-1Starcraft: Takeover
Paul Franklin
Original Concept courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment ©
Chapter 7: Critical
Littleman stepped out of the Gateway and looked out onto the vast wasteland that was Odesae. He make a remark about his discontent with having to put up with transgalactic teleportation, then made his way towards the Templar Archives, where Ben was waiting for him. Having just come out of the Gateway, Littleman would need time to rest up and replenish his energy before he began his assignment.
At the command of the Conclave, Littleman, another of the Templar caste, had made the voyage to Odesae for a number of reasons - one of them being to keep an eye on Ben. Known for being the reckless young man that he was, Ben needed to be watched, and closely. The Conclave had decided that Ganja alone was not enough to handle this task, since he would be preparing troops for the majority of his time.
Secondly, Littleman was to aid in preparing the strike force on the Zerg base. Known for his excellent skills of speech, Littleman was perfect for boosting morale in the ranks. He was not without battle capabilities, however - Littleman had access to powerful psychic abilities that made him feared on the battlefield. With his wits and a small strike force, Littleman could burn through a Zerg outpost in no time.
Littleman arrived at the Archives and was greeted, though rather coldly, by Ben. After a brief exchange of formalities, Littleman got down to business.
"I know you are aware of the reasons for my being here," Littleman said.
Ben rolled his eyes in dismay. "Of course," Ben said sarcastically. "Once again, the Conclave thinks me to be nothing more than a child. They still don't trust me."
"But of course not," Littleman replied with a grin. "You were single-handedly responsible for the massacre on Helix. If I hadn't stepped in with my troops and taken out that Zerg strike force, you would have -"
"Shut up," Ben said sharply. Bringing up the Helix Incident still hurt. Even though the battle had been one of Ben's first, and had happened many years ago, his record was still tarnished by this early defeat. Having the one who pulled him out standing in front of him once again was not enlightening.
"Enough of this small talk," Littleman grumbled. "Give me a schematic of your base."
Ben stood up and went over to a console. Pressing a button, he brought up a menu and navigated to his battle plan and base array.
"As you can see," Ben began, "We have a dense Photon Cannon Array around the perimeter of the base. We have a few Probes standing by to warp in others if the need arises. Our Gateways are functional and operating at top speed to bring our warriors here. General Ganja has ordered our Stargates to bring in Scouts, Corsairs, Arbiters, and Carriers as fast as possible. Our Cybernetics Core is working fast on Reavers and Dragoons, and we have upgraded our Reaver's onboard Scarab manufacturing ability. The process is now automatic, leaving the work of operating a Reaver to two soldiers instead of five."
Littleman stood up and began to walk away. Ben stood up as well, flustered.
"Sir, I haven't finished yet."
"I've heard enough," Littleman said smugly. Turning to exit the Archives, Littleman said, "It's obvious you still have a long way to go before you have a force capable of taking out the Zerg base. Perhaps my arrival will suffice to bring you to the reality of war. Don't make me have to save you again." With that, Littleman headed towards the Gateway. He was expecting yet another to arrive after him, and the arrival of this Protoss warrior would be a harsh blow to the Zerg.
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Empire ordered another wave of troops to attack the Terran base. Immediately, a large swarm of Hydralisks and Guardians rushed forward from their holding position. As they headed towards the base, Empire's grin became a frown as his Hydralisks were massacred before they were even in firing range. IThese humans are more resilient than I had previously expected/I he thought.
IHaving difficulties, Cerebrate/I
Empire grimaced at having to hear the Overmind again. His constant check-ups were beginning to annoy Empire.
IAll is going well, Overmind/ Empire said. I Just a few minor setbacks. The human Siege Tanks are posing more of a problem than we expected./I
ITake them out. Send in your Guardians. Their tanks cannot destroy our Guardians, so you should have no trouble ridding us of them./I
IYes, my lord./I Empire sent in a second wave of Guardians to assist his first group, in hopes of finally taking out the Siege Tanks before they could destroy any more of his forces. And Empire definitely did not want to have to face Tanks if the humans decided to storm their base.
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Revillo and his group had just finished the last satellite. Pressing a button on a console near the main computer of the Factory, Revillo released the locks on all 53 satellites, then stood back as he and the workers, as well as the other Ghosts, watched the satellites lift off. With the jet boosters thrusting at maximum capacity, the group had to shield their eyes to protect themselves from the blinding flares that sent the GRSITS system into orbit around the planet.
Zanzibar wiped his brow off with the back of his hand. Zanzibar, one of Revillo's Ghost comrades and his senior in the field, was good at what he did - getting into a base, locking a nuclear missile signal, and getting out before the blast hit. Zanzibar's speed and skill were unmatched by all of the other Ghosts, and when they wanted a job done, Zanzibar was usually the first chosen to accomplish the task. If Zanzibar couldn't do it, there wasn't a single one of them that could.
As the last satellite finished lifting off into the sky, Zanzibar stepped outside for a quick smoke just in time to see Richter and his squad of Goliaths go roaring past, barely missing him. Activating his cloaking technique - a skill that he had found handy on many a mission - Zanzibar hid himself as he watched the rest of the force march by.
I4 Marine Squads and 2 Firebat/I Zanzibar thought. IThey must really be in a hurry to get to the rear of the base if they're going that fast./I
"That's because if they don't hurry, we'll be in some tough shit." Zanzibar turned around to see Revillo standing behind him.
"You shouldn't be able to read my thoughts like normal people. I'm a Ghost."
"I don't need to read your thoughts," Revillo smiled, "when you think out loud like you do." Zanzibar couldn't help but smile, despite the wartime atmosphere.
A small, repeating beep sounded throughout the Factory, signaling a communications attempt to the main computer. Revillo and Zanzibar went over to the screen and opened the communications channel. Onscreen, Richter's face was contorted with stress and tension.
"Boys," Richter said, "I've got a job for you."
"What can we do, sir?" Zanzibar stood at attention at the sight of the commander on the viewscreen. Revillo, quite opposite, seemed more alert, but nothing more.
"I've come up with an idea. I need you two to take out the Zerg Hatchery. You're going to go in and drop a nuke on them. If I'm right, once the Zerg find out that their Hatchery is in ruins, the rest of those bastards will rush back to their base to protect it while they build another. That should buy enough time for help from another colony to arrive."
"Uh… sir?" Revillo asked hesitantly, "how exactly do you expect us to get into the base undetected? Sunken Colonies aren't a problem, but there's bound to be Spore Colonies and Overlords around their base. The Overlords see on a different spectrum than we do, so they can see us whether we're cloaked or not, and Spore Colonies emit certain waves that can sense us and alert the Zerg. The chances of us getting in there and back out are slim to none."
"I've already thought of that, soldier." There was a slight pause on the communications system. Only the sound of gunfire and explosions could be heard. After a few moments, the commander came back on the radio.
"Well, sir?" Zanzibar said inquisitively. He was anxious to begin his assignment.
Richter, breathing heavily, continued his mission brief. "You're going to take about 6 of the Medics with you to the Zerg Base."
Suddenly, it all connected with Zanzibar. "I get it now," he said, filled with excitement. "The Medics are equipped with Optical Flares! They can disable the Overlords' eyesight and disrupt the detection waves of the Spore Colonies!"
"And if the Medic's get hurt," Revillo continued, "they can just heal themselves immediately. We'll have them take out the detectors, heal up if they need to, and we'll take care of the rest!"
"Exactly, soldiers. Guess you boys don't have to read my mind to get where I'm coming from." The giant viewscreen went blank, signaling that Richter had cut the communication link. The two Ghosts stared at each other, then nodded.
"We're going to need Neeko," Revillo said.
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Neeko's medical squad, along with one other medical squad stationed back at the base, were hurrying as fast as they could to heal the wounded soldiers that flooded into the base. While the remaining squad healed soldiers in the field, these two squads were taking in almost too many to heal. Neeko was beginning to get a little bit flustered when she received a communications link beep on her HUD. Accessing the link, she heard Revillo's voice on the other end.
"I really can't talk right now, Revvy," she said, calling the Ghost by his pet name. "We're up to our ears in blood and guts here, and if we don't keep up this pace, we're going to lose valuable soldiers that we desperately need to win this war."
"Sorry, babe," Revillo said, "but Richter's got other plans. We need you and 5 other Meds to come with us to the Zerg base. We'll explain on the way there."
"Oh, no. You can't be serious. We have men dying here, and you want me to come on a mission to the Zerg base?"
"The commander got the idea that if we take out the Zerg Hatchery, the rest of the swarm will go running back to protect the base. That'll buy us some time, and we could even get some reinforcements in time."
Neeko scoffed. "Do you really think that'll work?"
"You're equipped with Optical Flares, correct?"
"Well, yes, but…"
"Then it'll work. Meet me in the Factory with the other Meds of your choosing in 5 minutes. Bring plenty of supplies. We'll need them." With those last words, Neeko's intercom went silent.
IDamnit/I Neeko thought. IWhat a perfect time to make a base run…/I She sighed as she looked over her Medics, mentally weighing each of them against each other to see which of them would come with her on this crazy suicide mission.
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"Are you ready?" Zanzibar looked over Neeko's selections for her medical accomplices. "Are you sure these guys can handle this?"
"I'm completely confident in the battle and medical capabilities of my comrades," Neeko retorted with a hint of hostility, "and you would do well not to underestimate them."
"Yes, ma'am," Zanzibar replied, making sure Neeko took notice of his sarcasm.
"You two quit fighting," Revillo said, stepping in to stop an early catfight in the making. "Now remember, I've armed the nuke already. It's currently loaded onto satellite 22. It will launch as soon as it's received a signal, which should be about… 10 seconds after Zanzibar is in position."
"Meaning we have about 10 seconds after that to get the hell out of there, or we'll be incinerated," finished Zanzibar. "Ready?"
"Ready."
"Ready."
Zanzibar smiled. "Then let's do this."