NOVA LISBOA, UMOJA 16:42 UCST (10:42 DCST)
On stage, Figaro had just learned the count's plan for his wife Susanna and was beginning the first lines of "Se Voul Ballare." It was the first act of Il Nozze de Figaro and the first production of it at the Pasteur Opera House since the End War. Admiral Renata Marín was pleased to be there, having begged box-seat tickets off her commanding officer, Fleet Admiral Thierry Augustin, a donor. Her partner, Lieutenant General Wynand Vermaak, was less than enthusiastic and already nodding off to sleep. She should have known better than to bring him here; Marín knew he wouldn't enjoy it. It had been enough of a battle to get him into a suit, and he still chose to wear his motorcycle boots with it. She had to admit that she was more comfortable in the grey and teal of the Umojan Protectorate Navy's uniforms than in a black formal dress and heels, but she prided herself on her ability to adapt—and she had fallen in love with opera in the academy. She and Vermaak had known each other since then, and she had changed a lot over the years. But he had not. He was still the same steady, dependable, if slightly incorrigible Wynand. His cleanly-shaven head bobbed again, and then he was asleep, snoring quietly. Thank god this is a private box, she thought.
An usher appeared at the door, asked her for her name, and then handed her a datapad. She looked at him quizzically, but he just shrugged. Taking it in her hand, she stood and moved to the corner of the box so that the other opera patrons would not be bothered by the bright screen. On it was a message to her: "LARGE SCALE ATTACK ON TARSONIS IMMINENT. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. ADM. MARÍN AND LT. GEN. VERMAAK OF CORE FLEET RENDEZVOUS IMMEDIATELY WITH FLEET ADM. AUGUSTIN OF EDGE FLEET AND AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS." For a few seconds, Marín stood there, stunned. She refreshed the datapad, making sure she hadn't misread it or that it was a mistake. She walked to Vermaak and shook him awake. Vermaak turned to her sleepily.
"Oh, was I sleeping?"
"Get up."
"Don't be angry... You know I don't like this. I'm not bothering anyone. We don't have to..."
"No, Wynand. We have to go." She pressed the datapad into his ruddy, calloused hands. He read it dazedly, his grey eyes hardening as he comprehended what it said. Without a word, both of them exited into the atrium of the opera house. Through the atrium's three-story tall windows, Marín watched as a shuttle landed in the abstract sculpture garden outside. The scream of its engines reverberated through the atrium and into the concert hall. Men and women in formal wear began trickling out of the hall, concern registering on their faces as they checked their own electronic devices. Marín picked up her skirt and sprinted down the stairs as the shuttle touched down, her heels loudly clicking on the marble floor. Vermaak was close behind her. It was one of the UPN Uhuru's shuttles. That's our ride.
The glass doors moved aside for them as they exited the garden. They both stood next to the shuttle as it hovered close to the ground, blasting air at both of them. Marín was glad she already had a hold on her skirt, but couldn't control her long, black hair. Vermaak looked nonplussed. Now there's an advantage of being bald. The shuttle door opened, and the navigator yelled at her over the din.
"This shuttle is just for you, Admiral. There's another shuttle from the Liberté circling to pick up Vermaak. Gen. Oyaleni wants to speak with him before the rendezvous."
Marín turned to Vermaak and lightly touched his arm, mouthing a kiss to him. He smiled faintly and nodded to her. She boarded the shuttle and strapped herself in as the hatch closed. It would be a dangerous mission—possibly the start of a war. But she felt herself strangely relieved to be alone and away from Vermaak. Maybe we've been spending too much time together.
"We're ten minutes out, ma'am," the pilot said as she settled into a seat in the back.
"Good, because if what my orders said are true, we need to be at the rendezvous now." Wasting no time, the pilot took off; in minutes they were already climbing high above the city.
"Do you know who is attacking?" Marín yelled over the sound of the shuttle's takeoff thrusters.
"No, Admiral. I can turn on the news if you like," the navigator said.
"Whatever they say is probably wrong at this point... I'll wait."
"Yes, ma'am."
Marín watched through the forward viewport as Umoja's horizon curved then disappeared, replaced by the blackness of space. The shuttle turned sharply upwards and to its starboard. The Uhuru gleamed in the distance, parked above Umoja's planetary defense platform. The shuttle's main engines spun up, and it lurched towards the Uhuru. As the Uhuru grew larger, her thoughts turned to who could be attacking Tarsonis. The zerg were the most likely culprit, but Zagara had professed peace, so an attack would be out of character. Is it the Kel-Morians making a play for the Terran Republic's territory while it's vulnerable? Nothing quite made sense.
The Uhuru's starboard hangar yawned before the shuttle as it glided inside and set down. Her XO, Commander Anders Ahlberg, was waiting for her as she stepped off the shuttle. Marín removed her heels as she walked across the flight deck. They were just going to slow her down. Ahlberg matched her stride and handed her a datapad.
"Is this the briefing, Ahlberg?"
"Yes, Admiral,"
"Can you give me the highlights?" Marín said, impatiently thumbing through it.
"Oh, you're not going to believe this. Earth is back."
"What? Earth?"
"A UED fleet dropped out of FTL above Tarsonis... They ordered their surrender, and of course they didn't take that well..."
"I'd imagine not..."
"And so they've started an invasion. They've sicced the zerg on them—and the infested."
"Infested? How?"
"Vice Admiral Stukov? Ring any bells? UED guy... He's been hiding out here since their first invasion. Never heard of him, but they've got a dossier on him in there. Hadn't had a chance to look at it."
"All right. Thanks... I'm going to the bridge, but I need you here. I want all of our banshees, liberators, dropships—everything—ready by the rendezvous. Tell the bridge I'm on the way up."
"Yes, ma'am!" Ahlberg turned on his heel and jogged back inside the hangar. It would be quite a job for him and take time. Marín commanded fifty ships in the core-side fleet which protected the Umojan Protectorate's territory towards the galactic core. There were twice as many marine detachments. She hoped that Vermaak had radioed ahead to them. Marín continued towards the door. As it door opened, her chief engineer, Dani Jansa, stepped through. As usual, her coveralls and elaborate blonde braids were coated in grime.
"Lookin' good, Admiral," she said playfully.
"And you look like you got dragged behind a dropship."
"That's pretty much what happened!" Both of them continued on, their jobs elsewhere. Hopefully they could sit down to a drink at some point, as they both kept swearing they were going to do. Camaraderie among her crew was important, but she had been setting a bad example as of late. It was something she needed to amend. But that's not happening soon. As the lift rose towards the bridge, Marín read through the reports. Most of it seemed like standard UED tactics if on an immense scale. But the infested attack was worrisome. She thumbed through to the dossier on Stukov as the door opened onto the bridge.
"Admiral on the bridge," Lieutenant Commander Achille Barre said as she exited the lift. She waved her hand at him, dismissing his formality.
"No time for that, Barre. We're en route?"
"Engaging FTL now."
"Good. Barre, put me on speaker—don't do the visual feed though... I'd rather the whole ship not see me in this dress..."
"Feed is live."
"Everyone. As you've heard from news reports, Tarsonis is under attack and this is not a drill. What you haven't heard is that an old threat has returned to the Koprulu sector—the United Earth Directorate. In accordance with our recent treaty with the new Terran Republic, we are obliged to render whatever aid and defense we can. The Core Fleet will be joining the Edge Fleet at the Tyrador system. From there, we will coordinate with Terran Republic forces and receive our orders. I'll keep everyone posted. We've trained for this, people. Let's go keep our sector safe."
Marín motioned Barre to cut the comm. He gave Marín a "so-so" hand gesture. "I'd give that about a five on the pep talk scale. Needs more bullshit."
"If the only criticism is 'needs more bullshit,' I'll take it," Marín said, walking towards her office just off the bridge. "I'm going to finish this briefing. If anyone calls, I'll take it in my office." Barre gave her a thumbs up.
Inside her office, Marín put her shoes under her desk and sat down to finish reading. Terran Republic ghosts on the ground had sent back troubling images and reports. Massive Earth-built carriers supporting space-to-ground aircraft and battlecruisers had overwhelmed the system and locked down Tarsonis. Several command centers had been constructed, cementing their foothold on the planet and cutting Tarsonis City off from aid. And the zerg are attacking—and the infested. What a nightmare. She continued to read the dossier attached to the briefing. As someone who had fought in the End War and had defended Umojan territory against the UED when they first arrived, she knew his name and remembered watching his funeral when the UED broadcast it via comm buoy. The dossier cited his participation in the End War and listed him as "infested," but that moniker didn't make sense to her. The infested are mindless zombies. How could any of them be in "control" of the others? And if he participated in the End War with the Dominion, why is he not on our side now? Is he even sentient or rational? The damage and casualty reports were horrific. Infestations were destroying buildings. Soldiers were falling only to rise again as the infested to fight for the UED. Most distressingly for Marín, the Umojan fleet was only a fraction of the size of the incoming UED armada. And the Terran Republic has been caught with its pants down. They had suffered heavy losses in the End War and against the Queen of Blades; their forces had never been fully rebuilt. Also, Raynor was MIA and Horner was busy trying to hold the new Terran Republic together while also commanding the Republic's military. The new Republic, Marín knew, was not in any state to repel an invasion.
Barre stuck his head into Marín's office. "We're at the rendezvous." Marín gathered her dress and returned to the bridge.
"Hail the Vrede." The Vrede responded immediately, the chrubic face of Fleet Admiral Augustin appearing on the screen.
"Renata! Good. Get over here. We have a lot to discuss. Where is the Liberté? I need to speak to Oyaleni and Vermaak as well."
"He left just after I did. I'm sure they'll be here soon."
"Okay," he said dubiously, "but this is a horrible time to keep us waiting. We need to proceed with the utmost care and alacrity. See you momentarily. Oh, and... nice dress. Shame about the opera... Ta ta! Augustin out."
"Message the flight deck, Barre. Get me a shuttle ready."
"Don't you want to change?" Marín was already in the elevator.
"No time!"
Marín boarded the shuttle and made her way to the Vrede. When she arrived on the bridge, Augustin and Valerian Mengsk were already discussing their plans for repelling the invaders. Marín was somewhat taken aback that Valerian was there—and in all his princely finery. She, like most Umojans, had a distrust of the entire Mengsk clan despite their government's original backing of them. They had been burned by it, and despite Valerian being originally an Umojan citizen, they did not hesitate to effectively end Valerian's reign by releasing further documents about Moebius's experiments. They were relieved that the Mengsk dynasty would not continue. But now he was here. Marín could not help but think that this would end up being a renewed bid for control.
"...And the Republic and Moebius fleets will remain under my command until—or if—Horner rejoins the fleet."
"Where's Admiral Horner?" Marín said, eyeing Valerian. Augustin rounded on her.
"Ah, yes. Admiral Marín, I'm sure you know Valerian Mengsk?"
"Yes... Of course," she said. Valerian extended his hand to her. She took it cautiously.
"Pleasure to meet you, Admiral. I hope you don't mind if I reviewed your personnel file on the way here... Your record is quite impressive."
"Thanks, I don't mind... Afterall, your 'record' is pretty public,'" Augustin coughed to stifle a laugh and Valerian frowned slightly at the comment but regained his composure.
"You look... as if you were interrupted?" Valerian said, eyeing her dress.
"I was at the opera..."
"Ah yes, Il Nozze de Figaro was playing, wasn't it?"
"Yes, yes it was."
"Shame. They perform it so seldom... The Pasteur Opera House has one of the best companies I've had the pleasure to listen to... Though I might be partial to it... My family donated a great deal to the building's construction... There is a focus on culture on Umoja that is not present on Korhal or Tarsonis... We'll have to chat about opera later, if you're a fan."
"Sure... once all this is over, perhaps..." Marín said, unconvincingly. Valerian, to her, had always been a man of contradictions, but that he enjoyed opera puzzled her. Opera normally dealt with epic themes and abstract concepts like freedom and loyalty and what happens when power is abused. It seemed strange to her that he would enjoy it without seemingly internalizing any of its messages.
"Valerian is here because Horner is trapped in Tarsonis City," Augustin said, quickly changing the subject, "For now, he's currently in charge of the Moebius and Republic fleets, but we're working on a plan for Horner's extraction—along with as many civilians as we can evacuate."
"How do we plan to repel them?"
"We don't," Valerian said softly, "We're greatly outmatched. Our position will be defensive. We want to get as many people out and hold the UED off until they escape."
"We're just going to let Tarsonis fall?" Marín said incredulously.
"There's no other choice, Admiral Marín," Valerian said, "But we do have a defensive plan."
"Which we'll discuss when Gen. Oyaleni and Lt. Gen Vermaak finally arrive..." Marín nodded, her eyes drifting towards the holographic war table in the middle of the bridge which depicted the UED's troop movements in real-time three dimensionally above it. She walked to it, and then used her hands to manipulate the display and zoom in on the planet's surface. There, she watched a flurry of red dots—the infested—flooding the streets. But there was something odd about it—something that bothered her.
"His involvement surprises me," Valerian said, walking quietly towards her, his cape flowing behind him. Who wears a cape? Marín thought.
"Whose?"
"Vice Admiral Stukov. Raynor thought highly of him... Or at least had a begrudging respect."
"But he's zerg… and UED. Doesn't sound that surprising to me."
"No, I suppose not... His alliance may have only been to Kerrigan. Without her in play, his loyalty may have defaulted to the UED. This is unfortunate... he is resourceful and... hard to predict. His assistance of the UED is already evident... The UED knows more than they should about the landscape of the city—and its weaknesses."
"So wait, I thought he was infested? Aren't the infested mindless zombies? You're talking about him like he's still a man."
"Stukov... is a special case. He's... not going to be easy to push back..."
"Yes," Augustin broke in, "and we've been discussing who would be best suited to do that. Renata, I think that person is you."
"Wherever you think I would best serve," she said absently, still looking at the holographic map.
"That's my girl," Augustin said jovially. "Stukov is attacking the heart of the city, limiting our access to a building where Horner is pinned down. There is an underground bunker and an access tunnel that leads to the nearby police headquarters—and it has a helipad. If you and Vermaak can push Stukov back and deal with the infestation, we should be able to get everyone inside there out. The Core Fleet will be our shield, deflecting attacks from the evac and blocking ships from entering Tarsonis's atmosphere over Tarsonis City."
"My fleets and the Edge Fleet will try to take out as much of the UED fleet as we can before we have to retreat," Valerian said. Marín nodded. It was what she expected, she supposed, but the doomed defense of Tarsonis agitated her. She did not like going into a fight she knew she could not win. All they could do was mitigate the damage. Still, maybe there was something she could do without obeying orders. She studied the map again. Maybe... if I could neutralize this "Stukov" and take him out as a random element... It wasn't what she had been directed to do, but she decided if she had the opportunity to kill or capture him, she would take it.
Vermaak and Oyaleni finally arrived. "So good of you to join us," Augustin said sarcastically. Marín looked at him. He had changed, maybe even showered. Oyaleni looked somewhat pissed off like she had been kept waiting. So that's what took so long, Marín thought. "General Jane Oyaleni, Lieutenant General Vermaak, this is Valerian Mengsk..."
"Mengsk," Oyaleni said, barely acknowledging him.
"I know who he is," Vermaak said curtly.
"Vermaak and Oyaleni will be assisting us in deflecting attention away from the evacuation and defending us on the ground."
"Just tell us who to shoot," Vermaak said.
"Charming," Valerian said with a tight-lipped smile.
"Like I was telling Marín just now, Moebius, the Republic, and the Umojan edge-side fleet will engage the UED. The Core Fleet will protect the evac and Tarsonis City while pushing Stukov's forces back away from Horner's position with Vermaak's marines. Oyaleni will deal with the larger threat of UED forces on the ground... is that clear?"
"Simple enough," Oyaleni said.
"Good. We've wasted enough time. Vermaak, Marín, you're Dismissed. General Oyaleni, may I speak with you further?" Oyaleni, a woman of few words, crossed her broad arms and stood near Augustin, tapping her dark fingers on her sleeves as she eyed Valerian. No Umojan trusts Valerian, Marín thought.
Marín and Vermaak boarded the lift from the bridge to make their way back to the hangar. As soon as the doors closed, Vermaak looked Marín up and down.
"What are you still doing in that dress?" Vermaak said. Marín turned to him, annoyed.
"What are you doing showing up thirty minutes after everyone else?"
"Didn't want to look like a twit in a suit."
"One, Valerian always wears a cape. You wouldn't have been the only 'twit' in the room. Two, are you calling me a twit?"
"You look a bit crazy, yeah."
"I look like I care, Wynand."
"Fine," Vermaak said, sighing. "I knew if I showed up dressed like I was, Augustin would put two and two together about us."
"You don't think that he has? It's been three years and we've known each since the academy. And the they didn't bother giving us separate orders because they knew we'd be together."
"It looks unprofessional."
"I know you want succeed Oyaleni..."
"Why wouldn't I?"
"I don't care if you do, Wynand, but I don't know what about our relationship would keep you from it." Except that she did. She had a reputation, and it was not necessarily a good one. Of the two of them, despite his vulture-riding swagger, she was the more controversial. Marín was considered by some to be too eager and maybe a bit too clever for her own good. People talked about her. Some respected her, others didn't; their feelings were either hot or cold. It was not that way for Vermaak. Most people had no opinion or not much of one. He was good at gliding just under the radar and not upsetting anyone. If it was widely known that they were partners, his reputation might be slightly sullied. But it wouldn't matter that much.
As the two of them sat down in the shuttle back to Uhuru, their conversation turned to more pressing matters: the coordination of Horner's evac and how to deal with the infested horde.
"The infested... don't have much experience with them," Vermaak said gruffly. He rubbed his hands together slowly, lost in thought.
"No, we don't... occasionally we'd see them, but we'd stay the hell away. Nuke 'n go if we could."
"Can't do that here."
"We can keep them at arm's length though... siege tanks?" Vermaak considered this with his usual careful slowness.
"Yep. Keep the line from getting too close."
"Banshees too. From what I saw, Stukov has sacrificed air for ground speed."
"May not be a choice. Are there any starports nearby?"
"That's a thought. No one to infest. He could build spires, but the city may be too densely packed to raise them.
"Right."
"You know, your usual cautiousness is going to come in very handy right now." Marín knew she had said something wrong when Vermaak's eyes narrowed at her and his brow knitted together.
"My what?" He absently put his hand on his thigh, on the edge of where she knew his bionic prosthesis began under his fatigues.
"I mean in comparison to me... You know how I am. Pushing back slowly—that's the only way. Losing troops to the infested will just feed Stukov's war machine." Vermaak nodded in agreement, his anger diffused momentarily, but then he turned to her again, suspicious.
"You're planning something, aren't you?"
"What? No."
"I can tell... You're going to do something stupid. What is it?"
"It's not stupid..."
"Renata..."
Marín sighed. "Stukov needs to be taken out. If I see a chance, I'm going to take it."
"How do you think you're going to find him? How do you think you're going to kill him?"
"I'll... figure that out later. Like I said, if I get the chance."
"Don't get yourself hurt... or killed..."
"I haven't yet..."
"Not all of us have been so lucky..." He rapped on his leg, making a hollow, metallic sound. "This could have been much worse."
"I know, I'm sorry..."
"Sorry? It's not your fault. Just... be careful. Don't do something brash."
"I... I won't."
The shuttle landed softly in the Uhuru's hangar and the shuttle's door opened. Vermaak stood, taking her by both hands.
"I hope you mean that."
He leaned down and kissed her.
"See you later, eh?"
"Yeah, I'll send Oyaleni my notes. Be careful."
"I always am. That's double for you."
Vermaak disappeared out of the shuttle and into the hangar bay. She could already hear the doppler effect of his booming voice as he marched deeper into the hangar, barking orders to his marines. Marín got up and made her way to the bridge and into her office. At her desk, she drafted her orders but stopped, looking again at Stukov's troop movements one more time. There was something odd about them, something she couldn't put her finger on. She keyed up Republic archive battle footage of Stukov from during the UED invasion. It was the first time she'd had the occasion to use her new access since the treaty. What she saw there did not match what was happening now in the city of Tarsonis. If anything, she thought, processing what she had learned, Stukov has always been very aggressive, arrogant even, using ntricate strategies meant to confuse his enemies. But on Tarsonis, she noted, he kept the line and advanced incrementally, attacking only in defense. She had no idea what that meant.
In any case, she had a plan. She would recommend what she and Vermaak discussed to Oyaleni: no ground troops except siege tanks and, she added, firebats. The siege tanks to push back the infested, and the firebats to clear the infestation. They would have to keep from losing their own troops and rely heavily on her for air support. She would assign as many liberators and banshees as she could spare. But, the sheer number of troops Stukov had been able to raise would be hard to churn through. Secretly though, she thought they could rout him—if she could figure out where his command center was. Over eager... sticking my neck out again, she thought. But we'd all be safer if he was gone.
She drafted the battle plan on a map and sent it with annotations to her captains and Oyaleni. And now all she had left to do was address the fleet again. She stepped back onto the bridge. "Open a channel, Barre."
"Aye, ma'am." A chime let Marín know she was on air.
"Good evening... or morning depending on where you've come from in the sector... I wish I had better news to tell everyone, but with the zerg and UED fleet attacking Tarsonis now, when it is most vulnerable after years of war, there is no hope that we will 'win' this battle. What we must focus on is protecting the citizens of the Terran Republic in their evacuation from Tarsonis. Aside from that mission is another important one—to help the Terran Republic in its rescue of its current leader, Admiral Matthew Horner. In doing so, we will go up against the zerg and the infested under the command of Vice Admiral Alexei Stukov, an infested human and Directorate military leader. This will necessarily be a mission that we will have to undertake very carefully. Your orders are being sent now. Keep abreast of them and keep your wits about you. We need to do as much damage as we can to the UED fleet while we are here, but stay focused and don't take any unnecessary risks. See you all on the flip side. Good luck."
This was the part that always filled Marín with guilt: giving orders that meant someone was not coming back. Protocol stated that she should not leave the Uhuru and lead from afar, but she found that unconscionable.
"Put me through to Dani, Barre." Barre patched her though.
"Hey Dani, is my wraith ready?
"Ready and waiting, boss lady."
"Be there in five."
When Marín reached the hangar, the deck shook beneath her feet. Banshees, liberators, and medivac shuttles were all waiting to launch, their engines on, roaring with noise and shimmering with heat. A warning klaxon sounded as the hangar launch port shield snapped on and the hangar's immense door began to open. Her wraith was waiting for her on the only wraith launch rack still in use on the Uhuru. Unlike the other vessels, the wraith, unable to stand on its own, had to be catapulted out of the hangar on a jet-powered rack. Marín pulled herself into the cockpit, lowered the cockpit canopy and put on her helmet and breathing apparatus. The canopy sealed shut, dampening the noise of the hangar, but she could still feel the vibrations of the ships on deck through the seat. The hangar bay door was fully open now, and aircraft were launching in groups out into the void of space. She engaged the rack; it lurched the craft forward, putting her in line with everyone else. A few minutes later, it was finally her turn.
"Hit me, chief."
"Aw, yeah."
She felt the jet on the back of the launch rack ignite. The rack sped forward, throwing her wraith out of the hangar. Suddenly, all was quiet as the vacuum enveloped her. Below, she could see the bluish glow of Tarsonis and in the distance the UED fleet. She engaged her cloak, and above her a squadron of banshees did the same. Behind them, the Uhuru, four squadrons of banshees, a squadron of liberators, and what battlecruisers could be spared to attack Stukov, began turning planetside.
"Squadron leader Gavran, this is Marín. I'm here as an extra pair of eyes. Support our firebats and siege tanks. Keep the infested at bay and push them back so our battlecruisers and medivac units can assist with evac."
"Roger, Admiral. Good to know we've got you over our shoulder."
The squadron moved past her and down. She went in the same direction but skimmed the upper atmosphere, keeping the battlefield below her. She wanted to get a peek behind enemy lines. The ground moved swiftly by as the city thinned to suburbs and then to an industrial area.
She called Vermaak to assess his progress.
"Wynand, how's it look?"
"We're pushing back. Progress is slow but looks like we can get a bird in for Horner in about thirty minutes."
"You hear that, Gavran?"
"Yep, we'll be waiting to escort."
She flew quickly over a large train depot and trainyard full of empty boxcars. Something caught her eye. She turned around quickly—and immediately she wished she hadn't. A massive horde of infested sat waiting, stuffed in train cars and obscured by the depot. They were just kilometers from the city. What is he waiting for?
Marín hailed Valerian.
"Valerian, this is Marín. We have a window in thirty minutes to get Horner out, but I've got eyes on a phalanx of infested hiding in a train depot outside the city. Radio Vermaak." She didn't want Vermaak to know she was out in her wraith, "I think a massive push is imminent."
"Can we stop it?"
"No, but I don't know why he hasn't attacked yet... He's just... waiting. Does he know Horner's there?"
"I don't know. Possibly."
"Even so, I think he would have flattened the place by now. I'm going fly in and investigate."
"Wait, you're in play?"
"Nice chat, Valerian. I'll see you at the debrief later." She cut the comm, not wanting what would inevitably have been a lecture.
In the distance, Marín spotted a spire. Mutalisks stood by it, obviously on stand-by. An overlord lumbered into view; she gave it a wide berth. Everything was ready, but everything was waiting. What is he doing? It was then she saw it: a battlecruiser—or what was left of one—lurking in low orbit, flying just low enough to confuse the fleet's scanners. The charge on her wraith's cloaking device was almost spent, but she thought she could make it in for a closer look. She burned towards the battlecruiser. Studying it, she could plainly see it was one of the old model Directorate battlecruisers, dark and brutal in its design. He's in there, she thought, watching.
Marín's cloak began to break up. She flew higher into space and away from the infested battlecruiser and the UED fleet to seek shelter behind the Umojan line. Around her, a battle between the Directorate fleet and Augustin's forces raged. Marín was in no position to join in the fray. She cut her engines and drifted, taking cover in the debris of the fight and letting her cloak recharge. As she observed the skirmish, the UED fleet appeared so large that it almost blotted out the light of the Tarsonis system's star. Her ship turned, listing in space. Below her, she saw Stukov's battlecruiser begin to move away from the city and behind his line. As her cloak finished recharging, she fired up her engines and reengaged it, steering her ship back down and towards him. She opened her comm and turned the band to a universal frequency.
"To anyone on this frequency, this is Admiral Marín of the Umojan Core Fleet. I've found Stukov. I'm radioing rendezvous coordinates now. Anyone with air-to-air that can break off from the main battle—Republic, Moebius, or Umojan—please converge on those coordinates. We're going to end at least part of this conflict." There was a clamber of replies on the open channel. From what she could tell, around eight liberators—five Umojan, three from the Republic—would be joining her. The Moebius fleet remained slient. Figures. They must only kowtow to Valerian. She changed her comm frequency to that of the Republic fleet.
"Is Horner out?"
"Transport just lifted off. He should be back on the Hyperion in five," the Bucephalus's comm officer said.
"Good to hear."
Below her as she passed the edge of the city, she saw the earth heave beneath her. To her horror, two massive utralisks—larger than any she had seen before and armored—burst from the ground.
"What the fuck?" she inadvertently yelled into the comm.
"Ma'am?" The comm officer replied, shaken.
"Ultralisks inbound on the city. Our line..." she cut the comm and whipped her wraith around and flew towards the train depot. The infested were streaming out of it. A flock of mutalisks screamed by her, almost ramming her. She changed back to the universal comm frequency.
"Infested, ultralisks, and air units are mobilizing. All ground troops be on alert! This is the real attack, everyone. Vermaak?"
"We're moving out," Vermaak said hurriedly, forgetting to turn off his comm. In the background, she could hear him screaming orders to his marines in his husky voice.
"Evac isn't finished. What should we do?" Capt. Gavran cut in.
"You've done what you can! Get the hell out of there!"
Marín sped up, gunning towards the rendezvous. Now that she had seen how powerful Stukov could potentially be, it was even more imperative that they put him down. Something still nagged at her. It seemed to her that he had waited until Horner was out and until the bulk of the civilians had been evacuated. His movements made no sense, she reasoned, unless he was consciously trying to avoid civilian casualties and was allowing Horner to escape. There may have still been some underlying loyalty left, or there may have been unforeseen variables in play. Despite that, taking him out was still a benefit. To Marín, letting him live was not an option.
The squad of liberators joined her.
"Aw yeah, let's kick that zerg motherfucker right in the cu-." a Republic captain began.
"Uhhh, you realize that Admiral Marín is on this frequency..." one of the Umojan captains said, speaking over him.
"Uh, nope. No, I did not. Sorry ma'am."
"I've heard worse. Let's get to it." The liberators surged forward, swooping in to follow the infested battlecruiser, but Stukov saw them, and the battlecruiser began rising in the atmosphere to leave orbit. Running back to the fleet, Marín thought. One of the liberators came within firing range, but before it could get a bead on him, a tendril snaked out of the battlecruiser and lanced through both of the liberator's engines. The tendril flicked the liberator into space where it cartwheeled away from Tarsonis's gravity well. "Sit tight, Captain. I'm ordering you a medivac. Use your thrusters to stabilize your pitch..." Marín called in a medivac, and the remaining liberators, led by Marín, continued their pursuit of Stukov. "Get in close around him but stay out of range of those... tentacles. Head him off. We can't let him jump to FTL." Suddenly, the battlecruiser fell several thousand feet and flew right under them, burning some of the infestation off of its hull in the process. He rose again and veered away from the UED fleet. "Follow him!" Marín and the liberators gave chase. The liberators, quicker in atmospheric conditions, easily outpaced Stukov, who had still managed put the planet between him and the Directorate fleet. They stopped in front of him, turning to face him. Marín followed behind the battlecruiser, still cloaked but cutting off his escape.
The battlecruiser came to a stop. For a breathless moment, the liberators stared him down. Slowly, the battlecruiser came about to face Marín's cloaked ship. She thought for a moment Stukov would make another run into the atmosphere, but his battlecruiser stayed stationery save for the long zerg tentacles waving beneath it. What is he doing? Does he...
"Time to give him what's coming to him... Permission to fire, Admiral?"
"Negative, Capt. Baker."
"What?" one of the Republic liberator captains broke in again, "The dude just pulled his pants down and showed us his ass. Let's lube him up and fuck 'em then put him to bed."
"Vasiliy, goddamn it," one of the other Republic liberator pilots said quietly into the comm. Ignoring them, Marín dropped her cloak and nudged her thruster forward towards Stukov's battlecruiser. A din of shocked exclamations erupted over the comm, telling her not to get any closer.
"He's been able to see me the whole time. Calm down." She changed her comm's band and broadcast a ship-to-ship automated call, introducing herself, her rank, and her command. Moments went by, and she received a message on the same frequency—but text only. The message read, "Urgent meeting requested. Meet in 3 hrs at the coordinates encrypted in this message. Come alone and unarmed." Stukov's ship began moving again, turning towards the liberators. Distortion, caused by the battlecruiser's FTL drive, made the space around it seem to bulge and bend.
"He's firing up his FTL..." Capt. Baker said over the comm.
"Get out of the way. Let him go."
"What?" Vasiliy said incredulously.
"You heard me." The liberators reluctantly moved away from the battlecruiser, and it jumped away to FTL.
Augustin called Marín. "Admiral Marín. I was given word that you had cornered Stukov. Have you been able to neutralize him?"
"No, sir... But I've made contact."
"Contact?"
"I'll explain later. We're done here."
"Then for heaven's sake, get back to the Uhuru. We're overwhelmed as it is and we need to fall back."
"Yes, sir."
Just what have I gotten myself into...
