StarCraft: Brain Damage
Chapter 37: Controversial Tactics
"Katsuragi hit the fucking gas!" Jim shouted into his mouthpiece over the banging of the Zerg outside exploding against the hull, "We've got Banelings up the ass!"
"Roger that," she replied in his ear.
Then Jim, Nick, Jax, Nanius and the marines around them hit the ground, a result of a dramatic change of elevation the corridor experienced. Stumbling to his feet, Jim realized what had happened.
"They took out one of the landing struts!" he shouted both in anger and so that anyone could hear him over the banging.
"I'm fully aware of that, Jim," Katsuragi said calmly over the COM link.
"I wasn't talking to you!" he shouted at her.
"Grab on to something," she said.
Before Jim could even relay her warning to the rest of the group, the Shogoki lurched forward and up, propelled by its engines. In the wake of the engines' discharge, a hundred or so Banelings detonated spontaneously from the sonic boom and covered the jungle clearing with blood. The ship, however, didn't take off properly due to the loss of a landing strut and instead cut into the jungle.
Trees slapped against the camera lenses streaming to the view screens around the bridge and Katsuragi shouted at Hyuga. "Pull up! Pull up before we hit something important!" she ordered.
Too late.
Hyuga pulled up but did manage to take the top off of a very ancient and decoratively engraved Protoss structure. Stone debris toppled down the sides of the structure and crashed to the jungle floor, causing the low level of water at the ground to ripple and splash. The Shogoki corrected its course and aimed its nose skyward.
"Captain, was that an important structure?" Hyuga asked over his shoulder.
"Depends, did it damage us?" she asked.
Hyuga checked his displays before replying. "No it didn't damage us," he answered.
"Then no," she clarified and sat back in her seat.
The ship's intercom crackled to life and Jim's voice filtered in over the speakers. "Katsuragi, how's our life span looking?" he asked.
"Not so hot," she replied, looking at the main screen as it changed from blue sky to the blackness of space.
"Explain," Jim demanded.
"Well you are familiar with the concept behind a Zerg space transport, right?" she asked.
"Yes," he said, "Is that what we're dealing with?"
"Yep, that and the three hundred Mutalisks it just launched at us," she replied.
Back in the entrance hallway, Jim gave rapid-fire orders. "Katsuragi, tell Maverick and Meatloaf to hold off those Mutalisks. Use your missile turrets, plasma torpedoes, whatever. Just keep them off of us and get into position above that transport. When you're in position let me know," he said and turned to Nick, "Come with me."
"Uh-huh," Nick replied and began to follow him down the narrow corridors of the ship.
Two ladders and a few right turns later they were in the storage bay. Jim started rummaging through the supplies stocked all around them and pulled out a two-by-two magnet, which he promptly stuck to Nick's chest. At this, of course, Nick couldn't help but question Jim's sanity.
"Just what are you planning on doing?" he asked.
"You and I are going on that Zerg transport," Jim replied.
He walked over to a locked closet and busted the padlock off with the butt of his Impaler. Yanking the door open, he pulled out a container roughly the size of a cooler and sat it on the ground. Jim popped the seal on the lid and opened it just as the sound of a Mutalisk smacking into the hull reverberated through the room.
Nick leaned over and looked down into the box to see that it did in fact contain a small nuclear bomb.
"This is absolutely insane," he muttered.
"Well if you don't want to do it then give me your damn armor. All I need you for anyway is the jump over," Jim snapped.
"No, no I'll do it. I just felt like pointing out how insane this is. I never said I didn't like doing insane things," Nick explained.
Jim sealed the lid on the nuke case and made sure it was locked down tight before picking it up and handing it to Nick. The Reaper took the case and followed Jim out of the storage room and down one more floor to the waste disposal airlock. On the way down, Jim started talking to Katsuragi.
"Listen, get Flyboy in his damn dropship. We'll need him to pick us up on my signal," Jim told her over the COM link.
"Okay fine but where the hell are you going?" she asked.
"The Zerg ship," he replied simply.
"What?! Have you lost all your mar-"
Jim cut the feed, then turned to Nick, "I think she got the picture."
"I'd say so," Nick agreed.
By that time they were standing in the airlock. Jim took the nuke from Nick and looked around for something to use to secure it to himself. He nodded to himself and walked over to a case on the wall marked 'Fire Hose'. Jim bashed it open and took out a length of hose, which he then cut off and used to tie the nuke onto his right leg.
Wobbling, he backed up into Nick's chest, his back sealing to the big magnet with a dull thump.
"This…" Nick searched for the right words, "Is awkward."
"Shut up," Jim retorted quickly, then turned on his COM link, "We in position yet Katsuragi?"
On the other end he could hear a terrific sigh and reasoned correctly that the purple-haired Captain had resigned herself to this crazy plan. "Yes Jim, we are," she replied.
"Good," Jim said.
He slid his gold-tinted visor down into place over his face and heard the magnetic seal whiz as it contained the air inside the suit. Then a beep sounded inside his helmet, showing that all possible leaks were sealed.
"You okay back there?" Jim asked over the proximity COM.
He saw Nick's glove form a thumb's up next to his head and nodded to the Reaper, sure he would notice the motion.
"Katsuragi," Jim said, readying his Impaler in both hands, "Pop the door."
The airlock opened and the joined two were sucked out into the silent vacuum.