Starcraft: Warriors of Purity

by Xarmar13

Interlude: Resurrection

Lyra, Sweetie and the Protoss returned to Shakuras without incident. While everyone was celebrating the return of the heroes who eliminated the last bastion of power that the UED had in the sector and the slaying of the new Overmind, three of them had other thoughts on their mind.

On the way back to Shakuras, the three of them discovered a Hybrid research facility and discovered that Duran was spearheading the project. Given that he was a Xel’naga, it stood to reason that he had millennia to advance his master’s plan in secret.

Sweetie convinced everyone to keep the matter of the Hybrid a secret for the time being since the Khalai were going to be busy rebuilding their civilization and they didn’t need the knowledge of their own creator seeking their destruction until they were ready to face his forces.

The strangest thing was that they were able to spend a couple of weeks on Shakuras without some sort of incident occurring. Raynor tuned in to the UNN broadcast to see if the Dominion knew of what was going on beyond Shakuras.

According to the news, there were no signs of any significant Zerg movement. There were also rumors that Mengsk had launched a desperate assault against Kerrigan’s Swarm while coordinating with the last of the UED. The attack failed miserably and the UED expeditionary force was completely wiped out.

Raynor was saddened to see the UED go out like it did. If there was one man among them that he respected, it was Vice Admiral Stukov. Despite the few interactions that he had with the man, Raynor had the impression that he was a man of honor.

Raynor quickly grew bored of the lull in Zerg activity and decided to take the fight to them for a time. Since Sweetie was still second-in-command of the Raiders, she had her own duties to the rebel organization; duties that she had been putting off for months since their disastrous first visit to Char. Against Lyra’s protests, Sweetie left Shakuras with Raynor. Lyra wanted to go with her, but Sweetie wanted her to stay with the Protoss since they were her friends. Since the Protoss and Raynor were friends, Sweetie would be able to visit her whenever she wanted and vice versa.

Raynor left Shakuras in order to resume his activities of protecting people from the Zerg and gather allies that bear anti-Dominion sentiment before he could launch any sort of campaign against the megalomaniacal Emperor.

---

A week had passed since Raynor had parted ways with the Protoss, Raynor had heard some disturbing rumors. They say that there were renegade Terrans out there who were conducting research on using Zerg genomes to resurrect the dead. There were even rumors that originated from pirates that there were sightings of an infested human that bore a strong resemblance to Vice Admiral Alexei Stukov. He also heard that some Zerg Cerebrate named Kaloth was the one responsible for his revival and infestation.

Zerg activity had hit an all time low for much of the Koprulu sector, which is not to say it was zero. There have also been rumors of Kerrigan performing small scale operations, but nothing too disruptive of the recovering stability around the sector.

After the fall of the UED expeditionary force, any soldiers left behind quickly adapted themselves to life among the colonies. Raynor had brought on a number of medical soldiers into his organization to reduce the mortality rate of troops in the field.

Raynor had received a transmission from Tassadar who told him to return to Shakuras for an important matter. Sweetie didn’t think she would be seeing Lyra again so soon.

Once Raynor arrived on Shakuras, he and Sweetie were briefed on what would happen next.

“Well Tassadar, you called and I came. What’s the haps?” Raynor said.

Tassadar expressed his amusement at Raynor’s informal nature before his expression became serious again. “There is a great danger for both our people. Our old nemesis, Vice Admiral Stukov, has returned to finish his original plans. As you are well aware, Vice Admiral Stukov was infested by the Zerg Cerebrate, Kaloth. The Cerebrate used his own cells to regenerate Stukov’s own cells to revive him. Now, he lords over his own secret Brood.”

“So, we’re gonna go down and kill him, is that it?” Raynor asked.

“Actually, we came up with a way that might save him,” Lyra said before Tassadar could respond. “Protoss scientists have developed a radical Nanotech Serum that might be able to reverse the infestation in Stukov. We tracked his movements to the planet Braxis. Unfortunately, with a Zerg Brood on the planet, we will have to purify it once the operation is complete. Bon Bon told me that you have medics in your ranks now. We need their services to help us test the new Serum on Stukov.”

“Hell, sounds worth a try,” Raynor said. While he was hoping for the serum to work, he also held another hope: If the serum can eliminate the Zerg virus in Stukov, it might be able to do the same for Kerrigan. “So, will I be gettin’ some back up from Zeratul?”

“I’m afraid not, Zeratul went off somewhere to find some more information about what we found a few weeks ago,” Lyra responded. She wasn’t about to tell Raynor about the Hybrid, that honor would be Bon Bon’s. “You will be accompanied by myself, Bon Bon and Fenix for this mission.”

---

Raynor, Fenix and the Ponies were deployed near Stukov’s base of operations. Raynor brought a Ghost and a few medics with him while Fenix brought Dragoons, a Dark Templar and a Dark Archon.

After clearing a Bunker, and a few renegade Marines and Firebats, a Civilian offered his assistance by claiming that he was a tank driver and that he knew where to find one. Zerglings and Hydralisks were popping up from the ground to ambush the group but Lyra quickly dismembered and decapitated them.

A nearby Command Center was burning down with an unmanned Siege Tank next to it. The Civilian quickly boarded the vehicle and turned it on before rallying with Raynor.

Exploring further, they found a small Protoss outpost that had an Archon, an Observer and a pair of Zealots guarding it. The defenders offered their assistance to the attack.

Beyond the outpost was a group of Zerg and a considerable number of Infested Terrans roaming the area. The group managed to survive the onslaught. Even though a few managed to blow themselves up, for some reason their explosions weren’t as potent as the usual variety of infested.

An infested outpost awaited the group. At the same time, Sweetie couldn’t help but wonder why uninfested Terrans would be helping an infested Terran like Stukov. Of course, if they were mercenaries, then it would make sense to her since they would do anything as long as you paid them.

The group moved on after burning down the outpost. A ramp up a hill was well guarded by Bunkers and Siege Tanks, but no Missile Turrets. Instead, a patrolling Science Vessel was their only means of stealth detection. Taking advantage of the patrol pattern, Lyra and the Dark Templar moved up the ramp and sliced the main turrets off the Siege Tanks before the rest powered through the Bunkers. Sweetie locked down the Science Vessel so the Dark Archon had time to blow up the Vessel with a Psychic Feedback.

A friendly Terran outpost was on top of the hill with a Goliath and Siege Tank ready to assist them.

The group continued pushing through the variety of enemy forces and some mercenaries who wanted to defect because they feared for their lives when they realized that Stukov was crazy.

A facility was ahead that had some powerful defenses that would not be bypassed easily. A nearby outpost had lighter defenses with only a Science Vessel. The Dark Archon took out the Vessel while Lyra and the Dark Templar took down the rest. Using what she learned of Protoss consoles, she released a pair of Dark Templar from a stasis cell.

A Teleport Pad was nearby to use. Lyra took the Dark Templar to the other side of the Teleporter to check out what was there. To her surprise, Lyra found a terminal that was linked to the frontal defenses of the facility. Accessing the terminal, Lyra turned off the defenses and retreated back through the Teleporter to return to their friends.

The Siege Tanks had taken out some of the outlying turrets while the Dark Templar were away. Once they returned, they quickly laid waste to the enemy tanks guarding the facility before raiding the insides of the Bunkers, painting the inside of them red before everyone moved into the facility.

A Plasma Field was the next defense to deal with. Sweetie rushed past the field before it could roast her flesh. She accessed the terminal on the other side and disabled the field, allowing everyone to enter the facility.

There was hardly anything worthy of note in the facility. The defenses were easily dealt with by locking down a Siege Tank while Lyra’s stealth group slashed apart Goliaths while Siege Tanks blasted targets from far away.

Another strong defense was in their way and another conveniently placed Teleporter was nearby that would lead to another defense terminal to deactivate, leaving Sweetie to facepalm at the stupidity of the people who designed the place.

Raynor ran into one of his old friends, some fire-loving guy named Bud Morris, as well as a disgraced Archon.

Eventually, after pushing through the last of the defenses, they came across the location of Stukov, who had taken notice of the invaders and set a pair of Ultralisks upon them. Without detection support, Lyra and the Dark Templar quickly butchered the hulking beasts.

After clearing the last of the defenses around Stukov, Sweetie and Lyra held him in place while a Medic injected him with the Serum.

“Release me! You have no idea of what-,” was all Stukov managed to say before the injection.

“No! You will not wrest me from the Swarm! I will...we will...nooo!” he continued.

“Take it easy. Just let it all happen,” Raynor said.

Stukov began to lament the loss of what he felt was a great feeling. Afterward, with his mind his own again, he led everyone to a series of evacuation transports.

Once everyone was aboard and away from the planet, Lyra informed Tassadar that everyone was clear of the planet. The familiar sight of planetary purification was once again shown to everyone who watched as the arctic world was met with a bombardment of photon energies.

Author's Note:

This mission was based off the N64 Starcraft map, Resurrection IV.

Comments

[Black--Soul]

Raynor was saddened to see the UED go out like it did. If there was one man among them that he respected, it was Vice Admiral Stukov. Despite the few interactions that he had with the man, Raynor had the impression that he was a man of honor.

I disagree...

Sweety come pretty close to that

Is that Celebrate the one help Kerrigan hatch or the one Kerrigan claimed after the Overminds death.

Tassadar expressed his amusement at Raynor’s informal nature before his expression became serious again. “There is a great danger for both our people. Our old nemesis, Vice Admiral Stukov, has returned to finish his original plans. As you are well aware, Vice Admiral Stukov was infested by the Zerg Cerebrate, Kaloth. The Cerebrate used his own cells to regenerate Stukov’s own cells to revive him. Now, he lords over his own secret Brood.”

Wonder if the Serum works or not...
After 10 minutes braindeath from lack of O2 occurred so... How? Space logic

Another strong defense was in their way and another conveniently placed Teleporter was nearby that would lead to another defense terminal to deactivate, leaving Sweetie to facepalm at the stupidity of the people who designed the place.

Game level designer might be offended

Great overall chapter

[Black--Soul]

I wonder if the Serum would have completly successfully cured him, if not for Amons servant...
Than again he had a free mind in the Sc2 campaign!

[Black--Soul]

So Amon makes his followers high, would explain their madness trough ego.

Sooo what is the Zelebrate of Kerrigan doing again?

[Black--Soul]

Did you read some of the comics? A few are available in the internet and they are glorious