Alan ducked the insectoid claw of a zergling right before he rammed his gun barrel in its gaping maw and pulled the trigger. Purple and red globs of flesh spewed from the creature, staining Alan's armor with bloody streaks. The group was under attack from every angle. Hued limbs of Zerlings flew everywhere, littering the ground and turning the dry earth into red mud. Mike shot ferociously into the crowd of zerglings until his gauss rifle began to beep, indicating that he was running out of ammo. Quickly, he grabbed his flame-thrower and began burning a path ahead of them. The sheer intensity of the compressed vespene gas flame caused the zerglings to back away. The rest of the group followed close behind Mike, shooting the occasional zergling that attacked anyway. Finally the zergling swarm seemed to withdraw from the area.
"We better hurry, the Zerg will send heavier forces soon." said Maxston.
The group moved swiftly through the infested highlands of the former Confederate homeworld. What were once beautiful trees were now assimilated into pulsating abominations, the ground had turned into a thick carpet of bio matter, and even the sky had changed into a putrid yellow mist. The planet had changed into something from a child's worst nightmare. This setting combined with the continuous fear of being killed by swarms of beastial insects, made the group very anxious. Finally, after an hour of hiking through the nightmarish wasteland, their anxiety was lessened. The entrance to the underground vault was guarded by a sunken colony. At first glance, it seemed dormant and uninterested in the humans that lied past the rocks. Rick was about to throw a grenade onto the colony when the massive tentacle shot into the ground. There was a second of pure fear before the tentacle finally emerged and wrapped itself around Rick's leg, pulling him to the ground with such force that the others could actually hear the bone snap. Rick let out a scream of pain as the tentacle continued pulling on his broken leg. With a carefully aimed burst, Alan severed the tentacle piece that was attached to Rick's leg and the colony let out an unholy scream. Jessica loaded a high-explosive canister into her rifle and fired it into the colony. There was a one-second delay, followed by an explosion that ripped the colony in half. Rick let out a moan for his leg, which was attached by skin alone. David helped his twin brother up and turned to Maxston. "Fuck this! We're getting out of here!"
"Very well, we'll meet you out here when we have what we came for." Maxston said with an eerily calm tone.
"Fuck that, We're leaving!" David shouted.
"David, you will never get back to the ship alone. Now wait out here for us and we'll pick you up as soon as we have the disrupter." Alan said.
It was obvious that David wanted to leave, and nothing could change his mind. Putting his brother's arm over his shoulder, David started walking back to the Allegory. Alan tried to stop him, but Maxston held him back. "He's already dead, Colonel. Let's move on."
Hesitantly, the rest of the group entered the cavern that led to the vault. It was quiet in the cavern, the only thing that could be heard was a steady drip in the background. They steadily moved along until the drip got closer. Mike felt water hit his face. When he looked up to see where it came from, a claw lashed forth and grabbed him. When the others turned to see what had happened, Mike had already disappeared. Jessica suddenly let out a scream. "Just give us a fucking chance! You bastards!" Her eyes began to tear up and she threw herself at Alan. All he could do was hold her for a moment.
"Hey -- shhh. It's gonna be okay. We're going to get out of here." Alan said, trying to pacify her.
Jessica wiped a tear from her eyes and looked up at Alan. "I don't want to die here, not like this."
"Come on, we've got to keep moving." Maxston said.
Jessica sniffed and let go of Alan. The three of them moved on, deeper and deeper into the cavern until they reached a large metal door with a computer console to the right. Maxston looked at Jessica and nodded. With a slight gesture of her hand, she placed it on the console pad shaped like a hand. The worn system flickered to life and a green light began passing over her hand. The computer paused for a moment and processed the data, then the red lights on the console turned blue and the large metal door slowly opened. Inside were the Psi Disrupter and a previously unknown cache of Terran weapons. Several wraith fighters, along with an equal amount of siege tanks, were lined up and ready to be deployed at a moment's notice. Maxston's eyes lit up like a child's on Christmas day. As they walked into the vault, Jessica let out a chuckle, followed by a full-blown laugh. Alan turned to Jessica to see what she was laughing about and she slammed her rifle across his temple. Alan fell to the ground and looked up at her. "What the hell is going on?!" Alan yelled.
A voice not like Jessica's came from her as she spoke and her eyes flashed a solid yellow light. "I must admit, you are more gullible than I thought, Colonel."
Maxston yelled, "Just who the fuck do you think you are?!"
Jessica wasted no time in blowing Maxston's head off after he said that. The billionaire's lifeless body collapsed in front of Alan and Jessica let out another laugh.
"What have you done with Jessica?" Alan asked.
"Ah, since you are such a handsome boy, I'll give you an explanation before I kill you. You see, the human Jessica was one of the Overmind's only surviving hosts for a parasite. Most other humans who were infested either had the parasites removed, or were killed in battle. Since this little human happened to leave the major armies before my broods crushed them, she avoided both cases against the parasite inside of her. Once I learned of the psi disrupter, I had to gain access to it. But the vault was immune to even my strongest broods, and every human on this planet is either dead or assimilated. Then, I saw through her eyes the mission that this pompous fool gave to you all and I saw my chance."
Alan gritted his teeth and looked back at her. "You monster."
"Flattery will get you nowhere. And now, I'm afraid I'll have to kill you." Jessica said as she aimed the canister rifle at Alan. When a shot was expected, he only heard a loud thump, followed by a familiar gruff voice -- it was Mike, slightly battered and standing above an unconscious Jessica. Alan grabbed Mike's hand and got up. "We've got to seal this place off so the Zerg can't get that disrupter." Alan pointed at the computer behind Mike. "Here, put her hand on the console. Maybe that'll close the door." Mike complied, but the door did not close. "Shit! We're as good as dead without that door." Mike exclaimed.
Alan looked at the Psi Disrupter and then at the wraiths. "Maxston and Jessica were the only ones who knew how to disassemble that thing. If she wakes up, then we've got a whole new set of problems. Mike, we've gotta leave it behind." Alan lamented.
"Then this whole thing was for nothing. All this and we can't even take back what we came for!" Mike yelled.
Alan sighed and walked to one of the wraiths. Mike looked at Jessica and then yelled, "What should we do with her?"
"Tie her up and stick her in the cargo hold. We'll get that parasite removed when we get back." Alan uttered, "If we get back..."
Luckily, Mike found some handcuffs attached to his suit. After binding Jessica's arms and legs, he stuffed her in the cargo hold and got in the co-pilot seat. Alan looked for a hanger control button but couldn't find it anywhere in the room. Mike looked around and noticed a strange device that looked like a garage door opener in the pilot seat. Alan noticed this and smiled. "God bless the idiot proof Confederate Air Force." He said with a chuckle. Alan strapped himself in, set the engines to full power and opened the hanger door. The horrible, bleak outside never looked as attractive to Alan as it did now. He set the throttle to full power and rocketed out of the atmosphere, leaving the blasted world and everything on it behind.
On the flight out of the Koprulu sector, Alan couldn't help but feel a certain sorrow for failing the mission. Humanity's best hope for victory just slipped through their fingers and all the humans had now was the prevailing fear of the Zerg advancing onward to destroy them. In the war against the Zerg, he had seen many failures by humanity, often wondering what it felt like to be the sole cause of an entire group's demise. As the ship made its way out of Zerg space, it suddenly dawned upon Alan that the worst part of failure is not the fear of what might happen, but the quiet torment of knowing that it was all his fault.
The End
"We better hurry, the Zerg will send heavier forces soon." said Maxston.
The group moved swiftly through the infested highlands of the former Confederate homeworld. What were once beautiful trees were now assimilated into pulsating abominations, the ground had turned into a thick carpet of bio matter, and even the sky had changed into a putrid yellow mist. The planet had changed into something from a child's worst nightmare. This setting combined with the continuous fear of being killed by swarms of beastial insects, made the group very anxious. Finally, after an hour of hiking through the nightmarish wasteland, their anxiety was lessened. The entrance to the underground vault was guarded by a sunken colony. At first glance, it seemed dormant and uninterested in the humans that lied past the rocks. Rick was about to throw a grenade onto the colony when the massive tentacle shot into the ground. There was a second of pure fear before the tentacle finally emerged and wrapped itself around Rick's leg, pulling him to the ground with such force that the others could actually hear the bone snap. Rick let out a scream of pain as the tentacle continued pulling on his broken leg. With a carefully aimed burst, Alan severed the tentacle piece that was attached to Rick's leg and the colony let out an unholy scream. Jessica loaded a high-explosive canister into her rifle and fired it into the colony. There was a one-second delay, followed by an explosion that ripped the colony in half. Rick let out a moan for his leg, which was attached by skin alone. David helped his twin brother up and turned to Maxston. "Fuck this! We're getting out of here!"
"Very well, we'll meet you out here when we have what we came for." Maxston said with an eerily calm tone.
"Fuck that, We're leaving!" David shouted.
"David, you will never get back to the ship alone. Now wait out here for us and we'll pick you up as soon as we have the disrupter." Alan said.
It was obvious that David wanted to leave, and nothing could change his mind. Putting his brother's arm over his shoulder, David started walking back to the Allegory. Alan tried to stop him, but Maxston held him back. "He's already dead, Colonel. Let's move on."
Hesitantly, the rest of the group entered the cavern that led to the vault. It was quiet in the cavern, the only thing that could be heard was a steady drip in the background. They steadily moved along until the drip got closer. Mike felt water hit his face. When he looked up to see where it came from, a claw lashed forth and grabbed him. When the others turned to see what had happened, Mike had already disappeared. Jessica suddenly let out a scream. "Just give us a fucking chance! You bastards!" Her eyes began to tear up and she threw herself at Alan. All he could do was hold her for a moment.
"Hey -- shhh. It's gonna be okay. We're going to get out of here." Alan said, trying to pacify her.
Jessica wiped a tear from her eyes and looked up at Alan. "I don't want to die here, not like this."
"Come on, we've got to keep moving." Maxston said.
Jessica sniffed and let go of Alan. The three of them moved on, deeper and deeper into the cavern until they reached a large metal door with a computer console to the right. Maxston looked at Jessica and nodded. With a slight gesture of her hand, she placed it on the console pad shaped like a hand. The worn system flickered to life and a green light began passing over her hand. The computer paused for a moment and processed the data, then the red lights on the console turned blue and the large metal door slowly opened. Inside were the Psi Disrupter and a previously unknown cache of Terran weapons. Several wraith fighters, along with an equal amount of siege tanks, were lined up and ready to be deployed at a moment's notice. Maxston's eyes lit up like a child's on Christmas day. As they walked into the vault, Jessica let out a chuckle, followed by a full-blown laugh. Alan turned to Jessica to see what she was laughing about and she slammed her rifle across his temple. Alan fell to the ground and looked up at her. "What the hell is going on?!" Alan yelled.
A voice not like Jessica's came from her as she spoke and her eyes flashed a solid yellow light. "I must admit, you are more gullible than I thought, Colonel."
Maxston yelled, "Just who the fuck do you think you are?!"
Jessica wasted no time in blowing Maxston's head off after he said that. The billionaire's lifeless body collapsed in front of Alan and Jessica let out another laugh.
"What have you done with Jessica?" Alan asked.
"Ah, since you are such a handsome boy, I'll give you an explanation before I kill you. You see, the human Jessica was one of the Overmind's only surviving hosts for a parasite. Most other humans who were infested either had the parasites removed, or were killed in battle. Since this little human happened to leave the major armies before my broods crushed them, she avoided both cases against the parasite inside of her. Once I learned of the psi disrupter, I had to gain access to it. But the vault was immune to even my strongest broods, and every human on this planet is either dead or assimilated. Then, I saw through her eyes the mission that this pompous fool gave to you all and I saw my chance."
Alan gritted his teeth and looked back at her. "You monster."
"Flattery will get you nowhere. And now, I'm afraid I'll have to kill you." Jessica said as she aimed the canister rifle at Alan. When a shot was expected, he only heard a loud thump, followed by a familiar gruff voice -- it was Mike, slightly battered and standing above an unconscious Jessica. Alan grabbed Mike's hand and got up. "We've got to seal this place off so the Zerg can't get that disrupter." Alan pointed at the computer behind Mike. "Here, put her hand on the console. Maybe that'll close the door." Mike complied, but the door did not close. "Shit! We're as good as dead without that door." Mike exclaimed.
Alan looked at the Psi Disrupter and then at the wraiths. "Maxston and Jessica were the only ones who knew how to disassemble that thing. If she wakes up, then we've got a whole new set of problems. Mike, we've gotta leave it behind." Alan lamented.
"Then this whole thing was for nothing. All this and we can't even take back what we came for!" Mike yelled.
Alan sighed and walked to one of the wraiths. Mike looked at Jessica and then yelled, "What should we do with her?"
"Tie her up and stick her in the cargo hold. We'll get that parasite removed when we get back." Alan uttered, "If we get back..."
Luckily, Mike found some handcuffs attached to his suit. After binding Jessica's arms and legs, he stuffed her in the cargo hold and got in the co-pilot seat. Alan looked for a hanger control button but couldn't find it anywhere in the room. Mike looked around and noticed a strange device that looked like a garage door opener in the pilot seat. Alan noticed this and smiled. "God bless the idiot proof Confederate Air Force." He said with a chuckle. Alan strapped himself in, set the engines to full power and opened the hanger door. The horrible, bleak outside never looked as attractive to Alan as it did now. He set the throttle to full power and rocketed out of the atmosphere, leaving the blasted world and everything on it behind.
On the flight out of the Koprulu sector, Alan couldn't help but feel a certain sorrow for failing the mission. Humanity's best hope for victory just slipped through their fingers and all the humans had now was the prevailing fear of the Zerg advancing onward to destroy them. In the war against the Zerg, he had seen many failures by humanity, often wondering what it felt like to be the sole cause of an entire group's demise. As the ship made its way out of Zerg space, it suddenly dawned upon Alan that the worst part of failure is not the fear of what might happen, but the quiet torment of knowing that it was all his fault.
The End