EPTNightmare above Char
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Inside their barracks, drifting above the perilous peaks of Char, our heroes dream. One courageous medic finally abandons his shield before retiring. His shield depicts his victories in vivid detail, from the battle of Tarsonis to the Gates of Hell. Four stylised black letters at the centre denote this warrior’s name, known simply as Catz. Soon he falls into a world far outside his own. He dreams that he’s an athlete in a sport known as StarCraft. Thousands of fans cheer as he takes centre stage in one of StarCraft’s most prestigious tournaments, MLG. Catz lives every moment in exquisite detail and the blissful hours soon fade past.
As dawn nears, the life on Char rushes into action. The faintest sound of zergling calls soon murmur through the crackle of the engines. The marines in the bunk room remain ignorant of their comrades perishing beneath them. The serenity is soon interrupted by a sudden cry. “!$?# extended series” blurts Catz as he leaps from his bed. The entire bunk room slowly wakes in frustration. Their minds begin the shift from pleasant fantasies towards their desperate reality. A predicament which suddenly deteriorates as the facility echoes with the sound of a colossal explosion. Flickering white lights soon concede to their dull red counterparts. Bodies are flung down towards the source of the incident. The majority gripped tightly onto their anchored bunks, the rest tumbling towards their annihilation. “Engine zero four inoperable, initializing self-stabilisation” utters an adjutant over the emergency channel. Her tone is soon overcome by distressed squeals from the wounded. The unscathed quickly rally around them, masking damage assessment with comforting untruths. All except a young Korean engineer, his right hand still grips a bed post tightly, the rest of his body lays frozen and splayed across the floor. Catz looks bemused, within a second he goes from watching Drewbie’s last breath to watching a full grown man trembling in a bikini. Struck by a chronic thirst for revenge, he leads the shaky survivors towards the deployment room.
While Catz dashes down the central corridor, the automatic priority alert is issued, “Hostile lifeforms detected, prepare for evac”. The door adjacent Catz smashes open and out barrels Naama. He’s desperately seeking velocity whilst continually tripping over the pants he’s trying to pull up. “Yo, bro, aren’t you supposed to be flying this thing” Catz questions. Idra leaves no room for answer, “!$?#ing Imbecile” he remarks. Longing for some understanding of the situation, they follow Naama, who is sprinting towards the cockpit. The closer they get, the more noticeable the sound of impacts become.
On arrival, Naama’s head lies buried in his hands. The viewscreen reveals a large flock of Mutalisks assaulting engine three. “If that engine goes offline, we will spiral out of control” Naama reveals. Catz pulls a C-15 rifle from his back, “They ain’t got nothing on me bro” he asserts. He marches out of the cockpit, climbs through a hatch on the roof and begins sprinkling the sky with hypersonic 12mm rounds. Idra’s impatience overcomes him, “Land this thing” he insists. Naama hoists his legs up onto the instrument panel and lies back on his seat. “The landing systems are offline. Outside, there’s a switch on the right” he dictates. Idra’s face clenches from sheer irritation. Abandoning the argument before his mouth even opens, he charges out of the cockpit. His self-mumbles are quickly interrupted by the chafing from the metal door behind him. A look of disbelief sweeps across his face as he turns to see the door slam to a close. Both his hands clash the soundproof window repeatedly,”!$?#ing retard, you have no idea what the !$?# you’re doing”. He can now only watch while Naama turns the barracks around and heads directly towards the Zerg hive cluster.
Amidst the swarm of Mutalisks, Catz is still fighting a raging battle. As another dives towards him, he swiftly lays back, takes aim and unleashes his weapon. His final bullet pierces the creature’s skull, drenching his body in acid. Searching for clips desperately, he realises his time is now up and races towards the hatch. Another mutalisk rapidly sweeps in from behind, taunting its wounded prey with a deafening screech. As CatZ takes his final step, a glaive worm penetrates his right leg, binding his knee to the floor. Two enormous fangs are then plunged into his back, sending him flying face first onto the deck. He can now only lie and wait for the final blow. The Mutalisk’s screech is heard but the impact of a glaive is not felt. Instead, the sky behind him echoes with the sound of an explosion. The bang is followed by another and another, prompting CatZ to roll over in astonishment. He notices a series of missiles shooting up from below him. Catz, surrounded by puddles of blood and barely able to move, mutters “!$?#ing Widow Mines”.
To be continued, possibly…
