The medivacs could travel hundreds of miles per hour while in orbit. They were capable of even more once in space, but trying to accelerate too much inside an atmosphere would have consequences.
Varian, despite not recognising the technology, was a model soldier. He checked all the straps on his armour, then proceeded to take his sword and cycle through all three configurations, checking it still worked. Even if it had never worn worse than a few scratches after killing things that really should have broken it. "We're heading into a battle, alliance warriors. Treat it no less seriously than you would the Burning Legion."
"The man knows what he's talking about." Said Raynor. "Get ready for a rough time."
Everyone halfheartedly checked gear that they knew was fine. Varian leaned in. "I want that tactical knowledge now. What do I need to prepare for?"
Raynor nodded. "Okay, there's about a dozen different types of Zerg. The small ones are zerglings, they move fast and they hit hard, but that's about it. If it looks like a green ball, that's a baneling and you need to stay back because it will explode into acid..."
As Raynor gave a detailed description that everyone reading already knows, the six nephalem settled on changing tactics a little.
"We're going against the relative unknown." Said Johanna. "Obviously we're not going to back down, but caution would serve us well."
Li-Ming tossed her orb a few times in her hand, bored. "Really? I was going to suggest I serve as a meat shield while we push ahead as fast as possible."
"If you want to. But no backing out." Said Sonya simply. Li-ming broke into a slight sweat before an amused smile spread over Sonya's face. "I jest."
"Anyway." Continued Johanna. "Remember to keep sight of our other allies, and Valla... don't lose control."
"I would never."
Johanna hesitated for just a second before reaching out a hand and patting Valla's large shoulderplate. "I'm sure you wouldn't, friend. Now, I'm just suggesting that if we're going to move at a slightly slower pace, Kharazim should use his mana technique."
Kharazim nodded. "Agreed, worry not. But it may benefit you all to set yourselves up for some self-healing, as I can become outpaced if all of you are damaged."
Lucio hopped around, shifting his weight from side to side. The fact that he'd seen Mira Han actively trying to abandon them didn't inspire confidence. He wasn't going to share it, morale was a little shaky as it was. But now he had to look out for her trying to do that again, on top of the zerg. Bad vibes.
Part of him wanted to confide in someone, to make it easier for him to keep the secret. But there were far too many prying eyes and ears here...
For a minute, he was at a loss for what to do until he decided to simply put the decision to the back of his mind until everyone was off the planet. There were better things he could do in the present, like breaking up the fight that was about to erupt.
Azmodan had wasted precisely no time at all in summoning a demonic guard to the gates of the starport- that, Lucio had no problem with. They weren't hurting anyone. The problem was that Azmodan had then moved onto the security guards, and had started to cast some kind of demonic corruption onto the nearest one until Thrall had marched up, hammer in hand.
The warchief pointed the Doomhammer at the demon. "Complete that spell and I'll crush you faster than lightning can strike. It goes against my better judgement to even allow you to have come with us to here, demon."
Azmodan dropped the guard, and slowly turned to look at Thrall, gaze filled with contempt. "Arrogant puppet. You would claim to know better than me? I know that these weak bags of flesh will fail under so much as a mortal wound. Our enemy has no shortage of warriors."
"I will NOT see another race subjected to the horrors of demons."
"Then why don't you strike me down?" Azmodan said smugly. "You know... you know that I speak the truth."
Thrall didn't hesitate to draw back his hammer, and proceeded to start to charge a lightning spell when Lucio intervened. "Woah there. Woah. Don't fight each other right now, the enemy is going to be here real soon. Just save it. Uh, Azmo, you just hold off on the corruption spells. Summon some more demons or something."
Thrall glared. "You should not waste trust on a demon."
"Hey, we've gotta give him a little, or we're all dead. How about I just keep an eye on the guy, while you make sure you know where to find the other healers?" Lucio offered.
"...You will regret saving him." Thrall warily turned and walked off.
Morales brought the Medivac into a circle around the facility. "It looks pretty bad down there." She sucked air between her teeth. "Raynor, I'm going to put this in your words- it looks like someone really kicked the hornet's nest."
Raynor walked up to the window and gave a low whistle. "Well, ain't that a lot of critters. Where are we dropping, Rosa?"
"...Tough to say. I don't know if it's possible to even try and assault this position, there's no space on the ground." Morales started to loop around again, and then a warning alarm on her dashboard started to blare. "Mutalisks at seven o' clock! Everyone, buckle up for evasive manouvres!"
She instantly yanked the controls for her ship to the left, sending it into an aileron roll towards the ground, and then pulling up just a metre from the floor.
Jaina had put her seatbelt on at first, and had fixed Uther's for him. Varian grabbed a handrail with one hand and didn't budge. In the accompanying ship, the Nephalem were tossed like a salad. Most were agile enough to avoid any sort of real damage, Sonya quite handily used an equipment rack to cushion herself, and Nazeebo just sat there, apparently exempt from the laws of physics if it was convenient.
A few shots from the Mutalisks were fired. Morales tried to veer away, but a couple of spine crawlers forced the medivac to move in a straight line. She made a split second decision, and pulled her lever back. The engines screamed abuse and started providing upwards thrust, and for a tense few seconds they only seemed to lose speed. Then like a slingshot they were launched upwards, into the air once more.
"I think that's us clear." Morales sighed. "Other medivac is looking alright too. I'll bring us down by there, but then I need to get out and fast. It's up to you to clear a way out." She went into a dive before anyone could ask questions, seizing the opportunity.
Raynor picked himself off the floor, and grabbed his gun. "Okay folks, once we hit the ground then I'll guide you through. Stay together, and get help if you're in trouble. Ready?"
"Ready." Confirmed Varian.
"Doors open! Go go go!" Shouted Morales.
Varian was first, followed by his troops. Then Raynor, and the Nephalem from the other ship. The second everybody was off, the doors slammed shut and Morales took her ships back to the skies, and the zerg were attacking before even a word could be said.
Tyreal threw his sword into the floor, and a blast of light cleared the ground for a few moments.
"Okay, move fast! Follow me!" Raynor pointed ahead, and started marching in. Everyone else had the urgency to follow.
"They're near." Announced Mira. "I really think we ought to be getting ourselves off the planet now." She recieved the remainder of a report from one of her troops, who returned to their post, gun raised.
Greymane looked around. "I've done what I can to improve the defensive formations on our wall, but against an endless onslaught, we won't last that long."
"Matt is prepping the Hyperion for takeoff, it needed to refuel. Give the man an hour, would you? He can be dreadfully slow when it comes to important things like phone calls, so goodness knows how long it will take him to get that ship off the ground." Mira huffed. "When I get my hands on him, I'm going to talk his ear off! Gently."
"The zerg! ZERG!" Shouted Falstad, swooping down from his aerial vantage. "Battle stations! Hold the line until we're ready to get out of here!"
Mira raised her voice. "You heard the man! Don't let a single one get into this place!"
Things instantly grew tense, every hero falling into a quiet preparedness. There was no trace of panic or cowardice among these veterans, only the hint of fear that any sane fighter needed in order to stay alive.
For a few moments, it was quiet enough to hear the rabid screeching and squabbling approach. Gazlowe came running into view of the gate, from around the side of the wall. "Turrets ready. You want the bill now or later?"
"Put it on Matt's tab." Said Mira semi-casually, her normal cheery facade a little stern. "And prepare yourself."
The first zerg to appear in sight were the zerglings, as always. The silence was shattered into nothingness by Sgt. Hammer's cannon, a heavy shell splattering a number of them.
A mere drop in the ocean.
More flowed over the land like a lava flow, followed by a mixture of more advaced strains. While Hammer kept firing away, they charged on completely unhindered, into death without a care. They got close enough for the second line of defence to come into play, and a barrage of crude explosives were tossed into the waves by Gazlowe's turrets, easily soaked up.
It was when they got close enough for the majority of the spellcasters that the charge finally encountered real resistance. Malfurion slammed the butt of his staff into the floor, and roots erupted in a wide arc around the walls, ensaring the zerg with more force than any normal plant should have been able to, crushing the life from some and causing far more to be trampled by their brethren.
And then Kael'thas walked up. A few opportunistic spines went flying past him, and he deflected a dozen more with his magic, before fel magic surged around his hands and he threw them into the air. "Felo'melorn!"
There was an explosion in the heart of the rush, followed by a series of much more powerful explosions, and the horrendous stench of burnt zerg. Kael'thas looked at the destruction with a sense of great pride and accomplishment until the crater was swept over by dozens more zerg, and more spines wre shot at him.
"Alright lad, out of the way." Muradin shoved Kael aside, and stepped up to the gates, assisted by Zarya and Arthas himself. "Come at me, you piddly bags o' slag!"
The zerg hit like a runaway train, and the warriors hit right back. Muradin was the shield. Unbreaking, impassable. Arthas was the sword. Anything that got too close chilled to inhospitable temperatures quickly, then continued to plummet into negative numbers, when water and many other liquids froze. Even if the zerg had long since been bred to survive being frozen alive, the brittleness and slowness was a death sentence in combat. But the last piece of the sword-shield combo was decidedly the gun. Zarya was taking it upon herself to thaw out the frozen zerg. In half a second. With her plasma cannon, perpetually fully charged.
The warriors started to bend under the sustained assault, and Lucio gave his amps a blast. "Come on, don't give up!" The sonic technology started to work it's magic-not-magic, as Brightwing and Rehgar helped him keep pace with the demand for healing.
It dragged on, and on.
The cycle continued until Kael'thas was nearly blue in the face from shouting.
Until Falstad had to land his gryphon for the sake of it's fatigue.
Until Thrall dug a hand under his chestplate and threw the utterly ruined metal away- it no longer offered protection in its state.
Until Brightwing hit the floor wheezing, unable to find anything more to spit.
And until Greymane started to fear the walls would come down.
The assault petered out.
Mira looked around. The guards' guns were red hot, and the heroes were all in varying states of exhaustion and wariness.
Everyone was taken off the immense pressure, but a thought quickly found its way into everyone's head.
"That can't have been all of them." Said Kel'Thuzad. "By my estimates... barely even an eighth of what must have been dropped."
"Oh, that's... some news." Li Li said awkwardly. "I'm, uh, a bit low on tea-making power right now."
"CAST ASIDE YOUR CONCERNS. I AM READY, MORTALS." Ragnasros announced. "WE HAVE TIME YET."
"Ugh, they just keep coming!" Johanna condemned another gaggle of foes. "Well, I won't break!"
"Are we close?" Said Kharazim calmly. He shattered the bones of a target with nothing but a well-placed punch, and then kicked another like a football, somehow avoiding the teeth.
"Gettin' there! The corridors are pretty narrow in here, so things ought to lighten up a bit!" Raynor ran into an entrance, followed by the group. "Okay, get that door shut! It's reinforced as it gets!"
Tyreal reached up and actually pulled the mechanical blast door down with nothing but strength, to Raynor's amazement. Then he pressed the flat of his sword against it and whispered a blessing. "...We have but a moment to rest. Reform your formations, and clean your armour if need be. I shall stand watch, as angels do." He drifted to the front, looking out over the corridors.
The lights were not dim, or menacing. The floors were not covered in creep. At a glance, there was very little to unnerve anyone about this place. But looking closer, there were scratches on the floor like things had run over it. There was a faint smell that screamed of danger and death. There were dents on the walls.
Valla pulled her hood down. "Ugh... Foul things, but far more palatable than demons." She started to go through a set of stretches, loosening worked muscles.
Johanna reached into a small bag on her side, and took out a wooden cask full of water. "Is everyone alright? With all these Nephalem here, I dread to think how powerful the armies of hell could become."
"We would crush them regardless." Sonya said, blades stuck in the ground unceremoniously.
Cassia had a question, however. She folded a now-blunt magic spear in half, and swapped it for a sharp one from the spares on her back, before approaching Uther, who was leaning on his hammer. "Hail, Paladin."
"Well met." Responded Uther. "Are you and your allies still able to continue? Or do you want to discuss something else?"
"There are few people of our age on the battlefield." Said Cassia. "It is a harsh life, and takes a toll on the body. I want to know what kind of training you use."
"Ah. I was actually of the mind that I was getting a bit too old for this... before I found myself here. It seems The Light, or some other force wills me to continue."
"But your training? I must make ready for my return to my world, and bringing back new techniques will help us all. But also... I wish to serve the queen unto death. I refuse to let myself grow feeble, regardless of age." Explained Cassia.
Uther sighed. "Age comes for us all. Personally, my routines are only standard for the Silver Hand- Faith is the source of my abilities."
"But you will share them, yes?" Said Cassia impatiently. "A great many lives could be saved if I could make even the slightest improvement to Amazon techniques."
"...Very well. When we have some time later." Said Uther.
Varian fixed his buckler back onto his arm, and took a deep breath. "We've rested more than long enough. Every second here puts whoever it is we're rescuing in more danger."
Raynor finished reloading. "The man's right. The zerg aren't just going to wait arond for us to recover. All good?"
There was a round of yeses.
"Then let's get going, quick."
"Another wave." Said the guard. "Three minutes out."
Mira nodded. "Alright, Rag, I sure hope you have a good plan to impress us insects down here! I'm looking for total zerg annihilation, at least on par with the lovely Matt Horner and his fleet."
"THOSE WHO WISH TO BURN, STAND IN FRONT OF THE GATES." Ragnaros announced, clenching the legendary hammer, Sulfuron. The floor around him bubbled and blistered as always, but now the aura of molten power had spread to a wide area, easily as wide as the gates.
Mira was very curious as to exactly what was going on, but her best guess involved fire and fury. A man... er, elemental lord of culture when it came to treating your enemies.
Everyone else knew exactly what was coming and hurriedly got over to one side.
"Stick it to 'em!" Yelled Muradin. "Give 'em the Blackrock special!"
"DIE INSECTS!"
Ragnaros slammed Sulfuron into the ground, and the hard-baked dirt burst. Molten lava gushed out with the force of a pressure washer, thousands upon thousands of litres of liquid stone and metal rushing at the waves of enemies in a controlled river. It stayed straight until hitting the gates, and then spread out in a wide pulse of magmatic destruction, sweeping the area clean.
It was over in mere seconds. The zerg wave was obliterated. Mira's face felt a little bit burnt from her proximity to the gargantuan attack, and she'd thought she was standing back.
Polite applause seemed appropriate.
"I think this is the place." Said Raynor, coming to a stop. He looked up, seeing a light flickering. "Yeah. Just as he told me."
The corridor was totally empty, and normal. The group had encountered and slain many pockets of Zerg, but none had been too much of a challenge, even to those not familiar. Raynor was just thankful for the elite nature of his companions.
"There doesn't seem to be anything here." Said Varian, in the vanguard position. He kept his shield up regardless of the situation, wary of an ambush. "Is this a rendevous point?"
"No. Cover me for a moment." Raynor turned to the wall, and started fiddling with one of the panels. It popped off, revealing a computer terminal.
The nephalem and Varian's vanguard firmly blockaded the two ways of the corridor, listening intently. The occasional screech could be heard, and they were never quite sure of the distance, always holding themselves at the ready.
Raynor shoved the terminal back into the wall, and the panel came back up. There was a whirring, and the floor panel underneath the group suddenly hissed with compressed gas, and started to glow faintly.
'Warp initialised.'
"Hang on to your lunch!"
The world was flipped upside-down, then inside-out, and then pinged back to normal. The party stumbled, and then snapped back into defensive stances.
They found themselves inside a large chamber, with much cleaner walls and a higher ceiling than the stuffy corridors.
"A portal?" Asked Jaina. "...No, I sense no magic."
"You're close enough." Said Raynor. "This is the real Braxis Holdout." He strode up to a door, and knocked a few times. "Open up, we're here!"
The door retracted into the walls, and Jaina caught sight of the area that she never knew existed.
A gigantic room was before her. Steel grate floors stretched out as far and wide as Stormwind castle's courtyard, if not further. And all manner of scientific machinery was positioned around the room- some were short grey machines that looked like nothing more than metal boxes at first glance, others were hulking beasts that reached the apex of the room and possibly further. There were pallets upon pallets filled with supplies that had cryptic names, mixed with things that she recognised from Azeroth and her time here.
To her concern, one wall had a gallery of large, reinforced glass tanks. The green fluid within seemed suspicious at best, especially when coupled with the gigantic neosteel exoskeletons that were on display above each tank.
"Ah. So this must be where the Zerg that are on the battlefield are created..." She mused, as everyone else was absorbed by the visuals.
A man in a white coat stepped into view. Instantly, everyone pointed weapons at him aside from Raynor, who motioned to lower them. "Cook."
As he got closer, everyone could make out the details on him. A lab coat, stained but washed. Greying hair, thin on top. An electronic clipboard. A blue tie. And at the knot of the tie, a gemstone. Deep blue, caged in gold. "Doctor Cook. Thank god you're here."
"Who?" Said Sonya.
Kerrigan pulled her leviathan back from the Spear of Adun, surveying the fight. Her forces were starting to become depleted, but the Protoss arkship was also far worse for wear. Neither side had unlimited troops. Neither was in a position to blast the other to dust with a beam of energy. The fight came down to attrition. Careful expenditure of underlings to try and drain enemy resources.
Kerrigan took a moment to cast her mind elsewhere. What was at her disposal..? Dehaka's leviathan could be commandeered, but he needed it, and she didn't. He was currently carrying out a critical mission, anyhow. A shame he was outside the hivemind, but that had it's benefits...
'Abathur' Kerrigan sent the thought out. 'Is the project complete?'
'No delay. Six hours.'
Kerrigan smirked. More power, less problems. Next, she checked on the situation on the ground. She was less than pleased to see a THIRD wave of zerg being obliterated by the defences at the starport, as the heroes pulled out another pocket of stamina, fighting inexhaustibly. At this rate, they'd manage to get both the Hyperion and Cook off the ground. That would be... less than ideal, to allow both the realm lords she'd cornered to slip through her fingers.
'Zagara. I hope you didn't underestimate them.'
'I failed to account for the Lava Wave. I believed it required a core to cast from...'
'It's too late for me to do anything about that now. Rush in with the main body as planned, do everything you can to get there before they can take off.'
'And Raynor? No change of orders?'
'Aim to kill, as always.'
Kerrigan looked out at the fight in the cosmos. This was wrong. All wrong. Things that never should have happened had happened. She'd been diverted from her rampage against Amon. Artanis, stripped of the experiences that shaped him. Raynor, Zeratul... even her own commanders, they were just wrong.
Yet she seemed to be the only one interested in that.
Author's notes: And the bare bones of Kerrigan's motivations! Alongside things getting into place for some decent action (and the OG Escape From Braxis) next chapter.
A game for those who care- take a guess at Abathur's project or Dehaka's mission. Both are going to be very important events, to say the least.
Reviewer answers!
Starkiller Lord: Don't you worry, you can't have Mira without Matt. Although Matt is currently scrambling to get the Hyperion into the air, so you'll have to hold on a chapter or two.
