TitoVillar
patreon
SCL Chapter 21: Of Minds and Marines
🕑 Added 2025-04-08 03:05:04 +0000 UTCIt was understandable why Ryk Kydd, despite being a sniper, had been assigned to an ordinary Marine squad.
While the Federal Marines usually form specialized tactical units around snipers to carry out more covert missions, Ryk, as a new recruit, clearly lacked the qualifications.
Only after accumulating enough combat experience and military merit, and obtaining the Marine Sniper Certification, would Ryk be eligible to either join or form such a tactical team.
Out of all the reviews and reports about Ryk, what Augustus paid the most attention to were the comments made by Sergeant Peters, one of the instructors at the training camp. He described Ryk as having eyes as sharp as a hawk’s, extraordinary hand-eye coordination, and a rare X-factor.
Regarding this so-called 'X-factor', Sergeant Peters had included a rather detailed note in parentheses: this kind of talent is exceedingly rare among our kind—on average, it only appears in about one in every one thousand to ten thousand individuals.
The X-factor manifests in sniping as an uncanny intuition—some snipers with this trait even claim that in the two or three seconds before they pull the trigger, time seems to slow down significantly. This clearly borders on the supernatural.
Our understanding of this talent remains limited. However, geneticists believe that this ability, buried within certain individuals, is linked to what is known as 'psionic energy'. It is now confirmed that (fragment crossed out with fountain pen) he started research into psionics long before the army.
In some remote regions—areas too far from the Core Worlds to maintain contact with civilized space—the locals refer to psionic powers as 'witchcraft'. Numerous religions and new gods have arisen based on this belief system.
At present, we can confirm that Recruit Ryk Kydd is a rare psionic.
Based on what Augustus remembered about the StarCraft universe, Ryk's psionic power did not seem especially strong. As far as he remembered, only those ranked PSI level 5 and above were capable of telepathy.
“Ryk, no offense,” Augustus said, turning to the young man with a curious but cautious look. “I just want to clarify something. As a psionic, can you read minds? Or, to use the proper term, do you possess telepathy?”
Ryk blinked, caught off guard by the question. Augustus added, “In other words, can you hear people’s inner voices—understand their thoughts, even if they don’t say them out loud?”
“Why would you ask that?” Ryk looked puzzled. After thinking about it for a few seconds, he replied seriously, “Of course not.”
He had long been aware of the contents of his report, so Augustus’s question didn’t surprise him.
“Oh, your P-1 report mentioned you had psionic abilities,” Augustus said. “I heard all psionics could read minds—know what someone’s thinking, even when they’re silent.”
“I can’t do anything like that,” Ryk said, shaking his head. “Does that bother you?”
“Yes,” Augustus replied frankly. “Though it’s not because I dislike psychics or psionics in general. I’m just… not comfortable being around someone who could potentially read my mind at any time. It’s unsettling. At the very least, if you were reading my thoughts, I’d want to know about it.”
“I understand,” Ryk said, trying to see things from Augustus’s perspective. “Mental privacy is important to humans. I wouldn’t be able to tolerate that kind of intrusion either.”
He imagined what it would be like if people could read each other’s thoughts with no boundaries—and the idea truly disturbed him. That level of transparency was horrifying.
“Your psionic level must be fairly low,” Augustus said, returning the documents to their folder. “Which would explain why your supernatural abilities aren’t very noticeable.”
“I’ve heard that some powerful psionics are practically living gods.”
“They can peer into the darkest corners of your soul, control your thoughts, enslave your spirit… or just blow your head up from the inside.”
“That sounds like magic,” Ryk muttered, clearly struggling to reconcile the idea. “But I was taught that this universe runs on the laws of science, of physics and logic.”
At this point in time, characters like the Ghost agents—human psionics from the original game—hadn’t yet made their way into the public consciousness, so Ryk’s confusion was understandable.
Psionic potential was common among the human population of the Koprulu Sector. All current research indicated that this potential was inherited from their ancestors. In fact, psionic power seemed to be evidence of ongoing human evolution, gradually strengthening with each passing generation.
So far, overly powerful psychics often fail to control their abilities in childhood due to underdeveloped mental faculties. As a result, they may unintentionally harm themselves or others. Quite a few psychics have died prematurely during their early years.
Ryk's psychic abilities were rather average—not too powerful, but enough to grant him a few unique traits that ordinary people didn't possess.
"You're right," Augustus said with a shrug. He pulled out his personal terminal and brought up a group photo taken at the end of basic training, clearly ready to move on from the previous topic. "Anyway, enough of that. Since you’re new here, let me introduce you to the members of Squad Three, Unit One. It'll save you some trouble later on if you know their quirks."
"Alright." Ryk nodded.
"I'm the temporary squad leader, Augustus Mengsk. From Korhal IV. My family's sort of noble, I guess." He pointed at himself, then at the screen of his terminal.
"That red-haired guy with the messy, filthy look, the one whose grin stretches nearly to the back of his head? That’s Hank Harnack. Don't be fooled by his goofy smile—you really don’t want to mess with him."
"This one's Jim Raynor. Close-cropped black hair. Looks way too serious in the picture, but he was actually trying not to laugh. He’s easy to get along with."
"Tom Omer—youngest of the bunch. He’s shy and clumsy, sure, but he’s got a heart of gold. Talks in his sleep a lot. Says his dream is to protect the people from his hometown."
"Max Zander. Small guy, long chin—I always say he looks like an alien. Loves grenades, explosions, and smoke. Look at him—can’t even be bothered to put out his cigarette for the photo."
"This kid with the dark brown hair and that bright, sunny smile? That’s Amy Brandon. Sweet kid. Can’t say no when someone asks for help. We all call him Little Amy."
Augustus held the terminal and continued introducing each member with a warm smile. "Connor Ward and Benjamin Crandall—those two are the biggest guys in the unit. Neither of them has much of a sense of humor."
"But here’s the thing: when Ward gets mad, he sulks in silence. Crandall, on the other hand, will punch whoever pissed him off. He’s a monk, though, so he always mutters a prayer and says 'Amen' before throwing the first punch," Augustus added.
"Kurt Josephine? He’s rocking a buzzcut now, but back in high school he had long pink hair—braids and all."
"Total playboy, spoiled rich brat, absolute scumbag—take your pick. Call him whatever you like; he’ll just smile at you, totally unbothered. I’ve never once seen Josephine lose his temper." Augustus glanced at Ryk mid-sentence, checking to see if he was still interested or growing bored.
Ryk reflexively returned a polite smile when Augustus looked at him, which Augustus took as a sign to keep going with his chatter.
"Aland Lundstein comes from a family of high nobility. If you go back three generations, they were all artists—painters and musicians. He’s the most ‘noble-like’ of us all."
"And that’s Ilya Kulovsky. Born on the frozen world of Braxis. His name means ‘Hand of God’ in the local language. He’s the hardest drinker in the unit and easily the bravest guy here. Can’t believe a tough guy like him gets motion sickness—only from motorcycles, though."
Comments
Viper777
Ilya means "hand of god"? I'm Russian, (name Ilya is oftenly used among us) and I thought it means "God is my lord". Plz share a link of source.
