Howdy Again!
Well, here is the reposting of chapter 2 of Second Star. Again, the
Author's Notes might seem a little old, for I am posting pretty much exactly
what I posted a year ago. I've asked Louis-Philippe Giroux to post the third
chapter for me, as he does not have e-mail size restrictions as I do. So,
lets get on with it!
Again, let me know if there is any problems with the post! You can also
go to Tannim's crossover web site and find all four previous chapters under
the Games section (http://tannim.anifics.com).
Author's Notes:
Hello! And welcome to the second chapter of Second Star! The full
name of this story is actually Second Star On The Right, but lets just
call it Second Star for convenience sake, eh?
I'm trying my best to write a story that can be read by both people
who have played Starcraft, and those who have not. Let me know what you
think!
Thanks go out to Louis-Philippe Giroux and to Donny Cheng for pre-
reading this chapter for me. They are both great authors, and I highly
recommend finding their web pages and reading everything they have
written!
C&C is always welcomed, even for old chapters. I happily accept
simple notes saying that you love the story, eagerly read notes that
give constructive negative comments, but I ignore flames totally.
And now, on with the show!
WARNING: Spoilers for the game Starcraft lie herein, at least up to the
end of the Terran campaign. If you have not completed this campaign and
you do not want to know what happens (although I plan on changing some
things), then do not read this story!
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2 nor any of the characters thereof.
I do not own Starcraft, nor any of the characters therein. I am using
these names and characters without permission, but I am not doing so for
profit. Please do not sue me!
Second Star On The Right
written by: Michael D. Rever
Ohmen1@aol.com
Chapter 2 Escaping Betrayal
It was nighttime. The black sky was ablaze with thousands of stars
that shone their light with implied serenity. It was a time for rest
and relaxation, to be safe and secure in your bed and home. But on the
Confederacy's home world of Tarsonis, that was not to be.
Kerrigan was running. A frantic scramble over the barren, broken
ground that comprised most of this part of Tarsonis. Fear, so strong
that she was nearly gibbering with it, raced through her veins. Another
rock, another boulder, jump the crevice, duck behind another hill,
another mountain. She had been running this way for hours, and was
definitely feeling the effects. As she bodily hauled herself onto a
high rock shelf, she had to pause for the first time, to catch her
breath. And with the respite, reasoning and comprehension slowly
returned to her tired mind. The fear began to lessen, but not by much.
Standing up, she hugged herself close to the face of the hill and looked
back in the direction she had just come from. In the distance she could
see the rebel base of New Gettysberg burning, destroyed by the Zerg.
When her heart rate had diminished and her breathing was no longer as
labored, she could only mutter one thing. 'Damn you Arcturus!' Then
she was off again, climbing the hill to reach the higher mountains that
lay beyond.
They were out there, she could feel them. Four packs of Zerg
spread out behind her in a fan-shaped pattern, with the two on the ends
moving faster than the two more directly behind her. Soon the two
faster moving ones would be beside her and she would be boxed in. *And
then what?* she thought to herself. *Worry about that later girl, its
time to GO!* And she started running for the foothills that were just
before her.
Suddenly the ground in front of her started to shake, and a brown
shape burst through the rocky soil! The monster shook off the dirt that
clung to it and stared at Kerrigan with solid red eyes. Before it had
time to take a single step however, Kerrigan had unslung the rifle that
was strapped to her back, and had launched a canister. The small can
flew through the air and impacted directly on the creature's forehead,
exploding violently upon reaching its target. The Zerg's head exploded
along with the projectile, and the rest of its body ruptured, staining
the ground with blood and gore. Pumping another round into the rifle's
chamber, Kerrigan held her breath and tried to determine if any more
aliens were burrowed into the ground she was headed for. If there were,
they were too well hidden for her talents to discover. Moving slowly
over to the body, she stood over it and examined the carcass. It was a
Zergling. About half the height of a grown human when standing, the
brown alien jumped more than ran on two powerful rear legs. Its two
forelegs, if they could be called that, ended in large, downward-curving
scythes made out of bone, razor sharp and strong enough to cut through
most metals in just a few hits. Two smaller arms extended upwards from
its back and ended in claws that were equally as sharp. The whole body
was covered with a tough carapace. While moving, the Zergling could
cover ground very fast, with its long flat head low to the ground, and
its balance kept by a large tail that extended behind its legs. Its
head, if it still had one, would have had many sharp teeth, and several
horns growing from both the top and the sides of its skull. The weakest
of the Zerg, the Zerglings nevertheless could do a lot of damage in a
short time when in large groups. *And,* she thought while looking
around, *they are always in large groups.* She had just seen an entire
military base reduced to flaming rubble under a swarm of such creatures.
A soft beeping from her arm caused her to glance quickly at her
wrist, where a small power indicator was flashing a number. *100, huh?*
she thought, looking back towards the pass she wanted to take into the
higher mountains. Thinking about the surprise she just had, she made
her decision and pressed a button on her wristpad. And then she
disappeared. Her footsteps, however, could be heard running along the
path and into the foothills.
An Hour Later, In The Foothills Of The Highridge Mountains
Sarah Kerrigan, ex-second in command of the rebel group known as
the Sons of Korhal, was crouching down into a natural ravine, peeking
over one side in an attempt to see any Zerg that might be heading her
way. In order to conserve and replenish her suit's power, she had
turned off the cloaking field and was once again visible. But the time
she had spent undetectable and been well spent. She had been able to
gain some ground on her pursuers for a short while, and she allowed
herself to rest in this easily defendable location for a few minutes.
She now had a problem though. The Zerg that had been following her were
still out there, closing in, but now she also felt more small packs
nearing her location. And these were from the front. Boxed in, she was
desperately trying to think of a way out of the trap she was in.
Twenty minutes later, she was even more confused. They had her.
They had to know they had her. All they would have had to do was swarm
in and she, possibly the last surviving human on the planet, would be
dead. *So what in the hell are they doing!?* The Zerg had surrounded
her location, albeit at a great distance, and had been slowly closing in
from each of the compass points, when suddenly they stopped. *Why?
What are they up to?*
Breathing deeply, Kerrigan closed her eyes and let her mind reach
out, trying to discover what was going on and, perhaps, where a hole in
the noose might be so that she could escape. What she felt was that
three of the small packs of aliens, the ones to her South, Southwest,
and Southeast, had broken formation and were grouping together to the
South. Another strange thing is that this newly created pack was slowly
becoming smaller. *Are they burrowing? Killing each other?* She could
not understand what they were doing. The small packs to the East and
West had broken in two and the newly created parts were slowing moving
their way to fill the gaps the SW pack and the SE pack had left. At the
speed they were going, it would take several minutes at least to reach
those areas, but that was still not enough time for her to take
advantage of the shifting pattern. *Not Zergling, otherwise they would
be almost there by now,* she thought, turning pale at the thought, *must
be something bigger. Hydralisk, maybe Ultralisk.* Things were not
looking good. *If I stay here, I'm dead. If I go out, I'm dead.
Either way, I'm fucked.* She paused for a second and chuckled bitterly
to herself. *Well, I guess that's what is supposed to happen to
martyrs.* She knew that with her gun, suit, and assassin skills she
would take down a good number of enemy. She also knew, however, that
there were always more Zerg. Clenching her rifle tightly she stood up
and started running to the Southeast, hoping that she might reach the
gap before the slow moving Zerg could fill it up. 'Arcturus, you
bastard!' she shouted as she pressed the cloaking button again. *Sorry,
Jim.* she thought as she disappeared. She did not need her mental
powers to know that she would not make it in time. She just wanted to
get this farce over with.
She covered even less ground than she had figured before she was
stopped. A powerful wave of _something_ slammed into her mind and
physically knocked her to the ground. She was vaguely aware of her suit
shorting out as she quickly began to loose consciousness. Fighting back
the blackness, she forced herself up into a sitting position, and then
into a shaky standing one. 'What the hell was that?' she asked herself
out loud. 'It came from the South...' Pushing back a massive headache
that was starting to form, she let her senses range out to the South
and gasped at what she felt. Absolutely nothing. The Zerg that had
been grouping there were totally gone, and so were the packs that had
been headed for the Southeast and Southwest positions. She briefly
considered the idea that they had simply gone underground, but rejected
it, for that would not explain the power that had knocked her down. No,
she had a feeling that those Zerg were no longer an issue. Not one to
look a gift horse in the mouth, she quickly picked up her rifle from the
ground and ran as fast as she could towards the now wide open South. A
quick check while running filled her with relief as she discovered that
her suit had merely been drained of power rather than seriously damaged.
And thus she escaped the first trap and headed deeper into the Zerg
infested mountain range.
Two Hours Later, Deep Into the Highridge Mountains
*Damn. You. Damn. You. Damn. You. Damn. You. Dam*--pick
yourself up. Damn. You. Damn. You. Damn. You.* 'Damn' for left
foot, 'You' for right. *Damn. You.* It had become a mantra. *Damn.
You. Damn.* Something to keep her mind off of what she was doing.
*You. Damn. You.* Something to keep from thinking about her legs.
*Damn.* How dead they felt, how heavy. *You. Pick yourself up.* The
problem was *Damn* it was getting harder *You* and harder *Damn* to
think *You* and to do. *Pick yourself up. Pick yourself...*
Kerrigan sat against a small boulder near which she had collapsed.
Just as the sun was peeking over the horizon, she had climbed onto a
natural, six-pace wide ledge that wove around the midsection of a jagged
mountain. She had been following this trail for the past hour; trying to
find someplace, anyplace, where she could hide until she was rested.
Her tired mind was unable to concentrate enough to scan the area, and
her exhausted muscles protested even the simple act of breathing. She
sat for a minute with her eyes closed and her head bowed. Then she
forced herself back onto her leaden feet, using her rifle as a cane.
She had started to carefully move her way down the trail, when a huge
shadow engulfed her from behind. Quickly turning around, she came face
to face with one of the things she most did not want to see.
Nine feet tall, the creature had a serpentine body in the general
shape of an upright S, the top part of which was flared and encased in a
natural armor-like carapace that extended up into a dull point at the
apex. The neck was protected by a swept back carapace plate which
extended from the back of the alien's head. These carapace plates were
studded with thousands of small needle-like projections which, she knew,
could be shot with great force at any target on the ground or in the
sky. The two eyes in its face were a solid gold color, and the wide
mouth's lower jaw was comprised of a slightly oversized set of
mandibles. Its inner mouth was studded with sharp teeth of course. Two
arms came from under the natural armor, double jointed, and ending in
long, thin blades made from bone and enamel, much like two long, deadly
teeth. Most of its body was brown, except for its underside, which was
a light gray. It was a Hydralisk, one of the more dangerous breeds of
the Zerg. The Hydralisks had a reputation of being particularly
sadistic when killing an enemy with its needle weapons. The two beings,
the powerful killing machine and the exhausted human, stared at each
other from a distance of about ten feet, neither one moving. And then
Kerrigan acted, as well as she could. Panic and despair flooded her
mind as she forced her screaming muscles to lift the powerful rifle up
towards her shoulder...but she did not get a chance to even lift it an
inch off the ground when one of the powerful blade-arms swung out and
smashed broad-sided into her chest, flinging her back into the side of
the mountain. The last thing she saw as the world started to go dark
around her, was a bright red and black blur fly past her, towards the
advancing Hydralisk. Her last thought before losing consciousness was
*Why didn't it kill me?*