Chapter 1 - Rain of Vengeance
She was not supposed to be here.
None of them were.
Based on the Theoretical Briefing on Null-Output Propulsion System Operation manual, damaging key parts of the Windrunner Null-Output Propulsion System should have caused a cataclysmic implosion capable of vaporizing Eviscerator and its hellish cargo. Darkness enveloped her as the ship blinked out of existence.
This was not the end.
Shattered glass lay at Valla's feet, while once-brightly-glowing lines no longer transmitted whatever energies kept the NOPS running. Using a communicator she'd been given by defenders of the Mars base, she called out. The nephalem took quickly to technologies such as cameras, sensors, and advanced weapons over the course of their Martian adventure even as they generally employed their own armaments to dispatch demons.
"Command, this is Valla-are you there?"
Static, before Johanna, Crusader of Zakarum, answered.
"I am here, friend. Like you, I expected to sacrifice myself to end the threat of the Lord of Pride and his foul minions. Yet, here we are very much not dead."
On the command deck, Johanna found her view impeded by forward viewports darkening automatically in response to some extreme external light. Unsquinting her eyes, she became aware of a large yellow beam pulsing on and off. A green-blue of impact against some kind of defensive field meant whatever this was could not harm the undercrewed, possibly-damaged ship. Yet.
She gave another sideways look at yet another part of Eviscerator that bore too much resemblance to controls she'd seen at the Mars base to be a coincidence. In this case, Johanna's disdain fell on a display indicating power being diverted from station-keeping engines to maintain whatever it was keeping those yellow pulses from blowing out her viewports. Before she could question whether that might be a bad tactical decision, whatever blasted her ship stopped firing.
The screen flashed with a simple blood-red prompt.
"Retaliate?"
[...]
"Oh what the hell is going on this time?"
Severin hid a small smile-when Rayne got mad she would sit on Kagan's former throne and pout. She never sat there otherwise. Immediately after defeating her father, she'd suggested relocating his seat somewhere more fitting of "the shit he started and ass he was." The arrival of a massive floating ship halted plans to turn the throne into a very elaborate toilet.
"Four hours" she groused. "Four fucking hours and something already goes wrong."
Thus far, she and Severin maintained control of Kagan's fortress tower through deception since his tendency to kill anyone who displeased him led to few questions about why "Kagan will not be seeing anyone today."
And then something split the sky.
Upon the death of Kagan, the sun gun on his eponymous tower switched to an automatic defense mode. Thus, when that gigantic something appeared out of nowhere, it immediately opened fire. Severin put a stop to the program after a few shots were let loose, but whatever had been fired upon did not feel the need to show restraint in response.
Blue blasts rained from above, melting vast holes in the glass of the now-Empress' skyscraper. A few large explosions shook the structure as well-missiles of some kind.
Rayne's eyes rolled in exasperation as an unpiloted helicopter, or more accurately what was left of one, plummeted past outside. Upon reaching street level, it detonated violently, digging a crater several meters deep.
"Must have been one of the Cobra attack gunships Kagan kept on landing pads" mused Severin.
One of the few structures left standing after Kagan's takeover crumbled from repeated hits by this new arrival. Clearly it could destroy the Empress' headquarters but refrained from doing so even as the area around it began to resemble the pockmarked surface of an asteroid.
At street level, what had been the triumph of vampires became a panicked melee. A few cops and more heavily armed SWAT teams pushed back against a horde of vampiric creatures that only vaguely resembled anything human (two arms, two legs, head on shoulders) as half of the group menacing their last redoubt went up in smoke and ash.
"Go, go-get to the armored vehicles!"
SWAT plunged headlong into a pile of miscreants trying to boost their equipment-some just street thugs but others allied with powerful mafia-tied crime in the city.
Previously, syndicates from local to national held to certain rules. Don't talk to the cops. What happens in the family stays in the family. No facial hair. Most importantly: no working with vampires. Despite theoretical kinship of being on the outskirts of society, it was widely suspected that vampires/dhampirs were responsible for filching on mob bosses in the early 20th century. One high-level turncoat whose lineage couldn't be confirmed (or denied) even turned state's evidence!
When shadowy elements began putting out feelers to supply high-tech parts, the payoff was too great to resist even when it came out they were connected to a "Mr. K." Now, despite his death, Kagan's hires clogged the city, adding to the chaos as the locals clashed with "those imported wackos."
"We'll get those stupid dhampirs!"
When it came to fighting the law though, differences over place of origin, accents, and favored TV shows vanished in pursuit of profit. There was loot to be had!
While SWAT ducked under a hail of fire spit from three portable miniguns, the same types who charged a blade-wielding dhampir confused their bravado for combat ability and were shredded for it.
"THESE VEHICLES ARE NOW THE PROPERTY OF THE BRIMSTONE SOCIETY."
In a world full of vampires and vigilantes, SWAT knew they could take on a few thugs but these private military-ish types were too much. Heavily armored troopers carrying aforementioned miniguns stepped from shadow to cart off two APCs and a command unit.
One thug who survived the initial attack didn't get the message, and her head exploded. Not from an armored trooper, but rather because a Brimstone scout (dubbed "Overwatch" for their long-range sniping skills) decided she was "too close for comfort" given the preponderance of suicide units. The shot came from half a kilometer away.
[...]
Ironically enough, other Vampire Lords became aware of Kagan's death faster than his own henchmen. Attempts to reach him offering congratulations for a successful Shroud deployment fell flat, and assets-in-place were able to confirm his death in addition to who killed him.
"Twice unworthy, twice the dishonor!"
Cells would be activated carefully, even though Kagan's operation blew all local cover off the notion of vampires-as-myth.
What little footage could be obtained regarding the Shroud hit news at lighting speed, displacing coverage of the United States Presidential election and the drumbeat out of Iraq. The networks begged anyone with video of events from a sleepy New England city to send it in as quickly as possible while positioning their camera crews on the outskirts.
"This unknown red mist is spreading rapidly. While it does not appear to be harmful, there are reports of unusual activity in areas it covers."
Nobody wanted to be the first to say "vampires" until a camera crew captured its reporter meeting a gruesome end before they themselves were shot by looters. Much to their chagrin, higher-ups in the gang received orders (payments, and threats) to ensure "all this gets out."
Due to the area's affluence, a few citizens with higher-end cell phones grabbed grainy footage of the goings-on before evacuating. Some of this hit the news in time for the 9PM slot on the Eastern Seaboard. And that's when the red tide began to swell. Riots, often initiated by false-flag through vampires or dhampirs starting fights with regional syndicates, picked up from Atlanta to Albany as the sun set.
Pundits and editorials the next day remarked on depleted National Guard strength due to active deployments in Iraq and the more pressing question of law enforcement seemingly falling short.
"How have all these gangs been so strong but under the radar? It's like they were waiting for something!"
The subsequent Presidential debate, occuring the day after, felt like a step out of time as the moderator only mentioned "the alleged New England vampire incident" as an added question at the very end. This despite the fact that twelve states declared emergencies resulting in National Guard activation.
A/N: The story begins on October 12, 2004-I treated BloodRayne 2's release date as the day its events ended. Only the original two games are used as source material.