"Alright, we got what we need." Killian said. "Let's get some vultures and get out of here before we lose any more time."

Specifically, they had spent the last half hour getting some supply, whatever they could without Jenkins getting too annoyed. For the moment, the wannabe leader was ignoring them, but he was sure to say something if they took too much. Not that they cared that much; they just didn't want to bother with him. And thankfully none of the others were paying attention to either of the two. The conspiracy against Angela was still holding strong, and Killian...he wasn't right in the head, as far as any of the cadets considered him.

He was one of the fifteen survivors of last year's class, and thus far he was the most sane of the bunch. A few of them even had to undergo a memory wipe, and were subsequently given chairborn jobs within the military, because their sanity was corrupted, and no one knew if going back out would send them to an asylum again. A few were lost limbs and were allowed to leave the military, then spent the remainder of their years criticizing the terrors of war from their back porches. In fact, Reko Killian was the only one still in the fighting forces at all.

What happened exactly? No one knows for certain, because in earlier days the cadets weren't monitored from space. Instead agents were planted among them to report the happenings in the camp, subtley so that the trainees wouldn't feel badgered by the trainers. And that was the only involvement that the Dominion had in their training; they were just brought and dropped off until the time was complete.

When the Dominion recruiters returned, they were shocked to find that the entire camp had been overrun, despite the fact they had taken tedious time in selecting a careful place to insure that it wouldn't happen. It would literally take a platoon full of fools to lose so badly to the Zerg. The shocking part was that this particular set of cadets were the strongest strategically and mentally before they were sent to the final assignment. They worked together like a well oiled machine, like an organism. Each cadet knew his place, and performed above par.

But in the end, only fifteen, and no leaders among them, had actually survived. They were found scattered under broken machinery, hidden in ruined bunkers, and barely alive out in the open. Reko was also in the open, but his injuries were strangely minor, excepting the huge gap in his memory. All of them seemed not to remember anything, besides various visions of death and destruction. Everyone wondered what must have gone wrong, and the blame went squarely upon the shoulders of the location specialists. And to this day the cadets were monitored from above, so that if things got too hot to handle they would be aided in retreat. Notedly, this has never happened, because the cadets usually managed on their own, and "too hot to handle" isn't a very specifically defined term.

In any case, most of the others were very careful around Killian. Truthfully they judged him more by his fellow survivors rather than himself, but he was a bit off nevertheless. While many cringed at the thought of battle, or tried to ready themselves as it came, Killian seemed to be truly eager for it, and not just eager for glory and fame. He wanted to defeat the Zerg; it was like he was an army-slogan come to life. All Leila knew of this was rumor and speculation, so it didn't bother her very much. It was just nice to have someone willing to go with her, not judging her because she was of the fragile gender.

As they biked further and further away from the base, Killian noticed something.

"Hey, Parker, why do you fiddle with your tags like that?"

"What?" Angela muttered, not really paying attention. She didn't like having her train of thought interrupted.

"Yeah, you're twisting them in your fingers. What's up with that?"

"I don't know. Guess I'm fidgety or something."

Reko looked at her strangely, as if he was timid yet hopeful. "DHL?"

Finally she turned to look at him. "You've been taken by the Dominion Hiring League too?"

"Yeah, like a year and a half ago, or something like that. I shoulda kept a journal or something, cause I forget easy. Nah, where'd you get picked up?"

"I live in Southerland, California and play Starcraft with my boyfriend James and our friends. I was just about to graduate high school when this dude who looks like Mengsk delivered my BDUs. Just couldn't resist trying them on."

"Wait, you're staying here away from your boyfriend? Why don't you just go back to him? He's probably really worried."

"I really should, but even he knows how obsessed with Starcraft I am." Leila laughed. "Besides, when I get back it'll be like I never left at all. Thing should work out just fine, and heck, I'll probably get to write Starcraft II. Where are you from?"

"Kamehameha, Hawaii. I was going to college when I got the uniform, but the delivery person didn't look like a Starcraft character. It would have been cool if she looked like Kerrigan though."

"Infested or uninfested?"

"Heck, I'll take either one." Killian grinned.

"Ew, how sick!" Leila spat. "Well, you're definitely a dude."

"Hehe. Well anyway, I was on drill team, that's ROTC and not cheerleading, mind you. I spun rifles, had my own M-1 Garand, and I was the best in Hawaii. In high school when my team went to Nationals in Daytona Beach, Florida I got first place individual exhibition two years in a row, and my senior year I got the commander's award. I was only a sophmore at college and I'm already winning trophies at all the local meets for individual regulation and exhibition. I'd have probably been drill team commander both my junior and senior years if I didn't come over here."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but alright. But hey, can't you still be commander when you get back?"

Instead of responding, Killian lifted his right hand. Leila couldn't see it because of his armor, but she noticed that when he stretched his fingers, they twitched oddly. His ring finger could barely move at all.

"Nah, I don't think my hand will work. Even if it does get erased, like the DHL agent said, I'm out of practice."

"Aren't you upset about it? I mean, here you are, scarred for life in more ways than one...after last year especially...I mean, what makes all of this worthwhile? You've been through so much, it'll probably mess up the plans you had for your life."

Reko grinned slightly. "You're forgetting that I'm just as obsessed as you. My one fatal flaw. Besides, last year is why I'm fighting. I'm tired of this war, but I'm even more tired of letting the Zerg get their way. Sure, my life may be ruined, though I don't think it is, still this means that more people get to live like they want instead of gettin' killed by the Zerg."

"Killian...what happened last year? Why did everything go so wrong?"

Killian maintained his grin, though it wavered slightly. "Because...maybe it had to. Maybe I have to be here. Doesn't seem right leaving everything...as it is. You know, in Starcraft, how Kerrigan kills Aldaris? If she hadn't, then Aldaris would've told Zeratul about Raszagal, and therefore Kerrigan wouldn't have been able to use Zeratul for her purposes, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, if Kerrigan didn't use Zeratul and everything didn't turn out as it did, then Zeratul never would have discovered the Protoss-Zerg hybrids. See, because all of the crap that happened...it means that everybody can go after something better. It's like...like if Aiur hadn't been destroyed, the 'Toss never would've reconciled with the Dark Templar."

"Killian...what's the good you're after?"

But that was all he had to say on the matter, and Angela decided not to push the issue. Killian had zoned out again, his trademark. For about five minutes he would stop speaking entirely, focusing only on his thoughts. Fortunately those seemed to be on their surroundings, because he was scanning the landscape with intense eyes, indicating his annoyance that neither of them had any sort of detecting device for burrowed enemies.

---

For the people of Corona Town, things were taking a turn for the worse. Chad Guiness had arrived just as he had promised, but the zerg were charging on their heels. The instant the poor civillians had made it past Orville Adam's defensive line, those evil little monsters had set in strong, leaving no time for Chad's Stouts to arrive and get into position. The only reason that the beleagured defenders had actually survived the first wave of attackers was because the Stouts managed to push through the enemy position, albeit at a high casualty rate.

A very much welcome lull in the battle managed to appear; the soldiers quickly reformed their defenses and began to do quick repair jobs on the walls, only enough so that when the zerg destroyed them again, the upper parts would fall on them and crush them as they attacked.

"How're you so far as troops go?" Orville asked Chad. "If them zerg return, I don't think mine'll hold up too much longer."

"Can't say we'd be doin' any better. I'm doin' what I can to hold this place together, but it looks like we're just gonna have to up and run for it. It's been nice on this rock, but somehow I druther live than die for it."

"Can't say I disagree there, Guiness." Adams thoughtfully rubbed his chin. "But any-bany-how, my guess is we got less'n ten minutes to get our civillians outta here before them things come back. I got the dropships ready with supplies 'n all already, but I ain't certain that we can cover 'em right when we gotta keep things secure down here."

"Nah, ya let me figure that one out. Just you get everybody off Budwise."

Chad Guiness had never been one much for words, so he left automatically to work on his strategies. Orville sent runners to go tell the people to immediately leave on the nearest dropship; while organization probably was key, haste was a bigger priority. But one worry on his mind was the insignificant number of dropships and other spacecraft to remove his people. None of them had ever guessed that this day would come. Budwise II had always been a pleasant place, especially since the population was too small and close to ever develop the more serious petty wars between each other.

While some of this problem could be dealt with by putting as many people as possible into the military craft, that left them at high risk, and even that wouldn't work to hold everyone. Notedly, Adams wasn't considering that this might be possible due to the casualties, but it wasn't something he wanted to think about anyway.

"I told you we shoulda listened to the recruiter!" a very familiar and annoying voice interrupted. "The Dominion coulda been here in half a lick if we'd just joined up!"

"Shut up, Bacardi!" Adams snarled at the impertinent woman. "Go get yerself outta my hair for a minute, will ya?"

But Melissa wasn't done complaining yet. "No! You had to get all stuck up and proud and say that we wouldn't do it for nothin'! Said that we'd be giving up our livelyhood if we compromised! Well dyin's giving it up too, you know!"

"Chief Adams!" Mike O'Doule called out as he approached, actually doing a very good job of ignoring the hyperactive woman. "We picked up some sorta signal, and there's this guy that said he'll come and help us out of this."

"Is he from the Dominion?" Melissa eagerly asked.

"Nah way, woman. Says he's some independant guy."

---

"I think I'm crazy." Killian said, after almost an hour of complete silence.

"Dude, don't let what they say get to you." Angela started, trying to help in any vain way possible. "I mean, they're just idiots, and it doesn't matter what any of them think anyway. You've been through so much when you weren't even supposed to be here...they're just jerks is all."

"Parker?"

"Yeah?"

He laughed. "I was just talking about leading us out here and all with little equipment and no detectors."

Angela grimaced. "Oh man, I'm sorry..."

"Don't be." Killian grinned. "It's cool. But anyway, we were kinda stupid comin' out here. We can't detect hidden bogeys, and even if we do see the zerg about to charge against the base, they'll get there sooner than we could. I'm beginning to think that this was just a waste of time."

"Nah," It was Angela's turn to smile. "It's all a part of my plan. See, there's no way in the world Jenkins would just let me die out here. Pretty soon he's going to see that I was right, and he was being a huge jerk to let me come all out this way aided only by one guy, and he'll send someone out to get us. There's probably a dropship coming this way right now."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Cause I'm a woman. And Jenkins is thinking that since that's true, I'll just be a detriment to you and prevent any sort of success, while getting us both killed at the same time. You'll see, he'll be along pretty soon."

"Whatever you say."

Killian looked up at the landscape ahead. It was a huge mountain, looming tall and dark in the vast distance. Before that was a huge gulf that dipped below their line of sight because of the rock ridge that waited for them. It was the lip of a deep valley, from what they had remembered in the mission briefing. It was a perfect place for the zerg to hide; the hidden tunnels and caves provided good shelter from any enemies that would attack. As they got closer, they carefully parked their vultures out of sight and peered over the ridge. Certain enough, there were the Zerg.

"Aw man," Killian said. "They must already be as weak as we thought they were. Look, there's hardly any critters out there. The last invasion must have cost them. You can tell 'cause their overlords are kinda low in number, and that means they must be low on the critters that burrow too."

But Angela squinted further at the base, spotting a patch of crystalline blue amidst the flat browns and sickening purples. "Nah, they can't be all that weak. They still have plenty of minerals. If they had run out, that would explain why there's so few of them here. It must be that they sent out some to fight."

That quieted them for a moment as they backed away from the ridge, trying to stay out of sight of the patroling overlords.

"After our base?" Angela asked, after waiting until they had steered their bikes behind a small hill.

"I don't know. Could be, but I'm not sure if Jenkins would have contacted us or not if that was the case. But wait, it can't be, 'cause we pretty much took the shortest way over here. They would've passed by us...I think."

"Unless they went around to attack the base from the back."

"Unless that, yeah. I dunno, maybe there's somebody else here they might want to attack. You know've any other cadets trainin' here?"

Angela shook her head. "You know that they wouldn't do stuff like that, and even if they did there's probably no way that they would tell us. It would mess up with the training if we got together."

Killian wasn't listening to her. Instead he held up a finger, motioning for her to be quiet. She did, and was able to hear what he was hearing: the voices coming on the radio. It was the sound of people communicating things they normally would during a battle: commands, the position of the enemy, etc. While the words they used were codes, it wasn't difficult to tell that someone nearby was under attack from the Zerg.

And it wasn't their own base.

The signals were fairly weak, and were frequently interrupted by static. So it made the two jump when a stronger signal suddenly overcame them.

"Mother Bird to Stormcrows...Mother Bird to Stormcrows...do you copy? Over."

Both of them laughed as loud as they dared at Jenkins' pathetic attempt to sound professional. Not only were the code names stupid, but if Jenkins had had any sense in his head, he wouldn't have tried to call them so that they wouldn't be tempted to break radio silence and alert the Zerg to their location. Angela hoped that they were calling from the base.

"Mother Bird to Stormcrows...I know you're out there, pick up!" There was a strange murmur as the static suddenly picked up. But as it cleared, the two could hear the rest of what Jenkins was saying. "...are headed in your direction to join you..."

Killian shook his head as he turned off the radio. There was no need to listen. Especially since they could already hear the sound of the reinforcements arriving that Jenkins had to have been talking about. But since they were a bigger number with more machinery, they didn't dare go as close as Killian and Parker had. So the two headed back towards their friends, endlessly amused as they biked pass a line of tanks.

Mateo was in charge of the group, apparently. He immediately approached the two wanderers as they dismounted.

"Alright scouts, report!"

Killian smirked a little as Parker answered. "Look, Mateo, we found the Zerg base over that ridge. It looks like they're attacking some other base or group on this planet."

"That's impossible. The Dominion wouldn't put us on a populated planet."

"Well apparently they did. And now we have a chance to really earn our stripes by taking out this base while they're away. Not only will that make us look good, but also it'll help those people in need."

There was a pause for a moment as Mateo considered it. Certainly he looked like he wanted to agree, but he had his doubts. To make certain of his next move, Mateo turned away from the pair and ordered cadet Barnsworth to give him the radio. Walking away from the others, he called for Jenkins and relayed the situation. There was static on the line for a few seconds as Jenkins considered his next move.

"Alright," Jenkins finally said. "Here's what we do. I'll send Benin with another group, and you two will attack the base from two sides. Start working on some strategy while he arrives, then proceed with the attack as soon as possible. Also, keep Parker away from the fight. I don't want her to get any of the credit for this, over."

"Will do. Over and out."

Mateo's pace was quick (as quick as it could be with the massive armor on; the boy always added extra when he could) as he handed the radio back to Barnsworth and headed for Angela. But after a moment, he realized that she and Killian had moved away. Mateo looked around, only to find them when he noticed that most of the cadets were gathered in the center of their little camp.

"And that's what we need to do to take out this base." Angela said. "Doubtlessly Jenkins has already send a second group to join us--he always does things like that--so when they get here, we'll have to get them in position as quick as we can. There's no time to waste if we are to attack before the Zerg's numbers in the base increase."

"Parker, what are you doing?" Mateo exclaimed.

"I'm winning, that's what. Here, I wrote down my strategy for you when you attack." she threw a small, hand-held computer to Mateo, who caught it as deftly as he could, for someone wearing the extra armor plates that he was.

"Wait, you're not going to be here?"

"Nope. Me and Killian are going to take some aircraft and go see what we can do to help the other base, which I've already located."

"How did you-"

"No time for that now. Get in position; the others will be here soon."