"blah blah 9 blah blah"
-DesertDemon
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| SILENT WITNESSES PART I | | | Author: | | | IP: | 155.176.XXXX | | Date: | 01/23/01 09:01 | | Game Type: | Starcraft | | Labels: | none | | Report Rating: , # of Ratings: 1, Max: 7, Min: 7
Lifetime Rating for TheVictim: 6.8333 |  |
My previous story evolved from a joke on Shockwave's forum. This is part of a story I'm actually going to write on purpose. Pieces of the story will be short, but frequent. I get bored at work and have 2-4 hours avg of free time, so I can churn something out almost daily.
SILENT WITNESSES – PART I
The UED science vessel Inquisitor drifted silently through space en route from Alpha base on HD144168 to the remainder of the fleet at Beta base. Enough reinforcements had arrived to allow most of the soldiers stationed there to escape. Some interesting Zerg specimens had also been collected, including some material from the newly observed creature that had been nicknamed ‘The Lurker’.
Darrin LaCross had been conscripted from a cadre of university xenobiologists as one of the few civilians ever to man the crew of an Explorer class UED science vessel. His studies of Protoss physiology and psionic symbiosis had allowed the UED to successfully deter attempts by the Protoss to subjugate human telepaths to their will. This was becoming an increasing problem as human colonies infringed on the edges of Protoss held territories. Security had finished scanning the Zerg remains and the quarantine period was now over. Darrin programmed his hovercart and left the xenobiology lab for the holding area. On the way he passed by Behavioral Sciences. One of the patients was being difficult.
“They’re HERE, they are with us now!” A man screamed as two orderlies tried to subdue him. “I know what they want!” He continued.
“Let’s tranq this guy” An orderly said as he pulled the man out from the doorway.
“We need authorization from the medical officer on duty.” His partner said. “I’d like nothing more than to give this guy a thousand milligrams of SHUT THE HELL UP” He added, wrestling the patient to the ground. The orderlies appeared to be making some headway. The man calmed down as Darrin passed by. He looked up at him.
“They want you.” The man said quietly. The orderlies picked him up off the floor and strapped him to a stretcher.
“This one is worse than that stim junkie they pulled out of a bunker yesterday.” One said.
“Yea, but that field medic was hot. She looked kinda attached to that Corporal though.” His friend retorted. Darrin continued down the hall towards Security.
Darrin punched his security code into the keypad in the holding area and the door whooshed open. There were several good pieces here. There was a large chunk of carapace that appeared to be too large to be from anything but an Ultralisk, some Hydralisk spines and body parts, and then there was the Lurker tentacle. Darrin had never seen one before. It was magnificent. It was also pretty big. He would need some help to move it. There were some techs rummaging through some remains from a Protoss robotic facility abandoned on Grimatryon III in the holding area next to his. He would enlist some of them to load the Zerg remains onto his hovercart.
Darrin walked into the holding area and was amazed at the sea of robotic junk piled up before him. He saw parts of Reavers, a couple of dormant probes, even an Observer droid that looked relatively intact. Darrin knew the Protoss as well as any human could hope to, but did not understand their dependency on robotics, especially after the discovery that their robotic units were completely autonomous. Before the time of the UED, even before man had traveled beyond the solar system, we realized the folly of providing war machines with autonomous thought. Never again would mankind rely on the planning of machines in time of war.
“Could I get some help loading my cart, I’m next door in Holding area 3. I got some big pieces over there.” Darrin asked.
“Pieces of WHAT?” A tech asked, plugging a power cable into a probe. He started loading data from the probe into his palm computer.
“Nothing messy, just heavy.” Darrin said. “Did Security scan that reaver for armed Scarab drones?” He added.
“I disarmed a Scarab drone and took it back to Engineering last night. I’m through with the reaver for now. Peterson is going to weld it into a tobogan for his kid when he gets back home. They have snow all the time where lives.” The tech said. “I wiped the Scarab’s programming and Bartleby from the Alpha base armory helped me remove the explosive. It’s going to make a great bowling ball.” He added, grinning ear to ear.
‘These tech geeks really need to get a life.’ Darrin thought. They put down their gear and followed Darrin to the holding area. The probe continued uploading data to the tech’s palm computer. The Zerg remains were loaded onto his cart. He programmed it for the Xenobiology Lab loading dock and it hummed toward it’s destination. It would take a while to get their with it’s load. Darrin decided a break for lunch was appropriate. The techs unplugged their palm computer and went to dump it’s data into their main computer.
Lunch on board a UED science vessel was an interesting experience. Interesting in the fact that despite your non-combatant status most of the time, you got to eat the same supply depot synthesized crap that the frontline troops were treated to. Nanomolecular assemblers break up mineral deposits and Vespene, reassembling them into a slurry that contains approximations of vitamins, carbohydrates, and some basic amino acids. The amino acids are not quite protein, but close enough for military use. The slurry is artificially flavored into a variety of shapes and textures. All equally bland. Darrin selected ‘Barbequed Pork Riblet Patty’ and ‘Mixed Vegetables in Cream Sauce’ and chose to drink plain old water. The synthesized beverages were best described as indescribable and left at that. The Zerg are a true horror to behold when you begin to study their physiology, but if you are what you eat, them some alien xenobiologist is going to have a fit when they dig up our remains eighty zillion years from now.
During his repast, Darrin looked out of the viewport in the mess hall toward the stars. A shimmer passed his field of vision, distorting the view of space. He rubbed his eyes and looked again, but the shimmer was gone. The long days of study were beginning to take their toll. Darrin decided after he examined the current load of remains that some rest might be in order. He promised himself an early night. Being a civilian he at least had that right.
Upon his return to Xenobiology, Darrin began examining the remains of the Zerg. His first task would be to isolate the DNA strains from each sample and compare them to the list of known Zerg broods. He suspected they were from the Tiamat brood like the rest of the Confederacy’s conscripted Zerg. First there was the Hydralisk spines. One in particular was interesting. It was pulled from the chest of a field medic as a dropship was retreating from Alpha base. The spine was of the grooved variety, allowing for much farther range of flight. This was a development almost as amazing as the Hydralisk itself.
The name Hydralisk was pretty much a misnomer. The first time the creatures were observed they were incorrectly assumed to be expectorating a liquid when attacking. They were thus termed “Hydra”lisks. In reality their attack is much more complex. The closest approximation would be that of the terran Conch snail. The creatures store dozens of the dense spines in the linings of their mouth. They arm their attack by swallowing the base of a spine, forming a cannon-like aperture with their throat. A pair of glands generate and store highly reactive hydrocarbons that are mixed at the base of the throat. These hydrocarbons catalyze with the lining of the Hydralisk’s throat, causing an exothermic reaction. The speed of the reaction is equivalent to a low-order explosive. The liquid that is expelled after the creature fires it’s attack is actually condensed from the products of the combustion of the hydrocarbons. Misinformation about the Protoss and Zerg was spreading far too quickly. Darrin LaCross’ work would help put an end to some of the folly.
It was thought that the spread of the Zerg would be limited to planets that had previously harbored life due to their dependence on ‘natural gas’. After the discovery by Charles Vespene that ‘natural’ gas was in fact part of almost every planetary body and the hydrocarbons it comprised of were developed as matter conglomerated shortly after the big bang, terran xenobiologists soon realized that the Zerg could thrive almost anywhere. Vespene had been killed while researching gas deposits on one of the first worlds where the Zerg were later discovered. These gas deposits have borne his name ever since his death, many years before the existence of the Zerg was finally known.
Darrin scraped some tissue residue off of the spine for DNA sequencing. The computer was taking an unusually long time to process the data. He moved on to the next task while waiting for the result.
He didn’t need DNA sequencing to realize there was a drastic difference between the Zergling carapace fragments found today and those he had examined earlier. His bone saw almost broke a blade cutting off a piece. It’s density was much greater than any he had ever seen before. Depleted U-238 ammunition had barely managed to crack it. The striation of the mineral deposits was consistent with the Tiamat brood variant controlled by the Confederates, but the deposits were much denser. Darrin concluded that an individual creature could not have developed the tougher carapace as a reaction to environment, he could only conclude that the genes had somehow been mutated to allow this development. This was not by accident. Not this quickly. It had only been a week.
The computer finally concluded the DNA sequencing. Darrin could not believe what he saw. The genes of these particular Zerglings and Hydralisks had been modified while the creatures were still alive. The telltale leftovers of a retrovirus cluttered the DNA strands. The Zerg had a way to improve the genetic code of their broods on demand. By design. This discovery had implications that Darrin and the rest of humanity could only begin to fathom. Darrin decided this would be a very good time for an early night. He had been working for six straight hours. He buttoned down the lab and headed for his quarters.
He lay there for close to an hour, but was still unable to sleep. Darrin’s civilian quarters were more spacious and comfortable than those on the rest of the ship, but he could not bring himself to fall asleep. He dwelled on the discoveries of the day. He then realized he hadn’t even had a chance to examine the ‘Lurker’ remains. What secrets would they reveal? As Darrin finally attempted to drift into sleep the air about the room stirred. He opened his eyes. A faint shimmer appeared in the darkness. A quiet hum could be heard, increasing in pitch. It source was obvious to one who had studied the Protoss for so long.
“OH MY GOD” Thought Darrin, “THERE IS A DARK TEMPLAR IN HERE”. He bolted from the bed as a sharp buzz erupted from the bunk. The bunk had a 6 inch wide gash through it that penetrated the floor and into the next deck. Darrin remembered the incredible damage the Dark Templar could cause with their force blades. He also knew the weapon needed time to draw psi power from it’s wielder before it would be ready to strike again. He could use this delay to escape. He launched himself from the foot of the bed to where he thought the attacker would be. He felt his shoulder impact something in the darkness, then he slipped to the floor. The quiet hum reached a high pitch again. Darrin rolled toward the dressing cabinet and the force blade struck again. Another gash appeared in the floor, creating an opening to the lower deck large enough for a man. Darrin was an opportunist. He felt the opportunity to survive should not be passed up, and rolled into the opening.
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