Starcraft

Part 1

Chapter 1

Admiral Taje stood on the bridge of the battle cruiser Vengeance and looked out the front veiwport. The column of smoke grew larger as they drew nearer. Admiral Taje wasn’t sure what was burning but he had an idea.

Twelve hours ago, Headquarters had lost contact with the Nebula colony. They decided to send Admiral Taje and the Vengeance to check it out. It wasn’t enough to excite Admiral Taje. He figured their Communications Center was just having problems but Headquarters wanted to make sure that they hadn’t been attacked.

Looking at the column of smoke, Admiral Taje decided Headquarters was probably right.

The navigator interrupted his musings, “We are nearing the colony Admiral.”

Admiral Taje turned to look at the navigator and nodded, “Stay on course.” He looked at the weapons console, “Sergeant, put the weapons on standby.”

Turning back to the viewport he could just make out the edges of the Command Center and the fires blazing around them.

As they neared it he could see creatures running all over the ground in every direction. He saw some creatures flying in the air but fortunately they ignored the ship.

Admiral taje turned to a lieutenant standing at a console behind him, “Turn on the spotlights and see if you can spot any Humans.”

The spotlights swept over the area but Admiral Taje saw no humans, just the creatures that scattered as the beams swept over them.

“Give me a lifeform scan lieutenant. See if there are any Human life-signals.”

“I am receiving one signal. It is weak but whoever it is seems to be alive.”

“Good. Send down a shuttle to pick them up and bring them to the medical bay.”

“Yes, sir. The shuttle is launching now.”

“Do we have an identification on the aliens yet?”

“Not yet sir. The computer has no reference to them.”

Admiral Taje thought about this. Interesting. Very Interesting.

“Admiral,” The lieutenant yelled, “We have air-borne aliens coming straight at us!”

“How many?”

“Twelve sir.”

Admiral Taje made a quick decision, “Send out the squadron.”

“Yes sir. The creatures are splitting up to flank us Admiral.”

“Fire at will.

“Yes sir!”

Admiral Taje watched as the aliens split up and went around to both sides of the Vengeance, spitting some type of acid from their mouths as they did so.

“Sir the squadron has launched.”

“Put them on screen lieutenant.”

A screen in front of the Admiral flickered and came on. He saw the squadron fly out of the hangars and head for the aliens. The squadron was shown as blue dots on the screen, the aliens as red dots. One of the red dots flickered and went out.

The 54th Screamin’ Devils. Nothing could take them out. They were one of the best Wraith squadrons from here to Tarsonis. Commander Steve Hill was in charge of them and he was one of the best pilots, and one of the best commanders that Admiral Taje had the pleasure of knowing.

There were only three of the aliens left now and as Admiral Taje watched, the battle ended almost as soon as it had began.

“Call the squadron back in Lieutenant. Have a shuttle prepared and send down a troop of Marines. Have them capture one of the smaller aliens. If they can’t stun him then just kill him.”

“Yes sir. Sir, the medical bay says they have received the Human from the surface. He wishes to speak with you, sir.”

“I will go to the bay personally.”

Admiral Taje worked his way around his officers, nodding to them and murmuring words of encouragement to them, until he made it to a turbolift at the back of the bridge.

He stepped in and went down two levels. He stepped out of the turbolift and the smell of the medical bay almost overwhelmed him. He walked towards a table near the middle of the room. Doctors were crowded around it examining a man who was bleeding very badly.

As Admiral Taje walked toward the table, a doctor noticed him and met him halfway.

“Sir, this man is in very bad shape and he will not live long. It seems that he was a scientist in the Nebula colony but I believe he is quite mad.”

Admiral Taje nodded and walked to the table. The doctors parted for him and he noticed they had grim faces. He looked at the man on the table and could see why.

The man’s stomach was ripped open exposing his intestines. His face was scratched and an eye was missing. One leg seemed to be broken. Admiral Taje wondered how he could be alive.

“Who are you?” Taje asked.

“I must speak with the commander of this vessel. The Zerg are loose!”

“I am the commander of this ship,” Taje soothed him. “Now who are you?”

The man’s face tightened in pain, “I…I don’t remember. It doesn’t matter now.”

“What do you mean?”

A wild fright came into the crazed man’s eyes, “It doesn’t matter now. The Zerg are loose!” He squinted up at Taje, “The Zerg are loose…and so is death. Run! Run while you still can!

Chapter 2

The Cerebrate watched the battle cruiser as it destroyed his underlings. The squadron of ships formed into a defensive position as a shuttle deployed from the battle cruiser and headed for the surface.

The Cerebrate chuckled to himself, [They will find no survivors here.] He averted his attention as one of his underlings gave a psychic cry for help.

[Weak minded fool. His life does not matter to me for he is just one of my many underlings. But he may be useful. If I can keep a psychic link to him then I may be able to find the humans’ base. That would make the Overmind very happy. Maybe he would allow me to enlarge my brood. But then again the humans could learn our weaknesses from this underling. Maybe I should kill him while I still have the chance.]

The Cerebrate thought about this but before he could make a decision his link with the underling was cut off.

[No!] The Cerebrate howled with Rage. Now he could not use the underling or kill him. If the link was cut off that meant the underling was dead or unconscious. Probably unconscious. The Humans wanted a live specimen. The Overmind was not going to be happy.

There was still one option left for the Cerebrate. He established a psychic link with an overlord.

[Underling, follow that human vessel and tell me where their base is.]

{As you command Cerebrate.}

The Cerebrate broke the link and watched as the overlord followed the retreating battle cruiser.

[Foolish Humans. So weak. So stupid. But a worthy enemy. They will be defeated in the end. I will enjoy hearing their screams as my underlings tear into them.] The Cerebrate imagined how the final battle would take place and how he himself would exterminate their leader. But his mind returned to the matter at hand.

[Enough gloating,] he told himself. [I must contact the Overmind.]

The Cerebrate reached out with his mind, seeking the Overmind. He established a deep psychic link. The Overmind responded almost immediately.

[[Yes my Cerebrate. What is it?]]

[Master. The humans have captured one of my underlings.]

[[Yes I felt the psychic disturbance. You must follow the humans. I suspect your connection with the underling was cut off?]]

[Yes.]

[[Just as I thought, you’re underling has probably been stunned. But, no matter. We will soon destroy the Humans.]]

[Maybe you should bring in a different brood, Master. I believe I would be of much more use to the Swarm if I helped with the Protoss invasion.]

The Overmind considered this, [[No you must stay here. I have a special job for you. Locate the Humans’ base and spy on it. See what movement they’re making in trying to destroy us. Build up your Brood and harass them every few days. Vary your attack pattern so they do not know when or how you will attack. I want you to capture and hold a secret facility West of your current location. Make sure that every attempt the Humans make to capture it fails. It may have vitally important information but our agents have yet to find it in the facility’s computer. When I contact you next I will give you further instructions. Do you understand your orders Cerebrate?]]

[Yes my master. I understand my orders and as a member of the Swarm and Cerebrate of the Diablo Brood I will obey.]

[[Until next time, Cerebrate.]]

The Overmind broke the link and the Cerebrate was left very happy. He had a mission to perform. A mission vitally important. He smiled with glee as he again heard the Humans death screams in his mind.

Very soon the Humans would die.

Chapter 3

High Templar Ja`sok watched as an arbiter lifted into the air and drifted towards a carrier. The carrier disappeared as the Arbiter’s cloaking field wrapped around it. Dragoons and zealots attacked holographic targets; the dragoons were testing their weapons range and force but the Zealots needed practice. The base was buzzing with ships and ground troops as they prepared for the arrival of the Zerg.

Two months before, the Zerg had sprung suddenly on a Protoss planet in the outer sector. Within hours, they dominated the planet. Protoss forces were put on the alert to hold off the Zerg and not let them advance any farther. So far, any attempts to stay the Zerg had failed. Now they were closing in on Ja`sok's forces.

Ja`sok himself headed for his own ship, the Contoor.

The Contoor was the biggest ship in the fleet, and the most deadly. It would not fall. The Conclave had given Ja`sok orders the day before that he should set a hyperspace vector for Aiur if the base fell, but Ja`sok had more confidence than they had.

Ja`sok reached the Contoor and walked under it, keying in his pass as he did so. The pass was sent to the Gantrithor’s computer where it identified him as the captain. The pass was then relayed to the teleporter. There was a bright light from overhead, a queasy feeling in the bottom of Ja`sok’s stomach, and then, just like that, he was on the bridge of the Contoor.

The crew glanced at him, but just for a second, and then returned to their duties. Ja`sok gave them confidence and someone to follow. Many of them were their own leaders but some of them were lonely and scared. They were a fine crew and had been in many battles already. This was lucky for them because they had more experience than the other crews and were less likely to make a mistake. One mistake could mean the destruction of the Contoor. Just one. Returning back to the matters at hand, Ja`sok turned to the weapons console.

“Are the weapons ready?”

“Yes sir.” The Lisko replied. The Lisko was second in command on the Contoor. Ja`sok turned to the radar console.

“Are there any Zerg in the area yet?”

“No sir.” The ensign replied. “Wait! They’re coming out of a rift now.”

“Get me a visual Lisko.”

“Yes sir.”

The visual from an orbiting observer showed that a warp rift had just opened. And out of this rift came the Zerg.

The crew watched in horror and fascination as the Zerg tumbled out of the rift and assembled in a strange formation. When they were all out of the rift, the rift shut leaving the Zerg to travel by their own means. Suddenly the Zerg turned and headed for the planet. Ja`sok snapped out of his trance and turned to the Lisko.

“How many of them are there?”

“I’m not sure s-sir.” The Lisko murmured, his voice trembling slightly. “Our lifeform sensors can’t pick them up.”

“Try the heat sensors.”

The Lisko shook his head, “I’ve already tried them sir.” He shuddered, “It’s almost like they’re not there.”

“I imagine it’s some kind of shielding. How long until they reach the base?”

“About ten minutes sir.”

“Relay that to all units. Has the fleet assembled yet?”

“Yes, but we still have to take our position.”

“Well then, take it. We are the head of the fleet, therefore we are in front.”

“Yes sir.”

The Contoor shuddered and some of the crew was thrown back in their seats as it took off, but the g-compensators caught up. Ja`sok smiled to himself. The Contoor was also the fastest ship in the fleet.

He turned to the Lisko, “How fast are we going?”

“Rouzhe four.”

Ja`sok nodded. That was pretty fast for sublight speed.

The Contoor moved to the head of the fleet and Ja`sok established a hololink with them. The other High Templar faces appeared on the holo screen.

Ja`sok nodded to them, “Are you ready my brethren?”

They gave him the formal reply, “Yes Ja`sok. As High Templar of the Protoss fleet we are ready to fight to our deaths.”

Ja`sok gave the formal reply to their oath, “En Taro Adun my brave brethren.”

Ten minutes later, the Zerg attacked without mercy.