Oh man! I am so glad to be back and sorry about my unannounced hiatus, it was a surprise for me too I assure you. However, there is good news! I've been very bored, and that means I've been writing... A lot. I've got an arseload of updates for you, I'm just gonna take my time putting them up so they are as nice and neat as I can manage. That means I can maybe make a continual stream of updates right to the end- no promises on that one though!
Hyperion – Kaldir low orbit
Holding her cast-covered arm firmly against her chest as she ran, Jayce was huffing and puffing by the time she reached the Lab. The ship had yet to come under attack, or at least there was no discernible physical impacts happening, that gave her the illusion of time. Stepping up to the door, eyes immediately locking on the fleshy substance that had partially leaked out into the hall. Creep.
Swallowing a lump in her throat, Jayce pressed the keys that would open the door for her and braced herself. This was the moment she'd know if she could look a zerg in the eye and attempt to kill it. Or she'd be killed horribly before that plan was ever realized. The door hissed open.
"Egon?" Nervous, Jayce looked inside and immediately saw the massive form of the broodmother on the other side of the room, its glowing eyes locking on her in return.
Shlassa held the terran's gaze quietly, considering. This was the one they would all throw their lives on the line for, for no reason. Having known Jayce was coming, Shlassa subtly forced Stetmann deeper into his control of the infested until he would be unable to absorb what was going on around him, leaving her and the terran woman to their own devices. Stetmann had, however, raised the floor panel that held his medic suit and left it up.
Another lump had formed in her throat and Jayce swallowed at it hard, breaking eye contact with Shlassa and forcing herself to look at Egon, now that it was clear she was not about to be eviscerated- yet anyway. Stetmann was sitting in his chair, rigid and staring into nothing, unresponsive. The Selfix armor was near him and Jayce took her first tentative step on to the fleshy floor, grimacing at the squishy feel of it through her shoes.
"You can do this." Muttering a little mantra to herself, Jayce strode towards the Selfix armor purposefully and considered her options when standing in front of it. It was very different than a medic suit, and ass ugly to boot, but Stetmann had raved about its advanced features and capabilities more than enough times within earshot that Jayce figured she could work with it.
Rolling her sleeves up above her elbows, Jayce made to step in to the armor and begin hooking herself up to it, but quickly realized her cast was too large and wouldn't fit through several of the loops that would connect to her body and inject healing nanites.
Frustration rising, Jayce whispered heatedly at the seemingly entranced scientist. "Stetmann! I need your help..." Gritting her teeth when there was no response, she fought back angry tears. "If we make it through this I swear I'm gonna get someone to kick your ass." Defeated, Jayce stumbled out of the suit and began walking for the door when the echoing, hissing voice of Shlassa stopped her in her tracks.
"Hold, Terran." Pausing to enjoy the palpable spike of fear coming from the woman, Shlassa chuckled softly. It was a purely malevolent sound to Jayce.
"Yes?" Voice small, Jayce glanced towards the spidery monster and wondered if she could get to and through the door in time. Probably not.
"Why did you not use the machine?"
Confused, Jayce looked at the Selfix armor and back to Shlassa, quirking a brow. "I can't do it by myself and with this cast on. I need to help us defend against the Protoss..." It was a preposterous notion, but Jayce considered asking the monster for help just then. Did it care if it died?
"Come to me." Shlassa intoned, straightening to her full height imperiously. When Jayce remained frozen, she prompted impatiently. "My Queen wishes you alive, so you shall remain. We share an enemy today, and so I will help you. Come."
Glancing nervously at Stetmann, who remained immobile, Jayce forced her legs to work and carry her over to the broodmother. Its sheer size was unnerving, even if it was not the biggest of zerg creatures by a long shot, probably over eight feet. Taking a deep breath, Jayce forced herself to reason. She had been about to ask for assistance anyways, and Shlassa was right. If she was not welcome on this ship she would have been dead and gone many times over. A temporary truce for survival it was.
Looking down at Jayce and all but hovering over her head, Shlassa eyed the Terran's arm and held out a spidery hand. Pleased when she complied much quicker, it was a moments work to sheer the weak wrapping away with a claw. It was also entertaining to watch Jayce recoil in terror as though her arm was being cleaved off.
Reduced to sweating in a second, Jayce stared at her exposed pale arm in the hand of the broodmother, miraculously uncut. "Thank you." Her voice was weak, but it was all she could manage. At least she could get plugged into the Selfix armor now.
"Time is of the essence." Shlassa curved a long, spidery finger around Jayce's arm when she attempted to withdraw, holding her firmly in place. With her free hand she spawned a slimy-looking green orb.
Eyes widening, Jayce knew full well that broodmothers were capable of mending other Zerg, but this seemed awfully dangerous to her own well being. "Uh! I think it'd be safer if I just-"
Shlassa plunged the glowy green goo orb on to Jayce's arm without hesitation, speaking briskly over the woman's surprised and dismayed cry. "Zerg, Terran. It makes no difference. Essence is essence!" Though her low opinion of Terran essence would remain kept to herself, for the time being. Jayce was all but having a panic attack as the stuff soaked into her arm alarmingly fast and the broodmother wouldn't let her slip away.
Gasping and jumping up and down, since away wasn't an option, Jayce stared in open mouthed horror as the zerg goo was fully absorbed into her flesh. Sucking in a huge breath, having worked herself into a breathless frenzy, she waited to be turned into some kind of mutated abomination. Whether it was luck or the broodmother really knew, the temperature of her injured arm rose dramatically and there was a pins and needles sensation as her flesh and bones were knit together rapidly. When it was finished, Shlassa let go and Jayce stumbled back a half step before stuttering.
"T-thank-"
"Do not thank me. I was the one that broke it." Folding her spindly fingers back together, Shlassa leaned back slightly. "Go. See that the Protoss do not destroy us." Right on time, the ship came under fire and shuddered around them violently. Without a choice, Jayce nodded and ran out of the Lab full tilt.
Kaldir – Ursadon Tunnels
Jim had begun peppering the Ursadon Matriarch with spines a moment after it charged them, while Tychus slipped between a massive leg and slavering jaw to the relative safety of the beast's underbelly, where he began to carve a bloody home with his blades.
"Careful, careful!" Jim warned, backing off and waiting for some spines to grow back. Aside from its eyes, the Matriarch seemed mostly unhindered by his spines. "That hide is real thick!"
With Jim's warning, Tychus glanced a monstrous hand folding inwards to grasp at him and avoided it just in time, leaping around the front leg it was leaning on and stabbing at it with all his might. The angry and pained bellows of the Matriarch were deafening in the cavern and threatened the stability of smaller tunnels in the distance.
Vulnerable as she stumbled through the tunnel towards her escape, Lasarra was attempting to shut away the mental agony of Arut's death. Warriors were able to block such emotions, but Lasarra was very far from a warrior and had no such training. Distant bellowing and the clattering of claws on ice much closer went unheard as she coiled one arm at her midsection and held her face in a hand.
Warfield had caught sight of the tall, willowy protoss and made a wild dash at it. It was a surprise to not meet any resistance when he slammed his hands down on each thin upper arm and sunk his talons in deep. No shield. No defense. Nothing.
Lasarra's eyes widened at the pain of talons piercing her flesh, head tilting back. Shocked back to reality, she was alarmed to be unable to move as a numbness spread through her limbs and rendered her body limp and unresponsive.
Warfield quickly pulled his talons out of his victim as she fell to the ground. The steady thumping of four hearts, which was very odd to his ears, was enough to let him know she was alive. Sliding his hand underneath Lasarra's long nerve cords, Warfield grasped the back of her decorative armor and began a brisk walk back to where Jim and Tychus were taking down the Matriarch. Despite its height, the protoss weighed next to nothing and did not hinder him anywhere near as much as he thought it would. "C'mon ugly."
The rage of the Matriarch had sent the remainders of its pack running away, having trampled several smaller Ursadon in its fight with Jim and Tychus. Her blood rage was making it much easier to attack freely, if one could avoid the rapid bites and claws.
Tychus, in a battle rage of his own, was snarling and laughing as he cut into the lower hind legs of the Matriarch, reveling in a shower of hot blood- it tasted so good. Jim remained cool and calculated, focused on the task, especially so since he was currently holding the ire of the creature. Tychus' position worried him, though.
Tychus, mind those back feet! No sooner had he warned Tychus than the Matriarch leaned forwards on its hands and kicked Tychus with a foot bigger than the man himself. Hard. Launching him clean across the room and through a pillar of ice to land in a heap.
Tychus! Alarmed but unable to check on him, Raynor grit his teeth and stood his ground. The Matriarch was mortally wounded, it would not survive this fight even if it won, and it was fighting as though it knew it. Snarling, it charged at Jim open mouthed, ready to end his life with a snap. Gazing at the soft skin of its mouth, Jim knew what he had to do. Taking a page from his fallen friend, Jim bellowed loud and hard as he hurled spines rapidly into the Matriarch's mouth and prayed.
A long, thin spine won through at the very last second, penetrating the raging beasts brain and bringing it to a sudden halt. Jim took a step back as it landed heavily in front of him and breathed one final sigh.
Pulse racing wildly from the rush, Raynor ran around the cooling corpse and towards where Tychus had landed. "Tychus!" It was a great relief when he found his old friend hunched over and rising up slowly.
Tychus' voice was rough. "You know, partner. I think we've both died several times these past few days. Do you think zerg have nine lives, should we be more careful?" Slapping Tychus on the shoulder Jim let out a relieved laugh, Tychus joining in when he could finally stand straight. The two were walking over to their kill, jovial, when Warfield came back into view dragging a damned protoss.
"Looks like I missed the fun! You boys in one piece?" Warfield tossed the limp body off the ledge and Jim cringed slightly as it landed in an awful heap.
"We're fine General. What's with the protoss?" Jim gestured at Lasarra as she lay there while Warfield hopped down and approached them, dusting his hands off briskly.
"Caught up with it. Didn't put up any fight at all, managed to get it paralyzed. Might come in handy." The three left her laying here while they walked towards the Matriarch.
"Maybe. Looks like a female. Wonder what she was doin' down here with a Zealot?" Jim was curious, he'd only ever met a few female protoss. Digging around in tunnels full of Ursadon was possibly the last place he'd expect to see another one.
"Don't know, don't care." Tychus slapped the thick white hide of the Matriarch, rapidly staining red, with a thump as they came to stand beside it. "We've killed it. What now?"
"And what is that smell?" Warfield added. Coming to stand beside Tychus, he sniffed the air in confusion. "By all rights, this place should reek of nothing but wet fur and Ursadon shit." The General looked rather alarmed when he looked at Tychus, bloody from head to toe, and realized. Jim looked grim and Tychus seemed disturbingly excited, eyes alight as he stared at the bloody Matriarch corpse.
Absorb its essence. Feast. Time is short, and Swann has said the Terran ships are unable to retrieve you. Shlassa called to them with a note of urgency that did not go unnoticed.
"Eat it?" Jim muttered, disgusted. "Figured we'd just have to dip our hands in it or somethin'..."
Tychus stood flush with the corpse and gripped two wide gashes in its flesh that he had carved himself, looking over his shoulder with a gleam in his eye. "Trust me on this one. Best thing you'll ever taste." With a rip, he pulled a huge strip of flesh and fur clean off, exposing the steaming insides to them. Tychus didn't waste any time, he could feel his mouth filling with saliva at the thought of getting another taste of meat, he tore out a chunk with his claws and shoveled it in his mouth. He couldn't help but groan in ecstasy.
Warfield clenched his teeth, equally disturbed by the image of Tychus stuffing chunks of raw bloody meat into his mouth like some kind of wild animal, and entranced by the heavenly smell. Reluctantly, he shouldered Tychus to the side and carved himself off a less greedy slice. The moment the bloody slab touched his tongue, he understood. "My god." He muttered around his mouthful, chewing away.
Resigned, Jim cut himself a slice and joined in. It wasn't long before they had let slip the thin threads of control they had and were gorging heartily. Soon, their body temperatures had risen such that the atmosphere around them might as well have been T-shirt weather.
Lasarra, having landed facing away from the corpse of the Matriarch but also having seen it as she fell, could only listen and attempt to discern what was going on around her. It was strange to hear one of them protest about eating it, not something she would expect from a zerg, but all too soon there was nothing but sickening crunching and slurping to indicate what was happening. She had utterly failed in every way, it tore at her heart. Arut truly died for nothing.
They had feasted long enough that Lasarra felt the paralytic venom she had been injected with wearing off. Slowly, she drew herself to her feet and steeled herself to look behind. Teetering slightly, she mustered her courage and turned. Covered in gore, the three monsters were still shoveling flesh from all manner of holes they had torn into the noble Matriarch, grunting and munching. A righteous anger filled her then, and all three froze when they felt the emotion behind the words projected at them.
Monsters.
Eyes opening wide, the proclamation jolted Jim out of his frenzied consumption, dropping a chunk of meat he had been about to stuff into his mouth. Warfield had reacted the same, although Tychus was much more reluctant to let his meal go, glaring a promise of death towards the protoss for interrupting.
"Uh. This... Isn't exactly what it looks like." Jim mumbled, stepping away from the corpse and towards the protoss slowly. He went to extend his hand in a friendly gesture, but realized it was red and covered in meat chunks so quickly brought it back to his side. How long had they been eating? Time had lost its meaning. This was not good. "Look, sorry about the whole paralysis thing..."
You killed my brother and one of the last Ursadon Matriarch's on Kaldir. Your sins are beyond count, monster. Jim winced at the accusation.
Growling like a savage and extending his arm blades, Tychus stalked towards the wobbly protoss and rumbled. "Just kill it and get movin'. Talkin' ain't gonna get us off this ice ball."
Warfield shrugged, indifferent. Protoss weren't his friends. "We do need to get going. Don't know how long we were at that, but we've definitely acclimated." Looking at Jim, Warfield waited expectantly while Lasarra cringed away from Tychus, too weak to make any kind of defense.
"Wait Tychus. We ain't got any way off this rock." Jim waved the murder-minded Tychus off, catching up with a quick jog until he and Tychus were both standing in front of the willowy and ruffled protoss. "We didn't come here to kill protoss. Your brother attacked us and we defended ourselves. He died a warrior's death." Jim held Lasarra's gaze while Tychus made a quick snatch at a blinking panel that had been resting against Lasarra's side armor.
"Got a message, lady?" Tychus wiggled the panel at Lasarra, eyeing her for a reaction.
Lasarra's eyes widened notably when the urgent message became visible and so many pieces of the puzzle fell neatly together. James Raynor and his men. Infested. Arut never stood a chance. Had they only received the message sooner, so much could have been different.
"Well it clearly said somethin'." Tychus smirked and simultaneously crushed the datapad in his fist, letting the pieces fall to the ground.
Frowning at his friend's sledgehammer-like approach to diplomacy, Jim wondered if it was perhaps time to take that stance as well, given the lack of response so far. "Look. We got two options: We awaken a Hive and kill everyone on this moon while trying to leave, or you take us to whatever ship got you to these ice caves and help us get outta here. No one else dies. You read me?" Jim did not like how the protoss' eyes narrowed to slits, greeting him with a stubborn silence. Warfield had since sauntered up and was observing the exchange.
Jim grit his teeth and snarled, reaching around the lithe protoss and grabbing a fist full of nerve cords. Lasarra's eyes widening in alarm was the response he was looking for. "I know what these are." He gave the nerve cords a sharp squeeze and her head tilted in alarm, trying to undo the pressure. "Agree to take us outta here or the Khala is going to be one shy in a few seconds." Keeping his grip firm, Jim stared into the protoss' eyes and hoped beyond hope it would work. He did not know if he was capable of causing that much anguish in someone, alien or not. Tychus was giving Jim a look of surprised approval. The Jim he knew did not normally resort to such threats, though Tychus had no idea what the Khala was, not that he cared.
Stop. Lasarra had raised a hand slightly with her words. If she could survive this altercation, there was a chance she could help bring them down. It was a deep relief when James Raynor removed his clawed, blood-smeared hand from her nerve cords. I will bring you to my ship and it shall bare you to yours. Let us be off.
As Lasarra turned around to climb up the wall of ice to the tunnels she and Arut came from, Jim allowed himself to feel relieved. "Lets go boys." Soon, all three of them were following Lasarra towards her base camp warily.
What if she's got a whole army of them Protoss waiting for us at this "ship", Jimmy? Tychus was wary. That was too easy, partner.
It's possible. Protoss are real keen on honesty, though. Jim admitted. It would certainly put a kink in the plan.
You plan on risking all our necks on the fact that Protoss like honesty? Warfield was none too pleased. We should kill her and wake up that hive. Hell with the Protoss, I'd rather live to see another day, Raynor.
Tychus was eyeing Lasarra's back, slowly clenching and unclenching his fists. Jim frowned. The Protoss aren't Terrans, Warfield. I've had plenty of dealings with them, especially this type. They don't do backstabbing. You can count on her alerting the other protoss as soon as we're on our ship though. Just cool it and see how it plays out. There were no further objections.
Hyperion – Kaldir low orbit
Matt's countenance was grim. The Hyperion was already under attack by the small fighters the Carrier launched and both Stetmann, Swann and himself were using infested to return fire and keep the ship's defenses up. Void Rays were gliding sleekly ahead of the Carrier, almost in range. "If they get to us, we're dead." Horner muttered to himself, feeling rather accepting of his fate.
"Well, we'll just have to stop that won't we?" He jerked in surprise when Jayce's overconfident voice filled the bridge. She had walked in while he was mumbling to himself and heard.
"What are you doing, Jayce?" Horner frowned tightly, watching a small protoss ship exploding through several pairs of eyes, he was struggling to keep focused.
"Come to make myself useful, Captain." Immediately, she had taken up a place at the console dedicated to the overview of the ship and more importantly, the Yamato cannon.
"I'm not sure when you learned how to do more than just be an engineer, but be my guest." Horner directed himself to his chair and sat down heavily. It would be a relief that Jayce could look after things in here, his head was pounding. "Keep me informed."
Jayce's eyes were wide at the image of the Void Rays, they were the real threat. "Sir, those Void Rays are going to rip us apart, and they are almost here!"
"I know." Horner sighed irritably.
"What are we- wait." Confusion bloomed on her features as the space to the right of the ship visibly blurred, and a moment later the Bucephalus exploded spectacularly into view. "Captain, it's the Bucephalus!" It had already begun assisting in returning fire and the Carrier fighters were being decimated, exploding like fireworks.
"Incoming transmission." The Adjutant spoke briskly, patching the Bucephalus through.
Horner could barely believe it, but now was not the time to air his suspicions, and forced himself to look at the display of Valerian.
"Captain Horner. My apologies for keeping you waiting; we are here to assist." Valerian looked between Horner and Jayce, noting the particularly vacant expression on the Captains face with curiosity.
Jayce didn't waste a second. "The Void Rays are coming! We need to focus fire and take them down before they get charged up!" They had moved into firing position and already their long needle-like protrusions were beginning to peel back and bring the large crystal that would focus a destructive beam to the forefront.
"I'm sending you your target. Fire on my mark." Valerian was cool and calm. The protoss should have sent more if they wanted to succeed in interfering with his plans.
Clumsily forwarding the information to what would normally be a full crew of trained personnel that specifically looked after the ship's firepower, Jayce hoped someone was watching down there. It was hard enough to take over a job she had only a basic working knowledge of, but she thanked her lucky stars she liked learning about more than just her own job. Relief flooded through her as the target was acknowledged, she waited for the moment the exiled prince would give the word.
"Mark." A quick flick of a button and the word was out. All available cannons on both battlecruisers that could be pointed at the Void Ray simultaneously turned from the Carrier fighters to their target. A thin beam had erupted from the sleek protoss vessel and connected to the Hyperion, a precursor to much more severe damage, but under the combined firepower of the two terran ships its shields quickly succumbed and the ship exploded spectacularly.
The Hyperion rocked hard, Jayce nearly being jostled off her console, when the second Void Ray continued channeling despite losing its partner. Green and wide, the beam that connected the two ships was rapidly increasing in intensity and would soon be burning a hole through the hull of the Hyperion. "Activate the shield matrix!" Jayce nearly shouted at herself as she tried to figure out where its activation was while Valerian fed new target information to the Hyperion. Not a moment too soon, the shield matrix surrounded the Hyperion and encased it in a temporary cushion of safety.
"Open fire on the final Void Ray as soon as you can." Valerian instructed as the Bucephalus turned its cannons on the fully charged Void Ray, peppering its plasma shield hard.
With the matrix being melted through like butter, Jayce fed the coords to the team and watched with a huge amount of relief as the Void Ray was taken down almost in sync with the shield matrix falling. Debris of protoss ships were floating around on screen, a golden, shimmering graveyard blooming in Kaldir's low orbit.
Seeing Jayce's relieved face, Valerian gave her a stern reminder. "The battle is not over, miss. Focus on the Carrier and prepare your Yamato cannon."
Swallowing hard, Jayce accepted the aiming coords and looked at the Carrier. All its fighters lost, the ship was vulnerable and without any offensive ability. It felt wrong. "Valerian... The Carrier has lost all its fighters, I don't think we need to do this."
"The protoss will not let this transgression go unpunished. We need to be able to get away without the Carrier following us. There is no choice." Valerian was grim. "Fire your cannon."
Upset, but well above her head in inexperience, Jayce accepted Valerian's word. Not like her own Captain was saying anything. Swallowing a lump in her throat, Jayce recalled what her good friend had said when he was giving her a brisk run through of the console he was in control of. It had taken quite some bribery to get him to come to the bridge and show her this on his off time.
"The Yamato cannon is the most powerful weapon on this ship, and I'm in control of it. You set your target here." He had noted, finger brushing just over the controls to show how it worked, but not touching. "And fire it here. Anything this baby hits is gonna explode, better cover your eyes!" Breathing deep, Jayce hit the button and squinted.
When the Hyperion charged its Yamato cannon, you could feel it throughout the whole ship. Jayce had felt it many times, but never saw. The blinding flash, a concentrated nuclear strike, erupting across the screen and crashing into the Carrier was something else entirely. The protoss ship visibly rocked and was riddled with explosions as its plasma shield was cut through instantly. A quick glance at the Bucephalus showed its own Yamato cannon charging.
"Incoming transmission." The adjutant warned. Valerian's image was pushed aside and a golden armored protoss, resplendent in alien beauty, looked down on Jayce. Horner remained silent and staring hard into thin air. The second Yamato cannon fired, cutting a huge chunk clean off of the massive protoss vessel. Sparks and warning lights flared behind the protoss on the comm, the ship was a small round of cannon fire shy of exploding.
Our ship is crippled. Nothing remains of our fighters. To kill us now would be the height of cowardice, Terran.
Turning away from the console to face the protoss, straightening her posture and attempting to look authoritative, Jayce had never felt so small in her oil stained orange jumpsuit. "I can't let you hunt us down."
More will come. Many more. The protoss warned, eyes narrowed to slits.
Frowning, her features twisting as her emotions warred. Jayce was not cut out for this job. "But you wont." Turning away sharply, it was a brisk command to fire the auto cannons. She couldn't force herself to look backwards and see the protoss engulfed in flames before the transmission was lost. The Carrier was crumbling, succumbing to Kaldir's gravity and plummeting downwards in a fiery ball.
Valerian sounded subdued, but as she clasped her hands in front of herself and watched the Carrier fall, fighting back tears, Jayce couldn't look at him either. "I've sent you warp coords. The protoss have more than enough firepower left on Kaldir to destroy us if we don't leave soon."
Kaldir – Ursadon tunnel camp
They barely realized they had entered a protoss camp, so sparse it was. With the threat of a flash freeze looming, it was only a matter of time, they had quickly set a hard pace. Raynor, the most knowledgeable of the three about protoss, had picked up on Lasarra's distress fairly easy. The willowy protoss stumbled here and there and occasionally touched her face or head, as if confused or disoriented. Fairly sure the three of them were the cause of her distress Jim couldn't help but feel bad, but they would have to continue regardless.
"Where's the ship?" Tychus muttered at Lasarra in warning. They had come to the mouth of the cave and all around them was thickly blanketed snow, with more falling.
Lasarra gestured towards the Warp Prism with her hand serenely. Tychus was dangerous, she did not need to read minds to know that her life was on a fine edge with him, it would not due to keep him waiting.
"Blends in real good, doesn't it?" Warfield had to look over the area she indicated twice before seeing the tell-tale blue glow, finally making out the figure.
Yes. It is a subtle technology. Lasarra was about to say more, when the sky erupted.
"Oh, no." Jim recoiled in alarm- the Hyperion was under attack. All four watched as another bright flare bloomed above the atmosphere, a piece of molten hull falling through the sky shortly afterwards. Jim was furious, fists clenched and blood surging. He wanted to rage and blame someone, Lasarra perhaps. But as a final and more substantial explosion lit the gray sky red and the remains of what was clearly a Carrier came crashing down through the atmosphere, he could not find it in himself. Wasn't her fault, not by a long shot. Blame could be laid solely at the feet of his former love, who was currently ravaging a planet outside of the Koprulu sector without remorse.
"Get us in the transport and lets go." Warfield muttered, stalking past Lasarra who seemed stunned. Jim followed suit.
My people will be avenged. She stated simply, activating the Warp Prism and watching as Jim and Warfield burst into their basic matter and were stored inside the ship with a blue glow. All that remained was Tychus and he grasped her thin upper arm, still sporting wounds from Warfield's talons, firmly. "You're comin' with us." Lasarra made to protest, recoiling from the scalding hot touch, but received a firm clench in warning. It would not be any effort on his part to break her bones, and she was certain he'd enjoy it. "If you double-cross us and your Protoss pals blast us outta the sky? They are taking you too."
A quick shove sent her stumbling to stand beneath the prism, and she felt resigned. There would be no convincing this one of her lack of treachery, her fate was in the gods hands. Stand with me.
Reluctant but compliant, Tychus took his place beside the protoss, a staggering contrast between the two, and they disbursed into particles to be stored in the ship. Directed by Lasarra's will, the vessel began a smooth ascent towards the Hyperion.
Hyperion – Kaldir low orbit
Withdrawing his conscious from the many infested he had been controlling, certain of the current battle being over, Horner blinked back into awareness and took in the current situation around him. Jayce was staring out into space where nothing was left of the protoss but wreckage, and Valerian was looking somewhat uncomfortable at the silence.
Standing up, Horner hooked his hands behind his back and approached the comm with the prince. "Valerian. Thanks for the assist- but if you want to stick with us and talk you'll wait for me to give you warp coords of my own. You'll have to pardon me for not quite trusting you right now." He had heard their exchange of course, but wasn't able to respond at the time.
"There is a lot to discuss, Captain. I assure you the coords I have sent you are not a trap, but I understand. We will wait for you, but a little haste wouldn't be undue. The protoss are mustering more ships as we speak."
"Jim and his men are down there, we're waiting for them. If it gets too hot you can leave-"
"Captain!" Jayce butted in and ran over to a second console, getting a better look at what she was seeing. "A protoss ship is inbound but-" Jayce's voice faded out and Shlassa's overrode what the terran girl was saying.
It is them. Let the protoss vessel pass.
"Don't shoot that ship!" Horner blurted, spinning to face Valerian. "It's a transport- that is Jim!"
Valerian gave a calculating look, glancing at his own display of the Warp Prism. It would be awfully easy to capture the three like that, but not very good for relations either.
"Valerian..." Horner warned, understanding full well his commander's vulnerability at this time.
Valerian's eyes snapped back to Horner, a slight frown creasing his handsome features. "I understand your concern, Captain. However, my thoughts are strictly on the speed of that transport and how fast we need to get out of here when it's done offloading its cargo. I have risked many lives and damaged our relations with protoss considerably to protect you."
"Well, don't count on having much luck with protoss relations for a good long while after this." Horner eyed his console and transmitted the warp coords with a practiced hand. "There. Soon as the transport has boarded, we're leaving."
"Very well. We will speak again soon, Captain." Valerian's overly perfect visage disappeared as he closed the comm. Horner let out a stressed breath, glancing at Jayce. She had returned to staring out into space. He never realized just how ragged she looked up until then. Her hair was in a poorly done pony tail, no doubt because she could only use her off-hand, bits and pieces sticking out here and there. Her shoulders were slumped in exhaustion, and he could just imagine the bags under her eyes. Pride swelled in his chest when he thought about how she handled the situation, and despite the tell-tale beating of her heart having a dangerous allure, the dour captain found himself standing beside her staring out into space. Wasn't much else to do until Jim arrived, they would be docking shortly.
"You did well. I didn't know you were qualified to work on my bridge, though." Smiling slightly, Horner attempted to keep it light.
Sniffing, Jayce smiled slightly and spoke, voice weak with an overwhelming sadness. "Always good to make yourself indispensable, Captain."
"You are." He admitted, hoping the honesty he felt could be heard. "Wasn't an easy call you made, but it was the right one. Try not to let it bring you down." Tentatively, he gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder and forced away thoughts of what happened the last time he put his hand on someone, although he had only managed to recall snippets over time.
"I can't help but feel like... We shouldn't even be here, you know? And every life that we take after what happened to us, where we should've died, is something that should never have happened." Jayce turned and stared at him, somehow managing to keep tears from pouring. It would all come out in private later.
"I know exactly what you're saying." Jayce had summed up his own feelings into words rather well, Horner admitted to himself. Lowering his hand from her shoulder, he sighed. "But we're going to keep fighting and try to undo what has been done to us. I heard Valerian say something earlier about reversing infestation, you can bet that's part of why he's here saving our asses."
"I don't trust him." Jayce bit out, venomous.
"Good. He hasn't earned it. I can take it from here, go see if Swann has something for you to take care of, alright?" Getting her out of the bridge so he could think clearly was becoming more necessary by the second, and thankfully she took the initiative.
"Yeah. We took lots of hits, no doubt he's swamped. I'm on it." Nodding politely to her Captain, Jayce began walking out. Horner happened to glance at her as she was leaving and did a quick double-take, why was her broken arm out of its cast? He'd have to ask later, the opportunity was gone as the door hissed shut behind her.
I know you want to warp outta here cowboy, but with the ship in the condition she is right now? We're gonna be dead in the water on arrival. Swann was taking care of the Warp Prism, getting it docked inside, and knew full well his Captain would want to warp out of the hot zone. The damage the Hyperion had taken almost brought a tear to his eye as it was.
We just need to lose the protoss, Swann. We can take however much time we need to make repairs after that, and if we have to we can accept help from Valerian too. The prince would be all too happy to offer it, Horner was sure.
I don't trust that brat. I'll fix this damn place by myself before accepting his help. We're ready to warp.
Jim, Tychus, Warfield and Lasarra were being scrambled back into their physical forms beneath the Warp Prism when warp drive was initiated. All four of them tumbled over one another into a heap.