by Seth Libby
Shizta had a hard time getting his footing as the Xxeata shook underfoot from explosive impacts. After what seemed an eternity Shizta reached the overlord and surveyed the fallen warrior. Reaching over and turning his head so he could see Gyliene’s face revealed the vacant stare of the dead. A large jagged piece of metal protruded from between Overlord Gyliene’s eyes. Shizta felt the overlord didn’t deserve this fate. Not because he felt the overlord deserved a warrior’s death but because Shizta felt the arrogant bastard deserved to die painfully. Deciding there was no point in wasting anymore thought on the fallen overlord, Shizta turned away.
Turning back to the bridge he surveyed the damage. Fires were burning in about a dozen different places and almost every console was emitting sparks. Of the bridge crew only three were still moving. Whether the others were dead or just unconscious he couldn’t tell from his vantage point. One thing was clear however, there was no way they were going to save the Xxeata. Walking forward he grabbed the arm of the least conscious warrior and pulled him to his feet before turning to the other two warriors.
“Sound the abandon ship and get to the shuttle bay,” Shizta said to the other two warriors.
Shizta draped the semi-conscious warriors arm across his shoulders and half dragged the warrior from the bridge. The journey to the nearest shuttle bay seemed to take forever. Several occasions Shizta was forced to back track and find another route due to wreckage or a fire burning that was blocking the way. Dead Shenkar lay everywhere, most had burns but all suffered gruesome wounds, probably due to secondary explosions. In several areas he had to walk cautiously as the floors were slick with blood and gore.
After what seemed an eternity he finally reached the shuttle bay, stopping just inside the doorway to survey the area. At first glance it looked as if all of the shuttles had been destroyed or were too severely damaged to be of any use. He was about to give up and check out one of the other shuttle bays when he spotted one shuttle that seemed to be okay.
“We are almost there,” he said, more to himself than his companion. Yet his companion uttered a groan in response.
Reaching the shuttle he half climbed, half fell through the hatchway. Dragging his now unconscious companion over to a corner, he propped him up. Turning back, he closed the hatch and headed into the cockpit. The intensity of the explosions grew and soon Shizta could see fires throughout the entire shuttle bay and several bulkheads looked to be buckling. The shuttle thrummed to life and Shizta ignited the maneuvering thrusters. No sooner did the shuttle lift off did Shizta begin to move towards the hanger bay doors where open space waited.
Through the open bay door he could see some of the fleet, all were in various states of burning. Flashes of energy cannon fire could be seen striking out at unseen targets. Just as his shuttle broke into open space the shuttle bay exploded sending shrapnel into the engines of the shuttle. The whole shuttle tipped up and Shizta was thrown forward. His head slamming into the flight panel and a new set of stars filled his vision. Bloody vision almost instantly replaced the new stars as Shizta slid off the pilots chair onto the floor of the shuttle. Struggling to get up, a hissing noise made the groggy Shizta look up. Wiping away the blood from his eyes he immediately spotted the source of the hiss. A crack in one of the shuttles plexi-steel windows was venting the atmosphere quickly. Judging by the rate the air was venting he calculated he would be dead within a few hours. Shizta couldn't help but laugh to himself. To make it so far only to die from asphyxiation was hardly a warrior’s death. The only regret he had was he wouldn't have a chance to be there to see the Shenkar prevail over the humans and their Meshtrell masters. But as he thought this over another thought occurred to him, how much of the Shenkar Federation would the Shelecore burn to defeat these humans?
Shizta never had a chance to think more on this as another explosion shook the shuttle as the engines exploded. This time when Shizta's head connected with the console, he didn't see stars....all he saw was the blackness of death.
December 26th, 2013 11:11am
EDF Kraken.Terran system, high Earth orbit
“Captain, we are receiving requests for permission to land. The pilot says he has level ten passengers…namely President Sheehan, Prime Minster Denshire and Admiral Kelvin,” reported the communications officer.
“Permission granted,” said Captain Dunklin, feeling slightly apprehensive.
Now he would see what his rash actions would cost him. True through his actions he had saved the fleet and probably countless casualties on Earth, but you can never tell what a politician would do. Although he didn’t think he would suffer any severe punishment if Admiral Kelvin was with them. He knew the admiral and had the utmost respect for the man. He had no doubt in his mind that Admiral Kelvin would approve of his methods. But it was the two politicians that he was worried about that was what was gnawing at him.
Captain Dunklin was also worried about the status of the fleet. Many men and woman had died today. Well over two thirds of the fleet had either been destroyed or suffered some sort of damage that would leave them in dry dock for months. Luckily most of the ships that had foolishly accompanied the President of France to the outpost in system 238 weren’t too badly damaged. True enough they had suffered casualties and lost a few warships but thanks to Captain Donaldson’s quick thinking he had saved much of the fleet from some sort of homing mines.
Captain Dunklin continued to watch the casualty reports updates stream in hourly as the dead were located. So many dead, what a waste of life was all he could think to himself. The voice of his second in command made him turn.
“Attention, admiral on the deck!”
Coming to attention, he saluted Admiral Kelvin as he entered the bridge, leading the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of England. Admiral Kelvin returned the salute as he came to a stop in front of Captain Dunklin.
“At ease Captain,” the admiral said with a smile.
Relaxing Captain Dunklin returned the smile as he extended his hand.
“Glad to see you fared well through the battle,” Admiral Kelvin said as he shook the pre-offered hand.
“Thank you, sir, but I cannot take all the credit as I had a fine crew with me.”
Admiral Kelvin smiled but did not comment any further. Instead he turned and used his hand to direct the captain’s attention towards the two world leaders.
“Let me introduce President Adam Sheehan and Prime Minister Colin Denshire, I believe you know them although not personally.”
Captain Denshire again saluted the two politicians. Both wore friendly smiles as they each in turn extended a hand to shake. As he shook the Prime Minister of England’s hand the man spoke.
“Excellent work Captain, I would say you pulled our fat out of the proverbial fire with that little maneuver of yours.”
“Thank you sir,” Dunklin said uncomfortably.
“Yes, your bold action saved the fleet and possibly Earth, although the docking chief of the shipyards wasn’t too happy with you. I understand you threatened to take half his shipyards with you when you engaged the fold engines,” said a smiling President Sheehan.
“Uh…yeah, well I really wouldn’t have but I figured he didn’t want to take that chance.”
“Oh don’t worry Captain; you aren’t in any trouble for that. In fact we have come here with a promotion of sorts,” reassured the Prime Minister of England.
Captain Dunklin was struck speechless at this new piece of information. He opened his mouth a couple of times but couldn’t think of anything to say. Instead he turned his attention to Admiral Kelvin with a look for help. Admiral Kelvin laughed as he clapped Dunklin on the back.
“Let us retire to your day cabin and talk of this.”
Captain Dunklin led the trio into a small office off the bridge. A small desk sat opposite the door with a comfortable chair behind it. Two sets of shelves rested against the wall to either side of the desk. The only other furnishings in the room were four chairs, tw
o sat directly in front of the desk and the other two sat off to the side. It wasn’t much of an office but it served its purpose for the captain to retire to when he wasn’t needed but needed to remain close by.
Not sure what to do Captain Dunklin went around behind his desk and took a seat. Both of the politicians took the seats directly in front of the desk as Admiral Kelvin pulled a seat from the corner before taking a seat. After making himself comfortable he turned his attention to Captain Dunklin.
“Now Captain how would you like to take command of the Kraken permanently?”
“Sir?” Dunklin asked dubiously.
“Well originally the Kraken was to be flagship of the expeditionary fleet under the command of Fleet Admiral Saunders. Unfortunately, Admiral Saunders was severely injured in the recent battle. He is expected to recover but it is unknown if he will ever fully recover. To tell you the truth the only reason he is alive is due to recent medical breakthroughs with the alien technology.
So now we need to find a new captain and the council believes you are that man. So what do you say? Are you ready to take the fight to the Shenkar?”
Captain Dunklin was dumbstruck at the offer that had just been presented to him. He hadn’t seriously expected he would get a dressing down for what he had done but he nothing would have ever given him the idea that he would be offered command of the largest warship in the Earth defense fleet.
“I do believe our young captain has lost his ability to speak,” Colin Denshire said, his face clearly showing the enjoyment he was having with the whole situation.
“So what do you say? Or do I have to go find another?” asked Admiral Kelvin.
This time Sean Dunklin was able to find his voice and even smiled slightly as he spoke.
“I would be honored ‘sir’ but I have to ask isn’t there anyone that is more qualified than me? I was only recently promoted to captain and didn’t expect my first command to be the Kraken.”
“If you didn’t ask me that question, I think I would have doubted our selection. The truth of the matter is you don’t fear to take chances and I like that. Plus we have worked together before and I don’t see any reason to change that.”
“Are you to accompany the expeditionary fleet? If so why are you not commanding the fleet?”
“Yes, I will be, but not in a command capacity. There is a good chance we will be encountering other races the Shenkar have enslaved. I will be serving as a diplomat to negotiate any possible treaties. It will be your command and yours alone.”
Captain Dunklin sat back in his chair and studied the trio in front of him. He didn’t need any time to think it over as he already knew his decision.
“How big a battle group will be going?” he finally asked.
At this the three men looked at each other before the admiral spoke.
“Well with the recent attack our fleet has been severely diminished. We originally planned to have a full battle group accompany the Kraken but that is not possible anymore. As it is we have had to revamp the entire plan. Initially the Kraken will be going in alone to perform guerilla style attacks upon Shenkar, something you are already familiar with. We plan to make contact with some of the enslaved races in hopes of setting up resistance networks. That is the reason I will be accompanying you, I will serve as a liaison for Earth to negotiate with any sentient race we meet. As for your support, well you will have a full complement of pilots. Roughly two thousand of those pilots will be made up of the Templar Knights and the newly graduated Paladins. You will also have a full division of the new Praetorian Guard as well as the armored support of the new X-21 Spartan battle tanks.”
Captain Dunklin nodded at hearing this information but then realized something.
“Correct me if I am wrong but I thought we lost several of the command staff of the Praetorian Guard when the Phoenix was hit?”
“Yes, you would be correct in that. It will be a little out of the ordinary but we will have alot of the Templar Knights serving as officers until a new batch of officers can be replaced and trained. You will need to coordinate with them to fill the gaps in the ranks.”
“Of course, who will I be coordinating with?”
“Commander Brennan. I believe you are familiar with him. We were planning on offering him the CAG position aboard the Kraken.”
Captain Dunklin smiled at hearing this. Yes, he was familiar with Commander Brennan. It seemed so long ago but in truth it was roughly two years. He had met the man for the first time at the outpost in system 238. Sean had been fresh out of the academy hell bent on proving himself...at least that had been the plan. Once presented with the opportunity to do just that he failed. If it hadn’t been for Commander Brennan and Lieutenant Commander Maxis, he probably would have been the death of them all. He had sworn to himself that if a situation ever presented itself again then he would not make that mistake again. Fortunately he hadn’t hesitated this time and because of his actions he had been largely responsible for saving the defense fleet.
“So when should I expect to have the pleasure of Commander Brennan’s company again?”
“He should be here within the hour. Now on to other business, I have come to understand you have some unexpected guests in your brig?”
Captain Dunklin was taken aback for a moment at the admiral’s knowledge of this. The “guests” Admiral Kelvin spoke of were in fact two Shenkar warriors that had been found unconscious in a severely damaged shuttle that had been found floating adrift. He knew they were under orders to avoid taking prisoners but he couldn’t just leave the two warriors to die from asphyxiation. He had ordered the shuttle towed aboard into a currently unused hanger bay. There had only been a handful of crew that knew of the prisoners so how Admiral Kelvin learned of this was a surprise to him.
“How did you?” Captain Dunklin began to say.
“Oh there isn’t much that goes on within the fleet that I don’t know about Captain. Don’t worry, you are in no trouble for this, in fact I would like to see your prisoners as do the President and the Prime Minister.”
This last part made the captain look over at the two politicians. As if sensing what he was thinking President Sheehan spoke.
“We would like to try and establish communications between our two races. There has already been too much bloodshed between our two races. We are hoping to establish some sort of cease fire….if that is possible. Personally I don’t believe it is possible but if anything we might be able to learn something useful.”
Captain Dunklin thought this over for a moment and came to the conclusion that they did have a very good point. Maybe they could learn something useful and better yet maybe they could establish a ceasefire.
“Would you like to go see them now?” the captain asked.
“Yes, please lead on, would you.”
December 26th, 2013 11:35am
EDF Kraken, Terran system, high Earth orbit
Shizta awoke with a sharp pain surging through his skull. Placing a hand to his head he expected to feel dried blood upon his forehead but was surprised to find the wound upon his head sealed with some sort of medical adhesive. Inspecting the rest of himself he found a bandage had been wrapped around his thigh as well as his forearm. Realizing he lay upon a bench in a small room he pushed himself up to get a better view of his surroundings.
From the looks of it he seemed to be in some sort of holding cell. The room was small and completely empty except for a small bed, a latrine and a small basin that looked to be for washing oneself. The entire room was immaculate, if he were to judge he would say this cell was new. The only door to the room was a door made of some transparent material, probably plasti-steel, which would allow anyone outside a clear view of the cell’s interior. On the door was a smaller door that was probably used to pass meals through.
In addition, to the hallway, Shizta could see another cell directly across from his own. Like his cell it also was occupied by a lone Shenkar warrior. It looked to be the same warrior he had help
ed from the bridge and had accompanied him on the shuttle. It was hard to confirm, however, due to the Shenkar warrior was heavily bandaged and was being fed some sort of liquid intravenously. There was also medical equipment set up to monitor the warrior’s vital signs. So it seemed whoever their captures were they didn’t want them to suffer or die on them. Could it be the humans that have captured them? Most likely but from what he had come to understand from reports these humans were the ruthless killers used by the Meshtrell. Hardly seemed the actions of the ruthless killer he had witnessed from the security footage taken from the Tryliene. Venturing a guess he would say he was aboard one of the human’s warships, perhaps even the massive battlecruiser that had destroyed the two Shenkar command bases.
The sound of approaching voices drifted down the hall which in turn made Shizta look up, his curiosity piqued to who his visitors were.
December 26th, 2013 11:48am
EDF Kraken, Terran system, high Earth orbit
Captain Dunklin led the admiral and the two politicians through the passageway towards the brig, speaking as he walked. After several minutes they came to a small room which, from all appearances, looked to be a guard station. A small desk was set off to the right with an ensign sitting behind it. The ensign looked up at the newcomers and immediately came to his feet, saluting the newcomers. The admiral and captain both saluted the ensign in return.
“At ease, we are here to see the prisoners, please return to your duties,” explained Captain Dunklin.
Quickly the ensign sat, returning his attention to a set of monitors in front of him.
