Enslavers Part 1

OK, this is a complete re-make of the last report. The text is mostly the same, but all the pics have been totally re-designed, and I’ve used JPGs too. I’ve spell checked it and proof-read it to make it smoother, I’ve toned down the background and added a dark text for easier reading, I’ve sorted the lost pictures and finally I’ve added Alt-text to wherever it was needed. The HTML for that sidebar still has me at a loss, but it works and looks ok, so it’ll have to do. I’ve also emphasised areas of the text that the pictures refer to, so u know when to flick across and back, hopefully it should just make the whole viewing experience easier and more enjoyable, oh and Fox, I used the STRONG command… =] Please read and enjoy, this is what I was wanting from the start. Finally having all my images deleted forced me to go through with it and do a proper job, so make the most of it and have fun!!!

I've decided to do a report on the first of the ‘Enslavers’ missions that can be found in the ‘campaign’ folder in single-player. I did this for a couple of reasons including a few requests for help on the missions by some people and the fact that I was bored of The Lost Temple, so a new map may work. If you don't want to read what is effectively a fan-fic/BR hybrid with a weird picture set-up, then you should probably stop now, as you'll just resent me for it; you have been warned. It may also take a fair time to load up the pictures, sorry about that.

For those of you who have stayed, good job! Now I have set the pictures so they show a small area of a full screen shot that can be accessed simply by clicking on it. There are no mini-map updates as you can see what's going on in the bottom-left corner of the screen shots, just like in the game... GOOD EH?!?

Anyway, onwards into the unknown in what is essentially a 'Mission Report' that you are all going to enjoy (don't make me force you to enjoy it now….). If it's liked by most, I may be tempted to go on and do some more of the missions, but if it sucks, I'll bury the idea here and now.

Emperor Mengsk (a dead ringer for my boss) peers at me out of the control panel, Barking orders as usual.

Sadly, being an elite operative, I always get the crappy jobs, so I set out to recruit my team. How kind of the emperor to give me a couple of shuttles to get my men into position. Unlike the standard BattleCruiser drop-offs, this is a covert operation so I have two low-flying droppers with cloaking fields ('borrowed' from some of the older wraiths) to get me to my target safely.

The dropships unload my team on the outskirts of the sector reported to lay host to Alen Shezar's current base of operations. I have 2 SCV's, 8 of the best marines the academy could offer and a master siege tank to help me set up a presence and fulfil my mission. I send them checking the immediate area, in search of Shezar's home base when my squad comes upon patrol of what are presumably Shezar's soldiers. Although I prepare to fall back to find a way around them, they see my men, and charge upon us before we could react; thus I'm forced to give the order to despatch them for the sake of my men, and lest they report back my presence to some higher authority. The combat sees me take no losses, but 2 marines are severely injured, and I am already regretting the decision not to take medics on the mission, as I assumed that they'd serve only to distract the men from their duties… if you know what I mean^^.

With my allotment of 1000 minerals, I decide that it would be wise to set up a base, with intentions of ordering forth a greater force to aid me, and as ‘luck’ would have it, there is a mineral deposit and a natural vespene geyser very nearby to the corpses of Shezar's fallen men. Thus I order one of my SCV's to construct a command centre in proximity to the mineral deposit, and the other one to begin construction of supply depots nearer the geyser, to give safe haven for my men. I set my marines around the tank, giving it a human shield, although it's greater range allows it to shoot even before the marines are in effective range. While the second depot is under construction, three zerglings dash in from the north, and charge upon my squad, however, my soldiers bravely hold their formation and destroy the little beasts before they're able to do any damage.

Once the Command centre is completed, I order up a barracks, and begin the training of SCV's with my available funds. My most injured marine refuses to go back to the safety of a depot however, and tries to prove himself to me by searching the area northwest of the encampment. A bold show, but he fails to even cross the bridge there before he is torn apart by a sub-terrarean tentacle protruding through the solid tarmac roadway. I realise that I am sealed into my base from that bridge way, and cannot risk any excursions to the northwest. I do however send a marine to scout directly west of me to scout out the terrain, and give me early warning of any assault from that direction.

Suddenly, again from the north, 3 hydralisks slither across the bridge and engage my team. 2 marines lay down their lives in this battle, but we hold off the creatures and live to fight on. My marines were unable to finish an overlord that was watching over the assault before it escapes over the water. No sooner is this over when I hear a scream from my scout. How stupid of me, I left him alone out there, and I'm horrified to see 6 zerglings tearing him apart. My squad prepares to take on this new threat, and charges in, but despite a re-enforcement marine from by barracks, I am reduced to only 2 injured infantry and my damaged master siege tank. Again an overlord makes its escape from my grasps over the water to my north.

I finally have the income to begin constantly training marines and SCV's from my barracks and my command centre, and once my marine count re-reaches it's initial 8, I order up a refinery to help me utilise the gas from the vespene geyser nearby. With several SCV's mining minerals now, I have plenty to train units with, and some spare too. So I order up a second barracks alongside the first, effectively walling off my refinery from the northern bridge. 6 armour-upgraded zerglings try to assault that stronghold as the barracks is under construction, but my marines quickly see them off as I have around 10 or so now, leaving me with 7 after the fight. Once more I am foiled by an overlord escaping across the waters before I can finish it off. Another overlord's presence in the northeast warns me of an impending attack, and I am able to despatch the 3 hydralisks with no losses at all. Realising a small money build-up, I quickly invest in both a factory and an academy, so I can re-stock my tanks, and get medics to accompany my marines.

Once medics arrive on the scene, my injured heroes are healed, and I take a more aggressive stance, bunkering off my northwest choke point, instead of sitting back in my base. A small wing of mutalisks is no match for my current squad, and they fall quickly imposing only 1 kill upon my 15 or so marines. My stim-packs are nearly out of the lab, final trials are underway, and in the next engagement I hope to have them passed around. I queue up a tank and research siege mode in the machine shop, and I begin an engineering bay to help me get detecting turrets and upgrades for my men.

Suddenly, with only a tank and a full bunker at my northwestern bridge, I see 12 zerglings run across, and unable to stim marines already in the bunker, my squad at the other bridge are called over to help. The bunker falls before I am able to stop the creatures, but with stim I quickly get rid of them with no losses on my side. With siege now done, I siege up a tank, re-make the bunker and set up a turret to ward off lurkers. I set up the same defence at the other bridge, and rally my troops halfway in-between to keep them close-by. I also order up a starport at the back of my base with the intention of higher upgrades and science vessels later on.

A quick scan across the northwestern bridge reveals more mutalisks, and another sunken colony, with several units burrowed there too. With my defences now in place, I put an add-on to my starport, and begin armour research for my infantry. I am also developing a new type of shell for my marine's weapons, containing depleted uranium-238, to give them longer range. I order up a third barracks to help me keep my troop production at an optimal rate. Once I have a spare 9 marines and 3 medics, I send them off to explore the northeast. They stop off to kill 3 mutalisks, but move on into un-discovered country (I'm too paranoid about scanning as I fear lurkers may be a threat at some stage, and I don't have a science facility finished yet). They dispose of several hydralisks and a sunken colony with no losses thanks to the medics.

Beyond the sunken colony was a ramp, but to risk another of those things on higher ground was unwise I thought, so I scan the top to see what was there. Several defensive structures and some advanced Zerg evolutionary structures could be seen, but very few troops. The one colony on the top of the ramp is clearly a threat though so I call forward my siege tank form the northeastern bridge, and another newly constructed one to come and dispose of it.

I order up a science facility, and began to research weapons upgrades for my men, with armour now complete. The thing that REALLY caught my eye above the ramp was a mineral deposit there, I was running dry at home, having been over-cautious perhaps thus far, and so I deploy my tank and scan above the ramp again, disposing of the colony there. I then run my marines up the ramp, and began destroying the hive structures, also giving vision for my low-ground tank. While all this is going on, 3 marines assault my defences on the northwestern bridge. Needless to say they got slaughtered, but they give me evidence that Shezar is missing his men whom I had killed at the beginning. I was disturbed to see that the sunken colony there had NOT attacked them though, perhaps there was more of a conspiracy at work here than I thought. The marines are quickly followed up by hydralisks and zerglings, who put my bunker into the red.

I'm too busy to tend to this however as my assault on the hive cluster is still in full swing. 2 ultralisks and several hydralisks flank me and reduce my team to just three marines and three medics; both tanks are destroyed by the over-sized hefalumps. Just as I have the situation under control, 3 firebats and 2 vultures come up the ramp and end my attack force, but re-enforcements are already on the way, and they dispose of Shezar's men and continued to put pressure on the cerebrate to defend its hive cluster. Several flanking hydralisk squads were not enough to stop my now 1:1 marines, and when my third tank arrives, I begin to remove any further sunken colonies without losses to my infantry. Several overlords die as distractions, but to no avail as the hive is destroyed, and all the structures in the cluster quickly follow suit. A couple of stray marines discovered another mineral deposit to the left of the west of the ramp, and I discover that my bunker had exploded at the north western bridge, as I had not gotten around to repairing it… That's twice now that it's been destroyed.

Finally my first science vessel joins in as support for my forward troops. Back at home I have 2 engineering bays researching infantry upgrades, and I have just added my fifth barracks, followed shortly by a sixth. 2 SCVs begin command centres above the ramp in the old Zerg main, 1 ready to float to the newly discovered minerals once the area is secured, and one to float to the old hive cluster's minerals once the creep recedes. Several more assaults are launched against my northwestern bridge, and my tank falls to heavy fire, but stimmed marines with medic support quell all of the incursions into what is most certainly my space. Goliaths and vultures all fall the same as the hydralisks and zerglings, despite ensnare and spawn broodling being used on my troops.

After transferring about 15 SCVs to my new expansion, I send several marines back down the ramp to secure the mineral deposit there. A tank on the high ground watches over them, ready to give support if necessary. My now 2:2 marines and another tank dispose of 4 sunken colonies, 20 or so zerglings and a handful of hydralisks, despite being generously ensnared along the way. I hold short of a bridge and set up shop before floating my command centre to the minerals. I also build a supply depot on top of another deserted ramp above my new encampment to forewarn me of any air assaults or drops from above. 2 further scans reveal what looks like a new hive structure across the bridge, further investigation will be needed to discover what that is, but there are substantial troops and defences there so I sit back and just train marines from my six barracks while waiting for my 3:3 upgrades to kick in.

Several vultures fall to my tanks as they try to cross the bridge, alerting Shezar of my new forward position. Suddenly that depot placement pays off as a wing of mutalisks flies over and begins attacking it, but this alerts me to their presence. My marines quickly dispose of them, with only two losses due to stim and medics. Again my frontline troops are ensnared, so I move more in front to take any assault that may be forthcoming. Further scans to the south show several defensive structures, so I decide against a drop in favour of a ground assault across the bridge. Once I have ~5 control groups of 3:3 M&M I begin my assault across the bridge, despite seemingly endless ensnares being thrown upon my troops.

Several sunken colonies throw their tentacles through the earth at my men, but the medics manage to save the majority of those under fire. I have science vessel support but thankfully I find no lurkers, and so I leave my tanks behind the bridge to ward off any counter-attacks that may come. After removing the static defences I find the curious hive structure and am able to view it in full.

I quickly destroy it as I have heard rumours about infested marines destroying entire armies before. My marines are constantly re-enforced and push on with surprisingly few casualties despite the ensnaring. Several firebats and a tank try to stop me too, but I push them aside and press on, before finally finding the outskirts of Shezar's base of operations.

Scourge, hydralisks, mutalisks, queens, overlords and zerglings all fall before my continuously re-enforced men, and I finally send in my tanks to support my men, and an SCV to begin a command centre at a resource node I find deep within the Zerg cluster. Finally I'm able to dispose of the last hive structures and the remnants of Shezar's fallen base, but after two days of picking through the rubble Shezar himself was nowhere to be found… no body, nothing.

The victory is put into shadow as we realise that we let him get away, DAMNED Emperor Mengsk's gonna be pissed! After we secure the area fully, chasing any further rebels into the surrounding hills, I order a pickup despatch, and begin to de-brief the troops. On arrival of the transports we're up and away, leaving a garrison to hold the grounds that were once ruled by unison of outlaws and creatures.

Ok, that's it for part one, but if you liked it, let me know, if it sucked, feel free to say. This has been hard for me to write, as I am not a fan-fic type of person, so if anyone wants to carry on the series, please feel free. Also, no comments about my money build-up thanks as I really don't care, I mean, the Zerg guy had about 50k minerals all game (I think he was a newbie though).

Hope u all enjoyed it, I'll give a shout out to Deon for HTML help and for laughing at me when I said this had the potential to be good… so u were right… who cares =p Here's the replay, it's not very good so only get it if u were one of the ppl who wanted mission help, and even then its not all that useful.