//------------------------------//
// Chapter 010 
// Story: Starcraft: Queen and Country 
// by Wanderer D 
//------------------------------//


Starcraft: Queen and Country
By Wanderer D
Chapter 010





2504, Koprulu Sector, Hyperion Bar █

The Hyperion's bar was loud, grimy, and stank of old alcohol and cigarette smoke. Even though it had plenty of ventilation thanks to the large fans at the top of the room, it still held that sense of an old-time dive that the locals didn't so much as frequent as much as end up there out of habit more than need.

Looking around, it appeared that Matt had checked in on his old haunting grounds before heading over to the rescue, because Swann had somehow gotten a hold of his old jukebox and TVs and hung them all from the bar's roof with chains and cables. Jim Raynor didn't mind much—it gave the place some class, after all, and it desperately needed it.

Raynor gave Graven Hill a pat on the shoulder and stood up, stretching. Sure, getting those Devil Dogs Firebats was a bit expensive, but with more than one Zerg Queen capable of actually changing tactics, he needed as much ground-control as he could get, and few zerg could simply shrug off being bathed in fire.

Sweetie Belle might be able to withstand it, but inexperienced as she was, she'd most likely react as any former-mammal would and freak out, giving him the time to either put her out of her misery once and for all, or take out her other troops.

The thought of the new zerg made him shiver a little. Not because she was deadly, but because of how innocent she sounded and—admittedly—looked. It was a constant emotional and logical battle to fight a creature he instinctively wanted to hug, scythes and all.

And that brought his thoughts to the new creature aboard. Raynor glanced at the griffon sitting alone at one of the tables. Most of the Engineers seemed, if not comfortable, at least able to tolerate him, but the troops… well, they were wary of aliens for obvious reasons.

If he was honest with himself, Raynor would have shot first, asked questions later if he had encountered Gallus on his own, but with Matt's assurance that the griffon had behaved himself since arrival, tried to learn and help and also with the added backing of Zeratul, he had little reason to question the mythological creature's amiability, if not his intentions.

It would be a lie not to see himself in the young guy. Girlfriend lost to the zerg, only to have her return as a monster—away from anything resembling home, forced to learn and survive… at least Gallus hadn't done like himself and Tychus and turned to crime. Although who knew how things would be if Zeratul hadn't found him?

He made his way across the bar, nodding at faces he hadn't seen in a while until he reached Gallus' table. "Hey kid, you sure your can drink that stuff?"

Gallus snorted, saying something in some strange language before he caught himself, and cleared his throat. "Sweet Apple Acres' Cider is much stronger than this," he said in Terran, taking a swig with a grimace. "And tastes a lot better, too."

Raynor chuckled, taking a swig of his bottle. "That's why I prefer hard alcohol. Mind if I take a seat?" He gestured to the seat across from Gallus, raising an eyebrow. The griffon shrugged, motioning with his claw. It was in a way astounding, how similar Gallus' body language was to that of a human, sometimes. Maybe that was why he had transitioned smoothly into Swann's team. "I can imagine where your thoughts are, kid, better get a hold of them before you start thinking up crazy plans to save your girl."

Gallus ruffled his wings, shifting uncomfortably on his seat. "She's not my girl. I just… know her."

"Sure, but even if she isn't, don't make too many plans. Once the zerg have her… well, there ain't no coming back from that one. The Sweetie Belle you knew is not the one that's in there now, if you catch my drift."

Gallus sighed, glancing up from his mug to look at Raynor. "Experience, huh."

"Yeah," Raynor sighed as well, then leaned forward. "So, how did you all get here? How do you speak our language? What you said earlier, that wasn't Terran."

"Ah hell, don't remind me of that nightmare…" Gallus whimpered. "Zeratul used some sort of Protoss device to project Terran into my mind. I had a headache for days, and had to stay in the lab while Egon checked on me. Dude would not shut the hell up. By the time I was able to walk and talk, I spoke like Zeratul himself for some time, friend Raynor."

Jim chuckled. "You sound a lot less formal now."

Gallus shrugged, smiling slightly. "I was never one for formalities. My culture is historically irreverent, and Princess Twilight was never much for that either."

"Princess as in… royalty?"

"Yeah…" Gallus shook his head, glancing up at one of the screens in the bar. "Nothing like your Mensk guy. The Princesses are generally loved by all, even other races, and Twilight… well, she's really hard to dislike. Smart, slightly paranoid… but willing to give everyone a chance. She's the Princess of Friendship, you know?"

"I do now," Raynor said, trying to wrap his head around it. "So she's not a griffon? She's like Sweetie?"

"Different, but more like her… she's… uh…" Gallus said something unrecognizable. "I don't know how else to say it. She has a horn and wings."

"And that's not normal?" Raynor asked, frowning. "Sweetie had wings and a horn."

"Eeeh…" Gallus said. "There's only…" he paused to count silently on his claw. "Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Flurry and Twilight. I thought I heard Twilight swear that a friend of hers should've become a Princess by now if she ever decided to cross a... mirror?"

"That… makes no sense," Raynor said, "maybe it's some sort of translation mistake?"

"Could be." Gallus dismissed the thought with a wave of his claw. "The rest of the ponies either just have four hooves, four hooves and wings, or four hooves and a horn. Only princesses have all aspects."

"Huh."

"And to answer your other question… we're here by accident. One crazy unicorn attacked us during an experiment and messed up things… we arrived in a planet where some Terrans tried to kill us and Zeratul helped us escape… Quantum created a portal to take us to Zeratul's ship… he was teaching the basics to Sweetie but..."

"You were attacked," Raynor said.

"Yeah. Quantum was just… splattered, and I was injured, I almost lost a wing. Without him, the portal would have collapsed, but Sweetie... she held it until Zeratul and I crossed. Before she could make it… well, you know the rest."

"Dammit," Raynor swore under his breath. "It's always the good ones kid. Your friend did something very noble. You know that."

"Yeah," Gallu sighed. "I know. I wouldn't expect any less of her… or any of our friends." He groaned and held his head in his claws. "What the hell am I supposed to tell her family, Raynor? Nothing like this has happened in centuries. Even when the world was almost destroyed a couple of times, it was more of a ticking-bomb if we didn't stop it, you know? Nocreature was savagely killed!"

Raynor had to process that for a moment. "Just how many times was your world—" he stopped and shook his head. "Never mind that. Kid. It ain't going to be easy, but we'll make sure that you at least have the chance… and they deserve it, both her family and Sweetie herself deserve that they know her fate. Good or bad. It's not a duty anyone wants, much less facin' people you know, but as friends and comrades… we have to."

Gallus shook his head and chuckled. "At least you didn't dance around it."

"Don't have time for that, kid," Raynor said, shrugging. "Too many things happening at once to worry about avoidin' the inevitable." He glanced at Gallus' glass. "Ya done there, kid?"

"Yeah. Couldn't stomach another one."

Raynor chuckled. "Come on then, let's head over to the bridge and see if we've got ourselves somethin' new."




2504, Koprulu Sector, Hyperion Bridge █

"Sir," Matt greeted as soon as they stepped in, "We've picked up a distress call from the planet Agria. There's a colony there under attack by the zerg."

"Play the message, Matt."

The group listened in tense silence to the static-ridden message. Gallus could see the human woman was desperate.

"...the Dominion abandoned us… we're only a farming colony…"

"How could they do that?!" Gallus gasped, "Their own subjects… how is this Mensk still allowed to rule over the Terrans?"

"Not all Terrans," Raynor muttered.

"Sometimes, Gallus," Matt said, "small civilian settlements are the least concern to their leaders. They simply don't want to waste the resources or risk their soldiers to save people they can easily replace. It's one of the many reasons that we are at war with the Dominion."

"But they've been abandoned to the zerg!" Gallus hissed, "doesn't Mensk know what that means? Don't his generals have an idea of what will happen when they're attacked? They have no chance of surviving! They—"

"They're not lost yet, kid," Raynor spoke up, putting a hand on Gallus' shoulder to calm him down. "Matt, set us on our way…"

"Aye, aye, sir," Matt responded immediately, saluting as he turned to give orders.

Raynor turned to Gallus, kneeling down so he could stare at the griffon eye to eye. "Here's where you make a decision, kid. Me? I promised Kerrigan I'd be the one to bring her down. She and I…" He shook his head, biting the words. "We've got history."

"Yeah…" Gallus whispered.

Raynor cleared his throat. "Anyway, I can't say if it's the same for you, but now that you know Sweetie Belle's fate, what do you want to do?"

Gallus blinked. "Do? What do you mean? I'm working with Swann and trying to figure out—"

"I get that," Raynor interrupted, "But that was before, 'n this is now." He poked the young griffon on the chest. "You want to make sure there's no zerg walkin' 'round with her face? I'm not gonna lie to you, I ain't going to pull my punches just because she's adorable. The question you need to ask yourself is… Do I want to have this zerg destroy her memory? What would her folks and friends want?"

Gallus' eyes were wide. "Y-you want me to go there and kill zerg with you?

"You gotta learn how to take them down sometime, kid," Raynor answered. "Who knows what might happen in the future, but if you're here and part of the Hyperion's crew, you'll be exposed to zerg and worse."

"Sir, with all due respect…" Matt began to say, but trailed off when Raynor raised his hand to stop him. 

"I ain't gonna tell you what to do, Gallus," Raynor said, locking eyes with the griffon. "I'm just giving you the chance to decide. But," he stood up and pointed at the planet in the holographic display, "If that kinda thing affects you as much as all of us here… you can also join me down there. If you don't want to let Sweetie do the kind of things Kerrigan is already having her do… you're gonna have to step up."

Gallus closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I don't know…"

Matt looked at Raynor. "Are you sure this is a good idea, sir?"

"Kid's got promise," Raynor answered with a shrug. "I'm not going to hold it against him if he decides to stay, but I know what I would do in his shoes. Paws."

"It'll be very dangerous for someone inexperienced a—"

"I'll do it," Gallus said and opened his eyes. "I'll learn how to… hunt zerg, and I'll avenge Sweetie."

Raynor grinned. "Now yer talkin', kid. Come on," he motioned with his hand. "Let's get Swann to suit you up."


End Chapter