Earthman Jack vs. The Ghost Planet

by Matthew Kadish

  The holographic image of Terahades disappeared, and the altar began to deconstruct itself, receding back into the floor from which it had come. The lights from the figure’s face faded, and it slumped back into its throne once more.

  “Go forth and serve your Masters,” echoed the voice. “Serve the Lords of the Void.”

  A moment passed as the group sat in silence.

  “Observer help us…” muttered Yeoman Porter. “They must be the great enemy the history books talk about – the ones that destroyed the Ancients!”

  “You mean you’ve never heard of these ‘Lords of the Void’ guys before?” asked Jack.

  “Never by that name,” said Ganix. “But if they’re who the Deathlords answer to, then we may be in even more trouble than we thought.”

  “Well, if that little slide-show is any indication of what they’re up against, I’d say we’re pretty safe,” said Scallywag as he got to his feet. “If the Ancients designed that prison ta keep these Lords o’ the Void in, I’m confident we ain’t seeing ‘em anytime soon.”

  “I wish I could share your optimism, pirate,” said Ganix.

  “Aye? What’s got ya down, Major – the hidden minefield, the impenetrable planetary shield, or the life-draining multidimensional planet? Even if the Deathlords were able ta find this planet, it would take more firepower than their entire fleet has to get past all the defenses the Ancients put in place.”

  “True, it might take more than what the Deathlords have to get past all those defenses,” said Ganix. “Or, it would take just one person with the ability to control Ancient technology.”

  Jack felt a lump grow in his throat. “Anna,” he said.

  Ganix nodded. “We thought the Deathlords might want to kill her, or take her alive to hold the Empire hostage. But if this thing is really a message from their masters, then that means they’re planning to use the Princess to free whatever is trapped there.”

  “With an armada of ships that was able to defeat the Ancients at their side, they’d be unstoppable!” said Yeoman Porter. “With the Deathlords, our ships at least stand a chance, but against that…”

  Ganix got to his feet. “We need to rescue the Princess,” he said. “The fate of the universe depends on it.”

  “Great plan, Major,” said Scallywag. “Except for the part ‘bout how we still have no bloody clue how to get out of this hole.”

  Suddenly, the steps to the platform before them began to rumble. The rest of the group scrambled to their feet and quickly leveled their guns at the area as it morphed and opened up into a doorway.

  Standing in that doorway, smiling his big, white, toothy grin, was none other than Professor Green.

  “Ah! Jack! There you are!” he said cheerily, as if he had simply run into Jack during a leisurely stroll.

  The entire group lowered their weapons and looked at Green with surprise. “Professor?” asked Jack, relieved to see a familiar face. Jack ran up and threw his arms around him.

  “Sorry it took so long, my boy,” said Green, patting Jack good-naturedly on the back. “Glad to see you’re alive! And it seems you’ve met some friends?”

  The group all stared dumbly at the overly cheery new arrival. Faruuz raised his hand awkwardly and waved.

  “How did you find us?” asked Jack, breaking away from his embrace.

  “Funny thing, that,” smiled Green. “I basically had to deconstruct the entire Deathlord alphabet by accessing their databases. It’s quite a complicated language, but I was able to—well, I’ll spare you the details. But after accessing this panel in one of their generator rooms, I got a message telling me I needed to come here and open this door.”

  “A message?” asked Jack.

  “Yes,” replied Green. “I thought it rather curious, since it’s entirely unlikely the Deathlords would have directed me to such an obscure location on their own ship. I mean, if they knew where I was, why not just send soldiers to capture me instead of such a polite message? So I took the chance that you’d somehow found a way to communicate with me. Always nice to see I was right. Good thing, too, since it seems this area can only be accessed from the outside.”

  Jack smiled. Could it be his ship had found the Professor and told him where to go?

  Spaceship, you totally rule, thought Jack.

  Green glanced up at the robed robot on the throne, and looked around the room curiously before settling back on the rag tag group before him.

  “I say, this is all rather… new,” said the Professor. “Have I missed anything important?”

  Chapter 28

  Anna’s eyes fluttered open, her vision eventually focusing on the dull grey ceiling of her cell, one solitary light shining brightly, illuminating the whole room. Her head throbbed painfully and her entire body was stiff.

  What happened? she wondered. What did they do to me?

  She sat up on her hard metal bed and grabbed her temples, sucking air between her teeth sharply as her head protested the movement. She massaged the sides of her forehead slowly to try to drive away the unrelenting throbbing. She swung her legs over the side of her resting place, but they hung numb and useless until she began to knead them with her fingers. Sensation returned in a flurry of pins-and-needles that made her grit her teeth.

  She tried to remember what happened but the memories were elusive and hazy. She remembered the fearsome Deathlord that had entered the room, but the details of their conversation and what happened after that were a blur.

  One thing did spring to her mind, however. She seemed to remember a sharp pain in the back of her head, right before passing out. She reached back and felt around, but there was no wound as far as she could tell. She felt for something – anything that might give her a clue as to what had happened. She pulled her hand back, half expecting to see traces of blood, but her fingers were clean. Other than feeling as though she had drunk an entire case of Raxxagon Ale on her own, she seemed to be perfectly fine.

  No, they had to have done something to me, Anna thought. They wouldn’t have just knocked me out for no reason. They must have a plan.

  Anna pushed herself to her feet. Her brain buzzed in response, and the room tilted at odd angles for a moment before she shook her head and was able to re-establish her sense of balance. Once the cobwebs had cleared, she started to check her arms to look for any strange marks -- any sign that the Deathlords may have done something to her while she was unconscious. She looked down her shirt, rolled up her pant legs, and felt along her back as far as she could reach. Still, there was nothing out of the ordinary.

  In a way, not finding something wrong worried her more than if she had found an incision, a mark, or anything that might have confirmed her suspicions. Anna’s mind reeled with numerous possibilities of what could have happened while she was unconscious, and each was worse than the one before it.

  There was still so much that wasn’t known about the Deathlords. The extent of their powers, the scope of their technology, the depths of their depravity – none of it had been investigated or recorded with any semblance of accuracy. The Empire’s alien foes remained as much a mystery as they had been when they had first attacked. As far as Anna was aware, she was the only person alive who’d actually carried on some form of conversation with a Deathlord.

  And not just any Deathlord… just thinking of the one who had visited her made her skin crawl and her spine shiver. The power and fury that raged behind those horrible red eyes set off alarm bells deep within her blood. She had been able to sense his power, almost like she did when she was operating an Ancient device. But this power was unlike anything she’d ever experienced. In some respects, it seemed of greater intensity than she had ever encountered before from the Ancients. However, that may have just been her fear amplifying what she had felt. Regardless, she was sure the Deathlord had used his power on her, somehow.

  Something was wrong, and she needed to figure out what.

  Anna lowered herself to the ground, sitting on her knees and
folding her arms across her chest like the Luminadric Monks had taught her. She was going to have to meditate, to allow herself to get in touch with her trinity.

  The monks had always said that understanding her trinity would give Anna insight into her very being. Control over it would allow her to heal any sickness or wound she had suffered, be it physical, emotional, or spiritual. Unfortunately, Anna had not spent as much time at her lessons as her tutors would have liked – and now that she needed to employ the discipline, she felt even guiltier for not having been more diligent in her studies.

  She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, trying to access the separate parts of her trinity – the mind, body, and spirit – and bring them together, but it was difficult to focus. She felt a warm sensation at the bottom of her chest where her ribcage ended, and tried to grab onto that with her mind, using it as the focal point of her meditation. She had not reached out for her trinity in a long time, and it was proving difficult to assemble, like trying to put together a puzzle in the dark.

  She focused harder, attempting to bring the three forces of her being together. Once she made contact with her trinity, she’d be able to tune into her body and figure out if the Deathlords had done something to her. But before she could achieve that, she heard a noise.

  She opened her eyes and looked at the door to her cell. It had come from the other side – some type of commotion. The sounds were dull, and it was hard to make out what they were, but they didn’t last long.

  Anna got to her feet and stared at the entrance to her captivity suddenly worried that the Deathlord Supreme may have returned. Maybe whatever he’s doing to me, he’s not finished, Anna thought. Maybe he’s returned to complete the job.

  Anna readied herself for another showdown. She was heir to the largest and greatest Empire the universe had ever known. No matter how scared she felt, no matter how much pain was inflicted on her, she was determined to endure. She was the final Princess of Regalus Prime, and she would not allow herself to go down meekly.

  The locks on the door disengaged with an ominous “clunk.”

  Anna’s eyes narrowed. Her gut tightening, she readied herself.

  The door slid open with a hiss.

  Anna’s eyes widened with surprise. Standing in the doorway was not the Deathlord Supreme. There, clad in his glorious blue and white armor, stood Shepherd – her shining knight. Her savior.

  “Shepherd!” Anna squealed, her heart thumping in her chest.

  “Princess—” Shepherd started. Anna did not give him time to finish talking. She rushed toward him, wrapping her arms around him and hugging his cold, armored body as tightly as she could. She could feel salty tears of happiness stream down her cheeks, and the steely resolve she had mustered to meet her fate mere moments before melted away into a tidal wave of relief that washed over her.

  “You came!” she said, trying not to cry like a child. “You’re here!”

  She felt his arms gently return her embrace. She looked up at him as his helmet withdrew, revealing a face lined with both worry and relief.

  “Are you okay?” Shepherd asked. “Did they do anything to you?”

  “I don’t know,” Anna responded. “I’m not hurt, but… I think they did do something.”

  Shepherd scowled. “We’ll need to deal with it later,” he said. “I just took out two of their guards. I don’t know how long we have until they’re alerted to my presence.”

  Anna nodded, trying to reel in her gushing happiness. She could thank Shepherd later. Right now, they were both still in a great deal of danger – though with her Paragon back at her side, Anna felt much safer than she had in a long while.

  “Lead the way,” she said.

  Shepherd nodded, his helmet re-enveloping his face. “Stay close,” he ordered.

  Shepherd began moving back down the long corridor with Anna not far behind. He moved his head back and forth as he walked, slightly crouched, like a beast stalking its prey. Anna could tell he was scanning the area with his armor, looking for any sign of trouble.

  “Where’s the Professor?” she asked, trying to keep up with his brisk pace. “Is he with you?”

  “We split up,” said Shepherd. “He was guiding me to you but had to break off to keep from being detected. We’re going to head to a rendezvous point he set and meet with him.”

  “And Jack?” Anna asked.

  Shepherd turned and looked at her. “If he’s alive, we’ll find him,” he said.

  “They promised me they wouldn’t kill him,” Anna said.

  Anna could tell how stupid that sounded as soon as she had said it. She was almost glad she couldn’t see Shepherd’s face behind his helmet just then. But she had to hold onto hope her friend was still alive.

  “Don’t worry,” said Shepherd, trying to sound reassuring. “We’re going to get out of here. All of us.”

  With a loud WHOOSH, purple light flashed all around them. Anna blinked, and felt her breath catch in her throat as she realized they were now surrounded on all sides by Deathlords, weapons at ready. Three had appeared in the hallway before them, and three were positioned behind them, boxing them in.

  Before she even had a chance to fully grasp the situation, Shepherd was reacting. He reached out his hands and generated two force-shield walls of golden light on either side of them just in time to block the volley of plasma fire that erupted from the soldiers.

  Shepherd pushed the shield wall behind them, and it rocketed toward the three Dark Soldiers who were blocking the path they’d just come from. It slammed into the Deathlords, sending them hurtling backwards. They finally came to a crushing stop when they hit the walled entrance into Anna’s former cell. The golden barrier came to rest against them with a sickening crunch, pinning them there.

  Shepherd unleashed his quad-cannons and let the shield wall dissipate. The three Deathlords started to drop, no longer propped up by the energy barrier, only to be hit expertly with well-placed plasma blasts before erupting into puffs of grainy black clouds.

  With those Deathlords dispatched, Shepherd turned. He gave the other force field a nudge, and it rammed into the three soldiers before him, knocking them back. Shepherd opened a hole in his shield and fired both his quad-cannons, making short work of the enemies on the other side of the barrier.

  The whole thing was over almost as fast as it had started.

  “Run,” he ordered, taking off down the hall.

  Anna did not need to be told twice. She began to run, staying close to Shepherd. The two of them sprinted down the corridor for a few more seconds before making another turn down an adjoining hallway. Anna hoped Shepherd knew where he was going, because already she was feeling hopelessly turned around. The corridors all looked alike as far as she could tell.

  As they rounded a corner, they saw a group of six Dark Soldiers before them, taking aim with plasma rifles. Shepherd threw up a hand, pulsing a circular force shield in the middle of the group like an explosion. They flew in all directions from the sudden appearance and expansion of his energy field.

  In a swift motion, Shepherd reached behind him and grabbed his batons, the two sticks crackling to life. He twirled them in a blinding flurry as he rushed through the group, striking each Deathlord in turn as he passed without slowing down. Anna followed not far behind, just close enough to feel the grainy black sand-like dust of the Deathlord’s disintegrating bodies mist over her.

  More flashes of purple came from behind. Without slowing down, Shepherd erected a shield barrier behind them to block the new volley of plasma fire. The shield trailed along with them, giving them continuous cover as they ran.

  More Dark Soldiers appeared before them, and Shepherd threw himself into the group, energy batons flashing, making quick work of the adversaries. A few Deathlords managed to fire off some shots before Shepherd dispatched them, but his armor simply absorbed the blasts without incident.

  Suddenly, another flash of purple occurred, but this time, instead of Dark Soldiers, there
were simply two disk-shaped objects about the size of bicycle tires in front of and behind them. The smooth black disks had a green core that pulsed rapidly.

  Shepherd grabbed Anna and pulled her close, crouching over her and shielding her with his body. Their rear protective shield disappeared and a domed energy barrier materialized around them just as the two disks exploded.

  Anna felt the ground beneath her tremble with the explosion, and Shepherd grunted from the impact against his shields. She looked up and saw tiny black splinters sticking to the outside of the shield, slowly pushing their way in as though the barrier was nothing more than a pin cushion. The needle-like black shrapnel slowly wormed its way past their protection.

  Shepherd glanced at the shards and pushed his shield back, expanding it around them to allow for more room.

  “Stay down,” he ordered as he got to his feet.

  Anna looked up to see one of the dark splinters had made it through the shield barrier. It shot directly at Shepherd fast as an arrow. Shepherd raised his baton in time, swatting it away like an annoying bug.

  A few more splinters rocketed forth, and again, Shepherd deflected them.

  Anna shrieked as one splinter unexpectedly shot by her, ripping her sleeve as it moved toward Shepherd. The Paragon turned in time for the splinter to embed itself in the shin guard of his armor. It sparked on impact and the splinter fell smoking and limp to the ground.

  Shepherd reached out his batons and touched the sides of his shield, channeling crackling white energy from his weapons into the barrier. Tendrils of electric white light streaked across the dome, hitting and charring the numerous splinters still trying to worm their way through.

  The charge to the shield caused it to dissipate, and the splinters dropped to the ground around Shepherd and Anna harmlessly.

  However, no sooner was his shield gone than more volleys of plasma fire struck Shepherd. Anna turned and saw six Dark Soldiers marching down the hallway, firing at them. Shepherd threw up a shield wall, but a flash of purple light made six more Dark Soldiers materialize in front of them.