Starcraft: Queen and Country

by Wanderer D

Chapter 011: For a Cause

2504, Koprulu Sector, Engineering Bay █

Swann shook his head, typing on his computer and glancing at Gallus occasionally, then looking back at it. "So he got to ya, did he?"

Gallus looked down. "Yeah. I… just had no idea that Sweetie was ali—I mean… what had happened to her. I've been trying to write down what to tell everyone, you know? Her sister and friends and… well, I'm just… when I saw her… Raynor made sense."

Swann sighed, patting the griffon on the head. "He's good at that, lad. But if this don't work out for ya, you come back here, alright? Me and the boys already consider ya part of the team. If you want back, yer welcome back."

Gallus nodded, smile playing on his beak. "Thanks, Swann."

"Now, before we get all chummy and emotional, here's what I have in mind." He turned the screen towards Gallus, who blinked and turned his head to the side.

"What's that?"

"That m'boy is nothin' less than one of them original Reaper designs!" Swann said, grinning ear to ear. "Used to be that these babies were able to fly instead of boost, then they decomissioned them, and later on "upgraded" them… but! I'm adapting these to this design…"

Gallus' eyes went wide. "Wow."

"Right? You can fly already so you should have no problems, and the armor should be thick enough for you to not die immediately."

Gallus stared at Swann. "That's not very encouraging."

"I'm not tryin' to be, lad. It ain't no joke out there. You end up on the wrong side of a live zerg and… well. You end."

"Oh." Gallus looked up at him, eyes wide. It was bad enough knowing that he was inside a metal box, in the middle of an infinite vacuum that would kill him instantly if he didn't go out inside a smaller metal box, but now he got his own tight, even smaller metal box. Because "armor" wasn't that encasing.

"You can work with us, lad, no one will think any less of you."

It was that or death. "I can't stay, Swann…" Gallus shifted in place. "I've spent every night wondering what to tell Professor Rarity or anyone else, really, about Sweetie Belle. How do I tell them that I am alive and their sister, or friend isn't? How do I tell Twilight that Quantum was turned into minced pony?" He looked down, body shaking. "And now I don't know if she should have died. Now she's a monster. She kills and is part of a swarm that's bent on controlling everything. If she had died… I wouldn't feel better… but I wouldn't have to hunt her."

Swann sighed, shaking his head. "One day at a time lad. Here, let's think about your immediate survival first, before we go into "what if". This is going to be kind of important." He pointed at the design. "The jumpacks, now-a-days use simple twin turbines, which is a big difference with yours. The turbines work for them because their armor is so light! No ass-armor, the poor bastards."

"So you're saying I'll be shot in the butt," Gallus said, unimpressed. "Noted."

Swann tapped the screen, "Nah, you have a different setup. We can put a more reliable, modified Vulture hovering system for your smaller frame, even if we are adding quite a bit of size to you with medium armor, but, between that, and an old style jetpack and you'll still smaller  than one of our marines in armor, and I'm sayin' that with wing armor that reacts to your movements with standard CMC-400 efficiency—"

Gallus gave him a look. "Do you know how many CMC-400 armor parts I've had to fix since I came here? Because I can tell you. Counting only those that stopped working outside of combat use—"

"You worry too much, lad." Swann interrupted. "If you're goin' out there, you have to be a little bit crazy." Swann tapped the side of his head with a finger. "Anyway, unless you want your pretty wings burnt into unrecognizable chunks of charcoal, you're wearing armor on them. It might take some getting used to, but that's certainly better than not having anything on them."

Swann then moved to the next screen. "You'll be armed with the usual P-45's, and I think you should be stable enough in flight to carry a few G-4 Cluster Bombs."

Gallus looked down at the weapons. Compared to what the average marine carried, they were tiny. "Any chance for something bigger?"

"Bigger ain't always better," Swann said, shrugging. "If we add more weight on you, we might as well strap you to an actual vulture and call it a day."

"Right."

Swann chuckled. "Alright lad, better go get ready as you can, once Matt hits the jump, you'll barely have time to suit up."

"Are you sure that'll be safe to wear?"

"It'll be safer than not wearing it."

And to that, Gallus had no response.

2504, Koprulu Sector, Leviathan █

The Leviathan stayed far from the mostly-consumed surface of Planet Agria, occasionally dropping more pods as needed. Within, two queens walked together, followed by an—unecessary—entourage of hydralisks.

"The planet Agria is mostly under our control by now," Kerrigan said, glancing at Sweetie as they made their way towards the pod that would launch her. "It is of little real direct value to us when it comes down to resources, but when you think about these things, you have to think of the multiple strategic benefits of changing tactics there."

The Queen watched her younger charge get into the pod. "There is nothing the Terrans can do now, but I know that if Jim is in the cluster, he will want to help." She held Sweetie with her eyes. "Your objective isn't to destroy Raynor, however. You are merely to defeat him."

"But, doesn't that mean killing him?" Sweetie asked.

"No. Raynor's time will come. But not today, and not by your scythe," Kerrigan said. "You will do far worse to him. You will make him lose. You will not allow the terrans to leave. I don't care about Raynor and his troops. But the Terrans from Agria will all die or be infested."

Sweetie hesitated. "Even the civil—"

"All of them." Kerrigan's voice was cold. "You may have free will to the extent I allow it, my pet. But you will always follow my commands."

Sweetie winced. "There are other ways to still win."

She felt Kerrigan's claws lifting her chin up. "In the end, Sweetie, we're doing them a favor. When I bring down Mensk… there will be no place for Terrans or Protoss."

"But how about friendship? What about kindness and laughter?" Sweetie asked, mouth pincers clicking nervously.

As the pod slowly closed with a squelching sound around her, Kerrigan shook her head. "Jim Raynor cannot be allowed to win. He cannot be allowed to take a single terran away from the planet before our final push."

The pod closed completely and was immediately expelled from the Leviathan, along with several more.

"My Queen," Izsha said, emerging from one of them many walls of the Leviathan. "why do you allow such insolence?"

"It's youth." Kerrigan said, turning to face her attendant. "Her hope…" she clenched and unclenched her claws. "It's different. She's zerg, through and through, and yet… she holds on to what I could only dream of as a child." She glanced at Izsha. "I gave her a Queen's DNA for a reason."

"She challenges your rule with questions!" Izsha hissed. "She will find a way to subvert your instructions! She always does!"

Kerrigan started marching away, her thoughts already on the next steps of her invasion. "Once Mensk is gone… my little pet queen will help me shape the future of the swarm, maybe in ways I had never considered." She glanced over her shoulder, sensing Sweetie moving farther and farther away. "And if I am not pleased…"

2504, Equestria, School of Friendship █

The School of Friendship's spare classroom was packed with journalists, all shuffling along to get to their seats. There was an air of tension in the air, the quiet anticipation building as the large group of ponies and other creatures filled the room to capacity. A hush ran through the crowd as Twilight Sparkle walked into the room and stepped behind the desk, turning to face them.

"Thank you all for coming here to this Press Conference," Twilight said, "I wish it were under better circumstances. Right now our research into what exactly happened with the spell and our friends is still ongoing, and I have recruited Starswirl the Bearded, the princesses and even other students among other experts far and wide to look into finding and bringing back all of them safe and sound." She took a deep breath. "Now, I know all of you have come with plenty of questions, so please, go ahead."

"It's been months, Princess, and we have heard nothing from anycreature on the whereabouts of Sweetie Belle, Gallus, and Professor Quantum," a reporter said, raising up when Twilight motioned at him with her hoof. "Can you tell us how this is affecting the School of Friendship?"

Twilight sighed. "We are all dealing with our friends' absence in our own ways. Although it is still to early to give up hope given Professor Quantum's very meticulous nature and his designs accounting for several types of mishaps, our school is offering counselling to all students that want it. These are very beloved members of our schools, and—

"Princess!" Another reporter stood up, "Despite the actions of this lone unicorn, members of other species have been debating the merits of having their children come to Equestria. Do you think keeping a school with international students is the responsible thing to do in this current political climate?

"The school of friendship encourages tolerance and understanding between everycreature of every place in the world." Twilight stated, eyebrow twitching. "It is a unique chance to allow their children to learn not only a challenging curriculum, but also the value of cooperation and respect. If we want to stop this growing threat of extremism and supremacist beliefs, it is our responsibility and honor as educators to teach our young, and the young of those who are open to tolerance and friendship, these valuable lessons."

"Shouldn't Equestrian schools teach only ponies?" Another pony asked, further behind the others.

Twilight's brow furrowed. "No. As I stated before, this are lessons that we all should learn. If the Unicorn's First movement ponies had learned these lessons in the first place, it would not be an issue now."

"So you're claiming this lone unicorn was not acting on his own?"

"Several witnesses reported he shouted: "Unicorn's First" as he threw himself with a bomb onto Professor Quantum's device," Twilight pointed out.

"So you're basing your opinion on the claims of ponies that were under a stressful situation?"

"I'm expressing a fact as confirmed by them and authorities," Twilight growled.

"What are your thoughts on the rising Supremacist movements across Equestria?" another pony asked.

"They stand against everything Equestria itself was built on," Twilight replied, focusing on the new pony. "Our nation was built on the belief that values such as Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Loyalty and Generosity would guide us. These values have saved us time and again from enemies and those who would destroy us. Supremacist groups such as "Unicorns First" destroy that with the belief that any one species is superior to another."

With an unsatisfied grunt, the pony that had questioned the motives of the bomber stood up.  "Isn't having a changeling so close to royalty such as yourself a clear and present danger to national security?"

Twilight gave him an annoyed look. "Of course not. They are our allies and under a completely new and friendly leadership."

"But they feed on love—"

"Fed, which should be a clear distinction."

"Fed," the pony conceded, "but it's something of a recent change, how sure are you that they will not revert."

"So far scientific tests done by myself and the other Princesses hasn't revealed any possible reason for that to happen?"

"Has the changeling Ocellus ever impersonated you?"

"Only with permission or to joke around," Twilight said, "and I don't see why we are taking this turn in conversation. The character of my students and of our allied leaders is not relevant to this issue at all. To bring you back into the real topic here, we are still looking for our missing friends, and it's due to the actions of creatures that join extremist groups like Unicorns First that we lost them."

The pony rolled his eyes. "Has the school investigated if the accident might have been Gallus's fault?"

"Enough!" Twilight snapped, eyes glowing with magic. "I've had enough of your obvious attempts to question the facts as they are presented. I've tolerated your attitude so far, but blaming Gallus for the acts of a member of a terrorist group goes beyond misunderstandings. This press conference is over."

"So you're saying that Unicorns First is a terrorist—?"

Ignoring the cries of the reporters, Twilight turned around and walked out of the room before she teleported into the middle of the badlands, where nocreature could hear her scream in frustration.