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

by Matthew Kadish

“She ordered us to arrest you,” growled Rionknidis. “The ‘killing’ part is your choice.”

  Dang it, thought Jack. This was not turning out as he’d hoped. He took a step back and leaned in toward Heckubus. “Heckubus,” asked Jack quietly. “These guys are supposed to be the best fighters in the Empire. What are the odds we could actually beat them?”

  “By my calculations,” replied Heckubus, “approximately 3.4%.”

  “Margin of error?” grumbled Scallywag.

  “3.4%.”

  “I really hate your error margins, dude,” said Jack tersely.

  “Fear not, my friends,” said Shanks softly as he stepped forward, his walking staff lightly clicking on the floor. “The odds are more even than you know.”

  Shanks walked toward the Royal Vanguard, stopping equidistance between them and Jack’s group. “Commander,” he said. “I understand your objections. I understand your duty. But we are all on the same side. The side of the Empire. The side of Legacy Prime. And right now, Legacy Prime is in grave danger. I am asking you to trust me. Please.”

  “And why should I trust an oathbreaker?” Seqis replied. “You swore a vow, monk. A soulbound vow, just as we did. And yet, here you stand, among the Princess’s enemies.”

  “Believe it or not, these with whom I stand are the Princess’s only true friends at the moment,” Shanks said. “The vow I swore was to the survival and protection of Legacy Prime. That is my charge. That is my duty. That, remains steadfast, and unbroken.”

  “Not from where I stand,” Seqis said sternly, raising his warhammer and pointing it toward Shanks. “I will give you one final chance. Surrender now.”

  Shanks frowned. “I fear I cannot do that,” he said.

  “Then you leave me no choice,” Seqis replied.

  “No, Commander,” said Shanks sadly. “It is you who have left me with no choice.”

  Quicker than Jack had ever seen anyone move before, Shanks spun, swinging his staff. A shockwave rippled forth from the staff’s wide arc, rocketing forward. It hit all the members of the Royal Vanguard before they had a chance to react. The wave barreled into the robots behind them and into Armonto Virtuoso and Anna, sending all of them flying backward.

  The robots landed haphazardly about the room, while the four members of the Vanguard dropped heavily to the ground at the top of the stairs. Armonto was thrown against the machine that was attached to the Great Seal, and Anna tumbled across the floor, hitting the Great Seal’s wall hard enough to knock her unconscious.

  Shanks twirled his staff overhead and crouched into a defensive stance, one hand holding his staff across his back with the other outstretched in a guarded position, making him appear to Jack as though he were getting ready to do some crazy martial arts stuff. Jack and the others gaped in wide-eyed surprise at what had just happened.

  “Whoa,” Jack uttered.

  “My friends,” Shanks said. “My order believes violence is never the solution. Prepare yourselves to help me test that theory.”

  “Battle!” Grohm rumbled.

  “Oy, ya better believe it,” muttered Scallywag.

  Before anyone could make another move, Lugard had already recovered from the blow of the shockwave. He rolled forward and leapt at the edge of the stairs, raising his glowing sword high overhead as he descended upon Shanks.

  The monk quickly raised his staff, holding it with both hands above his head as Lugard swung his sword. A large, bright flare erupted as the two weapons collided with one another, Shanks’ elderwood staff somehow holding up against the deadly electrified blade of the Vanguard swordsman.

  The minute Lugard’s feet touched the ground, he began lashing out with his sword, his movements so fast and fluid it was almost as if he were performing a dance. Shanks quickly countered, using his staff to parry and deflect each strike, more bright flares erupting each time the weapons made contact.

  With an angry roar, Rionknidis pounced from the platform, his fist in the air. Shanks spun away just as the Tygarian punched the ground where the monk had been standing. Lugard pressed his attack while Rionknidis lashed out with the sharp claws of his fingers, swinging at Shanks with such speed that he was almost a blur. Shanks ducked and weaved between the strikes while fending off both attackers with his staff as he fell back from their assault.

  Rionknidis made a swipe for Shanks’ face, just missing as the monk barely ducked his attack in time. Before he could finish following through, Grohm’s massive hand clamped down on the Tygarian’s shoulder, the Rognok flinging him away. Rionknidis somersaulted in the air and spun around, landing on his feet and snarling at Grohm as the Rognok turned to face him.

  “I’ve never fought a Rognok before,” Rionknidis growled. “I hear you can take a lot of punishment.”

  “Grohm can deal a lot of damage, as well,” Grohm replied.

  “I live for damage,” Rionknidis said. “Think you can dish out more than me?”

  Grohm lumbered forward. “Grohm willing to find out.”

  Seqis saw Anna lying on the ground. “Princess!” he cried, rushing to her side. Dahuud glanced up, having recovered from the shockwave blast and saw Lugard dueling Shanks while Rionknidis fought with Grohm. She saw Jack and the others moving around the fighting, trying to get to the stairs leading up to the platform. She quickly leapt forward, gracefully landing with the poise of a feline predator. The group skidded to a stop when they saw her, Scallywag extending his arms to back his companions away.

  “Easy now, lass,” he said. “I don’t much care fer violence against females… unless of course they’re inta that type o’ thing.”

  Dahuud raised herself to a standing position, her eyes narrowing at Scallywag. “Oh, I am very much into that…” she whispered.

  “Uh-oh,” said Jack. “They say she only talks to the people she’s about to kill.”

  “That’s okay,” Scallywag said, drawing his blaster pistols. “This is a bloody boring conversation anyway.” Dahuud reached behind her and pulled out two small blades. Scallywag smirked. “Word o’ advice, lass,” he said. “Never bring a knife to a—”

  Quick as lightening, Dahuud flicked her wrists, the knives flying through the air, each one impacting the pistol Scallywag held in each hand so forcefully they sent them flying from his grasp, completely disarming him. Scallywag looked at his empty hands in disbelief as Dahuud smirked, manifesting two more throwing knives.

  “A knife fight?” Dahuud whispered.

  “Ah… kitten,” Scallywag muttered, fatalistically.

  “I’m not through talking to you,” whispered Dahuud. “Any of you.”

  Dahuud flung her knives toward the group. Jack and Green stumbled backward as one of the knives whizzed right by them. Scallywag grabbed Heckubus and pulled the robot in front of him, just as the knife Dahuud had meant for the pirate embedded itself in Heckubus’s breastplate.

  Heckubus looked down at the small throwing blade sticking out of him. “That… did not just happen,” the robot said.

  Scallywag hunched behind Heckubus as Dahuud threw two more blades at him, striking the robot in his shoulder and once more in his chest. Scallywag rushed to the side, holding Heckubus in front of him as Dahuud continued throwing her daggers.

  “You – you did not just use me as a sentient shield!” cried Heckubus indignantly.

  “Sorry, rustbucket,” murmured Scallywag as he hurriedly dashed the robot toward his pistol. “Desperate times and all…”

  Another one of Dahuud’s blade’s embedded itself in Heckubus’s chassis. “Oh, how you are going to pay for this, you jackanape!”

  “Remind me of that if we make it out o’ this alive, would ya?” growled Scallywag as he abandoned Heckubus and dove for his pistol. He somersaulted as he scooped up the blaster, two more of Dahuud’s throwing blades embedding themselves in the ground where he’d just been. Scallywag turned and fired, shooting the next blade that was headed straight for him right out of the air.

  Armonto Virtuoso clamor
ed back to his feet, eyeing the chaos that was currently in progress. “Robots!” he yelled. “Initiate attack protocol!”

  All around, the worker-bots that were still operational rose up. “Destroy. Destroy. Destroy,” they all droned, opening fire.

  Jack and the Professor ran from the plasma blasts, pulling their blasters and firing back at the robots. “Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!” cried Green. “Why am I not hitting anything???”

  “Because aiming is hard!” replied Jack, lamenting the fact that he seemed to be hitting very little, as well. “Heckubus! Do something! Shut these things down!”

  Heckubus rocked back and forth on the ground, his arms and legs sparking from where Dahuud’s knives were imbedded. “Be happy to,” he said. “If someone hadn’t gotten a knife thrown into my wireless transmitter device!!!”

  “What part o’ desperate times did ya not understand???” cried Scallywag as he scooped up his other blaster. He grunted as one of Dahuud’s blades sliced his arm as it shot by, and he fired directly at the Vanguard soldier, who deflected his blast with her dagger as easily as if she were swatting a fly.

  Scallywag dual-wielded his blasters, shooting one at Dahuud and the other at the knives she threw. Dahuud used one of her blades to deflect Scallywag’s blasts, continuing to manifest daggers with her free hand to throw at the pirate. She angled one of her deflections to shoot right back at Scallywag, and when he dodged, she threw a blade that caught him in the thigh, making it through the armor he wore.

  Scallywag grunted and stumbled back, falling to the floor. He looked up at Dahuud just as she threw another dagger aimed right for his face. Suddenly, the air in front of him rippled and a small brick wall appeared, Dahuud’s dagger bouncing off it. Before he knew what was going on, Scallywag found a metallic shield braced to his arm. He looked over to Shanks whose hand was outstretched toward him, manifesting the things for Scallywag’s aid before turning his attention back to Lugard, who intensified his attack on the monk.

  Professor Green cried out as a plasma blast from one of the Maguffyn robots impacted his shoulder. He fell to the ground as the robots began closing in. Jack rushed to the Professor’s side, firing at the robots, striking the ones closest to them. “Professor!” Jack exclaimed. “Are you alright?”

  Green glanced at his shoulder, the armor there smoking and scorched. “I think my armor caught most of it,” he said. “But Great Scott! That hurts!”

  “There are too many!” Jack lamented as he fired frantically at the oncoming androids. “There’s just too many!”

  Suddenly, the air before them shimmered and an energy barrier went up in front of Jack and the Professor, shielding them from the incoming plasma blasts. Jack looked over toward Shanks whose hand was outstretched, right before the monk flipped into the air to avoid a sweeping low-blow from Lugard’s sword.

  Shanks quickly reached out his hand toward the largest cluster of Maguffyn androids and created a gravity pulse. A rippling sphere manifested among the androids, propelling them in all directions as it rapidly expanded before fading away. The robots impacted the seating area of the arena, breaking apart, most of them crushed by the pulse before they’d even hit the ground.

  Lugard slid toward the monk, closing the distance between them, and swung his sword upward. Shanks caught the blow with his staff, another flare sparking as their weapons clashed. Lugard spun back to his feet and continued striking at Shanks as the two men continued their deadly dance.

  “How are you able to fight so well?” complained Lugard. “You’re supposed to be a monk!”

  “How are you so closed-minded?” replied Shanks. “You’re supposed to be a Paragon.”

  A roar sounded throughout the chamber as Rionknidis pressed his attack against Grohm. Grohm was far too slow to land many strikes against the Tygarian, whose fists flew out so fast his arms were a perpetual blur. Grohm grunted as each blow Rionknidis threw found its mark, causing him to stumble and cringe.

  “One hundred!” growled Rionknidis as he landed another hit against Grohm. “300! 650! 899! 970! 1200! MAXIMUM DAM—”

  Grohm thrust his head forward, catching Rionknidis off-guard with a headbutt that dazed the Tygarian. Grohm wasted no time punching him across the face with a powerful right hook. Rionknidis stumbled, and Grohm grabbed him by the ankle, swinging him over his head and smashing him onto the floor. Grohm performed that move a couple more times before tossing the Tygarian into the air and punching him as hard as he could, sending Rionknidis flying backwards, crashing into the amphitheater-like seating nearby.

  Rionknidis shook his head, snarling as he climbed back up to his feet. The Tygarian leaned his head to the side, cracking his neck, as he hopped back down to the center level, baring his teeth and growling at Grohm. “Infernal ROGNOCK!” roared Rionknidis like the very species’ name was a swear word. “I will smash you to pieces with my fists and use what’s left to clean my teeth!”

  “Give it best try, Rion K Nidis,” Grohm snarled.

  Uncontrollable rage flared in the Tygarian’s eyes as he crouched, getting ready to pounce. He balled up his right fist, the air around it starting to shimmer. “THE K IS SILENT!!!” he screamed as he leapt toward Grohm.

  He raised his fist into the air, poised to strike, as his powerglove manifested around it. The oversized gauntlet surged to life, barely able to contain the power within it as its various moving parts took shape, clinking and clacking into place. It emitted a low whine as it reached its full power, tendrils of electricity dancing around it as the powerglove rippled with the fury of its full and unadulterated might in preparation for impact.

  Grohm stood his ground as Rionknidis swung, catching the fist of the gauntlet in his massive, meaty hand. A thunderous BOOM reverberated upon impact as the gauntlet’s energy exploded outward in a golden shockwave. Grohm’s body quivered, his skin rippling from the force that had just been unleashed upon it, but he did not falter. Instead he just gazed into Rionknidis’s surprised eyes, making it clear the Rognok was not impressed.

  “Not to Grohm it isn’t,” Grohm replied, squeezing the gauntlet so it crushed like an aluminum can around Rionknidis’s hand, causing the Tygarian to cry out in pain.

  Grohm raised his free hand high in the air, balling it into a fist. He roared as he brought it crashing down atop Rionknidis’s head, hitting so powerfully, Grohm’s blow followed through and forced the Tygarian all the way to the ground, leaving him splayed upon the floor, practically seeing stars.

  Armonto Virtuoso looked down upon the battle playing out before him with growing concern. He limped toward Seqis, who was kneeling at Anna’s side, trying to bring her back to consciousness. “Commander!” Armonto sneered. “Do something!”

  “A Vanguard must be at the Princess’s side at all times,” Seqis replied. “My sworn companions can handle things.”

  “It doesn’t look like they’re handling things!” hissed Armonto. “From where I stand, it looks like they’re losing!”

  Seqis turned and surveyed the battle. Shanks was now pressing the attack against Lugard, pushing the swordsman back. Scallywag was using his shield to block Dahuud’s knives, releasing volley after volley of blaster fire upon her, forcing her to retreat to a defensive position. Jack and Green were hunkered down behind their shielded cover, blasting away at the few androids that were still functional enough to attack. And Grohm was atop Rionknidis, pounding away at the Tygarian’s face.

  Seqis frowned. “The Princess is injured,” he said. “I cannot abandon her when she is this vulnerable.”

  “I am not vulnerable,” he heard Anna say. He looked down, the Princess now wide awake, her eyes hard and cold. “I am, however, extremely… displeased.”

  “Your Highness!” said Seqis with relief. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” she said. “Help me to my feet.” Seqis did as commanded. Anna looked out at the fighting that was taking place, her face one big scowl. “Commander,” she said. “End this!”

  “By
your command,” Seqis replied. He turned, gripping his great warhammer tightly as he started to walk down the stairs.

  A queer wind began to blow, causing Seqis’s crimson cape to billow as he descended the stairs, the lights in the room seeming to dim. The massive head of his hammer began to radiate a golden aura, and with each step he took, the air around the warrior seemed to shimmer as though it were being distorted by an intense heat.

  Seqis waded through the melee with purpose, past the sounds of fighting and the plasma bolts that shot by. When he had arrived at the center of it all, he raised his hammer high over his head, a tempest of clouds swirling far above. He called out in the language of the Ancients, his voice booming as though the word of God itself were being spoken.

  “Oyarsa… GRAPTHAAR!!!”

  A deafening clap of thunder rang out, lightening streaking down from the clouds on high, infusing his mighty warhammer with a celestial energy. The old warrior knelt as he brought the hammer crashing down, striking the floor. The ground rumbled, erupting in concentric circles around him like ripples in a pond, a shockwave of golden energy raging forth with furious speed. The shockwave from the force of the impact lifted all those around him into the air and then sent them flying away like ragdolls.

  Jack hit the ground hard, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to lose his blaster pistol as he tumbled. The impact from the shockwave made his entire body ache and his head spin. He tried to recover quickly, looking up to see Seqis rise to his feet in the middle of the chamber, the clouds the warrior had manifested fading away and the lights returning to normal once more.

  Scallywag rolled over, still dazed from the blow he’d received. He reached for one of the blasters he’d dropped nearby when Dahuud’s foot stomped on his hand. He cried out as she put a knee against his chest, holding a curved dagger against his throat. “Not one more twitch,” she whispered.

  Shanks quickly kicked back up to his feet, clutching his side from the impact he’d sustained when the shockwave had hit him. He reached out for his staff, which flew back to his hand. Just as he was about to turn and face the Commander, multiple tendrils of purple energy assaulted him. Shanks cried out, his body going stiff and ridged as he twitched uncontrollably against the electric agony that was being directed at him.