Manhattan, New Volterra 8:00am
The Volturi horde pounded closer, going much slower than their speed would allow, intentionally slowing down to try and put fear into the hearts of every one of their enemies.
And yet, the only response they got to their charge was a wall of gunfire. In one punishing fusillade of high powered rounds, the thousands strong Ultra Vector line opened up, the first few ranks of the Volturi army wiped out in an instant, torn to shreds by the high calibre bullets, inadvertently shielding their brethren as they were filled full of bullet holes.
Staunton saw Caius disappear into the ranks and instantly shouted out at all within earshot.
"Target spotted at one o'clock! Take him down!"
As soon as the words had left his lips the troops around him, many still reloading from their fire seconds ago, all turned their guns upon the vampires to the right flank, even as explosive shells and mortar fire exploded into the crowd of black cloaked figures.
But as the last of the front rank were shot away, Staunton noticed a glint of metal in the ranks behind.
For a second he paused, slamming another magazine in his rifle and looking on, watching the last of the Volturi vanguard falling, many in pieces, to the crater strewn ground. Then he saw the ranks behind emerge through the gun smoke, and felt a brief tinge of fear.
"Shields!" bellowed an officer further up the line, moments before a steel signpost, honed to a sharp, javelin-like, point, flew from the vampire lines and impaled him clean through the chest, the momentum carrying the deadly projectile through another five men in one sickening burst of red. The general could see them now, bodies hidden behind the metal slabs and arrayed across the entire front rank of the Volturi host, painted crimson with what could only have been blood, the faint marks of rivets and serial numbers visible on what he now recognised as armour plating from M1 Abrams battle tanks. The vampire host now slowed; despite the fact he knew the weight of battle tank armour must have been little effort to even the weakest of them.
That's when Caius remerged from the horde.
With four shield bearers covering his sides, the Volturi leader casually stepped forward, broadsword over his shoulder.
"Lay down your arms humanity!" he ordered, ignoring the rattle of gunfire from all sides as troops from all across the UN force fired upon him, and the resounding ping as the bullets harmlessly rebounded off his bodyguard's shields.
Caius shrugged.
"Very well. Jane make them kneel before us." He said, hardly raising his voice and yet every man and vampire on the field heard it.
When Staunton saw the blonde girl moving forward his hand went to his radio, ready to bring down another airstrike to wipe the Volturi off the planet.
Jane smiled.
The radio dropped to the ground, along with every man around him, a few such as Rog and Vickers managing to fire off a few more shots before falling to the ground, howling in agony.
Staunton was on the floor, the feeling of a thousand razor blades upon every inch of his skin as the cool grass below him seemed transformed into a lake of fire. He saw Caius, grinning, stroll toward him, waving away his shield bearers as, with a scream of engines, the low flying attack helicopters and jets coming in for attack runs fell to earth, exploding into crumpled husks amongst the UN lines, silencing some of the cries of pain emanating from every man in the park. As Caius and Jane came closer, the girl laughing at the screams from all sides, a lone GIGN soldier, face pale and tears running down his face, somehow staggered to his feet and raised his Magnum at the approaching vampires. The Volturi leader laughed and casually walked toward the man, gently taking the gun from the soldier's hands and crushing it between his fingers before, in a blur of black and red, ripping the man's throat out, then lightly shoving him aside.
The general, fighting back the waves of pain and dark spots clouding his vision, slowly put his right hand on the ground, repeating to himself 'This isn't real', over and over, forcing his body to work despite the nerves all across himself seeming to scream in protest.
By now Caius was metres away, swinging his blade left and right, smiling as the broadsword carved into a UN soldiers face, licking the blood clean off the metal, his eyes glinting black.
"Ah General Staunton we meet face to face once more." He said in a tone dripping with equal parts sarcasm and venom. "I hope this pain can match that I caused on my last visit. Keep things consistent and all. Speaking of consistency…" he added as Staunton fought back tears of both rage and pain. "I hope you kept to standard Ultra Vector policy in dealing with the little…gift, I left you at your house."
That's when Staunton rose.
Fighting off the messages from every fibre of his being telling him to stay down, he managed to, as Caius continued his speech, lift himself from the ground and draw his Magnum.
"No." he said simply and fired, the shot hitting Jane clean between the eyes, then the detonation of the explosive round caving in her skull.
Caius smirked.
"You missed."
Now it was Staunton's turn to smile.
"Did I?"
With a single shout of defiance, almost the entire UN army picked themselves up as one, the pain now gone, and all their weapons now readied and aimed at the lone vampire standing in front of them, the body of his most powerful lieutenant at his feet.
"Wipe him off the earth!" Staunton roared and Caius, for the first time in his life since a pack of werewolves almost tore him limb from limb, was afraid.
He was already a blur disappearing back to his lines as the first bullets began to fly, and by the time the air was filled with high calibre rounds, they were rebounding from the Volturi's armoured shields.
"Volturi!" Caius thundered from behind the shields, shouting over the sound of bullets rebounding and the scream of approaching aircraft. "Release the Hounds!"
"Oh God…" Staunton heard one of the men from his supporting squads, an African Division soldier, say softly. Then he remembered what his opposite in that division, the newly promoted General Hoyt, had said about a certain vampire tribe.
He didn't have a chance to remember any more as dark shapes emerged from the Volturi lines, leaping into the air far above them, their savage screams drifting down to the terrified troops below.
But then another sound pierced the ears of every man and vampire upon the battlefield. A high pitched whining roar of engines, which caused every vampire to flinch at, earning jeers and triumphant shouts from all across the Ultra Vector lines.
The leaping vampires then disappeared in balls of flame, streaking silver missiles blowing the ragged figures out of the sky to drift down to earth as clumps of clothing and tiny pieces of flesh.
To a chorus of cheers and whooping battle cries from the UN troops, two squadrons of British Tornado GR4 jest soared overhead, trailing red, white and blue smoke.
As the men around him all cheered for their unexpected saviours, Staunton's radio crackled into life, the voice of a jovial RAF wing commander.
"Sorry for the late entry there general. We've got a few missiles left before we need to rearm so I was wondering, do you like your vampires charred or in pieces?"
Staunton grinned as the vampire line fell back slightly, the tanks and heavy weapons amongst the force now opening up and tearing holes in the shield wall. Taking a breath he said softly, with a laugh.
"Surprise me."
As the jets screamed over they released the last of their ordnance straight into the vampire lines, black cloaked bodies flying in all directions Staunton stared out over the battlefield, almost sensing the fear emanating from the vampire lines. Then he felt that same fear fill him as he heard Caius' order echo across Central Park.
"Volturi! Tear them apart!"
Caius sprinted forward, the world seeming to blur around him as hefted his blade and charged. The sword, forged from the diamond tipped weapons of countless dead Ultra Vector troops, had at first seemed a novelty. His hands and teeth were the only weapons he had needed. But this blade just felt right, the feeling of power as he cut his enemies apart on its sharp edge filled him with a sense of power, whilst the blood that pooled in the groove running down its middle provided him with the sustenance to shrug off the bullets of the UN.
Beside him were his bannermen, four on each side all hefting Volturi flags painted in the blood of men, their cloaks ebony black fluttering behind them like ragged banners as they charged whilst his two shield bearers were in front. One banner man fell, a sniper round through his skull but Caius didn't care. Even as his army died around him to enemy gunfire and explosives he kept running.
It was when a Hind gunship roared toward them, its rocket pods tearing into the vampire hordes, that Caius tore his gaze from the Ultra Vector lines.
He simply held out a hand, one of his banner men instantly handing him a street pole javelin. They had created hundreds of these weapons in the last week, and Caius intended to make full use of the deadly projectiles.
Hefting it in his left hand, ignoring a sniper round that took the head off another of his banner men, he hurled it with a shout, grinning as it struck the helicopter pilot dead on, sending the aircraft into a tailspin. It landed right in front of them, but the vampires kept on, a few behind immolated as it went up in flames.
Then Caius saw him.
"Staunton." He said simply, and drew his blade.
The general's eyes widened as the Volturi leader ran for him.
"Sir are you sure about this?" Rog said with a grimace as he reloaded, watching the Volturi advance with a mixture of horror and quiet resignation to his fate.
"Not at all." Staunton said simply then added. "Schmidt, the sword."
The wiry Albanian, halfway through reloading his STAKE launcher, instantly opened the military case at his feet and threw its contents, a steel long sword, a regimental trophy from RAF Hereford, still battle ready as the general threw aside his rifle and held it in both hands.
"Let's see if Excalibur here can't slay a few monsters." He said softly, as the vampires struck their line.
For a few seconds the line was torn to shreds, men lost in fountains of gore as the vampires tore straight through whole squads with no effort. But then the soldiers rallied, those at the front switching to sidearms and melee weapons and facing down the enemy. Although Staunton saw many brave men simply torn apart, their knive, swords and machetes little use against the seasoned cold ones, many were triumphant. As Japanese 1st Airborne commandoes hacked through the undead with steel katanas and tantos and Canadian CSOR cut them down with tomahawks, the general watched with awe a group of British Gurkha soldiers charge the Volturi with kukris raised, cries of 'Aiyo gurkhali!' echoing across the blood and corpse filled battlefield.
But here their air support meant nothing and, as he watched a T-90 sail overhead, the general realised their armoured forces were little use either ,although he felt an odd sense of satisfaction at seeing three German Leopard tanks ram the vampire army on the left flank.
But all that hope died when he saw Caius approach.
The rest of his squad stood by him, their own blades drawn, but then Caius spoke again as he charged.
"Praetorian Guard! This is between me and the general. Kill the rest."
As he said this ten black figures emerged from behind, but these were no Volturi guard.
These were Ultra Vector soldiers.
Though their armour was battered and covered in blood, Staunton could easily put a name to all of them. They had been good men. Now they were nothing but crazed newborn savages,their eyes dark as they stalked forward.
"Remember how I said I would never be scared of vampires?" Vickers said from next to him as the Volturi advanced, the screams and shouts from the rest of the battlefield seeming to disappear.
Staunton nodded as the soldier nervously hefted his machete.
"Well I'm bloody shitting myself now."
Then there was not time for words as Rog turned to the general.
"We've got this one sir." He said with a wink, then looked at the rest of the squad, levelling his machete at the advancing vampires.
"Dla ludzkości!" he roared. "For humanity!"
As his men rushed forward the newborn Praetorians charged aswell, screaming in their bloodlust.
But any thoughts of helping them died as a lone figure in black stalked toward him ,drenched in blood and tapping his sword against his leg.
"Ready to die?" Caius said simply.
Staunton raised his blade.
"Not until I've rammed this down your throat."
Caius laughed as he walked forward and brought up his own sword.
"For that, and the fact you wanted to finish this in a honourable way, I'll go easy on you…"
He lunged forward, catching the SAS soldier off guard with a heavy thrust, which he barely blocked. The strike was like a ten tonne truck, but he knew this was only a fragment of the Volturi leader's strength.
The vampire smiled.
"Tired already?" he asked softly, but was surprised as the general leapt forward, aiming for his face.
He barely dodged it but only laughed.
"Hmmm, you almost got my eyebrows general. It would be a shame to lose them."
Without another word the two crossed swords again, Staunton's strikes heavy and slow whilst the vampire's were as fast and graceful as a dancer, but with the strength of a mountain behind them.
Jumping back from a wild slash, Staunton felt his chest bleeding where the blade had cut him, only just, but straight through his layers of armour and uniform. He knew Caius was toying with him, and that fact was obvious when another vampire, drenched in crimson and his eyes ebony, leapt forward to attack the general, but was simply swatted aside by Caius, who promptly picked the vampire up in one hand and tore his head off.
"Can't have anyone but…" he began, but Staunton was already on the offensive, a rapid series of slashes aimed at the vampires head, yet every time Caius was always just too far away, always taunting.
"It almost feels like cheating with these powers…" he said. "But once you and your pitiful little army are dead it won't really…"
Staunton paused, sweating and breathing heavily, the sword a dead weight in his hand.
As the vampire rambled on he paced around, trying to lull the Volturi leader into a false sense of security. In amongst the vampire's arrogant speeches, one word had stuck out.
"Cheating." The general said simply, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
"You know the best thing about honour Caius?" he said with a grin.
The Volturi leader raised an eyebrow.
Staunton laughed and raised his Magnum, watching with satisfaction the vampire's eyes widen.
"That us humans are great at breaking it." He said simply and fired.
The vampire, still dumbfounded by Staunton's words, took the first round to the shoulder ,the explosive bullet blowing out a small crater of flesh, causing him to drop the sword.
In that second Staunton drew his radio from his belt.
"Big-Eye this is Excalibur." He said firmly. "Make him kneel before us."
The Volturi leader's eyes flared up with rage and he started forward. Then a resounding crack filled the air and his left foot disappeared in a blast of grey, holed by a .50 calibre rifle round. He still came at him, and Staunton was about to shift backward when another shot rang out and the other leg was gone. Caius kept coming, even as more rounds pierced him, and Staunton put a hand to his belt, checking the two yellow grenades at his belt were still there.
As the Volturi leader howled in frustration Staunton noticed the vampire horde seemed to be ,ever so slowly, losing faith. All around more soldiers were triumphant in combat, more cold ones making arrogant mistakes and losing their heads for it.
Sensing the Volturi ready to break, he walked toward Caius, calmly shooting down a Volturi banner man that ran at him, kicking aside a crimson banner contemptuously and crouching by the vampire.
Gone was the cold one's arrogance and bluster. Gone was his sense of superiority and self-worth. Now all the general saw was a scared and defeated monster, ready to be destroyed.
Flicking off the pins of the two yellow grenades, he calmly placed them on either side of the vampire's pale face as red and blue smoke rose up from them.
"Enjoy your stay in hell Caius." He said coldly. "Because our friends of the UN Air Division are ready to give you and your army a taste of it."
He expected an insult or arrogant swagger from the Volturi leader, but all he got was silence as he walked away, reclaiming the Volturi blade as a souvenir and saying into his radio.
"All units fall back to position Alpha. The dragon has fallen and his baptism of fire is ready."
As he jogged away he noticed UN and Ultra Vector troops falling back, any vampires trying to follow picked off by the snipers above. When three squads of Ultra Vector commandoes formed up around him, all clapping him on the back and cheering, he saw Rog and the rest of his squad, with a few obvious absences, their blades heavy in their hands.
"We did it." Vickers said simply ,supported by Werner and Vickers.
"How many?" Staunton asked, hearing the roar of approaching warplanes.
"Four." Werner stated. "Schmidt got torn apart. Santos had his throat torn out as he shot his killer to pieces. Brueg disappeared into the melee and I saw his head fly past a few seconds later. If it makes you feel any better sir Ivanov took down four of them with a machete in each hand. Took five others to get him and then he detonated a grenade and took them all down. Crazy bastard." He added with a laugh.
By now they had reached Position Alpha, the main road on the east side of the park where hundreds of UN soldiers rallied, many carrying on to other parts of the city. But for Staunton and his squad, at least for now, it was over.
"Enjoy the fireworks boys." Staunton said with a grin.
Back on the blood soaked battlefield, Caius stood again. He had crawled amongst the dead, licking the crimson from wounds and biting into corpse's necks but it had been worth it. Now he stood tall and healed once more, and his army were beginning to rally to him.
"After them!" he roared at the remnants of his force, who all screamed their support for him before sprinting off after the retreating Ultra Vector forces.
Glancing around at the corpse strewn field Caius noticed the two smoking grenades at his feet.
Picking one up, spewing foul blue smoke, he turned it over, his ears picking up the roar of aircraft but he ignored them as he turned it over, where a note had been written in black marker pen.
"Look up." He read with a frown.
Then he saw the black shapes of dozens of warplanes all soaring to his position.
Face blazing with anger, he saw one other word written on the yellow grenade.
Boom.
The first strike of the air bombardment was from a Chinese MiG, its missile arcing down to land directly between the two smoke grenades marking the drop site. From then Central Park was, for a few deafening minutes, turned into a firestorm. Rockets and chainguns tore up the ground as heavy machine cannon and missiles flew to earth as bright points of light.
The two AC-130's were the last of the huge air assault, both circling as one, their weapons firing in tandem to tear up the ground. With no more vampire shields or powers, the last of the Volturi army were literally torn apart, the fires from countless incendiary bombs immolating them into charred skeletons and ash in seconds.
It took another hour for the smoke to clear fully and by then Ultra Vector had won the day. As the blue UN flag was raised over the headquarters and the banner of the Volturi torn apart and its prisoners freed, the Secretary General was led stumbling into the sunlight whilst, all over the city, humans and vampires alike all watched the smoke rise from Central Park. The latter surrendered in an instant to the UN forces, who were now promising amnesty for any vampire who presented themselves to Ultra Vector custody and, before the day was over, every last crimson banner had been torn down and thrown into the Hudson.
And in the heart of everyone in New York, and the world, human and vampire alike, one fact was obvious.
The war was over.