THE OMEGA PROTOCOL: RESETTING EARTH

Chapter 4

New Orleans, Three Months Before the Apocalypse

The alpha army squad moved on the lead of the nanotech nuclear bomb, both Captain Leo and Finn commanding the operation with grim determination.

They descended from the helicopter, five soldiers holding the squad's flank as they scouted the enemy—the shadowy government forces lying in wait.

"It's an ambush! Take formation!" Leo bellowed at the top of his voice, his blood running cold as he spotted the enemies camouflaged against the earth, poised to strike the moment his team advanced toward the unfinished nuclear bomb parts.

Gunfire erupted, tearing through the air as both sides scrambled for cover.

"Boss, Hannah is heading to the front field!" a soldier shouted, panic edging his voice as he watched her sprint forward with her medical kit, desperate to reach the wounded.

"Hannah, don't!" Leo's voice cracked with urgency as he lunged toward her. "You can't move further—it's too dangerous!"

"But Leo, who would treat those injured?" she shot back, gesturing fiercely at the fallen soldiers.

"There's time for that. They'll get their treatment—but for now, you stay here. That's an order!" he snapped, already turning away, knowing full well her stubbornness would win out regardless of what he said.

True to his fears, Hannah pressed forward anyway, kneeling beside the wounded.

"Don't worry, you're going to be fine," she murmured, pulling out her supplies to treat a wounded soldier. Then, without warning, a shot cracked through the chaos and slammed into her forehead, extinguishing her life instantly.

"Hannah!" Leo and Finn's anguished cries tore through the battlefield as they scrambled toward her, hearts pounding with dread.

"Retreat!" Leo roared, his voice breaking under the weight of loss and the crushing realization that they were being overrun.

Only a handful survived the slaughter; mercy found none of the wounded left behind. Leo and Finn carried Hannah's lifeless body into the helicopter as the remaining soldiers fled the carnage.

Present Day, New York City

"So you're saying I can recruit team members to join me on my quest?" Leo asked, skepticism lacing his tone.

"Yes, Captain Leo. This is mandatory—no agent has ever succeeded alone. There may be an exception, but it's not worth exploring," Julian replied.

"Alright then," Leo said, relief washing over him at the thought of not shouldering everything by himself.

Suddenly, an alert flashed across Leo's screen. [Red Alert, Captain Leo. We have an anti-omega protocol agent on a rampage,] Julian announced.

"Show me, Julian," Leo demanded, jolting upright from his nap, his eyes snapping toward the massive screen.

The display flickered to life, revealing a cybernetically enhanced human tearing through a hospital, cutting down nurses and doctors without mercy.

"Julian, where is this happening?" Leo pressed, urgency sharpening his voice.

"The outskirts of New York City, from your current location. Too far for super leaping," Julian explained.

"Then what do we do?" Leo growled, his combat suit sealing around him as he tested his weapons, cycling from blades to guns with practiced precision.

"There's a codex to create—just imagine it, and you can shape an instrument into anything you need: a bike, an aircraft, even a plane," Julian instructed.

"No time to waste. Start the transition while I summon the codex," Leo commanded.

"Noted, Captain," Julian replied, and moments later, a spherical codex materialized from his nanotech bionic hands.

Leo stormed out of the bunker as it sealed behind him, willing the codex into a bike that rolled toward him under Julian's guidance.

"Show me the map," he ordered, watching the route appear before him. He drove hard, though at points the bike had to take over, navigating paths he couldn't be certain of himself.

"What now?" Leo demanded, watching the live feed from the hospital with mounting dread—he needed to get there fast.

"The codex can become a plane," Julian offered, and Leo willed it into existence, the vehicle transforming and auto-piloting him toward the chaos.

As he neared the location and touched down, the plane reverted to its spherical form, returning to his grip.

He arrived to find the city eerily familiar—and there was Finn, tearing through doctors and nurses with brutal efficiency, clearly hunting for something—or someone.

Realization struck Leo like a blow: this was the same hospital where he had once brought Hannah, clinging to hope that she might somehow be saved.

"Where is the main doctor?" Finn snarled, hoisting a man by the throat with terrifying strength, his victim gasping for air.

"I don't know!" the young doctor choked out, desperation flooding his voice.

"Get away from him!" Leo commanded, hurling nanotech blades with such force that Finn was compelled to release his grip, letting the doctor crumple to the ground.

Police sirens wailed in the distance, growing louder.

"Well, well. Is that you, Leo?" Finn sneered, a sly grin spreading across his face, equal parts menace and relief. "Last time we met, you couldn't stop me. Now you've saved me the trouble of hunting you down."

"Yes, it's me," Leo snarled, fury blazing in his eyes. "What the hell are you doing, causing this carnage with your new abilities?"

"Still working for those who matter," Finn replied coolly, his gaze sweeping the room until it locked onto a woman. His internal computer flashed to life, confirming his target.

[Target confirmed,] the display read, and a flicker of satisfaction lit Finn's eyes.

"You must be Rose Smith," he said, voice dripping with dark anticipation as he turned toward her. "Just the woman I've been looking for."

Recognition slammed into Leo as his hands crackled with energy, forging guns in an instant. He fired at Finn, forcing him to dive for cover.

"My God," Leo breathed, realization dawning—this was the same Rose he'd rescued in the woods, working in the very hospital tied to his darkest memories.

Rose scrambled for cover alongside the others, her heart lurching as she recognized her rescuer. Despite her exhaustion and fear of cybernetically enhanced humans, relief flooded through her at the sight of Leo—proof that not all of them were monsters.

"Come on, Leo, is that really the best you've got?" Finn taunted, firing nanotech rounds with lethal precision as Leo ducked for cover. "I'm growing bored, and you should know—I'm not leaving without her. These new abilities of mine? They've made everything so much easier."