Wizard Omega (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 4) Read online

  Wizard Omega

  Book Four

  Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles

  Rodney W. Hartman

  DEDICATION

  This book is dedicated to my daughter Emily. You are an inspiration to me. I am humbled by your willingness to go where you are needed without thinking of yourself. You are one of the bright lights in a sometimes dark world.

  Books by Rodney Hartman

  Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles

  Wizard Defiant Book One

  Wizard Cadet Book Two

  Wizard Scout Book Three

  Wizard Omega Book Four

  Wizard Rebellion Book Five (TBP Summer 2017)

  Website: www.rodneyhartman.com

  Feel free to contact the author at: [email protected]

  Table Of Contents

  Chapter 1 – Cost of Rescue

  Chapter 2 – Trap

  Chapter 3 – Escape and Rescue

  Chapter 4 – The Defiant

  Chapter 5 – Life on the Defiant

  Chapter 6 – Jeena

  Chapter 7 – Missions

  Chapter 8 – A Proposition

  Chapter 9 – Matthew

  Chapter 10 – Assassin

  Chapter 11 – Perfect Timing Required

  Chapter 12 – Councilwoman Deluth

  Chapter 13 – The Tree of Light

  Chapter 14 – Gaston Myers

  Chapter 15 – The Defiant Upgrade

  Chapter 16 – The Secret

  Chapter 17 – The Black Sheep

  Chapter 18 – The Black Dreadnaught

  Chapter 19 – High Priest Questor

  Chapter 20 – Goodbye

  Chapter 21 – Diajor Prison

  Chapter 22 – Duke Bistoria

  Chapter 23 – Bandits and Thieves

  Chapter 24 – Elizabeth Bistos

  Chapter 25 – Tram Ride

  Chapter 26 – Game of Bongo

  Chapter 27 – Brachia

  Chapter 28 – Angela

  Chapter 29 – Attitude Adjustment

  Chapter 30 – Vindication

  Chapter 31 – The Defiant Returns

  Chapter 32 – The Duke’s Ball

  Chapter 33 – Mother

  Chapter 34 – Unexpected Diviner

  Chapter 35 – The Oracle

  Chapter 36 – Insertion

  Chapter 37 – The Assets

  Chapter 38 – The Green Sphere

  Chapter 39 – Jeena’s Promise

  Chapter 40 – The Black Ships

  Chapter 41 – The Helper

  Chapter 42 – Taking a Risk

  Chapter 43 – Obsession

  Chapter 44 – Sacrifice

  Chapter 45 – Ambush

  Chapter 46 – Trading Power

  Chapter 47 – Closing the Gate

  Chapter 48 – Escape

  Chapter 49 – Orders

  Chapter 50 – Destruction

  Chapter 51 – Boarders Away

  Chapter 52 – Payback

  Chapter 53 – Mission Complete

  Chapter 54 – A New Paradigm

  Chapter 55 – Bearer of Bad News

  Chapter 56 – The High Priestess

  Epilogue

  Copyright

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Chapter 1 – Cost of Rescue

  _____________________________________

  [Begin Transmission]

  Intergalactic Time: Current Date – 42 years

  The battered ship, more an escape pod than an actual starship, floated in the emptiness of space. The presence of a dim light from one of the cockpit windows was the only evidence the ship was not a derelict.

  A second starship drifted two kilometers off the escape pod’s portside. The second ship appeared to be an Empire-class recon ship. The word ‘Defiant’ was painted in bold letters across the bow of the recon ship. The airlock on the Defiant opened, and a lone figure in a power-suit exited. The figure slowly jetted across the distance separating the two ships.

  Once the figure secured a safety line to the escape pod, the concentrated blue light of a plasma-cutting torch lit up the side of the pod. The illumination revealed the frame around the escape pod’s hatchway was buckled. The figure slowly and methodically began cutting away strips of bent metal until the hatch began to wobble.

  Just as the figure was about to pry the hatch open, a glint of light reflected off the pod’s silvery surface. Whether it was due to the reflected light or a possible warning over the power-suit’s com-link, the figure turned away from the pod to face the Defiant.

  The recon ship was no longer alone. A black dreadnaught of enormous size had somehow appeared off the Defiant’s stern. The dreadnaught’s bow didn’t bear a name. Instead, it bore the outline of a black dragon with a red stripe down its side. A dozen beams of red, blue, and green leapt from the dreadnaught and exploded soundlessly against the Defiant’s force fields.

  Although outgunned, the smaller recon ship valiantly unleashed a flurry of missiles and plasma beams against the shields of the dreadnaught. But unlike the ancient Earth tale of David and Goliath, the giant didn’t fall. Its defensive shields were too powerful for the Defiant.

  Jets of flame from the lone figure’s power-suit shot out as the figure made a desperate attempt to return to the recon ship. But the figure must have known it was hopeless before starting. The distance was too great.

  An orange tractor beam from the dreadnaught latched onto the escape pod. The tractor beam began drawing the pod towards a set of opening bay doors near the rear of the dreadnaught.

  Despite the continued pummeling from the dreadnaught’s weapons, the Defiant’s shields continued to hold. The Defiant was obviously not a typical recon ship. As if to prove the point, the Defiant interposed itself between the escape pod and the massive dreadnaught. A single missile shot out from the Defiant directly along the path of the dreadnaught’s tractor beam. Drawn by the orange beam, the missile sped straight through the small opening in the dreadnaught’s force field and into the opening bay doors.

  An intense white light which could only be the flash of a tactical nuke erupted into being. The dreadnaught shuddered, but it remained intact giving evidence its bay area was reinforced with an internal force field of some kind.

  Although the Defiant failed to destroy its giant opponent, the surprise nuclear attack succeeded in knocking out the tractor beam. The escape pod once again floated free in space.

  But the little recon ship’s success was not without cost. The dreadnaught unleashed a flurry of energy beams and projectiles against the Defiant. The recon ship’s force fields began to weaken under the onslaught.

  Two of the dreadnaught’s main batteries began to traverse in an attempt to target the smaller recon ship. The main guns were designed to hit large cruisers and dreadnaughts, not small fighters or recon ships. However, it was evident given enough time, they could probably do so.

  Apparently realizing their pending doom, the Defiant’s crew maneuvered their ship to the far side of the dreadnaught. Once there, three more missiles shot out and struck the dreadnaught’s force fields. Three explosions rivaling the light of small suns lit up all three ships as the tactical nukes exploded. But the dreadnaught remained undamaged. Its shields were too strong for even tactical nukes.

  Fortunately, through the planning of the Defiant’s crew or through blind luck, the dreadnaught’s massive bulk and shields protected the escape pod and the lone figure from the radiation and shockwaves of the nukes.

  As the lone figure helplessly watched the battle
, a stream of translucent light escaped from the stern of the recon ship. Its hyper-drive had been activated and was beginning to move the ship away from the dreadnaught.

  The black dreadnaught didn’t seem inclined to follow until three more tactical nukes from the recon ship hit the dreadnaught’s shields. Apparently, the continued affront of the recon ship’s attacks was too much for the dreadnaught’s commander to take. Streams of translucent light from the dreadnaught’s stern moved its massive bulk in the direction of the Defiant.

  As the lone figure watched, the two battling starships faded into the distance until they were indistinct pinpoints of light. Then they disappeared completely.

  The lone figure continued to drift while staring at the spot where the starships had last been. Whether the figure hoped for the return of the Defiant cannot be said. But if that was the case, it didn’t occur.

  After a full hour of waiting, the lone figure finally turned and jetted back to the escape pod and finished prying open its hatch. For the next eight hours, stray flashes of light appeared in the escape pod’s cockpit windows. Eventually, the flashes stopped.

  A translucent stream of light shot out from the rear of the escape pod as its hyper-drive activated. The little starship moved forward at an ever increasing pace. Before long it disappeared from sight. Only a few bits of stray metal floating in the emptiness of space gave evidence anyone had ever been there.

  The brave Defiant was never seen again.

  Chapter 2 – Trap

  _____________________________________

  Intergalactic Time: Current Date

  Twelve massive U.H.A.A.V.s made their way up the ridgeline in search of the lone Warcat scout U.H.A.A.V. which was their quarry. Their weapon’s systems scanned left and right as if each of the mechanized behemoths were eager to be the first to destroy the smaller scout vehicle they sought.

  The U.H.A.A.V.s, or Ultra Heavy Ambulatory Assault Vehicles, were the main ground-assault armor for almost all of the advanced civilizations in the galaxy. The twelve vehicles, or ‘cats’ as they were fondly called by their pilots, continued searching for their victim. The formation of twelve cats ranged in size from ten-meter high Leviathans to smaller Long Cats.

  Their intended victim was Wizard Scout Richard Shepard. He was in a three-meter tall Warcat scout. Although his Warcat was an older model, its sensors were more than capable of picking up the sonic vibrations of the approaching enemy armor.

  As a wizard scout in the Intergalactic Empire, Richard was one of the best-trained scouts in the galaxy. But even wizard scouts were in trouble when they were outgunned and outnumbered twelve to one.

  Not exactly trying to hide, are they, Nick? Richard thought in the space he shared in his mind with his battle computer.

  Why should they? replied a voice in Richard’s head. They’ve got three quads of cats against your lone Warcat. I calculate an eighty-seven percent probability they think the outcome of any battle is a foregone conclusion. Personally, I think they’re being optimistic. I only calculate a seventy-eight percent probability they’ll kill you before you can get away.

  The voice in Richard’s head was Nickelo. All wizard scouts were assigned a battle computer, and Nickelo was Richard’s. Nickelo had been with Richard ever since his freshman year at the Intergalactic Wizard Scout Academy. Richard had ended his time at the Academy during his junior year when a surprise attack by a Crosioian task force destroyed most of the Academy’s infrastructure. The attack had been a year ago. The loss of the only known DNA gas vent in the galaxy had been even more devastating than the loss of the Academy buildings. Without the DNA gas, no new wizard scouts could be trained. Richard’s class had been the final class to graduate the Academy as wizard scouts. And, he had been the last of his class to receive the coveted golden-dragon insignia of a wizard scout. Richard was the last of the wizard scouts. He was the wizard scout omega.

  Well, Richard thought back, I guess we’ll just have to make sure we stay in the other twenty-two percent, won’t we? Besides, we’re only outnumbered twelve to one. We’ve had worse odds, haven’t we? So what else is new?

  Oh, it’s the same old, same old, said Nickelo with a laugh. I’ll bet when you joined the Marines, your recruiter forgot to tell you they didn’t give the milk-run missions to wizard scouts.

  Richard didn’t bother replying. He just let his mind sift through the mass of information his battle computer was dumping into their shared space. As part of the process of becoming a wizard scout, a section of Richard’s mind had been allocated as shared space with his battle computer. The rest of his mind was private, but inside the shared space, Richard and his battle computer could share information near instantaneously. Their ‘speech’ was more a series of feelings and images than it was words. Which was fortunate, otherwise in combat conditions, Richard figured he’d be dead before he could finish asking his battle computer for help.

  So, it looks like we have two heavy cats and two medium cats working their way up the west side of the ridgeline, Richard said still using thoughts for communication. Those four cats should get here first.

  Affirmative, said Nickelo using thoughts as well. From the frequency of the sonic vibrations, I calculate you’re up against two Leviathan heavy cats and two medium Long Cats.

  Bummer, Richard said as he brought up the specs for a Leviathan U.H.A.A.V. on his heads-up display.

  The Leviathan cat was the largest of the armored vehicles. Richard had fought them before. The ten meter high, six-legged Leviathan heavy cats were armed with a variety of anti-personnel and anti-armor weapons including missiles, plasma rifles, and a set of dual 240mm phase cannons.

  Don’t forget about their armor, said Nickelo who was monitoring Richard’s thoughts in their shared space. They have half a meter of brerellium steel on their front and sides. Your Warcat’s 40mm autocannon won’t do more than scratch their paint. And, you only have two anti-armor missiles. Two aren’t enough to get past the Leviathan’s force field.

  A normal Warcat was equipped with a small-caliber plasma rifle. But Richard’s old maintenance chief, Sergeant Ron, had modified this particular Warcat with a higher-caliber, 40mm autocannon. While deadly against light scout cats, even a 40mm armor-piercing round was ineffective against medium and heavy cats.

  Tell me something I don’t know, old buddy, Richard said. Do you have any good news?

  Well, said Nickelo, it looks like the second quad is setting up a blocking position a thousand meters to your rear. They’ll have a clear field of fire if you try to leave these woods.

  Is that supposed to be the good news? Richard said.

  Depends on how you look at it, said Nickelo with what sounded like another laugh. It means your death will be quick and relatively painless. I suppose you can think of that as good news if you’d like.

  Yuk, yuk, Richard said. It’s time to get serious buddy. I could use a little help.

  After the demise of the Intergalactic Wizard Scout Academy the previous year, Richard had been on a variety of missions for the Empire as well as several unofficial missions for ‘the One’. For the last six months, Richard had been assigned to a mercenary outfit operating in District 2 near the Storis Nebula. After five years at the Academy, working with mercenaries had been different to say the least. Even after six months, Richard was still unsure of all the little nuances of his unit’s command structure.

  Richard thought back to his mission briefing, or lack thereof, the previous week. His commander had received encrypted, top-secret orders directly from the Empire’s central computer. The orders had been marked with the seal of the Imperial High Council, the political arm of the Empire. The source of his orders had struck Richard as odd since they bypassed the normal military chain of command. However, they were legal, and orders were orders. He had been directed to proceed to a planet so non-descript it didn’t even have a name. The planet was known simply as planet X3321. Once there, his orders were to infiltrate and retrieve data from a Trecorian r
esearch complex. According to his orders, the research complex’s computer contained high-value information which might lead to the location of another DNA gas vent.

  Receiving the orders from the Imperial High Council instead of through the military’s Imperial High Command made Richard suspect he was being used in some type of political ploy. However, the possibility of finding a new DNA gas vent was too important to pass up. If the Empire could find another source of DNA gas, then Richard was hopeful the Intergalactic Wizard Scout Academy could be reopened. Without additional wizard scouts, Richard doubted the Empire would survive its current war with the Crosioians intact.

  According to his orders, the research complex was supposed to be lightly guarded. Military Intelligence, M.I., believed the facility only had a few civilian guards. The only other troops on the planet were supposed to be a unit of cadets. The handful of pre-teens and teenagers were apparently conducting some type of basic-training exercise. M.I. hadn’t considered them a threat. Richard had taken M.I.’s consideration with a grain of salt. He’d been burned by overly optimistic intel reports before.

  Penetrating the security complex had been easy enough. Richard had gotten to within four hundred meters of the complex in his Warcat. Once he’d exited his cat, he’d been able to traverse the remaining distance on foot. After he’d gotten inside the research complex, Richard had quickly located the primary computer and begun to download the required data. That’s when everything had gone to hell in a handbasket.

  The whole thing had been a trap. There hadn’t been any data. The moment Richard had plugged the retrieval device into one of the computer’s access ports, alarms had begun to go off all over the compound. And the few civilian guards had somehow been supplemented by a squadron of hidden Trecorian cats.

  If Richard had been a normal recon soldier, he would’ve been dead within seconds. But he wasn’t a normal soldier. He was a wizard scout. As such, he was sent on the most dangerous missions deep behind enemy lines and expected to survive. So far, he’d survived four hours since the alarms had initially gone off. Richard was unsure how many more hours he could evade his pursuers. He wasn’t even sure he could avoid a fight for the next ten minutes much less hours.