Sweetie, Lyra and Raynor took in the news as best as they could. Kerrigan chose this time to become active again. The time for war had come again to the Koprulu sector.
With the pressure from the Zerg gone momentarily, Sweetie decided to ask the Overmind her question, “I can tell that the artifact is affecting you. Is there something special about it?”
The Overmind regained its composure enough to speak, ~”The artifact is but a piece of a powerful Xel’naga relic that holds untold power within. Theoretically, the full relic could siphon essence, matter, information and consciousness and convert it into energy. It can also siphon the essence bound to Kerrigan, effectively reversing her infestation.”~
“So, the time is near when we need to save her so I can guide her on the path you intended.”
~”Beware when using it, you must protect yourself from the effects of the relic should the Terrans end up using it. My knowledge and existence will be lost if I am exposed to the relic’s power.”~
Sweetie put her thoughts aside when Lyra and Raynor recovered from the shock of Kerrigan’s return.
Matt spoke first to Raynor, “There’s no telling what the Zerg will throw against us this time. Sir, we need to make sure our hardware and munitions are up to the challenge.”
“Yeah, I’ll check in with Swann down in the armory. Knowin’ him, he’s already got upgrades for us,” Raynor responded.
Matt voiced his concerns with Tychus being on his bridge. Raynor assured him that Tychus was one of his oldest buddies and that he owed Tychus for saving him from jail time. Matt was still unconvinced about Tychus’ trustworthiness, so was Sweetie.
Tychus asked Raynor how he got his hands on an impressive ship like the Hyperion to which Raynor told him that he ‘borrowed’ it from Mengsk.
Matt asked Tychus why he was still wearing a CMC suit on his bridge. Raynor was wondering about that as well. Tychus tells everyone that he’s stuck in the suit until his debts were paid off, mentioning that Moebius was collecting the debts. Apparently, they really wanted the artifacts.
This raised a flag in Sweetie’s mind; why would Moebius, who were supposed to be legitimate, trap someone in a suit as debt collateral? This made Sweetie suspicious that there was either more to this or Tychus was giving a mix of lies and truth.
As much as she would have preferred to nip the ‘Tychus’ issue in the bud, she decided to wait a little longer when she had the means to act with the necessary knowledge.
Meanwhile, Matt reported that the Dominion fleet was pulled back to defend the core worlds and abandoned the fringe worlds. This meant that sooner or later, one of the fringe colonies was going to call for help. For the time being, building up a decent fighting force would take priority before dealing with the Zerg directly.
Raynor, Sweetie and Lyra went to the armory to check up on Swann.
Swann happily greeted his guests, “Hey everybody! Our glorious leaders have returned! What’s up, you three?”
“What do ya got for me Swann?” Raynor asked.
“The usual - buildin’ up our standin’ forces.”
“Bringin’ my troops and hardware up to speed, huh?”
“Yup. You can add upgrades for their tech right here on the console.” Swann gestured to the device right next to him. “But buildin’ an army on the run ain’t cheap. You brought back credits this time, right?”
“Yep,” Sweetie spoke up. “Got enough on me for some top-of-the-line upgrades for everything. And if not, Raynor can probably scrape up the rest,” saying the last part with a smirk.
Raynor chuckled at the jab made at his expense. He then asked Swann about when they planned to get new hardware. Swann replied about getting schematics from various jobs and the rest they had to beg, borrow, or steal for.
Raynor and Sweetie looked at the console for available upgrades and found that Bunkers could be outfitted with Neosteel to allow more room for troops and a Projectile Accelerator to increase the reach of weapons fire out of the Bunker.
Marines could be equipped with Combat Shields for increased survivability and StimPacks to enhance their performance. Sweetie didn’t care whether or not the Marines wore away at their own lifespans, it’s their lives to live.
Medics could be equipped with Stabilizer Med-packs to increase healing efficiency and Advanced Medic Facilities that would allow medpacks to be stored in the Barracks itself, allowing the training of Medics without the need of a Tech Lab to provide the medpacks.
Sweetie and Raynor bought all of the upgrades which made the crew and troops very happy.
As Raynor and Lyra left the armory, Sweetie asked Swann a question, “Think we can get the new Firebat suits up and running?” Sweetie handed Swann some credits. “Also, make sure they are equipped with the best on the market before next mission.”
“Hey, you got it, ranger,” Swann said.
Back on the bridge, Raynor asked Matt about the general status. A distress call was received from the colony on Agria, which was under attack by the Zerg, while another artifact fragment was found on Monlyth, which was guarded by a faction of Tal’darim.
Sweetie planned to bring Firebats into the next mission and they would be more effective against Zerg than Protoss. She voted on helping Agria. Lyra, Raynor and Matt also agreed on Agria, leaving Tychus as the only dissenting opinion who wanted to go after the artifact instead. By majority vote, the Hyperion set course for Agria.
Once in orbit of the farming colony, the Hyperion received a transmission from the colonial leader, a brown-haired woman with green eyes and wearing a turtleneck with a lab coat over it. She was identified as Doctor Ariel Hansen.
“Pleasure to meet ya’, Doc. You can call me Jim. What’s the situation?” Raynor said.
“The Zerg have overwhelmed our planetary defenses. The colony is lost. For the past twelve hours, we’ve been evacuating people to the nearest starport. But the Zerg attacks have become so intense, we can’t get any more through. If you can guard the highway, we can start sending the remaining groups every few minutes.”
Raynor reassured Ariel that they will get the colonists through to the starport safe and sound.
Raynor’s personal dropship was loaded with Lyra, Sweetie, a pair of Medics and a pair of the new and improved Firebats. Swann took the time to brag about the good deals he got for Firebat improvements. He equipped them with Incinerator Gauntlets, which added additional nozzles for better flame output over a wide area. They were also reinforced with Juggernaut Plating, making them much more durable.
The group was dropped off on the road near the settlement closest to the starport. A small number of Zerglings decided to try their luck. Sweetie and Lyra decided to stay back and watch the Firebats work. Only a few piles of ashes remained when they were done.
The group walked into the settlement and left control of the operations to the Raiders.
Since Ariel insisted that the timeline be done her way, the Raiders had to develop their base in a hurry. Knowing this, Sweetie decided it was about time to call in some mercs. Sweetie summoned a squad of War Pigs and Devil Dogs to reinforce the escort.
The first transport was soon ready for escort. On the highway, an abandoned Bunker was discovered. Ariel was visibly upset that the Dominion would simply abandon everything and leave the colonists to rot.
Groups of Zerg did make an attempt at the transport but were blown up or electrocuted by the Ponies. Zerg were rendered easy prey by Lyra’s Maelstrom.
At the end of the road, Sweetie spotted a mass of flesh that appeared to be relatively harmless while at the same time guarded by a small group of Zerglings and Hydralisks that were easily dispatched. Upon Matt’s request, Sweetie gathered a tissue sample of the fleshy mass. The Overmind had something to say about that.
~”Your Terran allies will not need to gather samples of Zerg for their research. You already know enough of our biology through myself to fully understand how we work.”~
“Perhaps, but I’ve also heard that the Moebius Foundation was offering additional credits for Zerg and Protoss Samples. We can make even more if Lyra has been paying attention to her Protoss studies.”
~”I will never understand Terran greed.”~
“I prefer to call it 'planning for the future.'”
Tychus was concerned about being able to protect the whole highway with so many Zerg around. Raynor recommended a mobile force and more Bunkers.
Sweetie had a fun idea. She had some of the Marines, Medics and Firebats follow her and Lyra.
Sweetie led the group off the western side of the highway and found another mass of flesh to gather a sample from then moved further north until they saw signs of a Zerg hive cluster. She decided to call in all of her mercenary contracts that could be allowed.
The ground force pushed into the base before the Siege Breakers went into Siege Mode and started blasting away at the base. Hel’s Angels and Jackson’s Revenge took the skies from the Mutalisks while Dusk Wings bombed the land. The remaining land-based mercenaries advanced and made sure to avoid fire from the Siege Breakers. Lyra’s Storm Charge electrocuted the Zerglings, Hydralisks, and Roaches and Sweetie’s Psionic Lash took down some of the larger targets.
The hive cluster was soon leveled and the army returned to base in time to find out the second transport was safely escorted to the starport.
After some healing and repairs, Sweetie’s merc army was ready to move again, taking some more Marines, Medics and Firebats for good measure. The third transport was ready to go once the army departed for the remaining hive cluster in the area.
Lyra took a detour on the way to the hive cluster and claimed another tissue sample for Moebius.
As she caught up the army, the attack had begun. The assault was about the same as the attack on the previous hive cluster and soon cleared the area of Zerg infestation.
As the Ponies and mercs returned to base, they received word that Zerg were now falling from orbit in living sacs.
The army made it to base in time to escort the fourth transport to the starport. Sacs began raining from the sky. Zerglings emerged and attacked the convoy. A Mindblast kept them from getting close to the colonists.
The fourth transport made it to the starport and all but one ship had departed at this point. The escorts headed back to base as they received a report that tunneling Zerg had been reported. The Overmind quickly informed Sweetie that Nydus Canals had been replaced by massive tunneling worms called Nydus Worms. They removed the limitation of location by allowing them to surface anywhere.
The final transport was ready and drove as fast as it could to the starport, which wasn’t very fast at all. On the way, more Nydus Worms popped out of the ground but that was where the entire Zerg offensive came from at this point. Lyra severed the worms from the neck as they popped up. A Mindblast from Sweetie took out any Zerg that came out of each worm’s mouth. Sacs were still raining from the sky and Zerglings emerged from the landings. At this point the Raiders had too much firepower for the Zerg to make a difference and the last transport made it to the starport unmolested.
With the colonists evacuated, the Raiders left Agria to its fate. The mercs went their separate ways, looking for their next contract, or when Sweetie called them again.