Chapter 2
The shuttle blasted through Tarsonis's thick atmosphere at speed greater than any pilot would normally attempted. It's nose glowed red as the air friction multiplied with every drop of altitude and every time it hit the thick clouds, huge sonic booms that could rattle an entire craft were generated. It was dangerous. It was reckless. But the occupants within the shuttle really had no other choices. They had to get in just as fast as they needed to get out.
They finally broke through the cloud cover. Tarsonis City was dead ahead down below.
The battle was still raging. The invaders had a decisive win over the occupants of the planet. Very few managed to escape the onslaught. Tarsonis planetary defense network wasn't designed to detect the xenomorph. When the xenomorph came bearing down on them, they had very little warning and very limited response time. Defense satellites were the first to be destroyed followed by the orbital platforms. Tarsonis was completely opened after that. It was a massacre like no other, unmatched and unparalleled within the thousands years of human history.
But there were no celebrations. It wasn't known if the horrific creatures ever celebrated any of their victories.
The Zerg once existed as rumors. A scary tale written and told by parents to enforce discipline on their children. But on that faithful day, rumors became reality. Death became a blessing. It was a much more preferred fate than becoming the unwitting servant of the Zerg. Bad karma, what befell Chau Sara and Mar Sara befell Tarsonis.
The terrans might have been defeated but the battle showed no sign of abating for the Zerg now had a new foe in the form of the very same alien species that glassed Chau Sara months before. This however presented a very fortunate opportunity for the occupants of the shuttle.
Matt Horner leveled the shuttle just as it reached 1500 feet above the ground. They were descending at the western outskirt of the Confederacy capital city, chosen due to its relative lack of activities. Matt applied the front thrusters to slow the shuttle down and carefully guided the shuttle as they flew under the multi level magnetic super highways snaking in and out of Tarsonis City. Those highways connected Tarsonis City with various other major cities dotting the planet surfaces. Protected by those highways from the prying eyes of the Zerg flyers, the shuttle weaved its way around the pillars supporting the highways as they made their way towards the capital city.
The bulk of the battle were now concentrated towards the eastern side of the city. They saw a few Zerg stragglers mainly consisted of zerglings and a few hydralisks. The marines manning the shuttle's gun wanted to take those Zergs down but Jim told them not to.
"Leave 'em alone," he said. "They are no threat to us. Save your bullets. We might need it later."
Indeed the Zerg stragglers saw them but they did nothing. They instead continued on their journey eastward, to where the battle still raging on.
"Never saw the Zerg leaving their would be victim alone," said Mike. He was standing beside Jim in the cockpit all the way from Montgomery. "What do you make of it, Jim?"
"The battle tilted favorably towards the Protoss. The Zerg is outnumbered. They had to call in reinforcements from whatever left on this planet," Jim gave his interpretation.
"That's good news, isn't it?"
"Not exactly."
Jim peered to the sky through the shuttle's windshield. "The Protoss ain't afraid to die but unlike the Zerg they do actually care for their comrades. My guess is they may execute orbital planetary bombardment in the end to prevent more losses to their rank."
"I'm surprise they didn't glass the planet earlier."
"Well I am thankful. As much as I hate the Confederacy, there're still innocent people living on this planet. One can only pray that they manage to get out just in time. We're lucky but that might not be long."
"That's reassuring."
Jim didn't miss Mike's sarcastic remarks. "Reassuring indeed. We all want to die in the comfort of a warm bed, aren't we? That's why we have to move fast or we could turn into human rotisseries when the Protoss do their thing."
The shuttle entered the mega metropolitan. Explosions upon explosions could be heard coming in from the east side of the city rocking the buildings from time to time. It echoed through the city streets that were now completely devoid of living beings. Mangled corpses of the inhabitants of the once thriving city strewn everywhere. The Zerg did their job really well.
The shuttle flew past a tall white marble building. A sign that said Terra Skyscraper was engraved on top of its main entrance. The city covered nearly a quarter of the planet's landmass. Getting to their destination would take a while.
Jim leaned towards Matt. "How far are we now from New Gettysburg?"
"25 miles, sir" came the reply.
"Can't you fly any faster?"
"This is the fastest I can go, sir," Matt said. "We only have a few feet of clearances from each side of the shuttle wings. Any faster and I could risk damaging the craft. The streets are getting narrower the nearer we get to the central district. I might have to slow down even further."
Jim gritted his teeth. He really wished that Matt could give him more options. But Matt was a really good pilot. He knew what he was doing and Jim would have to continue to trust him.
"Alright. Do what you have to. Get us as close as you can. I'm going to suit up. In the meantime, upload the city's schematics into my suit's database."
"Very well, sir," said Matt as he proceeded to press a few buttons on the shuttle's navigational computer.
Mike followed Jim towards the shuttle's cargo hold where Jim kept his black CMC combat suit. They had been using the same shuttle in all of their missions before which was why Jim decided to simply store his suit on board the shuttle for easier access.
Mike watched silently as Jim put on his armor. He marveled at how easy Jim made it look like donning the suit. The other two marines Jim's chose to accompany him needed help putting on their suits. Jim did it all by himself.
"Are you sure two escorts would be enough?" he asked Jim.
"More than enough," Jim reply as his suit enclosed him. Motors' whirl could be heard as the suit was doing its thing. "The more marines standing by protecting this shuttle the better. I prefer going alone but I know you're going to make a fuss about it."
"You bet your ass I will," Mike said. He paused for a moment. "Do you think she's still there?"
Jim glanced at Mike. "Keep your chin up, Mike. You're giving her far lesser credit than she deserves."
"Jim, it's been a while since the last time we heard of her. I just don't want to get my hope too high."
By this time, Jim done donning his suit. He took one of the C-14 rifles hung within the armory closet. "Whatever her fate is, she deserves what we're about to do for her. God forbid if she didn't make it, at least we'll have closure."
Mike nodded at this.
Matt landed the shuttle in the middle of a street ten miles from the central district. The street ahead had become so narrow that the craft could no longer fit in. Jim and the two marines jumped down the shuttle. The marines then immediately took position. Their scanners began to scout for any potential hostiles within vicinity of the shuttle.
"Good hunting, Jim!" Mike shouted. His voice nearly drown within the cacophony of the deafening shuttle engine noises.
"If I don't come back in an hour, take off without me!" Jim instructed him.
"No! You better get back here within an hour or I swear to God I will kick your ass from the heaven and into the hell when we meet in the afterlife!" Mike shouted back.
Jim didn't respond to that. Training his weapon, he instructed the marines to follow him.
Ten miles separated him from his destination. Ten miles separated him from Sarah. That was quite a distance they had to cover on foot but luckily the CMC suit's hydraulic servo system was more than a match. It allowed him and his escort to run at speed higher than they normally could. Still, it would be some time before they reached Sarah's base of operation. When they headed down to the surface, Jim tried to contact Sarah's command center but all he got were noises and statics. Both him and Mike had a bad feeling as to what happened but nevertheless they pressed on.
Amidst the backdrop of high rise towers and luxurious condominiums, the sound of their exosuit's boot thumping the ground echoed through the streets. Jim kept tab of their position using his suit's head up display while his escorts used their scanners to pick up any hostiles that may cross their path.
None of them spoke anything.
It was during this lack of interaction that Jim began to reflect back on what had happen. His relationship with Sarah started rough. They were at each other's throat most of the time. Funnily enough, for some reasons they both worked really well together during missions.
It was in the aftermath of Antiga Prime that things started to turn for the better. Sarah had just returned from the planet's surface. The psi emitter struck a heavy toll on her. She was spent. She could barely walk. Luckily Mike was there to help her. They both were sitting on the crates within Hyperion hangar waiting for her to regain her strength when Jim walked in on them. As before, he was preparing a few sarcastic remarks to say to her.
But his mind changed once he witnessed her condition. Dislike immediately turned into deep concern. Without thinking, he invited her for coffee and small talk. He was sure that she would rejected his invitation from the sharp look she shot him. She stared deep into his eyes and that went on for quite a few minutes.
"Yeah, coffee would be nice," Sarah said finally without letting her green orbs leaving him. "Talk too. Talk would be good."
Deep concern turned into genuine sympathy from that moment on. She, Jim and Mike became best of friends, trusting one another. But it was between her and Jim that the friendship grew further. Mengsk saw this and took proactive measures by pairing them for every mission he entrusted upon them.
One thing led to another and after that one single date at Sam's Place, they both gave in to their emotions.
Mengsk's betrayal changed all that. He would have known. Sarah would know. But unlike him, she remained adamant in trusting Mengsk until the end and that somehow placed a thorn in their budding relationship.
He and his escorts were still running. He felt like each time he placed his foot ahead of the other, the further he got from his destination. While he knew the location of Sarah's base, he had no idea if she was still there or if she was still alive. Sarah herself never carried self locating beacon with her. Of course that was to be expected. She was a Ghost operative. She was never meant to be found. She came back or never at all.
Sarah meant to him more than he knew. He realized that now. That realization however only served to increase his anxiety and his desperation.
They finally reached a narrow alley a few agonizing minutes later. That narrow alley led to a square where Sarah set up her base. Jim held up his hand. He gave his escorts a signal to stop. He then began to scan for any threats. Once he found none, the three of them led by Jim entered the one mile long alley. Their gauss rifles trained forward, ready to react to any threat that might occur.
Scent of death lingered in the air as they reach the said base. Zerg and human corpses intermingled on the ground among the ruins. Bunkers split opened revealing its content full of dead marines. The barracks, most of it were carved in two. Most of the building units were completely destroyed save for the command center.
"We separate. Look for any survivors," Jim gave instructions to the marines. "I'm gonna search the command center. And be careful. Keep your eyes peel for anything peculiar."
"Yes, sir."
Jim made his way towards the command center. It still stood but evidences of a really brutal fight were all over it. As he approached the building, he could see a large gaping hole tore the side of the building. he raised his gauss rifle and with caution, walked up the ramp that led into the command center.
He was met with more death and destructions. Sparks flew from damaged equipments and dangling cables. The crew, some of them died with their eyes opened wide. Some of them had their innards ripped apart. What kind of horror they witnessed as they drew their last breathe Jim would never knew. There was nothing else he could do for them so he pressed on, searching for that one elusive Sarah Louise Kerrigan.
He scoured the whole command center but found no trace of her. He was standing inside the bridge of the command center when all of a sudden his comm crackled.
"Captain Raynor, we found something!"
"I'll be right there," he replied.
He gazed around the bridge. All he saw were dead bodies and none of them belongs to Sarah. She wasn't inside the command center when the Zerg attacked. She was... somewhere else. That conclusion unfortunately didn't provide any relief to him. It in fact made things even more complicated.
"We found this, sir," said one of the marines when he went out to meet them. The marine handover the item to him. It was an Bosun FN92 sniper rifle, a weapon only a Ghost operative would use. And Sarah was the only Ghost operative Mengsk had at that time.
It was badly damaged and covered in blood.
Jim swallowed hard. His heart shattered into pieces.
"Where did you find this?" he asked.
"Over there." The marine pointed towards the north side of the base. "I found it just outside the base parameters. There was an intense fight it seems. More terran dead bodies. I wanted to search the bodies for Lieutenant K-"
Jim gave the marine a sharp look. The man fell silent.
A Ghost operative never leave their weapons behind. Unless they were dead.
Jim knew what the marine wanted to say. He just didn't want to hear it.
Jim took his eyes off the rifle he was holding and gazed around. From his vantage point, he could see the eastern sky lit up with every explosion. The battle between the Zerg and the Protoss showed no sign of subsiding. In fact it got even more ferocious.
Their scanners suddenly lit up. Multiple hostiles were coming in their way.
At this point Jim knew there was nothing else the three of them could do. They had overstay their welcome. Things would get even more dangerous the longer they stayed.
"Let's go back. We're returning to the shuttle," he said.
His heart broke. But he had no choice but to leave Sarah Kerrigan behind.
Jim radioed Matt while he was on his way, telling the young pilot to take off the moment they arrived.
Mike's face fell when he saw the three of them returning. he knew what happened. Jim gave him Sarah's rifle the moment he got on board. Mike accepted it silently.
Without speaking, Jim took off his CMC exosuit and dashed towards the shuttle's cockpit. And minutes later the shuttle shot through the atmosphere as it headed towards the outer space.
Jim glanced at Tarsonis before the shuttle jumped into warp. He saw the Protoss fleet began their orbital bombardment of the planet. Sarah's remains would never be found.
"I'm sorry, darlin'."
To be continued...