Storm' Fury: The Shenkar War

by Seth Libby

  “Even in captivity this human chooses not to cooperate. I do believe we will need to break them.”

  With a quick fluid motion Viero spun back and backhanded the human female across the face which sent her careening into the guard behind her. The guard caught her but as he steadied her he leveled a punch to her midsection that doubled her over. As she doubled over the guard quickly brought his knee up into her face. The crunch of bone breaking was clear as she flew backwards to land upon her back.

  “You bastard!” came the voice of the male human.

  Viero’s laughter cut off as he turned to the human male.

  “It seems they can speak after all. I think I will start with you since you are so willing to speak. You will tell me what you are doing on this planet, where your forces are hidden and all the rest of your dirty little secrets.”

  “Go to hell!” the human male retorted.

  Viero sneered as he looked down at the human male kneeling before him.

  “Oh, before I am done with you you will think you are in hell, that I can assure you of.”

  Viero turned from the human to address the closest warrior.

  “Take these two to the holding cells. Also please request inquisitor Juit to join me here and to bring his instruments with him. Tell him I have a new subject for him to play with.”

  The guards saluted and roughly pulled the human females to their feet, half dragging them from the chamber. As he watched them go he felt eyes upon him. Turning he saw the human male was staring up at him.

  “You will lose that defiant attitude soon enough,”stated Viero, a smile forming upon his face.

  The human smiled a wicked smile as he looked up at Viero.

  “Do what you must but you truly do not know what you are about to unleash upon your men. Death is coming and he will tear your men to pieces in the most painful ways possible.”

  This caused Viero’s smile to falter slightly. No being had ever dared speak to a Shenkar warrior in such a way before; this was something he had not expected which was a bit unsettling. He had heard rumors of the human warrior that had slaughtered the entire crew of ther Tryliene and frankly he found it hard to believe.

  “You speak of the Dala Dvierik, the mythical human that will lead your people in defeating the Shenkar federation. Do not attempt to frighten me with tales, you are mere humans and far beneath that of the Shenkar. You were lucky in defeating our two fleets we sent against you but two battles won does not win the war. Those fleets were led by warriors of no great skill…at least that is my opinion. If I had been leading one of those fleets I can assure you I would have defeated you humans.”

  The human slowly shook his head side to side as he gave Viero a pitying look.

  “It is the short sightedness of your leaders that will lead to your peoples defeat. Your Shelecore leads through fear as he attempts to keep an iron grip upon those worlds beneath you. Unfortunately, he does not see that the tighter the grip the more people that will rise up against him. Even among your own people there has been descent, how do you expect to control other races? It is too bad that many on both sides will unfortunately die before that but you will lose.”

  A commotion at the door made Viero look up as his aid rushed in.

  “Overlord, I must report terrible news, it seems the humans sabotaged the orbital station before they left. It has exploded taking Captain Thresh and his battle group with it. Everyone was killed; we will not be receiving any reinforcements anytime soon.”

  The news stunned Viero, he had expected to receive ten thousand warriors to add to his defenses. Instead he would receive nothing unless they could get word out of what has transpired. As he tried to formulate a plan on how to proceed, his thoughts were interrupted by the human kneeling before him.

  “As I said….you will lose. Do you wish to die following an insane leader? I can assure you, your Shelecore is just that….insane.”

  Viero backhanded the human which sent him crashing to the floor.

  “Do not speak of our great Shelecore again, you know nothing of him! As for your secrets, I will have them soon enough when the inquisitor arrives.

  January 31st, 2014 11:36pm EST

  Lykaa

  Leah cried out in pain as Alyssa snapped her nose back into place.

  “That should do it. The nanites should repair the damage soon enough,” Alyssa said as she stood up and examined her work.

  Leah tenderly wiped the blood away from her face with a cloth that had not been confiscated when they had been captured. Once she was finished she looked around to get a better look at her surroundings.

  The interior of the cell was roughly ten feet by twelve feet and held one hard bench. There did not appear to be any type of lavatory so she did not believe this holding cell was meant for long term prisoners. Overall the holding cell was a large cage with only one door. The door was secured with a bioreader that would only open with the proper Shenkar handprint. Any attempt to hack the locking mechanism was out of the question because the bars of the cage were electrified which unfortunately required touching to get access to the mechanism.

  Leah let out a large sigh as she looked about; she blamed herself for leading the group into an ambush. If she had been more cautious she possibly would have seen the ambush for what it was and been able to retreat before they were captured. Instead, her stubbornness had won out and resulted in their capture and the death of a guard member.

  “Don’t blame yourself. We all could have stopped you if we wanted to,” Alyssa said from beside her, as if reading her thoughts.

  “Yeah, maybe so, but I still fell for the ambush and now we are stuck in here, in need of rescuing. Liam will never let me live this one down.”

  Alyssa studied Leah for several long moments before she suddenly laughed aloud.

  “What?” Leah asked Alyssa, not sure if she should be offended by the laughter.

  “I can’t believe I never saw it before,” Alyssa said.

  “Saw what before?” Leah asked, a bit guardedly.

  “You are in love with Commander Brennan!” stated Alyssa.

  Leah opened her mouth to deny it but knew she would not be able to do so convincingly so instead she remained silent. Seeing her not denying it, Alyssa continued on.

  “Well, at least you do not deny it, does he know? I would advise to not throw yourself at him. I tried that and he booted me out of his quarters,” Alyssa confessed then looked up as if thinking of something.

  “You know I don’t believe I have ever been turned down by a guy before, although I can’t say for sure as I have no memories of before the enhancement process,” Alyssa continued.

  Leah did not look at Alyssa, only continued to stare ahead in an attempt not to give anything away. It was perhaps this very action that drew Alyssa’s suspicion.

  “Well, he won’t resist me for long I can assure you of that,” Alyssa said as she studied Leah.

  Leah’s jaw clenched slightly but she managed to keep herself from responding.

  “I think next time we are back on the Kraken I will just get into his quarters before he gets there. When he gets back he will find me completely nude upon his bed,” Alyssa continued as she watched Leah closely, seeing her hands ball up into fists.

  “He will only kick you out again. He does not like easy women,” Leah said in an even voice, not bothering to look in Alyssa’s direction.

  Alyssa studied Leah for several long moments until finally Leah looked up.

  “What?” asked Leah.

  “You and Liam are involved!” Alyssa said accusingly as she pointed at Leah, a smile blooming on her face.

  “What? You are delusional,” said Leah, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable.

  Alyssa laughed again.

  “Wow, I cannot believe I never saw it before, you two are in love with each other! How long has this been going one?”

  Leah opened her mouth to deny it further then closed it and placed her head in her hands.

&nb
sp; “He has loved me since before the war began and I have loved him equally as long, although it took me a bit longer to realize it.”

  Alyssa smiled as she sat down beside Leah.

  “Well that explains why I could not get him. I was starting to think he might like guys. Why do you guys hide it? They really haven’t established any rules against fraternization. Granted, I am sure they will when the war is over, when the countries can all sit down and establish a real set of rules for this new branch of military to follow.”

  “If this war ever ends,” Leah said aloud.

  “Oh, I think it will end and we will be victorious, especially if we win the Lykaans to our side like we did the Cathergons. Speaking of which what are your plans for after the war? I was thinking of staying in the military.”

  “I hadn’t really thought too much into it, I guess, it is far too early to know how the war will turn out. Yes, there are things I have planned but as far as what I will do I do not know.”

  “Do you see yourself marrying Liam?”

  Leah did not say anything, only looked down at her hands as she rubbed at the finger where an engagement ring should be. Alyssa did not miss the small gesture and smiled.

  “Holy crap, you guys are engaged, aren’t you?!?”

  “Yes, if I ever see him again that is.” admitted Leah, knowing denying it would be pointless.

  Alyssa sat silently for a moment before suddenly snapping her fingers in front of her as if thinking of something.

  “So that is what Tim meant when he told that Shenkar commander that the Dala Dvierik will unleash hell upon this planet. I have heard rumors of our commander. Is it true he killed the entire crew of a Shenkar battlecruiser?”

  “Yes, Liam’s abilities are amazing yet at the same time frightening. The stronger his emotions get the stronger his abilities function. From what I understand, when he slaughtered the crew of the Shenkar battlecruiser, they had been experimenting on him. He suffered great pain at their hands which drove him to the brink of insanity. When he was able to return to his shipmates he was catatonic and unresponsive. From what Lieutenant Commander Maxis told me, it was only something that reminded Liam of me that broke him from his catatonic state. You do not know it but I was at Hascom Air Force base when the Shenkar attacked. I died there but Liam was able to bring me back to life with an infusion of nanites from his own body. I never went through the infusion process everyone else did. It was Liam who inadvertently turned me into a Templar.”

  Alyssa’s mouth hung open slightly as she listened to Leah’s story.

  “So it is true, he has healed someone who died, I heard the rumors but didn’t know what to make of them. So he can heal people, move objects with his mind and from what I had understood unleash a heavy electrical assault. Almost as if he was shooting lightning at someone, correct?”

  Leah only nodded a confirmation.

  “Can he do anything else?” asked Alyssa, clearly intrigued.

  Leah did not say anything, only thought of the last time she had been in Liam’s quarters on Earth. They had been planning a romantic dinner and when she went to light the candles they sparked to life on their own. When she questioned Liam about this he only smiled and handed her a glass of wine. She also had witnessed him levitating himself as he moved around the room. This ability took great concentration and she had been able to disrupt it by throwing pillows at him. When he had attempted to deflect the pillows with his mind he quickly sank to the floor. She knew Liam did not want anyone to know his abilities were growing, especially the scientists. They were always looking for an excuse to experiment on him, something he was dead set against.

  “I haven’t witnessed any other abilities but that does not mean there isn’t any,” Leah lied as she looked ahead.

  The sadness was not that she could possibly not see Liam again, although that was a small part of it, but instead that she knew Liam would unleash destruction on a scale never before seen in order to get her back. She worried what that would do to his sanity as well as his health. There still wasn’t any extensive testing on possible long term effects the nanites could have on the human body. Some scientists speculated the constant neural activity could eventually burn out the human brain, effectively melting the brain from within. This was just a hypothetical theory but it was one she did not want to witness or be part of.

  Her thoughts were interrupted from a soft touch at her shoulder. Turning she saw that Alyssa had laid her hand upon her shoulder, her face showing concern on a level that Leah would not have expected.

  “Don’t worry, we will get you back to him and don’t worry about our commander. If he is as strong, as rumors say, then I would direct your worry for these Shenkar as they do not know what they have done.”

  Leah gave a slight smile as she reached up and slightly squeezed the hand on her shoulder.

  “Thanks, I appreciate the comforting words.”

  The pair sat in silence for several long minutes before Alyssa spoke up suddenly, her voice cheerful once again.

  “Hey, can I be one of your bridesmaids?”

  Leah laughed slightly.

  “Sure, although we haven’t even remotely planned anything yet so who knows when it will actually happen.”

  “That’s okay, I can wait and I will gladly help you plan your wedding if you want.”

  Leah smiled and gave Alyssa’s hand another squeeze. Alyssa smiled and then stood up and stretched.

  “How do you think Lieutenant Wellmo is? I hope they are not torturing him.”

  “Me too, but it would not surprise me from what I have heard of this Shelecore. We need to hold out as long as possible, Liam will come for us, that I have no doubt.

  January 31st, 2014 11:10pm EST

  Lykaa

  As soon as the doors swung open, Shizta quickly stepped inside. He spotted the overlord standing over the limp form of a human that lay upon the floor. Another Shenkar stood nearby, wiping blood from his hands. Both turned to see who the newcomer was as Shizta approached.

  “Overlord Viero, I am Overlord Shizta Flezinia, I believe you are holding three humans prisoner? I am here to take them into custody in the Shelecore’s name and to have them transported back to homeworld,” Shizta said in his most official and commanding voice that he could muster.

  Viero eyed Shizta for several moments before cocking his head to the side.

  “I know you, you are on the Shelecore’s inner war council. Last I heard you were part of the second failed assault on the human homeworld so how is it you are here?”

  Shizta fought the flutter inside of him. How is it this backwards planet already knows of the failure of the second attack.

  “What I am doing here or where I have been is none of your business. I am here on official business by command of the Shelecore himself. You are to turn over the three prisoners and arrange for travel to homeworld for me.”

  “Arrange for travel? Do you not possess a ship? You had to have travelled here somehow so how is it you are here?”

  Shizta allowed annoyance to show upon his face from Viero’s questions.

  “My mission is of the utmost importance and not for your low level clearance but if I must tell you to move this along then I will, but it is for your ears only,” explained Shizta, his eyes drifting to the inquisitor for the latter part of the explaination.

  Viero looked to his inquisitor, nodded, and then waved him away. The inquisitor gathered up his tools of his practice and left the room. Shizta watched him go before turning back to Viero.

  “Until recently, I was held prisoner by the humans. I pretended to be swayed by the human plight but I can assure you I am loyal to the Shelecore. I was able to gather technical information on their military as well as their personnel. At the first opportunity I was able to escape by convincing my captures that I could facilitate the release of these humans you have captured. As for the forces attacking your base here? It is from a small expeditionary force based out of a class of warship they
designated as Leviathan class. If you are unfamiliar with the specs on it I can assure you it dwarfs our late dreadnaught by more than a substantial amount. The firepower on board is enough to destroy two command ships; this is a fact I have been unfortunate to witness. The warship also carries a small army aboard her, this is the forces you will be engaging soon here and are responsible for the capturing and destruction of the orbital stations. She is supported by three frigate class warships of a new design our military is unfamiliar with. I can assure you while this force may be small they can inflict heavy casualties if they choose to.”

  “And what of these stories of Templar knights who are unstoppable?” Viero asked.

  “The humans die just like us. In fact, most of the human forces present on the planet would die quickly to our forces in one on one combat. However, these Templar knights you have heard of are a formidable foe. The strongest among them is called Commander Liam Brennan, also known as Arch Angel. I am sure you are familiar with the stories of a human that slaughtered the entire crew of one of our battlecruisers?”

  “Yes, of course, it is merely a tale to scare children…” Viero began.

  “You are wrong, he is real and he is on this planet. He is this Commander Brennan.” interrupted Shizta.

  “Surely the reports have been exaggerated?” Viero asked.

  “No, I have witness the footage and seen the aftermath first hand. He is the most dangerous human alive. If we eliminate him then it would be demoralizing to the humans. But even killing him would not make our war easier, we must find a way to even the odds against these Templars. What you may not know is they have been enhanced with Meshtrell technology; this is what makes them such skilled warriors. If we were able to some how use that technology on our own warriors then perhaps we could final destroy these humans once and for all. This is the reason I am to transport the three humans to homeworld.”

  Viero seemed to think this over for several moments before he opened his mouth to respond. However, before he could respond, a weak voice spoke up from the floor, only saying one word.