Captain Vikram Talwar, NSG, and his two commando pairs ( hits , in NSG lingo) were bored to death. He stamped his feet and kept a brisk pace to beat the Delhi chill as he made his rounds. Protecting a VIP was the dullest duty he had ever pulled, and He had pulled it under protest, He did not want to babysit the bottom feeding scum that made up delhi’s “elite”. Warriors did not belong here.

There will be enough time to take stock. He knew the old saw about” the only thing more terrible than a battle won is a battle lost” . For now: Omega’s sword had struck the first Blow.

************

My lone reader here suggested i submit this to a publishing house, well, i am taking that advice.. although i wrote this mainly as a hobby, I write professionally too, as it happens

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….

The Young soldier was back.. in record time, The man in Black noted with satisfaction. Now to see if omega command had survived. He thumbed the talk key : Omega Prime to Omega secundus, Over.
The reponse, quick and unhurried, Brought another smile to his face ..” Omega secundus reading Omega prime , Please authenticate,over” for all the polite phrasing, He knew a fumble would only end his Career as a Brahmos homed in on his radio signal and came screaming in at a little over mach six.
“ Omega prime authenticates Bravo-Alpha-niner-Zulu- Foxtrot, standby for squeal from comsats on K-band, vertical polarity. Omega Control is off the net , I say again, Omega control is off the net.,Acknowledge” and hoped like hell the computer had managed to upload everything for the burst transmission”
“ Secundus acknowledges squeal and authenticates Get-the-fucking-bastards, Over”. Another freeze the seven hells smile.
“ Omega control is compromised, I repeat, Omega Control is compromised: Omega is abandoning primary , we have cockroaches in the kitchen, Over”
A touch more emotion,this time” Omega Prime acknowledges, Control is down, Executing Firestorm . ETA on target is 90 seconds .. i repeat, ETA is 90 seconds .MOVE MOVE MOVE”.
And then there was nothing except a mad dash for safety. Amazingly, All of them made it out.. except one raider who had been hiding somewhere. Five hypersonic missiles , right on the dot. Secundus had loaded thermite. Jeez. The man literally jumped off the building and vaporized in midair.
Less than ten seconds later, The pickup arrived, and the Man in Black felt pride once more. Goddamn, His kids were good.. no, The best. That pilot had burned some rubber getting here.
The communicator buzzed” omega prime to Alpha prime, Confirm roasted rats, over”
“alpha prime acknowledges bar-b-q pit. Good shooting. I have men on the ground and that bird isn’t big enough , Over”
Hesitation, this time” Alpha prime, that is Your plane sir, The others are on the way, We have incoming Erasers on that site, we don’t know whose yet”
“ Alpha prime acknowledges, lets get out of here.. and a hand signal sent his men scattering away from the incoming nuclear fireball, as the VTOL touched down.
“The pilot took one look and went ashen..” sir, you are hit” . The man in Black bit back his anger and smiled.. “ No I am not, But I need to be at omega prime ASAP, let’s see if you can set a new record, shall we” and the world dissolved into dust. As the VTOL turned into a whirlwind..and the pilot redlined his four engines…

The flight to the new Omega prime gave him enough time to catch up… Events had been moving like a badly choreographed movie, No time to think .. time to take a few breaths..Then the word” erasers” popped up. Omega secundus , now Omega prime , knew more than he did. So whose special forces and whose eraser..Then he looked at the watch: 7 minutes from first contact. minutes in which Omega had transformed.. and the countdown had not stopped: 22 minutes to operation Aryan nation. “shit”
No other word sufficed. The man in black brooded as the craft raced for the New Omega prime.
Omega was at war, with no enemy in sight.

You wait for years for the warning bell to sound.. and prepare yourself as well you can. But the first Shriek of Code Red : Code red: Code Red: battlestations : .. still manages to surprise you, Thought the Man in Black wryly: As a couple of million beepers went off country wide and Omega awoke again.

It was Time to Decide: to make the final call :And a shriller call went out: OMEGA CALLING .Lightning Priority. Satellites that normally were sleepy dumb comsats awoke. Computers Cut into calls ,in the middle of calls, Overriding privacy codes. Omega Calling, Report In. .. Report In NOW. Switched off phones awoke.. and shrieked the Omega callsign. Omega Calling, Report In.