March 9th, 2504
Volcanic planet between Dominion and Zerg space
It was a hellish red and orange sky that sat above the Terran forces as they scrambled into position. Winged aircraft soared above, patrolling the perimeter of the human fortifications.
The Dominion, with a red and black shield that emblemized their cause, had spread out to this fringe planet in order to establish a forward position. It was here that they would hold back the invading forces of the insect-like zerg, creatures made of pure flesh that evolved faster than one could sneeze, and with numbers that could blot out the skies.
A Marine encased in red mechanical armor, a CMC-400 powered combat suit, stood on the landing pad to overlook all of his ground forces that had gathered. Two silver bars were engraved on his collar.
The visor rose to reveal a grizzled old Captain, a scar over one eye and a cigar in his mouth. "Alright ladies, we don't got much time! We're gonna take this rock in the name of our Emperor, for he protects us even now!"
A cacophony of voices echoed back, "Even to our dying breath!" Among them, a younger and more feminine voice cried out. Ava, a young woman with blonde hair and green eyes, adorned in her own marine armor. "Our beloved Emperor protects, for him I shall lay my life, my dominion, one and all!"
A warcry of all voices carried throughout the entirety of the base, cries of men and women rattling windows on every building.
The Captain slid his visor into place, arming himself with his personal effects. CMC armor was reactor powered, added a full foot to the wearer's height, and had layers of life support addons and armor. It was capable of carrying tons of weight, be it weapons, shields, or otherwise.
As everyone filed out of base, Marines, Medics, Tanks, Viking fliers and Goliaths all moved out towards the Zerg hive that had been growing. Ava marched in file next to her squadmates, keeping a nervous grip on her gauss rifle. A bump to her right shoulder got her attention. "Relax, girl! You know we got your back. Just point and squeeze, and make sure what you point at ain't one of us." A man with a southern drawl said.
There was banter all around, with the occasional NCO telling them to keep their eyes peeled. One Lieutenant explained "Our sensors picked up an anomaly, too. 'Supposed to be some kind of wreckage out here, could hold some valuable tech for us."
"What? Seriously? The hell could be all the way out here?"
"Beats me. But stay sharp, we're coming up on it."
The Dominion forces marched through perilous volcanic terrain, black jagged rocks jutting every which way, making it difficult for their mechanical forces to get around. Random spouts of lava and gases would spout from the crust, it was a relief that everyone had some form of protection.A viking pilot pinged over com, marking a figure that jutted out of the earth on everyone's HUD.
"Sir, we have visual confirmation of the anomaly. How copy."
The Captain nodded, pinging his affirmation. "Roger that Simco, we have visual. This is it boys and girls. Not sure what it is, looking like some kind of suit or somethin."
"Goddamn..." A marine behind Ava muttered.
As the column of marines, goliaths, and tanks lumbered through a pass, a large figure stood inert, looking worse for wear. If one were to guess it looked like one of those oversized Thors, if one were trimmed of its fat.
"The hell is that thing sarge?"
"Fuck if i know. Ain't heard much about these things, Thors are damn expensive so we don't see them much."
A slightly accented voice interrupted. "It's not a Thor." Some heads turned, an officer spoke as he adjusted his glasses. "We've only just discovered it, and we've never seen a design such as this before."
Before anyone else could reply, their comms crackled to life, one of the viking pilots speaking in that cool and collected manner. "Look alive, boys and girls. We got visual of Zerg and it looks like they're getting ready to roll out the carpet. Reading Ultralisks, Hydras, Roaches, and zerglings. They'll be on us within 10."
A collective silence befell everyone, until the higher ranks started to bark out orders. "Lock and load! I want defensive lines around our east and west flank!"
"Tanks, I want you on the ridge overlooking us!"
"Goliaths, sit behind us and give suppressive fire!"
"Marines, set your shields and rack em up! Let's go, you wanna live forever?!"
After everyone gave their roar of acknowledgement, marines scrambled to the front lines, each shield thundering down with a metallic clank as they laid their rifles through.
"Don't give these bastards, a god damn inch!"
Siege tanks whirred as their stabilizers planted outward. Vikings flew in defensive patterns, the volcanic ash and dust creating a cloud cover to hide their presence.
Ava swallowed her fear down, but she was rattling in her armor. She'd signed up as soon as she could at the enlistment center, eager to make a difference for her Dominion. Though she was the only one who thought it was a good idea.
-flashback-A plate smashed onto the floor. Ava's mother stomped around the kitchen, fixated on her daughter. "You're not going to damn enlist and that's final!"
She screamed back, "I'm 19, you don't get to decide! I don't want to live out here doing farm work my whole life!" She screamed back.
A finger wagging angrily back at her. "You're needed here and I don't want you throwing your life away to be some number! It happened to your brother, I ain't losing my daughter too!"Wincing from those words, Ava's father sat there on the couch staring hard at the floor. He was without word, despite his wife throwing her anger at him as well. "I don't see you saying something! Say something to her!"
However, Ava was already out the door. She sprinted as hard she could off their porch and down towards the road that led to Augustgrad. She was doing this to find herself. To find her brother. To carve her own path. She'd never felt at home here, and she had a gut feeling she didn't belong for the longest time.
It had to be out there, whatever her path would lead to. Somewhere out in the stars...-o-
Ava double checked her rifle before aiming it down range again. The sound of thousands of claws and talons thundering across the tundra, screeches and hissing of hungry zerg. Before long, the zerg had arrived. Behind the horde a trail of grey and black ash cloud billowed up, the hellish red-orange sun bearing down.
"They're here! Tanks, open up and say hello! Vikings, take out any goddamn air they might have! Strafe around for bombing runs once you have superiority!" The commander called out into his comm. The loud crack of crucio shock cannons shook Ava's bones. Distant explosions pockmarked the Zerg horde, blasting several swarm strains to hell. "Everyone, once they're in range, you let em have it! We hold this ground until we break em down, then we take out that hive! Our emperor watch over us!"
"For the emperor!" Marines screamed, as one, then a few, then all of them began to rattle with gunfire. Zerglings, four legged beasts armed with razor sharp claws, wings to help them leap up great heights, and speed that could almost match a vulture bike, fell in droves. They squealed and screeched in pain, each one only taking about two or one lucky Impaler spikes before crumpling in a heap.
Ava screamed as she squeezed her trigger, the goliath mechs behind her thundering with their autocannons and hellfire missiles in kind over her. Her rifle sounded off, smoking at the tip as she nailed down a few lings herself. 'Holy shit.' Her first mission, her first kills. She couldn't believe it. She almost felt invincible. "That's it Madson, keep it up!" The Marine next to her encouraged.
"Hydras!" Hydras? Of course, there wasn't just one type of zerg. Another few explosions showered the front lines with charred zerg flesh, the tanks were putting in work.
Using the zerglings as cover, they'd made their presence known with long hiss like sounds. Snake like monsters that stood upright on their tails, a huge crested head that acted as their armor, and two long scythe like arms that helped them get around as much as claw someone to death. Hydralisks. The name alone would make marines sweat. The things could hold a line thanks to their frontal armor being tough, and the worst part? They could fire back.
It was only a moment before the sound of whistling began to zip through the air. "Cover!" An NCO yelled, as everyone ducked behind the frontline shields. Loud clanking and metallic thunks resounded as the hydralisks began to fire acid spines from groves within their head crests, their fanged maws hanging open as if to mock the humans. "Shit! I'm hit! AAAH!" A marine collapsed, a long jagged spine sticking out from a joint in his shoulder. It wasn't long before he collapsed, a medic checking on him frantically. "He's gone!"
This wasn't good. They had tanks and shields to hold the line while their goliaths would mow down the rest, right? Ava looked behind her, and froze in fear. One of the goliaths was inert, the cockpit glass shattered. The pilot was dead, a hydralisk spine had lodged in his eye. She turned back towards the front, and swore. A zergling leapt past the shield bearer in front, leaping right for her head. "Ah, fuck! Help!"
The deer sized beast screeched in glee, its orange eyes glaring while its shark toothed mouth snapped at her. Ava held it at bay with her rifle, feeling it trying to get a grip on her. "Aah, not... today!" She reached for her sidearm, a high caliber pistol that was mag locked on her thigh. thankfully, it was fully loaded. She brought her arm up with a yell, unloading the whole clip into the ling's head. It exploded in red gore, and she flung it off with a yell.
As she gathered herself and took a look around, things were getting worse. The shield wall that had been holding till the hydras showed up was now falling apart, zerglings had constantly been pouring into them, while hydras were keeping pressure. Mutalisks danced and died along with their viking counterparts up above, with the occasional wreck flying into the dirt, or a bloody zerg flier showering the rest below in its death throes. "No... We can't lose. We can't!" A blur to her right brought Ava back, and she sprung into action as she grabbed her rifle from the ground, sprung out the bayonet, and impaled another ling. It died on her rifle, and she squeezed the trigger once to blow the bastard off.
The commander was fighting in his warhound mech, and she could see from her HUD that he was injured. Blood trailed from his forehead and past his right eye. "Don't let them through! We hold it here, we push onward! For the Dominion!" His war mech stomped through a group of lings, firing off his blast cannon, shredding hydras and lings alike.
This was it. They could do it. As long as the commander were with them, they could win it. Ava yelled, firing her rifle back to back with another marine, as the two opposing sides began to entangle. Siege tanks barreled in, firing their machine guns to provide support, even a few vikings landed when the mutalisk fliers had been killed off. "Die you fuckers! Rah!" It began to feel good. Ava felt it in her veins, the rush of killing a damned creature for the sake of humanity. she could get used to this she thought, as she peppered a hydra until it burst like a grape.
The ground ran with red blood, unknown if it belonged to humans or zerg.
"Get some!" Magazines got spent, spares were tossed to one another, human voices begged as their bodies were torn in pieces and still breathing. The red sun bared down ever commander, bashing a hydralisk with his warhound's shield, yelled. "We do not falter! We who fight in our emperor's name! May he guide our guns, and we send his enemies to hell! Fight on!" Marines rallied around him, firing at encroaching zerg in a protective formation. It was working. The zerg were beginning to lose the advantage, and now it-
"SIR! LOOKOUT! A goliath pilot yelled over comm.
Before anyone could react, the ground burst open, flinging the commander's mech away as what looked like a gigantic worm rose above them. Its roar shook the ground as it slid down until its head remained poking out of the dirt. "Commander!" Marines yelled, rushing to his mech protectively. Ava was about to join them, before feeling the ground rumble around her as well, and it was too late before she could respond. Another worm burst near her, flinging her towards the derelict mech they'd found. Her armor thankfully protected her from any damage, but the same could not be said for her comrades.
Zerg strains poured out the nydus worms' mouths, hydras, zerglings, even a few of the frighteningly large ultralisks stomped out as the zerg horde began to surround the Dominion forces. Quaking in their suits, the remaining marines clacked their rifles, Tank crew loaded their last shells among a few, vikings and goliaths whirred up their gatling cannons. "S-sir! There's too many! We're surrounded!"
"Oh man, game over man! Game over! Game over, man!"
"Shut up pri! It ain't over till it's over!"
"The hell, where's Madson? She dead?" Her sergeant called out, as a few stray lings sprinted past, the nervous aim of the Terran forces tracking erratically.
Ava looked around. None of the Zerg had noticed her. She had lost her weapons, running her hand along a leg of the machine. "Do something.. have to do something..." Beads of sweat trailed down her forehead, despite the suit's temperature controls. She punched the leg of the machine, frustrated. Damn it, she had to do something! Her friends and her comrades in arms were about to be slaughtered! What... What! What could she-
A ray of orange light lanced down from above her, as a single cable slide down and stopped at her feet. Looking up with the aid of her polarized visor, she could barely make out what awaited above her. It looked like the mech had awakened, or powered on and was awaiting her to- "You want me to... get in?"
As if in response, the mech began whirring to life, what looked to be two jet boosters that strutted out from its rear began to fire up orange flame with thrust. Gulping, Ava grabbed the cable as it began to sling her up into the machine.
Now or never.
Captain White, commander of the Dominion had seen a lot in his day. He'd witnessed the brood wars, and today felt no different than it had back then. He'd never forgotten the mountain of stress the Zerg brought upon him, especially when charged with so many lives of the young and naive. How many times had he forged letters to families of those who couldn't come back, those who ventured into the abyss with him and never returned? The weight bore down on him even now, as he fired as fast as his warhound shredder cannon would allow. The thing was basically an oversized shotgun, able to tear through almost if not all Zerg carapace.
A marine was about to be torn up by two zerglings when he swiped his shield across, cutting them clean in half. The young woman called back "Next drink is on me sir!"White nodded, turning to defend a goliath with only one working gun. The damn hydras had chewed the shit out of the poor machine, and it showed. "We're barely holding! We're not gonna make it!"
A growl as he blasted the face off of an ultralisk, which still managed to swipe one of its massive kaiser blades into a row of marines. "Arg, we're gonna make it! We have to! For our emper-" Another ultralisk charged from behind, smashing him across the battlefield, fragments of glass and metal being thrown every which way. He'd landed on his back, only able to look up at the sky. Streaks of black, grey, red and orange painted his view.
It was beautiful.
For a moment, everything was silent save for the sounds of distant gunfire. Then the ultralisk stomped over, looming overtop White's open canopy. This was it. This was his calling. "Mengsk live on for eons..." It roared and raised a massive hoof, about to bring it down over him...
Then something massive, grey and fast and swiped the ultralisk away as if it were made of paper. "What? Could it be..." His blue grey eyes struggling to focus. The stars would not claim him just yet.
The roar of what sounded like an oversized viking flared through the field. Terran and Zerg alike stopped to watch the newcomer skid across the field, flinging the ultralisk away using its own momentum. "What the..."
"Fuck?"
"Is that ours?!"
Their prayers were answered as the mech maneuvered through the fight, swiping a large metal blade in its left hand at every zerg and nimbly avoiding any Dominion troops. Meanwhile, in her awkward seat and surrounded by controls and monitors, Ava roared in anger. Her friends had been slaughtered at the hands of zerg, and she had no idea what the hell this thing was, but for some reason she felt its yearning to have her control it. "RaaaaH!" She laughed in maniacal glee as the mech's blade sliced through a bunch of hydralisks like they were nothing.
Correction. They were nothing. Mindless Zerg that deserved to be eradicated for what they've done. Only now, the stars had granted her the power to do so. "Can anyone hear me? This is private Madson, I'm gonna help!" But no answer came, her comm was damaged. An alert system sounded off as she was struck from behind. Swerving around with the help of her jets, she saw a few brood lords in flight. They were flinging broodlings at her. She could see that they were clinging to her hull, and not only that, but they had been showered upon her fellow troopers. Poor bastards could only fire at creatures that seemed to respawn in place no matter how many times they were shredded by gunfire.
Growling, Ava slammed a control that lit up upon looking at the brood lords. A lock on, this should be promising.
White climbed out of his mech, seeing what remained of his forces. They had been decimated, down to only himself, a few marines, a handful of tanks. That strange mech that had saved his skin fired off a salvo of missiles from its shoulders, whick struck almost all of the brood lords. However, the Zerg were seemingly endless and their ammo was depleting by the minute. Several Marines clacked their dry rifles in panic, being pounced on by lings and broodlings alike. "No... Emperor, save us!"
Hearing the commander's cry was enough to push her harder, as she soon found herself fighting off the Zerg one by one. Her machine danced nimbly in response to her hands moving the controls, gilding through and slicing apart more zerg, their attacks doing little to stop her. Having reloaded, she fired her missiles off into a couple of ultralisks, but forgot about the one behind her. It charged head on into her, damaging one of her thrusters and forcing her to remain grounded. As she fought, she could hear more screams of agony than actual commands over the comms in her suit.
A shower of sparks spouted as something inside broke. "Ah, damn it! No!" She panicked, hitting everything she could think of. The mech pushed itself back onto its feet, using the sword to prop it up before getting back into a stance. Zerglings leapt at her, only to get sliced into ribbons, while hydralisks were trying to fire at anything that would break. Ultralisks charged past, taking a swipe at her and leaving rents in her armor. It would only be a matter of time before it she couldn't take anymore damage.
"No... why!" She teared up, watching the zerg in another display as they tore apart her comrades, some of whom she swore in with. She couldn't take it, and she screamed helplessly. Falling to a knee from all the abuse, she watched in despair as her commander was torn apart before her eyes. His screams would not leave her ears even after they'd stopped. "No..." she cried, it was too late.
From the overwhelming stress and terror, she'd began to pass out. Her view was full of awful, ravenous zerg. As her world began to fade with the sounds of hungry aliens, they were blasted to pieces from above. The looming heroic shape of a battlecruiser began to descend, firing all its guns and missiles at everything not human.
Dropships came down, offloading teams to secure the area and take in account for the lost. Ava let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.
A voice was heard over her comm. "This is Apollo, we have the area secured! One survivor. Yes sir, right away. By the emperor.."
Ava's world fell to darkness, the last thing she'd felt was... exhaustion.
