"The only sensible counter to the 13 pool is the 121/2 pool (experts only)"
-WilliamWC3
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| Starcraft Fanfiction: "training" | | | Author: | | | IP: | 63.210.1XXXX | | Date: | 04/26/00 10:04 | | Game Type: | Starcraft | | Labels: | none | | Report Rating: , # of Ratings: 1, Max: 7, Min: 7
Lifetime Rating for blah: 5.6667 |  |
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"t r a i n i n g"
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The throbbing had started a few weeks ago. It began as a sharp pain behind
his right ear that came and went, but slowly it mutated into a dull throbbing
with the capriciousness of a winter storm. It would not be ignored. When
the throbbing came, it was the only thing he could think about. It didn't
matter where he was, what he was doing, or who he was with. He had hoped
that the pain would fade in the coming days, but he was not so fortunate.
The medics he sought were of no help either. They had done CAT
scans, MRI's, the works. They had poked and prodded him (luckily not with
those huge
shots attached to their combat armor. Those were frightening indeed.) but
they could find nothing wrong with him and none of the treatments they tried
alleviated his torment.
There were many nights when he woke up in a cold sweat to the incessant
aching. It affected him in everything he had to do, but yet he pushed on for
he had no choice. In time he discovered that the pain was directly
related to his idle time. The more time he had to just sit around and think, the quicker
and longer the throbbing would come and remain. It was beginning to drive
him insane. He began to do mindless things as an escape. It didn't matter what he did, as long
as it occupied him, for then he would find refuge from the pain. Before long, he joined the
marines. And there, he believed he found a permanent sanctuary.
* * * * * * * * * *
"Private Ryan!"
"Yessir!"
"You are hereby assigned to Squadron Mu. You will eat and sleep with them.
From this day on, they are your family. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"
"Yessir!"
"Dismissed!"
The following few weeks were the most grueling days Ryan had ever experienced.
His squadron hiked for miles every day, through desert, jungle, and ash. They underwent strenouous
weight training. He learned
the intricacies of his battle suit and the benefits and dangers of StimPack.
They studied Protoss and Zerg biology and studied maps of the surrounding
region. Ryan had so much on his mind, he began to forget; the acute pain he
once suffered from and even details from his life before training. Hours of practice
and tons of ammunition were spent getting them accustomed to their gauss rifles.
Though it was tiring, it was also the best time Ryan had for as long as he
could remember. But then again, he couldn't remember much.
His first mission came suddenly and without warning. A science team had discovered a
Zerg encampment only a few miles from the main base. They didn't dare
approach in fear of those wretched scourges that were content to sacrifice their lives
to destroy the vessel and everyone on board. The Confederacy issued an order to the current Commander of the
quadrant, Commander Harrison.
The order: to gather up an army to eliminate the Zerg presence.
Squadron Mu was among those chosen.
* * * * * * * * * *
"Covert Operations, Tyrone!"
A lean, lightly armored operative stepped out of line and saluted.
"Yes, Commander Harrison!"
"I'm sending you on a reconissance mission. Tally their defense and the
size of their army."
"Yes sir!"
Ryan watched as Tyrone activated his stealth suit. His grip
tightened on his rifle. It always unnerrved him
how the covert operatives did that. It just wasn't natural. It didn't help that he had heard rumors
that these "ghosts" were capable of reading minds. Knowing that they were
on his side did little to reassure him. Ryan watched as
the ghost became more and more translucent, until he was nothing but a
strange shimmering, a mirage in the desert.
For now, though, there was nothing to do but wait. Wait and prepare.
Ryan hated it. He tried
to recall happier times, perhaps with his family, but he drew a blank. In fact, he
couldn't remember anything of his life before joining the Marines. Everything was so
fleeting. His memories came in random spurts. Clutching hands. Balled fists.
Flailing feet. Cold stone. Metal bars. Loneliness. Anger.
He felt a twinge behind his ear, but he ignored it. What the hell was he
doing before the marines? He got no answers, just a building agony.
The pain had slowly returned in full force - no, twice as bad as it had been.
Grimacing, he rubbed the area behind his ear. He couldn't concentrate anymore.
Any grasp he may have had flitted away like a lost dream.
"Aw, fuck."
The pain was becoming unbearable. He began to pace and recite marching
songs in hopes of alleviating his torment. It worked, but no where quick enough.
He prayed for an end to the torment which miraculously came. Tyrone materialized directly in front of the Commander.
"Fuck, Tyrone! What the hell are you trying to do? Give me a heart attack?"
Tyrone gave him a wry grin.
"Sorry, Commander. I have the reconissance information you wanted."
"Well?"
"The base appears to be free from military units. I didn't get to close
because there were overlords hanging around, but from what I could see, there
is only minimal defense in the form of 2 sunken colonies and a spore colony.
The base is being mined heavily by about 25 drones or so and the lair is idle.
It is possible to do a hit on the worker line without
being in range of the sunkens, but most of the buildings themselves are covered
by the two sunkens. There is no nydus canal as
far as I could tell, so I believe they will not be receiving any backup."
"Good work Tyrone."
The Commander turned to address his army.
"Everybody! Move out and siege up in the outskirts
of the Zerg base." Harrison turned to address a squad.
"Squadron Alpha!"
"YESSIR!"
"You will raid the mineral line! Get yerselves some Zergy carapaces!
Avoid the sunkens. They're ours."
* * * * * * * * * *
Ryan marched with the the rest of the squads towards the empty zerg base.
When he got close enough, he viewed the encampment through his scope. It was inhabited only by
a few floating overlords and drones busy at work. He grinned at the thought of
riddling them full of bullets. He kept that image in mind to keep the
tension of a emminent battle from getting to him. The base was unnervingly quiet.
They stopped on the a few hundred feet from the carpet of purple slime and prepared to set siege.
Squadron Alpha had skirted the sunken colonies and reached the Zerg
gathering fields. They laughed in glee as the StimPack filled their bloodstream and the
drones began exploding in poofs of blood and guts. But without warning, wicked spines erupted from the
ground impaling everyone that happened to stand in their
path. The sky was filled with agnoized cries of the wounded, many still
swaying from the spines of some great subterranean beast.
Medics rushed to save who they could, but more and more spines raced across
the field. The next pass tore the entire platoon into a bloody pulp.
Commander Harrison wasn't pleased. "Shit. Lurkers. Dammit! I should've known."
He switched on his communicator
"Base, we need Science Ve-..."
A light shaking was the only warning before the rear of the Terran war
machine was shredded by spines.
"FUCK! They were waiting for us! It's an ambush! Comsat! Comsat! Science Vessels!" shrieked Harrison
into his
communicator. "We're being fuckin'
slaughtered. Fuck fuck fuck fuck!"
He waved his hands frantically at his disintegrating army.
"Move, move move! Back to the base, back to the base!"
A huge tremor shook the ground as a hundred zerglings and
hydralisks erupted from purple creep. Arcalite cannons boomed, gauss
cannons whirred, and burst lasers fired, leaving mangled carcasses behind
but there wasn't enough to stem the steady flow of hideous zerg.
Science Vessels dispatched to aid the effort arrived only to fall
under the heavy fire of the hydralisks. Half of his squad fled to the hills and were
chased down by zerglings. The other half stood their ground, firing at anything not human.
Ryan was at a loss. The mission
went from razing a near defenseless zerg base to fighting merely to see how long he
could survive. He began to panic, but his fear was strangely replaced by a huge influx of patriotism.
Yes, Ryan knew, he would die. But he will die for the Confederacy, and he would die proud, taking down
as many of these pieces of shit as he could. His right hand tightened on his gauss rifle as he used his left to
fed the Stim into his system.
"Aaahhhh... that's the stuff"
He was ready now, but he wasn't the only one. The bloated overlords lazily hanging
around began to move. Ryan began to fire at one, hoping to scare it off so the wraiths could
work with impunity,
but it resolutely advanced
in his direction. It wasn't long before several overlords were overhead. He continued to fire,
killing an overlord and taking
great pleasure in the explosion of innards. He had just started on the next when he heard a sickening slurp from behind him and came face to
face with a monstorous ultralisk, its body sleek and shiny from an overlord's internal juices.
It's enormous tusks glistened as they opened. Only one word came to mind.
"Shit."
* * * * * * * * * *
A bright white light lanced through his eyelids. Ryan cracked opened his right eye
to see a pale myopic face gazing intently at him. He felt the presence of
others in the room and he knew they must be studying him. Once, he would have
been angry. Once, he would have killed everyone in the room for this invasion of his
privacy. But now, he just
didn't care anymore. He was so tired. As he drifted off, he heard voices.
"So? Is this one ready yet?"
"Yeah, this guy's ready. Send him to the barracks for training."
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