Chapter 3: The Vampire's Last Dusk

A terrible war had raged the Alpha quadrant for the last century between the immortal vampires and the mortal races of the quadrant. The war lasted so long, with so many casualties, that very few thought the fighting should continue, and even fewer knew why they were still fighting. Finally, the peace offer was made, from the very person that started the war, the vampire leader, Jonathan.

This step was something clear only to him, as the other vampires were completely baffled from this decision, and there was great confusion on both sides. He sent a message to the leaders of the other races, asking a peace conference. They had agreed to meet on a neutral planet and negotiate there. All fighting was suspended, and the others waited for the news from their leaders.

The negotiations were long and hard, but finally peace was made. The vampires even agreed to some territorial losses in the interest of peace.

After the war, although slowly, the other races started to become more understanding of vampires, and some even began cooperating and trading with them. Still, for the vampires, peace didn't last long.

One hundred and eighty years later, a small ship detected an artificial wormhole opening near them, and John sent the closest warship to assist and investigate. As the warship approached the wormhole, the small ship reported that three unknown ships have exited the wormhole and started to attack them.

These three ships were too much for a small science ship, but not for a "Mist" class warship, the biggest and most powerful ships of the vampires. These ships, built twenty years ago, and equipped with the newest technologies were rumored to be indestructible.

When the warship arrived, it quickly destroyed the three ships, and began analyzing the debris. What seemed like an isolated conflict would soon become the fiercest war in the galaxy, as it was a ruthless battle to the death between two of the most powerful races in it. The race that sent the three ships never made contact with others; they just attacked them, but were called Sektar by the vampires, for they were highly evolved insects that resembled a combination of several insects in a humanoid form, and they even used biological ships that were grown, not built.

Still, for such hated enemies, they both had many similarities. Both races considered themselves the peak of evolution, and both races found nothing wrong in conquest, destruction or assimilation, for the Sektar too, could assimilate others. They infected the other races with their DNA, and got terrible mutants and half-breeds loyal to them. The races that were immune were destroyed.

Vampires were immune to all diseases, and their highly advanced DNA was too complex and compact to allow foreign DNA to impose itself.

The Sektar leaders, the Queens, decided that the vampires were too powerful to be left alive, and therefore must be destroyed. They gathered all available ships and moved into the Alpha quadrant.

In the early morning on the 3-th of June, 2637 vampire long-range sensors detected a massive fleet moving towards them. Fearing that there would be more casualties if they entered their territory, John sent all ships to the border to repel this treat.

Eighteen hours later, the Sektar fleet arrived and engaged the vampires. The battle lasted for twelve hours, and it ended in victory to the vampires, but both fleets were greatly crippled. The Sektar withdrew from vampire territory and began regrouping on several planets they took over. They built massive bases and shipyards, and began mass-producing both ships and soldiers.

John also ordered martial law; all ships were refitted and re-crewed, and immediate production of many new ships was ordered.

In the meantime, vampire scientists, led by John's wife, Heather began developing new weapons that would be effective against the biological ships of the Sektar. The preparations lasted for two and a half years, with only minor skirmishes here and there. In the meantime, the other races stood by and watched how the Clash of the Titans was being prepared. The vampires were strong, maybe too strong.

For example, in the last war, the mortals only managed to keep them at bay, but they didn't manage to advance a single cubic millimeter.

But, the Sektar were also very powerful. The fighting began at the end of December, and both sides fought without mercy, for on one side, the Sektar soldiers were mindless drones, and on the other, the vampires fought for survival. Unfortunately, the constant increase in Sektar numbers soon overwhelmed the vampires as the Sektar outnumbered them 5:1, and they had lost several important battles.