The sky was black, clouds and sunlight clogged with overlords and carriers. Hundreds of feet beneath stood a few dozen men, and a few thousand Zerg. The last outpost on Tarsonis was on the border of a massive colony of flesh and bone. Creep spread rapidly, encasing everything that it came across. The remnants of Terran buildings sat everywhere, now infested or burned to ash. A Zerg army stood awaiting orders from its leader, the gargantuan overmind.
The Terran fleet suddenly gained speed and vanished leaving behind a terrified colony, soon to be exterminated. The calm outpost was soon panicked, turning battle hardened Marines into rodents. Kerrigan herself, the best of the best, had an unusually nervous look on her face.
Ben stood upright, perfectly straight, about to accept his fate. "Jesus man, we're gonna' die" said a marine, the pitch of his voice shaky. "We're not going to die, not before we fight." replied Ben.
Benjamin Kearse was a shadow of a man. A light coating of stubble lined his face and dark blue bags hung under his eyes. He was a beast, almost literally. He fought fearless, pure rage overlapping his thoughts. Ben had killed countless enemies, dozens of Terran, hundreds of Zerg. He had been rumored to rival James Raynor in terms of skill. However, he possessed an animalistic quality that neither Raynor, nor any other human had.
"They're gonna freakin' maul us, rip us apart man" stated the marine. "No, they're not." replied Ben. "We are going to maul and kill them, we are going to rip them apart, WE are going to fucking conquer this battle and conquer the war." said Ben, nearly screaming at the end of the speech. Ben ripped the gauss rifle from the other man's hands. He held it point blank to the terrified marine's head.
"If you want to die, I will kill you right now. If you want to fight, then fight. Not as a scared man, but as an animal. Use your rage, not your fear." said Ben. The now awe-inspired marine took his rifle back and had a new inspiration to fight. Both men turned at the sound that emanated from the horizon.
The sound always erupted in the distance shortly before the attack. It was the overpowering noise of thousands of Zerg, running full speed at the ill-prepared outpost.
Ben flipped the visor on his combat suit down. He gripped the gauss rifle and dug his feet into the ground. The rumble of siege tanks shook the ground and the air was soon filled with Arclite 120 millimeter shells. In the distance spider mines detonated spilling alien blood on the battlefield. The tank shells hung in the air for a moment, before plummeting to the ground and crushing ultralisks. The Zerg were advancing quickly, almost at the gate of the outpost. Gauss rifles fire began, dropping dozens of zerglings and hydralisks. Firebats charged past the marines and scorched the rough terrain. The injured Zerg pressed on however, the will of the overmind forcing them to continue the battle. Men fell to the razor-sharp claws of the vile beasts. Napalm canisters strapped to firebats detonated, instantly incinerating everything near.
A single hydralisk spine landed on Ben's visor. The visor twisted and burned and Ben was forced to fight without it. His rifle shook as each round exited and the hydralisk's head exploded in an eruption of blood and brain matter. Another came from behind the beast's smoldering corpse and shot spines at Ben. He ducked and dodged to the left, narrowly avoiding the acidic projectiles. A canister rifle round flew over his shoulder and took the hydralisk in the chest. It fell back, injured but not beaten. Ben unloaded dozens of rounds into the beast, before it finally succumbed to its damaged organs and collapsed. A zergling took Ben from behind and pushed him to the ground, its claws tearing at the thick armor. Ben hit the dirt face first, but quickly rolled over. Blood and a form of saliva dripped into his exposed face while the beast prepared to sink its claws again. Ben reacted quicker than it did and unleashed a power assisted punch into the face of the animal. The combat suit he wore increased his speed and strength, which made him a decent opponent against the zergling's powerful teeth and claws.
The zergling stumbled from the blow and Ben struck again. The monster's head twisted back as its neck snapped. Its teeth broke clean in two and was now missing a large part of its jaw. Ben kicked the creature off and shot a round into its torso, to insure its death. Ben spun around to see Kerrigan wrestle with a zergling. Unable to insure an accurate shot, Ben ran up to the beast and unleashed a massive kick, breaking the bone that ran up its right claw. It turned towards Ben and he hit it violently with the butt of his gun. It shook off the blow and tore into his armor, piercing his skin. He did not scream, nor even flinch, instead he retaliated with a hefty punch that landed square on the beast's head. Kerrigan kicked the animal backwards and raised her canister rifle. The projectile grenade ripped apart the zergling's flesh and Ben ended its life with a series of well placed shots directly hitting its skull.
Before Kerrigan had a chance to thank the marine, Ben had already engaged two hydralisks that were assaulting a small group of marines and a firebat. One beast lifted its gargantuan claw and plunged it into a marine's torso. His heart was pierced severely and he instantly slid off and dropped. The firebat unloaded a flurry of flames engulfing one hydralisk. Ben and the other marines began to shoot at the other, piercing its thick carapace. The bullets, alas, did not accomplish much as it continued to battle, launching a number of spines at a marine's head. The marine dropped to the ground, not dead, but with a slightly melted face. A marine lifted up his fallen comrade while shooting at the beast. Ben turned his attention to the hydralisk currently on fire. His gauss rifle rumbled as the animal's head was destroyed and its large body fell. The remaining marines were now spread, flanking the second great beast. It turned sharply and whipped its claw into an unsuspecting firebat's helmet. The near-decapitated man was thrown quite a distance before tumbling onto the dirt. Ben was infuriated and leaped onto the beasts tail. He managed to get a grip on the mucus covered extremity and pulled it backwards, un-footing the monster. Bullets tore through its skin from the front and Ben unloaded the remainder of his bullets into the beast's head. It fell.
The command centre exploded sending debris hundreds of meters away. Flames consumed Zerg and Terran warriors, scorching down to the bone. Ben dove behind the remnants of a once active siege tank. In the distance he saw Kerrigan overwhelmed by zerglings and hydralisks. There was no saving her now. Flames shot past Ben's head and killed a group of zerglings.
When the explosion had stopped Ben readied his rifle and checked for survivors. None. He scanned the area to see if there were any injured men. None. There was however, Zerg, in all directions.
And this was when Benjamin Kearse realized that he was going to die. He had fought, and now he had died. The Zerg would kill and consume, as they had done before, hundreds of thousands of times. Feet and claws scurried over his fallen friends, racing to be the first to kill the last survivor. Ben threw down his gauss rifle. He raised his boot and crushed the weapon. He was the bravest man to ever fight. He fought with honor and with pride, conquering and eliminating. But he was only one. One in a sea of thousands. One that would soon be forgotten, soon be sliced and crushed and burned to death by the enemies he so valiantly fought against.
And he knew, that despite all of his accomplishments, and all of his victories, even though he was the last alive, it meant nothing.
Nothing.
It meant nothing to him. Nothing to the other humans who would never know. But, unaware to him, someone did know. Someone did care that he was the last survivor, and the best warrior. Someone needed him to win this intergalactic struggle.
But it wasn't someone, it was something. The greatest general to ever be created. The greatest ruler, the greatest mind. The Overmind.
He died for the Human race. But he would live for the swarm.