by Seth Libby
“My team is ready; I will be taking almost all of Necro squadron as well as Lieutenants Groto, Claget and Bowmont from the Royal Razors. In addition to them I will also bring the elite squad of Praetorian Guard I have been training. Lieutenant Commander Maxis will remain behind to lead the rest of the Templars on the assault upon the station,” explained Liam.
“Excellent, Commander, let me know if you need anything else,” stated Captain Dunklin before he turned his attention to the Cathergons.
“I know you will lend your freighters in support but did you wish to have any of your soldiers partake in the seizure of the stations?”
All the Cathergons looked a little uncomfortable at this question as they looked at each other.
“Is there something wrong?” asked Kelvin.
“This is something I wish was possible but I must admit, while we presented a good front, we are not skilled in battle. To be honest, none of our race has ever partaken in military combat. This is something we have been forbidden from by the Shenkar and while our race certainly has fought amoungst ourselves in the past it has never been anything of substance,” Captain Wurr explained, looking a bit sheepish.
Captain Dunklin’s mouth grew tight momentarily before he spoke.
“This might be for the best as you would not be familiar with our tactics but I have to say before this is over your people will have to take a stand and choose to fight.”
“Yes, I know this and many are more than willing but I did not want to fill you with false hope of our support. In fact, I and the rest of our military leaders would like to accompany you aboard your warships in hopes of learning from you the ways of military combat. Captain Frozt said we could learn much from your people just on what he saw when you Commander Brennan defeated the Shenkar destroyer. He said the destroyer never got a shot off before it was over…is this true?” Captain Wurr explained, the latter question directed at Liam.
But it was not Liam who responded, instead Kelvin spoke up.
“I reviewed the footage of the battle, which I will make available to you if you wish, and have to say while we did defeat them rather quickly we did catch them by surprise. This was largely possible because we have technology they do not know of which certainly gave us an advantage. Not all of our battles have been so clear cut a victory, many of my people have already died in this short war. This is something your people will need to acknowledge….are they willing to fight and die for the freedom they seek.”
“I understand, many among my people do not want this war with the Shenkar but we believe this is largely due to they do not know of you humans. The Shenkar have gone to great lengths to supress any sign of weakness. We believe, as word reaches my people’s ears of a race with the abilities to defeat the Shenkar, they will join the fight. As our numbers swell we will be able to construct more warships to aid you in your coming campaign. Until then we would greatly appreciate knowledge you could bestow upon us in the ways of combat so we can slaughter these Shenkar,” explained Wurr, the last part said with ferocity as he clenched a fist infront of him.
Kelvin looked sideways at Dunklin before he slowly spoke.
“I think we need to get one thing clear if you wish to join our campaign and learn our ways. We do not like war and only partake in it as a necessary evil. We will not stand for outright slaughter of any race, even the Shenkar. In fact, we have it on good authority from our Shenkar representatives that many among their own people wish to overthrow the Shelecore and establish an open dialogue with their neighboring races. For this reason if a Shenkar surrenders or does not move to harm another then they should not be harmed, do I make myself clear?”
The look upon Wurr’s face made Liam believe his statement of slaughtering the Shenkar had been more bluster than truth as his face showed signs of relief at Kelvin’s words.
“We understand completely and I find comfort in your words that you humans seek to preserve life as well.”
Nodding Kelvin and the group once again delved into the plans of the upcoming campaign but Liam was once again distracted by Steve’s absence.
Looking to the empty spot that was Steve’s chair he frowned as he continued to wonder where Steve had gone to. It was now close to an hour since he had abruptly left the room and thoughts of foul play began to enter his thoughts.
“Commander, is there something wrong?” whispered the voice of High Captain Betz, who was seated to his left.
Liam turned his attention to him and smiled, he debated saying anything but figured that if Steve had encountered some trouble it better be addressed as soon as possible.
“I was just wondering what might have come of my fellow knight, he has been gone from the room for close to an hour.”
Betz frowned as he looked to the empty chair where Steve had been sitting.
“Has it been that long already? Perhaps you and I better go and investigate. There are many places upon this outpost that can be dangerous to be in as well as my people are not accustomed to humans yet.
As the pair excused themselves and stood to exit, a commotion drew everyones attention to the door. A bloody Cathergon priest, robes torn in several places, was shoved bodily into the room followed by Steve who limped into view.
Steve did not look that much better than the priest as his uniform shown with many tears and burn marks. He held his side as he walked; clear signs of almost dried blood covered his hand.
January 26th, 2014 6:42am EST
Cathergon Outpost
“What is the meaning of this!” demanded one of the Cathergon high priests, who up until now, Liam had not heard speak. “Why has one of your men assaulted one of my priests?!”
The sight of his disheveled priest clearly causing the high priest to become apoplectic.
“I am sure the lieutenant has a good reason for this. Let’s stay calm and see what he has to say,” Captain Dunklin said hastily.
Steve limped over to the table and tossed an object onto the table which slid a small distance.
“Do any of you recognize this?” he asked of the Cathergons.
It was High Captain Betz that spoke first.
“It looks to be a relay beacon miners use to mark a spot in space, although it looks to be of a crude design. Typically scouts are sent out to survey asteroid fields and when a particularly rich mineral deposit is found they mark the spot with such beacons and transmit the broadcast frequency to the mining ships to follow.”
“I noticed this one sneaking off during the meeting so I followed. He led me to an area that looked very much unused, deep within the astereroid, where he had a communications station set up. Your priest here, was using the station to communicate with a Shenkar overlord. He was preparing to inform the Shenkar of our presence as well as activate this beacon and divulge the location of this secret base of yours,” Steve explained with a grimaced as he shifted on his feet.
Everyone looked at the disheveled Cathergon priest with surprise.
“Is this true, Cert?” demanded High Captain Betz.
The priest attempted to straighten and smooth out his robes with little success before he stood straight and leveled an indignant look at Betz.
“We should not be conspiring to undermine the rule of the Shenkar Federation. We are their subjects, we follow their laws, without them we would be without protection.”
Betz did bother to try and hide his look of disgust at what he thought of the priest’s statement.
“Are you truly that blind to the ways of the Shenkar? They do not protect us, they enslave us!” exclaimed High Captain Wurr.
The priest did not say anything further, only crossed his arms and stood defiantly.
“Steve, are you all right? You look a bit worse for wear,” asked Captain Dunklin.
Steve looked down at his bloody hand that was pressed to his side before he spoke.
“When the priest was about to inform the Shenkar of our presence I knew I had to stop him so I activated the jamming beacon I had which
interrupted the transmission. He was unaware of my presence so he began to tear apart the comm station in an attempt to find the reason for the blocked transmission. He was naturally making a lot of noise which was why I did not hear the Cathergons that snuck up behind me until it was too late. Next thing I knew, I had an energy pistol pressed to my back.”
“You mentioned Cathergons? How many were there? Where are the rest?” asked Wurr as he looked about as if they would suddenly appear.
“There were seven and I can take you to their bodies later. I would have liked to have taken them alive but they gave me little choice,” Steve explained as he indicated the many wounds over his body.
The room grew silent as everyone took in what Steve had explained. The Cathergons looked especially discomforted at this recent turn of events.
“Were you aware that there were Cathergons, within your group, that were so loyal to the Federation?” asked Kelvin, directing his question at no Cathergon in particular.
The Cathergons looked at each other before any of them spoke up.
“We thought we had been careful, we believed we had screened out any possible threat to our plans,” explained Betz.
“Clearly, your screening process needs some review,” Steve stated flatly.
“Clearly,” muttered Wurr as he looked to the high priest who had spoken up at the sight of his disheveled priest.
The priest attempted to look indignant but failed and only ended up looking sheepish.
“Lieutenant Barrows, could you tell me if any of the ones you killed were military, priest or worker?” asked Betz.
Steve seemed to think this over for a few moments as he studied the uniforms and robes of the Cathergons infront of him.
“Four were wearing robes but the other three, including the one that snuck up behind me, wore the uniforms that your dock workers were wearing.”
Betz seemed relieved slightly at hearing this as he turned to the High priest.
“Hetra is of the Gondar sect, which has always been a sect that in the past has embraced Shenkar rule, do you think the others are of the same following?”
The high priest thought this over for a moment as he studied the disheveled priest before he nodded slowly to himself.
“I would need to see the rest of the bodies but I believe this could be the case. I had reservations about bringing him into the fold but we had hoped to have a unified delegation of all our sects when we launched our war against the Shenkar. This would have gone along way to the rest of the populace we were all in agreement of our desire for freedom.”
“I can take you to the bodies if you wish, my nanites have already repaired most of the damage my body has sustained so the trip will not be too uncomfortable.” Steve explained.
“Thank you Lieutenant, the sooner we confirm this, the sooner we can root out any further trouble makers,” High Captain Wurr stated.
With that said, Wurr, the high priest and the Earth delegation left with Steve to go and examine the bodies while Betz took over guarding Hetra.
Liam stood and walked over to the pair and leveled a stare at Hetra. Hetra stared back defiantly at first but under Liam’s steady gaze he soon wilted and looked away. Turning to Betz he smiled slightly and gave a quick wink before speaking.
“I can find out how many followers are left upon the station if you wish.”
Betz’s gaze shifted from Liam to Hetra in confusion for a moment before the realization of the meaning of Liam’s earlier wink dawned on him.
“Yes, I think that would be okay but please try not to kill him,” Betz said, his gaze falling on Hetra as he attempted to shrink back away from Liam.
“I will try but if he does not wish to cooperate then it is a distinct possibility,” Liam stated flatly.
As he stepped closer he raised a hand in front of him and slowly bent his fingers to a clawed appearance. As he did this he concentrated slightly and soon his hand gave off the blue nimbus of electrical current. The immediate smell of ozone filled the air as he stepped closer, extending this glowing hand. Hetra had been there when Liam had given his demonstration, he knew the destructive power he could unleash.
“I am not going to lie, this will hurt….a lot.”
Hetra had pushed back as far as he could within his chair as the clear signs of fear filled his face.
“You can’t do this! We are not a race that tortures for information!” Hetra exclaimed, looking to Betz for help.
“You are correct,” Betz said calmly.
Herta’s face relaxed slightly at hearing this but his relief was shortlived as Betz continued.
“We do not torture for information but Commander Brennan is a human and I cannot say what humans will do to obtain information.”
Herta’s head snapped from Liam to Betz as hearing his words and then back to Liam’s glowing hand, which was coming dangerously close now.
“Okay I will tell you, just keep him back, don’t let him hurt me!” Herta shrilled.
Liam hesitated a moment longer before stepping back but did not extinguish the glow from his hand.
“How many are still aboard?” demanded Betz.
“None! The plan was to meet up, activate the beacon and then steal one of the warships and escape before the Shenkar showed up,” Herta said quickly, his eyes still locked on Liam’s hand.
“If you are lying to us I will let this human torture you until your screams can be heard on homeworld!” Betz said fiercely.
“I swear I am being truthful, that is the truth, and we could not convert any others to our cause!” Herta whined, his voice cracking at the thought of being handed over to Liam.
“Excellent, I thank you for your honesty,” Betz said calmly as he drew an energy pistol, aimed it at Herta and shot him in the head.
Herta’s head snapped backwards so quickly that Liam fully expected his head to fly off but instead it rolled to the side as Herta’s body slumped in death. Betz calmly replaced his energy pistol and turned to Liam and spoke as he must have noticed the look of surprise that had appeared on Liam’s face at the execution.
“We do torture but we do not take treason lightly. The only punishment for treason is immediate execution. You have your ways, we have ours and I apologize if I unsettled you any by the act but this is our way.”
Liam lowered his hand, the glow dissipating, as he stepped back to lean against the table behind him.
“I would not have tortured him nor would I have executed him but I understand that not every race will view things the same way. There are cultures upon my homeworld that differ from each other so naturally our two races would have differences.”
Betz sighed heavily as he nodded.
“I thought I had understood the meaning of your wink and it seems I was correct. I did not expect you to torture him even after the footage I witnessed of you aboard that Shenkar battlecruiser.”
Liam sighed heavily as he looked over Herta’s limp corpse.
“I had almost died only to be rescued and tortured by the Shenkar aboard the Tryliene. The man I was there to this day still has nightmares of what I did aboard that ship to those Shenkar. That footage is no way near a representation of what the human race stands for. If that is what you are hoping to get with an alliance with my people then you will be sorely disappointed.”
Betz smiled, a broad genuine smile that Liam would bet had signs of relief within it.
“I am glad to hear that, commander, to tell you the truth if you were truly a race that could slaughter so indiscriminantly we might have second thoughts with our alliance. It is a relief to know you value life as we do, even if that life is that of a traitor,” Betz explained, indicating Herta at the mention of a traitor.
“High Captain, how many of this priest’s sect is there? Could they create real problems for us in the future?” Liam asked as he indicated Herta.
“Herta’s sect should not prove any real threat, they are a radical group who always seemed to not see things for what they are
…instead believing the Shenkar know best for us instead of using their own minds to see what anyone with common sense would see. You see, compared to other sects, they are a relatively new political group that has been trying to gather followers with little success. Their belief is the leaders should tell you how to think and we should be dependent on the government.
“Commander, can you be honest with me on something. What do you believe your real chances are in defeating the Shenkar?”
Liam thought this over carefully before answering; fearing saying the wrong this could produce a negative result.
“If we successfully destroy the Shenkar’s ability to manufacture the compound necessary for cloning I would say we stand a very good chance.”
“And if you fail? If the Shenkar are able to secure the planet before you can destroy the manufacturing plants or sway the Lykaans to your cause?”
“I would not be able to speculate but if the Shenkar can continuously produce warships and warriors they would eventually wear our forces down to a point we would not be able to keep them off our homeworld. One thing I can say is my people are an incredibly stubborn race. We would rather die than submit to Shenkar rule. The Shelecore will bleed his forces badly to defeat us and in doing so might give another race the time they need to use it to their advantage.”
Betz nodded and once again looked over at the slumped body of Herta before speaking. Turning back, he walked over to a decanter that rested upon the table and used it to pour a dark blue liquid into two glasses. Replacing the decanter he picked up both glasses and held out one to Liam. Only when Liam had taken the preoffered glass in his hand did Betz speak.
“I can promise you one thing, Commander; this has become an all or nothing campaign for both of our peoples. We will not sit back anymore and suffer the rule of the Shelecore and his council. When this is over the result will either be the Shelecore and his council have been defeated or both of our homeworlds will burn. Either way we are in for a tough path ahead.”