Strange how often he would encounter those of a spiritually attuned nature as of late, when compared to all the previous years of his life, but such is life.

What was more intriguing was the discovery that he had made regarding their attackers, once again proving how very inefficient it was to be constricted by the human factor and to find them nestled so deeply into his organization was quite disconcerting but mostly just plain frustrating as it is all because of him still being shackled to the need for human employees, such a handicap but most aggravating of all was that he had been played to such an extent that he could've even been considered a patsy, if this man didn't get to them first Zamoreus would make certain to make their end as slow and painful as ever possible. "Do we have any names?"

The man took the question as a sign that Zamoreus might be willing to work with them. Even if he would be unwilling to work with them directly there was some benefit in giving him this information. If he tried something by himself it was possible he might route some of the enemy. If he did nothing he might make a decent bait for another attack. Either way things worked out in Takayanagi favor. He nodded his head at his assistant and she once more pressed a button. The picture changed once again. I was a strange montage of several office buildings in many different places. A clear sky and a tall skyscraper, a short little four story office building, a huge grouping of cubicles in what looked like a warehouse. The pictures changed so quickly, but they never repeated.
"Who are they?" he said rhetorically. "It's almost like having paranoia; you think everyone is out to get you. The crazy thing is, that they are." He shook his head in disgust. "They are meticulous and they are patient." Takayanagi waved his hand and his assistant pressed the button causing the picture to vanish. The super screen returned to the window view. A blue crisp sky now made the room seem brighter changing the mood.
"They hid themselves so very well. Too well. They are a part of so many businesses and corporations. Much like you I have made dealings with them. A bank, security service, lawn care. Their seeds cast far and wide." He rubbed his temples and looked at Zamoreus. "It's only now that they've begun to move away from the shadows and take actions."

"Sa Gok" he said barely above a whisper almost if saying it aloud caused calamity. "We looked far and wide and then we found them." His fingers idly traced the broken section of the desk. "Over 1,000 years they've waited. It started as a political party, then it became an religion, even a cult. Their attempts to over throw the government failed, but they didn't give up. They incited wars among other things to bring about a new age and rule. This failure brought them into the light and they were almost destroyed. Almost." Takayanagi's finger flicked a piece of the broken wood into the air. The chip few high and then bounced off the wall. "What a genius plan, to infiltrate those you wish to destroy. But perhaps they waited too long. Their mission was all but forgotten by a select few. Even if they lack number they have resources and connections that stretch far and wide" He suddenly stood up and paced behind his desk. "The Katan group." he said after several moments of silence. "Of all our own resources they are the only ones we cannot penetrate. Any spy we send we lose contact with, all surveillance is quickly jammed or destroyed. It's baffling that such a group can exist. There is no doubt they are the Sa Gok's primary force."

Zamoreus would have begun laughing if it weren't for the circumstances, the enemy they both faced were like a real life illuminati? It was such an absurdity to him that this was a concept so foreign to him considering the fact that he daily saw ghosts. It didn't matter however, there was little reason for this man to lie about that even if there was of course little reason to blindly trust him but it did make some level of sense in a bizarre sort of way. An organization with such a lengthy history of remaining undetected would probably be one of the few things able to evade Zamoreus' attention. "So they're ancient, powerful and impossible to find intel on. Sounds like our work might be cut out for us. Do you have any solid info on them?"

Despite fully realizing the actual power behind an organization of this kind as well as knowing how large a factor experience could play in this game they called life could be, Zamoreus still couldn't help but maintain a certain level of annoyance over the fact that he only now learned of this fact. An order existing for thousands of years and only now, at his 29th year of existance and all the resources at his disposal and he has to learn about it from an old man, the utter disgrace of the whole ordeal was enough of a motive to utterly destroy this cult. "And what would be needed to make our first strike against them?"

"That is the hard part, my friend." Takayanagi said as the flopped back into his leather seat. The older man swiveled in his chair and then locked eyes with Zamoreous. "Despite how things may look I do consider myself a business man. Sure some of my practices may seem unethical, but I assure you I have a certain code of honor. I don't break the law, I merely bend them when the need arrives." The men standing around Zamoreous did their best to hide their grins at the man's words. Did the current situation of kidnapping the man on the couch fall under bending of the law? With the right logic one could justify anything. If you followed such a twisted way of thinking there was very little you couldn't do.

"You see most diabolical aspect of the Katan group is that they're closely tied to the government. It may be their base of operations, but for all intents and purposes it's only an office. Any aggression against them directly could result with both legal and political damage that would ruin most men. " The old man sighed. " I called them a virus, and they've indeed infected deep within the system. But it works out well for us as well. Since they have to maintain their look of innocence they have to use other means to rally their more physical aspects. Avoiding paper trails creates different trails." he tapped the desk with his fingers as if typing an invisible keyboard. "Money is being moved. Something is going on. What we have no clue, we can only watch and wait." Takayanagi nodded to the woman and she stood up from her chair. In her hand was a brown leather briefcase she crossed the room and laid it down next to Zamoreous and then returned to her seat. The old man motioned at the case. "Some interesting activities we've noticed. Sending a group might tip them off, we planned to launch a small scale assault before whatever they have planned comes to pass. You'd be perfect for it; you can travel anywhere and anywhere with little restrictions. Actually you do have a subsidiarity in that area. If you were to suddenly appear, there would be very few suspicions. My own men can accompany you, bodyguards if you will."

Zamoreus certainly wasn't all too convinced with the speech about working on the skirts of the law, not that he cared but it took a bit to keep himself from grinning like the men around him. It wasn't like he hadn't done similar things himself either nor was he surprised that this man had done it, especially considering how long he probably had been in this position so he couldn't help but feel amused over the fact that he saw it as necessary to try and sugarcoat that fact. Regardless it didn't matter as what came out of his continued talking was of far more interest.

It wasn't a big shock to find that these pests had managed to nestle their way into governments because the gap between supercorporations and governments weren't quite so big as society at large might hope. What was slightly more impressive however was the skills at tracking that this man displayed, he obviously either had quite substantial resources at his disposal or highly skilled personnel. Or both. Zamoreus' interest was also clearly piqued once more at the mention of his role in this, so he would have to be the supplier of force while his new 'partner' supplied the intel, not an arrangement he was entirely used to but it might work. "So you need me to get to one of these places and bring them some well-deserved retribution then? Can I trust that your men will hold up in this kind of fight? When last I met them they had quite the kit on them."

"Like I said you're less likely to arouse suspicion. But that doesn't mean you're completely safe. Thus why I offer my men." Takayanagi laughed at the man's comment. "I know what you're thinking; but I don't think they'll employ the same forces they used against your offices." the said as he twisted in his chair and bent down as he pulled a drawer open. A second later he emerged holding what looked like a dagger. Smooth silver with a black handle, the blade was 6 inches long. It was probably just a letter opener, but could pass as a weapon in a pinch.
"Those people weren't normal even by their standards." Takayanagi continued as he spun the small dagger in his hand. "From the reports I read they're a PMC, mercenaries. The only reason for them to use such measure might have had something to do with your security. State of the art from what little would could access." He stood up stabbed the blade into the wood in front of him. The dagger's point sunk easily into the desk. With a jerk he pulled it free. Takayanagi flipped the dagger twice into the air and then threw it directly at one of the men standing to Zamoreus' side. The shiny weapon danced end over end through the air until hit point first against the man. The blade hit, but didn't stick into the man's chest. Instead it fell to the ground harmlessly. The man's suit was cut from the impact, but there was no blood. "I assure you they are more than capable of keeping you safe." He said with a grin. The man he had aimed at bent down and picked up the dagger and returned it to the old man with a very courteous bow.

"They're not just strong, they're very loyal." He said softly. "I will have them treat you as they would treat me." All the men nodded and bowed to the old man who smiled even wider. "With you_" He was cut short by a beeping noise. The woman rose from her seat and quickly approached Takayanagi and whispered into his ear. "It would seem we will have to cut our meeting short. We must depart immediately. My guards will see you out of the building. I will contact you when I am able." The building suddenly shook. "It would seem they have found me, I'll depart a different way hopefully they'll give chase." The woman pressed against the wall beneath the phoenix emblem and a door slide open. Takayanagi ducked inside quickly "Good luck my friend. Do no lose that briefcase; many lives were lost in obtaining that intel." And then he was gone. The woman followed behind him and then the door slammed shut. Only the bodyguards remained.
"Mr Zamoreus, we must depart. Please this way." Said one of the man with a very thick accent. " He motioned him towards the door.