In a small, dingy looking apartment, a large, tall man slept on a disproportionately small bed. The man was a restless sleeper, tossing and turning every so often, yet also appeared to be in a deep sleep. His slumber was interrupted however as a dog shaped thing started rattling and shaking on the bedside table, making an awful racket as it did. It took a few moments, but the man stirred a bit before absolutely shooting up and looking towards the thing. His eyes were barely open, and his face screamed of him still being extremely sleepy, however he reached over with one of his long levers and after a few failed attempts at pressing a button on the dog’s forehead, he finally managed to do it.

“Relovan! What took you so long to answer?!” A somewhat panicked voice boomed at the man.

“What time is it?” Relovan groggily asked as he tried to force his eyes open.

“No time for stupid questions, I need you to come in!”

“It’s my day off, Captain.”

“Yeah, I know, but this is an emergency. Get your ass over here ASAP – you’re going up to the Station in the next hour.”

“What the fuck is going on?”

Relovan was speaking to himself at this point, because whoever this ‘Captain’ was, he had already dropped the call. Despite not understanding a thing, Relovan knew from previous experience that when the Captain spoke with that much urgency in his voice, the situation was serious. This prompted him to hop out of bed and power his way towards the bathroom. For a human, he was quite the specimen – tall, muscular and what many would consider to be handsome. A quick shower and shave later, Relovan was now powering his way towards his closet. He opened it, and there was an untold number of pressed uniforms of some sort hanging inside. He reached for one and quickly got dressed. The blue uniform with black accents, complete with a black cape which covered the shoulders and ran down to the floor was the standard attire of the Coalition’s Police force and after putting on the flat peak Police hat, Relovan was almost good to go. He placed his hand on an enclosure within the closet and after a brief scan and a series of confirmation beeps, it opened to reveal a standard issue energy blaster as well as a standard issue Police stun Baton. Once each weapon had been equipped and holstered, Relovan quickly made his way out of his minimalist style bedroom into a small studio apartment which seemed to continue this theme, with a home gym in the middle of the lounge as well as a desk and book case the only things that broke the monotony.

“I likely don’t even have time for coffee.” Relovan commented to himself as he walked to the door.

He didn’t even bother with anything else in the apartment and quickly stepped out into the corridor. A mechanical locking sound emanated from the door, and Relovan quickly walked down the corridor towards a flight of stairs that led directly to the parking lot. It was still so early in the morning that most of the other tenants of the building were either still sleeping, or trying to sneak in a quick morning session before having to wake up. Relovan’s footsteps were loud, and his gait was powerful, however the strange grunts and squeaks coming from the apartment of one of his neighbours prompted Relovan to increase his walking speed just a smidge. He quickly descended the steps to the parking lot then to the street. There was a level of filth in not only the building parking, but the streets as well that screamed of this being a slum – which it was. In fact, the planet itself was a slum; one of the small planets orbiting the larger Blargon 5, an Essence rich planet on which a large Void Station which doubled up as a mining rig and refueling station had been built. All but one of the small planets that orbited the Station were almost uninhabitable slums, in which those who lived in them were forced to endure incredible hardships.

As Relovan walked, those who slept on the streets or plied their various trades during the night all saw him and gave him their own renditions of a morning greeting. Police weren’t very well liked on any of the Blargonian Planets, and received receptions that reflected that dislike. Relovan was spat at, flipped off and cursed out in a multitude of languages, by aliens originally from every corner of the Coalition Systems, and likely beyond. Despite their diversity, the common theme amongst them all was just how hideous they all were. Ranging from frog like creatures from the swampy planet of Dertha, to those that looked as though their faces imploded and then a black hole sucked in what was left of said faces to a single point in the middle of their faces. Humanoid aliens, at least in build alone, were also fairly numerous, however those with multiple limbs and even heads also populated the alleys and street corners. Despite being surrounded by these somewhat hostile aliens, Relovan appeared to be unperturbed and he just continued to power down the street, his cape fluttering behind him as he did.

The entire area was shrouded in a kind of mist that could not only be seen, but also felt. Like an invasive species, it forced its way into nostrils and mouths, being both smelled and tasted as the same time. The Essence mining on the main planet produced vast sums of residue that could not simply be incinerated; thus, they were dumped into ever growing piles all over the planets that orbited the main one. The mist all emanated from the multiple junk piles, and in spite of the efforts of those responsible for Blargon 5, the inhabitants of the planets still suffered daily. Despite also sharing the same space with those in the slums, Police Enforcers like Relovan were still viewed as the enemy, and were made aware of that as often as possible. Most weren’t stoic and able to ignore it all like Relovan however, and he walked as though he noticed neither the smog, nor the hatred. He seemingly tanked his way through it all, and fairer looking races which had to wear gas mask type accessories just watched on as he powered past them. Relovan’s commute brought him to a large lift which despite the hour, still had quite the queue of people waiting to board it. Without so much as an inkling of hesitation, he walked past the entire queue and went straight to the doors, where Enforcers dressed similarly to Relovan were stationed, and looking decidedly jaded with their existences.

“Relovan.” One of them said sounding slightly surprised.

This Enforcer was a Paxian, a humanoid race which stood upright like Humans, however had no eyes or nose. Instead, a fleshy film grew over where eye sockets and nostrils would usually be. The other was Xubian, a type of Mantis-esque, bug eyed people from a predominantly jungle like planet. She looked Relovan up and down as she usually did, and made a strange chittering sound when she did.

“Isn’t today supposed to be your day off?” The Paxian asked.

“Captain just called to demand that I come in. I’m needed for some reason.”

“Seriously? What for?”

“He didn’t say, K’Tax.” Relovan grumbled with annoyance. “I need to go up.”

“Sure thing, dude.” K’Tax said with a thumbs up. “I used those correctly, right?”

“I wouldn’t know.” Relovan said with a shrug as he walked off towards a separate, smaller door next to the much larger lift doors. “I keep telling you that I’ve never been to Earth. Earth mannerisms aren’t known to me.”

As he said this dismissively, the Xubian female made the chittering sound again and this time, raised a gloved forearm and wiped away what appeared to be drool from her mandibles.

“You familiar with THAT, huh Relovan?” K’Tax asked with a shudder while pressing a series of buttons on a console on his wrist.

“…unfortunately.” Relovan answered as he walked through the open the door.

The small lift door closed as the woman chittered away again, and Relovan just caught the beginning of it, shuddering ever so slightly. In a matter of moments, the lift shot straight up, accompanied by a hydraulic sound. It came to a stop almost as quickly as it started moving, and the door opened to a slightly cleaner, and less depressing looking area of the planet. There was yet another pair of Enforcers stationed at the lift doors, and another queue of people waiting to board the lift that was going down. The Enforcers on the current level were not quite as friendly with Relovan as the others, as they looked at him and then scoffed before angrily looking back at the queue and barking orders in their native languages. Relovan paid them no mind either and kept walking.

Unlike on the lower level, there were actually functioning and moving vehicles here, with a vast majority of them being both wheeled and thruster propelled large people carrying vehicles known as Quantums that transported people to and from their places of work – with the vast majority working in the mine and at the Station. Relovan walked past a pick up and drop off type depot where people either boarded or descended from these Quantums known as a Rank which despite the time, was a hub of noise, foot traffic, smells and everything else that a large number of vehicles and people are bound to produce.

Relovan walked past it without giving the Rank so much as a second glance and soon enough, he reached a building which was large and relatively clean. A number of Police Cruisers, painted in a similar colour scheme to the Police uniform were parked both on the street, and within the precinct’s parking lot. Relovan walked in through the front door with a grumpy look on his face. He walked in to chaos, as a number of Enforcers were in the process of suiting up as well as arming themselves. He didn’t even have time to fully take in what was happening, because no sooner had Relovan walked in was he being accosted by the Captain.

“Enforcer Relovan – you’re finally fucking here!” The short, rotund Hhagu man bellowed as his snout twitched. “You made it just in time!”

“Just in time for what? What is going on here?” Relovan asked as he continued to look around.

He received a heavy bag being shoved into his midriff in lieu of an actual answer, and a desperate look on the Captain’s face.

“Just follow me – please. I will explain on the way!”

Relovan then suddenly noticed that the Captain was dressed in tactical combat armour that had become quite tight since the last time it was worn. Before Relovan could answer, the Captain started roaring for the Enforcers dressed in their armour to rush to the cruisers. They all did just that, and the tall and confused Human Enforcer was forced to just go with it all for the sake of getting answers from the panicking porcine Police Captain. They ran to his Personal Cruiser, and both Relovan and his superior Enforcer hopped in the back, while the Captain’s personal assistant leapt in front and started the vehicle. Sirens blared right from the onset and the car burst out from the precinct onto the road, with the selection of Cruisers following suit. As they bullied their way down the road, the Captain looked at Relovan with an increasingly panicked expression on his face.

“This is threatening to be a very bad day, Relovan.”

“What is going on?” Relovan asked in growing annoyance.

“Void Lords, Relovan. Two of them are coming to refuel their Flagships at the Station!”

“How is that a cause for such a level of panic that I was called in on my day off?” Relovan grumpily inquired.

“Because these aren’t just average Void Lords, you fool! It’s Lady Juxtae and Lord Vox! The entire GALAXY knows that they despise each other, and worse still, they’re both arriving at the exact same time!” The Captain roared before squealing and snorting somewhat.

“What?! How is that possible?”

“Do you think I know?! We received a transmission from Station Control, demanding that the best Enforcers come up to the Station as soon as possible to try and maintain law and order during the refueling process.”

“…shit.” Relovan said to nobody in particular. “What is their ETA?”

We were told two hours at the absolute latest.”

“That should give us just enough time to not only arrive, but to also assemble and present something of a competent display.”

“Exactly! Time is of the essence.”

As if spurred on by his boss’ words, the man driving started accelerating even more, with all the Police cars forming an impromptu motorcade. Lights and noise were the order of the day, with every single lane seemingly unavailable for any other vehicle that was intent on going anywhere. The motorcade drove towards a large tower that appeared as though it never ended and stretched directly in space. The Captain continued to panic and filled the silence in the car with unintentional snorts and squeals.

“We’re no more than ten minutes out from the Terminal, Captain!”

The assistant got no reply, and after a few more minutes of uncomfortable silence, Relovan spoke.

“Tell me Toto, are there any ships waiting to transport us at the Terminal?”

“None at all, hence us being so concerned about time!”

“Does that mean…”

“Yes, we’re all driving right through to the Station!”

“…this is going to be tight.” Relovan said a somewhat serious expression on his face.

“You can say that again. Listen, you need to take advantage of this time and equip your Combat Armour, Relovan.”

“Yeah, that can’t quite happen.”

The Captain’s PA looked in the rearview mirror and realized just how much space was at a premium in the back of the car. Both men were large, but in completely different ways, and the Captain was also looking as though he was on the verge of hyperventilating. Both Relovan and the PA exchanged quiet looks before the driver sighed and spoke again.

“Calm down, Captain. Things will be fine.” He said, sounding as though he was just phoning in his encouragement. “We just need to get there and show how we are not panicked or intimidated by these Void Lords.”

“That’s right.” Relovan added dryly before opening the bag to see what was in there.

A number of standard issue grenades including stun, smoke and flashbangs, along with different types of energy pods providing various kinds of ammunition, such incendiary, cryo, stun, and more. There were extra weapons in the bag coupled with the armour, and Relovan just went through everything in silence before looking up from the bag.

“I would need more than a few minutes to equip everything in this bag. Try to get to the Station as quickly as possible, Toto.”

“You don’t have to ask twice, Relovan.” Toto boomed as he drew out even more speed from the car.

“…I didn’t ask once.” Relovan said to himself as he looked out the window.

The scenery was little more than a blur, however by the time conversation had simmered down, the motorcade was turning into the Highway – a series of multilane roads which connected all of the smaller planets to the main Blargon Planet, as well as the Station. These were usually used to transport things that were better suited to vehicular transport as opposed to Voidcraft transport. The Highways were all domed in clear enclosures, with air and gravity being regulated.

“Captain!” Toto boomed. “Please use the radio to alert the Highway Access to open ALL the gates so we don’t waste any time whatsoever.”

“It would also be useful if they could lower gravity a bit so we can have higher gains when using the thrusters.” Relovan added.

“Good idea.” Toto said in agreement.

The Captain, who had been sweating at a profuse rate, looked as though he hadn’t heard a word that had been said, so Toto and Relovan had to repeat what they said, only louder this time. Only after repeating themselves a third time, did the Captain hear them and make the requests via the radio after explaining the urgency of the situation. He then alerted the rest of the cruisers of what was happening, and how they were to line up according to the lanes. There was a flurry of activity behind and alongside the Captain’s car as everybody began or organize themselves and get into formation. By the time the twenty-car strong motorcade approached the Highway Access points, all the gates had been opened. This prompted Toto, who had instinctively slowed down a touch, to give the cruiser the full beans and accelerate towards the open gate. The other cruisers followed suit and the five rows blasted through the open gates, hooting their thanks as they did.

“Captain Biggum – we shall alert you when the gates are closed and gravity has been adjusted.” Somebody stated over the radio.

Confirmation of all that arrived around two minutes after the announcement, which was then relayed by the Captain, authorising and then subsequently ordering the use of thrusters. Acknowledgment of the order was simultaneously given, and soon enough, the cars all began to go through a slight metamorphosis, with thrusters sliding out of the rear side panels as well as the roofs of the cars. After deploying thrusters, nobody even waited for the order to actually use them, as they all did before such an order could be given. Flames pulsed from the thrusters and an immediate boost of speed pushed the cops in all the cars into their seats. At this point, nobody even attempted to converse with the drivers as they were forced to concentrate completely on the task of driving, and as Relovan looked over to Highways that were adjacent to the one they were on, he saw Police cruisers from other precincts all using thrusters as well.

“Damn.” Was the only thing he said as he assumed there were even more motorcades all rushing to the Station as well.

The drive up was usually a forty-five-minute affair; however, they didn’t have that kind of time. The use of thrusters meant that they would shave at least ten minutes off of that standard time. There was absolutely no conversation in the Captain’s car, and Relovan continued to look out at space and the other motorcade out to his right. The Station and the First Planet were visible, and as they got closer to them both, the sight of other Highways and other motorcades became more and more prominent.

“Just how many of us have been summoned?” Relovan asked nobody in particular.

“The best Enforcers from every precinct were requested.” Toto answered, much to Relovan’s surprise. “It seems we are needed for appearances – to make it seem as though we are competent enough to keep things under control should the situation escalate.”

“The fact that two bitter rivals will be arriving at the same Station is absolutely ridiculous.”

“Agreed.” Toto said, replying once more. “These people could destroy us and the planets if they broke out into a serious fight.”

“How the fuck are we supposed to prevent that from happening?!” The Captain barked.

“Well, we are the Law.” Relovan answered without a lick of reservation. “We will enforce the law, and force them to toe the line – Void Lords or not.”

After a total of half an hour, Relovan and the rest of the motorcade blasted through the Access points into the station. They had deactivated their thrusters upon receiving a prompt from somebody at the Station Access, so by now, they were using the regular engines – although the thruster use had chewed through vast amounts of fuel. The fuel was enough to carry them to the Central Station, which was the main Police Station on Blargon 5 in its entirety. The trip to Central Station was quite chaotic, with motorcades all taking different routes to the building. By the time Relovan and the rest of his colleagues reached Central Station, it was hub of lights and noise as the vast majority of Enforcers just jumped out of their cars and rushed into Central. The Policemen and women that were running inside were already mostly armed and armoured – Relovan’s precinct included. The Captain and Toto led the group into the building, with Relovan hanging back in order to try and find an opportunity to get changed. There was no such opportunity however, as Captain Biggum actually looked around for Relovan, before calling out to him when he located him.

“What are you doing?! Get your ass over here!”

The Human Enforcer looked at his still sweaty Captain and sighed, before making his way up to both the Captain and Toto, who just gave him a slightly apologetic look. The group walked in to find the top-rated Police Enforcers from all the other precincts as well as their captains all assembled within a particularly large auditorium. The captains were in a group of their own, while the rest were standing in the groups they arrived in. A captain from the group spotted Captain Biggum and waved him over.

“Piggy! You made it!” The female sounding Captain boomed. “I wasn’t sure if your ugly, cowardly butt was going to come.”

“Quiet down, Mpume.” Another Captain said. “Besides, do you really think that you’re in any position to call Piggy names and say he’s ugly?”

“Yeah, especially when it looks like a Vrundrian Acid Slug danced all over your face.” Another Captain said with a barely disguised chortle.

As the one called Mpume looked at both the Captains that had chided her with a dirty look, although having the face that she did, she really could have just been looking at them normally. Biggum sighed as he looked at Toto and Relovan.

“Let’s go greet the other Captains.” He said defeatedly.

“Unfortunately Captain, I can’t do that. This is an official gathering of Police – Captains are to fraternize with Captains, and those of us of lower rank are to fraternize with our fellows. I am prohibited by law to go there.”

“What?! This is a crisis, Relovan! Who cares about the rules?”

“It is precisely because this appears to be an emergency that we have follow the letter of the law. I shall hang back with the others. Excuse me.”

Relovan quickly turned around and walked back to join the other Enforcers from his precinct. He didn’t really speak to them and he wasn’t spoken to either as the others seemingly gave him the cold shoulder and the odd sneer. He paid them absolutely no mind as he set about pulling a belt out from the bag. The belt itself was armoured, however the reason it was equipped was because it had slots and pouches designed for holding things. Relovan was quick to start loading the slots with grenades, smoke bombs, various serums and every other useful handheld object that was in the bag – extra ammunition included.

“It’s nice being the… how do they say on Earth, ‘teacher’s pet’, isn’t it Relovan?” Said a voice from behind.

“I’m not sure if that is what they say on Earth Ste-Az; I’ve never been.” Relovan replied without even looking back.

At this time, he was busy equipping some plated gloves – with some difficulty – and once those were on, he went back to rummaging through the bag. There was just the briefest moments of awkward silence as everybody waited for him to address the actual meaning behind the phrase teacher’s pet. It became apparent very quickly that Relovan had absolutely no intention of doing so, and this got on the nerves of the one called Ste-Az.

“Look here Human trash, you’ve been acting like you fucking own the place for long enough. Don’t think for even a second that your past makes us fear you – you’re still only human after all.”

Again, as if he didn’t hear what had been said, Relovan continued looking through the bag. Ste-Az and the other Enforcers were seriously starting to get pissed off, however before the situation could escalate any further, Biggum and Toto rejoined the group, as the other Captains did with their respective squads. Toto seemed to be sensitive to even the slightest changes in atmosphere and had already detected that things were a little tense.

“Ugh, what is with that Mpume? With a face like that, I can’t believe she has nine children.” Captain Biggum said with a snort and a shudder. “Why does she want me to give her one?”

“Are you sure she doesn’t want to feed you to them, Captain?” Toto asked his boss, which drew a few chuckles from the others.

Relovan continued to sort through the bag when a loud voice interrupted any and all conversations that were being had by those in Central.

“Enforcers – attention!” The voice boomed, and within a matter of seconds, every single Police Enforcer stood up straight and at attention.

The sound of approaching footsteps made all the Enforcers stand in absolute silence, and moments later, an absolutely massive man dressed similarly to the rest of them walked in. His attire had quite a few medals on it, his cape wrapped around his entire body and his hat was slightly different, looking more like a military commander’s hat than the flatpeak cap everybody else was wearing. This man was an Adonian, a race of war-mongering conquerors who were widely regarded as beasts that simply existed for the sake of battle. Large and physically powerful by nature, this man was a specimen even amongst other Adonians, and his footsteps seemed to shake the very foundations of the Station. A few moments after he had stopped walking and looked the hundreds of assembled Police Enforcers over, he suddenly spoke again.

“This is pathetic.” He boomed, his burbling voice startling a few people. “Enforcers, assemble into Column Formation B – precinct by precinct!”

Everybody that was present within the auditorium saluted swiftly began shuffling and moving into formation. As if moving on rails, they all changed positions within the auditorium, and after close to five minutes of shuffling, it was over with. Hundreds of Policemen and women stood organised and at attention, with Relovan and the rest having assembled towards the rear of the formation. Each precinct had brought around eighty Enforcers, leaving the planets somewhat barren, however this was an emergency situation. The order of precincts within the formation was governed by their rating with the force based on performance, and columns formed by those rated the lowest brought up the rear. Once everything was sorted, the Adonian man spoke again.

“Enforcers, we have been forced into quite the predicament. We have two inbound Void Lords, looking to refuel their vessels. If we are favoured by the Goddess Crotoa, they won’t arrive together. We still have to be prepared for the eventuality that they arrived in quick succession, or that they arrive having found each other in the Void and started fighting en route. Either way, we need to be prepared for any and every eventuality.”

As this man spoke, he exuded the kind of confidence that one who feared nothing and nobody possessed. This however was not infectious, and the other Police Enforcers looked absolutely bereft of confidence. He looked around at the Captains before him, as well as all of their subordinates and after the quick scan was concluded he took a deep breath and grinned from ear to ear, bearing almost all of his incredibly voluminous and sharp teeth.

“It appears that you all are afraid. Let me ask you all a simple question: what is it exactly that we do here? Why are we here?”

The silence was deafening as nobody seemed to want to give the wrong answer. This just prompted the giant man to just point at a random Captain.

“You there! Answer!” He boomed, causing the Captain to visibly recoil as if hit with a jolt of electricity.

“Y-Yes, Chief!” The Captain boomed as he stiffened up. “We are here to… keep the peace!”

“WRONG!” The Chief boomed as he raised his hand, looking as though he was about to crush a bug with the palm of his hand, causing almost everybody to recoil as well. “Usually, you would be punished for answering incorrectly, but we need everybody in here to be healthy.”

He then continued to point at people, seeking answers to his questions from each of them. None of the answers they gave seemed to satisfy him however, and before long, the Chief looked as though he was about to lose his temper.

“We are here to enforce the law.” A voice towards the back of the assembled force said in a voice that was not all that loud, but still perfectly audible.

“Elaborate.” The Chief demanded as he stood looking directly at the one who spoke.

“We are Lawmen – we here to ensure that everybody within the territory of the Coalition adheres to and obeys the law.” The person continued without hesitation. “We are the Enforcers of the Law. We are the Custodians of the Path, we caution those that seek to stray from it, and we punish those that actually do. Whether a homeless vagabond who wreaks off urine and feces, or a Void Lord that smells of battle and death, if they contravene our laws, we bring them to justice.”

Silence descended upon the auditorium in such a way it suggested that the situation wasn’t quite as critical as it was. The silence didn’t last all that long, but the wait for the Chief’s reaction was almost excruciating for some. Without any warning, the huge man burst out laughing with such volume that the others almost wished he hadn’t reacted at all. The grin on his face was massive, and suddenly, two amber eyes glowed from beneath the peak of his hat.

“That’s it! That’s the kind of answer I was looking for! You, What’s your name?! Which precinct do you belong to?!”

Before anybody could answer, somebody started speaking over the P.A System in something of a panicked tone.

“Excuse me Chief, our sensors have detected the presence of two flagship sized ships approaching from the Void. They appear to be no more than ten minutes out!”

“They?!” The Chief boomed. “BOTH of them are ten minutes out?!”

“Y-Yessir.” The voice confirmed over.

“No time to dawdle people, we march for the Dock!”

“M-March? As in on foot, Sir?” A Captain asked.

“Do you not see how badly you all parked your cars? We have no time! Maintain formation and march!”

Before anybody could say anything about them all still being inside the auditorium, the Chief thundered his way towards a wall, his footsteps practically ripping the ground beneath his feet to shreds. He walked with his arms tucked beneath his cape, however when he reached the wall, he simply placed his open palm on said wall and with the smallest jerk of his shoulder, pushed against it with enough force to actually separate the wall from the building. The wall, which had been split from the seams just toppled over and smashed into the ground with a loud crash. The wind generated from the impact caused his cape to flap about and expose his body properly, revealing just how ridiculously muscular this man truly was. He pushed a wall over with such ease, it was difficult for most to fathom just how physically strong the Chief really was. Without even looking back at the Policemen and women behind him, he proceeded to move forward.

“Let’s go.” He commanded as his arm slipped back under the cape and he stepped onto the wall which surprisingly had not shattered on impact.

“YESSIR!!” The Enforcers boomed more out of fear than reverence or anything else, and they began to march.

The march itself was not all that long, however the sight of the rows of Police Enforcers was quite an impressive one. As their capes all fluttered with every step, the stars above coupled with the Fuel Station before and the Police Station behind them made for quite the spectacle. They quickly reached the Dock, which was absolutely massive – with room enough for at least five flagship vehicles to not only dock, but to refuel without bumping into one another. The Chief stopped just in front of the dock and raised his right arm with his fist clenched. This was the signal for the troops to halt and maintain their formation, which they did. As if on cue, two clefts appeared out in the space in front of the Dock. The clefts grew rapidly in size and soon enough, they went from being clefts to gigantic rifts.

“Void Portals.” Relovan commented in between his attempts to equip more gear.

Brightly coloured lightning bolts streaked out from one of the Portals, decorating the starry sky with a kaleidoscope of colours. It was as pretty as it was loud, yet harsh, angry looking flames snaked and danced their way out of the other portal. Bright oranges and reds also lit up the other part of the sky, and the colours even clashed for a bit. The light show was truly beautiful, if not a little daunting. A few moments into the show though, the noses of two large flagship Void Walkers emerged from the portals. From the lightning Portal, an incredibly large ship made its way out. Looking similar to an ocean dwelling invertebrate from the planets of the water dwelling Veymor, the Void Walker seemed to swim out from the portal. It had shimmering, rippling skin and made a sort of high-pitched wailing sound. Multiple tentacle-tendril appendages wiggled all over the place.

Meanwhile over at the other portal, the emergence of the other Void Walker was going on at the exact same time. In stark contrast to the gentler, softer looking Void Walker, this one was hard, all edges and spikes. It looked like a giant six-legged Flame Salamander from d’Toom, a harsh, almost uninhabitable planet on the fringes of the Coalition Systems. A massive, heavily armoured body from which geysers of flame spewed out was topped with a Dragon-like head which also spewed flames from its mouth and eyes. It just looked like this thing was at war with something else, however it was the only entity to make its way out from the Portal.

Once completely free from the clutches of the Void, the two Void Walkers made their way down to the docking platforms below, and this caused the Police that had assembled down below to seemingly lose the nerve that they had built up during the march over. A number of the tendrils on the shimmering Walker stiffened, becoming legs or some sort, while the Salamander, which had its ‘legs’ tucked beneath its body extended those legs. As the two got closer and closer to the platforms, the Chief kept an eye on both vessels, as if trying to see which would touch down first. Both touched down at the exact same time, and it was all the Enforcers could do not to get blown away and flung into the buildings behind them. The Chief, who was still grinning, looked just the slightest bit worried.

“Crotoa, you bitch.” He said while looking down at the platform. “You decided to let Goromoa have his way with us, didn’t you? What a rotten piece of luck.”

The sense of occasion these two landings brought was off the charts, with the lightning streaks and the flames having followed the two Void Walkers all the way down. The Portals then began to close, and by the time they were completely sealed, the two Walkers were both settled. The violent gusts of wind that threatened to launch the Police into the air had also died down, and with a wail and a snarl, slits appeared on the underbellies of both vessels. Light shone down from both, and moments later, the Void Lords descended from their respective Walkers. From the brightly shimmering invertebrate, a tall, slender figure that appeared to be female floated down, flanked by two similarly built, but shorter figures. She was wearing a dress that had an extremely long tail, the sleeves were also excessively long, with cuffs to large and long, her hands could not be seen. There was some sort of mask on her head, with an extremely long ponytail protruding from the top. The mask had absolutely no detail on it, no eye holes, nothing. While the two people that accompanied this woman landed on the ground deftly, she floated centimeters above ground.

On the other platform, a large, muscled figure didn’t so much descend from his Void Walker as he dropped down. Easily the same size of the Police Chief, he landed on the platform with a thud that sounded so heavy, it was any wonder how the entire platform itself didn’t break off. He stood with his hands behind his back, an extremely heavy looking breastplate and greaves, while his arms were completely bare, except for gloves on his hands. His head was bald, and the scowl on his face hinted at him having quite the sour disposition. Moments after he landed, two more muscled figured dropped down onto the platform, although they weren’t nearly as big as the Void Lord.

When both he and his slender, female counterpart landed on the platform, Essence shockwaves pulsed out from their feet that threatened to blow everybody else away once again. The purity and sheer power of their respective Essence was almost too much for these regular Police Enforcers to handle, and this was something the Chief recognised and quickly moved to try and maintain some form of control over the situation.

“Void Lords Juxtae and Vox, it is a pleasure. Allow us to welcome you to Blargon 5.”

The Chief said this as he saluted the two beings, and as if it had been rehearsed before the arrival of the Void Lords, the Police all saluted them at the same time.

“The Lady greets you, Chief.” One of Juxtae’s aides stated.

“She seeks to refuel Nala with Storm Essence of the highest quality. She trusts that will be possible.” The other said.

“Yes, of course it will. The attendants will see to all that.” The Chief responded.

“Oi.” Void Lord Vox growled. “Am I being ignored here?”

“Not at all, Void Lord.” The Captain reassured while looking towards the angry looking man. “The attendants will see to the refueling of your Walker as well. Am I correct to assume it uses Flame Essence?”

Vox just derisively snorted his confirmation of the answer, before looking around, as if trying to find some place to go to.

“The Lady asks what the protocol is in this situation.”

“She’s asking who refuels first.” Vox boomed as he rolled his eyes. “We all know it is going to be me, so let’s get started already. I have places to be.”

“The Lady says you cannot just assume that will be order of proceedings.”

“Silence, worm.” Vox snapped. “Even in the rankings of Void Lords, I am superior to her. Therefore, I get to go first here.”

“Sorry to interrupt, however that really has no bearing here.” The Chief said as he stood with his feet together and his arms crossed beneath his cape. “This is Neutral Coalition Territory, which means we follow the laws set out in the Neutral Zone section of the Constitution.”

“Excuse me?” Vox said as he eyed the Chief dangerously.

“You heard me, Void Lord. The staff at this Fuel Station operate on a first come, first served policy. He or she who arrives first, is served first.”

“The Lady says that sounds fair to her.”

“So who arrived first then?! Just confirm it was me so we can get this over with!!” Vox snarled.

“From what I could tell Void Lords, both of your Walkers touched down on the platform at the exact same time. Nobody arrived first.”

“As if I’ll believe that! This whore and I did not arrive at the same time. You’re in this together, aren’t you? To undermine me?”

“The Lady says that you are being paranoid, Void Lord Vox.” One of the women stated.

“She also says that your inferiority complex is beginning to show itself.” The other said.

This prompted Vox and his own henchmen to become openly aggressive, turning to face the other trio for the first time.

“Excuse me Void Lords, but need I remind you that fighting between Void Lords is prohibited in Neutral Zones? I suggest that we clear this all up by going to the control room and viewing the surveillance footage of your arrivals. If you two really did arrive at the exact same time as I believe you did, then the staff shall refuel your vessels at the same time.”

The Chief was speaking to these two beings as though he was communicating with equals, and many of the Enforcers were shocked at just how little he seemed to be affected not only by their actual strength, but their social standing. The Void Lords looked at him and nodded, prompting him to grin and suggest that they follow him with a small gesture. They did just that, and the group walked off, leaving the Police standing in their formation, staring at the Void Walkers. Once the Void Lords disappeared into the main building, the collective sigh of relief was immense. Some had barely been able to breathe whilst in the presence of the Void Lords, others were sweating profusely, others were just able to keep themselves from vomiting, and some just managed to stay standing.

“O-Oh Great Mumbaa, thank you for helping me through that!” Biggum said. He was thanking the Deity he worshipped, and next to him, Relovan was still faffing about with the armour.

“How am I supposed to get these on?” He asked as he looked towards Toto.

Toto, as well as the rest of his fellows were unable to speak. They had been overwhelmed by the sheer presence of the Void Lords and were still trying to regain their composure. Relovan, who had been splitting his focus between getting his gear on and the arrival of some of the most powerful beings in the Coalition, was surprisingly unaffected by it all. He had put on reinforced forearm bracers and knee-high greaves over his uniform. There was a wave of chatter amongst the individual columns, which was just filled with confessions of fear, and revelations of how Vox was even more intimidating than the Chief. Relovan looked at Captain Biggum and the rest before sighing and leaving the gear alone for a bit.

“Captain, it seems things are under control for the moment. That giant Chief was able to speak with both Void Lords and we haven’t seen anything out here to suggest that things are going badly in there.”

“This… this is true.” Biggum said with a nod as he looked at the tall Human. “That brute of a Chief looks like he’s able to stand his ground against those monsters. As long as he is able to maintain things, we might make it out of here alive.”

“Those two could probably destroy all of the planets here without breaking a sweat.” Toto added, finally snapping out of his funk. “I hope that brash and blunt Adonian can keep things civil and diplomatic.”

“Even if he can’t, we—”

“Yes yes, we heard you in there.” Biggum snapped. “You drew his attention onto you, and now if you don’t live up to his expectations, you’ll bring us all down with you.”

“Bring you down? Captain, we’re at the back of the formation. How much lower can we go?”

The other Police Enforcers in the column seemed to take offense to what Relovan had said, however they appeared to have the common sense not to start bickering in front of the Void Walkers of those they are meant to be keeping in line. Captain Biggum clearly seemed to be lacking in the common sense department however, as he snorted and squeaked in clear discontent. Just as he was about to take it further, the Chief emerged from the main building, with both Void Lords and a number of Station attendants in tow. As they approached the Walkers, an alarm started sounding off, accompanied by flashing lights. Immediately after the sound and light show started, the platforms that the Walkers were docked on began to shake rather vigorously as large panels split and began to open. They opened fairly quickly, and once they were completely open, massive tanks began to rise up out from below. The substance inside each tank sounded liquid, but then at the same time, they sounded different. These tanks contained processed Essence, which had been converted into Storm and Flame Essence respectively. The crackle and roar of a storm could be heard coming from within the tank in front of Juxtae’s Walker, while the sound of a raging fire, snapping and burning hot could be heard coming from the tank in front of Vox’s Walker.

“So.” The Chief said without any warning. “Surveillance footage has shown that the Void Walkers touched down at the same time, which means that they shall be refueled at the same time. The Void Lords will make their way down to the First Planet with me to wait for the refueling process to conclude. They will also be taking members of their respective Personal Knights down to the planet with them. This means that some of you will have to come down in a separate ship, while the rest of you stay up here.”

“Don’t trust us behave ourselves, do you Chief?” Vox practically spat out with a sneer.

“This isn’t about trust, it’s about us following procedure, Void Lord.”

“The Lady says that makes sense.”

“She says covering your own backs is the smart thing to do.”

“Yes, well following the law is also the smart thing, is it not Void Lord Juxtae?” The Chief said before looking at his subordinates.

“There will be a total of forty Personal Void Knights that will be accompanying us to the First Planet, so I will require eighty of you to come down. I will select Enforcers from each of the strongest precincts to come with us. When I call out your name, come stand over here. So, from the 1st, Xhuthah, Kreyo, Axeon…”

In this vein, the Chief called out the names of the top-ranking Enforcers from the top-ranking precincts. It sounded as though he was reading names from a list as he called them out in a monotone voice, and there weren’t any surprises coming from the list. That said however, upon reaching the end of his mental list and calling out the name of the final Enforcer, the Chief bore all his teeth as he grinned about as broadly as he had done since everybody had arrived. He then started looking around, as if trying to find somebody.

“Oi! Oi you! Yeah, you; Lawman!”

Everybody was confused as to just who the Chief was speaking to, until Toto’s eyes suddenly grew to be Zardonian golf ball sized. He quickly remembered what Relovan had said whilst they were still in the auditorium, and he slowly turned his neck and looked at Relovan, who had yet to catch on. As more and more people from within Relovan’s precinct caught on, as well as those from others, they all stared at him in silence. This caused the Human to look around at the multitude of eyes that were staring at him and finally click on that he was likely the one being singled out. He then looked at the Chief – who by now was looking right at him and still smiling – and pointed to himself.

“Were you referring to me, Chief?”

“Were you the one that answered me back in there?”

“Indeed I was.”

“Then I was talking to you.”

“What do you need from me, sir?” Relovan asked, still a little confused.

“I want you to come on over here and join us – you’ll be travelling down to the First Planet with us all.”

“WHAT?!” Captain Biggum boomed.

He wasn’t the only one who was unable to control his mouth and boomed the same question, however the Chief ignored all of the others, and just stared directly at Relovan.

“In what capacity, sir? Do you wish for me to observe?”

“Observe?!” The Chief absolutely roared. “No, you’re coming down with us to participate! You spouted some pretty interesting shit back there – I want to see if you have the ability to back those words up.”

Relovan and the Chief shared an intense, if not brief stare down and Relovan felt the weight not only of his own words, but of the Chief’s as well as the stares and disbelief of his fellow Enforcers. The stare down only lasted a few moments, before Relovan nodded and saluted the Chief. His peers had to open a path for him to move through, and their stares of disapproval were almost tangible. As they reluctantly parted, one of the other Captains couldn’t hold in her disapproval of this development, and raised her hand.

“Permission to speak, Chief?”

“What do you want?” The Chief asked as he looked at her.

“Forgive me for questioning you, however this Human barely comes across as qualified to even be a part of the precinct he belongs to – which is one of the worst. How does creating a spot for him in the group of Elites seem fair? In fact, not even fair, logical?!”

“So, you take issue with me seemingly creating a position for him?”

“Yessir.”

“Very well. You there, Munk – you’re out. Go back to the main group. Lawman, you’re in.” The Chief said while looking disinterested again, before looking at the Captain who had raised the issue in the first place.

“Wha – CHIEF?!” She asked in shock as she looked at her Enforcer in disbelief. “You can’t do that! Munk is—”

“Excuse me?” The Chief asked as a look that they were all too familiar with danced across his face. “Are you questioning me, Captain?”

“N-No!” The Captain stammered. “I would n-never…”

“Didn’t I tell you to move, Munk? Don’t make me repeat myself.”

Munk suddenly sprinted over as though he was on fire, and his Captain had an extinguisher. There was stunned silence from the police as Relovan finally emerged from the Formation and walked up to the Chief, who just nodded at him.

“Go take Munk’s place in the group.”

“Sir.” Relovan said with a nod of his own, before joining the group.

He was standing amongst the Enforcers from Munk’s precinct, and the glares he was receiving were intense. The entire show had dragged on entirely too long for the Chief’s liking, and he turned to look at the Void Lords.

“Apologies for showing you something shameful, Void Lords.” He said with a nod. “If the both of you could summon your Knights, then we can proceed down and wait for your Walkers to get their Essence.”

The Void Lords appeared to be completely dismissive over what had just happened, and they both went back to their respective Void Walkers, ascending into them. The next few minutes were silent, but tense. Everybody wanted to discuss what had just happened, but feared incurring the Chief’s wrath if they did. They could only exchange glances and hope the other person understood what they were trying to say. Meanwhile, Relovan had gone back to trying to get the larger bits of armour on when the Chief looked at him.

“What are you doing?” The Chief asked as he looked at Relovan.

“Struggling to get this armour on, sir.”

“You’re unable to wear the tactical armour?”

“It’s nothing serious, Chief – it just takes a bit of effort to equip.”

“Then just leave it.” The Chief said as he reached for and snatched the bag away from Relovan.

His reach was insane, and this just illustrated how large the Adonian was. He then tossed it so far into the air, it actually flew off the Station and presumably down to one of the planets below, leaving Relovan and the rest feeling somewhat dumbfounded.

“There.” He said, his grin returning.

The grin wasn’t the only thing that returned however, as the openings on both Walkers glowed again, and the Void Lords descended from their vessels once more. Only this time, they had their twenty Personal Knights in tow. Almost all of Juxtae’s Knights were sleight of build, tall and masked, whilst Vox’s Knights were all heavily muscled, had vast frames and had nasty looking scowls on their faces. The Void Lords, coupled with just twenty of their respective Personal Knights came across as a force that could easily destroy the Blargon Planets several times over. This was something that absolutely everybody was cognisant of, and it already gave the Police a mental handicap. There was no time for them to succumb to their mental funk however, as the attendants signaled their intent to start refueling the two Void Walkers. Juxtae and Vox looked at the attendants and then at their respective Walkers.

“Latch: Open.” They both said at the same time, as if they had practiced it beforehand.

Both Walkers made a strange noise, before Juxtae’s one revealed a strange looking orifice, while Vox’s one opened its mouth.

The attendants quickly got to work, pulling on large hoses with what looked to be nozzles attached to them, while others ran off and then drove back in strange vehicles with raiseable platforms on them. Within the next few minutes, the Void Walkers had their respective hoses in their mouths, and in a process that looked more akin to feeding than fueling, they received the Essence that they required.

While this was going on, the Chief had already gestured at the Void Lords to follow him, and together with their Knights, they were all escorted by the Enforcers to the Terminal. The Void Lords and their people barely even looked at one another, acting as though the other side did not exist. Meanwhile, Relovan was being both ignored and glared at as the Enforcers all walked together. Due to the urgency and seriousness of the current situation, things were still being relatively contained, however things were still very tense. The group reached the Terminal fairly quickly, streaming in through the doors like an army. The Chief had already alerted all the employees of the situation, which meant that there weren’t to be any unnecessary processes to waste time. Something that was mandatory however was the logging of all people visiting the First Planet, which meant that Terminal employees were standing ready with scanners and such.

“I explained this earlier Void Lords; we need to scan you and your Knights before boarding the vessels that will fly us down.”

“Just get it over with.” Vox barked.

“The Lady wishes to get some rest, so she says the sooner we get this done, the better.”

With this being said, the process began, with biometric scans being done. The Chief had also explained that any and all weapons were also to be logged, scanned and flown down in a different ship. The carrying of weapons on the First Planet by anybody other than the Police was strictly prohibited, however the Chief allowed for the weapons to be brought down to the planet in the event of a crisis. Guns, bladed weapons, shields, blunt weapons, throwing weapons and every other kind of weapon one could imagine was being pulled out of clothing, shoes, armour, and more. The Enforcers were overseeing the process along with Terminal Security, and everything was going surprisingly well. Just as things appeared as though the weapon surrender was about to be complete, a tall, rather large Knight dressed in Juxtae’s colours appeared to be kicking up a fuss. It appeared as though he was refusing to relinquish an item, and the Terminal employee and Security tied to press the issue, but all he did was get louder.

“How are these classified as weapons?!” He boomed as he became increasingly agitated. “They’re gloves, GLOVES! Just try to pry them off my hands!”

“But Sir, they augment Storm abilities – they discharge Lightning…” A rather small looking employee tried to explain.

“They protect my hands; therefore, they are classified as armour, ARMOUR!”

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps approaching from the group of Enforcers caught the attention of not only the Knight and employee, but everybody else as well. Striding forward with all the purpose and confidence in the world, Relovan walked powerfully towards the trio.

“Excuse me…” He said as he got closer. “According to line four, paragraph sixteen, Subsection A of the Arms and Armour Section of the Coalition’s Constitution, a weapon is classified as anything that can either cause or assist in causing physical and/or mental damage. Those gloves are able to create Lightning and that Lightning can directly harm somebody. According to the interpretation of this Territory’s Constitution, those gloves are considered weapons, and thus have to be handed over.”

Relovan was rattling all this off while walking towards the Knight. By the time he reached said Knight, the only sounds that could be heard were the beeping of the Terminal computers and the other ambient noises. He looked at the large Knight, who honestly seemed out of place amongst the other, small and sleight Knights.

“Hand over the gloves, please.” Relovan virtually ordered.

“Who in the name of Shaelandria do you thi—”

“The Law.” Relovan answered before the question was asked completely. “I am the Law, as are the others who wear this badge on their chests. So long as you are within the boundaries of the Coalition, you shall follow its laws. Now, hand over the gloves… please.”

The large Knight looked as though he was about to become aggressive towards Relovan, however he froze in place as he looked beyond the Human and saw his Void Lord approaching with both of her assistants. Relovan then turned and looked at the three of them approach. They actually moved right past him, and Juxtae stopped right in front of the Knight, who went from being aggressive to being timid and respectful. Before he could even say anything, she raised her right arm to his forehead and one of her assistants rolled her sleeve back to expose a thin, dainty looking hand. Timidity and respect quickly turned to fear, and before anybody could say anything, Juxtae’s forefinger was pushed into the Knight’s forehead. It seemed to phase through the mask and the moment it did, screams rung out in the terminal as streaks of lighting danced around his entire body, before the Knight slumped to his knees. The finger was removed from his forehead, and the woman lowered her arm once more. Her sleeve was returned to its normal state, and the floating woman looked at Relovan.

“The Lady offers her apologies for the actions of her subordinate.” The other assistant said. “She says he will also apologise and hand over his gloves after he has recovered from the punishment.”

Relovan looked at Void Lord Juxtae and nodded, before speaking.

“Thank you, Void Lord. Please understand that you are all subject to such laws and regulations because of your strength, not in spite of it. If you follow them, we will all emerge from this unscathed, and you will all be able to continue with your respective journeys. However, if you contravene them, we will enforce them.”

Relovan said the last line as he looked around at all of the Personal Knights, from both camps with the sort of look in his eye and tone in his voice that screamed of his words being a threat. There was a moment of stunned silence once more, and everybody was taken aback by the sheer arrogance of this Human. He then nodded at the Void Lord once more and walked back to the other Enforcers. The Chief looked at him with a rather large smile on his face, and once tall the weapons had been handed over, he looked at the Void Lords and nodded.

“Well, we don’t have to stick around for the process of sorting, boxing and loading the weapons. If you two don’t object, we can board the vessel now and make our way down.”

The two Void Lords nodded their consent and the Chief reciprocated. They all moved from where they were to the boarding gates to the ship. It was a rather standard Void Ship; however, it was completely mechanical and able to traverse through the Void as well as double up as an aircraft. They were using one large vessel, and despite a few grumbles about the order of things, everybody managed to board without much incident. The Personal Knights all sat on opposing sides, as did the Void Lords. The Enforcers were seated behind them all, and after being cleared for takeoff, the vessel did just that and flew down to the First Planet. The flight was uneventful as well as quiet, and they landed not more than ten minutes after they left the Terminal. Relovan, who had been seated towards the back by himself, just watched as everybody shuffled their way off the ship and onto the landing bay. Once they had all assembled outside the vessel, the Chief’s thunderous voice reverberated throughout the bay.

“Without wasting any time, the names I call out will be placed in command of makeshift squads just in case. Bibin, Bap, Kim…”

The Adonian Chief rattled off the names of eight Enforcers, none of whom were Relovan, which made more than a few of them snigger and smirk in satisfaction. For his part, Relovan looked as though it didn’t matter to him in the slightest. By the time the impromptu squads had been decided upon, the Chief announced that they would all be headed towards the best hotel on the First Planet. It was clear he hoped top class facilities would keep the two sides pacified long enough for their Walkers to be completely refueled. Once the announcement was made, everybody got into position behind the Chief and the Void Lords. Before they had even set off though, Ura – one of the temporary commanders – looked squarely at Relovan and grinned.

“So Relovan, we need somebody to wait here for the arrival of Freighter 271-C which is carrying all the weapons. In fact, we also need somebody to stand guard over them once they arrive, just so nothing happens to them. Seeing as you are so dedicated to watching over the law, you can do the same for the weapons.”

There was a brief round of laughter that came not only from his squad, but from other Enforcers as well.

“That won’t be a problem, will it Relovan?” Ura asked.

“Not at all.” Relovan said with a slight shake of the head. “Duty is duty.”

A few comments about him putting on an act made the rounds amongst his peers, however the sound of the Chief scoffing and turning around was more than enough of a sign for them to start paying attention. He and the Void Lords all walked off and moments later, everybody else did too – well, except for Relovan. He stood with his arms tucked by his side and beneath his cape. Unlike the flagship aircraft that transported them all down to the First Planet, the freighter that was transporting the weapons was decidedly heavy, old and slow. The Human Enforcer watched everybody disappear, and then proceeded to stand like a statue as he waited. The silence and the wait seemed to drag on forever although Relovan didn’t appear to be bothered by this. From where he was standing, he was able to look at the city below the terminal in great detail. The landing bay was a vantage point of sorts, and the modern architecture, clean streets and flora and fauna were visible. It was plain to see that this planet was where the rich lived – those who owned the companies that mined Essence from the planet the Station was built on, as well as those that processed the Essence into the various types that were used. Flying vehicles were non-existent on the other Blargon Planets, however on the First Planet, there were actually a few. Relovan wasn’t sure just how much had passed when he felt something in the air change – as if the temperature suddenly spiked. His eyes suddenly started scanning the planet below, as if searching for something in particular. It didn’t take long for the search to yield results as a massive explosion promptly erupted from the tallest and fanciest building on the planet. A massive dome of clashing Essence grew larger with each passing second and before long, gusts of severe winds reached Relovan and actually caused his cape to move about violently behind him and forced him to shield his eyes. The winds were accompanied by a mild tremor, and Relovan couldn’t believe just how strong the winds were, especially considering how high up he was above the city below. As the winds subsided for just a few moments, Relovan watched as the dome grew ever larger, as blue Essence clashed with red; which was all he needed to see to grasp the current situation. A wave of emotion flashed across his face, from surprise, to dawning realisation, to calm. The moment he calmed down, Relovan turned around and sprinted towards the Terminal interior. His gait was powerful and almost metronomic in nature, and as he ran, more and more of the Essence domes appeared below, only they were much smaller than the first one. Relovan burst into the Terminal and kept running until he reached the desk of one of the on-duty clerks.

“Give me a Communicator – now.” Relovan demanded.

The clerk, who along with his peers had been wondering what was going on and panicking just a tad. Before Relovan even received the Communicator, he was mobbed by people who were dressed similarly to those from the Terminal at the Station.

“What’s going on, Enforcer?” One woman asked.

“Do you know what that the cause of the quake was?”

Relovan was being bombarded with a multitude of questions, all at once. Security Officers also appeared from out of nowhere and joined the growing mob, and Relovan looked around in a combination of confusion and annoyance. As the questions continued to be lobbed at Relovan, yet another tremor hit and this one was more powerful than the previous one. A few people screamed, and almost all of them searched for something to hold on to. Relovan managed to maintain his balance, and once the tremor passed, he looked at the clerk once more, only with a severe expression on his face.

“Communicator. NOW.”

This time, no questions were asked and a receiver was passed on to him.

“Freighter 271-C, this is Police Enforcer Relovan, can you hear me?” Relovan said as he spoke into the receiver.

There was no response, which prompted Relovan to repeat himself over the Communicator. After the third attempt, a somewhat broken sounding response came through.

“This is 271-C. Is everything okay, Enforcer.”

“Absolutely not. I am currently at the First Planet – do not come here. Go down and land on the Last Planet. I repeat, do not come to the First Planet. Go to the Last Planet instead.”

“Can I ask why? We were told that—”

“I said go to the Last Planet!” Relovan snapped. “The Void Lords and their respective camps are more than likely fighting one another. They are currently unarmed which means the Enforcers down on the ground with them might have a better chance at containing the situation. But if you arrive with their weapons, the Knights will have no issues with overpowering us. The more favourable conditions are for us, the higher our chances of containing this without innocents being killed at the very least.”

“U-Understood, Enforcer; we will reroute our course for the Last Planet.”

“Good man.” Relovan said before handing the receiver back to the clerk.

“Enforcer… are the Void Lords really fighting down there?”

“I can’t think of any other explanation for those domes and the tremors.”

There was a moment of silence as everybody processed what Relovan had said, and they all looked at him as he appeared to be in deep thought. That didn’t last long however, as he suddenly looked around at all of the people around him and spoke.

“You all need to shut down this Terminal for the time being.” Relovan said as he looked towards the Landing Bay. “Nobody is to land or depart until the situation is resolved.”

“You mean to say that we can’t evacuate this fuckin planet?!” A clerk bellowed.

“That is exactly what I’m saying.” Relovan snapped back as he glared at the clerk that spoke. “We currently have forty super powered Essence wielding Knights engaged in a physical altercation, not to mention their respective Void Lords! There could be hundreds more back on their Void Walkers, and if they catch wind of what is happening, they might want to come down here – in their numbers – and provide assistance. They will have weapons on board, and it doesn’t matter how many of us try to stop them, they have the ability to wipe us all out. So, nobody comes in or out until things calm down, understood?”

“…understood.” The clerk responded.

“What are you going to do, Enforcer?” Another clerk asked.

“I’m going to go down there and bring the fighting to an end before it all gets worse.”