A Shuttle flew above the secured Uraj crystal and deployed a Probe that immediately collected the crystal and returned to the Shuttle. Sweetie, Kerrigan and Lyra watched the Shuttle fly back to base.
With the crystal secure, the trio began the return trip as well, only to have Dominion reinforcements get in their way. Not wasting any time, Lyra shadow-stepped behind the troops and cleaved them in half. Goliath pilots were not spared the aquamarine mare’s wrath as she sliced their mechs down the middle.
Kerrigan unleashed a Psionic Storm on a group of Marines before jumping onto a Siege Tank and driving her claws into the chassis and pulled the driver’s head from the hole.
Sweetie knew that they had no time to be messing around with the Dominion because she had a feeling that their efforts were about to be impeded by something but she didn’t know what exactly. She orders Lyra and Kerrigan to leave the rest of the Terrans alone and retreat to base as fast as they could.
At the base, the Protoss were packing up their equipment as fast as they could, as per Sweetie’s request. Everyone boarded a Shuttle and made their way back to the Gantrithor.
Unfortunately, during their attempt to escape, they discovered a large number of ships in orbit around Braxis, as well as an orbital platform designed to prevent ships from escaping. Sweetie soon identified the ships as the same unknown faction that she discovered earlier. She cursed under her breath for taking too long.
A transmission was being received from the command ship of the mysterious Terran fleet known as the ‘Aleksander.’ <”Protoss Commander, I am Vice Admiral Alexei Stukov of the United Earth Directorate. We are here to take control of the Terran Dominion and all of its outlying colonies. You are in direct violation of Terran space and have openly attacked Terran troops. Lower your shields and power down your weapons systems. The UED will be taking possession of your ships and whatever spoils you have garnered from this planet.”> The transmission ended there.
“United Earth Directorate?” Zeratul mused. “Raynor spoke of the distant Terran homeworld called Earth. These humans have some a long way to make war on us.”
Before Artanis responded, Sweetie spoke first, “These guys are going to be trouble, I just know it. They have no idea what they are up against and that makes them all the more dangerous. Right now, we need to find a way around the blockade or through it. We can’t allow the UED to get their hands on the Uraj.”
“Agreed,” Artanis said. “Let us scout ahead of our fleet and find an opening. Zeratul, keep sending in reinforcements when you can.” Zeratul nodded.
By analyzing the UED orbital platform, Sweetie learned that there were a vast number of Missile Turrets on the platform while the platform itself shouldn’t have enough power to support so many. Further analysis led Sweetie to discover a number of large structures that were scattered across the platform. The structures each looked like a pair of towers with turbines at the top. UED troops were configured in a way that they were protecting the structures. Sweetie concluded that the structures may be some sort of power source for the Missile Turrets.
Looking at the nearest structure and the defenses near it, which Sweetie figured as some sort of generator, she figured that they could get away with attacking it with a few Zealots and Dragoons.
Clearing a miniature platform near the main platform, Artanis, Lyra and Sweetie designated the location for a staging area. Three Shuttles were prepared to carry the ground troops to the area of the first generator. A few Observers scouted ahead to find an opening that was completely unguarded. Sweetie couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed in the UED’s lack of attention to detail when preparing the platform’s defenses.
The Shuttles dropped off Sweetie, Lyra and the Protoss accompanying them. The group went after the Missile Turrets that they could simply walk up to in order to allow Artanis and his Scout escort to advance with the ground force unmolested, barely.
A pair of Bunkers was the next obstacle for the Protoss and Ponies. With Lyra and Sweetie outside of the nearest turret’s detection range, Sweetie snuck up to the first Bunker and started shooting into the holes in the structure, causing the heads of three Marines and a Firebat to explode.
Lyra took on the next Bunker by performing a Shadowstep into the Bunker and slashed the Marines and Firebats inside to pieces. Afterwards, she casually walked out of the Bunker with her shields painted red. She was a little shaken from what she did, but remained focused. Sweetie couldn’t help but smile at Lyra’s improvement in her battlefield mentality.
The generator was surrounded by four Missile Turrets. Since there was no real threat around them, the two of them each assaulted a generator turbine. Sweetie blasted her turbine in the most exposed areas while Lyra performed some fast maneuvers and slashed her turbine in a zigzag pattern.
The generator exploded and cut the power off from that section of the platform. Every missile turret in the area quickly went offline.
Artanis, deciding to go with Sweetie’s plan, requested a few Dark Templar and additional Dragoons for the next generator.
The staging platform was soon occupied with the requested troops along with two more Shuttles. Analyzing the updated situation with the Observers, Sweetie located a landing zone that was now guarded by inactive turrets.
With everyone at the new location, Sweetie, Lyra and the Dark Templar scouted ahead and found two more loaded Bunkers without sensory units nearby. The Bunkers were quickly cleared out without any resistance.
A lone Science Vessel decided to investigate too late as the Bunkers were already empty. Still, Sweetie was not having a Science Vessel cause problems for them down the road so she locked the ship down and concentrated her firepower with the Dragoons to bring down the hovering menace.
The way to the next generator, however, was not going to be as easy as the last. A wall of loaded Bunkers and Missile Turrets prevented any clever maneuvers from being made on them. She also spotted a number of Wraiths around the generator while a large number of turrets surrounded the outer perimeter.
Thankfully, Sweetie found another landing area that they could use near one of the emptied bunkers. The Shuttles transported everyone to the next site before the group started smashing turrets. A few Wraiths came to investigate, only to be helplessly shot down by Sweetie’s Lockdown and Dragoon fire. With a wide enough opening to the generator made, Artanis and his Scouts flew around to the area behind the generator and quickly dispatched the remaining Wraiths. Some Shuttles brought Sweetie and the Dragoons behind the generator where they safely shot holes in the power generator outside the range of the Bunker and turret wall. With the generator and turrets shut down, Lyra and the Dark Templar moved in and cleaned out the Bunkers.
Figuring that the next generator was going to be even more challenging, Sweetie had Artanis request even more Zealots, Dragoons and Dark Templar.
Deciding to attack the next generator from the right angle, Sweetie had everyone ferried to the southeastern side of the platform. Once again, Sweetie had the Observers scout ahead.
Up ahead was a set of turrets, two on two small, platforms inaccessible on foot and a pair of Bunkers not far ahead. Sweetie had the Dragoons blast the turrets from a distance before having Lyra and the Dark Templar engage the Bunkers.
Another Bunker ahead was just close enough to a turret that the Dark Templar would be spotted when they got close. Artanis decided to use brute force and tear open the Bunker with raw firepower which quickly overwhelmed the few defenders. Everyone after that smashed the eight turrets in the area to clear the way toward the next generator.
Sweetie had everyone ferried to the higher ground near the generator and just barely outside the range of a turret. The Dragoons made quick work of a Bunker next to the generator before blasting the generator itself, making the most of their ranged capabilities. It took a number of shots to get the job done but they had little issue in completing the task. The Zealots slashed apart any Goliaths that scrambled to defend the generator.
With the generator destroyed, Lyra, Sweetie and the Dark Templar went to work tearing apart the Goliaths, Bunkers, and Siege Tanks that were in the area before making their move against the next generator.
A shiver ran up Sweetie’s spine, as if something was telling her of a familiar, yet hidden danger associated with the next generator. She was wondering if something similar to Pinkie’s Pinkie Sense had awakened in her in addition to her psionic powers. Deciding not to question it, Sweetie had Artanis request the assistance of some High Templar along with a few more Observers. A preliminary observation showed a wall of Missile Turrets on an elevated platform guarded by a few Goliaths. The best way onto the platform would be near where the latest generator was destroyed. That entrance was heavily defended by Bunkers and Missile Turrets. She may have also identified a Siege Tank overlooking the area from the elevated platform. Sweetie knew that some serious firepower was needed to break through that defense so she had Artanis request a couple of loaded Reavers along with a couple more Dragoons for good measure.
The reinforcements soon linked up with the main force and Sweetie ordered the Reavers to deal with the Bunkers from far away. The Siege Tank decided to reposition itself to deal with the Reavers which was a huge mistake that cost the tank driver his life.
With the ammo inside the Reavers spent, the main force moved onto the elevated platform, wrecking turrets and Goliaths along the way. Observers went into the suspiciously wide open area and revealed a minefield. With the wall of turrets destroyed, Artanis and his Scouts moved in to blast a few of the Spider Mines before Sweetie had them pull back for a moment and had the High Templar move in and electrocute a Ghost guarding an isolated and elevated platform that the next generator was placed.
The Goliaths guarding the generator moved to investigate the dead Ghost only to have their systems fried by a series of Psionic Storms. The Siege Tanks, in their folly, decided to reposition themselves to investigate, only to have their systems locked down and blasted apart by Dragoons, who proceeded to blast a pair of nearby Missile Turrets. Two more Ghosts positioned at the corners of the platform were electrocuted before Lyra and Sweetie were ferried to the generator. Lyra zapped the last Ghost before the two of them took out the generator in the same manner as the first one.
Only one generator remained.
The UED was not playing around anymore with the last generator. An Observer managed to get close enough to find a small opening in a long wall of Missile Turrets along with a decent number of Bunkers, a few Battlecruisers and a few ships that nobody had seen before, likely something unique to the UED.
Sweetie had a feeling that this was going to turn into an aerial battle so she had Artanis order in a number of Scouts and Corsairs for the operation. An Arbiter was also called in for tactical assistance and a few Zealots were brought in for ground reinforcement.
There was little room for subtlety at this point. The Corsairs deployed a Disruption Web on two turrets near the landing zone before the exodus of Shuttles deployed everyone into the area. The Dragoons and Scouts blasted the turrets in the webs while everyone else rushed the defenses. The new ships attacked Artanis, the Scouts and the Corsairs by launching a barrage of rockets that were not very effective against shields. The ground support for the ships was quickly blown away, leaving the ships vulnerable to air and ground attacks. The Battlecruisers moved in to support, but they were quickly overwhelmed by the firepower of the Protoss.
The last defenses around the generator were partially cleared by Scouts, leaving the ground forces an opportunity to gather up before the Arbiter moved near the generator and performed a Mass Recall to summon the ground forces to it.
Given the honors, Sweetie and Lyra smashed the last generator and completely deactivated the defenses on the platform. The rest of the fleet flew past the orbital platform and through the blockade, while the Shuttles transported everyone back to the fleet.
Before the fleet began tracking the Khalis’ location, Sweetie made a request to everyone, “I’m worried that Aldaris might try something foolish while I’m away, so I’m heading back to Shakuras to check up on him.”
“Are you sure?,” Lyra asked. “We could really use your help in getting the Khalis.”
Sweetie smiled as she walked up to Lyra and the two embraced each other in a warm hug and a passionate kiss, before Sweetie broke away. “I think you can take charge of this mission,” Sweetie said.
“But-,” Lyra was interrupted when Sweetie put a finger to Lyra’s lips.
“Shush. You don’t give yourself enough credit. You know how the Protoss work by now so I know that you can help them better than I could. I’m more used to working with Terran troops anyway. While I’m starting to learn how to control Zerg,” Sweetie added the last part as a thought to herself. “I believe that you are very capable, both as a warrior and as a leader. I’ll see you soon.” Sweetie went to the nearest ship that will take her to Shakuras, leaving a smiling Lyra, who was determined to not let her marefriend down.