Soon after Nessus was turned into a mercenary haven, Malek realized that the fortress was neither large enough nor set up for training exercises. Unknown creatures and local goverments made training on outer worlds difficult. Surprise attacks during training missions by groups which viewed Nessus as a threat didn't make things any easier.

Malek decided to set up a place where training could take place in isolation. The place he picked was an uninhabited world called Omega.

Omega isn't much more than a barren rock. While it does have oxygen in its atmosphere, it has no natural water supplies or native life forms.

Why pick Omega?

The first reason was its isolation. Omega's solar system is far from any populated worlds. The world itself was not claimed by any other space fareing empire. It seemed noone would notice if Nessus staked its claim.

The second reason was the worlds abundant mineral supplies. The world is rich with iron ore, copper, silver and even gold. It did not take long to find a few developers willing to build a training facility for Nessus once mining rights, transport of mined goods, and a few mercenary operations to eliminate competition were thrown on the table.

This massive training facility (over 100 sq miles), dubbed simply "Installation Omega", took only three years to construct. It is broken up into several areas each containing related operations. The areas containing the most dangerous or potentially hazardous things were built away from the others. The features of the facility as a whole are state of the art by almost any worlds standards.

So what goes on here?

Mercenaries can find almost any type of training they want here. The installations photonic danger rooms in 'Zone Blue' can simulate virtually any scenario programmed into them. This can be anything as simple as a fight with a lone zombie, to as complicated as simulating commanding an army against a horde of zombies.

The merchants of Nessus bring mercs to 'Zone Yellow' to teach them their arts and if nessecary instruct them in the use of various scrolls.

The area dubbed 'Zone Orange' is also used by the merchants to experiment on and construct the various items sold in the fortress.

Tribunal members often bring small bands to 'Zone Green' for all sorts of exercises. War Games, and shooting contests are the most common events.

'Zone Purple' contains a large fleet of vehicles for use in various types of missions. This fleet consists of many types of vehicles including motorcycles, hover bikes, cars, trucks, tanks, planes, jets, space faring vessels, and sentinel war machines. Most of these vehicles belong to Nessus and are only loaned out for specific missions, however, mercs are permitted to store their personal transportation here as well.

There is only one area off limits to Merc's. This area is dubbed 'Zone Red'. There has been much speculation about what goes on here, most involve rumors of experimental devices, but noone has bothered trying to sneak in to find out.

Want a little danger, excitement, fun, or knowledge? Visit Omega and you'll find what your looking for.

�2001 Joe Pombo