Total Betrayal (Deep Space Endeavor) (35 page)

             
The invading fleet was down to under eight hundred ships by the time it took out its next defending military vessel.  By that time, it was too late for them. The SSE ships and Hyperian Vessels were just too powerful. Both had been designed to take on far greater numbers and both were proving their worth. Fighters and assault shuttles continued to swarm around enemy vessels while the Melee Cruisers worked their way into position. With fourteen fleet groups in the battle, that meant there were over seventy of the flat, powerful vessels. Bliney wondered what they were doing as they made their way right into the heart of his fleet and accelerated too quickly, ramming his vessels. Ships exploded at the heart of his fleet as miraculously, the cruisers emerged unscathed on the other side. Bliney was stunned and by the third time the cruisers took out a large chunk of ships, the Syndicate had decided they had seen enough.

             
"All syndicate vessels, withdraw from battle," Dobar called out on the Syndicate transmission. They had lost close to eight hundred vessels and now it would be years, perhaps even decades before they could attempt to take control of the Enclave or the Coalition. Thansar had been right. This was a bad idea; Jesse Marcos seemingly had no end to the surprises he could produce in battle. He could have brought in the remaining six hundred ships and maybe even won the battle, but then the remaining fleet on Enclave Prime could rip through the Syndicate worlds at will because Thansar would have been right again. Using that many ships would leave them unprotected.  Fortunately for Dobar, the Barrafoss lived extremely long lives and had equally long memories. He would not forget what happened here today. "You have not seen the last of us, Bliney," he threatened. "We will destroy the Enclave and the Coalition, no matter how long we must wait to do it." With that, one hundred twenty-seven alien vessels jumped to light space. Jesse wanted to let out a victory cry except there were still almost four hundred ships attacking his home.

             
"It's time to end this, people," Jesse said to his council. "Focus on the remaining Enclave ships while our shuttles and fighters keep the Coalition ships at bay." Each fleet group did as instructed, focusing on the Enclave and only destroying a Coalition ship if it ventured too close. Eventually the Coalition Captains figured out what was going on and ceased fire. Polisia's fleet quickly overwhelmed what was left of the Enclave fleet when an unexpected transmission was sent.

             
"Serge, pinpoint what ship that transmission is coming from."

             
"Why, Jesse."

             
"Because it's from Bliney and he doesn't get to surrender. He gets to die."

             
"The Enclave would like to offer our surrender," Bliney began with a look of confusion that said he had no idea how Jesse had defeated him. He only hoped to be brought close enough to Marcos to kill him.

             
"We reject your offer of surrender, Bliney; you had your chance before the battle started."

             
“No one surrenders before battle," Bliney sneered. “According to Coalition law, you must accept our surrender."

             
"You kicked Polisia out of the Coalition, and Polisia has no such law. Come to think of it, you're not even part of the Coalition, you're Enclave. You had no problem trampling Coalition law when you tortured me and destroyed my leg while under the Banner of Peace, why should I believe you care about Coalition law now?”

             
"Because you're supposed to be one of the good guys," Bliney was saying when coordinated fire from several vessels and Plasma cannons destroyed his ship.

             
"Not today," Jesse whispered to himself. With Bliney gone, he opened up a channel to the remaining Coalition and Enclave vessels. "I'm willing to accept your surrender now. The Enclave and Coalition vessels immediately powered down their weapons and Admiral Sonnadall directed them to land on Polisia's moon. Jesse asked Admiral Sonnadall, General Kelly, General Solomon and Admiral Armistead to take care of the details of the surrender while he helped Nina oversee the cleanup.

             
In all, there were eighty-seven Enclave vessels left and nearly two hundred Coalition vessels. His fleet had not gone without loss either. All of the one hundred eighty modified freighters and Cargo ships his fleet was using for cover were destroyed. Fortunately, they were all unmanned. Of the hundred eight Earth-built ships in his fleet, only twenty-seven remained. Of the five Kaldorian vessels, only their destroyer remained. His fleet had also lost five of their eleven
Battle Hammers
. Of the twenty-seven Special Forces cruisers, twenty-one were lost. Of the original thirty-two Hyperian vessels, seventeen remained and of the additional twelve fleet groups, seventy-three vessels had been lost. He had also lost twenty-five SSE ships, meaning only twenty-three ships of his legacy remained. In all, Polisia's fleet had lost four hundred eleven ships, counting the freighters. They had also lost hundreds of fighters and shuttles, and fifty-seven Plasma cannons had also been destroyed. Jason and Irina were already installing the components needed to get the planetary shields back up, and Serge was planning to mount an additional seven Plasma cannons to bring the number back up to an even fifty.

             
When all of the necessary tasks were assigned and underway, Jesse sat back and took a deep breath. Polisia was safe and a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Bliney was also dead, and now he could leave this galaxy for good. Bliney's death had also lifted a weight from his shoulders. He felt like he had vindicated all of his friends and family. He had sought vengeance so they wouldn't have to. While his death was deserved, it put a different weight on his shoulders, created a different burden for him to carry. He had traded one burden for another, and he wondered where that left him.

Chapter nine

______

              Nina entered the military command center and saw Jesse leaning back in his chair, taking a well-deserved break. He had a look of resignation on his face that gave her pause as she approached him. "You did it, Jess, you saved Polisia. There's celebration in the streets, there's celebration among the fleet. We will take time to mourn the lost, but no one thought we would survive, so a wave of relief is sweeping through the people who didn't think they had a tomorrow."

             
Jesse looked at her thoughtfully and asked, "Why do people always say I did it? As if I was the captain of every one of our ships. We did it, Nina, all of us. There were millions of heroes, all with their life on the line. It wasn't me, it was us. We did it."

             
"You're right, Jess, but we couldn't have done it without your strategies and plans and backup plans, without your galaxy drive bringing us reinforcements that only you remembered might be there. We are all heroes, but it was you more than anyone that saved us."

             
"Well, I certainly don't feel like a hero, Nina." He looked away and she could tell the weight of his vengeance was hanging heavy on him.

             
"I know you're hurting, I am, too. Talk to me about it, Jess, what was your line of thinking?"

             
"I was thinking that Bliney was really smart, so I took out his son's ship to try and get him off his game. I had always planned to, Nina. We needed him to not be at his best, but I also really enjoyed the revenge, I enjoyed the raw pain in his voice after everything he has done to us: Mom, Dad, Uncle Ted and Aunt Sheila, what he had done to Rebecca, Tara, Liam, Tally, Jordan, Rodriguez, President Sandoval, Ladyhawk, and how many more? How many of our friends and family did he kill to get to me? How many attempts on all of you missed? I just couldn't let that stand, I wanted to hurt and humiliate him, so I targeted his son. His son was attacking us, so he knew what he was getting into, but I enjoyed it, and I don't want to be that guy. I don't want to be vindictive. Bliney was always going to die, he was too dangerous to let live. He would have always had us looking over our shoulder. He had too many resources that would not have let him stand trial or sit in prison. He had to pay for his crimes, and I wasn't going to chance him getting away. I wasn't going to accept his surrender. I had to make sure he was dead, or I never would have been able to look any of you in the eye again. I know that was the right thing, but I didn't have to be so vindictive when it came to his son, and now I might have trouble looking myself in the eye. He probably would have died in battle, but what I did was premeditated. I never wanted to go down that road."

             
Nina looked at her brother; nearly every tragedy in his life had been perpetrated by a man he considered a friend, a man he looked up to. It was hard hearing her parents were killed by Bliney, but that was nothing compared to what he had done to her brother, and she hated the man for that. She was as happy as anyone that Bliney was dead, but now she needed to console her brother. "Bliney's gone now, Jess. We're leaving the galaxy, and you'll never have to take that road again. There will never be a reason to."

             
"I hope you're right, Nina," he smiled weakly as he looked at the ground.

             
"Of course I am. Now, I'm gonna give you some of your own advice. Shake it off and let's go enjoy our victory."

             
"I wish it were that simple. I just need to make sure you'll never let me take that path again."

             
"As long as you never let me take that path again either, little brother."

             
In his own wallowing, he had almost forgotten that Nina had made the painful decision to have the Enclave members on Earth killed to save her family while he was in another galaxy. He realized that decision was likely to haunt her as much as his actions today would haunt him. He stood up and embraced his sister as he replied. "We'll walk a better road together, then, and we'll make all of our friends keep us on it."

______

              General Kelly brought Jesse the final numbers and the good news. They had been able to salvage thirty-three ships thought destroyed in battle. As the haulers were clearing the debris field, several damaged ships were recovered. Together with the twenty-seven remaining Earth-built ships in Polisia's fleet, and the eighty-seven Enclave Vessels they would be keeping, this would give Polisia a fleet of one hundred forty-seven ships, not to mention a fully functioning shipyard ready to spit out forty more in another month or so. The one hundred ninety-seven Coalition ships were stripped of their Enclave captains and command crews and were allowed to return to Coalition space. Polisia would be negotiating to re-enter the Coalition after Jesse and his people left. The information that really brought a smile to his face was that the captured Enclave soldiers would be transported in unarmed cargo vessels to the nearest Enclave planet and left there. The nearest Enclave world was a backwater, and Lucien was not too popular there. They would be left with one transmitter to try and reach Enclave Prime to bring them back home, but they would no longer be a Polisian or Coalition problem.

             
After General Kelly's report, Jesse took updates from Manny, the Admirals Sonnadall, Armistead and Vantilas as well as General Solomon. He was saddened to learn that Admiral Collingsworth was killed when the
Churchill
had been destroyed during the battle. He didn't know the man well, but he had stood with Polisia and would forever be remembered as a hero. Once the entire council had briefed him, he found Nina, Josiah and Ariel. He brought them to his meeting with the ruling council. He was not looking forward to seeing Suzy, Lana or Kimi after how he had chosen to take Bliney off his game. He knew worried lectures would ensue, especially from Suzy. In the meantime, he wanted to turn control of the planet back over to the ruling council.

             
"Admiral Marcos," Councilor Dana started with a big smile. “Polisia lives, and from the numbers I'm receiving from the military council, it looks as though your prediction of Polisia being one of the Coalition’s leading planets will come to pass. We owe you a debt. What brings you here so soon after battle?"

             
"Logistics," he smiled as he greeted each of the councilors. “Nina and Ariel will stay and give you the specific breakdowns, but first, I wanted to officially turn control of the planet back over to you." He paused as Councilor Dana smiled and the rest of them looked relieved. “As far as fleet resources go, the remaining Special Forces cruisers, as well as the remaining SSE ships will be leaving with all of the Kalephi ships to return to their galaxy. By General Kelly's count, Polisia will have one hundred forty-seven ships with another forty almost complete at Polisia's shipyard. Polisia will also have the only facility in the Coalition capable of producing
Vipers
and
Eagles
."

             
"That is wonderful news, Admiral, thank you." Dana replied.

             
Jesse nodded and continued his briefing. "I will be taking eighteen of the remaining SSE cargo ships as well as two space liners I have purchased. Six of the cargo ships will contain our construction equipment, while we are leaving the remaining two thirds of our equipment here to continue helping Polisia settle the refugees.”