Old friends, new allies
Chapter 4
Raynor was standing angrily, his arm still
suspended in that firing position so that the pistol trigger was still
squeezed tightly between his fingers. His uniformed jacket was stained in
crimson blood. He looked down at the man who was once his trusted second in
command, Lieutenant Kirger, an officer that was now nothing more than a bloody
corpse. The traitor was caught contacting the Queen of Blades, Kerrigan.
Jim Raynor's heart pulsed with rage, even after
he'd killed him. The thought of emptying the entire clip just to quench his
intense fury filled his mind, but then, a concerned marine timely busted into
the room. He asked what was going on, a question to which Raynor answered
coldly,
"What just happened is that I just killed a
traitor. He got what he deserved."
"Sir!" the marine replied, "that's not the way
we usually treat traitors. Why did you do that?"
"Private, that's not of your business." He
snapped angrily, pausing a moment before he continued. "Anyway, help me carry
this b@$+@Ŭ!'s body into the incinerator," he finally said. The private was
surprised by the outburst, but nonetheless, he silently did what he was told.
They both carried the body to the incinerator and burned it down, with the
marine looking quite puzzled. The marine stood there as he watched his
commander walking away, banging on the steel walls due to his great anger.
As Jim Raynor walked back to his room, the
marine's words rang in his ear: "Sir, that's not the way we usually treat
traitors. Why did you do that?" It kind of ticked him off. He didn't answer it
at the time. He probably should have, but whatever the case, he knew the
reason. He was becoming as sadistic and merciless as his enemies. And the more
he thought of it, the more he yearned for this senseless war to end sooner. He
sighed and said to himself: "I should be more careful now. I never thought
Kirger could be a traitor. One thing's for sure: With today's events, I can't
be sure of everyone's loyalty. But one thing the traitor said was true: I've
been too harsh with Kalis. He's probably the most loyal of my men. Maybe I
should apologize."
Afterwards, Raynor headed towards Kalis' room.
Arrived there, he knocked on the door and said:
"Hey man. Sorry about earlier, but you had
disregarded a direct order. Can we talk?" Seeing there was no response, he
said, "Listen, I've got to speak toChapter 4: you, so please open your freakin' door,
you hear me?" The door opened and Kalis gave sign to Raynor to come in. He was
a Protoss zealot that was barely taller than Raynor, and his eyes were a deep,
dark blue. He was looking at Raynor with both guilt and anger in his eyes. He
said,
"If you are going to remove me from command, I
understand."
"Not going to happen," Raynor replied, "since
you're the most trustworthy manno, Protoss, I've got," he corrected. "More
than I can say for Kirger. I caught him contacting the zerg. In fact, I'm sure
he told Kerrigan about the new treatment."
Kalis answered, unable to believe it, "Are you
serious?" Raynor nodded. Kalis roared in a psionic crescendo, "The treacherous
fiend. Where is he now?" his protoss energy blades materialized in front of
the startled Raynor who almost reached for his pistol.
Perturbed, yet impressed, the shocked commander
quickly said, "Dead. Shot him in the face when he looked surprised to see me
as he was communicating with Kerrigan."
"I see." Kalis had a look of utmost disgust in
his eyes. "Who will replace him?"
"I don't know. And I have to do an announcement
to the crew right now. Are you coming?"
"Give me a few minutes."
After Kalis made his preparations, he and Raynor
headed towards the command room. When they arrived, Raynor took a radio and
turned it on, after which he announced Kirger's treachery and death to his
whole army. He also said that those wanting to become leader of the terran
section of the army would have to formally announce it to Raynor in the next
two days. When he finished his announcement, he said to Kalis,
"I need to talk strategy with you. You got a
while?"
"Yes, of course. What do you need to talk
about?"
"Well, do you have an idea for finding
reinforcements? And don't tell me to go to Aiur and Shakuras to see your
protoss pals. The zerg have got the protoss pinned down in that sector."
"How about Zeratul?"
"He's nowhere to be found."
"And what about the Terran Dominion?"
"If we try to contact Mengsk, he's dead.
Kerrigan doesn't go after him because he doesn't know about the new treatment,
but if we contact him, he's busted. Maybe if he communicated with us, it would
work. He does have an IJS (Interception Jamming System), so Kerrigan wouldn't
hear a thing if she were to intercept the communication. Anyway, other ideas?"
"The UED, maybe."
"That's what Kerrigan thinks I will do. But I
know that they're all reduced to cinders, so I won't look for them."
"And the..."
He was interrupted by a loud beep, which was
announcing an incoming transmission. Then a familiar voice said,
"Hello, Jim. It's been a while." Afterwards,
Arcturus Mengsk appeared on the screens near the center of the room. Raynor
said:
"Mengsk? How are you doing? Is your IJS
functioning?"
"My IJS?" Mengsk said in a surprised voice.
"Yes. Why do you ask?"
"Because you'd be dead if it weren't."
"Mmm. Seems something heavy is going on here.
Looks like the rumors were true. I was well inspired to call you. Please brief
me in on the situation."
Raynor, still surprised, said, "Okay. Well, we
discovered a treatment that can return infested terrans to their older selves.
Only, for it to work, a person with reminiscence of the infested person as a
terran has to be present. Anyway, it's long to explain. By the way, is it true
that Kerrigan erased your memories of her older self, just in case?"
"I don't know what memories you are talking
about. And what do you mean by older self?"
"****. Then she did. She's getting really
dangerous. Anyway, forget about it. Now, to continue with what I was saying,
we discovered that treatment, and I'm the only one with memories of Kerrigan
as a terran. And if we cure her, the main zerg leader will be out of the way.
But to do so, we'll need help from the protoss. Now where were Kirger's
mapsŅah, there they are." He then clicked on a button and holograms
representing Aiur and Shakuras appeared in the center of the room. They were
completely surrounded by red dots. He then said: "The red dots represent the
zerg blockade which was placed around the protoss home worlds of Aiur and
Shakuras recently. If we are to get help from the protoss, we'll need to
obliterate that blockade. For that, I'll need all the ships you've got."
"I see." Mengsk answered. "But my fleet won't be
able to destroy that many zerg air units. If only my air units had the power
of siege tanks, it'd be another story, but..."
"Sir. I have an idea!" Kalis said. "Let's use
your dropships!"
"What?" Mengsk and Raynor said together, and
Raynor continued, "Are you nuts, Kalis? They don't even have weapons! They'll
be slaughtered!"
"I don't think you understand my point." Kalis
said. "If we put two siege tanks in siege mode in each, with only the cannons
sticking out of the cargo doors..."
Mengsk said, "Why, young protoss, you are truly
a master strategistwell, for a protoss anyway. I think it'd work rather well.
We should start to adapt our dropships right away, because we'll need to
hermetically close the dropships for that plan to work. We don't want our
siege tanks sucked in space, do we?"
Raynor said, "I agree. Let's do the assault on
the blockade in three days. I'll take Shakuras and you'll take Aiur, okay?"
Mengsk answered, laughing, "Calm down, Jim.
You're too nervous." He then returned to a serious tone. "If we are to
succeed, we'll need all our units to open fire at the same time. We absolutely
need the element of surprise. We'll open fire exactly at 1400 hours in three
days around Aiur and I advise you to do the same for Shakuras. By the way,
don't forget ground units to take back any building the zerg would have
conquered."
Raynor concluded, "We have an agreement. See ya,
Mengsk." He turned off the screen, turned towards Kalis and said: "Go and warn
all troops under your command to prepare for battle, and especially your air
units. I'll warn the others." He headed back towards his office with a huge
battle ahead of him.
His preparations were nothing special, other
than the fact that his new terran section leader was Lieutenant Dan Kealer, a
very violent firebat with very direct strategies. He was enthusiastic at
becoming such a highly ranked officer, but he made it clear that he'd always
hang out with "the boys", as he called the other subordinates.
It seemed like only a second had passed since
the discussion with Mengsk when it was the time of the battle. Raynor was now
in the Hyperion, at 1359 hours, ready to give the order. Little did he know
about the huge repercussions this battle would have on the entire galaxy...
Chapter 4
Raynor was standing angrily, his arm still
suspended in that firing position so that the pistol trigger was still
squeezed tightly between his fingers. His uniformed jacket was stained in
crimson blood. He looked down at the man who was once his trusted second in
command, Lieutenant Kirger, an officer that was now nothing more than a bloody
corpse. The traitor was caught contacting the Queen of Blades, Kerrigan.
Jim Raynor's heart pulsed with rage, even after
he'd killed him. The thought of emptying the entire clip just to quench his
intense fury filled his mind, but then, a concerned marine timely busted into
the room. He asked what was going on, a question to which Raynor answered
coldly,
"What just happened is that I just killed a
traitor. He got what he deserved."
"Sir!" the marine replied, "that's not the way
we usually treat traitors. Why did you do that?"
"Private, that's not of your business." He
snapped angrily, pausing a moment before he continued. "Anyway, help me carry
this b@$+@Ŭ!'s body into the incinerator," he finally said. The private was
surprised by the outburst, but nonetheless, he silently did what he was told.
They both carried the body to the incinerator and burned it down, with the
marine looking quite puzzled. The marine stood there as he watched his
commander walking away, banging on the steel walls due to his great anger.
As Jim Raynor walked back to his room, the
marine's words rang in his ear: "Sir, that's not the way we usually treat
traitors. Why did you do that?" It kind of ticked him off. He didn't answer it
at the time. He probably should have, but whatever the case, he knew the
reason. He was becoming as sadistic and merciless as his enemies. And the more
he thought of it, the more he yearned for this senseless war to end sooner. He
sighed and said to himself: "I should be more careful now. I never thought
Kirger could be a traitor. One thing's for sure: With today's events, I can't
be sure of everyone's loyalty. But one thing the traitor said was true: I've
been too harsh with Kalis. He's probably the most loyal of my men. Maybe I
should apologize."
Afterwards, Raynor headed towards Kalis' room.
Arrived there, he knocked on the door and said:
"Hey man. Sorry about earlier, but you had
disregarded a direct order. Can we talk?" Seeing there was no response, he
said, "Listen, I've got to speak toChapter 4: you, so please open your freakin' door,
you hear me?" The door opened and Kalis gave sign to Raynor to come in. He was
a Protoss zealot that was barely taller than Raynor, and his eyes were a deep,
dark blue. He was looking at Raynor with both guilt and anger in his eyes. He
said,
"If you are going to remove me from command, I
understand."
"Not going to happen," Raynor replied, "since
you're the most trustworthy manno, Protoss, I've got," he corrected. "More
than I can say for Kirger. I caught him contacting the zerg. In fact, I'm sure
he told Kerrigan about the new treatment."
Kalis answered, unable to believe it, "Are you
serious?" Raynor nodded. Kalis roared in a psionic crescendo, "The treacherous
fiend. Where is he now?" his protoss energy blades materialized in front of
the startled Raynor who almost reached for his pistol.
Perturbed, yet impressed, the shocked commander
quickly said, "Dead. Shot him in the face when he looked surprised to see me
as he was communicating with Kerrigan."
"I see." Kalis had a look of utmost disgust in
his eyes. "Who will replace him?"
"I don't know. And I have to do an announcement
to the crew right now. Are you coming?"
"Give me a few minutes."
After Kalis made his preparations, he and Raynor
headed towards the command room. When they arrived, Raynor took a radio and
turned it on, after which he announced Kirger's treachery and death to his
whole army. He also said that those wanting to become leader of the terran
section of the army would have to formally announce it to Raynor in the next
two days. When he finished his announcement, he said to Kalis,
"I need to talk strategy with you. You got a
while?"
"Yes, of course. What do you need to talk
about?"
"Well, do you have an idea for finding
reinforcements? And don't tell me to go to Aiur and Shakuras to see your
protoss pals. The zerg have got the protoss pinned down in that sector."
"How about Zeratul?"
"He's nowhere to be found."
"And what about the Terran Dominion?"
"If we try to contact Mengsk, he's dead.
Kerrigan doesn't go after him because he doesn't know about the new treatment,
but if we contact him, he's busted. Maybe if he communicated with us, it would
work. He does have an IJS (Interception Jamming System), so Kerrigan wouldn't
hear a thing if she were to intercept the communication. Anyway, other ideas?"
"The UED, maybe."
"That's what Kerrigan thinks I will do. But I
know that they're all reduced to cinders, so I won't look for them."
"And the..."
He was interrupted by a loud beep, which was
announcing an incoming transmission. Then a familiar voice said,
"Hello, Jim. It's been a while." Afterwards,
Arcturus Mengsk appeared on the screens near the center of the room. Raynor
said:
"Mengsk? How are you doing? Is your IJS
functioning?"
"My IJS?" Mengsk said in a surprised voice.
"Yes. Why do you ask?"
"Because you'd be dead if it weren't."
"Mmm. Seems something heavy is going on here.
Looks like the rumors were true. I was well inspired to call you. Please brief
me in on the situation."
Raynor, still surprised, said, "Okay. Well, we
discovered a treatment that can return infested terrans to their older selves.
Only, for it to work, a person with reminiscence of the infested person as a
terran has to be present. Anyway, it's long to explain. By the way, is it true
that Kerrigan erased your memories of her older self, just in case?"
"I don't know what memories you are talking
about. And what do you mean by older self?"
"****. Then she did. She's getting really
dangerous. Anyway, forget about it. Now, to continue with what I was saying,
we discovered that treatment, and I'm the only one with memories of Kerrigan
as a terran. And if we cure her, the main zerg leader will be out of the way.
But to do so, we'll need help from the protoss. Now where were Kirger's
mapsŅah, there they are." He then clicked on a button and holograms
representing Aiur and Shakuras appeared in the center of the room. They were
completely surrounded by red dots. He then said: "The red dots represent the
zerg blockade which was placed around the protoss home worlds of Aiur and
Shakuras recently. If we are to get help from the protoss, we'll need to
obliterate that blockade. For that, I'll need all the ships you've got."
"I see." Mengsk answered. "But my fleet won't be
able to destroy that many zerg air units. If only my air units had the power
of siege tanks, it'd be another story, but..."
"Sir. I have an idea!" Kalis said. "Let's use
your dropships!"
"What?" Mengsk and Raynor said together, and
Raynor continued, "Are you nuts, Kalis? They don't even have weapons! They'll
be slaughtered!"
"I don't think you understand my point." Kalis
said. "If we put two siege tanks in siege mode in each, with only the cannons
sticking out of the cargo doors..."
Mengsk said, "Why, young protoss, you are truly
a master strategistwell, for a protoss anyway. I think it'd work rather well.
We should start to adapt our dropships right away, because we'll need to
hermetically close the dropships for that plan to work. We don't want our
siege tanks sucked in space, do we?"
Raynor said, "I agree. Let's do the assault on
the blockade in three days. I'll take Shakuras and you'll take Aiur, okay?"
Mengsk answered, laughing, "Calm down, Jim.
You're too nervous." He then returned to a serious tone. "If we are to
succeed, we'll need all our units to open fire at the same time. We absolutely
need the element of surprise. We'll open fire exactly at 1400 hours in three
days around Aiur and I advise you to do the same for Shakuras. By the way,
don't forget ground units to take back any building the zerg would have
conquered."
Raynor concluded, "We have an agreement. See ya,
Mengsk." He turned off the screen, turned towards Kalis and said: "Go and warn
all troops under your command to prepare for battle, and especially your air
units. I'll warn the others." He headed back towards his office with a huge
battle ahead of him.
His preparations were nothing special, other
than the fact that his new terran section leader was Lieutenant Dan Kealer, a
very violent firebat with very direct strategies. He was enthusiastic at
becoming such a highly ranked officer, but he made it clear that he'd always
hang out with "the boys", as he called the other subordinates.
It seemed like only a second had passed since
the discussion with Mengsk when it was the time of the battle. Raynor was now
in the Hyperion, at 1359 hours, ready to give the order. Little did he know
about the huge repercussions this battle would have on the entire galaxy...