This is NOT a fanfic! So you can be happy now.

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Introduction

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I sat quietly, my chin resting on my hands as I watched the monitors in front of me. On the display was a map of The Lost Temple, now found by our expeditionary unit. The monitor to my left showed our new expansion efforts, commanded by TheWangGrip. To my right was the Nexus of a shady faction of Protoss, led by an executor only known as the DarkProphet.

TheWangGrip was a new commander under my command. I didn't know much about him, or what his name meant. I prefered to ignore the images that came to my mind. Wang was reputed for his control of vehicle units, and his disregard for anything else. His Command Center had landed on the eastern plateau overlooking the Temple, and a Protoss nexus warped in at the northern plateau. His scouting SCV was attacked by a hostile probe at the northern plateau, where Wang caught a glimpse of a pylon and the warp field of a gateway. Quickly, Wang began the construction of a Barracks, and then a Refinery.

As for information about the Protoss executor, I knew little. Recent reports had led me to believe that she was also new on the battlefield, and that her battle strategy was erratic and unpredictable.

My thoughts were interrupted by Don Cherrings, Head of Tactical Intelligence.

"Should we send Wang our battleground information? It doesn't look like the Protoss are very hospitable."

"No, Don. I want Wang to prove his worth. If he can't win against a fresh executor, then I don't want him on my team."

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Wang continued his scouting procedures without paying attention to the trailing probe, scouting the southern and then the western expansion and finding nothing. At the ramp leading to his base, he had constructed a simple wall, consisting of a barracks and two supply depots. A scouting probe tried to gain access to Wang's base, but a marine scared it away.

"Is that marine holding a beer?"

I frowned softly.

"Subtract five points from his score for giving his troops access to alchoholic beverages."

I glanced at the Protoss base. A cybernetics core and a forge. Already, the executor was enforcing her unorthodox reputation. A zealot and a dragoon made their way down the ramp and made their way to Wang's base. Wang had three marines, and had just started a factory.


The casualties meter clicked as it rose by one, and another screen turned on, revealing the death. My advisors leaned towards the screen.

"Looks like Wang's SCV micromanagement is lacking."

"Patch me in on their communications frequencies. I want to hear what they're saying."

*crrk* Oh my god! They're attacking the beer depot!

Raising an eyebrow, I glanced at Wang's ramp, now under attack by the zealot and dragoon. Wang's machine shop was only half done.

*crrk* I want FIVE SCVs down at the beer depot! Move it, or I'll have it all confiscated!



*crrk* Yes sir! Right away sir!

Five SCVs ran down to the supply depot and began repairing it, while the three marines engaged the protoss attackers. One of the marines aimed arwy, and a few windows on the depot shattered. I think I saw his comrade slap him.

Spikes rained on the shields of the protoss units, and the zealot went down before it could do any damage. The dragoon climbed halfway up the ramp and began attacking the marines, sending two of the soldiers to hell before it retreated. I have no doubt that besides being poorly trained, Wang's marines were also intoxicated. Beer bottles and cans hit the dragoon's legs at it ran, with the SCV's hollers filling the air.

*crrk* Okay, I want tanks with seige mode, and two more marines. Wallace, I want the beer in the depot brought to my quarters. We can't afford losing it to a bunch of ramshackle protoss.

DarkProphet had constructed a second gateway during the attack, and was now producing ranged dragoons. Her ramp was secured by a pylon and a cannon.

"Is she going for reavers?"

"I think so. If Wang doesn't catch the robotics bay, then he's going to be in trouble."

"If he doesn't catch the protoss' western expansion, he's going to be in trouble."

I glanced at the 9:00 main. The probe that had killed the SCV had started a nexus.

A white dot was floating slowly over the Protoss base. Wang had floated an engineering bay to scout out the Protoss' base. Four dragoons attacked the building, but Wang caught a glimpse of the robotics bay just before the building exploded.

"I hope that EBay wasn't manned, Wang."

*crrk* Manned? ... Oh, shit.

I took another five points off his score.



The four dragoons that had killed the ebay now waltzed their way to attack Wang, but he had set up two tanks and a tower on his ledge, and the protoss units retreated back to their base, losing one of their number. The Prophet also started a defensive cannon at the ramp of the 9:00 plateau.



"As expected, Wang goes for Heavy Metal."

I nodded. Wang already had two factories producing tanks , and was floating a new Command Center over to the minerals below his plateau. I glanced at the protoss base. A shuttle had already been constructed, and no doubt a reaver was already on the way. Two dragoons were transported to the ledge overlooking her natural expansion to defend against the popular turbo newbie strategy.

A second ebay is constructed at the Terran main, and in a curious move, 4/5 of the SCVs in his main base are maynarded to his new expansion.

"What is he doing?"

'Something stupid."

His seemingly stupid maynard of most of his SCV population, however, had saved him a lot of losses. DarkProphet had picked up her newly constructed reaver, and a dragoon from her natural's ledge, and begun an assault on the Terran's mineral line. Her shuttle made it just in time, reaching the landing point just seconds before Wang's two towers came online and felled the shuttle.



The reaver managed to take out most of the mineral line and the two towers while the dragoon tried its best to do something. Two tanks seiged up within range of the reaver, and the dragoon rushed forward to act as bait. Though the diversionary tactic worked, the Reaver did not manage to get past the SCVs gathering gas, and exploded under the fire from the two arclite seige cannons.

"Casualties.. nine SCVs and two towers.."

"Against a shuttle, a reaver and a dragoon"

"Don't forget to account for lost mining time."

I sighed,

"All of you shut up. I need to focus."

My advisors promptly went quiet.

Wang had not let this attack deter him, promptly building another factory and spending a few credits on new SCVs. Too few credits, though. The mineral patches outnumbered his SCVs. Two turrets were constructed over the remains of the razed ones. His expansion was fully online; both bases had three SCVs delivering gas from the refinery.

The protoss forge animated as it began researching (no doubt) new weapons for the protoss army. Five dragoons were brought to the bottom of the ramp just as Wang seiges the two tanks that killed the reaver on the ledge overlooking the protoss' base.

"Two comsat stations.. good choice." Don said softly, approving Wang's next move. Don believed that every comsat center was worth five times its cost. Don also believed that the moon was made of cheese.

"You, rookie. What do you see?" I looked at the young man beside me. He must have just finished studying in the academy, and his hair was a mess.

"Uh.. I see that Wang's constantly producing tanks, while the Protoss executor is having trouble macroing.. But Wang's economy is much weaker than the Protoss'. She has two nexii and one warping in on the southern platea.. oh, she just cancelled it."

Wang had comsatted the new expansion, and Prophet had waited for a few seconds to let the scan die off before cancelling the warp and hiding her probe inside the mineral patches.

"Anything else, rookie?"

"Uhm.. well.. surprisingly, the Protoss and Terran unit counts are almost exactly alike. Wang is at 59/60, and Prophet is at 60/60.. And since Prophet has a lot more probes than Wang has SCVs, then Wang must have the stronger army."

I glanced at the protoss base. Dragoons were queued up inside the gateways, and a reaver had just beeped online. An observatory had also began to warp in. Despite Wang's stronger military, If he tried attacking now, Prophet could use her shuttle to drop on top of the tanks - Not a good situation for a tank-only commander.

"Hmm.. DarkProphet isn't too shabby. She's put a dragoon to keep an eye on the northwestern island.. and, oh! are those observers?"

I could practically see Don drooling. I sighed. Well, at least Don knew what he was talking about. Nothing's worse than a recon specialist who doesn't specialize in recon.

I watched as eight tanks and three vultures began driving south towards the empty expansion. His intelligence reports had not been updated, and he still believes the expansion is warping in. Prophet's intelligence force is much stronger, with new observers and a dragoon on both islands to warn her of expansion attempts. A third command center begins construction on the western side of his plateau just before an observer manuevers around the two turrets beside his tanks overlooking the 12:00 ramp. I frown. Prophet now has information on his production capability and his army status.

"Look! that shuttle just walked right into his base!"

"Walked? You mean flew."

"Shut up."

"Well, Wang's lucky he didn't build any extra SCVs, 'cause they'd be all dead now."

"Lucky? He's an imbecile!"

I ignored their pointless blabbering and watched as the reaver exploded, its scarabs already decimated what small work force the terran commander controlled in his main. The dragoon in the shuttle had been dropped off in the corner of Wang's base and went unnoticed, managing to destroy a supply depot before three tanks drown the grass in its blood.

Wang's army, now supplemented with four more vultures, rumbles towards the nine o'clock expansion, where Prophet's base was flourishing. Don began praising the Protoss executor after seeing Prophet's extensive observer coverage. She had watched the tanks from the moment they reached the southern choke to when they seiged up outside the western plateau. The only thing she missed was the extensive spider mine network set up on the southern plateau. Wang seiged up his tanks, and one scan later the cannon guarding the ramp was destroyed.

My military advisor whistled appreciatively as Protoss' dragoons reached the tanks the moment they began unseiging - thus, sparing them from being raped by the arclite cannons of the tanks. Both commanders focus-fired, but the protoss units were victorious, their numbers and weapons upgrade winning them the battle.

"I bet if Wang danced his tanks he would have won."

"If Wang danced his tanks, his tanks would have spent more time running around each other than fighting. What he should have done is brought his vultures to assist, and seige a few of the back tanks."

"Look, Prophet is on the offensive again with her reavers."

The screen zoomed up on the 3:00 mineral line, where a reaver had been dropped in the midst of the SCVs. The whole mining force at the 3:00 natural was murdered by the violent bomb-wielding slug before it flew away.