First order of business, as far as I was concerned, was getting all of the ‘dead eyed’ stares that I was being given to stop! Oh good Lord, apparently moments before the Campaign Map units were given their...whatever to make them, them, they were empty of everything.

It was really disturbing to see their eyes light up with whatever it is that made a person and person, Soul, personality, whatever you wanted to call it. When they did...come alive, I eyed them and was approached by a Marine who saluted lazily.

That set my eye to twitching, honestly. Confederate bastards. “Magistrate, we need to set up this little outpost and deal with the critters that have been showing up.”

Ok, this was different. Apparently, the Zerg threat wasn’t being taken seriously at all yet. The very little I remembered from the first games, it had been years since I played them, the threat wasn’t taken seriously until more planets fell.

“First off, soldier, straighten the fuck up. Second, get those SCV Riggs moving on the Supply Depots, I want them up within the hour. Nova!” I called after addressing the Marine before me, rather harshly.

She came up beside me, her weapon resting on her shoulder while she looked around, taking it in. “Sir, we may have company. Detection is showing multiple life signs surrounding our position, judging by the lack of visible life-forms, I assume they may be underground.”

Shit, they were all around us, burrowed. “Right, Nova, take the rest of these Marines with you, your team will stay here with me to defend the SCV Riggs while they work. I want you to clear all those life signs from the area with extreme prejudice!”

A delicate blonde brow rose ever so slightly at me, seemingly confused before responding. “Understood, Sir. What am I supposed to be looking for?”

Apparently, my own people had no idea about Zerg either, probably keeping in line with the original storyline. “You’re looking for Zerg, bio-organic lifeforms that are twenty kinds of death and danger. They will probably launch out at you when you get near.”

She gained a serious look before nodding, lowering her visor, raising her weapon as she spun slowly toward the Mineral Field not twenty feet from us. I suspect Zerg were there. Nova being Nova, she had to test my word. That made me frown, I’d need to find a way to increase her trust more.

A small ‘ping’ as her silenced rifle released fired, and a loud cry, a small burst of blood skyward, and the Zergling rose from the ground, charging toward us with a lame left leg. Nova froze a moment, shocked at the labrador sized death machine, so I finished it off with a quick shot to the noggin.

“That, Agent Nova, is a Zerg. Clear them from the area, all of them. Keep an eye out for incursions. I highly doubt what you see is all there is. I’ll keep the SCV Riggs safe with your team while you work.”

I admit, I felt bad making her o the work, but she really was the best for this kind of job. Her detection beat my little heat sensor by about a thousandfold after all. “Sir” was her reply, and then she started barking an order at the Marines, who were more shocked than I was being thrown into the Tutorial Map.

There was something sexy as fuck about a woman taking charge like that. Shifting from that train of thought, I saw the original Marine hadn't moved yet. “Marine! I gave you orders! Get your ass moving, or get it kicked the whole way!”

I was fine with shock, but not idiocy. He stared at me, and I motioned for Stone who was beside me, eyeing the corpse of the Zergling with a clinical eye. “Stone, kick his ass into gear. We need these Supply Depots up and running as soon as possible.”

Stone didn’t reply at all, he just did what I ordered, and the Marine received an armored boot right to his ass, a shout of indignation, which Stone replied with another boot to his ass. Alright, I liked Stone a lot after seeing that. The smile that lit up my face was one of the first I’d truly felt in a while.

“Pierce, Thompson, on me. Greer, Hendricks, with Stone. Keep close to those SCV Riggs while we secure the immediate area around the Command Center.” an affirmative ‘Sir’ met me as they went about. Pierce, Thompson, and Stone were the three that had become Elite Marines as well. I was a little surprised at the change in their demeanor. They were a great deal more professional as if the upgrade had shoved years of training and experience into them...Which I suppose it did in a way. I was thankful and more jealous than I’d ever admit.

“Sir, how did you know about that creature?” Pierce asked me as we set off, weapons at the ready. “Command gave what information they knew before we arrived. This isn’t the only place being attacked by them either, all over the sector planets are being hit.”

I sighed, trying to remember the fucking storyline more, failing that I just continued talking to Pierce and Thompson, knowing Nova would be informed later. “It’s why we need to get this place set up and secured. We have a lot more to do if we want to try and stop them from spreading further across the planet.”

Bullshit, yep, that is precisely what I was spouting. I had no bloody idea how this was gonna go, but at least they bought it. An hour later - as well as three empty clips due to panic fire - we had secured the Command Center, and the SCV Riggs currently building the required Supply Depots.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

I remembered my time limit, naturally. The main objectives failing meant my death, so I had four SCV Riggs building the Depots, two to each one, while the fifth was busy harvesting Vespene Gas. I was fairly curious about the process myself, so I followed that one, Pierce and Thompson being sent to help defend the builders.

It was actually really fascinating to watch the gas get harvested. The Refinery pulled it from the ground into glass containers, bit obvious from what I remembered about the game, but from there the SCV took it to another station that seemed to condense the gas into a more stable form. It also cut the amount in half, inefficient seeming, but I had no idea about the science behind it so I couldn’t judge.

When he turned it in, I looked at my little mission display hud and frowned. The gas count had gone up to two of one hundred. That wasn’t nearly as much as I had hoped. A bit more, and it was taking the SCV Rigg five minutes per round, that wasn’t going to be fast enough.

I was going to head to the Depots, which looked about a third of the way completed when gun-fire started up. It was in the direction of the Depots, I took off at a run, lowering my visor and seeing at least thirty heat signatures, ten of them smaller than the rest, but moving quickly.

Fuck! The Zerg were attacking the SCV Riggs, shit. My men were doing their job though, I saw what I assumed were the SCV Riggs signatures moving behind a small line of Marines that were shooting into the Zerglings. One went down, then two. It wouldn’t be enough. I picked up my speed, raising my weapon and taking aim.

Taking aim while sprinting is a physical impossibility, it’s more like shooting wildly, yet the technology behind this fucking weapon was amazing. The stabilizers made it so there was just a slight motion involved, something you’d get from a standard sweep and clear.

‘Ping’, ‘ping’ two bullets, aimed at the ones launching themselves mid-air at my idiotically brave soldiers, who just stood there like morons as they fired, sending them crashing to the ground, just short of them. I’d work on their ‘stand in a line and die shooting’ mindsets later.

Another three down, three to go. I picked off one that was sprinting around us, aiming for the SCV Riggs, my men took the other two, emptying their weapons. Now I had several worries to contend with, first being our ammo stores. I’d made sure the boys had three clips, but they were burning through it to fast. Secondly, that Zergling had acted with intelligence and directive. He was aiming for the SCV, I know the System said they would interfere but that was a bit too intentional.

What the hell was it that directed the Zerg before Kerrigan again? The Hive-Mind and….shit, I don’t remember their fucking name, weird brain things. I’d figure it out later. But if the Zerg were going to have a directing consciousness behind them, that made this far more difficult.

Wishing there was a counter to show me the amount of Zerg in the area, I went to Pierce. “Control your burst more, aim for their fucking heads! We don’t have the ammo to have you five firing madly into a small group. No one leaves the SCV Riggs alone, I’ll stay here, three of you move with two SCVs to harvest more gas. Do not let them out of your sight, and watch your six. Move!”

I was frustrated and angry. This was turning into a bit of a shit show, I needed to check in with Nova as well. “Nova, report!”

“Nova reporting. We have met the enemy multiple times, small groups but they are actively targeting our flank and rear in attempted ambushes. I’ve lost three of the Marines stationed here, but we have their patterns, Sir.”

Three men down wasn’t a good thing, but at least Nova had contained it. The realization that if I had not obtained Nova, with her detection ability, I’d never have made it through this was at the forefront of my mind when I told her to increase her guard. “Keep a close eye out Nova, something is directing them. We got hit here, ten of the little bastards, and they actively targeted the SCV Riggs over the one attacking them. Keep vigilant.”

An affirmative roger was my only reply, though I heard a faint shout on her end of the com and I felt a small pang of worry before I let it go. Nova would be fine, I hoped anyway. I looked around, seeing our SCVs building, a bit more slowly, but making active progress. I was just really glad I didn’t need to harvest Minerals actively right now.

Then I saw it, just on the horizon, the opposite direction Nova went with the rest of the Marines. A black blot, that was getting bigger. I squinted, wishing I’d had some form of upgraded hardware in my visor to see further. Taking my rifle, and looking through the scope, I only made out a few jumping blurs. Oh...Oh fuck. “Greer! Hendricks! Form up, we got company!” They fell in line, and I took an experimental shot. Never even made it, they were still outside my range of fire by at least a dozen yards.

“Nova, we have company, can you circle around back to us?” Silence, a heartbeat of disturbing silence from the normally punctual Nova. “Sir *static* Sir! Nova reporting, we got hit by a huge wave, eight more Marines lost under the assault. Another wave incoming, we are fall *static* FUCK, Sir, respond! *Static*”

I smashed my hand into the com, yelling into it. “Nova! I read you, fall back, I repeat fall back to the Command Center!” no response, I repeated it, and only received static. Son of a bitch! I didn’t have time to worry for long about Nova’s well being though, the Zergling wave heading toward us was closing in faster, like they knew something had happened. Oh fuck me, they did have a directing mind on them.

“Pierce, Nova isn’t responding, check your twenty, any bogies?” a negative, thank God. “Get those SCVs in the Command Center, on the double, I’m having Greer and Hendricks move our builders there now.”

“Sir!” his deep voice sounded urgent “Send them back on their own, you need back-up.” Well, I’d be damned, a worrier.

“Negative, they are en-route. Hold that fucking Command Center, I’ll manage the Zerg here. Wait twenty minutes, if you do not hear from me, try to make contact with Nova. Your orders are to keep those SCV Riggs with you and alive! Understood!” A very reluctant sounding ‘Sir’ was his response, but it would work. I lifted my weapon, Greer, and Hendricks moving with the SCVs to the Command Center as fast as they could.

A steadying breath, a dead Zerg, another breath, another dead Zerg. I managed five more kills in what looked like a swarm of fifty Zerglings before I was forced to retreat at a jog backward, taking shots at the Zerg that launched themselves at me, growing closer. I wasn’t going to make it...Fuck, I was actually going to die in the first fucking mission! No, nonononono. I steeled myself expecting that this was going to end horribly, one way or another, and screamed my defiance.

I dropped my weapon, and threw my hands outward toward the attacking Zerg, mentally screaming for Psi-Storm, white-hot agony speared its way through my brain. I felt dizzy but remained standing as the first spark of electricity spat out, striking a Zergling five feet from me, mid jump...