Once back aboard the bridge, Raynor, Sweetie and Lyra found Dr. Ariel Hanson talking to Matt about something. When Matt saw the trio come in, he informed them that Ariel was going to be staying on board for a while.
Raynor asked her what she could contribute to their operations, to which she called their medical facilities as ‘medieval’ and science expertise as ‘non-existent’. Stetmann, who was nearby, felt a little insulted from Hanson’s comment.
Raynor decided to visit the ship’s cantina for a drink while Lyra and Sweetie followed him to check out the scene. Raynor greeted a merc recruiter named Graven Hill who informed him that all the good mercenary contracts had been bought out by someone named ‘Thestral’. Raynor shrugged as he told him that Sweetie was Thestral, which was followed by Hill facepalming when he realized the obvious fact.
Lyra took notice of the arcade machine and went over to check it out. Taking an interest in the game, Lyra begged Sweetie for some money to play the game. Sweetie smiled and rolled her eyes while internally giggling as she learned that despite the harrowing experiences that she went through, some parts of Lyra didn’t change. Sweetie gave Lyra some spending money to play the game while she went to the bartender to see if he had anything new to his selections.
Sweetie overheard the news as she enjoyed a Mai Tai from the bartender. At first, they were going to report on Agria but circumstances changed to Mengsk making his own announcement. Apparently, an old soldier named Horace Warfield was coming out of retirement.
She also overheard Raynor and Tychus talking. Tychus had, apparently, tried to flirt with Hanson but figured that her attention was on Raynor.
Sweetie left the others and returned to the bridge to talk with Hanson. After exchanging greetings, Hanson was the first to begin the conversation, “I can hardly believe that I’m talking to a Pony right now. How come there have been no records of your kind in the Koprulu sector?”
“Probably because me and Lyra are the only ones in the sector. You said that the Raiders’ science and medical knowledge were medieval. Well, my peoples’ knowledge of that is probably worse. Space travel is not even imagined by anyone on Equus. Reason I’m even here is because someone on my homeworld has the power to bend the laws of time and space,” Sweetie responded.
Hanson ignored the last part and focused on the part about her peoples' lower technology level. “In that case, I’m surprised that you were able to adapt so well to our technology.”
“I’ve had over four years to learn. Lyra adapted to Protoss technology so she had an even greater hurdle to overcome.” Sweetie decided to change the subject to something more objective. She whispered to Hansen, “I need your help with a small project. Think you and Stetmann can work with the techs and analyze Tychus’ armor? I’ll need you to help monitor Tychus’ vital signs for a special procedure that I’m planning for him very soon.”
Before Hanson could inquire further, Sweetie’s communicator started beeping. Since she was already on the bridge, she had a feeling she knew who was calling. After informing Hanson of a call she had to take, she bid her farewell and wandered into a less traveled section of the Hyperion.
Activating her communicator, Sweetie spoke, “I take it your boys are ready for the first operation?”
<“Heh, clever of you to figure it was me,”> Tosh said. <“Bring Jim Raynor to Redstone III. I’ll discuss my proposition to him there.”>
“Alright, I’ll get him there,” Sweetie said. “Also, you may need something to help sweeten the deal. Got any interesting troops for the Raiders to use for their activities?”
<“I got Reapers to help you out. They are fast-moving troops that specialize in hit-and-run tactics and close quarters combat. They are equipped with jump packs that allow them to scale steep cliffs in a single bound.”>
“Anything on the market to improve their combat capabilities?”
<“The market be sellin’ U-238 rounds that were once utilized by Marines. But my boys might be able to make better use for them. There’s also a sale on G-4 Cluster Bombs that could be used to take out groups of enemies that be foolish enough to group together. Be warned though, the charges are indiscriminate.”>
“Alright, I’ll transfer the necessary credits for you to buy the market goods. I am trusting you to use the money for what I intended. You won’t live long enough to regret breaking my trust,” Sweetie threatened.
<“Heh heh, I like your spirit.”>
Ending the transmission, Sweetie returned to the bridge to find Raynor and Tychus preparing to decide the next mission. Sweetie figured Lyra must have gotten addicted to the arcade game in the cantina since she hadn't arrived yet.
“So, ready to get another artifact fragment?” Raynor asked Sweetie.
“Not yet, I just received a call from an associate of mine. He needs our assistance on a planet called Redstone III. There’s some decent reward money to be had by helping him.”
“Can’t it wait? We need to get to the artifact before someone else does,” Tychus said.
“I owe him and he’s offering the services of his Reapers for the Raiders.”
“Well hell, if Sweetie insists on this, then I see no reason to say no. But why do you owe this associate of yours?” Raynor asked.
“He gave me a nice boost to my psionic power and he spent all of his special resources on me to do so.”
“Redstone. Heck of a place. I ever mention how much I hate volcanic planets?” Raynor asked rhetorically.
A transmission was received by Tosh, <“Good to see ya made it. They call me Tosh. You help me mine the minerals I need and I’ll make it worth your while.”>
“So, you’re Sweetie’s new associate. Mind tellin’ me what we’re actually minin’? I’m sure Sweetie will tell me anyway if you don’t,” said Raynor.
<Fair point, I be minin’ Jorium to create more Spectres I need enough to fuel my operations for a long time.”>
Raynor looked to Sweetie for supplementary info. “Spectres are like Ghosts, except they wield stronger psionic power. The method is also risky since they need a balance of Jorium and another substance called Terrazine to prevent them from going psychotic. I went through the process myself, but I guess Humans are more prone to the psychotic behavior than Ponies.”
“Let me guess, Tosh here will be needin’ our help with gatherin’ Terrazine next?” Raynor asked.
“For now, let’s just focus on gathering the Jorium.” Sweetie turned to Tosh. “Are the Reapers ready to go?”
<”Of course. Oh, and one last bit of warning. The low ground is where the Jorium is at. However, the area gets flooded with lava every few minutes and there are Zerg in the area.”>
“Alright, thanks for the heads up.”
This time their base was set up on an elevated platform. The SCVs were mining the nearest mineral fields. The problem was that the mineral fields in the area were scarce. It wasn’t long before an alert went out for a lava surge. Everyone evacuated to high ground before the lava rose. The lava level held for a few seconds before receding.
Tosh took the time to introduce his Reapers to the Raiders. Sweetie and Lyra were intrigued with the equipment the Reapers were carrying. Sweetie believed that they could also be useful scouts.
Occasionally, the Zerg would send a few of their numbers to attack their base, but the groups were always manageable.
Tosh informed Sweetie about a missing crew in the area and wanted her to see if they were alright. Sweetie took Lyra to help her check out the last known location of the crew which was north of their location. The two of them quickly found another elevated platform just as the lava was rising again. A few Zerg were on the platform as well but were easily dispatched by the duo. They found the missing crew and a few more Reapers.
The missing crew loaded up into their Command Center and flew it over the Raiders’ base.
By the time Sweetie and Lyra returned, they received a transmission from Stermann that he wanted samples from a rare Zerg strain called a Brutalisk. Sweetie inquired the Overmind for info. It told her that it was a powerful variant of Ultralisk that was superior to the Ultralisk in size and strength. It would take a lot of firepower to bring one down. Sweetie asked if the Brutalisk could sense her cloaking to which it reassured her that it couldn’t.
Sweetie decided to experiment with her power and left Lyra to defend the base while she searched the last known location of the Brutalisk. When it was found that it had made a lair nearby, Sweetie gave an evil smirk. For her plan she had to wait a little.
When the lava alarm went off, Sweetie put her plan into action. She took control of the Brutalisk and commanded it to wait on the low ground. When the lava rose, the Brutalisk was immersed in molten rock. Its flesh was unable to bear the agonizing liquid as it seeped into the gaps in its carapace and burned the creature from the inside out.
Thankfully, enough of the Brutalisk tissue remained for Sweetie to obtain a sample.
Lyra arrived at the scene with a squadron of Marines, Medics, Firebats and Reapers. When she saw the charred remains of the Brutalisk, she asked Sweetie what happened to which she recounted the event. Lyra had only one reply to that: “You can be a little evil sometimes, you know that?” The two shared a laugh before getting down to business.
Taking the squadron, they advanced on the Zerg hive clusters. Sweetie ended up controlling some of the Zerg and commanded them to attack their own hive cluster before she had them gather up so a Reaper could plant a cluster bomb around them. Sweetie and the Marines shot down the Mutalisks.
On the way, they encountered more of Tosh’s Reapers who gathered up more of the loose Jorium in the area.
It wasn’t long before the hive clusters were wiped out and the last of Tosh’s Reapers were found. After that they had free reign of the area and gathered up enough crystals to satisfy Tosh’s demands.
Everything and everyone that wasn’t bolted to the ground were evacuated to the Hyperion before the next lava surge.