Chapter 13: Chapter 13: The Factory

On the other side, Captain Hanson knew about the presence of the xenomorphs before Corporal Kendrick did. After all, the rebel forces were the first to be attacked by the zerglings. When the security center fell and before one of the troopers there blew up everyone, another rebel was able to get the message out to the captain before a zergling bite into his neck.

There were xenomorphs in the base. A lot of them, and they were extremely hostile and terrifyingly coordinated.  

Xenomorphs? For a few seconds, Captain Hanson went through the same thought process as Corporal Kendrick. Where did these xenomorphs come from? And what were they suddenly doing in the middle of a human civil war?

The situation didn't give the captain much time to wrap his head around what was happening. One bad news came after another. The security center was lost with all troops there killed. Contact with the shuttle bay was quickly lost. There was a desperate cry for help from the garage, but before the captain could do anything, the call came to an abrupt end. 

Captain Hanson knew he was in trouble. The xenomorphs felt like they were everywhere, and the way they attacked key targets in the base implied something that terrified him even more than all the casualties. These xenomorphs were commanded by an entity that knew way too much about Imperial forces and tactics. Was it a hivemind? How many xenomorphs were in this base? Or on the planet? What was their objective in attacking this research outpost?

As two rebels set up another demolition charge on the door and were about to set it off, Captain Hanson snapped to his men, having finally made up his mind.

“Get ready to move! Forget about the lab!” 

“But…we were ordered to capture the doctor...”

“Forget about the orders! Even if we can capture her, we will never be able to get off this planet!” The Captain snapped before opening the communication channel to all rebels on the PEI mounted inside his power armor. “All units, fall back to the armory as soon as you can! Abandon all previous battle plans! Regroup at the armory!”

The 20 or so rebel troops around him exchanged confused glances, but they ultimately obeyed the orders of their commander. As they abandoned the lab and started making their way back to the armory, Captain Hanson was confident he made the right decision. 

From the little information he got, scattered infantry squads were no match for the xenomorphs in the tight confines and corners of the research outpost. The only chance the remaining rebels had of surviving was regrouping and meeting the xenomorphs with heavier firepower. Leaving the lab now risked the ISC forces inside trying to escape, but like the rebels, the loyalists would have to fight their way through layers of xenomorphs. Given their lack of firepower, they would likely fail at that and be forced to remain inside the lab. 

Of course, this opened the possibility of their target, Doctor Payton, being killed by the xenomorphs, but there was no time to worry about that now. Sometimes, there was no correct choice to make on the battlefield. He could only choose the best option as far as he could see. 

---

Athena wasn’t aware of the different reactions the traitors and the loyalists had to her zerglings and how both sides tried to use the zerglings for their own objectives. She had more important matters to worry about. 

Athena made her way into the garage of the outpost. Her boots stepped into a puddle of blood on the ground. Athena looked down and found herself staring at the torn remains of a young man. 

Athena didn't know the man’s name, but he couldn’t be more than 19 years old. Judging from the fact that he was fighting on the behalf of the Venya Revolutionary Guard, it was likely he was unlucky enough to be drafted into service by random selection. Most volunteers would at least maintain some loyalty during their early days of service before gradually growing discontent. 

Life within the Imperial Army was stressful, to say the least. It was bad enough for willing recruits. For conscripts, the only thing preventing them from tossing their weapons and surrendering the moment they stepped onto the battlefield was the sidearms of their officers and the promise of brutal punishment for their families after the fact. It should be no surprise that once they were given an out, a conscript would gladly turn against their unit. 

The conscript and his fellow rebels didn't stand a chance when 25 zerglings streamed into the garage from within the facility. There were nearly 20 Guard fighters within the area, but the zerglings were able to quickly close the distance by jumping onto parked vehicles or dashing around tight corners. These rebels, in order to secure the garage as soon as possible, didn't have the chance to take a trip to the armory and put on power armor. 

The brief skirmish was a battle between light infantry and infantry killers. Within less than a minute, the zerglings tore the defenders in the garage into pieces before being directed by Athena to other parts of the base where there was still resistance.

Athena stepped past the conscript and examined the vehicles parked in the garage.

The 329th Infantry Division was, well, an infantry division. Plus, there was only a single company here. As a result, the selection of vehicles in the garage was…unimpressive. 

Tigress-class heavy artillery vehicles? Lioness-class battlefield command tanks? Lion-class heavy tanks? Tiger-class medium tanks? Or leopard-class tank destroyers and cheetah-class light tanks? None of that was here. They belonged in the parking lots of Imperial armored divisions. The only thing the 329th Infantry Division had remotely close was its 1st Armored Brigade, which had 72 armored vehicles of various classes. 

So what was in the garage here? Two Jaguar-class ambulances. Four Cougar-class patrol vehicles. 8 Wildcat-class armored personnel carriers. And finally, Athena’s old friend. 20 Blackbuck multi-terrain scout vehicles. There used to be 25, but 5 were lost for one reason or another.

It wasn’t impressive, but Athena didn't expect to unlock thors or siege tanks. She just wanted any combat units that weren’t zerg xenomorphs. 

“Ok…here we go.” 

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She slowly made her way past vehicle after vehicle. She could feel her heart beating faster and faster with every step. As she walked to the end of the garage, suddenly, she was met with a much-welcomed mechanical voice. 

“Human technologies detected in close proximity to the host…”

“Analyzing technology…”

“Analysis complete. Technologies show resemblance to Terran engineering…”

“Terran structure Factory has been unlocked…”

“Yes!” Athena couldn’t help but cry out in excitement. Yes! Factory! This was what she was waiting for! She quickly opened the game interface once again and selected a SCV. There, in the basic structures tab, the icon for the factory was lit up. She quickly put a factory down next to the terran command center.  

The factory cost her 150 minerals and 100 gas. 

The factory was an automated terran structure designed to produce terran ground vehicles. They could produce a number of terran mechanical units, from the humble hellions to the mighty siege tanks and thors. Much to Athena’s disappointment, only two of the mechanical units were available for production. The hellion and the widow mine. As she shifted her attention to the bottom right part of the command card, she realized the tech lab was still unproducible. 

Tech labs were required to produce cyclones, siege tanks, and thors. 

“I have to unlock the tech lab by itself?” She raised her eyebrows. She had a feeling she wouldn’t be able to unlock some of the strongest terran units in the game using just the garage of an infantry company, but she was still a little disappointed. 

“That is correct.” Nova nodded and closed another loophole Athena was hoping on using. “In addition, the tech labs and reactors for barracks, factories, and starports all need to be unlocked individually.”

Athena sighed. In the game, barracks, factories, and starports could share their reactors and tech labs for unit production and research. Unsurprisingly, this wouldn’t work here. 

Despite the minor disappointment, Athena was still quite satisfied with the two units she unlocked. 

Hellions were high-speed raiders designed for scouting and skirmishing roles in the terran forces. Their main role on the battlefield was to quickly close the distance with enemy light armored infantry, rain fire on these infantry with their plasma fuel powered infernal flamethrowers, and then escape once things got too dangerous. They excelled at hit-and-run tactics and, due to their extremely light armor, tended to suffer in prolonged firefighting. 

Hellions cost 100 minerals and are worth 2 supplies. 

Hellions could transform into hellbats with the presence of the terran structure Armory, which Athena has yet to unlock. Hellbats were bipedal walkers that traded the speed and maneuverability of the hellions for better protection and tougher close-quarter combat capabilities. 

Widow mines were more than just mines. Each widow mine was an automated weapons factory equipped with a miniature assembly line and an onboard AI. Standing around 1.5 meters tall and similarly wide, widow mines could dig themselves into the ground as ambushers or sentinels. Once they detect enemy units nearby, they would fire sentinel missiles that would hit the enemy units before detonating into a storm of shrapnels, killing the enemy units and everything nearby. They were infamous in the terran military for the numerous friendly fire incidents. 

Window mines cost 75 minerals and 25 vespene gas. Each was worth 2 supplies. 

Interestingly, the widow mine was the first unit Athena unlocked that allowed her to spend the significant vespene gas reserve she had built up.

Neither the hellions nor the widow mines would be too useful within the confines of the base, so Athena didn't immediately start producing them. She could always make them in an instant if the need arose. 

Now that the garage has unlocked the factory, Athena wondered what the armory would unlock. Considering the armor included the armor and weapons of infantry soldiers…likely the barracks? 

Athena turned and started heading out of the garage. As she was walking, she took a look at how the squad of zerglings she sent to take the armory was doing. 

As it turned out…not too well. For one thing, they were all dead…

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