Chapter Twenty: I See You
Alexandra Yarko sat in an uncomfortable chair as she was turned to face the monitor before her. The often sharp eyes long gone unfocused as the remaining survivors all tried to deal with their hopeless situation in their own way. Some huddled themselves in a tight ball as they cried while others paced angrily as if trying to think of a way to escape. No escape pods and Zerglings with a Human appetite. No matter how they looked at the situation, the survival rate never excelled five percent.
Alex knew that their only chance laid with in Jaeger getting to Otterman's desk and stopping the Nukes. Only three people aboard had clearance to engage the arming mechanism and it was the now deceased Captain, head of Security Jaeger, and Doctor Otterman. What made her shutter however was the last time she seen him on the cameras, he was unarmed. They needed a miracle to survive another day.
A loud knock sounded off the large door leading into the small office compartment as all heads suddenly turned to the sound. Those who were crying clutched their ears while others went completely silent.
A few seconds passed as everyone stared at the door. None of the Zerg have found them thus far and no Zergling could break the door down. Any line of thought through Alex's head was silenced when the loud knock echoed a few more times as if a...
Alex bolted to the doors control mechanism and furiously tapped a few commands to bring up the door camera. As if Angels of pure innocence have answered their call, a Marine stood outside their door with his face shield down. Alex could see a corporal inscription near the helm which meant it wasn't Jaeger; either way it was a god send!
“It's a Marine!” Alex called out with joy as others crowded around her. Many gave sighs of relief as they watched the Marine stand outside waiting still for any response. Alex quickly tapped the door control to hear the metal slide open to reveal a darkened hallway and the Marine.
It was quiet as the group waved their hand for the Marine to enter. Gruelling seconds passed as they waited for the Marine to enter. Alex's sense of fear suddenly rose as she watched her saving grace Angel rise from the ground. Arms limp as the Marine rose slowly and all the while a low growling noise emitted from the dark.
Alex instantly slammed her hand down on the door control again as the door began to slid shut until a loud clank reverberated from the floor. The Survivors gazed down in horror as the Marine's corpse was used as a door stop so the door refused to completely close. Screams echoed through the room and hallway as they all witnessed two massive talons enter the doorway and begun to pry the door open. The grinding of door echoed out as the mechanism operating the door tried hard to close but such action proved impossible as metal gave way to Zerg biology.
Humans retreated in a hopeless endeavour as the creature slithered his large bulk to display his disjointed maw, long talons and eyes that only true Hunters possess. It was the one of the deadliest creatures known to Human soldiers and Protoss alike. The enlarged Hydralisk was motionless for only a moment as his eyes scanned the room thoroughly. Alex, along with a few others, remained completely still before the creature until one man snapped. He bolted for the now open door but the Hydralisk put a quick swipe through the man's abdomen. The legs continued to fidget and twist while the torso rolled towards the door finally resting against the creature's side.
Alex couldn't believe how quick the Hydralisk not only perceived the escaping man but quickly and neatly cut him in two. It was experience and born instinct of a being made to kill others efficiently. A marvellous specimen, or at least that's what Alex would have thought if that exact same Hydralisk wasn't approaching her. Using his arm, the Hydralisk pushed both chairs and Human alike to the side as Alex soon found herself pressed against a desk in retreat.
Her heart pounded; breath sharp and frequent. Alex knew this was it. This was how she was going to be killed after all she has done. She played with fire and now it was time to be burned. The Hydralisk raised his arm and Alex closed her eyes and lowered her head as her blonde hair fell before her face. Seconds passed until she felt something that made her twitch. It wasn't pain. For a moment she thought that her death was so quick that her brain didn't even have time to process. She erased it from her mind however as she still felt the Hydralisk's breath on her neck and face, the feeling of the edge of the desk into her back.
With all of her courage mustered, she slowly rose one eyelid to see the Hydralisk shockingly close. His one arm outstretched with the blunt end of the talon rubbing against Alex's shoulder. She sat there gazing at death which was only arm's reach away. The Hydralisk simply huffed while shifting it's gaze to something behind her. Alex, with extreme caution, turned her head towards her monitor. The picture on the monitor was the conversation she had with Otterman and Fiddlesticks paused.
The joint between talon and arm was pressing right beside Fiddlesticks.
Alex turned her head back to the Hydralisk who rose back to give Alex space. Alex turned her head again to the paused picture of Fiddlesticks before sharply looking back. She couldn't believe her eyes.
“It can't be,”
Princess Celestia and Luna sat comfortably on the odd looking ground which seemed to grow from the Hatchery itself. Now and again, Celestia thought she felt something poking her hind quarters but after watching it close enough, she realized it was more like a pulse than anything else. She seemed to think of it as the Hatchery being the Heart and the creep below her was arteries and blood vessels to stretch out Zerg influence. It was a very intimidating and aggressive tactic but also effective at saying 'This is Mine. Bugger Off.'. Celestia hummed softly as she noticed Luna staring more aptly at the two subjects before them.
One was the admirable, yet daring, Dr. Pain Killer that she knew followed Dusk Breaker in the hopes of scientific discovery. He however, did not contain the same smile he had when he left Canterlot. The Mare sitting beside him was another level of nervousness as Celestia witnessed the poor Mare practically shaking apart at the seams.
Avro Aero sat quietly but with her head lowered to avoid gazing at the Royalty before her. Her coat wasn't properly cleaned and she could just tell her wings weren't preened and Mane was a mess. Dusk gave her the duty of over looking the Swarm while he was gone but it was far easier said than done. The Drones got lost in the woods, Zerglings refused to patrol and Hydralisks used wildlife as target practice! Even with the Overlords for help she just didn't have it in her to control them. She couldn't do it as a Trottingham Police Officer and she couldn't do it here. The very guilt and feeling of inadequacy tore at her fore thought so when the party of assorted Races approach the Zerg domain, she simply crumbled.
“I'm more than sorry we couldn't be any more helpful, Princesses,” Pain Killer spoke out in Avro's stead. “Dusk wasn't very coming of information or any of his intent. He simply made his way in that building over there and has yet to come back,” Pain explained as his shoulders swooped in slight defeat.
Jaeger swung his fist out to connect squarely with the leaping Zergling. The creature fell to the side a meter or two away which was all Jager could hope for. He took the chance and made a quick dash for the emergency floor stairway only to stumble forward as a weight suddenly latched onto his back. Training kicked in as he vented exhaust from his suit's power core to hear a shriek echo in the corridor as the attacker was dislodged. Jager turned and without hesitation, kicked the stunned Zergling against the wall.
The Marine knew sticking around to finish off the creature risked the chance of even more coming but he couldn't open the elevator shaft with the chance of another attack. Jager leaped at the struggling Zergling and begun to repeatedly smash the creatures skull into the wall. What used to be carapace soon became a bloody, thick mess of organic tissue. He stood still a moment as he breathed through his adrenaline rush before turning back to the task at hand.
Dr. Otterman was only one level above him and the elevators were shutdown to impede any feral Zerg from reaching him easily or at least that's the only logical reason Jager could come up with. Jager could only groan when he placed his hand on the first bar of the ladder. The height between levels wasn't far but he felt exposed when both of his hands were occupied. With a cautious look over both shoulders he ascended to a opened door. With a sigh of relief he brought himself up and over to see, apparently, the only well lite corridor on the whole damn vessel!
“Dr. Otterman?” Jager called out as he cautiously approached the only door in the hallway besides the elevator. The silence in response made him just as uneasy as he was one deck below. He punched in a code into the door control to have the doors churn open. The sight before him was one of simple and utter confusion.
Dr. Otterman was simply sitting in his chair with his back to Jager; an empty bottle on the floor. The Marine couldn't blame the Doc for wanting to have a few rounds downrange but an entire bottle? It was then that he caught the sound of faint crying. He took a few steps into the room until he felt something drip onto his forehead, running down the bridge of his nose.
Freezing in sudden shock, Jager slowly turned above only to see a dark splatter on the ceiling. He raised an eyebrow in confusion until the gears clicked together. Quickly, the Marine rotated the office chair around to find a gruesome sight. Doctor Otterman was slumped in his chair, a sidearm in his loose clutches; muzzle still hot. What was left of the late doctor's head seemed to explain the ceiling but Jager didn't pin the man as suicidal although the Marine knew first hand what the Zerg can do to ones desperation riddled mind.
The faint crying came from behind him as he witnessed two things on a single monitor that elevated his heart beat. One was a crying Fiddlesticks and the other was a timer to a Nuclear Warhead detonation.
“No, no, no!” Jager chanted in ever growing desperation as his armoured fingers danced along the keyboard to bring up the main command console which tied directly to the fire control of each Nuclear Warhead. Just as the Marine was about to abort the countdown, a small window appeared on the monitor which began to play a video of the late Doctor Otterman.
“If this video is playing, it means I am most likely dead and the Warheads are active. This also means that since there are only three people with the authority to this console, than you must be Sergeant Jager. I commend on your ability to make it this far, Jager, but I refuse to give Fiddlesticks and that damnable Dusk any sort of easy won victory. I wasn't able to completely destroy the abort systems but I have made any attempt much more satisfying,” Otterman spoke with a wide grin as his eyes examined the pistol he held in his hands.
Jager grunted as he immediately thought of the whole thing as a sort of torture on top of the shit hole he was already in.
“I deactivated any engines and now have started an approach to the Planet's atmosphere. I'll see you all on the other side,”
Dr. Otterman's wicked smile was the last thing the video showed before Jager slammed his fist through the desk which held the keyboard. A timer appeared in Jager's helmet that begun a countdown from three minutes till the ship would start to enter the planet's atmosphere in a very violent nature that Jager was more than willing to avoid.
“Alright sleeping beauty, time to wake up,” Jager mouthed in annoyance as he tapped the control pad which unlocked Fiddlesticks cell. What Jager didn't anticipate was the Psionic push he received as soon as both doors opened. It only stalled the Marine for a few seconds before he got back to his feet only to see the Mare's tail disappear around out the door from his view and the clacking of her hooves as she bolted down the hallway.
“Give me a fuckin' break!”
Celestia let out a long whistle as her horn lite the rather large cavern before her. It was evident that the tunnel was nothing natural as it almost seemed to perfect in it's diameter. The whole construction seemed to be of specific diameter for something larger to pass through, which instantly peeked Celestia's curiosity immediately.
“Your Highness, Dusk Breaker expressed that he did not want anyone to descend into these tunnels,” Dr. Pain Killer spoke although his words carried little weight as he was just as interested into the Tunnel as she was. He even noticed that the creep was acting like a sort of support beam for the tunnel as to stop collapsing.
“If he truly cared to keep us out of this Tunnel, we'd have been swarmed with undesirable company, Doctor,” Princess Luna spoke up as she turned towards to the Royal Guards behind her. “Guardsmen, get a Pegasus and Unicorn to map the Tunnel before us. Return as swiftly as possible,” Luna ordered which recieved crisp salutes in response before two teams of Pegasus and Unicorn lifted from the ground and hastily made their way ahead of the crowd of Ambassadors and Royalty.
It was an unpleasant quarter of an hour wait for the group as more and more idle Zerg grew conscious of the group's presence. Most didn't do anything directly to affect them except for a Zergling here or there trying to 'Protect his Territory' by screeching and flailing his talons in the air as some sort of show of intimidation. An act that the Gryphons Ambassadors scoffed at with distaste and mumblings of barbaric animals.
“We were not much different, Ambassadors,” Celestia noted as she watched the Zergling carefully before an Overlord picked the squirming Creature up in one of it's tentacles to carry it away.
“What do you mean by that remark, Princess?” One Gryphon spoke up, obviously in confusion.
“You may all be wise for your age but remember both Luna and I are more than ten times your age. Our races often bickered and presented shows of force to stay each others claw or hoof. Looking at that Creature just reminded me of the olden days when war was always 'Plan B', as some put it,” Celestia spoke softly as her eyes grew unfocused for a moment as she drew on very old memories. It was short lived as the two teams reported back from the mouth of the cave.
“Your Highness, the Tunnel never splits nor does it seem to twist or turn. It seems to slowly dive deeper at a slow decent until we came to a halt in our progression. The Tunnel leads straight to the lake, Your Highness,”
Celestia only started to laugh in a light tone as she received the news. So Dusk has escaped and left a Tunnel which we were not denied access too which only means he has already accomplished the needs of such a thing. The only question that remains is where exactly was he at this very moment?
Alex couldn't believe her position right now.
She was walking down a dimly lit corridor as quickly as she could which would seem normal if it wasn't for the Hydralisk being uncomfortable close behind her. Every time she slowed down there would be the blunt end of a Hydralisk talon to push her forward. At times she would find that the creature would stop dead still and cease any type of sound as it's slit eyes scanned any and every approach as if it detected something in the shadows. Alex thought how scary it would be to have one of these things hunting you. If she didn't know any better, she wouldn't even know there was a killing machine right behind her.
They were almost to the elevator when everything turned into complete chaos. Alex rounded a corner as casually as she could but froze at the scene before her. Three Zerglings were hunched over their previous meal only to stop to look at her with a new sense of hunger. She could see it in their eyes as they slowly moved towards her like a pack of hungry dogs.
She watched as the first one took the initiative and leaped with all its might to tear into Human flesh. The Zergling however was sent spinning back as a large barbed spine was protruding from the soft flesh between its precious carapace. The other two Zerglings reeled for a moment as the Hunter-Killer made his presence known from the darker shadows.
Alex was quiet for a moment as she studied the reactions of both creatures. However before either creature could react, the Hunter decided to pin both creatures to the floor with a flurry of Spines. Alex could feel her hair being tugged along as each spine passed by her head by mere inches. The very thought of those barbed, and most assuredly poisoned, Spines borrowing into her chest made the Scientist's knees wobble. She fell to the floor with large gulps of air, her eyes blood shot from piling stress and fear.
“Alex!” a voice called out to her which made the young Scientist freeze for a moment before turning to see a welcomed sight.
Fiddlesticks came to a sudden halt as she practically tackled the woman in a hug. Tears were streaming down Fiddlesticks face as she held the woman tightly before breaking the hug to see Alex wasn't faring much better inside even though she was smiling in relief. “You have to follow me, Alex. Dusk is already on his way!”
“Where is the Marine I sent to find you, Fiddlesticks?” Alex asked as Fiddlesticks rose from their position. “I sent a friend to help you escape from the Doctor. Did he reach you?”
“He did,” A voice called out again as Jaeger appeared from the Elevator shaft brandishing a pistol.
The Hydralisk acted immediately as it screeched and rose in height. The Marine acted in kind as he rose his Pistol and took careful aim.
“Hey, you!” Fiddlesticks shouted at the Hunter-Killer which made it recoil for a moment. “Down, boy. Be good for your Queen,” Fiddlesticks purred as the Hydralisk lowered back down for the Mare to pat it's head in affection. “Good, boy,”
“That was amazing,” Alex breathed as she witnessed the event, her inner Scientist overjoyed at witnessing an event between Queen and her servant in the Zerg hierarchy.
“We don't have time for this, we need to stop the nukes!” Jaeger shouted with his weapon still trained on the Hydralisk before him.
“That won't be necessary,” Fiddlesticks said mere moments before a loud crash happened behind her at the Bulkhead. A large gaping maw of flesh and teeth was now anchored through the Bulkhead which only meant one thing to Jaeger.
A swarm of Zerglings and Hydralisk poured from the maw before one being of stature simply walked from the maw. His hair fell from his head like long, straight grey wisps that danced with every slight breeze. His body bore carapace plates that overlapped certain parts of his body for protection and his eyes were of molten magma, a fire that licked at the corners of his iris. It was one thing to see him on a monitor but now they were faced with the true terror of Dusk Breaker, Zerg Emperor, Overmind.
Mr. Fang sat at his desk with his hoofs slowly clapping together while he was in deep thought. It was several things simply overlapping in his mind that started to make him see very frail for a moment. He was glad that his blinds were shut and the candles or other light sources were out. It was all disturbed when a knock was heard at his door.
“It is your butler, Sir,” a voice called out which the Stallion at the lavish desk simply beckoned in.
The butler that was wearing a simple tux bowed before entering to display light onto thee Mr. Fang.
“Good evening, Sir. A guest of Princess Celestia has requested your audience,” The butler asked which the Stallion behind the desk simply nodded to.
The room suddenly had an odd smell of smoke lightly lisping in the air as a unfamiliar Stallion entered the room. He sat before the Desk quietly waiting for the Butler to leave before speaking but as he did speak, smoke came from within his mouth.
“Greetings, Mr. Fancy Pants. I have a Question to ask you...”
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>: ) Mr. Fang is so gonna die.>: )
It's alive!!! Nice to see this story get updated.
It's alive, and the plot is progressing again. Finally.
Hoping to see more!
Doh, that sucks, that really sucks... went to press the next chapter button but come to find out... there is no next chapter yet... crap
... things were getting good.
Update?
What happened to updates?
My thoughts on the matter...
"awwww, it's broken," Nora
"Well, it's going to be a big Yang," Yang
"Damn it, Yang. You know what..." Me
"Nora smash?" Nora
"No, but I could wipe my muses to destroy the muse Yang" Me *crack*
*hair falls down* "You bitch! I'll kill you with a blast from my Ember Celica" Yang
"Nuclear call-down detected" Adjunct
"Save me Nukes!" Me
"Wimp" Yang
i found much enjoyment out of this story. it saddens me that it has not been updated in so long. would love to see a conclusion to this tale. i will keep this tracked in hopes that one day it will continue.
still have fond memories of reading this ^^
You now have another person tracking.