Earthman Jack vs. The Secret Army (Earthman Jack Space Saga Book 2)

by Matthew Kadish

  “Have you tried engaging the shock collars—”

  “DO YOU THINK I’D BE CALLING IF I HADN’T???” shrieked the Lieutenant over the sound of something exploding. “GET ALPHA FORCE DOWN HERE! GET THEM DOWN HERE RIGHT—”

  Just then the transmission went dead.

  “Oh… that can’t be good,” muttered Kyler as he brought up the city surveillance feed on his monitor for the grid from which the Lieutenant had radioed. Sure enough, there were two Rognoks wreaking havoc on the streets, smashing, punching, crushing, and throwing pretty much everything in sight. Kyler sighed, then typed his password and key code into his station. “Initiate Alpha Force rapid response deployment, authorization Zetta-Rodger-Wooloo-5-4-1,” he said. “Deploy to Capitol City, grid 80-G-A1.”

  “Confirmed,” the A.I. at his console replied. “Alpha Force deployed.”

  Kyler called up his surveillance feed on the big monitor in the room, turning to the other crewmen working at adjacent stations. “Hey, fellas!” he called out. “Alpha Force has just been deployed to fight two Berserkers in the Capitol!” All the faces of the men in the room lit up with interest as Grohm and Braak continued their rampage on the big monitor. Kyler hopped up on his chair. “I’ll now be taking bets on how long it takes for Alpha Force to take them down!” he called out. “Who wants to start at 60 seconds?”

  While the communications officers and technicians all clamored to place their bets, Megabase Cygnus launched three Alpha Force pods from one of its arms, sending them rocketing down through Omnicron’s atmosphere and straight toward the coordinates that had been provided to them.

  Far below, the scene outside of Miracle Max’s was one of chaos with downed Peacekeeper shuttles, crushed and mangled hovercars, and smashed security-bots littering the streets. The Peacekeepers fired their stun pistols as they hastily retreated from the rampaging Rognoks, but the blasts only seemed to further enrage Grohm and Braak rather than slow them down.

  Suddenly, an ear-splitting BOOM rang out. High up in the sky, the Alpha Force pods blew apart, a ring of exhaust powerfully erupting from each one and shooting out spectacularly in all directions. Nine armored Alpha Force Commandos descended, speeding toward the stratum below.

  Their jump packs engaged right before they hit the ground, slowing their descents. Each Commando landed with such force, the impact created a slight crater. They were clad head-to-toe in large, bulky suits of power armor. They were the Empire’s most highly trained soldiers, encased in its most advanced robotic exoskeletons – walking weapons, designed to neutralize any threat imaginable.

  Grohm and Braak turned to look at the new arrivals. All the members of Alpha Force stood, having quickly recovered from their entry. The domed helmets of their armor all turned to look at the Rognoks, their bright, glowing, yellow eye slits instantly scanning the hulking aliens and inputting that data into the armor’s combat system. Grohm grunted, not liking the look of the red-and-white armored soldiers who’d just entered the fray.

  In unison, every Alpha Force Commando reached behind himself. Each had a large rifle strapped to his back, but each also armed himself with a smaller SMG rifle, which was situated right next to its larger counterpart.

  “Attention,” the Alpha Force Commander said, his voice all business as it was projected from his armor. “You are in violation of Imperial law and civil ordinance. We have been authorized to subdue you. Surrender now, or we will be forced to engage.”

  Grohm eyed the imposing soldiers warily, the anger which had come upon him dissipating. He surveyed the destruction around him and frowned, suddenly aware of how he’d lost control. Feeling ashamed for his actions, he was about to surrender when Braak screamed.

  “BRAAK SMASH!!!” the Rognok cried.

  “Braak, no!” Grohm called out as the rust-colored Rognok leapt forward, directly toward the Alpha Force Commander.

  The Commander engaged his suit’s jump pack, the rocket boosters propelling him back and away from Braak as the Rognok punched the ground where the Commander had been not a moment earlier.

  “Engage hostiles,” the Alpha Force Commander ordered. “Cleared for all non-lethal ordinance.”

  The Alpha Force Commandos opened fire, their SMGs rapidly blasting out tiny yellow lasers that impacted Braak and Grohm. Grohm grunted as the projectiles peppered him, each one as painful as a full punch from Braak. He quickly grabbed the remains of a Peacekeeper hovercar and used it to shield himself from the bolts. Braak cried out as he, too, was assaulted with the yellow projectiles, but he continued to try to pursue the Commander.

  “Concussion grenades,” the Alpha Force Commander instructed.

  Two Alpha Force Commandos tossed round metal disks toward Braak, both of which landed at his feet and exploded. Braak stumbled, cradling his head with his hands from the paralyzing impact of the grenades.

  Grohm continued to back up as the Commandos pressed their attack. He saw them going for their grenades and threw the remains of the hovercar he was using as a shield at them. The hovercar impacted two of the Commandos, knocking them back, but a third continued to fire. Grohm scowled and turned, running to build up some speed and leaping high into the air to create some distance between him and the soldiers.

  “Target is on the move,” one of the Alpha Force Commandos reported.

  “Pursue,” the Commander directed. With that, four Alpha Force Commandos began chasing after Grohm, using their jump packs to leap into the air in order to keep up with him.

  “PUNY SOLDIERS!” Braak bellowed as he lumbered forward, still dazed from the concussion grenades. “BRAAK CRUSH YOU INTO THE GROUND!!!”

  “Containment net,” the Commander ordered.

  One of the Alpha Force Commandos shot an electrified net which wrapped its mesh around the hulking alien. Braak struggled against it, and he cried out in pain as the net’s intense voltage suddenly shot through him.

  “Paint the target,” the Alpha Force Commander dictated.

  One of the Alpha Force Commandos aimed the gauntlet of his armor at Braak, a precision laser target scope jutting from its top, sending an invisible laser beam toward the Rognok and locking his location into Alpha Force’s subspace-networked mainframe. “Target painted,” the Commando replied. “Orbital strike locked.”

  “Orbital strike engage,” the Alpha Force Commando ordered.

  High up above in the orbit of the planet, one of the hundreds of millions of orbital strike cannons on the ringed Planetary Defense Matrix adjusted its orientation to the coordinates transmitted, locking onto its target and firing a beam of compacted ionized yellow energy. Braak didn’t even have time to become aware of what had hit him before the energy descended upon him from the sky with the force of a plummeting meteor.

  When the beam cleared, Braak stood in a burned circle of concrete, wobbling unstably, his skin charred and smoking.

  “No… fair…” he muttered before collapsing to the ground, unconscious.

  “Target one is down,” announced the Alpha Force Commander as two more members of his squad quickly applied gravity bracers to Braak’s incapacitated body.

  “In pursuit of target two,” radioed the team chasing down Grohm. “This one is evasive.”

  “Moving to your location,” the Alpha Force Commander replied. “Slow him down.”

  “Rodger that.”

  Grohm continued leaping into the air, trying to put distance between himself and his pursuers, who were doggedly staying on his tail with the help of their jump packs. The Alpha Force Commandos brought up their shoulder-mounted mini-rocket launchers, firing a barrage of small missiles at Grohm in the middle of his next leap. The missiles all exploded at once, the chaff from the blasts catching Grohm off-guard and sending him crashing to the ground.

  The Alpha Force team all jumped into position around Grohm as he got to his feet. One of them fired an electrified containment net that landed on top of him before latching itself to the ground. Grohm cried out as jolts of electric pain shot thr
ough him. He struggled against the net, but its moorings to the ground were too strong for him to rip free.

  “Paint the target,” one of the Alpha Force members said.

  “Target painted. Orbital strike locked.”

  “Orbital strike engage.”

  Upon hearing the words of the Commandos, Grohm quickly punched into the ground with all his might, breaking the concrete beneath him enough to loosen the moorings of the net that had ensnared him. He quickly shrugged it off and dove out of the way just as the yellow beam of the orbital strike cannon hit, barely missing him.

  “Target evaded orbital strike,” an Alpha Force Commando reported. “This one has skills.”

  “Confirmed,” replied the Alpha Force Commander as he and his team were jumping in from their previous position. “Engage with graviton rifles. Put him down.”

  “Roger that,” the entire squad replied.

  Grohm was getting ready to take another leap to attempt to escape. Two Alpha Force members used one arm to shoot a grappling cable into the ground to anchor themselves. No sooner did Grohm leap into the air than they fired a grappler from their other arms, latching onto the Rognok’s feet. The grapplers brought Grohm’s momentum to a sudden stop, and he came crashing down to the ground.

  The Alpha Force Commander and his team landed around Grohm, pulling massive four-foot long rifles off their backs. A centrifugal ball at the rifle’s base whirred as it charged up, blue energy beginning to fill its long muzzle. The Commandos leveled the rifles at Grohm, just as the Rognok got to his feet.

  “Twenty percent charge,” the Commander ordered. “Fire.”

  The Alpha Force unit all fired their graviton rifles, sending invisible orbs of manipulated gravity, which distorted the area around them, rocketing toward Grohm. Grohm grunted from each impact, the muscles of his body rippling as they absorbed each painful blow, which would have crushed the bones of a normal man.

  “He’s still standing,” noted one of the Alpha Force members.

  “Again,” ordered the Commander.

  The light plimp sound of the graviton rifles firing rang out again as more gravity projections shot forth, hitting Grohm from all sides and causing him to stumble, bringing him to his knees.

  “Close in,” said the Commander. “Gravity bracers ready. Prepare to neutralize target.”

  Grohm gritted his teeth, anger and rage bubbling up inside him. The emotions coursing through his body pushed away the pain he was experiencing. With a burst of energy he leapt forward, his massive fist punching the nearest Alpha Force Commando. Grohm grabbed the Commando’s graviton rifle before the soldier flew backward from the blow, and the Rognok turned to the Commando closest to him and fired. The Alpha Force member was hit square in the chest, crying out as his breastplate armor crumpled inward and he was hurled backwards.

  “Rockets,” the Alpha Force Commander ordered.

  A bevy of small missiles fired from the squad’s shoulder-mounted launchers hit Grohm in a multitude of small explosions, dazing him.

  “Forty percent charge,” the Commander called out. “Fire!”

  The hum of the graviton rifles became louder. The Commandos all fired, the gravity projections slightly larger now and hitting Grohm straight on.

  Grohm cried out at the blows, the force of them knocking him far back into the air, causing him to drop his weapon. He impacted the side of a nearby building, leaving a cracked and dented impression in it, and dropped to his knees.

  “Containment net,” the Commander said.

  One of the Commandos shot another electrified containment net that pinned Grohm to the wall, causing him to grunt and cry out as the electric volts from the webbing shocked him.

  “Suppression darts,” the Alpha Force Commander ordered.

  The squad fired large darts from barrels mounted to their forearms. The darts latched onto Grohm, sending tendrils of even more intense electric charges snaking around him. Grohm screamed in pain as the Alpha Force Commander stepped up in front of him, the graviton rifle in the soldier’s hand whining loudly as he leveled it directly at Grohm’s face.

  “Fifty percent charge,” the Commander said. “Firing.”

  The point-blank blast hit Grohm directly in the face, pushing him back into the wall he was pinned against, causing it to crater to the point of giving way. Grohm’s world was spinning as he shook his head, forcing himself to gaze and growl at the Alpha Force Commander defiantly.

  “Target is still conscious,” the Commander reported. “Charging to 60%. Firing.”

  The Alpha Force Commander fired a second time. This blast sent Grohm through the wall and into the interior of the building. The Rognok flew through the furniture in the room, rolling until his body came to rest face up. His eyes were barely open, his head groggy. He could hear the Alpha Force unit enter and surround him as he struggled to get back to his feet, fighting to make his battered body respond to him.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” one of the Commandos said. “How is he still moving?”

  “This is a tough one, even for a Rognok,” the Alpha Force Commander said. “Gravity bracers. Now.”

  Before Grohm could do anything, the Alpha Force members locked the shackles onto his arms and ankles. As soon as they were engaged, they became so heavy, he couldn’t lift them. He was so weak, Grohm couldn’t even bring himself to struggle. All he could do was look up as the Alpha Force Commander took position over him.

  “Megabase Cygnus, this is Alpha Force 5,” the Commander said as he leveled his graviton rifle at Grohm’s face. “Target Two is down.”

  With that, the Commander fired, and Grohm’s world went black.

  Chapter 43

  Casgor sat in his office, gazing at his viewscreen which displayed the voting sheet of the Council of Elders, giving him a breakdown of how each Elder representative was slated to vote on the upcoming Evenstar offensive measure. He’d been able to bribe, cajole, or intimidate enough Elders so that he finally had a one vote advantage over the Evenstar alliance. Now, he did not wish to give Amadeus Evenstar any more time to win back any of the Elders who were still unsure about siding with the Skyborns. It was a risk, but he had made the decision to try to push the vote forward to press his advantage while he still had it.

  Casgor sighed and tapped his fingers on his executive desk. He gazed out at the long, windowed wall of his office that overlooked the city. Considering all he’d had to deal with in the days after the Evenstar assassination, he was beginning to feel confident once more that his plans were getting back on track. Armonto Virtuoso’s suggestions on how to carry out the orders from their secretive friend seemed to be starting off rather well.

  It had taken a bit of work to track down another Rognok, but like most that were still alive, they tended to work as mercenaries. All Casgor had needed to do was invite the brute to the place where the Earthman’s companion was known to frequent. Putting two Rognoks in such close proximity to one another – especially exiles – was a guarantee for violence. That gave Casgor the excuse he needed to get rid of not just one, but two of the beasts. Something which was sure to make his shadowy partner quite happy.

  Though he hadn’t been seen since the Princess returned to Omnicron, the robot known as Heckubus Moriarty was also on Casgor’s list of characters to dispatch. He’d found that an Agent Boone of the Imperial Intelligence Agency was the targeting officer assigned to tracking down the robot. All it took was a single call from his office to light a fire under the Agent’s rear. With a Director breathing down his neck, the Agent would be sure to double his efforts to find the robot. And once he did, Casgor had plans to dispose of the machine quickly.

  Finally, there was the pirate. Casgor had already reached out through back channels to Ambassador Truetone, floating the possibility of secretly handing Scallywag the Red over to the Visini government, which was sure to win him a few points with them, knowing how badly the Visini wanted the ruffian. He was merely waiting for a reply, which was sure to
come any day.

  The last step in isolating the Earthman was to impound his ship and hand it over to Virtuoso, which was already in the works. Though there was still the Professor to deal with, Armonto assured Casgor that he had that issue well in hand, and the Trundel would be dispatched with soon. Now, all that was left was to insulate the Princess and to keep the Earthman from getting access to her while Casgor’s dark ally worked his magic. If he could keep the Earthman at bay long enough to fully neutralize his friends, then taking him down wouldn’t be an issue.

  Such a fun little game we play, is it not? he thought to himself, allowing a smile to grow on his lips. We make all the pieces move how we want them, and before long, victory is ours. And oh, how I love to win…

  Casgor felt rather proud of himself. Soon, he knew that the Empire would crumble, and then the real game would begin. He found he was very much looking forward to that. He turned his gaze back to the display on his desk to check his schedule, when suddenly, there was a flash of blue light. Casgor looked up in surprise to see Jack standing in the middle of his office.

  “What the—” Casgor said, shocked at the Earthman’s sudden appearance.

  Jack looked as though he were about to speak when an alarm blared. “Unauthorized teleportation detected,” a voice in the office sounded. “Security protocol engaged.”

  Immediately, a thick blast door dropped from the entrance to the office, sealing the room shut. A shielded barrier formed around the window and walls, and the robotic sentries in the room turned toward Jack, the blaster cannons on their arms aiming right for him.

  “Whoa,” said Jack, obviously surprised at the response from his impromptu visit.

  “Blast it, Earthman!” spat Casgor. “What in the world do you think you’re doing?”

  “I need to talk to you,” said Jack. “It’s important!”

  “Then make an appointment!”

  “I tried!” replied Jack. “But you’re booked solid for six months, and no one would let me in to see you!”