Confident in Charles' abilities, Quintus Fives and Gustavus Amehr were careful to not draw attention to themselves. They were fairly aware that the Moon Lake Skulk was alerted to their presence and position and out of loyalty to their leader, Akane no Tachibana, would provide some security measures around Moon Lake and the areas that Tom Herald frequented. They already knew of at least two present around the Stevens home when they made their first protest attempt against the reveal, and a couple of trips to Seattle to at least scout out Tom Herald's place of work had one on patrol around the building, and if Tom Herald left, that werefox often followed. In this they knew that the Moon Lake Skulk would be a major challenge, for while the two werewolf Luna Brotherhood agents were stronger, the werefoxes that were in the Skulk's security division were reported to have had top level martial arts training and the heads of the division supposedly even carried swords.
The only thing with them that Gustavus and Quintus could hope for was that many of the Skulk's members had questions and concerns over the vote. For while its head may have voted for it, likely because of the committing of their own security personnel to protecting Herald, if the rest of the Moon Lake Skulk openly protested the reveal idea, the Skulk's support would wane and die off. Particularly when one considered that large ones like the Moon Lake Skulk took on the properties of a major corporation or a feudal monarchy with "constitutional monarchy" considerations. The Skulk's leader and the den leaders wouldn't want to lose support for risk of losing that position, but neither Gustavus nor Quintus could know for sure on how well that would work and as such couldn't be too open or aggressive with their actions.
The other concern would be the police. Both Gustavus and Quintus were aware that the Moon Lake Police knew of their existence, as they had contacted Chief O'Hara over the hunt for Dymixious Drake before the FBI could track the werekomododragon down to Moon Lake. They had even be present for the final battle, which had gotten Quintus a bit jumpy as gun shots rang out and a few of Moon Lake's officers were injured by the vigilante rogue, but since Drake was killed and then turned over to the police and FBI for his actions in Seattle, that was ultimately swept under the rug. And if Tom Herald hadn't appeared with his present scheme, Quintus and Gustavus would have been on their way in making sure that rogue weres didn't commit crimes and expose weres as a result, with all the secret loopholes and connections to let them get away with it.
But Tom Herald had arrived and because of some friction between the two Luna Brotherhood agents and Chief O'Hara over the business with Dymixious Drake, Quintus and Gustavus also knew that they probably wouldn't get support from the Moon Lake PD if it ultimately came to killing Tom Herald. And while Gustavus and Quintus had managed to avoid real legal issues in the past, much of this had also depended on getting away from immediate contact and thus as he looked out at the Moon Lake Police station from the park across the street, thee was the recognition of the rivalry and suspicion that Chief O'Hara had had toward them.
"At least we know they can't outright arrest or hold us for long," Quintus whispered to his partner as he also looked at the building. For the moment things seemed quiet and with no major activity going on, but that could be because the day shift officers were already out and on duty. "As we've committed no real crime that they could hold us for."
"Perhaps... but it's pretty clear that O'Hara isn't going to do what is right," Gustavus grumbled and they walked away from the sidewalk and toward a nearby park bench that was to serve as something of a cover so that they weren't habitually tied to anyone area in Moon Lake while their mission to deal with Tom Herald's plan was ongoing, "and if he were... it would have been like the old days... Rogues like Herald would be almost immediately put down before they expose us to those that would do all weres harm."
"Maybe, but the world is changing," Quintus reminded him, "there are various things that normal humans have done in the past that they would find reprehensible today."
"Dealing with weres won't be one of them," Gustavus shot back to his partner, having some sense that Quintus was at times listening to certain points that Tom Herald had made when they directly tried to get him to be quiet, "and that's why we got Charles to help lead the protest efforts..."
Quintus nodded as the pair sat down on the park bench. There wasn't too much activity going on at the moment, but there were the odd handful that were walking along on the concrete paths that made their way through the park areas that made up the center of the town. They did have Charles to lead their public efforts to protest this planned reveal, but Quintus also knew as to where the mission was inevitably headed, killing Tom Herald and essentially making it clear that revealing the were secret was a strict "no-no" and that any violation of that was punishable by the fiercest measures, even if the town's government had forgotten that. This made a lot of Charles' efforts more of a distraction and there to keep Moon Lake on edge and would in turn give Quintus and Gustavus the opportunity to send their message. Though at the moment, the two couldn't know completely on just how well Charles was doing, as he'd have his own job to tend to.
For the moment, the two were mostly sitting down to pass time and avoid drawing attention, as it would also give Gustavus time to call their own superiors within the Luna Brotherhood without drawing too much suspicion. And for the moment, the park was empty enough that no one, not even any other weres that were also there would overhear the call. As such, Quintus looked around while Gustavus drew out his cellphone and dialed a number on it. Gustavus waited while it range twice before the call was answered and an almost mechanical voice answered.
"Yes?" came that response. The tone was low and in many ways sounded mechanical to Quintus, but some of that might have just been a distortion to make sure that things stayed secret.
"This is Amehr and Fives reporting in with a progress report," Gustavus spoke in.
"The pair with the squealing fox," was the answer, "what do you have? Tell me the security around this Herald has grown lax."
"Not really," Gustavus answered, "the Moon Lake Skulk continues to protect him while the Moon Lake PD simply protects the law and the decision made by their City Council."
Even Quintus heard the growl come through the phone.
"Though... we have managed to get some support that can openly protest and engage with the local police and authorities," Gustavus continued, "He says some things may be difficult to put together, but we should be able to get the opposition to rise among those who may have been lead astray by Herald... or at least present enough of a distraction that we can get around Herald's protection. For there are only so many werefoxes and compliant policemen."
"Would this proxy be smart enough to convince those that may support the reveal to recognize their errors?" the voice asked.
"Possibly," Gustavus answered, "but so far as we know... Moon Lake is fairly evenly divided on the present issue. In this, the momentum that those who favor the reveal have is that Tom Herald is from outside Moon Lake. If they go through with it... he's the only one they can use as there are no records that would tie him to Moon Lake by birth or where he grew up. Thus once he dies, his movement dies with him. In this our best chance would be to instigate chaos through our agent and the protestors with him."
"And the damage to Moon Lake from this?" the voice asked.
"Likely minimal," Gustavus answered, "though we will try to gauge the responses to things as they develop. See what the full response is to the protests and how well the city responds. For the moment, it may take a while to see what the response will be and when the actual move to kill Herald can be taken."
"Still be careful," the voice advised, "a little chaos may help you get this barking fox, but it is something that has the potential to expand into a civil war in Moon Lake... it could become something that would draw more attention, and that is something we don't want... For places like Moon Lake are critical to our survival and for the secret. If the support for this reveal is such that a war is triggered... we could have an accidental reveal come as a result."
"We will," Quintus spoke up, loud enough to be heard.
"And remember that with your plan for "chaos" that it will be quite possible that the local law enforcement could charge you with a crime if they connect you to said chaos," the voice reminded them, "and as such... to protect the Brotherhood... you may have be abandoned. In this, if you can get any influence with the city government in any way..."
"That may be difficult, as their Chief of Police wasn't exactly happy with our presence regarding Dymixious Drake and it's likely that Herald also reported our cease and desist order as a threat to the Moon Lake PD," Gustavus answered, "as we've already told you."
"Yes, but your report also says that that meeting was in Seattle and that you hadn't done anything that the Moon Lake PD could hold you on besides questioning and a warning not to cause trouble," the voice responded, "nothing more. You may have to be indirect with regard to the protests... but remember the Brotherhood's success has always been with playing within the halls of power, regardless of who it is."
Neither Gustavus nor Quintus said anything in response to that.
"And while Moon Lake may not give its mayor the executive authority to shut down this Tom Herald's idea... and their police can't just line up Herald's supporters for their beliefs, their influence to sway opinions is still there," the voice finished, "if the only way to end this quickly is through chaos... fine... but please due try all of your options. The less fighting we can have in the were community the better. It's bad enough the normals fight each other at an alarmingly high rate..."
With that the call cut out, indicating that who they had called had hung up.
"Could this still work?" Quintus asked.
"Perhaps," Gustavus answered, "we know that people are on edge and we might be able to use that to push that message home to the city government that Moon Lake doesn't want this reveal. That can then make any professional connections with their government more effective..."
"Might save Herald's life if the city agrees," Quintus commented.
"Assuming the city falls in line," Gustavus grumbled, "and Herald follows the city's orders. But after convincing them to go through with this scheme... and not being some sort of fuddy-duddy that just wants to be transformed all the time... some of that will be difficult to say."
"So how do you want to do this?" Quintus asked.
"I'll call Charles, see what his progress is and see how many he can convince to show up and protest outside the meeting room and City Hall," Gustavus said slowly, "you may have to go in and deal with the police... assure them that we meant no "real" harm to Tom Herald and remind them that we'd committed no crime. Maybe we'll get lucky and O'Hara's following the law will come back to bite him."