Jean sat on her chair and started thinking. Previously she thought she could win this war and defeat Amon by standing with the Raiders and follow Raynor as he went through the events and eventually defeat Amon.
Now she realized it was impossible. If Kerrigan was this possible, how strong would Amon be? From what she saw from the battle between the tal’darim and the swarm, the Raiders were insanely vulnerable in this sector. Both Protoss and Zerg could defeat them. Even the Terran Dominion, which was weaker, could force the Raiders into hiding with a few battlecruisers. What could she do with a ship and several hundred soldiers?
The answer was nothing. Even if she won every battle she fought in, the sheer number of her potential enemies could overwhelm her. In the original timeline Raynor had to work with Dominion forces to even stand a chance against the swarm. Even though they took measures and crippled the swarm with strike teams and had the artifact to purify the zerg, the battle was still painful for the terran. The casualties were stunningly high. That was just the zerg. In the future Amon would have control over all three races. There was nothing she could do to stop the Xel’naga...at least not with just the Raiders.
If Jean wasn’t able to feel desperation she would’ve given up already.
She left the bridge without saying a word. Raynor looked at her thoughtfully as she left.
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Hyperion armory.
The Hyperion had two people responsible for the scientific developments. chief engineer Rory Swann and chief science adviser Egon Stetmann. Jean managed to get them together in private.
“What do you need from me lieutenant? A new weapon model? Some improved armor?” Swann was a fiery man with one cybernetic arm. He was a miner before joining the Raiders. His words were straightforward. Jean respected that. It was more efficient.
“I noticed how vulnerable the Raiders are against protoss and zerg units.” Jean said. “For example, in the battle of Monylth, the Raiders lost six men while taking down the stone guardians even when they outnumbered the enemies 15:1 and had absolute advantage. On the battle of Agria, the marines were proven ineffective against ultralisks. Not only so, the marines could barely keep up with the speed of zerglings and had to use overwhelming firepower to keep them back. We need to find a way to solve that problem.”
“There ain’t nothing I can do. We ain’t got no credits to buy heavy metals.” Swann explained.
“I will find a way to get money. What I need is a way to strengthen our men if we have sufficient resources.” Jean turned to Stetmann. “This is where you come in.”
“Me?” Stettman frowned. “What can I do for you?” He asked nervously.
“The main problem for us Raiders is not the lack of credits but rather the weakness of our human bodies in comparison to protoss and zerg.” Jean explained. “Our men are limited by their human reflexes and are usually slower and more inexperienced than their alien enemies. The protoss have underwent centuries of training before going into combat. They could use psi energy to sense our movements and even dodge our attacks. Zerg are bio weapons. A larvae can be turned into an experienced killing machine in hours with the instinct of a fierce predator. It’s in their genes. How are we human supposed to combat them? The Dominion faces the same problem but solves it by having more units. We Raiders can afford neither the men nor the resources. This is why I need a way to improve the battle instinct of our men.”
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“It’s easier to say than to do.” Swann frowned. “The best way is to have more firepower…”
“Which we can not afford. Even if we can the problem still remains. I need to find a way to allow a marine to take on a zergling or a zeolet in a one on one fight.” Jean cut him off.
“You’re delusional.” Swann exclaimed. “Like you said, we are weaker than the other races.”
“Is it possible…” Jean said slowly. “to create a computer system to aid our men? Imagine this: A marine is facing a zergling. The zergling leaps at the marine, but at that time the computer positioned inside the CMC armor analyzes the motion of the zergling and calculate where the zergling will land in and utilize a protocol to counter the attack. The marine will know where and when to dodge and how to fire at the zergling to keep it from reaching the marine. If everything goes right the zergling will never even be able to reach the marine before being gunned down.”
“That’s not all!” Stettman exclaimed excitedly. “All the cpu in the marines could connect together and establish a model so that every inch of the space before the marines can be covered by gauss ammo. There will be no opening where stray zerglings can use to charge into the flanks...”
“Our marines can perfectly split while facing dominion tanks and live longer! Our marines can headshot every enemy marine in close quarter!” Swann immediately turned the enemy from zerg to fellow terran. His rough past with the dominion coming into place. “Brilliant!”
“The concussive shell of marauders can cover every single protoss zeolet and prevent them from charging!” Stettman continued. “Genius!”
“And expensive.” Swann suddenly frowned. “The technology part is not the problem, but if we are to arm our boys down to the marines we need a lot of credits.”
“Let me worry about the credits. You two work together and deal with the tech. Can any of you write a report to our boss and tell him what we’re up to?” Jean suggested.
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A few hours later, Hyperion cantine.
Jean walked into the bar and found Raynor at a table drinking from a mug. She went to the bartender, Cooper, and took a cup of milk before walking to her leader.
“It was nice job back there on Monylth.” Raynor looked up and saw it was Jean. “Six boys died, but it could’ve been a lot more.”
“It could’ve been a lot less. Every Raider is precious and difficult to replace.” Jean handed Raynor a stack of paper.
Raynor glanced at the table. “Project Supersoldier?” The title caught his interest, and he went down the paper. Jean waited patiently as he read, occasionally taking a sip of milk.
Minutes later Raynor was done and looked up at Jean. “Use computer AI to aid soldiers in combat. What happens if a hacker hacks the system? The AI controls everything on the soldiers. Stimpack. Weapon systems. Cooling systems. Life support. They can practically kill the men if they want to.” He was hesitant.
“The central AI is located on the Hyperion, and the men in field can switch back to manual control with the press of a switch. If something is wrong the firewall can stall long enough to disable the AIs.” Jean replied condiently. She had considered all of the possibilities.
“How are we supposed to get enough credits for this project?”
“I believe your friend Tychus has a way to have more credits.”
Raynor nodded in support. “Then do it. You have more support.” Jean nodded and stood up. She was about to leave the table when she heard Raynor calling from behind. “And, Jean, thank you for what you did.” Jean turned back and grinned and left the cantine. The smile disappeared as soon as she left the bar.