Omega Taskforce Series: Books 1 - 3: A Military Sci-Fi Box Set

by G J Ogden

  “On me!” Sterling called out, as the first of the alien warriors charged.

  The warrior had already donned its armor, but was equipped only with the serrated, half-moon blade that the belligerent aliens used for close-quarters fighting. Still struggling for air, Sterling aimed and shot the warrior in the chest, but its armor absorbed the blow. His second shot took the warrior down, but by then the other aliens were on him like a pack of wolves. One of the warriors grabbed his wrist and pushed his weapon hand away, while another drove him against the far wall of the corridor. A blade was raised, its sharp metal edge glinting under the ship’s subdued lighting. Sterling edged away but then the alien’s head exploded, covering him in hot flesh, some of which flew into his mouth. The taste was vile and he gagged before taking a hard shot to the body from another warrior. More plasma blasts raced along the corridor, striking two other aliens as they advanced on Banks and Razor. That only left a single warrior for Sterling to deal with, and he relished his task. The alien’s assault on him had pissed him off and made him hungry for a fight.

  Sterling spat the charred alien flesh in his mouth onto the deck then squared off against the warrior. The alien had only recently thawed and stood before Sterling entirely naked, with only the serrated blade in its hand. The Sa’Nerran’s grotesque features were only made worse by its lack of clothes and armor. Sterling waved the warrior on and the alien advanced, but Sterling quickly snapped a kick toward its knee. The alien buckled under its own weight allowing Sterling to hammer a crushing elbow strike to its leathery face. Stripping the blade from the warrior’s hand, Sterling then drove it into the back of the alien’s neck. This was the second weak-spot in the otherwise robust Sa’Nerran anatomy. The warrior hissed wildly as blood gushed from the wound, but Sterling pressed harder, digging the razor-sharp blade further into its flesh, severing arteries and bone until finally it was dead.

  Banks then appeared at Sterling’s side, aiming the Homewrecker rifle into the room from which the aliens had emerged.

  “Are you okay, Captain?” Banks asked, after ensuring the room was clear.

  “Let’s just say this fight left a nasty taste in my mouth,” Sterling replied before spitting more alien flesh onto the deck. He recovered his pistol, but retained the alien blade. He imagined he might need it again, before the day was out. “Destroy those other hibernation pods,” he ordered, wiping blood from his face. “It’s time we started to even the odds.”

  Banks nodded then blasted the power distribution hub that was feeding the hibernation pods. The hub exploded, sending sparks and fiery debris flying out into the room. Moments later the pods shut down and the yellow eyes of the alien occupants sprang open. Sterling could hear the sound of the warriors thudding against the insides of the chambers, their yellow eyes wide and wild-looking. However, the aliens were trapped, buried alive, and Sterling had no intention of releasing them from their tombs.

  “Let’s go, I have a feeling those aren’t the last sleeping warriors on this ship,” said Sterling.

  Sterling took the lead, following the sound of plasma weapons fire, while Banks covered their rear. Soon they had caught up with Shade, Razor and the remaining three commandoes. They were at the door to the main bridge, but it was sealed tight. One of the commandoes was attempting to run a bypass, but Sterling could see that it wasn’t working.

  “Let me try,” said Lieutenant Razor, hurrying alongside the commando, then dropping her backpack of gear onto the deck. The engineer pulled out a collection of wires from a device inside the pack and hooked them up to the locking mechanism on the door.

  “How long will this take, Lieutenant?” asked Sterling, anxiously checking their rear.

  “I almost have it, sir,” Razor replied, working at her usual, frantic speed.

  “Remember, I need one of these things alive, as insurance in case we can’t crack the computer,” Sterling called out to the assault team while they waited. “And check your aim in there. If we blast through the windows then we'll all get blown out into space.”

  “Got it!” Razor called out.

  Shade ordered the commandoes to stand by and they each took up position behind the door.

  “On three, Lieutenant,” Sterling said to his chief engineer. He then began the countdown on his fingers, tightening his grip on the pistol in his other hand.

  The door slid open and straight away the commandoes and Sa’Nerra on the bridge began trading blasts of plasma. A commando went down, hit in the gut, but Shade and the other two pushed through onto the bridge. Hisses and shouts filled the air along with the fizz of the weapons. Sterling then moved through, shooting an injured warrior in the head before it could raise its pistol at him. He spotted a warrior in the center of the bridge, hiding behind what appeared to be the primary command consoles. The memory of his Omega Directive test suddenly rushed into his mind. Instead of the cruiser’s leader, he saw the warrior on the bridge of the Hammer, with its fingers around the throat of Ariel Gunn. He physically shook his head to clear the image from his mind then gritted his teeth and advanced. Blasts flashed past him, missing by inches, but Sterling was relentless and fearless. Returning fire, the alien commander was struck in the shoulder and went down.

  “Lucas!”

  Sterling tried to shut out the voice of Ariel Gunn in his mind. She was dead and this warrior, like the one who had forced Sterling to kill his friend, would also die by his hand.

  “Lucas, stop!”

  Sterling fired again, pummeling blasts of plasma into the alien command console. Soon it provided no cover at all for the alien commander, who was struck to the thigh, then the wrist as it raised its arm in an effort to block the blasts. The next shot blew its hand off completely.

  “Lucas, it’s Mercedes! Stop!”

  The neural link from his first officer felt like an eagle claw clamping down on his brain. He staggered back, lowering his weapon and pressing his hand to his temple.

  “Lucas, it’s me. Ease down, we got them…” Banks continued, though this time her voice was soothing and reassuring.

  Sterling shook his head then turned to see Commander Banks beside him. She had taken a hit and was bleeding, but she still looked strong. Shade was by the door, which Razor had closed behind them after they’d all entered. The devices in her backpack were flashing as she worked on the locking mechanism. The two other commandoes were dead, as were six of the alien bridge crew. Sterling turned to the smoldering command console and saw the alien leader, cowering beneath the vessel’s viewscreen. The warrior cradled what remained of its arm and hissed quietly as Sterling approached. He had no idea what the alien was saying, but he guessed it wasn’t complimentary.

  “Glad you’re back with us, Captain,” said Banks, raising her eyebrows at Sterling. “That creature over there is the only one we haven't killed,” she added, pointing to the Sa’Nerran officer. “Wasn’t it you that kept telling us to keep one alive?” she added, with a smile.

  “It was,” said Sterling, truthfully. Then he shrugged. “And I only said alive. I didn’t say in one piece.”

  Banks laughed, causing the alien’s hiss to grow louder. However, it soon fell silent again as Banks aimed the barrel of the Homewrecker at its head.

  Sterling silently cursed himself for losing control, and he cursed his own mind for subjecting him to the memories of his Omega Directive test at such a crucial moment. There was a time when thoughts of Ariel Gunn would only recur during his sleep. Now they were encroaching on his waking life too. He didn’t like it, and resolved to do something about it, but what that was he didn’t know.

  Turning to Banks, Sterling rested a hand on her shoulder and met her eyes. “Thanks, Mercedes. Thank for bringing me out of… whatever that was I was in.”

  “Just doing my job, Captain,” Banks replied with a heartfelt smile. She then playfully rapped her knuckles on Sterling’s chest plate. As usual, his first officer struggled to moderate the strength of her blow and it hurt like hell, even through th
e armor.

  Sterling then became aware that their intimate neural link was still active. Banks’ emotions and echoes of her thoughts suddenly came through strongly. Sterling could feel that duty was not the only reason for his first officer’s actions. There was something more, but it was new and unfamiliar. It felt like something secret; something Banks didn’t want him to know. He quickly tapped his interface and closed the link. He didn’t need any more distractions, nor did he want to invade the thoughts of his first officer, any more than he wanted others to know what lurked in the darkest recesses of his own mind.

  The awkward moment was then interrupted by Lieutenant Razor, who approached with her backpack and set it down next to one of the consoles that hadn’t already been blown apart.

  “Is that our backup plan, sir?” Razor asked, pointing to the wounded alien commander.

  “What’s left of him, yes,” Sterling replied. “Hopefully, we won’t need it, but I’ll keep it alive just in case.”

  Razor nodded then set to work, unpacking the gear from her backpack and attaching devices to the alien command console. Sterling then felt another link form in his mind. This time it was from Commander Graves on the Invictus.

  “Captain, we have three gen-two Sa’Nerran Destroyers incoming,” Graves said, in his usual unruffled, surgeon’s voice. “They are less than an hour out.”

  “Understood, Commander,” Sterling replied. He had expected company sooner or later, though he was surprised that the aliens had only sent three aging warships. “Standby, we’re on the bridge now.”

  Sterling closed the link and peered out of the window of the old alien cruiser. Unlike the newer Sa’Nerran ships, the phase-one vessel still had viewing portholes in addition to its viewscreen. The space outside the ship looked the same as it did in every other system Sterling had visited. However, the stars he was looking at now had never been seen by human eyes before. They’d come further than any vessel in history and fought against odds that seemed unassailable. They should be dead, he realized, but the Invictus and the Omega Taskforce fought on.

  “Penny for your thoughts?” said Banks, stepping up to Sterling’s side.

  Sterling reflected for a moment then glanced across to his first officer. “I think we’re going to do this, Mercedes,” he said, feeling electricity run down his spine. Then he glanced again at the alien, which recoiled from Sterling as he did so. “I think it’s payback time.”

  Chapter 20

  A taste of its own medicine

  Sterling glanced down at the computer on his left arm for the third time that minute, following a group of markers that were steadily moving through the pressurized sections of the alien ship. Each marker represented an individual Sa’Nerran warrior that was heading their way. By his current count, ten aliens were already advancing on their location, outnumbering them by more than two to one. The longer they remained on the alien cruiser, the more warriors would come, and Sterling wasn’t about to go down on the bridge of any ship, let alone an enemy one. The growing number of enemy forces wasn’t Sterling’s only concern, though. Their route back to the combat shuttle had already been cut off. Escape now required more innovative – and desperate – tactics.

  Sterling switched to the remote piloting screen for their combat shuttle and recalled it to his current location. Their situation was growing more precarious by the second, but Sterling was determined to see the mission through to the end. They had to recover the data or all was lost, and the closer they came to failure, the more Sterling realized he’d rather die than return to Fleet space in disgrace with his tail between his legs.

  Lowering his wrist again, Sterling glanced across to Lieutenant Razor, who was still working frantically to crack the Sa’Nerran command computer and retrieve the data that could lead them to James Colicos. However, it was becoming clear that the process was going to take too long. A more drastic solution was needed, but it was a contingency that they’d planned for.

  “We’re out of time, Lieutenant,” Sterling said, stepping over to his engineer. “Can you crack this computer or not?”

  Razor downed tools then shook her head. “Not in the time we have available, sir,” she replied. “It will probably take me another thirty minutes to break through.” Razor then rummaged inside her satchel and pulled out the neural translation matrix that Commander Graves had extracted from the colonist on Far Deep Nine. Sterling was pleased to see that there were no longer chunks of human brain attached to it. “I think we have to ‘plan B’ this, Captain,” Razor went on, holding up the device. “I volunteer to try.”

  Sterling took the device from his engineer and examined it. Their plan B was highly theoretical, but Commander Graves and Lieutenant Razor both believed it could work. The principal was simple – adapt the neural interface so that it latched onto a Sa’Nerran rather than human brain, then reverse the flow of information. As the precursor to the neural control weapon, Graves believed the device could be used to coerce the Sa’Nerran brain into receiving instructions from another neural interface - a human interface. However, considering that the device had driven the colonist on Far Deep Nine mad, using it was not without risk. Consequently, Razor had explained to Sterling that she’d devised a “firewall” in order to prevent her from being turned or simply driven mad.

  “Are you sure this thing isn’t going to fry you brain, Lieutenant?” asked Sterling, handing the device back to Razor.

  “No, sir, I’m not sure,” the engineer replied, flatly. “But I don’t see that we have a choice.”

  Sterling’s computer on his forearm bleeped and he checked the update, noting that the number of Sa’Nerran warriors heading to the bridge had risen to fourteen. He cursed then met his engineer’s eyes again.

  “Do it, Lieutenant,” Sterling said with conviction. He pointed to their Sa’Nerran prisoner. “If we can get that thing to unlock the computer for us, we can be out of here before this place becomes overrun with warriors.”

  “Aye, Captain,” Razor answered. She then took a step toward the Sa’Nerran commander, which was now bound and under guard by Lieutenant Shade. The alien hissed at Razor as she approached and bore its jagged teeth. Razor hesitated, as if the thing were an angry rattlesnake.

  “Make our guest more compliant, Commander,” Sterling ordered.

  “My pleasure, Captain,” the Invictus’ first officer replied, clearly relishing the opportunity to get hands-on with their prisoner.

  Banks cracked her knuckles and paced over to the alien, showing none of the timidity that Razor had displayed. The warrior hissed again as Banks grabbed the alien commander and hauled it up. Unable to strike out with its leathery hands the warrior sunk its teeth into her armor. Banks grimaced and Sterling saw blood leak out from the puncture wounds, but the alien’s desperate attack had only seemed to piss his first officer off. Grabbing the alien around the neck Banks pulled the warrior clear of her armor then held it tightly against the command computer. The alien struggled and hissed, but it was no match for the super-human strength of Commander Mercedes Banks.

  “Make it quick,” said Sterling, again anxiously peering down at his computer. The markers on the screen were still growing in number and getting closer.

  Razor pulled the spidery network of wires over the alien’s head then pressed the interface to the warrior’s leathery temple. The neural interface powered up and dug itself into the side of the alien’s head, like a python sinking its fangs into its prey. The alien hissed wildly and fought to free itself from Banks, but she was too strong. The warrior remained helpless as the device buried its tendrils deeper into the alien’s brain.

  Sterling watched the process with interest. Normally, neural interfaces were installed during infanthood and grew with their host, no different to any other sensory organ. Beyond a certain age, though, it became dangerous to integrate the technology. The process was simply too invasive; too painful. To an adult being, such as the Sa’Nerran commander, it was nothing short of torture. However, S
terling felt no sympathy for the alien. It was merely a taste of its own bitter medicine. Lieutenant Razor then tapped her own neural interface and began working at a portable computer that she’d removed from her backpack.

  “We’re connected,” Razor said, her fingers flashing across the screen of the console. “Firewalls established. There is now only a direct link between me and the alien.”

  Suddenly, Razor’s muscles tensed up as if she’d just jabbed a fork into an electrical outlet. The alien’s hisses became more labored and raucous. Its yellow eyes bulged and its own muscles spasmed wildly, causing Banks to tighten her hold even further.

  “Lieutenant?” Sterling called out, kneeling at his engineer’s side. “Lieutenant!” he called out again, but still Razor was unable to respond. He cursed and grabbed the neural device on the side of the alien’s head, preparing it to tear it free. Then he felt a hand land on his shoulder and grip him hard. Sterling winced and instinctively let go of the neural interface to pull the hand away. He saw that Razor was peering into his eyes, imploringly.

  “Wait, I’m okay…” Razor said, struggling to force the words out through her clenched teeth. “It’s… fighting me…” she continued.

  The engineer pressed her eyes shut as sweat began to bead on her lustrous skin. Razor continued to fight the creature and Sterling could see that the alien’s resistance was beginning to fade. The portable console that his engineer had been working on then chimed an alert. Sterling checked it and saw that the first of five firewalls she’d set up to protect herself and the others from the corrupting effect of Colicos’ experimental device had already failed.

  “You have five minutes, Lieutenant, then I’m pulling the plug. Literally,” Sterling called out. He couldn’t be sure that Razor had heard him, but whether she had or not no longer mattered. They had to get off the cruiser before the Sa’Nerran reinforcements arrived.