BloodStar

“All destroyers. This is King Ramses. Security authorization code 610045742. Fire all cruise missiles at your new target. Ground forces are acquiring the target as we speak. This is not a drill.”

The announcement from King Ramses played over the bridge of a destroyer. The first officer looked to the captain, “The authorization code checks out, captain.”

The captain nodded silently before yelling, “Men! We have received a direct order from our king in the command center.” He surveyed the room as the men turned to look at him, “Ready the missiles! This is not a drill! You heard Ramses!”

The men on the bridge turned around and began to work frantically at their workstations. After only a moment, the missile pod housings within the destroyer began to pop off one after another revealing live cruise missiles on standby.

The captain looked out over the stern of the destroyer towards the island where a puff of smoke could be seen in the distance. He quietly whispered to himself, “Come on. Come on. Get us that target.”

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Meanwhile, inland, a squadron of six special ops soldiers of the BloodStar Empire moved through the thick and tropical brush. They were covered in heavy gear including body armor, weapons, and electronics. The heavy gear combined with the sweltering humidity put even more strain on the men.

The squadron of elite operatives stopped in a thick brush just off the roadside, “Okay. Let’s stop here. Five-minute rest. Remember, when we reach the rendezvous point, the other squadrons will draw his attention.”

Another soldier whispered, “Boss. Is it true? Is our target Nero? Like the Nero?”

The leader nodded, “Yes. The Nero. Keep it together men. This isn’t Xenia. It’s Nero. He’s not a God like she was.”

Another soldier smiled, “Plus we are about to paint his ass up. Let’s see how he likes cruise missiles.”

The leader grit his teeth, “He won’t like it, but it also won’t kill him. Zara gave us strict instruction to assume he survives. We will make our escape as soon as the target is acquired.”

One of the soldiers in the back scoffed, “Not kill him? Damn I wish this guy was still on our side. He’s turning into a Jacek. Shit, maybe even a Jarek.”

The leader nodded, “I don’t care how strong he is. Those missiles are designed to take out underground bunkers, tanks, and armored vehicles. It might not kill him, but you can be damn sure he will feel it. And he won’t like it one bit. It will weaken him, and that’s the plan. Weaken him so Ramses and Zara can finish him.”

The leader stood up, “Okay men, our rendezvous point is a quarter-mile away. Let’s not let Nero pass without some fireworks.”

The men stood up and followed their leader further into the brush running double-time towards their rendezvous point.

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Not far away, Nero was walking up the main city street pathway towards the BloodStar Castle. Citizens were nowhere to be found as they all sheltered in place or ran as far as they could. All who remained met Nero’s full fury.

Two tanks positioned on the far end of a market square aimed their cannons directly across where intel predicted Nero would come from next.

After a short wait, from across the square, a soldier was thrown into view of the tanks. The soldier backed up in a panic scurrying along the ground; however, from out of sight originating behind a small building, a ki blast flew directly at him exploding. Once the dust cleared, the soldier was nowhere to be found… he was completely pulverized.

Then the sound of heavy footsteps could be heard through the eerie silence, and Nero appeared with a slow, menacing, and heavy step. His face bore a scowl of determination and anger as he eyed the tanks across the square from him.

The tank operator was stunned briefly but recovered, “F-f-f-fire. Fire!”

Both tanks fired their cannons simultaneously with loud booms echoing throughout the square and adjacent jungle.

Nero offered no smirk, no grunting, and no dodging. He didn’t even raise a shield of ki. He allowed the tank mortars to make full contact with him exploding against his chest. He was knocked to the ground. He felt the pain. He was covered in black soot from the burns. However, Nero loved nothing more than the pain of taking attacks head on to awaken his battle spirit.

He stood to his feet forming two balls of ki with each hand. He then threw both attacks at the tanks vaporizing them in a spectacular explosion.

While Nero reveled in destruction and brute force, it was not lost on him that filling the blood troughs was also an important task. He restrained himself and bloodbent foot soldiers when and where he could sending their blood into the troughs.

He continued his path forward making no secret of his route. He decimated forces of all kinds. Whether they were simply machine-gun wielding soldiers or opposing ki users mattered not for Nero killed them all before determining their skill level. They were all ants before him.

He then stepped into the main square before reaching the BloodStar Castle. He looked up at the memorial statue of Xenia erected after her victory over Pope Gregory; however, he was given little time to pay his respects as numerous small groups of soldiers began to irritate him with machine gun fire.

He decided to take the opportunity to work on his finesse with bloodbending instead of using brute force to clear the entire square. After all, he had no interest in harming the statue of his empress.

He raised one hand and began to bloodbend five soldiers on the eastern aspect of the square. He broke their necks killing them swiftly. He then ripped off their heads via bloodbending as if he were opening soda cans. He motioned with his hands controlling the blood as he syphoned it out of their bodies and into the troughs.

Pleased with himself, he smirked as he looked to his next target. However, before he began to bloodbend the next squadron of soldiers he looked down noting six bright red satellite-targeting lasers on his chest.

He looked to a tall tree overlooking the square where he noted six elite operatives with large gun-like laser devices.

The leader yelled, “That’s it boys! Paint that fucker red!”

Nero smirked as he looked in their direction, and the leader yelled to him, “Open wide, Nero! We have a gift from the King and Queen! We hope you like the show!” The leader then sarcastically saluted Nero from atop the tree.

On the bridge of the destroyer, the first officer yelled, “Satellite target acquired!”

This was immediately followed by the captain, “Fire! Fire! Fire!”

Simultaneously, all six destroyers in the bay released multiple cruise missiles forming a barrage of missiles in the sky which began to race towards the main square.

The leader noted the missiles taking flight, and he nodded, “Time to go boys!”

However, just as they were about to jump down from the tree and run for their very lives, they found themselves moving against their will… running, instead, towards Nero in the square.

Nero eyed the leader as he stopped the six soldiers ten feet away from him. He then released them of his bloodbending and said, “If you run, you die.”

He raised one arm straight up over his head and formed a powerful defensive dome of ki.

The translucent dome of ki buzzed overhead as it encompassed Nero and the six elite operatives who looked on with suspicion whether it would be powerful enough to withstand the cruise missiles.

In the moments following, thirty cruise missiles crashed directly into Nero’s ki dome overhead causing it to barely flicker as the square and environment outside of the dome turned into a hellscape burning and destroying everything it touched.

Once the explosion subsided, Nero dispersed the dome, “Before I kill you, allow me to display to you all what true power looks like.”

Nero huffed in a big breath of air raising his head up as ki built all around his body with a scary potential. The elite operatives feared for their lives for simply standing too close to Nero as the power building up around him ran rampant.

Nero then looked forward towards the destroyers. The cruise missile explosions had cleared all obstructions providing a clear view towards the bay. Nero then opened his gaping mouth and released a powerful ki beam which grew in diameter as it moved forward reaching a full diameter of 30 feet.

The powerful beam made impact with the first destroyer annihilating it instantly. Nero then swung his mouth sweeping it across the bay allowing it to make impact with each destroyer successively until the bay was littered with the debris of once powerful destroyers and the bodies of once proud sailors.

Nero cut off the beam from his mouth, and a residual smoke puffed out as the heat from the beam had charred his lips and mucosal lining of his mouth. He turned to the operatives, “I am reclaiming this empire for my empress.”

The leader took a step forward, “Is it true? Is she alive? Is she back?”

Nero took a step forward meeting the leader face to face, “It is true. Unfortunately, I have little mercy for those who would betray her and serve false rulers, Ramses and Zara.”

The soldiers all took a knee kneeling before Nero, and the leader began to speak, “We are quite talented. We would be an asset to our empress.”

Nero scoffed, “She doesn’t need your skills. She needs loyalty. Something you don’t offer.”

The leader intended to respond; however, Nero bloodbent him to keep him silent. He then said, “Now it is my turn to paint you red.”

Nero then proceeded to viciously bloodbend each soldier. Instead of decapitating them with a quick death, he burst their chests open breaking their ribs and sucking their blood right out of the hearts. He watched them die slowly as their hearts beat faster and faster trying to make up for the volume loss; however, at long last, their bodies were eventually drained dry. Their skin was a pale, ghostly white as Nero allowed them to drop dead to the ground.

A fiery bay and scarred valley lay in Nero’s wake as he began to walk the final stretch towards BloodStar Castle.

From within the command center, Ramses and Zara watched everything. They silently watched a charred and battle-torn Nero walk with purpose towards the castle.

Zara frowned with concern, “Bloodbending, a ki dome, a powerful beam… he has certainly expended a large amount of ki to make it to us.”

Ramses nodded, “I estimate he is at 50% strength. If we fight together, this is an easy win.”

“It looks like mother was right.” Zara smiled, “What was it she always said?”

“She said you two will never be as powerful as Xenia individually. But learn to fight together, and you may find you’re a worthy opponent.” Ramses smiled, “Let’s go show Nero we aren’t just political fat cats.”

Zara stood from her chair, “I love when people underestimate us. I love when people underestimate a BloodStar.”

“It’s often the last thing they do.” Ramses and Zara walked down the stairs and out of the control center prepared to meet Nero at the castle plaza.