Author's Note: This chapter was supposed to have gone up a few days ago, but work schedules made that impossible. Anyways in this chapter I hope develop a little bit on Matt and Mira's relationship. A lot of people feel it may be too weird to work, but there's plenty of things in the Starcraft universe that's considered weird.
Blackhole1, you took the easy way out with their relationship by simply having Mira killed in your chapter 42 so that Matt could avoid the whole ordeal altogether. I won't give him a similar escape route, at least not so easily.
Chapter 62
Medbay, Dominion Base, Bel'Shir
Dr. Collins paused for a moment at the entrance to her patient's door. Although the last check up hadn't caused any problems, there were no assurances that this time would be the same. The last time she was here was about four hours ago, when the marine patient was still asleep. By now, the sedatives and tranquilizers would have begun to wear off, which means it's likely that her patient would be awake.
Still, she hoped her patient would be smart enough to not go all psycho on her if he has the strength to. She had armed guards posted right outside the room, and they were ready to step in at a moment's notice in the event something begins to go wrong.
She used her ID to open the outer door and exchanged a few words with the marines posted outside. They gave her a curt nod before stepping aside, allowing her access to her patient. He was awake, but thankfully was still lying quietly on the hospital bed, his eyes staring upwards at the ceiling.
"Dr. Collins, you here for another checkup?" One of the doctors in the room asked.
"Along those lines," the female doctor answered. "Please leave me with our patient, I would like to speak to him alone."
The Dominion doctors nodded, as they began to leave. "Just be careful, all right? We'll have the marines outside be alerted in the event anything goes wrong."
Dr. Collins waited until they had all left, and the door slid shut behind them, before pulling up a chair and sitting down near the bed. "I'm glad to see you're not causing any trouble like last time, private Jenkins."
"Not exactly in a position to," the marine grumbled. "You medics dosed me with so much sedatives and tranquilizers that I can hardly move right now."
"I apologize for any discomfort you may be feeling, but it's for your own good," Collins assured. "The exposure to the terrazine gas probably had a greater effect on you than most of us even realize."
"Like what?" Jenkins demanded angrily. "If you're talking about addiction, don't tell me you've never heard of marines using stimulants before."
"It's not exactly something you want to be addicted to," the doctor said, shaking her head. "You can say all you want about the benefits it has on the battlefield, but the fact remains that if you use it for too long it'll cause tissue damage to your entire body. On the other hand, the terrazine gas got you addicted within just a few seconds of inhalation."
"You have no idea what it felt like," her patient countered. "It gave me far more satisfaction than the other stimulants I've taken in the past."
"Yeah I've seen your record," Collins stated calmly. "I know you were a drug addict when you were young, gotten into all sorts of trouble in stealing drugs from wherever you could get your hands on. Though it looks like your stimulant activity dropped after you became part of the Confederate Marine Corps."
"Some habits don't die as easily," Jenkins said. "It took some time before the local authorities caught up with me. When they did, they put me in a prison cell where I was to serve a 25 year sentence. Of course, later on and the threat of total war became more and more imminent, well let's just say my sentence got modified."
"It still doesn't change the fact that you're one of the countless numbers of criminals the Confederacy took from the prisons and subjected you to the neural resocialization process. After the establishment of the Dominion and you becoming a Dominion marine, it looks like the resocialization process was still on people's minds."
"They told me it was better than the Confederacy's ways because I'd have a chance at a normal life once I proved myself and do my duty," the marine replied. "I just didn't get much of a chance to prove that because after the so called Brood War the Dominion Marine Corps went into a state of quietness for the next four years."
Collins shook her head. It amazed her at just how easily people like Jenkins could be manipulated and deceived. "I'm surprised at this by you. According to the records, you're considered one of the more intellectual marines, which would give you a greater chance of being promoted, instead of just the average grunt who doesn't understand anything except who to fire his weapon at."
"What are you getting at?"
"Well we can drop the subject of what you think of proving yourself in the marine corps, I'm not here to argue that. If you're really as intellectual as the records indicate, by now even you should know that the terrazine gas that you were exposed to has made you act very abnormally."
"I've seen strange visions and heard strange voices," Jenkins admitted. "I tried to tune them out, but they just kept replaying in my head over and over again. Yet at the same time, the gas that I inhaled seemed to offer me some sort of comfort or something, like some sort of soothing feeling to my brain. I can't quite describe it, it's something you just have to feel to understand."
The female doctor nodded in understanding. General Madison's explanations about what he had dug up about the terrazine substance seem to match with what her patient was telling her in terms of what he was experiencing upon being exposed to it. So far, it seems like Jenkins is trying to regain control of himself, but on the other hand this could all be a trick to get her to lower her guard.
"These hallucinations and such that you experienced are similar to stimulant drugs of terran origins," she said. "Terrazine does the same thing, just at a much faster rate. Nevertheless, it has the same weakness just like any other drug: you don't take it for long enough, and you'll overcome the addiction."
"But it's like nothing I ever felt before!" Jenkins protested. "Why are you asking me to give that up?"
Collins sighed. "I spoke with General Madison about it, and he found out some information regarding the terrazine. Let's just say the Dominion has experimented with this substance before, and the end results were disastrous."
The marine raised an eyebrow. "Suppose I believe you. If that's true, why were we ordered here to collect more on the emperor's orders?"
"I don't know the details to that," the doctor admitted. "He hasn't said anything beyond the fact that this will help him reestablish control over the Dominion worlds once again. The way I see it, all I can say is that whatever his plans are, it's not meant to expose Dominion marines to this substance, at least not in this manner. You went completely out of control when you inhaled it, and I'm concerned that anyone else who gets exposed to the terrazine substance will react in the same way. For that reason, until you are free of the addiction, you could be a liability on the battlefield and a danger to those around you, and that's something we simply cannot risk."
Jenkins exhaled in frustration. "I'm not stupid, doctor. You're referring to when I attacked people with a scalpel, which led to me being sedated. What kind of a threat am I supposed to pose? You and the rest of the medical team have me on tranquilizers that it's hard enough just to stay awake, let alone move around and do anything."
"I want to believe you," Collins said gently. "I really do. But cautions are necessary. Right now, we simply don't know how long it'll take before your addiction to the terrazine will wear off. Maybe you're right and these steps are unnecessary. But if we're wrong, sending you back out onto the battlefield would be a danger to all of us. Remember, whatever our military strength on Bel'Shir is, it's simply too weak for any fighting against the remaining Tal'darim Protoss on this moon. Everyone who steps out onto the battlefield has to be extremely careful of what they're doing, lest we get spotted. With the state you're in, the Dominion officers will never agree to have you suit back up."
Slowly, she rose from her seat and stated for the exit door. As the door slid open, she turned around. "Please try and get some rest, Jenkins. Understand that no one here wants to hurt you, we're only taking precautionary measures, nothing more. We can't afford to have more people exposed to the terrazine like you had been."
Without another word she turned around and left, leaving the dazed and confused marine alone in his own thoughts.
Mira's Mansion, Dead Man's Rock
"If there's one thing you do have, it's in the form of your persistence and persuasiveness," Matt grumbled, as he stepped out of the System Runner aerospace craft with Mira. "Even now I still don't get how the hell you managed to persuade me to leave the Hyperion and ride with you to this location just outside of Paradise."
"You're my husband, Matthew," the pink haired mercenary leader said. "You really think just because we were out of contact for a while that I wouldn't know you at all?"
"Well at least you got the drinks right," the captain said grudgingly. "You certainly did your homework on that part with regards to the minibar you got in there."
"Please, Matthew. Don't take everything so seriously. You're acting like this entire trip to Dead Man's Rock is purely business."
"Isn't it?" Matt folded his arms. "We had to divert away from our original path from Paradise after your men detected Dominion troops questioning the local population about your location. That means they're not too far away, and could be closing in on you as we speak."
Mira pointed upwards, gesturing to the other ships flying over them. "With your reinforcements, I'm certain we'll be able to beat off the Dominion without a problem."
Matt shook his head. "And where are the rest of your mercenary troops? You told me you hid a major chunk of them right here, I don't see any around."
"They are, just not above ground," the female mercenary leader answered, before tugging at Matt's arm. "Now come on, I want to show you around this place."
Horner rubbed his chin as he gazed at the mansion before him. "When I first saw it from above, I thought I was hallucinating," he said. "I thought the whole of Dead Man's Rock is nothing but a dumping ground for derelict ships and other vehicles. It certainly was confirmed the last time I was here at Deadman's Port. But this mansion? It almost makes me think I'm on a completely new planet all of a sudden."
"It wasn't easy in the restoration of this place," Mira admitted, as the two of them began walking up the front steps.
"What do you mean?"
"Remember what I told you about the Zerg attack on Dead Man's Rock a year ago?" Off Matt's nod, Mira continued, "This mansion belonged to Ethan Stewart, and the Zerg had abducted with him. The mansion itself didn't suffer too much damage, which you can call that a miracle given what happens to a planet when the Zerg land on it. Still, given the slender resources Dead Man's Rock had, rebuilding it was no easy task."
She opened the door and Matt's eyes widened at the sight. The mansion truly was a palace. Instead of the rusted wooden planks infested with termites and covered with several inches of dust, he was seeing dark olive colored marble flooring. Every inch of it was shiny, not a single trace of dust anywhere. They were so shiny that they caught the reflected light from the chandeliers that hung from the ceiling.
As they walked further down the entry hall, Matt could see the expensive porcelain ceramic wares displayed throughout the hall. The walls themselves were elegant in gleaming reddish wood, and there were dozens of trophy heads of various wildlife animals hanging from them. The captain quickly recognized the tusked head of an Ursadon, the feline face of a Bengalaas, and the pterosaur like head of a Kakaru.
"These are considered the prizes of game hunters," Mira explained, as she gestured to another section of the wall. "You can see some of them are also collectors of sorts."
"I'll be damned," Matt mused, as his eyes locked on a display of scorpion like creatures known as the Scantids. There were hundreds of them, each of a different variety, all pinned to the wall.
He quickly snapped back into business mode. "Still, regardless of how elegant this place is, I don't get why you brought me here. This isn't any fortified military position or anything like that. To me, this looks more like the boudoir of a royal princess than of a military commander. And since there's virtually no other place on this whole planet like it, aren't you standing yourself out?"
"Matt, you've come a long way," his wife said softly. "You can deny it all you want, but the reality of the matter is your brain is near a pile of mush by now. I may not know exactly what you and the Raiders have been doing after your victory on Char, but something tells me you didn't just sit back and take a breather."
Horner was about to respond when Mira continued, "You may not show it on the outside, but I can tell your mind is near spent right now. What you need is a full day's worth of rest, if not more. You try commanding the troops in your state, you'll burn yourself out in the blink of an eye. If that happens, our hopes to defeat the Dominion here will fall apart. My troops may not be the kinds to take orders from you, and you know as well as I do that there's no way the Raiders are going to take orders from me."
"Aren't you forgetting the fact that Jim had done his share of the command as well?" Matt asked.
"Had I not seen the Queen of Blades when you arrived I might have agreed," Mira stated. "I'm sure Raynor was more preoccupied over the safety of his girlfriend instead, given the fact everyone probably wanted her head on a platter."
Matt sighed. Despite her ruthlessness as a mercenary, Mira still proved to be relatively intelligent. Indeed, even now, Jim continued to worry about Kerrigan's safety. It wasn't that he felt she couldn't handle herself, it was more because he remained concerned how others would react to seeing her. This wasn't unjustified either, as the Raiders and Warfield's troops still remain uncomfortable about her, so obviously if Mira's mercenaries find out that she was the Queen of Blades, it's highly unlikely they'd be able to control their rage against her.
Given that, the captain had to admit that Jim had spent a tremendous amount of energy trying to keep her safe, which certainly distracted him from commanding the Raiders as Matt hoped he would.
Accepting defeat, he lowered his head a little. "All right, Mira. You win this round. I'll admit I could use a period of rest and relaxation right about now."
His wife nodded, smiling a little at the sight, before tugging gently on Matt's arm. "Come on, this way."
The two of them walked on until they reached a tall curving staircase, where they ascended the stairs and reached a set of mammoth doors, also comprised of the shiny reddish wood.
Mira pulled a skeleton key out of her pocket. "Make yourself at home, Matthew," she said, unlocking the door.
Matt whistled as he gazed at the room before him. It had been a long time since he had seen a sight like this. The Hyperion had been Mengsk's flagship during the days of the Sons of Korhal. However when Raynor formed the Raiders and made off with it, they had done some modifications to the living quarters. Instead of the luxurious apartment like state that most BattleCruisers tended to have for their captains, both Raynor and his rooms on the Hyperion only had a bed, a sofa, and a few other pieces of furniture.
The room before him, on the other hand, had to be at least 10 times the size of his quarters. Mira moved toward a large window and pulled back the black heavy curtains. Sunlight streamed in, and Matt had to shut his eyes for a moment at the sheer brightness. When he opened them again, he saw that the sunlight had revealed a lavished bedroom with a canopied king sized bed and absolutely beautiful furnishings. Even from the doorway, the fresh scent of the overstuffed pillows invaded his nostrils, as did the creamy bed sheets.
The room itself was painted a bright emerald color, and its shine was carried through the bedposts to a nightstand at the foot of the bed. The nightstand itself carried a large ceramic bowl filled with apples, grapes, oranges, and pears. Located next to the bedroom was a sitting room with a sofa and a cozy burning fireplace.
"I wasn't exactly too sure if you had developed tastes for new alcohol and what not," Mira stated, pointing to a sideboard. "So I decided to gather all different types of beer and liquor to play it safe."
"What's with the humidor?" Matt asked, looking at the cigarette container next to the bed.
"Well, even now I'm still not sure just how heavy a smoker you are," his wife said. "But I do know you would enjoy one to relieve some stress."
Mira then pointed to the other side of the sitting room. "If you can't stand the stench of the rest of Dead Man's Rock, don't worry. Millions of people here would tell you the same thing. The bathing area is just beyond there. And don't worry, the water pumped through these pipes are genuine, not just recycled sewage water you saw in the towns and villages. Faucets are gold-plated and made of high quality metals and the tile walls are ceramic, not just the rubbish iron and wooden crap that last barely a week elsewhere on the planet."
"I have to hand it to you," Matt said, shaking his head. "If this is your way of living like royalty, you've certainly convinced me."
"We can discuss more of this after you're fully rested, Matthew," Mira said calmly, gesturing to the bathroom. "Please, put your thoughts away long enough for a hot shower and a long sleep, you need it."
The captain sighed, but gave her a curt nod, and without another word Mira turned around and walked out of the room, leaving Matt alone to ponder his situation.
Underground Mercenary Hangar, Dead Man's Rock
"All right Raiders," one of Mira's mercenaries announced, as they stood in front of a huge metallic door. "Behind this door is clear proof that the mansion built above you was not just for the hell of it. Beyond here used to be a cave complex system, but the crime lord Ethan Stewart had modified it, changing it to suit military purposes. A huge section of our forces are stationed here, well underground and out of detection range of scanners. This was where Mira Han had sent us to when reports had confirmed that Dominion ships were in orbit around Dead Man's Rock."
The Raiders looked at one another and frowned. "And how exactly are we supposed to get in there?" one of the marines asked, folding his arms. "That door has 3 layers of safeguards to make sure no intruders enter: genetic material, voice recognition, and retinal scanning."
"Mira had factored all that in already," came the reply. "For the time being, all 3 safeguards have been temporarily disabled, so that you will be able to get inside and cooperate with our forces. They have already been notified that there are former Dominion troops alongside the Raiders, so there won't be any surprises there."
Without another word the mercenary soldier turned around and entered a few codes into the keypad next to the door, and a message appeared on the screen above the keypad: Code accepted. Access to hanger granted.
The massive door swung inward, and Lieutenant Franklin's eyes widened as he stared into the cave. It certainly matched the description Mira Han had said during their trip to the mansion. There were large pieces of equipment sitting around, and swarms of mercenary soldiers moving about moving box after box of cargo onto vehicles. There were constant patrols of foot soldiers and Goliath walkers marching around the complex.
At the far end, the cave opened up to the sky for easier ship take offs and landings. Armed gun turrets with mercenaries in them were present, with spotlights constantly sweeping over the entire area. In the middle of the cavern, there was a metallic control center, also with mercenary technicians moving about and doing their duties.
Franklin whistled. "For a planet that's supposed to be nothing more than a toxic dumping ground, this is one impressive military complex."
"I'll take that as a compliment," one of the mercenaries said. "Nevertheless, we only have a very small portion modern ground and air vehicles. The vast majority of what we've got is outdated and disorganized."
"He's right," Kerrigan said, walking up from behind Franklin. "Take a closer look at the vehicles."
The lieutenant squinted carefully, and sure enough, he could see that despite having Orlan's forces at her disposal, Mira's mercenary force was still largely comprised of military equipment from years ago, if not decades.
Nearby, he could see Mining Scout trucks parked, while others were slowly moving about and transporting troops around the hanger. Similarly, Ore Loaders meant for mineral mining were also used as transports. While occasionally the Dominion uses the Ore Loaders as well, the ones here had no armor plating, and therefore would be very vulnerable to small arms fire.
Next to them were Sloth bulldozers, designed for earth moving. During the Guild Wars the Kel-Morians removed the dozer blades and replaced them with cannons, and this seemed to be exactly the case with Mira Han's forces. Clearly there was a need to improvise.
Combat cars from the Guild Wars used by the Confederacy were also present, though the ones here were in an even worse shape, having no armor plating whatsoever and offering no protection to anyone riding in it. The Saber military vehicles, also used during the Guild Wars, were in a similar condition, but at least the gauss cannon on its top was still functional, which ensured it a measure of offensive ability.
All of these vehicles were inferior to the Dominion Armored Personnel Carriers and Stinger jeeps, and Sarah knew that against such modern weaponry, it would take overwhelming numbers to compensate for their quality weaknesses.
The aerospace vehicles were in a similar manner. Instead of the Hercules Dropships that they had at their disposal, Mira's forces were limited to the Giant-class cargo ships from almost 15 years ago. While they were capable of carrying more material compared to the Hercules ships, they were also much slower and had no armor, thus depending on escorting fighters for protection.
Nearby were engineers doing maintenance on Freight Ships. While more modern and still used by the Dominion, the ones the red haired ghost could see were in an appalling state, just barely holding itself together without even being airborne. The Heavy Transports further down the hanger were more promising, but Sarah quickly saw that their armor plates were cracked and rusted and thus would not offer optimum protection to anyone aboard.
The only decent quality transport ship that the mercenaries seemed to have were the Planet Hoppers and Heavy Landers, still used by the Dominion military for troop transport. But as always, Kerrigan saw those were relatively few in number, and neither could carry many troops within.
Franklin had told her about the Dominion use of Assault Dropships in addition to the Medivac ones, the former having its medical support replaced with twin rotary cannons. He had also told her of the use of Grizzly fighter-bombers, which also had the role of troop transport. Given the poor state of the mercenary ones, Kerrigan could see right away that the Raiders' Wraiths and other ships would be hard pressed to protect them.
This was not surprising given the state of the mercenary fighter aircraft. For starters, Mira's forces had no access to BattleCruisers at all, though there was limited access to the smaller Scoutships usually attached to them. They were inferior to Wraiths, but Franklin had suggested that they could be used to counter the Dominion Grizzlies as they were ineffective against aerial opponents.
Beyond that, most of the mercenary air fighter power was limited to Avengers and Hellhounds, used by the Confederacy and the Kel-Morian Combine during the Guild Wars. While the Avenger had rocket pods similar to that of the Banshee, their targeting systems were primitive in comparison. Similarly, the Hellhounds had better accuracy with their laser weapons, but they were not as powerful as the burst lasers fired by Wraiths.
Looking around, Sarah saw that this was going to require a lot of cooperation between the Raiders and the mercenaries if they were to have any chance of driving the Dominion forces off Dead Man's Rock without a bloodbath.
"Now," the leading mercenary announced, as a group of mercenaries stepped forward. "I believe it is time both of our sides get better acquainted with one another."
"And they're agreeing to this?" Franklin asked, folding his arms.
"It's not really a matter of that, soldier. No matter how you carve it, we have to work together here to deal with the Dominion forces. If we fail, it'll be a catastrophe. Dead Man's Rock could permanently lose its independence and become under Dominion law, and that is something we'll never accept."
"We'll have to hope Matt and Mira can patch things up in their relationship," Sarah told Franklin gently. "Otherwise, well I don't think I need to tell you just how much friction there's going to be among all of us."
"You think it'll work?" he asked.
Kerrigan rolled her eyes. "You honestly think their relationship is weird?"
"Well obviously," Franklin retorted. "Horner doesn't seem to understand a damn thing about desperate times call for desperate measures. I admit I'm not comfortable with working with mercenaries myself, but that guy doesn't even want to think about it. Having a wanted mercenary leader for a wife is something he just can't accept. Talk about a weird couple."
Sarah shook her head. "Look who you're talking to. Only a matter of weeks ago I was the most hunted person in the galaxy for spreading chaos and destruction across worlds throughout the Koprulu Sector. Compared to them, the relationship I have with Jim is far weirder."
Even Franklin had nothing to say about Kerrigan's statement there.
Tarsonis City, Tarsonis
There were advantages to operating alone. You didn't need to worry about anyone but yourself, and there was no one to slow you down and become a liability problem. Such were the natural characteristics of ghost operatives, and most were content with just that.
For Nova however, now was certainly not one of those times. This wasn't one of those assassination, infiltration, or any of the other missions she had been assigned to when she was still Agent X41822N of the Terran Dominion. She was a ruthless killing machine back then, and she was good at it. Never once did she fail in a mission assigned to her, and her unparalleled ability had struck fear into the Dominion's enemies.
This time, however, was completely different.
For starters, she was not the hunter, but rather the hunted. And unlike terran adversaries, the Zerg did not fear her the slightest bit. No matter how many of them she put a bullet through their heads with her C-20 Canister Rifle, all it succeeded in doing was make them more angry. The Spider Mines she set from the Vulture did no better. Although they had done their job and blown Zerglings to pieces, more of them simply took their place.
It hadn't been long before the Zerg had quickly wised up. To the blond ghost's surprise, they had actually predicted her driving patterns and had moved a Nydus Worm directly in front of her path, where Banelings poured out of their mouths. She had jumped off at the last moment to avoid being engulfed in the explosion, but the Vulture was lost.
Now, she was running from one dilapidated building to another, hiding from the Zerg. There was no way to reestablish radio contact with Jim as the radio had been in the Vulture when the Banelings blew it up. This meant that she would have to reach him on foot, and there was no telling exactly where he was now. Tarsonis City was huge, its population in the tens of millions before the Zerg invasion. Trying to locate Jim and the others could take who knows how long.
Still, she knew even if she couldn't reach him, he would certainly come to look for her. Even before the Char invasion, despite seeing Jim completely worn out and shattered by what happened to Kerrigan, Nova could see that he was the type of commander who would leave no one behind, especially not to the Zerg. If she couldn't locate him, she could always hold out in one spot and wait for relief.
Of course, this was much easier said than done. After all the Zerg she had killed, all the rounds in her C-20 Canister Rifle had been expended. She was down to only her Flak Pistol, and although it fired explosive rounds, they were usually ineffective against targets except at very close range. Given how quickly Zerglings, Roaches, and Hydralisks could tear a person apart with their scythes and claws, few ever had the nerve to even try.
To make matters even worse, the last glimpse she had of her pursuers were in the form of Ultralisks. Clearly the Zerg had had enough, and brought out the big guns. Against them, her Flak Pistol was completely useless. Sure as a sharpshooter, she could shoot their eyes blind, but given the incredible healing rate that all Zerg creatures have, the Ultralisks would regain their sight in less than a minute.
At that moment, the wall behind her suddenly crumbled. Nova whirled around to see the sight of an Ultralisk trying to smash through the wall with its Kaiser Blades. Wasting no time, she sprinted towards one of the windows and jumped out onto the street, only to be greeted by the sight of even more Ultralisks. They roared in anger, and charged towards her.
Channeling her psionic powers, Nova unleashed a psionic blast at the closest Zerg beast. It was only enough to make the Ultralisk stumble backwards for a moment, but that was enough. She took off running, as the next ruined building was less than 500 feet away. Given their massive size, the Ultralisks would have difficulty navigating through the rubble, but she would be able to do so with ease.
However as she neared the building, a Glaive Wurm parasite projectile suddenly exploded right in front of her. Nova looked up to see Mutalisks closing in on her position. She made another attempt to reach the building, but more Glaive Wurm explosions forced her back.
Clenching her teeth in frustration, Nova sprinted in the only direction left available to her. Slightly away from the building was a narrow alleyway. Surprisingly enough, the Mutalisks made no attempt to interfere as she ran there.
But when she made it into the alleyway, Nova's eyes widened in shock. The alley extended less than 20 feet forward, then it was a dead end. The Mutalisks had tricked her. They forced her to run in this direction so that they would finally be able to trap her where they wanted her.
As Nova turned around to run back out, it was already too late. An Ultralisk had already reached the entrance to the corridor, but was unable to get any closer because the alley was too narrow and the Zerg beast itself was too massive. Roaring in frustration, the Ultralisk began to tear at the walls with its Kaiser Blades, and Nova could see in the distance that more Ultralisks were gathered behind it.
Now she understood what Kerrigan had felt when she had been abandoned by Mengsk at New Gettysburg. A year ago, when she was on the planet Altara and encountered the Zerg, she swore she would never share Kerrigan's fate. Now it appeared she had no choice in the matter.
There was no escape for her. Even if she emptied all of her rounds into the Ultralisks, it would only have minor effect. And no matter how much skill she possessed, there was no way she could fight off a pack of Ultralisks with just a pistol and her psionic powers.
Nevertheless, she would go down fighting. Nova took aim at the Ultralisk tearing at the alley walls and fired. As predicted, the explosive round had virtually no effect, but that didn't stop her from emptying more rounds into the beast.
As she backed up into the dead end, Nova mentally reminded herself to save the last round. If she couldn't get out of this alive, she would at least ensure she didn't become infested. After seeing what the infestation had done to Sarah, Nova doubted that she would be strong enough to maintain her sanity as Kerrigan had.
But then, to her surprise, the wall behind her suddenly moved and gave way like a door, and she stumbled backwards before slipping and falling down a flight of stairs. As she pulled herself up, she saw a hooded figure standing over her.
The figure kneeled down slightly and pulled off the hood. "Nova? Is that really you?"
The blond ghost's eyes widened at the familiarity of the voice, as well as the face of the man that she was looking at.
"Mal? Mal Kelerchian?"