BloodStar

Chapter 109: Star Point Base

“You have a lot of people very nervous Natalya. I give every high-ranking seat under my command the flexibility to change our plan of action in the field, but this… This is quite the change. The leadership committee would like to hear the details of your plan.” Master Karasu spoke in to the conference call phone with the entire Allied Forces leadership present.

Natalya responded, “Master Karasu. I assure you this is our chance to take an overwhelming advantage in this war. We could even end the war!”

Jacek’s voice boomed, “The logic is behind us now that the plan has been enacted. Tell us what you plan to do going forward!” His impatience was palpable. He had little tolerance for insubordination.

Natalya cleared her throat, “Yes sir, Lord Heraklinos. Currently, we are at the Star Point Base outside of Chicago. With the help of Katya Nova’s legion, I have captured Constance Khan. She is subdued and chained in the presence of Master Chief’s ki nullification domain. Constance is Xenia’s best friend. One of her only friends. She will come to save her. And when she does… I plan to kill her. I figure we have at minimum 48 hours before Xenia finds our location. That gives us ample time to prepare.”

President Monroe looked to Jacek, “Can this plan work? Is Xenia prone to domain effects?”

Jacek thought with his hand up to his chin before saying, “She did seem to be affected by Master Chief’s domain when she visited the hospital courtyard during her first visit to the United States. The plan could work.”

Erika grimaced, “This plan is risky beyond belief. Luring Xenia into a trap sounds absurd. While it could work, if you fail… you will be dead… or worse, tortured. Furthermore, if you fail… she may be drawn into this war from her relatively inactive position thus far.”

St. Michael spoke remotely through the speaker, “High risk. High reward. I for one support the plan. She is not immune to domain effects. She will be forced to save her friend. We are combining a weakness of hers with the pressure of saving one of the few persons she cares about. Natalya is also the Second Seat of the Karasu Clan. She is no pushover. This is the type of situation that may just force an error from Xenia. This may be our only good chance of killing her.”

Jacek’s voice boomed, “I quite agree with Karasu that this is not the ideal course of action. However, as it is already in action and has the support of several members of this council, I shall allow the plan to proceed.”

Karasu said, “Natalya, this council demands an update every 12 hours on the hour. You have plenty of personnel on sight there, but this may be a more successful endeavor with a lean elite team. Nonetheless, let us know if you need reinforcements at any time.”

Natalya responded, “Thank you all for the support. I am putting my life and my team’s lives at great risk as you say, but I believe we can reap greater rewards. I will send… ourl…orts….as…ded…..”

Jacek looked around the room, “Natalya? Natalya?!” He then looked to the monitors on the wall, “Get me visuals on Star Point this instant!”

A soldier raced on the computer until he finally brought up a static view from a camera with black and white dots. The soldier reported, “Sir, we have lost all visual and audio contact with Star Point Base. Last transmission of data reports scrambling fighter jets and launching ground-to-air missiles, sir!”

Jacek pounded the table, “How fast can you get me over there!?”

The soldier responded, “With President Monroe’s permission, we can take Air Force One and be there within an hour.”

Jacek looked to Monroe who nodded affirmatively. Karasu loudly said, “I’m coming with you!”

Jacek and Karasu walked out of the room and towards the hangar. Jacek said quietly to Karasu, “Let’s hope Natalya’s plan works, and there is nothing to do but commend her when we arrive.”

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Moments earlier, Xenia cruised over middle America in her stealth fighter jet. She soared at Mach 20 leaving a terrifying, atmospheric shattering sound as she zoomed by state after state moving from Texas to Illinois.

As she approached the Star Point Base, she decreased her speed to a pedestrian Mach 1 and disengaged her stealth systems.

She was immediately picked up on radar by the base, and her radio lit up as she received a message, “Unidentified aircraft, you are in military air space. Turn around at once or prepared to be fired upon. This is your final warning.”

She responded, “This is BloodStar 1. Prepare to be fired upon without further warning.”

Within the base, the soldier hit a bright red button lighting up every alarm in the base as he then turned into the intercom and said, “Scramble! Scramble! Scramble!”

He swiveled back in his chair to the control center and flipped every switch up until finally reaching a bright red switch. He hesitated only for a second before flipping the last switch. With it flipped, the automated missile system sprang to life targeting Xenia as it fired round after round of missiles into the air at her fighter jet.

The soldier acted just in time. In the seconds following, the entire command bunker burst into flames as the explosion from Xenia’s ki blasts tore it to shreds without a trace of human life or functioning systems remaining.

She made a pass over the destroyed control center smiling down at her devastation. “Now that their communications are down, I will take out their cavalry.”

She turned to target the vehicle depot and air hangars; however, she noticed no less than a dozen rockets firing straight towards her. She shifted her ki through the human-to-jet interface from weapons to shields. The retraction of her ki to line the plane with a defensive barrier was nearly instantaneous.

Although she could’ve fired flares, engaged in evasive maneuvering, or even shot the rockets out of the air before impact, she simply allowed the rockets to collide into her jet as she beared the explosive force head on. Because her ki shields were derived from and powered by her own ki, they were all but impenetrable to nearly all attackers.

After flying through the cloud of red and orange fire completely unharmed, she fired several sizeable ki blasts from her jet’s cannons targeting the remainder of the missile pods, vehicle depots, and hangars. Explosions littered the grounds of the base taking out all heavy weaponry as she went.

Suddenly, her radar picked up three fighter jets on her tail. She grinned to herself, “An impressive scramble to get off the ground and into the air so quickly.”

Her missile detection alarms went off as all three jets locked on and fired at her. Once again, the missiles met their demise upon impact of her ki shields.

She immediately performed a cobra maneuver to stall her plane vertically allowing the other fighter jets to overtake her before pursuing them from behind.

She took out two jets immediately with perfectly placed ki attacks. The third jet decelerated quickly in attempt to fall behind; however, Xenia decelerated in kind and immediately barrel-rolled into the adjacent plane.

Upon collision, her ki shield ate through the enemy fighter jet causing a massive in-air explosion. She came out of her roll and circled the base from above until finding a suitable landing position. She brought the plane down vertically in a courtyard near a large holding facility where she surmised Constance was likely being detained.

No one was present to greet her as she popped the hatch on her fighter jet. She descended the ladder to her plane wearing a black latex catsuit with matching boots and gloves. The catsuit was zipped all the way up to her neck and fit like a glove showing all of her perfect curves. Her hair was up in a bun as to not interfere with her movements or visuals.

With her sword, BloodBane, securely bloodbent to her lower back, she forged ahead towards the double doors leading to the holding facility.

Not far away, Natalya issued orders on a closed short-area radio circuit unaffected by the communications knockout, “All soldiers standby. Do not enter the holding facility. My elite team is in position to take out Xenia.”

She put the radio down and turned to her elite team, “You are the 13th, 14th, and 15th seats of the Karasu Clan. If we are successful today, we will all be rewarded with powerful positions as we move up in the Clan. Remember, your goal is not to kill Xenia, that is my job. All you three need to do is lure her into Master Chief’s domain. From there, I will do the rest.”

The three ninjas geared in all black ninja outfits with full head wraps only revealing their eyes nodded in acknowledgement. They then drew their katanas and moved into position waiting for Xenia to walk through the doors.

Meanwhile, Natalya took her place in the rafters high above the ground floor level. She pulled a black cloak off of an area to reveal a high-powered .50 caliber sniper rifle. She then opened a box of armor piercing bullets as she softly said to herself, “The bullet that will kill Warlord Xenia Victoria BloodStar, Heir to the BloodStar Empire.” She picked up one of the bullets and proceeded to load the cartridge with bullets one by one until it was full. She then slammed the cartridge in to load the gun.

“You may be here ahead of schedule, but luckily I am always prepared. Rush to your death, so that the world may remember my name. Natalya Belova, the ninja who killed a BloodStar!”

She cocked the loaded rifle and took a prone position as she began to wait for Xenia to enter her trap.