"What's the situation?" Raynor snapped his head up, pressing his communicator. "Post Three, report!"
Only the harsh hiss of static answered him.
Almost in the exact same second, the micro-data pad on Valerie's wrist vibrated, and the passive sensor data stream from the Thunderhawk in orbit began to jump violently.
She quickly walked to Raynor's side, showing him the screen. "Mr. Raynor, it's not Dominion pursuers. Large-scale subterranean tremors, multiple coordinates. The biomass signal signatures perfectly match the previous early warning—they are here, and they're already right beneath our feet."
Raynor's face instantly turned ashen.
He glanced at Tychus, who had already snapped his visor shut with a sharp click. The voice beneath the heavy armor was muffled and filled with aggressive hostility: "Damn it, it really is the bugs! We can't stay in this hellhole!"
"All hands, attention!" Raynor's roar exploded through the camp broadcast system. "Zerg approaching from underground! Abandon all non-essential supplies, prepare to move to Handoff Point Three! Move fast!"
The moment the order was given, a terrifying, rumbling vibration traveled through the ground from a distance, approaching rapidly as if some colossal monstrosity were rolling and charging deep within the planetary crust.
Immediately after, at several locations in the center and periphery of the camp, the ground violently ruptured. Earth and rock erupted like fountains. Accompanied by the ear-grating rasp of chitin and shrieking, several massive Nydus Worms burst from the soil, their segments bristling and talons snapping. Within their gaping, maw-like openings, a tidal wave of Zerglings and Hydralisks spewed forth!
In the blink of an eye, the camp plunged into a chaotic nightmare.
The Zerg were not just swarming from the perimeter; they erupted directly from the very heart of the camp. Although the Raiders had experienced battle before, facing an ambush that tunneled out from right beneath their feet caused their formation to splinter instantly.
"Fire! Hold them back! Fall back to the transports!" Raynor ordered at the top of his lungs, using his "Penetrator" Gauss rifle to blast a string of Zerglings into the air.
Tychus laughed wildly, turning the head of a Nydus Worm that had only managed to poke half its body out into a mangled mess of blood and flesh, but more bugs immediately filled the void.
Valerie and her "security consultants" formed a circular defensive perimeter the instant the anomaly occurred, shielding her and several pieces of critical equipment in the center. Their heavy bolters spat dense tongues of flame, precisely picking off any fast-moving units that attempted to draw near. Their power armor stepped on viscous Zerg blood and shattered chitin, remaining as steady as bedrock.
But the sheer number of the swarm was overwhelming. As far as the eye could see, a surging wave of purple chitin was drowning everything.
"The camp structure is disintegrating. The Zerg numbers exceed conventional suppression limits," Valerie's voice remained calm over the encrypted channel amidst the fierce firefight. "Requesting execution of the 'Evacuation Cover' protocol."
Aboard the Eternal Seeker, Osiris's reply arrived instantly: "Approved. Providing fire clearance to ensure the target boards the vessel."
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 transports."
Raynor, who had just smashed the skull of a Zergling with his rifle butt, roared upon hearing this: "Southeast corner, the old mine platform! But that place is crawling with bugs right now!"
"Copy that. Support is on the way." After speaking, Valerie issued an emergency liftoff directive to the Thunderhawk lingering on the edge of the camp.
As the roar of the engines shifted from a low hum to a piercing shriek, the Thunderhawk gunship spewed a scorching blue stream of light from its aft, rapidly rising from the ground.
Seconds later, a piercing howl came from the upper flank. It tore through the smoke, cutting into the battlefield in an attack posture. The twin-linked heavy bolters beneath its nose and the light missile pods on its wings opened fire simultaneously!
The scorching metal jets and exploding flames acted like a reaper's plow, ruthlessly raking across the densest concentration of the Zerg swarm at the southeast corner of the camp, instantly clearing a temporary vacuum zone filled with charred corpses and craters.
"Now's our chance! Everyone, move!" Raynor seized the opportunity, shouting to the remaining Raiders.
"Jimmy! Don't just focus on running!" Tychus bellowed over the comms channel. "Call down your big ship! This hellhole needs an orbital bombardment, or at least some decent pickup!"
Raynor spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and pressed another encrypted comms button: "Matt! This is Raynor! Mar Sara's surface is completely compromised, we need immediate evacuation! Have the Hyperion move to the designated orbital point for pickup, and drop every available transport craft! Syncing coordinates to you now!"
"Copy that, Jim. The Hyperion is already in synchronous orbit. The transport fleet is breaking away and is estimated to arrive over your sector in three minutes. Hold on!" The voice of his second-in-command, Matt Horner, brought a crucial glimmer of hope.
With the Thunderhawk's continuous low-altitude strafing suppressing the boarding zone and the news that the reinforcements called by Raynor were about to arrive, the surviving Raiders summoned their final ounce of strength, desperately breaking through toward the platform.
Valerie's squad consistently held a key position on the flank, anchoring a narrow corridor with formidable firepower.
Three minutes felt as long as a year in the fierce fighting.
When the first large transport ship from the Hyperion penetrated the cloud layer and landed steadily on the cleared platform under the cover of the Thunderhawk, the survivors let out a roar of relief at having escaped death.
"Quick! Get on the ship!" Raynor stood by the boarding ramp, directing personnel onto the craft while firing his weapon.
Tychus was among the last group to board. As his massive blue armor stepped inside the hatch, he didn't forget to turn back and spray the pursuing Zerg swarm with his arm-mounted minigun.
Valerie and her squad also boarded the Thunderhawk gunship at the opportune moment.
As the Thunderhawk gunship completed its final strafing run and climbed, closely following the transport ships toward orbit, the view from the hatch revealed that the entire canyon camp—and even the broader region beyond—had been completely carpeted by surging purple biomass.
The transport ships shuddered violently as they broke through the atmosphere, leaving that hellish scene behind and charting a course toward the massive starship waiting in orbit: the Hyperion.
The interior of the bay was cramped and suffocating, thick with the pungent stench of sweat, blood, and lubricants. People slumped down, panting heavily, their faces filled with exhaustion and lingering fear.
Raynor leaned against the bulkhead, checking the integrity of the crate containing the artifact fragment.
Tychus stood to one side, his power armor covered in slime. With his visor open, he spat out his mangled cigar and muttered, "Well, that trip was certainly worth the price of admission."
Valerie found a relatively quiet corner, with three "security consultants" standing silently beside her. She pulled up her data pad and reported calmly: "Mission report: Successfully assisted the target Raynor and his team in evacuating the critical object from the surface of Mar Sara. Our units sustained zero casualties, with resources consumed within normal parameters. The target has rendezvoused with their capital ship, the Hyperion."
Osiris's reply was brief: "Received. Maintain observation."
The transport ship slowly taxied into the massive hangar deck of the Hyperion.
For Raynor's Raiders, a long journey of outlaws had just begun; but for Valerie and the Eternal Seeker hidden in the darkness, closely observing a variable capable of stirring the entire sector was likewise just the beginning of their plan.