“I like the idea, but I got people here that need protecting. I’ll need to leave behind some of my boys, the ten you came with before and another ten should work. Leaves you with me and six of my boys.”

I frowned at Raynor, frustrated for a moment before I nodded. “I get it. You need to keep these people safe. We’ll have to be enough, rescue anyone we can on our way and kill everything covered in nastiness.”

Fernando was nodding lightly to himself while listening. I was a little concerned about where Nova was but I would learn about it later. Raynor came over to me though, lifting a hand with an odd sardonic smirk on his face. “I never did thank ya for coming to our rescue.”

Yep, my inner nerd just orgasmed a big wad into my mind when I grasped Raynor's armored hand in my own and shook it. I’ll admit to being on a personal cloud nine. What could I say? I admired the character a very great deal.

“Anytime, Raynor, anytime.” The sad part to that was that there would be a lot of times, more so in future Campaigns with the other Races. Not all of them good. I sighed internally before asking for a map, which he provided, after righting a table he’d knocked over in his earlier fit of rage.

“Ok, Edmund Duke mentioned his people were actually here, right? Where were they located?” The question was aimed at the hope of gaining more bodies to throw at the infested when it came time to assault their Command Center. I had a terrible feeling the System wouldn’t make it so the sun would keep them at bay during that time.

Raynor placed a finger at a point on the map not too far from us, I think. “About five hours East of us, past the wall. I know they have FireBats, crazy sonsabitches that are more killer than soldier, but damn useful in close quarters.”

My eyes went wide with that. Perfect! If I was lucky I’d even be able to gain some armor or the method of creating them to increase my own standing force back on my version of Mar Sara. “Perfect, that’s our first destination then. Meet up with the Confederate regs and then move on the Infested.” I thought a moment, before adding sheepishly. “We probably should rescue your men, and mine, from Green ministrations.”

Raynor looked at me like I was a bit touched in the head, but nodded after a little shoulder shrug and we went about fully preparing for our trip. I wasn’t looking forward to this, personally. If I remembered it right, this is where the prelude to The Sons of Korhal would begin to form. I really didn’t want to deal with Mengsk, not ever.

Turns out we didn’t need to rescue anyone from Green, Fernando seemed oddly upset that no one else was suffering what was growing to be his actual bane of existence. I had the most disturbing thought of little Green/Fernando babies running around Bastion, physical perfections in the image of Fernando and the life draining ability to never shut up from Green. The image quickly became a waking nightmare as everyone slowly died. I made a vow right then and there that Green could not be allowed to reproduce.

Back to the topic at hand though, she was in full business mode. Little talking, beyond rapid-fire questions about where it hurt, how much it hurt, and what she was doing to fix it. Nothing that was...cruel and unusual. I admit to being a little disappointed at that myself.

The good news is I found Nova, her armor was torn in places, showing tan flesh and bandages, but she was alright by the looks of it. Pierce was laying down, he’d have to stay behind. Decker would be as well. I couldn’t risk them like that. For her part, Nova was watching the Medical Demon with a bemused expression before she noticed my party moving toward her. She stood up straight and started toward us, I raised a hand placatingly and had her stop. “At ease, Nova. We’re here just to get things moving. You have three hours of rest. Pierce, Decker, and a score of Raynors men are staying here. We will be moving out to find the Confederate base and take out anything that moves or looks Infested.”

Three hours later our ragtag little team of misfits; Fernando, Myself, Nova, Granit, Kelper, Georgie, Stone, Andy, Fob (I didn’t want to know), Raynor and his six men were all ready to move out.

We were loaded down with enough ammo that I actually felt the weight through my armor. I was thankful all the same though, I had a feeling we’d need the ammo. The added weight didn’t do much to the armors functionality thankfully. Extended time hauling it around would destroy the mechanical servos that helped it move over time though. Worth it, if we managed to finish this Map without any other complications.

Pierce and Decker had managed to regain their senses and were pissed when they learned they were staying behind, mostly because Green was staying to care for them. It had taken me a bit to explain that they would just die if we took them, that I needed them to survive, not waste their lives when they were too weak to fight.

When we walked out from behind the wall, heading in the general direction of the Confederate staging area, Fernando and Raynor were on point, Nova and Stone were scouting further afield. I was in the center with Andie, the rest were spread out in a tight circle formation around us.

I had my own gun at the ready, looking everywhere for a possible threat, something, expected a Zergling to burst out from the ground, or an Infected. For about half an hour nothing like that occurred, it gave me time to talk to Andy. She was cute, short and cute, with those freckles that spread their way lightly along the bridge of her nose.

Mostly inane things, but the tiny woman made me feel at ease, actually talked about my God-fearing Mama some, though not for long. No need to dwell on people I may never see again, on any of them.

“...That’s when my brother decided it was a good idea to take Pa’s harvester and ram it into out stead fencing, destroying it!” She had been discussing a story from her childhood, about her elder brother, it was even funny. About at the end though is when shit started getting real.

We were about two hours into the trek when we first started seeing it all along the ground. Creep, the foundation, and notification of any Zerg infestation or presence. I hushed Andy, lifting my weapon, Stone's voice coming across the radio in a silent whisper, he was near enemies.

“Sir, Confederate soldiers spotted, they are under assault by Zerglings and something that seems larger, they appear ranged.” That would be the Hydralisks. Stone had ranged pretty far out, we were still an hour away, at a fast jog. Nova came up next, she seemed closer.

“We have multiple signatures surrounding our entry point to their location. All underground, orders?”

Fernando was the one to speak, he had a better tactical mind and understanding of what we could and could not do. “Stone, attempt contact with the Confederates, advise them help is on the way. Do not engage. Nova, start picking off the outer key elements underground where you can. Drop ammo men, we’re moving into a fight. No stopping.”

We dropped our extra crates, not our clips, lightening our loads and moving at a sprint. We made it five minutes before the Zerg started jumping out of the ground at us, we fired into the jumping fuckers, thankfully only the Zerglings for the time being, taking them down as they came up.

The problem was that even then, it attracted the attention of the further flung Zerg, causing them to come to the surface and start moving toward us. Nova appeared inside our circle around then, picking off Zerg where she could. Granit and Fob decimated the larger clusters with their weaponry, while Raynor and Fernando moved in near perfect synch, ramming a Zergling, stunning it, while the other finished it off and the previous rammer took out a Zergling jumping at the other from behind.

It was like watching a choreographed show, it was downright beautiful watching one of the most iconic characters of StarCraft fight with my personal, unknown, Monstrous individual. The Marines were running just behind the Marauders, taking out the ones that came at us from behind when they could, though Fob did a lot of that.

Me? I was firing at the Zerg like Nova was, prioritizing Hydralisks, trying to limit the number of spines they launched at us. Fernando still took one to the shoulder, though it only slowed him a second. “Andy! When we get to the Confederates be prepped for poison removal!” I shouted she nodded beside me, breathing a little hard as we went.

I can say it was one of the most adrenaline packed, heart racing runs of my life. It was also one of the most hellish. The single reason we made it to the Confederates, in my mind, was due entirely to the armor taking a lot of the bodily strain off of us. We were still all panting when we reached the outermost portion of the raging battle before us.

Confederates in bunkers, a smaller wall than Raynors, and a slew of Zerg between us and them. “Well, fuck me running,” I muttered. Zerglings were the bulk, of course, but there were also Hydralisks en masse. A few Overlords in the skies above.

“Fernando, we are all taking five. Nova, keep look out for a moment. Stone!” I called on the comm, ignoring Raynor and Fernando’s look of frustration at resting a moment while witnessing the apparent slaughter below us. Sorry guys, not wasting our lives for them.

“Sir! I made contact, they are aware you’re coming. Lending aid where I can. They are breaking down the wall though. I have the bombs on hand, orders?”

I smiled a bit at that. The ‘bombs’ he was mentioning were actually a newer Ghost gear Caspian had come up with, we only had two made. Pierce and Stone had been carrying them. Stone took Pierces for the time being though. “Stone, I want you to lob them into the two densest Zerg locations at the right and left. Bunch those fuckers up.”

I turned toward my Imperial Guard then, having them with the other Marines had probably been the single reason they all survived in the end, judging by the spines in their shields. “Kelper, you ready to unload hell on those ugly bastards?”

He lifted his visor, showing an oddly feminine face. “Oh yes, Sir. Let me at ‘em.” I grinned back, then told Fernando and Raynor the plan. We were going to start moving forward, reach a halfway point between us and the Zerg. Stone would launch his ‘bombs’ then, forcing the Zerg to bunch for a moment, and then Kelper was going to smash their bunched up formation with the remainder of our explosive rounds. After that, Fernando, Trenton, Georgie, Granit, and Fob were going to form up, shield and grenade launchers at the ready and move into the thick of the horde, firing as much as they could. Raynor and his Marines would take the sides, keeping them from moving around. Nova and I would pick off any quick Zerg that got by that. Andy would have the hardest job, using her healing gear to keep my Imperial Guard alive if they were injured.

It wasn’t the best plan, but Fernando did actually approve. If we had managed to take the ammo crates, it would be a different story. With luck, Stone would galvanize the Confederate soldiers into hitting the Zerg from behind when they changed focus. Personally, I just hoped they didn’t have something with a higher intelligence actively controlling them.