Deep Space Endeavor 3 Death Match

by Ron Francis

  As the fleet moved closer and their image grew in the viewport, Admiral Dyson could begin to make out the shapes of the Hyperian Destroyers, the powerful Melee Cruisers and the very effective Gunships of Hyperia. She breathed a sigh of relief as she looked into the monitor and replied. “Thank you, Admiral; your fleet is a most welcome addition. Your King is both generous and wise.” Admiral Dyson watched as the Hyperian fleet broke into its battle groups and systematically began to take control of the theatre. They were truly impressive to watch. She sent out a transmission to the rest of her fleet to take up support positions alongside the Hyperian battle groups. The Hyperian Destroyers were dishing out serious punishment, but the most impressive display came from the Melee Cruisers. She had never seen one in action and after this hoped to never be on the wrong side of one.

  The Hyperian Destroyers and Gunships, surrounded by hundreds of their Predator fighters were fighting their way to the alien’s big ships when they would suddenly make a path for the Melee Cruisers. The cruiser would then accelerate faster than the Admiral thought possible and literally ram into the side of the enemy vessel, destroying it instantly while suffering almost no damage to itself. It was quite possibly the most impressive thing she had ever seen in battle. Within minutes, that scene had played out on over thirty enemy ships and moments later, the planetary defenses were neutralized. While that was being taken care of, the remainder of the enemy fleet withdrew from battle and jumped to light space to lick their wounds. Predators, Spykes and Cutters flew down and destroyed the remaining Razzers as they tried to bug out.

  As Admiral Dyson heard the celebratory shouts from around the fleet, she quickly brought them back to order. “Well done, all of you. This could have gone quite badly if King Dominus had not been so generous as to send his best people to help us. I need a status report as soon as possible so we can begin to redeploy in case of another attack.” As the statistics began to come in, she noticed it wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be, still, a lot of good people had just given their lives to save the sector from war. She still had one hundred forty-eight Battle Hammers and thirty-seven Kaldorian ships. They had lost sixty-five vessels. The Hyperians had also lost seven of their Gunships, but were otherwise intact. Admiral Dyson contacted Admiral Sonnadall on a private channel to convey her thanks. “Thank you for showing up when you did. You may have just saved our sector from a long and costly conflict.”

  “You are most welcome, Admiral. Truth be told, we haven’t seen much action against the Conglomerate and I needed to see how prepared our people were, just in case the Conglomerate finds a way back into the war.”

  “Well, you can come destroy pirates any time if you guys need the practice.” They both laughed a little as she added. “Seriously, thank you, and please thank your King for us.”

  “I will, Admiral, and we are going to stick around until Colonel Marcos is safely off of the planet, so while we should definitely remain vigilant, I’m not expecting anymore alien trouble.”

  “Me either, and I’m quite thankful for that.” The transmission ended and Admiral Dyson went back to giving out new assignments, checking on the status of rescued pilots and seeing to damaged vessels. There was still a lot of work to be done, but at least they would still be here to support the Colonel when he was leaving the planet.

  ______

  Captain Yartan stalked across the bridge of the Dominator. There was no way that just happened. It has to be some kind of cruel joke. The whole plan was predicated on Ginderbar and Kaldor presenting no more than two hundred fifty ships and his fleet was winning. Once his people had control of the planetary defenses, and the final twenty Farannsian ships, it should have been an easy victory. Chawanas had really come through for them. Captain Xia was able to keep Ginderbar from sending any more ships and everything was going better than planned. He felt he was less than ten minutes from winning the battle when suddenly an additional one hundred ninety-two Hyperian ships had entered the system. He knew there was no way they could overcome that new development. They tore through his fleet faster than they could retreat. It would seem that once again, the best-laid plans of Garrinoras had been foiled by humans.

  Captain Trae-bar’s fleet had jumped back to Zinnebulous, while his fleet wound up at Xenul. As he thought about what to do, he began to think of the previous day’s fight. Colonel Marcos was dominating the death match even with Garrinoras cheating. He no longer felt certain his boss would win the match. He had just sent a transmission to Captain Trae-bar and Captain Xia; if Garrinoras was to lose, all of their fleets would jump to Zinnebulous. They would regroup, choose a new leader and decide on the best course of action. If he somehow pulled it off and won, they would all wait for his orders. One thing was certain; with Hyperia involved, they would not be conquering the sector any time soon. For now, all they could do was wait another day to see if their boss won or if there would be someone new at the helm of Garrinoras’ organization.

  ______

  It was time to go back out into the arena for the second day of the death match. Jesse, armed with his Hyperian battle sword and his fake limp, was ready to step out of the contestant tunnel. He once again marveled at the size and scope of the arena. The birds were still circling overhead as if in protest of the invasion of their territory. He turned to his Entourage, and made sure they would be ready for any Zinnebailan nonsense. He called Josiah aside and said, “If any of those beast show up, send Shadow and Commando, don’t wait for my signal. If it’s more than they can take, send the cats, too. I can’t fight another one of those things and still beat Garrinoras. Not to mention I have no desire to smell them up close again.”

  “Will do buddy, and good luck,” Josiah chuckled.

  He obviously didn’t have the pleasure of smelling those things or he wouldn’t have found the comment amusing. Jesse thought as he glanced back at Kimi to see the worried look in her usually confident eyes. I hope that means what I think it means. He gave a wave and a wink and continued out of the tunnel.

  The rest of the group echoed Josiah’s sentiments for good luck as he moved to enter the arena and Kimi shot him a more reassuring glace. The guards entrusted with guiding him into the arena checked him to make sure he didn’t have anything more with him than his sword and canteen. He had filled his canteen with an energy drink because he was still a little sluggish from his time in the pod. He wasn’t as sluggish as he would have been if he did not get up for those three hours. Getting up and going back to sleep had really helped. The guards walked him to the vehicle that would once again take him out to the announcer that Jesse was beginning to dislike almost as much as Garrinoras. Just as yesterday, both contestants approached the announcer from opposite directions. He was welcoming the crowd back for the final day of the abbreviated death match. The pro-human crowd was mercilessly booing the biased announcer and that caused Jesse to smile. When both contestants gingerly stepped down from their vehicles, the announcer handed the amplification device to Garrinoras.

  Garrinoras made a sweeping gesture that took in almost the whole crowd as he began with a smile. “Good people of the Kalephi Galaxy. So far, my opponent has fought better than I thought he would; better than I ever dreamed possible, for a human. But even though he fought as well as he possibly could, he could not stop me. Today will be another exercise in futility for my pitiful human adversary, and he will be fighting with a heavy heart. News has come to me that Captain Cassyanna Reed, the very woman he was fighting for, has died last night aboard his ship.” Garrinoras smiled a wicked smile at Jesse as he continued. “I will take that heavy heart and destroy it as I break my opponent down both mentally and physically, before I am finally granted leave to kill him this afternoon and end his misery.”

  Garrinoras handed the device back to the announcer to another thunderous ovation from the pirate crowd. Meanwhile, Jesse’s supporters booed mercilessly and threw things, knowing the pirate had broken his word, yet again. Jesse panned the
pirate crowd almost all wearing red and black in honor of their hero. He looked at Garrinoras, outfitted in thick armor, with an impossibly large sword strapped to his left leg. Then, as the announcer handed the device to Jesse, those cheers turned to boos. This crowd hated him, and he decided that he could draw energy from their raw, irrational hatred. The announcer motioned for quiet and then Jesse turned to his supporters as he began to speak.

  “Good people the Kalephi Galaxy. I don’t know where Garrinoras has gotten his information from, but as usual, he’s wrong. If the vid cams focused on my ship will take a look, you will notice Captain Reed come out and wave as she is very much alive.” The crowd watched as Cassie waved enthusiastically, and Jesse savored the look of shock on Garrinoras’ face as he continued. The pro-human crowd went wild at the sight of the woman thought killed by the pirate. “You see, the inept pirate once again broke his word. He never intended to let Captain Reed live. He implanted not one, but two small explosive devices in her body while she was a captive and they were timed to go off last night. But as usual, he underestimated my crew. My ship’s doctor was able to find and safely remove both devices. Captain Reed will be fine. I’m looking forward to today’s battles, and I’m hoping the good people officiating this match will not allow my opponent to cheat as he did all day yesterday. It’s not my fault I found the treasure first. I’m just better than he is.” He smiled at Garrinoras as he said that last line knowing it would draw a loud protest from the crowd. He was rewarded with another shower of boos and insults from the pirate crowd, while his crowd enjoyed his jab at both the officials and his enemy. As he finished, he went to hand the amplification device back to the announcer, but purposely dropped it just short of the announcer’s hand. A loud metallic ring sang out through the arena, causing another shower of boos from the pirate crowd. It was a childish thing to do, but he didn’t care. He didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to slightly embarrass the biased announcer. He then turned gingerly and boarded his hover vehicle, smiling at the announcer’s annoyance at having to bend over and pick up the device. The cart sped off to the contestant tunnel to begin the second and final day of the death match. He was certain the announcer had muttered some choice words for the insolent human under his breath and that thought caused him to smile even more. He didn’t know how, but he knew that no matter what his enemy tried today, he would be walking off of this field victorious. He would be going back to his ship with his crew and he would be going home to the Milky Way to see his family and friends again. There was no doubt. The pro-human crowd applauded his confidence while his enemy’s supporters found his arrogance insulting. He reached the tunnel, gave his entourage a reassuring smile and waited for the horn to sound.

  ______

  The horn sounded for the second day of battle to begin and to everyone’s surprise, Jesse just gently sat down and leaned against the wall of the arena. He put his Hyperion sword in his lap and just waited. The pirate crowd booed as they were looking forward to action. They began chanting “coward” and “human” in a musical tone. He just looked up at them and smiled. Then, he began moving his finger as if directing an orchestra, which raised the crowd’s ire even higher. The pro-human crowd began chanting Garrinoras and cheater in the same musical tone, laughing, as Jesse directed that orchestra as well. After nearly an hour, he stood up and began slowly limping towards the trees. It turned out that he actually needed the extra rest and now felt much stronger. He knew his enemy would be somewhere in the small jungle built into the arena. He had planned to sit down for another hour, but he hadn’t factored in the boredom he would face. He was ready for some action himself. He shook loose the stiffness in his muscles, and prepared to fight. He had no doubt that his position was being relayed to Garrinoras somehow, but he didn’t care. He knew he would hear, smell, or feel him coming. He spent another forty-five minutes wandering around the jungle, which kept his mind clear and focused while stretching his aching muscles. He finally came to the clearing in the middle of the arena where the announcer had stood, and he waited. He looked up at the hate-filled faces of the pirate crowd. He looked down at the gritty, golden dirt. He checked for the brightly colored birds, and was happy to see them still flying in circles over the stadium, although he didn’t know why that sight pleased him. He wondered what they were doing, but he decided to wonder later because he couldn’t afford to be distracted. He stood almost still in the middle of the clearing for another twenty minutes. He was focused on any disturbance that might be coming from the trees, any indication of where his enemy might be. He was using all of his training and experience to prepare himself for the attack he knew was coming. Apparently, Garrinoras had had the same idea as him, to not engage for most of the session, conserving his strength.

  Suddenly, a cool breeze arose. The breeze gained in intensity and all of the trees began to sway. He knew this was a ploy by the Farannsians to mask Garrinoras’ movements. The breeze kept getting stronger and the trees were now in constant sway when he heard a low growl over the noise of the wind. He turned in time to see another one of the beasts that had attacked him yesterday charging him. As the beast leapt, Jesse drew his sword and severed the beast’s head in mid air. As the two pieces of the body hit the ground in front of him, he took three quick steps forward and rolled just in time to avoid the next beast leaping for his throat. He didn’t have to bother fighting that one as Commando and Shadow had arrived by his side. He found it odd that the announcer hadn’t cried foul. He commed Josiah to let him know he could release the big cats if there were too many beasts for the wolves to handle. Before he was finished talking to Josiah, the wolves had already dispatched the beasts, which he found out were called Drapad Hunters. His wolves disappeared into the trees to go hunt the hunters as he kept alert for any sign of his foe.

  Jesse was really tired. The ordeal was beginning to take its toll. He was contemplating sitting down when he heard the quiet but unmistakable metallic ring of a sword being slowly drawn from its sheath. The restlessness of the crowd began to turn into anticipation and he knew his enemy had finally arrived. He stood in a defensive position and continued to slowly look around as Josiah commed him his enemy’s position. He now knew exactly where his enemy was and how far away he was. He continued his slow spin, not wanting to tip Garrinoras off to the fact that he knew where the attack would be coming from. Suddenly, Garrinoras charged him with a speed Jesse didn’t think possible after all of the injuries he had sustained. He could barely get his sword up in time. He mentally went through the injuries he had given Garrinoras as he parried the next attack and focused on defense. He had injured Garrinoras’ left foot, left knee and punctured his left thigh. He had broken Garrinoras’ right arm at the elbow, broke his nose and given him several head injuries. But he was still coming at Jesse as if he had suffered no injuries to his limbs, although his attacks were labored, probably from the head wounds and exhaustion. Garrinoras sword hand was unprotected, so he had found his first priority target. Second priority was the elbow he had already injured. Third priority was disabling the machinery that was allowing him to walk. Any shots to the head he could score would be a bonus. He only had to injure him once more to get to the afternoon session. Once he was allowed to bring all his weapons, he knew that between his blaster, his side cannon and Helga, he couldn’t lose.

  Garrinoras couldn’t believe he was losing this death match. The fact that he was losing to a human made it even worse. All of the preparations he had made and all of the rules he had broken had come to naught. Captain Reed was still alive, Colonel Marcos had called him a cheater and taunted him in front of the entire galaxy, and the Hyperians had shown up, ruining his plans to take out the human fleet. This was not at all going to plan. Now, he had to fight with a blade in his left hand because even though his armor allowed him to move his right arm, it was still too painful. At this point, he would be recovering for weeks, even if he did win. Colonel Marcos just couldn’t die easily. He had to be a problem all th
e way to the end. He had no doubt Marcos would die, because he planned to release all of his drapad hunters at Marcos at the same time in the afternoon session. Not even his vaunted snow wolves would be able to save him from such an onslaught. He was really hoping to severely injure Marcos, so he could have the pleasure of killing him with his bare hands in front of the entire galaxy. Right now, he just needed to concentrate through the pain. He had been able to take the most powerful painkillers available and sleep off the after effects for nearly two extra hours while Marcos searched the arena in vain for him. He still felt a considerable amount of pain, but it was manageable. How was Marcos able to keep himself together after all the damage he had taken? What kind of medicine did Endeavor contain that allowed him to continue? These were questions that ultimately didn’t matter, because neither Colonel Marcos nor Endeavor would ever be leaving Chawanas.