Disclaimer: I don't own Starcraft or anything pertaining to Blizzard...
The Carrier arrived safely in a few minutes without Zerg interference. As Aldaris exited the ship, Tassadar and Jim Raynor nearly ran over him.
"What is it?" Aldaris asked crossly.
"Haven't you heard my transmission, Aldaris?" Tassadar answered in an equally cross voice.
"Yes, but that does not explain a thing. I demand..." he was cut short by as he felt a Glave Wurm slam against his shield.
"How's that for an explanation?" Raynor retorted and ran for the Hyperion. Aldaris looked up. Several Mutalisks hovered overhead, ramming Glave Wurm attacks mercilessly against everything in their sight. A mass of Hydralisks was attacking the defenses to the west, while Zerglings were pouring into the base from the east. Aldaris ordered his base to send help and he hastily followed Tassadar into a Scout.
"Wait for me!" Durtz shouted, but both Templar were in too much of a hurry to hear- and the Scout left the landing pad. While the Hyperion and the Terrans in the base concentrated on the Zerg ground units, they attacked the Mutalisks.
"This is insane, Aldaris," Tassadar yelled over the noise of the screaming Mutalisks.
"Not if I use my psionic storm." Aldaris concentrated... and abruptly stopped, nearly screaming in pain. The psionic lightning filled the entire bridge, fizzling and cracking. Tassadar ducked. "You forgot to open the window!"
"What?"
"Open the window!"
Aldaris yanked the window open and stuck his upper body out. This time, the storm focused on its rightful target, tearing them apart slowly while Tassadar fired on them with the Scout. Suddenly, the Scout jerked violently. Aldaris struggled to keep his grip on the windowsill. "Watch it, Tassa--- Aaaaaaaah!" Another jerk sent him hurtling out of the window.
Durtz stood right below, staring stupidly as the Protoss came screaming down. A millisecond before impact, Durtz finally realized the imminent danger and began to consider running, but it was too late.
THUD.
"You're heavy!" Durtz shouted as Aldaris tried to get to his feet. Durtz struggled and suddenly scraped a few of Aldaris' nerve cords with his psi blades in the process.
"ME NERVE CORDS!" Aldaris bellowed.
"What?"
"Ye damage me nerve cods!" Aldaris yelled again.
"Oh. I'll get the medic." Durtz trotted off. Another Glave Wurm came spinning toward him. Aldaris stumbled out of the way just in time and rubbed his nerve cords, distressed. Most likely he wasn't going to be able to communicate normally for at least...(he shuddered) a week. Oh, the humiliation, the pain, the... exasperation. Aldaris raced after Durtz. "Me nerve cords! Me cords! You mal...malad... maladroit!"
---------------------
The Marines had taken care of most of the Hydralisks and Zerglings by now, despite the heavy losses. Durtz retched at the sight of blood staining the ground, but somehow managed to stagger into the Command Center. "Medic!"
A woman in white ran out of one of the rooms. "Where does it hurt?"
"It's not me who's hurting, it's him!" Durtz turned and pointed at Aldaris, who was charging into the Command Center, snorting and bellowing madly, nerve cords flailing this way and that, his orange eyes switching colors red, purple, blue, and green alternatively.
"Sorry! I'm sorry!" Durtz wailed and leaped out of the way.
Tassadar had finished the Mutalisks off and now came rushing after Aldaris. "Give him coffee, Medic! Hurry!" The Medic looked at them strangely for a moment and disappeared. She soon returned with a mug of coffee, and Tassadar shoved it into Aldaris' hands. Aldaris drained it down in one gulp- and was completely sane again.
"Ahhh, I needid dat."
"Of course you did," Tassadar replied. "Now what do we do about your nerve cord?"
"Fikth it!"
Durtz looked doubtfully at the Medic.
"I can try..." she aimed the device at Aldaris' nerve cords. After a while, she shook her head. "Nope. I can't heal telepath abilities. You'll just have to wait for it to heal naturally."
"Take it like a Templar, Aldaris," Tassadar said solemnly.
Aldaris nodded slowly and tried to say something again.
Then, the ground shook. Again.
Jim Raynor hurried into the Command Center. "Another attack," he panted. "I'm not sure this base is going to hold out this time."
Tassadar looked outside. The Barracks and Starport were only smoldering rubble on the ground. Only 11 Marines stood outside, clustered about the command center closely. Three firebats were getting their flamethrowers ready. And in the distance, floods of Zerglings and Hydralisks could be seen, steadily approaching. Even a few Guardians were becoming more visible every second.
"I've a suggestion," Raynor said as Tassadar came back inside.
"What's that?" Tassadar, Aldaris, and Durtz said in unison.
"We run."
In a few minutes, the remaining Dropships were filled with the survivors of the base and took off as fast as they could. But, of course, the Mutalisks just had to notice.
TO BE CONTINUED
