Galactic Dawn: Running Story of the Starcraft&Metroid Campaign, 2005.

Log 4: Some Who Shifted
Jargenduv worked patiently and impatiently on his designs for the ship. The team had accepted his plans and help him greatly in assembling parts and purchasing components and materials. He had boasted to be finished with the modifications to the ship by the coming sunset, and was at the point where none of the others could assist him any longer, apart from fetching a wrench or a cup of ginger beer. (Most Pathomorphs of the common age have served at one time or another under the authority of the now disbanded Star-Scourge, the terrorizing band of brigands once feared throughout the Jroel sector of space. Their militaristic and highly formalized organizational structure extended into commissary duty, where commanders would divvy spoils in the form of rations, often having too little food to go around. To compensate, a Pathomorph scientist devised a draught that would supply needed nutrients to the troops without the need for food resources. The phazon-infused draught known as Chemical 89Mu was the first application of phazon known to have tolerable levels of gene-altering side-effects. The mild addiction the draught causes leads many Pathomorphs modernly to drink ginger beer, which tastes enough like 89Mu to slake the thirst. No extreme cases of addiction to 89Mu or ginger beer are known.)
Elric entered the bay with two mugs of ginger beer and stood a moment, waiting for Jargenduv to finish. The last time she had been sent to fetch the sauce, Jargenduv exploded at her when she returned, claiming she had interrupted him at a crucial moment and set him back by hours. After a minute, Jargenduv finished his adjustments and sat up and took the mug with a flick of the custom mug-gripping tool he had installed in his SCV armor. Elric waited a moment more before sipping her own: she had been through battles, fought beneath and between gunfire and alien beasts, but for some reason, the burn of ginger beer was always enough to make her cringe and cower in pain. Elric had before noted that Jargenduv also seemed to twitch a little whenever he drank it, but thought it may be for different reasons.
Tam entered and gave a few nods as he looked around.

Tam: Good work, Jargenduv. The hatch looks sturdy and secure. What of the weapon pods?
Jargenduv: Everything is ready for our spare power source. Once we get that it will take no time at all to install. Well, not compared to this at least.
Tam: You think we took too long getting everything together?
Jargenduv: Well, no, not once we got that Manipulator working correctly. Elric was a big help with that.
Elric: Hey, I did my best. How was I supposed to know that our model was a psi-magnet?
Jargenduv: We fixed it, anyway. Now it works to specs, all except for the grinding noise, which to me makes it sound broken-in. I even like it now.
Tam: Would you mind if I took a look at it?
Jargenduv: Huh? Oh, the Manipulator? Sure, we won't need it for awhile. Wear goggles.

Tam descended the ship and walked across the bay to the Manipulator station. He inserted a spare part and activated the device with a canned-cycle to see if indeed it made any noises or behaved curiously. His experience in fabrication and engineering was sufficient to let him diagnose problems with machines as simple as the Manipulator; a knowledge he later applied to on-the-job training as a medic. The machine made a low grinding noise like Jargenduv had described, and Tam attempted to alter some of the gibbs to lessen the sound. He then heard the noise more clearly as no longer a grinding, but the moan of a voice.
A red glow emanated from the cracks and joints of the machine. The cycle stopped and the moan became louder as the overhead light dimmed and then faded completely, surrounding Tam in a thin fog illuminated by the eerie red glow. A shape manifested itself in front of Tam: a dark oval-shaped head with burning eyes and no other features. Dark tendrils extended downward from the head, flailing slowly and randomly as if stirring about the mass of red fog that composed the rest of the beings manifest form. Tam felt a chilling vibration overtake his skin and then collapsed on the ground.
The noise had alerted the rest of the team, who now rushed towards the Manipulator bay to see a Minor Dark Archon hovering over Tam's body and gazing aloofly at them. Jargenduv hailed his robotic minion and drew his laser rifle. Laharl charged in, knowing full well what this being was capable of if not stopped quickly. T'Aiur drew his psiblades and cried righteously at the minor form of the void. Elric had all but finished donning her armor, and decided to join the battle even without her helmet on. She had never hunted a quarry like this, nor even seen one, but the others seemed to know of its malignance and might. Moltar chose a spot and sat and aimed. Within another moment Laharl and T'Aiur had pinned the Archon next to the wall and discovered that their weapons had little effect on the creature. T'Auir tried his flamethrower instead, which worked well enough to roast the Archon and Laharl at the same time. Elric followed suit (if not target) and switched to plasma beam. Jargenduv's laser also seemed to be effective, at least until it misfired once. Moltar regretted that his shots seemed to leave no mark on the Archon, but continued to fire as the effect seemed to confuse and slow it somewhat.
The moaning ceased, the Archon evaporated, and Tam grunted and rose. The lights had come back on, and T'Aiur and Laharl felt woozy and sore all over. They had barely noticed the effects of the Archon's attacks while they were fighting, but now it seemed like the lashing from those insubstantial tendrils had been the sting of mighty whips.

Tam: What just happened? I saw some light, and...
Laharl: You awoke a Dark Archon. I suspect its plans were to feast on your spirit and obtain a greater form. We have dispatched it.
T'Aiur: You are lucky to come around so quickly. I have seen staunch warriors felled for days after a possession. There are some who favor such demons as allies.
Laharl: Touri bach-nathaan, Templari! [Be keenly mindful of your dog-tongue speaking, callow Templar]
T'Aiur: Present company excluded, of course.
Tam: You said that I was possessed?
Laharl: That is the term we use for their method of eating. I'm honestly not sure of the consequences it has for a Terran. You were momentarily out-of-phase between our plane and that of the Archons. It meant to trap you atemporally.
Elric: Atemporally? Isn't that what had happened to me?
Tam: I think so...er, something similar at least. My head is still swimming.
Moltar: Then someone else will have to pilot the ship. We should head out soon.

The team assembled, prepared for battle, on the ship and discussed their mission. Dubrensk had supplied them with some information about the facility on Korhal that housed the psi-resonator, but had told them little about the factions of shifters they would have to find and assault in order to obtain the signets that would allow them to complete the hoax on Mengsk and his scientists. Most of the team was still uneasy about even appearing tied to Zerg influence, but Tam convinced them that nothing extraordinary would be required of them, and that for the most part they would be attacking Zerg and Shifter warriors.
The team finally decided that they did not yet know enough about Shifters to set off just yet. Tam took the time to recover from his recent attack while the others hit the streets of Moria looking for insight into Shifter factions. After a lengthy and bootless search, Moltar had come across the cockamamie story that the Kellar were secretly a group of Shifters themselves. Laharl heard a more fruitful tale from a Terran who identified himself as Nassiry. Nassiry gladly told Laharl how to find Shifter forces on Umoja and Brontes, under the command of Dahnalet and Ji, and some general information about their base layout, mission structure, and security measures. Laharl paid well for the information and returned to share with the party.
The next day, the party set out for Brontes to sneak-attack Ji's Shifters. Their ultimate destination would of course be the facility on Korhal, and Umoja was a much further voyage than Brontes. Without any trouble, Tam whisked the party away in their ship. He chose a landing zone some thirty miles south of their given coordinates for the Shifter base. Laharl, T'Aiur, and Moltar departed, cloaked, in search of a Shifter scout sergeant who would have the signet they needed. Elric, Jargenduv, and Tam stayed behind to patrol the landing zone in case the Shifters or their Zerg comrades discovered them. The two teams kept in communication easily: Jargenduv had previously expressed a concern about jungle terrain interfering with their headsets, but now saw that there were no magnetic-fleeceleaf trees like he had heard of before.
T'Aiur waded through the thick undergrowth of the hot Brontesian jungle as quietly as he could. Moltar and Laharl were behind as well, walking deeper into the increasingly dim verdant growth. They all kept their eyes and ears wide, as even a faint shadow of a shape might turn out to be a Zerg Hydralisk or Lurker. Moltar noted that they had a time limit imposed on them by Dubrensk. They had less than six days to wade through this forest, obtain two signets by dispatching Shifters, travel to Korhal, raid Mengsk's research facility, steal the resonator, and produce it to Dubrensk, wherever he was. Laharl seemed unconcerned, and instead relished the opportunity to savor a small revenge in felling Zerg brood. T'Aiur noticed a moving shape in the darkness, and soon all three of them could make out the forms of a Terran battle suit, a few Hydralisks, and several Zerglings apparently on patrol.
The three fanned out and prepared a pincer attack for the unsuspecting sergeant.
The next three minutes saw the terrifying and glorious sundering of Zerg flesh and betrayer Terran from hidden corners. The three suffered barely a scratch, covered in swampy ichor from their fresh-dead foes. Moltar retrieved the signet, and the three continued on. One more to go.
Back at the ship, Jargenduv noticed an unusual intertial signature from within the forest.

-Tam?
-Yes.
-I think they have a tank.
-What? uhm...quick, you and Elric close in on it. I'll lift off and try to get out of range of its cannon.

Without needing to hear another word, Elric dropped to the planet surface and charged at the tank, developing a lock and firing missiles as she ran. Jargenduv also dropped and found a cubby where he could fire on the tank from a distance. He had just dialed in the scope when a thunderous explosion sounded behind him. He looked and saw the ship on lift-off cycle limping away with a gaping hole in the side and red-hot parts dangling off. Billowing black and purple and blue smoke spilled out of the ship. Jargenduv regained his focus and fired. Elric dodged a mortar and continued to close the distance to the siege tank. One more good hit should finish it, she thought to herself as she reached the small clearing where the tank had planted itself. Elric charged a power shot and let fly at point-blank distance. The shell of the tank rocked slightly, and then Elric heard a clunk. The tank's arclite shock cannon had misfired. Before Elric could react, the tank exploded, throwing her backwards and into a tree. When she arose, she saw that the tank had had backup, but before she could shoot at the hydralisk standing menacingly above her, a calculated laser shot burst its cranium, spraying stew-like blood across her visor. Elric brushed herself off and returned to the ship, which was now hovering uneasily above where it had been before. Jargenduv picked through the exploded wreckage of the tank, and salvaged only a single component for use on a robot. He also found a second signet, and communicated his find immediately.
The sneaky three heard of this over the comm system and made haste back to the ship. On the way, Laharl bumped into an angry Ursadon, who bumped back by swiping at him furiously. Laharl's psi shield blocked the impact, throwing him like a beach ball across the forest floor. The Ursadon turned and left, satisfied that it had defended its home. T'Aiur and Moltar helped Laharl up, and they continued to the ship. Once there, Tam asked the team to strap down, as he was uncertain how much the damage to the ship's hull would hurt their flight. Jargenduv and Tam had made a quick patch job on the hull to keep it sealed. They lifted off, and out of Brontes with their prizes.

Elric: What is that?
T'Aiur: This is a Terran corpse. It used to be a man named Johansson judging by the intact letters of his battle armor. He was unfit to wear the armor of a warrior, because...
Elric: But why did you bring it on the ship? Its disgusting and smelly.
Laharl: We may have use of the Terran Johansson very soon. This body will be a standin for one of ours, and the completion of a hoax on Mengsk and his forces.
Moltar: We agreed that it would be better to have more evidence than a few dogtags when we raid the facility.
Elric: Could you close up his suit or something?
T'Aiur: That would ruin the effect. If they find that he has been aerated by flechettes, yet is sitting inside a sealed suit, then the ruse is worthless.
Jargenduv: Could I have a little nibble. Its been so long since I've had Terran.
Elric: Ew, don't joke. At least the others can't smell it, but you're just awful.
Jargenduv: You're right. Its no good unless they're still alive while you snack.

Jargenduv flicked out a fork and knife, two more custom tools for his suit, and advanced on Elric.

Jargenduv awoke a few minutes later in a heap in the cargo bay. His suit was gone and his robot minion hovered around him making cooing noises. Water dripped off of his smooth head and he saw steam rise from his arms. He was sore all over, but mostly just his skull, which was ringing loudly.
Moltar puzzled over a small jewelry box that he had found while looking through the undergrowth. He had not tried to open it yet, preferring the cautious setting of their home on Moria: suppose it had a germ or bomb inside. Still it seemed most peculiar to him to have found something as clean and electronic (he could sense the pulses) in the middle of a dense jungle wilderness. The chromed box was the size of half a briefcase, and Moltar set it in the storage bay next to a writhing Jargenduv.

Tam took the ship and crew safely to Korhal, where he set down a few clicks southeast of the facility. The team had decided, based on the significant information that Dubrensk had provided, to attack from two directions. One team would enter from the side and take a control room while the other team would enter from the bottom, create a distraction and then infiltrate cloaked to the psi-resonator. Laharl, T'Aiur, and Moltar would be the second team. Tam, Elric, and Jargenduv would be the first.
Elric, Jargenduv, and Tam had no problem walking in the side door once the others had raised a ruckus at the south entrance. Later on the security forces would discover the corpse of the terrorist who had blown open their door, a sergeant Johansson. Elric came across a locked door next to a ventilation pipe near the floor, and morphed as to creep through the ducting to the other side. The vents twisted and wound, and after a few minutes she plopped into an unoccupied control room. Apparently, most of the facility's systems had been set up to run with few security personnel. Jargenduv had by that time defeated the electronic lock and found his way, with Tam, to a nearby room with a terminal. He discovered after some probing that his terminal could not deactivate the second gate.
T'Aiur had come up to the first gate: a tall chain-link fence running the length of a tall and deep open concrete room. Laharl and Moltar followed and observed that every few minutes, a technician or scientist would approach the gate, present identification and precede through. The timing was too tight for all three of them to enter at once behind one of these techs, so they chose to go one at a time. Laharl and T'Aiur made it through safely. Moltar had some trouble.

-Hey, you. These documents are no good. They don't check.
-What are you talking about, I received this order just this morning, it should be cleared for up to two weeks from now. Your system is behind.
-We just called your office and they aren't answering.
-Its busy what with all the calls to serve remotely. Everyone's understaffed.
-You're not getting through here, so you should turn and go.
-This is an outrage. I'll see to it that Comman...ouf!

Moltar was unready for the technician's hasty turn-and-storm-off maneuver. The technician tripped over Moltar's invisible half-height body, knocking them both to the floor. The nearby guards activated a shocking mechanism and the fence electrified with blue-white arcs. Others shouted at the technician, blaming him for the disturbance. Two of them tackled him and pinned him to the ground while others entered from the other side of the fence. Moltar seized his chance, and dove through before it closed.
Once through, the three kept on until they reached the second barrier. Learning that it only opened remotely, they hailed the other team and requested entry.
Jargenduv replied that it would take a minute, and asked Elric about the terminal on her side. He learned that Elric's terminal would be able to open the way to the psi-resonator, and proceeded to hack the system with her as his eyes and hands. The second team had a collective three minutes of good cloaking time left when the door opened, and they stole the device and scooted.
Both teams bolted as fast as they could. T'Aiur ripped through the chain-link fence this time through with his psi blades, and Moltar casually dropped the signet on one of the exposed wires. Elric also clandestinely left a signet in the control room next to the open vent grate. By the time both teams made it out, security forces had seen them and opened fire, but failed to hit and refused to make chase through the desert dunes of Korhal.
Back on the ship:

Tam: Everyone alright? Good.
T'Aiur: There is one thing we should do before we leave Korhal.
Tam: What's that?
Moltar: We've heard that there's someone on this planet who can tell us where to get Lockdown rounds for a C10-A1A. We could really use them, both for our rifles and the ship's weapons.
Jargenduv: That's a terrible idea, we would have to open the pods and modify the barrels slightly to offset a multiple-feed automatic loader, it's an excellent idea and we should do it.
Elric: I'll stay behind if you guys want to go meet someone. I mean unless you need something destroyed.
T'Aiur: His name is Dandân. He should be easy enough to find, and we still have a few days before we have to meet Dubrensk.
Tam: Okay. I have no objections...as long as...erm, this person is a private citizen?
Moltar: As far as we know, he's legit, maybe even clean.
Tam: Good. Just you and T'Aiur, then?
Laharl: I have no interest in this venture.
Elric: I should probably stay behind.
Jargenduv: Get me a candy-apple while you're out. If Dandân doesn't have candy-apples then he's clearly not someone we want to be dealing with.
Tam: We'll meet you in a day. I'll see if we can do some more repairs on the ship. Call us when you're ready.

The team flew across the skies of Korhal, observing row after row of scrubby ground and barren orange dunes. The irradiated regions glowed purple in the distant night sky, and cast a grim shadow of their ship over the land as they went. Most of the team was relieved and satisfied with the job they had done. Elric felt a strange and immeasurable sadness as she looked at the purple horizon. There were supposedly Shifters at work on Korhal, too, but all she could think about was how far away she was from where she must be. Something more was missing from this voyage, and she thought of home while the clouds sped by. Moria.

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