Year 2513
The Lower Headquarters of the Bexai Empire
Beneath dozens of meters of concrete and iron, and beneath a city that no longer knew any color except the color of obedience, those who dared to dream gathered.
The old shelters that had been built during the nuclear wars had now become a refuge for whispers.
The air was heavy, filled with the smell of dampness and rust, mixed with a faint trace of fear and stubborn defiance.
Flickering neon lights trembled as if what existed here did not deserve to come into the open.
The leaders gathered around a circular metal table, its surface scratched like their faces.
Faces worn down by waiting, and eyes that had not slept for months.
One of them spoke, in a low but tense voice:
"We need more time, Commander… you know how powerful the current army is."
Saika replied, her eyes burning with restrained intensity.
"Just shut up, Nova! The longer we wait, the worse the situation becomes for us. No one knows how long we can last. They tighten the noose day after day."
Another old man nodded, his trembling fingers interlocked on the table.
"I agree with Saika. If we delay this any longer, they will find us… and wipe us out completely."
Nova took a deep breath and ran a hand through his messy hair.
He was the youngest among them, but the burden of technical knowledge weighed on his shoulders more than anything else.
"All I want to say… elders… is that we do not possess enough power. Not the equipment, not the numbers, not even the real element of surprise. We are trying to bring down a steel fortress with bare hands."
Silence filled the room.
A heavy, stretching silence that almost suffocated the place.
The commander did not speak.
Since the beginning of the meeting he had remained silent, his eyes fixed on the void as if he were seeing something no one else could see.
No one knew what occupied his mind, but everyone knew the moment of decision had arrived.
The empire must fall.
That was what they repeated inside themselves.
The megalomania that had reached the current generation could not be allowed to grow any further.
Nova opened his mouth again.
"I just..."
But the commander raised his hand, and the words froze in the air.
Then he spoke, in a calm voice… a terrifying calm that wrapped around his entire presence.
"Today… we move toward the walls of the fortress."
Breaths rose sharply.
"But Commander"
He cut him off with a single glance.
A glance without emotion, yet as decisive as a death sentence.
"Enough. This is our only chance."
No one dared to object after that.
The blood that had boiled in their veins for years could no longer endure stillness.
Tonight… either history would be written with their names, or their existence would be erased forever.
...
The Imperial Gate
Midnight.
The towering fortress rose like a god of steel, its towers piercing the dark sky, its red lights blinking like eyes that never sleep.
Armed patrols moved in calculated patterns, their steps synchronized, their eyes half human, half mechanical.
Then one of the guards felt something.
Something moving among them—they could not see it… but it was there.
One of the soldiers reached for his rifle, his mechanical eye lighting up with a faint blue glow.
"What a long week, huh, partner…"
He did not finish his sentence.
A sharp alarm tore through the night, and at that same moment gunshots erupted from multiple directions.
Bodies began to fall.
Some fell quietly.
Others… exploded.
"Oh come on, Kyle… it's only Monday."
One of the soldiers said it with complete coldness while holding the head of a boy who had not even reached adulthood.
He squeezed. He did not blink, and he did not hesitate.
In the end, the head exploded like a ripe fruit.
"Do you think the boss will go easy on these brats?"
The other one laughed.
"Hahaha… you know the boss's loyalty."
Suddenly…
A person appeared behind him, wearing an advanced robotic suit. Black tubes extended from his neck down to his spine, a dark unnatural liquid pulsing inside them.
He shouted,
"You… sons of bitch… will finally fall today!"
His eyes became bloodshot. His skin began to pale, and the tubes started replacing his blood with something… far more corrupted.
Kyle replied coldly while continuing to mock the rebels.
"You know? If you scream, then you're not really hiding… also, calling us sons of whores is not very polite."
The man disappeared.
But the bullet fired immediately.
It hit him.
His skin… did not penetrate as it should have.
"Hmm… tougher than I expected."
Kyle yawned while continuing to empty his magazine at the rest of the intruders.
"Well… leave the rest to me."
"Don't make things messy, Zero."
Zero stepped forward slowly while pulling out a long laser sword that glowed with a bluish-white light.
"You know my nature."
The night was long.
Very long.
Screams blended with the sounds of weapons.
The smell of gunpowder mixed with blood.
All those resentful ones… all those dreamers… fell.
But the infiltrators succeeded in reaching their target.
Control Platform
"Come on, Nova! Hack their satellites now!"
Sweat poured from his forehead, and his fingers trembled over the control panel.
"Can't you see me going faster?! This is a huge mistake… a huge mistake… come on… you stupid system!"
The screens before him showed endless data:
troop movements, weapon stockpiles, execution orders, "rehabilitation" records.
They were about to turn the tables.
But time was not on their side.
A faint gasp.
Nova felt the breaths behind him disappear.
He froze.
No movement, no sound even his heart… seemed as if it had stopped.
A cold voice whispered behind his ear.
"You… a rebel… want to overthrow the great emperor? In your dreams."
In the next moment, a new head joined the list.
The true predator had emerged.
elia Leith, the predator of rebellion.
His footsteps could not be mistaken, hearing them alone was enough to know that your moment had arrived.
An enemy? Then you are dead.
You hate the empire? Your head is cut off.
You insulted the emperor? You chose your own fate.
He advanced, blood flowing behind him like a red line drawing a sacred path.
He reached the platform and let his gaze fall downward.
A sight that pleased him.
His soldiers were offering their lives happily.
Opponents were dragged like cattle.
He paused for a moment, enjoying the sight of the sun that had begun to rise.
He shouted with a powerful voice that pierced the chaos.
"My soldiers! Tear out their throats so they never dare speak another word against the emperor! Cut off their hands so they cannot raise them against our ruler! Make them kneel for our sun, our world, and everything sacred to us!"
Then he added with a cold smile
"Kill their children before their eyes… rape their wives… do not regret it. This is the result of their filthy actions. Cheer with me… glory to the Bexai Empire!!!"
The place trembled with cheers and the soldiers' shouts.
"Glory to the Bexai Empire!"
The sound of cheering mixed with crying… with screaming… with fear.
But who cares?
The empire is everything.
And whoever possesses everything needs nothing else.
Kyle approached Zero while smiling.
"The boss's chaos is immense, isn't it?"
"It will always remain that way forever."
"Let's clean the place before that fanatic punishes us."
They laughed.
As for the civilians… they did not laugh.
Nova was right.
All of them… died.
The place was cleaned.
Names were deleted.
The leaders were imprisoned.
Hope… was broken.
Some committed suicide.
Some fought until their last breath, believing their names would become the first spark.
But to the empire they were merely "the first flame of fools."
elia Leith stood there, the blood drying on his armor.
"The first flame… of fools who opposed the emperor's supreme word. Those who tried to sabotage our system for a whim they call freedom."
He raised his head toward the sky.
"In my name… elia Leith… the empire will not fall unless I fall. The emperor's life is redeemed by my life. This body of mine… is his weapon."
He smiled.
An inhuman smile devoid of any mercy.
"Repeat your words, rebels… and you will wish for hell instead of remaining here with me."
And the sun rose completely.
The empire… was still standing because he stood.