Here we go with Book 2. Let's see if the Starshot Crew and Gamma Team have what it takes to tangle with Mengsk's corrupt government, Kerrigan's swarm, the homicidal, deranged fanatics of the Tal'darim Protoss, and the first emerging agents of the Fallen One.
January 10th: I finally beat Iron Imprisoner 4!~!~! After God knows how much trouble, I finally beat his ass! I feel positively euphoric! I could dance a jig, I'm so happy! …I have to do it twice more as Ventus and as Aqua after I finish Terra's story, but still! And I also finished Terra's story soon after; compared to IrImp4, Terranort was practically easy.
DISCLAIMERS:
Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha (Teana) – 7-Arcs
Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Shion) – 07th Expansion and Studio Deen
Shuffle! (Kaede) – Navel and Asread
Erika's New Perfume (Marie) – Deviant-Art artist Lance the Young
Mai-chan's Daily Life (Mai) – Waita Uziga
Star Wars (Ahsoka, Cody, Rex) – George Lucas, Lucasfilm
Halo (Forerunners, UNSC, Sangheili Alliance) – Bungie and 343 Industries
StarCraft – Blizzard Entertainment
-BOOK 2 START-
Shakuras
Valley of Shadowed Trials
April 5th, 2504
The girl crept through the valley, ensuring to stick to the shadows, her senses expanded to detect any possible ambush. She wore a bizarre-looking combination of ragged cloaks & rags and resplendent armor, and her long hair was held back in a low ponytail. As far as she could remember from her memory of an aerial survey, she was nearing the end. She was tired, her muscles ached, and numerous small flesh wounds covered her. But she still had plenty of fight left, further bolstered by the abilities she'd learned since she came here. She rounded a corner, and ahead there was the light of the valley's end, past one last 50-foot section of darkness, which no doubt had one last ambush waiting for her. She steeled herself, taking a deep breath, and moved forward.
About two-thirds of the way through, two Protoss leapt from the shadows, and the girl barely dodged the opening assault. One stood between her and the end of the valley, and the other came in fast from the left. She dodged the attacker's blow by scant centimeters, and responded with a rising knee to the torso (Protoss didn't have digestive systems, being psychically-photosynthetic, but a blow to the stomach area still hurt). She dodged, weaved, and countered their blows, her psionic powers boosting her strength, speed, and reflexes to near-Spartan levels (well, a Spartan without Mjolnir Armor). Finally, she got lucky and hit the first Protoss with a blow to the head that knocked him into the canyon wall, stunning him. She then warped directly in front of the other, holding her palm several inches in front of his startled face as she charged her new void-element attack at one-half of full power:
"Dark Impulse"
The blast of black energy sent the Protoss tumbling end over end, coming to a stop unconscious though otherwise relatively unharmed. Finally, her path clear, she stumbled to the end and out into the sunlight. There, she finally allowed herself to catch her breath. Footsteps came from directly in front of her, and she raised her tired head to find the Dark Templar known as Ulan standing before her.
"Congratulations, child" he 'said'. "You have learned much since you and your allies came to our realm two of your months ago. I am sure that you will be an invaluable asset to your squad. As of now, you are the first ever human to pass the Shadow Walk and thus be fully recognized as a Dark Templar. Shion the Nameless, we welcome you to our people."
In response, the green-haired girl smiled, and then toppled over backwards, passing out from exhaustion. Ulan chuckled; that was the response that about a third of all who completed the Shadow Walk made upon emerging from the trial. He signaled a medical droid to bring her to the infirmary and attend to her wounds, and to let her sleep away her exhaustion. When she awakened, they would grant her the proper attire of a Dark Templar, as well as her own personal arm-mounted psionic blade.
The other six members of the team had been to and from Shakuras several times since their initial arrival, and were currently assisting another human, one whose actions had made him a hero amongst the Protoss. He hoped that the man was doing well, but then reassured himself: of course Raynor was doing well; High-Prelate Zeratul was looking out for him from the shadows, after all.
-SCENE BREAK-
Mar Sara
Joey-Ray's Bar
April 14th, 2504
James Raynor, founder and leader of Raynor's Raiders, nursed his drink as he sat at the bar. He and his men had recently liberated Backwater Station, initiating open revolt amongst the colonists against Mengsk's forces here. He smiled briefly at the accomplishment of causing another little bit of trouble for that murderous, treacherous bastard.
Suddenly, the door slid open, and the familiar sounds of a marine's power armor walking into the bar filled his ears, along with two smaller sets of footsteps. He slowly reached for his pistol, only to hear a familiar "Hey, Boss" and let it go. Marie was a nice girl, albeit a little hot-headed and fight-happy. The arrival of the Starshot and their explanations hadn't shaken him too badly; he was used to weird shit long before they came into the picture, and it wasn't the strangest thing he'd dealt with. Time with the Protoss tends to give a man perspective on such things. He turned, and saw Gamma Team's demolitions/explosives expert (who had supposedly learned her extraordinary knowledge and skill regarding explosions from a super-solder named Grace-093) picking sand out of her upper-back-length brown hair, along with a UNSC ODST and the blue-plated power armor of a Raider marine. The trio walked up to the counter.
"Found someone you might know, sir" the ODST said as he removed his helmet, revealing brown eyes and close-shorn black hair, and naturally-tan skin lightened by insufficient exposure to sunlight. Though a little on the wild side, the ODSTs were efficient, well-trained top-notch soldiers that Raynor was glad to have on his side. They'd apparently felt the same way about him, as shown by the Chinese symbol for "badass" now tattooed on his upper left arm, a signature mark of the group and symbol of their approval.
"Y'know," the armored figure said, "for the most wanted man in the galaxy, you ain't hard ta find. I had to see it for myself." The visor slid up, revealing a scarred face. "Little Jimmy Raynor… the People's Hero."
Raynor smiled. "Tychus Findlay. …Nice suit."
"Pays to be prepared the older man replied.
"I heard they put you on ice. Life sentence. What, did they give you time off for good behavior?"
"More like this lil' gal here and her buddies paid my bail… the violent way."
"So to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Just a friendly business proposition" the armored man said as he sat at the bar, the seat groaning under his weight. "Do you even know what the Dominion are doin' out here?"
"I'm guessin' yer about to tell me."
"Diggin' up alien artifacts, old buddy. Your boy Mengsk's gone crazy for 'em. But I got a contact that'll pay top dollar for every artifact we… liberate… from the Dominion."
"I guess I can hardly pass that up, now can I, Tychus?"
"Partners, then. 60/40."
"70/30. My way. Feels like old times already. So how exactly did you get out?"
"We busted him loose from a Dominion prison ship" Marie said. "Me, the Boss, and the ODST squad led by Sergeant Jacobs here."
"Good thing they did, too" Tychus said. "Cause Mengsk was cookin' up a plan to seal me up in a 24/7 suit with control over my life-support systems, and use that to make me hitch a ride with you until you lead me to Kerrigan, since you been tryin' to take her alive, and all… and then Mengsk woulda used that Sword of Damocles I'd have been wearin' to make me kill her."
Raynor's eyes shot open, and he palmed his face. "Goddamn Mengsk… ready to use my old buddy against me for his own ends like that…"
"Don't you worry, boy" the armored man said. "Like I said, those gals and their shock-trooper buddies busted me free before the old bastard could implement his plan, and now I'm wearing good old-fashioned removable armor, and I'm ready to fight with ya just 'cause I want to, and to kick ol' Mengsk's ass. Ain't nobody tries to manipulate Tychus Findlay and gets away with it. I won't kill him, as much as I want to, since that's your right, but I'll most definitely rough 'im up for ya first."
"Glad to hear it, Tychus."
"The prison break was damn fun, too. I tell ya, Marie here has a God-given gift with high explosives, and she's damn good with a shotgun, too. Shame I didn't get to join their little universe-hoppin' party earlier, though. I woulda liked to test my abilities against a Brute Chieftain, mainly 'cause I really want one of those gravity hammers they got."
"We got a couple of those in the armory on the Starshot, actually" Sgt. Jacobs said.
"Do ya, now?" Tychus said, and Raynor could tell his old friend was like a kid who'd just found a big batch of candy at that news.
"So where is Lanstar, anyway?" Raynor asked.
"The Boss is scouting the area. Again." Marie replied.
"Well, you can't really be too careful around these parts."
"I heard all about you becomin' a big-time freedom fighter while I was away" Tychus said. "What happened here, Jimmy – the war for peace and justice get to be too much for ya?"
"I ain't licked yet, Tychus. And I promise you: Mengsk is goin' down one way or another."
"So…" Marie said. "What now?"
Raynor turned to his laptop, which held his personal AI. "Adjutant?"
"Thanks to your recent actions, Commander," the AI reported, "Mara Sara is now in a state of open revolt against Arcturus Mengsk. Seizing the artifact that Mr. Findley mentioned will strike another blow against the Dominion, and generate funds from selling it to Findley's mysterious contacts."
The laptop then projected a holo-screen, showing the Dominion dig site.
"This old outpost don't look like anything special" Raynor said.
"Keep yer shirt on, son" Tychus replied. "Dominion engineers been diggin' out here for months. See that crane? They're gettin' ready to move the artifact they found off-world."
"Well, I'll be damned…"
"See? You gotta have a little more faith, Jimmy."
"Alright, time to give the Dominion a wake-up call. Let's smash that base and haul that baby outta there."
-SCENE BREAK-
SCVs were hard at work gathering minerals and fortifying defenses, while marines both RR and UNSC guarded the perimeter. Marie, wearing an ODST suit painted dark green with Sangheili-built energy shields installed, was making sure her diverse array of grenades and det-charges was set, and currently held a DMR, with her personalized M90A shotgun slung across her back. Teana, meanwhile, was scanning the distance through Mirage Sniper's scope. A force of Raider marines and two squads of ODSTs were on standby.
"Commander, the Dominion is attacking the rebel base to the southwest" the Adjutant reported.
"Good" Tychus said. "That'll keep the Dominion off our backs."
"Those folks need our help, Tychus" Raynor said. "There's no way we're leavin' 'em to rot. Gamma-1, Gamma-4, take the assault squad and help those boys out."
"Gladly, sir" Teana replied. "Okay, folks, you heard the man! Let's go save the day!"
The group of soldiers followed the Mjolnir-clad warrior girl, racing across the rocky ground and quickly reaching the rebel base. They caught several Dominion soldiers from behind, killing them quickly, and then ran up the slope to meet up with the rebel soldiers.
"You guys sure are a welcome sight!" one of them said. "We're with ya. Just tell us where ya want us."
"Welcome aboard, boys" Raynor radioed.
The now-larger force quickly dispatched another small Dominion attack squad, with a pair of medics using their nanobots to patch up the wounded. The rebels' barracks got to outfitting some more armored marines. Meanwhile, the primary base sent out scouts to gather resources and materials from the outlying area.
Eventually, a force of 20 Koprulu marines, 3 medic troopers, 10 ODSTs, and two Spec-Ops soldiers – one of them a Spartan – set out north from the rebel base.
"Warning" the Adjutant announced, "Dominion Hellions approaching."
The ATVX "Hellion" Rapid Assault Vehicle was a lightly-armored, speedy little thing armed with twin long-range flamethrowers. Three of them, bearing the crimson markings of the Dominion, advanced from the north, and the assault team quickly took cover. Three marines fired grenade launchers at them, destroying one, and several others focused rifle fire on the driver's compartment, soon shattering the reinforced glass and killing the driver. Teana tossed a plasma grenade at the third, and it stuck to the vehicle's engine, the resulting blast detonating its weapon fuel and causing a roiling explosion that made a tiny mushroom cloud.
The assault team moved north, soon reaching the dig site. A bunker next to it opened fire, and two marines went down. Teana and Marie ran in, dodging some shots and letting their shields handle the rest, and tossed several frag grenades into the bunker, killing the enemy soldiers inside. The assault team moved in to the Dominion base, catching the few defenders horribly off-guard and killing them all easily, and then quickly cleared out the enemy barracks and factory. The Dominion SCV pilots, who didn't get paid enough for this shit, surrendered, and soon the base was in Raider hands. The team secured the mining crane, Cross Mirage breaking through its meager defensive protocols.
"Crane control accessed" the Device said. "Security overrides decrypted. Crane control established."
The machine came online, lifting from the deep pit a platform holding a large black crystalline stone.
"Beautiful" Tychus said. "Now let's reel that sucker in and git outta here."
-SCENE BREAK-
Joey-Ray's Bar
12:41
"What was it like, Jimmy?" Tychus asked, gesturing to a Hydralisk skull mounted on the wall. "Fightin' them Zerg?"
"All the scrapes we were in back in the day?" Raynor replied, solemn. "All the narrow escapes? None of it compares to how terrible they are, Tychus. You don't know what real fear is, 'till you've got a thousand of these sons-of-bitches barrelin' down on ya."
"Thanks for staying with us" came the voice of Dominion news anchor Donny Vermillion on the HD TV mounted overhead. "Let's go now to Kate Lockwell with an update on Jim Raynor's violent uprising."
"Thanks, Donny" Kate replied, standing in the field. "Raynor's clearly widening his list of targets. He's attacked a Dominion archeological dig, and possible seized a dangerous artifact."
"Emperor Mengsk spoke on this subject earlier today" Vermillion said, and the view switched to Mengsk standing at a podium.
"There's no telling what kind of havoc these supposedly innocuous relics might wreak upon our worlds" Mengsk said. "Anyone found in possession of these items will be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law."
"Look on the bright side, partner" Tychus said. "You're a wanted man either way."
"Thanks, Tychus" Raynor snarked.
"Shocking, Kate" Vermillion continued. "I imagine civilian casualties were high as a result of Raynor's terrorist actions."
"Actually, the only civilian deaths appear to be collateral damage from overzealous Dominion Security For-"
"Thanks, Kate! You heard it here first – Jim Raynor, killing women and children on Mar Sara."
Teana face-palmed as the screen went to a commercial. "And I thought ONI Section 2 was bad…"
Tychus chuckled as he noticed a plaque hanging on the wall: MARSHALL JIM RAYNOR. MAR SARA COLONY. AD 2496. There was five-pointed star inside a circle, both gold, with "Confederate Marshall" engraved in the ring.
"Oh, man" the big man said. "Didn't the Magistrate here know he was hirin' an "arch criminal" as his Marshall?"
"He was countin' on it" Raynor replied. "Guess my tough-guy reputation kept things nice and quiet 'round here. All the time I wore that badge, I never had to shoot anybody."
"Well, where's the fun in that?"
"Sometimes," Teana replied, "seein' your foes shivering in fear at your presence, too scared to draw a gun on ya, is the fun."
They relaxed for the next half-hour, Teana and Tychus swapping a few stories while James and Marie listened in. Finally, they decided it was time to leave.
"I've got transport comin' to pick us up" Raynor said. "All we gotta do is sit tight."
"Don't sound too hard…" Tychus replied. "I figure we earned ourselves a little R&R."
"Commander" Adjutant reported suddenly. "I'm detecting a massive concentration of Zerg bio-signatures landing at the abandoned dig site." The screen showed multiple Zerg organic drop-pods landing at the site.
"I shoulda known it… Damn you, Tychus!"
"I swear, man, I didn't know nothin' bout no Zerg."
"So these are the Zerg…" Teana muttered. "You ready, Marie?"
"Ready if you are, Boss" the other girl replied.
"Given their current course," the Adjutant continued, "the Zerg will overrun this location within the hour."
"Ah, hell…" Raynor sighed. "We gotta hold out long enough for extraction. If we man the bunkers, and hold those two bridges as long as we can, we just might stand a chance. Heh. We're gonna have a real fight on our hands here."
"I've been in plenty of holdouts before" Tychus said.
"Not against the Zerg, you ain't."
"Let's hope the Hyperion and the Starshot get here quick" Marie said. "I've just started my new life; I ain't ready for it to end just yet."
-SCENE BREAK-
The base was on high alert, yet everything was strangely quiet – only the sounds of the rainfall and of the SCVs harvesting disturbed the night. Bunkers had been manned, and a pair of Warthogs with M41 chainguns guarded the command center. Teana was guarding the west bridge, while Marie assisted in the eastern bridge defense. Terran and UNSC marines waited; most of the former had fought Zerg before, and many of the latter had dealt with the Flood and were thus not completely ignorant of the endless-waves-of-near-mindless-melee-fighters approach that both alien factions favored.
As Teana looked out across the bridge from within the left bunker, she activated her VISR system and zoomed in… and saw multiple red-outlined objects rapidly closing in.
"Here they come!" she radioed. "Zerglings, comin' over the west bridge!"
The two bunkers that guarded the bridge end lit up as eight automatic rifles opened fire from within them, interspersed with 40mm rifle grenades every several seconds. The pack of swarming insectoids was quickly cut down. As things died down, a few SCVs rolled out to set up a few missile turrets in-between the bridges, just in case.
"To anyone hearing this message:" a voice suddenly came over the comm., "We're pinned down near Backwater Station. Please assist!"
On the TACMAP, a spot northeast of the eastern bridge was highlighted. Two squads of Raider marines were sent out, quickly crushing the Zerg between them and the trapped marines. The newcomers were escorted back to the base.
"Multiple air bogeys detected" Tychus reported. "ETA: Right the hell now!"
Four Zerg Mutalisks flew in from the north… and were shredded by the S.A.M. launchers. Over the next few hours, the base withstood multiple waves of Zerglings, several Roaches, and the occasional Hydralisk, with the AA batteries tearing apart any Mutalisk that got within range. During the course of the night, two more stranded marine teams were rescued and brought back to base. At some point, Zerg drop-pods began coming in, dropping off enemy forces right on the humans' doorstep. Soon, Sara Prime began to rise, the first rays of its yellow-orange light warming whatever they touched. By now, both bridges had an entire platoon guarding each of them.
"Commander, this is Matt Horner. Just hold on; cavalry's on the way."
"Take your time, Matt" Raynor snarked. "No rush!"
The Zerg stepped up their attack, more and more pods landing as the attack waves got bigger and more frequent. During the last few minutes, the bridge guards fell back to the main base, concentrating the defense. Finally, a hammer-headed starship swooped in, firing its guns to decimate the attacking horde, and dispensing waves of dropships.
TERRAN BEHEMOTH-CLASS BATTLECRUISER – 1,252 METERS
"Cavalry's arrived" Commander Horner radioed. "Anyone still alive down there?"
"Good to see ya, Matt" Raynor replied. "Welcome to the party."
"Glad we made it in time, sir. Now let's get you guys outta there."
The dropships touched down, firing their guns at the Zerg while soldiers piled in. As Teana and Marie ran toward one of the last dropships, a Hydralisk popped out of the ground in front of them… and then fell to the ground in two pieces. There, standing in front of them, was Shion. She was wearing dark red energy-shielded armor with a few Protoss glyphs carved into it, and a ninja-style cloth mask covered her nose and mouth, while her hair was in a tight low ponytail. On her right arm was a gold-plated contraption with a green gem in the shoulder and another in the forearm guard. From the wrist was extended a long, triangular blade of green energy.
"Stare later!" she said, firing an M7 SMG at a charging Zergling, while Kaede and Captain Rex provided cover fire from the open dropship. The Gamma members quickly got aboard, and the last dropship took off, quickly getting aboard the Hyperion, which promptly punched the engines and broke for high altitude, a multitude of Mutalisks pursuing and being shot at by the battlecruiser's point-defense guns.
Raynor walked onto the bridge of the Hyperion, Tychus and the girls close behind him.
"Damn, Jimmy" Tychus said. "You been holdin' out on me."
"Cuttin' it pretty close there, Matt" Raynor said to the well-dressed man standing at a holo-console.
"Never left you hangin' before, sir" Commander Horner replied, as a slight shake caused him and Ahsoka to grab onto the console to steady themselves.
"Fair enough. Just get us the hell outta here."
"All batteries, concentrate forward firepower. Spin up drives 2 and 6. All hands brace for warp jump on my mark; destination 0.2AU from Sara Prime."
Matt looked at his watch. Everyone else grabbed onto something, as the ship's guns continued to fill the air outside with depleted uranium.
"Mark!"
Space-time warped, and the Hyperion shot forward, leaving a shockwave that knocked the pursuing Mutalisks for a loop. It reappeared millions of kilometers away, within visual range of the Starshot.
"What the hell happened?" Raynor asked. "We ain't seen the Zerg in years. Why attack Mar Sara now?"
"It's not just Mar Sara" Horner replied. "Ship-Master Arum just called my attention to this. You need to see this, sir."
He reached down and turned on the television. With every channel flip, devastation filled the screen.
"-Zerg swarm launched a full-scale attack-"
"-Devastation spread throughout all Outer Colonies-"
"-Sustained heavy losses-"
"-Casualties over a billion-"
"-Minutes ago, the Zerg attacked a Dominion research facility-"
Tychus walked up, eyes wide. "Sweet mother of mercy…"
"-New, exclusive video footage confirms that the Queen of Blades is, in fact, leading this attack!"
"Mother of God…" Shion muttered.
Raynor slumped into his seat, holding his head in his hand.
"We always knew she'd be back" Horner said. "But what's she after?"
"…She's come to finish the job."
-CHAPTER END-
A good start, would you say?