The two children were taken in and Eowyn said to the little girl, "It's alright. He's checking your brother."
"My lady, the glucose in this boy is fewer than regular. Those children haven't eaten for like a long time," Stetmann told her after examining the boy medically.
Eowyn had the children fed and passed what the boy told her to the king, "They had no warning. They were unarmed. Now the Wild Men are moving through the Westfold, burning as they go. Rick, cot and tree."
"Where is Mama?" the little girl asked when Eowyn gave her a cloth to keep her warm.
"We'll find your mom later. I hope she's alive," Stetmann mollified the little girl.
"I'm starting hate Saruman for massacring civilians," Jim muttered. "He reminds me of Mengsk."
"Me too," said Kerrigan.
"This is but a taste of the terror that Saruman will unleash. All the more potent for he is driven now by fear of Sauron and Amon. Ride out and meet him head on. Draw him away from your women and children. You must fight," Gandalf stated the fact to the king.
"You have 2,000 good men riding north as we speak. Eomer is loyal to you. His men will return and fight for their king," said Aragorn.
"We also have Jim Raynor and his allies. They except for the Zerg all possessed powerful weapons that Saruman and his armies cannot stand against. The Zerg themselves are powerful in their own ways," Gandalf informed Theoden.
"They will be 300 leagues from here by now. Eomer cannot help us. Even Jim and his allies are aiding us; there are just 11 of them. How can 11 stand against the entire army of Saruman and Sauron?" Theoden got off from his throne.
"We won't be alone on this, your majesty. Our armies will reinforce your men in this coming war," said Jim.
"Have you not known that Amon is aiding Sauron too," Kerrigan got the king's attention.
"Who's Amon?"
"The Dark God, he seeks destruction on us all," Artanis replied.
"You'll be surprised to see what Jim, his allies, and their armies are made of. They've been through their own war before coming here. What they have seen is what we have never seen before. They can take down thousands or millions of Orcs," said Aragorn.
"Even so, I know what it is you want of me, but I will not bring further death to my people. I will not risk open war," said Theoden.
"You will not risk an open war, but Saruman started the war on you," Artanis got the king's attention.
"Artanis is right, open war is upon you, whether you would risk it or not," Aragorn agreed.
"When I last looked, Theoden, not Aragorn, was king of Rohan," Theoden said to Aragorn.
"Then what is the king's decision?" Gandalf asked.
The next day, a captain shouted, "By order of the king, the city must empty. We make for the refuge of Helm's Deep. Do not burden yourself with treasures. Take only what provisions you need."
"Helm's Deep," Gandalf muttered as he, Aragorn, Gimli, and Jim walked to the stables.
"They flee to the mountains when they should stand and fight. Who will defend them if not their king?" said Gimli.
"He's only doing what he thinks is best for his people. Helm's Deep has saved them in the past," said Aragorn.
"I doubt Helm's Deep will be able to do the same like you said so in the past," said Jim.
"There is no way out of that ravine. Theoden is walking into a trap. He thinks he's leading them to safety. What they will get is a massacre. Theoden has a strong will, but I fear for him. I fear for the survival of Rohan. He will need both of you before the end, Jim and Aragorn. The people of Rohan will need you and your allies. The defenses have to hold," Gandalf stated his concern.
"They will hold," said Aragorn.
"We'll keep Saruman's army at bay no matter how large he will send against us. We Terrans, Zerg, and Protoss will be of great help in the defenses," said Jim.
Gandalf gave Shadowfax a stroke before mounting, "The Grey Pilgrim. That's what they used to call me. Three hundred lives of Men I've walked this earth, and now I have no time. With luck, my search will not be in vain. Look to my coming at first light on the fifth day. At dawn, look to the east."
"Go," Aragorn opened the gate so that Gandalf could set out on his search.
"I hope it won't take too long," Jim muttered.
Jim, Swann, Stetmann, Kerrigan, Zagara, Stukov, Dehaka, Artanis, Karax, Talandar, and Alarak held a meeting. "According to my research, Helm's Deep is the great fortress of Rohan that had sheltered the people in the past," said Stetmann.
"A castle was mainly built to withstand enemy attacks," said Stukov.
"It's a long road from here to there," said Artanis.
"We'll need a mobile force to escort the people to safety. I've been on one of these missions before and heavier units are not recommended," said Jim remembering the mission that he and his men assisted evacuating the colonists from Agria.
"Escorting a machine is one thing, but escorting a lot of people is another," Talandar muttered remembering a mission of escorting the Megalith in Endion.
"It is likely that the Zerg will make the people of Rohan nervous," Kerrigan spoke with concern.
"Just tell your Swarm to be gentle with the people because there will be women and children among them. Try not to scare any of them," said Jim.
"It is best that the minions should keep their distances," said Zagara.
"Women and children have no essence, the primals have no interest," said Dehaka.
"Should the enemy attack on the road, they have no idea of what we Tal'darim are capable of," Alarak expected an attack.
"That's the whole idea, Tal'darim," said Jim. "It looks like we're fighting alongside those Tal'darim," Jim thought remembering that he and his men had altercations with the Tal'darim over the four components of the Xel'Naga artifact.
"We'll never know what traps Saruman will set on the road," Artanis made a point.
"Then let's assemble our forces," said Jim. "Adjutant, are my troops ready?"
"Ready when you are, commander," the artificial intelligence in Jim's case replied.
"Time to call down the troops," said Jim.
Aragorn and Eowyn separately eavesdropped on their meeting unnoticed.
About 10 minutes later outside, man-made drop pods arrived first and the people all stared at wonderment. Theoden, the captains, Eowyn, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli went out to see. The marines, medics, firebats, and reapers came out of the drop pods. The special operations dropship had arrived bringing hellions and vulture bikes. Marines were upgraded with combat shields, medics with stabilizer med packs, firebats had both the incinerator gauntlets and juggernaut plating.
"Is this your army, Jim?" Aragorn asked.
"That's some of them."
"I never thought you can be a leader," said Legolas.
"You got a lot of nice machines," Gimli muttered upon seeing hellions and vultures.
"You have more men?" Eowyn asked.
"Yeah, but in more machines," Jim replied.
The marines and medics had to raise their visors to show their faces to reassure the people.
"Don't mind the firebats, they're still humans like us," a marine said to a Rohan local.
"Looks like we're getting attention here," a firebat muttered as the people of Rohan were staring at Jim's men.
"I guess the locals here think we are weirdoes," said a medic.
"It's too bad that the people here don't have vehicles like trucks for example," said a vulture biker as Jim's men saw wagons loaded with necessary supplies.
"At least being in a vehicle is better than riding a horse," a hellion driver muttered.
Sacs landed bringing zerglings, roaches, and hydralisks. Zagara's brood were regular zerg whereas Dehaka's primal zerg looked slightly different. From the strains Abathur developed, Kerrigan's zerglings were more aggressive along with the ability to jump cliffs and lunge at foes from a distance due to the raptor strain. Kerrigan's roaches were given the ability to spawn roachlings from kills while her hydralisks could morph into lurkers. Stukov had handful of unarmed infested terrans and infested marines aiding him.
"What are those creatures?" Theoden asked as the people were feeling uncomfortable when seeing the strange fierce-looking creatures.
"They are our zerg minions," Kerrigan replied.
"My pack will aid you," said Dehaka.
"So will my brood," said Zagara.
"I serve," an infested terran muttered.
The Protoss Warp Prisms arrived and warped in Protoss warriors. The Aiur zealots had bladed staffs and the robotic sentinels had a pair of purifier blades. The adept were infantry with Purifier technologies with the ability to phase while the dragoons were armored ranged striders. The Aiur High Templars were psionic warriors with the abilities of psionic storm that could restore shields to allies while damaging foes and focusing foes' energies into feedback loops. The Tal'darim ascendants had the abilities of mind blast on a single target and psionic orb that damaged multiple foes. The Aiur sentries were used to restore plasma shields of allies, the Purifier energizers boosted the speed of allies, and the Tal'darim havocs extended the allies' attack ranges. The cloaked avengers were Aiur protoss who adopted ways of the Dark Templar while the Tal'darim had their own cloaked assassins called blood hunters with the ability of void stasis. At Vorazun's absence, Artanis commanded a number of Nerazim. The Nerazim centurions that were melee warriors with a pair of warp blades along with the abilities of shadow charge and stunning foes, the cloaked Dark Templar with the ability of shadow strike, and the Nerazim stalkers that were armored ranged striders having the ability to blink while regenerating plasma shields.
"What are they?" Theoden asked when the people were staring at the other creatures with wonder.
"They are our warriors," said Artanis.
"We Tal'darim are fighting at your side," said Alarak.
"We Purifiers are on our side," said Talandar.
"I don't get why the people here are staring at us," said a zealot.
"These people here aren't Terrans but primitives," said a stalker.
"We're not what the people here see every day," a High Templar muttered.
Raynor's Raiders, the Daelaam Protoss, and the Zerg Swarm began escorting the people of Rohan to Helm's Deep.
"Theoden will not stay at Edoras. It's vulnerable. He knows this. He will expect an attack on the city. They will flee to Helm's Deep, the great fortress of Rohan. It is a dangerous road to take through the mountains. They will be slow. They will have women and children with them," Wormtongue informed Saruman.
They went into an underground cavern where there were growls and activities in a pit. "Send out your Warg riders," the treacherous wizard ordered and an orc grinned maliciously in response.
Author's Note
The next chapter will be on Frodo's group.