Omega Force: Savage Homecoming

by Joshua Dalzelle

  The better part of an hour had passed before Jason began to feel like the entire exercise had been nothing but a monumental waste of time. He then heard a strange, trilling voice that his implant couldn’t translate, which in itself was odd. He snapped his head around and looked for the source, only to see a lithe, gray-skinned alien with a crested skull walk by, chattering angrily at those it passed and pointing all around. The agitated being also had rows of colorful feathers lining either side of the crest. It took him a moment to process, but Jason was certain he was staring at an A’arcooni.

  He elbowed Crusher hard in the side to get his attention, who then turned in irritation and promptly smacked Jason hard enough to send him to the ground for the second time that day. The human bounced up, nonplussed, and pointed emphatically at the alien who was still jabbering away, looking for all the world like a street preacher condemning all those it passed. The fact that nobody seemed to be able to understand it was a source of humor for those carousing on the square, most of whom openly mocked it.

  The two members of Omega Force discreetly slipped in behind to follow the A’arcooni, as it appeared to have a definite destination in mind. Discreet was a relative term when accompanied by a Galvetic warrior, but it did help part the crowd. They hung back a bit so as not to spook the jabbering alien, following it as it ducked off the main square and down a raucous side street that was lined with taverns along either side. They lost sight of the quarry and ended up standing in the middle of the street, looking around in confusion.

  “Damnit!” Jason shouted, startling a couple of partiers as they walked by. Just then his eyes were drawn to the end of the street where it terminated in another crossing that signified an end to the entertainment district. He stared for a moment as the crowd seemed to part at just the right moment to reveal a burnished metallic face twisted into a sardonic smirk. Deetz was staring right at him, smiling knowingly.

  Jason’s instincts overrode his desire to give chase and he threw his body into Crusher. “Down!” The trained warrior didn’t hesitate and he threw himself on the ground as a powerful weapon blast blew a chunk out of the building behind them. That blast was followed by a handful more, each impacting the building behind them, and a panicked throng began surging around them.

  Jason looked up and could see three A’arcooni firing some type of handheld weapons that were curved around like horseshoes. The points would glow and then an energy discharge would fire outward. It seemed the weapons weren’t very powerful, however, as all they did was blow shallow divots out of the building faces. Crusher climbed to his feet and in one fluid motion dove to his right and behind a decorative stone wall that concealed a flight of steps leading off the main street. Jason was right behind him as more shots pinged against the wall and a few screams from innocent bystanders could be heard.

  “We’re trapped down here,” Jason said, pulling his holdout weapon from his boot. It was a small, chemically powered blaster that was only good for two shots before it was expended. It had been designed by Twingo when they had been forced to deal with Deetz the first time.

  “Three targets, two shots … great thinking,” Crusher grumbled in disapproval at the weapon.

  “Phoenix, this is Jason. Be advised we’ve come under fire,” Jason said into his com unit. “I want the ship prepped for immediate departure.” He moved up to the edge of the wall and peeked around for a split second to get his bearings on the enemy. He looked at Crusher and winked before extending his left arm around and squeezing off a single shot that took one of their assailants center mass and dropped him immediately, the alien’s weapon clanging to the ground. Jason squeezed back behind the wall as more shots hit around them. He could tell the other two were attempting to close on them from different directions and keep them pinned down with sustained fire.

  “How are you not armed?”

  “I brought this,” Crusher said as he slid a wicked, curved nanoblade out from under his vest. Jason just stared at him.

  “You brought a knife,” Jason deadpanned. “That’s real fucking useful isn’t it?” Crusher only growled in response.

  Jason crept up, ready to fire his last shot when a much more powerful weapons blast blew a huge chunk of the wall down on top of them. Both froze in shock.

  “I think that’s quite enough, Jason,” Deetz’s voice carried to them. “Come out, toss that small blaster away and no more innocents will be killed or hurt. That is one of your main goals, isn’t it, Omega Force?” Jason ground his teeth at the mocking tone and looked at Crusher who simply shrugged helplessly.

  “We’re coming out,” Jason shouted as he tossed his weapon over the wall. He stood slowly, not bothering to raise his hands, and walked out onto the street. Crusher sheathed his blade and followed him a moment later. The remaining two A’arcooni were standing to one side with their weapons trained on them while Deetz, casually shouldering a powerful plasma rifle, stood somewhat apart from them. “I see you’ve found some new friends.”

  “You are a serious hindrance, do you know that?” Deetz asked, ignoring Jason’s statement. “I’d love nothing more than to kill you right here but I need the command codes to the DL7.”

  “Well that’s not happening,” Jason said, folding his arms over his chest. He was stalling for time, as he was sure there would have to be some sort of law enforcement response to the gun play.

  “Oh, but it is,” Deetz said. “While I can’t kill you … yet … I certainly have no use for the annoying little engineer, or your lady friend from your homeworld. You’re going to give me exactly what I want or they will all die while you watch. Just to prove I’m serious, your big warrior friend is going to be first.”

  Deetz leveled the ugly weapon at Crusher, smiling smugly. Crusher raised himself to his full height and stared the synth down, refusing to blink or cower. There was an awful moment when Jason was certain he was about to watch his friend die, before a shadow on the ground caught his attention. The shadow appeared a split second before a horrendous impact on the pavement behind them. It was heavy enough to launch debris stingingly into their backs. Jason turned to his left to see what the hell had almost hit them.

  Standing amid the dust he’d kicked up, eyes blazing red, was Lucky. The battlesynth had leapt from the roof of the building behind them to enter the fray. He said nothing as he strode forward and fired his forearm-mounted blasters at the remaining A’arcooni before turning his attention to Deetz. The latter, for his part, looked stunned and confused at the turn of events. In keeping with his nature, he fled. Deetz may have been a coward, but he was fast.

  Lucky and Crusher pursued without hesitation. Jason tried, but was hopelessly outclassed in speed by the more powerful species as they ran at breakneck speed through the city. He pulled himself up short as he watched Deetz climb into an aircar and pull away, followed by his friends in another car they had apparently just stolen. Shit, shit, SHIT! He turned and sprinted back the way he had come, keeping an eye out for an available source of transportation as he did.

  *****

  “Are you back?” Crusher shouted as the wind whipped his words away in the open-cockpit vehicle.

  “Obviously,” Lucky replied, able to amplify his voice without sounding like he was shouting. “Now is hardly the time to discuss it, however. Are you able to fly this vehicle?”

  “I’m not very good at it,” Crusher admitted. Lucky didn’t answer as he remained at the controls and pushed the aircar to its limits to try and keep up with Deetz, who had apparently had his vehicle already waiting. It was, unfortunately, a fairly powerful model and was quickly leaving them behind. Lucky risked a couple of shots at it with his arm-mounted cannon before concentrating only on flying.

  He skillfully shaved distance off of Deetz’s lead by cutting corners closer and taking riskier maneuvers through the other traffic. They were now moving into the heart of the megacity, and the buildings towered above them as irate twarlans gaped at them. The flight, along with carrying two heavy
beings and running at full power the entire time, was taking its toll on the aircar. A whining fluctuation could be heard in the engine and they were losing speed in the turns.

  “I do not believe this vehicle will last much longer,” Lucky informed Crusher. “We may need to break off pursuit and land before the engine cuts out.” Crusher glared and roared at the fleeing aircar in impotent rage before nodding his assent. As Lucky began to throttle back, a new sound became apparent. This was a dull, roaring throb that was building in intensity and seemed to shake the aircar. As they descended a bit more out of the traffic lane, their view of Deetz was suddenly cut off as the Phoenix roared out between two enormous towers just ahead of them, her bulk dwarfing everything else. The gunship pulled hard to make the turn and had to climb up and over another building as the drives struggled to keep her from plowing into it.

  “He’s insane!” Crusher shouted as the Phoenix thundered between the buildings in renewed pursuit of Deetz. Lucky could only agree as the wash from the main engines shoved their tiny aircar about.

  *****

  “Range!” Jason barked.

  “Two hundred meters and closing fast,” Kage reported in a strained voice.

  Jason shoved the throttle forward again and the Phoenix leapt towards the fleeing aircar. Everyone onboard was holding on to something in terror as Jason threaded the big gunship down through the depths of the city. He was relying on the grav-drive and his neural implant to keep them from hitting any obstacles as the main engines pushed them along. The deep space combat ship was not built for this sort of maneuvering and the computers were constantly flashing warnings as they came close more than once to grazing a building.

  “We’re in weapons range,” Kage said through clenched teeth.

  “We can’t shoot while he’s down here near the buildings,” Jason said as he began to pull the nose up level with and beside the aircar. He could actually see Deetz look over and sneer in anger at him through the canopy before trying to dive away, but not before Jason gave him a love tap with the side of the ship. The hit sent the aircar spiraling down into the depths so fast that Jason couldn’t slow his velocity quickly enough to follow. Instead, he yanked the ship into a steep climb to circle around and try to reacquire him.

  “We lost him—”

  “Jason, we have serious problems,” Doc interrupted Kage with genuine fear in his voice. “Both ConFed destroyers that are in orbit are moving to intercept. They’ll be over the city in minutes, and are demanding we put down before they open fire.”

  “They won’t fire into the city,” Jason scoffed.

  “They most certainly will,” Doc insisted. “We need to get out of here, now!”

  “Tell Lucky and Crusher we’ll meet them at the northern edge of the city,” Jason said. “Lucky should be able to home in on us and just pull the aircar into the cargo bay. Kage, you keep an eye out for Deetz.”

  Jason brought them about again and pushed for the northern boundary that marked the edge of the mega-city. He risked a short burst of supersonic flight to get them out of the area, not wanting to put the twarlan population at risk of ConFed fire or local law enforcement, the latter of which was just now mounting a response. At the edge of the city the sky-reaching towers gave way to shorter, more pragmatic buildings that mostly housed the support equipment needed to sustain a city of millions.

  “Lucky is saying they’re being pursued by local law enforcement,” Kage said. “They’re also at ground level near the end of the warehouse district to our left. Apparently the engine in their vehicle is no longer able to sustain flight.”

  “Plot me a course,” Jason said as he veered in the general direction indicated by Kage.

  *****

  Lucky had swapped places with Crusher and was now firing low power, wide focus beams at the oncoming vehicles. While Crusher was an abhorrent pilot in three dimensions, when the vehicle was at ground level he was competent enough. Besides, Lucky was the only one armed at the moment.

  “I can’t get much more speed out of it,” Crusher shouted over the rushing air.

  “It does not matter. Help is on the way,” Lucky replied, firing three more rapid bursts. They had limped the car back to ground level and were racing along the abandoned streets north of the city. The streets in this area were traversed almost exclusively by autonomous delivery bots as they scurried from the warehouse staging areas back into the city to deliver the goods the populace required. This kept the skies above free for the more exotic air travel, a novelty much preferred by the twarlans.

  Crusher risked a look back over his shoulder and saw the police aircars were overcoming their timidity of flying so close to the ground and were now closing the gap. He had begun to contemplate ditching the vehicle and making a run for it on foot when a familiar, ground-shaking rumble was felt in his chest. Sure enough, the Phoenix overflew them, the downwash from the lifting body and repulsors shoving the aircars of their pursuers around enough to make them hesitate.

  Crusher saw the gunship settle slightly just above the street, still flying along at a good clip, while lowering the rear cargo ramp. Without hesitation he mashed the accelerator and aimed for the opening.

  “Crusher!” Lucky warned. “Our closure speed is too great!”

  *****

  “They’re aboard. Closing us back up,” Kage said from the right seat.

  “What are those destroyers doing?” Jason asked as he slammed the throttle back down and climbed a bit to clear the buildings, sending the Phoenix racing along on a northerly course.

  “They’re descending quickly out of high orbit to try and box us in,” Doc said. “They’ll be in weapons range within five minutes.”

  Even a ship as powerful as a ConFed destroyer couldn’t simply fire through the atmosphere at a ground target at any angle or range it wanted to. The atmosphere itself would diffuse the shot enough that it would have little effect on a heavily shielded vessel like a DL7 gunship. The preferred tactic was to bring the ship into low orbit and directly overhead of the target to minimize the distance the shot would have to travel. Unfortunately, all the destroyer-class vessels in the ConFed fleet also carried orbit-to-surface missiles that had no such limitations. Jason fervently hoped they weren’t willing to light one of those off with the Phoenix running so close to the ground over a populated area.

  The ship shuddered and pulled to the right before the computers could compensate as a shot from the nearest destroyer splashed against their shields. I guess they’re not above a few warning shots. In response to the warning blast, Jason advanced the throttle all the way to the stop. The Phoenix roared as her four main engines came to full power and hurtled them out of weapons range within a few seconds, still pushing north. He allowed the ship to gain some altitude to get out of the denser atmosphere at ground level.

  “I think they’ve guessed your plan, Captain,” Doc said. “Their drives are flaring and both ships are trying to adjust for a polar orbit.”

  “They won’t make it in time,” Jason said confidently. “Prep the slip-drive; get us out of here as soon as we’ve cleared the atmosphere.” One of his favorite tricks was to bait the more powerful capital ships into a lower orbit in order to use their energy weapons and then he’d race for one of the poles to make his escape out of the atmosphere. By the time they realized what he intended, the larger ships had little chance of pulling back up to a higher altitude and changing orbits in time to intercept him.

  The Phoenix was now travelling hypersonic as he brought the nose up sharply. The gunship clawed her way up out of the atmosphere, the two pursuing destroyers hopelessly out of range. He just hoped the twarlans didn’t have any nasty surprises waiting for him.

  “You’re clear, Captain. Slip-drive ready when you are,” Kage said just as the drive control lit up to let him know it was ready.

  “Burn, baby, burn!” Jason yelled, his adrenaline still surging as he slapped the control to engage the slip-drive. With a whine and shudder the Phoenix m
eshed out of the system and away from their tormenters. Unfortunately, it was also taking them away from Deetz. “Rotate transponder codes and contact the Diligent to let them know our status.”

  “We’re down to our last set of clean codes,” Doc said to him from his station.

  “That’s unfortunate. Those aren’t cheap,” Jason said as he climbed out of his seat. He then looked at Taryn with concern. She looked like she still had a death-grip on her seat and was trembling slightly. “You OK?”

  “No, I’m not OK!” His question seemed to have snapped her out of her trance. “How can you be so casual about all of this?!” Jason just shrugged helplessly.

  “You get used to it, I suppose,” he said. “Let’s go grab a drink and check on Lucky and Crusher.” She hesitantly released her harness and took his hand, allowing herself to be led off the bridge. “Let me know when you raise the Diligent,” he said over his shoulder.

  He tried to calm Taryn as best he could, but she was having none of it. She had been having a pleasant conversation with Doc and Twingo after her first alien planet adventure when he had called saying they were under attack. A bit later he had burst onto the bridge and began an emergency engine start with no explanation. He had offered little more as he pushed the Phoenix down into the city after Deetz, giving her a front row seat to the horror of trying to maneuver the big gunship at unsafe speeds in cramped quarters. Even with some of the danger she’d been in up to that point, the chase through the city had frayed her last nerve.

  When Jason opened the hatch to the cargo bay, an acrid smell of smoke overwhelmed him. Coughing slightly, he stepped through and out onto the mezzanine. The entire cargo bay was engulfed in smoke, and the sparking remains of an open cockpit aircar were smashed against the blast door that led to the armory under Jason’s feet. He could also make out huge rents cut into the deck.