"Oh, yes. I'm 16 and a hermit living in the mountains of Tibet giving credence to the tales of Yeti."
-Mr.Merf
|
| Tide of Darkness Part III | | | Author: | | | IP: | adsl-35-XXXX | | Date: | 03/03/03 07:03 | | Game Type: | Starcraft | | Labels: | none | | Report Rating: , # of Ratings: 1, Max: 7, Min: 7
Lifetime Rating for SiG.: 7.0000 |  |
If you haven't read the first two parts of this story, then you really wont know what's going on. I reccomend that you read the first parts before reading this part, because to do otherwise would result in my hunting down your children. Also, a heads up here: I'm changing from first person to omniscient third person, so, you may often see "Spike said" or "He, him, they" when I'm talking from Spike. But this segment of the story is still in 1st to avoid some confusion. Just try to ignore the perspective mistakes. I'm really sorry about that.
Continuing from exactly where I left off last time:
Sorry, no hidden text this time, laddies
"It just figures that I'd be the one who gets shot down, doesn't it?" Jason asked himself, as he walked along a catwalk towards the glowing neon signs of the shops. I mean, I'm not complaining, better me than Margaret. He kicked himself for thinking about that again. Margaret was off bounds, and wasting thoughts on a girl who he had agreed with to never love wasn't smart. He didn't want to agree with her. Sure, it wasn't smart to fall in love with someone while you served in the military with them, because it could make you irrational and there is always that chance that they will die. At least, so my commander tells me. I still love her, don't I? He asked himself, realizing that it was true. I refuse to think about this any longer, it has no good effect on me, it only muddles my mind.
The catwalk that he was currently walking along came to an end, and so Jason walked off of the ramp, on to the platforms surface. He slowed his pace, stopping. He was about 10 paces away from the ramp, and he felt something watching him. That feeling, he hated that feeling. Someone was watching him, someone or some thing. He turned around, and looked back at the ramp. Nothing. He turned back around, and was about to resume walking towards the shops when he felt the eyes on him again. He was overcome with a feeling of fear. He drew a small automatic weapon from his side, one of the guns that he had taken out of his seat. He cocked it, and looked about himself. To his left was a sunken level of platform, about four feet lower than the normal platform level, and covered in rust. To his right were a few solar panels and a spinning satellite dish. Behind the dish was another section of catwalk. But all around his current position, excluding the ramp and catwalk behind him, was empty flat platform.
"Alright, I'm just getting paranoid now. Those aliens must have spooked me more than I thought," he tried to convince himself, failing. He began to walk cautiously, his eyes and ears at full attention, and his gun gripped tightly in his hands. Well, in his suit-covered hands. The gun was made for the larger-than-normal fingers of the light space suit, making it still easy to use. Jason still didn't like the feel of it, though. A gun in his hands, sure, that was fine, he could do that. But when he was wearing a full- body suit, he didn't have that grip and he couldn't feel the metal against his skin. He could still handle it, though. He began to walk faster now, feeling those eyes burning a hole in his mind. He could feel them. There! Behind me! Jason spun around, bringing the gun up to eye-level, looking along its sights towards the ramp. Under the ramp, to be more precise. He slowly walked towards the right side of the ramp, never blinking. Something was under there, and he sure as hell wasn't going to let it get him before he got it.
Suddenly, much to Jason's surprise, something rather large jumped out from under the ramp. It literally leapt out, landing about five feet away from the ramps right side. It stared back at Jason. It was some kind of really big creature. It looked reptillian, but its body was made of rotting flesh, at least it looked as if it was rotting. It stood on two massive hind legs, and had two shorter and significantly less muscular forelegs. Its arms were longer than its legs, and looked as if they were mounted on its back, rather than its side. Those large arms looked as though they were for grabbing or rending. The claws hinted towards rending. The scythes on its rending arms struck terror into Jason's heart. It had spines and spikes protruding from odd areas of its body, adding to its already fearsome look. It had glowing red eyes, and jagged, sharp teeth. Its mouth was oozing liquid, it looked to be drool, but Jason couldn't tell, nor did he want to know. Its body was light brown and dark brown, its spines were a slightly yellow colored bone, and at odd places on its body you could see muscle. Its skin looked patchy and rough, and it appeared to be very hard. It couldn't have been more than four feet tall, but to underestimate its power was a mistake that Jason wasn't about to make. Jason had a sixth sense about these things, and he felt the utter fury and the mindless rage building inside of this creature.
The creature just stared at Jason, shivering slightly as it took in breaths of... Of what? There wasn't exactly a lot of air on this platform, yet this creature seemed to be breathing. Struggling, yes, that was apparent in its shivering. "I don't care what the hell you are!" Jason yelled, and opened fire on the creature, ripping holes into its carapace. The creature leapt forward towards Jason, raising its arms.
"Rending, I knew it"
The creature landed about two feet away from him, and bent it's legs back for another leap, a final leap. It would surely catch Jason in its terrifying mandibles this time. Thinking quickly, Jason lowered his aim towards one of the creature's hind legs, he didn't care which. He pulled the trigger, releasing a flurry of bullets, tearing the creature's leg off. It let out a blood curdling screech, and fell to its right side, with its left leg, its only leg, kicking. "Holy shit, what is this thing? " Jason asked himself, aloud, shaking from fear. He raised his gun again, and fired several rounds into the monster's head, until it lay still. And another shot, just in case.
- - -
"Here we are," Matt began, "And there it is, Jason's chair, embedded in that catwalk over there"
"Yeah, we see it," Margaret replied. She flew her wraith over to a flat area fo the platform, releasing her landing gear, and slowly descended until her wraith gently touched down.
Wraiths don't need to have any forward momentum to achieve flight, nor do they need a runway to land. They have two thrusters mounted on the underside of their fuselodge, capable of creating lift.
"Margaret, what are you doing? There's no reason to go out there," I said.
"Did you detech anything the last time you scanned for him? No. I'll look with my own eyes this time," came her reply, with a hint of contempt in her voice. She walked over to the mangled, twisted cross-thatched metal of the catwalk where Jason's seat had broken through. There was quite a sizeable hole, being about twice as large as the chair in diameter, which roughly equated to seven feet. She looked in, and saw nothing but darkness. She ran back to her wraith to retrieve a flashlight. She rummaged through a small compartment, and found one. Grabbing it, she turned and ran back to the hole, turning on the light as she went. She kneeled down at the edge of the hole, making sure not to rest on any jagged upturned pieces of metal, and shone the light inside.
I waited with the boys, hovering about forty feet above Margaret, looking around at the surrounding terrain. "Does something seem different around here?"
"No, what are you talking about, Spike?" John replied, looking around on his view-screen.
Nothing I guess. This place just kind of seems different than the last time I looked at it," Spike looked down at his screen again, moving the camera around, sweeping over the landscape.
Margaret leaned forward slightly, to be able to see deeper into the cavern. "What in the hell is that?" She asked herself aloud, shining her light upon a massive growth of purple goop looking matter. It was covering the bottom of Jason's chair, and she could have sworn that it was moving. She found a piece of metal plating whose edge was parallel to that of the goop, and she saw that it was indeed moving, slowly. "That's really od--" she began to mutter, when she was interrupted by a sound. She was about to shrug it off when it happened again, it sounded like someone walking along a bunch of thick wet towels. It has a moist sucking kind of sound. Again, Margaret heard it, it was gettig rapid now, and she was getting a little scared. She stood up and turned, ready to go back to her wraith. She began to walk briskly towards it, but stopped when she heard a loud metal clang. Slowly truning around, she saw what looked to her to be a huge monster recovering from a jump.
"Margaret should be done by now," Spike said, looking back down at her position on his screen. What he saw took him aback. He immediately pulled the image up on Matt and John's screens. There was some thing in front of Margaret, and it didn't look friendly. He began to charge his laser, as he wasn't about to take any chances.
Margaret just stared at the monster, frozen in place. I can't move, she thought, it will surely strike at me if I move.
The creature took a step forward, the claws on its feet making a series of metallic clangs. Margaret took a step back. The creature took another step forward, more swiftly this time, raising the long arms on its back, its mandibles gleamed in the sunlight. Margaret turned back towards her wraith and took off running as fast as she could. She looked back over he shoulder only to see the beast closing on on her quickly. It was running, taking huge leaps for steps. The metal plating beneath her feet felt especially cold, and her legs heavy. She was terrified, she'd never been this scared in her life. Her wraith stood like a sacred shrine in front of her. Her protection and safety was guaranteed by it, if only she was inside of it. She prayed that someone would save her, and heard the loud clangs of the beasts claws slamming into the plating very close behind her now. I'll be damned if I get killed by some overgrown reptile, she thought, as she felt the monster about to strike.
The area lit up orange around her, her wraith was bathed in the beautiful bright light, and her heart leapt. She knew the unmistakable glow of laser fire when she saw it, and she'd never been happier to see it in her life. The laser zipped silently towards its target. Margaret heard the loud thump of its falling, and the metal-on-metal screech as its spines slid along the platform. The beast uttered a horrifying screech-like roar as a large segment of its body was obliterated.
Margaret stopped running once she got to her wraith, leaning on it with both arms while she breathed heavily. She turned to look at the monster. It was crumpled in a heap of charred and smoldering flesh.
"Are you okay, Margaret?" Spike asked, showing what was probably a bit too much emotion. I don't want her to know, he thought. I can't let her know. These are wasted thoughts, he reassured himself.
Margaret shakily climbed up into her wraith, hearing Spike ask his question as she did so. "Yes, thank you, whichever one of you shot that thing," She said, still shaking from the adrenaline and fear. "What in gods name was that?" She already knew that nobody else knew, but she was merely putting the most prevalent thought in her mind into words. "I saw some really strange stuff down under this catwalk, Spike," She started, trying to ignore the fear that was still lingering. "There was a massive growth of this purple-colored material. I really don't know what it is, but it looked as though it was thick and moist. And although I'm not exactly sure, it appeared to be moving.
"Any sign of Jason, though?" Matt asked, hopefully.
"I'm afraid not, Matt." Margaret replied. "On the positive side, however, it only makes sense that Jason is still alive. The distress beacon on his chair didn't activate itself, and his body is nowhere to be found.
"If he is alive, then he doesn't have much more time to be out here. His jumpsuit only has a two hour air supply, and he's been out here for about one hour," Spike stated. "Also, there may be more of those things out there. Jesus, did you get a good look at that thing? Its claws were as big as my arm!"
"Yeah, we saw," John started, pausing for a moment. "We've got to get the hell back to base and tell the commander about all of this. This is one of the most unnerving days of my life."
Margaret strapped herself in, lowered the wraith's canopy, and lifted back off. As she rose, the other wraiths took formation around her, ready to go. "All right, guys, let's get back to base. I'm sure that the-" She paused.
"What's the matter?" Matt asked.
"Oh, shit," John said, with quite a bit of emphasis on the "shit". Three monsters loomed right in front of them. The best word that could be used to describe one of these things was "dragon". It looked like one, if only because it had dragon-like wings, and a face straight out of a horror video. No, it looked more like a flatworm, as its body wasn't so round as it was flat. It had a gaping mouth, and its long, segmented flattish body was arched in such a fashion that its bottom was about one meter below its face. Its body was glistening in the sunlight as its wings flapped, somehow keeping it aloft.
"What in the hell-" Matt started to say, before the three creatures split up, flying around the grouped wraiths. "I've got money that says that those things are friends of that little monster you fried earlier, Spike."
"Let's cloak and get the hell out of here, now!" John said excitedly, reaching blow the main view-screen and tapping the shiny new button labeled "Engage Cloak". The monsters, as if reacting to the sudden disappearance of John's wraith, recoiled. As they did so, something that disturbed me very much occurred. The creature to my right somehow produced a gnarly, pointed green object from its mouth, and used a tape-like muscle below its mouth to sling it at my wraith. I just stared at the green thing zipping towards my right wing. My wraith shook from the impact, and I observed a huge gash in my wings armor.
"We're outta here, right now!" I yelled, engaging cloak and thrusting forward. I looked at my radar to see the rest of my squadron taking off after me.
"Spike, you're hit!" Margaret exclaimed.
"Yeah, I am," I replied, slowing down slightly, to allow the rest of my squadron to get into formation with me. "Get into formation. We're getting back to base right now, as fast as possible."
"Alright cap'n," John said, easing up to my right. Margaret and Matt came up behind and to John's right, Matt being the one farthest to the right. We all started to make a slight turn to the left as we sped up, going well over mach two. The platform below us zoomed past, this time we weren't so high off of it, and it appeared to zip by compared to the higher view we had before.
"Check this out, Spike," Margaret said, fixing my view-screen on a section of platform covered in what appeared to be a huge carpet of purple. "It looks like the same stuff that I saw under the catwalk. I think that may be where these monsters are coming from, because it's new, and so are they.
"Brilliant deduction, Sherlock," John said.
"What? Why did you call me Sherlock?" Margaret asked.
"Jesus, don't any of you know anything about old Earth literature?" John asked.
"Since when do questions answer questions?" Spike interjected, "It doesn't matter, and we're nearing the outer perimeter of the combine."
"Should we still be cloaked? Err, wouldn't it be better for them to see the Combine markings on our wraiths, so that they can ID us?" Matt asked.
"Yeah, I suppose you're right, though they'd probably just hail us," I replied. Wouldn't they have hailed us by now? I thought, beginning to wonder. "All right, disengage cloak."
The four wraiths phased back into view. From crystal clear, to a blur, to solid looking aircraft. They flew over a lone missile turret as they phased into existence. On the horizon, they could see the tops of some random buildings, three Barracks lined up, and an academy to the right of the Barracks. As Spike was taking in the scenery, he began to hear static on his open com-channel. It was soft crackling and interference. "Radio's kind of fuzzy. I wonder why?" I asked.
"We're nearing the starport, Spike," John said.
I punched in a few buttons, and set my radio to the starport's channel. "This is Lieutenant first class Spike, my squadron and I need clearance for landing," Soft crackling was the only reply.
But a moment later, the words "Roger, cleared for landing on main pad," could be made out through the interference. It was the same woman who had cleared us for takeoff.
---
They stood in a group next to the door to the grav-lift, waiting for the doors to open. "Just what the hell are we going to tell the commander? I mean, a lot of fantastic shit just happened, where do we start?" John asked.
"Easy enough, John, we'll just give him these," Matt replied, holding up some data disks. "I recorded everything, so, we've got all that we need right here. Our fearless leader will be the one who presents it all, though. Wont you, Spike?"
I grunted at that. "That's not really fair, you know. But then again, I'm not terrified of the commander, so, fine." The doors to the lift slid open almost silently. The almost silent whine of the electric motors and gears spinning could be heard. We stepped in, and spike hit the button for bay three.
"Why? Why can't you walk, Spike?" John asked. It was already obvious what I wanted. John's dropship was in bay three.
"Why can't you give me a ride? Besides, look, I already hit the button, you're committed now"
Margaret giggled. The odd humor that went on between Spike and John always entertained her, and she appreciated their making her laugh. Today wasn't a very good day for her. In fact, today sucked overall, for everbody. And she was going to have a hard time shaking the image of that monster staring at her with its glowing, soulless eyes.
---
"Lieutenant Firs-" I began to state my rank and name to the guard in front of the commander's office, for the second time that day, before he cut me off. "
Never mind that, Sir, the commander has been awaiting your arrival, please, go in," He said, stepping aside, and opening the door.
I just love that sound, I thought, as I stepped into the room. Those hydraulic doors are so cool. "Sir," I said, standing at attention in front of his desk, chairs on either side of me. He saluted me in return, and motioned for me to take a seat, and I did so.
"Jason went down?" He asked, breaking the momentary silence. His tired eyes stared into mine, unblinking, "And what of the outpost?"
"Yes, but we're sure he's not dead. There were a few places near to him that he could go," I said, remembering the shop cluster they saw. "The outpost is gone, sir. All I found was an empty missile turret that was destroyed. Where the outpost used to be, thought, there is a vast alien settlement. The same aliens that took Jason down"
"Do you have any vids, pictures?" He asked, still not breaking his chilling gaze.
"Yes," I replied, reaching into a pocket on my uniform, and handing the commander the two data disks that he pulled out. He slid one disk into the computer behind him, and accessed some pictures. He looked at pictures of the charred wreckage of the alien craft and Jason's, overhead pictures of the alien base, and of the monster that nearly killed Margaret.
"I'd received word a few days ago of these aliens, Spike," The commander said. "That monster that nearly attacked Margaret is called a Zergling, it's a Zerg. Those aircraft that you encountered, and the base that you flew over, are the Protoss.
"If you knew all about these aliens, then why did you send us out there? You must have known that they were hostile, yet you took that risk without informing us of it?"
"I had to find out if they were here. We needed to know"
"We? Who is 'we'?"
"By 'we' I mean the confederacy and I. The Zerg are spreading very fast, and they need to keep track. They're ferocious, mindless beasts. And they've been randomly attacking and killing people, civilians and military alike"
"Then-"
"Yes, this platform, unfortunately, holds both Zerg and Protoss bases, along with our own"
"Could we fight off an attack? What kind of resources do we have?"
"When I heard that Jason was shot down, I decided to pre-emptively tell the Confederates to send us some support, that the Zerg were here," The commander replied.
"What are they sending?"
"Alpha Squadron"
I was stunned. Alpha Squadron, could this really be so serious? I thought. Alpha Squadron is the most elite Terran army, and by far the most powerful.
I hope ya'll enjoyed it. Comments? I'm sorry for taking so long to do this, but I'm so damn busy now. Job, school, Starcraft... Where does my day go? Anywho; I'm writing more often now. A page a day, usually. People who hate fanfics, read the hidden text: If you don't like fanfics, then don't bother leaving your mindless comments (such as: "I hate fanfics, but I'll leave a comment anyway, because I'm a fucking idiot, and for some reason need to voice the fact that I hate fanfics every time I see one) |
|
|
|
Home
Forum
Starcraft Tournaments
