Episode 7- end of digressive thread.
"Oho, they really dig themself deeply this time, and in a one entrance valley too." Turning back to his comrades, their band residing on a small hill, overlooking the secure positions of aliens from very safe distance, he announced "Just charge won't work, this time we have to think". He was met with groans from all of them but his second in command. "So, we are up here, they are down there. The best way to solve this problem is to rain from above, but we don't have any catapults. Did you take any ranged weapons?"
He was met with a shake of heads, not counting one who started enthusiastically waving his hand, loudly proclaiming "I do! I have my precious with me!"
"Well, seems taking this ton of fun finally paid off eh?" asked one of his comrades.
"Would it even penetrate their armor? One slash is usually not enough" said his commander.
"Of course!". With a grunt and a might have, he lifted up his giant crossbow, almost as big as himself, and he wasn't a small guy either, and probably only somewhat lighter. It had golden ornaments on the stock, big crank for tensing the crossbow string, and a big ass scope. "I tested it out a few days ago, and it went through their armor like boot through glass".
"Okay, but it seems too unwieldy," said Katrina, beside the teen.
"No problem at all!", with that he took out a wide tripod, installed it and mounted the crossbow on it, turning it a little in all directions. "Now, I am a mobile ballistae!"
"Okay, we have a Bombastic Bill to lure them out, how about making our chances better?"
"Commander, we have a few types of bombs with us, I just don't know how useful they will be"
"First, what do we have?"
"Ten Boom Shaka Lakas". said one teammate patting his saddlebag.
"Four Hags Breaths" told the other.
"And six I Love Needles. Also some eggheads gave us some of the claws as weapons to test."
"Wait, wait, wait, what claws?"
"The xenos claws of course, here have a look". With that, the teen was given the weapon from the rider beside him. Watching closely, he saw a hole drilled at the base, with a hilt built around it. It was very crude, but the weapon is still a weapon.
Handing it back, he said to the rest "Use it as offhand, and don't try too hard, if it doesn't work, then it's not worth it. Anyway, I guess Bill will lure them out, and the rest will split up. I will take half with me to a good position, Katarina you will guard the Bill, and help us if needed. Everything clear?"
"Yes, boss!" replied the group loudly, except for Bombastic who started whooping in joy at the thought of finally some task specially for him.
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Five people plus Bill went to a comfortable position, with a good look at the mouth of the valley, and few aliens with it.
The rest went to the sides of a rather narrow entrance, only three of them on their mount would fit, so they stood to the sides, making an open door for shooting.
Four of the fourteen went up, as much as they could, with good throwing positions. It wasn't much, but enough to make sense.
Captain stood by the rock, leaning out of his saddle enough to look over the edge, seeing the purple mass, and creatures becoming agitated with their presence. Seeing enough activity, he rested back on his mount, and gave an okay sign, seen by Bill, looking through scope. When the hand retreated, a bolt flayed rapidly by, with almost supersonic speed. Everyone felt the air hitting them, and certainly heard the thunk of body hitting rock. Bill's bolt burrowed in one of the serpents' eyes, hitting the back of the skull and taking the rest of the body with it.
The reply was instant, with a loud screech a pack of the weird dog things rushed towards them, the three remaining serpents slithering behind them.
"Throw Needles at the smaller, and Hags at the bigger ones!" A few moments later, they did just that, the first four grenades decimated the dog's things, leaving minced meat. The second wave killed one serpent, thrashing in agony and finally being killed by the gas, the other two made a dash forward, evading it. Other aliens were kept back by the gas, still floating in the air. One of the serpents was hit with a bolt to the chest, slowing it down, but not stopping. The untouched one reached the exit, instantly being met with a spear to the face, but with inhuman grace it dodged it, letting it graze over the "cheek". Just as it was swinging his scythe arms at the nearest target, he was hit in the back, throwing it on its face, where it was finished with another spear to the neck. It trashed for a moment before going still.
The second one, before reaching his target, was met with another bolt, throwing it to the ground, slowly bleeding to death. A moment later its skull was stomped in by a boar, ending its life.
"Use only Needles now, for a big pocket of targets! Don't waste it!"
The foul smoke mostly disappeared, making the other dog things to rush towards them, their numbers thinned a moment later by two Needles. The four left their high positions, having run out of grenades and joining the already fighting forces down below. The small creatures were met with a mix of spears, with a few new weird swords thrown in, and of course the big cloven hooves and tusks of the big ass boars.
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The six hanging back heard some screeches from behind them, and turning around they found a group of smaller things rushing at them. They instantly were met with a bolt, piercing two of them at the same time.
"Ready boys? Charge!" And with that the second group of second in command rushed at them, picking up speed with every second. The two groups met, and the dog things were trampled or thrown back, to be finished a while later with axes and maces. The mounts suffered a few blows to their armor, but the attacks mostly slid on the metal plates. Just as they were finishing mopping up the rest, the serpent burst from the treeline with a hiss, and threw some spikes at them. A second later he was fed a bolt, orally. But the deed was done and one of the raiders screamed as his armor was somewhat punctured, poison already seeping in. To his luck, the last of the things was dealt with.
"I help him, you go join our commander".
"Just don't die on us, okay?" said one of them, getting a nod from the wounded, and they rode out, leaving only the two.
"You are in luck" said Katarina, our eggheads come up with something to stop poison, at last for a time. Here, drink this" that saying she gave him a vial, with dark blue liquid beside him. He quickly gulped it down, ignoring the disgust taste, and wincing as the woman started to take out the spikes from his body and armor.
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The second support barely helped, the main force already crushed most aliens. Few minutes later, the sound of battle quieted down, weapons and hooves coated with the orange blood.
"Everyone alright?" Asking this, Dobromir received affirmations all around, except the slowly arriving two, with one of them having bandaged torso. Turning to him he said "You will be second last, don't get hurt more. The rest after me!" With that they advanced, their mounts walking over the corpses in the way, with many squelches of stomped down flesh, and cracking of many bones being crushed.
Alien base was shown to their eyes, with a few flying aliens carrying some minerals in their giant pincers. The "Main Building" stood low, with few eggs at its base. Some other fleshy structures stood around, pulsing disgustingly. And of course everything was covered in purple, squishy and disgusting purple carpet.
The workers were quickly charged over, killed in seconds. And eggs were destroyed with the aid of the new blades. They weren't perfect in battle, but against carapace on passive things, they worked perfectly.
"Use the Boom Shaka Lakas on structures, and Bill?"
"Yeah boss?"
"Destroy the pool from a distance, the liquid inside is too acidic to risk close and personal."
With the grenades thrown, the big structure and one smaller was dealt with, to the sound of happily crackling flames and smell of burning meat.
The group looked at the remaining two strange fleshy vulcans that leaked some weird green substance on the ground.
"What about those, chief?"
"Check out, of course". With that their young leader dismounted his boar, taking a few weapons with him, and borrowing the new blade from one of his men. He walked over to the structure, waiting for something to happen. After a minute of nothing he poked it with his normal sword, receiving no reaction. The rest was watching him with the interest of a bored cat, doing nothing. After slashing it this time, he created a small gash that started slowly sealing up. Switching to mace he beat it a few times, but the thing held, showing no reaction. At last he took the blade made from alien claw, poking it again. It went in as a knife into warm butter, effortlessly sliding in. With some positioning, the teen started to circle the thing, with a small sword deep in. After finishing the round, a lot of blood started to flow down pooling at the base. After this, the teen took out his axe, and started chopping the squishy interior like a tree.
After a few more strikes, the thing just collapsed on itself, falling to the ground. The dark creep started to disappear, no longer being maintained. The teen looked at them. "Destroy the rest, then we take samples and our job is done."
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The rest was quickly dealt with, the creep disappearing. Their commander took a small vial of the liquid leaking out of the pool, now with a big hole through it. "Take one of the serpents, the rest we already have." A few more minutes more, and the team moved out, leaving behind them a lot of cut, slashed, and blown to bits pieces of meat.
Three loud, rapid knocks on the door and the woman barged in, with noticeably smaller than her Ariel in tow. "She's here, Miss Maria!"
Looking around, a little haggard, Hanson immediately noticed it was a lab, what with all the white tiles, bright lit room, and a lot of equipment, mostly better than any she ever worked with before. They heard a sigh, and the swivel chair turned around, showing the woman in her 40-thies, with rather non outstanding features, except the stony face, and lack of oculars. (I mean scientist? without an eye problem? ridiculous!). The doors clicked softly as the man entered, standing to the side.
"I need a coffee, and looking at little Ariel here, she needs it to."
"You mean two cups, yes?" She asked, in a helpful tone.
Looking at the biggest woman in the room with slightly bloodshot eyes, she just raised her brow.
"Okay, but only a small pitcher, you need to sleep too", with that she walked out, saying "you will rest before death, not after". It seems she hit the nail on the head, because the words died on the other woman's lips. They heard the stifled laughter of the man in the room, but chose to ignore it.
"Anyway, take a seat", The current youngest sat on the chair she wheeled over from a corner, almost asking a question before she was cut off.
"Ariel, I need YOU! Yes, I worked with your mother before, but barely, And now the stick in her ass has grown to TREE!" her voice was steady until exploding at the end.
It seems the frustrations have builded up in her, until now. "The people I can trust are mostly the meatheads, family which isn't good in sciences of any sort, and you. Others are not trustworthy in the end, so I can appreciate the loyalty of the simple people."
"But you are pretty good at everything you are not master at, so why do you need help?"
"Because modifying a human is drastically different compared to entirely new species, especially not one but two."
"TWO!? But I wasn't aware of one!"
"You weren't? But my boy retrieved an artifact of one of them, that counts as one at last."
"I wasn't aware of it! I was in a different section, working on something entirely different."
"So maybe you weren't in danger after all. Oh well, water under the bridge."
"Why do you always have to dismiss my career so much? I was finally going somewhere, and now?"
"Ha! Maybe somewhere, but how fast? You were barely crawling forward. I will give you a chance to achieve something of your own, and not under someone's boot."
Magnolia chose this moment to enter, carrying a pitcher and two mugs, giving the man by the door a bottle with water. She put it on a desk nearby, and said "I want you two in bed tonight, no complaining! A rested mind works better, and makes less mistakes, like blowing things sky high!"
"That was one time!"
"Two my dear, it was two separate explosions that combined into one."
"You don't have to point it out!"
"I will use a tranquilizer gun if I have to, so don't tarry too long ladies". With that she walked out."
"Would she really?" asked Ariel.
"She already did, a few times," said the man.
Pouring herself a full mug, she chugged it down. It was only warm, it seems the motherly woman knows ALL her charges well.
"Anyway, back to the topic, you will be dealing with one alien, I with the others."
"That's it? Give me something more, I already am as deep in this as I can."
"Okay, so the pyramid like thing, you remember it?"
"Yeah".
"It is from some high tech aliens, a data storage device I can't decipher yet, but I can reuse this and others to better prepare my son, and us. You will deal with second aliens, some space bugs. I already have samples in secure storage, and you will work with them."
"But where do you find all of this?"
"Well when it comes to technomancy I am the highest Archmage,(it's a joke) I have my ways. When it comes to bio aliens, they just keep sending small parties on our planet, and we keep sweeping them out."
"Wait, they keep coming? How long?"
"A few months, I think?"
"Half a year", said the manly voice, "And we already dealt with small pockets in numbers from twenty to hundred. Luckily they easily outmaneuver, so we didn't have any problems. Yet."
"And what should I focus on?"
"Anything, but try to check if we can modify our animals to be even better, we already reached the boundaries of what we know."
After passing the farmlands and outskirts they reached the main part of the town. Suffice to say, they never experienced so much greenery. Most cities barely had anything at all, not counting the core of core worlds, like tarsonis. But here? Stripes of green everywhere, with mostly modest trees or small bushes occupying them, or just grass. It wasn't a home amidst jungle by any stretch of imagination, just a modest amount of what humans need for better existence.
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"You can stop, for now." turning to her comrades she continued "This is the hotel you will be staying at, first month for free". She said, showing the building that honestly, wasn't much different from the rest, just a little more fancier.
"Inside you will be taken care of, and the rest of the day you have for yourself. Tomorrow Dobromir will meet you, so try to be sober." With that, she took off in some direction, going faster than earlier.
"Soooo, wich bar, Jimmy?"
"Let's start with something lighter, I am not in the mood for hard partying yet."
After asking some people, they get to it.
Looking at the bruises the duo acquired, the teen just burst out in laughter, waking the two, who reeked of alcohol, and were strewn on their beds like ragdolls.
Opening his bleary eyes, Tychus looked with annoyance at the lunatic.
"What are ya laughing about?"
Stifling it now, he replied "Nothing, nothing, it just seems you tasted our finest culture and tradition on the first night, I am truly touched."
Raynor rolled over and landed on the floor with thud, groaning and slowly standing up, trying no to die with the splitting headache.
"Anyway, you stink to high heavens, I will be waiting in the lobby, join me when you will be somewhat presentable." With that, he walked out, leaving behind him two people trying to organize themselves."
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When they met him, they were slightly alright, and smelled presentable. Standing up, putting what he was reading in his pocket, the teen started "Now we can go to an after party bistro, where you can get a lot of greasy food and water to deal with hangovers."
The two weren't in the mood for talk, what with feeling like walking dead, so they followed wordlessly.
It seems business was thriving, with how many people were milling around, walking in and out, the first looking ghastly, when the second were much better.
After arriving at the table, with a pizza, some hamburgers and a few different things, they got to eating.
"Beating the snot out of each other is a drunken initiation ritual, now you are part of this community in body and spirit. And the second thing, you can join our troops for some training, just to remain sharp. It's important for men on the run."
"Looking at his comrade, who just shrugged, Jim said, "I guess, why not? And what do you mean by ritual, are there so many drunks around?"
"Haven't you seen it already? We are big alcohol producers, like the biggest with excellent quality. Others just produce some swill in large amounts, and it's just shameful to call them liquor."
"True, the drinks here are top notch." Replied Tychus.
"And I bet you only scratched the surface. Don't worry, a month is enough to taste everything there is to offer. Anyway, finish up, and away we go."
"Wait, swords? Did you stay in medieval times or something?"
Their group of three arrived at the training grounds, composed of short grass, threes on the edges, and benches here and there.
"Don't be fooled, our actual swords could puncture marine armor, after a few hits at last. But we don't fight with any big human forces, so it's not a problem."
"But why? Guns could just shoot you through before you reached your target."
"We are not a mining colony, our planet is extremely poor in resources, so making a standard would cost a fortune in import alone. Even our sister system of Sara would be costly, because all of their resources go straight to core worlds. And regarding the bullet problem, we have our metal and other ways in surviving, just enough to supply us. And it's also the reason for our recent method of travel, with no minerals and no vespane, we just had to find our way. You know we can't really depend on confederacy, so self-sufficiency is our key to victory."
"Ekem, enough of this lecture, grab a sword and you can spar with me."
"But… are you sure? I wouldn't want to hurt you".
"Don't worry about me, instead worry about yourself"
"Well, okay".
Twenty seconds later, Raynor was laying on his back, with the dull sword at his throat, and laughing Tychus behind him. Thirty seconds later the situation repeated itself, just with Tychus on the ground this time.
"You have a lot to learn, it could help you in the future. Well what are you two waiting for? Attack me! I don't have a whole day."
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Author's words:
It's the end of this, next we will fast forward into the beginning of starcraft 1. If you are wondering, Raynor and Tychus returned to how the history went, changes will be in the future. And Ariel… will definitely show up on Agria durning SC2 Campaign, with what difference? We shall see.