Storm' Fury: The Shenkar War (21 page)

              “Big deal, so we get some time in the brig, it will be worth teaching this guy a lesson.”

              Dave shrugged, stood up and slowly made his way from table to table as he delivered the message.

              “Well I don’t think I want to be here when this all goes down,” the officer said from beside Anthony.

              And with that said the officer stood up and quickly exited the mess hall. Ten minutes passed before Dave finally returned and sat down.

              “We are all set, just waiting on the signal from you.”

              “No time like the present,” Anthony said as he stood up.

              As Anthony and Dave made their way over to their target’s location, men stood up and joined them. By the time the pair reached the table there was a group of ten men with them. The ten men fanned out behind Private Robinson as Anthony and Dave sat down opposite him. The pair sat there in silence as they looked across the table at Robinson. Anthony had to admit that the man was very large but he wasn’t afraid. It was clear that the man knew he was surrounded but he seemed uninterested as he continued to eat. Finally Anthony broke the silence and spoke.

              “So James, I hear we have something in common.”

              James didn’t look up at Anthony but instead just ignored him as he continued his eating. Anthony could not help but again think there really was a lot of food on his tray.

              “You know it is rude to ignore someone who is addressing you,” Anthony said, his voice full of annoyance.

              “You know it is rude to interrupt someone who is trying to eat,” retorted James, not bothering to look up.

              Anthony sat back in surprise at the rebuttal from the large man. Looking over at Dave he then nodded towards the tray. Understanding, Dave reached out and slid the tray of food away. Silence descended over the mess hall as the muscles in James arms tightened, his fork visibly bending in one of his massive hands. Anthony looked around and noticed most of the hall was watching what was transpiring while some seemed to be looking as if a battle was about to begin.

              “You are going to want to give that back,” James said in a low dangerous voice.

              Men closed in behind James but didn’t make to grab him.

              “We have you outnumbered twelve to one, what are you going to about it?!?” said Dave, incredulously.

December 26
th
, 2013 4:43pm

Olympus

Texas,
EDF training facility

              Evan scratched the back of his neck as he looked around, yet at the same time trying to keep up with Liam’s brisk pace.

              “So where will we find these wonderful recruits?” asked Evan, looking over at him.

              “Most are supposed to be over at the mess hall so I figured we could start there first.”

              Liam and Evan walked quietly for several minutes before a voice calling to them forced them to stop and look around.

              “Hey Liam, Evan…wait up!”

              Steven Barrows came jogging up, a broad smile on his face.

              “What’s up, guys?”

              “We are going over to the mess hall to check out some recruits for an elite group of
Praetorian Guard
. They are supposed to be a colorful group that has authority issues. Liam here is supposed to train them.”

              “We are supposed to train them,” Liam corrected.

              “Cool, Liam would be perfect to train them.” Steve said, giving Liam a playful punch on shoulder.

              Liam rolled his eyes skyward and sighed.

              “What’s up?” Evan asked.

              “You both do realize that we do have to behave like real soldiers now that we unofficially joined the defense force. Last year we got away with it because we were not really meant to come back from the mission so military discipline was lax.”

              “Yeah we know, why do you ask?” inquired Steve.

              “I am your commanding officer, would it kill you guys to treat me as such once in awhile?”

              Evan and Steve looked at each other, grinned, then spun to face Liam. Clicking their ankles together they both threw an arm forward and into the air in a perfect imitation of an old Nazi salute.

              “YES MEIN FUHRER!” the both said in unison.

              Liam sighed again, shaking his head.

              “I don’t know why I bother?!” Liam asked no one in particular.

              “Yeah, we were wondering the same thing.” Steve said playfully.

              Liam looked up at Steve, one eyebrow raised, a severe look upon his face. Liam held his gaze until Steve’s smile faltered and he looked down. The tension was broken when Evan laughed.

              “Oh don’t let him fool you, he is just messing with you.”

              Steve looked up at Liam to see him smiling at him. Understanding finally blossomed across Steve’s face and he groaned.

              “Oh that’s just not right, you are an evil man.”

              “Yes, yes I am,” said Liam, smiling.

              Steve sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

              “So I take it Kimino is okay?” Evan asked suddenly.

              This question fueled Steve’s fire and once again he was all smiles.

              “Yep, other than a few cuts and bruises she will be okay. The
Okinawa
took one hell of a beating though. She will be in dry dock for a few months at least. The good news is the
Prometheus Shell
really held up even though it wasn’t quite used in the manner it had been designed for.”

              “From what I understand that little maneuver saved the
Reagan
from being destroyed. I have even heard they planned to name it the
Dvares
Maneuver
,” Evan explained.

              “Yeah, Captain Dvares is just happy he and most of his crew survived.”

              The three knights continued to walk in silence as each thought over the events of the past few days. They had walked in silence for perhaps fifteen minutes before Steve broke the silence.

              “So where is this mess hall anyway?”

              Before Liam could answer, the sound of breaking glass made him look up. A stocky black man came crashing through the window of the building across the street. The man hit the ground, rolled several times before coming to a halt, clearly unconscious. Liam groaned as he saw the sign on the side of the building.

              “That’s the mess hall.”

December 26
th
, 2013 5:07 pm

                                                            
Olympus

                            
  Texas,
EDF training facility, mess hall

              Anthony massaged his jaw as he shifted the chair off of his chest. He didn’t even remember being punched. All he remembered was watching the large James Robinson lift his friend Dave by one hand and throw him through the large mess hall window. Anthony had jumped forward to grab the man but the next thing he knew he was crashing into a table behind him. The collision had resulted with Anthony being buried beneath a table and chair.

              Once free of his entanglements he then looked towards the melee. From his position on the floor it looked like a tangle of arms and legs with Robinson in the center. If Anthony had just been a bystander he would have probably found humor in the scene. Two men hung off the back of the large man while two more attempted to pin each of his arms. A fifth man ran straight at Robinson, lifting a chair over his head. It was clear he intended to smash the chair over Robinson’s heas. Or at least that HAD been the plan. At the last possible second, Robinson lifted a foot off the ground and rammed the heel of his boot into the face of the oncoming man. The man crumpled to the floor in a heap, not even feeling the chair land on his chest as he was already rendered unconscious. Two more men ran forward in an attempt to subdue Robinson. Twisting his left arm slightly, Robinson grabbed the shirt of the man holding his arm and threw him forward. The man collided with the two oncoming men sending all three to the floor in a tangled mess.

              This fight was quickly going in a direction Anthony hadn’t expected. Already five men lay unconscious or moaning on the floor. This needed to end now and he intended it to do just that. Reaching into his pocket he retrieved the taser he always carried. He didn’t care how big this bastard was, enough jolts from this would drop a bear. Standing on wobbly legs he slowly aimed the taser at Robinson’s chest. His finger was only on the trigger for a fraction of a second before the taser was suddenly and mysteriously ripped free of his grip. At the same time a voice boomed throughout the mess hall.

              “ENOUGH OF THIS, EVERYONE STAND DOWN!”

              Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to the sound of the voice. Three men stood just inside the doorway to the mess hall. Two stood close to Anthony’s height but the third was close to the same height as Robinson. Anthony’s taser lay in pieces at the feet of the man in the middle. None carried any visible weapons that he could see. All three worn the new black uniforms of the
Earth Defense Force
yet they all radiated something that could only be defined as power. Anthony would bet anything that he stood before three
Templar Knights
. He also suspected that the one that spoke was the one known as Commander Brennan but he could not make out their name tags from where he stood.

              As if to confirm his suspicions Anthony heard a scuffling from behind him. Turning, he saw one of his men making a break for it towards one of the side exits. Suddenly the man was lifted into the air and thrown sideways into the wall by some unseen force. The man slammed hard against the wall and then tumbled to the floor unconscious. Turning back to the three knights Anthony saw that the one in the middle had his hand held out in front of him. The middle pilot stepped forward; moving closer to a point Anthony could read the name on his uniform. His suspicion confirmed…it read “Brennan”; the commander took a moment to look over the group before he spoke.

              “No one will be leaving until I get a few questions answered.”

December 26
th
, 2013 5:15 pm

Olympus

Texas,
EDF training facility, mess hall

              Liam surveyed the group before him and now understood what the admiral had meant by “not being the cream of the crop”. It was clear Liam would have his hands full getting these men and women to all view each other as a team. Everyone shifted as they looked at each other but none stepped up to speak. So they stuck together, that was something at least.

              After a few more seconds of examining the group Liam then walked forward from between Evan and Steve. He knew his destination but he took his time walking there as he made as if he was still deciding. Coming to stand before the large man, who was the subject of the attack, Liam looked up at him. The name tag read “Robinson”.

              “Would you care to explain what is going on here?”

Robinson averted his eyes to look over at Anthony for a few moments before he looked back at Liam. He seemed to be weighing whether it was worth telling what had happened. After several moments had passed he sighed and then spoke.