UMOJAN EXPEDITIONARY FLEET
WARP SPACE ON COURSE TO GAWESSA 5
'Soldiers of Umoja!
This is your admiral speaking. Many unusual events have befallen our brave expedition to unknown planets lately. Our fleet encountered new races that we and our friends back home could only dream of. And, at the same time, we were subjected to great hazards and we saw not only welcoming and friendship, but also distrust and open hostility from the new beings that this corner of the the vast universe is a home to. Many of you may wonder what the hideous Zerg or the graceful and stoic Protoss are, what they want and what they stand for. Especially the Protoss, with whom we recently quarreled bitterly but are now friends with. I believe that the success of this operation requires each and every one of us to know what is happening and so I will tell you. Our scientists have exchanged valuable information and lore with the wise Protoss and have told me what these two races are.
The Zerg we faced and found hostile, my friends, are a wild kin of parasitic, tyrannical beings, bent on destruction, that exist to infest more and more worlds and consume all living things they find. They turn their victims into more vicious mindless monsters and thus boost the numbers of their infinitely large Zerg swarm. We do not know how big the Swarm is, nor how many planets have fallen under its sinister touch, but we know that it will stop to nothing to devour all life. This means that it is a threat to the Protoss and even to us, Terrans, and our own home planet of Umoja, as all other civilized planets of the Terran sector. The Zerg are our enemies, my men, they are enemies of all mankind!
The Protoss, however, are not our enemies. We thought they were, yes, back on Jardis, when the first feeble negotiations failed and the seeds of discord found rich soil in our common inability to find agreement. The feud, born in ignorance, kept bringing us to war whenever we met, as far as the deserts of 2472AU02, only to our common Zerg enemy's benefit. For the Protoss, too, are in war with the vile Zerg. Their war with the aliens is much older than ours and also much more bitter. For centuries have our brave friends resisted the infinite hunger of the Swarm.
There was something about our Protoss friends that helped keep their spirits fast throughout those turbulent times. I know that most of you have begun to feel admiration and appreciation for the highness of our allies. I share it and I believe that it is necessary for our friendship. Among all their talents, my soldiers, there is even one special mental property that keeps them safe from the consuming embrace of the Zerg and has, until now, preserved their purity from the Swarm!
However, we learned troubling things in the last two months. You know that this fleet was sent to uncharted space to gather information on alien artifacts. Our scientists learned of the existence of a special artifact that holds the secret of how the Zerg can overcome our Protoss friends' natural defense! Somewhere out there exists a special slab that holds secrets that can mean the doom of the Protoss race – and eventually that of our very own. Our disagreements with the Protoss were caused by the confused actions of their former leader who wanted to obtain it, but not destroy it. Now, however, he is dead, and every single Protoss has agreed that the destruction of this slab is the most important thing that has to be done in the vast war we found ourselves involved in. I am sure that you, too, realize the threat the Zerg will become if they somehow devour the essence of our mighty allies. There is no telling what might could be unleashed upon the Terran planets once the Protoss fall and become a part of the Swarm. Therefore, I have ordered that this fleet abandon its original purpose with which it was sent from Umoja and instead join the effort to preserve our two civilizations, to preserve order, justice, and freedom – the things we all stand for, regardless if we are Terran or Protoss. Our fleet, men, is on a course to finding the slab and destroying it once and for all.
Now, the joint efforts of the most knowing of our both kins have guided us to the supposed locations of the slab. Our mission is to get to it before the Zerg do and deny these monstrosities the power to promulgate their vileness over all of space.
I am confident that success is possible if you will all dedicate all your bravery and will to victory to this noble cause. Triumph is not impossible, men, and I will do my best to achieve it. However, I will need you to go with me through the storm and to victory. The only thing that can fail us now is our own selves, our cowardice or sloth. Therefore do not let them take the best of you! Be brave and dedicated to this mission, and we will return to Umoja triumphant, as real heroes, to the pride of our families, friends, and civilization in front of all humanity!
This is Admiral Paskirov. End of message.'
This was the message that the personnel of Paskirov's fleet heard the evening before exiting warp space.
Ten hours later, the combined force of the Terrans and the Protoss had emerged from the strangeness of warp space into the cold darkness of space above its destination – the volcanic world of Gawessa 5. The obsidian surface of the black sphere was visible at certain spots where the gray veil of clouds of volcanic ash was torn by the rough winds of the seemingly dead world. Yet the Terran high command knew from their Protoss friends that there was, indeed, life on the planet. Gawessa 5 was infested by Zerg. Even a morbid world like this was not spared by the mindless swarms of the terrifying aliens. The enemies had come here first.
Somewhere on Gawessa, on a place that only Zaraldis and a few others from his Sei'Tara tribe knew, all the knowledge that Xentus had accumulated was stored. Boris did not know what that Zerg puppet Xentus had written his observations on, but whatever the material was, it was probably hard enough to make basic furniture from if it was in this fiery scorched desert. He ordered the flagship to approach the main Protoss carrier, the Nerhala, and called Williams.
'Yes, sir, this is the right place,' the ghost interpreted Zaraldis' reply without a single effort to sound emotional. 'This is the place, he says, where Xentus was initiated or something.'
'Wow, why would he come here?' Paskirov decided to give some space to random curiosity.
'Xentus chose it himself. He found a piece of rock among this tectonic wreckage solid enough to allow for a safe place to put his belongings. They can pick their place and our man chose here,' Williams said. 'Probably he was a rotten nut since the beginning.'
'Right. Anyway, he is put down for good. For everybody's best, even. Thank you major,' Paskirov concluded, 'time to get to work.'
The expeditionary fleet, prepared to go to the surface of the planet. Beside the Terrans, the Protoss carriers, too soared through the burning air stained with sulfur and volcanic gases. Zaraldis knew the approximate location of his master's reliquary and the Nerhala was leading the united force above the burned blackness scarred with bright yellow and red lava flowing through streams and rivers throughout massive dark rocks and wide dark gray fields of dry ash. There was no life on this planet, Boris saw, at least not large enough to make a difference for any soldier who decided to walk in the surface. Except Zerg.
Soon, the shiny golden ship that guided the rest through the lifeless plains stopped. On the bridge of the Andronikos, the familiar noise and liveliness between the four neosteel walls were returning as the Umojan fleet prepared for whatever kind of insertion could be necessary. To the left of the Andronikos was one of the Wanderer-class vessels and beyond it were the first Protoss carriers. Behind the battlecruiser were the rest of the human ships, to its left were hills of volcanic wasteland stretching beneath gray clouds, and in front of it was the golden body of the Nerhala, its massive engines glowing in very bright blue. Further on, there were some hills and several small volcanoes with some pinkish mass on them like moss on rocks in any of the more hospitable planets Boris had been on. Data was received that this was the Zerg.
'Commander, the executor reports that somewhere in the enemy hive cluster is the location of the reliquary,' Williams said impartially. He was just the right man to bring you bad news, Boris thought, so detached as if he was being forced to read through lists of war victims for several consecutive days and had been stripped of any interest to the plight behind each new name.
'What does the executor suggest about clearing it from Zerg presence?' Paskirov asked. The presence of the aliens was not a good sign. The two allies had arrived second, at least to the precious data about where the slab could be.
'He says that the structure is down there somewhere, hidden in the depths of this small mountain. He says that the information may already be known to the enemy and that they may have destroyed it,' the ghost interpreted.
'Right, that's not new. Tell him that we must at least check what's inside the reliquary. We aren't leaving here with empty hands,' the admiral tried to fight the disappointment of the enemy's presence.
Williams focused and replied, 'The executor agrees to the plan for an attack. But he has considerations about the large number of hostiles that the scanners register in the hive.'
Boris took a pair of binoculars and looked at the hive in the distance, ignoring the live footage on the screens on the bridge. The hive cluster was long and poured down from its plateau to the small valley between it and a small nearby volcano. He nevertheless checked the maps scan and began thinking how could their force engage the foe.
Williams was standing for aloof next to the contemplating admiral for about twenty minutes when Boris suddenly returned to the reality of the warship and ordered the ghost, 'Mike, give me the executor, I have an idea. I need to discuss the battleplan with him. Ask him to come.'
A while later, the Protoss had reviewed the maps and Boris' ideas and addes some of his own and the assault of the hive cluster was decided.
***
The two fleets were approaching the west section of the enemy colony from the south. Steadily the distance between the pulsating organic structures on the small elevation and the sophisticated Protoss and Terran ships decreased. Boris was steadily watching the movements of the vessels on one of the tactical screens of the Andronikos.
Then, as allied force was ten kilometers from the western colony, he gave the order for an artillery barrage upon the enemies. The three battlecruisers spread out at an 800m altitude and unleashed the familiar fury their long-range batteries upon the hive cluster. The smaller Terran ships were behind them, still in the air, waiting to play their part in the engagement. The Protoss, too, were nearby, ready to protect the battlecruisers from any hostile air units with the robotic interceptors and the swift scout fighters they carried onboard.
About a minute after the first blasts had incinerated the edges of the cluster, Boris saw that the assistance of the Protoss air force would be needed. Like a swarm of angry bees, a cloud of Zerg rose above their colony and headed for the fleets. As the dark multitude approached through the dense air, he gave the signal to the Wanderer-class vessels to commence defensive maneuvers.
The warships were then lifted by their gravity generators above the level of the battlecruisers. The science vessels formed the defensive matrices of energy around them while they moved forwards to repel the enemy. Nearby, the several squadrons of Protoss scouts left the safety of the carriers' interior and moved even higher, above one kilometer, waiting for the mutalisks to come closer.
The fleet was now getting an estimate of the number of the enemies. The reading on the screens told Boris there were about four hundred hostiles in that cloud, more than the expeditionary fleet could engage alone, but hopefully not too many to be a threat to a combined force. The barrage from the battlecruisers continued on, slowly evaporating the enemy base away. Behind and above them the wanderers were sending hails of small laser fire and the scouts were waiting.
Then, the enemies drew even closer and the battlecruisers replied with their anti-air cannons. The cloud was at approximately the same altitude as the massive warships, so the support from above was going to make a scorpion flanking from above. Before the first mutalisks could spew whatever they fired, the fire from the six supporting warships reached them and blasted them. The light ships moved forward, spraying glowing death against the Zerg and fending them off the battlecruisers. Then, when the mutalisk group was about to hit the Terrans with the force of its weight, the Protoss scouts soared down against the enemies. Aiming at the second lines who were not reached by the Wanderers' batteries, the Protoss squadrons, each in attack formation, began releasing their powerful anti-matter missiles. The pernicious projectiles, armed with anti-matter payload, quickly found their victims among the crowd of Zerg and exploded with bright flashes of heat and radiation. The Protoss were not in a hurry to empty their arsenal, to avoid overkill, so after a couple more attacks from above, they had substantially reduced the number of flying enemies. Seeing this and the effective support of the Umojan wanderers, the Protoss commander ordered the scouts to take on the Zerg in air combat and rout them. It was time to finish the job.
Boris was watching the enemy air force melt away from the bridge with satisfaction. The capabilities of the Protoss, he hoped, would have a positive influence on the morale of the Umojans, which was something they would need now that the Zerg had won the first of the last laps. After a few more minutes, the last vestiges of the chewed up mutalisk flock were running back to base to recuperate from the harm. In vain, Boris thought to himself, for after a few hours there will be no...
'Admiral?' the voice of one of the operators interrupted his thoughts.
'Yes?'
'Sir, the engineers report a bad effect of the volcanic gases around here on our filters. The residues are overloading the ventilation not only for breathable air but also for the engines and other requirements for the vessel.'
'What does that mean?' Paskirov asked, surmising the negative nature of the answer.
'Well, we need to divert energy from other sources on the ship to the autohomeostatic system of the vessel. This includes the batteries. They give us an hour or so of firing left.'
Damn, Boris groaned, not now! All other alternatives for attacking were connected to casualties. Well, friction and all that...
'Give me Major Williams,' he ordered and prepared to tell Zaraldis the bad news.
The technical complication in the battlecruisers, the commanders realized, meant that they had to come up with a whole new plan. Williams interpreted the long talk while the fleets waited in standard formation and by the time the new plan was decided he was feeling exhausted.
'We will make the assault on the eastern colony possible, executor,' Paskirov informed Zaraldis, 'we just need you to fight beside us on the open field.'
***
Half an hour later, the two fleets were moving towards the western colony to finish the job. Williams and his special infantry company were to be deployed in the latter waves of dropships, so he was staying in one of the observer rooms in docking bay 4 of the Andronikos and was looking at the dispositions of the fleets' forces.
The first wave of dropships with personnel from the battalion separated from the big ships and flew ahead. At a speed of about 100 kilometers per hour, the dropships quickly reached the easy slopes close to the western colony. Unusual for Boris, he thought, since the admiral rarely made such risky maneuvers. If the enemy decided to strike now, when the rest of the fleet was away, the first wave would be helpless and alone and those soldiers would face their death. Yet again, the admiral was kind of haughty after the Protoss joined the effort to end the legacy of Xentus...
Suddenly, the dropships turned east, towards the Protoss who were now south of and in the middle between the two colonies. Was Boris deciding to send the men under the protection of the allied fleet?
Then, as he was watching the console, leaning on the wall, Williams felt the floor move and almost fell on the ground under the weight of his C-10. He jumped to the window to the docking bay and looked outside the bay. Most of the view of the planet was hidden by the front of the massive wing of the Andronikos and the huge batteries it supported. However, under it Williams could see the ground move and realized that the ships were making a sharp turn eastwards. The screen confirmed.
Down below the first units were on the ground and the major joined his platoon in the dock and prepared to go to the inhospitable surface.
It was already a bleak gray noon, Williams saw when he stepped out of the dropship. The light from the nearby star was blocked by the thick, static veil of clouds high above. The zone he was walking in was no more encouraging. His men were on the slopes of elevated dead ground that culminated into a small volcano some kilometers north. The view west of them, however, was better. They were overlooking the positions of the whole battalion downwards and into the valley. Williams was deployed on the right flank of the ground force, on the higher ground, and at the other end of the long line of troops and armor, far away in the distance, were the tiny yellow Protoss carriers. Through his binoculars, Williams could discern some of the shuttles ferrying troops down to the ground and the scouts who were anxiously patrolling the airspace surrounding the deployment area.
He wondered if this were the same kind of Protoss troops that had kept him and his Confederate rescuers as captives some several months ago. If so, then the Zerg would taste the same wrath that those Confederates had to face in the big escape.
Northwest of the Terran lines lay the eastern colony. Williams scanned it freely with his binoculars, satisfying his sudden small interest as into what did the colonies contain. He could only see the gross Zerg formations, pulsating in their eerie rhythm, and perhaps some slight movement, but nothing more. Williams was sitting on a rock and watching the shuttles bring the rest of the battalion to the assembly areas when he received the signal to prepare, got a copy of the tactical map to his visor and stood up to get to the fighting.
INFCOM Zeta was supporting INFCOM Delta and they were given a role in the very periphery of the battle. While the infantry walked north-northwest, Williams was paying attention to the first maneuvers of the battalion down below.
The battalion officers had orders not to advance beyond the last phase line of the assault, “Fire.” The main attack was being carried out by the tanks in the Terran arsenal, supported by two infantry companies. Further east, separated by other tactical boundaries, were lighter units that ultimately had to provide supporting advances. The Protoss also began advancing towards the eastern hive cluster, followed by the powerful carriers that stood behind the ground units ready to aid them if need be.
One by one, all Terran units crossed their phase lines in the gradual advance towards the Zerg. Now there were new readings on Williams' screen – the Zerg were gathering in the hive and were preparing to move out and repel the allies in the open. There was no exact reading on their numbers, or at least officers on major level were not given any, but Zerg were certainly moving out southwards and eastwards towards the first Umojan units. There way of Williams' company was eerily clear and he wondered what plan was this part of.INFCOM Zeta had recently crossed PL Water when his radio went crawked and he turned it on.
'Williams here.'
'Ah, good. This is Boris. Are you set?'
'Affirmative, Black One.'
'Right. There is something I want you to do, major.'
'Go ahead, commander.'
'You are not in the attack any more, major,' Paskirov's words made Williams jerk. 'You have a special task.'
'Yes?' the ghost retained control over his expression.
'The C-10 rifle you now have has been equipped with a special device that the scientists installed a few days ago. It is like a laser beam that can guide a missile launched from a high altitude. I want you to guide a nuke.'
'How?' a tone of surprise sneaked in Williams' voice. 'And... Where?'
'You aim the rifle at the coordinates on the ground and press the red button on the little laser scope under the muzzle. The location you will be sent soon. There will be a dropship at your location in about five minutes,' Paskirov explained. 'Any questions?'
'Won't it kill me, Black One?'
'Ah, sure. No, it won't. You will have enough time to escape. You will receive a signal once the missile's course is made certain on your radio. Then you can get on the dropship and get at least five kilometers away from ground zero. It should take you about five minutes to move outside the blast zone. The dropship can do that.'
'So... When do I get my coordinates?'
Platoon 1 of the ghost company had stopped in their tracks, waiting for their commander. Far away, the first shots from the Terrans were being fired.
'Less than a minute or something. Good luck, Mike, I'm out,' Paskirov stopped the communication.
Williams looked at his men. 'Boys, I have new orders and I'm leaving you. Until I am back, Parker is in charge of the platoon and the company. Good luck.'
As they moved on, the ghost gave a few more orders and moved northeast for the dropship.
When he got the coordinates, he felt unusual. Ground zero was located on the slope of the volcano north of here. This was going to be new.
Before Williams could give in to contemplation, the dropship arrived and he boarded it. The firing down below was getting more intense as the Zerg were drawing closer.
The ghost confirmed his identity and the pilot headed north towards the western slope of the volcano.
'I can't land there, sir,' the pilot said when he approached the thirty degree slope of the volcano,'it's so steep that the ship will slide downwards.'
'Give me a second to jump, then. Can you pick me up after that?'
'I will hover a meter over the ground, sure,' she replied.
'Good. Stay close. I'll wave my hands to let you know,' Williams replied and prepared to jump out of the cargo hold as the dropship obliquely touched the slope before lifting off again.
When he was firmly on the ground, the ghost looked around. At this altitude, he could see the whole valley and the purple-red waves now approaching the Protoss and the Terrans. Williams kneeled and aimed at the estimated coordinates a few hundred meters above in the distance. He pressed the red button and waited nervously.
***
Fifty kilometers above him, in the Mammoth-class carrier Enteos in geostationary orbit, the operators of the nuclear bay received the signal from his rifle. Less than a minute later a nuclear bomb was flying downwards through the atmosphere, ready to activate its automated flight control system to wherever the special red spot was on the ground once its sensors had a reading of it.
***
Can't I just detach this thing and go away, Williams thought, nervous of waiting for a nuclear missile to come in the vicinity. Finally, his radio started piewing and he released his breath and jumped upright and started waving his hands at the dropship. The vessel immediately soared next to him and the major leaped into the open cargo hold, eager to leave.
The dropship closed its door for protection from the radiation and quickly gained speed on its course southwards. Williams controlled his breathing with effort.
***
Several kilometers away, on the bridge of the Andronikos, Paskirov was looking at the volcano in the distance, anxious to see what the Confederate nuclear weapons were capable of. Then, he saw it. The missile emerged from the clouds flying downwards to the western slope. The black spot drew closer and closer to the rocky surface until it touched it. A bright flash at ground zero blinded Boris for a moment. Then, he saw the mushroom cloud of the nuclear explosion forming above the point where the missile had landed. The muffled sound of a deep bang was heard on the bridge and the whole battlecruiser shook in the air when the sonic blast reached the Andronikos. Boris kept watching in intoxication. The cloud grew larger and larger, engulfing the whole top of the volcano and rising several kilometers in the air. It kept heading upwards, as if wanting to connect to the volcanic clouds but beneath it the debris from the blasted rock had begun falling. Then, from under the smoke and dust that formed the stem of the mushroom cloud, bright hot lava began pouring down westwards. The gargantuan pillar of radioactive dust kept growing wider, but the lava from the open wounds of the planet was faster and now a whole river of it was descending against the hive cluster in the lower ground of the valley. Just as planned.
'All units cease advance and dig in. All dropships in full preparedness to evacuate our ground forces. Task groups one, two and three to move in and provide fire support to armored companies one, two and three,' Paskirov began giving orders. The terrain scan suggested that anyone beyond phase line “Fire” was safe from the lava, but you never knew how much exactly would pour out. So, the ships moved on into readiness.The Protoss were doing fine. Combined Zerg forces of small zerglings and larger and more threatening hydralisks had attacked their positions in great numbers, but the mighty Sei'Tara were more than a match for them and the first enemy waves were decimated against their technological superiority. The battalion was doing well, too. The armor, combined with infantry, effectively kept the Zerg away through superior firepower and fire control. Soon, however, the real damage to the Zerg came from the lava pouring down from the volcano. Like a slow tidal wave of fire it relentlessly pushed on first through the peripheral Zerg formations, then towards the center of the colony, incinerating or vaporizing everything in its wake. Boris could see the readings from the colony, with the many tiny Zerg that were originally headed towards the Terrans' battle positions now running westwards, away from the lava. But it was in vain. Fifteen minutes later, all but some of the western polyps of the colony were gone, taken down and scorched into ash by the molten rock. Now, all that was left of the eastern hive cluster was steaming and solidifying dark lava.
'Well done!' Paskirov radioed Williams. 'Anything went smooth, right?'
'We had some problems with landing and taking off, but nothing more, commander.'
'Very good, major. Now, tell your men to prepare to move. We have another thick Zerg encampment to take down.
***
Two hours later, the infantry battalion had begun advancing against the other standing hive cluster on the west. Again the Terrans were on the left and the Protoss were on the right, by their side. Boris was sorry that the battlecruisers lacked the energy for a nice, safe destructive cannonade against the colony, especially since the reliquary was massive and was pretty much safe from any laser hits in the core of the enormous rock. They would have to do it the old-fashioned way.
At astronomical noon the assault began. The Zerg were waiting for the allies in the colony and the Terran units crossed the first two phase lines of the operation without resistance. The main attack this time, however, was to the Terrans' right, where Boris had focused the heavy armor. The warships were in the old three task groups, each with a battlecruiser and at least one science vessel. The task groups were spread evenly on the front line, but the Protoss were ready to assist in the air if necessary. This way, the firepower of the ships could be easily aimed against any enemy that tried to descend downwards against the ground force.Williams' special forces platoon was assisting INFCOM Beta and armored company 2. The infantry was beside the tanks, ready to repel any Zerg that came too close for the tanks to deal with. Deep within, Williams hoped that this wouldn't be necessary, but he was also somewhat eager for target practice.
After PL GRAIN the group received itel that there were Zerg forces incoming from north a few kilometers away. The ghost could read the excitement in the soldiers' faces and behavior, he understood. The group was now threading carefully and after crossing phase line “Rock” their expectations were justified and they established a battle position to fight the approaching Zerg.
The enemies had zerglings and hydralisks. The tanks were taking out anything they could find in the crowd from several kilometers' distance, but the slope prevented good results so the really intense shooting was just beginning. The aliens were charging downwards under the fire of the warships from task groups three and two above and behind. Then, the tanks opened indiscriminate fire and the front lines of the aliens began quickly melting away.
The thunder of the guns, Williams began to realize, was deafening. Even his specialist headgear could not completely dampen the concussion of the tank cannons. He wondered if the Dark Templar on the other side of the right tactical boundary were having the same problems.
The Zerg forces were approaching along other corridors as well. Task group one, where the Andronikos was, kept firing the most intense of all three, it seemed to him when he checked the skies. Hopefully they would make it.
Suddenly the Zerg were less than five hundred meters away. The first ghosts had opened fire with their rifles against any enemy that approached. Williams stepped forth between the two nearby tanks situated fifty meters from each other and knelt to get a good aim. The intel was correct and there were zerglings and hydralisks approaching. He picked one of the zerglings at the first lines and pressed the trigger.
The familiar recoil of the C-10 model warmed up his shoulder, preceding the stumbling and fall of the zergling with mere miliseconds. The creepy little alien was hit in the head and experienced its last convulsions on the ash beneath it.
Then, Williams' well-honed shooting skills overtook him and he automatically acquired new and new targets and eliminated them quickly and efficiently, leaving bodies of dead Zerg behind the cold indifference of his work.
***
Up on the bridge of the Andronikos, Paskirov was observing the development of the battle and was disturbed by the middle axis of advance of the Zerg forces. The mass of zerglings and hydralisks was moving down towards the Terrans' left, slowing down the humans' weak side to a complete halt. The infantry from companies Gamma, Beta and Eta, plus third armored company of goliaths, could not match the aliens, at least not that many of them. The first and second corridor of advance had stagnated and only the best efforts of the gunners from task group one seemed to keep the situation in control.
The other corridors, however, were doing fine. Williams' group was slowly pushing through and the rightmost one was about to face only a pittance of opposition. Then, something caught his attention. The fleet was registering movement of Zerg air forces located north of the rightmost group. Mutalisks were heading eastwards. This probably meant that the Zerg were trying to attack the flanks. The rightmost group had virtually no anti-air defense, so the mutalisks could inflict heavy casualties there.
'Adjutant, order the wraiths squadron to immediately advance northwards and destroy any enemy air force they find outside the perimeter of the Zerg anti-air defenses,' Paskirov ordered.
The Protoss side of the battlefield was, as expected, successful. The powerful equipment and the enormous firepower of the carriers meant that the Protoss force was like a wall of death that destroyed everything in the wake of its slow advance. Any Zerg that went in range of the carriers' interceptors and in range of the spider-like dragoons' photon cannons and still somehow survived was quickly lacerated by the swift psi blades of the well-armored Protoss warriors. Paskirov's friends' attack was as slow as it was brutally efficient and he felt some envy for not having such force as the executor's and having to rely on tactics and trickery to keep his troops alive instead. Nonetheless, the Umojans were overall doing fine.
In the distance, northeast from their battle positions, the wraiths attacked the mutalisks. About forty fighters in four groups took turns attacking the enemies from different sides, confusing and enraging the aliens with a few casualties. Finally, the commander gave the order for the wraiths to form up in a double inverted V and charged the weakened Zerg head on. Enveloped and fired upon with Gemini anti-air missiles, the mutalisks could not resist and yielded to the Terrans' push. Their group dissipated and all survivors rushed back to the colony within the safety of the anti-air structures the Zerg were growing.
Williams was getting weary of the fighting. True, the tanks were advancing, hurriedly moving into every free centimeter of terrain that the Zerg could not control with force, slowly pushing the enemies backwards with heavy fire. However, it was the slowest advance the major had ever participated in and, seeing the apparent lack of progress within their tactical boundaries of combat responsibility, he hoped that the other fronts were doing better.
To Boris' displeasure on the Andronikos, the left flank was giving in. Clearly, infantry by itself was not enough to face the Zerg, and INFCOM Eta were beginning to take heavy casualties. The Protoss were already ahead of the Umojans' planned phase line “Rock,” so Boris decided that it was time to call for aid.And aid followed. The nearest carrier turned west and released its golden cloud of countless interceptors upon the Zerg. Slowly, like a flame through thin wood, the elegant Protoss ship was eating through the alien group, drawing the enemies' attention towards itself and alleviating the burden from the exhausted infantry companies. The first supply dropships quickly arrived, ready to vivify the troops, while a combined group of Protoss zealots and dragoons advanced towards the still dangerous group of Zerg, hurrying to face and destroy the hideous enemies.
***
Half an hour later, most of the Zerg force was destroyed and the rest had retreated to the safety of the colony. From the bridge of the Terran flagship overlooking the battlefield, Boris was analyzing the allies' prospects. He ordered half an hour of rest and combat service support for all units and contacted Zaraldis.
'Greetings, executor,' he began, trying to sound as elegant as possible in order to please the Protoss. 'We have bested the enemies in the open, but, I think, there is yet another struggle in front of us. We are to crush the Zerg hive cluster by force.'
'Yes. My warriors are ready to do their duty to the Sei'Tara. How are yours?' the interpreter ghost translated.
'We will rise to a fight and destroy our enemies before the lava of the nearby volcano has completely solidified,' Boris said and immediately wondered if it hadn't turned into rock already. 'Ahem, I will tell you when we are ready. How's that?'
'I'm glad to hear that and I agree, human commander.'
***
About an hour later, the combined force of Terrans and Protoss was moving towards the weakened colony. Boris was feeling like giving command to Vice-Admiral Ferguson, but decided that he had to finish the job on his own and forced himself for one last push. The battalion carefully entered the vicinity of the hive cluster, diligently blasting any possible source of resistance with firepower. They would have to send the SCV's to do some mining, Paskirov thought, in order to make up for the ammunition expenditure in the fight. And probably call it a day and dissolve INFCOM Eta after this and reinforce the other four. A few more hours of fighting through Zerg creep and goo and surprising spikes from various directions, the hive cluster was disarmed and Protoss carriers were left to sweep through the defenseless remains of the hive with their automated interceptors. Everyone else rested while the scientists excavated what was left in the reliquary.
***
'Well, sir,' Konrad spoke like an annoyed medic who was assuring yet another scared soldier that his fears were pointless, 'we have examined the slabs and everything with the runes and we consulted the Protoss and... There's nothing about the location of the slab. Nothing. Just some more info about the round sanctuary it's kept in and so on, but no starmap or guidance of any sort imaginable.'
Several days had passed of the expeditionary fleet resting and patching itself up from the toil of hte battle. Yet the scientists had not found a clue.
'Right. So you are saying that we still don't know where the slab is...' Paskirov murmured in displeasure. 'This is not good. This is not good at all. It implies that the Zerg are also clever enough to know what exactly to take away from the damned place. If Xentus hadn't done it himself already!'
Konrad sat back in his chair in the conference room of the Andronikos and looked aside to avoid the admiral's angry eyes. A few seats away, Chester was playing with some reports in his hand.
'Well, Boris, perhaps the executor will know of another place that was important for Xentus. We could go there,' he suggested and the other scientists in the room nodded in confirmation.
'Right. I'll need to tell him the bad news first,' he frowned. 'Also, try to call me admiral, after all, I am your superior.'
The Umojan was stung by the remark.
'Sure, whatever, admiral...' he said with displeasure and put the papers on the table.
'I won't need you gentlemen for anything else,' Boris then began sending the scientists away, keeping a good tone, 'you were most useful to us, thank you, keep up the good work. Be aware that I realize your efforts and will not berate you for being unable to extract water from a rock, I can do no better than you all. Feel free to inform me of any breakthrough you come up with, at any time: you know that I desire it as much as any of you,' he finished and left the group head to the docking bays while he himself went to the bridge.'
***
That evening, Chester was sitting in his cabin, contemplating on the difficulty of the mission. Find a slab. Without any clues. Or find clues. On any uncharted planet even the latter was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Their chances of success in outer space were infinitesimal. Could the sphere be of any good to them? Unlikely. It just pointed to the planets on those specific systems. But the list of them was exhausted. Even the best of the Sei'Tara maps had confirmed that. The fleet had visited all known planets indicated by the sphere and found nothing, even with the artifact's triangulation capabilities. The distance... Could it be that there was something about the distance that they hadn't thought of yet?
Chester grabbed the data of the sphere's inner orrery and reviewed it. Something about the ratio of the rotational period of the planets – no, no meaningful matches. The distances between the planets' orbits, perhaps? No, the distance between the absolute center and the first one was like that between the first and the second one, and that between number two and three was approximately two of these pseudo-astronomical units, and then the next one was three pseudo-astronomical units...
An idea occurred to him. One, one, two, three was the beginning of a famous sequence in mathematics discovered more than twelve centuries ago by the mathematician Leonardo of Pisa, also called Fibonacci. It was the fastest growing ratio known to the practically applicable mathematics, and also one where each following member was phi times bigger than the previous one, that is, 1.618 times the preceding. This was the famous Golden ratio that Chester's professors liked to point out to him in places he didn't suspect it existed and marvel at how full of surprising harmony the natural world was. To which he replied that this was nothing unusual and the only meaningful reason some vegetables had parts that contained the golden ratio and other vegetables didn't was because the former had simply had the fortune for their species to evolve and adjust itself to whatever special arrangements existed in nature faster than the species of the latter. Of which, on the other hand, his biology professors approved.
Yet this data, was it a coincidence? Was it by pure chance that the orbits were aligned like that? It would require some measurement to verify if this was, indeed, correct, but that answered nothing about the question of where the sanctuary could be. Chester looked at the list of planets. Nothing correlational about them, except that they were relatively inhabitable. Or at least inhabitable enough for the Xel'Naga who built those temples to live in. He opened some three-dimensional starmaps and plotted the four systems indicated by the sphere. To his surprise, they were aligned in a plain. He gasped at his discovery. He rotated the map to take a closer look from above and saw the arrangement of the four planets. Another surprising fact: they were arranged in something similar to a square. A wide grin appeared on Chester's face as the excitement in him was growing.
Then, the thought of locating the original temple planet as well. Its location was shown with a bright red glow at the point on the starmap – a point that looked almost equidistant from the other four! In his mind the young Umojan connected the five dots and a pretty square pyramid emerged in space, outlined by the red spots. Almost was not an answer, though. How did the systems look like when... The Protoss were made? Or, earlier than that. Setting the starmap to extrapolate three or four thousand years into the past... Bingo – a neat square pyramid in outer space!
But, still, this did not answer the question where the missing sanctuary could be. Where, relative to this fortunate, and probably custom-made, order of the interstellar space could the sanctuary be placed? First and most logical guess was the point directly opposite to the very first temple relative to the base... Making an octahedron... The current absence of anything at that specific point began discouraging Chester. Yet again, three millenia ago it was probably different. The best of the Umojan starmaps confirmed that. There were several nearby planetary systems at those coordinates, but none was examined in detail with number of planets and, possibly, orbits by the Umojans. Yet. The distances and the necessary calculations that made life of astronomers difficult were probably what kept the Umojans from tackling the contents of that specific sector of distant space. One of the templated nearby systems, however, was supposed to be on the right place at the right time, back in the antiquity. Could that system hold the special planet? Chester had just unearthed plenty of material for the scientists of the fleet to chew on for the next several days.
He began taking screenshots and writing a rushed paper on the subject of his fortunate discoveries. Let Boris sleep for now – waking him up later in the night, when I'm done, will tease the admiral even more, Chester thought to himself.
No comments:
Post a Comment