Storm' Fury: The Shenkar War (57 page)

Granshianka nodded and then withdrew from the room. Not knowing how long they would be here, Liam moved over to a nearby bench, removed his pack and sat down. Following his example the rest of the group moved to various parts of the room and sat down. Admiral Kelvin took a seat next to Liam and took a long drink from his canteen.

“What do you make of them?” he asked as he screwed the cap back onto the canteen.

“I think we can trust them, I get the feeling Granshianka would jump at the chance to remove the Shenkar from his world.”

“Speaking of Granshianka, you want to tell me what happened back in the cavern that made you break cover to reveal yourself?” asked Kelvin, a look on his face that clearly said he wanted to know.

Liam let out a long sigh and then delved into the events that had led them here.

January 31
st
, 2014 4:34pm EST

Lykaa

“Get into cover!” commanded Steve in a whisper.

The group ducked in several directions as they took cover behind anything nearby that was large enough to hide them. The group had been walking through tunnel after tunnel for the just over an hour when they came upon their first Shenkar patrol. They had just managed to hide themselves from view before the patrol passed by. The patrol had not been very large, ten warriors, and Steve’s group could have eliminated them but he did not wish to get into any unnecessary fire fights. They had just managed to get themselves hidden, which was no easy accomplishment for Sergeant Robinson, when the Shenkar patrol rounded the corner.

This group was much larger than the previous patrol they had seen and Steve got the feeling that they might not be your standard patrol. There were roughly twenty in size and were more heavily armed than Steve would expect for a standard patrol. The group was led by an especially large and cruel looking Shenkar warrior whose face bore several scars. But it was not the Shenkar leader that made Steve pause but the Shenkar’s companion that walked hunched over beside him. The creature was canine in nature and if Steve were forced to place a name to the creature he would say it was a werewolf. At least that is what it mostly resembled, however this one seemed almost sickly in nature. It did not possess a well muscled frame but was thin and its grey fur was ragged. This must be one of the Lykaans that lived upon the planet which made Steve realize by looking at it that the Meshtrell must have brought some of these creatures to Earth long ago. This would explain why Steve would recognize it as a werewolf and why the name was so similar to creatures of Earth folklore, Lykaan versus Lycan. He wondered if this was normal for the Lykaans or was this one more of the runt of the litter. Something told Steve that the latter was truer as the descriptions they had received of the Lykaans from Shizta did not match up completely to this creature.

As they grew near he could hear the Lykaan and the Shenkar leader speaking.

“If this turns out to be false information I will punish you most severely, I do not take kindly to having to travel far from the compound. The stench of your villages sickens me and I prefer to have as little interaction as necessary.”

“Do not worry, Captain Grie, I swear the information is good, you will see,” the Lykaan said in a gravely low voice.

The Shenkar captain looked down his nose to the Lykaan before he looked back up the tunnel.

“You are just fortunate Overlord Viero finds you useful. Otherwise I would not bother with this. I have been on your world for far too long and find what you told Overlord Viero very hard to believe.”

“I assure you captain, what I say is true. Also do not forget they have Korgo beast meat. I know how you and the overlord like it.”

The Shenkar captain thought this over for a few moments before speaking.

“This is true, we shall see if you speak the truth especially about….”

At this point the patrol passed too far out of earshot for Steve to hear the rest of the conversation. As he watched the patrol something that had been bothering Steve since he had seen the first patrol finally dawned on him, all the Shenkar he had seen were not cloned warriors. Why were the Shenkar not using cloned warriors on Lykaa? The patrol slowly moved past them heading off down a side tunnel which thankfully would not bring them past Steve’s group. Steve was tempted to follow them as he was highly curious as to where they were headed. He was also disturbed by the Lykaan support for the Shenkar. While he had only seen one so far helping the Shenkar, he imagined there could be more which could be a problem for Liam and his group if they wished to establish an alliance with the Lykaans.

Deciding there was nothing he could do about it now, he signaled the rest of the group to move out. They still had their mission to complete, which involved finding the manufacturing plants for the clone warrior compound and getting intel on the area. Priority one for this whole mission was permanently shutting down those manufacturing plants. Steve wondered if there would be an easy way to do it…somehow he doubted there would be. In the end if all else failed then there was the thermobaric solution that was currently sitting on the
Poseidon
. He hoped it would not come to this of course as the destruction it would cause would be far greater than the plan called for especially if the manufacturing plants were near any Lykaan villages. Until he found the plants there was no way Steve would be able to say which way this would go. 

January 31
st
, 2014 5:30pm EST

Lykaa

              Tired of waiting, Liam had just walked up to the main entrance doors to see if Granshianka was available when the doors opened and Granshianka quickly entered. As he entered he turned and closed the doors behind him before turning to Liam and speaking quickly.

              “A Shenkar patrol has been spotted heading this way, I ask that you and your people remain hidden here while I speak with them.”

              “A Shenkar patrol? How often do they come to the villages?”

              “Very rarely, usually only when they need something,” stated Granshianka, clearly troubled by the patrol.

              “Do they look as if coming here specifically or could they just be passing through the area?” Liam asked as Admiral Kelvin came over to listen.

              “It is possible they are just passing through but I do not believe this to be the case. A typical patrol is smaller in size, this one is twice the size of that and is being led by an especially cruel Shenkar captain named Grie. This Captain Grie is known for taking delight in combat with Lykaan’s. He had killed many, including Garroon’s mother and father. Also, they are being led in this direction by one that used to be of this village until he was cast out when he conspired to have me killed so he might take my place as sect leader.”

              With that said, Granshianka turned and left the hall, the doors closing behind him.

              “Do you think they know of our presence within the village?” Liam asked of Kelvin.

              “It is possible, although it stands to reason if they knew of humans on Lykaa then they would bring more than twenty warriors. I think that our presence may be known but they do not know we are humans, only an unknown race. Either way we better get everyone ready in case we need to retreat or worse,” Kelvin explained as he turned to go inform the rest of the party of what was transpiring.

              Liam stepped to a nearby window and undid the latch to open the shutter just enough so he could get a good view of outside. At first he saw nothing but Lykaans going about their business but soon many began to stop and look off in the same direction. A few minutes later the object of their stares soon came into view as a party of twenty Shenkar warriors came into view led by a scrawny looking Lykaan. They approached Granshianka who was standing in the center of the village in a large open area. Directly behind Granshianka were four of the warriors that had been with the party that had been present for the Korgo fight. As the Shenkar party approached, Liam was surprised to see Lykaans going to one knee as they pass, bowing their heads and averting their eyes. This continued until the Shenkar party came before Granshianka who much to Liam’s further surprise, also went to one knee.

              “I am honored by your presence within my village, Captain Grie, what brings you here?” Granshianka said, although by the tone of his voice it did not sound as if he was honored. “I also must ask why you have brought the traitor, Liel, into my presence. When he was exiled he was informed if I ever caught him within my sect again I would kill him.” he continued as he looked up to aim an icy stare at the scrawny Lykaan that had accompanied the Shenkar group.

              Captain Grie did not bother to look at Granshianka but instead looked about as if looking for something. At one point his eyes fell upon the feast hall and remained there for several long moments before he continued his gaze around the village. Finally after several long minutes he turned to speak, his voice full of disdain.

              “Do not question me or where I go! As for Liel, he is under my protection and therefore beyond your reach. I suggest you remember who your people answer to or do you not honor the champions of the games?”

              Even from where Liam stood he could see and feel the anger emanating from Granshianka as he knelt before the Shenkar Captain.

              “I honor the games because otherwise I would not be knelt before you,” Granshianka said, his voice sounding as if he was barely holding his anger in check.

              As if sensing he might be pushing the sect leader too far, Captain Grie stepped away as several Shenkar warriors moved forward.

              “Yes, you have always been a loyal sect leader. Now let us get down to business! From what I understand you have killed a Korgo beast, is this true?”

              “Yes, it happened earlier today when we were gathering Grooba fruits.”

              “Why were we not informed of this? The Korgo beast is very dangerous and we should be informed when they enter an area where they are not commonly found. In addition to this, where is our tribute of Korgo meat? You know the overlord has laid claim to a set percentage of food stuffs collected as tribute to the champion. Do I need remind you of the consequences of those to betray the wishes of the champion?”

              Granshianka continued to seethe with anger as he knelt in place before the Shenkar captain.

              “I am well aware of the requirements set down by the champion. I have already arranged to have his percentage of our food stocks delivered tomorrow. As for the Korgo beast incursion, I did not feel a need to inform the overlord as it was nowhere near an area patrolled by your people nor was it anywhere near your manufacturing zones. I figured it would just be a waste of Shenkar resources and the overlord’s time.”

              Captain Grie looked sharply at Granshianka, trying to figure out if he should accept Granshianka’s explanation.

              “See that the tribute is delivered on time and unspoiled,” Captain Grie said, seemingly accepting Granshianka’s explanation.

              “It will be done captain, as I promised.”

              Captain Grie once again looked about as if looking for something before he spoke again.

              “I also have been informed you have visitors here in your village! Who are they? I demand they be brought before me now.”

              Granshianka looked up at this point, a confused look upon his face as he looked around then to Grie.

              “Visitors? I do not know of any visitors within the village except you and your warriors.”

              “Liel has informed us that he witnessed you returning from your hunt with several humanoids in tow. He stated he had never seen these creatures before and they were definitely not of this area or world. Are you saying Liel is lying?” Captain Grie explained as he walked around, looking about for these unseen visitors.

              “Yes,” Granshianka said simply.

              Captain Gries head whipped around to look sharply at the sect leader.

              “And why would Liel do this? He knows the punishment would be great.”

              “The reward would be greater, he has longed to take control of my sect and you already know he has already attempted this before. This is the reason for his banishment from the tribe,” Granshianka calmly explained, his gaze fixed upon Liel who cowered behind the Shenkar captain.

              Before Grie could respond a small dark blur launched from the shadows of a nearby building, straight at the captain.

              Grie saw the attack at the last possible moment and reacted quickly, his hand flying up to catch the shadow in midair. Garroon growled and clawed at Captain Grie, making every attempt to get at his throat. Captain Grie simply smiled as he held Garroon aloft.