07, thats what the read out was on the side of the rifle mag. No that couldn't be right I had just reloaded it, there was no way I had used 13 shots already. Was there? I didnt have time to think over this though, as the increasingly loud wind surrounding my wreck reminded me. The Zerg were out there, I knew this for sure, just outside of my line of sight. I could sense their frantic animal like minds skittering about out there. It seemed like mostly zerglings at the moment but I didn't want to wait around for anything else. As large as dogs and armed with sharp claws and fangs, a swarm of zerglings was nothing to ignore.
But then again, I was a Ghost. i was supposed to laugh at this stuff apparently. That always seemed stupid to me but it wasn't my place to question that Academy's teaching methods. I had kept my concerns locked up and to myself. It was starting to look like I was right however, ever since the return of these slimy insect like creatures all the 'tough guy' attitudes and 'give em hell' bravdo seemed to have been blown right out of the Dominion.
I heard chittering, then a frantic digging sound. They were burrowing. Moving swiftly and rose up to one knee as I turned, resting the barrel of my rifle atop the piece of scrap I had been using as cover. Damn this wind, it was ripping up the red sand in a frenzied funnel and making it impossible for me to see anything. Scowling I teeked out the Zerglings position, using the scope of my rifle in an attempt to confirm it. I saw the slightest bit of sand moving against the wind, and took that as enough evidence.
Id rather save my bullets for something bigger, more menacing, so instead of sniping it I lanced it with a sharp teek attack, hearing a squeal out in the sand before the Zerg's mind went blank and silent. That couldnt have been the only one attempting to burrow, I was sure of it. Standing on soft ground wouldn't be safe anymore. i had seen Zerglings come up right at a Goliath's feet once and yank it underground. Wanting to avoid this I turned on my cloaking device and moved towards the twisted hull of my ship. The cloak was almost dead, having taken some damage in the crash, but it would get me to the ship and hopefully last until reinforcements finally showed up.
I had just reached the ship when the ground to my left exploded and out came a raging zergling, shrieking to it's comrades as it attempted to sink it's fangs into my right arm. I twisted away, having sensed it's approach a second before it arrived and drawing a knife from the sheath attached to my leg. I avoided another attempt at a bite, slamming the knife into the side of the monster's head behind it's eye and burying it up to the hilt. The thing jerked once before falling limp. I wrenched the knife free and continued into the wreck, now hearing the other zerglings calling to one another in the storm and attempting to locate their fallen friend.
There wasn't much left of the ship, my Wrangler was still in his seat dead as far as I could tell. I didn't disturb him, there wasn't time. The radio was still on blaring static. I had sent out an SOS as soon as I had gotten free of my own broken seat. there had been some chatter but the wind storm had made it to difficult for me to make out. All I could do was hope it had been a confirmation of my call for help and that someone was on the way. The static was not reassuring however.
I took cover in the cockpit, that being the only section really left with at least three standing walls. I had to climb in through the shattered front window I had gotten out through, before tumbling in and putting my back to the blast door that had slammed shut and cut us off from the rest of the ship when we had first started to go down.
I could still hear the wind outside, and now my own pounding heart but that was all. The chattering and squealing had stopped for the moment, and I could no longer hear and tunneling. Keeping my rifle up and pointed at the broken glass I let my eyes go out of focus as I attempted to sweep the area of the wreck for signs of more zerg with my mind. I wasn't a higher level teek, and this was a bit above my abilities which tended to lean more towards signaling out one specific target, but I had little choice at the moment. I was fighting blind in a storm with only 7 rounds left in my gun, so of course I was going to try this.
There were dull signs of life, mostly a grey hue that meant they belonged to basic creatures like the zergling, but I could just barely make out one green throbbing presence out on the edge of my reach where my mind seemed to just brush up against it barely. It was hostile and aware of my attempt to read it, it didn't take me long to figure it was Hydralisk.
Quickly I snapped out of the trance, realizing I had just trapped myself in a tin box for a hungry Hydra. I got to my feet again, making for the broken window. Zerglings would have been easy enough to take from in here, but a Hydra would just fire it's projectiles through the walls as if they were paper and skewer me. I'd rather not give it the chance though, so the open was the best bet.
No sooner had I stepped out onto the scorched exterior of my ship then one of the little scavenging zerglings leaped up at me. Reflexively I took aim and fire, mentally berating myself for wasting precious amo I would need for the Hydra. The zergling fell to the ground with a dull thud and I jumped over its carcass as I ran into the maze of scrap, my mind pushed out as far as I could get it to try and sense my next attacker before they sensed me. With the cloak now refusing to engage, surprise was the best defense I had at the moment.
And this I took full advantage of. Three zergling were ahead of me about twenty feet, hidden by the flying red sand. Never breaking stride I slung my gun onto my back, drawing the knife before I slammed into the first, shocking it with a teek blast so I could deliver a fatal blow with the knife. I shoved it's body into the second who squealed and fell beneath it, while the third came dashing at me from the left. My knife still stuck in the first, I was left empty handed with this one so I focused a telekinetic blast at it to slow it down.
It fell backwards in a tumble from the force of the blow, giving me time to retrieve my knife. Flipping up right it came at me again but I was ready this time and slashed it before grabbing one of it's taloned legs and yanking it in front of me to absorbed the charge of the second zergling. The two fell in a tangle, one dying and the other trapped, allowing me to finish them both off before moving on.
I would do a circuit of the wreck, I decided. I could pick the zergling off one at a time that way and leave the Hydralisk without back up. I would have to move fast though, before reinforcements showed up.
The remaining Zerglings proved to be no real challenge, most just as surprised as the others I had put down. I had had to shoot one though, leaving me now with only 5 rounds in my gun and a weary mind that felt like a sore muscle. Not the state I would choose to take a Hydralisk on in, especially when I had no hard skin.
These thoughts were chased from my mind though as the ground beneath me gave way and the thing itself burst out from the hole in the ground. I was knocked to the ground by the violence of it's appearance, and the only thing that saved me from getting skewered right there and then by one of it's long scythe like claws was the instinct to roll. I could hear it screech in annoyance when it missed me, and I got to my feet as fast as I could to unsling my gun and knock off the safety. The Hydra slithered about to face me, seeming to weave from side to side as two angry green eyes studied me. I could feel it's mind, almost as if it were attempting to read my own.
Venom dripped from it's mandibles and spikes protruding from it's head crest. But what worried me the most were the two curved claws that hung from either arm, almost two feet in length each.
I was only given a second to take this all in, before with surprising speed one would not expect from such a slug like creature to posses the Hydra lunged forward. Again i avoided it's talons, to close to open fire so instead having to run again. I would need to put distance between myself and this thing before I could use my rifle, and I'd rather not tangle with it mentally. I had seen other Ghosts and Marines paralyzed by this thing's mental attack and I didn't want to give it the opportunity to do the same to me.
I could hear it's heavy breathing behind me as I ran through the wreck, and it's body brushing up against the bits of metal that had once carried me through space at unbelievable speeds. It's mind was still hounding mine, attempting to batter down walls and ensnare me as if I were a prey animal. This did nothing but anger me, and lend me speed.
These things had torn to pieces home world after home world, killing an unknown number of humans and oozing their slime over everything they touched. They deserved to be put down like the parasitic animals they were, and I intended to do just that.
Even as these thoughts ran through my head I heard what sounded like a cough, and immediately ducked as overhead whistled a barb no doubt shot from one of the holes on the Hydra's head crest. I glanced over my shoulder, there still wouldn't be enough time to turn, take aim, and pull the trigger before the thing was on me, and I was beginning to tire. There was a second cough, then a third and fourth. With each one came a barb forcing me to slow down to avoid them.
Then I felt one slam into my left leg, ripping through my thigh muscle and embedding itself in the sand. I couldn't help but scream in pain, my leg crumbled beneath me as I collapsed into the dust with a hand clasped to the wound. even through the protective material of my glove I could feel my hot blood pumping through my fingers and into the sand at my feet as the Hydra loomed overhead.
It seemed to take delight in my pain, it's mind flashing in excitement as it closed in. With a muted cry of pain I managed to turn around, on my knees now and breathing hard as I came about to find myself at eye level with the monster's stomach. It arched it's back, using one scythe like talon to snap the strap of my gun and disarm me before it brought it's hideous head down to look me in the eye. With a hiss it opened it's maw, exposing rows upon rows of needle sharp teeth all covered in venomous saliva. I met it's stare, refusing to be scared or intimidated. Ghosts laughed at this stuff, right?
I thought of the countless other Ghosts that had died at the hand of these things, my brothers and sisters in arms, and found myself for a moment wondering if I would see them again after this thing finished toying with me. This thought was chased away however, when out of the dust up overhead loomed something new, something that shone dully in the weak light as only metal does.