Omega

by Jan Domagala

  Rover5s began to fall under the blistering fire from both the marines who had landed and the C230 that brought them, giving the second C230 the chance to debark her entire cargo of troops safely.

  Rygar saw his transport a scant few dozen feet away and his protection of Rover5s dwindle to dangerously low numbers. Already he’d lost all the mercenaries that had formed his original team before being given command of the clones and now that too was almost gone. Firing his assault rifle from the hip he cleared a path for himself and the three captives along with the eight remaining Rover5s.

  Quickly they boarded the ramp of the troop carrier just before her engines were given full vertical thrust making it seem like she almost leapt into the air. The pilot fired pulse cannons at the first troop carrier making her swerve almost into the path of the second, then he fired a brace of Sabre missiles at the second C230 as the pilot of that craft fought to regain control after the near collision. The C230 carrying Rygar and the rest managed to get clear in the ensuing chaos.

  On board the escaping C230, Matt Hawk was cheered by the fact the odds against them had dwindled immensely and, although he was still outnumbered by quite a large number, he took heart from that. He was certain an opportunity would present itself soon to thin those odds down even more. He just had to wait, be patient and above all, vigilant so that when it arrived he would be ready to take advantage of it.

  COLONEL DE BOER WAS not going to take this lying down, he was going to do something about it, but as he watched Hawk get beaten and then, along with General Sinclair and Tanya Wilde, get singled out to be taken away he wondered just what it was he could do. Outnumbered and out-gunned he saw little hope in mounting any sort of resistance, and the glance from the General telling him not to put the group’s lives at risk was the clincher.

  He had run out of options, or so he thought.

  The moment he saw the hostiles filing out of the door with their three captives an idea struck him.

  Only two hostiles were left behind with orders to wait for thirty seconds then follow on after sealing them in, not a great deal of time to implement his plan but it would have to do. Thirty seconds didn’t give him any time to discuss the merits of his plan with the others either, which meant whatever he planned on doing he would have to do it alone.

  During the time that the hostiles were leaving he had managed to position himself at the front of the group facing the two men who had been chosen to remain behind.

  A distance of only a few feet separated them from the two hostiles. The other marines had taken their lead from the Colonel and had worked their way to the front of the group and now, like De Boer, were steadily inching forward, crowding the men guarding them.

  One of the guards glanced at the chronometer on his wrist and, as the second guard became distracted by the slight movement, De Boer saw his chance and rushed them.

  The marines with him were just half a step behind and when he moved they followed by rushing the two clones.

  The Colonel slammed into the clone to his right, one hand pinning the assault rifle to the man’s chest as they collided with the wall behind taking the other clone with them.

  The marines being that half step behind were ready to grab the clones as they bounced off the wall.

  The marines quickly subdued the two clones using a savage series of blows, leaving them unconscious on the floor.

  “C’mon, we have to move, we’ve got to help the General and Matt,” De Boer said as he opened the door to the exit tunnel. They all left the hallway and ran after the fleeing group who had their friends captive.

  HAWK MANAGED TO GET himself seated as close to General Sinclair and Tanya Wilde as possible. The latter two were the real prizes here; Hawk was merely the bonus, a little toy that Rygar planned to have fun with later.

  His ear bug was still in place and he heard a familiar voice, “We’ll be with you in a few seconds,” De Boer said, his voice coming through loud and clear but only to him.

  Hawk scratched his right ear keying the ear bug and said, “We’ll soon be aboard the Nemesis, General. I wonder what your father has in store for us, eh Miss Wilde?” as he leaned forward to talk to his fellow captives and answer the Colonel’s statement.

  “Copy that, we’ll get to you somehow, just sit tight and keep them safe, De Boer, out,” the Colonel replied. Hawk knew there was no need to respond; he would do everything he could to safeguard the lives of the two people with him.

  Rygar looked at Hawk and with a sneer said, “Oh you don’t need to worry about them my friend. Her father will indeed keep them, entertained shall we say, while you on the other hand...” and he left the sentence to hang in the air.

  Tanya asked, “What... what about him?”

  Hawk looked at her and smiled then calmly said, “I’m to entertain him.”

  “I don’t know what that means,” Tanya said naively, looking firstly at Hawk who sat serenely across from her then at Sinclair sitting next to her.

  “Best that you don’t my girl,” he said, placing a calloused hand on top both of hers in her lap.

  “Don’t worry Tanya,” Hawk said soothingly, “I’ll be fine and so will you.”

  “How?” she asked in a little voice, trying her damnedest not to show her fear.

  “Yes, hero, how are you going to accomplish that little feat? As the bad guy I have a vested interest,” Rygar said, hoping to show the futility of their hopes of salvation.

  Hawk looked at him with ice-cold eyes and said, “Simple, first I kill you then I rescue them.”

  Rygar was taken aback by his blunt, confident words and the manner in which they were delivered, not with passion or histrionics but simply stated as matter of fact. His eyes, the coldness of his stare, chilled him to the bone and he found himself wondering if bringing Hawk along was such a good idea after all. He started to think that perhaps safety might have been more prudent than self-indulgence and decided he would kill him as soon as they were on board. He would do it personally to ensure that it was done right.

  Finding he could no longer hold Hawk’s stare he had to look away saying feebly, “We’ll see.”

  23

  The Nemesis was surrounded by the four cruisers. The Justice and Legend had each contacted other starships and had been rewarded with the knowledge that the Odyssey and Atlantis would follow as soon as possible and it was they who had joined the battle.

  Once the four cruisers were in their relative positions they could circle the Nemesis, evading any fire from her whilst counter attacking.

  It would be almost impossible for the carrier to escape whilst being surrounded by those four cruisers, but Wilde was determined to try. He had come so far and got too close to his ultimate prize to lose it all now. The prize was still his for the taking and he would grasp it with both hands.

  THE TROOP CARRIER THAT held Rygar, Hawk, Sinclair, Tanya Wilde and the remainder of the Rover5 squad, left Earth. At first the pilot was worried about the fighter craft attacking the Nemesis and having to navigate a way through them, but as they neared their objective he noticed they were busy. That wasn’t to say their passage would be easy, far from it. The four cruisers were still attacking and the carrier’s shields would have to remain up. Rygar contacted Wilde to inform him they were on approach and was told to come ahead as a diversion would be staged so they could get through the blockade.

  Ordering the captain to concentrate all his firepower on one of the cruisers, didn’t matter which one, he wanted to cause enough damage to get her to pull out of the attack.

  The Justice was targeted and the carrier’s pulse cannons were fired and a full spread of Sabre and Hammerhead missiles was sent her way. The amount of firepower unleashed upon the one craft was staggering and overloaded her shields within seconds and she began to sustain heavy damage. Explosions erupted down her flanks and, unwillingly, she had to pull out of the fight until repairs could be completed.

  The second a gap appeared in the cordon around the Nemesis
the C230 powered through it passing harmlessly through the carrier’s shields and straight into one of the flight deck bays.

  The Legend, Odyssey and Atlantis closed that gap by altering their courses and firing patterns, battering the larger craft hoping to disable her.

  The Nemesis had taken a pounding from the cruisers around her and her armament was quickly becoming depleted, but the news that the prisoners were on board was just what Wilde wanted to hear.

  “Captain, hail the respective captains of those cruisers and inform them that we have General Sinclair on board with us and if they do not cease firing immediately, I shall execute him,” Wilde said with a satisfied grin.

  “Aye, sir,” replied the captain who relayed the order to ops. Turning back to Wilde he said, “Sir, you know as well as I do, Confederation policy is not to negotiate with terrorists, whoever is involved. The most we can hope for is a little time if, and I stress if, they wish to verify his presence on board.”

  “And in that time we make our jump to hyperspace,” Wilde replied more calmly now as he knew he had the upper hand once more.

  “But what if they don’t bother to verify his presence and simply consider him a casualty of war?”

  “In that case the three captains will have to confer with whoever is in command now. My guess is they’ll have to contact President Takagi, considering how we just decimated Confederation Headquarters, so either way they’ll hesitate and that hesitation will give us the opportunity to make the jump.”

  “I see, sir,” replied the captain, smiling as he saw the simplicity of it. “I’ll have the co-ordinates set and ready to go on your command but I’m afraid that when we open the hyperspace window, being so close to those cruisers, we may drag one of them along with us, sir,” he added thoughtfully, working out the calculations required.

  “I’m not worried about one cruiser, Captain, I’m sure we can take care of that should the need arise.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  “Have Sinclair brought up to the bridge, I want him to witness our victory,” Wilde said finally.

  AS THE TROOP CARRIER entered the docking bay the automated docking codes authorised her to land on a specific pad. Once down, clamps engaged from the pad to hold the craft in place securely whilst the pad was raised up to one of the twelve levels where she would be stored until required.

  Once on this level the hydraulic ramp disengaged to allow the pad to be moved along to its allotted storage position along the side of the docking bay where the rest of the craft were stored, leaving the centre section free for incoming or outgoing traffic. The hydraulic ramp returned to the base of the bay where another pad would slide into place. Once the craft was secured in position against the side of the bay by clamps, gantries slid into place to enable the crew to debark.

  Rygar and the eight remaining Rover5s debarked along with Sinclair, Hawk and Tanya.

  “Your presence is required on the bridge General, you’re coming too Miss Wilde, I’m sure your father will be pleased to see you,” Rygar said. Speaking to the eight Rover5s he added, “You two stay here with him, the rest you’re with me. Make sure he gives you no trouble. I’ll be back shortly to take care of him personally.”

  Hawk locked eyes with Tanya as she was about to be taken away and he smiled to reassure her that everything would be fine. Then she and Sinclair were gone, being herded along the balcony that ran along the side of the level where they were standing.

  The entire docking bay was fully automated which meant that Hawk and the two Rover5s were left alone. This suited Hawk for it would be easier to escape if he only had the two clones present to contend with before he tackled the real task at hand, Tanis Rygar.

  Putting his aches and pains to one side he steeled himself for what he had to do, which was to get the better of two heavily armed clones in close quarter combat. He’d had problems with the Rover5 back at the mall on Cordoba and he’d been up against just the one there, now he had two to face. Taking solace from the fact he had faced one before, knew its strengths and weaknesses and therefore was in a better position than last time, he prepared for the brutal battle.

  Rygar led the other group to the end of the balcony then into a large elevator with a clearplas door that closed once they were inside. It took them up to the top where they got out and headed towards the bridge, Hawk supposed, because once the elevator reached the top he lost sight of them.

  Hawk decided it was time to make his move; it was now or never.

  They were all standing roughly on the same spot where Rygar had left them, having disembarked the C230. The clones were vigilant and watched Hawk all the time. If he were ever going to make this work he would have to divert their attention somehow. As it was, the second he moved they would have him and it would be all over.

  “You two are exceptionally alert,” he said as he had an idea. “Is that built into your genetic makeup or is it something your father added later? He is your father, Jonas Wilde, well sort of. He is the one who bio-engineered you into what you are; he’s the one who set the parameters for the education programme that you absorbed while you were growing in your vat or tube or your mix. Was obedience added, you know, the ability to blindly follow orders?” As he was speaking he was looking at them, first one then the other, he accentuated the dialogue with hand gestures and also slight body movements as he began to creep ever so slightly forward, towards them.

  “What I mean is, do you follow orders to the letter? Your boss said to keep me here and that he would deal with me personally. Now, if I tried to escape, obviously you’d try to stop me but, and here’s the question, would you shoot me or would you just knock me down. Don’t forget, your boss will be back and he’s expecting to see me alive,” Hawk said smiling at the clones, and then it happened, they glanced at each other and the second they averted their eyes Hawk moved.

  Slamming into the two of them he knocked their assault rifles down so they pointed towards the floor with his left arm while he snatched a Sig P996 from the shoulder holster of the one to his right. Regaining their composure remarkably fast they pushed Hawk from them and their combined strength sent him flailing backwards to collide with the railing that bordered the balcony. Glancing down over his shoulder he noticed they were a hundred and fifty odd feet from the bottom of the docking bay, a hell of a drop should any of them go over the railing.

  His attention was brought back to the task at hand when he realised the clones were advancing on him and in that instant he knew he had his answer. They would try to subdue him and keep him alive for their boss, which gave him the advantage of having no such constraints.

  Before he could move though they were upon him, pushing him against the railing and bending him backwards with such force he thought his back would break at any moment.

  Both his arms were held, and when they thought they had control of the situation they pulled him away from the railing.

  Hawk knew what they wanted to do, force his arms up his back and fasten his wrists together with zip cuffs.

  As they brought him off the railing there was a split second when the clone passed Hawk’s hand across his own body prior to forcing it around Hawk’s back to apply the zip cuffs, but in that split second he forgot one tiny detail. That was the hand holding the Sig.

  Hawk shot him point blank three times in rapid succession, the shots striking almost as one. The salvo smashed into the clone shredding his chest cavity in a virtual explosion of blood and gore, the force of which threw him across the balcony. The second clone was shocked by the turnaround of fortunes and in the microsecond it took for his brain to register, Hawk had brought the Sig around and shot him right between the eyes blowing his brain apart in a mist of blood.

  The clone’s head was snapped backwards so violently it sent him staggering across the balcony a few steps, his arms cart- wheeling as he frantically tried to regain his balance before dropping down to the floor below, dead.

  Keying his ear bug Hawk said, “General Sinclair
, hold tight, sir, I’m on my way.”

  “What’s the matter with those fools?” Wilde asked angrily as he stared at the viewscreen displaying composite views from around the huge battle carrier. “Has the message been sent? Did they receive it?” he asked as he and everyone else on the bridge watched the three cruisers continue their attack with no sign of it abating. “Are they really willing to risk the life of their leader so readily?” he pondered when a voice answered from the doorway.

  “Simple answer, yes.”

  Wilde turned to face who had spoken, recognising the voice immediately, “Ah General Sinclair, so glad you made it,” he said smiling like a genial host greeting an honoured guest.

  “How could I refuse such a gracious invitation,” replied Sinclair in the same vein.

  “Father, what have you done?” Tanya asked, both angry and bewildered at his actions of late.

  “I have garnered my revenge against the thing that ruined my life, Col Sec and the architect of it all, General Sinclair. How does it feel, General, to watch everything you’ve worked for destroyed before your very eyes?” gloated Wilde, his eyes alight with his madness.

  “What you destroyed here today can be rebuilt, that’s not going to stop us Jonas, but you will pay for the lives lost here today, you have my word on that.”

  “Oh I don’t think so, you have no idea of the scope of what I’ve done, what I’ve achieved, but you will, in time, if you live long enough,” Wilde said with the supreme confidence borne from insanity. He turned to the captain and said, “Make the jump.”

  Before the order could be relayed to the pilot, ops shouted, “We’ve just lost secondary shields.”

  The captain turned from ops to rush over to the pilot when the huge ship was rocked by a series of shuddering explosions that were felt rather than heard throughout the massive carrier.

  Everyone on the bridge was knocked off their feet and went sprawling across the floor. General Sinclair shielded Tanya from harm, holding and keeping her close to him.