Shadows from the Badlands

The impact managed to jar Michael loose from the console he had braced on. Even with the breaking thrusters firing before impact, the concussion from the impact had done significant damage to the bridge. Most of the computers had gone dark, and only emergency lighting remained active. Michael moved to check on a technician who had been on the bridge, and had apparently not braced himself securely enough. The man had been thrown forward, and was bleeding freely from a gash on his head. Michael grabbed a nearby med kit, and applied a bandage as thoroughly as he could before standing and surveying the remains of the bridge.

He could see Matt Horner calling out commands over a radio while a medic patched a gash on commander Raynor's forehead. He looked out of the forward view port, which had been shattered, parts of it thrown clear of the structure of the ship. Own below, marines and vehicles of war had started pouring out of one of the front holds. In the distance, he could see several hybrids making their way through the wrecked outer edge of the city, already under fire from several deployed tanks.

"Hey Matt, better get the artifact juiced up, we got company." He yelled loudly over the crashes and booms of the firefight breaking out of the streets below them.

Matt looked up from the single console that had been restored, and nodded his ascent at Michael, "Its powering up now, 30 seconds and we'll have a field up covering most of the planet."

Michael grunted and shouldered his sub machine gun. The ship's bridge was located roughly 10 stories up, and the forward facing window gave him a respectable vantage point. His gun was decently accurate at a moderate range, not to the point of a rifle, but the Hybrids only needed to get a little closer before he would be able to hit them with any accuracy.

He sighted in on the closest hybrid, it's shields were being hit repeatedly by rifle fire, but it had already charged close enough to the defenders of the ship that the tanks were no longer able to safely hit it with their massive cannons. When he felt a thrum of energy pass outward from the bowels of the ship, he opened fire. Through his scope he could see the impact of many small arms fire hitting the creature through it's now depleted shield. The small holes which would normally heal over in seconds, stayed open, freely leaking a black viscous blood. He took a moment to glance back at Dash'r, hoping that the Protoss had not downplayed and ignored the risk of death that the weapon presented.

"Raynor, they stopped healin so far," Michael shouted at the commander, who had taken a position near Matt, barking order to the men in the street. More hybrids were approaching, faster then their shields could be depleted, when an idea came to mind. The cannons mounted on the underside of the ship had likely been sheared off, but what about the dorsal cannons, and he directed the question at the captain. Only seconds later the large batteries joined in the fray, adding to the carnage and tearing through the shields of the oncoming hybrids.

In the distance, from a landing bay on the large palace in the middle of the ruined city, several ships lifted off, attempting to take advantage of the hybrids distraction to take off. Michael saw several missiles streak out of the missile tubes, located just under the bridge, and begin tracking in on the small, unarmed ships. Almost simultaneously, a psionic attack tore open the the side of the lead ship, launched from a hybrid further in the city that had still been making it's way towards the palace. The small ships engines died and crashed into the ruined city, whiles it's two companions simply exploded, showering the area with debris.

Dash'rs mental voice rang out across the room, heard effortlessly in spite of the noise, "Commander, Mengsk ship has crashed, but I believe he is alive, if we depart now, we may be able to reach him before he can escape."

Michael turned away from the battlefield in front of him, and watched the conflict wash over the rebel’s face. It was clear he desperately wanted to go after Mengsk, but he knew that his duty required him to do. "I can't, and we can't spare the men."

Dash'rs voice was calm when he spoke again, "I am of no use here, and Michael can accompany me, but it is vital that he not escape."

Michael waited for the commander to give his ascent, and when the nod came, he grabbed onto Dash'r,and the world lurched and spun as they traveled the distance between the Hyperion and the crashed drop ship. They were immediately under fire from one of the survivors, a personal guard of Mengsk. The distance was so near that he could see the crazed look on the mans face. He recognized the severe impact of a 're-socialized' conscript, and after taking cover, fired a single round into the mans head, shattering the class plated helmet. He looked to where he could feel Dash'rs presence, and saw the Dark Templar's warp blade swirl in and arc, revealing the bisected form of a now dead ghost.

The two of them approached the hold, Dash'r leading the way, his telepathy homing in on the emperors mind. When they rounded a corner, Dash'rs shield flared, and Michael squeezed past him, edging his way around the corner, and fired down the hallway, killing or injuring several remaining guards.

"He is close," Dash'r whispered in his mind, "And alone."

They opened a final door, and in the cavernous, well decorated room, stood the head of the Terran Dominion, standing tall, and looking defiantly at them both. Before he could open his mouth to try and bribe his way out, Michael's weapon barked once more, lodging a bullet in the mans neck.

As he looked into the eyes of the man dyeing bellow him, he felt no pity. From what he had heard, this man had torn apart dozens of worlds, and had the blood of billions on his hands.

"Sarah sends her regards, and so does Jim," he said, his voice gone cold. He raised his rifle once more, aware of the stories about what this man had escaped from in the past, and refused to give him any chance of escape now. He turned to his lover once the deed was done, "Can you get us back to the Hyperion?"

"Yes," was all the Protoss said, as he wrapped his arms around Michael, and another violent, disorienting ride had them appearing in a darkened section of the Hyperion's bridge. The sounds of battle still echoed in the distance, but the main guns of the ship had fallen silent, unable to successfully hit more distant targets.

He nodded his head at Raynor's questioning gaze, and before his eyes, a weight seemed to lift from the mans shoulders. "We've done it, the hybrids are being pushed back across the planet, Michael, we've won. With Korhal behind us, and a new emperor on the thrown who actually looks out for humanity, it's just a matter of getting the fleet out to the worlds still being attacked."

Michael grinned, and sagged against Dash'r, "How many hybrids per world?"

"Only a handful, Mengsk must have found most of them on the settled worlds before they finished growing, and brought them back here, it's just a mop up job."

Michael just smiled, relieved that the last few weeks of terror and death seemed to be coming to an end.

*Epilogue*

In the end of the events in the Koprulu sector, billions of human lives had been lost before the rampaging Hybrids could be hunted down and exterminated. The Hyperion never lifted off again, instead was established as a monument on the battered fringes of Augustgrad. The Zerg swarm, under Kerrigan's rule, moved in to blockade the few remaining worlds under control of the zerg who answered to a mysterious other power.

Outside the Koprulu sector, the remaining Protoss marshaled their forces still preparing for an eventual assault against the still over run Auir.

In the badlands, Kerrigan, ever aware of her close proximity to the United Earth Directorate, kept a close watch on the sky, waiting for the inevitable, for now that she was once again linked into the vast collective consciousness of a new swarm, she knew that the battles they had fought were only the beginning.