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Episode 44- Where unexpected exits and enters happen.

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"Protoss Commander, I am Alexei Stukov of the United Earth Directorate. We are here to take control over the Terran Dominion and all of its outlying colonies. You are in direct Violation of Terran space and have openly attacked Terran troops. Lower your shields and power down your weapons systems. The UED will be taking cutstudy over your ships, and whatever spoils you have garnered from this planet."

It was widely broadcasted, though the two siblings on the ground saw the message through the helpful probe that someone sent over to them. But that was just the beginning. Roughly at the same time many different things happened. Firstly, through the newly constructed stargate emerged a larger than rest scout. Secondly, a certain phase smith emerged from warpgate. Thirdly, the probe returned to the base with the crystal. And to top it all, Kerrigan made some excuse about not doing well in space battles, after which her psi presence quickly drew away.

"Eeee… I somehow know what happened, but don't get it at all." Dobromir stood there, scratching his head. "Care to enlighten me?"

"Kerrigan ditched us, and now we have to escape the planet." Speaking of which, the oversized Scout lowered itself to the ground, and soon after Artanis joined them on the ground. In the near distance, Karax started building a 'cage' to safeguard the Uraj.

The probe started casting light, which soon took the shape of Zeratul. Together, the four of them created a council, more or less. The oldest of them began. "United Earth Directorate? Raynor spoke of the distant Terran homeworld called earth. Those humans had taken a long way to wage a war on us." Zeratul gave a meaningful glance at the 'Terran' duo.

"Have faith Zeratul! You almost sound like you fear those humans. No offense my friend." It was directed at Wit, who just shrugged his shoulders. "But wasn't it us who defeated the dreaded Overmind?"

"Yes Artanis, we did vanquish the Overmind. But not without the help of friend Raynor and his men. Don't overlook them just because of the technology."

"Heyyyy I take offence in that! In all of it!" Everyone turned their attention towards Dobromir. "Raynor is currently at his weakest. I mean, he just ran off with the Hyperion and some people joined him. He's an outlaw, and despite that he helped you anyway, with his meager forces."

"And he still is on Aiur, together with phoenix." Added his sibling. He received two finger guns in his direction, and an "That's right."

"Now, I will make one big point. Terrans arrived in this sector almost two hundred years ago. The colony ships began their voyage almost three hundred years ago. The Confederacy, Umoja and Kelmorians didn't have any kind of communication with the Earth. Technology was taken from our Ancestral homeland, and serious development started some time after the establishment of those three. Now, that makes more or less a hundred and fifty years of 'behind the times'. Add into the equation that the Earth has much bigger technological development capability and that this Expeditionary force was dispatched after the Tarsonis fell and…"

"Oh, and don't forget that the forces you just encountered had specially outdated equipment to fit in with the times, eliminating the need for the production and maintenance of something much more advanced."

Artanis has given up somewhere halfway. He was a warrior for most of his life, so his current occupation was rather new. Thinking about the bigger picture, outside of battle was a thing he still needed to heavily work upon.

But Zeratul? His mind cogs were spinning, letting out sparks here and there. Years of experience in many different matters helped him in that endeavor. "Terrans do have the capacity for quick, if not safe, learning. Seems that the ones we know are just a small part of the greater whole. Artanis, we still have Shakuras to save from the Zerg. Let's not delve too deep into unnecessary conflicts. And I think our arrogance cost us too much too many times, it's time to learn from our mistakes young Preator."

It was time to prepare! She won't be caught with proverbial pants down, not again. Belts holding the shield, add pouches, a lot of pouches to the front! Full of goodies, glorious or not! More belts! One around the waist, and don't forget the middle of the chest! The holsters! Filled with a small gun, a medium gun and a big'un! Pockets! Full of rockets! Of the smallest kind. But still very useful in a bind.

Don't forget the faithful furry friend! She will be very useful, in the end. Saddlebags full of light stuff, good stuff! And don't forget to sharpen the claws, to pass those ugly lads. Rend! Maim! But don't kill. No, leave them for later, so you can hear them say letters. Of failure! Their mistakes, not knowing the gargantuan stakes!

Mina docked the boat, watching her boss who was still laughing like a loon to the crooked moon. It didn't take long. Putting the masks on, for both hers and so on.

'Slash! Slash! Slash!' The metallic pieces of the door ripped off thanks to the short torrent of escaping air. A short leap… and the duo was running off, followed by some gunshots and yells.

"Sooo… Artanis, the bud of my bud. My boat is made from wood so, you know, no guidance for any kind of enemy missiles. Very useful against Anti Air turrets and Wraiths."

The protoss turned to him, and scrutinized this persona. Ziemowit, who was hovering somewhere between them, was entirely at ease. His lack of a ragged hat and the earlier journey with the infected clearly said what happened. But, his friend wasn't infected, the aura around him… so different from the Terran psionics, or the Protoss of all shapes and sizes. considering he was practically the one and only, and changes would be readily apparent, but Wit remained unsullied. "Why didn't you follow Kerrigan? This fight doesn't really concern you."

"Oh come on!" Dobromir threw his hands in the air saying this. "I don't know about you Protoss, but we Terrans sometimes have the privilege of BELONGING. It just so happens that I, and Ziemowit over here, are from the same colony. So we are fellow countrymen, or colony-men? I guess? We feel solidarity towards each and every fellow citizen of our little swampy paradise."

It was always nice to have a touch of familiarity. Unfortunately for Artanis, the Protoss lived so long that no one was really attached to some place for too long. And now, only Fenix, a fellow warrior, remained. Zeratul, and Wit for that matter, were rather fresh, and pleasant, developments. But still, one thing remained, rolling around in his mind like a drunken hamster in its ball. "Why are you so… different? All the infected creatures lose themselves, becoming mindless tools of the Overmind and Cerebrates. Kerrigan is… different, but that is because of her Psionic potential."

"You know, not only Protoss are capable of genetic manipulation. Though you went too far, cloning yourself so much and relying on Xel'Naga artefacts, really…" It probably wasn't supposed to be heard, but protoss don't have ears. They read minds, or some superficial thoughts, at last. But how, this outlander knows that? An excellent question. "Suffice to say, living in symbiosis with this purple stuff is possible, but only when you show it who is the boss. Of course, how it exactly works is beyond me, because it is on cellular level and all that."

"Now, about that thing I wanted to ask…"

"Wha-!" "Aya!" 'Pft!' 'scratch!' The two crew members immediately met the hard & cold metallic floor. From one's neck a dart stuck out, and the other had shallow claw marks, running across his chest, and the clothes on it. Both quickly fell asleep, their soft snores echoing across the corridor.

"Another pair incapacitated. Aren't we just the best?" "Yip!" Jaruga grinned. Together with her companion, they were fast. So fast in fact, that their enemies didn't even have the chance to understand what was happening before they were put to sleep, literally and temporarily.

A science ship was barely a ship. It was more of a station/platform, with thrusters attached to it. It was big, it was blocky, the corridors were barely able to fit two average men walking shoulder to shoulder. Here or there, a small room with some scanning equipment appeared. Sometimes, it was just big screens directly nailed to a wall. In short, rather cramped space.

Anyway, unarmored targets were very easy to deal with, at last when surprised. Problem is, the biggest group would be gathered in the control room, which meant that element of surprise would fizzle out.

A small group of protoss gathered around the boat, a mix of Zealots and Dark Templars, to be exact. This ship would fill the empty role of sleek and flexible carrier, only one thing had to be changed.

The two oversized zerglings were watching the gathered warriors, tongues out and tails wagging. The regular, female infected was now absorbed in watching the snow, which reached as far as one eye can see. The tube connecting to her mouth was absent, similar to the other infected left on the big Command Center. Only just before leaving to make a contact with protoss both Dobromir and good found out that not some, but ALL infected were walking bombs. This discovery made the two hurry up, to at last defuse the walking bombs. Suffice to say, the tube was the key, but that is for another time.

Returning to change, a group of probes was transporting a freshly made shield matrix, straight from the Robotics Station. Suspended in their collectively made anti-gravity field, surprisingly, floated not a box, but rather a long and somewhat flat matrix, with blue lights running through its 'cables'.

Karax was orchestrating the whole thing, of course after securing the Uraj. Most surprisingly, the original shield & gravity & air producer was actually a crudely (by protoss standards) cobbled together shield generator, with the crystal lattice left to grow whenever it liked. Sure, it made the shield easier to spread and maintain, but the defensive capabilities were severely lacking, compared to the original protoss ones.

Artanis already left, citing the need to supervise the troops he was about to receive. And Dobromir and Wit? Standing on the deck, of course, looking into the distance. Some time after the probes carried their baggage, and started installing it according to the phase smith's instructions, Karax walked over to the two of them.

"Where did you acquire those bits of protoss Technology?"

"Black market." "Black market." Both answers at the same time. "That's it, I am afraid." Continued Dobromir, "Even though we are pretty well informed, delving too deep into that kind of shady is too risky."

"Hmmm… I'll have to bring it to the attention of the council." And Karax walked off, the probes following him, done with their job.

"So, what about your skills? Calming presence which affects the people, animals and between can't be your limit, can it?" The levitating hooded & masked one turned his head, to look at his brother.

"Crack the issue, I can't. I mean it's a little too vague and… wait a minute." He started muttering to himself, counting on his fingers. One went up, two three… "Everything checks up…" Dobromir slowly raised his head to look completely upward and stretched his hands to the sides. Understanding began to fill his person. "How could I be so clueless… IT'S SO SIMPLE! HAHAHA!" Somehow, his armor didn't pose a problem when he practically bent backwards. He was shaking all over, arms crazily going in all directions. His eyes glowed like two suns, and the delicate mist trails leaking from the corner of his eyes, usually barely noticeable, now were like two streams of white, sparkling fog. "So obvious, BAHAHAHA!" Even veins bulged all across his face, throbbing with barely controlled power.

Still bended backwards, Dobromir began to float in the air, power filling his very being. It kept up for a few seconds, before he flipped over, and still in the air began dancing around, which could or could not involve some moonwalking, breakdance and some good ol pirouette with hands meeting above the head, and the smoke trailing around him like a skirt.

"Glad I am here, and not in the middle of that mess." Mina stood behind the steering wheel, watching the battle between the mass of battlecruisers. There were so many of them, and so close to each other! There was no chance for any fighters or bombers to be launched. Lasers were flying everywhere, and yamato cannons were charged and shot left and right.

Suddenly, something exploded against the boat's shields. Mina watched with wide, terrified eyes as the force field slowly started fading away, guaranteeing any air to be immediately sucked away by the cosmos. Thankfully, someone did foresee a problem of this magnitude, because just as the first shield cracked all over, a new one formed up, though encompassing only the pilot's stand, and covering the hold. 'Shatter!' if not for the dark nothingness, probably the sound of shattering glass could be heard.

Mina quickly took a few desperate breaths and steered her boat away, trying to run, or rather flee, away from her masked attacker. But what could she do now? Shooting required her to take a weapon, charge it up and aim.

Looking around, Mina saw no signs of an enemy. But that didn't mean there was nothing there… left! To the left! Mina quickly turned the steering wheel maximally to one side, causing the boat to flip sideways, barely missing the rockets that flew by, and continued on.

'Commander, you unlocked a new skill trees! You may check them when focusing hard enough.' 's voice floated in his head, making him grin a bit wider.

He already made his first stop in his bus tour. The group of protoss was already on the platform, destroying the turrets and the power generator which kept them up and running. Surprisingly, those guys just gave him Criminal Offensive Side Eye, and nothing more. Apparently, it was better to be a confirmed loon, than a masked and unknown variable. Dobromir's grin widened even further, the open book strategy was working, finally! After all those years!

Artanis was in his oversized scout, flying about and dealing with any wraith's and the freshly met valkyries. A group of normal scouts followed after him, keeping him safe and secure in his comfy seat. Somewhere behind were shuttles, one filled with dragons, and the other two with reavers. They weren't needed yet, but would prove themselves to be useful soon enough.

Wit, on the other hand, was gathering his spore material, to make a plan into a reality, a plan his brother was so kind to brainstorm.

Author's something:

Vacation ended, so back to it again. I will realize shorter chapters, or less often.