A spray of bone, brain, and blood showered Private First Class Daniel Leaf as the head of the Marine next to him exploded when a Glave Wurm from a Zerg Mutalisk launched itself at him after first killing two other Marines. Daniel fell backwards as the spray of gore not only surprised him, but also unnerved him. His armor now almost covered in mud, water, and fragments of what was Private Sanchez’s head. The skull and crossed guns emblem on his armor barely showed through. It was the symbol of his company, the 31st Trovendis Infantry (also know as the "Death Bringers"). Daniel had been proud to bear the emblem on his newly painted armor when he graduated from Basic Training on his homeworld of Trovendis. The sound of Zerglings down the trench pushed those thoughts from his mind. He picked up his Gauss Rifle from a pool that was a mixture of newly fallen rain and blood. Daniel pushed himself up and looked down the trench trying to pierce the thick cloud of smog and dust that was caused by the heavy shelling of the Zerg position (Daniel and his friends in the 31st called it "battle haze"). A shape formed in the smoke and Daniel raised his rifle. Not wanting to shoot a friendly, he waited for a clear view of his target, at least he hoped it was a friendly. His hopes proved false as the haze cleared up long enough for him to get a good look at four Zerglings, and them to get a good look at him. They started down the trench at him, but they didn’t get very far before the trench was suddenly engulfed in flame. As the hellfire vanished, Daniel looked up to see a Firebat standing on the lip of the trench. The Corporal (as Daniel noticed from a quick glance at the Firebat’s nameplate) jumped down in the trench next Daniel. His face was cool and calm. The picture on his armor showed a goblet with a hand of bone reaching out of it. The inscription under the picture read, "Surrender your life blood. We are the Blood Drinkers." Daniel noticed just then that he and the Corporal were the only ones left in the trench. The Firebat had to shout over the sounds of battle, "Come on, there is an immobilized tank down this trench a ways and her crew can’t hold off the bugs forever." Daniel wanted to thank the Firebat for saving his life (he never heard of one Marine like himself killing four Zerglings and coming out of it with all his limbs), but decided against it and just said "Sir." He wasn’t sure if the Corporal had heard him or even if he cared, but neither did Daniel and he set off at run after the Firebat. No way did he want to be alone in this hell.
The trench seemed to go on a long time and Daniel wondered how the Firebat had seen the tank in the heavy smoke. He started to notice the dust in the air more because it got in to his mouth as he ran and made his throat dry. He looked around to try and see anything besides the haze and the fuel tanks mounted on the Firbat’s back. It was a good thing he did too, because the hulking form of a Zerg Hydralisk slashed at his head with the razor sharp blades of bone that emerged from its arms. Daniel started to move back when he slipped on the mud in the trench and his forward momentum of running and then stopping made him slide forward. He didn’t have time to think and surprised himself when he raised his Gauss Rifle and put a well-placed burst of fire into the face of the Hydralisk, killing it. The Firebat turned around, not even having noticed the Hydralisk that had tried to kill him and Private First Class Leaf and surprised to hear gunfire. He then noticed Daniel was on the ground with his gun barrel smoking still pointed at the dead Zerg, daring it to move. The Corporal followed Daniel’s eyes to the dead Hydralisk with several holes in its face. He turned back to Daniel who was now looking at him after noticing the Firebat had seen his kill and figured out what he did.
"Nice move, kid," said the Firebat.
"Uh, thanks," Daniel stammered. His heart was still beating hard in his chest.
"Come on, those men are still in trouble," said the Corporal. He offered his hand to Daniel and he helped the Private to his feet. They set back into a run down the trench.
Daniel was surprised when the Firebat suddenly stopped in front of him and he almost slammed into him. "What is it?" said Leaf.
"Quiet!" the Corporal whispered loudly over his shoulder, "Look." Daniel moved beside him now that the trench had widened enough for both of them. He stared at the tank in front of him. It had somehow been driven right into the trench and it’s back end went up in the air about 6 feet from the lip of the of the trench.
"You see anyone?" said the Firebat.
"No," said Daniel after a few seconds of studying the Siege Tank for any signs of movement. Then, something caught his eye. A man under the tank crawled a little bit, looked up, and stopped moving.
"There!" whispered Daniel, pointing at the man. "What is he doing?"
The man moved suddenly and fired a pistol at some unseen enemy.
"Go!" said the Firebat as he broke cover and sprinted for the tank.
Daniel ran after him. Gauss Rifle readied for any attacker. The Firebat grabbed the man and pulled him away just as some Needle Spines hit the mud where he had just been. That meant that there is at least one Hydralisk on the other side, thought Private First Class Leaf.
"Is there anyone else left in there alive?" the Firebat asked the tank crewmember.
"I...I’m not sure," said the tank crewmember, still dazed after being pull out from under the tank.
"Uh...Marine!" said the Firebat. Daniel remembered that they didn’t know each other’s names and the nameplate on his armor was covered in gore.
"Private First Class Leaf, sir," replied Daniel in return. Daniel looked at the Firebat’s nameplate again, more carefully this time. Corporal Steve Melbourne.
"Right. Ok Leaf, you jump out of the trench and give me some covering fire while I get in position. Then, when I light up the trench, you climb up to the hatch and see if there are any other survivors," said Melbourne.
"Got it," said Daniel.
"Go!" said Melbourne. Daniel jumped out and spotted his enemy. Five Hydralisks and two Zerglings where bunched together on the other side of the Siege Tank. Daniel almost forgot what he was doing when he saw the overwhelming odds against him. He almost forgot because when he saw one of the Hydralisks flaring out its hood to shoot armor piercing darts at him he set his gun on full automatic and blasted into the trench. The recoil of his gun made him sink into the mud as red-hot shell casings came fountaining from his Gauss Rifle. Suddenly flames erupted from the backside of the tank and Daniel knew it was Corporal Melbourne. Daniel leaped onto the front of the Siege Tank and moved to the hatch. When he reached it he wrenched it aside and jumped down inside the cramped confines of the tank. He could barely move around in his armor, but there was still enough room for him to make his way to a man groaning in the driver’s chair. He had already checked the other crewmembers for signs of life.
"Can you move?" asked Daniel.
The man opened his lips to speak, but the only sound he made was another groan. The radio on the tank burst to life. "If anyone is still alive up there we are abandoning the first parallel of trenches. I repeat. We are abandoning the first parallel of trenches. If you don’t want to be bombed to hell I suggest you fall back to the second parallel."
A voice came in through the hatch. It was Melbourne. "Hurry up in there. There are more Zerg closing in on this position."
Daniel unbuckled the man from his chair and handed him up to the Corporal. Daniel climbed out of the tank to see the scorched remains of the Zerg that had threatened them. The two warriors jumped down to the other man still lying against the muddy back wall of the trench.
"The others are pulling out to the second parallel, sir," Daniel said to Corporal Melbourne. "I think they are going to nuke the bugs."
"That’s still about 300 yards away. We’ll have to run," said the Corporal, "Can you walk?" The man lying against the wall looked up after noticing he was being addressed.
"Umm, yeah," he told Melbourne.
"Good," said Melbourne, "and would you please get out that stupor! I know you almost died and all, but it we don’t get out of here soon we’ll be glowing!"
"Right!" replied the man, quickly getting to his feet. Daniel then noticed his rank. A Master Sergeant. How did this guy get promoted? Daniel asked himself as they climbed out of the trench again. They had run about 100 yards when Daniel managed to sneak a peek behind him. He saw the tank overrun with Zerg.
Daniel just barely missed being hit by a Guardian’s Acid Spore. He had recognized the sound it makes when launched because of the vids they made the recruits watch on the Zerg during basic. When Daniel looked up again after dodging the projectile, he saw a bit of the horizon shift. He immediately dropped to a knee and pointed his gun at the place of the distortion. "PROTOSS!" he yelled at Corporal Melbourne. The Corporal and the Master Sergeant jumped down into the many small trenches that snaked out for the main trenches connecting the first and second parallels.
"If I was a Protoss, you would already be dead," said the Ghost as he uncloaked, "now don’t disturb me. I’m trying to get rid of some Zerg." He cloaked again without lowering his gun on his target.
"If you’re this close that must mean we are safe, right?" said Daniel, not taking his eyes off of where the Ghost had appeared and disappeared again. Daniel lowered his gun and stood up again. Melbourne climbed out of the trench; as did the Master Sergeant.
"Didn’t I say not to disturb me?" said the cloaked Ghost. Daniel didn’t move and kept his eyes on the place where the Ghost had once stood (and was probably still standing).
The Ghost sighed and said, "Yes, alright. Now you might want to get into that trench." Daniel saw the horizon shift again and knew the Ghost had jumped into the trench behind him. Daniel, Melbourne, and the Master Sergeant jumped back into the trench they had just climbed out of. Daniel heard a whistle and he closed his face shield to seal his helmet. The ground under Daniel heaved as the Nuclear Missile detonated. The wind whipped through the trench. Daniel had heard when the Nuke was first invented that the blast radius stayed radioactive for at least 30 years. They had long ago been able to counter that effect of the weapon. Commanders all over the stars used Nukes all the time to weaken fortified enemy positions or kill amassed armies.
Daniel opened his eyes and put up his face shield. The Ghost was up on the lip of the trench with his one foot on a rock. He calmly smoked a cigarette; the smoke exited his body through a filter and a vent placed at the back of his neck. He had pulled up his goggles and revealed his face. His dark eyes were full of life and Daniel could swear he could see the Specialist’s psychic energy roaming around behind his eyeballs. The Ghost stared at the large mushroom-shaped cloud. The smell of charred Zerg flesh hung in the air.
Daniel pushed himself out of the trench and ran up to the Ghost, filled with rage. He grabbed his clothes and was surprised when the Ghost didn’t flip him on his ass and snap his neck. The Ghost turned his head calmly and acknowledged Daniel. Daniel suddenly remembered his rage and shouted, "What the HELL are you doing!? How do you know there aren’t more men in there!?" Daniel thought of his friends being incinerated.
"Do you honestly believe that I was the one who made the decision to launch a Nuke at the first parallel? HQ gave me a target and an order to paint it. I did what a good soldier does. Follows orders," replied the Ghost calmly, "You should do the same!" With that, the Ghost threw Daniel onto his back. The Ghost looked down at him, threw his cigarette to the ground, and walked away. Melbourne walked up and looked down at him. "We still have to report in to HQ. No doubt they are already in the beginning stages of a counter-attack," said Melbourne. Daniel got onto his feet. Daniel, Melbourne, and the Master Sergeant walked in the direction of the makeshift field Headquarters.
They approached the staging area for the counter-attack with many eyes on them. Men and women stopped when they saw 3 figures on the horizon of dust thrown up by the Nuke. They all thought that there was no one left in the first parallel. Men ran up to the three of them when they saw the unconscious man on Melbourne’s shoulder and soon they had called Medics to carry them away to the field hospital. They took the Master Sergeant with them to check him out. "Wait," the Master Sergeant said to the Medics, he looked up at Melbourne and Daniel, "thank you both. I would have died if you two hadn’t come along."
"It was not a problem," said Melbourne, with a stone face. The Master Sergeant looked quizzically at him for a second and smiled. He turned and followed the Medics back to the hospital tent.
Daniel followed Melbourne to the command tent. The door guards stopped them. "What do you want?" one of them asked Melbourne.
"We need orders," Melbourne said simply. The guard had seen them approach from the dust. He looked at them for a second and sighed.
"Wait here," said the guard. He disappeared inside the tent. Daniel looked around at men and women scrambling about the camp. He looked at the Wraith fighter aircraft on the long strip of leveled dirt that was supposed to be an airfield. He spotted (well, it was hard to miss) a Battlecruiser, like the one that transported him to this planet. There were many divisions in on the campaign for this valuable mining planet. Daniel wondered if he would be reunited with the 31st. Several minutes later, the guard appeared from inside the command tent. With him, was a Captain.
"These them?" asked the Captain. Looking at Melbourne and then Daniel.
"Yes, sir," replied the guard.
"Alright. Come on in boys," said the Captain to Melbourne and Leaf. He led them inside the tent. It was quite large and was dimly lit except for the center of the room that had a light hanging from the ceiling. Along the edge of the tent there where maps on boards with arrows and pins, screens with maps for instant intelligence on troop movement and enemy deployment, and folding chairs and tables that served as desks for the officers. Under the large hanging lamp was a large table with a screen in it. On the screen was a map of the planet’s surface. There were officers huddled around the table, pushing buttons, tracing lines on the screen with their fingers, talking amongst themselves. None of the officers at the table noticed Daniel or Melbourne when they entered, but one of the female officers did glance over at them. She was standing up straight looking down at the table map with her hands behind her back. Daniel saw her rank. Commodore. That must have been her Battlecruiser outside. Just then, Daniel remembered the Ghost’s words. She must have been the one who ordered the nuclear strike, thought Daniel. He hated her now. What if there were men in that trench? thought Daniel, she killed them! And just look at how smug she is! Argh! If I didn’t have these damn aggression-inhibitors I’d go over there and strangle that bitch.
"Over here," said the Captain. He sat down at the desk in the corner. "You two wouldn’t mind giving me a report would you?" It was a statement, not a question.
After recounting the story for the Captain, Daniel asked were he might find his the rest of his regiment.
"Let me just look here," said the Captain taking a clipboard from his aid and flipping over some pages. "What is your regiment son?"
"The 31st Trovendis Infantry," replied Daniel.
The Captain looked up at him suddenly. He stared at Daniel for a few seconds before setting the clipboard down on his desk. "You haven’t heard, have you? Son, the 31st was overrun in the first parallel. Why do you think we had to nuke it? I’m sorry."
Daniel looked pleadingly at the Captain to tell him he was joking. The Captain only maintained his look of pity. Daniel closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Corporal, take this man to the aid station and then report in to your regiment in the south of camp," said the Captain turning Melbourne. Melbourne saluted and turned to leave.
"Wait," said Daniel catching the Corporal by the shoulder. "Sir, I want to go in with the counter-attack," said Daniel looking back to the Captain.
The Captain raised an eyebrow and looked Daniel in the eye. Daniel returned his stare. The Captain then glanced over at Corporal Melbourne inquisitively. The Corporal looked down at the man and gave him a slight nod. The Captain sighed heavily and said, "Ok, Private. You are now part of the-" he pointed at Melbourne with a confused look.
"The 23rd Provis Infantry, sir," said Melbourne.
"Right. I’ll get the paperwork done for ya," said the Captain. "Oh, and Corporal?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Look after him. If he dies, the paperwork is gonna be murder for us higher-ups."
"Will do, sir."
Corporal Melbourne and PFC Leaf were dismissed and exited the command tent. They both headed down to the 23rd’s row of tents. The "battle haze" had lifted a little so they could look out over the large field of shabby gray tents. The Marines were sitting around fires eating or talking. Daniel couldn’t help but think of his friends in the 31st. Corporal Melbourne stopped outside a tent with a Vulture attack bike sitting in front. A Sergeant was working on the Fragmentary Grenade launchers on the sides of the bike. Cleaning the barrels and firing mechanisms.
The Corporal cleared his throat. The Sergeant looked up at the two men. "Ah. Melbourne. You made it. The boys thought you were bug chow." The Sergeant said jokingly slapping the Firebat on the shoulder pad.
"Not today, sir," Melbourne replied in the same monotone voice he used for just about every situation.
"Or ever it seems. I tell you Melbourne; luck just seems to follow you like an old dog. So, who is this?" said the Sergeant looking over at Daniel.
"Private First Class Leaf, sir," said Daniel snapping to attention.
"This your boy Melbourne? Seems to have the same stick up his ass. Just joking. Put ‘er there Private," said the Sergeant, offering Daniel his hand. "Sergeant Brian Shadix."
Daniel shook the Sergeant’s hand.
"So, what’s up?" asked Shadix
"Sir. I’ve just been assigned to your unit. My entire regiment was overrun and destroyed. Command put me with you," replied Daniel.
"Wow. You sure you’re ready for active duty so soon?"
"Yes, sir. Just put me where I can kill the most bugs."
"Good. I see you got your rifle. Do a final equipment check and load up ammo. We are moving out soon. Now, if you’ll excuse me I got to finish up here," said Shadix, indicating his bike.
Daniel didn’t have much time to meet his new teammates. He talked with them only for a little bit while he cleaned his rifle before Shadix came and told them to move out.
The Battlecruiser was lifting off from the launch pad when Shadix’s squad set out. The giant space ship hung in the air, defying gravity. It’s huge bulk started moving as the main thrusters whirred to life with a tremendous noise.
Daniel marched along the barren dirt wasteland with his new squad mates. He felt odd. Sadness was harder now for some inexplicable reason. Corporal Melbourne marched along side him. Sometimes he gave Daniel a sideways look.
The Zerg forces were either decimated by the blast or they had gone underground, literally, so when the Terran forces reached the first parallel, everyone was on their toes.
Nothing happened for quite some time after passing the trench line. The Terran armor rumbled around them. Siege Tank’s heavy treads shook the ground and the walkers referred to as Goliaths moved awkwardly on their reverse robotic limbs. Shadix had informed the rest of them that the Zerg base had been spotted a couple miles ahead on a plateau.
Daniel wondered what would happen to his 31st Infantry badges. He and it were the only thing that seemed to be left of the regiment. Would he stay with the Blood Drinkers? Or maybe they would raise a new regiment from Trovendis. Everything seemed so uncertain.
Daniel’s next thought was interrupted by a scream. Daniel looked up ahead to see a man in the next squad impaled upon a large spike jutting up from the ground. The spike disappeared as quickly as it had come leaving the bloody mess of a man behind. The men dived to the ground as the spikes seem to assault them from every angle. Marines were firing wildly into the ground in a futile search for the Zerg Lurkers attacking them from under the surface. Horrible screams told of men’s bloody deaths. Shadix was screaming into the radio on his Vulture. Daniel clutched his head as a high pitched sound sang from out of nowhere. HQ had pinged the area. The deadly enemy was now displayed on the inside of every marine’s visor. The Lurkers suddenly didn’t stand a chance as every gun in the Terran force tore their hiding places the shreds. Then everyone realized there was a lot more of the dots showing underground enemies than just the ones marking the Lurkers. In seconds, the ground beneath their feet seemed to explode. Suddenly surrounded by hundreds of now revealed Zerg the Terran forces counter-attack looked grim. Chaos was the only rule as men were chopped in half by razor sharp blades of bone, having limbs ripped from their bodies from extremely sharp teeth, speared by flying spines, or many other gruesome deaths. Goliaths’ machine guns scythed down the Zerg. Siege Tanks did one better as their main guns exploded the Zerg into a rain of alien blood and bone. Melbourne was setting countless Zerg aflame inciting ear-piercing alien screams. Shadix’s Grenade launcher sent alien limbs flying off their owners. Daniel was blasting on full auto at some Zerglings attempting to take his head off with their teeth. He managed to kill all but one. The last Zergling chomped down on his arm. White-hot pain shot through his arm as its teeth punctured his armor. He grimaced and put his rifle to the alien’s head. He pulled the trigger and was suddenly covered in alien blood. Melbourne shouted at him and Daniel just dodged a swipe of a Hydralisks razor sharp bone arm. He fell to the ground on his injured arm and let out a cry of pain. The Hydralisk flared out its hood and this time Daniel couldn’t dodge the Spine Needles launched from its mouth. The sharp needles hit the vulnerable joint in the shoulder of his armor. He could barely lift his arm to point his rifle at the Hydralisk. He managed to reach that goal and he emptied the clip into the alien, punching a hole through its chest. Daniel pushed himself to his feet and looked around at the other Marines. Bodies lay all over the open ground. More Zerg than Terran Daniel was happy to see. Medics ran about trying their best to help the screaming men who had sustained wounds.
A load roar sounded from out of seemingly nowhere. The ground shook and Marines looked up to see a tide of Zerg running towards them from around a curve, a huge Ultralisk at its head. The Terran armor opened up once more and blasted great holes in the wave of alien bodies, but each time a gap was opened it was filled up again with a seemingly unending reserve of Zerg. The shells from the tanks blew chunks of hardened chitin from the Ultralisk’s bony armor, but the huge mass of frenzied blood-crazed flesh didn’t even seem to register that it was being hit. The ground between the remains of the Terran infantry and the rolling tide of alien bodies closed fast. The larger Zerg were crushing the smaller ones underfoot trying to reach the humans and begin the slaughter. Daniel’s confidence wavered as he emptied clip after clip at the charging Zerg to no avail. Just as it seemed they were surely doomed, great flashes lit up the polluted sky as the slow moving bulk of the Battlecrusier had finally caught up. Its main guns raged with fury. Great booms heralded the death of huge sections of the Zerg advance. The aliens were thrown into the air as the huge blasts couldn’t help but hit. The Zerg "lucky" enough to be hit dead on were vaporized. The tides were turning and the Battlecrusier kept moving onto the Zerg base, leaving the ground forces to take care of the remnants of the Zerg. The Ultralisk had survived however and now put on a huge burst of speed. It slammed headlong into a Siege Tank. The full force of the alien’s charge flipped the tank backward onto a group of Marines. The Ultralisk let out a roar as it swung its huge bone arm into a Goliath, cutting it in two, both of which exploded. Now the beast set it sights on the Marines around it. It raged in fury and cut through them with sickening ease. It squished the men with its huge feet, speared them on its arms, threw them up into the air, and used its arms to cut them to pieces.
Corporal Melbourne ran at the beast and doused it in flames. The alien monster let out a cry of pain. Then it found what was causing it so much anguish. The huge razor-edged bone arm swung at Melbourne. Once it hit the fuel tanks on his back, the tanks exploded taking the Firebat in a giant ball of flame. Daniel yelled in vain. The Ultralisk was roaring in pain and anger. Daniel slapped home a new clip into his Gauss Rifle. He dived under the Ultralisk and rolled onto his back. Setting his gun to full automatic he concentrated his fire at on spot between the monster huge armor plates. The gun punched open a small hole in the soft flesh of the Ultralisk’s belly. He grabbed all the grenades he had left punched his fist into the open wound. He dived out from under the alien as the grenades exploded inside it. He wasn’t quick enough; the Ultralisk slammed its back foot down on his leg as the grenades blew the beast front left leg off. Daniel’s leg was crushed and he screamed at the unimaginable pain. The Ultralisk fell forward as great gouts of alien blood spewed forth from its body. Daniel blacked out from the pain.
Daniel awoke in the field hospital back at the base. His armor had been removed. He lay in the bed looking up at the ceiling of the first aid tent. He suddenly remembered what he was doing last and he sat up with start. He knocked over some glass bottles, which shattered on the floor. He was examining his new skeletal looking robotic leg. A nurse came hurriedly over.
"Are you alright?" she asked him.
"M-my leg," he managed.
"Oh, yes...I’m so sorry. We couldn’t save it so we had to amputate it and give you this robotic prosthetic."
Daniel stared at his new limb and then fell onto his back. The nurse gave him a sad look and moved away when a doctor called her to a critical patient.
Daniel stayed in bed for a few weeks while his arm and shoulder wounds healed. He was visited by his new squad-mates. They talked with him about his "heroic" slaying of the Ultralisk.
"Look at this," said Devin. He held up a shoulder pad. Daniel recognized it as his own. They had painted a Blood Drinker badge on it.
"Wow. Thanks guys," said Daniel.
"Glad you like it. Well, we gotta go. Jason has been complaining about not having eaten for ten whole minutes. We’ll come bye again. See ya Daniel."
"Bye."
"PFC Leaf?" said a voice. Daniel turned. He was looking over the ruins of the Zerg base. The Siege Tanks had gone into siege mode and had used their powerful main guns to destroy all the enemy buildings. Daniel was now looking at the female Commodore he had seen before and a group of some other senior officers. Daniel snapped to attention and saluted. The Commodore saluted back.
"At ease," she said. Daniel went into the relaxed position. "You are PFC Leaf, aren’t you?"
"Yes, ma’am," replied Daniel.
"I’d like to talk to you about your actions during the counter-attack. I read the report and I was amazed at what you had done. Taking down an Ultralisk all by yourself. That’s very impressive."
"Just doing what needed to be done, ma’am."
"Well, I’m sure. But what I wanted to tell you was, that’s the kind of quick-thinking and bravery we look for in an officer and since your platoon commander, a Sergeant Shadix, was killed we need someone to take command in his place. I think you would be a good choice for the job."
"Thank you, Commodore."
"Sergeant," said the Commodore, saluting. Daniel saluted back. She turned and walked back to her command car, trailing the other members of her entourage.