Agent 1147 and 1125 were hiding in the woods in a humid part of the planet. The rainforests were very dense here, but their suit’s cooling mechanism worked just fine. Invisible to the naked eye, the moved silently through the dense forests, their optical implants zeroing in on certain things they should see. They were to scout out the area, and, if they had the chance, to paint targets for nukes. The most recent recipients of the Medal of Honor, they were very arrogant right now as they moved silently, and rather rapidly, through the forests. They stopped when the forest abruptly ended and a Protoss outpost abruptly started. Although they couldn’t see each other, they could sense where the other was. So they looked in that general direction. 1147 turned away from the encampment to radio into base. He was very, very quiet, “1147 and 1125 reporting. We have located a limb and are proceeding to prick it. 1147 out.” 1147 turned around just in time to see blood splatter all over him as Agent 1125 abruptly died. “What the hell?” 1147 said before he sensed an attack. Quickly he dodged to the right, avoiding the attack by centimeters. Quickly his hands gripped his C-10 Rifle as he fired off a shot blindly in front of him, hoping to hit whatever it was that was attacking him. He missed. He could sense it. He dodged to the left of the invisible attack again, this time part of his arm getting hit, blood immediately staining his uniform. He quickly keyed his radio to base. “1147 report. 1125 is dead, and I’m..” he dodged an attack before continuing, “Under attack by something that’s fucking invisible. Get me some evac or something right goddamn now! Coordinates are ten-niner-niner. Limb has not been pricked, repeat..” He dodged another attack, “Limb has not been pricked.” He ducked quickly as he sensed an attack, sweeping quickly towards where the average human’s knees would be. He hit something. He heard a grunt, and saw dirt move. He brought his C-10 canister rifle to bear, quickly firing off three rounds blindly. He hit something. He heard another grunt, then a thump. He felt around with his feet before firing off several more shots, making sure whatever it was that he killed was actually dead. He was breathing hard now, glancing from side to side. Quickly he loaded paintballs into his C-10, firing a paintball at the head Nexus before reloading the deadly ammunition into the rifle. Quickly he ran away from the base, towards his own. It was a good ways away, about 100 miles or so. But the dropship would get him there in no time. He stopped as he saw the dropship, and waved his hands so it could find him. Finally he was out of this hellhole.

“So…tell me exactly what happened,” Captain Yetts said to Agent 1147, who was seated in Yetts’ office.

“Yes, sir. I turned around to radio into base that we had found an outpost, and that we were going to paint it. I turned around just in time to see 1125 get split in two. Blood splattered all over my uniform, as you can tell. It was invisible, whatever it was. I couldn’t see it. But somehow, it could see me. And I was cloaked, sir. No doubt about it. I managed to evade the attack, but 1125 is dead. I’m completely sure.”

“Yes…yes, so sad to hear that. 1125 was an excellent soldier. The fact that you stopped to paint the target is superb, just superb. But should I expect anything less from you?” Yetts offered the battered soldier a smile. “We will be eliminating that outpost with a single, high-powered nuclear missile in a few hours. Your attacker appears to have been a Dark Templar. We did not think the Protoss would have these kinds of soldiers around, because there is much conflict about the Dark Templar within the Protoss society. However, I guess desperate times calls for desperate measures. Now, you were located by an observer many miles before the outpost, we are sure of that. We did not inform you because we wanted the target painted. For risking your life like that, I apologize.” The agent nodded. He knew what was expected of him. “You will not be going on anymore reconnaissance missions any time soon with Dark Templar around. We will have the Science Vessel Eleanor scan the planet constantly. You, my friend, have been promoted to the rank of Sergeant Major for your recent actions. Congratulations. You have been given the rest of the week off to rest. Enjoy your time off, my friend. Dismissed.” The new Sergeant Major gave a crisp salute before exiting the office and the command center. Yetts watched him walk off. Yetts then reached for his phone, pressing speakerphone and speed dial, “Lieutenant."

“Yes, sir?” Came the response

“I want an officer’s meeting in two hours. And launch one high-powered long-range nuclear missile at the newly painted target.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Gentlemen, you are here because we have an assault to plan,” Captain Yetts spoke to the officers assembled in a meeting room in the command center, “A strategic Protoss outpost has been eliminated via nuclear weaponry. Now we must move on to the Protoss main base. Here’s how I plan for it to happen. Siege tanks will set a perimeter, each tank accompanied by two marines and a medic for melee attacks against the tanks. I estimate that this will take approximately twelve tanks. While the perimeter is set, we will construct bunkers at the choke point of the front entrance of the base. Intelligence has reported that this is the only ground entrance into the base, which is most excellent. We will then have the fifty-seventh escort approximately twelve dropships loaded with twelve goliaths and seventy-two marines. These units will be dropped in front of our bunker emplacements. This will create a front for our bunkers to work from, protecting our goliaths. Our goliaths will protect our marine front, and the marines will tear the base apart along with the goliaths. Once a marine push has been created deep enough inside the base, the dropships will move our tanks into the base. The fifty-seventh wraiths will engage ground targets only, and ONLY after we take control of the skies. Gentlemen, this is the trump card of our operations here. This operation is codenamed Lurker. My adviser will supply you all with folders on the operation. We begin the assault in one hour, gentlemen. One hour. Rally your troops, because this is going to be one hell of a party.”

Brian Reid rode on a siege tank, looking around on the HUD on his clear glass view port. They were only a few minutes away from the Protoss encampment. He hopped off the tank, and his combat suit allowed him to keep his balance as he walked with the tank, his 8mm Gauss Rifle held in two hands. The gush of air that was the sound of hydraulics could be heard as two steel rods emerged from the siege tanks, those rods digging into the ground, while, simultaneously, the 30mm cannons folded inward, and the 120mm arclite cannons came into view. They ever notorious siege mode. Space combat vehicles cruised past the tanks, beginning construction of the bunkers. The bunkers were nearly completed when abruptly two SCV’s exploded and a bunker caught fire. From farther down the front, Reid could hear, “Reaver! Reaver!” Being shouted. Brian also shouted, informing his comrades. Green lights flashed across his HUD, indicating that he was to stay with the Siege Tanks and protect them from anything that got too close. Then, abruptly Brian lost his balance, falling straight to the ground, as the entire planet seemed to shake. The huge arclite cannons opened fire on the reavers, ripping them apart. He looked around, gauss rifle held nervously. The assault wasn’t going as planned. Brian rolled to the right as the crackle of energy particles could be heard. His suit was slightly damaged, but that was nothing. The siege tank he had been by exploded, sending shrapnel into his suit. Thank God it was so thick. Unaffected by the shrapnel, he stood up, took aim for the thing that had devastated the tank, and opened fire. It didn’t last very long, only a couple of rounds before it fell down. Templar flashed across his HUD. So that’s what it was. Brian had heard about them and their Psionic Storms, which could devastate infantry. They also could create hallucinations. Zealots now tore up the choke point, and Brian quickly opened fire on them, taking them out one by one, making sure none of them reached his tank. He reloaded, and fired quickly, racking up many kills. ‘Enter Bunker’ now flashed across his HUD, and he looked around for a bunker in which he could enter. He found one quickly and ran towards it, laying covering fire for himself. No one else would do it. In this day and age, it was every man for himself. Quickly he entered the bunker through the door and shut it. He rested the barrel of his steaming hot rifle on the bunker wall, firing off at zealots passing by which were much more concerned with the tanks than four marines. Brian was breathing heavily now, and he did not even speak with the three other marines at his side. Zealots were dying by the hundreds while Terran losses were minimal. Brian watched as the fifty-seventh C/A-17 Wraith squadron passed over the bunker, escorting dropships full of marines and goliaths. Brian targeted an enemy dragoon, unloading about forty rounds into the creature before its blue blood covered the ground, and the creature abruptly toppled over. Up ahead, he could see the marines and goliaths behind unloaded from the dropships. It looked like the advance was going well. The fifty-seventh attracted most air-capable enemy units, allowing the marines and goliaths to work while the wraiths picked off zealots. Then the icing on the cake came. The science vessel Eleanor entered the atmosphere, launching off a rocket. It exploded in the middle of the Protoss encampment, disabling all electronics in the area. Shields on the Protoss buildings immediately failed, while some of the electronics failed. Luckily, Terran research had allowed their machines to be immune to such an attack. Words flashed across Brian’s HUD again, ‘Press the advantage.’ He knew exactly what to do. And apparently, the other marines had gotten the same message, because quickly they exited the bunker, running quickly towards the Protoss base. The sound of hydraulics could once again be heard as the tanks were picked up by the dropships and carried past the chokepoint of the Protoss base. The Protoss seemed to be all but trapped. Photon cannons were destroyed quickly. Finally the Nexus was destroyed after hours of work. The Protoss had been defeated. And then the red-text message flashed across his helmet, ‘Urgent! Urgent! Return to base, return to base!’ He was quite confused until he saw the next part of the message, ‘Base is under attack!’