Waking Dreams is a StarCraft II short story written by E.C. Myers to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the game.[1] It focuses on the terrans, and the story of Stone after the events of Nova Covert Ops.
Description
Defeated and captured by a formidable opponent, Ghost operative Stone must fight to escape a prison created by his own mind.[1]
Synopsis
On the planet Vardona, Ghost agent Stone, who had his memories modified by the separatist militia the Defenders of Man, prepared to fight Nova Terra, who fought on behalf of the Terran Dominion to apprehend the Defender's leader, General Carolina Davis. Stone fought Nova to defend Davis, but Nova overtook him quickly and knocked him.
Stone woke up in a mysterious ship's sickbay, and tried to reorient himself, and recalled the story of "The Prince and the Pebble," where a prince was spared military service when he realized there was a pebble under his chair, something only a prince would know. He reached out and found out Nova was aboard the ship, but was greeted by Reigel, who welcomed him back and told him his memories had been altered by the Defenders in order to coerce him into working for them. Stone asked if they could mind wipe him to recover his memories, but Reigel refuses, causing Stone to distrust that he had been given the entire picture. After Reigel left the room, Stone slipped from his bindings, but collapsed onto the floor.
Stone recovered, and was convinced Davis was still alive and in custody by Nova, and briefly remembered the events at New Andasar, where he and Nova were tricked into releasing the zerg on the planet of Antiga Prime, but admits the memories could be fabricated. He came across reader, and saw the last loaded headlines about Davis's death, but refused to accept it, thinking it was a cover up. Wandering through the ship, he came across a room with his fellow agent, Theodore Pierce, but approached him in a friendly manner, keeping his psionic defenses up. The two discussed the situation and the recent declaration that ghost memory wipes were made optional by the Dominion, as well as Nova's status as a now-independent agent, with Stone thinking that Pierce's memories had been altered. Eventually, Stone attacked Pierce, and after a prolonged scuffle, Stone managed to lock Pierce in the room while he escaped.
Stone wandered the ship, picking up a weapon, crew uniform, and com unit. He stalked a engineer named Oslo and took him at gunpoint, asking about the ship and where he was, only to find he was telling him the truth that he was on the Griffin commanded by Nova, and that Davis was killed. He then noticed Delta Emblock was lurking about, who ran off and warned the crew. Reigel announced on the comes he was about to decompress the deck Stone was on, and Stone took the unconscious Oslo as he switched decks. They began decompression on other decks, boxing Stone in. He made his way to an armory, and donned his skinsuit, but when the timer ran out no decompression came.
Leaving the armory, he ran into Delta, who told him they wanted to help him. The two were then approached by Nova and Pierce, who outnumbered Stone. Nova explained she knew he'd escape, but that she wanted him to sort out his memories for himself, and that he needed to choose his own path. She explained that she did not kill him on Vardona, just as he did not kill Oslo or Pierce, as he wanted to do good in the world, and that the Defenders only used him to help their scene of discrediting Valerian Mengsk. Stone realized Nova was right about the Defenders of Man as it was the simplest solution, and that he couldn't trust his memories. Nova then told him he had a choice on how to proceed, as they could undo his neural inhibitor and give back his memories, and Stone agreed.
With his inhibitor gone, his memories would slowly come back, and Stone decided that he would go his own way, away from the Dominion, Defenders, and even Nova. He decided he would be dropped off, and then do what a ghost did best: disappear.[2]
Characters
Main
Supporting
- Carolina Davis (mentioned)
- Sarah Kerrigan (mentioned)
- Oslo
- Arcturus Mengsk (mentioned)
- Valerian Mengsk (mentioned)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 StarCraft II is Turning 10—Celebrate With Us! Blizzard.com, Accessed on 7-27-2020
- ↑ E.C. Myers. "Waking Dreams." (August 4, 2020). Blizzard Entertainment. Waking Dreams Accessed 2020-08-04.