I'm not a fan of the whole monolithic evil thing, really... it strikes me as unrealistic.
However, there are a lot of examples of such unrealistic political evil in fiction, so that's okay, I guess, with the Phantoms.
Here's the rub:
Bad guys are bad. Phantoms die a lot too. You don't see them whinging with references to Descartes, Marx, Plato or Jose Cuervo Especial when they lose.
You could have avoided it by being in a different system. Or begging, maybe. If you didn't beg, it's the crew's fault. If it's ooRP for you to beg, it's ooRP for Phantoms to be anything but evil.