2 comments/ 18959 views/ 2 favorites A Vampire's Planet By: Samuelx My name is Tori Darwin. If you were to look at me, all you'd see is an ordinary girl. Five-foot-ten, a bit thick, with dark brown skin and long braided hair. I'm quite average in many ways. I'm not exactly leading an ordinary life, though. I was born in 2476 A.D. in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. Like every able-bodied person who doesn't have a physical disability, a genius-level IQ, or rich parents, I was drafted into the military. The fact that I'm the First Daughter of the Interstellar Alliance doesn't make a difference. In the future, both males and females are expected to fight for their countries and indeed the fate of humanity itself. No ifs, ands or buts about it. The enemy doesn't discriminate and neither do we. We've got too much at stake and need all of the manpower we can get. I'm proud to be a soldier. These days, my world needs me. You see, in the year 2490, the planet Earth is at war. We are at war with the Intergalactic Empire of the Vampires. Vampires are real. They're very real. And they don't come from Transylvania. They're humanoid creatures from another galaxy. They don't live in coffins but travel in massive spaceships. They attack worlds inhabited by sentient creatures. Most of these creatures get slaughtered and devoured, though a few of them live long enough to become Vampires. They visited the planet Earth thousands of years ago. Somehow, our ancestors found a way to repeal them. Now, they're back. The Vampires are back. And they've come en masse. If we can't stop them, we're dead meat. End of story. That's why I'm a cadet at the Interplanetary Military Academy. It's located on Earth and has three hundred thousand students from various colony worlds attached to the Interplanetary Alliance. The Interplanetary Military Academy is a big place. It's basically a city where men and women are trained, getting ready for the war against the Vampires. We have locations in North America, South America, Asia, Africa and even Antarctica. Everyone must fight. If we lose, humanity's days could be over. Many human planets have already been destroyed by the Vampires. Hundreds of thousands of people were turned into Half-Breeds. The rest were devoured by the Vampires. Vampires feed on human flesh and blood. A human who is bitten by one of them will become a Half-Breed within a few days. The Half-Breed is a monster that looks human but feeds on human flesh and blood. It has superhuman strength and speed. Like all Vampires, it has the power to regenerate. Vampires cannot die naturally. They can stick around for thousands of years. Until something comes along that can destroy them. The planet Mars was once a thriving colony world with thirty million settlers. In 2190, it was attacked by a fleet of space-faring Vampires. They slaughtered ninety eight percent of the planet's population. The rest was made into Vampires. This was the first time humanity encountered them in space. We fought back. We drove them back, but at what cost. We detonated a Doomsday Device on Mars, killing one million Vampires along with whatever humans were still alive on the planet. Desperate times call for desperate measures. We couldn't let the Vampires have control of Mars. Earth, Capital of the Interstellar Alliance, was right next door. The Vampires were a threat unlike any we'd ever faced. They travel through the galaxies on massive spaceships called Death Bringers. The Death Bringers are triangle-shaped, and each of them is the size of a small city. They can carry one hundred thousand Vampire soldiers. They're going to be the death of us. Unless we stop them. The Interstellar Alliance is home to one hundred and seventeen colony worlds. Men and women living on various planets across the galaxy. We're a democratic system, with heavy militaristic tendencies and a strong sense of patriotism. We're not some light-hearted liberal wimps like those common in the twenty first century. The Supreme Chancellor of the Interstellar Alliance is James Blanco Darwin, an openly bisexual African-American widower who also happens to be my father. My mother, Eleanor Cooper Darwin was the President of the Interplanetary Commerce Guild, the largest corporation in the universe. She was killed by Vampires during a raid on a moon she was visiting. That's one of many reasons why I hate those freaks. My elder brother Luther Darwin, a big and tall African-American stud, used to be a player in the Interplanetary Rugby Football Association. That was before he got called to duty. These days, he's the Captain of the Omega-level Starship Hercules, one of the largest ships in the fleet. In the eyes of the interplanetary media, he's the bad boy of the military. The handsome stud who had it easy because his father is the leader of the human world. He's a lot more serious than they give him credit for. My other brother Armstrong is not a soldier or politician. He's the Vice President of Braxtor Enterprises, the largest supplier of military weaponry in the universe. At the Interplanetary Military Academy, I enrolled in the toughest training programs. I was also a dedicated sportswoman. The Interplanetary Military Academy had every sport you could think of. We had Men's Intercollegiate Baseball, Basketball, Soccer, Football, Rugby, Rifle, Lacrosse, Ice Hockey, Tennis, Logging, Field Hockey, Rowing, Boxing, Power-lifting, Swimming, Wrestling, Sailing, Cycling, Arm-Wrestling, Sumo Wrestling, Track, Nordic Skiing, Archery, Gymnastics, Golf, Squash, Fencing, Horsemanship and Kayaking. We also had Women's Intercollegiate Softball, Basketball, Soccer, Football, Rugby, Rifle, Lacrosse, Ice Hockey, Tennis, Boxing, Rowing, Power-lifting, Field Hockey, Logging, Swimming, Wrestling, Sailing, Cycling, Arm-Wrestling, Sumo Wrestling, Track, Nordic Skiing, Archery, Gymnastics, Golf, Squash, Fencing, Equestrian and Kayaking. I'm a member of the Women's Rugby team. We've taken on all of the major universities of the planet. The Interplanetary Military Academy Department of Athletics is the world's best. We're second to none. And we take everyone's medals away from them. It's at the Athletics Complex that I met the person who changed my life forever. Raphael Knight. A big and tall, brown-skinned, dreadlocked black stud. What can I say? Even in the future, a girl is a girl. I found him so frigging hot. So hot he could make my mouth water. He looked so fine and masculine. Tall and sexy, with a model's face and the kind of body that Olympic athletes would envy. Oh, man. I had to get this stud's coordinates. He approached me with a bright grin, and asked me to point him to the Men's Locker Room. Trying not to drool, I could only point to the right. I didn't try to speak. I watched him walk away, a vision of masculine perfection. Hot damn, the man was fine. The next time I ran into him was in my Nietzschean Philosophy Class. As I watched him defend the philosophies of Nietzsche against some feminist crone, I smiled. The man wasn't just handsome. He was also smart and determined. I wanted him even more. So, I gathered my courage and approached him after class. That's when I learned his name. Raphael Knight. A transfer to the Interplanetary Military Academy from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. What a man! Raphael and I talked. I pricked him with questions. Who was he? Well, he used to play Division Three Football at Morehouse College and wanted to make it into the National Football League, maybe even the Atlanta Falcons. However, he decided that the salvation of mankind from Vampires was a higher ideal. I was amazed. An idealistic. And a cute one too. I thought they were extinct. I had to hold onto this one before somebody stole him! I definitely wanted to keep him to myself. So, Raphael Knight and I became fast friends. He came from a rather prominent family. His father, former United States Senator James Enrique Knight, was the President of the Georgia Institute of Technology. His mother, Elisabeth Samson Knight was the Vice President of Magyar Inc, the largest engineering firm in the United States of America. Yeah, he was something else. I just didn't know what. Raphael and I began dating. I fell in love with him. Later, I introduced him to my dad and brothers. They took a liking to him. Why not? He was so damn charming. My dad especially liked him. Dad went to Harvard but always wanted to go to Morehouse. The black Harvard of the South. As for Raphael, he cared for me, but I felt that there was something he was hiding from me. One day, I asked him about it. He flat-out told me that he was bisexual. He had both male and female lovers before we met. I wasn't that surprised. Tons of people are openly gay and bisexual in this century. Same-Sex Marriage has been legalized worldwide three hundred years ago. The fact that my sexy black boyfriend was bisexual didn't bother me. Hell, I once slept with a girl myself, but that was mostly out of curiosity. I'm not into females. I felt that he was hiding something else from me. And surely enough, one day, I found out. It was during a trip to the planet Erebus, right outside the planet Earth's Solar System. We were on vacation from the Academy. For three weeks, we were free to do as we pleased. Erebus is a planet known for its vacation spots. It's very earth-like on one side. The other side is almost permanent darkness. A vast, dark wasteland. Hence the name Erebus, meaning darkness in ancient Greek. The inhabitants live on the sunlit half, which is a lot like paradise. A verdant, lush and green world. Full of lakes and rivers. Lush jungles teeming with life-forms. Yeah, it was paradise. If you're lovebirds, then Erebus is the place for you. Millions of men and women from throughout the Interplanetary Alliance spend their vacations on Erebus. I just had to pick the day when the Vampire Fleet arrived. We were in the City of Nirvana, enjoying the pleasures of the planet. Along with hundreds of thousands of happy couples who arrived that day. Men and women. Men and men. Women and women. Yeah, Nirvana caters to a diverse clientele. I was holding hands with Raphael as we stroke through the city. Being such a cute stud, he got looks from both men and women. He enjoyed it. That's his slightly narcissistic side coming out. I gritted my teeth and endured his flirtation with both male and female workers at the International Space Port. He kept pointing out sexy women and hunks in swim trunks. I pinched his finger. He laughed and pinched me back, though definitely not on my finger. Yeah, he was just messing with me. The prankster. If I wasn't in love with him I'd so...grr. Never mind. Anyhow, we stayed at the Olympus Hotel. A massive complex meant to house ten thousand visitors at a time. Being cadets from the top military school in the universe, we got special accomodations. Okay, we didn't, but I got my dad to make a call. We got a nice suite. Oh, man. This vacation was the shit. I wanted to head out of the hotel suite for a tour, but Raphael found a way to keep me indoors. He was in the shower, and I was in bed, watching a news broadcast. He asked me to bring him a towel. I did. He stepped out of the shower, a gorgeous naked black stud. Hot damn. He grinned and pulled me inside. Clothes and all. He kissed me, and I kissed him back. Next thing I knew, my clothes were gone. And I was naked in the shower with Raphael. His hands roamed all over my curvy body as he kissed me. Gently, he caressed my breasts. I moaned softly, and urged him on. My hands caressed his face, his neck and chest before finding their way to his groin. I began stroking his long and thick, uncut cock. Circumcision as a practice was outlawed by the Interplanetary Alliance. There can be no more body modification of infants for any religious or cultural reasons. I like my natural man. His cock was so powerful yet sensitive. He sighed as I stroked him. His hands went down and cupped my buttocks before sliding between my legs. Raphael slid one finger into my wet pussy and continued kissing me as he fingered my wetness. I pushed against him, wanting more. Another finger slid into me. Raphael fingered my snatch, delighting in those little sounds of pleasure I made. I begged him to take me. Raphael teased me for a bit, rubbing his cock against my pussy without penetrating me. Finally, he did. His cock slid into my pussy. He placed his hands on my wide hips and thrust into me. He fucked me. I gasped in surprised pleasure as Raphael's cock filled me. Damn, I will never get used to that dick of his. At least ten inches long and quite thick. It had the power to make me scream loud enough to wake the dead and bring me to previously unimaginable heights of pleasure. And that's exactly what he did today. He plowed into me, stretching my pussy with his big cock. I pushed against him, grinding myself to his groin. Until all of him was inside me. We kissed. He continued ramming his cock inside of me, until he finally came, sending his hot seed inside my womanhood. I squealed. Raphael's roar rang through my ears. My man was a screamer! Afterwards, we laughed and resumed fucking and showering. We're experts at multi-tasking. You learn that stuff at the Academy. Those first six days we spent were among the best of my life. I loved Raphael to death. Seriously. We spent our time exploring the magnificent landscape of Erebus, from the guided tours of the jungle to the virtual reality environments and high-tech obstacle courses. He was amazing, through it all. I love this man and would do anything for him. Yet I felt that he was keeping something from me. What could it be? He was smart, sexy and healthy. One of the best cadets at the Academy. An outstanding student-athlete. He came from a good, solid family. He was comfortable with his sexuality and honest with me. Yet I felt that there was a side to him which I knew nothing about. I wouldn't know until the seventh day, when the Vampire Fleet attacked and all Hell broke loose. The seventh day started out nicely enough. Like any other day. Raphael and I went into town, to sample the local pleasures. We swam in the pool, and even swam with genetically engineered Mega Sharks. Mega Sharks are part of the Mega Fauna which the corporations created for Erebus oceans. These were forty-foot-long super predators. People could, for a price, pay to swim with them. The human in the shark-filled river had an Encounter Suit made up of a super-strong alloy, enough oxygen to last for days and a portale force field which shielded them from the shark. That's a little too extreme for me. Raphael loved it though. I came close to pissing my shorts. Raphael had a blast. Then, it happened. The first spaceship appeared in the sky, followed by another, then another. I thought they were Interstellar Alliance vessels. Raphael somehow knew they weren't. A few minutes before the orbital bombardment of the planet Erebus began, he had seized my hand and was running at top speed toward the Space Port. Fire rained down from the skies as the Vampire fleet began bombarding the planet. Magnificent cities were reduced to rubble from orbit. Hundreds of thousands died. Millions more were injured. I couldn't believe it. The Vampires were here. En masse. I wanted to return to our suite to pack our things. Raphael stopped me, in a voice that brooked no opposition. He stopped at an abandoned supply store, and loaded up on weapons and food. Like everyone else on the planet, we were headed to the Space Port. Except that a Vampire spaceship swooped down and vaporized the thirty-mile-long super structure, destroying the hundreds of thousands of spaceships and countless humans trapped inside. I watched, horrified as our hopes were crushed. Raphael wasn't discouraged. Instead, he led me to a hangar where he found a land vehicle. We drove it out of the city and into the outlands. All around us, buildings were burning. There were bodies on the streets. The corpses of men and women who were burned to ash by the Vampire spaceships. I sat in the car, clutching a force-blasting rifle against my chest while Raphael drove us lord knew where. I thought about my life up until that point. Is this to be the end of my existence? Am I to die on this planet, another casualty of the same feral race of bloodthirsty aliens who killed my mother? The thought filled me with rage. I looked up at the sky, to see thousands upon thousands of Vampire spacecraft descending upon the planet Erebus. It looked like they were here to stay. I cursed them. One day, I was going to bring about the end of all of them. If I survived this. As if reading my mind, Raphael looked at me reassuringly and told me that he would see us both through this. I looked at him, stunned. How could he be so calm under the circumstances? Didn't he ever get scared? He flashed me that sexy, dangerous smile of his and shrugged. Then he kept driving. I asked him where we were going. He told me about the Outlands, an isolated spot where some of the planet's isolationist religious types lived. He figured that the Vampires didn't know about them and kept their predations restricted to the paradise-like, ( or once-paradise-like) vacation spots of Erebus. And so we drove on. I fell asleep. When I came to, we were parked on a dirt road, somewhere in the wilderness. There was a blanket draped over me. I wrapped it around myself, surprised at how cold it was. Raphael was there, and had prepared some food. I asked him where we were. He told me we were near the Outlands. Into the eternally dark half of the planet Erebus. Where modern humans seldom ventured. The realm which an isolationist religious sect known as the Brotherhood of the Light lived. He told me that these people might have a way to get word out to the outside world that the Vampires were on Erebus. It was imperative that we warned the Interstellar Alliance about this new Vampire invasion. I looked at Raphael, and for the thousandth time since I met him, I was amazed. What a man. Always on top of every situation. My superman. How I regretted being so ungrateful and so inquisitive of his whereabouts all the time. I got up, and hugged him. He smiled, and hugged me back. Looking into his golden brown eyes, I asked him what he was thinking about. Raphael shrugged, then told me that he was very much worried about us, and the rest of humanity. If the Vampires weren't stopped, we were screwed. I recalled a class discussion we once had about them. Vampires were super predators. Raphael smiled, and in that moment, his eyes flashed with a dangerous, feral light. He told me that every predator was someone else's prey. With that, he laughed. I laughed too. He told me that in ancient times, when humans believed vampires to be myth, there was another race battling the vampires for supremacy of the night world. I was puzzled. Which race was that? Raphael smiled, and told me that once, a long time ago, werewolves fought against vampires on humanity's behalf, and won. Wow. That was surprising. And certainly made for an interesting story. Raphael laughed, and said that humanity could certainly use the help of werewolves right now. I grinned. Yeah, we sure could. Too bad werewolves were a myth. Raphael and I went back into the vehicle. We snuggled close, and slept. Tomorrow, we would find those Isolationists and find some way to warn the Interstellar Alliance about the new Vampire Invasion. Tomorrow. And so we went. Into the Outlands. The eternally dark half of the planet Erebus. A realm which was colder than Antarctica. Luckily, the vehicle had an excellent heating system and power cells. Plus, Raphael got us some nice blankets. We drove on, only stopping to sleep. The landscape wasn't desolate as I thought it would be. Rather, it was strangely beautiful. Like something out of the realm of science fiction. It was during these difficult days that I learned much about Raphael Knight. For starters, I had never seen anyone so strong or so resilient. Not even at the Academy, where the world's strongest men and women prepared themselves to become the defenders of humanity from the scourge of the galaxies. I was grateful to have him. He was going to get us through this. At least, that's what I hoped. For my sake as well as his. We had been through so much together. It would be a shame for us to die on this godforsaken planet, slaughtered by intergalactic vampires. Then we glimpsed spaceships in the dark skies and Raphael had to kill the vehicle lights. We had no idea whether they could sense us from such an altitude but we couldn't take the chance. I asked Raphael how he could see in the darkness. He told me not to worry about it. He just kept driving through the dirt road, into the darkness. A Vampire's Planet For days we drove on. I wasn't thrilled with our situation. And to be honest, the cold was getting to me. It didn't seem to bother Raphael much. He was exceptionally resilient. I couldn't tell whether it was day or night without looking at the vehicle computer. Raphael claimed to have the coordinates of the Sanctuary, the place where the Isolationists had built their temple, in defiance of the rampant atheism of our century. I thought about all the people in the cities of Erebus. Men and women from a myriad planets across the galaxy who got slaughtered by this implacable foe. I thought about my family. My dad probably thought I was dead, along with untold millions all over this world. How I wished I could somehow let him and my brothers know that I was still alive. Slowly but surely, we traveled the hundreds of miles which separated us from the nearest human outpost. It was during one of those nights that I almost died, and discovered something extraordinary about the man I loved. One thing many tourists on alien worlds forget to do is inquire about the local hostile life-forms. One night, Raphael and I were camping. He went into the bushes to take care of some business. Apparently, the cold didn't bother him as much as it did me. I stayed by the vehicle, warming my hands over the fire. That's when I heard something approaching. I thought it was Raphael, so I wasn't alarmed. I should have known better. For, out of the darkness came a monstrous creature the likes of which I had never seen. A ten-foot-tall, bear-like creature with a horned head and a massive body covered in blue fur. The monster came charging at me, fangs bared and claws ready. I fired a shot, but that didn't even slow it down. The monster hurled itself at me. I got one more shot out, before it came bearing down on me. It knocked me to the ground, and I dropped the rifle. I thought I was done for. That's when the most astonishing thing happened. Out of the darkness came Raphael. He placed himself between me and the beast. I shook my head, urging him to get out of the way. I was certain that I was about to witness his death. That's when the strangest thing happened. Raphael...changed. Yep. Right before my eyes he changed. It seemed that his body got thicker, and hairier. He became something I barely recognized. That thing launched itself at the bear-like alien. The two of them wrestled on the ground. Like titans they dueled. I had never seen anything like it. The sheer ferocity of combat between these two. The creature Raphael had become raked its claws across the alien's throat. The alien fell, dead. A victorious Raphael howled ferociously. I blinked. What the hell? I slowly got up. Raphael stood there, staring at me. Before my very eyes, he simply...shifted. The hairy, muscle-bound creature he had been shifted back into the man I loved. I stared at him, astonished. He took a step toward me. And for some reason, I wasn't afraid. Truth be told, I was afraid. Very afraid. But not of him. Not really. I wasn't sure what was going on here but I knew that Raphael meant me no harm. He was still my Raphael. And he had countless occasions to kill me. Surely he didn't mean me any harm now. He stood a foot away from me, moving slowly. He told me that he could explain. I hesitated, then touched his face. It was incredible. The same face I had come to know and love as well as my own was the one which shifted into a wolfish visage moments ago. Simply amazing. We sat by the campfire, near the corpse of the slain alien beast, and Raphael told me the story of his life. I don't know what I was expecting, but I certainly wasn't expecting this. Raphael told me that he wasn't human. He was a member of a species which humanity mistakenly called the Wolf Men. They were the werewolves of ancient Earth mythology. A long time ago, at a time when humans were still discovering the wheel, the so-called Wolf Men were a technologically advanced race of beings which roamed the stars. They were humanoid in form, yet closely resembled the wolves of ancient Earth. They could change their appearance through sheer strength of will and pass for human. The Wolf Men possessed superhuman strength and speed, as well as the technology to travel through the galaxies. They visited the planet Earth and liked it. Many of them chose to stay, blending in among ordinary humanity. Then the Vampires came. The race of the Vampires was a sentient, technologically advanced species which the Wolf Men encountered in deep space tens of thousands of years ago. They were enemies. A long time ago, they had a deal. The Vampires were forbidden to enter Wolf Men's space. The Vampires had the numbers. Their interstellar empire encompassed tens of thousands of planets and untold trillions of individuals. The Wolf Men had an empire which encompassed a few hundred worlds and a few hundred billion individuals. They lacked the numbers to defeat the Vampires. But the Wolf Men had technological superiority. They could cause a planet to fall apart with a single blast of a weapon they called the Endgame Cannon. They traveled to the heart of the Vampires Intergalactic Empire, to the planet Magrahkor, birthplace of the Vampire Species. They destroyed the planet, killing billions of Vampires. Then the Wolf Men built orbital defense cannons around the many worlds of their empire, ready to destroy any Vampire fleet which came nearby. The Vampires were biding their time. They needed the numbers to take on the Wolf Men. So they came to Earth, around 5000 B.C. The planet Earth did not belong to the Wolf Men's empire. The humans were considered fair game by the Vampires. Yet a few thousand Wolf Men and Wolf Women remained on the planet, to fight alongside primitive humans against the Vampires. Together, the humans and the Wolf Men were able to defeat the Vampires. Now, thousands of years later, the Vampires were back. They were infinitely more numerous. They wanted to take over the Human Interstellar Alliance, transform billions of humans into Vampires and finally reach the numbers they needed to destroy the Wolf Men. I listened as Raphael spoke. This made for a very interesting story. But what was a Wolf Man doing at the Interstellar Military Academy? Raphael smiled, and told me that he was the descendant of Wolf Men and Wolf Women who chose to remain on the planet Earth long after the defeat of the Vampires. He was native to the planet Earth. It was the only home he had ever known. And he would fight for it. When he was done, he looked at me. I looked at him. Would you believe me if I told you that this really didn't surprise me? Raphael being an alien didn't surprise me all that much. Now a lot of things made sense. I hugged him, and we simply held each other. The rest of the trip proved much better. Raphael and I reached a new level of comfort with one another. He could finally be himself around me and I finally understood him. Gosh, it must have been really tough for him. Living among people he cared about yet couldn't be himself around. I asked him a ton of questions. I wanted to know more about Wolf Men society. The Wolf Men and Wolf Women who lived on Earth lived out their lives pretty much like the rest of humanity. They were soldiers, scientists, doctors, lawyers, judges, police officers, firefighters and every other profession one could think of. They were just ordinary people, albeit from another planet. They'd been living in secret among ordinary humanity for thousands of years. A population within the population. Wow. According to Raphael, there were roughly about a million Wolf Men and Wolf Women living on the planet Earth. They lived secret lives. Long before humanity discovered space flight, they had spacecraft capable of traveling between galaxies. The Wolf Men had done many great contributions to human history. They've been extraordinary scientists as well as doctors, lawyers, teachers and soldiers. Yet they always kept their true identities secret from humanity. I was fascinated by this. Why was he telling all this? I asked him. I mean, I appreciated his honesty, but maybe he ought to keep the secrets of his race to himself? Raphael laughed, then told me that among his people, a Wolf's mate was his other half and there ought to be no secrets between them. For the next few days, we traveled toward the Sanctuary. Finally, we saw it in the distance. A massive complex made out of stone. From time to time, we had glimpsed Vampire spacecraft in the skies. Luckily, they didn't see us. Finally, we came to the Sanctuary. What we found amazed us. The bodies of dozens of men, women and children. Completely drained of blood. I was shocked. Raphael told me to be careful, the Vampires had done more than feed here. They were here for the Spawning. The Spawning was when the Vampires mass-transformed a large number of humans to replenish the ranks of their armies. We stepped into the Sanctuary. The place was in ruins. And there was blood everywhere. The Vampires had come and unleashed carnage upon what once was a place of worship. A place where Catholics, Buddhists and various other religious people gathered to hide from an atheistic, hostile world. Raphael told me to be mindful of our surroundings. I kept my eyes peeled but I never sensed them. Not until when they were upon us. But Raphael did. The newly risen Vampire Half-Breeds. They came for us. A large black woman dressed in priestly robes, and a tall, blond-haired young man. Their faces were hideous, evil. Their eyes were red and they came for us, fangs bared. Raphael blasted them with the rifle. Two short bursts to the chest did them in. But more were coming. Raphael tossed me his personal weapon, an electrified scimitar. An energy blade. A female Vampire came for me. With superhuman strength she gripped my throat. She bore her fangs down upon my throat. I drove the energy blade into her chest. She went down, screaming. Raphael changed form, going from human to Wolf Man. With animalistic fury he waded into them, smashing the blood-thirsty freaks to bits. I fought by his side, slicing and dicing them. More always seemed to be coming. Raphael found a grenade on the floor, and tossed it into the building, when tons of Vampires came marching out. The high-intensity explosion blew them to pieces. We found the survivors and cut them down to size. Until we were the only ones left standing. A Wolf Man and a human female. Together, we had brought down a legion of Half-Breed Vampires. Raphael wasn't thrilled with what he saw. I wasn't either, but the Half-Breed Vampires were dead and we were alive. Wasn't that cause to celebrate? Raphael didn't share my sentiment. He told me that the Vampires would return and they would discover our presence. They had most likely shot down all human spacecraft which attempted to reach space and also blasted the communication systems planetwide. The human world beyond these stars wouldn't know the Vampires were here until they had completed their Spawning. Raphael told me that in all likelihood, millions of human beings had been transformed into Vampires. This planet was lost. But we could warn others and possibly give them a fighting chance. I looked at him questioningly. What was he talking about? He showed me something he called the Subspace Transponder. According to him, it was invented by an alien scientist a long time ago. The Subspace Transponder looked like a five-foot-long metallic canister. I asked him what it did. He explained to me. The Subspace Transponder was a way to send a distress signal on a specific frequency. This was Wolf Man technology at its best. Faster than the Internet of old. I looked at Raphael. Who could he be calling? He looked at me sadly and told me that this was a piece of technology passed down in his family from generation to generation. The eldest child of the family got to be its keeper and protector. It enabled them to communicate with their planet of origin. Silas, the Wolf Man home-world. I was stunned. He had this piece of technology on him all along and didn't bother mentioning it to me? Raphael explained to me that this technology was unknown to humans but not to the Intergalactic Empire of the Vampires. The moment we activated this beacon, they would sense it from their spaceships in orbit and come calling. He hoped he would never have to use it but his people had to know that the Vampires had invaded yet another human world and were massing to conquer the entire Interstellar Alliance. If humanity fell into the clutches of the Vampires, they would have the numbers to eradicate the Wolf Men. Raphael sighed, and asked me if I was ready. I thought about it. If any other force in the universe could assist humanity in the war against the Vampires, it had to be the Wolf Men. We had to warn them. At no matter the cost to ourselves. I didn't know how to handle alien technology but he gave me detailed instructions. Together, we put the Transponder together. I watched as the alien machine began to glow bright red. Raphael smiled, and told me it was working. He pressed several buttons on the side of the machine, then it blasted off into space. I watched it go from matter to energy before my eyes. Like a comet, it shot into the skies, and beyond. Raphael smiled and clasped my hand in his. We had succeeded in sending the beacon to the Wolf Man homeworld. They would know that the Vampires had invaded the Human Interstellar Alliance and had to be stopped before they could mass-transform humanity into blood-thirsty shock troops. I looked at him, amazed. What a man. So strong, so brave and so kind. Infinitely more human than any person I've ever known. I felt nothing but love for him in that moment. We kissed. That night, we made love. I knew Raphael as I had never known him before. He was lively, and vigorous. Ours was a passionate union. Afterwards, we lay in each other's arms. Vampires, and Intergalactic Warfare be damned. All we had was each other. I didn't know whether we would ever get off this godforsaken world. But who cares, really? As warriors, we had done our duty. We warned the friendlies that the enemy was upon us. Hopefully they would come en force and save the day. Yeah, our days were numbered. The Vampires would find out about the Transponder and come calling. I looked at Raphael and he looked at me lovingly. I didn't know how much time we had left together but I wanted to make every second count. Let's just say that I was going to make him purr that night. Watch out, the fur is flying!