[Galaxy Of Fear] - 06(21)

Tash looked worriedly at Eppon. “Why does he grow so quickly?”

Gog leered as he leveled his blaster. “You’ll never know.”

Zak and Tash looked around desperately, but there was nowhere to hide, no way to escape. They tensed, waiting for the shots that would end their lives. A second later, the sound of a blaster shot ripped through the air.

But it came from outside the ship.

It was followed by another, and another. Soon a storm of blaster bolts was pounding the cargo ship, making it shake on its landing gear.

“Look!” Deevee pointed out the transparisteel viewport.

Dozens of Imperial stormtroopers were closing in on the ship. Amid the crowds of white armor, the tall, dark figure of Darth Vader stood out.

“No!” Gog yelled. “No, no, no!”

The Shi’ido dashed toward the exit hatch with Eppon close behind him. Zak, Tash, and Deevee looked at each other blankly.

“He’s as frightened of Vader as we are,” Zak guessed. “That makes no sense,” Deevee observed. “They are all Imperials.”

“I guess that doesn’t necessarily make them friends,” Tash said.

They crept toward the exit hatch and found it open. Peeking around the edge, they looked outside.

Gog was standing beside the ship, with Eppon squatting beside him. Darth Vader stood a few meters away, a squad of stormtroopers at his back.

Vader’s deep, rasping voice boomed across the distance between them. “Give me the boy.”

“He’s mine!” Gog protested. “The Emperor put me in charge of Project Starscream! He is my weapon.”

Zak whispered, “It looks like Han was only part right. Vader wasn’t after the Rebels, but he wasn’t really after us, either. He wants Eppon!”

“Poor Eppon,” Tash said. “He’s just a tool they’re fighting over.”

Vader took a menacing step toward the Shi’ido. “He belongs to the Emperor. Give him to me.”

“Never!”

Vader raised a gloved fist. Gog started to choke, clawing helplessly at his throat. The Dark Lord intoned, “You are fortunate that the Emperor wants you alive, Gog. Otherwise, I would make you feel the true power of the Force.”

Vader dropped his hand, and Gog collapsed, gulping air.

“Take them both,” Vader ordered.

The stormtroopers rushed forward.

“Looks like Gog finally met his match,” Zak whispered. “At least he’ll never bother us again,” Deevee sighed. Tash’s eyes went wide. “Don’t be so sure!”

Still holding his half-crushed throat, Gog had managed to get to his knees. He pointed at Eppon and, in a rasping voice, wheezed, “Defend me! Defend me!”

Instantly, Eppon sprang at the advancing troopers. For a split second, the two humans and the droid wondered what one unarmed teenage-sized boy could do against the Emperor’s toughest soldiers. In the next second, their question was answered.

Eppon jumped on the nearest trooper and ripped his helmet off, exposing the soldier’s startled face. The moment Eppon’s hands touched the trooper’s skin, the soldier screamed. What happened next was so unbelievable, so horrifying, that even the battle-hardened stormtroopers cried out in terror.

The stormtrooper’s face turned to jelly. Then, with a loud, wet slurping sound, Eppon sucked the liquefied skin into himself. He simply absorbed the trooper’s face into his own body.

The rest of the stormtrooper quickly followed. Skin, bone, organs, everything, simply turned to liquid and was absorbed into Eppon.

Tash and Zak both gagged.

The trooper’s empty armor clattered to the ground as the other Imperials stared in disbelief. Eppon took advantage of their shock and attacked another trooper.

“I can’t look.” Tash shuddered.

“You have to,” Zak whispered. “Eppon’s growing!”

It was true. Absorbing the troopers made Eppon stronger. Before their eyes, he had another growth spurt, becoming taller and older. But that wasn’t all. This final growth must have triggered some other mutation in his body.

As Eppon grew, the purple blotch on his forehead spread quickly down his face and neck, covering his entire body in thick purplish scales. His head grew huge, his hair fell out, and on his skull, thick veins popped out. His arms, which had seemed human enough before, now grew long and crooked, with thick muscles that tore through the seams in his borrowed jumpsuit. The skin on his fingers cracked and thickened until his hands became claws. His eyes filled with a hungry red fire.

All the stormtroopers had frozen in momentary horror. Only Vader was unafraid. He raised his lightsaber and there was a sharp hum as he activated the blade.

As their leader strode forward, the stormtroopers went into action, too. A dozen blasters fired at once, and all of them struck Eppon.