“Please! You’re a mercenary, right? I can pay you! Whatever your boss paid you, I can triple that!” A man cried before his head abruptly exploded. Around him was a ring of dead marines.
“Sorry, but even mercenaries have a code of honor, not that you seem to know that.”
Viper lowered her gauss sniper rifle and quietly walked out of the room. She didn’t meet anything resembling resistance on the way. In the background, Jean has scrambled all communication between the mercenaries. Unlike Orlan, this Kane didn’t have great computer support. Jean broke in and started trashing the security network of the place without receiving any problem.
Without the detectors, the mercenaries couldn’t even see Viper. The ghost simply walked past a group of marines with spikes on their helmets and armors without having to fire a single shot.
Walking by another squad of marauders, Viper entered a dropship equipped with a cloaking field. The ship lifted off as the mercenaries’ missile turrets and orbital defenses simply sat by and watched.
“Now I understand why that protoss want to work with you.” After reuniting with Jean on Isaac’s platform, Viper joked. “Things get really easy with you backing me up.”
Jean smiled. Suddenly, she felt her earpiece buzzing. She touched it.
“Lieutenant Turner, the Hyperion is heading out for another mission.” It was Horner, but he sounded like he was keeping a distance. Usually he called Jean by her first name. Now he was using her rank and her last name.
“Copy that. I will be back soon.” Jean closed the comm and turned to Viper. “I need to go.”
Viper rose her eyebrows. “Didn’t you say you’ve had a fallout with the Raiders? You can stay with me. Together, we will be unstoppable, and if we work together with that protoss, we will be victorious.” She licked her lips as if she suddenly remembering something appealing.
Jean shook her head and refused the tempting proposal. The Raiders still had their usage. She could get more from them before she decides to abandon them.
The Hyperion. Bridge.
Jean walked into the bridge. She received a lot less welcome than she did a few days ago.
It has been four days since the Raiders came back from Xil. Raynor spent the credits Tychus brought back on enhancing the Raider forces.
“I have hired a squad of hell’s angels, ten elite vikings. They cost 10,000 minerals, but they are worth the price.” Raynor started.
“Experience against zerg and terran alike. I’m sure they will be useful.“ Horner nodded. “Nice choice, sir. What else?”
“200 war pigs for 10,000 minerals. The war pigs we hired fought well in past battles, and we can certainly use more men like them.” He saw Horner nod. “10 siege tanks and 50 hammer securities.”
“That adds up to 30,000 minerals. What about the 20,000 left?”
“About that,” Raynor turned to Jean. “I will need you to program the Warden units, lieutenant.” He still sounded a bit bitter. That was reasonable. After what happened, Jean doubted the relationship between him and her would ever go back to normal.
As her mind turned, Jean nodded. “Actually, I am working on developing a method to clone the codes. All you have to do is have the codes of one Warden unit and then you can copy the code to all the units of the same type. How many units do you want?”
“100 Warden marines and 50 Warden marauders.”
“Affirmative.” Jean agreed. “However, I think we should take a trip to Redstone. There should be some fresh Warden units stacked up there. We can use them in the oncoming fight.”
Apart from being a mining planet, Redstone also acted as a manufacturing facility. Jean left a group of Warden SCVs programmed to use the minerals they mined to build other Warden units. These SCVs worked 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. It has been quite a while since they started mining, and Jean expected to see some results.
Raynor nodded. “I’ll dispatch a transport.”
“I’ve got a ship, but thanks.” Jean said quietly before walking out of the bridge.
A mercenary fashioned battlecruiser exited warp space in the orbit of Redstone.
The ship included around 500 crew members and 300 security forces. That was around the minimum amount of personnel required to effectively control a ship as large as the battlecruiser.
However, all of those crew members and security forces were sent to their rooms. All the windows were shut close so that the crew members and security forces didn’t know where they were.
After all, these men were mercenaries. They were only here because Viper ordered Isaac to order them to follow Jean. If they were allowed to see the coordinates of a mining planet as rich and as defenseless as Redstone, some of them might do something unhonorable. Redstone held hundreds and thousands of minerals, and Raiders only had two ships. They were only able to hold the planet because no one else, except Tosh, knew its coordinates. If just a single mercenary decide that a life of wealth and comfort was worth more than his code of honor, he or she might go to some mercenary leader and offer a deal.
The coordinates of Redstone for a number of credits.
Jean couldn't take the risk, so she sent the crew members away and controlled the ship with the adjutant. Without the crew members, the ship lost most if its combat capabilities, but it wasn’t like Jean needed to fight anyone right here right now.
However, there was someone here that Jean didn’t expect to see.
“Hey, Jean.” Swann might be the only person who didn’t distance himself from Jean. “We need to talk.”
“We could’ve talked back on the Hyperion. There’s no need for you to come all the way here just to speak to me.” Jean reasoned as the battlecruiser started dropping in altitude.
“I need to talk to you about what happened on Xil.”
“Ahh...I see. Did Raynor send you?”
“No.” Swann denied. “Now, listen to me, Jean. You are a clever girl and a brilliant commander, but you have made a mistake, and you need to understand it.”
“A mistake?” Jean put on a pissed off mask. “I saved the Hyperion! I saved everyone on this ship! I did what I had to do.”
Swann’s approach was unexpected, but Jean stuck to her plan. She carefully played the part of an officer who held a grudge against Raynor.
After all, that was the reasonable reaction. She didn’t consider others as fools. If she acted as if nothing happened, people might wonder what she was up to.
“Yes, but you have also sent Raiders to die. Those viking pilots trusted you with their lives, and you failed them.”
“For a good cause.”
“Perhaps, but that’s not how Raiders do things.” Swann sighed, realizing there was very little he could do. He was only speaking because he recognized a divided Raider command might weaken the overall strength of the Raiders. He trusted both Raynor and Jean understood it, but both were stubborn.
The battlecruiser landed in the Warden base. Jean looked out the window and saw hundreds of SCVs moving around. Some were cutting down mineral patches and bringing them to a platform in the base, where they were either assembled into other Warden units and SCVs or put into storage.
Warden units, mainly marines and reapers, patrolled the base in groups of five.
“Here,” Jean handed Swann a hard drive. “The standardized programming of all Warden units, including Command Units. This way, you don’t need me around.”
Swann opened his mouth. Jean was speaking as if she was going to die anytime, but before Swann could say anything Jean was already walking out of the bridge.
“Command Unit C004. Report!”
“Affirmative. Accessing data now.” The Warden command unit started calculating. “60000 units of minerals harvested. 10000 units have been put in storage. The rest has been spent on constructing Warden units.”
“The following units have been produced. 500 SCVs. 200 Warden marines. 50 Warden reapers. 50 Warden marauders. Among them, 70 Warden marines, 20 Warden marauders, and 20 Warden reapers have been put in the storage. The rest are put on mining and patrol duty. Over.”
“Load the idle units into the battlecruiser. Stop producing SCVs and use the resources to produce combat units.” Jean suddenly took out a scanner device and made sure she wasn’t being watched. As the area was cleared, she turned back to the command unit.
“Execute Protocol BSHFKS8392.”
The Warden Command unit stayed silent for one second before suddenly lowering its head. “Warden Unit C004 at your command, Creator.”
When Jean coded the Warden AIs, she added something of her own. Among them was a protocol that could make the Warden units see her as the highest authority. As soon as that protocol was enabled, the Warden units would do anything she said. If she told them to walk to Raynor and put a bullet in his head, they would.
“Report on order HA001.”
Redstone held enough minerals to make an army. Jean wasn’t going to let that go just like that. When she deployed the Warden units in the base, she used the Creator Protocol and ordered the Command Unit to take a portion of the Warden units created in the base and put them in a secret storage. Instead of being merged into the Raiders forces, these units would be put into her watch.
In order to cover it up, she altered the number of minerals collected by the SCVs and the overall unit count created. This way, she could add these Warden units to her watch without anyone knowing about it.
“Affirmative. 50 Warden marines, 15 Warden marauders, 15 Warden reapers, and 1 Warden Command Unit are ready for your orders, Creator.”
Jean nodded. “Show me.”
As Jean put all 81 Warden units into her watch, she returned to the mercenary battlecruiser. The Warden units that belonged to the Raiders were in the vessel as well.
The battlecruiser lifted up into the air.
Inside the bridge of the Hyperion, Raynor looked out the window down on Deadman’s Port. He inhaled from his cigarette fiercely. The wave of smoke clouded his face.
“Sir, I asked Mira about what Jean might be doing in Deadman’s Port.” Horner walked up behind him.
After Xil, Raynor realized Jean might not be the warm-hearted lieutenant he thought she was. For the sake of himself and the Raiders, he decided to learn more about her. Previously he didn’t care what Jean was doing in Deadman’s Port because he trusted her, but now he was a bit worried. Horner volunteered to ask his wife for some information.
Mira Han was one of the strongest mercenaries in the port. Mira’s Marauders dominated the place. She even had an army of rogue Confederate ghosts, dozens of them, under her command. If someone could find out what Jean was up to, it would be the one eyed mercenary.
“Jean has made some friends during her time at the port. A ghost called Viper.” The captain explained. “There’s something weird about it. A few days ago Colonel Orlan, head of Orlan’s mercenaries, mysteriously died. His lieutenant Isaac took over the mercenaries. Apparently, Isaacs welcomed Viper as his guest and gave her shelter and protection. Jean’s battlecruiser also belonged to Isaac.” He handed Raynor a computer screen with more details.
Raynor nodded. “It seems like we have underestimated Jean.” He wasn’t stupid. There was no doubt Jean played a part in Orlan’s downfall. He glanced down at the computer screen and saw that Orlan died at the exact days when Jean was in the port.
Horner hesitated. “What should we do about her, sir?” By doing things behind Raynor’s back, Jean was practically betraying the Raiders.
“Jean and I, we are not the same type of people.” Raynor stood for a few seconds before finally concluding.
At this point, if it was Mengsk, he would find an opportunity to kill Jean and take over her ship and her forces, but Raynor wasn’t Mengsk.
“I will find a chance to talk to Jean. Make the things clear. I believe she will understand. This doesn’t have to conclude in a battle.”
Suddenly, five battlecruisers exited warp space a distance away from the Hyperion. The Raider crew members immediately went into battle position.
Raynor’s Raiders weren’t exactly the most welcomed people in the sector. Arcturus Mengsk might want to keep Raynor alive because he didn’t want Raynor to be seen as a martyr, but that might change anytime. As far as Horner knew, the Dominion might send a fleet to Deadman Port anytime and silence Raynor permanently.
“Sir, they’re not the Dominion.” Horner eyed the spikes placed around the ships. Efficient and standard issued, Dominion vessels would never have these pointless decorations.
Raynor groaned. These ships were obviously mercenaries. They were moving toward his ship, but he didn’t want to fight them if he didn’t have to.
“Send out a transmission to their ship.”
The transmission went through in half a minute.
“Unknown vessel, state your identity...oh, it’s you.” Matt Horner recognized the man on the other side. After all, he has met him before. He has even worked with him before.
It was Tosh. Gabriel Tosh.
