The Raiders managed to escape Korhal and shake off any pursuers. With the immediate danger past, the Raiders breathed a sigh of relief.
Raynor, Sweetie and Lyra headed to the cantina to watch the media circus they had created. All of the known news stations, including one that was anchored by their old acquaintance, Michael Liberty, were all discussing the headlines of the truth about Emperor Mengsk.
With his crimes and intentions revealed to the public, the media was preying on the Emperor. Many of the fringe colonies have declared their lack of faith in Mengsk as a ruler. Even Valerian was called into question about his father’s crimes.
During a press conference with the Emperor, Arcturus attempted to deny the allegations against him. Kate Lockwell, however ensured that any claim of denial was seen as nothing more than a lie when she played the infamous recording in the middle of the conference room. Angrily, Arcturus ended the interview right at that moment.
Even Donny Vermillion was completely disillusioned when he found out the brother he lost on Tarsonis was dead because of Arcturus. Kate took over the broadcast as Donny was having a mental breakdown, mentioning the riots and a statement from Arcturus that resulted in being shouted down by protestors and was forced to retreat to his palace.
In an attempt at damage control, Dominion Security issued a gag order on all media to keep them quiet about the shocking revelations against Arcturus.
After having their fill of Mengsk’s suffering from the media, Raynor, Sweetie and Lyra returned to the bridge because they needed to discuss what they found.
Reading the classified documents they recovered from the ruins of a Science Facility, they discovered the location of an old bio-weapons lab orbiting Castanar and plans to terminate the employees who worked there in the sense of killing everyone who worked there.
There was only one kind of bio-weapon that Terrans could be working with that Sweetie knew about. More suspicious would be the termination of the employees to suggest that they didn’t want any knowledge within the facility getting out.
Even more suspicious was that the documents were in a Dominion Science facility on Korhal. Either Narud was operating right under Arcturus’ nose or the Emperor was complicit in the Xel’naga’s Hybrid plan.
“Somethin’ on you mind?” Raynor asked, breaking Sweetie out of her thoughts.
“Just a hunch...if I’m right, there is likely something dangerous in that lab.”
“Guess we’ll find out. Matt set a course for Castanar.”
“So what’s your hunch on this death-lab?” Raynor asked.
“We may be looking at a Protoss and Zerg genetic research facility made for the purpose of breeding Hybrids like the one Lyra saw on Slayn,” Sweetie said.
“You mean like the one Zeratul saw on Zhakuul?”
“Most likely.”
“Aw, hell. Best course would be to just blow the place up and be done with it, but I wanna make sure your hunch is right. Wouldn’t look good on us if we blew up a bunch of innocent scientists. You, me and Lyra are headin’ down there with a team to look into this possible Hybrid breeding lab.”
Raynor’s dropship moved over an unsecured platform near the entrance. Matt mentioned that the facility cannot be scanned to find what was in there and told everyone to be careful.
“Hey, careful’s my middle name,” Raynor said.
Matt scoffed, “I thought it was Eugene.”
Raynor rolled his eyes, “Shut it, Matt...and neither of you say one word about it,” he said to the giggling mares. “Alright, stay frosty.”
Unsurprisingly, the entrance was sealed. Raynor planted a breaching charge to blow a hole into the door.
Once inside, the party was greeted by a group of Marines and a Firebat. Lyra bound them in a Maelstrom and let the others deal with the squad. A Perdition Turret appeared from the floor but Sweetie was ready with a Lockdown while Lyra slashed the turret in two.
A security terminal in the room was protected with a passcode which told Sweetie that these guys actually knew what they were doing. Thankfully, the codes provided by the documents allowed them access to the terminal and the security cameras. The codes also allowed them access to the Autogun Turrets in the next room that had a significant number of Marines and Firebats. The hack allowed access to one set of turrets. Sweetie chose the set near the Marines because that would force the Firebats to take more time to start their attack. Sweetie found a way to access the other set through the hacking skills she gained over the years and accessed the other set of Turrets. The guards stood no chance against the turrets and the Raiders that charged into the room.
The next room held a few containers that held Hybrid in development. Taking no chances, Sweetie and Lyra blasted and slashed the infant Hybrid.
Some guards found out that the rebels were trapped in the first lab and sealed the door before releasing the specimens. Sweetie took control of the specimens and Raynor used a breaching charge on the locked door.
Before the ‘clever’ guards could figure out what happened, they were met with many sharp claws and teeth.
Raynor found a small weapons cache that contained a few experimental grenades. He took them with him in case they would be useful later. A bunch of Marines were grouped together and were the perfect target for one of Raynor’s grenades.
Another group was spread to minimize casualties from grenades, though they appeared to have barely managed to wipe out the Zerglings they encountered. Instead, Lyra cut the group apart one by one. Panic on their faces, the Dominion guards could only wait for their demise.
Another security terminal awaited them. Using her hacking skills, Sweetie unleashed seventy Zerglings and five Ultralisks on the Dominion guards in the next room. The guards met an ugly end. Taking control of the feral Zerg, Sweetie had them on standby for the time being.
Discovering more Hybrid infants in the next lab, Sweetie had the Ultralisks smash the dormant creatures within the containers. Matt mentioned a fusion reactor that could destroy the facility if broken.
Raynor discovered a sealed door and blew it open, finding a cache of experimental plasma rounds. Taking them with him, the group proceeded down the only available path.
Their next obstacle featured an upgraded Viking and Siege Tank. Raynor tested the plasma rounds against the souped up vehicles and was pleased with the results.
The cargo bay ahead held a number of large vehicles that would be dangerous to take head on. Instead, Sweetie unleashed the Zerg she was controlling against the cargo bay vehicles. The Zerg quickly overwhelmed the Dominion in the area and tore through the Thor at the end.
Sweetie was not going to be the one to tell Swann that his concept on the Thor was not original.
A terminal at the end of the room revealed some heavy defenses and a captured Brutalisk. Raynor requested reinforcements in the form of Marauders to help him out.
Breaching the door, the group attacked the Marines, turrets and Firebats while Sweetie sniped the Ghosts in the head.
When the room was cleared, a tough decision was in front of them. However, Sweetie had a different plan in mind and simply released the Brutalisk contained in the room and took control of the beast.
After breaching the next door to the room that contained a fully-grown Hybrid, the Brutalisk went on a rampage and killed the Dominion in the room. The creature then proceeded to smash the fusion reactor at the far end of the room.
The destruction of the reactor sent a shockwave throughout the entire facility that caused debris to rain on the entire facility. Thankfully, the room they were in was sturdy enough to withstand the blast.
Without the reactor, the systems that were keeping the Hybrid asleep stopped functioning and the monster broke free of its cell.
Sweetie tried sending the Brutalisk to attack the Hybrid while Raynor and the others worked on clearing debris so they could make their desperate bid for an exit somewhere. A container of plasma rounds were dislodged from somewhere which were picked up. Soon, Sweetie could no longer feel the Brutalisk’s presence as it had been absorbed by the Hybrid.
A few feral Zerg ahead bolstered their numbers a little. Chaos was the theme in the facility as escaped Zealots engaged with Dominion forces and they were not friendly.
Beyond one group of enemies was a device that was of unknown design. Raynor read the label that said ‘Chrono Rift’. Lyra, who had knowledge of Protoss technology figured that it could be used to slow down time in an area. While the Hybrid appeared to be vigorous, powerful and well armored, as well as its presence giving the Ponies headaches, the device could be used to slow down the monster.
Sweetie found some more Zerg specimens to control before they saw the Hybrid smashing its way through the rubble before it. Sweetie sent the Zerg to slow it down before everyone ran away as fast as they could.
Finding more ammo along the way, as well as sending a programmable war robot to slow the Hybrid, the group ran through the facility as fast as they could.
Mysteriously, the Hybrid disappeared from sensors, meaning that it could appear anywhere.
One room had a number of cocoons that contained miniature Ultralisks called Pygalisks as well as an Ultralisk. Sweetie forced all cocoons in the area to hatch and took control of the Zerg in the area and brought them with her.
Suddenly, the Hybrid made its appearance again. Sweetie sent all Zerg she had under her command to slow the Hybrid. Raynor activated a chrono rift around the monster for good measure.
The last of the Dominion in the facility tried to get to the last transport away from the facility but Lyra cut them all down in one strike.
The way clear, everyone boarded the transport and performed an emergency liftoff before the Hybrid arrived. Without means of pursuit, the Hybrid screamed, worsening the Ponies’ headaches.
Raynor sent a transmission to Matt that they were borrowing a Dominion transport and to not shoot at them.
Despite the headaches, Sweetie and Lyra were relieved to be away from that monster but knew that they would have to face a lot more like that in the future.