Wiphas
My heart breaks when I hear the first sob breaking free of that little omegas' chest. We can feel his terror. It's making me uncomfortable.
I try to comfort him. But he doesn't react. I get the feeling he doesn't understand us. This seems to increase his terror. Does he even know what we are? And then I see the little omega slump in my Weapons specialists arms.
A flare of jealousy runs throughout me,
"Krelak, give him to me. I will hold him while you secure our escape."
I should feel ashamed of my reaction. But then the little omega is placed in my arms and I calm down. I didn't even notice I got agitated. Krelak just nods and moves swiftly to the lift.
Tapping furiously on his scanner. The lift opens, and we step inside. We head back to deck eight. As the door opens, we can hear the fight already from inside the elevator. The Security of this ship stands before us with their back turned, focused on fighting Halam and Davac.
Krelak opens the fire before they get the chance to notice us. In crossfire now, they fall shocked by our guns to the floor. We start to run to the airlock. I growl when Krelak tries to take the little omega from me.
"Captain, you can't walk down the ladder with him in your arms. I will take him and pass him down when you are on the bottom. Please."
Snapping out of it. I do, as Krelak suggests. Climbing fast down the ladder, I reach up and take him. I cradle him against my chest while sitting down in one of the seats. The rest of our team joins us, and we haul ass.
We have just enough time to fly out of range of the Distorters. And hide behind a big asteroid before they run out of energy.
"Shut down all systems besides live support and our sensors. We wait and see what they do next before moving to our rendezvous point."
"No need, Captain. I left some nasty little worm in their system. They will need a few hours to clean their system."
"That wasn't part of the plan. But good idea."
With his quick thinking, we should get to our rendezvous point without issue. I just hope that the other team didn't occur any problems.
"Here, let me give him some mild sedatives. That way, he will be easier to transport," Halam says to me.
He already shifted back and got the medi-bag. I agree with his assessment this will also keep his stress and fear at bay for now. Nodding to Halam, he injects him in the right arm.
We all shift back. Halam still holding the medi-bag distribute some energy bars to get our levels back to normal. Shifting doesn't come without a price, but I still wouldn't change it for the universe. Shifting is only getting dangerous over a prolonged time if we don't consume what our higher metabolism needs.
"Krelak can you get the collar off?."
"Sure, give me a few seconds," Krelak replies while tapping on his scanner.
I can hear an audible click, and the collar drops to the floor. Angry, I destroy it under my boot.
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The flight to our rendezvous point is uneventful. Our space ship is already waiting for us. In a hurry, our pilot lands in the shuttle bay. We can feel the ship move as soon as we touch down. Climbing out of the shuttle with our precious cargo in my arms. I start to walk to my quarter.
"Captain, we should bring the omega to the med-center," Krelak shouts after me.
"Later, when he is awake, he looks exhausted."
The little omega started to snuggle in my arms, midflight. Head turned into my chest, breathing even. To me, it feels like he is right where he belongs.
While I walk, I decided to put him into a guest quarter near my own. Walking there, I reach it fast without any hold-up. I open the room and place him tenderly on the bed. Getting the blanket out from under him. I cover him up and leave him to his hopefully dreamless sleep.
Going straight to the bridge to get the report from my first officer. I can see some minor wounded crewmen going to their shared quarters. All greet me with a smile. They are grateful to be out of the king's clutches. Arriving at the bridge. I stare shocked at my first. He looks worse for the wear.
"Suri, what happened? Did we lose anybody?"
Suri looks up defeated,
"We lost three of our men before we could rescue them. They… They were…."
He stops.
"They were tortured to death!" his twin angrily screams.
Clenching my fists, I ask,
"Who?"
"Micah, Gother, Rohell."
Micah was an alpha and a father of four little kids, his omega will be inconsolable. Gother was an older beta and a good husband. What hurt most is knowing I couldn't save Rohell. He was only sixteen-year-old omega. An orphan, but he was like a little brother to me. Oh, Shayla, I hope they didn't rape him.
"Did we…" I swallow and whisper,
"Did we recover the bodies?"
Tears trailing down his cheeks, Suri replies,
"Yes, we did. But Shayla, they are nearly unrecognizable. That level of torture…"
My heart clenches,
"Do we know if they got any information from them?"
"No, they weren't tortured for that. Our spy says they were made an example. Everybody that aligns with us will die a merciless death. From the other ten we saved, two needed medical attention, Doc is looking after them."
"Will the two make it?" I ask, afraid of the answer.
"Doc is positive they will pull throughout," Orin tells me.
"Good, I will go to my quarters for a bit of sleep. Good Work," I say,
walking out. I turn around and head to my quarters.
In the privacy of my quarters, I let my tears fall freely for the lost men.