Magistrate to Commander
Chapter 7: The Titan
"Mission accomplished, when we get back I'll tune you into their comms." Kerrigan's voice crackles into existence over the coms.
"Excellent, they won't even know what hit them." I congratulate her.
"We're also bringing back a present, especially for you."
"Oh? I thought it was the man's job to spoil his woman."
"You wish." She scoffs with a laugh before cutting off the transmission.
I turn east with a stupid grin on my face, watching for the dropship in question to appear. The Antigan's around me are bustling with activity, under my supervision no traces of the Confederacy will be left when I'm through with it.
Unfortunately the only thing that was left were the wraiths, hopefully they gave the incoming alpha squadron forces enough pause for reinforcements to arrive, I've yet to see the dropships from the Hyperion and that worries me.
"One Confederate ghost is all it would take, you should take cover in the Command Center." Kaleb tries convincing me.
"Are you kidding? It took Kerrigan less than five minutes to kill every confederate officer in the base, how would I fare any differently if a ghost was sent to kill me?" I scoff at the idea. "I understand you want to keep me safe, but being out here is as safe as being in there, at least when we're talking about ghosts."
"But if we're attacked-"
"I'll head for the safety of the Command center if it's a straight up assault." I reassure the boy. "And you're pink suit will be what's standing between me and any attacking forces."
Kaleb lets out a sigh, for multiple reasons. "Yes sir."
A Dropship all except for crashes onto the tarmac nearby, and I shake my head in response. There's rapid deployment then there's this.
The Marines file off the ramp, but no Kerrigan. "Where's this gift you promised me?" I ask on the coms, knowing that she's listening.
The ramp drops to the vehicle bay, the door opens and out comes a Goliath. "Oh you really shouldn't have." I joke.
"I knew you'd like it."
"And now you can be on the front lines despite your asthma." Kerrigan, the beautiful ghost that she is, hops out of the cockpit.
"No." Kaleb sounds mortified. "That's-no!"
"Don't mind him, he's got crippling paranoia." I approach the goliath. "It's in one piece?"
"I hit it with an EMP round, the Pilot panicked." Kerrigan gives me a shrug.
"Sounds like a Cadet, but you won't hear me complain." Kerrigan moves out of the way so that I can climb into the cockpit. "Watch me fall over."
"I thought that Goliaths had a balance regulator?"
"Watch me find a way." I joke, settling into the seat. "Huh."
"Thought it would be luxurious?" Kerrigan teases.
"No, I thought it would be rougher." I answer honestly. "Which one of these is the 'go forward' button?"
"Don't you learn how to drive?"
"Everything's automated, never had to."
I hesitantly push forward on the controls, and the cockpit violently lurches down. "Magistrate!?" Kaleb screams.
"I'm alright, jeez all I did was look down." I chastise the boy. "Some help, Lieutenant?"
"Slider to your left, it controls your acceleration."
The Goliath lurches forward, and then slows until a reverse as I mess with the slider. Why are there so many buttons? There can't be too- "There's a mini fridge in here!" This isn't your run of the mill Goliath, it's a customized Goliath. I hope.
The door swings open at my feet, leaving me dumbfounded. Held in place are several cases of alcoholic beverages. "Someone get these drinks out of my sight!" I'm not going to touch them, I don't want to be tempted with popping one and end up so drunk I end up in a Confederate prison in a separate solar system, in yet another uniform.
Kerrigan steps up and wordlessly plucks them from the fridge, dropping them to the ground and letting them smash to pieces. I have no idea how my life wasn't ruined by waking up in this uniform with a hangover, but I don't want to chance it again. I rest my head in my hands, eyes shut tight so I don't have to look at the potential life ending substance.
"They have been removed." Lieutenant Kerrigan informs me.
"Thank you Lieutenant." I straighten my uniform and clear my throat. "We will talk later, Telepath."
"Yes, Magistrate." Kerrigan stands at attention. Kaleb looks back and forth between us, confused.
"Sons of Korhal Reinforcements are about to make landfall." The Adjutant pipes up in my earpiece.
"Hopefully they don't shoot the Goliath." I change the subject. "Make sure they know that the Goliath has been apprehended by Lieutenant Kerrigan and that I'm currently piloting it."
"Yes magistrate, the wraiths are retreating for repairs."
"Kaleb! We have to be here to greet the new soldiers, can you make sure the wraiths get top priority on repairs?"
"Yes Magistrate!" Kaleb salutes and sprints off at max speed.
"Nice kid." Kerrigan notes.
"Bit of a killjoy, but I agree."
The first dropship drops it's ramp and out comes a familiar vulture. "We heard you could use some help." Raynor stops in front of the Goliath. "Nice ride, mine's better."
"You can keep your death trap, I'll take a reliable mech anyday." I joke.
Kerrigan comes around the Goliath. "Captain Raynor, I've tapped us into the Confederate communications- You pig!"
"What?" Raynor throws his arms out. "I haven't even said anything to you yet." His first mistake, and I chuckle at it.
"Yeah, but you were thinking it."
"Oh." He's now realizing it. "Yeah, you're a telepath." Raynor takes a breath. "Let's just get on with this okay?"
"Not his fault you're gorgeous." I chuckle, earning myself a venomous glare from the Lieutenant. Back on topic. "What do you know of the current situation?"
"I know that Duke's sending more troops planetside, and we're here to offset that total." Raynor says as more soldiers pour out of the dropships, integrating themselves with
"Okay." I lean back in my leather seat, tappin the ridge of my nose with my fingers in thought. Of course with Kerrigan listening in.
The lieutenant coughs, confirming what I already knew. "A bit risky, but it can work." She mulls over my plan.
"Raynor, the two of us are going to assault the main Alpha squadron base, The Lieutenant-"
"I know." She cloaks, and leaves with my absolute faith in her.
"Where's she going?"
"Going to muster more manpower to tighten the pincer grip we're going to have on Duke's forces." I pull the Goliath's nose back up and put the mini fridge away. "Adjutant, once the wraiths are repaired I want air superiority around Duke's base."
"Yes, Magistrate."
"Oh, and has Kerrigan gotten around to tapping you into Confederate Communications yet?"
"Yes, Magistrate."
"Monitor their movement and keep us informed." I turn the torso, but not the legs. "You wouldn't happen to know how to rotate the legs, would you?" I ask Raynor.
"Nope, see you out on the battlefield, Magistrate." Jimmy gives me a mock salute, and then takes off on his Vulture leaving me fumbling with the controls.
I crest the hill in the Goliath, the carriage doesn't shake much with each step like I was afraid of. The frontline is spayed out in front of me. "Transmission from the Hyperion." The Adjutant speaks through the Goliath's communication console.
"Patch it through." When nothing happens I hit transmit and repeat myself.
"Increasing Zerg forces have forced us away from the Norad Two, you won't have anymore support until we deal with our mutual friend."
"Understood, we've received reinforcements and are marching on to Alpha Squadron's main base with airborne Wraith support, once we're done here I'll route what's left to aid the Hyperion." I'm just praying that we don't need the Lieutenant to continue the push, but if Alpha Squadron rallies we'll need all the firepower available.
You can see the bullets flying in the air with how many's being exchanged, I can see vultures battling it out in no-man's land. My hands shake, is this how the soldiers feel? It's one thing to watch from the distance, but…
I press on, almost unable to. This time I'll be participating with the troops, it's something I've dreamed of doing when I was given live-fire training, but it was one of those things where you think it's impossible to accomplish.
Wraiths speed past overhead in a cutthroat dogfight. Automatically my Goliath locks onto a couple, but they're my spacecraft. "Adjutant, can you change the targeting of my Goliath?"
"Direct access required."
"That's a no then, hm."
The air is lit up with flak and rockets as anti air is set up on both sides of the conflict. I reach the frontline. "Goliath!" A marine shouts.
"Put down your weapons, this is your Magistrate!" I bark into the coms, warily the marines lower their guns, much to my relief.
I turn the chassis and lean out the side, an audible sigh is heard from the soldiers. "Sorry sir, we're stretched thin."
"What about the Reinforcements we got from the Hyperion?"
"Wouldn't be possible without them, sir."
I turn my attention to the no-man's land between us, I'm in clear view of the otherside. A pair of Goliaths are charging across the battlefield. "Look alive!" I bark, pulling myself back into the seat and fumble with the controls a moment as I try to remember what does what. Thankfully it's not as hard as I thought it would have been.
"Deploying Anti armor!" A marine shouts as he sets aside his rifle and places his pack. The Goliaths open fire on them and two of the nearby marines go down instantly.
I maneuver my Goliath to shield them as best I can, and return fire with the single machinegun.
The Confederate mechs pause as I open fire, then turn their legs back and sprint back for the safety of their line. "The Goliath's are retreating, but keep that anti armor deployed soldier." I tell the anti armor entrenchment.
"Yes Magistrate!" Several marines jump behind the sandbags, refilling the frontlines.
Wraiths roar overhead, battling with one another. "Get some missile turrets online to help our air support!"
I Turn the chassis to look up, with how fast they're going it's hard to tell which one is one of my Wraiths, but the Goliath's targeting system helps me out.
"Antigan Wraith locked on." The Goliath informs me.
"I need an engineer!" I bark falling back and breaking the lock.
As I retreat an SCV rushes up. "Need something?" Simmons asks.
"Simmons!" I say glad to see him. "The Goliath's Targeting system needs changing, it's still a Confederate."
"If you take it to a Supply depot I can easily fix that." Simmons leads the way.
And back into a marine suit I go. A dropship touches down and a fresh arrival of marines and vultures rush out of the dropship, lead by a familiar pink marine.
Kaleb spots my white armor and sprints over. "Magistrate!" He shouts relieved.
"What? Did you think I was going to throw myself at the Confederates if you weren't here?" I accuse him.
"No." Kaleb retorts offended. "I'm a…. Worry wort." He adds defeated, and I laugh at his expense.
"I'm no soldier, but I'm also not a Viper Gang Member." Speaking of which off in the distance I can see a vulture do a backflip and take the rider of a confederate vulture off, and then plant a Spidermine on top of a second vulture. "I don't think anyone can top a Viper Gang vulture bike rider." I shake my head in amazement.
Flak starts lighting up the sky, whoever wins the air game will end the stalemate on the ground. We're receiving reinforcements as fast as they are.
At least until the Zerg arrived. Airborn zerg flood the skies, fast as lightning. A Battlecruiser breaks through the cloud cover and opens bombardment on the battlefield, cleaving through the Zerg and striking the no man's land.
"Is that the Hyperion?" I can hear Raynor's voice crackle from a nearby coms console.
"I hope so." I reply.
"Magistrate!"
"Howdy Raynor, until we know for sure I'm going to ask that every vulture fall back outside of the firing zone, the blast zone is too close for comfort."
"I hear ya, Magistrate's ordering a retreat!" The Viper Gang and Raynor break off from their battle with the Confederate bikes and rush back, battlecruiser fire raining down around them.
The Battlecruiser's bombardment takes a shift in our direction. "That's not the Hyperion, Take cover!" I shout, making a run for the supply depots.
Explosions all around as the enormous laser batteries bombard the area, tearing holes into the ground around us.
"Magistrate!" A rock is dislodged as an explosion rips apart the ground and plows into my helmet. If I wasn't wearing this suit I'd be dead.
"I'm fine." I let my bodyguard pull me to my feet and usher me onward. Everything's a blur from the sudden movement.
My breathing becomes labored and I nearly lose my footing as we transition from soil to concrete. "How many times have I told you to not be out on the frontlines!?" Kaleb yells at me.
I reach into my pack and pull out my inhaler, if I accidentally crush it I will die here. "Asthma attack!?" Kaleb panics.
I pop my visor open, already my face is turning blue. As careful as possible I hold the tiny device to my mouth and inhale while pressing down.
And crush it, but one press was enough to give some relief. "I'll live." I croak, dropping the now useless inhaler on the ground. "You win, Kaleb." I can't even sigh without coughing.
"Does that mean you'll stay back and observe from the safety of a Command center?" Kaleb asks cautiously.
"There's no Command center out here Kaleb." I inform him.
"Someone inform the Magistrate that his Goliath's targeting system is now reconfigured." Simmon's voice rings through the speakers in the supply depots.
"I can finally get out of this and sit in my comfy seat."
The supply depot shakes as it comes under direct fire. "Unknown aerial Zerg Biosignature's detected." The Adjutant warns the entire frontline.
"Great, another type of Zerg, I guess three wasn't enough." I let out a sigh.
"We're not going anywhere for awhile." Kaleb tells me. "Where are you going?"
"Just to the edge, I need to see what's going on."
"A direct hit from a laser battery and you're dead."
"The chances of that are nonexistent." I scoff, watching as missiles and flak are stopped from getting close to the Norad Two by the sheer number of Zerg in the air, some zerg break off and assault the anti air. "Turn off the Anti Air, it's angering the Zerg and they're preoccupied with the Norad Two."
The Wraiths are nowhere to be seen, either the Zerg as so dense up there that they can't be seen, they fell back, or they've been destroyed. I hope for the best.
A series of Dropships arrive and more troops charge out to reinforce the line. Just because there's Zerg in the air doesn't mean we've stopped shooting at the Confederates.
The fighting stops abruptly as an explosion tears through the air. Eyes are turned skyward as the Norad comes down, with a massive hole in the side. More of those holes are appearing and I stand there in amazement. The Zerg destroyed a battlecruiser an hour after showing up, how are we going to beat them if they have that kind of firepower?
Not a shot is fired as the Norad Two falls from the sky, behind Confederate lines. Once it crashes in the distance there is a cheer from the soldiers and the fighting resumes with newfound courage. "The Confederates are finished here." I tell Kaleb.
"Duke isn't the only General." Kaleb informs me.
"No, but he's the only one that's here."
"What the hell?" Kaleb asks watching the bulk of our reinforcements arrive. Coming off of the first dropship is Lieutenant Kerrigan.
"Looks like she did it, faster than I thought possible as well." My respect for the ghost keeps going up. "Don't just stand there gawking at angelic beauty, let's go say hello." I half joke, leaving the shelter of the Supply Depot.
"Mission complete." Kerrigan salutes.
"Great job." I say with a grin. "I was expecting you to be out for days, not an hour or so." My voice slowly returns to normal.
"Duke pulled back every soldier to reinforce against you." More dropships land, and more soldiers pour out.
"With the Zerg's appearance, we're going to need every body we can, Someone get some barracks up!" I shout at a disembarking SCV.
"Roger!"
"We should report to mengsk."
"As soon as we can."
Back in the Goliath, with Kerrigan leaning next to the cockpit and Raynor leaning up against a leg. "Mengsk, can you read?" I ask on the coms. A pit rising in my stomach.
"All our sensors are picking up are Zerg, what's going on down there?" Mengsk asks.
"The Norad Two made an appearance and suppressed us for awhile, but the Zerg's appearance has made it crash."
Mengsk is silent for awhile. "I want you to check for survivors."
` "Excuse me?" Raynor sputters.
"If Duke is alive we can rescue him and force him to work for us."
"I am not taking orders from him." I take a metaphorical stance.
"I'm not asking you to, Magistrate." Mengsk yields. "I'm asking you to get mengsk, and bring him in. He knows how the Confederacy much better than any of us combined, we need the information and experience he has."
"Yes, sir."
"Hyperion out."
"So… how're we doing this partner?" Raynor asks me.
"There's no way we can push the Zerg back, not with how little we know about them… So we'll make a push and deploy soldiers along the path to keep the way out clear while we evacuate as many as we can from the Norad Two."
"Our mission is to evacuate Duke." Kerrigan reminds me.
"I know, but there's no way I'm leaving anyone for the Zerg to butcher if I can help it." I inform her.
"I'll get some men together while you two sort out the logistics." Raynor walks out of the Supply depot.
"If you know anything about the Zerg, now's the time to share." I tell Kerrigan. We can talk about the beer once we're back on the Hyperion.