Storm' Fury: The Shenkar War (24 page)

              Upon entering the control center Liam was surprised to find the room in an uproar. It was clear something was severely wrong as he looked about. After several moments Liam spotted the officer in command and walked over. To look at the officer revealed he was nothing special other than a balding overweight middle aged man who only held the rank of lieutenant junior grade. It wasn’t too hard to figure out the reason as to why he hadn’t advanced past his current rank. As Liam approached the lieutenant was angrily berating a young female ensign to a point she was on the verge of tears. Liam’s anger, in turn, rose at such a display of unprofessional behavior.

              “What do you mean they had clearance?!? They have never been cleared for anything but working with our scientists. How could you have been so stupid to think this would be all right?!?”

              The ensign was trying to speak but the officer wasn’t letting her get a word in edgewise. Spotting Liam over the officer’s shoulder made the ensign give up trying. Her eyes flicked down to his name tag and her eyes widened. She now did nothing but gawk at the sudden appearance of the most popular
Templar
knight. Noticing that the young ensign’s reaction, the officer turned around to see what had captured her attention. Instantly the officer snapped to attention as he saluted Liam.

              “At ease,” Liam said quietly.

              At this point Liam noticed the entire control center had gone very quiet as every pair of eyes focused on Liam and the Lieutenant.

              “How can I help you, commander? My control room is at your disposal.”

              If Liam hadn’t been present for the berating of the young ensign he would never had believe this man capable of such unprofessional behavior of an officer.

              “You can start by telling me why you are treating the ensign so poorly?”

              This startled the lieutenant, his face turning bright red as he stumbled over his words before he could answer.

              “Well……it’s just….well she has caused an incident due to her own negligence.”

              “And what would this incident entail?” asked Liam, his voice still calm and low.

              “Sir, it involves the Meshtrell, it seems…….” He began but Liam cut him off.

              “Wait, you know where the Meshtrell are? This is the reason why I am here, I am unable to find any Meshtrell anywhere on the base. It is important I speak with them.”

              At this point the lieutenant looked sick and did not look like he wanted to continue but he did anyway.

              “Well it seems the Meshtrell took one of the new
Poseidon
class frigates and…um…left. We registered fold activity soon after they left the space dock so I don’t believe they are hiding anywhere within the system. Even so we have been searching the system without any luck. If they are still in system they are hiding well and not responding to any hails we make.”

              The
Poseidon
class frigate was a new breed of fast attack warship capable of hit and run assaults against heavier warships and stationary objects such as the Shenkar’s command bases. The upper brass came to the conclusion that while the larger capital ships held their uses in head to head battles, they also took longer to build and required larger crews. The new frigates only needed a minimum crew of twenty people and were five times as fast as the small Shenkar warships. In addition to their light crews and enhanced speed they were also very well armed, spouting four torpedo launchers, four of the new Foxfore interceptor pods, two heavy and four light energy cannons.

              The theory behind these new ships would be the EDF could produce ten frigates for every one battlecruiser. The recent battle had left many of the warships heavily damaged and under manned. The problem was the EDF couldn’t train and replace the lost men and women as fast as it would take to repair and build new heavy warships. So until they had enough replacements, the council felt they would take existing crews and place them on the new frigates therefore they would be able to field a sizable fleet in the event of another invasion. Another benefit to the new frigates was they were designed to dock with the
Kraken
. The
Kraken
housed three docking platforms designed to lock the frigates in place to allow them to fold at the same time as the larger warship. The addition of three frigates weaponry would augment the already impressive array of weaponry the
Kraken
possessed.

              “So they stole one of our new warships and left? How is that possible? I thought we had contingencies in place in case of infiltration.”

              Recently some group within the military pointed out the need to create overlapping security measures to prevent infiltrations and sabotage. The measures had actually created more problems than solved them but they did in fact make it almost impossible for someone who doesn’t have the authorization to access any of the
Earth Defense Force
bases or ships.

              “There is, sir, but it seems the Meshtrell knew all the security measures. They were able to hack in and create all the passcodes they needed to bypass our security.”

              “All the unmanned warships are locked into the docking clamps, the security overrides would have to have been disengaged. Last I knew those could only be disengaged from here.”

              At this point Liam noticed the young ensign’s face turn a bright crimson as she averted her gaze away from Liam and to her feet. Before the lieutenant could elaborate Liam spoke.

              “Ah, I see how but the question is why?

              “The ensign claims that the Meshtrell had all the necessary security codes and followed all the proper protocols. I have already sent for the MPs to take her into custody until formal charges can be authorized.”

              At this point the ensign found her voice as her head shot up, anger clearly registering on face.

              “They did have all the necessary security codes as well as followed all the necessary protocols. I followed standard procedures to the letter, I made no mistakes. The lieutenant should be the………..”

              “I am not being questioned here, you are! So save your breath for the inquiry board,” interrupted the lieutenant.

              “That is quite enough lieutenant,” Liam commanded, cutting off the irritating man.

              The man looked as if he wanted to argue but one flat look from Liam shut him up. Liam continued to stare at the man until he averted his eyes and suddenly became interested at his shoes.

              “Now, as you were trying to say ensign?” asked Liam, turning back to face the young woman.

              “Thank you sir, as I was trying to say, the lieutenant should be the one being held responsible. When the Meshtrell uploaded the necessary security codes, I still thought it was odd that they were given clearance to take out one of the new frigates. When I attempted to bring this to my superior’s attention, he didn’t have the time. He simply cut me off asking if they provided all the codes and followed the protocols. When I acknowledged they had then he told me to stop bothering him with such ridiculous questions.”

              Liam turned to look at the lieutenant and the man withered under Liam’s gaze.

              “Inform Admiral Kelvin of the situation. I don’t think I need to emphasize that you will report exactly what happened here and not the farce you tried to pass off on an ensign.”

              The man gave a shaky salute then withdrew to do as he was commanded.

              Liam didn’t watch the man go, he was more concerned to the reason the Meshtrell took a warship and left. Their choice of warships also made him think. A
Poseidon
frigates maximum crew complement was forty. With one hundred Meshtrell aboard they would be in for an uncomfortable journey, no matter where they were headed.

              Whatever the reason, it wouldn’t change the job Liam had. Without another word to anyone, Liam turned and walked from the control center. He had a group of men and women to get in line and a Shenkar to try and understand…he didn’t know which would be harder to do.

December 30
th
, 2013 2:45pm

Shenkar Home World, Shryka

              The smelled of burned flesh assailed his nostrils as Overlord Darta entered the Shelecore’s private chambers. The source of the smell permeated from the decapitated corpse of a Shenkar warrior which lay upon the floor, his head a short distance away. The Shelecore lay upon a bench as his personal medics hurried to repair a large slash through his side. One medic worked to hold the wound closed, in an attempt to prevent his organs from spilling out, as another applied a sealant.

              Other Shenkar warriors surrounded the chambers, each scanning for any further assassins. From the scene it was clear the dead Shenkar had attempted to assassinate the Shelecore and failed.

              “Overlord Darta, I hope you bring me some good news. I am not in the mood for anything other than that,” the Shelecore said as he grimaced in pain.

              “Shelecore, what has happened here? How have you sustained such injuries? That looks to be the result of s plasma sword.”

              “It is you idiot, the fool that lay dead upon the floor is the perpetrator, as to why I cannot say…and neither can he.”

              Darta studied the scene and a sudden realization dawned upon him. He recognized the assassin, it was an Elite. Looking around he saw that there were no other elites present…the guards that have always stood guard over the Shelecore were nowhere to be seen.

              “An elite did this? What of the other elites, where have they gone?” Darta said with disbelief in his voice.

              “I have ordered all elites to be detained but it seems they have all left the capital and gone into hiding. Just as a precaution, I want all dwellings within the capital thoroughly searched. See to it immediately!”

              Darta thought of what had transpired, and wondered if it related to the news he had come to inform the Shelecore off. He highly doubted this was just a coincidence and held more dire repercussions if they related. Darta’s thoughts were interrupted as the Shelecore noticed him still standing there.

              “Darta, why are you still here? I gave you an order!”

              “Forgive me, Shelecore but I bring news, news that you will not like to hear at the moment.”

              The Shelecore narrowed his eyes at Darta’s statement but otherwise said nothing. Taking this as a silent order for him to continue Darta spoke on.

              “Overlord Gyliene’s fleet has been defeated; almost his entire fleet was destroyed. A handful of warships were able to retreat to report the news.”

              “And Overlord Gyliene? What of him?” the Shelecore asked in a low dangerous voice.

              “The survivors report he is dead, along with Overlord Shizta. It seems the humans have a new weapon, a warship of intense power. This warship destroyed two command bases and is reported to be bigger than our former flagship, the
Krazeen
. From reports, it sounds as if Overlord Gyliene unnecessarily sacrificed a large amount of his forces. If he had retreated and regrouped he then might have been able to turn the tides of battle.”

              The Shelecore gazed upon Darta through narrowed eyes for several long moments before he spoke.

              “Perhaps my council should have listened to Shizta as he was pushing to hold the attack until we had a larger force. I will have to address this with the council and issues punishments for their failure.”

              Darta, for once in his life, was glad he had not been promoted yet to the advisory council for he imagined that many on the council would not live to see another day.

              “As for you Darta, I have another task; you will conduct a quiet investigation throughout our entire fleet. I want you to locate any of our elites that are stationed within the Federation. Have them detain and returned to homeworld to answer for the crimes of their brothers. I suspect you will not find any of them, even as far out as the furthest outposts but try anyway. If you cannot locate any then arrest any family member that is related to our elites and detain them. Once the family members are all detained you will send a broadband transmission to all elites in hiding. They are to surrender themselves for questioning. Failure to do so will result in their extended family members suffering the punishment.”

              Darta’s blood ran cold at hearing this; he knew this would not sit well among the civilian population. Many looked to the elites as great warriors who deserved respect, not to be treated as common criminals. But that was not the one thought that disturbed him the most, a thought he would need to address with the Shelecore.