A/N: Hello everyone and welcome back to First Contact: Nocturne! See, this isn't just a little one-off thing, I actually do want to develop this story, and wow this was a doozy of a chapter. I wanted to take a bit of a note from Shep and try to write a longer chapter with multiple viewpoints, let me know what y'all think, is a longer chapter good, or would something a bit smaller work better? If you're reading this now and have read it before, I've made some small alterations to things, fixes as far as I know and expanded the codex segment.
Also, as this is a spin-off of First Contact, if you liked that story, please note that there's a sequel, Star Fox: Veria if you haven't seen it already. It's really good and I highly recommend it!
Disclaimer: See Prologue.
Warning: Things get rather violent in this chapter, so be warned.
And without further ado, please read, review, and enjoy!
**Unknown Location**
Sheila Spitz awoke to a splitting headache that caused her to groan. In fact, everything ached, from the tips of her ears down to her toes. Her limbs and head felt heavy and sluggish, and it was hard to get her eyes to open for more than an instant. She also felt dampness all over her side, where her wound was.
'The crash,'That thought brought her instantly to full wakefulness, bringing the husky into a startled sitting position, only to groan again as it made her head protest at the sudden motion. The next thing she noticed was the sudden draft that seemed to run over her body, and that she wasn't alone judging from the surprised yelp that came from off to her side.
Looking down at herself, Sheila barely suppressed a yelp of her own as she found herself in only her underwear; the husky quickly covered herself with her arms and tail, despite the protests from her limbs. Looking around for something, she found herself on a rough metal table in what appeared to be a stone room with five stone walls in a pentagonal shape, with torches on each wall and corner providing light with surprisingly no smoke. Then she locked eyes with the room's other occupant.
She looked like a human, with the same mostly hairless face and body shape; though she was lither than the humans Sheila had seen so far on Earth, her features also angular almost to the point of hawkishness. The girl wore a simple light blue blouse and skirt, with dark leggings the ended just below her knees. What was most striking about the girl to Sheila were her bright red eyes, her pale slightly greyed skin, her pointed ears that poked through her shoulder-length brown hair, and not to mention the short sharp claws she had instead of fingernails that were held up as if to ward off the husky.
The two continued to stare at each other for what felt like minutes, before Sheila noticed that they had left her transmitter on her wrist, the cold metal pressing into her fur. She activated the translator as discreetly as possible, hoping that the creature before her understood English. "Hello?" she said hesitantly, trying to sound non-threatening, "Do you understand me?"
The girl cocked her head to the side, before nodding slowly.
"What's your name?" Sheila said, smiling a little to try and encourage the girl to speak.
"My name is Anna," the girl answered, speaking so softly the husky could barely hear her, averting her eyes.
Sheila decided to turn things to the next most pressing issue, her clothes. "Do you know where my flight suit is? My clothes?" she said, already beginning to get off of the table, making every effort to keep her undergarments concealed behind an arm or a leg or her tail.
Anna only pointed behind the husky, looking down at the ground and away from Sheila. 'What a strange girl,' Sheila thought as she turned to look where Anna was pointing, seeing her flight suit draped over a rickety looking wooden chair. As quickly as her aching limbs allowed, she shuffled over to the chair. Picking it up, she found that where the cloth had been torn when she had been wounded was sewn back up, nearly unnoticeable if she hadn't been looking for it. She quickly slipped into it, finding her boots on the floor near the chair and putting them on as well. The only thing she didn't find was her handgun, 'I'm stuck here unarmed, just what do they want?' she thought to herself.
"Now what?" she said, projecting her thoughts out loud. Anna had turned back to her after the husky had finished dressing, standing fully now instead of the half-crouch Sheila had seen her in. By the husky's estimates the girl stood only around five feet and five inches, and the claws she had seen on the girl's fingers had mysteriously vanished, she even seemed less pale, though she still looked a little peaked. Her eyes had even lost their red color, becoming a dark brown to match her hair. The seeming transformation absolutely boggled the husky's mind, making her wonder if she'd been seeing things earlier.
"The Regent wants to see you," Anna suddenly said out of the blue, though her demure demeanor certainly hadn't vanished. The human slowly approached one of the walls of the room, before rapping on it. The wall suddenly split and slid open, apparently it was a concealed door that was very cleverly hidden as a wall. Anna poked her head out and spoke quietly to someone on the other side of the door, so much so Sheila's ears couldn't pick it up. After a quick answer, the door opened more and Anna turned back to her, "Follow me, please," she said.
Her curiosity piqued, the husky followed, 'It's not like I could find my way out, let alone fight if it came to that,' she thought to herself, the ache in her limbs reminding her of that fact.
As Sheila walked out of the hidden door, she didn't find anyone out there, 'Who was she talking to?' she mused to herself as she saw the girl was turning down the hallway she had found herself in. The hallway was tall and lined with arched supports, almost like the husky was in one of the old historic stone buildings on Corneria, but also slightly narrow. The same smokeless torches provided ample light to see by, making it easy to follow her apparent guide. As they walked, Sheila noticed that there happened to be a number of rustlings in the darker corners of the supports, though it seemed that Anna didn't notice it.
"So, who's this Regent?" Sheila prodded her guide, thinking to get some more information from the girl if she could. Perhaps she could find out why they healed her and saved her from the humans.
"You will meet her soon," Anna said, before turning back to look straight ahead.
Sheila huffed quietly to herself, that hadn't been all too helpful, she had at least learned this "Regent" was a woman, or at least female. "Why did you bring me here?" she tried again to get more information from the seemingly human girl.
"The Regent will explain," Anna replied, again stonewalling the husky, much to the latter's frustration.
The hallway took a couple different turns, then opened up into a much larger room, lined with the same arched supports now becoming columns with the much higher arched ceiling. Other larger doorways lined the walls of the large chamber, but a doorway that eclipsed them all stood at the opposite end, two equally large wooden doors barred it closed. The entire thing almost reminded her of a church.
Anna wasted no time in leading the husky towards the large pair of doors at the end of the chamber. Feeling a tad curious, Sheila looked down the other hallways, and found that a multitude of rooms were visible down the much shorter passages. She saw what looked like a cafeteria with a bunch of other humans milling about and sitting at tables, a training room with some humans sparring in pairs, though they seemed much quicker than they ought to be. She also saw what appeared to be a forge, though the heat that should have been coming from it and heating the chamber didn't seem present.
It took almost bumping into the human that made Sheila stop, noticing that they'd made it to the doors at the end of the room. A large dark-skinned human with a short ponytail and grey eyes leaned slightly on the doorframe, he had similar angular features to the girl, though his were much more chiseled in appearance, his muscular frame visible through his white t-shirt. He also wore a black pair of jeans and heavy-duty boots covered his feet from her.
"The Regent is waiting for you," the large man said, standing up and opening the door with a hand, revealing that he easily towered over Sheila, unnerving the husky slightly.
Anna bowed her head slightly, but didn't follow, instead motioning for Sheila to go with the other human into the room. She did as she was bid, following the large man in. As she walked with the large human blocking her view for a moment, she saw that despite his size, he moved with an easy, almost predatory grace. He was definitely more than he appeared to be.
As she passed through the doorway, Sheila became aware of what sounded like, a piano being played? As she got further in, she got a much better earful of the song being played. The notes felt like they were flowing over her in a beautiful, if somber and haunting tune that made her ears twitch and her thoughts briefly turning towards home, and the lupine she had gone off to find on this world. The one she loved with all her heart, she could practically feel her eyes beginning to water at the thought of him, 'Wolf.'
The chamber she was walking into was much darker than the other one, with fewer torches creating large pockets of shadow and especially towards the ceiling, with a central raised dais being the centerpiece. All the way across the chamber was what looked like the piano. It was a great wooden piece, large enough to take up most of the alcove it was put in. Someone, Sheila guessed it might be the Regent, sat on the bench, a long coat draped over the bench behind them, and their long hair settled over their shoulders. From what glimpses she could catch of their hands their fingers practically flew over the keys, still creating the haunting melody even as she approached. The husky was so entranced that she didn't even notice she had left her intimidating escort behind, skirting the dais as she approached the piano player.
THUD
The sound made her freeze, it had come from directly behind her, and it had sounded big. She turned around slowly, and the sight nearly made her heart stop. Not even five feet away from her was what could only be described as a massive bat that towered over her, and she reckoned it might even make the large man that led her in look small. Its wingspan was even longer than it was tall, blocking out much of the torchlight behind it, shrouding her in a deep shadow and giving it a red-tinged halo. The short fur on its body rippled over its muscular form, though it seemed to thin even more over its legs, its feet entirely hairless with long sharp-looking claws. The fur on the head and neck actually became thicker and shaggier, with what looked like sparse quills placed randomly among its mane.
The face of the beast was another thing entirely, covered in similar shaggy fur that was only thinner. Its muzzle was filled with sharp teeth, with very pronounced fangs, and was also armored almost akin to a beak with ridges on the top. Two wide nostrils flared and contracted, no doubt taking in the scent of her fear. Two slanted red eyes practically glowed in its eye sockets, staring down at her.
"Oh my, where are my manners?" the feminine voice that suddenly came from the large bat brought Sheila's brain to a halt. The large bat's eyes seemed to glimmer in amusement before it, giggled, and then started to dissolve in what seemed to be a mass of writhing shadows. Its form flowed and contracted, becoming bipedal, and humanoid.
After a few moments of shifting, the bat was soon resolved into a tall human woman only slightly taller than Sheila. The angular features on all the other people she'd seen so far seemed to be magnified on her, making her look absolutely hawkish in appearance, the sharp lines of her features giving her an air of both danger and speed. Her hair was long and slicked back behind her ears, glinting silver in the light. The rest of the shadows resolved into a form-fitting outfit of cloth in a mottled pattern of black and shades of grey. A half-skirt hung behind her from the woman's hips while the rest of her was covered in the mottled cloth. Light leather boots completed her ensemble. The only thing that didn't change were her bright red eyes, that seemed to retain their glow despite the light on her.
Sheila's brain meanwhile was short circuiting; she had just seen what appeared to be a human, shapeshift from the form of a giant bat. And even stranger, the human had acted like that wasn't even the big deal. The husky tried to speak, but all that came out was, "Whuh?"
The human woman tittered, smiling behind a barely concealing hand, "Oh dear, I think I broke her Johnathan," she said, half-turning her head towards the man that had escorted her in. Johnathan didn't seem to have any comment, though Sheila may have spotted a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. She barely registered that the piano had stopped playing for a while now.
Finally managing to get her thoughts straight, Sheila immediately said the first thing that came to mind, "How? How did you do that, you were a bat, and now you're human!"
This seemed to bring another giggle from the woman, "My dear Ms. Spitz, you have no idea what we are do you?" she replied.
The woman's answer frustrated the husky a little, "And how the hell do you know my name?" she growled.
"That, I can answer my dear," the woman said, the smile never seeming to leave her face, "You remember my fang-sons rescuing you do you not?"
Sheila hesitantly nodded, though the woman's wording was a little odd. The human continued after a bit of thought, "Essentially, I read your mind through the one that put you under."
That, Sheila had not expected, "But, humans can't read minds, let alone read someone's mind through another. Only Cerinians have any kind of psychic abilities," she said, though her own statement sounded a little unsure even to her.
"Well, then you're quite mistaken now aren't you?" the woman said, starting to walk around to the husky's left and circle her. Sheila didn't dare move, lest the woman attack her for some reason. The sudden whisper in her ear from right behind her almost made the husky jump, "We know much about you, we know why your kind is here, we know what advantages you have over the humans," the woman's breath tickled Sheila's ear, "All because of you, Husky 1."
The mention of her squadron number sent a shiver down her spine, but one detail stuck in her mind. "You make it sound like you aren't human," she couldn't help but say as the woman strode back into view, silent as a cat and easily as graceful.
This got an actual chuckle out of the woman, "Because we're not, youngling, Anna should have given you a clue as to our nature."
Sheila thought back to the girl's first appearance, the pale grayish skin, the red eyes, the pointed ears, the claws. Those weren't regular human features from what she remembered reading about humans or heard about them. The next thought was enough to make her take an involuntary step back, bringing a wide Cheshire grin spreading to the woman's face, baring a mouth full of sharp teeth with elongated needle-like canines.
"Now you're getting it," the woman said, her expression very much like a cat that had just caught a mouse.
"What, are you?" Sheila replied, her voice hitching despite herself.
The woman giggled, the husky's fear giving it a sinister edge, "We are the Children of Nocturne, the Scions of Blood and Fang, or if you want to know the name given to us by humans, vampires."
"I thought they were only stories, you have to be messing with me, where's the interrogator with the drugs or virtual reality switch, I'll tell you whatever you want if you just shut this off!" Sheila said as her voice rose in volume, hoping beyond hope what was in front of her was just some trick or interrogation technique.
"I assure you Ms. Spitz, I am quite real, as are the two with us," said the woman, or Regent as Sheila now supposed, as she reached out to the husky. Sheila nearly flinched as the Regent's cool hand brushed along her cheek, the temperature noticeable even through her fur.
As the Regent drew her hand away, Sheila let go of a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, hesitantly drawing another as her heart started racing. She'd only heard brief mention of any folk tales or legends of humans, since they didn't have any relevance to the mission. But from what fragments she remembered, she was in some very serious danger alone and unarmed with these creatures.
"W-what do you want with me?" she said, her voice shaking from her nerves.
"Oh don't fret," the Regent said suddenly, her voice taking on a warm motherly tone as she took a step closer, "We won't hurt you, if you're willing to do something for me and mine," she continued, her voice strangely drawing the husky in and calming her nerves. Those words held much more weight than they should have, yet Sheila could help but feel calmer.
"What do you want from me?" she said again, trying to shake the light fuzz over her mind and thoughts that had developed.
"We want you to send a message to your comrades, tell them what wrath they have brought down upon them by attacking our food," the Regent said, taking the final step to bridge the distance between them. The Regent suddenly brought her hand up and placed her hand to Sheila's forehead.
A feeling of weightlessness overtook the husky, images started to flash before her eyes. She was over the ruins of one of the human cities they had attacked. "Your kind's destruction of many of our kind's food and homes has drawn much attention to you," the Regent's voice echoed in her head. Figures were roaming the wreckage, some survivors, but others started gathering in groups and seeming silent. Sheila could hear a sudden burst of whisperings, discussing the attack and taking a head count. These groups started moving with purpose through the destruction, looking for wounded and those with free hands picking them up bodily. Many had their necks bitten before they even realized they'd been abducted by vampires.
The scene shifted again, to a trio of she guessed were more vampires, moving through a forest, "Even the rogues have sensed the shift in the world's balance of power, they will be drawn to you and yours and other battlegrounds, as is their ken," the Regent mentally told her. The creatures quickly built up speed, easily rivaling a vehicle's top speed as they broke into dead sprints, dodging trees with great agility.
Sheila suddenly found herself in the sky again, the sun setting behind her. Much to her surprise a sudden great flock of bats began swirling around her, all heading the same direction. She couldn't suppress a yelp as she saw another of the gigantic bat-beasts that the Regent had been when the husky had first seen her. "The other covens already move in, we will fight to defend our food Ms. Spitz, even if it means our extinction," the Regent said, her mental words holding a deadly assurance that left no room for doubt in Sheila's mind. The bat-beast flew right at her and opened its mouth in a loud shriek as Sheila cowered.
Just as its maw was about to bite down on her she found that the images had stopped and that the Regent was standing on the dais some feet away from her, looking half-amused at the slightly sweaty and fearful husky cowering still from the vision. She could still hear the echoes of the beast's hellish call, the shaking feeling not having left her legs yet. Thankfully she hadn't peed herself in front of the Regent or the other vampires.
Trying to instill some confidence in herself, and to try to shake off the scare, Sheila spoke up, "You want me to give them this message, what's going to stop anyone else from jumping me out there?"
The Regent didn't stop smiling, and with a wave of her hand Johnathan came forward, a glass with what looked like wine in it in his hand. "Thank you Johnathan," the Regent said, though she hadn't taken the glass. She held her arm over the glass, and to Sheila's surprise held up her opposite hand as a long claw extended from her pointer finger. The Regent then slowly drew the claw over her arm held over the glass, drawing a line of dark red blood. With an almost lazy flick, the Regent took her claw away from her arm, letting a number of drops of the fluid drip into the wine.
After what seemed to be the sufficient amount had dropped in, the Regent lifted her arm up, letting some blood draw a red line down towards her elbow. In a very surprising move, the Regent licked first her claw and then her arm with a tongue longer than a human's and ending in a tapered whip-like tip. Where her tongue touched her arm, the cut healed instantly! "Like the bats associated with us, our saliva helps accelerate healing and staves off infection," the Regent said with a smile as Johnathan swirled the mixed blood and wine, the finished product looking a bit darker than the wine it had been.
Johnathan then walked over towards Sheila and presented the glass to her, his graceful stride not jostling any of the liquid inside. The husky hesitantly took it, "What's this for?" she couldn't help saying.
"The wine is to dilute my blood, drink it, and all who smell you will know you belong to me, they won't touch you, many rogues know better than to cross one of the larger covens in the Americas," the Regent said calmly, "I will also be sending my birth-son Cordelion with you, to provide some added insurance," she added, motioning to the piano player.
The vampire got up, showing that he had a similar angular cast to his face, though it was less than even Johnathan's own features surprisingly. He had a similar silvery cast to his hair, though it seemed more gray than silver. His trench coat swung about his lithe frame and over his black t-shirt and cargo pants. His boots made less sound than she expected as he approached her. She could also see the grip of her handgun on his belt and that of a human gun on his opposite hip. He looked at her coolly out of dark green eyes. Cordelion stopped just short of her personal space, for which the husky was thankful.
Sheila then returned her gaze to the glass in her hand, hesitating. Could she really trust the word of these creatures? They hadn't killed her, they'd even healed her, only to send her back out to contact the ones in charge and deliver a message for them. They needed her, if only to send their message peacefully. She wasn't sure if they knew of her own conflicted loyalties, if they knew her intention was to actually find Wolf.
"Drink," the Regent said again, her eyes seeming to shimmer. That same fuzz came over Sheila's mind again, the husky trying to blink it away as the words seemed to have a very alluring tone to them. She brought the glass to her lips and drank the concoction. Surprisingly it didn't seem to have any of the effects she expected alcohol to have, but it did have a very strong tang to it. After she had finished the glass, she felt a sudden spike of pain through her head, and she dropped it to clutch at her hair with both hands. It felt like her head was being split in half, and when she opened her eyes there was a red haze around her vision before she scrunched them shut again.
After what felt like forever, she opened her eyes again as the pain subsided, the haze was also gone from her sight. She found Johnathan had somehow caught the wine glass and the Regent was looking at her, an eyebrow raised questioningly. "I'm fine," Sheila answered, straightening up. To her surprise she actually felt more energized than before, the subtle ache was gone and she actually felt a little stronger almost.
Another thought occurred to the husky, "This won't be permanent will it?" she couldn't help saying.
"The effects will last until my blood is filtered out of your system, which should be for many hours yet," the Regent answered, "Now go."
At a motion from her new escort, Sheila was sent out of the room and out into the halls. What she hadn't expected was to find a crowd had gathered, many vampires that looked to be different ages and even different human ethnicities were mingling among them. There were many whispers, both vocal and she almost thought she caught a hint of a mental conversation going on, but as soon as the doors closed the crowd stopped and then parted for the two. Cordelion made quick time as he walked immediately for the door that the husky thought led back to where they'd held her. To her surprise, he led her down even more hallways, an upward slope becoming the common factor between them all.
She was about to comment when they reached what seemed to be a dead end, but then he touched it and slid it to the side, revealing what looked to be a natural cavern. "The caves make for a natural hiding place of the coven's location," Cordelion explained, "Humans rarely venture out here and it's easy to keep intruders away." His voice was surprisingly moderate for a male, yet was smooth as silk.
As they walked through the caves, the vampire leading the way, Sheila decided to ask a question, "What's the difference between a fang-son and a birth-son?"
Cordelion paused, and Sheila was momentarily afraid she had offended the vampire, before he continued on, "A fang-son or fang-daughter is a human who was turned by a vampire, a birth-son or birth-daughter is a vampire born to a vampire," he replied, hesitant for the first time that she'd seen him, though his tone indicated he didn't want to discuss this further. Taking the hint, the husky kept silent.
The trip through the coolness of the caverns was short-lived, at least at the pace Cordelion set, and they were quickly at the mouth of the cave. Sunlight streamed in from the afternoon sun. Sheila quickly stepped out into the light, loving the warmth on her fur, unable to help doing a quick twirl that had her hair and tail flowing about her after what felt like so long without it. She looked back to her guide, who seemed to be preparing himself before stepping out into the light. "I thought vampires couldn't be out in the sunlight," she said.
"We can," was all the answer she got.
And with that she looked out into the distance. She thought she saw a town just visible as a bit of a smudge down below and out from the rocky rise that held the cave entrance. "Anywhere in particular you want me to call in?" she said to the vampire.
"Not here, too close to the coven," was his answer.
Sheila gave an annoyed huff, "Then what distance is good enough?" She hoped to get at least a little time to look for Wolf and apologize, if her luck held out.
Cordelion didn't answer her verbally, in fact him being so quiet caused her to turn around to see him in her personal space, and before she could so much as squeak he had picked her up bridal style and they were just as suddenly hurtling down the rise at a rather high speed. She would reluctantly admit that she was screaming obscenities at the vampire all the way down.
**Nellis Air Force Base-Las Vegas, Nevada**
Today was a good day. Well, not for the humans, Sergeant Kale Rayes mused to himself as he and his squad searched the wreckage of the human air force base left behind by their destroyer's bombardment. Already some had found survivors, executing them with neither pomp nor ceremony, just like they deserved.
Kale himself was of a Great Dane breed of Cornerian. He stood at six-foot-eight and had a quite muscular frame that strained his combat uniform despite the lankiness common to his breed. Another still breathing human popped out of the wreckage, and Kale brought him down with a well-placed shot to the heart. He still thanked the ingenuity of Vince Stazac for developing the armor he wore now, it had saved his life a number of times, as evidenced by the small tears where bullets had hit the Dane but not passed through.
The roar of Arwing engines overhead signaled another pass by the Hunts squadron passing over them. And another roar told of the destruction of another human building via the destroyer's rockets. Another survivor was dragged out of a hiding place behind him screaming, then a single shot silenced it.
"How are things progressing on the ground Sergeant?" Koval's voice broke through the noise on Rayes' headset.
"Everything's going smoothly sir, no casualties and only pathetic resistance to meet us, no alien is getting out of here alive, just like you ordered," Rayes answered his superior. A slight movement in one of the ruins caused him to pause and point his gun that way, causing the rest of his squad to pause as well and wonder what he was looking at.
"What is it Sarge?" asked a purple-coated panther, his voice curious.
"Thought I saw something move in there," the Great Dane said back.
A startled cry from a pig soldier and a burst of fire ringing out drew everyone else's attention to the group's other side. The pig was looking slightly sheepish as he lowered his weapon, "I, thought I saw something moving too," he said.
"Maybe it's just rats," said the panther.
"While the bullets are flying?" Rayes said incredulously. The feline only shrugged. "Let's just finish up here, I'm getting a bad feeling, things are getting a little too lively," the Sergeant finally said, the squad moving forward and continuing their cleanup work.
It took a sudden yelp and the sound of someone getting dragged off that got everyone's attention. Rayes took a quick head count, and noticed he was missing someone. "Traynor, anyone got eyes on Traynor?" he said, looking for the red-furred vulpine in question. There was a chorus of negatives, he had just up and vanished it seemed. That bad feeling was returning with a vengeance.
Something small and red suddenly flew out of a gap between two ruined buildings, hitting the panther in the face with a wet splack. The soldier promptly stumbled onto his rump, unintentionally catching the object that hit him while dropping his weapon. He yelped and dropped it. The object was Traynor's severed and bloody head, expression locked in a silent scream.
Then things all around them started moving. Rubble shifted as humans moved out from between buildings or from hiding spots. Many rats crawled and scampered over the debris and the ground. Bats fluttered down and perched in various places. All in all, Rayes' squad was surrounded.
A particularly tall human, with tanned skin and a belt with a large knife sheathed in it around his torso over a muscle shirt and fatigues, stepped forward. His black eyes bored into Rayes' own as he strode towards him. "You're trespassing," the human said in a deep voice, his fellows looking amongst each other and the Cornerians, the man's square jaw remaining locked, as if clenched.
"And you're dead," said a leopard member of Rayes' squad, the canine hearing the feline's rifle clicking only for the soldier to cry out in pain and the weapon to hit the ground. Daring a quick look, he saw that what looked like a rectangular piece of metal with a sharpened pointed end was sticking out of the leopard's rifle, impaling it like a stake.
A feminine giggling alerted them to the presence of a short raven-haired girl on their flank, her front soaked with blood and the fluid staining her chin. "Ah ah ah, naughty naughty," she said, giggles still escaping her as she wagged a finger at them.
'She must be the one who killed Traynor,' Rayes thought to himself. "What do you want?" he said, having to work to keep his voice steady.
"It's simple really, we want you gone, or dead," said a monotone voice from their other flank, revealing a lithe human with long blonde hair. The third human looked at them all blankly, as if they were little more than insects that he had stepped on. "The choice is dependent on whether you want more blood on your hands or not really," he droned on, causing Rayes and he was sure more than one other member of his squad to bristle.
The Cornerians started backing up, forming a circle with all weapons pointed outward. And with each step they took, the aggressors moved every closer. All hell then broke loose.
The Cornerians opened fire, a machine gun, assault rifles, and a pistol sent death careening into the humans around them. The humans rushed forward, loud hisses audible even over the gunfire. Bullets tore into them, red coating the ground, but they seemed less than affected by the weapons. Rayes bashed at one with the butt of his assault rifle, knocking over a red-haired man and firing a quick burst into the downed human. There was no respite, the pig's machine gun was managing to hold off a number of them, but it wasn't long before one got to him and dragged him out of the circle of soldiers squealing and kicking. The soldier vanished within the mob, though nobody had time to mourn as the humans actually seemed invigorated by downing one of the Cornerians.
The Cornerians' circle was getting smaller and smaller, Rayes barely managed to dodge a strike from a young woman with pink-dyed hair and shove her away only for the man with the knife to take her place. The tanned human drew his knife and stabbed forward, Rayes blocking it by desperately raising his rifle, only for the blade to impale the weapon. Thinking quickly Rayes dropped his gun and drew his pistol, only for the human to drop his knife at nearly the same time. Rayes fired his gun, and much to his surprise the human barely dodged the bullet, a long divot being dug into his jaw before the human reached for and grabbed the canine by his collar.
One moment Rayes was in among his circle of soldiers, the next he was flying through the air, and the moment after that he had landed on the base's pavement hard. The air was knocked explosively from his lungs, though he managed to keep hold of his pistol. He got back up, though his chest and back pained him, 'Likely cracked a rib,' he thought.
As he turned back he saw that his squad was getting torn apart, the blonde man had separated the panther, and was in the middle of bashing the feline's head repeatedly on a jagged piece of rubble already stained red. The girl with black hair had cornered the leopard, the other feline trying desperately to strike her with his combat knife, only for the human to effortlessly dance out of the way each time. The rest of the mob had converged on any other survivors; he could hear the sounds of screaming and ripping flesh even over the diminishing gunfire, blood and viscera filled the air around the frenzy. What stopped his heart though was he saw humans that he had thought were downed, getting back up, though they were clearly wounded and many were limping. Some didn't, though he wasn't sure what the difference was.
The tall human approached him, calmly walking towards the canine. Rayes raised his pistol almost drunkenly, only for the human to rush forward and knock it out of his hand. The canine yelped and shook the hurt appendage, reaching for his combat knife with his other one. He didn't get the chance, as the human threw a hard punch into his gut, nearly knocking his lunch out of him and causing him to fall to the ground again.
Rayes drew in a harsh breath and brought his transmitter up to his face, "Brigadier Koval, we're, we're getting slaughtered down here," he said breathlessly.
"Say again Sergeant?" was the Brigadier's reply.
"Humans, something, I don't know, they're killing us!" Rayes said before the human stomped on his wrist, shattering the transmitter and the bones underneath. He howled in pain.
The human suddenly grabbed the back of Rayes' uniform in a vise-like grip, lifting him up so that the human was behind him. "You chose poorly, now watch the consequences for attacking our prey," the human's deep voice practically purred in his ear as his gaze was wrenched to the sky. Bats, what had to be hundreds of them, were beginning to swarm and collect in a huge flock. The Arwings came back for another pass and avoided the bats, though they began circling.
Then with a loud shriek, much larger bats, easily human-sized burst from the pack towards the Arwings circling them. Most of the squadron managed to break off, but one got hit by the large mammal. The bat clung to the cockpit, no doubt panicking the pilot inside enough to make him go into an accidental nosedive. The Arwing dove towards the ground, the bat jumping off with just the right timing to avoid going with it as the craft hit the ground and turned into a fireball as the g-diffusors ignited.
Rayes could feel the human's grip tightening, digging into the uniform and then his lower back, much to the great dane's pain and discomfort. He could see the bats giving chase to the other Arwings, though they couldn't keep up with the craft, the Arwings were forced to try and avoid the bigger bats, and the mammals used that to their advantage, herding the ships into their brethren's claws. A sudden crack that was more felt than heard made Rayes cry out as everything below his waist lost feeling, the human had crushed his spine! The human held Rayes up, putting his other hand on the back of his neck as he heard a much louder shriek, one that was answered by the bats in the air and still on the ground.
A shadow passed overhead as Rayes fought to remain conscious, and what he saw made his stomach drop further. It was a huge bat-like beast, much larger than the other bats he'd seen. With its large talons, it snatched up an Arwing and flapped hard, actually overpowering its engines as it headed towards the CMD Zoness that seemed almost unaware of the danger.
The beast flung the captured Arwing towards the command bridge as the human snapped Rayes' neck.
**CMD Zoness-Airspace Above Nellis Air Force Base**
"Humans, something, I don't know, they're killing us!"
Brigadier Koval couldn't believe his ears, humans were actually fighting back against his ground troops? The big leopard gecko was about to question the Sergeant but the signal abruptly cut out.
"Sir, we're getting reports of our ground forces being assaulted by what sound like mobs of humans, our squads can't regroup," reported another officer, a beige cat, her voice was just as incredulous as Koval felt.
"No substantial resistance could exist after that bombardment," Koval said, though he was interrupted as the leader of his destroyer's resident squadron came through the line.
"Sir, we've got a large congregation of wildlife, looks like bats, they're near one of our squad's positions," the shepherd said, clearly baffled.
Despite his mounting confusion, Koval had to say something, "Keep an eye on those bats, but be careful, something isn't right here."
"Roger that sir," was the squadron leader's answer, the channel closing.
Koval quickly called for a hail to General Pepper's flagship on a priority channel, the General quickly appearing in holographic form in front of the gecko. "What is it Koval, I thought things were going smoothly?" the bloodhound said, his tone questioning.
"They were," Koval answered, "But it seems we missed some, our squads are getting ambushed by humans, and it seems things aren't going as smoothly as before, we're suddenly losing people left and right."
"Sir, we're under attack, large bats, one got on Roberts' Arwing and he's down, panicked and nosedived," the voice of his squadron leader said, tone frantic.
"Brigadier, do you know what's going on?" Pepper said, his own voice sounding confused.
"I wish I knew sir," Koval slowly replied, "Put all stations on high alert," he said to another bridge officer, the klaxon starting to ring throughout the entire destroyer, "Get all of our ground forces out of there, we're going to glass this place."
"When you're done withdrawing, I want a full report, all the data you can gather," Pepper said before the hologram winked out and the line closed.
"Yes, sir," Koval said to empty air.
"Sir, you may want to see this," said the cat from earlier, and when she didn't point it out, Koval looked where she was looking and what he saw made his jaw drop. He saw a gigantic bat, with an Arwing clutched in its claws, heading right for them.
"What are you waiting for, shoot it down!" Koval snapped, and as the orders started to be relayed, Koval turned back just as the bat flung the Arwing towards the viewport of the bridge. 'Oh fuck me,' was the only thing he thought as the Arwing smashed through.
The CMD Zoness' bridge exploded as the fighter smashed into it, a spark igniting the smaller craft's engines. Now rudderless, the large destroyer slowly nosedived into the ground, kicking up a gigantic furrow of dirt and leaving a large trench in the middle of the air base.
A/N: And done. Just like I said above, I'd love to hear what y'all think of this much longer chapter, even if you'd prefer I wrote shorter chapters. It should be obvious that if I were to write another chapter of a similar length to this one, it most likely won't come out as fast as this one did, unless I get hit with a lot of inspiration like I was for this one.
Also, many thanks to Sheppard for helping me out for the last two thirds of the chapter, clarifying when Koval's attack was happening in regards to the time of day.
And now to answer some likely questions:
Yes these vampires can be out during the day (no sparkling in the sun) and yes I know that's been done before as well as losing power because of the daylight. More powerful vampires and dhampires (human/vampire hybrid for those that don't know) lose a bit less power than less powerful vampires when in daylight. They're still stronger than humans but the difference is made much less to practically even when in direct sunlight if a vampire is weak enough.
Vampire Covens: Groups of vampires. Led by Regents. Are all connected by a telepathic hive mind that is centered around the ruling Regent.
Regents: Regents are the head of a vampire coven, no questions asked usually because they're the most powerful and oldest vampire there. That's not to say a Regent is all-powerful as with the right strategy a less powerful vampire can still take them down, they still have the same weaknesses as a regular vampire. They also transform into a unique bat form, as demonstrated here. They act like a nexus for the coven's mental hive mind, and have a drawing effect on other vampires that can extend for many miles if the Regent is particularly powerful and/or focusing on the effect. They also have a mild transformative effect on vampires under them, causing a shifting of the subordinate vampire's features to more mimic the Regent's. the longer a vampire is subordinate to a Regent, the more like them they become.
Telepathy: Vampire covens, led by a Regent, have a sort of mental connection similar to a hive mind. The Regent acts like a nexus and is able to read the thoughts of many of their subordinates at once if they're skilled enough. This also allows quite fast spread of information around a coven, as soon as one vampire knows something, all they have to do is open their mind to the telepathic connection and the entire coven will know it. For example, the Regent knew where the bridge on the Destroyer was because of absorbing the knowledge from the late Traynor.
Tongue: All vampires possess a long tongue with a whip-like end, though some dhampires don't have them. The whip end is actually pointed and acts like a very sensitive nerve probe. Vampires can use this to gain access to a human or other non-coven vampire's memories by touching the nearly-exposed nerves to the central nervous system. Though this does create a two-way connection, the "victim" is also going to be on the receiving end of memories from the vampire "attacker."
Shapeshifting: All vampires can shapeshift, usually into a bat, rat, wolf, or patch of mist if they're so inclined. More skilled and/or older vampires can achieve transformation into a human-sized bat, a larger rat and wolf, and can stay in mist form for longer. Regents can shapeshift into a bat-beast as seen here in the chapter. If a vampire is caught while transformed in the day time, they will be locked in that form until the night. Only Regents are exempt from this rule, but they are still cannot transform while in direct sunlight.
Vampire Healing: As stated in the chapter, vampire saliva increases healing speed and can keep infection away, but vampires also have a natural healing factor that can be supercharged in this manner. It works fastest with things like superficial wounds like cuts, allowing practically instantaneous healing.
Vampire Weaknesses as they pertain to this story: Starving from lack of blood, should be obvious. They aren't vulnerable to holy objects, but if one has a sharp enough point you can stab them with it lol. A vampire can assuredly be killed if you can manage to cause so much trauma to their heart that their healing isn't enough, the best way to do this is with a bullet or two if you can manage to hit them. Any kind of bullet will do, it doesn't need to be silver or silver-coated or anything. Just shoot them in the heart and they're down for good. Particularly powerful explosives also work.
And if you have any other questions you can shoot me a PM or ask them in a review, I'll be more than happy to answer them. Though with that expanded codex you might not have any ha hahaha! Please feel free to leave a review, it can only help me do better at this, and please tell me if you want to see more chapters of a similar length or possibly longer or shorter.
And without further ado, I'll see you all next time on First Contact: Nocturne!