Chapter 331 – Hydra-ted Nightmares

December 13th, 2499

08:27 SCT

Wasteland Evacuation Zone

John's team had commandeered all the remaining Vultures in the camp and rushed towards the convoy as fast as the others could drive. Now they were on a ridge overlooking the convoy. Or at least what remained of it. Dozens of vehicles were on fire, with Zergs moving in and around the wrecks, tearing apart bodies and eating the corpses. 

Nearly two dozen vehicles remained, forming an oval shape, like covered wagons forming a circle on the great plains to defend against attacks. In the gaps stood teams of two or three militia, standing shoulder to shoulder, firing on any Zerg who tried to breach their perimeter. In the centre, hundreds of terrified people huddled around a few cargo trucks. Though they weren't directed at him, or at any god in particular, John could have sworn he felt the power of the prayers being said in that crowd.

"Brian, take team two and strafe the right flank. Everyone else, spread out behind me. Hit 'em hard and fast, and whatever you do, don't slow down. Don't give them a chance to jump up on your Vulture, else you'll be in a world of hurt." John ordered the five other men following behind him.

"Roger," Brian said, taking off with his two men immediately.

"We got yer back, Johnny!" Charlie said across the radio.

"Aww, Johnny! Are ye sure this is a good idea'er? That's an awful lot of critters." Bubba asked, obviously nervous. 

"Just don't let off that throttle and you'll be fine. Now, no time to waste. Remember, we are just trying to sow some chaos and draw off some bugs. Don't get into a slugging match with them; you won't win." He replied, then angled his bike toward the convoy's left flank and opened the throttle. The bike whined as he accelerated to some very unsafe velocities, and he depressed the trigger on the grenade launcher. 

*FOOMPH! FOOMPH! FOOMPH! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*

"CRRRRRRREEEEE!!!!"

Moments later, the sound of his squadmates' grenade launchers rang out as they opened up on the Zergs, and he saw the little red dots on his Mental Map scatter erratically as the three Vultures shot past them. They passed the convoy in a flash, but the tide of monsters didn't thin out, so he held the trigger down and kept peppering the Zerglings with 20mm explosives. 

He finally broke through the swarm, then banked his bike to the left, circling around for another pass. Bubba and Charlie seemed to have made it through unscathed, both their Vultures screaming as they tried to keep pace with his.

"Johnny, ya lookin to get yer self killed or sumthin'?" Bubba said across the comms.

"No, just the opposite. Didn't you see the bodies?"

"See? I ain't seen nothing but a blur trying to keep up with ya. Not even sure if I hit anything but dirt."

"You're free to leave if you can't stomach this, but there are hundreds of people counting on our help right now. So if you're with me, stop yer bellyaching and follow me for another pass." He growled over the comms as he lined up his bike for the next pass.

"Ain't sayin' I ain't wit ya, Johnny. Just sayin'- ah bugger it. Ma always said I wud be a hero someday. Just wish it wasn't so terrifying."

"Course you are, Bubba. Everyone protecting those people is in my book. Now, follow me in and don't slow down!" John replied with a chuckle, then quietly cast Blessing on him and Charlie, temporarily increasing their luck stats. The magic didn't seem to glow outside of his armour, so he hoped that little boost would keep them safe. Safer anyway.

*FOOMPH! FOOMPH! FOOMPH! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*

They continued to make passes on the swarm, whittling down their numbers and drawing their attention away from the defenders long enough for the infantry to finish them off. He thought they were making progress, but then a new monstrosity joined the battlefield, tossing a line of long, sharp spikes into John's plan.

A tall, purple beast with what he could only describe as the body of an armoured slug, scythes for arms, and a head that somewhat reminded him of a cobra's hood reared up ten feet in the air in his path. Flaps on the top of its head opened, and a wave of spikes launched toward him, burying themselves deep into one of the bike's engines and causing the power to flare, then sputter out. He didn't have time to adjust his other engine's output before the Vulture's nose slammed into the ground, catapulting him from the seat. 

He sailed through the sky, passing over the top of the Zerg, his parallel minds cycling through options in those few moments. The bike kept tumbling forward, slamming into the beast and exploding as the vespene fuel tanks ruptured. 

Divine Shield? No, not yet.

Crap?!?

Cycle Water Magic

“Mud!” He quickly chanted, turning the ground in front of him into a six-inch-deep layer of mud twenty feet long. He slammed into the puddle and slid to the other side, rolling several times before his momentum died down enough for him to regain control and roll to his feet.  

He felt fine, but several yellow warning lights flashed across his HUD, indicating armour damage from his tumble, though his suit was still mostly intact.

My sword and pistol are trapped inside this suit, and my rifle was on that Vulture. I need a weapon before-

*HHHIISSSSSS CARRRRR!!!*

That massive Zerg rose from the impact with an unearthly screech, then slashed at the Vulture's remains with one of its scythe arms, tearing the machine in half.

-Before that thing finds me.

"Catch!" Came Charlie's voice across the radio as his Vulture flew past him. An Impaler rifle landed in John's arms as if it had been placed there gently, not tossed at him at 100 mph. 

Guess Blessing is a lot stronger than I thought.

"Thanks!" He said, shouldering the weapon and aiming at the beast. 

"Ya okay, Johnny? Git out of there! It ain't safe!" Bubba said as John flicked the safety off. 

"I'm safer than those women and children over there, Bubba. Don't slow down, keep hitting their flanks and avoid these big guys. Fall in under Brian's team now; I'm going to be too busy in the immediate future to watch the battlefield. Good luck, you two. Marshal, Out." John said, then pulled the trigger.

8mm spikes drilled into the beast's chest, chipping away at the chitinous armour there. It turned toward him, hissing in anger before lowering its head. Flaps opened on its surface, then spikes shot towards him, spraying a green mist as they left the openings.

With Feral Instinct, Water Magic, and the Accelerate Reflexes implant, he was able to twist his body just fast enough to dodge the line of spikes it fired; the vibrations jarred his armour even though they missed, as the spikes broke the sound barrier. He let out a sigh of relief; those foot-long spikes could probably easily pierce most of the armour plates on his power armour.

He fired back, hitting its cracked chest armour again. It slid toward him faster than a normal man could run, forcing him to retreat backward, away from the safety of the Convoy. He wanted to make a break for it, but unless he wanted to turn golden in the middle of this battlefield, or turn into an Ogre, he needed to keep his full attention on dodging its attacks.

As he swapped his mag, the ground around him burst open, and two Zerglings attacked him, their claws tearing at his leg armour. He slammed the butt of the rifle into one head with as much strength as he could muster, shattering its skull. The other climbed his body and slammed a spear-like claw against his visor; the impact made it spiderweb and crack under strain. 

Jesus, these bastards can hide in hard-packed ground? How?

He was about to activate Divine Shield and fuck the consequences when a couple of impacts hit the beast in the face. It let out a scream as it slid off him, letting him see again. Thanking his unknown saviour, he stomped his boot on the Zergling, then leveled his rifle at the larger one, and started to unload his mag into its damaged chest armour. One of his minds checked his Mental Map and saw there was a blue dot somewhere behind him, but it disappeared after a few moments.

The large beast rushed forward rapidly and was nearly on top of him in the blink of an eye. It raised one scythe arm, ready to swing at him. Switching from Water to Earth cycling, he kicked forward, closed the remaining distance, and impaled his weapon into its weakened chitin with all the power he could muster, aided by his power armour. It roared in pain when he pulled the trigger, the depleted uranium rounds ricocheting off the inside of its carapace and bouncing around inside its body. 

The scythe came down, raking John's back but only glancing off the armour. He reached up and held its massive maw from underneath, preventing its powerful-looking jaws from snapping down on his helmet. It was powerful, and the armour's servos overloaded, buckling his knees, but he continued to hold the trigger down, screaming in defiance at this nightmare.

Two more shots slammed into the side of that massive head, the second one piercing one of those glowing yellow eyes. The beast threw its head back and screamed, and he took the opportunity to push the rifle in deeper, emptying the mag into its guts. It collapsed a few moments later, and he backed off as it was still twitching violently.

His armour readout flashed urgent red warnings at him; most of its joints were damaged from the tussle, and the plating over his motor was compromised, but he brought the nightmare down. 

With help. Where were those shots coming from? Wait... what in the fuck did I just do???

It just dawned on him that he had just gotten into a melee fight with something much bigger than that Red Bear; bigger and, magical or not, significantly more deadly. He glanced down at the massive Zerg he had just killed, realizing if he had to go toe to toe with one of them again, he was going to need a bigger gun.

My sword would easily do the job... but that would mean I need to get close to it. Even with Divine Shield... If there were more than a few of them, I would be torn to shreds while it was on cooldown. Either that, or I would run out of mana. Gae Derg could probably pierce its carapace, and Inferno would probably be effective if it stayed still, but everything else? It would probably splash harmlessly off its armour. Waterball and Darkness might be able to debilitate it... Depending on how it breathes and detects its prey. Reflect might work, but it's only for a single attack and costs 50 MP. Yeah, I don't think I can afford not to use my mechs. Not if I plan to live beyond a few encounters.

"WHOEVER YOU ARE, GET YER ASS IN GEAR AND GET BEHIND OUR LINES! WE CAN'T KEEP THOSE ZERGLINGS OFF YOU FOREVER!" A loud female voice crackled over his comms, pulling him back to the present. He glanced to the convoy and saw six people in CMC suits firing to either side of him, with a tall, blonde woman standing between them, holding a radio in one hand and a massive pistol in the other. She wore only blue jeans and a white blouse, though both were torn and soaked red with blood. Oddly, she was smiling as she directed the militia's fire.

Pulling his rifle out of the now-still corpse, he jogged over to the waiting soldiers, his suit's joints squealing in protest. He could hear the thump of grenade launchers in the distance, telling him at least a few of his men were still active on the battlefield. He swapped mags and fired as he jogged, killing more Zerglings. He glanced behind him quickly, scanning the horizon for where that blue dot had been, but saw nothing but the rugged hills of the wasteland. 

Thanks again for the assist, Sarah. I assume it was you anyway. The only other person I know who can disappear is 100 miles away.  

"Brian, status report." He said into his comms, wanting an update from his second-in-command. He was still a little overwhelmed, but that didn't mean the battle around him paused. Finding out the actual identity of his mysterious saviour could wait until another day.

Sarah lowered her rifle as John made it behind the convoy's defensive line and drummed her fingers along it for a few moments, deep in thought.

She had a mission to complete at Anthem Base near Backwater Station, but while travelling there, she spotted the militia flying at breakneck speeds in a similar direction. Curious, she hacked into their comms and realized that John guy was leading the charge to rescue more civilians. Since they were heading in the same direction, she decided to follow at a distance, her smaller hoverbike barely able to keep up with the Vultures, and see if she could sate her curiosity.

If anything, it opened up more questions. Way more.

How in the hell did he survive that fall, then fight off a Hydralisk and Zerglings at the same time? What is Divine Shield? Waterball? Mana? Heck, half of what he was thinking about? I was cloaked and only put a couple of rounds into them, but somehow he knew I was helping out. I know I was close enough to read his mind, but he shouldn't have been able to see me. Just who is this man you found, Aqua?   

Her headset beeped, bringing her out of her thoughts. "Go for Kerrigan."

"Kerrigan, we just entered the system. The Confederates appear to have blundered up here and are starting to fall back. What's the situation on the ground? Were you able to recover the Psi-Emitter?" Arcturus Mengsk said without preamble.

"Neg on the emitter, the place is crawling with Zerg now, and I can't sneak through their defences. Currently, I'm enroute to the secondary objective. Confederate forces are under mandatory evacuation orders and have all but abandoned the planet. Civilian relocations are ongoing, though at least one convoy has been attacked. Diamodred's cover is still intact; she already has nearly half the population in the evacuation zone, with the remainder expected there no later than 1900. She is fortifying the position as we speak while awaiting further orders. I suspect the Confederates are not going to evacuate them, or only a token amount."

"That many? That is nearly 80 000 people. This... is unexpected, and possibly a fortuitous turn of events if we can spin this properly. Finish your current assignment, then return to Diamodred. This is what I want her to do..."

Sarah nodded, listening to his orders while looking back at the convoy and that John guy. The attack was beginning to subside; the defenders took down another Hydralisk with concentrated fire, and John now anchored the middle of the line of marines. She didn't mention him to Mengsk, trusting Aqua more than the man she called a boss. She wanted the truth from the woman she considered a sister first, then decide from there. Despite their rough meeting, she found herself liking him more than most men she had met.

It's odd; most men look at my breasts and body when they first see me and think dirty thoughts... he was only interested in my eyes. I'm not sure whether to be flattered or insulted by that.

She had almost no experience with men other than as marks, other operators, or as targets in her scope. Her one foray into dating failed miserably; the man couldn't come to terms with the fact that she could read his mind. Not that she had any time for meeting men socially; she was always in the field, working to overthrow the Confederacy. She hoped to one day have a normal life, but until the Confederacy fell and the Ghost program was dismantled, that wouldn't happen.

She shook her head, banishing those thoughts for now. They still had a long way to go to realize that dream, and standing here, cloaked in a field of Zerg corpses, wasn't going to make it happen.

She made her way back to her bike and continued her mission, but her thoughts kept drifting back to that man. That man who, despite taking her rifle butt to the back of the head, disarmed and disabled her in the blink of an eye. That fought a massive Hydralisk and stomped out Zerglings to defend people he didn't even know. That, despite his obvious arousal, didn't immediately objectify her, even in his thoughts. She pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking off the thought before it even manifested.

Damn it, I refuse to be jealous of Aqua!