"I love it when someone "raises" a base. Look, it floats!!"
-.Praetor
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| The Lost Patrol | | | Author: | | | IP: | proxy.iaXXXX | | Date: | 03/14/02 08:03 | | Game Type: | Starcraft | | Labels: | none | | Report Rating: , # of Ratings: 1, Max: 4, Min: 4
Lifetime Rating for IcE-Inforcer: 7.2632 |  | THE LOST PATROL
It was 0:15h when Juar Skintz realised he had mislead his patrol into the wrong part of the wastelands. His mission was simple; scout the perimiters of Jamesson Station and eliminate any Zerg resistance. Of course the Zerg would not wander far from their Hive Cluster, but now he didn't know where he was, he may be right next to the Station or next to a Zerg base. He quickly stopped his patrol to inform them of their situation. He saw impatient looks on the faces of his men, one of them was Kip Paggerov, probably the wisest and most experienced in the group. Seeing that they were waiting for him to go on, Juar spoke.
-"I'm pretty sure we're close to the base, but I dont know if we're close to the Zerg either. Our oxygen tanks should last another 36 hours at the most, so we can't wait for another patrol, either we die here or try to find our way back. I'm open to any suggestions...".
The patrol exchanged quick glances, and then a shy, skinny Firebat stepped up.
-"Maybe we can get the transmitters to use the satellites instead of direct signals to the base, then all they have to do is send over a few dropships, with a few modifications, it should work."
Juar was quick to answer.
-"We could do this, but it would take us at least 5 hours to modify the transmitters, and there is a thin chance that we can get a connection, the Zerg destroyed most of the satellites".
Then a deep voice came out of nowhere.
-"Y'all dont know wha' ya doin', d'ya really think a small Zerg force can take all o' us out? Let's just go on and trah to find our way back, I say we go East and follow the cliff.
-"Good idea Kip, the cliff can provide us a defensive position if we are to be attacked by the Zerg. Any objections?"
-"Buh... buh... but wat eef we go deh rong wey?"
-"Gilbert, that's a chance we gotta take."
So the decision was made, they were to follow the cliff and try to spot something that would get them somewhere.
They walked for hours, and still, nothing was in sight. The wind was getting stronger and soon it would be hard go on. Suddenly one of the marines in the rear of the group yelled out.
-"Oh no! I forgot to put the cap on my oxygen filter! It's full of sand! Oh no! What am I going to do! Help me! Help me! Give me your oxygen tank! HELP ME!"
-"He's panicking! Ginson! Listen to me! CALM DOWN!"
It was too late, Ginson was out of control, he tackled Kip Paggerov, who quickly threw him aside. Kip pinned him down and called out for a medic.
-"Sedate him! Now!"
-"It's too late, he's running out of pure oxygen. I give him a max of five minutes."
Hearing what the medic had said, Ginson started to shake violently. Somehow he got out of Kip's grip. His eyes were wide open and he lost control. He started gasping for air, apparently his tank was not supplying him oxygen anymore. Then he fell. His visor hit a rock and shattered. He screamed out the last of his air and stopped moving. The rest of the patrol walked up to him and looked down at him. His leg jerked sideways as he gave one last sign of life.
Juar was young and unexperienced. He had never seen a man die, at least not this way. Now a man lay dead in front of him, mouth half open, blood slowly leaking out of his nose. He had been named leader of the patrol because of his good sense of direction and extensive scouting training he had received at the academy. Now all he wanted was to go home. He saw Andrea, soon they would get married and have many children. He saw his home, his friends and his family... He wanted to go back, he wanted to be a simple man like before.
-"Now what?"
Juar snapped out of his dream.
-"I... I dont know."
-"What!?! You're the leader Juar! Ya' should know what ta' do! Look at us! We're lost, tired n' we already lost a man. You know what! If ya' don't make a decision, I will!
Juar was lost in thought. If they kept on going, they could get even more lost. He had already done so by following the cliff for at leasts four hours, now he had to come up with something new. He wondered if they would even get out of this situation before thay all died. Why, why didn't he pay more attention to his scanner? He failed to keep track of where he was going, and if these his men were to die, it would be his fault. He looked at his men, he was proud of them, they had been loyal to him all this time even though he got them in all this trouble. There were marines, firebats and medics. The outfits all looked the same except for Kip's, his was heavily modified. Surely he had modified it himself, being the seasoned soldier he was. Juar stared at the horizon, the reddish sky was filled with what appeared to be thick black smoke. Smoke!
Juar got up with a start, he took a few quick paces in direction it's direction.
-"Look! Smoke! It could be another patrol trying to signal us!"
-"I say we should go there!".
-"Kip, what if it isn't another patrol? What if it's some kind of volcanic activity or a crashed ship? It's at about four hours of walk, and if it's not worth it, we would lose valuable time.
-"We don't have any otha' choice! Wha' we gonna do? Stand here and dry to our deaths?!?"
Juar paused and analized the situation. He finally decided that it was the right decision.
-"Alright then. I just hope you're right Kip."
They walked for about two hours and rested, he ordered the patrol to use Stimpacks so that they move faster and lose less time. He used one himself, when he injected the clear green liquid in his arm, he felt a strange sensation flow through him. He felt his muscles dilate. His vision even got better and reflexes sharpened. He was renewed. Unfortunately, these effects would soon wear off.
They kept going, this time faster. But after about thirty minutes of walking, they were slowing down again. Further use of Stimpacks would be foolish, for it would cause severe damage to their bodies. Suddenly a stoic looking marine brought the company to a halt.
-"What's wrong soldier?"
-"I think I saw something move. Right there in that pass, between the cliff walls."
-"What did you see? An animal of some sort?
-"No, the ground moved, I swear."
-"That's impossible soldier, now keep moving. It must of been the after effects of the Stims.
-"But, I swear I saw..."
Finally he gave it up and followed the patrol.
They were moving swiftly through the pass when something odd happened. The air started turning orange, at first, it was just bit of dust-like smoke. Then it thickened. Soon it was hard to see a few meters ahead of them.
-"What is this?!?" asked Wilker, a medic.
-"I dont know! It's filling the air!
Juar told his men to group up in a formation so they don't get separated. Then Kip spotted something, it was in the ground, its head, well, what looked like a head, was slightly lifted out of the ground and two black eyes stared at him. He wondered what it could be. Could this be what the other marine had spotted earlier? Then he saw a clawed arm emerge out of the soil, ready to strike. It tried to hit him, he moved out of the way and immediately pointed his flamethrower at it. He pulled the trigger. Propane gas shot out and burst in flames. The great blast burned the arm like it was nothing but paper. Then the whole thing climbed out of the ground.
-"A Zergling!"
Kip put a quick end to its miserable life, but that was not the end of the threat. Zerglings started popping out of the ground all around them. It was a trap. There must of been two dozens. In a torture-like cry, they attacked. Soon they were all over the patrol. Marines and Firebats alike fired at the Zerglings, but most missed their target. The cloud that hung over them made it virtually impossible to see.
-"This is useless! Get out of this cloud! Follow me!"
Juar's keen eyes spotted a cloud-free area. When he came to a stop, he turned and saw that most of his men had not followed and were still fighting inside the cloud. By the sounds of it, his men were losing the battle, he heard men screaming in pain, explosions and a few dying Zerglings.
-"We gotta do something!"
Juar sprinted for the cloud but Kip was quickly at his tail. Kip held him back and started yelling at him.
-"Listen! You can't go in there! You want to die too! Now come with me!"
Kip was right, Juar thought. If he would of entered the cloud, the Zerglings would of made a quick job of dispatching him.
The survivors stood in confusion as they heard the last of their fellow soldiers die, torn to shreds by the blood driven Zerglings. In all, they were seven survivors, himself, Kip, a medic and three Marines. Then the cloud disappeared. The Zerglings turned to them and charged once more. The patrol fired and several Zerglings stumbled and desperately tried to get back up. But they were closing in. Seing that their chance of survival was nearly impossible, Kip ran straight for the attackers.
-"Kip! Come back! You can't stop them all!
-"Run! I'll take care of them!"
Then Kip pulled a string on his Firepack. It ignited and a blinding explosion filled the sky. All the Zerglings were incinerated. Kip had sacrificed himself.
Almost the whole patrol had died, including Kip. Juar felt empty. He should of listened to the Marine who had warned him. Now he would regret this for the rest of his life. Realising he had to get out of the place fast, he spoke.
-"Report soldier!"
-"Loss are: Kip Paggerov, Pat Staingez, James Pogle, Katerina Menit, Minkhe Nuven, Freddy Patson, Brian Armstrong, Steve Raynor-".
-"Stop soldier, I dont want to hear. Now let's move."
So they started walking again. Soon they were close enough to the smoke. Juar used his Binoculars to look at it from far away. He look in them, focused to 100X and saw something terrible. The smoke was comming from a destroyed, burning Terran outpost, Jamesson Station.
To be continued...(if people like it)
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