~~~~~
A cool feeling filled his stomach and Jacobi was wrest from unconsciousness once again. His entire body was on fire. It was a pain unlike any pain he’d felt before, but pain wasn’t always a bad thing. Pain meant that he was still alive, somehow.
“He’s coming to, Sir.” An unfamiliar voice shouted from what seemed like miles away.
Suddenly a spike of pain was driven into his side. The lingering darkness vanished and Jacobi rolled to his side with his eyes wide open. He gasped for breath and his body trembled in pain.
They appeared to be in a clearing surrounded by a perimeter of dense brush and, further back, a wall of trees. Not too far in the distance Jacobi could see the twisted wreckage that was once the Sharpfin and the scar that it left as it had crashed into the ground.
Gabgoblin’s agents were crawling all over the crash site. Were they looking for something? Had Sara and Charles somehow evaded capture?
Jacobi’s hopeful thoughts were cut short when a familiar voice filled the air: “G’mornin’ boy.” It was Gabgoblin. “I trust ye can ‘ear me?”
He circled around and lashed out with his foot. It connected with Jacobi’s shoulder and he rolled back onto his back. “Ye’d be wise ta answer me when I’m talkin’ te ye, boy.”
Jacobi’s body trembled again and a hoarse cry escaped from his lips. Gabgoblin laughed.
“Ye’ve disappointed me, boy.” Jacobi heard the dirt crumble beneath Gabgoblin’s shoes as he paced back and forth. “I really did think that ye might be the one ta take over for me.”
The sound of his pacing stopped and Jacobi could practically feel his cold gaze boring into him. “But I guess I was wrong.” Jacobi heard the familiar sound of Gabgoblin rustling through his coat, the click of the lighter and the sizzling of the cigar as Gabgoblin drew on it. “An’ one more ting,” He returned to the limited space within Jacobi’s sight. “Just what were ye plannin’ on doin’ with this?” He opened his palm and the hard drive dropped and bounced on the end of its lanyard.
That was it. Even if he somehow escaped, Gabgoblin had retrieved the evidence. In the end it would be his word against Gabgoblin’s, and he already knew how that would play out.
“Poor Jacobi, it looks like this is the end of the line. Doesn’t it?” The voice in the back of his mind croaked. “Are you in too much pain to think, Captain?” The voice continued in a mocking tone. “I’ll give you a hint: We’re not out of options quite yet.”
A wave of pain ran through Jacobi and he realized something. He was alive. Had Gabgoblin saved him just to gloat? Knowing the tyrant, it wasn’t too far-fetched. Perhaps he planned on making an example of Jacobi. If any slave was capable of escaping it would have been him.
“Nanogel…” The word attempted to escape from Jacobi, but a dry croak was all that he was able to produce. That’s what the cool feeling in his stomach was! Hundreds of microscopic nanobots encased in a disinfectant gel. Once they enter the body they run a complete scan and provide first-aid to the best of their ability.
“Bingo. If anything they’ll keep you from bleeding out, but I imagine that the pain-killers will set in soon. Do you have a plan?”
Gabgoblin resumed his pacing and finally spoke again: “It breaks my heart. I took ye in, raised ye like ye were my own and this,” He waved toward the city where pillars of black smoke rose into the sky. “This is how ye repay me?”
“But ye know,” He took another drag from his cigar. “I always thought ye were smarter than this.” He stopped pacing. “Ye shoulda known that a Sharpfin wouldn’ make it very far out in space. What exactly were ye plannin’ on accomplishin’?”
Jacobi felt his spirits soar. Gabgoblin didn’t know about the Outrunner! Not only that but, just as the voice had said, Jacobi’s pain was starting to disappear. “If Sara and Charles are still out there and still alive, we still might have a chance…”
“That’s the spirit! Now let’s ju-”
“Get away from him!”
Charles stood in front of the wrecked ship, the fire roared behind him and all of Gabgoblin’s men were lying at his feet.
Charles looked like he was unharmed, but Jacobi couldn’t quite be happy at his appearance. He was still unable to move without being overwhelmed with pain and in his current state he’d be nothing but a burden.
“Hang in there Captain, I’ll get you out of this.”
Gabgoblin looked quizzically at Jacobi.
In the same moment that Gabgoblin’s attention left Charles, a giant ball of flame leaped from the wreckage and flew at him. The fireball slammed into an invisible wall and dispersed before it could make it to the goblin.
The air warped and twisted and a creature materialized before Gabgoblin. It charged forward with incredible speed and closed the gap between Gabgoblin and Charles in mere seconds. The alien leaped into the air and delivered a swift strike to the side of Charles’ head before the Vitalizer could even react.
Charles fell to the floor but didn’t pass out. He grabbed onto the alien’s arms and surrounded them in a tempest of flames. Jacobi couldn’t see what happened next, but when it was over Charles was on the ground, crumpled in a smoldering heap.
The alien, that Jacobi recognized as one of the Tel’vivim, picked Charles up by the throat and pulled his arm back to deliver the finishing blow. Gabgoblin whistled and before the alien could strike he dropped Charles and disappeared in a cloud of dark-blue smoke. He reappeared beside Gabgoblin in an instant.
Jacobi took in the unreal sight of the alien standing before him. It was tall. At least a head taller than Charles. Its skin was a dark brown and slightly transparent. A once-milky-white exo-skeletal armor covered a great portion of its body and at each of the alien’s elbows, knees and shoulders the armor branched out into spikes. The spikes were also present at the tips of its six fingers and four toes, but after his scrap with Charles most of the armor was scorched with black marks.
The alien’s head was completely encased in the white-chitin, save for two holes for its glowing green eyes which glared menacingly at Jacobi. Two curled-horns grew from the back of the creature’s skull and complemented the alien’s sinister look.
Gabgoblin cackled. “Surprised, aren’t ye boy?” A smug smile had formed on his lips. “I didn’t think ye ever noticed him. He’s been by my side since before I took ye out o’ that slave-house.”
The alien chattered in a series of clicks and hisses that Jacobi couldn’t understand, but Gabgoblin did. He nodded in response. The alien moved forward, grabbed Jacobi by the throat - just as it had picked up Charles - and lifted him into the air.
“Xal’por ‘ere is one of the top assassins in the business.” Gabgoblin boasted. “It’s not surprisin’ that ye never noticed ‘im.”
The alien tightened his grip on Jacobi’s throat and two of its dagger-like fingers dug deep into Jacobi’s neck.
A hoarse cry escaped from Jacobi as he struggled to breathe.
Gabgoblin laughed. “I ‘ope yer not expectin’ a quick an’ painless death. I ‘ad my men save yer life jus’ so I could make an example of ye. No one’ll even think of double crossin’ me after they see what I do ta ye.” He stroked his chin. “I’ll start by makin’ ye watch yer friend over there die a slow an’ painful death.”
Jacobi’s unfocused eyes detected movement far behind Gabgoblin. Was this another chance at escape?
“You know…” The alien’s claws made it difficult to speak but Jacobi gritted his teeth and spoke with a grin. “I’m getting tired…” His breath came in small gasps, but this was something that he decided that he had to say. Even if it was the last thing he ever said. “I’m getting really tired of hearing your pompous banter.” He was happy. This is was the first time that he’d ever talked to Gabgoblin in such a rude manner and it made him incredibly happy, despite his morbid situation. “If you could wrap this up…” Gabgoblin was seething with rage. The snarl fixed on his face told Jacobi that the slow and painful death that he was p
romised might not happen quite as slow as planned. He attempted to laugh but coughed instead.
Xal’por tightened his grip even more and breathing became quite a chore, but Jacobi continued: “I’ve got a date with a lovely young woman, and I’d hate to make her wait.”
“The only people ye’ve got a date with are the demons in Hell!”
Xal’por leveled his free hand and flattened his fingers to create a spear. He cocked his elbow back. All that stood between Jacobi and the great beyond was an order from the little man who was stamping around in frustration. He obviously wanted Jacobi dead, and with all due haste, but he also wanted to make a spectacle of the slaying of the man who had tried to escape.
This hesitation was what Jacobi was counting on.
A shard of ice sliced through the air and impaled Gabgoblin’s shoulder. He fell to the ground. His expression was a mask of pure shock.
Xal’por threw Jacobi to the ground and ran to his master’s side.
Unlike Charles, Sara had attacked from the shadows. Hopefully she was already on the move. Xal’por was well trained, his ability to evade notice for all these years left Jacobi with no doubt about it, it would only take him a few seconds to determine from where the attack had been made.
Jacobi struggled to his feet. The nanobots were doing well to keep the pain in his abdomen under control, but the new pain in his neck made his head spin.
A second shard of ice flew into the fray and dug itself into Xal’por’s knee, right between the two sections of armor-like chitin. The alien let loose a string of clicks and hisses and pulled the ice from its leg.
He roared and took off sprinting towards Sara’s last position. It looked as if the alien’s speed was greatly affected by the wound, but he was still incredibly fast.
Jacobi’s balance wavered but he stayed up right. Was she able to move away quick enough?
A third shard flew from behind the alien and struck him in the back. Unfortunately his armor took the brunt of the blow. He quickly changed directions and charged the area of the latest attack.
Two more shards flew from two different directions. The first grazed the twisted horn on the back of the alien’s skull, but the second flew straight into the back of his already-injured knee. He fell to one knee and looked around. Fluorescent green blood oozed down his leg, Jacobi could tell that this new injury was serious.
Sara’s skill at manipulating ice far exceeded what Jacobi had thought. If she kept this up she might actually win against the assassin.
“But how much longer can her synapses hold out? Surely she hasn’t fully recovered from earlier.”
“Shut it, you.” Jacobi wheezed as he struggled to stay on his feet. Talking to himself in his head never seemed odd to him, but addressing the voice aloud almost made Jacobi sound insane.
Gabgoblin squirmed on the ground, tightly holding his shoulder, meanwhile, Xal’por had freed his leg of the ice and resumed his hunt. He limped across the field at a determined pace. Had he finally located Sara?
He reached the edge of the clearing and reached into the bushes. Like clockwork Sara burst from the shrubs and sent a new spear flying at the alien.
Xal’por dodged the ice and fell into a crouch. His foot flew out from under him and connected with Sara’s stomach.
She slammed into the floor, but quickly recovered by rolling to her feet. She went to ready another spear of ice but froze as she stared down the barrel of Xal’por’s weapon.
It was over.
“No!” Jacobi lunged forward, but there was nothing that he could have done. The world spun and Jacobi’s face met the floor as his footing failed him.
The sickening sound of the rifle’s blast twisted Jacobi’s stomach and tears rolled down his dirt-caked face. He struggled to prop himself up on his arms, hoping that Sara had somehow protected herself, but his spirits sank and his heart caught in his throat as he saw Xal’por walking away from Sara’s limp body.
The assassin’s armor was covered in a mix of red and green blood, his eyes fixed menacingly on Jacobi. The alien’s chatter continued as he made his way to Jacobi, the rifle tightly clenched in his grasp.
As dire as his situation seemed, Jacobi couldn’t help but stare at Sara, and the shell of ice that had slowly started forming around her. The assassin continued forward, unaware of the new threat building behind him.
Jacobi crawled backwards as Xal’por closed in on him. The alien aimed the gun at Jacobi and curled his finger around the trigger. Jacobi watched helplessly as Xal’por’s finger slowly tightened around the trigger. At the last second Jacobi tightly clamped his eyes shut. He heard an explosion and felt water rain down on him.
Jacobi’s eyes sprung open. The gun had become encased in ice. Ice which had began to encase the alien’s hand as well.
Xal’por waved his arm to the side and emitted a sound that could only be a scream. The ice slowly began to climb up his arm and the alien did the only thing that could save him.
His chitin-covered fingers sliced through the unprotected skin at his elbow with ease and the bright green blood poured from his new, self-inflicted wound.
He roared as he turned and squared off with the effigy of blood-stained ice.
Jacobi couldn’t believe that the thing that Xal’por was fighting head-to-head with was actually Sara.
Xal’por landed a kick to the side of her head, but she was unfazed. She lashed out with an icy arm and nearly broke a tree in half when the alien evaded her punch.
Jacobi stared in awe as the ice-clad Sara put the highly skilled assassin on the defensive with brute strength alone.
Xal’por had no trouble landing kick after kick, but nothing seemed to slow Sara’s advance. The alien jumped backwards and crouched low to the ground. Sara rushed forward and Xal’por roared once again as he tackled the icy warrior to the ground.
Jacobi didn’t even notice the assassin pull out the weapon he now wielded, nor did he see from where the weapon came. Xal’por smashed the butt of the new gun against the ice but it had no effect.
Sara swung at the alien and he narrowly avoided the attack by leaping backwards off of her. She got to her feet and he leveled his weapon. He fired without hesitation and even the entire clip was only able to crack the icy-armor.
Xal’por pulled the trigger once more, but when nothing happened he discarded the weapon and charged forward. With a series of rapid kicks he was able to shatter the left half of the icy shell that had taken over Sara.
She swung at him with her remaining armored-arm but was unable to land a hit. The alien fell back and his remaining forearm fell to the floor.
“She hit him?” Jacobi thought with wonder, but he quickly realized: “No, that’s-”
Xal’por brought his arm up to level, a flurry of bullets exploded from the hidden gun and ravaged the side of Sara’s body that had been exposed. The remaining ice-armor shattered and Sara’s body crumpled to the dirt.
Xal’por turned once more to Jacobi. His forearm had somehow reattached itself and he brought out a small knife. Although Jacobi couldn’t understand the clicks and hisses that the alien spoke in, he understood that the assassin was probably telling him how much he’d enjoy carving him to bits, especially after how much trouble Charles and Sara had given him.
“Not him!” Gabgoblin cried from the floor. He had gotten to his knees and removed the ice from his shoulder. “I want him alive…” He was breathing quite heavily, apparently he wasn’t accustomed to physical pain.
The assassin started to reply when a hand closed around his chitin-masked head. Jacobi had to do a double-take due to the size of the hand, but it quickly donned on him: Lawrence had arrived to save the day.
Xal’por scratched at the giant-hand with his chitin-claws but Lawrence grabbed his remaining arm and ripped it from the alien’s body.
Xal’por’s screams were muffled by Lawrence’s hand, but they didn’t last long. Lawrence effortlessly lifted the assassin into the air and swung his feet into
his free hand. The giant-man brought the alien into the air and broke him over his knee like a twig.
The alien’s body fell to the floor and the empty black sockets in the cracked-chitin stared at Jacobi. Lawrence’s strength was terrifying.
“Wh-who the Hell’re you?” Gabgoblin screamed, but Jacobi barely heard him over Lawrence’s telepathic voice.
“Stand, Jacobi.” The words echoed in his head and he tried his best to obey them.
The world bobbed as Jacobi struggled to keep his balance. His neck was on fire and the pain in his stomach had started to return. His entire body trembled as he stood in the center of the clearing.
Gabgoblin’s men were strewn about near the wreckage of the Sharpfin, Xal’por’s body lay at Jacobi’s feet and Lawrence had gathered Sara and Charles into his arms. Gabgoblin was gone.
“Come. We must make haste.”
Jacobi looked up at Lawrence with empty eyes. He knew what was going on but his body had started to fail him. Shock was starting to set in.
“Jacobi!” The voice was loud. Almost as if someone had set a megaphone inside of his head and screamed into it. The veil of mist that had started to set was completely blown away and he looked back at Lawrence.
“Charlie is waiting for us.”
“W-” It hurt to speak but he remembered that he could communicate without words. “What about Gabgoblin?”
“I’ve disabled the Bigeye, he’ll no longer be a threat to us.”
Jacobi nodded and without any further delay Lawrence led the way to the hangar.