“Sir, what is it?”

When Jean arrived at the bridge, Raynor was already done with the transmission with Dr. Hanson.

“I’ll explain later. Matt, bring the ship to Meinhoff.”

The rebel commander said quickly and explicitly. Every second wasted would mean countless more innocent being turned into zerg monsters.

“Yes sir.”

The Hyperion waited for a few seconds before jumping into warp space. When they were on route, Raynor finally turned to a rather confused Jean.

“Dr. Hanson just called from Meinhoff. Apparently some sort of zerg virus is infesting the local refugee staging area. She needs our help to stop the infestation and rescue the refugees. The Dominion and the Kel-Morian don’t give a damn about the refugees. We’re their only hope.”

Jean frowned.

“If I may ask, sir, how many infested terran will be on Meinhoff?”

“Hanson told me most of the planet fell. She and the last remaining survivors were holding up in an abandoned Kel-Morian defensive position.”

“Sir, if Meinhoff was the staging area of all the refugees in the sector that wanted to escape from the zerg onslaught, then there would be millions of them at least. If the entire planet fell, then most of that millions of refugees are infested.”

She paused.

“We have around four hundred men.”

Granted, sometimes quality was better than quantity. A small group of elite fighters could defeat a large number of weaker units.

But that didn’t mean numbers were pointless. The difference between millions and hundreds was way too much to be canceled by the difference in quality. Even if a thousand infested fell and only one Raider marine lost his life, the infestation would still stand while the entire Raynor’s Raiders died.

Plus, the Raiders’ advantage in quality wasn’t that impressive. It’s not like they had four hundred protoss high templars or elite ghosts. They were a mixture of ruthless mercenaries, Agrian rookies, and experienced veterans.

The Raiders had a battlecruiser that should go unchallenged on the planet, but the amount of infested meant that even if the Hyperion could empty its entire arsenal on the zerg, it would still be forced to leave with its tail between its legs while the zerg losses could be replaced in a few days.

Raynor realized the situation as well.

“We will not be engaging the zerg head on. The plan is to get in, hold the ground against the infested, and get the survivors out. All we need to do is hold the defensive position long enough.”

“With all due respect sir, if we drag the fight out, we will be taking the full brunt of millions of infested.” Jean didn’t back down. “Bunkers can’t save us.”

“The Hyperion can go unchallenged. Dr.Hanson said the infested didn’t have anti-air capabilities.” Horner interrupted, backing Raynor up.

“One ship can’t cover the entire base.” Jean looked at the two commanders. “I suggest we take an alternate approach.”

“We split into two groups. First, we dispatch a group of units to the refugee staging area and build a defensive formation. Their job is to delay the infested as long as possible.”

Raynor was confused. “You just said the infested can easily overrun any defense we put up.”

“True, but it will take time for them to build up the momentum needed. Millions of infested can’t be deployed with the snap of a finger. The infested army is spread out around the planet, and it will take time for the broodmother to bring them together. The goal of that small army is to buy some time for the second battle group to act.”

“Which is?”

“The second group, made up of the Hyperion and a small squad of elite mercenary forces, will circle around the planet and locate the commander of the zerg. The broodmother.” Jean said. “Every infested is connected to the broodmother through a psionic network. If we take her out, then the zerg would no longer be on the offensive side. Best case scenario, they would slaughter each other to the last. Even in the worst case, the infested would wander around, waiting for a new psionic presence to take command. If that happens, the infested will no longer have enough forces to coordinate an attack on the refugees.”

Horner and Raynor were really in awe. The idea of dividing the already lacking forces against an army ten thousand times larger was risky. Then again it might work.

The Raiders didn’t have the time to bring all the survivors to safety because they didn’t have enough transports, which meant they needed to use the few transports they had to ferry the survivors to different planets. This would take several turns and would require a long time, and the defenders might get overrun by the infested before they could get all the people out. Even with the help of the Raiders and the Hyperion, the defenses might not hold. Ships and guns had limited ammunition and men could get exhausted. The infested could trade units for ammunition and still win.

However, with a few scans and the absolute dominance of the air, the Hyperion could quite easily locate and destroy the broodmother.

The advantage in number of the infested was no longer as effective against a coordinated attack by terran elite strike teams and orbital bombardments. The Hyperion might not be able to kill millions of infested, but one broodmother was a totally different story.

Of course, the tactic was good, but that was by no means saying everything would go according to the plan. On the battlefield, the situation may change every second, and there was no way to plan for everything beforehand.

That being said, Jean’s plan was better than get in, blindly defend, and hope they could get out in time.

“We’ll go with your plan.” Raynor finally decided.

---

When the Hyperion exited warp space above Meinhoff, all three commanders found themselves staring down on a largely purple planet.

Most of the planet was taken over by the zerg. The purple creep was the best proof.

The survivors set up a defensive formation in an abandoned Kel-Morian position. It was surrounded by cliffs for the most parts, and the only access inside were the four openings on the four sides. The tight position held tens of thousands of survivors. They were the last of the millions of refugees on this planet.

The local militias made up the defenders. With outdated weapons, depleted ammunition, and a will to fight to the death for their families, these men managed to hold their ground against the wave of infested.

Of course, if the infested could rally all their forces against this position, then they could easily overwhelm the position, but the millions of infested were spread out around the entire planet. Most of the other refugee bases around the planet fell, but some were still resisting futilely. Their sacrifice dragged some of the infested away and brought their comrades some more time.

When the familiar sight of the Hyperion exited warp space, Dr. Hanson, who rose to the position as the commander of the defenders, was almost in tears.

People who didn’t feel it firsthand could never understand the thrill of seeing salvation while being stuck in a situation of almost certain death. Words couldn’t describe her thankfulness. If Raynor was in front of her, she would gladly throw herself into his arms.

The last time, on Agria, the Raiders gave their lives to protect their lives. Now, once again, the Raiders came to risk their lives and protect the innocent. This selfish act, compared to the Dominion and the Kel-Morian who just left the refugees to die, had an amazing effect.

Hanson wasn’t the only one impressed. Almost every survivor, militia or civilian, was staring into the sky and praising god for the turn of event. From what they could see, the giant battlecruiser was a symbol of ultimate power. They could undoubtedly burn the monsters that ravaged their homes and protect the refugees.

The common soldiers had no idea how bad the situation really was.

That was why they were so surprised when the Hyperion landed on an open field, dropped hundreds of units out, and lifted into the air and left the base.

“Jim?”

Hanson ran up to the rebel commander at the head of the forces. The man was in his typical grey armor. Behind him, hundreds of men entered battle stations.

War pigs and hammer securities acted expertly. They might not have dealt with the infested before, but their past experience with other enemies allowed them to respond faster and better than normal militias. Some of them built up fences around the choke points to slow the infested down. Others were more straightforward. They walked to the bunkers the militias were in and, with rather unkind words, ordered them to come out. The militias had no chance of standing against the mercenaries as some of them were dragged out and others walked out in confusion. They were quickly replaced by the much more elite soldiers.

The five goliaths of the Raiders found themselves a firing position as well. They stood at points that allowed them to open fire freely. When the battle started, they could unleash countless tons of lead among the infested.

The Mar Sara marines, those with Raider from the very beginning, were almost as elite as the mercenaries. The only difference was they were slightly more polite as they moved. The few medics among them checked their nanobots once again. If these gadgets broke down in the middle of a fight, then the price might be human lives.

The agrian marines might be the slowest of them all. They were just with the Raiders for days, and they never participated in a battle. Still, a few orders from several Mar Sara sergeants brought them back on their feet.

“Doctor.” Raynor turned around and smiled when he saw the woman in white. “I was hoping we could meet due to a better reason.”

“Jim, why did your ship leave?” Hanson smiled as well but still asked. She was no military expert, but she did know it was better to have a battlecruiser than not have one.

“They’re on another task.” Raynor replied confidently.

“Shouldn’t they be helping you protect the colonists?” Hanson asked.

“They have another plan. Now, what is the situation?”

“There are four entrances to this place. We have sealed off all four of them with abandoned vehicles, but the infested are making their way through the blockades.”

Infested claws could rip a way through CMC armors. They had little trouble going through civilian vehicles and whatever else the colonists could throw at them.

“And the high grounds?” The base was surrounded by cliffs.

“The infested can’t go through them. They’re too high.”

“My man will secure the entrances and buy time for Matt and Jean to make her move.” Raynor readied his gun and looked at the entrances, satisfied to see they were blocked by his men already. The mercenaries might not be the nicest bar customers, but they were brilliant combatants.

Hanson frowned at the name of Jean Turner.

For some reason, she always had a strange feeling from this certain lieutenant. She didn’t know why, but she didn’t trust Jean. All of her plans were clever and usually successful, but if it was up to Hanson she would think twice before completely listening to everything she said.

Her instinct told her there was something wrong about this girl.

Perhaps it was when Jean told her to move all the colonists together for transportation back on Agria. No. It wasn’t that. Any competent commander would’ve done that. That didn’t make Jean special.

It was when Jean first woke up in the med bay of the Hyperion. When the girl woke up, Hanson found every word she spoke to be calm and calculated. A normal person who was almost sliced up by a zergling would’ve woke up with a haunted look, but Jean wasn’t. It was as if she just woke up from a nap.

That was not right.

“Do you trust her?” She suddenly asked.

Raynor looked at Hanson like she just asked the stupidest question in the world.

“Of course I do.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”