Chapter 11: Out and beyond

Jeremy and Trevor had joined up with the strike team. All five people were at the bottom of the mountains. The newcomers had this last chance to turn back. They couldn't. They wouldn't leave their friends behind. But they realized then that Jeremy and Trevor could screw up the mission. They did not get the stealth training required to sneak past zergs. "I totally forgot about the zerg for a second. Look, the stealth training will keep us alive, but you guys will make too much noise. It will get worse than that forest we were in. I'm sure we will meet again some day" said Brian. He wanted them to come, but he knew it wouldn't work. "Heh, oh yeah. We can't do that" said David. Jeremy and Trevor turned back and headed up the mountain. They understood the seriousness. They said "goodbye", and headed back. (Heh I bet you thought they were going with Brian+David+Jake.)

The sun was up now, and they were off. They started walking across the great plane. The dirt was charred and black, and was very silent. The ground was slightly moist from the rain. It was pleasant to walk on the soft dirt. Up ahead was a giant plateau. The great plateau, they had made it halfway. There was no mysterious forest here, there were just small hills and soft dirt.

David pointed out that there was a cliff on their right side, where they could walk with shade and more protection. This time, he suggested a good idea. They walked in the more safe area, and avoided any overseeing zerg eyes. Before darkness settled in, they checked out a cave that they were to sleep in that night. Nothing seemed wrong, and they slept inside the cave. Brian thought what it would be like if Jeremy and Trevor came along. They would be laughing, but that would attract attention. It was right what they did. Nothing went wrong that night, they didn't even have a night-shift watch person.

Brian awoke to the smells of breakfast the next morning. He unzipped his sleeping bag and went outside. "I saved the bacon and we're having it today! wohoo!" said David. He was the cook, and he was good. He made food better than it tasted. Everyone was in a good mood because they had no little adventures. Brian was putting on his deodorant when he unzipped his backpack. He had an image mail. What the hell? Who would send him an image mail! (like email, wireless, Brian used it for internet) He saw he recieved a picture of the family, and it was from his parents. He longed for home that moment. He even got a voice mail. "Brian where are you? Wherever you are I just want to say that I miss you. Love, mom". The audio mail read. Brian listened to it again, and deleted it. He was more determined than ever to finish the mission and go home.

The team hugged the wall as they travelled, wanting to avoid all zerg they can. the comsat scans ended around there, and they had to stop at another outpost. The next outpost was strong, but dangerously near to the zerg. It didn't sound very good, but it was their next destination.

They saw the outpost there. It was near the cliff, so they didn't miss it. The command center was built into a cave. The comsat station was sticking out of a turret. A defence gun was mounted on top of the enterance, ready to blast any zerg who dare approach. The door skidded open the second they were near it. A second door skidded open, and they were inside. A man guided them through the metallic tunnels of the complex. The whole place was underground, and very well camoflagued. They got the comsat readings, and a room for the night. "So, lets see... the zergs are on the west side of the plateau, that place is all hilly and crap, and the east end is open, but less zerg. We are currently on the west side, so what do you say?" said David "I say we go west" said Jake "our stealth training is good, I think open space is worse for us than anything else. Then again, less zerg means we could move faster, err, I still say west. Zerg are zerg, if they see you, you're kinda dead, and we're much better on rocky hilly places."

They all agreed with Jake, he made a good point. They got ready the next day, and headed out. They hugged the cliff and moved almost silently along. They were doing good for now, but there were many zerg up ahead. It would be hard to get past them...

Chapter 12: Another Cerebrate

Jeremy and Trevor thought they would go along with the nuclear strike team, but they understood that they would be discovered if they came along. They just went back to the tent and waited whatever would happen.

The commander of the army got a transmission from General Gretson about the Cerebrate Arck

Gretson: Commander Stool, I want you to assault the Cerebrate Arck. His current location is at 69-83 on the grid. This cerebrate has massive zerg around him, so watch out. This is crucial to our war against the overmind. I wish you luck, commander.

The transmission ended. The captains were informed, and the raincovers for the goliaths were removed for the next day.

The next day, the goliaths were manned, siege tanks started, and marines suited up. Wraiths constantly flied out of the starports, ready to go, and the immense battlecruisers switched to combat mode. Jeremy and Trevor were both inside of a siege tank. The army was loaded into dropships and the dropships were off. The army saw the planes. The barren wasteland. Dusty, dry, and caked it was. The dropships veered slightly to the west, above the rocky cliffs.

The sky turned dark. The marines slept, and the low humming from the engine could be clearly heard.

The next morning, they were in a completely different place. There were large rocks and hill and pillars of magma jets. This is where they landed, on the rocky hills, not far from the strike team.

The whole platoon was ready, and the dropships were landed. They headed toward to location of the cerebrate. They encountered little resistance on the way, only a few zergling scouts. They came in sight of a sunken colony. Once again the siege tanks sieged and projected their rounds. Jeremy and Trevor sieged and fired as well. Every time the siege tank fired, the ground shook.

They could hear zergs grouping up in the distance. The tanks unsieged and moved closer, with the marines staying close. The tanks sieged again and got in range of another sunekn colony. The zerg were pissed bigtime and all of them came like a huge wave to the terrans. Marines and firebats in the front fell quickly, but the ones in the back held firmly. On the other side of the siege tanks, Goliaths were doing a great job mowing down the zerglings. The zerglings were energetic, because they had adrenaline glands.

The zerglings were dead, and the siege tanks were still intact. They moved closer to the Hive itself. At that moment, a few guardians attacked them from behind. The wraiths arrived just then and took those out. They began fighting a few mutalisks that popped out of nowhere.

The cerebrate was in sight range, and it was slowly dying from the siege fire. Where are they hydralisks? They didn't know. The cerebrate was just killed, and their mission was finished. They headed back. They were near the dropships when hundreds of hydrlaisk came out of their holes and hiding places and attacked the army. As usual, the siege tanks did outstanding and the hydralisks were dead. They got back into the dropship and headed toward the same outpost as Brian, David, and Jake were at.

At the base they got their room and board, and they explored around. That outpost was no longer near zerg, because their cerebrate was knocked out. The zerg nearby became like wild animals and attacked each other. The temperature rose to 103 degrees that day, which is about average for char.

Jeremy was just fixing his gun when Trevor came bustling in with some news. "Guess where we're going next?" said Trevor "Where" said Jeremy "The great plateau, just north of here. I hear there are a few protoss up there" said Trevor "cool" said Jeremy. Both of them wanted to see the protoss badly.

So the army slept well that night. The injured were healed quickly, and the moon rose. Not too far away, Brian was looking at the same moon as Trevor and Jeremy were. The mission continues, the war has started. The zerg were defeated, for the moment, but what were they planning? Why were they able to get so close to the overmind with so little resistance? find out next time...

To be continued...