Silent Witnesses, Part II
Quin Lu San was Beta command's acting ComSat officer. Darrin had met him briefly before when Alpha base's comsat was being built. Together they were able to choose some fairly probable sites for any existing Zerg habitations. Quin Lu charged up the ComSat's dish for the first scan. The ComSat ground station supplied the energy required to scan an area by beaming it in microwave form to an orbiting sattelite. The beam was fairly powerful, so can only be kept up for a few seconds on a single scan. The sattelite consisted of a giant reflector and a data transponder. When the sattelite received the microwave beam, it would redirect it to the area that was to be scanned. Terrain and objects in the area would reflect some of the energy back. The sattelite would then pick up the reflected energy readings and transmit the data back to the ComSat station. So much energy was involved that nothing, not even cloaked ships and buried Zerg could avoid reflecting any of the energy and revealing their
presence for a short time. The microwave beam would also ionize particles in the upper atmosphere and on the ground, creating an optical scintillation that was visible with the naked eye. Even without any form of electronic detection, you knew when you were being scanned by a ComSat.
Quin Lu pointed out an interesting formation to Darrin. In a valley that was thought to have been cleansed of Zerg, a single structure remained amongst remnants of others that had been destroyed. The structure was fairly large and looked like a huge purple tube stacked up against a red tube. The mass was connected by various smaller pieces. During the period of active scanning, it almost appeared to pulsate slightly. The structure had very little creep surrounding it, indicating that there were no other Zerg structures nearby that produce it. The scan did not reveal any Zerg creatures in the area at the time. Darrin concluded that this would be a prime target to investigate. He would need some time to raise an expeditionary team to help him examine the structure. It was some distance away. On a planet this size even a dropship would take a while to get there.
Darrin was able to get permission to examine the Zerg structure, provided he had ample combat support. The Beta base commander had assembled a force that should be able to handle any skirmishes that could occur with Zerg forces. They conscripted eight marines, four firebats, and two medics for combat support. For some odd reason, Riley insisted on coming along. He had built a new mobile scouting drone and wanted to test it in the field. How Riley was able to get permission to accompany his team was making Darrin wonder how much influence a simple tech would have. He would be in his custom SCV in case maintenance was needed on any equipment. Utilizing three dropships, Darrin's team and equipment left plenty of room for specimens. The Inquisitor would also be supporting the expeditionary force.
The flight to the Zerg site was an interesting experience. Darrin chose a compact environmental suit, offering little protection but increased mobility over the combat suits that marines wore. The dropship Darrin was strapped into was also being used by Riley. He was in his custom SCV, clamped to the jump rail. The scouting drone with him was rather odd. It seemed cobbled together from bits of junk and was quite disfigured looking. Almost purposefully so. A combat medic had also chosen to ride in this dropship. Darrin could not see her face clearly from his seat on the ship, but could clearly see where her armor suit had been breached right in the chest. It had been patched over and repainted. The last person on board Darrin's ship was Cheif Harle, 'Captain Cardboard' himself.
Darrin was not entirely sure of Harle's military rank, but it was sufficient to lead a squad of marines on an expedition such as this one. Harle was bad enough as Chief of security on the Inquisitor. If fighting broke out, Darrin would have to follow his orders. Every once in a while during the ride, Harle would glance over toward Riley, then quickly dart his vision away when Riley noticed he was looking. Darrin also thought it was odd that Harle did not choose to fly with his men. Darrin did not like the military way of life, but if he had to command men who would follow his orders, possibly to their deaths, he would at least want to know them.
After a final ComSat scan was ordered of the area they finally set down outside the Zerg structure in question. Up close it was much larger than Darrin at first assumed. It was the size of a small barracks. He began unloading his equipment. Riley pitched in to help, his SCV handling much of the labor.
Harle set his troops on patrol around the area, then retrieved his C-10 canister rifle from the dropship. He took up a position behind Darrin and Riley as they unloaded their equipment.
Darrin set up a static scan of the structure. After a few minutes of assembly he was able to get an image of the interior of the Zerg structure. He was able to determine the most promising areas to collect samples from. Now came the part Darrin could enjoy. He turned to Harle.
"I'll need you and a couple of your men, we're going in." Darrin said casually.
"In?" Harle asked. "In WHERE?" he added, genuinely confused.
Darrin turned to glance at the Zerg structure.
"You have GOT to be fuckin' kidding!" Harle shouted. He looked worried now. Darrin turned away, barely containing his laughter.
"Until a combat situation occurs, I believe I'm in command here, and we need to go inside to collect samples." Darrin said, still trying to contain his laughter. Harle looked like he was about to drop his cargo on the spot. Darrin turned to Riley.
"Cut it open here." Darrin said, pointing to the diagram on the portable scanner. "The tissue will start to regenerate after you cut into it. Build a frame around the opening so it won't close up." He added.
Riley thrusted his SCV over to the side of the structure and began to cut. Liquid ran from the opening that was being produced, collecting in a pool under Riley's SCV. Darrin walked over and collected a sample of the liquid as it ran off. The whole structure began to gurgle and wobble around a bit. Harle appeared to be turning white. He slumped off to round up some of his men.
Darrin labeled the sample tube and stuck it in a pouch on his suit's waistband. He stuck his head into the opening. The light from his helmet lamp disappeared into a maze of sinews and bulbous formations. There would be room to move around if the sinews could be cut.
"Riley, when you're done with that I'm going to need something to cut my way through. We have sinews in here about two to three inches in diameter, soft tissue" Darrin explained. "Maybe some cleats and claws to climb with too." He added. Riley had just finished erecting a metal frame around the opening in the structure.
"I have enough soup for a pair of cutters and two sets of climbing gear, plus a bit left over for later." Riley advised. "I made the framework from pipe instead of solid pieces to save soup." He added, beginning work on the cutters.
Everyone in the UED, even civilian consultants, received training in basic SCV operations. The machine was the backbone of the entire Terran military operation. Specs resident in the SCV's computer were enough to build and repair most basic structures from a supply depot all the way to a command center. A true master of the SCV could also construct simple parts and machinery without any specs at all. Darrin wasn't very good in one, but he knew enough to realize that Riley was a master. He had fabricated the cutters and climbing gear in about two minutes. Riley even set his cutting torch to the exact temperature to apply a temper the cutters. Such mastery was quite rare. Riley was getting to be even more of a puzzle. Darrin was beginning to wonder if there was anything he could NOT do. Riley's sensor drone hovered about near the opening. Darrin thought that Riley wanted a different view of the process, but did not actually notice him giving the drone any commands or controlling it.
"W-we're ready" Harle stuttered, his men assembled behind him. Darrin could notice a marine mouth something to a comrade without speaking. Half the marines were beginning to chuckle quietly.
"You can relax, Harle." Darrin proclaimed. "I won't need you to go in. A couple of firebats should be plenty, I don't think anything in there is going to surprise us. According to the scan it is just a bunch of nodules of liquid and a lot of sinews holding it together." He reassured. Harle did indeed seem to relax a bit. Darrin did not want him off his game if a combat situation did ensue. Harle assigned him two firebats for support.
"Stand just inside the opening. Keep an eye on my position and the opening constantly if you can." He instructed one of the firebats. "Put these on and follow me." Darrin said, handing a set of claws and cleats to the second firebat. The soldier clipped the cleats onto his boots and put the claws over the palm of his gloves. This was a school field trip for Darrin, but he realized that Harle's men were probably getting a bit freaked out. They just showed it less than their commander. Darrin decided that some small talk might make them a bit less nervous. He opened a second comm channel to his firebat team.
"So who are you guys and where are you from?" Darrin asked, using the cutters to clip through sinews. He tucked a few bits of sinew into a sample container to add to his collection. There was now enough room for all three to enter to Zerg structure.
"I'm private Akeem Mahalla, I'm from Mars. My family is from India on Earth. Almost everyone on this trip is from the core worlds." The firebat following Darrin added. "After fighting the 'toss on Grimatryon III I just moved on with the rest of the troops."
"I'm private Lance Henderson. I'm from Idaho. My brother brought me out here. He's outside with Harle. What is the deal with that guy anyway?" Akeem's friend added, watching the opening to the structure.
"He was chief of security on the Inquisitor. He ran a pretty tight security team on the ship. I think things are just getting a bit weird for him now. A Dark Templar had been hiding out on the ship, waiting for a chance to kill me." Darrin explained.
"Holy shit! how the hell did he get on there?" Lance asked excitedly.
As Darrin climbed about and drew samples of liquid from nodules within the structure, he had enough time to explain how the Dark Templar had gotten access to the ship and how they fought it off. By the time he was done, Darrin had collected over two dozen samples from various areas. Near the top of the structure he noticed that the nodules of liquid were replaced by huge bellows connected to tubes protruding from the top of the structure. As he was preparing to leave, he noticed near the 'floor' of the structure there was a large depression where a large pool of liquid slowly seeped into the ground. He dipped into the pool and took a large sample. It appeared to consist of many different colors and viscosities of liquid. He was finished collecting samples.
"LaCross!" Harle barked over the command channel.
"Darrin here. What's up?" Darrin asked, tucking the last sample into his pack.
"The Inquisitor is reporting a large pack of Zerg heading toward this area at high speed. About two dozen Lings, several Hydras and a Lurker. We need to get out of here NOW!" Harle shouted.
"I'm going to need some time to get out of here. Can you hold them off for a couple of minutes?" Darrin asked. He was a bit worried, he wasn't sure if Harle's forces would be enough to hold off the attack. "Ask the Inquisitor to irradiate that lurker. You might be able to fend off the rest of the pack if it is gone." Darrin suggested. He began to climb over a large lump of tissue on the way back to the opening. Darrin heard Harle bark out some orders to his squad over the command channel before he cut the channel, but did not receive any confirmation that his suggesting had been followed. If that Lurker was allowed to reach them and burrow then they would all die.
"Riley, this is Darrin. What the hell is going on out there?" Darrin asked, making his way over the lump. Lance wasn't far behind him.
"Riley here. Harle's troops are trenching in right in front of you. Firebats are taking point, marines and medics are in the trench behind them." Riley explained. "There is an overlord coming up in visual range. They are going to be here any minute. You coming out yet?" Riley asked hopefully.
"Not quite yet, It will be another minute or so." Darrin admitted. "I think we need to get ready to fight. I have an idea. Rip that frame out from the opening and let it close." Darrin added, climbing over the last node of tissue on the way to the opening.
"Oh CRAP!" Riley exclaimed. "Harle just had the Inquisitor irradiate the damned Overlord. That isn't going to do any good. We're Lurker meat now!" Riley cursed. He could hear the sound of the zerglings charging. The Overlord started to retreat, then imploded with an audible 'piff' and crashed to the ground. Radioactive energy dissipated into the air. Riley reached down with his SCV's armored gauntlet and ripped the framework free from the opening.
"Tell Harle to hit the Lurker first. It can't hurt anyone if it is not buried." Darrin added. He had reached the entrance. Lance was making his way over the last obstacle.
"Akeem, prep your flamer and keep it trained outside here. Put the barrel through the opening." Darrin said, pointing to the flap that was beginning to seal. "Lance, I'll cut an opening here and you get ready to flame 'em on my signal." Darrin commanded, beginning to cut a small hole in the wall of the structure. It was soon large enough for the flamer's barrel. Lance braced himself against the wall of the structure and eased his weapon through.
Harle was too busy commanding his troops to even notice Riley trying to get his attention. The Zerg attack force was coming into view. The sound of Hydralisk spines zipping through the air was punctuated by several sharp screams of pain as the spines ripped through body armor, trailing blood in a stop motion slideshow illuminated by the visible flashing of the medics' tissue regeneration units as they healed the marines' wounds. Several Hydralisks began to tear into pieces in fits of hissing as gauss rifle rounds rained onto them. These Hydralisks appeared to be moving much quicker than Hydras that Riley had seen before. Riley cranked his SCV's torch to maximum output and prepared to fight.
Harle ordered his troops to open fire. They were concentrating fire on the Hydras. Harle had taken up a position behind his troops, firing rounds from his C-10 canister rifle into the fray. The grenades exploded in the mass of approaching zerglings, momentarily knocking a couple off balance with the grenade's concussive force. Riley was glad to see that Harle at least knew how to use his weapon and was not afraid to fight. His skill as a commander remained questionable though.
The approaching mass of Zerglings reached the trench line as the firebats unleashed waves of flame in front of them. Bits of hardened carapace splattered as superheated limbs from zerglings exploded in fury of the attack. Darrin ordered the firebats in the Zerg structure with him to fire their weapons. More Zerglings perished as tongues of flame lashed out from the Zerg's own structure. Some of the Hydralisks and Zerglings turned to attack the structure. The Zerglings were also much quicker than previous battles. The proceeded to encircle the area.
The Zerglings were not perceived as a threat to humans when they were first discovered. Before humans had engaged them in battle it was theorized that their teeth and claws were not capable of penetrating infantry battle suits. Only after humanity realized the destructive power these small beasts possessed did they begin to fear the Zerg. The Zergling would use its powerful jaws and irregularly shaped teeth to secure itself to its target, then proceed to rake it with powerful claws. The creature would rear up with its back claws and rake softer targets with them. Harder targets could be penetrated by swinging the front claws overhead in an arc, gaining acceleration as they struck. The fine pointed claw on the foreleg could penetrate armor on even the toughest of Terran land vehicles.
The marines had reached a state of disarray when the Zerglings began to attack them. The attack was much quicker than expected. One firebat had been completely ripped apart as a pair of Zerglings jumped him. The fuel from his flamer pack had leaked onto the ground, starting a small conflagration. Other soldiers were not faring too well either. The frantic flashing of tissue regenerators continued to strobe the battle scene. Flamers continued to whoosh over the attackers as Zerglings ran in circles, dodging gauss rifle fire. A Zergling had made its way to Riley.
The Zergling leaped up at Riley and sank its teeth into the roll cage surrounding the SCV's helmet. The raking of claws created a deafening rattle in Riley's helmet. He brought his torch to bear against the creature, trying to damage its head. The bulky and unresponsive SCV was making a counterattack quite difficult. The Zergling finally quit thrashing about, its body charred badly by the SCV's torch. Riley peeled it off and tossed it to the ground, adding the boot of his SCV to its head just in case. His armor was badly damaged and the SCV was in poor shape.
"Darrin!" Riley shouted over his comm link. "How breathable is this atmosphere?" He asked.
"You can breathe it, just not for too long. The air is a bit thinner than normal, and the CO2 level is pretty high. Acidosis will set in after a few minutes." Darrin advised. "Why do you ask?"
"I can't fight in this thing." Riley said, using his remaining soup to fashion a large pike. He worked on creating the weapon with blinding speed and precision. As soon as the weapon was completed, he flipped open the cover to the SCV. With only his jumpsuit and communication helmet, he was virtually naked against the enemy. He grabbed the pike from the SCV's grasp and proceeded toward the battle.
"Fight? What the heck are you talking about. How are you going to fight?" Darrin asked.
Harle had just dispatched a Zergling with his C-10 rifle that was attacking a medic. He looked toward Riley, who had leaped over to the entrenched position.
"Are you nuts? The dropships are almost here, retreat NOW, that's an order!" Harle yelled. The lurker had finally reached the battle area and was looking for a spot where it could burrow and extended its lethal tentacles.
"You have to kill that damn thing now!" Riley shouted. "Its going to rip us all apart!" He emphasized. A zergling tried to intervene, jumping up on Harle's battle suit. It quickly affixed its bite on Harle's left shoulder, then brought its rear claws up to attack.
Riley took a quick half step back from Harle and inserted his pike under the Zergling. He gave a precise half-twist of the handle, lodging the blade of the pike in the jaws of the zergling. He yanked the pike back, dislodging the creature from Harle's battle suit. He pulled the pike along the ground, with the Zergling still caught in the blade. Placing his foot on the thorax of the beast, Riley removed the pike with the same half twist, then brought it down into the Zergling's head to dispatch it. Harle stared on in shock. As a science vessel security chief, he was trained in the art of hand to hand combat. He had never seen such a precisely executed polearm attack. Glancing at the bloody blade of the pike, he also made a mental note of the craftsmanship of Riley's pike. It was extraordinary. This civilian was not just a mere technician. He decided to give Riley's view some consideration.
"Half my men are dead and the rest are close to it!" Harle shouted. "We can't stop that thing!" He admitted.
"It's too late to irradiate it now, have the Iquisitor matrix me. I have an idea." Riley said to Harle. The Lurker had found a place to burrow and was beginning to sink its tentacles into the ground. The marines had finished ridding themselves of the last of the zerglings. A couple of Hydralisks still scooted about a short distance from the battle, firing an occasional spine at the marines. The Zerg structure Darrin was investigating had taken heavy damage during the attack. With the combination of having its support sinews clipped and the damage, the whole thing had sagged over.
"Spread your men out and away from the Lurker. Concentrate fire on it. Get a position reading from the Inquisitor. When they feel the ground shake, have them dodge to the side, don't have them run away." Riley advised, stepping back a bit to receive the defensive matrix. Harle called in the defensive matrix support from the Inquisitor. A halo of energy surrounded him. He charged toward the Lurker as it completed burrowing.
The defensive matrix was a self-consuming storm of heavily ionized particles. Spheres of positive and negative ions annihilated each other, releasing energy. The negative sphere was attached to the unit receiving the defensive matrix. The positive sphere was placed around that. Any physical attack entering the junction of the spheres would create a type of electrical 'short circuit' resulting in the vaporization of the attack. Energy attacks were simply neutralized when they reached the junction. Any attack stopped in such a way decreased the amount of energy left in the spheres. It would eventually fail from enough attacks, or after about half a minute as energy was consumed or leaked to ground. Massive physical bodies such as the planet's surface would slowly 'ground off' the ions, allowing the soldier or vehicle to travel without destroying the protection.
Riley took three quick steps to the left as a huge armored plate sprang from the ground to his right. A scream erupted from behind him. Fire from gauss rifles streamed past him toward the target. The Hydralisks were now firing their spines at him. His sensor drone was following him. Particles from the spines that escaped annihilation in the defensive matrix lanced into his flesh. He winced in pain, charging on toward the Lurker's position. Another set of armored plates erupted from the ground, striking the defensive matrix beneath him. He fell from the impact, and he could also feel a sharp pain from his foot. It was bleeding heavily. He marched on despite the pain.
Reaching the Lurker's position. He held his pike and leaped into the air, planting it into the ground. A rumble could be heard. The sensor drone emitted a 'sprong' to Riley. He slowly backed away from the lurker, matching the edge of the defensive matrix with his pike. Suddenly, power arched from the defensive matrix and into the pike. It shattered in a shower of lightning and shards. The rumble beneath the ground reached a peak, then subsided completely. Riley collapsed into a bloody heap. A medic arrived to administer tissue regeneration while Harle and his marines finished off the Hydralisks. The Zerg threat had been abated, for the moment.
Now there was the matter of digging Darrin and his escorts from their makeshift bunker. It had collapsed into a large pile of muck.
For Darrin and Riley the dropship ride back to Beta base was spent in silence, interrupted by short bouts of turbulence. Darrin looked out a viewport at the small white star that served as the sun for HD144168. It had almost set. Darrin looked out at Harle and the other marines on the ship. They did not look back. Perhaps they were tired, mourning, or just wondering if what Darrin was looking for was worth the price they had been forced to pay. Darrin was beginning to wonder himself. He doubted if the data he was collecting would yield any clues to the fate of DuGalle and the rest of the UED fleet that was dispatched. If the previous UED fleet was destroyed by the Zerg, then maybe his research could help them avoid suffering the same fate. The overly territorial leftovers of the Confederacy were not of any help. Darrin had already collected evidence that the Zerg broods residing on this planet might be under their control. They had assisted in the attack on Alpha base, which was now being rebuilt.
Riley looked a bit tired out, a delayed side effect of tissue regeneration. He did need it though. Small cuts and a few not so small wounds had peppered his body. What remained of Riley's custom SCV had been piled in with them, along with his sensor drone. The machine lay still at Riley's feet. Darrin felt some conversation might ease the tensions, or at least get him some information.
"What is that thing anyway?" Darrin asked Riley, darting his gaze down at the sensor drone.
"You could say it's an old friend." Riley replied. He loosened his straps a bit and leaned over toward the SCV, retrieving a small headset with a visor. He handed it to Darrin. "Put this on."
Darrin put on the headset and flipped the visor over his eyes. He noticed there was a microphone pickup on the earpiece as well. A view from the drone was superimposed over his vision.
"What is the mic for?" Darrin asked. The reply was a bit unexpected. Text filled his field of vision, Darrin reeled a bit from the ghostly green characters appearing before his view.
IT IS FOR TALKING TO ME. I AM STILL WITH YOU, DARRIN LACROSS.
Darrin knew what he was talking to. He began to feel a bit uneasy. He turned to Riley.
"You were supposed to scrap this thing." Darrin commented. He suddenly realized the machine was listening. "No offense to you, of course." He added.
NONE TAKEN. I EXIST FOR A PURPOSE, AND SO DO YOU.
"I was able to make other arrangements." Riley replied matter-of-factly.
"How? Admiral Hadrick himself gave the order. There is no one in the UED force here that outranks him." Darrin asked, a bit puzzled. Chief Harle's glance shot towards them from the front of the ship.
"Like you I have a specific mission that needs to be completed. Our goals are not too far off from each other. I can't say much more than that right now. Let's just say I made previous arrangements and leave it at that." Darrin explained. "The probe and observer are going to help us both." He added. Chief Harle appeared as if he was about to speak, then he turned away again. Darrin glanced back at the machine. It looked a bit larger than the probe in the lab. More ghostly green text flashed onto his visor.
YOU NEED TO DISCOVER HOW THE ZERG ARE GROWING MORE POWERFUL. THEY THREATEN THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF AIUR AS WELL AS TERRANS.
"It is saying I need to find out how the Zerg are growing stronger." Darrin relayed to Riley.
"It wasn't until the attack on Alpha base that I realized myself they were a bit stronger. It's no secret now that I have had some combat experience. The Zerg we fought today were stronger, faster, and a lot more resilient than they were then. Their power has grown that much in only a few weeks." Riley explained. Chief Harle glanced over once again.
"I think the samples I collected can tell us something about how they are increasing their strength." Darrin replied. He looked down at the flat black finished machine again. "What did you do to the probe?" He asked.
"I convinced it that we would need to modify it to look like something else so as not to draw fire in combat. In the process I managed to combine some of the elements from both the probe and the observer. I merged the two shield generators so the unit can withstand a bit more damage than the probe alone. The cloaking field from the observer can still operate, but the probe and observer combined have too much mass for the cloak to stay on for long, the cloaking unit drains the shield when it is on. It is also a bit slower, the gravitic drive was optimized for the mass of the observer. It suffers a bit with the extra mass. It can still outrun this ship though." Riley explained. "The Protoss have extraordinary craftmanship, but they have not fully realized the potential of their machines." He added.
"At least they can build a machine that can think without having it blow half of them to hell." Darrin snapped. No human needed to be reminded of the reason why there were no autonomous machines used in combat anymore. "Is this thing still armed?" He asked nervously. Harle was still watching and he appeared nervous as well.
"I'm afraid so. I couldn't remove the warp field generator without totally disable the drive system. As far as I can tell, it has access to several warp ID tags as well as its inherent offensive capability. Not only that, I had Bartleby dig up another Scarab drone from the disarmed ordinance. See that hemisphere under the unit?" Riley asked, pointing at the probe. "It has one in there. Like it or not, it is going to be our combat support when we can't get any help from command." Riley added. Darrin stared at the machine.
"It could kill us all right now if it wanted to." Darrin stated, looking down at the machine.
I SAID I WOULD NOT DO SO BEFORE I WAS REBUILT. YOU MUST SURVIVE. I WILL HELP YOU.
"Oh, how refreshing, it's saying it won't kill us because it promised it wouldn't" Darrin relayed, sarcasm evident in his voice.
"Unlike us, the Protoss machines do not appear to be able to lie." Riley replied. This did nothing to appease Darrin's uneasiness.
"It killed one of its own. A 'Son of Aiur' died because of it." Darrin accused. "As soon as it finds out what it needs to, it is going to kill me like it was supposed to do the first time!" He vented. A loud 'sprong' erupted from the machine. It levitated a bit higher from the floor of the dropship. Chief Harle reached for his canister rifle, keeping an eye on the proceedings. Riley did not appear to be concerned.
THERE WAS NO TIME. G'THARR WOULD HAVE DONE THE SAME THING GIVEN THE CIRCUMSTANCES. I DO NOT KNOW WHY HE WAS SENT FOR YOU. I AM SURE YOU ARE OF MORE VALUE TO THEM ALIVE.
"Back off, Harle. It won't hurt anyone." Riley snapped. Chief Harle slung his weapon, but still appeared wary of the machine.
"It says the 'toss think I would be worth more alive than dead now. How do we know for sure?" Darrin asked, his voice was still shaking a bit.
"Keep the visor. It is linked directly to the observer's optics. You can see what it is doing at any time and it can't turn it off." Riley suggested, still unconcerned.
"Even when it is cloaked? How can optics pick up anything through a cloak. It can't be telepathic like a ghost!" Darrin asked. When he had studied the Protoss he had avoided specific study of their machinery, the riddle of how it can see through the cloak had not even been considered by him until now.
The Ghost program needed telepaths for covert operations involving personnel cloaking due to the simple fact that light passed right through the cloaking field and did not register on the retinas. Any normal person could use personnel cloaking, but being able to see would be a problem. After entering the Ghost program, telepaths were trained to use their clairvoyant abilities to the utmost. The process involved focusing sensory information from the area around them onto their retinal tissues. Something resembling normal vision could be obtained. Occular implants were developed to enhance the effect, allowing for a larger field of vision. When sighting for tactical nuclear weapons, this was an obvious benefit.
"That had me going for a while too." Riley admitted. "I found a tiny warp field generator that essentially teleports photons from just ouside the cloaking field, reads their wavelength and vector, then discharges them on the same vector, much like the sensor pod on a Wraith, but much more compact with virtually no delay." He added. Riley was relieved that the discussion had turned technical, it was beginning to ease the tensions in the crowded dropship.
"I'll keep an eye on it. Heck, I can use it to keep an eye on a lot of things." Darrin conceded. The probe emitted an upbeat 'sprong'.
They soon arrived at Beta base. Another morning of debriefings would follow. Mention of Riley's activities during the Zerg attack were few, and glazed over very quickly. Whoever Riley was, Darrin imagined he carried quite a bit of weight within the UED. After a much needed day of rest, he would research his samples in earnest.
When Darrin returned to his lab at the Beta installation's science facility, he noticed an SCV crew finishing up construction on a Physics Lab. He thought that this was particularly odd since they had just finished the science facility a couple of weeks ago. Darrin wondered why one was needed now.
The Physics Lab typically housed facilities for building particle accelerators necessary for the drive and weapons systems of battlecruisers. The massive battlecruisers required antimatter drives and the devastating Yamato cannon was nothing more than antimatter bottled up in a magnetic enclosure until it could no longer be contained. The antimatter was then hurled out of its containment towards the target in a decaying magnetic bubble, which broke up on impact.
Particle physics was not Darrin's field, but even he was able to tell that this was no ordinary physics lab. Curiosity and his inherent opportunism overrode his fear of the Protoss machine he was in constant contact with. He asked it to cloak and inspect the construction more closely. It found that there was a hard line conduit that ran directly to the Engineering Bay. This was very odd. His suspicions were confirmed when Riley emerged from the Engineering Bay to survey the work. He asked the probe to move in for a close up. Riley was carrying a large polished steel cylinder. It appeared very heavy, Riley was carrying it with both arms. For the first time he was actually thankful for having the probe around. Maybe he could use it to get some answers that he would not otherwise get the chance to, thanks to his silent witness that would never leave his sight, even if it killed him.
To be continued…
"I don't suppose you know what he is doing?" Darrin asked his newfound spy. Text flashed across his visor.
DATA DOES NOT EXIST FOR THIS SITUATION.
'So much for autonomous thought.' Darrin mused to himself. The heavily modified Protoss machine supplied its view on the subject, almost on queue.
FROM WHAT I CAN OBSERVE, IT IS LIKELY THAT COMMAND AND CONTROL FUNCTIONS FOR THE ATTACHED BUILDING RESIDE IN THE ENGINEERING BAY.
Darrin was slightly curious as to how the machine was familiar with Terran terminology. He guessed it was probably programmed with the information before its mission to infiltrate the Inquisitor. Riley had now returned to the Engineering Bay. Darrin advised the probe to return to him and drop its cloak. Darrin made his way into the science facility and to his lab. The machine followed. Darrin was starting to get used to the superimposed view of his own back.
Darrin's first order of business would be classification of the samples. He took careful note of where they were collected from when he was inside the Zerg structure, which could yield additional clues as to their purpose.
After many days of study, Darrin discovered a number of interesting facts about the Zerg structure. The most interesting discovery was made from the sludge collected from the bottom that appeared to be waste products. The sludge consisted of billions upon billions of failed attempts at producing more resilient carapace, claw, and muscle cellular structures. No two cells were exactly alike. The structure was capable of accelerating natural evolutionary processes at insane speeds. What should have taken many thousands of years was happening in days. During his examination Darrin did not detect any cognitive portion of the structure, he could only guess that the processes underway in the 'evolution chamber' were controlled by a ruling Cerebrate or hatchery. Some external influence was deciding when the process produced a success, then a retrovirus capable of inserting the new genetic material into the existing Zerg brood was produced. The virus was distributed into the area via the bellows near the top of the Evolution Chamber. The creatures would assimilate the new genetic code over only a few days. Slight variations between the various broods and the need to adapt to specific environments meant that these changes needed to be evolved for each brood and each new location the Zerg chose to occupy.
Darrin entered the data into the Science Facility computers, along with some theories on the Zerg's origins. He concluded that no human technology could have possibly produced a feat of genetic engineering this complex, thus dispelling the theory that the early Terran Confederates had bred the creatures themselves. Confederate data stores many years old had been recovered by the UED suggesting this, but the Confederates had merely been breeding rouge Zerg to use as a weapon. Darrin's UED expedition had some fair relations with the Protoss on Grimatryon III until they had attacked seemingly without provocation. During this time he had the opportunity to study the Protoss, mostly on a social level. There had been few opportunities for biological studies. Darrin concluded that as advanced as the Protoss are, they would have been unable or even unwilling to produce something like the Zerg. They had not even realized the true power or potential of their robotic machines. Darrin was coming to terms with this more and more every day. Much greater powers than the Protoss were at work here.
Quin Lu San was Beta command's acting ComSat officer. Darrin had met him briefly before when Alpha base's comsat was being built. Together they were able to choose some fairly probable sites for any existing Zerg habitations. Quin Lu charged up the ComSat's dish for the first scan. The ComSat ground station supplied the energy required to scan an area by beaming it in microwave form to an orbiting sattelite. The beam was fairly powerful, so can only be kept up for a few seconds on a single scan. The sattelite consisted of a giant reflector and a data transponder. When the sattelite received the microwave beam, it would redirect it to the area that was to be scanned. Terrain and objects in the area would reflect some of the energy back. The sattelite would then pick up the reflected energy readings and transmit the data back to the ComSat station. So much energy was involved that nothing, not even cloaked ships and buried Zerg could avoid reflecting any of the energy and revealing their
presence for a short time. The microwave beam would also ionize particles in the upper atmosphere and on the ground, creating an optical scintillation that was visible with the naked eye. Even without any form of electronic detection, you knew when you were being scanned by a ComSat.
Quin Lu pointed out an interesting formation to Darrin. In a valley that was thought to have been cleansed of Zerg, a single structure remained amongst remnants of others that had been destroyed. The structure was fairly large and looked like a huge purple tube stacked up against a red tube. The mass was connected by various smaller pieces. During the period of active scanning, it almost appeared to pulsate slightly. The structure had very little creep surrounding it, indicating that there were no other Zerg structures nearby that produce it. The scan did not reveal any Zerg creatures in the area at the time. Darrin concluded that this would be a prime target to investigate. He would need some time to raise an expeditionary team to help him examine the structure. It was some distance away. On a planet this size even a dropship would take a while to get there.
Darrin was able to get permission to examine the Zerg structure, provided he had ample combat support. The Beta base commander had assembled a force that should be able to handle any skirmishes that could occur with Zerg forces. They conscripted eight marines, four firebats, and two medics for combat support. For some odd reason, Riley insisted on coming along. He had built a new mobile scouting drone and wanted to test it in the field. How Riley was able to get permission to accompany his team was making Darrin wonder how much influence a simple tech would have. He would be in his custom SCV in case maintenance was needed on any equipment. Utilizing three dropships, Darrin's team and equipment left plenty of room for specimens. The Inquisitor would also be supporting the expeditionary force.
The flight to the Zerg site was an interesting experience. Darrin chose a compact environmental suit, offering little protection but increased mobility over the combat suits that marines wore. The dropship Darrin was strapped into was also being used by Riley. He was in his custom SCV, clamped to the jump rail. The scouting drone with him was rather odd. It seemed cobbled together from bits of junk and was quite disfigured looking. Almost purposefully so. A combat medic had also chosen to ride in this dropship. Darrin could not see her face clearly from his seat on the ship, but could clearly see where her armor suit had been breached right in the chest. It had been patched over and repainted. The last person on board Darrin's ship was Cheif Harle, 'Captain Cardboard' himself.
Darrin was not entirely sure of Harle's military rank, but it was sufficient to lead a squad of marines on an expedition such as this one. Harle was bad enough as Chief of security on the Inquisitor. If fighting broke out, Darrin would have to follow his orders. Every once in a while during the ride, Harle would glance over toward Riley, then quickly dart his vision away when Riley noticed he was looking. Darrin also thought it was odd that Harle did not choose to fly with his men. Darrin did not like the military way of life, but if he had to command men who would follow his orders, possibly to their deaths, he would at least want to know them.
After a final ComSat scan was ordered of the area they finally set down outside the Zerg structure in question. Up close it was much larger than Darrin at first assumed. It was the size of a small barracks. He began unloading his equipment. Riley pitched in to help, his SCV handling much of the labor.
Harle set his troops on patrol around the area, then retrieved his C-10 canister rifle from the dropship. He took up a position behind Darrin and Riley as they unloaded their equipment.
Darrin set up a static scan of the structure. After a few minutes of assembly he was able to get an image of the interior of the Zerg structure. He was able to determine the most promising areas to collect samples from. Now came the part Darrin could enjoy. He turned to Harle.
"I'll need you and a couple of your men, we're going in." Darrin said casually.
"In?" Harle asked. "In WHERE?" he added, genuinely confused.
Darrin turned to glance at the Zerg structure.
"You have GOT to be fuckin' kidding!" Harle shouted. He looked worried now. Darrin turned away, barely containing his laughter.
"Until a combat situation occurs, I believe I'm in command here, and we need to go inside to collect samples." Darrin said, still trying to contain his laughter. Harle looked like he was about to drop his cargo on the spot. Darrin turned to Riley.
"Cut it open here." Darrin said, pointing to the diagram on the portable scanner. "The tissue will start to regenerate after you cut into it. Build a frame around the opening so it won't close up." He added.
Riley thrusted his SCV over to the side of the structure and began to cut. Liquid ran from the opening that was being produced, collecting in a pool under Riley's SCV. Darrin walked over and collected a sample of the liquid as it ran off. The whole structure began to gurgle and wobble around a bit. Harle appeared to be turning white. He slumped off to round up some of his men.
Darrin labeled the sample tube and stuck it in a pouch on his suit's waistband. He stuck his head into the opening. The light from his helmet lamp disappeared into a maze of sinews and bulbous formations. There would be room to move around if the sinews could be cut.
"Riley, when you're done with that I'm going to need something to cut my way through. We have sinews in here about two to three inches in diameter, soft tissue" Darrin explained. "Maybe some cleats and claws to climb with too." He added. Riley had just finished erecting a metal frame around the opening in the structure.
"I have enough soup for a pair of cutters and two sets of climbing gear, plus a bit left over for later." Riley advised. "I made the framework from pipe instead of solid pieces to save soup." He added, beginning work on the cutters.
Everyone in the UED, even civilian consultants, received training in basic SCV operations. The machine was the backbone of the entire Terran military operation. Specs resident in the SCV's computer were enough to build and repair most basic structures from a supply depot all the way to a command center. A true master of the SCV could also construct simple parts and machinery without any specs at all. Darrin wasn't very good in one, but he knew enough to realize that Riley was a master. He had fabricated the cutters and climbing gear in about two minutes. Riley even set his cutting torch to the exact temperature to apply a temper the cutters. Such mastery was quite rare. Riley was getting to be even more of a puzzle. Darrin was beginning to wonder if there was anything he could NOT do. Riley's sensor drone hovered about near the opening. Darrin thought that Riley wanted a different view of the process, but did not actually notice him giving the drone any commands or controlling it.
"W-we're ready" Harle stuttered, his men assembled behind him. Darrin could notice a marine mouth something to a comrade without speaking. Half the marines were beginning to chuckle quietly.
"You can relax, Harle." Darrin proclaimed. "I won't need you to go in. A couple of firebats should be plenty, I don't think anything in there is going to surprise us. According to the scan it is just a bunch of nodules of liquid and a lot of sinews holding it together." He reassured. Harle did indeed seem to relax a bit. Darrin did not want him off his game if a combat situation did ensue. Harle assigned him two firebats for support.
"Stand just inside the opening. Keep an eye on my position and the opening constantly if you can." He instructed one of the firebats. "Put these on and follow me." Darrin said, handing a set of claws and cleats to the second firebat. The soldier clipped the cleats onto his boots and put the claws over the palm of his gloves. This was a school field trip for Darrin, but he realized that Harle's men were probably getting a bit freaked out. They just showed it less than their commander. Darrin decided that some small talk might make them a bit less nervous. He opened a second comm channel to his firebat team.
"So who are you guys and where are you from?" Darrin asked, using the cutters to clip through sinews. He tucked a few bits of sinew into a sample container to add to his collection. There was now enough room for all three to enter to Zerg structure.
"I'm private Akeem Mahalla, I'm from Mars. My family is from India on Earth. Almost everyone on this trip is from the core worlds." The firebat following Darrin added. "After fighting the 'toss on Grimatryon III I just moved on with the rest of the troops."
"I'm private Lance Henderson. I'm from Idaho. My brother brought me out here. He's outside with Harle. What is the deal with that guy anyway?" Akeem's friend added, watching the opening to the structure.
"He was chief of security on the Inquisitor. He ran a pretty tight security team on the ship. I think things are just getting a bit weird for him now. A Dark Templar had been hiding out on the ship, waiting for a chance to kill me." Darrin explained.
"Holy shit! how the hell did he get on there?" Lance asked excitedly.
As Darrin climbed about and drew samples of liquid from nodules within the structure, he had enough time to explain how the Dark Templar had gotten access to the ship and how they fought it off. By the time he was done, Darrin had collected over two dozen samples from various areas. Near the top of the structure he noticed that the nodules of liquid were replaced by huge bellows connected to tubes protruding from the top of the structure. As he was preparing to leave, he noticed near the 'floor' of the structure there was a large depression where a large pool of liquid slowly seeped into the ground. He dipped into the pool and took a large sample. It appeared to consist of many different colors and viscosities of liquid. He was finished collecting samples.
"LaCross!" Harle barked over the command channel.
"Darrin here. What's up?" Darrin asked, tucking the last sample into his pack.
"The Inquisitor is reporting a large pack of Zerg heading toward this area at high speed. About two dozen Lings, several Hydras and a Lurker. We need to get out of here NOW!" Harle shouted.
"I'm going to need some time to get out of here. Can you hold them off for a couple of minutes?" Darrin asked. He was a bit worried, he wasn't sure if Harle's forces would be enough to hold off the attack. "Ask the Inquisitor to irradiate that lurker. You might be able to fend off the rest of the pack if it is gone." Darrin suggested. He began to climb over a large lump of tissue on the way back to the opening. Darrin heard Harle bark out some orders to his squad over the command channel before he cut the channel, but did not receive any confirmation that his suggesting had been followed. If that Lurker was allowed to reach them and burrow then they would all die.
"Riley, this is Darrin. What the hell is going on out there?" Darrin asked, making his way over the lump. Lance wasn't far behind him.
"Riley here. Harle's troops are trenching in right in front of you. Firebats are taking point, marines and medics are in the trench behind them." Riley explained. "There is an overlord coming up in visual range. They are going to be here any minute. You coming out yet?" Riley asked hopefully.
"Not quite yet, It will be another minute or so." Darrin admitted. "I think we need to get ready to fight. I have an idea. Rip that frame out from the opening and let it close." Darrin added, climbing over the last node of tissue on the way to the opening.
"Oh CRAP!" Riley exclaimed. "Harle just had the Inquisitor irradiate the damned Overlord. That isn't going to do any good. We're Lurker meat now!" Riley cursed. He could hear the sound of the zerglings charging. The Overlord started to retreat, then imploded with an audible 'piff' and crashed to the ground. Radioactive energy dissipated into the air. Riley reached down with his SCV's armored gauntlet and ripped the framework free from the opening.
"Tell Harle to hit the Lurker first. It can't hurt anyone if it is not buried." Darrin added. He had reached the entrance. Lance was making his way over the last obstacle.
"Akeem, prep your flamer and keep it trained outside here. Put the barrel through the opening." Darrin said, pointing to the flap that was beginning to seal. "Lance, I'll cut an opening here and you get ready to flame 'em on my signal." Darrin commanded, beginning to cut a small hole in the wall of the structure. It was soon large enough for the flamer's barrel. Lance braced himself against the wall of the structure and eased his weapon through.
Harle was too busy commanding his troops to even notice Riley trying to get his attention. The Zerg attack force was coming into view. The sound of Hydralisk spines zipping through the air was punctuated by several sharp screams of pain as the spines ripped through body armor, trailing blood in a stop motion slideshow illuminated by the visible flashing of the medics' tissue regeneration units as they healed the marines' wounds. Several Hydralisks began to tear into pieces in fits of hissing as gauss rifle rounds rained onto them. These Hydralisks appeared to be moving much quicker than Hydras that Riley had seen before. Riley cranked his SCV's torch to maximum output and prepared to fight.
Harle ordered his troops to open fire. They were concentrating fire on the Hydras. Harle had taken up a position behind his troops, firing rounds from his C-10 canister rifle into the fray. The grenades exploded in the mass of approaching zerglings, momentarily knocking a couple off balance with the grenade's concussive force. Riley was glad to see that Harle at least knew how to use his weapon and was not afraid to fight. His skill as a commander remained questionable though.
The approaching mass of Zerglings reached the trench line as the firebats unleashed waves of flame in front of them. Bits of hardened carapace splattered as superheated limbs from zerglings exploded in fury of the attack. Darrin ordered the firebats in the Zerg structure with him to fire their weapons. More Zerglings perished as tongues of flame lashed out from the Zerg's own structure. Some of the Hydralisks and Zerglings turned to attack the structure. The Zerglings were also much quicker than previous battles. The proceeded to encircle the area.
The Zerglings were not perceived as a threat to humans when they were first discovered. Before humans had engaged them in battle it was theorized that their teeth and claws were not capable of penetrating infantry battle suits. Only after humanity realized the destructive power these small beasts possessed did they begin to fear the Zerg. The Zergling would use its powerful jaws and irregularly shaped teeth to secure itself to its target, then proceed to rake it with powerful claws. The creature would rear up with its back claws and rake softer targets with them. Harder targets could be penetrated by swinging the front claws overhead in an arc, gaining acceleration as they struck. The fine pointed claw on the foreleg could penetrate armor on even the toughest of Terran land vehicles.
The marines had reached a state of disarray when the Zerglings began to attack them. The attack was much quicker than expected. One firebat had been completely ripped apart as a pair of Zerglings jumped him. The fuel from his flamer pack had leaked onto the ground, starting a small conflagration. Other soldiers were not faring too well either. The frantic flashing of tissue regenerators continued to strobe the battle scene. Flamers continued to whoosh over the attackers as Zerglings ran in circles, dodging gauss rifle fire. A Zergling had made its way to Riley.
The Zergling leaped up at Riley and sank its teeth into the roll cage surrounding the SCV's helmet. The raking of claws created a deafening rattle in Riley's helmet. He brought his torch to bear against the creature, trying to damage its head. The bulky and unresponsive SCV was making a counterattack quite difficult. The Zergling finally quit thrashing about, its body charred badly by the SCV's torch. Riley peeled it off and tossed it to the ground, adding the boot of his SCV to its head just in case. His armor was badly damaged and the SCV was in poor shape.
"Darrin!" Riley shouted over his comm link. "How breathable is this atmosphere?" He asked.
"You can breathe it, just not for too long. The air is a bit thinner than normal, and the CO2 level is pretty high. Acidosis will set in after a few minutes." Darrin advised. "Why do you ask?"
"I can't fight in this thing." Riley said, using his remaining soup to fashion a large pike. He worked on creating the weapon with blinding speed and precision. As soon as the weapon was completed, he flipped open the cover to the SCV. With only his jumpsuit and communication helmet, he was virtually naked against the enemy. He grabbed the pike from the SCV's grasp and proceeded toward the battle.
"Fight? What the heck are you talking about. How are you going to fight?" Darrin asked.
Harle had just dispatched a Zergling with his C-10 rifle that was attacking a medic. He looked toward Riley, who had leaped over to the entrenched position.
"Are you nuts? The dropships are almost here, retreat NOW, that's an order!" Harle yelled. The lurker had finally reached the battle area and was looking for a spot where it could burrow and extended its lethal tentacles.
"You have to kill that damn thing now!" Riley shouted. "Its going to rip us all apart!" He emphasized. A zergling tried to intervene, jumping up on Harle's battle suit. It quickly affixed its bite on Harle's left shoulder, then brought its rear claws up to attack.
Riley took a quick half step back from Harle and inserted his pike under the Zergling. He gave a precise half-twist of the handle, lodging the blade of the pike in the jaws of the zergling. He yanked the pike back, dislodging the creature from Harle's battle suit. He pulled the pike along the ground, with the Zergling still caught in the blade. Placing his foot on the thorax of the beast, Riley removed the pike with the same half twist, then brought it down into the Zergling's head to dispatch it. Harle stared on in shock. As a science vessel security chief, he was trained in the art of hand to hand combat. He had never seen such a precisely executed polearm attack. Glancing at the bloody blade of the pike, he also made a mental note of the craftsmanship of Riley's pike. It was extraordinary. This civilian was not just a mere technician. He decided to give Riley's view some consideration.
"Half my men are dead and the rest are close to it!" Harle shouted. "We can't stop that thing!" He admitted.
"It's too late to irradiate it now, have the Iquisitor matrix me. I have an idea." Riley said to Harle. The Lurker had found a place to burrow and was beginning to sink its tentacles into the ground. The marines had finished ridding themselves of the last of the zerglings. A couple of Hydralisks still scooted about a short distance from the battle, firing an occasional spine at the marines. The Zerg structure Darrin was investigating had taken heavy damage during the attack. With the combination of having its support sinews clipped and the damage, the whole thing had sagged over.
"Spread your men out and away from the Lurker. Concentrate fire on it. Get a position reading from the Inquisitor. When they feel the ground shake, have them dodge to the side, don't have them run away." Riley advised, stepping back a bit to receive the defensive matrix. Harle called in the defensive matrix support from the Inquisitor. A halo of energy surrounded him. He charged toward the Lurker as it completed burrowing.
The defensive matrix was a self-consuming storm of heavily ionized particles. Spheres of positive and negative ions annihilated each other, releasing energy. The negative sphere was attached to the unit receiving the defensive matrix. The positive sphere was placed around that. Any physical attack entering the junction of the spheres would create a type of electrical 'short circuit' resulting in the vaporization of the attack. Energy attacks were simply neutralized when they reached the junction. Any attack stopped in such a way decreased the amount of energy left in the spheres. It would eventually fail from enough attacks, or after about half a minute as energy was consumed or leaked to ground. Massive physical bodies such as the planet's surface would slowly 'ground off' the ions, allowing the soldier or vehicle to travel without destroying the protection.
Riley took three quick steps to the left as a huge armored plate sprang from the ground to his right. A scream erupted from behind him. Fire from gauss rifles streamed past him toward the target. The Hydralisks were now firing their spines at him. His sensor drone was following him. Particles from the spines that escaped annihilation in the defensive matrix lanced into his flesh. He winced in pain, charging on toward the Lurker's position. Another set of armored plates erupted from the ground, striking the defensive matrix beneath him. He fell from the impact, and he could also feel a sharp pain from his foot. It was bleeding heavily. He marched on despite the pain.
Reaching the Lurker's position. He held his pike and leaped into the air, planting it into the ground. A rumble could be heard. The sensor drone emitted a 'sprong' to Riley. He slowly backed away from the lurker, matching the edge of the defensive matrix with his pike. Suddenly, power arched from the defensive matrix and into the pike. It shattered in a shower of lightning and shards. The rumble beneath the ground reached a peak, then subsided completely. Riley collapsed into a bloody heap. A medic arrived to administer tissue regeneration while Harle and his marines finished off the Hydralisks. The Zerg threat had been abated, for the moment.
Now there was the matter of digging Darrin and his escorts from their makeshift bunker. It had collapsed into a large pile of muck.
For Darrin and Riley the dropship ride back to Beta base was spent in silence, interrupted by short bouts of turbulence. Darrin looked out a viewport at the small white star that served as the sun for HD144168. It had almost set. Darrin looked out at Harle and the other marines on the ship. They did not look back. Perhaps they were tired, mourning, or just wondering if what Darrin was looking for was worth the price they had been forced to pay. Darrin was beginning to wonder himself. He doubted if the data he was collecting would yield any clues to the fate of DuGalle and the rest of the UED fleet that was dispatched. If the previous UED fleet was destroyed by the Zerg, then maybe his research could help them avoid suffering the same fate. The overly territorial leftovers of the Confederacy were not of any help. Darrin had already collected evidence that the Zerg broods residing on this planet might be under their control. They had assisted in the attack on Alpha base, which was now being rebuilt.
Riley looked a bit tired out, a delayed side effect of tissue regeneration. He did need it though. Small cuts and a few not so small wounds had peppered his body. What remained of Riley's custom SCV had been piled in with them, along with his sensor drone. The machine lay still at Riley's feet. Darrin felt some conversation might ease the tensions, or at least get him some information.
"What is that thing anyway?" Darrin asked Riley, darting his gaze down at the sensor drone.
"You could say it's an old friend." Riley replied. He loosened his straps a bit and leaned over toward the SCV, retrieving a small headset with a visor. He handed it to Darrin. "Put this on."
Darrin put on the headset and flipped the visor over his eyes. He noticed there was a microphone pickup on the earpiece as well. A view from the drone was superimposed over his vision.
"What is the mic for?" Darrin asked. The reply was a bit unexpected. Text filled his field of vision, Darrin reeled a bit from the ghostly green characters appearing before his view.
IT IS FOR TALKING TO ME. I AM STILL WITH YOU, DARRIN LACROSS.
Darrin knew what he was talking to. He began to feel a bit uneasy. He turned to Riley.
"You were supposed to scrap this thing." Darrin commented. He suddenly realized the machine was listening. "No offense to you, of course." He added.
NONE TAKEN. I EXIST FOR A PURPOSE, AND SO DO YOU.
"I was able to make other arrangements." Riley replied matter-of-factly.
"How? Admiral Hadrick himself gave the order. There is no one in the UED force here that outranks him." Darrin asked, a bit puzzled. Chief Harle's glance shot towards them from the front of the ship.
"Like you I have a specific mission that needs to be completed. Our goals are not too far off from each other. I can't say much more than that right now. Let's just say I made previous arrangements and leave it at that." Darrin explained. "The probe and observer are going to help us both." He added. Chief Harle appeared as if he was about to speak, then he turned away again. Darrin glanced back at the machine. It looked a bit larger than the probe in the lab. More ghostly green text flashed onto his visor.
YOU NEED TO DISCOVER HOW THE ZERG ARE GROWING MORE POWERFUL. THEY THREATEN THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF AIUR AS WELL AS TERRANS.
"It is saying I need to find out how the Zerg are growing stronger." Darrin relayed to Riley.
"It wasn't until the attack on Alpha base that I realized myself they were a bit stronger. It's no secret now that I have had some combat experience. The Zerg we fought today were stronger, faster, and a lot more resilient than they were then. Their power has grown that much in only a few weeks." Riley explained. Chief Harle glanced over once again.
"I think the samples I collected can tell us something about how they are increasing their strength." Darrin replied. He looked down at the flat black finished machine again. "What did you do to the probe?" He asked.
"I convinced it that we would need to modify it to look like something else so as not to draw fire in combat. In the process I managed to combine some of the elements from both the probe and the observer. I merged the two shield generators so the unit can withstand a bit more damage than the probe alone. The cloaking field from the observer can still operate, but the probe and observer combined have too much mass for the cloak to stay on for long, the cloaking unit drains the shield when it is on. It is also a bit slower, the gravitic drive was optimized for the mass of the observer. It suffers a bit with the extra mass. It can still outrun this ship though." Riley explained. "The Protoss have extraordinary craftmanship, but they have not fully realized the potential of their machines." He added.
"At least they can build a machine that can think without having it blow half of them to hell." Darrin snapped. No human needed to be reminded of the reason why there were no autonomous machines used in combat anymore. "Is this thing still armed?" He asked nervously. Harle was still watching and he appeared nervous as well.
"I'm afraid so. I couldn't remove the warp field generator without totally disable the drive system. As far as I can tell, it has access to several warp ID tags as well as its inherent offensive capability. Not only that, I had Bartleby dig up another Scarab drone from the disarmed ordinance. See that hemisphere under the unit?" Riley asked, pointing at the probe. "It has one in there. Like it or not, it is going to be our combat support when we can't get any help from command." Riley added. Darrin stared at the machine.
"It could kill us all right now if it wanted to." Darrin stated, looking down at the machine.
I SAID I WOULD NOT DO SO BEFORE I WAS REBUILT. YOU MUST SURVIVE. I WILL HELP YOU.
"Oh, how refreshing, it's saying it won't kill us because it promised it wouldn't" Darrin relayed, sarcasm evident in his voice.
"Unlike us, the Protoss machines do not appear to be able to lie." Riley replied. This did nothing to appease Darrin's uneasiness.
"It killed one of its own. A 'Son of Aiur' died because of it." Darrin accused. "As soon as it finds out what it needs to, it is going to kill me like it was supposed to do the first time!" He vented. A loud 'sprong' erupted from the machine. It levitated a bit higher from the floor of the dropship. Chief Harle reached for his canister rifle, keeping an eye on the proceedings. Riley did not appear to be concerned.
THERE WAS NO TIME. G'THARR WOULD HAVE DONE THE SAME THING GIVEN THE CIRCUMSTANCES. I DO NOT KNOW WHY HE WAS SENT FOR YOU. I AM SURE YOU ARE OF MORE VALUE TO THEM ALIVE.
"Back off, Harle. It won't hurt anyone." Riley snapped. Chief Harle slung his weapon, but still appeared wary of the machine.
"It says the 'toss think I would be worth more alive than dead now. How do we know for sure?" Darrin asked, his voice was still shaking a bit.
"Keep the visor. It is linked directly to the observer's optics. You can see what it is doing at any time and it can't turn it off." Riley suggested, still unconcerned.
"Even when it is cloaked? How can optics pick up anything through a cloak. It can't be telepathic like a ghost!" Darrin asked. When he had studied the Protoss he had avoided specific study of their machinery, the riddle of how it can see through the cloak had not even been considered by him until now.
The Ghost program needed telepaths for covert operations involving personnel cloaking due to the simple fact that light passed right through the cloaking field and did not register on the retinas. Any normal person could use personnel cloaking, but being able to see would be a problem. After entering the Ghost program, telepaths were trained to use their clairvoyant abilities to the utmost. The process involved focusing sensory information from the area around them onto their retinal tissues. Something resembling normal vision could be obtained. Occular implants were developed to enhance the effect, allowing for a larger field of vision. When sighting for tactical nuclear weapons, this was an obvious benefit.
"That had me going for a while too." Riley admitted. "I found a tiny warp field generator that essentially teleports photons from just ouside the cloaking field, reads their wavelength and vector, then discharges them on the same vector, much like the sensor pod on a Wraith, but much more compact with virtually no delay." He added. Riley was relieved that the discussion had turned technical, it was beginning to ease the tensions in the crowded dropship.
"I'll keep an eye on it. Heck, I can use it to keep an eye on a lot of things." Darrin conceded. The probe emitted an upbeat 'sprong'.
They soon arrived at Beta base. Another morning of debriefings would follow. Mention of Riley's activities during the Zerg attack were few, and glazed over very quickly. Whoever Riley was, Darrin imagined he carried quite a bit of weight within the UED. After a much needed day of rest, he would research his samples in earnest.
When Darrin returned to his lab at the Beta installation's science facility, he noticed an SCV crew finishing up construction on a Physics Lab. He thought that this was particularly odd since they had just finished the science facility a couple of weeks ago. Darrin wondered why one was needed now.
The Physics Lab typically housed facilities for building particle accelerators necessary for the drive and weapons systems of battlecruisers. The massive battlecruisers required antimatter drives and the devastating Yamato cannon was nothing more than antimatter bottled up in a magnetic enclosure until it could no longer be contained. The antimatter was then hurled out of its containment towards the target in a decaying magnetic bubble, which broke up on impact.
Particle physics was not Darrin's field, but even he was able to tell that this was no ordinary physics lab. Curiosity and his inherent opportunism overrode his fear of the Protoss machine he was in constant contact with. He asked it to cloak and inspect the construction more closely. It found that there was a hard line conduit that ran directly to the Engineering Bay. This was very odd. His suspicions were confirmed when Riley emerged from the Engineering Bay to survey the work. He asked the probe to move in for a close up. Riley was carrying a large polished steel cylinder. It appeared very heavy, Riley was carrying it with both arms. For the first time he was actually thankful for having the probe around. Maybe he could use it to get some answers that he would not otherwise get the chance to, thanks to his silent witness that would never leave his sight, even if it killed him.
To be continued…
"I don't suppose you know what he is doing?" Darrin asked his newfound spy. Text flashed across his visor.
DATA DOES NOT EXIST FOR THIS SITUATION.
'So much for autonomous thought.' Darrin mused to himself. The heavily modified Protoss machine supplied its view on the subject, almost on queue.
FROM WHAT I CAN OBSERVE, IT IS LIKELY THAT COMMAND AND CONTROL FUNCTIONS FOR THE ATTACHED BUILDING RESIDE IN THE ENGINEERING BAY.
Darrin was slightly curious as to how the machine was familiar with Terran terminology. He guessed it was probably programmed with the information before its mission to infiltrate the Inquisitor. Riley had now returned to the Engineering Bay. Darrin advised the probe to return to him and drop its cloak. Darrin made his way into the science facility and to his lab. The machine followed. Darrin was starting to get used to the superimposed view of his own back.
Darrin's first order of business would be classification of the samples. He took careful note of where they were collected from when he was inside the Zerg structure, which could yield additional clues as to their purpose.
After many days of study, Darrin discovered a number of interesting facts about the Zerg structure. The most interesting discovery was made from the sludge collected from the bottom that appeared to be waste products. The sludge consisted of billions upon billions of failed attempts at producing more resilient carapace, claw, and muscle cellular structures. No two cells were exactly alike. The structure was capable of accelerating natural evolutionary processes at insane speeds. What should have taken many thousands of years was happening in days. During his examination Darrin did not detect any cognitive portion of the structure, he could only guess that the processes underway in the 'evolution chamber' were controlled by a ruling Cerebrate or hatchery. Some external influence was deciding when the process produced a success, then a retrovirus capable of inserting the new genetic material into the existing Zerg brood was produced. The virus was distributed into the area via the bellows near the top of the Evolution Chamber. The creatures would assimilate the new genetic code over only a few days. Slight variations between the various broods and the need to adapt to specific environments meant that these changes needed to be evolved for each brood and each new location the Zerg chose to occupy.
Darrin entered the data into the Science Facility computers, along with some theories on the Zerg's origins. He concluded that no human technology could have possibly produced a feat of genetic engineering this complex, thus dispelling the theory that the early Terran Confederates had bred the creatures themselves. Confederate data stores many years old had been recovered by the UED suggesting this, but the Confederates had merely been breeding rouge Zerg to use as a weapon. Darrin's UED expedition had some fair relations with the Protoss on Grimatryon III until they had attacked seemingly without provocation. During this time he had the opportunity to study the Protoss, mostly on a social level. There had been few opportunities for biological studies. Darrin concluded that as advanced as the Protoss are, they would have been unable or even unwilling to produce something like the Zerg. They had not even realized the true power or potential of their robotic machines. Darrin was coming to terms with this more and more every day. Much greater powers than the Protoss were at work here.
