Author's Note: The reposting of Chapter 2. I got inspired to rewrite this chapter and pick up this story where I left off. Hopefully chapter 3 will soon be following. Hope you enjoy the new chapter.
Chapter 2: Bronze Horizon
Danny seated himself in the plain metal chair of the battle cruiser's briefing room. The fresh fatigues felt good against his skin. There was no difference between them and the old confederate ones, except for the red hand circled by a whip. Once merely the insignia of the Sons of Korhal terrorist faction, it was now the heraldry of the newly founded Terrain Dominion.
Kenny sat himself next to Danny, and almost immediately began to tap a pen against his front teeth from impatience. Danny looked over at his friend, and let out a small stunted laugh. Kenny merely glanced over at him, before letting his eyes trail across the room. The other survivors of Taur Sara were all seated in the room, ready to receive the details of their next mission.
Danny had been pissed when the marines had been told they would not be going home as they had all planned upon doing. No, instead they were being shipped off to Antiga Prime. The news had come in their newly assigned quarters, just after they had been issued new fatigues and handed their old armor over to the engineers to melt down for scrap material.
It was a cocky lieutenant who had come into their room, interrupting their rest, to give them a quick brief on what had happened to the Confederacy, how Emperor Mengsk had overthrown their corrupt government and instated his own, banding together all Terrans to fight off the alien creatures known only as Zerg, which were rampaging across the sector.
So now they were here in this briefing room, filled with stale recycled air that was all one could get on any spacecraft. Sergeant Ajax stood at the front of the room, beside the door. His legs parted, and arms behind his back at the position of at ease.
The door hissed open, and Commander Holland stepped in.
"Room!" Ajax called out, causing every marine to jump to their feet and snap their heels together in attention, even as the sergeant came to attention and snapped off a salute.
"Relax," Holland said, returning the salute.
The commander walked to the centre of the room, pulling off the black hat that was a part of his naval uniform. Ajax has sat himself down in one of the chairs, and pulled out a pad of paper and a pen. It was old fashion, but the sergeant had taught his men that it was more reliable than technology. The PDAs that marines liked to use so often anymore often broke in the midst of combat, leaving them without their orders.
The commander brought up a holographic display. The green light particles formed a picture of one of the four legged dog like creatures. The image spun in a complete circle repeatedly, while the creature appeared to be running.
"As you have undoubtedly heard by now, an alien race now known as the Zerg have entered Terran space and are moving from planet to planet, killing or infesting everything and everyone in their path. Most of our space has already fallen to the Zerg, entire planets now covered by a substance known only as creep, which the Zerg seem to require to birth their hive structures. The race is purely organic with the only technology they have is that which they have infested… from ourselves," the commander paused for a few seconds, allowing the stunned marines to absorb what they had just been told. Before today, their world had been stable, secure. Now they realize everything had changed while they'd been posted. Entire worlds simply gone, an alien race rampaging across the stars. Their heads spun.
"As if that weren't enough, contact with a second alien species calling themselves the Protoss have been scorching infested planets in an attempt to destroy the Zerg. These aliens are not our allies, they have openly destroyed Terran outposts in all out war. These aliens however are highly advanced, technologically speaking. Our scientists can't even figure out ways to approach the sciences of Protoss technology," commander Holland continued.
Kenny pressed a hand against his head and groaned, muttering "holy shit" as he did so. Danny couldn't help but shake his head. This was just too much. Two different species of aliens after thousands upon thousands of years of human history trying to discover whether or not they actually existed.
"That's a brief overview of the enemy situation. Further information on the Zerg and Protoss will be downloaded to your personal PDAs tonight. Study that information, it could save your life. Now as for the mission," Commander Holland stated.
The marines all got their PDAs or notebooks ready to copy the essential information down. This was stuff they would need. Commander Holland clicked a button on the small remote he held and the holographic image of the Zerg disappeared, almost immediately replaced by the image of a planet. The planet was surrounded by Dominion battlecruisers, and a strange substance which Danny assumed was the creep, had stretched across about half of the planet's surface.
"The world of Antiga Prime is currently being assaulted by the Zerg. The Protoss have yet to show up to destroy the planet, so we still have a chance of eradicating the Zerg threat and retaking the planet. That's the big picture. On the small scale that you care about, you are reinforcements for Dominion Outpost Whiskey 5. The outpost has been seeing heavy combat recently, so you'll be in the thick of it all. The outpost is under command of Captain Feral, with three squads under them. One needs a new sergeant, a position you will be filling Sgt. Ajax. The other two squads, one and three, are commanded by sergeants Cook, and Crowe. You will be split up amongst the three squads and receive further orders from your sergeants upon arrival. Is there any questions," the commander asked.
His eyes quickly scanned the seated marines. Generally no one asked a question, and so Holland was surprised when he saw a single hand in the air.
"What is it marine?" Holland asked.
"Has anything happened to Tarsonis sir?" Danny asked. Everyone else in the room paid close attention to the answer, they all came from that planet. Some had family there, though most Confederate marines didn't have any family.
At the mention of Tarsonis a sad look passed over the commanders features, and though it quickly passed, there was still a look of sorrow in his eyes as he went to answer.
"Tarsonis had fallen, the planet is completely destroyed," the commander said, and Danny's world fell apart.
"Danny settle down," a voice called from behind him, even as his fist collided with the steel bulkhead wall of their quarters, spattering a little more blood across the wall.
The voice was Kenny's, he was the only one trying to calm the shaken marine. The others tried their best to ignore the man's breakdown. Danny couldn't feel the pain from his fist, couldn't feel the warmth of the tears streaking down his face. All he felt was pain, a deep pain that hurt more than anything he had ever felt before in his life. It struck at his heart, a deep stake piercing into his very soul.
He hadn't spoken to his wife Miranda for months because of the difficulties in communication to and from Taur Sara. It had been even longer since he had spoken to his daughters, Sarah and Cathy, because the last time he had called home they had been out at school.
Now though he would never speak to them again, would never grow old with Miranda like he promised, never watch Sarah and Cathy grow up. None of the things that he was supposed to do, that he had promised to do.
The three things… people he cared for most were gone, killed suddenly and brutally, and he had not been there to protect them. He had told Miranda that he would protect her, and their daughters. He remembered telling her that in the hospital just after Sarah had been born. The nurse had just taken their youngest away, wrapping her in a blanket to keep her warm. Danny had knelt next to his wife, tired after being in labor for seven hours. He had run his hands through her soft chestnut hair, feeling the strands run between his fingers. Miranda had closed her eyes and enjoyed the soft sensation. That's when he promised her that he would always watch over her, and their daughters. He would protect them.
He had failed them all.
He felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. Danny knew it was Kenny, the only one he had left. No, that wasn't true… he had one other thing left. He had vengeance left.
Lieutenant Jill Fargus sat on her bunk, the components of her C-10 canister rifle laid out beside her. She held the lower receiver in one hand, the other ran an oiled rag over the metal, slipping inside and oiling the hammer, trigger springs, and every other mechanical part within the weapon.
The Bronze Horizon would reach Antiga Prime soon, and Jill had a mission to do. Her gear had to be working properly, and the best one to ensure that it was meeting her standard, was herself.
The door hissed open, and Jill looked up, pushing a auburn bang away from her face, and tucking it behind her ear. The rest of her hair was tied back neatly in a ponytail, which hung down between her shoulder blades.
The man standing smartly in her doorway was Captain Jack Pople; the officer in charge of black ops on the Bronze Horizon. He handed her a slim device, with a button and a glass lens. It was a targeting laser for tactical nuclear missiles.
"You have two shots, and two shots only. Make them count," the captain said.
"Yes sir," Jill said, without coming to attention or saluting, the black ops just didn't do that.
Pople nodded solemnly, before walking out of the room. As soon as he was gone Jill went turned her full attention back to the rifle. It was time to reassemble the weapon. She attached the laser designator on the side of the optical sight, then slid the two receivers together, locking them into place with the receiver pins. She clicked the sight into place, and slipped the butt into place, as she worked, she glanced over the weapon to ensure it was in top working condition.
She was a ghost, and her gear was necessary for success in her mission… and her mission came before her own life.
The heavy boots of his power armor hit the floor heavily with each footstep. Danny walked through the corridors of the battle cruiser, gauss rifle clutched in one hand. The Dominion armor was exactly like the Confederate, the only difference being colour, and the insignia on the right shoulder pauldron. Personally, Danny liked the new red and black colour scheme, but he didn't voice the opinion. He simply walked down the corridor to the battle cruiser hanger bay.
Inside the hanger two dropships awaited to take the fresh marines down to the surface of Antiga Prime, which they had arrived at fifteen minutes before they got to the hanger bay. Danny felt no nervousness as he walked up the ramp and into the dropship. Kenny was right behind him, dressed in his brand new firebat armor. He sat across from Danny, and gave his old friend a cheerful thumbs up.
Danny returned it half-heartedly.
"This is Lieutenant Welkes, your pilot this evening. Please ensure that all arms and legs are safely tucked inside at all times… and remember that the barf bags are stored just under your seats," the pilot's voiced buzzed over the dropship intercom.
Some of the marines laughed at the antics that pilots generally played when troops boarded their ships. Danny barely heard the disembodied voice though, he simply sat, thinking about getting down to the surface and taking out all his fury, all his sorrow, all his hatred, on the Zerg horde. He would die down on that planet, but he was going to take down as many of the aliens as he possibly could.
Just before the boarding ramp closed, another figure jumped on board. All the marines stared at her; a lithe ghost operative clad in blue armor over a white skin tight stealth suit. A pair of vision goggles rested on the top of her head, nestled in her auburn hair, and a canister rifle was slung across her back.
The ghost ignored the stares and sat at the very back, in the shadows of the troop holding bay. While most of the marines continued to throw curious glances at the mysterious agent, Danny pushed her from his mind. All that mattered to him, was that soon he would get back at the Zerg, for taking everything from him.
"I love you Miranda," Danny muttered, too quietly for anyone to hear, especially over the sound of the engines as the dropship lifted off the floor. The ship left the docking bay and started its descent towards the surface of Antiga Prime and Whiskey outpost 5.
The elevator to hell.