Week of 2023/3/27 - SSFF - Chapter 23 - Chapter 25

Chapter 23: The Terran Marines

“As a matter of fact, that will not be necessary.”

Adrianna turned around to Athena in confusion, but before she could ask, the sensors in her armor picked up a sound coming in from beside them. Startled, she turned around and froze when she noticed a number of armored figures emerging from behind a line of trees and walking toward them. Who were they? Decima troops? But since when did Decima troops wear blue armor? And their armor didn't look like any of the types used by Decima forces. How long had they even been there?

Almost instinctively, she raised her rifle in their direction to shoot them first before they could shoot her, but Athena stopped her before she could open fire.

“No!” Athena shook her head. “They’re friendlies!”

“Wait…what?” Adrianna stood still for a second, not too sure what to say. Friendlies? These troops didn't look like Imperials at all.

It didn't take long before the redhead found herself facing at least fifty of these troops. All of them looked almost identical to each other with their armor on. They all had large combat shields mounted on their left shoulder, and the guns they were wielding looked as unfamiliar to her as their armor. The shields implied the Naval Commando Legion or other ship-based infantry units, but again…none of this made any sense. As far as she knew, naval commandos didn't look like this at all.

“Sir!” One of the figures walked up to Athena and greeted her. “Awaiting orders, sir.”

Athena nodded at the figure before turning to Adrianna again. She saw the confusion on Adrianna’s face, and she didn't really have a good answer for her. Yes, she trusted Adrianna. She trusted Adrianna enough to try to free her from Imperial service and even show her some of her secrets, but that didn't mean she wanted to tell Adrianna about the Starcraft units. How would that conversation even go? I can summon units out of nowhere. How? I don’t know, but also I’m actually from 1,700 years ago and these units are from a game I used to play. There was just no need for all the trouble. At least not now.

“It’s complicated…” She simply stated. “I’ll be honest. I don’t have a good answer for you now. I just ask you to trust me one more time. I will get us out of here. I promise.”

Adrianna paused for a second before looking into Athena’s eyes. “We’re not fighting for the Imperium anymore, are we?”

“No,” Athena replied, staring back into her friend’s eyes and giving voice to the words she had wanted to say for a long time. “We are leaving this world and the Imperium behind. I’m done fighting for an empire that sees me as an expendable slave, and from what I saw ever since we met, so are you.”

Adrianna nodded gently. The last few seconds had been confusing, and she was still having trouble wrapping her mind around what was happening. That being said, this was an easy choice for her. She didn't know who Athena was working for or where these new troops came from, but as Athena said, she had no love for the Imperium. She had fought under the banner of Venya because she had no other choice, but now that an opportunity presented itself, she was more than happy to take it.

“As I said, I’m with you, Athena, whatever your plan is.” She assured Athena.

Athena let out a smile and turned back to the 50 Terran marines she just summoned.

This was the first time she was deployed into combat in the months since Research Outpost Delta, but that didn't mean she was broke in terms of resources. In fact, she had built up quite a small bank thanks to what went down in the outpost. So many people died in that building. Loyalists in the 432nd. Traitors in the 432nd. Republic marines. Imperial naval commandos. Since Athena deployed roaches throughout the base, most of these deaths gave Athena resources.

When she first returned to Outpost Delta, Athena remembered her resource count was less than 100. That number became over 12,000 by the time she returned to 9A2-C-8. It had remained more or less since then, and after she summoned 50 Terran marines, her resource count was down to just a bit less than 10,000.

This was the first time she had produced and summoned Terran units, and she quickly realized Terran units worked a little differently than Zerg units. With Zerg units, she had a link to every single one of them. She could feel where they were and communicate her thoughts with them. There was a similar link between her and Terran marines. She couldn’t communicate with them through it though, which meant orders had to be relayed with words. However, it seemed like there was something else she could do…

“Sir?” The leading Terran marine repeated. This was another area where Terran units were different. Unlike the Zerg, where only a few units were sapient, most Terran units involved human beings that were intelligent and aware of their surroundings. The marine knew Athena summoned him, and it was likely that meant there was a threat.

“Yes.” Athena quickly shifted her focus back to her current situation. She gestured in a direction. “Two of you stay with me. Others go in that direction. There should be a number of hostile infantry units in light red armor with insignias on their chests that look like a lion. Take them out.”

“Yes sir. Should we use stimpacks?”

“Negative for now.” Athena shook her head. She had no medics yet and thus no way to heal the marines from the side effects of stimpacks. She also didn't think it would be necessary.

The marines nodded. Two of them walked to Athena and stood by her while the others spread out and advanced in the direction of the Decima pursuers. These Terran marines moved with a level of confidence that belonged to men who knew exactly what they were doing.

“Sir.” One of the marines handed something to Athena. She looked down and saw what looked like an earpiece. Useful, but Athena looked down on her own power armor and sighed.

“Give it to me later.” She instructed the marine. “Do you have comms to the others?”

“Yes sir.”

“Ok. Update me on what happens.”

As the two marines stood still beside her as her loyal sentinels, Athena closed her eyes and stood there for a second, focusing on the link between her and the Terran marines. She instinctively knew she could do something with it, but what? Wait…

Athena focused on the link she shared with one of the marines beside her, and all of a sudden she felt everything change. Things just suddenly became…different. She opened her eyes again and was amazed to realize she was no longer in the Imperial Indominated class power armor. Instead, she found herself inside what, as far as she could tell, was a Terran CMC power armor. She looked down and found herself holding a Terran C-14 gauss rifle. On her left, attached to her left shoulder, was a large blue combat shield.

That was when she fully realized what happened! She just became the Terran marine! Somehow, she just took over the marine’s body!

To say she was amazed would be an understatement. Athena quietly tried to move her new body, and the Terran marine moved as she wished. It was truly an interesting feeling. The old Athena’s body was far from short or frail, but this new body made her feel taller and stronger than she ever was. She could feel everything the marine felt. See everything the marine saw. It was as if this was indeed her body.

“Is everything alright, sir?” A voice suddenly asked. Athena raised her eyebrows and turned to see the other Terran marine turning to face her new body. It seemed like the marine realized Athena had taken over the body of his comrade.

“I…yes.” She replied and was again startled by how deep her voice was.

Without another thought, she returned to her own body. Once again, this process was smooth and effortless. All it took from her was a single thought. The entire time, Adrianna had no idea what just happened.

“Wow,” Athena whispered to herself at her new discovery. This wasn’t what she expected. She had expected to be able to psychically talk to the Terran units the same way she could do to the Zerg. She had expected the Terran units to only be able to talk to her normally. This odd combination… came as a total surprise to her. A pleasant surprise, but a surprise nonetheless.

Now that she thought about it, there were so many things she could use this for. There were still some things she had to explore, of course, such as if she could stay in a body infinitely, whether there were distance restrictions, or what would happen to her if the body died.

Even so, the possibilities were endless. She could observe a battle in her first-person POV and not have to worry too much about her own safety. She could leave a Terran unit in charge of a city or a planet and go to the planet and rule through the unit whenever she wished. She could lead a military operation without having to put herself at risk. She could even hop into a body and travel to new worlds without the risk of being caught or killed.

Hmmm…this was indeed something she should explore more.

As Athena was checking out her newly gained ability of body-swapping with Terran units, gunfire started to appear from not far away.

It was time for the Terrans to claim their first victims in this new galaxy.

---

Sergeant Harris of the 14th Decima Royal Legion absolutely didn't want to be here. If it was up to him, he would be at home, watching movies he pirated off the planetary internet with his wife. Who knows? If he was lucky and his love was in the mood, maybe things could even take a steamy turn.

Instead, because of a stupid war, he had to navigate through a forest hundreds of kilometers from his home alongside his platoon, hunting a squad of Imperial survivors fleeing for their lives.

“Why the hell are we even doing this?” One of the corporals beside the sergeant complained loudly.

“Didn't you attend the meetings? The higher-ups don’t want random squads of Imperials running around behind our lines. Threatens our supply lines or something.” Another corporal replied. “We want to hunt them down before they can group up and pose a threat to our key positions.”

“Yeah, but…”

“But why is the infantry sent in? The scanners on the gunships don’t work too well in this terrain, and their time is better spent elsewhere. Can’t you hear the explosions? The Imperial offensive is still ongoing.”

“No, Frank, let me finish! I don’t care about this damn mission! I mean…why are we even fighting the Venya Imperium? We’ve been allied with them for…how long? Sixty years? My dad traveled to the Imperium once, for god's sake!”

“They invaded us. Go ask them.”

“I heard they’re attacking because our new king is actually the one who assassinated his father.” The first corporal retaliated. “Either way, do we really stand a chance? The other 11 planets all fell in six months. How long will this planet last? And it’s not like we have help. We'd all be dead by the time this war is over!”

The entire platoon fell silent. Everyone was listening to what the first corporal said, and the fact was that he was right.

If these were soldiers in the Imperial Army, the first corporal might be executed on the spot by the sergeant for cowardice and even treachery. The Decima Royal Legion had similar protocols in place, but protocols meant little when there was no one to carry them out.

As a semi-dominant power in the Chaos Sectors, the Kingdom of Decima was no pushover. The Royal Legions of Decima was well drilled and well-experienced, but often they found themselves fighting pirates, terrorists, and bandits that were far weaker than them. This time, it was the Venya Imperium invading with its overwhelming might, and it was the Imperium that was winning.

At a time like this, even Sergeant Harris was questioning his loyalty. Did they really need to fight for a king of six months? Sure, the Imperials were invading, but it wasn’t like they were taking over, right? No matter would happen, it would always be a Decimus on the throne.

“I don’t care who wins. It’s not like things will be any different for us. Still have to pay our taxes.” The first corporal continued. “I just want to go home and enjoy my…”

He never completed that sentence, because the next moment the shooting began.

Unfortunately for them, the Decima soldiers in this platoon were distracted, mainly because they didn't expect a handful of Imperial soldiers to pose a serious threat. The depressing words of the corporal also caught the attention of many men. Using this to their advantage, the Terran troops split into two groups, formed an L shape, and put the Decima platoon into a kill zone. By the time the shooting started, the Decima forces already had their fate sealed.

Within seconds, thirty gauss rifles tore through the fifty Decima troops. 8 mm armor-piercing rounds, accelerated to hypersonic speed, punched through everything in their way. Trees. Bushes. Armor and flesh. C-14s were hardly the strongest weapon in the Terran arsenal, but they were known to take down armored targets from all three races given enough time. As a result, light infantry soldiers with no good cover were easily mowed down.

All around Sergeant Harris, Decima soldiers fell like flies. Some died as they stood there frozen in fear and confusion. Some died as they tried to desperately and futilely return fire. Some died when they tried to turn and run. Regardless of what they did, their fate was the same. The reality was that they were all dead men walking the moment they carelessly allowed themselves to be flanked.

Harris was among the fortunate few in the platoon to survive the first few seconds, but as he took cover behind the body of a man in his platoon, he quickly came to the conclusion that he likely wouldn’t be making out of this forest alive.

Right beside him, the corporal who started the conversation collapsed on the ground, his chest torn open by half a dozen spiked rounds. His rifle was fully loaded, but he didn't even have the chance to fire a single shot.

By now, the gunshots had already stopped. Not far away, several figures in blue walked out from behind trees and approached the field of bodies, firing on anything that was still moving.

A few desperate survivors in the platoon returned fire, but their rifles did little against the shields and armor of the blue figures. The rifles of the blue figures were far more effective, something that became clear as the figures coldly finished off the survivors.

Sergeant Harrison saw a young man open his face shield, get on his knees, and beg for mercy. The figures in blue armor had none, and the young man received the same treatment as his comrades.

In that split second, so many thoughts went through the sergeant’s head, but they all came down to a single regret.

“Sorry, Debra. I guess you’re right after all. Should’ve retired when I had the chance…”

Another gunshot, and the sergeant’s thoughts died with him.

Chapter 24: The Fog of War

“Sir, the hostile forces have all been terminated. As reported earlier, it was around 50 combatants in total. Thirty marines opened fire. As far as we could see, there were no survivors.”

Athena nodded at the Terran marine beside her, not too surprised by the brief victory. She had noticed her resource count increased by another 1,200 units.

Beside her, Adrianna, a stranger to the capability of the Terrans, was surprised. There were 50 soldiers that showed up beside Athena, and there were 50 Decima troops. How long did the shooting even last? A minute? Whoever these soldiers were, they were good.

“If you don’t mind me asking, Athena, what’s your plan now?” Adrianna took a step closer to Athena. Now that the imminent threat had been neutralized, what was the next step? “We can’t stay here. Most likely Decima reinforcements are already on the way. If we want to move somewhere, now is the time.”

Athena nodded at Adrianna’s suggestion. Adrianna made a good point given the limited information she knew. What she didn't know was that Athena’s forces could grow with every life she or her units took, and while she only had marines at her disposal now, she could unlock stronger infantry and mechanical units by coming into contact with human technologies.

In other words, she was in no rush to leave this battle zone.

“If you’re the Decima commander and one of your platoons suddenly got wiped out. What would you do?” Athena simply asked.

Adrianna glanced in the two directions where intense gunshots and explosions could be heard despite the distance. Sections Lemma and Omega were likely a meatgrinder now, and they were just two of the multiple landing zones the Imperial Army was trying to establish. Compared to that, the loss of a few dozen men in a single platoon was nothing.

“I would deploy as much reinforcements as I can, which likely isn't a lot. The loss of a platoon so quickly means maybe two to three platoons of enemies in the forest. I will maybe send in a battalion if I have one. I will deploy some air support if possible, although a handful of gunships likely wouldn’t do too well in this dense forest. The reinforcements will be much more careful, and they will bring heavier weapons.”

“A sensible decision.” Athena let out a small, cold smile. “And exactly what I am counting on.”

As she spoke, the dirt beneath her feet moved gently. She had deployed her ten roaches under the earth and sent them out as scouts. Just because these Zerg roaches couldn’t fight in the open didn't mean they were completely useless in this situation. In fact, as of now, they were the perfect scouts.

Now, all she had to do was wait.

---

Colonel Decker had always taken pride in his ability to keep everything organized. It was a good habit he had developed ever since he was in secondary school. He would make these timetables for every task he had to finish in the day and try to follow his schedule regardless of if he felt like it. This level of discipline helped him make his way up the ranks of the Decima Royal Legion and become the commander of the 4th Mechanized Regiment in the 14th Decima Royal Legion. Of course, the fact that his father was a Legion Master might have helped, but the colonel firmly believed it was his own accomplishments that got him to where he was. If he had enough time and patience, even the rank of Legion Master might not be impossible.

Unfortunately for him, almost as soon as the invasion began, the colonel realized a real war wasn’t something he could really schedule and plan for.

After the Imperial vanguard forces made planetfall, while many legions and regiments were deployed to overrun their positions and chase them off the planet, Colonel Decker and his 4th Regiment had an easier task. Using Airfield Sigma and the gunships within, they were to hunt down and eliminate the small groups of Imperial soldiers who, one way or another, ended up behind Decima lines.

For the common soldiers, this was a much easier mission than charging a heavily fortified and contested Imperial position, but for Colonel Decker, coordinating this operation became a nightmare. With an ever-shifting list of targets, it became his job to deploy whatever assets the regiment had available to go after these targets. More importantly, since his targets were numerous groups of Imperial soldiers, he also had to divide his own troops down into countless units.

“Sir! The 574th Platoon has engaged elements of Imperial Special Forces on the outskirts of Payera City. They are requesting reinforcements.”

“Sir! We have re-established communication with the 493rd Platoon! They have confirmed the termination of two Imperial dropships and are returning to this base.”

“Sir! Our fuel and ammo supply is down to 15% storage. We will need resupplying in the near future if we want to continue our deployments.”

The young colonel let out a frustrated groan as he stared at the map in front of him. The map showed an area of hundreds of kilometers squared, and there were numerous red and blue dots on the map that signaled Imperial and Decima forces.

“One by one!” The young officer snapped before turning to the first lieutenant. “Intel says that unit of Imperial Special Forces should be down to 2 dozen men! The 574th is a full-sized platoon! They’re requesting reinforcements?”

“Yes sir. Sergeant Olsen said he cannot guarantee that his unit will be able to intercept the Imperials before they reach the city without reinforcements. If the Imperials enter the city…”

“Fine!” The colonel looked down on the number of units he had in reserve. “Reroute the 382nd and the 584th Platoon to reinforce the 574th! Trap and terminate them outside the city! Tell all three sergeants I will personally see them court-martialed if they fail! And you!” He snapped to the third officer. “Wasn’t the resupply convoy scheduled to arrive twenty minutes ago?”

“Fifteen minutes, sir, and it never arrived.”

“When were you going to tell me that?” The colonel had reached a boiling point. They were in the middle of a battle and were about to be out of fuel and ammo, and no one told him?

“With all due respect, sir, I reported this to you ten minutes ago.” The officer protested loudly. “Everyone in the room can back me on that…”

Colonel Decker paused. Really? Did that happen? Now that he thought about it, he distinctly remembered a conversation about that topic going down not long ago. His face turned red in embarrassment and shame, but before he could say another word, three more officers walked up with two more reports.

“Sir, we received intel that a number of Imperial survivors have regrouped in Area D82. Their numbers are in the hundreds. We have been ordered to terminate them as soon as possible. If they managed to gather more survivors, they can pose a serious threat to our legions at the front.”

“Sir! There have been reports that another Imperial unit has been ambushing supply convoys to the frontline. Likely Imperial Special Forces. We are ordered to hunt them down at once.”

“Sir…”

“Oh fuck me!” Colonel Decker cursed loudly, something he had never done in front of his men before. Couldn’t these new issues wait for him to solve his existing problems before showing up? This was nothing like what he learned in the academy! Even the battles he had fought against pirates and terrorists were nothing like this!

“Sir?” An officer raised his eyebrows. Was that an order?

Doing his best to pull himself together, Colonel Decker looked at the map once again. It was fine. He still had reserve units. “Deploy…”

This time he didn't even get to finish his order.

“Sir!” Another communications officer walked up to the colonel. “Legion Master Klaus is on the line. He demands your immediate attendance.”

The colonel drew in a deep breath and did his best to remain calm and professional as he walked up to a communication console to meet his superior, the commander of the 14th Legion. Unfortunately for him, his composure was shattered by the first sentence exchanged in the conversation.

“Colonel Decker. I want you to mobilize three battalions at once and reinforce my location.”

“Three battalions?” For a second Colonel Decker almost wanted to laugh. Whose idea was this? Three battalions? “With all due respect, sir, I’ve only got 10 battalions in total, and most of them are scattered all over my district! I barely have enough men to cover my own ground!”

“That was not a question, colonel.”

“Again, with all due respect, sir, I am in need of reinforcements myself!” Colonel Decker remembered what went on in the numerous defense meetings he attended. “Shouldn’t there be two regiments in the Legion acting as reserves? And I thought the 9th and the 56th Legion were both supposed to provide reinforcements as necessary!”

“If I have other reinforcements available do you think I will be trying to get three battalions from you?” To the colonel’s shock, his legion master snapped. There was a look of anger and despair on the older man’s face. “Three battalions. That’s an order, colonel.”

As the call ended, Colonel Decker stood there, silent for a while. Needless to say, things weren’t going too well in the front.

Of course, there were still plenty of Decima Legions on the planet. The colonel knew the entirety of the Decima Royal Guard was also combat-ready. In addition, there were numerous reservists that had been drawn and armed. Unfortunately, given that the Decima defenders had no idea where the Imperials would land, their forces were scattered across the entire planet before the invasion began. This was the unfortunate reality of defending a planet this big. There were just so many places the enemies could go for, and every single one of them had to be defended unless they wanted to allow the enemies to land on the planet with ease.

Once the Imperials started making planetfall at one location, many Decima Legions had to be recalled from all over the planet. The issue was that even with railroads, ships, vehicles, and aerial transports, it would take them a while to arrive. If the local Decima forces couldn’t keep the Imperials from establishing a foothold on the planet, then the Imperials could deploy further reinforcements and heavy firepower by the time additional Decima forces arrive and launch a counterattack.

The colonel slowly made his way back to the map and turned to the officers awaiting his commands.

“Sir?”

“Get the reserve battalion ready and send it to meet with the rest of the Legion. Recall all platoons of the 9th and the 3rd battalions. Supply them the best we can and get them to the front.” Colonel Decker ordered, somewhat defeated. In the end, orders were orders.

Over the span of the next thirty minutes, as a third of his forces was sent away, Colonel Decker did his best to coordinate what little forces he had left. Fortunately for him, half an hour after its scheduled due time, a resupply convoy finally reached Airfield Sigma, allowing his regiment to keep deploying and fighting. Honestly, when the convoy arrived, the colonel almost wanted to shed some tears of joy. He had no idea what he would do if it never came.

Under the colonel’s orders, his platoons moved from location to location via gunships and armored transports, terminating small groups of Imperial forces they encountered. The 574th, with the help of two other platoons, were able to corner and destroy the small unit of Imperial Special Forces remnants. These three platoons then moved on the group of one hundred or so Imperial survivors and routed them. The Imperial Special Forces unit harassing supply convoys was forced into hiding as well. Overall, things were slightly better.

That was when Colonel Decker was informed of something problematic. A platoon sent to pursue a small squad of Imperials into a forest was ambushed. Judging from the lack of communication after the initial calls for help, most likely the platoon was completely destroyed.

When he first heard the news, the colonel wasn’t too surprised. Imperial soldiers were hardly defenseless lambs to be slaughtered, and often they would set up traps and ambush the Decima soldiers sent after them. Given that the platoon was wiped out so quickly, Colonel Decker estimated the enemies to be around a hundred in number. At least.

If it was up to him, he would deploy multiple battalions at once and crush the enemies with overwhelming numbers and firepower, but the reality was that his forces were stretched too thin. Most of his troops were scattered throughout his district. Even Airfield Sigma was only defended by two platoons and his personal security platoon, and those three platoons had to stay to guard the base of operation.

With that in mind, the colonel redirected two available infantry platoons into the forest with heavy weapons and instructed four other platoons to make their way to the forest as soon as possible. In addition, a number of gunships were tasked with providing whatever air support possible. The idea was that the first two platoons, now that they knew what they were dealing with, would be a lot more careful and hopefully provide information on who they were going up against. This would allow the other four platoons to finish the job.

For a while, as more and more intel from other sources reached the colonel, he briefly moved on from what was going on in the forest. Whoever was hiding in the forest would likely end up with the same fate as the other Imperial units. Destroyed or routed.

He was wrong.

Chapter 25: New Unlocks

The sound of gauss rifles firing rang through the forest. In the body of one of the Terran marines, Athena watched as Decima soldiers in light red armor collapsed in front of her one by one, the golden lioness sigil on their chests stained red with freshly spilled blood.

A few minutes ago, two platoons of Decima soldiers were deployed by gunships and armored transports to an open field near the forest. After some preparation, the hundred or so soldiers made their way into the forest. It was a good thing they were ready for combat, because they came under fire far sooner than they expected.

Unbeknownst to them, their movement had been tracked by a Zerg roach lurking underground. One of the platoons arrived at the open field ten minutes before the other, and one of Athena’s patrolling roaches saw it. As a result, Athena had more than enough time to mobilize her Terran marines and meet the Decima soldiers head-on in the forest.

Almost immediately, the heavy firepower from the Terran marines began tearing the Decima soldiers to pieces. Every burst of gauss rifle shots meant the fall of at least one Decima soldier. Nothing could effectively shield the soldiers against the hypersonic bullets of the C-14 Impalers. Not the trees. Not the armor. Not even the bodies of their comrades.

To their credit, the Decima soldiers performed a lot better than the first platoon. Their position was far better than the first platoon, and they had much greater numbers. Even as many screamed and died, others began putting up a good fight using their impressive arsenal.

Athena was observing the battle from behind the Terran lines. She watched as, in front of her, a Terran marine advanced toward the Decima position. His combat shield was carefully positioned so it covered most of his body from incoming fire while still allowing his gauss rifle to spit fire at the enemies. Bullets landed on his armor and shield alike, but the marine hardly seemed fazed at all. After gunning down several Decima soldiers, the marine caught the attention of the enemies.

“Incoming!” There was the sound of something piercing the air, followed by the marine's warning. At the same time, the marine raised his combat shield to completely cover himself. The next second, a Decima suicide drone, packed with explosives and controlled by drone operators in the two platoons, smashed straight into him. The resulting explosion tore the marine to shreds. Even the combat shield and the CMC power armor couldn’t protect the marine from such a blast so close to him.

Pieces of shrapnel hit the marines in close proximity but failed to reach the bodies beneath the armor.

Another Terran marine not far away collapsed without a word, his helmet and skull both blown open by a high-caliber sniper rifle. Two more marines in front of Athena were hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. They were tossed into the air and were dead before they hit the ground.

Casualties were rising for the Terrans, but it was to be expected. Decima Royal Legion soldiers weren’t exactly the best soldiers in the galaxy, but then again Terran marines were simply the cheap cannon fodders in the Terran army. They were the expendable grunts that, in lore, were often deployed by the thousands. Casualties were to be expected.

As the gunfire continued, Athena contemplated the idea of producing and deploying more Terran marines to join the fight. However, to do so, she would need to return to her own body. It was something she had discovered while practicing possessing the bodies of her Terran units. She could only produce units and deploy them into her surroundings in her own body. In other words, there were limitations that kept her from simply hiding her own body somewhere safe and always using Terran units as avatars.

The next second, just as she was still pondering the need to call in reinforcements, Athena suddenly found herself back in her own body in the blink of an eye.

“What the…” She whispered to herself, ignored Adrianna’s confused look, and closed her eyes again. As she did so, she realized she could no longer sense the marine whose body she was in, nor could she sense the presence of three other marines. This time, she took over the body of another marine, and she quickly realized what happened.

Not far away, a portion of the Terran firing line had been utterly destroyed. Multiple marines were dead, and their armor and weapons were shattered.

At the same time, at the Decima lines, there were flames and screams, as well as loud curses that Athena could hear even from her own position. Someone was very angry...

The culprit of these two attacks wasn’t any Terran weapon, nor was it the suicide drones or rockets of the Decima platoons. Instead, the attack came from above. Athena looked up and could distinctly see two Decima Overwatch class gunships and the missile pods beneath them.

It seemed like, in their desperation, the Decima troops had called in air support on enemy targets who were extremely close to them in an environment where gunships’ scanners had trouble telling friend from foe. It turned out the Decima commander was a bit too optimistic. Perhaps he trusted the pilots too much. Perhaps the gunship pilots were nervous. Or amateurs. Or they just made a mistake.

Either way, the result of this gamble wasn’t a daring, film-worthy maneuver that destroyed all enemy forces but left all friendlies unharmed. Instead, out of the two air-to-ground missiles fired, one landed in the middle of the Terran marines and the other hit the two Decima platoons.

On one hand, this helped Athena realize getting killed while possessing the body of a Terran unit would leave her unharmed. On the other hand, this friendly fire finally broke the already wavering Decima forces.

As the Decima soldiers turned and fled without a care in the world, the Terran troops, without even needing an explicit order from Athena, turned their attention to the gunships. The two gunships were still hovering in the air at a relatively low altitude. It seemed like they were unsure of what to do next. Should they wait until the friendlies were all gone and keep firing? Maybe they could pretend like the friendly fire never happened? Perhaps the pilots were busy wondering if they would be court-martialed for this absolute disaster.

The next second, the remaining Terran marines started shooting. This time, they were shooting upward.

Athena watched in awe as storms of gauss rifle rounds, shot from three dozen C-14 Impalers, ripped through the two Overwatch class gunships hovering at low altitude. The gunship pilots were caught off guard as well. Normally, scattered squads of Imperial survivors would have limited anti-air firepower. Most of the time, they had no choice but to flee from the gunships. After chasing relatively defenseless Imperials for so long, the pilots had grown overconfident. As bullets ripped their aircrafts and their bodies into pieces, the pilots realized, all too late, that this was different. These enemies were…special.

As the gunships fell out of the air and crashed nearby, Athena remembered that as general-purpose infantry units, Terran marines also had quite the anti-air capability. As a matter of fact, they were the only anti-air units in the Terran infantry, not counting ghosts. In a Starcraft game, enough marines could gun down armadas with a stunning level of ease.

In this world, they wouldn’t be shooting down enemy starships or starfighters ever, but against un-shielded gunships or dropships that were flying too low, a group of Terran marines could teach them a lesson.

As the dust settled, Athena turned to the marines.

“Look for survivors. Split up any survivors and interrogate them about anything they know. Their unit. Their base of operation. The garrison there. Everything.”

“Yes sir.” One of the marines nodded before asking. “Are we allowed to use, uh, rougher methods, sir?”

Athena paused for a second. If she was the Athena who just found her way into this world, her answer would likely be a maybe. At least that was what she said when the Zerg queen offered to torture Corporal Huo for her. Now? After spending six months in this universe, she was changed by everything she saw and heard her. She wouldn’t be going around torturing and killing people for fun, but when the survival of her and her friend depended on it, she was fine with getting her hands a little dirty.

“Avoid these…rougher methods, if you can, but do whatever you have to to get the intel.”

“Yes sir!”

Athena nodded and returned to her own body. As she opened her eyes, she was a little surprised to see what Adrianna was doing.

“So, uh…can I see your weapon? I don’t think it’s any type I’ve seen before, and I’ve seen a lot of weapons.”

In front of her, Adrianna was trying to start a conversation with one of Athena’s Terran marine bodyguards. By now, Adrianna had realized that these marines were indeed friendlies. Not only so, but they also seemed to answer to Athena and were willing to fight and die for her. This made Adrianna…curious.

“For the third time, no.” The Terran marine simply shook his head, annoyance in his voice. Unlike zerglings, these marines had their own thoughts and emotions. It was just that as Starcraft units, they were physically incapable of disobeying or betraying Athena.

“Fine.” Adrianna sighed. “Any chance you’ve got booze?”

“I do, but they’re not for you.”

“Hmmm…what a shame.” Adrianna shrugged, not that she really wanted to have a drink at a time like this. She was just bored and wanted to start a conversation.

Athena smiled to herself. She had always known Adrianna was talkative. Ignoring her for now, she quickly went over the gains and losses of the previous engagement.

She initially summoned 50 marines. After the two skirmishes, she now had 34 left. 16 marines had died to the two Decima platoons and the pair of gunships. Unfortunate losses, but acceptable.

In turn, they had defeated another two platoons. A significant portion of these two platoons lived. According to the resources she received, Athena calculated that a total of 65 Decima soldiers and pilots died in the previous engagement.

As of now, she had around 13,000 units of resources. Enough to produce hundreds of marines if she didn't have to worry about the current supply cap, which was at 80...wait, why did that say 130?

Oh…

“Human technologies detected in close proximity to units…”

“Analyzing technology…”

“Analysis complete. Technologies show resemblance to Terran engineering…”

“Terran structure Barracks - Tech Lab has been unlocked…”

“Is everything alright, Athena? I…I’ll be honest you’re scaring me a bit.”

Not far from Athena, Adrianna raised her eyebrows. She accidentally saw Athena’s expression and was surprised to see the utter excitement on her face. Adrianna had been with Athena for months, but this was the first time she had seen her captain, former captain, so thrilled. Athena was a good person, make no mistake, but she was often a serious woman. Seeing her so excited was almost unnerving.

“Oh everything’s alright. In fact, I’d say things are going perfectly.”

Adrianna was right. Athena was absolutely thrilled, and who could blame her? This was the first time she had unlocked a new building in six months! When she was on 9A2-C-8, she did her best to go to every location she could in an attempt to unlock new structures, Terran or otherwise. None of that worked, and for a while she almost became desperate. Thankfully, it seemed like the Decima troops here and the weapons they carried were enough for a fresh unlock!

A number of the Decima arsenal were outdated or modified Imperial weapons, but the Kingdom of Decima had its own research and manufacturing systems. The Overwatch-series gunships, for example, had been used by the kingdom before it became an ally of the Imperium. Most likely, contact with these new weapons helped unlock the Tech Lab to the Barracks.

Giving her friend a wide smile, Athena opened the game again, clicked on the barracks, and produced a tech lab. The cost of the building itself was negligible. After the tech lab was produced, Athena clicked on the barracks again. As expected, two more Terran infantry units were made available in the barracks.

First, the reapers.

Reapers were terran light infantry units armed with jetpacks that allowed them to jump up and down cliffs and traverse more difficult terrain. Each reaper was equipped with dual P-38 Scythe gauss pistols to gun down light enemy ground targets and KD-8 charges designed for building demolition. Reapers were trained in hit-and-run skirmishes and close-quarter combat. They were also known to use combat drugs to improve their performance in combat and heal their injuries.

Also…another weapon the reapers had was the KD8 charges, which in Starcraft games were infamous for knocking enemy units, mostly zerglings, around while doing almost no damage. Athena wasn’t too sure how effective they would be. Most likely she would find out soon enough.

Each reaper cost 120 units of resources and 2 supplies. Expensive, but expected.

The next was the marauders.

Marauders were the heavily-armored support units that were often deployed to take out heavy ground targets. Their power armors were the 5-4 Armored Infantry Suit. When used together with kinetic foam, these enhanced armors could keep the marauders alive against much more punishments compared to the marine’s CMC armors. Their main weapon was a pair of Quad K12 grenade launchers designed for armor-piercing roles.

Each marauder cost 200 units of resources and 2 supplies. Each marauder cost the same as a Zerg roach. While marauders are easier to kill than roaches, they were capable of doing a lot more damage.

There was only one Terran infantry unit left to unlock. The ghost, which required the ghost academy. Athena didn't even want to think about how much a ghost would cost, considering canonically ghosts were elite, invisible, psychic assassins who could often go toe-to-toe with Protoss warriors with centuries of experience. How would she even be able to unlock the ghost academy? Were there psychic individuals in this galaxy?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a squad of Terran marines.

“Sir, there is something you will want to know. It’s about where those, uhh…”

“Decima.” Another Terran marine sighed and reminded his comrade.

“Oh, yeah. It’s about where those Decima soldiers came from. It’s an airfield called…shit I really shouldn’t be the one doing the reporting.”

“It’s called Airfield Sigma, sir.” Once again, the second marine stepped forward and helped his buddy. “That’s where the 4th Mechanized Regiment of the 14th Royal Decima Legion is stationed at. From what we learned, right now it's quite a vulnerable target.”

Athena’s eyes lit up and her grin grew even wider. It seemed like her reapers and marauders would get their chance to shine soon enough.