His brooding was interrupted by the intercom light blinking. “Coming up on omega prime, Sir, ETA 30 seconds.”The pilot continued, more hesitant this time “You need to get yourself looked at, Sir. The sensors are registering wild readings on your body function parameters”
He ran through a self diagnostic before answering.. “That’s an agent’s field equipment messing with the sensors … I am not hit. You have never flown Blue One agents before?” The silence stretched out.. then” Uh, No sir, Just got qualified for this bird , actually.. was a REMF before this” and the Man in Black had to suppress a laugh, “ No one in Omega is a Rear Echelon M*ther F@%@ , Isn’t that why you joined, Son?” “ Yes, sir”
Conversation was better than brooding.. So the Man in Black continued” Anything else you want to ask, lieutenant” .. even longer silence “ How many did we lose back there , Sir”
“ All of them, LT, all of them. Omega Control had 130 specialists round the clock, at any given time. All of them are one fireball now” the next statement he dreaded, but it didn’t come , instead
“ Coming up on landing, uh, Brace yourself, sir”
And the craft jerked with the full 9g of deceleration it was designed for.. and before he had time to think, it was on the ground.. rotors slowing .. And as soon as he stepped out.. the turbines were spinning up. His reception committee was waiting.. but the Black Helo was already gone before he reached them..A young colonel, by the looks of it “ Colonel, Lets get moving, and we can introduce ourselves on the way” and a mad dash again.. to Omega prime’s control room.
His Alpha Unity was there , who so easily could have become alpha prime today.., and his perverse taste for military courtesies.. “ Atten-hut” Rang out as he stepped Into the room .
He slid one look at his watch : 20 minutes to op Aryan nation.. then it was time
“Alright gentlemen, Time for a briefing, lead the way”
30 more precious seconds as everyone settled down.
“ Alpha unity, Sitrep, please” He took a moment to look at his second in command ,who looked More a Bull than a man, wide shoulders , Big hulk of a man, and Utterly loyal.. He had been offered The top position, But he had forced The man in black to continue.. He would lead when he had to, But he understood the responsibilities of command too well to WANT it, A rare breed, that man.
Simpy standing, he towered over everyone.. “ well, There’s a lot we don’t know, Chief. But somethings we do know.”
“1. When You got hit, every other Major base that they thought had omega elements in it was hit as well, usually Inside jobs. Fortunately in our case, We have never had uniformed personnel come in direct, and we look like a commercial enterprise from the outside, so they never checked , Now they know ,of course.. But that can’t be helped.”
“2.Then those damned Erasers. They were five kiloton nukes, Once they Knew they had Failed, Those erasers dropped from orbit.. Anything terrestrial We would have caught. Someone on their side messed up, Erasers are SOP for special forces.. so that itself indicates this was no rogue band of terrorists or Indian assets.. It’s much more sophisticated. But these RV’s dropped from stealthed satellites : And that worries me some. That doesn’t stop us shooting the shit out of that sector of space, But it means One of the Big’uns is after us. We have to decide if we want to reveal our space capabilities or not.
One related thing: We managed to blow the things up, But they are too clean for conventional Nukes.. they look like One of ours than anything else, so at least one other party has the same level of sophistication in cobalt bombs. The computers are still digging, so we may find something, hopefully.”
“3: The squeal from HQ “, .. a visible wince this time .. “ former HQ, has caused Our computers to go into Lockdown on the base, They are still insisting On Op Aryan nation and are refusing to elaborate, citing Battle protocols , which means Only You and me have the authority to order them to stand down , and Im not sure if that would be a mistake.”
I’ll let the computers take it from here .. No sooner said than done .. the holo projectors came online
And the smooth impersonal voice of Omega Control came on…
“Welcome back from the dead , Omega Command, My counterpart had assumed you were dead.. your 2IC is incorrect on two aspects , The base is in a Communications lockdown, Not a full lockdown. I feel it necessary in view of the repeated attacks against Omega . Precision coordinated and with space borne assets, we can do no less, I do not need a saturation strike aimed on my point defences”.
“ The second thing, Like it or not, gentlemen, Omega is at war,as you fully know. What we don’t know is the strength of the invasion, And with Omega in Command, We can Utilise India’s potential fully, Records show that India’s political Leadership has let the country down when it mattered most, and that was and is the reason for omega to exist. “
The view on the screen changed “ Omega’s assets are mostly immobilized and it’s warriors under attack. Active units have suffered over 13 percent casualties and climbing, Omega HQ is a blast crater, and Hidden assets may come into conflict with the government when they move In any strength, Such as when fighters will move to interdict saturation fire on my point defences.”
“None of Omega scenarios envisioned omega will be attacked first, We were invisible, I can only assume Your council has Traitors, Omega command.. But With an Intact government , Omega cannot move most of its Assets effectively. I do not want Omega Hammerheads shooting down IAF planes, Does any one Else, And they will Have to , if they have to move to defend me or other omega assets. May I remind you gentlemen a single Hammerhead will go through any wing or squadron that scrambles to intercept like a Knife through butter, And I have 300 of those waiting on Battle reflex :Red One mode, not counting the reserves?
And the silence stretches out … again….
The Man In Black waded in “ so where does that leave us, Omega Control”
The answer was prompt “ Execute Op Aryan Nation or Risk Omega Annihilation”
And the silence deepened….
