The Omega Endeavor

PROLOGUE

August 22, 2440 Advanced Era: Ixxalys’s Log

“Once the galaxy viewed our mighty empire as the most formidable force in existence, and there were few who could challenge us. Now we are on the brink of collapse and are facing extinction. “When the enemy emerged, my attempt to prevent their advances failed, and I lost my home world. Once the evacuation of Rana was complete, I used what little resources I had to stop the attack on our brethren. I could only watch as Earth’s armies fell. I was unable to prevent the onslaught, and I am powerless to defend my comrades: another failure. “With our alliance battered and broken, we continue to fight alongside our human brothers. I feel that this is a battle we cannot win.

The struggle for Earth is over, and the war is lost. May your creator have mercy on you all. I am Ixxalys, Supreme Commander of the Larin fleet, and these will be my final words.”

Chapter 1

THE ENCOUNTER

April 4, 2435 Advanced Era (AE), five Terran years ago

Lieutenant Radford eased the throttle on his fighter. A month on patrol without a single contact, not even a scavenger, left him weary and exhausted.

These patrols are pointless, Radford thought. There’s nothing out here. Then his battle computer came alive.

It beeped twice and inexplicably went silent. Radford scanned his targeting grid and saw only friendlies. Maybe it was a glitch in the computer. A faint signal appeared, accompanied by another beep, but just as suddenly as it appeared, it was gone.

“Damn thing.”

Radford beat his fist on the console, and the blip reappeared. This time it remained for a few seconds and then faded. He scanned outside his canopy, but he could only see Collins’ fighter. He activated his comm.

“Cannon, you see anything?”

“Negative, Raptor. Vacuum’s clear as a starry night in Alabama.”

“My battle computer’s giving me some strange readings. First it picks up a bogie, and then it’s gone.”

“Well, I’m not reading anything on my end. You know how these things are.”

Yeah, Radford knew how they were. Each new upgrade promised to be better, faster, and grittier than the last.

Trouble was, the software usually took about six months to catch up. Still, all this silence made him nervous.

“Keep your eyes open, Cannon.”

“Will do, Raptor, but this ride promises to be as quiet as all the—” A bolt of white light lashed through the darkness and gutted Collins’ fighter. The little fighter separated in two for just a moment before the engine went critical and detonated in a brilliant cloud of flame.

The emptiness of space suddenly teemed with a flotilla of ships, their sleek design eluding all Radford’s efforts to identify them. His targeting console stayed silent. Radford broke right to avoid a collision, and a white beam of light shot past the underside of his fighter.

“Holy—” he shouted into the comm. “They’re all around us.”

“Raptor, this is Roach. Who’s all around you?”

Radford’s heart pounded. The sweat from his palms made the stick feel slippery beneath his grasp. He could barely make out the black silhouette of the sleek ship’s design.

“Fighters … hundreds of them.”

“Negative, Raptor,” Roach replied. “I’ve got nothing on my con.” Radford barreled through the nearest cluster, hoping to force them to stand down or risk shooting their own.

“Forget the con. Open your eyes.”

“I’m telling you, I don’t see anything.”

“Damn it, Roach! Wake up!” There was a brief moment of static. Radford was too busy to keep up his end of the conversation.

“Wait a minute. I think I see them, but there’s only two. You sure those readings are—” The comm went silent.

Radford looked out of his canopy and watched Roach’s ship separate and explode in a flash.

“Omega One, this is Joker.” Nelson’s voice came online. “We’re under fire. I repeat, we’re under fire.”

No. Welcome to the party.

“Roach is down.” Radford continued to dance among the enemy ships. They held their fire, but he knew it wouldn’t last long. Soon they would find a way to isolate him, and then …

“This is Justice. All Omega patrols, re-form on me.” Captain Pierce’s voice brought a refreshing stillness to Radford’s nerves.

“Prepare to engage!”

The Omega group broke formation and fired on the unknown vessels. Radford struggled to locate the alien armada, but only two ships remained.

“Ranger, this is Justice,” Captain Pierce transmitted to their command ship. “We’re under attack from hostiles, and I’ve got two down. They’re using advanced weaponry. I don’t know how this is gonna end.”

Pierce maintained his bearing, but his heart was beating fast. As far as he knew, no other race possessed technology superior to the Interstellar Space Fleet. The formation of the ISF had been the most significant achievement in human history. Since then, humans had encountered several alien races in their travels, but to the humans’ surprise, few societies had spacefaring capability. The races that did were focused on trade and did not have the ability to mount an interstellar war. Encountering a technologically advanced race, let alone a hostile one, did not bode well for Pierce and his team.

“The ships have cloaking capabilities, ”he continued. “I’ve never seen anything like it. The unknowns are extremely hostile. I’ll keep the feed open as long as possible.”

Pierce then turned his attention to his wingmen.

“Make sure your CAMs are transmitting. I want Central Command to see this. And Angel squadron should have rendezvoused by now. Strider, where are you?”

A hail of fire entered the fray and quickly impacted the unknowns. Pierce’s command computer blared as more friendly forces entered the area. He looked at his con, and it showed eight of what would have been ten green blips of friendly forces.

“All right, Justice!” Captain Matthews came online. “Heard you yapping. Angel, Omega, light those bastards up!”

Matthews hit one of the targets on what appeared to be the cockpit of the unknown craft. “Direct hit!”

The craft absorbed the blast from Matthews’s attack, but there was no clear damage to the ship. “Status check. You see any sign of damage?”

“Negative, Strider,” Pierce replied. His heart beat faster, while his emotions ran rampant. He hid his feelings from his wingmen, and numerous thoughts flooded his mind. He could not break down, not now. Matthews’ comm quickly interrupted his thoughts.

“All right, Justice. Gimme an update. What are we up against?”

“Stand by, Strider. I’m gonna try and communicate with them.”

“I don’t think they’re in a mood to talk,” Matthews responded.

“Maybe not, but it’s worth a shot. I’m transmitting a message in all known languages.”

Pierce knew it was a futile effort, but he had to use all means available to get out of this situation, if possible.

“This is Captain Pierce of the ISF, representing planet Earth of the Sol system. Cease your assault. We are explorers and have no hostile intent. If we have violated your territory, allow us safe passage, and we will return to our borders.

I repeat: we have no hostile intent.”

The mysterious vessels immediately focused their fire on Pierce. Having spent years as a combat instructor, Pierce was well versed in evasive-maneuver tactics, but he narrowly avoided being destroyed by the beams.