The SCL Starcraft RPG - Content thread

[UED Special Ops]

"This is our -- your -- target." the holographic Marquis said as a picture flashed up on the nearby computer. Lucky for Taylor, she was wearing her sunglasses, hiding her surprise at the person in the picture. Vice-Admiral Alexei Stukov. Tapping a few keys on her PDA, she transferred the picture over in order to look at it more closely. His face seemed more tired then what she had remembered but it was definitely him.

"Interested, my dear?" the hologram asked, taking another bite of his apple. Dozens of conflicting thoughts ran through Jenna's head as she pondered the offer. She was part of the UED and knew that Stukov was one of the greatest minds Earth had to offer. However, she also made the choice to not go with many of the others to outer UED outposts, instead feeling alone to Moria. She needed to know how Stukov was alive and why this group the Marquis represented wanted him watched and even killed. Taking one last look at the picture, Jenna faced the hologram, who was just finishing another bite of his apple.

"I'm in." she said calmly, cracking a slight grin.
"Good, good. I am very glad that we shall be working together Jenna Taylor." the hologram responded, finishing his apple.
"Gather your things and when you are ready, my associate will lead you to the waiting shuttle. Once it arrives at its' destination, we can discuses things in greater detail." the Marquis continued, walking back towards the door.
"My our business agreement be long and beneficial." he said before disappearing, leaving just Jenna and the Man in Gray, who stepped outside, allowing her to gather her things together.

Less then two minutes later, Jenna Taylor stepped out of the rented room, nodding once to the Man in Gray, who then proceeded towards the hanger bay. Falling in behind him, Jenna mulled over all that had happened in the last fifteen minutes.
"Well, Stukov is alive and well, and this group I've fallen into wants him dead. Just play things cool and learn what you can." she thought.
"Heh, perhaps I might be able to find a place for myself in this messed up sector..."

[Sarov]

Amaris
Protoss Preserver

Amaris' attention was immediately brought to the present as she felt strong hands shaking her. She opened her eyes to find Ranul watching her, his hands on her shoulders. She could feel a sense of urgency in his thoughts and knew immediately that something was wrong.

"What is wrong?" she asked, slightly confused. One moment Ranul was calm and the next moment he was worried and... perhaps frightened?

"The zerg are on Shakuras!" Ranul exclaimed.

Amaris eyed him calmly but could not deny the fact that she too felt uneasy. "How is that possible? Why have we not known of this sooner?" she asked even as she stood up.

"I... do not know. Only recently has this news been brought to my attention."

Amaris looked at the door. "Where is Zethanis?"

"I am here," came the strong and familiar mental voice as the door to the room irised open. Amaris looked gratefully towards him. "We should prepare for the worst. The Zerg are numerous."

"And yet there are heavy Templar defenses in New Antioch," she replied, smoothing out her robes. "We should be fine."

"For now," Zethanis corrected.

Amaris nodded. "Certainly we must prepare in the event that the Zerg breach the other city's defenses and overwhelm it thereby moving on to New Antioch."

"The Templar are strong," the zealot replied, raising a fist and thumping it against his chest. "We will overcome this threat."

"As are the Dark Templar," Amaris added.

Zethanis inclined his head. "As are the Dark Templar."

Ranul eyed them both. "And what of our brethren Zethanis?"

The zealot turned to face the elder Protoss. "As long as the Templar stand we will prevail. I would believe that they are already gathering forces and evacuating the khalai and their Dark Templar counterparts."

Amaris nodded. "And where would you have me go?"

"You must stay by my side, Amaris. My orders are to keep you safe. I will gladly give my life to protect you just as I would for Auir. For even if giving my life buys you mere seconds, it will have been worth it."

Amaris' eyes narrowed slightly and she inclined her head. "This I know, Zethanis. You need not remind me as I remember all."

Zethanis copied her movements, smiling as well. She could sense his admiration for her and, though she did not need to, his willingness to die to ensure her safety. She could sense that and countless more but it was his resolve and determination that stood out among all the other feelings and thoughts like the blazing sun in the sky.

Together, all three - Preserver, elder Protoss and zealot - walked out of the room and headed down the hallway. Templar jogged passed them, no doubt heading to the ships that would transport them to the fray. Amaris admired each and every one of them. Amaris stumbled slightly as she felt information flooding her brain.

Several forms burst from the ground in front of her. These abominations seemed eager to spill her comrades blood but she could not allow that to happen - not if she could help it. Her mind focusing her power into two psiblades once more, she charged into the fray, her comrades following her example. Just as she cleaved a zergling in half, the rest of the pack jumped on her, dragging her to the ground -

She could feel the power raging through her mind, through her body, waiting to be unleashed upon her foes. This power took the form of a raging storm of blueish-white energy, tearing apart the Zerg that were foolish enough to remain so close together even as several spines ripped through her face -

Ranul placed a hand on her shoulder. Amaris looked up at him, desperate for a way to ease the flood of information.

"The dying has already begun," Amaris said as memories flashed through her mind.

"It is disconcerting at first but in time you will become used to it as I had to," Ranul nodded, explaining in thoughts that were once more calm.

"We must go."

Amaris looked at Zethanis. "Very well then."

Ranul and Amaris followed the zealot down the corridors until they came to yet another room. As they entered the room, she noticed that there were more Templar here. Each one of them turned to face her, glowing eyes watching both Ranul and her closely. Amaris felt embarassed but only slightly so.

Zethanis seemed to be speaking to one or more of them for there was a slight gesture here, a nod there, and an inclination of the head there. After some time, he turned back to face Ranul and her. "This room is much more secure than you personal quarters."

Amaris looked around and nodded.

"It will suffice," Ranul replied, setting his khaydarin crystal on a nearby table.

[NamesAreUseless]

Alexei Stukov

As Karen entered psionically into Alexei's mind, he froze still. He felt as if he couldn't move. But as she finished, he pulled his pistol back and let her go. That didn't mean he fully trusted her however.

"Stay away!" he yelled, as the screeching continued in his mind.

'Trust no one, Stukov.'

The voice from his nightmare ... it was in his concious mind. He began to kneel on the floor, with his hands over his head.

One of the scientists decided to take action. "We need to get that parasite out of him! Ivan, get some medics here stat!" The scientist immediately ran to go looking for help.

"Karen," he asked her. "Will you stay to calm Admiral Stukov's mind?"

[Sarov]

Karen Sarov
Experiment

Karen watched him pull his pistol back and let her go. She just stood there watching him, not doing anything at first. In of her mind various thoughts and feelings were surfacing, some normal whiles others were not so normal. It was easy at the moment to ignore most of the odd ones but it didn't keep her from wondering why they happened in the first place. She knew that the urge to kill was a result of her Zerg genetics but she didn't understand some of the more complex feelings and urges. It felt like she was constantly at war with herself, fighting to keep above the sea of urges and feelings, to keep from losing herself to her instincts.

When Stukov began to kneel on the floor, his hands over his head, Karen was about to take a small step forward but quickly decided that it probable wasn't a good thing. After all, he had just told her to stay away from him.

There was a part of her that desparately wanted to help him - what Karen identified as her human side. There was another part of her that wanted to watch him suffer, and Karen felt a little enjoyment in doing so but she would never admit it. And there was still another side that wanted to her to slaughter everyone in the room. The first one was the most dominant, the second one the most tempting, and the third the most difficult to ignore. A while back, Karen had come up with a theory. She had thought that every set of urges belonged to a different part of herself, most likely caused by the splicing of her DNA.

Karen's attention was brought back to what was happening by the sound of someone's voice. She blinked and turned to face the man.

Let the pathetic Terran suffer, came one thought, this one belonging to the second facet of her personality. She did her best to ignore this, focusing her attention on the scientist that stood in front of her.

"Yes," she replied even as she felt the urge to walk out.

Karen turned to face Stukov once more and she knelt down in front of him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Whatever he was going through, he needed someone there for him no matter what he said or felt. She felt it was the best thing for him, knowing the importance of the human touch. Karen once again entered his mind. As was standard procedure, Karen erected a mental barrier to protect him from outside influences. Once that was done she worked on calming him down. She didn't tell him that everything would be all right because she didn't want to lie but she did tell them that they would do their best to help him.

[Visions of Khas]

Belphegor Brood
Dissent

New Antioch, Shakuras

The zerg scrabbled to gain purchase across sand and blasted rock as they made their beeline towards the Protoss settlements. The battle was joined first at Talematros, then New Antioch minutes after. The Templar forces responded by blasting away the shoal of zerg with disruptor bolts. The line beyond that was laced by psionic lightning. The following group was broken by reaver artillery.

The High Templar Legate overseeing the defense to the east of New Antioch observed the advancing zerg with some detachment. Their invasion was less an assault than an impulse; a rampage. He hadn't seen this sort of behavior since...

And then he saw it.

Two zerglings scrabbled over top one another. One dismembered the other, then continued onward, despite having lost two legs of its own. To the north, two hydralisks were trampled by an ultralisk; the beast carved a swath through the lesser breeds like crops. And -- there! -- a defiler consuming another defiler.

The Legate waved his hand subconsciously; an attaching hydralisk fell, its fiery death an after thought. The lack of overlords -- or any ther aerial beasts -- confirmed the Legate's suspicions... Nevertheless, remaining here would ensure more kills for the rampaging zerg. The Legate let out a call, and his maniple made a tactical advance in the opposite direction.

These zerg had gone feral. What madness held sway here, he could not fathom.

* * *

The Belphegor behemoth flickered into existence in the Shakuran atmosphere, obscured by twilit clouds swirling around the vortex of its warp corridor. Like a missile platform, the carrier jettisoned a number of heavily armored drop pods, which made planetfall across the landscape. Several landed within protoss settlements, others well outside the Protoss defense net. Some dropped amid -- even on top of -- the rampaging zerg.

The Behemoth, its job complete, launched a final object -- a large cacoon -- into the heart of the zerg tide, then jumped to warp. The cacoon sank into the earth, and immediately tendrils whipped out frenetically to secured themselves in the ground. Burrowing deep and wide, they erupted as far as nearly a third of a kilometer from the epicenter, watching and waiting with a myriad of eyes and razor-sharp tentacles.

* * *

Aiur

The elements of the Belphegor brood on Aiur met with their first bout of resistance from zerg loyal to the Swarm of Kerrigan.

Unclean Ones and Mutalisks raided the hive, leaving the ground itself bleeding and raw. Swirling, chittering clouds washed over the landscape, a dark swarm blinding the defenders. The hive pushed back the zergling rush that erupted through it, then once the clouds dissipated charged onward to meet the invaders head on.

They didn't make it far. Lurkers and Hydralisks erupted from the ground like mines, taking the defenders by surprise.

The massacre lasted a scant few hours; only a few Overlords, queens and others survived. These were infected by Kaloth's queens, and incorporated into the Cerebrate's brood.

Satisfied, the Belphegor brood continued its journey. As they barreled through the carnage, the Torrasque ferrying Kaloth stopped, looking upwards. Kaloth could sense its children out there, distant stars in its vast mind. Obedient extensions of its being. And now it could feel another... THE other, the one it thought forever lost. His thoughts were distant, like words from a radio tuned to a transmitter just beyond the horizon; only the faintest of words could be made out. This one concerned Kaloth....

As did the power here on Aiur. Kaloth had experienced the psionic matrix before, in the distant past, through the Overmind; but this energy, this elan that he felt in the air... was different. Alien, yet so familiar. Elusive. Dark...

As Kaloth shook itself out of its reverie, the Torrasque lurched forward. Kaloth's primary objective could not be overriden... but it could still choose the route by which it went about its task. It would explore, and it would discover.

The Belphegor brood broadened its formation, sweeping across the landscape in search of more survivors.

[Sarov]

Amaris
Protoss Preserver

Amaris watched her teacher sit down on one of the pillows that had been provided for their comfort, holding the khaydarin crystal firmly in his hands. Amaris looked to Zethanis, wishing she could do something to help her brethren but knowing that she far too valuable to risk losing. And so she remained confined to these chambers, forced to wait the attack out.

"They are attacking New Antioch now."

She nodded slowly, understanding what this meant. "I can hear and feel them as they pass on. It is a slightly painful experience, the amount of thoughts that I can hear when they do, Zethanis."

"It is true that it is a burden, Amaris, but it is one that you must deal with."

"Yet I cannot help but wish it were less painful and stressful."

Zethanis nodded.

Amaris turned to her teacher, expecting to see him concentrating on the khaydarin crystal and instead found him watching her closely. "You are done with your excercise, Ranul?"

"Not quite but I found it neccesary to see how you were. Your thoughts were painful and confused."

"I understand. I did not mean to startle you, Ranul."

"You have not."

Amaris nodded and turned to face Zethanis once more. "And what of our defenses?"

"They are holding. My fellow Templar and our brethren the Dark Templar seem to have it under control."

Amaris sensed something strange in Zethanis' thoughts. As if he was troubled by something. "What is it Zethanis?"

Knowing he could not lie to a Preserver, who might have the information from one of the dead, Zethanis chose to share what he knew. "It seems that the Zerg have sent a cacoon into the Zerg swarm. And although I do not know what it is for, I can only hope it will be destroyed."

[Sarov]

Karen Sarov
Experiment

While she was taking care of Stukov, Karen didn't even notice that someone else had entered the room. The other scientists didn't pay much attention to this newcomer but they did feel slightly agitated around him just by the very nature of what he was.

"Ma'am," came a cold, emotionless voice. She immediately recognized it as belonging to her personal bodyguard, a Ghost whose name was forgotten to all but those with the proper clearance and Karen.

"Yes?" she replied, withdrawing from Stukov's mind and turning around to face him.

"We intercepted a transmission. The technicians figured you might be interested in it. Highly interested I should add."

Karen nodded. Once Karen was sure that the admiral would remain calm throughout the surgery, she looked to the scientist that had called out to her.

"My work here is done. The admiral should remain calm throughout the surgery," she said, referring to her ship. "If there is anything you need, you know where to find me - on the Cerberus."

One of the scientists nodded.

Karen stood up, brushed herself off and then followed the Ghost out of the room.

. . .

On the Cerberus

"What have you found?" Karen asked.

One of the men seated at the terminals turned to face her. "We caught a transmission. We weren't expecting to be able to catch it but we did. Would you like to see it, ma'am?"

"Of course."

The man made a quick gesture and another man pressed a button. The screen turned dark briefly and then a man appeared on the screen. Karen didn't care much about what he wore, only what he had to say, and as thus, did not pay much attention to his appearance. She listened to what the man had to say. It was the last few lines that she found the most interesting.

"Do you seek freedom? Solidarity? Brotherhood? Strength?"

"We have it."

Karen laughed a bit at that line. Freedom? She had never been imprisoned; free to do as she pleased - whether Stukov and his men liked it or not. Brotherhood? Nothing was better than the Swarm and nothing could compare to being among family and hearing their thoughts. Strength? She was strong just in a different way. There were things she could do that humans could only dream of.

"We've been cleansed through fire and rise from the soot and coal and dying embers. Soon, the same shall become of all our enemies: reduced to naught but stirring phantoms - to never arise. To our enemies, we are forever wrapped in the cloak of anonymity, caring not for their ire and wrath of steel."

"Seek us out, and we shall find you. You know who you are... as you know who WE are."

"Cloaked in starlight's absence, We follow paths unseen, Never to be watched or heard, Our senses are too keen."

Karen was just as amused at these lines as she was of the other one. Still, it concerned her that they were amassing support and troops. Who were they? It was a question that surfaced in her mind but was quickly forgotten. The real question was if they were enemies of Stukov. If they were, she would have to find a way to deal with them.

You could use these people, came a thought that was both hers and not hers in the sense that it came from a different personality. You could use them to expand your reach. To perhaps capture more Zerg. Think of what you can do.

Karen smiled. "Yes... I could..."

Immediately she thought of Stukov and the vow she had given him.

Kill him! came another thought, this one from her third personality, obviously referring to Stukov.

"No, I can't. I love him. I owe him my life."

What do you owe to that pathetic Terran? What has he done for you that you are obligated to repay? came a thought, this one from her second personality. The answer is nothing. You are not bound by loyalty to these inferior creatures. They are not your brothers or your sisters. They are nothing. And as such, they should be treated that way.

"I owe you nothing," she whispered.

The men at the terminals did not object or question her. After all, she had a tendency to talk to herself. What they did not know and what they would not want to know is the fact that she had multiple personalities, each a fragment of a whole, a reflection of some part of herself.

She turned to face the man who had addressed her first. "Open up a link. I want to send these people a message."

"Should we take the normal precautions, ma'am?"

"You should know that by now," Karen said, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly.

The man's face grew red with embarassment. "I-I understand."

Once the message had been masked so that the reciever would not know where it came from, Karen turned to face the screen once more.

"I recently recieved your message and I am interested in learning more. I, however, am not quite convinced. Surely you can understand that what you have presented is not enough. What you have offered, I should say, is it not enough. I have that already. However, there is something that you might just be able to provide that my current employer cannot." She grinned. "I need subjects for my research. I need Zerg. Perhaps if you can help provide me with some I will be willing to join you." She didn't let them know who her current employer was or just exactly what she planned to do with the Zerg once she had them. That... that was the surprise. "You may call me Karen. The link to contact me has been provided with this message."

The screen went dark, letting her know that the recording was finished.

. . .

Holding Chamber in the Cerberus

Deep within the Cerberus rested an abomination. Or a marvel of evolution depending on how you viewed it. It stretched to its full height, mandibles opening and closing as it waited, eyes glowing in the darkness. It was taller than a human and taller than a human in a marine suit. It was a enormous insect-like creature with mandibles, a large bone crest and a half-snake. But it was also something more than an average member of its strain. It was the improved version. It was taller and had more carapace and it's appendage-like scythes were sharper.

"Heeeerraaaahhh," came the hiss-like noise that was common to its strain.

It, as it was called, could feel the mind of its queen. She was calm, as usual. Oh, how It would kill for her without a thought. It's life revolved around its queen and It sought to please her in any way possible and it could not do so for as long as it was confined. Still, It was smart enough to realize what might happen should any of the crew members see it. They would be terrified as they should be. The problem was that they might attack It and although it was something that It's queen would not allow to happen, there was a chance it still might.

And so, It rested in its confinement chamber, awaiting the day it's queen needed it.