*blip*
"Adjutant online. Greetings Colonel, I trust your cryo-sleep was comfortable?"
Colonel George Aleus yawned mightily and stretched muscles stiff from months of cryogenic hibernation. He blinked in the white lights of the wakeup chamber and finally found what he was looking for. The Adjutant was the latest model, custom built on his home planet of Umoja with a more intuitive AI than ever. She - for Aleus always thought of them as 'she', no matter that they were nothing but robots - appeared the same as every other Adjutant he had ever seen. A prim, hairless female in a business jumpsuit and detachable wires connecting the back of her head to the mainframe hookup set into the wall. She was mobile when needed, but could jack into any computer system with ADJ7 linkup plugs to access extra data. The perfect personal assistant for a military commander.
"Yes thank you Adjutant, no mishaps noticed," Aleus said in the formal and slightly distracted voice he always spoke in when addressing robots.
"There may be minor side effects later on, Colonel. Please notify me of any blurring of vision or unnatural lethargy within the next few days and I will forward medication from Med-lab."
Aleus looked about sharply from his inspection of the room at the Adjutant. This new model did indeed have more intuitive ability than most. He'd never known one to speak out unless prompted before, and especially not with a comment showing as much initiative as that. Still, science was always making new advances. Soon, the things would be doing his job for him. Nodding to the robot he beckoned her out of the dimly lit wakeup chamber into his private quarters.
"Patch me through to Minister Jorgensen, please Adjutant," he requested the robot, once she had reconnected herself to the mainframe hookup in his sitting room.
"Minister Jorgensen has already requested that you contact him at first convenience, Colonel," the machine replied in her eternally calm voice as she initiated the call.
"Should have known," Aleus muttered. The Adjutant didn't respond.
The screen on one wall lit up to show the face of the High Commander, Minister Emil Jorgensen of the New Umojan Protectorate. He was a small man in his late fifties, who appeared ten years older. He had been the nominal leader and representative of the Protectorate on the High Council for over twenty-five years, but not a man of action or combat himself. He was a textbook tactician and accomplished diplomat, winning as many battles for the Homeworld on the bargaining table as in space combat. He was thin and somewhat nervous-looking, and seemed to jump from mood to mood faster than one could follow. And he was Aleus' direct commander.
"Ah, Colonel Aleus, you're awake! Excellent! Colonel Mordent is still in wakeup - we of advanced years take a little longer to recover from the effects of cryo-sleep," he chuckled at his own joke and continued. "You'll be pleased to hear that we are approaching our destination almost two weeks sooner than anticipated. The UED warp engines were even faster than we had expected and with a few minor course corrections we were able to make extra time!" Aleus nodded, singularly unimpressed. They were still eight months out from home on the far side of the galaxy chasing some undefined information that may not even exist. Aleus was a military man, and despite believing firmly in the ideals of the Protectorate - Knowledge, Justice & Truth - he was no scholar. But what knowledge that could be gained from this expedition would be priceless he was sure. The High Council deemed it worthy enough to send almost a full half of the fleet on this operation, as well as its top three commanders, so whatever was to be found had to be worth the risk. Aleus snapped back from his reverie as Jorgensen continued his constant stream of speech.
"You've been briefed on what we're doing out here Colonel?" the Minister asked.
"No Minister, I have not," he replied, "all that I am aware of is that we are looking for something valuable."
"Ah, a regrettable oversight," Jorgensen consoled, "You don't even know where we are?"
Aleus shook his head and Jorgensen hastened to enlighten him. "Oh dear, oh dear. How am I supposed to lead if my commanders don't even know the situation? Well, I must amend this immediately! Look at this Colonel." The image of Jorgensen shrank to one corner of the screen to reveal a view of space, presumably outside the ship. Prominent in the view was a planet. At some time in the past, it may have been a volatile volcanic world, now it was a dead ball of ash. It was a dirty ball of soot, apparent from the dust-clouds covering the surface and the black mountains rising sharply up from the surface. As Aleus watched, the system's sun swung into vision - a dimly glowing red ball that gave no warmth to the world below. This was a dead planet - no doubt about that. He shifted his gaze to Jorgensen's image. "This is our objective Minister?"
"Indeed, my good Colonel. I see you are nonplussed, but never fear. There is knowledge to be gained here. Perhaps a name for this planet would be helpful?"
"It has a name? We're on the far side of the galaxy - there's no intelligent life for several billion light years!"
"It does have a name. For you see, Colonel, this is Zerus. The Zerg homeworld."
CHAPTER 2: PLANS
Aleus shifted uncomfortably in his chair. The conference room aboard the First Contingent flagship Socrates was well furnished with large, cushioned chairs, but somehow Aleus never could sit well in one. Perhaps because he was always discussing bad news when he was in them.
Standing by the vid-screen at the front of the carpeted room, Minister Jorgensen addressed his two commanders. "As I was saying, our mission here is quite simple. We learned much from our contacts with the ancient Protoss before the noble Aldaris was so wantonly betrayed by his allies. You know, of course of the Xel'Naga?" Aleus nodded, and so did the other Colonel, Lars Mordent. Mordent was a large man, broad of shoulder and with a mane of thick once-golden hair, now greying. His eyes were hard, those of a man who has fought too many battles from behind a vid-screen, has seen too many of his men senselessly slaughtered. Tearing his gaze away from his co-commander, Aleus returned his attention to Jorgensen's lecture.
"The Xel'Naga are known to have created both the Protoss and Zerg in their experiments. Their goal is believed to have been to create a perfect sentient life form - a most noble cause I believe you will concur! However, they made a great mistake and lost control of the Zerg. The Zerg destroyed the Xel'Naga ships in orbit around Zerus and, as far as we know, wiped them out. This was eons ago, and it is not our place to mourn the passing of such a wise and benevolent race. Instead, we are here to attempt to further their cause! We seek here, gentlemen, not glory or riches, but the most valuable commodity of all - Knowledge!"
Colonel Mordent spoke up, shattering the far-away look in Jorgensen's beady little eyes.
"If the Xel'Naga are dead, how are we going to get to this knowledge of yours?"
Jorgensen looked irritably at Mordent and said nothing.
".Minister," Mordent added grumpily.
"Thank you for your respect Colonel. And your question is easy to answer. We are trying to find any remnants of the great Xel'Naga ships that once watched over this world. Surely at least one must have crashed upon the planet's surface or on its moon. We have merely to find it."
Mordent exploded, "Do you mean we've come all the way across the Galaxy on some half-baked chance that there might be a millennia-old hunk of Xel'Naga ship lying around and that we might be able to glean something from it?! This is insane!"
Aleus grabbed Mordents arm and sharply jerked him back into his seat. "Get a hold of yourself man! The High Council has deemed this venture worthy of the better half of the Protectorate Fleet and that's good enough for me!"
Mordent subsided grudgingly as Jorgensen affirmed Aleus' words. "Indeed Colonel! It is not your role to question the will of the High Council! And it is most certainly not your role to question my authority!"
Mordent nodded sullenly and shook his arm free of Aleus' iron grip.
"Now then, Colonel Mordent, if you have regained your composure.?" Jorgensen continued, "We intend to set up a small space platform in orbit as our base of operations, while establishing a number of outposts on the surface as supply dumps and bases for the search. Colonel Mordent, you will have command of the First Contingent, consisting of our Marine and Mech Corps, half the Wraiths and Valkyries and the flagship, Socrates. Commander Aleus, you will command the Second Contingent under me, consisting of the rest of the fighters and the greater part of the fleet's capital ships - including the other flagship, Nostradamus. Details of deployment and logistics are available through your respective Adjutants. Any questions? Colonel Mordent?"
"No.Minister."
"Excellent. Then this meeting is adjourned. Colonel Aleus, I will meet you in shuttle bay One in thirty minutes for ferrying to the Nostradamus. Don't leave anything behind."
Throughout the fifteen-minute pod trip to the Nostradamus, Aleus brooded over the mission. Was Mordent right? Were they wasting their time here? No matter, the cost meant nothing to Umoja now that they controlled so many new worlds - all conceded to them by Emperor Mengsk in return for contributions of men and equipment for his final assault on Kerrigan. And if there was indeed valuable knowledge to be gained here, their troubles would be more than worth it. By now the First Contingent would be dropping into low orbit and beginning the first landing. Mordent was surly and distrustful of Jorgensen, but he was loyal to Umoja and would not cause problems. Aleus only hoped he could say the same for Jorgensen.
CHAPTER 3: THE SURFACE
Colonel Mordent barked orders at his beleaguered bridge crew. "What the heck is wrong with that idiot wraith in blue wing?! He's out of formation - tell the young idiot to get back into escort or take it up with me personally!"
"Following that up, Colonel," sighed the overworked helmsman, "Wraith 9, Blue Wing! This is Socrates. Report your condition and bearing immediately!"
The pilot's voice crackled over the radio; "This is wraith 9, Blue Wing, receiving you Socrates. The mechanics have busted a few bolts and my armour's chinked. I'm gonna have to take a shallower re-entry path."
"Wraith 9!" Mordent growled into his head speaker, "If you're going to be a nuisance you can do something useful on the side. While we set up operations I want you to do a full-orbit recce. Scout the planet as you come in and upload your nav-map to us as you go. Signal may be relayed from the fleet."
"Yes sir Colonel! Be my pleasure. See you in Alpha Base at 05:30!" and with that the wraith cut connection.
Mordent scowled some more. Bloody wraiths thought they were hot shit. He'd like to see the young upstarts go head to head with the enemy when they weren't protected by their cloaking! Ha!
Flight Lieutenant James Franchise flicked off the com-switch with a grin behind his mask. Finally a chance to fly solo! No more of the Old Viking's formation flying! He had an entire orbit run to get out on his own! Checking the fuel cells and oxygen tanks he confirmed he had plenty of breathing space for some creative flying. Pushing the throttle wide open, Lt. Franchise broke away from the main body of the First Contingent and computed in his course, setting the autopilot to 'free control' allowing him to break autopilot control at any time. Once he was out of direct vid range of the fleet he was going to see if he couldn't scare some cattle! Not that there was likely to be any cattle to scare around here. This was a deadpan world. Nothing but dust and fart gas down there - just like home! Chuckling, Franchise took off at full throttle, silencing the alarms from the autopilot with a flick of a button.
Several hours later, Franchise wasn't feeling so carefree. The nav-map scope was showing some things he wasn't too keen on. "Ohh. fuck." He muttered, for below him on the planet's surface was a large, flat plateau. totally covered in the oozing purple substance known as Creep.
"There's WHAT!?" Mordent demanded of Franchise.
"Zerg, Colonel. Like I said - biggest damn Hive I've seen in a long time," the pilot replied over the com-link.
"This planet was supposed to be abandoned by them millennia ago! Damn! A simple treasure hunt! Sure!" Mordent lapsed into some more colourful extensions of his vocabulary for a few minutes before he returned to the topic at hand; "Is there just the one Hive, wraith 9?"
"Just the one, Colonel. No other Hives de-. ah.strike that Colonel - scanners picking up another patch of creep to the north."
"Alter course, wraith 9," Mordent ordered, all business now, "I want a full recce of every Hive you spot."
"Roger Colonel, Wraith 9, signing off."
Mordent slumped in his chair. Alpha Base was nearly completed and Beta was under construction 127km away to the northeast. The Second Contingent was holding position over the Southern Pole and relaying Franchise's locator beacon and radio transmissions to the Alpha command centre. The Socrates was in low orbit, holding position over Alpha and the Wraith and Valkyrie wings were grounded by the newly constructed starport. Defences were minimal. The Zerg were not supposed to be here!
"Adjutant, get me the Nostradamus," Mordent requested.
"Immediately Colonel," it replied.
*blip*
"This is Aleus."
"Aleus - Mordent. There's. a situation."
CHAPTER 4: PREPARATIONS
Zz'Naxis observed the passing of the wraith overhead with trepidation. He saw through the eyes of his Overlords the markings of one of the Koprulu Terran factions. How had they reached him here? Since the death of the Overmind, Zz'Naxis had lost contact with his fellow Cerebrates in the Koprulu sector and on Aiur. He knew nothing of the events that followed. But his task was clear. The Overmind had bestowed his Brood with the duty of guarding Zerus and guard it he would. Ordering one of his Scourge to follow the Wraith at a distance to determine its origin, Zz'Naxis willed orders to his eleven Hives on Zerus to mobilise.
Mordent, at Alpha base, was busy reassigning his forces. His SCVs had begun construction of bunkers and missile placements at Alpha and the still-uncompleted Beta, but he feared the worst. He usually did.
Resources were scarce, the only available were shipped down from the Fleet and they had precious little to spare from construction of the orbiting space platform. Static defences were not in the mission planning and the extra demand on resources weighed heavily on the Fleet's quartermaster.
Mordent scowled at the Ensign who delivered the message to his quarters. Wraith 9 was back, but a small radar blip had appeared on the comsat before it had turned tail and fled. Whatever Cerebrate controlled this forgotten Brood, it now knew where they were.
"No we canNOT send reinforcements Colonel Aleus!" Jorgensen asserted, "What we have must stay to protect the platform!"
"We have enough capital ships here to protect against anything but a full-scale assault with nothing to spare! The Wraiths and Valkyries are needed more for recon and defence at Mordent's position than here!"
Jorgensen peered at Aleus through his thick bifocals with a frown, "You said it yourself Colonel - an all-out assault would overwhelm us here! I cannot risk the safety of the Commander-in-chief of the Fleet! I gave command of the First Contingent to Colonel Mordent with full confidence in his abilities."
Aleus bit his tongue. Arguing would gain him nothing, instead he changed tack. "Then grant me permission to move our Science Vessels into lower orbit at least, Minister. That way we can bring our comsats to bear on a far larger area of the planet."
Jorgensen tapped his prize gold-plated fountain pen on the desk as he considered. Finally he nodded his permission and Aleus saluted and turned to leave.
"Ah, before you go, Colonel." Jorgensen stopped him, "Leave me a Vessel. I have my own uses for them at the moment."
Aleus shrugged, let the man play with his toys. When the crunch came, which he had no doubt it would, it would not be the Commander-in-chief who called the shots. Scowling like Mordent on a bad day, Aleus left to help the older Colonel in whatever way he could. Heaven knows, he thought, he was going to need it.
A series of frantic beeps came from the radar console. The corporal in charge of monitoring the Comsat stared in horror. From the edge of the screen came a wave of blips, so thickly clustered and numerous that they appeared as one massive blotch on the screen. "Uh. Colonel Mordent sir?" the young man stuttered, "we've got multiple signals on the radar. Comsat detects as Zerg and. oh my god!"
Mordent immediately switched his personal monitor display to show the Comsat readings and saw what had dismayed the corporal. The massive wave of Zerg was coming, not just from the north, but from the east, south and west as well! They were surrounded by a living mass of clawed death!
"Damn it! Scramble all pilots and load the bunkers! Get me Beta on the wire! How did the Zerg bypass them?"
But Beta camp was not responding. Mordent knew what that meant.
"Adjutant! Get me Jorgensen! This is priority one red alert!" The robot nodded and commenced the call - the rapid, coded distress signal that would alert the Nostradamus that they were under attack. But it would take time for the Fleet to respond - a full Comsat dish was required to focus on them to transmit through the thick Methane atmosphere of Zerus. And even after they knew the situation the best response time could be no less than an hour even for the speedy wraiths.
Mordent bit his lip as he watched the signals approach. It was time to earn his pay.
CHAPTER 5: FIRST BLOOD
*blip*
"Colonel! Red Alert distress signal incoming from Alpha base!"
Aleus swore. It was too soon! Mordent had not had nearly enough time to construct adequate defences! He turned from his reviews of the planetary geography to address the Adjutant. "Begin Comsat sweep of the area and contact Colonel Mordent on the emergency line!"
"I have already commenced re-alignment of dish #14 Colonel," the robot replied. Aleus paused for a moment, taken aback, then nodded perfunctorily to her and raced from the room towards the bridge of the Nostradamus. Surprised crewmembers jumped out of his way and saluted as he raced past them, but he had no time for protocol. Mordent would be overwhelmed in less than half an hour if he could not send aid.
Reaching the bridge, he found Jorgensen already there, frowning at the somewhat blurry long-range video feed.
"Minister we have to send reinforcements NOW!" Aleus bellowed at him without pausing in his rush, "The Zerg have committed to a full assault! This conservation is pointless at this point in time!"
Jorgensen looked up at Aleus hesitantly and murmured something about 'protecting the platform'. Aleus skidded to a halt in front of him and towered over the little man with a look of fury in his eyes. Jorgensen quailed and nodded his assent, "Ah. yes Colonel, I believe the situation has changed. send half our fighters to engage the Zerg on the surface."
"Half? Half our fighters won't save that base! It will take all of them!"
"Er. yes, well perhaps you are correct. yes send them all," he nodded again, dropping his head.
"And I want direct command for the duration of the emergency!" Aleus added.
Jorgensen's head snapped up again and his expression was more stolid, "Now Colonel, I am in charge here.!" he began but Aleus cut him off.
"With all due respect Minister Jorgensen, I am more qualified to command this fleet in combat than you and this is most definitely my sort of situation. Grant me command for the sake of the men down there at least!"
Jorgensen hesitated again then finally nodded, "Very well Colonel - for the duration of the Red Alert emergency you are in command of the Second Contingent. However, I reserve the right of veto."
"Agreed!" Aleus agreed quickly then turned to the bewildered bridge crew. "I want all Science Vessels in low orbit to converge on Alpha base immediately - operational mode Combat. Scramble all Wraith and Valkyrie wings and begin re-entry to engage the Zerg. I want all our dropships to make the steepest descent possible and begin evacuation of Alpha base. Can we train a Comsat on Beta?"
Jorgensen stuttered in outrage, "Evacuation Colonel? This is hardly.!"
"There is no way we can save that base, Minister, believe me. We must pull back to Lagrange Platform and regroup - we can hold the platform. but NOT the surface!"
Jorgensen subsided again but continued to hover over Aleus' shoulder as he worked.
Aleus was too busy with his command to notice the unfriendly glare Jorgensen directed at him.
"I got tow Blue Leader!" James Franchise barked into his radio and pressed the missile fire button. Two packets of death launched from the tips of his wings and turned the Overlord into zergling chow.
"Whee-haw! That's the last one down on our side Blue wing!" he cheered as his Wing Leader congratulated him and gave the order to cloak. A shimmering gauze passed over his Wraith as Franchise cloaked along with the rest of his wing and engaged the now confused and defenceless mutalisks.
"Break off from your wingmen, boys," the radio crackled, "but keep an eye out for incoming overlords, we don't want to get caught with our pants down!"
Franchise chuckled at Wing Leader "Cookie" Corsen's joke and began his first run at the fleeing mutalisks. The battle in the air was hard and fast, and Blue Wing had lost more than one pilot, but with the loss of all their escorting overlords the Zerg on the western side of Alpha base were at the mercy of them now. The radio prattle informed him that the Ghosts on the ground were wreaking havoc amongst the Zerg ground forces on this side too, but the other three-quarters of the base fared less well. Ultralisks were tearing apart the defences at the northern entrance and the Siege Tanks there had been ensnared, slowing the rate at which they fired and all but compromising that quadrant. Help was on the way in the form of Violet and Aqua wings though, and these reinforcements should be able to hold the slow ultralisks off until the Tanks recovered. The southern entrance faced a rocky cliff-face, and zerglings were pouring over this precipice heedless of their own safety and providing much target-practice for the marines manning the bunkers there. They might soon be overwhelmed, however, as a number of hydralisks were heading towards the cliff as well. Nothing anyone could do about that though, as the situation to the east was far direr. Defilers had 'swarmed an area there and hydralisks by the hundred were harassing the helpless bunkers.
Franchise frowned. why was Blue Wing still here? The bunkers to the west were easily mopping up the remaining Zerg here and his fellow pilots were cutting the fleeing mutalisks apart. Besides, there were tanks below that were desperately needed to the east!
"Got a suggestion for you Cookie," Franchise drawled, "why don't we leave the bunkers to clean up and head for the cliffs? We could help out there and the Tanks down there could help to the east, no?"
"Sorry, Jim, our orders are to hold position here," Corsen replied, "they'll have to sort out their own problems."
"Our orders are to protect the base, sir," Franchise persisted, "there isn't gonna be a base to go home to if those Zerg get inside."
There was silence from Corsen for a long moment before Franchise spotted his wraith uncloaking and looping away from the muta-slaughter.
"You've got a point there. Ok Blue Wing, leave those poor flying bats alone - we're gonna fry us some hydralisks at the cliff. Sergeant Cooper!" he called to the Siege Tank Master Sergeant, "Think your compadres to the east would like a visit? We're going to help out the southern bunkers."
"Hell yeah!" Cooper responded eagerly, "I was gettin' all lonesome sittin' here by myself!"
Corsen's chuckle came through, "and your latest doxie's treating the wounded over there right?"
"That might have something to do with it, yeah. Reckon I could be a hero Corsen?"
Most of Blue Wing and Cooper's unit laughed along with him. "Sure Cooper, you do that!" Franchise put in as he pulled in with his wingman and opened the throttle; "maybe this one won't run away as soon as you get naked!"
Before Cooper could respond, Franchise locked his radio onto the Blue Wing channel and zoomed off to the south.
CHAPTER 6: SAVING GRACE
Private Martin Balsam gritted his teeth. Ignoring the pain from his over-Stimpacked muscles he fired continually into the mass of Zerg outside. The medics were hard at work, but the sheer size and stamina of the Ultralisks was making it hard to keep up. Men were dying by the dozen, whilst the Tanks that were supposed to be supporting them were hopelessly ensnared, reducing their effectiveness by half.
"Goddamn it!" Balsam swore, "We can't hold this spot! Where the fuck is the backup?"
"Stow it Balsam!" Sergeant Marx snapped at him from his own Bunker window, "there's 2 wings of Wraiths on their way. We can hold!"
Glancing at the small video display below his window, Balsam saw the Wraiths closing fast and zeroing in on the smaller support units that their lasers could hurt, leaving the Ultralisks for the infantry and Tanks.
"Here they come! And not a moment too soon either!" Balsam cheered, still firing.
A voice crackled in his headset, "Hold on tight boys & girls, the cavalry's here!" The cheering of the Marines was very much audible.
Mordent was in a frenzy. He divided his time between screaming at his staff and staring hopelessly out the windows of the Command Centre. To the north, now there seemed to be some hope, as the Tanks had now shaken off the goo that had been clogging their systems. But to the south and east, the situation was even direr than ever. It seemed that Blue Wing had taken it upon themselves to abandon the west perimeter and aid the Southern defence bunkers, but the hydralisk swarms there were holding their own and many wraiths were down. To the east the siege tanks from the west perimeter were helping the fight, but the defilers had unleashed the toxic acid known as plague and the bunkers were crumbling fast.
"Goddamn Jorgensen! Adjutant!"
"Patching you through to Colonel Aleus now, Colonel."
Somewhat annoyed by the robot's seeming precognition, Mordent dashed to the video feed and looked into Aleus' face.
"We need you NOW Aleus! Not in fifteen minutes or half an hour! We're not going to last more than another ten minutes! The perimeter is crumbling as we speak!"
"I know! There's nothing I can do though! Minister Jorgensen only let me send the Wraiths once the attack commenced. They won't be there for another forty-five minutes at least! Can't you buy some time?"
"With WHAT?! I've got nothing to buy time with! Whatever damned Cerebrate controls this farking dust-ball has sent everything against us!"
Aleus paused, and a pondering look crossed his face, "Everything?"
Aleus punched a few quick queries into the main database and within seconds had his response. No Zerg activity was reported anywhere on the planet except around Alpha Base. What was more, tracking records showed no activity above low orbit.
"Mordent - I've got an idea! Tell your troops to be ready to evacuate and not to engage the enemy beyond defending their positions. The dropships should be there within fifteen minutes."
"I told you already, Aleus - we don't HAVE-"
"I know. I'm about to buy you some time." Switching off the connection, Aleus patched himself into direct control of one of the low-orbiting Science Vessels. This particular ship was holding position near the primary Zerg Hive on the surface. And there was no activity in the base whatsoever. A smile crossed Aleus' face. Overriding all failsafe systems, Aleus disconnected the controlling bio-bot and gave himself the controls. With the one-second time lag this would be tricky. Tricky, but not impossible.
Zz'Naxis watched in horror and a curiously detached admiration as the Science Vessel headed directly for him. He knew that from this death, there would be no return. The Overmind was dead, and no fellow Cerebrates remained within half-a-million lightyears to resurrect him. He had failed.
USV-032 ploughed into the Cerebrate's pulsating form and detonated explosively. Simultaneously, Zz'Naxis' form split and erupted in a shower of red and green bile and the Zerg which were even now breaking past the eastern and southern perimeters of Alpha Base paused and collapsed to the ground in shock. The cheers of the surviving Terrans on Zerus were deafening as they set about the business of slaughtering as many of the stunned Zerg as possible before the beasts recovered. Within a quarter of an hour, the battle-weary soldiers were piling into the Second Contingent dropships fresh and still re-entry-warm from orbit. Blue and Violet wings, the only with pilots still alive, formed up an escort as the ships lifted off and set off once more for Lagrange Platform and the meagre safety it offered.
And as the abandoned structures of Alpha Base faded into the distance, the troops watched the first of the stunned Zerg awaken and begin to skirmish amongst each other...
