Earthman Jack vs. The Ghost Planet (45 page)

Abraxas and the other Deathlords on the bridge stomped their
feet – a sign of excitement over the Supreme’s words, which every Deathlord on
the other ships would surely be doing as well.

“This is but the first step in the grand plan laid out by
our masters,” Zarrod continued.  “Even now, Supreme Verrutus, Supreme Melegogg,
and Supreme Ashtoroth work tirelessly to bring the other aspects of our Lords’ commands
to fruition.  And once they do, we will sweep across every corner of the
universe, wiping out everything that stands in our way!”

More stomping.  Abraxas gazed at Zarrod, his chest swelling
with the type of excitement he felt before charging into battle.

“We are Deathlords,” said Zarrod, “granted ultimate power
and control over the end of all things.  That is the gift our creators gave to
us.  No fear.  No uncertainty.  Only order and mastery over that which all life
cowers before and can never hope to understand.  It is our charge to clear the
way for our Lords’ return by doing what we were created to do – spread death. 
Extinguish all life in the universe.  Cleanse all abominations and aberrations
that have spawned, and return purity to the Void!”

The stomping on the bridge increased, the rhythmic
thump-thump-thump
echoing off the walls.  Zarrod’s words washed over them like pure ecstasy, and
Abraxas could feel the very core of his body blaze with the fire of the moment.

“Now is that moment – the moment that heralds the end of all
things.  The return of our Lords is at hand, and you shall all reap the rewards
they will bestow upon you when they are resurrected.  I hereby command all ships
of the fleet to fire their primary weapons on the planet, and then to bear
witness as I, Deathlord Supreme Zarrod, prove once and for all that the Ancient
Heretics, with all their technology, are no match for the power and might of
the
Deathlords!
”

An ecstatic scream erupted from Abraxas as he raised his
fist into the air.  All other Deathlords on the bridge erupted as well,
celebrating their moment of victory.  They had done all that was asked of them,
and now, nothing could stop them.

On the viewscreen, the Planetkiller fleet fired their
primary weapons one by one.  Strong beams of swirling, ghostly light shot forth
toward the planet.  Each beam struck the shield surrounding the planet and
spread across its surface until it met with the discharge of a beam from a
sister ship, eventually enveloping the shield entirely with the chaotic death energy
stored at the core temple of each vessel.

Abraxas glanced at the Regal girl and her alien companion and
rejoiced as they stared at the viewscreen in abject fear of what they were
witnessing.

Zarrod gazed at the scene that played out before him.  As
soon as the planet’s shield was completely enveloped, he closed his eyes and
reached out both his hands.  The air around him seemed to shimmer and swirl.  His
long cape fluttered as the Deathlord Supreme took on a sickly white aura that
seemed to emanate from his brilliant armor.

A small portion of the planetary shield began to twist and
ripple as the death energy on top of it attacked, stabbing into it, bubbling on
its surface, trying to force its way through.

The air in the bridge began to turn electric as lights dimmed
on-and-off and an incessant howling sound whistled through the room.  The
Deathlord Supreme stood resolute, unmoving, as he concentrated all his energy
on the planet before him.  His armor started to shimmer and glow even brighter
as his skin deepened into the purest black imaginable.

Slowly, the death energy began to open a breech in the
planetary shield as the fleet continued to fire.  More and more of the energy
worked its way into the opening, and with Zarrod’s urging, forced a bigger and
bigger breach – until it was large enough to fly a Planetkiller through.

“Forward,” ordered Abraxas.  “Fly us into the breech!”

The Acolytes hopped to as the ship started its approach
toward the planet.  Abraxas gazed at the viewscreen.  The planet looked
different once it was unobstructed by the shield.  Its surface was still, dry,
and desolate, and pocked all over by massive craters.  It was nothing like the
haunting surface he’d come to know – yet another trick of the Ancient Heretics,
no doubt.

Abraxas looked at Zarrod, who stood mightily on the
holo-transmission platform, opening the impassible shield through the sheer
force of his will.  It was a feat unheard of by any within the Deathlords, and
yet, here he was, revealing just how powerful a Deathlord could be.

“Shields up,” commanded Abraxas as the ship neared the
breech.  “Full power.  Prepare to brace them against the opening.”

The Acolytes funneled the mothership’s shields into the
opening, using the power of the ship to take some of the strain off Zarrod and to
keep the breech from fluctuating enough to damage their vessel.  Abraxas kept a
close eye on his console monitors as the ship passed through the Ghost Planet’s
shield.  He watched the death energy strain and rage against the shield that fought
with all its might to close the hole in its surface.

When the ship was clear, Abraxas ordered the shields
lowered.  Zarrod released his grip on the death energy and the rearview screen
on Abraxas’s monitor showed the planetary shield slam shut once more.

Zarrod fell to one knee as everything around him returned to
normal.  Abraxas gazed at the Deathlord Supreme, pride welling within him.  It
was obvious the effort had taken a great deal out of his leader, but as Abraxas
looked past him and saw on the viewscreen overhead the encroaching terrain of
the Ghost Planet coming up to meet them, he couldn’t help but remember the pure
power he had just witnessed.  And at that moment, he finally understood what
the Supreme had been trying to tell him.

It was, indeed, beautiful.

Meanwhile, Jack and the others were
barreling through hyperspace on the Earthship.  After reviewing the ship’s logs
and accessing everything about the Planetkiller fleet and the Ghost Planet
itself acquired from the ship’s interface with the Deathlord mothership,
Heckubus Moriarty had come up with an adequately evil enough strategy to rescue
the Princess. His idea, while risky, has since been widely regarded by many
military historians across the galaxy to be, all things considered, a rather
good plan.

“I’d just like ta go on record and say this is the worst
plan ever,” grumbled Scallywag.

“Noted,” replied Jack.

“Worst.  Plan.  Ever.”

“Pah,” muttered Heckubus.  “I’ve had far worse plans…”

“I bet you have,” replied the pirate.

“Not many, though…” whispered Heckubus.

“Wait, what?”

“Huh?” replied the robot.  “I didn’t say anything.”

“Shut up, all of you,” said Jack.  “The plan’s great.  It’s
totally going to work.”

“I wish I had yer confidence, lad,” grumbled Scallywag.

“Don’t worry.  Totally awesome Ancient starship, remember?”
reassured Jack.  “We’ll be fine.”

“Ya put an awful lot of faith in this vessel o’ yours,
Earthman,” said Scallywag.  “For my sake, I hope yer right.”

Me, too
, Jack thought, as he flipped some switches on
his chair’s console, repositioning the ship’s maneuvering thrusters in
anticipation of what he was about to attempt.  He and Heckubus had spent the
better part of the last four hours formulating the rescue plan, and though the
robot was confident his scheme would work, a lot of it depended on Jack to
deliver.

I can do this
, thought Jack. 
I will do this!  For
Anna.  For Shepherd.  For everyone I’ve lost… I’ll do this.

Jack placed his hands on the control orbs of his chair and
readied himself.  He got the same feeling in his stomach that he always did
right before he led his team into a game of
Arena Deathmatch
.  He just
hoped he was as good at the real thing as he had been at the simulation.

“Heckubus,” said Jack.  “Get ready to make those navigation
calculations.”

Heckubus checked his tethered connection to the ship’s
systems.  “All set,” he replied.

“Scally, prepare the weapons.  Get ready to defend the
ship.”

Scallywag tapped a few buttons on his console.  “Weapons
ready,” he murmured.

“Grohm…” said Jack, looking at the hulking Rognok beside
him.

Grohm glared down at Jack and grunted.

“Um… just try not to break anything,” said Jack.

Grohm snorted.

Jack took a deep breath and checked his holoscreen.  Their
destination was seconds away.

“Let’s rock,” he said.

Jack dropped the ship out of lightspeed and opened a
hyperspace window, flying the ship through it and into the familiar darkness of
space.  He looked out the viewscreen and in the distance saw the same brilliant
nebula as before, signaling the correct location.

“This is the place,” said Jack.

“Sensors are picking up your massive wall of space bugs,
Earthman,” said Heckubus.

“Space bugs,” said Scallywag shaking his head.  “Now I’ve
seen everything.”

“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” said Jack, angling his ship
toward the massive wall of black before him.  “Get ready with those jump
coordinates, I don’t know how long I’ll be able to keep them at bay.”

“You worry about your part, Earthman,” said Heckubus.  “I
have mine well in hand.”

“Space bugs…” muttered Scallywag.

Jack kept an eye on his sensor readings as he maneuvered the
ship toward the massive swarm of insects that had almost devoured them during
his first escape from the Deathlord fleet.  They were already beginning to stir
as he approached, but he wanted to get the attention of as many of the insects
as possible.

“Time to make ‘em angry,” said Jack.  “Open fire!”

Jack turned the ship, strafing the insect wall while
Scallywag let loose a few blaster bolts from the ship’s weapon batteries.  The
blasts poked into the solid black of the massive swarm like angry red needles.

Alarms on the ship beeped as the sensors relayed their reactions. 
Immediately, thousands of the tiny insects began to separate from their swarm
and chase after the ship.

“That got their panties ruffled,” said Scallywag.

“You ready, Heckubus?” asked Jack.

“Yes, but you’re going to need to get them closer…” replied
the robot.

Jack glanced at Heckubus.  “Um… closer?”

“I can only extend your ship’s Quantum Entanglement field so
far you know,” snapped Heckubus.  “I’m not a miracle worker.”

“Did I just hear ya right?” asked Scallywag.  “Ya want to
bring the ship-eating space bugs closer to
our
ship?”

“Yes,” replied the robot.  “Oh, and if you could get them to
surround us, too, that would be optimal.  No sense in leaving any behind.”

“Um… surround us?” asked Jack, suddenly wondering about how
well this plan would actually work.

“The shields should hold them off long enough,” replied
Heckubus.  “
Totally awesome Ancient starship, remember?
  Whatever that
means.”

“Aren’t we… like… going to need those shields for the
fight?” asked Jack.

Heckubus sighed.  “You get the bugs, or you get the
shields.  Not both.  Did I really need to explain this to you?  It’s rather
obvious, I’d say.”

“Worst.  Plan.  EVER.” repeated Scallywag.

Jack grimaced.  “Transferring extra power to the shields,”
he said, making sure the ship’s defenses were as reinforced as he could get
them before pulling the ship into a tight turn.  Alarms wailed as Jack watched
the hefty swarm turn to match the ship, bearing down on it, ready to envelop it
whole.

“Get ready!” yelled Jack, continuing his turn toward the swirling
ball of impending death headed right for them.

“Yes, very good.  A little closer…” said Heckubus.

The alarms grew louder and more insistent as Jack completed
his turn, steering the ship directly toward the encroaching swarm.

“Closer…”

“Oh for the love of—” sneered Scallywag.  “Jump the bloody
ship already!”

Jack’s stomach tightened nervously as he flew his ship right
into the thousands of tiny bugs, which surrounded the vessel, ready to feast.

On the bridge of the Deathlord Planetkiller ship
Xenophon
,
Commander Vermunt stood gazing at the Ghost Planet on the ship’s massive
viewscreen.  Part of him wished he were on the planet with the Deathlord
Supreme to witness their ultimate victory first hand.  But another part of him
was just glad to be in a position to witness any part of it at all.  Even from
his perch high above the planet, he’d be able to see the glorious return of
their masters’ invincible armada, and to be by its side as it tore through all
remaining life in the universe.

“Status report,” he growled toward his executive officer, a
Deathlord named Himbalt.

“We sustained moderate damage from our journey through the
minefield,” Himbalt replied.  “Our Acolytes estimate the repairs will take
several hours; however, no systems will need to be taken off-line.”

“And the Supreme?” asked Vermunt.  “What of him?”

“Our sensors are indicating his ship has just landed on the
planet’s surface,” replied Himbalt.

“Good,” said Vermunt.  “It won’t be long now.”

“Commander,” said Himbalt.  “We’re getting communications
from the other ships in the fleet.  Most of their temple’s power reserves were
depleted maintaining the breach in the planetary shield.  Since there were no
life-forms to absorb during the attack, many ships are running dangerously low
on energy.  They are wondering when they’ll be able to replenish their temples.”

Vermunt grumbled.  Peeling back the planet’s shield had
taken far too much of his ship’s own power.  He could only imagine how low on
energy the others in the fleet might be.  “We will wait until the Supreme has
completed his task, and then he will let us know himself.”

Himbalt nodded.  “And if the Supreme should not return?”

Vermunt glared at his second in command.  “What?” he
growled.

“My apologies, Commander,” said Himbalt.  “But while the
Supreme’s ship is on the planet, we have no way of communicating with it.  If
something should go wrong, or the Supreme should fail in his task, how long
should the fleet wait?”

Vermunt stalked up to Himbalt and glared directly into his
eyes.  “You think the Supreme will fail?”

“No, Commander,” replied Himbalt.  “I have every confidence
in our Supreme.  I am just asking a hypothetical.”

“Let me make one thing clear,” growled Vermunt.  “There is
no need for a hypothetical question such as yours.  The Supreme is the ultimate
Deathlord, destined to lead us to complete victory.  He knows no such thing as
failure.  He has the power to overcome any adversity.  And there is nothing – I
repeat –
nothing
in this universe capable of stopping him.”

“Commander!” called out an Acolyte over a tiny alert bell.

Vermunt turned toward the Acolyte sitting at a nearby
command console.  “What is it?” he barked.

“I have a sensor contact off our port side,” the Acolyte
replied.  “It appears to be a ship.”

“A ship?” muttered Vermunt.  “Here?  Where did it come
from?”

“Unknown,” said the Acolyte.  “It just appeared out of
nowhere.”

“Put it on screen,” Vermunt ordered.

On the large viewscreen, the image of the Earthship
appeared, bucking and weaving directly toward the Deathlord’s vessel, a trail
of black smoke billowing behind it.  Commander Vermunt and Himbalt regarded it
curiously.

“What is it doing?” wondered Himbalt aloud.

“Perhaps they realize what they’ve stumbled into and they’re
panicking,” laughed Vermunt.  “Let’s give them something to panic about. 
Launch a squad of fighters.  Blow it out of the sky.”

“Launching shards now, Commander,” the Acolyte replied.

Vermunt crossed his arms and watched the viewscreen as five shards
shot toward the Earthship, guns blazing.  The Earthship continued heading
toward the Planetkiller, though, expertly banking and weaving out of the way of
the oncoming plasma blasts.

No sooner had the Earthship barreled by the squad of
fighters than the Deathlord shards suddenly disintegrated into the trailing
smoke of the ship.

Vermunt blinked, as if his eyes had just played a cruel joke
on him.

“What?  What just happened?” he demanded.

“Unknown, Commander,” the Acolyte replied.  “It would seem
that all fighters have been destroyed.”

“How?” Vermunt growled.

“Undetermined, Commander.  We detected no weapons fire from
the ship.”

“Commander,” said Himbalt urgently, “that vessel is closing
in on us.”

“Fire all port side cannons,” Vermunt ordered.  “Don’t let
it near the ship!”

On screen, the Earthship continued to bank, weave, and corkscrew
its way toward them, even as needles of red blaster fire from the
Xenophon’s
cannons lit up the blue and purple backdrop of the nebula.

“Such maneuvers!” said Himbalt.  “I’ve never seen anything
like it before!”

As the Earthship closed in, it turned and skimmed the exterior
hull of the Deathlord Planetkiller, weaving back and forth along its surface.

Suddenly, the entire ship shook and alarms began to howl,
echoing throughout the large command chamber.

“What’s happening?” screamed Vermunt.  “Report!”

Himbalt ran to a nearby console, checking readouts as they
popped up.  “Massive damage being reported on our port side,” he replied.  “It
appears as though our outer hull is being stripped away!”

“How are they doing this?” growled Vermunt.  “Stop them!”

“They are too close, Commander,” said Himbalt. “They’re inside
the minimum range of our cannons.  We cannot hit them.”

“Reports from the outer decks, Commander,” said the Acolyte
at his station.  “Whatever weapon they’re using is penetrating multiple areas
of the ship.  At this rate, we may have critical breech in a matter of
minutes.”

“No, no, NOOOO!!!!” raged Vermunt.  “Launch every fighter we
have.  Contact every Planetkiller in the fleet.  Tell them to launch all shards
from their hangars, to focus all their weapons on that vessel, and not to let
it near their ships!”

As the Acolyte carried out the orders, Vermunt and Himbalt
looked up at the viewscreen, watching the Earthship bank and weave across the
surface of their vessel.

“Who are they, Commander?” asked Himbalt with a hint of
awe.  “A single ship, capable of destroying a Planetkiller?”

“I do not know,” said Vermunt quietly, as alarms raged,
signaling the impending death of his ship.  “But whoever they are, they are the
fiercest, bravest, and most skilled warriors we have ever faced.”

Onboard the bridge of the Earthship, Jack, Scallywag, and
Heckubus were all screaming in terror as alarms wailed and the ship banked and
weaved uncontrollably.

Heckubus had been correct when he theorized that the ship’s
shields would offer them some protection from the space bugs.  However, the
shields had not lasted long after flying directly into the swarm.  Though the quantum
jump had worked as planned and had brought a sizable number of the voracious
critters along to the coordinates of the Ghost Planet, they must have eaten
something rather important before the Earthship had escaped from them because
for the life of him, Jack could no longer fly the ship in a straight line.

Which, as one can imagine, made being charged by a squad of
Deathlord shards while being chased by a swarm of ship-eating space bugs quite
a harrowing experience.  And now, it was all Jack could do to keep from
crashing the ship right into the massive Deathlord Planetkiller that was right
in front of them.