Starcraft: Clash Potential

By Seraphilim

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Prologue: Pledge of No Allegiance

Mission Three: Pledge of No Allegiance

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"How are they?"

Terry was standing by the door that led to the Warspite's medical bay. He turned slightly to the woman who had asked the question - Ensign Faye Zhang - better known to Terry as the pilot of Heavy Two, the dropship that had pulled him, Janus, and several others off of the now-infested Tarsonis. She also happened to be piloting the same dropship that med-evacced his squad back to the Warspite after the fatal encounter with KD-0084.

"Doc says that Janus' arm will be back in one piece within a week or two. But, Allison…"

"What is it, Sir?"

Terry bit his lip as he hit his right fist against the bulkhead.

"They say she's got massive internal bleeding, hemorrhaging, infection, shit, shit and more shit. The doctor thinks the blade that Ghost nailed her with was tipped with some kind of poison. He says she won't live through the night."

The two pilots stood silently, Faye didn't know what she could say to ease Terry; Terry was cursing himself out for letting that insane woman, KD-0084, kill his squad mates like she did.

"Dammit… If only I had sensed that crazy bitch faster…"

"Sensed? But Lieutenant, you're not a Ghost…"

Looking over at the lithe, black-haired pilot, Terry shook his head.

"Not now I'm not. But three years ago, when I was still some fresh faced greenie who had just enrolled in the academy…"

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"Cadet Terry Lineford, is it?"

A young Terry looked up at the officer who stood before him.

"That's me, Sir. Can I help you?"

"Cadet, I am Colonel Samuel Davids, Epsilon Squadron. I've been speaking with your instructor about your performance, and well, I'm pleasantly surprised."

"How so, Sir?"

"To put it plain and simple, Cadet, you've exhibited reactions and abilities only attributed to those who have Psionic abilities. I'm asking if you'd like to participate in a special class…"

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"You mean you were selected for Ghost training?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought. I jumped at it since I'd heard that Ghosts are some of the most skilled and powerful soldiers in the Confederacy. But, it wasn't simple Ghost training. It was more 'specialized.'"

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Two senior officers observe a room where several of the cadets who were selected trained. Young Terry and another man were engaged in a close-combat exercise, with Terry disarming the man swiftly and throwing him to the floor.

"So, which of the subjects show the best results?"

"0004, 0022, 0035, 0039, 0042, 0052, 0065, 0067, 0070, and 0079 have the best testing results out of the eighty subjects."

"Exactly ten, huh? Perfect. Gather them together. We'll take them to project HQ for the final stage."

"What do we do about the others?"

The higher ranking officer turned towards the door and lit a cigar.

"Kill them."

"Are you sure, sir? They could still…"

"They are of no consequence. And we can't exactly allow any possible chance of word being spread about the Project, hmm?"

"…Yes Sir."

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"What!? They killed seventy cadets? That's insane!"

Terry nodded grimly.

"Yeah. It was reported originally as a bizarre accident with the training facility exploding, killing everyone inside. Only later did I find out the truth…'

He paused, biting his lip. He motioned for them to start walking down the corridor. Faye followed Terry's lead as he kept talking.

"That wasn't the worst of it. The ten of us, you'd think we were lucky. But we weren't…"

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The ten remaining cadets were put through extremely-intense and near-fatal Ghost-type mission training, all as real as possible. Live ammunition. Veteran soldiers as opponents. A cadet who was caught by a guard in a mission would be shot dead on the spot.

Half of the cadets died within the first two weeks. A sixth killed himself after breaking under the pressure.

The four who survived were 0022, 0052, 0067 and 0079.

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"Jesus Christ… Resoc and standard Ghost training sound like vacations… So, is that it? The four of you survived the training?"

The two of them now stood in an empty store room, where no surveillance monitors were installed.

"No, it wasn't over. We didn't know each other except by number, but we knew we were in the same boat. We almost had a kinship… I even buddied up with 0022 during the training; it was probably one of the only reasons I didn't lose it like 0035. The last test was the worst, and I wouldn't put anyone through that and keep a guilt-free conscience."

"What was the last test…?"

"Deathmatch, for lack of a better term. They threw us into a maze of sorts, no weapons, and told us individually that we had to kill the others before they killed us. Then before sending us off, we were drugged with a type of stim that heightens adrenaline to near-fatal levels. To be honest, I think the guys in charge just wanted a show…"

"So, you won?"

Terry growled at that, and Faye stepped back despite herself.

"NO. Nobody 'won.' I survived, but killing the others, that was NOT a victory. Do you think I enjoyed it when I had to break 0022's arms before I could snap his neck without him clawing my eyes out? I may have been drugged, but I could see what I was doing, I could comprehend it, but I couldn't stop it. Sometimes I wonder if maybe by living that I was the loser; the guy who drew the short straw."

"So, you survived. What then?"

"That was the last test. Now that they had sorted out all of the 'unworthy,' they began the treatment. You know how Ghosts have blocks in their mind to keep their Psionic abilities in check? They gave me something else. They built a void, something that renders my mind invisible on Psionic wavelengths, but allows me to act with those abilities. They made my power like a river; it only flowed one way. But, I only ended up developing defensive powers, nothing offensive like altering people's brains or zapping someone with psychic energy. I ended up as an Anti-Ghost basically, but that's not what they wanted. They almost wrote me off as a failure; I think they probably would have killed me too, when the project leaders suddenly were found dead. Most believe it was a radical group or espionage."

Terry paused for a breath.

"Anyways, with the guys in charge dead, the high brass disbanded the project before it could be completed, and sent everyone on their separate ways. I was found usable as a pilot, so I got assigned to the flight corps. It was like heaven to me, and I grabbed onto the opportunity like a life preserver."

"So, that's why you're a pilot now."

"Yeah. Story of my god damned life. But, in Endaris, I found that Epsilon had revived the old project. The Ghost we fought seems to be the successful result, what I should have turned out to be: an insane, blood-lusting soldier of death. I'm afraid to think about what they put HER through… Oddly, she didn't kill me. Maybe she's not the perfect Ghost they wanted."

Faye leaned against the dark-colored wall, and suddenly spoke. "I'm guessing you don't like what the Confederates are doing, huh?"

He snorted in response. "No shit. I'd go so far as to guess that Nagare's Zeta Squadron is likely to just take the project data for their own use… and there's still Epsilon."

"Terry."

Faye said his name without any honorifics or such. 'She must want to talk about something serious,' thought Terry.

"Terry, you're not the only one fed up with the Confeds. A couple buddies of mine and I want to jump ship; we're hating the Confederacy too. Want to come with us? We'll be leaving during the time Nagare and most of his men are on and securing Endaris."

The answer was simple for Terry.

"I'm in."

---

Later, Terry checked in to see Janus and Allison. Standing by the medical bay's beds, he stood by Janus as he looked at Allison, who was breathing weakly and having life-support equipment hooked up to her.

"Janus, I'm leaving."

The big marine snapped his head up to stare at Terry.

"You serious?"

"Yeah. I don't give a damn about the Confederacy any longer; hell, the Sons of Korhal just issued a proclamation earlier today about how they were taking the reins of government and creating the Dominion, so the Confederacy is probably going to die soon anyways. I'd feel better being far and away from it's death throes."

He looked over at Janus solemnly.

"Come with us, Janus. You're a good man, you know what the Confederacy has done."

Janus shook his head slowly.

"No, I can't go with you. I'm a soldier. My whole family has been soldiers. For me to break that tradition just because of personal feelings… Sorry. But, I won't stop you. You can rest assured that Corporal Janus M. Stokes will always be your ally."

The silence that permeated the room after Janus' vow was punctured by the beeping from the heart rate monitor next to Allison's bed.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.. BEEP.. BEEP… BEEP…

The tone began slowing down. Terry paced over to Allison's bed to rest a hand on hers.

"You were good, Allison. Have a peaceful rest."

Allison didn't respond as the monitor continued to slow down like a dying clock. Not a minute more passed before the monitor flat-lined. Allison was dead.

"Well, I'll be going. Bye, Janus."

"Take care of yourself, Terry."

"Right."

Without another word, the pilot left the room. Janus sighed as he leaned back against the head of the bed.

---

There were five of them waiting in the hangar. Terry didn't understand exactly how they were being undetected, but he didn't feel like arguing. Faye, along with another woman and three men, waited by the gang-plank that led into Heavy Two.

"Took you long enough. One of our tech friends stayed behind and arranged for this bay to be empty long enough for us to gather and jump ship on my dropship. We're all ready. How about you, Terry?"

Terry didn't hesitate.

"I'm ready."

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Heavy Two launched from the Warspite without any impediments. The majority of Zeta Squadron was on Endaris, and the rest were either occupied with other duties or simply not paying attention to the lumbering transport as it detached from the two battlecruisers. Only when it was already a kilometer away did someone wake up and the laser batteries cried out with angry red beams. Faye smirked as she rose her sunglasses a bit to look back at the cruisers.

"Sloppy sloppy. Nagare's gonna ream someone's ass. Heh."

Not a single blast hit the dropship as it left the system. Terry, inside the transport bay, simply sat still for the ride as he mused about what he'd found out. The other former Confederates conversed between themselves or were silent like he.

Someone would have to stop the KD Project before it achieved perfect success. And if he had to, he'd do himself, even if the universe was against him.

He made his pledge of no allegiance on that day.

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End Mission Three

End Prologue

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That's it for the prologue campaign. Terry must find a way to destroy the KD Project, even if he has to work with those he regarded as enemies once before.