Storm' Fury: The Shenkar War

by Seth Libby

  Overall their performance was definitely above and beyond the rest of the Praetorian guard and he had to admit to himself they would probably hold their own against any Shenkar clone warriors. Liam was about to call for a halt when he noticed Steve approaching with Cryta and Tim in tow. As they approached Liam could see Steve held a silver canister in his hand, roughly eight inches in length and three inches in diameter. The top section held a handle and what looked to be a very thin nozzle. All three looked to be excited about something, perhaps what Steve was carrying.

  “We need a volunteer,” Steve said as he stopped before Liam.

  “For what?” Liam asked cautiously, clearly suspicious of what Steve was up too.

  “We have developed a new medical foam we wish to try out,” Steve explained.

  “Okay, so why not just try it out on yourself?” Liam inquired.

  “We need to test it on someone who is not nanite-infused to test how well it works and also it has to be voluntary…according to the higher ups. Basically this foam is a nanite infused medical gel that with seal wounds and expedite healing. It is our newest creation and we are anxious to test it out,” Tim explained, clearly just as excited as Steve.

  Liam studied the two before turning to Cryta.

  “And your involvement in this is what?”

  “I volunteered but they would prefer to test it first on a human as it was primarily designed for. If they cannot get any volunteers then they agreed I could be their….what did you call it?” Cryta explained, the latter part addressed to Steve.

  “Guinea pig,” Steve said without looking over to Cryta.

  “Okay, so why come to me?” Liam asked.

  “Well no one seems to want to volunteer but then we thought of this group and figured one of them might….they are all crazy,” Steve explained.

  Liam looked at the canister then up to Steve.

  “How safe is this stuff? Your honest opinion?”

  Steve seemed to think this over for a few moments before speaking.

  “If I could try it on myself, I would. That’s how safe I think it is.”

  Liam sighed as he turned back to the group.

  “Very well, but even though this group is a bit out there, I cannot guarantee they will volunteer,” Liam stated before calling for the group to halt and form up.

  The men and woman quickly, but tiredly, formed in front of Liam and his group.

  “It seems we are in need of a volunteer to test one of Lieutenants Barrows and Wellmo’s new inventions, I will let them explain it.”

  Liam stepped aside while at the same time waving Steve and Tim forward.

  Steve stepped forward clearly not accustomed to being the center of attention. Looking at the group for a few moments, he cleared his throat and spoke loud and clear.

  “What we have here is a new nanite-infused medical gel designed to seal wounds and repair damage to organic tissue. What would normally take weeks to fully heal would fully heal within days. Unfortunately we cannot test it on ourselves as we are already nanite infused so they already begin healing whenever we suffer bodily harm. To fully test it we would need someone who does not have this benefit.”

  The group seemed to think this over before one of the bomb experts, Eddie Graniar, spoke up.

  “Will it hurt?”

  “At first, but the foam has a numbing gel as well as the nanites are designed to numb any nerve endings in the immediate area,” Tim explained.

  “So what kind of injury do you need to test?”

  At this point Steve and Tim looked at each other before turning back to Eddie.

  “Well, ideally we would want to test something more than a cut, say a gunshot wound or a severe deep laceration, but it is up to the volunteer,” Steve explained.

  Eddie once again considered this before turning to Liam.

  “Would I get time off from training to fully heal?”

  Liam hadn’t considered this before but couldn’t very well require an injured guard member from the grueling pace he set for them every day.

  “Yes, I think we can accommodate that request,” Liam said.

  Smiling Eddie nodded once and in one fluid motion withdrew his combat knife and stabbed it into his thigh. The blade pierced the tissue to pierce, slicing cleaned through to the back of his thigh. Blood immediately began to flow from the wound, around the blade….too much blood.

  Eddie began to sway and before he could fall over, Liam jumped forward to catch him and lower him to the floor.

  “Guess I nicked my femoral artery,” Eddie said weakly as he studied the wound, “Looks like you get to put this foam of yours to the test.”

  Tim and Steve quickly moved to Eddie’s side, kneeling down in front of him. Tim leaned forward and studied the wound before turning to Steve.

  “We will need to be quick once I pull this knife free. He did hit the femoral artery which means he will bleed out in the next five minutes. Let me know when you want me to pull the knife.”

  Steve quickly readied his canister, making sure the nozzle was clear and ready to go before silently nodding to Tim to remove the knife. Tim pulled the knife free and the flow of blood increased dramatically. Eddie grunted slightly in pain but otherwise made no other sounds.

  Quickly, Steve plunged the nozzle into the wound and depressed the trigger. A gurgling noise sounded from the canister and soon a pink flesh colored foam seeped out of the wound and around the nozzle. As soon as this happened Steve withdrew the nozzle, making sure to spray some more foam over the wound.

  “Turn him over,” Steve said, indicating Eddie.

  Tim and Liam, carefully turned Eddie onto his side and Steve plunged the nozzle into the wound at the back of his leg, repeating the same procedure of dispensing the foam before he pulled it free and sat back. With the foam in place, it formed into a hard shell over the wounds, effectively stanching the flow of blood.

  Carefully they returned Eddie to him original position. Eddie looked very pale, sweat permeating his forehead, as he lay there.

  “These guys really are crazy,” Steve said softly as he looked at Eddie.

  “How long before we know if he will be okay? Should I get some medics down here?” Liam inquired.

  “If this doesn’t work, no medics would be able to get here in time to make a difference,” Tim said matter-of-factly.

  Eddie’s grimace soon faded and he lifted his head slightly to look down at his leg.

  “Wow, the pain is completely gone….that’s one hell of a pain killer you have there.”

  Steve breathed a sigh of relief at hearing this. Clearly, he hadn’t had one hundred percent confidence in his invention working on such a heavy wound.

  “How does it work, anyway?” asked Anthony.

  Looking up, Liam saw that the trainees had gathered around them in a circle to observe the procedure.

  “The nanite infused foam is made up of medical compounds designed for sanitizing and expediting the healing process. The nanites are programmed to use the compounds to seal the wound as you can see here,” Tim explained as he indicated the hardened surface of the wound with his finger. “They will then also numb any nerve endings in the area and then use some of the other compounds within the foam to seal any internal damage while at the same time they repair it. This foam contains all the materials needed to repair any severe wound without having to draw on the patient’s own bodily resources. By not having to draw on the bodily resources the patient will recover quickly as his or her body does not have to replace anything.”

  “So what happens to all the nanites once they finish repairing the wound?” asked Erica, one of the group’s snipers.

  “I am sure some patients would not like the idea of tiny robots moving around inside of them. Part of their programing is, once they complete their repairs, they then will navigate to the patient’s digestive system and once there they self-destruct,” explained Steve as he stood up.

  “Why not just leave them in all the time? Sold
iers would receive instant healing on the battlefield,” stated Anthony.

  “For several reasons, for one if the soldier is captured by the Shenkar then they will have access to this technology. We already run the risk of the Shenkar getting this technology if they capture a Templar or Paladin soldier,” Steve explained, the last part he glanced quickly to Liam before returning to Anthony. “Second, soldiers who think they are invulnerable take unnecessary risks; these risks could lead to dire circumstances for others. Lastly, you have never seen how much of a toll it takes a body to draw on its own internal resources to repair the body.

  It is no big secret so I assume many here know of the extent of the damage Commander Brennan suffered with the destruction of his fighter and then being captured by the Shenkar. I was there when he returned and by all accounts his body should have depleted itself before it could repair the damage he incurred…he should have died.”

  Many heads turned to look over at Liam; some clearly did not know the full story judging by the looks on their faces.

  “Is it true you were stabbed through the heart with a plasma sword?” asked Eddie, who was now sitting up on his own, carefully testing movement in his leg.

  Liam looked down at him, his lips tightening to a thin straight line before he answered.

  “I am assuming you are referring to the battle that happened when the Shenkar reached our first facility back on Earth? Sort of, the sword actually nicked my heart but I can assure you it isn’t something I would want to experience again. It hurt a ton and I think it was only the adrenaline and the nanites that that kept my body going long enough to repair the damage.”

  “Is it true you wiped out the entire crew of a Shenkar battlecruiser by yourself?” this question came from James Robinson who rarely spoke.

  Liam looked around at the faces before him, many were expectant while others looked to be skeptical.

  “Yes, and it is not something I like to think or talk about,” Liam stated flatly.

  “But there are almost two thousand Shenkar on a battle cruiser,” Anthony stated, his voice clear with awe.

  “Yes, there was and like I said, it isn’t something I like to relive.”

  The group all seemed to look at Liam in a new light. Perhaps it was the knowledge that the stories were true and not rumors or maybe it was how he handled it. It was no big secret that there was already grumblings of some that found the Templars too powerful. People that worried of the damage these men and women could do. Liam worried of when the war was over, if they defeated the Shenkar, would he and the rest of the order have places among the world or would they be flagged as freaks. At least that is not something he had to worry about anytime soon.

  “Enough of talking about me, I have a question for you two,” Liam said, addressing Steve and Tom. “Those canisters will be dispersed throughout the Praetorian guard’s medic’s right?”

  Both nodded an affirmative.

  “So what’s to stop the Shenkar from pulling one of the canisters off one over our dead? There is no way we will be able to protect all our medics all the time.”

  “Ah, yeah, well we thought of that, the canisters are designed to only work with human DNA. If a Shenkar tries using the canister, it will read the DNA and send a command to self-destruct. This will destroy the contents of the canister.”

  “So we cannot use any of this stuff to help any Shenkar allies?”

  “Not at the moment, we are working to develop a way around that so our Shenkar allies can handle the canisters without the contents being destroyed,” Steve explained.

  Liam nodded then turned back to the rest of the group.

  “Okay, enough of the demonstration, everyone back to work; we have a lot of training to do and not enough time to do it.”

  The group groaned in various tones as they turned back to the obstacle course. Eddie sat up but did not move to stand; instead he just sat there wearing broad smile knowing he did not need to participate.

  The smile did not go unnoticed by Liam as he turned and looked down.

  “I said you did not need to participate in this training but that does not mean I cannot find something else for you to train in.”

  Eddie’s smile faltered as he looked up at Liam.

  “Uh yes sir.”

  “You are familiar with all the energy weapons and their intricate details? You can disassemble one and reassemble it again, right?”

  “Uh…somewhat, I thought that would be more of Kim Xang’s area of expertise?”

  “All members need to be able to service and repair their weapons…at least on a basic level,” Liam stated before he turned to address Steve. “Can you take Mr. Granier here and grill him through classes on disassembling, repairing and reassembling the new energy assault rifles as well as the heavier assault weapons?”

  “Yeah, no problem, we won’t break until he can reassemble the weapons blindfolded as well as name all the parts on touch.”

  Eddie looked sick at the thought of having to do this but he still managed to get to his feet, with some assistance from Tim. Tim helped Eddie limp from the training bay, heading off towards one of the nearby rooms that had been set aside for classes.

  “Are you really going to make him memorize every piece by touch? Liam inquired.

  “Nah, it was just fun to make him think so. Besides I would not want to piss off someone as crazy as him. He has a knack for explosives and by that last demonstration of his I truly think he is more than a bit crazy,” Steve explained, a smile on his face.

  “Oh I think he is harmless although I agree on the crazy part.”

  Steve watched Tim and Eddie exit the training bay before he turned to Liam, saluted and then followed after the pair.

  Liam smiled to himself as he watched him go, Steve always surprised him anytime he saluted Liam. In private or around the rest of Necro squadron Steve never saluted Liam, always joking with him but he always managed to show proper respect at the correct times.

  “Commander Brennan, could I speak with you?” said a voice from behind Liam.

  Turning Liam saw that Cryta had remained behind when the others had left.

  “How can I help you, Cryta?”

  Cryta moved forward to close the distance before he spoke.

  “I have been curious as to something and was unsure of how to broach something with you, a sort of favor. I finally decided it would be easiest to just outright ask you if that would be okay.”

  Liam nodded for him to continue.

  “Well we all know you and your fellow soldiers have been enhanced by the Meshtrell technology. This enhances your speed and strength, correct?”

  Liam once again nodded but otherwise did not speak.

  “Well, among the Shenkar, the elites have always been considered the champions among our warriors, never having met our equal in combat. As an elite, I would like to test my abilities…test my abilities against one of your Templars if that would be all right. While I am committed to your side I cannot say all of my brothers will join me, some may fight for the Shelecore. I would like to know how they will fair against you; also it would give you valuable information of us as well.”

  Liam thought this over and had to admit Cryta had made a valid point. Up until now, the Templars had always gone up against clones. While some clones, like Krailsha, proved to be exceptional soldiers, they were not of the elite class.

  “How about we test you first against these men and women here?” Liam said, indicating the group currently training. “Then we will increase the difficulty level by having you fight one of the Paladins. If you beat them then we can test you against a Templar. Would that be acceptable?”

  Cryta did not even seem to think about it, only nodded his acceptance at Liam’s question.

  Liam called for a halt of the group’s training, having them all gather around on the training mats. He did not bother to have them use the training swords as none of this group was trained in their use so it would have been a significant advant
age for Cryta so he decided on hand to hand. He first had Cryta face the Xang brothers, it was no contest, Cryta dismantled the two in mere seconds. Next he faced Anthony, his friend James Reuban and Patrick Flynn….again he dismantled them. The only person to last more than thirty seconds was the big man, James Robinson and this was due to his size and strength. However, in the end the result was the same, Robinson lay on his back unconscious from the choke hold Cryta had managed to apply to him while grappled to Robinson’s back.

  Liam used his comm unit to call for the top rated Paladin to come to the training bay. This time he had the combatants use the practice swords in combination with hand to hand combat. The contest had lasted a little more than four minutes. The result the same, with Cryta besting the Paladin.

  At this point word had circulated and a small crowd had gathered, including two of the embedded reporters that had been irritating everyone. Looking through the crowd Liam spotted a couple of Templar knights. He debated on who he should select when his eyes fell on one particular knight at the back of the crowd.

  “Lieutenant Petiot, please step forward.”

  The young Frenchman maneuvered his way through the crowd until he came to stand before Liam. Liam handed him a practice sword and indicated for him to take his place opposite Cryta. Petiot removed his uniform jacket before he stepped to his place opposite Cryta where he then entered a fighting stance.

  Cryta studied the young man for a moment before also entering a similar fighting stance.

  “Begin,” Liam commanded.

  The two circled each other for several long moments before anyone moved to strike. The first to strike was Cryta, coming in close with his sword held high, bringing it down quickly towards Petiot’s neck. Petiot dodged aside quickly with Cryta’s sword missing completely. Just as quickly as Petiot dodged did his sword flash out in a small arc towards Cryta’s side, just above the hip. Cryta only just managed to bring his sword up to block to attack as he spun away.