Drew's Troubles - Omega Colony #04

Colony Omega Chapter 4

To all,

Due to a request, I broke out a parallel series about the colonies. Due to this series being part of the Drew' Troubles concept but an offshoot, I am going to strive to diverge this series from the original. While there will always be the interweaving, I am hoping to keep this series ground based, while the other will look back into space.

Both the, planet bound, and space bound have issues. I want to strive to gain an understanding of what it's like to be on cusp of creating a new society.

Any aliens, real or imagined in this story are purely a construct of my twisted and warped mind.

I thank everyone so much for reading my stories and hope you continue enjoying them.

I hope all of you have an amazing, SAFE holidays.

***

Nalia dropped to her knees and looked at his feet, "Lord, I have been a slave my entire life. I have never been given choices, what to eat, where to go, how to behave, all have been decided for me. Just tell me what to do. I will be your most humble and obedient slave. Yes, I want to be with you always, almost more than anything."

"Please get up off your knees and look me in the eye," DB waited and then when she was within arm's reach, he pulled her to him, her arms immediately went around his waist, "Don't call me 'Lord" I will tell you why the next time we have time for pillow talk. If you want a 'master' I will gladly keep you and fuck you daily, but that is a personal matter between us." His whispering had brought his mouth to her ear. He bit down on her ear which he knew was part of a mating ritual of her species. She melted into him.

"Now as to what you promised, I truly doubt the 'humble and obedient' part." He commented by pulling them apart and looking into her eyes. She blushed and looked away, "but I want to first start by offering you a job. It pays well and has certain fringe benefits if you want them. I want you to help all the other slaves we find, to become part of our new society. You will learn what it is like to be free and then go teach others."

He spun when he heard a ship approaching. He looked and there was the Royal Cat. It spun gracefully and landed at the edge of the village. DB and Nalia walked to meet the shuttle, hand in hand as the ramp lowered and the hatch pulled away. There stood Target, in full utilities and armament. She held a plasma rifle in her arms and did a quick scan before marching down to meet them.

Nalia gasped when she saw Target up close. She pulled loose from DB and then sprinted ahead to fall to her knees at the feet of Target. DB stopped, he did not know why, but he wanted to let them talk in their own language.

It was only when Target crumpled to a heap next to Nalia that he sprinted up to find out what was going on. He found both hugging and crying, and incoherently talking in their native tongue.

'What is going on?" DB asked, confused, and worried at the commotion.

Target responded half unintelligible, "You found her, you found her!"

"Who?" DB asked

"My true niece. My oldest sisters' youngest daughter. My true blood. You found her."

Two strong female arms, one from each, reached up and pulled him down into the heap. He began to cry with them and become part of the whole.

***

They arrived back at

Kolochava

in a brand spanking, USED shuttle that had seen its better days. But it did not have fist sized holes in its side, was not pouring fire from its left nacelle and did not have the stupid blue and white UN symbol painted on the side, so it was a step up in the right direction.

In the place of the UN or any other symbol, DB had placed a Celtic tree in a circle with a heart in the center of the trunk. DB was thinking about Earth and Nalia's upbringing. While not of human Irish stock, she had been bred, raised, and kept a slave in Ireland, until she was sold and shipped off to a new world.

The Celtic tree in a circle symbolized wisdom, longevity, and prosperity. The heart was for Drew. DB was growing to know how much his distant cousin sold his soul and the weight of what he was responsible for. The motif was done in greens and browns to better define the land they now husbanded.

Their meeting with the War Counsel went well and he felt he had the backing he needed to do what was necessary to save the inhabitants of the two failing colonies. He just needed to figure out all the stuff that needed done. The list kept growing, and never seemed to shorten.

They strode down the gangway to the ground and were met by few. In the days they were gone, things had seemed to shift back to the old ways. They could see faces peeking out of drapes on windows, but few ventured beyond their doorways. It was DB and Nalia that left the shuttle and walked toward the bar known as Zenyk Mytnyk.

Nalia looked so different from the slave that had rescued him in a rough spun tunic and grey panties. Her Aunt Target had seen to that. She was combed, brushed, and fitted out with a warrior's tunic and kilt. She wore a knife on one side and pistol on the other. She was beautiful before, but now was gorgeous and downright dangerous looking.

DB swiveled his head looking at all the huts and meandering roads. The only thing straight in this town were the two main 'highways' that crisscrossed in the center. And, that was because they were laid out originally from space.

He was pondering how long it would take to break the political lock on totalitarianism. He needed to find something to give hope instead of the despair. This winter was going to be difficult as it was, without the fatalism. And he had yet to venture into the original Omega and deal with what was left of the Odessa there. DB knew one of the first things to go will be the Russian names. He wanted something more generic. Not something so earth mono-culture centric.

His new name for Kolochava, soon to be capital of the combined new Omega was 'New Hope.' He was not ignoring the edict of the Colonia Council to 'study' the problem.

Well, not really 'ignoring.'

He knew this was the only sane answer to the existing problem. They had to combine Gamma and Omega and deal with the same problems at the same time. They had little time to placate the upper echelons of Gamma and Omega society before the starvation of the rest of the society began to take hold.

As they neared the bar and gentleman's club, several of the females recognized Nalia and tried to run to her. They were grabbed by a rather rough looking human male and thrown back to several others that were waiting on the inside.

"What do you want? We don't want your kind here stirring up trouble," stated the large ruffian standing in front of the bar.

"So, you have taken over management of this establishment and the gentleman's club?" asked DB.

"Ya, they seemed to go missing and the ladies needed protecting. What's it to you?" stated the ruffian.

DB had already investigated the single layered mind of the ruffian and his companions and found them just to be opportunists. No real Odessa ties. Thugs that saw an opportunity and took it. DB sent a message.

All heard and saw the shuttle lift and pivot. It flew once around the town and then settled a couple of hundred feet up and behind DB and Nalia. DB sent another message and the single bug weapon under the shuttle nose, lit up. Green bleed-off enveloped the nose of the shuttle. The loose energy made the hair start to raise on everyone.

"You see, I am the new owner of this establishment. And while I am grateful for you keeping it safe, I want you to leave now. I am also in control of this town, so I want you to leave it too." DB paused for a second and saw Nalia putting her hand on her pistol. He could feel her losing control.

He did a quick mental glance. He felt and then saw unbridled hatred for this human coming from Nalia. He sent a mental note to the shuttle-based bug weapon to full power, just to make a point. The sound, vibrations, and energy bleed-off was terrifying.

"Now, I mean NOW! Not later, not at the end of the day, not when you have gathered your things, out now!" he yelled, not wanting to give Nalia an excuse to let loose her anger.

As the human males started to move out the doorway, one came out with an avian female being led on a leash. DB stopped the procession and Nalia yanked the leash from the man's hand. The ruffian's fist came up towards Nalia...and he vanished.

DB went white and stumbled back and then the man appeared again, dead, prostrate on the ground and stinking of ocean water. DB could not talk but looked at the dead body and what he had done. He knew, that in a blink of an eye he had crushed this man during transport.

Nalia stepped up and began to take control, "Be gone, ye waste of man flesh. If I see you again, I will kill ye where ye stand, no warning. I recommend you get far away and stay there. Now go!"

"Nalia? Nalia is that you my sexy alien lass? Look at you all dressed up and looking special." The large human male approached Nalia, "Come give your Brody a hug and let's forget all this nastiness," the original ruffian stated and then walked with open arms towards Nalia. Her pistol left her holster, but she could not pull the trigger. She tried and tried.

Brody vanished and was back in a few minutes. He was pale and shaking, on all fours retching. He had shit himself.

DB temporarily shook off the horrors of just killing someone, he knelt beside Brody.

"I'll give you and your crew 5 minutes to be out of town, no talking, no slaves, no grabbing something for the trip. Drop any weapons you have and get out or I will send you back to the ocean. But instead of hovering 100 feet above it, I'll send you 1000 feet down like I did your friend...Ill count to three."

DB stood and straightened himself up.

"One..." the ruffians sprinted away. The body vanished also. DB felt that a burial at sea was best. Better to feed the fishes than dig a grave.

Nalia turned to him, with fire in her eyes. She was pissed off beauty, personified. Her ears had gone flat along her scalp, her eyes narrowed, nostrils flared, and her canines were showing.

"Why my Lord, why?" she growled.

DB looked up and waved the shuttle off. It flew high and trailed the departing ruffian group. The sudden silence was welcoming to DB.

"I am not your Lord...but your mate," which caused gasps not only from Nalia but from several females now crowding the doorway, "I just took another's life, and I am not sure what the cost will be. It is not a price that will be paid down quickly. I did not want you to take on the same burden," he paused, "he should not have tried to hurt you..."

DB looked up at the passing clouds and saw a series of the large local bees heading to a large dead tree in the field. In the midst of the drama, all he could think about was finding the nest and getting some local honey.

DB suddenly felt loving arms around his chest and a paw sliding to the back of his neck. He bent his head and looked into the loveliest eyes.

"Come my mate, let's go plan for the future," Nalia whispered.

***

The four quietly walked through the valley and up the secret route leading to the rear pathways of Rostov. Their mission was to infiltrate the local towns and contact the slaves that populated the colony. DB had a plan, and the slaves were key to it.

While the Omega colony had been swarmed by Planet based security after the Lord Drew's shuttle incident. The Odessa had experience with policing activities. As quickly as the planetary security came, it was gone. They were back in business, just short a couple of henchmen and lots of stored weapons. All of those would be replaced. Retributions were already taking place to the people that talked to the planet security.

The Omega Odessa owned this colony and would not think that anyone could take it from them. They were a little concerned over the sudden loss of communication with their sister organization in Gamma, but that would not deter them from their objectives, greed, and control.

DB had presented his plan to the Pride counsel in the month following the takeover of Gamma. The capital of New Hope had already started flourishing. The plan for Omega was like Gamma, infiltrate, learn and organize.

Their plan was to use ex-slaves to make friends with the existing slaves. Gather intel and then do something to bring the Omega Odessa leadership together.

Then ship them off via the DB expressway.

DB knew that the Gamma expulsion of Odessa was done 'on the fly' and so luckily it worked out. He knew that these Odessa would be more cautious and more deadly. He did not want to put the slaves and public in harm's way more than he already had.

DB had made a seemingly odd request to Alexander, the use of one of his Ravens for intelligence gathering. Alexander was aggravated that DB could just investigate his 'secret' organization of espionage and see its workings. But like Lord Drew, DB was deemed honorable.

DB asked for Electra by name, she preferred El. She was one of the few that were still working on Colonial efforts and not the troubles in Marauder space. El showed up to the Capital with a bit of a chip on her shoulder, but DB needed her skills if he was going to oversee the blending and control of the combined Omega colony. She too had seen what the plan of the Earth Odessa was. And she was shocked when DB started talking about the slaves and their potential use. She thought she was alone in this realization.

Slaves went everywhere, saw everything, and were invisible in a society based on subjugation. They were the key to it all. Several of the females that worked in the entertainment house with Nalia had been in the same type of houses in Rostov. They went first and began the espionage.

Phase 1 commenced, as recommended by El. Satellite service was stopped, killing off communication other than short distance radio. The Planetary Council apologized to the local colony leadership. They said it was a meteor strike to the satellite. That it would be "back in service soon." This blinded the Odessa in Omega.

Phase 2 began almost in parallel to phase 1. All shipments were held at the arrival points and planetary custom agents searched the carriers. Weapons, slaves, un-authorized animals, and narcotic processing equipment were seized.

Phase 3 was not far behind. The sudden disappearance of huge stockpiles of cash, drugs, and weapons. This was a push for DB. He originally thought that the mass of illegal material would overwhelm him. But, as he discovered, mass and volume had no meaning in transition. The warehouses on the penal island were becoming quite full.

Things in Omega were reaching the boiling point. Each of the local Odessa clans were blaming the others for the losses and slips in security. Things were ready to blow.

***

El sat in her back-room offices at the Castle. She found it fascinating to be in such a grand location compared to the place she was raised. Her family was on the last shuttle off planet before the roach hoard decimated her birth planet. Amongst the avian species, the Ravens were the most disliked and mistrusted.

El may not have been the most beautiful of her species, but she kept herself well groomed. Her vestigial wings kept her flightless, but they were beautiful, black, silky, had a two-meter spread when not folded gracefully on her back. These same wings were part of the issue with the other avian species.

The other avian felt the Ravens were not successfully evolved from the fledglings they once were and therefore a substandard race. That and the Ravens' fondness for solitude away from a flock, further alienated the species from other avian.

As a species they were not without perceived faults. Their standoffish behavior was taken as smugness. Their keen eye for detail and blunt speech was taken as rudeness or presumptuousness. Their solitude sometimes taken as racist even among the several avian species. And their intelligence was taken as arrogance.

The breeding programs of the elders had changed all the avian to be bipedal and shifted their facial features to be more in kind with the beauty factors desired by the Elders. The same factors that had shifted humans away from their simian base to more refined features. Compared to the other avian species, the ravens were taken in a different direction, kept more exotic.

While her facial features were more humanoid, the ravens had plumage on their heads that ran down their neck to the juncture of the vestigial wings. They were small fine feathers, almost hair in appearance until they ruffled. This covering of feathers followed the spine down to their vestigial tail. Short like the kettle but with larger 'flight' feathers like her wings. This gave an appearance of the back of a skirt, again until they ruffled. Dressed in her normal kilt, she struck an imposing, but beautiful figure.

She, being a most analytic creature, always wondered about her breasts. She was not mammalian, but the breeding programs had added breasts to all the modified avian species. While hers were a bit larger than average, she had a unique coloring pattern. Her downy feathers ran just below her breasts, highlighting them like a human bustier would. Her previous lovers had found it quite erotic.

Her mind shifted to her past lovers. She needed to get laid and soon. She knew that she would become more easily agitated the more she was forced to take things into her own hands. At one time she had high hopes to bed Alexander. She was fully bi-sexual, and she could not understand how he could breed with the female cats, but not enjoy a very physical bout of sex with her. She understood that he preferred males, but if he could get hard for the breeding, her exotic looks should have been able to win him over. Her high libido did create problems at times.

She would keep to her duties. They had expanded exponentially since the eradication of the Odessa. She was now working with her counterparts on Earth to ferret out the web of the smugglers. The smugglers were not Odessa, just hired by the Odessa to carry their goods.

The smugglers were a separate group that needed thinning, but somewhere in the back of her mind, she felt they could be of use in the future.

She began to get that itch again and decided to travel to the market. There was a strong built human ex-slave. Muscled and brawny, he might just be able to scratch that itch, and may only cost her some minor coin...

***

DB felt like something out of a bad Vid show from 100 years ago. Here he was leaning on a building in Rostov, dressed in rough spun pants and shirt, much patched, wearing handmade leather boots coated in mud and animal excrement, all covered by a hooded cape. And yes, he had a crude knife tucked into his belt. If everyone else had not been dressed the same, he would have thought it comical.

He was watching the local tavern and house of entertainment to see who entered and who was just a peasant going about their tasks. He had a hard time using that phrase, but it only took a year for the Odessa to bring back the feudal system of lords and peasants.

Odessa thug, after Odessa thug went into the building but never came out. It was a tavern but not a large one, so something was amiss.

"A dollar to keep you warm for a while, kind sir," DB smiled and could feel her smirking without looking.

"Oh, how far we have fallen! From mate to an Elder scholar, to street urchin selling her body for a dollar," DB goaded Nalia.

He felt her move and then the claws at his neck. Just un-sheathing and sheathing, over and over. Enough to remind him how lethal she could be in a pinch.

"It is lucky that I love an off-worlder so much that I will put up with such verbal abuse. I am looking forward to paying him back once alone and naked though." Nalia whispered in his ear.