The hood was removed from R1C Martinez's head once again. He was still being dragged by two large cultists. They were led by the vampire woman in the red shades. They were in a church, leading him down the center aisle. The building was more like a cathedral. The gathering space was huge and cavernous. Two rows of pews with a center isle led to a raised platform with an altar. Two more wings with pews were spread out to the left and right of the altar. The high walls were adorned with intricate paintings depicting saints and martyrs. Or they used to be. The entire building had been sacked. Every single holy symbol was destroyed or defiled in some way. Either painted over or scratched off the wall. One large depiction of Saint Peter appeared to have had multiple magazines dumped into it. The stained-glass windows were shattered and covered with plywood. Every cross was removed from the walls and pews and placed before the altar. They were shattered and burned, leaving a layer of ash and char on the ground around it. The altar itself was also shattered, its stone had been cracked directly down the middle. Blood flowed from something trapped beneath it.
In the shadows behind the altar stood a dark figure. It greeted them.
"Vespera, my loyal executor, returned from the cruel light of day, unscathed. I trust your hunt was successful?" it said, its voice was made ethereal and otherworldly by the acoustics of the chapel. It sounded feminine, but venomous.
The vampire and her retinue halted before the steps. The red-shaded vampire knelt and bowed deeply. The black rat leapt from her shoulder and ran to the shadowy figure. It picked it up and caressed the small creature in the palm of its hand.
"Yes, my queen." Vespera said. "I come before you with a worthy sacrifice."
"Good, good." The shadowy figure stepped forth. It avoided the ray of light that shown down from a window at the top of the domed chapel. Her features were illuminated enough for Martinez to make out. She was tall and wearing an immaculate white dress that flowed down to her feet. Her features were young, but she appeared withered, with thin musculature and visible veins crisscrossing her body. She wore a simple crown, a gold band with white flowers tucked into it.
"Bring him forth. I must study him." The queen commanded.
The cultists cut the bonds around his legs, but kept his hand tied. He was forced onto his knees before the altar. The cultists seemed reluctant to go near the vampire queen. The Rifle did his best to look her in the eye. She cocked her head, taking him in. He was not much to look at, dirty and covered in blood. Missing a hand.
She looked upon him with distaste. "This is your offering, that you believe fit to present to your queen?" she questioned Vespera. "This... scuffed, being."
Martinez tried to surge forward, "I'll show you scuffed, bitch!" the cultists restrained him, forcing him to stay on his knees.
Vespera got up from her bow. "Insolent slave!" She raised a hand and struck Martinez across the face. "My queen, His soul bears the mark. He is one of them."
A smile crept onto the queen's face. "Then he has a true warrior's spirit." She said. Vespera once again assumed a bow.
"Ya, I've got a warrior spirit. I may be missing a hand. But I promise I will kill, every single one of you bloodsucking bastards!" Martinez growled at her, fighting against the guards who had to square themselves to hold him down.
There was a twinkle in her eye. "Yes, use that fight mortal. You. Are. Alive!" she said. "He will do perfectly, Vespera."
"Thank you, my queen." Vespera said. "Shall I be off? I wish to spill the blood of the slaves of the Vanguard." She said with great zeal.
The queen did not take her attention away from Martinez. "No, remain here. You will bear witness, my vassal. Restrain him."
Vespera's eyes went wide. "I am honored, my master." She positioned herself behind Martinez and took hold of his neck, preventing him from moving. Her grip was like an iron vice on his neck vertebrae.
The Queen spoke to Martinez. "Rejoice, son of Adam. I am Queen Selene Sanguis. Sister of Persephone. Seconded to the day." she said the word "day" with hatred. "On this momentous occasion, you will serve a higher purpose." she told him while raising her arms towards the sky.
"That spot's taken, chingada." Martinez sneered at her. "I serve the Terra Vanguard and the future of humanity!"
Selene looked upon him with something akin to pity. "Luckily, service does not require consent."
---------------------------------
R2C Mike Perelli and the command squad trudged through the mud towards Kronstadt. The din of battle sounded behind them. They were out of the loop, but they could tell the situation was devolving. They saw dozens of missile contrails flying outbound, then even more inbound. Lieutenant Walker had determined that they weren't getting through the signal jamming until the source was removed. They had laser-link, but no aircraft had flown overhead for them to get into contact with. They were on their own behind the line.
They found Kronstadt mostly empty. There were small roving gangs of cultists, but they were few. It appeared the bulk of the enemy forces had sallied forth to meet the Vanguard's landing force. They left carnage in their wake. The town was sacked. Many buildings were burnt husks and piles of bodies were gathered haphazardly.
Walker was now determined to find the enemies command and control center and wipe it out. They didn't have their magic box that could call in airstrikes anymore. So, whatever they did, it was reliant on them alone. No backup.
Perelli kicked down a wooden door and stormed into the school. The building was old, probably built during the Soviet era. There were books and papers littering the floor. It appeared there had been a quick evacuation. Kinger and the lieutenant followed him in, weapons raised. They quickly secured the building.
"This is some fuckin' mess." Kinger commented. They were on the roof, observing the distant battle. Smoke rose in dark columns. Stray tracers trailed upwards into the sky. Occasionally, something exploded in a big enough fireball to be seen all the way from their position.
"We need a way to track the enemy. See where they're getting orders from." Walker said. They had forgone finding the vampire HQ during phase 1 of the operation, in favor of degrading the enemy's ability to shoot back by destroying their SAMs and ammo depots. They thought they had struck their assembly areas as well, but evidently, they had not reduced the enemy's number as much as previously thought.
"Have you thought like a vampire, sir?" Perelli asked.
"No. Why would I?" He gave Perelli an odd look, insulted at the notion of lowering himself to their level.
"Vampires hide, sure, but they're also prima donnas." Perelli explained. "They want to feel untouchable, and more importantly, they want you to know it. They'll do that by occupying a place of significance." he pointed at the Kronstadt skyline. "That cathedral is the tallest structure in town, and it's antithetical to their existence. They've probably vandalized it and turned it into a nest."
Walker smacked his helmet. "Sum'bitch." he said, referring to himself. The Vanguard hadn't hit the cathedral because it bore hundreds of holy symbols across its surface. The vampires would have naturally avoided it, like crackheads to a job application. Bombing a church was also incredibly distasteful. That had obviously changed. From the rooftop they could see that the tall cross on the building's dome, present at the beginning of the battle, had been lopped off.
"Well, that's why I wanted a vampire hunter. Damn, if only we could call in some heavy ordnance on that thing." he lamented. "We'll have to storm it ourselves."
"Movement! South." Kinger called out, focused on her scope. She focused on a dilapidated lone structure. The turretless, burnt-out hull of a T-80BVM was parked out front, its turret resting snugly on the roof. "Friendlies. Saw'em enter a farmhouse, one klick out. Four strong. Damn, one of them is really big."
Walker and Perelli looked at each other. "Well then, let's recruit some help." Walker smiled.
-----------------------------
The combat frame was set up in the attic with his machine gun. A hole in the roof created by the falling tank turret provided a convenient perch for overwatch. Tetsu was able to keep watch with his MG resting on top of the burnt metal.
The rest of Alpha had finished policing the dead Freikorpsman. The bodies were neatly arranged beside each other and covered with sheets found in a bedroom. Their bodies were tagged for recovery. The recon troopers had also taken their ammo and any useful equipment for themselves. The severed hand and grenade were carefully thrown outside. Oddly, none of the bodies were missing a hand. Unfortunately, they didn't have the bandwidth to investigate where the fourth man went.
"You wanna say something, R1C?" Kurt asked his squad leader, referring to the dead.
The indignant Rifle scratched his helmet. He was not good at being emotionally sensitive or soft. "Uh, we thank you Lord for the service of these Rifles. We thank you for their ammunition." he scratched the bottom of his faceplate like he would his chin. "And we, uh-"
"Squad leader, I have incoming. Three friendlies." Tetsu informed Milo
"Hwoo, thank God." Milo gripped his rifle and looked out of a broken window.
"Friendly, friendly, friendly!" Someone called out from outside. "We're comin' in."
All of Alpha readied themselves but relaxed when they saw the heavier armor of the Freikorps. The special operators briskly entered the building. Milo's HUD tagged them with their identities.
"Yo, Perelli, you're still alive!" he smiled.
"That I am." Perelli responded. They bumped fists. Kurt smacked Milo's shoulder and held out his hand. The R1C produced a roll of coins, which he handed to the junior. Perelli looked at his friend, offended. Milo shrugged.
"What the hell happened here?" Walker said, looking at the remains of three of his men. He knew they were Piledrivers from their patches.
"Three bodies, sir." Milo addressed him more respectfully than he normally would any other officer. "We also found a severed hand with a primed grenade, but none of these guys are missing hands." he gestured at the heavily damaged room, with casings littering the ground and bullet holes in every wall, and at the burnt-out tank outside. "Whatever happened, they put up a fight."
Walker ground his teeth, observing the bodies. "Tooth and Nail, Korpsman." he muttered the 123rd's motto. Perelli and Kinger both repeated after him.
Lieutenant Walker holstered his revolver and retrieved an HR-15 off the ground. "I need your squad, R1C" he told Milo. "You only have three guys?"
Milo whistled aloud. "Tetsu, get down here." There was a momentary pause followed by heavy footsteps. A hulking figure came down the stairs. The worn wooden steps creaked under the weight of the kilo-class frame. The Freikorpsman seemed surprised by the sight. Frames had not been implemented into Freikorps service yet. Rumor had it, that the special operations chief didn't like having so much automation in his squads.
"Reporting." Tetsu said to his squad leader.
Milo was cradling his rifle in his arms now. "Actually, I got four." he sniffed.
Walker nodded. "Well, I hope you all like killing vampires, because I'm requisitioning your squad." he told them. "We're going to investigate the church in town and there's a high probability it's the enemy command center. If it's not, that sucks. If it is, we kill everyone inside. It's a simple op. Any questions?"
Alpha looked at each other and then shook their heads.
-------------
The pews of the cathedral were filled with occupants engaged in a quiet vigil. The vampire cultists all sat and watched their queen as she conducted an infernal ritual.
Before the altar, Martinez was held by the back of his neck by Vespera; who lifted him up so that his toes barely touched the ground. He struggled to breathe or move. To either side of her stood six thralls. Three men and three women. They were of a noble nature, the direct servants of Queen Selene Sanguine. They all wore fine tailored suits and shades, giving the impression of an army of lawyers. Queen Selene herself was now before the altar. The black sun was not visible during the height of the day. But at that time its astronomic position was directly above the cathedral. She held her hands skyward.
"Blessed is this day, because on this day, the light does not shine. It is not bright enough to stop the coming of our lord. The King of Darkness. The bringer of justice, who will usher in the reign of the predator over the prey and scour the light." She exclaimed to shouts of approval from those gathered.
She turned to face Martinez. In a low voice, she said, "Are you ready, slave of the light? Your soul burns, I can feel it. Your hatred. Your vitriol. You must let it go." With every word she inched closer to him, until she was talking in his ear. "I shall release you from your servitude."
Martinez did not have time for one last "Fuck you!" the Queen plunged her fangs into his neck. The Rifle convulsed as his blood was drawn out and paralyzing vampire venom surged in. His brown skin visibly faded. After only a few seconds, Selene released him. Blood messily spilled down the front of her chest and dress. Small globules of blood still spurted from his neck. Vespera let go of her grip on his neck. The shattered body of the Rifle collapsed to the deck, dead.
Selene looked upwards, a smile of ecstasy upon her face. Blood from Martinez's body began to rise, as if gravity had been reversed. It flowed from the puncture wounds in his neck and the blood that had spilled onto Selene also lifted into the air. The blood writhed unnaturally, like a snake slithering through the air. Vespera watched in stunned amazement. The red liquid slowly gathered into a circle.
-----------------------------------------
The Morskoy Sobor Naval Cathedral was the tallest structure in the center of Kronstadt. The building consisted of a high dome with ornate gothic walls rising on each side. It was lonesome. The building was surrounded on three sides by vast green fields. Before the front of the building was a massive concrete parade ground. The building was left untouched during the initial bombardment because it showed no signs of habitation. Additionally, during a crisis civilians were likely to have gathered in the building for shelter. At Morskoy that was the case for the first few hours of the vampiric attack. Shortly after the beginning of the battle, the vampires and their lackeys moved in. The building was vandalized, and its occupants were massacred. The green fields were excavated and turned into mass graves, which were still being filled when Alpha and the Freikorps arrived.
The good news was that defenses were light. Most of the enemy force had left Kronstadt and only a small security force remained to guard the building. This consisted of 2 cultists guarding the front doors, 6 on high perches in the cathedrals bell towers and 2 roving patrols of 2 outside the building. There were also patrols around the outer edge of the square that surrounded the building. The bad news was that they were dug in. The building had been fortified with sandbags and razor wire. The Rifles would also have to clear several hundred feet of open ground to approach the building from any direction. They started by eliminating the eyes.
Without radios, the snipers in the towers were easy pickings. Perelli screwed a suppressor onto the barrel of his HR-15 and switched to a small 10-round magazine of subsonic ammunition. Perelli hated suppressors because they degraded the weapons ballistic performance. His optics automatically adjusted to compensate for the attachment and the selected ammunition. He verified the settings with a zero that he had acquired before departing on the mission.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
While Perelli counter-sniped the enemy overwatch out of their towers, Kinger and Walker dealt with the roving patrols. The close-quarters nature of the side streets was ideal. The two Korpsman simply waited with their adaptive camouflage activated for a patrol to pass by. Then, they simply stabbed them in the jugular and hid the bodies in various places; car trunks, dumpsters, phonebooths, etc.
When Alpha approached the cathedral, they did so unopposed, walking up to the front door they found the two guards lying in pools of their own blood with a .30-06 shaped hole in their heads. The Korpsman soon joined them at the door.
The Rifle's stacked up on the large wooden double-doors, with Perelli, Kinger and Walker on one side and Tetsu, Milo, Tora and Kurt on the other. Perelli and Kinger deployed their suicide drones and ordered them to fly in a holding pattern outside. They would descend on anyone that approached them from behind.
"Door knocker." Walker prompted.
Kinger placed a SEMTEX shaped-charge on the doors.
Walker briefed them, "Alright, the frame goes first."
"His name is Tetsu." Milo interrupted him, eliciting a flash of anger from the lieutenant.
"Ok, Tetsu goes first, he takes middle, then Kinger and Perelli, then me, then the rest of Alpha."
Milo interrupted him again, this time raising a hand. "Hey-what if it's filled with freaks and vamps?" he asked.
Walker suppressed the urge to snap at the Rifle. "Then you fucking shoot them first."
Milo nodded.
"On 3..."
-----------------------------------
The blood slowly formed a perfect circle, floating in the air. Once one end connected to the other, a grey energy filled the void in the middle. A face was imprinted on it; the face of R1C Martinez, distorted in an expression of fear and anguish.
"Behold!" exclaimed Selene. "The recycled soul of a slave of light, doomed for all eternity. This day we set it free!" The crowd cheered.
The wooden doors exploded inwards. The two heavy doors were blown off of their hinges and landed several feet inside the cathedral's entry way. Wood splinters and debris were thrown into the gathered crowd. There was a second where everyone looked back but was too stunned to react.
The hulking figure of a combat frame stepped into the doorway, toting a heavy machinegun. Its glowing red eyes analyzed the crowd. Within Tetsu a thousand calculations were made faster than the blink of an eye.
//environmental scan initiated//LIDAR sweep engaged//
//spatial analysis complete//room dimensions: 200ft x 100ft x 80ft//
//thermal imaging activated//multiple heat signatures detected//
//target verification: 50 hostiles//2 vampires//6 thrall//1 deceased Rifle//
//high-priority targets: 8//medium-priority: 39//low-priority: 11//
//combat strategy calculated//optimal strategy: Kill//
He pulled the trigger and held it. The heavy machinegun spat fire. Fat casings clattered onto the marble floor in high volumes. Tetsu was soon joined by his comrades. The Rifle's rushed in and took station on either side of him. They added their guns to the mix.
In seconds, the formerly holy expanse was filled with the wild cacophony of gunfire. Waves of cultists fell, even as their brethren took up arms and returned fire on the intruders. Bullets flew wildly, ricocheting off stone walls. The noise was made worse by the grand acoustics of the dome.
The Vanguard advanced into the gathering space, having to step over corpses that choked the floor and pews. The gun battle soon became a free-for-all, with cultists charging their gun line. Alpha and the command squad were forced into melee combat. The cultists only got in each other's way as they fought to be the ones to plant a knife in their hated enemy.
Tetsu's machinegun overheated, the barrel glowing orange. The combat bot ripped the ammo belt out and threw the heavy weapon at a line of cultists who were bum-rushing him. They went down like bowling pins. The bolt on Walker's HR-15 locked to the rear with a sickening clack. He drew his revolver and shot a cultist right between the eyes at point-blank. He did the same to 4 more in quick succession. He was deadly accurate.
"FUh-HUCK YEAAAH!!" Milo screamed as he fired explosive rounds at the enemy, but being forced to stop when they drew too close. Him and Kurt got back-to-back to each other and covered one another. One reloaded while the other shot.
Kinger went feral. She leapt over pews into isolated cultists and pummeled them with her gloved hands, and a knife. One hit her across the back with his AK. She wheeled on him and delivered a punch to his throat that collapsed his trachea.
When Tora ran dry, he drew his sidearm and bayonet. The Japanese man wielded an unusually long bayonet that was more like a sword. Using the blade, he kept cultists at arm's reach while he levied his pistol. He either shot them in the head, or he shot them twice in the chest then finished them with a round to the head. The man whirled with martial grace and cut through bodies like a lawnmower. Aside from Tetsu, he had killed the most cultists.
Perelli was the most uncomfortable of the group. The marksman greatly hated closing with the enemy, preferring to stay as far back as possible. In his opinion, this was a reckless plan. He lingered back and sniped at enemies, covering his current and former squadmates. Despite the wildly devolving situation, he maintained a steady rate of fire. Like a metronome, he switched from one target to the next. He put a round into an armored cultist at the back, who was in the process of loading an RPG into a tube. Even though his skull was perforated, the man pulled the trigger on reflex. The rocket went wide and exploded against the top of the dome, causing rubble to fall onto the brawling combatants. Perelli shot a cultist who was diving on Kinger with a knife. He caught the woman in the shoulder, staggering her. Kinger, now aware of the assailant, wheeled around and threw her knife into the woman's chest.
The Rifle's cut through the crowd like a hot knife through butter. Tetsu lead the way, the large frame shrugging off rounds and bashing cultists with his metal fists when they got too close. At one point, he picked up one man by his leg and used him to beat down another.
The intense outbreak of violence, gunfire and frenzied fighting ended with the Rifle's facing down the thralls. The room was quiet for a mere moment.
"Stop them! DO not let them interfere with the ritual!" Queen Selene commanded.
The six thralls and Vespera stood at the foot of the raised flooring that the altar was situated on. They were between the Rifles and the queen. Most of the human cultists were dead or had wised up and ran away. Perelli received a notification that his drone had gone offline after successfully striking a target, probably a cultist that was running away had been turned into red mist by the explosive suicide drone.
The thralls showed no fear despite watching the armored troopers cut through 50 of their expendable followers. It was 7 vs 7 and they each stared down one of the Rifle's. Vespera in particular appeared pleased to have the opportunity for a one-on-one. She stood opposite Tetsu.
Walker dropped a fresh speed-loader into his revolver. "Kill her." He ordered.
The room broke into havoc once again. The thrall were far stronger than a baseline human. They possessed enhanced strength and speed, but were not on the same level as their vampire masters.
Tetsu was charged by Vespera. He braced to catch the red-shaded vampire, assessing her attack would be easy for him to turn against her. Instead, as soon as he reached out to grab her, the vampire disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Tetsu did not comprehend what happened. His combat processes struggled to understand the lack of a target. Vespera reappeared behind him. Before he could turn to engage her, she struck his left leg, causing him to fall to one knee. "Embarrassing." she taunted him. The vampire leapt onto his back. Unlike a human, the machine's arms could rotate a full 360 degrees. When he reached up to grab her, she threw her weight backwards and pulled on his sensor pod AKA head. From his kneeling position, he could not adequately compensate. The frame fell backwards. Before he hit the ground, Vespera disappeared in another cloud of smoke. She reappeared above him in free fall. She delivered a powerful kick to his sensor pod, slamming it against the hard floor. Tetsu was immediately stunned. He threw blind punches, hoping to hit something, but Vespera was too fast. She picked up a fire axe from a dead cultist. She smashed into his sensor pod with the heavy weapon. The blade found the gaps in the armor plating, and his sensitive internals were cut into. "Worthless machine. This is what the mighty Vanguard is reduced to?" she circled him slowly.
"I. Am. Machine. I..." Tetsu's voice was distorted by the destruction of his voicebox.
"Oh?"
"...Kill."
Even though his sensor pod was damaged, he could still communicate with his squadmates via laserlink and see what they saw. Even though they were also in desperate fights for their lives, he was able to triangulate Vespera's position based on their helmet cams. He reached out suddenly and grasped her leg. He threw the vampire across the chapel. She once again exploded into smoke.
The rat perched on Selene's shoulder leapt into the ghostly face in the blood circle. It was suspended in mid-air. The little creature began to convulse and squeak in pain.
With great enthusiasm, Kinger clashed with a female thrall. She stabbed and slashed with her knife, but the thrall dodged her initial thrusts. The servant caught her knife and forced it aside. It punched Kinger in her ballistic mask, causing the faceplate to crack. She retaliated by pinning the thrall's other arm and headbutting her with her helmet. Kinger allowed herself a self-satisfied smile when she saw the thrall's nose had been smashed in. The thrall redoubled its effort and forced Kinger against a pew. The Rifle wrenched her knife hand free and placed its blade against her attacker's throat. Even though the thrall now had her pinned, it was forced to defend itself. With one hand it kept Kinger pinned, with the other it desperately fought to keep the knife from slitting its throat. The two were locked in a deadly stalemate. Whoever's strength gave out first died.
Walker fanned the hammer when his counterpart ran towards him. Five rounds impacted the thrall, starting in the chest and working their way up to his head. The faux-immortal collapsed like a sack of bricks. Using his last round, he casually placed the head of the thrall that was pinning Kinger in his sights. He frowned. Instead of shooting it in the head, he dropped the muzzle slightly and shot it in the ribcage. The thrall was weakened just enough that Kinger was able to overpower her, and her blade sliced into the female thrall's throat.
Slowly, the rat's flesh was pulled from its bones; starting with its fur, then its skin. The creature was being gruesomely deconstructed.
Perelli put down his thrall with similar swiftness. An armor-piercing round made a valley between the thrall's eyes. But before he could acquire another target, Vespera appeared in a cloud of smoke in front of him. She kicked his muzzle and he sent a stray round into the ceiling. He attempted to bash her with the stock, but the vampire blocked and then punched him in the gut. His armor plate took the hit, but she hit him with such force that he was knocked backwards several inches. Just as he regained his footing, she disappeared and reappeared behind him. She kicked the back of his knee and forced him down. She grabbed his neck and threw him over her shoulder. Perelli flew through the air over several pews and landed hard on his shoulder. His HUD informed him that his rotator cuff was likely broken. He quickly scrambled to his feet. His arm flared with pain. He couldn't wield his HR-15, so he drew his pistol. He racked the slide by gripping it with his neck and shoulder. The 9mm was almost useless against a vampire, but it was the best he had. The vampire appeared before him. He didn't hesitate to shoot her. She disappeared and reappeared next to him.
"So determined." She said. Perelli threw an elbow, which she caught with little effort. She spun him around and delivered a powerful punch to his chest. This time the armor plate shattered. Several of his ribs cracked. He spat blood on the interior of his faceplate. Vespera teleported behind him again. "I like you. I think you deserve a better master." she said to him in a mocking tone.
Perelli dropped to one knee, using his good arm to steady himself as he glared up at Vespera through the blood-smeared visor. "I serve the Vanguard," he growled, his voice a mixture of defiance and pain. He fired his pistol again, this time aiming low. Vespera sidestepped the shot with inhuman speed, but it had been a feint.
With a swift motion, Perelli pulled a flashbang from his belt and activated it, tossing it at her feet. The grenade exploded in a brilliant flash of light and deafening sound. Even with her supernatural senses, Vespera staggered, disoriented. Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, Perelli surged forward. Ignoring the searing pain in his shoulder, he tackled Vespera to the ground. He drove a cross-shaped punch dagger into her chest.
"A holy knife? How quaint," she sneered, but there was an edge of concern in her voice.
Perelli didn't respond. With a grunt of effort, he drove the knife toward her heart. Vespera twisted, but the blade bit into her side, searing her flesh. She screamed, a high-pitched, feral sound that echoed through the cathedral. Summoning her remaining strength, Vespera threw Perelli off her, sending him crashing into a nearby pew. She staggered to her feet, clutching her wound, her eyes blazing with fury and pain. "This isn't over, human," she snarled, her form beginning to dissolve into shadow.
The rat was stripped of its skin and musculature. Its organs were slowly being dissolved.
Milo was jumped and he was forced to put his HR-15 sideways between him and a female thrall. The two grappled, but Milo didn't have the strength to stop her. She pushed so hard that his boots slid across the marble floor. Her teeth had been filed into sharp points. She snapped at him, attempting to tear out his throat. "Goddamn, let me take me you to dinner first!" Milo wisecracked while craning his neck so that his face wasn't too close to the snapping jaws of the thrall. He wrenched his rifle left and the two fell to the floor. The thrall gained the upper hand. She punched at his face and he dodged left and right. Her fists landed with such force that the marble floor cracked beneath them. Milo kneed her in the gut. It was enough to loosen her grip and he was able to roll and invert their positions. Now he was pinning her to the ground with his rifle. Before she could use her superior strength to throw him off of her, he began bashing her face with his. His ballistic mask came away with blood spurts on it. "Man, I hate to ruin a pretty face. You know, you seem like a real go-getter. I like that." The thrall's struggling slackened a little and a confused look crossed her face. Was he hitting on her while they were trying to kill each other? She growled and forced him off. Milo was thrown backwards and skidded several feet across the ground into a wall. The thrall jumped up, ready to descend on him and finally tear his throat out. Milo flipped her the bird. Around his finger were two grenade pins. The thrall looked down. At her feet were two primed incendiary grenades. They detonated and the thrall was consumed in a tornado of fire. "See you never, hot stuff." He was proud of himself for that one.
Finally, the rat's skeleton was exposed. It no longer squeaked, but despite its lack of muscle, it still convulsed.
Kurt fired a burst and missed as his thrall leapt into the air. His rifle was smacked out of his hands. He drew his sidearm. He fired three rounds in rapid succession, but the thrall was too quick. It kicked the sidearm out of his hands. Finally, he drew his knife. The blade only found air. Effortlessly, the thrall turned his blade against him. Kurt was thrown to the ground, and he struggled to hold it back. The thrall thrust hard. Just as the tip of the blade was forced through his faceplate, the thrall's grip suddenly slacked completely.
"Are you okay, tomo?" Tetsu said, using the Japanese word for "friend". Carefully, he lifted his visor. The tip of the knife was barely a centimeter from puncturing his eye. Kurt gave him a weak thumbs up. Behind Tetsu were two dead thralls. One beheaded and the other with his bayonet still embedded in its skull.
The rat was now nothing but a skeleton. The last bit of flesh was gone. Martinez's soul faded into nothing. The blood circle swirled around it at high speed until it stopped completely. The blood unceremoniously fell to the floor in a red puddle. The rat skeleton dropped to the floor. It sniffed around like a normal rat, as if it was still alive. It slowly dissolved into white powder and disappeared.
The Rifle's turned their attention to Queen Selene Sanguis. Kinger, Walker, Milo and Tora were the only effectives. Perelli was wounded and Kurt's armor was compromised. The two of them stood back, with Kurt supporting Perelli's weight. Tetsu was damaged, though the combat frame still stood tall. Feeding off of the sensor input from the other's armor gave him enough data to tell what was going on. He had picked up an AK-12 and had it pointed directly at the Queen.
"Surrender or die. There is no escape." Walker kept his revolver levied at Selene.
The Queen looked at them as if they were pitiful creatures. "You cannot win. Nobody can." She took a step towards them.
"Put your hands on your head and turn around." Walker ordered her.
"Humanity is doomed to die." She outstretched her arms towards the ceiling. Vespera appeared beside her, clutching her wound. She put her arm around her master. They both disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.
The tension in the room remained palpable even after the dark mist dissipated. The remaining Rifle team members kept their weapons trained on the spot where Queen Selene Sanguis and Vespera had stood moments before, their senses heightened for any sign of trickery or return.
"Did we get them?" Milo asked, his voice shaky but steadying.
Walker holstered his revolver, his eyes scanning the area for any immediate threats. "Everyone, check your gear and injuries." he ordered, a touch of disappointment in his voice.
Meanwhile, Tetsu whirred and clanked as he moved closer to the group, the damage to its frame evident but not crippling. "Sensor feeds are clear. No immediate threats detected," Tetsu's synthesized voice reported.
Tora moved quickly to Perelli and Kurt. "Let's get him stabilized," he said, pulling out a medkit.
Kurt, still supporting Perelli, nodded in gratitude. "We need to get him proper medical attention. Soon."
Kinger examined R1C Martinez's drained body and the puddle of coagulated blood on the steps to the altar. "What was she doing?" she muttered.
"It-... was a ritual." Perelli struggled to speak. Every breath was painful. Tora injected him with a vial of morphine. "Vamps use them for any number of things. We're lucky they-" he winced. "didn't summon a demon out of it." He looked at Walker. "High command needs to be informed. Whatever they did, they finished it. And it can't be good."
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The Cry Havoc flew low over Kotlin Island. Sky-Captain Kilmer looked out over the battlefield. It was a mess. Burnt out hulks of vehicles littered the terrain. A significant portion of the forest had been burned down. The naval base was effectively destroyed by the Havoc's missile bombardment and a dozen warships lay on the bottom of the harbor. The town of Kronstadt was relatively intact, but its people had suffered immensely. Most of the population was massacred. It only took the Vanguard a day to respond to the attacks, far faster than any conventional military, yet vampires and their lackeys had managed to dig and seal numerous mass graves. She made sure that camera crews documented the destruction. The world had to be shown the tragedy that vampires had wrought. Much of the world did not yet understand the threat. After today, they would.
Overall, she was pleased with how the battle had developed, even if it did not go according to plan. The plan had been to advance the mechanized battalion up the middle, with the motorized battalion split in two and placed on the flanks. The mechanized battalions' heavy vehicles would roll up to Kronstadt and the lighter, faster, vehicles of the motorized would guard the flanks as they did so. Instead, what had happened was the enemy sallied from Kronstadt in great numbers and with all their stolen Russian vehicles and equipment. The mechanized battalion was bogged down in heavy fighting but held the line. The motorized units swept north and south and ensured the enemy was funneled directly into the guns of the Shogun main-battle tanks. The result had a woodchipper effect on the vampiric forces. The enemy forces were fed into the shredder in large numbers. By the time the fighting died down the enemy garrison had been annihilated. Vanguard tanks rolled into Kronstadt unopposed.
There were some surprises. The jamming made things harder. Airstrikes had to be dialed back and carefully managed to avoid friendly fire. Several Freikorps squads were lost behind the line. Two were annihilated. When Havoc arrived over the island, an aerial search managed to locate the jammer. She shuddered as she recalled the horrifying footage of the infernal site. She was glad to have it destroyed by a 1500lb bomb. Atleast, it was a quick death.
The surprise anti-ship missile attack had taken also its toll. Cry Havoc's missile defenses were depleted. A hit on the bow still smoldered. It hadn't caused any serious damage, but it prevented the carrier from launching fixed-wing aircraft. Kilmer clenched her teeth when she saw the damage. Nobody hurts her ship.
She was being praised for a successful operation, but she did not feel jubilant or satisfied with the outcome. Her mood was grim. She felt like she had been sent into a wolf's den, but instead found a hydra.