“Men! Tonight, we make our final stand! The rebels think they can win with numbers, but they have sorely underestimated our fighting spirit!” Jacek paced the Saber Fortress courtyard addressing his soldiers.
His men gave a loud, “Hoorah!” in response to his speech.
“General Magnus! Report.” Jacek called for Vega and stepped aside as Vega stepped forward, “We will focus our defenses on the primary defensive wall to prevent the enemy from breaching the main gate. I want men on every gunner station.” Vega then stepped back in line.
Jacek barked once again, “General Magnus and I will be atop the wall alongside you all. We will be fighting with every last ounce of ki energy we have. Let’s move!”
The formation of roughly 300 men began to climb the stairs to the top of the wall. They took their positions manning the mounted gunner stations and lining up with assault rifles. The men were terrified to see that the rebel numbers had swelled to nearly five thousand strong against their own three hundred.
Jacek looked down at the amassed forces laying siege to their position, and yelled, “On my mark!” He then began to yell as he gathered a sizable sphere of energy overhead. “3… 2… 1… Mark!” Jacek hurled the ki attack down at the forces below, and the men at his side began to rain bullets down.
The ki blast rushed forth exploding on contact leaving a gaping hole where nearly a hundred men once stood. Meanwhile the rain of bullets took down hundreds of enemy soldiers as well.
However, there moment of success was met with a setback as the rebel forces began to fire rockets upon the main defensive wall. The rockets numbered in the hundreds and flew straight to their defensive positions. Jacek mustered a massive amount of energy to create a wide energy shield blocking all of his men from the attacks. However, given that Jacek’s strength lied in individual attacks, a maneuver such as this one was inefficient and drained massive amounts of ki from him.
The rockets collided with the energy shield rattling it as the soldiers behind it stood nervously watching the shield be tested to its limit. Ultimately, the shield held, and the explosions dissipated without harming a single Heraklinos soldier. Although Jacek successfully blocked the incoming attacks which would’ve easily wiped-out half of his remaining forces, he was visibly exhausted from the maneuver.
The soldiers looked to Jacek for leadership. Their faces bore grim expressions. They knew Jacek could take on this entire army given enough time; however, they also knew that he couldn’t protect them all while doing so, or it would mean total defeat for all of them.
Suddenly, a soldier called out to Jacek, “Lord Heraklinos! I am tracking a hypersonic jet on approach!”
The men looked to one another with traces of hope as soft whispers sprang to life, “Could it be? Is it Xenia BloodStar?”
Jacek looked to the skies to see a pitch-black fighter jet approaching from the East. He smiled and said, “Soldiers! Form up in the courtyard! We have a guest to welcome.”
The men and women under Jacek’s leadership shouted, “Hoorah!” They abandoned their final stand positions and lined up in the courtyard. As they did, the approaching fighter jet wasted no time as it flew in at faster than safe speeds making an abrupt landing.
Xenia quickly opened the cockpit and slid down the ladder. She unzipped her flight suit revealing her all-black leather military outfit and let her long black hair down as she marched across the formation with haste towards Jacek.
She wasted no time with introductions and quickly asked, “Lord Heraklinos. I saw large columns of enemy soldiers outside the fortress walls as I flew in. Are any of your men outside the fortress?”
He quickly said, “No, General BloodStar. We are all that is left to defend the Saber Fortress.”
She looked him in the eyes, “Good. That will make my job much much easier.”
Xenia then turned to address the three hundred soldiers, “You are relieved of your duty for the evening brave men and women of the Heraklinos Empire. I not only excel in battle against large numbers, but I also quite enjoy it. You have fought valiantly. Please sit this one out and leave the rest of them to me.”
Jacek, Vega, and the soldiers were all stunned. Vega knew she could contend with a hundred enemies at once, and he knew she was exceptional at one-on-one combat. He also knew she was one of the most gifted all-around warriors on the planet. However, he hesitated to believe she could take on nearly five thousand enemy soldiers at once.
Vega ran after Xenia as she intended to climb the stairs to the top of the defensive wall. He stretched out his hand to grab her shoulder; however, suddenly he lost control of his body and froze. She turned around and smiled at him, “Do not try to stop me General Magnus.” She then released him from her bloodbending.
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“I do not intend to stop you. I intend to inform you. There are nearly five thousand soldiers outside these walls! You will need our help!” Vega pleaded with her to accept their assistance, “To do anything else would be suicide.”
She smiled at him and said, “You want to help? Go find the champagne, so we can celebrate in a few moments.
Vega repeated himself, “Did you hear me? Five thousand soldiers!”
Xenia laughed, “I heard you. What a disappointment. I was hoping for closer to ten thousand to really push my limits.”
She then turned around and continued climbing the stairs up the wall.
Once she reached the top of the wall, she looked down over the well-formed rebel siege. The rebels were organized into units of various kinds, more organized than they ever had been before. She thought to herself, “Very impressive. Very impressive, indeed.”
She then began to search the rebel army for a powerful but hidden individual. She formed an impenetrable ki shield around her and began to focus her energy on searching the crowd.
As she stood in silence with her eyes closed, hundreds of bullets, rockets, and other deadly projectiles exploded against her ki shield. The ki shield stood strong showing not even a hint of wavering.
Finally, she found the person she was looking for. Nearly five miles away, standing in the shadows of the forest stood a dark robed young man shrouded in shadows. He was immensely powerful especially for his young age, and much like Xenia, he had never experienced a true challenger.
Thus, he was overcome with shock when he found that he was unable to move his body. He couldn’t even raise his ki energy to break loose. Then suddenly, his own body betrayed him, and he began to speak, “Agmar, you have done well. As your future Empress, I am pleased.”
Agmar stood still against his will and listened to the words coming from his own vocal cords as they continued, “I intend to vanquish your rebel forces now. Please make sure to retreat and avoid my reach.”
Agmar suddenly regained control of his body and began to breathe heavily as he thought, “What the fuck? What the fuck was that?! Was that Xenia BloodStar? What raw power! Speaking to me through my own body from this distance!”
He turned and quickly made haste to avoid whatever attack she had planned. He moved with unnatural speed, and after only a few seconds he descended further into the shadows of the forest until he was long gone from the battlefield and Xenia’s senses.
Meanwhile, Xenia stood atop the fortress with a constant ball of fire and explosions around her shield. Jacek and Vega looked up at her, and Jacek said, “What is she doing? Surveying the field through meditation?”
Vega responded, “She spoke with confidence regarding finishing five thousand men with ease. She is either gathering sufficient power for a massive attack, or she is steeling herself for the long battle to come.”
Xenia mentally surveyed the field using her ki, “Yes, 4,978 rebel soldiers outside the walls. And… two rebel soldier prisoners inside the wall. Good, I’ll save them for later.”
She then entered her Bloodlust state. The wind picked up as the immense aura that began to accumulate around her made the weather erratic. Her dark red aura was so dense around her that the soldiers from the courtyard could hardly make out her outline through her ki. Then, she opened her eyes to reveal her crimson red eyes.
Jacek looked on as he saw her power skyrocket and her body glow with a dark red aura. He could see her individual veins glowing under her skin as he thought to himself, “So this is the power of the BloodStar Family. Perfect control of ki through living things. Perfect control of blood. What a terrifying power.”
The soldiers outside the wall had been chanting their battle hymn all the while. The Heraklinos soldiers within the courtyard could hear the rumble of their hymn and stomping; however, in an instant, it went silent.
Xenia had no intention of collecting the enemy blood for a BloodStar, so instead, she began to torture all five thousand enemy soldiers.
The courtyard went from bathing in eerie silence to being overcome with cries of abject terror and pain that could be heard from beyond the wall. Xenia bent limbs, broke spines, crushed throats, shattered bones, and more as she played with her victims in her lustful state. She performed her feats without killing a single one of them.
Then, she took both of her hands and clenched them into tight fists. The five thousand soldiers below instantly exploded with blood, organs, bones, and brain spewing all over the battlefield. In an instant, five thousand enemy soldiers were dead.
However, as she stood atop the wall reveling in the pleasure of killing, her blood lust continued. She continued to search the fields for deer, rabbits, and vermin of any kind to kill. She wasn’t satiated just yet.
As she was searching, Jacek went unnoticed up the stairs. He could tell she was frenzied, and he put a hand to her shoulder. She whipped around with a mad face and red eyes as she took control of his body beginning to crush his throat.
In the same instant, she came back to her senses, and released him. She hurriedly said, “Jacek! I’m so sorry! I… You… You just surprised me!”
He had fallen to the ground but had caught himself on a knee. She picked him up to his feet and healed any potential injury immediately. She then looked him in the eyes and said, “All better?”
Both Xenia and Jacek knew that she had been completely enthralled in her lust for killing; had he not approached her, the damage and death she may have caused in her rabid search for more living things to kill may have even extended to those within the fortress. However, neither planned to address it so soon after she had just saved the entire fortress from being overrun and annihilated.
For now, Jacek smiled back at her, “Not just better. Perfect.” He then leaned in for a kiss as the two held no punches in exchanging passionate kisses as they each embraced one another tightly atop the wall.
The soldiers below hollered with the excitement of victory at their openly passionately leaders. Meanwhile, Vega opened the main gates to survey the battlefield.
As the gates opened, the cheers of excitement and success faded. Vega and the soldiers looked on to the brutal aftermath.
Not a single patch of land or grass was uncovered with at least some form of human whether it be blood, bone, organs, or brain. Vega was wide eyed with shock as he thought to himself, “This is terrifying. This is… not right. This kind of power… it shouldn’t be wielded by any one person.” He silently prayed for the fallen until Jacek yelled, “Men! Grab the champagne! Our savior has a toast to make!”
Vega took a moment to peel his eyes from the carnage that lay before him before closing the gates and heading back in to the fortress courtyard.