Perdition's Crossing (short story)

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	Perdition's Crossing (Mar Sara gulch)

Perdition's Crossing
Author(s)	James Waugh
Pages	10
Publisher	Blizzard Entertainment
Published	October 6, 2015

Perdition's Crossing is a short story that was released in the leadup to Legacy of the Void.

It focuses on Jim Raynor, and is set before the events of the original StarCraft, around 2496.

Description

Anyone might deserve a chance at redemption...or at least that's what Jim Raynor believes after what he's been through. The former convict was given a second chance at life, and since then Jim's been looking to right his past wrongs while serving as a Confederate Marshal on Mar Sara. However, a whole lotta things are wrong on Mar Sara, and Jim's desire to set things right could land him in serious trouble.

Set in a Wild West-themed badlands, and chock-full of enough guns and combat to satisfy any action fan, Perdition's Crossing is a Jim Raynor story about trust, redemption, and making the hard choices in life.

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Confederate Marshal James Raynor offers three convicts a shot at redemption, something that may cost him dearly.

Synopsis

On the planet Mar Sara, Confederate Marshal Jim Raynor rode to the desert gulch of Perdition's Crossing, an area of powerful magnetic anomalies that made travel difficult, in order to help escort three prisoners to El Indio Prison. He was met by Sheriff Glenn McAaron, who greeted him with hostility. The three prisoners were Marduke Saul, a giant man accused of murder and terrorism, Rodney Oseen, a white collar criminal who stole funds from the Confederacy, and T-Bone Smalls, a train robber. They were each mounted with anklets that could deliver a crippling electric shock or explode. McAaron gave the controls to Raynor, and he sped off.

Raynor did some introspection on his own past, before setting up camp. Marduke objected, saying the gang of the notorious slaver Mazor operated in the crossing. Raynor fed his prisoners some of his rations, and they chatted about his outlaw days, and whether they deserved the same redemption he had. Raynor went to sleep, and woke up to find Marduke and Smalls getting into a fight. He broke them apart with the anklet, and kept moving.

The group encountered a shot up transport, and to the objection of his prisoners Raynor investigated it. He encountered a scientist in the wreckage, who initially pointed a flare gun at him, but Raynor talked her down. She told him that they were hit by the Mazor gang, and everyone but her was taken or killed. She gave him the coordinates of their base, and to Smalls's ire Raynor got ready to raid the camp.

The group come on the camp and spotted Mazor. A scout spotted them, but Raynor jammed his coms and shot him. Knowing he was outnumbered, Raynor made a deal to his convicts: help him raid the slaver camp and he would pretend they had been killed by the raiders, and let them go. The three agreed, and took up weapons. They captured one of the slavers and interrogated him, trying to reveal the location of the children they had. He pointed them in the right direction, but when he went for his gun Marduke killed him. Marduke and Smalls went to rescue the children while Rodney and Raynor went for the main camp, but as Raynor prepared his spider mines Rodney knocked him out with the back of his gun.

Meanwhile, Marduke and Smalls caught the camp by surprise, gunning down the slavers. Marduke reflected that he was sick of this killing, and considered maybe this actually was a shot at redemption. As they rescued the children, Rodney came up to them, telling them that he'd knocked out Raynor and they were free men. Smalls made some insinuations on kidnapping one of the blonde girls in the cell, and Marduke knocked him out with a swift punch to the face, followed by one to Rodney.

Meanwhile, Mazor found Raynor, who was just waking up from unconsciousness. He attempted to execute him, but just then Mazor was gunned down. Marduke came from the side, saying that he had kept his word, and asking if Raynor would keep his.

Raynor brought the scientist back to the camp to care for the captured kids, and buried the slavers alongside the scientists. He was going to El Indio with only two prisoners, Smalls and Rodney, and repeated to himself the made up story that Marduke had died in the battle. In reality, Marduke had been given the same shot at redemption Raynor had gotten.

Characters

Main

• Jim Raynor

Supporting

• Mazor
• Rodney Oseen
• Marduke Saul
• T-Bone Smalls
• Sheriff Glenn McAaron

Mentioned

• Tychus Findlay
• Magistrate Myles Hammond
• Liddy Raynor
• Ryk Kydd

Discrepancies

• This story contradicts the beginning of the StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty mission The Outlaws, in which Raynor tells Tychus that in all the time he spent as a marshal he never had to shoot anyone.
• According to the StarCraft II: Heaven's Devils timeline, John Raynor was born in 2495 and Jim Raynor becomes marshal in 2496. However, this story has Liddy pregnant with John while Jim is acting as marshal.
• The art for the story shows Jim Raynor with a shaved head similar to his StarCraft appearance. However, StarCraft: Frontline: Homecoming states that Jim did not shave his head until after Lidya Raynor's death. The art also is missing the tattoos on Raynor's arms, which he had prior to his arrival on Mar Sara.

References

• Waugh, James. "Perdition's Crossing (short story)" (Oct. 6, 2015). Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft Lore: Perdition's Crossing. Accessed from Blizzard Short Stories Hub on 2021-10-17.