"Ominous." Jason grunted and maneuvered himself out of the pilot's seat. He went over to one of the side terminals and began searching through media reports coming off Khepri and saw that the voice hadn't been lying; someone had blown up the central banking AI. More specifically, they'd blown up the connection matrix that tied the computer into the com grid and allowed it to monitor transactions in real-time.
There were some vague stories about how the computer was damaged but operational, and the investigation was ongoing. The battlesynths had surrendered themselves once the hold over them was relinquished. Until the investigation was concluded, the Kheprian government was holding them in partial stasis given that they'd opened fire on both the facility guards and the regular military during the incident. Jason composed a short message to Saditava Mok inquiring about what help they might be able to offer the battlesynths he hadn't taken off planet.
At that thought he suddenly remembered that his cargo hold was loaded up with thirty-five battlesynths, virtual clones of his lost friend … and the pain came rushing back.
He took a deep, cleansing breath and began composing another message, the message, and addressed it to all the other people that would need to learn of Lucky's death. Kellea Colleran, Mazer and Morakar Reddix, Russ Johnson, Marcus Webb, Carolyn Whitney and Abiyah, Jerran, Annada … the list went on and on and it didn't take into account the people who didn't have access to a slip-com node.
As he typed, the tears flowed freely and he didn't dare wipe them away.
33
The next month was a whirlwind of activity. They dropped the remaining members of Lot 700 off on Terranovus and, much to Jason's delight, the government there quickly erected a proper settlement for them as thanks for services rendered by Omega Force in the past. It was well-equipped and 707 declared it eminently suitable for their needs. When they tried to leave, the battlesynths to an individual came to Jason and offered their services as a replacement for Combat Unit 777. He politely told them that he would consider their requests, but that he wasn't sure what his own future held.
Jason accepted an offer to take a tour of the latest starships entering Earth's service and found that the technology he'd gifted his people was being put to good use. The ships were an outstanding balance of speed and power, yet didn't exude hostility the way a Saabror ship might. He certainly hadn't given humanity a leg up to be the local bully, and from what he saw the United Earth Navy—a name he wasn't a fan of—was more focused on exploration and good citizenship than it was intimidation. It could have easily gone the other way were the wrong people in charge when he'd left a laptop computer crammed full of the Ancient's design techniques.
After they left human space, Tauless surprised them by asking if he could accompany them back to S'Tora to take up permanent residence. He had no desire to return to Zeta Vandor-6, and he said the quiet boundary world sounded like a great place for him to set up and continue with his own independent research. Jason transferred enough credits to his personal account that he would be able to find a place to live and begin rebuilding his life immediately. It was the least he could do after ripping the pru away from his home and almost getting him killed on more than one occasion.
"I SHOULD HAVE SOLD Tauless this place," Jason said, looking around his house. "I don't want to live here anymore."
"Too bad beachfront property on this planet is worthless," Crusher quipped.
"Yeah, but he doesn't know that," Jason said and reached for another bottle from the ice.
"Good point."
It had been a few weeks since Omega Force had returned to S'Tora and they were mostly keeping to themselves. Crusher had taken to coming over to Jason's house every evening and watching the sunset over a bucket of local brews. Neither talked much, but they both looked forward to the time together. They sat in silence until the red orb of S'Tora's very ordinary G-Type main sequence star completely disappeared from view.
"So what's the plan?" Crusher asked. "Twingo says the ship is fueled and ready to go, Kage is back to his normal, annoying self—also, his implants are reintegrated—and Doc is already starting to get that fussiness he exhibits when we're planetside too long."
"I've been giving it all a lot of thought," Jason said slowly. "Lucky wouldn't want this to end because one of us fell, especially not if it was him. If we split up again, go back to a more mundane existence, it would negate everything he sacrificed himself for.
"I'm not ready to dive back into it just yet … but I will be. We'll carry on if for no other reason than to honor him."
"As fine a reason as any," Crusher approved and lifted his bottle. "To Omega Force."
"To Lucky," Jason countered and touched his bottle to the other.
EPILOGUE
"It's happening, Master. The ConFed is already losing its grip on member worlds … the revolution has begun."
"I see that, but this is no revolution … it's a metamorphosis. The others will pick at the bones of the ConFed—the Eshquarians, the Protectorate, the Cridal—but in their ambition and greed they will miss the true threat until it is too late."
"Of course, Master."
"Have you taken care of the little thing I asked of you?"
"Yes, Master … Sorlotta Arx has been located. Would you like him eliminated?"
"Such an incompetent thing, this Arx … I asked for so little and he delivered even less. No, I believe we will provide his location to Saditava Mok. I have spent far too much time worrying about something so insignificant. Let Mok have his fun and eliminate the problem for me."
"And Omega Force, Master?"
"That's a different matter entirely," a harsh, grating chuckle floated out of the darkness. "No … I will deal with Omega Force. Jason Burke deserves no less."
"As you command, Master."
A SMALL, sleek, four-engined ship descended smoothly to the tarmac and touched down on its landing struts with a firm bump before the drives spooled down and the side hatch opened up. Three beings climbed out, but none of them the one that was expected.
"This is a surprise, given the news I sent. I at least thought Captain Burke would come in person."
"Jason took the Phoenix and left S'Tora alone in the middle of the night over four weeks ago," Twingo said. "This is a loaner ship."
"He just up and left?" Saditava Mok asked in surprise.
"He left a note," Kage said. "That's about the best we can hope for under the circumstances. He'll come back … he always does."
"Very well, then," Mok said. "If you'll follow me, please." Twingo, Kage, and Tauless trailed after Mok and Similan towards a large, beautifully designed hangar. After receiving the message the three had left S'Tora and flown directly to Mok's new home on Knara Prime. Judging by the visible security, he had learned his lessons from past mistakes.
"I cannot tell you how sorry I was when I learned of what happened," Mok said. "I felt as if I owed an unpayable debt, so I used my connections to make sure my people were on the ground first."
"Is this it?" Twingo stepped up to a low bench with a cover draped over it.
"It is," Mok said and gently pulled the cover back. All three of his guests gasped.
"That's him," Kage choked out. "Or … what's left of him."
The badly burned and deformed head and partial upper torso of a battlesynth lay on the bench, unmoving. Tauless tossed his pack on the ground and began pulling out instruments that he'd insisted on bringing just in case. He began probing deep into the exposed chest cavity, confidently identifying components that the others could only guess at.
"How did this much of him survive an antimatter blast underground?" Twingo asked, wincing as Tauless seemed to be desecrating the body of his friend.
"From what I've been able to glean from my own people on the ground and the limited facts your team has let slip, when the device detonated the upper portion of his body separated and was propelled up and out of an exhaust vent," Mok said. "They found … this … four kilometers away from t
he building site."
"There's still power on the right circuits," Tauless mumbled.
"What are you saying?" Twingo asked.
"I'm not saying anything … yet," Tauless said. "Battlesynths are designed with multiple redundancies to make sure minimal power is still applied to the primary matrix to maintain its stability.
"Originally this was so it could be swapped into a new body when one became too damaged, but that was impractical due to the complications with the integration process. It was cheaper and easier to build a new one than to try and guide an individual through the process again."
"You're not answering the question."
"Lucky still has two of these redundant power systems intact, active, and attached," Tauless said after a deep breath. "That doesn't mean anything more than those systems are still active."
"But it could mean—"
"Yes," Tauless said, "there's a very slim chance he's still in there. To what extent it's impossible to say with the equipment I have with me."
"What equipment do you need?" Mok asked.
"The first step would be to get our hands on a stasis pod to fully stabilize the matrix for long-term storage… but those are specialized and controlled so I'm not sure how we'd do that," Tauless said.
"There's thirty-seven of them sitting in a hole on Khepri," Kage said. "Next issue."
"We don't have a spare battlesynth body lying around," Mok said.
"Would a regular synth body work?" Twingo asked. "They still make those."
"No it wouldn't, but it might not have to," Tauless said. He was being very cautious at this point. "Let's take one step at a time and see the condition the primary matrix is in, but there might be a way to get a brand new battlesynth body. But"—he waved off the other two as they began to twitch with excitement—"there's no guarantees about that. So if the primary matrix is intact and if it looks to have remained stable enough to attempt a reintegration … I will look further into this. But please know that this is not some simple task. If all the conditions are just right it will be up to Lucky how badly he wants to come back … the process will be extremely painful and difficult for him."
"Enough talk, let's go!" Kage said.
"Hold on!" Twingo shouted and raised his hands. "This project stays between all of us until there is something firm and positive to report. Jason must never know about this until such time as there's good news. Agreed?"
"I don't like keeping a secret like this, but agreed," Kage said.
"Agreed," Tauless said.
"You have my word, I'll say nothing and provide any support you require," Mok said.
"That's it then," Twingo said. "We attempt this. We'll keep trying until all possibilities are exhausted."
ALSO BY JOSHUA DALZELE
Thank you for reading Omega Force: Revolution.
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Omega Force: Legends Never Die.
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(Continue on for a word from the author…)
AFTERWORD
From the author:
I GUESS it makes sense to explain why, after nine books, I finally killed one of the main characters and then decided to make it one of the most popular among readers. I had known for the last three books that I was going to kill Lucky … as Jason said, he's Omega Force's conscience and the most innocent of the six. Allowing Kage or Crusher to die just wouldn't have the same impact for what I want to put the guys through in the coming books.
Obviously we know that Lucky isn't really completely dead, so it'll have to be wait and see for now as to what his final fate is. There's also a new threat that's made itself known and it will play heavily in not just the Omega Force series but the upcoming spin-off stories.
The OF universe is expanding and there are enough interesting side stories and supporting characters that I think it'll make more sense to explore those as their own stories rather than try to shoehorn them into OF books and fight to tell those stories around whatever the idiots have gotten into. I'll go into that a bit more later but as of right now I plan on book ten being the point where OF releases slow down. I don't plan on ending the series completely, but it won't be a two or three per year schedule. I will say that one of the new planned series will be in this same universe but more human-centric as Earth is now fully emerging into the community.
It's hard to believe this series is rolling up on book ten already. It was a more than few years ago, but in my mind it feels like barely yesterday Omega Rising came out. I want to thank all those who have continued to stick with this quirky adventure sci-fi series as long as you have. It's been the main reason this became a series after book one, and then continued on after book six.
CHEERS!
JOSH
Omega Force 09: Revolution Page 26