Disclaimer: I do not own Starcraft or its affiliates

WARNING: Coarse language in this chapter. Proceed at your own risk.

The Rise of the Terran Dominion

December 21st, Year 12

"He's coming to!"

"What, so fast already? It's only been a few minutes since he's been knocked out!"

"Tell that to his flickering eyelids!"

"Out of the way then. I'll deal with this. Just get that dead body out of here!" Commander Anthony heard this exchange through a hazy mind, unable to comprehend the words fully. The knock on his head had severely affected his mental functioning, and it would take a while to clear up.

That is, until he heard his legs snap in two and screamed awake in perfectly clear pain, gasping and trying to grab his broken limbs. But Anthony's hands were tied up, so all it did was create an unpleasant feeling in his wrists as he struggled. As the Commander's eyes opened, they immediately fixated on a man in CMC power armor in front of him, one metallic foot on both of Anthony's legs and grinding on it. The orange visor lifted to reveal a face he'd thought never to see in the flesh again.

"Wakey wakey, I need to have a talk to you," Tyler, aide to the later Prince Zeb, snarled as he took his robotic foot from Anthony's legs. The black hair man was tempted to sigh as the pain slowly dulled, but then was mistaken as the metal snapped forwards instead and caught his shoulder, fracturing the bone as the power armor augmented the kick. Anthony gritted his teeth, resolving not to give this former Terrazine man a reason to be delighted in punishment. "Oh, stubborn are we? Well, that's only expected as being a tyrant, unwilling to acknowledge to his blindness to the people."

"And you're saying that you can do better?" The Terran Commander asked with a sarcastic voice, before suddenly gasping for breath as a hand gripped his throat. The assassin growled as he lifted Anthony with only one hand using the power armor as support.

"No. But I know that Zeb would've and you've taken him away for your own selfishness to bloom!" Anthony was swung around and let go, sending the tied up Commander flying into a metal wall. The Terran slammed into the wall hard, before dropping to the ground face down, gargling in his own blood as the internal bleeding started to take effect and leak body fluids into his mouth. "That's right. You should, by all rights, drown in a pool of your own blood as punishment for your own ambitions!"

"Sir!" One of the men jogged up to Tyler and saluted. "The replacement cores work, just as you said! Shall we prepare to jump?"

"In a few minutes, yes. But first…I want to make sure that the Commander knows why he's still alive so he can feel terror when we go," The one legged man instructed and the soldier nodded, walking back to a position in the bridge.

"These men…who are they?" Anthony coughed blood as he struggled slowly to his feet, ignoring the roaring pain in his broken legs and shoulder. "I know that the company used mercenaries, but- ack- nobody would be insane enough to work with you, an outlaw of the Empire."

"My men are the ones who remain opposed to your regime," Tyler answered, turning around and refusing to look at the broken Commander. "In a way, this is a collaboration of your foes to end your reign of terror once and for all."

"My reign of terror? You don't understand, do you? Even if I fall, the Terran Empire will endure! My death will simply become another item to list on the history books, as a timeline fact or something of that nature!"

"And that's why you're not dead. No, you must suffer and watch your life's work fall to pieces as I slowly tear it down one General at a time." Anthony felt his shirt getting grabbed and was thrown onto an iron chair, knocking the breath out of him as the impact caused even more unbearable pain. He didn't even feel the ropes that were being tied, binding his legs to the chair's support. "Here, I'll tell you the future that lies ahead, just so you can begin to plead for death already."

"Is this the part where the antagonist tells me his entire evil plan then?" The Commander mumbled, blood slowly trickling out of his mouth. "Cause if it is, then it's a pretty stupid part that I would love to skip."

"Oh my friend, calling the hard earned fruits of my labor stupid is a very foolish move on your part." The Terrazine cackled, his laughter betraying the years of anger and madness. "In fact, this will shatter everything you knew about yourself! Even if you were to somehow escape from here, you would never trust another person again in your life and succumb to the lures of power that I know are in your subconscious!"

"What do you bloody mean? Just spit it out already."

"When you captured the CEO and the weak man tried to make a plea for information, I knew that he would give into your demands and that he had to be…informed of his mistake. So I attacked you at the convoy on the day of the parade and arranged for a bomb to blow up the parade itself so that Central HQ would be thrown into a mess over both your assassination and the parade's chaos. That allowed a soldier of mine to slip in and threaten the convict held there with death if he 'accidentally' revealed more information that he should've, such as who he was being paid by and the main core that needed to be tampered."

"You still killed him anyway."

"But of course. He was no longer necessary to my plans and was actually trying to blackmail me! Can you believe that?!" Tyler threw back his head and laughed, his face twisting into a warped expression of glee. "Try to blackmail me?! I think not! And then your pesky Generals got in the way, even managing to land a blow on me! Impressive, but not good enough."

"Xana recognized you though. That alone was enough to make you go on the run for a very long time."

"Ah yes, Xana. The poor brainwashed girl. I can only hope that there's a way to reverse her mind and to restore it to its original brilliant form." The outlaw sighed dramatically, placing a hand mockingly over his heart. "If not, oh woe be Zeb's soul! But I know that it can be done. When a man has conviction, he can do anything!"

"Conviction…"

"Where was I? Ah yes, on the run. But what I needed from the CEO was finished: a tampered Fusion core, slipped into at the right time The Anubis through much bribery. But I also needed a reason for you to travel, so I called upon my associate again."

"I'm going to assume your associate has a lot of money if he funded all of your bribery."

"Oh yes he is! He is a former friend of the beloved Princess Clara, heartbroken by her death at your hands and eager to seek revenge! It was a simple collaboration of two men working together to avenge those they lost! He was so trusted by Clara, that she told him how to awaken the slumbering Terrazine army waiting to avenge the fallen!"

"The researcher at gunpoint." Anthony's eyes widened in realization. "He didn't want to help you, you just made him!"

"Well, he did require some 'persuasion,' but I assure you, it was entirely his own work."

"Work that was forced, not given." Tyler slightly flinched at the accusation, but merely laughed at the Commander's statement.

"Nevertheless, he was unfortunately killed while awakening the robots, which matters not for he did what he had to do! By attacking Meriah's central city, you were forced to board The Anubis in order to make the jump to support the city! Making it even more delightful was how it was your strategist told you to jump! He wasn't aware of it, but he effectively signed the death warrant on you! Oh, he'll be miserable and unable to think clearly in his battle back on Meriah!"

"So you have me. Now what?"

"I'll take The Anubis as my own flagship, using the cores we bought in as replacements for the ones that were destroyed in the blast. We were lucky that most of the engines survived intact; that'll make it so much easier to make a quick jump away to a hidden space station."

"You hijacked an entire space station without making the headlines? I'll admit, that is actually kind of impressive considering your situation."

"Once we get there, you'll be locked up of course. But you'll have a single television in your room, always on the news channel. That way, you can hear when each and every one of your Generals die or turn on you through my brilliant manipulation, slowly sinking further and further into despair as you watch your Empire collapse and be reborn as a Terrazine Empire! By that point in your life, all I'll have to do is give you a gun for you to end yourself with! It will be the perfect form of revenge that I will inflict upon you for Zeb!"

"Okay, you're a rambling madman. But tell me. What made you want to struggle this long for that final dream?" Anthony's breath settled as he regained his composure, mentally silencing the pain in his limbs as he spoke with a quiet voice, careful not to ingest any more blood. "What drove you to this point in your life, where you tell me your master plan in a rambling nonsensical stream of words?"

"Conviction for revenge," Tyler hissed, lifting up his robotic leg to show. "You killed Prince Zeb. He was not only a master, but a friend to me! When I was lost, his father, the king of Terrazine, took me in and made me an aide to life to Zeb! But I loved those years of growing up beside him: he always insisted on acting like a friend rather than a master!

"When you brainwashed Xana into killing him, I lost the one I believed who would make a great king! And I swore that day, on my lost limb, that I would avenge him! It's the same case as your loyal dog Cain! I know the story about him: you took him in when he had nowhere to go and raised him as your own blood! His conviction is yours!

"Oh, but I know! I could pretend to kill you and lay the blame on somebody in the Terran Empire! That way, he will grow conviction like me and become a worthy pawn of mine!"

"No, you have him completely wrong," Commander Anthony quietly stated, shaking his head as a grin broke out on his face. But it wasn't one of sarcasm or of madness. It was one of amusement. "I think you also have Xana's character wrong as well, for you've completely misjudged what makes us fight. What drives us, what moves us to act, what made me walk with full intentions into your trap."

"What? You knew it was a trap?!" Tyler asked, his face adopting a shocked look as the outlaw took an unconscious step back from the grinning Terran. "No, you couldn't have!"

"Of course I knew! Takeshi didn't know all the facts, but I did! That's what makes me the Commander!" Anthony threw back his head and laughed, the tears in his eyes from Will's death and the pain he endured disappearing. "I walked into this thing with my head held up high to end this pointless squabble of yours! You want revenge? GO AHEAD! My life is nothing when you compare it to the loyalty or purpose that my Generals give me! I am loyal to them, and they are loyal to me! My, theirs, our purposes are one and the same! To create a perfect Terran world- no, universe- for humanity!"

"They are weak! You are what is holding them back from their true purpose with your stupid ideals! Without them, their power would be much greater individually as shown by your history of recruiting them! Your perfect Terran universe is nothing but a cage for them!"

"Sure, they may be better off without me, but I'm the one who they asked to serve, for they see me in their futures! No matter whatever losses they endure under me, it is ten times greater if they were alone! You mistake conviction as the driving force of the Terrans, and thus tried to adopt it as your own to become even more powerful. But that's what makes you Terrazine instead of Terran! You don't know loyalty or purpose! Think about it: what would Zeb say if he saw you taking a poor Marine's life needlessly to satisfy your desire for revenge?"

"Shut up!" The outlaw obviously had enough as he slammed a fist into Anthony's cheek, fracturing the jaw bone. "You don't know pain! You don't know suffering! You don't know unfairness!"

"Oh Tyler, I know all those things," The Commander whispered, careful not to move his broken bones around too much as he spoke. "I can tell you of a crying orphan. I can tell you of a struggling scientist. I can tell you of a lost tactician. I can tell you of a troubled fighter. I can tell you of a weeping princess. I can tell you of a fool who brought them all together in one dangerous gamble that this game, this game we all play called life, can be won despite it never ending."

"Enough! Activate the jump, we're getting out of here!" Tyler snarled and the men in the bridge nervously saluted, pulling levers and pressing buttons. "How long till we leave?!"

"About a minute sir!"

"Then savor that minute, cause that'll be the last one where you'll have your precious loyalty and purpose!" The outlaw spat at the Commander.

"Sir, long range scanners are picking up a jump incoming to our coordinates!" One of Tyler's soldiers exclaimed. "It's bearing a military code, but nothing I've ever seen before!"

"What do you mean? All Terran Empire military codes are the same!"

"No, this one is different! It's still Terran, but it's as if it was another faction of them!"

"What?!" Tyler looked outside in both anger and confusion as the tagged ship appeared right next to the Anubis. Commander Anthony managed to move his head slightly so that his eyes could see out the windows of the bridge as well, slightly amused by this turn of events. Maybe Cain or Xana did manage to get here in time.

But what he saw shocked him. It wasn't either of them. In fact, it wasn't even a Battlecruiser of the Terran Empire judging by its name!

The spaceship still had a Terran Battlecruiser base design, but it was, first of all, gigantic in comparison to the Anubis. It had to be at least twice the size in fact! The entire ship was made with what seemed to be every single armament in the entire Terran military, ranging from missile pods to light turrets. Even weirder was the fact that the jagged armor on the new flagship-class Battlecruiser was painted a light red color instead of the Empire blue. As it loomed past the bridge, Anthony could just make out the name painted on the hull of the ship: Loki.

Suddenly, the communications screen in the bridge of Anubis cackled to life, revealing what looked to be a rather young man wearing a captain's outfit, complete with medals and a dark officer's hat. "Attention Anubis! This is General Marlow, captain of the Loki! We have reason to believe that the outlaw Tyler is onboard: prepare to be boarded!"

"What? Another General?!" The Terrazine growled and turned to Anthony, who merely shrugged his shoulders the best one can when they are tied up and have both types of cracked bones. "Dammit! All hands, open fire and buy us time to escape!"

The heavy weaponry on the Anubis turned, aimed, and fired a full broadside of blasts into the Loki without hesitation. But instead of piercing the metal hull, the projectiles stopped just right before impact and lost all their velocity, drifting away. The only indication that the shots were trying to connect was a blue-ripple effect whenever this happened. As the men in the hijacked flagship tried to reload their heavy weapons quicker, the light weapons opened fire and were met with the same result: all their bullets had no effect. But one could hope, so constant fire was kept up in an attempt to pierce whatever shield the Loki had.

"The Defense Matrix actually works, just like he said. Excellent." The young man wearing a hat turned to the men on the bridge, holding a single arm in the air. "Divert all weapon and engine power to the EMP weapon! We are taking this one alive! Hold fire until my mark!"

The Loki slowed to a stop as its engines were shut down, the energy from the Fusion cores going into a different area instead. All the turrets on the large Battlecruiser powered down as wall, their power being taken away and sent to a single dish-like object above the engines. There, the Fusion cores went into overtime in generating energy, pushed to the near limit as all the electricity built up in the center, waiting to be released and used.

Just as the Anubis engines began to power up in preparation for jump, the man's arm came down. "Mark!" He yelled, and the EMP released its energy, sending a wave of pure electromagnetic power all around the Loki. That meant it was a guaranteed hit on the Anubis, frying all electronic equipment within and scrambling computer codes beyond auto-repair functions.

With a moan, the engines fell silent, unable to operate as their systems became useless. The weapon turrets all powered down slowly with a low hum, unable to continue their barrage on their target. The entire bridge of the Anubis shuddered, the ship rocking back and forth in agony as it couldn't recover without proper technical help.

As the Anubis' guns fell silent, an aircraft took off from the Loki, exiting the hanger without need for a pressure bay as shields served as pressurized walls that could be traversed. The Medivac flew without fear of the anti-aircraft weapons of their target, knowing that there was no way they could get rebooted within the time it took to get into the exposed pressure bay of the Anubis. As the primitive system of transporting fighters worked, Tyler's soldiers streamed out of the hallways and took up defensive positions in the hanger. They may not have any anti-air capabilities, but they were still in CMC power armor! There was no way a single squad could get past all of them!

O O O

"Alpha 12, respond! Dammit, he's been shot down!"

"Scramble Blue Team, you are need ASAP out there!"

"It's a trap! Pull out of there!"

The entire bridge of the Horus was in chaos as the operators ran around like headless chickens, trying to coordinate their tac fighter squadrons against the Terrazine flyers. So far, the battle was in their favor, but it was ultimately going to a pyrrhic victory due to the huge amount of tac fighters lost between the Horus and Isis. Combined, the two had about 130 squadrons at their command alone.

Current casualties listed their losses at 40 squadrons all killed in action, with half of the enemy's crescent shaped fighters fighting near the two flagship-class Battlecruisers shot down. It was still a somewhat positive kill ratio, but again, it wasn't looking very good. And the fight had dragged on for nearly two hours now, with both Generals stuck in their ships, unable to pull out in fear of loosing the space battle. To make things worse, the enemy seemed to target their engines to prevent them from escaping. The tac fighters and ship defenses have so far prevented them from succeeding, but it was only a matter of them before a squadron broke through and started going to town on the exposed engines as the flagships were still facing away from Meriah.

And then the expected struck.

"Sir!" General Cain looked and saw one of the operators waving his hands frantically. "Short range scanners have picked up more bogeys coming our way! Enemy flyer reinforcements are incoming, and it looks like another giant fleet of them! We need to turn around and face them head on to take them out!"

"No!" The blond Marine firmly replied. "We still need to rescue the Commander! The Horus' weapons can already fire all around the ship; turning it around won't do very much in the long run of the battle. The most we can maybe do is-"

"Sir! Long ranged scanners are picking up something!" Another operator yelled. "Looks like…more Battlecruisers? Yes, Battlecruisers are jumping into Meriah's space range! But they're using the wrong military code!"

"Dammit, did Tyler somehow get his hands on someBattlecruisers?!" The Terran General asked in disbelief as he looked out of the briddge. "There's no way!"

"They're jumping in….now!"

To the side of the Horus, blurs of red and grey appeared before focusing as the Battlecruisers came out of jump and into a slow advance as their engines switched modes. There were about 20 of them in total, but three of them carried the distinct markings of a flagship-class Battlecruiser. Two of these flagship-class immediately powered right through the middle of the battle raging on in space, their anti-fighter weaponry providing covering fire as the Battlecruisers sailed right through, not even bothering to scramble fighters.

Cain half-expected them to be completely battered and torn up as they ran right into the thick of the fighting, but to his great surprise, they emerged without a scratch! Some sort of glowing light protected these newcomers, absorbing all the gauss fire instead of the hull of the ship. About half of the normal Battlecruisers followed them, ignoring all fighters as well.

The other flagship-class Battlecruiser came about right next to the Horus, the ship's name flashing by the bridge: Hel. The communications screen in front of Cain came to life as a man wearing a helmet with visor appeared. "This is General Valin of the Terran Nations, leader of the Hel's Angels. Heard you were in trouble from your friend Rorke. We're here to help, make sure your fighters avoid us!"

"This is General Cain of the Terran Empire, and what the hell makes you think I'll trust somebody who just arrived?" The Marine shot back, placing his hands on the railing. "I'd like some evidence about the engineer first before I can start trusting."

"General Rorke has green hair, a pair of glasses, and wears a lab coat."

"Common information like that isn't going to gain you anything."

"He gave us all a pat down and insisted on taking blood tests along with spit tests."

"Okay, sounds about right." Everyone in the bridge stared at Cain's sudden acceptance of the newcomer, the operators muttering among themselves. However, a glare from the Marine General effectively shut them all up. "What do you have that can help us?'

"Our Battlecruisers have a shield upgrade thanks to your friend and we have some superior anti-fighter aircraft. The Vikings are here!" With that, the connection cut suddenly and without warning. Cain looked in confusion until he heard the loud blast of engines as six grey and red fighters soar past the bridge, one of them briefly rolling to show the man who the General was just talking to. The Terran smiled, knowing that this was a man who led his own troops into battle.

The screen crackled back on as the connection was reestablished. "So what's it going to be Cain? Fight or flight?"

"Can you take over the battle for the Horus and Isis? My colleague and I need to get out and help our boss."

"Understood, and don't worry. With us in play, we can take care of these jokers easily. Good luck!"

"Happy hunting General!" Cain nodded and turned to the closest operator as the connection was again lost. "Connect to General Xana and power up the engines! We're leaving!"

"Aye sir! It'll take a few minutes to prepare jump and then another few minutes to reach the Commander's last known position!"

"Then make it quick! We have to save Anthony!"

O O O

Takeshi shouted and dashed, slicing another Terrazine robot in half as he ran. Without stopping, he flipped the blade and sliced again in a backhand swing, cutting off another segment. Then the blue robed man brought his sword forward in a low swing to avoid a bayonet thrust and sliced the legs off the robot, before flipping his katana back into normal position to decapitate the foe.

He didn't see the robot he'd just cut down before pull itself together, unfazed by its own death. The strategist gasped as the blade sliced into his side, blood spurting out of the wound as it was just barely stopped by his ribcage. Gritting his teeth, Takeshi swung around and took off the robot's head again, kicking its limp body back away and yanking the rifle stuck in his side.

Then another defeated robot rose back up, bringing the stock of its rifle down onto Takeshi's shoulder and cracking bone. With a roar, the Terran swung backwards two-handed style and sliced the robot into several hundred pieces. His one eye glinted red in the fire of the base, a red sash covering half his upper face as he glared at the groups of robots in front of him. But he knew, that as they raised their rifles at him, that like how gunpowder ended his father's era of conquest, these strange weapons would end his time as a strategist for the Terran Empire.

The gauss weapons fired and Takeshi closed his eyes. He felt his gut tighten as the blasts drew closer to him, ready to vaporize the blue robes he wore. But instead of falling into a deep darkness, he was suddenly weightless as the tightening feeling lifted off, taking the strategist out of the line of fire. The swordsman was barely able to keep grip on his beloved katana as he opened his eyes, shocked by what he saw saved him.

A man in some weird exoskeleton suit with a helmet visor had appeared and grabbed Takeshi's abdomen, then used some sort of jetpack on his back to boost out of harm's way by flying into the air. But the flight was short lived as the power was exhausted, forcing the two to land on the top of the nearby Factory. At the very least, they were out of harm's way. Takeshi scrambled to his feet and held out his sword. "Who are you?"

"Boy, I'm the man who just saved your life." The visor raised up to show a man's face under the helmet, stubble and short hair coating the view as his eyes locked onto the strategist. "Name's General Balder, leader of Spartan Company."

"Spartan Company?" The swordsman asked in confusion. "The hell is Spartan Company?"

"The finest Goliath pilots in all of the Terran Nations." With a click, the visor slid back down smoothly as the man took out an AGR from his back. "We may only be four men, but I assure you, we're more than enough to take care of any rabble you rookies are dealing with here."

"How'd you get here? The airspace is completely clogged up with enemy fighters! There's no way a Dropship can get through and land at this current state!"

"Who said we needed transport? That reminds me…" The pilot turned and pressed something on his wrist. "Hey, gonna need that replacement now!"

"You just called at the right time! Your new Goliath is dropping now!"

"Wait, dropping?" A sonic boom was heard and Takeshi flinched. The one eye man looked up and actually took a step back at what he saw, his single eye widening in disbelief. A large metal rectangular object was falling out of the sky, pieces of metal being stripped away here and there as the friction in the air was too great for it to handle. But despite that, it landed in one piece right next to the Factory and an entire layer of the machine fell off. Apparently, it was meant to be dropped from the skies like that.

Underneath the protective layer laid a giant mechanical walker, two thick metal legs and two chain gun hands along with two missile launchers on the shoulders. Balder stepped back, returning his rifle back onto a strap and then took a running start and leapt at the vehicle, using the short-burst jetpack on his back to propel himself further and directly into the open pilot's seat. The man then closed the cockpit, using his hand to manually lock the protective screen as the machine's weapons slowly came to life. "Hey, better shut your mouth before a fly flies in!" General Baldar yelled using the intercom system.

Takeshi didn't even realize that his jaw was open until the man yelled at him, the strategist closing immediately and sheathing his sword. His eye scanned the vehicle and a wolfish smile appeared on his face. "General, thank you for your support. Do you need anything else?"

"Sure, a specific target for these!" The missile pods on the shoulders whirred and Takeshi understood its meaning. He placed a hand under his chin, ignoring the pain in his shoulder as he thought.

"Is there a requirement to fire them?"

"Yeah, they have to be somewhat high in the air so that this things work! They can't fly downwards, that's what these two are for." Balder pulled on the two joysticks inside the cockpit and the chain gun hands whirled, waiting to unleash bullet hell on the enemy.

"Can you target those Towers over there? Specifically, those crystals! Take them out and the entire thing should lose power and fall!"

"Those giant things? They should be taken care of; they're levitating a bit, so that makes it all the more easier! I'll need to be a bit closer though."

"Do you need us to clear a path to them? We really don't have the numbers right now to do that."

"No, no problem. Air cav's here!" The strategist looked at the hordes of robots currently running amok in the military camp, seeing nothing in the air that would help. But suddenly, out of nowhere, missiles appeared out of thin air and started to bomb the grouped infantry with promising results. The Terrazine foes all aimed upwards but didn't fire, as there was nothing to fire at besides these mysteriously appearing missiles!

The radio on Takeshi's wrist cackled to life as a female voice sounded from it. "This is General Amelia of the Dusk Wings! I hope I'm on the right frequency as you folks!"

"Yes, you are on the right one," The strategist replied smoothly, raising his hand to his mouth. "And what exactly are Dusk Wings?"

"Banshees! We're never seen thanks to our cloaking and we're ready to rain rolling thunder on whatever you need us to do!"

"I'm going to guess that General Balder is your colleague? Can either one of you explain what exactly are Goliaths as well? I need to know all the facts!"

"Easy boy, I got this. We're heavy support infantry units," The pilot announced from his machine. "We specialize in anti-air missions, but we can hold our ground pretty well with these things although our machines are quite fragile. We pilots of the Goliaths are often forced to eject from our vehicles if they take too much damage and start falling apart, but again, don't count us out then!

"Every pilot is a skilled fighter in his own respect with their own load outs and jetpacks despite how uniform our machines are. Speaking of which, since they're so easily destroyed, they're so easily built as well, meaning that you'll never run out of Goliaths on the battlefield! Well, unless the pilots snuff it."

"Alright, thank you General. You said there were four of you. How many do the Dusk Wings have anyway?"

"Four as well, but one of us got shot down while flying down. Guy forgot to freaking turn on his cloak, can you believe that?"

"So three, but judging by how effective they are, it's not a problem. I'll assume that your Battlecruisers are aiding ours up there?"

"Oh yeah. We're kicking ass up there!"

"That's all I need to know. We have an advantage now." The Terran breathed in and out, calming his breath and mind as tactics began to emerge for Takeshi. It was quite easy to do so with the entire battlefield able to be seen from up on top of the Factory. "Balder and Amelia, go and take out those Towers. They are your primary targets. Secondary targets are the infantry units, try and take them out if you can between Towers."

"What about the heavy machines? Don't you want our help dealing with them?" The female aircraft pilot asked.

A loud explosion on the other side of the base was heard, along with the roar, "YOU CALL THAT A CHALLENGE?! I CALL THAT EASY! ANOTHER!"

"No, I'm pretty sure General Abe's got that covered." The one eye man chuckled, already imagining how many smoking robot bodies there were surrounding the Marauder General. "I'll rally up the remaining land infantry and see if we've got anything left that's not broken. If that happens, know that those colored in blue armor are friendly to your red colors."

"Hang on boy, I never gave you permission to dish the orders, only the suggestions!" The Goliath pilot yelled from his machine. "What gives you the right to do so?"

"Because I'm General Takeshi, leader of the now dead Siege Breakers." The hooded man drew his sword, the metal glistening wickedly in the reflection of the fire of Takeshi's lone eye. "And I'm a strategist!"

O O O

"What do you mean everybody's dead?!" Tyler screamed into the face of his subordinate, his metal leg lunging out in anger and slamming into the Marine's gut out of rage. "This cannot be! You had one job: eliminate the sole strike team!"

"We- I tried sir!" The man stuttered, barely fazed as his armor easily took the kick. "But- there was a robot dog- he kept sneaking around and slicing- and their leader! They had some weird arm like yours- it blocked bullets-!"

"ARGGGHHHHHHHHH!" An unoccupied station in the bridge was kicked in and promptly exploded into a shower of sparks as Tyler showed his frustration. "Just…stay in here and help hold the bridge! We have an entire squad in here, and there are only two ways in! We can hold a choke point until the engine computers finally decide to reboot so we can haul ass out of here!"

"Yes sir!"

"Isn't it obvious already Tyler?" The outlaw whirled around and glared at the smirking Commander Anthony. He was still a hostage tied to a chair in the bridge, but the Terran just wouldn't stop smiling once the Loki appeared! "You're outmatched. Give up and I'll see what I can do for a quick death."

"Oh, you b-, you would like nothing more than that do you?" Tyler hissed, leaning close to the black hair man's face and spitting. "Escape from my grasp? Not a chance!"

"Well, I did warn you. What you do with your life now is out of my hands. All I would like to say is thank you: you've brought all my enemies together in this one room. How convenient."

The former aide was just about ready to pop a bullet into Anthony's groin when the hastily welded door to the bridge shook, denting as something punched it. As the final enemies of the Terran Empire grouped up and aimed at the door, Tyler growled and hoisted his shotgun rifle, one eye kept on Anthony just in case. "Anybody who comes through that doorway is going to get blasted to hell! Let us jump in peace and you'll all live!"

Problem was, Anthony thought as a second loud noise was heard from the door, that this man was just as skilled as Cain, if not more in his current state. His loyalty to Zeb was undeniable, hence how devoted and dogged his willpower was. With that much going on in his mind and heart, there was very little the Terran Empire could do. But if a single strike team had fought their way through such similar men in the league with Tyler…then who were they? Certainly not the War Pigs, nor the Shadow Squadron!

Everyone nervously gripped their weapon, sweat beading down their eyes under the CMC power suits. There were at least 12 gun barrels aimed at the door, and they all knew that the third time the flimsy metal was hit, it would give way. Then, they could pour a bullet storm into the chokepoint and hopefully take out as many attackers as possible. From there on out, it was up to Tyler's near super-human abilities to kill all of the Terran boarders and then jump with the Commander as his hostage.

The final clang and all the assassins fired, bullet after bullet exiting the barrel of the gun as the triggers were held. The bronze cartridges sprayed everywhere as they were forcefully ejected out of the rifles to make way for more bullets. Some had even dropped their rifle after an entire clip was depleted and pulled out a sidearm to fire at the…door?

"Hold fire!" Tyler shouted and the bullet storm stopped. He wearily stared at the now bullet riddled piece of metal protecting the bridge before whirling around and furiously making his way to the tied up Commander.

He almost tripped on the dead body in his way.

"What the hell?!" The outlaw shouted as he jumped back in surprise. As everyone else turned around and gave similar cries of surprise, Tyler looked at Anthony. The beaten up man shrugged innocently and gave a smile that could only be described as shit-eating. A scream from the right side of the room (when using the Battlecruiser's normal layout) caught everyone's attention again as one of the armored men was killed, his body lying limp on the floor right in front of a very strange Terran creation.

A robot dog. But that would sound cute and harmless, which this most certainly was not. It had a red light at where the face normally was but had a metal jaw region and body. It had, out of all things, what looked to be a chainsaw on its back along with the handles of knives sticking out of its hind legs as a cord-like tail whipped around on its back. Blood dripped from the front claws of this robotic killing machine, fresh from the two kills. To everybody's immediate surprise, it spoke. "Threat eliminated," A robotic voice droned. The red light in its head region lit up as it spoke, giving an eerie sense of intelligence.

"Shoot it!" Tyler yelled and the weapons barked in an attempt to hit the robotic Terran dog. Without hesitation or needing to process the threat, the machine leapt upwards onto the ceiling, where it grabbed on with its claws into an air vent. Despite its rather obvious and quick escape, the outlaws continued to fire at the entrance of the vent, hoping to catch it someway.

And that's when the door to the bridge gave in as, with a final slam, the piece of metal became undone. The closest man shouted in realization and turned to fire, but whoever just broke the metal door simply picked the sheet of metal up and used it as an improve shield against the panicking outlaw while charging at them.

Another one of the armored men managed to catch a glimpse of the Terran hiding behind the shield as they ran past him to their right. The man shouted in triumph and lowered his rifle, only to catch a giant flak round into his chest and head as the newcomer didn't even bother to look to aim with their right hand. But there was another flanking outlaw to the left!

The man fired a shotgun into the left side of the enemy, but to his great surprise, the bullets pinged off something large and failed to connect with any flesh at all. He didn't get time to fire another shot as the bullet riddled door was thrown at him sideways, its sharp edge piercing his chest and causing him to scream in pain. But he wasn't dead until the robotic dog leapt down from another air vent above, its claws digging into and ripping open the outlaw's armor to expose the vulnerable flesh below. The machine's tail swished as it plucked a knife from its flanks and plunged it into the man's heart, finishing off the job before leaping back up into the vents.

The original panicking outlaw shouted in surprise to realize his foe was right in front of him, trying to swing his weapon. But as he brought it down, something gripped it and broke the C-14 rifle in two just from squeezing. Likewise, the man in the armored suit felt the same gripping sensation going around his stomach as the item was directed to another target, locking him in place and beginning to crack the armor. That wasn't what killed him though.

Instead, a flak pistol was whipped around and everyone, for the first time caught a full sight of the Terran as they paused a moment. Tyler merely growled, aiming his shotgun in a blink of an eye. Commander Anthony swore he himself had a brief attack at the sight of his rescuer, not believing his eyes.

A long red hair young woman was saving the day, unarmored and wearing what seemed to be a green shirt and black jeans with a belt. A long brown glove extended under her left sleeve and continued all the way to the edge of her fingers holding the flak pistol. Her golden eyes seemed to stand out among a large circular scar on her left cheek, almost glowing as they stared into the outlaw Marine's orange visor. But what made everyone gape was her left arm. Instead of a normal arm, her left arm had some sort of armor on it, much like a Marine's power armor but growing wider at the end instead, resulting in an absolutely giant metal fist that was currently holding onto a trapped man in power armor.

For the brief second that Anthony caught her eyes, she winked. Then her gloved fingers pulled the trigger and a large bullet was put into the head of another outlaw, shattering the visor and the skull of the man inside. Her power fist pulled away then, letting the body drop to the floor as the young woman raised her left arm to block all the bullets the remainder seven men tried to send at her. Metal uselessly pinged off the stronger metal, as she ran to the side for cover while firing her flak pistol and taking another outlaw down. Six left.

The man closest to her cover on the left let out a cry and charged, only to get nailed into the gut by her power fist and thrown back. He was then finished off by the robot dog, who this time used its tail to yank the chainsaw from its back and plunge it into the chest of the stunned man. Red liquid positively gushed out as the outlaw screamed, his internal organs getting scrambled by the serrated blades. Again, the dog leapt up to disappear into the vents.

Eager to end this fight in their favor, Tyler gestured to his four remaining troops and they all advanced while firing at the lone Terran, still hiding behind cover. Their weapon sights never left the spot as they fired, trying to suppress the enemy into a position where she could be flanked easily. Anthony grunted and struggled against his bonds, but all it did was add more pain to the fire that was already burning in his body.

Tyler grinned under his visor as he realized they trapped her finally. There was no way she could emerge out now! The boarding party was dead!

Then the dog reappeared and jumped onto Tyler from the back, its claws tearing wide gashes in his armor on the back. The outlaw cursed and twisted around, grabbing the machine's lashing claws with his hands, his shotgun clattering from his hands. But the Terrazine forgot about the tail, which promptly took the chainsaw and plunged it into his chest.

With their leader pinned and screaming in both pain and anger, the soldiers did what was instinctive: turn and point their weapons at the robotic attacker. Huge mistake, considering that they forgot she was still there waiting behind cover. The red hair woman took this forgetfulness as a chance to execute all the soldiers with her flak pistol, putting a round into each man's head as they tried to kill the dog.

Surprisingly, Tyler wasn't dead from the chainsaw whirring away in his chest and was somehow still standing. Using his robotic leg, he lifted it up and kicked the Terran death machine off him, nailing it in the gut region and sending it flying. The robot slammed against the side of the bridge with an oddly realistic whimper, before getting up and fleeing back into the vents. Satisfied that it was off him, the outlaw turned around to find his men all dead and a giant metal fist heading straight for his head.

Reacting with incredible speed, the one legged man raised his arms and caught the fist with both hands, his visor sliding up as he grunted. "Who the hell are you?!" The madman yelled, pushing and straining against the fist he caught. "And what makes you think you can beat me, a man with CONVICTION?!"

"The best soldier and Commander of the Terran Confederacy, that's what!" The woman snarled, pulling back her fist and lunging out with a kick of leather boot to his bloody and exposed chest. As Tyler yelled in pain, she grinned and readied her fist for another attempt. This time, the weapon attacked with full force as a thruster on the top of the hand spat out fire in the opposite direction, meaning the minute that the final enemy of the Terran Empire tried to block again, it just broke his hands and shattered his unprotected face.

Tyler went flying and slammed against the glass of the bridge, slightly cracking it before sliding down, his body nearly unrecognizable. His eyes were still wide open with shock as he gasped for breath, the combination of a bloody chest and face making it near impossible to breath. But there was no way he could get up, as his robotic leg refused to respond after all that entire mental trauma in his brain.

Commander Anthony was now nearly unconscious as new waves of pain swept over him, the drive to survive in a hopeless situation nearly gone as safety was assured. He faintly felt the ropes binding his hands and feet fall off, sliced apart neatly by the robotic dog as it dropped out of the vent. "Thank you," He whispered to the machine, his hand dropping and touching its smooth head.

"Compliment acknowledged," The robot replied before turning to the woman. "Commander, he has almost arrived. But both of them need medical attention. We need to get them to the Medivac before they expire."

"Yeah, yeah, got it." The young woman hurried over and gripped the young man, pulling him shakily to your feet before letting go. "You alright? Sorry it took so long to get here, but Nightwolf here wanted to take the stealthy approach!"

"Surprise is an essential part of combat when you are outnumbered severely."

"Oh, shut up you overgrown Predator. My name is Commander Madeleine, leader of the Terran Confederacy." The red hair woman offered a hand.

"I'm Commander Anthony, leader of the Terran Empire." The black hair man took the hand and smiled thinly, before gasping in pain and falling into his rescuer's arms. "Argh, my legs!"

"Leg braces…alright, one hand over my arm…keep pressure off that until we get medical attention. I don't like the look of that blood all over your clothes, you must've taken quite a beating!"

"You could say that…" Anthony weakly laughed as Madeleine led him along, his legs weakly taking steps forward as the shattered bones within ached. "I should really stop pissing people off."

"Nah, you should make it a practice to make somebody angry every-"

"I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!" Tyler yelled as he dove forwards, a combat knife taken out and ready to stab an exposed Anthony's back. The robotic dog and red hair turned to shield their new companion, metal ready to absorb metal when a blue blur rocketed past them and counter tackled the lunging outlaw.

The two shapes rolled into each other, both figures fighting for the combat knife between them until the blue clad man managed to reverse Tyler's grip and shove it up the outlaw's chin. Instantly, the hand went limp as the light left his eyes, but there was no second chance. The knife was yanked back out of the gushing fountain of blood and shoved into the Terrazine's heart, ending its constant beat forever. The task complete, the savior rose from the corpse on the floor on shaky legs, heavily gasping at the amount of exertion just placed on his body.

"Will!" Anthony called, grabbing the brown hair Marine's attention. "I thought you were- I thought you dead!"

"You can't kill a War Pig till the mission is done sir," The PFC responded back, giving a weak salute. His shirt was entirely gone now, ripped into bandages that covered his gut region to stem the bleeding from the shotgun shells that tore through his body. But even then, he was pale white and looked about to collapse like his boss. "There's nothing stopping me from helping you besides a few dozen guards and a madman, so there is no excuse for my-"

"Um fellows?" Madeleine stared at the sparking body of Tyler, slowly pulling Anthony back as Will stumbled back as well. "What the hell is going on?"

"Analysis shows energy levels rising beyond controllable levels- alert, alert!" Nightwolf sounded.

"He was linked to the Terrazine robots, but he wasn't their leader!" The black hair Commander realized, now understanding the green electricity that was now bursting from the dead body. "This is their revenge!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" The outlaw's eyes suddenly flashed open, glowing a neon green as his body went into a full-out seizure mode. "I…WILL…HAVE….MY REVENGE FOR YOU ZEB!"

"You idiot." Anthony again had another heart attack as a familiar voice sounded, a ghostly white hair figure appearing next to the revived man. "I told you over and over, do not listen to my father! But you continued to believe in his ideals and now you pay his price as well as yours."

"YOUR…DEATH…!"

"Did I tell you to take revenge on my friend and sister?!" The late Prince Zeb roared, raising his familiar sword upwards. "And now, I shall reap your soul as a sign of appeasement from the Meriah army to my sister!"

"NO-!" The cursed blade swung downwards and never again did Tyler the Unwavering spoke. His body laid there, still twitching as the lightning arcing out of him got into the bridge's controls, scrambling up the computer systems that were already fried to an even more chaotic degree.

The deed done, the figure of Zeb began to disappear, but not before the long hair man turned to the Commander and smiled. "I told you…I will never past into memory yet…" The prince whispered as he began to disappear. "…Xana…hi…"

Anthony already knew what he was trying to say and nodded in agreement. "I will."

As the mirage finally disappeared, every single screen in the bridge lit up, displaying all sorts of corrupted coding as the death magic rewrote programs through energy. Soon enough, warning signs began to appear all throughout the screens as two dreaded words appeared. "JUMP SET."

"What the hell?!" Will limped over to one of the few intact stations and began typing rapidly. "The energy…it set its own path of route for the Anubis! Something that would result in a lot of death…oh no…"

"What Will?" Anthony asked, his gut ready to drop in dread. "What will result in a lot of death?"

"Jumping right through Cato Terrareum and tearing the planet apart, killing everyone on there!" The War Pig exclaimed, his eyes wide in fear. "Dammit…! It refuses to change course…!"

"Advice: Run back to the hanger bay and escape via Medivac. Best choice to ensure safety. Will scout ahead in case of any surviving enemies," The robot dog calculated and then ran off, its claws screeching against the metal floors.

"We have to get out of here now!" Madeleine shouted, grabbing Anthony and picking him up easily with her power fist arm. The Commander choked a bit at the grip, but didn't die as the red hair woman tried to be gentle. Rather, he fell unconscious as the pain finally overwhelmed him and Anthony fell limp. Noticing this, the Commander of the Terran Confederacy slung his body over her shoulder. "Will, let's go!"

"…I can try…!" The PFC looked up from the computer, his fingers typing nonstop. "Wait! I think I can change the programming just before it jumps!"

"Great! SHUT IT DOWN!"

"No…I can't do that…I can change its destination though!" Will shouted, gesturing wildly. "GO! Get out of here with the Commander!"

"But you'll go with the Anubis-"

"I don't care! This is my choice! One or possibly 20 million lives! GO!"

"...thank you. It was an honor to fight alongside a true Terran Marine!" Madeline gave a quick salute before running for her life, the fate of two people in her hands now. She had to get to the hanger bay.

She made it with some time to spare, as the hallways of the Anubis were devoid of all life and energy, an empty Battlecruiser. Spotting a familiar figure in the cockpit, the red hair girl frantically gesture and the pilot responded by booting up the engines quickly. Nightwolf was already onboard, lying down at the far end of the passenger bay as its boss climbed onboard. Its tail raised once in recognition, but nothing more as it just watched Madeline strap an unconscious Anthony to a seat and took one as well. "Hey, let's go!" The Commander yelled as the Medivac rose into the air.

"Don't rush me, this pressure bay system is stupid!" General Thea growled, yanking with all her might on the acceleration stick. The doors of the hanger bay swung closed behind them as the door to space opened, giving a clear shot into nothingness. The afterburners on the aircraft kicked in, sending the vehicle jolting forwards as it escaped the Anubis at an incredible speed.

Unfortunately, the jolt knocked Anthony awake and he immediately took stock of his surroundings. "Where am I?"

"Aboard a Medivac bailing our ass out of the Anubis! God, I hate space travel!" Madeline yelled as she was knocked to the floor by the sudden acceleration. "Next time warn us before you do that!" The red hair yelled to the pilot, who merely laughed in amusement.

"Where's Will?" Anthony's eyes widened as he realized that someone was missing. "Where did he go?!"

"He's…not coming. He's trying to change the destination of the jump away from Cato Terrareum-"

"WHAT?! NO, TURN BACK!" The black hair Commander yelled, undoing the straps on his seat and bolting upwards. "Turn this aircraft around now!"

"We can't do that, the Anubis is almost ready to jump!" The red hair Commander yelled, grabbing Anthony with her normal hand and forcing him back down. But he crumpled too easily and fell to the ground in very, very shallow breaths. "Dammit, he's gone into shock! Sis!"

"Switch in three, two, one!" The long brown hair woman in the front let go off the handles to the Medivac just as her red hair sister took over, sitting down in the copilot's seat as the Medic grabbed her bag. Her lab coat trailed behind her as she knelt on the floor next to the downed man and dug out a large syringe with a blue fluid. "Sorry, but this is for the best!" She exclaimed as she injected the extra-large dosage of the drug into her patient's bloodstream.

Immediately, Anthony fell limp as all his limbs fell numb. Darkness gathered and slowly covered his eyes as the Commander succumbed to the knock-out chemicals pulsing through his veins. The last thing he heard was a sonic boom, as the Anubis made its final jump into nothingness.

O O O

The black hair man jolted upwards with a scream before clapping his mouth using his hands as he realized he was somewhere else.

It was a large, circular, white room covered completely in doodled paper. Anthony slowly got up, his pain gone as he looked down at his body. No blood, no broken bones, not even a tear in his clothes!

He knew this couldn't be real, as his legs suddenly locked into place on their own. He felt his eyes turn to the side, finding a small table to the side of the room. A young man with light pink hair sat there, bent over what seemed to be a drawing. As he made several flourishes and weird noises while drawing, Anthony tried to speak and found that he couldn't, at all. But eventually, the man looked up and smiled. The Commander realized with a jolt that it was a young man, about the same age as him.

"May your purpose and loyalty to your friends find you the power you need." The artist smiled, pinning up another drawing to his room, before everything went dark again for Anthony.

O O O

December 26th, Year 12

This time, when Anthony came to, he was sitting on a hospital bed with a giant needle sticking out of his arm. His eyelids slowly fluttered open as he gazed upwards at the grey metallic ceiling, unable to move his head. His entire body ached and pained, but it was nothing compared to before on the Anubis.

The Anbuis. Private First Class Will. The Commander's fists clenched as he tried to stop the tears from coming out. The War Pig had truly sacrificed himself this time, with no hope of surviving to save an entire planet from destruction by his own flagship. How ironic.

A door swung open and footsteps were heard. "Good, I thought I saw your brainwaves spike! Welcome back to the living, Commander Anthony."

"Where am I, and who are you?" The black hair man whispered, trying to sit upwards and failing.

"Hey, wait, no getting up yet for you! Your body still needs time to work off the drug, should be an hour or two. And your bones are still setting, I really don't want to have to break them to reset!"

"You're the pilot of the Medivac."

"My name is General Thea. I'm Commander Madeleine's younger sister and am a doctor. I must say, you had quite a beating. Would you like me to-"

"List my wounds doc, I'm in the mood to hear my suffering."

"…um, okay. First of all, severe internal bleeding to the point where you were down to the bare minimum with blood. Barely made it though. Then we've got broken ribs, broken leg bones, broken shoulder bone, fractured jaw-"

"Are my legs still on?"

"What? Of course they are. Don't be daft. However, after the operation, your friend Rorke tells me that they've been severely knackered beforehand-"

"Rorke's here?!"

"Oh, of course. His long range beacon was what allowed my sister and Commander Vance to find you guys! He gave us so many upgrades to help in the battle, and they were extremely helpful, such as the shields!"

"Heh, knew he'd be doing some crazy stuff behind me." Anthony laughed for the first time, a small sprig of joy arising in his chest. "My Generals. Are they alright? Did they win Meriah?"

"I think I'll let them tell you instead." Thea smiled, looking at the clock on the wall. "And…visiting hours have started."

"Thea, thank you."

"It's my duty as a doctor to make you feel better sir. Just promise that you won't overexert yourself." The woman winked as she opened the door, talking to somebody outside. "Don't pressure him too much and it'll be fine. I'll be watching from the computer room."

"Sure thing."

"It's only logical."

"Yes, of course."

"A challenge that I'll accept!"

"Alright, let's go see him."

Five different footsteps were heard and the door was slowly closed. The minute it clicked closed, the man on the bed felt himself suddenly hugged by several different people shouting, "COMMANDER ANTHONY!"

"Whoa, whoa!" The hospitalized man laughed, managing to sit up against a pillow and gently patted everyone's back. He saw…everyone hugging him?! Even Rorke and Takeshi! Their bodies looked battered as well, all bandaged up in several spots. They…must've really worried.

"When we heard-"

"You suffered massive injuries-"

"We tried warning you-"

"Managed to get out-"

"Never again!"

"One at a time, please!" Anthony laughed, his face breaking into a wide smile as his Generals slowly detangled themselves from the boss. "Okay, first of, brilliant job Rorke finding us Terran allies. Next, Takeshi and Abe, you did spectacularly holding out Meriah until reinforcements. Finally, Cain and Xana, I'm proud of how well you two handled the situation. All of these compliments may seem a bit premature, but just know that I'm thankful for you all! Alright, now, please fill me in with what happened. Sequentially please."

"I'll explain." Cain cleared his throat, wiping away tears from his eye at seeing his best friend alive. "So shortly after we left, Rorke activated the long ranged beacon and managed to attract the attention of the alliance of the Terran Confederacy and Terran Nations. They jumped to Cato Terrareum together and found us, the Terran Empire. Upon learning about the situation, they prepared to jump but Rorke wanted to give them some upgrades first to their ships to help turn the tide.

And they did so magnificently, especially the defense matrix! General Marlowe, carrying Commander Madeline and General Thea onboard his ship, jumped to you and used his special EMP weapon to stop the Anubis from escaping with you in it while Generals Balder, Valin, and Amelia all jumped to Meriah to aid both the space and land battle. When Tyler was killed once and for all, the robots all just seemed to shut down along with the machinery. We could easily kill them off once that happened.

But…we lost a lot. Over 6 million men are dead and still counting. And…I lost one of my best men along with the Anubis…"

"He died doing what he believed was the best choice. He saved Cato Tearrareum didn't he?" Anthony asked softly. "He told me he was essentially you onboard the Battlecruiser, eternally loyal to the Terran Empire until the bitter end. He died making you proud."

"Thank you sir."

"So where are we now?"

"Aboard the flagship-class Battlecruiser, the Asgard. It's the main flagship of the Terran Nations, and is led by Commander Vance. You should see the size of this thing! It makes our ships look like toy models in comparison to its size!"

"Hey, I resent that," Rorke sulked, but perked up and smiled at the Commander within the same second. "A faint shimmer of hope huh? Well, it was a really good shimmer!"

"Yeah, you were right. Thank you for helping me meet the other Commanders."

"Commander…I'm sorry to have led you into that trap…please, accept my life as payment to repair your honor…!"

Anthony leaned over and managed to grab Takeshi's arm before the strategist did anything stupid. "No, Takeshi! I knew it was a trap from the very beginning. I knew all the facts when you didn't! You merely helped convince Tyler that he had succeeded when he had, in reality, failed."

"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on him as my challenge!" Abe roared with laughter, placing a meaty hand on the man's shoulder as Anthony let go. "We fought well!"

"Yes, but I also had to strategize and think of all the plans with the reinforcements when you ran off like the brute you are!"

"Is that a challenge to pummel you?! Cause I accept!"

"Argue later you two!" The Commander laughed, his voice still showing a happy tone as he turned to address his last General. "Xana, I haven't heard from you. Did you want to say some-"

"…what did my brother say?" The white hair woman quietly asked, sitting down at the edge of the bed.. "I know from Madeline that you saw him as a ghost of his original self…"

"…he said hi." Anthony leaned and placed his hand on her gloved hand, intertwining the two digits. "I think he's rather proud of how far you've come without him…"

"…thanks." Xana stood up and turned, about the leave the room when she paused. "Oh, and as soon as you're ready, please seek me out. The three Terran Commanders must meet to decide our fates."

O O O

December 29th, Year 12

"Really, he just got out of the medical bed only a few hours ago!"

"If he's well enough to walk, then he's good to go, especially if he says so."

"No, it is not okay! Vance, you are a complete and utter jerk!"

"And you, Madeline, are an ignorant and mindless brute!"

"ENOUGH!" Anthony shouted, slamming his head on the table and instantly regretted it, rubbing his still fractured jaw. "You two-! I get out of bed to meet with you ASAP regarding the fate of the Terran race. I did NOT get out of the medical ward to see you two squabble like a husband and wife in a dysfunctional psychotic family!"

"…sorry…"

"My apologies friend…"

After hearing about the need for a meeting, Anthony recovered as fast as possible and signed himself out of the medical ward to hold the meeting. He was still injured and should be resting, but the black hair man knew that he could bear the pain and just sleep it off later. And so, the three most powerful human figures in Terran history met.

Meeting Commander Vance for the first time gave Anthony the shivers yet a sense of trust. The man was just a few years older than him, with short cut blond hair and dark blue eyes. He wore a thick officer's uniform with many medals and gold trimmings on it, along with a red cape to symbolize his power. Something shimmered in the darkness of his hidden wrists, perhaps some sort of hidden blade to stab people in the back with. He held three planets under the Terran Nations, in comparison to Madeleine's sole one. With Anthony's two, that made a grand total of six planets with the Terran people living on.

Right now, they were meeting in a completely sealed and private meeting room of Commander Vance's, built for secret talks not meant for the public's ear. It was a large circular room, mostly empty except for the one small table in the middle. There, the three Commanders sat at, discussing information that was privy only to their ears.

"So…what should we talk about?" The red hair woman asked after a moment of silence. "Weapons? Armies?"

"I think we should talk about our form of ruling, to explain to the new Commander our different ways," The blond man suggested.

"But that's booorrrrriiiinngggg! Let's talk about famous battles!"

"Or about our planet's history? And specialties, don't forget!"

Anthony shook his head in exasperation. These two… Hang on. "I know what we should talk about first." The black hair Commander quietly said, sighing as a very old memory was dredged up. It'd looks as though he had to be the one to initiate the proper talk. "…I was Marcus…"

"…Mine was Holly…"

"…Once, I was known as Martin…"

"I'm obviously not going to ask about how we…passed. But I want to know: who are your two most trusted Generals? Cain and Xana, I know, would never dare dream of it."

"My sis and my dog, Thea and Nightwolf. The two make for amazing companions."

"Generals Balder and Marlowe are my preferred choices."

"Alright then. Now here's the million dollar question." Anthony placed his head on his hands, a dark shadow falling over his face as he asked. "Have we encountered them yet?"

"Yes," Both of them chorused with tiredness obviously showing through their tone.

"Most of my Generals have been away to the other side of the universe, trying to fight them off some frontier planets with a few of Vance's providing support," Madeline continued, elaborating on the subject. "For now, we've held them off, but I think that with you, we have the advantage!"

"Most undoubtedly," Vance agreed. "Six more skills to add to the mixing pot that is the Terran people, and two more planets. That should maybe give us the edge we need."

"Has war been fully declared yet?'

"No, not yet. Only light skirmishes here and there. And I think it'll be best if you bring your Generals up to speed on our fights and new...enemies."

"I'll do that later. But for now…what shall we be known as?" Anthony asked, drawing blank looks from both other Commanders. He sighed in exasperation "Oh come on. Don't tell me you don't have a common name!"

"…nope," They admitted sheepishly. "We've only really used our individual faction names."

"The people need one banner to unite under, one name our foes shall whisper, one flag to fly over our cities! Argh." Anthony again thumped his head into the table, still utterly exhausted. Then he shouted, "I've got it! It's so easy!"

"What?"

"Our name?"

"Yes! But first, let's get this over with: I AM NOT SIGNING THE PAPERWORK OFF ON THIS. I absolutely refused to go anywhere near the stuff until I am fully recovered!"

"Eesh, don't let me do it or I'll start a civil war." The long hair woman stuck out her tongue. "Seriously, don't!"

"Fine, I'll take it both your hands. I enjoy it anyway," Vance stated and the other two looked at him as though he was insane. "What? I don't like getting my hands dirty. Better to sign than to fight I say."

O O O

January 1st, Year 13

"What's going on?"

"Hey, nice to meet you, what's your name?"

"Let's serve our bosses the best we can."

"We should spar sometime, here's how to find me."

"Ahem!" Commander Anthony tapped the microphone, attracting the attention of all 15 Terran Generals in the small stage. The three Commanders were standing on the stage, with a red backdrop and a large cloth bundled at the top while the Generals stood at the lower levels, awaiting their leaders' commands. He could spot his five easily, but there were so many faces he didn't know or forgot! The man was sure that his colleagues also felt the same way, as this was the first time in history all the leaders of the military every got together. "Er, thank you for coming onboard the Asgard. I know, for some of you, this is a rather troubling trip as your men are still fighting out there-"

"Damn right they are!" One of Madeline's Generals shouted. "Now hurry up so we can go back and help them!"

"He would if you shut the hell up!" The red hair Commander yelled back, nodding apologetically to Anthony. "Sorry, my Generals and I tend to be a bit…rowdy."

"No problem, I'm sure that we're all basket cases on the inside as well." The crowd laughed and Anthony felt himself take control of the situation. Time for the speech. "I think it's been for me…12 years now, rapidly approaching 13 ever since I've recruited my first General. I'm sure my colleagues recruited theirs as well around the same time."

"Here, here!" Cain raised his fist and two other Generals in the crowd followed.

"Thank you Cain, for your contribution," Anthony sardonically responded and the group laughed again. "But…against all odds over those years…we've done it. We've created worlds of peace in our respective domains, fulfilling our obligation to the people. But alas, we also have another obligation of peace: obligation of dominance.

"The Terran people, I'll admit, are greedy, jealous, and usually ambitious. That's the brilliant part about of us Terrans: we have dreams of taking the galaxy as ours. We want to be able to live our life however so we want to, without anything or anyone to tell us otherwise! There's no limit on what we can do, and the only limit we do have is on what we cannot do, set by our respective morals or ideals.

"But even then, these restrictions just send us to even higher boundaries! What is our greatest weakness becomes our greatest strength as our ideals and morals set our purpose, our determination, our loyalty to our cause! That is how we are Terran, and how we shall be once united in our purpose of taking the galaxy.

"And so, it is, with heavy heart, that I must do this." The black hair Commander reached into his pocket and pulled out a small flag from his pocket. His Generals immediately recognized it as the flag of the Terran Empire, a symbol that had been flown many times over the past years.

So it was only natural to see them gasp when they saw him him tear it apart and toss it to the ground without care. "I hereby declare the Terran Empire disbanded," Commander Anthony firmly said, not looking at his Generals' eyes.

Much murmuring broke out in the crowd of 15, before the red hair Commander stood forwards and took the microphone from Anthony. When they didn't quiet, she smirked and lightly blew on the item. A harsh irritating sound resulted, many of the Generals wincing and shutting up.

"What he says is true, my fellow brothers and sisters," The lone female Commander declared, taking out a piece of cloth from her own pockets. Her Generals whispered as they recognized it as the flag of the Terran Confederacy, flown over many of their cities that had survived the apocalypse. They practically fainted/powered down when they saw it crushed into shreds with her power fist grabbing and tearing from the right hand. "I hereby declare the Terran Confederacy disbanded," Commander Madeline firmly said, avoiding the eyes of her Generals.

When the last of them stepped forwards, everyone was dead quiet, knowing already what was going to happen. His Generals quietly groaned as they watched the man that had ruled with an iron fist for so many years take out their flag of the Terran Nations, flown over so many of their armies as they marched to conquest. They made no reaction but cold silent fury as blades came out of his hands and tore the cloth into pieces. "I hereby declare the Terran Nations disbanded," Commander Vance firmly said, avoiding the glares of his Generals.

The mic was promptly handed back to the black hair man, who was already ready for it. "Without a name, we become little more than beasts, going our own ways without true goals or purposes," Anthony declared. "It is unbecoming of us to have several names though, as too many captains will sink a ship."

Something sparked in the Generals' eyes at the Commander's words suddenly made sense, everything Anthony saying slowly fitting together like a puzzle piece. That alone was their motivation for staying here, stone silent as they watched the three Commanders nod to each other in agreement. They…

"And so, with your full consents, I declare the Terran Dominion formed upon this day!" Commander Anthony shouted, raising his arm as the bundle of cloth fell down behind the three on the stage, eliciting gasps from the crowd as they realized the plan. A new flag to represent humanity was now behind the Commanders, and it looked like a true way to represent united Terran factions with! The microphone rolled on the ground forgotten as the three Commanders shouted as one.

"The kingdom of mankind shall unite as one to fight a common threat that is to our livelihoods! We shall never falter in our dreams, we shall never forget our sacrifices, we shall never give up! Even if we were to be crushed and scattered to the winds, our foes will shudder at our name for a thousand years to come! No matter what, remember today as the day, that the Dominion of mankind is formed! Through our loyalty and our purposes, we shall become one! FOR THE DOMINION!"

"FOR THE DOMINOIN!" Everyone cheered, raising their arms as well as they saluted the new flag of mankind: a red crest with a black arm and star. It had finally arrived: the day when the three Commanders would meet and agree upon a single form of government, a triumvirate with various ruling systems based on the different planets. But no matter what the Zerg or the Protoss did, the flag of mankind would fly high in the skies of the planets upon this dawning universe.

And thus, the Terrans were reborn into a single nation.

A/N: First of all, sorry about the delay. This chapter actually took a lot more time than expected, so it is a bit late. Hopefully its contents are worth it!

Next of all, I'd like to extend a big thank you to all you readers of The Terran Rebirth. It's been a wonderful experience writing this and seeing my characters take form and shape, something that I, as a writer, an especially proud of. I can only hope you, the reader, also share my feelings about these many characters of the story. Again, thank you for all your support.

Okay, I'll admit, I never thought it would get this far to the point of being the first completed East Bridge inspired full faction story. I thought it'd take at least two years to complete this thing, when it took just about...half a year I want to say? Yeah, about that. Wow! But I couldn't have done it without your guys' encouragement and cheering! Thank you!

Alright, now here's the actual dump of my post notes of The Terran Rebirth. Like I said, this is just a dump of a bunch of stuff I feel like explaining, so you are free to skip it all. Just make sure to read the last paragraph of this okay?

Commander Anthony: didn't really based it off anybody, but I like to think that some parts of his personality are based of the young Arcturus Mengsk, before he became a giant idiot and screwed himself over. But he has more of a Jim Raynor inspiration thing about him. You can see how he inspires his Generals into following him into battle of their own free will, something that a leader should always do. Don't worry, this is most definitely NOT the end of his story!

General Cain: This loyal General of the Terran Empire was based off, well, Tychus to be surprised! Especially how he fights! But that's pretty much all to an extent, cause he doesn't take after Tychus' harsh personality or attitude to life. Again, he inspires his men into following into battle, so there's a dash of Jim Raynor in him as well. Appropriate, considering he is the Marine General. His name is taken from the bible story of Cain and Abe.

General Rorke: And here's the beginning of my can of worms! He is based off...N from Pokemon! I've always admire N's character and his story of dedication and improvement for Pokemon lives, but I really didn't want a good-lucky personality necessarily from him. So I added a bit of Frankenstein from Soul Eater in it! His paranoia and brilliance especially shine out in my opinion thanks to this, hopefully giving off a mad scientist vibe. If you didn't feel that, that's okay. He's still going to return to the series one day! His name was an original of mine.

General Takeshi: I admit, maybe my favorite General to write about. Based of Metal Gear Rising's jetstream Sam and Dynasty Warrior's Xu Shu, he practically is the combination of too many awesome characters. His name was a complete accident, as I didn't realize it till later that I had taken it from Katekyo Hitman Reborn's own samurai! Imagine my amusement at that! But who exactly was his friend...? I'll maybe upload another story about it another day, like a one-shot about his mysterious aide.

General Abe: Dynasty Warrior's Dian Wei and Lu Bu. 'enough said about that I think! Again, name is taken from bible story of Cain and Abe.

General Xana: Oh, Xana. Xana Xana Xana. Such an odd name but one of my favorites. It's from Code Lyoko, that old cartoon show by the way. I adored that show when I was younger, so you can tell this is my odd way of tribute to it in a way. Quite obviously, she's based off the Ghost Nova, with siblings that even have to same names because it was fitting! I wanted a female character in my story, but not so much outright love interest. I hope I've only manage to dot the story with Anthony and her feelings, cause they sure aren't getting together in a serious way with a war going on, unlike a certain Marine and Ghost. *COUGH* Raynor and Kerrigan! *COUGH*

Prince Zeb: Freaking awesome character. Combination of WOW's Arthas and FF's Sephiroth. But I made sure that the Arthas was far more prevalent, cause that's who he was based off in this story. Next time...I think I'll make him more like a one winged angel of meteors.

Princess/Queen Clara: Cheers to the bloke who guessed the old Terrazine is based of the Necrons in Warhammer 40K. I adore the undead machines, so I thought they should have tribute somehow. And it works, especially since Zeb's base is Arthas, the King of Death in WOW! Death is a common thought I hoped to emphasize with the Terrazine siblings. Hopefully it actually came through.

PFC Will: ? (Information unknown as of now. Locked by muse!)

Beyond those few, I don't think that there's anymore characters I need to talk about. They're pretty much never going to never come up that much now that this story is over. But that doesn't mean that they will not appear in another story in the future, perhaps in an alternate universe? Who knows? My brain is feeling ambitious.

Last word to everyone who supported this series: Thank you again. And please, review this chapter. Use all the pent up feelings that you've acquired while reading this story and get it all out there, just like how I did. It'll help make you feel a lot better now that this is over. But the story is not over! Oh no, my friends. We still have two more races to go over with. And then who is this mysterious artist? All will be revealed once the Rebirth series continues in August! Go to my page and please vote on a poll about your favorite character in the series! I'll update this chapter when The Zerg Rebirth is published with the poll results, so anyone who stumbles across this in the future can know of the results! Thank you, and please look forward to my next story!

O O O

AND HERE ARE THE RESULTS!

In first place, Commander Anthony with 40% of the votes!

In second place, General Xana with 20% of the votes!

Tied for third place are General Cain and Rorke, with 14% of the votes respectively!

Tied for fourth place are General Takeshi and Abe, with 5% of the votes respectively!

...Honestly, I have no idea why it doesn't add up to 100%. Oh well. Congratulations to Commander Anthony though! Thank you all of you who have voted! Please stay tune for the next installment, coming soon!