Starcraft

A door slid open, revealing a tall man dressed in crisp white military uniform. Stepping through, he casually dragged a chair out from under the desk and sat down.
"So," he smiled wryly, his lips cracking, "What were you up to at the Jacobs Installation, Mr..."
"Daniels..." the man replied, raising his head to look his rival in the eyes. He remembered what Mengsk had always said:
"If the 'feds ever get you, don't try to lie to them. Trust me, their interrogators can tell. If you do lie, they'll make your life a misery. It's not worth your while to lie. That's why we keep things on a need to know basis. Keep our men in the dark. It's for the best..."
"I was just a techie. Came to help them download some specs, get the odd elevator working."
"I find that ironic. I heard that you were a technophobe," the interrogator taunted Daniels, twisting his lips into a cruel smirk.
"Yeah, well, I figured...fight your fears. I always tried to figure out programs, see if understanding technology would help me stop being scared of it. I just don't trust it."
"Also, if you ever get a chance to stall you foe, take it."
"Of course, it's a major part of our lives now, isn't it. I mean, look at this room, it's full of advanced technology, from the monitor-"
"I think that's quite enough. Now, tell me what happened, from the start"
"Of course, don't try to be too clever. When they mean business, they mean business. Just throw in the odd distraction, describe everything in that little bit too much detail. Don't worry if you think you know too much. If you do, it'll be worth us fighting to free you."
"Ok," Daniels replied, taking a sip from the glass of water on the desk. "Right from the start. Just before the destruction of Mar Sara, I was sent back as part of a small team. Mengsk knew about this facility and wanted to find out what all the fuss was about. Marshall Raynor said he'd lead us. I wasn't complaining. Entry to the facility was simple."

***

Raynor checked his gun, looking at the front door. He turned, looking at the assembled team: four Firebats, five Marines, Daniels the technician, (drowned in Marine armour) and the Sergeant.
"That's a pretty big door, isn't it," the Sergeant looked to Raynor.
"I'm afraid it is. We need to do something about that..."
"Won't take a bomb, will it? Look, the lock's unengaged. This facility, it's being evacuated; we can just stroll in. It's only when we reach the stuff they really want to hide we'll be met by locks and algorithms, etcetera," Daniels strode towards the door, watching it fall in front of him. There was a slight satisfaction in seeing the mighty sheets of metal collapse in front of him.
"Automatic."

Striding into the facility, Raynor slipped the safety catch on his gun.
"Right guys. We're here to get any data from the data-core and then get out. Simple enough. We're not here to go in gung-ho. Though they may be 'feds, they're human too, not the Zerg. Then again, they will not hesitate to kill us. We have to return that favour," Raynor spoke with conviction, pointing down the corridor.
"This way."
Rounding the corner, they came upon the first patrol.
"Fire!" the Sergeant cried, vigorously pumping an unfortunate guard full of gauss rounds. The soldier clutched his stomach. As more rounds impacted against his visor, he collapsed, the force of the fall reverberating through the floor. The other two guards tried to turn but fell as they were rushed by the Firebats. Stepping over the broken armoured shells, Raynor saw the first of the dead bodies, the suit torn to pieces and the visor smashed. A few bits of skull and some teeth were scattered around his head and the inside of the suit was smeared in blood.
"Depleted uranium rounds, Marshall. Shame it makes as much of a mess of humans as it does the Zerg," the Sergeant placed a hand on Raynor's shoulder.
"C'mon. Just cos they are human, doesn't make them better then the Zerg. We've gotta' keep moving."
Suddenly there was a cry from behind. A panicked Daniels was running down the corridor.
"Firebat!" he cried. As he stumbled back shouting, an armoured fist hooked under his armour, hoisting him up into the air. The Confederate opened his visor, grinning maniacally.
"What have we got here?" the Firebat's malicious smile spread ear to ear as he lifted the technician up, slamming him into the wall.
"Hey, ass-wipe, pick on a crazy bastard your own size!" the Sergeant taunted the Confederate, lowering his visor.
"C'mon then traitor! Let's burn!" the Firebat threw Daniels aside, turning where he stood to meet his adversary. The two lumbering men ran at each other. Raising his gun, the Sergeant fired the occasional shot at the Firebat. Most, however, just dented his armour slightly.
"Damn, they build them 'bats well..." one of the Marines looked on in awe, one of the Firebats stood next to him beaming. Firebats were legendary for their lack of mental stability. It seemed the Sergeant also lacked such a typical human trait. Casting his gun aside, he swung at the Firebat, who had been busying himself with the foolish business of aiming his flamethrowers. The Firebat was thrown on his back and slid across the floor. Following up, the Sergeant threw himself at the Confederate and elbowed him in the face. Standing over his enemy, the Sergeant looked at his foe's face, or rather what was left of it. Everyone who looked at the Firebat's helmet was greeted with a familiar, grisly sight.
"Combat lesson 101. Wear your friggin' visor in combat," the Sergeant strode back towards his gun, picking it up.
"Lesson 102. Only throw down your gun if you know what you are doing. Any questions?"
Daniels could be heard in the background.
"Yes, just one," he stood up, clutching his ribs. "Are you quite finished?"

Raynor's raiders continued along the facility corridor, engaging in casual conversation wherever possible.
"What brought you to the Sons of Korhal then?" one of the Marines asked the Sergeant.
"Confederacy, basically. I was in the Guild Wars. When we were defeated, we were conscripted, just to add insult to injury. I finally got a shot at freedom when I was arrested with Raynor for the 'destruction of a Confederate installation'" the Sergeant answered, mocking Duke's authoritarian tones.
"What about you, kid?"
"Well, my family lived on Korhal. I was only young then, you see. Fortunately, my dad and I were on 'business.' That basically meant flogging broken bits and bobs to people. Anyway, while we were out, we heard a 'Fed report. Apparently the 'uprising' on Korhal had been crushed. We'd never even gotten directly involved though. We were just bystanders in the conflict. We got back...it was horrible. I remembered the Uhlura Prairies...now they are just fields of vaporised rock, sand and radioactive dust. I hear the radiation is starting to recede now, that it's habitable again.
I've no idea why anyone would want to though. Not because it's ugly. 'Cos it drags up so many old memories..."
The Sergeant nodded. At that moment, Daniels turned around, having seen a narrow corridor to the side.
"Teleport pad. Should lead us to some cameras."
"How'd you figure that then? You a Ghost or something?" the Sergeant asked impatiently.
"No," Daniels smiled, pointing to a picture on the wall, "I just saw that picture with that arrow that has 'Camera Control' written on it."

The strike team finally reached the end of the corridor.
"Oh..." Daniels paused.
"What is it?" Raynor asked.
"Teleporter. If it's ok with you guys, I'm going to hang back on this one," Daniels adopted a convincing 'on-guard' pose.
"Okay, we'll bring you back some 'fed skulls then."

Going first, the Sergeant stepped through the gate and appeared elsewhere, halfway across the facility.
"Hey! You're not supposed to be here!" an operator called out.
"Shut up!" the Sergeant responded, firing on the man. The Sergeant then swayed as he was hit by an errant gauss round. The Confederate Marine stood there.
"Don't move!" he ordered. Suddenly, Raynor materialised.
"Or what?" Raynor responded, coolly shooting the guard. Stepping back, the Sergeant added his firepower and they brought the Marine down.
"Looks like Camera Controls..." Raynor looked above the guard's dead body at the console, spattered with blood. Pressing the button, he viewed the data-core.
"Well, its certainly got teeth..." Raynor paused, thinking up the next approach. Daniels came in over the radio.
"Sir, it seems they've got a blockade waiting for us. There's even a Goliath!"
"That is not good!" the Sergeant cried.
"Try to find another way round Daniels," Raynor calmly responded.
"Aha, it seems we've got a corridor. Then again, this place is booby-trapped. If that corridor is, we're all dead."
"Your call, Marshall," the Sergeant looked to Raynor.
"Okay, we'll have a wander down that passage. It's better than taking a Goliath on any day."
With that, the two marines stepped back through the teleporter. The Sergeant, however, did little to hide a look of slight disappointment on his face.

Looking through the grate on the door, one of the Firebats watched the Confederate Patrol. He traced the Goliath's legs, both moving together in an awkward sense of unison.
"C'mon soldier, we can go sightseeing later," the Sergeant placed a hand on the Firebat's shoulder, practically dragging the man along. Then they proceeded down the corridor, tensely.
"Any tell-tale signs to look for?" Raynor spoke softly, hands tracing the walls for any sign of a trap.
"Well, of you see any part of the wall move, frag it. It takes them a few seconds to lock on," Daniels replied.
"Good, glad to know. We'll be shooting walls..."
Continuing down the corridor, Daniels squinted into the distance.
"Hmm, it looks clear," he turned back to Raynor. As he spoke, part of the wall moved, revealing a missile launcher.
"Daniels! Hit the deck!" Raynor cried as the trap locked on.
"Fire!" responded the Sergeant, firing on the wall section. Under the cascade of ammunition, the launcher fell out of its socket, broken, but not before it fired a missile. Losing its guidance, the projectile started to fall and it crashed into Daniel's leg, splitting the armour casing open. Raynor rushed to the man.
"Well...there we go..." Daniels winced. Raynor looked at the remains of the greaves. Fortunately, Daniels' leg was still intact.
"You ok to go on soldier?" Raynor asked.
"Well, I guess..." Daniels spoke as he rose to his feet. Then he crashed back to the floor.
"Broken, I'd wager..." the Sergeant looked on. "I've got a few stims, but they'd do him more damage in the long run than his injury. Me and another 'rine will carry him for you."
Placing his hand in front of Daniels, the Sergeant saw the technician take it and slowly rise to his feet again. One of the other marines slid his shoulder in to support Daniels. With that, they continued even more cautiously down the corridor.

***

"So, that's how you're leg was shattered. Very nice and long winded. Care to carry on?" the interrogator stared at Daniels, faking sympathy in as patronising a way as possible.
"It's simple enough. We got to the data-core, killing a few guards on the way. However, there was one really interesting thing I saw on the way there. Zerg"

***

Raynor moved up to the control panel, pushing a button.
"Door unlock, eh. Simple enough. They've even left the code in."
Raynor then regretted that, seeing every door collapse and hearing a voice over the tannoy.
"We have a containment breach! Marines to sector two, the Zerg are free!"
"Zerg!" Raynor cried.
"Maybe I wasn't so wrong after all..." the Sergeant mused as he automatically shot a Zergling in the face. He was so used to it by now it was more of a natural process than an act of war.
"I have no idea what Zerg are doing here..." Raynor stuttered.
"With all hope, the data-core will give us the answers," Daniels responded.

***

"Hardly a cause for concern, Mr. Daniels, I merely suspect the Zerg breached the walls."
"Of course, I'm sure that was the case..." Daniels replied, feeling safe in the knowledge that other technicians were breaking the coding on the data-disc as he spoke.
"So, let me guess, you got the disc and got out..."

***

Rounding the corner, the team ran, chased by a Goliath.
"See! We should have fragged it whilst we had the chance!" the Sergeant complained watching helplessly as one of his men clattered to the floor. The Firebats slipped around the corners of the door.
"I think I know their plan," the Sergeant smiled, seeing the Dropship. "Simple 'tripwire' technique"
Suddenly, the marine helping him carry Daniels was hit and crashed to the ground. Turning, the Sergeant began dragging his friend desperately.
"C'mon!" Raynor cried. Daniels placed a large box in front of the Sergeant's face.
"The data disc. I think you'll find it's much lighter than me," Daniels voice was drowned out a little by the Sergeant's gun, but he was heard nonetheless. Nodding, the Sergeant took the disc and ran.
"Command, changing target, the disc has switched possession."
The Sergeant dived over the threshold of the door, rolling to the side. As the Goliath lumbered through the door, it was bathed in flame. The Marines that were left concentrated their fire on the Goliath. The surface was dented repeatedly.
"I can't see a damn thing!" the mech pilot cried, frantically firing his cannons. Through the ripped open chassis, one of the gauss rounds tore into the gas tanks. The pilot lurched as his vehicle exploded, throwing machinery and smoking body parts everywhere. Panting, the Sergeant saw the last group of Confederate Marines reach Daniels. He would have made a move to help him, but his suit was barely hanging on him. Everyone's armour was in pieces. Regretfully, the Sergeant gave Daniels a thumbs-up, and then clattered back to his feet, moving towards the Dropship. Seeing the engines flare, Daniels looked at the Marines stood over him.
"Looks like we got a prisoner..." one of the Marines chuckled. Seeing bits of armour everywhere as the Dropship sped off into the distance, Daniels looked back up to the guard.
"I hope you guys have heard of the Geneva Convention."
"Of course we have," the soldier replied, "but what the hell is a Geneva?"
Daniels resigned to himself that he was in for a rough ride.

***

"So, I guess that's it then," the interrogator smiled, placing the final keystrokes into his PDA. Then the door burst open.
"Damn straight that's it!" Raynor grimly interrupted, mowing the Confederate down ruthlessly.
"Ah, Marshall Raynor, I can always count on your clichéd timing and catchphrases, can't I?"
"Well, if I'm honest, I've been stood out here for ten minutes now. I wanted to hear the end of your story. It's all in the timing, dontcha' know," Raynor's face lit up in an uncharacteristic beam.
"Now, let's get you home. It's only fair that you get to crack that code," Raynor continued. The Sergeant stepped through, taking up the Confederate PDA.
"What?" he saw Raynor and Daniels look at him accusingly. "Well, it may contain some nifty data. That and I know how much these things go for on the Black Market. And no, Daniels, I'm not giving you another piggy-back, even if you are out of armour."
"Aww, but for the memories?" Daniels mocked the Sergeant.
"No, damn it! Now, I've gotta get us lot back to base. We've got a nice little revolution planned for the sunny resort of Antiga Prime."

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I'm getting to the point where I can do one fanfic a day (which is really about 3-4 hours, but still...) now with the right motivation. w00t, almost 50-60 days work ahead of me!