UED: Escape and Betrayal
Matt Horner was quite annoyed. Every crew member and every Raider that he passed kept asking him the same questions: “Why is our mortal enemy traveling with us?”, “Why are we not trying to destroy that Dominion Battlecruiser?”, or “When did we join the Dominion?”. The only thing keeping him from lashing out at someone was knowing that Raynor and Sweetie were about as happy with the arrangement as he was.
He had been told that the only reason they accepted such a desperate and dangerous alliance was because the UED had been sticking their noses into matters where they had no business meddling since, according to Raynor, the forefathers of the Humans of the Koprulu sector were mostly criminals who were slated for mass execution and were never supported after they were sent away. They were also trying to control the most dangerous force in the known universe.
Their long journey had finally come to an end when the ships arrived over the planet Aiur. All ships descended toward the surface and arrived over a Protoss base that was guarding the warp gate to Shakuras.
Once everyone, including Mengsk and Duke, were together in Raynor’s Command Center, Raynor was the first to speak, “So, think we’ll be safe here from the UED?”
“Doubt it,” Sweetie responded. “If they have any idea on how to pursue their targets, they likely have some way to track us. They are probably on their way here as we speak.”
“Any way we can shake these guys?” Raynor asked.
“It might be possible to escape the UED by fleeing to Shakuras through the warp gate and destroying it once we cross over,” Fenix suggested.
Sweetie hummed, “We might be able to use the nearby renegade Zerg Broods to our advantage to distract the UED. They will come after us as well, but that’s a risk we’ll have to take.”
Mengsk, who had grown impatient, caused an outburst, “Can someone please explain to me what the hell is going on? Why did you even bother rescue me? I know for a fact that at least two of you want me dead, so why? And who is this ‘mutual acquaintance’ that Raynor mentioned.”
“How about you shut up before we consider a plan B that involves putting a hole in your head and dealing with the UED ourselves,” Sweetie responded. “You should know who the ‘mutual acquaintance’ is since you tried to kill the both of us that day. The only reason you’re not awaiting an execution right now is because she needs something you have to take down the UED.”
That’s when it clicked in Mengsk’s head. “You’re working with that monster?”
“You wanna sit on your little throne again? You will work with her too.”
Mengsk growled. Knowing that he had no other choice that didn’t lead to becoming a corpse, he accepted Sweetie’s terms.
Suddenly, an alert went out when sensors picked up the UED engaging a small Hive that was swarming with Mutalisks earlier. The same unknown ships, that Mengsk referred to as Valkyrie missile frigates, unleashed a huge bombardment of rockets that wiped the Mutalisks out while Siege Tanks finished off the Hive Cluster.
With little time to lose Fenix ordered the warp gate reactivated. Upon activation, the renegade Broods began to act irritated and soon became active.
It wasn’t long before the Zerg started attacking the Protoss defenders while occasionally attacking the UED. Fighting a three way battle was not favorable for them nor for the UED, but it would buy enough time for Sweetie to execute her escape plan. She gave the coordinates to Shakuras to the Hyperion with instructions to meet them after the warp gate was destroyed and to avoid detection by the UED.
While the Protoss, Zerg and the UED were distracted with each other, an Arbiter moved at a casual pace toward the warp gate. A few seconds after the Arbiter’s arrival, the warp gate shimmered six times. The Arbiter moved away from the warp gate to engage the UED.
Before they entered the warp gate, Sweetie and Lyra felt the presence of something powerful and malevolent nearby. The presence felt similar to something they both felt once before but neither of them could quite remember where they felt it before.
Once the UED had made it to Raynor’s Command Center, a massive swarm of Mutalisks made their presence known to the UED. With no choice but to engage the bigger threat, the UED was forced to allow Mengsk and Raynor to escape. The warp gate self destructed while the UED engaged the Zerg.
DuGalle was at a loss about what happened. During the battle on Aiur, his old friend Alexei Stukov went AWOL and brought a number of troops to Braxis.
Duran could sense the disrupting emanations of the supposedly destroyed Psi Disrupter coming from somewhere on Braxis. Knowing that Stukov had something to do with it, he decided that now would be a good time to turn the old friends against each other and be rid of a potential threat. All DuGalle needed was a little coaxing.
Once the Aleksander’s sensors picked up on the Disrupter, that was all Duran needed to turn DuGalle against Stukov. Once fully convinced, DuGalle ordered Duran to deal with the Vice Admiral appropriately.
Duran couldn’t believe how easy it was to fool DuGalle into ordering a kill order for Stukov. He mentally chuckled at how clever he was while watching some Marines blow open the door into the Psi Disrupter. After a brief firefight with the guards, the Marines made way for Duran to enter the facility.
Upon approaching a nearby terminal, Duran realized that Stukov had taken measures to make sure he was locked out of the system. One of the Marines, who was clueless about computers, tried to request Stukov’s location only to be denied access to the information without some code. In response, the computer activated some nearby defenses which were blown to pieces.
Some engineers nearby were tight-lipped about their information and were simply killed instead along with any nearby guards. The next room of significance had a more Marine-friendly terminal that revealed the location of a repair bay for Goliaths.
The next terminal also denied them any access to information before some curious engineers exited a nearby room. One of the Marines, who was more than pissed threatened the engineers, “Gimme the damn access codes before I BLOW AN AGGRESSION INHIBITOR!”
The engineers tried to escape but were quickly eliminated until one was left who told them the password to the terminal...before one trigger happy Marine killed him too, “Uh...oops...heh.”
The terminal gave them the current location of Vice Admiral Stukov before they moved into the Goliath repair bay.
The engineers ran away to alert the Goliath pilots, who were quickly eliminated. The Marines began to board their new mechs and after testing the controls were ready to move forward.
Stukov could only helplessly watch as Duran and his force of misguided troops laid waste to the defenses.
He had his suspicions of Duran’s treachery ever since he convinced he convinced DuGalle to have the Psi Disrupter, the most advantageous tool that they could have if they wanted to take control of the Overmind on Char, destroyed.
His suspicions were further justified when Duran’s forces had “conveniently” moved out of position. It was at this point that he was convinced that Duran was a double agent for someone who wanted the UED campaign to fail. Perhaps, he may have even ordered the Mutalisk swarm to distract the UED while Mengsk and Raynor escaped through the warp gate. “Could he perhaps be an infested human?” he wondered.
It was at that point that the door to his room was opened, revealing a Duran with a maniacal grin on his face.
“Vice Admiral Stukov, I am here under orders to terminate your command,” Duran said.
“Lieutenant Duran. I’m not surprised. We both know exactly what it is that you’re here to terminate. Get on with it.” Stukov responded in complete resignation.
“Say goodnight, Stukov,” Duran said with a smirk as he aimed his rifle at Stukov.
“To hell with y-*gasp*,” was all Stukov managed to get out before Duran shot him in the chest. Duran disabled his transponder and disappeared.
DuGalle, who had detected Duran’s deactivated transponder, demanded a status report, only for Stukov to respond with his own communicator.
“Gerard...old friend. You do indeed have a traitor in your midst...but it’s not me. Duran. He has been playing us both from the start...He convinced you to destroy the Psi Disrupter...even though it was our best chance at defeating the Zerg. And then, on Aiur...he allowed the Zerg to overrun us even as we had the fugitives in our grasp. I came here...to activate the one hope we have of defeating them...And you killed me for it. Heh,heh...Duran is your enemy Gerard. I suspect...that he may even be infested as well...Use the Disrupter, Gerard...Finish our operation...Let my death have at least some meaning…” With that, Stukov stopped breathing and his body became completely unresponsive.
DuGalle queried the computer for Duran’s location but was unable to be found. His friend dead, his justice denied, the only thing left to keep him going was ensuring that Alexei did not die in vain.
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Yup Dugalle was a fool
9711153
I kinda expect a Razagall situation. Mind influence over a old individual. Just more subtile.
---
That they have mind alterating implanted equicment is very disturbing.
So was that old man manipulated or just dumb?
Im surprised Duran give up his cover... Than again he was playing Kerrigan and Dugall...
Double - 'he convinced'
Dugall must have grown senile or something, but he will get a well deserved fate in time.
At this point in time infestation makes sense.
I wonder how long they traveled to the Koprulu sector.
Must be at least 2 years or so. I doubt the slated for execution survivers had cryopods.
Unless someone rich and/or influential used deathrow prisoners as cheap labor forces?