Deep Space Endeavor 3 Death Match

by Ron Francis

  ______

  As Garrinoras was breathing his last, Captain Yartan and Captain Xia’s fleets entered light space headed towards Zinnebulous. When they arrived, Captain Trae-bar was already there.

  “What are the plans, now? We have not prepared for the contingency that Marcos would actually win, or that our fleet would lose over Chawanas.” Xia cried out in frustration.

  “And we can no longer take the fight to Ginderbar, like we planned.” Channa replied, still hoping there was a way to seek vengeance for the death of his leader.

  “Maybe this is better; at least now the entire sector will not become embroiled in a conflict that no one except Garrinoras wanted.” Yartan added, knowing there was nothing they could do now but wait.

  “We are receiving a transmission,” Trae-bar informed. “It appears as if our ships from Xenul, Chawanas, Taglaharn, Banijard and the Salvarians have all packed up and gone home, the Jar-Kargen and Mannagore as well. It would appear as though it is down to Garrinoras’ remaining fleet and our Pandaran allies, eighty-four ships in all. Together with the sixty ships from Zinnebulous, we will not have enough to enact any of our plans or contingency plans anyway. It would appear that our defeat at Chawanas did not sit well with our allies.”

  “I knew the fleet would fall apart without Garrinoras leading it, and we can count on Zinnebulous to keep its fleet station here. Which means we really only have eighty ships, plus our four flagships.” Xia added, his frustration deepening.

  “How do we proceed, then; I’m not prepared to vote on anyone but myself as leader,” Trae-bar informed.

  “A contest,” Yartan began. “We each take twenty ships and after six months, the pirate with the most ships and resources will be the new leader of the organization.” They all agreed and worked on how the fleet would break down.

  “Channa will keep the Retribution, along with two destroyers, two cruisers, six heavy frigates and ten gunships. Trae-bar will keep the Closed Fist, along with two destroyers, three cruisers, six frigates and nine gunships. Xia will keep the Savage Destruction, along with one destroyer, five cruisers six frigates and eight gunships. I will keep the Dominator, along with one destroyer, four cruisers, two heavy frigates, four frigates and nine gunships. Any questions?” Yartan finished, quite pleased with himself. He was even more pleased when the other three pirates agreed to his terms.

  “We meet back here above Zinnebulous in six months, then, the pirate with the most ships and the most wealth will be our new leader.”

  “Very well, Captain Trae-bar.” Xia replied.

  “You may call me Admiral Trae-bar, my friend.”

  ______

  Jesse knew he couldn’t run for cover and as he was trying to stand, a grenade landed near him, sending him flying as it exploded. He landed in a fog, and he seemed to be watching everything unfold in slow motion. He could no longer crawl, and he knew he wasn’t going to make it out of the arena. He thought he saw Kimi and Sandstorm go down, but he wasn’t sure. Suddenly, his miracle arrived in the form of two large snow wolves. As Shadow and Commando each grabbed one of his battle suit sleeves and quickly dragged him across the arena floor, he began taking heavy fire. By the time he reached the tunnel, he was barely conscious. Wennagal put him over his shoulder and began to run through the tunnel. Josiah called his forces to withdraw, and they followed him out as they covered his exit.

  When they exited the arena, they noticed Endeavor only thirty meters away with shields extended to the front and side. They also noticed four plasma cannons blown up and useless. The Hyperian commandos were covering the back as Endeavor’s crew began to exit the stadium. A team of Qualoosh and Julanii warriors had the side covered. The Warrior-bots and Rivada’s soldiers covered the crew as they made their exit. Wennagal was first to board as he carried Jesse with Kimi and Reece flanking him. Before the next group made it to the landing bay, Jesse was already on a hover-gurney heading to med-bay. As the rest of the crew, and the extra soldiers from Qualoosh, Julan and Ginderbar boarded Endeavor, Cassie noticed a lot of injuries. Even Bessa, who had gone out to lay down cover for her retreating teammates had been hit with heavy fire and injured. This was a complete mess, and Cassie mused sadly that it was all because of her. She knew she didn’t deserve it, and somehow that made it all worse. When everyone was aboard, Endeavor laid down cover fire for the Hyperians to board the First Strike. As they took off, the First Strike flew directly beneath Endeavor with only two meters separating them. Endeavor extended her shields to encompass both ships, and they flew off into space. Three dozen Razzers picked up their trail, and chased them from behind. Kimi was thinning their numbers as they left the atmosphere. The adrenaline from the battle was still fueling her, but underneath it all, she was hurting. She was hurting both physically and emotionally. Sandstorm gave his life for me and Jesse is a mess. I have no idea if he is even going to live at this point. I had better get my head back in it until we escape. She returned her full attention to their present situation and continued to pick off Razzers. With each shot, she took out the frustration of the last two days.

  As Endeavor entered space around Chawanas, the crew was shocked to see the remnants of a huge battle. They also let out a collective cheer when they saw the Hyperian fleet. Apparently, Garrinoras’ fleet had taken a beating and jumped out of the system before his death. Endeavor and First Strike found safety as the Razzers peeled off and away from the enemy fleet. Admiral Dyson sent a transmission asking for an update on the escape, which Josiah detailed for her.

  “We lost three soldiers from Ginderbar, two from Qualoosh and six from Hyperia. We also lost Sandstorm and Lenk from Cassie’s task force. Bessa, Sibbie and five of Sergeant Rivada’s men were injured in the battle, as well as one from the Qualoosh Special Forces Unit, four from the Julanii assault squad and three from Hyperia. That’s a total of thirteen dead and fifteen injured, sixteen if you count Colonel Marcos. Doctor Baker is currently taking care of the injured and we were able to collect all of the dead to return to their planets. The three injured Hyperian soldiers are receiving treatment on the First Strike. It was a costly victory and a close call, Admiral.”

  “Indeed it was, Lieutenant Jackson; Admiral Togglasem and Admiral Sonnadall wish to congratulate you on the escape and send their condolences. The entire fleet is going to escort you back to Ginderbar for recovery, and further debriefing.”

  “Thank you, Admiral, Endeavor out.”

  ______

  When Josiah reached med-bay, it was chaotic. With thirteen patients and only one doctor, things were not moving terribly fast. Suzy had Sibbie in the recovery pod, and two of the Ginderbar delegation had already been through. Reece and Wennagal were bringing the sleeping soldiers to their temporary quarters as they exited the pod, because Suzy couldn’t fit all of the injured people in med-bay. The med-bots were treating the Qualoosh and Julanii injured because they could not go in the pod. Suzy noticed his arrival and sent him a weary glance. He made his way over to her and asked. “Has Jesse been through yet?”

  “No, he won’t be able to go through until tomorrow morning, he is seriously concussed.”

  “It must have been the grenade.”

  “Oh great, he got hit by a grenade, boy do I feel better knowing that.” Suzy looked at the work up the med-bot had handed her for the next recovery pod patient as she sighed.

  Josiah was not used to seeing Suzy this haggard or sarcastic, so he asked her, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  “No, I don’t think so, Jo. I just need to get these people all taken care of.”

  “It’s going to be alright, Suzy, after we spend a couple days recovering, we’ll be heading to the Federation or somewhere else, just focus on that.”

  “I don’t want to go to the Federation; I just want to go home, Jo.” She replied a little louder than she intended, drawing the attention of several people helping field dress wounds.

  “What can you tell m
e about his injuries?” He quietly asked as everyone else returned to their duties.

  “To put it plainly, he’s a mess. I don’t even have time to list off all his injuries,” she replied as she put another patient in the recovery pod.

  By the time the fleet had reached Ginderbar, all of the injured had been treated or put through the pod except Jesse. Suzy had even put three more injured Hyperian soldiers through when they landed. She had the med-bots making the rounds to all of the recovering soldiers as she stayed with Jesse. He was in bad shape. He had several abrasions, contusions and deep lacerations. He had torn cartilage in his left knee, a broken ankle, three broken ribs, one of which just missed puncturing his lung, a dislocated, sword pierced and mauled shoulder, two broken fingers and a fractured eye socket, not to mention the broken bone in his leg. He had also taken several good shots to the head. With all the injuries he had, she couldn’t believe he could even stand, let alone fight. She knew he had a very high pain threshold, but this was ridiculous. She was worried about him. He had been in the recovery pod too many times since arriving in the Kalephi Galaxy, and she knew it was bound to take a toll on his body. Since the recovery pod was still a fairly new technology, there had been no studies on the long term effects of too many uses. She hoped this was the last time she had to put Jesse in. She silently vowed to make sure he passed up on the next dangerous assignment, no matter what the crew or the rest of the galaxy wanted. As she finally put him in the recovery pod, she was saddened to see he would need ninety-three minutes. He would likely be sleeping for the better part of the next four days after that.

  She knew he needed to meet with Mayor Valinor and Chief of State Enosal when he woke up. After that, it was anyone’s guess. They had received an invitation to a celebration on Sollana; Jesse was to be thanked and Reece was to be honored. It seemed as if Sollana wanted to be known to have a citizen among the famous crew of Endeavor. She was sure Jesse would do it, if for no other reason than to give Reece the opportunity to be publically honored in front of his people.

  ______

  Four days after the death match, Jesse was finally awake and on his feet. He was still really tired, really sore, and he limped ever so slightly. You wouldn’t even notice if you didn’t know him. His shoulder really hurt, and he could never remember something really hurting after a turn through the pod. Suzy was very worried about him. She let him know he would be taking a good six weeks off from any strenuous activity. He reminded her they were about to go explore the Federation, and that they didn’t expect any danger there. Then she reminded him they hadn’t expected any danger on Hyperia either. He was planning to have dinner with Chief of State Enosal and the newly elected Governor Valinor. They were going to Sector Steaks. This was the restaurant that Jesse had loved so much his first night on Ginderbar. He still had a couple hours before he needed to leave, so he went to spend some time with the crew. As he entered the common room, he noticed Cassie and the crew of the Catamaran II holding their bags as if they were leaving.

  “You weren’t going to leave without saying goodbye, were you?” He asked, hoping the answer was no.

  “Not this time, Jess,” she replied softly. “We’re just loading up the ship so we can head out as soon as you leave for dinner. We have to fly back to Kaldor to pick up our new teammate, and then begin preparations for our next mission.”

  “Already, don’t you get any time off after everything you’ve been through?”

  “Jess, we’ve just had four days to relax on Ginderbar, the fun capital of the galaxy. Not that we had any fun, with Ogen and Lenk gone.”

  “I was sleeping that whole time, so for me it still feels like the death match just ended. I’m so sorry you lost two of your crew. I didn’t know Lenk, but Ogen was an outstanding man. I’m sorry he… didn’t make it. So do you know who you’re new teammate is going to be?”

  “One of Ogen’s buddies, Agent Desmond. He was actually one of our first choices a couple of months ago, but he wasn’t available at the time.”

  “Well, thankfully he is now. I really am sorry you lost people covering my exit.

  “Thanks, Jess, but I don’t blame you for that. I blame myself, for all of this. If I hadn’t have gotten captured, none of this would have ever happened. Thirteen good men and women died and sixteen more, including you, were injured because I got captured, Jess. I have to live with that. Lenk and Ogen are dead because of me. I have to live with that, and I’m gonna remember it every time I see Sibbie.”

  “Cassie, I’ve been tempted to feel the same thing, but it’s not your fault or my fault any of them died; it’s Garrinoras’ fault. He was responsible for all of it. And those men and women didn’t just die for you or me, Cassie. They all voluntarily put their lives on the line to try and stop the entire sector from descending into violent chaos, and it worked, for now at least. Every one of them died a hero’s death, and I know it doesn’t make any of their losses any less difficult, but it’s not your fault they died. Please remember that.”

  She noticed that he had started calling her Cassie again and somehow it comforted her. “I’ll try; thanks, Jess, and thanks…for everything. I am really sorry about how we… ended.”

  “Well, we’re friends now, and that’s all that matters.”

  “I’m going to go drop my things off in my ship, I’ll be right back.” She smiled and added, “I promise.”

  As Jesse watched her go, Sibbie was coming back into the common room and she just put her arms around him and leaned into his shoulder.

  He could tell she had taken the death of her uncle pretty hard as he asked, “Is everything alright, Sibbie?”

  “I don’t know how you can keep doing this, Colonel.” She had a sad edge to her voice, and he realized that it would take her a while to get past this.

  “Is this the first time you’ve been in battle?”

  “Yes, Colonel, please tell me it gets easier.”

  “It does, just trust your training and you’ll be fine.”

  “That’s just the thing, if I didn’t get caught out in no man’s land, Kimi wouldn’t have gotten stuck saving me, and if we didn’t make such a big push to get Kimi back, we would have been better prepared for the grenade and my uncle would still be here. He jumped on a grenade meant for me.” She looked as if she were going to begin sobbing again.

  “Sibbie, this is not your fault. Your uncle was a great man, and I knew him pretty well. He would give up his life for you every time, and it would never be your fault in his mind. It was your first time in battle. You can’t be expected to act like a twenty year veteran. Don’t diminish your uncle’s sacrifice by blaming yourself. He wouldn’t want that.”

  “It was also my first time getting injured, and my first time killing someone; does that ever get easier?”

  “Don’t worry about the injuries, Suzy tells me that Dr. Kinson is well on his way to building the recovery pod for Kaldor, but as far as the killing, it should always bother you at least a little, no matter how much they deserve it. Anyone that can kill without remorse ceases to be human. It’s important for you to remember, though, if it is in service to Kaldor or in self defense, you haven’t done anything wrong. You didn’t do anything wrong on Chawanas; once you realize that, it might take some of the edge off. I’ve been in battles for almost seventeen years now, and it’s still not easy for me to take a life. There have been times where I thought I wanted to, but I couldn’t do it in cold blood. Even Garrinoras; I was having trouble finishing him while he was begging for mercy, right up until he reached for that holdout blaster. So no, it should never be an easy thing to take a life. I hope that answer was a little bit helpful, Sibbie, it’s the best I’ve got.” He replied as she looked thoughtfully up at him.

  “Actually, it was; thanks, Colonel.” She embraced him again, and held it for a while.

  “He really loved Kimi, you know.”

  “I know.” he replied.

 
She finished the embrace and looked up and kissed Jesse’s cheek. “Thank you, Colonel.” She then went to sit with Teha who was ready to comfort her some more.

  He looked around and noticed that the Qualoosh soldiers and the soldiers from Ginderbar were already gone and the ship definitely felt much less crowded. He was hoping that Sergeant Rivada would have said goodbye, but he hadn’t seen her the whole day.

  “Hey, Reece, did Sergeant Rivada leave with her soldiers? I didn’t get to say goodbye.”

  “No, she’s out with Josiah; those two have been spending a lot of time together over the last week. As far as I know, she hasn’t even taken her stuff off the ship yet; I think she’s staying with us.”

  Jesse thought about that. I hope that Josiah won’t be so attached to his new friend that he can’t leave this galaxy in six months. Then again, maybe she will want to come back with us.

  Suzy walked in while he was still thinking and sat down next to him. “How are you feeling? If you’re too tired you should cancel dinner. How is your leg feeling? The break was pretty bad and then all of the extra pressure you put on it after it was broken didn’t help, you know.”