Chapter 1
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Location: [ERROR] Unknown
Time: Daylight 28thHR 16 MIN 43 SEC
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Blue Force Terran
5 SCVs
10 Marines
1 Command Center: [ERROR] Offline
1 Refinery: [ERROR] Inactive
4 Depots
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Blue Force Terran Resources
Minerals: 300
Gas: 100
Organic Mass: 50
Supply Limit: 16/50
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Terran Commander Level 1
Status: None
Abilities: [ERROR] Insufficient data…
Energy: None
Allies: None
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Current Objectives: [ERROR] Tutorial Phase One Required…Initiating Tutorial.
That was nice to know I guess, okay having a computer inside your head that updates you with need-to-know information can be pretty nifty, if not a little disorienting the first couple of times it happens, but handy.
Alright, time to wake up.
The interior of the Command Center Headquarters Commander Quarters (or just my room) was the same since I had passed out earlier, not rally paying much attention to the fact that micro computers were being injected into my brain to further augment my capabilities in order for me to command the highly advanced tech around here.
Still wearing the same blue jumpsuit that had a small nametag patch on the left side of my chest, some kind of serial barcode instead of regular letters, but anyway I got out of bed and started putting the rest of my clothes on. My boots, my pistol belt and the wrist bracelet I pretty much have to wear 24/7 when I am not in this room so I can interface with other suits, vehicles, building functions and such, without no magic can happen aside from the basic commands from either a terminal or pre-programed orders.
Breakfast was another really nasty can of rehydrated whale snot and three bottles of water before I took the elevator down to the Suit Bay, fancy way of saying of where I could climb into my own personal suit of armor, which was as simple was placing my hands and feet inside of some circles and initiating the command via mental connection. After that it was the suit closing around me with lots of loud whirring, clicking, hissing and a final beep as I was encased in darkness for all of two seconds before everything around me came to life. The helmet heads-up display (HUD) was the first to light up as a one dimensional readout of the suit was displayed, each section changing from red, orange, yellow and green until the whole thing became a light blue, indicating a 100% suit integrity test. With the suit display finished, next was a purple bar along the bottom edge of the HUD underneath the status display of the suit, which was located in the lower left corner of my screen, this was the suit's energy display meter.
Terran Commander Level One
Status: Commander Variant CMC Power Armor: C-14 "Impaler" 8mm Combat Rifle 500/2000
Abilities: Power Armor Sprint=10 meter range 15 Energy cost, Power Armor Hand Grenade=1 HE Grenade 15 Energy cost
Energy: 50/50: Recharge rate 5 points every 1 minute
Allies: None
Everything checked out, it was strange wearing a suit of power armor, operating was different too because your hands are actually a foot away from the actual hands on the suit, but practice makes perfect. My rifle was sitting on the rack next to the suit, one mag loaded and another four of them stashed on my belt, really need to work on some kind of miniature fabricator built into each suit to supply a larger amount of ammunition compared to what can fit on the limited space of the belt because I could throw grenades that were generated from the suit's existing fabricators, but at great cost of energy.
Now fully suited and armed, I stomped across the Suit Bay to the exit and waited for the door to unlock.
The suns were just peeking over the far horizon when I stepped outside, finding several other units waiting for me, well they were actually deactivated if the scanner built into my visor was anything to go by, but first I had to do the Tutorial.
A prompt screen appeared in front of my face and I blinked at the Yes option.
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Greeting Commander, this is a brief overview of the capabilities of the Blue Terran Force at current level [ONE] that can be viewed at any time for your convenience, please standby for the SCV Operations Tutorial video.
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If it wasn't for the fact that this was eons ahead of what I was used to, I could almost swear that I was stuck with dial up.
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SCV Operations Guide
The SCV is an all environment construction resource gathering and staple repair unit of the Blue Force Terran that has several functions vital to any prospering base of operations. Upon command, any SCV can be activated to build any available structure at current level [ONE] or gather resources, other commands include repair and dismantle.
Select 1 SCV at this time.
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Because I lacked a mouse cursor, I turned and looked at the nearest SCV just sitting there, waiting until the scanner identified that it was in fact an SCV and it was one under my command, allowing a command queue to open, the only one I could select obviously was Gather.
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For now the operator shall learn how to command SCVs to harvest mineral nodes, simply command a SCV to Gather and then select a nearby Mineral Node. Doing so will cause the SCV to automatically retrieve minerals from this location and return them to the Command Center or Collection Station [ERROR] no Collection Station found at this time, for processing, do so now at this time.
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There were a couple of mineral nodes just off to the side of the Command Center, the closest one became highlighted after I stared at it for ten seconds, because I still had the SCV from earlier selected with the Gather option, the command issue Gather Minerals appeared. I blinked at the Yes prompt and turned to watch the SCV as it powered on, servos whirring to life as it moved over to the mineral node and began cutting off chunks bigger than my head. It did this for about a minute before it turned around with both arms full of minerals and drove over to the Command Center, where it deposited that load of minerals into a chute on the side, the minerals indicator on the top portion of my HUD going up ten points, not bad.
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All SCVs are equipped to harvest a wide variety of minerals and gases, select another SCV and then select the Refinery.
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Doing the same thing I did before, I selected another SCV just sitting there and then turned to look at the Refinery sitting just a little bit farther away from the Command center and watched at the little SCV was able to hover over there, drive inside for forty-five seconds and exit the Refinery with a canister the size of a fifty-five gallon barrel that had a light green tint to it. Once it reached the side of the Command Center just like the first one did, it placed the canister into a slot and grabbed another canister that was just sitting there before turning around and heading back to the Refinery for another pickup.
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At current level [ONE] any SCV is capable of building [Supply Depots] select an SCV and open the Build Menu, placing the location of another Depot near one of the existing structures for now.
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Alright, now a new command queue was available, Build obviously and the only thing I could build was unsurprisingly a Depot, which I placed next to the other four for now with help from a holographic outline of how big one of these things were and where I could place it, again handy feature. A third SCV powered up and went over to where I ordered the building of a Depot, first digging a small hole to begin the foundation before carrying a pile of construction materials from the Command Center and started building.
Something else also happened as well, a progress bar appeared over the construction site whenever I looked directly at it, listing off three pieces of information, namely the type of structure being built, how many SCVs were working on it and how long until it was completed, twenty-nine minutes it seemed.
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While the Supply Depot is under construction, select another SCV and order it to harvest minerals and then select the remaining SCV and order it to collect gas.
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Feeling more than just a little stupid at obeying such a stupid command, I did just that, watching as both SCVs buggered off to do what I just told them to do.
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The Blue Force Terran Command Center is a vital part of any base of operations, acting as the primary resource processing, storage and fabrication of raw materials used in any building or construction. It also acts as the main hub for command operations and transmission prompts as well, capable of supplying the SCV ground units at current level [ONE] and allows other buildings to be built.
Now select the Command Center and order five SCVs to be built.
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It was like I needed a hotkey or something oh wait there it is, anyway the Command Center allowed me to build 5 SCVs at the price of 50 minerals each, I decided to ignore the fact that my minerals counter was now under a hundred.
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At current level [ONE] Blue Force Terran has [ERROR] troops located within proximity, please verify ground units.
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I simply looked at each one of the Marines, letting the scanner identify and tag them on my HUD.
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Terran Commander Level [ONE] has access to 10 Marines…opening tutorial for ground combat units.
Marines are standard Blue Force Terran ground units, capable of using small arms [C-14 IMPALER] against both ground and air targets, moderately armored as well as foot mobile, Marines will make up the bulk of any defensive or offensive force.
Select all Marines and issue the Move command from the menu.
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At that, all of the Marine suits powered up like they had been on sleep mode or something, so far the only command option I had for these guys was Move, so I looked around before deciding where I was going to move these guys.
My base was situated on this plateau as far as I could see, three earthen ramps leading off in three directions, two of them were blocked off by piles of boulders and the third wasn't, so being the smart cookie I am, I sent them over there and decided to tag along.
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Aside from the general Move command, Marines in groups of three or more can be ordered to move in several different ways according to the situation.
Columns, allows two single file lines at close intervals to move in one direction, typically used when moving large clusters of troops from one location to another without the fear of enemy attack.
Skirmish, an offensive method of movement used as either a stationary or moving formation that staggers ground units in rows of ten up to five deep, allowing maximum firepower to be directed in one singular direction and minimizing casualties in the event of enemy fire.
Defensive, a static form of troop placement that organizes units for maximum defensive capabilities, the command can be issued for another unit, structure or location as the selected troops will engage any hostile that moves within range.
Patrol, simply orders a selected group of ground units to move between two pre-determined locations, usually when threat of enemy troops are present to provide security.
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I had fun switching between all the movement commands, watching as my 10 Marines shuffled themselves around on the go to make the desired formations, so much better than simply moving around in a tightly bunched up mob as we reached the third ramp that just so happened to be the location I was supposed to select after learning the movement types, so skipping that lesson.
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Marines and other ground units in general will automatically attack anything within range after IFF has identified hostile targets.
Terran Commander Level [ONE] must now move into [ERROR] area unknown to search and sweep for hostile targets.
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Finally, something that even I could figure out it seemed.
The ramp led down, to where I have no idea because the mini-map dominating the upper left corner of my HUD was blank until the line of sight from my Marines, who were about five feet in front of me, filled in the edges. A twitch from my left eye zoomed in on the immediate area around me instead of the entire territory I have covered so far as I kept ordering the Marines ahead every fifty feet or so.
I saw something instead of relying on my mini-map to find it as my Marines came to a halt, it was unmistakably a Zergling, no doubt about it as I carefully inched forward, not to startle the thing into attacking me, but I also wanted to get a closer look at it.
Twice the size of any dog I've ever seen before, standing on two rear legs that were corded with powerful muscles that clearly stated it could move at a rapid pace and two smaller front legs, the tail behind its body was short, but I guessed that it was mainly for balance when it was moving around. The set of arms sticking out of its back, now that was where the real threat was, regardless if this thing had teeth or not, the foot long scythe blades at the ends of those arms looked wicked sharp and deadly beyond belief. Overall I reckon the thing was about four feet long and stood about as high as my knee, a guess put it somewhere in the hundred pound range, but I had no idea when it came to guessing the approximate weight of alien creatures.
When I got a couple feet closer, I could easily another three of them cluttered around something that was also Zerg in nature, but I honestly had no idea what I was looking at.
Ten to four odds were clearly in my favor, especially since my Marines had ranged weapons, exactly 50 yards now that I think about it, and the last target was clearly stationary if the miniscule patch of Creep it was sitting wasn't even big enough to hold four Zerglings, but I didn't want to risk an all-out brawl because I had no way of replacing lost troops.
I did have the capability of throwing hand grenades though.
Activating my Grenade ability, causing the fabricator in my suit's left hand to generate a soup Thermos sized canister after ten seconds and deposit it in my hand was kind of cool, then an arc of blue light appeared on my HUD, showing the obvious trajectory of my throw and ending in a highlighted circle about 10 feet in diameter some 25 yards away.
By now all of the Zerglings were highlighted, that weird thing wasn't for some reason though and I landed the grenade right between two of them and brought my rifle up just as the grenade exploded.
Two Zerglings were reduced to kibble from close proximity of the detonation as the other two let out an earsplitting screech and charged towards me, the status indicator labeled them from neutral to hostile in less than a second as ten rifles behind me opened fire, instantly shredding the remaining pair before they made it six feet.
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Zerglings tend to make up the bulk of any Zerg force as a primary close quarters ground combat unit that stick together in large numbers to overwhelm and conquer.
Scanning, please note that [ONE] Zerg Bio Sample has been detected, recover it through the use of an SCV and return it to the [ERROR] simply return it to the Command Center at this time.
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Now I get it, that thing was obviously a Zerg Chrysalis, I moved my Marines closer to surround it for now because I lacked the option to attack it, summoning an SCV from one of the freshly minted ones from my Command Center and ordered to come retrieve the Bio Sample. While waiting for the SCV to arrive, I walked around the thing to get a decent look at it, it was egg shaped, about as tall as me and kind of uninteresting, but if the scanner on my HUD was correct, this was clearly a High Value Target.
The SCV simply went right up to it, built some kind of box, scooped it up and headed back to the Command Center as I decided that the rest of the area wasn't going to search itself and pressed on. The occasional mineral node and gas geyser was located, getting marked on my map for future reference as I reached the edge of a cliff and decided to follow it around, something was telling me that this was a closed off area of some kind.
Now I could pick up another hint of movement and stopped my Marines before whatever it was saw them and I crept forward to get a closer look.
Two Protoss Zealots of all things were standing around a glowing orb not much bigger than myself of course my first thought that it was a Photon Cannon until I remember that a Pylon was needed to power something like that. Thinking that it was something like the Zerg Bio Sample, but from the Protoss obviously as I looked at my energy bar and then the grenade icon, methinks much abuse will be used on this little ability of mine.
Good news was that the grenade took the shields and nearly half the life points of one Zealot as they both charged towards me as my Marines lit up the second one, leaving me with the wounded one.
Rifle was up and kicking against my shoulder before I knew it, spikes were slamming into this Zealot, sparks from where the rounds were tearing through the armor and splotches of glowing blue blood where they were hitting the vitals. The psi blades on its wrists flickered first before it stumbled and went down on its face, I decided that a courtesy double to the back of the head was a requirement after a glance at the second one revealed a smoldering pile of goo and armor shards as my HUD lit up with another video.
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Zealots are the primary ground based infantry of the Protoss, utilizing energy shielding and close quarters weapons to engage enemy ground units.
Scanning, please note that [ONE] Protoss Crystal Shard has been detected, recover it through the use of an SCV and return it to the [ERROR] simply return to the Command Center at this time.
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Again I used my hotkey to order another SCV that was finished to come pick this one up, it had the appearance of a glowing basketball on top of a pedestal, it was clearly a Protoss Artifact of some kind and was important enough if I couldn't target it or destroy it.
Guessing at the obvious nature of the Tutorial so far and with a third of the area still in the black on my map, I figured that I would be finding some hostile Terran forces around here as well as I decided to press on. Sure enough I came across three green Terran Marines compared to my 10 blue Marines, they were standing around some kind of metal pod that looked like an escape pod or something as I moved my Marines into position, primed a grenade and attacked.
The clatter of automatic weapons was loud and short as my Marines held the superior numbers in this fight, my grenade killing one and crippling a second, that one was taken out by my rifle as the third was killed by a collective burst from the rest of my Marines as I waited for the inevitable.
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Marines are the primary ground force of enemy Terran forces, being able to attack both ground and air targets with assault rifles.
Scanning, please note that [ONE] Terran Research File has been detected, recover it through the use of an SCV and return it to the [ERROR] simply return to the Command Center at this time.
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A third SCV was summoned from the Command Center this time as I got a decent look at this one, it looked like a computer terminal in the side of an escape module just a little bit bigger than me as I searched the rest of the area and followed the SCV back to the Command Center.
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This concludes the Terran Commander Tutorial, please note that any new information and tactics can be reviewed in this menu at any time.
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I immediately got a message notification on my HUD that I opened via another eye twitch and waited for the message to upload.
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Blue Force Terran Level One to Level Two Completion
Requirements: 10 SCVs, 5 Depots, 3 Research Points.
Level Two Rewards: Barracks, Science Facility
Allies: Command Center "Adjutant"
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Level Three Requirements: 20 Depots, 50 SCVs, 100 Marines, 3 Science Facility Upgrades, 10 Zerg Bio Samples, 10 Protoss Crystal Shards, 10 Terran Research Files and Terran Commander Level Two
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Terran Commander Level One to Level Two [ERROR] Incomplete
Requirements: 3/10 Hand Grenade Kills, 2/25 Rifle Kills, 4/200 Confirmed Kills, 0/1 Commander Research Upgrade
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Good news, I could build two new buildings now that my force had reached the next level, I immediately ordered an SCV to build a Barracks and another one to build a Science Facility closer to the Command Center and the rest I ordered to get to work harvesting minerals for now. I also had a lot work to do apparently in order of ever reaching the next stage for my force and in order to do that I log a bunch of kills with both weapons and my troops it seemed, that and it was going to take an hour before my Barracks was completed.
If it wasn't that the clock at the top center of my HUD was flashing red and counting down to nightfall in less than forty-five minutes and they say that monsters come out at night, I would have busted down the rock piles and struck out on Manifest Destiny by now, but instead I decided to wait.
Might as well go see what this Adjutant is about before the sun went down.