L-540
Nova was hurled into her restraints for the fifth time in the past three minutes. The dropship she was taking down to the surface was being thrown around like a ragdoll, in spite of the specialized engines and the pilot's skill. It felt like a rollercoaster ride from hell. Nevertheless, it was better than the alternative: the storm would have shredded a normal dropship by now.
The ghost performed a last minute inspection of her gear. Her Crius suit was in order, it's advanced psi-augmenter, fresh out of the labs, allowing her to cloak almost indefinitely. Her dampener and the other upgrades slotted in nicely. She was probably wearing enough Dominion tax-payer credits to field a battlecruiser. How the crown prince got away with expenses like these…
Her rifle and side-arm were cleaned and tested, although Nova prayed she didn't have to use them. Even a ghost of her capacity wouldn't last long against an army of angry Zerg alone. If things did go sour, a few flash-bang grenades would buy her the time she needed to get out. Hopefully. Needless to say, she was in no hurry to find out.
As far as Nova could remember, which wasn't that much thanks to the memory wipes, this was certainly her most dangerous mission yet. How did Valerian manage to talk her into this? All this trouble for a stupid Protoss crystal and the apocalypse. She padded her left pocket. The package was still there. It better be; the fate of the universe depended on it. All Nova had to do was getting that thing to Kerrigan without getting brutally murdered, or worse…
Finally, the dropship opened its hatch. According to the pilot, they were only ten feet above the landing zone. Though only a drop of ten feet, Nova couldn't even see the ground beneath her. The storms were picking up and the pilot couldn't get any closer under these conditions. The only way down was, literally, a leap of faith. She feared it wouldn't be her last. Letting out a curse, she jumped down.
The instant she cleared the dropship, her suit was bombarded by the vicious sandstorm. Nova thanked her lucky star for her suit and its build-in mask and re-breather. Even if the air wasn't toxic, breathing it directly would have turned her lungs into sausage meat in a matter of moments. After a few seconds, she landed on the ground without any problems. Challenge number two: trying to find your way through a blinding sandstorm. Turning the dampener off for now, she reached out with her mind, trying to find Zerg while hiding herself from them. A useful trick all ghosts are encouraged to learn. Soon enough, she found a group of drones scavenging resources and decided that they were her ticket in. After all, the Zerg probably didn't have a hive here (even Zerg couldn't last long in this climate without protection, right?) and would have to return to some sort of sheltered hive cluster soon enough.
Drones, while potentially vicious fighters and capable watchmen, completely ignored the cloaked ghost as they went about their business. After about fifteen minutes of an activity that looked like chewing at rocks, the creatures gathered up their spoils (more rocks) and went on their way. Putting the dampener in one of the lower settings to protect herself, Nova quietly followed, staying as close to the drones as possible without being noticed. The creatures soon scurried towards some sort of entrance into the mountain. The ghost briefly contemplated going in. If she did, there was no easy way out any more. She'd jump right into the lion's den. While drenched in barbeque sause. To make matters worse, she could feel Kerrigan's presence coming from within, even through the low-powered dampener. The Zerg Queen had become very powerful and made no attempt to hide it. Then again, Nova wouldn't have bothered either if she had an army of Zerg at her call.
The drones were entering through some sort of airlock-like structure. Figuring that that would be her best chance, she jumped in right behind them. For a few agonizing seconds, she had to stand mere inches away from the creatures before the inner doors finally opened, trying not to touch them or make any noise. Chastising herself for taking such a risk, Nova pushed on with her gun in hand. Destination: the massive psychic signature that shone like a beacon. She turned her dampener to a higher setting. The closer she was to Kerrigan, the higher the possibility of detection and she didn't want to take any chances.
As Nova briefly hid behind a wall, waiting for a patrol to pass, she noticed the rather strange and (fittingly) alien architecture of the structure she was in. Everything was organic: the floor, the walls, even the ceiling. Though it was hard to see in the darkness (the Zerg didn't need much light to see where they were going, it seemed), this place was certainly not made of natural rock. As time went on, she got this terrible feeling that she running inside a massive Zerg creature rather than a regular hive. In the lion's maw, rather than the den, so to speak.
Her thoughts were shattered by a clawed hand grabbing her from behind and forcing her into the nearest wall. Before she could grab one of her weapons, she could feel the cold barrel of a gun pushed against her chest.
"Hah, I knew one of you tried sneaking in with the drones!" Spoke a calm, inhuman voice. "Thought you could sneak past old Tiberias, didn't you? Years of training and you're still so stupidly predictable. Kinda shameful if you ask me." A very large figure began to obstruct Nova's view. That gun would be awfully helpful right about now…
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, deary." He said as he noticed the ghost reaching for a weapon. "I know you spooks are fast, but I'm pretty sure I can pump you full of lead long before you can pull that gun of your back." She looked at the being holding her captive: an eight feet tall infested Terran with a nasty grin beneath his mandibles. Just what this day needed. As strong or capable as that…thing may believe himself to be, Nova was still a ghost. The best in the Dominion, to be precise.
"You know, I can dominate your mind and make you blow your own brains out. Maybe I'd jam your gun, without you even realizing it. Or, even better, I could fry your mind in a heartbeat. I think it's in your best interest to just let me go and pretend you didn't see me."
The infested Terran didn't seem impressed. "One: mind-controlling Zerg never works. It's like a universal law or something: it always bites the controller in the ass somehow. Two, I can bludgeon pretty hard. Three…" He grabbed a small spherical object from his back. Nova wondered if he had pockets in his carapace. "This is the Zerg equivalent of a frag grenade." He squeezed the top of 'grenade' and it began to glow softly. "You cook my mind, I'll drop the grenade, it goes 'boom'. Do you think you're strong enough to push five hundred pounds of solid me off of you before it blows?"
"Well, yes, actually." Nova cheekily smiled underneath her mask. The Zerg wouldn't be able to see it, but her frighteningly playful tone wouldn't go unnoticed. "Tell me, aren't you afraid of dying?"
"No, why should I?" He stated matter-of-factly. "If I die, I die. The Swarm loses a man, but I can probably be replaced the next time the Dominion tries to attack us again. If you die, the Dominion loses one of its precious ghosts. Do you know how many infestible humans there are in the sector, or better yet, in the Dominion military?" The ghost shook her head. "Well, neither do I, but I'm sure there are more infestible humans than there are psychic humans. We've become increasingly more efficient at recruiting…"
"If you're trying to get me to sign up, I'll pass."
"Really? We have great dental care, you know." To emphasize his point, he grinned widely, revealing a mouth full of very sharp-looking teeth. Nova wondered if he was trying to scare her or telling a joke. "No? A pity."
The ghost was here on business, however. Engaging in a little verbal warfare with a Zerg may be very entertaining, but it wasn't the reason why she was here. Wherever, or whatever, here was. "This is all a lot of fun, but I'm here on business. Crown Prince Valerian of the Dominion has charged me with delivering a package to your Queen. Take me to her." Barking orders may not be the smartest thing to do in this situation, but her options were somewhat limited at this point. If she tried anything, she'd have to kill the giant infested human holding her into the wall. Doing so would probably compel every Zerg on the planet to hunt her down like a dog. Nova really didn't want to meet Kerrigan after what happened on Char. Hopefully the mask and the dampener would hide her true identity from the Zerg leader.
The Zerg looked at her rather incredulously. "Really now? What's in the package?"
"That's above your pay-grade."
The infested Terran laughed in her face. "Oh, this is rich! I guess if I show up at the imperial palace with a 'package' and ask for an audience with the emperor, the guards will just let me through, right? No questions asked? I mean, it's not like I could hide a nuke in it or anything…" As much as the creature was testing Nova's patience, he had a point. "Just what I thought. Now, give me one good reason…" He suddenly stopped talking. His softly glowing eyes started to move around like he was looking at someone else in the room. "You've got to be kidding me. She's…Of course, my lady." The creature let out a long drawn-out sigh. Kerrigan must have been giving him orders. "Well, looks like you got your wish. I'm to escort you to the Queen. Try anything and I'll rip your legs off." Without missing a beat, he pulled Nova's rifle off her back and shouldered it. "Oh, and I'll be taking that from you, if you don't mind. Well, off you go."
Using his original weapon, a modified C-14 of sorts, he motioned the ghost ahead. This was not the way Nova had hoped the mission would go, but the package would be delivered regardless. At least the infested Terran forgot to frisk her properly. If things went bad, she still had her hidden side-arm.
"By the way," The ghost asked. "How did you find me? My cloaking device was working fine…"
The Zerg pointed to a small, eye-like object on his shoulder. "Ocular parasite. You lot aren't the only one who get nice toys every now and then. That, and a lot of luck."
"Funny. Luck's usually on my side."
"Maybe, maybe not. Still, makes you wonder if there's some hidden hand trying very hard to bring us together…"
After walking for what appeared to be an hour, the two entered a room behind some sort of toothed door. Nova didn't know if it was some sort of decoration or the mouth of another creature. Her guard said it was a leviathan, a large, battle-cruiser sized creature. Quite frankly, she didn't really want to know for sure. Zerg 'architecture' wasn't something you should think too much about. Eventually they found Kerrigan cleaning her gun in a small, relatively well-lit 'room' where the creep had been removed. A very minimalistic throne room, if the ghost was to judge.
"Kerrigan, I presume?" Nova tried to be as calm and polite as possible. It might increase her chances of survival if the Zerg Queen recognized her.
"That would be me." Calmly, Kerrigan slid her weapon's barrel into place. She seemed tired, and not just physically. Her suit seemed badly damaged and Nova could see small patches of green and brown through the holes in the armor. Her eyes seemed to have lost most of the fire they had when they last met. Nova could tell she wasn't meeting the Zerg queen at her finest. Given the Dominion attack earlier that day, that wasn't very surprising. Still, the former human looked like she badly needed a memory wipe…
The Zerg queen got up and started inspecting her guest. Nova tensed up, praying that she wouldn't discover the ghost's identity. "Have we met before? You look familiar."
"Could be. We get memory wipes every now and then." The ghost lied. Thankfully, her ruse seemed to be working. She could feel Kerrigan brushing against her mind, but with the dampener turned up to full power, even the Zerg queen wouldn't be able to get through.
"Fair enough. So, my associate told me you're here to deliver a package from Valerian Mengsk…"
"That is correct."
"He also says that Valerian orchestrated the invasion of Char, tricked Raynor into looking for the artifact, and then betrayed them when he no longer needed Jim's help." Nova felt her heart skip a beat. Kerrigan seemed to notice it too. The queen wasn't entirely wrong about Valerian, but things had changed over the past few weeks. Of course, try convincing someone that locking up their boyfriend was just a big misunderstanding…
The ghost took the package out of her pocket. "This box contains a recording from his royal highness explaining everything, as well as a Protoss memory crystal recovered from the Hyperion. We thought you'd be interested."
Judging by Kerrigan's expression, she was. The light in her eyes was shining again when the Raiders' ship was mentioned. She grabbed the box and took it to a table-like structure that she'd been using as a workbench. Before the Queen could open it, the larger infested Terran stopped her. "My lady, think about this. She's an assassin. There could be a bomb in there."
"Tai, if this is Raynor's Ihan crystal, I need to see this. If it was an assassination attempt, she would have made her move already."
"Maybe Mengsk figured you'd think that and is waiting for you to try and use it. Then, the ghost will spring into action and try to shoot you when your back is turned."
"I'm standing right here!" Nova said, offended. Fair enough, ghosts may not be the most trustworthy individuals in the sector but that doesn't mean they're always out to kill you. The two Zerg seemed completely distracted, however, and ignored their guest. The ghost reached for the button on her suit that controlled the dampener and turned it off.
"Or maybe Valerian would figure that we'd figure this could be an assassination and knows better than to try it. If she makes a move, I'll pull off her head. This is too important. I think it's worth the risk." Kerrigan followed her statement with a glare, cowing her subordinate into submission.
While the Zerg were busy worrying about whether or not the package was some sort of trap, Nova felt her hand reaching for her side arm. That didn't make any sense, she thought. Contrary to what the Zerg may be thinking, she wasn't here to kill anyone. Why would she need a weapon? When the ghost tried to resist, she felt, in her mind, a pain not unlike someone setting your head on fire.
A sudden realization entered the ghost's mind. It was the implants, of course. Every ghost was outfitted with various implants that prevented them from disobeying orders or turning on their superiors. Someone just activated hers.
Nova tried resisting, but it felt like her own body refused to cooperate. Years of ghost training teaches someone to obey orders without question. Conditioning and brain-panning do the rest. Eventually, obedience becomes a reflexive response, one you can't fight even when you want to. The implants make use of that to literally hard-wire compliance into their operatives. At that point, you're little more than a machine, one the Dominion uses up until there's nothing left…
Conditioning or no, it didn't matter. Kerrigan was too damn important. She couldn't die yet, even if some short-sighted Dominion officer thought otherwise. If Nova could slow herself down, maybe the Zerg could…
"Gun!" The larger Zerg yelled. Almost instantly, he turned around and tried to charge the unwilling would-be assassin. Nova's bullets were easily stopped by the creatures carapace, so she tossed him aside into a nearby wall with the force of an invisible truck. This brought Kerrigan the time she needed to telekinetically hurl a nearby box of spare ammo at her attacker, followed by the strongest psionic blast she could muster. The ghost easily dodged the projectile, but took the full force of the blast.
Before she could recover, Nova felt a blow to the back of her head. The world went black around her as she faded into unconsciousness.
