Magistrate to Commander
Chapter 8: Fall of Alpha Squadron
"An ever changing species that originates from larvae from hatcheries… Are you sure it's just one type of larvae?" I hit some buttons and the Goliath powers up.
"I'm positive, they do something to the larvae to force them to undergo a metamorphosis and become any of the creatures we've seen, and maybe more." Kerrigan hops off the Goliath as it stands to its full height.
"That's disconcerting, we won't know what's being raised until they hatch."
"They hatch as adults."
"Any more good news?"
"They're self propagating from what I've seen."
That was a given as they don't seem to have a mating cycle, but I sigh nonetheless. "Let's see if we can get Alpha Squadron to surrender, and then we'll move onto Norad two."
"What'll we do with the prisoners?"
"I'll need you and Raynor to watch them while I take a few dropships and conscript some additional firepower to rescue duke."
"Receiving transmission." The adjutant informs me.
Before I can say anything the message plays. "This is General Duke calling from Alpha Squadron Flagship Norad Two! We've crash-landed and are being hit hard by the Zerg!"
"Serves you right, you snake." I snarl. "But I'll do the one thing you wouldn't do for me, and that's haul your hide out of the firing line."
"What am I to do if the officers refuse or start planning an uprising?"
"Kill them." I order without hesitation. "It's time to issue Alpha squadron's ultimatum." Duke's message is still playing, but I've put it on the backburner in my mind.
I walk the Goliath out of the Supply depot and into the fire. The Zerg's ground forces have arrived and defences have been set up accordingly. Most of these men and women are from Mar Sara, we know what to expect.
Looking back Kerrigan isn't there anymore, now's not the time to think about what the Angel is doing. "Adjutant, I want to transmit to what's left of the Alpha squadron base." Bullets ricochet off the bulletproof glass of the cockpit. "And doubletime it."
"Transmitting."
"Alpha squadron this is Maxton Dirge of the Sons of Korhal, the Zerg close in around you, your flagship has crashed, and we will be marching through your lines, surrender and you will not be harmed and we will not only allow you to mount a rescue on your General, but we will also aid you in rescuing him. Now's not the time for a last stand, think of your friends and families you want to see once again. Most of us here were on Mar Sara when the Zerg attacked, we know how to hold them off and how to rescue people while under constant siege, make the right choice."
"Transmission finished."
"I want all personal to stop firing at the Alpha Squadron base, we're giving them five minutes before resuming our push."
The various officers sound off their acknowledgement and crossfire stops, instead turning focus to the Zerg. I turn the Goliath to face the east where the Zerg are piling in from, ready to provide mech support if needed.
"Incoming transmission from the remnants of the Alpha squadron base."
"This is Captain Horace Fisher of Alpha Squadron." There is a brief pause. "We surrender and accept your conditions, over."
"Transmission over."
"Magistrate!" Kaleb runs up to the mech. "You're not thinking about leading the charge, are you?"
"I am."
"But…" He lets out an exasperated sigh. "Fine, just doing my job and trying to keep you safe, but you keep making that… I hope Mengsk won't see it as me shirking my duties."
"That's the spirit!" I turn the goliath back to the Alpha Squadron base. "Time to get ourselves some prisoners." I start marching the mech forward.
Raynor's Vulture sidles up with Kerrigan decloaking behind him on the death trap. Soldiers gather around us, shooting at the nearby Zerg that attempt to charge us.
I aid as much as I can, but I can't help but feel like I'm just wasting ammo more than helping the trained men who're used to doing this for a living. We're greeted by who I assume is horace, and some of his men. "Which one of you is Maxton?" Horace asks.
"Right here, put your weapons on the ground." With some hesitance the welcoming committee lowers their weapons to the ground. "Good to see that you were serious about the surrender."
Horace laughs hollowly. "We're surrounded on all sides by either Zerg or Sons of Korhal and our flag ship crashed into the midsts of Zerg forces, and you expect us to continue fighting?"
"Yes."
"Fair assumption." Horace shrugs.
"What's the plan?" Raynor asks me.
I turn the mech to the Norad Two. It's not that far out, and the ground isn't covered in purple goop yet, the Zerg must be in the process of surrounding them. "What hardware do you have available, captain?"
"Goliath's, vultures, firebats and marines." The captain helpfully informs us.
"Why can't you be like him?" I jokingly ask Kaleb, who sputters in reply. "Three dropships of marines and Goliaths, then we clear the way to properly extract the general."
"What about the swarm above us?" Horace points out.
"Missile turrets, lots of them."
"What about wraiths?" Raynor asks.
"No, the skies are definitely not in our favor and using what few wraiths we have against a sea of death in the skies is a good way of losing what air superiority we could have in future battles."
"Understood, Kerrigan and I'll hold down the fort while you get the Snake."
"I'm going to ask for access to your adjutant unit, captain." I turn my attention to the Alpha Squadron commander.
"Adjutant, turn over all command to Sons of Korhal Commander Maxton Dirge, confirm."
"Confirmation required."
"Confirm."
"Confirmation accepted, Commander Maxton Dirge."
"Title change, Magistrate."
"Title change accepted, Magistrate Maxton." And just like that I'm in command of all of the Alpha Squadron forces on Antiga prime, practically.
"You still think of yourself as Magistrate after siding with the Sons of Korhal?" Horace asks skeptically.
"Who surrendered here?" I question the convict, getting a sigh in reply. "Keep that in mind."
Horace wants to keep talking, but his common sense is keeping him from doing so. "Adjutants, connect networks and send over three dropships… If we're fast enough we'll be done here before the Zerg realize that there's nothing to chew on."
"This is Graves, sending transports of marines now."
"Thank you Sergeant." I watch as a missile turret is dive bombed by a zerg flier and explodes in a fiery ball of acid. "They realized that we're shooting at them, Redouble anti air efforts!" I aim upwards and let the Goliath's missile targeting take care of the rest as missile after missile launches upward and into the sky, explosions of blood and acid pop in the air. This is a war for survival now.
"Strap yourselves in boys!" The Dropships arrive, several troops sprint off as others spring on, eager to start the extraction.
Once the troops are loaded the ramps drop so that the Goliaths can enter the vehicle bays, myself included. "Once more, we're dropping off at the top of the cliffs and we're going to push in until we get visual confirmation on the survivors, once they've been evacuated we'll hold out long enough for extraction." I repeat myself for the third time, my hands starting to shake with anticipation, but not with confidence.
"Don't worry, even if we're ordered by Mengsk I'll come back for you." Aaila says playfully on the coms.
"Die on the field or die in a ship, great options." A smile tugs on my lips.
"Oh stop being such a downer!"
The red light flashing in the bay isn't helping my nerves, I reach into my jacket pocket for my replacement inhaler and take a preemptive wiff. Better now than on the battlefield.
"First time on the frontline?" One of the Goliath pilots asks off the coms.
"I've been on the frontlines, but not in the fight itself." I admit.
"Military training?"
"I know how to lead a force, but that's about it."
"Really?" Another pilot pipes up.
"Really, really."
"Once we drop, form a defensive perimeter around the Magistrate."
"Don't you hate me?"
"Yeah, but we don't want to be blamed for doing nothing while you die after we surrendered."
"Ha, ha." I roll my eyes, unamused.
"Zerg forces spotted, initiating hot drop." There's a loud hissing sound.
"Make sure you're strapped in."
"Why wouldn't I be- AAAAAHHHHH!" The floor gives way as we're airdropped onto the battlefield. Oh we are high up, no waythat oursuspension isgoing toholdweregoingtosplatonthegroundandallthatwillremainofusisaredstain-
We hit the ground, the legs of my Goliath buckle as the shock absorbers take the brunt of the force, but I'm alive. "We're alive?" I take a deep breath in an attempt to calm myself as the other Goliaths form a circle, shooting at the incoming Zerg.
Under the left foot of my Goliath is a crushed Zergling. I can hear shouting and gunfire all around me as all attempts to remain calm fail, my heartrate skyrockets as I blindly shoot at the Zerg structures, one of which is shooting a spine into the ground and erupting it too close for comfort. One of the goliaths has a leg taken out by the ground spike, the pilot bails as the mech shifts to autopilot.
Calm down. A jolt goes through my system, shocking me out of my panic, but by just. Calm down. A second jolt as my senses come back to me, the Norad Two! our objective is in sight.
"Magistrate!" I can finally hear my fellow pilots.
"Push! We need to secure a path for the dropships!" I order, pushing ahead slowly.
Behind us the dropships land, depositing marines and firebats to aid in the push. "Corridor secure." A marine salutes me as lines are set up, keeping the Zerg at bay.
"Good work, let's go inform the general of his surrender before the Zerg decide that we look like tasty."
"Suicide bombers!" Zerg fliers ram the ground, acid exploding all around.
"We're running out of time, move!" I'm the first onto the dropship, I can't wait to see the look on Duke's face when he sees that it's the rebels coming to his aid. Let alone the ones he abandoned. "We don't have all day, move it!"
Marines file onto the other dropships, enough to protect me but not enough to leave the corridor without defenders. The fighting gets farther away, it seems like Duke's forces are taking it easy.
We're greeted by what's left of the defenders, cracked helmets and ruined suits. How these men are still holding is a miracle in of itself. My local comms unit crackles. "Incoming global transmission."
"You're about the last folk I expected to show up, what's your angle, Mengsk?" The General's voice is shaky, but not because of him. With how he sounds I'm surprised that his communications array is still functioning.
"We're here to get you out of dodge, Duke." I answer.
"Max is that you?"
"Why're you surprised? You knew I was planetside." I clear my throat, walking my goliath into the Norad Two's wreck.
"Here to kill me yourself I assume."
"You wish." I respond with a laugh. "No, we have something different in mind." I take the general's silence as a go ahead. "The Confederacy is falling apart, Antiga Prime isn't the only colony ready for open rebellion and the Zerg are rampaging across the worlds unchecked."
"Your point?"
"And what would have happened had we decided to leave you here for them?" I think I'm enjoying this position of power too much, turnabout is fair play.
"We're giving you a choice." Mengsk rudely interrupts my moment. "You can return to the Confederacy and lose, or you can join us and help save our entire race by being overrun by the Zerg, I don't think it's a difficult decision."
Wow, I thought I was pushing it with the scare tactics. "Join forces, with you? I'm a general!" Duke sounds offended by the thought.
"A general without an army, I'm offering you a position in my cabinet, not a post on some backwater planet, Edmund."
Wait a moment. I stop my goliath dead in its tracks.
"Alright… you got a deal." Duke sighs in defeat.
"You made the right choice, General Edmund."
"Pleasure working with you, General." I furrow my brow, second in command, that is quite the promotion.
Nearby elevators open and people flood out, wounded. Not even a quarter of them are soldiers. "Raynor, I may need backup in the corridor."
"What's up?"
"There's a lot more survivors than I thought there would be, plenty wounded as well… The evacuation will take more than one trip."
"What about Duke?"
"He survived, unfortunately." I joke.
"Damn right I did." Speak of the devil and he will appear. "You're not one of my Goliaths, who's in there?"
I lean out the side. "Hello, Duke."
"You came in person, Max?" He blinks in surprise. "Today is full of surprises."
I hop out of the Goliath, the general is in a marine suit so he towers over me, but I don't care. "Let's get one thing straight here: I won't take orders from you, only from Mengsk, okay?" I point a finger at him. "I don't care if you've been promoted to Mengsk's Second in command, after leaving us to die on Mar Sara you lost all right to boss me, and the people of Mar Sara, around."
He looks down at me with contempt, contemplating his choices. He's clearly thinking about killing me here and now, we're surrounded by his men, but they're surrounded by the Zerg. "Fine, captain."
"Magistrate." I correct him.
"After siding with the Sons of Korhal?" He laughs as if it were a joke.
"Mengsk agreed to letting me keep the title." I state climbing back into the goliath. "As much as I would love to fight with you until the sun explodes, we don't have that much time… You get to get out of here in first class aren't you lucky?"
And by first class, I mean with the ex shuttle pilot. I watch the first dropships take off. Five hundred people that need evacuating.
Wait a moment… is that the sky? I was starting to think that it was a myth! "Aaila you have with you the General himself, why not show him what you can do?"
"I thought you hated my method of flying?"
"This time is an exception, have to get him out of here fast after all." I can't help but grin.
Zerglings charge down the ramp, the two bunkers that the remnants of Alpha Squadron have set up repel the attack. Spines hit the Goliath's armor and stick. "On the ridge!" I shout turning the goliath around and return fire. Several other goliaths join me in clearing the ridge.
"Mutalisks!" A marine calls out as zerg fliers strafe the crater. So that's what their names are. The Goliath's missile targeting locks onto the Mutalisks and with a button press I'm now contributing to the anti air effort. The dropships leave our view.
"How's the corridor?"
"Holding, but the Zerg are not happy with us here."
"Figured that one out, how long can you hold?"
"Long enough, I hope."
"I hope?"
"The skies are clearing, but that's not because of our AA."
If we're not killing them off, then where are the Zerg fliers going? My long range communicator crackles to life. "Magistrate another Battlecruiser has just warped in, Delta Squad is heading planetside." Mengsk warns.
"We need to hurry! Confederate forces are arriving and I don't want us surrounded by two enemy forces."
"This is Kerrigan, Duke has arrived at the base and has announced that Alpha Squadron is now joining the Sons of Korhal as part of the surrender."
"Keep an eye on him, if he tries anything don't hesitate to put a bullet in his head."
"Understood."
"Oh and Kerrigan…"
"Yes?"
"... Nevermind."
The coms are cut, the dropships return for the second round of evacuees. Zerg fliers bombard the wreck of the Norad Two. "Are the guns on the Norad functional?" I ask a nearby soldier.
"The ship is barely functioning as is."
"That doesn't answer the question." Better question. "Does the Norad Two have an onboard Adjutant?"
"What capitalship doesn't?"
"Is it work-agh!" A flier rams into the cockpit with an acidic explosion, knocking the goliath over.
My ears are ringing, I can barely hear anything. The carriage protected me from most of the blast, but now the reinforced glass is melting. I have to get out before the acid drips onto me. It takes a moment, but I manage to unbuckle myself and crawl out the side and into the arms of waiting marines. "Get him on the dropship!"
I let myself be ushered towards safety. "If the Adjutant is operational, I want it to turn what guns it can on auto, targeting zerg forces only."
"Yes sir!" I make my way to the dropship's cockpit.
"You look beat." Aaila greets me as I settle in the chair next to her.
"Tell me about it."
"You look beat." She repeats with a chuckle.
"Ha, ha." I close my eyes, how long has it been since I've slept. "How was transporting the general?"
"It was alright, had some suicide bombers chasing us which wasn't fun."
"Anyone die?"
"Not yet, hang on." We spin forty five degrees to the side, narrowly dodging a suicide bomber kareening past. "They've seen us and think we look tasty." Aaila tells her fellow pilots.
"We can see, don't go too extreme, you have civilians in your vehicle bay."
"I let them in, don't think I'd forget about my own passengers." Aaila grumbles.
These evasive maneuvers lasted for thirty minutes as we crossed over No man's land, suicide bombers and Mutalisks trying their best, but once the friendly anti air started firing it was a smooth flight.
After what feels like an eternity the dropship lands behind friendly lines, the white of Alpha Squadron is being replaced by the red of the Sons of Korhal. "Magistrate!" Kaleb sprints up in greeting. "What happened to the goliath?"
"Trashed, a suicide bomber went straight into it." I say, distressing my bodyguard further. "As bodyguard I am restricting you to the Command Center until further notice."
I let out a yawn. "Can that restriction be gone tomorrow?"
"No."
"We'll talk more tomorrow, Pinkie." I let him usher me to the safety of the Command Center. "If Kerrigan or Raynor want to see me, let them, if Duke wants to see me tell him to take a hike."
"What about mengsk?"
"Let him in, he is the head of the Sons of Korhal afterall."
And already in the Communications room is Edmund Duke himself. We look at one another for a moment. "I don't have the patience to 'speak' with you." I wave him off and continue to the officer quarters.