The Omega Drive

by Nik Whittaker

  “Tanner?” Dack asked, looking up at Hixon.

  “I was told that would get your attention, come with me to the Underground Assembly, and let them explain. We set up the investigation with the Windsor Sisters to get you here, and to make sure we had the right person.”

  Dack turned the revolver over in his hand, then nodded to Hixon to lead the way.

  44

  Hixon lead Dack out of the building, they stepped over the bodies of the unconscious Jackals, though Dack noticed Cuatro was missing from the group.

  “Where are we going?” Dack asked, watching the man carefully. He had holstered the staff-gun hybrid on his back, where a cloak concealed most of it. Throwing the cloak's hood over his head he kept his uniform hidden. Dack couldn’t help but wonder what the point of wearing the uniform was, if he hid it most the time.

  “You’ll see, I can’t reveal the location out loud, you never know who is listening,” Hixon smiled at Dack.

  “Ok, so who are you? Can you tell me that?”

  “Hixon Chambers, I’m, not from around here.”

  “Wait, you’re the prison guard from the Axiom?” The jigsaw put itself together in Dack’s mind.

  Hixon chuckled.

  “Yeah, that was me,” he replied.

  “What happened, where did you go?”

  “After I hid the Axiom? I went into hiding. It didn’t take long for the Endlings to get themselves in places of power across the Galaxy, and I knew they would always look for me. Knowing they didn’t have access to the Axiom was enough for me to remain quiet, they didn’t seem to be causing too much trouble here. I think they relished being treated almost like Gods, or at least saviours. But then I had an alert, saying someone had boarded the Axiom. I tried to get back to it, make sure I stopped them, but you and your team seemed to beat me to it,” he smiled to Dack.

  “For all the good it did, they took over the Galaxy.”

  “True, but you delayed their plans. They got the Omega blueprints, but other than weaponry, it’s taken them a while to recreate it on a scale that they can implement into starships.”

  “Taken them? You mean they’ve developed it now?”

  “They’re close to completion, our intel tells us they plan on activating a jump-gate within the next few cycles,” Hixons’ voice was quieter.

  They stopped as they approached a security gate, Hixon stepping behind a corner, out of view of the guards standing at the checkpoint.

  “What are we doing?” Dack said, stepping into the cover with Hixon.

  “We’re passing security,” he replied.

  “Passing security? That’s the Rotunda’s Syndicate sector, it’ll be full of Jackal soldiers and people trying to kill me!”

  “Exactly.”

  Hixon took off the cloak, and rolled it up into a ball, which he stashed in a small bag he slung over his shoulder.

  “Turn around,” he said to Dack.

  A loud click alerted Dack, as the feeling of mag-cuffs locked over his wrists.

  “What the hell!” He spun round, staring Hixon down. He was suddenly aware of the Syndicate logo embroidered on the shoulders of the uniform Hixon wore.

  “Sorry, it’s for the best,” Hixon spun the staff off his shoulder, it retracted to quarter its size, and pointed the end at Dack. It looked like a typical security baton, used for transporting prisoners.

  “Move,” Hixon shouted, prodding Dack into the guards’ of view.

  They walked towards the checkpoint; the guards stepping forwards, blocking their route. Their uniforms the same as Hixons’.

  “Stop, who’s this?”

  “I’ve got Alacious Dack here, ready for processing.”

  The guards exchanged glances, then stepped aside. Hixon held up a card which he swiped at a box on the wall and the gate before them opened.

  “Thanks guys, keep up the good work.” Hixon smiled as they walked through.

  “So all that about Underground was bullshit?” Dack spat.

  Hixon said nothing, then pulled Dack aside, a small nook in the wall hid them from sight. Hixon placed his hand on a panel on the wall.

  “Have faith.”

  The panel slid aside, and revealed a keypad where Hixon jabbed a four digit code. A second later, a door opened in the wall of the nook, its size only big enough for one person to enter, but hidden from sight of the main corridor. Hixon pushed Dack through, then followed, pulling the door shut behind him.

  They were standing in a dark tunnel, a small string of lights threaded along the low ceiling on a single wire, which looped as far as Dack could see. He felt the handcuffs loosen, and Hixon took them off.

  “Sorry about the charade, but it pays to have the authenticity when we bring ‘prisoners’ into the base. Where better to hide the entrance to the underground, than right under their noses,” Hixon smiled.

  “You smile too much,” Dack shook his head.

  They made their way along the narrow tunnel in single file. Dack could just stand without his head touching the ceiling, but Hixon had to crouch. A light ahead, showed the end of the tunnel, Dack could hear voices from the end.

  “Are you ready to meet the welcoming committee?” Hixon said, as they approached.

  They stepped out into a large open space, Dack couldn’t help but stretch out from the restricted tunnel. As he did, he saw the faces of several people, all dressed in rags or camouflage colours.

  “Well, well, well, look who finally got his head out of his ass!” A voice boomed.

  Dack turned to look at the source, and saw Jenkins grinning at him, before a deep laugh echoed around the chamber.

  “Admiral?” Dack looked astounded.

  “Haha, it’s just Jenkins now Dack, welcome to the U.A. We could use your help around here.” Jenkins walked over and gave Dack a hug, patting him on the back. Dack couldn’t help but return the gesture.

  “Are you ready to be back in the game soldier?” Jenkins asked, as he released his grip.

  Dack looked around at the people all surrounding them, an underground army dedicated to fighting against the Syndicate.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Dack smiled.

  45

  Jenkins walked with Dack through the maze of tunnels within the Underground base. Passing small holes, which acted as sleeping quarters and other living spaces.

  “Why are you set up here?” Dack asked.

  “The Rotunda is a hive of activity across the region,” Jenkins replied, smiling at people as he passed them. “From here, we can track any multitude of information, people from all areas come through here, one time or another.”

  They arrived at a massive canteen, wires and cables hung from a high ceiling of metallic rafters.

  “I can’t believe this is all inside the station,” Dack couldn’t help but gaze upwards at the crisscross of girders and walkways which spanned as far as the eye could see.

  “When the place was built, they needed these areas to help wire everything up, to make sure the whole station had power and functioned. These days, hardly anyone comes into them, the computerised systems look after all the power manipulation. And the few maintenance workers there are in the station work for us, anyway.”

  Jenkins took two plates from the start of a long table, passing one to Dack, and moved down the line. A vat of brown, chunky stew was warming on an open gas flame. He dished a spoonful onto his and Dacks’ plates.

  “It’s no gourmet cuisine, but it isn’t bad,” he laughed.

  They took a seat on a large, copper metal banquet table, and began to eat. Dack had to admit, its wasn’t the worst he’d tasted.

  “What’s been happening?” Dack asked, “and where did this come from?” He placed Tanner’s gun on the table between them.

  Jenkins’ smiled faded, as he put his spoon down, wiping some remnants of stew from the side of his mouth. Looking up, his eyes met Dack’s.

  “The gun was just a token I gave Hix to make sure you came with him. A team foun
d it checking over the remains of the Battle of Axiom. I’m sorry if you thought maybe Tanner was still alive.”

  Dack closed his eyes for a moment, he had known it wasn’t possible Tanner was alive after what happened, but it hadn’t stopped him from suspending his belief, if only for a moment.

  “As for what’s been happening, well it’s a long story, but you’ve come back at the right time, Dack.” Jenkins paused, as he drank some water that a passing boy handed him, they placed another for Dack.

  “The Syndicate took over the galaxy,” Dack said, “I know that much.”

  “They did more than that Dack, the Endlings split into two factions after the Battle of Axiom. Some sided with Shai, others with the Assembly. The fight was one sided though, once the Syndicate got a small Omega generator to power their weapons, they wiped out most of the remains of the Assembly.”

  “What happened to the council? And the rest of the Endlings?”

  “The council disbanded once we knew it was hopeless to fight. The citadel was destroyed when the Syndicate powered through Assembly space. The Endlings who didn’t follow them went into hiding, fearing the repercussions. Those of us not willing to succumb to their rule, are what you see here. This is one of around seven similar locations around the galaxy.” Jenkins looked around the room. “It didn’t take long for the Syndicate to create their own enforcement.”

  “The Jackals?”

  “Yep. They began a forced recruitment process of anyone capable of fighting, and also conscripted any criminals to the Syndicate.”

  “Wait, you’re telling me the Jackals are prisoners?”

  “Some are, they do something to them once captured. Take away their free will or something, make them into the killing machines they are now. We don't know what they do to them, just that once they’ve been changed, they follow any orders without question.”

  “So what’s the situation now? You and Hixon both said something about now being the time,” Dack finished his stew and sipped the water.

  “Well, for starters the Syndicate have begun production on their first Alpha-Omega drive, one that will allow them to jump through into the outer reaches of space.”

  “The drive we stopped on the Axiom?”

  “Exactly. They gathered data from the ship to recreate the engines, but it’s taken them a while. We need to stop it.” Jenkins said.

  “Sounds like we’d be unlikely to have any chance against them.” Dack interrupted.

  “True, but there’s one last hope for the Underground Assembly,” Jenkins smiled wryly.

  “And, what’s that?”

  “If we can get to the Omega Drive and steal it.”

  “Steal it?” Dack laughed, remembering the size of the engine room of the Axiom.

  “Yep, steal it, the whole ship that’s being built around it. With that in our hands we would have a weapon so powerful that even the Syndicate would struggle to stop us.”

  “Great, so you want to steal the most powerful ship the galaxy has ever seen, from the most secure part of the Syndicate Empire, and turn it against them. Who the hell will go for that mission?” Dack laughed.

  “The Coyotes,” Jenkins’ smile somehow enlarged further.

  “There are no Coyotes anymore,” Dack said, somewhere between anger and sadness.

  “There’s always the Coyotes, Dack, you just need to bring them back together.”

  46

  Dack had spent the rest of the day walking through the corridors of the Underground base, finding out more about the set-up, and the ways it ran.

  Since the takeover of the Syndicate, the Underground had spread like wildfire across the galaxy, as more and more people began to want to do something about the reign. He couldn't believe that there was anyone who’d dare fight against the might of the Syndicate, he’d seen their aggression and destruction first hand.

  Jenkins had told him to take the elevator down to the docking sector, and that there was someone who could upgrade some tech on the Bullet Rose, to allow it to fly undetected, even with the autopilot engaged.

  He stepped off the service elevator which ran the height of the Rotunda, along the inside of the maintenance levels. The warm air of engines and smoke filled his nostrils. He was standing in a hanger, but not the main public one of the Rotunda. Instead, he was in a large open space which was converted into a makeshift garage for starships. Four large ships sat in the area, their roofs almost touching the ceiling. Several people dressed in overalls moved around the ships, repairing and upgrading.

  “Dack!” A voice echoed from across the hanger.

  Dack turned towards the sound of his voice, confused at who would know him.

  “Lyla?!” He laughed, as a woman ran towards him.

  They embraced for a few moments.

  “I thought you were dead,” Lyla whispered to Dack.

  “I might as well have been.”

  “But y’re back now?”

  They released the hug, Dack stared at Lyla.

  “I… I don’t know, not yet,” he mumbled. “Jenkins wants me, wants us, to get the team back together. For another mission, but that didn’t exactly go well last time.”

  Lyla’s smile dropped, along with her eyes which scanned the floor.

  “We need t’do something,” she said. “You must’ve seen what it’s like out there.”

  Dack nodded and sighed.

  “How did you end up here, anyway?” Dack waved his arm around the hanger.

  “After we disbanded, I didn’t know where to go,” Lyla said, leading Dack through the hanger. “I did some jobs, mainly hospital work. That’s where Jenkins found me, working in a hospital just off the Zio Belt, when we had an influx of Underground soldiers. They’d had a run in with the Jackal army. I patched them up, and made sure we kept them hidden from all Syndicate eyes. After they’d healed, Jenkins came up t’me and asked me t’join them. Once I saw what they needed here, I couldn’t say no. Maybe I felt the need to pay it back after what happened,” her voice trailed off.

  “It wasn’t your fault,” Dack said, placing an arm on her shoulder.

  “And it wasn’t yours either Dack,” she looked him square in the eye. “There’s someone else here y’need to meet!” The fire reignited in her eyes as she remembered.

  “Someone else?” Dack sounded surprised as Lyla took him further through the hanger.

  Working on a ship at the far end, a young boy was welding a heat panel onto the front of a twin engine turbo.

  Lyla tapped him on the shoulder, alerting him to her presence, to allow him to stop the work safely. He turned off the torch, and looked up, moving his red tint goggles out of his eyes. He smiled as he saw Dack, and nodded.

  “This is Ezekiel, I don’t know if you remember him?”

  Dack looked for a moment, remembering the face. The soldier from Ganymede, and the stowaway from the Dreadnaught. They never got to know each other before the team disbanded.

  Dack put a hand out to shake, Ezekiel stood and took the hand, a grin across his face.

  “What’s the plan then?” Lyla asked, bringing the conversation back round to the present.

  “You heard what Jenkins is suggesting?”

  “I have, and ah think it’s a good plan,” Lyla replied.

  “Good, but crazy,” Dack shook his head, “I don’t know if I can do it again, not after what we lost.”

  Lyla put her arm around Dack, taking a deep breath.

  “Tanner would have wanted us to do something,” she replied.

  Dack looked her in the eye, and nodded.

  “Yeah, he would,” he looked down and let out a long breath, “do you know where the others are?”

  Lyla grinned.

  “Ah’ve got a few leads,” she jumped in the air and hugged Dack.

  47

  The woman held her child close, as the guard pushed them down the line, the barrel of the Omega Rifle sticking into her ribs whenever her pace slowed.

  “Move along,” A
voice shouted out, it came from a Jackal, Dos, who stood on a raised platform.

  Since the Syndicate rule had taken hold, they had outlawed anyone aligned with the Solar Assembly. That included a majority of the habited planets in Assembly space. The people living there were classed as criminals, regardless of their status, or history. Over time, the Jackals began rounding up anyone who hadn’t defected to the Syndicate rule. Men, women, and children got sent to various slave camps, where they were made to work supporting the Syndicate.

  The woman pulled the young boy at her side along the muddy pathway, towards the dropship, which was waiting for them at the end of the metal fence. The back was open, with a small metal platform leading into the hull, which gaped them like a hungry mouth.

  Stood next to the ramp, Valen watched as they ushered in the people. Beside him, Dos patted him on the back.

  “Another good round up for the mines,” Dos cheered. The original six Jackals knew all about the Slave Mines, having worked there under the Assembly rule, before they escaped.

  “Indeed,” Valen smiled, “Once we’re loaded up we’ll get them on their way.”

  More people piled into the back of the ship, until there was little standing room. The woman and boy were some of the last to squash in.

  Dos put a fist in the sky, and made a circle motion, from the cockpit the pilot tapped their helmet to confirm, and began to close the ramp. From inside screams began as the peoples fear overwhelmed them. Several men tried to leave, scrambling at the ramp to get away, until a line of Jackals aimed their rifles at them, a warning shot ricocheted off the metal ramp and the men moved back inside, the unknown more appealing than a bullet to the head.

  “All locked and loaded,” Valen turned to Dos, and nodded, heading towards the cockpit of the transport vessel.

  “See you at the mines, Valen, your dedication to the Syndicate will not be forgotten.”

  “Thank you,” Valen bowed, “Thank you for giving me the chance to prove my allegiance.”

  He climbed up the short ladder, and through the hatch at the front of the ship. A last salute to the Jackals, then locked the hatch behind him. He settled into the Co-pilot seat with a sigh; the pilot looking sideways at him, their helmet masking their face.