The seventy two jets swirled through s.p.a.ce, rushing as fast as they could so as to take the enemy by surprise. When they were seven hundred meters from the enemy, they started shooting, taking out two thirds of their targets. The remaining one-third went head-on towards the Regnum fighters, who dodged, swerved and counterattacked. Bill, himself a new squadron leader, had trouble keeping up with the older ones but he had some moves of his own. An enemy fighter began to tail him. This was exactly what the young pilot wanted. He veered off through all the laser beams and flying debris, towards those ships which were still intact. In one sharp turn upward, he led the ship on his tail into a collision course with another enemy fighter. This was where the fun was; the excitement of not knowing what would happen next and staying in the moment. If one faltered in this technique, they would fall to their doom. "Watch out!" his wing-man, James Lyndon said. He shot at the ship that was about to ram into Bill. "These guys have turned into kamikazes!"

"Well, we can't have that, not on my watch!" Bill steered and shot. He fled to the right, then to the left, confusing his enemies. He hit about thirteen of them. "Make a circle around them," he commanded to all the leaders and wingmen and fighters, "Now!" He knew for sure that they were winning and would defeat them. They maneuvered themselves and created a surrounding circular formation around the few enemy fighters that remained.

The enemy kept shooting and ramming into some of the Regnum fighters.

"Evade the b.l.o.o.d.y kamikazes. I want all those in the attack modes, defended by three ships from behind. We can't afford to lose any more!" As he said this, an enemy fighter clipped his right wing, tearing it apart.

"Watch-"

But it was too late. The attack had been followed through. Bill was able to tilt his fighter to the left, just in the nick of time, a hairbreadth away from his enemy, who was going to smash into him from the front. But fire sputtered out from his right wing, and he started spinning out of control- Everything froze.

Daniel squinted at the ship that had just landed. He wore a wind-cheater as the weather became even colder and extremely rainy. He commanded the watchtower soldiers to activate the gla.s.s bubble. In an instant, gla.s.s rose from the sides of the ground and joined together in the center, protecting Daniel and the ship from the annoying rain. The main door of the ship opened and John, along with two soldiers, came out. He was wearing some light clothes, flowing and loose. As the human walked towards him with his two guards, Daniel concluded that one way or another, this man was going to die. John smiled warmly and, ever the diplomat, embraced Daniel.

"President Gareng!"

"Councilman Howe!" Daniel smiled. He returned the embrace and said, "It's been a long time."

John nodded, his face gradually turning serious, "So shall we get to business?"

"Of course. Take these men and offer them some refreshments," he commanded two escorts who arrived from the interior of the base.

"No, no, no," John said innocently, "They must remain with me. I trust in your..." he stretched the word, "hospitality, most definitely." He gave a smirk and continued, "These men will remain with me...as they have for the last twenty one years."

"Come with me," said Daniel, gesturing for John to follow him. The Supreme Leader and his guards followed the Regime President's lead.

They walked in silence all the way to the boardroom. John looked around the place, amazed by what he saw. As they entered an elevator John checked to see what floor they would arrive at. It stopped its descent to the tenth floor and opened on to a medium sized hallway. He couldn't help wondering how the vamps had done it. The planet had suffered so much destruction and all the great cities had been destroyed. How and where had they gotten the resources? How did they build such a huge structure? He shook his head in disbelief. "Is there something wrong?" Daniel asked, although he already knew what John was thinking. He laughed, "We have been quite busy, as you can see."

"Yeah," John said, dumbfounded.

They reached the hall. It was painted in a majestic red and on both sides of the hallway there were portraits of great kings, emissaries, feudal lords, and n.o.bles. Just before they were about to open the ma.s.sive rosewood door one painting in particular caught John's eye. It was a very rare painting of Argos I, framed in intricately embroidered solid gold.

Argos was a stout man. In his hand he held a ma.s.sive sword, the one he had used to kill Markos. His chestnut brown hair flowed down to the nape of his neck and he donned a thick pointed goatee. His amber eyes twinkled and a warm smile lay on his soft face. Underneath the painting was a gold plaque with Argos's name in modern Migritic.

The door opened. Alex was seated with his back to them, at the head of a table. The elegant table looked somewhat like the one in the Boardroom at the Regnum. There were large windows, about four on each side, stretching upwards almost till the ceiling. In the center of the ceiling was a large, intricate crystal chandelier. To their right was a ten feet high fireplace with a roaring fire that heated the room. The glow of the fire gave a warm, amorous quality to the area. The thick drapes flowed like majestic cloaks from the windows. "Uncle John," Alex said, getting up from his seat. "Is it...is it really you?" He ran up to him and John embraced him.

"Yep, kid. It really is."

"Where is Erik?" Daniel asked the two guards inside.

"Sir, he said he had some urgent work in the recuperation chamber," said one of the guards, "He will be arriving shortly."

Daniel sighed, "We shall have to continue without him, then. Come, Councilman. Sit."

"Something's wrong," said Kurt to his comrades in the meeting room in the transport tanker. They could see through the screen that everything had stopped. They couldn't see much but they knew fighting had broken out because of the constant explosions of light. But now, nothing. The ships didn't seem to be getting any closer or any further away. "I'm going to check it out," said Kurt, walking out of the meeting room. He hurried into the elevator and descended into the hangar. He rushed out. "I need fifty men. p.r.o.nto!" He didn't wait for any response and jumped into his own ship and flew away. Immediately, twenty, then thirty, then finally fifty fighter ships came after him. He put the fighter into hyperspeed to try and catch the enemy off-guard. When he and the rest of his squadron arrived at the battle scene the sight that met their eyes left them openmouthed. The entire first wave of fighters was frozen. Kurt could see the frightened faces of Bill and the other leaders. The men were moving around inside. It was only their ships that were stuck and not moving an inch!

One of the vampires from an enemy fighter opened his c.o.c.kpit and smiled maniacally. He climbed out on top so that everyone could see him. Then, he took his hands and created an electrical ma.s.s of energy. It was red and black and growing exponentially. "Oh c.r.a.p!" Kurt shouted, "Get him! Get them all and destroy them!"

Kurt's squadron responded and in an instant shot down the vampire and his entire group. The fighters suddenly unfroze and were mobile once again. Bill's fighter, which was going up in flames, went into a whirlwind of destruction. Bill, who had his oxygen helmet ready, ejected just before everything exploded. Kurt's ship blazed through the inferno. He put on his mask and opened the c.o.c.kpit, as Bill swam through the vacuum of s.p.a.ce into his father's fighter. He grabbed the seatbelt of the extra seat behind Kurt and buckled himself in. The fighters regrouped themselves and headed back to the Regnum, savoring their first taste of victory.

Tea was served. It felt good being in the warm room, sipping on some fragrant and bone-thawing jasmine tea. Outside the rain had picked up speed and pounded on the gla.s.s. The wind howled as the sea waves crashed onto the outer rims of the Command Center. John sighed as he sipped the last of his tea, "So, Daniel. How do we start this negotiation?"

Daniel yawned. "You tell me, General Howe."

"You know what I want," John said, as he handed his cup to the waiter. Alex remained still with his eyes closed in silent contemplation.

"Yes, but you think you know what I want, or should I say, what we all want?"

"What's that?"

Daniel's face darkened and contorted with disgust and anger. His nose crinkled up as if he had smelled something awful. He bared his three-inch fangs.

Daniel's sudden transformation made John jump.

"It's the death of you and your whole b.l.o.o.d.y race," sneered Daniel. "You're lucky Anaxagoras shows so much mercy. If I had my way, I'd bake you all and eat you for dinner!"

"You know," said John calmly, "that has already happened once before in our history; at least the first part. I suspect the second part too."

"Don't joke with me, human sc.u.m." Daniel's voice rolled like thunder and screeched like a thousand nails on a chalkboard.

John was shocked by the sight of Daniel's face. He breathed a sigh of relief when it went back to normal. "Uh, well...Alex. What have they told you?"

"Nothing at all," Alex said.

"And the Rebels?"

Alex shook his head. "Nothing. They would come to my room and that was all."

"Hmmm." John rubbed his chin.

From outside, the sound of energy blasts and thudding penetrated the doors. Then they heard the clash of metal. It sounded like a sword-fight. "What the h.e.l.l?" John asked.

The door suddenly burst open in a flash of blue light, and a figure appeared as the smoke faded away. "Let him go!" the figure said.

When the smoke settled they saw that the figure was the exact double of Alex. He held a ma.s.sive sword, about four feet in length and six inches in width. The blade radiated a fiery blue light with electric sparks. The ashes of dead soldiers spread and scattered all around. "Uncle John!" yelled Alex's double, "Get away from them. That's not the real me! That's Erik."

"Here," he said, grabbing a sword from the floor. He threw it above the false Alex's and Daniel's heads. John caught it and jumped on the table, catching Daniel off-guard. Alex used an energy beam to destroy the remaining three swords, so Daniel and the double had no weapons.

"Lead us to the Rebels," John said. "Show us where they are." He pushed the tip of his sword into Daniel's Adam's apple and the flesh around it sizzled.

Daniel backed away and turned Erik who was still disguised as Alex. "Alright," Daniel hissed. "As you wish." He led them to the elevator.

The first phase of the battle was complete. Kurt was relieved for now.

"Well," said Bill, "What do we do now?" He brushed his dark golden mop of hair aside with his fingers. His light blue eyes shone like two aquamarines.

"We wait," sighed Kurt, clutching his cup of coffee. They were in the lounge area of the tanker, where the soldiers took a load off by relaxing and chatting with their friends. Bill's father had died in the war and ever since, Kurt took care of him like the son he never had. Bill had even started to call him, "Dad."

"Any news from General Howe?" Bill asked.

Kurt took a deep breath and said, "Nope, not yet."

"Is that trouble?"

"I wouldn't know what to make of it, but I have a feeling things are under control so far." Just then, distorted and barely intelligible words came from Kurt's earpiece. He could make out John's voice. "Do you copy? Kurt..." another distortion, "Do you copy?"

"Yes! John, yes, I can hear you. Is everything alright?"

Bill straightened himself at the mention of John's name and the other soldiers went silent.

"Tell the others to get ready. Tell General Hopkinson he'll be needed soon."

"What? Why? I mean can't you get through to him?"

"You'll see once you come into the atmosphere. I don't know what's wrong but this is the only frequency that I can get through to. Don't worry; I've got Alex with me and we're on our way to the next phase. Tell Richard he'll be needed. He's still inside the ship. I just hope nothing's wrong with him. Now is the time to strike! Over and out!" The irritating buzzing noises stopped.

"Alright boys! Get ready. We're going down there!" They all stood up and walked quickly to their designated posts and ships. Kurt and Bill went to the other generals, who were having a meeting of their own, to inform them of the news.

Vampiric guards infiltrated John's escort ship. Richard and two other soldiers dashed into attack formations. Everywhere, the vampires burned, reducing to piles of hot ash. Richard swung his sword wildly, so any approaching enemy wouldn't have a chance of survival. The other soldiers that protected Richard ventured out to keep the enemy at bay. To their astonishment and fear, they saw hundreds of them coming towards them. "Sir," said one guard, "There are too many of them."

"I don't give a d.a.m.n!" Richard said, "Just make your way through! We have to find John and Alex fast!"

With that, the guards redoubled their efforts and began pushing back the enemy. Richard pushed himself out and nearly slipped in the water. The pilots, seeing that everyone was out, moved the ship and broke through the gla.s.s bubble. Richard thought they were cowards and were trying only to escape. Then he realized the pilots were actually helping them out as they flew into the air and swerved around, using laser blasters to blow apart the oncoming vampires.

The enemy's numbers greatly diminished and Richard and the two guards were given safe pa.s.sage to the opened doors. There they faced another wave of vampires. Hundreds of them. Richard used his fear to fuel his wrath. "Keep going!" he commanded. His guards followed him and attacked, wreaking death and destruction as they advanced. Piles of ash built up around them as the vampires stupidly ran to their deaths. It shocked them and the fighters in s.p.a.ce. For the first time ever, these vampires were absolutely ready to give up their own lives for their people.

Sparks flew as the humans' swords stabbed at weak areas of the vampires' armor. They slashed at necks and sliced off heads. Due to the rain and heat, there was a stifling humidity that made the humans feel sick and suffocated. They managed to bare it long enough to get to the elevator.

Inside the elevator, they had time to catch their breaths. Their faces were blackened by the ash that stuck to their sweat. "Richard! Richard!" His communicator screamed in his ear; it was Kurt. "General Bacon!" Kurt shouted, his voice completely clear and annoyingly loud. "General Howe has asked you for your help. They say that they're on their way to the fifth level."

Richard pressed the b.u.t.ton for the fifth level. "Tell him we're on our way. I can't seem to get through to him."

"He can't get through to you either."

"Never mind," Richard said as the doors of the elevator opened. John appeared, holding Daniel hostage with a sword to his neck. Alex was beside him and seemed to be holding his doppelganger hostage. "I've found them."

John turned to Richard, "Where the h.e.l.l have you been?"

"We were caught up," said Richard, smiling. "There's something wrong with your communicator,"

"Same with yours," John said, keeping his sword trained on Daniel. "Make room," he commanded. "We have to go to the third level. That's where the Rebels are."

"Or so says this cousin of mine," Alex said, with the point of his ma.s.sive sword against his double's neck. "I think that's quite enough," Alex said and pulled his sword closer to Erik's neck. "You can show your true self now." Suddenly Erik's face changed. His nose elongated and his eyes stretched out. His mouth became thin and his chin turned pointy. His hair straightened and shortened and his stature grew to almost twice that of Alex's.

"No way!" Richard said. Erik gave him a ghastly glance.

The elevator opened and they went into the recuperation chamber where there were a hundred or so scientists checking up on the Rebels. The guards inside instinctively formed into a defensive position, with their swords out. "No one move," John said, as they entered.

Nikolas and the others were almost finished. They were in hibernation now and had returned to their normal state.

Alex said, "When they're finished, let them go and take those things off of them." He pointed to the restraints around their necks. Two guards volunteered to go and take them off when it was deemed safe by the scientists, who had to unlock them with a code. This took longer than expected and Alex realized they were just stalling. Suddenly, two guards teleported into the room. They held out their swords to John's and Alex's heads.

"Let them go," one of them said.

Alex did as he was told and let go of Erik. Then, in a fluid motion he turned around and swung his sword at the guard. The guard parried and stood his ground. Daniel and Erik caught the swords the new guards threw at them.

The battle had begun.

The fighters accompanying the large tanker entered the atmosphere first, in order to seal off and provide protection for the tanker. The rains disrupted their vision, so they initiated the infrared windshields. The generals readied themselves for battle and looked out the window of the tanker. They wondered how the vampires could have built such a huge structure covering the entire Atlantic. This meant they had been planning the war since the beginning.

"This," General Hopkinson sighed, "is incredible."

"Yeah, well...I guess this is why John told you to go to the western front," Romsky said.

"We're going to need someone there instead," said Hopkinson, pointing to what remained of Africa. "I'll go there."

"You'd better check with Howe," Michio said. He turned to Singh and Chang. "Are you ready?"

They nodded.

"Then, let us go," he said and the trio unbuckled themselves, and headed for the transports which would take the allotted men to the Vatican library.

"John," George said, pressing the small b.u.t.ton of his earpiece, and tuning into John's frequency. "I have to tell you something." He could hear blasts and sword fighting in the background.

"Well, now's not a good time."

"It's urgent. I'll be short. I don't think they'll come from the west, John. It's too d.a.m.n far. I'm leading the troops to northern Africa. Is that fine?"

"Yeah!" Then came a large explosion and a pause, but he could still hear breathing. After about ten seconds, he said, "If you think that's good, then do it! Just make sure they don't get any reinforcement; that's all. And send the five hundred allotted for me and Richard. Quick!" The frequency jammed, but Hopkinson was lucky enough to hear the last statement. He looked over to the soldiers sitting behind him. He called one of them over and said, "Send this message to the five hundred. We need them to be at the Atlantic; Richard and John need help!"

The soldier saluted and left to do his bidding. Romsky got up and opened a large canister. The Russian took out his armor and gear.

"Come on," George said, "we haven't much time."

The transport ship diverged towards the Vatican library, deploying a hundred fighters in the air. The fighters circled around the clouds way above the Vatican. The transport silently sped down into the forest and hovered three feet off the ground. The three Generals dropped down along with their men.

The Vatican was completely different from what it had been in Pre-WWIII times. Long ago, it had been the home of the leader of the second largest religious group on the planet. Now it was an impenetrable fortress where the ancient secrets of the vampires were hidden. Access remained granted only to Erik, Daniel, and the Elder Council. The Library itself was a large, square building, about ten stories tall and gray in color. To look at, there was nothing extraordinary about it. The most striking thing was the heavy security around it. There were electric fences and barbed walls around its perimeter, and heavily armored guards stood patrol 24/7. In total there were three hundred guards. Another one hundred guards stood fifteen feet in front of them. Since most of Europe was now full of forests hiding secret buildings, this library, far from the original spot of the Vatican and Rome, remained hidden in the enveloping shadows of the trees. Places like Rome, London, and New York were full of metal, iron and gla.s.s. They were inhabited by millions of people who ran the economy of the Vampire Confederation.

Singh, Nakashima, Chang and their troops hid in the forest, behind trees and bushes. Through his communicator, Singh whispered, "Wait for my command. When one of them comes close to the forest, shoot him down. We don't need any silencer; let it be as loud as possible so we can distract the majority of them. Once that's done, move towards the central gate and we'll ambush them. If we're lucky, they'll move inside the forest to investigate and that will give us a better chance of getting in quickly. All we can now do is wait."

Meanwhile, the fighters, still hidden by the dark clouds below them, waited for the command to strike.

The splattering rain created deafening, rapid sounds as the fighters descended faster to get a better view of the giant base. Already, the prescribed units for John and Richard scurried about as their transport hovered above the slippery surface and ran towards the entrance.

Colonel Justus for now took charge of the men sent for John and Richard. He ran fully armed, blinking frequently under the rain as he led his men. The entire platoon activated their protective lenses to shield their eyes from the water. He turned on the communicator and tuned in to John's frequency. "General Howe," he said, "I have the reinforcements with me." Stopping four meters short of the entrance, he glimpsed around the place to see if there was any danger. There were only the remains of the ma.s.sacre where the ground was black with ashen rainwater. "Tell me what to do."

All he could hear were explosions, John's shouts and the clash of metal as he slung his sword around. "Level five." The frequency jammed up.