Storm' Fury: The Shenkar War (49 page)

              Lieutenant Brine studied the device for a few moments before he looked back to Evan.

              “Lieutenant Commander, may I ask you a question…off the record?”

              “Yes, but I can’t guarantee I will answer it.”

              “Is it true one of the shuttles is carrying an antimatter-bomb?”

              Evan took a deep breath as he thought this over and whether to tell the Lieutenant what he knew. Would knowing the truth change anything or how his men and women fought? He doubted it but one could never tell.

              “Yes, it is true, as I said…we cannot allow the Shenkar to signal for reinforcements, even at the cost of all our lives. If the device is damaged or seized we have been ordered to detonate the device and destroy the orbital platform.”

              Lieutenant Brine studied something on the floor for several moments before he looked back up.

              “Is it also true of what Commander Brennan and the
Poseidon
carries?”

              “And what would that be?” Evan asked.

              “I heard rumors they are carrying a thermobaric bomb, is it true?”

              Evan sighed and wondered how the information had been leaked. A thermobaric bomb was an explosive that uses the oxygen from the surrounding air to create an intense, high temperature explosion. Typically these bombs were commonly known as air fuel bombs. These particular bombs were especially devastating in closed in spaces, such as tunnels and cave systems. Anyone caught near this bomb, when detonated, would be instantly incinerated as the fire expanded outwards, consuming everything in its path. Even if victims were able to avoid the fiery portion of the explosion they would not necessarily escape from danger. The pressure wave that was released from such a bomb could kill as well with even those on the fringe of the explosion suffering from internal injuries such as burst eardrums, severe concussions, ruptured lungs or internal organs and possibly left blind.

              The team had only taken the bomb as a last resort and Evan knew that if detonated, even Liam with his new abilities, would not survive.

              “The rumors are true,” Evan said simply.

              “Jesus,” David whispered, “Why would they take such a weapon with them?”

              “We cannot afford to fail on this mission, those facilities must be destroyed. If we cannot sway the Lykaans to our cause then Commander Brennan will do everything in his power to destroy those facilities…even at the cost of his own life.”

              Brine did not say anything further but only stared at the floor, obviously thinking of what it would be like to die from such a weapon.

              “Was there something else, you needed lieutenant?” Evan asked as he saw Brine shudder to himself.

              The question seemed to jar the lieutenant from his thoughts as he looked up at Evan.

              “Oh yes, sorry, I came back here to inform you we have just entered the Lykaan system. All freighters have formed up and the captain has communicated with the orbital station requesting clearance to dock to offload supplies.”

              “Was there any problem from the station when the Cathergons communicated the entire supply fleet arrived at once?”

              “No, the Shenkar accepted the excuse that the Cathergons gave about it being more profitable to resupply the stations all at once. The Cathergon captain was very subservient, acting the ever-loyal subject. The Shenkar ate it up and even threw a few insults their way about how it was about time they learned their place. We should begin docking sequence in about thirty minutes.”

              “Excellent, pass the word for everyone to ready themselves, we attack as soon all freighters are docked.”

January 31
st
, 2014 10:23am EST

Lykaan system, EDF
Poseidon

              “Commander, we are running silently, no indication they have detected us. As for friends, all freighters have begun docking sequence, they should be fully docked within the next ten minutes,” Steve stated from the operations station.

              “Good, we will begin our run as soon as we detect communications have been cut,” Liam said as he studied the holographic display of the system.

              Seeing that everything was going as planned he keyed his personal comm device and spoke.

              “Sergeant Robinson, ready the men, we go in in ten minutes. Also do a check again that all equipment is secured. From what I understand the atmosphere of the planet has very turbulent weather on the surface so we will be in for a bumpy ride.”

              “Yes, commander, we will be ready,” came, the gruff voice of Sergeant Robinson.

              Closing the connection he sat back in his command seat and once again studied the display, nervous tension coursing throughout his body.

              “Are you absolutely sure of the coordinates? We won’t be detected by any Shenkar patrols where we land?” Liam asked of the person standing next to him.

              “Yes, the cavern is plenty large enough to land this warship while at the same time it will secure you from the harsher weather from the surface. We also have the benefit that the area has long been mined out of anything valuable. Lastly, the area is subject to winds from the surface so the temperatures leave the area unsuitable for dwellings to be built,” Shizta said as he eyed the planetary readout he was holding.

              “Okay, once we secure the passage we will head out. Admiral Kelvin and I will lead a team in search of some Lykaans we can negotiate with while Lieutenant Barrows and his team will go in search of the manufacturing facilities. They have the map you provided them at their disposal so they should be able to locate the facilities.”

              “Just make sure we emphasize that the map is not one hundred percent accurate, it is only based on information I have obtained in the past. As far as I know there have not been any major changes at the locations but I cannot say for sure that there hasn’t been either. I do not want any of your men and woman stumbling into a trap, that would be bad for all of us,” Shizta explained.

              “I will relay the message but they know to be careful and take every precaution they can. They are not to destroy any of the facilities until given the order; this is only a scouting mission.”

              Liam pulled up the team list and wondered again if he shouldn’t revise the teams as he looked upon them.

                        
Team A
                               
Team B

               
Cdr
.
Liam Brennan              Lt. Steve Barrows

                  Lt. Callen Groto                    Lt Peter Bowmount

       Lt. Sabrina Wellmo            Lt. Aldis Glaget

              Cpl. Antonio Caprenni         Sgt. James Robinson

              Pvt. Danny Henderson         Pvt. Chen Xang

    Adm. Frank Kelvin(Ambassador) Pvt. James Reuban

       Pvt. Erica Dewitt

              Leah had been upset with him that he had not included her on either team but when he had informed her that Alyssa was also remaining behind it seemed to take the sting out a little. He explained that she would remain behind with Tim, Alyssa, Shizta, the remainder of the specialists unit along with two platoons of standard
Praetorian Guard
to safeguard the
Poseidon
and the thermobaric bomb. If the ship fell into enemy hands then they would have no way off the planet not to mention all the new technology the Shenkar would acquire.

              Looking again at the holographic display he watched as the last of the Cathergon freighters entered the orbital station. Soon it would begin and then it was no going back, they would have officially brought the war to the Shenkar.

January 31
st
, 2014 10:32am EST

Cathergon freighter,
Farrow

              “Lieutenant Commander, the dock official is getting most irritated that we have not begun offloading our cargo. He is outside and wishes to come in, he is threatening to eject us into space through a nearby airlock,” Captain Frozt said over his personal comm.

              “We are ready. How long before the last freighter docks?”

              Captain Frozt took a moment to check a reading on his console before responding.

              “Last freighter just touched down.”

              “Excellent, initial the signal to attack then lower the docking ramp, I will then activate the jamming device.”

              “Sending signal now,” stated Frozt simply.

              Evan heard the ramp begin its descent; he quickly reached over and hit the activation button on the device before removing his plasma sword and moving forward to the freighters exit. He had only just made it to the entrance before a Shenkar boarded, yelling about the incompetence of Cathergons. Evan ignited his plasma sword, the red glow illuminating the shocked face of the Shenkar.

January 31
st
, 2014 10:38am EST

Orbital Station 1, Lykaan space

              “Overlord, the last of the Cathergon freighters has docked,” signaled the operations officer from his station.

              Overlord Nynai looked up from yet another uneventful report he was reading. Once again reminded of this utterly uneventful assignment, he couldn’t help but feel resentment. When word had circulated that the Federation had, for the first time in his lifetime, encountered a race that was most skilled in the art of warfare, Nynai had thought he would have his chance at command. Instead his superior, who hated him, had assigned him to this new orbital station, doomed to oversee the transfer of cargo and supplies by a pathetically compliant species.

              He honestly did not see the need to build these massive orbital stations to guard an out-of-the-way ice ball of a planet. True, he knew the compound that was harvested from this planet was vital to the creation of the clone warriors but it isn’t like the humans knew of its location. The only species that knew of the location, outside of the planets inhabitants, were the Shenkar and the Cathergons. The Shenkar would not betray its whereabouts and the Cathergons were so pathetically subservient there was nothing to fear from them not to mention they knew nothing of why the planet was so important.

              Nynai sighed to himself as he waved his hand that he heard the operations officer, knowing the Shenkar would defeat these humans long before he would be able to get reassigned to partake in the glories of combat. With nothing more from the operations station he returned to his reports. A while later the operations officer spoke once again.

              “Overlord, the first of the Cathergon freighters should have finished unloading and loading of their cargo by now and should be departing but radar is detecting no outbound freighters. I tried to raise the docking chief but I am unable to get him on the line, all communications seem to be down.”

              Nynai sighed as he placed the report next to his command chair and stood up. Walking over to the station he looked down at the readout display.

              “Probably a malfunction, we have been encountering similar issues throughout the station. If they hadn’t pushed the construction of these stations so quickly then maybe these little issues would not occur. Get maintenance station five on the line, they are the closest, and tell them to send someone to repair the line.”

              “That’s just it overlord, I have already tried that…I cannot connect to them as well. I tried calling all maintaenance stations near the docking bays but none are responding. I also have found that all outbound transmissions are not going through. It is almost as if something is jamming the transmission signals.”