“Yep,” said Scallywag. “And the minute ya drop out ta avoid it, they got ya dead ta rights. They’re at every major hyperspace lane leading toward Omnicron. But it seems our Regal friends decided ta add a few more since I last visited.”
“Well, they’ve definitely got their sights set on us,” said Jack. “What should I do?”
“Hold still and get her Royal Highness up here before we get blasted ta pieces,” Scallywag replied.
Jack slowed the Earthship to a halt and hit a button on the arm of his chair to open the ship-wide intercom. “Uh… Anna, Professor, we need you on the bridge. Like, now, please?”
The sensors beeped again. Jack looked at his display and saw a group of five spaceships approaching. He called them up on the screen. They looked a lot like the kind of military jets he’d seen in movies before, with long noses and domed cockpit covers. They had wide, crescent-shaped wings under which were mounted various weapons. Red exhaust ports glowed on their bodies as their engines powered them forward. Jack’s display signaled it was receiving a communication from the approaching vessels. He opened an audio channel for it. “Unknown ship, identify yourself,” came a cold, harsh voice over the ship’s speakers.
“This is, uh, Earthship Awesome, requesting permission to… land?” replied Jack.
Silence was the only reply. Jack glanced at Scallywag nervously as the Visini raised an eyebrow. “Earthship Awesome?” the pirate muttered.
“What?” asked Jack. “That’s its name.”
“What does that even mean?” asked Scallywag.
“It means it’s awesome,” Jack shot back. “That’s what it is; therefore, that’s what it’s called.”
Scallywag shook his head. “I have a feelin’ if I’d ever visited yer planet, lad, I’da never had any clue what people were sayin’.”
Jack frowned and looked back at the screen. “It’s better than the name of your stupid ship,” Jack muttered quietly under his breath, suddenly feeling self-conscious about his naming skills.
“Unidentified vessel,” the voice responded as the five fighters encircled the Earthship. “Submit your Imperial Identification Code immediately.”
“Our new friends have locked on to us, as well,” said Heckubus as he monitored the console at his station. “I’m not reading any lifeforms in the vessels. They appear to be patrol drones. Might I recommend we simply annihilate them and be on our way somewhere else?”
“No,” said Jack
“It’ll be fun!” tempted Heckubus.
Jack hit the ship’s intercom again. “Anna, we need you up here, now.” Right on cue, Anna entered the bridge, followed closely by Professor Green, who was clutching a satchel overflowing with hastily stuffed-in papers.
“Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear,” Green said, looking at the screen. “I knew our arrival would be contentious!”
“Open a channel for our reply,” Anna said as she made her way to the viewscreen, standing in front of Jack’s chair. Jack noticed her hair was partially done up and her clothes were sloppy, as though she’d just thrown something on while in the middle of changing.
“Channel open,” he said.
“This is Princess Glorianna of Legacy Prime,” Anna said. “Imperial Identification Code THX1138-4EB. Voice recognition protocol requested.”
There was a brief moment before the voice over the comms responded. “Voice recognition, confirmed. IIC verified.” Jack saw the weapons locked signatures disappear from the sensors and breathed a small sigh of relief.
“Request contact with Starkeeper,” Anna replied. “Priority one, secure channel.”
“Confirmed,” came the voice.
Within a minute, Jack was picking up a video transmission, which he opened up on the viewscreen. The image of a Regal in a formal red military uniform appeared. His face was lined with age, framed with a neatly trimmed snow-white beard and matching colored hair cropped close to his scalp.
“Your Highness,” the man said. “Thank the Observer for watching over you! We’d feared you’d been lost.”
“I apologize for not being in contact sooner, Starkeeper Cohaagen,” Anna said. “We did not know how to access any secure subspace or ultrawave channels.”
“It makes no matter now that you’re here,” Cohaagen replied. “There are a great many people who will breathe easier now that we know you are alive and unharmed.”
“I’m afraid those people will have to wait a bit longer to ease their breathing,” Anna said. “My return is not to be broadcast just yet. I wish you to enact Shadow Protocol immediately and secure us an escort to the Capitol.”
Cohaagen nodded. “Right away, Your Highness.”
“I would also request you have Chief Alabaster and Commander Seqis meet me at the spaceport.”
“I will contact them personally,” the man said, before smiling. “Welcome home, Princess.”
“It’s good to be home,” Anna replied, though she didn’t exactly sound like she meant it. With that, the transmission ended, and Starkeeper Cohaagen disappeared from the screen. Anna turned to Jack. “Follow the escorts to the planet and land where they tell you,” she said. “I have to go finish changing.”
“Okay,” replied Jack. “What’s Shadow Protocol?”
“It’s just a procedure for keeping things quiet,” Anna said. “I’ll explain more later.” Anna abruptly left the bridge. Jack watched her go, before following the escort ships toward Omnicron.
“What do you think that was all about?” asked Jack.
“We are returning home with a great deal of revolutionary intelligence about the Deathlords and advanced Ancient technology,” said Green. “I do believe the Princess is simply exercising caution to ensure both arrive safely. There is quite a strict protocol for the guarding and delivery of Imperial Security Secrets.”
“Really?” said Jack. “We’re considered a secret?”
“Ya just saw a conversation between the Regal Princess and a bloody Starkeeper,” said Scallywag. “We ain’t exactly gonna be open books.”
“So that Starkeeper guy was important, huh?” said Jack. “What is he? A General?”
Scallywag snorted. “More like THE General.”
“Starkeepers are supreme military commanders of the Empire,” chimed in Green. “They police large sections of Imperial space, overseeing extensive spacefleets. There are only five of them. If memory serves, Starkeeper Cohaagen is responsible for homeworld defense. His position was created to prevent another situation like the one faced when Regalus Prime fell.”
“That would certainly explain all the firepower,” said Jack as he looked at his viewscreen.
The sensors were picking up numerous squads of fighters patrolling the area, and Jack could see large capitol ships stationed in the distance around the planet. Each one resembled something that he thought looked like an aircraft carrier, but they were far bigger. Not nearly as big as a Deathlord Planetkiller, but Jack wouldn’t be surprised if they were each miles in length.
“Omnicron has been extensively re-enforced to protect it against a Deathlord attack,” said Green. “The Imperial fleet patrols hyperspace quite aggressively to ensure any threat can be neutralized before it reaches the planet.”
As they began their approach, the escorts took them closer to a gigantic space station. It resembled a six-point star, with four horizontal arms jutting from a spherical base and two vertical ones, each arm littered with cannons and missile launchers. Jack whistled when he saw it up close. “What is that thing?” he asked.
“Starbase Sirius,” said Scallywag. “Space jockeys call it tha ‘Guard Dog.’ If it don’t like the smell o’ ya, it’ll rip yer throat out.”
“It’s the base of operations for the hyperspace contingent of the Omnicron fleet,” said Green. “All hyperspace-based defense is run from there.”
“It’s huge!” said Jack.
“Oy, wait ‘till ya see its big brother,” said Scallywag.
“Earthship Awesome,” came t
he voice of their escort. “Prepare for departure from hyperspace.”
The escorts angled for a large ringed structure facing the gravity shadow of the planet. A window out of hyperspace formed within it. Jack and the escorts flew through the opening and back into the normal dimension of space.
A warm yellow sun and an Earth-sized planet were before him. The planet was unlike anything he’d ever seen (though admittedly, he hadn’t seen all that many planets in his lifetime). It had a great deal of blue ocean on its surface, but it also had extremely large land masses that were littered with lights and signs of civilization visible even from space. Two huge rings comprised of the tethered defense platforms encircled the planet, one horizontal and the other vertical, ensuring that any ship that came remotely close at any angle would surely be blown to bits.
To his right, Jack saw a massive space station in close orbit to the planet, much bigger than Starbase Sirius but shaped in the same fashion. More capitol ships patrolled the area, and even more drones. All over, he saw hyperspace windows opening within mechanical rings as various spaceships entered and exited the dimensions in an orderly fashion, Defense Matrix clusters all keeping a close eye on them as they came and went.
“That is Megabase Cygnus,” said Professor Green, pointing at the space station. “The newest and largest Imperial Space Station in the universe.”
“Wow,” said Jack, genuinely impressed at the sight of it. “That thing is practically as big as a Deathlord Mothership.”
“Indeed,” replied Green. “It houses a hundred full wings of drone fighters, as well as thirty manned wings. Each arm of the station is equipped with Titan-level plasma cannons and Deathscream missile launchers. Not to mention multiple Alpha Force squadrons and megalasers.”
Jack didn’t know what any of that meant, but it certainly sounded impressive. He kept an eye on his sensor read-outs and viewscreen as the escort ships brought them closer to the planet. There was a lot of activity going on around them. It seemed as though spaceships were constantly leaving and landing on the planet. Jack remembered what Scallywag had said about Omnicron being a hyperspace hub. He could only guess that was the explanation for the sheer amount of starship traffic he was witnessing.
His read-out beeped as it received a signal from his escorts, giving him atmospheric entry instructions and trajectory. As they approached, Jack saw the massive continent before him growing larger, and more details came into view. It seemed as though the bulk of the landmass was covered with structures, as grey areas marked with various geometric lines far outstripped the green areas of vegetation.
Re-entry began, and the viewscreen filled with flames. Jack kept a careful eye on his displays to make sure his ship wasn’t melting. He’d never actually flown his ship into atmosphere before, and he suddenly felt quite nervous. But the instructions he’d received seemed to be doing the trick, and his ship apparently had no problem entering a planet’s atmosphere unharmed.
When the flames had subsided and the cloud-cover parted, Jack gazed wide-eyed at the viewscreen before him as Capitol City came into full view. Jack had seen images of places like New York and Los Angeles before. Having never left River Heights, he’d never experienced an actual city, but he had some idea of how big those places were. What he saw now put them all to shame.
For as far as his eyes could see, there was nothing but buildings – just a sprawling metropolis covering the landscape, different tiers of which extended from the buildings like some strange multi-layered architectural maze. Huge towers jutted into the sky, taller than any buildings he’d ever imagined, some reaching up almost to the clouds. Parts of the towers sported gigantic digital images on their sides, which alternated between logos, billboard ads, and commercials.
At the center of the city stood the largest tower, a massive, three-sided golden structure which climbed into the heavens. It ended in a pyramid, which had the massive holographic image of an all-seeing eye within it. The top floors sported a large digital crimson banner, emblazoned with the golden orb-within-an-orb insignia of the Regalus Empire.
“Holy cow,” Jack muttered under his breath. Anna had described to him how Capitol City looked, but he’d never truly grasped what it would really be like until that very moment.
“Well, my boy,” said Green excitedly. “What do you think?”
Jack smiled nervously, unable to take his gaze away from his new home.
“I’m definitely not in Ohio anymore,” he said.
Chapter 3
Jack shifted uncomfortably on his feet as he, Scallywag, Heckubus, and Grohm all milled around in the forward boarding bay of the Earthship. Beyond the ship’s door was a new world, and a new life, just waiting to greet him. He had thought about this moment for an entire month, but now that it was here, it almost didn’t seem real. What would this world be like? Where would he live? Did they have hamburgers here? Would he have to go back to school? What was he going to do for money?
Jack took a deep breath and tried to calm his nerves. He guessed if worse came to worst, he could always live on his ship. It could provide him with anything he needed to survive day-to-day. Though he did wonder if he’d be allowed to keep it parked at the massive spaceport the escort ships had led him to. Somehow, he didn’t think so. The spaceport was gigantic, so big it almost felt like it was the size of a small city itself. They’d been directed to a private area of the spaceport where Jack had set the ship down, only to have a massive domed hangar rise up from the ground and form around them.
And now, all they were waiting for was Anna. She’d be the one to introduce them to her people and recount what they’d all done. But she seemed to be taking her time coming to join them. Professor Green had gone to check on her, which left the rest of the group waiting anxiously to disembark.
“I cannot believe I’m back on this blasted planet,” muttered Heckubus as he paced back and forth. “I swore to myself the only time I’d return would be to either conquer it or wipe it from existence.”
“You’ve been here before?” Jack asked.
“Enough to despise it on every level imaginable,” replied the robot.
“Yeah, I ain’t exactly had a ton o’ good experiences here meself,” grumbled Scallywag. “And that was without announcing me presence to the entire bloody government.”
“Would you guys relax?” said Jack. “These are the good guys. We’re safe here. We’re all gonna be heroes, remember?”
“Earthman,” replied Scallywag, “ya ain’t ever really dealt with Regals before, so I’m gonna give ya a bit o’ advice. Whatever it is yer expecting… best ta adjust yer expectations.”
“Oh, stop being such a buzzkill,” said Jack. “We’ve got Anna on our side. She’s gonna take care of us. All of us. You can at least expect that much, can’t you?”
“Regardless of how this plays out,” said Heckubus, “I just want you all to know that I’ve despised every last second I was forced to spend with you lot, and if I ever see any of you again, it shall be far too soon. Oh, and just because we’ve had previous dealings, do not expect any mercy when the revolution comes.”
Scallywag and Jack gave Heckubus the evil eye. Even Grohm grunted his displeasure at the remark. “No need to get so mushy on us, buddy,” muttered Jack.
“Ya plannin’ on leaving us, robot?” Scallywag asked. “Please, oh please, say yes.”
“I have far too many dastardly deeds to be carried out to concern myself with the likes of you lot any further,” said Heckubus. “I would strongly advise none of you come looking for me. Otherwise, the consequences could be dire.”
“Don’t worry, rustbucket,” said Scallywag. “As soon as possible, I’m off ta get me ship and get back ta me own life. Good riddance to ya.”
“Wait,” said Jack. “You mean, you guys are just planning on leaving me?”
“Nothing personal, lad,” said Scallywag. “But I got a life o’ me own I’m eager ta get back to.”
“As do I,” said Heckubus. “Th
e universe isn’t going to rule itself with an iron fist, I’m sure you’re aware.”
Jack suddenly felt conflicted. A part of him had known that once they’d all arrived on Omnicron, there was nothing keeping the group he’d come to know so well together, but he also kind-of assumed they’d stick around. He and Anna had debated long and hard about telling them about Khoruhar and their mission to save all the planets the Deathlords had already destroyed. Jack had wanted to share his revelation with everyone, but Anna cautioned him to keep it a secret. Despite his companions’ virtues, they were still a motley crew, and she wasn’t sure it was wise to trust them with such an important piece of information.
But they were Jack’s friends, no matter how “unorthodox” they might be. He’d trusted them with his life, and they hadn’t let him down. Surely he could trust them with his mission? After all they’d been through together, Jack just couldn’t imagine going on another adventure without them. “Listen… you guys can’t leave yet,” Jack said, finally making the decision to tell them the truth. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you all about…”
At that moment, Anna and Professor Green appeared on the teleportation platform of the boarding bay. Jack instantly lost his train of thought the minute he saw the Princess. She didn’t look like the Anna he knew – the pretty girl-next-door from West Virginia. Now, she actually looked like a Princess! She was dressed in a golden sequined gown, a short train behind her and long sleeves flaring out at the wrists to hide her hands. Her shoulders were exposed, and her golden hair was pulled up in an elegant bun. She was even wearing make-up – bright red lipstick and golden eyeshadow, which glittered in the light. When she walked, she moved with such grace and poise, she almost seemed like she were floating. Jack couldn’t take his eyes off her.
Scallywag reached over and tapped Jack under his chin, closing his gaping mouth and snapping Jack out of the trance that had suddenly come upon him. Anna approached the group, Professor Green at her side, smiling his big toothy grin. “I say!” said Green. “So good to be home! I’m really looking forward to not being shot at constantly, aren’t all of you? I cannot wait to get back to my boring old life.”
Earthman Jack vs. The Secret Army (Earthman Jack Space Saga Book 2) Page 4
