The sun shone brightly upon the majestic peaks of Browder Valley. A gentle breeze crisscrossed the lazy mountains as all manner of weird and wonderful creatures played upon its slopes. A beautiful sense of peace and harmony tinged the air, but everyone knew it would not last much longer. The valley was famous as a strategic pass between the continent's two largest cities, making it a vital point of contention in every war ever waged. Landslides were common and the labyrinth of stone had interred many a warrior beneath it.

Dream, the young general of SKT's army, paced furiously back and forth in front of his army. Gruesome images of revenge and punishment danced in his mind. He tried to calm down but found it difficult. Every time he tried, his thoughts raced back to SKT's castle. He remembered how the incessant screeching of alarms had interrupted his training, how he had raced to the medical ward to find all the members of SKT, reappearing one by one, delirious and barely able to stand. He had been the last one remaining, so he had had to put each and every one of them in reanimation chambers.

Dream's attention shifted to the mountainous horizon. He scanned the skies but could not spot anything that appeared dangerous, which did little to quell the building unease in his chest. He started fidgeting with his trusty rifle, flicking the bayonet's point before his mind returned to SKT's headquarters, to the first words his mentor spoke before Dream had to drag him to life support.

It was one of Dream's first days at SKT. He had just finished a grueling training sequence and had left the simulator to salute his mentor. He was greeted by an unwavering gaze.

"Not bad, right?" Dream inquired, eager to please.

"It was good. You're making progress."

"Awesome. Will you spar with me now?"

"Unfortunately, I'm unable to. Rebellion has broken across the land and the old king has fallen. The houses are vying for power. Now is the time to strike and gain glory for SKT." INnoVation may as well have beaten his breast in exaltation.

Dream realized that this was a good opportunity to display the development of his skills, asking, "Then bring me along with you? I can't wait to test my mettle in a real battle!"

INnoVation understood Dream's excitement, but he answered with a calm yet decisive voice, "No, you aren't ready yet."

Shocked, the young man challenged, "Why?! I did great back there!"

"Because you're still impulsive and reckless," the elder continued with no audible change in his tone, "You sent your troops into enemy territory without scanning ahead. You could have walked straight into an ambush."

Dream was exasperated. "But I won the battle!" he replied, desperation in his eyes.

"Irrelevant. You put your army in too much danger. We can't risk real troops like that."

Dream's face flushed red with fury, and he burst spouting, "You've never seen me as anything but a kid! Why did you even bring me here in the first place?!"

An unexpected flicker of surprise mixed with frustration shot across INnoVation's face. It was the first time he had ever shown any kind of emotion in front of Dream, and it took a microsecond before he could compose himself again. He approached his apprentice and walked into his personal space, jarring the young man. A hand's length separated their faces. In the student's eyes was intensity and passion; in the master's was a piercing chill and emptiness. INnoVation's gaze pierced through Dream and pushed his spirit back, his entire body tensing in response.

The mentor then spoke, saying, "I keep you from battle because of what I have seen, but you remain with SKT for the same reasons. Despite your inexperience and impetuousness, I see immense potential. You will not be ready for battle until you temper that steel."

INnoVation's steady voice reverberated throughout dream, extinguishing the flames of Dream's anger. He had realized that his teacher was right, but the intensity and desire to prove himself remained. "What should I do then?"

"Continue training diligently. Analyze yourself and hone your craft. We will spar when I return and we'll see what you will have learned. But for now I must depart," INnoVation answered, "Goodbye and good luck."

Goodbye and good luck. One day he'd be the one saying those words to trainees, he thought.

Dream turned his attention away from his memories and back to the skies. He had grown weary of waiting and ordered his comms officer to administer a scan of the area, and soon they caught a glimpse of something coming. Anticipation bred frenzy.

He imagined the bold words he would say to challenge Life and the strategies he would use to defeat him. He imagined how he would ruin KT and how we would become the leader of the terran council. He imagined walking into Spostalea and slaying Maru's forces. He imagined sitting on the throne of his new capital, scepter in hand. He would finally gain the respect and recognition that had eluded him for so long.

The skies parted and there was his quarry, sitting atop a flying creature. He launched a signal flare to beckon Life to him, and the zerg complied. There would be no ambush; Dream desired a confrontation. The KT zerg descended yet remained willfully above the terran commander. Life's steed blocked the sun.

"What are you searching for so far from home, little fledgling?" Life's mockery flew by Dream without notice.

"A fight," the young terran quipped.

"Don't you know who I am?"

"I know who you are," Dream answered, "and that's why I'm here for you. I could have shot you down just now, but that wouldn't have been very interesting. I'm Dream. I want a fight. And I want that scepter."

Life raised an eyebrow. "So you're that Dream kid. I'm afraid you don't understand what you're asking for. Nevertheless, if this is what you want," Life waved the scepter, scattering the light behind him, "I don't think you could even entertain me."

Dream's excitement turned into irritation, "Are you afraid, great King? I didn't expect royalty to cower so low."

"Cower, you say," Life was amused by Dream's feeble attempts to rattle him, "When my swarm is done you'll understand the meaning of the word."

The afternoon sun filled Life's eyes as he began to concentrate. A vicious wind swept through the valley coordinated by his outstretched hands. Soon the ground shook from the footsteps of countless crawling creatures and the drift of a mantle of burrowed beasts. Not long after, only Life's eyes remained illuminated as a flock of mutalisks blotted out the sun.




Dream jumped back into his seat, the cockpit closing around him. He fired a single prodding shot, measuring his opponent's reactions. The missile was quickly intercepted by a mutalisk, sweeping in to take the brunt of the strike. It fell to the ground dead in a rain of red. "Not bad." Dream whispered, now smiling. He fired again.

A full barrage of missiles shot from the Thor's air batteries, a dozen streaks of bright red thundering toward the Zerg. Again, more mutalisks swept in, burying the missiles in a veritable cloud of flapping wings and lashing claws, but the missiles were too many and too fast. Through the flock emerged a single missile, on an unbroken trajectory toward the enemy. Life saw it coming well ahead of time, and with a dissatisfied grunt he stepped off the back of his overlord and into the air. More mutalisks appeared, grabbing him by his outstretched arms to deliver him safely to the ground.

With their master safely out of range, the cloud of flying monstrosities withdrew. Dream let out a ragged breath, sweat already gathering in beads on his brow, and watched the second onslaught. A tide of zerglings, dashing forward in such a way that they seemed to almost fly, washing across the plain. And bigger things still, ultralisks rising thirty times their height at their flanks. Every last one headed for him. Directly below the Terran, a handful of mines dug deep into the ground, forming a first line of defense. The Thor stepped in behind them, propulsion systems at full thrust. Then he was still, and waited for the first strike.

He had expected caution, prodding attacks to find the holes in his defenses. But the zerglings came on, their furious dash unbroken and unhindered, and the widow mines fired in all their number. They detonated in blinding flashes of fire, shockwaves rippling through the swarm.

Dream's eyes narrowed behind the thick glass. Before him, and closing quickly, the zerglings flock was nearly undiminished. A handful lay behind in broken husks, each taking the brunt of a single explosion.

"As good as they say," Dream grinned, then clenched his teeth. I will have to be better.

Dream had studied the opponent, paid great attention to his tendencies, to his strategy. A lone ultralisk closed on his Thor, unmindful of the gauss rifle fire that bounced off its chitinous armor. The ground cracked and crumbled underfoot as the beast and the machine collided head-on. Two shots hit the behemoth in its screeching face and sent it reeling back, massive jaws still snapping. Thrusters fired, and the Thor carried high into the air on plumes of smoke. The ultralisk, wounded and confused in its resumed charge forward, turned just in time to see the mech drop down behind it, firing anew. One scythe slashed through the Thor's left side, metal tearing and bulks of wiring spitting clouds of hissing sparks. The Thor fired a final pair of shots, and the ultralisk fell in gory heaps to the ground, crushing a good dozen zerglings underneath. Javelin missiles met the distant cloud of mutalisks, but Dream could not see the outcome through the thick layer of red running down the cockpit window.

SHUTDOWN IMMINENT

"Oh shit," Dream fumbled for the controls, smashing the control panel with sweaty fingers. "Uh. Oh"

TOTAL MALFUNCTION

A bright-green tide had appeared on the rise, rolling down with sizzling abandon. Banelings, in untold number. Riflefire caught some of them on the rocky descent, explosions of acidic green sprouting from wounded monsters.

EJECT NOW?

"YES!" Dream yelled, the first tastes of worry bitter in his throat. "Yes, eject!"

And he was flying, power suit rattling in the air, rifle gripped tightly in one hand. He hit the ground hard, rolling, and saw that his foe had also plummeted to the ground and now lay dizzy in a puddle of death. They were both quick on their feet, quick to rise, quick to find their positions. More banelings rolled in as Life retreated, flanked by zerglings and a lone mutalisk sailing above, flapping madly.

The mines fired again. This time, the chaos was complete. Dream staggered back, dual shockwaves pounding across his chest. Zerglings died in burning swathes, burst forward ripped in half or flew high into the air on pillars of fire. The air carried the stench of burning flesh, and Dream's mouth tasted of blood.

Yet somehow he advanced. Rifles pushed the zerglings back, forced them to desperately rally around their master. The last of the banelings exploded, most of them well out of range. The mutalisk fell, a sad winged skeleton crashing through the ground just beside its weakened master. But there was no sign of fear on Life's face, no worry to concede that he was falling back. The zerglings gathered anew, pushed forward. Were pushed back.

The two men closed on each other, surrounded by carnage and devastation. The once quiet valley was littered with craters, filled with smoke and oozing acid. Dream stumbled to his knees and staggered upright by willpower alone. One agonizing step, then another. Another.

"You can't beat me," Life said, but his voice was weak. He stifled a cough, wobbling, eyes unfocused. "You can't..."

Dream's fist smashed across his cheek, and the Zerg fell. Had he possessed an ounce of strength more, Dream would have been surprised. Life did not look as if he would rise.

"I... can."

The Terran reached for the scepter, abandoned a mere step away from the unconscious king. Just... a few.... His fingers closed around the hilt, just for a second, and then all was dark.