The Next Move (Invites Only)

[Queen Lori]

"Report."
Lori entered her throne room where repairs were currently being made on the side wall. This time she dressed in a mixture of violet and golden robes, the violet dominating the secondary color with of course the silver crown on her head as always. The vampire, human hybrid witch Sazan not far behind her as she walked over to her throne. Taking a peak at the repairs that was going on before sitting down in her throne and waiting for Sazan to go over the recent attack on the city.

[Sparda]

If Sazan was the Queen's right hand, and Arix her sword, Sparda was her ever-present shield. Whenever he wasn't by Her Majesty's side, he had one or more of his demon familiars watching over her from the darkness wherever she went. Today, the barely noticeable hum of static had followed the Queen as Sakhayl inhabited her shadow, ready to spring up and ravage any attacker who dared strike at her within her own home.

Sparda was in the throne room when they arrived, overseeing the final stage of the repairs. The moment Lori swept into the room, clad in a fetching violet and gold gown, a column of black mist rose from her shadow and crept across the chamber to Sparda's, Sakhayl rejoining its master. He turned to regard them, greeting Lori with a curt nod, and held his tongue while Sazan gave her report. No doubt she would ask afterwards for his own report regarding this repair job, which was nearing completion.

[Ayen]

"Report."

“The southern region of Hallowton was destroyed by the Nexus. Maricul and the freaks under the Hellsing organization managed to escort survivors to the mansion while their top agents went into the battle itself. Those who are now homeless because of the battle have placed up tents throughout the city, slowing down the flow of traffic and protesting against the wealthy.”

Sazan spared a glance towards Sparda before continuing. She was dreading finishing this report leading to Sparda's as the hybrid didn't want to be present for him to express his reaction of finding an evil incarnation of himself who instead of becoming a hero, turned into an even greater threat than the Prince of Darkness at the helm of the Demon World.

“The invasion itself was a ploy for a summoning, ergo the large demon we saw outside the castle. Unfortunately it gotten away but trust me, something that large won't be hard to spot.”

[Queen Lori]

"We were ill-prepared for this encounter," began Lori. "I understand that sending Joann to help with the resistance in Kari weakened our defenses, and that the battle would have had a different outcome had she been present, but we cannot allow our defense to be reliant on one or two key players."
Now they were even more vulnerable should the Netherrealm invasion break through Kari and attack the city, unless they could track down Raal and get him to repair the damage like he had so willingly done for Hallowton before.
"Call a meeting with Sir Integra, Mr. Harker, Mr. Himura and anyone else working in defense. I want to know what measures are being put into place to force back an attack on this scale in the future."
Lori waited for Sazan to respond before turning her head to the Dark Knight.
"Sparda, your report."

[Sparda]

With his back turned once again to Her Majesty and Sazan as he kept watch over the wall repairs, the workers being in the process of laying mortar to secure the final large bricks before the plastering and resurfacing began tomorrow, Sparda listened attentively to Sazan's concise report of the aftermath of their latest battle. By the time Lori focused her attention upon him and requested his report, he was ready to answer her and turned. The look on his face told half the story of the memories he was mulling over; a shifting, volatile mix of anger, steely determination and a deeper, almost primal fear that had not marred his countenance in centuries.

"With the help of a sizeable force of citizen volunteers, repairs across the city are ahead of schedule," he began. "Hellsing have their hands full dealing with displaced citizens who've taken shelter in their vicinity, but they're moving back to their homes with increasing frequency as rebuilding of the residential areas proceeds.

"We're due for the first shipment of Harker's promised equipment, turret emplacements for the city perimeter and personal-scale gear for testing by the Wild Geese, in the next few days. I'll be personally overseeing the rollout and testing of the turrets. As for our enemy..." He trailed off in spite of himself, a look of pointed disgust crossing his face. The thought that a version of himself had wrought this destruction, and would bring more to the continent as soon as he was ready, was an insult to the Dark Knight's reputation on the grossest possible scale.

"I've tracked him to the island off the south-east coast," he continued, inclining his head in the direction of the map on the wall. "The foot soldiers will be trivial to replenish, but finding new generals won't be an easy task after the blows Arix and Alucard dealt to them... He won't get away next time, though."

The devil's fists clenched and his aura flared angrily, even the humans able to feel his venomous ire. "I swear on my honour, I'll hunt that despicable bastard down and annihilate him myself the next time he dares show his face in this city."

[Ayen]

"We were ill-prepared for this encounter. I understand that sending Joann to help with the resistance in Kari weakened our defenses, and that the battle would have had a different outcome had she been present, but we cannot allow our defense to be reliant on one or two key players. Call a meeting with Sir Integra, Mr. Harker, Mr. Himura and anyone else working in defense. I want to know what measures are being put into place to force back an attack on this scale in the future."

“Yes, My Queen.”

Sazan turned around and departed the throne room to summon those people, leaving just in time to miss Sparda's mini explosion as he went into his report for the Queen.