The Carpathian Mountains, Romania 8:00pm
The grey Boeing C-17 Globemaster soared low over the snow topped mountains, its escorts, two Romanian MIG-21's, staying close to it, ready for anything. After a few days of research, and one large scale demonstration of vampire powers, the UN forces barely knew the extent of their enemy's powers. For all they knew, the vampires could indeed fly.
In its cavernous hold was sat Captain Staunton and his ten man squad, along with another led by a huge German Kommando called Hauptmann Klausewitz, and the imposing bulk of a Challenger Mark 2 battle tank, painted black and secured to the metal floor whilst a group of engineers scurried around it. Staunton sighed as he sat strapped in on a cold metal seat, the shuddering of the plane around him stopping any sort of sleep.
He was deep in thought as he checked his kit for what felt like the hundredth time, pausing over the familiar shape of his L85A2 rifle, newly brought over along with a ton of other equipment from England after the battle at the airbase. It felt much heavier now, after been converted to fire the same 14.5×114mm rounds they had used in the previous battle, after the devastating toll they had taken upon the vampire attackers. New kit had been given to Staunton and his men as well, mainly a jet black uniform and body armour set, including night vision goggles and deep crimson berets, the words 'Ultra Vector' embossed on the silver cap badge. But the strangest piece of equipment that had been shipped out to the taskforce were large silver, almost cartoonishly big, Magnum 500 revolvers, loaded with explosive bullets.
Staunton was genuinely surprised at the speed of this campaign, when he had been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan they had never moved this quickly with days, sometimes weeks, in between different operations. And yet, only a day after the battle at the airbase, they were already soaring towards the next objective, and would be there in barely half an hour.
The brief from General Uberto before they set off was simple. The Romanian Coven, led by two immensely powerful vampires, Stefan and Vladimir, was next on the list of enemies, as it could potentially ally with the remains of the Volturi and become a substantial threat.
"This is just crazy…" came the voice of Staunton's second in command, Lieutenant Rog, a Polish GROM operative, the squad sniper, a short, thin man, but with an accuracy that had impressed even the stony faced Uberto. "Last week I was about to start my holiday, this week I'm fighting vampires in Romania! Although I'm surprised they're not in Transylvania, like in Dracula. I mean, if they were, we wouldn't need such ridiculous weapons to kill them!"
A few others nodded agreement, but suddenly stopped as the cabin intercom crackled into life .
"This is your captain speaking." Came the voice of the pilot, with a distinct French accent. "We're coming close to the drop site. I suggest any extra briefing you have to do, get it done now before we reach the objective."
Staunton nodded and stood up from his seat, keeping his footing as the aircraft shuddered violently.
"Alright men, you heard the brief from Uberto but I feel you all need a reminder. Our target is Peles Castle, a 19th Century country house near the town of Sinaia. Now, these vampires are as powerful, if not more so, than our friends at the airbase were, so stick together and remember, anything that's not one of us is considered an enemy. Now, I must stress that we have to stick as a tight unit and under no circumstances can you allow yourself to be bitten. We all know the unit's policy about that."
The rest of the group nodded grimly. They all knew the deadly fate of those unlucky soldiers bitten during the last battle. Staunton paused for a second as the pilot gave them another time update. Five minutes.
"Anyway, we move in through the forests to the north, consult your maps if you need reminding, and enter the building through the terrace at the back along with Klausewitz's boys. From there our mission is simple. Destroy every vampire and collaborator in the vicinity. Any questions?"
"Why don't we just nuke it like we did to the last vampire stronghold?" asked Private Vickers, another SAS soldier, his face hidden behind his balaclava.
"Wish we , due to the proximity of other towns as well as Sinaia to the area, and the potential problems from dropping a nuclear weapon without express permission from the Romanians, it would be a very bad idea. It was bad enough getting the Italians to agree. Besides, we didn't destroy the Volturi entirely with the first bomb, so command wants us to confirm the deaths of every vampire in the Romanian coven."
As he finished the brief, they came above the drop point, and the huge bay door at the back opened, flight crew shouting to one another as the heavy Challenger tank was readied for its drop.
Having to shout over the roar of the night wind rushing in, Staunton quickly organized his men into a rough line, each one checking parachutes and weaponry as he said.
"Ok we follow the tank down to the drop site, link up with the rest of the strike force and move in from there! We should have cover from the air in case the enemy are in the open but once it gets to the interior fighting, no mercy!"
By now the tank had been dropped, and was floating down far below on a huge silk parachute to land. As the flight crew shouted at them to move, each man ran to the edge and jumped off, one by one, ready to pull their parachutes when they got halfway. When Staunton's turn came, he checked his equipment one last time, took a deep breath, jumped, and was swallowed up by the darkness.