Disclaimer: I don't own StarCraft

A/N: Yadda, yadda, yadda. Okay, I actually intend to keep up this story. Don't flame, but do criticize the bad parts or mistakes.

The No Feel Soldier

By

Foolish Blue

Chapter 1: Broken

John Edward Ackerson looked up at the sky and sighed happily. The few clouds that were in the sky drifted slowly through the air. Like wisps of God's Breath. John smelled flowers in the air. Spring's warm breeze was at work again. John looked at the endless field of bright green grass around him. He smiled contentedly.

"Beautiful…" John whispered.

"John? John! Snap out of it!"

A harsh voice snapped John back to reality. John, confused, gave the immediate area a quick sweep with his golden eyes. He was not out in a sunny field, it wasn't a beautiful day, and it wasn't his vision of peace. John was in his run down old apartment on the slum world, Kochika. It was cold and gray outside, and it was wintertime. John sighed, this time out of depression.

"John, I'm sorry, but you gotta let of your dreams go. We are stuck here, and we aren't leaving anytime soon." John turned to voice. It was his lover, Sarah.

"We have to hold on to dream…because sometimes…they're all we have left." John said sadly.

"True…but your dreams…they will never happen. I mean come on! Here we are sitting down in your run down apartment, nineteen years old, broke, no education…we can't become anything! We are just two broke, futureless, lovers." Sarah replied.

"The harsh truth." John got up and walked with a slouch to the front door. He slipped on a black, tattered coat that was a size too small, not bothering with a shirt.

"Going somewhere honey?" Sarah asked. She stood from John's bed and slipped on some clothes to hide her naked body.

"Yes…Sarah, I wanna think…alone."

"Oh…I see…" Sarah looked at the ground. She then looked up and walked to John and pulled him into a hug. "Just don't ya go cheatin' on me." Sarah said with a laugh. John chuckled. Even on the worst days, Sarah brightened his mood.

"Come on, you know I would never do that." John said, his tone not so heavy now.

"Ya I know, have fun brooding." Sarah leaned up and kissed John's forehead. He smiled in reply and walked out the door.

John looked up at the bleak, dark sky and sighed. Sarah is right, we have no future. Maybe I should just give up my dreams. John thought sadly.

John trudged forward down the dirty street, allowing his thoughts to wander. He thought of his now dead parents and how they died saving him from the Zerg. John thought of his life with his love, Sarah and how, no matter what, she could put him in a better mood. Suddenly, John's thoughts drifted to what the Zerg looked like. This only succeeded in making John shudder. He hated those vile, horrible creatures.

John broke into a run. He wanted to get away, from everything. Absolutely everything. Even Sarah? Well, maybe not her. John's short brown hair seemed to be brushed aside from the wind. John listened to the wind in his ears, felt the wind against his face and his clothes flowing. John loved to run, he loved the feelings he received when he ran.

John pushed himself into an all-out sprint. The sensations grew and John felt his lips twist into a slight smile. John was fast, fastest person in the entire neighborhood. But, why wouldn't he be? He loved to run.

John must have been running for almost an hour. Past the old buildings, past the broken stop signs, past the bums on the street. Past everything. John slowed down to a stop. He gave the area a quick glance. He was at Point Higher, the neighborhood make out point and probably his favorite place in the whole godforsaken world. John noticed he was alone, besides an old blue car, which rocked slightly. John gave a chuckle. Kids these days. Dammit I'm only nineteen, do I really feel that old?

Sighing, John sat down at the edge to the cliff and stared at the sky. He loved this place. He had met Sarah here that was probably why. John lay against the ground and closed his eyes, letting his mind become devoid of any thought.

John slowly opened his eyes and stared up into the bleak sky.

"Change, damn you." John mumbled at the sky, willing for it to become sunny. It didn't. John sighed; things seemed to never go his way. Did things ever go anyone's way? John stood up slowly and gave the sky one final glance then turned around to head home. John had barely taken a step when he realized something was wrong with the sky. He quickly turned around to see what.

Against the gray clouds, a few black figures that seemed slightly bug-like seemed to slowly drift. John strained his eyes, trying to get a better view of the strange shapes. Suddenly there were a dozen of them, then fifty, then a thousand.

John gasped when he realized what the bug-like figures were.

"What the hell are the Zerg doing here?" He asked. When the word "Zerg" left his lips, his adrenaline spiked. The Zerg were here, they came. Panic took over John, but he quickly forced it down. John quickly ran to the blue car, which had, thankfully, stopped rocking. He quickly rapped a window.

A muffled "Go away." Answered.

"The fucking Zerg are here, get running!" John yelled. Almost immediately a young man with only tattered shorts on stepped out, a petite woman who was nearly naked behind him.

"They are actually here!" He asked, eyes wild with fear. John pointed to the sky. The young man gaped and quickly grabbed his girlfriend's wrist. He shouted to follow him and he took off running, his lover in tow. John, satisfied that he had just saved two lives, sprinted as fast as his body would allow to his home.

He reached it quickly. John ran up the porch and literally kicked open the door to his house. Sarah quickly rushed to him to see what was wrong.

"What's happening?" She asked, confused by John's antics.

"Zerg. Here. Run. Now." John said quickly. John turned around and dropped to one knee. "Get on my back, we gotta go the defense emplacements. I'm much faster than you, so it'll be quicker." Sarah quickly complied. John exploded into a sprint, dashing towards the small bunkers that would be used if such an attack happened.

John had run only a short way when he heard the roar of Confederate Dropships overhead. This made John run even faster, he didn't like the Confederacy, but they would fight the Zerg nevertheless.

"John, are you okay?" Sarah asked, worry etched into her tone of voice.

"Fine." John grunted.

Dashing around a corner, John saw the bunkers, already filled with people, only 300 meters ahead. John charged ahead, ignoring everything his body was telling him. He was going to live, with Sarah alive as well. The very thought of it made John's heart leap.

John suddenly heard the chatter of automatic weapons behind him, followed by screams, human and Zerg. John cast a quick glance behind him and felt his morale go completely dead. A group of 12 Marines and Firebats were just completely slaughtered by a horde of Zerglings. Sarah's high-pitched scream rang through the air.

She's just afraid, keep running. John thought.

"Hey kid! Follow me!" A gruff voice to John's right yelled. John looked. A group of 24 Marines were running alongside John. He had been so focused on getting away he hadn't noticed them. John looked at the large Marine who had yelled out to him. The Marine's faceplate was down, so he couldn't see the Marine's face.

"What…is…it?" John asked, between gasps of air.

"You don't look so good. Here." The large Marine pulled out a pad of some kind. The Marine ran next to John and slapped the pad onto John's neck. John felt fire course through his body and new strength arrive. John gave a quick nod of thanks and sprinted with newfound strength alongside the group of Marines.

They ran for awhile, some Marines firing their gauss rifles blindly behind them. John noticed they ran right past the defensive bunkers.

"What about those people!" John yelled over the roar of the Marine's rifles.

"We can't evac them with all these damned Zerg. They're dead." The large Marine responded. John said nothing in reply. He wanted to help those people, but the Marine was right, there was no way to help those people.

John sprinted down the street, Marines by his side. Suddenly all the Marines stopped and turned around rifles at the ready.

"Open fire!" The large Marine yelled. Suddenly, all 24 Marines fired as one. John watched in silent fascination and horror as the Marine's automatic weaponry mowed down Zergling after Zergling in an endless barrage of lead.The first few Zerglings were extremely unlucky, they were ripped apart by the powerful bullets in seconds. Blood, gore was everywhere and screams of rage and pain filled the air. This time, only the Zerg screamed.

In almost 20 seconds, the huge group of Zerglings was literally shredded to bloody bits of flesh, bone, and cartilage. John looked at the sight in amazement. He felt his stomach churn, but he managed to hold in his lunch.

"John, set me down right now!" Sarah yelled. John did so and he was glad he did to, because almost as soon as Sarah touched the ground, she bent over and threw up, she gasped for air once before throwing up once more. Sarah stood up and shakily wiped the vomit from her mouth.

The Marines burst out in laughter. John looked at them in bewilderment. The large Marine who had talk to him earlier and who was the leader of the group, lifted up his tinted face shield. The Marine was gruff, and old. He had short gray hair, 5 o'clock shadow on his face and yellow teeth. He looked fearsome.

"Can't handle the blood can you girlie?" The Marine asked with a laugh.

"I've never seen so much…violence." Sarah weakly replied.

"Ya, well get used to it. You're the only civies we can save and we're currently surrounded by Zerg."

"Wait, we're surrounded?" John asked in horror.

"Hell ya! This gon' be a good fight!" A younger, less mature Marine yelled.

"Well we need to get the hell outta here, right now…so we're gonna fight our way out." The leader said. John gave a slow nod. "Hey Polaski, give the kid a rifle and the girlie a sidearm." John's eyes widened. He was going to fight?

A Marine with pale skin, and a baldhead walked forward and handed John a spare Gauss rifle and then he gave Sarah a rather large handgun. John looked down at his weapon in amazement. The one problem here was, John had no clue on how to operate a Gauss rifle.

"You know how to work one of those kid?" The Marine asked. John shook his head. "Okay, this is the trigger, you hold the rifle like this…" The Marine showed John how to hold, fire, and reload the rifle in roughly a minute. John was familiar with handguns so he picked everything up quickly. He then showed Sarah how to use a handgun. When the Marine was satisfied that everything was in order, he closed his face shield.

"By the way kiddies, name's Akslack. If your rifle jams or has problems, talk to Polaski, the guy with swords on his armor, okay?"

"Yes sir." John replied. Akslack laughed.

"All ready actin' like a 'rine."

John smiled a bit, but his joy was short-lived. Right then, screams that made John's skin crawl, rang through air, right above the Marines and John.

"Aw fuck. Mutalisks!" Akslack yelled. He quickly lifted his rifle up to the air and began firing onto the strange bat-like creatures that were flying just overhead. John froze for a moment, but came to his senses and lifted his rifle at the Mutalisks. He squeezed the trigger once and 3 shots rang out. The bullets flew through the air before imbedding themselves into the Mutalisk. The creature squealed in pain as a portion of its head was ripped away, spraying thick, gooey, red blood everywhere.

John didn't hesitate, he pulled the trigger and held it for 3 seconds. 15 impaler rounds flew through the air and to John's dismay, only 4 of them hit. The 4 rounds slashed through the Mutalisk's wings and it screeched with pain, more blood spraying.

Suddenly the Mutalisk opened its maw wide and a large globe of green acid shot out. The acid flew towards John, and he had no time to dodge. The acid impacted against John's chest and began to melt his clothing. John dropped his rifle and scrambled out of his shirt. John tossed his shirt aside and looked at his chest. Thankfully, the acid hadn't reached his flesh yet and John was generally unharmed. Traces of acid had touched John's hands however, and they became raw.

John looked up at the Mutalisk as it prepared to fire. It was all over. John stared at the Mutalisk, refusing to die with his eyes closed. Then almost instantly, the Mutalisk's wings were torn away, then its head was blown off, then its body was torn to pieces from the hail of lead that the Marines had unleashed. John felt wet flesh and blood slap against his body. John shuddered. The dead Mutalisk's flesh was still pulsating. John quickly brushed the flesh away with his raw hands, wincing in pain as he did so.

"Kid, you ok?" Akslack asked.

"Y-ya, but my hands touched some acid and they're all raw. Do you have a medic?" John replied. Akslack shook his head.

"The Medics got hit as soon as we came in."

John cursed and looked at his rifle, he couldn't pick it up, and it would hurt to do so. John attempted to pick it up anyway. John winced in pain when he picked up the rifle, and he almost cried out when the rifle slipped out of his hand, which was slick with blood. When Sarah saw this, she ran up and held John in a hug.

"Okay kid, just run with us, and we can meet up with some medics later." John gave a small nod. "'K lets go." Akslack bounded off to the north, where John hoped he could get medical attention and/or get on a Dropship out of the hellhole that was his planet.

Running alongside Akslack and the Marines John sighed. His home was dead now. No…his home was always dead, now it was destroyed. John felt fatigue run up and down his legs. Even for him, an extremely fast and strong runner, this was pushing it.

John's hopes shot up when he saw several empty Dropships waiting for him, Sarah and the Marines a mere 50 meters away.

"Almost there you dogs! Keep it up!" Akslack yelled. John felt his body burn with newfound energy. He was going to make it.

John was suddenly thrown to the ground by something emerging from the ground. John turned to see what it was. It was 5 Hydralisks.

The Hydralisks screeched and opened their jaws. John barely saw what happened next. He saw 5 Marines instantly fall to the ground, spines sticking neatly out of their helmets. Suddenly several Marines screamed and fell as well. The remaining 14 Marines shouldered their weapons and squeezed the triggers. A Hydralisk shuddered and growled against the hail of impaler rounds slapping into its body. After a good 5 seconds the Hydralisk's arm was blown off, spraying blood onto the shell-shocked teenager. The Hydralisk growled and fell to the ground, writhing in pain. More bullets slashed into its body, completely mutilating it. The Marines turned to the last few hydralisks.

"Missiles, now!" Akslack yelled. The Marines quickly reached down to their belts and pulled out a rocket and slipped it into their rifle's missile barrel. The Hydralisks immediately took advantage of the momentary cease-fire. A Hydralisk leaped forward, scythe-like claws slashing. The Hydralisk's claw caught a Marine in the chest, slashing his chest and stomach open as though it was wet tissue paper. The Marine screamed as his intestines fell out onto the ground in front of him, along with several pints of blood.

Another Hydralisk had fired more spines into a Marine. The spines were sticking out at odd angles of the Marine, apparently doing nothing. Then he Hydralisk got lucky, and a spine went straight through the Marine's face shield and passed through completely. In a puff of blood the Marine now had a hole in his forehead, 1 centimeter in diameter.

The Marines now had their rifles up and were taking aim on the last few unlucky Hydralisks. A missile flew and impacted against a Hydralisks chest. The resulting explosion blew the Hydralisk in half. The Hydralisk somehow, was still alive though. The head sat on the ground, shooting spines in random directions, screeching. A Marine stepped forward and crushed the Hydralisk's head promptly under his boot, splattering blood and brain fluid.

A Hydralisk lunged, but was completely destroyed when 2 missiles hit simultaneously. The Hydralisk's blood, flesh, and bone were completely evaporated.

The last Hydralisk quickly looked at John, Sarah and the Marines. Choosing which was the softest target. John let out a blood-curdling scream. The Hydralisk had only enough time to fire a single spine, before the chatter of automatic weapons turned it into a bloody smear on the floor. That single spine flew straight and true to its target, Sarah. Sarah screamed and fell to the ground, spine still in her throat. John quickly stood and kneeled by her side.

John looked at Sarah's wound. It was bad, really bad. The spine had hit Sarah in the trachea and was sticking out her spinal cord. Even with the insanely small possibility of her living, she would be paralyzed neck down for life.

"John? John! Where are you?" She yelled out. The spine's poison was taking effect, rendering Sarah blind.

"I'm right here Sarah. Right here." John said, placing a hand on her forehead. Sam noticed Sarah's eyes were watering.

"John? Why can't I move? Why can't I see?"

The words broke John's heart. He hated to see Sarah like this. "You're…you're hurt Sarah. Really bad." John said, tears welling up in his eyes.

"I don't feel anything though…"

"That's because you were…lucky." John was actively crying now. How could he say she was lucky? She was going to die, and nobody could help her.

"John…will I die?" Sarah paused. "Don't lie." She said, forcing a chuckle. She and John knew that she was dead.

"Aw come on. You know I don't lie." John said, forcing a laugh as well.

"That's my favorite thing about you…" Sarah said quietly. "Don't…be…sad…I…lo-" Sarah's voice had faded so much, that John couldn't here her.

"I can't promise that…I can't." John said, voice barely audible. Sarah didn't reply. John quickly felt for a heartbeat. Nothing. "I can't promise that because…I'm broken when you're gone." John let himself cry. He didn't care that full-grown Marines were watching him, he didn't care that there were Zerg slowly closing in on his position. He didn't care about anything.

Chest still heaving, John leaned down to Sarah and closed her eyes. "I love you." John whispered and he kissed her forehead lightly. John sat there for a moment, before standing.

"Hey kid…what are you gonna do?" Akslack asked, voice edged with sympathy.

John thought for a second. He would never be anybody. He would never find his vision of peace. He would never be happy. John walked over and picked up a fallen Marine's Gauss rifle. He ignored the pain in his hands and cocked the rifle.

"I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to kill as many of those Zerg bastards as possible. I'm gonna be a Marine." John said. He looked up at Akslack, face cold and menacing. John walked to the Dropship, ignoring Sarah's corpse.

"Hey don't you wanna give your lover a proper burial?" Akslack asked.

"Leave the body, it won't do anyone any good dragging around a corpse." John said monotonously and he strapped himself into the Dropship.