Starcraft: Danger Close, Fires Burn
James sighs as he walks down the rows of factories, starports and barracks, looking for the crossed bayonet and auto cannon seal of the legendary 76th division. This division is the home of Julia Marianne, hero of the brood wars. Finally, he finds it. He walks in the open garage door and drops his bag. Without a thought, he picks up a rag and some tools. He slides under the Goliath, and opens a hatch and begins to work. After about a half an hour, he gets out and looks into the unfamiliar face of a relatively beautiful woman. The face and working outfit of both strangers are oily and dirty.
"Why are you touching MY Goliath!?" She says angrily.
"Nice to meet you too" He says softly, "The names James."
"If you didn't hurt it I'll apologize to you."
She looks at the Goliath, carefully inspecting the auto cannon. After finding it in perfect order, cleaner and better that before, she nods, satisfied that he didn't hurt it. She stands up, the working outfit she wore was an old navy outfit, loose around all but the ankles hips and wrists, showing zero curvature, and the blue hiding the oil and grease smears. However, said smears show up amazingly well on her pale face, the bone structure hidden by the smears. Where it is visible, though, almost perfect skin shows through.
"Fine. I'm sorry I was short with you." She says, sounding happy enough, "As a matter of fact, thank you for your help with this old thing. Got me through the Brood Wars, and I hope I can make it last 'till the day I am a few seconds too slow. Julia."
"The hero? Very nice. Not really, to be honest I could give a care about some well dressed generals. However the intelligence was probably good to have."
His slightly feminine features which got him grief in the past are now covered in grease and lubricant, his outfit consisting of a loose fitting blue shirt, tucked into a pair of track pants. He seems kind of wiry, not something you'd expect from a ghost in the Dominion Black Ops, stationed with the 76th.
She growls "I don't want someone in my unit who has no respect for authority. If you're going to be here than you WILL learn to respect authority."
"Me? In YOUR unit? Pfft, I'm bunking with you guys but I'm not—"
At that point an alarm klaxon sounds, and he immediately picks up his bag, pulls out his boots, and steps into the,, which automatically activates his ghost gear. He pulls out a knife, pair of pistols, and a rifle, strapping them on, and clicking a small light sword and sheath to his waist. She jumps right in her Goliath, and they bolt out. He jumps to the roofs of the buildings, and jumps gracefully from rooftop to rooftop. He lands nimbly on top of a bunker on the main defensive line, her jumping over the wall just after him. He draws his rifle, searching for the Zerg that set off the perimeter alarm.
"What the hell was the alarm about then?" She says over the radio.
"I don't know, maybe—"
Interrupting James yet again, a large amount of the Zerg burst out of the ground after some weird creature, which burrowed back in and away. James whirls down, kicking a zergling back from the main missile tower. He pulls his pistol, shooting one back, crouches, and kicks above him, cracking the ribs of a broodling that leaped at him after being spawned from a fallen marine. He pulls a knife and buries it into a hydralisk as he spins and cracks a zergling's neck with a swift spin kick, and fires a bullet into a third one, as he fights to get to Julia, who is steadily being overwhelmed.
"Hold on, almost there!" He says calmly over the radio.
James jumps, kicks off a hydralisk, flips and drops onto a zergling, which he puts a bullet through, then draws his rifle, and shoots out the back of a baneling, detonating its explosion backwards, killing it's friends. He walks up to her, draws his second pistol, dropping his rifle, and standing firm as her auto cannons fire, and his guns go off. This battle lasts for a good hour, but as James slices through a zergling, she tells him to get behind the wall.
"Why? I'm having fun."
"Bombing run" She says, laughing.
They both quickly jump over the barrier, and the Wraiths fly overhead, burning the Zerg to a crisp. The smell of burnt Zerg fills the air, and whoops and cheers go up all around the base, and the unlikely pair walk back to their factory together, joking and laughing, giddy from the battle.
"I think I could enjoy myself here." James says softly, the adrenaline still pumping, just after a shower, getting a good look at Julia; while she was wearing something other than a work outfit.
"You have no idea. That happens almost daily."
"Really? By the way you look good when your not all covered in grease"
At this compliment, her eyes light up "Thank you."
He nods softly, flushing from the unexpectedness of what he just said, not having meant to say it aloud. "mmhmm…" He says after a bit, his usual shyness showing through.
"How old are you? You fight like you've been doing it for years."
"Three years, in fact. I'm 22."
"…? You mean to say you started fighting when you were 19?!"
"Yes, I did. Why does it matter to you?"
"A normal ghost has to start at 20, and go through 2 years of training to be viable in the field!"
"Well… I started training at 17. They took me in for black ops at 20."
He curses himself for revealing the black ops bit, which wasn't something she was meant to know. She starts at the revelation, what he said before clicking into place, and she takes a step back.
"Dominion black ops?" She says after a long pause. He just nods softly "Why in hell would you agree to join the suicide soldiers!?"
"Because… I was one of the few good enough not to live up to that nickname" He says, and walks into the barracks without a backwards glance.
"Wait! I didn't mean to offend you!" She calls after him.
He doesn't turn around, and she walks back to her parked Goliath, forlorn.