Shadows from the Badlands

Most of the colonists just stood there, still to shell shocked after watching their colony getting wiped out. Michael had already turned away from them, helplessly trying to press his hand against the wound, yet Dash'rs blood still leaked around his armored fingers. He felt the presence that had comforted his mind for the last several days fading, already he could barely feel the Protoss' presence any more.

"Here," a small voice said next to him. He looked up, a found a boy, no older then 15 or 16, holding out a first aid kit and a large wad of white cloth.

Michael grabbed at the cloth, refolding it quickly into a thick pad that he placed against the cut. He grabbed the boys hands and pressed it into the Protoss' side, saying, "Hold this," as he dove into the first aid kit. Inside were a number of things he would have had no compunction using on a human, nanite pastes, blood clotting agents, but he realized with a start that he did not know what was safe for use on an alien without complications. He settled on using an adhesive to hopefully hold the bandage to the wound, helping it to clot before Dash'r bled out.

He collapsed back against the wall, only vaguely aware of the ship entering warp. He glanced at the boy sitting across from him, who looked to be once again shutting down from shock.

"Hey kid, what's your name?" he asked, trying to offer distraction from the horrific memories that were likely trying to overwhelm the boy.

The boy blinked a few times, trying to clear the tears from his eyes, "Um... T-t-Ty," he said in almost a whisper.

"Thank you Ty, for the bandages and the first aid kit, my friend would have probably bled out if you hadn't gotten them to me."

Ty stuttered a few times, shaking his head. He tried again, "Th-thank you, for coming to get us. I thought I was gonna die."

"Thank Dash'r here when he wakes, he did most of it." Michael felt his own tears start to build as he looked down at the unconscious form of his companion. He bit down on his lip, trying to regain control before he lost it completely. Do you know how many people made it on board?"

Ty shook his head, "Maybe 50 or so, but I don't know."

Michael sighed, not wanting to know the answer to his next question, "How many lived down there?"

Ty again shook his head, "I don't know, maybe a thousand? Aren't you from one of the settlements?" When Michael shook his head Ty's confusion deepened, "Then where did you come from?"

Michael laughed, his smile did not reach his eyes, "I'm from Earth, and it's been a long couple of days."

Ty's eyes widened in shock. From the stories Dash'r had relayed, Michael was not expecting much in the way of positive greetings when people found out where he was from. Ty at least didn't seem to hate him, though that might have just been the shock still setting in. The boy eventually wandered off to be with the rest of the former colonists. Michael was only vaguely aware of people coming up to him to offer thanks, and eventually someone asked for the first aid kit, as many of them had suffered injuries.

The wound on Dash'rs side still oozed a small amount of blood, but most of it had clotted into the bandage. He briefly contemplated moving him to one of the beds until he realized that not only did he not know where they were, but moving him without a stretcher could tear open the cut again, and with as much blood as Dash'r had lost, it would undoubtedly finish him off.

He was awoken from his vegetative state by the feeling of the ship transiting out of warp space. Immediately many coded radio transmissions bombarded his com gear. None of them could be deciphered, but Michael remembered that Dash'r had said they were heading to a joint human protozoa base. He keyed his com, and hoped that it had enough power to cross the range to the human portion of the base, "This is Michael Carson on the Protoss transport that just dropped out of warp, is anyone reading this transmission."

The seconds ticked by, and he hoped that someone down there had knowledge of the standard encoding used by the Earth Directorate. His luck was only partially with him, as he heard the hostile reply come back, "This is Captain Horner, of the Hyperion, you must feel really brave, transmitting on a UED com frequency from an unarmed Protoss ship, prepare to be boarded."

He should have expected that, all things considered, yet hope remained, if they were in a position to board them, then hopefully they had medical teams available. "Understood Captain, we have wounded and refugees on board, which are in need of medical assistance, no resistance will be offered, but please, get on board quickly."

The radio crackled to life once more, "Refugees?"

"Yes, Human refugees from the Protoss world of Haven, not sure what the human name for it is. It was attacked by something. Also, if you have any one with knowledge of Protoss physiology, it would be appreciated, our worst injured is a Protoss."

"Understood, Mr. Carson, medical teams will be included with our boarding party. One question, are you or are you not a member of the United Earth Directorate?"

He only briefly considered lying. He had already told one of the colonists that he was, so a story about having found the armor and gear would not hold up long under scrutiny. Hopefully an honest answer coupled with having done as much as he could to rescue both a Protoss and the colonists would be enough to over come their suspicion of him, "Yes I am, and while I am not a formal member of the Directorate military, it was my last employer."

He could not read any emotion from the man answering over the radio, he would have almost preferred the open hostility from earlier over the cold emotionless voice that responded. "I see, the boarding party will be there in two minutes, stand by."

Around him, the colonists that had heard his one sided conversation began murmuring the hope was flaring that they would soon be rescued and offered care for their injuries. The metallic clanging of the human ship linking up with the transport was heard by all. When the bay doors opened, and armed soldiers began poring through there were several shrieks of fear, and Michael hoped that he hadn't been lied to.

A marine that he had barely noticed approaching grabbed him by the neck and swung him around, crashing him into a bulkhead. Only the armored helmet he wore saved him from a concussion, but he still hit with enough force to leave him dazed. A large rifle was pointed at his head, and he thought he heard an order not to move through the ringing in his head. Around him marines and medics flared out amongst the refugees, and he saw one bend over Dash'r, injecting a strange glowing substance into his arm. He heard Ty in the distance shouting for the soldiers to let Michael go, that he and the Protoss had saved him. The marine holding him arm tightened around his neck, and he could hear the thin armor that protected it creaking.

Suddenly pain flared along his side, and he cried out, he did not notice a blow coming. It felt like his side had been torn open. Without warning the marines rifle had been torn from his hand and a glowing blade was being held at his stomach. The hand tightened around his neck, and he heard his armor shatter entirely. The last thing he heard was Dash'rs mental voice, low and cold with anger, "Let him go or I will remove your bowels, Human."

A/N: To wanderingaddict, thankyou for the review, means a lot to me, especially since I very much enjoyed a couple of your stories when i read them a while back. This story is complete as of a couple days ago, just have to take the time to edit and upload it, which is a little tedius. I think my email shows up in my profile, so hit me up if you want, I'd enjoy discussing ways to make this (and the possible sequal) better.