Sacrifice:The Shenkar War

by Libby, Seth

  The symbiosis of how Necro Squadron flew had been a big mystery to the scientists on Earth. While all the pilots who had survived the enhancement process had symbiosis with their squad mates, none were as connected as Necro Squadron.

  Soon he destroyed another fighter, then another. Every way he looked, Shenkar fighters flooded the stars. To his horror, he saw that six of the French pilots had been killed in addition to Pierre. They needed to get out of here quickly or things were going to get a lot worse. Before he could think of anything, the worse came as his comm unit blared to life. “Michael, look out! You have four on your tail!” screamed April.

  Turning in his cockpit, he spotted Michael as he attempted to lose his four pursuers. April was desperately trying to shake her own pursuers so she could rush to his aid. Liam pulled his fighter hard around, igniting his afterburners as he set off after Michael. But even as he started out, he knew he would never make it in time. His fighter shook from shots of enemy fighters, but he ignored them. Michael’s rear shields failed, and energy tore through his engines. The rear half of Michael’s fighter exploded, engulfing Michael’s cockpit in shrapnel and fire. An emptiness filled Liam, and he heard a scream when Michael’s fighter went up, but he was unsure if it had been April’s or Michael’s. They had lost one of their number, and they were all going to die if he couldn’t think of something.

  Then it came to him. Keying an open channel, he spoke. “To all Shenkar warriors, this is the human you know as Ghost. I challenge every warrior within the sound of my broadcast. I invoke Sheeata. If any of you have any honor, you will come and face me!”

  Whipping his fighter around, he ignited his afterburners and exploded forward and out of the battle. Checking his scanner, he saw that 75 percent of the Shenkar forces had broken off their pursuits to turn toward his fighter. Evan’s voice came over his comm unit, fear in his voice. “Liam, don’t do this! You are committing suicide, for god’s sake!”

  “Sorry, Evan, I have to do this. We will all die if I don’t. Get out of there now; get everyone home. You are Necro leader now,” said Liam.

  “Liam, I . . .” Anguish was in his friend’s voice.

  “Evan, you are my best friend, and it has been a pleasure knowing you. Do me a favor. If you get home, tell Leah I was thinking of her, always.”

  Then Liam shut down the comm unit just as the first Shenkar fighters closed in. Energy poured in from all sides as he began his deadly dance of evasion. Rolling his fighter over, he narrowly avoided an oncoming Shenkar fighter. In doing so, he sprayed a nearby fighter, exploding the canopy and killing the pilot within. The pilotless Shenkar fighter careened over into two other Shenkar fighters, destroying them all in an explosion of fire.

  Warning alarms screamed as Liam’s shields began to fail. Then, with a sudden explosion, the engines of Liam’s fighter exploded, cracking his fighter in half. Fire engulfed Liam’s cockpit and burned into him, pain searing his body. The broken remnants of his cockpit spun off as the darkness slowly began to creep up in him. His last thought before the darkness took him was of Leah and how he wished he could have seen her again. Then death embraced him, and he knew no more.

  October 17, 2012, 12:08 a.m. ESTSecret Asteroid Base of the EDF

  Evan guided his battered fighter slowly in for a landing, taking his time to maneuver his fighter into place. It had taken them over ten hours to lose the Shenkar and make it back to the asteroid base. Of the two French squadrons, only six of the pilots had survived. Michael was dead, but the worst of it was that Liam was also dead. Hangar crews ran around everywhere as they moved to get ladders into place. Several emergency medical teams were present to assist pilots who had suffered any injuries. More than one pilot had suffered fires caused by overloads in their systems due to the punishment their fighters had undergone.

  Evan slowly cycled down his fighter, then sat back in his cockpit. Weary from the day, he just sat there numbly, not wanting to believe Liam was dead. The clink of steel on steel brought Evan out of his reverie. Looking around, he saw that the noise had come from the hangar crew locking a ladder in place for Evan to exit. Watching them hurry off to other duties, Evan still didn’t move. It wasn’t until a tap against his canopy made him look up did he realize he had slipped back into his thoughts. Crystal stood on his ladder outside his fighter, looking in with concern upon her face. He reached over and depressed the canopy release button. Slowly, the canopy opened, and Crystal leaned in, placing a hand on his arm.

  “Evan, you need to come down. You are in command now, and we need you,” she said solemnly.

  Gazing beyond Crystal, he saw the rest of Necro Squadron assembled. All gazed up with the same solemn looks on their faces that Crystal wore. Everyone except April: anguish was plain on her face, anguish and anger. This shook Evan to his senses. April, of any of them, had just suffered a grave loss; she and Michael had been very close. Pulling himself up, he stood and looked down again at everyone. He spoke, his voice fueled with passion and anger.

  “There is no running from what happened today. Today, we lost two of our friends . . . no . . . two of our family. We have trained together and bled together, knowing that this would happen eventually. Even so, this doesn’t make it any easier to accept. We need to remember what they stood for, and we need to remember them in honor. We will honor their sacrifices by killing every Shenkar we come against, or we will die trying. Liam knew this, and he sacrificed his life to give us all the chance to do our jobs. For we are Templar Knights and we need to always remember what we fight for.”

  “For Liam and Michael!” cried Dimitri, his fist going into the air.

  “For Liam and Michael!” echoed the rest of them, their fists mimicking Dimitri’s.

  After a moment of silence, the rest of the squadron retired to their quarters. Crystal and Tim stayed behind, waiting as Evan descended his ladder.

  “Tim, I am going to need you to fly wing for April,” said Evan once he had descended completely.

  “Okay, any particular reason why? Or just because we both lost our wingmates,” asked Tim.

  “Well, there is that, but also, you are good at reading people. April just lost someone she cared for, and there is no telling what she might do. We can’t afford for her to do something stupid that could give away the location of this base.”

  Tim nodded once, then turned and headed for his own quarters. Evan stared at the floor for a moment until he felt Crystal’s warm hand take his. Looking at her face, he smiled a weary smile. Together, they headed out of the hangar. Before they made it to the exit, however, Admiral Kelvin entered. Snapping to attention, Evan and Crystal saluted.

  “At ease. You both have had a very long and tiring day.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Evan said.

  “I know you want to get some rest, but I need to know what happened out there,” said the Admiral.

  “It was an ambush, sir. They set an ambush, and we fell for it . . . or more closely, that French idiot made his final mistake. A Shenkar supply convoy was headed in from the outer system. It had a pathetic excuse for an escort, which Liam found disturbing. He ordered us all to stand down and let the Shenkar convoy pass, but Petiot decided he wasn’t going to pass up the chance, so he and the other French squadron attacked. When he closed within firing range, the supply ships sprung their trap. The supply ships were in fact hollowed out to hold fighters. The sides blew out, and they attacked. Normally, the numbers present wouldn’t have been a problem, as we tend to be better fighter pilots. This time, it seemed they sent their best pilots available so the two French squadrons were hard-pressed. Liam decided we needed to go in, so we moved to attack.

  “We were closing quickly when five Shenkar cruisers folded into the midst of the battle. Petiot’s fighter collided headlong into the side of one and blew up. Additional fighters began to enter the battle, and it became clear we needed to break free and make a run for it. Before that could happen, we lost Michael Stert. Liam decided he needed to sacrifice him
self to save us, so he invoked Sheeata upon the entire Shenkar force.”

  At this, the Admiral held up his hand to stop Evan. “Sheeata is that honor challenge thing where the Shenkar lose all sense of normal thought and will go after whoever challenged them?” he asked.

  Evan nodded a confirmation.

  “And Liam challenged the entire Shenkar force?”

  Evan nodded a confirmation once again. Sighing, the Admiral pinched the bridge of his nose. “Was there no other way?” he asked finally.

  “No, Admiral, there wasn’t. Liam made a choice that saved what was left of our three squadrons. As far as I see it, there wasn’t any other way to get us out of that fiasco. But you know, something has been bothering me since we got away. When we were inbound to help the French, Petiot called for us to hurry. The cruisers didn’t fold in until Petiot sent the comm using Liam’s call sign . . . Ghost. It seemed as if they specifically were looking to kill him.”

  “There is a big possibility that may be true. Commander Brennan has been present for most of the major disasters of the Shenkar offensive. They may have felt that by eliminating him, they would deal a demoralizing blow--maybe cause us to hold off attacks or maybe drive us into anger so we do something stupid. Are you sure he is dead? I know you Templar Knights are pretty tough.”

  “No, he is dead. You know that symbiotic sense they spoke of during our training? How we sort of sense each other in combat? Well, I felt when Michael and Liam died. One minute they were there in the bond, and the next they were simply gone . . . an empty void in space.”

  “I was hoping there was a chance he still yet lived. I liked that boy. He would have been a great leader.”

  “Sir, are we done here? I promised Liam I would send someone he cared about a message and notice of his death.”

  “Yes, go ahead.”

  Evan saluted the Admiral and then headed off to his quarters. He thought the whole way of what he was going to send to Leah. He had known Leah, but that wasn’t going to make this any easier.

  October 19, 2012, 2:23 p.m.Carl’s Electronics

  “Thank you, enjoy your day and come again,” said Leah to her customer.

  As the customer headed toward the door, Leah spotted a black Humvee pulling up in front of store. Two men in black suits exited the vehicle, escorting a third older man in a gray suit. The man in the gray suit looked familiar, somehow yet Leah couldn’t place the face. The three men entered the store and walked directly up to Leah.

  “Ms. Aecrin, perhaps you remember me? I am Milton Johansin. I delivered a message to you awhile back from Mr. Brennan,” he reminded her.

  “Yes, I do remember. What brings you here? Is Liam all right?” she asked in a worried yet cautious voice. A terrible feeling began to grow deep inside her.

  The older man didn’t say a word, only removed a thumb drive from within his jacket and handed it to her. He looked at her for a few seconds, then turned and walked from the store. Leah stared after him as she held the thumb drive. When he had handed her the drive, she couldn’t help but notice the look of sadness in the old man’s eyes. She looked at the drive in her hand, and fear welled up in her like an explosion--fear of what could be on the drive. Her hand trembled. Turning, she walked out back to the office.

  Sitting down at the computer, Leah inserted the thumb drive. After a few seconds, the computer recognized the thumb drive and revealed a video file. Once again, Leah used the mouse to activate the file. Evan’s face appeared on the screen. Leah notice how tired he looked.

  “Hello, Leah, I hope you are doing well. We have been dealing the Shenkar quite the nosebleed. Liam has been a great leader; he really has led us through some spectacular victories.”

  Pride at these words filled Leah’s heart, driving down some of the fear. But then, Evan’s face filled with a sadness and the pride was replaced by dread.

  “In our last mission, he saved my life and the lives of fourteen other pilots. He is a true hero. I am sorry, Leah, but he gave his life to save ours. He was a true Knight and a good friend.”

  Leah started to tremble as hot tears splashed down her face, and she began to cry uncontrollably. She collapsed to her knees as she shook.

  “He wanted me to give you the news personally and to let you know once again that he loved you with all his heart and you were in his thoughts right up until the end. Take care of yourself and remember Liam.”

  Leah had always known Liam wasn’t supposed to come back, but she had believed in her heart that he would go against all odds and find a way back to her. She believed they were supposed to have the fairy-tale ending. So how could it have ended this way? Pulling her legs up against her chest, she folded her arms around them, burying her face into her legs, and cried.

  October 19, 2012, 4:44 p.m. ESTBattlecruiser Tryliene, Stationed Far Outside System 238

  The Drelai gunship came to a smooth landing upon the deck of the battlecruiser and the hatch slowly lowered to the deck floor. Scyren walked down the ramp and looked about. After a few moments, he set off toward the bridge. As he reached a cross section of corridors, a thin Shenkar approached him.

  “Master Scyren, welcome aboard the Tryliene. We have your quarters ready. If you wish to follow me, I will--”

  He held up a hand to silence the thin Shenkar. “I don’t care about my quarters. I can see them later. I wish to see the subject now.”

  “Yes, sir, follow me.”

  The thin Shenkar hurried off down the corridor with Scyren in tow. After walking for what seemed a long time, the thin Shenkar stopped at a door guarded by two Shenkar warriors. After punching in a code at a security panel to the right of the door, the door slid open and he stepped through.

  The room was clearly designed for scientific study. Surgical instruments were spread all about the room within reach of a large, waist-high rectangular table. But what instruments and tools were present did not concern Scyren at the moment. The main focus of his mission to the Tryliene had been laid upon the table: a bound blackened husk of a body. The figure was about a head shorter than that of a Shenkar warrior. Stepping closer, he examined the body. The body was burned rather badly, and it was hard to tell what had been the original color pigmentation.

  “So this is a human?”

  “Yes, male from what I have been able to establish.”

  “How do you know it is a male?”

  “Well it seems this one is of the same race whose planet we are preparing to assault.”

  Turning quickly, he looked at the thin Shenkar. “How is that possible? The transmissions we intercepted showed them to be far from the technology they are currently wielding.”

  “I do not know, sir. Perhaps they stumbled across a Meshtrell expeditionary fleet and that is how they came by the technology.”

  “Do not tell anyone of your discovery. I will inform the Supreme Overlord myself. Now tell me why we need Shenkar warriors guarding a dead body and why the body is bound. Is there fear that some might steal the body? If so, it might be necessary to discipline the crew.”

  “You do not know? My apologies, but the subject is not dead.”

  “Not dead?” Turning, he looked closely at the husk and soon he noticed the slow rhythmic rise and fall of the subject’s chest.

  “I had been informed that the subject had been found dead within his burned-out cockpit. So how is it that he seems to be alive?”

  “Unknown. When we pulled the body in, he was dead, or so we thought. Earlier this morning, I was running some preliminary studies when I noticed the subject was breathing. I tried running some deep scans, but every time I would attach the scanners, I received an electrical feedback that would overload and destroy them.”

  Reaching forward, he placed a hand upon the chest. The body felt cool to the touch at first, but then he realized the subject was wearing personal body armor.

  “First thing we need to do is remove the body armor. It could be the reason for the electrical feedback.”

  Scyren
and his assistant slowly worked at removing the remains of the body armor. It was a very slow process, as the body armor was extremely tough to penetrate. After several hours, they finally were able to remove all the pieces of the chest region. They could see that the body hadn’t been a charred husk; it had only been the outer armor that gave it that appearance. Below the armor was raw pink flesh, still burned in several areas but otherwise intact.

  Taking a piece of the body armor, Scyren took it over to a working scanner. Attaching the armor to the scanner, he proceeded to run tests. “It is not the armor that is causing the feedback. It must be something within the body,” he said.

  Picking up a syringe, he attempted to penetrate the skin of the subject. When the needle was about to puncture the skin, a sudden force field appeared and pushed the needle slightly away from the skin. Pressing harder, Scyren noticed the force field bend in slightly. Pushing even harder, he finally was able to push through and into the body. After taking a small amount of blood, he withdrew the needle and walked to high-powered microscope. Placing the blood on a template, he then placed the template in the microscope and, bending over, examined the blood through the microscope. After enhancing it to maximum magnification, he smiled at his findings. Standing, he turned back toward the body.

  “The body is filled with a nanite technology. That is the reason for the electrical feedback. The nanites provide a natural defense against any attempts to invade the body. That is the reason a force field erected itself when I first attempted to take a blood sample. I believe I wouldn’t have been able to get that sample if the body hadn’t suffered so much damage. Stay here and monitor the body; inform me of any changes.”

  Turning, Scyren left the room and headed to the bridge. Upon reaching the bridge, he went to the communication station. “Get me Supreme Overlord Krailsha,” he ordered the comm officer.