I do not own Starcraft or any thing pertaining to Starcraft
If you haven't read the previous chapters, then plz do! It will be getting better and I've seen how much everybody likes UED stories, so I'll try to involve them a little. Review if you'd like, it helps me to know if you like 'em or not.
Lights Out
Before it had been scrubbed clean of even the smallest of organisms by the Protoss, Chau Sara had been a decent livable planet. Green healthy plains, lush thick jungles, and thriving settlements dotted the planet. That was all gone now, reduced to ash and cinder. Leaving the planet a desolate, dry and arid wasteland.
Attempts had been made to revive the planet, especially after the discovery that unique minerals formed after a planet was "purified" by the Protoss. The Kel-Morian Combine arrived first, but was soon followed by Reconstructionists and a large-Dominion financed- resettlement colony that established the new capitol- New Andares - over the ashes of the old one. Chau Sara was unique as it had two major suns, Ajer and Bodin, and 1 distant minor sun, Fclaire IV. So the planet had only three legitamate hours of nighttime and 72 hours of daylight.
It was this issue that worried the Captain. The previous two nights the smaller zerg that had been present couldn't make much progress. When night fell this time, it would be the make it or break it point. Even with flood lights dotted along the perimeter the Zerg would be able to move closer and still be out of the eyesight of the marines. If the Ultralisks could get to the wall it was all over. Already, the Ultralisks had made several abrupt charges, mainly to test the firepower of his men, but also who or "whatever" was in charge of these Zerg new the effect they had on marines.
Everything was being prepared for the blackout. Marines were setting up battery operated antennas, machinery, and generators. Others jury-rigging manual fired anti-air missiles on to the Turrets They had 3 hours before night fall and Williams had calculated the blackout and energy pulse would only take 15 minutes tops. Even so he didn't want the Zerg to even begin to realize that for a time the power would be down. The plan was to commence just after a quick meeting with his officers. After eight hours of work all power could now be routed to the Comms. Station.
Williams would begin doing what ever it was he was gonna do. The men would behave as normal, but prepare for any Zerg movement and then with a chance of luck help would arrive. Even though the Zerg attacks had ceased at the moment, the living carpet of Zerg still lingered among the dunes. He jumped down from the observation platform and started his way up towards the Command Center for a meeting with his officers. Already Ajer had disappeared behind the distant northern mountains, and Bodin had only 2 hours left. Then the eerie twighlight of Felaire IV would descend upon the planet, and the Zerg would prepare for their attack. Then about an hour after that, even Felaire would abandon them as well and the pitch black night would descend.
Despite his objections, the engineers had convinced him to turn his suit in to be checked and revamped. He was hoping the meeting would go by quickly, so he could get it back. He felt naked without it.
Two marines snapped to attention as he walked through the entrance of the command center. Instead of heading for the elevator, he walked down an adjacent hallway. Half way down the hallway, a hologram appeared next to him, following his progress down the hall.
" Hello Captain"He gave a nod, acknowledging the building's computer, "Is lieutenant Borska still in his quarters as I asked?"
" He is Sir"" And the preparations on the reactor we talked about earlier"
" Final modifications are 90 % completed"
He stopped and knocked at one of the many officer quarters. " Good ", he nodded, " Very good and remember those modifications are between me and you. Nobody else is to know about them and also Inform the others I will be up momentarily. That is all."
"Yes sir", the hologram disappeared as the door slid aside revealing Lieutenant Borska. He was fairly young, but still a capable officer. He was one of the " Dominion Sons", fresh recruits, homegrown in the capitol city on Korhal, and taught to fervently serve the Dominion and its Emperor.
" Sir, you wished to talk to me", the young man spoke as the Captain walked inside the room. He managed a smirk at the large poster of Mensgk on the wall. Borsk motioned to a table and set of chairs, but the Captain waved him off.
" What I have to say won't take long. I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to be very blunt. I'm only going to say it once, so you need to listen. Also what is said doesn't leave this room." the captain spoke, his face stern and hard.
Borska gave him a questioning glance and nodded.
The Captain took a deep breath then spoke quickly, " We won't last the night." Borska began to say something, but was silenced by a motion of the Captains hand, " If help does not come by the middle of the night, its over. Personally, I don't believe any relief force is still in the system. And yes, I know that we've all been saying we can do it…but we can't. There are to many of them and they can get to close. While we focus on bringing the Ultralisks down, the lesser Zerg will overwhelm us, or vice-versa. I'm not trying to discourage you, just stating the facts."
The lieutenant interjected, " Sir I must object. We ca-".
The Captain once again rose his hand, and spoke sharply, " Please Lieutenant Don't!", Even Borska understood that the statement was an order, not a suggestion.
The Captain continued, " When I deem it necessary, I will order more than half of the Company to begin to retreat and hold a position a certain distance into the Southern Desert. Once there, you and you alone are to take command, even over any other officers present."
" But what about the Zerg attack from the South"
The Captain looked at him reassuringly, " Took a detail out yesterday, nothing…not a damn thing", he shook his head. " It doesn't make sense, but all I care about is that they're no longer there".
The Lieutenant looked at the floor, " Why do I get the feeling you won't be joining us?"
The Captain responded with a wry smile, " Cause I won't….what I do then is simply to give you others a chance.", his face had turned grim. " Once you have taken command, start heading for the Capitol."
" Why me over Deacon or Deanson? Both are far better leaders than I", Borski shook his head.
" First because both are too stupid and too loyal. We've been through too much. Even if I order them to go, they'll refuse. In the end their fate will be the same as mine, even though I wish it otherwise. Second, you are the only one of the lesser officers I trust. The others will want to be heroic and come back to help fight. Which would defeat the point of the efforts of those who stay."
The Lieutenant looked at the Captain firmly, "You already know the opinions most have about us Korhalians. They won't believe me and with Orbital arrays down, you can't contact us if we're too far away."
The Captain quickly pulled something from a pocket and tossed it to the lieutenant, " A holo-disk of myself, giving you full command of the situation. Now we better get going."
The Captain was entering the hallway, when Borski spoke once more, " Not to be disrespectful or anything Captain, but it won't make a difference; you staying behind and all. Zerglings will catch up with us in the desert, not even half way to the Capitol."
" I was waiting for you to ask about that", he smiled, " Just make sure you get to that certain distance in the desert." The Lieutenant looked at him, confused. " Lets just say we're gonna give 'em a fulminating send off. Me and computer are making sure of that." The Captain left it at that and both men started for the conference.
Captain stood, the rest of the officers following him up. " All right boys, everything's ready and you all have your orders", Even though he wasn't as tall as other men gathered around the conference table, they still seemed dwarfed when compared to their leader.
He could see a mixture of emotions in their faces: anticipation, uncertainty, and especially fear, but none were as important as the trust. Each one respected and believed in him. A sudden wave of guilt and sadness flushed over him. How many these faces would never see another sunrise.
He quickly gathered his thoughts and continued, looking each man in the eye,
" Remember, if we trust in the man next to us and hold dear to the knowledge that we've made it this far, then we already have our victory. We can do this, there is hope." his last remark caught a worried, depressed glance from Lieutenant Borski.
"We can do this", he spoke one more time, mainly in an attempt to convince himself of what he seriously doubted.
" Alright, you're dismissed. Countdown is in ten minutes ", the men quickly filed out of the room, giving the Captain the chance to get back his suit. He swiftly made his way out of the Command Center and to the factory. The engineers, themselves, were already suited up, so with a quick word of thanks he eased into his suit and with his rifle in tow, headed for the exit. He'd barely made it out of the factory, when Williams voice sounded on the comms.
" Captain, we're ready"He took a moment to survey the base before answering. Everything was perfect. Men going about their daily routines, a token watch force patrolling the bunker wall. A steady hum of generators and other machines. If someone else had just arrived, they'd have had no idea of what was about to happen. Yet in a split second, every single man was ready to be at the wall. He was hoping it wouldn't come to that.
Fleeting through his thoughts, he checked once more that he hadn't forgot anything, then spoke, "Alright, start the timer".
They'd agreed that when the timer started, he would be positioned at the factory and then start walking toward the perimeter to the barricade joining the two central bunkers, where Corporal Deacon would be waiting. When he finally stopped, the blackout would occur 5 seconds later.
For a moment nothing happened, then with a small click, the hologram-timer for 30 seconds appeared on the surface of his visor, and he began to walk.
At first he glanced up, past the hazy dunes, toward the faint outline of one of the Chau Saran Mountain Ranges, only half of Bodin still above it. Already the lowlands were entrenched in the faint light of Felaire IV. Despite the present rust red color of the planet, the gloomy light seemed to turn everything a dark blue. The strange contrast of the shaded lowlands and the bright red mountains was hypnotizing.
He twitched his eyes towards the timer.
20 seconds
Widening his stride, he glanced around. Every other second, a marine would look over quickly then turn again back to his work.
13 seconds
He was closing in on Deacon, who had turned and was looking out toward the Zerg position. He quickly came up behind Deacon and hurriedly turned around, looking out at the entire base.
5 Seconds
He took a deep breath and realized that the entire base had frozen. All the men had stopped what they were doing to watch and wait. This was going against his orders, but he didn't care. He was to focused on the countdown. Either the transition from normal power to short term generator power would go smoothly or the Zerg would be on them in minutes. Deacon had come away from the wall and walked up beside him.
3 – 2 – 1 –
Nothing, he couldn't hear anything. The flashing zero's on the timer confirming it must of happened, but then for just a moment he thought he heard a tiny hum go silent.
He looked around, all the men still in their same positions.
Deacon looked at him worriedly, " Did it work? I didn't hear anything."
The Captains face responded with a large grin, " We weren't supposed to, cause neither did the Zerg".
William's voice sounded from the comms, " We did it Captain, everything's going fine. Should only take about fifteen minutes like I said".