StarCraft Prisoner of War

Prisoner of War

Chapter 1- The Battle Begins

-Part 1-

Preparation

The tank rolled loudly against the gravel, making its way across the vast desert beyond. I sat alone, except for the colonel to my side. He wasn't wearing his battle armor. Instead in a white sweat-filled tank top, his famous green baseball cap, and puffy brown pants, with black boots.

I was in battle armor. Ready, at anytime, to defend the Sons of Korhal. The Confederacy was having problems with us. Big ones. So big, they even dared to use nuclear weaponry. A nuke hit the main planet, Korhal, killing thousands of civilians… No one of any governmental importance. Just civilians.

Bastards.

This planet, what-ever it was called, had a large desert, right in between the Sons of Korhal base, and the Confederacy infiltration center. They were training ghosts there. Me and hundreds of others were being sent in to take them out.

The colonel coughed, and pulled out a cigarette. I lowered my head and looked at my weapon. A Gauss Rifle. One of the most powerful weapons known to man. I had heard that the Protoss had even better weapons. Weapons that could rip through armor like butter. My slugs aint that good.

The colonel took a puff of his cigarette then looked at me. I thought about what lay ahead. Bodies. Lots of them I guessed. And wounded. And soldiers, blaring weapons at one another.

"You know," the colonel puffed out a silky silver string of smoke from his mouth as he spoke. "We really shouldn't be killing each other. We should be teaming up on them Zerg."

"Yeah," I agreed. It was silent again. I looked around the tank, wondering if I was the only man riding one into the field. Probably not. Most men were taking drop ships, but the back-up, like me, usually traveled by land, due to drop ships being used for a general retreat, when needed.

The colonel puffed another streak of smoke, and spoke again. "When you go out there, boy, you best watch out for ghosts. We got Science Vessels, disrupting their cloaking shields, but their probably not gonna last to much longer, their probably the first thing them Ghosts go after."

"Yeah," I agreed again. Silence followed. Obviously the colonel didn't like silence. I did. Especially now. I didn't want to talk. I wanted to get ready to fight. Preparing myself. Mentally that is. It's a psychological thing, fighting is. Takes thought. Can't just jump in with a gun and start blasting heads off. Those are always the guys who die first. You have to think logically. Place yourself at an advantage point, and preserve ammo. That's the secret. It's not a video game where you have more than one life. I'm not extendable, and when I die, I can't restart.

"You're a quiet little soldier aint you?" The colonel asked, puffing again. He put the cigarette out on the metallic floor of the tank, and lit a new one, using a match.

"Yes," I said. "I like quiet."

"It aint gonna be quiet out there in the battle field, I tell you what."

Silence. The beauty of silence. The colonel stopped talking for the rest of the trip and it was quiet, aside from the bumps and creaks of the tank. The trip to the battle field seemed to last for an eternity.

Silence died. Soft, gunshots from a distance echoed through the area. Lots of them. Fast 'boom's' from Gauss Rifles, loud but slow, 'Ka-Pow's' from shotguns, and light 'froosh's' from flamethrowers.

"Hear that?" colonel asked me. "That's the sound of battle, boy. Get used to it now. It gets louder though. Much louder.

"I've fought before." I murmured. The colonel looked at me funny.

"Well you don't seem so Gung-Ho, about fighting. What are you, the quiet one who blind fires over a rock?"

"Sort of." I said. The colonel gave me a disapproving look. The guns blared louder now, as the battle came closer. The tanks were lining up now, and the creeks and groans from other tanks became audible as they lined up in battle formation, preparing to fire. As soon as the sieged, the back up marine's and firebat's were to leave the tank and enter the battle.

"I won't be out there." The colonel said, matter-of-factly. "I have to coordinate this here tank. So I'm sorry, son, but I can't teach you how to fight like a man out there. Guess you'll just have to hide and sissy fight."

I almost snorted, but held it in. There was no way he would take me laughing at him.

The sound of battle seemed to be three inches from my ear. The tank expanded and planted itself to the ground. The back door to the tank opened. And I jumped out.

-Part 2-

-The Fight-

I exited the tank looking around me… Just the vast desert. I turned to run to the opposite side of the tank where the battle was taking place. As soon as the battle was visible, I felt a sharp pain in my chest area and fell right then and there.

Blood almost squirted from my chest. I looked out at the field, from the ground and saw hundreds of Ghost's almost surrounding the few marines left, including the new back-up. The tanks were firing at the Ghosts, but it didn't seem to be doing much. Before I knew it a tank on the east-side, exploded, and sent yells from the men inside.

I tried to stand up, but failed miserably and just fell right back down. Useless. I began pulling myself forward, to a rock up ahead, to provide myself some cover. I had to stop the bleeding, and fast, I told myself. It was bad.

A loud pop went above my head, where I realized a ghost was standing. He was right on top of the rock, aiming for my tank's engine, to blow it up, and then to proceed to the next tank. He didn't see me.

I saw him.

Clutching my Gauss rifle, and pulling it forward I carefully aimed at the ghost's chest. It seemed to be aiming directly at the engine, now, and I had to finish the job quick. I pulled the trigger tight, and missed. The entire clip missed.

Suddenly there were two rocks, and two ghosts… Because of the shot to my chest, I was having double-vision. The ghost looked down to where I was and seemed to laugh. I reached to my side, to pull out another clip, when the Ghost fired. It seemed to rip right into my left shoulder, and almost make my left arm limp. The pain was so intense, I just sort of fell into a daze.

There were five ghosts, and five rocks now, spinning in circles above my head. The Ghost apparently thought I was dead. I could hear the colonel inside the tank yelling something about air support. The Ghost took one last shot at the engine and my tank exploded, in a huge fiery ball, sending metallic pieces flying everywhere.

A chunk of the metal flew at the Ghost, and went straight into his chest, cutting him open. His guts seemed to almost fall out, when he fell, right next to me.

The world went black after that.

I woke up, to a dusty, dirty smell. My chest didn't hurt quite as much, and I couldn't feel my left arm. Opening my eyes revealed a cracked concrete floor, wall, and ceiling. It also revealed a pack of metal bars, and a Confederate guard staring at me from behind them, smirking.

-Part 3-

-P.O.W.-

The guard looked at my eyes and laughed. He wasn't wearing battle armor… and just then I realized neither was I, instead in my white tank top, too big jeans, and black sneakers.

The guard had a dirty face, and a 5 o'clock shadow. His face was pretty dirty, as if he had just rolled around in the desert, and he was holding a Gauss rifle in his hands. His blue eyes narrowed at me and he spit at me, missing only by inches.

I tried to stand up, but with my left arm not responding my body just sort of slipped left, and fell back down on the ground. "You're one lucky son-of-a-bitch, you know that, right?" The guard said, in a crackly voice.

"I don't feel lucky…" I murmured more to myself than him. He just spit at my face again, this time actually hitting me, on my right eyebrow.

"Well you are. You're the only survivor from you're little attack. Took some patching up from a few medics though. Lucky son-of-a-bitch." The guard coughed, and turned around. He sat on a wooden chair behind him, and looked at me.

I attempted to stand up again, and managed it. Lifting myself using my right arm, and my legs worked quite well, and I found myself a bed to my rear. I laid down on it, and used my right arm to wipe the spit off my face. There was a question itching at me, and I had to ask it.

"What exactly happened out there? We out-numbered you… Plus we had mechs… How'd you guys win?" I asked. My voice sounded rusty, and I had a frog in my throat that didn't seem to go away, no matter how much I coughed at it. After a few seconds of coughing the guard looked at me, and coughed himself.

"You sick, boy?"

"No…" I said, once again in a rusty voice. I used my right arm, and rubbed my throat gently, to try and clear it. Didn't work. The guard looked at me funny again, and put his Gauss rifle on a small wooden and old looking table, next to his chair.

"Y'know, I don't much like talking ta little Sons of Korhal bitches like you. So if we could keep the talking to a minimum from here on in, I'd appreciate it." The guard said, and rubbed his eyes. I almost laughed but held it in. He was the one talking to me.

"That question you asked… What's it to you?"

"Nothing…" I croaked threw my rusty voice. "Just wondering, that's all."

"We're the best trained elite force in this side of the Galaxy. That's how." I let these words soak in for a moment, and then thought of why my own team didn't know about this. Why didn't they know we were basically going into battle with the most deadly group of men there were. But then again, he could be lying. They could have had a wraith strike… or turrets or something.

I yawned, just realizing how tired my body was. Although it seemed as though I had been out for hours, I still felt like I needed a 12 hour sleep. Or maybe it was just my mind wanting to escape this place. Maybe I just was dreaming, and I would wake up with a few medics around me, tending my wounds.

But that wasn't possible, and a voice in the back of my head reminded me of it, every time I thought I was about to wake up and be pampered, loved and thanked for my duty at war… even though I didn't do shit.

I rested my head on a dirty looking pillow and closed my eyes. Soon enough I drifted off to sleep, wondering what would happen the next day, or if I would wake up to find it was only a dream. But when I thought of that, the voice in the back of my head, reminded me that, that was not going to happen.

Chapter 2- Escape

-Part 1-

-Reality-

The next week went by quite the same as the first day; small talk with the guard, no questions answered, left arm numbness (although slowly beginning to work, still entirely useless), and a raspy voice. On the fourth day I finally realized the routine of the day. One meal, two waters, and no clean clothes.

Escape was the only thing I really thought about. Plans in my head, all (of course) completely impossible. Stuff like 'I'll pretend I'm sick' or 'I'll dig my way out'. But still, I thought about it, every waking moment.

The guard forced small talk every now and then, but nothing to my concern. He'll start going on about his wife back home, or his war stories… completely boring shit I didn't care about. When ever I pissed him off by ignoring him or trying to tell him my own stories he would tell me to shut up, and spit in my face.

The reality of my situation was sort of becoming bigger and bigger. I realized over the week that my situation was only getting worse, by me becoming hungry and thirsty. Plus the realization that there was no way out of here kept banging the back of my head, trying to escape through-out the rest of my brain, and have me dwell on the horrors of the feelings I knew were there. But my brain kept pushing them farther inside my head, keeping hopes high.

As high as my hopes were the voice in the back of my head never stopped. Always reminding me of how impossible my plans were, and how horrible my situation was.

Sleep was hard to get in this place. I would sleep for three hours a night, due to my horribly uncomfortable bed. When I finally slept, the guard would usually wake me up soon afterwards to give me my only meal of the day.

As for my dreams, they were horrible. Worse than the voice in the back of my head.

-Part 2-

-Big Boom-

I sat on the extremely uncomfortable bed, rocking slightly side to side. My stomach, seeming to scream at me for food, was hurting regularly now. I lost a good 15 pounds I guessed. My stomach was flat, and the fat I had once had on my cheeks were gone, I could feel it. It also roared with thirst. For the last three days, water had been given to me in small portions due to a sudden massive drought in the area.

I remembered droughts usually lasting for weeks. Back when I was only ten, I had learned this the hard way. A large drought in the area, the planet was called Athernon-Uno, killed both of my brothers. With just me left, after the drought ended, things were more rough then ever. My father harvested minerals, along with everyone else on the planet who in turn passed it on to the Confederacy. (Although I know now that that was a huge mistake) They in turn would give us the right to the planet. As long as we harvested, we stayed.

"So…" The guard grumbled hoarsely. He took a sip from a bottle of waster he had next to him and looked at me. He looked disgusted. "What-chyew thinkin' 'bout boy?"

"My old home… Say, I never asked… what's your name?" This question popped out of my mouth like a bullet, and it seemed to hit him in the head. The guard looked genuinely shocked.

"WHAT THE FUCK YOU WANTIN' TO KNOW MAH NAME FOR, HUH?" The guard roared. I almost fell over in surprise at his sudden outburst over such a small question.

"I-I'm sorry… I was j-just curious tha-that's all…" I mumbled, looking away, almost ashamed.

"You better be dip-shit."

An hour or two passed of silence. The beauty of silence, I used to say. But that was when everything was noisy and loud. Now that it actually was silent most of the time I hated it. The eerie-ness of it. The fact that the only thing heard was breathing, or heart beating. It was ridiculous. Noise was a wonderful thing I thought, now. Beautiful in it's own way. As though God made it, just for the fact of the horrible silence that was not noise. As though God himself agreed with the thought I had right here. Silence was horrible, and it was scary.

Silence however, was interrupted abruptly by a swirl of loud explosions, followed by one massive 'BOOM'. The ground shook and I slipped off the bed. The guard fell off his chair and looked around desperately as if asking the walls what to do. A siren blasted off somewhere in the distance, not too far away. Another boom, followed by a few more louder ones, each time, something exploded the next one would be louder, and the ground would shake more.

Carpet bombs.

The bombs were getting close to this prison, I could feel it. My muscles tensed up, and my body froze, just waiting for the explosion to erupt in my face, and burn me to my bone in a matter of seconds, finishing me and everything around me off.

However that didn't happen. Instead the explosions stopped. And instead of fiery roars through the air, there was nothing pure silence. The worst silence ever, as if I had gone deaf. All noise seemed to evaporate. I tried to yell, but the noise coming out of my mouth seemed to disappear right as it came out, and was pure silence yet again.

Then it happened, so fast that it took me a minute to grasp it. The noise came back abruptly, a millisecond later a huge explosion, the big boom I would call it later, erupted right in front of me. The fire ripped the walls off the prison, and the skin off my guard. The guard went flying back, dead about thirty feet backwards (The wall being ripped down allowed this great distance), and made me, barely scratching me, go flying back a good ten feet, landing in the silky sand of the vast desert.

I sat there looking around in disbelief that I had not even been scarred. The heap of blood and muscles just fifty feet away from me was a man that was only four feet to my left, tops, when the explosion hit. But the disbelief quickly faded away, and I realized what was most important. This was my chance.

I could escape.

-Part 3-

-The Run-

I looked around, a bit frenzied and shocked, but none-the-less, fully aware of my situation. The air was thick with smoke now, and ashes of burning things were landing all around the desert. I looked past my jail cell to see other buildings trashed as well, and other heaps of blood strewn on the ground. I sat up, then stood up, and took one more gasping look at my surroundings before turning toward a set of caves and mountains just to the east. The mountains were large pointy, and a shade of orange. The caves were half-oval shaped and looked pretty damn dark.

That was my only choice for now.

But first I needed some sort of weapon… So I searched. I searched through the bodies, ignoring the yelling and screaming people around me, who seemed not to notice who I was. A few minutes later I found a pistol, a survival knife, and a Gauss rifle with a few clips. I grabbed them all, put them on my back, and ran for it, fast as I could toward the caves.

Then something even worse than before happened. Protoss.

A huge yellow object in the shape of two bananas attached by a twig, sort of, was floating thousands of feet in the air. I knew what it was. An Arbiter. It transported units from one place in the galaxy to another by using a wormhole or something, and re-modeling the molecules to that certain area. I had studied that stuff before joining the Sons of Korhal. Knowing the enemy was almost as good as killing the enemy. Because if you knew them, you could kill them.

That was Mengsk's saying anyway. Huge blue circles arose just feet in front of me, and they swirled clockwise for three seconds, before the circles disappeared and instead a Zealot took it's place. I quickly lowered myself to my knees, hoping that I was showing respect to the creatures and they would not harm me.

This failed immediately. A Zealot swung a Psi Blade at me, but I dodged it by tripping myself backwards and landing on my back. At the same time I pulled out the gauss rifle and embedded 16 bullet's into the Zealot's mouth-less face. It fell to the ground with a thump, and a blue swirl of energy rose from where it once stood, and evaporated above it.

I stared open mouthed at the odd and purely mysterious actions of the creatures soul, or what ever it was. I stopped staring remembering there were more than just one Zealot. They were all running around however, not paying attention to me, probably suspecting the Zealot had killed me.

I looked up into the sky where Sons of Korhal bombers were being destroyed by the arbiter by big blue puffs of energy that seemed to explode almost like a missile into the side of the bombers. They fell one by one, un-able to fight back.

I took advantage of the fact no one was paying attention to me, and once again began running toward the cave. I was getting really close now, but I was sweating very profusely and my stomach was hurting more than ever.

Something, possibly even worse than before, happened suddenly. The ground shook, but not because of bombs. Instead holes emerged from the ground, and Zerglings came popping out of them, right in front of me. Knowing that my situation couldn't possibly get any worse I ducked behind a boulder before any Zerg could see me. Instead they ran off toward where the Protoss were killing off the last few Confederacy members left.

Sure that the Zerg weren't paying attention to me anymore, I took off to the caves yet again. But something noticed me, again. A lurker. A pile of spikes in a single file line came popping out in front of me. Rolling out of the way just in time, I landed next to another rock, and rammed my shoulder into it violently. The shoulder popped out of place, and an immense pain ruptured though my already wounded shoulder.

Ignoring the pain, I once again leaped away from an oncoming barrage of spikes speeding there way toward me from under the ground. It was then that I realized the Lurker was basically stopping me from entering the cave. It was guarding it in a way. I ripped out the Gauss rifle, with my working arm, and shot the ground near where I guessed the lurker was. The sand puffed up in dust for a few moments, and then some red slop bubbled out from the ground. It was dead.

I dropped the Gauss rifle and used my good arm to pop my other arm back in place. It hurt a lot, but it was working now. Quickly I picked up the Gauss rifle, re-loaded it, and ran into the darkness of the cave, preying for there to be water in there… and possibly food.

Chapter III-Survival

-Part I-

-Escaping my Escape-

Running, as fast as I can, into the cave, the darkness swirled around me. I slipped farther and farther into the cave, trying to escape everything, trying to hide from everything, and trying to forget everything. Running, running and running, faster and faster, farther and farther.

I slipped, fell on something blunt, and passed out.

"Trust me…" the voice said. "It's the best thing to do…"

"Wuh?… but… I don't want to join them…" I moaned. My father stood before me, in his faded blue overalls, white T-shirt, and dirty blue baseball cap, a rifle over his shoulder. His un-shaven face was dark and tattered. Blood was dripping from his torso, the overalls had a small tear near his torso, the shape of a bullet mark.

"Please… for me!" My Father said, falling to his knees. The dusty brown dirt on the ground puffed slightly at the sudden weight. My Father heaved a deep breath. "Please, son… do it for me…"

"Like… what… avenge you or something?"

"Yes." And with that, my father fell face first into a pile of dirt. Tears slipped through my eyes, and I too fell to my knee's, and for the first time since I was four years old… cried. For my father.

Under my breath, and threw the tears, I swore to myself… I would avenge him. Just like he asked. I would fight. I would kill. The Confederacy would soon die.

I awoke, tears in my eyes, not remembering the dream I had, but remembering I had had one. My head hurt and had a large bump on it. I was breathing heavily, and my stomach was literally screaming in hunger.

Small little pockets of light poked through the ceiling of the cave, the one bit of luck I had, and made the cave visible, but just barely. I wondered how far I had run… and from which direction. There were four different paths to take, and I had no sense of direction.

Nothing to eat, and nothing to drink was the first thing I noticed. At least not from what I could see. Although there were small bit's of vegetation… little pockets of grass (where the sunlight shone) so I figured there had to be some sort of water source… maybe if I dug in the ground? Or was it from rain?

Well, I could eat the grass, I figured. May not be that filling, but it was food.

A few days went by… At least I think a few days went by, and not much happened. Much like in the prison at the Confederate camp, I had very small amounts of food, and barely found a good source of water. Digging in the ground was the only way I had found out. Small bits of dirt filled water would eventually pop up after digging a good three-four feet. It was a huge pain in the ass, but it was completely necessary. There wasn't much in those water pockets though, most likely due to the drought. I prayed that it would soon end… not to God.

I lost all faith in him when my father died three years ago.

Instead I just prayed to the water basically. Asking the water to drip from the skies and fall pleasantly to the ground. The water refused to do such a thing… afraid of the height probably, I told myself. I laughed at that soon afterwards, remembering that water did not have a brain. Things like that were sort of fading away in my mind. Common sense. Going crazy, maybe… delusional… I was even having hallucinations of tables filled with tasty food. I could almost smell it. But when I reached the table, it disappeared, and there was just air.

Of course this was all happening more than just a few days later. By the time I was having hallucinations I had probably been down there for maybe…two weeks? It seemed impossible but true.

All this time, searching and searching for the way out, but probably just going deeper and deeper into the cave. The whole time, keeping the Gauss rifle and hand gun closely by my side, never knowing what might be ahead.

Although slightly strange, I was trying to escape my escape.

-Part II-

-Zerg-

Stepping, as silently as I could, clutching the Gauss rifle tightly, I slipped through the darkness, listening to the small screams and high pitched screeches.

At first I had thought it wasn't real, just another one of my delusions, but the screeching didn't stop. It had to be real. The screaming was getting louder now, and I could tell there had to be many Zerg's out there, screaming and screeching. Maybe even in the hundreds…

Doing my best to be completely silent, I took one step after another, very carefully, making sure not to step on something that may break, or cause me to trip. It was a few minutes before I finally saw them. Peeking my head around a corner, I saw a large group of roughly 50 Zerglings, a few Hydralisks… and one Ultralisk.

They were all roaring to one another, just sort of running around. They were in a huge almost flat area inside the cave. It had to be 1000 feet wide, and 700 or so feet long. There were random spikes of rock coming from the floor and ceiling, and a few flat plateau type things on the ground, serving as a bed for a few sleeping Zerglings, who were curled up almost like a dog, snoring.

I stood, frozen in my spot and horrified by the sight in front of me. If I knew there were going to be Zerg, why the hell did I even look? I was looking for them, not trying to escape. What the fuck was I thinking?

A Zergling noticed me. The Zergling and I made eye contact… if you could really call that an eye. The Zergling rose on it's hind leg's, and made a battle screech. The type of screaming you hear when the Zerg are attacking. It's different then their normal screams… it's higher pitched, and more… more… hostile? I'm not sure if that's the correct word or not, but it doesn't matter.

After the one Zergling screamed, the others stopped what they were doing, even the sleeping ones, and looked toward me. They began to scream just as the first one. Then they charged.

Immediately, I swung the Gauss rifle into my hands and aimed at the closest Zergling. I fired. The Zerglings just kept running. It was then that I realized I missed. Aiming more carefully this time, I took another three slugs from my clip. This time they tore into the Zerglings head, and it flew back a few feet before laying on the ground dead. A few spine needles came flying toward me as the Hydralisks approached. I dodged them by rolling to the other side of the small little entrance into their giant room. It was almost like a doorway.

I fired using the entire clip, at the front line of the Zerg. A few took bullets but kept running, and a few fell dead. One Hydralisk was now bleeding profusely from a scythe that had just been ripped off. The Zerg was getting closer now, and I realized my only chance was to run. I ran… but I was so scared for my life, I ran in the wrong direction and instead ran toward the Zerg. Only feet away from touching them I screamed in terror and turned around. But it was too late. A needle hit me on the left of my neck, most likely scraping my jugular vein.

I fell to the ground with a fairly large thump, and laid still. I could fell the Zerg literally inches from my body, but yet the pain searing through my neck was just too much. I felt like my head would explode. I felt like MAKING my head explode. The pain was so severe.

Then there was shouting, a large explosion, Zerg screaming, and guns blaring. Then it went dark.

-Part 3-

-The Long Dream-

"No!" I cried. My 18 year old hands were wet with tears… and blood. My father lay in front of me, dead eyes gazing into the sky. Off in the distance the small rumble of guns were being sounded.

My mother had watched the entire thing, frozen to the spot on the doorstep of the house. She was still frozen un-moving… in shock probably. I was never one to cry but I loved my father dearly. I loved him a lot.

With most children their mothers are the nice ones. My father was the good guy in this case. He would always be there, helping with chores, bringing home the money, buying presents, taking us all out for a nice dinner at that nice little restaurant, Jacob's Seafood. Dad would always order these little crab things, what-ever they were called, they tasted horrible. Not to Dad though.

But here he was now, no crab things, no restaurant, no smile on his face, no presents; just dead. Plain old, no breathing, no pulse dead. I stopped crying for a moment, only to lower his eyelids to finally rest him in peace, and allow him to escape the pain and misery of life. Where ever he was going, whether to heaven, or just "the end" it had to be better than this place. I knew that much.

I kept that promise to my father. I joined the Sons of Korhal, or the S.O.K. as some people liked to call them. And I fought for them, brave and willing.

The dream switched and went to my first battle ever. The drop ship was lowering it's stairs and soon, the thirty marine's inside, on their first mission, would go and say hello to some nice Zerglings.

However when the stairs lowered, I was the last one out, on purpose. When I exited the drop ship, I nearly fell backwards, onto the muddy brown ground. Zerglings were all around, ripping other marines to shreds. Chunks of flesh and meat were flying around hitting the ground with sickening thuds. Marines were screaming in pain, and Zerglings were screaming in victory.

I had raised my Gauss rifle unsteadily and aimed at a nearby Zergling, running toward an injured marine, laying on a rock. I fired off the entire clip, bashing the Zergling's head off. It sort of ripped off, and flew into the darkness. It was sort of a novelistic scene. The "head" or upper body or whatever flew off the Zergling, went flying into the sky. A bright full moon was above shining to the muddy ground. The head went flying straight into the center of the moon (not in space of course, but into the sky). It stopped there for a moment, and then fell back to the ground through the darkness into a puddle on the ground, splashing water onto the ground.

I reloaded the clip after a moment of awe at my first kill. Then I turned. A loud crack, and then a flash sounded above. Immediately afterward, rain, that felt like heavy rocks falling all over my suit, came down, heavily. It thudded against my suit and my vision, amazingly fast, blurred in the rain. Trying to find something to shoot, I twirled around looking for a Zergling. The dropship had left the area already and I could see a red blur flying away. I hadn't even heard it leave. Just then I had realized that here I was, fighting Zerglings, without a way to retreat. I wasn't fighting the Confederacy, avenging my father like I promised. No, my first mission was to help an encampment here on Jerdai, the name of the planet, and fight off the Zerg. The Confederacy was our enemy not the Zerg. Why weren't the Zerg attacking them?

After an hour or so, killing only two more Zerglings due to blurry vision, It was time to retreat. Dropships had returned after Ultralisks were sighted. They were loading up the marines and firebats. My first battle was over.

The dream switched again, and now I stood in a bright green field of grass, with two extremely large, yellow-red suns, one on each side, and there were other soldiers around me, saluting. I was saluting too.

General Mengsk was standing in front of us all, pacing from the very left of the line of soldiers, to the right side of the soldiers. I was in the front line. There were four more lines behind me, each line held about forty people. I was in the center.

"Alright soldiers. Welcome to the Sons of Korhal, the best damn army in the world. The confederacy claims to be better. I laugh at that. With me on your side boys, you will not fail. No one will. You boys are the future, the beginning of the future. A better world is within our grasp. We just have to reach out for it, and grasp it firmly. We have to take it, and soon. The confederacy is slowly destroying us all. We cannot allow this. With you, our newest recruits, there's a chance. We can train you. We can make you unthinking, super fighting, strong killing machines.

"Now, what are you thinking? You don't want to be a killing machine? Fine. Then go out and there, and fail. Fail all you want. I don't care. If you fail, you die. And that gives us more room, more food, and more money for the real men, the real fighters, and the real killing machines.

" Let me ask you something. How far are you boys willing to go? Will you die for the Sons of Korhal? Or will you run and hide like a coward? We cannot allow cowards into this army. If you are a coward, this is your last chance to leave. Go on… Leave. If you will not die for this cause, then please leave now. Let us feed, and pay the men who believe. You will not be harmed if you leave now. I will not think you any less."

No one moved.

"Good." The general said. He was smiling. "Dismissed."

Suddenly, General Mengsk stared directly into my eyes and yelled in a loud, women's voice: "CLEAR!" Something pounded on my chest. I flew backward through the crowd of soldiers. They all looked at me. A few people looked at me, heads tilt down. The faces began to morph into women's faces. The general yelled again, more clearly this time. "CLEAR!" My chest hurt again, and suddenly I was in a blue room. The faces of the soldiers were now the faces of four medics looking down at me.

I could hear a short "Beep…. Beep…. Beep"

"He's back." A medic said, looking at me smiling. "Welcome back to life. How was death?"

Chapter IV- Back Home?

-Part I-

-Friendly Faces?-

A day later, inside the Hospital (which meant horrible food, and uncomfortable nights, and comfortable sponge baths… I wish…) I was allowed out. The large metal building had three stories. I took an elevator down, listening to some crappy elevator music along the way. A nurse and two elderly men stood to my left as we rid down the elevator. Red fabric coursed the walls and died away at the top, where black metal took it's place, with a small white light bulb in the center.

It was cramped, probably three or four people would be able to squeeze in, tops. I was excited. Very excited. I couldn't wait to finally be back. I would hang out with my buddies, tell them my story, they would tell me theirs, I would drink beers, have some laughs… good times.

All those thoughts changed as a sudden loud crack slapped at the roof of the elevator and then the elevator began to fall. I tensed up, just now realizing what was happening. The elevator broke.

The nurse began to scream in terror and the two elderly men looked bewildered. I was scared too, and was barely stopping myself from screaming out of respect for myself, and the woman standing to my left. A loud screeching noise, like metal rubbing against metal clanked to the sides of the elevator.

The elevator stopped with a sudden jolt, and the emergency breaks finished their job. The woman was crying in terror now, and she wept on my shirt. The two elderly men were still bewildered, one holding his chest in pain, probably a stroke or something.

"Don't worry," A calm automated women's voice said through the speaker of the elevator. "An emergency dispatch will be here shortly. Please stay calm and stay where you are until further instructions. Thank you, and have a nice day."

"Just my mother fucking luck…" I sighed.

Five miserably long hours later I was out of the goddamn hospital, hoping that my very unfortunate luck over the last one, two, maybe even three months would stop soon. I walked down the busy Sons of Korhal town, which had thousands of people just on the one street, and had hundreds of stores, and hundreds of shops. I stopped at a bar, that flickered some sort of memory, but, however, I couldn't remember what the hell the memory was.

The bar stood in the middle of the sidewalk, with concrete walls, cracked, and foggy blurred windows, also cracked. A sign on the top, flickering on and off unintentionally, told me the bar's name was: Billy's Bar. Starting at it for a few moments, I finally decided to enter.

I took a step forth, and opened the door. A musky smell came out, that seemed all to familiar. Looking inside it was dark and hard to see. Smoke clogged up the air, and their were two drunks sitting at the bar, yelling at each other in slurred words. One drunk had a white tank top on, and was extremely hairy and overweight. The other one had a baseball cap on backwards, a brown fleece jacket, despite the heat, and blue faded jeans.

"Wells, lets mes tells youse, That ah aint thab doomb! " The one with the tank top said, slamming the bottle of beer he had on the counter.

"Obe Yeb Youse ah!" Fleece said.

"What can I get yah?" The bartender said, out of the blue. I looked at him and he stared back with concentration… Where did I know him from? It looked like he recognized me as well. "I've seen you before…"

Then it hit me. AWOL. Girls. Party. Drunk. Two weeks straight. "Yeah… I stayed around here for awhile…" I said calmly, now wishing I could leave. The place seemed a lot different then.

One of the drunks stood up, and walked toward me, sluggishly. "Youse canb come heeya! Thib ib mah hoube!"

"Wh-What?" I asked, confused.

"Shub ub, bitch!" The drunk said, and threw a punch at my face, but missed pathetically, and fell forward straight on his face. I turned around calmly and left. Enough adventures for one lifetime, I said to myself. No time for a bar fight.

-Part II-

-True Friendly Faces-

The Barracks stood, large and defended in front of me. This planet, KrassenGard, was just one giant city, with one giant Military base. The Sons of Korhal defense mechanisms, called Skitters, were running around the building on little robotic legs. Like Spider mines, they exploded on impact, but these things could jump as well, and they knew who was good, and who was bad. A huge electric and barb wired fence stood before me, with only one gate in the center where two missile turrets, and two Marines stood guarding.

"Name?" The guard asked. "and I.D."

I told him my name and passed him my I.D.

"Cleared." The guard who hadn't spoken, clicked a button on a pad he held and the gate flew open. I walked forth through the dusty metal floor now lain in front of me.

"Hey, man!" Fred said, patting me on the back. "Long time no see!" Fred's stubby beard, and long black hair around his forehead looked almost humorous as he smiled. Sid sat next to us, eating some goopy green stuff, what ever the hell it was… The Marine cafeteria area was packed with hungry marines. No matter how nasty the food was, if you had to eat, or starve, you would eat. Trust me.

"Yeah man," I laughed. "Say I heard you're going out with Ray Mc-something or other, on some sort of rescue mission?"

"Yeah," Fred said. "Some vulture got lost or something stupid like that. Can't remember the name of the planet though…Sid over there's gotta mission in two days. Some poor bastards got attacked in a jungle planet somewhere. Checking for survivors. It actually happened on a confederate encampment but we heard they weren't gonna bother looking so we figured if there are any, we can probably recruit them. That's what Mengsk said anyway."

"When'd you talk to Mengsk? Is he here?"

"Left yesterday. Tough luck, Ha-ha."

"Damn…" I mumbled. "I wanna get out of this damn army. After what just happened to me, I figured he might gimme a grant or something."

"Yeah right." Sid said through his goopy soup-thing. "Mengsk is a major hard-ass."

"True, so true!" Fred laughed.

A man walked toward Fred and slapped him on the shoulder. "C'mon, we're setting out to the planet."

"Yes, sir!"

"Just call me Nick, man. If we're gonna be working together we might as well be friends."

"Alright… Nick. Hey, I've been meaning to ask you. Are you related to Jim Raynor? Or is the last name just a coincidence?" Fred asked.

"Coincidence."

-Part III-

-Back to Action-

The wall ruptured and fell with a huge explosion. Two men down the hall exploded into small chunks, and hit the walls with loud thumps. I jumped out of bed, just minutes before to take a piss, when it started. Guns blared, missiles fired, and Skitters exploded. All in one small second.

Confederate Wraiths flew above and let down small bombs, followed by their laser attack, which set fires through-out the building. I ran to the ammo room, quickly and deftly, and jumped in my hard armored and air conditioned battle armor. Grabbed a Handgun, a Gauss rifle, and took a pack of clips, loaded the gun quickly and set off down the hall. Men were yelling things, nurses were screaming, and soldiers were loading up, just as I had.

I ran toward the building entrance and jumped out. The scene before me was disturbing. Marines and Firebats were scattered around the front area, fried like chicken, with steam rising off of them. Their skin was burned so bad, it was jet black, worse… pure black. Their armored suits almost melting into them. The pure horror of it made me freeze up for a moment. Then I remembered what I had to do. A few marines came running out in back of me, and began shooting.

At first I didn't see anything to shoot at, and then I saw a confederate marine running in our general direction, blaring his Gauss rifle at a Skitter running toward him. I took careful aim, and loaded four bullets through his glass face-plate, and then through his left eyeball, rupturing, probably, half of his brain as the bullet slid through. Blood almost squirted from his face an he fell down, dead.

A bit confused at what exactly was going on, I fired at another marine, running his way over. A few bullets bounced of his armor, and then a Skitter got him. He exploded into three separate pieces, and landed in three separate spots. Blood puffed out like water from a fire hydrant, and squirted a small portion of this new battlefield. Wraiths were leaving now, and they could no longer fry us, that was good. But we were also running out of Skitters.

A pack of six or eight marines came fumbling in through a hole in the west perimeter (to my left) and I aimed at them. A marine to my side joined my shooting. We blasted through three marines before they noticed where the shooting was coming from. The entire battlefield was so condensed with thick smoke and steam, it was hard to see anything. The rest of the marines charged us, shooting the whole time. I heard a bullet bounce off my chest armor, and then heard a small splatting noise as the man beside me, erupted into a fit of spasms, and then fell dead on the ground next to me.

I took a few steps back and joined a group of a good twenty-twenty-five or so men , packed in a small little group. Seven men joined my battle against the squad of marines. They all splashed blood from their helmets and flew backwards, dead. A man next to me squirted blood from a hole ripped through his chest armor, and it sprayed the right side of my visor. I kept shooting at everyone I saw. Fred and Sid had both already left for their fights and I was left here, friendless, and shooting at a pack of marines.

A cock from a shotgun was heard, and then a loud crack, followed by a visor exploding, and blood spraying. A marine fell dead a few feet behind me. Ghost's were here now. We were completely fucked. Another cock, another crack, and another visor exploded. We all began to shoot randomly, hoping we might just hit the Ghost, but all attempts failed, and another visor exploded. A small group of firebats came running toward us now, and I fired but only one fell, before I realized by gun was jammed. Throwing it to the ground, no time to fix it, I slipped out my pistol. I fired at another firebat. It fell to the ground, with a shattered visor. They were getting very close now, and I felt another bullet ricochet off my chest. A few more and the armor would be torn through.

Two visors exploded almost in unison, and two more men fell dead. I stopped firing at the sudden eerie silence. I looked behind me, and noticed that there were twenty-odd dead marines laying on the ground. I threw my pistol to the ground, put my arms up in surrender, and prayed to God it wouldn't happen all over again.

Chapter V- The Resistance

-Part I-

-Quick Escape-

The marine behind me, shoved me into the tank. A man inside the tank slipped on some handcuffs around me. My un-armored body seemed so small and fragile around these big marines with their suits on. But the men in suits left, and I noticed three more men from the Sons of Korhal, sitting on the opposite side of the tank. The tank was quite dark, but light enough to see. It was cramped though, with four new prisoners of the Sons of Korhal, and two Confederate guards.

The guards weren't wearing their suits, probably because if they were, they wouldn't fit so many people in the cargo back of the tank. The tank began driving off, into the distance.

It felt way to familiar.

"You know…" said the distant voice of the colonel. "We really shouldn't be killing each other. We should be teaming up on them Zerg!"

"NO!" I yelled aloud. The two guards stared at me funny. One was to my right, one to my left. "NO! NOT AGAIN! NOT FUCKING AGAIN!" I screamed desperately. Not again! No! Once was enough for one life time! There was no fucking way it was happening again! I wouldn't let it happen again. I clutched my hands together and swung my elbow to the left. It plowed into one guards chin. The other tried to stand up, but I swished my arms at him. It elbowed his neck and he coughed hoarsely. The other prisoners saw their chance and jumped at the guards.

One began strangling a guard using his chain over his hands. The other guard was being double teamed and repeatedly bashed on his head. I grabbed for the keys near the exit ramp of the tank. Snatching them I laughed at what a horrible security job the Confederacy did. This was way to easy. Spare of the moment type of thing probably.

I unlocked my hands, and they were free. I proceeded to the others. We did the entire operation very, very silently. I then proceeded to open the exit ramp as the tank moved. It opened all the way, sliding down. It hit the ground, and began to scrape loudly on the desert floor. We all jumped. This tank was at the end of the line. There was no one behind us! Home-fricking-free! The three men and I ran as fast as we could toward the city again Maybe to find shelter, maybe because we were stupid, maybe even because we were to excited to think properly. Either way we made it to the city; and the stench of death.

"Good lord!" A man I would later find out was named George, said aloud. "It stinks like hell!"

"Say, how long do you think we've got until they find out we're gone?" A man, who I would later call Jake, asked the group.

"Dunno." Said the last man, who would be named Jason. "What do you think? You seem to be the smart one here… I mean with that whole escape thing and all." Jason looked to me.

"Um… it depends. Probably an hour or so. But first things first." I told them my name and asked for theirs. After the introductions I made a plan in my head.

"First, lets find all the weapons we can. There's bound to be plenty, considering all the dead guys. Then we'll have to find someplace to use as a bunker. And try to search for a radio. We need to get out of here ASAP. While you look for weapons look for a radio. Carry as much ammo as you can. Lets start searching, huh?" I said. The others looked at me dumbfounded. "What?"

"You came up with that, all right now?" Jason asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Well it's pretty basic. Weapons, shelter and escape. Didn't you boys learn that in training?"

"We're new recruits. Aren't you?" George asked.

"No. I've been here for a few years."

"And you're still a private?" George asked, again.

"Yes. Now please. Let's separate. George, since you've got a million questions you come with me. You two go search the east perimeter, me and George here will search the west. Lets go."

Then we set out.

-Part II-

-New Friends -

"So…" George said, walking beside me, as we scanned the area for weapons, and a radio. "How come you never got promoted?"

"Never did anything good. I was supposed to receive some sort of badge tomorrow for escaping a Confederate prison, and then surviving a month in a Zerg infested cave system." I said quickly, picking up a Gauss rifle and handing it to George who grabbed a clip, pumped it into the gun and held it tightly in his hands.

"Well I guess you've been through hell and back, huh? And now this." He laughed a bit. "Must really suck."

"Yeah."

I picked up another Gauss rifle, and grabbed a bag of ammo on the dead man's shoulder. "This is a good thirty clips. Sweet."

Gunshot echoes ringed through the buildings and then into our ears. We looked to where Jason and Jake were. Three confederate marines were firing at them, and they were firing back, with a pistol, and nothing more.

"C'mon! We've gotta help them!" George yelled and began to run toward them. IO followed. Sand puffed from my footprints and made clouds of sand where we once stood. The destroyed buildings, and rotting corpses filled the ground. Bits of one building and bits of another were lain across the street. All obstacles to overcome on the way over George, obviously much faster than me was almost there. I was still a ways away.

George began to fire at the three marines. Bullet shells flipped from his clip and landed on the ground. Bullets began to zip toward the confederate marines.

Then a thought hit me. If the confederates were here, why didn't we hear the tanks? Why were there only three? It just didn't add up.

"George! Don't shoot! They're S.O.K. Members! Don't shoot!" George abruptly stopped firing when he noticed the "confederate" soldiers were no longer shooting, but ducking behind a fallen Wraith.

"Shit!" Yelled George.

-Part III-

-Untrustworthy -

The three men that we had thought to be Confederates were actually three brothers that his in a bunker during the attack. It was their first day in the Sons of Korhal. And what a first day it was.

The three brothers, Shawn, Sal, and Christian, were each informed on the plans, and then helped out. The three of them set out to the north perimeter to search. As George and I began our search again. George was still looking at me funny.

"What?" I asked, irritated. Did he not trust me? What was the deal?

"Nothing. Just wondering How you figured out they weren't confederates. There are two possibilities. You're smarter than you look, or you didn't recognize them from your cafeteria." It was then that I realized he was having trouble believing me. Did he think I was a confederate? Did he think by freeing them, way to easy, it was all a plan to infiltrate the Sons of Korhal?

"Look." I said sternly. "I'm not a confederate. I found out because if the Confederates really were here, there would probably be more than three. It was pretty basic. Just like my plan was. Now if you don't mind, I would like to keep searching."

George eyed me once more and then began searching for useful items.

An hour later, the seven of us gathered up in the center of the city. I pointed us out to a 2 story building with windows all over the top floor. Perfect place to use as a bunker. Only problem in the building was that the stairs had been destroyed. But we managed to climb the walls, and have the others pass up the items. I guessed we didn't have much longer.

"Alright." I said, looking around the room. The others were all staring at me. Apparently I had been chosen as the leader. "Shawn, Sal, and…"

"Christian, sir." Said the third brother.

"There's no need to call me sir, Chris. We're all privates here."

"Right now your squad leader, sir. According to S.O.K. Law #63 paragraph C, we are all required to call our superiors sir. Whether squad leader or General, sir!"

"Wow, you know your stuff." I said. He looked pleased. "But I'm not squad leader."

"Er… well, all who's in favor of him being Squad leader say I." Christian said quickly. Everyone but George said I.

"Alright, whatever…" I mumbled. "Anyway, Shawn, Sal, and Christian here will take the back unless they are needed in the front side of the building, and the rest of us, Vice Versa. Unless anyone has a better plan. Only problem is, I need someone to keep searching for a radio. Anyone up to it?"

No one moved.

"Alright…" I said. "Then I guess I'll go. Christian, since you know your stuff, While I'm gone your squad leader and-"

"No way, you're not going out there alone. For all I know you're a confederate and when you get the radio you'll call for them!" George said. He took a good long look at my face.

"Fine then you go and I'll stay." I said.

"No way I'm going out there alone, either. Me and you. Let's go." George said, taking a step closer to me.

"Fine. Let's go. You five stay here and keep the place safe."

"Sir, yes, sir!" Christian said.

"Alright. C'mon George, we've got more searching to do."

Chapter VI- The Ship

-Part I-

-Taking the Bullet-

George and I took search for the radio, him eyeing me, just incase, the entire time.

"Look, when you turn your back, I'm not going to blow your head off, so give it a fucking rest, huh?" I told him bluntly. He looked at me straight in the eye. I looked right back. We then had a stare down. He didn't take his eyes off mine, and vice versa.

After about 30 seconds, he hit me. Square in the face. The impact hit my left cheek with such impact that I nearly toppled over. I recoiled with a snap of my fist straight up into his jaw. His head flew backwards, and his legs gave way to balance, and he fell to the ground. I raised my upper body, and kicked him while he was down.

He jumped halfway up, and spun his leg into my shins, which then brought me down. He raised his right elbow, and used full strength to have it crash into the back of my neck. I ripped my elbow up and smashed in his nose in. The warm goopy feeling of his blood rippled my elbow and my face. He was thrown backward, and his back licked the ground, as he skid a few feet.

I now stood up, and pulled a pistol out from my back pocket. I aimed it at his head as he stood up. "Get control of yourself, motherfucker!" I screamed.

"You kicked me when I was down you Confederate asshole!"

"I'm not a CONFEDERATE you dimwitted piss-ant! Why don't you get it? I've been through hell and back, from confederate prison, to dealing with Lurkers, surviving on GRASS and muddy water, and then onto a hospital with a broken elevator, and then dealing with this whole thing! GOD DAMNIT YOU SCREWBALL! I'M ON YOUR SIDE!" I was losing control of myself. Releasing all my anger and hatred out in one short speech was great. "Through hell and back, screaming and screaming. Through memories of a horrible past, in which my father was killed by confederates! Running through caves, screaming, wishing it were all a dream! I hate the Confederates, I hate the Zerg, AND I HATE YOU!"

A bullet zipped from my pistol and landed only inches from George's head, on a wall behind him.

It was then that I realized I had just brought shame to my name, and had fired on one of my own. I… hadn't missed on purpose. So frustrated with anger I hadn't paid attention to my aim. Thank god. Before my eyes, George went through metamorphosis, changing from a man who would want nothing more than to break my neck, to a man cowering in fear, leaning on the wall. His eyes were red, and his hearts beating was almost audible.

I thought for a minute and then realized his cowardice. He was a new recruit. Him and the others. They all were.

I lowered the gun to my waist and slipped it back into my belt. "Get up George. Help me find the radio." He stared at me. "Please, George. Just trust me…"

George's face lit up and he ran toward me, as fast as he can. "Oh shit!" I yelled, thinking he was coming to fight again. Instead he screamed "Look out!" And pushed me to the side. Something loud interrupting the silence of the land. A squirt of human blood on my upper body brought me into realization of what just happened.

George fell near my feet, and I stood up, grabbing under his arms, and dragging him behind a huge piece of fallen cement. There I laid him down. A bullet hole had been ripped through his chest, quite near the heart, and blood was slipping down his chin, and much more blood was oozing down his stomach, and the side of his chest, heading to the sandy ground. His eyes were bloodshot and he looked at me, as if I were his father.

"I trust you."

Moments later, a last gulp of blood escaped his mouth, and he stopped breathing. I sat their for a minute just staring at his head. A series of short bursts from a Gauss rifle blasted in the distance. Followed by more. Then more sniper shots. I took out my Gauss rifle, loaded it, and ran out to kill.

-Part II-

-From Behind-

A glint of sunlight from a sniper rifle, aiming down at me from a building high above, was visible. George had spotted it, and took a bullet for me. The sniper wasn't the only Confederate here. There were others, and the boys back in the bunker were fighting for dear life. I aimed my Gauss rifle where I guessed the sniper might be vulnerable, and fired off round after round until I saw a figure fall from the building, and hit, with a sickening splat, onto the ground.

I smiled at his defeat, and ran back toward Christian and the others. Thousands of shots, rapidly firing were blasting through the new battlefield. My ears felt like exploding. I could here the zipping noise of vultures coming from a distance.

Not good.

I sprinted full throttle toward the sound of the gunfire, hoping that no one was hurt. My legs were beginning to hurt, despite all the training I had once gone through. I don't even think it was really my legs. I think it was my shins, from that swipe George gave me. I stopped for a moment, and pulled up my pant legs a bit. Low and behold one shin was bleeding, the other badly bruised. George was strong.

I ignored this and began running again. Now I noticed a pain in the back of my neck. I felt it as I ran. It hurt. Probably bruised. I ignored this as well, and kept on running. In front of me, I could now see the bunker, and twenty or so men shooting up at it, all their backs turned to me. I could see another ten or so heading inside the building, probably trying to attack Christian and the others from behind.

I would do just the same.

I found a piece of broken building, at just the right height and ran for it. It was close enough but far away. I kneeled behind it and laid my gun down on the burnt piece of concrete material. I aimed at the back of the most far-right soldier. I paused a moment, and smiled.

I rapidly shot into the man's back, and he flew forwards on his face, as a squirt of blood left his veins and created an almost fountain like spray of blood into the air. His battle armor was very weak they probably all were. I saw another one fall but this one flew backwards. I caught site of Christians face in a window. He saw me and nudged his head in welcome.

I blasted another marine in the back of his head. I guessed his visor probably erupted in blood, spraying the glass in front of his face. The other marines now noticed their were shots from behind. They all turned around to find out from where. Shawn, and Sal took advantage of this and fired. Three marines fell dead, and I bit my lip, as I noticed Jake, George's best friend, fall from the window a few bullets in his back, and hit the ground with a puff of sand, and a thud. Shawn and Sal turned around and started shooting behind them. The men had gotten inside. I stood up and sent bullets in all directions at the standing marines firing at the men in the bunker. I blew holes through another four, before one of them blew a hole through a chunk of concrete inches from my chest. I ducked back down, out of range for them to shoot.

I lay their thinking of what to do next. More concrete chunks flew from my cover. I kneeled down and began to fire again. One marine took bullets before so much slugs got in my airspace, I was scared to even poke my head out. So I blind fired. Finally I took the time to peek up, and saw that only twelve men remained. I used careful aim and blasted three. Christian popped up from his window and bashed seven. I took out the remaining two while they were concentrating on Christian.

I ran toward the bunker, noticing the body of Sal laying on the ground. I wondered if Shawn was alright. And what of Jason? I knew Jake was dead.

How many were left? And where were the vultures I had heard?

-Part III-

-Taken Aboard-

Everyone was dead. Christian remained with many wounds. Jake lay without a head on the ground. Shawn lay with bullets pounded into his bones on the floor near the window I had seen them in. almost 30 Confederate men lay dead inside the building. And off in the distance, roared a Dropship floating in the air, with Vulture ground support and Two Wraiths flying around the dropship in a circle. It was only a matter of time before we were done for.

"We're fucked…" I said solemnly, sitting down on a burnt but still standing chair in the room. Christian grabbed another and sat down next to me.

"Yeah. We are, sir."

"Don't call me sir."

"But sir,-"

"Don't."

"Fine… What do we do now?"

"Nothing."

"You're giving up? But sir, you can't just give up!"

"Oh I can. And I will. I've been through enough. I surrender. God, I just wanna die! Right now! I wish it could be! I wish I could just fucking die!"

"But sir-"

"Cut the sir thing! I'm not squad leader. I'm a man sitting here, realizing how fucked we really are. Besides I've got no one to live for…"

"Family?"

"Nope. No friends either. Fred turned into some Psycho path, and Sid is dead. Right before this battle, news had arrived. I just didn't find out about it until later. My family, Dad's dead, brothers-sisters, dead. Mother, clinically insane, who's bound to die any day now. And even if she did see me, she wouldn't know who I am. I've got nothing and no one. I don't know why I fought to live in the first place. Thinking back to when this all started. At first it was to avenge my father, but now I'm realizing that that reason isn't strong enough. He's dead and that's it."

"But sir-"

"But nothing! I'm a low life mother fucker. I don't need to go on, and don't deserve to go on. My whole fucking life has been avenge. And just now I've realized its worthless. My whole life has been worthless. Pointless. Meaningless. Give me a reason to live, Chris. Give me just one."

"My family. I've got one. And I can't do this alone without you."

I looked into Christians eyes. They were filled with fear.

"There's a reason." I smiled. "For you."

"Nobody move, we've got you hostage. Come with us peacefully and I promise that you'll make it to the ship alive. I can't promise anything after that." Said a voice from behind. We turned around to see a captain. A confederate captain, with a good thirty men surrounding him. "Nice speech, who-ever you are. But come with us to the dropship now. General Duke has some questions for you…"

"Fine." I said. "C'mon Chris. Lets go." I winked to him. He stood up, and followed me, both of us dropping our weapons. The captain smiled.

"I'm in for a promotion, definitely!" The captain said, and pushed me as I left the room.

"What are we doing?" Christian asked quietly. "How do we escape this one?"

"I have no idea."

Chapter VII- General Duke

-Part I-

-Aboard the Ship-

The captain pushed his handgun hard into my back, as Christian and I walked toward the ship. The captain was smiling, and was very proud of himself. He kept saying things like "Oh, I'm gonna be a general tomorrow!" and "I can't wait until Duke is done with you!"

Finally we reached the huge metal dropship. Its red paint was brand new and it was extremely shiny. The sun was rising just behind the dropship, and Wraiths circled in the air, making large shadows upon the desert dust-like sand. With each heave of the huge dropship's engine, dust would curl up beneath it, and explode into a huge puff near the tip of the ship.

A huge sliding compartment lowered using mechanical hinges that didn't creak at all, but was rather soft. It made little noise as it hit the ground, although dust did puff from under it, and curl into the air, until it became sole molecules again, and then with finality, hit the ground and become sand once more.

"Get in!" The captain shouted into my ear, as he pressed the gun into my back. I followed orders silently, trying with all my might to think of a plan. It would not come, no matter how hard I tried. My brain was having thinker's block. One foot at a time, I stepped into the beast of a machine. A few mechanical beeps could be heard every few moments, and a crackle from a radio every now and then.

"Hurry it up!" The captain yelled, edging the gun into my back yet again. I listened and quickened the pace. No need to start trouble yet. I needed to think some more. I stepped up the slope, sensing Christian not far behind me, and wiped some sweat from my forehead. Christian still had his battle armor on, but his visor had been ripped off, just incase.

Finally I was in the interior of the ship. There were rows upon rows of seats for basically hundreds of marines. At least 200 seats, I guessed. And at the very end was a special blue seat, and directly behind that, the pilot room, and next to the, to the left of the door, was a gun rack. A Gauss rifle, Shotgun, C14, flamethrower, and a pistol sat on the gun rack, behind a sheet of probably bullet proof glass. In the blue seat, sat a man I hated more than Satan himself (if the man wasn't actually Satan himself…). The balding gray hair, the merciless eyes, and the horrible smirk gave him away immediately. In his right hand, sat a pistol, loaded.

"Hello." Duke said, his deep voice echoing through the dropship. All had fallen silent. "Captain Barklove, bring them here. I would like a word with them."

It was then I realized that his chair alone was not strapped to the floor.

-Part II-

-A Quick Plan-

The captain pushed his gun even harder in my back, and I could feel that he was sweating profusely. He began walking me toward the General and his horrible, glare. He was staring me straight in the eye.

"Mr…?" the General asked, looking for a name.

"You don't deserve the right to know my name… Duke." I spat the word Duke out so disgustedly it sounded as if dog shit was in my mouth. The General did not seem alarmed or surprised, he just smiled at me, horribly.

"Ha!" He laughed. "You're brave, aren't you?" He used his left hand to motion me forward, to get closer. Christian stood by my side now, and the captain and the other marines were backed off, leaving just Christian, Duke, and I. My eyes did not leave the pistol in his hand. "don't even think about it, John Doe." He said, no longer smirking. "Look around you. There are literally hundreds of marines just waiting to blow you're head off… no, not even waiting… itching is more of the right word. Just one thing they see, they won't think a second to kill you."

Yes… I thought. That should work. As I finished a plan in my head, I began to stare Duke in the eyes. He glared right back. "And is this Jane Doe, your lover?" He asked, looking to Christian.

"I would like you to refer to me as yo mamma." Christian said bluntly. This time Duke did become shocked. I let out a small laugh at this unexpected remark. General Duke raised his pistol to Christian's head.

"One more thing like that, Jane, The janitor will be wiping your brains from the floor."

"I'm not afraid to die." Christian said, staring Duke down as much as he could.

"Good. Then you won't mind…" He cocked the pistol. I jumped onto his arm, and he fell to the floor in utter shock. Christian grabbed the pistol that he had dropped, rapped his arm around Duke's neck, and stuck the gun to his head. I grabbed Dukes chair, smashed the window, and ripped out the Gauss rifle, and found a clip in the glass sheet. I loaded the Gauss rifle. The marines just stood there, shocked and scared to fire, or the death of their beloved leader.

Plan Perfect.

Duke's face changed from immortal god, to pleading puppy. "No!" He said. "If you kill me, you've got no leverage over my marines. That would be bad for you!" He pleaded.

"I told you, I'm not afraid to die." Christian said, and spat in Duke's face.

"Nor am I!" I said with total confidence.

"This is unreal! How could this happen! Why weren't you handcuffed! Captain Barklove, I'm demoting you to private!" He screamed angrily.

"But-but!"

"Shut up!" I screamed to all of them. The dropship's hatch began to close up, and I bashed on the pilot's door, but it remained closed. I screamed through the door. "Don't take off! We'll kill the General! I swear!"

The dropship's hatch closed up. It took off, toward a mountain range up ahead. It's altitude reaching probably two or three thousand feet. "Damn it!" I screamed. I door, in the center of the dropship suddenly flapped open. A huge hole. A few things got sucked out of the hole, but the force wasn't much. Twenty or so marines screamed and fell down the hole. I realized that just a minute before Christian and I were standing on that hole.

Barklove was on the very edge of his side of the whole He tried to balance out, but no marine would help him. He lost his balance, and fell out the hole screaming to his death. A good 100 or so men stood still trying to think of something to do, to save their beloved General.

The general buckled his knees, and fell to the ground escaping Christian's grasp.

"Shoot you idiots! Shoot!" He yelled. The marines caught on and fired. I jumped toward Christian and pushed him out of the way, and then jumped myself. A bullet zipped right by my neck, just missing, but another one hit my right shoulder. I fell ,and felt the wound.

I shot into the top part of the dropship near the marines. A few ducked, and bullets zipped by into their friends who hadn't ducked. Do to the cramped space they were in, it was almost like a domino affect when one fell. It knocked several down, and in fact, eight men fell out of the dropship.

-Part III-

-The Finale-

Christian shot at the front lines, and a few marines fell out. General Duke grabbed at my ankles, and pulled me toward the hole. I slipped and kicked his face. His nose erupted in blood and he fell. I shot at the pilot's door. Marines fired away, missing. Although almost 70 marines remained only six or so could shoot without hitting their friends, due to the cramped space, so there weren't a surplus of bullets ripping through the area. I blasted through the pilots door, as Christian fired away some more.

Jumping into the cockpit, the pilots were shocked. I pointed my gun at one. "Open the hatch!" I screamed at him. He nervously put his hand on the hatch lever, and then pulled it. The ramp that once allowed myself and all the others to enter the dropship was being lowered. I looked out to the back, and watched as screaming marines began to get sucked back and pulled outward, spiraling to their death below. They tried to grab on to things, but failed miserably, and they all were sprung backwards. The general had grabbed a pistol from the case. He loaded in a clip before I could aim at him. He fired two shots at me. One ripped through my shoulder, just to the left of the one before, and the other hit my chest with a huge impact. A flew backwards onto the floor.

With the new pressure pulling me even more than it had before, I felt myself being dragged toward the hole in the center. Duke loaded the rest of the clip's ammo into Christian, who went flying back into a metal wall behind him. A small gush of blood oozed from his mouth, but he was still alive. Finally my legs were over the hole, and it sucked me down. With a quick grasp, as I fell, I grabbed onto the ledge. With all my might, I held onto the ledge with every bit of my strength. Pursuing survival, I tried to pull myself up, but the attempt failed.

General Duke stood up and walked toward me. "So we find ourselves in a new situation now, don't we?" He asked, staring coldly into my eyes. The general reached into his boot with his right hand, and pulled out a sharp, stainless steel knife. He smiled at me.

He raised the knife high, and then cut into my left pinky. I screamed in pain but held tight, there was no other choice. I felt my pinky's bone being torn apart from the rest of my hand, and then I felt the splash of my own blood, spraying onto my face.

"You didn't let go!" The general marveled. "Now let's try your ring finger!" He repeated his attack, and ripped off my ring finger. The pain coursed through my entire arm, but I held strongly.

"Just die! You've got no one else! You're family is dead, your friends are dead, good lord man, no one even knows your name!" The General spat at me. "I know these things! You're a forgotten man! Just DIE!"

"Christian!" I yelled from my hanging position.

"Yes?" Came a weak response.

"Can you still handle the ship?"

"Yeah…" The weak response was a bit stronger.

"What are you babbling about?" The General asked looking into my eyes. I looked right back. "You don't think you can actually survive do you?"

"Christian! Remember my story! Remember my name!" I screamed. The yelling of the wind into my ears was getting very loud. The wind blew my hair around, and it tugged at my feet, telling me to fall. "Remember… Me."

With one final gust of energy, I swept my arm around the generals leg. And let go of the ship.

"No!" Duke screamed. The wind pulled me down, and I pulled Duke. Together we spun down through the gusts of wind, falling to the ground beneath, spiraling uncontrollably, and I couldn't wish it any other way.

Epilogue

Christian had survived the affair. He went home to tell the story. He told thousands. The man who took Duke would later be known and regarded to as the best soldier the Sons of Korhal had to offer. He became the man who single handedly, began the destruction of the Confederate army. Mengsk would use him as an example when he gave speeches. He would tell of the man who took Duke. That this man could bring power to us all, and lead us all to victory.

His name was known forever, written into the history books.

His name… unknown before, even to you.

His name… was Nick Everett.


End file.

StarCraft, Suspense, Tragedy