Chapter 5: Ramifications
As the spaceship barreled through space toward the moon I could only think about how all my friends will soon be turned into ash and dust and all I can do about it is to run from it. I notice the stillness that hung in the air inside the cockpit, Zandra knows that I cannot help my friends and she will probably try to help me in my journey in saving mankind.
I look out the front cockpit window and see the outline of the moon. During the times of peace on Earth, America started the moon projects and established a small habitable station on the moon. Scientists up there studied the way of life on the moon and conducted many projects. When the many countries of Asia united and declared war on the rest of the world, America feared that Asia would launch a space front and start the first ever galactic battles. Asia never went to space, they barely left the comfort of their own land, but needless to say, America prepared for the worst and set up a military complex on the moon capable of firing anti-spacecraft missiles at oncoming enemies. When the wars in Asia ended the military complex continued to thrive and was always prepared to one day battle in space. When the aliens arrived they must have quickly swarmed the relatively small base and easily captured it.
The moon begins to become larger as we near and I swallow hard at the sight of three of the monstrous craft of the Protoss.
"This is not good, this means my comrades are either battling them right now or have already succumbed to the mighty force that those carriers have dished out." Zandra's mental voice feels dry as it leaves my head and she looks like she is about to cry and then she stops herself and cracks her neck to calm herself.
"You called those things carriers, do you have names for the other Protoss that are unloaded from the carriers?"
"The bipedal warriors that you fought are the basic warrior caste of the Protoss, they are called Zealots and carry two psionic blades warped by their minds."
"You guys do a lot with your minds."
"The warriors that fall in combat and can no longer fight are put into a mobile unit with a protective shell and fire a photon. They are called Dragoons."
"I have never seen one of those before. What are the big caterpillar things called."
"I do not know what a caterpillar is but we have mobile artillery units that fire a scarab out of them, they are quite big and can cause mass destruction if left unattended to. They are called Reavers."
"Thanks for the names, now when we fight them and you tell me that four Zealots are behind me I know what to look for."
"Silence human we have arrived." Our spacecraft drifts over the moon base. To the public's knowledge the base was small but up close the complex looks huge, almost double of the Jacobs Installation that I was at earlier. We set the craft down on a vacant landing pad and Zandra shuts the engines off and opens the hatch and rolls the ramp down.
"Human you go and search for anything you deem useful, when I was here earlier we tied all the humans stationed here in the place where all your provisions were kept. I must go see if any of my comrades survived and refuel the spaceship. We shall meet back here in three cycles."
"What is a cycle?"
"Oh I forgot your just human, hmm lets see human time, carry the two, add four, come back here in two hours."
"Gotcha, hope you know your human time cause two hours is a decent amount of time." I jog off to the direction of the large bay door of the complex. Zandra walks off in the other direction. I wonder if they need air to breathe, then to think about it they don't got a mouth or any nostrils. I walk up to the door and squeeze my fingers into the gap where the two slabs join in the middle. My muscles flex and the two giant slabs separate about a foot. I then push on one side to widen the gap so I can fit my hulking mass through. I then push the slabs back together and move onto the next door. The complex must maintain an airtight atmosphere to support human life, I doubt the Protoss have been kind enough to keep it airtight. I pull the slabs open and air rushes around me. I guess this portion of the complex has been untouched.
As I get a first glimpse of the complex the distinct barrel of a gun is pointed in my face. I turn my outside speakers on.
"Hey don't shoot I am a human, I come in peace." I didn't really know what to say, when you got a gun pointed at you, a person doesn't really have time to make a complete thought.
"God buddy, you gave me one helluva scare." He pulls me into the complex and orders two other men to shut the slabs.
"Where have you come from, I've never seen you around before. Do you have new about what the hell is happening out there. We lost communication with Earth yesterday and then we lost the entire right side of the complex to a failed airlock, then we saw some spooky aliens walking around on the monitors."
"You got cameras that can look at the breached airlock?" I look into their faces, they are all covered by the visors of their battle suits.
"Yeah and the scariest thing is that some aliens are invading and we can't tell Earth." After he finishes speaking I tell them the entire story from start to finish and leave out the part of the Earth exploding, I didn't want to kill their hopes of getting home.
"So some of the aliens are called Protoss and some are called Zerg. I haven't seen any of the Zerg ones you described, only the Protoss ones. They haven't managed to reach this side and if they breach the airlock all the personnel here has battle suits on with enough oxygen on reserve to last them form a couple hours." The marine in charge is a second class sergeant. His name was Bill something. I didn't really care about names because I knew that most of these men would probably die is they stayed here, and that's what most of them wanted to do.
"Where is the Armory at this base?"
"Well sir that is the only problem we have had. The Armory is in the breached section, we only managed to get these guns recently. We found them in an emergency cache in the medical wing. We have enough rifles for all twenty personnel here, all other people where in the other wing at the time. This half of the complex is used for sleeping quarters and we were the only ones sleeping when the breach occurred. We have plenty of rifles just not enough ammo. Everyone here is a trained marine and knows how to use a gun, all the scientists were sent home when the wars in Asia broke out."
"We have only one choice and that is to go to the Armory and then to go back to the ship I came on and leave this place because it won't stay this peaceful for long." Out of the twenty marines that were alive only eight said they would come with me. Bill was one of the eight and I put him in second command with me leading the movement to get more ammo and weapons. We walk through the safe zone, as I called it and came to a blast door that separates the safe zone from the danger zone. I take a map out and look over thee planned out path that would take us to the Armory. I borrowed the map from Bill and also took a gun from one of the marines who stayed behind. I put the map away and gave the signal from the marines to quickly open the door form the rest to move through, then we would shut it on the other side, we wanted to keep the atmosphere as long as possible.
On the other side of the blast door we slowly begin the march to the Armory. We reach the first intersection and need to make a right turn to continue our direct course to the Armory. I come around the corner first and come face to face with about 4 Zealots. I drop to one knee and level my battle rifle and let off a volley of rounds that hit a Zealot and push him into his fellow comrades. The remaining Zealots who are no more than ten meters away push aside their dead comrade and charge. Five of the eight marines from a line behind me and fire on the oncoming charge. Within seconds all three of the remaining zealots fall. We just lost our surprise. We must now move with haste to the Armory and try to avoid all further battles. We walk down the next corridor and round yet another corner. We continue our march and up head we see a group of Protoss round a corner probably making haste to the sounds of battle. I count ten Zealots that are tightly grouped together in rows of two. I order four men to drop to a knee and the other four to stand behind them. The bottom row fires a volley first and the front two hit the ground causing confusion as the next two in line almost trip over their dead comrades. At that sight the top row fires and another two fall. The remaining six finally get a clue and spread out to avoid falling. I order to fire at will and the eight marines take the six zealots out before the enemy could reach us.
We reload and continue our march to the Armory. We are uncontested the rest of the way to the Armory. Some of the men think that the Protoss are trailing them and are going to corner them at some time. I think they are just paranoid as they open the door to the Armory. The men walk in and take duffel bags off the wall. They start to load ammo and weapons into the bags and I put one marine on watch outside to make sure we aren't cornered. I walk to the back of the Armory and grab a cart that we can use to push any heavy ordinance and weaponry back to the ship. We loaded heavy machine guns onto the cart along with a rocket launcher and a couple arm-mounted flamethrowers. We are ready to move when I look out to the marine I put on watch. He has disappeared and I nowhere to be found. I look out the door and see his body twenty meters away being dragged by a Zealot I raise my gun and before I fire I hear footsteps behind me. I turn to find around 50 Zealots charging not twenty meters away.
"Get out hear fools, we got company!" My voice is drowned out be the rattle of my gun as it begins to mow down Zealots one by one. Five marines pour out of the Armory all equipped with brand new weapons. Some have two rifles and switch out when one gets over heated. Some have guns strapped to all places on their armor. I wonder where the other two marines are but can't worry about that now. We reload our weapons in succession and continue to lay down suppressing fire. Our efforts aren't enough and the Zealots begin to pour out of everywhere. I turn around and see twenty more coming from our back. The two remaining marines come out with a big gun. The set it on the ground and load a big box of rounds in it from a backpack strapped on one marine's back. The gun's eight barrels begin to spin and the gun unleashes hundreds of rounds at the oncoming mass of Zealots. Within seconds thirty Zealots fall to the might of the mini-gun. The other marine pulls out a rocket launcher and fires a rocket at the group of men behind us and a fireball washes over half their numbers. With the mini-gun spent and the rocket launch empty the Zealots continue to advance. Their initial numbers were around 150, they have been downsized to about fifty, but that is enough to kill even the bravest marines. We fall back into the depths of the Armory and grab guns off the racks and load them with spare ammo. The Zealots pour in, but must enter single file because of the width of the door. Zealot after Zealot fall, not a single one can step within five feet of the room. Then the wall around the door explodes and debris flies and sprays the defenders within. At that moment a massive mechanized unit walks in, I now know what a Dragoon looks like. The mammoth of a thing walks around on 4 legs and the legs are attached to a body that sits about four feet off the ground. The marines open up on the behemoth and the Dragoon launches what Zandra called a photon. A photon is more like a giant ball of energy that flies at a target and incinerates whatever it touches. When it hits the intended target the ball of energy erupts lashing out to nearby audiences, who watch in awe as a fellow marine is vaporized within seconds. The marines all aim at the four legs that support the mobile cannon. The Dragoon fall to the ground and blue blood or whatever it was fills the ground. Even though the threat of the Dragoon is gone, there are still many Zealots left and they are even angrier than before. The barrage of fire coming from the six marines isn't enough to stop the flow of Zealots, now that there is a hole in the wall more than one Zealot can come in at a time. The two closest marines to the hole are instantly sliced to death. We fall back into the Armor more and I pick a rocket off a rack, prime it, and throw it at the oncoming Zealots. The rocket explodes and eight more Zealots fall. There are still four Zealots left and in this close of a range they can cause serious damage. Bill and his three marines try to push the Zealots back with suppressing fire. The Zealots lash out and manages to stab one of the marines before falling. The marine's battle suit has been compromised and he slowly dies from having no atmosphere to breathe. With only three men and myself we must grab what we can and run. We get out the door of the Armory and are instantly bombarded by twelve Zealots. They advance and we drop the duffle bags and open up. By the time they reach us their numbers have been cut down to four. The four Zealots slash at us with their psionic blades and two of the Zealots make contact with the two of the marines. I turn to the last Zealot and stick my gun barrel right in his face and pull the trigger. His face explodes and the threat in neutralized. Bill and I make our way to the blast door to the safe zone. We reach the blast door with no problems and find it blown apart. We walk through and move slowly down the hallway to the main quarters where the other marines were stationed. We get there and find many dead bodies, most of them are Zealots, but we get a final count of twelve marines. We conclude they must have ran out of ammo because their guns have been emptied and most were cut in half by the blades of the enemy. Bill walks over to a pile of Zealots and kicks them to make sure they are dead. The pile explodes from within and a Zealot springs up and slashes Bill to death. I scream and charge the Zealot. The Zealot turns to face me and I tackle him to the ground. My fists go wild and I pummel the Zealot into the ground. The Zealot passes out from the constant punches that I issue him. I stand up over the Zealot's body, I pull my sidearm out and put a round in the Zealot's head to ensure his death.
I take all the ammo I can carry and exit the complex and head back to the ship. I make it there in time to see Zandra battling a couple Zealots. I rush over to aid her but by the time I reach her she has slashed the puny warriors to death. She walks up to me and grabs the gear off my back.
"What took so long?" her telepathic message sounds somewhat different than it did before.
"I found some survivors, but they all died when we went on a mission to the Armory. I brought weapons to use if we need them, how did you do?"
"All of my fellow warriors were already dead when we arrived. As for our ship, it has be refueled and we are ready to go, the only thing is where shall we travel to. Once Earth explodes we will have nowhere to help your people." When her mental note is finished another beeping sound resonates from the ship. Zandra runs up the ramp followed by me. I drop the equipment on the ground and walk to the cockpit. By the time I sit down she has already read the message.
"There are two messages, one bad for you, the other bad for me. They will commence the destruction of Earth in two minutes." She finishes her thoughts and I run down the ramp and look out at the blue ball in the sky. Zandra follows me down as the blue ball turns into a scorched red ball and then explodes. The sight makes my stomach turn upside down and I fall to my knees crying.
"Your not the only one to hurt inside. My home planet of Aiur, the home planet for all Protoss is under attack from the alien race you call Zerg. Even though we were thrown out, every Protoss has a strong desire of nationalism, we take pride in our planet. I must now travel to Aiur and help out my people, if you wish to come you may. You don't have mush left here to save. You can be of best help with me, and maybe you will survive longer."
"I will come with you, I will assist you in anyway I can. I don't want you to see your planet explode like I have seen mine." Zandra helps me up and we walk into the ship. She fires the space craft up and we blast off into the abyss.
End of Chapter 5
End of Part 1
Starcraft and all of its contents are copyrighted be Blizzard Arts. I do not own Blizzard or Starcraft. All races, names, and units in this story are property of Blizzard.
