Tier 1 Chapter 3 Version 2
The creatures repeated the strange screech.
"If they're not krawl," Rallen started, "then what are they?" Rallen turned around to see four bipedal creatures with stubby arms. They had strange pincers on either side of their mouths. Two large claws were hanging over the shoulders of each. One of them had shriveled insect wings growing from its hips.
"What are they?" Rallen asked.
"I don't know, but we don't want to provoke an attack. Those claws look like they could cut through steel plating." Jeena replied,
The four creatures started to spread apart so that they formed a square around the two officers. They planned to attack with a full surround. It was then apparent that these beings were hostile.
Rallen flipped open his prizmod, preparing to fight. Jeena analyzed the situation to find which weapon she should use.
"Kekeke!" the winged creature shrieked as it and its brethren leapt into battle.
Rallen called out Spikan who immediately deflected the first two creatures with his enormous hands. Jeena swung her cosmosword, which was the best weapon against these fast-moving opponents, at the pouncing beast to her left while dodging the one to her right. The being switched direction in mid-leap and managed to only lose an arm to Jeena's assault. It stumbled back behind its friends. Jeena, while holding off the other creature, watched in amazement as the arm of the injured monster slowly regenerated.
"Rallen," Jeena shouted over her shoulder, "we can't let these guys break away from their group. When they're not being attacked, they heal themselves."
"Easier said than done." Rallen replied. "These guys are tough."
Two of the creatures found their way around to Spikan's back and pounced. Just as they were about to dig their claws into the spectrobe's back, they were both struck down by some sort of weapon.
"Die, Zergling bastards, die!" shouted the holder of the weapon. The mysterious fighter continued to send projectiles through the bodies of the creatures.
This made it much easier for Rallen and Jeena to finish off the last two. After ensuring that the beasts were dead, Rallen called Spikan back into the Prizmod. He and Jeena turned to the person who had helped them out.
"Who are you?" Jeena asked. "What were those things?"
"My name is Nova." Said Nova as she removed her scanner mask. "Those creatures you just fought were called zerglings. The problem with these creatures is, if there's one, there's one hell of a lot more. So, what are your names and why were you cornered by zerglings in a crash site with some sort of mutated goat?"
"First of all," Rallen explained, a little agitated by what she had said, "he's not a 'goat,' he's a Spikan. And also, I'm—"
"Rallen!" Jeena snapped at her partner. "Excuse him, he tends to take everything personally. I'm Jeena. This is my partner, Rallen. We're here to salvage what's left from when our ship crashed here. We don't know why the creatures decided to attack us."
"Why were you flying a ship through this sector anyway?" Nova asked. "Our scanners marked this planet as uninhabitable."
"I don't know why they would say that," Jeena replied curiously, "because humans have lived here for hundreds of years. We were passing through here on a patrol mission. Our ship was hit by something and we crashed, so we came back to search the wreckage."
"If your scanners are as primitive as your weapons, I wouldn't be surprised if you thought Kollin was uninhabitable." Rallen grumbled.
"Do you have to deal with this guy every day?" Nova asked Jeena in amazement.
"He doesn't usually act like this." Jeena responded. "He's just mad that you made fun of Spikan."
"We can talk about this later." Nova said. "Right now we should evacuate the planet."
"Why?" Rallen asked in a much lighter tone.
"Where there are zerglings, there's a hatchery." Nova explained. "If the Zerg get infesters, the humans on this planet will be doomed."
The ground began to shake. A giant dust cloud formed on the horizon. Nova whispered something to herself and then put two fingers to the device on the side of her head.
"We have to go now!" Nova shouted over the increasing volume of the tremors. "The Zerg are sending a rush."
Nova pulled a microphone out from her headpiece and spoke into it. "Swan, I need a medivac down hare right now! I've got two natives with me."
Rallen and Jeena followed Nova onboard a large aircraft. Once inside, the two patrol officers were disgusted by the horrid conditions of the ship's interior. The walls were rusted, the seats were falling apart, and there were needles filled with suspicious green liquid stacked everywhere.
"Welcome to the flying meat wagon," said the pilot of the craft.
"We don't have time for your snide remarks, just get us to the cruiser!" Nova shouted angrily.
"ETA: one minute," the driver replied.
Rallen and Jeena looked down at the rush of zerglings below them. The size of the army was incredible. There was no possible way all of those creatures fit into the ship that crashed the patrol cruiser.
"Status report," Nova said into her microphone. After a few nods, Nova turned to Jeena and said. "We might not be able to evacuate the planet at the rate that these zerg are growing. We'll need your help in this."
"I'm sorry, but I don't have the authority to do that, we're going to have to talk to my superiors." Jeena replied hesitantly.
After a while, much more than a minute mind you, the medivac docked into a large ship that could easily be mistaken for a small, oddly-shapen planet. In the armory of the enormous ship, they met up with the guy Nova had called "Swan." His enormous metal claw and uncut facial hair were the first two things Rallen and Jeena noticed about him.
"How's it goin', Nova?" He said in a deep growley voice. "Does it smell like victory er what?"
"Swan, we've got a problem." Nova said bluntly. "The zerg army on this planet below us has already reached the 75-supply mark just with zerglings."
"Jim ain't gonna like to hear that..." Swan replied. Then he looked to either side of Nova. "So, uh, who's your friends?"
"This is Jeena and Rallen, the natives I told you about." Nova said, jesturing to each one as she said their names. "I found them fighting four zerglings using only a pair of swords, and they were being helped by some sort of alien creature. I believe it was called 'Spike-can' or simethiong."
Rallen opened his Prizmod and summoned out Spikan.
"Show off." Jeena grunted.
"Put that guy back!" Swan shouted, "he'll break everything!" Rallen rolled his eyes and did as Swan told him. Spikan hadn't even moved from his spot, let alone broken anything.
"So, Jeena, we need to talk to your superiors before we can evacuate the planet?" Nova said, completely changing subjects. "Where are your superiors?"
"They're on the third planet from Nanairo, Kollin." Jeena explained. "You're not planning on taking a medivac down onto Kollin, are you?"
"No, we'll be traveling in style." Nova responded.
"Matt," Nova called as she entered the Battle Cruiser's control room, "We need to get to the third planet in this system, but the rest of the fleet has to watch the zerg forces."
"Alright," said Matt, "I'll tell the rest of the fleet."
"You hailed?" an old man with a false eye said in a thick Russian accent over the telecomunicator. "All crews reporting. The Yomato is loaded."
"That's not what I'm worried about." Matt said. "I want you and the rest of the fleet to stay here while I run an errand."
"I have an announcement:" said the pilot of the other cruiser, "I am drunk"
"Well, sober up and follow orders!" Matt yelled at the screen.
"Acknowledged... whatever that means." The pilot replied.
"These are drop pods." Nova explained. "They are much cleaner and smoother than medivacs, but we can only take one for non-military transport."
"These look like their designed for a single person." Rallen commented.
"That's because they are." Nova replied with a 'well, duh' look in her face. "We're going to have to squeeze in here pretty tightly."
Nova stepped into the pod and gestured that Jeena should follow. When it was Rallen's turn, he was hesitant to say the least. "Do we really have to cram in there like that? I mean, isn't there some other non-medivac transportation?"
"No," Nova said bluntly. "I made a point to put Jeena between you and I, anyway, and since you guys are partners I figured you'd be okay with being this close together."
"Uh, Nova," Jeena said over her shoulder, "we're not those kind of partners. Rallen and I are work partners, nothing more."
"Oh... well, Rallen, you have two choices, you can squeeze in here, or you can stay on board the ship and watch the action from a distance." Nova said. She already knew what Rallen was going to choose.
No prizes to the people who guess what Nova is thinking. This is a continuation of my interactive FanFic "RallJeen or not to RallJeen." This particular chapter is for the teen/adult audience, but feel free to come up with more kid-friendly ideas for upcoming chapters.
I want you, the readers, to comment on/review this story and tell me what you want to happen next, I only three people's ideas, so get posting!
I don't own Spectrobes or Starcraft or any of the characters mentioned.