RMA

  Red Moon Advocate

  The Advocate’s chamber was silent, save for the soft hum of the obsidian table and the constellations etched across its domed ceiling.

  Five Advocates sat around the table today. A sixth was absent, investigating reports of entire planets disappearing without explanation.

  At the head of the table stood Cassandra Gills.

  She wore silver armor etched with ancient symbols. Her blonde hair was cut into a sharp bob, the pointed tips of her elf-like ears visible beneath it. Cassandra rarely sat. She didn’t need to—her presence alone commanded the room.

  She raised a hand.

  The table’s hologram flickered to life.

  A grotesque figure appeared above the table—claws twisted, teeth jagged, hollow eyes burning with unnatural light.

  “This… is a human,” Cassandra said calmly.

  Her words settled heavily over the chamber.

  “Their bodies are altered. Their power is unnatural. Reports indicate they are destabilizing their planet and could potentially spread chaos off-world.”

  She paused.

  “Humans have given them a code name.”

  Her golden eyes shifted toward Jensu.

  “They call them Superior.”

  Jensu met her gaze without speaking.

  Across from him sat a hulking creature with rough, red, scale-like skin. Four massive arms rested on the table—one pair crossed over its chest, the other clasped together. Its lower canine teeth curved upward from its jaw like tusks.

  Beside the beast sat a slender woman with long purple hair and deep green skin. Her eyes were large and completely black.

  Next to Jensu sat another Advocate dressed in flowing white robes like a monk. Her pale skin contrasted with two thin antennae extending from her forehead.

  Jensu sat quietly among the others.

  His skin carried a warm tan tone, contrasting against the stark white of the long trench coat draped over his shoulders. The coat’s high collar framed his face, a crimson Advocate insignia stitched along the left breast. Beneath it he wore a fitted black uniform that gave him a sharp, almost military silhouette.

  His hair was short and jet black, broken by jagged streaks of crimson that fell across his brow. Beneath them, calm baby-blue eyes watched the hologram.

  They were gentle eyes.

  But distant.

  As if part of him was somewhere far away.

  Two thin black markings rested beneath his eyes—tear-shaped symbols belonging to the Shisue bloodline. Combined with the slight point of his ears, they gave him an almost elven appearance.

  Yet there was nothing soft about the way he carried himself.

  Still.

  Controlled.

  Like a blade waiting in its sheath.

  Cassandra’s voice broke the silence.

  “You will investigate the human planet Aureli-9. Confirm the source of the Superior phenomenon.”

  Her eyes hardened slightly.

  “And neutralize it.”

  The hologram faded.

  Silence followed.

  Jensu lowered his head in acknowledgment.

  Then the alarms began.

  Red lights flooded the chamber as warning sirens screeched through the facility.

  “Fan out. Patrol the hotspots. Move.”

  Cassandra’s voice remained calm and commanding.

  The Advocates vanished without hesitation.

  The marble square outside had erupted into chaos.

  Civilians scattered.

  Soldiers shouted orders.

  Jensu scanned the crowd with sharp eyes until he found the disturbance—a man wrapped in a cloak, bandages hanging loosely around his left arm.

  The intruder lunged first.

  Jensu slid aside with practiced footwork and drove his palm into the man’s ribs.

  The strike should have folded him.

  Instead, the bandaged arm lashed outward.

  It stretched.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Unnaturally.

  The limb blocked the strike, its surface writhing like living shadow.

  Jensu’s eyes narrowed.

  What is that arm…?

  The fight erupted into a storm of movement.

  Fists.

  Knees.

  Elbows.

  Their strikes collided in rapid succession.

  Jensu’s style was precise and deliberate—each movement designed to end the battle quickly while protecting the surrounding civilians.

  The intruder fought differently.

  Wild.

  Erratic.

  His strange arm snapped like a whip, twisting into blades and shields without warning.

  A feint opened the man’s guard.

  Jensu stepped inside.

  Both palms thrust forward.

  “Black Luster Technique: Roaring Beast.”

  Qi exploded from his hands.

  The energy tore through the intruder’s body and burst from his back in the shape of a roaring lion.

  The shockwave shattered the marble tiles beneath them.

  The man staggered, blood spilling from his mouth.

  But he didn’t fall.

  His twisted arm convulsed violently before slamming into the ground.

  Jagged spikes of dark energy erupted from the marble floor.

  Jensu twisted between them, barely slipping through the narrow openings.

  When he landed, he looked up

  The intruder was gone.

  The square fell silent.

  Only the hiss of fractured stone remained.

  Footsteps echoed across the broken marble.

  Cassandra arrived.

  She didn’t look at the destruction.

  Only at Jensu.

  “The intruder escaped,” she said coldly. “Local patrols have grown lax. Interrogations will be necessary.”

  Her eyes studied him.

  “Are you injured?”

  Jensu shook his head.

  “No. But something about him wasn’t right.”

  Cassandra pressed a finger to her earpiece.

  “Control. Shut down the alarms. The threat has passed.”

  The sirens faded.

  Yet Cassandra’s presence weighed heavier than the alarms ever had.

  Jensu bowed his head slightly, unsettled by what he had witnessed.

  Later, Jensu visited his mother’s chambers.

  The room was quiet and warmly lit, far removed from the cold steel corridors of the Advocate complex. Soft amber lights lined the curved walls, and long silken curtains drifted gently from a tall viewing window that overlooked the distant stars.

  Personal touches filled the space—small sculptures carved from alien stone, shelves of old books, and a faded banner bearing the crest of the Shisue family.

  It felt less like a chamber of power and more like a place someone had fought hard to keep a feeling of familiarity.

  His mother stood near the window when he entered.

  When she saw him, her expression softened immediately. She crossed the room and embraced him tightly, her eyes filled with both pride and worry.

  “You’ve grown so much,” she said softly. “Your father would be proud.”

  Jensu returned the embrace, though only briefly.

  “I’ll probably be gone for a while. Make sure you're eating mom, and don't let Seilara get you too drunk.”

  His voice carried a distant calm.

  A moment later he stepped away, drawing his cloak around his shoulders as he left the room.

  “I’ll come back in one piece.”

  His voice was distant.

  Moments later he was gone, cloak drawn tight around him, already walking the path ahead.

  The military planet loomed before him, wrapped in massive artificial rings of defense.

  Jensu’s ship pierced the atmosphere.

  Static crackled through the comms.

  “Identify yourself.”

  “Advocate. Clearance code transmitted.”

  Silence followed.

  Then—

  “Cleared. Welcome, Advocate.”

  His ship descended toward the docking platforms.

  The human military port sprawled across a massive reinforced landing grid carved into dark steel. Towering antenna arrays and radar towers rotated slowly above the platform, while armored gun emplacements lined the perimeter walls. Rows of human warships rested in adjacent bays, their hulls painted in dull military gray, engines humming softly as technicians moved between them.

  Floodlights cut through the mist of engine exhaust as Jensu’s ship settled onto the landing pad.

  A decorated general waited at the bay entrance, flanked by armed soldiers.

  General Altone stood tall and broad-shouldered, his posture rigid with practiced discipline. His dark military coat was lined with medals and command insignia, the weight of decades of service displayed across his chest. Steel-gray hair was cut close to his scalp, and a thin scar ran along the side of his jaw—an old battlefield souvenir.

  The soldiers beside him stood perfectly still, rifles held across their chests, though their eyes never left Jensu’s descending craft.

  “I am General Altone,” the man said. “Commander of this world.”

  His voice was stern and unyielding.

  “To what do we owe the presence of an Advocate?”

  Jensu frowned slightly.

  “Skip the pleasantries.”

  His eyes scanned the skyline.

  “Twenty snipers are aiming at me right now.”

  He looked back at the general.

  “Order them down. Or they die.”

  Altone didn’t flinch.

  But he made a sharp hand signal.

  Across distant rooftops, the faint shimmer of sniper scopes disappeared.

  The warped earth beneath them slowly returned to normal.

  Jensu had not needed to drown them in quicksand.

  Altone studied him.

  “Caution, Advocate. You are the first of your kind to set foot here since… the one who ended an entire battlefield with a single word.”

  He paused.

  “We didn’t know if you were a reaper or a diplomat.”

  Jensu knew the unspoken name.

  He said nothing.

  Altone escorted him through Light City, its streets glowing with neon and life.

  Beyond the vibrant skyline stood enormous walls.

  Behind them loomed Dark City.

  Silent.

  Watching.

  “I’m here to investigate the Superior phenomenon,” Jensu said. “I expect cooperation.”

  “You will have it,” Altone replied. “A suite has been prepared at the Lumiere Hotel. Beyond that… you will find what you seek.”

  Jensu accepted the room.

  He declined the guided tour.

  Better to walk in shadows than follow paths laid out for him.

  The suite at the top of the Lumiere Hotel overlooked both cities—the bright sprawl of Light City and the dark silhouette of the massive wall.

  Jensu lay back on the couch, holopad resting lightly in one hand.

  Soft blue light from the screen flickered across his face as lines of information scrolled silently past. Outside the tall glass windows, Light City shimmered in neon reflections—hover traffic drifting between towers, distant sirens echoing faintly through the night.

  Then the glass exploded.

  A deafening crack split the air as three bullet-sized holes punched through the window.

  The rounds screamed across the room.

  But before they could reach him, the air itself twisted.

  A sudden wall of compressed wind stopped the bullets mid-flight. They hung suspended for a split second before dropping harmlessly onto the polished floor with dull metallic clicks.

  Shards of glass rained down across the suite.

  Jensu was already on his feet.

  Across the room, another window burst inward with a sharp crack. Cold night air rushed inside, carrying the distant hum of the city below.

  A figure slipped through the opening.

  At first it looked like a distortion in the air itself—light bending around the outline of a human form. Active camouflage shimmered across his body like rippling water.

  Jensu moved instantly.

  His foot struck the floor with a sharp thud as he surged forward, palm driving toward the intruder’s chest.

  The strike landed—and stopped.

  Metal met bone with a hard clang.

  The camouflage flickered violently before collapsing entirely.

  A man stood there in a sleek nanosuit, matte black plating hugging his body. A narrow blade extended from his wrist, humming faintly as it locked into position.

  The man tilted his head slightly, studying Jensu.

  “Impressive,” he said calmly.

  “You saw through perfect camouflage. I expect no less from an Advocate.”

  Glass crunched under his boots as he stepped backward toward the shattered window.

  “But this isn’t personal.”

  Before Jensu could close the distance again, the man pushed off the floor and launched himself backward through the opening.

  His silhouette vanished into the darkness below.

  For a moment, only the wind moved through the room.

  Then his voice drifted upward from the night.

  “The Seraphim don’t like Advocates interfering in human affairs.”

  Silence settled over the ruined suite.

  Fragments of glass still slid slowly across the floor.

  Jensu stood motionless.

  The name echoed in his mind.

  Seraphim.

  Something far larger had just revealed itself.