by Seth Libby
With that said, the guard waved his hand for his partner to follow, and then moved off towards the reporter. As they began to move past the reporter one of the soldiers stumbled and fell into the reporter, knocking him to the ground.
“Oh sorry sir, I slipped, here let me help you up.”
Liam and Shizta quickly moved off down the corridor. They walked in silence for some time before Liam stopped at a four way intersection. Shizta took two more steps before realizing Liam had stopped. Turning he gave Liam a questioning look.
“Are you hungry?” Liam asked.
Shizta’s eyebrows lifted in surprise at the question but recovered quickly.
“Yes, as a matter of fact I am, my guards had said I could have something brought to my holding cell when we returned.”
“How about you join me for dinner? The officers dining hall will have some great steaks and beers.”
“Do you not have to return me to my holding cell?”
“Nah, I am hungry and want to get something to eat. If anyone gives me a hard time I will just tell them we are discussing tactics. Come on, lets go,” Liam said, nodding his head down the passage to the left forcing Shizta to hurry to catch up as he headed off down the passageway.
January 20th, 2014 7:07pm
EDF Kraken, En-route to Shenkar space
Shizta couldn’t help but like Liam, the human was not anything what he would have expected. Even more so, this human in particular, was nothing like the human he had seen tearing through the Tryliene like a blood thirsty Xrert. This human showed the ability to reason and intelligence that far exceeds that of any Shenkar clone and many Shenkar warriors.
Liam showed Shizta respect and this was something that weighed greatly with him. But he couldn’t help but wonder if Liam would show him the same respect if he had known the type of Shenkar Shizta was aboard the Krazzeen, before his eyes were opened. The mere idea of Liam having a negative opinion of him bothered him immensely. The knowledge of this weighed heavily upon Shizta’s conscious. He knew it would eat at him unless he told Liam the truth.
“Liam, I must tell you something…something you might not like.”
Liam looked sideways at him but otherwise didn’t say anything.
“I was part of the fleet that attacked your original Battlecruiser during the first encounters with our two races. I was tasked with orders to eliminate your ship and men. I must confess I viewed you humans much in the same way the Shelecore views you…insignificant, not worthy of the Shenkar Federation. I do not expect you to forgive me but I have come to greatly respect you and felt you deserved the truth. I will understand if you want to return me to my cell now.”
Liam stopped and turned to look at Shizta.
“There is nothing to forgive; you are a warrior of the Shenkar Federation. You have lived a life of an indoctrination that you couldn’t possibly break. However, even in light of that you have not allowed that to rule you. You have broken free, opened your eyes and mind to something that could be better. I respect you for that and am glad to have you on our side.”
With that said, Liam reached out and gripped Shiztas shoulder. Squeezing it briefly he steered Shizta back toward the direction they had been heading.
“Now come on, let’s get something to eat.”
Shizta smiled and they headed off down the corridor once more.
As they walked down the corridor in silence, Shizta felt as if a great weight had been lifted off his chest. He hadn’t realized until now how much Liam’s opinion and approval really mattered to him. This was an entirely foreign feeling to him and he decided it was a good feeling but even so he still had the nagging feeling of his recent actions.
He had just handed over a great deal of information of the Shenkar clone facility, known shipping routes and military outposts and worried that this could be more than devastating to the Shenkar. He did not care about the Shelecore but of the people of his world and the possible ramifications of his and Cryta’s betrayal. He hadn’t provided all the information he knew regarding the Shenkar military, only the information needed for the human’s upcoming campaign. The possible invasion of his homeworld was never broached so Shizta did not mention its defenses. However, now something had occurred to him and he felt that it might be information Liam would like to know. Liam and the other humans proved to be just as much interested in saving the Shenkar and well as defeating them. If it was possible to eliminate the current government but save the populace then he needed to commit one hundred percent to the humans cause, this would mean even volunteering information that he felt could be pertinent to the defeat of the Shelecore.
With a new determination burning within, at his first opportunity, he decided it was time he volunteered some of that very information to Liam. Information that could help save his home from the psychosis of the Shelecore.
January 20th, 2014 7:24pm
EDF Kraken, En-route to Shenkar space
As Liam and Shizta entered the officers dining hall, silence greeted them as all heads turned to look at the pair.
“Are you sure about this?” Shizta asked uncertainly.
“Yeah, we will be fine, come on, I just spotted a table.”
Liam had in fact just spotted Steve waving him over. As they walked over, Liam could hear that conversations once again resumed. His enhanced hearing let him catch some of the snippets of conversations, one of the conversations made him glad Shizta didn’t have enhanced hearing.
Liam could understand why some would feel negatively of the Shenkar. They had lost friends and perhaps family to the Shenkar attacks so naturally they would direct their feelings towards the closest Shenkar available. Most of the looks directed their way were more out of curiosity but some of the looks directed at Shizta made Liam wondered if he should arrange to have Shizta placed under guard for his own protection.
Reaching the table, Liam saw that Steve was not alone, but accompanied by two others. Seated with him was a young man studying a datapad that Liam did not recognize. The other one he more than recognize: Callen Groto, a British Templar he knew from their time aboard the Sacrifice. Upon their return to Earth Liam had lost touch with Callen and the rest of his squadron. The Royal Razors, had been assigned to the Churchill, a second generation battlecruiser. Last Liam had heard, the Churchill had been heavily damaged during the battle for Earth but could be repaired.
Callen smiled as he rose, extending his hand as Liam approached. Taking his hand, Liam returned the smile.
“Hi mate, good to see you, care to throw back a few pints with us like old times?”
“Sounds good to me, I am sure we will be getting very busy over the next few months so we might not have this opportunity again anytime soon.”
At this point the young man that was seated at with Steve and Callen finally noticed the two newcomers. His look of surprise of the presence was humorous but that only lasted a few moments as he focused on Liam. His eyes went from Liam’s face to his name tag and back again. Recognition registered upon the young man’s face as he shot to his feet, snapping to attention as he saluted Liam.
“At ease Lieutenant, we are all off duty here,” Liam said as he returned the salute.
The young man relaxed somewhat but not completely as he continued to just stand there staring at Liam. Liam noticed the man’s uniform looked immaculate, almost as if he had just donned it. He also realized that while all Templars had the youthful appearance due to the enhancement process but this pilot somehow looked younger, almost as if he was younger than the common appearance age of twenty one that most pilots regenerated too.
It was Callen that broke the brief silence and introduced the young pilot.
“Our young German friend here is our newest edition to the Royal Razors, Aldis Claget or Snoopy as we have come to call him.”
Aldis’s eyes rolled in exasperation as he finally found his tongue and addressed Callen.
“You know I said I would prefer to choose a different callsign.”
“Snoopy?”
“Yeah, me and the other blokes felt that it was more fitting than his choice of Red Baron.”
Liam looked back at Aldis who by the look on his face clearly didn’t agree.
“Why Red Baron?”
“I am related to Manfred von Richthofen, the world war one flying ace. According to my mother he was, unofficially, my great grandfather.”
“Correct me if I am wrong but I thought the Red Baron never married or ever had any children?”
“Officially that would be correct, but my mother claims her grandfather is the illegitimate son of Richthofen.”
“Besides that do you have any other proof?” Liam inquired.
Aldis frowned deeply as his head shook slowly side to side.
“We were unable to obtain a DNA test to verify it, his brothers descendant’s would not give us permission,” he explained, a slight bitterness to his voice.
“Well, as you know Callen is your squadron leader, and if the squadron and him want to give you a call sign you should be honored. He is a good man and he is an excellent pilot.”
Aldis looked to Callen again then back to Liam, his mouth tightened slightly before he nodded.
“I understand sir and I do respect him. I just wish it could have been something besides Snoopy,” Aldis said sullenly.
At this point Steve reached over and gripped Aldis’s shoulder turning him slightly towards him.
“Don’t worry Aldis, maybe you can change your callsign sometime later. I mean Commander Brennan here originally had the call sign Ghost before he became Arch-Angel.”
At this Aldis looked hopeful from Steve to Callen.
“It is true, he did change….it was after he died, was tortured by Shenkar and the decimated the entire crew of a Battlecruiser all by himself. Do all that and I think we can see fit to change your callsign…although he didn’t pick his new name either,” Callen explained.
Aldis turned to look from Callen to Liam with an extremely stricken look before his shoulders slumped and he sat back down in defeat.
Smiling Callen turned back to Shizta and offered his hand.
“I don’t believe we have been formally introduced, I am Lieutenant Callen Groto.”
Shizta looked down at the hand for a moment then stuck his hand out as well but did not take Callens. Figuring that Shizta didn’t understand the custom Callen reached forward and slowly clasped Shizta’s hand. Once Shizta understood, and returned the clasping, did he then slowly move his and Shizta’s hand up and down before breaking the grip.
“It’s a form of greeting on our planet, it is called the handshake,” Liam explained.
Understanding this Shitza proceeded to offer his hand to Steve who in turn shook it. He looked down at Aldis and then offered his hand. Aldis, who was once again immersed in his datapad, did not notice. After a few moments Shizta looked over at Liam, his hand still extended, and gave him a quizzical look that plainly stated should he continue to stand there like he was.
Liam smiled and directed Shizta to a seat at the table. Once everyone was settled did conversation once again commence.
“I will get the drinks, what’s everyone’s poison?” Steve asked.
At this, Shizta looked aghast as he looked from Steve to Liam.
“You drink poison?” Shizta inquired.
“It is a turn of phrase; basically, he was asking what you would like to drink. Don’t worry, nothing we drink is poison,” Liam explained.
Understanding bloomed on Shizta’s face and he smiled slightly.
“Ah, I understand, in that case I would like one of those beers I had before,” Shizta said.
“Drink enough of those, mate, and you will feel as if you have been poisoned,” Callen said as he laughed.
Again Shizta looked at Liam questioningly. Liam smiled and shook his head.
“He is correct in a way, but only that too much alcohol is not healthy for you. In moderation you are fine, and in truth I can’t say how much it would take to be harmful to a Shenkar.”
“Ah, I understand alcohol; we have such liquids on my homeworld. When this war is over I will have to introduce you all to some of them. We have a drink called Fire Blossom, it burns slightly when you drink it but once ingested your insides blossom in a deep warmth that will last for some time.”
“Sounds interesting, does it actually warm the body or just feel that way?” asked Callen.
“It actually warms the body; many use it for medicinal purposes in the harsher colder environments.”
“Like on Lykaa?” Liam asked.
Surprise showed on Shizta’s face and he smiled.
“Why yes, you would be correct in that. I had completely forgot, but should we be discussing this?” said Shizta, the latter part he nodded towards the table.
Liam looked around the table and the questioning look Callen was giving him.
“Yes, it is fine; Callen will need to know soon enough anyways.”
“Lykaa?” Callen asked.
“It is our target; it is a cold weather planet where the Shenkar harvest the main compound for their cloning procedures. If we shut that down we effectively shut down the Shenkars ability to produce an endless supply of clone warriors.”
Callen looked at Liam for a moment before turning to Shizta.
“And you are okay with this? This will go a long way towards the defeat of your people.”
Shizta took a few moments before he answered, almost weighing what he wanted to say.
“I realize this could be the deaths of a lot of my people but I believe in the end this would be the best route possible. There is something we need to discuss, information you need to know. The Shelecore is mad, that is plain to me now, and he will burn the entire planet first before admitting defeat. His closest advisors are either just as mad and loyal to him or too afraid to speak up or move against him. There is a splinter group among the population that is ready to rebel against the Shelecore, they just do not possess the numbers needed to overthrow the current government while the government possesses the ability to clone an infinite amount of warriors. Eliminating the cloned warriors will possibly give the splinter group the edge they need to swell their numbers.
There is also something else I thought of that I need to tell you. Once we remove the cloning ability we will possibly need to move quickly if the Shelecore realizes how vulnerable he will be without his endless supply of warriors. I am putting a lot of faith in you humans that you will be the answer for the future of my people. This worries me, as my betrayal of my people could very well be the death of my entire planet if we stumble the wrong way or do not act when it is necessary.”
At this point Steve returned with their drinks and handed one to Liam and Shizta. Shizta paused long enough to take a drink from the bottle before Liam spoke.
“What do you mean? How would this endanger your homeworld?”
“If the Shelecore feels the Shenkar were doomed, with no possible way of winning against you humans, then he will burn the entire population of my homeworld in defiance and I do mean literally burn the entire planet.
My home planet now possesses orbital platforms which are much like your defense platforms around your homeworld. The Shelecore is very stubborn but he is not stupid and he understands good defense. When I reported back from our first failed invasion, I reported of the defense platforms Earth possesses. Naturally, the Shelecore saw the value in such technology and our military began construction of such platforms. Before I left on this last campaign there were five operational platforms and ten more still under construction. These platforms are not as large as Earth possesses but they are more than sufficient for defense.”
“How are they a danger to your homeworld then?” Callen asked.
“The orbital platfo
rms are also designed that they can be turned on the planet.”
Callen looked aghast at hearing this.
“Why the hell would the military stand for that? I mean I know you said they are loyal to him and just as crazy, or too afraid, but even so that should be something of a major wake up call,” Steve said.
“The Shelecore convinced them on the pretense that if you humans did manage to invade the planet then he could maneuver the platforms to burn away invasion sites, eliminating the threat. It is easier to cut away healthy tissue if it means you eliminate the disease….and I can assure you the Shelecore sees you humans as a disease, a disease that threatens his perfect federation.”
The group was silent for a few moments before Liam spoke up.
“I understand your fears and I know I don’t speak for our entire military but I can assure you that I will do everything in my power to prevent any harm from coming to your homeworld.”
The others spoke their agreement in this as well, stating they also would lend any help they could.
January 20th, 2014 7:53pm
EDF Kraken, En-route to Shenkar space
Shizta thanked the group and couldn’t help but think how much more these humans could continue to surprise him. The humans were his enemy less than a year ago, engaged together in combat. Now they worked together to defeat his Shelecore and, at the same time, save his people from suffering for it. These humans truly were a unique race who he didn’t think he would ever fully understand. He more than understood that there were probably some who didn’t view things the same way, every race has them. From what Shizta saw, these humans, when they gave their word would see it through no matter the consequences. They were a truly honorable race and this gave Shizta comfort and somehow made him want to strive to be a better person in the eyes of these humans.
Shizta was about to say this exact thing when the group was interrupted by two females. Both females were short in stature and roughly of the same build. While Shizta was not used to human females, he judged these two to be considered attractive. A judgment that was quickly confirmed by the eyes of those pilots seated at nearby tables.