The choices given were amazing in their own right. At the same time, I wondered if specializing at all was even needed. Swann was a natural genius when it came to machines already, the only thing it would change is the cost, in the end. The likelihood of ‘Unique’ Units wasn’t as large a concern. I’ll place it on the side burner, for now, it wasn’t a pressing concern anyway. Not like I had much beyond Vulchers anyway.

I did decide to put my personal joyride on hold though, instead, I sent Jim Raynor'sVulturer to Swanns Shop to see if he could manufacture more like them. I had looked at the stats themselves and they were far and above the base stats given by normal Vulchers. Increased Spider Mine load out being one of the primary features.

I needed to speak with Nova still. “Nova, come to my quarters,” I called out on the comm line reserved for Fernando, Nova, and myself. She materialized a moment later to my right. I admit to jumping at the sudden appearance. Apparently, she had been present the entire time.

“What the hell?!” she looked at the door, a wary look in her eyes. “Sorry, Damian. Dealing with Swann is a trial more difficult than Green at times. You wished to speak with me?”

I harrumphed at that, not to sure how to feel about the fact she’d been here the entire time. I thought over what I wished to discuss with her. Mostly it would deal with Ghosts on constant surveillance over Hiko and Hika.

“Well, first I want a detail of Ghosts on the Pirate and Assassin at all times until the trade is suppose to happen. Thank you, by the way, for ensuring we obtained the resources promised. It allieved some worries, if only a few.”

I fiddled with my table a moment, thinking hard. “About that kiss…” - “Sir, you really need to stop believing that was me. I am beginning to grow concerned. I did not kiss you.”

Well god damnit! Not even so much as an attempt to allow me to keep pretending. I glared at her, acting the petulant child. She just smiled sadly...wait, sadly? Why the hell was she sad? That made me frown further. “Couldn’t even give me the illusion, could you?” I grumped in the end.

“Of course not, Damian. If you are going to believe I kissed you it should be because I actually did. Not because of a man” - “Ah ah ah! Don’t finish that sentence. I get it.”

She gave me an indulgent look before making a gesture, wishing for me to continue. “Well, you kind of blew the entire point behind the majority of this away with that. Another matter is I need you to allow Caspian to take a look at her armor. It’s years ahead of our technology and I want our Ghosts equipped with the best gear possible. It might even carry over to some Marine armor in the future.”

She paused, looking thoughtful. I honestly half expected her to refuse. She slowly nodded her agreement after a few moments however. “Alright, but I have a personal request.” I gave her a go ahead motion when it was clear she wasn’t going to continue.

“If he is going to take a look at my armor anyway, I want to see if he can work on a few systems for The Orion for me. I may not be in charge of the Ghosts themselves anymore, something I think you may have forgotten and will pass the order along to Fernando, but I want to make sure The Orion has a few more offensive capabilities before Vex shows up. The man shouldn’t be trusted. Swann should work on it as well. The man is a genius and might allow for more power in the stealth fighters we have on hand.”

He request was entirely reasonably, and I was a bit upset I had not thought of it. She was right, the issue was that we had far to little people to cover all the spots that needed help. Furthermore, we had to little food to feed all my people fully. We had a reprieve, but not a solution for that at the moment.

“I’ll have them shift that to the list. Swann will be moved to focus on The Orion fully, Caspian will focus more on our weapons and armor for the time being.” I raised a hand, stopped her argument. “I know it isn’t ideal, Nova. It’s the best I can do for now though. I promise I will do all I can to ensure The Orion is fully outfitted and armed to the best of our ability. We simply do not have the resources right now though. I hope to change that soon, I know we have access to Automated Refineries now, a huge help. If we get lucky I may be able to work with Swann on something to help with Minerals. For now, please, make do.”

She nodded slowly, clearly not happy but accepting the situation. “You can go now, meet with Swann and explain the changes I made, Skippy.”

I added the last, mostly as a joke, and regretted it almost immediately. You know that look women get, yea, the one where they just look at your while smiling with this creepy thousand yard stare? Imagine that with glowing eyes...and the intense feeling that if you don’t shut up something nasty will happen to your dangleberries. That was Nova in a nutshell at the moment.

“Damian, what did you say?” Her voice was cold enough I was pretty sure that sitting naked on an iceberg would be warmer. “Errr...Nova?”

She leaned toward me, patted my cheek and said “Good boy.” then disappeared. The door opened and closed to nothing, I assumed she was gone. I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding and made a mental note to never call her ‘Skippy’.

I spent a few moments getting the disturbing image of Nova smashing my nuts with her mind while smiling like that out of my mind. Moving forward from that traumatising image I needed to begin getting an exact count of my resources, and what all my people need to live right now.

According to Fernando’s report, we had three-thousand and thirty-two Minerals and four-thousand Vespene Gas. The number really had gone up since I left. I knew our Vespene Gas would increase with the Automated Refineries as well. According to the report our Geyser was nearing empty as well, a frustrating fact, but realistic. We had places with what appeared to be more within my territory here in the Wastelands according to scout reports though.

Luckily the Mineral Fields seemed to be lasting longer, we had gotten lucky with a large deposit of the resource being so near the base. As far as my people, I eyed the list that seemed to be without end, and promptly pushed the pad away from me while I internally bitched about the situation of becoming a pencil pusher.

We needed more homes, better homes for people with actual currency to afford it, more Supply Depots to store resources, a secondary Barracks request. I had the schematics for an Engineering Bay now as well that needed to be added as well. Personally, I hoped Swann and Caspian could come up with other key buildings for Bastion as well. The list just seemed to grow.

Right, one at a time. I sat down and got to work. First I allocated five-hundred Minerals to the building of better living spaces for my people, thankfully they didn’t cost much to build. From there I moved three-hundred Minerals and Vespene Gas to Caspians research department. It would hopefully tide him over until I could allocate the proper amount.

I went ahead and gave the same amount to Swann, sending a memo to Fernando detailing the situation with him as well. Nova wouldn’t need any resources allocated to her for the time being, with her punishment and all. Fernando would be granted the rest, though I sent a note to allocate some resources to begin constructing the Engineering Bay. The Barracks would simply have to wait for the time being.

I also had him begin to set aside Minerals and Vespene Gas in small batches to go toward The Orion’s upkeep, and improvements. On that thought, I sent a note to Swann to have him take a look at it and send me notes on what he could do to improve the structure/ship.

I took a deep breath, trying very hard to not hide in a corner and rock myself silly when I saw the last request, it had just come in.

Sir! I need more resources dedicated to Medical Research and development!

From: Dr. Green

Of course, she did. Alright, well guess what, Fernando gets the bus again in this regard. I’ll toss him right under it. I made a short E-mail and sent it to Fernando detailing a small order to take care of Green’s needs.

With that, it was done. I exhaled, slowly, and felt utter relief at the idea of not needed to read reports and write up replies. No rest for the wicked though, as they say. I got my happy ass up and went toward the Adjutant room. I wanted to test a theory I had been thinking about.

Greetings Commander, how may I help you?

Well then, moving right into it then. “Adjutant, am I able to enter Campaign Maps earlier than the set weekly time limit?”

Yes, Commander. You are capable of entering up to three Campaign Maps in a single week before being blocked and forced to wait until the next cycle of Campaign Maps.

I grinned at that. Perfect, if I could successfully do that I just might obtain the rewards I would need to survive the coming of Vex, and his likely betrayal. I doubted I’d go to war with the man, but I wanted to try and have the military might to stand against him and make him think twice about engaging me.

“Begin searching for the hidden conditions I am able to find now, Adjutant.”

Understood Commander. You are currently able to gather intelligence on six different Campaign Objectives that were previously hidden. Excluding resources from search parameters as you lack the funding it will take a total of six days to learn everything.

That was perfect for my plans. On the seventh day, when I had to enter the Campaign Maps, I would take Nova, Fernando, all the Royal Guard’s and a few healers with two Ghosts. I barely remembered any of the Campaigns prior to StarCraft 2, a fault on my part but who the hell ever thinks this would happen to them?

With that set-up, I should be able to roll over almost anything that came up in the Campaign Maps. I would use the resources I had to ensure survival until I could survive and stand on equal footing with the amazing individuals under my command.