One-up just can't find the staff these days (Part One)- Natalya

[purplegeekness]

Natalya stepped out of her car, the beautiful Mercedes McLaren joint effort. She was at the Halloween party, her debut on the LA scene. Already the chill, howsoever much of it existed in LA was settling in on the city preparing it for winter. Natalya chuckled to herself remembering the deep snows of her homeland, she'd never see it here in LA. She'd ostensibly been invited by Edge and this was her arrival onto the LA scene as it were. She knew for the most part she'd be met with scorn and distrust here, Anarch roots ran deeply in the city. If she were anytihng other than Tremere she ould be readily accepted, but her clan was enough to raise the glimmer of doubt and suspicion she'd need to overcome. She thought back to the conversation she'd had with Dragon, she would always be treated as a childe unless she did something to change his estimation of her. She needed something.....big. Something large enough he'd need to reevaluate his relationship with her. She'd read the files the Tremere had on LA. For having no official presence in the city, they had a great deal of information. It implied one or more of the Tremere Anarchs were still working for the Tremere in an information gathering capacity.

She kept her eyes open. She needed to mingle, needed to get people notice her and accept her as one of them. Her eyes scanned the myriads of kindred and kine present at the party. Some she could not approach with her idea, they were too fixed in the past. They would be resistant to what she had to offer, when what she had to offer was change. The music was a deafiningly loud thumpthumpthump of a baseline. The grass was barely trampled as she walked over to a nearby picnic table. The girl there was surrounded by her herd, a bunch of gang members all dressed in the bad side of town 50's gear. It looked rather impressive, all that black leather and chains. She recognised the face, Lisa Fairchild. A good person to know, but not really what she was looking for for her own plans. Natalya introduced herself and sat down opposite her. Their chat was social, Natalya came away with the impression that Lisa didn't know what to make of her, but was willing to grant the benefit of the doubt. She picked up little meaningful information, only confirming snippets of gossip she'd heard from Tera and the information network back at the chantry. She sauntered through the party, introducing herself to many of the Kindred in the city. Where they respected strength, she showed herself to be potent, where they respected intelligence, she showed herself to be shrewd. It was plain that there weren't many willing to totally accept her word. Her arrival cause stirrings of motion in the society. If only they knew, Natalya smiled ot herself as she walked elegantly throughout the park nodding politely to those she needed to. She was the Catalyst. A force for change in LA. Her plans would break old friendships, form new ones and upset this society.

As she walked she saw two of her potential recruits talking to one another. The male was tall and muscularly built. He looked to be similar in stature to a professional wrestler. His face showed years of experience in fighting. He had that confident stance of someone that knew how to handle themself. He was dressed in tight blue jeans and a white T-shirt. The leather jacket was slung over one shoulder as he talked to the girl. She was resting against a wall, dressed in a flowing cream skirt, topped with a white blouse. The letter jacket in red with a white "V" on it complemented the rest of her clothing and showed the subtlety of humour that she'd been told to expect. They would be good additions....assuming they agreed. Natalya approached them carefully from the side, waving a hand for their attention. She caught the girls eye first, the subtle nod of her head to her companion, brought his attention around to her.

"Hi there, my name is Natalya Shevchenko. I'm new in town, but don't let that fool you. I'm here to stay. I.....well, I have a proposition for you both. If you're interested."

Michelle Masters smiled, the corner of her lips turning into a sly smile. It wasn't entirely friendly, but not unfriendly either. She was interested, but more wary than anything else. The man, Sean Vanderbilt, actually showed genuine interest if the creases of his eyes were any indication of interest. Natalya walked forward to greet each with a hug. "I'm Sean Vanderbilt and this here is Michelle Masters. What you got in mind?"

Natalya smiled, a potential bite. "Ok, let me outline my plan. I'll give you the broad strokes, you can decide if you want to stay or go following my pitch." She moved closer so they could both hear. "Basically, I think this town needs a little shaking up. I want to form a new coterie. I've asked around and I know you two aren't currently in one, so I thought you might be interested in joining my little group. The thing is that there's so much opportunity in this town that people haven't exploited. Obviously, it's not going to happen overnight, I'm just here to see if you're interested in starting. My proposal is to focus on the single most abundant and untapped resource here in LA. The media. Films, books, TV, computer games, advertising. It's all here, all ripe for the taking. I propose to take it and control it with those who join our little endeavour."

She watched Sean and Michelle for a reaction. She could see Sean was thinking over it, while Michelle seemed a little less interested. She was curious, but not considering it as much as Sean. Natalya marked her down as a maybe, she probably had other offers or wouldn't hook up with a newbie. She took a mental note to investigate, she'd be curious to see who had finally managed to draw the womans attention. Sean ran his hands through his beard and moustache, before jerking his head. "Ok, you got me interested. Tell me more. Who you got lined up for this?"Michelle moved away from the wall, stepping towards Natalya. "Look kid, I'd love to stay and chat more about your proposal. I'm not saying yes, not saying no, but I got to bounce, arranging a fight tonight. Apeshit has the cojones to take on Zach. Hey, maybe I'll see you there." She left Natalya alone with Sean, leaving them both with a smile.

Natalya smiled, someday she'd regret this decision. Not for a few years, mind you. Natalya's attention turned to Sean, her smile turned more enthusiastic. "Do you mind if I call you Sean? Mr. VanDerBilt. I think that control of the media would make us a force to be reckoned with in LA. The media is everywhere. Think about the possibilities. Need some help to cover up a Masquerade breach? Who do you turn to? Us, for a favor, or resources or whatever we want. We could make friends the world over, Sean. We can put out more misinformation about Kindred than has ever been put out before. The influence is citical for our success. We can move, shape and form the media in any way we wish. Someone wants a bill pushed in the Senate to help his business...we can help with a call to a news agency. Some of the more impressionable hunters will grow up absorbing our media....what if the computer games in the world suddenly start saying that staking is useless, and only silver bullets will kill a vampire? Of course, resources are important, Sean, but if we look after the influence and power of the media, the money will come flowing in. You'll be important Sean, with your coterie behind you."

Sean let a small smile appear on his lips. Natalya caught it, knowing that the thought of being a part of this appealed to him. She wondered what it might be, the power, the influence, the money, the long leap out of nothing into being something. Whatever it was, he was definitely interested. She'd figure it out later, after she'd talked to him more. Sean's lips quirked. "So....who else do you have lined up and why did you pick me?"

Natalya smiled, moving to place her back against the wall Michelle rested against. "Well, I have a few others I know will join and a few good prospects lining up. You're the second person I've extended an official offer to. The first is Tera Levaux." Natalya noted he didn't seem too enthused by that "because of her connections to high society, her abilities with computers and resources in this area. I intend to get Vera Giovanni, this would be something she would be much more interested in than the Millionaires club. We need her resources and connections to finance. Tera's already been sounding her out on my behalf and she's ready to move from the millionaire's." she could see she was beginning to lose him "So with you we'd number four. I've been trying to meet with a few others, Duncan McMasters, Ember Kennedy" she paused as Sean laughed, but she'd reawakened some of his interest. "Ember? You must be out of your fucking mind." Natalya smirked "I assure you I am not. Every coterie needs to have a core of dangerous people, Sean. A coterie's strength is in it's members. I intend to lead this coterie, we need dangerous and capable people who know who to handle themselves. LA is a dangerous city. None of the other coteries will take us seriously unless we make sure they know if they push us, we push back. Ember and you are more suited to direct action than I am. I'm more suited to the subtle, indirect attack. Ember is unsubtle, but she has style and she kicked Whispers ass. She's looking to prove herself and I...and we need that enthusiasm and energy in our organisation. I'm also looking at MaryJane and her progeny, Chuck, and Cameran Corenza, all potentially good coterie members. There are others, but if I can get myself maybe 4 people from my list...we can start something good together, Sean. Besides you're on good terms with most of the coteries out there. I'm not intending to piss anyone off by starting this, I'm intending more to fill a void that no-one knew was there. Nonetheless, we'll need some more physically adept people."

Sean shook his head. "If you're serious about that shit, you need to go talk to Jack. I might be able to talk to Ember." Natalya blinked in surprise, while at the same time delighted that he was already thinking of this as a joint effort. "Jack Willis?! Are you serious?" Sean nodded "Deadly serious. That man is a fucking cyclone in a fight. He doesn't fight at Fight club to win, he doesn't care and doesn't want to be top dog. He fights there to cause pain. He's an ornery bastard, but if he stopped playing around he could fuck up most everyone there pretty badly. He's a fucking gangrel and doesn't use his claws. You need an attack dog, Jack Willis is your man. Him and no other. I mean that."

Natalya paused considering Sean's words. Jack hadn't even made her first cut. He, along with a select few others were put on the bin before she started considering who she might like. She watched Sean carefully. He had a reputation for being honest and she could tell from his eyes he wasn't lying here. "Ok, you've sold me. I'll ask Jack, but if he starts fucking around I'm going to have to put him down hard and fast and I'll do it so he'll never see it coming." She saw the nod and acceptance from Sean. Natalya smiled. "So unless there's anything else? Do we have a deal, Sean?"

Sean looked hesitant, there was something he wanted to say, but didn't. Natalya picked up on it instantly. "Come on, Sean, we can be friends. Don't feel shy. What else is on your mind?" Sean looked nervous he shifted from foot to foot. "Well, I was just thinking....well, what if we could broadcast Fight Club? We'd make a fortune." Natalya paused thinking for a minute "Hmmmm.....that's an interesting proposal. We couldn't broadcast it by cable. We'd need to make damn sure no Kine see it. I think we'd get a lot of customers from among our kind, even if a lot of people still go for the social scene. That's an excellent suggestion, Sean. You could be the presenter on scene. You know everyone there and you're very personable. It won't take too much to set it up either. We could start small, working our way up as we attain more resources. Sean...you're on to a winner. I'm glad you joined our little coterie."

Sean chuckled as he moved forward. "Not quite yet, Natalya, there is one thing I need to know." Natalya stopped, frowning at Sean "And what might that be?" She waited for a response "I need to know how honest you are. What you're like true and down to the fucking core. For that, we need to take a trip to Fight Club." Natalya smiled arching an eyebrow, she laughed loudly "Fight Club, are you sure? Very well, Sean. If I beat you, you agree to join. If you beat me....then I go away until I'm good enough to beat you and try again. Ever been with a virgin before?" She reached for his arm joining him at his side as they walked towards the entrance to the park. "This should be fun."