Sacrifice:The Shenkar War (54 page)

              “
All ships, ignore the Shenkar. Target the incoming wreckage.” commanded Saunders.

             
Immediately, all surviving Earth warships trained their weapons on the new threats and began to fire. Of the wreckage that penetrated, the deadly volley of energy missed most of the Earth’s warships. Of the warships that did suffer damage, none was life threatening.

             
Once the wreckage was no longer a threat, the Earth forces again returned their attention to the remaining Shenkar forces. Of the Shenkar, only a handful of warships remained: a battlecruiser, four cruisers, and two destroyers. Saunders did not take this lightly as the Shenkar still had many fighters about. Earth fighters swerved in and out of the wreckage in pursuit and destruction of the Shenkar fighters. With the destruction of the command base, it appeared that the Shenkar had suffered a demoralizing hit that seemed to take something out of them. The Earth forces were rapidly destroying any threat that presented itself. Saunders sat back in his chair and breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the Earth would survive to live another day.

             
“
Sir, two enemy transports were able to penetrate our defenses and entered the Earth’s atmosphere roughly ten minutes ago. One of the Templar squadrons broke off and pursued them down, but it looks like Hanscom will have some company before very long.”

             
“
Well, there is nothing we can do about it until we finish up here. Still, you better warn Hanscom they have two enemies inbound.”

Hanscom Air Force Base

              Private Jorkins lead Leah down a passageway past barricades that were being hastily erected. They passed dozens of soldiers who were looking as if they were expecting a massive battle judging by the weaponry being set up.

             
“
What is going on? How many Shenkar are coming?” she asked as they ran along.

             
“
Shenkar troop transport complement numbers are roughly around one thousand shock troopers. We have two transports that just landed, so we are facing two thousand shock troopers. We have roughly an equal amount of marines here. We don’t know exactly how tough these bastards are, but our little Meshtrell friends have said they are superior soldiers.”

             
“
Well, then, where are you taking me?” Leah asked.

             
“
We have been ordered to take all civilians down to the deepest part of the base near command control. You should be safe down there. The Shenkar will need to get through our entire force first.”

             
Leah didn’t reply but just let Private Jorkins continue to lead her. They soon came to stairs and began to descend. They descended in silence, flight after flight of stairs, for the next fifteen minutes. An eruption of gunfire from above caused them to halt their descent.               Looking up, they could clearly hear what could only mean the Shenkar had arrived. They stood there, transfixed, looking up the stairs as they listened to the battle above. It wasn’t long before something about the fight began to bother Leah. The sounds of gunfire seemed to be getting louder. Leah grabbed Private Jorkins’s arm and pulled him down the stairs.

             
“
Private, we need to move, can’t you hear?!? That battle is coming closer. I don’t think it is going well up there.”

Private Jorkins looked dumbfounded as he looked from Leah to back up the stairs.

              “
Come on, Jorkins; we need to move!”

             
Finally, Jorkins seemed to come to his senses. He nodded at Leah, then moved off quickly down the stairs. The sounds of the battle above followed them as they ran down the stairs for another fifteen minutes. When they reached the bottom, they were met by six heavily armed marines.

             
None of the marines said anything to them; they just nodded at Jorkins. One of the marines then turned and swiped a card down a security terminal to the left of a massive steel door. A low grinding noise could be heard as the door swung open. Even though the door was two feet thick and made of solid reinforced steel, it still moved with relative ease.

             
The door was already closing as Leah and Private Jorkins ducked inside. Just before the door sealed shut, the clear sounds of gunfire could be heard as well as the shouts of men. The scariest part, though--which sent shivers up Leah’s spine--were the guttural sounds of what could only be the language of the Shenkar.

             
With the door sealed, she turned her attention back to where she now was. For the first time, as they ran, she noticed a slight difference in the surroundings. This passageway was narrower in comparison to the one they had been traveling before. Also she noticed several barriers that had been erected. Unlike the ones above, these were more solid and would provide greater protection for the soldiers currently taking up positions behind them. She noticed there was another thing different from the soldiers above: the soldiers down here were better outfitted. They wore the same battle armor she had seen Liam in and carried futuristic-looking rifles. Several soldiers were manning larger guns that were set on tripods. The mounted guns had power cables that ran from the base of the guns down to small square black boxes.

             
“
Those are our new heavy-energy guns,” said Jorkins.

             
“
Huh?” asked Leah.

             
“
I saw you looking at the new guns. I figured you might be wondering what they were,” he explained.

             
“
Oh, okay, but what are those cables that come out of the base of them?” Leah asked.

             
“
They need continuous power from the small power unit you saw to feeds them energy. It’s kind of like continuous ammunition, although they will overheat if used for too long. We set them up here ’cause those that you saw are all we have so far. Most that were made were used for the defense of key areas like the new base that is being built in Texas or the shipyards up in space. I also think they have a huge contingent of them wherever the President is in hiding.”

             
“
You would think they would have had more protection here. Isn’t it where the Templar Knights are trained?” Leah asked.

             
“
It was, but most of the facilities have been moved to Texas as of last week. That’s why you were allowed to come in and pick up Lieutenant Commander Brennan’s effects. The complete changeover was scheduled for next week.”

             
Leah remained silent as they continued weaving their way past barricades. They came to several junctions but still continued moving forward until they reached a set of doors. Pushing the door open, Private Jorkins entered first and held the door for Leah.

             
The sounds of people speaking in hushed tones greeted Leah’s ears as she entered. Dozens of civilians were gathered in small groups of five to six, talking low. Mothers pulled their children to them as they sat off in corners, trying not to be noticed. Several people around the room also looked to be praying.

             
“
Okay, I need to rejoin my line. You should be safe here, Ms. Aecrin.”

             
“
Thank you . . . uh, I don’t even know your first name,” said Leah.

             
“
It’s Sean, ma’am,” answered Jorkins.

             
“
Well, Sean, thanks, and you keep your head down,” Leah advised.

             
Jorkins smiled, then gave a slight nod, turned, and left. Leah watched him leave, then walked over to a chair and sat down. Off in the distance came the sound of an explosion, and then the sounds of battle seemed to draw closer. Sighing, she sat back and allowed herself the thought that if there was an afterlife, then maybe she would be seeing Liam soon.

Hanscom Air Force Base

              Liam jumped down from his fighter and was already running toward where the command center was located. Evan and Tim followed behind while the others of his squadron began landing after they had destroyed both Shenkar transports. He pulled his plasma sword free as he ran, pushing his legs as fast as he could go.

             
Liam had spotted Leah’s car at the visitor parking lot as he had come in for a landing. It had been random luck at best that he had seen her car, but he knew it on sight. Her black-and-white car would stand out anywhere. She had often joked about her “cow” car, but he knew she loved that car. The question was, why was she here now?

             
As he rounded a corner, he came upon a squad of Shenkar warriors. Activating his plasma sword, he vaulted up and over to land in their midst. His sword was a blur of motion, and in mere seconds, the squad lay dead all around him and he was off again. Evan and Tim came around the corner just as he finished, but they did not stop. They only glanced down at the bodies that lay cut to pieces all about the ground. They then too were off again in pursuit of Liam.

             
Liam reached the entrance to where central command was located. Marines lay dead everywhere, far outnumbering the Shenkar dead. Upon entering the underground complex, Liam immediately came upon roughly thirty Shenkar warriors. Liam had to admit that they recovered quickly at the sudden appearance of a lone human. They raised their rifles in unison, but Liam’s hand came up quicker, sending forth bolts of electricity. Shenkar screamed as a dozen died immediately with gaping holes burned through their throats, nearly cleaving their heads off. The sickly smell of burnt flesh permeated the air as Liam closed the distance with the now-stunned Shenkar. His sword was a blur as he cut into their midst. He weaved his deadly dance through the Shenkar, severing limbs and decapitating them when the opportunity arose. Then he was off again, leaving a few remaining Shenkar warriors alive but writhing on the ground in pain.

             
Evan and Tim entered at this point and only slowed slightly to make sure the remaining Shenkar were no threat before they were off again.

             
“
Do you get the feeling he doesn’t need our support?” asked Evan.

             
“
Maybe we should have brought popcorn and beer,” Tim said, smiling.

             
“
Popcorn and martinis.”

             
“
What?” asked Tim.

             
“
I would prefer martinis over beer,” replied Evan, a slight smile on his face.

             
“
Well, I will get you all the martinis you want when this is over. Now we just need to make sure everyone is safe. Which brings me to Liam--why is he being so reckless in this? He is rushing headlong down these halls with seemingly no regard for his own life. Do you think his mind has slipped again from the sight of all the dead above?” asked Tim.

             
Evan knew the reason for Liam’s blind rush into the complex; he had spotted the reason upon his approach to landing.

             
“
No, he is driven by a purpose--or more like a person. For some reason, the girl he is in love with is present on this base. I knew her, and I spotted her car upon approach. If I spotted it, then Liam most certainly did, and he will tear this base apart to make sure she is okay.”

             
“
But how does he know where she is?” asked Tim.

             
“
I would imagine he came to the same assumption I did. There was probably no time to evacuate the civilians, so they brought them down into the complex in hopes of keeping them safe. The question now is, are we too late?” Evan said grimly.

Hanscom Air Force Base

              An explosion sounded just outside the room Leah was in. Men could be heard shouting as the constant sound of gunfire mixed with the high-pitched sound of energy rifles. Looking around, mothers clutched at their crying children and roughly double were now praying.

With a deafening explosion, the double doors to the room exploded inward, one of them tearing free and flying across the room. One unlucky older woman was in the path of the steel door
, and a sickening crunch sounded as the door collided with the woman. She collapsed to the floor dead, her skull crushed. Soldiers backed into the room, their guns firing. Private Jorkins was there, running back and beginning to upend tables to create makeshift barriers.

             
“
Everyone get behind a barrier . . . NOW!” yelled a marine who looked to be in charge.