Storm' Fury: The Shenkar War (33 page)

              The room fell into silence as everyone contemplated the ramifications of liberating the
Lykaan
homeworld. Liam didn’t like the idea of sacrificing all those Lykaans but he honestly couldn’t see another way. If the Earth fleet hadn’t been so heavily damaged they could have sought other alternatives. Finally the heavy silence was broken by General Leonid.

              “There is no other way; I believe the Shenkar is correct,”

              “Shizta,” Liam said as he looked at the general.

              The general stopped and looked at Liam.

              “Excuse me?”

              “His name is Shizta not the Shenkar,” Liam said simply.

              The general looked confused as he looked from Liam to Shizta then back to Admiral Kelvin.

              “I believe the commander is trying to say that Shizta deserves the respect of the use of his name instead of being simply addressed as the Shenkar,” explained Kelvin.

              Comprehension dawned on the general’s face at hearing the explanation. Turning to Shizta he addressed him directly.

              “I apologize, I meant no disrespect,”

              Shizta nodded an acknowledgement to the general but otherwise said nothing. Only when the general addressed the group again did Shizta look Liam’s way and gave him a nod of appreciation. Liam smiled slightly, nodded, then turned back to listen to what the general was saying.

              “With the destruction of the Shenkar’s ability to reproduce cloned warriors we would severely hinder their war machine. We already know they would be able to rebuild their fleet quicker than we could rebuild ours. The loss of life would be staggering in comparison to that of the
Lykaans
.”

              The rest of the meeting was spent planning over the coming mission. Seeking out every bit of information from Cryta and Shizta, no matter the importance, making sure they did not miss anything. The coming battle could be very bloody, for both sides, and they needed to make sure they would limit this as much as possible. If anything, they needed to once again, distract the Shenkar away from Earth to give the defense force time to rebuild their defenses and exploration fleet.

January 20
th
, 2014 7:05pm

EDF
Kraken
, En-route to Shenkar space

              Liam waited outside the briefing room until Shizta exited, being escorted by his two guards.

              “I will return him to his holding quarters,” Liam said to the guards.

              The lead guard nodded and stepped back. Shizta shuffled forward as best as he could but it was clear the restraints would hinder his movements. The restraints encircled his chest, binding his arms to his sides while a short chain ran from his bound wrists down to his chained ankles. The chain between his ankles prevented the prisoner from taking more than just a half of step at most.

              “You can remove the restraints; I can assure you he will pose no danger.”

              “But, commander, we are under orders, the prisoner is to be restrained at all times,” the lead guard stated.

              “I will take full responsibility for Shizta or do you think I cannot handle one unarmed Shenkar warrior?”

              The soldier looked uncertain as he looked from Shizta to Liam and then back again. Finally, he must have realized that he couldn’t very well say no to the man that killed an entire Battlecruiser full of Shenkar warrior, because he reached over and unlocked the restraining cuffs from Shizta’s chest, wrists and legs.

              Shizta rubbed his wrists as he watched the two guards stepped back.

              “Thank you.”

              “You’re welcome; I can’t imagine it is easy walking in those restraints.”

              “Yes, thank you for that as well, but I actually meant thank you for the respect you have shown me. I know it must be hard for you to trust those that have tortured you so severely.”

              Liam looked down at the floor before he looked up at Shizta.

              “Yes the torture was severe but I do not judge one for the actions of others. It is not our way, we humans try to see the good in everyone…or at least most humans do. I won’t lie, there are humans that would hold a grudge, but that is just not me.”

              Shizta' scrutinized Liam as he weighed Liam’s words.

              “You humans are definitely a unique race; I hope someday our two races can find peace. I believe our two races can learn much from each other.”

              “Only time will tell, but knowing that there are Shenkar that are willing to help us leads me to believe your hopes stand a very good chance of becoming a reality.”

              As they had been speaking Liam spotted one of the embedded reporters working his way towards him.

              “Commander Brennan, I am Adam Travers, I believe you received word we were cleared for an interview.”

              Turning to two guards who had been escorting Shizta he addressed the one closest to him.

              “Could you do me a favor and run some interference for me?”

              “No problem, I would be happy too. I personally can’t stand the media, always reporting things incorrectly,” the guard said with a smile.

              With that said, the guard waved his hand for his partner to follow, and then moved off towards the reporter. As they began to move past the reporter one of the soldiers stumbled and fell into the reporter, knocking him to the ground.

              “Oh sorry sir, I slipped, here let me help you up.”

              Liam and Shizta quickly moved off down the corridor. They walked in silence for some time before Liam stopped at a four way intersection. Shizta took two more steps before realizing Liam had stopped. Turning he gave Liam a questioning look.

              “Are you hungry?” Liam asked.

              Shizta’s eyebrows lifted in surprise at the question but recovered quickly.

              “Yes, as a matter of fact I am, my guards had said I could have something brought to my holding cell when we returned.”

              “How about you join me for dinner? The officers dining hall will have some great steaks and beers.”

              “Do you not have to return me to my holding cell?”

              “Nah, I am hungry and want to get something to eat. If anyone gives me a hard time I will just tell them we are discussing tactics. Come on, lets go,” Liam said, nodding his head down the passage to the left forcing Shizta to hurry to catch up as he headed off down the passageway.

January 20
th
, 2014 7:07pm

EDF
Kraken
, En-route to Shenkar space

              Shizta couldn’t help but like Liam, the human was not anything what he would have expected. Even more so, this human in particular, was nothing like the human he had seen tearing through the
Tryliene
like a blood thirsty Xrert. This human showed the ability to reason and intelligence that far exceeds that of any Shenkar clone and many Shenkar warriors.

              Liam showed Shizta respect and this was something that weighed greatly with him. But he couldn’t help but wonder if Liam would show him the same respect if he had known the type of Shenkar Shizta was aboard the
Krazzeen
, before his eyes were opened. The mere idea of Liam having a negative opinion of him bothered him immensely. The knowledge of this weighed heavily upon Shizta’s conscious. He knew it would eat at him unless he told Liam the truth.

              “Liam, I must tell you something…something you might not like.”

              Liam looked sideways at him but otherwise didn’t say anything.

              “I was part of the fleet that attacked your original Battlecruiser during the first encounters with our two races. I was tasked with orders to eliminate your ship and men. I must confess I viewed you humans much in the same way the Shelecore views you…insignificant, not worthy of the Shenkar Federation. I do not expect you to forgive me but I have come to greatly respect you and felt you deserved the truth. I will understand if you want to return me to my cell now.”

              Liam stopped and turned to look at Shizta.

              “There is nothing to forgive; you are a warrior of the Shenkar Federation. You have lived a life of an indoctrination that you couldn’t possibly break. However, even in light of that you have not allowed that to rule you. You have broken free, opened your eyes and mind to something that could be better. I respect you for that and am glad to have you on our side.”

              With that said, Liam reached out and gripped Shiztas shoulder. Squeezing it briefly he steered Shizta back toward the direction they had been heading.

              “Now come on, let’s get something to eat.”

              Shizta smiled and they headed off down the corridor once more.

              As they walked down the corridor in silence, Shizta felt as if a great weight had been lifted off his chest. He hadn’t realized until now how much Liam’s opinion and approval really mattered to him. This was an entirely foreign feeling to him and he decided it was a good feeling but even so he still had the nagging feeling of his recent actions.

              He had just handed over a great deal of information of the Shenkar clone facility, known shipping routes and military outposts and worried that this could be more than devastating to the Shenkar. He did not care about the Shelecore but of the people of his world and the possible ramifications of his and Cryta’s betrayal. He hadn’t provided all the information he knew regarding the Shenkar military, only the information needed for the human’s upcoming campaign. The possible invasion of his homeworld was never broached so Shizta did not mention its defenses. However, now something had occurred to him and he felt that it might be information Liam would like to know. Liam and the other humans proved to be just as much interested in saving the Shenkar and well as defeating them. If it was possible to eliminate the current government but save the populace then he needed to commit one hundred percent to the humans cause, this would mean even volunteering information that he felt could be pertinent to the defeat of the Shelecore.

              With a new determination burning within, at his first opportunity, he decided it was time he volunteered some of that very information to Liam. Information that could help save his home from the psychosis of the Shelecore.

January 20
th
, 2014 7:24pm

EDF
Kraken
, En-route to Shenkar space

              As Liam and Shizta entered the officers dining hall, silence greeted them as all heads turned to look at the pair.

              “Are you sure about this?” Shizta asked uncertainly.

              “Yeah, we will be fine, come on, I just spotted a table.”

              Liam had in fact just spotted Steve waving him over. As they walked over, Liam could hear that conversations once again resumed. His enhanced hearing let him catch some of the snippets of conversations, one of the conversations made him glad Shizta didn’t have enhanced hearing.

              Liam could understand why some would feel negatively of the Shenkar. They had lost friends and perhaps family to the Shenkar attacks so naturally they would direct their feelings towards the closest Shenkar available. Most of the looks directed their way were more out of curiosity but some of the looks directed at Shizta made Liam wondered if he should arrange to have Shizta placed under guard for his own protection.

              Reaching the table, Liam saw that Steve was not alone, but accompanied by two others. Seated with him was a young man studying a datapad that Liam did not recognize. The other one he more than recognize: Callen Groto, a British Templar he knew from their time aboard the
Sacrifice
. Upon their return to Earth Liam had lost touch with Callen and the rest of his squadron. The
Royal Razors
, had been assigned to the
Churchill
, a second generation battlecruiser. Last Liam had heard, the
Churchill
had been heavily damaged during the battle for Earth but could be repaired.