Ghost's Guardian
By Icura
~o~
Chapter 3
~o~
Matt Horner rubbed his eyes in a futile attempt to stop the burning sensation he could feel coming from them. He should have already gotten some rest by now, but he had stubbornly refused to. There was only one simple reason for overworking himself: they were still running for their lives.
There weren't currently any enemy ships on their tail, but given time, he had no doubt they would gain a lead on them. Mengsk wasn't going to leave them alone; not after what they did. Even with a warp jump as random as the one they took, it would only be a matter of time before it was traced. That was why it was important to get as far away from the exit point as soon as possible.
And that was also why they were now slowly navigating through an extremely narrow and ever-changing passageway through an asteroid field.
An asteroid field was dangerous to navigate, making it impossible for a fleet of ships to safely travel through. That would delay whatever fleet that Arcturus Mengsk sent after them by forcing said fleet to send out scout ships to trace their passing and then circle around the entire field. It wasn't a great tactic, but it would give them extra time to allow the warp drive to stabilize.
Still, that didn't mean the rewards outweighed the risk. It was a dangerous maneuver with the results being somewhat of a crapshoot. While it was possible to gain a few extra days from this, if the enemy fleet had apt scouts and navigators, then that lead could easily be reduced to only a couple of extra hours. Still, it was a gamble they had to take. He just hoped that it wouldn't be their last.
When navigating asteroid fields, it was necessary for periodic radar pings to be used in order to map the current positions of the asteroids. Of course, it wasn't possible to dodge every single piece of rock so the smaller ones had to be ignored. Still, to Matt, each dent on the hull of the Hyperion irritated him. Even if this was a battlecruiser made to endure much deadlier obstacles, he hated taking unnecessary hits.
He liked to consider himself a perfectionist, but that wasn't quite right; he had fudged and redefined the line more times than he cared to remember. Sometimes, it was out of necessity, but more often than not, it was just because of convenience.
Still, it wasn't like he was the navigator. He was only the commanding officer here, and the situation would probably turn out the same even if he wasn't here to keep watch. There were no enemies to fight at the moment.
So why was he still awake?
"Well, why are you still awake?" Matt stared up at the voice to find the leader of the newly christened band of rebels.
"Sir," Matt said, dropping his hand from his eyes. "Did I say that out loud?"
"Yeah, you did." Jim Raynor walked up to the other man. "And when you start mutterin' those kind of questions to yourself, then I think it's high time you get to bed."
"I'll do it after we're out of the field."
"They don't need you out here," Raynor said. "They need their newly promoted Captain well-rested and thinkin' straight. If a fight's coming, I rather have your brain workin' at its best."
"Is that an order?"
"Do you want it to be?"
"No." Matt shook his head as he stood up from his seat. "That won't be necess—"
"Captain!" One of the bridge members looked away from his console, raising his hand to catch Matt's attention. "Our sensors picked up a strange reading coming from a nearby asteroid."
The sleep deprivation was wiped off Matt's face in an instant. "Confederate miners?"
The man turned back to his console and typed furiously on it. "No, it's something different. It's…it's moving!"
"Bring it on screen now!"
The main viewing screen flickered momentarily before an image formed. A dark hush fell on the crew as they watched a giant, organic monstrosity emerging from a hole in a giant asteroid. It used a multitude of tentacles from its underside to push itself out, digging trenches on the surface of the asteroid from its efforts. It had a sharp arrow-like head, with two ripper tusks, which was small in comparison to the rest of its large, bulbous body.
Raynor whistled. "You don't see that every day."
Matt could only stare in shock, his mouth barely forming the words. It looked like a whale and an octopus that had been spliced together to create only a creature that could only come from the darkest nightmares. By this time, it had completely pulled itself out, along with the second half of its body which contained what looked like a giant egg-sack that was even larger than the creature's anterior.
"What is that thing?"
"Now's not the time. It's headed our way." Raynor pointed at the screen where the organic vessel began speeding forward, gaining momentum by reaching out with its tentacles to nearby asteroids and pulling itself forward.
Matt blinked, wiping away his surprise. His face and resolve hardened. "I want everything on it. Light it up!"
~o~
The Leviathan pulled itself forward, gaining velocity as the laser batteries of the Hyperion peppered its flesh. Blood and specks of hardened carapace broke free, causing it to bellow mildly in annoyance as it continued on its path. It was unmindful of the fact that some of the Zerg that it was carrying within itself were sent free-floating into space from the gaping, new wounds, but it could hardly be blamed for its callousness. They were an insignificant number of the overall creatures that inhabited its body. It pulled itself to the side, dodging a concentrated blast from the Hyperion's Yamato cannon.
It was not like other Leviathans. It and its brethren were made for one specific purpose, and that was to ambush the Protoss in the aftermath of a planetary infestation. The Protoss were always quick to send out purging fleets to newly infested planets, so their arrival was like clockwork, making them predictable. It didn't take long for the Overmind to make use of that fact.
In order to deal with the technologically advanced race, all the chambers inside the Leviathan necessary to birth any flying units were thrown out, thus making this series of Leviathans much smaller and thinner than usual, enough to hide within the confines of a large asteroid or by cobbling together the wreckage of a fleet. What growing chambers it did have were dedicated solely to breeding the most basic of ground units in order to maximize its swarming potential. Its underside sported an unusual amount of specially modified impaler colonies with even more hidden within its carapace, more than enough to quickly tear through a Protoss ship's energy shield. The inside of the creature was designed to be like a honeycomb so every new wound that ate deep enough into its flesh to expose a chamber to the vacuum of space was easily sectioned off and sealed.
The Leviathan screeched and roared as it closed the distance, one of its tentacle maws smashing into and biting down on the side of the battlecruiser. The rest of its tentacles began to strike out at the laser batteries, breaking apart and ripping out each turret that was firing at it. Numerous impaler tentacles appeared out from underneath its carapace and stabbed into the ship to hold itself in place.
The Leviathan began to grow eager as it felt the psionic energy inside the vessel. It was here, just as the Cerebrate Zasz had told his master it would be. A brood of Zerg began to congregate inside the length of one of its tentacle maws. Without waiting for them to fully gather, the Leviathan speared the tentacle maw into the ship, piercing straight through the metallic hull with ease and injecting its vanguard into the Hyperion.
~o~
The alarm continued to blare as Sarah Kerrigan finished suiting up into her ghost ware. The lines on the skin suit started to glow as her psionic energy began running its course through the armored clothing. She began stretching her body, checking herself for any kinks left over from her long sleep. It wouldn't do to trip in combat from her leg falling asleep on her.
She didn't feel any of the fatigue that previously plagued her, and her injuries weren't really much to talk about. In fact, it was a miracle that she had escaped with only a few scratches when the planet was practically a deathtrap. She knew exactly why, but it still irritated her just the same. She wasn't some damsel in distress to be "rescued" by some mystery man, and yet that was what had happened.
Speaking of her mystery man, Sarah looked over to where Shirou was in the room. It was only then that she noticed that he had his back turned to her.
"Well, aren't you the gentleman." Sarah walked over to the dresser where a rifle was lying on top of it. She didn't mind whether he saw her body or not; this was a war, and modesty had no place in it.
Shirou glanced over his shoulder and shrugged. "I've seen better."
She sent him an obligatory glare, but she didn't bother to retort as she picked up the rifle and examined it. It was a C-10 Mark VI, a fully automatic rifle capable of being a powerful sniper rifle as well. These types of weapons, due to their power and versatility, were often unwieldy, though she had already become used to its quirks a long time ago. In fact, she had used a customized version of the rifle down on Tarsonis, even though she had dropped it when her situation seemed hopeless. The chaos following Shirou's arrival had prevented her from recovering it. This one didn't have all the specific modifications that catered toward her tastes, but it was standard enough that it wouldn't be hard to adjust to.
Picking up a clip from a stack of them on the dresser, Sarah looked into it.
Canister rounds.
These were different from regular bullets in that they were larger, meant to carry a payload inside its bulk. This particular magazine had a high explosive payload, but she knew that at least one of the other magazines had lockdown rounds, which would release an electromagnetic pulse on impact that would temporarily disable electronics. They wouldn't be useful at all against the Zerg.
The alarm was quickly replaced by a voice. "This is Captain Matt Horner speaking. The ship has been boarded by Zerg forces. All essential crewmembers are to report to battle stations. All non-essential crewmembers are to evacuate to designated secured sites immediately. This is not a drill. I repeat. This is not a drill. The Hyperion is under attack by Zerg forces. All essential crewmembers are needed at assigned stations. All non-essentials are to proceed to evacuation sites until further notice."
"What?!" Sarah quickly slotted a magazine into her rifle and chambered the first bullet. "It hadn't even been long since the alarm started."
"This doesn't happen often?" Shirou asked.
"More like never. Zerg don't invade ships; they destroy them," Sarah said. "Any kind of invading is usually because one of the passengers is infected and starts an infestation. Those never end well."
"What happens to them?"
"They lose their minds and become monsters. You've to put them down before they kill everybody."
Shirou's eyes narrowed. This was sounding more and more like the Dead. "Puppets?"
Sarah stared at him for a moment before turning away. "You could say that." She began to head toward the door. "Let's get moving before things get crazy."
"Do you know where we're going?" Shirou followed closely behind her.
"No, but it's probably either the bridge or medbay. Both are essential locations," Sarah said, pushing the button on the wall next to the door. It slid open to reveal a hallway teeming with people rushing about. "Or we could just follow them—"
The sound of ripping metal echoed through the hallway as the wall burst inward. A giant worm-like creature sheared right through the metal and opened up with a loud growl, sending a quake through the hallway that shook several people off their feet. Its maw spread completely open, revealing giant teeth as purple slime spewed from its mouth, covering the floor and some crewmembers in it. The screaming and running of the bystanders began in earnest when zerglings and hydralisks started flooding out of the open maw, their own ravenous cries adding onto the chaotic cacophony.
"Or not," Sarah said as she swiftly brought up her rifle and fired a shot, catching a hydralisk in the jaw. The creature's head spun at the impact, but it recovered quickly enough and turned toward them with growl. Another shot entered through the gaping wound and exploded, rupturing its throat and spine. Even as it went down, a zergling already ran past its body to reach her, but a rifle burst shredded it apart.
Shirou charged in, his black and white curved short swords forming in his hands. He dashed in between the fleeing people. He reversed his grip on his left sword and caught a zergling mid-leap, shearing it straight through the middle. His other sword stabbed into the throat of a hydralisk, but he leaped back, pulling his sword out as the hydralisk retaliated with a swing of its scythed forearm. Besides a wet gurgle, it showed no signs of acknowledging the injury as it charged at him. He stepped back into the hydralisk's range and leaned forward to duck underneath a vicious swipe. Bringing up his swords, he scissored them across the creature's throat, ripping out the flesh and finishing the job. Gunshots echoed around him as some of the assaulting Zerg's heads exploded in a splatter of gore.
Sarah popped out the empty magazine, tossing it away carelessly as she jammed a new one into the C-10 canister rifle with practiced ease. It hadn't been hard to adjust to the new weapon, but at this range, it was impossible to miss regardless. She pulled the trigger just as the first round was chambered. The bullet, filled with its explosively volatile payload, was launched into the spiraling path within the barrel and out the muzzle, accompanied by a flash of spark. The bullet sped between the last fleeing crewmembers, barely missing them by a few inches, to hammer into the eye of the hydralisk behind them. It traveled through the viscous interior of the eye, only stopping when it escaped out the back and hammered into the bone plating just before the brain. The chemicals within the bullet mixed and reacted, exploding outward. The hydralisk screeched in pain as blood and gore burst copiously out of its eyehole. It swung its blades blindly, swaying from side to side before it finally toppled over against the sidewall and slid down heavily.
Shirou threw his swords at the oncoming Zerg before a pair of katars formed on his hands. He punched the weapons forward, piercing two zerglings through their gaping mouths. Ripping them out, he poured his prana into the katars and disappeared in a flash of light.
Sarah stepped back in surprise as another flash sparked right next to her. However, the person standing on that spot was Shirou, who was holding out his empty hand toward the hallway filled with zerglings and hydralisks.
"Rho Aias!" A huge, transparent pink flower appeared before his hand, blocking off the entirety of the hallway. It shimmered as blades, teeth, and spines clattered futilely against the barrier. Shirou turned his head slightly to glance at those behind him. "I'll hold them off. Go!"
Some of the crewmembers that had stopped to stare in shock at the scene began fleeing once again at his words.
"Sarah, that means you too. Get out of here!"
"We're in this together," Sarah said defiantly, holding up her rifle.
"No, there are others to save." His eyes narrowed slightly as one of the petals began to darken.
"I'm not leaving you behind." She was reminded of what happened on Tarsonis. More than that, she remembered the dream that ended in betrayal.
"I can handle myself."
"It doesn't matter. We're getting out of here together."
"You've your duties, and I have mine. All you're doing is getting in my way," Shirou said. "Go. Don't make me repeat myself again."
"Well, that's the last time I worry about you." Sarah slung her rifle over her shoulder, though she couldn't keep a frown off her face. As much as she hated to admit it, he was right. There were too many people that she needed to make sure were still alive. Still, that didn't make things easier. "Just don't die, okay?"
"I won't," Shirou said. "If you're in trouble, call for me. I'll hear."
Sarah was tempted to say something about luck, but she didn't want to tempt fate. She simply nodded and turned away. Without a glance back, she ran down the hallway, chasing after the fleeing crewmembers.
Once she was far enough away, Shirou began to smile. It looked like being a hero of justice was going to be a lot simpler here. There was no moral dilemma to deal with, just one extremely difficult objective, but at least it was within sight. That made all the difference.
Shirou yelled out a battlecry as he shoved Rho Aias forward before him and charged just as the first petal finally vanished, inflicting a wound upon his body with its disappearance. Zerglings and hydralisks were slammed into the advancing shield only to be pushed back into their brethren as if by a bulldozer. Another petal wavered from the heavy impacts, but he pushed forward relentlessly, crushing them against each other. By the time the petal finally broke, he had already shoved the swarm past the gaping maw of the tentacle.
Without waiting for them to get to their feet, Shirou turned and rushed into the darkness of the gaping maw just as it closed behind him and pulled its worm-like bulk out of the hallway. It was dark, but a quick application of energy to his eyes allowed him to see easier in the dark. There were zerglings and hydralisks ahead of him.
The interior of the tentacle began to contract, shrinking the tunnel to obstruct him.
"Foolish." Kanshou and Bakuya formed in his crossed hands. He threw them both, letting the spinning blades travel along the fleshy walls, ripping into them as they moved onward. The attraction between the blades caused them to meet in the middle of the tunnel, both of their rotating edges pushing against each other to increase their momentum. The creatures had no way of dodging these deadly blades. But he wasn't done yet.
Shirou rushed forward through the bloodbath as he formed blades and sent them whirling down the drenched path. The tentacle itself was contracting and expanding at random, and he could feel that the entire thing was swinging through space randomly by the uneven shifting under his feet, but he was unaffected by this. He continued his sprint down past the endless blood sprinklers with only one goal in mind.
All too soon, Shirou reached the other end of the path and burst out through it. Covered in the blood of countless monsters, he was free-floating in the air inside a cavernous room with walls made of flesh and filled to the brink with masses of Zerg down below. The moment he landed on the floor, he dashed forwards, his black and white swords a whirl of motion. If there was one thing he learned, it was that Zerg were unwilling to shoot through one another.
He left a trail of blood and limbs in his path as he sliced and diced, never pausing for even a moment in his run. Rarely did he ever get an outright kill, but he didn't need to; all he needed was to get through. If there was any surprise, the zerglings and hydralisk didn't show it as they massed in thicker and thicker groups, slowing down his progress.
"This is getting tedious." Shirou jumped onto the armored head of a hydralisk, using it as a platform to leap three stories into the air. Summoning a black bow into his hand, he released a bundle of arrows at once to form a row on the wall. The entire structure shook, as if in agony, but he ignored it as he landed on the first of the embedded arrows. Like stepping stones, he ran across the line of arrows, neatly avoiding the shrieking Zerg down below.
It was possible to run along the lengths of the wall, but considering that it was the inside flesh of a giant space-faring creature, he didn't want to risk it. It could be uneven and slippery, and there was no way to know if it was even firm enough that his feet wouldn't just sink in. In such a place like this, one spot on the wall could be perfectly fine while another could be the exact opposite, and that wasn't even mentioning any defense mechanisms it might have. No, it was better to make his own path here.
He half-expected them to fire those spines at him, especially with the numbers they had on the ground floor, but when they didn't, he smirked. It looked like they didn't want to damage the giant creature they were residing in. He released more arrows, creating more stepping stones as another shudder went through the structure.
A small spine crawler tentacle detached from the wall and swung at him with its sharp, arrow-pointed head. Sparks flew as he used his left sword to parry the blow, letting the tentacle's head slide along the length of the blade. His right curved sword hacked down on the body, biting in deep but not cutting through as he expected. Whatever it was composed of, the tentacle was as hard as iron. He ripped out the blade, ignoring the spray of blood.
Shirou rotated his body as he stepped forward, using the momentum to bring his blades down once again on the wound, sheering it straight through and sending the top half of the spine crawler down to the depths below. The stump poured out a fountain of blood as a quake ran through the structure, but he ignored those as he ran past and leaped high into the air.
The two short swords were dispelled from his hands and was replaced by a menacing metallic blue lance that was twice the length of his body and just as wide as his torso. He aimed the weapon straight at what looked like fleshy double doors and poured prana into it. The bottom of the weapon's hilt ignited as the blade shined an almost blinding blue color. He disappeared in a blur as the lance rocketed him forward from zero to near the speed of sound in an instant.
The double doors exploded outward in a massive splatter of gore. He rose from the bloodied crater he created, crimson dripping from his eyes and ears. The concussive force and impact had been too much for him to safely handle, but he hadn't sustained too many injuries from it, though he would have to take stock of them later. He ran forward into the thankfully sparser corridor. Behind him, the masses of Zerg gave chase, squeezing through the entrance he had created.
~o~
"Open up. We've wounded here."
Sarah released the button for the intercom as she stood in front of the medbay doors with a group of survivors. While she portrayed a confident front—something that was very necessary in this situation—the rest of the crewmembers she had found were pale and shaking. Even with the three marines she had picked up along the way, all of them were still looking down the corridors on their left and right nervously. The reason for this was obvious.
The hallways were littered with corpses, Terrans shredded apart until they were near unrecognizable as human beings. They could only be categorized as scraps of meat, the kind that could easily be part of one person or a dozen. There were a few Zerg corpses here and there, but they were far less in number than the mangled limbs that were scattered about. Not to mention the new red paintjob the hallway gained was more than just ominous. Thankfully, she had gotten used to the smell enough that she didn't feel the urge to puke, but some of the other crewmembers were visibly holding it in, despite having gone through several corridors filled with a very similar aroma.
Her heart was racing as her ears listened for the slightest sound. Any sound, whether it was from a Terran or a Zerg. However, there was nothing but silence as the seconds ticked on.
"They should've answered by now." A nervous female engineer was standing off to the side, scratching furiously at her arm. "They're doctors. Doctors wouldn't let us die like this, right?"
"They'll let us in even if I have to—" Sarah paused as she spotted something in the slit between the doors. She ran a finger along it and brought it up to her eyes. Blood. Still wet. Wiping it off, she took a step back and held out her hands. "You marines, grab a hold of the doors and pull them open when they start to budge."
"Huh?" One of the marine turned to face her. "What are you…"
"Just do it!" Sarah could feel her energy pulsating from her body as a glow began to emanate from her. She curled her fingers and slowly pulled her hands apart as if she was prying something open. Metal screeched as the doors started to separate.
The marines were quick to grab a hold of the doors, one on each side, pulling at the inner edge of each door. They were halfway through before she gave a final push, slamming the doors completely open. She nearly stumbled from the effort, but the engineer was quick to grab a hold of her.
"What in the bloody hell?" One of the marines stepped into the medbay, his armored boots splashing in the puddle of blood. It was like the nightmarish scene that had been repeated throughout the ship's corridors, but this time, it was in an enclosed room that seemed to have been packed to the brim. Bodies were lying on top of each other, mauled and mangled. There were body parts and gore eschewed everywhere as well as bullet holes. It was obvious from the conditions of some of the corpses that friendly fire hadn't been something they were concerned with.
"They were packed like sardines. If the Zerg got into there, there would be just as much death from friendly fire." Sarah's eyes hardened as she saw the vent that had been broken open. She pointed at the vent. "They must have come through there."
"Shit." The marine took another look around. "It's gonna be hell getting supplies out of this mess."
"Don't," Sarah said. "It's too dangerous in there. It'll take too long to find usable supplies in that, and we don't know if any of them are infested." She looked at the marine with concern. "Come out. Now."
"This is a goddamn massacre." The marine nonetheless obeyed and stepped back out. "Goddamn Zerg and zombies."
"They came in through the vents so that means they may have access to everything," Sarah said.
"But that doesn't make any sense. These vents are Zerg-proof," the engineer said. She pointed up, searching for where the vent in the ceiling of the hallway would be. "There's a laser system inside there that would make mincemeat of them. There is no way that…" Her voice trailed off as her hand started to shake.
Where she was pointing at was the opening of a vent with its grill still attached. However, there was blood dripping from it. One of the marines reached up to the grill and yanked it off with a grunt. The laser-sliced body of a zergling slipped out and dropped to the floor. The marine flicked on his armor's collarbone flashlights and looked into the shafts.
"What do you see?" Sarah asked.
"Clogged full of dead Zerg. Must have used the corpses to push forward past the laser defenses," the marine said.
"That's right, isn't it?" The engineer was muttering with wide eyes. "If they covered the sensor with enough dead bodies, then it wouldn't be able to detect anything. But that's…that's insane!"
"They're called the swarm for a reason," Sarah said as she turned to look down one of the hallways. "We wasted enough time here. We have to make it to the bridge before they come back. One of you marines, contact the bridge and inform them of the situation with the vent system. They can probably override the sensors and clean it out."
"You sure this is a good idea? It could already be swarming with Zerg from here to there."
"Maybe, but it's better than staying here," Sarah said as she began walking. "Let's go. I want chatter at a minimum. We don't need more Zerg coming down on us."
~o~
"I thought I grew out of being in situations like this." Shirou stabbed his black curved sword down, burying it into the skull of a zergling. With a quick kick, he sent the dead creature flying off his blade. Of course, that wasn't the end of it.
He was completely surrounded by a crowd of zerglings and hydralisks that filled the hallway. Both ways were blocked off, and some of the Zerg were even clinging to the walls and ceilings to prevent his escape. Truly, this was a situation that his younger self would have gotten himself into.
He stood ready with both curved short swords, but he wasn't in an ideal condition to face this onslaught. If he had a real body instead of this one, it would have already been in pieces by now. He had more wounds on his body than he could count and nothing to show for it.
He was looking for something—anything—that could put a stop to this giant menace, but it was like a maze. Everywhere he went, the fleshy corridors looked absolutely the same. The path was so twisting and winding that were it not for his own ability to internally visualize a map and have a good sense of direction, he would have thought that he was going in circles. Everything inside this maze of a ship conspired to end him. The only saving grace was that he didn't have to deal with any projectiles. Otherwise, the narrowness of the many hallways would have become a deathtrap even for him.
Still, this was frustrating. Where was its weakness? An engine room would have been nice—or whatever was propelling this massive creature. Finding the heart or the brain would have been a good alternative if the creature hadn't been so alien that it could be anywhere—or anything. He had gone in without a plan, and the results had shown that.
Worse, he was running out of time. He was heavily injured so it wouldn't be long before he was overwhelmed.
It looked like there was only one last thing he could do.
"And I thought I was done being a fool," Shirou muttered, though it held no hint of bitterness. Perhaps the path he had chosen would always end this way, no matter what he did. However, he would never regret it.
He had learned not to.
The path ahead was one where there was no return. There was only one weapon in his arsenal that was strong enough that the degradation of reality wouldn't diminish it too much for his purposes. Even borrowing from the link between him and his Master, the power would be far too much to handle. There was one fact that he knew as an undeniable and irrevocable truth.
Wielding this sword could only end in certain death.
Yet, saving the lives of everyone on the ship at the cost of his own... That was cheap, wasn't it?
His considerable amount of magic circuits flared to life as he fed energy into them, sparking the conversion process. Prana flooded out, and a sense of melancholy seemed to take hold of his mind. His hand reached out, both in the real world and inside his reality marble. Taking a hold of the blue hilt, he transcended both realities for a fleeting moment as he brought the majestic weapon from one dimension to the next.
The creatures around him backed away as the sword came into existence, a blindingly bright golden light shining off of said blade.
Static. Shirou's sight failed for a second as he raised the sword up, feeding all of his prana into the weapon. Numbness. His mind was starting to lose reason as his form began slipping away, losing the solidity that anchored his existence to this realm, but there was no turning back, for he had no regrets.
"Ex—"
This was the only path.
"—caliber!"
He swung the sword down with all his might, releasing the anti-fortress Noble Phantasm. For a moment, he simply smiled as his world turned white.
~o~
The moment that Sarah stepped onto the bridge, she found herself completely overwhelmed by the amount of chatter and shouting that filled the whole room. There were workers and technicians running about while communications officers were constantly on the line with groups of soldiers who were stuck elsewhere. In the middle of it all, Matt Horner was standing in front of a three-dimensional holographic image of the ship projected by the table. On it were numerous green and red dots that indicated friendly and enemy forces. From the masses of red on the map, she could tell that it wasn't looking too good.
"What's the status, Horner?"
"You made it, Kerrigan. Thanks for the report. We overrode the vent's security system so it's actively cleaning them out every minute or so, but it was too late to save several chokepoints. However, we managed to contain the majority of them here and here." Matt pointed to two points on the map of the ship. "The other pathways have been sealed off, but I don't know how long they will last."
"Where's Jim?"
"I'm right here, darlin'. It's good to see you're doin' well." The door that she had come through, guarded by several marines, had already slid open as Raynor and his group of soldiers stepped onto the bridge. Behind them was a small gathering of people that they had rescued from deeper within the ship. Raynor nodded his head at a nearby marine. "Get these people situated."
"Yes, sir." The marine nodded and started herding the gathered people.
Raynor walked up to the table. "Give me a sit-rep."
"Things are looking bleaker by the moment. We don't have enough marines to deal with this invasion."
"That doesn't sound good, Matt."
"That's because it isn't. The Magistrate has taken command of both chokepoints, but it's only a matter of time before they're overwhelmed," Matt said. "However, it's not as urgent as it was earlier. The Zerg assault is slowing down for some reason."
"So the Commander hasn't bit the dust yet," Raynor said. "Options?"
"There's only one I can think of. The Zerg ship disabled or destroyed most of our laser batteries on the top, but it didn't touch the Yamato cannon or the turrets on the underside of the ship."
"Why can't we use it now?" Sarah asked.
"Aiming it is the problem," Matt said. "The Zerg ship is stationary so the situation is ideal, but the tentacles are preventing us from turning the Hyperion. If we could just break a couple of those tentacles on the ship, we can get a good firing angle."
"Well, that sounds right up my alley. What 'bout you, darlin'?" Raynor asked. "Think you're up for a little demolition run? I figure a couple of charges should be enough to blow those tentacles off."
"If I didn't know you well enough, I'd think you were insane," Sarah said, "but you can count me in. If we don't do something, this ship's not going to last."
The ship began to shudder violently.
Sarah fell to her knees, feeling a large pull from her link with Shirou. She unsteadily stood up even as the drain increased exponentially.
"Sir, there's something happening with the Zerg vessel," one of the technicians manning a console said.
"Bring it on screen," Matt calmly ordered.
The technician complied and typed in the command. Within a few moments, the image appeared on the main screen for everyone to see. The Leviathan was writhing in agony as it pulled its tentacles violently out of the Hyperion. A bright beam of light shot out from within the space-faring creature, ripping through the latter's carapace and flesh.
"What the hell?" Raynor murmured the question as he stared at the screen.
The adjutant appeared in small window in the corner of the screen. "Breach in multiple sectors. Oxygen levels decreasing. Decompression setting in. Sealing exposed chambers." The image of the adjustant disappeared as blast doors were activated all across the ship to seal off the breaches. Many had already been activated to seal off the Zerg incursion, but there were more that was needed to contain the decompression caused by the tentacles' abrupt exit.
"Charge the Yamato cannons!" Matt stomped his foot loudly on the floor to bring everyone out of their stupor. "Now's our chance. It doesn't matter why or how, but we can't waste this. Bring it online now!"
"Charging initiated," a crewmember said.
Sarah's eyes widened as she felt something. The link to Shirou was getting weaker, but why? She stared at the main screen with rapid realization.
"Wait, Shirou is on that ship!"
"Who?" Raynor asked. "This isn't the time for jokes, darlin'."
"I'm not! Shirou is the one who saved me on Tarsonis. He's there. I know he's there!" Sarah took a step forward unconsciously. She could feel the link between them getting weaker by the second even as she tried to forcefully pour energy into it.
"If he is, then I doubt he's alive," Matt said before facing the front. It was time. "Fire the Yamato cannon!"
"No!"
Sarah watched as the blast of concentrated energy left the ship and smashed into the Zerg vessel. When it exploded in a bright flash, she felt the link to Shirou disappear.
"Shi—!"
~o~
Shirou blinked as the light faded before his eyes to reveal…a dojo…? It was not just any dojo, but the very same one that used to be part of his home in Fuyuki city. The wooden walls were nostalgic, and in the front, there was a small bonsai tree before two banners. However, even with all the similarities, there was a difference. The canvas above those banners had an ink brush drawing of what could only be a caricature of Saber with an ahoge.
"What is this place?" He blinked again. The voice that came out from his throat wasn't the harsh, mature one that had been part of his life since he grew into adulthood, but a much younger one, one that he had almost forgotten. He looked down to see that he was wearing a white gi and a dark blue hakama while sitting in a seiza position. More importantly, his body was smaller, and his hands were pale instead of the dark tan he had gotten from his harsh lifestyle.
"You really did it this time, didn't you, Shirou?" A woman with short light-brown hair stepped off from the left side and into view, as if she had always been there. She was wearing the same clothes as he was, though she had a smiling demeanor as she waved enthusiastically.
"Who…are you…?" Shirou stared at the woman. She was familiar. It pricked at his mind, but no matter how he turned it over in his head, he couldn't remember who she was. That didn't erase the fact that he once knew who she was; there was too much familiarity to shrug that off so easily.
"Forgetting me already, Shirou?" The woman asked with a pout and a huff. "I'm Taiga Fujimura!"
Ah yes, Taiga was her name. It felt like part of his memories became fresher with that revelation.
"You did something really, really stupid," Taiga said. "Isn't that right, senior student?"
"That's right!" A white-haired girl wearing a white sports shirt and purple bloomers stepped out from the right. It was a face that he recognized. Illyasviel von Einzbern.
"Ilya…"
"Yay, you remembered me!" The young girl was hopping up and down as she clapped her hands excitedly.
"No fair!" Taiga brought out her shinai and waved it menacingly.
"Don't wave that demonic sword around!" Ilya backed away.
"What's going on?" Shirou's mind was in a whirl. What was all this? This couldn't be real. Was this a dream?
"Daryyyyyya!" Taiga brought the shinai down on his head.
"Ow!" Shirou nursed the bruise that was forming on his head. What in the world? That actually hurt!
"You idiot! I didn't think even you would get this bad end. Have another!" Taiga brought down the shinai again, but Shirou caught it between clapped hands.
"Master is right," Ilya said as she came up to the two who were still stuck in the sword catch maneuver and patted Shirou on the head. "Sacrificing yourself is a no-no."
"That's right!" Taiga took a step back as she pulled her shinai out of his grip. She propped the tip against the polished wood of the flooring. "Listen to pupil number one. You've got to start working with your allies because better solutions are just around the corner. You can't keep shouldering the burden on your own. It'll only lead to a dead end."
"If I wasn't sure I was already dead, I would think I was going insane." Shirou stood from his seiza and yelled: "Enough with this already!"
Before his eyes, the scenery began to melt. Taiga and Ilya faded away as the entire image seemed to drip down like wet paint. He blinked, and in that moment, everything changed.
Shirou was now standing in a hallway, one reminiscent of a castle. The walls were made of stone, but it was filled with an assortment of decorations that wouldn't be out of place in a royal castle. There was an expensive carpet spread out before him, paintings of scenes that could only be called legendary, and suits of empty armor that stood upright in their vigil. He turned his head to the window on his left.
Outside was a scene of a snow-covered landscape in a vast forest that stretched out all the way to a mist that seemed to obscure everything beyond. Walking around on the snow below were two very familiar faces.
Kiritsugu Emiya was laughing as a small, white-haired girl danced around him. It took a moment before he could piece the picture together. It was a younger and much smaller Ilya. What was this? Even as confusion filled him, he continued to stare at the scene.
He turned his head away and found an older version of Ilya standing right in front of him. He knew that he should have been startled at her sudden appearance, but he wasn't. It was odd, looking at this face that didn't exist. It couldn't exist, because Ilya had died long before she could grow up to attain that appearance. Despite that, she was there, standing in front of him in a dark violet blouse, a snow-colored skirt, and tight-high white boots.
"Really, Shirou, I thought you would've liked it better with Taiga and Ilya."
Shirou narrowed his eyes. "What are you?"
"Not 'who'? I thought you would be a little cuter." The person wearing the mature form of Ilya that should not exist smiled.
"Enough with the games," Shirou said. "You're Alaya, aren't you?"
"Right in one. If I say, 'As expected of my adopted son,' that would probably be a lie so I won't."
"Just as well. I wouldn't care for a parent like you."
"You know, you're really pushing me by doing something so stupid. Sacrificing your life? It would be easier to use another counter guardian, but you are the most suitable one." The previously happy face narrowed within a single moment, eliminating all trace of her joviality. "This is the only chance I'm giving you. It's my fault for throwing you in without telling you anything, but next time, I will replace you."
"So the girl is that important?"
"Indeed. She's so very important."
"For humanity's survival?"
"That's one factor," Alaya said. "But you do understand what I am, right? I'm the collective unconscious will of mankind, and the unified wish of humanity is not just for survival. Do you know what the second part of that wish is?"
"No," Shirou said with a frown.
"The Destruction of All Threats Xeno." Alaya grandly held out her arms to the side to emphasize the scale. "Humanity is a species trying to prevail against the likes of alien races. The wish for their destruction is intrinsically tied to humanity's survival, but at the same time, it's different. It's more like prevention in this case. You came from that wish, so that's why this time, it's different, don't you see?"
"What are you getting at?"
"That girl, Sarah Kerrigan, is the key to everything. It's my hope that she will become the road instead of the noose."
"Hope? That's not a word for something like you to say."
"I was a force of will when it was just Gaia, but mankind has expanded so much and grown so large that I became something a little more…" She fingered her lip with a smile. "…intelligent."
"A bit too much if you're asking me."
"I'm not, but I'll take that as a compliment," Alaya said cheerfully. "Let's get back on topic. Kerrigan can become the best or worst thing for humanity, but that depends on fate."
"It's strange for something like you to rely on chance."
"It's human nature to gamble, and I'm a product of human nature." Alaya twirled around, letting her skirt float up a little. After one revolution, she stops and points at Shirou. "Besides, I'm tipping the scales with you. I have the advantage as long as the other players aren't cheaters like me."
"The other players?"
"Why, I'm talking about the Protoss and the Zerg." Alaya smiled brightly. "Mankind can't ever be safe in this galaxy without destroying them first."
"Why is that necessary?"
"I told you before, didn't I? It's what humanity wants deep down. Besides, survival and destruction comes hand in hand. You should know that best," Alaya said. "Kill one boat of a dozen to save another boat with two dozen. It's just arithmetic, but it's the only way. Isn't that right?"
Shirou frowned.
One moment, she was standing in front of him. The next, she was standing behind him, her back pressed into his.
"We're alike, you and I." Her voice was soft and whispery, but he would have heard it even in a crowd of hundreds. "Numbers are all that matters."
"Don't speak such nonsense," Shirou said with an edge to his voice. "It's giving me a headache just listening to the trash you're spewing."
"You're right. You can never match up to me, but it's the thought that counts, isn't it?" Alaya reappeared in front of him, sporting a smile once more. It was almost like she hadn't moved at all. "Not everyone gets second chances. Don't disappoint me now because you won't get another."
A hairline fracture appeared, a crooked line stretching from her forehead down to her cheek. Crumbles of pale-colored chips fell from the cracks, as if her face was a Noh mask made of porcelain. Seemingly undisturbed, she reached up a hand and brushed the loose pieces away, as casually as one would brush away crumbs after eating a bread or cookie.
"This is taking a lot out of me so I hope you appreciate this."
Light filled his vision until it was completely white.
~o~
"—rou…?" Huh? Sarah blinked. Why was she yelling his name?
After all, Shirou was right next to her, even if he did look a bit out of it. After going through so many blood-stained hallways and rescuing the small group together, she didn't blame him. He had been stoic at the sight of the massacre in the medbay when it had definitely turned her stomach, but she guessed that he was just reliable enough to hold it in until afterwards.
The white-haired man blinked. One moment, he was in a castle speaking to Alaya, and the next, he was on the bridge of the Hyperion.
"Well, this is one way to do things," Shirou muttered to himself as he watched the main screen. On it, the large blast of energy impacted the Zerg vessel and exploded. It writhed and flailed its tentacles in panic as large chunks of its massive body separated from it, but those struggles were fleeting. It soon became still, a lifeless wreck floating in space.
There was silence on the bridge as it seemed everyone wanted to savor it for just a moment. Then, it was pandemonium.
"There's no response. Life signs within the Zerg vessel are rapidly disappearing."
"Informing the squads to clear out the remaining Zerg on the ship."
"There're calls coming in about the wounded."
"Structural damage significant. Will require repairs before a warp jump can be safely used."
The reports and the chatter continued to fill the bridge as Raynor slapped Matt on the back with a laugh. "It looks like we got out of it by the skin of our teeth."
Matt pitched forward slightly, nearly stumbling, before he threw an annoyed glance at his friend. "Remember that you're still in your CMC armor the next time you want to do that."
"I'll keep that in mind," Raynor said with a smile. "You know what that light show was all about?"
"I don't know, but whatever it was, it helped us out," Matt said. "There's no way to find out what it was now that the vessel has been destroyed. I can't think of a person who would want to walk into there even if it wasn't."
"I suppose so," Raynor said. "I guess the question is: what're we gonna do now?"
"We practically have holes all over the Hyperion, which makes it unsafe for using the warp drive. Until we can get those repaired, we're stuck in this system on our regular engines." Matt pressed a button on the table, bringing out another interior map of the ship. "Once we get the rest of the Zerg cleaned out, we're going to need to take stock of the wounded, and it's not going to be pretty. Frankly, we don't have the supplies for this either."
"What do you suggest?"
"Char is the only planet with enough minerals and gas to get us up and running fast enough before Mengsk's fleet arrives. We can use some of the resources to fabricate some make-shift medical supplies and keep our people alive until the repairs are done. It's pretty risky all around, especially if the Confederates are still here, but it's our best bet at the moment."
"We don't have any other choices besides that hellhole?"
"It's the only one where we even have a chance to outrun Mengsk's fleet," Matt said. "And…well…our chances weren't that good in the first place."
"There's no choice then. Do what you gotta do."
Matt nodded and turned to the rest of the crew. "We're setting a course for Char!"
~o~
Even from across the vast reaches of space, the Overmind felt the disturbance. It was powerful enough that he didn't even need to use proxies to feel it out. Sending out his energy, he felt the manipulation of reality that had taken place. The application of the power was neat, not messy like one would expect. That meant that whoever did this was experienced and powerful.
Worse, this new entity was interfering in the same system where Zasz was handling the matter of the psionic. This would be far too much for the cerebrate to handle alone.
The Overmind reached out to one of its followers, a unique creature that was created for the sole purpose of research and development for the swarm.
"Abathur, my most studious of followers, hear my call and answer."
"Overmind. Organism Abathur is here," Abathur answered back through the new link.
"How goes your research on the psionic Terrans?"
"Incubation of DNA of above average psionic. Produced one thousand. Only twelve has initial potential. But subpar. Cobbled them together. Increased only to average potential. Energy cost too expensive. Results too insignificant. Will continue to research to isolate psionic factor."
"Turn that creation into a part of the Swarm."
"Waste of resources. Not efficient. Psionic potential too weak. Mind empty."
"It does not matter. Do it."
"As you command, Overmind."
~o~
Author's Note: Thanks goes to Carl Ogren, Starspawn10, Stiama, and Vandenbz for beta-ing!
To be fair, the unnamed weapons were first mentioned in chapter 1. I think that it's fine to use them for unimportant roles, but I will refrain from using them for important parts. I prefer to use weapons from canon material for those. With Shirou's—and Gilgamesh's—ability, it's all too easy to just make up a weapon that solves everything. That's not being creative; that's just bullshitting. It doesn't mean that I won't ever do it since it can make a fight interesting, but it definitely won't be an "I win" button. Though, I suppose I am lenient about it if I mentioned it several chapters before or it's been properly developed. Well, now you know my stance on it.
I do realize asteroids would technically be spaced out more in an asteroid field, not like in the movies, but it has game basis in Heart of the Swarm on the mission where the Hyperion attacks Mira Han so I feel it's permissible.
As for using a Leviathan, it was either that or an overlord. Or just doing something different like a swarm of flyers, but that would be an entirely different kind of fight then.