UMOJAN EXPEDITIONARY FLEET SCIENCE TEAM
XEL'NAGA SANCTUARY
PLANET 2481CEfNO09
Down on the ground, the civilian part of the expedition were feasting on the treasure that the latest finding was. It was just after begin morning nautical twilight, but fleet clocks were reading nighttime nontheless, yet for it was difficult to sleep at such a moment. The Protoss archaeologists onboard were one of the first to laud the discovery and had entered a state of particular piety and veneration to the finding. They alluded to myths and sayings of the Sei'Tara, trying to make sense of the encounter. Many went down to the surface, as if willing to go on a pilgrimage to the sacred complex.
The Umojan scientists, on the other hand, were driven down by pure excitement. Curiosity was stronger than sleep and there were groups of people around the computers in the various rooms of the science vessels and the other ships. Many eyes were focused on the newest photos, readings and other data that came from down below, eager to learn more. The expeditionary fleet had spread out around the sanctuary and down on the fields its research personnel were ravaging the place for knowledge under the light of the rising sun and the round shapes of the science vessels.
As for the other personnel on the ships, the structure fascinated everyone without exception and nobody that didn't fight could not rest without thinking of it. Many didn't and just stood up by the available windows or screens with readings from the cameras.
Chester and Konrad were down there, too. Their dropship was nearby, landed on the worn-out tiles of the square between some ruined buildings. The contrast between its metallic body and the machinery that was hauled out of it and the ancient rock that the solemn faces of the old edifices were made of made Konrad smile. He didn't knew, though, whether it was the archaic temples or whatever of old that was the deserving a smile of overlooking or the mass-produced, standard-issue dropship, made of the most economical proportion of neosteel and electronics deemed suitable by the Terran standards of labor and spending.
The buildings were huge, crowned with domes and towers. They varied in shapes and sizes – some were cubical or pyramidal, others were round, but most were in between. Old grass had grown through the big tiles in the yards and in the buildings and there was often teal moss to be found, yet there were no animals except for some small lizards that Konrad saw once or twice. Their rooms were many meters high and the many windows on the old walls were often like doors to the interior, tall and old, leading to the derelict empty halls of the alien buildings. Columns were rising close to all of them, separating walkways and trails and defining different quadrangles. And so for many kilometers in the outlines of various curves and straight lines within the big circle.
In the midst of these remains of a complex or perhaps a city, the fields were ever arid and desolate. There was nothing than patches of thin yellow-green grass on the dirt and the only thing alive there was the wind beating on the tired and hopeless land. Could there have once been a huge garden or forest of sorts, created or maintained by the so-called Xel'Naga, through which their arcane complex had winded? He had to first see the assessment of the soil from geologists, but that was not as important as what the whole complex was for. And whether it could, indeed, be housing the fabled slab was more important an issue. In the distance, the thunder of battle was being heard.
***
Boris had just exited the bridge and was walking down the left corridor towards the medics when he realized the purposelessness of what he was doing. There was no point in seeing a doctor. He would probably only inform them of his condition. No, he was to stay with the fleet now, now when fortune had smiled upon them. He returned to the bridge to finish the attack.
***
About fifty kilometers away, the Wanderer-class vessel “Centurion” was patrolling the northern side of the complex at an altitude of one thousand meters. On its smaller bridge, Captain Dennis was keeping an eye over the scant updates of the status. Nothing would be expected on such a desolate plain, especially when the fleet was engaging the only known hostiles. He was just strolling around, waiting for the main force to finish the Zerg so that he and his ship could receive new orders. The sunrise was nice, of course, on the bluish skies rising over the pale smooth fields. But, he just wished he and the other Wanderer thirty kilometers away, which was patrolling the south perimeter, would do something more worthy for a warship than patrolling. Here.
Gradually, a stream of pinging rose above the hum of the rest of the sensors. Dennis noticed that and walked over to the console. Its operator was showing surprise and when the captain approached, the boy turned to him.
'Sir, you should see this, I am getting a reading from an unidentified vessel. Nine kilometers north-east from us, inbound,' he pointed at the screen.
Dennis looked at the screen for a brief second and then asked the operators, 'What is this ship?'
'It's mechanical, sir,' another one replied. 'No Terran identification signals. Could be Protoss.'
Protoss... What could they be doing here? Probably had some news. The vessel must have registered the radio beacons that the Umojan fleet had agreed to send continuously in all directions and was now approaching.
'Get a ghost, if it's a Protoss they will probably want to talk,' Dennis ordered. 'Tell the Andronikos that we have an alien ship approaching.'
Soon, the alien ship drew close enough for the cameras to identify it. It was a Protoss carrier, identical to those of the Sei'Tara. The ghost on the bridge of the Centurion was ready to interpret anything the other side had to say and Dennis was ready to represent the fleet in his quality of captain. The carrier drew closer and closer and Dennis saw that there was something wrong with it. The characteristic smooth golden surface of the Protoss vessel was not smooth. It was dented and cracked and sooted at many places, as if it had suffered explosions. While the redoubtable shape of the carrier approached, Dennis noticed that one of the engines at the back was not working and was blackened. He got mixed feelings – the unidentified vessel would likely not seek a confrontation, but also these Protoss were returning from a battle. The carrier drew close to the ship and Dennis ordered the ghost to initiate contact.
'This is Captain Dennis of the Umojan Wanderer-class vessel Centurion speaking. Identify yourselves.'
The ghost stood focused for a few seconds as usual and then replied to his commander.
'They are a Protoss carrier of the Sei'Tara. They demand to see Admiral Paskirov.'
Dennis was confused. 'They are now engaging a Zerg colony west south-west of here. Anything we should tell them?'
The ghost reported that there was no answer. The carrier was turning away from them. Soon, its gargantuan silhouette freed the sight from the windows of the Centurion and the morning fields were seen again. The captain ran towards the side windows and saw the carrier quickly gain speed towards the site of the battle.
'Contact the Andronikos and tell them all!' he shouted at the operators, filled with concern.
***
On the bridge of the Andronikos, Paskirov was again in charge and was overseeing the battalion destroy the last vestiges of resistance in the crushed colony. At that moment, an operator called him.
'A transmission from the cpt. Dennis, sir,' he showed.
Boris saw it and did not hide his surprise.
'Set course towards the Centurion! Full speed!' he shouted. 'Tell the Graf von Moltke that Arnold is to finish the job here and await further orders.'
The other captains in the air force were in attacking position by the colony and were surprised to see the Andronikos gain several hundred meters and turn backwards towards the base at full speed. Ferguson did not dare ask why they were doing the maneuver but soon it was clear to him. The Andronikos slowed down and stopped in front of the damaged carrier and Williams stood next to Boris on the bridge.
'This is Admiral Paskirov speaking. Identify yourselves.'
It seemed to him that Williams was hesitating for a moment before he interpreted. 'This is Zaraldis in the Nerhala. The Protoss fleet of the Sei'Tara was overwhelmed and destroyed when engaging the main hive cluster by superior Zerg forces. Only this carrier survived and made a warp jump here. The Zerg will soon find out about our attack here and will make a warp jump in the atmosphere of the planet. They will arrive with more troops than both our armies can resist.'
Boris was silent. The Zerg would soon find out the planet where the colony was destroyed and will be here. Great numbers. Eager for revenge.
'How long before they are here?'
'Half a day on the Protoss homeworld, at most,' Williams replied.
Half of ten hours, that was five hours. No more than five hours to find out what an enormous city of the Xel'Naga was hiding. That had to be a joke.
But it wasn't. Boris weighed the situation in his mind and tried to find an acceptable exit but there was none.
'Can we get any relief from anywhere?' he asked Zaraldis.
'This carrier has the elite guard of the Sei'Tara and some zealots and dragoons aboard. And a few scouts. Everything else was annihilated,' Williams reported with tension in his voice.
The bridge was silent. All eyes were focused on Paskirov. He looked around and took a deep breath.
'I know it's been a long day,' he began, 'but you heard how serious the situation is. We are now alone in this important task and this is the last trail we have on the location of the slab, so it is up to us to allow the boys on the ground to find out what they need to about the artifact. The enemy will soon be here and will try to disrupt our operations and perhaps check the complex themselves. Do not make the mistake to forget that Xentus is dead but his knowledge has died with him. The Zerg are perfectly aware of this hunt and are sure to come here to investigate the temple. I don't know exactly how, but I am damn sure they will.' He looked at his men with eyes that showed the full gravity of the situation. 'We must prevent this from happening. We must make sure that our boys get to learn everything first and then destroy everything that the Zerg could make use of. I know it will be a difficult task, gentlemen, but it is a challenge that we are meant to accept. This is what our fleet is fighting for now. This is our objective. Delay the Zerg from reaching the ruins at all costs.'
Everybody on the bridge of the Andronikos was still. Even the Nerhala outside was immobile. It seemed as if the whole world was taking a deep breath and was basking in the last moments of calmness before the storm.
'You are our admiral, sir,' Ferguson broke the silence. 'We will follow you to whatever end.'
The others started looking around nervously, waiting for action.
'I know you are. Now, we have work to do!'
In less than fifteen minutes, the dire news reached the whole fleet. The rejoicing from fall of the puny colony seemed a mockery now when the intel of the inbound enemy reached the men. The commanders of the other ships heard the orders to assemble at the ruins and braced up for another, greater challenge. The soldiers from the infantry and the drivers/pilots of the armored vehicles were back on the ships and resting before the bigger engagement that lay ahead. The personnel on the warships were tense, but yet unburdened with the toil of battle. The science team on the ground had awoken from their awe and under the the threat of the Zerg were ignoring the virtues of the complex and were just doing their fastest recording and uplinking data up to the science vessels.
In the conference room of the Andronikos, the high command, along with Zaraldis, had gathered to discuss the plan of battle.
'The scientists are down there doing their best and the troops are resting and waiting for deployment. Do we know where the Zerg will come from?' Summers spoke.
Williams interpreted for the executor and gave his answer, 'No. Somewhere around here, in radius of up to ten radii of the complex.'
'We'll set up patrols,' Boris replied. 'When they arrive, we'll greet them with our remaining chemical and nuclear weapons.'
'Shall we perform defense in depth or shall we fortify?' Heuven, the commander of the infantry battalion asked.
'The structures of the temple offer good prospects for fortification,' Summers replied, 'so we could have an advantage if we fight there.'
'But this will mean that we basically let the Zerg get to the complex without any resistance. Won't this jeopardize the work of the science team?' Commodore Archer of the carrier ship Enteos mentioned.
'We should try harassing the enemy with the tanks while they are in the field. Until they reach the buildings. There, we will be fortified,' Paskirov concluded.
'What then, when they actually arrive at the complex?' Ferguson asked.
'While they are on the move, we could try to cut off some of the first waves with the ships,' Arnold spoke. 'If the infantry are then on the field, the enemy's isolated elements will find themselves behind our task groups and in front of our ground force. And we will let the infantry deal with them. I have seen something similar work when I fought rebels once.'
'Sounds reasonable...' Paskirov was thinking. 'But can the infantry hold out against them?'
'Affirmative but not for long, commander,' Heuven said. 'The Zerg could be too strong and out on the open we will be exposed. I would like goliath support out there.'
'Not probable. We will need the goliaths to provide anti-air fire for the tanks,' Summers spoke. 'Then, they will need rearming and refueling. Part of the time while the infantry are out there there will be no armor.'
'Summers is right. The men will have to make do alone,' Boris concurred. But we will have dropships nearby, if you need to quickly pull out. That should suffice, yes?'
Heuven confirmed and Williams began speaking for Zaraldis.
'The elite guard of the Sei'Tara will want to play a part in the battle. They are eager for vengeance after the defeat the Zerg inflicted upon them and will want to meet the enemy as early as possible.'
'Ah, the Dark Templar,' Ferguson murmured. 'We will have a chance to see what these boys can do against some real enemy.'
Boris looked at him and then turned to Zaraldis. 'Your warriors will be deployed alongside our own, executor. Alongside my own fighters will you get your revenge and...' he was interrupted by coughing. He felt the metallic taste of blood in his mouth, but swallowed it quickly, '...quench your thirst for killing. Ahem.'
With some more clarifications, the plan was agreed upon and the fleet was preparing to meet the enemy.
The sun was rising above the wide plains around the complex. Down among the ruins the science team was toiling among the ruins, recording everything they could. Groups of Protoss archaeologists, accompanied by ghosts, walked side by side with the Terrans among the ruins, assisting in the operation. Up on the science vessels, all data was processed and incorporated into what scant knowledge the Umojans already had about the Xel'Naga.
What engineers and workers were available in the fleet, on the other hand, were quickly sent to the northeast quadrant of the complex. There, accompanied by the commanding officers of the infantry companies, they began reinforcing chosen positions, storing ammo and supplies and placing barricades and land mines where ordered, while the soldiers were having a necessary rest before the fight began.
On the ships, the commanders were preparing their vessels for the combat. The missiles with exotic Confederate arms technology were ready to be fired at the Zerg. The crews were checking the ships or gathering needed sleep before the enemy was to be met.
Down below, The group which Chester and Konrad were in, which was supposed to take measurements of the sphere's activity, was resting. Chester awoke from his half-an-hour nap to find Konrad's face glowing with happiness.
'What's the matter?' he scratched his black nose.
'We have several good hypotheses that emerged. Regarding the complex. Those Protoss sure had some crazy myths. Anyway, one of them is about the complex being the birth place of the first Protoss. I am not sure how correct that is, but those archaeologists sure feel excited about it. Another one is about this place being an orrery of some sort. Those guys above just kept comparing photos from who knows where and informed us on that. And, someone figured that this could be the place where the slab is kept. Hopefully he is right.'
'Yea. True,' Chester was standing up, wishing for caffeine. 'What do we do, walk around with the sphere?'
The orrery was still in the special metal briefcase the fleet was keeping it in ever since the beginning of the operation.
'Sounds the most reasonable. Until we get updates on any of the two theories,' Konrad replied with strict tone. 'Any of the two. If you know what I mean.'
'Yes, yes, the first one is nonsense, I know. We just need to bring it to our pals in a polite manner, I guess, that should make them reasonable. Alright, where to now?'
'We are in what seems to be the center of what seems to be a pentagram in what seems to be an imaginary smaller circle in the big circle. We go north, where the big roads meet and see the sphere there.'
Their group was moving on a dropship and from the open doors, the scientists could see a few more groups of scientists down on the ground, with their electronics open, taking measurements and sending it to the science vessels with the tiny satellite dish. There were also plenty of other dropships in the air, flying around the complex at various altitudes. The fleet wasn't going to bed.
***
On the bridge of the Andronikos, Boris was waiting for any reports on Zerg activity, eyes closed but unable to fall asleep. He shunned sleeping now, knowing of the approaching eternal rest he could not avert. He was thinking of whether the fleet would succeed in doing anything meaningful with the temple on time, before they had to evacuate everyone from the ground, or would it all be in vain. Would the Zerg push the Terrans away from the site and understand the arcane secrets of the Xel'Naga for their own mindless ends. The Zerg certainly were capable of doing it, Boris believed. They had enslaved the mind of a single Protoss and they had successfully been playing the tribe against itself. Sure, the Zerg brains could work somewhat different form the human ones, he wasn't no neurologist, but even so, the Swarm would have all the time in the world to contemplate on the mystery of the slab and tackle the riddles hidden within all the ancient runes. Sooner or later they would figure it out. Could Boris return to Umoja to call for help? No, he remembered. It would take time for any ship to travel that far, even through warp space, a whole day or two. And all ships were indispensable. Even if the ships made it, they would have to convince Umoja that all they found was real and that this threat existed. And Umoja, to his best knowledge, was not a government that boasted with military power like the Confederacy did. Convincing Pasteur to send enough warships to make the expeditionary fleet look at least a bit like a war one would be too difficult and time-consuming...
A series of beeps rose above the noise of the bridge and grabbed Paskirov's attention. He rose from the corner of the bridge where he lay and went to the console.
'Sir, we have a time-space continuum disturbance north-east from here. It is reminiscent of warp space manipulation,' the operator reported.
'The Zerg! There's where they are leaving! All ships prepare to move. The Amerigo and the Zheng He are to remain here at the complex. Magellan, Mercator and Huygens come with us. Where's the Enteos?' Boris started. 'Williams, tell the Protoss.'
'Sir, the carrier Enteos is in geostationary orbit fifty kilometers above the ground.'
'Tell them to move to those coordinates where the warp jump is.'
'Yes, sir.'
'You, tell ARMCOM one, two and three to get on the dropships and prepare to deploy in the vicinity of the Zerg assembly area,' Paskirov told another operator and stood up off the console. He looked at Ferguson. 'Let's roll.'
'You look pale.'
'Lack of sleep. I'll be fine.'
***
The three task groups of the fleet were flying towards the warp portal through which Zerg were coming in. When they approached they could see it – the dark blue and purple air imploding from below into itself, rotating like an endless unveiling spiral and releasing twisting purple streams of air into perfect spiral trajectories outwards. From within the heart of the vortex, many flying Zerg were coming. Some of them were clearly mutalisks. Others were something like flying balls of orgainc matter with tentacles of sorts hanging from them. They varied in size, some being larger than several mutalisks together and with many tentacles dragging beneath them. These Zerg obsiously served as carriers for the non-flying Zerg because once they were in the atmosphere they touched the ground and many smaller creatures crept outwards out of them, like roaches from under the item one raises and they use for hiding.
'Sir, we have updated coordinates of the location of the Zerg wormhole,' one of the people from the consoles reported.
'Good. Inform the Enteos and tell them to release the first neuroparalytic warhead in zero five minutes,' Paskirov replied. By then, the armor ought to have come in range.
'Yes, sir.'
The three task groups of the fleet were made up of a science vessel, a battlecruiser and two wanderers each. Task group one had the Andronikos and its science vessel was farther away north. Task groups two and three were made up of the Graf von Moltke and the Hreimdar respectively. Behind the task force flew a big group of dropships, carrying the armored companies of the expeditionary fleet. Further north was positioned the Huygens, which carried special modified laser guidance system for the missiles that the Enteos was firing.
As the task force was approaching, a sleek silvery shape in the sky shone in the sunlight. The Zerg were about to receive their first dose of poisonous gas as the missile was flying downwards. Boris walked forwards to see it better. It fell past the exit of the wormhole and through the confused mutalisks and for a moment seemed to sink into the hard ground. Then, in a small explosion marked the spot where the silvery missile touched the ground and pale white gas quickly started spreading around ground zero. The little cloud of chemical agent quickly grew in size and became hundreds of meters tall. It stretched over hundreds and thousands of meters of ground, slowly creeping over the field, consuming the Zerg in their assembly area in its wake.
The multitude of Zerg on the ground was, of course, big. Fleet estimates of the Zerg count varied around fifteen to twenty thousand individual hostiles. Boris felt doomed when he looked at the numbers. He didn't realize that such crowd would have so many enemies. It was certainly more than the total number of opponents he had encountered before in service. In his last day...
'Sir, the science vessel “Huygens” is in position for pinpointing ground zero.'
'Good. Fire the nuke. Tell the Huygens to pick a spot, aim wherever they want. As long as it kills the most Zerg,' He ordered.
Down below, the armored companies were being deployed and the tanks and the goliaths were forming up in their platoons. A few minutes later, they would all be at attack by fire position “Road 1” where they would begin a barrage on the Zerg. In the distance, the Huygens was standing still in the air. Far out in the atmosphere, fifty kilometers above, the nuclear silo on the bottom of the black Mammoth-class carrier opened and the second nuclear missile that the fleet had obtained from the secret Confederate installation was released. It entered a freefall towards the zone of ground zero. For about thirty seconds the bulky missile soared downwards through the air and the clouds of 2481fNO09. Its little sensors scanned the ground beneath it for again and again for the wavelength of the little laser point. When it saw it nearby, several hundred meters below, among the ant-like Zerg on the ground, the computer automatically turned on its rocket engine and adjusted its fins to correct the course. At five hundred meters, the men got the signal and everybody covered their eyes to avoid being blinded by the flash.
For a moment, the whole region was bathed in blinding white light. Then the world returned to normal except for where the white-hot ball of the explosion quickly rose and grew in size. The first wind, blowing inwards to the explosion took the ships and everybody felt the metal floor beneath their legs tilt and move forwards before the balance was automatically corrected. Any of the thousands of Zerg close to ground zero were immediately vaporized. A cloud of water vapor formed around the explosion where the air had rapidly cooled due to the drop in pressure and some of the aliens were still in one piece. Then, the many times stronger wave of outward pressure was went outwards in all directions, the overheated air blowing the dust off the ground and crushing the countless Zerg it went through with the whole strength of the nuclear blast. The dull sound of the powerful wind hitting the hulls of the warships and pushing them backwards put fear in the hearts of the men onboard. Closer to ground zero, the enormous ball of bright fire, now growing taller than the skyscrapers on Tarsonis, was ceasing its expansion to turn into the mushroom cloud of superheated flames and destruction. Boris looked at the terrifying blast and felt certain that no Zerg could survive down there. What had hurt him was now annihilating the enemy.
For about a minute now the mushroom cloud kept growing and rising in the air. Its stem was several kilometers in diameter and rose upwards from the circular area on the ground that was devastated from the blast. On top, there was the crown of flames and nuclear force moving upwards and upwards, as if the demon they had unleashed from the bottle was now returning to full height and leaning above the guilty mortals in all its terrifying glory. It seemed to Boris as if a small mountain of flames had been sent towards the skies, scattering aside any clouds it went close to and illuminating the local regions with red.
Up in the sky, the vortex was still open and Zerg kept pouring through. The mushroom cloud had not reached it, although it was now much higher the end of the darkened space-time wormhole and producing fallout. The flaming air was being twisted into the vortex away from the stem. The Zerg that were coming were immediately faced with the pernicious hot air around the explosion and those who did not manage to move away from the blast fast enough were scorched by the nuclear blast.
For about half an hour, the fleet and the armored companies were waiting for something to show signs of life in the radius of the blast. The waves of Zerg kept coming, only to find quick and merciless death on the other side of the portal. The mushroom cloud had now risen fourteen kilometers high and was well visible from far beyond the complex.
Then gradually the Zerg began moving out of the area damaged by the explosion and the chemical weaponry. The tanks on the ground were already deployed and in their designated attack by fire position “Road 1.” Soon, they were firing on any Zerg that was spotted on the field, supported by the fire from the ships. Boris ordered another missile and soon the growing efforts of the Zerg were quenched by more poisonous gas. For about two hours the stalemate was maintained and the enemies were continuously taking casualties, not only those within the contaminated area but also those who tried to deploy outside it and were immediately dealt with by the ships.
Boris was seeing mutalisks massing low above the contaminated ground, next to the dissipating mushroom cloud. He directed the fire of the battlecruiser's big batteries against them and prompted them to approach the Terrans. Three clouds of aliens were flying towards the air force of the Umojans.
'Send in the wraiths. Report altitude of the attackers.'
'Sir, we have about eighty mutalisks at two hundred meters and two more similar groups at six hundred and eight hundred respectively,' the operator informed Paskirov.
'All ships move to five hundred meters and provide suppressive fire at any hostiles who try to climb beyond or drop below that altitude,' he ordered. 'Major, tell the Protoss to engage.'
The three task groups aligned and opened the desired fire. Williams at first was uncertain as of why Boris would want this, but he soon saw the effects it had on the battle. The mutalisks that flew low tried to join the two other groups higher up but were repelled by the heavy fire of the warships. In the meantime, the Nerhala and the two groups of wraiths chewed up the mutalisks and the beaten enemies retreated under bold fire. Then, the remaining mutalisks were engaged. The batteries of the task forces, in addition to ARMCOM 3 kept the enemies from moving under the ships while the Nerhala and the wraiths flew downwards against them, spraying lasers and death. While this enemy unit was also being finished, Paskirov received data of the armored companies.
The tanks were running low on ammunition and the Zerg were now on the move, too strong to be contained by the tank fire. In response, Boris ordered the dropships to evacuate the armored units and the big warships to provide cover against the Zerg on the ground. While the battlecruisers and the wanderers were firing their red lasers on the targets on the ground, he looked at the enemy under the now tenuous veil of poisonous gas. Huge groups of Zerg were again assembling, although the frequency of their transports through the twisting portal had gotten significantly smaller.
***
In the meantime, at the complex, the research had been going on. Only when the nuclear missile exploded in the distance did the attention of the Terrans turn away. The distance of tens of kilometers meant little and the initial fireball of the explosion was easily seen even with the naked eye. Shortly, the shockwave that had traveled through the ground reached the teams and shook the old edifices of the temple complex with the strength of a small earthquake, sometimes tripping the equipment. It was followed by the deafening bang of the nuclear blast and everybody was forced to cover his ears as they watched the mushroom cloud rise higher and higher. And then the eerie warm wind came, blowing through the fields and swirled through the labyrinth of ruins. For a few more minutes everybody stood silent, trying to comprehend the magnitude of the event. Then, they slowly moved back to the work, which had achieved results.
The interpretations of the runes had, to the scientists' pleasure, tilted the balance of the scales in favor of the slab theory. There were now known to be four hidden chambers somewhere in the complex where important things were stored and the science went on to find their locations.
While the two friends were moving through one of the huge empty halls of the buildings, seeking the bigger ones first, knowing of the greater chances of finding something interesting in them, they saw something different than the countless hieroglyphs, symbols and pictograms that the complex was abundant with. They saw murals.
It was noon outside and the hot sun was moving higher in the sky, making the place hotter. In the heavy silence of the shadows inside the old structure, the pictures of something, once probably colored and more sharp but now dull and worn revealed themselves. Konrad first walked through the grass in between the old tiles and took the digital camera to shoot. In the meantime, Chester was just thinking.
There wasn't much of them that made sense in the first place. There were several instances of an image of the complex from above, although it appeared compressed on the vertical axis, as if drawn in perspective. Then, there were strange shapes above them. Before the last oval that was supposed to represent the complex, or so it seemed to the Umojan, there was a rectangle with dots in it. Then, the last picture of the complex had something like an inverted triangle with horns coming downwards from its lower vertex. Between the horns, there was a small rectangle of the same proportions.
'Any idea what this is?' he asked.
'None. Although there is a chance that this is the slab,' Konrad pointed at the rectangle.
'If this is the slab,' Chester looked at the big rectangle, 'these pictures could be showing things related to the slab.'
'So, then I see chaos, then Xel'Naga ships, then stars, then the slab, then a triangle that stands on horns with the slab between them,' Konrad seemed to sound sarcastic.
'Could it be an inverted helm? I mean, the whole wall supposed to stay upside down?' Chester proposed, but then retracted, 'No, that's stupid.'
'It would imply that there's some unexplainably huge under this place. How does that connect to the other hypotheses?'
'Never mind. Send this to the guys on top and let's move.'
But, as they found out half an hour later, their discovery was quite significant. Many things came together and the fleet was now aware of a guardian that would be awaken by the destruction of the slab.
***
'A what?' Boris asked Dr. Tylor who was keeping the high command in touch.
'A guardian, sir. Some sort of entity that is supposed to protect the slab. But rest easy, we are pretty certain that the slab is here somewhere! We are very excited to see more confirmations of this idea now, and...'
'Yes, doctor, I'm sure that this is all excellent news that will inspire our troops to victory, but...' he coughed. '...what is this entity you are talking about?'
Paskirov saw Tylor's image on the screen scratch his nose, 'We do not know for sure. We know it has power, that the Protoss confirm, too. And it is supposedly made by the Xel'Naga.'
'Is this all you can tell me?' he was getting annoyed.
'For now, sir, the most certain data we have. We will keep updating you with anything you may need to know.'
The admiral threw a tired glance at the man aboard the Magellan. 'Thank you, doctor.'
In the distance, like a black cloud of smoke over a burning field, approached the Zerg army. the Zerg had finally stopped coming through and were moving in a long, wide column southwest towards the complex. It was the greatest horde of wild death that any Umojan or Confederate had ever seen. Countless bloodthirsty Zerg were combined into one mass that was swarming straight at the Terrans, cutting the distance between themselves and the defenders as fast as the berserk pace of the unleashed multitude could allow. The charging host spanned over hundreds of meters across the horizon. The roar of the ground beneath their feet echoed in the hearts of the Terran roops and heralded the upcoming slaughter like the emerging silence before an execution heralds the convict's death.
On the bridge of the Andronikos, the officers were probably just as appalled, although they did not show it. Paskirov felt indifferent. Many or few, this fleet would do one last useful thing before it was lost and would defend the scientists. Before everybody died, the foe would be shown a world of pain. The warships were flying high above them, observing their advance through the field and the forming of the infantry in front of the complex. When the forces of the Swarm drew close enough, Boris ordered a descent and the air force lowered above the moving enemies and turned around facing opposite to their axis of advance. While the multitude beneath them began slowing down and moving in confusion, the three task groups entered the support by fire position “Cloud 2” and denied the Zerg further ground with a massive barrage on their lines from the air. Behind the task groups, however, an element of the Zerg army was allowed to continue.
It was waited by the infantry battalion, armed up and ready for a fight. The men were spread out throughout the field and had taken cover in the basic fortifications they had just made. The marines and the firebats waited for any Zerg that would draw near while the ghosts lay on the ground, ready to snipe out the enemies.
Williams was there, leading INFCOM Zeta. Positioned in the middle of the funnel, they were the main damage dealer of the battalion. He was sitting on the ground with the radio he usually carried on his back placed on the ground and the C-10 Canister rifle left against the big rock he was hiding behind. The Zerg were still a black line on the horizon, but the rumbling sound of countless claws running was moving through the ground and frightening the men.
Soon, the Zerg came in range and the firing began. The ghosts were taking down foe after foe and the killed enemies fell on the dusty ground, but others came behind them, walking over the corpses and continuing towards the Terran lines. The attackers were the small zerglings and the bigger hydralisks. The regular infantry was good at dealing with the zerglings, so Williams quickly ordered the ghosts to focus fire on the bigger hydralisks, which were the greater threat. In the sky in the distance, below the noon sun, the warships were still fending off the Zerg on the ground.
The marines and the firebats were firing intensely against the aliens. The desperate waves were repelled with flames and bullets, while two or three precise hits from the ghosts eliminated any hydralisk that dared attempt to fire needle spines on the troops. In the midst of the battle, however, it was clear that the tactic was not working. Even though it applied extensive fire and inflicted heavy damage on anything that came close, the task force was too small for so many enemies. It was unable to keep all the enemies away and some were slipping past the warships and moved against the infantry.
It was time to finish this. The armor was still in the assembly area, rearming and refueling for the next parts of the fight. Heuven ordered infantry companies Gamma and Delta to advance north towards the left flank of the Zerg and apply unrestricted fire. Under the suppressive fire of INFCOMs Alpha, Beta and Zeta, the marines and firebats ran forward, aiming and shooting at the lines of the Swarm, slowly melting them away. The tactic worked and soon the thinned enemy lines turned back to retreat. The tired infantry had accomplished its objective and, too, turned back towards the prepared fortifications in the complex.
Seeing the success of the men, Boris ordered the task groups to disengage the enemy and head sough, to a position east of the complex. Containing the Zerg had failed by now and, furthermore, hydralisks from the ground were shooting needle spines at the ships with such force that the sound of them clashing with the neosteel armor on the bottom of the ships made the commanders concerned if they could safely stay in these positions. So, the ships powered up their anti-gravity generators, crushing some of the Zerg beneath them with the sudden propulsion, and moved to one kilometer, then turned right in unison and set course southwards.
The enemy reacted. From the huge mass of Zerg, a cloud of mutalisks, estimated one to two thousand, began moving towards the ships. Although the Terrans were high enough, the enemy force was huge and intractable. Boris had no choice but to order the ships to move at full speed and try to escape the mutalisks.
***
Back at the complex, Chester and Konrad were positioned at one of the big “streets” that went outwards from the center to the peripheral circle of the complex. They were resting on one of the low rock walls, when they got a signal from the Amerigo.
'Gentlemen, we have made a breakthrough in decoding the runes and we have identified four possible spots where the slab could be,' Martens began. 'We are sending them to your minimap. You have the orrery-sphere with you, and you are qualified and capable young men, so we want you to investigate the points as soon as possible and inform us on anything you find there.'
'Yes, sir,' Chester smiled but then saw the location of the points. 'But, sir, one of them is in the combat zone.'
'I know. Don't worry, you will have infantry to protect you soon. I suggest you start with the least dangerous one. Good luck.'
'Don't you just feel expendable sometimes...' Chester sighed.
'Technically, we all are. Albeit, to different degrees,' Konrad clarified.
'Yea, thanks for reminding me. Let's call the dropship and get on with this.'
Soon, the little vessel was airborne over the fields and above the first goliaths of the column of armor what was moving northeast to join the fray. Behind them were the tiny dots of the tank companies and further behind them was the dark spot on the ground marked by the supplies and services spread in assembly area “Base.”
The dropship landed in the square between the ruins and the men jumped out. The special place was here somewhere and they immediately saw the big pyramidal structure the size of the Umojan academy that was behind some of the buildings. Point one. They went around the smaller structures surrounding it and up a familiar tall stairway on the front of the familiar-looking temple. Inside, there were several old halls like the ones they had encountered previously on other planets. Further into the building, within the quiet interior untouched by time, where the top of the structure was, they found a huge hall. Its floor was broken up and its walls were darkened rock, its ceiling was one flat-looking dome with a single window in the middle through which sunlight was piercing the dusty air, and in the middle, there was an altar.
The group approached it, recording everything, and investigated the altar. It was frugal design, with a wide octagonal base. On the barrel-like base stood a thick rock bowl with a stone truncated cone of sorts in the middle that rose above its edge. Its top was etched and concave.
'Slab, anyone?' Chester muttered.
'I have to admit, these aliens are truly perplexing,' Konrad remarked.
'What function could this serve?' one of the scientists behind them, in their gray working planetary suits mentioned.
'A satellite dish?' Konrad said.
'The sphere goes in the little pedestal?' Chester pointed at the top of the cone.
'Let us see,' Konrad placed the orrery into the supposed stand. They stepped back and turned off all electronics and even had the Protoss and the ghost that accompanied them leave the room but all was in vain.
'Ehm...' For another half an hour the group inspected the site then decided to proceed to the nearby point 2.
The temple there was not anything special and blended with the local edifices. Its derelict halls held no answers to the Terrans. Disappointed and inclined to finish the job, the group left the ruins and hurried to the dropship that had landed close to where the buildings ended and where the open field began. The thunder of battle echoed in the distance.
***
The warships were moving ever southwards, pushed by the mutalisks. The three task groups were not eager to go too far from where the battalion was positioned in order to assist from the air if necessary. However, the mutalisks behind them were relentlessly trying to assail the air force, forcing a retreat southwards. New readings were showing hydralisks joining the mutalisks and coming closer on the ground. Boris could feel trouble brewing.
In response, armored company two was recalled. They had to meet up with the ships west of the complex and destroy the hydralisk elements while the fleet counterattacked the enemy flyers. Boris looked around in the seeming safety of the flagship's bridge. The only thing that kept it safe, he knew, was caution of its crew's part.
***
Down where the temple was, the Zerg forces had breached the outer circle of the temple and were now pouring into the fields between the first lines of the complex' structure. Zergling after zergling was running forwards, their screeches echoing throughout the empty streets of the ghostly place. The hissing of the monstrous aliens drew nearer and nearer to the men, in their fortified positions on the ground and in the buildings. Williams, in fifth platoon of INFCOM Zeta was positioned on one of the upper floors of a building. The wide round room behind him had many huge windows, as if the barren oval dome on top was supported by columns rather than walls, and on one of the edge of one of the windows facing northeast, he had positioned his C-10 in waiting for the enemy to come in range. The building and those around it were Terran positions now, filled with men and supplies. The troops had view over the field and the surrounding pathways and squares of the complex and were awaiting the Zerg attack.
The Swarm was drawing near. Through the optics, Williams could see the zerglings and the hydralisks. Someting drew his attention. There was a bigger Zerg among the others, bulky like some sort of cattle, but superior in size to a tank. It threated on four legs through the dust that its mindless friends were raising and in addition to the typical elongated Zerg head, it had two enormous blades on its front side. They were like curved crescents, but much heavier, and were shaking as the giant creature galloped forward. What the hell...
Then, the mines started to activate. As the creatures moved on, the little spider mines registered motion and automatically ejected from the ground one by one. In less then a second, the surprised Zerg saw the strange white metal objects head towards them and the front of the Zerg slowed down. Immediately when the mines had reached their victims, they detonated in large explosions that disintegrated any unfortunate alien in a several meter radius.
The confusion in the enemy ranks was further facilitated by the ghosts opening fire. One by one, the hydralisks were taken out and dead bodies with shattered heads fell on the ground – a testament of the accuracy lessons of the Confederate ghost project. The marines and the firebats down were encouraged to see the death among the enemy lines. From his eagle's nest, Williams picked off Zerg after Zerg, feeling as he had returned to the days of target practice.
Soon, the moment came when the minefields were expended and the enemies resumed advancing towards his fortified sector. The marines farthest away, in the improvised trenches in front of the buildings, had started shooting at the enemies. The flashes of their rifles shone on the ground and on the nearest zerglings before the firebats nearby let gushes of napalm loose upon the hostile aliens. The trenches had to be emptied under the pressure of the enemies and the fighting was transferred to the sites of the buildings. From behind walls and columns now the marines were firing upon the incoming Zerg and the hysterical screeching was mixing with the roar of the rifles. Williams reloaded and tried to shoot faster. The more he killed in the distance, the less would get closer to the buildings for the boys on the ground to deal with. Then, the Dark Templar had arrived. Jumping outside the protection of the buildings, empty silhouettes of Protoss were sneaking towards individual Zerg and were leaving them lying dead, lacerated by the quick and deadly psi blades. Like spirits of death threading on the winds of battle, the cloaked Dark Templar were slashing down the enemies, staining the ground with blood. But they had to retreat. Williams and the other ghosts in the nearby buildings could not provide sufficient cover and dispose of the hydralisks fast enough and some of them were ejecting needle spines blindly towards the buildings, hurting the Protoss warriors and even killing two. The pale blue flames in which their bodies burned out were the signal for the others to return to the cover of the buildings and await for the enemies there.
Not on the battle map, great, Williams thought. How could Boris allow them to not report their positions? The Confederates certainly never would.
Blasts from grenades added to the cacophony in the surrounding area when Williams saw one of the big Zerg approaching through the cloud of dust above the field. The spider mines had already taken out three of its kind, as their slow bodies were an easy target for the neat piece of machinery. This one was coming directly towards the nearby archway inwards to the quadrangle. If it got there, the infantry would have big problems holding their ground against something of this proportions. He aimed. The body of the alien was truly big, but the head seemed approximately the same. Shouldn't be that hard, he thought and pressed the trigger. The recoil of the canister rifle pushed his shoulder and part of the skull of the giant beast where his eye was was taken away and blood sprayed from the open wound. Yet, it kept moving forward. Williams fired again at its head, disfiguring it further, but this only seemed to make it more angry. He looked in disbelief at the creature and lowered his rifle: this was a waste of bullets. He resumed fire against more Zerg waves in the distance. and hoped that the troops on the ground would do something against this.
Less then a minute later, the building trembled as something heavy was being slammed against the walls. Williams carefully leaned outside the window and looked down to the right where the ultralisk was trying to push through the narrow between Williams' and the neighboring structure. Its body was too wide, but it wildly pressed forward, scraping the surface of the ancient walls. He could not believe his eyes. Then, with a gush of air, a Dark Templar jumped from a nearby low roof on top of the giant Zerg and with a wide buzz a psi blade sank deep into the creature's throat. The monster collapsed after a few convulsions and the Protoss uncloaked. It was Avissian, the commander of the Sei'Tara elite guards, with his purple cloths and golden shoulder pads and leg protection.
'Stand tall, warrior,' Williams could hear in his head as the dark gray face of the Dark Templar looked his way. 'We shall aid you against the ultralisks.'
Williams gave a salute and returned to his position to take out some more of the incoming Zerg. The field was already full of dead bodies and smoke was rising in the distance to his left and right. A few more ultralisks were moving on the field, accompanied by zerglings and hydralisks. Williams braced up for the encounter and continued firing at the hydralisks. One of them drew close to his position. It looked at the flash of the C-10's optics and immediately leaned and opened something on its head.
Instinctively, Williams retracted behind the cover of the solid walls. Just in time, as a bunch of needle spines flew straight up by the window and clashed with the old rock at the facade and on the tall ceiling with a dull crack. The ghost was breathing heavily. Despite for the cool wind, he could feel the sweat running down his forehead. He crawled forward and carefully raised the canister rifle just enough so as to see what was going on down. Hydralisks and zerglings were coming and had now crowded around the arch door to enter into the quadrangle. Inhuman screams and the rolling sound of controlled firing on the other side suggested that the infantry was fighting back. They could not keep this for long.
Williams checked his supplies. He had several magazines left, but overall it was time for combat service support and the goodies that the dropships brought periodically. He put everything in his backpack, then grabbed one of his grenades and threw it down at the crowd of Zerg. He ran down the giant counterclockwise stairway that led away of the open hall and down below the grenade exploded with a loud bang and screeches of pain and fury.
He ran out of the building. The entrance was close to that of the arched gate into the quadrangle and the bullets flying from his right towards the Zerg to his left were swooshing through the air outside. He waved at the marines at the other side of the quadrangle, behind the colonnade, and leaned sharply forward to run towards them.
Their corporal looked at him through the glass of his visor and said over the radio, 'We can't hold them for much longer, especially if the big ones come. Where is the armor?'
'ARMCOM one and two are loaded up and inbound. You'll have to hold the best you can.'
'Where is the air support?' the guy was energetic from the fighting.
'Unavailable!' Williams said loudly to be heard over some local explosions. 'This is a bottleneck! You're good. I'm finding me a new spot.'
The corporal waved and the ghost quickly moved away from them. He passed through some narrow spaces between the rock walls, up and down stairs alongside the openings of the buildings and on the upper levels of the taller ones. He could see in the distance, in front of the Terran lines, the Dark Templar sneaking through the streets. The fighting had now turned into urban warfare and the Zerg had to move between the ruins to get to the Terrans. This was exactly what the Protoss behind the positions of more platoons westwards through the buildings. Around him the infantry were positioned behind columns and corners, in courtyards and halls and from there were firing at the Zerg who were coming through. While he was climbing up the slope of one edifice, he looked behind the edge in the distance and saw the air twisting around the creatures here and there at the deeper places in the yards and pathways. This had to be the Dark Templar, since deep cuts appearing in them before they fell on the ground in blood.
***
The Andronikos and the rest of the task force were still pulling back.
'Where are those tanks!' Boris released his anger. Ferguson looked at him but continued giving orders for task group three to move aside as if nothing had happened with the admiral. Behind them, the mutalisks were nervously keeping distance, as if avoiding confrontation.
'Sir, the message for volunteers recruitment has been sent to all the ships. The dropships will leave for the ground in fifteen minutes,' an operator confirmed.
'Are you sure that we can spare men, admiral?' Ferguson asked.
'Yes, it is necessary for the ground force. And, besides, the men are informed that the slab is here somewhere, they are ready to hold off the,' Boris was interrupted by coughing, 'Zerg, ahem.' It tasted like blood in his mouth.
Ferguson looked at his pale face and shrugged, 'As you say.'
'Sir, Colonel Summers reports that the tanks are in range to engage the enemy hydralisks,' an operator reported a few minutes later.
'Let them engage when ready. All task groups prepare to turn and attack by fire!' Boris ordered. 'Vice Admiral, I must take something from the doctor. You are in charge in the meantime.'
'Indeed you do, sir,' Ferguson was feeling a bit relieved that Boris noticed his condition.
The column Terran ships, accompanied by the Nerhala slowly began diverging with the first two task groups turning right, westwards, and the carrier and task group three turning sharply left. They also headed to a lower altitude, against the mutalisks.
The field was clearly visible one kilometer below, under the noon sun. Left of the majestic hammerhead of the flagship, Boris could see the dark dots of armored company two moving northeast towards another darker are of the ground – where the hydralisks were.
The task groups were now in position. Defensive matrices were formed by the science vessels and the first firing from the batteries greeted the Zerg, less than two kilometers northwards. The ships opened fire against the flying enemies.
Down below, the tanks advanced towards the hydralisks. They turned out to be targets of very adequate appropriate size so fire from the twin autocannons was devastating their lines even as the warships in the sky were beginning their fire. The tanks advanced through the field, breaking the enemy lines and melting their numbers under the thunder of the guns.
Suddenly, the mutalisks in the air also fell back. They had just began their assault on the battleships when they scattered across the sky in a few seconds of chaos, then left the combat northwards. The tank commanders didn't know what to do about that. If they were to be attacked, many tanks would be lost, since the machines were easy targets for air attacks and could be struck well before the big ships could come to repeal them. But, they turned north.
With the exception of one group of fifty to seventy mutalisks, which left the big group and initiated a big turn to the left, threatening to descend upon the tanks. Armored company two were already reacting to this and spreading out in the field to be more difficult targets, when they noticed that the mutalisks actually headed west-southwest, behind the battlefield. Powerless to change the strange behavior, the tank company was left to await new orders.
***
Chester and Konrad were on the move towards point three on the map. Point four was too dangerous to enter right now, plus this one was closer, so it was the obvious choice. They were followed by another dropship, as first and second platoon of INFCOM Delta were sent by Heuven to guard the sphere, given the location of the air force. The two dropships were flying southwards, away from the din of battle and Chester was holding tight the briefcase with the orrery, troubled by the enemies outside and irritated by the strange air of the cargo sector. The golden eagle glistened under the sun as the vessel was on course to the fourth location.
Suddenly, the dropship briskly tilted downwards and headed towards the ground. Nobody knew what was happening, except that it was evasive maneuvers, as the pilots were heard on the overhead radio. Someone suggested Zerg and Chester felt terrified. They could get the artifact! Then he felt the dropships slowing down, stopping, and gently hitting firm ground beneath. The marines instructed the scientists to look for cover under the dropships immediately and the gates opened. Something bad was going on.
***
Up in the Andronikos, Ferguson had noticed the sudden retreat of the Zerg. Had they decided that attacking the ground force would be more advantageous? A strange change of strategy, surely. He could, then, order nothing more appropriate than the fleet to pursue and fire until they were back close to the battalion.
The sudden dispersion of a group of mutalisks attracted his attention. They were flying in an unusual direction, down parallel to the length of one of the long straight lines of the complex. Why would they?
He immediately realized that the scientists with the sphere were there, on two dropships. Under the overhead lights of the bridge, his face was twisted in doubt.
'Adjutant, order all wraiths to engage those rogue air units! Immediately!' Ferguson quickly commanded. 'Rest of the ships, prepare to move to the strong points of the infantry battalion.'
All avaliable wraiths received the urgent orders and took off from the ships to intercept the mutalisks. At full speed, they flew several kilometers through the field, ready for an encounter.
***
Chester ran out of the interior of the dropship and looked around. Marines and firebats in black-and-gold combat suits, plus a few ghosts, were scattered in the field. Around them, looking in the direction of the battle. The platoon leaders instructed the scientists to get under the dropships and await further orders. Chester ran towards the other vessel, fifty meters away, in confusion, followed by Konrad, glanced at the skies above where the fighting was taking place. He saw a dark cluster of things in the air approach. Those must have been the Zerg! He quickly crawled underneath it, holding the briefcase tight.
He could sit upright under the smooth black hull of the dropship, so he waited attentively for something to happen. The marines and the ghosts across the open were waiting in battle stances, all looking in one direction. Then, the ghosts started firing. Soon, the sound of flapping wings filled the air and the marines, too, opened fire upwards. From under the dropship the Umojan knew that a battle was starting and tightened his grip of the metal briefcase. On the ground away, shadows of Zerg were seen coming.
Soon, the shadows were here and the trained shooters were retaliating even faster. One of the soldiers on the ground suddenly was blasted to pieces when two or three greenish organic things hit him from above and continued their path further on the dry dirt. The hissing and screeching of Zerg filled the air, adding to the noise of the rifles and Chester saw Konrad next to him cover his ears.
Something bulky hit the ground next to them with a thump. Chester turned and saw a pale tumor of sorts, the size of a barrel lie on the ground. The gross slimy thing had three green appendages curved sideways sticking out radially, but before he could gaze upon the Zerg abomination further, it tore to pieces and withered, soiling the ground with bile.
***
The wraiths were quickly shortening the distance between them and the mutalisks. When the two wings arrived, they saw the mutalisks engage two platoons on the ground. The wraith leader was gazing at the two parked dropships through the glass of his fighter and acknowledged the useful tactic to repel such air attack that the soldiers had employed. Might save the lives of the rest of them.
The Wraith-class fighters formed a huge wedge formation and flew straight into the group of mutalisks, firing anti-air Gemini missiles and the smaller lasers. The Zerg, focused on killing the infantry on the ground, were surprised by this and had to give in, inflicting only a single casualty upon the two groups. A few sweeps were the end of the enemies and the wraiths made a wide turn and headed back to the big ships.
***
From under the dropship, Chester was listening to the noise of battle. Something crashed into their dropship an the noise of twisting metal above meant that the vessel was damaged. More and more troops were dying when the sound of fighter engines rose above the common noise and lasers and rockets were now soaring somewhere above in the chaos. Chester did not know how much time had passed An explosion was heard and the wrecked metal body of a heavily damaged wraith fighter crashed in the ground thirty meters away with a loud Whaam! Among the flames and the wrecked wings, he could not see a pilot. Some time afterwards, the sounds of Zerg and of shooting were over and the wraiths left the scientists and the remnants of first and second platoon of infantry company Delta.
Chester crawled from under the dropship. Half the bodyguard were dead. One of the dropships, the one they were under, was damaged and the other one was in an even worse condition, unable to fly. The infantry platoons merged and everyone went aboard the remaining dropship to be taken to the third point.
Still shivering with adrenaline, Chester walked on up the huge stairs that encircled the structure. The pilot of the dropship, who had insisted on coming with them and the soldiers, broke the silence.
'I... I think I know why they came for us. I think I do.'
'Why?' was all that Konrad could ask.
'This dropship, LV426, it was flown before. The last pilot told me it was on service when the flagship had some sort of irremovable biological contamination. Guess that could have attracted them flyers.'
It was as if two cog wheels suddenly fit together with a click in Chester's mind.
He opened his mouth to explain the irony of the pheromone from when Boris had thrown the pendant, but remembered that the pendant, like most findings, was classified, and just laughed.
'Trying to relieve our spirits, eh?' the platoon commander smiled. Everyone walked up more jovially, except for the ever serious ghosts.
Point three was devoid of use. It lacked even runes. There were no hidden halls, no mechanisms or levers, nothing. The tired group left back for the dropship under the burning sun above.
***
The volunteers had been deployed to the fighting positions of the battalion and the tired marines rejoiced at the sight of fresh reinforcements. The Protoss warriors were somewhere ahead, lurking in the buildings and eliminating Zerg after Zerg and the Terrans knew that. Buzzes of psi blades were continuously heard and it kept the morale of the infantry, reminding them of friends who shared their cause.
Jones' first platoon of INFCOM Gamma was defending the third strong point in the battalion's line of defense. Aiding them were third platoon of the special ghost company, as well as, as scheduled, goliath-class walkers. Against them were many Zerg. Jones' platoon was busy with defending the space between the nearby buildings, tactically designated as street 1 out of three. The men were on the buildings and on the ground, repelling the creatures running down the street towards them. The firebats on the ground sent huge balls of flame towards anything that got too close, while the marines and the ghosts were doing the effective part of the killing. The resistance was tense and difficult, Jones knew. If it weren't for the Dark Templar to dilute the upcoming waves of enemies, the Terrans would surely have retreated by now.
Then, behind them, a dropship was approaching. It flew as low as possible, in an effort by the pilot to avoid the enemy in the air. The men were reassured as the dropship slowed down and landed on the stony square nearby. Twenty men ran down from its cargo compartment – volunteers from one of the ships that had put on the combat suits and were willing to fight for the cause. Jones looked at them and said over the radio.
'Greetings! I am Lieutenant Jones, company Gamma. You know what's going on here. The only thing I can tell you is to stick together and hang on. High command must have some more aces up their sleeve.'
The twenty men followed him in an unorganized group and assumed positions at the street that led northeast and joined the shooting.
The firefight was going bad. Platoon three were sending one hail of short, controlled bursts after another, but the enemy still pushed them backwards under the threat of fangs, claws, and spikes flying through the air against the soldiers. In one of the corridors, first squad had to retreat away from the great corridor where many Zerg now crawled. They exited through a huge gateway and into a cloister grown with old grass and mold. The men gathered up in the middle and their corporal evaluated the situation. The soldiers displayed low morale, their armor was battered and worn off, and the enemy was at the gates. Hell, at least they had plenty of ammo. He gave orders for his men to spread in important positions around the cloister from which they could maximize fire against whatever was at the gate.
A minute later, the Zerg attacked. Two zerglings jumped inside, but bursts from the rifles of the marines behind the door tore their bodies and they fell dead. A hydralisk followed, along with more zerglings, only to face the fire of the marines. Several streams of bullets soared into the head of the nightmarish alien and its blood spilled on the ground and the nearby walls as it was pushed back. A firebat stepped forward and unleashed a stream of searing napalm against the zerglings at the door that were a few meters away from him. Covered by flames, they screeched in pain and crawled against him, eager to harm the firebat with the last few breaths they had. They were finished by the flank fire of the three soldiers left of the door, in the walkway between the colonnade and the walls of the temple.
The corporal was attempting to contact the lieutenant and ask for reinforcements.
'Sir, we need reinforcements on this position, over!'
'Roger that, corporal, the goliath company has entered your premises and is soon going to arrive.'
'Can't they make it a bit faster? We're being pressed hard here!'
'Negative, corporal, you'll have to hold out,' the man on the other side of the radio seemed unconcerned with their plight. 'Good luck.'
As he was talking, the defense was breaking down. The marines could no longer keep the Zerg enemies at bay and the aliens were now assailing the individual sections of the platoon. Left of the corridor, the three marines – or volunteers, he could not tell – were desperately trying to push back the zerglings coming at them. Their short bursts were merging into longer ones under the pressure of stress and fear, but the alien beasts did not reach them. As the three prepared to find new targets, a hydralisk at the door turned at them and fired a hail of spikes at them. The two soldiers who were at the columns had their bodies impaled and they fell down in a pool of blood. Only the other one, who was standing close to the wall, only suffered one spike in his upper leg. He launched a grenade at the two-meter tall monster and killed it in a burst of flame. The corporal's voice was heard over the radio.
'Boys, we are to meet up with the rest of the company. They are two hundred meters down the corridor and will send some men to help. When they do, be ready for a... Argh!' he ducked and rolled aside from a zergling that almost leaped onto him. Another soldier took it down as it prepared to jump again. 'Be ready for a breakthrough! Now kill them!'
He stood up, looked at the stalemate at the gates, the several dead soldiers and the fearsome enemies and assumed firing position.
'Aaaaa! Die!' he shouted, raining death upon the Zerg that were pouring in.
The troops answered to the aliens' thirst for blood with angry bursts. Some of them leaped over the cover that the fense of the colonnade at the behind of the cloister provided and just kept shooting down the Zerg in bloodlust. The soldier with the wounded leg opened his visor and bravely stepped forward. Suddenly, he turned back and the sight of his face made the corporal exclaim. It was Paskirov.
***
The platoon was shocked. Their own admiral, here? Seeing him wounded they felt fear for the future of the mission. Who would lead them if he died?
But the fact that he had come as a volunteer poured new courage in their hearts. They felt closer to him now, seeing him fight and bleed like an ordinary troop. The men of the platoon were inspired. They let the medic take care of the admiral and stood against the attacks of the Zerg with valor and determination, like rocks against the waves of a sea, welcoming new Zerg with painful bursts of pain from their C-14 gauss rifles.
The first goliaths arrived with the loud hum of their twin autocannons blasting Zerg apart. The aliens soon stopped entering and fell back. The firebat at the door was breathing heavily and took a rifle from one of the dead troops. The corporal reloaded, feeling more at ease as the enemy now faced the heavy walkers and prepared to call for dropship to evacuate the wounded admiral.
Outside, Boris saw the metal bodies of the goliaths move forward with leaps and the Zerg up the street being torn apart by the powerful shots of the walkers. The machines walked forwards through the bodies of Zerg next to blood-stained walls and rubble and ruin.
Still, the strong points were weakened. The mines were expended and the fortifications, Terran- and alien-made, were in wreckage or useless. Each time the waves of monsters were going farther and the Terran defenses were pushed backwards a little.
***
In the Andronikos, Ferguson was standing among the personnel on the consoles, wondering where Paskirov had gone. Nobody in the medical sector had seen him and there were no people available to look for him right now. The vice admiral was disappointed and annoyed with this and the whole way the day was developing, with the Zerg clinging onto the Terran positions and so on. There was no point in staying in their current position any longer, so the task groups moved northwest under his command, towards the fire of the raging battle.
The wraiths arrived but the other mutalisks had not been eliminated and were confirmed to be heading towards the right flank of the Terrans. So, the ships were ordered to move there and provide air support to the last of their positions.
The wraiths returned, and the tanks were send to the assembly area before continuing, some dropships entered the docking bay, and the Andronikos, was overall on its course to aid the ground forces. Ferguson was observing the status of the tanks in the base and the thinned defenses of INFCOM Alpha and the progress of the heavy breed of Zerg that had surprised the defenders and had been pushing them back slowly but relentlessly.
'Sir, you are being called to docking bay six. It is important,' an operator said.
Skeptical about what could happen now, Ferguson decided to take some time while the ships were moving and ran towards the bay through the empty corridors of the battlecruiser. A dropship had landed and was awaiting him. A few people exited the dropship and attracted his attention. They were three servicemen and a marine carrying a wounded marine in. The vice admiral walked closer to see what this was about and froze in his steps when he saw Paskirov's face beneath the glass of the visor.
'Where did you find him?' his stern face immediately turned to the dirty and battle-weary men.
'Down with the boys from Gamma. He was wounded. We're sending him here to safety,' they worriedly supported him on their shoulders.
'To the medical sector!' Ferguson shouted. 'Now! I'll see him soon. What the hell were you thinking?' he leaned over the wounded admiral for a second, but Boris was unconscious and Ferguson headed back to the bridge.
***
There was only one point of interest left for Chester and Konrad to examine, number four. To their distress, it was located northwest of the battalion's right flank, within enemy reach. The dropship had stopped in the air one kilometer south of the eastern end of the Terran positions and Chester and Konrad, the ones de facto in charge, were deciding what to do.
'The objective is unaccessible and we can only wait for the battalion to clear the threat down below,' Konrad argued.
'We can't wait, man, the guys on the ground are tired and there's no way they can push back the Zerg. We have to go down there and fight our best and try to reach it,' the Umojan countered. Around him, the faces of the other soldiers, the survivors of the air attack, expressed distrust.
'How do you expect us to make a breakthrough? Look at us – we are practically expended. The troops, that is. Us people from the science team cannot even fight. It would be a suicide,' Konrad spoke as if for the whole group.
'Staying here will only doom them to death, can't you see?' Chester raged against the common unwillingness. 'Going down and contributing to the fight is the one best thing we can do for the success of the mission. Think about it!'
'And risk the loss of the orrery?' Konrad countered.
'I'm taking responsibility for that! The rest of you will just fight.'
'Fine, fine. We'll go there. Just, ehm, one more push, people,' the Tarsonian yielded.
The dropship landed at the crossroads of the temple's lines in the middle of the last battle position of hte battalion. The science group ran out of the vessel and breathed the air of battle. It was hot and saturated with chemicals from Terran weaponry and gross Zerg smells. Smoke was rising in the distance and the noise of shooting and explosions near and far surrounded them.
'Ok, what now?' Konrad was looking around for any Zerg. He and the other scientists were armed with pistols or small rifles found in the dropship.
'Now, we find the person in charge and offer him our services. And tell him that we need to go a couple of kilometers away to finish this,' Chester replied and walked forwards, followed by the troops.
The group went through the wide garden-like space and towards the noise of shooting. In the air above the nearby roofs they saw a dropship take off from behind the efidifices. The soldiers identified it as the combat service support and rushed to the area. On the other side of the archway they walked through there were servicemen and marines in an improvised camp. Men were bringing wounded and taking ammo away, while several people were operating some communications machinery.
'Who's in charge here?' Chester stepped forward.
A man in a combat suit with some stripes on it came to him. He had clear eyes and well-shaven face, although he was in his forties. 'I am. Who are you?'
'I am, er, Chester Fitzpartick, from the science team. Me and my group are looking for the location of the slab, as you probably know. The last possible place it can be is up that road, where it crosses the bow.'
'I am Colonel Heuven and I bid you welcome. You have the sphere, right?' he looked at the briefcase in the Umojan's hands. 'Good. Yet, bad news I hear from you. There are Zerg between us and your objective, kid. Four platoons are keeping this place safe and they cannot move through.' Heuven looked at the survivors of their bodyguard. 'And your friends don't look in top shape.'
'Can you at least cover us? We could try to make a run for it. We have demolitions and everything, all ready.'
Heuven looked at him in doubt. 'Not with what I have. Give me some time, I'll call the admiral and see what help he can give us.'
***
Ferguson was standing next to Boris' bed in one of the rooms of the infirmary, looking down at the wounded admiral and preparing to chide him.
'Sir, you aren't well. First, why did you leave us in the first place? We need you to lead the fleet!' he started. 'And what's wrong with your health? You are coughing blood, you are pale, the doctors say your organs are damaged... There is something we – or at least I – need to know.'
Boris stood up the bed.
'I'm terminally ill,' he saw Ferguson gasp. 'Richardson did not die how they described it – he was in the Andronikos during the repairs. He lured me to the reactor and irradiated me. I killed him and Major Williams helped me hide the body. I kept it all secret, vice admiral, in order to keep order in the fleet. Because that traitor attacked me in his irrational fear of our Protoss friends and I did not want to risk the morale of our troops, not now. '
'He must have also been angry about the death of Bracknell. I thought this could move him,' the vice admiral mentioned. 'Well, then, when will you die?'
'I was fine for a while, but the radiation poisoning is beginning to have its effects. My insides are dying. I don't think I'll make it back to Umoja.'
You won't make it out of this planet with this miserable health you have, Ferguson felt like saying but refrained. 'We'll do our best,' he promised, uncertain even of what that meant.
'No, you won't. I'm going back to command,' Boris stood up against his subordinate's attempts and got his uniform. 'I'll finish this, I'm not dying like McNorman!'
Back on the bridge, Boris was lame and pale, but kept on. He observed the gravity of the dispositions of the two sides and coughed. The fleet was getting reading of new Zerg coming from the warp portal in the northeast. The infantry battalion was caught in a mortal combat with the Zerg and its forces were growing thinner. There was no sign of the progress of the scientists. The men from the air force suspected that contact was lost and feared the worst.
'We will send task group two in the center. The Graf von Moltke will assist the boys, especially against the ultralisks reported,' Boris was explaining to Ferguson on the map.
One of the operators interrupted them. 'Admiral, Colonel Heuven requests contact.'
'Bring him on,' he replied and Heuven's image from the land camera appeared on the screen, low quality due to the unstable signal.
'Admiral! I am glad you are there. I just received some scientists and troops. It was that group with the sphere. They say that they have had their radio disabled and could not contact the fleet. Also, they have narrowed down the supposed location of the slab to one point. Unfortunately, it lies behind enemy lines, where the mutalisks are inbound right now. We cannot secure their advance.'
So, Chester had accomplished it, Boris smiled. The success of the mission suddenly felt tangible.
'Roger that, colonel, the cavalry is coming,' he happily informed Heuven. 'Hold on. And keep the scientists alive. As of now, they have VIP status.'
The Andronikos and the Hreimdar adjusted course for the rightmost battle position and led the wanderers with them. From the bridge of the Andronikos, the smoke and flashes in the structures and the fields surrouding the roads down below signified the raging battle. The battlecruisers opened fire where the enemy lines supposedly were, hurrying to aid the ground forces. The smaller batteries unleashed hell against the mutalisks, which, too, were soaring in that direction.
***
Chester and Konrad were now on the third floor of a building close to the front line. The platoons had taken positions in the buildings around them and were fighting back the Zerg. From the big arch window, they observed the battlecruisers and the smaller Wanderer-class ships approach and open fire to their sides, where the mutalisks were. Bright red dashes from their batteries lit the air before cutting into the Zerg cloud and hitting some of the mutalisks. The two opposite forces were like pincers ready to close above the right flank of the Terrans.
But, the mutalisks seemed faster. Chester retracted behind the wall when he saw waves of them descend upon the Terran lines with the familiar hissing and flapping. The fire from below was desperate and from the other window Chester could see the marines and ghosts take cover behind walls or rubble. The curved worm-like bodies of the mutalisks soared through the air spewing glaive worms downwards. One of them suddenly turned towards their building and Chester crawled away from the window. The scientists heard something hit the walls outside and splatter, and then the flying creature swooshed above them and flew away. They decided to move down the stairs.
From the smaller windows of the lower floor, they saw the hammerhead of one of the battlecruisers , as well as the black hull of a wanderer fill the sky. The view from the nearby hall provided a better view to the enormous hull of the battlecruiser above them. Distant buildings were cracking under the anti-gravity generators of the massive ship while lasers flew out of its hammerhead and body, directed at the mutalisks. The stylized white letters on its bottom read “Andronikos” - the flagship, and the scientists moved to the next hall to get a better glimpse of the mighty capital ship in action.
Mutalisks were flying upwards at the great neosteel shape in the sky and lasers were fending them off. Like bees, the fighters left the docking bays at the back of the hammerhead and descended downwards as a part of the just wrath of the majestic war deity of the Terrans that had appeared to guard its servants on the ground. With an electric buzz a tenuous teal shield of a defensive matrix appeared around it while the more round Wanderer-class vessels nearby fired in the air and to the ground. Everyone was keeping his breath while the huge ships flew over their hideout, casting great shadows on the ground. Then, the scientists decided to go to Heuven and see what was about to happen now.
***
On the bridge of the Andronikos, the success of their maneuver was questionable. The mutalisks were away, but not destroyed as needed. The ground force was too weak for a breakthrough. Chester was still down there, waiting for progress. Smoke was rising from the wounds of the ruined complex where the front lines were. Ferguson was seeing all this and was looking skeptically at the field.
'They just fled, commander.'
'If they come back it will be bad. We won't be able to protect the scientists down on the ground,' Boris mentioned, looking at the battle.
'What shall we do?'
'There is only one way to guarantee Chester's safety,' Paskirov paused. 'We will retreat and lead the Zerg away from Point 4.'
'Isn't it dangerous, sir?' Ferguson asked, but immediately regretted the saying something so obvious when the adimiral looked at him with tired eyes.
'Tell Heuven and all officers on the ground to prepare to retreat to the base and leave their defenses,' Boris said quietly. 'Let a dropship and one of the wings be ready to pick up the scientists and escort them to point four in zero five minutes.'
'Yes, sir.'
***
Chester and the others were still in the building when the shooting seemed to stop. A corporal came from downstairs and told them to follow him. On the streets, men, armored and unarmored, were taking away the supplies for battle. The group followed them to the small assembly area.
'Gentlemen, you are ordered to wait for a dropship to take you to point four,' Heuven explained. 'We are retreating. But, we are leaving you some of our men and some Dark Templar, too, as your bodyguard. You will get to point four and do your best, orders from the admiral.'
'So, we just wait?' Konrad was confused. 'The Zerg will come.'
'If they come before the evac, hide somewhere and wait. Here's flares,' he tossed a pistol and some signal rockets. 'Don't worry, you will be safe.'
Yeah, right, Chester thought, crossing the quadrangle and looking for a hideout. The warships had went back to their previous positions southwards and were firing at the Zerg from a distance. The group just went in the attic or whatever of the edifice and waited for their transports in silence.
On the streets down below, the sound of many legs walking through rubble and the hissing of Zerg was heard. A mutalisk shadow fell on the floor through the only window of the hall for a second, then disappeared. Everybody stood quiet.
Chester looked at his bodyguard. There were some ghosts, none of which was familiar. Also, marines, in the black-and-gold combat suits. And, several Protoss Dark Templar, clad in rags. Two of them wore not the black or gray colorless dirty clothing, but neater, purple ones. Although just as dirty. Also, one of the two had a golden shoulder pad with a smooth oval blue rock in it, as well as leg and wrist protection of the same manner.
Soon, the sounds of Zerg down below stopped and the group dared walk to the window. The dropship was coming, accompanied by wraiths, and soon the group was taken to the fourth point.
This temple was the biggest one yet. Huge and vaguely pyramidal, sections of its base were stained with blood and ash. They all walked inside and crossed some halls, led by the Protoss archaeologist. They stopped in a particularly spacious one at the top of the temple. In the middle, there was a very thick rock column. Seeing it, the Protoss kneeled and bowed down, forehead touching the ground. Before the curious eyes of Chester and Konrad, the archaeologist rose and was interpreted by the ghost.
'These are the round walls of the heart of the temple of the guardian. It fits, he says, a prophecy of some sort. The sphere will open it.'
***
Paskirov coughed again and this time it lasted for a whole minute. The pain in his abdomen was sharp and he had to hold on to one of the consoles to stay upright. The people on the bridge were scared with what was happening to him and kept working in fear. He angrily ignored that and kept commandeering as usual.
'Prepare to move here to cover the retreat of INFCOM Beta,' he pointed at a map and ordered the nearby operators.
'Sir, enemy air force inbound!'
'Stand and destroy them!' Boris shouted.
The two task groups assumed attack by fire position Cloud Nine and opened fire at the group of mutalisks in the distance. The enemy flyers were pursuing the retreating units from that last battle position, including the feign science group, who were all moving south.
Further away, the Terran force was in full retreat. The infantry was falling back through the last structures of the complex and into the open fields. Some were taken by the dropships, namely the wounded. Others were on the tanks and even on top the goliaths, holding on tightly while the vehicles pulled away from the enemy. The wild enemies were pursuing and were trying to cut the distance, while the armor was occasionally firing back, giving time to any men who were slower.
But, the Zerg were faster and reached the falling Terrans. A slaughter began when the last lines of the Umojans were attacked by the quick Zerglings and desperately shot back with rifles or autocannons against the masses of enemies. The hydralisks were leaving torn bodies of soldiers behind, while the zerglings and the ultralisks cut and trampled their way towards the Terran base.
In the air above them, the mutalisks were pursuing dropships chaotically in the air. The cracks and twisted scorched metal on the black and gold hulls of the Terran vessels revealed the damage to them, showing why many could not accelerate and flee.
Seeing the slaughter on the ground, Commodore Arnold of task group two ordered the ships to fire at will. The Graf von Moltke and the two Wanderer-class vessels lost altitude and opened indiscriminate fire against the multitude on the ground. The laser fire pushed back the Zerg lines at first, but the fanatic aliens relentlessly continued through the red wall. Hydralisks on the ground in front of them were now gathering. The ships focused fire on them, but countless spine needles flew towards the vessels and started hitting the neosteel like raindrops. The sensors detected hull damage, but Arnold stood there. While the Zerg around were now getting confused with the presence of the Terran ships, he held back, but when they gradually renewed their advance, he knew what he had to do. He ordered the Graf to advance down and northwards towards the enemies. The crew complied and in a final desperate maneuver, the Graf von Moltke swept the ground in front of it with battery fire, straight towards the ground attacks of the hydralisks.
The battered capital ship stood fast for several hundred meters of flying at three hundred meters and killing zerg with fire and pressure from the anti-gravity generators. Then, is wrecked hull gave up and the systems were all unoperational. The Graf von Moltke fell on the ground with smoke coming out of several places in its hull.
The other two task groups saw the tiny battlecruiser in the distance fall among the dust clouds above the field and accelerated towards the mutalisks in anger, vengeful for the fall of their comrades. The mutalisks succumbed to the Terran push and the survivors scattered in the sky. The task groups moved forwards with maximum speed to protect the retreating battalion while the Nerhala left them and headed to the Zerg wormhole to do what it can and meet its former adversaries in an attempt to gain more time.
***
The strange silence of the temple was eerily tranquil to the battle-tired troops. Chester was taking out the sphere and preparing to place it in the orifice that had opened when the Protoss pressed some rocks.
'Now, we have to leave,' one of the ghosts interpreted, 'all of us with psionic gifts.'
Konrad watched them move into the distance of the neighboring hall, then placed the sphere in the bowl on the ground.
In front of his surprised eyes, the runes on the floor started glowing in bright light, shifting their colors. As if light was pouring outwards from the sphere, other runes farther and farther away in the hall began glowing, too, filling the murky hall with magical brightness. Then, he column in front of them started to sink in the floor. Slowly, it went all the way down in and the two saw that it was not a column at all, but rather a thick cylinder.
Inside of it, there was a thin etched altar and on it stood a thick rectangular plate made of glass with a myriad of miniature markings on it. The slab, Chester, realized and his pupils dilated.
Behind him, the ghosts and the Protoss were hypnotized. The archaeologist knelt again in deep veneration. The dancing lights of the runes on the wall were broken through the prismatic interior of the slab and sprayed rainbow resplendence upon the observers. The light of the runes then paled and turned to white again, but through the arcane artifact, it still glistened in all colors.
Suddenly, it occured to the Umojan: it was not made of glass. It was made of diamond.
***
He and Konrad were the only people who were not amazed at that moment. For they saw the thick little slab, smaller than Chester's portable computer, and knew that their task had suddenly become impossible. The others did not realize this, but the two knew that only diamond could break down light like this. And only diamond and a few other compounds could resist the explosives that the group had brought here to destroy it.
'Um, people...' Konrad broke the silence and the others looked at him. 'This may sound bad to you, but the slab is made of diamond.'
The other scientists and some of the soldiers were taken out of their trance. The scientists explained why this was bad and bitterness was added to everyone's exhaustion.
'We should still try to blast it,' one of the engineers mentioned.
'It will be futile, but let's.'
The explosion from all their plastic explosive around the slab opened a huge hole in the ceiling of this and the neighboring halls, but the slab still stood. Within the altar it was put on, a thick diamond spine it was held by that reached deep down beneath the floor. It was like another adamantine hand that reached out from times unknown in its smooth perfection and refused to release the desired slab from its iron grip.
The purple-clad warrior walked at it with fury burning in his purple eyes and stuck his psi blade in the body of the spine, just beneath the two loops that passed around the dents at the base of the slab and kept it still. The psi blade hissed and sparkled against the diamond, but noting happened. Chester was breathing heavily under the noon sun, knowing that this mission had failed.
'What shall we do?' one of the soldiers asked and fired a few rounds into the slab without any success.
'We could call an air strike from a battlecruiser to blast it with its huge laser batteries,' one firebat suggested.
'They can't aim it right, it's too difficult. It will be like trying to hit a desert rat in the eye,' Chester remarked.
'The Protoss psi things are useless...' the corporal looked at the slab with disappointment.
'High temperatures could destroy the diamond,' Konrad said.
'Let's get on with it,' the firebat stepped through the rubble and fired napalm against the artifact. Nothing happened.
'We need it higher than that.'
'If we had a nuke...' Chester sighed and looked down.
'Yea, that would have done it.'
'Wait, the sun could do!'
'What?' the Tarsonian was confused.
'A huge lens? It will focus the rays of the local star and heat up the slab to such temperatures that it will surely evaporate,' Chester explained.
'Alright, first of all, are you sure this will work?' the corporal asked. 'And second of all, how the hell do we get the lens?'
'It will, it has happened before, when chemistry was young...' Konrad began.
'We'll make it right up. But we'll need some stuff,' Chester said and began conversing with him and the others from the science team.
***
Ten minutes later, a dropship came and hovered at the top of the temple. From inside, two goliaths walked out, hauling boxes with something. The curious troops hauled one of them down to the ground while the goliaths walked around the slab, pushing the rubble from the explosion aside and crushing the walls that were still standing. Down on the ground, the scientists were standing around a shallow hole in the ground. With a stick with two flashlights tilted slightly towards each other on it, they were lighting the ground while Konrad was taking measurements and Chester was calculating something on the laptop. The Protoss warriors watched the strange raising and lowering of the stick and then some additional digging and putting dirt on other spots. The working group then separated the two layers of an escape pod parachute and lay one of them in the crater-like hole with the silvery side facing upwards. They were doing it quickly, but the soldiers were already regretting the half an hour lost in this useless labor.
At least they could watch the nice shape of the golden carrier moving north-east. They they discerned groups of mutalisks in the sky and some more enemy hordes on the ground and readied their weapons.
'Wow, machine glue,' a marine saw the tubes of grayish liquid that were being emptied over the chute.
'Yea, I've seen 'em use it to patch up the tanks. Damn hard for a day or two, you can make a whole new tank out of it, it's that hard,' the corporal was sitting down. 'If you add water, it becomes transparent and you can make your window, hahah... Wait! They're making a mirror! They're making a damn mirror!' he stood up and pointed at the ground.
And, indeed, they were. After ten minutes, the huge thing was ready and was suspended on a rope to be taken by the dropship up to the slab. The soldiers were looking at the five-meter tall concave mirror with hope as it was tied to the two goliaths for support and turned to face the sun. Away in the fields, the Zerg were approaching.
'Well,' Chester dusted off his hands next to the corporal, 'all we can do now is wait and hope.'
Their creation was aligned so that many rays of the sun were now redirected straight into the slab. The artifact glowed with blinding bright light under the immense heat directed towards it. Everyone who could inhale held their breath.
***
Williams and a few other ghosts had been running through the long line of structures that went north of the field of retreat and the assembly area. The Zerg were fast upon them, but the well-trained men quickly made their way on roofs and upper stories, keeping distance. Looking left, the major could see the chaos of the battle. The Graf von Moltke lay down far away, with Zerg trying to get in. The tanks and goliaths were suffering attacks from the Zerg while attempting to make the retreat at least somewhat organized and the Zerg kept attacking mercilessly. Soon, those efforts were abandoned, and everyone was running for his life in an attempt to get to the safety behind the last Umojan line of defense, which was the line of buildings in front of assembly area “Base.”
There were no news of the slab. He wanted to call someone above, someone who could tell him what was going on, but knew that it would be in vain and that such calls always came from the top down.
They soon had to descend to the ground to continue. The tired soldiers threw away their equipment except for the most vital things and the weapons and took a break for a minute, listening to the tumult of the slaughter in the field. As they proceeded out of the tunnel and into the big local square, they saw zerglings run out of an edifice on the opposite side. Behind them, the hissing of the enemies was drawing closer and it seemed like a dead end. The five ghosts looked around and awaited orders from Williams.
'Five meter spread, go, go, go!' he shouted and ran sideways, aiming at the first enemy he saw and rapidly eliminating it.
Around him, the ghosts were executing the last desperate maneuver for this lost day. The group of enemies charged towards the men with terrifying screeches, but the ghosts were trained to endure far greater psychological pressure and did not stop their resistance. Williams saw that a zergling was now just a few meters and set aside the rifle, took out his knife and jumped aside, stabbing it in the abdomen when it pounced towards him. The creature fell clumsily on the ground, but was still alive. Williams took the canister rifle and rose above it with a roar. The stock landed on the zergling's head and killed it. The major turned around. A hydralisk on its snake-like body rose in front of him.
'So, you want a piece of me?' he held tightly the rifle. The alien hissed and gargled with hellish fury, looking at him with burning eyes.
Then, it jerked forward. It convulsed as its back was being torn apart by the wide swings of a Dark Templar's psi blades and fell down on the ground.
'Are you alright?' Williams heard Adelnur.
'Yes, yes,' the major looked around. Some more Protoss had arrived to aid the ghosts. 'We need to move, they will be here any minute.'
'Let us to the field.'
***
On the bridge of the capital ship of the expeditionary fleet, Boris was pale and feeling too sick to look at the maps. He just stood against the wall, keeping himself upright, while Ferguson faithfully directed the maneuver against the mutalisks and towards the last positions of the infantry. The casualties were immense and the Zerg forces now vastly outnumbered the Terrans. The coming of the battlecruisers was unlikely to change the events and Boris thought of the imminent defeat. The battalion was done with. Should they leave? Surely, the Confederates would. Leaving men behind... But it was pointless. The ground force was crushed and neither the Terrans, nor the Protoss had anything left to keep the race against the Zerg going. Today's defeat marked the beginning of the end, he thought, for him, for the fleet, for Umoja and perhaps for the Koprulu sector. What chance did they have, anyway? The Swarm was vast and furious, the mighty terror of the stars that they had stumbled upon was beyond their skill. The Protoss... They had spent their immortal brilliance and prowess on quarrels and treachery. They, too, would fall.
The noise of enemy fire hitting the neosteel armor of the Andronikos resonated through the hull and was heard on the bridge. Boris just looked emptily in front of him.
***
At the temple, Chester was shivering with the adrenaline, waiting for something to happen. The field was lost. They had to destroy the slab and then try to fleet in the confusion once the mysterious guardian appeared, or they would stand no chance against the Zerg. His eyes were hurting from looking at the bright slab too often. He felt the heat.
A loud explosion in the distance drew his and his team members' attention. A cloud of bright blue flames illuminated the last stand of the destroyed carrier where Zaraldis had sacrificed himself to hold the new waves of the advancing Swarm. The dark multitude around where the Nerhala stood swung forward towards the Xel'Naga complex. The soldiers spread out and assumed positions, knowing that their futile numbers were no match for the might of the Zerg. Doom was coming for the expeditionary fleet.
It was at that moment that a black cloud erupted with a crack and a hiss that turned to the ringing of metal. Chester turned around and saw the adamantine vestige of an unknown hallowed age finally yield to the focused rays of the sun in the sky. The power they had harnessed vaporized the artifact and it had vanished in the black smoke of hot carbon.
Chester was about to erupt in laughter and happiness when the buzzing ringing around him grew louder. The structure and the ground beneath him and the others started shaking and they all looked around in terror. Light came out of the windows of the lower levels of the temple they were on, and then out from the runes in the rooms of the surrounding buildings, and then from bright blue lines and signs in the interior of every structure they could see. The whole complex was being lighted.
***
Williams and his ghosts had to retreat to the round roof, pushed by the Zerg beneath. The Dark Templar were yielding, when he saw bright white light spread out in the distance. It was engulfing the horizon, filing the skyline of the ancient complex with radiance. Above him, the sky darkened. The sunlight turned dim and only the arcane glow filled the air.
***
'Come, sir, I've ordered the dropships to move down and take our men. We'll fight another day,' Ferguson was standing over Boris' face. The admiral was sitting against the wall holding back the pain and wishing he didn't have to.
Ferguson raised him and looked outside. He froze at the amazing new sight out on the field.
The whole complex was alight in white. The skies were dark now and sunlight was gone, but down below it was like the very earth had tore open and luminescence from beneath was erupting in pure brightness. Paskirov saw this and hurried to the window with his vice admiral's help.
In the center of the temple, the light was the strongest. Boris looked there and saw lightnings crawl on the surface of the weary old edifices while rocks were being lifted from the complex' very body and taken up in the air by the swirling ball of light. They were assembling into one and at that moment, all eyes that could look were focused on what was forming in the heart of the Xel'Naga sanctuary.
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