StarCraft 1. Chapter 1

**Part I Tremors and Darkness**

**_Ah, the Great Hammermaster writing Starcraft fiction? A very very noble quest. A principly Zelda writer now writing starcraft? This should be good. Hello friends. You probably don't know me, I'm mostly a Zelda and Harvest Moon writer, so this is my first Starcraft story on this website. I'm rather excited about this story, for I think it is a big step away from what I usually write. A part II and perhaps a III and IV might come after this one. Well, Enjoy._**

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_Subject 1 identified as Zergling. Smaller, warrior strain of Zerg. Known to attack without mercy. It runs on all fours, and moves very very quickly. Its front limbs have been fitted with sharp claws which it uses to tear its enemies apart. Subject 2 identified as Defiler. Larger, general non combat Zerg strain. It moves by slithering along the ground using the muscles in its stomach, its tentacles are not meant for propulsion. They are used instead like hands, to manipulate objects. The Zerg themselves were believed to be extinct ever since the Great Wars. But the discovery of these subjects brings a question as to whether that is true or not. But since we found them frozen in the ice fields of the Sardania moon, it is believed that they were frozen in the ice hundreds of years ago during the Great Wars. We have not yet determined whether they are alive or not. Though it is known that several species of animal have the ability to be frozen in ice for long periods of time, and then thaw out and be perfectly alright, it is not known if the Zerg have this ability as well. Further studies will follow._

Jack finished his report, and emailed it to his commander. He sighed, and leaned back in his chair. Jack knew his boss would email it back to him in an hour or so, telling him to fix up his grammar a little bit. Jack sighed.

"I make one grammar mistake and am branded for life?" he mused aloud.

Yeah, sometimes he regretted his choice to be a biologist. But then he would discover something amazing through his experiments, and the thrill would make him not understand how he had ever doubted his career. Then his boss graded his work.

But his boss wasn't here right now. Jack had boarded the Terran space station hours ago. His job was to study and identify the new Zerg creatures which had been found frozen in the ice on the nearby moon. Jack scratched the whiskers on his face, as he reexamined the paper. It was not easy work, for very little was documented about the Zerg. During the war the Terran race spent to much time fighting off the attacks of the Zerg that they didn't have time to actually study the species very much. Then at the end of the war, their home planet of Char was decimated by its exploding sun. At the end, when it seemed that there was no hope for the Human and Protoss races, when the Generals lost the will to act, the forces of nature which God in his wisdom had placed in the universe took action, and Char's sun, an ancient red supergiant exploded into a supernova.

The explosion devoured the planet, and with it died the highest Cerebrates, Daggoth and the others. Infested Kerrigan had long since died in the war, and no one was left to lead the Zerg swarms. The smaller Cerebrates had not adapted advanced minds, and they quickly lost control of their swarms, which rampaged out of control, destroying each other. Finally, every last Zerg had either been killed, or lost all necessary brain functions due to the lack of a leader, and just stared off into space until time took its toll and they died of starvation. And then these new Zerg had been uncovered from within the ice.

* * *

_Classified as Devourer. Fluid injected, hibernation maintained. It seems that the specimens are still alive._

Ann watched the computer type up the report. She finished injecting the fluid into the Zerg guardian, and moved on to the next patient. Ann brushed her orangish red poneytail out of her face as she examined the second subject. She immediately examined the sample of blood which had been taken from the creature, and inserted the genetic information into the computer

_Classified as Sunken Colony. This strain of Zerg is mutated from a Zerg drone. It was often regarded as just a building, but it is a living creature just like the other forms of Zerg. Sharp tentacles extend out from the bottom of it, and it is unclear what the purpose of these tentacles is, since they would be buried under the ground._

_Next subject identified as Hydralisk. Large worm like Zerg warrior. Fitted with blade like arms to impale its enemies, which are much different than the claws of the Zerglings._

"You sure did your homework Jack," Ann said to herself as she read his latest works.

In truth, she had never met Jack, but she knew that he was the biologist who wrote the reports on the newly discovered Zerg. She admired his work, because he always managed to discover secrets about the Zerg that were strange and amazing. Ann inserted the needle into the twitching Sunken Colony, and injected the medicine.

* * *

"Bob," Josh said, shivering as usual. "When did you last see the boss?"

"Last time I saw him was this morning. He wanted bacon and eggs for breakfast this morning."

Bob was a serious looking man with smoothly combed brown hair but was shorter than most men. Josh was a crazy eyed white spiked haired tall and thin man who always looked nervous.

"No," Josh said. "Have you seen him lately. He has been acting weird."

"He said he was a bit overly stressed about this job. And besides, he's new. And he just is a strange person. You haven't figured that out yet? I once saw him drawing stick figures on a piece of paper with crayons."

"But his eyes," Josh shuddered. "They have that wild look. That... I don't know how to describe it."

"His eyes have always looked like that."

"Well..." Josh ran his hand nervously through his spikey blond hair. "I don't know if I should do something."

"Don't do anything," Bob said. "The Boss is just eccentric, that's all."

"Okay," Josh said, opening his eyes really widely so that they looked frightened, and jittery.

Bob shook his head, and turned away.

'He sure gets on my nerves,' he thought to himself.

* * *

"You've got an email," the note popped up on the screen, intriguing Jack. "One message from your boss."

Jack sighed, and clicked out of the window. At this point he didn't care what grammatical errors his boss had found in his report. Besides, his boss was down on the planet. The only boss who was up here on the space station was the Captain of the station, and he could care less what errors Jack made. The Captain of the Space Station was very strange, however. His eyes always looked wild, and it was rumored that he would draw stick figure pictures in crayon.

"You've got an email."

Jack looked up again, surprised that he had received a new email already. He wasn't familiar with the writer of the message, so he brought it up.

"Mr. Jack Daniels, this is Ann Donvin from the Containment Level. I need to speak with you about the medicine we are giving these creatures. I noticed a slight shift in there genetic structure after I injected the fluid into them. I need to speak with you soon. Are you free tomorrow at noon. If so, could we discuss this over lunch in the cafeteria."

Jack smiled slightly. He had heard about Ann. She was the one who was watching over the new Zerg creatures, and giving them there daily injections. He hadn't met her yet, but his work immediately went to her first, to help her with the subjects. He would have to meet this girl.

"You've got an email!" Jack looked up in surprise again.

"You've got an email!"

"What?" Jack said in surprise.

"You've got an email!"

"You've got an email!"

"You've got an email!"

"You've got an email!"

"You've got an email!"

"You've got an email!"

"You've got an email!"

Jack smacked the monitor.

"Stupid computer!"

"You've got an email!"

"Shut up!"

"You've got an email!"

The series of "You've got an email!"s stopped, and Jack pulled up one of the messages.

"Darkness is coming! Ha-ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Death is coming! Ha-ha-ha! That will be twenty six dollars and eighty two cents!"

"Stupid spammers," Jack said, deleting the messages.

He sighed and leaned back in his chair. Some people should never be allowed to touch a computer. The door to his room opened, letting in the darkness from the outside.

"Who is it?" Jack asked, looking up from his computer.

"Its me Jack, Mr. Douglas."

Jack looked up in surprise. His boss was supposed to be on the planet surface.

"I thought you were still on the planet!"

"I decided to come on board," Mr. Douglas said. "Didn't you get the email I sent you a couple of minutes ago?"

"Oh..." Jack stopped, mentally rebuking himself for immediately assuming his bosses intentions were to nag him about his work.

"I need to file your recent findings tomorrow and send them in to headquarters. I'll need your help. Can we meet at around noon?"

"I can't," Jack said. "Ann Donvin needs to meet me for lunch tomorrow."

"Oh," his boss said. "Miss Donvin tells me your research has been very helpful to her in the last couple of days."

"That's good," Jack said.

"Okay then," Mr. Douglas said. "No noon. How about three o'clock in the afternoon? I have to go back to the planet tonight, but I'll be here tomorrow at three?"

"Sounds good," Jack said. "I'll meet you on the main deck."

Mr. Douglas then turned, and left the room. Jack leaned back in his chair, and mused over all that was happening.

* * *

Ann injected the medicine into subject fifteen, which had been identified a Hydralisk. Suddenly the computer beeped. Ann looked, up surprised, and looked at the computer screen.

"Hackhackhackhackhackhackhackhackhackhackhackhackhackhackhackhackhackhacked! I'll get you my pretties! Hahahahahahah! And your little dog too!"

"Oh please," Ann moaned. "Who let Josh on the computer this time?"

_Error in the system. Error seems to be caused by program fuzzychipmunksonrampage.exe. A virus scan is recommended._

"Oh what the crap?" Ann exclaimed.

She put her shot down on the table, and walked out of the room. She immediately went to the break room to see if she could find Josh or Bob. Bob would at least know what was going on.

* * *

"Bob. Bob. Bob. Bob. Bob," Josh said, his hands twitching nervously.

"You sound like a broken record," Bob sighed. "What do you want this time Josh? I thought I told you to go easy on the coffee today."

"I tried Bob," Josh replied. "I really did. But the coffee looked so good just sitting in that coffee maker. But that's not important!"

"What?" Bob said annoyed. "What could possibly be more important than getting rid of your dependency on coffee?"

"Uh, maybe that," Josh pointed over at the computer screen.

"Ding dong the witch is BACK! The witch is BACK! The wicked Witch is Back!" Bob read the words on the screen aloud.

"Oh my gosh," Josh said, his mouth hanging open. "I saw something like this on a movie once. There were these little short guys... I mean, shorter than you, and they were..."

"Yeah I know," Bob said sighing. "Its called the 'Wizard of Oz.'"

"...and they killed this girl with a falling house," Josh finished, as if he had never been interrupted.

"The computer must have another virus," Bob said. "Lets go see Jack and find out if he's having the same problem."

* * *

"Josh? Bob?"

Ann looked in the break room, seeing no one. Josh and Bob usually hung out around here while they were on break, but they were no where to be seen. Ann eyed the empty coffee maker.

"Well I see you have already been here Josh," she said smiling.

Ann then looked over and saw a packet of tooth picks lying on the couch.

"Oh. You too Bob."

Ann turned to leave, but then saw the words on the computer console changing. They read: _The house falls upon you! Hahahahaha!_

"What?" Ann said to herself.

Suddenly the sliding electronic door in front of her slammed shut, just barely missing her hand.

_Crush you in the might of steel!_ the computer said.

Ann shrieked, and jumped backwards. The door continued opening and slamming shut like that.

_Didn't your mother ever teach you not to jump through scissors?_ the words on the screen spelled out.

* * *

"Sir, we seem to be having some sort of problem with the computers," John Harchman said.

"What's wrong with it?" Dr. Jofree asked.

"The screen has gone blank, and words have appeared on it spelling out: 'Do you believe in spooks? Do you? Do you? Do you? You WILL believe in spooks. You will! You will! You will! For the ghosts of the past are coming for you!'"

"That must be some hacker," Dr. Jofree said. "Go report this to the Captain."

"Yes sir," John Harchman turned, and walked out the door.

He went down the hallway and took a right until he came to a mechanical door. He knocked on it, but no one answered.

"Captain?"

John Harchman opened the door, and looked in. The Captain was no where in sight. His coffee cup had been knocked over, and had spilled all over his desk. His computer was smashed, and his chair had been yanked back and thrown to the floor.

"Captain?" John Harchman said again. "What happened here?"

He turned around to leave, but then a dark figure leaped out from the shadows onto John. There was a clang, and then a scream. Then silence. But then a strange voice lifted up, singing mournfully. Like some creature back from the dead, it moaned and groaned in its mournful dirge as the demon sang its bloodthirsty song. Then it was gone. The broken figure of John Harchman lay on the ground, all strewn about as if a violent struggle had occurred. His throat was slit, and his body was covered with wounds. The demon had taken him.

But his mysterious attacker had simply disappeared. Then the lights flashed off, and then back on. Then they failed completely.

"What the devil?" Dr. Jofree looked up from his work. "Its just one problem after another, isn't it.

"Oh yes it is," said a dark throaty voice which seemed to materialize out from the darkness.

Dr. Jofree looked up, startled.

"Who is it?"

"The Shadow."

"The Shadow?"

"The Shadow has come for you."

Suddenly the electronic coffee maker which sat on the table tilted towards Dr. Jofree, and sprayed hot coffee all over him.

"Aaauuuggghhh!" Dr. Jofree screamed as the scalding liquid slammed against him, causing him to tumble backwards over the table.

But he screamed even louder when he saw the face of the Shadow, leaping down upon him to strike the final blow. It was over in a second, Dr. Jofree was dead, stabbed through the heart with a strip of metal. His eyes remained fixed in the position they had been in before. And in his eyes appeared one emotion, complete senseless terror.

* * *

_System's error. It seems that someone has been chewing on the computer cords. System off line until someone buys a Root Beer. Thirsty eh Jack?_

"What?" Jack looked at his computer screen in disbelief.

He had never seen a computer do something like this before.

_Need my advice? I think that it is time you went to the magical place over the rainbow!_

The lights flashed, and then went black. Jack immediately jumped up to his feet. Something strange was happening.

_The Shadow is coming for you._

Jack looked around, searching for the hidden enemy which was supposed to come out and attack him. Then he realized that this Shadow could be trying to sneak up on him, since the lights had failed. The only way to fight this creature correctly involved turning its methods against itself. Jack ducked under his desk, looking around for his enemy. And explosion suddenly shattered the quiet atmosphere, and the wall split apart, falling down upon Jack's desk, breaking the legs and causing it to collapse on top of him.

* * *

The doors slammed together again, sending sparks as the metallic edges scraped each other. Ann grabbed a table, and pushed it between the doors when they opened, hoping to hold them open. But no. The doors snapped through the wooden table like a pair of scissors. The wood splintered and split, and a piece shot out and went into Ann's arm.

Ann screamed, more out of surprise than pain, and pulled the wooden splinter out of her arm. The remains of the table fell to the ground in a heap, while the doors continued slamming shut. Ann braced herself, she would have to jump between them. They slammed shut, she jumped. The doors slammed shut again, and Ann screamed. The door slammed shut again, and again, and again. The scream ended, and silence reigned.

* * *

Bob and Josh walked into the wreck room, and looked around of Jack.

"He's probably in his office working," Bob suggested, placing a tooth pick in his mouth.

"Bob," Josh said, his eyes wide, and his hands trembling. "You know that feeling I get when something bad is going to happen?"

"Yes?"

"I'm getting it right now! Something bad is happening!"

"Right, don't get a heart attack."

Bob looked around the room, searching for anything which could be bad.

"Bob?" Josh moaned nervously.

"What is it Josh?" Bob responded.

"I... I think you'd better look over there."

"Look at what?" Bob turned, and saw where Josh was pointing.

It was an office room with the door ajar.

"What's wrong with it?" Bob asked.

"Its supposed to be closed. And... and... and..."

"And what?" Bob asked annoyed.

"And the lights are out inside, so the person who works in there must have forgotten to lock the door."

"Oh," Bob said. "Then lets go close it."

Bob walked to the doorway, and looked inside. He saw a figure sitting in the computer chair.

"Hey," Bob said. "Why are all your lights off?"

Bob flicked the lights on, and jumped up in shock. Bob stared at the dead body which lay strewn over the table, with its throat cut open. Bob was freaked out by the sight of the dead man, but mostly by the fact that a murderer was loose among them. Bob then turned off the lights, and closed the door. Panic welled up inside him, but he suppressed it. He felt the desire to run well up within him. The desire to get a ship and leave the space station to die.

"Bob?" Josh asked. "What's wrong?"

Bob looked up at Josh. He then felt a new emotion. His protective, almost fatherly instincts well up inside him. He had to make sure that Josh, as simple minded as he was, made it off the Space Station alive.

"Lets go Josh," he said. "We have to get off this station?"

"Why?" Josh asked.

"There is a murderer on board. Lets go find Jack, and then leave."

"What if Jack is the killer?" Josh said, shivering nervously.

Bob turned and looked at Josh.

"Jack is no killer."

* * *

_**So whatcha think? Good? Bad? Please leave a kindly review.**_


	2. Chapter 2 Wrath of the Nightmare

**Part II Wrath of the Nightmare**

**_Hiya friends. Told ya I'd make a second part. Okay, how did I get twenty views but only one review? Come on guys, leave some nice reviews when you read it, how am I supposed to know what you liked, and what I should improve on if you don't tell me? Anyways, the Great Hammermaster has delivered. Read._  
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Ann slowly opened her eyes, as if she didn't expect that she would be able too after that. She looked behind her, and watched the door slam shut again and again, and again. Then it stopped. She had made it through. Ann stood up, and sighed and whispered a brief prayer of thanks. But then she noticed the surveillance camera looking down from the ceiling. The computer screen in the other room caught her eye.

"Hello Ann," the words on the computer screen suddenly said. "Its the tooth fairy. I've come for revenge for all the times you didn't brush your teeth."

Ann stood up, brushing her pony tail off of her shoulder. More words appeared on the screen.

"Follow the yellow brick road! Follow the yellow brick road!"

Ann looked down, and saw that the carpet was yellow.

"Follow follow follow follow follow the yellow brick road!"

Suddenly a hatch on the ceiling opened up, and a gun barrel extended out from it, and fired at Ann. She turned, and ran for her life as the bullets pounded off the ground, piercing the yellow carpet. Ann rounded a corner, now out of the firing range of the turret. But she kept running.

Jack dug his way out of the rubble, trembling from the pain which coursed through his body. He was lucky that he had been under the table when his wall had exploded. When he stood up, he immediately ran into his room, and pulled a small metal box out from under his bed. He took a key from his pocket, unlocked the box, and opened it up. Inside there sat a small pistol and a couple rounds of ammunition. Jack grabbed the ammunition, stuffed it into his pockets, and took the pistol which he had hoped to never have to use.

Ann ran around the corner, into a dead end with a door in front of her. She walked to it, and placed her hand against the computer terminal. Surprisingly, it opened. Ann hesitantly stepped inside. The door suddenly slammed shut behind her, and locked. Ann shrieked, and leapt forward. It was then that she realized exactly where she was. She was in the cafeteria. But the cafeteria was in complete disarray. Tables were knocked over, chairs were thrown about. And the floor was covered in the dead bodies of several members of the crew.

Ann covered her mouth in fear as she looked down at the bodies, viciously torn hacked as if with a butcher knife, broken and bloody. The faces of the dead held a look of pure terror, and pain. Suddenly Ann heard metallic footsteps. She looked up, and saw the waiter stepping walking slowly towards her from out of the darkness. Its infrared eyes glared at her as it advanced upon her. Ann backed away. She knew something was wrong with the mechanical waiter. The machine extended one of its mighty arms, and a knife extension moved outwards towards Ann.

"Cleaning of the Cafeteria completed," the robot suddenly said, in its mechanical voice. "Beginning chopping carrots mode."

The waiter lunged. Ann dodged to the side, and the knife went crashing by her into the wall. Ann then turned, and ran for her life. The robot pulled the knife out of the wall, and chased after Ann, its metallic footsteps clanging like a gong upon the floor.

Ann ran to the other side of a table so that it stood between her and the homicidal machine. The waiter jumped on top the table, and stabbed its knife at Ann. Ann fell to the ground, and rolled away from the machine.

The robot jumped down from the table, swinging its butcher knife down upon her. She swung her legs up, and kicked the robot as hard as she could, knocking the machine back. The robot slammed backwards in the the table, knocking it over and falling to the ground. Ann jumped up to her feet, and ran as fast a she could towards the kitchen. The robotic cook got to his feet, and ran after her.

Ann ran to the door to the kitchen, pulled it open and slammed it shut behind her. But the door locks weren't activated for some reason, so Ann couldn't lock the door. Suddenly she heard a clanking sound. Ann turned around, and looked into the robotic kitchen.

Pots held in robotic arms connecting into the walls cooked pancakes, and mechanical arms with spatulas on the ends reached out and flipped them each in turn. Another mechanical arm held a simmering pot of soup over the burner. On the counter next to a block knife holder a mechanical arm extending out from the counter chopped up carrots with one of the knives. The refrigerator opened itself up, and a mechanical arm extending out from the wall next to it reached in and grabbed a milk carton. It then handed it to the mechanical arm which was next to it, which handed it to the next mechanical arm, who handed it to a fourth mechanical arm which poured some of it into a bowl. Each mechanical arm was tube like and flexible, not stiff and mechanical.

Ann watched the mechanical kitchen cooking and cleaning itself. But she knew the Mechanical Waiter was coming after her. Ann took a step forward. Suddenly each and every arm in the kitchen stopped what it was doing, and turned towards Ann. Ann ran straight through the cafeteria as fast as she could. On the left mechanical arms grabbed forks and spoons out from a drawer and threw them at Ann. The flying utensils banged painfully against Ann as she ran. One fork struck her in the forehead, causing it to bleed.

The door was knocked open, and the homicidal robot charged in after her. Ann dodged to the side as a pot of boiling water was knocked off the stove down towards her. Luckily when it splashed open it the water did not reach her. A dish whizzed over her head and shattered against the wall. Ann tumbled to the ground when a series of glasses crashed into the wall where her head had just been. A piece of glass cut into her leg.

The mechanical waiter pushed through the kitchen after Ann, for none of the machines in the kitchen attacked him. Ann rounded a corner, dodging as another arm threw a pair of kitchen shears. Ann then turned, and saw an exit on the far side of the room. Then a mechanical arm wielding a knife swiveled around towards her. Ann gasped, and bolted for the door. The arm threw the knife at her. Ann ducked, and it went over her head, just nicking her ear with its serrated edge.

The arm then quickly reached into the block knife holder, and threw a bread knife. It then grabbed a meat cleaver, and threw it. Knives flew through the air as the hand continued to throw them at Ann. She dodged them as best she could, but the knives flew, deadly accurate. Ann dodged a knife, and punched the button beside the door. The door shot open, and Ann took a step out of the kitchen. Then Ann felt a sharp pain shoot into her leg as a knife connected with her flesh, and dug in. Ann cried out in pain, and fell over outside the kitchen. The door shut behind her.

The knife jutted painfully out of Ann's leg. Ann took it in her hand, and pulled it out of her leg. Then she looked up at the closed door. The Robotic Waiter ran to the door, and reached for the control panel. Ann took the blade that had been in her leg, and threw it into the door. The blade shattered through the glass, barely missing the Robot's head. The robot looked through the window at Ann, and then turned, and walked off in the opposite direction. Ann breathed a sigh of relief, and got to her feet. It was then that she realized where she was. She was back inside the lab, where all the Zerg specimens were contained.

Ann walked forward, walking between the individual tanks which held the Zerg captive as the sleeping narcotic which she had injected them with moved through their blood stream.

"Awakening sequence begun," Ann stopped when she heard the computerized voice speak over the intercom. "Draining tanks."

Ann's eyes shot open in terror when she realized the significance of this report. The tanks began to empty themselves of there water. She immediately ran to the computer terminal, and immediately typed in the pass code to cancel the command.

_Access denied._

"What?" Ann typed in the code again.

_Access denied._

Suddenly a window popped up on the screen, and words began appearing on it.

_I think you might want to let your pets loose. For they get unhappy staying in cages for long._

The cages split open. Ann turned, and looked at them in utter fear. The window closed, and the computer changed back to normal.

_Electrocution cycle beginning._

Ann saw a door on the other side of the room. She immediately began running for it. Suddenly the wires which were attached to the skin of the Zerg specimens lit up as electricity flowed through it into the mighty beasts.

As the electricity shocked them, their eyes flashed open, and they began to awaken. First a few Zerglings, snorting angrily at the electric wires, and tearing themselves out from the wires. Then a few mighty Hydralisks, dark throaty growls coming from within their throats. A defiler broke out, hissing like a snake, as sulfur like gases rose from its back. A massive tank in the corner split open as a giant tentacle shattered through the side of it. The glass fell away, to reveal a mighty sunken colony, bleeding in some places from the glass. But now it was awake, its mighty tentacles thrashing around wildly as the beast tried to find ground through which to bury its tentacles. It slammed the razor sharp appendages into the metal floor, breaking through it quite easily. The colony then broke through the floor, and pulled itself beneath it.

Ann kept running. The Zerg perked up when she ran past, seeing what was to them simply a meal. They roared in anger, and began charging after the fleeing human. Ann screamed, and looked back at the Zerg hunters as she ran. A razor sharp tentacle shattered through the ground where she had just been. Ann jumped to the side and the tentacle shattered through the ground again.

She looked back again. At the front of the herd of Zerg ran three voracious Zergling, bounding across the ground with blade like arms which looked like mighty swords. Behind them bounded six Hydralisks, and one Devourer flying over the rest. Without warning, it opened its mouth, and spit a glob of purple acid down upon Ann. She leaped to the side, and it splatted against the ground, but drops of it flew up, landing on her skin. Ann screamed as it burned her flesh, but did nothing more.

Ann ran to the door, drew it open, and leaped through, slamming it shut behind her. The Zerglings slammed against it. Ann immediately slammed the locks into place, and continued running. The door slammed inward as the voracious Zerglings slammed themselves against it. Then a Hydralisk came, and impaled the door upon its scythe like blade. It then thrashed its arm around, shredding the door to pieces, viciously tearing in an attempt to break through the metal structure. With a mighty heave, the Hydralisk tore its blade back out from the door.

The Hydralisk roared, and hacked viciously at the metal structure trying to tear it off. One Zergling got impatient, and tried to leap through the hole which the Hydralisk had made. It got stuck in it, and began clawing desperately to get through. The Hydralisk roared in anger when the Zergling covered the hole which it had worked so hard to create. Through the other end, the Zergling watched Ann run off down the hallway and slam another door shut on the other side. The sight of her running made it even hungrier and angrier, and it began viciously trying to pull itself through the door. Then their was a loud gust of air, and the Zergling cried out in terror. Then it fell limply against the door, it was dead.

On the other side of the door the Hydralisk closed its chest cavity, and stepped aside for the Defiler, which looped its mighty tentacles around the Zergling's body, and with a mighty tug, drew the Zergling out of the hole. The Hydralisk then swung its blade into the side of the door, searing off the hinges and causing the door to fall inward.

Jack inched along the corridor with his gun held outwards. As he passed the darkened rooms around him he looked into each one, hoping he would not see a dark figure crouching, or the evil glare of a killer. He knew one thing, something horrible was happening on this Space Station, and he had to escape before it all hit the fan.

He was looking for the captain. Only the captain could override whatever was causing the problems with the station's computer and electrical systems. He had the power to cut anyone out from the main computer system. His room was just ahead. Jack held his gun outwards, hoping not to find a dead body strewn about in the room, hoping he would not see what he had seen in the other rooms.

Jack stepped to the door, placing his hand around the knob nervously. He was afraid of what he would find inside. He was afraid that like the others, someone had already found the captain and had killed him. Jack closed his eyes, feeling fear flow through his body. But he had a greater fear, of being left alone on the ship, searching around for someway to escape, and then meeting the killer himself.

With a deep breath, Jack pushed the door open and stepped into the room quickly. What he saw was shocking. The room was torn apart, the computer smashed, glass on the ground, and papers strewn about everywhere. But Jack saw something which he had not expected. Their was no body, but there was blood. The papers were stained with blood, and their was blood on the desk and chair. Had the captain exploded? No. There would be more remains. Maybe something had taken the remains. But why would anyone want to do that?

Jack heard a strained moan. He froze, and slowly turned around. Jack then heard footsteps, and readied his gun. The footstep pattern was irregular, like the owner of the footsteps was limping or something. Jack slowly peaked out into the hallway, and saw a strange girl with orange hair staggering through the hallway. Her face was filled with fear, and her legs wobbled as if she had ran quite a distance. Her pant leg was soaked through with blood at the bottom of her leg, suggesting that she had gotten cut there.

"Please God save me," she moaned, as if she knew that there was no reason to escape her death.

Jack didn't know who she was, but she clearly wasn't the killer behind all this. Jack stepped out of the room. The girl's eyes grew wide, and she screamed, before falling to the ground in a faint. Jack walked to her side, and looked her over. Her face held a look of terror and despair, as if what she had gone through made her feel that there was no way she could survive this. Jack, however, was not about to give up. He lifted the girl off the ground, and began walking off in the opposite direction from where she came.

Then he heard the sound of metal tearing and bending. He looked back from where she had come. He did not know what had caused the sound, but he knew that it must be something terrible. Jack looked up above him and saw the ventilation duct. He quickly grabbed a chair, stood on it, and opened up the duct. Then he quickly hoisted the girl up into the chute, kicked the chair aside, and climbed up in after her.

Then the door from which the girl had come split open, and a monstrous head poked through. The ceiling tiles were like wire mesh, so Jack could look down through them. The creature then pulled its mighty bulk through the door, and grew quiet. Jack recognized it. It was one of the Zerg specimens. It was a Hydralisk. But how had they gotten loose. It huffed quietly, and stepped forward through the hallway, gazing from side to side into the vacant rooms around. The creature sniffed lightly, for it was hunting for its prey. Jack looked at the girl in horror, realizing that they had been hunting her. And the creature could smell the blood from her wound. Jack took the girl in his arms, and slowly and quietly began moving over the ceiling tiles trying to get away before the Zerg creature smelled her blood. The Hydralisk stepped to the side, and a defiler crawled through the door, hissing evilly. It moved through, and after it came a second Hydralisk. Jack backed away with the girl in his arms,

Soon four more Hydralisks had entered the room. They growled softly, and began moving down the hallway, sniffing for blood. Jack stopped moving, praying that the Zerg would simply walk by, and leave him and the girl alone. The Hydralisk stopped right below him, and leaned over to the ground. Its eyes gazed over a small drop of blood which lay on the ground. The Hydralisk sniffed it lightly, and reared back up again. The other Zerg waited while the Hydralisk looked from side to side, trying to pick out where the source of the blood had fled too. But it didn't smell a trail of blood. The trail of blood ended here. The Hydralisk looked around as if searching for an explanation as to how this could happen. Jack held his breath. The Zerg Hydralisk, when seeing no reason as to how that happened, moved its way down the corridor, trying to pick up the scent again. The other Zerg followed behind it.

Jack's foot suddenly slipped, and slammed against the metal wall. The Hydralisk turned with a grunt, and began growling back in its throat. It then moved back until it was right under the ceiling where Jack was, and gazed up towards it, growling the whole time.

Jack didn't move. But then he noticed the Hydralisk's chest cavity open up. Jack rolled to the side as the Hydralisk loosed needles spines up through the ceiling. The Hydralisk heard Jack roll to the side, so it leaped up into the ceiling, knocking the ceiling tile up into the air. Jack stood up, and began running down in the opposite direction which the Zerg had been traveling, but the other Hydralisks now knew where he had gone. They began leaping up into the ceiling grating, knocking the tiles up into the air. One knocked up the one under Jack, causing him to go flying into the air, letting go of the girl, and flying off into the air. Jack crashed painfully back down against the wire grating, slamming his head painfully against it. The girl landed twenty feet in front of him.

Jack immediately got to his feet, and ran over towards the girl. But suddenly the ceiling tile right in front of him was knocked up, and he found himself staring into the dark eyes of a Hydralisk. It roared, and swung its blade at him, before falling back down under the ceiling. Jack ducked the slash, and then jumped over the broken in ceiling and scooped the girl up in his arms. He then stood up, and ran for his life with the Hydralisks running just below him.

They leaped up at him, slamming through the ceiling grates, but Jack jumped out of the way each time. The Defiler had apparently disappeared. But the Hydralisks were in hot pursuit. Jack looked ahead, and saw the wall where the door was through which the girl had come. He would have to get down from inside the ceiling so as to get through that door. Just then a Hydralisk jumped up through the ceiling grate right below him, causing Jack to fall down onto the ceiling tile. The Hydralisk immediately stabbed its blades into the ceiling tiles to its left and right, so as to hold itself up there. It swung its head from side to side, snapping and roaring, while Jack held tightly to the girl and the grating, trying desperately not to be knocked off. Then another Hydralisk broke through the ceiling tile behind him, and snapped at his leg.

Jack kicked the Hydralisk in the face, causing it to fall back down to the ground. Then the Hydralisk under his tile's weight proved to be too much for the ceiling grates, for they broke, and the Hydralisk fell back under, causing Jack to fall down as well.

The Hydralisk landed on the other Hydralisks, causing them all to fall to the floor in a heap. Jack tumbled to the ground with the girl in his arms just in front of them. He immediately jumped to his feet, and ran towards the door. One Hydralisk jumped back to its feet immediately, and charged after him. Jack drew his gun, and fired back at the Hydralisk as he ran. The bullets pelted rather harmlessly off of its hard carapace, jolting it, but nothing more. Jack then ran through the door, and slammed it shut behind him.

The Hydralisk slammed its blades into the weakened door frame, causing it to splinter and break apart. Then it squeezed through, and continued chasing after its prey. Jack ran down the hallway, searching desperately for the one room where he needed to go. The security room, set up in case something like this ever happened. The mighty Hydralisk rounded a corner behind him, slamming painfully into the wall. There it was! Jack immediately ran inside the security room, and pushed the girl under a table. The walls were lined with weapons in glass containers. He grabbed a chair, and smashed the glass. The Hydralisk broke into the room, howling while barring its scythe blades. Jack grabbed a rifle off the wall, and fired a round into the creature's face.

The bullet pinged against the Hydralisks face, causing it to bleed. The creature roared, and leaped towards Jack. Jack dodged to the side, and the Hydralisk slammed into the wall knocking several guns down from their hooks. Jack threw the rifle aside, and grabbed a Gauss rifle. The Hydralisk turned, and roared before charging towards him. Jack pulled the trigger and fired a stream of rounds into the beasts hide. The Hydralisk roared as the bullets pelted off of its carapace. The Hydralisk then split its chest cavity open, and fired a stream of needle spines at Jack. But Jack had grabbed a Zerg shield off the wall, and hid behind it. A Zerg shield was a large metal shield made during the wars against the Zerg to withstand the weapons of the Zerg. People would lie down and lay the shields out over themselves. Jack then dropped the shield and opened fire again. The bullets cascaded into the creature ricocheting off its carapace, and flying off into the walls. Jack threw the Gauss rifle, and grabbed a Canister Rifle. He fired a few rounds, but the Canister rifle did little more than the Gauss Rifle to the Hydralisk.

The Hydralisk roared in anger and sprung forward again, landing right in front of Jack. It swung a blade for his chest, but Jack immediately fell to the floor and pulled the Zerg shield over his body. The Hydralisk, being as unintelligent as Zerg were, began slamming its blades down into the metal, trying desperately to break through it. The Hydralisk tried nudging the shield off of Jack, but Jack moved along underneath it. The Hydralisk grew angry, and roared. Jack then slid out the other side and grabbed a small concussion rocket launcher. He fired a rocket into the Hydralisk's chest, the explosion throwing the beast back against the wall, and knocking it senseless.

Jack then stopped, for he heard the cries of the other five Hydralisks further down the hallway. He grabbed a shoulder-braced minigun, and jumped out into the hallway. He let the gun spool up, and then pulled the trigger. Bullets sprayed everywhere rapidly tearing through the walls and through the floor and ceiling as Jack struggled to control the mighty gun as the gun recoiled again and again and again. Jack then got a hold of the situation, and moved the gun barrel down pointing it towards the five Hydralisks. They let loose Zerg like shrieks as their skin was torn apart by the relentless streams of bullets. It was like sheets of metal were being spewed everywhere as hot lead flew everywhere.

The Hydralisks, in fear, and utter confusion turned and ran for their lives, not understanding how so many bullets could be fired at once from one man. Jack released the trigger, and shouted happily. Then he heard the Hydralisk back in the security room growl as it awoke again. The girl was still in there! Jack ran back inside to see the Hydralisk standing back up. It saw him, and hate coursed through its eyes.

The beast roared, and reared up on its tail. Jack raised the minigun to his shoulder, spooled it up, and pulled the trigger. Bullets coursed out from the barrel like locusts flying down upon crop lands. They cut the Hydralisk, ricocheting off his carapace when fired at an angle, tearing chunks of carapace off. When they shot straight on, they shattered the carapace and pierced the vulnerable skin beneath. The creature roared as its skin split and bled, its flesh was torn and cut. The bullets filled the air, tearing the creature apart, bloodying its body. It roared in anger, and charged towards Jack. He threw the minigun aside, and ran to the side of the room. He then reached onto the wall, and grabbed an advanced 50 Caliber rifle.

The Hydralisk reared around towards him, and Jack readied himself to fire the mighty gun. He knew he only had one shot in this thing without a tripod. Jack braced the gun against his shoulder, and pivoted it until it pointed towards the beasts heart. The minigun had torn enough of the carapace away that the armor piercing round just maybe could break through the carapace and pierce the heart. The Hydralisk reared up. Jack pulled the trigger. The recoil slammed the gun into his shoulder, spinning him around and sending him sprawling to the ground. The Hydralisk roared, and Jack squeezed his eyes shut. It roared a second time, this time in pain. Jack looked up, and saw a stream of blood pouring from a bullet hole in its chest. He had pierced the heart. The beast groaned in pain, and fell forward, crushing the desk which it landed on, and falling to the ground dead.

**_Like it? I do. A third part will come, and not sure if there will be more, I'll see. Now inspirational quote and I'm gone._**

****

_**Henri Ducard: If you devote yourself to an ideal and they cannot stop you... you become something else entirely.**_

_**Bruce Wayne: Which is?**_

_**Henri Ducard: Legend, Mr. Wayne.**_


	3. Chapter 3 Plague

**Part III Plague**

**Hello again. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please review when you finish reading, even if you don't have an acount.  
**

Jack sighed, and pulled himself up to a sitting position. He winced as he moved his shoulder. Jack was sure there would be a nasty bruise there in a day or so. Jack then got to his feet, and looked over under the table where the girl was. Surprisingly, she was now awake, and was looking over at him in a surprised and slightly concerned manner. When Jack looked over at her, she blushed and looked away.

"Are you... are you Jack Daniels?" the girl asked.

"Yes," Jack said. "Who are you?"

"I'm Ann Donvin," she said. "I emailed you earlier. How did I get here?"

Ann shook her head to clear her vision, and put a hand to her head. It hurt pretty badly.

"I found you a ways back," Jack said, "and you fell unconscious, so I carried you here when the Zerg specimens came after you."

"Thanks," Ann said.

"How did they get loose?" Jack asked. "Did you set them loose?"

"No," Ann said. "But I think I know who it was who let them loose."

Ann crawled out from under the table, and slowly stood up to her feet. Jack did the same.

"Bob. Bob."

"What is it Josh?" Bob asked, turning to look at his pale faced partner.

"We have a problem."

"What problem?" Bob asked, looking back at Josh.

Josh just looked down the corridor to their left. Bob turned, and looked down the corridor. His eyes widened, and he took a step backwards. A strange bug like creature was slithering its way down the corridor towards them. Four tentacles sprouted right behind its hideous head, which flailed about, feeling its way along the ground.

"Bob..." Josh said, shivering. "I think its one of those Zerg creatures we found on the ice moon.

"Josh," Bob whispered. "Come with me. Maybe it won't see us."

Bob grabbed Josh's shoulder, and quietly dragged him along down the hallway away from the Zerg creature. Then he heard it roar. Bob started running, and so did Josh. The creature came slithering down the corridor faster than believed possible for such an animal.

"What is it?" Josh shouted.

"I think its called a Defiler!" Bob replied.

"A what?"

"A DEFILER!"

Bob looked back. The creature was in hot pursuit, its tentacles flailing about. He didn't know much about the Zerg, but he did know that the Defiler was not a soldier strain. But he also knew that traces of other Zerg creatures had been found in its stomach after a brief scan, so if it could eat its own kind it could surely eat humans. Plus those tentacles did not look pleasant.

Suddenly the Defiler arched its back, and launched a stream of red dust out of its back. The dust shot through the hallway, surrounding Bob and Josh, shrouding them in darkness. Bob coughed as the red dust burned his throat, got in his eyes and nose. Josh screamed, and continued running. Bob rubbed the red dust out of his eyes and continued staggering forward. The red dust didn't seem to bother the Defiler, for it came charging through the cloud after them.

Bob and Josh broke out from the red cloud, coughing and rubbing the dust out of their eyes and sneezing it out through their noses. But by then the Defiler had greatly decreased the ground between it and the two of them.

"You really think that the cook set them loose?" Jack asked.

Ann nodded with a faint smile.

"It attacked me in the kitchen with a knife. I'm sure that it is what's responsible for all this that has happened."

"That is true," Jack said. "But how could the cook be controlling the major computer systems?"

"I don't know," Ann said. "But if he gained control somehow, he could set the Zerg free, and..."

Jack jumped.

"You mean he set all of them free?"

"Not all of them," Ann said. "The ones in the high security chamber are still contained."

Jack knew what the high security chamber was. It was where the most volatile and the most dangerous species were kept.

"They are still contained."

"Yes," Ann said. "For some reason they were not released."

Jack sighed, and sat down on the ground thinking. Suddenly he looked up with a start. He heard someone screaming from far down the corridor. He immediately jumped up to his feet and grabbed the nearest weapon, which happened to be a flame thrower. Upgraded since the days of the Firebats, it was only a small one, not made for actual combat, so its supply of Napalm was significantly less than the older versions.

Jack stepped out into the hallway quietly, looking around for an enemy. Then suddenly Josh and Bob came streaking around a corner, running towards Ann and Jack.

"Jack!" Josh shouted. "Ann! Run for your lives! Its a filedaver!"

"That's defiler!" Bob corrected as he ran.

"Get out of the way!" Jack shouted.

He didn't really understand what was going on, but he knew the situation was urgent. Josh and Bob jumped aside. Then suddenly, a Zerg defiler rounded the corner and came scuttling across the floor towards them. Josh screamed. The defiler suddenly reared up like a centipede, hissing, and spewed a stream of red fluid out of its back onto Josh. Josh fell over, and Jack immediately activated the flame thrower, bathing the defiler in orange flame. It screeched, succumbing to the fire as its flesh burned under the inferno.

Jack didn't let up on the spray of fire, and the napalm continued to pump out from the device. Only until after that which remained of the defiler slumped to the ground and lay still. Jack released the trigger, and lowered the flamethrower, sighing. It was then that he looked over at Josh. He lay on the ground, with the red goo all over him.

"Someone please get it off me," he moaned in disgust. "Please get it off."

Bob took an old rag out of his pocket and started cleaning the red slime off of Josh's face and skin. Ann walked up and put a hand on Jack's back to get his attention. Jack turned to her.

"What is that?" she asked, nodding at the red goo.

"I did a little research on the defiler in my report," Jack whispered. "It secretes small organisms from within the pores in its back. These red microorganisms induce a deadly disease, known as a plague."

"Is it... fatal?" Ann whispered back, her eyes growing wide.

She was one of the few people besides Bob who could stand Josh's annoying habits, and constant hyperactivity. She liked him, for she found his antics rather funny. She didn't want him to die.

"Its not something to laugh at," Jack said grimly. "We need to get Josh medical help before he... before the effects become irreversible."

"Oh my," Ann said, her face growing worried.

Josh started crying while Bob continued cleaning the red slime off of him, while whispering encouraging words to him.

"It burns," Josh moaned.

"Be careful not to get any of that on your own skin," Jack warned Bob.

Josh shuddered violently as Bob scraped the last of the red slime off of him.

"What should I do with the rag?" Bob asked, looking up at Jack.

"Drop it," Jack said. "Help Josh to his feet, we need to get moving now."

Bob and Ann helped Josh to his feet, and half lead, half carried him down the hallway. When they were a fair distance away Jack activated the flame thrower and burned the rag and all the red slime which Bob had cleaned off of Josh. He then grabbed two pistols which he put in his pockets, and he strapped a large hunting knife to his belt. He also took the minigun, and several cases of ammo. Ann took the flamethrower.

"Where are we taking him?" Ann asked as they lead Josh down the hallway.

"To the medical room," Jack said. "There should be at least one TIR-56 there which I think we can use to destroy the infection before it spreads too far."

Somewhere in the great Space Station a figure stood in the darkness, a bloody knife clutched in its hands. As it clutched the knife tightly, its hand trembled as it sung a mournful dirge. The song of death. Below it lay the body of a man, torn apart like a butchered pig. The face of the dead man was permanently frozen in a mask of terror, the eyes screaming, and the mouth silent. The wordless song ended. The dark figure rose up, casting a shadow over the dead man. Then, silence filled the room. Soon the shadow was gone, along with the figure which had created it.

"Here Josh," Bob said as pointed the TIR that they had found at him.

Josh turned to him nervously.

"Will it hurt?" he shuddered nervously.

"Don't worry," Bob said, and then pulled the trigger.

A thin beam of light extended from the machine and touched Josh's skin lightly. Slowly the chemicals in the beam started doing their work.

Jack stood at the entrance with his machine gun in hand. There were still plenty other Zerg creatures loose in the space station, and he did not want to die. That's when he heard it. A hiss and a low growl from the corridors further down. He saw the faint shadow of a Hydralisk.

"We need to go," Jack said. "Now."  
"Hold on," Bob said. "We're almost done."

Jack looked back down the hallway. A second shadow moved up next to the third one, responding to its growls. They seemed to be talking.

"Okay," Ann said. "Lets go!"

Bob and Ann helped Josh to his feet and walked over to the door. Jack held a hand out, warning them to stay put. The Hydralisks hissed and growled again. Then the shadows turned in the other direction.

"Go," Jack said. "Down the hallway."

Josh, Bob, and Ann hurried out of the room and started moving down the hallways quietly, but quickly. Jack readied the minigun and followed slowly behind them, keeping an eye on the Hydralisk shadows.

The Hydralisk shadows then moved forward, sniffing. They smelled the humans. Jack put his finger against the trigger. A Hydralisk head popped out from around the corner. Jack fired. A stream of bullets tore apart the wall and shattered into the creature's head, causing it to duck back whimpering. The other beast snarled,and barrelled forward into the hallway, sending a stream of spines everywhere. Jack opened fire on the creature as it charged, the bullets cutting through carapace and skin as the beast roared in pain.

Jack then sprayed bullets into the Hydralisks' face, causing it to stumble backwards in disarray. Jack shot it once more in the chest, and then turned and ran after the others. The Hydralisk regained its footing and then continued the hunt. It opened its mouth and growled loudly. The second Hydralisk stepped out from behind the corner and hissed back in response. Then both of them started charging down the corridor in search of their prey.

The humans turned a corner, and the Hydralisks barreled after them. The first one shot around the bend, and was consumed in fire. It shrieked as its flesh was set alight and its cells were pierced and consumed. It fell to the ground, and struggled around as it was burned to death. Ann released the trigger, and looked up at the second Hydralisk. The second Hydralisk looked down in shock at its fallen counterpart, and then looked up at Ann. She pulled the trigger on the flamethrower and a small flame shot out. The Hydralisk turned around and hobbled quickly away.

"Come on Ann," Jack beckoned.

She turned and followed him and the others.

"Guys," Bob suddenly said. "Get over here."

Jack and Ann ran down the hallway until they found Josh and Bob at a computer terminal.

"Look," Bob said, pointing at the screen.

Ann and Jack looked. The screen showed several more Zerg creatures. But they were larger, mightier, and stronger than the ones they had already met.

"This is the maximum security containment area," Bob said. "All the strongest Zerg specimens are contained there. They haven't been released yet."

He then looked up at the two of them with fear in his eyes.

"Do you know what could happen if they are released?"

Jack walked up to the screen and looked at the many different creatures. He saw many that he had studied. Guardians, Ultralisks, and some mutated form of Hydralisk. Hunter Killers, that's what they were called. There was an entire army in there.

"If they get loose they will overrun the station," Jack said. "We need to contain them just long enough to escape."

Ann nodded.

"But what about the strange stuff we keep reading on the computers?" she asked. "And how is it possible for these Zerg to still be alive? Don't they need a Cerebrate?"

"I don't know," Jack said. "It doesn't make any sense."

Josh just shivered as they stood in the darkness thinking.


End file.

StarCraft, Mystery, Sci-Fi