Chapter 15: Duran's stand
The transport slowly made its descent onto the desert sands of Korhal, permeating through the atmosphere, registering as a legitimate Dominion dropship to of all of Emperor Mengsk's spy-satellites on the northern hemisphere. Two terrans looked extremely tense, but focused, concentrating their energies on their hallucinogenic presence, a little trick taught to Duran by his rogue protoss allies.
The two were watching the pentagon-shaped militaristic fortress grow larger and larger as the slightly tanned ghost peeked at the overlord's internal eye receptors, slightly perturbed at the sight of hundreds of siege tanks, blocks of military barracks, and fifty or more Goliath units patrolling the compound vigilantly; all surrounding the castle-like mansion at the centre of the impenetrable fortress. Arcturus Mengsk's secret stronghold was no more a secret, all thanks to Duran's spies.
The enigmatic Samir Duran smiled and spoke with sarcasm, still disguised by his hallucination,
"What a fun hike this will be. First, I'll have to avoid the guards that I can see. Second, I'll have to avoid the heat detectors that I CAN'T see, not to mention the multiple motion-tracking 50mm gun turrets, which are surely around. All that with the one infested ghost who enslaved me and seriously thought of killing me."
Kerrigan sighed and said, "Fun indeed. By the way, let's just communicate psychically to avoid being heard."
Duran nodded as a door opened, allowing him to get out of the dropship, followed by Kerrigan.
The technicians and pilots on the spaceport stared at the illusive scene as the drop-bay doors opened and two lowly-ranked officers came out. The two then walked towards Mengsk's mansion in a casual manner. Half way there, one of the officers took his heat-detecting goggles and put them on, though he seemed not to like them much, as he mentally said to his partner,
"Kerrigan, those goggles itch, not to mention they make me look like a complete moron."
Kerrigan smiled and said, "What else is new? Now, please stop complaining and start looking around for those heat-detectors!!! You-know, you never fussed like this when you were my slave." she added with a wryly smile on her face.
Duran grimaced at his former master for a second, then scanned around the area. Before he could say anything, though, something grabbed the two and prodded a sharp object against their necks. One of them whispered,
"Kerrigan! Duran! By Adun! What are you doing here?"
The clandestine warriors let go of Duran and Kerrigan, who turned around and saw that the ones holding them were actually Zeratul and Kalis. Duran smirked and answered mentally,
"I think you should answer that question yourself, but I'd be ready to bet all I have that you want Mengsk's head. Am I right?" The two protoss warriors nodded. Duran continued, "Well, it seems we're here for the same reason. Let's just go together. Ah, by the way, I didn't even feel your heat as you approached. How did you do that?"
Zeratul answered: "Simple enough: temperature inhibitors. They're common among the Dark Templars; after all, we're all about stealth, aren't we? Nonetheless, I brought two spare ones, just----'in case', as you would say. Would you care to use them?" Zeratul took out two disc-shaped devices.
Kerrigan smiled and answered, "Why not?"
Duran and Kerrigan took the shields from Zeratul's hands and put them on, causing them to be engulfed in dark blue light, which became translucent seconds later. When they were done, Kalis said,
"Well, since we are ready, let's go." He then started to dash through, but Duran held his arm and shook his head as he said,
"Those guys have more than just heat detectors. They have motion-tracking guns. And YES, they can see through cloaking." He added, seeing Zeratul was about to ask something. Duran continued, "We'll need to snipe them off from afar, unless you'd rather dash at 100 kilometers a second to make them overheat."
Kalis moaned and told him, "Alright."
Duran and Kerrigan, thanks to Duran's heat-detecting goggles, sniped off the metallic spider-like devices plastered on the ground in no time at all. They sneaked past the guards easily and arrived in front of the mansion itself. When they arrived, Duran mentally spoke to the others,
"Okay, people. We're here. I know you're feeling useless, guys...." He said, looking at Zeratul and Kalis "....but we'll have to snipe Mengsk off. We can't just barge in there. When he'll be dead, though, all this base's alarms are going to go ballistic. How do you intend to leave?"
Zeratul answered, "Easy. My corsair and Kalis' scout are both landed nearby."
Duran said, "Good. Kerrigan, you know that place a bit, right?"
Kerrigan said, "Yeah. It's his father's old mansion. When I was his lieutenant, this was the place of choice for strategic meetings. Needless to say, I know this place by heart. His office should be there." She pointed towards a window, at the second floor. "Now, let's go!"
Duran readied his rifle. Kerrigan shook her head. "No, Duran, contrarily to what you had planned, we can't snipe him off." She continued, seeing Duran's disappointed face. "There are trees in front of his office's window, so we have no clear shot. You see them like I do. You know, I would like to see you do it, Duran. So..." She looked at Zeratul and Kalis "you two won't be so useless after all." The two protoss warriors nodded. Kerrigan continued, "Now, can you use your psionic powers to reach that window?"
Kalis shook his head and Zeratul nodded. Kerrigan sighed, "Okay, then. I'll have to go with Zeratul, just in case. My powers alone aren't enough to get me up there, but those legs...." she pointed towards her infested legs "are powerful enough. Duran, Kalis, you are our look-outs." The two nodded, though they seriously looked annoyed of letting others take care of Mengsk.
Kerrigan and Zeratul ran towards the trees and leaped over them, exerting much force onto their legs. They grabbed onto the windowstill perfectly, and then peeked. Mengsk was looking at some documents, and he didn't see them arrive. Kerrigan told Zeratul mentally,
"Take out the guards. I'll take care of Mengsk."
Kerrigan cloaked and Zeratul navigated his way to a balcony nearby, shortly landing in front of the door. Somehow, the red goggle-wearing guards spotted him and reached for their guns, as Zeratul sprinted towards them. They poured rampant fire with their C-14 Gauss Rifles, connecting with the dark templar's shield, but the Protoss wasn't about to take any more of this. He deftly somersaulted into the air and literally flew over them, unleashing two deadly swipes of his blade. With that, the guards' heads rolled onto the ground.
While the dark templar fought off the guards, Kerrigan tightened her mighty claws and then threw herself in the window, crashing through the glass, acrobatically landing on her feet in a cat-like grace. She raised her canister rifle, the red dot of the targeting laser pointing at Mengsk's head, and fired, piercing the head like butter. At that, Zeratul told Kerrigan:
"The fiend shall reap what he sows."
Kerrigan didn't answer. She was looking at the body of Mengsk. For some reason, it looked as though electric sparks were coming out of the impact. Also, there was no blood. Kerrigan realized what happened. She said: "Oh, no. Not again..." She pulled Zeratul by the arm and jumped out of the window, with Zeratul following her close behind. He asked:
"What exactly..." A loud explosion from Mengsk's office interrupted him. After, he continued: "What in Adun's name?"
Kerrigan said: "A drone with Mengsk's appearance. I had a bad experience with something like that before..." They landed, as Duran's voice interrupted her. He said angrily: "Aren't you supposed to be stealthy? What was that explosion?" Kalis continued: "If you wanted to activate the alarms, mission accomplished." The four warriors stood while all the alarms went off. Duran yelled: "LET'S GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!" The four dashed away but quickly, Mengsk's entire guard was in front of them, with Mengsk seemingly right in the middle. Duran sighed and said:
"Geez. How can we leave?"
Kerrigan said: "All of us can cloak, except Kalis." Kalis interrupted her: "Wrong. Raynor lent me an artificial cloaking device a while ago and I "forgot" to give it back." Kerrigan continued: "All right, then. With the temperature-blocking shield and the cloaking, we should be fine to reach our scouts and corsairs. Now, let's go!"
Duran shook his head: "Go without me. I have to take care of something."
Kerrigan said, angry: "You idiot! I know what you want to do, but you'll get killed!"
Duran answered: "Like I care." Kerrigan looked at him. For some reason, a strange glow was in his eyes, a bit like the protoss, but somehow stronger. He continued: "War has torn everyone apart for far too long. It's time to end it." He paused as he looked into the others' faces, and added: "Go now, guys. And in the future, face threats together. Fight as one." Zeratul and Kalis seemed confused, but Kerrigan understood. He had told her about the "threat" that would arrive. She told the two others to follow her. Duran smiled. He walked in front of Mengsk's army, not even bothering to cloak. He yelled out:
"All right, Mengsk, you $$hole! Come out and face me!!!"
Mengsk's men were confused at first, but a voice came from behind, saying: "Alright. I'll face you like a man, though you're hardly one anymore." Mengsk's men split into two lines, letting Mengsk go through. As he arrived in front of him, Duran spat on the Emperor, a disgusted look upon his face. To Duran's surprise, the spit hit something solid in front of Mengsk. The latter smiled and said:
"As bad as before, are you? He he. Thanks to my shield, I just saved my shirt. How amusing." He laughed.
It was Duran's turn to smile. He placed his palm in front of him, and suddenly, a ray of lightning shot out, hitting the shield, which shattered into one thousand pieces. Seeing this, Mengsk's men pointed Duran with their weapons, ready to shoot.
Then, something seemed to awaken in Duran. He could feel intense energy within him all surging to get out. He went blank. His eyes drowned into blue flames, his face became rippled with his bulging nerves and he spoke, in an inhuman voice:
"HOW DARE YOU THREATEN US? WE, THE XEL NAGA, SHALL YET BE REVERED....YOUR IMPERTINENCE SHALL BE PUNISHED...AND..."
Duran opened his hands "YOU...SHALL...SEE..." he gathered energy in his hands "OUR...WRATH!" His hands opened and a blinding blue lightning escaped for his palms, engulfing him, Mengsk and Mengsk's army. Mengsk shielded himself with his arm from the lightning, but it touched him. His body dramatically turned into a pale husk as every cell in his body responded freakishly, as if into the lightning's ancient command. He gritted hard into agonising fear as he watched his hand and his entire body consumed by a thousand blisters, and screamed, "What is this? WHAT IS THISS-- NOOOO...uhk...ack ," he was cut off by the disintegration of his vocal cords. His blisters burst into pockets of fire until finally a fiery death greeted him, along with his men.
Duran, with a sadistic smile, closed his hands, and the power closed in on the ones, as Mengsk and his men were razed into white ashes onto the ground.
After the light disappeared, Duran realised he was dying. The power had given him more than he bargained for. Pain, strong pain, filled his body, which had been burned badly by the thunder. He couldn't move. Even the slightest attempt to move his finger felt like torture. It was only a matter of minutes before he'd die. The familiar voice of the Xel' Naga then spoke in his mind once more:
"Well done, great warrior. Your mission is successful."
Duran answered, gritting his teeth at the pain he felt: "Yeah, like I'll live to tell the tale..."
"Great warrior, the reason you are dying is that your body was not powerful enough to handle the power you have been given. Yet don't be disappointed. Many others of your species would have died long before you did. You fought well. We are proud. Now, it is time for you to rest."
"And what'll happen to you?"
"Do not worry. We've found someone else who'll help us, now that you'll be gone."
"Who?"
"It is not important. Just rest for now...and forever."
Duran didn't say anything as he fell to the ground; the lightning's burns had finally killed him. And as the coldness of death crept into his body, a smirk carved in his lips. His mission was accomplished, his life was completed, and he would now rest in peace.
The end
The transport slowly made its descent onto the desert sands of Korhal, permeating through the atmosphere, registering as a legitimate Dominion dropship to of all of Emperor Mengsk's spy-satellites on the northern hemisphere. Two terrans looked extremely tense, but focused, concentrating their energies on their hallucinogenic presence, a little trick taught to Duran by his rogue protoss allies.
The two were watching the pentagon-shaped militaristic fortress grow larger and larger as the slightly tanned ghost peeked at the overlord's internal eye receptors, slightly perturbed at the sight of hundreds of siege tanks, blocks of military barracks, and fifty or more Goliath units patrolling the compound vigilantly; all surrounding the castle-like mansion at the centre of the impenetrable fortress. Arcturus Mengsk's secret stronghold was no more a secret, all thanks to Duran's spies.
The enigmatic Samir Duran smiled and spoke with sarcasm, still disguised by his hallucination,
"What a fun hike this will be. First, I'll have to avoid the guards that I can see. Second, I'll have to avoid the heat detectors that I CAN'T see, not to mention the multiple motion-tracking 50mm gun turrets, which are surely around. All that with the one infested ghost who enslaved me and seriously thought of killing me."
Kerrigan sighed and said, "Fun indeed. By the way, let's just communicate psychically to avoid being heard."
Duran nodded as a door opened, allowing him to get out of the dropship, followed by Kerrigan.
The technicians and pilots on the spaceport stared at the illusive scene as the drop-bay doors opened and two lowly-ranked officers came out. The two then walked towards Mengsk's mansion in a casual manner. Half way there, one of the officers took his heat-detecting goggles and put them on, though he seemed not to like them much, as he mentally said to his partner,
"Kerrigan, those goggles itch, not to mention they make me look like a complete moron."
Kerrigan smiled and said, "What else is new? Now, please stop complaining and start looking around for those heat-detectors!!! You-know, you never fussed like this when you were my slave." she added with a wryly smile on her face.
Duran grimaced at his former master for a second, then scanned around the area. Before he could say anything, though, something grabbed the two and prodded a sharp object against their necks. One of them whispered,
"Kerrigan! Duran! By Adun! What are you doing here?"
The clandestine warriors let go of Duran and Kerrigan, who turned around and saw that the ones holding them were actually Zeratul and Kalis. Duran smirked and answered mentally,
"I think you should answer that question yourself, but I'd be ready to bet all I have that you want Mengsk's head. Am I right?" The two protoss warriors nodded. Duran continued, "Well, it seems we're here for the same reason. Let's just go together. Ah, by the way, I didn't even feel your heat as you approached. How did you do that?"
Zeratul answered: "Simple enough: temperature inhibitors. They're common among the Dark Templars; after all, we're all about stealth, aren't we? Nonetheless, I brought two spare ones, just----'in case', as you would say. Would you care to use them?" Zeratul took out two disc-shaped devices.
Kerrigan smiled and answered, "Why not?"
Duran and Kerrigan took the shields from Zeratul's hands and put them on, causing them to be engulfed in dark blue light, which became translucent seconds later. When they were done, Kalis said,
"Well, since we are ready, let's go." He then started to dash through, but Duran held his arm and shook his head as he said,
"Those guys have more than just heat detectors. They have motion-tracking guns. And YES, they can see through cloaking." He added, seeing Zeratul was about to ask something. Duran continued, "We'll need to snipe them off from afar, unless you'd rather dash at 100 kilometers a second to make them overheat."
Kalis moaned and told him, "Alright."
Duran and Kerrigan, thanks to Duran's heat-detecting goggles, sniped off the metallic spider-like devices plastered on the ground in no time at all. They sneaked past the guards easily and arrived in front of the mansion itself. When they arrived, Duran mentally spoke to the others,
"Okay, people. We're here. I know you're feeling useless, guys...." He said, looking at Zeratul and Kalis "....but we'll have to snipe Mengsk off. We can't just barge in there. When he'll be dead, though, all this base's alarms are going to go ballistic. How do you intend to leave?"
Zeratul answered, "Easy. My corsair and Kalis' scout are both landed nearby."
Duran said, "Good. Kerrigan, you know that place a bit, right?"
Kerrigan said, "Yeah. It's his father's old mansion. When I was his lieutenant, this was the place of choice for strategic meetings. Needless to say, I know this place by heart. His office should be there." She pointed towards a window, at the second floor. "Now, let's go!"
Duran readied his rifle. Kerrigan shook her head. "No, Duran, contrarily to what you had planned, we can't snipe him off." She continued, seeing Duran's disappointed face. "There are trees in front of his office's window, so we have no clear shot. You see them like I do. You know, I would like to see you do it, Duran. So..." She looked at Zeratul and Kalis "you two won't be so useless after all." The two protoss warriors nodded. Kerrigan continued, "Now, can you use your psionic powers to reach that window?"
Kalis shook his head and Zeratul nodded. Kerrigan sighed, "Okay, then. I'll have to go with Zeratul, just in case. My powers alone aren't enough to get me up there, but those legs...." she pointed towards her infested legs "are powerful enough. Duran, Kalis, you are our look-outs." The two nodded, though they seriously looked annoyed of letting others take care of Mengsk.
Kerrigan and Zeratul ran towards the trees and leaped over them, exerting much force onto their legs. They grabbed onto the windowstill perfectly, and then peeked. Mengsk was looking at some documents, and he didn't see them arrive. Kerrigan told Zeratul mentally,
"Take out the guards. I'll take care of Mengsk."
Kerrigan cloaked and Zeratul navigated his way to a balcony nearby, shortly landing in front of the door. Somehow, the red goggle-wearing guards spotted him and reached for their guns, as Zeratul sprinted towards them. They poured rampant fire with their C-14 Gauss Rifles, connecting with the dark templar's shield, but the Protoss wasn't about to take any more of this. He deftly somersaulted into the air and literally flew over them, unleashing two deadly swipes of his blade. With that, the guards' heads rolled onto the ground.
While the dark templar fought off the guards, Kerrigan tightened her mighty claws and then threw herself in the window, crashing through the glass, acrobatically landing on her feet in a cat-like grace. She raised her canister rifle, the red dot of the targeting laser pointing at Mengsk's head, and fired, piercing the head like butter. At that, Zeratul told Kerrigan:
"The fiend shall reap what he sows."
Kerrigan didn't answer. She was looking at the body of Mengsk. For some reason, it looked as though electric sparks were coming out of the impact. Also, there was no blood. Kerrigan realized what happened. She said: "Oh, no. Not again..." She pulled Zeratul by the arm and jumped out of the window, with Zeratul following her close behind. He asked:
"What exactly..." A loud explosion from Mengsk's office interrupted him. After, he continued: "What in Adun's name?"
Kerrigan said: "A drone with Mengsk's appearance. I had a bad experience with something like that before..." They landed, as Duran's voice interrupted her. He said angrily: "Aren't you supposed to be stealthy? What was that explosion?" Kalis continued: "If you wanted to activate the alarms, mission accomplished." The four warriors stood while all the alarms went off. Duran yelled: "LET'S GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!" The four dashed away but quickly, Mengsk's entire guard was in front of them, with Mengsk seemingly right in the middle. Duran sighed and said:
"Geez. How can we leave?"
Kerrigan said: "All of us can cloak, except Kalis." Kalis interrupted her: "Wrong. Raynor lent me an artificial cloaking device a while ago and I "forgot" to give it back." Kerrigan continued: "All right, then. With the temperature-blocking shield and the cloaking, we should be fine to reach our scouts and corsairs. Now, let's go!"
Duran shook his head: "Go without me. I have to take care of something."
Kerrigan said, angry: "You idiot! I know what you want to do, but you'll get killed!"
Duran answered: "Like I care." Kerrigan looked at him. For some reason, a strange glow was in his eyes, a bit like the protoss, but somehow stronger. He continued: "War has torn everyone apart for far too long. It's time to end it." He paused as he looked into the others' faces, and added: "Go now, guys. And in the future, face threats together. Fight as one." Zeratul and Kalis seemed confused, but Kerrigan understood. He had told her about the "threat" that would arrive. She told the two others to follow her. Duran smiled. He walked in front of Mengsk's army, not even bothering to cloak. He yelled out:
"All right, Mengsk, you $$hole! Come out and face me!!!"
Mengsk's men were confused at first, but a voice came from behind, saying: "Alright. I'll face you like a man, though you're hardly one anymore." Mengsk's men split into two lines, letting Mengsk go through. As he arrived in front of him, Duran spat on the Emperor, a disgusted look upon his face. To Duran's surprise, the spit hit something solid in front of Mengsk. The latter smiled and said:
"As bad as before, are you? He he. Thanks to my shield, I just saved my shirt. How amusing." He laughed.
It was Duran's turn to smile. He placed his palm in front of him, and suddenly, a ray of lightning shot out, hitting the shield, which shattered into one thousand pieces. Seeing this, Mengsk's men pointed Duran with their weapons, ready to shoot.
Then, something seemed to awaken in Duran. He could feel intense energy within him all surging to get out. He went blank. His eyes drowned into blue flames, his face became rippled with his bulging nerves and he spoke, in an inhuman voice:
"HOW DARE YOU THREATEN US? WE, THE XEL NAGA, SHALL YET BE REVERED....YOUR IMPERTINENCE SHALL BE PUNISHED...AND..."
Duran opened his hands "YOU...SHALL...SEE..." he gathered energy in his hands "OUR...WRATH!" His hands opened and a blinding blue lightning escaped for his palms, engulfing him, Mengsk and Mengsk's army. Mengsk shielded himself with his arm from the lightning, but it touched him. His body dramatically turned into a pale husk as every cell in his body responded freakishly, as if into the lightning's ancient command. He gritted hard into agonising fear as he watched his hand and his entire body consumed by a thousand blisters, and screamed, "What is this? WHAT IS THISS-- NOOOO...uhk...ack ," he was cut off by the disintegration of his vocal cords. His blisters burst into pockets of fire until finally a fiery death greeted him, along with his men.
Duran, with a sadistic smile, closed his hands, and the power closed in on the ones, as Mengsk and his men were razed into white ashes onto the ground.
After the light disappeared, Duran realised he was dying. The power had given him more than he bargained for. Pain, strong pain, filled his body, which had been burned badly by the thunder. He couldn't move. Even the slightest attempt to move his finger felt like torture. It was only a matter of minutes before he'd die. The familiar voice of the Xel' Naga then spoke in his mind once more:
"Well done, great warrior. Your mission is successful."
Duran answered, gritting his teeth at the pain he felt: "Yeah, like I'll live to tell the tale..."
"Great warrior, the reason you are dying is that your body was not powerful enough to handle the power you have been given. Yet don't be disappointed. Many others of your species would have died long before you did. You fought well. We are proud. Now, it is time for you to rest."
"And what'll happen to you?"
"Do not worry. We've found someone else who'll help us, now that you'll be gone."
"Who?"
"It is not important. Just rest for now...and forever."
Duran didn't say anything as he fell to the ground; the lightning's burns had finally killed him. And as the coldness of death crept into his body, a smirk carved in his lips. His mission was accomplished, his life was completed, and he would now rest in peace.
The end