The end of the United Earth Directory has come and gone, the time of the
Terrans has ticked by, and a new generation has emerged...
Location: Subterranean Protoss Expeditionary Outpost
Planet: Dionide
Time: 12 May 2067, 1320 hrs.
Malliard could hear a rhythmic tapping echoing inside his head as he opened his eyes groggily, rubbing a few speckles of dirt and dust from his tired eyes. He looked to his left, and saw the same Protoss turnkey monitoring his cell. He moaned and rubbed a sore spot on his back, the skin tender as his finger raked across the touchy surface. He felt a slight vibration at his feet, followed by a few distant gunshots. Looking back and forth quickly, like a scared cat, he held his ear against the bulkhead of the cell. Looking through a pinprick hole in the wall. Malliard's face lit with joy as he saw in the distance, shrouded by a tornado of swirling dust, a column of Siege Tanks, and a few detachments of Marine Expeditionary platoons. As the dust swirled back to the ground, he smiled as he saw the Marines take defensive positions around the four Siege Tanks. The massive pillars extended from the side of the colossal superstructure. The drill bits tipping the giant pillars dug quickly into the ground, bits of dirt and rock flying around. The Marine escorts took cover from the flying debris as the tank column was finally deployed.
Much closer to him Malliard heard a series of klaxon alarms activating, Protoss security forces assembling around the doors and access hatches as foot soldiers from the nearby barracks were being scrambled. With the alarum dispatched, the sounds of preparation for battle overwhelming anything else, he watched gleefully as the Marine's began to dig in new trenches, suppressive fire from the Siege Tanks firing in almost a continuous line. One blast after another as the gunnery tankers slowly began to calibrate the sights, their salvos inching closer and closer to the hospital prison facility. Finally, the rear tank's shot impacted with a nearby defensive bunker, and Malliard smiled with satisfaction as a few Protoss security troopers' bodies were ejected from the bunker firing slots. A few squads of Marines began to flank around the facility, crouched or prone on the ground, trudging through the icy tundra of the frozen desert of Dionide.
Malliard began to cackle with glee as he saw the units slowly approach the north wall of the facility, right where is cell was located. He cringed in a non-existant pain as the pole position squad leader fell to the ground i na bloody heap, blood spurting through his powered armor suit, a single hole in his armor, speckles of blue energy lining the puncture hole. The other Marines scrambled and dover from cover as a platoon of Dragoons ambushed the squad from the side. Quickly and efficiently digging into the side of a nearby embankment, the Marine's began to fire brief and quick suppressive fire, the Dragoon's plasma cannons steadily wearing down on the hill, the Marines becoming more and more packed into the embankment as their cover was slowly lost. Malliard fell to the floor as the Dragoons made a deadly charge against the remaining nine or ten Marines, who were overwhelmed by the twelve or so charging Dragoons. He cried out in agony as the last soldier, firing to the very end, fell to the ground, the Dragoons beginning to stack the bloody corpses in sloppy piles.
Malliard fell to his knees as he saw that a few Zealots had snuck around the firing line, and were mercilessly slashing at the armored hull of the now defenseless Siege Tanks. He collapsed to the ground, pounding at the packed earth of his cell floor with his dirty and weary hands. He sat and watched as the final Siege Tank detonated, the wounded, but not dead, gunner uselessly fighting off the attack of three Zealots. He saw the Zealots carrying the dismembered parts of the soldier in triumph, raising them up in the air as their comrads cheered them forward.
He saw that the assault had ended in defeat for the Terran taskforce, crying as his eyes darted from one smoking wreckage to the next. He heard a rhythmic thumping on the cold ground as a squad of prison guards came to fetch him. They lifted him to his feet, dragging him along as his eyes teared, pondering what the treacheros Protoss will do to him, and what they expect of him. All he could do was wait as his fate was slowly being read to him, but what he didn't know was that his fate was going to take a surprising turn as his stay at the facility continued.
Location: Subterranean Protoss Expeditionary Outpost
Planet: Dionide
Time: 12 May 2067, 1320 hrs.
Malliard could hear a rhythmic tapping echoing inside his head as he opened his eyes groggily, rubbing a few speckles of dirt and dust from his tired eyes. He looked to his left, and saw the same Protoss turnkey monitoring his cell. He moaned and rubbed a sore spot on his back, the skin tender as his finger raked across the touchy surface. He felt a slight vibration at his feet, followed by a few distant gunshots. Looking back and forth quickly, like a scared cat, he held his ear against the bulkhead of the cell. Looking through a pinprick hole in the wall. Malliard's face lit with joy as he saw in the distance, shrouded by a tornado of swirling dust, a column of Siege Tanks, and a few detachments of Marine Expeditionary platoons. As the dust swirled back to the ground, he smiled as he saw the Marines take defensive positions around the four Siege Tanks. The massive pillars extended from the side of the colossal superstructure. The drill bits tipping the giant pillars dug quickly into the ground, bits of dirt and rock flying around. The Marine escorts took cover from the flying debris as the tank column was finally deployed.
Much closer to him Malliard heard a series of klaxon alarms activating, Protoss security forces assembling around the doors and access hatches as foot soldiers from the nearby barracks were being scrambled. With the alarum dispatched, the sounds of preparation for battle overwhelming anything else, he watched gleefully as the Marine's began to dig in new trenches, suppressive fire from the Siege Tanks firing in almost a continuous line. One blast after another as the gunnery tankers slowly began to calibrate the sights, their salvos inching closer and closer to the hospital prison facility. Finally, the rear tank's shot impacted with a nearby defensive bunker, and Malliard smiled with satisfaction as a few Protoss security troopers' bodies were ejected from the bunker firing slots. A few squads of Marines began to flank around the facility, crouched or prone on the ground, trudging through the icy tundra of the frozen desert of Dionide.
Malliard began to cackle with glee as he saw the units slowly approach the north wall of the facility, right where is cell was located. He cringed in a non-existant pain as the pole position squad leader fell to the ground i na bloody heap, blood spurting through his powered armor suit, a single hole in his armor, speckles of blue energy lining the puncture hole. The other Marines scrambled and dover from cover as a platoon of Dragoons ambushed the squad from the side. Quickly and efficiently digging into the side of a nearby embankment, the Marine's began to fire brief and quick suppressive fire, the Dragoon's plasma cannons steadily wearing down on the hill, the Marines becoming more and more packed into the embankment as their cover was slowly lost. Malliard fell to the floor as the Dragoons made a deadly charge against the remaining nine or ten Marines, who were overwhelmed by the twelve or so charging Dragoons. He cried out in agony as the last soldier, firing to the very end, fell to the ground, the Dragoons beginning to stack the bloody corpses in sloppy piles.
Malliard fell to his knees as he saw that a few Zealots had snuck around the firing line, and were mercilessly slashing at the armored hull of the now defenseless Siege Tanks. He collapsed to the ground, pounding at the packed earth of his cell floor with his dirty and weary hands. He sat and watched as the final Siege Tank detonated, the wounded, but not dead, gunner uselessly fighting off the attack of three Zealots. He saw the Zealots carrying the dismembered parts of the soldier in triumph, raising them up in the air as their comrads cheered them forward.
He saw that the assault had ended in defeat for the Terran taskforce, crying as his eyes darted from one smoking wreckage to the next. He heard a rhythmic thumping on the cold ground as a squad of prison guards came to fetch him. They lifted him to his feet, dragging him along as his eyes teared, pondering what the treacheros Protoss will do to him, and what they expect of him. All he could do was wait as his fate was slowly being read to him, but what he didn't know was that his fate was going to take a surprising turn as his stay at the facility continued.