A New Beginning! The Updated Prologue for Omnidisk: The Mission Is Here!

Hey, Omnifans!

Every great adventure has a beginning. But sometimes, that beginning deserves a second look.

A while back, I announced that I'd been working on a new and improved prologue for Omnidisk: The Mission. Well, the wait is finally over, and I'm excited to share it with you!

For those of you who've already read the book, I hope this revised opening gives you a fresh perspective on the story and adds another layer to the world you've already experienced. And for those of you who haven't picked up your copy yet, consider this your invitation to step into the Omnidisk universe! I hope this sneak peek sparks your curiosity and leaves you eager to discover what happens next.

As always, I'm incredibly grateful for your continued support and enthusiasm for this series. I'm excited to keep sharing more of this universe with you!

And now, without further ado, here's your first look at the new prologue!

Five years ago... 

Energy Armor at thirty-four percent. 

Chasub glanced at the words scrolling across the holographic screen. Between taking evasive action, plotting his wormhole jump, and dodging the enemy fire from behind his ship, he couldn’t focus on any one thing for too long. Even if the thing was the computer warning him that the energy shield protecting the ship was about to fail. 

BOOM! Another direct impact near his engines. Chasub’s long gray fingers flew over the controls, the holographic buttons flashing with various colors to show he’d made contact. He would’ve been flung across the cabin if not for the anti-gravity belt cinched around his waist. Its steel-gray frame pulsed with multicolored lights, stabilizing his stance midair as the ship bucked violently. His bare, talon-shaped feet hovered inches above the deck, body held upright in defiance of the chaos. He rapidly entered the fire suppression and auto repair commands, not sure if it made a difference with the enemy ships so close behind him. The Omega was the fastest ship on Chua. The fact that the enemy’s capital ships were mere specks in the distance, barely visible to the naked eye, proved this to be true. Unfortunately, the naked eye also showed the smaller fighters matching his speed, their plasma trails shooting through the darkness of space, bringing them steadily closer. 

Energy Armor at twenty-one percent. 

Chasub tried to steady his hands on the controls after the latest torpedo hit grazed his thrusters. He felt the ship shudder as it strained to maintain velocity. 

“How long until the graviton emitter has enough charge to create the wormhole?” Chasub asked, the strain in his voice hitting his ears as his words echoed around the command deck. A grim reminder that he was all alone trying to control a ship that was designed for a full crew. 

Ninety-six seconds. 

Chasub finally felt some hope as the words flashed across the screen. 

“Excellent! Estimated time remaining until energy armor failure?” 

BOOM! Another direct hit from an enemy torpedo rocked the ship. If Chasub hadn’t been floating via his anti-gravity belt, the impact would have knocked him off his feet. 

Forty-five seconds to Energy Armor failure. Energy Armor at eight percent.Danger extreme. 

The sense of hope drained out of Chasub’s body as quickly as it had come. His ship would be debris floating in space before he could even think about opening the wormhole. He couldn’t just focus on evading anymore if he wanted to live long enough to escape. 

“Bring the targeting computer online,” Chasub aimed the illuminator, the ship’s energy weapon, at the enemies behind him. 

Warning: Use of the illuminator will slow the graviton emitter’s charge. 

The ship shuddered as a near miss from enemy weapons grazed the energy armor. No choice, Chasub thought to himself. He steadied his hands and aimed at the three pursuing ships. 

Tseeew! Tseeew! Tseeew! Three energy beams lanced out of the ship’s weapon arm...and shot right past the targets. The ships moved too fast for the Omega to get a lock. Chasub noticed that firing on them had the unexpected benefit of forcing them out of position, so they temporarily lost their own target lock on his ship. Right now, every second mattered. 

Chasub fired a few more times, but those shots missed as well. Worse yet, the enemy vessels were positioning themselves to fire again. 

“How long until the graviton emitters are charged?” Chasub asked, trying desperately to hit the ships. 

Thirty Seconds. 

Chasub hissed. That may as well have been an eternity. The ships were mere seconds away from firing again. His eyes grew wide as an idea occurred. 

“Show me a list of everything stored in the cargo bay,” Chasub said. “Quickly.” 

A separate display materialized, and a glowing holographic list appeared. Chasub had just begun to scroll down the screen when... 

BOOM! 

Energy Armor offline. Engines damaged. Speed decreased by forty percent. 

Chasub wasn’t just short on time. His time had run out. He was almost ready to brace himself for the inevitable when he glanced at the cargo list one last time. He had to stop himself from cheering. He’d found what he was looking for. 

“Put a grav-lock on everything else in the cargo bay except for crate 54- Theta. Open the external cargo bay doors.” Chasub ordered. This was a desperate plan, but it was his only shot at survival. 

Warning, that crate contains... 

“I know what it contains, override all safety protocols and do it now!” Chasub demanded. 

The cargo bay doors opened, and before the enemy ships could fire another shot, the crate flew out of the ship straight towards them. They maneuvered around it...but Chasub knew they would. 

“Aim the illuminator at the crate and fire!” Chasub looked at the calculations on the display in front of him. If he was wrong about any of this, his journey would end here and now. 

Tseeew! The beam shot from the Omega, past the enemy vessels, and hit the crate. 

BOOOM!!! A massive explosion tore through space. The blast hit one of the enemy ships, disabling it. It floated through space, powerless. The other two ships were still functioning, but the shock wave had knocked them way off course. It would take them some time to regain their target lock on Chasub’s ship. 

“Activate the graviton emitter now,” Chasub didn’t plan to waste a single second of this advantage. 

A purple pulsating energy wave emanated from the ship into space. The stars started to stretch and distort. Space rippled in the spot at the end of the energy wave. A halo of light appeared, with colors shifting and smearing at random. The center of the halo looked like liquid glass. Everything behind it contorted and shifted. 

Wormhole created. The ship’s computer wrote the words across the display screen. 

Not a moment too soon. Chasub noticed the enemy ships had almost caught up with him. He had no more tricks. No more delaying tactics. It was now or never. 

“Transfer energy from the weapons to the engine,” Chasub instructed. “Maximum speed.” 

Warning: engines damaged. Power increases may trigger a chain reaction, leading to the ship’s destruction. 

“Override!” Chasub commanded. “Maximum speed!” Chasub knew those ships would definitely destroy him if they caught up with him. He had no choice. 

The ship shook. Chasub heard the engine scream from the strain. Sparks flew from several of the panels around the command deck. And yet the wormhole drew closer. 

The energy armor was gone. He’d drained the power from the weapons. The ship’s systems were going offline. The last thing he saw before the external monitor shorted out was the closest ship firing its missiles. He braced himself and waited for the inevitable...but it never came. Instead, he felt the calm hum of the ship. It was being carried along the wormhole. The Omega escaped just in time. 

Chasub looked out the viewport. He was in a tunnel of warped starlight stretching into the distance. Energy from the wormhole bounced off the hull of the ship as it sped down the tunnel. He wasn’t worried about being followed; the wormhole was designed to collapse the moment the ship entered. But they’d still come for him eventually. Chasub glanced at one of the ship’s consoles, briefly thinking about what was hidden inside. He had a little time, but he needed to use it wisely. He needed to disappear. 

One of the last functioning holographic displays appeared. 

Please confirm the exit destination. 

“The Milky Way Galaxy,” Chasub ordered, still staring out of the viewport. “And don’t stop until we reach Earth.” 

Ready to Experience the Full Adventure?

If the prologue has you intrigued, the adventure is only just beginning!

Omnidisk: The Mission is available for purchase through booksellers, and I especially encourage you to support your local independent bookstore. If they don't already have a copy on their shelves, ask if they can order one for you. Supporting independent bookstores helps these wonderful spaces continue connecting readers with great stories.

And if you'd like something a little more personal, you can order your very own autographed copy directly from my website at authorarbingham.com!

Thank you for being part of this journey, Omnifans. Your support means more than you know!

— A. R. Bingham