StarCraft: Blood Reign
New Characters:
Lt. Mark Giapoli – Ghost Team Alpha Leader
Ghost Team Alpha – Covert Search-and-Destroy Unit
Chapter 1:
The purple-hued Creep made strange, wet noises underneath Lt. Cmdr. Warren's boots. He hated the Zerg. They were foul, disgusting creatures. Every moment of every minute of every hour of every day of every week of every month of every year he thought about them. He had been trained by the best military minds in the galaxy to think that way. He was a Ghost…and a damned good one, too. On his environmental stealth suit he wore stripes, representing the different campaign medals that he had won during his short but active career. He had been at Draconis IV when the Overmind's presence was detected by psionic emitters. He had battled on Cirrus VII after the Zerg invasion of the Terran colony there. He had fought in the trenches at Imbus III when his commanding officer was infected by a Zerg Queen. He had even been the sole designator of the nuclear missile barrage that annihilated the Zerg on Tirk'anu Prime.
Memories flashed through his mind like a holorecording. Every friend, every comrade, every piece of humanity that he had ever known had been killed or infected by the Zerg. His life was not one of fairy tales and happy endings. In fact, he had spilled more than his own share of blood – whether that blood be red or blue. Yes…he had seen combat against the Protoss. Their superior technology and advanced training made them tough adversaries, but soon after Warren had encountered them the Terrans had made a treaty between themselves and the Protoss. Now the two species worked in unison to rid the universe of the Zerg.
Warren returned to the battle at hand. His men were spread out in a circle, scanning the area for any signs of Zerg. Sergeant Harakaza, the group's stealth tactics expert, was scanning the surrounding area for burrowed Zerg. A priority message flashed on Warren's goggle's internal monitor.
Several pockets of Zerg spotted 500 meters due South. Request Goliath support?
The lieutenant commander looked over at Harakaza and nodded. Harakaza spoke into his helmet radio for a few seconds and waited. Warren watched as two new Goliaths entered the LZ and opened fire on several areas of the Creep. The Ghost saw blood splatter out of the ground in the different areas.
Gotcha… he thought to himself.
The two Goliaths finished off the area and Harakaza scanned it again, and then gave the thumbs up. All gone. The area was clear. Warren signaled to his 2nd in Command to call in the rest of the troops. Moments later the dull roar of Terran Dropships filled the sky as three platoons of fully-armed Marines and two platoons of fully-armed Firebats landed near to the Recon detachment. They quickly moved in with Warren's unit as more Dropships arrived, these ones carrying the deadly Seige tanks. The tanks created a larger defensive perimeter around the Goliaths, who stood behind the tanks to provide cover. All of the tanks converted to their artillery mode and began firing off their Shock Cannons at the surrounding Zerg units and structures. Mushroom clouds began appearing all over the battlefield. The tanks did not carry nukes, but their armament was significant enough to create a similar shockwave and cloud. Lt. Warren thought that he heard screams…human screams. He relayed an emergency message to the Seige tanks and Goliaths.
CEASE FIRE! CEASE FIRE! Possible Terran units in Zerg area. CEASE FIRE! Sending detachment for reconnaissance.
Warren quickly called in another Dropship that was waiting on station just outside of the battlefield. Thirty seconds later it landed and the rear ramp opened up, deploying what seemed like…nothing. Warren switched his goggles over to thermographic mode and his field of view turned different shades of the rainbow. Colder colors were blue and purple, and hotter colors were orange and red. A group of twelve yellow-orange blurs approached the Recon team. A voice spoke into the lieutenant's headset.
"Ghost Team Alpha reporting in, Sir."
The voice belonged to Lieutenant Mark Giapoli, Lt. Cmdr. Warren's friend and long-time unit member. Warren nodded at the invisible Ghost and his team.
"Good to see you on the field of battle again, Mark. Ready to kick some Zerg tail?"
"Absolutely, Sir."
Warren smiled from under his matte black facemask.
"Good. Move out. Have two of your men escort Sgt. Harakaza to find the local Cerebrate. We need to take it out to achieve total victory here."
As quickly as they had arrived, the Ghost team disappeared from Warren's scanners as he switched back to normal vision. He signaled Harakaza to switch to thermal mode and follow the Ghost team. Harakaza signaled affirmatively and trotted off, hopefully following at least two of the Alpha Ghosts.
Warren signaled the rest of the assault force in the LZ to move out to their respective positions. Following the Lt. Commander's signal, the group formed up into small groups of four or six and moved out to scour the area for any remaining Zerg. Warren tapped Merendez on the shoulder and pointed in the direction of the heaviest fighting. Merendez nodded and the two soldiers began moving towards the Zerg base. Warren brought up a three-dimensional map of the battlefield with each unit showing a different designation. The Golaiths and Seige tanks were holding a steady line to protect the LZ and Warren saw new Dropships approaching from the South, most likely carrying ACVs and Medics. The Command Center would be up by sundown.
Warren looked at his XO again, then turned off towards the center of the Zerg base. Another message tagged 'Priority' flashed on his goggle screen.
Harrison and Kent in position. Awaiting orders.
Warren nodded. That was really fast. They must have found an easy spot to set up in. The Ghost sent back a response. The diodes that covered the inside of his helmet monitored his brainwaves and picked up his thought processes. The message began typing itself on his screen.
Roger. Fire at will. Priority targets should include any unit attempting to attack Terran units or structures. Kill on sight.
Another message popped up on his screen.
Fuller here. Have reached target area. Planting demo charges now. Harakaza inside Hive looking for Cerebrate. Minimal resistance. Ghost Alpha team doing well.
Suddenly an explosion rocked the ground around the area. Warren frantically sent a message back to Fuller.
Fuller? Fuller?! What happened?
Something came back, full of static.
Still he…mo charg…ploded earl…lost Harakaz…possibly…Alpha te…Returning…LZ. Need…edical attent…
Warren cursed into his microphone. Harakaza was gone. He'd have to find the Cerebrate himself.