Children Of War: Terran Preview
This is part two of a series of previews from the upcoming chapters of my StarCraft fanfic: Children Of War. Some characters may seem OOC.
Andromeda’s spine, fingertips, neck, all of her joints twitched as if she was being possessed by some spirit. The wires and mechanical bits that were installed into her body made her feel heavier, yet stronger. Her brain writhed, and yet somehow stayed calm. Her eyes rolled, and yet she was fully conscious. Her joints jolted and twitched, and yet she was in full control of her body. The mechanical wings that were drilled into her spine were heavy, but she somehow managed to stay standing without tumbling backwards. The boots drilled into her legs were painful, but somehow she managed to ignore the pain. She felt tears roll down her cheeks, though her face rendered no expression whatsoever.
She straightened up fully when she heard someone enter the room, and she felt the wires pull from her body while air hissed as they released. As the tubes were removed, Andromeda flinched painfully; she felt almost like she was going to go into cardiac arrest at such a feeling. As the final tube released, she managed to stiffen herself into a position where she could breathe just fine. She blinked, regaining her vision, thoroughly thankful that they hadn’t replaced her eyes with ocular implants. More tears streamed down her cheeks, her brain still not yet able to put forward any emotions or expressions at will. The chip that Mengsk had installed into her brain prevented her from showing any as such, prevented her from objecting and asking questions, prevented her from free will. Despite the fact that she couldn’t feel any emotions, she only felt one as of right now.
As the tears fell, she felt ashamed...so ashamed. She was becoming less and less human...less Protoss.
She was cold, possibly dehydrated, and hungry no doubt. She felt like someone had chewed her up and spit her back out. She felt weak, feeling her knees shaking slightly. Oh, how she wished she was on Shakuras with Artanis and Selendis. How she wished to be with Zeratul again, and Jimmy as well. Oh...how she wished that Tassadar were here to cradle her head in his giant palm like he did when she was just a child.
Andromeda bit her lip tightly. She refused to let anyone see her cry. She refused to let them believe she was weak.
Hearing footsteps behind her, she ceased all thoughts and focused on the person in the room, to which she already knew who it was.
“Welcome to your new home, Andromeda.” She heard the Emperor’s voice behind her as he paced slowly around the cylindrical corridor. “You were raised by Protoss after the death of your parents at age seven. After a while, you were left in the hands of Terrans who were running an anti-Confederate revolutionary group and served as a Ghost while working with them.”
Andromeda visibly chewed on the inside of her lip from irritation. She attempted to reach out and read his mind, until she immediately winced when she felt a sharp pain erupt in her mind. Damn it all, he was wearing a psi-reader! She desperately wanted to read his mind, look for any information she needed. Though she was intent on acting with her rebellious ideas, she remained obedient to this traitor...this monster...this inhuman being that she had once before sworn she would throw to the feet of Kerrigan so she could practically eat him alive.
The poor youth tried to call out to Zeratul or Jim with her mind, desperately calling for aid. Her lower lip trembled slightly from the pain that struck her brain once again, the psi-reader doing its job on preventing her from using any telepathic abilities around the Emperor. For a moment, she felt as if she could touch Zeratul and Jim, knowing exactly where they were, though it was only an illusion. She did not want this man to see her break, so she held her loyal position and kept her head in a submissive bow, succumbing to the pain and giving up on reaching Jim and Zeratul. She only hoped that they had caught at least a fringe of her telepathic cries.
“You serve the Terran Confederacy now. You have been redesigned, reformed into a worthy Ghost operative of the Confederacy. You work for me, now: Emperor Arcturus Mengsk, and no other.” Mengsk said, finally stopping in front of her as she looked up at him weakly, her blue eyes emitting a bluish glow. His eyes were sharp and hateful, though showed strange hospitality towards her. She imagined it was only because she was his Ghost now. “Andromeda Clarissa was your previous name.” He then bent forward a bit and looked her straight in the eye. “Your new name...is Gaia.”
She unconsciously blinked back tears and looked up. It seemed that her name would only be relevant with the stars, if not her body soon.
Andromeda’s spine, fingertips, neck, all of her joints twitched as if she was being possessed by some spirit. The wires and mechanical bits that were installed into her body made her feel heavier, yet stronger. Her brain writhed, and yet somehow stayed calm. Her eyes rolled, and yet she was fully conscious. Her joints jolted and twitched, and yet she was in full control of her body. The mechanical wings that were drilled into her spine were heavy, but she somehow managed to stay standing without tumbling backwards. The boots drilled into her legs were painful, but somehow she managed to ignore the pain. She felt tears roll down her cheeks, though her face rendered no expression whatsoever.
She straightened up fully when she heard someone enter the room, and she felt the wires pull from her body while air hissed as they released. As the tubes were removed, Andromeda flinched painfully; she felt almost like she was going to go into cardiac arrest at such a feeling. As the final tube released, she managed to stiffen herself into a position where she could breathe just fine. She blinked, regaining her vision, thoroughly thankful that they hadn’t replaced her eyes with ocular implants. More tears streamed down her cheeks, her brain still not yet able to put forward any emotions or expressions at will. The chip that Mengsk had installed into her brain prevented her from showing any as such, prevented her from objecting and asking questions, prevented her from free will. Despite the fact that she couldn’t feel any emotions, she only felt one as of right now.
As the tears fell, she felt ashamed...so ashamed. She was becoming less and less human...less Protoss.
She was cold, possibly dehydrated, and hungry no doubt. She felt like someone had chewed her up and spit her back out. She felt weak, feeling her knees shaking slightly. Oh, how she wished she was on Shakuras with Artanis and Selendis. How she wished to be with Zeratul again, and Jimmy as well. Oh...how she wished that Tassadar were here to cradle her head in his giant palm like he did when she was just a child.
Andromeda bit her lip tightly. She refused to let anyone see her cry. She refused to let them believe she was weak.
Hearing footsteps behind her, she ceased all thoughts and focused on the person in the room, to which she already knew who it was.
“Welcome to your new home, Andromeda.” She heard the Emperor’s voice behind her as he paced slowly around the cylindrical corridor. “You were raised by Protoss after the death of your parents at age seven. After a while, you were left in the hands of Terrans who were running an anti-Confederate revolutionary group and served as a Ghost while working with them.”
Andromeda visibly chewed on the inside of her lip from irritation. She attempted to reach out and read his mind, until she immediately winced when she felt a sharp pain erupt in her mind. Damn it all, he was wearing a psi-reader! She desperately wanted to read his mind, look for any information she needed. Though she was intent on acting with her rebellious ideas, she remained obedient to this traitor...this monster...this inhuman being that she had once before sworn she would throw to the feet of Kerrigan so she could practically eat him alive.
The poor youth tried to call out to Zeratul or Jim with her mind, desperately calling for aid. Her lower lip trembled slightly from the pain that struck her brain once again, the psi-reader doing its job on preventing her from using any telepathic abilities around the Emperor. For a moment, she felt as if she could touch Zeratul and Jim, knowing exactly where they were, though it was only an illusion. She did not want this man to see her break, so she held her loyal position and kept her head in a submissive bow, succumbing to the pain and giving up on reaching Jim and Zeratul. She only hoped that they had caught at least a fringe of her telepathic cries.
“You serve the Terran Confederacy now. You have been redesigned, reformed into a worthy Ghost operative of the Confederacy. You work for me, now: Emperor Arcturus Mengsk, and no other.” Mengsk said, finally stopping in front of her as she looked up at him weakly, her blue eyes emitting a bluish glow. His eyes were sharp and hateful, though showed strange hospitality towards her. She imagined it was only because she was his Ghost now. “Andromeda Clarissa was your previous name.” He then bent forward a bit and looked her straight in the eye. “Your new name...is Gaia.”
She unconsciously blinked back tears and looked up. It seemed that her name would only be relevant with the stars, if not her body soon.