Deep Space Endeavor 3 Death Match (48 page)

“Nina Romanov spoke passionately about wanting us to know the truth, well here it is. I am a citizen of the Enclave. I was sent here as part of a long-term study team. We were to study your society to see if the Enclave would want to align ourselves with you. We like everything we see, except the Marcos family. We believe they wield way too much power for the good of the Coalition…”

“Let’s just cut to the chase, shall we.” Lucien impatiently cut in. “Aliens are at your doorstep and we have the power to help you. We will not, however, unless the Marcos and Romanov families are brought to us along with any of their co-conspirators. As of this moment, the government is seizing all of their facilities and assets for the good of the Coalition, which means, they are now illegally in possession of twenty-four of our vessels. Polisia may already be lost, don’t let the rest of the Coalition be. I will expect a decision from each of the twenty-nine planets of the Coalition by tomorrow morning. Either they go or we do.” Lucien smiled because he knew these people would turn on his enemies to save themselves. Now he just had to wait.

Nina was back on the news feed instantly, “We wield too much power? Maybe it’s more like we won’t be intimidated, or serve a warmongering savage. Do you see, citizens, this Enclave leader now speaks for our government. Lucien said the government was seizing our facilities, he said we were now illegally in possession of his ships. I ask you, has Lucien paid for any of those vessels? What makes them his ships? Is it because he believes this Enclave to be more powerful than we are? So now, apparently the philosophy of the Coalition is might makes right. And why is President Rhodes letting this dog speak for him? Does Lucien now own our government as well? I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty that the moment one of the enemy combatants of the Enclave enter one of our facilities is the moment Sea Side Enterprises declares war on the Enclave. I don’t care if they are pretending to be our allies.” Nina finished her rebuttal and Jason cut the feed.

Ariel was in shock over what she had just heard when Manny addressed the fleet. “OK people, I’m not good at speeches. You all just heard Little Lucien and his lap dog, now hear this. If that spineless coward Rhodes allows this to stand, we are now outlaws.  Anyone that decides to stand with us, even in defense of this world, will likely be deemed an outlaw as well. Anyone that wants to leave, go now, because the aliens are coming and we’re gonna protect Polisia at all costs. Our government has abandoned us to the same fate as Stamdall, Geshern and Triton, and they will eventually come for us all if we stand in defense of Polisia. If that’s breaking the law of the Enclave, call me a criminal.”

Ariel felt some vindication as Captain after Captain replied. The resounding sentiment was; “I’m staying for Polisia, let the Enclave come.”

Nina was resigned. She knew she would forever hate herself for what she was about to do, but she had to do it. There was no way the Enclave would have any of their facilities. She had made sure all of her employees were barred from the premises of all of their facilities. Anyone still there was likely to be Enclave and she didn’t care. She watched on the vid feeds from every one of their facilities as Enclave soldiers stormed them and broke down the doors. She defiantly thought,
you want to take it all Rhodes, take this
. Then she pressed the button and Sea Side Enterprises was no more. All of the ship building facilities, offices and other tech facilities were gone in an instant, along with all of the Enclave soldiers that had raided them. To anyone watching, it looked as if the Enclave raid had triggered a self-destruct. She relished the thought of Rhodes and Lucien’s reactions when they found out there were no more SSE facilities anywhere. She may have struck a severe blow to their chances of winning this war, but she no longer cared. Her only goal now was protecting her family and her people. She wept as she realized she had not only destroyed hers and Serge’s legacy, but Jesse’s as well. He had done nothing to deserve the storm he would be flying back into, hopefully within the next couple days.

Nina was stirred out of her sorrow by the words “Alien fleet approaching.” broadcast throughout the fleet.

______

Jesse was so excited. He had loved the Kalephi Galaxy and wanted to eventually come back and live here, but he couldn’t wait to get home. The final two weeks had gone by without incident. He had spent two amazing days with Kimi.
I loved that beach resort we relaxed at. All of the people we ran into there were warm and kind. Not to mention that any vacation where I get to see Kimi wearing beach attire is a great idea. I loved how much fun she was having. I don’t usually get to see her having fun with the exception of the almost imperceptible smile she has while destroying enemy fighters.  We both really enjoyed the seafood, and we learned a Kaldorian beach sport, which is almost like polo except on machines that look and acted a lot like a jet ski. Our new Kaldorian friends were patient and gracious as we learned their sport and they enjoyed themselves watching us try
. He could still smell the fresh sea air and see the smile on Kimi’s face as he thought about the brief vacation.
I was also able to spend a fun-filled afternoon with Kiah and I have made incredible strides in the galaxy drive. I really am literally weeks away from being able to build it
. As he thought about the last two weeks, a particular thought crossed his mind.
It’s ironic that we won’t need any of those extra light drives we worked so hard to get and integrate.
Going through the Conduit was a much better option, and for once, it looked like plan A would work out. He badly wanted to see how everyone was doing, and share the adventures with his inner circle. He couldn’t wait to tell Nina and Ariel about Kimi. He was as happy as he had ever been.

“Alright everyone, this is the moment we’ve been waiting for and it’s come a day early. Admiral Sonnadall, is the fleet ready?”

“Yes it is, Colonel. We’re ready to go on your command.”

“I have no idea what’s waiting for us, and I can’t promise you’ll get home, so if anyone wants to back out, this is your last chance.” When no one took him up on his offer, he smiled. “Alright, Lieutenant Torrensede, take us in.”

Collin smiled and replied, “Aye aye, Sir.” Almost immediately, they were in the conduit. There was no explosion this time, so the data was going to be far more accurate. SAMMI had been recording every energy signature, gravitational reading and other assorted sensor information. When they returned home, he would get Serge, Jason and Irina in on this right away and soon enough, they would be able to come back. They exited the conduit and Jesse checked in with the fleet. Before they could respond, SAMMI alerted them to a large-scale conflict getting ready to take place over Polisia. They were still thirty minutes away, and apparently, the invading fleet was still getting into position, but Jesse knew they hadn’t spotted him yet. In fact, their ships were positioned in a way that told him they knew no reinforcements would be arriving. That was their first mistake. All of the ships had checked in and Admiral Sonnadall gave him the good news that everyone had made it through. Jesse had SAMMI patch him through to the fleet.

“It seems we have arrived in one piece. Unfortunately, we have also arrived to battle. We are just about a half hour out at top sublight speed. I will fill you in as soon as I know what the situation is.” He sent out a transmission and was happy to see Ariel. She seemed a little haggard and it seemed she had grown up a bit, which made him a little sad. Her eyes lit up when she saw him. “Jesse,” she yelled. “You’re a day early!” She sighed heavily and he could tell she hoped he had a miracle.

“Hey, beautiful. Looks like I’m just in time. How can I help?”

“Just get here as soon as you can. So much has happened since you guys left and almost none of it good.” She looked so sad as she said that, he hated seeing her like that. He just wanted to hug her.

“Well, Cousin, I have some good news. I have fifty ships with me and we’re twenty minutes out. Where do you need us?”

The light returned to her eyes and she said, “We have five alien races banded together calling themselves the Human Suppression Syndicate. They’ve attacked Polisia with three hundred ships and we have about a hundred ten defending, plus Polisia’s planetary defenses. Jess, they’ve already completely annihilated Triton, Stamdall and Geshern. Over sixteen million are dead. Earth, and her new ally, long story, refuse to send help, so it’s just us.”

“Sounds tough, we’ll get the details later, for now, tell Serge to put more of his guns in play. I know that he has them. I’ll bring my fleet up behind them at full speed and we can catch them in a cross fire. I’ll see you when they’re gone.” She sighed with the same world-weary look in her eye and her transmission winked out. He commed the Admiral again and asked, “Admiral, did you hear that.”

“Yes I did, Colonel. We’re right behind you, where do you want us?”

“I want the
Hyperian Destroyers
, Kaldor’s
Destroyer
and your
Melee Cruisers
to form up the center. Fill in the
Frigates
and
Gunships
around them as you see fit. I want six
Battle Hammers
on each flank. We’re gonna bottle em up and let Serge shoot em down like fish in a barrel. I’m looking forward to seeing your
Melee Cruisers
ram some bad guys.”

“You won’t be disappointed.” The Admiral heartily replied. He had heard about Colonel Jesse Marcos’ brilliance during battle, now he was going to be witnessing it firsthand.

They had only just arrived and were already testing the Kalephi ships against an unknown alien armada. As they approached Polisia, they saw the chaos, and flew towards battle.