Chapter 4: Intentions

The remaining men in my squad are rounded up and told by Beers himself that we must make the trek back to base and get medical help and reinforcements. Beers had to stay at the makeshift defensive outpost and command the others. We have been walking for twenty minutes and can make out HQ. I look at the men in my squad, all 3 of them. My squad took the most casualties in the skirmish and we are the only survivors of the squad. Along with the fact that we have no ammo for our rifles and we must resort to pistols and small arms. The dust rolls by sweeping under my legs. The war and the infestation is slowly killing the planet.

I hear the drone of engines and wonder where they could be coming from and if it might be of help to us. I look up in time to see a beetle looking spaceship descend on our position. I jump out of the way as the alien vessel lands right on top of us. The other marines jump up and immediately un-holster their weapons, two pistols and a shotgun. I got a pistol but am to moonstruck to pull my weapons out. A hatch on the back underside of the ship opens and a platform slowly lowers. A figure obviously Protoss descends and starts to stride toward the befuddled marines. The alien obviously female by the way she walks and her figure wears a burgundy robe that I swear I have seen before. On her back she carries a long sheathe with a big sword inside. The first marine, who is so scared he probably pissed his pants, pulls the trigger of his pistol and the round hits the ship completely. The alien who is startled by the round suddenly springs forward and hits the marine who shot at her right in the face. Her fist breaks the marines protective faceplate and his delicate face explodes under the pressure of her punch. As the marine falls to the floor shaking uncontrollably in a pool of his own blood the female faces the remaining two marines who now have their act together and know that it is time to fight. The marine with the shotgun fires and the alien sidesteps the blast and grabs the shotgun's barrel snapping it like a twig. She then pulls her sword out and slices through the marine's armor like butter and completely cuts through the entire marine's torso, leaving him to lay in two pieces still barely alive to watch his friend die. The last marine begins firing wildly at the alien. She dodges all the round and charges as the marine frantically reloads. He manages to slide the clip into the pistol and looks up to see a blade right in his face. The blade jabs the marine in the faceplate piercing it and going through cleanly. The alien pulls the sword out of the marine's face and sheathes it as the last marine falls to the ground. She turns to face me and I stand their not knowing what to do. I focus my my into one thought and mentally lance out to her.

"I mean no harm," I didn't know what else to say.

"Interesting, a human that can talk with his mind, now that's a first. Do not fret, I can understand you when you speak with that thing on your face. My name is Zandra, leader of the Dark Templar." She telepathically states. I stand their curious why she landed right on top of us.

"Why did you land here, and why did you engage us?"

"I needed a place to set her down and u just happened to be there, and I killed your friends because when someone tries to kill you the response is usually to fight back, in my case kill your friends." She speaks like she does this often and I wonder who she is.

"I have killed many of your friends why don't you just kill me?"

"first of all, you haven't killed any of my friends, you just aren't strong enough, now you could have killed those other Protoss that have landed here, but they aren't my friends, they threw me out and caused my people much pain and suffering." As she finishes her thought a loud mental beep that seems to emanate from the ship.

"Stay here human or I might think about the killing you part." After her mental message finishes she quickly strides over to the ramp and up into the depths of her ship. The constant beeping stops and I can hear the faint clicking sound of a keyboard or their version of it. As quick as she went up the ramp she came down it, and walked over to me.

"Seems that our conversation will be cut short and if you want to you can come with me."

"Why is there so much urgency, what has happened?"

"The fleet that is orbiting your planet is preparing to eradicate your planet and everything on it." I almost faint at the message and regain my balance. To just think about the magnitude of an entire planet and race becoming extinct with a flick of a switch or the push of a button just causes anger to build inside of me.

"Is there anything we can do but watch as all my friends and family become nothing?"

"I am afraid not, the fleet is not under my command, it would be best if you come with me if your wish to preserve your life." She walks up into her ship and waits for me to follow. I stand for a moment thinking about everything that is about to be lost and I can't help in any way. All the friends I have made along the way, all the brave marines that will die for nothing. I walk up into the bowels of the ship and look around at the inside. The ship has a table, probably for maps or medical needs, along the walls are weapons and cargo storage. I walk up and walk through a open door and see four beds and further up is a cockpit. I walk to the cockpit and squeeze into the narrow seats. Just as a sit down the hatch closes and the engines flare to life. our ship begins the slow climb to the nothingness of space. I peer out the window at the landscape and say goodbye to the land I once called home. I look over at Zandra and she is busy flying the spaceship to notice I am staring at her.

"Why are they going to blow the planet up, is it because of the Zerg?"

"Is that what you call them, okay I'll call them that too, the Protoss follow the wretched Zerg around from planet to planet eradicating them in hopes of preserving the planet and its inhabitants, after the Protoss encountered your race the found that if left alone you could pose a serious threat to them so they decided it was best to just kill the planet and make sure your race will never be able to fight them."

"So they are scared of humans?"

"They are scared of your potential." With that said a long silence occurs and no one speaks until we reach outer space, once outside the boundary of the Protoss fleet we drift along on a route away from Earth. As we drift a beeping sound begins to drone out of the center console.

"What is wrong?" I look at her wondering if the beeping is good or bad.

"We are out of fuel, we need to refuel, the only way to do that is at the refuel station set up on your only moon. The refuel station is guarded by my most trusted warriors, we set it up at a base of yours on the moon, there are humans there but we locked them up because we didn't want to have to worry about them. This could give you a chance to save your race."

"Then it is off to the moon." She flicks some switches and we speed off to the moon.

End of Chapter 4