Shadows from the Badlands

Michael's first surprise after spending the 10 minutes he needed getting cleaned up, came from the infested marine, Foxworth.

He was waiting outside the nearest of the gang showers when Michael emerged, "Hey Mikey, I got a present for you." In his hand was a dirty, familiar looking pack. Dark stains suggested blood dried over the coarse of days.

He took it cautiously, eying the infested human warily. The smell emanating from it was unpleasant, a rotten smell that he was beginning to associate with zerg. What was inside made his eyes light up. "When did you get these? I fucking smacked myself for leaving them behind." He held in his hand the two weapons that had been left on the crashed shuttle, so many lifetimes ago it felt like. Littering the bottom of the bag was various bits of spare ammunition, not necessarily useful as the locals used the same calibers in the equivalent guns, but a nice touch.

As he lifted out his sub machine gun, still in working order in spite of being left behind on a planet teeming with zerg, Foxworth replied in a smug voice, "My Queen plucked all the information from my mind when she first took control," the former marine seemingly shuddered in ecstasy, causing chills to go up Michael's spine at the sight, "And she thought you'd enjoy a present. A zergling was nearby, and was able to bring it through to haven fast enough for me to get it before we bugged out."

Michael just grinned, he would need to find a way to jerry rig it to whatever new armor he picked up, but having the weapons made him feel all the more secure about the up coming battle.

"Thanks, and if you can, thank Sarah for me."

Foxworth nodded, and the new creepy demeanor he had developed since Michael had shot him vanished for a moment, "You are one of my Queens few friends, any zerg under her control will assist you, just ask."

The infested marine turned and left, heading back to wherever the few evacuated zerg we being kept. Michael checked the time, only about 10 more minutes were left before they arrived at Korhal to test out the new anti Hybrid weapon. When he made his way to the armory, he got his second surprise. The mechanic, Swann was waiting for him. All the other soldiers and marines had departed to their stations, ready to deploy at a moments notice and the armory was empty except for the cyborg.

"Hey hotshot, got a present for you,"

Michael was stunned, "What, today my birthday or something and I miss the memo?" he said, wondering what the mechanic had to offer.

"Na, the commander had me studying the wreck of your old armor, looking for anything useful," was the reply, "Gotta say, you have some nice hardware. I fixed it up when I was done."

The mechanic stepped aside, and behind him was the newly repaired armor, slightly different in some spots, especially the neck and upper chest plates that had been torn apart by the medics trying to fix his collapsed throat.

As he began putting the armor on, he heard the mechanic continue, and he vaguely listed, wanting to know the details, but to engrossed in getting his armor in place.

"I put a few upgrades in, should be a bit better at stopping high caliber rounds now, maybe a bit better against zerg too, though dunno how much of a problem they're gonna be. When your done, get to the bridge, the commander wants you their."

The armor still fit like a glove, and the racks and attachments for his newly reacquired guns were still present, and with his old gear fully equipped, he made his way to the bridge. This was his first time taking part in combat on a more then haphazard level it seemed, and he was glad people were seeming to warm up to him finally. He had just past the through the entry way to the bridge when the ship shuddered slightly, and Michael new they had arrived.

Raynor looked up from the tactical displays that were beginning to show data on the situation on the ground, and nodded to him. "Welcome aboard, officially that is," he said with a wry smile, "You and Dash'r are the only people around that have come close to beating a hybrid without overwhelming numbers, and I wanted you here in case something crops up."

He was about to ask if that meant Dash'r would be joining them, when said Protoss stepped out of the shadows of a dark corner of the bridge. "I will offer any and all of my knowledge to you, Raynor," the Dark Templar said, his voice taking on a hallow sound, which Michael had finally figured meant he was addressing multiple people.

Michael nodded his own support, and asked, "Whats the situation?"

Raynor turned back to the tactical displays, his eyes shadowed, "The hybrids came out of confirmed Dominion research outposts, confirming that Mengsk is at least partly working for them, but he lost whatever illusion of control he had over them." On the screen, a nuke flared over a city, "They took off and started tearing apart major cites, thousands of them, whenever they are sighted a nuke gets dropped on them. Already Mengsk has wiped out almost every settlement. But for every hybrid he kills, four more pop up."

Another nuke flashed on the screen, and Michael studied it intently. Most of the fighting seemed to be shifting to the last major settlement, where only the tiniest of bombs had been dropped, "Whats that city? It's decent size, got a lot of hybrids, and a good garrison too."

Raynor smiled, it was grim and feral, "That's the capital, Mengsk can't evac, and can hardly nuke himself. That's our target, with luck we'll be able to corner him after taking out the hybrids."

Michael nodded in understanding. "What about the weapon, any idea what it actually does?" That was the biggest risk in Michael's opinion. Whether or not the weapon worked when it had never been tested, and what it did for that matter was also up for debate. The power source, that Raynor had used as a weapon on Char, had been theorized to vaporize any organic construct of the Xel'Naga. With they actual emitter retrieved from the pathways, there was hope that it had been successfully configured to 'Zerg.”

It was Dash'r who spoke up, "It will work, as to it's affect on the hybrid, it is most likely it will have a negative impact on the zerg portion of it's genetic structure, leaving it's Protoss derived abilities intact."

The alarms sounded on the bridge, and Captain Horner, who had been quiet the entire time, spoke up, "Incoming fire from the surface, some sort of psionic energy blast from a cluster of hybrids," The ship shook as it impacted the armored hull, and breach alarms sounded.

"We can't take much more fire from the surface. Take us down, Matt, right on the edge of Augustgrad, crash us if you need to, we're ending this."

Michael could see the ship's captain stiffen at the order, but the man still began barking orders at the crew. They could all feel the inertia ship as the Hyperion began a rapid descent into the atmosphere of Korhal. The newly blasted landscape still glowed from the atomic fires that had been unleashed in Mengsk's mad desire to retain control, willing to burn out his own people to defeat an enemy partially of his own making.

"Crossing into night, we'll be at the city in 4 minutes," Horner stabbed a button, and a ship wide intercom was activated, "All personal stand by for a hard landing, prep all air defenses to shoot down any ship trying to leave the city."

Raynor nodded at them all, meeting their eyes, before turning back to the large, armored window at the front of the room. They all watched, and braced themselves as the massive city, alight with fire, expanded to fill the horizon.

"Impact in 10 seconds," Michael heard Matt say, and he began a silent countdown in his head, waiting for the crash to come.