A/N: This is the first chapter of a four-chaptered shortstory. Rated T for swearing and gore. Please enjoy the read! :)

White Falcon

Chapter I – Blind Ghosts

The darkness consumed the captain's every move, his every waking thought. He was a blind dog following a scent to god knows what awaited him. There was no room to fear them, no moment to doubt himself, because if he did, he'd find his head laying a few feet from his body. He had seen his eyes wide, stunned, bemused, the moment of his death engraved into his last expression. As his ghost floated away, the blood stopped running and he realized it was all pointless. It was that clarity that frightened and empowered him. He had died. For seven seconds – officially.

His lieutenant ignited a lighter, and the warm glow revealed a red goatee and a narrow nose. His lips were dry and crusted, the curves of his cheeks glistened with grease, only it wasn't grease, but the slimy excrement from the organic walls around them. He spat and then placed a cigar between his lips. As the flame went out, the smoke he puffed became a misty blue. The flesh-like corridor contained glowing blue orbs sparsely embedded into the ceiling. They were quite dim, but it was better than travelling in pitch black. The captain leaned against the wall and eyed his lieutenant. There was something about the way he stood there with a cigar in the corner of his mouth that reminded him of himself when he was younger. Very simply, not giving a fuck.

The Scotsman's head swung his way, his features in darkness. "We gettin any closer to the heart of this thing, or are we just digging ourselves a deeper grave?"

"Both," the captain replied.

"Leave it to the fucking Federation to give us these piece of shit rifles. They don't even have armor piercing rounds for Christ's sake. No cloaking. No radar. I'd be just as good pulling out my dick and using my hard-on as a swinging bat." He scoffed and threw his helmet down the pathway. It made a soft squish sound as it stuck into the floor. "Great, now I'm gonna have that shit ruining my hair."

"Keep your voice down Felix. Were you listening to the briefing at all?"

The lieutenant flung a hand at him as he went to retrieve his helmet.

"If the general is down here, then he'd be smart enough to place detectors in the area. We can't be emitting any electrical waves. There's no way out if we get in trouble down here. No gadgets, no mistakes, got it?" The captain expected to get an earful back, but Felix was just standing there, back towards him, head bowed with a hand against the wall. "Lieutenant?" He thought back a moment to remember if he had said something offensive.

"Ultra-hardfuck-bazooka-cannon," Felix said in a humored whisper.

The captain frowned. "What?"

Felix repeated the words, then turned to the captain. The visible corner of his mouth revealed a grin. "That's what we used to pull out when we faced impossible odds."

The captain was still frowning. He had never heard him speak so sincerely.

"My brother and I. When we were kids, we would pretend we were surrounded by Zerg, and in the final moments, when all hope seemed lost, he would shout 'ultra-hardfuck-bazooka-cannon!'" he spoke through a sorrowful laugh, "and we would raise our arms like we were holding cannons and blast every fucking one of them."

The pair were quiet for a moment. The captain lowered his gaze and sighed softly. "I'm–"

Felix raised his hand. "Don't," he said in stern voice. "Don't say you're sorry Worth. You want to make me feel better?" He walked up to the captain and shoved a finger in his chest. "You just promise me you'll shove your rifle down the throat of every one of those fuckers and blow their god damn heads off. You got that?"

Worth was holding his breath. He could feel the anger and power in the words weaken his body. He was glad he was wearing a helmet so Felix couldn't see his stupidly stunned expression. He hated how other people's emotions affected him so greatly. He couldn't just shrug it off like any other soldier. No. He had to feel the emotion like it was his own. He could see the glint of Felix's intense eyes.

Worth knocked away his arm. "We aren't here to shoot up a bloodbath. I need you focused on the mission, lieutenant." He wished he had said something else.

Eyes still fixed on his captain, Felix backed away. He turned, shoved the slimy helmet on his head and swung the rifle over his shoulder. Without another word, he started walking down the dark tunnel. His silhouette disappeared around a bend.

Worth sighed and closed his eyes. An image appeared in his mind. A field of wheat had grown from the ground to the tips of his fingers. It travelled for miles. A golden sight under a cloudless blue sky. The sun was warm as it moved across the zenith. It was so quiet. The light breeze came as a faint whisper and flowed over the skin of his shaved head. He smiled. His pale green eyes stared above. There were no spacecraft, no moons. Nothing. His hands cupped his cheeks and slowly moved down his stubble, his fingers slid around the shape of his square jaw. His mind grew calm, muscles relaxed. A noise sounded in the distance. Louder. And louder. It was gunfire. Worth opened his eyes to the gloomy tunnel and let out a heavy breath. He grabbed his sniper rifle and darted towards the darkness.

. . .

The monstrous beast swayed sideways and its giant talons struck Felix in the chest. His body flew, and he slammed hard into callous section of the wall. He laid there like a battered ragdoll, unmoving. The hydralisk made a loud, throaty hiss that shook Worth's entire body like an invisible force. Heart thumping hard, Worth raised the rifle to his chin and fired. He could barely see the ridges of the beast's body as it slithered sideways at incredible speed. It had predicted the attack and effectively dodged the bullet. The captain stumbled backwards and toggled the light on his rifled. He raised it and nerves froze his body as the hydralisk towered over him. His eyes darted to the beast's right talon that raised to strike him. He jumped backwards and fired. The beast hissed in agony as metal tore through flesh. Its head and arms flailed in the air. Worth fired again and again, not caring where he was aiming anymore. He could see light from gunfire in the corner of his eye. It was Felix, firing from his sprawled position with a pistol. The hydralisk's flesh bounced left and right from the force of the bullets. Its arms sagged to the sides and it fell over in a heavy thud. Blood poured from its body like a water tap.

Felix let his head fall back, mouth gaping as he gasped for air. He looked across his chest at the body armor that now had a deep slash through it. Luckily, it wasn't deep enough for a flesh wound. He laid a hand on top of it and barked a laugh. "This equipment isn't as useless as I first thought."

Worth took off his helmet and made a soured face as he took a breath full of the putrid air. "Ugh, god." He wiped the sweat from his forehead and neck. "How the hell do you walk around down here without a helmet on?"

"Easy." He grinned and pointed to his nostrils. "Viatek nose filters. Fresh roses, nice summer breeze – I smell whatever I want to smell."

Worth couldn't help but laugh. "You are one strange fuck Felix." He struggled to his feet with the help of his rifle. His nerves still shook. "Don't ever go marching off alone like that again."

"Are you kidding? Can't get rid of me that easily. A dumbass like you would be completely lost without me."

The reality of finding himself alone in the tunnel struck Worth in his chest. He was never one to rely on anyone else. He always did the solo act, but this was different. He had spent weeks traveling alongside the lieutenant. "You never get used to it do you," he said letting the humour fade from his voice.

Felix sat up and stared at him. "Used to what?"

Worth eyed the motionless beast. Its eyes, that had once leered at him in crimson red, were now black, like soulless voids. He gestured his gun. "Seeing them."

Felix gazed at the body. "No. I don't suppose you do."

. . .

The tunnel came to a large area that was connected to a few dozen other canals. A large pit, with a diameter of ten arm spans, laid at the center. Worth crept towards the edge of the hole and looked down. The darkness felt like it was going to engulf him at any moment.

"Guess we're going down there," Felix said.

Worth wrapped his rifle around his body. "This is the main canal that leads to the primary chamber of the hatchery."

"Figured you'd say that." Felix unlatched the climbing hooks on his belt. "There's still time to save the general right?" He was quiet for a moment. "I mean, there's a chance?"

Worth started unwinding the cable. "It takes eighty hours to complete human infestation." He looked at the lieutenant. "It's been more than double that time now. So what do you think?" The words seemed to strike a nerve. Felix looked sideways, his lips thinned into a line. Worth studied him. The lieutenant had always been a little sensitive around the subject of the general, and the captain knew it couldn't be out of a soldier's affection or even loyalty. "If he's down there, we take him out. No hesitation. I don't have to remind you what's at stake."

Felix glared at him. "I know the mission Worth. Let's get on with it."

Once the cable was secured around him, Felix leaned with his back over the pit and feet against its edge. He looked at Worth and gave a nod. "See you in hell Worth." He jumped from the edge, his wire unreeling as he descended quickly into darkness.

Worth let out a sigh and tried to imagine that he was climbing down a cliff side in a pleasant forest setting. The distraction didn't work very well this time. The air rushed passed him as he fell, growing colder and colder. The pale blue light above him dimmed until he could see it no longer. He was falling into nothingness. A place from which he did not think he would return.