Chapter 3
Major Po carefully analyzed the young looking vampire. Given that he'd been exposed to fire, he was in great shape. As it was, his regenerative powers were having difficulty restoring his skin. He was headed quickly towards torpor, and would likely expire if not provided with blood, and soon.
The encryption on the disk was another problem. He wasn't just some rebellious Life Clan, who had hitched a ride to Earth to cause trouble. He was up to something. The fact that he had taken out a large EC submarine was proof enough of that.
The real question was, should she allow him to die, feed him, and risk unknown problems, or attempt something else? Her ghoul assistant was showing his usual lack of insight, as always. These things were difficult.
Wufei Chang, level 5 master of the Dragon Clan, was annoyed. He had gorged on civilians as he made his way to the EC base. Blood had threatened to leak from his eyes, so when he reached the base, the ineffective response of the guards was appalling. Chang had lit up almost as soon as he arrived, sending courses of fire around the periphery of the base, then driving it inward in a glorious inferno!
To think that the vulnerable Earth Clan, with all the explosives at hand, had no effective way to combat a large fire, was quite irritating. Change razed the base to the ground, in disgust.
Heero contemplated his situation. It would be inadvisable to heal his skin, even though it would take so little. To advertise his true condition while a captive would be stupid. Fortunately, the monitors clearly showed that he appeared to be unconscious. That allowed him to test the strength of his bonds.
It seemed they weren't used to keeping a skilled Life Clan member. They would do for an EC brat, but he could snap his bonds when the time was right. What was more important was to listen for the right moment.
That idiot priest was on the monitor, mouthing something about a rescue. Great. First, fry him, then save him? What kind of a moron had Iron sent down here? With Heero's luck, the fool would forget to take off his crucifix and garlic, causing more harm than good.
The inept brat decided on explosives to break in! With the timing forced on him, Heero augmented his muscle and bone strength. With a sudden surge, he snapped the left wrist restraint, while the idiot tried to figure out how to "release" them. He freed his right arm immediately after, and was soon free.
"How did you do that?"
"Did you bring me lunch?"
"Grab a bite on our way out, this place is crawling with Earth."
They ran for it, draining a convenient ghoul on the way. Iron blew out a window and they both jumped. Why he thought Heero would want a parachute was beyond him. Fifty stories would smart, but it wasn't a big deal. Heero landed hard, as he heard the annoying voice of Relena calling for him from above.
"Why didn't you use the parachute?"
"It would have slowed me down."
"Man, I'm the only friend you've got, right now!"
"With friends like these..."
Zechs was pleased to arrive at the Corsica factory, to oversee the manufacture of advanced weapons. The Specials were nearby, growing their numbers by "infecting" promising recruits from regular units and bringing them into the Clan.
Officer Walker led Zechs to a secret base, where they were working on analyzing the gene sequences of the vampiric virus. They were trying to find a way to reconcile the strengths of each of the Clans, while not introducing their respective weaknesses as well.
They had come up with some impressive results, including drugs that would reduce the rate at which sunlight burned through blood, moisteners that would reduce the flammability of dessicated vampiric flesh, and several other things. Nothing, unfortunately, was permanent. The recent attacks were making it clear, however, that they would need to ramp up production of these drugs, and find a more permanent solution. If the EC could gain the resistance of Iron, for example, it would make them unstoppable!
Commander Bonaparte was pleased to show off his military authority, and authorized his blimp to take off. When the lone gunman attacked, he was almost amused. "Attack! Surround him and kill him! I want his corpse!"
The soldiers, including a few specials, began their assault on the lone gunman, who had the uncanny ability to get head shots almost every time. Combined with this, was a strange ability to evade the counter fire.
Soon, the troops had the man surround, and they all opened fire. The impressive smoke from firing weapons soon dissipated, revealing a lone man at the center of the smoke. Bonaparte gave the order to flee, even as the gunman proceded to annihilate the remaining troops in close combat. Video footage showed soldiers and specials attacking him with bayonets and failing to connect. Just as it seemed they had him surrounded, more enemy troops arrived.
The lone gunman was rescued. But by whom? All military defending the Corsica factory were annihilated.
No-name and the blond vampire gazed at each other, assessing their respective strengths. On one hand, the blond had over forty men surrounding him. No-name, on the other hand, was surrounded by something that resembled heat waves, or similar optical distortions.
No-name had long since run out of bullets. He threw an experimental dagger at the opposing vampire, and noted how three men, perhaps ghouls, moved between him and his target.
"Stop! You were attacking our target! We're not enemies. Can't you recognize my clan?"
No-name considered. "They're all ghouls, aren't they?"
"Yes."
"Order one to kill himself."
"Faisal. Do it."
A ghoul picked up the thrown dagger and slashed his own throat. As blood coursed down his chest, he remained standing long enough to disembowel himself, and stab his heart. He soon expired.
"I haven't seen a Slaver Clan before."
"Nor I a Warp Clan."
"Good enough."
