Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Starcraft or the characters, but
the story is mine. I was not paid or not receiving any money from
Blizzard.
Chapter 5
Artanis and the remaining fighters were speeding into the atmosphere of Mar Sara. Zelsasha's Scout was on the verge of breaking down and didn't know where a suitable landing site would be.
"I can't hold it any more! I'm setting it down," Zelsasha screamed as he descended. He tried holding it, but the ship was too badly damaged to keep up any more for safety sake. He was descending quickly and did his best to hold it up. He saw a open field and tried to get to it for a safer landing but he couldn't. The Scout hit the ground flying back up in the air for a few brief moments before slamming back down into the dead earth again.
The ship broke apart as it dragged itself along. The wings broke off and the glass of the cockpit was shattered. Zelsasha only could cover himself and wait the ride out, hopefully surviving it.
After what seemed like an eternity, the Scout finally came to a stop. Zelsasha opened his eyes, not believing he was unharmed. He quickly realized that the Scout was still on fire and he had to get out now. He struggled to get his safety belt undone, but it gave way soon enough. He crawled out of the cockpit where the glass shield would have been. He quickly stood up and began to run away from the ruined vehicle.
With a sudden explosion, Zelsasha was lifted from his feet and thrown into the ground. He slowly stood up from the ground he was thrown upon to hear other Scouts approaching.
"Thank the Gods," he whispered to himself. Another explosion came from somewhere far off. He turned to see smoke rising in the distance. Whatever it was it was big. It was no doubt a Carrier. "Damn them."
The other three Scouts began to land in the field. Artanis stepped from his Scout relieved to see Zelsasha still alive. He jumped down from the cockpit to meet him. The other two pilots did the same. The four warriors watched the fire beyond a dead mountain. The entire planet was dead. Ever since the bombardment that other Protoss had done when the Zerg landed here. The area they were in was nothing more than a wasteland.
"Do you think anyone could have survived that kind of crash?" Zelsasha asked worried for the safety of hundreds of his brothers and sisters lives.
One of the other pilots spoke up. "Yes, it is very possible. Have you seen what you walked away from? "I'm sure that there are survivors." The pilot was a little older then Zelsasha was. His scales were more defined and visible.
"We must move to higher ground. Somewhere that provides cover," a female pilot said. Zelsasha was taken back slightly. He did not think that females would pilot fighters. He then realized that she was extremely beautiful.
Artanis quickly picked up on this. "Zelsasha, this is a good friend of mine, Latura. She is a very good pilot as she is very good with a Warp Blade."
She nodded slightly. Her skin turned a softer color of the deep mid-night blue she had. She was blushing slightly. "Artanis you give me too much credit."
Artanis raised his brow. "I think not Latura. This is a very good friend of mine as well. His na-," Artanis could only stare up in the sky as something approached.
Before anyone else could see what had taken Artanis' focus away, it was too late. A small projectile hit the unnamed pilot in the back. He screamed as he fell to the ground on his back.
"Quickly! We have to flip him over!" Artanis screamed. Neither Zelsasha or Latura had any idea what he was talking about did what was ordered. When they turned him on his back, they saw the small creature burrowing into his back. Artanis knelt down with his Warp Blade extended. "It's a Broodling, we have to cut it out before it gets in to deep."
The creature made its way into his back further. Artanis followed it with the Warp Blade. He got ready to try and cut it out of his downed friend when he heard a wet crunching sound. The veins in the back of the fallen pilot started to change to a plant like green. Artanis got to his feet immediately.
"Back away from him!" he ordered with his Warp Blade still extended. Zelsasha and Latura both did what he said. They too, extended their Warp Blades.
The fallen pilot screamed in agony as his skin continued to turn green and the opening in his back grew larger. From inside his chest a beak stabbed through sending blood and pieces of bone flying from the now dead pilot. The body continued to turn a greenish color and the body was beginning to split in half down the middle. In one final fury two small Zerg Broodlings came out of the pilot. They looked up at the three Protoss and screamed an awful cry and charged at them.
One of the creatures jumped for Latura. She instinctively brought her right leg back in a defensive stand with he blade ready. She brought her left arm in a wide arch going across her chest and cut the creature in half. The other one had jumped for Zelsasha who just side stepped bringing the blade on his right arm up as the creature passed, cutting itself in two.
Artanis again looked at the sky. He brought up his blade on his left hand and swung. Zelsasha had no idea why he swung until he heard two small thuds hit the ground near them. He had cut a Broodling Spore in half before it had a chance to get into his body. "We are leaving," was all he said as he ran back to his Scout. Latura did the same. Zelsasha then took it upon himself to take the Scout of the fallen warrior. He said a prayer for the Protoss he never knew and wished him peace.
Sara System (Jump Node)
They had finally arrived. Raynor and his Battle Fleet were ready to make a grand entrance to save their brothers. But what they saw they were not prepared for. They saw pieces of wreckage and debris of Protoss ships. Then the bodies of Zerg floating lifelessly through the black void.
Sixteen Battle Cruisers were ready for anything. Each Cruiser held four squads of Wraiths and Valkyries. In each squad was twelve fighters.
"My God," Jim whispered. It had only been a half an hour since they had jumped from the Castor jump node.
"Zerg, 4,732 clicks away sir. They are heading for us," the radar operator said. He looked up at Jim with a grim look.
Jim stood up and gripped the railing of the bridge. He violently pulled back and forth on the railing. "Damn it! You listen and listen good! I have had enough of this bad news bullshit man! I want results this time! The Zerg have taken out a fleet of our allies and its time we do something about it!" Everyone stopped their work to watch Jim scream at no one and everyone at the same time. "Send our fighters. But first, let these ass holes in. Let them get in close. Right when they bunch up, right before they attack, we fire are Yamato guns. Everyone does."
The crew nodded in understanding. The Comms. Officer radioed what Jim had wanted. The fighters were on stand by in the hangers and waited anxiously for the order.
Jim watched the beasts come closer and closer. They were bunching just like he knew they would. They were almost in range. The monsters gaining ground every second, screaming in fury as they came.
"Send these sons a bitches to hell," Jim said and with that sixteen blasts came from the Cruisers. The blasts had shredded the Zerg attackers like a hot knife through butter. Once the Yamato blasts faded, the enemy stood before them. The enemy stood before them in small chunks of fried flesh. Not one of them got through.
Jim smiled at that great and flawless victory. He knew it was no time to get cocky but he was proud to have killed so many sparing the lives of maybe hundreds of theirs. "Deploy fighters to give us escort," he ordered. The crew did what he asked all smiling at the great turn out.
"Commander, we have hundreds of life signals upon the surface of Mar Sara. Scanners are showing us it is some of the Protoss survivors sir. But the Zerg are starting to multiply as well sir. Profiles suggest that they are building a new cluster," a young woman at the scanning station reported.
"All right then. Get Dropships loaded up, we are going to get them back," he said walking off the bridge. "Mr. Homes, you have command till I come back, got me?" he said as he continued to walk off the bridge not waiting for the answer of the First Mate.
Jim walked down the corridor as quickly as he could without running. He got to the loading bay and saw his armor waiting there for him. He slipped inside and adjusted himself so he could have flexibility to the highest. He turned around and grabbed a Gauss rifle and a few extra magazines. He saw men entering the Dropships like how they were trained. He knew he was in good hands with these men. They weren't brain panned and they could think and move on their own.
A man in the same armor as Jim approached him. "Sir, Siege Tanks are rolling up now along with a few Goliath's. Should we wait for them?"
Jim looked up, slapping a fresh magazine in the rifle. "Yeah, we wait. We don't know what's exactly down there and we don't want to get cut off without some proper fire power. Get the men inside and have the Dropships wait for the rest of the Tanks and whatever other vehicle we have." With that said the man nodded and ran into the nearest Dropship. Jim did the same.
The soldiers in the Dropship Jim walked into were happy to see he was going with them. They all nodded and smiled at him and amongst themselves.
"Okay boys, listen up. We don't know what them critters are up to down there. Stay close and in tight. If we do engage, short controlled bursts. I don't want anyone being trigger happy and wastin' ammo." He moved to the front of the Dropship where the pilot was. "Let's get this party started. We wait for the rest of the Dropships all right?"
The pilot nodded and left the hanger to make room for other ships to take off. One by one the ships filtered out of the Hyperion. A few of the Dropships went empty so they could transport the Protoss survivors back to the Cruisers.
"Hey Fleet, listen up, I only want the troops from the Hyperion engaging. We don't want a whole big mess of troops down there, we are goin' in and out like we weren't ever here. Maintain current position until further notice. Anything comes at you with flappin' wings or teeth or somethin' along those lines, remember to blast em'. Raynor out," he said taking of the head set and setting it back on one of the pilots chair.
"We will be in the atmosphere in a few minutes guys, hang on back there. The ride might be a tad bit bumpy," one of the pilots called back where the rest of the men lye in wait. The silence was dreadful enough but the engines hum was relaxing to some.
When the reached the atmosphere it was like the pilot had warned, to some degree. The ship violently shook up and down. The ship rattled as it started swerving to the left.
"Oh man!" one of the men cried. He looked extremely ill from the ride. The Dropships had passed through the atmosphere without any real problems. They floated down to the planets surface to see wreckage spread across the dead world.
"Captain Raynor! Where would you like to begin sir?" one of the pilots called back with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Giant clouds arose from large bodies that were once Carriers. Blue fires erupted over many of them.
"Scan for any life. We have to save as many of them as we can." Jim walked back into the cabin, sinking heavily in his seat. "This may take awhile."
The entire room was pitch black. Zeratul found himself lying upon the radar and navigation station. He slowly moved his arms and legs to make sure he was okay. He got up into a sitting position and tried to make out how bad things were. His eyes adjusted as much as they would. He looked and saw bodies of the other Protoss that where once working here only a few minutes before.
He got up and walked to one of them. He knelt down to check if he was still alive but stopped once he saw a large pipe embedded in his back. He tried checking a few others, but they too were dead. He checked another one. He knelt down to see it was a female. She didn't look alive either. Zeratul was heartbroken at the site of so many of his fellow people dead and he was still alive. It was a shame as well, she was very beautiful as well. He put his hand on her head and she suddenly woke up screaming.
"Get off me!! Let me go!!" she screamed trying to brush Zeratul's hand away. She calmed realizing who it was.
"It is all right. Be calm. Are you okay?" he asked her as calmly as he could.
She looked up wincing in pain. Zeratul looked down her body and saw one of her legs was broken. "My left leg.. I think it is fractured.. I am sorry Zeratul, I didn't know it was you.." She looked up with pain and sorrow in her golden eyes. Her light blue body twitching slightly from the pain.
"You are sorry? No need to be young one. Wait here while I check the others," he said leaving her side to check for a more survivors. He surveyed the damage done and knew that no one else would be alive. The work stations up near the observation window were gone, buried in twisted metal and dead earth. "What is your name?" Zeratul asked as he approached the wounded Templar.
She looked up at him. "My name is. it is. Monera." Each time she spoke it took something out of her.
He sat her up on one of the computer mainframes. He inspected her leg and saw the slightly discolored area. Her light blue color had faded around where the fracture was. It was a swollen purplish color. He found two small pipes that had fallen from overhead and found some cable to tie around her leg as a splint.
"We have to find a way out. Can you walk?" he asked helping her up to her feet.
"I can try," she replied, hobbling on her right leg. She could not rest any weight what-so-ever on her left leg. "I can't walk on my left leg at all. I'm so sorry Zeratul."
"Why? There is nothing you could have done to prevent it. We must get to the fighter bay, we may be able to get out from there. Come on," he said gently lifting her. He carried her in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Hang on, we will get out of here."
He walked to the door leading out of the bridge. It was twisted and ruined. He kicked it once, twice and on the third kick, the door gave way. He walked down the corridor with Monera wincing at each of his steps. He walked down a flight of steps and continued straight down the corridor. He finally made a left and walked down another flight of steps. He continued walking until he noticed that the walls had caved in blocking the path to the hanger.
He cursed slightly and walked back up the steps. He got back in the corridor and walked straight and made a right leading to the other hanger. He was about to walk down the steps but noticed that they were gone.
"Monera, tell me do you have any fears?" he asked looking down. She did not look down at what he was looking at.
She was puzzled. "Why would you ask?"
He looked at her fiery gold eyes. "Just making conversation. Do you have anyone special?"
She was now very confused. She did not know what he was trying to get at. "No, no. Why are you asking? I don't have anyone spea-AHH" she screamed as she was suddenly in air with Zeratul closely behind. That's when she noticed the steps were gone.
They both landed with a hard thud and she cried in pain as she hit her leg on the way down. Zeratul crawled over to her. She could only make out the color of his fire red eyes. "Are you okay?" he asked picking her back up.
She was hurting and he saw it. "I have been better." She wrapped her arms around his neck again and they began running for the hanger.
They made it to the hanger and saw that most of it was buried in dried dirt. Only a small light was visible in the right corner of where the ships would enter and exit the Carrier. It was no more then a inch of visible light, but with the darkness inside the Carrier, it was like a homing beacon for life. A large section of dirt filled the hanger but it was a gradual incline, allowing them to walk up to the light. Zeratul stood Monera up on her right leg,
"I need you to help me dig us out, okay? We will be out of here in no time." He said as he used his hands and began digging themselves out where the light was entering. Monera quickly did the same. They dug quickly and the one inch of light turned to two. The two inches began three and so on.
Zeratul took another big swipe of dirt and had heard something. He stopped digging for a moment. Monera kept digging without hearing anything. Zeratul put a hand on her shoulder. "Shh." he whispered. She stopped and listened to hear nothing. Zeratul slowly put his face up to the dirt pile.
There was still nothing. He brought his head closer to the hole and quickly brought his head back as two claws came from the hole. Monera hopped backwards as Zeratul stepped back. It was a Zergling. It screamed in fury as it hacked away at the hole that was quickly getting bigger. Zeratul tried to activate his personal shield pylon but it was malfunctioning. Monera tried as well but hers too was disabled.
"Well, this is looking better then I thought it would," he said chuckling slightly to make Monera feel better. He did manage to get his Warp Blade active as did Monera. "Stay back, Zerglings don't stand a chance against me okay. They are nothing but practice. If any of them get through me, you must stop them okay? Do not worry young one, we will be out of here in no time."
The hole grew in feet in matters of seconds. Zeratul brought up the blade ready to strike down the Zerg that were trying to get in. The creatures claws hacking relentlessly at the dirt as another few feet were added to the hole. Finally the digging stopped and a large form of a Hydralisk stood tall and angry. The snake like creature was as tall as Zeratul with an eerie look to it from the bright sunlight behind it.
The creature approached slowly letting itself adjust to the darkness. Then to flaps of skin opened on both sides of its neck. At that moment, Zeratul charged the beast, dodging left as sharp spines came from the creature. It raised it's claws too late to defend. Zeratul with one mighty swoop of his powerful Warp Blade and severed the monsters head. As the creature fell, four Zerglings came down from the hole screaming and swinging at the air viciously.
Zeratul sighed. "You must do better then your friend has." he said raising one of his enormous hands. He then held out his large pointer finger and recoiled it and extended it repeatedly, taunting them. "Come and try."
As on cue, the four charged with full speed. The first one leapt in the air ready to land on him. He quickly brought up the blade, fatally wounding it. He then swung the opposite direction as another was almost on top of him. The swing also killing the creature. He was about to bring up the blade again but noticed he wouldn't make it in time.
Out of nowhere, Monera was on her feet with her blade meeting the Zergling head on. It fell over dead. She brought up the blade as the last Zergling charged. The Zergling raised it's claws ready to break through its preys tender flesh when the blade had removed the two front claws. The Zergling whimpered in pain as it turned to charge again. The creature never saw it coming as Zeratul stood. Another blade had hit its back cutting it in two. The monster fell in two clean cut pieces, dead.
"Thank you Monera. You saved me," Zeratul spoke kindly. He walked over to her lifting her up again and carrying her out. She again wrapped her arms around his neck.
"I needed to do something. You have helped me, so it was the least I could do in repayment.
He walked out of the hole and saw nothing but wreckage for miles upon miles. He shuddered at the sight. "Good bye, Artanis, Zelsasha. May the Gods protect you and lead you to safety." He knew it would be impossible to find them right now. Maybe they were. No. Zeratul quickly pushed the though aside.
"Zeratul, what do we do now?" Monera asked shaking at the great ruin of the Protoss fleet that was operation not more then twenty minutes ago.
"We find a Shuttle or a Scout. Anything that will fly us to the jump node that heads to Castor. We can come back with more people to help search. For now, we should rest somewhere safer." Zeratul said walking to seek a place of lonely refuge. Night would be falling on this planet soon and the Zerg would be out in force.
Chapter 5
Artanis and the remaining fighters were speeding into the atmosphere of Mar Sara. Zelsasha's Scout was on the verge of breaking down and didn't know where a suitable landing site would be.
"I can't hold it any more! I'm setting it down," Zelsasha screamed as he descended. He tried holding it, but the ship was too badly damaged to keep up any more for safety sake. He was descending quickly and did his best to hold it up. He saw a open field and tried to get to it for a safer landing but he couldn't. The Scout hit the ground flying back up in the air for a few brief moments before slamming back down into the dead earth again.
The ship broke apart as it dragged itself along. The wings broke off and the glass of the cockpit was shattered. Zelsasha only could cover himself and wait the ride out, hopefully surviving it.
After what seemed like an eternity, the Scout finally came to a stop. Zelsasha opened his eyes, not believing he was unharmed. He quickly realized that the Scout was still on fire and he had to get out now. He struggled to get his safety belt undone, but it gave way soon enough. He crawled out of the cockpit where the glass shield would have been. He quickly stood up and began to run away from the ruined vehicle.
With a sudden explosion, Zelsasha was lifted from his feet and thrown into the ground. He slowly stood up from the ground he was thrown upon to hear other Scouts approaching.
"Thank the Gods," he whispered to himself. Another explosion came from somewhere far off. He turned to see smoke rising in the distance. Whatever it was it was big. It was no doubt a Carrier. "Damn them."
The other three Scouts began to land in the field. Artanis stepped from his Scout relieved to see Zelsasha still alive. He jumped down from the cockpit to meet him. The other two pilots did the same. The four warriors watched the fire beyond a dead mountain. The entire planet was dead. Ever since the bombardment that other Protoss had done when the Zerg landed here. The area they were in was nothing more than a wasteland.
"Do you think anyone could have survived that kind of crash?" Zelsasha asked worried for the safety of hundreds of his brothers and sisters lives.
One of the other pilots spoke up. "Yes, it is very possible. Have you seen what you walked away from? "I'm sure that there are survivors." The pilot was a little older then Zelsasha was. His scales were more defined and visible.
"We must move to higher ground. Somewhere that provides cover," a female pilot said. Zelsasha was taken back slightly. He did not think that females would pilot fighters. He then realized that she was extremely beautiful.
Artanis quickly picked up on this. "Zelsasha, this is a good friend of mine, Latura. She is a very good pilot as she is very good with a Warp Blade."
She nodded slightly. Her skin turned a softer color of the deep mid-night blue she had. She was blushing slightly. "Artanis you give me too much credit."
Artanis raised his brow. "I think not Latura. This is a very good friend of mine as well. His na-," Artanis could only stare up in the sky as something approached.
Before anyone else could see what had taken Artanis' focus away, it was too late. A small projectile hit the unnamed pilot in the back. He screamed as he fell to the ground on his back.
"Quickly! We have to flip him over!" Artanis screamed. Neither Zelsasha or Latura had any idea what he was talking about did what was ordered. When they turned him on his back, they saw the small creature burrowing into his back. Artanis knelt down with his Warp Blade extended. "It's a Broodling, we have to cut it out before it gets in to deep."
The creature made its way into his back further. Artanis followed it with the Warp Blade. He got ready to try and cut it out of his downed friend when he heard a wet crunching sound. The veins in the back of the fallen pilot started to change to a plant like green. Artanis got to his feet immediately.
"Back away from him!" he ordered with his Warp Blade still extended. Zelsasha and Latura both did what he said. They too, extended their Warp Blades.
The fallen pilot screamed in agony as his skin continued to turn green and the opening in his back grew larger. From inside his chest a beak stabbed through sending blood and pieces of bone flying from the now dead pilot. The body continued to turn a greenish color and the body was beginning to split in half down the middle. In one final fury two small Zerg Broodlings came out of the pilot. They looked up at the three Protoss and screamed an awful cry and charged at them.
One of the creatures jumped for Latura. She instinctively brought her right leg back in a defensive stand with he blade ready. She brought her left arm in a wide arch going across her chest and cut the creature in half. The other one had jumped for Zelsasha who just side stepped bringing the blade on his right arm up as the creature passed, cutting itself in two.
Artanis again looked at the sky. He brought up his blade on his left hand and swung. Zelsasha had no idea why he swung until he heard two small thuds hit the ground near them. He had cut a Broodling Spore in half before it had a chance to get into his body. "We are leaving," was all he said as he ran back to his Scout. Latura did the same. Zelsasha then took it upon himself to take the Scout of the fallen warrior. He said a prayer for the Protoss he never knew and wished him peace.
Sara System (Jump Node)
They had finally arrived. Raynor and his Battle Fleet were ready to make a grand entrance to save their brothers. But what they saw they were not prepared for. They saw pieces of wreckage and debris of Protoss ships. Then the bodies of Zerg floating lifelessly through the black void.
Sixteen Battle Cruisers were ready for anything. Each Cruiser held four squads of Wraiths and Valkyries. In each squad was twelve fighters.
"My God," Jim whispered. It had only been a half an hour since they had jumped from the Castor jump node.
"Zerg, 4,732 clicks away sir. They are heading for us," the radar operator said. He looked up at Jim with a grim look.
Jim stood up and gripped the railing of the bridge. He violently pulled back and forth on the railing. "Damn it! You listen and listen good! I have had enough of this bad news bullshit man! I want results this time! The Zerg have taken out a fleet of our allies and its time we do something about it!" Everyone stopped their work to watch Jim scream at no one and everyone at the same time. "Send our fighters. But first, let these ass holes in. Let them get in close. Right when they bunch up, right before they attack, we fire are Yamato guns. Everyone does."
The crew nodded in understanding. The Comms. Officer radioed what Jim had wanted. The fighters were on stand by in the hangers and waited anxiously for the order.
Jim watched the beasts come closer and closer. They were bunching just like he knew they would. They were almost in range. The monsters gaining ground every second, screaming in fury as they came.
"Send these sons a bitches to hell," Jim said and with that sixteen blasts came from the Cruisers. The blasts had shredded the Zerg attackers like a hot knife through butter. Once the Yamato blasts faded, the enemy stood before them. The enemy stood before them in small chunks of fried flesh. Not one of them got through.
Jim smiled at that great and flawless victory. He knew it was no time to get cocky but he was proud to have killed so many sparing the lives of maybe hundreds of theirs. "Deploy fighters to give us escort," he ordered. The crew did what he asked all smiling at the great turn out.
"Commander, we have hundreds of life signals upon the surface of Mar Sara. Scanners are showing us it is some of the Protoss survivors sir. But the Zerg are starting to multiply as well sir. Profiles suggest that they are building a new cluster," a young woman at the scanning station reported.
"All right then. Get Dropships loaded up, we are going to get them back," he said walking off the bridge. "Mr. Homes, you have command till I come back, got me?" he said as he continued to walk off the bridge not waiting for the answer of the First Mate.
Jim walked down the corridor as quickly as he could without running. He got to the loading bay and saw his armor waiting there for him. He slipped inside and adjusted himself so he could have flexibility to the highest. He turned around and grabbed a Gauss rifle and a few extra magazines. He saw men entering the Dropships like how they were trained. He knew he was in good hands with these men. They weren't brain panned and they could think and move on their own.
A man in the same armor as Jim approached him. "Sir, Siege Tanks are rolling up now along with a few Goliath's. Should we wait for them?"
Jim looked up, slapping a fresh magazine in the rifle. "Yeah, we wait. We don't know what's exactly down there and we don't want to get cut off without some proper fire power. Get the men inside and have the Dropships wait for the rest of the Tanks and whatever other vehicle we have." With that said the man nodded and ran into the nearest Dropship. Jim did the same.
The soldiers in the Dropship Jim walked into were happy to see he was going with them. They all nodded and smiled at him and amongst themselves.
"Okay boys, listen up. We don't know what them critters are up to down there. Stay close and in tight. If we do engage, short controlled bursts. I don't want anyone being trigger happy and wastin' ammo." He moved to the front of the Dropship where the pilot was. "Let's get this party started. We wait for the rest of the Dropships all right?"
The pilot nodded and left the hanger to make room for other ships to take off. One by one the ships filtered out of the Hyperion. A few of the Dropships went empty so they could transport the Protoss survivors back to the Cruisers.
"Hey Fleet, listen up, I only want the troops from the Hyperion engaging. We don't want a whole big mess of troops down there, we are goin' in and out like we weren't ever here. Maintain current position until further notice. Anything comes at you with flappin' wings or teeth or somethin' along those lines, remember to blast em'. Raynor out," he said taking of the head set and setting it back on one of the pilots chair.
"We will be in the atmosphere in a few minutes guys, hang on back there. The ride might be a tad bit bumpy," one of the pilots called back where the rest of the men lye in wait. The silence was dreadful enough but the engines hum was relaxing to some.
When the reached the atmosphere it was like the pilot had warned, to some degree. The ship violently shook up and down. The ship rattled as it started swerving to the left.
"Oh man!" one of the men cried. He looked extremely ill from the ride. The Dropships had passed through the atmosphere without any real problems. They floated down to the planets surface to see wreckage spread across the dead world.
"Captain Raynor! Where would you like to begin sir?" one of the pilots called back with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Giant clouds arose from large bodies that were once Carriers. Blue fires erupted over many of them.
"Scan for any life. We have to save as many of them as we can." Jim walked back into the cabin, sinking heavily in his seat. "This may take awhile."
The entire room was pitch black. Zeratul found himself lying upon the radar and navigation station. He slowly moved his arms and legs to make sure he was okay. He got up into a sitting position and tried to make out how bad things were. His eyes adjusted as much as they would. He looked and saw bodies of the other Protoss that where once working here only a few minutes before.
He got up and walked to one of them. He knelt down to check if he was still alive but stopped once he saw a large pipe embedded in his back. He tried checking a few others, but they too were dead. He checked another one. He knelt down to see it was a female. She didn't look alive either. Zeratul was heartbroken at the site of so many of his fellow people dead and he was still alive. It was a shame as well, she was very beautiful as well. He put his hand on her head and she suddenly woke up screaming.
"Get off me!! Let me go!!" she screamed trying to brush Zeratul's hand away. She calmed realizing who it was.
"It is all right. Be calm. Are you okay?" he asked her as calmly as he could.
She looked up wincing in pain. Zeratul looked down her body and saw one of her legs was broken. "My left leg.. I think it is fractured.. I am sorry Zeratul, I didn't know it was you.." She looked up with pain and sorrow in her golden eyes. Her light blue body twitching slightly from the pain.
"You are sorry? No need to be young one. Wait here while I check the others," he said leaving her side to check for a more survivors. He surveyed the damage done and knew that no one else would be alive. The work stations up near the observation window were gone, buried in twisted metal and dead earth. "What is your name?" Zeratul asked as he approached the wounded Templar.
She looked up at him. "My name is. it is. Monera." Each time she spoke it took something out of her.
He sat her up on one of the computer mainframes. He inspected her leg and saw the slightly discolored area. Her light blue color had faded around where the fracture was. It was a swollen purplish color. He found two small pipes that had fallen from overhead and found some cable to tie around her leg as a splint.
"We have to find a way out. Can you walk?" he asked helping her up to her feet.
"I can try," she replied, hobbling on her right leg. She could not rest any weight what-so-ever on her left leg. "I can't walk on my left leg at all. I'm so sorry Zeratul."
"Why? There is nothing you could have done to prevent it. We must get to the fighter bay, we may be able to get out from there. Come on," he said gently lifting her. He carried her in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Hang on, we will get out of here."
He walked to the door leading out of the bridge. It was twisted and ruined. He kicked it once, twice and on the third kick, the door gave way. He walked down the corridor with Monera wincing at each of his steps. He walked down a flight of steps and continued straight down the corridor. He finally made a left and walked down another flight of steps. He continued walking until he noticed that the walls had caved in blocking the path to the hanger.
He cursed slightly and walked back up the steps. He got back in the corridor and walked straight and made a right leading to the other hanger. He was about to walk down the steps but noticed that they were gone.
"Monera, tell me do you have any fears?" he asked looking down. She did not look down at what he was looking at.
She was puzzled. "Why would you ask?"
He looked at her fiery gold eyes. "Just making conversation. Do you have anyone special?"
She was now very confused. She did not know what he was trying to get at. "No, no. Why are you asking? I don't have anyone spea-AHH" she screamed as she was suddenly in air with Zeratul closely behind. That's when she noticed the steps were gone.
They both landed with a hard thud and she cried in pain as she hit her leg on the way down. Zeratul crawled over to her. She could only make out the color of his fire red eyes. "Are you okay?" he asked picking her back up.
She was hurting and he saw it. "I have been better." She wrapped her arms around his neck again and they began running for the hanger.
They made it to the hanger and saw that most of it was buried in dried dirt. Only a small light was visible in the right corner of where the ships would enter and exit the Carrier. It was no more then a inch of visible light, but with the darkness inside the Carrier, it was like a homing beacon for life. A large section of dirt filled the hanger but it was a gradual incline, allowing them to walk up to the light. Zeratul stood Monera up on her right leg,
"I need you to help me dig us out, okay? We will be out of here in no time." He said as he used his hands and began digging themselves out where the light was entering. Monera quickly did the same. They dug quickly and the one inch of light turned to two. The two inches began three and so on.
Zeratul took another big swipe of dirt and had heard something. He stopped digging for a moment. Monera kept digging without hearing anything. Zeratul put a hand on her shoulder. "Shh." he whispered. She stopped and listened to hear nothing. Zeratul slowly put his face up to the dirt pile.
There was still nothing. He brought his head closer to the hole and quickly brought his head back as two claws came from the hole. Monera hopped backwards as Zeratul stepped back. It was a Zergling. It screamed in fury as it hacked away at the hole that was quickly getting bigger. Zeratul tried to activate his personal shield pylon but it was malfunctioning. Monera tried as well but hers too was disabled.
"Well, this is looking better then I thought it would," he said chuckling slightly to make Monera feel better. He did manage to get his Warp Blade active as did Monera. "Stay back, Zerglings don't stand a chance against me okay. They are nothing but practice. If any of them get through me, you must stop them okay? Do not worry young one, we will be out of here in no time."
The hole grew in feet in matters of seconds. Zeratul brought up the blade ready to strike down the Zerg that were trying to get in. The creatures claws hacking relentlessly at the dirt as another few feet were added to the hole. Finally the digging stopped and a large form of a Hydralisk stood tall and angry. The snake like creature was as tall as Zeratul with an eerie look to it from the bright sunlight behind it.
The creature approached slowly letting itself adjust to the darkness. Then to flaps of skin opened on both sides of its neck. At that moment, Zeratul charged the beast, dodging left as sharp spines came from the creature. It raised it's claws too late to defend. Zeratul with one mighty swoop of his powerful Warp Blade and severed the monsters head. As the creature fell, four Zerglings came down from the hole screaming and swinging at the air viciously.
Zeratul sighed. "You must do better then your friend has." he said raising one of his enormous hands. He then held out his large pointer finger and recoiled it and extended it repeatedly, taunting them. "Come and try."
As on cue, the four charged with full speed. The first one leapt in the air ready to land on him. He quickly brought up the blade, fatally wounding it. He then swung the opposite direction as another was almost on top of him. The swing also killing the creature. He was about to bring up the blade again but noticed he wouldn't make it in time.
Out of nowhere, Monera was on her feet with her blade meeting the Zergling head on. It fell over dead. She brought up the blade as the last Zergling charged. The Zergling raised it's claws ready to break through its preys tender flesh when the blade had removed the two front claws. The Zergling whimpered in pain as it turned to charge again. The creature never saw it coming as Zeratul stood. Another blade had hit its back cutting it in two. The monster fell in two clean cut pieces, dead.
"Thank you Monera. You saved me," Zeratul spoke kindly. He walked over to her lifting her up again and carrying her out. She again wrapped her arms around his neck.
"I needed to do something. You have helped me, so it was the least I could do in repayment.
He walked out of the hole and saw nothing but wreckage for miles upon miles. He shuddered at the sight. "Good bye, Artanis, Zelsasha. May the Gods protect you and lead you to safety." He knew it would be impossible to find them right now. Maybe they were. No. Zeratul quickly pushed the though aside.
"Zeratul, what do we do now?" Monera asked shaking at the great ruin of the Protoss fleet that was operation not more then twenty minutes ago.
"We find a Shuttle or a Scout. Anything that will fly us to the jump node that heads to Castor. We can come back with more people to help search. For now, we should rest somewhere safer." Zeratul said walking to seek a place of lonely refuge. Night would be falling on this planet soon and the Zerg would be out in force.