Chapter 16

Derk's POV

After the long hours of the night, the sun barely began to peak over the mountains. Using psionics, I took a look at my surroundings. People began to stir within the depots. I waited, expecting the loud siren to go off any minute. Not a second later the alarm went off, alerting the camp of a new day. Moans and groans followed.

I directed my mind toward the Starport. Jenny was probably already awake. Funny that I didn't notice her get up. I continued to stare down the long road in front of me. Ugh, this sad little planet is really getting to me. I can hardly concentrate on anything anymore. Just wait, I'll be out of here in no time, as long as we can convince Ben to let us leave. I sensed movement coming from behind.

"What do you want Bob?" I asked the SCV without looking.

"Uh… Tenny just uh… wanted you to go talk to him," He replied. I rolled my eyes and scowled.

"Can't that lazy dirt bag come get me himself," I responded, pleased at the SCV's unease.

"Just uh… sending a message is all… huh "gulp" sir," Bob said, shaking.

"Where is he?" I asked, still looking forward.

"He's at the… uh… uh… gho- ghost academy," He replied. I could smell the fear irradiating off of him. Deciding that I had messed with the SCV enough, I got up, passed Bob, and walked off toward the Academy. While strolling away, I picked up a sense of relief coming from him. I smiled, knowing that I still had somewhat of a reputation left.

As I approached the building, I noticed Rod dragging himself out of a supply depot. He yawned and looked over at me. I shook my head and continued on. This military training is going to kill him. And I spent all that time trying to keep him alive. Pff, what a waste. I thought kidding myself. Sometimes I actually felt bad for the kid. He was kind of fun to make light of. I mean it was so easy. My thoughts continued to wonder as I walked toward Tenny's room. Or at least where he keeps all his trash. Just as I was about to knock a voice came from inside.

"Come in Derk," Tenny said. I suppose I should at least continue to practice my psionics. They feel weaker. That's not good. I opened the door with my mind.

"Hey Tenny. You ready to go kick some Zerg butt?" I asked, leaning against the door frame. Tenny's little chamber was filled with junk. I always kept everything I had in a Craxium Receptacle. It was so much more convenient. All you had to do was scan an object and it transmits it into a small round cyber container. Expensive, but very useful. Tenny never seemed to trust or use them. If they were damaged, all your stuff inside was vaporized. I didn't think much of it though; the holders were made out of a Protoss element called Virax Expidicus. It would take a lot of fire power to break through it.

"We don't know that yet. The last thing Ben wants to do is help us," Tenny said.

"Yeah yeah, but Ben would much rather send us away then put up with our arrogance," I responded, confidently. "He's probably dying to get us out of here. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a Hercules Transport Ship coming to get us right now."

"If you say so," He replied.

"What's up with you?" I asked, annoyed. "You're not one to be negative."

"Well it's just I worry for Rod. Training is going to be hard for him," Tenny said, scratching his arm. "Don't you remember back at the Academy? I thought they were trying to kill me."

"Oh come on now, your exaggerating. It wasn't that bad." I said. "Plus, this isn't Ghost training. It's just marine drills. Most of "Marine Training" is just a bunch of injections until your body can't get it out. Then they have you run around until you throw up. There's no real training. It's all instillations."

"Pff, I wouldn't want to be jabbed in my arm three times a day," Tenny said, walking out the door. I followed him, rolling my eyes.

"Look man, Rod will be fine," I said, walking outside.

"Are you sure we shouldn't ask to go with him?" Tenny asked, turning toward me. "We could keep an eye on him just to make sure he's okay."

"Aw heck no. Why do you care so much about this kid? This isn't the first time we've seen someone get drafted. Why are you acting up?" I questioned, grabbing his shoulders. Tenny pushed away.

"I don't know Derk," Tenny said, turning toward the Command Center. "There's just something about him. He seems different from the others, almost like he's hiding something. I think he knows more than I give him credit for."

"Well, now at least I feel more comfortable," I said, walking on. "But what could he possibly be hiding? Do you think he's infested or something?"

"No definitely not," Tenny said.

"Perhaps we should use telepathy to see what's up?" I asked, shrugging.

"Yeah right, you and I both know we could be shot for using abilities on our own men,"

"He's not Orange Terran yet, now is he?" I said, grinning.

"No Derk. I am not going to take the chances. I am loyal to the Orange Terran and want to keep the respect I've achieved," Tenny said leading us into the large building. "Let's talk to Plank. Maybe Rod said something to him or heck let's just ask him straight up."

"What? You think he's going to say anything. I am not even sure if he knows himself," I said following Tenny up the stairs. "Look bro, we're probably chasing after something that doesn't even exist. Let's just forget about it and pretend we didn't even mention anything. We'll be lucky if Ben even sends us to Nartes. He'll be suspicious if we ask for anything else."

"Okay okay, shut up will ya. We don't want Ben to hear," Tenny said, knocking on Ben's door. Using my mind I looked into the room. Ben was sitting on his chair like he normally does. Except this time he was talking to some general on a transmition screen.

"Ugh, go away. I'm busy," Ben shouted from inside.

"Ben, we need to talk. It's me and Tenny," I said, irritated that the one time I wanted to talk to him, he was busy. I could sense Ben's frustration, and yet it was as if he knew why we were here. I wasn't surprised.

"Not now, come back in an hour," Ben said. "Or your privileges will be stripped of you."

Knowing that we didn't want to make a fool of ourselves in front of a higher ranking superior, Tenny and I turned around and walked back down the stairs. I'm sure Tenny could feel the rage heating off of me. Normally I would have been able to control my emotions, but not being on the field for so long does its damage. I stomped my way outside, with hunched shoulders.

"One of these days I'm gonna teach that fool a lesson. I swear on my mother's grave that he plans to avoid me," I grumbled.

"Oh Derk, give the guy a break," Tenny said, slapping my arm. "Don't you believe in coincidences?"

"No!" I snapped. Okay, not much longer now. I will be able to fight soon. I just have to wait a little longer.

"Wow man, cool off a little," Tenny said, lifting his arms in defense. "Maybe you need to go see a medic?"
"Pff, I don't need help!" I barked.

"Derk, you're making a fool of yourself. It won't hurt to have them do a couple scans."

"Ugh, fine!" I snarled, jerking around to face him and pointing my finger in his face. "But only because you won't shut up about it."

Before he could say another word I thundered off toward the barracks. The medics better be here or someone's not getting out alive. I walked inside and looked around. The place was near empty. A group of firebats stood toward the side and a couple medics were hanging out towards the back; my sister being one of them. I approached the medics, attempting to relax my shoulders.

"Hi Derk," My sister Teresa said, cheerfully. "What can we do for you?"

"I need you to scan me," I replied bluntly.

"Okay, what for?" She asked, looking tense because of my rudeness.

"Tenny thinks I am having anger issues. He thinks there's something up with me," I responded, folding my arms. "I need you to do a quick scan so he'll leave me alone."

"Well okay, I think I know what I can test for," She said, waving me over. "I need to grab my 2F30-Disposition-Scanner."

"Yeah whatever, just hurry please," I said, annoyed. Aren't you supposed to have these on all the time?

"Alright alright, Mr. Demanding," She said, walking off muttering something about all ghosts being the same. I huffed in response. I glanced over at a medic, who in response quickly looked away. I couldn't help but smirk. Ahh, I love being me.

"Okay Derk, here's your scan," She said, pointing a rectangular device with a holographic screen on the front. A red beam came from the front of the scanner. This laser went up and down my body. Teresa glanced down at the screen, shrugging. "Yeah you seem fine."

She twisted away obviously angered by my abruptness. Suddenly feeling a quick tang of regret I decided to apologize.

"Hey," I said, immediately feeling embarrassed. "Sorry 'bout that."

She simply nodded and turned away. I rotated around and walked back from where I came. See, now Tenny will have to leave me alone. I'm just fine. After exiting the Barracks Tenny was now walking toward me.

"So, what how'd it go?" He asked, folding his arms.

"Eh, nothing's wrong." I said, feeling quite pleased. "Satisfied?"

"Hmm, you sure nothings—"

"Yeah, pretty sure," I replied, anger rising in my chest.

"Fine, whatever you say," Tenny said. Unexpectedly a loud voice came on over the sensor tower.

"All Orange Terran units report to Command Center 309 immediately. All personnel not positioned in five minutes will be terminated," The loud voice announced. "Again all Orange Terran units report to Command Center 309."

"Oh great; what now?" I groaned.

"Hey man, look at it this way, it's something to do," Tenny said leading the way. "Who knows, maybe Ben actually has something beneficial to say."

"Pff, maybe… in the afterlife," I said, following. We all gathered around outside the dome-like control building. I looked over to even see Rod waiting. Hmm, bet he was having a fun time cleaning out the reapers den. Should've thought before firing out all thirty-five missiles. Will he ever learn? Eh, this training camp will be good for him. And then I was abruptly pulled out of my thoughts by a loud voice.

"So, I have some important information to tell all of you. I have recently been given information regarding the position of our men on Nartes and Jinksole," Ben stated. My ears perked up, immediately interested. "They need help, and lucky for us the Red Zerg is concentrating on Nartes, so they are in no position to attack us. This leaves us with no reason to remain here.

"To add to this mess there is quite a lot of tension on the planet Corspe. The Teal Zerg has been acting very aggressive recently, so the Commander stationed there, planned on attacking a nearby Zerg base to keep them at bay. This backfired. The Teal Zerg were then enraged and went on a complete rampage, eradicating everything in their path. Along with their main base called Sieged.

"As of Jinksole they're being bombarded by Protoss forces. Our ghosts will be pleased to hear that I am going to be sending them there. Your EMPs will devastate their heavy archon, zealot based army. My marines and marauders will also be transferred to help take out the immortals.

"The war on Nartes is back and forth. I have spoken with several Generals on these situations and have come to a conclusion The Zerg on Nartes have been sending quite a lot of light armored units that my firebats and reapers can take care of. As for Corspe, they need air support. All banshees, ravens, medivacs and vikings will be sent there. Good luck to you.

"I have considered the fact that we need as much income as we can get so all SCVs here will be sent to our main mining facility on planet Mieshal.

"And of course we can't forget about the one or two men I will be sending to the nearest military training camp stationed on planet Silinder. Heh, you know who you are.

"Men; we are at war with two different races and three different armies. I am quite overwhelmed with all that's going on and am sure you are as well. The Commander at Silinder has understood this and very generously decided to supply us with a group of medivacs to transport our troops. They will be arriving this evening. I highly suggest you prepare yourselves. If for some reason from now until the transport arrives you are told to stay here, then I highly suggest you do not board the medivacs. Thank you for your time."

And with that Ben marched right back where he came from.

"Hmph, well Tenny. I guess you were right," I said, smiling. "We will finally be out of here."

"Heck yeah we will. I can see us now. Raining down EMPs on the blasted immortals," Tenny said, gesturing with his arms. Tenny continued on with his rein acting of the battle while I scanned the area. Most people seemed quite excited. Marines were howling with joy, reapers yelling in excitement, and then I passed over Rod. The look of horror on his face made me laugh. He seemed petrified.

I felt no sympathy toward him, however. We all had to go through with training so he would too. Perhaps that's why Rod was so immature. He hadn't been through combat preparation yet. Rod would come out a new man. I was almost excited to see how the kid would turn out. Curious on how he actually felt, I turned and walked over to him.

"Hey, Rod," I said, approaching the kid. "So, you excited little man?"
"Heh," Was all he said. I slapped him on the shoulder.

"Aw it ain't that bad."

"Will I survive?" Rod asked, gulping. I laughed.

"Of course you will," Tenny said, almost like he was reassuring himself. "Everybody goes through training."

"You know as long as you don't get General Groff," I said, remembering the unconscious bodies lying around at his camp. "But I doubt he's even training recruits anymore. They've probably sent him somewhere more… ya know… important."

"Huh, well, whatever you say," Rod responded.

"You'll be fine," I reassured. "Come on Tenny, I want to make sure all your junk is ready. I don't want all five medivacs to be waiting on you."

"Yeah, real funny," He said, following me to the Ghost Academy.

"So, tell me bro; you still worried about Rod?" I asked.

"Course I am Derk," Tenny said, his excitement leaving him. "We can still ask you know."

"Oh come now Tenny, I doubt the kid will want us stalking him." I reassured.

"Pff, I don't think he's going to care."

"You really want to go stand around watching Rod train?" I asked, becoming irritated. "I thought you said you wanted to bash some skulls?"

"I do, but—"

"Tenny, we'll just tell them to keep us updated on how he's doing, because I don't want to waste time breathing down Rod's neck. The only thing that will come of it is make him nervous."

Tenny sighed. "I guess you're right."

"Yeah, I am," I said, turning back around.

"So, how do you think it'll be without everyone?"

"You mean like Crip and Jackson?" I asked.

"Yeah, you know. Like Jenny, and everybody. I mean we've been with most of this camp for a while now." Tenny said, motioning outward. "The last few missions we've had most these people in our area."

"I think it'll be different, but we've done this before. My guess is it'll be like it always is," I said. "Now let's go get ready to leave."

We made our way inside the building and separated to our separate quarters. I looked around noticing how empty my room was. Well looks like I'm ready. I laughed to myself. People liked to take everything they owned with them. I thought differently. The only things I ever carried around was my C-20 Canister Rifle and any other weapons that I had happened to be holding. Thinking of my weapons I decided to go through them. I pulled out my Receptacle. Looking through the screen I swiped through each entity. I clicked on my weapons folder and beamed out my Assassins X-300 Psi-blade.

Aw, my favorite melee weapon. Using Protoss technology, the Orange Terran were able to combine it with our knives and create a curved laser vane which ejected from the metallic handgrip. The blade came out at a curve making it easier to slit throats. These Terran laser blades were very similar to the Protoss zealot's Psi-blade. The only real difference was that theirs was larger and were activated telepathically.

I threw this on my bed and looked back through my holder. I continued scanning out all my weapons, going through each of them individually. After what felt like hours I beamed them all back inside my Receptacle and walked out my door. Mark sprinted passed me yelling in exhilaration.

"Hurry up Derk!" He yelled, throwing his gun onto his back. "The medivacs are approaching the atmosphere. They'll be here in seconds!"

I rolled my eyes, hearing him scream his victory shouts. I casually walked after him. I couldn't help but feel annoyed. You're supposed to be a ghost. Grow up a little. Surprised at my own anger I stopped walking. Man, what's with me? Maybe something is going on? Should I go back to the medics? I shook my head ignoring my fears and strode onward. Nah, I just need to get back on the battlefield. I'm sure of it.

And just as Mark had said, the medivacs were already landing. I smiled and made my way toward them.

"Yo Derk!" Someone yelled. I turned to see Crip blazing on his jetpack over to me.

"Hey Crip," I said, wondering what it is he wanted. He reached me and stopped. After looking kind of awkward he finally spoke.

"Well… it's been good working with you," Crip rasped, shaking my hand. I was taken aback and almost fell over in shock. "Hope to see you in the field again. Don't get yourself killed."

"Uh— whaa?" I stammered. Crip laughed, amused at my astonishment. I regained some composure. "Yeah, sure, but I don't think it's me we have to worry about."

"Heh, see ya later chump," Crip snickered, flying off toward the medivacs.

"Wow," I thought out loud. That's the first. I turned back to the medivac labeled Jinksole. And then unexpectedly right as I was about to board, a voice rang out of the crowd, grabbing my attention. I turned to see my sister running toward me.

"Derk! Wait!" Teresa yelled. She reached me within seconds. Hmm so she wants to say good bye. I felt a quick shudder of joy, but changed drastically as I saw how worried she looked.

"Derk I missed something." She said out of breath.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"When I scanned you; I didn't see it at first," She said still panting. "You have a medical condition that needs to be treated."
"What?!" I yelled, enraged.

"Derk… you can't board that medivac." She responded. I began to shake in fury. "You have to stay here; just until you're treated."

"Never!" I roared. I could feel my psionics rising. My mind seemed to be electrified. Teresa's white titanium armor began to tighten together. "I'm fine!"

She let out a gasp as it crunched against her arms. The main breastplate pulled itself in and the lights on it burst out.

"Derk, please stop," She begged, gasping. Rage overwhelmed my body. I am not staying here!

"I am getting on the medivac whether you want me to or—" I started, but suddenly interrupted by an EMP going off. All my psionic energy was drained of me. I dropped my sister and fell to my knees. Looking up I saw Leary holding out his gun. Wrath filled my body. He is going to die for interfering. I stood up and right as I was about to lunge for him, a loud pew went off and I was thrown onto my back. All went dark.

And another chapter. Please review. I would like to know what you guys think. :D If you have any suggestions that you think are too long for a review then please PM me. I love feedback!