Chapter 13- Opposing forces

Disclaimer- I don't own Underworld, any resemblance in the name of the characters is purely coincidental. (Lol)

Lucian sat across the table from Peirce. They were alone in the room that Lucian had claimed for himself.

"Sir, you cannot let this happen." Peirce insisted.

"Let what happen?" Lucian asked.

"You were there, you heard as well as I. Those tapes, the audio evidence of Corvinus giving the orders... they were selectively edited."

"So?" Lucian asked indifferently.

"We received them from an anonymous source..." Peirce continued, frustrated that Lucian was not listening to him.

"Do you think that I care? Do you think that this is what this trial is about?" Lucian asked, his voice rising in anger. "This trial is about survival, nothing more. His system is flawed, both races should be united under one ruler."

"You?" Peirce asked accusingly.

"Yes! I am a hybrid, I am the oldest of the immortals, of either race. I deserve to lead! it is my right."

"Corvinus is older."

"Ahh... but you see that is what the trial is about."

"You can't be serious."

"With him eliminated there can be no other path than mine, and I will ensure the survival of our kind. Under him... Corvinus." Lucian spat the name with contempt. "He stood by and watched us get exterminated. Do you remember? What do you think will happen if the vampires decide to turn on us, and begin another war. They will win, they have more men. They will do this, and Corvinus will do nothing. He will sit on the sidelines just like before."

"The vampires want peace." Peirce interrupted, surprised at Lucian's treachery.

"Peace? The vampires sit around in their coven houses brooding in times of peace. There is no peace for them. For them the peace is the planning for the upcoming war. They have wanted destruction of our kind for centuries. Now that they are closest to attaining it, do you think they will give it up." Lucian's shouts continued to rise in volume, until Peirce cowered with fear.

"I understand, sir." Peirce answered shakily.

---

Selene was impressed at the marksmanship on Gaius' part, but the battle had just begun. She was running through the halls of the underground base, and this kind of close range combat was what she was good at. Almost every hallway seemed to look the same, and there were no directions. The trio decided to split up in order to find Octavian faster. She heard footsteps ahead, and pointed the gun forward, not bothering to stop running. The soldiers turned the corner and aimed their rifles at her instinctively. Before they had leveled their guns she fired twice, and they both fell. She turned the corner and found another empty, and similar hallway. Cursing under her breath she continued.

Gaius found himself lost in a maze of hallways. Stumbling upon soldiers every few minutes, he still held his pistol in one hand and his bloody knife in the other. As he approached a small room, he felt a strong feeling in the pit of his stomach. There is another vampire here, Gaius thought to himself. Thinking that he had found Octavian, Gaius pushed through the door at the end of the hallway. The room he entered was empty and bleak, just as the others. Gaius continued on, the feeling increasing. I draw closer. He entered the next room, and saw nothing at first. He glanced behind him suddenly, with suspicion. Something didn't feel right. Then he heard the discharge of a machine-gun. Turning quickly, Gaius jumped from his original position. Another soldier stood there, firing at him, but this one seemed more distinguished than the rest. Gaius returned fire, striking the man in the chest, and causing him to topple to the ground. Turning to continue forward, he turned to have a second look. The officer had gotten up and was pulling a combat knife from his belt. Then the thought dawned on him. He's the vampire. Gaius threw down his pistol and advanced slowly with his knife drawn.

The officer ran forward with a loud guttural yell. Gaius waited, feigning surprise. He's still so young, Gaius thought with a smile. Waiting for him to approach, Gaius easily avoided the knife and jammed his into the officer's throat. Coughing, the man fell to the ground, trying to pull the knife from his flesh. Gaius fastened his arms onto his head and twisted it quickly, breaking his neck.

Gaius looked down to him as he fell limply to the ground. He continued into the hall and began to jog down the hallway.

---

Michael charged down the hallway, searching each room as he passed it. He was in hybrid form, and still felt the exhilaration of the kills he had made just a few minutes before. Then he sensed it, he could sense that another vampire was close by. As he ran quickly through the hallway, he saw the first camera in the base. He ripped it from the wall and crushed it in his hands. As he continued forward, he found a sealed door with bullet proof glass. He began to smash the window with his arms, caving it in.

---

Selene continued forward, it had been minutes since she had seen the last soldier. She reached the end of the hallway. Getting to the end, she looked at each of the three doors. She moved forward and kicked open the first wooden door with a swift motion. It was an office, heavily furnished. An officer sat behind the desk, with a gun leveled at the door. Before Selene could get to cover, he fired his rifle. She fell behind the wall and cried out as the bullets tore through the skin of her stomach. Gritting her teeth, she ran back through the doorway and felt another bullet hit her arm, aiming carefully, she shot him in the shoulder. Henderson dropped the rifle, but continued to stare up at her calmly.

"Tell me where he is." Selene shouted, approaching him and pushing the barrel of her gun into his forehead.

"You have still very far to go. You wont make it with those wounds." He said with a triumphant smile.

"I don't need to. My friends are here, they will find Octavian."

"So that's what you call him?" Henderson asked mockingly. Selene didn't hesitate to strike him across the face with the handle of her gun. Spitting out some blood, Henderson continued.

"My superiors are going to find out what happened here. They're going to be impressed by what you've done. They will come after you. And when they do it, there will be no resisting them."

"We'll see." Selene responded gruffly, cocking the pistol.

"Yes we will." She fired the gun, and turned, not watching him as his head fell onto the desk, the blood pouring out.

Michael found the room. No other guards had tried to stop him. It was dark, which was strange for the rest of the white colored halls. Octavian sat in the middle, bloodied and unshaven.

"Is it really you?" He asked. His voice was ragged and weak.

"Yes." Michael replied, now in his human form. He approached Octavian, worked to unfasten his restraints, and then paused. "Octavian." Michael said firmly, waiting for his response.

"Yes?" Octavian answered, looking back to him. Waiting a few seconds to consider his words, Michael continued. "Before I do this, you need to say one thing."

"What?"

"That you will leave us alone. That you will allow Selene to let go." Octavian sighed heavily at these words, and looked to the floor, thinking deeply.

"We once promised each other. That we would never let go of one another." He muttered almost inaudibly.

"Well that time has long since passed. She will not return to you." Michael said angrily.

"If that is really true, then maybe you should give me a gun so I can kill myself." He paused, and then looked back to Michael, with passion in his eyes. "Because I will never stop loving her. Every second of every miserable day has been a struggle for me to return to her. It was the only reason why I have continued fighting. The promise to be united with her once again."

"Tell me that you will let it go." Michael commanded.

"The only way I will let it go is if I die. Shoot me!" Octavian shouted.

"Tell me that you will let it go." Michael repeated more loudly.

"Shoot me!" Octavian yelled, his voice reaching the limits of its volume. Michael punched Octavian across the face. Whimpering in defeat, Octavian began to sob violently.

"I loved once, and I lost her. So I got over it. So did Selene. If you ever want to be happy again, you need to let go."

"I promised..." Octavian trailed off.

"Forget the promise." Michael interrupted. Octavian sat in silence for a few seconds before Michael continued. "Make this new promise to me. That you will let it go."

"I promise." He responded weakly. Hearing this, Michael began to help Octavian out of his restraints.

---

Gaius had found his way to the main computer. Finding it deserted by the scientists that had long since deserted the base, Gaius inserted a small disk into the hard drive. He smiled as the virus he installed wiped the memory of the computer. Getting out of the terminal chair, Gaius rushed to meet the others. Maybe they've found Octavian.

To the reviews...

Yes, I know that bringing back the old characters was a bit cheesy, but Underworld was in desperate need of a character infusion.