novelThe Great Escape
| ← Ch.1326 | Ch.1328 → |
Translator: Sean88888 Editor: Elkassar1
G-spot had a unique ability in things regarding metal and it had had contact with this weapon before, so despite it being kept in Kerrigan's cleverly hidden treasure vault, G-spot still managed to find it through the familiar feeling the rifle's metallic components exuded. That directly led to the Queen's private collection being plundered!
But the biggest mystery of all this was in something that was of vital importance.
It was said that the C-10 Canister rifle was not a very mainstream weapon. It was two whole grades below the currently widely used C-12. The difference between the two was like the difference between a tractor and a heavy duty truck.
Even though Snake had made modifications to it, these modifications were only useful in Snake's hands. Sheyan estimated that even if he obtained the rifle as a dropped loot, it would be a dark gold weapon at most.
So why would the Queen of Blades, who had seen all kinds of powerful weapons before and did not even need any weapons at all, treasure this C-10 Canister Rifle so? Why would she deem it important enough to be kept in her treasure vault?
Even if she had a special interest in collecting things, as a Queen, she should at least collect legendary weapons or something of that level. Why was there only this one weapon sitting alone in her treasure vault?
Sheyan could not get his head around this question. It was not until a long time later, when he read the detailed history of Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades, that he understood why the weapon was kept in this place.
It turned out that Kerrigan was originally a Ghost while she was still a human. She entered the army in the same year as Snake. Due to what happened to her parents, she hated her instructors, and even the humans.
During her last mission as a Ghost, she completed the mission with flying colours, but ended up being abandoned by the Terran side. After that.... the powerful Zerg Queen was born.
Back when the Queen of Blades was still a human Ghost, she had fallen in love with a man from the same batch. The man's weapon of choice was also the unpopular C-10 Canister Rifle. In the end, he died protecting her during a mission.
That explained why the rifle was treasured by Kerrigan.
When Snake was caught by the Zerg and brought to her, this weapon made an appearance in front of her again. Although the Queen of Blades had abandoned her identity as a human, the gun sent ripples through her cold, still heart.
For the powerful Zerg leader, this old and outdated weapon symbolised the only happy memory she had in the first half of her life, the only memento that could give her a feeling of sweetness, a deep-rooted feeling in her that she could never and would never forget.
Therefore, this outdated weapon which had been out of production for 13 years might not mean much for others, but it was a priceless treasure to the Queen of Blades whose heart still hid a trace of human nature. It was worth being kept in the most secretive place.
(TL: The story of Sarah Kerrigan: starcraft. fandom. com/wiki/Sarah_Kerrigan. It's worth a read. )
***
Of course, the current Sheyan had no idea about all this. There was only one number echoing in his mind:
3 minutes and 47 seconds!!
There were only 3 minutes and 47 seconds left before the powerful Queen of Blades arrived!
In order to satisfy G-spot's desire, Sheyan had gone against his initial plan and had wasted a minute and 13 seconds here. Sheyan did not have the slightest confidence in successfully escaping from the Queen of Blades. He was making a gamble, which he rarely did, and this time, it was with his life at stake.
Sheyan instantly grabbed G-spot. Now that the little guy had been satisfied, it had become a lot more obedient. It let Sheyan keep it in his personal storage without showing any resistance. Sheyan instantly used every ability he had that could increase his speed and crouched down like a sprinter.
He focused all his strength in his feet, then burst forward!
The spot he stepped on exploded, and Sheyan quickly dashed out of the chamber and disappeared under the circling trail.
But five seconds later, Sheyan came running back!
He had wasted ten precious seconds by leaving and returning!
Sheyan had returned for the C-10 Canister Rifle.
Sheyan could not use nor sell this thing because it did not drop as loot. It was pretty much just a work of art to him, the kind that had no value.
So why would Sheyan waste ten precious seconds just to come back and grab it?
Sheyan quickly dashed away again, this time without looking back or stopping for a second. He even jumped down when he was still 30 meters from the ground without any regard to the injury that would cause. He limped to the Vulture left for him.
While he started the engine, he shamelessly shouted at the Protoss troops left behind, "Flatten this place! I believe in you!"
Air flowed powerfully out of the air cushion generator underneath the vehicle. The Vulture started floating and quickly reached a height of 40 centimeters off the ground.
Two bright jets shot out of the two horn-like thrusters behind the Vulture, blowing up the sand behind the vehicle. It was now only 28 seconds away from the theoretical arrival time of the Queen of Blades.
Sheyan did not waste any time to step on the throttle with great force. This rough action immediately made the engine roar angrily. The blue glows emitted from the ion thrusters reached three meters in length. The propulsion force they produced raised the Vulture's speed from zero to 130 km/h in an instant, making the vehicle shoot forward. If the passenger on the Vulture was not a monster like Sheyan, they would have fallen unconscious due to insufficient blood supply to the brain.
Sheyan's foot never left the throttle after that, not only because he found the acceleration to be way too slow for his liking, but also because the road condition on the Lost Temple planet was simply too good.
The flat prussian blue ground extended endlessly ahead of him with nary an obstacle in sight, not even a slightly large stone, so there was no danger of an accident at all. Besides, this new model Vulture had a spider mine suspension system, driveway deviation system, collision avoidance system, etc. It could run on full speed even in the Gobi Desert.
Within twenty seconds of departure, the Vulture's speedometer was blown out. The engine groaned hoarsely, and the speed needle constantly pointed to the maximum speed on the display which was 350 km/h, but because Sheyan had been accelerating like a madman, the Vulture's actual speed at the moment was at least 400 km/h. This was already higher than what the Vulture was designed for.
However, because the Vulture was produced from Pontin's Factory which had the "Excellent" prefix, exceeding the designed maximum speed by 20% was not too big a problem. It was just that the vehicle's body was beginning to squeak, and the rivets may also be getting a little loose.... In truth, it was written in the Vulture's user manual that doing this would reduce the service life of the machine by at least half. However, as far as Sheyan was concerned, doing so was worth it because it enabled him to leave the horrible Zerg base in just 30 seconds.
The furious Queen of Blades would reach the Zerg base at any moment!
The outline of the Zerg base quickly disappeared into the horizon, and a few seconds later, even the damn creep on the ground could no longer be seen. Sheyan finally let out the breath he was holding. He previously felt like a heavy stone was pressing down on his heart, but with this breath out, the stone was lifted too. Sheyan estimated that ten more seconds at this speed and he should be absolutely safe.
But at that instant, Sheyan suddenly heard a dull roar! It was the sound of a Siege Tank's cannon fire! In the Zerg base, especially in a Zerg base which had lost all resistance, in order to avoid the artillery splashing and injuring others, the Siege Tanks were usually not in siege mode.
Who was the shot targeting?
Sheyan's heart sank. The stone that had just been lifted off his heart had unfortunately come pressing back down, and it had become bigger than before. That's because Sheyan could hear a series of explosions in the distance.
It was well known that no matter how the Zerg die, they would not make a rumbling explosion sound, nor would they produce fire and thick black smoke. Therefore, the only explanation for these was that the human troops that were left behind to guard the base had been attacked.
But they had clearly taken full control of the base, so the only explanation was that the Queen of Blades had returned, bringing with her death, destruction, and, presumably, serious injuries as well as a foul mood.
And Sheyan knew that no matter how serious her injury was, she was not someone the current Sheyan could handle. Sure, Sheyan had always been good at taking on enemies stronger than himself, but that did not mean he would try to break a rock with an egg. He seemed like he often danced on the razor's edge, but if the situation permitted it, he would actually rather only perform missions that he was 100% confident in, and fight the enemies he was sure he could defeat.
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