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was the flagship here. They were spitting out hundreds of troop transports as well.
    Several thousand of the shuttles were lined up in huge phalanxes around the planet. Hunter guessed the invasion force totaled at least half a million men. Just getting them all together and in place was an astonishing feat of complexity and maneuver. They appeared ready to pounce at any moment.
    Yet they were obviously waiting for something.
    That’s when another ship appeared. It was different from the rest. Though built in the Empire’s standard triangular design, it wasn’t as sleek as the other starships, nor did it bear the multitude of planet-blasting weapons the other vessels carried. This one had a huge red bubble just aft of its forward flight compartment. This odd ship was hanging close to the BonoVox’s starboard side. It was not spewing out troop carriers.
    Hunter studied this ship closely. It had a ghostly air about it, yet to his eyes, it was a familiar one as well.
    Then it hit him. This starship was similar to the one sticking out of the ground back on Fools 6. What had Erx and Berx called it? A Kaon Bombardment ship?
    Not a moment later, the red dome atop the strange ship began to glow. It became very bright very quickly. When it seemed it could get no more intense, a beam exploded from this cupola and traveled to the jungle planet below. It hit a spot just north of the equator, an area of exceptionally thick flora.
    Suddenly it seemed as if a quarter of the entire planet were bathed in crimson. The thousands of troop transports took this as their cue and began falling down toward the planet. Hunter could see explosions on the planet’s surface. The glow from the neighboring ship intensified. He stared deep into the red dome and felt a chill go through him.
    “ Comrade ? What are you doing here ?”
    Hunter spun around to find a huge individual standing right behind him. He was one of the BonoVox’s small army of on-board security troops. As Hunter tried to spit out an explanation, the security man raised a handheld device, pointed it at him, and pushed a button.
    A moment later, Hunter found himself locked inside another compartment.
    This one had bars he could see.

6

    The BonoVox was in the throes of a saturnalia.
    The entire ship was high on something. Food, wine, and other exotic intoxicants were available throughout the vessel, and anyone not on duty was permitted to indulge in any vice of their choice. This was no more true than inside Zap Multx’s enormous stateroom. Here, the upper echelon of the BonoVox’s officer staff had gathered to revel and feast.
    The starship had something to celebrate. The assault on Vines 67 had been an unqualified success. With the regular Empire Forces troops holding the flanks, Multx’s highly trained soldiers had gone into the key bandit strongholds and quickly eliminated them, destroying all of the opposition’s weaponry and razing their base camps. No prisoners were taken. The victory had been so complete, the bandit groups on the two remaining outlaw planets were already asking for cease-fire terms.
    So Multx’s 23rd Special Operations Corps had done in a few hours what Loy Staxx’s men had been unable to do in nearly a year. As a result, Vines 67 was in the Empire’s fold, and Multx’s fortunes had gone up a notch. The key to the victory had been the proper coordination between Multx’s hunter-killer battalions and the Kaon Bombardment ship. This was an option not afforded to Loy Staxx simply because he did not have the connections that Multx had. This alone spoke volumes about the inner workings of the Empire’s military elite.
    Multx’s victory had been so swift and total, the BonoVox had already left the Sileasian System and was now streaking Inward. The star commander himself was said to be extremely pleased and had sent a very upbeat report back to Earth to herald his success.
    So why then had he invited Erx and Berx to his victory party without the requisite