Inside the bridge briefing room, the arguments regarding Planet Haven and the Protoss continued within a tighter, core circle.
Joining Raynor, Matt, Dr.Hanson, Tychus, and Valerie this time were several veteran non-commissioned officers from the Raiders.
"We've already run two rounds of bio-screenings," Dr. Hanson reported, sharing progress that offered a tiny bit of comfort but couldn't completely put anyone at ease.
"Using the ship's medical scanners and the backup gear Miss Valerie provided, we've finished checking the basic vital signs and looking for weird bio-signals in four thousand eight hundred and fifty-three people.
We found and locked down twenty-seven folks who showed slight abnormal reactions, but as for deeper analysis...
our gear just can't do precision comparisons at the genetic level.
We can't entirely rule out whether there are trace amounts of dormant Zerg-related sequences lurking in their systems.
And the situation on the other transport ships...
is pretty much the same."
"Meaning we can't prove to the Protoss that we're absolutely 'clean,'" Matt summarized, his brow furrowed deeply.
"Absolutely clean?" Tychus's hologram let out a scoffing sound.
"Jimmy, the way those Protoss look at us humans, I bet we just look like a walking pile of bacteria.
You think they give a damn if one bacterium has a bit of extra dirt on it? If you ask me, the second they spot us, their first reaction is gonna be blasting us with a main ship-cannon just to get some peace and quiet!"
"Not all Protoss are that extreme," Raynor shot back, though his voice didn't sound entirely convinced.
"The ones I've run into...
certain Protoss warriors and executors, they might be arrogant, but they aren't brainless destroyers.
They have their own logic and code."
"What kind of logic? A 'suspect contamination, purge completely' kind of logic?" a Raider NCO couldn't help but chime in.
He had just come back from the shelters and seen too many horrors firsthand.
"Commander, I'm not doubting your call, but the boys are losing their nerve.
We dragged everyone out of there to keep them alive, not...
not to hand them over to some planet that might get baked into glass."
"Then where the hell are we supposed to go?!" Raynor's voice cracked a bit louder, showing the exhaustion and frustration built up from days of relentless pressure.
"Turn back? Feed the bugs? Or just drift in space waiting to die? Haven has everything we need: air, water, potential food sources, and a relatively safe environment.
This is our only shot!"
He forced himself to cool down, pointing at the green planet marked on the star map.
"I know the risks.
Protoss purification is legendary and terrifying.
But precisely because of that, the Swarm usually stays clear of their turf.
Haven is right on the border, so their regular patrol density might not be that high.
If we're careful enough to touch down on the side of the planet facing away from the core Protoss zone, set up a small, hidden settlement, and keep our heads down, maybe...
just maybe we can buy some time."
"Setting up a hidden settlement takes time, resources, and a ton of manpower," Matt analyzed rationally.
"And those are the exact things we're missing most.
Early colonization is gonna be incredibly brutal, and it's probably going to generate noticeable energy and bio-signals.
The risk of getting spotted is still right there."
"Which is why we need a plan, a fallback strategy in case we get caught," Raynor said, looking over at Valerie and Dr. Hanson.
"If—and I mean if—the Protoss actually show up and start acting hostile.
Is there any way we can show them our screening efforts, our quarantine setups, and prove we're actively locking down the 'contamination' without any intention of letting it spread? Can we...
talk to them?"
Dr. Hanson gave a bitter smile.
"Talk to them? We don't even fully know their language, let alone wrap our heads around their complex social philosophy and moral codes.
The few non-hostile encounters in history were a mess of misunderstandings and struggles.
As for showing off our quarantine measures—to the Protoss, that might look as pointless as a bacterium showing off how intact its cell wall is.
It might just make our 'lowly' and 'contaminated' status stand out even more."
"But we have to try," Raynor insisted.
"Miss Valerie, does your company...
have any more detailed files on the Protoss? Or any tips that could boost our chances of talking or surviving?"
Valerie stayed quiet for a second.
Osiris's database obviously had exhaustive records on the Protoss, even covering parts of their language logic and diplomatic protocol analyses, but there was no way she could just leak that.
She opted for a cautious reply.
"The 'Far Star Alliance' records do have files on the Protoss, highlighting their highly advanced psionic tech, their strict caste society, and their reliance on the Khala psionic link.
Their extreme hostility toward the Zerg stems from a brutal history of war and the way the Swarm completely warps lifeforms.
If we cross paths with them, maybe we can try kicking things off from a common ground like 'protecting pure lifeforms,' stressing our fight against the Zerg and our active efforts to wipe out the contamination.
But the success rate...
is impossible to call.
The way they look at things is completely different from humans."
Her words offered a bit of a direction, but they didn't lower the absolute danger one bit.
"Protecting pure lifeforms?" Tychus snorted.
"A bunch of half-starved refugees missing arms and legs counts as 'pure' to them? Sounds like a long shot to me."
"Whatever the case, the course is set," Matt finally said.
"The fleet enters the outer edge of the Haven system in fourteen hours.
I've already set up basic passive scans, and I haven't picked up any obvious signs of Protoss ship activity yet.
But their probes could be a lot stealthier.
The landing site is penciled in for a temperate river valley in the northern hemisphere, backed by mountains for some natural cover.
Remote sensing shows vegetation and water sources."
"Once we touch down, priority number one is setting up basic survival gear, hunting down food and water, and throwing up a strict quarantine zone," Raynor ordered.
"Dr. Hanson, medical and quarantine protocols are entirely on you.
Tychus, take your boys and handle the outer perimeter watch and digging trenches.
Matt, keep the Hyperion in orbit, stay cloaked, and be ready to provide backup or...
get us the hell out of there." He paused, his voice turning heavy.
"I really hope we don't have to use that last option.
But if the Protoss show up and show zero signs of backing down...we have to be ready to pull some people out.
That's our worst-case scenario."
The meeting wrapped up in a stifling atmosphere.
Everyone knew they were sailing right into a beautiful trap or their absolute last beacon of hope.
The attitude of the Protoss was going to be the final judgment call on thousands of lives.
Valerie went back to her quarters and shot a quick status update and the flight path details over to Osiris.
The reply from Osiris remained brief, offering no orders to step in directly, acting like it was just logging the timeline of events.
But she knew the eyes were still watching, and whatever was about to go down on Haven—whether a turn for survival or the fires of purification—would become valuable data points.