STARCRAFT

The Lands of Doom

Chapter 3

Operation 3: The Quest for Truth

Location: Alard's Fleet

Population: 1500 Terran occupants  

Mission Objective: Alard has been hiding something from his people. Jim realizes that he needs to uncover the truth about it- and he needs to act alone. This unauthorized mission has nothing to do with any of the operations in the Lands of Doom Campaign.

Jim sat on his bed and stared down at the floor, with arms folding on his lap. He wondered what the Emperor was hiding from him. The scientists had tried to reveal the secrets in Alard's mind, but none could tell what he was up to. Jim could sense that he was to something bad.

      He left his room, wearing a plain grey suit like everyone in here did. He tightened his white belt and checked his gun on his side. Then, he headed towards the canteen, where his roommates and comrades were having their lunch. The place was crowded with people, wearing the same suit like his. Jim watched his friends at the first row of long tables, and sat beside his good old friend, Greg. Greg had saved his neck for several times during the Brood War, and this companion of his was glad to be recruited into Alard's fleet. But he had the same problem like Jim- He didn't like the Emperor. He knew that the Emperor was hiding something from his people, too.

      They discussed about the plan to uncover the Emperor's secret. Joined by his two other friends besides Greg- Matt and Red, Jim began to tell his plan.

      "I think we should act quickly." Jim lowered his voice as he looked around the people who were enjoying their meal.

      "Do you get any information from the scientists?" Greg asked. His blue eyes were fixed on Jim's. All of his comrades turned to look at him. He watched every of his comrades, who was bigger than him in size, before he continued his words.

      "They were constructing something with the help from the Protoss," he said.

      "How 'bout Fenix? Did he know about this?" Matt asked.

      "I don't know. He didn't talk much since I met him. Now, he's lost in the Western Reach while trying to save his Templar brothers." Jim cleared his throat.

      "Lost? What had happened to him?" Red offered him a cup of hot coffee.
      "I dunno. But what I can tell ya's that he was missing in action when we're about to evac the Terran Compound during the second operation. Alard didn't want us to go and look for him."

       Greg disagreed with Jim. "Actually, he did send a search party there consisting Lieutenant Siti and her squad mates. I'm in her platoon- and she had told me about the operation. In fact, everyone in my platoon knows about this operation. "

        "How many soldier did he sent?" Jim asked.

        "Eight marines, not to mention Siti as a Ghost. She told me that the team will be searching for another squad, led by Gui Montaj, which was sent to the compound a few days before you joined the party." Greg explained.

        "Only eight marines…. and a Ghost? Is he crazy?" Jim glared at him. Greg shook his head.

       "What are you talking about?" Red frowned.

       "Did you know how much Zerglings my men and I encountered when we arrived on that creepy place?" Jim's voice was harder than before.

       "The operator reported that they've scanned around 250,000 Zerglings, 500 Hydralisks and 30 Mutalisks inside the Terran Compound when you guys left that place. Each minute those numbers increased," Matt explained. He had been working with the Cruiser's Operators since he wasn't recruited into any of the Lands of Doom operation. They needed him to give advice the Admiral about battle tactics. He had been awarded a medal of honor by the Emperor because of his cleverness in wiping the Zergs out of Plato System right after the Brood War. In sector 7, Plato System was the nearest to Sector 8, besides other systems there. Matt believed that if this sector is attacked by the Zergs, they might have been traveling from that system.

      "And he send only eight men and a Ghost… that's weird," Red put his finger under his chin.

      "That's crazy, I tell ya!" Jim said.

      "Maybe there's something that the Emperor knows about the Zergs that we don't know," Greg shrugged.

      "I don't know about that, but what I can tell ya is that I'm going to the Emperor's Hall after this," Jim told them. He couldn't wait to find out about the truth any longer.

      "Are you kidding?" Red leaned against his chair, frowning. Everyone knew that the Emperors Hall was constructed just for the Emperor and the leaders of his allies- including the Protoss leaders. Even the fleet officials weren't allowed inside the building or they would be sentenced to death.

      "I'm not kidding, my friend. I'm just doing something that the Emperor always do: Something crazy.

Location: Palace of Honor, New Aiur.

       "Fenix is gone," a creature with black cape said as he watched the City of Airo below through the towering glass in front of him.

       "And now Alard is summoning you, Zeratul, brave warrior of Aiur." Someone watched him from behind. The guy looked like Mojo, only that he had a long and pointed chin. He had his green silk robe and gold cape around him. "He wants you now."

       "New Aiur is going to die if we don't defend it." Zeratul turned his head towards the guy.

       "And Alard is losing his war. He couldn't be trusted. The leaders of our Protoss Community are too foolish to surrender their lands to him. Now, he owns our pride and our glory." The guy murmured.

       "But we are also incapable of defending this place. We won't be here if it wasn't Alard who helped us." Zeratul stepped on the glittering pink marble floor, moving closer towards the guy.

       "You are not speaking like your true nature," the guy said as Zeratul passed by him.

      Zeratul stopped striding. "I am not talking about my true nature. I am talking about gratitude. We still owe the Terran leader a land, don't you agree with it, Hojo?"

      Hojo shook his head. "But he owed us our pride and honor."

      Zeratul glared at him. "They can't pay our pride and honor. We fought for ourselves after the Brood War. We don't need his help. But he still fought against the Zergs with us. So, I couldn't say that we owe him our honor and pride."

      "If you say so… But I still believe that he is trying to lure us into his trap," Hojo said as he saw Zeratul took another step towards a huge red double doors with gold carvings in front of him.

      "I know. And that's why I hate this Terran Leader, too…" Zeratul left the palace and headed towards his shuttle which was just beyond the palace's exit…

Location: Admiral's Office, Venus Cruiser.

      Jim managed to open the officer's locker after he had touched his favorite numbers onto the keypad, which was placed at the side of it. He grabbed some of the well-arranged documents inside the locker and placed them on the desk next to it. He sat on the admiral's chair and read every single detail which was written inside the document.

       Suddenly, he turned his attention into a red document he was holding. It was a journal by one of his old comrade, Antonio who died during the Brood War, trying to save his life.

Jan11

"I was sent to Turk System, in order to restore peace which belonged to the Protoss Empire there. Its planet was infested by billions of Zergs- and I can tell you that nobody who went there had managed to come back home alive. I've lost all of my men as they were sent before me. I was recruited into one of the best company in the fleet.

Jan13

"I was glad that I was still alive, yet I was so frightened that I couldn't get out of this planet. Almost all of my men died. Only 5 out of 130 men had survived the bloody war, and now I had to lead them to find a way to communicate with the fleet. We had found an infested Protoss Nexus not far away from our camp. I ordered Sgt. Alard and Izumy to go and check the place out. Sgt. Alard had found out that there is a survivor inside the building. An Executor."

Jan14

"The man in charge of the Nexus told us all that he could help us escape the planet if we could get one of the scouts in front of the Nexus operational. He led us to the Scout –while we covered his tail, and piloted the scout. As we were about to leave, a Zergling jumped out of nowhere and tried to kill the Executor. He couldn't defend himself. Thus, he died right after we killed the Zerg. We were lucky that Sgt. Alard had learned how to pilot the Scout from the Executor."

Jan17

"I was given a drug by a scientist right after the operation. She told me that I must take the drug as the Nexus' infestation might infect my body. Because of the drug she gave me, I felt weak and dizzy everyday. I was off duty since then."

Jan25

"Jim visited me in the infirmary almost everyday. I'm so glad about that. I had no friends right now. Almost all of them had died back in Turk System. I'm beginning to feel much stronger now. A nurse told me that I could get off my bed in another week or two."

Feb15

"Now, I'm with Jim in my new company. The officials had enough with Turk System, and now they turned their attention to kill the Brood Queen."

Feb25

"When I was sent to certain operations, I could feel like I was becoming stronger than before… I was hunger for battle… I felt like I wanted to kill everyone in the battlefield. Moreover, I could sense the enemy's presence from faraway distance, and even from the ground! What kind of power did I have? I could fire more accurate than before, and not even a single Zerg which tried to run away from me had survived. Right after each operation, I felt tired and dizzy at the same time."

     Well, this journal seemed interesting. Jim kept it under his armpit and brought some other documents in his hands. He was satisfied with what he had at that time. He had heard through conversations between the leaders of Alard Empire and his allies back at the Emperor's Hall about 'the project'. As he had expected, the second project was accomplished with the Protoss' assistance. He began to understand more about the Psi-Force Generator. As far as he knew, it was constructed to enhance the ability of a Protoss Warrior. But what kind of ability were the leaders talking about? He couldn't get that information as he was kicked off the hall. One of the guards in there knew that he was disguising as a Dark Templar. He used Zeratul's name and his code of honor to get into the hall. He also tried to make his voice like Zeratul. But the weird thing was, he did spoke like Zeratul. He spoke exactly like Zeratul? He had never tried to mimic Zeratul's voice before.

       Jim was lucky that the guard was a loyal friend of his. The guard told him that he would never tell the Emperor about what he had done, unless he did it again.

     Darn! He almost got the most important information in his operation.

     Then, he looked at the shelf at the corner of the office. There was a small rectangular letter attached on it. He pulled it off from the shelf, opened it and read its content:

"To my dearest wife. I'm not coming home tonight to celebrate our parents' anniversary. Tell them that I love them. And you too… I love you.

Your husband…"

      He couldn't see the sender's name. It was covered with dark green slime. Was he the admiral who was trying to send this letter to her wife? No. He couldn't be. Jim could only see the letter 'r' at the end of the sender's name. The Admiral's full name was Joe Edward. Later, he grabbed a red bottle which was placed on the shelf. "I've seen this bottle before."

      He looked at its yellow label, and it said,

"009 Property of Venus Intelligence.

Strictly not to be touched without permission."

      "I think I shall take this along, too." He put the bottle into a pocket attached to his belt. Then, he trotted towards the door behind him. As the door slid open, he looked up.

      He saw a tall guy with white hair stood in front of him, facing him. His guards glared at Jim as they stood in between the tall guy. He was the admiral of the fleet.

      "Going somewhere?"

To be continued…

[Keep r&r…Thank you!(Hey, try to figure out its ending, too!)]