The epic sequel to "The Astronites"! A year after defeating the manic Zsar Endgon in his latest march on the UEF, Natalie Hope and the Astronites are called back to the Astronic universe for a second mission. A mysterious message is emanating out of...
As a longtime member of Phantom Squad, Ranger was trained to see with more than his eyes and feel with more than his hands. It made no difference to him when the Mandata blindfolded him. His feet did the looking, and his ears did the searching. He could feel by the gravity on his feet that he was brought onto a large warship, most likely the Crusader, if his captor's words were to be trusted. Based on the echoes of his footsteps, his ears gathered that the Mandata had taken him into the heart of the beast. Ranger kept this in mind when he entered his prison cell.
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The Mandata relieved him of his blindfold and everything else that wasn't biologically attached to his skin, except for his underwear. He was then shackled and stretched out onto a freezing cold table underneath blinding white lights. His arms and legs were spread out in opposite directions, but as painful as this position was, it afforded him more opportunities to sense the Crusader'severy nudge, creak, and squeak. The air was like a hushed symphony for him to interpret. Its miniscule whispers and changing drafts were different notes, and thanks to his Phantom experience, Ranger knew what the music meant:
The Crusader was flying fast, but not at starspeed. The cannons and batteries were being fired at an enemy that wasn't firing back. The warship was taking no damage, and its flight pattern wasn't changing.
Ranger wondered what kind of fight the warship was engaged in and with what kind of enemy that wouldn't defend itself.
After several hours of contemplation, his cell door opened. The same tall, armored Mandata man who captured Ranger entered and bowed his head to avoid scraping the concrete ceiling. Ranger made up his mind that this mysterious individual was none other than the Knight. He had the same height as the Xemplar, but his body was far too bulky and chunky to be Endgon, and in place of a red eye, a razor-thin bloody line glowed across his helmet like an ominous dawn in the night. He spoke little but did much when ordered to. He was the embodiment of a perfect soldier.
He would've made a good Phantom, Ranger considered.
The Knight tugged a chain of twenty petrified UEF soldiers into the cell. They too had been blindfolded and shackled like Ranger, but they weren't relieved of their uniforms. Rags had been stuffed into their mouths to prevent them from screaming. The Knight lined them up against the far wall and crammed them shoulder-to-shoulder.
"No talking," he monotonously ordered them.
Ranger distracted himself from the UEF soldiers by gazing upon the second visitor. Her distinguished Mandata armor twinkled under the bright lights. Before a proper introduction was made, Xorina went straight to Ranger and jammed her fingers into his neck.
"Normal heartbeat," she said. "You aren't afraid?"
She stepped back and slowly paced around Ranger, observing him like he was a museum artifact. His many scars, intrusions, dents, disfigurations, and tattoos intrigued her.
