Explosive Beginning

Explosive Beginning
Quest-giver:	Mercurio
Location:	Santa Monica
Reward:	8-9 EXP
Type:	Main Quest
Prerequisite:	Surf's Up
Next quest:	Elizabethan Rendezvous

Explosive Beginning is a quest available in Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines.

Walkthrough

Brief

1. Go to The Asylum.
2. Speak with Therese.
3. Complete the quest The Ghost Haunts at Midnight.
4. Complete the quest Slashterpiece.
5. Complete the quest Bad Blood.
6. Complete the quest Sibling Rivalry.
7. Meet Bertram Tung in the SunCo Gasoline station.
8. Infiltrate the Sabbat warehouse.
9. Plant the astrolite on the second floor.
10. Take a taxi Downtown. (unless playing a Nosferatu, in which case, you must use the map of Los Angles to travel.)
11. Speak with LaCroix in Venture Tower.
12. Quest complete.

Detailed

Now that the sisters' rivalry is over, word will be out that Voerman has swept her grievances with Bertram Tung under the rug. He is now available to speak with, in the SunCo Gasoline station down the street from the Surfside Diner. Talk to him, and he will get the fledgling inside the warehouse.

Once inside, kill no one for an experience bonus. The player will most likely need to utilize their Obfuscate Discipline, should they have it. Move the board off the wall to uncover an opening, kill the bum outside with a Humanity Loss, then go to the back yard for some shotgun ammo.

From then on, there are three ways into the main building:

1. Go through the main entrance which is heavily guarded.
2. Go to the train, climb the ladder and climb through the vent.
3. Go all the way around through the back door.

The easiest path would be to go past the train carriages, and kill the two thugs there. To the left, between some carriages, is a lockpick. Continue past the carriages until the fledgling reaches a train engine in a bunker. Sneak attack the thug there, take the silver ring, then open the vent to reach the inner warehouse. Either stealthily move aboard the rafters into the offices, or drop down to kill everyone in the room.

Go back down the ladder and start moving through the carriages. Kill the lone thug, and the two that will spawn. In a nearby carriage is .38 ammo. Open the door and enter another area with a carriage in the middle. Be aware that there is a guard on the stairs. Continue forward.

Kill the two enemies. Lockpick the storage for shotgun and .38 ammo. Lockpick the back-door of the warehouse. Upon entering, there will be many enemies waiting, regardless of how many were killed prior. Go up the stairs leading to the offices. Kill everyone, grab all the ammo, and arm the explosives near the desk in the second room.

Once the astrolite is primed and ready, a countdown will begin. Leave quickly; if the fledgling was noticed on their way in, a Sabbat vampire will attack. Recommended to use Bloodbuff and any other defensive Disciplines. Once he is dead, along with the second Sabbat who will attack after the battle, reach the train station. The warehouse will then explode, heralding the arrival of Beckett, a Noddist historian.

If you place the astrolite without anyone noticing you and without feeding on anyone, you get an extra 2 XP.

Once done with speaking to him, the fledgling will be transported back to Bertram, opening the option to question him about various variables of vampire society. Once done, a taxi will be waiting outside The Asylum. Take it downtown, and enter the Venture Tower. If playing a Nosferatu, Betram will give you the Sewer Works Maunal, which you use on maps of L.A. to travel. Speak with Chunk — or his identical twin brother if Chunk is killed during the Slashterpiece quest — to access the elevator in the lobby. Head to the penthouse level. There, inform LaCroix the warehouse has been destroyed to complete the quest.

Note: Double-crossing Mercurio by telling LaCroix he failed, will result in Mercurio disappearing for the remainder of the game. This includes later on, when he opens a shop in his apartment and on the Santa Monica beach.

LaCroix will then give you the Elizabethan Rendezvous quest.

Quest Log

Log Entry
Update: Upon receiving quest (Mercurio alive): Mercurio has told you about a warehouse being used by the Sabbat that must be infiltrated and destroyed. The problem is that Bertram Tung, the only person who might be able to get you in, is in hiding because of a feud with Therese Voerman, the owner of The Asylum. To get to Tung, you'll have to find some way to call off the feud.
Update: Upon receiving the quest (Mercurio dead): From reading Mercurio's journal, you learned about a warehouse being used by the Sabbat that must be infiltrated and destroyed. The only problem is that Bertram Tung, the only person who might be able to get you in, is in hiding because of a feud with Therese Voerman, the owner of The Asylum. To get to Tung, you'll have to find some way to call off the feud.
Update: Upon completing Sibling Rivalry: The feud has been called off. Tung is hiding in an oil tank not far from The Asylum. You must meet with him and get him to show you a way into the warehouse so that the explosives can be set.
Update: After speaking with Tung: You have located Bertram Tung. Your next step is to blow up the warehouse. And plant the Astrolite without being detected or killing everyone if possible.
Update: After destroying the warehouse: The warehouse mostly lies at the bottom of the Pacific, with a few pieces neatly lodged in a lawn in Pasadena. Report to Prince LaCroix at the Venture Tower downtown.
Update: Upon completion: Quest Complete

Items

• .38 ammo
• Shotgun ammo
• Lockpick
• Silver Ring

Notes

• If your character is a Gangrel, the fledgling has the option to ask Beckett to teach them how to change into a wolf, as he does. However, unlike the extra point in Brawl the fledgling can learn via Nines Rodriguez later in the game, Beckett will explain that Protean is a Discipline and comes from blood, not from training.
• If your character is a Nosferatu, the guard at the desk in the Venture Tower will be terrified when he sees your appearance, and bar you entry. You won't be able to use the standard elevator, but there's one in the basement. To get there, you'll either have to come up through the sewers, or have a lockpick skill of 10+ to get through the door leading downstairs.
• Upon arrival, the player will be attacked by a group of Sabbat; this cannot be avoided and the player can't defend against it (another character comes to the rescue). During the sequence one of the attackers breaks the fourth wall and directly addresses the audience, warning that the next few minutes might get messy.