********'s FIRST FANFIC

Chapter one: Going to war

War was once thought to be a thing of the past. When the first humans left the planet earth, they thought so. They were wrong. Only decades after they had settled in the Korpulu sector in another galaxy they found war. A mythical protoss fleet appeared out of nowhere, and attacked immediately with radiation waves so intense that they were clear. Planet after planet they decimated all human life. The humans struggled to survive. A group called the Sons of Korhal broke away from the main confederate fleet. The confederation of earth was shattered. From the ashes of defeat, there grew hope. The group that broke away from the confederates grew strong. After this, a new species was discovered. The zerg. The zergs were insect-like animals that had a heavy killer instinct. 3 races there were, but the zerg were too numerous. The zerg were ruled by an overmind. A last alliance of protoss warriors and terran soldiers advance through the world of Char and attempt to destroy the overmind once and for all...

It was 1:00 at night. Brian sat at his desk trying to do paperwork, but could not. He had the news on in the next room. The news said that us humans have allied the protoss aliens and are going to prepare for an attack on the Overmind itself. "I wonder why they aren't drafting" said Brian to himself. The news, as if it read his mind, just stated that the army would be drafting young men tomorrow. "You should watch the TV for the numbers tomorrow. In case you miss it, and if your number is picked, you will get a hologram in the cybermall. " said the reporter

Brian was age 22. He had recently left college and got a job as a engineer. He moved planets too. He used to live on Tarsonis, but he now lived in a large battlecruiser called "Stonecrusher". The cruiser used to be for combat ship, but now , it was a cargo ship. The ship transported military supplies such as food, ammunition, stimpacks, battle suits, and mechanical war machines. Once, Brian and a few friends sneaked into the cargo hold when they were at dry-dock and went into the goliaths. They had a fun time moving them around, then they got caught. Brian and his friends got jail for the night and had to pay a fine. They almost got fired as well, so they never did that again.

The next day, Brian finished his work and turned on the news. They called numbers and stuff for a while. He got bored and turned on some food channels. In that time they have over 500 channels of stuff for free! He went to get something from the fridge. He got some beer and checked the mail. It was empty, but all of a sudden, a round flat black item appeared. On the cover said MK. "CRAP" he thought. MK was marines of Korhal. He opened it up. A little logo appeared and music played. The little marine on the hologram saluted, and then a elderly man appeared. Duane Gretson, the general of the army. "It is a time of war. The new hostile alien species known as zerg have posed as a serious threat to us. We need young men and women such as yourself to fight against the threats. You have been selected. Report at camp grace on planet Tarsonis within the next 30 days or we will force you to come. Thank you for your cooperation. This is general Gretson."

"F*ck what will my parents say" said Brian. He left his room and told everyone. His friend, Jeremy, and also Trevor had also been picked. Brian and his friends were to leave the ship after they deliver the new vultures to Orgato. Brian returned into his room and started packing his bags. He noticed a picture of his family. He took it a long, but he would probably have to throw it away later.

The great stonecrusher was going to land on Orgato in the next hour. Brian was going to catch a ride from there to Tarsonis. The distance was far. Jeremy and Trevor were going to go with him.

Orgato was beutiful. The crystalline mountains surrounding the city was rich in minerals. There were small mining units on the mountains. Orgato was very strange. The sun never went down because of its position. The place was very rocky, and many eruptions usually occurred. Brian and his friends were transported to a local Startravel station. They had flight tickets for 9:50 which was 3 hours from then. The friends stopped by a restaurant. It was called "Orgato specialties".

The friends got menus and saw that the orders were quite expensive. "$50 dollars for BENGALAAS RIBS? DAMN YOU ALL!" Trevor said. Though expensive, they were hungry. They took their time with the food. When they were finally finished, they had 1 hour left. They returned to startravel. The security was instant. The second you walk in the thing is finished. Brian looked out the window and saw the stonecrusher starting to leave the atmosphere. "We're not gonna see that for a long time." said Jeremy

On board the shuttle, there were very few people. Everyone on board got enough space to lay down. The annoying safety tape played on the 3-d television in the middle of the room. The ride seemed to take forever.

After long hours, the speaker finally said "We will be approaching Tarsonis in a matter of minutes. Get ready for landing." A sigh escaped Brian's mouth.

At the shuttle were a lot of people-who were probably also drafted. The shuttle was new, but already dented and dirtied by the endless people who were going to camp grace. There was a large man with red hair next to me. Trevor and Jeremy were on the other side of him. The inside of the shuttle was cramped. Everyone was silent, not knowing what would await them. Many people just like myself were on board. After one hour and 30 minutes, the captain said "We are now approaching camp grace"

The camp itself was about the size of a few battlecruisers next to each other-which was big. The dropship headed toward a large asphalt field and slowly descended. We landed with a thud, and everyone got off. The metal door of the camp abruptly opened and a Sergeant told us to go inside, and to leave you belongings behind. Brian had a peculiar feeling that he wouldn't see them again.

Inside the camp were a lot of people who were always in a rush. A few men in suits had to cut right through us because of an emergency. The sergeant led us to a shower room. He ordered us to undress and go into the showers. Once we were clean and dried, the sergeant gave us uniforms. Camouflage. There was a yellow badge on them that indicated that we were new. He then led us to another wing.

"This is where you will sleep" said the sergeant. He assigned us beds. The baggage wasn't anywhere in sight. Everyone was given a identification card as well. "You will stay here until dinner" said the Sarge.

Brian, Trevor, and Jeremy had bunks near each other. They were excited and they couldn't help but make jokes. The person above Brian was has already been at the camp for a few days. The person barely talked, but Brian did learn his name. Dave Boyle. There was something strange about him though.

It was a few minutes before dinner. Brian and his friends were resting. The Sarge came in and yelled at them to get up and get out. At dinner, there was a gargantuan line waiting for the food. That night we had burgers. Brian and his friends sat next to Dave and near the other people they came in with. As a joke, some marines called them "lurkerburgers" because of the bad quality. The room was very noisy. After dinner was over, everyone abruptly left the dining hall and went to sleep. All the new recruits couldn't sleep, so they didn't.

The next morning, they were sorry they neglected their sleep. At 4 in the morning, the Sarge yelled in their ears. Only about half of the people moved, until Sarge rolled them out of their beds. It took half an hour to wake everyone. This really pissed Sarge off. He told them that breakfast was almost over and they weren't even dressed. Running late, everyone quickly ran to breakfast.

Brian took a sip of coffee. It was very hot. Just the way he liked it. Jeremy had a huge appetite. He ate about all the food lady would give him. Sarge told us to follow him. He separated us into groups. Dave, Brian, Trevor, and Jeremy were luckily placed in the same group. "Wake, breakfast, exercise, drills, train, lunch, outside training, leisure, dinner, and sleep." he simply said "is your schedule. We will begin with exercise.

Outside in the early morning air, they did pushups and all kinds of exercises. This fat guy kept getting yelled at by Sarge for being lazy. they were all sweaty after this. They were then going to practice drills. The recruits were told to run to the outside to the magazine in case of a zerg attack.

Basic training was a boring part of the day. They sat inside a classroom and learned about a few military things. Then was lunch. They had soup and bread. After this, it was back outside. Sarge taught us how to get into battlesuits. It took a while to master, but they eventually got it. Then walking was hard. By the end of training, we knew how to run. Then they got leisure time.

Leisure was usually a chance to grab a few z's. The first day of the training was really tiring for the new recruits, so they had no trouble sleeping. Dave wasn't as sleepy and read a book.

Dinner was spaghetti. The cafeteria was noisy as usual. Trevor was fond of pasta, which his mom cooked back home when he was a kid. Dinner was over very quick, and they slept.

The next day was the same. And the next the same. Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months. 12 months passed by with extreme speed. One morning, Sarge said "Congratulations, You have all passed through basic training. Good job. You will have two days of leisure time to prepare to be sent to Char. " Everyone was silent. They didn't expect to be off to war so soon. They were pretty good soldiers at this point. They knew how to shoot, and they had survival skills.

The next two days was full of thinking for all the recruits. They were now soldiers. Soldiers who used to be civilians. They were probably going to die on Char. Their families would grieve for them. Everyone thought this. Then thought shifted to returning home, returning to their families and old lifestyles. Hours on the clock moved like a slug. The knots in the stomach began to tie.

On the dawn of "movement day", all the recruits woke up suddenly, then realized what they were going to do today. Nobody could eat, only sip coffee. After an hour, they gathered their gauss rifles, First-aid kits, and spare uniforms. Their old luggage had disappeared. The dropships filled up and after 30 minutes. The ships lifted off and headed toward Char. What would await them?

Chapter two: Into the fray

The dozens of dropships that held newly trained marines headed off to the volcanic world of Char, where the zerg dwelt. The journey took 3 days. The marines grew impatient and couldn't stand the long flight. Finally, Char was within sight range. Everyone watched the planet approaching them. The volcanic activity on Char created a dark, and dense atmosphere. Thin orange lines suggested volcanic rivers on the surface of the planet. The zerg's inhabitance was also seen. Zerg creep was covering everything. Zerg were very strange creatures. Their buildings were organs that work together. The creep serves as veins and arteries, spreading nutrients to the organs. The grey creep could be seen from outside its atmosphere, suggesting a lot of zerg.

The A-17 Wraith fighters that were protecting the marines just split up. The windows of the dropship fogged up with dark gas. Then as they got under the atmosphere, the windows returned to their same state but much more dirty. Everyone was reluctant to leave the ship. They got off this ship and right into the camp. At the camp they showered and rested. It felt good to lie down after such a long period of time in a dropship.

The next day a broad man with a few stripes came into our room. "I am commander Crat. I will be your commander for the meantime. Today I want you to get a fresh start. Eat a sufficient amount of breakfast and meet me outside.

Breakfast was scrambled eggs and toast. The marines were hungry and ate a hearty breakfast. Most marines were really hungry after so much traveling. When they finished, they went outside.

"You are all trained marines. You know what to do during combat. You are all trained, but you don't have experience." Crat said "You will now go through a battle simulation. Follow me." he finished

The battle simulation room was a large dome. There were seperate rooms with wires and black chunks hung from the ceiling. It took a good 30 minutes to get the headgear on and all the other things. Crat turned on the computer simulation. To the marine's eyes, they felt they were back in the real world, and in the middle of a battle. The headgear transmitted the program to the brain, where the brain told the muscles to move.

Brian pulled out a gun from his imaginary holster. The large battlesuit he was in flashed red, indicating he was in a war zone. He saw his comrades only a few feet away. The screen in his suit showed a map about the place he was in. It showed green dots indicating friends and red triangle indicating foes.

The zerg minions approached them. Zerglings came first. Zerglings were about the size of a dog, but much more deadly. They had razor-sharp claws that could cut through human flesh faster that a knife cuts steak. Brian fired at the zerglings. To his surprise, they didn't fall. It took much more hits than he thought to kill the beast. He was starting to get a little nervous. It seemed so real that he forgot it was fake. He fired and ran backward. Eventually, one zergling fell dead. He fired at another one, and another. He was getting the hang of it.

His bullet number was slowly being eaten away. At the point of 20 bullets, he spied a large cargo ship land in their area. He quickly ran to it. The door opened and he grabbed new ammo. He loaded it into his gun, and fired. Eventually, all the zerglings were dead. "Good job" flashed on his faceplate. Next were a combination of zerglings, and hydralisk. Hydralisk were like large snakes that stood up. They had little arms that ended in large scythe-like claws. They had a large spiny tail. The tail fired acid covered spikes. The spikes were deadly, and must be avoided.

Brian dodged the spikes of the hydralisk and shot the zerglings at the same time. Trevor "got killed". Then the damage report on his faceplate showed dents in his armor. A few of his comrades died, and then he did too, for a zergling had jumped on him.

In no time, everyone was back to the real world. "Good job for your first time" said Crat. He said that we done fine. "Its so easy to die in war. I never thought of it this way." thought Brian. In the movies it looks great. One guy kills about 50 people, but it is not like that. A single weapon can claim your life.

The marines went for a second time on the simulation. They did better this time. They lasted one hour longer. After that, they got leisure. They all talked about things they used to do at home.

3 weeks in the battle simulation got them ready. The marines were going to go into zerg territory. They would be joining up with another group of experienced marines, and they would have one battlecruiser backing them up. Operation Tigerclaw it was called. The day before the attack, the marines got into the transport shuttle, ready to be shipped off the noman's land.

The marines looked out the windows of the dropship on Char. Jagged rock formations like sharp fingers stood on the ground. Some meter tall volcanoes stood while others were 20 feet. A human city was now visible. That was where they were landing. They dropped there.

The marines had just met up with the other group. They started moving out. "Here goes" said Jeremy

Running in the battlesuits was easier. Though they weigh over 300 pounds, the machinery of the suit was made to be able to run long distances without much help from the wearer of the suit. The marines ran about 10 miles. The battlecruiser loomed in the sky behind them. The radio of the suit said that there was zerg up ahead. Already the greyish creep started blanketing the ground. The marines moved ahead. The, a few zerglings came out of the ground. They were torn into shreds quickly. Then some hydralisk unburrowed. They were also slaughtered. Dropships came out of the sky and out came a few siege tanks, goliaths, and vultures. The siege tanks morphed into siege mode which was a long range mode. Far in the distance a partially sunken organ-like thing had just sent an orange tentacle underground. "WATCH OUT" yelled a marine

The orange tenticle missed them. The siege tanks were ready. The siege blasts ripped plenty of flesh off the "sunken colony". After this building fell, zerg units began appearing on the horizon. The two sides clashed. First the zerglings were scrapped by the infantry, but then the hydralisk were a formidable match. A few marines next to Brian screamed as their faceplate had blood splattered in it. A few soldiers with smaller injuries were being treated by medics behind the lines. The siege tanks were very helpful. Each blast from them took out a dozen or so hydralisk. The marines were outnumbered, but they had better guns, training, and they had medics. The hydralisk attacked blindly. A few ran toward the marines and slashed them with the claw-scythes. Eventually, the last hydralisk was smoked. Brian exhaled heavily. Every marine was sweating. This was no simulation, this was life or death. The casualties were minimal. The marines did a fine job. Their job wasn't done though. They had a zerg hive to bomb.

The zerg forces kept coming in waves. Smaller waves they were, but it was quick work. Supply ships continually kept coming from the battlecruiser, so ammunition was plentiful. The hive in the distance was giant. There were three large spires on it and the center was most of the body. Zerg units continually came from the hive, while other unburrow out of their hiding holes and went from them.

The siege tanks began siege mode again. The marines saw a huge force of hydralisks coming right at them. The siege tanks blasted apart plenty of hydralisks. The remains of the group attacked the remaining zerglings. The zerglings had plenty of extra holes by the time they died.

The tanks focused on the hive, and the marines fired upon it with bullets. The siege blasts tore off large masses of flesh, while the bullets just punctures the organs and made it bleed. The siege tanks continually sabotaged the hive. It took no longer than 68 minutes to destroy the hive's carapace. The innards of the hive were just waiting to be killed. The battlecruiser had something special planned just to make a sweet ending. The battlecruiser stood still. Billions of energy particles were being sucked into the yamato cannon of the cruiser. All its lights were blinking. The yamato beam blasted off the cruiser with a ring spreading vertically around the place the energy was launched. The bulging organs and arteries of the hive collided with the yamato beam. The hive was sublimized almost instantly. The marines cheered. The faceplates of the marines blinked "mission accomplished".

Dropships flew out of the battlecruiser to come fetch the soldiers. The tanks, marines, goliaths, and vultures all entered the dropships and returned to the battlecruiser. The cruiser returned to the camp.

They had fought their first battle. What will await them in the future?

To Be Continued...