The stars bent around us as our fleet emerged from warp space—silent, sleek, and poised like blades at the Rikapud Empire's throat.
For the first time, we weren't on the defensive.
This was our strike.
No more hiding. No more countermeasures. We had come to deliver a message they would never forget: we are not prey.
I stood aboard the command vessel, watching the Rikapud capital planet swell into view. Its skies shimmered with defense grids. Dozens of spires stretched into the clouds—each one a monument to strength, status, and blood. At the very center: the royal palace.
The heart of the empire.
"We have a lock on the palace's location," Nkhensani reported from my side. "It's shielded, but not invincible. Our tech team is launching synchronized orbital jammers. We'll have about twenty minutes of blackout."
"That's all we need."
The objective was clear: eliminate the king. Not out of vengeance—but because their entire society was built on dominance. Their people revered strength. Worshipped it. If we defeated their apex predator, we could claim the throne by right of conquest. And maybe… just maybe… reshape the empire from within.
I turned to my elite squad. Veterans of a hundred missions. Family forged through fire.
"This isn't about revenge," I said over comms. "This is about ending the cycle. We take out the head—not to become tyrants, but to give the people a reason to listen. To change. If we show them a better strength—one that protects instead of conquers—they might just follow."
Nods all around.
"Move in. Phase one: breach and isolate."
We descended through the atmosphere in silence, riding inside nanocoated drop pods that refracted radar and visual signals. Like falling stars, we struck the palace grounds before the alarms could fully trigger.
Explosions shattered marble and gold. The sound of power suits igniting, of combat systems locking on. The king's elite guard emerged—hulking brutes in obsidian armor, eyes glowing with cybernetic rage.
"Let me handle the forward line," I said.
My suit screamed to life, and I launched forward like a meteor. At Mach 15, I was a blur of fists and fire. Bones broke. Metal buckled. I felt no hesitation. Not now. Not when so much was riding on this.
Behind me, Nkhensani and the others carved a path through the defenders, disabling what we could, eliminating what we must.
Every strike echoed through the data stream we shared. Every move was calculated, recorded, evolved in real time. We were not just warriors—we were a storm of learning machines.
Finally, we reached the throne chamber.
And there he stood.
The Rikapud King.
Taller than any soldier. His armor was etched with the bloodlines of every ruler before him. His presence crushed the air in the room. No words. No pleasantries.
Only war.
The battle that followed was like nothing before. He fought like a force of nature—every blow capable of splitting stone. But I had grown beyond human limits. My body was enhanced, my suit reinforced with the very tech we'd taken from them.
And more than that—I had purpose.
He landed a strike that shattered the floor beneath me. I responded with a counter that cracked his chestplate.
We moved faster than the eye could follow, and in the final seconds of the fight, he made one mistake.
He underestimated how far I'd go for peace.
I drove my blade through his side, not to kill, but to disable. He collapsed, breathing heavily.
I stood over him.
"It's over."
He looked at me—not with hatred, but with the understanding of a predator who's been bested. He said nothing, but didn't resist as I placed the regency seal in my hand and activated the transference.
I wasn't crowned in a ceremony.
I was crowned in blood.
Later, as the planet's broadcasts were hijacked, the image of me standing in the Rikapud throne chamber beamed across every screen.
"My name is Commander Ruger. I did not come here to destroy you. I came to stop this war. Your king is defeated—not to shame you, but to show you that there is another way. I now bear the mantle of strength in your eyes. So listen closely: our future depends on what we build together… not what we destroy."
Back on our flagship, Nkhensani stood beside me.
"You think they'll follow?"
"They follow strength," I said. "Now we show them what strength really looks like."
"Good," she said, leaning in close. "Because you're not doing this alone anymore."
I didn't answer.
But for once, I let her stay close.