Sacrifice:The Shenkar War (55 page)

             
Everyone scrambled to get behind cover as soldiers spilled back into the room. Some were firing back down the passageway while others helped or, in some cases, pulled wounded soldiers into the room. One of the retreating soldiers crumpled to the floor with a hole burned through his forehead. Several soldiers tossed grenades down the passageway, and loud explosions sounded as they detonated.

             
Under the constant barrage of fire from the Shenkar energy rifles, many of the barricades began to come apart. Leah was crawling from barricade to barricade, helping the wounded soldiers as best as she could. The air was full of the smell of burnt flesh, the floor slick with blood. The return fire was coming more slowly now as marines began to fall to the floor more often, either grievously wounded or dead.

Leah heard a roar suddenly and looked up quickly to see a massive Shenkar warrior vaulting the barricade.
She rolled out of the way just in the nick of time as the warrior came down in the spot she had just been occupying. Pivoting on his heel, the warrior drove the stock of its rifle into the face of a nearby soldier. The soldier crumpled to the floor and didn’t move. Leah wasn’t sure if he was dead or just unconscious.

Private Jorkins was suddenly at her side
, pulling her back as he tried to aim his rifle at the massive Shenkar warrior. Bullets sprayed across the Shenkar’s armor but didn’t seem to do any damage. With a fluid motion, the Shenkar closed the distance, his hand igniting a plasma sword as it moved. Before Private Jorkins could even try to adjust his aim, the Shenkar drove the point of his sword through Jorkins’ chest.

Jorkins
’ rifle clattered to the floor as he fell to his knees. His head fell forward to rest against Leah’s thigh, and his hands fell to either side of his waist. Leah could see his breathing was labored, and then he stopped breathing altogether. Tears were in her eyes as she looked up at the Shenkar warrior who stood taller than her by three feet. The warrior looked about the room, studying the remaining humans. His soulless eyes looked from the wounded soldiers, to the mothers who were holding their children tightly, to the few remaining people who still had their heads bowed in prayer.

             
The sounds of heavy footsteps pulled her attention around to the doorway. Dozens of Shenkar warriors entered the room, but none was as large as the one near her. They spread out, some taking up guard positions while others checked that none of the remaining soldiers were a threat. The big Shenkar turned his eyes to Leah now, studied her face, then looked down at Privates Jorkins’s lifeless body. With an armored toe, he pushed Jorkins body aside and stepped up to her. Reaching out, he gripped Leah by the throat and lifted her off the ground, bringing her up to his eye level. Leah gripped at the arm that held her, pulling herself up to alleviate some of the pressure so she could breathe. The Shenkar shifted her from side to side as he studied her. To Leah, he looked as if he was studying her tears. Then the big Shenkar said something Leah understood.
“
Huummaan.”

             
Suddenly, the Shenkar simply dropped her, and she fell to the floor. Turning, he shouted what she figured to be orders to his soldiers in his strange language. The soldiers, all in unison, clapped the fist of their right hands to the left side of their bodies at the collarbone. The big Shenkar turned to the cowering people and took two strides toward a mother who held her little boy to her. Reaching down, he grabbed the little boy by the arm and lifted him off the ground. The mother screamed and began to stand, reaching for her son. The only attention the Shenkar warrior showed the woman was to casually backhand her across the face, sending her over the nearest barricade. The mother, her face bloody from the blow, pulled herself up.
“
Please don’t hurt my boy,” she said through choking sobs.

Leah felt her anger rising as she watched the Shenkar warrior studying the struggling, crying boy. With her fists balled at her sides, she stood without thinking.
“
Let him go, you bastard; he is just a boy!” she screamed.

             
The Shenkar warrior now turned to look at her again, the struggling boy still held aloft.

             
“
Yeah, that’s right--I’m talking to you! Leave the boy alone, you big ugly, dumb son of a bitch!” she said, the anger in her easily recognizable.

             
A kind of smirk crossed the Shenkar’s face as he tossed the boy aside and walked over to stand before Leah. She quickly looked over to where the boy had landed. He had hit a barricade and fallen to the floor, but he didn’t seem too badly hurt. The mother immediately scrambled over to her son and gathered him up into her arms again. Leah then turned her angry scowl up at the Shenkar. The Shenkar did something that surprised her then. He laughed, looked over at a nearby Shenkar, and said something unintelligible. The Shenkar laughed in return at his commander’s words.

             
“
What are you laughing at, ugly?!” she whispered fiercely.

             
The Shenkar looked down at her, his smile slipping to be replaced by a snarl. Leah started to feel she might have made a serious mistake and began to step back, but before she went far, the Shenkar had her by the throat once again. His grip made her breathing difficult as his fingers cut into her throat. She could feel the grip slowly tightening as his soulless eyes looked into hers. She knew she was going to die; he was slowly going to crush her throat until she died. Spots started to come across her eyes as she began to black out.

Suddenly, the grip lessened, and she became aware of the sounds of battle around her. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a Templar Knight weaving in and out of the Shenkar warriors, a red plasma sword flashing. Shenkar warriors were falling dead as quickly as the
Knight could swing his blade.

             
Then, as suddenly as it had began, it was over. The Templar Knight turned to face the big Shenkar who held her. The only sounds that could be heard were the sounds of fighting beyond the room. The Templar Knights had arrived; Leah found hope at this, even if it wasn’t Liam. She had hoped when the Knight had turned to face them, she would see the name Ghost stenciled over the left breast. This Knight went by the designation Arch Angel. She had known Liam was dead, but she still felt disappointment.

             
“
Let the girl go NOW!” commanded the Knight through his armored mask.

             
The Shenkar’s response wasn’t anything she could understand, but apparently the Knight did, because he spoke again.

             
“
Your fleet is all but destroyed. My friends are taking care of your soldiers as we speak. It is over for you. I would ask you to surrender, but I doubt the mighty Supreme Commander Krailsha would ever surrender.”

             
The Shenkar seemed to get angrier at this; his grip tightened around Leah’s throat, and she gasped. This seemed to get the attention of the Templar Knight, and he spoke again.
“
Don’t hurt the human. Let her go, and you can have me . . . I won’t fight you.”

             
The Shenkar laughed and then spoke something to the Knight. Then he lifted Leah as if he was going to throw her. The Knights had come up as he spoke quickly.
“
NO! You don’t know my new designation, but you know me.”

             
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the Knight deactivate his plasma sword and then reach up and press something on the side of his helmet. Slowly, he removed his helmet and dropped it to the floor along with his plasma sword.

             
“
You knew me as Ghost. I killed the entire crew of the
Tryliene
. I also led the assault that destroyed your mighty flagship, the
Krazzeen
.”

             
Straining, Leah turned her neck and her heart jumped. The Knight who stood before them was Liam--he was alive, and he had come for her.

Hanscom Air Force Base

              “
Let the girl go NOW!” commanded Liam through his armored mask.

             
“
You do not give me orders, you insignificant human. You might have bested my warriors, but I am by far your superior. Your fleet is being dismantled as we speak, and more warriors will soon be joining us.”

             
Liam realized now that this was the leader of the Shenkar fleet and he was unaware that his fleet had been destroyed. No more warriors would be coming to his aid.

             
“
Your fleet is all but destroyed. My friends are taking care of your soldiers as we speak. No more help is coming for you. It is over for you, I would ask you to surrender, but I doubt the mighty Supreme Commander Krailsha would surrender.”

             
Krailsha was visibly angry now as he hefted Leah by one arm. Leah gasped as Krailsha tightened around her throat.

             
“
Don’t hurt the human. Let her go, and you can have me . . . I won’t fight you,” Liam said quickly.

             
“
Why should I care about you? You are just an insignificant human.” Krailsha said with a laugh. He then lifted Leah as if to throw her against the nearest wall, which would surely kill her.

             
“
NO! You don’t know my new designation, but you know me,” Liam said quickly.

             
Deactivating his plasma sword, he then reached up and hit the button on the side of his helmet that would unlock it. Pulling his helmet free, he dropped it to the floor along with his deactivated plasma sword.

             
“
You knew me as Ghost. I killed the entire crew of the
Tryliene
. I also led the assault that destroyed your mighty flagship, the
Krazzeen
.”

Hanscom Air Force Base

             
She felt herself falling now as the Shenkar let her go and she dropped to the floor. The Shenkar then took two long strides toward Liam, activating his plasma sword as he went, and came to stand before Liam. Liam made no move to defend himself. The Shenkar warrior, in one swift fluid motion, drove the plasma sword into Liam’s chest. Then just as quickly, he withdrew it as Liam crumpled to the floor.

             
Leah heard herself screaming as she scrambled across the floor to Liam. The sound of footsteps made her look up briefly to see two more Knights entering the room. The two Knights wasted no time once they took in the entire scene and launched themselves at the Shenkar warrior. The Shenkar was driven back by the two Knights’ assault but quickly recovered. While the Knights battled the warrior, Leah took Liam’s head in her lap. Liam coughed up some blood as he looked wearily up at her.

             
“
They told me you died,” Leah said to Liam.

             
“
I did, and it looks like I am going to again.”

             
“
You can’t die when I finally have you back. I love you, Liam. I am not afraid to tell you that anymore. You can’t leave me now!” she said in a choked voice, her tears beginning to flow again.

             
Liam smiled up at her as his hand came up to cup her face, his thumb wiping a tear from her cheek. The fierce sounds of battle continued behind her.

             
“
You need to get out of here . . . I can’t have you get hurt,” he said as he coughed again, bringing up some more blood.

             
Liam looked pale and very tired now. His hand slipped from her face, and his eyes closed. His breath slowed now, and Leah knew he was going to die. She sat there and held him as his breathing finally stopped.

             
Laying his head carefully on the floor, she then reached across his dead body and picked up a discarded energy rifle. Standing, she turned and lifted the energy rifle to aim it at the battling trio. At this moment, she was glad her father was an ex-marine who had taken her to the local firing range. Carefully, she aimed the energy rifle and slowly squeezed the trigger. The rifle kicked slightly and the energy lanced out. Her aim was true, and the bolt of energy passed over the shoulder of one of the Knights and hit the Shenkar in his left shoulder.

             
The Shenkar howled in pain as he ducked back and away from a swing from one of the Knights. Leah tried to get another clean shot at the Shenkar, but he now was using the Knights as shields. The battle continued on for several more minutes as Leah tried to maneuver her way into getting a clean shot. As Leah moved in closer, the Shenkar managed to connect a huge armored fist with one of the Knights, sending him crashing into the wall. The Knight slid to the floor and didn’t move.