Warning! This fic contains language and material that may not be suitable
for younger readers so if you go off and kill a bunch of people you can't blame
that impulse on this fic! You've had fair warning.
StarCraft: Heritage By Admiral Kelley
Chapter 2: v 1.0
Story Consultations by: SCUZ, Gene Este, and Bob the Conqueror
Beta reading by: Gene Este, SCUZ, and Epsilon
Legal Crap: You will note that the Author of this story, CINCADFDODT Admiral Johnathan Kelley, is a man of honor and integrity and that as such anything in this fic that he does not own does not belong to him. Everything else is claimed as intellectual property of Admiral Johnathan Kelley. Were you to violate his unique outlook on copyright law he would give you a lesson in honor and integrity by systematically beating your bones into dust with an ice pick before disemboweling you with a spoon. You should trust us when we say it will be a lesson that you will never forget, much less survive. Now that we've gotten the legal crap out of the way we encourage you to sit back, relax, and enjoy "StarCraft: Heritage" by Admiral Kelley and you're encouraged to review with either an honest outlook or a creative lie depending upon the content of your review.
Technical Side note: Please notice that I've taken the liberty of "creatively interpreting" the technologies and capabilities of the SC races, getting each one to fight harder, smarter, and to add to their overall badass factor. Futile attempts to lynch me for this will result in unfavorable encounters with a species more dreaded than the Zerg, more cunning than the Terrans, and more invincible than the Protoss, I am of course talking about the FFN admin. Enjoy…
*******************
"In the End, we will remember not the words of our
enemies, but the silence of our friends. " - Martin Luther King Jr
Pure white oblivion, like noting he had ever sensed before touched his consciousness. Well, that wasn't all together true. He'd been through such things similar to this in the past, like the time early in his existence when he'd gotten sloppy with his Hive's defenses and ended up with a Terran nuclear missile bombardment mere meters away. That had stung very badly but even that was no comparison to what he was sensing now.
Through the eyes of his minions he could see absolutely nothing, feel absolutely nothing. Then he could see a dark spot form in the center of that nothingness, could sense it grow in size and complexity. Soon the dark spot became a window through which he could see the very fabric of the universe and from which he could move anywhere he pleased.
But then the picture started to blur, swirl, and distort until it was once again white nothingness and with it came that very familiar feeling of a nuclear blast. No, no, not again, I was so close! From his dug in observation area some distance away Ko'z switched to an Overlord so as to fully witness this latest failed attempt at ripping open the fabric of time.
The honeycombed dome structure flashed, sending out a powerful shockwave that knocked anything within a short radius to the ground. It's intense blue glow soon reverted back to it's powered down sate, and only the occasional pulses of energy made it visible in Aiur's night sky.
Ko'z mentally relaxed, he'd been playing around with this newest of toys for quite some time and it was starting to drain him. Six of his best Hydralisks had been there conducting the actual labor portion of his experiment, Ko'z commanded the nearest Drones to cease resource gathering for the time being and clean up the mess to make way for the next group. The controls for the machine were simple, Ko'z had come to learn but they were extremely sensitive and the settings to create a stable rift had to be just so. Ko'z knew he would get it eventually but for now he decided to review one of his other experiments, one that was less important but far more interesting.
His third invasion attempt of Shakuras had, as expected, failed to conquer the planet and slay the Protoss. What his minions had managed to do was field test a few new tactics he'd conjured, most of which had worked beautifully until the Protoss got back on their feet. Ko'z knew he'd technically been thwarted but he didn't know precisely how, he had been forced to suspend his supervision of the last battle after he lost the ability to command effectively and had to get back to his experiments with the Xel'Naga temple. Luckily the records of the final battle were in one of his escorting Overlords and now he could review it while he waited for the Temple to be readied.
Executor Taron, it has to be him. This plan of attack has his putrid stench smeared all over it There were many Protoss who had acquired a reputation among Cerebrates to go with their names. Some, like Zeratul or Artanis, instilled a sense of fear and uneasiness among his kind while others, especially Taron, released nothing but pure and unrestrained rage. It was well known among Kerrigan's broods that Ko'z had set aside a nice little spot in his own personal Hell for Taron when he finally managed to do away with him, which did not seem to be any time in the near future, many would say when they thought Ko'z wasn't listening.
According to information the Swarm had stolen during a peek into the psionic gestalt of the Protoss Taron had ascended to the rank of Executor after the Conclave expulsed Tassadar, another name that could send Cerebrates into a fury, on the charge of being a heretic. Taron had led his forces with great vigor, always staying one step ahead of the Swarm. He'd been the mastermind behind crippling the Zerg invasion at Antioch, and he had later led the rebellion against the Conclave under Tassadar and Fenix. But these were not the acts for which he was hated; it was because he had been the one leading the Protoss/Terran strike force that penetrated the Overmind's defenses that his brethren cursed that name.
In the grand scheme of things Ko'z was extremely young, but that did not make him a fool. He had, and continued, to learn from the best of the Swarm's examples to better make him equipped in his primary goal, the one set forth by the Overmind upon his birth, to protect Kerrigan. Though it had never been said Ko'z knew that the Overmind had known he would perish upon Aiur, and that the heir to the Swarm would be Kerrigan. Ko'z remembered quite vividly the recent events surrounding the new Overmind, and how at first Kerrigan had been overjoyed to learn that her father would be returning, but that was before the accursed UED had shown itself in Koprulu and taken the infant by force, bending it to their will and causing permanent damage.
Ko'z had been by Kerrigan's side when they had contacted the creature to see if it could be saved. That day was one of great regrets, the creature they saw was obviously not the Overmind, and because of the UED's tinkering it never could be. It had been the turning point for Kerrigan, as she had then "enlisted" the help of the Dark Templar so as to slay that abomination and give her uncontested control of the Swarm, and with it she had sought revenge for her now twice slain father by overwhelming the remains of the UED Expedition and clamping down on this sector to ensure no more outside powers would be coming to interfere with the rebuilding of the Swarm, there could be no distractions as they bled this sector dry and finally crushed those who would dare resist them.
Ko'z was slightly startled by a light poking at his side. During his deep
thought a Drone had come to tell him the preparations were complete on the
Temple and another attempt could be made. Ko'z ordered the minions that he'd
set aside into the Temple and once again began the long process of adjusting
the space-time continuum. Who knows? Maybe this time I shall get it right…
*******************
"Conn, Sensors, we have multiple incoming contacts on hostile vectors, I evaluate them as Zerg scourge." The man at sensors noticeably flinched as he read off the bearings of the closest ones. On the small veiwscreens above his station California could be seen beating a hasty retreat from the rapidly advancing Swarm. There were long tendrils of plasma leaking from the warp nacelles and a noticeable piece of the bow was missing. Beside her Providence blasted away with every gun battery it could bring to bear on their aggressors, every second or so there was an explosion mere meters away from her hull as her close in weapons system (CIWS) picked off the lingering scourge.
Racing directly behind the scourge was a solid wall of Guardian's, which was very bad news indeed. Ordinarily the Zerg did not delegate Guardians to anti-ship duties during battles within the gravitational field of a planet or even a platform simply because Guardians were incapable of lifting themselves up high enough to shoot at airborne targets, but in the weightless vacuum of space no such limitations were present, and their long range made them useful components in a battle, useful to the Swarm that is; Samson had come to hate the Guardians for the damage they could inflict upon his ships. Presently those Guardians were using the scourge to run interference while they got within firing range, and though scourge were easy to kill they ate up a lot of resources to keep at bay.
"Status on the Yamato canon?" Myers asked his Chief, a report from Tactical noted the weapon's generators were at 95%, not full, but full enough to fire the cannon with some effect. Damn I wish my XO was here Myers cursed under his breath. But unfortunately Archer was stuck in the Medical ward after banging his head hard enough to split it open.
"Sir Yamato cannon charged and ready in all respects, we have a solution on the Swarm's main axis of attack." Myers took all of this placidly, not letting his tensions show outwardly. After all, he didn't want to spook the crew did he?
"Execute Y-Strike, now, now, now!" For the second time that hour the lights aboard the Centurion dimmed and her most powerful weapon was fired in anger. The wave, set to wide spread by Tactical, spilled out over the Swarm, vaporizing the scourge that did not see it coming, and for that matter didn't care. Little green puffs added polka dots to the orange wave as it continued on, dissipating just short of the scattering Guardians. Damn…
"Sir, scourge threat has been momentarily neutralized, but the Guardians are regrouping." Samson frowned at that.
"Momentarily neutralized?" He asked.
"Aye sir," Master Chief Bond confirmed, "Providence reports strong evidence of a warp rift just outside the debris field with a river of Zerg spilling out."
"How close are we to minimum safe distance from the debris field for a warp jump?" Conn looked onto his display screen and quickly interpreted the scrolling numbers and read them off to Bond, who translated it for Samson.
"Six minutes sir if we gun the engines for all they're worth," Myers nodded to Bond and the Conning officer righted the ship on it's correct course, then sounded the warning alarm as Centurion went ahead at flank speed. Myers was sure the Medical ward would be full of people sporting nasty gashes from not grabbing onto the guardrails before the sudden acceleration.
"Follow me to CIC sir, Master Chief has the Conn" Myers said as he popped the hatch behind his command chair and slid down the ladder twenty feet into Centurion's combat command center where the real fighting was done. Dark, cramped, and illuminated only by the lights from the computer screens Samson had learned that here, Myers was really in his element.
"Port battery's open fire on the pursing guardians, starboard battery's clear the debris ahead of us, radio Providence and tell her to come to new course 2-3-9-4, standard two ship holding pattern," The men at their consoles calmly went to work, the eight turrets on Centurion's port side swiveled and began to automatically fire on the guardians with mixed accuracy, the deck shuddered even more underneath Samson's feet as the starboard turrets cleared anything ahead that set off Conn's proximity alarm.
Samson found his eyes glued to the main status display screen in the center of the room, the guardians were about to enter firing range and still had five minutes to go before they cleared the field. Centurion then got a little to close to some debris and jerked violently as the port nacelle scraped against a derelict behemoth.
"Port nacelle damaged but still functional," a light went on by the Comm officer indicating an incoming message, "Providence reports she is under fire from pursuing guardians, but no serious damage yet." Almost as if the radio call had been a signal warning klaxons began to blare as the hull reverberated with the explosive impact of condensed acid balls.
"Dedicate the CIWS to blocking as many of those shots as possible," Myers ordered before contacting Bond on the Bridge. Master Chief Bond listened for a moment and then asked for confirmation before addressing the Conning officer.
"Conn we don't have time to blast things out of our path and proceed ahead, keep thrusters amidships and try to dodge as much of that debris as you can, we're flying balls to the walls out of here."
"Aye sir," Conn gulped as he contemplated the obstacles ahead, "thrusters amidships, all ahead flank speed Aye."
"Comm, radio Providence and tell her to match our course and speed." Master Chief Bond settled back for a moment to bleed out his acquired stress. Keeping himself the calm center of the bridge could be nerve racking at times.
Back down in CIC Myers mulled over his next orders, "Bring all battery's to bear on our pursuers, try to nail them at a distance and ignore the ones who get too close. The CIWS should take care of them." The seconds passed like days, the minutes like months, and when Conn finally reported that the debris field was clearing Samson felt a hundred years older.
"We're clear of the debris field sir," Conn reported to Bond. He didn't even have to check his display screens to know that Providence was in much the same condition.
"Engage your warp drive now Mister!" Bond ordered making no attempt to hide the excitement in his voice. A simple twist of a lever and the stars ahead stretched into infinity for a brief second, then time aboard Centurion froze. It's return was heralded by a jolt that threw some people to their feet and slammed others against the nearest bulkhead.
Warp drives are designed for convenience, not comfort, a fact made especially true aboard military ships. "You know Chief," Samson declared as he shakily ascended the ladder back to the bridge, "maybe it's because I'm just a know nothing jarhead, but wouldn't it make sense to sound the acceleration alarm before going to warp?" Bond noticed the bruise on Samson's head from banging into his visor and smiled.
"Well sir, we wouldn't want to spoil the surprise would we? That'd take all the fun out of warp travel." Samson and rest of the bridge crew had a good chuckle at that and went back to work
"Stand down from General quarters," Myers ordered next as he came out right behind Samson, "and get me a damage assessment, Master Chief start rallying your boys and get some work crews going we banged ourselves up pretty good back there."
"Anything my Marines can do to help?" Samson asked.
"For the moment tell them to sit ti-" Myers never got to finish the rest of his sentence before Conn's proximity alarm started to blare. Then the deck beneath them lurched as something big crashed into the hull, then detonated, a danger whose factor was increased ten fold during warp travel.
"Hull breach along the bottleneck sir, switching to external camera," Tactical announced. Static flared brilliantly as the cameras adjusted their lenses to compensate for the interference warp travel created, when the picture finally came into focus Tactical almost wished the Zerg had taken out the camera. "It's an Overlord sir, strapped right onto our hull. It must've gotten in close when we were clearing the debris field."
"Evacuate the bottleneck and seal that whole area off," Myers turned to Samson, "well General it looks like we may have some work for your men after all."
"Happy to oblige," Samson replied as he jumped back down into CIC to orchestrate the security efforts. Samson had seen the interior shots of the Alexander and he'd be damned if he was just going to sit back and suffer the same fate.
*******************
It was, in layman's terms, simply known as an infestation. Oh sure, the scientists had probably come up with a much more impressive name while they piddled away in their labs but for the average grunt infestation sufficed. Sergeant Baxter had always seen himself as a man with at least some luck, seeing as how he'd been able to survive this long without meeting the business end of a scythe claw, but now he was beginning to have serious doubts about how good his good luck was. Every goddamn time I get out of dodge I slip and fall right back in!
Upon returning to Centurion Lieutenant Andrews had forked over the data core that contained what little information they'd gotten from the Alexander and then led them on the endless march through the bottle neck of the ship back to their barracks. Of course fate, being the bitch that it is, couldn't have just let them go without some sort of complication and so to accommodate Andrews and his men it'd done something that got the whole bottleneck sealed off from the rest of the ship.
Private Anderson had figured out that there were Zerg onboard long before the emergency call from the bridge, his proof in the form of a dead 'ling decomposing at his feet. Thanks to Anderson's not so brilliant revelation Andrews was now on the horn with Centurion's CIC, seeing what it was they were supposed to do here in the sealed off bottleneck that connected the bow and stern of the ship.
"The word's just come from above that hull was breeched by an Overlord. CIC thinks that a Queen got in through the gap and set up an infestation node somewhere along the bottleneck. The ship's internal defenses can hold them back for a little while but it won't be long before that Queen makes a nest and we drown in Zerg. Our orders are to find the node and kill it." The marines absorbed the information as they'd been trained to, skeptically.
"How are we gonna do that elltee?" Stevens voiced. "We were loaded pretty light for that salvage Op and them 'lings didn't help matters much."
"I recall there being an armory on this deck just around the corner, we should be able to stock up there." Baxter offered as he reviewed the latest internal sensors had to proffer on his HUD.
"Then that's where we're going sarge, Privates, cover our flank. Corporal, Sergeant you'll take point with me." The marines formed up into a rough two-man column and started forward, especially alert now that they knew there were Zerg about. Surprisingly they made it to the small armory without incident and found exactly what they'd need.
Andrews for his part, slipped out of his GI CMC armor and into Fire bat CMC. The improved protection and sensor suite suited the Lieutenant well and he took up defense while the rest of his marines frolicked through the guns like kids in a candy store. Baxter knew that this would be a serious close quarters situation and loaded his men up with M-32 shotgun as their primary weapons, gauss rifles were to be kept clamped on their backs until their shotgun became unfeasible or expended all of it's ammo.
"Squad loaded up and ready to go sir," Baxter reported. Andrews in his intimidating bulky red armor nodded and motioned ahead, to the long lit corridors that awaited them.
Now, be aware that Andrews and his men weren't the only one's stuck with the assignment of tracking down the Infestation node, no way in hell CIC was gonna let them have all the fun. At least two more platoons of men had been slipped into the bottleneck to search the other decks above and below Lt. Andrews and his Marines. They reported sparse contact with Zerg units, mostly 'lings and one or two Hydra's, but no sign of the telltale tentacles that marked an infestation in progress.
Crunch "Gawd that's some sick shit," Private Alden had been on point with Andrews when the first evidence of the node was discovered. At his feet was the corpse of a dead Spaceman, or to be precise the upper half of his corpse encased in a thick cover of slimy worm like tentacles that were slowly advancing.
"We would have the luck of being the one's to find it," Anderson observed with as much detachment as he could muster. The tentacles were spreading out of a bulkhead hatch; Anderson peeked through and saw that the growth had covered the lights for that corridor.
"This is it no doubt," Andrews agreed as soon as he himself managed to take a look. "I'll radio CIC and let them know, Sarge let's be ready to move quickly. I'm betting that the moment we step on those tentacles we'll have company." Everybody thought that the Lieutenant talked too much, but never said anything about it. The habit was assumed to come with the commission.
The hatch itself had been sealed during the evacuation of this area, and something had obviously broken through it leaving a gap between the two reinforced doors large enough for a Marine to get through and barley large enough for Andrews. Once inside each man flipped his visor down and looked ahead with his IR and night vision equipment. Sensors built into the hull of a Behemoth, originally designed to monitor environmental conditions such a heat and radiation, turned out to have a useful second purpose. The Zerg have an insanely voracious metabolism and their bodies generated loads of heat, easily picked up by the sensors.
Unfortunately the infestation itself also bled off a fair amount of heat thus making it hard to spot anything out, so the internal readings were used to give a fair prediction on weather or not there was anything ahead and not used to navigate by. The Marines had their illumination lamps on just enough to let the night vision specs soak in light to see. Baxter had taken over point with Anderson at his right as they stepped lightly over as many of the tendrils as possible.
They were approaching a corner when Baxter froze in place and his left hand came up as a sign to halt. All eyes were glued to the thermal imagers as something moved towards them. Their blood ran cool when low liquid hissing reached their external mikes.
"Hydra's," Baxter growled low in his throat, "two of them." Even through the radio everyone could hear the gears turning in his head "Anderson, move a little closer." The private complied and soon the both of them were inches from rounding the corner. "Good, now Lieutenant would you kindly take that heavy foot of yours and stomp the shit out of the nearest tentacle," Andrews smiled morbidly in his armor as he got an idea of what Baxter was up too. As requested the tentacle nearest Andrews received a good squishing.
It's effect was immediately apparent as the two Hydra's hissed even louder while slithering ahead as fast as they could to meet the invaders. The two beasts rounded the corner expecting to see their targets further up ahead but instead found their snouts stuffed in the barrel of an M-32 shotgun. Baxter and Anderson wasted no time with introductions.
The M-32 is a serious close quarters weapon. Effective up to fifty feet it fires four shotgun shells at a time giving it massive amounts of stopping power but little in the areas of accuracy and penetration. Adding a small amount of explosives into the individual pellets so that they shattered upon penetration and caused far more damage balanced this beautifully and it's effect on the Hydras was impressive. The two beasts fell lifelessly to the deck twitching slightly with blood spraying out of their mouths like water from a hydrant as the pellets disintegrated the soft tissue inside along with what passed for a brain.
Chu-chink! Four empty shells fell to the deck "No use in sneaking around anymore," Baxter observed. The not so distant scampering of sharp claws on metal floors was encouragement enough. Andrews took point then and laid down a literal covering fire as the Marines advanced with weapons blazing down the corridors, following tentacles as they searched for the Infestation node. Occasionally a 'ling was stupid enough to poke it's head out from amongst the dead and it would have to be dealt with but other then that there were no other major incidents until they stopped for an update from CIC.
Squish "I think we're getting closer," Stevens noted as his boots ceased crunching on tentacles and began to squish on Creep.
"Keep an eye out for that damn thing, it's gotta be around here." Andrews said as he got off the radio net. A squad just above them had reported heavy contact with a large group of Hydra's that'd mysteriously retreated just about the same time Stevens had come onto the Creep, "and let's do this quickly, we got fans coming to say hi." At that everyone picked their pace up and checked their ammo condition.
Creep itself remains only lukewarm in all environmental conditions, therefore it was easy to see the tentacles underneath through the IR scanners, and since the tentacles all sprouted from a central point tracking down the node would only be a matter of time.
"Got it!" Andrews said, "third hatch down, there's a massive heat signature behind it that looks like it could be the node." That hatch itself was halfway open and facing away from them when they reached it. Wordlessly everyone got into a single file line behind Andrews who borrowed a grenade from Baxter. After pulling the pin he chucked it into the room and waited until he heard the earth-shattering explosion before kicking the hatch in and opening full up with his twin flamethrowers to roast anything that may have been waiting for them. He then rushed forward and became the keystone for an arch that the Marines formed around the hatch.
"Clear forward!" Andrews called.
"Clear left!" Baxter announced next.
"Clear right!" Stevens said, finishing the security check.
"Dog that hatch shut and rig it with something that goes boom," Baxter ordered as the arched broke up. Alden got right to work on it, closing the hatch as much as possible and setting a few grenades for proximity detonation.
"Don't nobody go near that hatch less they wanna bond with the decks." Alden said. For the first time he looked around and finally saw how big this room was. A quick conference with his suit's 'puter labeled it as an empty storage area, perfect place to start a nest. Further off he could see Sarge and the elltee talking about something…
"What do you think Sergeant?" Andrews asked Baxter while pointing just ahead of him where the source of the infestation was. It looked vaguely like a large human heart, a heart with every type of infection, cancer, and disease known to man. It was also large, about the size of five Marines grouped together, and the rhythmic throbbing that pushed and pulled materials through the tentacles was unsettling. Surrounding it were early stage Zerg eggs that would eventually hatch into something nasty. Baxter barely even regarded it before he replied.
"Wax it and move on sir. This place crawls and I want out," Andrews had been thinking the same thing.
"I couldn't agree more," Andrews motioned to the rest of the squad, "line up by the node and let's finish this." Stevens and Alden had already been nearby looking at the eggs and were there instantly. Anderson was farther off and took his time walking over to them; something in the back of his mind was nagging him.
It was a soft sound, barely audible even with external mike amplification, and not unlike the sound a glider makes when it passes close by. There was only one thing aboard that could possibly make that sound.
"Queen!" Anderson yelled.
"Scatter!" Baxter commanded immediately. From somewhere far above Anderson heard something between a whistle and a cough then suddenly everyone but him was on the deck covered head to toe in green muck and unable to move. Anderson dove just in time to avoid being impaled on the Queen's tusks as she swooped in low; an angry gurgle was heard as she sped away to try for another pass.
"Aim for the wings Private," Baxter hoarsely advised, "bring that bitch down to our level." Watching the Queen through night vision scopes did nothing to make her appear less threatening as she came around and glided back towards Anderson whose shotgun was already up and firing. The Queen hadn't been expecting the Terran to recover so quickly and was surprised as thousands of pellets tore into her soft leathery wings.
Unlike most Zerg air breeds a Queen does not utilize any sort of gas to remain aloft, relying totally on her wings for lift. Take away the aerodynamic soundness of the wings and her flight advantage was nullified. Anderson did just that, and had to once again dive out of the way as the Queen came to a crashing halt. It let our an enraged grunt before dizzily lifting it's head up with it's forward legs.
The two eyestalks swiveled to face Anderson and he found himself frozen in place. It had been long suspected that Queens possessed higher intelligence capabilities near that of a human, and looking into those eyes now Anderson found himself being logically analyzed by a thinking creature, not by one of the rabid beasts he was used to seeing. The Queen reared back and let out another angry grunt before it charged Anderson. What most people fail to realize about a Queen is that despite their frail appearance they're built as tough as a tank, he had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and only his armor kept him from being sliced in half as the Queen bucked him with her tusks.
Anderson was airborne for only a few seconds before his back impacted the cargo bay bulkhead with enough force to break his gauss rifle in half. Having lost his grip on the M-32 somewhere in the air Anderson now found himself without any firearm. From his place on the floor Anderson watched, as the Queen seemed to do something akin to a victory dance before it squealed and charged again.
Anderson was in a state of semi-shock from his bone-crunch landing. In fact Anderson was quite sure that he'd dislocated his left shoulder and busted quite a few ribs. That pain, coupled with the fear of watching something three times your size coming to impale you, made it damn near impossible for him to move. Four hundred years earlier this would've meant doom for Anderson, but fortunately he still had one option left…his stimpack.
Connected to the base of his neck was a small IV line that ran into a liquid sack that held a mixture of things, mostly adrenaline, that when pumped into the blood stream would allow an otherwise incapacitated or doomed soldier one last chance at survival. As opposed to the local stimpacks, which pushed a man into a feral rage that could become both addictive and severely damaging, the UED models made the user oblivious to pain and triggered phenomenon called time dilation where the users perception of time was dramatically slowed. Anderson hit the pressure switch on his belt to start the stim flow and relaxed to let it do the work for him.
The pain gone, Anderson rolled away just in time to avoid becoming terran on a tusk. The Queen had been caught off guard again and was stuck in the wall, a testament to just how sharp those tusk tips were. On instinct Anderson rolled to his feet and withdrew from his boot sheath his last weapon, a K-Bar fighting knife. Far removed from its twentieth century cousin this newer model was a full foot long and the edges of it were less then a molecule thick. Adding further to this was the fact that they vibrated, making the knife capable of slicing through just about anything and negating the need for sharpening.
He remained crouched in place while the Queen freed herself and came after him, now madder then ever. Anderson decided that he wasn't going to wait and threw the knife, striking the Queen in the middle of her "face", it was enough to distract her as Anderson grabbed hold of the tusks and used the remaining momentum to flip the creature on her back, exposing the chitin armored underside. Anderson was on top of her in a minute with his retrieved K-bar, now coated in fresh blood. He made no hesitations as he brought the weapon down onto were the Queen's heart supposedly was, the blade not caring a bit about the density of the chitin.
Queens could scream surprisingly loud when in extreme pain, but her struggling was useless as she could not get the leverage needed to get back right side up as Anderson held her down and slowly bled the life out. His eyes met with hers again and Anderson still saw the malicious intelligence there, they also seemed to be proclaiming that her death would be avenged. The energy then drained from those hateful eyes and the struggling stopped. Anderson rolled off the body and collapsed to the deck. His stimpack was beginning to wear off and he felt like he'd just gone to sleep in a blender.
Stevens watched as Anderson staggered and then collapsed to the deck, most likely unconscious after all that effort and then the use a stimpack. Stevens knew from experience that those bastards could really take it out of you. Presently he was attempting to free himself from the restraining snot that the Queen had sprayed him with. Luckily the shit would come off eventually if you just moved around….hot damn!
"I'm free sarge," Stevens exclaimed.
"Good," Baxter praised, "Anderson seems fine, do the Lieutenant a favor and point his flame thrower at that pile of shit, and then we can get out of here." Stevens found Andrews facing away from the node and unable to communicate since his radio had somehow gotten busted. Stevens managed to make his intentions known with hand signals and grabbed hold of the left hand. Then, with a lot of effort, he pointed it at the node.
A simple tap on his helmet let Andrews know to empty the entirety of his napalm tanks into that one set of nozzles. The viscous jelly itself burns organic matter on contact, light it on fire and it's effectiveness is increased by a large order of magnitude. The flaming jelly sizzled as it stuck to the still beating node and gradually melted it. Seeing that he'd drenched the node enough Stevens sprayed down the developing eggs for good measure. The shrieks of the unborn creatures inside were just audible over the rushing flames, and deep down it was satisfying.
The next series of events were something of a blur to Stevens. All he remembered clearly was enjoying the Zerg roast when something knocked him down with a great deal of force. From his spot on the ground Stevens saw that the hatch they'd rigged was now just a ragged hole in the wall with the burned body parts of Hydra's spread all around. But that was not how it remained for long. Several heads poked in, and not human heads either. The eerie light cast by the still burning nodes and eggs made them look demonic.
Seeing that the way was clear the slithering monsters proceeded inward towards the mostly helpless Marines. Stevens got up to run but was soon struck down as two spines pierced the thinnest points on his armored legs and incapacitated him from movement.
That threat neutralized for the moment the Hydra's came farther in and began to closely examine the Marines, slight bits of drool escaping their mouths. Apparently they hadn't eaten in awhile. One of them began to poke at Baxter to see what he would do; unfortunately Baxter's scathing epitaphs were not heard due to the visor, they might've actually melted the bugs in place. Confident that these humans would be easy meals the Hydra's raised their claws to strike killing blows.
Just as Andrews and his men were consigning themselves to death the Hydra's jerked their heads upwards and began to hiss up a storm. They backed away from the Marines and kept their attention on the ceiling above, some even going so far as to shoot acid spines. Almost as if in response to that action there was a tremendous kaboom and from above a large frayed piece of the ceiling fell onto some of the less alert Hydra's. Light from the deck above poured in as did gauss rifle fire from Marines positioned around the hole.
The Hydra's shot back of course, and this earned them a small storm of cluster munitions. This convinced the many survivors that it was wise to move back. Ropes were flung down and Marines in full combat armor came repelling down with weapons up and shooting to keep the critters at bay. The Hydra's fell back after repeated failed attempts to stop the Terrans into the darkness of the corridor, a full platoon chasing after them.
"Bout time you guys showed up," Baxter congratulated as he was freed from the Queen snot.
"Well we were hoping to fry that thing for you," the unnamed soldier, also a Sergeant, chuckled, "looks like you cheating bastards beat us to it." The Marine walked off to attend to the transporting of Baxter's downed men to the infirmary.
Baxter found himself with a few seconds of solitude amongst the bustle of
activity. His hands were shaking now, and he had no doubts that he'd be getting
more nightmares thanks to this. Oh well he mentally shrugged it's a
messy fucking job Beside him the Infestation node had finally reached it's
breaking point and erupted into a volcano of flying puss, coating everyone in
the cargo bay, but somebody's gotta do it…
*******************
The scenery around him was something that had once seemed alien all those centuries ago, now he just thought of it as home. Night here could be as cold as the largest glacier field on Aiur, and the daytime heat rivaled that of the Barren Sands along Aiur's equator. But he himself never bothered to note the outside temperature anymore because he was always cold. True, it was this way because of the method in which he drew his life-force from the his surroundings, so very different from that of his Khalai brethren.
My brethren that thought still triggered off pangs of anger and regret, that's one of the problems with resting meditation, you have to face any inner demons you may have until they are abolished for good, and the memory of his expulsion from Aiur still caused Duross no end of unhappiness. United though they were supposed to be Duross could never bring himself to fully forgive those who had betrayed and thrown him into this cold yet fulfilling existence. His only anchor to sanity had been his younger friend Nassadus who had suffered the same fate due to the Conclaves sins. He sat next to Duross now in quiet contemplation over recent events.
The young one sitting opposite from Nassadus, Shataar, she was fortunate to have been born into this lifestyle on Shakuras without a trial by fire. Though that did not stop her from having a healthy love for her people's Home world and an equally healthy cynicism towards the lamented Conclave. Duross decided that he had done enough inner searching for the time being and broke from his mediation upon sensing that they were about to close to the capitol. He felt greatly rejuvenated.
Duross stood and waved his hand over the blank wall of the shuttles interior. The metal dutifully turned transparent and Duross watched as Citadel City came into view. It was a sight that both moved him in a comforting way and made him proud of who he was, though the city itself was old the Khalai survivors had brought with them a love for large and grand structures that the previous Matriarch Raszagal, Adun rest her soul, had approved construction for. The pleasant blue hues of the night-lights made the city look heavenly from above.
Even for a mind as developed as Duross's it was easy for him to get into a semi-trance while admiring something. He didn't even register the landing of the shuttle until Nassadus put a hand on his friend's shoulder and mentally nudged him towards the exit, following the walking High Templar who was too drained from battle to bother with levitation.
Citadel City, no one had bothered to think of a proper name yet, was located in the province of New Antioch around the Citadel of the Dark Templar, which was quickly becoming the administrative nerve center of the Protoss civilization. All around him survivors of Aiur mixed in with those that had mere months ago been the untouchables in a caste system that was quickly fading away as other concerns took hold. This was the market place of Citadel City where his people came to buy items pf necessity; Psi pylons were a newer addition as both a power source for the buildings and as a way of supplying the Khalai followers with a stable ration of Psi to keep them alive.
Entering the area of influence of one of these pylons made Duross feel very warm and tingly all over though his body still could not bring itself to ingest the light energies of the Khalai. The High Templar however, had a noticeable energy in his movements that hadn't been there before now that the Psi was healing his wounds and regenerating his armor.
The street they were traveling on was wide and newly paved, bisecting this portion of Citadel City in two and providing a straight path to the Citadel itself. Traffic got thinner the closer they came and military structures became more visible. As they approached the main gates of the looming Citadel they were halted by a detachment of zealots who checked them for parasites or any hidden weapons, ignoring the psi and warp blades as those presented no significant threat of widespread destruction. The detachment let them go and continued on to interrogate others who got near the hallowed structure.
Camouflaged photon cannons and dug in Reavers were barely visible as they approached the gates, Dragoons patrolled the perimeter and the air around them was distorted heavily with the number of Observers. The High Templar halted and sent a telepathic summons to the door guards. The ancient door quivered at it opened revealing the dimly lit interior, from out of the darkness of the high entrance door two large glowing figures emerged and took up station on either side, their steps echoed with raw power as their skin seemed to burn. The two Archons were powered down at the moment but still looked formidable as they watched The High Templar and his companions with burning eyes.
Citadel City may be the central governing place of Protoss civilization but it was also the capitol of a people who were constantly at war, no chances could be taken that someone wouldn't use this meeting of high level leaders as an opportunity to cripple the Protoss Hierarchy. Inside the winding corridors there was no apparent security, because it was all expertly cloaked and hidden within the intricately carved walls. This corridor led into a modest sized room where many other Protoss mingled. Most of them were of the old Templar caste, with a handful of visible Dark Templar warriors present, who for the most part were silent amidst the sea of quiet conversation.
"So, the Matriarch has called for you as well, something is indeed brewing." A quiet voice declared from behind Duross. He was of average height for a Protoss male, around seven feet, and wore battle armor that seemed to be a cross between a High Templar's and a Zealot's. His eyes glowed a constant dark yellow, indicating annoyance and curiosity.
"Executor Taron," The Templar exclaimed in surprise, "How is it
that you are here, I was told that you were commanding our victory over the
Zerg."
"Indeed I was Templar, but the Matriarch saw fit to call for me towards the end of our battle, and judging by the others she has assembled the situation may be serious indeed." He answered. Duross could not help but smile at the annoyance in Taron's voice; he hated being called away from important duty.
"Of course Executor, if you will pardon me I must esco-" Taron waved his hand.
"Leave them with me Templar, and I will see them to the Matriarch. I want
you to return to our brethren and advise them to rest, we may be called upon
soon."
"Very well Executor, until the next time. En Taro Adun." The High Templar bowed and left to do as he was instructed.
"Taron you need not anger yourself over the battle," Duross assured the Executor motioning to Shataar and Nassadus, " we were there and the Zerg were already beaten long before we killed the first patrol."
"That is not what concerns me old friend," Taron replied with a hint of humor in his voice, "I had intended to test some of our new technologies for dealing with the Zerg, without the information we could have gleaned from an easy battle I fear these new techniques may now be tested during dire times."
"What is wrong with that Executor?" Shataar inquired.
"Please young one, you are a student under the guidance of Duross, you need not address me so formally, and to answer your question I have not lived this long by trusting my life or the lives of my warriors to unproven technology." Shataar could hear Nassadus cackling at her, Taron was never what anyone expected when they first met him.
Many accused Taron of thinking so much like a human that any day hair would be sprouting on his head, but to date he had always managed to come out of a conflict either the winner or with minimal losses; those that would attack his methods had no ground to stand on. Duross had been the first of the Dark Templar to meet Taron on Shakuras when the Khalai survivors emerged from the warp rift. There had been a brief scuffle because Duross was cloaked and Taron was still on edge from the Zerg, the short fight resulted in minor injuries, a stalemate, and a deep respect between the participants.
Shataar was about to further engage him in questioning when the ceiling darkened and doors, otherwise hidden within the walls, opened to admit the invited ones into the main chamber that acted as ceremony/governmental area. Arena type seating allowed everyone and equal view of the floor, and the ceiling was high and crystal domed, stained sections through which the light was filtered depicted the most famous of the Protoss race, including the newest and most accepted among them.
"En Taro Tassadar, Sons and Daughters of Aiur," The speaker was the newly appointed Matriarch, Zarul. Her voice, like her posture, was low to indicate her extreme age, and the amount of respect due to one who had lived so long. In Zarul's earlier years she had been a warrior of the Dark Templar and had later retired to console new arrivals, allowing Raszagal to ascend to Matriarch. With Raszagal's death Zarul had been forced to leave her previous spiritual duties and take up where Raszagal had left off, rebuilding the Protoss race from it's shattered remains.
"I am well aware that the hour upon which I have called you is both awkward to some and inconvenient the rest. But a matter which concerns the well being of our brethren is not something that will allow us to wait." Zarul had obviously sensed the annoyance that was clearly written upon those warriors who had been called from the heat of battle, and expertly moved to turn it into curiosity. Duross had known Zarul for many years, it had been she who'd eased Nassadus and himself into the Dark Templar ways, and was well aware that she had a gift for saying just the right things to shape her audience into the required mood.
"What is this threat that you speak of Matriarch? The Zerg have been driven from Shakuras and our scouts report no signs of further infestation." The unnamed speaker was using the most respectful tone he could muster, he was once of the Judicator caste, a Conclave liaison in fact, and was not well liked by the Templar, Khalai and Dark. Zarul answered by commanding a projector to activate.
The image was projected just above Zarul at the center of the floor. Ships, Terran ships, were engaged in a small-scale confrontation with the Zerg in some sort of debris field. The image turned to static for a second as the transmitting Observer, it had to be an Observer nothing else would have made it that close to the Zerg, skipped ahead in it's records showing the retreat of the Terran vessels into warp space. Taron made the Protoss equivalent of a wince as he watched an Overlord latch onto one of the ships just as it left the field and went into warp, those humans would be in for a rude surprise.
"The vessels you see before you are either reinforcements or late-comers attached to the United Earth Directorate fleet that recently caused so much turmoil. Our Observers report that it's a fleet of no more then thirty capitol ships with a standard Terran compliment of support vessels. Since they have been in system Kerrigan," eyes darkened at the mention of that name, "has taken an interest in eradicating them, but thus far she has failed in her goal." The Matriarch paused for a second to let everything sink in.
"Did you have any knowledge of this Taron?" Duross asked.
"Hmm I am afraid not, my forces have been occupied with other matters." He answered, contemplating all of the possibilities this information meant.
"Sons and Daughters of Aiur, this development had presented us with a unique opportunity. During the Brood War between Kerrigan and her ilk the exact intentions of the UED were never made fully known. Our contact with them has been short lived and violent," many began to feel uneasiness as suspicions of her proposal entered their minds.
"To date we have seen no calculated action to undermine our position in this sector by the UED, but they have been aggressive when interfered with in the past. We must know what their mission in this sector is, and if it presents a direct threat to us." The Matriarch sighed before continuing.
"And more then that, we need allies to call upon when times become harsh, and they will become harsh my children. Kerrigan has abandoned her attacks and left us to the morbid amusements of one of her Cerebrates, but this will not last forever. We grow stronger every day but Kerrigan is already stronger then us now, if we do not find allies we will be wiped out from this sector, we will be assimilated into the Swarm and we will lose ourselves to the twisted whims of that child." The mood in the room, which had started as annoyed and then moved to curiosity, was now in a thoughtful phase. Her words were truthful and contained reason enough to break through even the most stubborn of pride among them.
If they were to survive they needed allies, and since Zerg were out of the question that left only the Terrans. They too were not in good health, and unable to defeat the Swarm. If they could ally enough of them they both might stand a chance against Kerrigan when she finally decided to take up the offensive again. The Matriarch called Taron's name and the Executor stood.
"Taron, you are perhaps the most decorated and longest surviving Executor within the Templar ranks. More then that, you are the one who has spent the greatest amount of time with Terrans. Your forces will be responsible for intercepting and communicating our offer to the Terrans of the UED." Taron saluted and left the room to confer with his own brethren on the mission ahead, exact facts such as locations and armaments would be given later. Duross was then asked to stand.
"Noble Duross, you are one of the finest Dark Templar Shakuras has ever seen, and so to you and your warriors I ask something extra of you. Zeratul has been missing for some time, the psychic calls we have sent after him are not being returned. We know that he still lives, but we do not know where. Duross, on this voyage I ask that you guard Executor Taron as you normally do, but I also hand you the mission of finding Zeratul, wherever he may be. We much to ask him surrounding the death of Raszagal and Kerrigan's state of mind."
"As you wish Matriarch, En Taro Tassadar," Duross bowed respectfully and left the room, using the same exit Taron had taken, Shataar and Nassadus in tow.
"As for the rest of you that I have called here your task will be one that hopefully does not come to pass. Should this force of ships and the UED itself prove to be hostile we must eradicate their presence from this sector, the new fleet and the survivors from their ill-fated campaign, before they have a chance to gain strength and tear potential allies away from us. We must rally our forces today, so that we might overcome the battles of tomorrow. En Taro Tassadar brave Sons and Daughters of Aiur." There was no movement from any of the Protoss in the room as the facts were taken in; if things failed they would be going to war again, then again if things proceeded as planed they would be going to war anyway, but they would live to avenge the fallen. When The Matriarch moved to exit the sound snapped most of them back into present time. The war council disbanded quickly and quietly, almost as if it had never existed….
===========
.Admiral Kelley's Author's Notes: Well there you have it, another chapter come and gone. Now lets see if I still have an audience left after all the time I took to write that. Don't worry folks, I'm still plugging away, slowly, but things will get done. Expect number three to be out some time in the future. Thoughts, insights, hate mail? I'll be glad to hear it, and before I forget I'd just like to add that I've spruced up Chapter One a bit so it's easier to read, and I'll be doing the same to Chapter Two when I finish with Chapter Three.
*salutes with a tin flask of Coke*
Till the next time,
Admiral Kelley out!
Gene Este's Beta Reader's Notes: N/A
Epsilon's Beta Reader's Notes: N/A
SCUZ's Beta Reader's Notes: N/A