The Alpha.
Omega's Communicator beeped. When he saw that it was an encrypted signal from Inger Peck, he immediately answered.
"The plan failed."
"Retreat immediately."
Omega listened to the beeping of the dead line.
Nimrod had not fallen.
Impossible.
I saw it with my own eyes.
The scenes from the earlier holographic projection flashed through Omega's mind.
His eye suddenly twitched. I never actually saw Nimrod fall.
Could he have been pretending?
He saw through the plan we had spent years devising and came up with a trap in an instant.
A chill ran down Omega's spine, as though the life-support system had failed.
He switched communication channels. "Retreat immediately."
Omega rose from The Throne and leaped over to the holographic strategic table, watching the projection anxiously.
The scrolling runes caught his attention first. The Shadow of the Throne's energy readings are rising sharply.
Reactor restarting, Void Shields restarting, propulsion engines igniting—
If they had successfully caused chaos and crippled the Plasma Reactor, the Shadow of the Throne could not have resumed operations so quickly.
It really was a trap.
Omega swept his gaze over all the black ship runes, thankful that he had already followed the retreat plan, allocating all power to the engines ahead of time and maintaining high speed within the system. They would not need time to accelerate.
The Alpha had already put distance between itself and Shadow of Order's ships.
"Lord Omega." The captain's voice rang out.
"The enemy ships are accelerating and moving to intercept us."
"Estimated interception time along their optimal route is five hours."
Scarlet bands of light appeared on the holographic strategic table, one of them marked in deep crimson.
Omega examined the course of each of Shadow of Order's ships in turn.
Dark green runes moved and shifted constantly in