He erected another shield barrier, but before the two had time to react, more Dark Soldiers teleported in behind Shepherd’s shields. The Paragon quickly fired his quad-cannons and exchanged rounds with the Deathlords, absorbing their fire while trying to dispatch them.
More Deathlords continued to appear behind his shield walls, firing with annoying accuracy at the Paragon, his armor sparking and crackling with each direct hit, smoke wisping from each impact. Shepherd kept his shield walls up and engaged the Dark Soldiers as they came, but no sooner did he dispose of one than two more appeared in its place, each heralded by the sickening flash of purple teleportation light.
There are too many! Anna thought with rising panic. They just keep coming! We’ll never be able to get past them!
Shepherd kept firing. He let one of his shields drop and rematerialized it closer to him. He pushed it out, allowing it to rocket into one front of the advancing enemy, clearing the way as he focused his fire on the Deathlords behind them.
As soon as he had cleared a path, he started inching his way down the corridor, a new shield wall materializing to give him cover. “Princess!” he called out. “Keep moving!”
He intended to fight their way out; that much was clear. Anna got up to move with him when suddenly she felt a strange sensation, as though two sharp hooks had dug into her back.
Anna cried out in pain. She didn’t see the black streak rushing up behind her. Shepherd unleashed rapid fire blasts at it, but it jumped and twirled, dodging the blasts until it was close enough to Anna to yank her toward it, reeling in the invisible hooks that had caught her.
The Deathlord crouched behind Anna, using her as a shield to protect itself from Shepherd. One clawed hand was grasped tightly around her neck, the other hovered above her chest, tugging at her soul with whatever wicked magic the Deathlords seemed to possess. Anna stood helpless, feeling the cold invisible hooks of the Deathlord as they threatened to rip the very life from her.
Shepherd aimed his quad cannons toward the Deathlord, but refrained from firing for fear of hitting Anna. New shield walls had sprung up close by, ensuring that no other Deathlords would be able to come to this one’s aid.
The Deathlord and the Paragon eyed each other.
“Drop your shields, infidel,” growled Vishni. “Or I will cull the child.”
“You aren’t going to hurt her,” said Shepherd.
“I won’t kill her,” replied the Deathlord. “But I can assure you, I am more than willing to hurt her.”
Anna screamed as the Deathlord tugged on her life force, and she felt the cold, strange sensation of death wash over her. Shepherd immediately retracted his quad cannons, raising his palms defensively.
“There’s no need–” Shepherd said.
“Drop. Your. Shields,” snarled the Deathlord.
Anna could feel a tear running down her cheek as she looked at Shepherd. She wanted to scream to him not to do it, but she couldn’t speak. The Deathlord’s grip around her neck was so tight, she could barely breathe.
Shepherd hesitated; then he let the golden walls of energy disappear.
Immediately, the Dark Soldiers took aim and opened fire on Shepherd, their angry red plasma blasts hitting him full on.
Shepherd crouched under the impact of the volley coming at him from all sides, his armor sparking in response, tendrils of electrical activity snaking around him as his suit absorbed the plasma fire.
Anna could do nothing but watch in wide-eyed horror as the Deathlords continued to fire on Shepherd unrelentingly. She felt the Deathlord who held her in his grasp stand up from his crouch, allowing himself to gloat over the Paragon.
“You are a fierce warrior,” Vishni said. “But we are an army!”
Anna could hear Shepherd grunt as the Deathlords continued to fire. His arms were up defensively, each plasma blast sparking off his armor, their heated fury beginning to leave blackened marks that charred the once pristine metal, wisps of smoke curling off from the sites of impact. Anna wondered how much more punishment he could take.
“We are unstoppable,” sneered Vishni. “We are unkillable. We are everlasting.”
The Deathlords closed in on Shepherd, their increasing proximity causing their volleys to hit quicker and quicker, beating him down.
“We are Deathlords!” Vishni said triumphantly. “You cannot fight us. You cannot win. And there is no one here to save you.”
Suddenly, a plasma blast streaked out of nowhere, slamming Vishni dead in the face. His body disintegrated instantly, leaving Anna mercifully free from his grasp.
More blasts rang out, hitting their marks as one Dark Soldier after another exploded in a puff of black mist until all of them were gone. Anna turned and saw a group standing defiantly in the hallway before her. They were soldiers in dirty and ragged Imperial uniforms, with strange aliens in their ranks. A robot was with them, as was Professor Green, and there, standing before them all, was Jack, armed with a small pistol and a big smile.
“I wouldn’t say no one,” said Jack.
“Jack!” exclaimed Anna, her heart leaping into her throat. She rushed up and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. She had never been so happy to see anyone in her whole life as in that very moment.
Jack laughed and returned the hug. “I see my timing is impeccable, as always,” he said.
Anna loosened her grip and backed off, looking at Jack with relief. “I… I didn’t know if you were still alive!”
“Takes more than a couple of Deathlords to kill old Jack,” he smirked with the kind of false bravado Anna couldn’t help but find endearing.
“Seriously?” mumbled a red Visini from behind.
“Oy, and I thought you were a blowhard, Scally,” said his scaly companion.
“What?” shrugged Jack. “Can’t a guy have a moment?”
“Princess,” said one of the soldiers, stepping forward from the group. “I’m Major Ganix, with what remains of your Imperial guard. We are at your command, Your Majesty.”
The soldiers all nodded their heads toward her in a sign of loyalty. Suddenly, Anna felt overwhelmed with emotion. Her friends were alive, and now she had an army to protect her. Things were starting to look up.
“Your service is most appreciated, Major,” responded Anna.
“Major,” said Shepherd coming up behind Anna, his helmet retracting to show his face. “Deploy your men around the Princess. We must protect her as we make our way to the ship.”
Ganix nodded and jerked his head. Without a word, his men moved to Anna, forming a protective wall around her.
“Are you injured, Paragon Shepherd?” Ganix asked.
“I’ll be fine,” responded Shepherd. “My armor can withstand a lot of punishment. But we must get going before more Deathlords teleport in.”
“Don’t worry about that,” said Jack, twirling his small laser pistol around his finger. “I just shut off all their teleporters.”
Shepherd raised an eyebrow. “How’d you manage that?” he asked.
“Psychic spaceship,” smiled Jack. “It’s secretly controlling everything.”
Shepherd and Anna looked at each other.
“It’s a long story,” said Jack.
“Apparently the Ancient spacecraft has interfaced with the Deathlord’s central computer, and is using a psychic neural link with Jack to relay information to him and to take commands!” chirped Green excitedly.
“Okay…” said Jack. “So, not that long of a story after all.”
“The Ancient spacecraft can psychically communicate with you even this far away?” said Anna. “That’s amazing!”
“Can you lead us back to the ship?” asked Shepherd.
“Sure can,” replied Jack, tapping his head. “Got a map of this whole place up in here.”
“Then what are we bloody waiting for?” growled Faruuz as he turned to leave. “Not that this little reunion hasn’t been touching an’ all. But let’s stop with the chit-chatting and get o
ff this–”
Faruuz suddenly jerked upright as his ghostly image was violently torn from his body. The sickly white figure screamed as it shot down the hallway into the waiting clutches of the Deathlord Supreme, an army of Dark Soldiers behind him.
Faruuz’s body crumpled to the floor with a sickening thump. Scallywag cried out.
“NO!” he screamed, immediately dropping to one knee and firing his pistols.
The rest of the group opened fire. The plasma blasts streaked toward Zarrod, heading right for their target. But with a flap of his cape, the blasts were deflected as though they were nothing. His arms shot out, batting away the volley of plasma fire with frightening speed, as though the powerful energy blasts were nothing more than annoying insects.
Then, a ball of ghostly light shot from his clawed hand and screamed toward the group.
“GET DOWN!” cried Shepherd as he raised his hand, lighting up a force field in front of his companions.
The golden barrier had barely formed before the frighteningly fast ball of energy made its way to the group. It slammed into the shield wall, shattering it like a glass window, sending Shepherd hurtling backwards as if the impact had hit him directly. The ball disintegrated after colliding with Shepherd’s shield, its lingering force still powerful enough to knock the group back a few steps, interrupting their fire.
Zarrod reached out his hands, and the two Imperial soldiers closest to the front screamed as their souls ripped out from them and rocketed toward Zarrod’s greedy claws. Anna watched in horror as their bodies fell limp to the ground and their ghost forms balled up in the Deathlord’s Supreme’s grasp.
The energy began to twist and spin, faster and faster. Zarrod brought his hands together, combining the two balls into a single mass that began to grow, larger and larger. The Deathlord held it at his side, nurturing it as it spun and grew more chaotic. It sounded like a thousand men were screaming out in agony as the twisting mass of ghostly energy grew to the size of a basketball. The Deathlord Supreme’s fiery eyes seemed to glare directly at Anna.
“Fall back!” she heard Major Ganix yell. “Protect the Princess!”
Anna felt wind ripple by her as air began to get sucked toward the swirling mass of evil the Deathlord Supreme held between his hands. His Dark Soldiers stood, statuesque behind him, silent shadows witnessing his fury. She felt the Major’s hand on her shoulder, trying to pull her away down the corridor, while the rest of the group stumbled back from the mighty Deathlord before them.
The sound of screams intensified, and she could taste the terror and dread in the air. Death was at the end of that hallway, and it was about to be unleashed.
The Deathlord extended his hands, pushing with a singular might. The ghostly ball stretched into a beam, rocketing toward the group with a twisted power and a fury unlike anything they had ever witnessed.
Anna caught a glimpse of a blue and white streak as Shepherd leapt forth to the front of the group, raising his hands and throwing up a blindingly bright shield enveloping the hallway before them.
The Deathlord’s blast slammed into the shield and Shepherd slid back a good two feet before bracing himself against the impact. His shield flickered and groaned, as the shadow of the ghostly energy screamed against it, pounding at the barrier mercilessly.
To a man, the group looked at the Paragon before them, both amazed and frightened, not knowing what to make of the situation. It sounded as though a thunderstorm were raging against a closed window. Shepherd grunted, his armor shivering from the strain of resisting the onslaught from the Deathlord Supreme.
“MAJOR!” Shepherd yelled. “Get the Princess to the ship!”
Ganix moved up to Anna, gripping her arm, his voice thick with urgency. “Your Majesty,” he said. “We must go!”
Anna glanced from Ganix’s worried face back to Shepherd. “I’m not leaving him!” she said.
“You must!” barked Ganix, tugging at her arm.
“NO!” cried Anna, wrenching herself free from Ganix’s grip. She moved for Shepherd, rushing up to him and wrapping her arms around him from behind. She could feel the violent vibration of his armor and she could almost sense the struggle he was putting up to keep the shield alive.
“Princess, you must go!” yelled Shepherd over the screaming of the Deathlord Supreme’s onslaught.
“I won’t leave you behind!” Anna cried.
“Do not argue. Go!” he insisted.
Anna clung to him closely, refusing to let go, not wanting to let go. Her vision began to blur with tears.
“You can’t…” whispered Anna, salty streaks of water dribbling down her cheeks and onto her lips. “You’ll die…”
Shepherd turned his head away from his shield, seeing Jack walking up behind Anna. The boy’s face looked at the Paragon’s helmet, and Shepherd knew he understood the situation.
“Jack,” said Shepherd. “Get her out of here… NOW.”
Jack could see Shepherd struggling to keep his shield up against Zarrod’s attack. He knew Shepherd was right; Jack had to get Anna as far away from the Deathlord Supreme as possible. He grabbed her by the arm and tried to lead her away.
“We gotta go, Anna,” Jack said, trying to sound reassuring. “He’ll be right behind us. C’mon…”
Anna resisted, holding onto Shepherd tightly.
“Shepherd…” she squeaked.
Shepherd looked down at her. Though his helmet hid his face completely, she could hear the sadness in his voice.
“Anna, please…” he said softly.
Anna could feel her warm tears streaming down her face, the cold armor of the Paragon on her hand, and the soft grip of Jack on her wrist. She felt as though she were being torn in two, unable to find the strength to make the choice she knew she had to.
Then, she felt Jack’s grip on her become firmer. She suddenly felt him beside her. When she turned and looked at him, she saw on his face a look that told her he – this boy who had lost everything he loved mere hours ago – knew what she was feeling. When he spoke, he understood the decision she was facing.
“We have to go,” he said.
Jack began to lead her away, and this time Anna did not resist. She looked at Shepherd, wanting to tell him good-bye. Wanting to tell him she loved him. Wanting to let him know that he was all the family she had left… but no matter how hard she tried, her throat remained choked, and for the life of her, the words could not come out.
Deep down, Anna knew she had to leave him – knew that he’d never allow any other decision to be made. As Jack pulled her away, down the stark corridors of the ship, she glanced back one last time, and saw Paragon Shepherd – proud and tall and courageous – standing alone against what she knew to be certain doom.
And as she rounded the corner, losing sight of the man who had been her protector, her confidant, her rock – she felt the sharp ache of sorrow sting her chest, and sadness enshrouded her like a blanket.
He was gone.
Chapter 29
Jack raced down the hallway, with Grohm right there beside him. Jack was fast, but the Rognok took such large strides he was able to keep up. Major Ganix, along with Scallywag, followed a few feet behind. Green and Heckubus ran beside Anna, and the remaining soldiers brought up the rear.
Jack checked his mental map. They were pretty far away from where it told him the ship was, and who knew how many Deathlords were between it and them? However, since leaving Shepherd, they’d met no resistance. After his ship was able to deactivate all of the mothership’s teleportation rooms, the Deathlords were now being forced to try to intercept them on foot, and it was one heck of a big ship to be running around in.
“Bloody hell,” puffed Scallywag from behind, his face looking pained as he ran with one hand holding his side. “We gotta slow down.”
“Jack,” said Ganix, also breathing hard. “How much further?”
“We’re pretty far away,” said Jack. “There’s not a direct path to the hangar bays. We gotta
take a route around the center of the ship.”
Ganix nodded. “Halt!” he said, holding up a hand. The group all slowed to a stop, some bending over their knees and clutching their sides.
Jack turned and saw his tired companions catching their breaths. Even Anna looked like she was barely able to stand. Jack had forgotten that most of the men had been going on very little food or water for some time, and the trek out of the Pit was exhausting in and of itself. But he wasn’t so sure taking a breather in the middle of the Deathlord’s mothership was such a good idea.
“We gotta keep moving,” warned Jack. “More Deathlords could be here any minute.”
“And a fat lot of good we’ll be if we pass out before getting to shoot at ‘em,” grumbled Scallywag.
“Scallywag’s right, Jack,” said Ganix. “We can’t keep up this pace. The Pit itself is miles in diameter. If it’s the core of this ship, running the whole way isn’t going to do us any good.”
Jack looked around anxiously. He glanced up at Grohm, who didn’t seem to be breathing hard, or even sweating for that matter. Nothing seemed to faze the Rognok. The massive alien didn’t seem the least bit worried or scared, and yet, Jack was still on edge.
Why am I so nervous? Jack thought. Sure, he was trying to escape from an army of evil aliens on their own mothership, but Jack didn’t remember feeling this anxious when the group had made its way to Shepherd and Professor Green’s rendezvous point. Something was different now. He felt like he was watching someone squeezing a balloon, the anticipation of its popping filling him with anxiety.
Jack looked down the hallway to the end where it intersected with another corridor. He thought he could hear something echoing down the metallic walkways of the Deathlord’s ship. He tapped Grohm.
“Yo, big guy,” he said. “You hear that?”
Grohm turned in the direction Jack was looking and snorted. Jack listened harder. It was faint at first, an almost rhythmic sound steadily thumping in the distance. Slowly but surely, the sound was growing louder.
Earthman Jack vs. The Ghost Planet Page 34
