Robert E. Mills - Starfighter.pdf - Robert E. Mills - allforjesus2001

Prologue

It was a time of tragedy and alarm; it was a time of hope

and wonder. A dark, encroaching evil was loose in the

universe, aforce that harnessed the creative powers of

consciousness to the dark and terrible forces of nature,

to the negative pole of the Infinite. It was a time when

the powers of good and evil met in a combat of cosmic

magnitude. It was the time when the Primula galaxy

became a graveyard for the crews and starships of the

Dark Empire's mighty armada.

Of all beings in the known universe, Ylang- Ylang, the

Dark Empire's lord, was the most wondrous. . . and

the most terrible. God-like and incorporeal, a self-

created immortal whose basis appeared to be energy

itself; it was a thing devoted entirely to the works of evil

and the domination of all sentient creatures. The heart

of its empire was the black planet Flaigon, home of its

ancestors, the extinct Mordlings. The last survivor of

this titanic race, Ylang had transformed itself into a

deathless being, a great andfearsome mass of corrupt

energies whose very sight was too much tobe borne by

the eyes and minds of mortal creatures.

Its heritage was the incredibly advanced science and

refinements of evil developed by its ancestors, whose

lifespans ran in excess of six thousand years. Its will-

to-power was as limitless as its appetite for evil was

insatiable. Ylang fed upon the energies produced by the

torment and agony of other s.entient life-forms, literally

consuming its victims in the process; hence its title, the

Great Devourer.

The Chronicles of Tallin

The forces of the Dark Empire seemed to be irresist-

ible: its black starfleets ranged far and wide, extinguish-

ing the light of freedom in galaxy after galaxy, creating

in this manner the mightiest empire ever known among

the stars. Rebellions were virtually unheard-of in that

vast slave-empire, for the reason that their occurrence

brought forth punishments of unbelievable severity.

The elite fighting force of the empire was the Death

Legion, commanded by yet another elite, the Ysss: a

race of fierce reptiloids who held the empire's highest

offices and kept the counsel of the Dark Emperor. They

worshiped death and lived to 4estroy; friendship, kind-

ness, pity and compassion they regarded as mere signs

of weakness; they were creatures bred to murder. Chief

among the Ysss overlords was Blorg, the Supreme

Commander of all the empire forces and the being

closest to Ylang- Ylang.

The Dark Empire spread across the star-fields in the

manner of a tidal wave, and all who encountered it (with

few exceptions) were convinced of its invincibility. It

was a creation of darkness, a juggernaut fueled by evil

and armored in the powers of the dark side of the

Infinite. Its might grew with each new conquest; and

horror and terror filled the shadows it left in its wake.

The empire seemed truly unstoppable. . . until one day

a strange combination of forces, both accidental and

intentional, vectored-in on the line of its progress.

It started with the invasion of the Primula galaxy, a

place where war had been unknown for over two

hundred years; and this act of naked aggression brought

together most of the principal actors in this cosmic

drama. . .

At this time, Dann Oryzon of the waterworld of

Aquaea, a young man who never knew his real parents

and one who had the rare honor of being adopted by the

dolphin-civilization of the Quee, was taken prisoner

aboard an empire startransport known as a slaver.

There he was befriended by Callix of Aurea Solis (the

golden planet that was the center of galactic resistance)

and his daughter, the lady Nila, with whom Dann later

fell in love. After an encounter with Lord Blorg, Callix

(even though Dann had tried to save his life) died; but

not before he pledged Dann to accompany his daughter

and carryon his mission. That mission was to locate the

Fellowship of Light, the mystical order that guarded the

Primula galaxy in the days before the era of the Great

Peace.

Dann and Nila were rescued by the first person to

shatter the myth of the Dark Empire's invincibility: the

star-pirate, Red Rian, a pilot of incredible skill and the

skipper of the good ship Hazard, perhaps the best fight-

ing ship to be found anywhere. With him were his

first-mate, the "fierce and lovable" Purpur, a giant

felinoid, and the young technical genius, Ween Leever.

Rian and the rest of his crew were all from the neighbor-

ing galaxy of Taylos, natives of the planet Urgel, a

world that had been destroyed by the Dark Empire in

retaliation for its leadership of that galaxy's fierce resis-

tance. Rian was a hard and blustering mercenary of a

man who lived only to avenge the extinction of his

family and people. . . a debt that could only be settled

by the death of Lord Blorg.

Through the agency of the wise, beautiful and all-

too-human androids, Altektu and D-Anacom, the ad-

venturers reached the planet Palos, in the outworlds of

the Nova Vega system. This was the stronghold of the

Fellowship of Light, and there Dann and Nila claimed

the right of suppliants and asked for the aid of the

galaxy's former guardians. Garthane, the imposing and

serene High Master of the order (a man nearly three

hundred years old !), invoked the power of the Infinite

Oneness and pledged the Fellowship's aid, immediately

recalling to Palos the scattered members of the now-

depleted order.

Following this, Garthane sent Nila and Rian back to

Aurea Solis, where she was to rally the League of Free

Worlds and inform its chiefs of Garthane' s strategy; the

star-pirate and his crew would train the League's pilots

and impart to its people their great fund of technical

know-how and combat skills. Then, to the amazement

of the others, the High Master told Dann Oryzon that he

was to stay and be initiated into 1he Fellowship, an

order that combined worldly and martial-arts skills with

spiritual enlightenment. After the completion of the

arduous and months-long initiation, consummated by

an act of mass levitation caused by a "mind-lock," the

result of the members' collective state of "At-One"

with the Infinite, Garthane revelaed to Dann the fact

that he was was his true father.

Nila brought the League Garthane's message, and

Red Rian trained its pilots. Like Dann, the pirate

changed much in the last days before the coming of the

Dark Armada; and he, like the young Aquaean, fell in

love with the lady from the golden planet. Nila herself

had strong feelings for both men. But there was too little

time for this complication to be resolved; the Dark

Empire came first.

Through treachery, Blorg managed to recapture Nila.

He then took her to Ylang's lair in the subterranean

Forbidden City of Kordor-along with the League's

battle-plans. Displaying incredible audacity, Rian and

his crew went after Blorg, and the star-pirate boldly

confronted the horrible Ylang and challenged his favor-

ite to mortal combat, the stakes being safe passage to

Aurea Solis, should he be victorious. Mortal combat,

foul-play and a series of remarkable events ensued,

fascinating even the bored and immortal Ylang (for the

eternal are prey to the constant threat of boredom). As a

"reward" for their boldness, Ylang was about to con-

sume his visitors, who were saved only by the arrival

and intervention of Garthane and Dann. Ylang was

distracted by an earthquake caused1Jy the Fellowship's

collective powers of mind, and Dann was able to lead

his companions out of Kordor; Garthane did not come

with them, and it was assumed that he had been killed

by the Dark Emperor.

By the time the fugitives reached Aurea Solis, the

dark armada had already attacked. Ordered by Rian to

improvise when the battle-plans were discovered sto-

len, the ~eague pilots fought bravely and well, inflicting

great losses on their more rigid opponents; but the sheer

numerical superiority of the enemy had begun to shift

the balance. Rian, arrivi,ng in the Hazard, rallied the

allies for a time; but they were soon overwhelmed

again.

What saved the League was Garthane's arrival.

Using the combined powers of mind of all its members,

the Fellowship brought about the collapse and destruc-

tion of the greater part of the armada's starships; the

survivors fled in panic. Meanwhile, Blorg had arrived

as well, and was immediately embroiled in the combat

when his flagship, the Devastator was confronted by

the Hazard. After a hard battle in deep space, Rian had

the satisfaction of watching his adversary's fleeing star-

ship erupt with a series of explosions that eventually

consumed it.

The defeat of the armada freed the Primula galaxy

. . . for the present. Now the future hangs in the bal-

ance, for the Dark Empire still casts its shadow over

these star-fields; there are--still worlds to be liberated

and plans to be made. The struggle is not over yet. . .

But, at the same time, the many suns ofPrimula seem to

shine a little brighter; the laughter of children still rings

in the air; and men and women still fall in love. . .

Chapter 1

No Longer Invincible

Cries of Down with the Emperor! and On to Flaigon

echoed throughout all the free worlds of the Primula

galaxy as soon as the news of the Dark Armada's de-

struction had been received. The enemy was no longer

invincible, as the newly-composed popular song from

Aurea Solis proclaimed; and Red Rian's words, "Catch

'em with their pants down-and boot 'em in the ass!"

had become the slogan of the day. But there was no time

for self-congratulation or resting on laurels; the oc-

cupied worlds of the galaxy still had to be liberated.

Tacticall¥, the League of Free Worlds had one great

advantage as "Operation Lib" commenced: the arma-

da's destruction had left Primula relatively free of

enemy starships. But the empire forces were

entrenched on the ground, and there were still large

numbers of atmospheric fighting-craft based on the oc-

cupied planets. On the day after the great victory, the

liberation forces began to lift-off from their home bases,

speeding to their assigned objectives, secure in the

knowledge that they would be welcomed and assisted

by the various resistance movements that had sprung

up on many of the oppressed planets. And indeed, once

the liberators had been sighted, there arose a wave of

almost universal popular uprisings.

Savage and merciless, the Dark Empire garrisons had

made few friends; every civilian, young and old, male

and female, was a potential (and often actual) enemy.

Knives gleamed in the shadows; snipers ambushed offi-

cials; crowds swamped and overturned military vehi-

cles; local techs sabotaged homie and recon-robots; and

sentries mysteriously disappeared from their posts at

night. The liberations weren't easy, but they came

swiftly and inexorably nonetheless.

Dan Oryzon beamed at his father from the foot of the

tlexiladder and said, "Infinity is at the heart of all

things." And Garthane, High Master of the Fellowship

of Light, responded with the other half of the ritual

fonnula, "All things are one." He waved and turned to

enter the starship.

The day was bright with promise and Dann felt a

young man's trust in the future and belief in the powers

of change. What more could a young man ask? He had

found his true father, been initiated into great myste-

ries, was instrumental in a glorious victory, and man-

aged to survive and be reunited with his comrades-in-

arms.

And who walked beside him, as he left the spaceport

of Libera, capital of Aurea Solis, the golden world?

Whose hair caught the sunlight and turned it to gold?

Whose copper skin gave off the fragrance of summer

flowers? Whose grey eyes reminded him of the cloud

mantled oceans of his homeworld with their beckoning

depths?

Suddenly Dann stopped and turned to face the tall

and graceful young woman beside him. "Nila," he said,

no longer stammering in her presence the way he had

months before, secure now in the knowledge of who he

was and what he wanted. "Forgive me, but I have to ask'

this now. There's much to be done yet, and . . . well

maybe we both won't be alive at the end of it all." He

looked deep into her eyes. "Could you. . . ever. . .

love me?"

Nila's smile was as beautiful as the sun that warmed

her world. "I could," she replied, without a mil-

lisecond's hesitation. "And in a way, I already do."

And she did, having been drawn to Dann from the first,

after he attempted to save her father's life by confront-

ing the horrible Blorg. The root of her feelings was

composed of gratitude and respect; that root had grown

into the stem of friendship and admiration; and the stem

had begun to bear a flower. . .

"And Red Rian, too?" Dann asked, at the same time

not wishing to hear her answer.

She and the star-pirate had been through much to-

gether, and beneath the armor he wore to defend his

inner self, Nila had been able to see the beauty and

goodness of the man. "Yes, Dann." She grew serious

as she answered. "I have the same feelings toward both

of you." She leaned over, brushed his cheek with her

lips, and murmured softly in his ear. "That's why I

can't make up my mind. I'm trying. Believe me, I am."

"Do you think you'll know. . . sometime soon?"

"As soon as I'm able, Dann."

"Fair enough," he said as they started walking again.

"Let's get something to eat. I'm starved." ,

"Well," Nila replied, shaking her head. "At least I

won't have to worry about you wasting away for love of

me."

As she took his hand, he thought, I'll know soon

enough, I suppose. And tomorrow I'll be going home

. . . to liberate Aquaea !

"You knock-kneed, overfed, foot-dragging slag-

farmers!" bawled the captain of the good ship Hazard.

You wobble-jointed, fork-toetl sons of dung-skreets!

You thimble-headed lot of Bedellian sissy-boys! Shape

up or ship out! The next time we dock, you swag-bellied

wimps, I'm going to scuttle you all, and sign up your

grannies for the next cruise !"

Red Rian was in great form. The crew of the Hazard

chortled and winked at each other behind their skip-

per's back. Even Purpur smiled, in his feline way. This

tirade wasjust like old times. Blowing Blorg to reptiloid

atoms had done wonders for the man. And even his

chief tech-head, Ween Leever, a person known to pre-

fer Rian in a quieter state-sleep, for instance, had to

grin.

Rian grinned, too, as he brought the Hazard in from

its post-combat shakedown flight. "The next man to

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