Chapter 2: "Welcome to Arta Prime"

"I just need to know where!" Fleet Admiral Dikeson exclaimed in a frustrated voice.

"To be completely honest sir, we don't know. All we picked up was the Protoss expedition force moving inbound at this sector. The fleet is quiet large consisting of Arbiters, no doubt cloaking other ships, Carriers, and many smaller escorts. It's a border colony world not far from Dylar VI. It is home to about two million colonists and owns several large vespene gas roots" the half robotic adjutant answered. "Probablity of Protoss disintegration of the planets surface is quite high if the Zerg have started a new infestation process there"

"Keep the 1st Task Force here until we get some backup. I don't want to go running off half-cocked like General Duke. Get the Marines ready just in case. We may need them planet side" the General said his voice trailing off as he looked at the interstellar map. It took only a matter of minutes for a signal for reinforcements sent to the Emperor and his reply back to them.

"Sir, Emperor Mengsk wants the 1st Task Force under Admiral Dikeson to move immediately to intercept the Protoss armada

"Damn him! He knows we don't have enough ships. We maybe could have used the Orbital Ion Batteries to help us, but to attack them in deep space? Is he trying to kill Terrans?" Sam Dikeson thought to himself. "Change our course to intercept the Protoss armada" he said, now feeling a heavy feeling of anger and hate to the new Lord of Humanity.

Only an hour through the Warp-Drive was enough to come up a couple of million kilometers from the Protoss vessels. The smaller Terran fleet initialized its weapons protocols and accelerated forward.

"All vessels, this is Fleet Admiral Dikeson, go to maximum alertness and prepare for battle. I am uploading the tactics to be used for this engagement to your computer AIs" he said in a loud voice, trying to sound larger than he actually was. Through the view port, he could see the Protoss fleet slowly moving towards a distant sun. Just then, three Battle Cruisers, the Agamemnon, Shacklton, and Waterloo broke off from the Task Force. Three pinpoints of light appeared on their noses as they powered up their Yamato Cannons. The rest of the fleet continued to converge on the seemingly not caring Protoss.

"All ships, fire on my will...MARK!" the Admiral ordered. All the ships fired at once. Immediately, four of the Protoss carriers, struck by several Yamato rounds listed to the side and disintegrated under the heat and stress upon their frame. An Arbiter was taken by surprise as two Valkarie Frigates launched a barrage of missiles at an extremely long range. The remaining carriers launched their fighters just as the Wraiths moved in to take out the other capital ships. They engaged each other in a fiery dogfight. The Protoss fleet put up little resistance.

"This is too easy. Something has been overlooked here..." Dikeson pondered. "Oh crap!" he remembered the Arbiters had cloaking devices just as four or five of them turned about to flank the task force. The cloaking fields deactivated revealing literally hundreds of ships ranging from the bulbous Carriers, to the agile Scouts. The Admiral franticly tried to reposition his fleet as it came under attack from the side. The Waterloo was the first ship to fall to the Protoss ploy. A thick cloud of drone interceptors blanketed the ship. Its pulse lasers were not able to keep up with the tiny robotic ships. They chipped away at its hull until one of them struck the jackpot hitting it in the reactor. The Waterloo went up in a thermonuclear explosion taking four Wraiths with it. The valkarie Joan of Arc's engines were serierly damaged rendering the vessel dead in the water. In the next two minutes, the terran fleet was whittled down another six vessels.

"All vessels fall back! Pull back to the position now uploaded to your computers!" the dismayed Admiral called. What was left of the tattered scouting task force now fled back to the protection of the Orbital Ion Cannons surrounding the planet of Arta Prime. They had now been the first stage in a conflict that would soon prove to be one of the bloodiest in the history of this war so far...

The 6th was on the move again. After the man-consuming mission on Char, the Division was moving out once more. The 6th Omega Squadron Division had lost 1,300 men in three weeks with the Zerg siege on Outpost Cider KE-54, but they had held. Green conscripts were pushed into the Division as replacements for those whom never lived to see a drop ship again on Char. Far away, on the world the Division was being sent, another type of war raged. On Char, it was a battle against fire, volcanoes, and lava flows. Arta Prime was a new type of planet to Jason Wolfe. Most of the planet was covered in deep glaciers and ice shelves. It was almost like the shattered Dominion stronghold of Braxis, which had been invaded and retaken countless times. All he had learned of why they were there was from the briefing. The Protoss were making a push on the outer system and they along with the entire Dylar Home Defense Fleet were moving in to protect it.
"What is so important there that Mengsk wants to protect?" Wolfe thought to himself.

"Ok, you boys have three minutes to suit up. Drop ship leaves the pad in five. MOVE IT MARINES!" the Sarge casually screamed. Jason saw him walk over the Colonel to get his orders for the deployment of the largest joint-unit operation in the Dominion's short history. Jason already knew that over 200,000 soldiers were assembled for this defense. Or was it an offence? Had the Protoss beaten them to the colony? The "Big Brother" colonel never told them anything until the debriefing. Jason quickly donned his standard issue CMC-400 Battle Armor and ran beside another two of his squad mates. One fire bat, a marine armed with a Perdition Plasma Flamethrower crossed paths with him and his assembling team. Wolfe got his gun off the rack and headed out towards the docking bay. Once on the hanger deck, he saw a sight he never believed he would in his life. Hundreds of soldiers were running about, Siege Tanks, Goliath Mechs, and the speedy vulture bikes rumbled around boarding drop ships. Out side the protective force field that held the atmosphere in the hanger bay, he could see the ships of the Dominion fleet moving full speed towards the Arta System.

"Lock and load ladies! Its gonna be a rough ride!" the Sarge, as always, yelled at the assembling fire team. He pointed to the drop ship with the words "Lady Puke" stenciled onto the side and laughed at the soldier's reaction to the name. Suddenly, pulse lasers, and missiles started zooming past the hanger bay door exit. The Sarge was right. It was going to be a very rough ride.

-Enroute to Arta Prime Staging Point AP-01-

The drop ship almost shook Jason's teeth out of his mouth as it descended. It grew to an almost palpable heat inside the crew cabin as the tiny vessel entered the atmosphere.

"Hang on boys, were almost there. Looks like everything is going according to schedule!" the female warrant officer announced.

"Damn I hate drops" Cole muttered.

"Just shut up and take the anti-sick pill you were assigned" Jason replied in a flat tone. He was never good at flight. Last time he was in a high speed drop was when going into Char the first time. He had thrown up all over his state of the art suit. Determined not to do it again, Jason had taken three air flight pills.

"Ok boys, drop the ropes and get off my ship!" the warrant officer yelled over the loud speakers. Jason was the second to drop down the ropes onto the icy cold surface of Arta.

"Hell, I think I like this place already" someone murmured.

"Too cold if you ask me. Too bad the Zerg ain't here. They'd freeze to death. Heh!" the Sarge, always with his horrible humor said. "Ok boys, follow me. Time to meet up with the rest of the division" and with that, the squadron formed up, and moved out.

The Protoss had landed on the planet four hours ago, just barely beating the Terran forces. Early scouts had not reported back, and outposts had been blacking out of communication. Sightings of "bug eyed monsters" had been seen by the local populace proving that the Zerg, somehow, were on this planet. That was probably why the Protoss were here anyway. The two alien races always came hand in hand with humanity stuck in the middle. The Terran force started initial mobilization at 10:00 and had 5 Divisions up and ready to move out by 12:00. One of the most intricate, complex, and well defended command bases out of Augustgrad, the capital city, was set up in mere hours. The 1st and 9th Divisions exited their hangers, factories, and barracks to meet up with the colonial defense forces several miles out from the base, close to the actual colony itself. The 2nd Division, excelling in siege set up around several newly spotted Zerg clusters engaging the enemy. Within minutes, the 2nd was under heavy attack and sustaining casualties. The 11th Division along with several regiments of marine support (including Jason Wolfe's regiment) was assigned to help them out while the rest of the Terran expedition force was organized on the ground. The last ready Division would start up a lone attack on one of the outlying Protoss encampments. Within a matter of minutes, the Protoss counterattacked the 11th and sent it into a terrible route. They entrenched themselves in the Kaiser Pass, between a large group of mountains. The Protoss attack mysteriously stopped there. Emperor Mengsk wanted a win. He wanted to show the power of his new Dominion that had yet to win a battle on its own, and he would do it if it cost him the entire Expedition Force of 450,000 personnel.