The next night everyone was sitting together waiting for the time. Time was ticking by and every minute felt like an hour. I was walking around but staying near Diach as I looked on at everyone. Most were checking and polishing their weapons or clothes to make sure they were battle ready. I stopped and just waited around just after midnight so I could rest my legs before it was battle time. As I did, another vampire walked up next to me before saying something directly to me.
"What is a little boy doing with us? Surely they do not think you have a place among us? We have proven ourselves time and time again and a freshie like you has no right to even stand among us let alone go into battle with us. You will do nothing but hinder us. What you should be doing is back at the base kissing some general ass to get promoted." The vampire said mockingly. He thought very little of me but this was the first time I had ever seen him so I do not know why he thought anything of me but I pushed that to the back of my head before standing up to face him. He was only an inch or two taller than me but much more lean than I was. He looked like paper he was so thin but being a vampire, he must have had some strength hidden away.
As I focused on my breathing to funnel strength into my fist, I lowered myself so my head was just under his neck before punching him in the ribs and sending him sprawling across the ground. He got onto all fours before coughing a few times and clutching his side. I sat back down satisfied with myself watching him sit there cough and struggle. Some of the other vampires watched us with interest as we made a spectacle. Diach stepped up from behind a group of vampires standing around a chair.
"What is going on here?" Diach asked confused. The other vampire stood silently refusing to look Diach in the eyes but instead watching me with disdain. He cowered from Diach as he walked forward towards us expecting some kind of physical repercussion. I had no problem telling Diach what the vampire said since I knew he would take my side as he was my mentor.
"This vampire decided it would be a good idea to give me shit about my age or something. He strangely brought up my being a new recruit. I do not know the guy, though, so I am not entirely sure why he decided he needed to say anything at all to me. I have just been standing around not bothering anyone thus far. You all would agree, yes?" I asked the group. They looked between each other and shrugged as confirmation.
"I was just standing waiting and getting ready for our battle. Some of the weapons interested me so I was looking at some weapons as well before he came up from nowhere saying how I do not deserve to be with you all and I should be back at the base kissing ass. I have not a clue where he came from but he has got me in a very sour mood now and I would like to have a chance at him." I told Diach looking at the vampire annoyed.
"I do not have a problem with you. You two can have it out at the base after this mission if you survive. I will warn you: Skytel has the combat capabilities of a season lieutenant. You will have no chance." Diach said to the vampire scoffing at him. "What are you again, soldier?"
"My name is Hideo (pronounce Hi day oh)." The vampire said bowing in respect. Without another word, Diach turned and walked away. The vampire continued staring at me for a few more moments before I turned and left to follow Diach.
The hour was upon us. It was mission time. We filed out of the hotel before making our way over the rooftops to their hotel. Most of the vampires could fly so they took to the air but I did not know how to yet so Diach, me, and a few others ran across the building tops. When we got to their hideout, a few Moonwalkers came out to greet us.
Diach dropped to the ground to talk, "You know what we have come for. You all die tonight, mutts." The Moonwalkers did not even look a bit fazed by his proclamation. They did not know how many of us there were but we also did not know how many there were of them.
"If it is just you and your boy, well then good luck. We vastly outnumber you. But I doubt you would come here without a plan. Even if you got every vampire in the city, you would still be no match for our numbers. 3 of you to each of us still would not be enough numbers. We have over a thousand in this city alone. By our instruction, they are all waiting here in this building." The Moonwalker taunted motioning to the hotel. A few more of them came out front but it was only a handful total. Two of us could handle this small number. We came this far and a few words from them was not going to deter us. We walked into the hotel after lining up on the streete but were met with an overwhelming number of Moonwalkers in the lobby alone. Their lobby was much bigger than ours and fit a few hundred of them along with us.
We got in formation but they had such a vast majority that they did not find the need to. It was about 350 of us against fifteen hundred of them. We would have to go five-to-one for us to even stand a chance. The lobby went from human against human to vampire against Moonwalker instantly. Their fur came out as did our fangs. There was a howl from the back of the Moonwalker group before we clashed. Diach and I were far off on the left fighting back to back. There was a circle of Moonwalkers around us. Diach was fighting them off easily but I was having a much harder time. They had almost perfect cooperation and left no time for me to attack. I could not evade because it would hit Diach so I was left blocking and parrying which were not my strong suits.
There were so many claws flying that I could not concentrate on my breathing and get a punch thrown with any real power. The Moonwalkers just shrugged off my attacks. They were not landing any concrete attacks either so I was not getting angry. It was a stalemate on my side but every time Diach got through one of them another stepped up in its place. Just as I was about to throw a wide hook, Diach wrapped my arm up and pulled me up and around him. It caught me by surprise just as much as the Moonwalkers but I took the opportunity to kick each of them in the snout. Now that there was some breathing room, I focused and unleashed a timed flurry of punches at each of them. With the strength I could funnel into my punches now, the wolves stood no chance. Jaws cracked and heads turned as they fell to the ground.
But before I could finish them off, more stepped up. Their numbers were dwindling so they would not be able to keep putting soldiers out to fight the two of us. We were fighting and killing Moonwalkers left and right. All of the vampires were pretty successful in their assault and before long, we had wiped out most of the Moonwalkers who made their way into the lobby. After we finished the ones already in the lobby, we split up to take the different floors. Even though they were animals, they were smart. They figured out fighting us in that open area where we could team up would spell disaster for them so they split us up and took us to different floors so we could not come to each other's aids.
Diach and I walked into a long hallway with doors on either side going down. It was the typical hotel set up except these doors were pretty large and there was a very well crafted door at the end of the hall facing us. When that door opened, a large Moonwalker came walking out before leaning on the doorway. He barked something out and Moonwalkers filed out of each of the doors. It went from us three in the hallway to 20 of us in no time. The wolves were all different sizes but none were even in the same ballpark as the one waiting at the end of the hall. He was a massive specimen.
Diach and I looked at each other before getting into stances and making our way down the hall. These Moonwalkers were bigger and stronger but slower so they were not an issue. It took only moments for us to make it down the hall, making sure to finish off each Moonwalker as we went. If we left any alive, it would only make our job harder in the end. When we got to the door at the end and the Moonwalker inside, I looked at him closely as he did me. We were sizing each other up and just from being this close, I knew he was extraordinarily powerful. Before I could even back down, he wrapped his hand around my face and threw me away. I was sent tumbling down the hall in a daze.
'I did not know anything could be this strong' I thought groggily. Diach and the Moonwalker were battling it out at the end of the hall. This giant of a specimen was just as fast as he was strong. Every punch he threw, he left cracks in the wall. Diach was landing punches but the Moonwalker did not even take notice of them. I was still too groggy to be effective in battle and had to get my bearings back. The hallway was swaying but before I realized it was me, I crashed into the ground. After taking a few deep breaths and focusing on the ceiling above, I started to straighten my senses out. After a few more minutes, I stood and balanced myself to fight. By the time I reentered the battle, Diach was pretty beaten up. The Moonwalker looked like he had stepped out of the room. We had to double team to do any damage.
I jumped on his shoulders from behind after Diach spun him around to bite him. He dug his claws into my shoulder and tossed me over him. There was no option but to roll as he stomped down where I just was laying. Diach slid to kick the Moonwalker's leg but the attack did not phase him. We had to change strategies if anything was going to happen. I managed to get the Moonwalker riled up enough to punch me but his punch was square in my chest instead of my face where he aimed.
The rage boiled over as I finished transforming. Now we were the same size but I was out of his league in strength. He was still faster than me but ever so slightly so.
"What is this? Are you going to actually entertain me now?" The Moonwalker taunted before I threw a punch and blew his arm back. It made him look down at his hand and back up at me. He tried forcing his claw through my shoulder but I grabbed his arm and snapped it like a twig. The massive creature let out a yelp of pain at the arm. Without giving him a moment to rest, I punched him in the throat and sent him flying back into the room.
It was a large, luxurious room with an indoor jacuzzi and a full bar inside on one side. On the other side, there was a billiards table and some kind of court in a glass box. The Moonwalker hurled various objects at me but all it served to do was annoy me. When I caught one of the pool cues mid air and threw it back, he stood up to come back and end me. Going for the finishing blow, the Moonwalker tried to rip my neck off my body but I grabbed his snout and ripped it apart when he opened it. Diach kicked his legs so he was on his knees and I separated his jaws. The Moonwalkers body slumped over bleeding. This fight had sapped my strength but Diach stopped me before I fed from the Moonwalker.
"That would not be a good idea. Moonwalker blood is toxic to vampires." Diach mentioned. With no use for his body, I tossed him out of the glass on the southernmost side of his room. When his body hit the ground, a car horn started blaring and a woman screamed. The wolf had changed back into a human on the way down as I expected so it looked like he committed suicide with how up we were.
As we made our way back downstairs, some of the other vampires were waiting in the lobby. We had lost over half our soldiers but it was a successful mission.
"You ran into one of the other breeds as well then?" One of the vampires asked Diach seeing how battered he was. It must have happened to pretty much all of them and the vampires that were not here did not make it out of the fight. Everyone left was a higher rank than those who had died.
"They had it set up for us. If we had come with any less, we would all be dead now. They made these new breeds very quickly. I will have to tell the princes of it when we go back." Diach said back to the vampire. I looked around searching and found the vampire from before eventually. He was in bad shape but he would heal up when we got back to the base. Our fight was going to happen. Luckily he did not die in the tussle.