Chapter 337 – The Mayhem Of Memories

December 14th, 2499

09:12 SCT

Wasteland Evacuation Zone

"Good morning, Magistrate. My name is Arcturus Mengsk, and I represent the Sons of Korhal. You are no doubt familiar with the Confederate propaganda surrounding my group, but your reputation suggests that you will be able to see past that." The holographic head of Aqua's boss said to her. 

She was in the CAC with the camp's leadership, discussing the damage from last night's battle and the advanced technology and 'psionic powers' she, John, and Sarah had, when the call came in. John was still out on guard, but would be listening to the transmission from the remote terminal she had left with him, while Sarah was sleeping in her office; her excessive psionic use drained a lot out of her. Michael was also here, the reporter taking notes down for his press release once they could get a message out of the system.

"Now, it's never been our practice to operate in any one place for long, but these Zerg don't look like they're going to wait. I have a proposition for you, Magistrate. I'm going to help you out by sending down a squadron of dropships to your location, and ferry the colonists up to waiting civilian transports for evacuation. It's going to take several runs to get everyone off, but the Sons of Korhal's main fleet will keep the Zerg at bay while we get everyone off world." The man continued, the gravitas of his voice oozing with both natural and practiced charisma.

Even as a hologram, he struck an imposing figure. Tall, muscular, with a ruggedly handsome face covered with a well-kept beard. His black hair was greying in spots, but that only seemed to further accentuate the imperious bearing he portrayed to the world. She realized then that he and John were very similar in many regards; the main physical difference was that John's hair was silver-grey and, of course, his pearlescent eye, which she was attached to. John also had a sense of actual empathy for people, not just what suited his needs in the moment or a plan further down the road. While John loved and cared for people, Mengsk... well, he loved the sound of his own voice.

"As you know, my organization operates outside the bounds of Confederate law, hence why they spread their lies and misinformation. If you decide to accept our help, you will be branded as an outlaw too, but it is a chance to save those people. Time to make a stand, Magistrate." He finally finished.

Aqua made a show of weighing her options before replying to the holoimage. "Very well. Thank you for the offer, and I accept. We will hold out here and prepare for your arrival. We can defend the landing zone from any ground forces the Zerg have, but we do have an issue with these flying Mutalisks of theirs. Will you be able to provide air support for us as well?"

"We will do what we can, Magistrate; however, with the numbers of Zerg here in orbit, it will prove difficult to do more than guard our own dropships. I'm not without empathy for your situation, so I'll send down schematics for an automated missile turret system to your adjutant, along with instructions to mass-produce its ammunition in a Confederate prefab armoury. I'll also toss in a few field upgrades for your militia's weapons and armour so you can give your people a fighting chance down there while they wait for us. Now, if there is nothing further, I believe you have people to muster, and I have a battle to attend to. Once we establish a foothold up here, one of my men will contact you with an ETA for the first wave of dropships. Mengsk out."

Aqua let out a breath, then turned to the crowd of civilian leaders that were standing around the CAC. "You heard the man. Start prepping for evacuations."

"But he's a terrorist! Are we really going to entrust our lives to him?" Sheela, the camp's now official logistics officer, asked.

"And? The Confederacy is no better; I would argue they are worse, for they inflict terrors on the citizens they are supposed to protect and silence those in power who try to change things for the better. If you want proof, you have to look no further than Mengsk's own family. Because his father wanted to improve his people's lives, he refused the Confederates' demands on Korhal and finally rebelled and seceded from the Confederacy.

They had him brutally executed for that, along with his entire family other than Arcturus, who was lucky enough to be off-world at the time. Then, when he returned and tried to pick up where his father left off, they decided nuking the entire planet was the better option than dealing with the 'rebels'.

Don't get me wrong, Arcturus is hardly a saint; heck, he might be a monster, but he was a monster the Confederacy created. Now, that monster is willing to save everyone on this planet. So are you going to whine about it when your saviour isn't the white knight out of some fairytale but a man who will do anything within his power to see the Confederacy fall and justice brought to the people who died by their orders? If so, you're welcome to leave and take your chances with the Zerg." Aqua said at length, speaking to Sheela but looking at everyone in turn, reading their thoughts.

There was a lot of distrust; the Confederate propaganda that was spread around the core worlds even trickled out here to a fringe world where most people had issues with the Confederacy. Though they weren't wrong; Mengsk had committed acts of terror, though it was all targeted at the Old Families that actually ruled the Confederacy or the power base that supported them. She had been part of many of those operations; sometimes she was even the one to set the bombs.

No... my memories have, I didn't. Me! How does John deal with this? I think I need to be a little more understanding when he needs a break in the future. It's only been a few days, and I already feel stretched thin.

"Sorry, Magistrate. It's just... a lot to take in. First the evacuations, then the vague promises of being rescued from aliens we never heard of before, not to mention this... stolen Umojan tech you and the Marshal are using. Now, now you expect us to put our faith in a terrorist? Even if he is the only choice, it's still a hard pill to swallow. Hell, do we even know where he will take us?" She said. Murmurs of agreement echoed from the crowd.

Aqua placed a hand on the woman's shoulder and looked her in the eyes. "I know it's hard, but I believe Mengsk will get everyone off world and take us somewhere safe; safer than here anyway. We just need to survive long enough until his ships can get here. Besides, the only other option is to roll over and die, and I'm not ready to give up just yet. Are you with me? I can't do this without you. All of you." She said, holding Sheela's gaze for a moment before switching to the others in the room.

"It's fine by me. They are all assholes, but at least this one appears to be actually willing to help." Rodrigo said. Her chief construction engineer was leaning against the back wall, chewing a cigar. "Now, give me those specs so I can get my crews building those turrets. Anywhere you want them in particular?"

"Ask the Marshal. He is still on watch at the north end of camp."

"Got it."

"I'll work on the armoury upgrades. We are going to need more minerals if you plan on putting more than a couple turrets up; building the prefab housing all but emptied our stockpile." Sheela added, grudgingly agreeing to the plan. 

"I'll set some men in Sceevees on that too. There is a small deposit sprouting along those structures to the north; ain't like a regular vein, but should be enough to get the job done. If you got some time, Ma'am, we could use your help building in a bit; otherwise, we will make do." 

Just then, the alarms went off in the CAC and the Adjutant woke up. "Alert. Base is under attack. A large Zerg force detected mustering to the East."

"Alright, debate time's over. Rodrigo, if John isn't there, just put turrets up near the bunkers for now. Clark, be ready to receive wounded. Amanda, make sure the civilians remain inside. Diaz, round up the men and join me on the perimeter. If anyone needs me, I'll be in my mech to the East. We got Zerg to kill." Aqua said, walking quickly to the exit.

She pulled out John's Substance X tin from her pocket, and with a sigh, swallowed a pill. While she was smarter than she used to be, she didn't have anywhere near John's stamina unless she took her Lord form, and that would probably be one step too far for these people; they were already on the edge of breaking as it was; running around with horns sprouting from her head would probably push them over the edge.

Damn it. Why couldn't we have gone to some peaceful world first? Does every world he goes to really have some crisis going on? Why didn't he get a slice-of-life world where he was a farmer and his biggest concern was aphids attacking his crops? No, never mind that; with his luck, he would end up with a village full of powerful demihuman women wanting to make babies with him. 

She chuckled at that thought as she climbed up Suzy Q; sharing John with dozens of other women didn't seem so bad compared to battling these Zerg.

Maybe... maybe when we get to this High School of the Dead world, I'll convince him to stay for a while. A few years at least. We will have plenty to do there, and he can rest and train all the new skills he's acquired before plunging back into another war. And maybe...maybe we can have something more.

She touched her belly, a small smile forming on her lips for just a moment, then dropped into the cockpit. Right now wasn't the time to worry about such things; she had people to protect.

December 14th, 2499

16:44 SCT

Jacobs Installation, Near Mar Sara City

"When you said you would give me a lift, this was not what I had in mind, Cowboy!" Sarah shouted in his ear, still barely audible over the wind and the rumble of the 1600 cc V-Twin engine below them.

"This is faster than my Timberwolf, and the only thing somewhat close to Bubba's Vulture in speed. You're welcome to ride back with them if you would rather." He shouted back. He enjoyed the ride despite the situation, the wind whipping through his hair and the rumble of the engine between his legs. He even pulled a shotgun from the armoury to complete the look.

Elvis wasn't kidding when they said the Terminator model could handle off-roading. I've had this pinned at nearly 100 mph for hours now and barely had any issues. If only the backpack wasn't complaining so much, this would have been a perfect ride.

"A backpack? What does that mean? Are you being mean to me again?"

"No, darlin'. Just means you're holding onto my back. And when was I mean to you?" He asked, slowing down finally as they neared their destination. Bubba was in front of them, with Emily in the sidecar. It was the last Vulture they had after the string of attacks they weathered that day; the only reason it survived was the fact that it didn't have a grenade launcher, so they never used it in the battles. 

"Oh, I don't know. How about when you threw me into the air into a pack of Hydralisks on that ridge earlier."

"What? It stopped you from getting clawed by the Zerglings, didn't it? You cloaked up and started shooting them just fine."

"Not the point! Shouldn't you be trying to protect women? Not tossing them into danger?"

"I knew you could handle it. Besides, we needed them off that ridge, and you were the best one to do it. Would you rather I treat you like a delicate princess? I can if you want, but I doubt you would like it. You might be beautiful, Darlin', but you're not the princess type."

"Jerk. I would just like a little more warning than a 'hold on' next time." She replied, tightening her grip around his waist. John just smiled.

Despite her complaints, they worked well as a team, and once she received Mengsk's orders to raid this last installation, she had asked Aqua if it was okay to 'steal her man' away for a covert mission. The pair stared at each other for a full minute, Sarah smirking and Aqua glaring daggers at her.

John almost eavesdropped on their mental conversation, but decided to let them sort whatever it was about out themselves. It was clear to him that Sarah was just teasing her; the redhead liked to tease a lot, though she did it very awkwardly with him. He would think it was rather cute if he didn't know her past from a glance at Card. That just told him of yet another sad tale forced on a young woman by the Confederacy, one whose only crime had been to have latent psionic powers.

Just like this body's son...gods... is he actually alive and being brainwashed into becoming a child soldier? They said he died three months after they took him in a transport accident, but knowing what I know now... that could easily be a cover story to hide the truth from me... if that were the case... Liddy would probably still be... Damn it, I need to stop reading too much from these memories.

He banished those thoughts for now and pulled the Harley alongside Bubba's Vulture, then looked down over the ridge. In the small valley below them, a landing pad and a few small outbuildings sat beside a large cargo bay door embedded in the cliff face. The door was half open, giving the impression the place was abandoned, though they wouldn't know for sure until they were inside.

He glanced over at Emily. She still wore his power armour, but he couldn't see her face behind her closed visor to gauge how she was feeling. She hadn't taken the news well when she found out the Confederacy had abandoned her and Michael to the Zerg. Her thoughts had become hazy with Scouter, so he had to use the more powerful Card to even get an idea of what she was thinking. Even with only the snapshot* it gave him, he could tell that she was spiralling inside, like two separate minds were battling for control. She was so far gone that she didn't even seem to care about magic being an actual thing, or the fact that they would be saved by the Sons of Korhal.

He ended up using both Healing Hands and his Sage quirk, forcing her to focus on his voice as he rubbed her temples to calm her down. Even Aqua was at a loss; healing magic could fix the body, not the mind, and definitely not a mind being controlled by both implants and chemicals. They had discussed their options; he could detoxify her blood from those chemicals, but they had no clue what would happen if he did. At that point, he decided to not let her out of his sight for the time being, to prevent her from either hurting herself or others around her if she lost control.

"You two okay?" He asked.

"I think so, though I never thunk I'd ever be raidin' a secret Confederate base along wit a Ghost. It's like sumthin' out of a holovid." Bubba said, his hands clenching and unclenching on the Vultures' handlebars nervously.

"I feel fine, Marshal, though it would be good to get out of this death trap," Emily replied in her usual chipper tone. "Seriously. Who's idea was it to weld what is little more than a cargo wagon with a seat to the side of a Vulture?!?  If I didn't already smoke, riding in this would probably drive me to it."

"Do you need a break before we head in?" He asked.

"No. Let's just get on with this...by abandoning the people, Alpha Squadron are enemies of the Confederacy now, and that means I'm not disobeying orders, right?" She said, her suit still staring straight ahead.

That's an interesting way of coping with this. 

"That's..." John said, his mind racing for a reply that wouldn't make him feel like he was pandering to her, but he came up short. "That's right. They abandoned the people, not you. Your orders are to protect the people, right?"

"Unless the objectives state otherwise, standing orders are that we are to protect civilians and other members in our unit at all costs. Now that... now that I'm detached, as the ranking military official on the planet, I've placed myself under your command and will follow your orders, Marshal."

"Good. Your first order is to tell me if you're having any more issues, got it?"

"Yes, Marshal."

John watched her for a few more moments, then revved the bike a couple of times before leading them to the facility entrance. He didn't like this, not one bit. But unless they had locked her up and restrained her, they had no way of preventing her from activating her implanted stimpack and possibly doing even more harm to herself in the process. He could have left her behind, but aside from Aqua, no one in the camp could stop her if she lost the battle she was waging in her mind right now. Well, not stopping her before she had a chance to hurt herself or others as she lashed out.  

He shook his head, then focused on the task at hand. There was one reason he even agreed to come along, and it wasn't so Sarah would hug him for a couple of hours. He could feel it calling to him, telling him he needed to come here.

The canon was calling, and he intended on fucking up whatever it had planned for him. 

* - So, I'm going to treat Scouter more like a running dialogue he can leave open, able to read the surface thoughts, while Card is like a current snapshot of thoughts. So, video vs. picture + biography.