(Author's Note)
Be warned, this chapter is less friendly than usual. There are some brief mentions of gore, coarse language and other such things.
As I ran, I keyed the comm.
"Jim? Come in?"
Static greeted me over the comm. My blood froze. There was no reason that Jim shouldn't be able to respond.
"Jim? Zeratul? Come in."
Nothing. Hope was rapidly beginning to fade. Sarah was almost defenceless without those two. Whatever defence the Zerg might have been able to provide at this point was next to useless against an elite Ghost force, even more so if our mystery Ghost was truly an agent of whatever force was controlling the Zerg. He might be able to confuse or control the Zerg against us if the Queen was right.
The Queen...
My eyes widened in realisation. Zeratul had been called to Antiga Prime as well, presumably by her. So she might just be...
"Already done it. Zeratul said that their comms were jammed, but they're getting set up for the Ghosts."
I breathed a sigh of relief. One disaster averted. "Thank you."
"You know, you're going to have to call me something other than the Queen."
"Probably, although there are a lot of other things I need to worry about as well."
She chuckled, although there was an undertone of grimness to her amusement. "How about Louise? Can you work with that?"
I smiled. Louise. A name that was both linked and not connected with Sarah. Few knew about her middle name. I couldn't think of a more apt name for her to use. "Yeah. Sounds good to me."
"Good. Now, go save the girl and kick that bastard's arse. He's earned it."
"You got it."
As Louise withdrew from my mind, I finished getting the two Vultures ready, just as Nova and the two Protoss raced up. I turned to them.
"Ready for this?"
Nova nodded. "Looking forward to it. Let's get moving."
Selendis swung onto the back of my Vulture as I kicked it to life. Beside us, Nova and Tassadar took their own positions. Nova and I exchanged a glance. I smiled grimly.
"Let's roll."
Gunning the bike off the mark, I spun it around and raced for Sarah. Deep down, I knew that the next hour might just decide the fate of everything. While I had never been as good a Vulture pilot as Jim, I knew a trick or two and I was determined that nothing was going to stand between us and Sarah.
Racing out of the base, I took off down the path, Nova just behind. I glanced at the display of our route. It was by no means the easiest of rides, with plenty of twisting turns around tall cliffs above lava fields. Going by foot was far safer than what we were doing, but there was no choice. The only way we might be able to catch up in time was with the Vultures. Unfortunately, that was going to be easier said than done.
A pair of Wraiths swung down over us, raining fire down. While they couldn't do much on their own, even a small hit could flip us out of control and evading the strikes and not crashing whilst doing so was not a simple task by any means. Plus, we couldn't afford to slow down, at all.
"Jason, we need to get these guys off our tail." Nova called over the comm.
I managed to resist asking her not to state the obvious, choosing instead to focus on the problem at hand. Vultures were purely a ground combat unit, the frag grenades wouldn't have the launch power to reach the Wraiths, even as low as they were flying. Still, we had three of the best long range shooters around, and Tassadar was no slouch in ranged combat either. Suddenly, I spotted a couple of things ahead, and I realised we had a chance to change this fight up.
"Nova, follow my lead!" Coaxing every bit of power I could out of the Vulture's engine, I raced forward. I knew that the Wraiths would outpace us any day of the week, but I didn't need to lose them if this worked.
The very good thing about uneven terrain was that there were plenty of little ramps that could be used, and some not so little ones, including one that was rather steep. It was this ramp that I was aiming for. I knew very well that this was one of the craziest stunts I had ever attempted to pull off, but there was little option.
"Strap in and hang on." I called to Selendis, aiming straight for the ramp.
"What are you doing?" Selendis called back, worried.
"Catching some air."
"What?"
At that moment, we hit the ramp almost exactly side by side at practically flank speed. The two Wraiths were also flying in close formation, using their lasers to try and shut us down. But they obviously didn't realise what we were planning, or why we were on the ramp in the first place, because they never changed their altitude.
For the record, Mutalisks are decidingly aggressive when you startle them.
The two Wraith pilots had never noticed that there had been a pair of Mutalisks in front of us, and the shock of finding them there was enough to make them flinch, although the Mutalisks were just as stunned, though quicker to react. Fortunately, they didn't take any notice of us, nor did the Wraiths, who were suddenly too busy trying to survive. As the bikes hit the ground, I grinned, knowing that we had, at the very least, a chance for a head-start on the Wraiths. Of course, being the day it was, things were not going to go smoothly. What I had been most afraid of as an obstacle proved to be a reality as we rounded the next corner.
Zerg fighting Zerg. In force. Evidently, our mystery Ghost was able to turn them against each other.
Selendis blinked. "Any ideas for this?"
I considered carefully. We really didn't have the time to go around, but I didn't want to simply charge through a battle. A quick glance told me that there were no handy tools that we could use to evade the battle.
"Straight down the middle." Tassadar replied.
"Have you lost your mind? We would be slaughtered."
"Do you have a better idea?" Nova put in.
"Anything would be better than that."
"No choice, now." I put in. Indeed, we were far too close now to pull back and try something else. The Overmind, if he was still with us, would likely know what we were up to and probably forgive us, and the rogue Zerg would be attacking us anyway. All we could do was punch through and hope for the best.
Out of interest, I glanced down at the Vulture's instrument panel. 320km/h. I was more than a little curious about how the bikes, and the Zerg, would react to the impact. Aiming for the rogue Zerglings, or my best guess as to which side was which, I braced for impact, the others doing the same.
The result could be best described as carnage. The fury of all the battlefields I had seen didn't compare to the absolute devastation we wrought on the Zerg. No nice clean wounds here, pieces of Zerg littered the area, completely torn off and apart by the force of the impact. I swallowed slightly, forcing back the bile coming up my throat. The two Vultures were only lightly damaged, and even then only because a couple of the Zerglings' tusks had been stuck and dragged briefly before it, and the heads they were attached to, were simply torn off the host bodies, left flapping behind us. I knew that the damage could shut the bikes down eventually, but we didn't have time to clear up the mess and make repairs. As long as they got us to Sarah, that was going to be enough.
Glancing quickly at the sensors, I couldn't see anything else between us and Sarah, and we were getting feeds from the base's sensor scans as well. So we knew that the Ghost team was already inside the hive. While that was bad news, the good news was that we had no other obstacles between us and the Hive itself.
Of course, Fate, being the fickle being she was, chose that moment to give us a damn good kick up the arse.
"Mayday, Mayday, Mayday!" A panicked voice suddenly called over an open channel before being cut off. I didn't pay much attention to it, not really having anything more to relate it to. Matt, however, did.
"Jason, you hear that Mayday call?"
"Yeah, I heard it. Not sure what I can do about it right now, though. Who was it?"
"A Dominion battle-cruiser. It took a full salvo from the Zerg, but that's not the problem."
"Then what is?" Trying to concentrate on driving and listening to what Matt had to say was rather difficult at the speeds we were doing.
"It's coming down, hard and fast."
I blinked, as one possible implication hit me. "Where?"
His tone went grim. "You had to ask, didn't you? Analysis predicts an definite impact zone in your vicinity, but most likely about 500m short of the Hive with Sarah."
I tried to work out the rough impact radius of such a strike. Selendis, with access to the sensors, got the answer first.
"Jason, with the ship's current course and speed, 500m might as well be right on top of that Hive."
"So it's aiming at the Hive?"
"Close enough to make no difference."
"Matt, any chance we can redirect the impact somewhere else?"
"Not a chance, sir. It's already out of range of any assistance we might be able to provide."
"Brilliant. How long do we have?"
"Best guess, about two minutes until impact."
I didn't have to glance at the sensors. Even if the ship didn't explode on impact, which was a distinct possibility, we were going to be cutting it very fine indeed, even at top speed. Top speed, however, was not going to be simple, easy or exactly safe to maintain. But if we had had no choice before, then we had even less now. If the Hive survived the impact, then the damage was going to knock the Zerg's ability to defend it for six, and there was still that Ghost team. We had no choice.
"We're going in."
The next minute was relatively simple in terms of getting to Sarah in time. The terrain wasn't too bad, we had no enemies in our road and the battle-cruiser was still at a relatively comfortable height. We concentrated on making up as much ground as we could, because we all knew that the final run was going to be an absolute hell-storm. We weren't disappointed.
The battlecruiser had finally noticed our presence and decided to take us with them. Laser rounds slammed into the ground all around us.
"Just like them to make life more interesting." Nova snarked.
"You've got that right. I'm stunned they still have power, or people at the weapons, and they'd be bothering to waste time on us." I replied.
"Are we going to be able to make it in time?" Tassadar asked.
"It's going to be very close. Way too close for comfort."
"You got that right." Nova replied.
Trying not to dodge more than was absolutely necessary, we hurtled towards the hive holding Sarah, which had fortunately just come into sight. The good news was that we didn't have more than 30 seconds until we reached it. The bad news was those last 30 seconds may not be available, and even if they were, it was still far from clear if the hive would survive the impact itself. At this point it didn't matter. If we slowed down, we would be dead. If we turned back, Sarah, Jim and Zeratul would be dead and we may as well be.
The shadow of the battle-cruiser was looming over us now, still firing furiously at us. However it was quickly apparent that they still had at least some control of their flight systems left.
"They're coming down faster!" Matt yelled.
Evidently they'd worked out they wouldn't stop us with the guns, so they were trying to make sure we were caught in the impact and any explosion. The only good news was that it meant there was a better chance of the hive escaping serious damage. The Vulture's engines were whining and every gauge was deep in the red. It was clear that they weren't going to last much longer, but then we didn't really need them too. As long as they got us to Sarah, it would be enough.
We slid out from underneath the battle-cruiser with about 100 metres to spare, although we were still in range of any blast radius. In what must of been an incredible stroke of luck, or someone else meddling in our fates again, the explosion that I had feared never happened. But the shock-wave from the impact did. For the last few hundred metres to the hive, we had an absolutely massive shock-wave rippling through the ground behind us, with debris being thrown all around us, making that final stage perhaps the most challenging of the entire short, but adrenaline inducing, experience. Finally we slid inside the hive, with it closing behind us. We could hear the debris and shock-wave pelting the hive, and it was obviously taking a beating. But as the seconds passed, the impacts lessened and I breathed a sign of relief. The hive, and us, had survived.
For now. We did have a powerful Ghost team ahead of us, after all.
Slowing down to far more reasonable speeds, we made our way towards the chamber holding Sarah. I was more than a little worried about what our opponents might have set up for us. Even if Jim and Zeratul were keeping them busy, the odds were good that they wouldn't be able to stop the ghosts from preparing something to welcome us with. With comms still being jammed, and Zeratul not connected to the rest of Protoss, they couldn't warn us either. So what would they have set up?
Nova was apparently listening in. "What about lock-downs? They could shut us down and take us out and we couldn't do a thing to stop them."
My eyes widened. It was perfect. Minimal risk to them, very simple to execute and extremely painful for us. "You're right, and it's exactly the sort of strike they'd use on us."
Nova had evidently alerted both Protoss as to our discussion. "How do we escape that?" Selendis asked, more than a little concern in her mental voice.
"Could we intercept the lock-down devices before they strike us?" Tassadar asked.
"No." I replied. "They're specifically designed to be unaffected by any psionic manipulations other than those firing them. It's a safeguard that's been around for years."
"So, what do you propose?"
I considered a new idea. It was crazy, but that was our style, by now. "Nova, what's the radius on the lock-down?"
"A few metres, why?"
"So, if we're wide enough, they would have to use two?"
"Yeah, so?"
"So, it gives us more chance of evading them. We just have to make sure we're not on the Vultures when they get hit."
Silence was my response, but then I was more or less used to that by now.
"You must be joking." Tassadar said finally.
"At the risk of sounding like a scratched record, does anyone have a better idea?"
"They wouldn't expect it, that's for sure." Nova said thoughtfully.
"For good reason. Could we survive the impact?" Selendis asked.
"We all have armour, psionic abilities or both. I think we'd be fine, and it beats being blown up." I replied.
"This is true. In any case, I do not think we have a better option."
"Good, because you better get ready." Nova cut in.
Glancing at the sensors, I could see that there wasn't much time left before we reached Sarah, only a few more corners. Focussing on the final approach, but staying close beside Nova, I prepared for the fight ahead.
"Stay close until we get around that corner and see them. Let them fire the first set at us, then split and hug the walls. We might be able to get closer that way, if they line up on us again, bail into the middle, but try and get the Vultures to come more central as well, give us some cover." I refined the plan slightly.
As we came around the last corner, I saw a pair of lock-down rounds fired in our direction. Breaking wide, we both managed to miss them, even firing off a quick shot with the grenade launchers to give them something else to think about. But a second pair wasn't far behind the first, and we wouldn't dodge them both.
"Bail!" I called. Suiting words to actions, I brought the Vulture around just enough to aim for the middle, then cracked open the door and dived out, Selendis right behind me, and Nova and Tassadar mirroring our actions. The pair of Vultures slammed into each other before being caught by the lock-downs. A powerful, although slightly delayed, barrage of fire swiftly blew both vehicles apart.
Luckily for us, the blast concealed our escape. Despite having all their psionic abilities, even Ghosts tend to use their eyes to check for an opponent first, except for the absolute best ones. The Ghosts that had been tasked with taking us out weren't.
Nova and the two Protoss were the first to manage to get into firing position, but then their own psionics helped in that regard. A swift burst of fire from Nova and lightning from Tassadar had taken out three by the time I stopped my own tumble. Selendis's own weapon took out another. By the time I was ready, there weren't any Ghosts left alive in front of us, though the sound of gun-fire around the corner told me that the battle wasn't finished yet.
"How many left?" I asked.
"Six, including our old friend." Nova replied.
I nodded, moving towards the chamber carefully. Activating my psi-screen, I pulled out a flash-bang and bowled it around the corner, though I half expected it to come flying back. As it turned out, we weren't that unlucky and it went off safely out of our sight. Taking advantage of the distraction, Nova dived low around the corner. It was just as well she did.
A hail of gun-fire sliced through the air, no more than a foot above where Nova was. Had she, or anyone else simply run out, they would have an acute case of lead poisoning and perforated everything. She managed, along with Jim and Zeratul who were taking full advantage of our presence, to put enough pressure on the Ghosts to force them to take cover long enough for the rest of us to enter the fight. As we stepped out, however, the sounds of fighting stopped. Wary and with my rifle raised, I stared at the scene in front of me.
As Nova had said, there were six Ghosts facing us. All had their weapons raised, but were obviously waiting for orders from their leader. Despite the fact that he had been wearing a mask both on New Folsom and right now, I knew which one he was. Aside from the sword he was holding, the air of arrogance and confidence oozed off him, and I could see that he expected this to be an easy fight. Of course, given how New Folsom had turned out, he was right to make that assumption. My eyes narrowed and I holstered the rifle before drawing my own sword. Nova glanced at me in shock.
"You sure about this?"
"Not really, but he's going to come at me anyway. I can at least keep him occupied for a while and he's still likely to want to toy with me. I can use that to my advantage. Plus, the advantage of time is on our side right now. Just don't play with your own food too much, I'm probably going to need a hand with him if we're going to finish him off."
"Of course. Just be careful. I doubt that he'll make the same mistake twice."
"Got it, ma'am."
Stepping forward, I raised the sword, staring at my nemesis. "You know, this is an awful lot of trouble to go to for a re-match."
He chuckled. "Had to set the scene appropriately. And as a bonus, I get to cut the head off your ragtag mob, the Protoss and the Zerg. Wins all the way around."
"You thought the same at New Folsom. Didn't work out that well, I seem to recall. Couldn't even make a simple kill."
He inclined his head. "I must admit, I was a little surprised to see you still alive after that. Still, easy enough to finish that now."
I grinned slightly. "It took an army to distract me enough for you to get that blow in. You seem to be lacking one right now."
"Oh, that just shortened the fight. It was always going to end the same way."
I raised an eyebrow. "With you screwing up? Let's see if you can do it again."
He walked forward and as we spread out, ready to fight, I could hear the grin in his voice. "Try to keep me entertained this time."
With a flash of motion, he was upon me, sword angling for my neck. With everyone else clear of me, rather than parrying, I ducked under it, unleashing a solid punch to his gut. The force threw him back a couple of metres and I could see shock in his stance. I grinned.
"Quite amazing what a difference surprise makes, don't you think?"
He snarled and charged in, although he was definitely more cautious this time. His skill was as apparent as ever, however. I was on the back foot almost immediately, barely managing to block his blows that were constantly raining down on me. At least, that was what I was hoping he was seeing. The training I had done with Sarah, while it certainly hadn't brought me up to his level, did at least bring me closer and give me a much better chance, although I was still waiting for the best opportunity to show him exactly how much of an improvement I had made.
So I continued, moving more towards evasion than parrying, and staying on the defensive. Sooner or later, he would make a mistake and...
There
His rage had got the better of him, and he swung his sword horizontally with a little too much strength, more than he could easily control. For a split second, I had an opening and I made full use of it, driving my sword into his left shoulder. I had been aiming for his heart, but he was able to move out of the way enough. Still, the look of shock on his face was priceless, though I didn't stop to enjoy it, pressing my advantage viciously. In the few seconds that followed, I was able to score another strike on his other arm, though the wound wasn't nearly as serious as the previous one. Neither were life-threatening, but still enough to give him some serious problems. I decided I was tired of this guy hiding behind his mask and elected to liberate him of it. Rather than cutting it off him, which was my first option although he had got back into the rhythm of the battle, I chose to simply tear it off with my free hand.
I could live for a millennium and never forget his face. Dark-skinned and dark hair, he could be taken as perfectly ordinary. If you didn't look at his eyes, that is. Madness blazed out of them with an intensity I had never seen before, and I had dealt with more than a few crazed people over the years. If I had had any doubts that this man was not only an enemy but one of the agents that Louise had mentioned before, they vanished rather swiftly.
I froze for a second too long, and I paid for it. On the plus side, I didn't end up with a sword where I didn't want or need one. On the down side, psionic blasts are a bitch at close range. I ended up being thrown across the chamber, with my chest feeling like I'd just had a shock round hit it. Staggering up, I glared at the man standing, once again calmly, across from me.
"You thought this was going to be a fair fight?" He grinned.
So that was how this was going to be. Fine, that actually suited me.
"Yeah, I did. Still do, actually." I smiled coldly, walking back towards him, sword ready. "But then, I always fight fair."
He grinned and shot another blast of psionic energy at me. This time, though, I was ready, diving sideways and rolling back to my feet, shotgun in hand, grinning at his furious expression.
"Exactly as fair as my enemy." I finished.
His eyes widened as he watched me aim straight at him, but he managed to get up a barrier of some kind as I fired. This time, though, it was the wrong move. He should have been looking at his feet.
One of the first principles of tactics I had learned was very simple. Make your enemy look at one hand, while you are doing something else with the other. He'd been too busy concentrating on my evasion and the shotgun I'd drawn, he never noticed the grenade at his feet.
Until it went off, of course.
I knew that I was never going to be able to pull the pin on an explosive grenade without attracting attention, and I wasn't going to have the time either. Instead, I opted for another flash-bang, making sure my visor was down and protected.
Let it be said, watching someone's reaction when a flash-bang goes off at their feet and they haven't noticed is rather amusing, when they aren't on your side.
The concussive force of the explosion threw the Ghost back, evidently heavily affected by the explosion. He landed heavily, unable to easily regain his bearings. He still hadn't managed it by the time I reached him. Kicking the sword out of his hand, I glared down at the man that I had just beaten. As some sense of understanding reached him, he couldn't hide his shock.
It may not have been a conventional duel, or completely with swords, but he knew I had won. Staring down the barrel of my shotgun, his fury was as apparent as it was impotent.
"This is not the end." He snarled like a wild animal.
"Time will tell." I shrugged, ready to end him.
Fate, however, had other ideas. Whatever was controlling Sarah's infestation chose the following seconds to finish, rather spectacularly. Thankfully, Sarah seemed to realise what was happening.
"Get down!" I heard her scream. Trusting her instantly, and choosing not to waste the time needed to finish the Ghost, I dived for cover. As I hit the ground, I heard a powerful roar from Sarah's direction.
The next instant, everything turned purple as a shock-wave raced over the top of me. I heard screams as masses of psionic energy raced past. Once it faded, I turned towards where Sarah had been, but I couldn't see anything, some sort of fog was completely obscuring her. A flicker of movement to my left caught my attention. As I turned, a masked Ghost charged me, combat blade ready. In the chaos, I'd managed to drop my sword and shotgun, and it would take precious seconds to draw any other weapons, seconds I didn't have. They also proved to be unnecessary.
The Ghost suddenly froze, stunned shock apparent in their posture. I frowned, unable to see what would have caused a change, until I noticed blood running down their chest. As I traced the flow to its source, I saw something thin and curved sticking out. Before I can work out exactly what it is, it's pulled out, allowing the Ghost to collapse, and revealing its owner.
I recognised her, of course. How could I not? I could see Sarah in the person in front of me. The same delicate features, the same hidden strength, the pose, everything spoke of her. And yet, it wasn't. The biggest difference was the wings, obviously. It had been the first thing I had noticed about Louise as well, and I knew that that was what she had used to kill the Ghost. But her previous most obvious feature, her flaming red hair, was replaced with brown dreadlocks, or so it seemed, although I knew they were very different. Still, they highlighted her face, which had not changed greatly, aside from changing to a purple colour which I recognised as also matching Louise although her eyes were now a blazing yellow. But the rest of her...
I had seen her in her Ghost suit, and it left little to the imagination. But her appearance now, despite being obviously tougher and harder, left even less. Her skin, or rather carapace I realised I should think of it as, was thicker than the suit she had worn, but obviously offered far more protection, but concealed far less of her. I had to remind myself that it wasn't that she was wearing a second skin, it was her skin. But even there, there were changes. You couldn't accuse her of being soft now, not with spikes and uneven protrusions covering her limbs, and obviously reinforced armour over her torso.
I took a moment to take in the whole picture, before refocussing on her face, and the sudden doubt that I had seen there. Now, that was pure Sarah. It was an expression I had seen time and again, and one that reassured me that the person standing in front of me was Sarah Kerrigan. The Overmind had kept his word. I nodded and smiled at her.
"Thanks." I said simply.
She smiled slightly in return, understanding that there was far more in that single word than there might have seemed. Looking around, I could see that the scene was more than a little different to what it had been 30 seconds ago.
The other people in the chamber were either on their feet or, in Jim's case, just getting there. I was relieved to see that all of my friends were unharmed, though Jim did look shaken and all had blood on their armour, and in Nova's case her blades as well. I was more than a little surprised that he had fared so well against the Ghosts, but very relieved as well. As for the Ghosts themselves, only one was standing, albeit closely guarded by Selendis. With that thought, I turned my attention back to the Ghost I had faced and my eyes widened.
He was gone.
"What the hell?" I said, stunned. "Where did he go?"
The others looked around in shock, but once again, the Ghost had given us the slip. I gritted my teeth, angry that I'd let him slip away again. Frowning, I turned back to Sarah.
"Glad you're still with us." I smiled.
She nodded, and evidently whatever the Zerg had done to her hadn't affected her ability to cry. Of course, fate picked that moment to sucker punch us, naturally.
"Did you really think it would be that easy?" A voice suddenly slammed into my head. I staggered, barely noticing the others doing the same. Still, I was able to recognise that it wasn't the Overmind, or Louise.
I realised in horror that it was the Ghost speaking.
"You came here, and bring your own destruction with you. My thanks, Commander. Convincing Sarah Kerrigan to allow herself to be infested gave me an excellent weapon, and a very amusing means of killing you."
At that instant, my mind snapped into overdrive, and I could feel Nova's working just as fast.
How would this Ghost, as powerful as he was, be able to control Sarah after her infestation? Controlling small groups of Zerg was one thing, but Sarah as she was now was something else entirely.
Zerg...
Nova and I exchanged glances, thinking furiously. Suddenly we came to the same conclusion and turned. Not towards Sarah, who I noticed was looking confused and terrified.
Towards the Overmind.
I had expected the Overmind to make some comment on Sarah's successful, or so I hoped, transformation. But so far, he had been silent.
"Something's not right, though." Nova put in. "There's a tension coming from him. It's like-"
"Like he's fighting off an attack?" I interrupted.
"Exactly."
Suddenly the Overmind made his presence very clear. "No! You will not have her!"
Good. He was still putting up a fight. We had a chance yet.
"Can you sense the Ghost anywhere?" I asked.
"No, however it is he can vanish, he's done it again. But he can't be far."
"What about Sarah?"
"I can feel something pushing against her, but she's fighting it too."
"Good to know.
Turning to the others, I could see that everyone except Jim had come to the same conclusion as Nova and I. Jim was still too busy focussing on Sarah and what the Ghost had said, embracing her and whispering into her ear. Selendis was keeping a firm grip on the surviving Ghost but nodded at me, communicating her readiness to act, even if we weren't exactly sure what we'd be doing yet.
Without warning, a burst of power flooded the chamber once more, and we heard the Overmind scream. One thing was obvious, now. The Overmind was about to lose. Suddenly, I heard the Overmind, and I knew he was talking to me alone.
"I can not hold him back much longer. Take her, now. You know what must be done. I will keep him from her, for as long as I can, but you must go, while you are still able. I have done all I can, the rest is up to you. Good luck."
"Thank you." I replied quietly, then turned to the others. "Move!"
The others didn't bother waiting around, racing towards the exit. I paused for one last look at the Overmind, understanding just how much he was sacrificing for us. If I hadn't believed him before, I had absolutely no doubt now, which made what had to be done all the more difficult. Turning, I pursued the others.
I had half expected to be in this situation, though I'd hoped that we might be able to avoid it. Running through a Zerg hive, knowing that there were likely to be a lot of Zerg coming your way who were quite willing to dismember you, was not the most fun I'd ever had. Unfortunately, it wasn't long until they made their appearance. Zerglings began to erupt from the walls around us, and we were, once again, in a running gun battle.
"We can't keep this up forever!" Jim yelled, running and gunning at once.
Suddenly, we heard a roar of noise from in front of us, and the walls around us started to shake.
"What the hell is that?" Nova asked.
"Best guess, we have a fuck-ton of Zerg coming down the hall." I replied.
Sarah's eyes darted frantically around the passage, before fixing on something ahead. Summoning a ball of psionic energy, she threw it at the wall, revealing a new passage leading up. "Everyone, up there!" She yelled, her voice echoing both around the passage and our heads.
"You heard her, move." I agreed, not overly keen to run straight into a tide of Zerg.
Everyone bolted up the new passage which, being much narrower, gave us a better chance of holding back the Zerg, though everyone was firing to do it. Selendis had even given the captured Ghost back her weapon who, thankfully, wasn't using it against us.
Of course, things had to get worse, didn't they?
"Commander? Come in." Matt's voice came over my comm.
"Little busy here, Matt."
"You need to hear this, sir. That battle-cruiser that came down? It's Duke's and a fair chunk of the crew are still alive and fighting the Zerg. Warfield's teamed up with us and we're trying to repel the assault up here, but it's not good. You need to get out now."
"Ain't going to be that easy, Matt. I don't know what's going on at the main base, but I'm sure it's an absolute fire-fight there. Not to mention we've still got to get back there. Relocating to get to those resources may have been a good idea long term, but short term, it's going to be a head-ache. Even if we can convince Duke to team up with us, it's not going to be simple to get back there, and it's suicide for you to try and extract us from here."
I paused, realising the truth. It was suicide for Matt to try and extract us regardless. There was one option, and one option only.
"Matt, pull back and retreat. Link up with Warfield if you can, but keep as much of the fleet intact as possible. We have to dig in, there's no other choice."
"But, sir-"
"That's an order, Matt. The only chance we have of getting off this rock is you, and you can't do that if you dead. Stay in touch, keep as much together as possible and wait for our call. We'll be fine, just go, now."
There was a major hesitation over the comm. "I don't like this, sir."
"Neither do I, Matt. But we're too stubborn to roll over and die for the Zerg now. I'll make sure there's still people here for you to pick up, just make sure there's still something to pick us up with."
"Yes, sir. Good luck."
I chuckled darkly. "Same to you, Matt. Now get going."
I heard Matt cut off the connection and turned to see Tassadar running beside me. "It is the correct choice, Commander."
"Sure as hell doesn't feel like it."
"Perhaps, but we cannot leave now without losing many more warriors. Staying is a risk, but everything is a risk from here."
I sighed. "Guess so." As we emerged into a chamber, we stopped. There was no exit from here.
"Now what?" Nova called.
"Sarah, where are we compared to where we came in?" I asked.
"Above the entrance and south a little. There's Zerg swarming but they're fighting whoever's left in that battle-cruiser as well. The defenders aren't faring well."
Duke. My mind kicked into gear. Duke wouldn't survive on his own, and we wouldn't stand a chance of making it back to the base with both him and the Zerg hunting us. The only way we could get there, and off the planet for that matter, was together, regardless of the risk.
I turned to the others. "Jim, rig up some charges on that wall." I pointed to the wall separating us from outside. "Zeratul, Nova, keep that passage secure, I don't want any more company. When Jim blows the wall, we're heading straight out. We have to try and link up with the battle-cruiser's crew and get back to the base."
"They're Dominion, they'll kill us." Jim objected.
"Not if we're the ones saving their arses."
"You would do that?" A new voice spoke up. Frowning, I turned towards the captured Ghost. I couldn't really tell much about her, apart from she was female, hidden behind the mask and suit as she was. I nodded.
"I can't leave people behind, not when we can help them. In any case, we stand a better chance of getting off this rock together."
"And what about her?" She asked, pointing at Sarah. "You fought us over her, to turn her into, into-"
"Into a monster?" Sarah asked quietly. I moved to say something but she held up a hand. "Yes, that might be what I am now. But as long as I can control it, I will use it to try and help those that need it most. What we have seen so far is nothing, compared to what is coming. So yes, we fought against you to make this happen, and we will fight with you to do what has to be done."
"At the end of the day, saving lives and living free has always been our goal, nothing else." I put in quietly.
The Ghost looked back and forth between us before obviously coming to a decision. "Alright. You think you can get us out of here."
"It won't be quick or simple. But with some time and luck, yes."
She nodded. "You're honest, at least. But we're not done with this." She raised her rifle. "So, what are we waiting for?"
I grinned, drawing a grenade and aiming it. Nova and Zeratul both knew what I had planned, and stepped aside. Tossing the grenade down the passage, I turned to Jim.
"Blow it."
The twin explosions rocked the hive, but we had no time to hesitate. All of us charged towards the new hole, knowing that despite the dangers, it was the only way out. The jump wasn't massive, but the fact that there were a lot of stunned Zerg standing outside did add to the complexity. Thankfully, we had taken them off guard, and we came down firing, so they were not having a good time right now.
Right now, we were running on instinct. Land, cut through the Zerg, try and reach the survivors. That was about the extent of the plan.
It ended up being the longest few hundred metres I had ever run. We landed close, but not right beside each other, so we essentially had to defend every direction, while moving. The only reason we survived that run was because of Duke and Sarah.
The defenders had seen us coming and several of the siege tanks began to fire in our direction. Whether they were aiming for us and trying to cover us, I wasn't sure, but the effects were just the same and just as useful for us. We managed to evade the fire, but the Zerg weren't so lucky, giving us at least something of a clear run.
Sarah, however, made the biggest difference. I had never seen the sort of power that Louise had told me she had possessed, and it was difficult to comprehend power on that scale. What Sarah demonstrated was both awe-inspiring and terrifying. She didn't so much slaughter the Zerg around her, as crush them. Quite literally in some cases. I could see the conflicting emotions in her, but she never hesitated.
Finally reaching the downed battle-cruiser, we vaulted the makeshift barricade, and swiftly helped to gun down the remaining Zerg that were close. As the last of the wave were either mowed down or retreated, I heard a number of weapons get trained on us. This was always going to be the tricky part.
"Hold your fire." A familiar voice called out. I turned around, taking note of exactly how many weapons were levelled at us, to see a familiar figure approach us.
"Seems to be a bit of deja vu going on, Duke."
Duke didn't look happy. "One good reason why I shouldn't kill you, Davis."
"Only one? Dead simple." I pointed skywards. "The fleet's retreated, and we're stuck down here until they can pick us up. Best chance we have of surviving long enough to get off this infested rock is by working together."
"Alongside her?" He nodded towards Sarah.
"Yes. As I said before, I don't expect you to understand my reasoning, Duke. But I think you know me well enough to know that I haven't lost my mind completely. We saved a lot of your people over the last week. You owe us."
Duke's face was carved from stone. "You're asking a lot."
"I'm also giving you your best chance of surviving. I tried to stop you from getting into this mess, remember? It only has to be temporary, long enough for us all to get out of here, then we can go back to our little dispute without having someone else muscle in on the action."
Duke did at least look contemplative. Finally he nodded. "Alright, Davis. As you pointed out, we're not likely to get off here any other way. But you better have a plan."
I grinned. "General, you know I always have a plan."
It took more than a little bit of work to strip the battle-cruiser and get enough vehicles cobbled together to get us back to the base, and we were having to fend off Zerg attacks along the way, but we finally managed to limp back to the main base. Surprisingly, everyone was more wary of the Dominion forces than of Sarah, which was in many ways a relief. As Ros approached, obviously showing the effects of the battle, I allowed myself to show at least a portion of that relief.
"How bad was it?" I asked.
"Bad enough. We lost a lot of good people today. What about the fleet?"
I shook my head. "They weren't going to have a chance to get us off, not without taking far greater losses. All we can do is try and clear an area of safety for them, and hang on long enough for them to get back here."
"So we're stranded, sir?" A young marine came up, obviously looking scared.
I turned to him. The kid didn't look any older than Nova. I knew what I had to do. Turning to everyone present, I stood tall.
"We might be stuck here for a while, but if the Zerg think that we're going to be a push-over, they've got another thing coming. Standing against the odds, no one does that better than us." I turned to grin at the kid. "Don't think of it as us being stuck with them. Think of it as being them stuck with us. We are the elite of two races. They have to work out how to take us down. All we have to do is hang on. The fleet will be back for us, and we'll be waiting for them when it does."
He nodded, a smile beginning to cross his face, as I continued, "This isn't going to be fun, no denying that, but we are going to get off this rock and take the fight back where it belongs. But for as long as we're here, we're going to make damn sure that they aren't going to be evicting us any-time soon."
With a new sense of purpose, everyone began moving about, doing their jobs and getting ready for the hard time ahead. Those whom I had come to trust, as well as Duke, gathered around.
"Well, you sure like picking a fight, Jason." Tychus grumbled.
"Shut up. You love it." Ros stirred, shoving him slightly.
"Well, if we're going to do this, old buddy, we may as well do it properly." Jim put in.
"He is correct. The task ahead of us is merely impossible. It should pose no great difficulty for us." Tassadar added.
"He does have a point." Zeratul agreed.
Sarah nodded. "We've come this far, together. It's going to take something very impressive to stop us now."
Selendis, Nova and I exchanged glances. "Even impressive is not going to be enough." Selendis commented.
"We'll get it done." Nova replied.
"As much as you irritated me, Davis, even I can't deny that you've got talent and a damn good team. Just need some luck, now" Duke put in, somewhat grudgingly.
I smiled back. "While we'd take luck, General, we don't need it. We have ammo."
Glancing around us, I took in the scene that I was likely to be familiar with for a while. "Well, no point standing around here. Let's get to work."
(Author's Note)
Yep, missed the deadline on this one. I'm sorry about that, but I did want to put a lot of effort into getting this right. To be honest, I'm still a little worried that this chapter was a bit over the top, but right now, I'm going to let it stand, and I'll adjust it later if it proves necessary.
So, finally got around to playing LoTV. I have to admit, it's not bad, in terms of plot. It could be better, and could be worse. There's more than a few elements in it that are worthwhile, and while I'll likely end up using when we get to that point, but more than a little, such as killing off Zeratul, which I really didn't like. So, exactly how that plays out in this remains to be seen.
On another note, I really have to thank you all. You've got this story into the top 10 for everything except favourites, and even there, this story is at No. 12. I really appreciate it, so thank you.
Now, reviews:
JumpingToaster: I cracked up as soon as I saw your review. Thanks.
Sacchin: I'm glad you like the feel of the last chapter, I was trying to keep it as realistic as possible, get back to the basics of the story.
Sharius: I'm not going to rule out having Sarah and Louise together with Jim, but I'm not going to say it will happen either. Jim is not going to learn of Louise's existence for some time to come. As for Matt and Mira, that is one thing I will be covering down the track.
Lord Corvo: I'm glad you like where this is going. Thankfully, my writer's block has taken a holiday for the moment, and I do have a good picture about where to go from here.
Dreddman: I hope this chapter was worthy of the popcorn.
MP3: Glad I could help get you back into writing for Starcraft again. As for Sarah, no I had, quite deliberately, avoided playing LoTV until I finished the last chapter, as I didn't want it to affect that. Hope this chapter lives up to your expectations.
Tormtrooper: I'm glad you like how the story and characters are going. At that point of the story where your review was, I agree things were going well for Jason, and maybe a bit too well, but I had always intended to bring the balance back. I think I've managed that over the last few chapters. Getting Jason right was, and remains, a difficult task and a work in progress. As for the Ghost, I think everyone has guessed it now, but yes it is Duran, I just don't plan on telling Jason that yet. I am going to do my best to finish this story, but given I've taken just over a year to get this far, I can promise that it will not be done quickly. Right now, I'm think a minimum of another 5 years and it could easily blow out further than that. Maybe I should get a job at Blizzard. But I am never going to say no to reviews or other responses, I love seeing them, even when I don't agree with them.
Uber: I'm glad you like this. As I said, I hadn't played LoTV at the time of the last chapter, so there was a bit of spoilers there, but no big deal. As for Amon and the Khala, the simplest explanation I can come up with is that Amon wasn't actually truly alive again until post WoL, so he had to use puppets like the hybrids to carry out his plans.
Capo: I wanted to make it so my Sarah/QoB was very different to canon, certainly at the start. Having that support early on and during her infestation was vital to that, and more than a few others were talking along the same lines. The Overmind certainly would have a sizeable force protecting Sarah, but as I've mentioned in this chapter, the presence of Duran does make that less effective than otherwise expected. I did give some serious thought to Jason and Nova vs Duran, but came to the conclusion that the odds were going to be too against them for that to be feasible. Besides, Duran has Jason in his sights, and I like the idea of a duel, though you will see Jason and Nova pairing up again in the future. Zeratul does have some of his brethren with him, although, I haven't made that clear, I'm sorry. As for the Khalis, I haven't really considered it, not least because Brood War is where I am weakest on canon, so I'm just not that familiar with it, so assume he has brought it, but not mentioned it as there is no need yet.
Allen: I was wondering if you were going to show up here. Glad to see you have and hope you enjoy this.
Serfius: I was planning to leave this in PM, but given I've responded in chapters to other complaints, it's simply not far to do so. I can understand your concerns. He does seem a bit overpowered at the start, I'll grant you. But, I would ask you to bear in mind a few things.
Firstly, this is the first story I've written, so it won't be perfect and some of the earlier stuff isn't that flash. Given where I've gone with the rest of the story, I don't really think that I can change that without doing major re-writes to the rest of the story. So all I can do is try and tone it down a bit from there on, which I think I have managed to do.
Secondly, a degree of OP is really to be expected at that early point. Jason did need to have some major tricks to pull so that he could surprise the Dominion and Zerg. As time goes on, the balance is going to be a lot more level or against Jason, there isn't trick after trick for him to use. He is a tactician and strategist first and a warrior second right now. It is likely to come to a more even balance over time, but Jason was never intended to be a super warrior and he never will be. He will be using cunning and gile to beat more powerful opponents.
As for his sniping skill, Kerrigan is about power, especially at close-quarters. It is mentioned that she is a reasonably good sniper, but I can see someone who has put in the time and effort getting to a point where they are better than her.
In regards to his position, read the next chapter. It is explained then.
I hope this goes at least some way towards addressing your concerns.
Timber: Glad to see you enjoyed this, and I am going to try and keep on top of this monster of a story as much as possible, so I hope you enjoy my efforts.
Beast: I'm just going to respond to your most recent review, because I think everything else is covered in earlier chapters, but I am grateful that you took the time to ask the questions. As for your idea, that is a truly terrifying thought. Those two crazys coming up with something like that, I wouldn't want to run into it. I know that a lot of what I write is crazy and unlikely, but the whole reason I think that we do read and create such things is to entertain, not necessarily believe everything about it. Having said that, I do try to take the time to plan everything out before I write it, so I'm glad you appreciate that.
Darth: For a while, I thought I might be able to get ahead of you again. Oh well, my mistake. Sorry I didn't notice Fry's disappearance, but if he makes a return, I will bring him into the story.
And promptly feed him to an Ultralisk.
Getting the balance right between everything is, as I have said, tricky to say the least, particularly battles like the last one, where it was more of an overwatch style fight. So I'm glad that you like how I did it. I'm not going to promise a new surprise for every battle, that gets boring pretty quickly. But I do still have a few trick left, and one is going to come into play on Char soon. I'm glad you liked what I did with Kerrigan, it was truly difficult to get that right. I did hope this story was going to be noticeably different to canon, and I think I can say that I've succeeded on that count. Hope this chapter is as good as the last.
As ever, please read, review and do all those awesome things.
Until next time.