Chapter Ten: The Evacuation
Nova Terra had ended up in the infantry, thanks to Tychus. The marine suit she was wearing was bulky and nowhere near as flexible. Even so, it responded to her movements surprisingly well. It was still taking some getting used to, aiming the gun, though.
Just landing had them run into some issues right off the bat.
A large force of zerg came out of the grain fields and tried to devour. Someone had left a rearguard here, just in case. The timely arrival of some firebats, however. They saw the assault scattered, and they wiped them out. Nova only managed to gun down a few of them, still getting used to gauss rifles.
What she wouldn't do for a canister rifle.
When they finally arrived in the staging area, they saw a variety of white-clad marines. At their front was one bearing a UED insignia. On his faceplate was the emblem of a cross upon it.
"Are you the soldiers sent to help us with the evacuation?" asked the man, voice a modulated baritone.
"Yeah, that's us," said Tychus.
"Good," said the man. "I am Captain William Mark of the Colonial Militia. You will be taking my orders henceforth."
"Since when?" asked Nova, remembering her encounter with him. He'd totaled her squad during the Siege of Korhal.
"I know the route we'll be taking well, and I have established defenses along with it," said Mark. "I've already arranged for squads of marines to take up positions in them. Raynor's contribution to that purpose was useful.
"You, however, have a different task.
"You men will move ahead of the convoy as it makes its way north to the starport. Shoot anything that is not human twice."
"And what are you gonna do?" asked Tychus.
"At the moment, I am organizing the mass draft of all able-bodied colonists. I am also equipping them with weaponry," said Mark. "Ensuring the zerg don't wipe out this staging area is important. As is ensuring the transports arrive."
"So we're just back up?" asked Nova.
"More or less," said Mark. "But I wouldn't expect your task to be easy. Once the zerg realize the route is held against them, they will send mutalisks. Scan the skies and check your corners.
"The first convoy from Larks' Crossing will be moving out soon.
"Head for it, now."
And he motioned behind him with a thumb. Nova saw a whole series of armored transport trucks standing by. They were mounted with a machinegun each and had a number of armed militia standing by.
"Those transports have gotta be more expensive than marine suits," said Tychus. "Why do you have those and not some badasses in armor?"
"Hanson assumed that if the Dominion fleet could do nothing, neither could she," said Mark. "As such, she put much of her defense budget into ensuring a speedy evacuation. The Mar Sara model, I believe."
"Not anymore it's not," said Tychus. "We kicked their asses."
Several shouts of agreement came from the men.
"Be that as it may," said Mark. "You leave immediately."
"Hold on, shouldn't we wait for an all-clear?" asked Nova.
"That is not an option," said Mark. "Our scans indicate that a large force of zerg is heading toward this planet even now. We'll be swamped if we wait. Let Calabas seek her vengeance on the swarm.
"You will remain focused on the task at hand. The transport leaves in... twenty-five seconds... Get going."
And get going they did. Tychus led them to the troops and quickly got them into a position as a vanguard. He spoke briefly with the head of the refugee column. For her part, Nova scanned the frequencies. She heard that Calabas was already mobilizing for an invasion. Her speed at this was amazing. Nova could already sense her men were thirsty for blood.
Saving the colonists to them was not a priority—merely a good side effect of victory.
The odd thing was that Nova could sense nothing from Mark. He spoke to his men, directing them efficiently. And she could sense his men operating to defend the fields. Rapidly, she realized that he'd come as soon as he heard the fleet was withdrawing. Mark had calculated Agria would need help, and the UED had set up shop here.
Protecting them had been his first priority because they could not defend themselves. Without his men, this colony would have fallen weeks ago. Even Raynor hadn't been actively looking for people who couldn't hold out so he could save them.
"Don't stop for anything! Let's roll!" said the refugee leader.
On they walked along the highway. As they walked, they came to a road ramp leading to a wilderness. A checkpoint of heavy bunkers with barricades had been set up and manned by Raynor's Raiders.
"Mark had the right idea building bunkers to defend the roads..." said Raynor. "But why were they empty?"
"The Dominion military abandoned them when the zerg attacked," said Ariel. "They didn't give a damn about the colony."
Nova didn't blame them.
With the sheer scale of the zerg invasion, it was a miracle the battle had gone as well as it did. There were plenty of other colonies that were fighting desperately to hold out. The Dominion had been forced to cut them loose. Why did Agria warrant special treatment?
Serena had a certain... ruthless logic that Nova had to admit she found intriguing. It was a shame she had broken with the Dominion.
"Sorry to hear that, Doc," said Raynor. "At least these bunkers are in a good spot."
"Your welcome," said Mark coldly.
"You don't sound like you approve," said Raynor.
"My job as a Captain of the UED was to save humanity from the zerg," said Mark flatly. "When our occupation failed, I adjusted my strategy. I chose to train the militia to defend themselves.
"You, Magistrate Hanson, ignored all of my advice.
"You insisted on the military being volunteer only. You spent your generous funding on economic improvements. I predicted that the Dominion Fleet would abandon you if faced with a full-scale invasion. Others among your colony saw as much.
"But you did not listen. Many of my men have had to pay the price for your people's lack of vision."
"...I'll be the first to admit that mistakes were made in the allocation of funding," said Ariel. "But right now, we need to save my people."
"This ain't the kind of conversation we should be having here, Mark," said Raynor. "Let's focus on getting the job done."
There were murmurs among the men. Quite a few of them were more than a little sympathetic to Mark's perspective. Agria had been given a huge amount of funding, thanks to its status as a terraforming center. Even so, why were these conversations being held on an open channel?
Either way, the group passed along the road, with huge cliffs on either side. This roadway seemed custom-tailored for this kind of operation. Perhaps it had been. Either way, they eventually came to a break in the cliffs, leading into a forested wilderness. Nova saw another line of bunkers here, well guarded.
And then the zerg were unleashed. They came out of the trees en masse, snarling and slathering in huge numbers. The bunkers fired en masse.
"The convoy's in danger. Hit 'em, boys!" said a man.
Huge numbers of zerg swarmed toward them, even as they were gunned down. Flamethrowers poured into their ranks as they came, melting them. But more and more of them came.
"Hmm, the bunkers are proving their worth," said Mark over the com. "Tychus, take your men and support them at once."
"Right, let's get this over with," said Tychus.
As one, the militia moved with remarkable coordination. They lined up behind the bunkers, opening fire into the zerg ranks. Nova realized that they were under Mark's influence. He'd been a Tactical Empath, able to support his armies by his will alone. The only one who'd ever been able to stop him was Kaloth.
The trucks, meanwhile, just kept ongoing. Little by little, the zerg offensive was routed. Perhaps it was a probing strike of sorts?
"It's a long haul to the starport, partner," noted Tychus as they walked. "How can we be expected to guard the whole thing?"
"Have you considered trying?" asked Mark.
"Cute," said Tychus.
"I find that attempting something is often more difficult than doing itself," said Mark.
Nova walked with the forces and passed another line of bunkers under assault. They supported it and wiped out the encroaching zerg forces. Once done, they backtracked the whole way. The sun was setting by this point.
"The next convoy is almost ready to go, Commander," said Ariel Hanson.
"We will wait until the escort has returned," said Mark. "Commander Calabas, what is your status on assaulting the zerg?"
Silence for a moment.
"My forces have eradicated the outer defenses of a zerg colony," said Serena. "We're moving in to destroy the rest now."
"Good," said Mark. "That may make things easier."
By the time they arrived back at the staging area, there were a lot more zerg corpses all over the place. Nova could not help but feel like she'd gotten the easiest job of the bunch; no one in her group had even died. On the other hand, the news from elsewhere in the colony was less good.
The mass exodus had only gotten larger with the refugee transports filled to capacity. Others were racing into the staging group, trying to get onboard. The news came in that an outpost, which had been fighting desperately in the outer regions, had fallen. Which meant they could expect further attacks later.
"Get to the starport! Move it!" said the leader of the caravan.
"Don't leave without us!" said a group of people, pulling themselves on board.
"All forces be advised. We detected zerg organisms entering the upper atmosphere," said Matt. "I can't give you an exact fix, but they're heading your way. There are a lot of them."
"We have another convoy ready to be escorted," said Mark flatly.
"Everyone's here, let's go!" said a man.
The next wave of refugees was not nearly so neat and tidy. Huge numbers of people were following the transports in cars or on foot. Some carried small arms; others carried children or backpacks of supplies. Medics were working on the wounded as they walked, and Nova knew this meant things were going badly.
Either there hadn't been enough transports, or one of them had broken down.
"This is Calabas; we're eradicating the eastern hive cluster now," said Serena.
"Excellent, Commander; once you do that, we can focus fully on the evacuation," said Ariel.
Serena laughed hysterically. "Are you serious?
"You're all going to die of starvation or disease once you hit the refugee camps anyway. Raynor can handle that. I'm going on the offensive. Mark, give me the estimated locations of zerg hives in abandoned regions."
Ariel Hanson stammered. "My people are dying! People I've known for years and... we're losing our entire planet, and you don't even care. How can you be such a sociopath!"
"Empathy?" asked Serena. "I don't have that anymore. It got ripped to shreds by the zerg on Tarsonis. Mark, give me the coordinates."
"I'm transmitting them now," said Mark.
"Commander, destroying the hives is pointless if we're leaving anyway," said Mark. "We should focus on preserving the lives of innocent people. Not throwing their lives away for revenge."
"You know what really protects innocent people," said Serena. "Destroying the abominations trying to murder them.
"Calabas out."
There was a click. Some of the men, the more experienced ones, laughed at it. Laughed.
And all hell broke loose.
Nova, Tychus, and the men saw mutalisks coming toward them en masse, swarming out of the skies. They opened fire with their guns as they led the refugees. When they passed the bunkers, they were under constant assaults. SCV's were working overtime to patch holes in the barricade. Meanwhile, reinforcements streamed in to help them.
Nova felt men torn apart my mutalisk blades, even as she gunned the creatures down. She sensed their dying thoughts fading off like a heartbeat on a medical line. It was all they could do to clear a path for the refugees and make sure none of them died. She fired again and again, aiming for the wings. Moving forward, they finally reached the starport. She watched as the refugees streamed in.
These people had lost their homes, all of their belongings. Everything but their lives and were now fleeing onto transport ships. All to an uncertain future. If there even would be a future.
This had happened on Mar Sara, on Antiga Prime, on Tarsonis, and many others. And Serena had been there, fighting to save the first two. Before, they simply watched the third burn.
Then Nova realized what this was all about.
Agria nothing to Serena but another dead world. She viewed them as assets on a spreadsheet because it was the only way to cope. If Serena thought of the people dying as people, she couldn't function.
So she didn't.
Serena wanted to kill the zerg. To hurt them and make them suffer the way the people of the sector had suffered. Nova could sense Serena and her men massacring zerg. They were spreading out to destroy them with bloodlust. Their defeat was inevitable, but they celebrated every zerg's death.
Serena wasn't trying to save Agria because it was already dead to her. Her goal was vengeance. Vengeance for everyone the zerg had ever hurt. So she and her men threw themselves into battle without remorse. Nova saw visions of tides of zerg being pushed back by a knot of marines, smaller in number but greater in zeal.
"All troops, I'm picking up seismic disturbances closing in on your position," said Matt. "I think it's some kind of tunneling, zerg."
Tychus and Nova began to escort more refugees to the starport. Mark actually held a large part of those in the staging area for fear that Tychus couldn't keep control. Nova saw new men had arrived from outlying outposts that had fallen or been abandoned. Creep was seeping into the fields beyond. A never-ending firefight was taking place.
Tychus and Nova took the refugees, and they escorted them.
The ground beneath their feet would burst open now and then as monsters spewed out, but they shot them. The Nydus worms were killed afterward. The skies were filled with mutalisks, but wraiths from the Hyperion chased them off. Vast numbers swarmed against the bunkers like water on a rock.
It was all detached, distant.
Nova performed her duties, shooting, firing, and helping others as best she could. It all became automatic. She saw Samuel gunning down a zerg nearby. She realized he must have been among their reinforcements. Taking steps to protect him, they moved on.
And on.
And on.
The sky darkened.
Twilight fell, and the fields died as the zerg swarmed. Report after report came in from Serena, describing how a hive had been destroyed here or there. Matt Horner gave warnings, and Raynor sent troops. Until, at last, Nova realized that Agria was empty.
The world was dead.
"That's the last of them! Go! Liftoff now!" said Raynor over the com.
The last refugee shift had lifted off. Now men were dispersing, getting to their designated evacuation point. As Nova looked at the place she'd come from, what had once been a lush farming center was now a hell. The trees had been ripped to shreds by gunfire, the fields were dead from creep. Fields upon fields of corpses were strewn out all around and being piled into pyres of flame.
Charred flesh could not be reintegrated into the hive as easily, after all.
And then, they left, leaving below them a ruined hellscape. And upon it, Serena was still reporting victories.
"We've lost the colony, but my people got out alive thanks to you, Commander," said Ariel Hanson. She seemed to be trying to lighten spirits, to speak with warmth.
Nova felt nothing. Some of the recruits were enthusiastic and gladdened by her voice. More experienced men just considered this as lessening a defeat. Some were contemplating if Agria could be used to fill out the tanks. Mark seemed to be calculating how best to destroy the zerg.
"Scratch three hive clusters," said Serena.
Cheers erupted from the men.