"The Slugs were fought off by a Tank utilizing its range, and several Marines with salt shakers"
-$gt.Zorn
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| An Unlikely Hero (Yes, it's another fan-fic) | | | Author: | | | IP: | spider-wXXXX | | Date: | 01/30/01 05:01 | | Game Type: | Starcraft | | Labels: | none | | Report Rating: , # of Ratings: 1, Max: 4, Min: 4
Lifetime Rating for MacBeth44: 4.5000 |  | (Okay, I understand that there are several of you out there that don't like fan-fic's, and I respect your opinion. That doesn't mean that everyone wants to hear your dislikes, I personally don't. So, please, keep them to yourself. However, if you would like to comment intelligently on the following piece of writing, please. feel free to do so. As I said in response to my last story, I take the good with the bad. If you want to waste your time complaining how much fan-fics suck, then be my guest, but until I see a rule stating that fan-fics aren't to be posted on this site, I will continue. DEAL WITH IT.)
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The icy air of the arctic landscape blew angrily at my back, sending chills up my spine. I quickly finished my midday meal of near-frozen rations, and too-cold water. I returned to my SCV, and relished the reprieve from the cold. I activated the electrical systems and did a quick status check. Satisfied, I called into the Command Center, "SCV, good to go." I stated into the ear piece as I strapped it to my numbed ear.
The heating systems of my suit came on, and totally eliminated the sharp bite of the frozen tundra. I hurriedly piloted my machine over to the mineral deposits to continue the days harvest. I reached the shimmering, blue crystals and slowed my SCV to a stop, activated the fusion cutters, and began to slice away at the hard crystal. It crossed my mind that I had no idea what this stuff was, but I ignored the notion of research, these days, it was bad enough just performing my regular jobs in the cold. Having gathered as much minerals as I could hold, I began my trek back to the Command Center to deposit the bounty.
I had just deposited the precious blue material when I heard the alarm sound, warning the encampments soldiers of impending attack. The marines readied their gauss rifles and prepared to ward off the invading enemy soldiers, whatever they were. Me, I wanted to get the hell out before I got snatched by some blood-thirsty Zerg, or ripped apart by the zealous Protoss.
I fled toward the mineral deposit and stood in wait for alert to end. The wait stretched through a large portion of the day. I began to sweat under the heat of the suit, and dared not turn it down in fear of freezing. I figured I might as well occupy my self by getting a head start on the next load of minerals, as many of the others had already done.. My fusion cutter bit into the tough material and I began to forget about the fact that my camp was under attack. I finished the cutting and was surprised to note that the alarm had yet to cease. I looked toward the Command Center in hopes of seeing something, anything. The whole of the base was hidden just over the horizon.
My mind wandered in the warmth of my SCV, it was already dusk and the alarm had yet to cease. I was jolted from my day dream by an incredible explosion. Great clouds of smoke began to obscure the primary star of this planet. My suit shut down. I dropped the minerals from the steel claws. The EMP from the explosion must have knocked out the electrical systems. Shit, we could freeze to death out here.
Some of the others began to pile out of their SCV’s and cleared the snow from the hard dirt. As the warmth of faded from the wires, the inside of my unit began to grow colder. I disengaged my own machine with the use of the emergency open lever, and joined them in the center of the mineral field. We huddled together to keep warm, sharing frightened thoughts of Zerglings finding us and ripping us to pieces, or Zealots slashing at us with psionic blades. We started to vote on a course of action.
We reached the decision that a few of us would walk out a few clicks, just to see what was going on, and return to inform the others. I volunteered, I needed something to occupy myself, the fear knotted in the pit of my stomach, and a brisk walk would be a good cure. Two others volunteered, Bronson, a heavily muscled fellow who should have been a marine, and Kellen, a small guy who could have had a future in Intelligence, if he wasn’t so lazy (I’m kidding Kellen).
We set off toward the horizon. I began to regret my decision as the harsh cold bit into my flesh. We walked slowly, flexing our fingers and toes to avoid frostbite. The curve of the planet revealed the decimated base, and numerous dead bodies, human and Zerg, littering the red snow. All three of us shivered more from the terror than from the cold. We should have stopped walking, but the sight of the massacre enthralled us.
We arrived at the site of, what appeared to be, a brutal battle. Sharp barbs protruded from chests, fragments of shattered armor littered the ground, gashes exposed the frozen innards of brave warriors (They must have had a lot of guts, huh?).We stared in amazement, we couldn’t tell if the Zerg had won the skirmish, or if it had resulted in a loss for both sides.
Then we noticed it. A spongy gray material covered the hard soil, blazing prominently in the deep red snow. I recognized it instantly as the Creep of a Zerg Hatchery. We scanned about for the out of place structure, but the haze of smoke the darkness of the early evening obscured our vision. Stupidly, we pressed on.
The Creep crunched beneath our feet as we padded along in search of the Hatchery. We had no clue what had overcome us, but, we had picked up fallen gauss rifles, and donned damaged armor. We moved forward warily, looking for any sign of movement, but had yet to see any. I felt fear settle itself in my gut, the others would be wondering after us by now, and might follow us to the Hatchery, or just think us dead.
Suddenly, a great pink spire appeared in the darkened sky, it was the Hatchery. None of apparently having bore witness to such a fantastic sight, looked on in awe. How had they constructed it so fast? It had only been a few hours since they destroyed the Command Center, maybe we would get lucky, and there wouldn’t be any defenders, I doubted it.
We crept closer to the massive, pulsing building, all of us feeling the powerful urge to run, I’m sure, but also a sense of duty to avenge our fellow humans. We readied our rifles, and began unloading into the living building, sending spurts of blood into the dark sky. Our attention was turned to the small, worm-like things slithering around our feet. They didn’t seem to bite or claw, but still, they were Zerg scum, so Bronson started shooting them while Kellen and I focused on the Hatchery.
Insectoid creatures appeared off in the distance after we had eliminated the slimy worms. Their shining mandibles gnashed in anticipation as the sped toward our position. With a few muttered curses, we turned our attention to the wide bugs. Our bullets ripped into them, but they kept coming.
I made a fast count and estimated about ten of the things, we were going to be hard pressed to defeat them, and prevent the Hatchery from performing its primary function of producing the deadly Zerg warriors. We inched backward, still firing at the things, having killed a few by now, I had a count of seven. They pressed toward us, moving with good speed for such a large thing. The advanced on us, almost without heeding the noisy death that our weapons dished them, down to four. As they closed in, they spewed acid from glands on their foreheads. The green corrosive barely missed us as we inched back, but it was only a matter of time before we were hit. As if they heard me, the creatures shot forth another gout of searing liquid that connected with Bronson’s carapace. He fell with a shriek that ending in a gurgling from his throat.
We fired furiously, fearing for our lives, and wishing to avenge Bronson’s. The shells raced from the muzzle of our firearms and ripped through the, already heavily damaged, beasts. They stilled with a gurgling sound similar to the one Bronson gave after his last breath. Having conquered the enemy, we rushed to finish the Hatchery.
We reached the base, only to be greeted by angry Zerglings. We wearily raised our weapons to our defense, sending a hail of lead toward the charging beasts. The seemed only angered by the effrontery of our attack, and continued their assault. Their bony claws ripped into our armor, tearing great gashes into the hard surface. The hits barely scratched us due to the armor, but they were pressing hard, and we couldn’t manage to squeeze of any shots with them on top of us. Feeling the adrenaline rushing through my bloodstream, I smashed the deformed muzzle of one with the butt of my gun. This seemed to temporarily dishearten them, they all turned to leap on the already overwhelmed Kellen.
I screamed out to him, but my shouts reached his ears too late. Claws ripped through soft human tissue, as fangs punctured bone and opened arteries. I angrily fired into the mass of Zerglings, finally realizing the true stupidity of our noble quest. In my blind rage, and last attempt at life, I felled one or two, I couldn’t tell for they all looked alike. Having devoured the carcass of my companion, the Zerg infantry turned it’s attention to me. I fired steadily, not stopping to let the weapon cool, and thus, it overheated and ceased functioning. I through the heavy rifle at the charging predators, hoping it would have some effect, their shrill cries seemed to change to a laugh. I kneeled and prayed to whatever god was up there that I would be saved.
Explosive gunfire erupted from behind me. The Zerglings seemed to lose interest in the easy meat, and turned their attention to the new found threat. My eyes followed the passing beasts, and revealed the source of the shots. The other SCV pilots had followed us as I had hoped. They too had gathered the fallen weapons to thwart the Zerg. Only a few Zerglings managed to get close enough to inflict damage. We lost three more men, but the Zerglings were turned to a bloody mass on the ground.
I stood and thanked the others, tears coming to my eyes. I informed them of the location of the Hatchery. One of them had procured Kellen’s gun, and handed it to me, as they marched toward the Hatchery. I stared after them as they disappeared into the dark sky. I thanked God, and decided I would go to church when I returned home.
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