Chapter 25: The Fist of Mankind
It was muddy and humid in the jungles of Aiur, but Raynor still preferred this over rubbing shoulders with the rich and powerful. After returning from his trip to Umoja, he threw himself back into his work helping out with the rebuilding of Aiur. There was a lot of work to be done clearing out feral zerg, building new outposts, and finding more survivors. Right now, he was hunting down a lost shipment of minerals.
According to the panicked truck drivers that had gotten back to the base, the trucks had been attacked by some feral zerg in the jungles and the drivers were forced to ditch the cargo and escape. After asking them for information about where it happened, Raynor let them take a rest after the ordeal they went through. Now, it was his job to find where the minerals went and hunt down the zerg.
It was odd finding zerg so close to the main base. In the preceding months the surrounding areas had been cleared of feral zerg and had been considered mostly safe as efforts were shifted to focus on expeditions farther away to reclaim more outposts. At times these expedition teams would come across isolated groups of survivors in the wilderness or ruins of cities, and bring them back to the main base.
Raynor paused as he found traces of zerg. On the ground, partway sunk into the mud, were several metal boxes with minerals spilled out onto the ground. Most of the boxes were cut open haphazardly and the edges were clearly made by claws. The minerals had fallen out of these holes, littering the ground with a small pile next to each container.
"Looks like it's all here. We can get some SCVs to bring it back. But we gotta make sure that we get rid of the zerg here first."
He motioned to his men as well as the two protoss in the group to follow as he walked in the direction the zerg went, keeping his gun at the ready. Soon, they arrived at the entrance of a small cave.
"Must be some zerg we missed hidin' out in here," Raynor said. "The cave doesn't look too big, should just be a small nest. Still, let's be careful going in."
The pair of protoss warriors took the lead as they went into the cave, their psi blades lighting up the darkness. Raynor and his people followed, scanning the area and checking the ceiling to make sure there weren't any zerg lurking about. Finally, they heard screeches as the zerg noticed their presence.
Several dozen zerglings rushed forward all at once while a few hydralisks slithered in behind them. Raynor and his people immediately opened fire at the approaching zerg while the protoss stood their ground, ready to eliminate any zerg that got too close. The feral zerg were rather easy to deal with, not employing any strategy other than a head on rush. It only took a few minutes before they stopped coming.
"Alright, let's keep moving forward carefully," Raynor ordered. "Be ready in case there are any more stragglers still around."
The nest was small and it didn't take long to clear through it. One man had been shot in the shoulder by a hydralisk, but other than that the group had managed to avoid any casualties. Soon they confirmed that the zerg were gone.
"Alright, good job folks," Raynor said. "Let's head back to base and get some rest."
Raynor's words elicited some cheers as they departed the dark nest.
After Raynor returned to the main encampment, he saw Artanis standing still looking into the distance silently.
"Hey there," Raynor said. "Whatcha thinking about?"
Artanis turned to face Raynor. "I was contemplating the progress we have made. Though my heart hurts for the devastation of our home, with time we can begin to restore some semblance of Aiur's past glory. Each passing day brings us more gains. And soon our project in the east should soon be yielding results."
"Yeah, how are Fenix and Zeratul doing out there?"
"They have reported excellent progress so far in activating and restoring functionality to the ancient facility," Artanis said. "It shouldn't be long before we are able to make use of what is buried beneath. Though those weapons will scar the landscape, in such times we can no longer afford to disregard any possible advantages."
Raynor nodded. "Every bit helps out here. Me and my boys are going to head out later today to build a new outpost to keep an eye on the feral zerg, but having some more help clearing out the damn things is appreciated."
"I must say, I have been quite impressed by the terrans' talent for rapid construction. Though the quality and beauty of such products leave much to be desired, it is quite useful for short term usage in situations like these. Buildings are already hard to come by, Shakuras can't spare many to be warped in when they still need to house so many refugees. Unfortunately, they might not be so amenable to the aesthetics of terran construction on their landscape."
"Well, we terrans try to focus on the practical things," Raynor said.
Suddenly, Artanis turned still, along with the other protoss wandering the streets around them. Raynor looked around in confusion for a few moments until one of his men suddenly ran up to him.
"Commander Raynor, a fleet was just detected in orbit and they are heading straight toward us. It's the UED, they're here. We've also spotted some Kel-Morian ships along with zerg."
Raynor froze when he heard this. "They're here? Now? Damn it, tell everyone to be ready to fight." The man who delivered the message nodded and ran back to convey the orders.
Everyone soon burst into action. Around the base, photon cannons whirled to life, the defenses that were idle for weeks being activated once more. Tanks rumbled down the streets as they were directed into position while men ran around carrying supplies. The protoss were forming up into squads and began checking that their psi blades were functional. Protoss and terran alike were running around in a frenzy.
Raynor looked on grimly. "Looks like that bastard didn't take my warning from a few weeks ago seriously. He won't get away with this, but he'll be dragging down many good people with him."
"Those who reside here are in grave danger," Artanis said. "Raynor, I must go to coordinate the evacuation of my people. The noncombatants must make their way through the warp gate while we defend the base. Our duty must be to them first."
"I'll help send my boys out to pick up any stragglers outside," Raynor said. "We'll help defend this place. How soon 'til backup gets here?"
"Fenix and Zeratul have already been notified, but it will take time for them to return," Artanis said. "Kerrigan's zerg are out on the frontiers, they won't be able to reinforce us either."
"Damn it, we'll just have to make do with what we have then," Raynor said. "They'll be attacking soon. Soon, their ground forces are going to be landing around our base, out of range of our guns. I'd love to be able to hit them when they're coming in, but those incoming fliers are going to tear us a new one if we head out."
He was watching the screen intently as the scanner picked up a multitude of flier signatures heading straight for the base. The defenders all bunkered down in preparation for the imminent attack.
The screeches of mutalisks filled the air as a flock that almost blackened out the sky descended. The photon cannons locked onto the attacking fliers, firing into the cloud of zerg. The sounds of energy bolts along with gunfire and explosions began to drown out the screeches as bodies fell from the sky. The zerg were dying in droves, continually being sent to their deaths in an effort to overwhelm the defenders.
Then, zerg came from all sides as opaque clouds emerged from the forest, shrouding the area from view. Initially, all that flooded out from the haze were zerglings, but eventually they were followed hy hydralisks and even ultralisks. Their corpses piled up outside the walls as they continued to charge forward. One ultralisk rammed against the wall, causing one man to fall off as it shook. The body of the man quickly vanished beneath the incoming creatures, never to be seen again.
Raynor was at the command center, barking out orders to get his men where they were needed. After the initial minutes of chaos, everyone had soon made it to their posts to fight against the tide of zerg. Things were going as well as he could have hoped even in the dire situation. Then, their sensors detected another force approaching.
"Those are dropships," Raynor muttered. "Do they really want to get mixed up in this mess right now?" He looked more intently at their trajectory as they began flying into the base. "Damn it, they're heading for the warp gate. We gotta go protect the evacuees. I'll head out with our vulture bike squad. Y'all keep things running here."
There was nothing on Raynor's mind except the need to get where he needed to be to help them. Not wasting a single moment, he quickly ran outside and sped off on his vehicle along with a few dozen of his men getting on their vulture bikes as well to follow him. As they sped through the streets they could hear the sound of gunfire getting closer. When they took another turn, they saw a group of UED marines in a firefight with a few protoss zealots and dragoons. The protoss were pinned down as they took cover behind a building while the marines continued to shoot at them.
The sudden arrival of Raynor's group took the marines by surprise, and most were taken out by the first volley of grenades shot out by the vulture pilots. The rest of the marines scrambled to regroup, turning to fire at the attackers. One of the vultures exploded, taking their drivers with them, but at the same time the protoss zealots charged forward, cutting through their enemies while the dragoons provided support from afar.
The marines were quickly killed, but at the same time the building behind which the protoss were taking cover exploded, wrecking the dragoons. The broken shells of the dragoons oozed blue liquid as the bodies held inside spilled out onto the ground. Raynor slammed his fist into the side of his vehicle, silently lamenting his lateness.
"Where are those tanks?" Raynor asked.
"They have occupied the training square," one protoss replied. "We were on our way to the gate when the terrans attacked. We are grateful for your assistance, Raynor."
"No problem," Raynor said. "Now let's see what we can do about those tanks."
As he drove off, passing by the exploded building, he saw the dead bodies of several protoss, phasesmiths by the look of it. For a second, he almost stopped to try to check if any could have miraculously survived, but at the same time he knew that every moment he delayed could be another tragedy. He refocused on the road ahead of him, trying to keep the tears from his eyes.
The rest of the street wasn't looking much better as they passed by. A nearby photon cannon exploded, blown up by the siege tanks. Raynor and his followers began taking an irregular path toward their destination, hoping that the enemy wouldn't figure out their location and bombard the area to stop them.
Soon, they arrived at the area where the tanks were gathered. The marines guarding them quickly began to fire, killing several vulture pilots but also being killed in turn. The tanks began to turn their guns, but they didn't manage to hit the rapidly zigzagging vultures who quickly closed in too much for the tanks to be effective. Several bombs rolled underneath the tanks as the vultures passed by. A series of explosions were triggered, turning the tanks into wreckage.
They quickly left the area, continuing to head toward the warp gate. Above them, dropships were flying out of the area. When Raynor got to the warp gate, he found that it was no longer standing.
"Damn it, if only I got here sooner," Raynor said.
"Do not blame yourself, Raynor," Artanis said as he walked up. "They came in quickly and struck decisively. By the time you could have gotten here, the battle was finished."
"Well, what now?" he said.
"We must evacuate to the forests and seek shelter elsewhere. Our defenses have already been broken through in multiple areas and zerg are beginning to run rampant within the city. The only option remaining for us is to break out and escape."
"I'll tell my boys to start getting everyone together," Raynor replied. "We'll get out of here."
Everyone was beginning an organized withdrawal to the eastern wall of the city. Raynor and the other vulture drivers split up to search the city for any stragglers to bring aboard. Along the way there were zerg scattered about hunting anything that came within sight.
Protoss scout fighters arrived at the base and shot down any remaining zerg fliers and then began to thin out some of the zerg on the ground. This was their cue to leave.
At some distance from the ongoing battle, eleven battlecruisers hung in low orbit. The Borealis sat within the center of the formation, and within the commander was studying the map of the battlefield with a quiet intensity.
"Captain, the protoss are beginning to flee their encampment. Their rearguard is still fighting off the zerg while their noncombatants are escaping."
Roland continued to stare forward silently, his finger tapping on the metal dashboard.
"Shall we pursue?"
"Hector, tell the men to focus on eliminating the rearguard. Then we must reorganize to fend off their counterattack."
Hector nodded. "Right, the ones fleeing are little threat to us."
Suddenly, Roland laughed. "Little threat? On the contrary, each of them will eventually be as great a threat as any protoss warrior. It is by their hand that their war machines are built and new weapons developed. You cannot look too close at the immediate circumstances."
"Then why are we letting them go?" he asked.
"We would be in a vulnerable state during the pursuit," Roland responded. "Their reinforcements are already coming. Also, the noncombatants will be a burden to them during this fight. They will need to protect them and give them somewhere to stay. It limits their options to be mobile."
The rearguard forces fought to their last and for a brief moment the battlefield fell quiet in preparation for the next battle. More UED forces arrived and began digging in.
"The operation is going well," Hector said. "The admiral will be pleased in his correct choice to have you lead this mission. And the other captains won't doubt your standing either."
"It was about time," Roland replied. "I was starting to get a bit bored in the months waiting after we captured Char. There is only so long you can stare at maps to prepare defensive plans and train the men. When the admiral gave the order to eliminate the protoss' base of operations on Aiur, it was finally time to bring the fight to the enemies of humanity."
"I was a bit surprised at how long we were kept inactive," Hector said.
"I suspect he knew I found the ongoing operations distasteful," Roland said with a chuckle. "But here, there is nothing more fitting than aliens fighting each other. No matter what, man wins. By the end of this, both the zerg and the protoss will no longer be a threat to humans. We will not let them destroy us."
A notification sounded, indicating the detection of new enemies.
He looked at the screen. "Zerg from the west and protoss from the east. Looks like the traitors are sitting this one out. Have the men arrange into formation delta-five. Send our zerg to attack their flanks. Have the next sets of troops being deployed start occupying the areas around the battlefield."
As the attacking forces approached, the tanks fired. The first few lines of zerg were mostly blown to pieces, and while the protoss shields helped them to weather the assault, they were not unscathed. Now, it was their turn to charge. As they did, the spider mines beneath the ground uprooted themselves. A few were destroyed, but the rest were able to destroy the first wave of attackers.
While this happened, a line of protoss reavers inched forward toward the UED lines. Explosive scarabs shot out of the mouths of these caterpillar shaped machines, darting toward the defenders. The newly constructed bunkers were blown open by the explosions and the marines inside scrambled out of the wreckage, some missing limbs as they tried to crawl their way out.
Then, they were struck again by a series of psionic storms which descended onto the battlefield, shredding those caught within with both the ionized air creating electrical discharge as well as the mental assault ripping apart their minds. Not even those within large vehicles like siege tanks or goliath walkers were safe, and only those on the outskirts who managed to escape quickly were able to survive.
Roland observed the carnage with a grim but determined expression. "Have the men fall back two hundred meters and regroup. I want the tanks focusing on those reavers." As he watched, several of the reavers were hit, but some simply dissipated into the ether. He frowned. "Fakes… I want some scans done now."
A majority of the reavers were revealed to be hallucinations, with the real ones sprinkled between them.
"Have our targeting teams examine the scan data and give firing coordinates to the tanks," he said. "I want our shots distributed for maximum effect."
He turned his attention back to the other part of the battlefield. His men were holding the line, barely though. The horde of zerg, on the outside apparently seeming to be a disorderly mob, were acquitted themselves well in both defending from the UED's zerg while putting pressure on his men.
The battle soon reached a fever pitch as the zerg and protoss intensified their attacks and started committing the remainder of their reserves. He watched as each attack came and matched their moves. Finally, the enemy retreated as expected, first the zerg and then the protoss.
"Good work men," he announced to the defenders. "Take a rest for now. You have all shown your unyielding determination today in defeating the aliens arrayed against us."
Meanwhile, he ordered the fresh troops to start occupying ground and constructing defensible outposts. While a serious blow had been dealt to the aliens, in order to truly tear them out they would need to proceed methodically.
"Captain, the leader of the Kel-Morian contingent has asked to begin constructing outposts near rare resources they have detected in order to begin mining them."
"They will do no such thing." Roland slammed his palm down. "Are they out of their minds? The war has not yet been won and they are already thinking of profit."
"Well, it is what they joined us for," Hector said wryly.
"Then remind them they agreed to follow my orders. They can start looking for rare rocks after we win. Right now they will go where I tell them to."
Over the next few days the UED strike teams began venturing further and further into the wilderness to search for where the protoss were hiding. Their sensors were being disrupted by unusual patterns of background psionic energy in the region, likely originating from surviving protoss facilities which were repurposed for this. Part of the job of strike teams was to locate and destroy the sources of the disruption.
"They will have to come out to fight eventually, or the feral zerg infesting this place will do our work for us. They may know this land, but there is no way they can continue to stay hidden." Roland observed as he planned out the patrol routes for the next day.
"Captain, one of our strike teams has encountered the enemy. They have taken heavy losses and are withdrawing."
"What are they up against?"
"We are getting the pictures in now." Hector passed a datapad over.
Roland looked at the images. Even though they were slightly grainy, the subjects of the picture were large enough that it didn't matter. The machines towered over the landscape, propped up by four spindly legs. They employed massive laser beams, carving through their targets from incredible range.
He pushed the datapad aside. "Well I suppose it was too much to hope for them to lay down and die for us."