Starcraft: Defenders of Shakuras
Chapter 1: A New Enemy
Disclaimer: I do not own Starcraft. It is the property of Blizzard Entertainment, the wonderful designers who made this unbeatable game.
Author's note: This story takes place approximately a month after Broodwar.
Date:Unknown location, Koprulu Sector, one month after Broodwar
The Hyperion cruised through the darkness of space. After the battles in which Kerrigan had taken control of the remaining Zerg broods and wrested control of Aiur from the stalwart Protoss, the other two species had retreated to their base defensive planets. Unfortunately for the Protoss, their new planet, Shakuras, was inhabited by their former brethren, the Dark Templar. This caused some discord among the telepathic aliens. They had been raised to believe the Dark Templar were just as bad as the zerg.
After a rebellion launched by the disgruntled Judicator Aldaris, things quieted down and the Protoss reunited and merged into the powerful race they were meant to be.
Captain Jim Raynor sat in his lavish quarters. The Hyperion had originally been the flagship of Arcturus Mengsk, the emperor of the Terran Dominion. When Jim had left Mengsk, he had stolen this ship and several others. Unfortunately, the others had been overrun by the zerg when Raynor had attempted to rescue Kerrigan from Char.
Raynor sighed. He missed the human Kerrigan. For a time, he had entertained fantasies that she could be saved until she brutally murdered his good friend Fenix the Praetor. Those memories were too painful for him to think about for too long. Now was the time for business, not thoughts. He walked over to his comlink and activated it.
"Bridge, this is Captain Raynor. Have you detected any nearby planets that are habitable?"
"No, sir," Matt Horner's voice sounded tinny over the comm. "However, we have located a group of ships. They seem to be dead in space. There are three Terran Battlecruisers, a Science vessel, and three Arbiter Warships. It looks like they've been EMPed."
Raynor sighed again. "Well Matt, I guess we should send some troops to check the interior of those ships. If they're still space worthy, I would like to add them to our fleet."
He considered his deployment options. The Hyperion carried five hundred combat ready Marines. The other ships Raynor had in his fleet, Idealism, and Painful Memory, were back at his asteroid base that currently orbited the burned out remains of the planet Mar Sara.
"Matt, I will be going to search the vessels one at a time. We'll start with the Protoss vessels, then move on to the Battlcruisers. All of the Marines will accompany me. Tell them to prep for possible zero-G operations. We'll be boarding within the hour."
"Yessir," Matt replied.
As soon as the Captain issued the order to board the dead ships, every Marine was already on the hangar deck next to one of the ten dropships and suited up for combat. Each Marine had a C-14 Gauss Rifle, powered battle armor, oxygen tanks that created air from carbon dioxide and other cases, and ten stim packs, which were stimulants injected into troopers that made them fight harder and faster and even more brutally. By the time Raynor arrived with his own gear, every Marine was practically choking on his excitement.
"Okay, troops. Let's go board those ships. Stay frosty and be prepared for anything. Once we're aboard, we'll split into four groups. Report anything even remotely suspicious and if something jumps at you shoot first and ask questions later." Raynor concluded his speech. "Alright. Let's get going."
The boarding process was by-the-book. The dropships, with the troops safely esconced inside them, flew over to one of the Arbiter warships. As the flotilla of dropships neared the ghost ship, the four A-17 Wraiths that had accompanied them maneuvered in near the hull of the Protoss warship and breached the section with precisely four Hellfire missiles. Objective accomplished, the Wraiths broke formation and dropped behind the transports to shield them from any sneak attacks. The Hyperion itself moved over the dead Arbiter to provide cover form any potential attacks from above. Unfortunately, the Terran pilots had forgotten one direction: below.
Unseen by any of the Wraiths or dropships, a zerg brood accelerated toward the unsuspecting Terrans from below. The brood consisted of several Overlords carrying numerous warriors within their ventral sacs, and their escorts of about ten mutalisks and twenty or so of the suicidal Scourge. As the dropships maneuvered into the breach left by the fighters, the Overlords moved into the breach. The other airborne zerg attacked the Wraiths quickly and quietly. But the Wraiths refused to go down without a fight.
"Holy crap, I've got one on me!" Flight Officer Robert "Bob" Sucuesta cried as he steered his craft through a dangerous turn along the contours of the Arbiter as he attempted to dislodge the mutalisk from his back. The zerg was determined, though, and duplicated his maneuver perfectly.
"Hold on Bob, I got ya!" The voice rang in Bob's ears as he identified the voice. The speaker was Captain Alexandra Chen. As Bob flew along the Arbiter, he saw Alexandra's Wraith plummet toward the mutalisk and fire off three Hellfire missiles. The alien monstrosity exploded into a cloud of blood and gore. Bob clicked his comm, a way of silently acknowledging the rescue.
Then he turned to look at the dropships. What he saw froze him. The overlords had deployed their deadly living cargo, and now sought to flee the area. Meanwhile, the remaining three Wraiths engaged the zerg flyers. One pilot was too slow, and a scourge smashed into his cockpit. Meanwhile, the Hyperion was coming about and deploying the rest of the three dozen Wraiths it had in its hangar.
Captain Chen took command of the remaining Wraiths. "Okay, people, we've got to help those dropships escape the zerg in that Arbiter! Go in for a strafing run, but blast any debris in your way!"
Three affirmatives followed. As one, the Wraiths broke and headed for the breach in the Arbiter. As they flew in, Bob realized the situation had escalated.
Three dropships now were burnt hulks. The other seven had put down and disgorged their Marines. Bob could see Marines in battle armor firing madly at voracious zerglings as the small creatures scrambled to attack. Hydralisks fired their needle-sharp spines into the Terrans. Fortunately, those were the only genetic warrior strains the overlords had brought.
Captain Jim Raynor slapped a fresh clip into his gauss rifle and continued firing at the advancing zerg brood. "We need more men up here!" he yelled at the dropships. Ten troopers ran up to Raynor's position and began firing at the zerg as well. As Raynor watched, a Wraith fighter soared in, and careful not to hit the dropships or Marines, unleashed a massive barrage from his laser cannons and missile launchers. The zerg fell back for a moment to reassess the situation, which was all the Marines needed to rush into their dropships.
"Get us out of here!" Raynor yelled at the pilot. He nodded and the ship rose. It rotated and flew out of the Arbiter with the other six dropships behind it.