“And for the last twenty one years there hasn’t been a day that has gone by in which I haven’t tried to fight the Imperial Regime of Anaxagoras. I want us to achieve what we fought for long ago. But we won’t achieve anything with all this bickering. We must join together as one army and fight for our rights! We must fight to regain what we have lost and what is rightfully ours!” At this point the people bowed their heads in silence. They realized that John was right. Even the reporters stopped bickering and just let the silence continue, as the floating cameras panned from John to the audience. The silence became almost unbearable for John. The fear that his speech might not have persuaded them surged like electricity under his skin. He waited.

The crowd suddenly started shouting and cheering for John. Their leader.

John’s face widened into a smile. “So what do you say? Are we going to get the Earth back or not?”

The people cried out, “Yes!”

Alex glanced around the area of the ship anxiously, careful not to make eye contact with any of the crew members. He felt them glaring at him suspiciously. To relieve his mind, he thought of his family and Angel. He smiled at the thought of becoming a father. Nikolas observed Alex and said, “You have your mother’s smile.”

“You knew my parents, didn’t you?” Alex asked in a hushed tone.

“Alex, you don’t have to be frightened of anything. Everyone here is a Rebel. And these punks,” he added, referring to the Imperial soldiers. “They don’t really talk much or listen to anything.” He glared at the one who had turned on his restraining choker and the other Imperials. They returned the aggressive look and ignored Nikolas and his comrades. Every now and then, they would watch Alex’s movements.

“So, what were they like?” Alex asked a little louder.

“All I can say is that they were wonderful human beings.”

Alex opened his mouth, surprised by Nick’s statement, but the Rebel covered his mouth before he could say anything. “Some things are better left for later.” He motioned with his eyes to signify that it was dangerous to talk on such a subject. “Let me introduce you to the Rebels,” he said.

The Rebels now consisted of only twelve members. The rest, Nikolas explained, died in the war. There had been about 125000 alive before the war. The last battle had claimed 120000 Rebel casualties. The rest had been used for tests for the Silver-moon project. After the first phase, 3000 had died. Once the first phase had been completed, only 850 were left. During the second phase, only twelve made it. One by one, Nick introduced them.

The first Rebel he introduced was Varenkoff. “I’ve read lots about you, General Varenkoff,” Alex said, smiling.

Varenkoff smiled back and shook Alex’s hand, “Please, call me Dante.” His black hair was tied in a ponytail and he donned a thin mustache. His eyes were the darkest Alex had ever seen, with a slight tinge of crimson. Alex could not help but look at his scar which ran down the length of his cheek from his left eye to his upper lip. Dante noticed this and laughed, pointing to it with his right finger, “This, my dear boy, was a gift from Adiraan.”

“Oh,” said Alex, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I keep it as a memento; a precious memory of our days in the Rebellion.” Varenkoff’s eyes looked beyond Alex, vacant and dreaming, in the same way that John’s did when he spoke of the war.

“I thought vampires could regenerate,” Alex said.

“If they choose to, yes,” Varenkoff replied.

Nikolas went on to introduce the others:

Efarius seemed to be the oldest of them all. He was lean and tall and his skin was tanned from hard work in the sun. He had worked in the farms as a serf for Anaxagoras. He smiled and shook hands with Alex. Efarius’s hand felt hard and leathery.

Joqetu, a youngish looking Rebel with red hair bowed to Alex and shook hands with him. “Finally,” he said, “after all these years.”

“And this is Davik,” said Nikolas, introducing a tall Rebel with pleasant features. Davik’s fair face smiled at the mention of his name and he shook Alex’s hand. His grip was gentle.

The next Rebel, Gavin, stood with his arms crossed and his back straight. His muscular frame was tight and stiff. He smiled solemnly at Alex.

Noel was introduced next. He had been watching Alex constantly and was filled with awe and respect. His eyes widened as he took Alex’s hand in his own.

Liam bowed slightly and shook Alex’s hand. He had wild ragged hair that fell loose about his face. When he smiled, Alex saw his bright white fangs. “It’s an honor,” said Liam.

Yagnik shook Alex’s hand next and brought him closer to embrace him. He watched Alex with interest. His light blonde hair was cut short and his eyes were the color of blue seas.

Orwen welcomed his leader’s son, bowing and shaking his hand. He looked slightly nervous and his pale face seemed even paler when he looked at Alex with his large golden brown eyes. Moving his chestnut brown hair away from his face, he said, “I never thought I’d see the day, Alex, but I’m glad I have.”

Hektor, a six and a half foot tall vampire, grabbed Alex by the arms, hugged him and laughed loudly. “I’m so happy at last to see you, young Alexandros.” His face was covered under a huge messy beard that flowed down to his chest. The hair on his head flowed all the way down his back.

Finally, Quentin smiled at him and bowed, “Good to see you,” he said. He was thinner than the others and moved quickly when introduced. Quentin was from a noble lineage and indeed had a regal air about him. The others came from humbler backgrounds and some were part of the military of Migra. Quentin was related to Nikolas, on his mother’s brother’s wife’s side, being her third cousin.

Alex noticed that all the Rebels were shirtless and just wore military pants. “Why aren’t you guys armored?”

Nikolas said, “Didn’t you see what we can do? We have no need for armor.”

Alex shook his head.

“Watch.” The Rebels transformed their bodies into silver, like Nikolas had during the battle in the Regnum. Their whole bodies looked like shiny sculptures. Their muscles gleamed as the silver reflected the light. They looked like mechanical, robotic vampires.

“Wow!” Alex said, “This is amazing!”

They levitated in the air, surrounding Alex in a circle like magnificent angels protecting him. They took their right arms and placed their hands a foot above Alex’s head. From each arm came white beams of light, which shot into Alex’s head. The converged light radiated a powerful aura, traveling down his spine and back, finally spinning clockwise around his vertebral column. The radiant light scattered throughout his nervous system and into his bloodstream, finally reaching his brain. It spread around and circled his brain like a bright halo. A thin white light emanated from the center of his spinal cord. It slowly rose from the base and through the cerebral cortex. His eyes shone like fire and he opened his loose mouth slightly. Suddenly he began to levitate alongside the others. The Imperial Vampires watched in awe, waiting for a command to do something, but no such command was given. Even Jacque, the Imperial commander of the mission, stared on in complete shock, watching the amazing spectacle of light and magic.

Alex spoke an ancient magical incantation in ancient Migritic. And at once, the pure white light flooded the entirety of the ship. A faint sound, like the one Alex had heard when he first drank the blood from the fountain, hummed incessantly. After four minutes, the light died out and the Rebels collapsed back down but Alex continued to hover in the air, cross-legged in a lotus position. The light still surrounded him.

The Imperial soldiers snapped out of their trance and the commander ordered the soldiers to bring Migra for those who had collapsed. Plastic packets of Migra, much like stored-up blood, were injected into them and little by little they recovered. Jacque asked Nick, “What was all that about?”