Empire State Building, New York 12:00am
Midnight in New York and the city was still buzzing with activity. Nowhere was this more apparent than at the famous Empire State Building skyscraper, only a mile away from the Ultra Vector stronghold at the UN Headquarters.
And yet this was no late night party or midnight launch event, instead the street outside resembled a warzone. Lanes of abandoned cars lay strewn across the street outside the towering building, a few crumpled bodies and patches of blood evidence of those who hadn't managed to escape. One of the city's distinctive yellow taxi cabs had literally been inserted into the road, driven downward with such force that it stuck, bonnet first, like a strange piece of sculpture. At the ends of the roads a blaze of blue and red lights marked the police cordon, as NYPD officers and SWAT units hunkered down by police cruisers and fire engines with heavy assault rifles, others in full riot gear pushing back a huge crowd all watching with a weird mix of awe and fear.
Amongst the crowd were dozens of news crews and reporters from a myriad of networks, from Fox News to the BBC, all pushing to get a shot of the devastation beyond.
At the very front, right next to a National Guard Humvee, Pandora Heal, veteran CNN correspondent for ten years, brushed back her short blonde hair and checked her appearance in a pocket mirror as her cameraman tried to get a good shot of the street beyond. Hearing the harried voice of her producer, currently sat in his van amongst at least ten others at the back of the crowds, she readied herself for the story of a lifetime.
"Breaking news." She declared to the camera as the operator gave her a thumbs up. "Terror in Manhattan as an unknown group of terrorists burst out onto this street only ten minutes ago. Eyewitness reports are sketchy and filled with talk of super strength and pale phantoms but the facts remain clear as a heavy NYPD presence shows that, whoever they are, these guys mean business."
Her next comment was lost as the crowd behind parted to let a convoy of ten unmarked black Humvees past, which stopped at the police barrier, Pandora and the others looking on with a mixture of curiosity and unease as a black uniformed soldier in thick body armour stepped out, his face unreadable behind a black balaclava and red beret.
"Move this barrier." He declared simply, and the pale faced NYPD officers quickly set to work, pushing aside the armoured SWAT van that lay in the convoy's path.
Sensing an exclusive Pandora stepped forward, thrusting her microphone in the soldiers face with a grin.
"Care for an interview sir?"
The soldier turned, his eyes impassive except for a slight tinge of anger.
"No comment miss." He replied bluntly.
As he walked away the reporter grinned again, arms folded.
"Oh sorry, do Ultra Vector not give interviews these days?"
At the mention of that name, which one of Pandora's colleagues had broken the story of a few hours ago, after photos emerged of the battle in Forks, the soldier visibly stiffened and turned back towards the reporter, hand on a large revolver holstered at his hip.
"If I were you miss." He stated coldly. "I wouldn't be shouting that name in the street."
And with that he was gone as the convoy swept past and up the street, grabbing onto the side of one of the Humvees and being driven away as casually as someone hails a taxi.
As the convoy reached the entrance to the Empire State Building itself it screeched to a halt as the troops disembarked, four from each vehicle. The forty strong unit came to a halt at the smashed glass doors and the unit commander, Captain James Seward, a burly giant of a man, turned to address them.
"Ok men this might possibly be our biggest task yet. Forks and Anchorage are nothing compared to this. The fact they struck right here, right here, only a mile away from headquarters, that's showing something. Either these monsters have a death wish, or there's something bigger at work here."
The men of his unit nodded as they made last checks on their weapons. Like the other multinational divisions, these soldiers had chosen their own weapons, with everything from HK16 assault rifles to heavy M60 machine guns and even the STAKE rocket launcher, so named since the destruction of the Romanian vampires at the hands of the formidable weapon.
At a simple nod from the captain, the unit moved in, Seward snapping off orders to the squad leaders as they passed him.
The entrance hall beyond was brightly lit as the unit rushed in, instantly two squads peeling off to check the first floor.
"Ok we do this floor by floor gentlemen." Seward ordered. "My squad, along with Sergeant Johnson's will head to the top floor and work downwards. Squads A to E will do the opposite whilst the others head to the second top floor after us."
As he finished the troops around him gave one last salute before disappearing to their assigned positions.
Strolling confidently forward, hand resting on his DAO 'Streetsweeper' shotgun, the captain stepped over the remains of a security guard, literally torn limb from limb.
"Monsters." He said softly as he pressed the call button for the lift, the rest of his squad, and Sergeant Johnson's, formed up behind him.
"So, do you think it was him?" one of his men, Private Cameron, said as he checked his rifle nervously.
"Who?" the captain replied, watching the lift's slow progress from the twentieth floor downwards as the floor buttons flashed in sequence.
"You know…the big guy…Caius."
As the young soldier said this Seward grabbed him by the arm and slammed him against the wall.
"Look private, that name is not the best one to be blurting out around here. That Volturi fuck is still at large so I would appreciate if you kept your little ideas to yourself until we clear this building. I still can't believe the vampires would have the balls to pull off a scheme like this." He added as he let the other man go.
"Lifts only a floor away sir." Said another soldier nearby and Seward nodded.
This night was already weird enough for him. He just wanted to get the whole thing over with and get back out there destroying covens and monsters, not spending the next few hours clearing an entire skyscraper of what might only be one rogue vampire.
But as the lift doors opened and the twenty soldiers somehow managed to squeeze themselves in, the captain's only thoughts were of what horrors they would find, one hundred stories up.
As the lift shuddered to a halt and the doors opened, the first part of Seward's unit were out, torches on and weapons raised as they moved to clear the dark corridor. With the shouts of the soldiers in front declaring each room and office to be empty Seward moved out, Johnson at his side, shotgun raised.
And yet there was nothing to be found up here and, as the whir of news helicopters outside became louder, Seward walked slowly down the corridor, passing two soldiers crouched down by a mutilated corpse, then another two leaving another empty room, sighing slightly as if they had missed out on something.
He barely noticed Corporal Harrison run up to him, pushing up a pair of night vision goggles as he declared, his face pale.
"Sir, there's an unidentified operative in the office a few rooms down."
Seward nodded and started down the corridor, beckoning for the two soldiers he had just passed to follow, Harrison quickly falling into step behind. He broke into a run as he heard footsteps in the room up ahead, sprinting forward and kicking open the office door, shotgun raised.
"Oh shit…" he cursed slowly as he saw the office interior, lit up by light spilling in from a broken window at the end.
In front of him lay four corpses, all security guards, their sidearms lying next to them along with a few scattered bullet casings. And there, on the wall, daubed in bright crimson, were four words.
The UN will burn.
"Shit shit shit." Seward said as he ran to the window and looked out, just in time to see a shadowy figure disappearing away across a nearby rooftop.
Grabbing a scoped rifle off one of his squad, he set his eye to the scope, just in time to see the figure look back and grin, his blonde hair and black cloak whipping in the wind.
"Caius." He stated and grabbed Harrison, who was looking on dumbly.
"Get on the radio now corporal. This day just got a whole lot worse. Caius is here, in New York. We need immediate backup. Get them to call everyone. The Asians, the Europeans, I don't care but we need to stop that madman now before he gets there."
"Where?" Harrison said as he grabbed his radio from his belt.
The captain shook his head sorrowfully and pointed, out of the broken window, to the lights of the UN headquarters beyond.