Sholan Alliance Au Bk 04 Ch 17

Assault on the station

As the troops were moving towards the station the EU troops floated up next to them. She passed a fiber line to the commander of the others and they started making plans. They had already talked but as they were moving closer aspects of the station were becoming clearer. Even as their suits had the flat black EM paint so did the station. They were starting to identify additional entry points and were changing plans on where to enter. The station looked like it had fifteen levels. They were going to break into teams of ten which gave them seven teams plus the two officers in charge.

Even though they had been ordered to take a reserve position they couldn't. They need to hit as many levels as possible and that was what they decided. Her teams were going to hit towards the bottom of the station and the EU teams further up since that was probably where the majority of the enemy was. It was likely where the command and control stations were as well.

As they were approaching the station the ship they had been alerted about detached and started leaving orbit. They didn't sense any changes in the stations EM signature so they assumed it was a planned leaving. It moved away before heading even further south of the ecliptic. There wasn't anything they could do about it unless they wanted to alert the station of their being there. The fighters on the light carrier didn't have the stealth needed to hide from the station or the ship. The best they could do was to track it and maybe send fighters after it if they didn't jump to hyper soon.

Eventually they approached the station. They carefully slowed down using their maneuvering thrusters. The captain was the first to lock onto the hull. It was very gently and with the faintest of thumps. The others started to land as they detached the fiber connection. At this point they knew where they were going in and had to separate into their teams. Several of the troops were trained to break into virtually anywhere. Once they were at the service hatches they went to work.

It didn't take very long to crack the codes to open the doors. From the looks of it the people inside didn't expect to be detected and had a fairly basic security system. After cracking the entrance codes, they carefully opened the doors and slipped inside. It didn't take long for everyone to enter but once they were in the passageway an alarm started. When that happened the shot into the base and went to town. Anyone not in armor was nailed with less than lethal weapons and secured.

It didn't take a great deal of time before they started encountering resistance. The Marines didn't slow down much in the beginning but the further inside the station the stronger the resistance. It was going to be an ugly fight and they could sense it. When the first trooper was killed, they knew it was going to be a mess. He had been hit with an armor penetrating grenade. They were designed to lock onto the armor and focus the explosion to penetrate the armor.

Once they reached that point anyone in armor was going to be killed and they would deal with the bodies later. It took some time but they managed to take the station over. The marines armor, weapons, and communications were better. Even as they were moving through the station the two teams were sharing information and building a map of the station. It was a brutal slug fest between the Military and the Organization troops but in the end, it was pointless to resist.

By the time they had taken over both teams had lost a number of troops but the casualties on the other side were far worse. They had lost a third of the Marines and EU troops but for their losses the Organization had lost or had over a hundred and fifty casualties. The civilian scientists had pretty much given up when they were come across. The pirate troops had fought with an almost rabid intensity but it hadn't done much for them. The bridge and engineering had been overrun pretty quickly and that had kept anyone from trying to blow the station.

Several hours later the two in charge let their ships know they had taken control of the station. Several shuttles had docked and anyone left alive were transferred to the shuttles and taken to the other ships. The fighters from the light carrier had been launched to try and catch the other ship. That ended up being a bust.

~~~

Fighter and ship leaving

When the ship left the station the fighter which was floating in space and simply observing shaped orbit to follow it. Once they were a good distance away the fighter fired a shot across the bow, "This is Captain L'Cole of the Fighter Lightening. Surrender and shut down your engines. Lower your shields or we will fire upon you. We are from the Sholan Ship Fijishi." Another beam flashed just over the ship and barely missed.

The other ship kept going before it finally started slowing down and the shields dropped. The captain knew what the fighters could do and he wasn't going to chance being blown out of space. He had a feeling the other ship would simply shoot the engines and bridge and take over anyways, "We are lowering our shields and disengaging our weapons. We surrender. What are your orders?"

The Captain passed orders over. He wasn't getting close to the damn ship and instructed it to move at low speed towards the Fijishi. They could deal with the damn thing. As they slowly moved towards the central planet they were keeping a very close watch on the other ship.

~~~

The illness

Between I'Malon and K'Lesh they were taking care of the girls while their mom was sick. K'Lesh was still assigned to watch and duty but after he was done they were taking care of the girls. Each day they were taking them to medical to talk to their mom. Most of the time the woman was asleep but several times she was somewhat awake and did her best to talk to them.

When she was finally released from Medical I'Malon helped her to the rooms she had been assigned, "Been watching your girls for you. They are enjoyable to be with. Karen is full of questions about almost everything. Chelsey is such a darling little girl. Just so you know they have been curled up with me most nights. They have been so stressed about you being sick. My senior Warrior assigned me to take care of them while you were sick. We've done some swimming, showed them the nature reserve, taken them to where I work and wandered the ship. K'Lesh has been helping as well as he could."

She leaned against him as he was helping her walk to the rooms, "Thank you I'Malon and I hope it hasn't been a problem keeping track of them." She couldn't help but want to cry at his willingness to take care of her girls while she was sick.

"Not a problem. As I said your little girl reminds me of my kitten. Now food is going to be delivered soon and then I'll tuck you into bed. I'll be in the couch if you need anything." They walked into her rooms and he settled her down on a couch so her daughters could come and give her attention.

~~~

Challenge with the guild master

They had finally found out who had been sending the flowers and little gifts to Z'Marl. It was that damn guild master from the Embassy Party. When Billy had realized that he had almost gone up in flames. It had taken Kingie, Vangie, and another warrior to keep him from going and killing the man. They had ended up piling on him and tying him up. Z'Marl and Satasha had come in and talked to him. Dani and Sally had ended up coming in as well. None of them had seen Billy this angry before. He was so furious he was actually frothing.

It had been bad enough they had called for a doctor to sedate him. Frankly all of them had been shocked they had needed to do that. When Billy finally woke he found he was in a secure medical room and he was strapped down to a bed. It had forced him to go into a trance and calm his mind down. It had taken half a day before he came out of it. When he did he wasn't nearly as angry though he was coldly furious. That bastard was going to get his wish and end up in a challenge circle with Billy, "Let me loose. I'm calmer and need to deal with this."

Satasha came into the room and settled down on the bed and stroked his face. As she was doing that she was testing what he was really feeling and if it was safe to let him loose. When he had realized who had been sending the stuff to Z'Marl he had blood in his eyes and his mind was thinking of ways to kill the male. The thoughts weren't nice and to be honest he was considering some actions which made her feel nauseated. There was skinning, removal of genitals, ears, tail, and worse, "Yilly, don't do anything which will dishonor you or us. Z'Marl doesn't need it and neither do I. We love you and don't want you to do anything which might cause legal issues." She leaned over and gave him a light kiss.

"Not going to happen. I'm going to invite him to the challenge circle and then destroy him. He is going to be left in the circle broken and bleeding. I'm going to humiliate him and walk away smiling. It is going to be broadcast to the world to show them he wasn't worth my time." Billy was continuing to calm down as he was talking. Now that he had been tranked and given a chance to calm down his mind was really starting to work. The male was going to regret fucking with his family.

Eventually he was released from the medical section he was in. He headed to his office at the Embassy and sent a message to the Guild Master. Just for good measure he set the message to be registered with the legal system as well. He looked at it as he was typing and took some time to ensure it was as insulting as possible.

Guild Master V'Ashon I am sending this to you so you know I'm going to challenge you. Being that I'm a telepath you can't challenge me. Instead you attacked my family, caused my life mate and triad partner Z'Marl a great deal of emotional problems to get to me. You are below the dirt and mud on my boots. You honestly aren't worth a challenge since you are such a slug and so dishonorable in your actions. The only reason I am considering a challenge is to beat your face into the ground. I will leave you broken and bleeding in the challenge circle and broadcast your humiliation to the world. You aren't worth our time but I need to do this to get you to leave my life mate and triad partner alone. She told you no she wasn't interested in spending time with you. You refused to accept her choice and kept pushing. You are lower than the lowest criminal on Shola. Can't take no for an answer so you tried to force her to say yes to spend time with you. How fucking pathetic. Since I'm making the challenge you can chose what weapons you want. Personally, I think you are a coward and will do something to give you an advantage over me. I'd prefer pistols at 20 paces but I'm going to guess you want claws since I don't have any. I will accept claws and still beat you into the ground. Good riddance you yellow bellied coward."

Billy reviewed the e-mail and grinned. If that didn't get the shit head off his ass and challenge him with claws nothing would. He hit the send button and stood. He left his office and headed to the design room. The young male he had told to come back was there. Billy managed not to grin since the young man was acting as an intern. He was getting drinks, food, and documents for any who needed them. He was learning a good deal since Billy had taken him under his wing and was doing his best to teach him. What amused him was Z'Marl had spent several nights with him in the last few weeks. They were close enough in age they fit quite well. Did it bother him? Vaguely but she had the right to spend time with him if she wished. Billy didn't have a problem with it.

When the Guild Master received the e-mail he damn near blew up. He felt his blood pressure going up and the veins in his head throbbing. The note was so insulting he ended up tossing the monitor from his computer across the room. It hit the wall with a resounding crash. It shattered even as it damaged one of the scenes on the wall. When his assistant came into the room he snarled at him and wasn't even able to speak other than something about a new monitor.

The assistant shot out of the room and closed the door so nothing would be thrown at him. He had seen the Guild Master angry before but this? He hadn't seen him this angry before. He sent a message to get a new system up there and sooner than later. He marked the message as beyond urgent.

It didn't take long before the tech was there and had installed the new system. Even she was terrified and the moment it was tested and ready she almost ran from the room. This wasn't something she wanted to deal with.

Now that the system had been installed he stalked over and sent a brief reply, Two days from now, local temple challenge circle. As you suggested claws and nothing else. Once I'm done I'm going to let everyone know what a pathetic furless monkey you are." He sent it and leaned back in his chair and took a drink from the shot glass.

~~~

Billy carefully dressed for the challenge. Since he was human he figured he could get away with a few changes to the challenge. First was his boots. They were the ones he wore when working on the engines. They were heavy and steel toed. Long loose pants which were tucked into them, a short-sleeved shirt, and a heavy leather vest. There were gloves on his hands but they weren't anything special. He looked in the mirror and had to grin since he didn't look all that dangerous.

Satasha and Z'Marl were there and they looked at him. Z'Marl leaned against his back, "Yilly, don't kill him. Anything else but don't kill him. You don't need that and neither does the Embassy." She had tried to read his plans but he had blocked much of the link between them. Not enough to cause link deprivation but enough to keep her from knowing his plans.

"Killing him would give him honor he isn't worth. I'm not going to kill him unless I don't have a choice. I'm going to do my best to leave him broken and bleeding in the challenge circle as I walk out." He leaned back against Z'Marl for a moment before he moved away from her.

Satasha didn't bother saying anything since he would do what he felt was needed. He was going to protect Z'Marl as best possible and nothing she said would change that. For him that was saying quite a bit. Between the pirates and getting shot she knew just how tough he was, "Take care and be careful Yilly."

They climbed into an aircar and set the location they needed. It didn't take long and when they arrived there was a priest of Vartra, several new services, and a number of their friends. The Guild Master had his party as well and they were laughing and talking to each other.

Billy hopped out before helping Satasha and Z'Marl out of the aircar. Sally, Vangie, and many of the others were there. Dani was watching their baby since she didn't have any urge to watch this. Mizaki was with her as well. He didn't blame his youngest daughter for not wanting to watch this.

Once they were all there the Priest of Vartra and a local justice stepped forward, "Can this be resolved outside the challenge circle? Will both of you choose to talk to us and try and resolve this issue before it reaches that point?"

Billy and V'Ashon both indicated it couldn't be, "In this case the challenge will go forward and it is in the god's hands now. When the challenge is over the victor will be vindicated under the god's purview. Enter the circle and wait for the start to be called."

Billy moved forward and stepped into the ring. He didn't bother saying anything and settled for staring at the Sholan. The other was a good six or more inches taller than Billy and obviously in good shape. It didn't stop him from staring at him with empty eyes.

The other stepped into the circle and tried to intimidate the human but it didn't seem to work. His glower and growl seemed to bounce off. It was disturbing since he had never seen someone with such blank eyes. They only held a promise of pain in the very near future. It was enough to make him flick his ears back and his tail stiffen.

"Commence the challenge!" The priest of Vartra called out.

Billy moved the second the challenge was called. He was going for a brutal damaging attack. He spun and lashed out with one booted foot. It impacted on the others knee and hard. Billy could feel the knee being force backwards from the impact.

The Guild Master had expected some sort of threat and challenge. Instead the human attacked and he felt his knee being almost crushed. He struck out to hopefully force the human back so he could recover. The pain was incredible and a whine was forced out.

Billy felt the claws flash across his side and chest but he was in the zone and didn't stop. His next strike was with the flat of his forearm. His right arm leveled across his chest and his left hand grasped his right fist as he was twirling and he felt the flat of his forearm nail the other's ribs. It was a hard blow and he felt something give.

V'Ashon couldn't believe how fast the human was moving. He had hit with his claws but they didn't seem to have any sort of impact on the human. When the arm impacted on his ribs he had to grunt since something broke. He lashed out again and managed to claw one arm.

Billy twirled in the other direction. His arm was still braced from the previous attack. He felt the claw strike but he was to focused to really feel the pain. When he spun the point of his elbow hit the other side of the ribs and he could feel several ribs crack. The other had to whine again at the pain. It didn't stop Billy's attacks.

Good god the second hit on his ribs hurt more than he imagined. Several ribs broke and drove the air out of his lungs. Even as he was gasping he tried clawing at the monkey again and thought he hit. It didn't seem to matter if he hit, the human didn't seem to react to being clawed.

Billy let go of his left hand and his right balled into a fist and drew back. It flashed forward and impacted on the others solar plexus. He both felt and heard the breath force out. He didn't give a shit even though at this point the other was pretty much done. His left knee came up and impacted on the side of the genital opening. When it hit, the other screamed and collapsed.

When he hit the ground, Billy dropped over his back. One hand curled in his hair and jerked his head back as far as it could to. His other hand snaked around the Guild Master's neck and tightened, "I could kill you right now if I wanted. Pull your head back even further and snap your spine. I could choke you to death as well if I wanted. What I really want is you broken and bleeding in the challenge circle so everyone can see what a pussy you are." He leaned back and with his free hand, the one which had been around his throat, made a fist and slammed it into the side of the male's head and knocked him out.

When he did that, Billy felt several bones on his hand break, "Oh fuck that hurt. That shit head has a thick skull." He stood and staggered across the circle of the challenge ring. When he did, he realized he had been clawed a number of times and he was bleeding. Before he passed out several of the medical staff caught him and placed him on a floater.

"Damn males and their challenges!" One female said even as they started treating him. Another team was working on the Guild Master. The priest looked at the two, "Challenge is resolved. Ambassador Yilly is the winner. The Guild Master will give over any issues with him or Z'Marl. If he doesn't the gods will deal with him."

The End (for now)