Chapter 12: A Needed Departure
Kerrigan was inside the supply depot, walking around nervously. One of the marines guarding her said,
"Hey, zerg face! Stop moving around!"
"Shut up!" Kerrigan said, a nervous tone in her voice. The marine looked particularly irritated with that response. He lost patience and hit Kerrigan hard on the back of the head with the butt of his Gauss rifle, causing her to fall down, unconscious. Another marine said,
"You $$hole, we have to protect her for now."
The first marine answered, "Yeah. Like I care. We have to kill her when this is over anyway. How about getting it over with now? We could say she escaped using her psychic power thing, while in the meantime, we bury or burn the body."
The other marine, along with the rest of Kerrigan's guards, seemed to find this idea particularly interesting, but they didn't have time to say their opinion, as a psionic storm engulfed almost all of them, killing them instantly. The only remaining marine couldn't escape, however, as a canister pierced his heart, with another bursting through his skull soon after. Standing in front of the corpses of the dead guards were a high templar and none other than Samir Duran.
Duran had a wide smile when he saw Kerrigan, completely knocked out. He said,
"Thank you very much, Tarrat. Thanks to your great work, our goal is right in front of us."
The tall, dark-looking high templar answered, "We're even now, Mr. Duran. Now, shall we?" Tarrat paused, when a familiar voice was heard behind them, saying,
"No, you shall NOT!"
Kalis then appeared in between Duran and the very surprised Tarrat. He swung his psi-blades at Tarrat's throat, but Tarrat dodged quickly and fell on his back, breathing heavily.
Kalis heard an audible click behind him, and Duran said, his rifle pointed at the back of Kalis' head,
"A real warrior like you should know never to forget an opponent, even if he isn't of your species."
"You won't kill me." Kalis said, confident.
"Why is that?" Duran asked, annoyed.
A ghost's voice was heard besides Duran, saying,
"Cause even a powerful infested ghost like you won't survive three armor- piercing canisters fired at your skull." Three ghosts then de-cloaked, their guns pointed to Duran's head. They were the three ghosts of the extraction crew.
Tarrat tried to summon a psionic storm, but he felt a blade pressed against his neck as a cloaked dark templar said,
"Definitely not a good idea."
Duran cringed at his failure to get Kerrigan. He said to Kalis,
"You idiot. Do you have any idea what Mengsk will do to her when you'll have finished your mission?"
"He'll let us turn her back to her terran self."
Duran had a small smirk, "On the contrary, he wants her infested DNA. With it, his new genetically enhanced soldiers will come after all of you and obliterate you easily. And when he'll be done, he'll kill her."
Kalis frowned, "Nonetheless, I'm leaving."
Duran looked surprised, "What do you mean?"
"Commander Raynor told me to get Kerrigan and leave this base. With what you just said, I think it's because this is Mengsk's strike force. Why do you think I came here?"
Duran laughed and said, "Well, your leader is well informed. Anyway, we have the same goal, so I won't get in your way...for now." Duran pressed a button on the side of his suit, and a swirling energy engulfed both him and Tarrat, making them both disappear seconds later.
Kalis looked at the members of the extraction crew, blessing the moment he thought of taking them with him. Kalis glanced at Kerrigan for a second and then turned the crew, instructing,
"Alright. Scour the area for Mengsk's subordinates while I take Kerrigan away. When I'll leave the base, I'll give you further instructions."
The crew saluted and went outside to patrol the area. Kalis was thinking, "Great. I once more have to save the person I hate the most. Why do I do this?" He then took Kerrigan on his shoulders and headed outside the base, after which he ordered the extraction crew to go to the arbiter's location, before heading there himself.
Upon his arrival, he saw Raynor, Kealer and the pilots of GS 1, 2 and 3 who had escorted the arbiter on Char. After Kalis and the extraction crew arrived, Raynor spoke,
"Listen up, guys. Since you're the only Raynor Raiders in this camp, I have to talk to you. Here is some bad news. I intercepted one of Mengsk's communications in which he clearly said he wanted to kill me. In other words, he's turnin' on us and we're dead if we don't hightail it out of here! That's why I wanted you to come here. Up-link yourselves on the arbiter's recall programming." The men did so, and Kalis took care of programming Kerrigan. She was still unconscious from the marine's vicious hit. Raynor, after noticing this, asked Kalis to go see him. He asked,
"Kalis, why is she unconscious again?"
"I don't know. She was already like that when I arrived. Here is something you must know, sir..." Kalis then explained to Raynor Duran's attempted abduction and the information he had gotten from him. Raynor said, after Kalis finished:
"Well, that explains why Mengsk's troops in this base haven't turned on us yet. They need me to keep Kerrigan alive and hold off the zerg attack. In any case, I'm gonna disappoint them, cause we need to reach the rest of my troops on Aiur ASAP."
The arbiter pilot interrupted Raynor and said,
"Sir, all the men have been up-linked on my arbiter's recall function. I'll open a warp to Aiur as soon as I arrive."
"ETA?" Raynor asked.
"Ten to twenty terran minutes."
"Ok. Thanks." Raynor turned towards his men and said:
"Guys, we gotta pretend we're doing everything to hold the zerg attack, except for Kalis, who'll continue taking care of Kerrigan until further notice, therefore staying in this forest. We'll leave in 10 to 20 minutes. Understood?"
Kalis nodded and took Kerrigan on his shoulders once more and headed deeper in the forest. The rest of Raynor's men seemed completely shocked, not only by the sudden departure, but also by Mengsk's betrayal. Raynor thought this was typical Mengsk attitude. Betraying his allies as soon as he's done with them, like they'd only be pawns.
Fifteen minutes passed slowly, as Raynor's men were pretending nothing had happened, while the zerg attack clearly became much less ferocious. After that time, Raynor and his men, located all over the base, were each individually engulfed in a swirling blue energy. Seconds later, they disappeared from the surface of Arenil to land on Aiur shortly after. Raynor opened his eyes, only to see a shocking site...
Kerrigan was inside the supply depot, walking around nervously. One of the marines guarding her said,
"Hey, zerg face! Stop moving around!"
"Shut up!" Kerrigan said, a nervous tone in her voice. The marine looked particularly irritated with that response. He lost patience and hit Kerrigan hard on the back of the head with the butt of his Gauss rifle, causing her to fall down, unconscious. Another marine said,
"You $$hole, we have to protect her for now."
The first marine answered, "Yeah. Like I care. We have to kill her when this is over anyway. How about getting it over with now? We could say she escaped using her psychic power thing, while in the meantime, we bury or burn the body."
The other marine, along with the rest of Kerrigan's guards, seemed to find this idea particularly interesting, but they didn't have time to say their opinion, as a psionic storm engulfed almost all of them, killing them instantly. The only remaining marine couldn't escape, however, as a canister pierced his heart, with another bursting through his skull soon after. Standing in front of the corpses of the dead guards were a high templar and none other than Samir Duran.
Duran had a wide smile when he saw Kerrigan, completely knocked out. He said,
"Thank you very much, Tarrat. Thanks to your great work, our goal is right in front of us."
The tall, dark-looking high templar answered, "We're even now, Mr. Duran. Now, shall we?" Tarrat paused, when a familiar voice was heard behind them, saying,
"No, you shall NOT!"
Kalis then appeared in between Duran and the very surprised Tarrat. He swung his psi-blades at Tarrat's throat, but Tarrat dodged quickly and fell on his back, breathing heavily.
Kalis heard an audible click behind him, and Duran said, his rifle pointed at the back of Kalis' head,
"A real warrior like you should know never to forget an opponent, even if he isn't of your species."
"You won't kill me." Kalis said, confident.
"Why is that?" Duran asked, annoyed.
A ghost's voice was heard besides Duran, saying,
"Cause even a powerful infested ghost like you won't survive three armor- piercing canisters fired at your skull." Three ghosts then de-cloaked, their guns pointed to Duran's head. They were the three ghosts of the extraction crew.
Tarrat tried to summon a psionic storm, but he felt a blade pressed against his neck as a cloaked dark templar said,
"Definitely not a good idea."
Duran cringed at his failure to get Kerrigan. He said to Kalis,
"You idiot. Do you have any idea what Mengsk will do to her when you'll have finished your mission?"
"He'll let us turn her back to her terran self."
Duran had a small smirk, "On the contrary, he wants her infested DNA. With it, his new genetically enhanced soldiers will come after all of you and obliterate you easily. And when he'll be done, he'll kill her."
Kalis frowned, "Nonetheless, I'm leaving."
Duran looked surprised, "What do you mean?"
"Commander Raynor told me to get Kerrigan and leave this base. With what you just said, I think it's because this is Mengsk's strike force. Why do you think I came here?"
Duran laughed and said, "Well, your leader is well informed. Anyway, we have the same goal, so I won't get in your way...for now." Duran pressed a button on the side of his suit, and a swirling energy engulfed both him and Tarrat, making them both disappear seconds later.
Kalis looked at the members of the extraction crew, blessing the moment he thought of taking them with him. Kalis glanced at Kerrigan for a second and then turned the crew, instructing,
"Alright. Scour the area for Mengsk's subordinates while I take Kerrigan away. When I'll leave the base, I'll give you further instructions."
The crew saluted and went outside to patrol the area. Kalis was thinking, "Great. I once more have to save the person I hate the most. Why do I do this?" He then took Kerrigan on his shoulders and headed outside the base, after which he ordered the extraction crew to go to the arbiter's location, before heading there himself.
Upon his arrival, he saw Raynor, Kealer and the pilots of GS 1, 2 and 3 who had escorted the arbiter on Char. After Kalis and the extraction crew arrived, Raynor spoke,
"Listen up, guys. Since you're the only Raynor Raiders in this camp, I have to talk to you. Here is some bad news. I intercepted one of Mengsk's communications in which he clearly said he wanted to kill me. In other words, he's turnin' on us and we're dead if we don't hightail it out of here! That's why I wanted you to come here. Up-link yourselves on the arbiter's recall programming." The men did so, and Kalis took care of programming Kerrigan. She was still unconscious from the marine's vicious hit. Raynor, after noticing this, asked Kalis to go see him. He asked,
"Kalis, why is she unconscious again?"
"I don't know. She was already like that when I arrived. Here is something you must know, sir..." Kalis then explained to Raynor Duran's attempted abduction and the information he had gotten from him. Raynor said, after Kalis finished:
"Well, that explains why Mengsk's troops in this base haven't turned on us yet. They need me to keep Kerrigan alive and hold off the zerg attack. In any case, I'm gonna disappoint them, cause we need to reach the rest of my troops on Aiur ASAP."
The arbiter pilot interrupted Raynor and said,
"Sir, all the men have been up-linked on my arbiter's recall function. I'll open a warp to Aiur as soon as I arrive."
"ETA?" Raynor asked.
"Ten to twenty terran minutes."
"Ok. Thanks." Raynor turned towards his men and said:
"Guys, we gotta pretend we're doing everything to hold the zerg attack, except for Kalis, who'll continue taking care of Kerrigan until further notice, therefore staying in this forest. We'll leave in 10 to 20 minutes. Understood?"
Kalis nodded and took Kerrigan on his shoulders once more and headed deeper in the forest. The rest of Raynor's men seemed completely shocked, not only by the sudden departure, but also by Mengsk's betrayal. Raynor thought this was typical Mengsk attitude. Betraying his allies as soon as he's done with them, like they'd only be pawns.
Fifteen minutes passed slowly, as Raynor's men were pretending nothing had happened, while the zerg attack clearly became much less ferocious. After that time, Raynor and his men, located all over the base, were each individually engulfed in a swirling blue energy. Seconds later, they disappeared from the surface of Arenil to land on Aiur shortly after. Raynor opened his eyes, only to see a shocking site...