Phantom Regency

To: Morlena Torkul

Vorborg Home for Retired Heroes

Anvarr F7548-108@Anet 8

Encrypted

Mother,

I go to war once again. Though I always strive for victory, I am not promised survival. I know you still speak to the Sky Man like daddy used to. Speak to him of me.

Voldruss has given over completely to the aliens. I serve the Authority because I like to fight. You and Father taught me well. But I have no wish to fight for aliens. I am conflicted inside. What has become of me? I have done things I am not proud of. I do not know if you would be proud of me. I do not know if the Sky Man is real. But I know evil and I have seen it in the aliens.

I am driven to fight this battle. I must defeat Talon and prove myself worthy. But, mother, if I survive I do not know if I can continue to fight for Voldruss. But what else can I do? I will try to take a leave to come see you. Please speak to the Sky Man of me. I am dying inside. I do not know if I can believe in him but my heart wants to. I miss you.

Your Ennika

The Dominator and the exile fleet shifted in to the Nexus system. There were the six Evanthan Warbirds and several older model Regency cruisers. They arrived near the red dwarf star at the center of the system. Freedom Fortress loomed over them but as expected, it was silent. A lone Regency battleship was orbiting the fortress.

Talon Vasloch sat in his command chair on the Dominator. “Admiral Hawk,” he sent to the Evanthan commander, “Take your fleet around the star and engage the rest of the pickets. I’ll deal with the Battleship, then head for the shipyards.”

“Acknowledged,” came her reply.

The other ships accelerated, passing the huge sphere of the Nexus and disappearing around the horizon of the star. Talon held his ground as the Battleship approached. It was a brand-new vessel, one from the latest generation of Regency phantom ships.

The battleship fired nova torpedoes. Talon had been debriefed on this new weapon. It launched a ball of nova energy trapped in a magnetic bottle. They were designed to have a devastating affect on phantom fields.

The torpedoes hurtled across the sky toward the Dominator. As they approached, the battleship fired a spread of phantom pulses to finish off the weakened phantom field and end the fight.

“Lower phantom field. Activate ion cannons!” Talon ordered.

The Dominator lowered her phantom field. The nova torpedoes neared and encountered balls of blue lightning from her ion cannons. The magnetic bottles erupted and the nova energy dissipated harmlessly.

Talon brought the phantom field back up just in time to ward off the incoming blasts.

“My turn,” Talon said. “Fire phantom blasters 100%, full spread of missiles. Evasive maneuvers. Full speed. Get us out of here.”

The Dominator’s phantom field flickered out as all the energy was diverted to weapons. This was a risky move as they would be vulnerable to return fire. His hope was that the battleship already wasted much of its power in its attack. A huge volley of phantom blasts tore into the battleship’s phantom field. The missiles impacted a second later just as it was returning fire. A chain reaction of explosions crippled the ship. A few weak phantom blasts rocked the Dominator as it sped away, heading for the shipyards.

Admiral Hawk’s flotilla had already routed the Regency ships. They launched dozens of Condor skyfighters to soften up the enemy. They lost one cruiser and one Warbird in the exchange of fire afterwards. Talon ordered them to set up a perimeter around Infinity Station to cover Eamor and Swoop’s escape. Admiral Hawk reported that one Regency destroyer had left the system. Reinforcements would be back in a few hours. The Dominator launched the sleds to begin collecting the phantom cylinders.

Meanwhile, Swoop piloted the Sky Lady to the station. They docked at a main docking ring. As the ship mated up to the station, Swoop activated his “pirate dock”. A separate docking ring extended to a different deck on the station and cut a hole in the hull.

Eamor and Swoop exited into the station. They were dressed as rich courtiers. On their way up to Xim’s office, they passed a squad of SERPENT Authority Panictroopers in their black death-head masks. They were the elite bodyguard of the CEO. They marched in perfect lockstep with nerve sticks at their side. Eamor was disturbed. What were they doing here? He thought about contacting Talon but did not want to risk being intercepted.

They were not hindered as they made their way through the vast station. There was no one in the anteroom of Xim’s office. Eamor thought it odd. “Swoop. Be ready for anything.”

They entered Xim’s office. The room appeared empty.

“Not here,” said Swoop.

Eamor circled around the room and looked behind the desk. He immediately recognized his uncle’s body on the floor.

“Uncle Rylen!” he cried kneeling and weeping.

“Is he…?” Swoop started to ask. An Alarm sounded. “Eamor, we must move.”

Eamor rose up. “Speak to Sky Man of me, uncle.”

They left the office and headed to the command center. They knew Xim had sent the code from there.

Four Panictroopers guarded the command center. Eamor and Swoop threw off their outer robes. Swoop wore a tight-fitting black combat suit with rainbow striping on the arms and legs. He drew his shotgun, Eamor his sword.

The troopers advanced wielding nerve sticks. Eamor dispatched two of them quickly with skilled strokes. Swoop shot one and kicked the other down. As he was advancing to finish him, the trooper drew a scattergun and fired. Swoop took a hit in the chest and fell back. Eamor sliced off the hand holding the gun and finished him with the backstroke of his swing.

He walked over to Swoop. He was bleeding from his neck and cheek where stray pellets hit. “Are you ok?” Eamor asked.

Swoop stirred and moaned. “Ohhh! Even with body armor, that hurt like a…”

Eamor helped him up and they entered the command center. The command chair swung around to reveal a stout man with a vulgar baby face. His vague expression registered no surprise upon their entry. Swoop immediately circled around to Eamor’s right, drawing his shotgun.

“Where is Xim?” Eamor asked.

“I sent him to Sky Man.” He taunted. “The same place you are going, Thaxian weakling.”

“So, you know who I am.”

“Yes, I thought you might come. You have fallen into my trap, as has your Captain Vasloch. I have more knowledge and power than you. I serve the great one. Your Sky Man is weak. He will not help you,” he sneered.

“That remains to be seen,” Eamor replied calmly.

Two giant men walked up and stood on either side of the chair. They were heavily armed. “Ennika, my dear,” the he said into a holo-phone, “You may begin your attack. And thank you for loaning me your bodyguards.”

“Acknowledged Voldruss, this won’t take long,” was the reply.

Swoop drew and fired at the nearest figure. The blast hit him in the chest, spinning him down to one knee. He was wearing an armored vest and could rise and counter. Swoop dove out of the way as he fired a small rocket launcher his way. It blew a hole in the side wall of the room.

Eamor was standing as still as a statue. The other figure paced up and drew an ion staff. Eamor suddenly extended his hands. Green lightning engulfed his attacker and he crumpled to the ground.

Voldruss was chuckling. “Impressive. You are a Regent indeed. Now, I have a surprise for you.” He produced a small device and pushed a button.

Swoop had ducked behind a row of control panels and was trying to circle around behind the other bodyguard. He peeked up to see the huge man, weapons drawn.

“Come out, little man. I promise I’ll make it quick,” he taunted.

Swoop prepared to jump out and attack.

“Where are you, you little…” The voice was suddenly stifled. Swoop looked up to see the tail of a giant reptile disappear behind another row of controls.

There are too many places to hide in here.

“Eamor, we’ve got trouble! Something’s here!”

“My pet will take care of your friend,” Voldruss said malevolently. His eyes glowed yellow. “You are mine.”

With that he raised a hand and hurled a burning globe of fire at Eamor. He was able to partially dodge it but his back and left arm were burned.

Eamor rolled to his feet. He could hear Swoop’s shotgun firing repeatedly on the far side of the room. Eamor gathered phantom energy into his hands and launched a bolt of greenish lightning at Voldruss. He blocked it with a flaming hand.

“The Great Dragon lives in me, young fool! I have more power than you. Die!” he screamed and launched another fireball. Eamor dove out of the way.

Your Sword. A voice said inside.

“Sky Man!” he yelled drawing his sword. It began crackling with greenish-yellow phantom energy. His energized sword easily deflected Voldruss’ next fireball. Voldruss launched several more to no avail. The Authority leader began looking tired and haggard. He swayed on his feet. Eamor pointed his sword at him. A bolt of green energy hit Voldruss and sent him flying back across the room.

Eamor’s vision blanked out for a split second. In his mind’s eye, he saw a picture of Swoop. He was cornered by the giant snake.

“Swoop!” he yelled. He ran to the far corner of the room. Swoop was on top of a large bank of computers desperately fighting off the monster. He had run out of ammo. Eamor sprinted over and stabbed it in the back. It threw back its head in pain, shrieking terribly, its mouth wide open. Swoop deftly tossed a small orb into its mouth and jumped away. Eamor took the cue and stepped back.

The snake’s head exploded off its body and it collapsed into a smoking ruin.

Eamor walked back across to where Voldruss fell. He was not there. They searched the command center and found no sign of him. He had escaped. Eamor returned to the command console.

Eamor got his second shock of grief upon seeing Xim’s body in front of the command chair. Voldruss had stepped over him and Eamor had not noticed him there. Swoop laid a hand on Eamor’s shoulder. “He is finally free,” Eamor said sadly. He glanced up at the console. The Freedom Fortress code screen was still up.

“Wait a second…” Eamor said slowly.

“What is it?” Swoop asked.

Eamor sat down at the console. He was concentrating intensely. “I can do this.”

As the Dominator was still acquiring the phantom cylinders, the duty officer piped up, “Sir, I have twelve new contacts. Looks like an Authority fleet. six destroyers, three Devastator class, two carriers and the Deathbringer.”

“Admiral Hawk, engage the new contacts,” Talon said into his console. He turned to the tactical officer. “Launch all our Vipers to assist. Hold our position until all the sleds are away. Standby on missiles if any of the bogies loses its phantom field.”

Talon watched his readout as the two fleets engaged. Two of Admiral Hawk’s battle cruisers were wiped out right away. The ships maneuvered and engaged. Talon knew how chaotic such large battles could be. The Deathbringer waded into the fight and plowed right through preceded by dozens of Viper fighter craft. She was headed right for them.

“Of course,” Talon said to himself, then ordered, “Activate all defensive pulse blasters. Fire all micromissiles, set on heatseeker. Hold our phantom field at full. Let’s close to cannon range.”

The Dominator eliminated most of the small craft without much trouble.

“Missiles incoming!” The duty officer reported.

“Hold course.” He wondered why she would fire missiles with their phantom field on full. He suddenly realized she wouldn’t do it without a reason. “Evasive! Shoot them down!”

They intercepted a few of the missiles. A dozen or more of them made it through. As soon as they approached the phantom field, they shut down and coasted through. When they hit the ship, there was no explosion. They were evidently densely metallic. They penetrated the Dominator’s armor in several places. The ship rocked as they tore deep into the hull. A chain reaction of explosions tore through the ship.

“Get me a damage report!”

Another hail of missiles approached.

“Fire all ion cannons. Disrupt their guidance systems. Then make a hard diving turn to port!”

Balls of blue lightning filled the void in front of the Dominator as the missiles were disabled, then the huge ship turned and dove out of the way of the still coasting missiles.

The Deathbringer approached and turned so that its broadside faced the still turning Dominator’s stern. Cannon fired ripped into its nova engines. The ship shuddered and drifted.

“Damage report!” Talon yelled, as another salvo hit the ship.

“We’re losing all nova power. The reactors are shutting down. Engineering reports at least ten minutes to restart,” reported the tactical officer.

“We don’t have ten minutes! Red, what’s going on down there!” he called to the engine room.

“I’m cutting the main nova conduit! I can re-route and have power back in three minutes, Sky Man willing. Hold them off if you can,” came Red’s answer.

Talon ordered, “Use emergency thrusters, turn our flank toward them. Get me a missile solution.” He thought of trying another nuke as a desperation measure, but she would not fall for that again.

The Dominator slowly turned and fired a partial salvo of cannons before losing power completely. Another broadside of Vasloch cannons tore into the ship.

“We are being hailed by the enemy vessel,” The duty officer said.

“On screen,” Talon said. At least while she gloats we can buy some time.

Ennika Torkul’s hateful face appeared on the holo-screen. “Captain Vasloch. You are beaten. The rest of your fleet is gone. Return the stolen ship and you will live.”

“It is you who must surrender. The true Regent is here. Sky Man is with us. You will lose,” Talon replied calmly. He somehow still had assurance in his heart that they would win.

While he was talking, Red signaled from the engine room that nova power was restored.

Ennika hesitated, and then regained her bravado. She laughed long and loud. “You fool! I have beaten you. Do you really believe… what is that?” she said to an officer off screen.

Talon looked at his tactical readout. Dozens of nova torpedoes were heading right for the Deathbringer. Freedom Fortress had just cleared the rim of the star and fired at her.

The Deathbringer’s phantom field was peppered by the nova torpedoes and flickered out.

Talon ordered, “Phantom blasters fire!”

Numerous explosions engulfed the Deathbringer as it was battered by green phantom blasts from the Dominator and from the fortress. It began to drift away, crippled and powerless.

Talon turned his ship away from the smoking hulk that was once the Deathbringer just as the Sky Lady was leaving the station.

“Talon, are you there?” Eamor’s voice came across the communicator.

“Yes, what’s left of us. We barely made it. I assume it was you controlling the station,” Talon replied.

“Yes. We lost a lot of lives today. May Sky Man help us. Did all the sleds get away?”

“Yes, and we need to leave before reinforcements arrive. Did you find Rylen and Xim?” Talon asked.

Eamor hesitated. His voice was hoarse as he replied, “We found their bodies. Voldruss killed them. We will honor our dead and then go home.”