My Legions of Terror will have helmets with clear plexiglass visors, not face-concealing ones.  – Peter’s Evil Overlord List

“Who do you think you are, dragging us here in the middle of the night?” asked the middle-aged man.  “I’ll have you know that I am the governor of the planet Bella.  I demand that you return us at once!”

The planetary governor, his wife, and teenage son stood on the flag bridge wearing their sleepwear. Restraining power cuffs were on their wrists and ankles.  Four guards wearing body armor and clear plasteel helmets stood behind them.  On a large throne-like chair sat a figure wearing black full body armor.

The large figure laughed.  “You are in no position make any demands,” it said in a deep male voice.  “Effective immediately, I, Overlord Ufar, am the ruler of this planet.  You are nothing more than a loose end I shall now take care of.”

The overlord stood up, his height a full three meters.  The governor, tall for a human at two meters, looked up in fear as the armored figure walked closer.  When the overlord was about a meter away from the governor, he reached out with his right hand, grabbed the governor by the throat, and lifted him half a meter off the ground.

“N-no!  P-please!  Ack!” the governor choked out.  Suddenly there crunching sound as the overlord crushed the governor’s throat.  The governor’s body twitched a couple times and was still.  Seeing her husband dead, the governor's wife started screaming.

The governor's son charged at the black figure, only to receive a full force plasteel backhand on the chin.  His dead and twitching body sailed over the railing that surrounded the platform they were on and slammed into the bulkhead ten meters away.  It slid to the main deck eight meters below.  The woman dropped to her knees as she stared at her son’s body in shock.

Dropping the governor’s body, the overlord turned and stepped toward the governor's wife.  As he did, a sword swung out from his arm and fitted into his hand.  The governor's wife turned and looked up at the overlord in time for the sword to slice through her neck, removing her head.

As the overlord surveyed his work, an aid walked up with a cloth and handed it to the overlord.  Taking the cloth, he cleaned the blade before returning it to its hiding place in his right arm.  Ufar handed the bloody cloth back to the aid and said, “Have someone clean up and dispose of this mess.”  He turned to the guards.  “You are dismissed.”

Saluting first, the guards marched out of the flag bridge.  As they left, Overlord Ufar walked to the railing that encircled his command bridge and looked down into the main and flag bridges.  The flag bridge was a platform halfway between the Overlord’s platform and the main bridge.

“Admiral Selwyn, eliminate the planetary military and secure the system.  I shall retire to my quarters,” the overlord told the Admiral on the next deck below.

“Yes, my lord!” the admiral replied.  As the admiral turned to give orders to the captains of the fleet, Overlord Ufar turned and left the command platform and headed for his stateroom.

* * *

Cornell “Herb” Hubbard, Captain of the Free Trader The Ancient Endeavor, had ordered the engines cut as soon as he had seen the unidentified armada appear.  Now his ship was silently coasting through space towards the hyper boundary.  He had known immediately that it wasn’t normal for such a large number of warships to be hypering into this remote system.  That meant they weren't likely to be Terran Interstellar Navy vessels.

For the next three hours, the starship captain watched the gravitics monitor, waiting for signs of pursuit. So far, it appeared that the attackers had not noticed his small ship. Each minute they didn’t put him closer to safety and freedom.  Finally, the small free trader crossed the hyper limit. Seeing his captain's nod, the pilot activated the hyperdrive. With a slight shudder, the starship ceased to exist in normal space.

On the armada's flagship, equipment detected the disturbance caused by the free trader's shift to hyperspace. The technician monitoring the equipment reported the incident to his supervisor, who in turn reported it to the fleet high command. The incident was logged but otherwise disregarded, as there was no way to send pursuit with so little data. The fleet commanders were confident any 'visitors' could be handled with ease.