StarCraft Fan Fic, By Guo Fang (Michael)

(The above two screenshots are the work of Blizzard Entertainment. They have been modified using Photoshop, with changes in the text narration.)

Mar Sara Crisis

“This is Mining Operations Central to Mathew Cain. Mathew Cain, do you copy.”

“Roger that, this is Mathew here. I am currently in the process of my 83rd mining cycle.” Mathew had thought this was just another random status check from his overseer, but the next radio message surprised him.

“Well, I need you to abort that mining cycle, and get your butt back to the command center ASAP.”

Mathew’s coworkers all gave him strange look. Not that they could actually see Mathew or Mathew them through their mining gear, fusion cutters, and the minerals they were handling. Mathew’s the best worker on their team, not only is he the best at handling equipment, he was also the rare worker who’s actually enthused at his job of mining minerals. Of all the workers, Mathew was the least likely candidate to have pissed off their boss.

Mathew parked his mining vehicle beside the command center, and went to his boss’s office to report as he was told.

“I don’t know if you’ve heard, but our new Magistrate has arrived. They are giving him a welcoming party aboard the orbiting space platform. They need someone who knows how to work some basic mining and construction equipment, and I’ve volunteered you to do it. Your shuttle up to the platform leaves in 5 minutes. You haven’t got time to take a shower, but be sure to get into a new jumpsuit and wash your face before you leave. And oh yes, you’ll get the full details on what’s going to happen at the equipment demonstration en route to orbit.”

“Yes, sir”

As the shuttle roared its way into orbit to dock with the space platform, Mathew looked at his PDA with a briefing for the upcoming equipment demonstration. Nothing to worry about, the demonstration includes nothing he hasn’t done at least 10 times before. And with any luck, he’ll get a chance to meet the important people from Tarsonis, the capital of the Terran Confederacy.

The demonstration began with the Magistrate’s personal Artificial Intelligence Advisor announcing the “T-280 Space Construction Vehicle is the cornerstone of our hostile-environment construction and resource gathering operations. In order to build a thriving colony, numerous SCVs are necessary.”

How amusing that such common sense on the outer-world colonies have to be explained to these Tarsonion officials, thought Mathew. Mathew had operated the T-280 SCV for months since he started working for Mar Sara’s mining operations. And despite the fact that the SCV was in no way state-of-the-art technology, Mathew still thought it was quite an awesome vehicle with its hover propulsion system and twin multipurpose robotic arms.

After Mathew performed a few mining cycles and set up a few supply depots with his SCV, the demonstration ended. However the Magistrate and the other officials were not a bit impressed with Mathew’s performance, and hurried on a shuttle to Mar Sara Starport’s fully catered reception.

Mathew took the shuttle back to his mining camp. His working shift for the day was already over by the time he returned. Tired from the day’s work, Mathew retired to the worker’s quarters and soon fell asleep.

“Hey, get up, ya gotta see this.”

Mathew had not slept for 1 hour yet. Being still half asleep, he didn’t quite hear what his co-worker just said. However, what he did notice was that there was a loud broadcast on every screen on the walls of the worker’s quarters and on every PDA.

“…destruction of our sister-world, Chau Sara by alien forces has been confirmed. As your new Magistrate, I hereby declare marshal law. Confederate military forces have ordered that this colony be locked down immediately, and all colonists are to relocate to the outlying wastelands…”

“Those rumours are true, man. Chau Sara’s wasted, and we’re gonna be next!” Already, panic is starting to spread among the workers. And as if things were not bad enough already, their boss walked into the worker’s quarters enraged.

“Alright boys,” announced their boss, “I just got a message from a General Duke of the Confederate Defence Forces. That stuck-up son-of-a-bitch has requisitioned this entire facility, and all of the resources we have mined because of its ‘strategic importance’. You guys will have to get your butts out of here in a couple of hours before General Duke’s boys move in.”

“Our new Magistrate has found us an abandoned base in the outlying Wastelands that we can use as shelter. Some militia and the local Marshal Raynor will meet you guys en route and help you set up. Now because I won’t get to sell minerals we’ve recently mined, I won’t be paying you this month’s salary, so feel free to drive off with your Mining SCVs. I don’t want to leave that equipment to those Confederate goons anyway. Now you guys get going when you are ready. I still got to stay back and finish the paper work.”

“Yes, sir.” replied Mathew who was now on his feet and fully awake.

“And you can stop ‘yes, sir-ing’ me now. I don’t own this place anymore.” exclaimed the annoyed boss.

To the Wastelands

After this announcement of military requisition, most of the workers quickly used the time to contact their family and loved ones, making sure everyone is safe, and telling them what’s going on, and where they would be.

Mathew Cain, although being the good natured young man that he was, was not on good terms with his family. It’s been six months since he last talked to his father, and even that short conversation ended up in an argument. But if anything, Mathew knew that his parents were independent people, who were more than capable of taking care of themselves in any crisis.

Not much later, Mathew and his co-workers were on their way to the Wasteland Site, accompanied by a squad of marines from the Mar Sara Militia. The marines were sent to guard the convoy of civilians, and guide them to their Wasteland Site, which will serve as their temporary home until further notice.

While only being part of this border-world militia, these marines were, at least in Mathew’s eyes, quite well equipped. They wore standard Terran marine suites – powered exoskeletons that not only provided protection from hostile environments or enemy weaponry, but also extra locomotion. Using sensors to coordinate with the soldier’s muscular movements, the joints in the armour moved in tandem with the marine’s body, and thus gave the soldier inside super human speed and strength.

But most importantly, these Marines were all residents Mar Sara. Unlike General Duke’s Confederate Defence Force who saw the Mar Sara Colony as no more than a backward village and cared little for its inhabitants, these militia were the same folk as Mathew and the other workers.

Half way to the Wasteland site, the militia rendezvoused with their leader, Marshall James Raynor. “Howdy boys, I’m Jim Raynor, Marshall of these parts.” said the friendly Marshall as he dismounted from his hover bike. “Our new home isn’t far from here. I have to say it isn’t much, but I think it will get us through this crisis.”

Just as the group was about to head out again, a howling scream came from the far end of Mathew’s convoy. One of the marines standing guard had fallen, and from his direction, three unknown creatures rushed at the rest of the people. These creatures stood at about 1.5 meters tall, and ran on four legs. Their hind legs were long and strong like, while short front legs balanced the creature’s weight. Sickle-like blades protruded from their backs, and some of those sickles were still red with the blood of the fallen marine.

The rest of the marines immediately began firing their Gauss Rifles upon the alien creatures. The marine gauss rifles magnetically accelerated metal bullets to as high as five times the speed of sound. Because of the high speed of the bullets, they left only a distorted low humming sound as they darted through the air, and found their target in the carapace of one the alien creatures. However, the creature’s carapace was so hard that they resisted most of the attacks. Only after shooting a creature repeatedly, did it finally yield and fall dead.

One of these creatures leaped straight at Mathew, who was still in his mining vehicle. Instinctively, Mathew lifted the left mechanical arm of his SCV to shield himself. However, the alien creature had so much strength, that the mechanical arm on Mathew’s SCV was torn right off. As the severed mechanical arm cranked as it fell to the ground, the alien creature gracefully landed on its feet, and was ready to make another leap at Mathew.

Just as Mathew thought he was doomed, an explosion sounded off. Jim Raynor, the leader of the militia, had fired the grenade launcher mounted on his hover bike, and the alien creature was blown to pieces in mid-air. Mathew was momentarily stunned as the blood and guts of the creature spewed onto his face. Fortunately for Mathew, the blood of these alien creatures did not seem to be toxic.

Mathew, his fellow refugees, and the accompanying militia arrived at the Wasteland base a few hours later. They did not encounter any further attacks during the rest of the trip, but worry was on everybody’s mind.

A long silence fell as everyone settled down in their hopefully-safe settlement and mused about what was to come. Then the voice of Jim Raynor broke that Silence.

“Now folks, I will try my best to make sure everybody stays alive. I have some good news, we just found some usable marine suits and weapons in the abandoned base. If they can be put to use, it will better our chances of surviving. And so, on behalf the Mar Sara Militia, I am recruiting new soldiers. Any folk here who can and wants to take up a weapon is legible to join.”

After all that had happened, Mathew knew that he had to do something, and was the first to sign up. And plus, his SCV was half broke, and he might as well get his hands on some cool marine combat gear.

Backwater Rescue

After taking a crash course on how to use the Terran Marine Combat Armour, and a few shots of target practise with a Gauss Rifle, Mathew Cain is now fully suited up ready for combat, and standing guard on the perimeter of their Wasteland Settlement.

Mathew had been standing guard for hours, and so far, there have been no sightings of hostile aliens. And then, the communications packet in his amour sounded off.

An optimistic voice came through the com-link:

“Hey, boys, I got some good news. I’ve been scouting non-stop for the past few hours, and I have not seen a single one of those critters anywhere close to our base. The bad news is that I just got word from our new magistrate. Backwater Station, a facility not very far from here, is under heavy attack by the aliens, which our government now calls the ‘Zerg’. ”

“It will take the Confederate Defence Forces too long to arrive in time to help Backwater. The magistrate is already sending some other militias, but they are gonna need all the help they can get. Since our position is safe, I say we help them out, too. I’ll be on my way to meet up with the other militias soon. Anyone here who wants to come with me would be greatly appreciated, but feel free if you want to stay and defend our position here. The way I see it, we are going to have to fight these Zerg sooner or later.”

Mathew decided to go and watch Raynor’s back on this one.

“Glad to see you boys, time to kick some serious butt,” said Raynor as he gathered Mathew and other Mar Sara Militias at a rally point not far from Backwater. Soon, they would move into Backwater, clear the place of any Zerg creatures, and rescue the people that are stranded in Backwater’s facilities.

I began writing this piece of Fan Fiction with the idea of a complete story in mind. However, I realize now that I am quite over the 1200 word limit for this assessment, and I can not possibly finish the entire story within the time constraints of this semester.

The following is a synopsis for the rest of the story:

Backwater Rescue continued…

Mathew and the rest of Raynor’s militia successfully kill most of the alien Zerg creatures at Backwater Station, and rescue the stranded people there. In the process, the militia finds out that the alien Zerg creatures have the ability to infest the facilities at Backwater, turning these facilities into Zerg Hives. The militia therefore destroys the infested facility.

An Empty Victory

General Duke and his Confederate Defence Forces arrive after the militia has won their victory. The unhelpful General Duke however, arrests Mathew, Raynor, and their entire militia, on charges of “destroying a vital confederate installation”, despite the fact that these installations were infested by the Zerg and dangerous to human beings.

Musing About the Past

Mathew, Raynor, and the rest of the militia are locked up in derelict spacecraft in orbit. Life support and artificial gravity are the only two things that are still working on the ship. With little to do, Mathew began to think about his past, and how he ended up where he did:

Mathew’s parents used to be important government officials on Tarsonis, the capital of colonized space. However, their political careers were not successful, and they moved to the border-world of Mar Sara to live a simple life.

It is on Tarsonis that Mathew was conceived, born, and raised. As a child, Mathew was very intelligent. As Mathew grew older, he became discontent with the simple life on Tarsonis.

One day, Mathew was accepted by the University of Tarsonis, and wished to go immediately. However, Mathew’s father was strongly against Mathew’s decision. Tension arose between Mathew and his father.

Without the support of his family, Mathew found a job with the Mar Sara Mining Operations, hoping to save enough money for a trip to Tarsonis and study at the University of Tarsonis.

But now, the interiors of this derelict spaceship will probably be the last thing Mathew will ever see. General Duke is sure to leave them in the ship to rot.

A Timely Rescue

Another ship docked with the derelict prison ship, and rescued Mathew and the rest of the Militia: the new Magistrate had not forgotten brave militia that saved the people of Backwater.

Although Backwater was saved, the Alien Zerg began emerging on Mar Sara planet-wide. Soon the entire colony will be overrun. General Duke and his Confederate Defence Forces did not provide any military support or evacuation.

In a desperate move, the Magistrate made a bargain with an extremist organization called the Sons of Korhal. Although the Sons of Korhal are labeled “terrorists” by the Confederate government, these so called terrorist’s leader, Arcturus Mengsk agreed to send a fleet of spacecraft to evacuate any survivors off Mar Sara.

It still took time for the Sons of Korhal’s fleet to arrive. During this time, the people of Mar Sara had no military help from their Confederate government, and were deprived of their militia. Many died to the Alien Zerg before evacuation could even begin.

Among the many who died, were Mathew’s parents. Mathew’s father, having had substantial military experience in the past, organized many of the people of Mar Sara into a makeshift army, to hold off the Alien Zerg until the Sons of Korhal’s fleet could arrive.

Mathew’s father sent his son a last message before he died fighting the Zerg. Mathew’s father said that it was wrong for him to run away from the world, and come to Mar Sara, the world catches up with you, no matter where you run. Mathew’s father then told Mathew to never stop fighting for whatever he believed in.

Mathew, without any family, branded a criminal by his government, and with only the extremist Sons of Korhal to pledge allegiance to, will go on to bear witness to cataclysmic events in the history that is StarCraft.