The Lost Fleet: Victorious
John G. Hemry
 Having returned his fleet to Alliance space, Jack "Black Jack" Geary is brought before the Alliance senate, and is nearly arrested as it is assumed that he is returning as a conquering hero, planning to usurp control of the Alliance as a dictator. Rather than, Capt. Geary briefs the Alliance Senate on the entire journey of the fleet, as well as the alien race that was strongly implied to exist, including the fact that the aliens have established system killing devices, in the form of every hypernet gate in existence, in Alliance and Syndic territory. A captured Syndic CEO, commanding the Syndic reserve flotilla, confirms the existence of the alien race, and that they've been responsible for the total destruction of every human they've encountered, and have begun to encroach aggressively into Syndic territory. Faced with two possible wars, the Senate elects to finally finish the Syndic war, using sword point diplomacy if necessary. Geary is promoted to Admiral of the Fleet, and charged to attack the Syndic homeworld and force a cease fire. After fighting back to the Syndic system where he began his journey, he nearly stumbles into an ambush. The Syndic Executive Council, planning to use the Syndic homeworld hypernet gate to destroy Geary's fleet, and with it, nearly sixty billion Syndic citizens, is instead deposed, and after destroying a large portion of the Syndic Home Fleet, a cease fire is drawn up. Immediately afterward, a Syndic system bordering the area of space occupied by the aliens claims an evacuation ultimatum has been issued by the aliens. The aliens are dubbed the Enigma race because despite a century of contact, not a single thing is known about the alien race: ships, resources, or the aliens themselves. Geary, realizing that the aliens taking the system would effectively condemn half of the system population to probable death, as well as allow the aliens control of an important strategic location, elects to intervene. Arriving in system, the alien armada arrives, apparently outnumbering Black Jack's fleet by 3 to 1. After realizing that the aliens had used extensive computer manipulation on the Alliance, Geary orders another computer scrub, finding that the Fleet actually outnumbers the aliens 2 to 1. Engaging them in combat after a total failure of diplomacy results in the near total destruction of the alien fleet, who scuttle every wounded ship before fleeing, leaving no possible evidence of the Enigma race. Returning to Alliance space, Admiral Geary abdicates his Admiralty, awards himself a month of leave, and races after Captain Desjani, who was returning home, unwilling to explore a relationship with Geary. After catching her, he quickly proposes to be married, citing that it was the only option to allow them to remain together. Desjani accepts, and the two plan their wedding aboard the civilian transport Desjani conveniently booked for two, and to honeymoon on her homeworld.