Deep Space Endeavor Book Two: Royal Intrigue

by Francis, Ron

  “Okay, Kimi, you have point. I’ll cover our six and Jo, you and Collette have the Princess. Let’s move back towards where we left the men.” They left the cover of the building, and encountered scattered resistance. A barrage of blasterfire in the background told Jesse the Conglomerate men were under attack from some pretty heavy weaponry. When they were about half way to the trees, they finally encountered some resistance. Several men began to open fire on them, forcing them to take cover. Josiah covered the Princess while Jesse, Kimi and Collette began returning fire. Jesse aimed, fired and dropped two while Kimi hit one. It wouldn’t be enough, there were still over a dozen men, and backup would be arriving pretty soon. Josiah popped off a couple shots, killing another soldier, but Jaketh’s men were getting closer. Soon, they would be overrun.

  Jesse loosed a grenade, taking out three men and he called out to Josiah. “If we can make a corridor though the left flank, we might be able to get to the tree line.”

  “It’s pretty risky, but it may be our only play,” he replied, worried they wouldn’t all make it through.

  Suddenly, four Pandaran soldiers entered the courtyard behind them. Jesse tried to fire, but his blaster's power had run out. The Pandarans just smiled as they moved to finish him off with their bare hands. He knew they didn't have time for a prolonged struggle, so he decided to take the fight to them. He charged the closest Pandaran, who clearly had not expected the move, and used his dead blaster like a club. He hit the Pandaran across the face as hard as he could. His opponent dropped as he launched into a spinning roundhouse kick, taking the second alien off his feet, but not taking consciousness from him. The third Pandaran speared him, digging into his mid section with one of the horns on his head. Jesse cried out in pain as he landed on the ground and used his opponent’s momentum to throw the alien off of him. As another Pandaran approached, Jesse hit him with a knife-edged chop to his throat, collapsing his wind pipe. He finished him off with a knee to the face, and turned his attention to the one that had gored him with his horns. Only two Pandarans still stood and one of them was injured. His injuries were piling up, however, and he was fading fast. Just then, Kimi appeared by his side, dropping the two attackers with her blaster. Jesse picked up a dead soldier's blaster and painfully ran back towards his team's position.

  Kimi and Collette prepared to lay down some cover fire, and Josiah was about to let loose with some more explosives. Another dozen men shored up the position, and Jesse knew they weren’t going anywhere. Just then, the soldiers were strafed by a low flying assault shuttle, killing almost half of them. Then, three men popped up from the tree line and continued the barrage. Most of the Conglomerate attention was now on the rear of the engagement, so Jesse and Josiah went ahead with their original plan. Kimi and Collette laid down the cover, taking out more soldiers, and then Jesse and Josiah loosed the grenades. Several soldiers were hit, and now there were only a few soldiers left between them and the King’s men. The soldiers were being attacked from two sides and the air and didn’t last long. Kimi led the way to the tree line with Jesse bringing up the rear. Jesse could see more men led by Specialist Zendar and the two traitorous Special Tactics soldiers heading their way. He had to fight the urge to engage because it would put the objective at risk.

  “We need to hurry, Zendar’s on the way with more men,” he yelled over the battle as he turned and lay down some cover fire, hoping to slow Zendar down. A Conglomerate Assault Shuttle landed by the tree line and Kimi braced herself for battle. She was surprised to see Commando and the King’s men run for the shuttle. She realized that it had to be the shuttle that was attacking the men a moment earlier.

  "They must have gotten their hands on an enemy shuttle," Kimi yelled as she led the way to their rescuers. They were still about fifty meters out when heavy fire erupted around them. Zendar’s men had stopped pursuing, and Jesse knew they were in trouble. Twenty meters to go and another barrage erupted around them. The big guns were getting closer. Kimi hit the boarding ramp to the shuttle at a dead run, Josiah was next, still covering the Princess, followed by Collette. Jesse brought up the rear shouting, “Go! Go! Go!” as he entered the shuttle. The stolen shuttle was in the air before the boarding ramp was even closed.

  As the shuttle shot into the sky, Jesse fell to the deck. His body was still weak from his injuries, and the fight had taken everything out of him. Kimi was by his side instantly with some water. He drank, coughing as he drank a little too quickly. He drank a little more and he felt some of his energy begin to return. He was able to get up into a seat just as the shuttle started taking fire.

  The pilot called out from the cockpit, “Everyone hold on, this is gonna get bumpy.”

  Jesse felt the shuttle go into a dive and a turn. Several evasive maneuvers later, the pilot called out again, “Six seconds until we jump to light space.”

  The ship lasted five. As the seam was opening, the shuttle took a hit and then reality lost focus around it as they entered light space. “We’ve taken a pretty good amount of damage. We’re not going to make it back to Hyperia. In fact, we might not even make it to the nearest planet,” The pilot began.

  “What is the nearest planet?” Josiah asked, loud enough to be heard over the shuttles damage sirens.

  “Pandara,” the pilot yelled back. “Dropping out of light space now. Our sublight engines should get us there in about three hours, landing isn’t going to be fun, though. In addition to our FTL drive, our landing systems are damaged, too.”

  “That’s alright. I’d rather be stranded than captured. Can we get out a transmission to anyone?” Jesse asked.

  “Negative, Sir,” the pilot replied. “Unfortunately, that’s out, too.”

  “Is anyone hurt?” Jesse asked, “Because we are going to have to get as much distance from the shuttle as possible. How are we on supplies?”

  “We have most of the supplies we came with, Sir,” One of the soldiers replied. His name was Tomra, Jesse recalled. He was young, but talented. “No one is hurt, either, except you, Sir.” He motioned at the bleeding wound in Jesse's side. Kimi and Collette looked and became very concerned about his condition. "Jesse, this is deep. I do not know if I can close it." She began to apply some medicated cream to keep the wound from becoming infected. Jesse winced as she touched it, and she felt terrible. She put a bandage over the wound and wrapped it heavily. Princess Rayelle held Collette’s hand for comfort while Jesse's injury was being treated. She was upset that this was all happening because of her.

  “Tomra, look around the shuttle and see if there is anything useful we can bring with us. We can use any food, water, tents, explosives, weapons or blankets you can find.” He replied as his friend began dressing his wound.

  “I think we have all of that in our supplies. We have eight full packs, Sir. We also have a couple of Conglomerate heavy repeating blasters that we liberated from their previous owners on Golaran.”

  “Okay, great work,” Jesse encouraged. “We can leave all of the tents except three. Make sure we have all the food and water as well as any that may have been stocked on the shuttle. We take one blanket each and only three shovels. Strap on two blasters each except for the men carrying the heavy blasters, they should only bring one extra. Bring any knives and explosives you can carry as well. We need to travel light, but we don’t know how long we may be stuck here, so we can’t leave anything useful behind.”

  By the time the ship was entering Pandara’s atmosphere, Kimi had finished field dressing Jesse's wounds and he had been able to sleep almost two hours. Tomra had also finished condensing everything they would be taking with them into the eight packs. The packs weren’t too heavy, either, which was good given the speed with which Jesse hoped to travel. Everyone had strapped on their blasters, knives and other utility pouches, bringing everything they might need to survive a few nights in the Pandaran jungle. Now everyone was buckled in for the bumpy landing. The shuttle plowed through several trees on its was down and landed hard, but no on
e was hurt. Within moments, everyone had their pack on and Jesse with Commando by his side, led them out into the jungle. It took the princess a moment to get up as she was still holding on to her seat for dear life. Her knuckles were white and the blood had drained from her face.

  "It's alright, princess, we're on the ground now," Collette encouraged as she took her friend by the hand and led her out of the damaged ship. She looked around shyly, but no one said anything about it as they made their way towards the nearest city.

  Pandara was mostly a jungle world. There were several large cities on the planet, but almost no suburbs. It was interesting that the jungle crept right up to the edge of the cities. This made travel between cities in anything but an air speeder very difficult. This was good for Jesse, though, they couldn’t afford to be spotted. He did want to at least get near the closest city, so they could attempt to send in one or two people to either steal a shuttle or send out a transmission. He also held out hope that the First Stryke might still be able to help them. He took point and Josiah brought up the rear as the rescue team took off through the jungle. Everyone except the Princess carried a pack, and they were making good time. He was hoping to be at least fifteen kilometers away from the shuttle before anyone came after them. Twenty kilometers would be better, though.

  ______

  Reece stood before King Dominus at the Royal Spaceport as the King apologized. “I’m sorry the traitors I sent out on the first mission captured your friends, Reece. Thank you for being willing to help us. We will continue the search for the last traitor. In the meantime, I have personally seen to everything you have requested, including sending for Cadet Xanu.”

  As the King spoke, sixteen ragged, heavily armed men approached the assault ship. They were Hyperian soldiers, but Reece needed them to look like mercenaries. No one in Conglomerate Space would tell anything to a Hyperian soldier, but they might talk to a mercenary. That is, if there was some chrons in it for them, or if they felt it would save their life.

  The King eyed his men; he understood Reece’s plan, but he hated to see Hyperian soldiers looking so disheveled. “Alright, everyone,” he began. “Our first mission to save my daughter has failed due to traitorous activity. You men are my last hope to get my daughter back. Failure is not an option. I do not want anything out there the Conglomerate can hold over Hyperia. We are at war, gentlemen, and whether we win or lose will largely depend on the outcome of this mission. I have given my friend Officer Gavin the rank of Colonel for this mission. He is in charge. Now, go, save the Princess.”

  Reece saluted as he replied. “We will do everything in our power, Sire, we will not fail. Endeavor will be providing backup, and will be carrying twenty-four of Hyperia's best as well. They will be ready to leave Hyperia in just under four hours to join us. Lieutenant Torrensede is waiting for Doctor Baker to wake up to make sure that everything is ready medically for possible patients once we find your daughter and our people.”

  With that, the two pilots boarded and put the ship into its preflight routine. Cadet Xanu stood at the boarding ramp as the sixteen soldiers boarded the ship. As Reece saluted the King one last time, he and Xanu boarded last as the ramp was lifting. The ship was not as elaborate as the First Stryke, but it was still nicely equipped. The ship had good stealth capabilities, heavy shielding and advanced weaponry. It was a little bit bigger than First Stryke because it might need to carry more people than the previous mission called for.

  Xanu approached Reece as they were preparing for takeoff.

  “Colonel,” he began tentatively. He was only a cadet, yet he had been handpicked for one of the most important missions in the history of his planet. He needed to know why.

  “Yes, Xanu, what can I help you with?” He answered.

  “Why was I chosen for this mission? I am merely a cadet.”

  He paused before answering. “You were chosen at my request because as the leader of this mission, I need to know my men. Time would not allow me to do that to my satisfaction, so I decided to invite a gifted cadet that I do know and trust to be my right hand for this mission. We have been training with you for a few weeks now, and you are by far the most talented soldier in the academy. Knowing your capabilities will help me to be a better leader. I have read up on all of the other men’s abilities, and I will have to trust the reports. I have seen you in action and I knew we would be able to use you. It also gives me a face that Colonel Marcos and Lieutenant Jackson will recognize as friendly in case I am not in position to make contact with the first rescue team.”

  Xanu seemed pleased with the answer as he asked, “I thought the first team had been captured. Isn’t our objective to save the Princess?”

  “Correct, that is our main objective, and we will have to leave my friends if it means saving the Princess. I know Colonel Marcos wouldn’t want it any other way, but I wouldn’t count them out just yet. I’ve seen Colonel Marcos get out of some pretty tough situations before. I am working on the assumption that they have escaped custody and are either trying to make their way back to Hyperia or they are trying to complete their original mission. Either way, we’ll find out when we reach Golaran.”

  ______

  Captain Blade had just finished updating Garrinoras on Jaketh’s betrayal and ineptitude. He could not believe the Conglomerate Colonel had Marcos and two of his crew in custody for several hours and had not turned them over to him as was their agreement. Not only that, the fool had let them get away. Jaketh was complaining of his injuries and how he lost several of his pathetic so-called soldiers during the escape. Now, however, the reality was that not only did they not have Marcos; they no longer had the Princess either. Jaketh said his men had hit the shuttle on its way into light space. They even believed the shuttle had been forced to crash land somewhere on Pandara, but that was still no guarantee. Garrinoras was furious at the Conglomerate for not immediately turning Marcos over to his people. He told Blade that if the opportunity arose to capture Marcos and the Princess on his own to betray the Conglomerate and bring all the prisoners to him. Garrinoras believed he could trade the Princess and her friend for the remaining members of Endeavor’s crew. Blade would have to keep his eyes open for any opportunity to betray Jaketh. He knew that if he succeeded, he would have accomplished what even Garrinoras could not; the capture of the great Jesse Marcos.

  Colonel Jaketh was in a foul mood. He was injured, and still could not understand how Marcos had managed to escape. Even after Marcos took him and his men out, there were still armed guards outside of the room. If those men were not all dead already, Jaketh would have had them executed for their incompetence. Now he had to go meet with that Mannagore weasel that kept on blaming everything that had gone wrong on him. He couldn’t understand how Greyside liked the creature. If he had his way, he would have already killed Captain Blade. He would definitely kill Colonel Marcos the next time they met. He didn’t care at all about the Admiral’s deal with Garrinoras. Jaketh didn’t recognize the legitimacy of the pirate scum in the first place. No one takes down Colonel Jaketh and lives, he thought. Jesse Marcos would pay dearly for the mistake of leaving him alive.

  “What is the status of our forces, Captain Blade?” Jaketh asked with military rigidity as he approached.

  “All nine shipsss are ready to go. They await only our arrival before they depart for Pandara in search of our enemy,” he replied. He did little to hide the contempt in his voice. He despised failure, and Colonel Jaketh reeked of it. This was yet another example of why he hated humans.

  “Remember, pirate, the Princess is ours. You may have Marcos and his crew,” Jaketh spat.

  “It isss not I that has forgotten the detailsss of our arrangement, Colonel. I know what must be done,” he impatiently replied.

  Jaketh drew himself up to his full height as he squared his shoulders to the Mannagore. “What exactly is it you are suggesting, Captain Blade?” He inquired with menace in his voice.

  “I am suggesting nothing, Colonel. I am sim
ply stating the fact that if you had honored our agreement to begin with, I would have Marcosss right now and you would still have your Hyperian hostagesss.” He answered the Colonel with an air of defiance. If Jaketh thought he could intimidate him, he had another thing coming.

  “Sir,” A soldier called out as he ran towards Jaketh, not noticing the tension. “Intelligence has confirmed that the stolen shuttle has crash landed in the Pandaran jungle just over four hours ago. The fleet stands ready to pursue. What are your orders, Colonel?”

  “Load up and let’s go,” Jaketh yelled. He turned to look at Captain Blade, the disdain rolling off him in waves and added, “We are not finished here, Blade.”

  “I would be disappointed if we were, Colonel.” He called over his shoulder as he boarded the shuttle to return to his ship.

  Jaketh and Blade had to land in the city and hike into the jungle. They each brought thirty men; it seemed as if they were in a competition to see who would find Colonel Marcos first. Blade wanted to capture him and Jaketh wanted to kill him. The shuttle had crashed almost eighty kilometers into the jungle, and Jaketh figured Marcos to be at least twenty kilometers away from the wreckage by now, if they survived. The first thing they needed to do was find out if anyone survived the crash. Then they would begin a search. Jaketh decided he would hold off on the search of the jungle until his men reported to him from the shuttle. It was night time, and that's when the Pandaran tigers hunt. Anyone stupid enough to be in the jungle at night just might come across something they didn’t want to.

  Blade, on the other hand, elected to take his men straight into the jungle. He had hired five Pandaran Rangers to guide them through the jungle. He knew he would have at least a three hour head start on that coward Jaketh. Now, all he had to do was figure out how to get Marcos and the King’s daughter past him on the way out of the jungle. The six ships Garrinoras sent him had finally arrived, and now he had all the resources he would need. He knew it was only a matter of time before Admiral Greyside sent Jaketh some more ships, too. He couldn’t risk having his task force outnumbered by the pirates, eight ships to seven, especially given how he knew Blade felt about Jaketh.