Chapter 33

Derk's POV

It was dark. Grey fog filled the scene and blackness hung in the distance. A purple sky covered the area, silhouetting an alien figure standing in the distance. I stared defiantly at the creature. I didn't know where I was, but I knew it had to do with him. The Protoss Templar stepped forward.

"Treeton, do you know why you're here?" Eletraz asked, in his scratchy echoed voice.

"No. And I want you to send me back now!" I demanded, tensing my shoulders. "I want nothing to do with you, especially after the last time you gave me false visions."

"I can understand your hesitation… but what I showed you is very real," he replied, remaining deathly still. "And now you are to learn your part."

"What? Are you going to tell me some stupid way to make sure Rod doesn't get infected?" I asked, irritation gnawing at my jaw. Eletraz chuckled.

"Derk Treeton, I'm afraid you have everything all backwards. What I am about to show you is much more important than either of your mortal lives," he said, approaching me.

"I don't want to see anything from the likes of you!" I yelled, stepping back. "Take yourself and your prophecy garbage away from me!"

He stopped.

"I am sorry Treeton… you don't have much of a choice. Or in another frame of mind… what you chose will affect the fate of the Orange Terran for an eternity."

Out of nowhere my body was suddenly lifted above the ground and all the air around blew in a spiral. A loud barrage of light hit my eyes; almost like a flashbang. I closed my eyes, but it was ineffective. The brightness was blinding. My eyes ached.

Finally after several more seconds the light faded and I was frozen staring from above. I looked around, but my figure was nowhere to be seen. Ignoring the fact that I had no body I looked down at the ground.

And to my horror I saw thousands of Zerg creatures, ripping apart the Orange Terran. It was as if we had no army. They were just tearing everything to pieces. Even the very ground trembled before them. The sight was an atrocity. Men were being torn in half effortlessly by hydralisks. I tried to call out but nothing came. I could only hear the shrieks of my fellow soldiers.

The image before me switched to something else. I was now facing Mr. Plank. He had a large marine suit on and was firing his gun with all his might. But there were too many of them. A zergling jumped on his back from behind, and a hydralisk tore at his arm from his left.

I wanted desperately to help, but I could do nothing. Mr. Plank let out a cry for help, something I had never heard him do before. His screams lay dead in the air. No one came to his aid. For it seemed everyone else was dead.

The scene changed again. It showed a dead ghost lying pitifully on the ground. Another sat beside him, tears falling down his cheeks. So much blood covered the man's face he was hardly recognizable. Tenny starred down at the fallen Operative. It was hard to see who the dead man was. I tried to lean forward. If only I was a bit closer.

But then I heard Tenny say something. I strained to hear. Who is this man! Tenny's words began to clear. I could barely hear.

"It's over man. We have nothing left. There is no escape… but if I am going to die. It will be next to you… Derk."

My heart skipped a beat. No. It can't be! That's ME!

Tenny stood and looked up. A swarm of zerglings advanced. Tenny let out a loud defeated shout and raised his gun in the air. I watched in horror as the monsters lunged for my friend. They raked their long sharp claws across his face and body. He didn't stand a chance. Without even killing a single zerg, they had ripped his head clean from his body.

I'd had it. This could not happen. Why am I seeing this! I tried to shout. I tried to scream. I tried to say something. No noise came. Emotions hit me like a tsunami… and I could do nothing about it.

Everything went black. It took me a minute but I realized my eyes were closed. Opening them I recognized that I was back in the void. I was on my knees with my hands around my head. Letting go I looked up. Eletraz stood staring at me.

Rage overtook my emotions. I lunged forward letting out a long painful battle cry. I would rip this stupid Templar into pieces. But it was for nothing. I simply collapsed forward through his faded body. It was if he was a ghost.

"Fight me you coward!" I screamed turning sharply around. I swung my fists; letting everything out. They contacted nothing. I flung myself forward in a mad frenzy, attempting so desperately to hit something. Finding myself pathetically flailing around, I dropped to the ground and screamed in rage. I pounded the ground with my fists, furiously. Blood from my knuckles splashed into the air. I ignored the incinerating pain I was feeling.

After several minutes of chaotic yelling I stopped, heaving in and out. Everything I had learned in the academy came back to me. I calmed myself and stood slowly. Nothing I saw was real. It was just a vision. Derk… relax. Nothing can touch you. You're a ghost. Breathe in… and out…. in… and out. After I had relaxed, I glanced upward, praying that the Templar had left; but to my dismay he was still standing there staring at me.

"I understand your anger, but it will do you no good here," Falcicadar said. "The only way to change what has befallen the Orange Terran is to let Rod fall to the Zerg."

"No. What would that even do?" I questioned, standing straight up. "You have given me these visions only to weaken me. You have done so, well; but you will not deceive me in thinking that I will let my friend die!"

"Then you are blind. The Orange Terran will be destroyed and you will be at fault," the Dark Templar stepped backwards, disappearing into the mist. His voice echoed through the atmosphere. "When the time comes I know you will do what is right."

Before I could say anything else, my mind began to waver. I felt light headed and fell to the ground. Darkness surrounded my eyes and I slowly lost conciseness.

Light flooded in through the doorway. I put my hands in front of my eyes, shielding them from the brightness. Once my eyes adjusted I stretched my back and rose out of bed.

Memories of the night before with Miesha flooded my mind. I smiled, remembering the dance with Vanessa. I felt something sore on my hands. Confused I looked down at my knuckles. There was dried blood covering all my fingers. I recalled the dream from moments ago. Any feelings of joy I had just felt vanished instantly.

Embarrassment and anger hit me like a wave. I shouldn't have lost it. That wasn't how I was trained. I walked over to the table sitting across the room and grabbed my receptacle.

I pulled my undershirt off revealing my very defined muscles and scanned out another. Right as I did so, my door opened and a dark raven haired female stepped in. She had a more shag style cut. The hair on top of her head was thicker than it was towards her neck. She wore a white t-shirt and black pants aligned with orange seems. The teenager didn't seem to be very old either. Maybe sixteen, seventeen? The shock on her face was almost funny. Her eyebrows seemed to hit the ceiling as she stared at my abs. Huh you'd think they'd get used to guys with their shirts off. Before saying anything I let the whole situation sink in.

"Look I'm sorry if I am going to ruin your day by saying this, but I don't hire prostitutes," I said, getting a very confused and surprised look. It was as if she had no idea what to say. Hmm, perhaps she was a recruit. "Maybe you meant to enter the portable next door. I'm sure he'd looove to see you."

"Uh… no-no that's not… uh what I—," she tried to say. I laughed.

"Look I'm just kidding," I said, throwing on my piece of clothing and forgetting the whole vision scenario. "So, what do you want? I need to go speak with another ghost so if you could hurry."

"Yeah, um I was just sent in here to find a Derk Treeton," She said, finally recovering.

"Yeah that's me. What is it?" I asked, grabbing my X-300 psi-knife off of the desk and attaching it to my sweats.

"You're wanted outside," she said, pointing her thump over her shoulder.

"Should I suit up, or is Valen just having his period again?" I asked, walking over to the metal plate.

"Whaa, wait, what?" she asked, alarmed. I laughed, shaking my head.

"Women, can't you take a joke?" I asked, looking over my shoulder. "So do I need suited up or not?"

"Uh… yeah sure," she replied. I stepped onto the cold plate and put my arms out. The machines came out of the wall and retrieved my suit from the glass case. They attached the pieces of armor all over my body and fled back inside the panel.

"Aw that feels great. It's been almost a whole day sense I've had this on," I said, stretching my arms around, enjoying the feeling of being back in my armor. "So, shall we go?"

She nodded and led the way down the hallway. Opening the door, I followed her outside. Looking around for who ever wanted me. Caps, Miesha, Valen and Bone were all standing around what looked like Colonel Fou. The heck is he doing here?

"Aw there he is, we were just talking about you," the Colonel said, waving over the girl. She rushed over to him, almost in a hurry. What's with this girl? And why the heck does she look familiar.

"Oh good, I love it when people talk about me," I said, sarcastically. "So? What's all this about."

"Well I have a new mission for you," he responded, stepping closer.

"And you had to come all the way down here because?" I asked. "You do know that this is very dangerous. What if the Protoss were to find out?"

"You make a very valid point, which is why we need to hurry," he said. "Come with me and I will inform you on the way."

I complied, looking back at the rest of my group. None of them followed.

"Hey what about them," I asked.

"You need to complete this mission on your own Derk," he said, making his way toward a medivac, surrounded by vikings. "I mean, we can all agree that only the best can go on the hardest missions."

"Understandable, so what is it I'm doing?" I asked, walking aboard the shuttle. I felt a small pain of regret, wanting to stay only because of Miesha; but the emotion left as fast as it had come. I also noticed that the girl was coming on board as well.

"Let us wait until we are airborne. I don't want anyone overhearing this," Fou said, taking a seat. I looked back at the girl, sitting down as well. She looked more familiar than she should. Why can I not place her? We waited a couple seconds for the aircraft to take flight. "Okay so there is a lot of information we need to go through so let's get started. You will be escorting Miss Plank to planet Namco, which lies in Sector Voz."

Of course! Mr. Plank's daughter, Shira. Pff, well she definatly doesn't get her skin color form her dad. She is far to pale. Plank has more of a tan color. The type a farmer would have.

"And we both know that not only is that a fairly good ways away, but also goes through Blue Zerg and Mercenary territory. She's going to need quite a bit of protection, but Plank doesn't want to send a squad big enough to notice," Fou said, lighting a cigar. He handed me one.

"Oh no thanks Colonel. We both know ghosts can't have those," I said, motioning with my hand.

"Eh, suit yourself," he replied, breathing in the fumes.

"You know, I'd love to baby sit Plank's daughter any day, but… I'm pretty sure I'm needed here," I said, trying to be respectful, but firm.
"Well Mr. Plank thinks it's important enough," he said, breathing out a puff of smoke.

"Well of course he would, Shira's his daughter," I said, motioning toward the girl. "He'd want the absolute best protection for her."

"Huh, he told me you would think it was stupid," Fou said. "So he decided to make a deal to convince you."

I perked up.

"A deal?" I asked, folding my arms. "Like what?"

"You go do this for him and he might find a way to get you back with your old squad," Fou said, smoking his cigar.

"Consisting of?"

"Here's the list of names," the colonel said, bringing up a holographic screen. It read: Tenny, Mark, Leary, Rod, Nicky, Crip, and Jenny. I smiled.

"Well, Plank's got himself a deal," I said, nodding. "Do I get anyone coming with me?"

"Plank hasn't decided. We'll know when we get back to Rasurzen," Fou said, blowing out a ring of smoke. Hmm, we're going clear to the Orange Terran main planet huh. Why the heck did Fou bring Shira all the way down here and all the way back for? Hmm… must be some stupid reason that doesn't matter.

"Why are we going to Namco?" I asked, confirming my guess.

"Plank doesn't think Shira is safe in Rasurzen or anywhere near the Orange Terran."

"Hmm, makes sense," I said, shrugging. I looked over at the girl playing with her hair. She glanced at me, but instantly turned away. "Why's she so jumpy? I mean for being the big man's daughter. You'd think he'd teach her differently."

"Huh, well I can't confirm anything exact, so don't quote me on it, but I think it has something to do with his wife not wanting her daughter to become hardened. She wants her to stay a normal girl or something stupid like that," Fou said. "So much so that I don't think Plank even allows her to be around the troops."

"Okay now that's a bit ridiculous. I'm sorry but Mrs. Plank is going to be disappointed," I said, looking Shira up and down. "Pff, after what we're going to go through, she's going to be anything, but soft."

"Oh it's only been a couple friendly skirmishes. I'm not worried," she said. "And plus, Plank knows exactly what he's doing. When has he ever made a mistake. Plank has always gotten us out of our problems."

"Yeah well he wouldn't need to keep working so hard on saving us if he wouldn't get us into problems in the first place," the man said. "I understand that being Orange Terran it's a necessity to be proud, but he takes it to extreme levels. I think he needs to learn to just let go."

"Yeah but we don't just "let go". The Orange Terran never has. Even before Mr. Plank," she argued, glancing over in my direction. I quickly looked away, hoping she didn't suspect me. Man, we are going to be invaded by another Zerg brood! That could be a problem. I focused my attention back on them but they seem to be done talking about it.

"Well, I gotta get to bed. I have an important test tomorrow," he said, wrapping his arms around her. What! He can't like her! That's my job!

"Alright Romeo," she laughed. "Go to bed then, like a good boy."

"Heh, well if you weren't so determined to be a part of these Terrans then we could get outta here and you could join me," he said, pulling her closer.

"In your dreams," she said, kissing him. I turned and looked away. Ugh, am I destined to be alone forever. I waited for them to disperse before I left. I didn't want to act stalkerish.

Standing up, I walked back into the cafeteria. That was the gayest line I've ever heard. "If we leave the Orange Terran you could join me". Pff, how pathetic. I stomped up to the dormitories. There was a couple guys sleeping on the top bunks, but other than that it was empty.

I mean, who does this guy think he is! Talking to a women like that. He should show more respect. I threw myself on my bed, not even caring if I woke anyone up. Oh well, I'll have to impress her tomorrow. How hard can it be? If she's swayed by a man like him, she can be swayed by anybody.

I put my hands behind my head and closed my eyes. I twisted around in my bed, trying to get into a comfortable position. After several failed attempts, I opened my eyes. I am not going to be able to go to sleep am I. I checked the clock to my left. It read 21:37 p.m.

Ugh friggen military time. I tried to think back to how my friend in high school explained it to me. Okay you minus two from… something. I think from the 21, which gives you 11:37. And then take the first one away? 1:37? No that can't be right. I thought for a moment more, trying to remember. Oooh, you take away a one from the two and then you minus two; which would make it 9:37.

Okay that makes a lot more sense. I loud noise came from outside the hall. I looked toward the doorway, expecting someone to come dragging their feet in after a long training session. But instead I saw Nicky, dance happily into the room.

"What up?" I asked him, sitting up. "Haven't seen you all day bro."

"Eh, been around," he said, lying on the bed next to me.

"Huh, doin' what?" I asked, curious.

"I don't know. I went to see if I could switch my class," he said, looking disappointed. "I don't want to be a marine."

"How'd it go?" I asked, hopefully. "What'd they say?"

"The guy is pretty hard set on us training as marines," Nicky said, resting his hands on his head.

"Hey man, it might not be that bad," I said, trying to comfort him. "We might even get put with Derk or something."

"Well think of the odds Rod. Do you really think they'd do that for us?" he responded, giving me a dull look.

"Yeah I do," I said, feeling confident. Nicky perked up.

"Why?" he asked, rolling over to face me.

"Well… Derk said he knows Plank personally. If he and Tenny want us back in their squad they could convince Plank to do it," I said. Nicky huffed and rolled onto his back again.

"Rod, I don't know if you noticed, but I don't think they want to be anywhere near us," Nicky replied. "Those guys are highly skilled. We're a couple of privates. All we'd do is slow them down."

"That's not what Tenny said," I responded, lying on my back. Nicky looked over at me. "When he sent us this contraption he seemed pretty set on getting all of us back together. I think he can do it."

Nicky nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, maybe."

"We could try calling him now," I suggested.

"Nah, we better not. He told us we shouldn't," Nicky said, obviously feeling a lot better. I felt pretty good too, knowing we had a good chance of getting back with the guys we knew best. Heh, marine or not, I am going to be bad-a if I get to chill with a bunch of high class ghosts. I grinned, thinking of the blond headed girl I had fallen in love with. Then I will finally be able to impress her.

Hello everyone. I've been on a HUGE writing spree. Don't know how long it will last. I guess we'll have to find out.

P.S: make sure you don't miss any of the chapters. According to the views some of you have accidentally skipped one or two chapters. Be sure you don't skip any. (And yes I had two Derk Chapters in a row.)

Also potential spoilers so don't read if you don't want to know anything. It's not extreme.

The story is narrowing down to an end soon. Maybe 10 to 15,000 words.

Just thought I'd throw that out there, encase you guys cared. I don't want the ending to come and have you guys be all "WTF is this!"

EDIT: Lolz sorry about all the bold. I've been talking a lot in this one... sorry... BUT ANYWAYS, I just described what Shira looks a little bit more. Nothing big.