Earthman Jack vs. The Ghost Planet (39 page)

Shepherd turned toward his new opponents, landing three
vicious blows on each one in turn.  These Deathlords did not disappear in a
black cloud.  Instead, his batons cut through them, rippling blue energy
coursing through their bodies, causing them to burn up, their remains
fluttering away like embers from a flame.

The other Dark Soldiers unleashed a volley of plasma blasts,
which were easily absorbed by the Paragon’s armor.  Shepherd pointed his batons
toward the firing squad of Deathlords and funneled a large amount of energy
into his weapons, releasing a blast of brilliant blue light.  It tore through
the Dark Soldiers, melting them away with the speed and fury of a thermal explosion.

Shepherd spun back toward Zarrod, who had taken his brief
respite to charge up another death energy assault, the small ghostly ball
swirling between his fists.  He had not had enough time to fully charge it
before Shepherd advanced, and when he unleashed the attack, it screamed out
toward the Paragon.

Shepherd crossed his batons in front of him and caught the
blast with them, funneling as much energy as he could into his weapons.  They
glowed bright blue and hummed with power as the Deathlord’s energy screamed and
groaned against it.

Zarrod and Shepherd were mere feet away from each other. 
The howl of the death energy filled the corridor, and the flickering blue light
from Shepherd’s batons cast its hue all around them.

Shepherd took a step forward, his armor groaning against the
force of Zarrod’s attack, but the energy from his batons was absorbing it,
cancelling it out.  He moved ever closer toward the Deathlord Supreme, to
within striking distance, in order to get close enough to deliver one killing
blow.

Zarrod did not retreat from the oncoming Paragon.  He
continued to funnel as much energy as he could into his assault, hoping to
break through.  Finally, when they were merely a foot from each other, Shepherd
struck.  He twisted away, raising one of his batons and swinging it for Zarrod’s
head.

The Deathlord broke off his energy blast and ducked. 
Another quick blow lashed out from Shepherd, scraping off the Deathlord’s
gauntlet as Zarrod deflected it with a grunt.

The Deathlord leapt backward, trying to put some distance
between him and his attacker, but Shepherd pressed forward, moving quickly to
strike his foe, not wanting to give the creature time to recover.

Zarrod ducked and dodged the Paragon’s assault, his dark
cape flowing around him as he moved, concealing the ever growing tendrils of
ghostly energy that were quickly accumulating around the Deathlord’s hands.

Then, Shepherd swung one of his batons in a wide arc aimed
directly at Zarrod’s head.  Within inches of striking, the Deathlord’s hand
shot up, armored in a ghostly white gauntlet that caught the baton before it
could land.  As the energy from the contact sparked and moaned, Zarrod’s other
hand lashed out, a pale white blade created by the same death energy extending
from his arm, impaling Shepherd’s forearm, passing through his armor as though it
were not even there.

Shepherd cried out in pain, dropping his baton as the death energy
blade faded from use, leaving Shepherd’s armor unmarred, as though it had never
been struck.  Zarrod tossed the Paragon’s confiscated baton aside and blasted
the remainder of his ghost gauntlet at Shepherd’s other hand, knocking his
second baton away.

With frightening speed, Zarrod swung out his clawed hand.
The sharp edges of his taloned fingers sliced through Shepherd’s helmet as
though it were made of paper, leaving deep, scarred gashes emblazoned upon the
once smooth surface. Electricity vomited forth from the Paragon’s helm like
blood from a wound.

Shepherd cried out as Zarrod swung again, closed fisted this
time, catching the Paragon squarely in the face.  His head snapped back from
the impact of the Deathlord’s blow; his helmet shattered into pieces, exposing
Shepherd’s pained face through the electric glitter of hundreds of shards, as
what was left of his faceguard disintegrated.

Shepherd fell back, hitting the ground hard.  Even as he
tried to regain his senses, the world around him spinning and blurry, the
Deathlord was upon him.

Zarrod hurled a small ball of ghostly energy at him, hitting
him directly in the chest.  Shepherd screamed as the death energy writhed
around his body like hungry leeches looking for blood.

As soon as that death energy dissipated, Zarrod took another
step toward the fallen Paragon and unleashed another ball, which quickly
wrapped itself around Shepherd yet again.  Shepherd’s face turned red and puffy
and his eyes bulged.  He gritted his teeth, screaming through them in agony as
the white tendrils of the Deathlord’s attack snaked through him.

Finally, Zarrod straddled the Paragon, his heavy knees
pinning Shepherd’s arms to the ground, and a clawed hand wrapped around the Paragon’s
throat.  The Deathlord’s eyes blazed hot and red as Shepherd met his stare,
defiant to the last.

So this is how it ends
, thought Shepherd. 
Anna,
forgive me…

“And now,” mused Zarrod, his deep voice thick with a mixture
of triumph and malice, “you’re mine.”

He reached up with his free hand, holding it over the Paragon’s
chest.  Shepherd cried out as invisible hooks shot through him, digging into
the very essence of his being.

Shepherd could feel the Deathlord tug on the hooks, pulling
at him.  Pain coursed through his body; he felt as though his skin were being
ripped off his very muscles.  His vision blurred and his thoughts swirled
chaotically.  His mind felt like it were lost, floating in mid air, struggling
to get back into his head where it belonged.

Shepherd could feel that part of him was outside his body. 
His vision constantly shifted from his normal eyesight to a disembodied blur of
his surroundings.  The sound of the Deathlord laughing faded in and out of his
ears, going from a dull echo to painfully sharp as he lingered between life and
death.

But somewhere, within the chaos of the moment, Shepherd’s
mind recovered just long enough to allow his training to kick in.  Freeing
one’s mind meant knowing how to control it, and in that instant of lucidness, Paragon
Shepherd
refused
to die.

His consciousness steadied itself and Shepherd could feel
himself in two places at once.  He was within his body, helplessly pinned down
by the Deathlord Supreme, looking up at a swirling white figure protruding from
his body, being pulled by the clawed hand of Zarrod.  But he was also floating
right above himself, aware of all his surroundings.  He could feel the
Deathlord’s invisible hooks lodged within him, violently tugging against him,
wanting to rip him free of his material form.

Immediately, Zarrod’s laughter stopped.  The Deathlord’s
eyes widened with surprise as Shepherd struggled against his grasp, desperately
trying to pull his spirit back within him.

Zarrod pulled harder, tugging at the Paragon’s soul with
violent ferocity.  Shepherd grunted, pain causing the edges of his vision to
turn red and black, but he stayed focused, refusing to let go, refusing to
allow his essence to be stolen from him.

“Relent!” barked Zarrod.  “Yield!”

“Never…” croaked Shepherd through gritted teeth.

“You will not defy me!” growled Zarrod.

“I will…”

“You will not escape me!” raged the Deathlord.

Zarrod put all his effort into his pull on Shepherd’s soul. 
The Paragon cried out in pain but refused to let go.  Even the ghostly image of
Shepherd gazed at Zarrod defiantly.  The two stayed locked in a tug of war over
Shepherd’s very existence, neither of them relenting…

Then, in a flash of purple light, Shepherd vanished. 

His ghostly image Zarrod had been pulling on remained
briefly, lingering like a puff of smoke from a dying flame.  Zarrod’s pull on
it had disappeared, and for the shortest of moments, it looked at the
Deathlord, its eyes content, a small smile on its lips.

And then, it was gone.

Zarrod grasped the empty air, having lost his grip on the Paragon’s
soul.  Rage bellowed up inside him, coursing through his body like hot lava
from an erupting volcano.  He knew he had defeated Shepherd, but somehow, some
way, he felt as if the Paragon had won. 

With that, the Deathlord screamed in fury.

In a flash of purple, the Paragon
appeared on the smooth metal of the Deathlord’s teleportation platform,
writhing and screaming in pain.

“Shepherd!” cried Anna, rushing to
his side.  “Great Observer, what’s wrong with him?”

Jack rushed over to Shepherd as well and tried to calm him. 
The Paragon’s face was blood red, his mouth strained in a painful scowl, his
arms and legs flailing about like a drowning man.  Jack tried to restrain him,
putting his weight on one of Shepherd’s arms, afraid the man might hurt
himself.

“Grohm!”  Jack yelled.  “Help me hold him down!”

As the Rognok lumbered toward the platform, Scallywag glared
at Heckubus.  “What the blazes did you do?” he grumbled.

“Sure, blame me,” muttered the robot in response.  “It’s not
like he was fighting a Deathlord Supreme commander or anything.”

Grohm’s massive hands grabbed Shepherd and pinned him down
to keep him from moving as Professor Green rushed to his side.

“What’s wrong with him?” asked Anna, concern heavy on her
face.  “What did they do?”

“I’m unsure, Your Majesty,” replied Green, studying the Paragon’s
pained face.  “We need to get him to a medical station immediately.”

Shepherd screamed again, loud and woeful.  Jack took a step
back, worried – a sinking feeling gripping his stomach.  Shepherd was the most
incredible warrior he’d ever seen.  If the Deathlords could do this to him…
what kind of a chance did they really stand?

“Find one,” insisted Anna.  “Help him!”

“I’m not even sure we can while on this ship,” frowned
Green.

“Your Majesty,” interjected Ganix.  “We don’t have time to
deal with Paragon Shepherd’s condition now.  We must get to Jack’s vessel.”

“I will not let him die!” snapped Anna, her blue eyes gazing
sharply at Ganix.

“No, you’d just let all of us die instead, eh?” said
Scallywag.

“Hold your tongue, pirate,” growled Ganix.  “Mind who you’re
talking to.”

“Oy, someone’s gotta make the girl see sense,” responded
Scallywag.  “We’re gonna have a whole blasted platoon of Dark Soldiers on us
any minute.  We need to find the Earthman’s ship and get out o’ here while we
can.”

Ganix stepped up to Scallywag and locked eyes with him. 
“This is the Princess of the Regalus Empire,” he said sternly.  “We will do as
she commands.”

“We don’t have time for this, and you know it,” Scallywag
shot back quietly.

“Hey, guys,” said Jack.  Ganix and Scallywag both turned to
look at him.  “Give it a second, okay?” he said as he moved beside Anna.

Anna was kneeling beside Shepherd as Grohm still held him
steady.  Jack put his hand on her shoulder.

“Anna,” said Jack.  “He’s strong.  He’ll survive.  We just
need to get him to the ship.”

Anna nodded her head.  Tears were streaking down her cheeks
as she looked down at her helpless protector.  “I can’t lose him,” she whispered.

“You won’t,” said Jack.  “We don’t have a lot of time, but…
if you need to say something to him, say it now.”

Anna looked at Jack, her eyes wide and helpless.  Jack
nodded, as if giving her permission that just this once, it was okay to simply
be a girl, and not a Princess.

Anna turned to Shepherd, grabbing his pained face gently
with her hands to hold it steady.  “Shepherd?  Shepherd, look at me…”

Shepherd was floating in and out of consciousness, his teeth
gritted, his eyes flirting with rolling toward the back of his head.  But
despite all the agony he was experiencing, he was still able to follow orders. 
His eyes focused on Anna’s teary ones, and for a brief moment, he’d returned.

“When we were on Earth,” she said, “you were playing my
dad.  But the truth is… I never saw it as a role.  I may not really be your
daughter, but you, more than anyone, have been my father…”

Shepherd blinked at her, a small tear welling up in the
corner of his eye.

“Please,” Anna whispered, choking back her own tears as best
she could.  “I need you.  I love you.  Don’t leave me.”

Silence hung in the room as the group watched.  Shepherd sat
upright, his face beet-red and puffy, as though that simple act was almost
enough to cause his head to explode in pain.  He reached out, his gauntleted
hand latching onto Ganix’s arm.

The Major looked into the Paragon’s eyes as the man gave his
final order.

“Get her to the ship,” choked Shepherd.  “No matter what.”

And with that, Shepherd’s eyes closed, and he collapsed back
onto the floor.

“NO!”  Anna shrieked, hovering over him. 

Green immediately checked for a pulse.

“Is he… is he—” Anna couldn’t bring herself to ask the
question.

“No,” Green said.  “He’s just passed out.”

“What’s happened to him?” lamented Anna.

“I’ll tell you what’s gonna happen to all of us if we don’t
get a move on—” said Scallywag just as a sudden banging sound on the entrance
to the teleportation room alerted the group to trouble.

“Never mind,” sneered the pirate.  “You’ll find out for yerself
in a moment.”

“Not to worry,” said Heckubus proudly.  “I anticipated such
an occurrence and took the liberty of sealing the doors with one of my diabolical
triple-helix encryption protocols, effectively blocking all outside control
panel access.  No one is getting that door open, and we will have plenty of
time to teleport to the Earthman’s ship at our leisure.”

As if on cue, sparks began flying off the outline of the
door as light-saws rammed through the metal, cutting the door down as they
traced around its edges.

“Okay,” said the robot, regarding the light-saws.  “Now you
may worry.”

Ganix swore under his breath. “Professor,” he said.  “Do you
know where Jack’s ship is located?”

Green looked up at the Major and blinked.  “Why, yes. 
Midship… Grid C, bay 9.”

“Robot,” barked Ganix.  “Midship, Grid C, Bay 9.  Get us
there, now!”

“I do have a name you know,” muttered Heckubus.

“Just do it!” said Ganix before turning to his men.  “Take
up positions.  Prepare to blast anything that comes through that door.”

The remaining soldiers spread out, doing their best with
what little cover the room provided, their rifles trained on the entrance as
the Deathlord light-saws continued to cut through it.

Heckubus began inputting the data into the transporter
terminal when Scallywag spoke up.  “Has it occurred to anyone that if the
Deathlords know that’s where our ship is, they’ll have half their troops already
there waiting?  If we just teleport in, they’re gonna rip us to shreds!”

“The pirate’s synapses are actually firing, for once…” said
Heckubus.  “Sensors show a large number of Deathlords in that hangar.”

“Well, we can’t stay here!” said Jack, as the light-saws continued
to cut through the door.

“We’ll have to find somewhere else to transport to,” said Ganix.

“Like where?” snapped Scallywag.  “That doesn’t change the
fact that we’d still be on this bloody ship and a couple hundred Deathlords
will still be lollygagging all around our only way out!”

“At least we’d be out of immediate danger,” argued Ganix.

“As long as we’re on this blasted ship, we’re in immediate
danger,” retorted Scallywag.  “We’d be better off floating around in bloody
space!”

“That’s it!” said Jack, an idea suddenly hitting him.

“What’s it?” asked Scallywag.  “What’d I say?”

“Space!” said Jack.  “Teleport the Deathlords out of the
hangar and into space!  Clear the whole freakin’ thing out!”

Everyone suddenly perked up at the idea.

“Teleport the buggers into space?  That’s cold, lad,” said Scallywag. 
“I like it!”

“Yes, yes, that’s a brilliant idea Earthman,” said Heckubus,
typing furiously on the control panel.  “Just like it was approximately 47
seconds ago when I had it first.”

With the click of one more button, a loud
ZAP
was
heard outside the room’s door, accompanied by a large flash of purple light that
bled through the open scars cut in the door’s frame.  The sawing had stopped
and the entrance loomed there, a gaping, open wound scarring almost completely
around its edges.

“Mwuahaha,” laughed Heckubus.

Jack let out a
WHOOP
as the others breathed a sigh of
relief.  Scallywag even went so far as to pat the robot on the back.

“Good job, rust-bucket,” said Scallywag.  “I was actually
worried there for a second.  Worried I’d have to kill all those buggers meself,
that is.”

“You may yet get your chance,” said Heckubus. 
“Re-enforcements are on their way, and once I start with the teleportation
protocol, I will need a full five minutes to completely clear the shuttle bay. 
I’m afraid I won’t be able to stop the sequence once it’s been activated.”

“Can we get rid of the re-enforcements first?” asked Jack.

“Not while they’re moving,” replied Heckubus.  “The
teleporter requires stationary targets to lock onto.”

“With the shape that door’s in,” chimed in Ganix, “they’re
liable to barrel right through it, so we won’t have a chance to lock onto them
like we did the others.”

“Then we’ll have to take our chances with the shuttle bay,”
said Jack. 

Ganix nodded.  “Do it.”

Heckubus began inputting the appropriate information into
the control panel.

“Yes, that’s all well and good,” said Scallywag, “But what
do we do when those re-enforcements show up and we’re still not done clearing
the way?”

Jack regarded the weakened metal door for a moment, before
inspiration struck.  He turned to Grohm, who was towering nearby.

“Yo, big guy,” said Jack.

Grohm snorted in acknowledgement.

“Do you know how to dropkick stuff?” Jack asked.

The final image of the Paragon’s smiling, ghostly form still
raked at Zarrod’s mind as he ran through the corridors of his ship, his armored
feet thumping heavily as he moved. 

I had you
, the Deathlord thought. 
I had you, and
yet you somehow escaped me…

Rage bubbled inside him as the communication relay in his
helm beeped, alerting him to a message from the bridge.  Zarrod activated it,
not bothering to slow down.

“Report!” bellowed the Deathlord Supreme.

“Supreme,” came Abraxas’s voice.  “We have the infidels
cornered in one of our teleportation bays.  However, it appears they are
teleporting our guards off the ship to clear a way for their escape.”

“How are they able to use our technology?” demanded Zarrod.

“Unknown, Supreme,” replied Abraxas.  “The Acolytes are
trying to figure out how they’ve been able to lock us out of all our
teleportation systems.  It appears their knowledge of our ship’s computers is
more extensive than we had feared.  We’ve been unable to regain full control of
our systems.”

“If they teleport to their ship, they will be able to
escape!” growled Zarrod.  “That must not happen!”

“We have a squad outside their location now, Supreme,” said
Abraxas.  “We will try to intercept them before they teleport away.”

“Not good enough!” barked Zarrod.  “Have the Acolytes lock
down all computer systems.  Disable all energy readings.  Keep them from using
that teleportation station.  And send troops to the hangar bay containing their
ship!  Have them meet me there!”

“How many shall I send, my Lord?” Abraxas asked.

“ALL OF THEM!” raged the Deathlord Supreme.

With that, Zarrod cut off his communication and drew upon
his death energy.  It coursed through the very fibers of his body, causing his
dark skin to glow with sickly white power.  His cape ruffled and fanned out as
the energy screamed forth, carrying Zarrod down the corridors of his ship at super-fast
speed.

You will not escape me
, thought Zarrod. 
I will
have you.  I will have all of you…