Son of Raynor, John the Psionic

SCT 2491.1.12.

The Hyperion is navigating a hyperspace route.

At 00:06 on board, Augustus, dressed in his standard dark gray captain's uniform, sat on an alloy bench outside the Hyperion's medical bay, with Sarah Kerrigan sitting close to him to his left. The massive Tychus Finley sat beside Augustus's right arm, his enormous rear end taking up almost a third of the bench, his arms crossed over his chest, motionless.

In contrast to the silent and composed Augustus and his entourage, Jim Raynor and Harnack Hank were pacing back and forth in near sync in front of the tightly closed bronze metal doors of the medical bay. The clattering of the two men's boots on the deck echoed through the narrow, long corridors of the Hyperion.

"Jimmy, Hank, stop for a moment." Augustus said, looking at Raynor pacing back and forth. "We have the best army doctors, midwives, nurses, and medical equipment. Elizabeth is receiving the same care my mother had when she gave birth to me; she's sure to have a safe and lovely baby."

The Hyperion is currently on a hyperspace journey from Agria to Umojan. Raynor's girlfriend Elizabeth Liddy, whom he met in Mar- Sara, is over ten months pregnant and nearing Elizabeth due date.

"You're right." Raynor stopped and looked at Augustus, as if he had grasped at a straw.

"But I am indeed quite anxious. He (or she) is the first child to be born on a warship, and we are currently in a hyperspace journey. Who knows what kind of impact a child born under these circumstances might have?"

"Don't worry, it's not uncommon for children to be born naturally while the colonial Fleets is at sea," Augustus said helplessly to Raynor. "But you two, if you keep swaying around like that, I'm getting dizzy."

Harnack, however, paid no attention to what Augustus had said. He continued pacing in front of the medical bay door, muttering things like "Hail Mary" and "Holy Son under the Holy Spirit," speaking with conviction, and occasionally uttering the name of some obscure deity.

"Hank, I remember you're an atheist," Tychus called out to Harnack, who was muttering to himself.

"It's only temporary," Harnack said to Tychus. "I'm only a temporary believer when I need them. What do you know, Tychus?"

Harnack seemed even more nervous Raynor, not only because he truly considered Raynor a blood brother, but also because he didn't want to see any more of the Heaven's Devils harmed.

Having no family, he valued his comrades-in-arms, with whom he had shared life and death, more than his own. After the death of Kurt Josephine, who had always bickered with Harnack, this stubborn and frivolous young man finally matured considerably.

"Idiot, what's left in your head besides fighting, money, and women?" Tychus roared in fury.

"Isn't the idiot you're talking about yourself?" Harnack rolled up his sleeves, ready to fight.

"Shut up, all of you." Suddenly, Kerrigan, to Augustus's left, stood up. Her brows furrowed, and her jade-green eyes sparkled like jewels under the cabin lights. Kerrigan red lips were wider and fuller than her perfectly proportioned facial features, making her appear even more sensual.

In an instant, the red-haired Ghost operative who had been following Augustus revealed a queen-like majesty; her powerful Psionics instilled a sense of awe in those around her.

Despite Kerrigan only a seventeen-year-old girl, both the Revolutionary Army veteran Tychus and the unconventional rogue Harnack were momentarily stunned.

Almost at the same time, the lights in the corridor of the Hyperion suddenly flickered. Although still separated by the thick metal walls of the medical bay, a child's cry still reached the minds of everyone present.

This cry was far less terrifying than the high-ranking Tal'darim Psionics Psionics blow the heads off human soldiers, but it was enough to send shivers down the spines of those who heard it.

Immediately afterwards, the lights went out completely, plunging the corridor into darkness. Raynor, Tychus, and the others then turned on their portable laser lighters, bringing a faint glow to the dark corridor.

"Damn it, a Psionics?" Tychus wasn't stupid; he reacted quickly and immediately grasped the crux of the problem. In fact, Tychus was far smarter and more capable than many of Augustus's men, but he never used his intelligence for good.

"Damn it, Jimmy, how did you end up with a Psionics?"

"Quick! Open the door!" Augustus immediately went to the closed medical pod door, but he soon discovered that the power supply to the door was damaged and it could not be opened at all. So he immediately started the manual unlocking of the pod door under the dim light.

This heavy hatch was originally designed to be a completely sealed door that isolates all the compartments of the warship, and it is extremely heavy. Even though Augustus had manually opened the hatch, it would still require at least two soldiers wearing Power Armor or exoskeletons to push it.

"Drink it--"

However, Tychus slowly pushed open the heavy hatch of the folding umbrella by himself. The muscles in his back and arms were tense, and the taut muscle curves were comparable to ancient Greek stone sculptures, like molten steel.

This sleazy, rotten man is always surprisingly reliable when it matters most.

Then, with the combined efforts of Augustus, Raynor, Tychus, and others, the heavy hatch was slowly opened. The people waiting outside rushed in anxiously, searching for Elizabeth and her child, along with the doctors, in the dimly lit medical bay.

At that moment, the lights in the medical pod suddenly came on again. When Augustus saw the doctor holding the baby and Elizabeth's face, he and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Except for the rosy-cheeked baby, everyone else looked ashen-faced. The doctors and the mother were at the very center of the Psionics fluctuations, and they only managed to avoid panic or mental breakdown thanks to their willpower and mental fortitude.

Nevertheless, these people were greatly affected emotionally, with one young female doctor even collapsing to the ground.

If Augustus hadn't had the foresight to deliberately transfer the wounded and sick from the nearby cabins to another medical bay on the Hyperion during Elizabeth's delivery, the birth of Raynor ' child would have brought an even greater disaster.

Jim Raynor and Elizabeth Raynor's son was born in the Hyperion's medical bay. His first cry, accompanied by Psionics fluctuations, triggered a terrible Psionics shriek that paralyzed many systems inside the medical bay and caused considerable chaos.

The Hyperion's guards and engineers were rushing from various passageways toward the medical bay, and many people initially thought there was a traitor on Hyperion.

As more crew members rushed to the medical bay, Augustus relayed his orders to remain at their posts to all decks, cabins, and crew quarters via his personal radio communication equipment. Only Rory Swann and his assistant Viktor Kaczynski were ordered to go to the medical bay to repair damaged equipment.

"Natural birth, it's a boy," the doctor, holding the baby, Augustus, who was rushing over.

Augustus first looked at Elizabeth, who was lying on the hospital bed covered in sweat, and told her to rest. Then Augustus took the child from the doctor's hands and carefully looked at his bright green eyes and thick eyebrows that resembled Raynor'.

The child was remarkably calm as he was being held; his eyes were open as he looked up, his pupils reflecting the not-so-spacious ceiling of the Hyperion's medical bay.

"John, good boy," Augustus a smile. Raynor and Augustus had already agreed on what name they should call the child if he were a boy.

John was a very common name in the human colony of the Koprulu Sector in Neo-Christianity; there were over a hundred people with that name even in the small town near Raynor's home. But for Raynor, it was the best name he could think of.

"Child, when you were born..."

"Oh—this little baby is so cute." Harnack poked his head out from behind Augustus's shoulder, interrupting the other's chanting.

"I never thought this day would come," he said excitedly. "Back in Shiloh, Jim and I never got along. When I first entered the Turaxis recruit training camp, I almost stomped on his balls—thankfully I didn't. Jim should really thank me."

"Let me see this little Jimmy," Tychus said. "This child...it seems I'll have to leave my inheritance to my nephew when I die, if anything is left."

"Hey, my son won't pay your bills." At this point, the boy's father Raynor, arrived late, having spent a considerable amount of time fussing over Elizabeth.

Raynor seemed very happy, his face beaming with joy. But because of the accident earlier, he couldn't really smile.

Even the hard-hearted Tychus, who believed he would never show any pity for any damned little thing, loved the child. Their hearts softened more than ever before, to the point that they tried to avoid the fact that the child was undoubtedly a Psionics, and judging from the scene of his birth, his Psionics power was definitely not low.

"Sarah, John's Psionics are astounding." After staring into John Raynor's eyes for a few seconds, Augustus said to Kerrigan was standing beside him, "This is unusual."

"Yes. Currently, a person's Psionics potential is predetermined at birth." As Kerrigan looked at John, he also looked at her.

Human Psionics and Psionics share a kind of resonance, which is especially prevalent among top-tier Psionics.

"John's Psionics have reached the level required for Ghost operative to enter the program, which means his Psionics level is definitely higher than PSI5, and I believe the final rating will be even higher," Kerrigan said.

"Even an infant can control their Psionics, which is one of the reasons why Psionics die young," Kerrigan said. "Once a PSI level reaches or exceeds 8, if they cannot control their power, their powerful Psionics energy and psychic abilities will have an indelible impact on others."

Humans Psionics a PSI level of 8 are extremely rare within this vast population, and their numbers are very small.

"In my memory, there was a tragic accident involving a transport ship carrying Ghost Academy students during the Ghost Program. A female PSI-8 Psionics caused a terrible Psionics explosion due to loss of control, killing more than eighty of the hundreds of crew members amidst the cries of the out-of-control individual. Those who survived were left with an indelible shadow in their hearts, forever shrouded in the memory of that accident," she said.

"However, there are currently no reports of level 8 or higher Psionics killing everyone nearby at birth, not even level 10 Psionics. High-level Psionics are mostly no different from ordinary children at birth; their parents only discover their difference as their children grow up."

"You mean, John's Psionics level is likely at level 8?" Raynor felt no joy at his son being Psionics. On the contrary, he didn't see it as something to be happy about.

As the Terran Confederacy proclaims, any Confederacy citizen with Psionics potential is obligated to join the Ghost Program and be trained to become a "promising" Ghost operative. If their parents are neither a high-ranking nobleman of a colony world nor the owner of an incredibly wealthy intergalactic corporation, then they must accept this fact.

Of course, at least Raynor doesn't need to worry about the Psionics shepherds of the Confederacy Ghost Program forcibly taking his child away, because they are now the largest group of rebels in the entire Koprulu Sector.

"Don't worry, this isn't a bad thing." Augustus looked at Raynor and said seriously, "I think a powerful Psionics should indeed be taught how to control and use his Psionics power, but at the very least, he should never become a cold-blooded killer."

"Their abilities should be better utilized, for example, by forming a department composed of Psionics to oversee the entire national administration," he said.

"Since you believe I am qualified to be John's godfather, then I should take on the responsibility of protecting and educating him. I believe that this child's future achievements will be no less than any of ours."

"Without a doubt, he will grow up to be a man."

"I believe it too." Raynor nodded. "Augustus, from the moment I saw you in the camp, every promise you made will be kept."

"Trusting you will never be a mistake. When we don't know where to go, as long as we follow you, we won't lose our way."

Augustus laughed heartily and handed John over to his father.

"Jimmy, I dare say, this definitely isn't your genes at work." Just as Raynor was about to get emotional, Tychus suddenly jumped out.

"If you had even a tiny bit of Psionics talent, your marksmanship would be half as good as Rick Kydd's."

"Damn it—" Raynor, holding his son, immediately retorted.

"I'm a sharpshooter."

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