MISSING SOLDIERS
By Ilia S. and Rommel
Foreword
This started as a "for fun" writeup done in the space of one evening May 3rd '2017 (on a cellphone, no less) as I was commuting back home. A few flashbacks followed and the story began expanding itself way beyond control. Originally I never intended to make it public as it was shared only between myself and my dear friend Dmitry Rommel, who has later also hopped on board and contributed significantly to the writing (particularly the Terran and Protoss arcs were his ideas that I expanded upon). The first 10 chapters were published on Mar. 29th, 2018; the last 2 chapters and epilogue were published on Oct. 23rd, 2018.
I always liked the characters of Raynor and Kerrigan, including their romance - in fact, they're among my personal top 3 fictional couples. So I made something from Jim's point of view, and what better subject – that everyone and their grandmother are speculating on, anyway – than their travels and tribulations (sort of...) after the Legacy of the Void?
References and shout-outs abound, especially in the first chapter which was originally written as a germinal piece encompassing the whole idea of this story.
All characters and the whole StarCraft are © by and property of Blizzard Entertainment. Oh, and I liked the idea of musical quotations early on so decided to implement them as appropriate. "Beyond the Veil" is by Tristania (© Morten Veland / Einar Moen). "Shadow Dance" is by Elusive (© Jan K. Barkved / Tommy Olsson / Morten Veland). "Tender Trip on Earth" and Lotus are by Tristania (© Anders Høyvik Hidle / Einar Moen / Østen Bergøy). "My Future" is by Amorphis (© Santeri Kallio / Pekka Kainulainen). "Wounded Land" is by Cornerstone (© Steen Mogensen / Doogie White). "Anno Mundi (The Vision)" is by Black Sabbath (© Tony Iommi / Tony Martin / Neil Murray / Cozy Powell / Geoff Nicholls). "Earth Imagery" is by Borknagar (© Øystein Garnes Brun). "Nightmare" is by Black Sabbath (© Tony Iommi / Geoff Nicholls / Bob Daisley). "Protection" (quoted in Chapter 9) is by Tristania (© Anders Høyvik Hidle / Ole Vistnes / Mariangela Demurtas / Østen Bergøy). "Golden Grounds" is by The Gathering (© Anneke van Giersbergen / René Rutten / Hugo Prinsen Geerligs / Frank Boeijen / Hans Rutten). "Drone" is by Alice in Chains (© Jerry Cantrell). "Spore" is by Queensyche (© Scott Rockenfield, Todd La Torre, Eddie Jackson).
I.
Dance so frail and lost in the field afar
Cast –
Off thy mourning
Clasp –
Life and glory
Venus... through the looking glass
- TRISTANIA "Beyond the Veil"
Jim Raynor hasn't completely got used to his new status – for which he has so far even failed to find a name. Being able to sense the flow of energies, to hear the thoughts of other creatures, to create psionic storms or warp fields with just a concentrated, but simple, mental effort. Not really requiring food, water or other fleshly needs... With that, he blushed inwardly, as "not requiring" any of the carnal functions did not mean they both could not derive pleasure from them – but he suppressed that thought quickly, chuckling to himself when he remembered their first meeting that happened aeons ago. Sarah Kerrigan did not seem to react – while he knew that she could still read his mind, and with some effort he could do likewise to her, there was a silent agreement between them that they would not be using this ability. Their mutual trust was absolute.
He did not even really need air to breathe – he still remembered the moment when Kerrigan transported them both to the remnants of a derelict space platform. Finding himself in the airless void, Raynor's first instinct was to scream in horror... but he found that while he could not scream – after all, there was no air around them – he could still survive... and comprehend. And then, do what he would do in a more hospitable environment... mostly.
"Don't you scare me like this again", he tried to say. Again, he could not make a sound – but it seemed like Sarah read his feeling, and acquiesced. A warm wave of emotional support from her blanketed Jim, and before he could say – or think – anything else, they were standing under the bluish sun of Aiur again.
After finally regaining composure, he felt the need to ask her about this experience. Were they now invincible and eternal, able to survive only by gently absorbing the energies of the universe?
"Not necessarily. Remember that even the Xel'Naga could be killed when faced with someone their equal in strength. I can imagine that a nuke would do us in – it's simply too much energy to deflect. Setting the controls for the heart of the Sun isn't a good idea either. Or... lingering too long in some cold distant space, where there's simply not enough energy to sustain us", she said. It was obvious that she was thinking about the same thing for quite some time, maybe right since she had absorbed the essence of the last true surviving Xel'Naga and slayed the evil ascendant that threatened to destroy the known Universe.
"But what are we now, darlin'... Gods?" he asked.
"I guess it's as close to that as anyone can realistically get. But we'd better get to work – eternity has a bad habit of endin' all too soon", was her reply.