USS Theodore Roosevelt, UN Atlantic Fleet 6:00am
Standing on the flight deck of the titanic form of the fleet's flagship, General Staunton, hand on a side rail to steady himself as the ship powered through the water, watched the vast force that the UN had created over the past week all moving together towards New Volterra.
As USAF fighter jets jostled for space alongside Chinese MiGs, African Saab Grippen and all varieties of warplane in the air overhead, followed by the ponderous bulk of C17 Globemaster transport planes and the distinctive silhouette of what could only be an AC130 gunship, Staunton watched the warships all around preparing weapons on their decks, from missile tubes to Goalkeeper defence guns and deck mounted machine guns to deal with vampire attack. Whirring overhead and around came helicopters of all shapes and sizes, cabin doors open to reveal heavy weapons and squads of both black uniformed Ultra Vector soldiers and troops from all over the world, all decked out in blue UN helmets and body armour.
It had been a logistical nightmare to bring this force together, and yet it was only a fraction of what they had, with literally thousands of other units arrayed on the land border with New Volterra, ready to rush in when the UN fleet was in place. It had been decided very quickly that the scattered remnants of Ultra Vector, still reeling from almost constant vampire attacks upon their bases, just wasn't in the position to mount such an operation on its own, and so now, armed with little more than a crash course in anti-vampire attacks and the most powerful infantry weapons their countries could provide, the literal 'army of humanity' as Staunton had first called it, now its unofficial name, was ready for battle.
Though he would never have believed that some of these nations would ever fight together; the sight of North and South Korean marines sharing helicopters together for this operation would have been a laughable notion days ago, somehow, in the face of a common foe, they had pulled together, all supplying divisions of their forces for this massive effort. For the past few days Staunton and the senior UN and Ultra Vector leaders had been working on little sleep and gravel-like US Navy coffee to plan out maneuverers and to try and work out what settlement, if any, they could make with the vampires when all this was over.
It had been a sobering thought for all present when they had rewatched Caius' speech, seen the genuine emotion that the vampire had shown, the hatred for the injustice that had been wrought upon his people. They had all been complicit in what really amounted to war crimes to try and destroy the vampires, all the way up to the use of nuclear weapons, and they had all known that every one of them would have to answer for what they had done when all this was over.
But now was the time for action, not words, Staunton thought as he saw the distant form of New Volterra on the horizon. The battle plan was simple really, involving a rush of mechanised units supported by full air cover and helicopter support through the wide streets of the city, hoping that any vampire ambushes could be dealt with quickly by escorting gunships, before eventually moving through Central Park, where the wide open spaces would allow them to bring their superior firepower to bear fully, then straight through to recapture the UN Headquarters.
They didn't know when or where Caius himself would attack but the entire taskforce knew that, whenever the ancient vampire did attack, it would take everything they had to fight him. Most were predicting he would attempt a defence of the UN building itself, safe in the knowledge that the venerable headquarters had too much significance for humanity to be simply razed to the ground. Even so, if the worst came to it and they failed, Staunton had direct orders from the entire replacement Security Council that, if it came to that, any measures would be used to destroy Caius and his fledgling empire where it stood, no matter the cost.
He was brought out of his thoughts as he saw Rog and the rest of his squad come marching over, all decked out in full kit and awaiting his orders.
"Sir our transport is ready." His heavy weapons specialist, a German Kommando called Bosse said with a grunt through his thick balaclava, hefting a light machine gun like it was weightless.
The general nodded. He doubted many of these men, him included, would survive the day.
A second later and the thunder of helicopter blades joined the roar of aircraft all around and a black and white Blackhawk helicopter came roaring into land beside them, and Staunton instantly fought back a slight gasp of surprise as he saw the distinctive markings of the aircraft.
"You got us Marine One as a transport?" he said with a raised eyebrow and his second in command, Lieutenant Rog, only shrugged and grinned.
"You wanted the best equipped command helicopter we could find and the Presidents still trapped in New Volterra so the White House was all too willing to loan us his helicopter since Air Force One is unavailable…"
As he clambered into the slightly cramped but comfortable interior with the others, instantly grabbing the President's chair for himself, and the craft began to rise, Staunton felt a grin come to his face as he whispered softly.
"Enjoy your last few hours on earth Caius. We're coming for you…"