Omega-Minus device
The Omega-Minus device, (PROSE: Earth in Peril! [+]Loading...["Earth in Peril! (short story)"], COMIC: Power Play (part 7) [+]Loading...{"part":"7","1":"Power Play (comic story)"} et al.) also styled as the omega-minus device, was an "earth-shattering" weapon which almost devastated planet Earth in April 2065. (PROSE: Zodiac's Rescue Bid! [+]Loading...["Zodiac's Rescue Bid! (short story)"])
History[[edit] | [edit source]]
As reported on the front page of TV Century 21 on 27 March, Jodrell Bank's Omega-Minus Detector Meter detected a "mysterious signal" in deep space, with the intensity of the reading indicating that the Omega-Minus device had entered the Solar System and was approaching Earth at high speed. Professor Logan, the director of Jodrell Bank, addressed the World Security Council after this discovery and advised that all bases be alerted until more information about the force behind the device could be gathered. The World Security Council followed this advice and placed all air and land forces on Emergency Red alert, with TV21 hailing Space City's Cobra Mk.1 as "the only possible hope" of destroying "any hostile force" intent on an attack. (PROSE: Earth in Peril! [+]Loading...["Earth in Peril! (short story)"])
Noted by TV21 on the front page of their 3 April edition, Logan later released a brief communique claiming that he and his scientists were "mystified" by the loss of contact with the Omega-Minus device. It went on to state they had last plotted the device as it approached the Eros Asteroid Belt and that they were working non-stop to try and regain contact. (PROSE: Stingray Hunts Aliens [+]Loading...["Stingray Hunts Aliens (short story)"]) Space City officials were said to be "concerned but confident" that their XL Patrol Ships would be able to track down and destroy the device, a confidence not shared by Jodrell Bank. (COMIC: Power Play (part 7) [+]Loading...{"part":"7","1":"Power Play (comic story)"})
Ultimately, Steve Zodiac located the device bolted beneath the space liner W.S.W.193, (PROSE: Zodiac's Rescue Bid! [+]Loading...["Zodiac's Rescue Bid! (short story)"]) which had previously gone radio silent sometime after leaving Space Station Z 11 on its way to Earth, (PROSE: Scoop! [+]Loading...["Scoop! (short story)"]) upon recieving no reply to a search request. Steve gave Professor Matic orders to destroy the ship along with all thousand of its passengers if he failed to release the device before it re-entered Earth's atmosphere. Commenting on the situation for TV21's front page on 24 April, Commander Zero concurred with Steve's request, stating "It is either the 1,000 passengers in the space liner, or the rest of the world. (PROSE: Zodiac's Rescue Bid! [+]Loading...["Zodiac's Rescue Bid! (short story)"])
Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Omega-Minus device was referenced in Earth in Peril! [+]Loading...["Earth in Peril! (short story)"], Power Play (part 7) [+]Loading...{"part":"7","1":"Power Play (comic story)"}, and Zodiac's Rescue Bid! [+]Loading...["Zodiac's Rescue Bid! (short story)"] in reference to the then-current Fireball XL5 comic, The Vengeance Of Saharis! [+]Loading...["The Vengeance Of Saharis! (comic story)"].
