The Omega Endeavor by Ibrahim Yamini

The Encounter

April 4, 2435 Advanced Era (AE), five Terran years ago

Lieutenant Radford eased the throttle on his fighter. A month on patrol without a single contact, not even a scavenger, left him weary and exhausted.
These patrols are pointless, Radford thought. There’s nothing out here. Then his battle computer came alive. It beeped twice and inexplicably went silent. Radford scanned his targeting grid and saw only friendlies. Maybe it was a glitch in the computer. A faint signal appeared, accompanied by another beep, but just as suddenly as it appeared, it was gone.
“Damn thing.” Radford beat his fist on the console, and the blip reappeared. This time it remained for a few seconds and then faded. He scanned outside his canopy, but he could only see Collins’ fighter. He activated his comm. “Cannon, you see anything?”
“Negative, Raptor. Vacuum’s clear as a starry night in Alabama.”
“My battle computer’s giving me some strange readings. First it picks up a bogie, and then it’s gone.”
“Well, I’m not reading anything on my end. You know how these things are.”
Yeah, Radford knew how they were. Each new upgrade promised to be better, faster, and grittier than the last. Trouble was, the software usually took about six months to catch up. Still, all this silence made him nervous.
“Keep your eyes open, Cannon.”
“Will do, Raptor, but this ride promises to be as quiet as all the—” A bolt of white light lashed through the darkness and gutted Collins’ fighter. The little fighter separated in two for just a moment before the engine went critical and detonated in a brilliant cloud of flame.
The emptiness of space suddenly teemed with a flotilla of ships, their sleek design eluding all Radford’s efforts to identify them. His targeting console stayed silent. Radford broke right to avoid a collision, and a white beam of light shot past the underside of his fighter.
“Holy-” he shouted into the comm. “They’re all around us.”
“Raptor, this is Roach. Who’s all around you?”
Radford’s heart pounded. The sweat from his palms made the stick feel slippery beneath his grasp. He could barely make out the black silhouette of the sleek ship’s design.
“Fighters … hundreds of them.”
“Negative, Raptor,” Roach replied. “I’ve got nothing on my con.” Radford barreled through the nearest cluster, hoping to force them to stand down or risk shooting their own.
“Forget the con, open your eyes.”
“I’m telling you, I don’t see anything.”
“Damn it, Roach! Wake up!” There was a brief moment of static. Radford was too busy to keep up his end of the conversation.
“Wait a minute. I think I see them, but there’s only two. You sure those readings are—” The comm went silent. Radford looked out of his canopy and watched Roach’s ship separate and explode in a flash.
“Omega One, this is Joker.” Nelson’s voice came online. “We’re under fire. I repeat, we’re under fire.”
No shit. Welcome to the party.
“Roach is down.” Radford continued to dance among the enemy ships. They held their fire, but he knew it wouldn’t last long. Soon they would find a way to isolate him, and then …
“This is Justice. All Omega patrols, re-form on me.” Captain Pierce’s voice brought a refreshing stillness to Radford’s nerves. “Prepare to engage!”

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Get Over Those Fitness Woes Part II

Looks like you’re ready.  You put that Twinkie down and made it past the front door, you should be proud.  Every little bit helps, remember, baby steps.

So you’re in the lobby of your local Fitness Center and the intimidation factor is mounting.  Now you’re thinking; “The men and women look incredible.”  “How could their muscles have muscles?”  “Why are they so skinny?” “I…I don’t belong here.  I need to leave now.” 

Breathe. Listen, more often than not, those people working out didn’t start out looking that way.  At some point, they were just like you.  Even if they weren’t, just assume they were.  It helps.  Besides, you took advantage of that free trial membership being offered, so try not to waste it. 

Now remember, you are here for you, not for anyone else.  It may feel like everyone is staring at you, but most people are usually concentrating on their own workout so don’t worry about anyone else at this point.

Look at all the advanced equipment inside the weight room that you don’t know how to use.  You’re not an expert on those machines?  That’s ok, it will be discussed later.  For now, let’s focus on your full body workout plan.  Some people write down the exercises and goals they want to accomplish which is a good method but this one is easy to remember; Chest/Triceps, Back/Biceps, Legs/Shoulders.

Do not do this every day!  It’s a good training plan for beginners.  Use this method to get a full body workout weekly; Day 1 Chest & Triceps, Day 2 Back & Biceps, Day 3 Legs & shoulders, Day 4 rest.  Back to Day 1, wash, rinse, repeat.  It’s also acceptable to do these only three times a week, you’re not training for the Olympics are you?  Once you get into the habit, you can start adjusting your workout for you.  It is important to run a small distance before working out to get the body warmed up.  Try to run at least a mile at the beginning of each exercise day.

So you say you haven’t run in 5 years?  That’s fine, do what your body will allow, but don’t cheat yourself.  When you think you can no longer run, just push a little more, you’re stronger than you think.

You’re on Day 1; you pushed through another hurdle on the treadmill and are ready to begin your workout.  Its Chest/Triceps day and you have no idea how to use the equipment but that high you just got from running has you motivated.

Where to next?

Get Over Those Fitness Woes Part 1

Remember last year’s New Year’s Eve party when you made the resolution to eat right and lose weight? Now, August is just around the corner and you haven’t been to your local Fitness Center since January. That’s okay, it’s never too late. Now you might be thinking; “I’ll do better next year.” Based on that track record of yours it’s unlikely.

But don’t get embarrassed, we all postpone those things which we find undesirable. What were the excuses? “I don’t have time.” “It’s too far.” “I can’t afford a gym membership.” “I’m too fat.” “I’m too lazy.”

The most acceptable excuse is laziness because it’s honest. And it can be easily rectified. Here’s something to think about; Why postpone for tomorrow , what you can do today?

More often than not, you are just lacking motivation. Think hard about what drives you. Think about the goals you want to achieve. It won’t happen overnight but once you get into the habit your friends and family might notice positive changes in you before you do.

It is important to remember that no human on this earth has the authority to make you do anything. Suggestions can be offered of course, but to make that decision to implement and execute a task lies with you, and only you.

So, are you ready to get started?