//------------------------------//
// IV - The Shot Heard Around the World 
// Story: With All Its Glory, And All Its Horror 
// by GeoffNunchucks 
//------------------------------//



If you men think that I rely on numbers, then all Greece is not sufficient, for it is but a small fraction of their numbers; but if on men's valor, then this number will do.
Leonidas of Sparta



Princess Luna sat in her study, carefully reading through the old tax codes and occasionally adding to the small mountain of notes. Lately the nobles of Canterlot, as well as some of the wealthier business owners, had been complaining to Celestia in her day court about the recent downturn in the economy. Ordinarily, she detested the idea of playing nice with that stuffy lot, but in her mind she reasoned that the average pony must have been chafing even worse than they.

Hence, while her sister handled the public, Luna worked on solutions to the problem.

She realized she must have lost track of time as the sun hung low above the horizon, and, appropriately, Celestia tiredly opened the study's door and trotted in where she flopped none too gracefully on a dais next to Luna.

"Long day, sister?" Luna said with a smirk.

Celestia sighed, long and dramatic. "You would think I'd have gotten used to this after the first hundred years or so, but here I am."

Luna laughed. "Sounds like your age is catching up with you, 'Tia."

She snorted. "I should send you back to the moon for that."

"Ah, but then you'd be doing all this paperwork by yourself."

"... Small price to pay."

"So, what new and exciting trivialities did the stuffed shirts have to whinge about today?"

"Actually, it was mostly commoners. It would seem your hunch was right after all; a lot of ponies are facing layoffs and can't find replacement jobs." Celestia rolled onto her back, staring at the high ceiling. "Among many other things, of course."

Sighing, Luna said, "You and I both know that the economy is a fickle thing. We could just leave it be and let it sort it out itself, it always does."

"While I technically agree, I defy you to try telling that to an unemployed mare with two foals to feed."

"Could be worse," came a disembodied voice. "I could still be in charge."

Discord's head suddenly popped out of Luna's pile of papers, sending them flying and eliciting an exasperated groan from the blue mare.

"Discord! I had all that organized!"

"Luna, they were in a pile," Celestia deadpanned.

"Organized chaos! See, I knew there was a reason I liked Luna more than you." He coiled around Luna, agitated as she was. "But fine, here."

With a snap of his fingers, the mess of papers vanished and reappeared into several neat stacks arranged by relevance. Luna audibly facehoofed while Celestia laughed.

The moment, brief as it was, was interrupted by an urgent knock on the door.

"Enter," Luna called.

A huge, dark gray unicorn royal guard swiftly entered and brusquely approached the princesses. The large red plume atop his golden helmet easily identifying him as Iron Aegis, Commander of the Royal Guard.

"Your highnesses, we just received an emergency telegram from Appleloosa, authenticated by both Sheriff Silverstar and Chief Thunderhooves. You... need to read this." The famously unshakeable stallion had a noticeable waver in his voice. Luna wondered at just what could possibly have spooked the living statue.

He levitated a small slip of paper to Celestia, who had already righted herself on the dais. Her brow furrowed as she read the message. As her eyes worked their way down the page they steadily grew to the size of dinner plates, before visibly fighting back a gasp of horror. Discord, who had been drinking from a glass of chocolate milk he conjured up from somewhere as he read over her shoulder, spat out his drink.

"Sister?" Luna asked nervously. "What does it say?"

"It... it says Appleloosa was attacked by a horde of unknown creatures, and that they killed over a dozen ponies and buffalo. They've been cutting down portions of their orchard to make barricades and attempting to use dynamite to fend them off."

Luna's jaw worked silently as the words washed over her. "What!?" she eventually exclaimed, then whipped around to face the Guard Commander. "When did this happen?"

"The telegram came in less than an hour ago, your highness. The attack was apparently this morning. I immediately brought it to our standby teams and have been ensuring their coordination."

All traces of exhaustion vanished from Celestia as she stood up, a fire burning in her eyes the likes of which Luna had not seen since the changeling coup attempt.

"Commander, send a company of guards to Appleloosa at-"

With an audacity that could only be achieved by Commander Aegis, he interrupted the Solar Princess. "Already done, your highness. The chariots went wheels up ten minutes ago."

Celestia stood there slack-jawed, surprised at the Commander's brazen action. Still, she was pleased with his quick thinking and initiative. "I see. Very good, Commander. Put the remainder of the rapid response units on standby. The moment anything comes in from Appleloosa, I want you to send a runner to Luna or myself. If you feel it is urgent enough, you have permission to mobilize more guards as necessary. Dismissed."

"Understood, your highness." The Commander about-faced and left the study in a hurry, the tramp of his shoes echoing down the hall as he galloped at full speed.

Celestia dropped back down onto the dais, hard. She held her forehead in her hoof as Luna picked up and read the telegram herself. Discord dashed to the window and threw it open, whereupon he sniffed the outside air in one long, dramatic inhale.

"Strange," he said. "I can sense the chaos, but not its source."

"Is that unusual?" Luna asked, not even pretending to understand what passed for logic in the Lord of Chaos' head.

"Extremely. What's more, I felt something similar from that nearby changeling hive a few days ago. Didn't think much of it at the time."

Luna cocked an eyebrow. "'Changeling hive'?" she echoed. "One of King Thorax's?"

"Oh no, it's run by Chrysalis' sister I believe. What was her name again? Formica something-or-other? Maybe I should start keeping an address book..."

"Formicidae," Celestia answered with a groan. "I... 'met' her once before, after Chrysalis' coup attempt. She seemed rather benign at the time; her changelings were more in favor of creating original personas to blend in rather than actually replacing ponies. Still, due to her... familial relations, they haven't been able to integrate as well as those under King Thorax. A shame, really"

"You don't think she's responsible do you?" Luna asked. "I know naught of her, but this atrocity does not agree with what you have described."

Discord snorted. "Doubtful. She's almost as non-confrontational as Fluttershy. Besides, her hive isn't nearly powerful enough to do something like this."

"What, then?"

The Lord of Chaos hummed. "Well, since I can't detect it, it would have to be something inherently unchaotic." He glanced over his shoulder and side-eyed the Princesses. "Dare I say it, something Harmonious?"

"But then how could creatures of Harmony commit such an act?"

"Come now, you act like Twilight and her friends haven't caused enough chaos of their own. Or you two, for that matter." He gave the air another whiff. His asymmetric eyes shot wide open and his mouth twisted into a lopsided grin. "Oh, hel~lo, that. Is. New."

"Discord? What is it?"

"Oh, just the most delicious source of chaos I've smelled in a good, long time. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to investigate this personally. Toodle-oo!" In his typical impulsive fashion, he leapt out the window.

"Wait, Discord!" Celestia shouted, darting to where he had stood moments ago.

"Yeees?" he said, hovering upside-down with a crooked smile still on his face.

Celestia paused. What she wanted was to stop him from causing any more damage. On the other hoof... maybe that was just what they needed right now.

A devilish grin grew on her face. "Try to bring one back alive, would you?"

He laughed mightily. "Oh, I do love it when we agree on things, Celestia. Ta-ta!" With that, Discord shot off towards Appleloosa, his serpentine body corkscrewing through the air.





"So... Sorry about pointing my gun at you," Matt said, more than a little embarrassed. "Gonna be honest, I thought you were a Zerg when I first saw you."

Matt had placed Sergei and Mike at the windowed walls on opposite sides of the desk, each with a pair of the LRAS binoculars to keep surveillance on the small village. Stuart and John were resting against their rucksacks, eating a portion of their rations. While this was far from what Matt would consider a good patrol base, the amount of intel available in the deceased changeling queen's quarters made it worth the risk, especially now that they had someone who could translate for them.

"Queen Dorylus" looked over her shoulder at him with an indignant look on her face, then sighed with a shake of her head and returned to her task. She was scanning through a shelf with honeycomb cubbyholes, each with a small label in the changelings' language and containing large rolled-up sheets of paper or parchment. What, precisely, she was looking for Matt wasn't sure.

"Well, good thing I fainted then." Thankfully ignoring Matt's faux pas, she asked, "Is that what your weapons are called?"

"Mm hm. Technically they're lasers though, not true 'guns'."

She let out a humorless laugh. "You're assuming I know what either of those things are."

"... Right, my bad. 'Guns' fire solid projectiles at supersonic speeds while lasers shoot focused beams of light."

"Interesting..." Dorylus said absently. "Sorry, I'm not ignoring you, I'm just trying to- AHA!"

Her horn glowed green once again as a particular roll of paper radiated the same hue and gently levitated out of its cubbyhole. She walked Matt over to the desk and unrolled it, revealing a detailed world map complete with national boundaries and color-coded for environment.

Matt peered over her shoulder. "I take it this is Equis?"

"Indeed. What do you think?"

I think it's got a lot more water than Mar Sara, that's for sure. "I wouldn't use it for land nav, but it'll work. Where are we?"

Dorylus pointed with a hole-filled hoof to a short mountain range running north to south near the center of the largest continent. To its west was a vast desert, evidently the troopers' point of entry. To its east was what looked like a swath of plains, if the small drawings of grass scattered in the light green region were any indicator.

The Changeling Queen's hoof was directly over a small, hand - Hoof? Horn? How exactly did they make this thing? - drawn star in the western face of the mountains. Matt assumed this was the location of Dorylus' "hive" they were currently based in.

"Alright, so then what's the nearest city?"

"Here, Appleloosa. A pony settlement," Dorylus said as she pointed to a small black dot on the plains side of the mountains. Matt couldn't tell distances with the alien units of measurement marked on the map, but it looked well under a hundred kilometers. Nothing compared to what they'd just endured. "I'm a bit worried though. It's not far, so there's a good chance they have encountered the Zerg... And that's also where the remnants of my hive are."

Matt sympathized with her plight. Seems we both got saddled with more responsibility than we were ready for. "So you wanna go there and make sure they're safe. What about Appleloosa itself? How many ponies live there?"

"Not many. A few hundred at most, plus the nearby buffalo tribe. It honestly isn't much bigger than the hive."

"And why exactly are your people there if you're so unwelcome?"

"Why do you think? They and the buffalo are our primary source of nourishment."

"Ah." Matt considered the map for a long moment, eyeing the large gold line that marked the border of Equestria. It might be our best bet to get in contact with them. These princesses sound like they would be powerful allies, assuming Dory here is right. "Then I guess that's our next stop. Getting 'Celestia' and 'Luna' on our side sounds like our best chance. And you need to see to your people"

Dorylus nodded in agreement. "Good idea. Appleloosa is connected to the Equestrian railways too, so it shouldn't be hard to get you from there to Canterlot, the capitol." She closed her eyes and sighed, a relieved look appearing on her face. "And... thank you. I... don't know where I would be if not for you."

Matt smiled at her. "All in a day's work, ma'am."

They were interrupted by the sound of something - or rather, someone - falling on the floor, followed by John swearing. Matt and Dorylus instinctively looked behind them to see what all the commotion was about. They were met by the sight of John attempting to stand up from a sitting position facing the wall next to the door. Embedded deep in the stone wall in front of him was a strange bladed device.

"John, what the hell're you doing?" Matt asked, not particularly surprised by his trooper's antics.

The jokester turned his head around to face Matt and he quickly popped up to his feet. "Uh, trying to get this thing outta the wall sar'nt," he said, gesturing at the bladed device. "There's another one on the other side too."

True to his word, a second identical device was lodged on the opposite side. Curious, Matt approached the bladed instrument John had attempted to extract. It consisted of three gleaming curved blades radiating out from a central hub, each of which tapered to a fine point. Only the edge on their outer curve was sharpened, and the flats were engraved with ornate, flowing floral patterns. Looking closer at the central hub, Matt saw that the three blades were all forged from a single continuous piece of metal. A pair of flat disks sat on either side of the hub and were made of a silvery metal and inlaid with green gemstones, probably emeralds. Matt touched one of the disks, and found that they both spun together free and smooth, as if on roller bearings.

Surrounding both of the blades were copious amounts of dried, red blood. Clearly, whoever owned these had fought back against the Zerg.

"What're these?" Matt asked, perplexed.

Dorylus approached the unyielding blades. "My mother's glaives. These have been passed down our family for generations. I've never seen her fight with them, but she still taught me how to use them. Probably expected to pass them to me at... some point."

Matt noticed tears starting to well up in her feline eyes. Unsure of what to say, he simply placed a hand on her shoulder, which was barely higher than his waist. Despite being made of black chitin, he was surprised to learn that it was fairly warm. She sniffed and wiped her eyes, saying, "Thanks."

Memories of the dead troopers from his original platoon flooded Matt's mind and a surge of melancholy washed over him. "I can't say I know exactly what you're going through, but... I get it."

"You do, don't you." It wasn't a question. "I guess that means these are mine now..."

Dorylus' horn glowed as she grabbed the glaive with her green aura. Her face contorted as she attempted to force it free of the wall with her alien brand of telekinesis. The glaive, however, stayed lodged in its rocky crevice, defying her will.

She gasped as she suddenly released her hold on the blade. "Mother must have put a lot of force behind that," she said with a forced laugh.

Matt shook his head and grinned. "Alright, John, give it another go."

John laughed and reached for the blade, saying, "I'm'a King Arthur this bitch." He grabbed it by one of the inner curves and braced his foot on the wall. With a loud groan he attempted to pull it free once again. After a few seconds of continuous pulling, he released the pressure.

"Guess you ain't worthy, John," Stuart laughed, who had been silently observing until now.

"Oh, I aint done yet," John said as he prepared to pull once again. This time, when he started applying pressure he brought both feet to the wall so that he was completely off the ground, suspended only by the friction between his boots and the wall.

With a loud ping! the glaive broke free, and John flew away from the wall with a less-than-masculine yelp, still clutching the blade in his hand. Dorylus caught him with her telekinesis before he could hit the ground, and he held it up victoriously.

"Huzzah! England has a new king!"

Matt snorted with a smirk. "Great job, Thor. Think you can do it again?"

"You betcha, sar'nt."

John repeated the feat, being caught by Dorylus again. He picked up both of the glaives and held them out for the changeling queen.

"Mi'lady," he said with his trademark shit-eating grin.

Dorylus blushed, but smiled as she took them. Matt was intrigued at how she only held the hubs, as they were the only part that glowed green. The blades rotated lazily as she turned them around and examined them with a troubled expression.

Then Matt was presented with the glaives in use, as a gentle green glow emanated from their inner curves. In a second, the blades built speed until they ran like a blender, making a bloodcurdling BRRRR.

The troopers whistled, impressed.

"Nu blyat, that's scary," Sergei remarked, looking back from his observation post.

"That it is," Matt agreed. "Much as the Mar Saran in me likes an armed society, have you ever actually been in a fight?"

Dorylus suddenly looked nervous, nauseous, even. "N-no. Never."

Matt sighed. "Guess there's a first time for everything then."

"Hey, don't you worry," said John. "We'll show you the ropes. Killin' Zerg is a helluva lotta fun."

Stuart piped up, saying, "Shit, you'll learn ropes, lasers, grenades, nukes, shovels..."

The changeling gulped, saying, "War isn't exactly something that's common here. Even when it does happen, casualties are few. The last time a 'war' broke out around here was when the buffalo tribes were trying to push the Appleloosan settlers out."

"And? How'd that go?" Matt asked, intrigued.

"The buffalo tried tearing the buildings down and the ponies threw pies at them," she said with a bashful smile, seeming to recognize the absurdity of it. "Turns out it worked, since they hit Chief Thunderhooves in the face with one and he liked it so much the buffalo decided to let them stay."

The troopers fell silent, slackjawed at the retelling.

Then they burst out laughing.

"Never thought a pie would be enough to win a war," said Mike through a fit of giggling.

After collecting himself a bit, Matt said, "Somehow, I don't think offering the Zerg pie is an option though."

If that's the worst conflict they've ever seen, Matt thought, We've really got our work cut out for us. I just hope they'll do what's necessary when the time comes.

"Actually, speaking of Appleloosa," Matt said addressing the troopers. "That's going to be our next target. We'll make contact with the locals and changelings there and hitch a ride on their railways to the Equestrian capitol. Questions?"

"Any word on Zerg in the area?" Sergei asked.

"As of yesterday, no. None yet," Dorylus answered. "But it's only a couple days away on hoof, so I worry they might make it there by the time we arrive."

"Then I guess we'd better 'hoof' it then," John said with a straight face.

"John, I swear to God..." Stuart groaned.

"But seriously, we should probably get there as quick as possible," John continued without a shred of humor. "The last thing I want to see is another ghost town."

"He's right," Sergei chimed in. "The Zerg are easily a few days ahead of us, so unless we get on the move ASAP Appleloosa will get torn to shreds."

"Then ASAP is our target," Matt said with finality. "Mike, Sergei, swap out with Stu and John. Get some food in you. We'll SP in one hour to cover as much ground today as we can. All goes well, we'll make it there by tomorrow."





Dorylus was impressed at how the Terrans operated. While the Zerg were apparently bred to kill, these new aliens were like a well-oiled machine. Clearly, these were a people to which warfare was studied like an art or science. Even the food In their rations, Private Connelly had said, were carefully chosen to match the nutritional and caloric needs of a soldier on the battlefield.

She was most surprised at how willing they were to rush to Appleloosa, and on hoof - or foot, rather - no less. Such a journey wouldn't have been taken lightly by the ponies, for sure.
When she asked about it, she was shocked to learn that they had just walked almost five days through the open desert to reach the hive, and that this was just the "victory lap."

True to their word, at the end of the hour the Terrans were fed, packed, and ready to move. Dorylus tried picking up Sergeant Hobbes' rucksack and could have sworn it weighed more than her. The amount of discipline and conditioning these troopers had, both mental and physical, that they could handle such burdens without complaint put even the Equestrian royal guard to shame. For her part, the only cargo she carried were the canvas scabbards for the glaives that hung on her sides like saddlebags and a water-filled bladder with a hose on it the troopers had given her.

She led the Terrans out of the hive through the northeast canyon. As they left the outskirts, Dorylus looked back at the devastated hive, somberly realizing that this would likely be the last time she ever saw her old home. At the encouragement of the Terrans, she pressed on, the troopers following her single file.

Though the troopers seemed content with marching in silence, Dorylus' mind roiled with questions about them. They weren't what she expected from aliens; if anything, she found their mannerisms almost familiar.

"Sergeant, do you mind if I ask you some questions?" Dorylus asked, breaking the silence.

"Go ahead," Sergeant Hobbes replied, somehow breathing heavily without sounding tired. "Might break the monotony."

"What do those symbols on your shoulders mean? I can assume one represents the Terrain Dominion, but what about the others?"

"Oh, these?" he said, looking at his left shoulder. "These are the flags of our home colonies."

"'Colonies'?" She remembered he had said the Dominion was an interstellar empire. "You mean worlds, right?"

"Yeah. I'm from Mar Sara, Stu's from Korhal, the capitol, Sergei's from Tarsonis, John's from Antiga Prime, and Mike's from Tyrador Eight."

"Ah. You mentioned something about Mar Sarans liking an 'armed society'."

The Sergeant laughed. "Damn straight. Birthplace of revolutionaries and freedom fighters."

From the middle of the formation, Private Clay yelled, "Vive la révolution!"

Private Connelly snickered in the back, but Dorylus felt a surge of irritation from Specialist Ivanov and Corporal Archer. Based on their reactions she realized there was likely a dark history behind the Dominion. Hoping to avoid provoking any more negative responses, she switched topics.

"How much experience do you have fighting the Zerg?"

"Personally? I've been on two deployments into Zerg infested territory for six months each. As for the Dominion itself, we've fought them off and on for thirty years. Though, to be fair, most of that is against ferals or renegades. The Zerg Swarm itself is actually an ally of ours."

That revelation caught her off guard. She was barely paying attention as he explained the Swarm's organizational structure with its broods and brood mothers, and their inexplicable psychic link between them that kept the rank and file in control. After everything Dorylus had seen, the idea that peace was even an option with the Zerg blew her away.

"Sorry, I find it a bit hard to believe that you can actually reason with those monsters."

"To be fair, it's not so much 'reasoning' as it is 'bargaining.' In my opinion it's really more like making a deal with the Devil."

That allayed her concerns somewhat. At least the Terrans knew what they were dealing with when it came to the Zerg. Still, something didn't add up in her mind.

"So if you've made peace with the Zerg Swarm, then why are you fighting them now? For that matter, how did you even get here if it's just the five of you?"

The Sergeant sighed loudly and said, "Ho boy, that's a helluva story. Buckle up, buckeroo."

Dorylus then listened with a combination of fascination and horror as he described the ill-fated adventure leading up to their arrival in Equestria. Throughout the retelling she hoped there would somehow be a good ending to his story, but she nearly vomited in shock when Sergeant Hobbes described his unit being nearly wiped out by the Zerg under the command of a hideous brain-like creature. 

"I- I'm sorry," she stammered. "Do... do you think they're really sending help?"

"Well, it was enough to get the attention of the Emperor himself. I can't imagine they wouldn't at that point. But like I said, reinforcements are almost a month out. Even then, they'll only be able to immediately send what can fit through the warp gate. It'll take even more time for us to isolate the location of Equis to bring our ships in."

Despite the circumstances, Dorylus found herself excited about the prospect of seeing the Terran spaceships. Still, she was upset at how long it would take more help to arrive.

"Will it be enough?" she hesitated to ask, fearing the answer.

"I hope so," Sergeant Hobbes said. "Because if we have to ask the Protoss for help, I don't think there'll be an Equis left."

"What makes you say that?"

"When we first encountered them, the Protoss incinerated the surface of every planet they found the Zerg," he said darkly. "Some of them were settled by Terrans."

"That's horrible!"

"Hey now, don't worry. We might not look like it, but we Terrans prefer to be more surgical with how we fight. Granted, when it comes to the Zerg, sometimes you need a bonesaw rather than a scalpel."

Dorylus knew he was trying to assuage her fears, but the implications of what he'd said disturbed her. She didn't say another word until they reached the end of the canyon on the opposite side of the mountains. By now, the sun had already set behind the mountains now to their west, and the rolling expanse of the Equestrian plains stretched before them. They set up camp in a rocky crevice at the base of the mountains, taking turns on watch throughout the night.

She awoke at the break of dawn, finding the Terran troopers already packed and ready to move. Anyone on Equis would have been apprehensive about the coming march across the plains, but the aliens were practically champing at the bit, eager to continue their mission.

When they finally set off for Appleloosa, the troopers broke apart into a broad wedge formation with Sergeant Hobbes at the front. Though they carried enormous burdens on their backs, the Terrans somehow managed to sustain a quick marching pace. Dorylus' legs burned at the high tempo of their movement, but she refused to give up. Too much was at stake for muscle fatigue to get the better of her.

So quick were they that by mid afternoon the titular apple orchards of Appleloosa came into view. Ecstatic, Dorylus lifted off and flew ahead to see the town. As she approached, however, her ears were met by the sound of rumbling explosions.

A sinking dread held her by the gut as she got closer. To her horror, the frontier town was surrounded by a ring of chopped down apple trees cannibalized from the orchard, and a small horde of Zerg milling outside the perimeter.

To their credit, the ponies had decided to abandon the pie-throwing technique in favor of lobbing sticks of red dynamite into the midst of the Zerg, forcing them to scatter. Still, they were hardly making a dent in the Zerg forces.

Dorylus easily recognized the almost reptilian zerglings that composed the bulk of the force, with their long spiny tails and scythe-shaped claws. What she didn't recognize were the squat, black, beetle-like creatures with a pair of crescent moon shaped claws sprouting from their backs and heads recessed deep in their shells like a turtle's. She gasped in horror as she watched one spit a jet of green bile at the wooden barricade, causing it to sizzle and melt.

Immediately she flew back to the troopers as fast as her wings could carry her and told the Sergeant what she saw.

"Shit, those are roaches," he growled, radiating frustration and anger. "That means the Zerg are dug in somewhere and getting more developed." He pressed a button on the side of his helmet and said, "Alright boys, we've got Zerg up ahead. ISR reports twenty zerglings, six roaches engaged with local forces. Civilians are in the AO, I say again, civilians are in the AO. Check your fire and time your shots. Double-time it, people, we've got ponies to save."

That must be the "radio" he said they were using on Braxis, Dorylus thought.

As if the marching pace they'd held for the whole day wasn't fast enough, the Terrans broke into a run as they approached Appleloosa. Before long they were running through the apple trees on the town's outskirts, and came to a stop at the opposite wood line. The troopers took cover hiding behind the trees as they surveyed the area. So far, the Zerg still had yet to break the ponies' barricades, but not without having caused severe damage. It wouldn't be long before they broke through.

"Right, boys, twenty meter spread," Sergeant Hobbes instructed. "Mike, Stu, take the far edges. Everyone drop rucks and get down. We've got the drop on 'em, let's not waste it."

The troopers spread out across the tree line and dropped their bloated packs on the ground in front of them. They laid down prone behind them, resting their weapons on top as they took aim at the unaware Zerg. Dorylus laid on her stomach next to Sergeant Hobbes, her glaives levitating at her sides.

She trembled, fear threatening to take control of her as she beheld the ravenous monsters in front of her.

We need to kill them, she thought. Her stomach lurched at the prospect, but she held firm. Now was not the time for second thoughts; it was do or die.

The Sergeant must have noticed her trepidation as he nudged her.

"Listen," he said. "We'll handle the front, but I need you to watch our backs. Once we open fire there's a good chance they'll try to surround us. Can you do that?"

"I... I think so."

"Yes or no, Dory," he said, his voice stern.

"Yes," she said after taking a deep breath. "Yes, I can."

He nodded. "Good." Then he took a deep breath. Dorylus felt his ever-concealed anxiety swell tenfold. She wouldn't have been surprised if he was asking himself the same question.

After quelling his apprehension the Sergeant began issuing orders like the conductor of an orchestra.

"Mike, Stu, load HE and set rifles to burst. Save your 'nades for if they split to do a pincer maneuver. Sergei, target down the highest density of targets. John, you'll focus on the roaches. Don't let them get near us, you got me?"

"Rah, sar'nt," came Private Clay's muted voice from his position.

"No one open fire until I say so, that way we won't give away our position until they've overcommitted, Rah?"

"Rah, sar'nt," came the soft replies from the hidden troopers. 

"Now, we get their attention." He turned to Dorylus and said, "Showtime." His anxiety had been replaced by childlike giddiness as his temperament transformed into an almost completely different person.

"John, kill one of them."

A beam of blazing red light flashed from Private Clay's weapon with a loud snap like a souped up camera flash. If Dorylus had blinked she would have missed it. The red bolt struck the head of a zergling that was attempting to climb up the barricade, launching bits of brain and bone in every direction. It spasmed and fell to the ground, leaving behind a splatter of crimson blood and a smoking black hole on the barricade.

The Zerg froze and turned to look in the direction the shot had come from. Dorylus froze in fear as she saw their piercing yellow eyes and the horrific gape of the roaches' split mandible maws. Some of the zerglings stood up on their hind legs like meerkats, trying to see where the shot had come from.

"Relax, Dory. You gotta learn to be meaner than the Zerg.

"John, hit 'em again."

Another flash of red, another dead Zerg, this time a roach. Spurred by the realization they were under attack, a few from the group started running in Private Clay's direction. As Dorylus started to worry, Sergeant Hobbes fired his own weapon. While not as bright or loud, it fired three beams in rapid succession, killing one of the charging zerglings.

Now the Zerg were incensed. Over half the group charged their line with rage blazing in their eyes.

"That got 'em. John, keep firing. Sergei, you're up. Let 'em eat it."

"Ding dong, suka," growled the giant Terran. "Tarsonis says hello."

A stream of red beams as intense as Private Clay's weapon erupted from the huge machine the Specialist carried. Though they lacked the precision of the Private's, they more than made up for in volume. A single burst from his weapon cut down several of the Zerg. Through it, Private Clay continued shooting at the roaches.

Having realized they were facing a larger force than they initially expected, the rest of the Zerg jolted into action. Rather than joining the frontal charge, however, they split into two smaller groups and ran to the sides in a wide arc.

"There we go. Mike, Stu, you're up."

A pair of loud thoops shook the air coming from either side of the trooper's line, followed shortly by an ear-splitting explosion as the small groups of encircling Zerg exploded in a cloud of dust and viscera. Sergeant Hobbes pulled a trigger on the large cylinder under his weapon and a similar, louder noise erupted from the tube. Unlike with the beams of light, this caused his weapon to buck into his shoulder. A third explosion rocked the oncoming frontal charge a second later, rattling Dorylus' teeth.

"Hell yeah," the Sergeant said, satisfied. "Weapons free, boys! Wax these critters!"

"FOR THE EMPEROR!" came the thunderous warcry from the Terrans as the open field before them went ablaze with beams of light, carving through the remaining Zerg left, right, and center.

As the Zerg charged, Dorylus saw a roach suddenly disappear into the ground. At first she was confused, but then with growing horror she remembered how the zerglings had burrowed through the sandstone cliffs of her hive. She looked over at the troopers; they hadn't said anything about it.

They must not have seen, she realized. That thing could pop up anywhere and they wouldn't know.

With a deep breath, she flew into the air high enough to see the whole line of Terrans. She hovered and scanned left and right, spinning her glaives beside her. Fortunately, the troopers seemed to be making quick work of the Zerg, but still there was no sign of the burrowed roach.

Just as the last of the surface Zerg keeled over dead, the roach burst from the ground in a spray of dirt...

Right behind Sergeant Hobbes.

"Sergeant! Behind you!" she yelled as she dove towards the roach.

He whirled around and saw the hideous insectoid at his feet and shouted, "Oh, fuck!" before diving to the side. A jet of acid erupted from the roach's maw and missed the Sergeant by a hair's breadth, hitting an apple tree and vaporizing most of its trunk. He fired his weapon at the offending creature as fast as he could, but the creature's armored shell absorbed too much of the impacts to stop it.

It was almost on top of him when Dorylus barreled into its side, knocking it off balance. Her fear and shock were suddenly replaced by blinding rage as she plunged her spinning glaives into the roach's underbelly, causing it to squeal like a pig. Blood and viscera fountained from its gaping wounds as she grit her teeth, pushing the glaives in deeper until they broke through its upper shell. The foul creature collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

"Fuck..." Sergeant Hobbes muttered. "Thanks."

Dorylus fell on her haunches and dropped the glaives, breathing heavily.

"'Be meaner than the Zerg', you said."

"That I did. Clever girl."

Then she laughed. After witnessing her hive massacred she finally had a taste of victory, however small. Maybe, just maybe they could fight back the invaders.