[@Shikaru]

Vance, huh? It was small, small, small... far too small a place to be the site of such a grand event. But perhaps it was the best place after all. Every great tree grew from a tiny seed, and an explosion that levelled cities was caused by mere atoms. All the best things began small, and naturally grew over time. And a conquest that would one day overwhelm the world itself, the same rule would most certainly apply. A tiny little town, but it was only the start. A staging point, a starting block, the place where this all started. In a hundred years when people asked 'where did it all go wrong?' this would be the answer. The town of Vance. Something better to be known for than it's atrocious cooking and ugly people. 

Smiling, Johnathan considered this rosy future over a goblet of red wine. Strange what things he had kept from his time as a human, even now he preferred wine over blood. Perhaps because wine had so much more variety, so much more quality. He looked out over the town's streets, as he considered how to enact a most brutal act. To capture a member of the Covenant alive, and to bring him to Magnus. Why his boss had taken an interest in this particular soldier Johnathan couldn't imagine, but it was his duty as an unquestioning servant to fulfil his master's every order. And for now he would be the image of the perfect servant, a teacher's pet who would do anything for his glorious lord and master. Up until the very second he drove in the knife.

But what a troublesome request this was. There was nothing the Covenant excelled in more than secrecy. Finding something as large as a base had been hard enough, let alone something as small as a single person. An insignificant cog in the machine, whom he was supposed to find based on nothing more than a name. To give an order such as that as if it were a small task... truly, this was the next level of the game. Here mere competence would not be enough, just being excellent would not suffice. No, he would need to be perfect. A perfect plan, executed by perfect soldiers, against the perfect target. The thought made Johnathan's heart race, he could not suppress the manic smile that came to his face. The thought that one mistake would get him killed, that he was playing a game for the fate of the world itself... oh, it was almost more than he could bear. 

In order to pull this off he would need to gain access to the Covenant's records, direct access to someone in charge. The kind of person who didn't go into the field. Luckily he knew the location of a small base, which was exactly the kind of place he needed. Now infiltrating this place was out of the question, the Covenant were obsessive. No vampire or thrall could get inside. And no pure human connected to Johnathan would be able to make it past the background check. A stealth mission, in and out, was a definite possibility. But the Covenant were a suspicious lot, and had extensive security measures in all of their facilities. Even a relatively small one like this. Besides, such a subtle move wouldn't make the right... statement. Vampires weren't the ones who needed to skulk around in darkness, hiding from the light. That was the act of the weak, of those who feared exposure. It was their enemies who should be hiding, who should be sneaking. They were the ones who should be afraid. That was the message he would send.

Glancing backwards, he saw the troops he had prepared. Elite soldiers from his day in the field, highly trained and experienced. They had fought in battlefields across the world, and each was deeply loyal to Johnathan. These were his elite, the troops he had chosen to become the first Death Troopers. A new kind of soldier, for a new age. With a smile, he gave the order. "Storm the base. Capture as many of them as possible, I need them alive. Eliminate any and all resistance." As he turned back to his view of the street, he could barely hear them leaving the room even with his vampiric hearing. Without fail, they would get the job done. His plan was flawless, his troops without equal, and his enemy was weak. This would be the start. From his dreams and ambitions he would make a seed, to be watered with the blood of his enemies. And he would grow a tree for the whole world to see.

[hr]

A single figure walked down the street, clad in black armour. Plates of shiny black material covered him like a beetle's carapace, and a smooth black mask obscured his face. With a fluidity and grace impossible from a human this figure moved forward, carrying a large case. Looking over the building, they confirmed what they already knew. This was the place. Already, several watchful individuals were walking in, presumably to warn the people inside. The armoured stranger didn't care, their warning wouldn't matter. Opening the package he took out what was inside. The flamboyantly named Red Harvest, an experimental weapon designed specifically for vampire combat. It looked like nothing more than a very large pipe, with several handholds. Raising it to his shoulder, the stranger took a moment to aim. A moment longer than was necessary. Faintly, he could already hear the alarms going off beneath the ground. No doubt they were preparing for an assault. He could hear the civilians around him panicking, shouting at him. He could hear the police officer who had just arrived demanding that he put down the weapon, that he surrender quietly. But this was not the time for peaceful solutions. After all, he had his orders.

With a boom like thunder amplified the Red Harvest fired, a high-powered rocket exploding forth from the end of the weapon. It exploded on impact, an even louder sound echoing through the city as most of the building was engulfed in a ball of flame. Shrapnel spread through the street, slicing apart unfortunate civilians. Screaming and shouting and crying, the police officer frantically calling for backup, the sound of sirens in the distance. Other black-armoured figures stepped from the shadows, and made their way over to the building. They walked through the fire and the panic without issue. Bullets plinked harmlessly off one's armour, before the cop realised the futility of his effort and fled. One of the figures in the lead leaned down and ripped open a metal hatch leading down. Down to the Covenant base, which had been thought to be so secure. A gas grenade was dropped down, a toxic combination which would soon incapacitate anyone who breathed it in. Foolish vampire hunters were used to tooth and claw, not to a military attack. Obscured by the gas the Death Troopers dropped down into the base, readying their weaponry.

None would escape their wrath. Those who claimed to be hunters would themselves be hunted down, subdued, and rounded up like cattle. A new age was about to dawn on this world, and they were the heralds. A mere ten figured moved down into the Covenant base, ten Death Troopers armed and armoured in the newest in military technology. But how could mere humans stand up to even ten of these new super soldiers?

[hr]

Outside the town, an army was prepared. The entire town was surrounded, vampire newbloods in fancy uniforms stood at the ready. It turned out that supernatural reflexes and vision made one an excellent gunner. Not Death Troopers, but makeshift soldiers nonetheless. Johnathan had gone through a bunch of effort preparing matching uniforms, but it made for an impressive sight as they all stood there. Black and red uniforms reminiscent of the uniforms from the napoleonic wars. But the guns they held weren't muskets, but rather high-grade rifles. There weren't enough of the high-powered prototype weapons to hand out, but even with just normal firearms they were a force to be feared. And to keep the grunts in line, four of Johnathan's elite Death Troopers had been deployed as well. One for each of the smaller forces, placed at the four major roads entering the city. Any civilians that attempted to move in or out were apprehended and captured, to be escorted to previously prepared trucks and hauled off for confinement. After all, in a vampire war, blood was an important resource.

The explosion rang out over the houses, even from here that flash of light could be seen. Simultaneously each of the four Death Troopers gestured for their forces to stand ready. When they marched it was in ranks, proudly stepping forward as they flew a crimson banner. Those cops that stood in their way were swiftly dealt with, as they declared their demands. Civilians were gathered, sniffed out by superior senses and organised search patterns. Again they were loaded up and moved away. Women, children, beggars, everyone was taken in a rapid and efficient collection effort. Unprepared civilians had no way to protect themselves from such a large-scale and forceful incursion, and those police forces that did try to resist were swiftly dealt with.

Unless the Covenant was able to deal with the Death Troopers and escape from their base, the town would be rapidly conquered. And even if they did escape, without reinforcements how could they even hope to best such odds? Already these forces guarded every exit from the town, noone would be allowed to leave. And already the four Death Troopers outside the base were preparing to deal with any new opponents, heavy weapons being unpacked and readied even as caltrops and mines were placed on the major entrances. Like a well-trained army these vampires began to fortify the town, and in less than an hour considerable defences had already been prepared.

This was how Johnathan would change the war between vampires and humans. This was how he would show the superiority of vampire-kind.