Sacrifice:The Shenkar War (38 page)

             
A blue nimbus began to form at the edges of the fingers of the human’s free hand. Staring in wonder at the blue light proved a mistake as it erupted from the human’s hand and slammed into the Shenkar’s chest. The assistant was knocked back through the air, slammed into the wall, and slid down to the floor unconscious.

Shenkar Battlecruiser
Tryliene

              Scyren’s assistant slowly regained consciousness within a dim room. Lights flickered on and off as sparks erupted every so often from a nearby terminal. Moving slowly, pain wracked the assistant’s chest. Looking down, the Shenkar saw several scorch marks. Grunting with pain, the Shenkar struggled to his feet and made his way cautiously to the examination table. There the assistant saw only the broken restraints that had once held the human down. Peering about, the Shenkar searched the dim room for any movement as he slowly backed toward the exit.

             
When he was almost to the door, the Shenkar stumbled and had to catch himself from falling. Turning around, he looked down at what had caused him to stumble. Both of the Shenkar warriors who had been stationed outside the door lay very much dead at his feet.

             
“
Now it is your turn to feel pain, Shenkar,” came a low dry voice from behind him.

             
Wheeling about, the assistant came face to face with a demon. Blue light surrounded the human. In one hand, he held the plasma sword; the free hand was empty. Quicker than the eye could follow, the human’s free hand locked upon the Shenkar’s throat and lifted him off the floor. Struggling to break the viselike grip, the Shenkar became aware of a wailing noise. It took several seconds before he realized the noise was a scream and that it was his own.

Shenkar Battlecruiser
Tryliene

              Scyren walked through the passageway, thinking of how he would dissect the human. Coming up to the door to the examination room, Scyren stopped suddenly. Looking up the corridor, he wondered where the two Shenkar warriors who were supposed to be stationed outside the room were. Perhaps, with the subject dead, his assistant felt they were no longer needed. Well, if that was the case, then his assistant would discover how long he could hold his breath in the vacuum of space.

             
Still, something didn’t seem right to Scyren. Before entering, he stepped to the internal communication unit that was located opposite the examination room door. After punching in the code for ship security, a male voice answered.

             
“
This is Chief Scientist Scyren. I would like a detachment of shock troops to report to Examination Room 344 immediately.”

             
Without waiting for a response, he closed the channel and turned to the door. He was pretty sure the shock troops were not necessary, especially for one human, but he wasn’t going to take any chances. As Scyren reached for the security panel, the doors slid open. Looking through the doorway, he saw a demon surrounded in a faint blue light holding a red glowing sword. As he opened his mouth to scream, the demon quickly thrust the tip of the glowing sword forward. Just as a scream began to rise in Scyren’s throat, the tip of the blade passed through his mouth and out the back of head. His last thought as the blade penetrated was that perhaps he had underestimated this human.

Shenkar Battlecruiser
Tryliene

              Jerking the blade sideways, it burned through the side of the Shenkar’s head. The sound of flesh sizzled as the blade cut, and the aroma of burnt flesh permeated the air. The body crumpled to the floor with a loud thud. He looked first up the passageway, then down. Standing there, he thought of who he was. He saw himself as death, and he was going to share this knowledge with anyone who would stand in his way. Whatever the chemical that Scyren had injected into his body, it didn’t do what the Shenkar scientist had expected. He had felt the chemical attacking his body through his nanites. His body had been a battleground, and his nanites had won that battle. Even so, his body and mind had changed somehow.

The pain had stopped, and he had just lain there, thinking he had finally died.
As the pain faded, he had become aware of the entire room. It wasn’t just a simple awareness, however; it was more that he was aware of everything. Everything had its own electrical field that surrounded it, and he could feel these fields all around him, including the electrical current that flowed throughout his body. He had also become aware of the entirety of his own body. He could see every part of his body just by simply concentrating on the area.

As he moved his body about, he became aware of the Shenkar assistant standing close by. His eyes flashing open, he focused on the Shenkar standing next to him, holding a small device. Anger and hatred flowed deep within him at how he had been tortured. Focusing on his left arm, he pulled against his restraint. Concentrating on the nanites within his body, he began to manipulate his adrenaline levels
, enhancing his own strength. As the Shenkar spoke, the restraint broke and he pulled his arm free.

             
The Shenkar quickly stepped back and looked about--for a weapon, he assumed. Again, he focused on the electrical current that flowed throughout his body. He began to focus the flow at the edges of his free hand, a blue nimbus surrounding it. The Shenkar turned back, wielding a wicked-looking blade. With a sudden focused push, bolts of electricity forked out from his hand and struck the Shenkar fully in the chest.

             
After that, it had been easy to break the remaining restraints. Once free of the examination table, he retrieved the plasma sword. The guards had been easy enough to dispatch. He had simply opened the door, and when no one exited, the guards had become suspicious and entered the dim room. Sending forth the electrical bolts had come much easier this time. Both warriors were dead before they had known what had hit them.

             
As he stood in the hallway, he contemplated his situation. His identity was still a mystery to him, but he had regained several memories--one of which was the memory of the Earth Defense Force, the
Sacrifice
, and its current mission. He also remembered names: Evan, Crystal, Tim, April, and several others. He believed some of them were part of a squadron he had belonged to. Some of the names he felt a deep fondness for, whereas others he just seemed to know.

             
Sudden pain shot through his head, causing him to stagger sideways into the wall. The pain intensified, and he fell to his knees, hands clutching at his skull. The pounding of many footsteps sounded from down the passageway. With extreme difficulty he turned his head and saw about ten Shenkar shock troopers come within view and halt. Instantly, they all raised rifles, pointing them directly at him.

             
“
Commander, do we terminate the human? It appears to be dying already,” said a trooper to the largest Shenkar present.

             
The Shenkar Commander looked down at the body of Scyren and back up before he spoke.

             
“
The human has killed Master Scyren . . . OPEN FIRE!” the Shenkar shouted.

             
He raised the plasma sword instinctively and his hand seemed to move the sword on its own, deflecting bolts of energy harmlessly away. A few shots impacted upon his body, but none did any serious harm. The pain still continued to burn through his skull, but now he used this pain to fuel his anger. Anger like he knew he had never felt before filled him as he regained his feet and walked toward the Shenkar troopers. As he walked, he began to deflect the energy back into the ranks of the troopers. Soon the troopers lay dead all about the passageway as an alarm blared throughout the ship. The anger continued to flow through him even with the death of the troopers. He was here to deliver judgment and pain upon these souls. He stalked through the passageways; he was death, and hell followed with him.

EDF
Sacrifice

              Admiral Kelvin watched the holographic display of the edge of the system. Captain Caqel’s voice spoke from behind him.

             
“
Sir, all pilots are ready to launch, and all stations have checked in and are battle ready. Also, Lieutenant Commander Maxis has reported in, and his and the eleven other squadrons are in place around N-6.”

             
“
Very good, Captain. According to intel, the convoy should be arriving within the next ten minutes. Ready the fold engines for the jump,” said Admiral Kelvin.

             
The Admiral continued studying the holographic display when a thought occurred to him. Turning, he looked about the bridge, then called the Captain over to him.

             
“
Have all nonessential personnel shuttled to the asteroid base. We should also keep only a minimal crew. If this goes bad, I would prefer we keep the loss of life to a minimum.”

             
“
Yes, sir,” said Caqel without hesitation.

             
Within a few minutes, Omega shuttles began to emerge from the
Sacrifice
and headed off to the hidden asteroid base. As the last shuttle disembarked, the holographic display sounded an alert. The display showed the beginnings of a Shenkar convoy entering the system. Two Shizrec cruisers and two Kelgen-class destroyers were the first to enter. Close behind were five armored Drelai gunships, flying a diamond formation. Admiral Kelvin guessed the council member to be in one of those ships. Positioned above, below, and to either side of the gunships were four more Kelgen-class destroyers. The last to enter the system were three more Shizrec cruisers. The computer showed the fighter count, flying cover throughout the convoy, to number close to four hundred.

             
As Admiral Kelvin continued to watch the slow convoy progression, Captain Caqel returned and studied the map before he finally spoke.
“
All nonessential personnel have been relocated to the base. So it seems once again that intel has let us down. One cruiser and two destroyers more than we expected.”

             
“
Yep, but at least the fighter cover shows to be one hundred less than predicted. So when do we go?”

System 238, Planet N-6

              Evan studied the convoy as it entered the system, thinking once again that the intelligence was wrong . . . big surprise. A chime from his comm unit broke his thoughts. Looking at who it was, he then answered.
“
What is it, Steve?”

             
“
Um . . . I know I should know this, but what’s to stop the council member’s ship from simply folding away?”

             
“
Unlike our fold system, the Shenkar fold system cannot function in close proximity of a planet’s gravity well,” said Evan simply.

             
“
Ah, thanks . . . so do you think we will get him?” asked Steve.

             
“
Steve, we need to keep radio silence, so please cut the chatter.”

             
“
Oh . . . yeah . . . sorry about that.”

             
And with that, Evan closed the connection. After a few more minutes, the all clear came through. Keying his comm unit, he spoke to the entire fighter group under his command.
“
This is Necro leader to all squadrons--we have the go. You know your assignments; gunships are priority. All fighters, full burn!”

             
Evan pulled on the throttle and was slammed back into his seat as his fighter shot forward and 120 fighters raced forward toward their intended target. The Shenkar responded immediately, breaking their protective cover and moving to intercept Evan and the rest of the fighter group. The rest of the convoy continued on its route that was taking it deeper into the system toward the Shenkar command base.

             
Keying the group frequency, Evan spoke.
“
Remember, everyone, we are not engaging. We can hit them as they pass, but we are to continue on to make it appear we are after the gunships.”

             
The seconds passed as the two fighter groups closed on each other. As they came within range, Evan lined up his targeting reticule and squeezed the trigger. All around him, the rest of his fighter group mimicked his move. Ahead of him, explosions of fire erupted as their shots hit home, destroying or disabling several dozen Shenkar fighters.

Evan was just able to squeeze off another burst before the two groups met. Shenkar fighters raced past his fighter. Engaging his afterburners, his fighter sped away from the Shenkar fighter group, heading to the Shenkar convoy, knowing his Scorpion fighter could easily outrun the standard Shenkar fighter. Checking once quickly to make sure the rest of his fighter group followed, he then focused on the distant gunship. With the surprise move of not engaging the Shenkar fighters, the convoy in the distance began to make evasive maneuvers to a more defensible position. As the distant warships closed in around each other, Evan smiled and thought to himself
that the trap had been sprung.