Chapter 10

Derk's POV

The tension was tight. I was about to lunge into combat with Ben when I heard Tenny yell from behind me:

"Every man for himself!" I was tackled hard from behind. I landed flat on the ground. I twisted around and punched Tenny hard in the jaw. The force was enough to knock him off of me. I didn't give him a chance to get up and sprung onto his back, but Tenny was smart; he rolled over, and knocked his head backwards into my face.

Dazing me for a second, Tenny took the opportunity to grab my arms, which were grasping his shoulders, and flipped me over him. We both rolled to our feet. I was suddenly hit from behind, by what felt like a thousand pounds. I recovered quickly, twisting around, I grabbed another ghost's fist. Twisting it tightly, I kicked him in the gut and using the back of his neck, I threw him into an oncoming marine.

I ducked just in time from a swing that came from behind. I whirled around to see Jackson in front of me. Dread filled my bones. Fighting someone twice your size in armor isn't the easiest task. He tried an upper cut, so I took grasp of his fist. The momentum flipped me over his head. Taking the advantage of being behind him, I jumped high in the air and kicked with both my legs into his back.

I watched his body topple over, smiling in satisfaction. But the moment didn't last long. Before I knew it, I was abruptly thrown back in battle as someone tried to tackle me. I grabbed them, hanging on my back, and flipped them over my back. I recognized Tenny. I grinned in pleasure. Pay back. I punched his head and slammed my skull into his face. Grabbing the back and top of his suit I tossed him into another soldier.

Not giving him the chance to recover, I jumped on top of him. All three of us tumbled to the ground. Unexpectedly I was abruptly pulled off of Tenny and turned around. Jenny gave me a dirty grin and then punched me in the face. She followed that up by throwing me once more onto Tenny and the marine. Before I could get her back she disappeared into the crowd.

Finally after a couple of minutes there wasn't a single man standing. Everyone was on the ground moaning. We all eventually broke off and headed back to the supply depots. I walked over to Tenny and slapped him on the back.

"Ah, I needed that," He said. "You got lucky. I should have just knocked you unconscious to begin with."

"Yeah, right. By the time you got close enough to me I would've known you were there and taken you out faster." I said lightly nudging him on the shoulder.

"Oh and don't think that I didn't see you get your butt handed to you by a girl," Tenny said nudging me back.

"Oh come on I wasn't ready."

"I thought ghosts were supposed to always be ready."

"Well I didn't have time to react," I said folding my arms.

"Alright, whatever. Let's get back; I want to get some sleep before tomorrow." Tenny said stretching his arms. We headed toward the supply depots but got intercepted by Bob the SCV.

"Um sorry sirs, but Ben wants to talk to you two," Bob said. "He's over in the command center."

"Thanks Bob," Tenny said, as the SCV headed back over to the construction of another barracks.

"Great, what does he want now?" I asked, marching toward the command center. "If he blames us for what happened I swear he'll regret the day he set eyes on Derk Treeton."

"Oh, calm down Derk. Has there not been enough fighting today?" Tenny asked.

"Pff, there's never enough fighting," I said defensively. We walked in and headed up the stairs. When we got to the top, we walked down the short hallway and merely opened the door.

"It wouldn't hurt to knock you know," Ben said, instantly. He turned to face us. "If you think you're here to be punished then you're mistaken."

"Well praise the Xelnaga. If that's not why we're here then what do you want?" I asked folding my arms.

"I have a mission for you two. You both know that Rod kid don't you?" Ben asked, turning toward us.

"Yea—"

"Well of course you do, so he does not believe that the Zerg and Protoss even exist," Ben said. I slowly started to smile. "So I need you to go change his mind."

"Now you're talking," I said.

"I'm sure Mr. Plank has told you about the planet Ozuretole, where the Zerg infested, but abandoned it for unknown reasons," Ben said.

"Oh yes, we are well aware of it," Tenny said. We both knew where this was heading.

"So will you go take him and a crew down there to teach him…well… a lesson?" Ben remarked, putting his hands behind his back.

"Well of course," Tenny said, giving me a quick glance. I nodded.

"Now that is the upside to this, unfortunately there is in fact a catch. The Orange Terran can benefit from something down on that planet."

"Oh great, I knew it wasn't going to be all pretty ponies and bright skies," I mumbled.

"Now just wait a second, it's not like I'm asking anything difficult. Our magnificent scientist, Clement Harvery needs Zerg Biomass. He said there was a mix of particles on an infester that was passed into some of the infested colonists. Find 'um, kill 'um and collect samples," Ben said.

"Okay, how much is some?" Tenny questioned.

"He didn't specifically say. Just that he needs it. If I were to throw out an estimated guess I would say three to four samples. Enough so if that mad scientist messes up he can have something to work with," Ben replied.

"Alright, fine. So, what vehicle are we going to ride in?" I asked.

"Oh we'll go with the usual medivac," Ben said, dismissively. "It will be awaiting your arrival tomorrow by the Whitehouse."

"Ugh why should I expect any less?" I muttered as we headed out the door.

"Oh you can go ahead and pick some men to go with you. Just don't take all the good ones," Ben said a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Good," Tenny said.

"Okay so how many do you think we'll need?" I asked, heading down the stairs.

"I don't know, two, three others I suppose." Tenny said leading out of the command center.

"Eh, we can figure out who we're taking tomorrow. As of now, I'm going to bed." I said.

I slowly opened my eye, noticing the darkness. I found myself walking out of the supply depot. Looking around I saw absolutely no body. Huh, strange. Who forgot they were on guard duty this time?

There was a movement that caught my eye, in pure reaction I cloaked. Flipping out my knife I approached the spot I saw movement. Then a familiar voice said out of the darkness.

"Relax, Derk. It's just me." Jenny said, appearing in front of me. I quickly uncloaked.

"Oh, sorry Jenny." I said, joy filling me bones.

"So, why are you up so early?" She asked giving me a look I've never seen her show before. It was almost a naughty grin. I knew she was leading me into something. "I could sure use something to lift my spirits."

She moved closer and rapped her arm around me.

"So tell me what do you want to do?" She asked. I swooped her off her feet.

"Well I think you owe me." I said, moving in to kiss her. But suddenly light filled my eyes and I was back in the supply depot.

"Agh!" I yelled. Frustration burned my chest. "Another dream!"

I thrust myself up off the bed and slammed my fist into the wall.

"Blast these cursed dreams!" I roared. How could this be possible? I never dream so vividly! I marched toward the school, to where I could break something without having hordes of SCVs screaming at me. I hadn't even been paying any attention to who was around, let alone did I care. I ran up to a picture on the wall and threw it across the ground. Why am I this mad over a dream any ways! As I smashed another picture. I am a ghost and should have no feelings for anyone else! All it does is complicate things. All the stories about people getting themselves killed over "love". I didn't want anything to do with it. I raged over to a counter, rolled over it and swiped off all of the glass on the other counter. So why do I feel this way! Anger seemed to take control. Noticing how much damage I was inflicting I halted. Wait, stop. I am a ghost. Think. Remember your training. I have no faults. I am adaptable. I am perfect. I don't show affection to anyone. I am… calm.

"Dang, Derk, what an outburst," I heard Tenny say. "Never seen one of them before."

"Hmm," I said, chuckling and turning around to face him. "Hello Tenny."

"Eh, even us ghosts need to let off steam every once in a while," Tenny said leaning on the door. "You ready to go then?"

"Of course," I said, walking out of the school after Tenny.

"Mark heard about us going so he volunteered to come," Tenny said leading me toward the barracks. "Go grab some others, and please, for the love of the Xelnaga, don't bring Crip. I heard what happened between Rod and him. Remember, we don't want to kill the kid."

"Pff, why not," I muttered sarcastically under my breath. I am sorry Tenny, I can't help myself. So I headed toward the barracks.

EDIT: Hi again. As I stated in the previous Chapter I have revised this one as well. Same thing, commas and stupid cheesy sentences. :D REVIEW!