Chapter 4 Version 1 Tier 1 Branch 2

SpectroCraft: Add-on Complete

"This is awkward," Rallen said with a bright blush as he attempted to avert his gaze from Jeena's open collar.

"Well, you're gonna have to live with it for two more minutes," Nova retorted as she finished entering the coordinates for the drop pod. "Hold on to anything except the walls 'cus this'll be a bumpy ride."

Unknown to the three canned humans inside the drop pod, a Zerg Drone found its way into the drop pod's ventilation system. It's payload was a whopping three hundred minerals...

The trip down to Kollin's landing stations was less than comfortable. It all started going downhill when the pod was launched downward with the force equal to that of a dinalium beam. For StarCraft fans, that's about twenty times more force than a Yomato Cannon. Things began to spiral further out of control when Nova's rifle swung around and hit Rallen in the back of his head, sending him face-first into Jeena.

When the pod cracked open upon impact with the top of NPP's tower, the humans were too busy apologizing to one another to notice the rich Drone sneak over the edge of the port.

Commander Grant's office suddenly seemed a million times bigger to Rallen and Jeena, who were retaining a distance of six meters between them. At his usual position behind his desk, Commander Grant stood to greet Nova and the two officers.

"Lieutenant Nova, I expect these two didn't cause you too much trouble," He was in his usual all-business mood. "What is the present status of the krawl invasion of Genshi?"

"The krawl?" Nova asked in confusion. "I think you're referring to the Zerg, Commander. Their infestation has spread over three peaks of mineral-rich mountains and into nearby wetlands. Fortunately they seem to lack Infestation Pits and Spires. We may be able to defeat the virus, but I've been informed by Jeena that I would need your consent."

"Permission granted, just make sure you keep the casualties to a minimum," Commander Grant quickly replied. "I'll need to brief Rallen and Jeena on their next mission, so stay close to HQ. They'll need some transportation, and I'm running out of ships for them to wreck."

Nova left the building to begin exploring this advanced culture of humans. This left Rallen and Jeena to discuss their next series of tasks with their boss.

"Ever since you two found that prizmod, this solar system has seen nothing but trouble," The Commander said with a sigh. "You two need to assist, in any way possible, the efforts of these fellow humans. I suggest you start by learning more about these 'Zerg.' Then you'll need to help their engineers find alternatives to Terran methods of machinery. I think even Rallen knows more about ship maintenance than they do."

Jeena lightly giggled at this last comment. It was true that her partner knew next to nothing about the way their patrol cruiser worked, but at least he could keep the hull from falling apart.

After the briefing was finished, Rallen and Jeena began to look around for Nova. They found her in the marketplace trying to strike a deal at the nearby restaurant.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but that type of money doesn't buy anything here. You'll have to pay in gura," the cashier tried to explain.

"Bullshit! I work my ass off for my money, and I can't even spend it outside of the Dominion?" She began to reach for the weapon slung over her shoulder.

"Whoa! Nova, calm down. What's going on?" Jeena said as she intervened.

"It's not easy living on military rations. I make it a habit to try something new every time I find time to go out for lunch, but, apparently, I can't spend Dominion credits here. Not that I would be making a good choice. They charge 250 for a plate of macaroni, 320 for a sandwitch, 400 for a-" Nova was cut off by Rallen's laughter.

"You think that's expensive? These are fast food prices."

"Hey!" the cashier shouted dejectedly.

Ignoring him, Rallen continued. "If you wanna see a real scandal, ask Cyrus how much a rice ball costs. If he says anything less than five hundred gura, I'll bet twice as much that it's poisoned."

"How many gura is in a credit?" Nova asked. "This conversion isn't going to be easy if I don't know the basic proportions.

"Depends, how much do you pay for fast food?" Jeena replied before Rallen could make a smart remark.

"Let me see... $4.99 for a burger, conversion rate of $1:1.33 credits..." Nova calculated out loud. "About six and a half credits for a burger."

At this statement Rallen and Jeena's jaws dropped. "There is literally nothing you can buy with seven gura." Jeena finally said. "Why don't we just pay for your food? It'll make things much simpler for us."

During this long argument over something as ridiculous as the price of fast food, the drone that had hitched a ride to Kollin had made its way down to the base of the towers that covered the planet's surface. The Hatchery had just finished morphing, and larva were beginning to hatch.

Yes, this is a short chapter. Sorry. I just wanted to end it at least partially suspensefully.

Once again I owe this idea to 92darkdragon

I don't own Spectrobes or StarCraft.