Chapter 28

Derk's POV

I sat rubbing my temples when I heard Cus enter from the changing room.

"So… What happens now?" He asked

"Well before we go anywhere, you're going to tell me what happened to you in the Ghost Academy," I replied looking up at him. Cus hesitated, standing in silence. "Well spit it out, we've almost arrived."

After a couple seconds he finally spoke.

"There was an incident. I was given the wrong Selethicks and was told I would have to learn the skills of a ghost manually. They knew I had invested and trained to much in the academy to go back," Cus said, uncomfortable. "So here I am. Training myself to be a ghost."

I groaned and went back to rubbing my head.

"So what do you know?"

"I told you, I can spot things well," he responded. After waiting in silence for several minutes, the pilot spoke up on the intercom.

"Prepare for departure. We arrive ETA five minutes."

I stood up and glared Cus in the eyes.

"You take one step out of line… and I'll do what Caps failed to do," I growled. "I will kill you. And in case you have doughts, allow me to convince you. Without a growth on my back, it'll lighten the load. And plus, all I have to say is you were killed by a zealot. Simple as that. Any questions? Good, now go get the stupid interpreter."

Cus shook his head and turned away. I walked toward the center of the ship and waited for extraction. Not a moment later I was beamed down to the ground. I glanced behind me to see Cus carrying the interpreter device. I snickered under my breath and motioned for us to advance toward the Protoss's third base.

There was a Nexus and quite a few probes mining minerals. They didn't have much set up here, so like Caps had said we snuck around it easy; staying in the trees that lined the large building. After passing the third base, we made our way up a hill. Once we'd reached the top the mound dropped off into a large valley, where the Protoss Natural lay.

"Huh look at that. Caps wasn't lying when he said there would be a cliff," I said, glancing back at Cus. He was heaving and hacking, while still dragging the interpreter up the mound. I rolled my eyes. Stepping down I helped him lift the device upward. "Okay this is going to be a bit tougher Cus. So I need you to keep up. If we can hide the interpreter close to the Protoss main base, we won't have to continue carrying it with us."

"Ugh, well how do you suppose we drag this thing down the cliff," Cus asked, still catching his breath. "Heck, how are we going to get down there? And to add on top of that, look at all the buildings. They have pylons, a couple cannons, another Nexus, and a crap ton of zealots everywhere!"

"Oh Cus, relax. As long as we stay clear of the two cannons guarding the probes, and watch out for observers, we'll be able to place our interpreter at the ramp leading into the main base, and viola we're in their Main." I said waving my hands. "Have a little faith man."

Cus shrugged.

"That still doesn't explain how we get off this incline,"

"Uh Cus, sometimes I really do think your blind," I responded, shaking my head back and forth. "Look there," I said, pointing to a much safer path down the ridge.

"Yeah sure, what a great idea, let's just stroll down the yellow brick road right into the Nexus."

"Oooh! Yeah, your right, Man I would never have thought we could use our cloaking devices," I said smacking the back of his head. "Yeh Git," Holy cow, how stupid is this kid? I mean, come on. Rod could've figured that out.

"Now come on," I said, walking toward the lesser incline. "And sense you can "spot" things well, be useful and keep an eye out for observers."

Getting dangerously closer to the Nexus I waved to him, motioning for him to cloak, which I did too.

'Alright move up to the pylon, nearest your left,' I told him telepathically. I crouched and advanced to a pylon further up. Ugh these pylons aren't very good cover. I thought, ducking before the spinning ring could hit me. I rested my back on the giant crystal in the middle, which barely covered my body.

A small group of zealots ran passed, yelling Protoss gibberish.

"Quanton annalodon verishnen qoi enoch!" One yelled raising his psi blade. I really hope that wasn't about us.

'Okay Cus, we gotta move. I don't wanna waste all my psi energy sitting around killing time,' I said telepathically. I looked around waiting for an opening to move forward. Another group of zealots ran passed, taking that opportunity I ran forward colliding with a warpgate. I glanced back, and signaled for Cus to progress. He nodded and complied.

'Okay now we have to remember we are in Protoss Territory, don't know how we could forget, but we have to be careful with talking telepathically. These scumbags are very enhanced when it comes to telepathy.' I said. 'So for the next couple runs you need to stick right to my back. We can't take the chance of the Protoss catching us separated. Understand?'

Cus nodded.

'Alright so, if you look toward the ramp you'll see that there are a couple stalkers standing right in the way. Now we may be cloaked, but here is not a good place to take risks. But none the less we have to get around them. So after moving up to the next pylon, instead of trying to make it to the ramp head on, we're going to force an angle in. If you stick your head around the gateway you can see a robotics facility not far from the stalkers. We're going to take cover there and then we have a clear shot up the ramp and into their main base.

'Now if you're smart you'll do well to remember that observers spawn at Robotics Facilities. That means we're going to have to hall ass once we reach that structure. Do you understand?'

Cus nodded again, gripping the interpreter tighter. I turned and got ready to run, but then stopped. I glanced back at Cus and took the device from him. Last thing I need is him trippin' up and dropping this thing. I waited a minute, and took a deep breath. Alright Derk, he we go.

I lunged forward, Cus right behind me. Holy crap this is heavier than it looks. I reached the pylon in seconds, and then immediately swerved to the left and ran toward the Robotics Facility. I searched the sky's looking for observers. Where are they?

I hadn't seen any of them sense I left the cliff. As I neared the Facility, I noticed the sides of it lift and a giant blue orb appear in the center. This indicated that it was warping in a unit. My heart stopped. Cus better be right behind me like I told him, Cause if he's not and that thing is warping in an observer Cus we're going to have trouble. Once I had reached the structure I didn't hesitate in bolting toward the ramp. I looked behind me to see Cus just now leaving the Pylon. Aw crap.

'Cus turn back! Do not approach the Robotics Facility!' I yelled at him telepathically. He skidded to a halt, now halfway between the Facility and the Pylon. I ducked into some green foliage to the left of the ramp. I watched as an Observer emerged from the building and Cus starring horrified, as it neared him.

'Agh! Move you idiot. You're not in range!' I screamed at him. A zealot to my left jerked his head in my direction. Oh crap, the zealot must've sensed me. I looked back to see Cus running away from the Observer. But to my horror it was too late. The Protoss warrior in front of me turned his head toward Cus.

"To arms my brethren! Intruder!" he yelled. "Stop him!"

This isn't looking good. I knew what was coming. I'm sorry Cus. There's nothing I can do for you now. Feeling a terrible knot in my chest I set the interpreter up, turned it on and made my way up the ramp. Looking back one more time I saw zealot grab Cus by the neck.

Fight back Cus! The templar yelled a victorious battle cry and thrusted his psi blade through Cus' chest. I cringed. Shaking my head in disgust I ran toward the center of the base. I moved between two warpgates, and assessed the situation. I was still a couple miles away from the Master Gateway, where the Executor would be warping in. Ugh, and it wouldn't be too long until the hole camp knows there's ghosts in the base.

I uncloaked for the moment and let my suit power up a little more. I was almost passed halfway, and wanted plenty of energy for my escape, which wasn't going to be easy. Well easier now that I don't have— No, he was still a ghost, and Orange Terran. Don't think like that.

I checked my mini-map and pinpointed all the observers on it. Good, now my suit will notify me if one gets too close. I began studying the map for my escape route. Dang, I should've done this on the way here, not blowing time asking Cus questions. And now he's gone. What a waste of time.

Okay so I'll position myself between these two stargates. Once I'm there I'll have a clear shot at the executor. I'll shoot him the moment he gets out of his ship. Pff he'll probably have a powerful energy shield to protect him, though so I'll have to EMP him. Following the loss of his shields I'll be able to finish him off with a couple snipes.

Uh, that's going to take a lot of energy. I won't have time to recharge so I'll have to use my own psionics to cloak. I'll definitely need to book it once he's dead. There won't be much time until they find my position.

I remained uncloaked and sprinted onward. I ran passed a complex of pylons, veered left, and sprinted between a couple more stargates. A patrol of immortals marched by being led by a High Templar. I froze. Cloaking I ducked behind the stargate. The Templar stopped the patrol and looked around. I could feel the power of his psionics. It was as if his mind was searching for me.

His eyes appeared to look straight through the stargate. I controlled my emotions and stared straight forward. If he saw me it would be over. I crossed my fingers and dared look out with my mind. To my luck he and the patrol had continued on. I let out a long breath, uncloaked and carried on.

Running across the street I entered a small alleyway. I jumped over a force field-like fence and sprinted through another street. Taking cover behind a Protoss Dispenser type trashcan I checked my map. I was nearly there.

Suddenly a loud bang ruptured the atmosphere. His ship was warping in. I needed to get the immediately. All I had left to do was run through one more alley and I would be there.

Continuing on, I cloaked and hopped over what I hoped would be the last fence. Moving on I stopped at the edge of the Protoss stargate and looked into a Town Square type set up. There was the Humongous Master Gateway, which was larger than some of the skyscrapers I had seen in cities, and a very large Nexus sitting in the center. Protoss warriors crowded around. There was few civilians sense this was technically a military base. I was hoping for more. If there were a lot of civilians, the assassination would cause chaos. This would've made my escape easier.

The ship ripped through the circular gateway ring and into the atmosphere; followed by three void rays and five bird shaped ships called phoenixes. It landed onto a platform and the doors opened up. I aimed my gun towards the doors. Two Protoss Archons emerged from the inside and finally the Protoss Executor. He waved to his people, who in return cheered very loudly.

Without hesitation and using my psionics to guide them, I shot two EMPs straight toward the Protoss General. He was flung backward. I aimed down my scope and fired two bullets of manicainium into his face. I watched as his body turned into a red gas and rose into the sky. I laughed. Too easy.

Protoss warriors from all around turned to my direction. There was a complete moment of silence. I starred at them and they starred back at me. Everybody seemed to be confused. They must've been thinking "What just happened?"

"Oh," I said out loud. Not knowing what else to say.

"Seize him!" a High Templar yelled pointing to me. And all at once the entirety of hell came rampaging toward me in a frenzy. I turned tail and ran. Looking down I noticed I wasn't cloaked. My suit was out of energy.

Manually cloaking myself, I hopped over the fence and dashed away. I darted to the side in hopes of losing them. My suit began beeping, informing me of all the thousands of observers heading to my position.

This is going much worse than I thought it would. The sound of blazing phoenixes sored toward me. Aw crap. The last thing I need is to be flailing like a fish in the air. I thought, sprinting through alleyway after alleyway. Okay as long as I stay away from the open, the phoenixes won't be able to lift me up. I checked my map again, looking to avoid the observers.

As of now they don't know where I am; just the general direction. That's good. I thought, adrenaline coursing through my veins. I lunged over the top of a garbage dispenser and dodged to the right, avoiding a very angry patrol of stalkers. Once they had passed I continued through another set of warpgates, and found myself at the edge of the ridge, which aligned the Protoss main base.

Ugh where is that ramp. I looked around, losing all sense of direction. Ahead and to the right of me was the Natural and passed that the Giant cliff. I regained my bearings. Hearing a zealot from behind I ran forward, planning to jump off the small ridge and make a break for the cliff.

Right as I neared the edge however, I felt something grab and pull me back from behind. Spinning around, I ducked, narrowly escaping a psi-blade to the face. I remained cloaked, and tried to confuse the zealot of my position by faking back and forth. He swung awkwardly in my direction. I grabbed his flailing arm, turned backward still holding on, and flipped him over my back.

He landed face first into the ground, yelling gibberish. I kick my foot into his face and pulled my psi-knife on him. Not giving him a chance to react I slit his throat and watched the remnants of his soul puff into the atmosphere. I took off toward the cliff but again was shut down by another zealot and a stalker twice my size. The large spider-like warrior blinked in front of me, blocking my escape. An observer was now over us, and a zealot swung from behind. I dodged his attack, grabbing his arm and for the second time today, flipped the zealot in front of me.

The stalker fired its blue lasers, which hit the zealot in the side. He yelled in pain. I kneed him in the chest, hearing bones crack. I pulled out my C-20 Canister Rifle, and fired a couple rounds at the stalker. It didn't even flinch. I groaned in irritation, punching the zealot in the face. Throwing him across the ground I dodged to the right, avoiding another blast from the stalker.

"Your life is forfeit, you pathetic terran," the stalker growled. I lunged forward getting under the stalkers legs. "What?!"

I used my knife to slice through its leg. Making the Protoss stumble. It blinked a couple yards away, and fired again. I tried to dodge to the left, but the laser went through my arm. I yelled out in pain and blasted my rifle into the stalkers face. It took a step back, but really didn't seem to take damage.

"Gah, dag nabbed shields," I shouted, furious. I was about to attack again, but stopped. Knowing the stalker had just used its teleport ability, I knew it wouldn't be able to blink for a couple minutes. I took the chance to turn around and jump off the ridge. I tumbled down the steep incline in a roll. Even with my well-made suit, pain coursed through my bones. Finally hitting the bottom, I looked up to see a Protoss Cannon aiming its round floating head at me.

A big blue ball of energy hit the ground beside me, throwing me across the dirt. I quickly recovered picking myself up and darting toward the cliff. I hailed Caps on my transmission device.

"Where the heck is that medivac!" I screamed.

"It's on its way Derk. Hold in there," he responded. Another ball of energy sored passed my head.

"I am not going to "hold in there" Caps, I am running for my life!" I shouted, hearing the roar of Protoss zealots behind me.

"I see your location on my monitor. By the time you get to the third base the medivac will be there to pick you up," Caps said.

"I have to get to the third base!" I yelled, ducking to avoid a stalkers laser.

"Yes you do," Caps said, and then paused. "Derk, where's Cus? You guys are supposed to cover each other."

"Cus is dead you idiot. I told you ya shouldn't have sent him on a mission like this. Now shut up and tell me something encouraging," I shouted, reaching the top of the cliff. I looked behind me to see the phoenixes closing in.

"You were supposed to protect him Derk," Caps said, obviously heart broken. Ugh what did the stupid git expect?

"Look Caps we can argue about it later, but right now I really need a scan," I said, franticly looking for the observer. If the phoenixes can't see me they can't catch me.

"I'll send a request," he said, seemingly calmer.

"No Caps you don't get it, I need a scan now!" I said, pinpointing the observer's location. The aircraft were nearly on me. "Caps! Scan! Now!"

I aimed my rifle at the wavy lines in the sky and fired. I didn't seem to hit anything and then to my utter dismay I lost sight of it.

But suddenly the observer appeared not far from where I was looking and I fired a couple shots. Hitting dead center the observer exploded into blue light and crashed to the ground. Right as the phoenixes arrived, I checked my suit for energy and seeing twenty five percent energy level I cloaked, feeling relieved.

But I knew I would never feel real victory until I was in the safety of the medivac. So I sprinted toward the Protoss third base. I glanced around and to my great satisfaction saw that the Protoss had given up the chase.

I ran passed the third base and over the last mound to see the medivac hovering just above the ground. A green beam extruded from the ship and hit my right arm. I looked down to see it heal the wound I had received from the stalker. Huh, I forgot about that. I smiled, stepping into the shuttle.

"Good to see you survived," The same pilot from before said.

"Huh Good to know you care," I responded, slumping onto the bench. "Heh, I haven't had that much fun for a long time."

"A long time, meaning two, three months?" the pilot asked.

"Eh, I guess," I replied, quite pleased. Man, I'm never going to leave the Orange Terran. That was a lot of fun. Huh and the look on the executors face when I shot 'im, absolutely marvelous.

Hello again. Here's yet another chapter. I think this is two in the same day. And do you Mother Fathers know why? Because I can friggen write Derk's Chapter! heh so here you go. After a really bad Rod Chapter you get a pretty good one. YEY :D