Chapter 9
Jim and Lilly walked the harsh and frozen water that was the main sea of Braxis. The only sound to be heard was the marching of the troops behind them, the whine and the slight cracking of ice under the Seige Tanks, and the wind that had picked up to a low howl. They all marched for hours, the sky began to grow dark steadily, signaling that the sun, that was over the thick layer of clouds, was setting slowly. They continued to march, all of the troops seemed to be so completely focused on finding John that they either not noticed the surroundings...or didn't care.
"Sir?" A voice came from behind Jim.
Jim spun on his heels but continued to march, "Yes, private?" He said.
"What are we gonna do if we can't find him? What if the zerg..." The marine trailed off.
Jim stopped and let the marine catch up to him and then began to march next to him. "Don't think like that. We don't know what happened. He could have gotten free, who knows, we could..." Jim trailed off, and stopped moving.
"Sir?" The Marine asked stopping as well.
Lilly and the other troops stopped as well, all focusing their respective gazes towards Jim. He just stood there, not moving, his eyes seemed to be glazed over. A few medics stepped out of the group and began to examin him. Lilly left the front of the squad and made her way to Jim and the medics.
"Well? What's wrong with him?" Lilly asked when she reached them.
"I don't know...his vitals are all normal...his suit is funtioning at peak efficentcy...there's nothing...wait...here...his brain activity is off the scale...what the?" The medic said keeping the scanner near Jim's head.
"What?" Lilly asked, fear rising in her eyes.
"I was contacted...by John...He's thirty klicks south west of here...he's being held prisoner. They want him to do something...but I don't know what...his message just stops there." Jim said his eyes returning to normal and focusing on Lilly's face.
"Jim...he's probably..."Lilly said.
"No...he's alive and I'm gonna find him." Jim said resuming his march.
"Company...MARCH!" A voice yelled and the entire squad began to move.
They all walked till the sky was a black as death. Again the only sounds were from the troops and the wind, as it whipped around them. The few of the troops that had Stimpacks at the ready(Stimpacks are a stimulent system built right into the armor of marines and firebats, when acctivated it gives the person, increased speed, accuracy with a weapon, and stamina...at the cost of sanity and health.) used them to scout ahead.
"Well? What did you find?" Jim asked one of the Marines.
"It doesn't look good sir. We saw what looked like thirteen hives(Command Centers of the Zerg), two Nidus Canals(tunnels used by the Zerg to move troops from one colony on a planet to another instantainously), a Queen's nest(used to make Zerg Queens,Organisms that fly, and can, one upgraded, unleash a parsitic spore into a troop and gain the ability to see through it's eyes, and can, once upgraded, spawn broodlings that rips through a host organism, killing it instantly, and begins to attack the next living enemy it sees), and a few Ultralisks(Huge four legged organisms that have log tusks protruding from it's head and uses them like scythes)." The marine said.
"Well...that's good odds...did you see anything else...anything that can hold a human?"Jim asked.
"No sir...we didn't, but there was one other thing...it looked like a massive...coccoon."The marine said again.
"That's it...that's where John is...we have to get there soon now!" Jim said as a spark of furry ignited in his eyes.
He turned to a near by Seige Tank and said "Sargent...I want you and the other tanks to move to a point and deploy seige mode. Kill anything and everything that isn't human...leave the coccoon alone...I don't wanna damage it."
"Yes sir. All right men you heard the CO...LET'S ROLL OUT!" The tank's opporator said. A collective cry could be heard over the comm as each of the tanks set out to follow thier orders.
"Lt. I want you to take the marines and go with the tanks...keep them safe till they deploy seige...then proceed to kill anything that moves close to them...am I understood?" Jim said to a marine that was close by.
"Yes sir! Alright men...do you wanna live forever...GO GO GO!" He said. The marines moved in unison, running at top speed to catch the tanks before they could get far.
"Marie...I want you and the other medics to follow them...heal any that get damaged...I don't wanna lose anyone tonight" Jim said a not of concern in his voice.
"Will do sir. Alright...Let's go!" Marie said. The other Medics followed her as she ran after the marines.
"Lilly...I want you to stay here...you're gonna be our ears. If anything happens to the troops back home, I wanna know of it ASAP." He said.
"You can count on me...just be careful...please." Lilly said fighting tears.
"I will." Jim said as he turned to the Firebats that were left. "Alright men...let's go...you're all with me...we're gonna sweep in the back way and do a two pronged assult."He said again.
"Give us something to burn sir!" One of the firebats said.
Jim smiled, then took the firebats away from where the others had departed. As they wound around to the back Jim could hear the distinct blasts of six seige tanks, nine marines all firing in unison. He heard through the comm random shouts from each of the men...they seemed to be enjoying the massacre. Jim couldn't help but chuckle at the thought, zerg after zerg being laid waste to by his small band of marines and tanks. He pushed the thought from his mind, and tried to focus on the task at hand.
Once they had reached the back of the encampment, Jim turned to the firebats and said. "Wait for my singal...I'm gonna order them to launch the nuke...then we go and mop up what's left." The small band nodded in agreement.
Jim flipped on his comm and sent a message to the tanks and marines on the otherside of the Zerg camp. "Men...I'm gonna order the launch of the nuke...the Ghost that survived our little 'landing' has been with us under cloak...it's about to run out so now's the time to use the nuke...be carful...I don't wanna lose any of you...stay out of the blast radius and you'll be fine...then we hit them and hit them hard!"
He turned to a the air around him and said "Launch it now."
"Time to call down the thunder." Something said.
Jim waited to hear over his comm the Adjutant confirming the launch of the missle, but nothing came.
"What? Did you launch it?" Jim said, as he flipped the comm to the frequency of the ghost.
"Sir...it...it says that there isn't a missle ready...I'm not getting anything from it... I need to pull out..my cloak is about to fail."He replied.
Jim, for the first time since landing on Braxis, felt fear. He knew what was to come.
His comm crackled to life once again, this time the voice of Lilly came from the internal speakers. "Jim...the base...all of it...it's gone. The Protoss...they came from nowhere and wiped it off the face of the planet. No one survived."
"That...that can't be..."He said, then flipped the comm to his squad's frequency. "Men...pull out...I repeat pull out...it's a trap..."
The only sounds that could be heard over his comm was the screaming of his comrades and the ripping of metal.
Jim, turned to the firebats. "Lets move out...get out of here...there is nothing we can do now..."
They all nodded in agreement and began to retreat. No sooner had they started and began to move, the ground errupted infront of them. Earth flew over their heads, and a huge spike was jutting out from the ground below.
"LUKERS(a subspecies that has evolved from the Hydralisk, an organism that uses spines that it can fire fom it body to be used as a weapon)!!!!" One of the Firebats yelled.
Jim and the Firebats all scrambled, trying to find some sort of cover that the burrowed Lurkers couldn't reach them from. One by one, the Firebats let out cries as each of their fule tankes ruptured and incinerated them. Soon the only one left was Jim. He waited in a tree, hoping that the Lurkers would give up and retreat back to the creep..but no such luck. Instead of retreating, they all emerged from their burrows and then dug holes near the tree. They all centered themselves over the holes and dropped inside of them.
Well crap...what do I do now...no backup...no retreating...I'm screwed. He thought.
Just as he was about to lose all hope, he remembered Lilly, he swiched his comm to her frequency and sent a messege, "Lilly...I want you to find transport of this rock...return to Mensk and tell him to bring reinforcments...I'm not going anywhere..they have me pinned up a tree. Find Mensk, tell him to bring reinforcements...do you understand?"
Nothing...only static was heard over his comm.
"Lilly? Do you read?" He said again
Again he heard only static.
With all hope lost, Jim began to lower himself on the tree. Untill the ground was almost under him.
