Wonderful Belshir

Health Improvements and a fully-stocked vessel aside, the storages are disinfected too and sterilized, so perishables won't expire too quickly.

High-quality expensive booze was on board, too. Bedding and sheets brand new. The whole ship in the inside was souped up and cleaned. Outside...well...they gotta be in a friendly planet for that to clean outside and make overhauling...

'...and replenish water supply and our oxygen.' Ella listed out. 'We need to camp in a friendly planet with water and air we need.'

'I know just where to go.' Tosh grinned. 'Bel'shir. We're near there anyhow...'

'Bel'shir...the name alone is a Protoss giveaway.' Raynor commented.

'Yes...the Protoss call it 'the breath of creation'. They believe it be a gift from their Gods...but we call it Terrazine. And it be worth a fortune to the highest bidder. Of course, those Protoss will kill us if they catch us on holy ground...if they try...' he said as Matt put up Bel'shir on screen. It has a glowing emerald-green atmosphere of sorts. And on the surface?'

'Wow! What a beautiful world!' Ella gushed out in admiration. Lush jungles, waterfalls...

'Much prettier than the last place I had the Raiders to a job for me on. Last place was Redstone...all lava and volcanic rock. This one be a beauty.'

'I don't much like fighting Protoss if I can avoid it.' Raynor sighed.

'Not just any Protoss...they call themselves the Tal'darim.' Tosh added. 'They believe the Terrazine is sacred, a gift from the Xel'naga.'

'...if these Tal'darim bring in their air power, they're gonna hammer us.' Raynor frowned as they don't have air forces. They're all land-based units! He turned on Com-Channel to the Cargo Bay to Swann. 'Swann! Get the Goliath Schematics loaded at the factory! If their anti-air missiles are still any good, we can pull this off!'

/Alright cowboy! I'm gonna load up the Goliath Schematics so we can build more./ Raynor nodded before turning to Tosh. Tosh set up the screen to focus on what looks like a fancy fountain where purplish-pink 'steam' comes out.

'See that altar? The Tal'darim mystics set it up, so they can collect the Terrazine.' Tosh explained. 'We just need to grab it.'

'Well, our SCVs can haul the Terrazine...we just gotta protect em'.' said Raynor. 'But first, we set up operations FAR from them, preferably across the planet so we can overhaul the outside of Hyperion and gather oxygen and water we need. Because once we piss em' off, we won't have time to and we'll suffocate in space.'

'That's alright. Base being fortified means we live longer.' Tosh shrugged. 'An ill-maintained ship is a flimsy house of cards...one poof, it crashes.'

xxx

Camp on land...everyone was outside to put their feet on soil, and smell the fresh air.

'I wonder what edibles are on this planet and if they're good for farming cultivation...' Hanson wondered aloud as the Raiders set up a Command Center in a nice mineral node.

'Awright, let's strip this joint!' Ella smirked as she 'let loose' but in a contained setting so they won't be detected, and became her own Mineral Stripper, 'uprooting' a behemoth of a cluster by porting it out of the ground, before clenching her fists, and it's in SCV-friendly pieces.

'WHOOOAAAA?!'

'Holy shit...she's quicker than Mineral Strippers!' Swann exclaimed, his eyes popping out. 'She damn uprooted a whole cluster!'

'Alright boys! Let's overhaul our girl's outfit!' Raynor declared. 'From rags to silk dress with that Bio-Steel Schematic Stetmann and Hanson cooked up! Swann uploaded the schematics into your machines to guide you! They'll supply the nanobots you need! If you run out, come back for more. After our girl, we're harvesting as many minerals as we need for next campaign!'

'Yes Commander!'

'Bio-steel?' Ella blinked owlishly.

'Ooh it's inspired from zerg's regenerative abilities when on that slimy muck called Creep.' Stetmann informed her excitedly, 'We mix nanobots into the armor to slowly repair any damage the hull sustains. While this regeneration process is much slower than conventional SCV repairs, it can be the difference between life and death if no SCVs are available. If we're all on field, focus is mostly on Resource Gathering to keep our bases running while on missions.'

'Now that's convenient...' Tosh whistled in amazement. 'No tech I know has that so far.'

'Well, to beat our enemy, fight poison with poison...or take their toys and use it against em'.' said Raynor. 'We survived this far with creativity and tenacity to live.' he said grimly. 'We're very open-minded and welcoming with ideas, to compensate for any lackings.'

'Well, I'll take Ella and Mrs. Brooke with me to see if we can find edibles in this planet too for cultivation.' said Hanson. 'With the previous attacks, many planets were infected and later Purified by the Protoss, leading to loss of food species other than pointless loss of arable land...we need to find new crops or edible livestock we can farm or we'll be horribly limited in the future in food!' she said in deep concern. 'We can't let that happen. So we'll be food hunting till we're done here.'

'Alright doc. With Ella's Psychometry, that should be a cinch.' Raynor reassured her. 'But if shit happens, blow up some brains. I may be friends with some Protoss, but I was never friends with delusional religious fanatics who lack common sense gods gave people.' he snarked derisively. 'The protoss pals I made are actually guys anyone could and would get along with, if you get past their formal speech.' he said with a grin.

xxx

Indeed, there's edible species to be found.

They found a type of taro plant as big as one's head. With psychometry, they wrote down any data they can get through psychometry. For easy sake, Ella pretended they were Earth fruits. Bananas double the size and very sweet, coconuts, papaya, mango, edible mushroom species, dates, some types of spices, pepper species and tomatoes. As for edible animals? Pigs eight feet tall with 'squished snouts' and glossy skin, Hare the size of a child, Karaks, and silver shrimp in rivers. All within the safe zones beyond Tal'darim detection.

Hanson brought samples back, but as some species aren't ripe yet and has YET to make seeds, she was sad about being unable to bring some back.

'Its too bad, but we can only get what's within season while we're here.' said Mrs. Brooke. 'Let's go back to the ship.' and they were gone.

The men are still at work with re-outfitting, so the girls had to haul out refreshments.

'Whoa, icy water and what is this? It looks like a meal in itself!' Horner exclaimed at the giant banana they all got and they also had question marks floating around their heads at the sight of it.

'It's a sweet fruit we found around here...we harvested a lot and put them in the lab with their seeds for cultivation in the future.' said Hanson. 'Finding edibles in alien planets brings great promise for our survival as a whole.' she said with hope written all over her face due to how excited she was. 'On our last week here we'll get as much fruit as we can get away here before doing Terrazine work.'

'Right...'

And so, once the Hyperion's armor and weapons were 'souped up' as well as its engines, time for Terrazine Work!

That was after Ella uprooted still more clusters...

xxx

'OK, we're here in a safe place.' said Tosh as they made a base far from the Protoss, just enough for a Command Center and Barracks. They also need Vespene Gas for future operations, so Stetmann put to work a new Refinery he invented... 'I also input the coordinates of the Terrazine Altars to make our life easier.'

'OK! I created a Micro-Filtering Canister for this operation based on the souped-up Refinery I designed!' he said. 'The Micro-Filtering Canister allows us to reclaim a higher amount of gas in its purest form!' Tosh's mind began wondering how purer gas will benefit him more. 'Our Refinery has the same tech, as well as applied warp technology so filled Vespene Canisters go straight to the Command Center's Cargo Bay, enabling our SCVs to focus more on construction, repair work and mineral harvesting.'

'Alright, we'll assign a team of three per SCV harvesting the Terrazine!' Raynor declared. 'Ten SCVs, three people and the remaining fifteen people, defend our camp!'

'Yes, sir!'

Horner designed the teams with Ella having a special job in using her Psychometry on the gas for more data.

This was Ella's first mission and it got her giddy.

She wore her Ghost Outfit which really stands out as its not a Confederate nor Dominion Design. Its a Raider Make. But its not just a skintight suit...its conservative. The chest armor didn't show the size and shape of her breasts, and she has an add-on apron skirt that covered front and back on her request since the female Ghost Uniform design pissed her off. And it's flat-soled, not heeled as she wanted. On her skirt belt was a hip pouch with spare mags for bullets.

She was alone due to her mission: find more edibles, and study Terrazine by touch.

'Ghosts get solo missions. Always.' said Tosh. 'Its more efficient for us this way. Act as we see fit, so long as goals are met.'

Yeah, she tended to do things alone alright...

At the first altar with a team she joined?

She touched the Terrazine and gleaned info, before rapidly-typing away in her laptop and saved the file, before moving on to find samples in...hostile territory.

By sundown?

/Ella, port back home! We got enough!/ Raynor called her. /Before the Tal'darim call their air forces!/

'OK!' and Ella ported away to safety.

On the Bridge...

'So, what did you find other than what we scientists know so far about it?' Hanson asked Ella excitedly.

'Like, never let Terrazine near any bacteria or virus strains. You basically give them steroids and immunity to vaccines mankind can cook up, that there will be no cure to any disease ever again.' Ella warned as the bridge people listened in horror. 'It's also bad for the environment as long-term exposure will poison said environment that Bel'shir, as long as the Tal'darim are here, is effectively wearing a noose on the neck that's slowly getting tighter. Medical-wise, if used in minimal amounts on strict scheduling, as in amount enough the size of capsule pill, other than rejuvenating brains, it will start growing new neurons after a year of use...basically, you can heal your brain from drug damage, increase your IQ and memory-retention ability. Just be sure you are NOT sick when taking it or you're Patient Zero to a crazy pandemic spreading overpowered germs around.'

'But the max level of consumption is the size of one's pinky and that depends per individual as nobody has the same pinky size anyway, even with Jorium or you get the side-effects known in the labs if one wants PI increase...plus over time, your eyes will become and glow purple. And there's no reversing that...with a creepy side effect that due to worship, power of belief and psychic powers flowing in and out of terrazine on Bel'shir? They brought to life a gas deity that if you overdosed and lost your marbles, you become a fanatic worshipper of gas named 'Bel'shir', so I'll have to destroy the psychic traces in the gas first, before Tosh exports the gas to his business partners.'

'O-OK, that, we really didn't know...' Stetmann gulped, shaking his head rapidly.

'...we'll take your word for it.' Tosh was just-as-disturbed and scared of the idea. 'T-take your time, sistah.' maybe next time he won't harvest from Protoss planets...

'I worry for Bel'shir though...' said Hanson. 'Such a beautiful world will be laid to waste because of literal toxic pollution...' she lamented.

'Well, if we meet my old pals, I'll get word to them.' Raynor swore. 'I agree that beautiful worlds shouldn't disappear due to...careless handling.' he said as the Hyperion left Bel'shir.

xxx

Clinic...

'So you think I should take Terrazine due to all the drugs I had to use back then?' Claire asked her daughter.

In her days in the brothel, she had to take drugs to make the pain go away as some of her customers are...downright rough sometimes...but she often goes home with a mental fog and seeing hallucinations...

'Yeah. You're physically-recovered, but brain damage from drugs can't be taken back...until this miracle thing happened.' said Ella, glancing at the small canister of gas Stetmann made for her. 'I purchased an amount from Tosh, as one pill a day, so that's 365 days' worth of pills for your brain recovery. Take one every after dinner mom, we'll be in our bunk when we do it.'

'Alright...'

With that, the promise of a full-recovery is in their future.

'By the way, how much did you pay Tosh?'

'365000 credits as Terrazine is that expensive, even in small amounts...1000 per pill-sized gas.'

Claire choked.

'...good thing we're well-off somehow...'

'I'll steal more money in the future mom...' said Ella sheepishly.