Sorry for making you all to wait so long for this update; just busy with my studies. Finally, this act is done!
Starcraft AU has made more than 3000 hits! And with the positive reviews, I'm so glad of everyone's support for this story. It lets me know that people are enjoying it and I'm on the right track.
To Numbuh six-sixtysix: The Moebius Foundation is a legitimate archaeological and scientific research organisation in the Starcraft universe. In Wings of Liberty, it is the Moebius Foundation which hired Jim Raynor to help them search for the ancient Xel'naga artifacts, with Tychus Findaly as the middleman. In this story, I'll assure you that they will star in an important role in the plot.
Anyway this storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.
LET'S GET THE PARTY STARTED!
Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.
ACT 9: LAIR OF THE BEAST
(Jacobs Installation, Mar Sara...)
Jacobs Installation; once an old Confederate military and research installation that stores the data files of a number of Confederate secret weapon, with rumours of those of the fabled Transplanar Psionic Waveform Emitter (psi emitter for short) to be one of the them. During the zerg invasion in the Great War, a strike team sent by the Sons of Korhal, led by Jim Raynor himself, raided the facility to acquire this data schematics of the psi emitter. When Raynor's strike team retreated and left Mar Sara, the Protoss fleet arrived to incinerate Mar Sara in attempt to halt the spread of the zergs. The installation sustained heavy damage and was abandoned ever since, even after the recolonisation of the planet 2 years ago. Although there were rumours that there is a stash of valuable ardeon crystals stored inside the abandoned installation, few dared to enter and explore the facility to exploit its hidden riches. Those that did enter, however, were never been heard ever since. Then, just a year ago, the Dominion had confirmed the installation to be infested by a number of wild zergs, and had placed the facility to be strictly off limits.
But now, with the defeat of the Omega Squadron, the Brotherhood of Nod gained control of this planet. With no more guards guarding the restricted area, 3 Reckoners burst through the ground unopposed at the site of the entrance point.
The first Reckoner unloads its passengers; 2 fully functional Enlightened cyborgs with their Centurion cannons and shield generators ready.
The second Reckoner begins to unload its passengers too; 2 weirdly built cyborgs that have their lower limbs replaced with 4 spindly mechanical legs like an insect. They are covered with red and black armour that is less bulky than those of the Enlightened, but still bulkier than those of the Devouts. Their helmets cover their whole face, with 2 red visors shaped like insect eyes. Their right arms are pincer-shaped cannons, while their left arms are tipped and built like some kind of a sprayer. They carry a reactor cell on their back, which has a sharp tip that protrudes out of the outline of the cyborg like a crooked red horn on its back. They bear the Nod symbol at their chest.
They are Spider cyborgs (1), continuation of the Reaper cyborgs of the Firestorm crisis and the Fourth Tiberium War.
The third Reckoner, is in front of the other two Reckoners. This usually means that it is carrying the leader of this cybernetic strike team as one of its passengers.
When its passenger hatch opens, another cyborg steps out. This one however, looks much different than the others. This one is adorned in a full red body armour with the Nod symbol stamped at the chest. Its armour is as big and as bulky as those used by the Enlightened. Its helmet bears a single green, narrow horizontally-lined visor. Its right arm bears a pincer-shaped cannon like those of a Spider cyborg, while its left arm is fitted with a special cannon of some sort. It has a massive, bulky reactor on its back shaped like a small throne. Despite the bulk on its back, this cyborg is able to move with adequate speed and agility.
It is the leader of this cybernetic strike team, a Cyborg Commando. It is one of the most advanced and most powerful unit in the Nod army.
After the Cyborg Commando steps out of the third Reckoner, 2 more Nod infantries follow and exit the Reckoner. These 2 other infantries are not cyborgs, but they are considered to be important in this mission too. These 2 infantries are covered in a full body hazard suit with a jump jet and 2 mechanical arms strapped at their back. They have their right hands replaced with mechanical claspers. Like most Nod infantries, they bear the Nod symbol at their chest and their heads are covered with a single green bubble helm.
They are Nod Saboteurs, specially trained combat engineers that are tasked in a variety of support roles; including building capture, mechanical repairs, booby trap placement, emergency base repair and others.
With all the passengers unloaded, the 3 Reckoners burrow and disappear into beneath the dirts again, leaving the cybernetic squad in front of the entrance gate of the abandoned Jacobs Installation.
The Cyborg Commando looks up at the entrance gate, which is tall enough to allow a Terran Thor walker to walk through. Its optical sensors begin to scan the gate to find if there is any way to breach through it.
"SCANNING... STANDING BY... SCAN COMPLETE! RESULTS INDICATE THE ELECTRONIC LOCK HOLDING THIS GATE IS STILL ACTIVE. HOWEVER, THE LOCK CAN BE DISABLED BY HACKING THROUGH THE CONTROL TERMINAL SITUATED AT THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE GATE. INPUTTING COMMAND: CONNECT TO THE GATE CONTROL TERMINAL AND LINK UP TO LEGION FOR THE HACKING OPERATION."
These words appear in front of the screen of the Cyborg Commando's visor after it finishes its scan. Immediately, the Cyborg Commando obeys the instruction given without questions, as it approaches the gate control terminal.
Its right pincer-shaped cannon opens up to reveal a mechanical hand, which a cable emerges out from the wrist. The cyborg connects its wrist cable to the control terminal to start the hacking process, in which the deep male mechanical voice of the LEGION can be heard through the cyborg,
"ACCESSING SYSTEM... INITIATING OVERRIDE SEQUENCE... SYSTEM ACCESSED... ELECTRONIC LOCK DISABLED!"
The moment when LEGION announces that the gate control terminal has been hacked, the massive gate opens up, clearing the path for the Nod cybernetic squad.
With the gate opened, the Cyborg Commando disconnects its cable from the control terminal, and reforms its right hand into its primary weapon.
"LEGION TO CYBERNETIC COMMANDO NUMBER 66: BATTLEFIELD MINIMAP HAS BEEN DOWNLOADED INTO YOUR SYSTEMS... NEW MISSION OBJECTIVES RECEIVED..."
"PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: TO LOCATE AND DOWNLOAD THE SCHEMATICS FOR THE PSI EMITTER."
"SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: THE INTERNAL AUTOMATIC SECURITY SYSTEMS ARE STILL ONLINE, LOCATE THE CONTROL TERMINAL FOR THE AUTOMATIC SECURITY SYSTEMS AND DISABLE THEM."
Receiving its mission objectives, the Cyborg Commando saves its new mission directives into its processor.
"MISSION OBJECTIVES RECEIVED... INITIATING OPERATION..."
The Cyborg Commando, with designated number 66, reads out in its own monotonous, mechanical voice, before leading its cybernetic team into the infested installation.
The inside of the Jacobs Installation is just as spacious as what the size of the gate suggests. It is big enough for a Thor heavy assault walker to be housed in. As the Installation goes in further, there are many split paths that get smaller in space and lead into deeper areas. For most first-timers, they would have easily gotten lost. However, this does not apply to the Nod cybernetic squad, as they all have the minimap of the installation just downloaded and displayed in their visors. With their minimap on, they would know where to head to.
The cybernetic squad moves down along the entrance path and deeper into the installation, cautiously and slowly. They have been earlier warned that the automated defences in this installation are still online, and there are zergs living inside this abandoned installation. All the soldiers survey their surroundings as they walk along, watching out from any signs of danger.
As the squad approaches a T-junction, they encounter the first hostiles. 2 pop-out Sentry Guns appear out of nowhere from beneath the ground, and starts to fire off their 12mm at the cybernetic squad. Still, the cyborgs are completely unfazed by the sneak attack. As quick as they notice the enemies, the Enlightened moved their shields in front of the group, blocking off all the incoming 12mm rounds. The Enlightened then proceed to finish off the Sentry Guns with their 70mm Centurion cannons, blasting off the pop-out turrets and leaving 2 smoking holes on the ground. After the brief encounter, the Saboteurs begin to check up on the cyborgs and quickly repair any damages found using their Scalpel repair arms.
At the T-junction, the cybernetic squad faces 3 possible paths. The minimap shows that one is confirmed to be leading towards a dead-end, while another leads to an opposite direction away from the main data storage terminal which the team is trying to reach towards, hence the team approaches towards the gate that will lead towards the third path. On a closer inspection, however, the gate is already heavily damaged and non-operable due to debris crashing onto the gate itself. The only way to pass through would have to be breaking through the debris by force. Nodding to one another as if the cyborgs are fully synchronised to one another, the 5 cyborgs let loose their weapons. 70mm shells and lasers cut the debris into smaller pieces, which eventually crumble to pave a way through for the cybernetic squad. The squad resumes their journey.
After clearing the debris and crossing the gate, the squad arrives in a more spacious chamber. As they approach towards a set of staircases that leads towards a higher floor, they encounter more automated defences. 4 more pop-out turrets, 2 Sentry Guns and 2 Missile Launchers, activate and starts to fire at the squad. In a split-second, reaction, the Enlightened bring their shields in front of the squad to block off the turret rounds, while shooting back with their 70mm Centurion cannons. At the back of the Enlightened, the Spider cyborgs immediately fire their Multi-Object Laser Dispersal System (MOLDS), letting loose of powerful laser blasts that disperse from their initial targets and spread damage across the field. Cyborg Commando no. 66 also fires its rapid-firing Gladius laser cannon towards the turrets. The results; instant destruction of the turrets with no damage done onto the cyborgs. However, the energy readings of the Enlightened are starting to show signs of depletion, and soon they will run out if they continue to encounter more enemies. They must find the control terminal to shut down the automated defences quickly.
As the cyborgs approach the stairways, another pop-out turret appears; this time it is a Perdition flamethrower turret installed on the wall. Fortunately, the quick reaction of the cyborgs means that the wall turret is instantly put out of action before it can start spewing out flames. With another obstacle out of the way, the squad climbs the stairways to reach the upper floor.
The squad treads carefully along the narrow corridor where the stairways lead to. So far, the minimap shows no signs of hostiles, but they know that all the potential threats in this mission are well-hidden, and a slight moment of lapse may result in jeopardising this mission.
As the squad continues to travel along the corridor, they begin to see something on the floor. There is a thick, purplish grey slimy substance covering the floor: creep! The sight of creep could only mean one thing: Zergs!
The cyborgs quickly get themselves into a state of high alert, readying their weapons so that they can respond to any sudden zerg ambush. The Saboteurs quickly stick close to the cyborgs. The group had been briefed about zergs, so they know that the sight of creep would mean that there are zergs nearby.
"ENEMY UNITS SIGHTED!"
LEGION's warning suddenly echoes throughout the corridor through the vocal processor of the Cyborg Commando. Then, just a few metres in front of the squad, 4 creatures burst through from beneath the creep and floor. The creatures are identical in appearance; dog-sized creatures with glowing yellow eyes, sharp fangs, strong hind limbs, powerful forelimbs ending with a single scythe-like claw, a pair of vestigial wings and a pair of overhanging appendages armed with razor sharp claws.
"ENEMY UNITS SIGHTED... ENEMY UNITS IDENTIFIED AS ZERG SUBJECT: ZERGLINGS..."
The emerging Zerglings give out an ear-piercing screech, before leaping towards the squad.
The Saboteurs are worrying for their own safety. Although during their trainings, which they were being taught about the different types of zergs and how they behaved, to experience the real thing was something they had never been trained in. The Saboteurs had heard tales of how these ravenous little creatures tear apart their prey limb by limb, and eat their victims alive. They are afraid that this mission is going to be their last.
Fortunately, the cyborgs are not intimidated by the sight of the Zerglings.
"SUBJECT: ZERGLINGS APPROACHING... INPUTTING COMMAND... TERMINATE SUBJECT!"
The cold, mechanical voice of Cyborg Commando no. 66 sounds out across the corridor as it orders its squad. In less than a second, the Enlightened set their shields in front of the group, protecting the Saboteurs. At the same time, the Spiders and Cyborg Commando no. 66 fire off their laser weapons. Immediately, 3 of the 4 Zerglings are immediately scorched into sizzling pieces of flesh by the laser weapons. The last Zergling try to pounce onto the squad, only to be wasting its effort by pounding on the energy shield of an Enlightened. With its might, the Enlightened knocks the attacking Zergling hard onto the floor, finishing it off with a 70mm Centurion cannon shell before it can recover. The 4th Zergling has its head blown into bits as the shell bursts through its thin carapace.
"TARGET: TERMINATED... RESUMING OPERATION..."
With the Zergling threat neutralised, the squad continues to advance.
As they advance a few more metres, they see one mass of organic tumour-like lump sitting on the floor, expanding and contracting like a heart. The squad instantly recognises the structure: a Creep Tumour. As usual, the cyborgs are about to dispose the tiny creep producing organ, when their minimap suddenly picks up multiple signatures of incoming hostiles.
"WARNING! ENEMY UNITS DETECTED! A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF ZERGLINGS IS HEADING TOWARDS OUR LOCATIONS FROM THE OPPOSITE END OF THE CORRIDOR! THEIR NUMBERS WILL CAUSE SERIOUS THREAT TO THE SQUAD. INPUTTING COMMAND... ORDER THE SABOTEURS TO SET UP BOOBY TRAPS ON THE ZERG CREEP TUMOUR; WHEN THE ZERGLINGS APPROACH AND LEAP PAST THE CREEP TUMOUR, THE BOOBY TRAPS WILL BE SET OFF TO DESTROY THE CREEP TUMOUR AND THIN OFF THE ZERGLING NUMBERS; IT IS ESTIMATED THAT A SMALL NUMBER OF ZERGLINGS WILL SURVIVE THE BOOBY TRAPS, BUT THEIR THINNED DOWN NUMBERS WILL BE NO MATCH AGAINST OUR SQUAD."
After receiving orders from LEGION, the squad immediately gets into actions. Following the orders given by LEGION, the Saboteurs quickly set their Booby Trap charges onto the Creep Tumour. With the trap set, the Saboteurs quickly back off and stay behind the cyborgs. A few moments later, a pack of more than 20 Zerglings is seen leaping towards them, eager to feast upon the small band of soldiers. The cyborgs immediately fire off their weapons, killing some of the Zerglings. As the surviving Zerglings get closer and closer, they run past the Booby Trapped Creep Tumour, triggering and setting off the Booby Trap charges. The result is explosive, and bloody. The charges blow off to rip the Creep Tumour forcefully apart, spilling out blood and tissues. The blasts of the charges also immediately take out more than 10 Zerglings, spraying out more blood and broken limbs and bodies. Only a few Zerglings running behind the pack are lucky enough to avoid the blasts, but their luck runs out short as their heavily reduced numbers mean that they are no match against the well protected and well-armed Nod cyborgs. In just a few seconds, the last of the Zerglings in that pack has been terminated.
"ALL SUBJECTS TERMINATED... RESUMING OPERATION..."
The squad resumes their journey, leaving piles of Zergling carcasses behind.
The corridor leads to a more open space, which again is covered by creep, secreted by 2 Creep Tumours. However, what alert the attention of the cyborgs are not the Creep Tumours, but something else.
Out in the open, stood 4 large serpentine creatures the size of a small car. Each creature have a serpentine like lower body and tail, with broad muscular shoulders. Their arms are long and muscular, ending with 3 menacing scythe like claws on each arm. Their heads are crowned with an enormous crest big enough to shield their hunched backs, and they have two sets of lower jaws that are both covered with sharp fangs and dripping with drool. The Nod squad instantly recognises this particular breed of zerg, one that is too iconic in the terran culture.
"ENEMY UNITS SIGHTED... ENEMY UNITS IDENTIFIED AS ZERG SUBJECTS: HYDRALISKS..."
The Hydralisks stare at their intruders with their menacing red glowing eyes. Then they let out a loud, threatening deep growl.
"GRRRRAAAAAAWWWWWHHHHH!"
The Hydralisks face the cyborgs as they arch their shoulders, with skin flaps opening up to reveal rows of spines.
"WARNING! HYDRALISK ATTACK IMMINENT! INPUTTING COMMAND... ENGAGE THE ENEMIES!"
With inhuman reaction, the Enlightened stand themselves in between of the group and the Hydralisks, holding up the energy shields and facing towards the Hydralisks. The Hydralisks launch a volley of sharp spines towards the squad, only for the spines to be deflected off by the shields. The Enlightened then raise up their own weapons and fire, shelling and wounding one of the Hydralisks. The wounded Hydralisk screech in pain after its left arm has been blown off. The Spiders and the Cyborg Commando also follow suit, firing their laser weapons at the Hydralisks. Another one of the Hydralisks receive the focus fire of the laser attacks, screeching and dying as its chest burns away from the laser-induced burns. With one Hydralisks taken out and one wounded, the other 2 Hydralisks feel a bit intimidated by the cyborgs. Their instincts are telling them to flee from the danger. Before the Hydralisks can react, the cyborgs attack again, killing another Hydralisk with a head shot. This finally forces the last Hydralisk to flee, as it slithers away from the scene. The previously wounded Hydralisk tries to lash out against the cyborgs with its claws, only to fall victim to the Cyborg Commando's Gladius laser cannon, which punches multiple penetration wounds through its head.
With the Hydralisk threat neutralised, the cyborgs proceed to destroy all zerg threats by destroying the Creep Tumours as well. With the Creep Tumours reduced into blotched mass of blood and flesh, and creep "drying up", it appears that the zerg threat in this mission has finally be neutralised. Unfortunately, the Nod squad cannot let their guard down yet.
"WARNING! ENEMY UNITS SIGHTED... A LARGE NUMBER OF ZERGS ARE HEADING TOWARDS OUR LOCATION!"
Indeed, the minimap begins to show a large number of around 20 Zerglings and 5 Hydralisks heading towards the Nod cybernetic squad current location. The zergs have them outnumbered, and there is no more fixed structure for the Saboteurs to halt the zerg advance with Booby Traps. Something else is needed to be done. LEGION quickly analyses the situation and responds with a command.
"INPUTTING COMMAND... ORDER THE ENLIGHTENED TO MAINTAIN THEIR SHIELDS UP AND HOLD OFF ALL INCOMING HYDRALISK PROJECTILE ATTACKS; ORDER THE SPIDERS TO IMMOBILISE THE ZERGS WITH THE SYNTHETIC WEB SHOT ABILITY SO THAT THE ZERGS WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ATTACK OUR FORCES, ALLOWING US TO DESTROY THEM WHILE THEY ARE IMMOBILISED."
After receiving their commands, the Enlightened immediately follow suit and hold up their energy shields in front of the squad, while the Spiders stay directly behind of the Enlightened with their Spinneret web sprayer ready. A few seconds later, screeches and growls of incoming zergs can be heard. Then, spines are shot towards the Nod squad, which are deflected off by the Enlightened shields. Zerglings can be seen scurrying towards the squad, with Hydralisks slithering close behind. The sheer numbers of the zergs threaten to tear the small squad apart.
Such scenes would have made recruit Marines to pee in their pants, but not for the cyborgs. They are never programmed to fear. With absolute calmness, the Spiders raise their left arms, shooting out synthetic web towards the zerg cluster like casting nets onto a school of fish. The results are effective; the Zerglings are immediately stuck under the extremely sticky web, like flies stuck in a spider web. The webs also trap 4 of the 5 Hydralisks as well. The ensnared zergs struggle with all of their might, desperately trying to claw or bite their way out. Unfortunately, the more they struggle, the worse their predicament. One of the trapped Hydralisk tries to open its skin flaps to shoot out its spines, but finds out that even its skin flaps are stuck to the web. In simpler words, the attacking zergs are now all sitting ducks to the Nod cyborgs.
The only remaining Hydralisk that is lucky to avoid the web tries to take on the cybernetic squad itself, only to end up blown to pieces by the Enlightened cannon shells. The rest of the ensnared zergs also share the same fate; being blown into pieces by cannon shells or cut and scorched by the lasers. In less than a minute, the initial 20+ Zerglings and5 Hydralisks are now all lying dead on the floor; blown or cut into smaller pieces.
"ALL SUBJECTS TERMINATED... RESUMING OPERATION..."
(10 minutes later...)
The Nod cybernetic squad is now approaching the control room where the control terminal of the Jacobs Installation automated internal security systems is located. For 10 minutes since the encounter with the zergs, there have been no further signs of hostiles. The squad has passed through a series of corridors, before arriving to another open chamber. On the other side of the chamber, there is a gate. The minimap has indicated that the control terminal for the installation's automated defences is located in the room beyond the gate. If the squad can reach that terminal, they can allow LEGION to hack into the system using Cyborg Commando no. 66 as a medium, and shut down the automated defences in the installation once and for all.
The squad wants to cross the chamber towards the gate at the other side, but the cyborgs have calculated out that the probability of encountering an ambush in an open chamber is simply too overwhelming. There must be something lying in ambush, waiting to strike the squad when they are trying to walk across the chamber. As the squad is still pondering whether to cross the chamber, an alarm sounds in their system,
"ENEMY UNITS DETECTED!"
Soon enough, the squad spots a Hydralisk approaching from another corner of the chamber. Before the squad can deal with the Hydralisk threat, something else did.
Without warning, 20 pop-out Sentry Guns emerge from the floor and fire off their 12mm rounds, shredding the unfortunate Hydralisk into mangled pieces before retreating back into the floor.
The Saboteurs are speechless; they feel lucky that they have not yet crossed the chamber, or else they will end up the same fate with the Hydralisk. With 20 Sentry Guns lying in ambush across the open chamber, there will be no way for their small team of cyborgs to punch through, even with the presence of a Cyborg Commando.
"WARNING! THIS CHAMBER IS HIDDEN WITH LARGE NUMBERS OF AUTOMATED DEFENCES, OUR CURRENT NUMBER OF FORCES WILL BE OF NO MATCH AGAINST THIS AMOUNT OF DEFENCES. SCANNING AREA FOR WEAKNESSES..."
LEGION announces through the Cyborg Commando, warning the squad not to do anything rash while it tries to scan the area for any possible way to pass through the chamber.
"SCAN COMPLETE: RESULTS INDICATE THAT THE AUTOMATED SENTRY GUNS ARE ALL FULLY OPERATIONAL AND WILL ACTIVATE TO FIRE AT ANYTHING THAT HAS BEEN PICKED UP BY THE GUNS' MOTION DETECTORS. HOWEVER, THESE GUNS REQUIRE AN OPTICAL SIGNAL IN ORDER TO LOCK ON THEIR TARGET, AND THEIR ADVANCED INFRA-RED SENSORS ARE NO LONGER FUNCTIONAL. INPUTTING COMMAND: CYBERNETIC COMMANDO NO. 66 SHALL ACTIVATE ITS STEALTH GENERATOR AND SLIP THROUGH THE CHAMBER TO THE GATE AT THE OTHER SITE. THE GUNS WILL ACTIVATE, BUT THEY WILL NOT BE ABLE TO MAKE ANY VISUAL LOCK ONTO THE CYBERNETIC COMMANDO. THE GATE IS STILL ACTIVE AND WILL OPEN AUTOMATICALLY WHEN MOTION IS DETECTED. NO. 66 SHALL WALK THROUGH THE GATE, ACCESS THE CONTROL TERMINAL, AND SHUT DOWN THE INSTALLATION AUTOMATED INTERNAL SECURITY SYSTEMS. THE REST OF THE SQUAD SHALL REMAIN HERE AND WAIT FOR NO. 66 TO COMPLETE THIS OBJECTIVE."
Receiving its orders, Cyborg Commando no. 66 activates its stealth generator. The massive Lazarus reactor on the Cyborg Commando's back rumbles, before covering it in an invisible shroud. The cloaked Cyborg Commando then proceed to walk across the chamber as if nothing will happen, while the rest of the squad just stay at the same spot and wait.
Just as LEGION has predicted, all the Sentry Guns pop-out from beneath the floor again, as their motion detectors sense the approach of someone or something. However, their optical sensors cannot pick up the visual signal of the cloaked cyborg, allowing the cloaked cyborg to walk towards the gate unopposed. Sensing motion from an incoming visitor, the gate opens up, allowing the Cyborg Commando to enter the room without trouble.
Once in the room, the cloaked Cyborg Commando no. 66 spots the control terminal. Scans have confirmed that this is the control terminal that it has to access to complete the secondary objective of this mission. Without hesitation, the Cyborg Commando connects itself to the control terminal, allowing LEGION to access the system.
"ACCESSING SYSTEM... INITIATING OVERRIDE SEQUENCE... SYSTEM ACCESSED... SHUTTING DOWN INSTALLATION AUTOMATED INTERNAL SECURITY SYSTEM... SECONDARY OBJECTIVE ACHIEVED: ALL AUTOMATED DEFENCES IN THIS INSTALLATION ARE NOW DEACTIVATED!"
AS soon as LEGION announces that the secondary objective of the mission has been completed, the Sentry Guns outside the room immediately deactivate, returning back into beneath the floor again. When Cyborg Commando no. 66 walks out of the room and crosses the chamber again to reunite with its squad, uncloaked, the Sentry Guns never respond to the cyborg's motion; further confirming that the automated defences have been shut down.
"SECONDARY OBJECTIVE ACHIEVED... RESUMING OPERATION... HEADING TOWARDS PRIMARY OBJECTIVE..."
The Cyborg Commando announces to its team, before leading them towards their main objective; to find and download the schematics for the psi emitter.
(Another 10 minutes later...)
The Nod cybernetic squad have been walking past intricate networks of corridors, chambers and rooms. They have successfully shut down the automated defences inside this installation, allowing them to roam across the interior of the installation unopposed. On their way, they have encountered several times of wild zerg attacks, but these zerg attacks are quickly neutralised by the Nod cyborgs. Ever since the mission has begun, the cyborgs have yet to sustain any damages, thanks to the protection offered by Enlightened energy shields and repairs performed by the Saboteurs. Now, this mission is about to end, as the minimap has indicated that the main data storage control terminal in this installation is just a few walks away.
The squad enters another open chamber, which appears to be a resource stockpile. At a corner of the chamber, there are crates of ardeon crystals lying around. These crystals look like ordinary blue mineral crystals, but have a much brighter shine on it, making them very valuable to other terran factions. However, if one could take a closer inspection onto these crystals, one can see that there is something wrong with these ardeon crystals.
"WARNING! CONTAMINATION OF ZERG SPORES DETECTED ON THESE ARDEON CRYSTAL STOCKPILE! THESE ZERG SPORES HAVE HIGH INFESTATION PROPERTIES, AND THEY WILL POSE A SERIOUS HAZARD TO OUR SABOTEURS... INPUTTING COMMAND: DESTROY THE CONTAMINATED ARDEON CRYSTALS TO PREVENT THE ZERG SPORES FROM INFECTING OUR SABOTEURS."
The cyborgs heed LEGION's warning, in which they proceed to destroy the contaminated ardeon crystals with their weapons. The crystals get smashed into pieces by the attacks, releasing some spore particles into the air. These spore particles would have infected and infested normal terrans, but not against cyborgs, which have been implanted with special nanites in their bloodstream to resist infestation. After the spore particles settle to the ground, the squad proceeds with their operation. However, it seems that the destruction of the contaminated crystals has attracted some unwanted attention.
"ENEMY UNITS SIGHTED... ENEMY UNITS IDENTIFIED AS ZERG SUBJECT: INFESTED TERRAN..."
In front of the squad, 4 Infested Terrans approach towards the squad at a slow walking pace like zombies in old terran movies. They look like normal terrans, except that they are covered with zerg carapace at some certain body parts, their skins are bloated and claws and appendages have sprouted out from their bodies at random locations.
"P... pleeaassee... hheellpp... usss... ..."
"INPUTTING COMMAND: THE INFESTED TERRANS HAVE HIGH INFESTATION PROPERTIES THAT CAN POSE A SEVERE HAZARD TO OUR SABOTEURS. THEIR CLAWS ARE RAZOR SHARP AND CAN SLASH THROUGH OUR CYBORGS' ARMOUR. TERMINATE THE INFESTED TERRANS TO MINIMISE RISKS TO THE SQUAD!"
After receiving the orders from LEGION, the cyborgs shoot at the Infested Terrans in cold blood. Before the Infested Terrans can close in to the Nod squad, all of them collapse onto the floor, dead (and to a certain extent... liberated).
"ALL SUBJECTS TERMINATED... HEALTH SCANS ON THE SABOTEURS SHOW NO SIGNS OF INFESTATION... RESUMING OPERATION..."
(One minute later...)
The Nod cybernetic squad arrives in front of a collapsed pile of debris. The minimap indicates that their primary objective is located just beyond the debris. If they can punch through the debris, they will be able achieve their primary objective of downloading the schematics of the psi emitter and complete this mission.
This task may seem too simple for the cyborgs, but LEGION can sense something suspicious.
"WARNING! A LARGE UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT HAS BEEN DETECTED BEHIND THE DEBRIS. SIGNATURES OF THE UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT HAVE BEEN MATCHED TO BE BOTH BIOLOGICAL AND MECHANICAL! HIGH CAUTION IS ADVISED!"
LEGION warns its squad. There is a large unknown object standing in between the debris and their primary objective. It seems that if they want to accomplish this mission, they have to confront this unknown object. Receiving the advice to maintain high alert, the cyborgs focus all their fire onto the debris, hence clearing the path.
The squad enters and finds themselves in a dark, spacious chamber. Scattered across the chamber, there are stockpiles of ardeon crystals, all contaminated with zerg spores. The scene is a mess, with craters that match those caused by powerful explosions scattered all across the area. Some of the ardeon crystals are already ruined, seemingly to have been blasted by the same explosions that cause the craters. Overall, it appears as if something has been wreaking havoc across this chamber.
"WARNING! CONTAMINATION OF ZERG SPORES IN ARDEON CRYSTALS DETECTED... INPUTTING COMMAND: DESTROY THE CONTAMINATED CRYSTALS..."
Before LEGION can finish inputting its commands into its squad, there is a huge sudden tremor shaking across the chamber, as if there is something massive approaching. All the cyborgs immediately get their weapons ready and form into battle formation. For something that is so big and heavy to have caused a tremor that can be felt across the entire chamber, it indicates that the large unknown object picked up earlier by LEGION must be in here too. The unknown object may have been an Ultralisk, one of the largest ground based zerg breed ever recorded; but it is unlikely because Ultralisks normally only appear in areas with at least level 7 zerg infestation, not level 3; also, LEGION has stated earlier that the unknown has both biological and mechanical parts, rather like cyborgs. So the question is; exactly what is this unknown?
The tremors can be felt again, as the large unknown object seem to be approaching the group.
"WARNING! A LARGE UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT HAS BEEN DETECTED... SIGNATURES OF THE UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT MATCHES TO THOSE OF ZERGS AND TERRAN THOR HEAVY ASSAULT WALKER... ALL UNITS STANDBY FOR ENGAGEMENT!"
The large unknown object continues to approach the squad, until a silhouette emerges out from the shadows. The silhouette approaches even closer, until its full form has been shown in front of the Nod squad.
The unknown reveals itself to be a Terran Thor heavy assault walker. However, this Thor is covered with zerg carapace around its central cockpit region. Zerg organic tendrils spread from the central cockpit of the Thor and reaches its twin cannons and leg servos. Large gigantic claws extend out from the back of the Thor, covering up and replacing its supposed 250mm strike cannons. The cockpit of the Thor is open, revealing an Infested Terran to be piloting this Thor. All sources of the zerg organic parts covering the Thor seem to have originated from this Infested Terran. In simpler words, the unknown appears to be an Infested Thor piloted by an Infested Terran (2).
"Ggoooo... aaawwwaaayyy... tthheessee... aarrddeeoonnss... aaarrreee... mmmiiinnneee... ..."
The Infested Thor pilot shouts out in its distorted voice.
"WARNING! THE INFESTED TERRAN IN THAT THOR IS EXHIBITING A HOSTILE INTENTION AGAINST OUR FORCES! INPUTTING COMMAND: TERMINATE THE INFESTED THOR!"
The cyborgs immediately let loose their weapons, firing off shells and laser at the massive Infested Thor. However, despite the focus fire of the cyborgs, the Infested Thor does not seem to be hurting too much from the attacks.
"Ggrraarrgghh... ggoo... aawwaayy!"
The enraged Infested Terran immediately strikes back, as it manoeuvres the Infested Thor to attack the squad. The twin infested Thor's Hammer cannons fire out, striking at one of the Enlightened shield. In just a single attack, the energy shield is almost drained out of power from absorbing the impact.
"THE INFESTED THOR POSES A HUGE THREAT THAT WILL JEOPARDISE THE SUCCESS OF THIS MISSION... NEW MISSION OBJECTIVES RECEIVED... PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: DESTROY THE INFESTED THOR!"
Confirming the new mission objective to destroy the Infested Thor, the cyborgs resume their attacks onto their massive opponent.
"Dddiiieee... ..."
The Infested Thor fires again with its twin infested Thor's Hammer cannons, striking the same Enlightened shield again, and this time taking out the energy shield completely. It appears that there is no way to shield out against the intense firepower of the Infested Thor for long.
"THE FIREPOWER OF THE INFESTED THOR IS TOO POWERFUL FOR THE ENLIGHTENED SHIELD TO HOLD OFF... THE INFESTED THOR PROVES TO BE TOO LARGE FOR THE SPIDER SYNTHETIC WEB TO IMMOBILISE WITH... INPUTTING COMMAND: ORDER THE ENLIGHTENED TO CONVERT THIER SHIELD GENERATOR BACK INTO EMP CANNON... USE THE EMP CANNON TO SLOW DOWN INFESTED THOR BY DISABLING ITS MECHANICAL MOTOR FUNCTIONS!"
Receiving the advice from LEGION, the Enlightened quickly convert their shield generators back into EMP cannons, since there is no point of shielding against such intense firepower of the Infested Thor. One of the Enlightened is unable to fire off its EMP cannon, due to all its energy drained to shield off from the Infested Thor's attacks earlier. The other Enlightened, however, quickly follow its orders by firing off an EMP shot at the Infested Thor.
"Ggrraarrgghh... I wwiill... nnoott... bbee... ssstttooopppeeeddd!"
The EMP shot hits its mark, slowing down the Infested Thor significantly. However, it does not completely halt the Infested Thor's movements, as the Infested Thor seems to be now running entirely by the muscular movements of the zerg organic tendrils that cover the massive walker. Still, the cyborgs waste no time to continue to fire upon the Infested Thor.
The Infested Thor begins to receive some visible damages; but during the battle, it appears that the damaged parts of the Infested Thor are regenerating at an incredible rate.
"THE ZERG SPORES OF THE CONTAMINATED ARDEON CRYSTALS ARE ACCELERATING THE CELLULAR REGENERATION OF THE INFESTED THOR... INPUTTING COMMAND: CYBERNETIC COMMANDO NO. 66 SHALL ACTIVATE ITS STEALTH GENERATOR AND DESTROY ALL THE CONTAMINATED CRYSTALS TO HALT THE INFESTED THOR'S CELLULAR REGENERATION... THE REST OF THE SQUAD SHALL RESUME THE ATTACK ONTO THE INFESTED THOR... SABOTEURS TO BE STANDBY FOR REPAIRS ONTO THE CYBORGS."
Cyborg Commando no. 66 immediately follows LEGION's orders, cloaking itself to hide from the Infested Thor's view, while the rest of the cyborgs distract the Infested Thor's attention. No. 66 begins to change its targets to the contaminated crystals, shooting and destroying the stockpile of contaminated ardeon crystals with its rapid-firing Gladius laser cannon. The Saboteurs are staying close behind the cyborgs, ready to repair them from any damages since the shields are now all gone.
"Gggeeettt... lllooosssttt..."
The Infested Thor fires another round of infested Thor's Hammer cannons, blasting an Enlightened off its footing. The Enlightened is suffering from massive damage to its armour, but it still stands up and continues to engage with the massive walker. Saboteurs immediately begin to nano-repair the damaged Enlightened using their Scalpel repair arms. While the Enlightened and the Spiders are engaging the Infested Thor, no. 66 is secretly destroying all the contaminated ardeon crystals while in stealth mode.
"Gggrrraaarrrggghhh... ..."
The Infested Terran is now shouting in frustration, when the Infested Thor gets hit by another EMP shot from the second Enlightened. The cyborgs are now frustrating the Infested Thor so much, by surrounding the massive infested walker on all sides and circling it around, stopping only to shoot. The partially disabled Infested Thor is having a tough time trying to keep up with the circling cyborgs. To make matters worse for the Infested Thor, the Saboteurs are repairing back all the damages that it has dealt to the cyborgs.
"Gggrrraaarrrggghhh... tthhaattss... iiittt... yyyooouuurrreee... gggoooiiinnnggg... dddooowwwnnn!"
With a war cry, one of the massive claws at the back of the Infested Thor suddenly extends out from the back like a tentacle, striking one of the Saboteur. Before the squad realises what has happened, the unlucky Saboteur has been impaled by the tentacle claw through the back. The limped form of the dead Saboteur hangs on the tentacle, with his blood dripping along the tentacle. Although the cyborgs are not feeling any surprise of the loss of one Saboteur, the other Saboteur has been scared out of his wits with the loss of one of his comrade. In his panic, the remaining Saboteur tries to make a run away from the scene. Too bad before he can reach to safety, another clawed tentacle strikes him down, drawing out his blood and guts onto the floor.
"UNIT LOST... WARNING! ALL SABOTEURS ARE LOST... CYBORG REPAIR CAPABILITIES ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE... ALL UNITS, ENGAGE THE INFESTED THOR WITH EXTREME CAUTION... INPUTTING COMMAND: ALL ENLIGHTENED AND SPIDERS ARE TO CIRCLE AROUND THE INFESTED THOR AND DO AS MUCH DAMAGE AS POSSIBLE; CYBERNETIC COMMANDO NO. 66 SHALL DESTROY THE INFESTED THOR WITH SUPER-CHARGED PLASMA CANNON AFTER ALL CONTAMINATED ARDEON CRYSTALS ARE DESTROYED..."
Knowing that they have lost the support of Saboteurs to repair them, the cyborgs are now engaging the Infested Thor even more cautiously, circling around it in order to try to outmanoeuvre the big, clumsy walker while dealing as much damage as possible with their weapons. Periodically, the Enlightened will fire an EMP shot onto the Infested Thor to further slow it down. They are doing their best to stay online as long as possible to increase the chance of success in this mission.
However, this plan is not working too well now. While the partially disabled Infested Thor is unable to hit its targets with its infested Thor's Hammer cannons, it is still able to hit them with its clawed tentacles.
"BOOM... SYSTEMS CRITICAL... INITIATING SELF-DESTRUCTION PROTOCOL..."
One of the Enlightened has its lower limbs completely torn off from a clawed tentacle. Sparks and circuitry are spewing out from its severed torso. With all its might, the critically damaged Enlightened crawls towards the Infested Thor using only its arms. Before it can reach the Infested Thor, another clawed tentacle impales the legless Enlightened through its core, causing a huge explosion.
"Gggrrraaarrrggghhh... ..."
The explosion blows off one of the clawed tentacle of the Infested Thor. Undeterred by the loss of another comrade, the remaining 3 cyborgs continue their engagement with their enemy.
Angered by its injury, the Infested Thor strikes again; this time another clawed tentacle trashes a Spider cyborg into half diagonally, spewing out sparks, circuitry and some green liquid. The bisected Spider lies on the floor motionless, offline and out of action.
Then, another clawed tentacle strikes once more, making the second Enlightened limbless. Before the legless Enlightened can crawl towards its target, the mechanical motor functions of the Infested Thor have finally recovered from the EMP shots, as the Infested Thor resumes its normal speed and destroys the slow moving legless Enlightened with a blast of infested Thor's Hammer cannons.
The last Spider does not fare any better than the other cyborgs, as it finds itself impaled by a clawed tentacle through its torso, lifted up and brought right in front of the Infested Thor, before blasted by the infested Thor's Hammer.
"Haa... haa... haa... haa... haa... aatt... llaasstt... tthhee... aarrddeeoonnss... aaarrreee... mmiinnee!"
The Infested Terran piloting the Infested Thor shouts out in victory. However, as the Infested Terran surveys his carnage, he realises something is amiss.
"Nnnnnoooooo! Mmmyyy... cccrrryyyssstttaaalllsss!"
The ardeon crystals are now completely in heaps and pieces, all destroyed and shattered. Without the zerg spores to sustain its regeneration, the Infested Thor is now limping heavily with severe damages sustained to its leg servos, along with missing appendages and one severed clawed tentacle. Then, before the Infested Thor can salvage anything, another laser blast shoots out from nowhere, hitting and completely disabling the motor functions of its leg servos.
"Gggrrraaaggghhh... wwwhhheeerrreee... aaarrreee... yyyooouu?"
The Infested Terran, fixed inside the cockpit of the Infested Thor, turns his head frantically in search of his mysterious assailant. Then, another shudder can be heard, and suddenly a vibration can be felt in front of the infested Terran, as if something is just right in front of him. The Infested Terran looks in his shock as the 5th cyborg uncloaks right in front of him, with a glowing orb of energy charging in its left hand cannon.
"YOU ARE TERMINATED!"
"Nnnnnoooooo!"
The super-charged plasma cannon is fired off from the no. 66's left hand cannon, blowing off the Infested Terran along with the entire Infested Thor cockpit. The result is devastating; the Infested Thor explodes in a spectacular display of blood and explosion, before its disabled leg servos give way to the massive weight of the walker, causing the bulky walker to collapse onto the ground motionless. Another explosion occurs after the Infested Thor collapses, blowing the once massive walker into smaller pieces.
"INFESTED THOR DESTROYED... PRIMARY OBJECTIVE ACHIEVED!"
LEGION announces through no. 66, as the now lone Cyborg Commando walks away from the scene of carnage to resume its mission to reach for the data storage control terminal in order to obtain the schematics for the psi emitter.
(Another minute later...)
Cyborg Commando no. 66 has reached the final room in this installation; the main data storage room. The room is empty, except for a control terminal placed at the centre of the room. No. 66 approaches the control terminal with confidence. Its scans and minimap have confirmed that there are no more hostiles left in this area. Right now, the only task left for it to complete is to download the schematics of the psi emitter from the control terminal.
No. 66 reaches the control terminal as its Gladius laser cannon unfolds to reveal its mechanical right hand. A cable extends out of the wrist of the mechanical hand, which connects to the control terminal. At the same time, the processor of no. 66 is now fully connected and synchronised to LEGION, allowing LEGION to begin downloading using no. 66 as a medium.
"ACCESSING SYSTEM... INITIATING OVERRIDE SEQUENCE... SYSTEM ACCESSED... INITIATING DOWNLOAD SEQUENCE... DOWNLOAD LINK ESTABLISHED... INITIATING DOWNLOAD... STANDBY..."
LEGION reports as it begins to download files from the old Confederate database into itself.
"DOWNLOAD COMPLETE... 89, 999 FILES DOWNLOADED, INCLUDING THE SCHEMATICS OF THE TRANSPLANAR PSIONIC WAVEFORM EMITTER... PRIMARY OBJECTIVE COMPLETE!"
"MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!"
(A few hours later, in Mar Sara Magistrate Building...)
The Commander is pleased.
Not long ago, LEGION had successfully completed its mission to extract and download the schematics of the psi emitter. Cyborg Commando no. 66, the sole survivor of that mission, had just been extracted by a recon squad and brought back to base for repairs and maintenance. It is for the better of the Brotherhood's future to preserve as many elite units as possible, and elite Cyborg Commandos will be the most treasured.
Now, the Commander is waiting for news from the forces that had been sent to the Dominion dig site near Backwater Station. Besides the extraction of the schematics of the psi emitter, the Commander had also been tasked by Kane to extract an ancient artifact from the dig site. It had been hours since the forces had been sent to the dig site, and now the Commander is beginning to feel that something is amiss.
"COMMANDER, I HAVE RECEIVED NEWS FROM OUR FORCES AT THE DIG SITE; INCOMING TRANSMISSION..."
A hologram projection of a Nod Confessor lights up in front of the control panel.
"Sir! We've got bad news sir! We're too late; the artifact's gone!"
"What? Tell me what is going on at the dig site!"
"Sir, we've arrived the dig site as you have ordered, sir! We find the Dominion base already destroyed, and the crane used for the extraction had already been raised! We've found bodies everywhere!"
"Hmm... it appears that someone else had taken away the artifact before us... soldier, about the bodies that you find in the scene, can you tell me what symbols are the dead bodies wearing?"
"I'm checking sir! Sir, we find most of the bodies bearing the symbol of the Dominion; but we do find a few dead Marines clad in blue armour and some kind of a non-Dominion symbol, I'm not sure what symbol does it belong to..."
'Hmm... no doubt that the mysterious symbol would belong to the culprit of the group that had extracted the artifact before us... looks like our mysterious guests had invaded into the dig site, kill the Dominion guards, and extracted the artifact using the crane at the dig site...' the Commander concludes mentally.
"LEGION! I want you to scan the symbol of the blue Marines found at the dig site! Find out who had taken the artifact away!"
"AFFIRMATIVE! ESTABLISHING UPLINK WITH A CYBORG AT THE DIG SITE... STANDBY... UPLINK ESTABLISHED... SCANNING IN PROCESS... STANDBY... SCAN COMPLETE... MATCHING SCAN IMAGE WITH DATABASE... STANDBY... MATCH FOUND! SCAN IMAGE MATCHES THE SYMBOL OF THE ANTI-DOMINION REBEL GROUP KNOWN PUBLICLY AS RAYNOR'S RAIDERS..."
"Raynor?"
The Commander is quite surprised to learn that it was the fabled outlaw Jim Raynor that had stolen the artifact. Still another surprise is waiting for the Commander.
"RECEIVING NEW MESSAGE FROM KANE... STANDBY... INCOMING TRANSMISSION..."
LEGION suddenly announces Kane's arrival, as another hologram projector of Kane lights up in front of the control panel.
"Sir!" the Commander immediately greets the supreme leader of the Brotherhood.
"At ease, my child! So tell me; I hope you have accomplished the two missions that I had given to you earlier, haven't you?"
"Yes sir! LEGION had successfully downloaded and obtained the schematics of the psi emitter as you have ordered! The schematics are now safely stored inside LEGION's memory!"
"Very good!"
"However sir, it is unfortunate but I do have a bad news for you! The artifact that you have spoken highly of had not been recovered! Someone had reached the dig site before us and took the artifact away!"
"Taken away? Have you checked who have taken the artifact away, Commander?"
"Yes, we did sir! LEGION had scanned and matched a symbol of a dead Marine found at the dig site. Match results have shown that it was the Raynor's Raiders who have been at the scene before us! We believe that it was Raynor's Raiders who had stolen the artifact sir!"
"Raynor's Raiders... ahhh... Jim Raynor, the unsung hero of the First Great War... it is most unfortunate indeed! Without that artifact, we would not be able to initiate our backup plan in the case when that queen of abomination finds out that we are trying to use her minions as tools for our war of ascension."
"Sir! I sincerely apologise for my failure, sir! Should I send out scouts to locate the hideout of Raynor's Raiders and let our forces to deal with them?"
"No! Leave them be! There is another cause of concern that is much more important than Mr. Raynor's ragtag team, one that I am trying to inform you right now!"
"What is it, sir?"
"The zergs are coming! Just a minute ago, the scout fleet surveying over Char had reported masses of zergs leaving Char before we'd lost contact with them. It seems that we have to push our plans forward earlier than we have expected!"
"But how sir? The Zerg Swarm had been inactive for 4 years! Why do they strike now?"
"I believe that the queen of abomination herself might have learnt the existence of the artifacts that we and Mr. Raynor had been seeking. She knew that the artifact would be her undoing, and she would do everything to stop that from happening! In a few hours time, the zergs would be invading and engulfing the entire Koprulu Sector, which will include Mar Sara. Commander, there is little time for us to spare! I want LEGION to begin manufacturing the psi emitters and place them in the Tiberium fields all across Mar Sara! We need the zergs to accept Tiberium if we are to ensure that the Tiberium will spread across the entire Koprulu Sector!"
"That wouldn't be a problem, sir; but what about the colonists sir? How should we deal with the local population?"
"Evacuate them to the underground vaults that I had ordered you to construct when we first arrived on Mar Sara. We need as many manpower as possible for our future campaigns."
"Then what about the Raynor's Raiders, and the artifacts?"
"If Mr. Raynor is after the artifacts too, there is no doubt that he would be going after the other fragments, scattered across the entire Koprulu Sector. We'll let the raiders to keep the artifacts for us in the mean time, and once he had gathered all the other fragments, we'll seize them back."
"But what if they perished in the zerg invasion?"
"Don't worry, my child; I believe that Mr. Raynor's resourcefulness would allow the raiders to escape from the clutches of the zergs. He had survived against the zergs before, and I believe that he would do it again. I have already planted a spy amongst their midst; the spy would report every bits of the raider's journeys to me, so we'll know when they had collected all the fragments, and where we can find them."
"That's a brilliant plan, sir!"
"Now, my child; you must hurry! Begin evacuating all the followers of Nod on Mar Sara into the underground vaults. Begin building the psi emitters and remember to plant them on the Tiberium fields. Time is short, and the fate of the Brotherhood is lying in your hands!"
"I won't fail you this time, sir!"
"You better don't, Commander! If you fail, it would be your death! Now go!"
With that, the transmission of the Commander with Kane ends. The Commander quickly turns towards and begins to give orders to his officers,
"Alright, everyone! You've heard the messiah! I want all of you to begin the evacuating all followers into the underground vaults! At every evacuation point, I want all of you to begin setting up bases and defences to facilitate the evacuations and defend them from the zergs! I would be in charge of commanding the evacuations in Mar Sara City! Is everyone clear?"
One of the junior officers raise up his hand in question,
"Err... sir, what about our fleet, sir? Should we call our fleet to defend the planet against the zergs while we are evacuating, sir?"
The Commander ponders for a moment; he feels that that junior officer is asking a good question indeed. Should he order Jonah and his Nod fleet to hold off against the zergs too? After a brief moment of consideration, the Commander makes up his mind,
"No! Order Jonah and the rest of the fleet to retreat back to Eden immediately! Our current fleet force would be of no match against a full scale zerg invasion! Using Jonah and our fleet to hold off the zergs would be an unnecessary sacrifice! LEGION, I want you to order our fleet to retreat back to Eden immediately!"
"AS YOU WISH, COMMANDER!"
Just then, the same officer asks again,
"But sir! What if the evacuations fail? Or what if the zergs did not accept Tiberium? How would we be able to retreat if the fleet left us stranded on this planet?"
"Then we make sure that we must not fail! If we fail, we would perish; so make sure that you must succeed in this mission! Have faith with the messiah! If he says this plan would succeed, then we should never doubt him! Are you trying to question Kane's wisdom?"
"No sir! That's not what I mean!"
"If no, then get going! Our time is short! Everyone, get to your respective evacuation points, now!"
"Yes sir!" all the officers in the scene respond to the Commander's orders.
"COMMANDER, I HAVE FINISHED ANALYSING THE SCHEMATICS FOR THE TRANSPLANAR PSIONIC WAVEFORM EMITTER. THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PSI EMITTERS WOULD BE GOING UNDERWAY IN SEVERAL UNDERGROUND FACTORIES, BUT IT WOULD TAKE SEVERAL HOURS FOR THE CONSTRUCTIONS TO FINISH. IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THE ZERGS WOULD ARRIVE MAR SARA BEFORE THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PSI EMITTERS TO BE COMPLETE."
"If this is the case, then we'll have to defend the evacuations with our bases. Once the evacuations are done, we'll retreat underground. LEGION, when the psi emitters are finished, use the transport drills to transport the psi emitters up to the surface into the middle of the major Tiberium fields all across Mar Sara. Kane has spoken that most zergs would perish trying to embrace the Tiberium, but there would be at least some survivors if we attract all the zergs in Mar Sara and other neighbouring systems towards Tiberium."
"AS YOU WISH, COMMANDER... COMMANDER, JONAH AND THE REST OF THE FLEET HAVE LEFT MAR SARA ORBIT AND ARE NOW HEADING BACK TO EDEN AS YOU HAVE ORDERED... WARNING, ZERG INVASION INBOUND IN... ONE HOUR!"
"LEGION, begin setting up defences in Mar Sara City; prepare for the zerg invasion. Get me into the battlefield control, now!"
"AFFIRMATIVE, ESTABLISHING BATTLEFIELD CONTROL, STANDBY... BATTLEFIELD CONTROL ONLINE... DEPLOYING MCV... DEPLOYMENT SUCCESSFUL, COMMANDER, STANDBY FOR YOUR NEXT ORDERS..."
PREVIEW
Next Act: The Beasts Return
The Second Great War has begun, as the Queen of Blades launch an extensive zerg invasion against the entire Koprulu Sector, including Mar Sara. Left stranded on the planet, Nod ground forces are going to hold off waves and waves of zerg assaults while evacuating all the followers on Mar Sara into the underground vaults. When the time has come, they are going to invite the zergs to the Tiberium fields, using their own psi emitters.
(1) I have to rename the Cyborg Reapers into Spider cyborgs, so as to avoid confusion with the Terran Reaper jump jet infantries in the future chapters. Besides, I think this new name fits them.
(2) The idea of the Infested Thor comes from the Starcraft comic, Thundergod. Yes, the Infested Terran piloting the Infested Thor is Sardin Forst, the Thor operator from the Thundergod story. Refer to Starcraft wiki site for more details.
My Nod Unit Profile: Saboteur
Role: All-terrain multi-role support infantry
Armament: Full body hazard suit, jump jets, Scalpel nano-repair arms, Booby Traps
Appearance: Similar to the C&C4 Nod Engineers, except with more futuristic look, and has a green bubble helm like the Saboteurs in C&C3
Despite their lack of body armour and standard weapons, Nod Saboteurs are one of the most important infantries in the Nod Army. These specially trained combat engineers are able to repair any mechanical units quickly with their Scalpel nano-repair arms. They have been trained to plant Booby Trap charges on any structures, organic or mechanical, friendly or hostile, so that any approaching enemy units that come too close to a Booby-trapped structure would be caught in a powerful explosion, which can heavily damage the target structure and surrounding enemy units as well. Like the generations of Nod Engineers before them, Saboteurs are trained to instantly repair friendly structures, capture enemy structures (not including Zerg structures), and reactivate walker husks, although the Saboteurs tasked with these missions would have to use up all their tools and stay to maintain the structure or walker, meaning that they would not be available for the entire rest of the mission. To make their missions easier, the Saboteurs are equipped with jump jets so that they can move across any types of terrains and elevations with ease like Terran Reapers. It has been warned that Saboteurs are very lightly armoured, so it is ill-advised to send them to their missions unescorted.
My Nod Unit Profile: Spider
Role: Specialised trapping infantry
Armament: Multi-Object Laser Dispersal System (MOLDS), Spinneret Synthetic Web sprayer, Mini-Obelisk of Darkness
Appearance: Similar to the Reaper cyborgs of the C&C4, complete with 4 insect-like mechanical legs and pincer-shaped laser cannon on the right arm. Left arm is armed with web sprayer, similar to those used by Cyborg Reapers of the Firestorm crisis. A Mini-Obelisk of Darkness is fitted at the back, giving it an appearance of an erect red horn on its back.
Continuation of the dreaded Reaper Cyborgs of the Firestorm Crisis and the Fourth Tiberium Wars, the Spider Cyborgs retain the features of both models of its predecessors. The Spider mainly gets its new name from its appearance and its ability to launch Synthetic Web against foes, which can bind and immobilise any enemy non-massive biological units, especially infantries and zergs. If targeted against biological air units such as Mutalisks, the Synthetic Web is able to capture and bring down the targeted air units to ground level, allowing other friendly ground units to attack them on the ground. The Synthetic Web is a small area of effect ability, and requires around a minute of cool-down period. The Spider's primary weapon is the MOLDS, which fires a powerful primary laser beam that disperses into smaller beams that strike other nearby targets once it hits the primary target (sort of like the Prism Tank attack in Red Alert 2). Spiders can also be upgraded with a Mini-Obelisk of Darkness on its back, allowing Spiders to shoot at air units with a slow firing but powerful laser beam. The Spider is less armoured and less durable compared to other cyborgs such as the Enlightened, and although its firepower is great, its slow rate of fire makes it vulnerable against attacks from massive number of enemy units.
My Nod Unit Profile: Cyborg Commando
Role: Hero unit
Armament: Gladius rapid-firing laser cannon, super-charged plasma cannon, Lazarus reactor
Appearance: Similar to the Cybernetic Commando of C&C4, with the addition of a plasma cannon on its left hand (the same weapon used by Cyborg Commandos of Tiberium Sun).
The most powerful type of cyborgs ever built by the Brotherhood, Cyborg Commandos are constructed from the most elite soldiers of the Brotherhood, who have either fallen in battle or volunteered to be reconstructed. Armed with a rapid-firing Gladius laser cannon, Cyborg Commandos are able to make short work out of any foes, ground or aerial, light or armoured. Their heavy armour and durable frame design allow them to best out against most opponents in a one-one face-off. Besides its Gladius cannon, the Cyborg Commando is also equipped with a super-charged plasma cannon and a stealth generator, which are both powered by a Lazarus reactor attached to the Cyborg Commando's back. The super-charged plasma cannon is a very powerful weapon that can instantly destroy most enemy units with one shot, but each of these shots can drain away more than half of the total amount of energy stored in its Lazarus reactor. The Lazarus reactor can be upgraded to charge up and store higher amount of energy for the Cyborg Commando.
Cyborg Commandos are very few in numbers, so few that every commander is only authorised to command up to one Cyborg Commando for every mission. There is a rumour stating that Cyborg Commandos are very rare because they can only be constructed from psionic individuals in the Brotherhood of Nod population.
My workload is now getting heavier and heavier each day, but I will still continue to do this story. For now, updates may be once per every month or so.
The Second Great War is about to begin in the next act, so stay tuned!