***************
"What…. Is … that?" he silently mouthed the words. The creature was airborne, but it wasn't a Mutalisk or an overlord. It was broader, and it didn't so much fly as glide, its large leathery wings occasionally beating to keep it aloft. Its beady eyes was set directly above its unnaturally broad mouth, and its sharp-looking tail waved up and down as it moved.
"I don't care what the hell you are," Randall said quietly to the creature as he steeled himself, raising his rifle to the sky, "If it isn't human, kill it."
Randall fired a few shots to the creature that was circling the air above him. He couldn't' see Athos or Inanis without engaging his sneak suit's special optical filters, and there was no time to turn them on now. He quickly fired a series of single shots in the creature's general direction, zigzagging left and right to change his position as soon as the C-30 rifle's recoiled kicked in his hands.
The creature cried out, a strange, high-pitched gurgling sound as Randall hid behind a creep colony. He took the much-needed break to reload the rifle. The C-30 was designed as a sniper's rifle, powerful and with decent range, but it was the worst thing to carry in a firefight.
"It takes time to reload.. it takes time to reload," Randall muttered, almost like chanting a mantra, as the bullets in his hand jiggled from the urgency of his actions. His breath came in ragged pants, as he desperately tried to fill the bullets into the ammo clip.
Things went dark around him, and it wasn't because of the setting sun. It was the Zerg creature's shadow as it swooped down on Randall from above.
Randall would have shouted a curse, but there was no time for that. He abandoned his efforts to reload his rifle, immediately fumbling for the cloaking device control in his sneak-suit. As his body started to fade away from view, he heard the hissing and snorting sounds of Zerglings and Hydralisks, coming towards his position.
"Goddammit, if an Overlord passes by us we're fucked," Athos muttered as he saw the Zerg, numbering perhaps a hundred, rushing towards his patrol's position.
"Dammit Randall, quit trying to be a hero," Athos said as he shouldered his rifle, preparing to grab his commanding officer and get him away from that strange flying creature.
Randall breathed a sigh of relief as the creature abruptly broke out of its attack dive. Now that he had managed to turn on his optics, he could see Athos and Inanis waving him onwards to the rocky outcropping where they were taking cover.
Now that all three of them were invisible there was a chance they could escape the rampaging Zerg who were barely minutes away from their position, not to mention that strange Zerg creature that was circling the air above their heads.
Randall bit his lips as he ran towards his comrades as fast as he can, the strange creature overhead screaming in an all-too-human cry of frustration.
"Go! Go! Go! Back to the pick-up point! Randall shouted as soon as his comrades were in shouting range. They needed no further motivation as they shouldered their own rifles and ran in the direction of the waiting Dropship. Discretion was the better part of valor when you're a Ghost.
"Go! Go! Go! Back to the pick-up point! Randall shouted as soon as his comrades were in shouting range. They needed no further motivation as they shouldered their own rifles and ran in the direction of the waiting Dropship. Discretion was the better part of valor when you're a Ghost.
Athos and Inanis were making good progress, but Randall lagged a few behind, weighed down by the weight of his communications equipment. The mass of screeching and snarling Zerg were several hundred meters behind, but they were confused. They knew there were humans in the vicinity but couldn't find anything to attack.
Randall kept running for what felt like an eternity until he tripped on something.
The C-30 rifle dropped from his hand as he hit the Creep with a dull thud.
"Sir!" Inanis shouted, as he vaulted over the rock he was waiting behind and ran towards his commander.
Lying face down on the purple Creep, Randall groaned in annoyance, the wind knocked out of him. He quickly twisted his body around, pulling himself into a sitting position. His hand reached out to get his rifle, he needed it badly, what with the big bad flying Zerg creature and the horde of Zerglings and Hydralisks charging in his direction. His cloaking field isn't going to last forever.
Inanis' cloaked form came into view as he ran over to where Randall fell, then he freezed in his tracks several meters away, his mouth agape in horror.
Randall turned his head. How close were they, he wondered. Was his cloaking device malfunctioning after his fall. Could they actually see him now? The question popped into his mind along with a chill of total, absolute terror. Weltus Randall saw the sight at his feet and immediately leapt backwards, yelping in terror.
He had tripped over the partially-buried head of a Zergling. The creature was actually burrowed into the creep, thought his panic-stricken mind. Now he knew why the Zerg had the ability to disappear at will whenever the Darkainians managed to trap them. Whenever the Darkainians liberated a village, a town.. a city… The Zerg were never truly cleansed.
The Zergling was rapidly climbing out of its burrow, obviously upset at being kicked by something it couldn't quite see. It made a feral cry of rage that was quickly answered with screeches and howls from the other Zerg advancing on Weltus.
'Mother.." Inanis muttered a quick prayer before pulling out his own C-30, trying to find a chink in the Zergling's armor, even as Weltus began backing away on all fours in terror. Weltus's C-30 rifle quickly became visible as he started skittering away in panic, horrified by the shock.
A sharp crack rang through the air, and the Zergling reared back,crying in pain. Weltus took the opportunity to stand up, his mind was now firmly set on getting the hell away from here.
"Goddammit, the Lieutenant's cracked," Athos muttered as he broke cover and rushed over to help Inanis and Weltus.
Inanis heard the pounding of his own heart as he fired off round after round at the Zergling that Weltus tripped over, cursing the creature to just die, and quickly, for the other Zerg, led by that odd flying creature were getting too close for comfort. Personal cloaking might make evading the Zerg easier, but bitter experience told them that this commotion would eventually bring an Overlord's attention to the area, and once that happened, it would all be over.
"Hold on, I'm coming!" Athos shouted.
******
"I'm coming, goddamit! Hold on!" Zoro shouted in Jing's direction as the Wraith pilot ran as fast as his tired body would allow in the direction of Jing's Siege Tank. The Lieutenant was grinning evilly at him, his head the only part of his body visible from the turret.
"You know," Jing shouted in the direction of an increasingly agitated Zoro, "I could just tell Rogziel that you won't be using your quota for the week. I'm sure she'll carry it forward to next week!" he taunted as Zoro ran at his tank, visibly running out of breath.
Zoro finally made his way to the tank and clambered up to the turret, giving a deathly glare at Jing, who merely grinned, sheepishly as he helped Zoro into his tank.
"Hey! It was .. just.. a suggestion.. " Jing said, withering under Zoro's murderous stare. "I'll be back there with Ryan if you need me. Don't forget to put on the radioman's earset, you can't hear shit otherwise," Jing said as he hastily left his prized Siege Tank, giving the flyboy some private time.
Zoro grunted in annoyance. Maneuvering Ace or no, the Jing kid sure knew how to press people's buttons. He put on the radioman's earpiece as instructed, and fiddled a little with the communications controls until he got what he was looking for.
"Good evening, Lieutenant," said Rogziel, a holographic image of her face, her old face, appearing on the screen in front of him. "The usual?" Rogziel asked, a thin smile appearing on her avatar image on scren.
"Yeah," Zoro answered. "Secure line to Tarsonis,please."
"Sure thing, Ben," Rogziel replied cheerfully. "Your communications privilege for this week is ten standard minutes, starting from five.. four.. three.."
The screen went blank as Rogziel disappeared and multicolored lines of static filled the screen. The static was quickly replaced by another image in two long seconds.
Instead of Rogziel, another face appeared on the screen. It was a young woman, still in her mid-twenties, but she looked much older with the crow's feet, the deeply furrowed worry lines etched in her forehead, as well as the large reading glasses. She still had her elfin fine features, though, crowned with a lovely mop of thick, curly brown hair.
She was busily scanning some sheets of paper she held in one hand even as she held a cup of something steaming hot in the other hand. So engrossed was she in reading that she didn't hear Rogziel's voice announcing "Communications Established".
"Hi, Angel." Zoro whispered after several seconds.
At the sound of his voice, the woman smiled, looking up at the screen as she put down her cup and the papers.
"Call me Emily, Ben. Surely I deserve to be called by my birth name by now?" she asked with a playful twinkle in her eye.
"Yeah, but you're still Ambassador to the Confederation and all, so…" Zoro answered.
"Well then, since you've mentioned it," Angel replied, peering at him over the thick rim of her glasses. "Any new instructions from our leader, Lord Deathscythe?"
Zoro paused for a moment before replying. "Well, we've secured a working Starport, so those mercenaries you've hired can land as soon as they arrive in-system, and well.. as for.. political directives…"
Angel's gaze felt like laser scalpels on his skin as she urged him to go on.
"Well.. Deathscythe says that he'd rather be poor and free than rich and enslaved…. So.."
"So we're going to just sign away the next three year's surplus crops to the Confeds just to pay for war costs. That's not even counting the price we have to pay for the mercs," grumbled Angel. Then, she noticed the growing expression of sadness on Zoro's face.
"I'm trying to kill them off as fast as I can," Zoro said, feeling a little guilty.
"No. That's okay. I understand. Don't worry about the politics of it, Ben." Angel answered. "Ben, look at me. That's right. Once the Zerg are gone, and we can go back to our farm, three years will be nothing."
"Yeah, I guess," Zoro answered, unsure. Three years? For the members of the Deathscythe wing, three minutes in a dogfight felt long enough.
"How are things with you, Ben?" Angel asked quietly, steering the topic of conversation away from the unpleasant.
"Tiring. We have to keep the Wraiths up most of the time. We're lucky Mutalisks are dumb, or we'd all…" Zoro said, not keeping his eyes off Angel. Not being able to say what he really needed to say, he changed his words in mid-sentence. "I wish I was on Tarsonis with you," he said, feeling a little embarassed at having made the confession.
Angel giggled at the suggestion. "Well, we're going to have to come back to Darkainia anyway, at least for the poetry festival."
Zoro bit his lip. "Have you written anything?" he asked.
"No. I was going to finish Fallen Embers, but I don't know, the war's depressing enough. I don't think anyone wants to hear depressing poetry.."
"Well, I liked it," Zoro said, "I'm not saying that 'cause we're engaged either."
Angel smiled sweetly for a few seconds. Zoro stared at the image of the smiling woman, and slowly a smile of his own appeared.
"You know what? Damn the Zerg, damn the war, I want you to finish your poem and read it out at the next festival" Zoro said.
"That's a promise," Angel said, pausing to take a sip of her coffee.
"Time's running out," Angel said, as soon as she put down her cup.
"Oh." Zoro muttered glumly. "I had better save a couple minutes for emergencies."
"Till next week then?" Angel asked,raising her eyebrows at him.
"As sure as we're going to win the war," Zoro said.
Angel pressed a button and the screed turned blue for a few seconds before Rogziel's face returned to the screen.
"Hi again, Ben," Rogziel said cheerfully.
Zoro grunted, as he started to climb out of Jing's tank.
"A bit early, I see. Problems with the missus?" Jing taunted as Zoro pulled himself up, out of the turret hatch.
"Don't you have a party or something?" Zoro asked, mild irritation in his voice.
"Well, true, but Sargeant Slicer here needs to stand guard in the tank, so if you don't mind," Jing said, as he gave Ryan Slicer's shoulder a firm pat. Ryan grimaced a little, and wasn't looking too happy with the idea of being stuck in the cramped, dark tank, which smelled of gunpowder, propellant and vespene gas.
"I'll walk ya to the field kitchen," Jing volunteered.
The two men walked several blocks to another plaza, where amidst the hollow shells of bombed-out apartment blocks and unidentifiable bits of pieces of Zerg, the Darkanian armed forces were celebrating their latest victory.
"What's with that ruckus over there?" Zoro asked, pointing to a motley assortment of Marines and firebats gathering round a makeshift fire.
"Well now, let's see," Jing said, squinting into the crowd. "Well well well, I see Hiraishin, and where there's Hiraishin…'
"There's an opportunity for you to lose even more money," Zoro interrupted, finishing Jing's sentence for him as the blue eyed lieutenant started to scowl. "Heh heh," laughed the Wraith pilot, "You know, you could just quit. Even the Deathscythe wing knows about your 20-0 losing streak."
Jing scowled, muttering darkly about vengeance as he made his way to Hiraishin.
"Fool and his money…" Zoro called out to the rapidly retreating backside of the Manoeuvring Ace. He shrugged his broad shoulders and continued walking alone to the field kitchen.
He paused for a few seconds, catching a glimpse of the setting sun on the horizon, its fading red rays shining through the holes punched through the walls of an unidentifiable building.
"Makes it all worth it," he said, smiling.
********
Away from the celebrations, three Ghosts were wondering if they were going to see the dawn.
Panting and wheezing, Athos ran harder and harder trying to reach Lt. Randall and Inanis, who were bogged down against the strange flying Zerg creature and the burrowed Zergling. The sun had already set over the horizon, and his goggles had automatically switched to night vision, which drew power from the same power system that kept his cloaking field up. Time was running short.
The strange flying creature that was previously just circling ominously screeched and began its attack dive. Athos gasped, as he brought his rifle to bear on the creature. Inanis would just have to take out that Zergling by himself.
Praying that the universe would just give him a few seconds more, Inanis kept shooting at the creature. But its thick natural armor deflected most of his shots, and although badly wounded it was still wildly swining its claws left and right, trying to find its cloaked attackers. Randall kept crawling away from the scene, blind panic making it impossible for him to react any other way.
And the horde of Zerg creatures kept closing the distance.
As the creature dove down onto the Ghosts' position, Athos fired off a few shots of his own. As expected, it didn't kill the creature outright, but he bit his lips in grim satisfaction when he heard it scream.
Then his eyes widened in terror when he heard it gurgle, an inhuman churning sound in the sky that brought forth visions of inhuman terror. The creature spat out a bright green ball on the humans' position, then did a sharp bank left, and flapped its bat-like wings, climbing into the air. Its deadly gift fell from the sky at such speed that Athos could barely register its shape before it hit the ground.
On impact, the wad of bright green spit splattered over the area, covering Randall, Inanis and the Zergling with a sticky, bright green slime.
Athos looked on in horror as the slime clung to his comrades, nullifying their cloaking devices, the two men now visible as bright green humanoid shapes.
The Zerg horde made various excited gibbering and hissing noises as the hydralisks came within spitting range of Inanis and Randall.
Already razor sharp hydralisk spines were flying towards the humans. Inanis turned to run, and Randall got up to his feet, the same intent evident in his terrified eyes, but the slime stuck to them, and the ground was full of the same sticky stuff, forcing them to practically wade in the sticky goo.
"Fuck. Inanis! Behind you!" Athos shouted a warning. It was futile.
To Inanis' horror, the Zergling pounced on him from behind, seemingly unaffected by the sticky Zerg slime, knocking him down to the ground as its claws started to dig bloody red furrows into his flesh. He valiantly tried to knock it off him with the butt of his rifle, but it was futile. Within seconds the rest of the Zerg had arrived, swarming the two. The men screamed in pain as claws and teeth began to shred them into ribbons.
The cloaked Athos merely stood there several meters away, the sight of the Zerg devouring his comrades forever burned into his soul. It was too much for anyone. His resolve was broken, and he ran away as fast as he could, not even caring about direction anymore, chucking aside his rifle to make him run faster.
Eventually he got far enough away that the death screams of his comrades stopped ringing in his ears.
*******