I know this doesn’t follow the actual story line but I thought this alternative setting would make a cool story.
The sky was clouded over in a layer of thick sulfur that was constantly being
poured out of the thousands of erupting volcanoes. The smell was intolerable and lethal.
The many weary soldiers marching on the alien surface who wore airtight body suits and moved towards their destination of a tiny developing colony about fifty kilometers away.
Raynor, their commanding officer, rode in a battle cruiser above the soldiers, watching
over them, ready to destroy at any threat. He felt very powerful, but he also felt that his
talents misused by the Terran Confederacy, the organization he had committed his life to mny years ago. He was one of their best: what was he doing there on the lifeless planet of Rahc? He could do much more in the war against the rebels on the crippled planet of Korhal, yet he knew that the rich mining resources on Rahc would prove to be invaluable in the war. However, Raynor was unquestionably loyal to the confederacy, enthusiastic about it or not.
As they approached the Terran colony, Kerrigan, second in command of the
mission, came and rested a hand on his shoulder. She could sense his disappointment, as a child, she was subject to many tests and was diagnosed with ESP or extra sensory
perception, she could feel things that others could not.
"Don't worry Raynor, at least here we'll be able to build up our forces without enemy disturbance, I'm sure that you'll be back on Korhal before you know it," she exclaimed.
"I know," Raynor replied, "It’s just that they need me back on there, I just want this
war to end."
Kerrigan nodded her head in a reassuring agreement, she knew that Raynor would
do anything to end the war. He had seen so much chaos in his lifetime, he was born into
the war and wanted to see at least one day where there wasn't any wars being fought in the Korprulu solar system. They had been very close since Raynor rescued her from the
Rebels and their tests, they knew one another like they had lived their whole lives together, although it had only been a few years since Raynor saved her.
A voice blared on the intercom "All personnel report to the cargo bay for landing." He looked up and smiled appreciatively at her and the two left to the cargo bay.
"Prepare for landing," the voice ordered. Raynor grabbed his suit and he was deployed on to the hot, dry surface of Rahc. As he approached the surface, he noticed that
the base seemed to be functioning pretty well, it had a command center where all the units were controlled from, some bunkers for housing marines during an attack, and plenty of separate mines and factories. But it needed much of work.
Within months, the base had everything from supply depots to air strips to academies for training marines. Raynor was beginning to forget about the war on Korhal and started to accept the fact that he was needed on Rahc more.
One week passed and a fleet of dropships came to return the soldiers that had
accompanied the Battlecruiser on the trip to the resource base back to Korhal to fight the Rebels. In exchange, they provided the base with three fighter fully equip, mach ten fighter jets, and three exploration probes. The transaction was over within hours, a sense of relief filled the base as the powerful fleet hovered just outside of the tiny colony, but left as quickly as it came. Raynor was overwhelmed by uneasiness when they left, it was almost as if they left them there to die, never to see, hear, or encounter the confederacy again.
And that's exactly what happened.
That night, Kerrigan awoke in a cold sweat, she dreamed of horrible lizard-like creatures that spat acid and had razor sharp teeth and fangs. She was sure of their presence on Rahc. She ran to Raynor's office and told him about her dream. She sensed their mental strength, it was intense, she knew that they were well aware of their presence and were maneuvering towards their position. This frightened her greatly and
tears flowed down her rosy cheeks from her bright blue eyes.
She whimpered as Raynor held her tightly in his arms. He ran his fingers through her red hair trying to calm her down. "Don't worry," he said in a calm reassuring voice, "I'm here for you". He knew that she appreciated his help. He had always adored her since he first met her, but they never really got too close, it was just too much for them to get involved in a relationship, especially during a war. But Raynor had more important things to worry about, he needed to save the base from attack. He told Kerrigan that he needed to leave and approached the observation tower.
"Sir, there seems to be a large cluster of life forms about 20 kilometers away,"
reported a soldier. Raynor thought for a moment trying to decide what to do, he knew
that they were they same creatures Kerrigan told about. He was sure of it, he needed to
counter their coming attack.
"Send in the tanks!" he yelled. Immediately there were ten tanks lined up just
outside of the base accompanied by about fifty marines and the three fighter jets. It wasn't like him to act so harshly without confronting the enemy first but he knew that a race of savage acid spitting, lizards with razor sharp claws and fangs wouldn't be open to negotiation.
Raynor sat tensely in his office waiting for a week for any word from the group he
sent in. A worried look was implanted on his face. He hadn't shaven in days and his hazel eyes had heavy bags under them. Finally he heard a knock at his door. "What is it?" he yelled in anxiety.
"Sir, we've spotted our remaining forces," a soldier stated.
His face lightened up, "Great!" He exclaimed. "Did we suffer heavy casualties?" he
asked in a concerned voice.
"Sir, there's one marine left," the soldier answered.
Raynor was terrified, "What about the rest?" he asked.
"We haven't been able to locate them sir," he answered.
Raynor was greatly disturbed by the fact that nearly all of his forces were killed in
the counter attack. "You are dismissed," he ordered. The soldier saluted and marched out.
Raynor rose from his seat and went to greet the soldier. If he was the lone survivor then
he at least needed a salute. He peered into the smoke and off in the distance, he spotted a marine stagger into view. His leg was flowing blood and his left arm was defaced beyond recognition. It was a wonder that he was even alive.
Raynor's eyes caught some movement not too far behind the marine. To his
horror, swarms of tiny raptor-like creatures engulfed the marine and left only a gun and a shredded body suit. They proceeded towards the base, Raynor was shocked, he had no idea what to do, he was too horrified to think when a whole fleet of alien warships,
vehicles, and warriors attacked the invading creatures and quickly decimated them.
Then they turned towards the Terrans. Raynor pulled himself together and ordered all troops to defend from the aliens. At that moment he realized that he had much more men than they did, but he had never encountered them before, how strong are they?
The two armies lined up, face to face, neither side attempting to strike. Finally a
spider-like vehicle stepped forward, it obviously held some sort of high position to them.
A voice from within it uttered a few words in English. Its voice seemed to echo in his
mind "Peace, help, no harm," and waited for a reply. Raynor ordered his men to let the
newcomers in. The curious newcomers were seemed to be very well trained and obedient.
They lined up and stood, not moving while waiting for a reply. Their leader looked at
them and they all seemed to respond by entering the base.
For months they learned from and observed the Terrans, they were very curious
and were eager to ally with the Terran. Raynor was willing to do anything to prevent more war so he was quick to accept the offer. The strange race was identified as the Protoss.
They had encountered Terran before and picked up a little English. Now they were
learning very quickly. Raynor was uneasy about them, everything about them was
abnormal. Their skin was composed of large blue scales, their eyes were thin and glowing yellow. They were all at least three meters tall, and some ground warriors even had huge lazer cutters implanted in their arms. But the strangest part was that they had no mouth, they were a telepathic race that could direct messages to either individuals or groups of people.
They were all extremely loyal to their leader and greatly valued honor. They
would sacrifice their own life and even that of their comrades to fulfill their duties.
As much as Raynor doubted them, he was interested about their presence on Rahc.
He soon learned that they were renegades from their former clan that questioned their
policies. After they had escaped from the clan, they began to develop psionic powers that their brethren tried to hide from them. Soon after they harnessed this power, the Zerg, destroyed their homeworld of Auir and most of their race. Since then, they have spent their time tracking down the Zerg seeking revenge. He learned of their leader’s name, Tassadar, he greatly expressed the fact that they wouldn't let anything get in their way of destroying the Zerg.
Raynor was amazed at their story and then he realized, the Protoss would do
anything to destroy the Zerg, What if they were going to use the Terran in their obsession with destroying the Zerg. Raynor was becoming very uneasy about their new allies. Could he trust them? Only time could reveal the answer.
***
After about a year since they first met the Terran, the Protoss were beginning to
construct their own base. They were granted limited room for building so that they could
not overpower the Terran. Soon afterwards they were demanding more space. The Terran granted it to them little by little with the excuse that they needed to stay close by the Terran in case the Zerg were to attack but really Raynor was just limiting their power.
Finally, after months of asking for their own independent base, Raynor was fed up and
gave into their requests. They were granted permission to build their own base about ten kilometers away.
The first few months were uneventful, apart from the occasional minor Zerg
attacks things went pretty slowly for the Terran and Protoss. Their new base was almost
complete when a massive Zerg swarm flooded into the base, the Protoss managed to hold them off for a few hours and sent many distress calls to the Terran base. It was impossible for them to hold off the Zerg for much longer, Tassadar was waiting for the Terran to respond. After an hour of waiting and hoping, he realized that the Terran were not coming to save them, and so Tassadar proudly marched out into battlefield to join his brethren in battle.
Back at the Terran base, Raynor paced vigorously across his office. He had
received many distress calls from the Protoss. He knew that they had a powerful army that could pose a significant threat to the Terran or Zerg forces. "What if there just luring us into a trap?" he pondered curiously, "But what if they’re really under attack?" Raynor
convinced himself that they were setting a trap. He'll probably have enough time then to
build up his forces in case of an attack. He just needed to wait until the next transmission came, but it never did.
***
Adrenaline pumped through his veins and muscles, Tassadar's senses were on full
alert, he fired massive plasma orbs at the advancing enemy Zerg. His men were falling and the Zerg were whittling away at them by the second. Their supreme advanced spawn was too much for the slower less agile Protoss. Tassadar unleashed his fury for the years of suffering and pain of losses of the Protoss species. He was enraged by the Zerg and their savagery and recklessness upon his people. But no matter how hard they fought, for each Zerg they killed, more kept pouring in. Tassadar witnessed the horrific sight of the Zerg devouring and butchering his loyal men. He was fighting a losing battle, to his sorrow, he recalled his remaining troops and headed for safer ground. With only seventeen soldiers, three vehicles, two fighter jets and himself, his once mighty fleet was now struggling to survive. He knew at last that he had been defeated, and his woeful troops retreated in shame. The Zerg had destroyed all they had left, their honor.
***
Raynor heard a soft knock at his door, "Who is it?" he asked in a low, disturbed
voice.
"Its me, Kerrigan," She replied.
"Come in," He ordered. She opened the door and came into his dim lighted room.
"I heard about your decision," Kerrigan sternly stated, "What were you thinking?
To leave your own allies for dead!"
"Look! I had no idea about how much trouble they were in or how many Zerg there actually were, okay!" Raynor yelled. He had just received news that the Protoss base
had been completely destroyed. He was filled with shame and guilt for ever suspecting that the Protoss would try to trick him that way. Worst of all, he felt he could have saved
them.
"Raynor, I know that’s not why, you were afraid of something, of a trap," Kerrigan
expressed.
Raynor hung his head low and responded in silence. He looked up at Kerrigan, his
hazel eyes were filled with a look of disgrace. "I just couldn't bring myself to trust those,
those things!" He cried, "I never meant to let them die!" Raynor sat in his chair and shook his head sadly.
Kerrigan felt sorry for him, she could see how much regret he was experiencing. She moved to his side and rubbed his back, trying to comfort him, she accepted Raynor's feelings towards the Protoss and tried to think of how she could help.
Raynor looked up at her in an appreciative way, and motioned for her to leave.
Kerrigan smiled, nodded her head and went out the door. As she walked down the long,
narrow, metal hallway, she heard a loud voice over the intercom, "We are under attack.
Repeat, we are under attack," and was accompanied by an annoying siren. She looked
back and saw Raynor sprint from his office to the military wing. She followed after him.
Raynor had his gear on and exited the massive building, what he saw before him
was terrifying. Swarms of savage creatures stormed his base and tore through his
defenses. Kerrigan stopped by his side with her equipment ready, her jaw hung open for a moment. Kerrigan then ran out into the thick of the battle as Raynor joined the tanks in
plucking off the larger ones. Up above, hoards of flying creatures launched spines at the
Huge armor plated creatures with razor sharp tusks slaughtered even the strongest of the Terran men. Raynor’s shoulder was beginning to hurt due to the constant pounding of his gun, bullet shells flew everywhere and the soldiers dropped like flies. Wave upon wave of Zerg were sent into the Terran barricades.
It was brutal, he knew right from the start that he was bound do die, just like the
hundreds of fallen men surrounding him. He at least wanted to give them a fight they'd
remember. Kerrigan came to his side. They stood in a bunker just north of the raging war.
"How much longer?" She questioned.
"I don't know." He replied in a low tone.
Kerrigan leaned over and kissed him on his cheek, "Well when were done here,
promise me that we'll leave this terrible planet." She spoke in a soothing musical tone.
Raynors face lit up and he embraced Kerrigan. "I promise, and we can move away
to the tropical planet Toras!" He reassured. They stood there gazing into each others deep blue eyes when a Marine burst into the bunker.
"Commander! Requesting permission to speak." He barked in an urgent manner
"Permission granted." Raynor replied.
"Were under heavy attack! We need your help" He declared.
" Of course." Raynor replied, knowing of the dangers to come. "Kerrigan, I want
you to stay out of battle, OK."
"Yes sir." She replied as she watched Raynor run out into the battle. She decided
to follow, she couldn't bare to think that he might die without her ever knowing. So she
ran right into the raging combat.
Bullet shells flew everywhere, and the smell of smoke and blood was thick in the
air. Kerrigan was horrified, she had never actually fought in actual battle despite her
amazing ability. She watched as strange creatures tore through the helpless marines.
Suddenly, a creature spotted her and began to zero in on her, she acted quickly and dove out of the way while shooting. The thing had no chance against her. She stood up and examined the carcass. Raynor would be proud she thought. "Wait a minute," she said aloud, "where's Raynor?"
She scanned over the battle field and noticed him moving into position, but behind him, she saw one of the Zerg creeping up behind him. As the creature leapt, without thinking, she fired three rounds straight into the creatures skull. Then watched as the lifeless body plowed into the ground to the left of Raynor.
She progressed towards him and noticed the battle was dying down. Suddenly she
felt a sharp pain in her back, for a few seconds she stood dumbly in horror. A large spike protruded from her chest. The creature leapt upon her and clawed away vigorously. She raised her gun and fired at it to force it off of her. It collapsed and rolled to the side. She laid on the ground for hours, dizzy with pain, trying to attract someone's attention but found it impossible. Finally she gave up, and realized it was useless. She listened inattentively and discovered that there was no longer the sound of guns firing and terrifying screams, only silence. She found herself whimpering, and then began to sob as she realized that she was about to die.
As Raynor waited for the next attack to hit them, he notice a body lying half-dead
nearby, as he inspected it, he suddenly felt ill in his stomach. Lying there was Kerrigan,
struggling to breath, she was scratched and cut all over, with a deep, fatal gash in her
chest. Raynor ran by her side and lifted her head, "Kerrigan!" He said in a quivering voice,
"Don't worry, it's gonna be all right, everything will be fine, we'll have you recovered in no time." It was then that he realized that she had no chance. She was obviously in a lot of pain. She smiled weakly at him and then winced in pain. Raynor felt her fading away, her eyes rolled back and her head fell limp in his arms. "Kerrigan, wake up, don't leave me!"
He cried. He knew now that she was dead and broke into tears. Raynor held Kerrigan's
dead body in his arms for what seemed like an eternity until the medics came to carry her back to the hospital. When he raised his head, he saw movement on the hill before him. It was the remainder of the Protoss fleet.
Raynor staggered to his feet, he noticed Tassadar, marching down the hill. He
made eye contact with him, his eyes were burning with anger but when Raynor raised hisarm and saluted, Tassadar raised his arm to his forehead and imitated his comrade's
movements. This show of loyalty, touched Raynor deeply and made him feel even more
guilty, even after he had left them to die, they were still loyal, despite their mistreatment.
And as the Zerg sent one last wave of attacks, Tassadar and Raynor marched proudly
towards the savage creatures and fought side by side right to the bitter end.
