Chapter 30: The Vampire Gambit
### The Imperial Space Shuttle
The environment shifted instantly from the Yukon wilderness to the sleek, pressurized cabin of an **Imperial space shuttle**, currently holding orbit high above the planet Pandora. Inside, the **Twin Generals**, **Jordan** and **Cornell** (both seventeen, though their demeanor was that of veterans), stood hunched over a holographic tactical display. The pain of failing to find their younger brother, Carter, only weeks ago was a fresh, agonizing wound.
The display, far more compact than the War Room's, was screaming red.
"Another one," Cornell muttered, his hand slamming down on the console. "Report just came in from Sector Gamma. They hit the **C'Nall Mining Colony**. They took the hyper-ore and vanished. It's the Vampires again."
Jordan, the strategist, ran a weary hand through his **dreadlocks**. "That makes nine random attacks across nine different Drakain-controlled galaxies in the last seventy-two hours. They're disorganized, but they're hitting critical, unshielded assets."
Cornell looked at his twin, the guilt palpable in the air between them. "It's the fallout from **the mission**—the one where we thought they had Carter. The blood price."
Just a few short weeks ago, the twins and **King Damien** had received a highly credible, yet utterly **false report** claiming that Carter was being held captive on a secluded, water vampiric planet. The ensuing rescue mission had been a brutal, unforgivable display of Drakain fury.
"We fell for the trap," Jordan admitted, his voice low. "The Vampires used Carter's disappearance to lure us into a decisive blow. We left a third of that planet shattered. They are non-magical Pandorians who use **blood rituals** to steal fragments of magic, and we reminded them of their place."
"And now they are retaliating," Cornell finished. "The great Vampire Houses were decimated, but they haven't forgotten the carnage. Their combined forces are barely a **third as strong** as our dynasty, but they're not trying to win; they're trying to bleed us."
Cornell looked over the tactical map, which was pulsing red with escalating conflict. "We have to hit them. End this covert war before it stretches our resources too thin."
Jordan shook his head. "Our grandfather wasn't interested in stopping their rise over the last million years. This level of coordination... it's too desperate, too widespread. It feels like they're being pushed."
A profound silence descended as the brothers contemplated the inevitable war.
A deep, resonating voice cut through the silence, seemingly coming from the darkened rear section of the shuttle where the King's personal quarters were located.
"It is a distraction, boys."
Jordan and Cornell spun around, hands dropping to their sides grabbing there sword and wand in immediate deference. Stepping out of the shadows, looking infinitely ancient and powerful in his simple robes, was **King Damien**.
"Grandfather!" Cornell exclaimed, his voice tight with surprise. "How long have you been standing there?"
**"Long enough,"** King Damien replied, stepping fully into the light. "Long enough to know you are about to make a tactical error that will cost us more than Vampire blood."