Here's chapter 3. I'd love some feedback on these stories, good or bad, so please R&R!

Chapter III: Preparation for Battle

The blackness surrounded and engulfed the cockpit of his small Wraith fighter, with the stars the only source of comfort in the vastness of the unforgiving space. The controls of the ship lay in his hands. With every move he made the ship responded as if he was apart of the ship itself. He felt like this is where he belonged: inside of his fighter in the immensity of space. Here he felt the most alive, the most invigorated, and the most in control of his life.

The other eleven fighters swirled about him, eager to engage in battle. The sleek craft were armed to the teeth with their laser cannons fully charged, which were backed by a full load of the deadly Gemini air-to-air missiles. The imposing Behemoth battlecruiser, the Nemesis II, loomed behind them; it's very presence and the laser turrets that bristled the hull were a menacing sight to any unfortunate foe caught in its path.

"Ok, everyone form into your flight groups and stay with me. Keep a sharp eye out for any Zerg forces that you might see. Just keep in formation, don't freeze up, and we should have no problem dealing with any Zerg we encounter," Captain Ellior said with a confident voice.

The twelve-ship fighter squadron broke into three flight groups with four ships to each group. Each flight formed the shape of a diamond while the entire squadron resembled a large triangle.

The familiar voice of Lt. Hammel crackled over the radio. "It seems pretty quite out here, Cap."

"Too quiet," Captain Ellior replied, "Let's just keep this formation and form a defensive posture on the battlecruiser while it does a communications check and a deep-space scan for any signs of DuGalle's fleet. It should only take about ten minutes, so just sit tight. As soon as they're done, everyone quickly dock with the ship so we can jump to the next system and do the same procedure. We need to find that fleet, and this is the easiest way to do it without attracting too much attention to ourselves."

James Ellior closed his eyes for a brief moment and let the calm feeling of being in his fighter again wash over him. Opening his eyes a few moments later, he concentrated on keeping a tight formation around the battlecruiser, while looking intently over the radar screen before him as he scanned for any signs of enemy forces.

Suddenly, one of the pilots replied over the radio with an excited but controlled tone in his voice. "Enemy presence spotted on my deep space scanner at coordinates X-12,Y-32, 43 degrees. ETA, one minute!"

Ellior glanced down at his screen and typed in the coordinates. "Looks like about thirty-five to forty mutalisks broken into three groups. Let's drop in low with cloaking on and surprise 'em. Watch out for any signs of those Overlords. If you see any, they become our primary targets. Don't let the mutalisks get within range of the battlecruiser. We'll strike right into the heart of their formation. Use your missiles on the first run."

Ellior recalled back to the training simulators he had and all the textbooks he read on the Zerg creatures. The mutalisks were the Zerg's basic form of aerial defense and offense. These dragon-like creatures spit out small symbiotes called the Glave Wurm, coupled with a spray of acid following suit. These small Wurms, when fired at another vessel, would rapidly eat there way through the ship, ground vehicle, or personnel, creating havoc within as it demolished the interior of whatever it found itself attached to. A fighter could find itself destroyed within a matter of seconds because of this small creature. The Glave Wurm was also known to launch itself from one vessel, after destroying it, to another if the proximity of the second vessel was close enough. The life span of this vile creature was only a few seconds, which was just enough time to finish off the machine or personnel it was shot upon.

"We're nearing the targets, Captain Ellior," Lt. Hammel reported over the radio. "ETA, thirty seconds."

James Ellior took a final breath to relax himself, then stated over the radio, "Ok, everyone, let's do this. Cloaking shields on."

Suddenly each ship began to glow an eerie white, with small energy webbings stabbing and jutting in and out, creating what looked like a massive electrical short. The sparks of energy then began to disappear, and the whiteness began to start slowly swirling around each ship, fading them until they seemed to no longer exist. When the ships had disappeared, the whiteness surrounding the wraiths faded with the. However, if someone looked closely enough when the ships continued in movement, small ripples though the fabric of space could be seen that was made from the sleek fighter crafts, which was the only sign of their existence.

"Break high everyone, then when we're on top of them, turn your noses down and drive straight into them with full missiles," said James.

The twelve-flight group of wraiths split into their respective four-ship flights, then rapidly ascended to get above the mutalisks. Then, in perfect tandem, the wraiths plummeted downward onto the unsuspected enemy creatures.

Captain Ellior switched a few dials on his ship, then grasped the joystick firmly in his grip, flipping the switch on the top of the stick as he readied his missiles to fire.

"Missiles armed and ready, Captain," Greg announced over the private intercom.

"Roger that, Greg. You stay with me and pick off whatever I leave behind."

"I'm right behind you."

Ellior then switched to the channel for the entire flight.

"Everyone find a separate target. Fire on my mark."

Now to find a target, Ellior thought. Picking the mutalisk that was out in front, Ellior put his sights onto the creature and the familiar tone signaling a lock-on sounded in the cockpit.

"I've got a good lock. 21st Squadron, fire on my mark. One... two... three. Mark! Missiles away!"

In perfect sequence, two missiles from each ship burst forth, the fiery entrails of the launch closely behind them. Twenty-four missiles streaked in towards their targets, eager to explode upon impact. The sudden launch of missiles from seemingly nowhere startled the mutalisks. They began to scatter, trying to get away from the onslaught, but it was too late.

Missile after missile hit its target, exploding the creatures in a disgusting mesh of red and green slime. A few of the mutalisks in the first wave were able to evade the deadly Gemini missiles and spewed their Glave Wurms at the weapons to destroy them.

Ellior counted roughly nine mutalisks down that signified around three of them evaded the missiles. Yet there were still two more waves behind the first, so his job was far from over. Yanking the stick hard to the right, he followed a mutalisk that was evading blindly in the air, looking for anything to shoot at. Getting another lock-on, Ellior launched another two missiles towards his foe. Both missiles connected, making the creature explode in a red mist. Pulling back on his stick, he followed his radar to the next target.

"You still with me, Greg?" James asked.

"Does a bird have wings?" Greg replied sarcastically. "I'm right on your tail, Cap. Although you ain't leavin' me much to shoot at."

James smiled at the comment. "I'll take that as a compliment."

Switching to lasers, the Captain chose another target and closed the distance between them. Coming up on the aft of the creature, Ellior let loose a flurry of red energy bolts that shot out from his cloaked vessel. Many of the bolts hit, ripping the mutalisk to shreds.

Ellior glanced down to see how much energy he had left for his cloaking shield. 80 left. I have plenty of time to rid this space of these creatures, Ellior thought to himself.

"How's everyone doing on energy for their shields?" Ellior asked. Each flight reported back with no problems, so Ellior went back to finding new targets.

The first wave of mutalisks had already been completely destroyed and the second wave was being finished off. The third wave was just about in range. Yet not one casualty occurred to his squadron of wraiths and the battlecruiser hadn't even gotten into range of the mutalisks yet. This is going easier than I thought. Perhaps these Zerg creatures aren't so tough after all.



As if to answer him, two overlords showed up on his scanner, closing in fast and already in close range. Dangit, they must've been hiding behind the third wave of mutalisks. We need to take those out quickly, or this entire squadron is exposed.



The large, brain-like creatures that looked like giant jellyfish, their long tentacles dangling beneath them, had the capability of disabling the cloaking technologies on any ship or personnel, rendering them completely vulnerable and exposed. If the overlords got within range, they would expose Captain Ellior's entire squadron. However, the one downside to the creatures is that they had no offensive weaponry, so if they were not guarded closely, they were completely vulnerable to attack.

"Alright 21st Squad, listen up. I have two overlords approaching fast right behind the third wave. We need to take those out, and take them out quickly. Red flight and Blue flight will each target an overlord. Use as many missiles as it will take to bring those guys down. Gold flight will try to distract the third wave of mutalisks so Red and Blue flight will have a clear shot to the Overlords. Ok, let's do it!"

Yanking the stick hard to the right, he began a flight path that would take him directly on an intercept course with the overlords and mutalisks. The rest of Gold flight began to form up on the Captain's craft as they headed towards the sinister creatures. Blue flight approached from the right side, while Red flight approached from the left to attack the overlords from behind.

"Gold flight," James Ellior announced over the intercom, "disable your cloaking fields to save energy. The overlords will disable their capabilities anyways."

The ships simultaneously emerged from the blackness, the same shimmering energy sparkling and crackling as it danced over the ships, bringing them into view. The ships slowly simmered into existence, their presence ominous and threatening.

Acting as a fine-tuned machine, the ships dove into the fray, firing both missiles and lasers at their foes. The mutalisks, now with a target they could see, returned fire with their own deadly Glave Wurms, striking one of the valiant Terran defenders down.

Ellior successfully destroyed one of the mutalisks on the approach with the last of his missiles, noticing his squadron mates had also taken a couple kills. Pulling back on the stick while rotating the ship at a 45-degree angle, James decreased the throttle to quickly bring his ship across the approaching path of one of the flying creatures. Slamming the throttle back to full, James switched to his burst lasers to target the mutalisk. Coming in on his aft, he centered the crosshairs on the beast and let loose a fury of laser fire. The target was decimated by the overwhelming barrage, becoming nothing more than a large mass of meat floating in space.

James pulled slightly up to avoid the carcass as he glanced on his radar to search for another target. Red flight crackled over the radio with success of destroyed one of the overlords and were now enroute to help Blue flight engage the last overlord.

Ellior talked into the built-in microphone in his helmet. "Gold flight, get ready to reactivate those cloaking shields the moment that last overlord is destroyed."

"I got one on my tail! I need help fast!" was the sudden shout of Lieutenant Greg Hammel over the radio.

Rapidly scanning his radar, James located the ship and the mutalisk that trailed it. "I'm on my way, Greg," was Ellior's reply.

Turning the wraith around, he rapidly closed the distance between his ship and the two other flying craft engaged in a deadly game of tag. Realizing he had no missiles left, Captain Ellior had to get close enough to take the mutalisk out with lasers.

Almost within firing range, Ellior said over the intercom, "Greg, break left on my mark."

Ellior waited a few seconds.

"Mark!"

The sleek craft of Greg Hammel's made a quick and efficient turn to the left, with the mutalisk closely on it's tail. The mutalisk made a fatal mistake in doing so. The turn put the creature right into the path of Ellior's crosshairs, and the pilot did not waste the moment. Holding the trigger down, the flying creature smashed into the wall of laser fire, obliterated by the onslaught.

"You're all clear, Lieutenant."

A quick jolt in his craft made him suddenly lurch forward, losing control of the stick and making the ship start to spin out of control. Hastily regaining control of the fighter as James grabbed the flightstick, he glanced at his radar screen and muttered a curse under his breath.

Two mutalisks had gotten behind him and he had been so preoccupied with Greg's ship and the mutalisk, he hadn't noticed them until now. Suddenly, a red light flashed above his console and he immediately typed a few keys on the console to bring up an assessment of the damage. Ellior gasped in unbelief. A Glave Wurm had caused the lurch on the ship and had begun to eat its way through the entire ship. One after another, the console reported every system begin to change from its standard green light to flashing its deadly red. The grim truth finally hit Ellior when he realized he didn't have long to live.