sorry guys, this chapter won't be quite as good as some of my others, but it still needs to happen. I'm a biology nerd, so I apologise if this gets a little deep for some of you in the technical aspects of science. I do try to make it as real as possible, and I enjoy talking about the genome and such. it's not altogether integral to the story that you read that part, so if it gets to sound a little too much like a genetics lecture for your liking, you can skip a little. in addition, this chapter includes a POV shift to Raynor for a little while, during the Breakout mission. I personally do not like Blizzard's handling of that mission, so I have changed it somewhat to allow for the relentless attacks by Raynor without a massive body count on both sides. now, onto reviews.
Khazin, all I have to say is Spoilers. :)
izwan, that was a firefly reference to the Reavers, but I agree that would not be out-of-place. and, although I will not tell you anything about the story ahead, I can tell you that, to me at least, controlling the Zerg is a two-way street, in order to have power over them, they must have power over you. Julia is not able to be reached by the Zerg consciousness, therefore she cannot reach the Zerg consciousness. thank you for your constant helpful reviews.
as always, Read and Review.
After our talk, and my decision to assist in whatever way I could, I am allowed some free time, as the injuries from the last mission on Bel'Shir had been relatively light, and had already been cleaned up by other Medics. I had been given permission to walk around the ship freely, if I am escorted, as well as permission to sleep in my old bunk if my squad allows it. Andrew said yes, so I of course decide to return to my barracks, and more specifically, to my gaming console. I am just certain that my friends have used my apparent death as an excuse to rack up points for my inevitable return.
Thus distracted, I do not see Dave until I almost walk into him. As I pass, he whispers into my ear something that sounds menacing, and yet at the same time so cliché that it's difficult to take altogether seriously. "You may have the rest of them fooled, Zerg, but I know what you really are, and when you slip up, and you will, I'll be there, waiting." I swear he stole that line from a movie; nevertheless, it had the desired effect. I decide to off-balance him a little bit and answer back "isn't it just a little melodramatic, not to mention foolish, to inform me of your scheme? I mean, theoretically, if I was under the control of the Zerg, and you told me that, then I would be watching all the more closely. It would make far more sense to just watch me from the shadows, without telling me your master plan, wouldn't it?" that line of reasoning was completely me, I've commented the same thing several times about movies and games, so I'm surprised he doesn't even show a little recognition, just more hate. At that point, I decide not to give the guy wanting to, presumably, kill me tactical advice, and so simply continue on my way. Hanson, who was escorting me, looks over her shoulder and asks "what was that about" I respond simply "not everyone is exactly willing to trust yet." "Ah" was her only response.
Thankfully, my entrance into the barracks is much less… dramatic than it was last time. In fact, the only real response is a nod from Andrew, who is pouring over some type of document. The rest of the squad, excluding Dave and two of the new faces, are already in their bunks. Only then do I realize just how tired I really am. I have been going on emotions and willpower it appears, and I was so deep in my own thoughts that I did not notice the ship's entrance into the night cycle. Thankfully, from glancing at the clock, it is only 2128 military time, or around nine thirty civilian. My bunk is empty, and my drawers are still stocked with my clothing, although I will likely have to requisition new ones to deal with the carapace, so that they will not rip at a moment's notice. For now though, my current clothes will last the night, and therefore I curl up on my side and slowly fall to sleep.
I awake before the morning cycle began, by about half an hour. I am dragged from another nightmare of capture. Seeing the time, I decide that it would be pointless to sleep in any longer, and would prefer to partake in the final Terran custom that I had not yet, that of a warm shower. Come to think of it, I'm probably rather filthy, not having washed myself since I was expelled from the chrysalis. Thankfully, it did not smell, at least to me, but it would still be nice to get it off. This ship was dubbed a flying palace for a reason, even the crew bathrooms have individual showers for privacy, not that it matters all that much for me any longer. In addition to that, they were just across the hall from me, so I felt no real need to wake someone up to act as a guard. I take my uniform from my drawers, consisting of a short-sleeved shirt and long pants, the shirt being a light shade of blue to indicate my profession; marines wear red much to Zeke's despair over being a redshirt. I enter said washroom, set my uniform outside the stall and walk in; peeling off the Miner's outfit, and tearing it in at least two additional places. As I had predicted, the shower removes quite a bit of biomass from me. I know the ship's filtration systems can handle it, as this is not the most dirty I've ever been when coming back from a mission. I wash my body and briefly consider putting shampoo into my head-tentacle things, but then discard the idea, knowing that it would most likely not make a difference.
during this, I am struck by how foreign my own body looks to me. I haven't had much of a chance to look at my changes outside of the cocoon. now though, I have a clear view. some of the finer details become obvious now, the texture of the carapace is almost fractal in nature, a self-symmetry with overlapping plates, leaving no weak points, while not compromising flexibility. another large change, and one that I'm barely coming to terms with, are the wings. extending from my mid-back, and increasing my height by at least another foot, these are easily the most obvious, and the one most likely to draw parallels back to the Queen of Blades. I can feel them only most of the time, but when I do, it's just as well as I can feel any other part of my body. from what I understand, this is the opposite of the feeling of a phantom-limb, my brain is acclimatizing to receiving input from something it did not have before. The last few days have been quite something, and now that I have a moment of piece, the second stage of realization, if it can be called that, hits. this is what I'm likely going to look like for the rest of my life. it's a terrifying feeling, made only slightly easier by the knowledge that there is some trust for me on the team. Now clean, I turn off the water, step out of the shower, dry myself off, and pull on the clothes I had waiting, wincing as they rip for my wings. thinking somberly about the future, I exit the washroom.
As I return, I see Blake at his computer terminal. He's always been an early riser. Of course I go over to see what he's doing. He looks up as I approach. "Hey, Julia, look at this." He says, indicating today's orders, which are updated electronically every morning. They state that "today's mission will be handled by Mechanized forces, all marines report to the Armory for additional training". Mechanized forces mean they're looking for numbers, not human skill. The next line will have the Medic assignments. For Tim, it's a simulation course, for me, it's reporting to Doctor Hanson in the lab to begin our studies. I look back at Blake, who appears happy about the schedule, probably because it doesn't involve being put in the line of fire. I do wonder what the mission will be, but it's not the most important thing on my mind at the moment. I still have around fifteen minutes before I can to leave, so I sit down next to him at the terminal. I ask "you're excited your job is being replaced by machines? And I thought I was supposed to be the crazy one."
He responds simply "they can have my job, so long as they don't take my pay." I finally pay attention to what's on the terminal, he had been talking to his family, although his dad had just logged off. He was lucky, his family supported the Raiders, his father worked as a technician in a Dominion funded corporation, and he passed along any new schematics he could to the Raiders. His mom had passed away years earlier, on Tarsonis, and his two brothers were a Firebat and an SCV pilot.
At thoughts of family, old sadness again invades my thoughts, my immediate family was dead, I was an only child and my parents had died in a hull breach when I was nineteen. I'd gotten over it, mostly. I push it to the back of my mind and once again simply resolve to do the best that I can. I ask Blake "how are they doing?"
He answers with "fine, they've mostly been worried about you ever since you went missing. I told them you were back but didn't go into many details"
"thanks, I'd rather tell them myself."
He agrees "I thought you would". after that, he turns to fully face me, looking serious. "how are you doing? I know this... whole thing cannot be easy for you, although I can't even imagine what you're going through".
I shake my head, and sigh before saying "we'll see... I'm still kind of in shock over the whole thing. it's only been a couple of days since it happened. I jump when I look down and see my hands, and my entire center of balance has been thrown off by my wings. mostly, it's just surreal though."
"we're here for you, you know that. if you have anything you need to talk about, or just need anything... we'll be here." I'm grateful for this offer, and won't hesitate to take him up on it. the serious stuff over with, our talking turns to lighter subjects, and stays there for fifteen minutes.
After that, the lights power back to full, and the day cycle begins. People begin to move in their bunks, and I ask Blake "would you mind escorting me to the lab? I'm not supposed to go anywhere without a guard"
he chuckles softly "sure, although I'd put my money on you in a fight any day" I cuff him lightly on the back of the head, and he chuckles softly. He does have a sense of humor; it's just not as extravagant as mine or Zeke's. We exit the barracks, and I head to the laboratory again.
As with last time, the artifacts unnerve me, almost on an instinctive level, so I ask Blake "do those artifacts give you any... uneasy feelings?".
He shakes his head in the negative and says "I don't feel anything around these things. Maybe it has something to do with your… condition, I would ask." I nod, and he leaves to the armory.
Hanson hasn't shown up yet, as the Day cycle has just started, so I begin the tests without her, logging into my profile, my DNA having been accepted into the system by Raynor over its protest of "Zerg DNA Detected". Speaking of DNA it may be a good idea to look over mine. that doesn't mean by base pairs, that would take more time than I've been alive, but by proposed function. We have a relatively good understanding of the human Genome by now, and as such have clipped together certain areas of coding that create a certain Phenotype. It appears the statement "you are fifty percent the same as a banana" holds true for infestation as well. Only about three percent variation in genes from when I was human, that's more than enough to be a new species, but still I had figured it would be more than that. Then I realized that Introns had been disabled in the scan. I enable them and the percentage jumps to seven. That makes a little more sense, considering that my metabolism has likely been overhauled, my telomeres lengthened to give me longer life, most of my major organs mutated, and an additional pair of prehensile limbs grown. Unfortunately, that completely messes up the system, as it is set to "human" and "infested Terran" isn't a search parameter.
as I am looking at my genetics, Hanson comes in, and upon seeing me, says "ah, you're already here." I nod absently, still trying to find out what the point of this new gene on Chromosome 5 is. The zerg have really used c-5 to its fullest potential in me, kicking out almost all the introns to make way for new coding. It's the one with the most changes overall, with around 50% of its surface, or three percent of my genetic material, being changed on it. Scientific detachment is a great thing, as it stops me from freaking out when I realize how calmly I just thought that. She comes over and looks at the new gene with me.
"I think that's the coding region for the virus itself" she says, and I mentally kick myself for missing that.
Then I ask "so do you think that mean I'm contagious?" I'd never really thought about it…
"No, the Virus I've already looked over, it's coded to your own cells, and is used to increase mutation. It cannot infect anything not already marked with special receptors on Zerg cells." relieved that I won't be spreading this any time soon, we get down to work, dissecting my changed Genome.
Raynor stood at the Bridge, looking between the face of Nova, and that of Tosh. He'd been manipulated by Tosh, but the man was trying to bring down the dominion, or so he said. He'd keep a close eye on him, but he would not listen to a dominion Ghost, all chronic liars and manipulators, over him. Besides, it would be good to have a psychic onboard, even one that he didn't fully trust yet could have his uses. Nova gave no promise to help his revolution, only saying that if he didn't do what she said, then Tosh was going to go psychotic and kill him. Once again that goes back to the chronic liars and manipulators argument. His mind made up, he looks first at Tosh "you should have told me what you were really planning, Tosh" then he looks over at Nova, "but I'll take your word over a Dominion Assassin's any day. We've come this far together, may as well see it through."
Frustrated, Nova replies "you've made a poor choice, Mr. Raynor." And cuts the communication.
Tosh, looking pleased, says "I knew I could count on you, brother" in his trademark accent, "now let's go break open new Folsom"
After that, tactics were discussed and a plan arrived at. Tosh would lead, using stealth to infiltrate and sabotage the enemy while Raynor sent in the Mechs to keep the pressure on the dominion. Mechs were more expensive than regular soldiers, but they had the advantage of not costing anything more than minerals if things went south. That said, they did cost more of the omni-useful material, sixty standard units, one unit being what is necessary to replace one Neosteel plate on a Command Center. He may call in real marines to deal with base defense, but he would not be sending them on the attack.
He watches from the Birds Eye view as Tosh systematically dismantles the defenses in the way of his mechanical soldiers. Realizing how heavily defended the main base is, Raynor begins the construction of nuclear silos. He has deployed four squads of real marines, Epsilon Theta to guard the front lines, Bravo Delta to the first prison block, and the Golf and Sierra squads to his main base of operations.
Finally, with the help of a siege tank push, and diamondbacks alongside his Mechs, Tosh is able to destroy the main base. Nova hacks into his comm channel one last time to say her parting words, "you just unleashed a nightmare on all of us, Raynor. Heaven help you now."
He cuts her out, and turns his attention to Tosh, as he almost reverently says "and the walls come tumbling down, Be Free, my brothers and sisters, your new life awaits." It was a little melodramatic, but not more than one can expect from him. He calls Matt Horner up for the after action report, and sends a dropship down for Tosh.
He looks out of his battlecruiser window at the burning wreckage of New Folsom, and as he hears Matt coming up behind him. still looking out, thinking deeply, he says "fifty years, and no one's ever escaped new Folsom, but we broke it open in an afternoon."
Matt responds "I can hardly believe we pulled it off."
As If on cue, and probably waiting for his dramatic entrance, Tosh decloaks and states "you guys did good, now me an' my spectres'll finish the job. We'll kill Mengsk, and burn his dominion to the ground."
Matt, the idealist, decides to argue that point. "defeating Mengsk is just the start, this is about building a better future." He pulls up a prisoner manifest on the holo display board. "Don't you see? We just released every scientist, philosopher or free-thinker who ever challenged Mengsk's rule. That, was our real victory today." Tosh, in a display of annoyance, throws his butterfly knife into the gold overlay. It sticks, sinking into the soft metal.
"You're really that naïve? Tomorrow there'll be a new Mengsk, and another one after that. You're great shining dream of the future, is just an illusion."
Raynor pulls out the knife, closes it, and asks Tosh "So if it's all so bleak, what do you get out of all this?"
"Same thing as you, brother, I don't quit 'till Mengsk is dead" Raynor looks down at the knife, reminded of another operative, one who was not as lucky as the girl in the laboratory with Hanson.
"Vengeance doesn't factor into this, or revolution is about freedom." Raynor walks up, and solemnly puts his hand on Matt's shoulder, stopping him.
He again thinks back to all that he has lost, his wife and son, then Sarah, and finally those he lost because he lost her. "You'll see that better future, matt." He moves away, and hands Tosh's knife back to him. "but it ain't for the likes of us" Raynor walks out of the bridge, his thoughts heavy. He hears the telltale noise of tosh's Cloak engaging behind him.