Chapter I: Shocking News

Captain James Ellior started out of the small, rectangular window of the Quantradyne APOD-33/L dropship, lost in his own sea of thoughts. The Quantradyne engine, the same engine used on the older 33/A models, propelled the Captain towards the headquarters of the United Earth Directorate. The Captain glanced down, breaking away from his thoughts for a moment, and took a sip from his brandy, the warmth of the liquid soothing him inside, while the chair his body rested in relaxed him into a small trance.

Such luxuries would never be seen on the older 33/A models, with their numerous neosteel benches meant for packing in as many marines, or other various personnel, into one area as possible. The older models were the standard dropships used for transporting personnel or equipment, ranging from a specialist ghost to an arclite siege tank, on the battlefield from one place to another. Besides housing the same engine, neither dropship held any similarities in their looks or performances.

Ellior continued to stare out the window, again with numerous memories and thoughts flooding his mind. He thought back to before the Revolutionary Days, when the United Powers Leagues still existed, and the UED was but a mere thought in someone's mind. It had been almost one hundred years since the UPL was founded, and when they undertook the largest project in this history of the world. "Project Purification", as it was to be called, was a massive "cleansing" operation meant to clear out all of the known criminals on Earth, which resulted in tremendous success. Crime across the globe declined dramatically and until the present day had seen an all-time low. There was only one downfall: the losses of contact with the ships the Nagglfar, Argo, Sarengo, and Reagon. The ships carried 56,000 of the total 400,000,000 felons that were captured and sentenced to death.

A young scientist named Doran Routhe, a brilliant man of his time, had the ingenious idea of trying to populate other remote star systems in hopes of discovering new, useful resources, since Earth's natural resources had been almost completely dried up. The UPL let the young researcher use a handful of the prisoners as "guinea pigs" in his experiment to see if there were any other habitable systems with useful resources. The four behemoths were headed for the nearest outlying planet, Gantris IV.

But during the long voyage into space, contact with the four ships carrying the hibernating passengers was lost. Despite the efforts of Routhe and the UPL, communications were never restored with the doomed passengers, until now.

It was discovered that the four vessels crash-landed on several planets about 60,000 light years away from Earth. The survivors of the crash prospered greatly, expanded to numerous planets, and continued to grow rapidly in strength and numbers. Recent discovery of the lost exiles raised much alarm. The now recently founded UED feared that if this new human group, calling itself the Terran Dominion, which was run by a man that went by the name Arcturus Mengsk, was to become too strong, it would exact revenge upon Earth from banning them from their home world. Admiral DuGalle, a revered man and brilliant tactician who had served countless years with the Directorate Armed Forces, was sent with a large expeditionary task force to take control over the colonies of the new Terran Sector.

Upon arrival, however, shocking news was discovered. It was reported back that the Terran colonies were engaged on a two-front war. Two powerful alien races, soon known as the Protoss and the Zerg, were fighting a massive campaign in a quest to destroy each other, with the small human forces stuck in the middle of it.

For months, Admiral DuGalle remained at the fringe of the system, out of site from the three races at war. He began to study these newfound enemies and analyzed their strengths and weaknesses. When the time came, he launched his campaign against the three forces, determined to take control of the sector for the UED. Yet what he encountered was far more menacing than anyone could have anticipated.

Admiral DuGalle had continuously reported back with the news of striking victories against the Terran Dominion, the ravenous Zerg, and the powerful Protoss forces. The Admiral even reported with news of the capture of the Zerg's main form of command, or "General", called the Overmind. A huge brain-like creature that was several stories high with a large diameter, which was encircled by hideous claws protruding upward to protect the large brain, gave the Zerg Swarms their orders. Administering powerful endorphins to subdue the creature, the UED forces were able to control the Overmind to do their bidding. With the recent capture of this brain, it seemed as though victory was in the UED's grasp.

Ellior pushed the thoughts out of his mind as he continued to stare out the dirt-smeared window and surveyed the large, sprawling city below him. The shuttle flew just above the skyline of the streamlined skyscrapers that were strewn out all over the city. Off in the distance, the largest structure, the UED headquarters and his destination, loomed over the horizon, it's peaks seeming to pierce the sky.

The young commander figured he was being called to HQ for a debriefing on the most recent news of the war. The officer of the 21st Reserve Tactical Fighter Squadron craved to be over there inside his A-17/G Wraith-class space fighter, sending his squadron into the fray to defend humanity. Yet HQ "insisted" he was needed here for the safety of Earth, even though they both knew Earth was in no present danger and would most likely never be. Captain James Ellior decided not to dwell on the subject and enjoyed the sunset that now started to engulf the evening sky with dazzling red and orange colors as the sun settled behind the Northern Mountains.

The APOD-33/L stuttered as it began to slow its approach to the nearing UED building. The shuttle slowly descended onto the landing platform, touching down with a small thud. The officer stood up and walked to the door, tugging at the tips of his uniform to remove the wrinkles that had formed from sitting inside the shuttle for far too long.

The shuttle doors hissed open and as the ramp lowered, reveal to the Captain a small greeting part of two Private first-class Marines, fully suited up in their complete combat armor. The armor, shaped like a large, steel, upright gorilla, made a man stand a few inches taller when suited up inside of it.

The Captain noticed that these men were outfitted with the newer CMC 400 suits, as opposed to the 300 model. The CMC 400 gave new improvements such as better sensory equipment, which was housed inside the oversized shoulders, and night vision over the visor instead of the headlights attacked onto the shoulders. Both marines also carried their standard issue C-14 "Impaler" Gauss rifles, which shot out 8mm metal spikes at hypersonic speeds, capable of punching through most armor of any combat personnel.

Technicians and mechanics were everywhere inside the large-scaled docking bay. A few A-17/Gs were being fixed up in the far corner, with a few very outdated A-17/As being used as parts, even though there wasn't much left to pick off from them. A mechanic and a technician were arguing to the left of the shuttle about how far the burst laser cannons on one of the fighters should be sighted in. There were a few T-280 Space Construction Vehicles, or SCVs as they were normally referred to, secured against the back wall ready to be loaded into by the mechanics should major repair work be need on any of the ships.

"Captain Ellior?" one of the privates asked as the Captain slowly walked down the ramp from the shuttle as he continued to survey the sights before him.

"That is correct, private," Ellior replied, trying to keep a sense of command, even though the two marines towered over him with their bulky armor.

"Please follow us."

As the large APOD-33/L shuttle remained dormant in the hangar, with a few of the technicians being lured to it like ants to sugar, the two marines led the Captain through a small, winding corridor to a life that took them down below ground level and into the depths of the UED Headquarters. As the lift came to a halt, James gave one last tug at the ends of his uniform and straightened up as much as he could. The doors parted and revealed inside a very plain-looking room a single, long, rectangular table located in the center with chairs lined up against its sides. Three men were inside, hunched over various papers at the end of the table and mumbled to themselves as they pointed to different positions on a small, holographic map projected from a compact unit next to the papers.

The man in the middle, a short, yet strong-built man, with a small mustache and brown hair with gray highlights lining the edges because of age, glanced up from the papers to meet the new arrival. The young Captain saluted him and the man saluted back. The man's dark brown eyes held a deep concern in them as they turned from the papers on the desk and met Ellior with a piercing stare.

"Captain Ellior, I thank you for arriving so quickly on such short notice," said the man. Ellior noticed that the man began to relax slightly.

James Ellior nodded his head. "It was no problem, Commander Rikley. My days have been pretty lax for the past few weeks."

The Commander gave Ellior a hard stare. "Well, that's all about to change starting now."

He turned to the man on this right who had just finished jotting a small not down a piece of paper. "This is General Legiri. He's been in charge of the communications with Admiral DuGalle's fleet and the progress of the war."

The General stood about six-foot one, with broad shoulders and a commanding presence to this face. His was clean cut, with his hair slicked back to reveal his deep blue eyes that demanded attention.

Looking down at a piece of paper, he addressed the Captain. "I'm afraid I have some bad news. We received a report about a week ago from Admiral DuGalle about the progress on the war. To put it simply, even with the capture of the Overmind, another creature calling herself the Queen of Blades still controls much of the swarm. DuGalle tried several times to 'remove' her from power, but all ended unsuccessfully. Because of this looming threat, Admiral DuGalle saw fit to ally himself with the Terran Dominion and the Protoss fleets in order to eradicate the Zerg. He concluded the message by saying that he would contact us shortly after the assault on the primary Zerg base on the space platform orbiting Char."

General Legiri set the paper down, and gave a large sigh as he sat himself down into the nearest chair. "We have not heard back from DuGalle or his fleet for over a week now. Every transmission we send to him and his fleet is met with static. We have no idea what happened or what status his fleet is in."

Captain Ellior slightly raised his hand. "Pardon me, General, but why are you telling me this? I'm just the flight leader of a fighter squadron. Where do I come into play in all of this?"

The General folded his hands and looked at Captain Ellior with determined eyes. "We need to gather as much information as to the status of DuGalle's fleet as possible. We do not have the resources to launch another full expeditionary task force, so we are sending your squadron to escort one of our battlecruisers, callsigned the Nemesis II, to the Terran Sector to investigate. We are trying to keep a low profile on this one, so your squadron should not run into too many problems."

The Captain looked at the General in shock. "You want my boys to escort one battlecruiser into a warzone? Frankly, General, we do not stand a chance with that small of a force."

Legiri waved his hand in protest. "You will not be on your own for very long. Once you arrive in-system, all you need to do is use your short-wave transmitters to locate and contact Admiral DuGalle's fleet, then report back to us with the information."

"And how do you know that DuGalle's fleet hasn't been wiped out, God forbid?"

"Admiral DuGalle is a very wise man and would never fail us. We are confident that his fleet is still out there and have somehow been unable to communicate with us for reasons which are, as of yet, unknown."

Rising to his feet, he motion with his hand to the third man in the room. "This is Admiral Cyric, the commanding officer of the Nemesis II."

The Captain talked first. "It will be an honor to escort your battlecruiser. Rest assured that my squadron is one of the best and will never let any harm come to your ship."

Admiral Cyric smiled and nodded his head. "I am glad to have you with us. Your reputation as a revered fighter pilot proceeds you. I am sorry that you are not over in the Terran Sector helping to turn the tide of the war in our favor."

Ellior nodded his head in agreement. "Well, it looks like the both of us are now going to get that chance."

"Sorry to interrupt, gentlemen," stated the General, "but we need to finish some final preparations for this mission. You will leave tomorrow at 0500. Prepare your men. They will receive a full briefing enroute to the Terran Sector."

He ended the meeting with a final statement. "We are counting on you, gentlemen. The war could depend on this mission, as does the safety of Earth and even humanity. For if we do not find out whether or not Admiral DuGalle's fleet is still out there, then we could be wide open for an invasion from these aliens forces upon even Earth itself."