Vader ignited his lightsaber.
Zak and Tash stared, entranced by the battle, until Hoole and Deevee touched their shoulders. “Run,” Hoole said quietly.
They turned toward the exit, but before they could take even one step, the doors crashed closed.
“What!” Zak cried in surprise, pounding on the heavy metal. “I thought the doors were broken!”
They turned back around to see that Vader had momentarily focused his attention on them. He had used the Force to shut them in. “You will not escape me this time. When I have finished with this creature, I will deal with you.”
They watched Vader stride toward Eppon, who was just climbing out of the wreckage of the egg chamber. Eppon tried to grab Vader, but the Dark Lord slashed with his lightsaber, cutting off Eppon’s right arm just above the elbow. Eppon howled in pain and backed away a step. Even as he did, his right arm quivered and shifted, and a new arm quickly grew to replace the one he’d lost.
“What shall we do?” Deevee moaned. “Whoever wins this fight will turn on us next.”
Zak was still pounding on the door in frustration.
To his surprise, someone on the outside pounded back. “Let us in!”
It was Han Solo.
“Vader sealed the door. We can’t get out!” Zak called back.
Han’s voice leaked through the heavy door. “Get back! We’re going to blow it open!”
Zak and the others hurried away from the door and crouched down.
Meanwhile, Eppon had grabbed Vader again. This time the Dark Lord did not hold back. He called on the dark side of the Force and used it to lift Eppon five meters into the air. With a strangled cry, Eppon hurtled like a missile straight at the command chair where Gog sat, knocking him over with a loud crash.
Then, BOOM! The door was blown inward and flame and smoke poured into the room as the Rebels set off several explosive devices.
The heavy door flew across the room and crashed against the wall near Darth Vader.
The echoes of the explosion died, but a deep rumbling continued. “The walls!” Hoole warned. “Watch out!”
The walls had been weakened by Vader’s battle with Eppon. The Rebels’ explosion had weakened them further. A large section collapsed inward, and part of the ceiling came crashing down as Zak, Tash, and the others used their arms to protect their heads from the falling debris.
When the dust had settled, Tash realized that they were doubly lucky. Rubble covered the far end of the room, making an impassable barrier between the egg chamber and the laboratory.
“Vader’s sealed in there!” she cried. “He’s trapped in the egg chamber!”
Nearby, Gog had climbed to his feet. Beside him, Eppon panted and drooled. “It won’t help you,” the evil Shi’ido said. He motioned Eppon forward. “You are still doomed!”
“Not if we can help it,” Leia said.
The Rebels surged into the room. Han, Luke, Leia, Chewbacca, and the remaining Rebel commandos aimed their blasters and fired, pouring energy beams into Eppon’s grotesque body. The creature squealed as he was struck again and again. He spun around, and collapsed on the floor.
“Cover him!” Leia ordered, pointing at Gog. “Check the creature.”
Most of the commandos kept their blasters trained on Gog. The evil Shi’ido merely grinned and did not move. He leaned forward, eagerly waiting for what he knew would happen next.
One of the Rebel soldiers crept forward. Eppon’s purple body lay unmoving, his lifeless face pointed toward the ceiling and his eyes closed.
The commando jabbed Eppon with the end of his blaster rifle.
No movement.
“All clear,” he called out. “The creature is-uurrk!”
He could not finish his sentence.
Eppon had reached up and grabbed him by the throat.
CHAPTER 18
No one could move quickly enough to save the Rebel commando. Eppon grabbed the soldier by his bare hands, and the soldier turned to jelly before their eyes. Seconds later, the commando’s body had been sucked into Eppon.
The creature leaped to his feet, looking stronger than ever.
The Rebels fired again. The blaster bolts burned gaping holes in Eppon’s body, but hardly made him flinch. They did slow him down, though. Instead of charging, Eppon stalked slowly forward.
“Can’t this creature be killed?” Luke wondered.
“No,” Tash said as the last pieces of the puzzle suddenly came together for her. Eppon was the end result of Project Starscream. All the terrible experiments they had discovered were elements of the project. Each one reflected some part of Eppon’s power.
“Just like the undead on Necropolis, he can’t be killed!” Tash explained quickly. “He’s like all the creatures we’ve faced! Like the virus creature on Gobindi, he absorbs his victims. And he grows stronger with every creature he eats, just like D’vouran!”