Manhattan , New Volterra 7:00am

Marine One shuddered underneath Staunton and his men as they roared over the streets of New Volterra, readying weapons for their inevitable descent into the vampire stronghold.

"Sorry for the turbulence gentlemen." Said the pilot from up front. "But it's either take on the crosswinds up here or risk getting jumped by a bloodsucker."

Staunton glanced out the side window as they powered onwards. Below them the skyscrapers of Manhattan rose up ,many of them decked out with giant crimson banners down the sides and flags flying from the rooftops.

"It's like bloody Red October out there…" Lieutenant Rog said with a nervous grin. "Bastards should have spent more time on their defences and less on making this city uglier than it already was."

The others laughed grimly behind Staunton as he watched low flying Chinese J-10s commencing bombing runs on the streets below, filling the air with grey clouds of smoke and dust. They had managed, a few days earlier, to get warning to trusted local authorities within New Volterra of their impending attack, and that all civilians should seek shelter in the underground metro system, far from the bombings of the streets above. Even now he knew that the forces on the ground moving in from the suburbs had a priority to protect civillians, not just destroy vampires.

"Escorts are here!" shouted Private Vickers, pointing out the window. Following the SAS soldier's gaze Staunton saw the distinct shape of five Eurofighter Typhoons, flying in perfect formation alongside their helicopter, whilst the rest of their assault group, made up of ten other transport helicopters of all types, was behind, the soldiers on board ready to cleanse New Volterra of the vampire menace.

Moving into the front cockpit he stood between the two pilots, the co-pilot giving him a tired nod as he watched the skies above the besieged city beyond.

"Ready?" Staunton said with a fatalistic grin, smoothing the red beret on his head.

The pilot shrugged, not taking his eyes off the battlefield beyond as a squadron of USAF F-16s screamed past in a V formation, releasing stacks of rockets into the streets below.

"As we can ever be." The pilot said finally. "This makes Iraq look like a walk in the park. So is there some super-secret weapon you're not telling us about that's going to win us this war?"

"Not as such…" the general replied. "Once we get to Central Park I'm just hoping we can take Caius and his cronies down before things get ugly."

"And killing the leaders going to make those vampires surrender?"

Staunton sighed inwardly. He didn't have an answer to that question.

"I hope so. I bloody well hope so…"

The conversation was ended as the radio crackled into life and the voice of a haughty Japanese air commander came on the air.

"This is Major General Takashi. Air superiorty has been achieved. Transports are clear for landing."

The pilot laughed grimly as the message ended.

"Well it's great to know it took us ten minutes to gain air superiority over things that can't fly. Anyway, we should be reaching the drop zone in less than five minutes sir."

Staunton nodded and quickly turned back to the cabin beyond, where his squad were trying to prepare themselves for the battle ahead, a few almost religiously checking their equipment, some looking at pictures of loved ones whilst one, the hefty German Kommando Werner, was drinking from a hip flask.

"Need a bit?" he said as Staunton passed by and, with a shrug, the general turned back and had a swig.

As the foul tasting liquid cascaded down his throat the general felt the helicopter descending slowly, and the pilot's voice came over the intercom.

"Ok we're nearing the drop zone and ready for landing. Hang on gentlemen."

Looking forward for a second to see the green mass of Central Park amongst the ocean of grey buildings beyond,Staunton turned back to his squad.

"Ok men." He began simply, grabbing his L85A2 rifle from the rack beside him. "You all heard my detailed briefing back at base so I'm sure you don't need much of a recap. But, just in case, remember our priority is Caius. The rest of our division will handle whatever bodyguard he has but it's the responsibility of our unit to find him and destroy him. I know he may be a monster but he seems to follow some sick vampire code of honour so if he's going to be after anyone in particular it will be this command squad and us alone unfortunately. Remember though, there's another five squads with us so we aren't alone on this one."

By now the helicopter was metres from the ground and Staunton checked his kit one last time as Ivanov stood by the cabin door, heavy RPK LMG in one hand and the other clamped around the door handle.

"Ready sir?" the Spetnatz operative said softly.

Staunton nodded and, the second the helicopter hit the ground, Ivanov hauled the door open and he, along with half the squad, instantly leapt out, weapons at the ready.

The general jumped out, along with the other half, turning back briefly to the helicopter,having to shout over the roar of the blades and noises of engines from beyond.

"If we're alive by the end of this pick us up from here!" he bellowed. "Just make sure that we can return that craft to the White House in good condition!"

The pilot gave him a thumbs up from the cockpit as Staunton pulled the door shut and turned back to the park beyond, feeling a rush of air as Marine One soared upwards.

Central Park stretched beyond him as a vast plain of grass and trees, strangley idyllic except for the smoke rising from the city beyond, along with the roar of gunfire and heavy explosions in the distance. And in front of him was his army.

Covering the field beyond in a blanket of armour and uniform was the main force of the UN's 'army of humanity'. With soldiers from almost every nation on earth, this was truly an international force, and was currently deploying into the open space, with squads of troops taking up positions amongst the craters and fallen trees which marked the carpet bombing the UN air units had spent the past hour subjecting the area to in an effort to open up the battlefield.

It had already been agreed that urban warfare would turn into a massacre against Caius and his vampires so, whilst the ground forces in other areas were moving by armoured convoys through the streets, this main unit was now ready to fight the Volturi in the open. All around Staunton and his squad the ten thousand strong force was amassing, setting up heavy weapon emplacements and clearing landing sites for the swarms of transport helicopters overhead as heavy battle tanks and armoured vehicles moved into position.

As the general and his squad ran to their position, threading their way through platoons of soldiers in blue combat helmets and tanks proudly flying the blue UN ensign from their armoured forms, Staunton could see helicopters landing on the rooftops of buildings overlooking their positions, crammed with snipers armed with anti-material rifles and missile launchers, whilst the small forms of Little Bird attack helicopters buzzed low overhead, Ultra Vector troops hanging onto the sides.

Their position was at the centre of the UN forces, behind a crude barricade of fallen trees and accompanied by grim faced Ultra Vector troops carrying bright UN flags. On both sides sat the squat forms of battle tanks, repainted in white and black UN colouring.

"Remind me why we're right in the centre of the battlefield?" Vickers said with a frown as he crouched by the fallen trees and checked over his L82A1 sniper rifle.

"We're the bait." Ivanov stated simply, lighting a cigarette and watching the empty field beyond. "The vampires rush us. We fire upon them and they keep coming until our air support and the men above us drop them." He added with a wave of his hand toward the snipers on the rooftops above.

"Look just keep it together and remember that there's ten thousand others who've got your back." Staunton said firmly, gesturing behind them to where, on the low, crater strewn hill beyond, the forms of hundreds of units and scattered vehicles were deployed.

"Plus we've already fought Caius before." Rog added as he and Werner carried a heavy HK Grenade Machine Gun into position and set it down, the burly German looking down the sight of the weapon as he loaded it. "And this time we have an entire army to help us. I mean the second he gets here we're just going to…"

It was at that very moment that, across the field, the vampire army appeared from thin air.

Back at the UN fleet, the command centre was filled with complete chaos and confusion as the military and political leaders gathered there watched in horror the scene unfolding in Central Park.

"They just came out of nowhere…" an American general said in disbelief as he saw the same few seconds of footage being repeated over and over again on one of the computer screens before him, its operator pale faced with his hands contorted into fists. Behind him others watched as the footage, taken from a Little Bird scout hovering over Central Park ,distinctly showed that, in the space of a second, a once empty field facing the UN lines had been filled with thousands of vampires, stretched out in one large mass of black cloaked figures and fluttering red banners.

"How the…" the Deputy Secretary General, his near permnenanrt smile now lost as he gazed upon the blurry forms of the vampire army.

"Look these weren't on the sensors a moment ago. They just…appeared." One of the technicians said, rubbing his eyes in disbelief.

"Maybe it's some kind of vampire stealth system? A natural cloaking device?" suggested a French commander, shrugging in abject disbelief.

"Perhaps they moved so fast they weren't visible till they stopped?" came the voice of a Chinese general, frowining at the officers around him all pale faced with shock.

"Impossible!" snorted one of the other officers and the room soon descended into chaos as the technicians, soldiers and officers all just devolved into arguments and theories of their own.

But then one voice suddenly spoke out, shouting down the rest of the command centre until they just looked at the speaker.

It was the Japanese prime minister, who had insisted that, as a former member of the elite 1st Airborne Group, he was more than able to help in the complex operations they were coordinating.

"As I said whilst you were all arguing amongst yourselves, it doesn't matter how or what the vampires just did. The only way to greet them is with the massed guns of our brave soldiers."

Turning he looked out to the smoking buildings of Manhattan beyond.

"I want these vampires to know the meaning of superior firepower…"

In Central Park the vampire army still remained in the scarred and churned up field beyond, unmoving, as the UN force prepared to wipe it off the earth.

With the soldiers on the ground setting up portable missile launchers ,snipers above readying explosive rounds and tanks and armoured vehicles aiming heavy weaponry at the Volturi, it seemed as if this battle would be the quickest, and most anticlimactic, of the entire war. As helicopters hovered above with rocket pods and machine cannon ready, a flight of A-10 Thunderbolts and Eurofighter Typhoons came swooping into attack formation overhead, Staunton prepared himself to call down a devastating torrent of firepower upon the massed vampires.

Glancing overhead as a thundering roar of engines announced the arrival of two AC-130 gunships, Staunton took a deep breath, noticing the troops around him hunkering down for the inevitable storm of shrapnel and pieces of vampire that would soon be flying their way.

With one final look at the Volturi still standing motionless beyond, he spoke into the radio and said two words.

"Unleash hell."

With a rush of engines and roar of gunfire, the first salvos were unleashed, artillery shells and missiles streaking straight toward the Volturi lines, blanketing them in ash and smoke as they struck. The tanks behind Staunton's squad opened up aswell, sending high explosive shots screaming past whilst the dull thumps of hundreds of heavy weapons and vehicles opening up as one echoed in the soldier's ears. With a whoosh of jet engines the Thunderbolts came in low for an attack run, their chain guns firing into the smoke cloud which hung around whatever remained of the Volturi, before peeling off one by one to rearm back at the fleet beyond whilst the Eurofighter's rocket pods blasted into the vampire lines, sending up tongues of fire and smoke high into the sky.

"Keep it up!" Staunton ordered into the radio, hearing the cheers of his troops behind him as the smoke washed over them from the cloud that hung over the field beyond.

As he said this a voice crackled onto the net with a thick Texan drawl.

"This is Papa Dragon, moving in for an attack run. Best stand back boys; this is going to get hot…"

As the voice crackled out Staunton watched the first of the AC-130s come circling around, and the spears of light that marked its fire slamming down into the earth.

And yet, despite the firepower still being hurled into whatever crater the Volturi had been turned into, Straunton still felt as if something wasn't right. As a flight of Hind gunships raked the field with bursts of chain gun fire and rockets before whirring away, Staunton bellowed out an order.

"Light them up boys!"

As one the entire infantry line, made up of thousands of soldiers, both Ultra Vector and regular troops, opened up. The crackle of thousands of heavy assault rifles rang in Staunton's ears as he added his fire to the fusilliade, the rattle of the rest of his squad's weapons added to by the harsh rumble of Ivanov's machine gun and the crack of Vickers's rifle. Streaks of smoke marked the flight of dozens of shoulder mounted missiles and rockets, whilist the dull bangs of high powered rifles echoed from the rooftops overhead.

And yet still that feeling persisted that something wasn't right. After another minute of the thundering barrage, in which the second AC-130 'Screaming Eagle' dropped precision strikes of its 102mm cannon, Staunton once more spoke into the radio with another order.

"Cease fire boys! I repeat, cease fire!"

Within seconds the attack subsided and yet the smoke around whatever was left of the Volturi still stayed where it was.

"Guardian I need a scout unit to check what we can scrape up of the Volturi after that bombardment." Staunton ordered, and then watched as a single Lynx scout helicopter flew to above the smoke cloud and hovered above it.

"This is Recon 1." The pilot said over the radio. "Proceeding to…"

Staunton didn't hear the rest of the pilot's message as he saw a streak of grey suddenly burst through the black smoke cloud and, at great speed, skewer the helicopter in one strike.

"Vampires!" Staunton bellowed, but by then it was too late, and he watched the Lynx go into a tailspin, its cockpit windscreen smashed in by the projectile, and slam into a nearby building with a tearing of metal and smash of glass.

Setting his eye to his rifle's scope, Staunton felt his blood chill as the smoke cloud began to clear and he saw them.

The Volturi.

Completely unscathed and, at their head, laughing was the unmistakeable figure of Caius, brandishing a glittering broadsword and holding his fist aloft in a gesture of victory.

"How…" Staunton heard Rog splutter desperately next to him, but ignored the cries of horror from the men around him as he looked closer and saw, standing by Caius in a triangle formation, three female vampires in flowing red ball gowns, opera gloves and masks, their hands contorted into claws as they appeared to be holding up…

"A shield!" Staunton bellowed. "They've got a shield! I need immediate…"

His order was lost as one voice echoed out over the field, booming out across Central Park.

"That won't be necessary general!"

The general felt a chill run through him as he heard Caius speak, and could feel a collective stab of fear into every human in the ranks around him.

"I am sorry for the deception!" Caius said with a booming laugh. "But I didn't want you having too easy a run of it! The Three Sisters here have proved most useful in protecting us from both your gaze and your weapons!"

Staunton felt a rush of adrenaline bursting through him as he shouted into the radio.

"Snipers concentrate fire on the three women in red!"

As he said this the thunder of hundreds of high powered rifles going off at once filled the air, but the general watched in horror as the bullets struck an invisible barrier around the vampire army like stones on the surface of water and dissolved into nothing.

This time it wasn't just Caius who was laughing but the thousands strong Volturi army, a wave of cackles and jeers drifting across to the UN lines.

"Aro always was afraid of your weapons!" Caius said with another piercing laugh. "And yet now I stand by three of the most powerful vampires in the world who can, with but a thought, render your guns and bombs and bullets as worthless as sticks and stones."

Staunton felt the men around him at breaking point as they watched Caius continue his speech.

"So now we come to the final battle! The final duel between man and vampire for supremacy! And, just as I have made your most powerful weapons useless, I will extend that rule to myself."

Watching through his scope, Staunton saw Caius turn to the three vampire women at his side and, with one sweep of his sword, cleave the heads from all three before a trio of his underlings hurled flaming torches onto the Three Sisters.

Caius grinned widely and held his sword aloft.

"Don't you see? We are unstoppable! And just to prove that…" he added, his horde of followers all chanting his name as he started walking forwards, gripping his sword in both hands as he broke into a brisk run toward the UN lines.

"Caius! Caius! Caius!" chanted his army as they followed, banners flying.

The Volturi leader grinned and stared straight at Staunton, who returned his gaze unflinchingly as his own troops behind him readied their weapons and held aloft their own flags triumphantly.

Both leaders stared each other down as the distance between them closed and, with the battle cries of both armies behind them, spoke with one voice and roared.

"Let's end this war!"