Storm' Fury: The Shenkar War

by Seth Libby

  Steve felt the bile rise in his throat as he looked around from something to drink to wash the taste from his mouth.

  “Uh, Lieutenant Barrows, are you alright? You look a bit green, are you still suffering from the bites of the Turrin?” Frozt asked, slight concern showing upon his face.

  Steve knew his reaction was psychosymatic in relation to knowing what he had just ingested and not a result of any poison or even an allergic reaction. In truth, his nanites would have eliminated most of the poison, although he didn’t know to what dose level they could protect against, as well as any possible allergic reaction.

  “Yeah, that must be it, I just need something warm to drink to help,” Steve explained as he looked around the table.

  “Ah, let me get you some Vala juice, it should help, it is rich in vitamins,” Frozt explained as he grabbed a nearby container and poured an amber colored liquid into a glass and then handed it to Steve.

  Steve hesitated for a moment as a pugnant tart smell wafted from the warm glass to reach his nostrils. However, this hesitation quickly passed as a free bout of nausea filled him as he watched a nearby Cathergon, enthusiastically, eating the Flava. He took a small sip and while it was tart, it did not have an unpleasant taste. Deciding it was not bad he took a long swallow and felt the warmth spread down his throat and into his stomach, quickly eliminating the feeling of nauseous.

  “Wow, that is amazing, I feel better already,” Steve explained before he took another long swallow.

  “Yes, the blood of the Vala is a most excellent remedy for when you are not feeling well,” Frozt stated matter of factly.

  The nauseous feeling immediately returned in full force and Steve excused himself from the table and quietly exited the room. Once in the hallway he quickened his pace to the nearby lavatory and rushed inside. He leaned over the Cathergon version of a toilet and fully expected to expel the contents of his stomach but the nausea slowly passed. Once he was sure he was not going to be sick he stood straight and exited the stall. He quickly splashed some water upon his face and used a clothlike material to dry as he looked about. He found it amusing that the lavatory was very much like one you would find on Earth.

  Exiting the lavatory he began to head back to the meeting room but hesitated as he spotted one of the robed Cathergons, slip out and quickly move down the hall away from him.

  “Now where are you going?” Steve muttered to himself, as an odd unsettling feeling settled within his gut.

  Deciding it wouldn’t hurt to follow the Cathergon, Steve set off in pursuit.

  Steve passed no one else as he followed the Cathergon and soon they entered an area that was dark and the air smelled stale. Steve also observed that this section of the passageway did not have the flat metal plating that made up the floor but had changed to the uneven rocky surface of the asteroid of which the outpost was constructed upon.

  He carefully followed, making sure not to kick any loose debris that would give away his presence. As he rounded a corner he noticed the Cathergon slowing before an alcove in the wall. Steve had barely managed to hide himself from view as the Cathergon hesitated and looked back the way he had come. Deciding he was safe, the Cathergon touched a portion of the rough surface of the rockly wall. The Cathergon pushed inwards and then turned his clawed hand to the right slightly, the hidden panel following suit. There was a low hissing noise as a section of the wall swung free and the Cathergon slipped through the opening.

  The door had closed before Steve could get there but he was able to locate the section of the wall that the Cathergon had touched. Steve slowly counted to ten before mimicking the motion the Cathergon had done upon the panel. The low hiss came again and the hidden door once again opened.

  Quickly, Steve slipped inside and looked about; he appeared to be in a small dark tunnel that looked to head deeper into the asteroid. Hesitating long enough to listen and allow his vision to adjust to the darkness, he could hear the faint sounds of footsteps further down the tunnel. Taking a deep breath he once again quietly headed off in pursuit.

  Perhaps fifteen minutes had passed before Steve came to an opening to the tunnel that led to a small cavern. The cavern was relatively empty except for a small console about thirty feet away where the Cathergon he had been following was seated at. The Cathergon hands moved about the console, tapping various parts of its illuminated control board. Spotting a formation of rocks that would conceal him from view, Steve quietly slipped inside and made his way to it. As he settled in behind the formation he heard the low voice of the Cathergon begin to speak and what Steve heard next chilled him as the voice of a Shenkar emitted from the speakers.

  “I am losing patients with you priest, you assured me you would be able to provide me with the coordinates of the secret outpost by now.”

  “I apologize, Overlord but as I stated before, all ships are monitored continuously for transmissions when they travel here so planting a tracking signal aboard any of those ships would have been impossible. Only a select few know of the exact coordinates of this base and until today I was lacking a component needed to build a tracking beacon. Now that I have that component I will begin transmission as soon as it is installed.”

  “Then why are we wasting time speaking when you should be installing this component?” demanded the Shenkar overlord.

  The Cathergon hesitated for a moment, as if searching for how to phrase what he wanted to say next.

  “Overlord, I have news that the Shelecore would want to know right away…it concerns the race you know as the humans.”

  Steve’s stomach jumped as he realized this Cathergon was about to tell the Shenkar that the humans were near the Shenkar Federation. Quickly he pulled a small metal cylinder from a pocket in his uniform, an item he was glad he had brought along, and thumbed the activation switch just as the Cathergon continued.

  “I must inform you the humans are here at the station, they are negotiating an alliance with our leaders.”

  No sound emitted from the speakers except static. The Cathergon looked perplexed at not hearing a response and spoke again.

  “Did you hear me overlord? I repeat, the humans are here with our leaders.”

  When he did not hear a response for the second time, the Cathergon checked a nearby monitor. Steve smiled as the Cathergon searched for the cause of his blocked transmission. The source of the blocked transmission was in fact the small metal cylinder Steve had activated moments earlier.

  Steve had created and brought the item along in the event the human delegation needed to discuss things in private and wanted to make sure not one could listen in. The device created a dampening field that negated any long distance transmission in about a forty foot radius.

  Checking his comm device he saw that he had no signal. Possibly a result of the surrounding rock of the asteroid. Steve would need to make sure he captured the Cathergon and returned him to the meeting room. Fortunately, at this point the Cathergon had become frustrated and was now tearing the console apart in attempt to find the reason for the failed transmissions. This was creating a substantial amount of noise, which meant Steve could easily approach and subdue the Cathergon. Unfortunately, for Steve, the noise also muffled the sound of the Cathergons who had entered the small cavern and snuck up behind Steve. He did not detect their presence until he felt the cold barrel of an energy pistol press into the back of his neck.

  “Stand up human,” demanded a Cathergon voice.

  With his body blocking the view of the Cathergon behind him, Steve carefully secured the signal jamming device into a crevice before he slowly stood up. As he stood he raised his hands up and out slightly in a non threatening gesture and moved out from behind the rock formation.

  At this point the Cathergon priest had heard what was transpiring and spun about.

  “Calah, what is this all about, why is this human here?!?”

  Steve assumed the priest had been referring to the Cathergon who held the pistol to his back but the voice that resp
onded did not come from directly behind him.

  “He was spying on you, you idiot! If I had not come along he might have informed the others of your transgressions.”

  The Cathergon priest scowled as he looked from Steve to the place where the speaker must be standing. Realization bloomed upon the priest’s face as the situation fully sank in.

  “He must be the source of the lost signal! I was on with Overlord Llart and the signal was interrupted. He must have a device that blocks the transmission, we need to search him,” the priest said as he moved forward towards Steve.

  Steve began to feel hands upon him as they searched him for the device they knew he must have. Judging by the number of hands, Steve guessed there had to be at least four assailants behind him.

  “Where is the device!” demanded the priest as he stood before Steve, studying him, as he looked for the areas upon him where such a device might be secluded.

  “I don’t know what you are talking about, I was only looking for the bathroom and ended up here,” Steve replied dryly.

  The search continued for perhaps another ten minutes before they finally gave up, all the while the pistol never leaving the small of his back.

  Finally the priest exhaled in frustration and stepped back to once again study Steve.

  “If it is not located on him it must be somewhere nearby,” the priest explained as he began to look about, “Where was he exactly when you found him?” he asked of the Cathergon that had the pistol to his back.

  “Over there by those rocks,” stated the voice of his guard.

  As his guard had said this he must have turned slightly to gesture in the direct he was speaking about because Steve felt the pistol shift away from his body. The priest’s eyes followed where the guard had been indicating and stepped towards the rock formation to search the area.

  Knowing he would not have a better opportunity Steve reacted quickly, reaching out and grabbing the priests arm and yanking towards him. His intentions were to pull the priest by him as he shifted and send him into the guard who held the pistol. What he did not count on was the guard reacting quicker to his sudden movement. Steve heard the discharged of the energy pistol as he felt the hot burning feeling slam into his back, burning its deadly energy into him as his vision blurred and drew dark.

  January 26th, 2014 5:59am EST

  Cathergon Outpost

  Liam listened in on the conversation, between the Cathergons and the Earth delegation, with interest they discussed their plans for the upcoming offensive against the Shenkar and how the Cathergons can help.

  Captain Dunklin had just outlined their plans to destroy the Shenkar’s ability to produce the key component for their cloning process when one of the military Cathergon leaders, High Captain Wurr, spoke up.

  “This would go a long way to defeating the Shenkar’s ability to bring warriors to the battlefield but there is a flaw to your plan that it seems you are not aware of. The Shelecore must have thought of this possibility as he began construction of orbital battle platforms not too long ago. Through slave labor and around the clock construction he has managed to bring one of them online with two more roughly halfway completed. Once these platforms are fully operational it would be impossible to reach the planet without being detected. This would require the need to destroy these platforms and while I can say your ship is most formidable, it would not be sufficient to do the job before Shenkar reinforcements arrived.”

  “Would it be possible to use your freighters to shuttle some of our men to the surface?” inquired General Leonid.

  “No, all of our freighters are required to dock with the new orbital platform for inspection before descending to the surface as well as when they leave the surface,” explained Captain Frozt.

  The room was silent as they thought over the situation, each trying to work out how they should proceed.

  “How many Shenkar warriors are aboard these space stations?” General Leonid asked abruptly.

  The Cathergons seemed to think this over for a few moments before Captain Frozt spoke up.

  “The two unfinished stations only have about one hundred warriors at any given time but the operational station will have a full complement of roughly three thousand warriors.”

  “Is it possible to dock several of your freighters with the station at once? If so, how many of your freighters could dock with the orbital station without raising suspicion?”

  Captain Frozt seemed to think this over before he responded.

  “We have an upcoming resupply run scheduled for both the stations and the surface. The shipments are typically staggered but if we bring all the shipments in at once we could probably have fifteen freighters docked with the orbital station at one time.”

  “If you normally stagger the deliveries wouldn’t it raise suspicion with the Shenkar?” questioned Captain Dunklin.

  “No, typically we only stagger them because the Shenkar do not pay our captains for the shipments, stating it is our duty to the Federation. Staggering them, leaves other freighter captains to conduct other shipments elsewhere to offset the costs for fuel. We could simply inform the Shenkar we wish to finish the shipments as quickly as possible as it is more cost effective. But I do not see how supplying the station quicker benefits us.”

  “I have seen your freighters and if we pack them full we could fit roughly two hundred of our Praetorian guard aboard. If we supplement our forces with Templars and Paladins then we could take the station by force. In the event the Shenkar do send for reinforcements we could use the station for defense, depending on how far along the other stations are we could use those as well.”

  Everyone was silent as they thought over what the General had laid out as a proposal. It was High Captain Betz who broke the silence first

  “This could work but the attack would have to be quick as we would need to neutralize transmissions to the planet as well as any calls for assistance. The transmission part is key and while I believe your warriors are formidable I do not believe they could reach the command center before a call for help is sent.”

  “Why not simply destroy the communications dish?” inquired General Leonid.

  “Not possible, we would need to bring the Kraken into the system, target the dish and destroy it within seconds. Even if we knew where it was we would not be able to punch through the stations shields before a transmission was sent,” explained Captain Dunklin.

  “Then we need to block any transmissions at the source with a dampening system,” stated Kelvin matter of factly.

  With that statement, it dawned upon Liam, and he silently kicked himself for not thinking of it earlier. Steve had recently created a dampening system that blocked any long range transmissions within a given area. If he created one large enough to encompass the station they could block any transmission from being sent long enough to capture the station. The only drawback would be it also would block any transmissions to their own ships. Once the device was activated they would need to capture the command center to use the radar systems to see what was transpiring outside the station. Luckily the forces within the station would be able to communicate via tactical comms although the maximum distance could be hampered by the metal superstructure of the orbital station. Liam made a mental note to ask Steve if he could create a signal amplifier for the comm units.

  “That, we can do. We have a device that we could smuggle aboard the station via one of the freighters that once activated would shutdown all long range transmissions. We just need to construct a device large enough to encompass such a large area. This is something we will need to ask Lieutenant Barrows as it is of his design,” Liam explained.

  Everyone at the table turned their attention to Steve’s empty seat.

  “Where is your Lieutenant Barrows?” inquired Betz.

  “I believe the Lieutenant was not feeling well and he stepped out to use the facilities,” explained Captain Frozt.

  Everyone seemed to accept this explanation and once again returne
d to the conversation of capturing the orbital station. Only Liam was bothered at the fact that Steve had not returned. He had noticed when Steve had left, noting the look of discomfort, but he should have returned by now. He knew the effects of the Turrin bites had already passed and any food that he might have ingested that could have potentially had any harmful effects would have been neutralized by his nanites so where was he.

  His thoughts were momentarily distracted as Captain Dunklin addressed an outline of the plan.

  “Once we insert the device onto the station we will need to launch the assault upon the station. There are two main points of this assault we will need to lock down as they are key. One, is the obvious capture of the command center, but I must also stress the need to capture the stations reactor room. If we do not secure the reactor room the Shenkar could potentially overload the system which would result in destruction of the station.

  I recommend that a large portion of the group that takes the reactor be made up of Templars as they would be able to take the area quicker than our standard troops, no offense General, I am sure your men and woman are well trained,” Captain Dunklin explained, the latter part directed at General Leonid.

  “None taken, Captain, while I have not seen them in action, beyond our young commander’s demonstration, I have heard the Templars are skilled beyond measure,” stated Leonid, as he nodded in respect towards Liam.

  Liam returned the nod but otherwise said nothing.

  “Once the assault is underway, a small force will accompany Commander Brennan and Admiral Kelvin to the surface of the planet where they will work to establish a dialogue with the Lykaans. We have pretty high hopes we can get them to see the Shenkar for what they are. If this fails we will need to take the manufacturing facility by force and destroy it which would be very problematic as I am sure the Shenkar have several communication stations on the planet that would be more than capable of transmitting a call for help,” continued Captain Dunklin.