The Fractured Empire: A Tale of Downfall

Chapter 5

Within the next hour, five large shuttles had touched down in Bauvarak's space port. To make things better for us, there didn't appear to be any other Federation troops in the settlement. However, Jackson still sent out a few patrol parties of Silver Fox bounty hunters along with Damascaras Alliance and Ashkera Dominion soldiers just to be safe.

"If you find any UTF asshats, bring them to me alive," Jackson had told the patrols before they left, "We need to figure out where Horner is located, and what better way to do that than to interrogate one of his lackeys."

Now, twenty minutes after the parties had been sent out, my crew and I found ourselves back in Nathaniel Morrison's office grilling him over everything he knew about Vincent Horner's whereabouts. Apparently, the admin had received quite a fair bit of messages from other settlement leaders across the Carrus system. However, that didn't mean we could pinpoint his location.

Far from it...At least more chairs had been brought in this time around...

"So...When was the last time a planet sent you a warning about Horner's men?" Boreas inquired, leaning forward expectantly in his seat, "Well, before my lot and I gunned down the squadron that was sent for you. I know you said you've gotten little more than radio silence from the other planets in this system, but try to see if you can remember any specifics."

"Hmm...I'd say the last broadcast I received was when problems started to pop up on Sylkiir V about five days ago. Let me see if I can find it..."

Surprisingly, Morrison had a scaled up holo-computer that was little more than a large projector built into the center of his desk. However, a neon blue keyboard appeared for him to work on. A few minutes later, a video recording played.

"To anyone out there who's still listening, heed my words," a thin, wiry woman began, idly adjusting her glasses as she spoke, "My colony has slowly lost contact with other hubs of civilization on Tyraxis VII. It was slow-going at first, but now we're completely in the dark. The name 'Vincent Horner' has been floating in the air, and I can't help but wonder if he is to blame for all of the chaos. I have tried to contact this Horner fellow, but all forms of communication have simply been...cut. I don't understand what is going on, but I implore anyone left out there to fight back–the soldiers who wear the UTF's armor are not Federation soldiers anymore–I'm not daft enough to think the Federation has our best wishes in mind, but these individuals...they're monsters through and through. No matter what has to be done, do not concede to this band of vagabonds and murderers. In two days, I'll be heading over to Ryderos on Sylviir V–I know my visit will be a surprise, but I request assistance. To anyone left out there, please be safe."

The message ended without warning, and I was left with more questions than answers.

"Who was that?" I found myself asking.

"That was Ms. Emily Flynn," Nathaniel explained, "She's the admin of the largest settlement on Tyraxis VII, which is not far from this planet."

"Hmm...I may fly over and investigate the colonies I can find. First, I have to make sure nothing's going to happen here," I began, connecting the dots as I spoke, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like Killjoy is methodically crippling every planet in this system."

"No kidding," Boreas chimed in, "A discernible pattern definitely exists–especially when you showed us that recording."

"He could be going about sabotaging each planet in a different way, though," Alexander suggested, "All that aside, it sounds like this Killjoy prick is taking a hands-on approach to conquering this system."

"But why though?" Alannah interjected, irritation laced in her voice, "We could go the easy route and say 'oh, this prick is trying to profit off the Carrus system.' However, we don't entirely know that. What motives does he have to slaughter entire colonies worth of people? That's not necessary if he wanted to simply steal every credit these people are worth."