Chapter 747: The Critical Moment
"What's the situation?" Raynor jerked his head up, pressing his communicator. "Outpost Three, respond!"
Almost at the exact same second, the miniature data-slate on Valerie's wrist vibrated. The passive sensor data stream from the Thunderhawk in orbit began to spike violently.
She walked quickly to Raynor's side, showing him the screen: "Mr. Raynor, it's not Dominion pursuers. Massive underground seismic activity, multiple nodes, biomass signal signatures match the previous early warning perfectly. They are here, and they are already right beneath our feet."
Raynor's face instantly turned ashen.
He glanced at Tychus, who had already snapped his visor shut with a click. The voice from beneath the heavy armor sounded muffled and full of malice: "Damn it, it really is the bugs! We can't stay in this hellhole!"
"Attention everyone!" Raynor's roar exploded over the camp's broadcast system. "The Swarm is approaching from underground! Abandon all non-essential supplies, prepare to move to extraction point three! Move fast!"
The moment the order was given, a terrifying, rumbling vibration came from the camp's ground, moving from far to near, as if some colossal beast was rolling and charging deep within the planet's crust.
Immediately after, the ground violently burst open at several locations in the center and on the perimeter of the camp. Dirt and rock erupted like geysers, accompanied by the teeth-grating sound of scraping carapaces and hissing. Several massive Nydus Worms, covered in segments and razor-sharp teeth, broke through the surface. From their gaping maws, a tide of Zerglings and Hydralisks poured out!
The camp plunged into the most chaotic nightmare almost in the blink of an eye.
The Zerg were not only swarming from the perimeter but erupting directly from the heart of the camp.
Although the Raiders had experienced combat, facing this terrifying assault bursting from beneath their feet instantly fractured their formation.
"Open fire! Hold them back! Fall back to the transport ships!" Raynor shouted hoarsely, directing the men while blowing away a string of Zerglings with his Punisher grenades.
Tychus laughed maniacally, blasting the head of a Nydus Worm that had just half-emerged into a bloody, mangled pulp, but more bugs immediately filled the gap.
Valerie and her "Security Consultants" formed a circular defensive line the moment the anomaly occurred, protecting her and some critical equipment in the center.
Their heavy bolters spewed dense tongues of fire, precisely picking off any fast-moving units attempting to approach. Their power armor stepped firmly on the viscous Zerg blood and shattered carapaces, steady as a rock.
But the sheer number of the Swarm was too great; everywhere the eye could see, a tide of purple carapaces was submerging everything.
"The camp's structure is collapsing, Swarm numbers exceed conventional suppression limits." Even amidst the intense firefight, Valerie's voice remained calm over the encrypted channel. "Requesting execution of the 'Evacuation Cover' protocol."
Aboard the Eternal Seeker, Ryo's reply arrived instantly: "Approved. Providing fire clearance to ensure the targets board the ship."
Valerie immediately switched channels: "Mr. Raynor, our Thunderhawk gunship can provide low-altitude fire support to clear the boarding zone. Please provide the final rendezvous coordinates for your transport ships."
Raynor, having just smashed a Zergling's head with his rifle butt, roared upon hearing this: "Southeast corner, the old mine shaft platform! But it's crawling with bugs right now!"
"Copy that. Support is arriving immediately," Valerie said, then issued an emergency lift-off command to the Thunderhawk waiting on the edge of the camp.
As the roar of the engines shifted from a low hum to a high-pitched scream, the rear of the Thunderhawk spewed scorching blue plasma, rapidly pulling up from the ground.
Seconds later, a deafening shriek came from above and to the side. It tore through the smoke, entering the battlefield in an attack posture. The twin-linked heavy bolters under its nose and the light missile pods on its flanks opened fire simultaneously!
The searing streams of metal and the fierce flames of explosions acted like the scythe of the Reaper, ruthlessly plowing through the densest cluster of the Swarm in the southeast corner of the camp. It instantly cleared out a momentary vacuum zone littered with charred corpses and craters.
"Now is the time! Everyone, make a run for it!" Raynor saw the opportunity and shouted loudly to the remaining Raiders.
"Jimmy! Don't just run!" Tychus yelled over the comms channel. "Call your big ship! This hellhole needs an orbital bombardment, or at least some reliable extraction!"
Raynor spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and pressed another encrypted communication button: "Matt! This is Raynor! Mar Sara's surface has completely fallen, we need immediate extraction! Get the Hyperion to the designated orbital point and deploy every available dropship! Coordinates syncing to you now!"
"Copy that, Jim. The Hyperion is in geosynchronous orbit. The dropship fleet is detaching and is estimated to arrive in the airspace above your area in three minutes. Hold on!" The voice of Adjutant Matt Horner brought critical hope.
With the Thunderhawk's continuous low-altitude strafing suppressing the boarding zone and the news of Raynor's reinforcements arriving soon, the surviving Raiders summoned their final bursts of strength, desperately fighting their way toward the platform.
Valerie's squad consistently held the crucial flank positions, using their overwhelming firepower to hold down a narrow chokepoint.
Three minutes felt like years in the heat of battle.
When the first of the Hyperion's massive dropships pierced through the cloud cover and landed steadily on the cleared platform under the Thunderhawk's cover, the survivors let out roars of having survived a disaster.
"Go! Get on the ship, move it!" Raynor stood by the boarding ramp, providing covering fire while directing personnel to board.
Tychus was among the last to board. As his massive blue armor stepped through the hatch, he didn't forget to turn around and sweep the pursuing Swarm with his arm-mounted chain gun.
Valerie and her squad boarded the Thunderhawk gunship at the appropriate moment.
As the Thunderhawk completed its final strafing run, pulled up, and followed the dropships toward orbit, looking out from the hatch, the entire canyon camp and even the broader surrounding region had been completely covered by churning purple biomass.
The dropships shuddered violently as they broke through the atmosphere, leaving that hellish landscape behind, speeding toward the massive Hyperion waiting in orbit.
The cabin was incredibly cramped, filled with the pungent smells of sweat, blood, and lubricating oil.
People slumped down, panting, their faces full of exhaustion and lingering fear.
Raynor leaned against the bulkhead, checking the integrity of the Artifact fragment's case.
Tychus stood to the side, his power armor covered in slime. With his visor open, he spat out his chewed-up cigar and cursed: "This job was a real piece of work."
Valerie found a relatively quiet corner, her three "Security Consultants" standing silently beside her.
She pulled up her data-slate and reported calmly: "Mission report: Successfully assisted target Raynor and his team in evacuating the surface of Mar Sara with the critical item. No losses among our units; resources consumed at nominal rates. The target has rendezvoused with their flagship, the Hyperion."
Ryo's reply was brief: "Received. Maintain observation."
The dropships slowly glided into the Hyperion's massive hangar deck.
For Raynor's Raiders, a long, desperate journey had just begun; and for Valerie and the Eternal Seeker hidden in the darkness, closely observing a variable that might stir up the entire sector, this was equally the beginning of their plan.