Chapter 11 - The Hail Mary
On the surface of Tyrador-3 above the research lab, the massive explosion from the missile sent a shockwave. Rustling the nearby vegetation, it rattled everything within a 2-mile radius. The nanos that were within the vicinity of the compound battled hard against the invisible force to not be blown away or ripped apart. While this happened, parts of the immediate environment began to have shade changes. As if the micro machines were trying to camouflage something, the ones that succeeded against shockwave went back to their previous position.
In the epicenter of the blast, an odd shape plume cloud formed. Instead of one mushroom head forming, there was one forming on the opposite side. When it reached a certain size, the weather began to change. The relatively cloudy day with a strong breeze turned dark rapidly. As if contaminating the sky, blackened clouds began to cover over the facility.
Slowly, a vicious thunderstorm developed. Arcs of white-blue and white-teal lightning began firing. As seeing them on the ground was uncomfortable, the ones viewing the storm from space could see how active it was. The flashes of light appearing from all around along with something that snaked around was quite a spectacle. Oddly, the lightning storm began to become more vigorous and violent.
As if the explosion's epicenter was still active, massive webs of lightning chains came out of it. A couple grew through the rest of the black plume as if to reach into space. The studdle difference between the blue and teal powerful electricity meshed together to become more and more blinding. Of the lightning that touched the ground, it scorched the earth leaving soot and charred material in its wake. Not even the metal used to draw in the violent arcs seemed to stand against the voltage emitting from the spontaneous storm.
As if colossal webbing reached a certain intensity, it triggered a phenomena. There was a series of ultra blinding and quick lightning strikes. Shooting down from the center of the darkened thundercloud, they spread laterally around itself. Instead of the colors of the blue and teal, the arcs were a brazen rust color. The strength of the electricity produced from it magnified to the point of spontaneously vaporizing anything that was within close range. Even mid-range became electrocuted and burned heavily.
[Captain] the Hyperion central computer system called in the bridge's speakers. [Large amount of gamma rays are emitting out of the thundercloud's epicenter. Engaging evasive maneuvers]
"Rodger. Make it so," Horner replied. Everyone on the bridge felt the sudden change of course and held onto something to not lose balance.
[My queen. High levels of gamma particles are accelerating within our direction] Izsha chimed in sounding with a bit of anxiety. [Without moving out of the way, the Leviathan will suffer damaging radiation]
[Do it Izsha] Kerrigan stated without sounding tense while watching the lightning from afar. She and Stukov felt the organic spacecraft veered hard and accelerated noticeably quickly. Both heard through the video channel the Hyperion ship announced the same thing. It flanked to the left and engaged all thrusters to get away.
[Warming. Low-level shockwave from gamma ray release detected] the Hyperion announced over the intercom.
"Raise the shields to full power," Matt ordered then hit the intercom near him. "Captain Horner here. All hands, brace for impact."
[My Queen. I am detecting the same shockwave]
[Raise the shields as much as you can Izsha. Stukov and I will aid you] Sarah informed. Without asking, the ex-UED admiral quickly followed her to the membrane shield of the docks. Lifting both their hands, they directed their power forward to form a strong powerful shield over the clear flesh wall.
A few seconds later, both spacecrafts felt a mild invisible force hit them. It was not strong enough to tear the ships or fracture components off the exterior haul. It felt more of a low grade quake that lasted several seconds before dying down. Recovering quickly, Matt and Valerian checked to see what the damage was on the Hyperion. Not seeing anything of concern, Horner wasted no time.
"Give me a visual of the surface. A mile radius from the research lab," he ordered. Hearing replies back, the staff quickly activated the ships scans.
"Visual in 5 Captain...little to no interference," one of the officers announced from their workstation.
"Share the video feed with the Leviathan as well."
"Aye sir...scans completed...uploading to the monitors."
Watching the nearby screens go static for a couple of seconds, they cleared. To whom that was watching, the area around the facility and on it had severe destruction. The ground and landscape was scorched and charred heavily. Numerous areas of black soot and intense burning changed the visual to a rich red amber glow. Various parts of the land were cut into it like someone committed lacerations that were half a person's size deep.
As a whole, the amount of firepower that was unleashed by the TGFs and lightning made it like a battlefront of a warzone. It was as if the life and nature around it were obliterated and leveled. Hearing computer sounds and a tracking sensor activate, it gravitated towards the damaged building. Parts of it got a small chunk of the wall blown our while other sides were blackened. Picking up signals both inside and outside the labs, the central computer made announcements in the bridge.
[Captain. I am detecting multiple bio-signs within the research center. Signatures of hybrid readings with one Terran signature. Other readings include a swarm of nanos are pouring out of it]
"Tap into the facilities security feeds."
[Commencing...infiltration of Dominion facility network complete. Uploading visuals now] the A.I. stated. Gaining access to the camera feeds inside the center, the recipients saw a bipolar environment that was more than hostile. Some areas were strangely clean while others were a massacre and horror themed.
[Stukov. I will take my leave now] Kerrigan stated then hurried to one of the organic shuttle pods. [Izsha. Assemble an escort squad to follow my lead to the surface]
[As you wish my Queen] the humanoid of the Leviathan's central nerve commented.
"Kerrigan. Do you need fire support?" Horner asked watching her walking away. Instead of turning around to answer, she gave him an answer telepathically.
"What did she say?" Valerian asked turning to him.
"She'll will let us know once she touches down on the surface," Matt answered looking at him. A minute or so later, there was a small living transport shuttle from the Zerg ship that launched. Figuring that was the one Sarah was in, another launched several seconds later.
[Well gentlemen] Stukov began to say still at the docks of the Leviathan. [At least now we have bare witness to the power for what TGFs can achieve...it is something to be noted for obtaining a superweapon of war.]
"I agree admiral," the prince remarked with a head nod. "Tell me, are you participating in the toppling of the Dominion Emperor as Kerrigan is?"
[Your father will pay for the crimes he has committed and the ones he has associated with. His scientists changed me and other soldiers into becoming monsters...freaks of nature...war machines...] the ex-UED officer answered with a stern tone. [Kerrigan seeks his death by her hand...she offered me a place on her ship...it would be fair to say that I will aid her in her quest of revenge...where do you stand young Mengsk?]
"I acknowledge that my father is unfit to rule as emperor...I have seen his atrocities to not only humankind, but to other races as well...I am supporting Kerrigan's quest in only to de-throne my father."
[Then we share similarities to a common goal...hopefully you are prepared to bare the weight of taking over the Dominion emperor's legacy]
Traveling through the areas on the 2nd floor, Jim continued to look for an armory or at least some ammo. Hearing a violent impact from above, it was followed by a booming clap of thunder. Heading to a wall to support himself, another quake occurred quickly. Stronger than the last one he felt, he kneeled down to put a hand on the ground. Keeping his head down, the facility around him made sounds of creaking and bending loudly.
'What the hell is going on up there?' he thought to himself. Wondering what was actually happening on the surface, he knew that neither the Hyperion or the Leviathan had large payloads that would create lightning and thunder. Feeling the rumbling settle down, he slowly stood back up. Checking his surroundings and seeing that he was alone, he continued searching with caution.
Going through hallways, he did not see anything labeled with security or armory on the outside. Coming to intersections, he avoided the passageways that would lead towards the open operation areas. Another aspect was observing the traces of blood building on the walls and floor when looking down those ways. Proceeding to the one that did not have crimson, it did not make him feel safer. Seeing that he was in another corridor with rooms, Raynor frowned and walked slowly forward.
Feeling uncomfortable with having no ammo for his Colt, he thought about peeking into all the rooms. Not wanting to get surprised, he looked for a fire extinguisher break case on the walls. Finding one further down and going to it, there was only the canister inside. Getting the revolver out, he gripped the barrel and swung the butt of the gun against the glass. Busting the clear shield, he continued to get the loose, hanging pieces off. Once almoat all was gone, he grabbed the extinguisher.
Despite it being half the size of a regular one, it had roughly the same weight as a loaded submachine gun. Spraying the contents and having a heavy melee weapon made the Commander feel less defenseless. Holster his firearm and holding the red canister in his right hand, he began searching the rooms. Most of them looked desolated and only had loose ends of things. Coming up mostly empty from scanning the quarters, the raider leader continued down the hallway.
While walking further along, Jim began to felt something amiss. Stopping and looking back the way he came, he didn't see anything. Narrowing his eyes and backing up, he stared the hallway down. Shortly after, he saw silhouettes moving in the background. Hearing the moans and groans from there, it seemed to be a small platoon of the dissected undead.
'...' Raynor thought annoyed and frowned.
Turning around, he briskly headed to the other end of the corridor. Coming up to an intersection, he scanned each one. Seeing that all of them were free of having crimson stains, he turned to the left passageway. Strangely, it led to a dead end. Backtracking to the intersection, he glanced back at the horde. They were closer to be a little more detailed, but still not much of a concerning immediate threat.
Going to the one across from the hallway he was in, it also led to a dead end. Verbally grunting in getting frustrated, he quickly headed back to the space that had 4-doorways. Looking back again to where he originally came from, the small platoon was a few yards away. The closest one tried to do an intestinal attack and launched a segment. Leaping backwards to be in the remaining hallway, blood and flesh splattered on the floor and wall.
Looking at the door panel to the left of the door frame, he hit the close command. As if causing the dissecting individuals to become angry, they moaned and groaned louder. Once the hatch was completely closed and engaging the lock, they began ramming it. Backing away from the thuds hitting the door, Raynor turned around. Hearing someone nearby, it was to his left and from a room.
One of the flayed open subjects came out of the space and swung its long finger like appendages for a left arm. Jim reacted with quick stepping forward and raising the fire extinguisher. Releasing the pin and squeezing the trigger, the undead got heavily sprayed in the face. Disoriented and making suffocating noises, it began swiping the air to get rid of the white fog. Taking a deep breath and holding it, the Commander brought the metal cylinder over his head and swung hard down.
Impacting in the middle of its forehead, the thing dropped to the floor with a loud thud. Stepping away from the CO2 sprayed area, Raynor released the air he was holding. Breathing and getting oxygen into his lungs, he began to feel his pulse slowly go back to normal. Looking back at the monster, there was a severe curved indentation from where the extinguisher impacted. Looking at his melee weapon, it was empty but still in good condition.
'Hopefully I haven't locked myself in another dead end,' he pondered.
Ignoring the racket that was occurring at the door hatch, he explored the rooms that were in the hallway. Only able to find knick-knacks of small things, the office spaces were relatively untouched. Whoever did occupy them, it was left in clean condition. Continuing down the corridor and turning right at the end, the space ended up ahead. Feeling that he was now stuck, he hoped that the remaining chambers had something a little bit more encouraging.
Shiftily traveling from the 2nd floor below ground level to the main computer nano system on the 3rd floor above ground, the Hybrid checked on the unit. Seeing that it was being strained heavily from the lightning attacks, the last couple were overly zealous in terms of raw power. To its surprise, the air felt charged as if overly ionized. Accessing the computer feeds for video, all the exterior views were black. Checking on the nano signatures that were outside, nearly all were either fried or destroyed.
[...hhhooowww...#$%#$%...interessssting...] it stated to itself while breathing a little harder. Putting one of its arms on the main computer, a small black haze escaped from its limb. Invading into the nano system, it started to conduct repairs. After a couple of minutes, the computer was able to conduct self-repair applications and do a general scan of the facility.
[Two transports from space are heading towards the surface. Projected landing, within a mile of facility] the monitor showed through text.
[...more visssssitorssss...w...o...n...d...e...r...f...u...l...] the hybrid commented and felt angry, fear, and a foreboding of dying. Laughing at itself, it thought about which way to go. Either proceed back down and capture the lone Terran or go to where the new party was coming down to. Deciding that the new blood would be easier prey, the monster felt confident that the Commander down below would be cornered and eaten alive. Hovering, it made its way to the elevator.
[If the little robotssss have been destroyed...then the natural environment of what isssss there will appear] it remarked out loud with a smirk.
Upon checking the remaining rooms, 3 out of the 5 did not hold anything worth taking. Walking into the 2nd to last one, Jim's hopefulness waned slowly. Rummaging through the drawers and moving things around, there was only loose papers, empty canisters, books, and more documentation. Closing everything and leaving the room, he looked back down the hallway. Not seeing or hearing any incoming creatures, he felt uneasy about the one he assumed he crushed its skull.
Turning to the last room in the hallway, it was at the end of the corridor. Instead of sighing about it being a dead end, he walked forward. Getting to the door, he regripped the fire extinguisher and readied himself. Pressing the door panel, the hatch opened. A wave of stale air hit his nose before slowly dying down. Not seeing anything moving inside when the ceiling lights came on, he entered the space. It appeared to be a Commander's office with a large desk in the center and a book shelving unit behind on the back wall.
"...!?" Raynor reacted from picking up a faint scent blood. Still being cautious, he walked carefully next to the wall. Seeing a mutated looking leg sticking out behind the desk, he sneaked towards. Identifying it to be another dissected monster, it appeared to be sleeping. Raising the metal canister above his head, he slammed it down on the being's head. Hearing it grunt in surprise and pain, the raider leader repeated his attack until it croaked dead.
"...damn hybrids..." the Commander muttered and looked at the being with distain. Looking at his melee weapon, he tossed the heavily bloody and dented fire extinguisher to the side.
Looking at the corpse, the thing's head was completely caved in and had cracked open. Smelling the iron crimson fill the area made Jim grimace a little. Despite seeing its limbs twitch a little, he grabbed the monster's legs and dragged it out of the office. Leaving it out there, he entered the office again then shut the hatch. Pressing commands on the door panel, it showed a locked sign on its small monitor.
'At least it is another barrier if that horde breaks through the first door,' he thought then scanned around the chamber. 'If this was a higher officer's quarters...then there should be at least something here to use.'
Going to the desk first, he searched through the drawers. Finding pistol ammunition of a high caliber, it wasn't the right size for his Colt. Pocketing them anyway, he found access cards. Not sure if the codes in the building were overridden or not, he grabbed them anyway. Not finding anything else, he looked under the desk.
"What do we have here," Raynor muttered with a small smirk.
Discovering a small, covered compartment on the back panel of the desk, he reached for it. Grabbing it and moving the box around, it had some give but didn't come off. Feeling around it, there was a small button on the bottom left corner. Pressing it, a small click was heard. Opening it and seeing what was inside, it showed a small electronic contraption.
'...that...looks odd,' he thought not expecting that.
Getting a hand on it and gently trying to move it, it was secured in place. Wanting to get better lighting on it, he got out from under the furniture. Grabbing the edge and lifting, he turned the desk over carefully. Now getting fully illumination for underneath, the sight made Jim pause and blink a couple of times. A message was written in old dried up blood.
"...in case of outbreak...use EMP...mod weapon...behind bookshelf..." he spoke quietly watching the remaining of the message become illegible.
"An EMP device...that would come in handy," the Commander commented.
Kneeling down and looking at how the device was locked, there were small latches holding it in place. Undoing them, the small electronic component came out. Picking it up, it started winding up a little. Holding his arm out and watching it, the device began to converge itself into the size of a frag grenade. After doing so, the noises stopped and a little red button appeared to indicate the top of it.
"Now then," Jim spoke hooking the EMP to a loop on his black vest. Turning around, he approached the large furniture.
"Let's see what you are hiding."
Grabbing the sides of it, he pulled back and left. Getting the holding unit to shift away from the wall, the raider leader let go. Seeing the wall that was being covered, there was an outline of a hidden compartment. Going to it, there was a small scanner in the middle of it. Pulling the access cards and running each one through, one of the made it unlock. Opening it up, an evil grin appeared on Raynor's face.
"Jackpot," he stated.
From seeing the amount of content inside, he turned around. Flipping the desk back up to use it, he went back to the locker. Grabbing everything inside, he laid it out on the table. The mod weapon from the message was an older version of the human size Gauss-14 infantry assault rifle. But, it came with an auto-loading grenade attachment that held up to 6 frags. Along with ammo for both, there was a service pistol and more access cards.
Gearing himself up and feeling relieved, having the rifle in his hands brought back flashbacks. Remembering the training days of being in the marines for the Terran Confederacy during the Guild Wars, he shook his head to focus. Loading up both weapons, he put the spare magazines in holster slots of his belt. Picking up the rifle and pulling the bolt handle back, it loaded a bullet into the chamber. Feeling ready, he headed back to the door hatch.
"Time to give some hell back," Jim stated.
Unlocking the door and pressing the open command, he stepped back and pointed the rifle in front of him. Watching the hatch open up, he saw the dead corpse along with another dissected creature. Recognizing it to be the one he whacked the first time with an indented forehead, it was eating and ripping the flesh apart of its dead fallen. As if detecting him, it turned around and roared at him with a bloody face. The limb it was chewing on fell from its mouth while organs were being pulled by its intestines to be fused into its open torso.
"..." Raynor reacted with a grimace.
Not wasting time, he shot two rounds at its head. The blasts echoed loudly in the room as the first one made the monster snap its neck back while the second impacted wounded neck area. Ripping off from its body, the creature's head hit the ground and rolled to the right wall. Seeing the body squirm, it began to frantically shoot its intestines out. Dodging and getting back into the office for cover, he eventually heard the thing thud to the ground.
Glancing around the door frame, a pool of blood was forming around the corpses. Coming out of the room and aiming his weapon at them, he slowly walked past them. Getting to the corner where the hallway turned, he still hadn't dropped his weapon or move his eyes away from the dead bodies. As if his suspicion paid off, a small black mist began to emit from them. Turning around the corner, the ex-marine jogged down the hallway.
'If all of them have those nanos in them...then I can't stay long in here,' he reasoned. Not knowing if the micro machines would help him or torture him from housing inside bodies, he didn't want to take a chance. Hearing the pounding and moaning again, the horde was still working on the door.
Looking at it, the platoon of undead creatures were getting successful. Already denting the door enough to start bulging, it was enough to form small gaps on the hatch's sides. Seeing one sliver a tentacle through it, it searched for the access panel. Finding it and randomly pressing buttons, one pressed the unlock. Training the rifle at the door, he hovered his left hand over the trigger for the grenade launcher. Hearing the door start to open up, it stopped mid-halfway.
"Aww...is it stuck boys?" Jim called out loudly while aiming at multiple legs seen passed the doors. "Let me help you out."
Firing the grenade launcher, a frag shot out sounding like an air cannon. Impacting the floor, it was between the group's feet and under the hatch. Exploding, it caused a chorus of death screams followed by a loud bang of metal. Kneeling down for stability due to the rumble, he was far enough away to not get residual damage from the blast. Seeing smoke and bits of fire, the door hatch was fully open and shooting off small sparks.
Getting up and aiming down the sights, he walked to the damaged area. Taking a quick glance behind him, the only thing he saw was the blown off head of the dissected creature. Turning back forward, he put his back to the wall sharing the hatch. Peering inside, a small massacre was seen. Other than scorched metal and a heavily damaged light on the ceiling, all surfaces were splashed with gore.
Stepping into the intersection carefully, he did sweeps to the other passageways. Each of them had body parts and inners thrown down its length. Not one of the small platoon escaped being even entirely intact. Seeing the coast was clear, he looked back the way he came. Seeing something shift and sway on the far wall, Jim quickly looked forward and entered the hallway ahead of him.
Turning around and hitting the door panel, its hatch started to close. Backing away while watching the closing image, a black mist started heading toward him. Seeing the door fully closed, he blasted the panel with the rifle. Seeing it spark and burst from an electrical discharge, it powered down. Hearing something crawling behind him, Raynor spun 180 degrees and pointed the gun at the sound. Seeing one of the creatures was still alive, it lost all of its limbs. Moving like a snail with an open chest left a heavily drenched trail of crimson.
[...really now...ol'buddy] the morphed hybrid being spoke in Tychus's voice. [...you going to shoot me...again?]
"..." the Commander reacted with a scowl and shot its head. Being a close range, the bullet ripped open its head and splattered its brain to the floor and wall.
"Damn freaks," he commented then jogged forward.