Storm' Fury: The Shenkar War (39 page)

              “Do you think Threta would join us in overthrowing the Shelecore?”

              “I do not believe so; Overlord Threta is extremely loyal to the federation. This is the very reason he did not argue against the orders for his reassignment, even though he knew the true reason. Maybe if he knew the current state of the federation but the Shelecore controls all contact with the
Crimson fleet
and we have no way of contacting him.” Shizta explained grimly.

              “Could we not simply bring the
Kraken
to the
Crimson fleet
?” Liam asked hopefully.

              “This is not possible as the exact coordinates of the fleet is only known to the Shelecore and the upper echelon. The vastness of the fringe makes it impossible to find them either,” Shizta explained.

              Liam sat back in his chair as he thought over these new turn of events. The
Brood
and the
Crimson fleet
, both potential problems if they were to arrive before they could remove the Shelecore from power. Both of these subjects would need to be address with Captain Dunklin and Admiral Kelvin.

January 25
th
, 2014 7:18pm EST

EDF
Kraken
, just outside Shenkar controlled space

              The familiar tug faded from within crew members as the massive warship finished her final fold sequence that had brought her just outside of Shenkar controlled space. Silence permeated throughout the ship
as everyone held their breath awaiting the news if their arrival had been noticed by anyone…especially the Shenkar. If they encountered a Shenkar patrol this early and were able to signal the other Shenkar forces then all their plans would be ruined. Captain Dunklin sat forward in his command chair as Frank Kelvin paced back and forth. The silence seemed to drag on before the word finally came.

              “Sensor scan complete, no enemy signatures found. We are clear for the moment,” stated the operations officer.

              The tension on the bridge immediately eased as you could hear the sounds of breathes that were being held being let out.

              “Signal the all clear, stand down from action stations and recall the fighters. Ensign Corta, verify coordinates, we want to make sure we are far enough off the beacon that we do not alert any Shenkar patrols or warships that happen by,” commanded Captain Dunklin.

              Ensign Corta spent a few minutes analyzing the data streaming before him on his monitor before he turned to the captain.

              “Coordinates confirmed, we are at the pre-designated coordinates.”

              Relief finally shown upon the captains face as he sat back and turned his attention to Frank Kelvin.

              “Coordinates confirmed Admiral. Do you wish to scout the outer territories or shall we hold off?”

              Frank Kelvin looked as if he wanted to give the order for a moment before he shook his head slightly.

              “Captain Dunklin, this is your mission, I am only here as an ambassador. You do what you feel is right. I have complete faith in you.”

              Captain Dunklin looked as if he wanted to say more but then nodded towards Kelvin, an affirmative and an understanding that he had been chosen for the job and he needed to act the part.

              “Open a line to the
Poseidon
,” he commanded of his communications specialist.

              “Line open sir.”

              Reaching up, Captain Dunklin keyed his comm set before he spoke.

              “Commander Brennan, this is Captain Dunklin, scans are clear. You are clear for
Operation: Silent Hunter
, good luck, commander, and Godspeed.”

January 25
th
, 2014 7:14pm EST

EDF
Poseidon
, just outside Shenkar controlled space

              The tug associated with the fold sequence had all but dissipated as Liam sat waiting in the command chair but a knot still lingered, the knot a result of his nerves being on edge. He was not new to command, having risen to the position of commander of the air group aboard the
Kraken
but this was something different. This was to be Liam’s first command of a warship, their mission, to infiltrate Shenkar space. The warship was the EDF
Poseidon
, one of three frigates of the new
Poseidon
class warships that accompanied the
Kraken
. Once they had infiltrated Shenkar space their primary mission was to map out the safest route to
Lykaa
. Secondary mission parameters allowed for any opportunities to eliminate any Shenkar warships, although they were to take no unnecessary chances and were to only to partake in such opportunities if it did not reveal their presence.

              He surveyed his crew before him as they worked to ready the warship for her first mission. The crew was primarily comprised of Templar knights, mostly from Necro and Royal Razors squadron, handpicked by Captain Dunklin and Liam. However, there was also the additional support from Liam’s specially trained group of the Praetorian Guard.

              The bridge was relatively silent as everyone went about their jobs until Leah spoke up from the communications station.

              “Commander, I have Captain Dunklin on the line for you.”

              “Put him on the overheard,”

              Leah quickly typed a few keys on her console and nodded to Liam.

              “Captain Dunklin, this is Commander Liam, are we in the clear?”

              “Commander Brennan, this is Captain Dunklin, scans are clear. You are clear for
Operation Silent Hunter
, good luck, commander and Godspeed.”

              “Thank you captain,” Liam said before terminating the communication and addressing the helmsman for this mission, Evan Maxis.

              “Disengage docking clamps.”

              Evan’s hands quickly moved across a console to his right before the sound of clamps disengaging rang through the hull.

              “Docking clamps disengaged, Commander.”

              “Activate maneuvering thrusters, take us to regulation distance from the
Kraken
and ready the FTL drives.”

              The low hum of the thrusters reverberated throughout the hull as the frigate shifted away from the massive bulk of the
Kraken
.

              Evan slowly piloted the frigate away from the Kraken for several minutes before Evan gave the all clear.

              “Minimum safe distance acquired FTL drives online and primed.”

              “Input the coordinates and standby,” Liam stated before turning to the operations station, “Lieutenant Barrows is the dampening system up and ready?”

              “Dampening system up and all systems show in the green, we are good to go,” explained Steve Barrows.

              The dampening system in question was in fact a new technology developed by Steve. Integrated with the
Poseidon,
it would dampen down the electronic signature of the frigate, effectively imbuing the warship with stealth technology. Steve developed this technology from the technology found on the stealth mines that the Shenkar had placed in system 238. While it was originally designed to only encompass something the size of a mine, Steve assured him that he had expanded the field to encompass something the size of the frigate. As an additional feature the entire frigate was painted black making the warship appear as a void in space to the visual eye. Both of these additions would make the
Poseidon
very hard to spot by any passing Shenkar patrols.

              “Mr. Maxis, engage FTL drives, take us in.”

              The thrum of the drive elevated as the warship race forward, accelerating quickly forward, taking the warship into Shenkar space.

              The bridge crew remained silent as they crossed into Shenkar space. The same thought on everyone’s mind was how soon before they encounter the Shenkar.

              They were into their second hour of their mission when something on Steve’s console drew his attention.

              “Commander, long range sensors have found something. It appears to be a ship and it is headed in our general direction.”

              “Shenkar?” Liam asked.

              “Too early to tell but I suggest we drop down to cruising speed to minimize our drive power signatures.”

              “Helm, do as he says,” Liam stated to Evan.

              Quickly, the ship slowed as the drives powered down while everyone remained silent, awaiting identification of the ship. A prickling on Liam’s neck made him look around to reveal their only Shenkar presence onboard had silently stepped up to watch the view screen.

              “Any thoughts on who it might be?” Liam inquired quietly.

              “Hard to say, most likely it is only a smuggler vessel,’ Cryta explained, also keeping his voice low.

              The minutes ticked by before the ship was finally close enough that the onboard systems could provide a visual of it. The slow moving ship revealed was rectangular in shape, rather bulky in size, roughly one hundred feet in length. The cockpit was situated in the front of the ship, allowing he pilot to see everything in from of him.

              “What do scans tell us? Any weapon systems found?” Liam asked.

              “Nothing, or at least no weapons we can detect,” Steve explained.

              “Nor will you find any. It is a supply freighter, Cathergons, I believe. They are from the planet Cather and are one of the planets that have been enfolded into the Shenkar Federation. Traders by nature,” Cryta explained, although something on his face showed something was bothering him.

              “What is it? What are you not telling me?” Liam inquired.

              Cryta’s lips tightened as his brow, furrowed.

              “Well, as I said the Cathergons are primarily traders by nature. They trade mostly in foodstuffs and minerals from their planet. They do not traverse much outside of their trade routes so seeing this ship here does not make a lot of sense.”

              “What do you mean?”

              “I know all of the trade routes, this area of space is not one of them, hence the reason why I recommended we entered Shenkar space here. This ship should not be here.”

              “Could the Shenkar have established an outpost in this region?”

              “Possibly, but unlikely, the Shelcore tends to be one-dimensional in thinking so I highly doubt the idea of you humans going on the offensive has occurred to him. This being said he would not think to establish listening posts on the outer rim of Shenkar space in areas where an incursion is unlikely.”

              Both watched silently for several minutes as the ship came closer and passed within one kilometer of their position.

              “Any indications we were spotted?” Liam inquired of Steve.

              “Negative, seems the dampening system is working or at least well enough for that freighters sensors.”

              Liam sat silently for a few more moments before finally coming to a decision on how to proceed.

              “Helm, lock onto that freight, let’s follow them and see where they are going.”

January 25
th
, 2014 10:58pm EST