Chapter 22

Derk's POV

Following the target on my mini-map, it led me across the battlefield toward a less active combat zone. I stopped suddenly when seeing a large immortal force moving in. Ugh, great. Just what we need. The crab like aliens blasted their guns franticly toward me. I ducked under a rock, firing an EMP in retaliation.

Lifting my head up, I saw a small squad of five ghosts closing in on the immortals. They launched several more EMPs and brought down their entire wrath upon the weakened Protoss. Hmm, looks like I found my team. I sprinted quickly in their direction, as they finished off the last of the immortals.

"Hey, are you the squadron I was told to meet up with?" I asked, reaching them.

"I don't know, are you unit QI9872X?" a ghost responded.

"Indeed I am."

"Then yes, welcome to Alpha Team Ghost Squadron," the Ghost said, shaking my hand. "I am Unit LK9903P; you can refer to me as Squad leader Caps. But anyhow, we have orders to raid the Red Zerg's gold mineral expo. We were just waiting for your arrival. And now that you're here, let's get to it."

"Alright, we better not waste any time," I said, turning back to the battle.

"Ghost Alpha! Let's go, we have Derk. Move out!" the squad leader yelled, leading us away from the Protoss. "Okay so we have a medivac waiting on us back at the outpost. We need to get there A.S.A.P."

I followed the Ghosts up and over a hill, passing several groups of Marauders. We trekked across the blood stricken ground for a few minutes until finally reaching a cluster of bunkers. Missile turrets aligned the outpost. I headed toward the medivac hovering above the ground.

"Alright ladies, let's move!" Caps yelled, waving us forward. Beaming up onto the shuttle, we all took a seat. "Okay, now that we have a minute lets jump right into things."

I turned to look at the crew.

"So everyone, say hello to Derk Treeton," Caps said, gesturing toward me. "He is our new squad member and I expect you to treat him with the upmost respect. If you don't… I fear for your life."

I nodded in greeting.

"Hmph. What's so special 'bout 'im?" a broad shouldered Ghost challenged. "Looks to me like he just got out of the training pool."

"I take it you're the pig head?" I snickered. "Pff, well everyone family has one."

"Now you watch your mouth, if we weren't in the middle of mission I'd knock that smirk right off your face!" the man yelled, standing up.

"Sit down Valen!" Caps shouted, stepping directly in front of the Ghost. The soldier reluctantly obeyed, muttering something under his breath.

"Now that we've all settled down, how 'bout you all introduce yourselves?" the squad leader said, gruffly. After waiting awkwardly for a couple seconds, a short soldier rose up.

"I am Misha Miroslav Yakovley," he said, in a thick Russian accent. "Happy to 'ave you."

Following Misha, a skinnier Ghost stood.

"Hey, my name's Cus," the ghost said, shaking my hand. "If you need anything don't hesitate to ask."

The final man approached. He had large shoulders, similar to Valen's, but while Valen was shorter, this Ghost stood taller than even me.

"They call me Skullbone," he said, arms folded. "Can't wait to get started."

"Course," I said, nodding. Caps stepped forward, ending the introductions.

"Okay, now that we are all familiar with each other, let me explain how this is going to go down. Our orders are simple; completely flatten this expansion. And sense there is only six of us, we're going to need a little extra fire power," Caps said. "We have five nukes at the ready. So first things first, the only way into the expo is guarded by photon cannons. We'll launch two nukes to destroy the cannons and any sort of forces they have."

"Wait a sec," Valen stepped in. "If these are gold minerals, then I'm sure they'll have quite the army waiting for us."

"I'm glad you brought that up. Plank is sending out two other attack squads, one filled with Maruaders and the other marines, to draw the Protoss forces away. This should give us enough time to crush their base," the squad leader replied. "So we had better not screw this up."

"Are we supposed to kill all their builders as well?" Cus asked.

"Yes," Caps responded. "Well, if we can. After those first nukes drop, the Red Protoss will be alerted. Which means it will be harder to kill the probes. But if we're smart, we can place the bombs in such a place that when the probes flee, they'll run right into our missiles."

"Okay so where do you want us to launch them?" Misha asked.

"We shall put one directly on top of the Nexus and the remaining two off to the side, in case the workers try to run away," Caps said. "Now I can almost guarantee that there will be a few zealots coming our way. You Ghosts, who will not be setting the nukes, will have to defend the others with your lives. For if they do not hit, our operation will not be cost effective. We will have wasted thousands of minerals, and the other two squads will have done virtually nothing."

"Wait, so if I am setting the nuke and there's a zealot running directly toward me, I can't cancel the missile and save myself?" Cus asked, concerned. Caps tensed.

"If you cancel that missile, those zealots will be the last of your worries. I'll shoot you myself," our squad leader said, angered at the soldier. "The only thing that will stop those bombs from dropping is if you die. I will not stand to have a troop of cowards who can't trust the very people defending them."

"Yes sir," Cus replied, gulping.

"How will the Protoss see us?" Skullbone questioned, changing the subject. "We'll be cloaked the entire time."

"Perhaps you don't know the Red Protoss as well as you may think. They are the most paranoid aliens out there. Trust me, it wouldn't be worth killing an observer even if you see it." Caps answered. "They'll probably have tons of them flying around.

I slowly began let my thoughts wonder. I hate observers, those stupid invisible Protoss fliers. If only I could make them all disappear. Heh the Protoss would never be able to detect me or any other cloaked units. Hearing my squad leader continue to talk, I adverted my attention back to him.

"So, Bone and Misha will be launching the first nukes. Then I want Derk, Cus and Valen to advance. You guys'll set the next three. The rest of us will protect you," our leader announced. "I'll be defending you the entire time."

"Caps, wait. If I may, can I switch you places. I am much more comfortable—" Caps cut me off.

"No Derk. You have your orders," he replied, bluntly.

"Entering Protoss territory," the pilot declared. "Reaching destination ETA thirty seconds."

"Okay everyone, get ready," Caps said. We all stood up and walked to the center of the ship.

"Alright ladies, let's see whatcha got," I said, still angered at Caps.

"Pff, let's just hope you don't embarrass me," Valen said, readying his gun.

"Huh, yeah maybe… if you can keep up," I replied as we warped down to the ground. Instantly my instincts kicked in. I looked up to see a small hill covered with green plants in front of me. We all quietly crept up the mound. Reaching the top, I moved some bushes out of the way, revealing a small valley, with several Protoss buildings.

There were a couple of gateways, which were basically a Protoss version of a barracks. A couple diamond shaped structures with several rings rotating around them. These were the pylons. Numerous cannons guarded the Nexus. And of course there was all the probes mining out the golden minerals, which stuck diagonally out of the ground.

"Okay then. Let's get to it," Misha said, slapping Bone's shoulder and proceeding forward. Skullbone followed him and without a moment's hesitation, aimed his gun towards the photon cannons. Not a moment sooner did a loud adjutant voice ring in my head.

"Nuclear launch detected."

We all sat in anticipation, waiting while the two missiles neared the ground. I looked up to see them plummeting toward Jinxsole.

"Everyone get down!" Caps yelled, followed by an outrageously deafening explosion. Not soon after did a second eruption project from the valley.

"Whew!" I yelled, in exhilaration.

"That's how it's done!" Cus shouted, covering his ears.

"Hey! What do you guys think you're doing! Move let's GO!" Caps yelled, outraged. "Get those nukes set!"

Instantly I remembered my objectives and rapidly advanced forward, passing Bone and Misha. Getting in range I stopped and aimed my C-20 rifle at the Nexus.

"Cus! Valen! Take the sides!" I yelled, holding down the trigger. I looked to the side of my vision to where I saw a bar slowly fill. I just had to wait for it to finish. Then the bomb would hit. Aiming down the site of my barrel I heard Protoss Zealots approaching. Aw crap. This isn't good. How are they here so soon!

"You Terrans will be annihilated under my blade!" one of them screamed. I continued to hear gunfire and more shouting. Aw come on guys! My eye sight didn't stray from the bar. Halfway there.

"Misha, check you're six!" Bone yelled. Not much longer.

"I need 'elp over 'ere" he responded.

"Caps cover Derk! Misha needs my help." Bone shouted. Almost there! Come on!

I heard an unexpected scream in pain. Everything shouted at me to hit the cancel button.

"Bone!" Caps yelled. I could make out the sound of a snipe. Something was wrong. They needed my help. No! This nuke is going down!

"Stay there Cus!" Misha shouted. "It's too late!"

"Bone, are you okay?" Caps asked.

"I'm fine."

Finally the bar filled and I could hear the loud roar of my nuke I had set. Lifting my gun up I turned and ran the opposite direction, away from the valley. At the edge of my vision I saw Valen and Cus running with me. The shockwave from the explosions knocked us all forward and onto the dirt. I quickly got on my feet and continued sprinting. After running back over the hill and onto the other side I looked around to see what I had missed.

"Is everybody okay?" I asked, counting out how many of us there were. And sure enough all five of them survived. Unfortunately however I heard only two explosions. Irritation suddenly gripped my body. I had to sit through that whole thing, tense, nervous, and I didn't let up! So who was it that chickened out! "What happened?!"
"We'll talk later, but for now, get in the medivac," Caps yelled, pointing at the ship flying toward us. I rolled my eyes and did as I was ordered. We piled in and the shuttle turned around and flew away.

"Okay, now that we're all safe and sound… What went wrong?!" I asked, irritated. Oh that's right I know exactly what happened! Cus over here did exactly what he was told not to do!

"Things were getting tight," Cus defended, embarrassed.

"Oh, okay so it gets a little rough and so you go ahead and disobey a direct order!" I yelled, outraged. Everything was going just fine. It was perfect. And little wimp over here had to screw up.

"Derk it's not your place to lecture another troop," Caps cut in. Rage overwhelmed me. What?! Did he just defend him? I thought it was Caps who was going to be raging?

"Oh than how 'bout you do your job!" I yelled back. "What was it you said? I'll shoot you myself? Was that it? Because right now, you don't look very upset. As a matter a fact, you look quite pleased!"

"Calm down Derk, we completed the objective. The base is absolutely destroyed and all the probes are dead," Caps replied, calmly. "It was a mission success. The third nuke would have been a waste anyways."

I was about to argue when I realized how stupid and childish I was being. Embarrassment weighed on my shoulders. Knowing I couldn't fight them I turned and marched away, to the front of the medivac. Unfortunately this was as far away as I could get from them. Man do I miss my old team. How am I going to survive with these guys? Ugh this is going to be a long couple years.

Hey everyone! I am sorry this one took longer. I went on vacation last week and its hard to wright when I am away, because I don't have a laptop. :C But that's okay! As long as you guys understand.

So a pretty exciting chapter in my humble opinion, but I had a lot of trouble when Derk was meeting his squad. Trying to introduce them properly was really hard. I hope I did okay. So thank you guys for your support and please review and tell me what you thought. I really like to hear what you guys have to say!

P.S. Sorry but I am leaving on vacation tomorrow... again. But I will be back this Sunday. YEY! Enjoy reading!