I was shaken from the idiocy I had been reading by a very loud and hoarse cry of pain coming from behind me, followed by Green screaming for immediate evac to the Barracks and her facilities. When I turned to notice, making sure to get the hell out of her way, as well as the men still standing as they carried my injured away, that both Kelper and Fob were bleeding again. Did the injuries reopen upon leaving the Campaign Map?

All items used, or obtained within the Campaign Map that was not granted by the System will be removed upon return to the Game Universe.

Which meant materials from Raynor’s base were used to treat their wounds. I closed my eyes, hoping they would survive and promising myself I’d rush to visit them once they were stabilized...or gone.

I felt a nudge against my armored frame. I turned to find Nova looking at me, she looked a little worse for wear herself, her armor was ripped in multiple places, clotted blood showing where she had been injured. “Go get treated, Nova. Pierce is already being transported with Decker for brain scans. I’ll be along in a bit. Otherwise, I have no doubt you and Fernando will drag me there.”

I smiled a bit, trying to ignore the fact the room was liberally sprayed with my people's blood at the moment. She looked at me, her eyes narrowing, then nodded and moved off with a slight limp to her step.

I watched her go, knowing things were only going to get far worse over the coming months. I still had a plan as well, I would be doing more missions. I’d wait a day, rest, recover, and heal minor injuries. Next time I’d bring more Medics with us. I knew from the Adjutant that it was a survival mission. I’d need Marauders, Medics, and Marines more than anything. Firebats would be very welcome, but ultimately they wouldn’t be usable by tomorrow.

Then there was the fact the Zerg were now active within this fucking Game Universe. An Overmind, Cerebrates...I only hoped they started off on Char and would take time to begin invading Terran occupied space. It made me very aware that I needed to expedite multiple projects, primarily the construction of Vultures, since I had those schematics. Siege Tanks would be more welcome, placed in set areas for a massive range of cover when the Zerg struck, as they inevitably would

First, get the fuck out of this armor and remove the metal tube from my ass. For that, I went to the Armory section of the Command Center. I found Swann there, oddly enough, going over what looked like a list of our available stores. “Swann, find anything?”

I really just wanted out of this armor, and him being here was secondary to that. He made a hmmm sound as the mechanical rig that removed and applied the Marine armor came to life. “Yes. I was looking for additions I could use on them Vultures. Got a few ideas, gonna steal Caspian and try to have a working prototype sometime tonight.”

“Do tell.” I winced as the now armed metal tube was removed from my body, and the catheter as well. I really felt bad for whoever, or whatever was meant to clean those armors when they were removed.

“Well, Scooter...Been thinking I can add more armor to the Vulture designs, it’d slow them down but they’d take more of a pounding before given out on us. Also tinkering with the idea of adding another barrel for their grenades. Make it work in tandem. Won’t be cheap, but given the funds and some creativity I can get it working.”

Social Mission - Swann’s Project

Grant Rory Swann five-thousand Minerals and Vespene Gas to test and run Unique Unit design ‘Condor’

Reward - Vulture Units will be renamed ‘Condor’ Units, able to make Condors with decreased resource cost.

Failure - Lose the ability to create Condors permanently.

Bit of a no-brainer there. I sighed, stretching my sore limbs as much as I could without hurting myself further. “Done, Swann. I’ll transfer the funds. Get me that prototype and two more like it by this time tomorrow and I’ll ensure you get more toys to improve.” He laughed at me, a gleam in his eye that I found disconcerting.

“You got it Scooter, be ready to fund my projects!” He took off then leaving me staring at the door with my mouth agape. Shit, the bastard already had one ready for testing, didn’t he? I ground my teeth in frustration but was glad.

Making my way toward my quarters I approved Swann's resource allocation, grabbed a set of fresh clothes then made my way toward the Barracks for a medical check-up. Mostly to see my wounded though, I’d gotten a bit too cocky in the last mission with the Units that were...well, blatantly overpowered for those Campaign Maps. I’d need to be a bit more conservative in my movements next time. Thankfully the next mission was a holdout one.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Admittedly it should have walls, but I had no way to stem the tide like the Tutorial Map. The plan was to bring as many Spider Mines as I could and hope Raynor had Vultures prepared, as well as my new Unique Unit, The Condor. Assuming Swann did indeed succeed with them. I doubted he’d change the overall controls much. The same problem came into play with them as the Firebats though. Thankfully there should be plenty of them in this map, more so if that Walter was present. I noticed he had dozens of the insane pyromaniacs.

I sighed a bit, I needed to specialize Swann as well. The Social Mission was the single reason I was getting that Unit. Outside of that, I doubted he’d make breakthroughs. I mentally focused on his shop, bringing up the options.

The only real choice for me was the ‘Research it all’ option. The price reduction for the infantry sector wasn’t an issue, the Vehicle one would be helpful beyond words. Swann would be able to tack together new infantry armor and weapons with Caspians help as well as ensure odd breakthroughs in mechanized units. I had a plan for one in particular that I’d be making Caspian and Swann work on later.

System Announcement!

Swann's Mechanics has been specialized with ‘Research it all’ and will focus on all aspects of the military, the chance of finding Unique variations to each Unit, Mechanical and Infantry, increased by thirty-five percent. Reduces the production costs of all Units by forty percent.

The Predator Units from StarCraft: Wings of Liberty. Mechanized units that dealt huge burst damage. If I could create something similar to that for my own forces, and mass produce them to some degree, I’d have a shock and awe unit for fighting races unlike the Zerg, and semi-disposable troops for fighting the Zerg themselves.

I made it to the Medical wing of the Barracks a bit after my thought process, checking in on Nova and Fernando first, Andy was seeing to them for the moment, Green taking care of the more serious injuries of Fob and Kelper.

I saw Nova wince as Andy applied a kind of gel against a huge gash on her left bicep. It steamed and dried quickly while relieve flooded her face. Fernando was actively forcing his own shoulder back into its socket, ignoring the shouted ‘Stop that!’ from Andy. I winced in sympathetic pain as I heard the loud pop from the action, the man wasn’t even phased by it though.

“Andy! Any word yet?” She looked at me, moved to say something then paused, glancing at Fernando who nodded. “Fob didn’t make it, Sir, bled out on the way here. Nothing we could do, we had exhausted all our medical supplies during the mission. Kelper will survive, but he’s out of commision until we get a mechanical limb for him.”

I closed my eyes against the news, hoping that it was somehow false. “His tag?” Fernando answered me there. “On the wall, his name will be carved on the Monument tonight.” I nodded before moving to sit on the gurney beside Nova. She smiled wanly at me. “Pierce is fine, awake and moving slowly. Decker is still out, but showing signs of waking last we heard.”

I just nodded lightly, ignoring the amount of tan skin she was showing while trying to not dwell on the loss. Soldiers died, it was the cost of war. It never made it easier though. “Fernando, Swann will be giving us some prototype hardware for the next mission, tomorrow. Make sure we have at least five men willing and able to operate the machines. Nova, I want Stone and you rested and prepared for tomorrow as well. Pierce will be staying behind to help Janus with the day-to-day operations. Andy, get Green to select two other Medics to join you and her tomorrow as well. The rest will be filled with Granit, the other two Marauders, and Trenton with Georgie.”

Nova just nodded, Andy did as well. Fernando was the one who spoke. “Sir, we should wait a few more days. Make sure we are fully prepared.” I was about to argue, we had so little time as it was, but I stopped myself. He was right in this regard, per the norm. If I really stopped to think about it I agreed. A few days rest would allow him to get men trained up for the Condor vehicles. I’d need to change the layout of the men I took as well to actually include them. Lose Stone and Georgie to give me the two Unit slots for a max ten.

“Alright, we’ll wait two days. After that I want everyone prepared, tell Stone and Georgie they will remain behind as well. I’m still limited on the men and women I can bring.” they blinked before nodding as if it were a common thing. Fucking System, changing aspects to fit the need and preventing them from realizing the situation.

Andy did her check-up on me, her small hands poking and prodding me all over. The prognosis was I had several muscle tears, three bruised ribs, a mild concussion, and that her fingers felt like pointy javelins designed to kill me.

I was ordered bed rest and went to do just that. It was noon here, but I was exhausted. I stopped by where Fob was in the Medical wing, looking at the tarp-covered corpse and placed a hand where his remaining arm was. He’d be incinerated tonight, his ashes spread across Bastion. “I’m sorry..” I whispered, only to myself. He’d deserved better, all the dead did. I was Human though and would make mistakes, many more without a doubt. Death would be the result of many of them, though I would learn with each. Promising him, and myself, that I would get better, I left the wing. I’d see Kelper later.

Trenton met me outside the Barracks, his sleek black and purple armor shining in the sun, Nova beside him in her armor. I wondered why there were no tears in it but assumed it was the armor itself. They trailed me as I went back to my quarters. “Both of you get some rest, I’ll be fine here on my own.”

Trenton saluted, then the cheeky bastard took up a station slightly to the left of my door and waited in silence. Nova just raised an eyebrow and disappeared. I blew out some air, pure frustration leaking from me. I couldn’t do a damn thing about it though. Trenton's job was to ensure my safety regardless, and Nova had really taken to her own guard duties. Just made it hard to take care of some things, when I was free to do so, unsure if she was fucking present.

I shrugged, laying down on the bed. Take a few hours to sleep, check on Swann's projects, check in with Caspian, and go about a debrief with Janus over what happened during the day and a half I was gone. I was to mentally drained right now to do that and needed this for now though.