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 16 Judicator Fleet Holding Low Orbit-Planet Castor
They stayed orbiting the planet for the past several days to make sure nothing lived on the surface. The planet had thriving oceans, crops, live stock and colonies that were looking more like towns and towns looking similar to cities. Not anymore though. They could not let the Zerg set up more Hives on other planets. Bad enough they had strangle holds on the Sara System, the Ribos System, and the Antigian System.
Judicator Armadais stood on the bridge of the Fury, making sure the planet had no life left to offer. It had been six days since they encountered the Zerg and nothing moved on the surface. Their scanners scanned under ground as well and found no traces of life. Armadais was pleased to see that no Zerg had survived.
"Signal the fleet. We are leaving the system. Set course for the Aiur System," he ordered. The comm Templar worked quickly and got the message sent to the rest of the fleet.
"What is the mission, Judicator? You have us running around going no where. We have been to the Sara System and did nothing there. We have been in this System and haven't done much here either. Our mission is to hunt the Dark Templars and we are not doing that. We have engaged Terrans, Zerg, made an alliance with some Dark Templars and they got away," the Templar said challenging the Judicator.
"It would be wise if you continued your work and drop the conversation while you still can," he replied with his arms neatly folded behind his back.
"This is not the bidding of the Conclave and you know it!" he screamed standing from his post. He walked away from the scanning station and walked up a small flight of stairs. He turned left and faced the Judicator. Armadais still had his arms behind his back facing the observation window. Armadais continued to stand in front of the main control consul and turned his head to face the Templar.
"You would be wise to turn and go back to your post. Things might get..well unpleasant," Armadais said turning, facing the Templar.
"No! I am fighting for the Conclave, not you!" he yelled letting his Psi Blade extend. Armadais raised his brow. He turned his back to the Templar, tempting him.
"Be a hero of the Conclave. Strike me down. Assume Command of the mission if you like. I'll give you a free shot," he said extending both arms outward making a T shape.
The Templar shifted comfortably, but knew he would not back out now. He charged and was ready to strike. The Templar jumped into the air bring his right arm back getting ready to strike. Contact was made.
The Judicator now stood facing the opposite direction four steps from where he had been with his Psi Blade drawn as well. The other Templar was now in his spot standing with his back to the Judicator as well. Armadais looked over his shoulder, retracting his blade.
"I warned him," he said. As Armadais spoke, the Templar fell to the floor with a large gash in his chest. He died instantly.
The crew were shocked by how fast the Judicator moved. If they were to have blinked, they would have missed it. The continued working almost as soon as he looked back out the observation window.
"Now, set a course for the Aiur System. If anyone else has a problem, feel free to come to me about it, in a more diplomatic matter I hope," he said shrugging at the body of the other Templar.
The course was set to head back to the Aiur System. Armadais was going to set up a base on Aiur and hopefully be able to clean some areas where the Zerg infested it before they became any stronger. He knew he should have left earlier for that, but he had to make sure that the Zerg could not grow on Castor.
The fleet was in good shape except for fighters. Most of their squads had lost a few fighters and almost all took some minor damage. Armadais straighten his robe out with his slender arms and then folded them neatly behind him. He would need to signal the High Councilor once they did reach Aiur. He would need reinforcement fighters. Many transports still remained and the land forces were waiting for the order for engagement.
Armadais walked over to the navigation screen and monitored the fleet. They had lost multiple vessels in the engagement with the Terrans and lost even more fighters with the Zerg. He watched a few of the transports. He could only imagine that ground forces were dying for combat. Now that he thought about it, he would like to see some action as well. He would like to get the main objective completed, but taking out a few Zerg along the way didn't seem like a bad idea now either.
Aster Prime (Surface)
Admiral Gray was in the forward Command Center sipping coffee. He had better dog food, but at least it kept him awake. The Battle Cruisers were under the necessary repairs needed from the battle with the Zerg and they were almost completed. Base defenses were fully operational as well. The compound was small and easy to defend. The compound was located on an elevated position and was small. That allowed bunkers to be closer together along with Siege Tanks and Missile Turrets. Now that he thought about it, the Vulture patrol that was dispatched should be returning in the next few minutes.
The small office he was in was cold and lifeless. The office he had on the Blue Nose was much more home-like. This room was small, metallic, and dull. But then again it served the purpose. A small desk was about five feet away from the door and a computer was the only thing on the desk. His reports should be brought in soon. He placed the coffee mug down on the desk and opened up file on the computer.
"Omega Battle Report," a computerized voice said. "Terran Dominion, Protoss survivors, and UED remnants join in a last ditch effort to oppress the Zerg above Char. Battle information is sketchy at best, Admiral. What is certain is, the UED was beaten off first and given a head start before being hunted down later by the Zerg. Soon afterwards the Protoss had fallen back and then the Dominion. We do not have any real hard facts in the battle, but several key personnel were killed on the UED Defensive Staff."
"Is there any hard facts on battle plans by the Zerg? Do they have certain tendencies? Weaknesses?" Admiral Gray asked the computer.
"The Zerg have certain tendencies, yes. But perfect planning would be needed if you want to properly attack the Zerg effectively Admiral. The Zerg normally go with an easy approach and then gradually send more effective units. But I doubt that you would be able to really surprise them unless you.. attack where they would never believe you would. Attacking Hives in the surrounding Systems are expected, that is why they are able to properly counterattack and dominate," the computer said.
Gray scratched his head slightly. This wasn't telling him much of anything. "Computer, how would we be able to deliver a punch that would hurt the Zerg?" he asked hoping he would gain something useful.
"As most commanders try to do, they launch heavy attacks against Zerg tech buildings. This is heavily ineffective because other units are still produced. Targeting structures like Hives are more effective," the computer said.
Gray placed a hand on his head. "Thank you for that 'valuable' piece of information. Anything else to add?" he asked groaning.
"Well then Admiral. If you want advice, I suggest you listen. What most people fail to realize is, that attack Zerg in stand off fighting is suicide. Everyone thinks that if they have more fire power and better trained men, they would be able to hold and overcome the Zerg.. What almost everyone fails to realize is, if you take out a few key units, Overlords, they will stop fighting. Overlords are like generals on the battle field. They receive commands from the Cerebrates and then perform those commands by emitting their telepathic power to the minions under their control. That is why multiple Overlords are present at battles, not just for detection, for direction," the computer said.
"What? How do you know about this?" Admiral Gray asked concentrating more fully on the computer.
The computer never answered, but Admiral Gray was in shock for a few moments. It just may work. He knew in his gut that Overlords had more of a purpose, but they never had a chance to study them. The first Expeditionary Fleet did, but none of them had made it back to report that. Admiral Gray then thought, the computer my have a virus or was malfunctioning, but if it wasn't, they could deliver some hurt the Zerg.
Finally the computer began to speak. "Some information was leaked out of the first UED data base. When they had control of the Overmind they were able to figure out that the Overmind controlled Cerebrates, Cerebrates control the Overlords, and the Overlords lead the attacks," the voice said sound the same as it had before.
"We will have to test the theory then," he spoke sitting straight up in his chair. Now that he thought about it, the chair was very uncomfortable.
"Admiral, though this is a true statement, it would be very hard to just target Overlords. For one thing, you still have to worry about their warriors. The second is that during combat situations, there are an abundant amount of them. But if you are able to inflict a substantial losses in the Overlord populace, they will have a much harder time in leading the other weaker minions," the computerized voice said. There was no trace of life in the cold voice that was projected from the computer.
Admiral Gray took the information in, but knew how hard it would be to just target them. In combat, things can go wrong with the drop of a hat. The simplest plan could become complicated, especially when dealing with the Zerg.
Suddenly the lights went red. Admiral Gray stood up reaching for his hat he left on a coat rack. He placed it on his head and ran out of the room. He entered into the hallway and heard the Siege Tanks firing their payload at something.
"Priority alert! Zerg are advancing towards our location. Cruisers have begun to take off and give air support," the computer voice called through the Command Centers intercom. Admiral Gray ran down the metal corridor. Each step making a clank sound that echoed through the hallway. He made a left at an intersection and ran down a ramp that lead to the ground below. He ran past one of the machine factories and saw two bunkers being overtaken no more the ten yards away.
"Zerg?!" he whispered to himself, but could not be heard over the gun fire. He quickly began to run back to one of the landing strips near the Command Center. He saw Stanley Tab come running towards him with several marines in full combat armor. Each of the soldiers were now about two feet taller then the six foot one inch Admiral.
"Shuttle is waiting for you to get onboard, sir!" Tab yelled. He looked past where the Admiral was standing raising his Gauss rifle. He leveled it at something and pulled the trigger. The other marines did as well. "I suggest you move, sir!" Tab shouted. "Teese, Micklenin, take the Admiral to the shuttle now!" Tab screamed running up from where the Admiral had come from originally along with the rest of the troop.
"This way, sir!" one of the marines said motioning the Admiral to move. "Micklenin, move it!" The man was apparently Teese. He raised his weapon shooting something that was approaching them.
The Admiral did not bother to stay and find out. He took off towards the landing strip where his shuttle was waiting. He heard an agonizing scream come from behind him. He turned to see one of the marines being shredded by a Zergling. He watched helplessly as the man was torn apart in seconds. The other marine began firing at the creature but toppled over as three Hydralisks spit out their needles from flaps on the sides of their necks. He couldn't see how many there was but it had to be more then twenty that had punctured the mans suit.
Gray watched as several men in front of him waved him on. It was one of the shuttles. He saw three shuttles sitting on the landing strip and another began to take off, making four total. Out of no where, a Scourge appeared from the clouds. Gray watched as the creature had picked the shuttle that was taking off for its target. The suicide beast rammed into the shuttle, destroying it and killing its passengers.
"Come on!" one of the men screamed for one of the other shuttles still sitting on the ground. He was almost there when two thick globs of a greenish yellow acid landed on the ship. He heard a few screams before the ship exploded. He turned over his left shoulder and saw the tick-like creature that was a Guardian fly overhead.
"My God," he whispered. He turned and ran to the last shuttle that lifted off. The back was still open for him to get in, but it was hovering a few feet off the ground.
A man in a Ghost uniform pulled him inside the ship. "Hang on, sir!" the bulky man yelled. Terrence turned to see the last shuttle begin to take off. They were doing the same thing, lifting off a little so a few people could still get in. It tried pulling up too late as a Zergling took it upon itself to leap inside the ship. A few bullets streamed out of the back of the shuttle. The shuttle began to climb but suddenly began turning viciously into a tail spin before it landed on a bunker.
The shuttle Terrence was on began to climb as well. The back of the doors began to close as they pushed higher into the sky.
"Sir, most Cruisers are already in orbit. We have mined a large section of Aster Prime and stocked up on a very good amount of Vespene gas and the crystals, sir," the Ghost said helping him find a seat.
"What about the men down there? We still have men down there," he said trying to look out one of the shuttles port windows.
"Not anymore, sir," he said. "Zerg landed on the other side of the planet and we didn't know it until it was too late," he said sitting back against the small shuttles wall.
"We have to go back! We have men down there!" he ordered. There were still men fighting and dying down there while he was heading back to his safe and sound Cruiser.
The shuttle did make it to the Blue Nose. Admiral Gray left the hanger and immediately went to the bridge. He had put up the screen to monitor the base once he did get into the bride and saw red blips on the entire base. Those red blips were the Zerg taking over their outpost. Gray clenched his fist tightly. He flipped off the screen and stormed off the bridge. He couldn't bare to watch his men be slaughtered.
"Farewell, Stanley Tab. God rest your soul," he said as he walked off to his quarters. He did reach his room and sat behind his desk. He opened up a file on the base and its last resorts.
"Sir, should we break orbit?" a man called through the intercom. It wasn't his best mans voice. It was a stranger to him, and alien.
"Yes. Take us away from here," he whispered as he opened up the Command Centers data base. He hit the Execute button and a five minute countdown begun. That entire area of up to ten miles would be dust. It wasn't their strongest nuke, but the radiation would be slim to none. It wouldn't matter either way. All the Zerg in the area would be toast and that is all that mattered now. Nothing else mattered.
"Check left!" Tab ordered as three Zerglings moved towards them with terrifying speed. Before anyone in his squad fired, all three Zerglings were blown to pieces by a nicely placed shot from a Siege tank by a few supply depots. "Team 1, take right flank! Check out and secure those depots. Team 2, stay with me! We need to relive Delta!" he ordered. He watched as Team 1 ran towards the tank with caution. Their weapons all trained at different directions covering all flanks. He could only watch as spines shot up through the dirt.
Stan ordered the rest of the squad to move to the designated location while he watched as a Lurker shredded Team 1. The spines of the burrowed creature pierced the armor of his comrades in Team 1 like a bullet through tissue paper. The entire first team, consisting of twelve men, were dead. The large creature broke through the dirt and screamed as it did so. It saw Tab and made a mad charge for him.
The Gauss rifle leveled out with the large beast. The Lurkers multiple legs made it fly towards him. It reminded him of a large spider that wanted to finish off prey that was entangled in its web. Stan fired at the creature. A few shells bounced of its large head, but a few sunk in deep. It wasn't enough as the monster barreled closer to him. He loaded on grenade in the launcher that was attached below his rifle. He pulled the trigger with a hate for the thing. The grenade found its mark. The Lurkers head exploded and blood rushed out of large opening.
Stan smiled as he began to turn to where the second team should be. He saw them running back towards him thirty feet away. He watched as a Zerg Queen shot out some goo that covered the entire second team. It was obviously heavy as most of the troops couldn't stand up. Another kind of red orange substance was shot on them as well. The saw a Zerg Defiler crawl away for the squad. The men screamed in pain as the reddish substance began eating away at their armor.
A horde of Zerglings then ran on top of the remaining soldiers, killing them off slowly. Stan watched as the last of his men were killed. He turned and began to run as fast as he could towards the tank that had begun to move away from the supply depots. He was no more then ten feet away from the moving tank when something hit him. He let out a yelp of surprise and felt a little blood dribble out of his mouth. He looked down and saw a red sword like claw coming from his gut. He winced as another claw tore through just above the other one.
Stan couldn't even scream. He tried to call for help, but no words would leave his mouth. All the lights and colors blended with one another as things went black. The two claws the Zergling had in his back both went in different directions tearing the man in two. The small Zergling leaped in the air letting a cry of rage mix with all the other sounds of chaos and death around it.
The Siege Tank rotated the cannon until it was facing the Zergling and fired. The Zergling was reduced to nothing along with a few of its fellow warriors.
"It killed that guy! Poor bastard was so close," the tank gunner said turning the turret to find another target.
"It's war, that tends to happen," the tank driver said.
"It's a general retreat! We have to get to a Dropship," the other driver said.
The tank gunner tried yelling out something but it was lost as the tank was flipped over by something larger then it. "It's an Ultralisk! Get out!" the gunner screamed as the large elephant like beast stepped on the bottom of the tank. The metal began twisting and giving way under the monsters weight.
The tank continued to get flattened at a much quicker pace now. One of the drivers tried opening the emergency hatch in vain. The other driver only watched as the tank compressed itself more and more. "I don't want to die like this!" he screamed as the new roof of the tank began to sink lower and lower.
The gunner watched as the two men frantically tried getting out. He watched as the metal continued to be flattened. The gunner watched as the ceiling of the tank lowered itself on to the shells that the tank fired. He watched as one of the shells was beginning to get crushed. "That's going to destroy my family," the man whispered.
The tank exploded sending shrapnel straight through the Ultralisk. The beast cried out in pain as if fell over dead. Blood poured out in gallons staining the ground red. The tank was left in nothing more then bits and pieces.
"Joey, we are going to have to make a run for this one, buddy!" Bill screamed pulling his friend away from one of the firing slits in the bunker. It was the last bunker left on that front and they were the only men left still fighting.
Joe and Bill both exited the heavily damaged bunker. Scratches were clearly visible in the metal along with several sharp needles. The other men in the bunker were dead already and they had to move before they joined them. The two men ran towards the Command Center since that was the only building left that wasn't under fire from the Zerg or wasn't damaged.
Joe turned as he was running and fired his Gauss rifle two Zerglings. They screamed at the outrage and charged him. Joe fired a grenade a few feet in front of the pair. There was a cry that came from somewhere behind the smoke cloud. As the dirt and smoke cleared, both Zerglings were motionless. Joe then turned and ran as fast as he could in the armored suit to catch up to Bill.
As they ran through the smoke filled air, a blast knocked the two men off their feet. They both rolled over to see what had done that and saw that one of the Star Ports had exploded. The metal frame of the building collapsed and the large circle at the top of the Star Port broke apart as the building exploded.
"Jesus.. Do you know how many people could have been in th-," Joe said but was brought to his feet by Bill.
"They are dead, but we are not! Let's move!" he screamed as he picked up his rifle. He watched the sun go behind a large black smoke cloud and things got a lot darker. As he looked hard towards the sun, he saw it wasn't a smoke cloud. "My God," he whispered. Hundreds upon hundreds of Zerg flyers filled the sky.
"Guardian!" Joe cried diving into some empty barrels. Bill had fell straight to the ground covering his head. The ball of acid swelled in the ground less then a foot away from Bill's head.
"If I didn't stop," he murmured. Joe grabbed him by his arm, pulling him as hard as he could.
"Come on!" Joe screamed. Joe ran a little farther a head of him and they both saw a few more men running towards the Command Center. Joe stopped and started jumping up and down, waving his arms frantically to get their attention. "Over here!" he screamed.
Bill saw everything unwind in slow motion. A Hydralisk leaped out behind a supply depot. Bill tried calling out but the Hydralisk was already in mid flight. It landed on Joe with sickening force. Bill heard something break on Joe. Joe cried out as the Hydralisks claws tore viciously at his armor. Bill wanted to shoot it when he realized he didn't have a gun.
"Shit!" he screamed looking for his Gauss rifle. He looked around and saw a large rock, but no weapon. He instantly went for the rock. He hauled up the large stone and hurled it towards the beast. It was a good shot. The creature was hit in the head and fell off Joe. It shook its long head back and forth and turned towards Bill. It's eyes full of hate and was drooling uncontrollably as it slowly started sliding its way towards him.
Bill watched Joe as he pulled something out of his hip pack. He pulled something off a large circular object and threw it near the creature. Bill realized it was a anti-personnel grenade. Bill turned and dropped to the ground. An explosion rattled his ears as a cry came from the Hydralisk. He looked up and saw pieces of the dead creature scattered around him. He saw Joe lying motionless. Bill saw the holes in his back and blood slowly coming to a halt.
"Bye, Joe," he whispered as he moved past his fallen comrade. He picked up Joe Gauss rifle and moved towards the Command Center. He was so close to getting inside now. He didn't know what he was going to do when he got there but he didn't care either. As he was about to enter the ram of the Command Center, he heard a deep roar that could only be one thing. The roar came again louder to his right. He slowly turned to stare down and Ultralisk. It walked up to him swinging its massive tusks. Bill dropped his rifle and fell to his knees. "Why?!" he screamed out as a prayer. The Ultralisk brought its tusks back and swung with full force at the marine. Bill was cut clean in two.
Not one of the soldiers that were running for the Command Center had made it. The entire base that was so "easy" to defend was completely overrun with Zerg. A few men still lived but would soon be discovered by the Zerg. Anyone that had remained at the base had been killed.
Inside the Command Center, the computer voice spoke to no one human. "Ten seconds to detonation. nine. eight. seven. six. five. four. three. two. one. As the one rang out, a giant fire ball engulfed the base and the surrounding area. The entire area was completely destroyed by fire. Nothing could survive that. Not even the Zerg. Nothing.....
Chapter 16 Judicator Fleet Holding Low Orbit-Planet Castor
They stayed orbiting the planet for the past several days to make sure nothing lived on the surface. The planet had thriving oceans, crops, live stock and colonies that were looking more like towns and towns looking similar to cities. Not anymore though. They could not let the Zerg set up more Hives on other planets. Bad enough they had strangle holds on the Sara System, the Ribos System, and the Antigian System.
Judicator Armadais stood on the bridge of the Fury, making sure the planet had no life left to offer. It had been six days since they encountered the Zerg and nothing moved on the surface. Their scanners scanned under ground as well and found no traces of life. Armadais was pleased to see that no Zerg had survived.
"Signal the fleet. We are leaving the system. Set course for the Aiur System," he ordered. The comm Templar worked quickly and got the message sent to the rest of the fleet.
"What is the mission, Judicator? You have us running around going no where. We have been to the Sara System and did nothing there. We have been in this System and haven't done much here either. Our mission is to hunt the Dark Templars and we are not doing that. We have engaged Terrans, Zerg, made an alliance with some Dark Templars and they got away," the Templar said challenging the Judicator.
"It would be wise if you continued your work and drop the conversation while you still can," he replied with his arms neatly folded behind his back.
"This is not the bidding of the Conclave and you know it!" he screamed standing from his post. He walked away from the scanning station and walked up a small flight of stairs. He turned left and faced the Judicator. Armadais still had his arms behind his back facing the observation window. Armadais continued to stand in front of the main control consul and turned his head to face the Templar.
"You would be wise to turn and go back to your post. Things might get..well unpleasant," Armadais said turning, facing the Templar.
"No! I am fighting for the Conclave, not you!" he yelled letting his Psi Blade extend. Armadais raised his brow. He turned his back to the Templar, tempting him.
"Be a hero of the Conclave. Strike me down. Assume Command of the mission if you like. I'll give you a free shot," he said extending both arms outward making a T shape.
The Templar shifted comfortably, but knew he would not back out now. He charged and was ready to strike. The Templar jumped into the air bring his right arm back getting ready to strike. Contact was made.
The Judicator now stood facing the opposite direction four steps from where he had been with his Psi Blade drawn as well. The other Templar was now in his spot standing with his back to the Judicator as well. Armadais looked over his shoulder, retracting his blade.
"I warned him," he said. As Armadais spoke, the Templar fell to the floor with a large gash in his chest. He died instantly.
The crew were shocked by how fast the Judicator moved. If they were to have blinked, they would have missed it. The continued working almost as soon as he looked back out the observation window.
"Now, set a course for the Aiur System. If anyone else has a problem, feel free to come to me about it, in a more diplomatic matter I hope," he said shrugging at the body of the other Templar.
The course was set to head back to the Aiur System. Armadais was going to set up a base on Aiur and hopefully be able to clean some areas where the Zerg infested it before they became any stronger. He knew he should have left earlier for that, but he had to make sure that the Zerg could not grow on Castor.
The fleet was in good shape except for fighters. Most of their squads had lost a few fighters and almost all took some minor damage. Armadais straighten his robe out with his slender arms and then folded them neatly behind him. He would need to signal the High Councilor once they did reach Aiur. He would need reinforcement fighters. Many transports still remained and the land forces were waiting for the order for engagement.
Armadais walked over to the navigation screen and monitored the fleet. They had lost multiple vessels in the engagement with the Terrans and lost even more fighters with the Zerg. He watched a few of the transports. He could only imagine that ground forces were dying for combat. Now that he thought about it, he would like to see some action as well. He would like to get the main objective completed, but taking out a few Zerg along the way didn't seem like a bad idea now either.
Aster Prime (Surface)
Admiral Gray was in the forward Command Center sipping coffee. He had better dog food, but at least it kept him awake. The Battle Cruisers were under the necessary repairs needed from the battle with the Zerg and they were almost completed. Base defenses were fully operational as well. The compound was small and easy to defend. The compound was located on an elevated position and was small. That allowed bunkers to be closer together along with Siege Tanks and Missile Turrets. Now that he thought about it, the Vulture patrol that was dispatched should be returning in the next few minutes.
The small office he was in was cold and lifeless. The office he had on the Blue Nose was much more home-like. This room was small, metallic, and dull. But then again it served the purpose. A small desk was about five feet away from the door and a computer was the only thing on the desk. His reports should be brought in soon. He placed the coffee mug down on the desk and opened up file on the computer.
"Omega Battle Report," a computerized voice said. "Terran Dominion, Protoss survivors, and UED remnants join in a last ditch effort to oppress the Zerg above Char. Battle information is sketchy at best, Admiral. What is certain is, the UED was beaten off first and given a head start before being hunted down later by the Zerg. Soon afterwards the Protoss had fallen back and then the Dominion. We do not have any real hard facts in the battle, but several key personnel were killed on the UED Defensive Staff."
"Is there any hard facts on battle plans by the Zerg? Do they have certain tendencies? Weaknesses?" Admiral Gray asked the computer.
"The Zerg have certain tendencies, yes. But perfect planning would be needed if you want to properly attack the Zerg effectively Admiral. The Zerg normally go with an easy approach and then gradually send more effective units. But I doubt that you would be able to really surprise them unless you.. attack where they would never believe you would. Attacking Hives in the surrounding Systems are expected, that is why they are able to properly counterattack and dominate," the computer said.
Gray scratched his head slightly. This wasn't telling him much of anything. "Computer, how would we be able to deliver a punch that would hurt the Zerg?" he asked hoping he would gain something useful.
"As most commanders try to do, they launch heavy attacks against Zerg tech buildings. This is heavily ineffective because other units are still produced. Targeting structures like Hives are more effective," the computer said.
Gray placed a hand on his head. "Thank you for that 'valuable' piece of information. Anything else to add?" he asked groaning.
"Well then Admiral. If you want advice, I suggest you listen. What most people fail to realize is, that attack Zerg in stand off fighting is suicide. Everyone thinks that if they have more fire power and better trained men, they would be able to hold and overcome the Zerg.. What almost everyone fails to realize is, if you take out a few key units, Overlords, they will stop fighting. Overlords are like generals on the battle field. They receive commands from the Cerebrates and then perform those commands by emitting their telepathic power to the minions under their control. That is why multiple Overlords are present at battles, not just for detection, for direction," the computer said.
"What? How do you know about this?" Admiral Gray asked concentrating more fully on the computer.
The computer never answered, but Admiral Gray was in shock for a few moments. It just may work. He knew in his gut that Overlords had more of a purpose, but they never had a chance to study them. The first Expeditionary Fleet did, but none of them had made it back to report that. Admiral Gray then thought, the computer my have a virus or was malfunctioning, but if it wasn't, they could deliver some hurt the Zerg.
Finally the computer began to speak. "Some information was leaked out of the first UED data base. When they had control of the Overmind they were able to figure out that the Overmind controlled Cerebrates, Cerebrates control the Overlords, and the Overlords lead the attacks," the voice said sound the same as it had before.
"We will have to test the theory then," he spoke sitting straight up in his chair. Now that he thought about it, the chair was very uncomfortable.
"Admiral, though this is a true statement, it would be very hard to just target Overlords. For one thing, you still have to worry about their warriors. The second is that during combat situations, there are an abundant amount of them. But if you are able to inflict a substantial losses in the Overlord populace, they will have a much harder time in leading the other weaker minions," the computerized voice said. There was no trace of life in the cold voice that was projected from the computer.
Admiral Gray took the information in, but knew how hard it would be to just target them. In combat, things can go wrong with the drop of a hat. The simplest plan could become complicated, especially when dealing with the Zerg.
Suddenly the lights went red. Admiral Gray stood up reaching for his hat he left on a coat rack. He placed it on his head and ran out of the room. He entered into the hallway and heard the Siege Tanks firing their payload at something.
"Priority alert! Zerg are advancing towards our location. Cruisers have begun to take off and give air support," the computer voice called through the Command Centers intercom. Admiral Gray ran down the metal corridor. Each step making a clank sound that echoed through the hallway. He made a left at an intersection and ran down a ramp that lead to the ground below. He ran past one of the machine factories and saw two bunkers being overtaken no more the ten yards away.
"Zerg?!" he whispered to himself, but could not be heard over the gun fire. He quickly began to run back to one of the landing strips near the Command Center. He saw Stanley Tab come running towards him with several marines in full combat armor. Each of the soldiers were now about two feet taller then the six foot one inch Admiral.
"Shuttle is waiting for you to get onboard, sir!" Tab yelled. He looked past where the Admiral was standing raising his Gauss rifle. He leveled it at something and pulled the trigger. The other marines did as well. "I suggest you move, sir!" Tab shouted. "Teese, Micklenin, take the Admiral to the shuttle now!" Tab screamed running up from where the Admiral had come from originally along with the rest of the troop.
"This way, sir!" one of the marines said motioning the Admiral to move. "Micklenin, move it!" The man was apparently Teese. He raised his weapon shooting something that was approaching them.
The Admiral did not bother to stay and find out. He took off towards the landing strip where his shuttle was waiting. He heard an agonizing scream come from behind him. He turned to see one of the marines being shredded by a Zergling. He watched helplessly as the man was torn apart in seconds. The other marine began firing at the creature but toppled over as three Hydralisks spit out their needles from flaps on the sides of their necks. He couldn't see how many there was but it had to be more then twenty that had punctured the mans suit.
Gray watched as several men in front of him waved him on. It was one of the shuttles. He saw three shuttles sitting on the landing strip and another began to take off, making four total. Out of no where, a Scourge appeared from the clouds. Gray watched as the creature had picked the shuttle that was taking off for its target. The suicide beast rammed into the shuttle, destroying it and killing its passengers.
"Come on!" one of the men screamed for one of the other shuttles still sitting on the ground. He was almost there when two thick globs of a greenish yellow acid landed on the ship. He heard a few screams before the ship exploded. He turned over his left shoulder and saw the tick-like creature that was a Guardian fly overhead.
"My God," he whispered. He turned and ran to the last shuttle that lifted off. The back was still open for him to get in, but it was hovering a few feet off the ground.
A man in a Ghost uniform pulled him inside the ship. "Hang on, sir!" the bulky man yelled. Terrence turned to see the last shuttle begin to take off. They were doing the same thing, lifting off a little so a few people could still get in. It tried pulling up too late as a Zergling took it upon itself to leap inside the ship. A few bullets streamed out of the back of the shuttle. The shuttle began to climb but suddenly began turning viciously into a tail spin before it landed on a bunker.
The shuttle Terrence was on began to climb as well. The back of the doors began to close as they pushed higher into the sky.
"Sir, most Cruisers are already in orbit. We have mined a large section of Aster Prime and stocked up on a very good amount of Vespene gas and the crystals, sir," the Ghost said helping him find a seat.
"What about the men down there? We still have men down there," he said trying to look out one of the shuttles port windows.
"Not anymore, sir," he said. "Zerg landed on the other side of the planet and we didn't know it until it was too late," he said sitting back against the small shuttles wall.
"We have to go back! We have men down there!" he ordered. There were still men fighting and dying down there while he was heading back to his safe and sound Cruiser.
The shuttle did make it to the Blue Nose. Admiral Gray left the hanger and immediately went to the bridge. He had put up the screen to monitor the base once he did get into the bride and saw red blips on the entire base. Those red blips were the Zerg taking over their outpost. Gray clenched his fist tightly. He flipped off the screen and stormed off the bridge. He couldn't bare to watch his men be slaughtered.
"Farewell, Stanley Tab. God rest your soul," he said as he walked off to his quarters. He did reach his room and sat behind his desk. He opened up a file on the base and its last resorts.
"Sir, should we break orbit?" a man called through the intercom. It wasn't his best mans voice. It was a stranger to him, and alien.
"Yes. Take us away from here," he whispered as he opened up the Command Centers data base. He hit the Execute button and a five minute countdown begun. That entire area of up to ten miles would be dust. It wasn't their strongest nuke, but the radiation would be slim to none. It wouldn't matter either way. All the Zerg in the area would be toast and that is all that mattered now. Nothing else mattered.
"Check left!" Tab ordered as three Zerglings moved towards them with terrifying speed. Before anyone in his squad fired, all three Zerglings were blown to pieces by a nicely placed shot from a Siege tank by a few supply depots. "Team 1, take right flank! Check out and secure those depots. Team 2, stay with me! We need to relive Delta!" he ordered. He watched as Team 1 ran towards the tank with caution. Their weapons all trained at different directions covering all flanks. He could only watch as spines shot up through the dirt.
Stan ordered the rest of the squad to move to the designated location while he watched as a Lurker shredded Team 1. The spines of the burrowed creature pierced the armor of his comrades in Team 1 like a bullet through tissue paper. The entire first team, consisting of twelve men, were dead. The large creature broke through the dirt and screamed as it did so. It saw Tab and made a mad charge for him.
The Gauss rifle leveled out with the large beast. The Lurkers multiple legs made it fly towards him. It reminded him of a large spider that wanted to finish off prey that was entangled in its web. Stan fired at the creature. A few shells bounced of its large head, but a few sunk in deep. It wasn't enough as the monster barreled closer to him. He loaded on grenade in the launcher that was attached below his rifle. He pulled the trigger with a hate for the thing. The grenade found its mark. The Lurkers head exploded and blood rushed out of large opening.
Stan smiled as he began to turn to where the second team should be. He saw them running back towards him thirty feet away. He watched as a Zerg Queen shot out some goo that covered the entire second team. It was obviously heavy as most of the troops couldn't stand up. Another kind of red orange substance was shot on them as well. The saw a Zerg Defiler crawl away for the squad. The men screamed in pain as the reddish substance began eating away at their armor.
A horde of Zerglings then ran on top of the remaining soldiers, killing them off slowly. Stan watched as the last of his men were killed. He turned and began to run as fast as he could towards the tank that had begun to move away from the supply depots. He was no more then ten feet away from the moving tank when something hit him. He let out a yelp of surprise and felt a little blood dribble out of his mouth. He looked down and saw a red sword like claw coming from his gut. He winced as another claw tore through just above the other one.
Stan couldn't even scream. He tried to call for help, but no words would leave his mouth. All the lights and colors blended with one another as things went black. The two claws the Zergling had in his back both went in different directions tearing the man in two. The small Zergling leaped in the air letting a cry of rage mix with all the other sounds of chaos and death around it.
The Siege Tank rotated the cannon until it was facing the Zergling and fired. The Zergling was reduced to nothing along with a few of its fellow warriors.
"It killed that guy! Poor bastard was so close," the tank gunner said turning the turret to find another target.
"It's war, that tends to happen," the tank driver said.
"It's a general retreat! We have to get to a Dropship," the other driver said.
The tank gunner tried yelling out something but it was lost as the tank was flipped over by something larger then it. "It's an Ultralisk! Get out!" the gunner screamed as the large elephant like beast stepped on the bottom of the tank. The metal began twisting and giving way under the monsters weight.
The tank continued to get flattened at a much quicker pace now. One of the drivers tried opening the emergency hatch in vain. The other driver only watched as the tank compressed itself more and more. "I don't want to die like this!" he screamed as the new roof of the tank began to sink lower and lower.
The gunner watched as the two men frantically tried getting out. He watched as the metal continued to be flattened. The gunner watched as the ceiling of the tank lowered itself on to the shells that the tank fired. He watched as one of the shells was beginning to get crushed. "That's going to destroy my family," the man whispered.
The tank exploded sending shrapnel straight through the Ultralisk. The beast cried out in pain as if fell over dead. Blood poured out in gallons staining the ground red. The tank was left in nothing more then bits and pieces.
"Joey, we are going to have to make a run for this one, buddy!" Bill screamed pulling his friend away from one of the firing slits in the bunker. It was the last bunker left on that front and they were the only men left still fighting.
Joe and Bill both exited the heavily damaged bunker. Scratches were clearly visible in the metal along with several sharp needles. The other men in the bunker were dead already and they had to move before they joined them. The two men ran towards the Command Center since that was the only building left that wasn't under fire from the Zerg or wasn't damaged.
Joe turned as he was running and fired his Gauss rifle two Zerglings. They screamed at the outrage and charged him. Joe fired a grenade a few feet in front of the pair. There was a cry that came from somewhere behind the smoke cloud. As the dirt and smoke cleared, both Zerglings were motionless. Joe then turned and ran as fast as he could in the armored suit to catch up to Bill.
As they ran through the smoke filled air, a blast knocked the two men off their feet. They both rolled over to see what had done that and saw that one of the Star Ports had exploded. The metal frame of the building collapsed and the large circle at the top of the Star Port broke apart as the building exploded.
"Jesus.. Do you know how many people could have been in th-," Joe said but was brought to his feet by Bill.
"They are dead, but we are not! Let's move!" he screamed as he picked up his rifle. He watched the sun go behind a large black smoke cloud and things got a lot darker. As he looked hard towards the sun, he saw it wasn't a smoke cloud. "My God," he whispered. Hundreds upon hundreds of Zerg flyers filled the sky.
"Guardian!" Joe cried diving into some empty barrels. Bill had fell straight to the ground covering his head. The ball of acid swelled in the ground less then a foot away from Bill's head.
"If I didn't stop," he murmured. Joe grabbed him by his arm, pulling him as hard as he could.
"Come on!" Joe screamed. Joe ran a little farther a head of him and they both saw a few more men running towards the Command Center. Joe stopped and started jumping up and down, waving his arms frantically to get their attention. "Over here!" he screamed.
Bill saw everything unwind in slow motion. A Hydralisk leaped out behind a supply depot. Bill tried calling out but the Hydralisk was already in mid flight. It landed on Joe with sickening force. Bill heard something break on Joe. Joe cried out as the Hydralisks claws tore viciously at his armor. Bill wanted to shoot it when he realized he didn't have a gun.
"Shit!" he screamed looking for his Gauss rifle. He looked around and saw a large rock, but no weapon. He instantly went for the rock. He hauled up the large stone and hurled it towards the beast. It was a good shot. The creature was hit in the head and fell off Joe. It shook its long head back and forth and turned towards Bill. It's eyes full of hate and was drooling uncontrollably as it slowly started sliding its way towards him.
Bill watched Joe as he pulled something out of his hip pack. He pulled something off a large circular object and threw it near the creature. Bill realized it was a anti-personnel grenade. Bill turned and dropped to the ground. An explosion rattled his ears as a cry came from the Hydralisk. He looked up and saw pieces of the dead creature scattered around him. He saw Joe lying motionless. Bill saw the holes in his back and blood slowly coming to a halt.
"Bye, Joe," he whispered as he moved past his fallen comrade. He picked up Joe Gauss rifle and moved towards the Command Center. He was so close to getting inside now. He didn't know what he was going to do when he got there but he didn't care either. As he was about to enter the ram of the Command Center, he heard a deep roar that could only be one thing. The roar came again louder to his right. He slowly turned to stare down and Ultralisk. It walked up to him swinging its massive tusks. Bill dropped his rifle and fell to his knees. "Why?!" he screamed out as a prayer. The Ultralisk brought its tusks back and swung with full force at the marine. Bill was cut clean in two.
Not one of the soldiers that were running for the Command Center had made it. The entire base that was so "easy" to defend was completely overrun with Zerg. A few men still lived but would soon be discovered by the Zerg. Anyone that had remained at the base had been killed.
Inside the Command Center, the computer voice spoke to no one human. "Ten seconds to detonation. nine. eight. seven. six. five. four. three. two. one. As the one rang out, a giant fire ball engulfed the base and the surrounding area. The entire area was completely destroyed by fire. Nothing could survive that. Not even the Zerg. Nothing.....