Chapter CCXLI: Sitting Ducks ~Markior
After Aurora had moved herself towards and into the wreckage of the Genesis, while nimbly dodging blows by leaping, twisting and reflecting blasts with her sword, with some of the shots being psionically pulled away from her by Markior, Kerrigan touched down behind the Xel'Naga. She looked at the firing stranded vessel and hissed in frustration. "Why am I doing this!? This Havering guy isn't worth to be killed for!" The Queen of the Zerg yelled. Markior moved his hands forwards and roared, his eyes lighting up as the energy from the palm of his hands became a burst of psionic power, blasting away one of the thousands of cannons with his famed psi-blast. Kerrigan looked at the cannons, while Markior turned, saying; "I thought you said you did this out of self-preservation?" Kerrigan twisted around, throwing a small package of DNA material from her skeleton-like wings to the cannons, covering them in green slime as the package bulged and exploded. "There...ensnared them. Now they'll turn less quickly." She grinned and looked at Markior. "Self-preservation, yeah. But now I'm thinking that being down -here- isn't as self-preservative as you might think, Protoss." Markior lit up with energy and batted one laserbeam away with the back of his hand, then ducking behind one of the rock formations, holding said hand. "Agh! That smarts... I shouldn't be doing that." He saw Astra and Sirocco further away, also under siege by the laser beams. "Kerrigan, your turn. I'll try to return most of the lasers to the cannons.." He said, ducking for another shot. "Just run to the opening as quickly as possible, right?" Kerrigan narrowed her eyes and nodded. "Yeah." She folded her exoskeleton-wings on her back and kneeled behind the rock formation. Markior nodded. "Three...two...one... GO! Kerrigan ran forwards, rolling to avoid a burst of spread-fire, leaping up to avoid another. A few lasers were aimed directly at her legs at this point, but Markior redirected them back to the Genesis. Another shot came, which Kerrigan had to duck for, but at this point the Ensnare wore off. The once ensnared cannons turned quickly and fired at the approching Infested Terran. She rolled again, but in mid-roll, one of her wings got shot, the laser piercing through the carapace. "AUGH!!" She screamed, rolling further before reaching the opening. Avoiding another burst of lasers, she dug her heels into the ground and leaped to the side, into the Genesis. Markior turned and looked at Sirocco and Astra. "Recall..." He whispered, a black portal opening behind the two, letting them appear infront of Markior.
Gha'nal ran through the burning hallways of the Ganthritor II, red light flooding the passageways as he made his way forward towards the infirmary. "We almost forgot the warrior we found!" He thought to himself. "The Executor must be a nervous wreck by now.." He dodged a minor explosion, the Zealot running at twice the speed of a normal human. His eyes widened as he hugged his back against the wall as a mass of Protoss Probes made their way through the hallways, most of the small robots stopping at several places as they tried to keep the Great Carrier together. Gha'nal stood infront of the sliding door to the infirmary... "It won't open... must be jammed.. He clenched a fist, his psiblade appearing from the mechanical addition to his wrist as he rammed the blade between dor and wall, tearing it open. Inside, he found the Stasis Cell empty, the green liquid covering the room. He blinked twice before opening a screen infront of him. "Executor! The warrior we found has broken loose! I cannot find him!"
Markior looked at the screen which appeared infront of him from his Shoulder shield. He then looked towards Sirocco. "Do not be alarmed, Gha'nal. The warrior is here. Evacuate the Ganthritor except all probes!" Sirocco looked at Markior, then at the screen which had appeared infront of him, and heard the voice of Gha'Nal. He put one and one together and lunged at Markior, grabbing his hands around the Xel'Naga's throat. "It was you!" He yelled. "What have you done to me?!" Markior looked at Sirocco and blinked his eyes, dissolving on the spot and reforming behind him with crossed arms. Sirocco still had his hands as if grabbing Markior around the throat, though now realizing that this person was actually a spirit. Markior grumbled. "I saved your life, I believe.. We found you with 3 limbs torn off, plus many wounds on your chest and head, of which some would've been fatal." Markior narrowed his eyes. "You're welcome." Sirocco clenched a fist in Markior's direction... before quickly ducking another one of the lasers which fired overhead. Markior nodded at Gha'nal and closed the screen. Sirocco looked back at Markior. "There could've been another way! He yelled. Markior turned towards Sirocco again. "Maybe, yes! But not in 4 minutes in which your life was slipping away!" Astra looked at the Markior and Sirocco. "Will you two stop fighting?! We're sitting ducks here!" He yelled. Both Markior and Sirocco agreed and kneeled once again behind the rocks. "I can recall into the Genesis easily. So you two go first, and I'll aid you." The laserfire overhead and the explosions surrounding the three could remind anyone of First Earth's World War II, if they knew about it. "You two go simultaneously. The cannons will have to split up their attentions if you do." Sirocco and Astra nodded. "Okay, here we go. One…two...RUN!" Astra yelled. Sirocco jetted off, the Protoss legs having most admirable, and now very useable speed. Astra wasn't as fast as Sirocco, but his dodging of the blows was mostly based on agility. Markior waved his hands left and right, redirecting would-be fatal blows until the both of them were in the relative safety of the Genesis.
The Genesis had crash-landed Lightly to it's side, so the side opposite of Markior's position had no cannons positioned there. From this side, Ark and Lich returned to Dragon, playing the tune that sounded in most of Pandora's cities and villages. They leapt back into the other opening of the Genesis. Inside, Aurora looked around, her sword still drawn. "Okay…where to go next…" Aurora turned, looking at the possible directions of the dark ship. Through the hallways, Kerrigan walked, which made for quite a frightening picture. Aurora twisted towards her and narrowed her eyes... before recognising Kerrigan. "Oh, it's you, Kerrigan." The Yoshian princess grinned. Kerrigan didn't respond, instead, she examined the tip of her exoskeleton wing. Sirocco and Astra came running after Kerrigan. Astra recognised Aurora and pointed at her, nodding at Sirocco. Soon, the four of them were gathered inside one of the hallways. "Where's Markior?" Aurora asked Astra, replacing her sword in the hilt. Astra shook his head. "He's still outside. He helped us get in here. The group turned as they heard Dragon yell. "C'mon, you four! Everyone's here, hurry!" Astra, Aurora, Kerrigan and Sirocco ran towards Dragon, where they met up with Ark and Lich, and a bit further away, the rest of the party.
Outside, Markior looked up. "I must stay here... I can Recall inside any time I want... But I sense three others coming down here... I must wait for them and help them inside. If they need it." He thought. A bit further away, he saw another crystal formation. He grinned. He stood up, getting the cannon's attentions. He quickly jetted towards the crystals and ducked behind them. The lasers fired at the formation, the crystals reflecting their energy and firing the lasers straight back at the hundred of cannons. Multiple explosions of wrecked cannons followed, but many more remained. Markior looked up. "Whoever you are... hurry up!